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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:33:57 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:33:57 -0700 |
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diff --git a/27114-tei/27114-tei.tei b/27114-tei/27114-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73ef3cc --- /dev/null +++ b/27114-tei/27114-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,30755 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>Ancient States and Empires</title> + <author><name reg="Lord, John">John Lord</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="1">Edition 1</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>November 1, 2008</date> + <idno type="etext-no">27114</idno> + <availability> + <p>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 online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2008-11-01">November 1, 2008</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + (This file was made using scans of public domain works from the + University of Michigan Digital Libraries.) + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">Ancient States and Empires</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">For Colleges And Schools</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">By</p> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">John Lord LL.D.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Author of the <q>Old Roman +World</q></p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center"><q>Modern History</q> &c.</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">New York</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Charles Scribner & Company</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1869</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + </front> +<body> + +<pb n="003"/><anchor id="Pg003"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc"/> +<index index="pdf"/> +<head>PREFACE.</head> + +<p> +This work is designed chiefly for educational +purposes, since there is still felt the need of +some book, which, within moderate limits, shall +give a connected history of the ancient world. +</p> + +<p> +The author lays no claim to original investigation +in so broad a field. He simply has aimed +to present the salient points—the most important +events and characters of four thousand years, +in a connected narrative, without theories or comments, +and without encumbering the book with +details of comparatively little interest. Most of +the ancient histories for schools, have omitted to +notice those great movements to which the Scriptures +refer; but these are here briefly presented, +since their connection with the Oriental world is +intimate and impressive, and ought not to be +<pb n="004"/><anchor id="Pg004"/> +omitted, even on secular grounds. What is history +without a Divine Providence? +</p> + +<p> +In the preparation of this work, the author +has been contented with the last standard authorities, +which he has merely simplified, abridged, +and condensed, being most indebted to Rawlinson, +Grote, Thirlwall, Niebuhr, Mommsen, and +Merivale,—following out the general plan of +Philip Smith, whose admirable digest, in three +large octavos, is too extensive for schools. +</p> + +<p> +Although the author has felt warranted in +making a free use of his materials, it will be +seen that the style, arrangement, and reflections +are his own. If the book prove useful, his object +will be attained. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Stamford</hi> <hi rend='italic'>October, 1869</hi>. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="013"/><anchor id="Pg013"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="BOOK I. ANCIENT ORIENTAL NATIONS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="BOOK I."/> +<head type="sub">BOOK I.</head> +<head>ANCIENT ORIENTAL NATIONS.</head> + +<div> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER I. THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER I."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER I.</head> +<head>THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Creation.</note> +The history of this world begins, according to the chronology +of Archbishop Ussher, which is generally received as +convenient rather than probable, in the year 4004 before +Christ. In six days God created light and darkness, day and +night, the firmament and the continents in the midst +of the waters, fruits, grain, and herbs, moon and +stars, fowl and fish, living creatures upon the face of the +earth, and finally man, with dominion <q>over the fish of the +sea, and the fowls of the air, and cattle, and all the earth, +and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.</q> He +created man in his own image, and blessed him with universal +dominion. He formed him from the dust of the ground, +and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. On the +seventh day, God rested from this vast work of creation, and +blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, as we suppose, for +a day of solemn observance for all generations. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The garden +of Eden.</note> +He there planted a garden eastward in Eden, with every +tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, and +there placed man to dress and keep it. The original +occupation of man, and his destined happiness, were thus +centered in agricultural labor. +</p> + +<pb n="014"/><anchor id="Pg014"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Adam and +Eve.</note> +But man was alone; so God caused a deep sleep to fall +upon him, and took one of his ribs and made a +woman. And Adam said, <q>this woman,</q> which +the Lord had brought unto him, <q>is bone of my bone, and +flesh of my flesh; therefore shall a man leave his father and +mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be +one flesh.</q> Thus marriage was instituted. We observe +three divine institutions while man yet remained in a state +of innocence and bliss—the Sabbath; agricultural employment; +and marriage. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Primeval +Paradise.</note> +Adam and his wife lived, we know not how long, in the +garden of Eden, with perfect innocence, bliss, and +dominion. They did not even know what sin was. +There were no other conditions imposed upon them than +they were not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of +good and evil, which was in the midst of the garden—a preeminently +goodly tree, <q>pleasant to the eyes, and one to be +desired.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Situation of +Eden.</note> +Where was this garden—this paradise—located? This is +a mooted question—difficult to be answered. It lay, thus +far as we know, at the head waters of four rivers, two +of which were the Euphrates and the Tigris. We +infer thence, that it was situated among the mountains of +Armenia, south of the Caucasus, subsequently the cradle of +the noblest races of men,—a temperate region, in the latitude +of Greece and Italy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Glory of +Eden.</note> +We suppose that the garden was beautiful and fruitful, +beyond all subsequent experience—watered by +mists from the earth, and not by rains from the +clouds, ever fresh and green, while its two noble occupants +lived upon its produce, directly communing with God, in +whose image they were made, moral and spiritual—free from +all sin and misery, and, as we may conjecture, conversant +with truth in its loftiest forms. +</p> + +<p> +But sin entered into the beautiful world that was made, +and death by sin. This is the first recorded fact in human +history, next to primeval innocence and happiness. +</p> + +<pb n="015"/><anchor id="Pg015"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The temptation.</note> +The progenitors of the race were tempted, and did not +resist the temptation. The form of it may have +been allegorical and symbolic; but, as recorded by +Moses, was yet a stupendous reality, especially in view of its +consequences. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Devil.</note> +The tempter was the devil—the antagonist of God—the +evil power of the world—the principle of evil—a +Satanic agency which Scripture, and all nations, in +some form, have recognized. When rebellion against God +began, we do not know; but it certainly existed when Adam +was placed in Eden. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His assumption +of the +form of a +serpent.</note> +The form which Satanic power assumed was a serpent—then +the most subtle of the beasts of the field, and +we may reasonably suppose, not merely subtle, but +attractive, graceful, beautiful, bewitching. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The disobedience +of +Eve.</note> +The first to feel its evil fascination was the woman, and +she was induced to disobey what she knew to be a +direct command, by the desire of knowledge as well +as enjoyment of the appetite. She put trust in the serpent. +She believed a lie. She was beguiled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Fall of +Adam.</note> +The man was not directly beguiled by the serpent. Why +the serpent assailed woman rather than man, the +Scriptures do not say. The man yielded to his +wife. <q>She gave him the fruit, and he did eat.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The effect.</note> +Immediately a great change came over both. Their eyes +were opened. They felt shame and remorse, for +they had sinned. They hid themselves from the +presence of the Lord, and were afraid. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The penalty.</note> +God pronounced the penalty—unto the woman, the pains +and sorrows attending childbirth, and subserviency to her husband; +unto the man labor, toil, sorrow—the curse +of the ground which he was to till—thorns and +thistles—no rest, and food obtained only by the sweat of the +brow; and all these pains and labors were inflicted upon both +until they should return to the dust from whence they were +taken—an eternal decree, never abrogated, to last as long as +man should till the earth, or woman bring forth children. +</p> + +<pb n="016"/><anchor id="Pg016"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Introduction +of sin.</note> +Thus came sin into the world, through the temptations of +introduction Satan and the weakness of man, with the penalty +of labour, pain, sorrow, and death. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Expulsion +from paradise.</note> +Man was expelled from Paradise, and precluded from re-entering +it by the flaming sword of cherubim, until +the locality of Eden, by thorns and briars, and the +deluge, was obliterated forever. And man and woman were +sent out into the world to reap the fruit of their folly and +sin, and to gain their subsistence in severe toil, and amid, +the accumulated evils which sin introduced. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mitigation +of the +punishment.</note> +The only mitigation of the sentence was the eternal enmity +between the seed of the woman and the seed of the +Serpent, in which the final victory should be given +to the former. The rite of sacrifice was introduced as a +type of the satisfaction for sin by the death of a substitute +for the sinner; and thus a hope of final forgiveness held +out for sin, Meanwhile the miseries of life were alleviated +by the fruits of labor, by industry. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Industry—one +of the +fundamental +conditions +of life.</note> +Industry, then, became, on the expulsion from Eden, one +of the final laws of human happiness on earth, +while the sacrifice held out hopes of eternal life by +the substitution which the sacrifice typified—the +Saviour who was in due time to appear. +</p> + +<p> +With the expulsion from Eden came the sad conflicts of +the race—conflicts with external wickedness—conflicts with +the earth—conflicts with evil passions in a man's own soul. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cain and +Abel.</note> +The first conflict was between Cain, the husbandman, and +Abel, the shepherd; the representatives of two +great divisions of the human family in the early +ages. Cain killed Abel because the offering of the latter +was preferred to that of the former. The virtue of Abel was +faith: the sin of Cain was jealousy, pride, resentment, and +despair. The punishment of Cain was expulsion from his +father's house, the further curse of the land for <emph>him</emph>, and the +hatred of the human family. He relinquished his occupation, +became a wanderer, and gained a precarious support, while +his descendants invented arts and built cities. +</p> + +<pb n="017"/><anchor id="Pg017"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The descendants +of Cain.</note> +Eve bear another son—Seth, among whose descendants +the worship of God was preserved for a long time; but the +descendants of Seth intermarried finally with the descendants +of Cain, from whom sprung a race of lawless men, +so that the earth was filled with violence. The +material civilization which the descendants of Cain introduced +did not preserve them from moral degeneracy. So +great was the increasing wickedness, with the growth of the +race, that <q>it repented the Lord that he had made man,</q> and +he resolved to destroy the whole race, with the exception +of one religious family, and change the whole surface of the +earth by a mighty flood, which should involve in destruction +all animals and fowls of the air—all the antediluvian works +of man. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The deluge.</note> +It is of no consequence to inquire whether the Deluge was +universal or partial—whether it covered the whole +earth or the existing habitations of men. All were +destroyed by it, except Noah, and his wife, and his three +sons, with their wives. The authenticity of the fact rests +with Moses, and with him we are willing to leave it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The probable +condition +of the antediluvian +world.</note> +This dreadful catastrophe took place in the 600th year of +Noah's life, and 2349 years before Christ, when +world was 1655 years old, according to +Usshur, but much older according to Hale and +other authorities—when more time had elapsed than from +the Deluge to the reign of Solomon. And hence there were more +people destroyed, in all probability, than existed on the +earth in the time of Solomon. And as men lived longer +in those primeval times than subsequently, and were larger +and stronger, <q>for there were giants in those days,</q> and +early invented tents, the harp, the organ, and were artificers +in brass and iron, and built cities—as they were full of +inventions as well as imaginations, it is not unreasonable to +infer, though we can not know with certainty, that the antediluvian +world was more splendid and luxurious than the +world in the time of Solomon and Homer—the era of the +Pyramids of Egypt. +</p> + +<pb n="018"/><anchor id="Pg018"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The ark.</note> +The art of building was certainly then carried to considerable +perfection, for the ark, which Noah built, was +four hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five wide, +and forty-five deep; and was constructed so curiously as to +hold specimens of all known animals and birds, with provisions +for them for more than ten months. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Divine +covenant +with Noah.</note> +This sacred ark or ship, built of gopher wood, floated on +the world's waves, until, in the seventh month, it rested +upon the mountains of Ararat. It was nearly a year before +Noah ventured from the ark. His first act, after he issued +forth, was to build an altar and offer sacrifice to the God +who had preserved him and his family alone, of the human +race. And the Lord was well pleased, and made a covenant +with him that he would never again send a like +destruction upon the earth, and as a sign and seal +of the covenant which he made with all flesh, he set his bow +in the cloud. We hence infer that the primeval world was +watered by mists from the earth, like the garden of Eden, +and not by rains. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The tradition +of the +deluge.</note> +<q>The memory of the Deluge is preserved in the traditions +of nearly all nations, as well as in the narrative +of Moses; and most heathen mythologies have some +kind of sacred ark.</q> Moreover, there are various geological +phenomena in all parts of the world, which can not be +accounted for on any other ground than some violent disruption +produced by a universal Deluge. The Deluge itself +can not be explained, although there are many ingenious +theories to show it might be in accordance with natural +causes. The Scriptures allude to it as a supernatural event, +for an express end. When the supernatural power of God +can be disproved, then it will be time to explain the Deluge +by natural causes, or deny it altogether. The Christian +world now accepts it as Moses narrates it. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="019"/><anchor id="Pg019"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER II. POSTDILUVIAN HISTORY TO THE CALL OF +ABRAHAM.—THE PATRIARCHAL CONSTITUTION, AND THE DIVISION OF NATIONS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER II."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER II.</head> +<head>POSTDILUVIAN HISTORY TO THE CALL OF ABRAHAM.—THE +PATRIARCHAL CONSTITUTION, AND THE DIVISION OF NATIONS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Noachic +Code.</note> +When Noah and his family issued from the ark, they were +blessed by God. They were promised a vast posterity, dominion +over nature, and all animals for food, as well as the +fruits of the earth. But new laws were imposed, against +murder, and against the eating of blood. An authority +was given to the magistrate to punish murder. +<q>Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall +<emph>his</emph> blood be shed.</q> This was not merely a penalty, but a +prediction. The sacredness of life, and the punishment for +murder are equally asserted, and asserted with peculiar emphasis. +This may be said to be the Noachic Code, afterward +extended by Moses. From that day to this, murder has been +accounted the greatest human crime, and has been the most +severely punished. On the whole, this crime has been the +rarest in the subsequent history of the world, although committed +with awful frequency, but seldom till other crimes are +exhausted. The sacredness of life is the greatest of human +privileges. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Patriarchal +constitutions.</note> +The government was patriarchal. The head of a family +had almost unlimited power. And this government was religious +as well as civil. The head of the family was both +priest and king. He erected altars and divided +inheritances. He ruled his sons, even if they had +wives and children. And as the old patriarchs lived to a +great age, their authority extended over several generations +and great numbers of people. +</p> + +<pb n="020"/><anchor id="Pg020"/> + +<p> +Noah pursued the life of a husbandman, and planted vines, +probably like the antediluvians. Nor did he escape the +shame of drunkenness, though we have no evidence it was an +habitual sin. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Consequences +of the sin +of Noah.</note> +From this sin and shame great consequences followed. +Noah was indecently exposed. The second son made light +of it; the two others covered up the nakedness of their +father. For this levity Ham was cursed in his +children. Canaan, his son, was decreed to be a +servant of servants—the ancestor of the races afterward +exterminated by the Jews. To Shem, for his piety, was +given a special religious blessing. Through him all the +nations of the earth were blessed. To Japhet was promised +especial temporal prosperity, and a participation of +the blessing of Shem, The European races are now reaping +this prosperity, and the religious privileges of Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Settlements +of his descendants.</note> +Four generations passed without any signal event. They +all spoke the same language, and pursued the same avocations. +They lived in Armenia, but gradually +spread over the surrounding countries and especially +toward the west and south. They journeyed to the +land of Shinar, and dwelt on its fertile plains. This was +the great level of Lower Mesopotamia, or Chaldea, watered +by the Euphrates. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Tower +of Babel.</note> +Here they built a city, and aspired to build a tower which +should reach unto the heavens. It was vanity +and pride which incited them,—also fear lest they +should be scattered. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nimrod.</note> +We read that Nimrod—one of the descendants of Ham—a +mighty hunter, had migrated to this plain, and set up a kingdom +at Babel—perhaps a revolt against patriarchal authority. +Here was a great settlement—perhaps the +central seat of the descendants of Noah, where +Nimrod—the strongest man of his times—usurped dominion. +Under his auspices the city was built—a stronghold from +which he would defy all other powers. Perhaps here he +<pb n="021"/><anchor id="Pg021"/> +instituted idolatry, since a tower was also a temple. But, +whether fear or ambition or idolatry prompted the building +of Babel, it displeased the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Confusion +of +tongues.</note> +The punishment which he inflicted upon the builders was +confusion of tongues. The people could not understand each +other, and were obliged to disperse. The tower was left +unfinished. The Lord <q>scattered the people abroad upon +the face of all the earth.</q> Probably some remained at +Babel, on the Euphrates—the forefathers of the Israelites +when they dwelt in Chaldea. It is not probable +that every man spoke a different language, but +that there was a great division of language, corresponding +with the great division of families, so that the posterity +of Shem took one course, that of Japhet another, and +that of Ham the third—dividing themselves into three +separate nations, each speaking substantially the same +tongue, afterward divided into different dialects from their +peculiar circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dispersion +of nations.</note> +Much learning and ingenuity have been expended in tracing +the different races and languages of the earth to the +grand confusion of Babel. But the subject is too +complicated, and in the present state of science, +too unsatisfactory to make it expedient to pursue ethnological +and philological inquiries in a work so limited as this. +We refer students to Max Muller, and other authorities. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The settlements +of the +children of +Japhet.</note> +But that there was a great tripartite division of the human +family can not be doubted. The descendants of Japhet +occupied a great zone running from the high lands of Armenia +to the southeast, into the table-lands of Iran, and to +Northern India, and to the west into Thrace, the Grecian +peninsula, and Western Europe. And all the nations which +subsequently sprung from the children of Japhet, spoke languages +the roots of which bear a striking affinity. +This can be proved. The descendants of Japhet, +supposed to be the oldest son of Noah, possessed +the fairest lands of the world—most favorable to development +and progress—most favorable to ultimate supremacy. They +<pb n="022"/><anchor id="Pg022"/> +composed the great Caucasian race, which spread over Northern +and Western Asia, and over Europe—superior to other +races in personal beauty and strength, and also intellectual +force. From the times of the Greek and Romans this race +has held the supremacy of the world, as was predicted to +Noah. <q>God shall enlarge Japhet, and he shall dwell in the +tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.</q> The conquest +of the descendants of Ham by the Greeks and Romans, +and their slavery, attest the truth of Scripture. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The settlements +of the +descendants +of Shem.</note> +The descendants of Shem occupied another belt or zone. +It extended from the southeastern part of Asia Minor to the +Persian Gulf and the peninsula of Arabia. The +people lived in tents, were not ambitious of conquest, +were religious and contemplative. The +great theogonies of the East came from this people. They +studied the stars. They meditated on God and theological +questions. They were a chosen race with whom sacred history +dwells. They had, compared with other races, a small +territory between the possessions of Japhet on the north, +and that of Ham on the south. Their destiny was not to +spread over the world, but to exhibit the dealings of God's +providence. From this race came the Jews and the Messiah. +The most enterprising of the descendants of Shem were the +Phœnicians, who pursued commerce on a narrow strip of the +eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and who colonized Carthage +and North Africa, but were not powerful enough to +contend successfully with the Romans in political power. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The descendants +of Ham.</note> +The most powerful of the posterity of Noah were the +descendants of Ham, for more than two thousand +years, since they erected great monarchies, and +were warlike, aggressive, and unscrupulous. They lived in +Egypt, Ethiopia, Palestine, and the countries around the +Red Sea. They commenced their empire in Babel, on the +great plain of Babylonia, and extended it northward into +the land of Asshur (Assyria). They built the great cities +of Antioch, Rehoboth, Calah and Resen. Their empire was +the oldest in the world—that established by a Cushite +<pb n="023"/><anchor id="Pg023"/> +dynasty on the plains of Babylon, and in the highlands of +Persia. They cast off the patriarchal law, and indulged in a +restless passion for dominion. And they were the most civilized +of the ancient nations in arts and material life. They +built cities and monuments of power. These temples, their +palaces, their pyramids were the wonders of the ancient world. +Their grand and somber architecture lasted for centuries. +They were the wickedest of the nations of the earth, and effeminacy, +pride and sensuality followed naturally from their +material civilization unhallowed by high religious ideas. +They were hateful conquerors and tyrants, and yet slaves. +They were permitted to prosper until their vices wrought +out their own destruction, and they became finally subservient +to the posterity of Japhet. But among some of the +descendants of Ham civilization never advanced. The negro +race of Africa ever has been degraded and enslaved. It +has done nothing to advance human society. None of +these races, even the most successful, have left durable monuments +of intellect or virtue: they have left gloomy monuments +of tyrannical and physical power. The Babylonians +and Egyptians laid the foundation of some of the sciences +and arts, but nothing remains at the present day which +civilization values. +</p> + +<p> +How impressive and august the ancient prophecy to +Noah! How strikingly have all the predictions been fulfilled! +These give to history an imperishable interest and +grandeur. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="024"/><anchor id="Pg024"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER III. THE HEBREW RACE FROM ABRAHAM TO THE SALE OF +JOSEPH."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER III."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER III.</head> +<head>THE HEBREW RACE FROM ABRAHAM TO THE SALE OF +JOSEPH.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Abram.</note> +We postpone the narrative of the settlements and empires +which grew up on the banks of the Euphrates and the Nile, +the oldest monarchies, until we have contemplated the early +history of the Jews—descended from one of the children of +Shem. This is not in chronological order, but in accordance +with the inimitable history of Moses. The Jews did not +become a nation until four hundred and thirty years +after the call of Abram—and Abram was of the +tenth generation from Noah. When he was born, great cities +existed in Babylon, Canaan, and Egypt, and the descendants +of Ham were the great potentates of earth. The children +of Shem were quietly living in tents, occupied with agriculture +and the raising of cattle. Those of Japhet were +exploring all countries with zealous enterprise, and founding +distant settlements—adventurers in quest of genial climates +and fruitful fields. +</p> + +<p> +Abram was born in Ur, a city of the Chaldeans, in the +year 1996 before Christ—supposed by some to be the Edessa +of the Greeks, and by others to be a great maritime city on +the right bank of the Euphrates near its confluence with the +Tigris. +</p> + +<p> +From this city his father Terah removed with his children +and kindred to Haran, and dwelt there. It was in Mesopotamia—a +rich district, fruitful in pasturage. Here Abram +remained until he was 75, and had become rich. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The wanderings +and settlements +of +Abraham.</note> +While sojourning in this fruitful plain the Lord said unto +him, <q>get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, +and from thy father's house, unto a land which I will show +<pb n="025"/><anchor id="Pg025"/> +thee.</q> <q>And I will make thee a great nation, and will bless +thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. +And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that +curseth thee. And in thee shall all the families of the earth +be blessed.</q> So Abram departed with Lot, his nephew, and +Sarai, his wife, with all his cattle and substance, to the land +of Canaan, then occupied by that Hamite race which +had probably proved unfriendly to his family in +Chaldea. We do not know by what route he +passed the Syrian desert, but he halted at Shechem, situated +in a fruitful valley, one of the passes of the hills +from Damascus to Canaan. He then built an altar to the +Lord, probably among an idolatrous people. From want of +pasturage, or some cause not explained, he removed from +thence into a mountain on the east of Bethel, between that +city and Hai, or Ai, when he again erected an altar, and +called upon the living God. But here he did not long remain, +being driven by a famine to the fertile land of Egypt, +then ruled by the Pharaohs, whose unscrupulous character +he feared, and which tempted him to practice an unworthy +deception, yet in accordance with profound worldly sagacity. +It was the dictate of expediency rather than faith. He pretended +that Sarai was his sister, and was well treated on her +account by the princes of Egypt, and not killed, as he feared +he would be if she was known to be his wife. The king, +afflicted by great plagues in consequence of his attentions to +this beautiful woman, sent Abram away, after a stern rebuke +for the story he had told, with all his possessions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +separation +of Abraham +and Lot.</note> +The patriarch returned to Canaan, enriched by the princes +of Egypt, and resumed his old encampment near +Bethel. But there was not enough pasturage for +his flocks, united with those of Lot. So, with +magnanimous generosity, disinclined to strife or greed, +he gave his nephew the choice of lands, but insisted on a +division. <q>Is not the whole land before thee,</q> said he: +<q>Separate thyself, I pray thee: if thou wilt take the left +hand, I will go to the right, and if thou depart to the right +<pb n="026"/><anchor id="Pg026"/> +hand, then I will go to the left.</q> The children of Ham and +of Japhet would have quarreled, and one would have got +the ascendency over the other. Not so with the just and +generous Shemite—the reproachless model of all oriental virtues, +if we may forget the eclipse of his fair name in Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The settlements +of Lot.</note> +Lot chose, as was natural, the lower valley of the Jordan, +a fertile and well-watered plain, but near the wicked cities +of the Canaanites, which lay in the track of the commerce +between Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and the East. The worst +vices of antiquity prevailed among them, and Lot +subsequently realized, by a painful experience, the +folly of seeking, for immediate good, such an accursed +neighborhood. +</p> + +<p> +Abram was contented with less advantages among the +hills, and after a renewed blessing from the Lord, removed +his tents to the plain of Mamre, near Hebron, one of the +oldest cities of the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The first +recorded +battle in +history.</note> +The first battle that we read of in history was fought +between the Chaldean monarch and the kings of +the five cities of Canaan, near to the plain which +Lot had selected. The kings were vanquished, +and, in the spoliation which ensued, Lot himself and his +cattle were carried away by Chederlaomer. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The victory +of Abraham.</note> +The news reached Abram in time for him to pursue the +Chaldean king with his trained servants, three hundred and +eighteen in number. In a midnight attack the Chaldeans +were routed, since a panic was created, and Lot +was rescued, with all his goods, from which we +infer that Abram was a powerful chieftain, and was also +assisted directly by God, as Joshua subsequently was in his +unequal contest with the Canaanites. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Melchizedek.</note> +The king of Sodom, in gratitude, went out to meet him on +his return from the successful encounter, and also +the king of Salem, Melchizedek, with bread and +wine. This latter was probably of the posterity of Shem, +since he was also a priest of the most high God, He blessed +Abram, and gave him tithes, which Abram accepted. +</p> + +<pb n="027"/><anchor id="Pg027"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The pride of +Abraham.</note> +But Abram would accept nothing from the king of +Sodom—not even to a shoe-latchet—from patriarchal +pride, or disinclination to have any intercourse +with idolators. But he did not prevent his young +warriors from eating his bread in their hunger. It was not +the Sodomites he wished to rescue, but Lot, his kinsman and +friend. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His prospects.</note> +Abram, now a powerful chieftain and a rich man, well advanced +in years, had no children, in spite of the promise of +God that he should be the father of nations. His apparent +heir was his chief servant, or steward, +Elizur, of Damascus. He then reminds the Lord of the +promise, and the Lord renewed the covenant, and Abram +rested in faith. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hagar.</note> +Not so his wife Sarai. Skeptical that from herself should +come the promised seed, she besought Abram to make a concubine +or wife of her Egyptian maid, Hagar. Abram +listens to her, and grants her request. Sarai is then +despised by the woman, and lays her complaint before her +husband. Abram delivers the concubine into the hands of +the jealous and offended wife, who dealt hardly with her, so +that she fled to the wilderness. Thirsty and miserable, she +was found by an angel, near to a fountain of water, who +encouraged her by the promise that her child should be the +father of a numerous nation, but counseled her to return to +Sarai, and submit herself to her rule. In due time the child +was born, and was called Ishmael—destined to be a wild man, +with whom the world should be at enmity. Abram was now +eighty-six years of age. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The renewed +Covenant +with Abraham.</note> +Fourteen years later the Lord again renewed his covenant +that he should be the father of many nations, who +should possess forever the land of Canaan. His name +was changed to Abraham (father of a multitude), +and Sarai's was changed to Sarah. The Lord promised +that from Sarah should come the predicted blessing. The +patriarch is still incredulous, and laughs within himself; +but God renews the promise, and henceforth Abraham believes, +<pb n="028"/><anchor id="Pg028"/> +and, as a test of his faith, he institutes, by divine +direction, the rite of circumcision to Ishmael and all the servants +and slaves of his family—even those <q>bought with +money of the stranger.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The birth of +Isaac.</note> +In due time, according to prediction, Sarah gave birth to +Isaac, who was circumcised on the eighth day, +when Abraham was 100 years old. Ishmael, now +a boy of fifteen, made a mockery of the event, whereupon +Sarah demanded that the son of the bondwoman, her slave, +should be expelled from the house, with his mother. Abraham +was grieved also, and, by divine counsel, they were +both sent away, with some bread and a bottle of water. The +water was soon expended in the wilderness of Beersheba, +and Hagar sat down in despair and wept. God heard her +lamentations, and she opened her eyes and saw that she was +seated near a well. The child was preserved, and dwelt in +the wilderness of Paran, pursuing the occupation of an +archer, or huntsman, and his mother found for him a wife +out of the land of Egypt. He is the ancestor of the twelve +tribes of Bedouin Arabs, among whom the Hamite blood +predominated. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +destruction +of Sodom.</note> +Meanwhile, as Abraham dwelt on the plains of Mamre, +the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah took +place, because not ten righteous persons could be +found therein. But Lot was rescued by angels, and afterward +dwelt in a cave, for fear, his wife being turned into a pillar +of salt for daring to look back on the burning cities. He +lived with his two daughters, who became the guilty mothers +of the Moabites and the Ammonites, who settled on the +hills to the east of Jordan and the Dead Sea. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The duplicity +of Abraham.</note> +Before the birth of Isaac, Abraham removed to the South, +and dwelt in Gerah, a city of the Philistines, and probably +for the same reason that he had before sought the land of +Egypt. But here the same difficulty occurred as +in Egypt. The king, Abimelech, sent and took +Sarah, supposing she was merely Abraham's sister; and +Abraham equivocated and deceived in this instance to save +<pb n="029"/><anchor id="Pg029"/> +his own life. But the king, warned by God in a dream, +restored unto Abraham his wife, and gave him sheep, oxen, +men servants and women servants, and one thousand pieces +of silver, for he knew he was a prophet. In return Abraham +prayed for him, and removed from him and his house all impediments +for the growth of his family. The king, seeing +how Abraham was prospered, made a covenant with him, so +that the patriarch lived long among the Philistines, worshiping +<q>the everlasting God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Trial of +Abraham.</note> +Then followed the great trial of his faith, when requested +to sacrifice Isaac. And when he was obedient to the call, +and did not withhold his son, his only son, +from the sacrificial knife, having faith that his +seed should still possess the land of Canaan, he was again +blessed, and in the most emphatic language. After this he +dwelt in Beersheba. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Sarah.</note> +At the age of 120 Sarah died at Hebron, and Abraham +purchased of Ephron the Hittite, the cave of Machpelah, +with a field near Mamre, for four hundred +shekels of silver, in which he buried his wife. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +marriage +of Isaac.</note> +Shortly after, he sought a wife for Isaac. But he would +not accept any of the daughters of the Canaanites, among +whom he dwelt, but sent his eldest and most trusted servant +to Mesopotamia, with ten loaded camels, to secure one of +his own people. Rebekah, the grand-daughter of +Nahor, the brother of Abraham, was the favored +damsel whom the Lord provided. Her father and brother +accepted the proposal of Abraham's servant, and loaded +with presents, jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and raiment, +the Mesopotamian lady departed from her country +and her father's house, with the benediction of the whole +family. <q>Be thou the mother of thousands of millions, +and let thy seed possess the gate of those which +hate them.</q> Thus was <q>Isaac comforted after his mother's +death.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Second +marriage of +Abraham.</note> +Abraham married again, and had five sons by Keturah; +but, in his life-time, he gave all he had unto Isaac, except +<pb n="030"/><anchor id="Pg030"/> +some gifts to his other children, whom he sent away, that +they might not dispute the inheritance with Isaac. +He died at a good old age, 175 years, and was +buried by his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, in the cave of Machpelah, +which had been purchased of the sons of Heth. Isaac +thus became the head of the house, with princely possessions, +living near a well. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He +deceives the +Philistines.</note> +But a famine arose, as in the days of his father, and he +went to Gerar, and not to Egypt. He, however, was afraid +to call Rebekah his wife, for the same reason that Abraham +called Sarah his sister. But the king happening from his +window to see Isaac <q>sporting with Rebekah,</q> knew he had +been deceived, yet abstained from taking her, and +even loaded Isaac with new favors, so that he became +very great and rich—so much so that the Philistines +envied him, and maliciously filled up the wells which +Abraham had dug. Here again he was befriended by Abimelech, +who saw that the Lord was with him, and a solemn +covenant of peace was made between them, and new wells +were dug. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +affliction +of Isaac.</note> +Isaac, it seems, led a quiet and peaceful life—averse to all +strife with the Canaanites, and gradually grew very rich. +He gave no evidence of remarkable strength of +mind, and was easily deceived. His greatest +affliction was the marriage of his eldest and favorite son +Esau with a Hittite woman, and it was probably this mistake +and folly which confirmed the superior fortunes of +Jacob. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jacob and +Esau.</note> +Esau was a hunter. On returning one day from hunting +he was faint from hunger, and cast a greedy eye on some +pottage that Jacob had prepared. But Jacob +would not give his hungry brother the food until he +had promised, by a solemn oath, to surrender his birthright to +him. The clever man of enterprise, impulsive and passionate, +thought more, for the moment, of the pangs of hunger than +of his future prospects, and the quiet, plain, and cunning +man of tents availed himself of his brother's rashness. +</p> + +<pb n="031"/><anchor id="Pg031"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jacob +obtains the +birthright. +The despair +of Esau.</note> +But the birthright was not secure to Jacob without his +father's blessing. So he, with his mother's contrivance, for +he was <emph>her</emph> favorite, deceived his father, and appeared +to be Esau. Isaac, old and dim and +credulous, supposing that Jacob, clothed in Esau's vestments +as a hunter, and his hands covered with skins, +was his eldest son, blessed him. The old man still had +doubts, but Jacob falsely declared that he was Esau, and +obtained what he wanted. When Esau returned from +the hunt he saw what Jacob had done, and his grief was +bitter and profound. He cried out in his agony, <q>Bless me +even me, also, O my father.</q> And Isaac said: <q>Thy +brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.</q> +And Esau said, <q>Is he not rightly named Jacob—that +is, a supplanter—for he hath supplanted me these two +times: he took away my birthright, and behold now he +hath taken away my blessing.</q> <q>And he lifted up his +voice and wept.</q> Isaac, then moved, declared that his +dwelling should be the fatness of the earth, even though he +should serve his brother,—that he should live by the sword, +and finally break the yoke from off his neck. +This was all Esau could wring from his father. +He hated Jacob with ill-concealed resentment, as was to +be expected, and threatened to kill him on his father's +death. Rebekah advised Jacob to flee to his uncle, giving +as an excuse to Isaac, that he sought a wife in Mesopotamia. +This pleased Isaac, who regarded a marriage with a Canaanite +as the greatest calamity. So he again gave him his blessing, +and advised him to select one of the daughters of Laban for +his wife. And Jacob departed from his father's house, and +escaped the wrath of Esau. But Esau, seeing that his Hittite +wife was offensive to his father, married also one of the +daughters of Ishmael, his cousin. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jacob's wanderings.</note> +Jacob meanwhile pursued his journey. Arriving at a certain +place after sunset, he lay down to sleep, with stones for +his pillow, and he dreamed that a ladder set up on the earth +reached the heavens, on which the angels of God ascended +<pb n="032"/><anchor id="Pg032"/> +and descended, and above it was the Lord himself, the +God of his father, who renewed all the promises that had +been made to Abraham of the future prosperity of his house. +He then continued his journey till he arrived in Haran, by +the side of a well. Thither Rachel, the daughter of Laban, +came to draw water for the sheep she tended. +Jacob rolled away the stone from the mouth of +the well, and watered her flock, and kissed her, and wept, +for he had found in his cousin his bride. He then told her +who he was, and she ran and told her father that his nephew +had come, Isaac's son, and Laban was filled with joy, and +kissed Jacob and brought him to his house, where he dwelt +a month as a guest. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He served +Laban.</note> +An agreement was then made that Jacob should serve +Laban seven years, and receive in return for his +services his youngest daughter Rachel, whom he +loved. But Laban deceived him, and gave him Leah instead, +and Jacob was compelled to serve another seven years before +he obtained her. Thus he had two wives, the one tender-eyed, +the other beautiful. But he loved Rachel and hated +Leah. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The quarrel +with Laban.</note> +Jacob continued to serve Laban until he was the father +of eleven sons and a daughter, and then desired to return to +his own country. But Laban, unwilling to lose so +profitable a son-in-law, raised obstacles. Jacob, +in the mean time, became rich, although his flocks and herds +were obtained by a sharp bargain, which he turned to his +own account. The envy of Laban's sons was the result. +Laban also was alienated, whereupon Jacob fled, with his +wives and children and cattle. Laban pursued, overtook +him, and after an angry altercation, in which Jacob recounted +his wrongs during twenty years of servitude, and +Laban claimed every thing as his—daughters, children and +cattle, they made a covenant on a heap of stones not to +pass either across it for the other's harm, and Laban returned +to his home and Jacob went on his way. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'> Meeting of +Esau and +Jacob.</note> +But Esau, apprised of the return of his brother, came out +<pb n="033"/><anchor id="Pg033"/> +of Edom against him with four hundred men. Jacob was +afraid, and sought to approach Esau with presents. +The brothers met, but whether from fraternal +impulse or by the aid of God, they met affectionately, +and fell into each other's arms and wept. Jacob offered +his presents, which Esau at first magnanimously refused +to take, but finally accepted: peace was restored, and Jacob +continued his journey till he arrived in Thalcom—a city of +Shechem, in the land of Canaan, where he pitched his tent +and erected an altar. +</p> + +<p> +Here he was soon brought into collision with the people +of Shechem, whose prince had inflicted a great wrong. +Levi and Simeon avenged it, and the city was spoiled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jacob in +Bethel.</note> +Jacob, perhaps in fear of the other Amorites, retreated +to Bethel, purged his household of all idolatry, +and built an altar, and God again appeared to him, +blessed him and changed his name to Israel. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Rachel.</note> +Soon after, Rachel died, on the birth of her son, Benjamin, +and Jacob came to see his father in Mamre, now +180 years of age, and about to die. Esau and +Jacob buried him in the cave of Machpelah. +</p> + +<p> +Esau dwelt in Edom, the progenitor of a long line of +dukes or princes. The seat of his sovereignty was Mount Seir. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The sale of +Joseph.</note> +Jacob continued to live in Hebron—a patriarchal prince, +rich in cattle, and feared by his neighbors. His favorite +son was Joseph, and his father's partiality excited +the envy of the other sons. They conspired +to kill him, but changed their purpose through the influence +of Reuben, and cast him into a pit in the wilderness. While +he lay there, a troop of Ishmaelites appeared, and to them, +at the advice of Judah, they sold him as a slave, but pretended +to their father that he was slain by wild beasts, and +produced, in attestation, his lacerated coat of colors. The +Ishmaelites carried Joseph to Egypt, and sold him to +Potaphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard. Before we follow +his fortunes, we will turn our attention to the land whence +he was carried. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="034"/><anchor id="Pg034"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER IV. EGYPT AND THE PHARAOHS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER IV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER IV.</head> +<head>EGYPT AND THE PHARAOHS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The original +inhabitants +of Egypt.</note> +The first country to which Moses refers, in connection +with the Hebrew history, is Egypt. This favored +land was the seat of one of the oldest monarchies +of the world. Although it would seem that Assyria +was first peopled, historians claim for Egypt a more remote +antiquity. Whether this claim can be substantiated +or not, it is certain that Egypt was one of the primeval +seats of the race of Ham. Mizraim, the Scripture name for +the country, indicates that it was settled by a son of Ham. +But if this is true even, the tide of emigration from Armenia +probably passed to the southeast through Syria and Palestine, +and hence the descendants of Ham had probably +occupied the land of Canaan before they crossed the desert +between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. I doubt if +Egypt had older cities than Damascus, Hebron, Zoar, and +Tyre. +</p> + +<p> +But Egypt certainly was a more powerful monarchy than +any existing on the earth in the time of Abraham. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their peculiarities.</note> +Its language, traditions, and monuments alike point to a +high antiquity. It was probably inhabited by a +mixed race, Shemitic as well as Hamite; though +the latter had the supremacy. The distinction of castes +indicates a mixed population, so that the ancients doubted +whether Egypt belonged to Asia or Africa. The people +were not black, but of a reddish color, with thick lips, straight +black hair, and elongated eye, and sunk in the degraded +superstitions of the African race. +</p> + +<pb n="035"/><anchor id="Pg035"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The fertility +of Egypt.</note> +The geographical position indicates not only a high antiquity, +but a state favorable to great national +wealth and power. The river Nile, issuing from +a great lake under the equator, runs 3,000 miles nearly due +north to the Mediterranean. Its annual inundations covered +the valley with a rich soil brought down from the mountains +of Abyssinia, making it the most fertile in the world. The +country, thus so favored by a great river, with its rich alluvial +deposits, is about 500 miles in length, with an area of +115,000 square miles, of which 9,600 are subject to the fertilizing +inundation. But, in ancient times, a great part of the +country was irrigated, and abounded in orchards, gardens, +and vineyards. Every kind of vegetable was cultivated, and +grain was raised in the greatest abundance, so that the people +lived in luxury and plenty while other nations were subject +to occasional famines. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The productions +of +Egypt.</note> +Among the fruits, were dates, grapes, figs, pomegranates, +apricots, peaches, oranges, citrons, lemons, limes, +bananas, melons, mulberries, olives. Among vegetables, +if we infer from what exist at present, were beans, +peas, lentils, luprins, spinach, leeks, onions, garlic, celery, +chiccory, radishes, carrots, turnips, lettuce, cabbage, fennel, +gourds, cucumbers, tomatoes, egg-plant. What a variety for +the sustenance of man, to say nothing of the various kinds +of grain,—barley, oats, maize, rice, and especially wheat, +which grows to the greatest perfection. +</p> + +<p> +In old times the horses were famous, as well as cattle, +and sheep, and poultry. Quails were abundant, while the +marshes afforded every kind of web-footed fowl. Fish, too, +abounded in the Nile, and in the lakes. Bees were kept, and +honey was produced, though inferior to that of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The castes of +Egypt.</note> +The climate also of this fruitful land was salubrious without +being enervating. The soil was capable of supporting +a large population, which amounted, in the time of Herodotus, +to seven millions. On the banks of the Nile were great +cities, whose ruins still astonish travelers. The +land, except that owned by the priests, belonged +<pb n="036"/><anchor id="Pg036"/> +to the king, who was supreme and unlimited in power. The +people were divided into castes, the highest being priests, +and the lowest husbandmen. The kings were hereditary, +but belonged to the priesthood, and their duties and labors +were arduous. The priests were the real governing body, +and were treated with the most respectful homage. They +were councilors of the king, judges of the land, and guardians +of all great interests. The soldiers were also numerous, +and formed a distinct caste. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Egyptian +dynasties.</note> +When Abram visited Egypt, impelled by the famine in +Canaan, it was already a powerful monarchy. This was +about 1921 years before Christ, according to the received +chronology, when the kings of the 15th dynasty reigned. +These dynasties of ancient kings are difficult to be +settled, and rest upon traditions rather than well +defined historical grounds,—or rather on the authority of +Manetho, an Egyptian priest, who lived nearly 300 years +before Christ. His list of dynasties has been confirmed, to a +great extent, by the hieroglyphic inscriptions which are still +to be found on ancient monuments, but they give us only a +barren catalogue of names without any vital historical +truths. Therefore these old dynasties, before Abraham, are +only interesting to antiquarians, and not satisfactory to them, +since so little is known or can be known. These, if correct, +would give a much greater antiquity to Egypt than can be +reconciled with Mosaic history. But all authorities agree in +ascribing to Menes the commencement of the first dynasty, +2712 years before Christ, according to Hales, but 3893 according +to Lepsius, and 2700 according to Lane. Neither +Menes nor his successors of the first dynasty left any monuments. +It is probable, however, that Memphis was built by +them, and possibly hieroglyphics were invented during their +reigns. +</p> + +<p> +But here a chronological difficulty arises. The Scriptures +ascribe ten generations from Shem to Abram. Either the +generations were made longer than in our times, or the seventeen +dynasties, usually supposed to have reigned when +<pb n="037"/><anchor id="Pg037"/> +Abram came to Egypt, could not have existed; for, according +to the received chronology, he was born 1996, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, and the +Deluge took place 2349, before Christ, leaving but 353 years +from the Deluge to the birth of Abraham. How could seventeen +dynasties have reigned in Egypt in that time, even +supposing that Egypt was settled immediately after the +Flood, unless either more than ten generations existed from +Noah to Abram, or that these generations extended over +seven or eight hundred years? Until science shall reconcile +the various chronologies with the one usually received, there +is but little satisfaction in the study of Egyptian history +prior to Abram. Nor is it easy to settle when the Pyramids +were constructed. If they existed in the time of Abram a +most rapid advance had been made in the arts, unless a +much longer period elapsed from Noah to Abraham than +Scripture seems to represent. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Pyramids.</note> +Nothing of interest occurs in Egyptian history until the +fourth dynasty of kings, when the pyramids of Ghizeh, were +supposed to have been built—a period more remote than +Scripture ascribes to the Flood itself, according to our received +chronology. These were the tombs of the Memphian kings, +who believed in the immortality of the soul, and its final reunion +with the body after various forms of transmigration. +Hence the solicitude to preserve the body in some enduring +monument, and by elaborate embalment. What +more durable monument than these great masses of +granite, built to defy the ravages of time, and the spoliations +of conquerors! The largest of these pyramids, towering +above other pyramids, and the lesser sepulchres of the rich, +was built upon a square of 756 feet, and the height of it was +489 feet 9 inches, covering an area of 571,536 feet, or more +than thirteen acres. The whole mass contained 90,000,000 +cubic feet of masonry, weighing 6,316,000 tons. Nearly in +the centre of this pile of stone, reached by a narrow passage, +were the chambers where the royal sarcophagi were deposited. +At whatever period these vast monuments were actually +<pb n="038"/><anchor id="Pg038"/> +built, they at least go back into remote antiquity, and +probably before the time of Abram. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thebes.</note> +The first great name of the early Egyptian kings was Sesertesen, +or Osirtasin I., the founder of the twelfth dynasty of +kings, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 2080. He was a great conqueror, and tradition +confounds him with the Sesostris of the Greeks, which gathered +up stories about him as the Middle Ages did of Charlemagne +and his paladins. The real Sesostris was Ramenes the Great, +of the nineteenth dynasty. By the kings of this dynasty (the +twelfth) Ethiopia was conquered, the Labyrinth was built, +and Lake Moevis dug, to control the inundations. Under +them Thebes became a great city. The dynasty +lasted 100 years, but became subject to the Shepherd +kings. These early Egyptian monarchs wore fond of +peace, and their subjects enjoyed repose and prosperity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The shepherd +kings.</note> +The Shepherd kings, who ruled 400 years, were supposed +by Manetho to be Arabs, but leaves us to infer that they were +Phœnicians—as is probable—a roving body of conquerors, +who easily subdued the peaceful Egyptians. +They have left no monumental history. They were +alien to the conquered race in language and habits, and +probably settled in Lower Egypt where the land was most +fertile, and where conquests would be most easily retained. +</p> + +<p> +It was under their rule that Abram probably visited Egypt +when driven by a famine from Canaan. And they were not +expelled till the time of Joseph, by the first of the eighteenth +dynasty. The descendants of the old kings, we suppose, +lived in Thebes, and were tributary princes for 400 years, +but gained sufficient strength, finally, to expel the Shemite +invaders, even as the Gothic nations of Spain, in the Middle +Ages, expelled their conquerors, the Moors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Friendly relations +of the +Hebrews +with the +Shepherd +Kings.</note> +But it was under the Shepherd kings that the relations +between Egypt and the Hebrew patriarchs took +place. We infer this fact from the friendly intercourse +and absence of national prejudices. The +Phœnicians belonged to the same Shemitic stock +<pb n="039"/><anchor id="Pg039"/> +from which Abraham came. They built no temples. They +did not advance a material civilization. They loaded Abram +and Joseph with presents, and accepted the latter as a minister +and governor. We read of no great repulsion of races, +and see a great similarity in pursuits. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Expulsion of +the Shepherd +kings.</note> +Meanwhile, the older dynasties under whom Thebes was +built, probably <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 2200, gathered strength in misfortune and +subjection. They reigned, during five dynasties, in a subordinate +relation, tributary and oppressed. The first king of the +eighteenth dynasty seems to have been a remarkable man—the +deliverer of his nation. His name was Aah-mes, or Amo-sis, +and he expelled the shepherds from the greater +part of Egypt, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 1525. In his reign we see on +the monuments chariots and horses. He built temples both +in Thebes and Memphis, and established a navy. This was +probably the king who knew not Joseph. His successors +continued the work of conquest, and extended their dominion +from Ethiopia to Mesopotamia, and obtained that part of +Western Asia formerly held by the Chaldeans. They built +the temple of Karnak, the <q>Vocal Memnon,</q> and the avenue +of Sphinxes in Thebes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Greatness of +Ramesis II. +His +architectural +works.</note> +The grandest period of Egyptian history begins with +the nineteenth dynasty, founded by Sethee I., or Sethos, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 1340. He built the famous <q>Hall of Columns,</q> +in the temple of Karnak, and the finest of the tombs of the Theban +kings. On the walls of this great temple are depicted +his conquests, especially over the Hittites. But the glories +of the monarchy, now decidedly military, culminated +in Ramesis II.—the Sesostris of the Greeks. +He extended his dominion as far as Scythia and Thrace, +while his naval expeditions penetrated to the Erythræan +Sea. The captives which he brought from his wars were +employed in digging canals, which intersected the country, +for purposes of irrigation, and especially that great canal +which united the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. He +added to the temple of Karnak, built the Memnonium +on the western side of the Nile, opposite +<pb n="040"/><anchor id="Pg040"/> +to Thebes, and enlarged the temple of Ptah, at Memphis, +which he adorned by a beautiful colossal statue, the fist +of which is (now in the British Museum) thirty inches +wide across the knuckles. But the Rameseum, or Memnonium, +was his greatest architectural work, approached by +an avenue of sphinxes and obelisks, in the centre of which +was the great statue of Ramesis himself, sixty feet high, +carved from a single stone of the red granite of Syene. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Decline of +Thebes.</note> +The twentieth dynasty was founded by Sethee II., <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +1220 (or 1232 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, according to Wilkinson), when Gideon +ruled the Israelites and Theseus reigned at Athens and +Priam at Troy. The third king of this dynasty—Ramesis +III.—built palaces and tombs scarcely inferior to any of +the Theban kings, but under his successors the Theban +power declined. Under the twenty-first dynasty, +which began <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 1085, Lower Egypt had a new +capital, Zoan, and gradually extended its power over Upper +Egypt. It had a strong Shemetic element in its population, +and strengthened itself by alliances with the Assyrians. +</p> + +<p> +The twenty-second dynasty was probably Assyrian, and +began about 1009 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> It was hostile to the Jews, and +took and sacked Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Obscurity +of Egyptian +history.</note> +From this period the history of Egypt is obscure. Ruled +by Assyrians, and then by Ethiopians, the grandeur +of the old Theban monarchy had passed +away. On the rise of the Babylonian kingdom, over the +ruins of the old Assyrian Empire, Egypt was greatly prostrated +as a military power. Babylon became the great +monarchy of the East, and gained possession of all the territories +of the Theban kings, from the Euphrates to the +Nile. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving, then, the obscure and uninteresting history of +Egypt, which presents nothing of especial interest until its +conquest by Alexander, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 332, with no great kings even, +with the exception of Necho, of the twenty-sixth dynasty, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 611, we will present briefly the religion, manners, +customs, and attainments of the ancient Egyptians. +</p> + +<pb n="041"/><anchor id="Pg041"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Religion +of the +Egyptians.</note> +Their religion was idolatrous. They worshiped various +divinities: Num, the soul of the universe; Amen, +the generative principle; Khom, by whom the productiveness +of nature was emblematized; Ptah, or the +creator of the universe; Ra, the sun; Thoth, the patron +of letters; Athor, the goddess of beauty; Mu, physical +light; Mat, moral light; Munt, the god of war; Osiris, the +personification of good; Isis, who presided over funeral +rites; Set, the personification of evil; Anup, who judged +the souls of the departed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Deities.</note> +These were principal deities, and were worshiped through +sacred animals, as emblems of divinity. Among them were +the bulls, Apis, at Memphis, and Muenis, at Heliopolis, +both sacred to Osiris. The crocodile was +sacred to Lebak, whose offices are unknown; the asp to +Num; the cat to Pasht, whose offices were also unknown; +the beetle to Ptah. The worship of these and of other animals +was conducted with great ceremony, and sacrifices were +made to them of other animals, fruits and vegetables. +</p> + +<p> +Man was held accountable for his actions, and to be +judged, according to them. He was to be brought before +Osiris, and receive from him future rewards or punishments. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Laws of the +Egyptians.</note> +The penal laws of the Egyptians were severe. +Murder was punished with death. Adultery was +punished by the man being beaten with a thousand rods. +The woman had her nose cut off. Theft was punished with +less severity—with a beating by a stick. Usury was not permitted +beyond double of the debt, and the debtor was not +imprisoned. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Government.</note> +The government was a monarchy, only limited by the +priesthood, into whose order he was received, +and was administered by men appointed by the +king. On the whole, it was mild and paternal, and exercised +for the good of the people. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Habits of the +people.</note> +Polygamy was not common, though concubines were +allowed. In the upper classes women were treated +with great respect, and were regarded as the equals +<pb n="042"/><anchor id="Pg042"/> +of men. They ruled their households. The rich were hospitable, +and delighted to give feasts, at which were dancers +and musicians. They possessed chariots and horses, and +were indolent and pleasure-seeking. The poor people toiled, +with scanty clothing and poor fare. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Literary +culture.</note> +Hieroglyphic writing prevailed from a remote antiquity. +The papyrus was also used for hieratic writing, +and numerous papyri have been discovered, which +show some advance in literature. Astronomy was cultivated +by the priests, and was carried to the highest point it could +attain without modern instruments. Geometry also reached +considerable perfection. Mechanics must have been carried +to a great extent, when we remember that vast blocks of +stone were transported 500 miles and elevated to enormous +heights. Chemistry was made subservient to many arts, +such as the working of metals and the tempering of steel. +But architecture was the great art in which the Egyptians +excelled, as we infer from the ruins of temples and palaces; +and these wonderful fabrics were ornamented with paintings +which have preserved their color to this day. Architecture +was massive, grand, and imposing. Magical arts were in +high estimation, and chiefly exercised by the priests. The +industrial arts reached great excellence, especially in the +weaving of linen, pottery, and household furniture. The +Egyptians were great musicians, using harps, flutes, cymbals, +and drums. They were also great gardeners. In their +dress they were simple, frugal in diet, though given to occasional +excess; fond of war, but not cruel like the Assyrians; +hospitable among themselves, shy of strangers, patriotic in +feeling, and contemplative in character. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="043"/><anchor id="Pg043"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER V. THE JEWS UNTIL THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER V."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER V.</head> +<head>THE JEWS UNTIL THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Potiphar and +Joseph. +Elevation of +Joseph.</note> +When Joseph was sold by the Midianites to Potiphar, +Egypt was probably ruled by the Shepherd kings, +who were called Pharaoh, like all the other +kings, by the Jewish writers. Pitiphar (Pet-Pha, dedicated +to the sun) was probably the second person in the kingdom. +Joseph, the Hebrew slave, found favor in his sight, +and was gradually promoted to the oversight of his great +household. Cast into prison, from the intrigues of Potiphar's +wife, whose disgraceful overtures he had virtuously and +honorably rejected, he found favor with the keeper of the +prison, who intrusted him with the sole care of the prisoners, +although himself a prisoner,—a striking proof of his +transparent virtue. In process of time two other high +officers of the king, having offended him, were cast into the +same prison. They had strange dreams. Joseph interpreted +them, indicating the speedy return of the one to +favor, and of the other to as sudden an execution. These +things came to pass. After two years the king himself had +a singular dream, and none of the professional magicians or +priests of Egypt could interpret it. It then occurred to the +chief butler that Joseph, whom he had forgotten and neglected, +could interpret the royal dream which troubled him. +He told the king of his own dream in prison, and the explanation +of it by the Hebrew slave. Whereupon Joseph +was sent for, shaven and washed, and clothed with clean +raiment to appear in the royal palace, and he interpreted the +king's dream, which not only led to his promotion +to be governor over Egypt, with the State chariots +<pb n="044"/><anchor id="Pg044"/> +for his use, and all the emblems of sovereignty about his +person—a viceroy whose power was limited only by that +of the king—but he was also instrumental in rescuing Egypt +from the evils of that terrible famine which for seven years +afflicted Western Asia. He was then thirty years of age, +1715 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, and his elevation had been earned by the noblest +qualities—fidelity to his trusts, patience, and high principle—all +of which had doubtless been recounted to the king. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His rule as +Viceroy.</note> +The course which Joseph pursued toward the Egyptians +was apparently hard. The hoarded grain of seven +years' unexampled plenty was at first sold to the +famishing people, and when they had no longer money to +buy it, it was only obtained by the surrender of their cattle, +and then by the alienation of their land, so that the king +became possessed of all the property of the realm, personal +as well as real, except that of the priests. But he surrendered +the land back again to the people subsequently, on +condition of the payment of one-fifth of the produce annually +(which remained to the time of Moses)—a large tax, +but not so great as was exacted of the peasantry of France +by their feudal and royal lords. This proceeding undoubtedly +strengthened the power of the Shepherd kings, +and prevented insurrections. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The famine +in Egypt.</note> +The severity of the famine compels the brothers of Joseph +to seek corn in Egypt. Their arrival of course, +is known to the governor, who has unlimited rule. +They appear before him, and bowed themselves before him, +as was predicted by Joseph's dreams. But clothed in the +vesture of princes, with a gold chain around his neck, and +surrounded by the pomp of power, they did not know +him, while he knows them. He speaks to them, through +an interpreter, harshly and proudly, accuses them of +being spies, obtains all the information he wanted, and +learns that his father and Benjamin are alive. He even +imprisons them for three days. He releases them on the +condition that they verify their statement; as a proof of +which, he demands the appearance of Benjamin himself. +</p> + +<pb n="045"/><anchor id="Pg045"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Benjamin +and his +brothers. +Moses as an +historian.</note> +They return to Canaan with their sacks filled with corn, and +the money which they had brought to purchase it, secretly +restored, leaving Simeon as surety for the appearance of +Benjamin. To this Jacob will not assent. But starvation +drives them again to Egypt, the next year, and Jacob, reluctantly +is compelled to allow Benjamin to go with them. +The unexpected feast which Joseph made for them, sitting +himself at another table—the greater portions +given to Benjamin, the deception played upon +them by the secretion of Joseph's silver cup in Benjamin's +sack, as if he were a thief, the distress of all the +sons of Jacob, the eloquent pleadings of Judah, the restrained +tears of Joseph, the discovery of himself to them, +the generosity of Pharaoh, the return of Jacob's children +laden not only with corn but presents, the final migration +of the whole family, to the land of Goshen, in the royal +chariots, and the consummation of Joseph's triumphs, and +happiness of Jacob—all these facts and incidents are told by +Moses in the most fascinating and affecting narrative +ever penned by man. It is absolutely transcendent, +showing not only the highest dramatic skill, but revealing +the Providence of God—that overruling power +which causes good to come from evil, which is the most impressive +lesson of all history, in every age. That single episode +is worth more to civilization than all the glories of +ancient Egypt; nor is there anything in the history of the +ancient monarchies so valuable to all generations as the +record by Moses of the early relations between God and his +chosen people. And that is the reason why I propose to give +them, in this work, their proper place, even if it be not after +the fashion with historians. The supposed familiarity with +Jewish history ought not to preclude the narration of these +great events, and the substitution for them of the less important +and obscure annals of the Pagans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Prosperity +of the +Hebrews. Their subsequent +miseries.</note> +Joseph remained the favored viceroy of Egypt until he +died, having the supreme satisfaction of seeing the prosperity +of his father's house, and their rapid increase in the land of +<pb n="046"/><anchor id="Pg046"/> +Goshen, on the eastern frontier of the Delta of the Nile,—a +land favorable for herds and flocks. The capital +of this district was On—afterward Heliopolis, the +sacred City of the Sun, a place with which Joseph was +especially connected by his marriage with the daughter of +the high priest of On. Separated from the Egyptians by +their position as shepherds, the children of Jacob retained +their patriarchal constitution. In 215 years, they became +exceedingly numerous, but were doomed, on the change of +dynasty which placed Ramesis on the throne, to oppressive +labors. Joseph died at the age of 110—eighty years after he +had become governor of Egypt. In his latter years the +change in the Egyptian dynasty took place. The oppression +of his people lasted eighty years; and this was consummated +by the cruel edict which doomed to death the infants of +Israel; made, probably, in fear and jealousy from +the rapid increase of the Israelites. The great +crimes of our world, it would seem, are instigated by +these passions, rather than hatred and malignity, like the +massacre of St. Bartholomew and the atrocities of the French +Revolution. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Moses.</note> +But a deliverer was raised up by God in the person of +Moses, the greatest man in human annals, when we consider +his marvelous intellectual gifts, his great work of legislation, +his heroic qualities, his moral excellence, and his executive +talents. His genius is more powerfully stamped upon civilization +than that of any other one man—not merely on the +Jews, but even Christian nations. He was born <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 1571, +sixty-four years after the death of Joseph. Hidden +in his birth, to escape the sanguinary decree of Pharaoh +he was adopted by the daughter of the king, and taught +by the priests in all the learning of the Egyptians. He was +also a great warrior, and gained great victories over the +Ethiopians. But seeing the afflictions of his brethren, he preferred +to share their lot than enjoy all the advantages +of his elevated rank in the palace of the king—an act of self-renunciation +unparalleled in history. Seeing an Egyptian +<pb n="047"/><anchor id="Pg047"/> +smite a Hebrew, he slew him in a burst of indignation, and +was compelled to fly. He fled to Jethro, an Arab chieftain, +among the Midianites. He was now forty years of age, in +the prime of his life, and in the full maturity of his powers. +The next forty years were devoted to a life of contemplation, +the best preparation for his future duties. In the most secret +places of the wilderness of Sinai, at Horeb, he communed with +God, who appeared in the burning bush, and revealed the +magnificent mission which he was destined to fulfill. He +was called to deliver his brethren from bondage; but forty +years of quiet contemplation, while tending the flocks of +Jethro, whose daughter he married, had made him timid and +modest. God renewed the covenant made to Abraham and +Jacob, and Moses returned to Egypt to fulfill his mission. +He joined himself with Aaron, his brother, and the two went +and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel, +and after securing their confidence by signs and wonders, revealed +their mission. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The slavery +of the Israelites.</note> +They then went to Pharaoh, a new king, and entreated of +him permission to allow the people of Israel to go into the +wilderness and hold a feast in obedience to the command of +God. But Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I +should obey his voice. I know not the Lord—<emph>your +God</emph>. The result was, the anger of the king and +the increased burdens of the Israelites, which tended to +make them indifferent to the voice of Moses, from the excess +of their anguish. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The ten +plagues. The deliverance +of the +Israelites.</note> +Then followed the ten plagues which afflicted the Egyptians, +and the obstinacy of the monarch, resolved to suffer +any evil rather than permit the Israelites to go free. But +the last plague was greater than the king could bear—the +destruction of all the first-born in his land—and he +hastily summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, +under the impulse of a mighty fear, and bade them to depart +with all their hosts and all their possessions. The Egyptians +seconded the command, anxious to be relieved from further +evils, and the Israelites, after spoiling the Egyptians, departed +<pb n="048"/><anchor id="Pg048"/> +in the night—<q>a night to be much observed</q> for all +generations, marching by the line of the ancient canal from +Rameses, not far from Heliopolis, toward the southern +frontier of Palestine. But Moses, instructed not to conduct +his people at once to a conflict with the warlike inhabitants +of Canaan, for which they were unprepared, having just +issued from slavery, brought them round by a sudden turn to +the south and east, upon an arm or gulf of the Red Sea. To +the eyes of the Egyptians, who repented that they had suffered +them to depart, and who now pursued them with a +great army, they were caught in a trap. Their miraculous +deliverance, one of the great events of +their history, and the ruin of the Egyptian hosts, +and their three months' march and countermarch in the +wilderness need not be enlarged upon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The exodus.</note> +The exodus took place 430 years from the call of Abraham, +after a sojourn in Egypt of 215 years, the greater +part of which had been passed in abject slavery +and misery. There were 600,000 men, besides women and +children and strangers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hebrew +jurisprudence.</note> +It was during their various wanderings in the wilderness +of Sinai—forty years of discipline—that Moses gave to the +Hebrews the rules they were to observe during all their generations, +until a new dispensation should come. +These form that great system of original jurisprudence that +has entered, more or less, into the codes of all nations, and +by which the genius of the lawgiver is especially manifested; +although it is not to be forgotten he framed his laws by divine +direction. +</p> + +<p> +Let us examine briefly the nature and character of these +laws. They have been ably expounded by Bishop Warburton, +Prof. Wines and others. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The principles +of the +Jewish code.</note> +The great fundamental principle of the Jewish code was +to establish the doctrine of the unity of God. +Idolatry had crept into the religious system of all +the other nations of the world, and a degrading polytheism +was everywhere prevalent. The Israelites had not +<pb n="049"/><anchor id="Pg049"/> +probably escaped the contagion of bad example, and the +suggestions of evil powers. The most necessary truth to +impress upon the nation was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, +and Jacob. Jehovah was made the supreme head of the +Jewish state, whom the Hebrews were required, first and last, +to recognize, and whose laws they were required to obey. +And this right to give laws to the Hebrews was deduced, +not only because he was the supreme creator and preserver, +but because he had also signally and especially laid the +foundation of the state by signs and miracles. He had +spoken to the patriarchs, he had brought them into the land +of Egypt, he had delivered them when oppressed. Hence, +they were to have no other gods than this God of Abraham—this +supreme, personal, benevolent God. The violation of +this fundamental law was to be attended with the severest +penalties. Hence Moses institutes the worship of the Supreme +Deity. It was indeed ritualistic, and blended with sacrifices +and ceremonies; but the idea—the spiritual idea of God as the +supreme object of all obedience and faith, was impressed first +of all upon the minds of the Israelites, and engraven on the +tables of stone—<q>Thou shalt have no other gods before me.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Having established the idea and the worship of God, +Moses then instituted the various rites of the service, and +laid down the principles of civil government, as the dictation +of this Supreme Deity, under whose supreme guidance they +were to be ruled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Ten +Commandments.</note> +But before the details of the laws were given to guide the +Israelites in their civil polity, or to regulate the worship of +Jehovah, Moses, it would seem, first spake the word of God, +amid the thunders and lightnings of Sinai, to the assembled +people, and delivered the ten fundamental commandments +which were to bind them and all succeeding +generations. Whether these were those which were +afterward written on the two tables of stone, or not, we do +not know. We know only that these great obligations were +declared soon after the Israelites had encamped around Sinai, +and to the whole people orally. +</p> + +<pb n="050"/><anchor id="Pg050"/> + +<p> +And, with these, God directed Moses more particularly to +declare also the laws relating to man-servants, and to manslaughter, +to injury to women, to stealing, to damage, to the +treatment of strangers, to usury, to slander, to the observance +of the Sabbath, to the reverence due to magistrates, and +sundry other things, which seem to be included in the ten +commandments. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Moses on +Mount +Sinai.</note> +After this, if we rightly interpret the book of Exodus, +Moses went up into the mountain of Sinai, and +there abode forty days and forty nights, receiving +the commandments of God. Then followed the directions +respecting the ark, and the tabernacle, and the mercy-seat, +and the cherubim. And then were ordained the priesthood +of Aaron and his vestments, and the garments for Aaron's +sons, and the ceremonies which pertained to the consecration +of priests, and the altar of incense, and the brazen +laver. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The tables of +stone.</note> +After renewed injunctions to observe the Sabbath, Moses +received of the Lord the two tables of stone, +<q>written with the finger of God.</q> But as he +descended the mountain with these tables, after forty days, +and came near the camp, he perceived the golden calf which +Aaron had made of the Egyptian ear-rings and jewelry,—made +to please the murmuring people, so soon did they forget +the true God who brought them out of Egypt. And +Moses in anger, cast down the tables and brake them, and +destroyed the calf, and caused the slaughter of three thousand +of the people by the hands of the children of Levi. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The idolatry +of the Jews.</note> +But God forgave the iniquity and renewed the tables, and +made a new covenant with Moses, enjoining upon him the +utter destruction of the Canaanites, and the complete extirpation +of idolatry. He again gathered together the +people of Israel, and renewed the injunction to observe +the Sabbath, and then prepared for the building of the +tabernacle, as the Lord directed, and also for the making of +the sacred vessels and holy garments, and the various ritualistic +form of worship. He then established the sacrificial +<pb n="051"/><anchor id="Pg051"/> +rites, consecrated Aaron and his sons as priests, laid down the +law for them in their sacred functions, and made other divers +laws for the nation, in their social and political relations. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Mosaic +legislation.</note> +The substance of these civil laws was the political equality +of the people; the distribution of the public domains among +the free citizens which were to remain inalienable and perpetual +in the families to which they were given, thus making +absolute poverty or overgrown riches impossible; the establishment +of a year of jubilee, once every fifty years, when +there should be a release of all servitude, and all debts, and +all the social inequalities which half a century produced; +a magistracy chosen by the people, and its responsibility +to the people; a speedy and impartial administration of +justice; the absence of a standing army and the prohibition +of cavalry, thus indicating a peaceful policy, and the +preservation of political equality; the establishment of +agriculture as the basis of national prosperity; universal +industry, inviolability of private property, and the sacredness +of family relations. These were fundamental principles. +Moses also renewed the Noahmic ideas of the +sacredness of human life. He further instituted +rules for the education of the people, that <q>sons may be as +plants grown up in their youth, and daughters as corner +stones polished after the similitude of a palace.</q> Such were +the elemental ideas of the Hebrew commonwealth, which +have entered, more or less, into all Christian civilizations. I +can not enter upon a minute detail of these primary laws. +Each of the tribes formed a separate state, and had a local +administration of justice, but all alike recognized the +theocracy as the supreme and organic law. To the tribe of +Levi were assigned the duties of the priesthood, and the +general oversight of education and the laws. The members +of this favored tribe were thus priests, lawyers, teachers, and +popular orators—a literary aristocracy devoted to the cultivation +of the sciences. The chief magistrate of the united +tribes was not prescribed, but Moses remained the highest +magistrate until his death, when the command was given to +<pb n="052"/><anchor id="Pg052"/> +Joshua. Both Moses and Joshua convened the states general, +presided over their deliberations, commanded the army, +and decided all appeals in civil questions. The office of +chief magistrate was elective, and was held for life, no salary +was attached to it, no revenues were appropriated to it, no +tribute was raised for it. The chief ruler had no outward +badges of authority; he did not wear a diadem; he was not +surrounded with a court. His power was great as commander +of the armies and president of the assemblies, but he did not +make laws or impose taxes. He was assisted by a body of +seventy elders—a council or senate, whose decisions, however, +were submitted to the congregation, or general body of citizens, +for confirmation. These senators were elected; the office +was not hereditary; neither was a salary attached to it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Jewish +theocracy.</note> +The great congregation—or assembly of the people, in +which lay the supreme power, so far as any human power +could be supreme in a theocracy,—was probably a +delegated body chosen by the people in their +tribes. They were representatives of the people, acting for the +general good, without receiving instructions from their constituents. +It was impossible for the elders, or for Moses, to address +two million of people. They spoke to a select assembly. +It was this assembly which made or ratified the laws, and +which the executioner carried out into execution. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Oracle.</note> +The oracle of Jehovah formed an essential part of the constitution, +since it was God who ruled the nation. The oracle, +in the form of a pillar of cloud, directed the wanderings of +the people in the wilderness. This appeared amid +the thunders of Sinai. This oracle decided all +final questions and difficult points of justice. It could not +be interrogated by private persons, only by the High Priest +himself, clad in his pontifical vestments, and with the sacred +insignia of his office, by <q>urim and thummim.</q> Within the +most sacred recesses of the tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies, +the Deity made known his will to the most sacred personage +of the nation, in order that no rash resolution of the people, +or senate, or judge might be executed. And this response, +<pb n="053"/><anchor id="Pg053"/> +given in an audible voice, was final and supreme, and not +like the Grecian oracles, venal and mendacious. This oracle +of the Hebrew God <q>was a wise provision to preserve a continual +sense of the principal design of their constitution—to +keep the Hebrews from idolatry, and to the worship of the +only true God as their immediate protector; and that their +security and prosperity rested upon adhering to his counsels +and commands.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Priesthood.</note> +The designation and institution of high priest belonged +not to the council of priests—although he was of the tribe of +Levi, but to the Senate, and received the confirmation of the +people through their deputies. <q>But the priests belonged +to the tribe of Levi, which was set apart to God—the king +of the commonwealth.</q> <q>They were thus, not merely a +sacerdotal body, appointed to the service of the altar, but +also a temporal magistracy having important civil +and political functions, especially to teach the people +the laws.</q> The high priest, as head of the hierarchy, +and supreme interpreter of the laws, had his seat in the capital +of the nation, while the priests of his tribe were scattered +among the other tribes, and were hereditary. The Hebrew +priests simply interpreted the laws; the priests of Egypt +made them. Their power was chiefly judicial. They had +no means of usurpation, neither from property, nor military +command. They were simply the expositors of laws which +they did not make, which they could not change, and which +they themselves were bound to obey. The income of a +Levite was about five times as great as an ordinary man, and +this, of course, was derived from the tithes. But a greater +part of the soil paid no tithes. The taxes to the leading +class, as the Levites were, can not be called ruinous when +compared with what the Egyptian priesthood received, especially +when we remember that all the expenses connected +with sacrifice and worship were taken from the tithes. The +treasures which flowed into the sacerdotal treasury belonged +to the Lord, and of these the priests were trustees rather +than possessors. +</p> + +<pb n="054"/><anchor id="Pg054"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Hebrew +Constitution.</note> +Such, in general terms, briefly presented, was the Hebrew +constitution framed by Moses, by the direction of God. It +was eminently republican in spirit, and the power of the +people through their representatives, was great and controlling. +The rights of property were most sacredly guarded, +and crime was severely and rigidly punished. Every citizen +was eligible to the highest offices. That the people were +the source of all power is proven by their voluntary change +of government, against the advice of Samuel, against the +oracle, and against the council of elders. We look +in vain to the ancient constitutions of Greece and +Rome for the wisdom we see in the Mosaic code. Under +no ancient government were men so free or the laws so just. +It is not easy to say how much the Puritans derived from the +Hebrew constitution in erecting their new empire, but in +many aspects there is a striking resemblance between the +republican organization of New England and the Jewish +commonwealth. +</p> + +<p> +The Mosaic code was framed in the first year after the exodus, +while the Israelites were encamped near Sinai. When +the Tabernacle was erected, the camp was broken up, and +the wandering in the desert recommenced. This was continued +for forty years—not as a punishment, but as a discipline, +to enable the Jews to become indoctrinated into the +principles of their constitution, and to gain strength and +organization, so as more successfully to contend with the +people they were commanded to expel from Canaan. In this +wilderness they had few enemies, and some friends, and these +were wandering Arab tribes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The wanderings +of the +Israelites.</note> +We can not point out all the details of the wanderings +under the leadership of Moses, guided by the pillar of fire +and the cloud. After forty years, they reached the broad +valley which runs from the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, +along the foot of Mount Seir, to the valley of the Dead +Sea. Diverted from a direct entrance into Canaan +by hostile Edomites, they marched to the hilly +country to the east of Jordan, inhabited by the Amorites. +<pb n="055"/><anchor id="Pg055"/> +In a conflict with this nation, they gained possession +of their whole territory, from Mount Hermon to the river +Anton, which runs into the Dead Sea. The hills south of +this river were inhabited by pastoral Moabites—descendants +of Lot, and beyond them to the Great Desert were the Ammonites, +also descendants of Lot. That nation formed an +alliance with the Midianites, hoping to expel the invaders +then encamped on the plains of Moab. Here Moses delivered +his farewell instructions, appointed his successor, and +passed away on Mount Pisgah, from which he could see the +promised land, but which he was not permitted to conquer. +That task was reserved for Joshua, but the complete +conquest of the Canaanites did not take place till the reign +of David. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="056"/><anchor id="Pg056"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER VI. THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE +KINGDOM OF DAVID."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER VI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER VI.</head> +<head>THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE +KINGDOM OF DAVID.</head> + +<p> +The only survivors of the generation that had escaped +from Egypt were Caleb and Joshua. All the rest had offended +God by murmurings, rebellion, idolatries, and sundry +offenses, by which they were not deemed worthy to enter +the promised land. Even Moses and Aaron had sinned +against the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Non-intercourse +of the +Jews with +other nations. +Death of +Moses.</note> +So after forty years' wanderings, and the children of +Israel were encamped on the plains of Moab, Moses finally +addressed them, forbidding all intercourse with +Jews with other nations, enjoining obedience to God, requiring +the utter extirpation of idolatry, and rehearsing +in general, the laws which he had previously given them, and +which form the substance of the Jewish code, all of which +he also committed to writing, and then ascended to the top +of Pisgah, over against Jericho, from which he surveyed, all the +land of Judah and Napthali, and Manasseh and Gilead unto +Dan—the greater part of the land promised unto Abraham. +He then died, at the age of 120, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 1451 and no +man knew the place of his burial. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Joshua.</note> +The Lord then encouraged Joshua his successor, and the +conquest of the country began—by the passage over the +Jordan and the fall of Jericho. The manna, +with which the Israelites for forty years had been +miraculously fed, now was no longer to be had, and supplies +of food were obtained from the enemy's country. +None of the inhabitants of Jericho were spared except +Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, in reward for +<pb n="057"/><anchor id="Pg057"/> +her secretion of the spy which Joshua had sent into the city. +At the city of Ai, the three thousand men sent to take it +were repulsed, in punishment for the sin of Achan, who +had taken at the spoil of Jericho, a Babylonian garment +and three hundred sheckels of silver and a wedge of gold. +After he had expiated this crime, the city of Ai was taken, +and all its inhabitants were put to death. The spoil of the +city was reserved for the nation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His victories.</note> +The fall of these two cities alarmed the Hamite nations +of Palestine west of the Jordan, and five kings of the +Amorites entered into a confederation to resist the invaders. +The Gibeonites made a separate peace with the Israelites. +Their lives were consequently spared, but they were +made slaves forever. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy +that Canaan should serve Shem. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime the confederate kings—more incensed with the +Gibeonites than with the Israelites, since they were traitors +to the general cause, marched against Gibeon, one of the +strongest cities of the land. It invoked the aid of Joshua, +who came up from Gilgal, and a great battle was fought, +and resulted in the total discomfiture of the five Canaanite +kings. The cities of Makkedah, Libnah, Gizu, Eglon, Hebron, +successively fell into the hands of Joshua, as the result of +their victory. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Combination +of the Canaanites +against +Joshua.</note> +The following year a confederation of the Northern +kings, a vast host with horses and chariots, was +arrayed against the Israelites; but the forces of +the Canaanites were defeated at the <q>Waters of +Merom,</q> a small lake, formerly the Upper Jordan. This victory +was followed by the fall of Hazor, and the conquest of +the whole land from Mount Halak to the Valley of Lebanon. +Thirty-one kings were smitten <q>in the mountains, in the +plains, in the wilderness, in the south country: the Hittites, +the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizites, the Hivites, and +the Jebusites.</q> There only remained the Philistines, whose +power was formidable. The conquered country was divided +among the different tribes, half of which were settled on the +<pb n="058"/><anchor id="Pg058"/> +west of Jordan. The tabernacle was now removed to Shiloh, +in the central hill country between Jordan and the Mediterranean, +which had been assigned, to the tribe of Ephraim. +Jacob had prophetically declared the ultimate settlements +of the twelve tribes in the various sections of the conquered +country. The pre-eminence was given to Judah, whose +territory was the most considerable, including Jerusalem, +the future capital, then in the hands of the Jebusites. The +hilly country first fell into the hands of the invaders, while +the low lands were held tenaciously by the old inhabitants +where their cavalry and war chariots were of most avail. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conquest of +Canaan.</note> +The Israelites then entered, by conquest, into a fruitful +land, well irrigated, whose material civilization was +already established, with orchards and vineyards, +and a cultivated face of nature, with strong cities and fortifications. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Joshua.</note> +Joshua, the great captain of the nation, died about the year +1426 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, and Shechem, the old abode of Abraham +and Jacob, remained the chief city until the fall +of Jerusalem. Here the bones of Joseph were deposited, +with those of his ancestors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Judges.</note> +The nation was ruled by Judges from the death of Joshua +for about 330 years—a period of turbulence and +of conquest. The theocracy was in full force, +administered by the high priests and the council of elders. +The people, however, were not perfectly cured of the sin of +idolatry, and paid religious veneration to the gods of Phœnicia +and Moab. The tribes enjoyed a virtual independence, +and central authority was weak. In consequence, there +were frequent dissensions and jealousies and encroachments. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their wars.</note> +The most powerful external enemies of this period were +the kings of Mesopotamia, of Moab, and of Hazor, the +Midianites, the Amalekites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. +The great heroes of the Israelites in their +contests with these people were Othnie, Ehud, +Barak, Gideon, Jepthna, and Samson. After the victories +of Gideon over the Midianites, and of Jepthna over the +<pb n="059"/><anchor id="Pg059"/> +Ammonites, the northern and eastern tribes enjoyed comparative +repose, and when tranquillity was restored Eli seems +to have exercised the office of high priest with extraordinary +dignity, but his sons were a disgrace and scandal, whose +profligacy led the way to the temporary subjection of the +Israelites for forty years to the Philistines, who obtained +possession of the sacred ark. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Samuel.</note> +A deliverer of the country was raised up in the person of +Samuel, the prophet, who obtained an ascendancy +over the nation by his purity and moral wisdom. +He founded the <q>School of the Prophets</q> in Kamah, and to +him the people came for advice. He seems to have exercised +the office of judge. Under his guidance the Israelites recovered +their sacred ark, which the Philistines, grievously tormented +by God, sent back in an impulse of superstitious +fear. Moreover, these people were so completely overthrown +by the Israelites that they troubled them no longer +for many years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Israelites +demand +a King.</note> +Samuel, when old, made his sons judges, but their rule +was venal and corrupt. In disgust, the people of Israel +then desired a king. Samuel warned them of the +consequences of such a step, and foretold the +oppression to which they would be necessarily subject; +but they were bent on having a king, like other nations—a +man who should lead them on to conquest and dominion. +Samuel then, by divine command, granted their request, and +selected Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, as a fit captain to +lead the people against the Philistines—the most powerful +foe which had afflicted Israel. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Anointment +of +Saul.</note> +After he had anointed the future king he assembled the +whole nation together, through their deputies, at +Mizpeh, who confirmed the divine appointment. +Saul, who appeared reluctant to accept the high dignity, +was fair and tall, and noble in appearance, patriotic, warlike, +generous, affectionate—the type of an ancient hero, but +vacillating, jealous, moody, and passionate. He was a man +to make conquests, but not to elevate the dignity of the +<pb n="060"/><anchor id="Pg060"/> +nation. Samuel retired into private life, and Saul reigned +over the whole people. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His wars +with the +Philistine.</note> +His first care was to select a chosen band of experienced +warriors, and there was need, for the Philistines +gathered together a great army, with 30,000 +chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and encamped at +Michmash. The Israelites, in view of this overwhelming +force, hid themselves from fear, in caves and amid the rocks +of the mountain fastnesses. In their trouble it was found +necessary to offer burnt sacrifices; but Saul, impulsive and +assuming, would not wait to have the rites performed according +to the divine direction, but offered the sacrifices himself. +By this act he disobeyed the fundamental laws which Moses +had given, violated, as it were, the constitution; and, as a +penalty for this foolish and rash act, Samuel pronounced his +future deposition; but God confounded, nevertheless, the +armies of the Philistines, and they were routed and scattered. +Saul then turned against the Amalekites, and took their +king, whom he spared in an impulse of generosity, even +though he utterly destroyed his people. Samuel reproved +him for this leniency against the divine command, Saul +attempted to justify himself by the sacrifice of all the enemies' +goods and oxen, to which Samuel said, <q>Hath the +Lord as great delight in burnt sacrifices and offerings as in +obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold! to obey is better +than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams; for rebellion +is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as iniquity +and idolatry.</q> Most memorable words! thus setting virtue +and obedience over all rites and ceremonies—a final answer +to all ritualism and phariseeism. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The unhappiness +of +Saul.</note> +The remainder of the life of Saul was embittered by the +consciousness that the kingdom would depart from his +house; and by his jealousy of David, and his unmanly +persecution of him; in whom he saw his +successor. He was slain, with three of his sons, at the battle of Gilboa, +when the Philistines gained a great victory—<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +1056. +</p> + +<pb n="061"/><anchor id="Pg061"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>David.</note> +David, meanwhile had been secretly anointed by Samuel +as king over Israel. Nothing could exceed his +grief when he heard of the death of Saul, and of +Jonathan, whom he loved, and who returned his love with a +love passing that of women, and who had protected him +against the wrath and enmity of his father. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The enmity +of Saul.</note> +David, of the tribe of Judah, after his encounter with +Goliath, was the favorite of the people, and was rewarded by +a marriage with the daughter of Saul—Michal, +who admired his gallantry and heroism. Saul too +had dissembled his jealousy, and heaped honors on the man +he was determined to destroy. By the aid of his wife, and +of Jonathan, and especially protected by God, the young +warrior escaped all the snares laid for his destruction, and +even spared the life of Saul when he was in his power in the +cave of Engedi. He continued loyal to his king, patiently +waiting for his future exaltation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The elevation +of David.</note> +On the death of Saul, he was anointed king over Judah, +at Hebron; but the other tribes still adhered to +the house of Saul. A civil war ensued, during +which Abner, the captain-general of the late king, was +treacherously murdered, and also Ishboseth, the feeble successor +of Saul. The war lasted seven and a half years, when +all the tribes gave their allegiance to David, who then fixed +his seat at Jerusalem, which he had wrested from the Jebusites, +and his illustrious reign began, when he was thirty +years of age, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 1048, after several years of adversity and +trial. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="062"/><anchor id="Pg062"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER VII. THE JEWISH MONARCHY."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER VII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER VII.</head> +<head>THE JEWISH MONARCHY.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The reign of +David.</note> +We can not enter upon a detail of the conquests of David, +the greatest warrior that his nation has produced. In successive +campaigns, extending over thirty years, he +reduced the various Canaanite nations that remained +unconquered—the Amalekites, the Moabites, the +Philistines, the Edomites, and the Syrians of Tobah. Hiram, +king of Tyre, was his ally. His kingdom extended from +the borders of Egypt to the Euphrates, and from the valley +of Cœlo-Syria to the eastern gulf of the Red Sea. But his +reign, if glorious and successful, was marked by troubles. +He was continually at war; his kingdom was afflicted with +a plague as the punishment for his vanity in numbering the +people; his son Amnon disgraced him; Absalom, his favorite +son, revolted and was slain; he himself was expelled for a +time from his capital. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Character of +David.</note> +But David is memorable for his character, and his poetry, +his romantic vicissitudes of life, and as the founder +of a dynasty rather than for his conquests over +the neighboring nations. His magnificent virtues blended +with faults; his piety in spite of his sins, his allegiance to +God, and his faith in his promises invest his character with +singular interest. In his Psalms he lives through all the generations +of men. He reigned thirty-three years at Jerusalem, +and seven at Hebron, and transmitted his throne to +Solomon—his youngest child, a youth ten years of age, precocious +in wisdom and culture. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The reign of +Solomon. His architectural +works.</note> +The reign of Solomon is most distinguished for the magnificent +Temple he erected in Jerusalem, after the +designs furnished by his father, aided by the +<pb n="063"/><anchor id="Pg063"/> +friendship of the Phœnicians. This edifice, <q>beautiful for +situation—the joy of the whole earth,</q> was the wonder of +those times, and though small compared with subsequent +Grecian temples, was probably more profusely ornamented +with gold, silver, and precious woods, than any building +of ancient times. We have no means of knowing its +architectural appearance, in the absence of all plans and +all ruins, and much ingenuity has been expended +in conjectures, which are far from satisfactory. +It most probably resembled an Egyptian temple, +modified by Phœnician artists. It had an outer court for +worshipers and their sacrifices, and an inner court for the +ark and the throne of Jehovah, into which the high priest +alone entered, and only once a year. It was erected upon a +solid platform of stone, having a resemblance to the temples of +Paestum. The portico, as rebuilt, in the time of Herod, was +180 feet high, and the temple itself was entered by nine +gates thickly coated with silver and gold. The inner +sanctuary was covered on all sides by plates of gold, and +was dazzling to the eye. It was connected with various +courts and porticoes which gave to it an imposing appearance. +Its consecration by Solomon, amid the cloud of glories +in which Jehovah took possession of it, and the immense +body of musicians and singers, was probably the grandest +religious service ever performed. That 30,000 men were employed +by Solomon, in hewing timber on Mount Lebanon, and +70,000 more in hewing stones, would indicate a very extensive +and costly edifice. The stones which composed the foundation +were of extraordinary size, and rivaled the greatest works of +the Egyptians. The whole temple was overlaid with +gold—a proof of its extraordinary splendor, and it took +seven years to build it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The palace.</note> +The palace of Solomon must also have been of great magnificence, +on which the resources of his kingdom +were employed for thirteen years. He moreover +built a palace for his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, composed +of costly stones, the foundation-stones of which were fifteen feet +<pb n="064"/><anchor id="Pg064"/> +in length, surrounded with beautiful columns. But these +palaces did not include all his works, for the courts of the +temple were ornamented with brazen pillars, with elaborate +capitals, brazen seas standing upon bronze oxen, brazen +bases ornamented with figures of various animals, brazen +layers, one of which contained forty baths, altars of gold, +tables, candelabras, basins, censers and other sacred vessels +of pure gold,—all of which together were of enormous +expense and great beauty. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Wisdom +of Solomon.</note> +During the execution of these splendid works, which occupied +thirteen years or more, Solomon gave extraordinary +indications of wisdom, as well as signs of great +temporal prosperity. His kingdom was the most +powerful of Western Asia, and he enjoyed peace with other +nations. His fame spread through the East, and the Queen +of Sheba, among others, came to visit him, and witness his +wealth and prosperity. She was amazed and astonished at +the splendor of his life, the magnificence of his court, and +the brilliancy of his conversation, and she burst out in the +most unbounded panegyrics. <q>The half was not told me.</q> +She departed leaving a present of one hundred and twenty +talents of gold, besides spices and precious stones; and he +gave, in return, all she asked. We may judge of the wealth +of Solomon from the fact that in one year six hundred and +sixty-six talents of gold flowed into his treasury, besides the +spices, and the precious stones, and ivory, and rare curiosities +which were brought to him from Arabia and India. +The voyages of his ships occupied three years, and it is +supposed that they doubled the Cape of Good Hope. All +his banqueting cups and dishes were of pure gold, and <q>he +exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom,</q> +who made their contributions with royal munificence. In +his army were 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, which it +would seem were purchased in Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His apostasy.</note> +Intoxicated by this splendor, and enervated by luxury, +Solomon forgot his higher duties, and yielded to +the fascination of oriental courts. In his harem +<pb n="065"/><anchor id="Pg065"/> +were 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, who turned +his heart to idolatry. In punishment for his apostasy, God +declared that his kingdom should be divided, and that his son +should reign only over the single tribe of Judah, which was +spared him for the sake of his father David. In his latter days +he was disturbed in his delusions by various adversaries +who rose up against him—by Hadad, a prince of Edom, and +Rezon, king of Damascus, and Jeroboam, one of his principal +officers, who afterward became king of the ten revolted +tribes. Solomon continued, however, to reign over the united +tribes for forty years, when he was gathered to his fathers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His latter +days.</note> +The apostasy of Solomon is the most mournful fall recorded +in history, thereby showing that no intellectual power can +rescue a man from the indulgence of his passions and the sins +of pride and vainglory. How immeasurably superior to +him in self-control was Marcus Aurelius, who had +the whole world at his feet! It was women who had +estranged him from allegiance to God—the princesses +of idolatrous nations. Although no mention is made of his repentance, +the heart of the world will not accept his final impenitence; +and we infer from the book of Ecclesiastes, written when all +his delusions were dispelled—that sad and bitter and cynical +composition,—that he was at least finally persuaded that the +fear of the Lord constitutes the beginning and the end of all +wisdom in this probationary state. And we can not but feel +that he who urged this wisdom upon the young with so +much reason and eloquence at last was made to feel its power +upon his own soul. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The rebellion +of Jeroboam.</note> +The government of Solomon, nevertheless had proved arbitrary, +and his public works oppressive. The monarch +whom he most resembled, in his taste for +magnificence, in the splendor of his reign, and in the vexations +and humiliations of his latter days, was Louis XIV. +of France, who sowed the seeds of future revolutions. So +Solomon prepared the way for rebellion, by his grievous +exactions. Under his son Rehoboam, a vain and frivolous, +and obstinate young man, who ascended the throne <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 975, +<pb n="066"/><anchor id="Pg066"/> +the revolt took place. He would not listen to his father's +councillors, and increased rather than mitigated the burdens +of the people. And this revolt was successful: ten tribes +joined the standard of Jeroboam, with 800,000 fighting men. +Judah remained faithful to Rehoboam, and the tribe of Benjamin +subsequently joined it, and from its geographical situation, +it remained nearly as powerful as the other tribes, +having 500,000 fighting men. But the area of territory was +only quarter as large. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Division of +the Nation.</note> +The Jewish nation is now divided. The descendants +of David reign at Jerusalem; the usurper and +rebel Jeroboam reigns over the ten tribes, at +Shechem. +</p> + +<p> +For the sake of clearness of representation we will first present +the fortunes of the legitimate kings who reigned over +the tribe of Judah. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The reign of +Rheoboam. +His successors.</note> +Rehoboam reigned forty-one years at Jerusalem, but did +evil in the sight of the Lord. In the fifth year of his reign his +capital was rifled by the king of Egypt, who took away the +treasures which Solomon had accumulated. He was +also at war with Jeroboam all his days. He was succeeded +by his son Abijam, whose reign was evil and unfortunate, +during which the country was afflicted with wars which +lasted for ninety years between Judah and Israel. But his +reign was short, lasting only three years, and he was succeeded +by Asa, his son, an upright and warlike prince, who +removed the idols which his father had set up. He also +formed a league with Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, and, with +a large bribe, induced him to break with Baasha, king +of Israel. His reign lasted forty years, and he was +succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 954. Under this +prince the long wars between Judah and Israel terminated, +probably on account of the marriage of Jehoram, son of +Jehoshaphat, with the daughter of Ahab, king of Israel—an +unfortunate alliance on moral, if not political grounds. +Jehoshaphat reigned thirty-five years, prosperously and virtuously, +and his ships visited Ophir for gold as in the time of +<pb n="067"/><anchor id="Pg067"/> +Solomon, being in alliance with the Phœnicians. His son +Jehoram succeeded him, and reigned eight years, but was disgraced +by the idolatries which Ahab encouraged. It was +about this time that Elijah and Elisha were prophets of the +Lord, whose field of duties lay chiefly among the idolatrous +people of the ten tribes. During the reign of Jehoram, Edom +revolted from Judah, and succeeded in maintaining its independence, +according to the predictions made to Esau, that +his posterity, after serving Israel, should finally break their +yoke. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Princes +of Judah at +Jerusalem.</note> +His son Ahaziah succeeded him at Jerusalem <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 885, +but formed an alliance with Jehoram, king of Israel, and after +a brief and wicked reign of one year, he was slain by Jehu, +the great instrument of divine vengeance on the idolaters. +Of his numerous sons, the infant Joash alone was spared by +Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, who usurped +authority in the name of the infant king, until she was overthrown +by the high priest Jehoiada. The usurpations of this +queen have furnished a subject for one of the finest tragedies +of Racine. Jehoiada restored the temple worship, and instituted +many other reforms, having supreme +power, like Dunstan over the Saxon kings, when +they were ruled by priests. His death left Judah under the +dominion of the patriarchal rulers (the princes of Judah), who +opposed all reforms, and even slew the son of Jehoida, Zechariah +the prophet, between the altar and the temple. It would +seem that Joash ruled wisely and benignantly during the +life of Jehoiada, by whom he was influenced—a venerable old +man of 130 years of age when he died. After his death +Joash gave occasion for reproach, by permitting or commanding +the assassination of Zechariah, who had reproved +the people for their sins, and his country was invaded by the +Syrians under Hazaal, and they sent the spoil of Jerusalem to +Damascus. Joash reigned in all forty years, and was assassinated +by his servants. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The reign of +Amiaziah.</note> +His son Amaziah succeeded him <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 839, and reigned +twenty-nine years. He was on the whole a good and able +<pb n="068"/><anchor id="Pg068"/> +prince, and gained great victories over the Edomites whom +he attempted to reconquer. He punished also the murderers +of his father, and spared their sons, according to the merciful +provision of the laws of Moses. But he worshiped the gods +of the Edomites, and was filled with vainglory from his +successes over them. It was then he rashly challenged +the king of Israel, who replied haughtily: +<q>The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was +in Lebanon, saying, give thy daughter to my son to wife, +and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and +trode down the thistle.</q> <q>So thou hast smitten the Edomites, +and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast. Abide now +at home; why shouldst thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou +shouldst fall, even thou and Judah with thee.</q> But Amaziah +would not heed, and the two kings encountered each other in +battle, and Judah suffered a disastrous defeat, and Joash, the +king of Israel, came to Jerusalem and took all the gold and +silver and all the sacred vessels of the temple and the treasures +of the royal palace, and returned to Samaria. After +this humiliation Amaziah reigned, probably wisely, more +than fifteen years, until falling into evil courses, he was slain +in a conspiracy, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 810, and his son Uzziah or Azariah, a +boy of sixteen, was made king by the people of Judah. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Uzziah. +His prosperity.</note> +This monarch enjoyed a long and prosperous reign of fifty-two +years. He reorganized the army and refortified his +capital. He conquered the Philistines, and also the Arabs, +on his borders: received tribute from the Ammonites, and +spread his name unto Egypt. During his reign the +kingdom of Judah and Benjamin had great prosperity +and power. The army numbered 307,500 men well equipped +and armed, with military engines to shoot arrows and stones +from the towers and walls. He also built castles in the +desert, and digged wells for his troops stationed there. He +developed the resources of his country, and devoted himself +especially to the arts of agriculture and the cultivation of the +vine, and the raising of cattle. But he could not stand prosperity, +and in his presumption, attempted even to force +<pb n="069"/><anchor id="Pg069"/> +himself in the sacred part of the temple to offer sacrifices, +which was permitted to the priests alone; for +which violation of the sacred laws of the realm, +he was smitten with leprosy—the most loathsome of all the +diseases which afflict the East. As a leper, he remained isolated +the rest of his life, not even being permitted by the +laws to enter the precincts of the temple to worship, or +administer his kingdom. It was during his reign that the +Assyrians laid Samaria under contribution. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jotham.</note> +He was succeeded by Jotham, his son, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 758, who +carried on his father's reforms and wars, and was therefore +prospered. It is worthy of notice that the kings of Judah, +who were good, and abstained from idolatry, enjoyed great +temporal prosperity. Jotham reigned sixteen years, receiving +tribute from the Ammonites, and was succeeded +by Ahaz, who walked in the ways of the +kings of Israel, and restored idolatrous and superstitious rites. +Besieged in Jerusalem by the forces of Rezin, king of Syria, +and Pekah, king of Israel, and afflicted by the Edomites and +Philistines, he invoked the aid of Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, +offering him the treasure of the temple and his royal +palace. The Assyrian monarch responded, and took Damascus, +and slew its king. Ahaz, in his distress, yet sinned +still more against the Lord by sacrificing to the gods of +Damascus whither he went to meet the Assyrian king. He +died in the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 726, after a reign of sixteen years, and +Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his stead. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hezekiah.</note> +This prince was one of the best and greatest of the kings +of Judah. He carried his zeal against idolatry +so far as to break in pieces the brazen serpent of +Moses, which had become an object of superstitious homage. +He proclaimed a solemn passover, which was held in +Jerusalem with extraordinary ceremony, and at which 2,000 +bullocks and 17,000 sheep were slaughtered. No such day +of national jubilee had been seen since the reign of Solomon. +He cut down the groves in which idolatrous priests +performed their mysterious rites, and overthrew their altars +<pb n="070"/><anchor id="Pg070"/> +throughout the land. The temple was purified, and the +courses of the priests were restored. Under his encouragement +the people brought in joyfully their tithes to the +priests and levites, and offerings for the temple. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His wars.</note> +In all his reforms he was ably supported by Isaiah, the +most remarkable of all the prophets who flourished during +the latter days of the Hebrew monarchy. Under his direction +he made war successfully against the Philistines, +and sought to recover the independence of +Judah. In the fourteenth year of his reign, Sennacherib +invaded Palestine. Hezekiah purchased his favor by a present +of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of +gold, which stripped his palace and the temple of all their +treasure. But whether he neglected to pay further tribute or +not, he offended the king of Assyria, who marched upon +Jerusalem, but was arrested in his purpose by the miraculous +destruction of his army, which caused him to retreat +with shame into his own country. After this his reign was +peaceful and splendid, and he accumulated treasures greater +than had been seen in Jerusalem since the time of Solomon. +He also built cities, and diverted the course of the river +Gihar to the western side of his capital, and made pools +and conduits. It was in these years of prosperity that he +received the embassadors of the king of Babylon, and +showed unto them his riches, which led to his rebuke by +Isaiah, and the prophecy of the future captivity of his +people. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Manasseh.</note> +He was succeeded by his son, Manasseh, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 698, who +reigned fifty-five years; but he did not follow out +the policy of his father, or imitate his virtues. +He restored idolatry, and <q>worshiped all the hosts of heaven,</q> +and built altars to them, as Ahab had done in Samaria. He +was also cruel and tyrannical, and shed much innocent blood; +wherefore, for these and other infamous sins, the Lord, +through the mouth of the prophets, declared that <q>he +would wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish,</q> and would +deliver the people into the hands of their enemies. +</p> + +<pb n="071"/><anchor id="Pg071"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Amon.</note> +His son, Amon, followed in the steps of his father, but +after a brief reign of two years, was killed by his +servants, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 639, and was buried in the sepulchre +of his family, in the garden of Uzza. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Josiah. +His noble +reign.</note> +Then followed the noble reign of Josiah—the last independent +king of Judah—whose piety and zeal in +destroying idolatry, and great reforms, have made +him the most memorable of all the successors of David. +He repaired the temple, and utterly destroyed every vestige +of idolatry, assisted by the high priest Hilkiah, who seems +to have been his prime minister. He kept the great feast +of the passover with more grandeur than had ever been +known, either in the days of the judges, or of the kings, +his ancestors; nor did any king ever equal him in his fidelity +to the laws of Moses. But notwithstanding +all his piety and zeal, God was not to be turned +from chastising Judah for the sins of Manasseh, and the +repeated idolatries of his people; and all that Josiah could +secure was a promise from the Lord that the calamities of +his country should not happen in his day. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His death.</note> +In the thirty-first year of his reign, Necho, the king of +Egypt, made war against the king of Babylon, who had +now established his empire on the banks of the Euphrates, +over the ruins of the old Assyrian monarchy. Josiah rashly +embarked in the contest, either with a view of +giving his aid to the king of Babylon, or to prevent +the march of Necho, which lay through the great plain +of Esdrælon. Josiah, heedless of all warnings, ventured in +person against the Egyptian army, though in disguise, and +was slain by an arrow. His dead body was brought to +Jerusalem, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his +fathers; and all Judah and Israel mourned for the loss +of one of the greatest, and certainly the best of their +kings. +</p> + +<p> +The prophet Jeremiah pronounced his eulogy, and led +the lamentations of the people for this great calamity, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 608. +</p> + +<pb n="072"/><anchor id="Pg072"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His successor.</note> +The people proclaimed one of his sons, Shallum, to be king, +under the name of Jehoahaz, but the Egyptian +conqueror deposed him and set up his brother +Jehoiakim as a tributary vassal. He reigned ingloriously +for eleven years—an idolator and a tyrant. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nebuchadnezzar +wars +against +Judah. +The fall of +Jerusalem. +Captivity of +the Jews. Jeremiah.</note> +In his days Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up +against him, having driven the Egyptians out of +Palestine. Jehoiakim made his submission to the +conqueror of Egypt, who now reigned over the +whole Assyrian empire, but did not escape captivity in +Babylon, with many other of the first men of the nation, +including Daniel, and the spoil of Jerusalem. He was restored +to the throne, on promise of paying a large tribute. He +served the king of Babylon three years and then rebelled, +hoping to secure the assistance of Egypt. But he leaned on +a broken reed. A Chaldean army laid siege to Jerusalem, +and Jehoiakim was killed in a sally, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 597. His son +Jehoiachin had reigned only three months when Nebuchadnezzar, +a great general, came to carry on the siege in person. +The city fell, the king was carried into captivity, with 10,000 +of his subjects, among whom were Ezekiel and +Mordecai, and only the poorer class remained +behind. Over these people Nebuchadnezzar set up Zedekiah, +the youngest son of Josiah, as tributary king. Yet +even in this state of degradation and humiliation the Jews, +wrought upon by false prophets, expected deliverance, +against the solemn warnings of Jeremiah, who remained at +Jerusalem. Zedekiah, encouraged by the partial successes +of the Egyptians, rebelled, upon which the king of Babylon +resolved upon the complete conquest and utter ruin of +the country. Jerusalem fell into his hands, by assault, +and was leveled with the ground, and the temple +was destroyed. Zedekiah, in attempting to escape, +was taken, had his eyes put out, and was carried captive +to Babylon, together with the whole nation, and the +country was reduced to utter desolation. It was not, however, +repeopled by heathen settlers, as was Samaria. The +<pb n="073"/><anchor id="Pg073"/> +small remnant that remained, under the guidance of Jeremiah, +recovered some civil rights, and supported themselves +by the cultivation of the land, and in their bitter misery +learned those lessons which prepared them for a renewed prosperity +after the seventy years captivity. Never afterward +was idolatry practiced by the Jews. But no nation was ever +more signally humiliated and prostrated. Can we hence +wonder at the mournful strains of Jeremiah, or the bitter +tears which the captive Jews, now slaves, shed by +the rivers of Babylon when they remembered the +old prosperity of Zion. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The character +of the +kings of +Judah.</note> +The Jewish monarchy ended by the capture of Zedekiah. +The kingdom of the ten tribes had already fallen to the +same foes, and even more disastrously, because the kings of +Israel were uniformly wicked, without a single +exception, and were hopelessly sunk into idolatry; +whereas the kings of Judah were good as well as +evil, and some of them were illustrious for virtues and talents. +The descendants of David reigned in Jerusalem in an unbroken +dynasty for more than 500 years, while the monarchs of +Samaria were a succession of usurpers. The degenerate +kings were frequently succeeded by the captains of their +guards, who in turn gave way for other usurpers, all of +whom were bad. The dynasty of David was uninterrupted +to the captivity of the nation. And the kingdom of Judah +was also more powerful and prosperous than that of the ten +tribes, in spite of their superior numbers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The ten +tribes.</note> +But it is time to consider these ten tribes which revolted +under Jeroboam. Their history is uninteresting, +and, were it not for the beautiful episodes which +relate to the prophets who were sent to reclaim the people +from idolatry, would be without significance other than that +which is drawn from the lives of wicked and idolatrous +kings. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jeroboam. His wicked reign.</note> +Jeroboam commenced his reign <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 975, by setting up for +worship two golden calves in Bethel and Dan, and thus inaugurated +idolatry: for which his dynasty was short. His +<pb n="074"/><anchor id="Pg074"/> +son Nadah was murdered in a military revolution, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 953, +and the usurper of his throne, Baasha, destroyed his whole +house. He, too, was a wicked prince, and his son +Elah was slain by Zimri, captain of his guard, +who now reigned over Israel, after exterminating the whole +family of Elah, but was in his turn assassinated after a reign +of seven years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 929. Omri, the captain of the guard, +was now raised by the voice of the people to the throne; +but he had a rival in Tibni, whom he succeeded in conquering. +Omri reigned twelve years, and bought the hill of Samaria, +on which he built the capital of his kingdom. But he +exceeded all his predecessors in iniquity, and was +succeeded by his son Ahab, who reigned twenty-two +years. He was the most infamous of all the kings of +Israel, both for cruelty and idolatry, and his queen, Jezebel, +was also unique in crime—the Messalina and Fredigonde of +her age. It was through her influence that the worship of +Baal became the established religion, thus showing that the +general influence of woman on man is evil whenever she is +not Christian. And this is perhaps the reason that the +ancients represented women as worse than men. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Elijah. +Ahab.</note> +It was during the reign of this wicked king that God +raised up the greatest of the ancient prophets—Elijah, and +sent him to Ahab with the stern intelligence that +there should be no rain until the prophet himself +should invoke it. After three years of grievous famine, during +which he sought to destroy the man who prophesied +so much evil, but who was miraculously fed +in his flight by the ravens, Ahab allowed Elijah to do his +will. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The destruction +of the +priests of +Baal.</note> +Thereupon he caused the king to assemble together the whole +people of Israel, through their representatives, upon Mount +Carmel, together with the four hundred and fifty priests of +Baal, and the four hundred false prophets of the grove, +whom Jezebel supported. He then invoked the +people, who, it seems, vacillated in their opinions +in respect to Jehovah and Baal, to choose finally, +<pb n="075"/><anchor id="Pg075"/> +of these two deities, the God whom they <emph>would</emph> worship. +Having discomfited the priests of Baal in the trial of sacrifices, +and mocked them with the fiercest irony, thereby showing +to the people how they had been imposed upon, Elijah +incited them to the slaughter of these false prophets and +foreign priests, and then set up an altar to the true God. +But all the people had not fallen into idolatry; there still had +remained seven thousand who had not bowed unto Baal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Wrath of +Jezebel.</note> +Rain descended almost immediately, and Ahab departed, +and told Jezebel what had transpired. Hereupon, +she was transported with rage and fury, and +sought the life of the prophet. He again escaped, and by +divine command went to the wilderness of Damascus and +anointed Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu to be king +over Israel, and Elisha to be his successor as prophet. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War with +Damascus. +Curse upon +Ahab.</note> +Soon after this, Benhadad, the king of Syria, came from +Damascus with a vast army and thirty-two allied kings, to besiege +Samaria. Defeated in a battle with Ahab, the +king of Syria fled, but returned the following year +with a still larger army for the conquest of Samaria. But he +was again defeated, with the loss of one hundred thousand +men in a single day, and sought to make peace with the king +of Israel. Ahab made a treaty with him, instead of taking his +life, for which the prophet of the Lord predicted evil upon +him and his people. But the anger of God was still further +increased by the slaughter of Naboth, through the wiles of +Jezebel, and the unjust possession of the vineyard which +Ahab had coveted. Elijah, after this outrage on all the +fundamental laws of the Jews, met the king for +the last time, and pronounced a dreadful penalty—that +his own royal blood should be licked up by dogs in +the very place where Naboth was slain, and that his posterity +should be cut off from reigning over Israel; also, that +his wicked queen should be eaten by dogs. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ahaziah.</note> +In three years after, while attempting to recover Ramoth, +in Gilead, from Benhadad, he lost his life, and was brought +in his chariot to Samaria to be buried. And the dogs came +<pb n="076"/><anchor id="Pg076"/> +and licked the blood from the chariot where it was washed. +He was succeeded by Ahaziah, his son, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 913, +who renewed the worship of Baal, and died after +a short and inglorious reign, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 896, without leaving any +son, and Jehoram, his brother, succeeded him. In reference +to this king the Scripture accounts are obscure, and he is +sometimes confounded with Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, +king of Judah, who married a daughter of Ahab. +This accounts for the alliance between Jehoshaphat and +Ahab, and also between the two Jehorams, since they were +brothers-in-law, which brought to an end the long wars of +seventy years, which had wasted both Israel and Judah. +</p> + +<p> +Jehoram did evil in the sight of the Lord, but was not +disgraced by idolatry. In his reign the Moabites, who paid +a tribute of one hundred thousand sheep and one hundred +thousand lambs, revolted. Jehoram, assisted by the kings +of Judah, and of Edom, marched against them, and routed +them, and destroyed their cities, and filled up their wells, and +felled all their good trees, and covered their good land with +stones. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Famine in +Samaria.</note> +Meanwhile, it happened that there was a grievous famine in +Samaria, so that an ass's head sold for eighty pieces of silver. +Benhadad, in this time of national distress, came with +mighty host and besieged the city; but in the +night, in his camp was heard a mighty sound of +chariots and horses, and a panic ensued, and the Syrians fled, +leaving every thing behind them. The spoil of their camp +furnished the starving Samaritans with food. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Wars with +the Syrians.</note> +After this, Jehoram was engaged in war with the Syrians, +now ruled by Hazael, one of the generals of Benhadad, who +had murdered his master. In this war, Jehoram, +or Joram, was wounded, and went to be healed of +his wounds at Jezreel, where he was visited by his kinsman, +Ahaziah, who had succeeded to the throne of Judah. +While he lay sick in this place, Jehu, one of his generals, +conspired against him, and drew a bow against +him, and the arrow pierced him so that he died, and his +<pb n="077"/><anchor id="Pg077"/> +body was cast into Naboth's vineyard. Thus was the sin +against Naboth again avenged. Jehu prosecuted the work +of vengeance assigned to him, and slew Ahaziah, the king of +Judah, also, and then caused Jezebel, the queen mother, to be +thrown from a window, and the dogs devoured her body. +He then slew the seventy sons of Ahab, and all his great +men, and his kinsfolk, and his priests, so that none remained +of the house of Ahab, as Elijah had predicted. His zeal did +not stop here, but he collected together, by artifice, all the +priests of Baal, and smote them, and brake their images. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jehu.</note> +But Jehu, now king of Israel, though he had destroyed +the priests of Baal, fell into the idolatry of Jehoram, +and was therefore inflicted with another invasion +of the Syrians, who devastated his country, and decimated +his people. He died, after a reign of twenty-eight +years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 856, and was succeeded by his son, Jehoahaz. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His successors.</note> +This king also did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that +he was made subject to Hazael, king of Syria, all his days, +who ground down and oppressed Israel, as the prophet had +predicted. He reigned seventeen years, in sorrow and humiliation, +and was succeeded by his son Johash, who +followed the wicked course of his predecessors. His +reign lasted sixteen years, during which Elisha died. There +is nothing in the Scriptures more impressive than the stern +messages which this prophet, as well as Elijah, sent to the +kings of Israel, and the bold rebukes with which he reproached +them. Nor is anything more beautiful than those +episodes which pertain to the cure of Naaman, the Syrian, +and the restoration to life of the son of the Shunamite +woman, in reward for her hospitality, and the interview with +Hazael before he became king. All his predictions came to +pass. He seems to have lived an isolated and ascetic life, +though he had great influence with the people and the king, +like other prophets of the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their short +reigns.</note> +Jeroboam II. succeeded Johash, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 825, and +reigned successfully, and received all the territory +which the Syrians had gained, but he did not depart from +<pb n="078"/><anchor id="Pg078"/> +the idolatry of the golden calves. His son and successor, +Zachariah, followed his evil courses, and was slain by Shallum, +after a brief reign of six mouths, and the dynasty of +Jehu came to an end, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 772. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of +Samaria.</note> +Shallum was murdered one month afterward by Menahem, +who reigned ingloriously ten years. It was during his reign +that Pul, king of Assyria, invaded his territories, but was +induced to retire for a sum of one thousand talents of silver, +which he exacted from his subjects. He was succeeded by +Pekaiah, a bad prince, who was assassinated at the end of +two years by Pekah, one of his captains, who seized his +throne. During his reign, which lasted twenty years, +Tiglath-Pilaser, king of Assyria, made war against him, by +invitation of Ahaz, and took his principal cities, and carried +their inhabitants captive to Nineveh. He was assassinated +by Hosea, who reigned in his stead. He also was a bad +prince, and became subject to Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, +who came up against him. In the ninth year of his reign, having +proved treacherous to Shalmanezer, the king of Assyria +besieged Samaria, and carried him captive to his +own capital. Thus ended the kingdom of the ten +tribes, who were now carried into captivity beyond the +Euphrates, and who settled in the eastern provinces of +Assyria, and probably relapsed hopelessly into idolatry, +without ever revisiting their native laud. In all probability +most of them were absorbed among the nations which composed +the Assyrian empire, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 721. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The kings +of Israel.</note> +Nineteen sovereigns thus reigned over the children of +Israel in Samaria—a period of two hundred and fifty-four +years; not one of them was obedient to the +laws of God, and most of whom perished by assassination, +or in battle. There is no record in history of more inglorious +kings. There was not a great man nor a good man +among them all. They were, with one or two exceptions, +disgraced by the idolatry of Jeroboam, in whose steps they +followed. Nor was their kingdom ever raised to any considerable +height of political power. The history of the revolted +<pb n="079"/><anchor id="Pg079"/> +and idolatrous tribes is gloomy and disgraceful, only +relieved by the stern lives of Elijah and Elisha, the only +men of note who remained true to the God of their fathers, +and who sought to turn the people from their sins. <q>Whereupon +the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed +them out of his sight.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="080"/><anchor id="Pg080"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER VIII. THE OLD CHALDEAN AND ASSYRIAN MONARCHIES."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER VIII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER VIII.</head> +<head>THE OLD CHALDEAN AND ASSYRIAN MONARCHIES.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The plains +of Babylon.</note> +On a great plain, four hundred miles in length and one +hundred miles in width, forming the valley of the +Euphrates, bounded on the north by Mesopotamia, +on the east by the Tigris, on the south by the Persian +Gulf, and on the west by the Syrian Desert, was established, +at a very early period, the Babylonian monarchy. +This plain, or valley, contains about twenty-three thousand +square miles, equal to the Grecian territories. It was destitute +of all striking natural features—furnishing an unbroken +horizon. The only interruptions to the view on this level +plain were sand-hills and the embankments of the river. The +river, like the Nile, is subject to inundations, though less +regular than the Nile, and this, of course, deposits a rich alluvial +soil. The climate in summer is intensely hot, and in +winter mild and genial. Wheat here is indigenous, and the +vine and other fruits abound in rich luxuriance. The land +was as rich as the valley of the Nile, and was favorable to +flocks and herds. The river was stocked with fish, and +every means of an easy subsistence was afforded. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Tower +of Babel.</note> +Into this goodly land a migration from Armenia—the +primeval seat of man—came at a period when history +begins. Nimrod and his hunters then gained an ascendency +over the old settlers, and supplanted them—Cushites, +of the family of Ham, and not the descendants of Shem. +The beginning of the kingdom of Nimrod was +Babel, a tower, or temple, modeled after the one +which was left unfinished, or was destroyed. This was +erected, probably, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 2334. It was square, and arose with +<pb n="081"/><anchor id="Pg081"/> +successive stories, each one smaller than the one below, +presenting an analogy to the pyramidical form. The highest +stage supported the sacred ark. The temple was built +of burnt brick. Thus the race of Ham led the way in the +arts in Chaldea as in Egypt, and soon fell into idolatry. +We know nothing, with certainty, of this ancient monarchy, +which lasted, it is supposed, two hundred and fifty-eight +years, from <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 2234 to 1976. It was not established until +after the dispersion of the races. The dynasty of which +Nimrod was the founder came to an end during the early +years of Abraham. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The foundation +of the +Assyrian +monarchy.</note> +The first king of the new dynasty is supposed to be Chedorlaomer, +though Josephus represents him as a general of +the Chaldean king who extended the Chaldean conquests +to Palestine. His encounters with the kings of +Sodom, Gomorrah, and others in the vale of Siddim, +tributary princes, and his slaughter by Abraham's +servants, are recounted in the fourteenth chapter of +Genesis, and put an end to Chaldean conquests beyond the +Syrian desert. From his alliance, however, with the Tidal, +king of nations; Amrapher, king of Shinar; and Arioch, +king of Ellasar, we infer that other races, besides the Hamite, +composed the population of Chaldea, of which the subjects +of Chedorlaomer were pre-eminent. +</p> + +<p> +His empire was subverted by Arabs from the desert, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +1518; and an Arabian dynasty is supposed to have reigned +for two hundred and forty-five years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Extension of +the kingdom.</note> +This came to an end in consequence of a grand irruption +of Assyrians—of Semitic origin. <q>Asshur (Gen. +10, 11), the son of Shem, built Nineveh,</q> which +was on the Tigris. The name Assyria came to be extended +to the whole of Upper Mesopotamia, from the Euphrates +to the Tagros mountains. This country consisted of undulating +pastures, diversified by woodlands, and watered by +streams running into the Tigris. Its valleys were rich, its +hills were beautiful, and its climate was cooler than the +Chaldean plain. +</p> + +<pb n="082"/><anchor id="Pg082"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nineveh.</note> +It would seem from the traditions preserved by the +Greeks, that Nineveh was ruled by a viceroy of +the Babylonian king. This corresponds with the +book of Genesis, which makes the dynasty Chaldean, while +the people were Semitic, since the kingdom of Asshur was +derived from that of Nimrod. <q>Ninus, the viceroy,</q> says +Smith, <q>having revolted from the king of Babylon, overruns +Armenia, Asia Minor, and the shores of the Euxine, as far +as Tanais, subdues the Medes and Persians, and makes war +upon the Bactrians. Semiramis, the wife of one of the chief +nobles, coming to the camp before Bactria, takes the city by +a bold stroke. Her courage wins the love of Ninus, and +she becomes his wife. On his death she succeeds to the +throne, and undertakes the conquest of India, but is +defeated.</q> These two sovereigns built Nineveh on a grand +scale, as well as added to the edifices of Babylon. +</p> + +<p> +This king was the founder of the northwest palace of +Nineveh, three hundred and sixty feet long and three hundred +wide, standing on a raised platform overlooking the +Tigris, with a grand facade to the north fronting the town, +and another to the west commanding the river. It was built +of hewn stone, and its central hall was one hundred and +twenty feet long and ninety wide. The ceilings were of cedar +brought from Lebanon. The walls were paneled with slabs +of marble ornamented with bas-reliefs. The floors were +paved with stone. (See Rawlinson's Herodotus.) +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The palaces. +Assyrian +kings.</note> +All this is tradition, but recent discoveries in cuneiform +literature shed light upon it. From these, compared with +the fragments of Berosus, a priest of Babylon in the third century +before Christ, and the scattered notices of Scripture history, +we infer that the dynasty which Belus founded reigned +more than five hundred years, from 1272 to 747 before Christ. +Of these kings, Sardanapalus, the most famous, added +Babylonia to the Assyrian empire, and built vast architectural +works. He employed three hundred and sixty +thousand men in the construction of this palace, +some of whom were employed in making brick, and others in +<pb n="083"/><anchor id="Pg083"/> +cutting timber on Mount Hermon. It covered an area of +eight acres. The palaces of Nineveh were of great splendor, +and the scenes portrayed on the walls, as discovered by Mr. +Layard, lately disinterred from the mounds of earth, represent +the king as of colossal stature, fighting battles, and +clothed with symbolic attributes. He appears as a great +warrior, leading captives, and storming cities, and also in the +chase, piercing the lion, and pursuing the wild ass. This +monarch should not be confounded with the Sardanapalus of +the Greeks, the last of the preceding dynasty. His son, +Shalmanezer, was also a great prince, and added to the +dominion of the Assyrian empire. Distant nations paid +tribute to him, the Phœnicians, the Syrians, the Jews, and +the Medians beyond the Tagros mountains. He defeated +Benhadad and routed Hazael. His reign ended, +it is supposed, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 850. Two other kings succeeded +him, who extended their conquests to the west, the +last of whom is identified by Smith with Pul, the reigning +monarch when Jonah visited Nineveh, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 770. +</p> + +<p> +The next dynasty commences with Tiglath-Pileser II., +who carried on wars against Babylon and Syria and Israel. +This was in the time of Ahaz, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 729. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conquests of +Shalmanezer.</note> +His son, Shalmanezer, made Hosea, king of Israel, his +vassal, and reduced the country of the ten tribes to a +province of his empire, and carried the people away into +captivity. Hezekiah was also, for a time, his vassal. +He was succeeded by Sargon, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 721, according +to Smith, but 715 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, according to others. He +reigned, as Geseneus thinks, but two or three years; but fifteen +according to Rawlinson, and built that splendid palace, +the ruins of which, at Khorsabad, have supplied the Louvre +with its choicest remains of Assyrian antiquity. He was +one of the greatest of the Assyrian conquerors. He invaded +Babylon and drove away its kings; he defeated the Philistines, +took Ashdod and Tyre, received tribute from the +Greeks at Cyprus, invaded even Egypt, whose king paid +him tribute, and conquered Media. +</p> + +<pb n="084"/><anchor id="Pg084"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sennacherib. +Culmination +of the power +of Nineveh.</note> +His son, Sennacherib, who came to the throne, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 702, is +an interesting historical personage, and under him +the Assyrian empire reached its culminating point. +He added to the palace of Nineveh, and built one which +exceeded all that had existed before him. No monarch +surpassed this one in the magnificence of his buildings. He +erected no less than thirty temples, shining with silver and +gold. One of the halls of his palace was two hundred and +twenty feet long, and one hundred and one wide. He made +use of Syrian, Greek, and Phœnician artists. It is from the +ruins of this palace at <hi rend='italic'>Koyunjik</hi> that Mr. Layard made +those valuable discoveries which have enriched the British +Museum. He subdued Babylonia, Upper Mesopotamia, +Syria, Phœnicia, Philistia, Idumaen, and a part of Egypt, +which, with Media, a part of Armenia, and the old Assyrian +territory, formed his vast empire—by far greater than the +Egyptian monarchy at any period. He chastised also the +Jews for encouraging a revolt among the Philistines, and +carried away captive two hundred thousand people, and only +abstained from laying siege to Jerusalem by a present from +Hezekiah of three hundred talents of silver and thirty of +gold. The destruction of his host, as recorded by Scripture, +is thought by some to have occurred in a subsequent +invasion of Judea, when it was in alliance with +Egypt. That <q>he returned to Nineveh and +dwelt there</q> is asserted by Scripture, but only to be assassinated +by his sons, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 680. +</p> + +<p> +His son Esar-Haddon succeeded him, a warlike monarch, +who fought the Egyptians, and colonized Samaria with +Babylonian settlers. He also built the palace of Nimrod, +and cultivated art. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Assyrian +civilisation.</note> +The civilization of the Assyrians shows a laborious and +patient people. Its chief glory was in architecture. +Sculpture was imitated from nature, but had +neither the grace nor the ideality of the Greeks. War was +the grand business of kings, and hunting their pleasure. +The people were ground down by the double tyranny of +<pb n="085"/><anchor id="Pg085"/> +kings and priests. There is little of interest in the Assyrian +annals, and what little we know of their life and manners +is chiefly drawn by inductions from the monuments excavated +by Botta and Layard. The learned treatise of Rawlinson +sheds a light on the annals of the monarchy, which, +before the discoveries of Layard, were exceedingly obscure, +and this treatise has been most judiciously abridged, by +Smith, whom I have followed. It would be interesting to +consider the mythology of the Assyrians, but it is too complicated +for a work like this. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Decline of +the +monarchy.</note> +Under his successors, the empire rapidly declined. +Though it nominally included the whole of Western +Asia, from the Mediterranean to the desert of +Iran, and from the Caspian Sea and the mountains of +Armenia to the Persian Gulf, it was wanting in unity. +It embraced various kingdoms, and cities, and tribes, which +simply paid tribute, limited by the power of the king to +enforce it. The Assyrian armies, which committed so +great devastations, did not occupy the country they chastised, +as the Romans and Greeks did. Their conquests +were like those of Tamerlane. As the monarchs became +effeminated, new powers sprung up, especially Media, which +ultimately completed the ruin of Assyria, under Cyaxares. +The last of the monarchs was probably the Sardanapalus of +the Greeks. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Destruction +of Nineveh. +Its remains.</note> +The decline of this great monarchy was so rapid and +complete, that even Nineveh, the capital city, was blotted out +of existence. No traces of it remained in the +time of Herodotus, and it is only from recent excavations +that its site is known. Still, it must have been +a great city. The eastern wall of it, as it now appears +from the excavations, is fifteen thousand nine hundred feet +(about three miles); but the city probably included vast +suburbs, with fortified towers, so as to have been equal to +four hundred and eighty stadias in circumference, or sixty +miles—the three days' journey of Jonah. It is supposed, +with the suburbs, to have contained five hundred thousand +<pb n="086"/><anchor id="Pg086"/> +people. The palaces of the great were large and magnificent; +but the dwellings of the people were mean, built +of brick dried in the sun. The palaces consisted of a +large number of chambers around a central hall, +open to the sky, since no pillars are found necessary +to support a roof. No traces of windows are found +in the walls, which were lined with slabs of coarse marble, +with cuneiform inscriptions. The façade of the palaces we +know little about, except that the entrances to them were +lined by groups of colossal bulls. These are sculptured with +considerable spirit, but <hi rend='italic'>art</hi>, in the sense that the Greeks +understood it, did not exist. In the ordinary appliances of +life the Assyrians were probably on a par with the Egyptians; +but they were debased by savage passions and degrading +superstitions. They have left nothing for subsequent +ages to use. Nothing which has contributed to civilization +remains of their existence. They have furnished no <hi rend='italic'>models</hi> +of literature, art, or government. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Growth of +Babylon.</note> +While Nineveh was rising to greatness, Babylon was +under an eclipse, and thus lasted six hundred and fifty years. +It was in the year 1273 that this eclipse began. But a great +change took place in the era of Narbonassar, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +747, when Babylon threatened to secure its independence, +and which subsequently compelled Esar-Haddon, +the Assyrian monarch, to assume, in his own person, the +government of Babylon, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 680. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Chaldean +monarchy.</note> +In 625 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> the old Chaldeans recovered their political +importance, probably by an alliance with the Medes, and +Nabopolassar obtained undisputed possession of +Babylon, and founded a short but brilliant dynasty. +He obtained a share of the captives of Nineveh, and +increased the population of his capital. His son, Nebuchadnezzar, +was sent as general against the Egyptians, and +defeated their king, Neko, reconquered all the lands bordering +on Egypt, and received the submission of Jehoiakim, of Jerusalem. +The death of Nabopolassar recalled his son to Babylon, +and his great reign began <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 604. +</p> + +<pb n="087"/><anchor id="Pg087"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nebuchadnezzar. +Magnificence +of +Babylon.</note> +It was he who enlarged the capital to so great an extent +that he may almost be said to have built it. It was in the +form of a square, on both banks of the Euphrates, +forty-eight miles in circuit, according to Herodotus, +with an area of two hundred square miles—large enough +to support a considerable population by agriculture alone. +The walls of this city, if we accept the testimony of Herodotus, +were three hundred and fifty feet high, and eighty-seven +feet thick, and were strengthened by two hundred +and fifty towers, and pierced with one hundred gates of +brass. The river was lined by quays, and the two parts of +the city were united by a stone bridge, at each end of +which was a fortified palace. The greatest work of the +royal architect was the new palace, with the adjoining +hanging garden—a series of terraces to +resemble hills, to please his Median queen. This palace, +with the garden, was eight miles in circumference, and +splendidly decorated with statues of men and animals. Here +the mighty monarch, after his great military expeditions, +solaced himself, and dreamed of omnipotence, until a sudden +stroke of madness—that form which causes a man to mistake +himself for a brute animal—sent him from his luxurious halls +into the gardens he had planted. His madness lasted seven +years, and he died, after a reign of forty-three years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +561, and Evil-Merodach, his son, reigned in his stead. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of the +Monarchy.</note> +He was put to death two years after, for lawlessness and +intemperance, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law and +murderer, Neriglissar. So rapid was the decline of the +monarchy, that after a few brief reigns Babylon +was entered by the army of Cyrus, and the last +king, Bil-shar-utzur, or Bilshassar, associated with his father +Nabonadius, was slain, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 538. Thus ended the Chaldean +monarchy, seventeen hundred and ninety-six years after the +building of Babel by Nimrod, according to the chronology +it is most convenient to assume. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="088"/><anchor id="Pg088"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER IX. THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER IX."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER IX.</head> +<head>THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The country +of the Medes +and +Persians. +The martial +character of +the people. Early kings +of Media.</note> +The third of the great Oriental monarchies brought in +contact with the Jews was that of the Medes and Persians, +which arose on the dissolution of the Assyrian and Babylonian +empires. The nations we have hitherto +alluded to were either Hamite or Shemite. But +our attention is now directed to a different race, +the descendants of Japhet. Madai, the third son of Japhet, +was the progenitor of the Medes, whose territory extended +from the Caspian Sea on the north, to the mountains of Persia +on the south, and from the highlands of Armenia and +the chain of Tagros on the west, to the great desert of Iran +on the east. It comprised a great variety of climate, and +was intersected by mountains whose valleys were fruitful in +corn and fruits. <q>The finest part of the country is an elevated +region inclosed by the offshoots of the Armenian +mountains, and surrounding the basin of the great lake +Urumizu, four thousand two hundred feet above the sea, and +the valleys of the ancient Mardus and the Araxes, the northern +boundary of the land. In this mountain region stands +Tabris, the delightful summer seat of the modern Persian +shahs. The slopes of the Tagros furnish excellent pasture; +and here were reared the famous horses which the ancients +called Nisæan. The eastern districts are flat and +pestilential, where they sink down to the shores of the Caspian +Sea; rugged and sterile where they adjoin the desert +of Iran.</q> The people who inhabited this country were +hardy and bold, and were remarkable for their +horsemanship. They were the greatest warriors +<pb n="089"/><anchor id="Pg089"/> +of the ancient world, until the time of the Greeks. They +were called Aryans by Herodotus. They had spread over +the highlands of Western Asia in the primeval ages, and +formed various tribes. The first notice of this Aryan (or +Arian) race, appears in the inscriptions on the black obelisk +of Nimrod, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 880, from which it would appear that this +was about the period of the immigration into Media, and +they were then exposed to the aggressions of the +Assyrians. <q>The first king who menaced their independence +was the monarch whose victories are recorded on +the black obelisk in the British Museum.</q> He made a raid +into, rather than a conquest of, the Median country. Sargon, +the third monarch of the Lower Empire, effected something +like a conquest, and peopled the cities which he founded with +Jewish captives from Samaria, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 710. Media thus became +the most eastern province of his empire, but the conquest of +it was doubtless incomplete. The Median princes paid tribute +to the kings of Nineveh, or withheld it, according to +their circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Deioces.</note> +According to Ctesias, the Median monarchy commenced +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 875; but Herodotus, with greater probable accuracy, +places the beginning of it <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 708. The revolt of Media +from Assyria was followed by the election of Deioces, +who reigned fifty-three years. The history of +this king is drawn through Grecian sources, and can not much +be depended upon. According to the legends, the seven +tribes of the Medes, scattered over separate villages, suffered +all the evils of anarchy, till the reputation of Deioces made +him the arbiter of their disputes. He then retired into private +life; anarchy returned, a king was called for, and Deioces +was elected. He organized a despotic power, which had its +central seat in Ecbatana, which he made his capital, built +upon a hill, on the summit of which was the royal palace, +where the king reigned in seclusion, transacting all business +through spies, informers, petitions, and decrees. Such is +the account which Rawlinson gives, and which Smith follows. +</p> + +<pb n="090"/><anchor id="Pg090"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cyaxares.</note> +The great Median kingdom really began with Cyaxares, +about the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 633, when the Assyrian empire +was waning. He emerges from the obscurity like +Attila and Gengis Khan, and other eastern conquerors, at +the head of irresistible hordes, sweeps all away before him, +and builds up an enormous power. This period was distinguished +by a great movement among the Turanian races +(Cimmerians), living north of the Danube, which, according +to Herodotus, made a great irruption into Asia Minor, +where some of the tribes effected a permanent settlement; +while the Scythians, from Central Asia, overran Media, crossed +the Zagros mountains, entered Mesopotamia, passed through +Syria to Egypt, and held the dominion of Western Asia, till +expelled by Cyaxares. He only established his new kingdom +after a severe conflict between the Scythian and Aryan +races, which had hitherto shared the possession of the tablelands +of Media. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The irruption +of the +Turanian +races.</note> +From age to age the Turanian races have pressed forward +to occupy the South, and it was one of these great movements +which Cyaxares opposed, and opposed successfully—the +first recorded in history. These nomads +of Tartary, or Scythian tribes, which overran +Western Asia in the seventh century before Christ, under the +new names of Huns, Avari, Bulgarians, Magyars, Turks, Mongols, +devastated Europe and Asia for fifteen successive centuries. +They have been the scourge of the race, and they +commenced their incursions before Grecian history begins. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conquests of +Cyaxares.</note> +Learning from these Scythian invaders many arts, not +before practiced in war, such as archery and cavalry movements, +Cyaxares was prepared to extend his empire +to the west over Armenia and Asia Minor, as +far as the river Halys. He made war in Lydia with the +father of Crœsus. But before these conquests were made, +he probably captured Nineveh and destroyed it, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 625. +He was here assisted by the whole force of the Babylonians, +under Nabopolassar, an old general of the Assyrians, but +who had rebelled. In reward he obtained for his son, Nebuchadnezzar, +<pb n="091"/><anchor id="Pg091"/> +the hand of the daughter of Cyaxares. The last +of the Assyrian monarchs, whom the Greeks have called +Sardanapalus, burned himself in his palace rather than fall +into the hands of the Median conqueror. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War with +Lydia.</note> +The fall of Nineveh led to the independence of Babylon, +and its wonderful growth, and also to the conquests of the +Medes as far as Lydia to the west. The war with +Lydia lasted six years, and was carried on with various +success, until peace was restored by the mediation of a +Babylonian prince. The reason that peace was made was +an eclipse of the sun, which happened in the midst of a great +battle, which struck both armies with superstitious fears. +On the conclusion of peace, the son of the Median king, +Astyages, married the daughter of the Lydian monarch, +Alyattes, and an alliance was formed between Media and +Lydia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Lydian +monarchy.</note> +At this time Lydia comprised nearly all of Asia Minor, west +of the Halys. The early history of this country is +involved in obscurity. The dynasty on the throne, +when invaded by the Medes, was founded by Gyges, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +724, who began those aggressions on the Grecian colonies +which were consummated by Crœsus. Under the reign of +Ardys, his successor, Asia Minor was devastated by the +Cimmerians, a people who came from the regions north of +the Black Sea, between the Danube and the Sea of Azov, +being driven away by an inundation of Scythians, like that +which afterward desolated Media. These Cimmerians, having +burned the great temple of Diana, at Ephesus, and destroyed +the capital city of Sardis, were expelled from Lydia +by Alyattes, the monarch against whom Cyaxares had made +war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Astyages.</note> +Cyaxares reigned forty years, and was succeeded by Astyages, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 593, whose history is a total blank, till near +the close of his long reign of thirty-five years, when the Persians +under Cyrus arose to power. He seems to have +resigned himself to the ordinary condition of Oriental +kings—to effeminacy and luxury—brought +<pb n="092"/><anchor id="Pg092"/> +about by the prosperity which he inherited. He was contemporary +with Crœsus, the famous king of Lydia, whose life +has been invested with so much romantic interest by Herodotus—the +first of the Asiatic kings who commenced hostile +aggression on the Greeks. After making himself master of +all the Greek States of Asia Minor, he combated a power +which was destined to overturn the older monarchies of the +East—that of the Persians—a race closely connected with the +Medes in race, language, and religion. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The early +history of +the Persians.</note> +The Persians first appear in history as a hardy, warlike +people, simple in manners and scornful of luxury. They +were uncultivated in art and science, but possessed great wit, +and a poetical imagination. They lived in the mountainous +region on the southwest of Iran, where the great plain +descends to the Persian Gulf. The sea-coast is hot and arid, +as well as the eastern region where the mountains +pass into the table-land of Iran. Between these +tracts, resembling the Arabian desert, lie the high +lands at the extremity of the Zagros chain. These rugged +regions, rich in fruitful valleys, are favorable to the cultivation +of corn, of the grape, and fruits, and afford excellent +pasturage for flocks. In the northern part is the beautiful +plain of Shiraz, which forms the favorite residence of the +modern shahs. In the valley of Bend-amir was the old capital +of Persepolis, whose ruins attest the magnificent palaces +of Darius and Xerxes. Persia proper was a small country, +three hundred miles from north to south, and two hundred +and eighty from east to west, inhabited by an Aryan race, +who brought with them, from the country beyond the +Indus, a distinctive religion, language, and political institutions. +Their language was closely connected with the Aryan +dialects of India, and the tongues of modern Europe. +Hence the Persians were noble types of the great Indo-European +family, whose civilization has spread throughout +the world. Their religion was the least corrupted of the +ancient races, and was marked by a keen desire to arrive +at truth, and entered, in the time of the Gnostics, into the +<pb n="093"/><anchor id="Pg093"/> +speculations of the Christian fathers, of whom Origen was +the type. Their teachers were the Magi, a wise and learned +caste, some of whom came to Jerusalem in the time of +Herod, guided by the star in the East, to institute inquiries +as to the birth of Christ. They attempted to solve the +mysteries of creation, but their elemental principle of +religion was worship of all the elements, especially of fire. +But the Persians also believed in the two principles of good +and evil, which were called the principle of dualism, and +which they brought from India. It is thought by Rawlinson +that the Persians differed in their religion from the +primeval people of India, whose Vedas, or sacred books, +were based on monotheism, in its spiritual and personal +form, and that, for the heresy of <q>dualism,</q> they were compelled +to migrate to the West. The Medes, with whom they +subsequently became associated, were inclined to the old +elemental worship of nature, which they learned from the +Turanian or Scythic population. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Zoroaster. +His religion.</note> +The great man among the Persians was Zoroaster—or +Zerdusht, born, probably, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 589. He is immortal, not +from his personal history, the details of which we +are ignorant, but from his ideas, which became the +basis of the faith of the Persians. He stamped his mind on +the nation, as Mohammed subsequently did upon Arabia. +His central principle was <q>dualism</q>—the two powers of +good and evil—the former of which was destined ultimately +to conquer. But with this dualistic creed of the old Persian, +he also blended a reformed Magian worship of the elements, +which had gained a footing among the Chaldean priests, and +which originally came from the Scythic invaders. Magism +could not have come from the Semitic races, whose original +religion was theism, like that of Melchisedek and +Abraham; nor from the Japhetic races, or Indo-European, +whose worship was polytheism—that of personal +gods under distinct names, like Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. +The first to yield to this Magism were the Medes, who +adopted the religion of older settlers,—the Scythic tribes, +<pb n="094"/><anchor id="Pg094"/> +their subjects,—and which faith superseded the old Aryan +religion. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Character of +the Persians.</note> +The Persians, the flower of the Aryan races, +were peculiarly military in all their habits and +aspirations. Their nobles, mounted on a famous breed of +horses, composed the finest cavalry in the world. Nor +was their infantry inferior, armed with lances, shields, and +bows. Their military spirit was kept alive by their mountain +life and simple habits and strict discipline. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rise of +Cyrus.</note> +Astyages, we have seen, was the last of the Median kings. +He married his daughter, according to Herodotus, to Cambyses, +a Persian noble, preferring him to a higher alliance +among the Median princes, in order that a dream might +not be fulfilled that her offspring should conquer Asia. On +the return of the dream he sought to destroy the child she +was about to bear, but it was preserved by a herdsman; and +when the child was ten years of age he was chosen +by his playfellows on the mountains to be their +king. As such he caused the son of a noble Median to be +scourged for disobedience, who carried his complaint to +Astyages. The Median monarch finds out his pedigree from +the herdsman, and his officer, Harpagns, to whom he had +intrusted the commission for his destruction. He invites, +in suppressed anger, this noble to a feast, at which he serves +up the flesh of his own son. Harpagus, in revenge, conspires +with some discontented nobles, and invites Cyrus, this boy-king, +now the bravest of the youths of his age and country, +to a revolt. Cyrus leads his troops against Astyages, and +gains a victory, and also the person of the sovereign, and +his great reign began, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 558. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His wars.</note> +The dethronement of Astyages caused a war between +Lydia and Persia. Crœsus hastens to attack the +usurper and defend his father-in-law. He forms +a league with Babylonia and Egypt. Thus the three most +powerful monarchs of the world are arrayed against Cyrus, +who is prepared to meet the confederation. Crœsus is defeated, +and retreats to his capital, Sardis; and the next +<pb n="095"/><anchor id="Pg095"/> +spring, while summoning his allies, is attacked unexpectedly +by Cyrus, and is again defeated. He now retires to Sardia, +which is strongly fortified, and the city is besieged, by the +Persians, and falls after a brief siege. Crœsus himself is +spared, and in his adversity gives wise counsel to his +conqueror. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His great +empire.</note> +Cyrus leaves a Lydian in command of the captured city, +and departs for home. A revolt ensues, which leads to a +collision between Persia and the Greek colonies, and the subjection +of the Grecian cities by Harpagus, the general of +Cyrus. Then followed the conquest of Asia Minor, +which required several years, and was conducted by +the generals of Cyrus. He was required in Media, to consolidate +his power. He then extended his conquests to the +East, and subdued the whole plateau of Iran, to the mountains +which divided it from the Indus. Thus fifteen years +of splendid military successes passed before he laid siege to +Babylon, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 538. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He makes +Babylon his +capital.</note> +On the fall of that great city Cyrus took up his residence +in it, as the imperial capital of his vast dominion. +Here he issued his decree for the return of the +Jews to their ancient territory, and for the rebuilding +of their temple, after seventy years' captivity. This decree +was dictated by the sound military policy of maintaining +the frontier territory of Palestine against his enemies in +Asia Minor, which he knew the Jews would do their best to +preserve, and this policy he carried out with noble generosity, +and returned to the Jews the captured vessels of silver and +gold which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away; and for more +than two centuries Persia had no warmer friends and allies +than the obedient and loyal subjects of Judea. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Greatness of +the reign of +Cyrus.</note> +Cyrus fell in battle while fighting a tribe of Scythians at +the east of the Caspian Sea, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 529, He was the greatest +general that the Oriental world ever produced, and well +may rank with Alexander himself. His reign of +twenty-nine years was one constant succession of +wars, in which he was uniformly successful, and in which +<pb n="096"/><anchor id="Pg096"/> +success was only equaled by his magnanimity. His empire +extended from the Indus to the Hellespont and the +Syrian coast, far greater than that of either Assyria or Babylonia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Degeneracy +of the Persian +conquerors.</note> +The result of the Persian conquest on the conquerors +themselves was to produce habits of excessive +luxury, a wide and vast departure from their +original mode of life, which enfeebled the empire, +and prepared the way for a rapid decline. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cambyses.</note> +Cambyses, however, the son and successor of Cyrus, carried +out his policy and conquests. He was, unlike +his father, a tyrant and a sensualist, but possessed +considerable military genius. He conquered Phœnicia, +and thus became master of the sea as well as of the land. +He then quarreled with Amasis, the king of Egypt, and subdued +his kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His follies.</note> +Like an eastern despot, he had, while in Egypt, in an hour +of madness and caprice, killed his brother, Smerdis. It happened +there was a Magian who bore a striking resemblance +to the murdered prince. With the help +of his brother, whom the king had left governor of his household, +this Magian usurped the throne of Persia, while Cambyses +was absent, the death of the true Smerdis having been +carefully concealed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Usurpation +of the Magians.</note> +The news of the usurpation reached Cambyses while +returning from an expedition to Syria. An accidental +wound from the point of his sword proved +mortal, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 522. But Cambyses, about to die, +called his nobles around him, and revealed the murder of his +brother, and exhorted them to prevent the kingdom falling +into the hands of the Medes. He left no children. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Darius.</note> +The usurper proved a tyrant. A conspiracy of Persians +followed, headed by the descendants of Cyrus; and Darius, +the chief of these—the son of Hystaspes, became king of +Persia, after Smerdis had reigned seven months. +But this reign, brief as it was, had restored the old +Magian priests to power, who had, by their magical arts, +<pb n="097"/><anchor id="Pg097"/> +great popularity with the people, not only Medes, but +Persians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His conquests.</note> +Darius restored the temples and the worship which the +Magian priests had overthrown, and established +the religion of Zoroaster. The early years of his +reign were disturbed by rebellions in Babylonia and Media, +but these were suppressed, and Darius prosecuted the conquests +which Cyrus had begun. He invaded both India and +Scythia, while his general, Megabazus, subdued Thrace and +the Greek cities of the Hellespont. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His greatness.</note> +The king of Macedonia acknowledged the supremacy of +the great monarch of Asia, and gave the customary +present of earth and water. Darius returned at +length to Susa to enjoy the fruit of his victories, and the +pleasures which his great empire afforded. For twenty +years his glories were unparalleled in the East, and his life +was tranquil. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The revolt +of the Ionian +cities.</note> +But in the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 500, a great revolt of the Ionian cities +took place. It was suppressed, at first, but the Atticans, +at Marathon, defeated the Persian warriors, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 490, and +the great victory changed the whole course of +Asiatic conquest. Darius made vast preparations +for a new invasion of Greece, but died before they were +completed, after a reign of thirty-six years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 485, leaving +a name greater than that of any Oriental sovereign, except +Cyrus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Xerxes.</note> +Unfortunately for him and his dynasty, he challenged the +spirit of western liberty, then at its height among the cities +of Greece. His successor, Xerxes, inherited his +power, but not his genius, and rashly provoked +Europe by new invasions, while he lived ingloriously in his +seraglio. He was murdered in his palace, the fate of the +great tyrants of eastern monarchies, for in no other way +than by the assassin's dagger could a change of administration +take place—a poor remedy, perhaps, but not worse than +the disease itself. This tyrant was the Ahasuerus of the +Scriptures. +</p> + +<pb n="098"/><anchor id="Pg098"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fate of the +Persian empire.</note> +We need not follow the fortunes of the imbecile princes +who succeeded Xerxes, for the Persian monarchy +was now degenerate and weakened, and easily fell +under the dominion of Alexander, who finally overthrew the +power of Persia, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 330. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Its characteristics.</note> +And this was well. The Persian monarchy was an absolute +despotism, like that of Turkey, and the monarch not +only controlled the actions of his subjects, but was the owner +even of their soil. He delegated his power to satraps, who +ruled during his pleasure, but whose rule was disgraced by +every form of extortion—sometimes punished, however, +when it became outrageous and notorious. The satraps, +like pashas, were virtually independent princes, and exercised +all the rights of sovereigns so long as they +secured the confidence of the supreme monarch, +and regularly remitted to him the tribute which was imposed. +The satrapies were generally given to members of +the royal family, or to great nobles connected with it by +marriage. The monarch governed by no council, and the +laws centered in the principle that the will of the king was +supreme. The only check which he feared was assassination, +and he generally spent his life in the retirement of his seraglio, +at Susa, Babylon, or Ecbatana. +</p> + +<p> +The Persian empire was the last of the great monarchies +of the Oriental world, and these flourished for a period of two +thousand years. When nations became wicked or extended +over a large territory, the patriarchal rule of the primitive +ages no longer proved an efficient government. Men must +be ruled, however, in some way, and the irresponsible despotism +of the East, over all the different races, Semitic, +Hamite, and Japhetic, was the government which Providence +provided, in a state of general rudeness, or pastoral simplicity, +or oligarchal usurpations. The last great monarchy +was the best; it was that which was exercised by the descendants +of Japhet, according to the prediction that he +should dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan should be his +servant. +</p> + +<pb n="099"/><anchor id="Pg099"/> + +<p> +Before we follow the progress of the descendants of +Japhet in Greece, among whom a new civilization arose, +designed to improve the condition of society by the free +agency displayed in art, science, literature, and government—the +rise, in short, of free institutions—we will glance at +the nations in Asia Minor which were brought in contact +with the powers we have so briefly considered. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="100"/><anchor id="Pg100"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER X. ASIA MINOR AND PHŒNICIA."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER X."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER X.</head> +<head>ASIA MINOR AND PHŒNICIA.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Original inhabitants +of +Asia Minor.</note> +Concerning the original inhabitants of Asia Minor our +information is very scanty. The works of Strabo shed an +indefinite light, and the author of the Iliad seems +to have been but imperfectly acquainted with +either the geography or the people of that extensive country. +According to Herodotus, the river Halys was the +most important geographical limit; nor does he mention +the great chain of Taurus, which begins from the southern +coast of Lycia, and strikes northeastward as far as +Armenia—the most important boundary line in the time +of the Romans. Northward of Mount Taurus, on the +upper portion of the river Halys, was situated the spacious +plain of Asia Minor. The northeast and south of this plain +was mountainous, and was bounded by the Euxine, the +Ægean, and the Pamphylian seas. The northwestern part +included the mountainous region of Ida, Temnus, and Olympus. +The peninsula was fruitful in grains, wine, fruit, cattle, +and oil. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Its various +nations.</note> +Along the western shores of this great peninsula were +Pelasgians, Mysians, Bythinians, Phrygians, Lydians, and +other nations, before the Greeks established their colonies. +Further eastward were Lycians, Pisidians, Phrygians, Cappadocians, +Paphlagonians, and others. The Phrygians, Mysians, +and Teucrians were on the northwest. These various +nations were not formed into large kingdoms or +confederacies, nor even into large cities, but were +inconsiderable tribes, that presented no formidable resistance +to external enemies. The most powerful people were +the Lydians, whose capital was Sardis, who were ruled by +<pb n="101"/><anchor id="Pg101"/> +Gyges, 700 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> This monarchy extinguished the independence +of the Greek cities on the coast, without impeding +their development in wealth and civilization. All the +nations west of the river Halys were kindred in language +and habits. East of the Halys dwelt Semitic races, Assyrians, +Syrians, Cappadocians, and Cilicians. Along the coast +of the Euxine dwelt Bythinians, Marandynians, and Paphlagonians—branches +of the Thracian race. Along the +southern coast of the Propontis were the Doliones and +Pelasgians. In the region of Mount Ida were the Teucrians +and Mysians. All these races had a certain affinity with the +Thracians, and all modified the institutions of the Greeks +who settled on the coast for purposes of traffic or colonization. +The music of the Greeks was borrowed from the +Phrygians and Lydians. The flute is known to have been +invented, or used by the Phrygians, and from them to have +passed to Greek composers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Phrygians</note> +The ancient Phrygians were celebrated chiefly for their +flocks and agricultural produce, while the Lydians, +dwelling in cities, possessed much gold and and silver. +But there are few great historical facts connected +with either nation. There is an interesting legend connected +with the Phrygian town of Gordium. The primitive +king, Gordius, was originally a poor husbandman, upon +the yoke of whose team, as he tilled the field, an eagle +perched. He consulted the augurs to explain the curious +portent, and was told that the kingdom was destined for +his family. His son was Midas, offspring of a maiden of +prophetic family. Soon after, dissensions breaking out +among the Phrygians, they were directed by an oracle to +choose a king, whom they should first see approaching in a +wagon. Gordius and his son Midas were the first they saw +approaching the town, and the crown was conferred upon +them. The wagon was consecrated, and became celebrated +for a knot which no one could untie. Whosoever should untie +that knot was promised the kingdom of Asia. It remained +untied until Alexander the Great cut it with his sword. +</p> + +<pb n="102"/><anchor id="Pg102"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Lydians. +Gyges.</note> +The Lydians became celebrated for their music, of which +the chief instruments were the flute and the harp. +Their capital, Sardis, was situated on a precipitous +rock, and was deemed impregnable. Among their +kings was Crœsus, whose great wealth was derived from the +gold found in the sands of the river Pactolus, which flowed +toward the Hermus from Mount Tmolus, and also from the +industry of his subjects. They were the first on record to +coin gold and silver. The antiquity of the Lydian monarchy +is very great, and was traced to Heracles. The Heracleid +dynasty lasted five hundred and five years, and ended with +Myrsus, or Kandaules. His wife was of exceeding beauty, +and the vanity of her husband led him to expose +her person to Gyges, commander of his guard. The +affronted wife, in revenge, caused her husband to be assassinated, +and married Gyges. A strong party opposed his +ascent to the throne, and a civil war ensued, which was terminated +by a consultation of the oracle, which decided in +favor of Gyges, the first historical king of Lydia, about the +year 715 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His prosperous +reign.</note> +With this king commenced the aggressions from Sardis on +the Asiatic Greeks, which ended in their subjection. How +far the Lydian kingdom of Sardis extended during the reign +of Gyges is not known, but probably over the whole Troad, +to Abydus, on the Hellespont. Gyges reigned +thirty-eight years, and was succeeded by his son +Ardys, during whose reign was an extensive invasion of the +Cimmerians, and a collision between the inhabitants of Lydia +and those of Upper Asia, under the Median kings, who first +acquired importance about the year 656 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> under a king +called, by the Greeks, Phraortes, son of Deioces, who built +the city of Ecbatana. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alliance of +Lydia with +Persia.</note> +Phraortes greatly extended the empire of the Medes, +and conquered the Persians, but was defeated and slain +by the Assyrians of Nineveh. His son, Cyaxares +(636-595 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>) continued the Median conquests +to the river Halys, which was the boundary between the +<pb n="103"/><anchor id="Pg103"/> +Lydian and Median kingdoms. A war between these two +powers was terminated by the marriage of the daughter of +the Lydian king with the son of the Median monarch, +Cyaxares, who shortly after laid siege to Nineveh, but was +obliged to desist by a sudden inroad of Scythians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scythian inroads. +Their characteristics.</note> +This inroad of the Scythians in Media took place about the +same time that the Cimmerians invaded Lydia, a nomad race +which probably inhabited the Tauric Chersonessus +(Crimea), and had once before desolated Asia Minor +before the time of Homer. The Cimmerians may have +been urged forward into Asia Minor by an invasion of the +Scythians themselves, a nomadic people who neither planted +nor reaped, but lived on food derived from animals—prototypes +of the Huns, and also progenitors—a formidable +race of barbarians, in the northern section +of Central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea. The Cimmerians +fled before this more warlike race, abandoned their country +on the northern coast of the Euxine, and invaded Asia Minor. +They occupied Sardis, and threatened Ephesus, and finally +were overwhelmed in the mountainous regions of Cilicia. +Some, however, effected a settlement in the territory where +the Greek city of Sinope was afterward built. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scythian conquests.</note> +Ardys was succeeded by his son Tadyattes, who reigned +twelve years; and his son and successor, Alyattes, expelled +the Cimmerians from Asia Minor. But the Scythians, +who invaded Media, defeated the king, Cyaxares, +and became masters of the country, and spread as far +as Palestine, and enjoyed their dominion twenty-eight years, +until they were finally driven away by Cyaxares. These +nomadic tribes from Tartary were the precursors of Huns, +Avars, Bulgarians, Magyars, Turks, Mongols, and Tartars, +who, at different periods, invaded the civilized portions of +Asia and Europe, and established a dominion more or less +durable. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Crœsus.</note> +Cyaxares, after the expulsion of the Scythians, took Nineveh, +and reduced the Assyrian empire, while Alyattes, the +king of Lydia, after the Cimmerians were subdued, made +<pb n="104"/><anchor id="Pg104"/> +war on the Greet city of Miletus, and reduced the Milesians to +great distress, and also took Smyrna. He reigned fifty-seven +years with great prosperity, and transmitted his +kingdom to Crœsus, his son by an Ionian wife. +His tomb was one of the architectural wonders of that day, +and only surpassed by the edifices of Egypt and Babylon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His prosperity.</note> +Crœsus made war on the Asiatic Greeks, and as the twelve +Ionian cities did not co-operate with any effect, they were +subdued. He extended his conquests over Asia +Minor, until he had conquered the Phrygians, +Mysians, and other nations, and created a great empire, of +which Sardia was the capital. The treasures lie amassed exceeded +any thing before known to the Greeks, though inferior +to the treasures accumulated at Susa and other Persian +capitals when Alexander conquered the East. +</p> + +<p> +But the Lydian monarchy under Crœsus was soon absorbed +in the Persian empire, together with the cities of the Ionian +Greeks, as has been narrated. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Phœnicians.</note> +But there was another power intimately connected with +the kingdom of Judea,—the Phœnician, which furnished +Solomon artists and timber for his famous +temple. We close this chapter with a brief notice of the +greatest merchants of the ancient world, the Phœnicians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their Semitic +origin.</note> +They belonged, as well as the Assyrians, to the Semitic or +Syro-Arabian family, comprising, besides, the Syrians, +Jews, Arabians, and in part the Abyssinians. +They were at a very early period a trading and mercantile +nation, and the variegated robes and golden ornaments +fabricated at Sidon were prized by the Homeric heroes. +They habitually traversed the Ægean Sea, and formed settlements +on its islands. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The country.</note> +The Phœnician towns occupied a narrow slip of the coast +of Syria and Palestine, about one hundred and twenty miles +in length, and generally about twenty in breadth—between +Mount Libanus and the sea, Aradus was the northernmost, +and Tyre the southernmost city. Between these were +situated Sidon, Berytus, Tripolis, and Byblus. Within this +<pb n="105"/><anchor id="Pg105"/> +confined territory was concentrated a greater degree of commercial +wealth and enterprise, also of manufacturing skill, +than could be found in the other parts of the world at the +time. Each town was an independent community, having +its own surrounding territory, and political constitution +and hereditary prince. Tyre was a sort +of presiding city, having a controlling political power over +the other cities. Mount Libanus, or Lebanon, touched the +sea along the Phœnician coast, and furnished abundant supplies +for ship-building. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Phœnician +cities.</note> +The great Phœnician deity was Melkarth, whom the +Greeks called Hercules, to whom a splendid temple was +erected at Tyre, coeval, perhaps, with the foundation of the +city two thousand three hundred years before the time of +Herodotus. In the year 700 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, the Phœnicians seemed to +have reached their culminating power, and they had colonies +in Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain. Carthage, +Utica, and Gades were all flourishing cities before +the first Olympiad. The commerce of the Phœnicians extended +through the Red Sea and the coast of Arabia in +the time of Solomon. They furnished the Egyptians, Assyrians, +and Persians with the varied productions of other +countries at a very remote period. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Phœnician +colonies.</note> +The most ancient colonies were Utica and Carthage, +built in what is now called the gulf of Tunis; and +Cades, now Cadiz, was prosperous one thousand +years before the Christian era. The enterprising mariners of +Tyre coasted beyond the pillars of Hercules without ever +losing sight of land. The extreme productiveness of the +southern region of Spain in the precious metals tempted the +merchants to that distant country. But Carthage was by far +the most important centre for Tyrian trade, and became the +mistress of a large number of dependent cities. +</p> + +<p> +When Psammetichus relaxed the jealous exclusion of +ships from the mouth of the Nile, the incitements to traffic +were greatly increased, and the Phœnicians, as well as +Ionian merchants, visited Egypt. But the Phœnicians were +<pb n="106"/><anchor id="Pg106"/> +jealous of rivals in profitable commerce, and concealed their +tracks, and magnified the dangers of the sea. About the +year 600 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, they had circumnavigated Africa, starting +from the Red Sea, and going round the Cape of Good Hope +to Gades, and from thence returning by the Nile. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Voyage of +the Phœnicians.</note> +It would seem that Nechos, king of Egypt, anxious to +procure a water communication between the Red Sea +and the Mediterranean, began digging a canal from one to +the other. In the prosecution of this project he dispatched +Phœnicians on an experimental voyage round +Libya, which was accomplished, in three years. +The mariners landed in the autumn, and remained long +enough to plant corn and raise a crop for their supplies. +They reached Egypt through the Straits of Gibraltar, and +recounted a tale, which, says Herodotus, <q>others may believe +it if they choose, but I can not believe, that in sailing round +Libya, they had the sun on their right and—to the north.</q> +In going round Africa they had no occasion to lose sight +of land, and their vessels were amply stored. The voyage, +however, was regarded as desperate and unprofitable, and +was not repeated. +</p> + +<p> +Besides the trade which the Phœnicians carried on along +the coasts, they had an extensive commerce in the interior +of Asia. But we do not read of any great characters who +arrested the attention of their own age or succeeding ages, +Phœnician history is barren in political changes and great +historical characters, as is that of Carthage till the Roman +wars. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Decline of +Phœnician +power.</note> +Between the years 700 and 530 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, there was a great +decline of Phœnician power, which was succeeded +by the rise of the Greek maritime cities. Nebuchadnezzar +reduced the Phœnician cities to the same dependence +that the Ionian cities were reduced by Crœsus and +Cyrus. The opening of the Nile to the Grecian commerce +contributed to the decline of Phœnicia. But to this country +the Greeks owed the alphabet and the first standard of +weights and measures. +</p> + +<pb n="107"/><anchor id="Pg107"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carthage.</note> +Carthage, founded 819 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, by Dido, had a flourishing +commerce in the sixth century before Christ, and also commenced, +at this time, their encroachments in Sicily, which led +to wars for two hundred and fifty years with the +Greek settlements. It contained, it is said, at one +time, seven hundred thousand people. But a further +notice of their great city is reserved until allusion is made +to the Punic wars which the Romans waged with this powerful +State. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="108"/><anchor id="Pg108"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XI. JEWISH HISTORY FROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY +TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.—THE HIGH PRIESTS AND THE ASMONEAN +AND IDUMEAN KINGS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XI.</head> +<head>JEWISH HISTORY FROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY TO THE +BIRTH OF CHRIST.—THE HIGH PRIESTS AND THE ASMONEAN +AND IDUMEAN KINGS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Absorption +of the ten +tribes.</note> +We have seen how the ten tribes were carried captive to +Assyria, on the fall of Samaria, by Shalmanezer, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, 721. From that time history loses sight of +the ten tribes, as a distinct people. They were probably +absorbed with the nations among whom they settled, +although imagination has loved to follow them into inaccessible +regions where they await their final restoration. +But there are no reliable facts which justify this conclusion. +They may have been the ancestors of the Christian converts +afterward found among the Nestorians. They may have +retained in the East, to a certain extent, some of their old +institutions. But nothing is known with certainty. All is +vain conjecture respecting their ultimate fortunes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Jews at +Babylon.</note> +The Jews of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin never +entirely departed from their ancient faith, and +their monarchs reigned in regular succession till +the captivity of the family of David. They were not carried +to Babylon for one hundred and twenty-three years after +the dispersion of the ten tribes, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 598. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Daniel.</note> +During the captivity, the Jews still remained a separate +people, governed by their own law and religion. It is supposed +that they were rather colonists than captives, and +were allowed to dwell together in considerable bodies—that +they were not sold as slaves, and by degrees became possessed +of considerable wealth. What region, from time immemorial, +has not witnessed their thrift and their love of +money? Well may a Jew say, as well as a Greek, <q><hi rend='italic'>Quæ +<pb n="109"/><anchor id="Pg109"/> +regio in terris nostri non plena laboris.</hi></q> Taking the advice +of Jeremiah they built houses, planted gardens, and submitted +to their fate, even if they bewailed it <q>by the rivers of +Babylon,</q> in such sad contrast to their old mountain homes. +They had the free enjoyment of their religion, and were subjected +to no general and grievous religious persecutions. +And some of their noble youth, like Daniel, were treated with +great distinction during the captivity. Daniel had been +transported to Babylon before Jerusalem fell, as a +hostage, among others, of the fidelity of their king. +These young men, from the highest Jewish families, were +educated in all the knowledge of the Babylonians, as Joseph +had been in Egyptian wisdom. They were the equals of the +Chaldean priests in knowledge of astronomy, divination, +and the interpretation of dreams. And though these young +hostages were maintained at the public expense, and perhaps +in the royal palaces, they remembered their distressed countrymen, +and lived on the simplest fare. It was as an interpreter +of dreams that Daniel maintained his influence in the +Babylonian court. Twice was he summoned by Nebuchadnezzar, +and once by Belshazzar to interpret the handwriting +on the wall. And under the Persian monarch, when +Babylon fell, Daniel became a vizier, or satrap, with great +dignity and power. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His beautiful +character.</note> +When the seventy years' captivity, which Jeremiah had +predicted, came to an end, the empire of the Medes and Persians +was in the hands of Cyrus, under whose sway he +enjoyed the same favor and rank that he did under Darius, +or any of the Babylonian princes. The miraculous deliverance +of this great man from the lion's den, into which he had +been thrown from the intrigues of his enemies and the unalterable +law of the Medes, resulted in a renewed exaltation. +Josephus ascribes to Daniel one of the noblest and most +interesting characters in Jewish history, a great +skill in architecture, and it is to him that the splendid +mausoleum at Ecbatana is attributed. But Daniel, with +all his honors, was not corrupted, and it was probably +<pb n="110"/><anchor id="Pg110"/> +through his influence, as a grand vizier, that the exiled Jews +obtained from Cyrus the decree which restored them to their +beloved land. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Return of +the Jews.</note> +The number of the returned Jews, under Zerubbabel, a +descendant of the kings of Judah, were forty-two +thousand three hundred and sixty men—a great +and joyful caravan—but small in number compared with +the Israelites who departed from Egypt with Moses. On +their arrival in their native land, they were joined by +great numbers of the common people who had remained. +They bore with them the sacred vessels of the temple, +which Cyrus generously restored. They arrived in the +spring of the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 536, and immediately made preparations +for the restoration of the temple; not under those +circumstances which enabled Solomon to concentrate the +wealth of Western Asia, but under great discouragements +and the pressure of poverty. The temple was built on the +old foundation, but was not completed till the sixth year of +Darius Hystaspes, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 515, and then without the ancient +splendor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dedication +of the Temple.</note> +It was dedicated with great joy and magnificence, but +the sacrifice of one hundred bullocks, two hundred +rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve goats, +formed a sad contrast to the hecatombs which Solomon +had offered. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing else of importance marked the history of the +dependent, impoverished, and humiliated Jews, who had +returned to the country of their ancestors during the reign +of Darius Hystaspes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mordecai +and Ahasuerus. The story of +Esther.</note> +It was under his successor, Xerxes, he who commanded +the Hellespont to be scourged—that mad, luxurious, effeminated +monarch, who is called in Scripture Ahasuerus,—that +Mordecai figured in the court of Persia, and Esther was +exalted to the throne itself. It was in the seventh +year of his reign that this inglorious king returned, +discomfited, from the invasion of Greece. Abandoning +himself to the pleasures of his harem, he marries the Jewess +<pb n="111"/><anchor id="Pg111"/> +maiden, who is the instrument, under Providence, of averting +the greatest calamity with which the Jews were +ever threatened. Haman, a descendant of the Amalekitish +kings, is the favorite minister and grand vizier of the +Persian monarch. Offended with Mordecai, his rival in +imperial favor, the cousin of the queen, he intrigues for +the wholesale slaughter of the Jews wherever they were +to be found, promising the king ten thousand talents +of silver from the confiscation of Jewish property, and +which the king needed, impoverished by his unsuccessful +expedition into Greece. He thus obtains a decree from +Ahasuerus for the general massacre of the Jewish nation, +in all the provinces of the empire, of which Judea was one. +The Jews are in the utmost consternation, and look to +Mordecai. His hope is based on Esther, the queen, who +might soften, by her fascinations, the heart of the king. She +assumes the responsibility of saving her nation at the peril +of her own life—a deed of not extraordinary self-devotion, +but requiring extraordinary tact. What anxiety must have +pressed the soul of that Jewish woman in the task she undertook! +What a responsibility on her unaided shoulders? +But she dissembles her grief, her fear, her anxiety, and +appears before the king radiant in beauty and loveliness. +The golden sceptre is extended to her by her weak +and cruel husband, though arrayed in the pomp +and power of an Oriental monarch, before whom all bent +the knee, and to whom, even in his folly, he appears as +demigod. She does not venture to tell the king her wishes. +The stake is too great. She merely invites him to a grand +banquet, with his minister Haman. Both king and minister +are ensnared by the cautious queen, and the result is the +disgrace of Haman, the elevation of Mordecai, and the +deliverance of the Jews from the fatal sentence—not a +perfect deliverance, for the decree could not be changed, +but the Jews were warned and allowed to defend themselves, +and they slew seventy-five thousand of their enemies. +The act of vengeance was followed by the execution of +<pb n="112"/><anchor id="Pg112"/> +the ten sons of Haman, and Mordecai became the real governor +of Persia. We see in this story the caprice which +governed the actions, in general, of Oriental kings, and +their own slavery to their favorite wives. The charms of a +woman effect, for evil or good, what conscience, and reason, +and policy, and wisdom united can not do. Esther is justly +a favorite with the Christian and Jewish world; but Vashti, +the proud queen who, with true woman's dignity, refuses +to grace with her presence the saturnalia of an intoxicated +monarch, is also entitled to our esteem, although she paid +the penalty of disobedience; and the foolish edict which +the king promulgated, that all women should implicitly +obey their husbands, seems to indicate that unconditional +obedience was not the custom of the Persian women. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Return to +Palestine of +Jews under +Ezra.</note> +The reign of Artaxerxes, the successor of Xerxes, was +favorable to the Jews, for Judea was a province +of the Persian empire. In the seventh year of +his reign, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 458, a new migration of Jews from +Babylonia took place, headed by Ezra, a man of high rank +at the Persian court. He was empowered to make a collection +among the Jews of Babylonia for the adornment of +the temple, and he came to Jerusalem laden with treasures. +He was, however, affected by the sight of a custom +which had grown up, of intermarriage of the Jews with +adjacent tribes. He succeeded in causing the foreign wives +to be repudiated, and the old laws to be enforced which +separated the Jews from all other nations. And it is +probably this stern law, which prevents the Jews from marriage +with foreigners, that has preserved their nationality, +in all their wanderings and misfortunes, more than any +other one cause. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nehemiah. +Rebuilding of +Jerusalem. +Revival of +ancient laws.</note> +A renewed commission granted to Nehemiah, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 445, +resulted in a fresh immigration of Jews to Palestine, in +spite of all the opposition which the Samaritan and other +nations made. Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the +Persian king, and devoted to the Persian interests. +At that time Persia had suffered a fatal blow at the battle +<pb n="113"/><anchor id="Pg113"/> +of Cindus, and among the humiliating articles of peace with +the Athenian admiral was the stipulation that the Persians +should not advance within three days' journey of the sea. +Jerusalem being at this distance, was an important post to +hold, and the Persian court saw the wisdom of intrusting +its defense to faithful allies. In spite of all obstacles, Nehemiah +succeeded, in fifty-two days, in restoring the old walls +and fortifications; the whole population, of every rank and +order having devoted themselves to the work. Moreover, +contributions for the temple continued to flow into the +treasury of a once opulent, but now impoverished and +decimated people. After providing for the security of +the capital and the adornment of the temple, the +leaders of the nation turned their attention to +the compilation of the sacred books and the restoration of +religion. Many important literary works had been lost +during their captivity, including the work of Solomon on +national history, and the ancient book of Jasher. But the +books on the law, the historical books, the prophetic writings, +the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Songs of +Solomon, were collected and copied. The law, revised and +corrected, was publicly read by Ezra; the Feast of Tabernacles +was celebrated with considerable splendor; +and a renewed covenant was made by the people +to keep the law, to observe the Sabbath, to avoid idolatry, +and abstain from intermarriage with strangers. The Jewish +constitution was restored, and Nehemiah, a Persian satrap +in reality, lived in a state of considerable magnificence, entertaining +the chief leaders of the nation, and reforming all +disorders. Jerusalem gradually regained political importance, +while the country of the ten tribes, though filled with +people, continued to be the seat of idolaters. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Obscurity of +Jewish history +after +Nehemiah.</note> +On the death of Nehemiah, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 415, the history of the Jews +becomes obscure, and we catch only scattered glimpses of the +state of the country, till the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 175, when the Syrian monarch had erected a +new kingdom on the ruins of the Persian empire. For more +<pb n="114"/><anchor id="Pg114"/> +than two centuries, when the Greeks and Romans flourished, +Jewish history is a blank, with here and there +some scattered notices and traditions which Josephus +has recorded. The Jews, living in vassalage +to the successors of Alexander during this interval, had become +animated by a martial spirit, and the Maccabaic wars +elevated them into sufficient importance to become allies of +Rome—the new conquering power, destined to subdue the +world. During this period the Jewish character assumed the +hard, stubborn, exclusive cast which it has ever since maintained—an +intense hostility to polytheism and all Gentile +influences. The Jewish Scriptures took their present shape, +and the Apocryphal books came to light. The sects of the +Jews arose, like Pharisees and Sadducees, and religious and +political parties exhibited an unwonted fierceness and intolerance. +While the Greeks and Romans were absorbed in +wars, the Jews perfected their peculiar economy, and grew +again into political importance. The country, by means of +irrigation and cultivation, became populous and fertile, and +poetry and the arts regained their sway. The people took +but little interest in the political convulsions of neighboring +nations, and devoted themselves quietly to the development +of their own resources. The captivity had cured them of +war, of idolatry, and warlike expeditions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Obscurity +and growth +of the Jews.</note> +During this two hundred years of obscurity, but real +growth, unnoticed and unknown by other nations, a new capital +had arisen in Egypt; Alexandria became a +great mart of commerce, and the seat of revived +Grecian learning. The sway of the Ptolemaic kings, Grecian +in origin, was favorable to letters, and to arts. The +Jews settled in their magnificent city, translated their Scriptures +into Greek, and cultivated the Greek philosophy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The ascendency +of the +high priests.</note> +Meanwhile the internal government of the Jews fell into +the hands of the high priests—the Persian governors exercising +only a general superintendence. At length the country, +once again favored, was subjected to the invasion of Alexander. +After the fall of Tyre, the conqueror advanced to +<pb n="115"/><anchor id="Pg115"/> +Gaza, and totally destroyed it. He then approached Jerusalem, +in fealty to Persia. The high priest made no resistance, +but went forth in his pontifical robes, followed by +the people in white garments, to meet the +mighty warrior. Alexander, probably encouraged +by the prophesies of Daniel, as explained by the high priest, +did no harm to the city or nation, but offered gifts, and, as +tradition asserts, even worshiped the God of the Jews. On +the conquest of Persia, Judea came into the possession of +Laomedon, one of the generals of Alexander, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 321. On +his defeat by Ptolemy, another general, to whom Egypt had +fallen as his share, one hundred thousand Jews were carried +captive to Alexandria, where they settled and learned the +Greek language. The country continued to be convulsed +by the wars between the generals of Alexander, and fell into +the hands, alternately, of the Syrian and Egyptian kings—successors +of the generals of the great conqueror. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Persecution +of the Jews +by +Antiochus.</note> +On the establishment of the Syro-Grecian kingdom by +Seleucus, Antioch, the capital, became a great city, and the +rival of Alexandria. Syria, no longer a satrapy of Persia, +became a powerful monarchy, and Judea became a prey to +the armies of this ambitious State in its warfare with Egypt, +and was alternately the vassal of each—Syria and Egypt. +Under the government of the first three Ptolemies—those +enlightened and magnificent princes, Soter, Philadelphus, +and Evergetes, the Jews were protected, both at +home and in Alexandria, and their country enjoyed +peace and prosperity, until the ambition of Antiochus +the Great again plunged the nation in difficulties. +He had seized Judea, which was then a province of the +Egyptian kings, but was defeated by Ptolemy Philopator. +This monarch made sumptuous presents to the temple, and +even ventured to enter the sanctuary, but was prevented by +the high priest. Although filled with fear in view of the +tumult which this act provoked, he henceforth hated and +persecuted the Jews. Under his successor, Judea was again +invaded by Antiochus, and again was Jerusalem wrested +<pb n="116"/><anchor id="Pg116"/> +from his grasp by Scopas, the Egyptian general. Defeated, +however, near the source of the Jordan, the country fell into +the hands of Antiochus, who was regarded as a deliverer. +And it continued to be subject to the kings of Syria, until, +with Jerusalem, it suffered calamities scarcely inferior to +those inflicted by the Babylonians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The reign of +the high +priests. +Their +turbulent +reigns. Popular +tumults. +Misery of +the Jews.</note> +It is difficult to trace, with any satisfaction, the internal +government of the Jews during the two hundred years when +the chief power was in the hands of the high priests—this +period marked by the wars between Syria and +Egypt, or rather between the successors of the +generals of Alexander. The government of the high priests +at Jerusalem was not exempt from those disgraceful outrages +which occasionally have marked all the governments of +the world—whether in the hands of kings, or in an oligarchy +of nobles and priests. Nehemiah had expelled from Jerusalem, +Manasseh, the son of Jehoiada, who succeeded Eliashib +in the high priesthood, on account of his unlawful marriage +with a stranger. Manasseh, invited to Samaria by the father +of the woman he had married, became high priest of the +temple on Mount Gerizim, and thus perpetuated the schism +between the two nations. Before the conquests of Alexander, +while the country was under the dominion of Persia, a +high priest by the name of John murdered his brother Jesus +within the precincts of the sanctuary, which crime was punished +by the Persian governor, by a heavy fine imposed upon +the whole nation. Jaddua was the high priest in +the time of Alexander, and by his dignity and tact +won over the conqueror of Asia. Onias succeeded Jaddua, +and ruled for twenty-one years, and he was succeeded +by Simon the Just, a pontiff on whose administration +Jewish tradition dwells with delight. Simon was succeeded +by his uncles, Eleazar and Manasseh, and they by +Onias II., son of Simon, through whose misconduct, or indolence, +in omitting the customary tribute to the Egyptian +king, came near involving the country in fresh calamities—averted, +however, by his nephew Joseph, who pacified the +<pb n="117"/><anchor id="Pg117"/> +Egyptian court, and obtained the former generalship of the +revenues of Judea, Samaria, and Phœnicia, which he enjoyed +to the time of Antiochus the Great. Onias II. was succeeded +by his son Simon, under whose pontificate the Egyptian +monarch was prevented from entering the temple, and he by +Onias III., under whose rule a feud took place with the sons +of Joseph, disgraced by murders, which called for the interposition +of the Syrian king, who then possessed Judea. +Joshua, or Jason, by bribery, obtained the pontificate, but he +allowed the temple worship to fall into disuse, and was even +alienated from the Jewish faith by his intimacy with the +Syrian court. He was outbidden in his high office by Onias, +his brother, who was disgraced by savage passions, and who +robbed the temple of its golden vessels. The people, indignant, +rose in a tumult, and slew his brother, Lysimachus. +Meanwhile, Jason, the dispossessed high priest, recovered his +authority, and shut up Onias, or Menelaus, as he called +himself, in a castle. This was interpreted by Antiochus as +an insurrection, and he visited on Jerusalem a terrible +penalty—slaughtering forty thousand of the +people, and seizing as many more for slaves. He then abolished +the temple services, seized all the sacred vessels, collected +spoil to the amount of eighteen hundred talents, defiled the +altar by the sacrifice of a sow, and suppressed every sign of +Jewish independence. He meditated the complete extirpation +of the Jewish religion, dismantled the capitol, +harassed the country people, and inflicted unprecedented +barbarities. The temple itself was dedicated to Jupiter +Olympius, and the reluctant and miserable Jews were +forced to join in all the rites of pagan worship, including the +bacchanalia, which mocked the virtue of the older Romans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Maccabees. +Mattathias. +His +successes.</note> +From this degradation and slavery the Jews were rescued +by a line of heroes whom God raised up—the Asmoneans, or +Maccabees. The head of this heroic family was +Mattathias, a man of priestly origin, living in the +town of Modin, commanding a view of the sea—an old man +of wealth and influence who refused to depart from the faith +<pb n="118"/><anchor id="Pg118"/> +of his fathers, while most of the nation had relapsed into the +paganism of the Greeks. He slew with his own hand an +apostate Jew, who offered sacrifice to a pagan deity, and +then killed the royal commissioner, Apelles, whom Antiochus +had sent to enforce his edicts. The heroic old man, who +resembled William Tell, in his mission and character, +summoned his countrymen, who adhered to the +old faith, and intrenched himself in the mountains, and +headed a vigorous revolt against the Syrian power, even +fighting on the Sabbath day. The ranks of the insurrectionists +were gradually filled with those who were still zealous +for the law, or inspired with patriotic desires for independence. +Mattathias was prospered, making successful raids +from his mountain fastnesses, destroying heathen +altars, and punishing apostate Jews. Two sects +joined his standard with peculiar ardor—the Zadikim, who +observed the written law of Moses, from whom the Sadducees +of later times sprang, and the more zealous and austere +Chasidim, who added to the law the traditions of the elders, +from whom the Pharisees came. +</p> + +<p> +Old men are ill suited to conduct military expeditions +when great fatigue and privation are required, and the aged +Mattathias sank under the weight which he had so nobly +supported, and bequeathed his power to Judas, the most valiant +of his sons. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His son +Judas. His heroic +deeds.</note> +This remarkable man, scarcely inferior to Joshua and David +in military genius and heroic qualities, added +prudence and discretion to personal bravery. +When his followers had gained experience and courage by +various gallant adventures, he led them openly against his +enemies. The governor of Samaria, Apollonius, was the first +whom he encountered, and whom he routed and slew. +Seron, the deputy governor of Cœlesyria, sought to redeem +the disgrace of the Syrian arms; but he also was defeated +at the pass of Bethoron. At the urgent solicitation of +Philip, governor of Jerusalem, Antiochus then sent a strong +force of forty thousand foot and seven thousand horse to +<pb n="119"/><anchor id="Pg119"/> +subdue the insurgents, under the command of Ptolemy +Macron. Judas, to resist these forces, had six thousand +men; but he relied on the God of Israel, as his fathers had +done in the early ages of Jewish history, and in a sudden +attack he totally routed a large detachment of the +main army, under Gorgias, and spoiled their camp. +He then defeated another force beyond the Jordan, and the +general fled in the disguise of a slave, to Antioch. Thus +closed a triumphant campaign. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Syria +invades +Palestine.</note> +The next year, Lysias, the lieutenant-general of Antiochus, +invaded Judea with a large force of sixty-five thousand +men. Judas met it with ten thousand, and gained a +brilliant victory, which proved decisive, and which +led to the re-establishment of the Jewish power at +Jerusalem. Judas fortified the city and the temple, and assumed +the offensive, and recovered, one after another, the +cities which had fallen under the dominion of Syria. In the +mean time, Antiochus, the bitterest enemy which the Jews +ever had, died miserably in Persia—the most powerful of +all the Syrian kings. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Another unsuccessful +invasion.</note> +On the accession of Antiochus Eupater, Lysias again +attempted the subjugation of Judea, This time +he advanced with one hundred thousand foot, +twenty thousand horse, and thirty-two elephants. But this +large force wasted away in an unsuccessful attack on Jerusalem, +harassed by the soldiers of the Maccabees. A treaty +of peace was concluded, by which full liberty of worship +was granted to the Jews, with permission to be ruled by +their own laws. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Continued +hostilities +between +Syria and +Palestine.</note> +Demetrius, the lawful heir of Antiochus the Great, had +been detained at Rome as a hostage, in consequence +of which Antiochus Eupater had usurped his +throne. Escaping from Rome, he overpowered +his enemies and recovered his kingdom. But he +was even more hostile to the Jews than his predecessor, and +succeeded in imposing a high priest on the nation friendly +to his interests. His cruelties and crimes once more aroused +<pb n="120"/><anchor id="Pg120"/> +the Jews to resistance, and Judas gained another decisive +victory, and Nicanor, the Syrian general, was slain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Jews +force an alliance +with +the Romans.</note> +Judas then adopted a policy which was pregnant with +important consequences. He formed a league +with the Romans, then bent on the conquest of +the East. The Roman senate readily entered into +a coalition with the weaker State, in accordance with its uniform +custom of protecting those whom they ultimately absorbed +in their vast empire: but scarcely was the treaty +ratified when the gallant Judas died, leaving the defense of +his country to his brothers, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 161. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jonathan +Maccabeus +master of +Judea. +His rule. +John Hyrcanus +as high +priest.</note> +Jonathan, on whom the leadership fell, found the forces +under his control disheartened by the tyranny of +the high priest, Alcimus, whom the nation had +accepted. Leagued with Bacchides, the Syrian +general, the high priest had every thing his own way, until +Jonathan, emerging from his retreat, delivered his countrymen +once again, and another peace was made. Several +years then passed in tranquillity, Jonathan being master of +Judea. A revolution in Syria added to his power, and his +brother Simon was made captain-general of all the country +from Tyre to Egypt. Jonathan, unfortunately, was taken +in siege, and the leadership of the nation devolved upon +Simon, the last of this heroic family. He ruled with great +wisdom, consolidated his power, strengthened his alliance +with Rome, repaired Jerusalem, and restored the peace of +the country. He was, on a present of one thousand pounds of +gold to the Romans, decreed to be prince of Judea, and taken +under the protection of his powerful ally. But +the peace with Syria, from the new complications +to which that kingdom was subjected from rival aspirants +to the throne, was broken in the old age of Simon, and he +was treacherously murdered, with his oldest son, Judas, at +a banquet in Jerusalem. The youngest son, John Hyrcanus, +inherited the vigor of his family, and was +declared high priest, and sought to revenge the +murder of his father and brother. Still, a Syrian army +<pb n="121"/><anchor id="Pg121"/> +overran the country, and John Hyrcanus, shut up in Jerusalem, +was reduced to great extremities. A peace was +finally made between him and the Syrian monarch, Antiochus, +by which Judea submitted to vassalage to the king +of Syria. An unfortunate expedition of Antiochus into +Parthia enabled Hyrcanus once again to throw off the Syrian +yoke, and Judea regained its independence, which it +maintained until compelled to acknowledge the Roman +power. Hyrcanus was prospered in his reign, and destroyed +the rival temple on Mount Gerizim, while the temple of +Jerusalem resumed its ancient dignity and splendor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Jews in +Alexandria.</note> +At this period the Jews, who had settled in Alexandria, +devoted themselves to literature and philosophy in that liberal +and elegant city, and were allowed liberty +of worship. But they became entangled in the +mazes of Grecian speculation, and lost much of their ancient +spirit. By compliance with the opinions and customs of the +Greeks, they reached great honors and distinction, and +even high posts in the army. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The rule of +John Hyrcanus.</note> +Hyrcanus, supreme in Judea, now reduced Samaria and +Idumea, and was only troubled by the conflicting parties of +Pharisees and Sadducees, whose quarrels agitated the State. +He joined the party of the Sadducees, who asserted +free will, and denied the more orthodox doctrines +of the Pharisees, a kind of epicureans, opposed to severities +and the authority of traditions. It is one proof of +the advance of the Hebrew mind over the simplicity of former +ages, that the State could be agitated by theological and philosophical +questions, like the States of Greece in their highest +development. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Succeeded +by his son.</note> +Hyrcanus reigned twenty-nine years, and was succeeded +by his son, Aristobulus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 106. His brief and +inglorious reign was disgraced by his starving to +death his mother in a dungeon, and imprisoning his three +brothers, and assassinating a fourth, Antigonus, who was a +victorious general. This prince died in an agony of remorse +and horror on the spot where his brother was assassinated. +</p> + +<pb n="122"/><anchor id="Pg122"/> + +<p> +Alexander Jannaus succeeded to the throne of the Asmonean +princes, who possessed the whole region of Palestine, +except the port of Ptolemais, and the city of Gaza. In an +attempt to recover the former he was signally defeated, and +came near losing his throne. He was more successful in his +attack on Gaza, which finally surrendered, after Alexander +had incurred immense losses. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Turbulent +reign of +Alexander.</note> +While this priest-king was celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, +a meeting, incited by the Pharisaic party, broke +out, which resulted in the slaughter of ten thousand people. +While invading the country to the east of the Jordan, the rebellion +was renewed, and the nation, for six years, suffered +all the evils of civil war. Routed in a battle with the Syrian +monarch, whose aid the insurgents had invoked, he was +obliged to flee to the mountains; but recovering his authority, +at the head of sixty thousand men,—which shows +the power of Judea at this period,—he marched +upon Jerusalem, and inflicted a terrible vengeance, eight hundred +men being publicly crucified, and eight thousand more +forced to abandon the city. Under his iron sway, the country +recovered its political importance, for his kingdom comprised +the greater part of Palestine. He died, after a +turbulent reign of twenty-seven years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 77, invoking his +queen to throw herself into the arms of the Pharisaic party, +which advice she followed, as it was the most powerful and +popular. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Queen Alexandra.</note> +The high priesthood devolved on his eldest son, Hyrcanus +II., while the reins of government were held by +his queen, Alexandra. She reigned vigorously and +prosperously for nine years, punishing the murderers of the +eight hundred Pharisees who had been executed. +</p> + +<p> +Hyrcanus was not equal to his task amid the bitterness of +party strife. His brother Aristobulus, belonging to the +party of the Sadducees, and who had taken Damascus, was +popular with the people, and compelled his elder brother to +abdicate in his favor, and an end came to Pharisaic rule. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Idumean +family.</note> +But now another family appears upon the stage, which +<pb n="123"/><anchor id="Pg123"/> +ultimately wrested the crown from the Asmodean princes. +Antipater, a noble Idumean, was the chief minister +of the feeble Hyrcanus. He incited, from motives +of ambition, the deposed prince to reassert his rights, and +influenced by his counsels, he fled to Aretas, the king of +Arabia, whose capital, Petra, had become a great commercial +emporium. Aretas, Antipater, and Hyrcanus, marched +with an army of fifty thousand men against Aristobulus, who +was defeated, and fled to Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>All parties +invoke the +aid of Pompey.</note> +At this time Pompey was pursuing his career of conquests +in the East, and both parties invoked his interference, and both +offered enormous bribes. This powerful Roman was then at +Damascus, receiving the homage and tribute of +Oriental kings. The Egyptian monarch sent as a +present a crown worth four thousand pieces of +gold. Aristobulus, in command of the riches of the temple, +sent a golden vine worth five hundred talents. Pompey, intent +on the conquest of Arabia, made no decision; but, having +succeeded in his object, assumed a tone of haughtiness +irreconcilable with the independence of Judea. Aristobulus, +patriotic yet vacillating,—<q>too high-minded to yield, too +weak to resist,</q>—fled to Jerusalem and prepared for resistance. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jerusalem +falls into the +hands of +Pompey.</note> +Pompey approached the capital, weakened by those everlasting +divisions to which the latter Jews were +subjected by the zeal of their religious disputes. +The city fell, after a brave defense of three months, +and might not have fallen had the Jews been willing to abate +from the rigid observance of the Sabbath, during which the +Romans prepared for assault. Pompey demolished the fortifications +of the city, and exacted tribute, but spared the +treasures of the temple which he profaned by his heathen +presence. He nominated Hyrcanus to the priesthood, but +withheld the royal diadem, and limited the dominions of +Hyrcanus to Judea. He took Aristobulus to Rome to grace +his triumph. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Reorganization +of the +government.</note> +But he contrived to escape, and, with his son Alexander, +again renewed the civil strife; but taken prisoner, he was +<pb n="124"/><anchor id="Pg124"/> +again sent as a captive to the <q>eternal city.</q> Gabinius, +the Roman general—for Hyrcanus had invoked +the aid of the Romans—now deprived the high +priest of the royal authority, and reorganized the whole +government of Judea; establishing five independent Sanhedrims +in the principal cities, after the form of the great +Sanhedrim, which had existed since the captivity. This +form lasted until Julius Cæsar reinvested Hyrcanus with +the supreme dignity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jerusalem +governed by +Roman generals.</note> +Jerusalem was now exposed to the rapacity of the Roman +generals who really governed the country. Crassus +plundered all that Pompey spared. He took +from the temple ten thousand talents—about ten +million dollars when gold and silver had vastly greater value +than in our times. These vast sums had been accumulated +from the contributions of Jews scattered over the world—some +of whom were immensely wealthy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Herod governor +of Galilee.</note> +Aristobulus and his son Alexander were assassinated +during the great civil war between the partisans of Cæsar +and Pompey. After the fall of the latter. +Cæsar confirmed Hyrcanus in the high priesthood, +and allowed him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. +But Antipater, presuming on the incapacity of Hyrcanus, renewed +his ambitious intrigues, and contrived to make his son, +Phasael, governor of Jerusalem, and Herod, a second son, +governor of Galilee. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Receives the +crown of Judea. +And reigns +tyrannically. +His miserable +life.</note> +Herod developed great talents, and waited for his time. +After the battle of Philippi Herod made acceptable offerings +to the conquering party, and received the crown of +Judea, which had been recently ravaged by the Parthians, +through the intrigues of Antigonas, the surviving son of +Aristobulus. By his marriage with Mariamne, of +the royal line of the Asmoneans, he cemented the +power he had won by the sword and the favor of Rome. He +was the last of the independent sovereigns of Palestine. He +reigned tyrannically, and was guilty of great crimes, having +caused the death of the aged Hyrcanus, and the imprisonment +<pb n="125"/><anchor id="Pg125"/> +and execution of his wife on a foul suspicion. He paid +the same court to Augustus that he did to Antony, and was +confirmed in the possession of his kingdom. The last of the +line of the Asmonæans had perished on the scaffold, beautiful, +innocent, and proud, the object of a boundless passion to a +tyrant who sacrificed her to a still greater one—suspicion. Alternating +between his love and resentment, Herod sank into a +violent fit of remorse, for he had more or less concern in the murder +of the father, the grandfather, the brother, and the uncle +of his beautiful and imperious wife. At all times, even amid +the glories of his palace, he was haunted with the image of the +wife he had destroyed, and loved with passionate +ardor. He burst forth in tears, he tried every +diversion, banquets and revels, solitude and labor—still the +murdered Mariamne is ever present to his excited imagination. +He settles down in a fixed and indelible gloom, and his stern +nature sought cruelty and bloodshed. His public administration +was, on the whole, favorable to the peace and happiness +of the country, although he introduced the games and the +theatres in which the Romans sought their greatest pleasures. +For these innovations he was exposed to incessant dangers; +but he surmounted them all by his vigilance and energy. He +rebuilt Samaria, and erected palaces. But his greatest +work was the building of Cæsarea—a city of +palaces and theatres. His policy of reducing Judea to a mere +province of Rome was not pleasing to his subjects, and he +was suspected of a design of heathenizing the nation. +Neither his munificence nor severities could suppress the +murmurs of an indignant people. The undisguised hostility +of the nation prompted him to an act of policy by which he +hoped to conciliate it forever. The pride and glory of the +Jews was their temple. This Herod determined to rebuild +with extraordinary splendor, so as to approach its magnificence +in the time of Solomon. He removed the old structure, +dilapidated by the sieges, and violence, and wear of +five hundred years; and the new edifice gradually arose, +glittering with gold, and imposing with marble pinnacles. +</p> + +<pb n="126"/><anchor id="Pg126"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The hatred +in which he +was held. +His death.</note> +But in spite of all his magnificent public works, whether to +gratify the pride of his people, or his own vanity—in spite +of his efforts to develop the resources of the country over +which he ruled by the favor of Rome—in spite of his talents +and energies—one of the most able of the monarchs who +had sat on the throne of Judea, he was obnoxious +to his subjects for his cruelties, and his sympathy +with paganism, and he was visited in his latter days by a +terrible disorder which racked his body with pain, and inflamed +his soul with suspicions, while his court was distracted +with cabals from his own family, which poisoned his life, and +led him to perpetrate unnatural cruelties. He had already +executed two favorite sons, by Mariamne whom he loved, all +from court intrigues and jealousy, and he then executed his +son and heir, by Doris, his first wife, whom he had divorced +to marry Mariamne, and under circumstances so cruel that +Augustus remarked that he had rather be one of his swine +than one of his sons. Among other atrocities, he had ordered +the massacre of the Innocents to prevent any one to be born +<q>as king of the Jews.</q> His last act was to give the fatal +mandate for the execution of his son Antipater, +whom he hoped to make his heir, and then almost +immediately expired in agonies, detested by the nation, and +leaving a name as infamous as that of Ahab, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 4. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His kingdom +is divided +among his +sons. The claims +of the rival +princes.</note> +Herod had married ten wives, and left a numerous family. +By his will, he designated the sons of Malthace, his sixth +wife, and a Samaritan, as his successors. These were Archelaus, +Antipas, and Olympias. The first inherited +Idumea, Samaria, and Judea; to the second were +assigned Galilee and Peræa. Archelaus at once +assumed the government at Jerusalem; and after he had +given his father a magnificent funeral, and the people a +funeral banquet, he entered the temple, seated himself on a +golden throne, and made, as is usual with monarchs, a conciliatory +speech, promising reform and alleviations from taxes +and oppression. But even this did not prevent one of those +disgraceful seditions which have ever marked the people of +<pb n="127"/><anchor id="Pg127"/> +Jerusalem, in which three thousand were slain, caused by religious +animosities. After quelling the tumult by the military, +he set out for Rome, to secure his confirmation to the +throne. He encountered opposition from various intrigues +by his own family, and the caprice of the emperor. His +younger brother, Antipas, also went to Rome to +support his claim to the throne by virtue of a +former will. While the cause of the royal litigants was +being settled in the supreme tribunal of the civilized world, +new disturbances broke out in Judea, caused by the rapacities +of Sabinus, the Roman procurator of Syria. The whole +country was in a state of anarchy, and adventurers flocked +from all quarters to assert their claims in a nation that ardently +looked forward to national independence, or the rise +of some conqueror who should restore the predicted glory of +the land now rent with civil feuds, and stained with fratricidal +blood. Varus, the prefect of Syria, attempted to restore +order, and crucified some two thousand ringleaders of the +tumults. Five hundred Jews went to Rome to petition for +the restoration of their ancient constitution, and the abolition +of kingly rule. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Romans +confirm the +will of Herod.</note> +At length the imperial edict confirmed the will of Herod, +and Archelaus was appointed to the sovereignty of +Jerusalem, Idumea, and Samaria, under the title of +ethnarch; Herod Antipas obtained Galilee and +Peræa; Philip, the son of Herod and Cleopatra of Jerusalem, +was made tetrarch of Ituræa. Archelaus governed his +dominions with such injustice and cruelty, that he was deposed +by the emperor, and Judea became a Roman province. +The sceptre departed finally from the family of David, of the +Asmonæans, and of Herod, and the kingdom sank into a +district dependent on the prefecture of Syria, though administered +by a Roman governor. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="128"/><anchor id="Pg128"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XII. THE ROMAN GOVERNORS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XII.</head> +<head>THE ROMAN GOVERNORS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Birth of +Christ.</note> +The history of the Jews after the death of Herod is marked +by the greatest event in human annals. In four years after +he expired in agonies of pain and remorse, Jesus Christ was +born in Bethlehem, whose teachings have changed the whole +condition of the world, and will continue to change all institutions +and governments until the seed of the +woman shall have completely triumphed over all +the wiles of the serpent. We can not, however, enter upon +the life or mission of the Saviour, or the feeble beginnings of +the early and persecuted Church which he founded, and which +is destined to go on from conquering to conquer. We return +to the more direct history of the Jewish nation until +their capital fell into the hands of Titus, and their political +existence was annihilated. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The rule of +Roman governors.</note> +They were now to be ruled by Roman governors—or by +mere vassal kings whom the Romans tolerated and protected. +The first of these rulers was P. Sulpicius Quirinus—a man of +consular rank, who, as proconsul of Syria, was responsible +for the government of Judea, which was intrusted to Coponius. +He was succeeded by M. Ambivius, and he again +by Annius Rufus. A rapid succession of governors +took place till Tiberius appointed Valerius +Gratus, who was kept in power eleven years, on the principle +that a rapid succession of rulers increased the oppression +of the people, since every new governor sought to be enriched. +Tiberius was a tyrant, but a wise emperor, and the +affairs of the Roman world were never better administered +than during his reign. These provincial governors, like the +<pb n="129"/><anchor id="Pg129"/> +Herodian kings, appointed and removed the high priests, and +left the internal management of the city of Jerusalem to them. +They generally resided themselves at Cæsarea, to avoid the +disputes of the Jewish sects, and the tumults of the people. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pontius +Pilate.</note> +Pontius Pilate succeeded Gratus <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 27,—under whose +memorable rule Jesus Christ was crucified and slain—a man +cruel, stern, and reckless of human life, but regardful +of the peace and tranquillity of the province. +He sought to transfer the innocent criminal to the tribunal +of Herod, to whose jurisdiction he belonged as a Galilean, +but yielded to the importunities of the people, and left him +at the mercy of the Jewish priesthood. +</p> + +<p> +The vigilant jealousy of popular commotion, and the reckless +disregard of human life, led to the recall of Pilate; but +during the forty years which had elapsed since the death of +Herod, his sons had quietly reigned over their respective +provinces. Antipas at Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee, and +Philip beyond the Jordan. The latter prince was humane +and just, and died without issue, and his territory was annexed +to Syria. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Herod Antipas.</note> +Herod Antipas was a different man. He seduced and +married his niece Herodias, wife of Herod Philip, daughter of +Aristobolus, and granddaughter of Mariamne, whom Herod +the Great had sacrificed in jealousy—the last scion of the Asmonæan +princes. It was for her that John the Baptist was put +to death. But this marriage proved unfortunate, +since it involved him in difficulties with Aretas, king +of Arabia, father of his first and repudiated wife. He ended +his days in exile at Lyons, having provoked the jealousy or +enmity of Caligula, the Roman emperor, through the intrigues +of Herod Agrippa, the brother of Herodias, and consequently, +a grandson of Herod the Great and Mariamne. The +Herodian family, of Idumean origin, never was free from +disgraceful quarrels and jealousies and rivalries. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Herod +Agrippa.</note> +The dominions of Herod Antipas were transferred to +Herod Agrippa, who had already obtained from Caligula the +tetrarchate of Ituræa, on the death of Philip, with the title +<pb n="130"/><anchor id="Pg130"/> +of king. The fortunes of this prince, in whose veins flowed +the blood of the Asmonæans and the Herodians, surpassed +in romance and vicissitude any recorded of Eastern +princes; alternately a fugitive and a favorite, a vagabond +and a courtier, a pauper and a spendthrift—according to +the varied hatred and favor of the imperial family at Rome. +He had the good luck to be a friend of Caligula before the +death of Tiberius. When he ascended the throne of the Roman +world, he took his friend from prison and disgrace, and gave +him a royal title and part of the dominions of his ancestors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His brilliant +reign.</note> +Agrippa did all he could to avert the mad designs of Caligula +of securing religious worship as a deity from the Jews, +and he was moderate in his government and policy. On the +death of the Roman tyrant, he received from his successor +Claudius the investiture of all the dominions which belonged +to Herod the Great. He reigned in great splendor, +respecting the national religion, observing the +Mosaic law with great exactness, and aiming at the favor of +the people. He inherited the taste of his great progenitor for +palace building, and theatrical representations. He greatly +improved Jerusalem, and strengthened its fortifications, and +yet he was only a vassal king. He reigned by the favor of +Rome, on whom he was dependent, and whom he feared, +like other kings and princes of the earth, for the emperor +was alone supreme. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Persecutes +the Christians.</note> +Agrippa sullied his fair fame by being a persecutor of the +Christians, and died in the forty-fourth year of his age, +having reigned seven years over part of his dominions, +and three over the whole of Palestine. He +died in extreme agony from internal pains, being +<q>eaten of worms.</q> He left one son, Agrippa, and three +daughters, Drusilla, Berenice, and Mariamne, the two first of +whom married princes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Judea a Roman +province.</note> +On his death Judea relapsed into a Roman province, +his son, Agrippa, being only seventeen years of age, and +too young to manage such a turbulent, unreasonable, +and stiff-necked people as the Jews, rent +<pb n="131"/><anchor id="Pg131"/> +by perpetual feuds and party animosities, and which seem +to have characterized them ever since the captivity, when +they renounced idolatry forever. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jewish parties.</note> +What were these parties? For their opinions and struggles +and quarrels form no inconsiderable part of +the internal history of the Jews, both under the +Asmonæan and Idumean dynasties. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Pharisees. +Their doctrines +and +character.</note> +The most powerful and numerous were the Pharisees, and +most popular with the nation. The origin of this famous +sect is involved in obscurity, but probably arose +not long after the captivity. They were the orthodox +party. They clung to the Law of Moses in its most +minute observances, and to all the traditions of their religion. +They were earnest, fierce, intolerant, and proud. They believed +in angels, and in immortality. They were bold and +heroic in war, and intractable and domineering in peace. +They were great zealots, devoted to proselytism. They were +austere in life, and despised all who were not. They were +learned and decorous, and pragmatical. Their dogmatism +knew no respite or palliation. They were predestinarians, +and believed in the servitude of the will. They were seen in +public with ostentatious piety. They made long prayers, +fasted with rigor, scrupulously observed the Sabbath, and +paid tithes to the cheapest herbs. They assumed superiority +in social circles, and always took the uppermost seats in the +synagogue. They displayed on their foreheads and the hem +of their garments, slips of parchment inscribed with sentences +from the law. They were regarded as models +of virtue and excellence, but were hypocrites in the observance +of the weightier matters of justice and equity. They +were, of course, the most bitter adversaries of the faith +which Christ revealed, and were ever in the ranks +of persecution. They resembled the most austere +of the Dominican monks in the Middle Ages. They were the +favorite teachers and guides of the people, whom they incited +in their various seditions. They were theologians who stood +at the summit of legal Judaism. <q>They fenced round their +<pb n="132"/><anchor id="Pg132"/> +law hedges whereby its precepts were guarded against any +possible infringement.</q> And they contrived, by an artful and +technical interpretation, to find statutes which favored their +ends. They wrought out asceticism into a system, and observed +the most painful ceremonials—the ancestors of rigid +monks; and they united a specious casuistry, not unlike the +Jesuits, to excuse the violation of the <emph>spirit</emph> of the law. +They were a hierarchical caste, whose ambition was to govern, +and to govern by legal technicalities. They were utterly +deficient in the virtues of humility and toleration, and as +such, peculiarly offensive to the Great Teacher when he propounded +the higher code of love and forgiveness. Outwardly, +however, they were the most respectable as well +as honorable men of the nation—dignified, decorous, and +studious of appearances. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Sadducees.</note> +The next great party was that of the Sadducees, who aimed +to restore the original Mosaic religion in its purity, and expunge +every thing which had been added by tradition. But +they were deficient in a profound sense of religion, denied +the doctrine of immortality, and hence all punishment in a +future life. They made up for their denial of the future by +a rigid punishment of all crimes. They inculcated a belief +of Divine Providence by whom all crime was supposed to be +avenged in this world. The party was not so +popular as that of their rivals, but embraced men +of high rank. In common with the Pharisees, they maintained +the strictness of the Jewish code, and professed great +uprightness of morals. They had, however, no true, deep +religious life, and were cold and heartless in their dispositions. +They were mostly men of ease and wealth, and satisfied +with earthly enjoyments, and inclined to the epicureanism +which marked many of the Greek philosophers. Nor +did they escape the hypocrisy which disgraced the Pharisees, +and their bitter opposition to the truths of Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Essenes.</note> +In addition to these two great parties which controlled the +people, were the Essenes. But they lived apart +from men, in the deserts round the Dead Sea, and +<pb n="133"/><anchor id="Pg133"/> +dreaded cities as nurseries of vice. They allowed no women +to come within their settlements. They were recruited by +strangers and proselytes, who thought all pleasure to be a sin. +They established a community of goods, and prosecuted the +desire of riches. They were clothed in white garments which +they never changed, and regulated their lives by the severest +forms. They abstained from animal food, and lived on +roots and bread. They worked and ate in silence, and observed +the Sabbath with great precision. They were great +students, and were rigid in morals, and believed in immortality. +They abhorred oaths, and slavery, and idolatry. +They embraced the philosophy of the Orientals, and supposed +that matter was evil, and that mind was divine. +They were mystics who reveled in the pleasures of abstract +contemplation. Their theosophy was sublime, but Brahminical. +Practically they were industrious, ascetic, and devout—the +precursors of those monks who fled from the +abodes of man, and filled the solitudes of Upper Egypt and +Arabia and Palestine, the loftiest and most misguided of the +Christian sects in the second and third centuries, But the +Essenes had no direct influence over the people of Judea like +the Pharisees and Sadducees, except in encouraging obedience +and charity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>State of the +country. +Miserable +condition of +the Jews. +Popular +Commotions. Wars and +rumors of +wars.</note> +All these sects were in a flourishing state on the death +of Agrippa. Judea was henceforth to be ruled +directly by Roman governors. Cuspius Fadus, +Tiberius Alexander, Ventidius Cumanus, Felix Portius, Festus +Albinus, and Gessius Florus successively administered +the affairs of a discontented province. Their brief administrations +were marked by famines and tumults. King Agrippa, +meanwhile, with mere nominal power, resided in Jerusalem, +in the palace of the Asmonæan princes, which stood on +Mount Zion, toward the temple. Robbers infested the +country, and murders and robbery were of constant occurrence. +High priests were set up, and dethroned. The +people were oppressed by taxation and irritated by pillage. +Prodigies, wild and awful, filled the land with dread of +<pb n="134"/><anchor id="Pg134"/> +approaching calamities. Fanatics alarmed the people. The +Christians predicted the ruin of the State. Never was a population +of three millions of people more discontented and +oppressed. Outrage, and injustice, and tumults, and insurrections, +marked the doomed people. The governors were +insulted, and massacred the people in retaliation. Florus, at +one time, destroyed three thousand six hundred people, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> +66. Open war was apparent to the more discerning, Agrippa +in vain counseled moderation and reconciliation, showing the +people how vain resistance would be to the overwhelming +power of Rome, which had subdued the world; and that the +refusal of tribute, and the demolition of Roman fortifications, +were overt acts of war. But he talked to people doomed. +Every day new causes of discord arose. Some of the higher +orders were disposed to be prudent, but the people +generally were filled with bigotry and fanaticism. +Some of the boldest of the war party one day seized the +fortress of Masada, near the Dead Sea, built by Jonathan +the Maccabean, and fortified by Herod. The Roman garrison +was put to the sword, and the banner of revolt was +unfolded. In the city of Jerusalem, the blinded people +refused to receive, as was customary, the gifts and sacrifices +of foreign potentates offered in the temple to the God of the +Jews. This was an insult and a declaration of war, which +the chief priests and Pharisees attempted in vain to prevent. +The insurgents, urged by zealots and assassins, +even set fire to the palace of the high priest and +of Agrippa and Berenice, and also to the public archives, +where the bonds of creditors were deposited, which destroyed +the power of the rich. They then carried the important +citadel of Antonia, and stormed the palace. A fanatic, by +the name of Manahem, son of Judas of Galilee, openly proclaimed +the doctrine that it was impious to own any king +but God, and treason to pay tribute to Cæsar. He became +the leader of the war party because he was the most unscrupulous +and zealous, as is always the case in times of excitement +and passion. He entered the city, in the pomp of a +<pb n="135"/><anchor id="Pg135"/> +conqueror, and became the captain of the forces, which took +the palace and killed the defenders. The high priest, Ananias, +striving to secure order, was stoned. Then followed +dissensions between the insurgents themselves, during which +Manahem was killed. Eleazar, another chieftain, pressed the +siege of the towers, defended by Roman soldiers, +which were taken, and the defenders massacred. +Meanwhile, twenty thousand Jews were slain by the Greeks +in Cæsarea, which drove the nation to madness, and led to a +general insurrection in Syria, and a bloody strife between +the Greco-Syrians and Jews, There were commotions in all +quarters—wars and rumors of wars, so that men fled to the +mountains, Wherever the Jews had settled were commotions +and massacres, especially at Alexandria, when fifty +thousand bodies were heaped up for burial. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Incipient +rebellion.</note> +Nero was now on the imperial throne, and stringent +measures were adopted to suppress the revolt of +the Jews, now goaded to desperation by the +remembrance of their oppressions, and the conviction that +every man's hand was against them. Certius, the prefect of +Syria, advanced with ten thousand Roman troops and thirteen +hundred allies, and desperate war seemed now inevitable. +Agrippa, knowing how fatal it would be to the Jewish +nation, attempted to avert it. He argued to infatuated men. +Certius undertook to storm Jerusalem, the head-quarters of +the insurrection, but failed, and was obliged to retreat, with +loss of a great part of his army—a defeat such as the Romans +had not received since Varus was overpowered in the forests +of Germany. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Open rebellion +of +Judea.</note> +Judea was now in open rebellion against the whole power +of Rome—a mad and desperate revolt, which could +not end but in the political ruin of the nation. +Great preparations were made for the approaching contest, +in which the Jews were to fight single-handed and unassisted +by allies. The fortified posts were in the hands of the insurgents, +but they had no organized and disciplined forces, and +were divided among themselves. Agrippa, the representative +<pb n="136"/><anchor id="Pg136"/> +of the Herodian kings, openly espoused the cause of +Rome. The only hope of the Jews was in their stern fanaticism, +their stubborn patience, and their daring valor. They +were to be justified for their insurrection by all those principles +which animate oppressed people striving to be free, +and they had glorious precedents in the victories of the +Maccabees; but it was their misfortune to contend against +the armies of the masters of the world. They were not +strong enough for revolt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sensation at +Rome. +Roman +preparations +for war.</note> +The news of the insurrection, and the defeat of a Roman +prefect, made a profound sensation at Rome. +Although Nero affected to treat the affair with levity, +he selected, however, the ablest general of the empire, +Vespasian, and sent him to Syria. The storm broke out +in Galilee, whose mountain fastnesses were intrusted by the +Jews to Joseph, the son of Matthias—lineally descended +from an illustrious priestly family, with the blood of the +Asmonæan running in his veins—a man of culture and learning—a +Pharisee who had at first opposed the insurrection, +but drawn into it after the defeat of Certius. He is better +known to us as the historian Josephus. His measures of +defence were prudent and vigorous, and he endeavored to +unite the various parties in the contest which he +knew was desperate. He raised an army of one +hundred thousand men, and introduced the Roman discipline, +but was impeded in his measures by party dissensions and +by treachery. In the city of Jerusalem, Ananias, the high +priest, took the lead, but had to contend with fanatics and +secret enemies. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Expedition +against Ascalon. +Fall of Jotaphata.</note> +The first memorable event of the war was the unsuccessful +expedition against Ascalon, sixty-five miles from Jerusalem, +in which Roman discipline prevailed against numbers. +This was soon followed by the advance of +Vespasian to Ptolemais, while Titus, his lieutenant and son, +sailed from Alexandria to join him. Vespasian had an army +of sixty thousand veterans. Josephus could not openly +contend against this force, but strengthened his fortified +<pb n="137"/><anchor id="Pg137"/> +cities. Vespasian advanced cautiously in battle array, and +halted on the frontiers of Galilee. The Jews, under Josephus, +fled in despair. Gabaia was the first city which fell, and its +inhabitants were put to the sword—a stern vengeance which +the Romans often exercised, to awe their insurgent enemies. +Josephus retired to Tiberius, hopeless and discouraged, and +exhorted the people of Jerusalem either to re-enforce him with +a powerful army, or make submission to the Romans. They +did neither. He then threw himself into Jotaphata, where +the strongest of the Galilean warriors had intrenched themselves. +Vespasian advanced against the city with his whole +army, and drew a line of circumvallation around it, and then +commenced the attack. The city stood on the top of a lofty +hill, and was difficult of access, and well supplied with provisions. +As the works of the Romans arose around the city, +its walls were raised thirty-five feet by the defenders, while +they issued out in sallies and fought with the courage of despair. +The city could not be taken by assault, and the siege +was converted into a blockade. The besieged, supplied with +provisions, issued out from behind their fortifications, and +destroyed the works of the Romans. The fearful battering-rams +of the besiegers were destroyed by the arts and inventions +of the besieged. The catapults and scorpions swept the +walls, and the huge stones began to tell upon the turrets and +the towers. The whole city was surrounded by triple lines +of heavy armed soldiers, ready for assault. The Jews resorted +to all kinds of expedients, even to the pouring of boiling oil +on the heads of their assailants. The Roman general was +exasperated at the obstinate resistance, and proceeded by +more cautious measures. He raised the embankments, and +fortified them with towers, in which he placed slingers and +archers, whose missiles told with terrible effect on those who +defended the walls. Forty-seven days did the gallant defenders +resist all the resources of Vespasian, But they were +at length exhausted, and their ranks were thinned, +Once again a furious assault was made by the +whole army, and Titus scaled the walls. The city fell +<pb n="138"/><anchor id="Pg138"/> +with the loss of forty thousand men on both sides, and Josephus +surrendered to the will of God, but was himself spared +by the victors by adroit flatteries, in which he predicted the +elevation of Vespasian to the throne of Nero. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of +Joppa.</note> +It would be interesting to detail the progress of the war, +but our limits forbid. The reader is referred to Josephus. +City after city gradually fell into the hands of Vespasian, +who now established himself in Cæsarea. +Joppa shared the fate of Jotaphata; the city was razed, but +the citadel was fortified by the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of +Gamala.</note> +The intelligence of these disasters filled Jerusalem with +consternation and mourning, for scarcely a family had not +to deplore the loss of some of its members. Tiberius and +Tarichea, on the banks of the beautiful lake of Galilee, were +the next which fell, followed by atrocious massacres, after +the fashion of war in those days. Galilee stood appalled, +and all its cities but three surrendered. Of these +Gamala, the capital, was the strongest, and more +inaccessible than Jotaphata. It was built upon a precipice, +and was crowded with fugitives, and well provisioned. But +it was finally taken, as well as Gischala and Itabyriun, and +all Galilee was in the hands of the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Factions at +Jerusalem.</note> +Jerusalem, meanwhile, was the scene of factions and dissensions. +It might have re-enforced the strongholds +of Galilee, but gave itself up to party animosities, +which weakened its strength. Had the Jews been united, +they might have offered a more successful resistance. But +their fate was sealed. I can not describe the various intrigues +and factions which paralyzed the national arm, and +forewarned the inhabitants of their doom. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, Nero was assassinated, and Vespasian was +elevated to the imperial throne. He sent his son Titus to +complete the subjugation which had hitherto resisted his +conquering legions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Infatuation +of the city. +Its fortifications. +The temple.</note> +Jerusalem, in those days of danger and anxiety, was still +rent by factions, and neglected her last chance of organizing +her forces to resist the common enemy. Never was a city +<pb n="139"/><anchor id="Pg139"/> +more insensible of its doom. Three distinct parties were +at war with each other, shedding each others' +blood, reckless of all consequences, callous, fierce, +desperate. At length the army of Titus advanced to the siege +of the sacred city, still strong and well provisioned. Four +legions, with mercenary troops and allies, burning to avenge +the past, encamped beneath the walls, destroying the orchards +and olive-grounds and gardens which everywhere gladdened +the beautiful environs. The city was fortified with three +walls where not surrounded by impassable ravines, not one +within the other, but inclosing distinct quarters; +and these were of great strength, the stones of +which were in some parts thirty-five feet long, and so thick +that even the heaviest battering-rams could make no impression. +One hundred and sixty-four towers surmounted +these heavy walls, one of which was one hundred and forty +feet high, and forty-three feet square; another, of white +marble, seventy-six feet in height, was built of stones thirty-five +feet long, and seventeen and a half wide, and eight and +a half high, joined together with the most perfect masonry. +Within these walls and towers was the royal palace, surrounded +by walls and towers of equal strength. The fortress +of Antonia, seventy feet high, stood on a rock of ninety +feet elevation, with precipitous sides. High above all these +towers and hills, and fortresses, stood the temple, on an +esplanade covering a square of a furlong on each side. The +walls which surrounded this fortress-temple were built of +vast stones, and were of great height; and within these +walls, on each side, was a spacious double portico fifty-two +and a half feet broad, with a ceiling of cedar exquisitely +carved, supported by marble columns forty-three and three-quarters +feet high, hewn out of single stones. There +were one hundred and sixty-two of these beautiful +columns. Within this quadrangle was an inner wall, seventy +feet in height, inclosing the inner court, around which, in the +interior, was another still more splendid portico, entered by +brazen gates adorned with gold. These doors, or gates, +<pb n="140"/><anchor id="Pg140"/> +were fifty-two and a half feet high and twenty-six and a +quarter wide. Each gateway had two lofty pillars, twenty-one +feet in circumference. The gate called Beautiful was +eighty-seven and a half feet high, made of Corinthian brass, +and plated with gold. The quadrangle, entered by nine of +these gates, inclosed still another, within which was the +temple itself, with its glittering façade. This third and +inner quadrangle was entered by a gateway tower one hundred +and thirty-two and a half feet high and forty-three and +a half wide. <q>At a distance the temple looked like a mountain +of snow fretted with golden pinnacles.</q> With what +emotions Titus must have surveyed this glorious edifice, as +the sun rising above Mount Moriah gilded its gates and pinnacles—soon +to be so utterly demolished that not one stone +should be left upon another. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The siege.</note> +Around the devoted city Titus erected towers which +overlooked the walls, from which he discharged his destructive +missiles, while the battering-rams played against +the walls, where they were weakest. The first wall +was soon abandoned, and five days after the second was +penetrated, after a furious combat, and Titus took possession +of the lower city, where most of the people lived. +</p> + +<p> +The precipitous heights of Zion, the tower of Antonia +and the temple still remained, and although the cause was +hopeless, the Jews would hear of no terms of surrender. +Titus used every means. So did Josephus, who harangued +the people at a safe distance. The most obstinate fury was +added to presumptuous, vain confidence, perhaps allied with +utter distrust of the promises of enemies whom they had +offended past forgiveness. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Famine in +the city.</note> +At length famine pressed. No grain was to be bought. +The wealthy secreted their food. All kind feelings +were lost in the general misery. Wives snatched +the last morsel from their family and weary husbands, and +children from their parents. The houses were full of dying +and the dead, a heavy silence oppressed every one, yet no +complaints were made. They suffered in sullen gloom, and +<pb n="141"/><anchor id="Pg141"/> +despair. From the 14th of April to the 19th of July, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 70, +from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand, according +to different estimates, were buried or thrown from +the walls. A measure of wheat sold for a talent, and the +dunghills were raked for subsistence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The assault +of Jerusalem. +The fall.</note> +When all was ready, the assault on the places which remained +commenced. On the 5th of July the fortress of +Antonia was taken, and the siege of the temple was +pressed. Titus made one more attempt to persuade its defenders +to surrender, wishing to save the sacred edifice, but they +were deaf and obstinate. They continued to fight, inch by +inch, exhausted by famine, and reduced to despair. They +gnawed their leathern belts, and ate their very children. On +the 8th of August the wall inclosing the portico, or cloisters, +was scaled. On the 10th the temple itself, a powerful fortress, +fell, with all its treasures, into the hands of +the victors. The soldiers gazed with admiration on +the plates of gold, and the curious workmanship of the sacred +vessels. All that could be destroyed by fire was burned, +and all who guarded the precincts were killed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The siege +and sack of +the city.</note> +Still the palace and the upper city held out. Titus promised +to spare the lives of the defenders if they +would instantly surrender. But they still demanded +terms. Titus, in a fury, swore that the whole surviving +population should be exterminated. It was not till the 7th +of September that this last bulwark was captured, so obstinately +did the starving Jews defend themselves. A miscellaneous +slaughter commenced, till the Romans were weary +of their work of vengeance. During the whole siege one +million one hundred thousand were killed, and ninety-seven +thousand made prisoners, since a large part of the population +of Judea had taken refuge within the walls. During the +whole war one million three hundred and fifty-six thousand +were killed. +</p> + +<p> +Thus fell Jerusalem, after a siege of five months, the most +desperate defense of a capital in the history of war. It fell +never to rise again as a Jewish metropolis. Never had a +<pb n="142"/><anchor id="Pg142"/> +city greater misfortunes. Never was heroism accompanied +with greater fanaticism. Never was a prophecy more signally +fulfilled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Consequences +of the fall +of Jerusalem.</note> +The fall of Jerusalem was succeeded by bloody combats +before the whole country was finally subdued. +With the final conquest the Jews were dispersed +among the nations, and their nationality was at an end. +Their political existence was annihilated. The capital was +destroyed, the temple demolished, and the royal house +extinguished, and the high priesthood buried amid the ruins +of the sacred places. +</p> + +<p> +With the occupation of Palestine by strangers, and the +final dispersion of the Jews over all nations, who, without a +country, and without friends, maintained their institutions, +their religion, their name, their peculiarities, and their associations, +we leave the subject—so full of mournful interest, +and of impressive lessons. The student of history should see +in their prosperity and misfortunes the overruling Providence +vindicating his promises, and the awful majesty of eternal +laws. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n="143"/><anchor id="Pg143"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="BOOK II. THE GRECIAN STATES."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="BOOK II."/> +<head type="sub">BOOK II.</head> +<head>THE GRECIAN STATES.</head> + +<div> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XIII. THE GEOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ITS EARLY +INHABITANTS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XIII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XIII.</head> +<head>THE GEOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ITS EARLY +INHABITANTS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Degeneracy +of the oriental +states.</note> +We have seen that the Oriental-world, so favored by +nature, so rich in fields, in flocks, and fruits, failed +to realize the higher destiny of man. In spite +of all the advantages of nature, he was degraded by debasing +superstitions, and by the degeneracy which wealth and +ease produced. He was enslaved by vices and by despots. +The Assyrian and Babylonian kingdom, that <q>head of gold,</q> +as seen in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, became inferior to the +<q>breast and arms of silver,</q> as represented by the Persian +Empire, and this, in turn, became subject to the Grecian +States, <q>the belly and the thighs of brass.</q> It is the nobler +Hellenic race, with its original genius, its enterprise, its stern +and rugged nature, strengthened by toil, and enterprise, and +war, that we are now to contemplate. It is Greece—the land +of song, of art, of philosophy—the land of heroes and freemen, +to which we now turn our eyes—the most interesting, and +the most famous of the countries of antiquity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Boundaries +of Greece.</note> +Let us first survey that country in all its stern ruggedness +and picturesque beauty. It was small compared +with Assyria or Persia. Its original name was +Hellas, designated by a little district of Thessaly, which lay +on the southeast verge of Europe, and extended in length +from the thirty-sixth to the fortieth degree of latitude. It +<pb n="144"/><anchor id="Pg144"/> +contained, with its islands, only twenty-one thousand two +hundred and ninety square miles—less than Portugal or +Ireland, but its coasts exceeded the whole Pyrenean +peninsula. Hellas is itself a peninsula, bounded on the north +by the Cambunian and Ceraunian mountains, which separated +it from Macedonia; on the east by the Ægean Sea, +(Archipelago), which separated it from Asia Minor; on the +south by the Cretan Sea, and on the west by the Ionian Sea. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mountains +of +Greece. +Between Ossa +and Olympus +is the famous +vale of +Tempe.</note> +The northern part of this country of the Hellenes is traversed +by a range of mountains, commencing at +Acra Ceraunia, on the Adriatic, and tending southeast +above Dodona, in Epirus, till they join the Cambunian +mountains, near Mount Olympus, which run along the coast +of the Ægean till they terminate in the southeastern part of +Thessaly, under the names of Ossa, Pelion, and Tisæus. +The great range of Pindus enters Greece at +the sources of the Peneus, where it crosses the Cambunian +mountains, and extends at first south, and then east to +the sea, nearly inclosing Thessaly, and dividing it from the +rest of Greece. After throwing out the various spurs of +Othrys, Œta, and Corax, it loses itself in those famous haunts +of the Muses—the heights of Parnassus and Helicon, in Phocis +and Bœotia, In the southern part of Greece are the +mountains which intersect the Peloponnesus in almost every +part, the principal of which are Scollis, Aroanii, and Taygetus. +We can not enumerate the names of all these mountains; +it is enough to say that no part of Europe, except Switzerland, +is so covered with mountains as Greece, some of which +attain the altitude of perpetual snow. Only a small part of +the country is level. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The rivers.</note> +The rivers, again, are numerous, but more famous for associations +than for navigable importance. The Peneus +which empties itself into the Ægean, a little below +Tempe; the Achelous, which flows into the Ionian Sea; the +Alpheus, flowing into the Ionian Sea; and the Eurotas, which +enters the Laconican Gulf, are among the most considerable. +The lakes are numerous, but not large. The coasts are lined +<pb n="145"/><anchor id="Pg145"/> +by bays and promontories, favorable to navigation in its +infancy, and for fishing. The adjacent seas are full of islands, +memorable in Grecian history, some of which are of considerable +size. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Natural advantages +for +political independence.</note> +Thus intersected in all parts with mountains, and deeply +indented by the sea, Greece was both mountainous +and maritime. The mountains, the rivers, the valleys, +the sea, the islands contributed to make the +people enterprising and poetical, and as each State was divided +from every other State by mountains, or valleys, or gulfs, +political liberty was engendered. The difficulties of cultivating +a barren soil on the highlands inured the inhabitants +to industry and economy, as in Scotland and New England, +while the configuration of the country strengthened the powers +of defense, and shut the people up from those invasions +which have so often subjugated a plain and level country. +These natural divisions also kept the States from political +union, and fostered a principle of repulsion, and led to an +indefinite multiplication of self-governing towns, and to +great individuality of character. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Natural productions.</note> +Situated in the same parallels of latitude as Asia Minor, +and the south of Italy and Spain, Greece produced +wheat, barley, flax, wine, oil, in the earliest +times. The cultivation of the vine and the olive was peculiarly +careful. Barley cakes were more eaten than wheaten. +All vegetables and fish were abundant and cheap. But little +fresh meat was eaten. Corn also was imported in considerable +quantities by the maritime States in exchange for figs, +olives, and oil. The climate, clear and beautiful to modern +Europeans, was less genial than that of Asia Minor, but more +bracing and variable. It also varied in various sections. +</p> + +<p> +These various sections, or provinces, or states, into which +Greece was divided, claim a short notice. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Epirus.</note> +The largest and most northerly State was Epirus, containing +four thousand two hundred and sixty square +miles, bounded on the north by Macedonia, on the +east by Thessaly, on the south by Acarnania, and on +<pb n="146"/><anchor id="Pg146"/> +the west by the Ionian Sea. Though mountainous, it +was fertile, and produced excellent cattle and horses. +Of the interesting places of Epirus, memorable in history, +ranks first Dodona, celebrated for its oracle, the most +ancient in Greece, and only inferior to that of Delphi. +It was founded by the Pelasgi before the Trojan war +and was dedicated to Jupiter. The temple was surrounded +by a grove of oak, but the oracles were latterly delivered +by the murmuring of fountains. On the west of Epirus is +the island of Corcyra (Corfu), famous for the shipwreck of +Ulysses, and for the gardens of Aleinous, and for having given +rise to the Peloponnesian war. Epirus is also distinguished +as the country over which Pyrrhus ruled. The Acheron, supposed +to communicate with the infernal regions, was one +of its rivers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thessaly.</note> +West of Epirus was Thessaly, and next to it in size, containing +four thousand two hundred and sixty square +miles. It was a plain inclosed by mountains; next +to Bœotia, the most fertile of all the States of Greece, abounding +in oil, wine, and corn, and yet one of the weakest and +most insignificant politically. The people were rich, but +perfidious. The river Peneus flowed through the entire extent +of the country, and near its mouth was the vale of Tempe, +the most beautiful valley in Greece, guarded by four strong +fortresses. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The famous +places.</note> +At some distance from the mouth of the Peneus was +Larissa, the city of Achilles, and the general +capital of the Pelasgi. At the southern extremity +of the lake Cælas, the largest in Thessaly, was Pheræ, one +of the most ancient cities in Greece, and near it was the +fountain of Hyperia. In the southern part of Thessaly was +Pharsalia, the battle-ground between Cæsar and Pompey, +and near it was Pyrrha, formerly called Hellas, where was +the tomb of Hellen, son of Deucalion, whose descendants, +Æolus, Dorus and Ion, are said to have given name to the three +nations, Æolians, Dorians, and Ionians, Still further south, +between the inaccessible cliffs of Mount Œta and the marshes +<pb n="147"/><anchor id="Pg147"/> +which skirt the Maliaeus Bay, were the defiles of Thermopylæ, +where Leonidas and three hundred heroes died +defending the pass, against the army of Xerxes, and which in +one place was only twenty-five feet wide, so that, in so narrow +a defile, the Spartans were able to withstand for three days +the whole power of Persia. In this famous pass the Amphictyonic +council met annually to deliberate on the common +affairs of all the States. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Acarnania.</note> +South of Epirus, on the Ionian Sea, and west of Ætolia, +was Acarnania, occupied by a barbarous people +before the Pelasgi settled in it. It had no historic +fame, except as furnishing on its waters a place for the decisive +battle which Augustus gained over Antony, at Actium, +and for the islands on the coast, one of which, Ithaca, a rugged +and mountainous island, was the residence of Ulysses. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ætolia.</note> +Ætolia, to the east of Acarnania, and south of Thessaly, +and separated from Achaia by the Corinthian Gulf, +contained nine hundred and thirty square miles. +Its principal city was Thermon, considered impregnable, at +which were held splendid games and festivals. The Ætolians +were little known in the palmy days of Athens and Sparta, +except as a hardy race, but covetous and faithless. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Doris.</note> +Doris was a small tract to the east of Ætolia, inhabited by +one of the most ancient of the Greek tribes—the +Dorians, called so from Dorus, son of Deucalion, +and originally inhabited that part of Thessaly in which were +the mountains of Olympus and Ossa. From this section they +were driven by the Cadmeans. Doris was the abode of the +Heraclidæ when exiled from the Peloponnesus, and which +was given to Hyllas, the son of Hercules, in gratitude by +Ægiminius, the king, who was reinstated by the hero in his +dispossessed dominion. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Locri Ozolæ.</note> +Locri Ozolæ was another small State, south of Doris, from +which it is separated by the range of the Parnassus +situated on the Corinthian Gulf, the most +important city of which was Salona, surrounded on all sides +by hills. Naupactus was also a considerable place, known +<pb n="148"/><anchor id="Pg148"/> +in the Middle Ages as Lepanto, where was fought one of the +decisive naval battles of the world, in which the Turks were +defeated by the Venetians. It contained three hundred and +fifty square miles. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Phocis.</note> +Phocis was directly to the east, bounded on the north by +Doris and the Locri Epicnemidii, and south by +the Corinthian Gulf. This State embraced six +hundred and ten square miles. The Phocians are known in +history from the sacred or Phocian war, which broke out in +357 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, in consequence of refusing to pay a fine imposed by +the Amphictyonic council. The Thebans and Locrians carried +on this war successfully, joined by Philip of Macedon, +who thus paved the way for the sovereignty of Greece. One +among the most noted places was Crissa, famed for the Pythian +games, and Delphi, renowned for its oracle sacred to Apollo. +The priestess, Pythia, sat on a sacred tripod over the mouth +of a cave, and pronounced her oracles in verse or prose. +Those who consulted her made rich presents, from which +Delphi became vastly enriched. Above Delphi towers Parnassus, +the highest mountain in central Greece, near whose +summit was the supposed residence of Deucalion. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bœotia.</note> +Bœotia was the richest State in Greece, so far as fertility +of soil can make a State rich. It was bounded on +the north by the territory of the Locri, on the west +by Phocis, on the south by Attica, and on the east by the +Eubœan Sea. It contained about one thousand square +miles. Its inhabitants were famed for their stolidity, and +yet it furnished Hesiod, Pindar, Corinna, and Plutarch to the +immortal catalogue of names. Its men, if stupid, were brave, +and its women were handsome. It was originally inhabited +by barbarous tribes, all connected with the Leleges. In its +southwestern part was the famous Helicon, famed as the seat +of Apollo and the Muses, and on the southern border was +Mount Cithæron, to the north of which was Platea, where the +Persians were defeated by the confederate Greeks under +Pausanias. Bœotia contained the largest lake in Greece—Copaias, +famed for eels. On the borders of this lake was +<pb n="149"/><anchor id="Pg149"/> +Coronea, where the Thebans were defeated by the Spartans. +To the north of Coronea was Chæronea, where was fought +the great battle with Philip, which subverted the liberties +of Greece. To the north of the river Æsopus, a sluggish +stream, was Thebes, the capital of Bœotia, founded by Cadmus, +whose great generals, Epaminondas and Pelopidas, +made it, for a time, one of the great powers of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Attica.</note> +The most famous province of Greece was Attica, bounded +on the north by the mountains Cithæron and Parnes, +on the west by the bay of Saronicus, on the east by +the Myrtoum Sea. It contained but seven hundred square +miles. It derived its name from Atthis, a daughter of Cranaus; +but its earliest name was Cecropia, from its king, Cecrops. It +was divided, in the time of Cecrops, into four tribes. On its +western extremity, on the shores of the Saronic Gulf, stood +Eleusis, the scene of the Eleusinian mysteries, the most +famous of all the religious ceremonials of Greece, sacred to +Ceres, and celebrated every four years, and lasting for nine +days. Opposite to Eleusis was Salamis, the birthplace of +Ajax, Teucer, and Solon. There the Persian fleet of Xerxes +was defeated by the Athenians. The capital, Athens, founded +by Cecrops, 1556 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, received its name from the goddess +Neith, an Egyptian deity, known by the Greeks as Athena, +or Minerva. Its population, in the time of Pericles, was one +hundred and twenty thousand. The southernmost point of +Attica was Sunium, sacred to Minerva; Marathon, the scene +of the most brilliant victory which the Athenians ever +fought, was in the eastern part of Attica. To the southeast +of Athens was Mount Hymettus, celebrated for its flowers +and honey. Between Hymettus and Marathon was Mount +Pentelicus, famed for its marbles. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Megaris.</note> +Megaris, another small State, was at the west of Attica, +between the Corinthian and the Saronican gulfs. +Its chief city, Megara, was a considerable place, +defended by two citadels on the hills above it. It was +celebrated as the seat of the Megaric school of philosophy, +founded by Euclid. +</p> + +<pb n="150"/><anchor id="Pg150"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Peloponnesus +and +its states.</note> +The largest of the Grecian States was the famous peninsula +known as the Peloponnesus, entirely surrounded +by water, except the isthmus of Corinth, four geographical +miles wide. On the west was the Ionian Sea; on +the east the Saronic Gulf and the Myrtoum Sea; on the north +the Corinthian Gulf. It contained six thousand seven hundred +and forty-five square miles. It was divided into several +States. It was said to be left by Hercules on his death to +the Heraclidæ, which they, with the assistance of the Dorians, +ultimately succeeded in regaining, about eighty years after +the Trojan war. +</p> + +<p> +Of the six States into which the Peloponnesus was divided, +Achaia was the northernmost, and was celebrated for the +Achæan league, composed of its principal cities, as well us +Corinth, Sicyon, Phlius, Arcadia, Argolis, Laconia, Megaris, +and other cities and States. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Elis.</note> +Southwest of Achaia was Elis, on the Ionian Sea, in +which stood Olympia, where the Olympic games +were celebrated every four years, instituted by +Hercules. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Arcadia.</note> +Arcadia occupied the centre of the Peloponnesus, surrounded +on all sides by lofty mountains—a rich and +pastoral country, producing fine horses and asses. +It was the favorite residence of Pan, the god of shepherds, +and its people were famed for their love of liberty and music. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Argolis.</note> +Argolis was the eastern portion of the Peloponnesus, +watered by the Saronic Gulf, whose original inhabitants +were Pelasgi. It boasted of the cities of +Argos and Mycenæ, the former of which was the oldest city +of Greece. Agamemnon reigned at Mycenæ, the most powerful +of the kings of Greece during the Trojan war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Laconia.</note> +Laconia, at the southeastern extremity of the peninsula, +was the largest and most important of the States +of the Peloponnesus. It was rugged and mountainous, +but its people were brave and noble. Its largest +city, Sparta, for several generations controlled the fortune +of Greece, the most warlike of the Grecian cities. +</p> + +<pb n="151"/><anchor id="Pg151"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Messenia.</note> +Messenia was the southwestern part of the peninsula—mountainous, +but well watered, and abounding in +pasture. It was early coveted by the Lacedæmonians, +inhabitants of Laconia, and was subjugated in a series +of famous wars, called the Messenian. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the principal States of Greece. But in connection +with these were the islands in the seas which surrounded +it, and these are nearly as famous as the States on the main +land. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Crete.</note> +The most important of these was Crete, at the southern extremity +of the Ægean Sea. It was the fabled birthplace +of Jupiter. To the south of Thrace were +Thasos, remarkable for fertility, and for mines of gold and +silver; Samothrace, celebrated for the mysteries of Cybele; +Imbros, sacred to Ceres and Mercury. Lemnos, in latitude +forty, equidistant from Mount Athos and the Hellespont, +rendered infamous by the massacre of all the male inhabitants +of the island by the women. The island of Eubœa stretched +along the coast of Attica, Locris, and Bœotia, and was exceedingly +fertile, and from this island the Athenians drew large +supplies of corn—the largest island in the Archipelago, next +to Crete. Its principal city was Chalcis, one of the strongest +in Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Cyclades.</note> +To the southeast of Eubœa are the Cyclades—a group of +islands of which Delos, Andros, Tenos, Myeonos, +Naxos, Paros, Olearos, Siphnos, Melos, and Syros, +were the most important. All these islands are famous for +temples and the birthplace of celebrated men. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Sporades.</note> +The islands called the Sporades lie to the south and east +of the Cyclades, among which are Amorgo, Ios, +Sicinos, Thera, and Anaphe—some of which are +barren, and others favorable to the vine. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Lesbos, and +other +islands.</note> +Besides these islands, which belong to the continent of +Europe, are those which belong to Asia—Tenedos, small but +fertile; Lesbos, celebrated for wine, the fourth in +size of all the islands of the Ægean; Chios, also +famed for wine; Samos, famous for the worship of Juno, and +<pb n="152"/><anchor id="Pg152"/> +the birthplace of Pythagoras; Patmos, used as a place of +banishment; Cos, the birthplace of Apelles and Hippocrates, +exceedingly fertile; and south of all, Rhodes, the largest +island of the Ægean, after Crete and Eubœa. It was +famous for the brazen and colossal statue of the sun, seventy +cubits high. Its people were great navigators, and their +maritime laws were ultimately adopted by all the Greeks +and Romans. It was also famous for its schools of art. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the States and islands of Greece, mountainous, +in many parts sterile, but filled with a hardy, bold, and adventurous +race, whose exploits and arts were the glory of the +ancient world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Origin of the +Grecian nations. +The Pelasgians.</note> +The various tribes and nations all belonged to that branch +of the Indo-European race to which ethnographers have +given the name of Pelasgian. They were a people +of savage manners, but sufficiently civilised to till +the earth, and build walled cities. Their religion was polytheistic—a +personification of the elemental powers and the +heavenly bodies. The Pelasgians occupied insulated points, +but were generally diffused throughout Greece; and they +were probably a wandering people before they settled in +Greece. The Greek traditions about their migration rests on +no certain ground. Besides this race, concerning +which we have no authentic history, were the Leleges +and Carians. But all of them were barbarous, and have +left no written records. Argos and Sicyon are said to be +Pelasgian cities, founded as far back as one thousand eight +hundred and fifty-six years before Christ. It is also thought +that Oriental elements entered into the early population +of Greece. Cecrops imported into Attica Egyptian arts. +Cadmus, the Phœnician, colonized Bœotia, and introduced +weights and measures. Danaus, driven out of Egypt, gave +his name to the warlike Danai, and instructed the Pelasgian +women of Argos in the mystic rites of Demetus. Pelope is +supposed to have passed from Asia into Greece, with great +treasures, and his descendants occupied the throne of Argos. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Hellenes. The Æolians. The Achæans.</note> +At a period before written history commences, the early +<pb n="153"/><anchor id="Pg153"/> +inhabitants of Greece, whatever may have been their origin, +which is involved in obscurity, were driven from their settlements +by a warlike race, akin, however, to the Pelasgians. +These conquerors were the Hellenes, who were believed +to have issued from the district of Thessaly, +north of Mount Othrys. They gave their name ultimately +to the whole country. Divided into small settlements, they +yet were bound together by language and customs, and cherished +the idea of national unity. There were four chief divisions +of this nation, the Dorians, Æolians, Achæans, +and Ionians, traditionally supposed to be descended +from the three sons of Hellen, the son of Deucalion, Dorus, +Æolus, and Xuthus, the last the father of Achæus, +and Jon. So the Greek poets represented the +origin of the Hellenes—a people fond of adventure, and +endowed by nature with vast capacities, subsequently developed +by education. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Dorians +and Ionians.</note> +Of these four divisions of the Hellenic race, the Æolians +spread over northern Greece, and also occupied the western +coast of the Peloponnesus and the Ionian islands. It continued, +to the latest times, to occupy the greater part of +Greece. The Achæans were the most celebrated in epic +poetry, their name being used by Homer to denote all +the Hellenic tribes which fought at Troy. They were the +dominant people of the Peloponnesus, occupying the south and +east, and the Arcadians the centre. The Dorians +and Ionians were of later celebrity; the former +occupying a small patch of territory on the slopes of Mount +Œta, north of Delphi; the latter living on a narrow slip of +the country along the northern coast of the Peloponnesus, +and extending eastward into Attica. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Settlements +of the Æolians.</note> +The principal settlements of the Æolians lay around the +Pagasæan Gulf, and were blended with the Minyans, +a race of Pelasgian adventurers known in +the Argonautic expedition, under Æolian leaders. In the +north of Bœotia arose the city of Orchomenus, whose treasures +were compared by Homer to those of the Egyptian +<pb n="154"/><anchor id="Pg154"/> +Thebes. Another seat of the Æolians was Ephyra, afterward +known as Corinth, where the <q>wily Sisyphus</q> ruled. +He was the father of Phocus, who gave his name to Phocis. +The descendants of Æolus led also a colony to Elis, and +another to Pylus. In general, the Æolians sought maritime +settlements in northern Greece, and the western side of the +Peloponnesus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Of the +Achæans.</note> +The Achæans were the dominant race, in very early times, +of the south of Thessaly, and the eastern side of the Peloponnesus, +whose chief seats were Phthia, where +Achilles reigned, and Argolis. Thirlwall seems to +think they were a Pelasgian, rather than an Hellenic people. +The ancient traditions represent the sons of Achæus as +migrating to Argos, where they married the daughters of +Danaus the king, but did not mount the throne. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Of the +Dorians.</note> +The early fortunes of the Dorians are involved in great +obscurity, nor is there much that is satisfactory in +the early history of any of the Hellenic tribes. +Our information is chiefly traditional, derived from the poets. +Dorus, the son of Deucalion, occupied the country over +against Peloponnesus, on the opposite side of the Corinthian +Gulf, comprising Ætolia, Phocis, and the Ozolian Locrians. +Nor can the conquests of the Dorians on the Peloponnesus +be reconciled upon any other ground than that they occupied +a considerable tract of country. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Of the +Ionians.</note> +The early history of the Ionians is still more obscure. +Ion, the son of Xuthus, is supposed to have led +his followers from Thessaly to Attica, and to +have conquered the Pelasgians, or effected peaceable settlements +with them. Then follows a series of legends which +have more poetical than historical interest, but which will +be briefly noticed in the next chapter. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="155"/><anchor id="Pg155"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XIV. THE LEGENDS OF ANCIENT GREECE."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XIV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XIV.</head> +<head>THE LEGENDS OF ANCIENT GREECE.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The heroic +ages of +Greece.</note> +The Greeks possessed no authentic written history of that +period which included the first appearance of the +Hellenes in Thessaly to the first Olympiad, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +776. This is called the heroic age, and is known to us only +by legends and traditions, called myths. They pertain both +to gods and men, and are connected with what we call +mythology, which possesses no historical importance, although +it is full of interest for its poetic life. And as +mythology is interwoven with the literature and the art of +the ancients, furnishing inexhaustible subjects for poets, +painters, and sculptors, it can not be omitted wholly in the +history of that classic people, whose songs and arts have +been the admiration of the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The legends.</note> +We have space, however, only for those legends which are +of universal interest, and will first allude to those +which pertain to gods, such as appear most prominent +in the poems of Hesiod and Homer. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Zeus.</note> +Zeus, or Jupiter, is the most important personage in the +mythology of Greece. Although, chronologically, +he comes after Kronos and Uranos, he was called +the <q>father of gods and men,</q> whose power it was impossible +to resist, and which power was universal. He was supposed +to be the superintending providence, whose seat was on +Mount Olympus, enthroned in majesty and might, to whom +the lesser deities were obedient. With his two brothers, +Poseidon, or Neptune, and Hades, or Pluto, he reigned over +the heavens, the earth, the sea, and hell. Mythology represents +him as born in Crete; and when he had gained sufficient +<pb n="156"/><anchor id="Pg156"/> +mental and bodily force, he summoned the gods to +Mount Olympus, and resolved to wrest the supreme power +from his father, Kronos, and the Titans. Ten years were +spent in the mighty combat, in which all nature was convulsed, +before victory was obtained, and the Titans hurled into +Tartarus. With Zeus now began a different order of beings. +He is represented as having many wives and a numerous +offspring. From his own head came Athene, fully armed, the +goddess of wisdom, the patron deity of Athens. By Themis +he begat the Horæ; by Eurynome, the three Graces; by +Mnemosyne, the Muses; by Leto (Latona), Apollo, and Artemis +(Diana); by Demeter (Ceres), Persephone; by Here +(Juno), Hebe, Ares (Mars), and Eileithyia; by Maia, Hermes +(Mercury). +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The other +deities.</note> +Under the presidency of Zeus were the twelve great gods +and goddesses of Olympus—Poseidon (Neptune), +who presided over the sea; Apollo, who was the +patron of art; Ares, the god of war; Hephaestos (Vulcan), +who forged the thunderbolts; Hermes, who was the messenger +of omnipotence and the protector of merchants; Here, +the queen of heaven, and general protector of the female sex; +Athene (Minerva), the goddess of wisdom and letters; +Artemis (Diana), the protectress of hunters and shepherds; +Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of beauty and love; Hertia +(Vesta), the goddess of the hearth and altar, whose fire never +went out; Demeter (Ceres), mother earth, the goddess of +agriculture. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely inferior to these Olympian deities were Hades +(Pluto), who presided over the infernal regions; Helios, the +sun; Hecate, the goddess of expiation; Dionysus (Bacchus), +the god of the vine; Leto (Latona), the goddess of the concealed +powers; Eos (Aurora), goddess of the morn; Nemesis, +god of vengeance; Æolus, the god of winds; Harmonia; the +Graces, the Muses, the Nymphs, the Nereids, marine nymphs—these +were all invested with great power and dignity. +</p> + +<p> +Besides these were deities who performed special services to +the greater gods, like the Horæ; and monsters, offspring of +<pb n="157"/><anchor id="Pg157"/> +gods, like the gorgons, chimera, the dragon of the Hesperides, +the Lernæan hydra, the Nemean lion, Scylla and Charybdis, +the centaurs, the sphinx, and others. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Who represent +the +powers of +Nature.</note> +It will be seen that these gods and goddesses represent the +powers of nature, and the great attributes of +wisdom, purity, courage, fidelity, truth, which belong +to man's higher nature, and which are associated +with the divine. It was these powers and attributes +which were worshiped—superhuman and adorable. Homer +and Hesiod are the great authorities of the theogonies of the +pagan world, and we can not tell how much of this was of +their invention, and how much was implanted in the common +mind of the Greeks, at an age earlier than 700 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> The +Orphic theogony belongs to a later date, but acquired even +greater popular veneration than the Hesiodic. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The worship +of these deities.</note> +The worship of these divinities was attended by rites +more or less elevated, but sometimes by impurities +and follies, like those of Bacchus and Venus. Sometimes +this worship was veiled in mysteries, like those of Eleusis. +To all these deities temples were erected, and offerings +made, sometimes of fruits and flowers, and then of animals. Of +all these deities there were legends—sometimes absurd, and +these were interwoven with literature and religious solemnities. +The details of these fill many a large dictionary, and +are to be read in dictionaries, or in poems. Those which pertain +to Ceres, to Apollo, to Juno, to Venus, to Minerva, +to Mercury, are full of poetic beauty and fascination. +They arose in an age of fertile imagination and ardent feeling, +and became the faith of the people. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Legends +which pertain +to heroes.</note> +Besides the legends pertaining to gods and goddesses, are +those which relate the heroic actions of men. Grote +describes the different races of men as they appear in +the Hesiodic theogony—the offspring of gods. First, +the golden race: first created, good and happy, like the gods +themselves, and honored after death by being made the unseen +guardians of men—<q>terrestrial demons.</q> Second, the silver +race, inferior in body and mind, was next created, and being +<pb n="158"/><anchor id="Pg158"/> +disobedient, are buried in the earth. Third, the brazen race, +hard, pugnacious, terrible, strong, which was continually at +war, and ultimately destroyed itself, and descended into +Hades, unhonored and without privilege. Fourth, the race +of heroes, or demigods, such as fought at Thebes and Troy, +virtuous but warlike, which also perished in battle, but were +removed to a happier state. And finally, the iron race, +doomed to perpetual guilt, care, toil, suffering—unjust, dishonest, +ungrateful, thoughtless—such is the present race of men, +with a small admixture of good, which will also end in due +time. Such are the races which Hesiod describes in his poem of +the <q>Works and Days,</q>—penetrated with a profound sense of +the wickedness and degeneracy of human life, yet of the ultimate +rewards of virtue and truth. His demons are not +gods, nor men, but intermediate agents, essentially good—angels, +whose province was to guard and to benefit the world. +But the notions of demons gradually changed, until they +were regarded as both good and bad, as viewed by Plato, and +finally they were regarded as the causes of evil, as in the +time of the Christian writers. Hesiod, who lived, it is supposed, +four hundred years before Herodotus, is a great ethical +poet, and embodied the views of his age respecting the great +mysteries of nature and life. +</p> + +<p> +The legends which Hesiod, Homer, and other poets made +so attractive by their genius, have a perpetual interest, since +they are invested with all the fascinations of song and +romance. We will not enter upon those which relate to +gods, but confine ourselves to those which relate to men—the +early heroes of the classic land and age; nor can we allude +to all—only a few—those which are most memorable and +impressive. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Danaides.</note> +Among the most ancient was the legend relating to the +Danaides, which invest the early history of Argos +with peculiar interest. Inachus, who reigned 1986 +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, according to ancient chronology, is also the name of +the river flowing beneath the walls of the ancient city, situated +in the eastern part of the Peloponnesus. In the reign of +<pb n="159"/><anchor id="Pg159"/> +Krotopos, one of his descendants, Danaus came with his fifty +daughters from Egypt to Argos in a vessel of fifty oars, in +order to escape the solicitations of the fifty sons of Ægyptos, +his brother, who wished to make them their wives. Ægyptos +and the sons followed in pursuit, and Danaus was compelled +to assent to their desires, but furnished each of his +daughters with a dagger, on the wedding night, who thus +slew their husbands, except one, whose husband, Lynceus, +ultimately became king of Argos. From Danaus was derived +the name of Danai, applied to the people of the Argeian +territory, and to the Homeric Greeks generally. We hence +infer that Argos—one of the oldest cities of Greece, was settled +in part by Egyptians, probably in the era of the shepherd +kings, who introduced not only the arts, but the religious +rites of that ancient country. Among the regal descendants +of Lynceus was Danae, whose son Perseus performed marvelous +deeds, by the special favor of Athene, among which +he brought from Libya the terrific head of the Gorgon +Medusa, which had the marvelous property of turning every +one to stone who looked at her. Stung with remorse for the +accidental murder of his grandfather, the king, he retired +from Argos, and founded the city of Mycenæ, the ruins of +whose massive walls are still to be seen—Cyclopean works, +which seem to show that the old Pelasgians derived their +architectural ideas from the Egyptian Danauns. The Perseids +of Mycenæ thus boasted of an illustrious descent, which +continued down to the last sovereign of Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hercules.</note> +The grand-daughter of Perseus was Alcmena, whom mythology +represents as the mother of Hercules by +Jupiter. The labors of Hercules are among the +most interesting legends of pagan antiquity, since they are +types of the endless toils of a noble soul, doomed to labor +for others, and obey the commands of worthless persecutors. +But the hero is finally rewarded by admission to the family +of the gods, and his descendants are ultimately restored to +the inheritance from which they were deprived by the wrath +and jealousy of Juno. A younger branch of the Perseid +<pb n="160"/><anchor id="Pg160"/> +family reigned in Lacedæmon—Eurystheus, to whom Hercules +was subject; but he, with all his sons, lost their lives +in battle, so that the Perseid family was represented only by +the sons of Hercules—the Heracleids, or Heraclidæ. They +endeavored to regain their possessions, and invaded the Peloponnesus, +from which they had been expelled. Hyllos, the +oldest son, proposed to the army of Ionians, Achæans, and +Arcadians, which met them in defense, that the combat should +be decided between himself and any champion of the invading +army, and that, if he were victorious, the Heracleids +should be restored to their sovereignty, but if defeated, should +forego their claim for three generations. Hyllos was vanquished, +and the Heracleids retired and resided with the +Dorians. When the stipulated period had ended, they, +assisted by the Dorians, gained possession of the Peloponnesus. +Hence the great Dorian settlement of Argos, Sparta, +and Messenia, effected by the return of the Heracleids. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Deucalion.</note> +Another important legend is that which relates to Deucalion +and the deluge, as it is supposed to shed +light on the different races that colonized Greece. +The wickedness of the world induced Zeus to punish it by a +deluge; a terrible rain laid the whole of Greece under water, +except a few mountain tops. Deucalion was saved in an +ark, or chest, which he had been forewarned to construct. +After floating nine days, he landed on the summit of Mount +Parnassus. Issuing from his ark, he found no inhabitants, +they having been destroyed by the deluge. Instructed, however, +by Zeus, he and his wife, Pyrrha, threw stones over +their heads, and those which he threw became men, and those +thrown by his wife became women. Thus does mythology +account for the new settlement of the country—a tradition +doubtless derived from the remote ages through the children +of Japhet, from whom the Greeks descended, and who, after +many wanderings and migrations, settled in Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hellen and +Pyrrha.</note> +Deucalion and Pyrrha had two sons, Hellen and Amphictyon. +The eldest, Hellen, by a nymph was the +father of Dorus, Æolus, and Xuthus, and he gave +<pb n="161"/><anchor id="Pg161"/> +his name to the nation—Hellenas. In dividing the country +among his sons, Æolus received Thessaly; Xuthus, Peloponnesus; +and Dorus, the country lying opposite, on the northern +side of the Corinthian Gulf, as has been already mentioned in +the preceding chapter. Substitute Deucalion for Noah, +Greece for Armenia, and Dorus, Æolus, and Xuthus for Shem, +Ham, and Japhet, and we see a reproduction of the Mosaic +account of the second settlement of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +As it is natural for men to trace their origin to illustrious +progenitors, so the Greeks, in their various settlements, cherished +the legends which represented themselves as sprung +from gods and heroes—those great benefactors, whose exploits +occupy the heroic ages. As Hercules was the Argine hero +of the Peloponnesus, so Æolus was the father of heroes sacred +in the history of the Æolians, who inhabited the largest part +of Greece. Æolus reigned in Thessaly, the original seat of +the Hellenes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pelias and +Neleus.</note> +Among his sons was Salmoneus, whose daughter, Tyro, +became enamored of the river Eneipus, and frequenting its +banks, the god Poseidon fell in love with her. The fruits of +this alliance were the twin brothers, Pelias and +Neleus, who quarreled respecting the possession +of Iolchos, situated at the foot of Mount Pelion, celebrated +afterward as the residence of Jason. Pelias prevailed, and +Neleus returned into Peloponnesus and founded the kingdom +of Pylos. His beautiful daughter, Pero, was sought in +marriage by princes from all the neighboring countries, but +he refused to entertain the pretensions of any of them, declaring +that she should only wed the man who brought him +the famous oxen of Iphiklos, in Thessaly. Melampus, the +nephew of Neleus, obtained the oxen for his brother Bias, +who thus obtained the hand of Pero. Of the twelve sons of +Neleus, Nestor was the most celebrated. It was he who +assembled the various chieftains for the siege of Troy, and +was pre-eminent over all for wisdom. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Admetus.</note> +Another descendant of Æolus was the subject of a beautiful +legend. Admetus, who married a daughter of Pelias, and +<pb n="162"/><anchor id="Pg162"/> +whose horses were tended by Apollo, for a time incarnated +as a slave in punishment for the murder of the +Cyclopes. Apollo, in gratitude, obtained from the +Fates the privilege that the life of Admetus should be prolonged +if any one could be found to die voluntarily for him. +His wife, Alkestes, made the sacrifice, but was released from +the grasp of death (Thanatos) by Hercules, the ancient friend +of Admetus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jason and +the Argonauts.</note> +But a still more beautiful legend is associated with Jason, +a great grandson of Æolus. Pelias, still reigning at +Iolchos, was informed by the oracle to beware of +the man who should appear before him with only one sandal. +He was celebrating a festival in honor of Poseidon when +Jason appeared, having lost one of his sandals in crossing a +river. As a means of averting the danger, he imposed upon +Jason the task, deemed desperate, of bringing back to Iolchos +the <q>Golden Fleece.</q> The result was the memorable Argonautic +expedition of the ship Argo, to the distant land of +Colchis, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Jason invited +the noblest youth of Greece to join him in this voyage of +danger and glory. Fifty illustrious persons joined him, +including Hercules and Theseus, Castor and Pollux, Mopsus, +and Orpheus. They proceeded along the coast of Thrace, +up the Hellespont, past the southern coast of the Propontis, +through the Bosphorus, onward past Bithynia and Pontus, +and arrived at the river Phasis, south of the Caucasian +mountains, where dwelt Æetes, whom they sought. But he +refused to surrender the golden fleece except on conditions +which were almost impossible. Medea, however, his daughter, +fell in love with Jason, and by her means, assisted by +Hecate, he succeeded in yoking the ferocious bulls and +plowing the field, and sowing it with dragons' teeth. Still +Æetes refused the reward, and meditated the murder of the +Argonauts; but Medea lulled to sleep the dragon which +guarded the fleece, and fled with her lover and his companions +on board the Argo. The adventurers returned to Iolchos +in safety, after innumerable perils, and by courses irreconcilable +<pb n="163"/><anchor id="Pg163"/> +with all geographical truths. But Jason could avenge +himself on Pelias only through the stratagem of his wife, and +by her magical arts she induced the daughters of Pelias to cut +up their father, and to cast his limbs into a cauldron, believing +that by this method he would be restored to the vigor of +youth, and Jason was thus revenged, and obtained possession +of the kingdom, which he surrendered to a son of Pelias, and +retired with his wife to Corinth. Here he lived ten years in +prosperity, but repudiated Medea in order to marry Glance, +the daughter of the king of Corinth; Medea avenged the +insult by the poisoned robe she sent to Glance as a marriage +present, while Jason perished, while asleep, from a fragment +of his ship Argo, which fell upon him. Such is the legend +of the Argonauts, which is typical of the naval adventures +of the maritime Greeks, and their restless enterprises. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sisyphus.</note> +The legend of Sisyphus is connected with the early history +of Corinth. Sisyphus was the son of Æolus, and +founded this wealthy city. He was distinguished +for cunning and deceit. He detected Antolycus, the son of +Hermes, by marking his sheep under the foot, so that the +arch-thief was obliged to acknowledge the superior craft of +the Æolid, and restore the plunder. He discovered the +amour of Zeus with the nymph Ægina, and told her mother +where she was carried, which so incensed the <q>father of gods +and men,</q> that he doomed Sisyphus, in Hades, to the perpetual +punishment of rolling up a hill a heavy stone, which, +as soon as it reached the summit, rolled back again in spite +of all his efforts. This legend illustrates the never ending +toils and disappointments of men. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bellerophon.</note> +Sisyphus was the grandfather of Bellerophon, whose beauty +made him the object of a violent passion on the +part of Antea, the wife of a king of Argos. He +rejected her advances, and became as violently hated. She +made false accusations, and persuaded her husband to kill +him. Not wishing to commit the murder directly, he sent +him to his son-in-law, the king of Sykia, in Asia Minor, with +a folded tablet full of destructive symbols, which required +<pb n="164"/><anchor id="Pg164"/> +him to perform perilous undertakings, which he successfully +performed. He was then recognized as the son of a god, and +married the daughter of the king. This legend reminds us +of Joseph in Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Æolus.</note> +We are compelled to omit other interesting legends of the +Æolids, the sons and daughters of Æolus, among +which are those which record the feats of Atalanta, +and turn to those which relate to the Pelopids, who gave to +the Peloponnesus its early poetic interest. Of this remarkable +race were Tantalus, Pelops, Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, +Menelaus, Helen, and Hermione, all of whom figured in the +ancient legendary genealogies. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tantalus.</note> +Tantalus resided, at a remote antiquity, near Mount Sipylus, +in Lydia, and was a man of immense wealth, +and pre-eminently favored both by gods and +men. Intoxicated by prosperity, he stole nectar and ambrosia +from the table of the gods, and revealed their secrets, for +which he was punished in the under world by perpetual +hunger and thirst, yet placed with fruit and water near him, +which eluded his grasp when he attempted to touch them. +He had two children, Pelops and Niobe. The latter was +blessed with seven sons and seven daughters, which so inflamed +her with pride that she claimed equality with the +goddesses Latona and Diana, who favored her by their friendship. +This presumption so incensed the goddesses, that they +killed all her children, and Niobe wept herself to death, and +was turned into a stone, a striking image of excessive grief. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pelops.</note> +Pelops was a Lydian king, but was expelled from Asia by +Ilus, king of Troy, for his impieties. He came to +Greece, and beat Hippodamenia, whose father was +king of Pisa, near Olympia, in Elis, in a chariot race, when +death was the penalty of failure. He succeeded by the favor +of Poseidon, and married the princess, and became king +of Pisa. He gave his name to the whole peninsula, which +he was enabled to do from the great wealth he brought from +Lydia, thus connecting the early settlements of the Peloponnesus +with Asia Minor. He had numerous children, who +<pb n="165"/><anchor id="Pg165"/> +became the sovereigns of different cities and states in Argos, +Elis, Laconia, and Arcadia. One of them, Atreus, was king +of Mycenæ, who inherited the sceptre of Zeus, and whose +wealth was proverbial. The sceptre was made by Hephæstus +(Vulcan) and given to Zeus; he gave it to Hermes; +Hermes presented it to Pelops; and Pelops gave it to Atreus, +the ruler of men. Atreus and his brother, Thyestes, +bequeathed it to Agamemnon, who ruled at Mycenæ, while +his brother, Menelaus, reigned at Sparta. It was the wife +of Menelaus, Helen, who was carried away by Paris, which +occasioned the Trojan war. Agamemnon was killed on his +return from Troy, through the treachery of his wife Clytemnestra, +who was seduced by Ægisthus, the son of Thyestes. +His only son, Orestes, afterward avenged the murder, and +recovered Mycenæ. Hermione, the only daughter of Menelaus +and Helen, was given in marriage to the son of Achilles, +Neoptolemas, who reigned in Thessaly. Mycenæ maintained +its independence to the Persian invasion, and is rendered +immortal by the Iliad and Odyssey. On the subsequent +ascendency of Sparta, the bones of Orestes were brought +from Tegea, where they had reposed for generations, in a +coffin seven cubits long. +</p> + +<p> +The other States of the Peloponnesus, have also their +genealogical legends, which trace their ancestors to gods and +goddesses, which I omit, and turn to those which belong to +Attica. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Deucalian +deluge.</note> +The great Deucalian deluge, according to legend, happened +during the reign of Ogyges, 1796 years <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, and +1020 before the first Olympiad. After a long +interval, Cecrops, half man and half serpent, became king of +the country. By some he is represented as a Pelasgian, by +others, as an Egyptian. He introduced the first elements of +civilized life—marriage, the twelve political divisions of Attica, +and a new form of worship, abolishing the bloody sacrifices +to Zeus. He gave to the country the name of Cecropia. +During his reign there ensued a dispute between Athenæ +and Poseidon, respecting the possession of the Acropolis. +<pb n="166"/><anchor id="Pg166"/> +Poseidon struck the rocks with his trident, and produced a +well of salt water; Athenæ planted an olive tree. The +twelve Olympian gods decided the dispute, and awarded to +Athenæ the coveted possession, and she ever afterward +remained the protecting deity of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Theseus.</note> +Among his descendants was Theseus, the great legendary +hero of Attica, who was one of the Argonauts, and +also one of those who hunted the Calidomian +boar. He freed Attica from robbers and wild beasts, conquered +the celebrated Minotaur of Crete, and escaped from +the labyrinth by the aid of Ariadne, whom he carried off and +abandoned. In the Iliad he is represented as fighting +against the centaurs, and in the Hesiodic poems he is an +amorous knight-errant, misguided by the beautiful Ægle. +Among his other feats, inferior only to those of Hercules, he +vanquished the Amazons—a nation of courageous and hardy +women, who came from the country about Caucasus, and +whose principal seats were near the modern Trezibond. +They invaded Thrace, Asia Minor, Greece, Syria, Egypt, +and the islands of the Ægean. The foundation of several +towns in Asia Minor is ascribed to them. In the time of +Theseus, this semi-mythical and semi-historical race of female +warriors invaded Attica, and even penetrated to Athens, but +were conquered by the hero king. Allusion is made to their +defeat throughout the literature of Athens. Although Theseus +was a purely legendary personage, the Athenians were +accustomed to regard him as a great political reformer and +legislator, who consolidated the Athenian commonwealth, +distributing the people into three classes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Theban legends. Cadmus. Œdipus.</note> +The legends pertaining to Thebes occupy a prominent +place in Grecian mythology. Cadmus, the son of +Agenor, king of Phœnicia, leaves his country +in search of his sister Europa, with whom Zeus, in the form +of a bull, had fallen in love, and carried on his back to Crete. +He first goes to Thrace, and thence to Delphi, to learn tidings +of Europa, but the god directs him not to prosecute his +search; he is to follow the guidance of a cow, and to found a +<pb n="167"/><anchor id="Pg167"/> +city where the animal should lie down. The cow stops at the +site of Thebes. He marries Harmonia, the daughter of Ares +and Aphrodite, after having killed the dragons which guarded +the fountain Allia, and sowed their teeth. From these armed +men sprang up, who killed each other, except five. From +these arose the five great families of Thebes, called Sparti. +One of the Sparti marries a daughter of Cadmus, +whose issue was Pentheus, who became king. It +was in his reign that Dionysus appears as a god in Bœotia, +the giver of the vine, and obtains divine honors in Thebes. +Among the descendants of Cadmus was Laius. He is forewarned +by an oracle that any son he should beget would +destroy him, and hence he caused the infant Œdipus to be +exposed on Mount Cithanon. Here the herdsmen of Polybus, +king of Corinth, find him, and convey him to their lord +who brings him up as his own child. Distressed by the +taunts of companions as to his unknown parentage, he goes to +Delphi, to inquire the name of his real father. He is told not +to return to his own country, for it was his destiny to kill his +father and become the husband of his mother. Knowing no +country but Corinth, he pursues his way to Bœotia, and meets +Laius in a chariot drawn by mules. A quarrel ensues from +the insolence of attendants, and Œdipus kills Laius. The +brother of Laius, Creon, succeeds to the throne of Thebes. +The country around is vexed with a terrible monster, +with the face of a woman, the wings of a bird, and the +tail of a lion, called the Sphinx, who has learned from the +Muses a riddle, which she proposed to the Thebans, and on +every failure to resolve it one of them was devoured. But +no person can solve the riddle. The king offers his crown +and his sister Jocasta, wife of Laius, in marriage to any one +who would explain the riddle. Œdipus solves it, +and is made king of Thebes, and marries Jocasta. +A fatal curse rests upon him. Jocasta, informed by the gods +of her relationship, hangs herself in agony. Œdipus endures +great miseries, as well as his children, whom he curses, and +who quarrel about their inheritance, which quarrel leads to +<pb n="168"/><anchor id="Pg168"/> +the siege of Thebes by Adrastus, king of Argos, who seeks to +restore Polynices—one of the sons of Œdipus, to the throne +of which he was dispossessed. The Argetan chieftains +readily enter into the enterprise, assisted by numerous auxiliaries +from Arcadia and Messenia. The Cadmeans, assisted +by the Phocians, march out to resist the invaders, who are +repulsed, in consequence of the magnanimity of a generous +youth, who offers himself a victim to Ares. Eteocles then +proposed to his brother, Polynices, the rival claimants, to +decide the quarrel by single combat. It resulted in the death +of both, and then in the renewal of the general contest, and +the destruction of the Argeian chiefs, and Adrastus's return +to Argos in shame and woe. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Creon.</note> +But Creon, the father of the self-sacrificing Menæceus, +succeeds on the death of the rival brothers, to the +administration of Thebes. A second siege takes +place, conducted by Adrastus, and the sons of those who had +been slain. Thebes now falls, and Thereander, the son of +Polynices, is made king. The legends of Thebes have furnished +the great tragedians Sophocles and Euripides, with +their finest subjects. In the fable of the Sphinx we trace a +connection between Thebes and ancient Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +But all the legends of ancient Greece yield in interest to +that of Troy, which Homer chose as the subject of his immortal +epic. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dardanus.</note> +Dardanus, a son of Zeus, is the primitive ancestor of the +Trojan kings, whose seat of power was Mount Ida. +His son, Erichthonius, became the richest of mankind, +and had in his pastures three thousand mares. His son, +Tros, was the father of Ilus, Assarcus, and Ganymede. The +latter was stolen by Zeus to be his cup-bearer. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ilus.</note> +Ilus was the father of Laomedon, under whom Apollo and +Poseidon, in mortal form, went through a temporary +servitude—the former tending his flocks, the +latter building the walls of Ilium. Laomedon was killed by +Hercules, in punishment for his perfidy in giving him mortal +horses for his destruction of a sea monster, instead of the immortal +<pb n="169"/><anchor id="Pg169"/> +horses, as he had promised, the gift of Zeus to +Tros. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Priam. +Helen.</note> +Among the sons of Laomedon was Priam, who was placed +upon the throne. He was the father of illustrious +sons, among whom were Hector and Paris. +The latter was exposed on Mount Ida, to avoid the fulfillment +of an evil prophecy, but grew up beautiful and +active among the flocks and herds. It was to him that the +three goddesses, Here, Athenæ, and Aphrodite (Juno, Minerva, +and Venus), presented their respective claims to beauty, +which he awarded to Aphrodite, and by whom he was promised, +in recompense, Helen, wife of the Spartan king, Menelaus, +and daughter of Zeus. Aphrodite caused ships to be +built for him, and he safely arrived in Sparta, and was hospitably +entertained by the unsuspecting monarch. In the +absence of Menelaus in Crete, Paris carries away to Troy both +Helen, and a large sum of money belonging to the +king. Menelaus hastens home, informed of the perfidy, +and consults his brother, Agamemnon, and the venerable +Nestor. They interest the Argeian chieftains, who resolve to +recover Helen. Ten years are spent in preparations, consisting +of one thousand one hundred and eighty-six ships, and one +hundred thousand men, comprised of heroes from all parts of +Greece, among whom are Ajax, Diomedes, Achilles, and +Odysseus. The heroes set sail from Aulis, and after various +mistakes, reach Asia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Trojan +war.</note> +Meanwhile the Trojans assemble, with a large body of +allies, to resist the invaders, who demand the redress +of a great wrong. The Trojans are routed +in battle, and return within their walls. After various fortunes, +the city is taken, at the end of ten years, by stratagem, +and the Grecian chieftains who were not killed seek to return +to their own country, with Helen among the spoils. They +meet with many misfortunes, from the anger of the gods, for +not having spared the altars of Troy. Their chieftains quarrel +among themselves, and even Agamemnon and Menelaus +lose their fraternal friendship. After long wanderings, and +<pb n="170"/><anchor id="Pg170"/> +bitter disappointments, and protracted hopes, the heroes +return to their homes—such as war had spared—to recount +their adventures and sufferings, and reconstruct their shattered +States, and mend their broken fortunes—a type of war +in all the ages, calamitous even to conquerors. The wanderings +of Ulysses have a peculiar fascination, since they form +the subject of the Odyssey, one of the noblest poems of antiquity. +Nor are the adventures of Æneas scarcely less +interesting, as presented by Virgil, who traces the first Settlement +of Latium to the Trojan exiles. We should like to dwell +on the siege of Troy, and its great results, but the subject +is too extensive and complicated. The student of the great +event, whether historical or mystical, must read the detailed +accounts in the immortal epics of Homer. We have only +space for the grand outlines, which can be scarcely more than +allusions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The legend +of the Heraclidæ.</note> +Scarcely inferior to the legend of Troy, is that which +recounts the return of the descendants of Hercules +to the ancient inheritance on the Peloponnesus, +which, it is supposed, took place three or four hundred +years before authentic history begins, or eighty years after +the Trojan war. +</p> + +<p> +We have briefly described the geographical position of the +most important part of ancient Greece—the Peloponnesus—almost +an island, separated from the continent only by a narrow +gulf, resembling in shape a palm-tree, indented on all +sides by bays, and intersected with mountains, and inhabited +by a simple and warlike race. +</p> + +<p> +We have seen that the descendants of Perseus, who was a +descendant of Danaus, reigned at Mycenæ in Argolis—among +whom was Amphitryon, who fled to Thebes, on the +murder of his uncle, with Alemena his wife. Then Hercules, +to whom the throne of Mycenæ legitimately belonged, was +born, but deprived of his inheritance by Eurystheus—a +younger branch of the Perseids—in consequence of the anger +and jealousy of Juno, and to whom, by the fates, Hercules +was made subject. We have seen how the sons of Hercules, +<pb n="171"/><anchor id="Pg171"/> +under Hyllos, attempted to regain their kingdom, but were +defeated, and retreated among the Dorians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their settlement +in +Sparta.</note> +After three generations, the Heraclidæ set out to regain +their inheritance, assisted by the Dorians. They +at length, after five expeditions, gained possession +of the country, and divided it, among the various chieftains, +who established their dominion in Argos, Mycenæ, and +Sparta, which, at the time of the Trojan war, was ruled by +Agamemnon and Menelaus, descendants of Pelops. In the +next generation, Corinth was conquered by the Dorians, +under an Heraclide prince. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The wanderings +of the +dispossessed +Achæans.</note> +The Achæans, thus expelled by the Dorians from the south +and east of the Peloponnesus, fell back upon the northwest +coast, and drove away the Ionians, and formed a confederacy +of twelve cities, which in later times became of considerable +importance. The dispossessed Ionians joined their +brethren of the same race in Attica, but the +rugged peninsula was unequal to support the increased +population, and a great migration took place to the +Cyclades and the coasts of Lydia. The colonists there built +twelve cities, about one hundred and forty years after the +Trojan war. Another body of Achæans, driven out of the +Peloponnesus by the Dorians, first settled in Bœotia, and +afterward, with Æolians, sailed to the isle of Lesbos, where +they founded six cities, and then to the opposite mainland. +At the foot of Mount Ida they founded the twelve Æolian +cities, of which Smyrna was the principal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Crete.</note> +Crete was founded by a body of Dorians and conquered +Achæans. Rhodes received a similar colony. So +did the island of Cos. The cities of Lindus, +Ialysus, Camirus, Cos, with Cnidus and Halicarnassus, on the +mainland, formed the Dorian Hexapolis of Caria, inferior, +however, to the Ionian and Æolian colonies. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Dorians +and Ionians +become the +leading +tribes.</note> +At the beginning of the mythical age the dominant +Hellenic races were the Achæans and Æolians; at +the close, the Ionians and Dorians were predominant. +The Ionians extended their maritime possessions +<pb n="172"/><anchor id="Pg172"/> +from Attica to the Asiatic colonies across the Ægean, +and gradually took the lead of the Asiatic Æolians, and +formed a great maritime empire under the supremacy of +Athens. The Hellenic world ultimately was divided and +convulsed by the great contest for supremacy between the +Dorians and Ionians, until the common danger from the +Persian invasion united them together for a time. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>First Olympiad, +the era +of the historic +period.</note> +Thus far we have only legend to guide us in the early +history of Greece. The historical period begins with the +First Olympiad, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 776. Before this all is uncertain, +yet as probable as the events of English history +in the mythical period between the departure +of the Romans and the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon +kingdom. The history is not all myth; neither is it clearly +authenticated. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Grecian +leagues.</note> +The various Hellenic tribes, though separated by political +ambition, were yet kindred in language and institutions. +They formed great leagues, or associations, +of neighboring cities, for the performance of religious rites. +The Amphictyonic Council, which became subsequently so +famous, was made up of Thessalians, Bœotians, Dorians, +Ionians, Achæans, Locrians, and Phocians—all Hellenic in +race. Their great centre was the temple of Apollo at Delphi. +The different tribes or nations also came together regularly +to take part in the four great religious festivals or games—the +Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemæan—the two former +of which were celebrated every four years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Early dominant +states.</note> +In the Homeric age the dominant State was Achæa, whose +capital was Mycenæ. The next in power was +Lacedæmon. After the Dorian conquest, Argos +was the first, Sparta the second, and Messenia the third State +in importance. Argos, at the head of a large confederacy of +cities on the northeast of the Peloponnesus, was governed by +Phidon—an irresponsible ruler, a descendant of Hercules, to +whom is inscribed the coinage of silver and copper money, +and the introduction of weights and measures. He flourished +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 747. +</p> + +<pb n="173"/><anchor id="Pg173"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Interest to +be attached to +the legends of +Greece.</note> +All these various legends, though unsupported by history, +have a great ethical importance, as well as poetic +interest. The passions, habits, and adventures of +a primitive and warlike race are presented by the +poets with transcendent effect, and we read lessons of human +nature as in the dramas of Shakespeare. Hence, one of the +most learned and dignified of the English historians deems it +worthy of his pen to devote to these myths a volume of his +noble work. Nor is it misplaced labor. These legends furnished +subjects to the tragic and epic poets of antiquity, as +well as to painters and sculptors, in all the ages of art. They +are identified with the development of Grecian genius, and are +as imperishable as history itself. They were to the Greeks realities, +and represent all that is vital in their associations and +worship. They stimulated the poetic faculty, and taught lessons +of moral wisdom which all nations respect and venerate. +They contributed to enrich both literature and art. They +make Æschylus, Euripides, Pindar, Homer, and Hesiod great +monumental pillars of the progress of the human race. +Therefore, we will not willingly let those legends die in our +memories or hearts. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their +historical +importance.</note> +They are particularly important as shedding light on the +manners, customs, and institutions of the ancient +Greeks, although they give no reliable historical +facts. They are memorials of the first state of Grecian society, +essentially different from the Oriental world. We see in +them the germs of political constitutions—the rise of liberty—the +pre-eminence of families which forms the foundation for +oligarchy, or the ascendency of nobles. We see also the first +beginnings of democratic influence—the voice of the people +asserting a claim to be heard in the market-place. We see +again the existence of slavery—captives taken in war doomed +to attendance in princely palaces, and ultimately to menial +labor on the land. In those primitive times a State was +often nothing but a city, with the lands surrounding it, +and therefore it was possible for all the inhabitants to assemble +in the agora with the king and nobles. We find, in +<pb n="174"/><anchor id="Pg174"/> +the early condition of Greece, kings, nobles, citizens, and +slaves. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The early +government +of the +Hellenes. +The king.</note> +The king was seldom distinguished by any impassable barrier +between himself and subjects. He was rather +the chief among his nobles, and his supremacy +was based on descent from illustrious ancestors. +It passed generally to the eldest son. In war he was a leader; +in peace, a protector. He offered up prayers and sacrifices +for his people to the gods in whom they all alike believed. +He possessed an ample domain, and the produce of his +lands was devoted to a generous but rude hospitality. He +had a large share of the plunder taken from an enemy, and +the most alluring of the female captives. It was, +however, difficult for him to retain ascendency +without great personal gifts and virtues, and especially bravery +on the field of battle, and wisdom in council. To the +noblest of these kings the legends ascribe great bodily +strength and activity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The councils.</note> +The kings were assisted by a great council of chieftains or +nobles, whose functions were deliberation and consultation; +and after having talked over their intentions +with the chiefs, they announced them to the people, who +assembled in the market-place, and who were generally submissive +to the royal authority, although they were regarded +as the source of power. Then the king, and sometimes his +nobles, administered justice and heard complaints. Public +speaking was favorable to eloquence, and stimulated intellectual +development, and gave dignity to tho people to whom +the speeches were addressed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Religious +and social +life.</note> +In those primitive times there was a strong religious feeling, +great reverence for the gods, whose anger was +deprecated, and whose favor was sought. The ties +of families were strong. Paternal authority was recognized +and revered. Marriage was a sacred institution. The wife +occupied a position of great dignity and influence. Women +were not secluded in a harem, as were the Asiatics, but employed +in useful labors. Children were obedient, and brothers, +<pb n="175"/><anchor id="Pg175"/> +sisters, and cousins were united together by strong +attachments. Hospitality was a cherished virtue, and the +stranger was ever cordially welcome, nor questioned even +until refreshed by the bath and the banquet. Feasts were +free from extravagance and luxury, and those who shared +in them enlivened the company by a recital of the adventures +of gods and men. But passions were unrestrained, +and homicide was common. The murderer was not punished +by the State, but was left to the vengeance of kindred +and friends, appeased sometimes by costly gifts, as among +the ancient Jews. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Early forms +of civilization.</note> +There was a rude civilization among the ancient Greeks, +reminding us of the Teutonic tribes, but it was +higher than theirs. We observe the division of +the people into various trades and occupations—carpenters, +smiths, leather-dressers, leeches, prophets, bards, and fishermen, +although the main business was agriculture. Cattle +were the great staple of wealth, and the largest part of the +land was devoted to pasture. The land was tilled chiefly by +slaves, and women of the servile class were doomed to severe +labor and privations. They brought the water, and they +turned the mills. Spinning and weaving were, however, the +occupations of all, and garments for men and women were +alike made at home. There was only a limited commerce, +which was then monopolized by the Phœnicians, who exaggerated +the dangers of the sea. There were walled cities, +palaces, and temples. Armor was curiously wrought, and +arms were well made. Rich garments were worn by +princes, and their palaces glittered with the precious metals. +Copper was hardened so as to be employed in weapons of +war. The warriors had chariots and horses, and were armed +with sword, dagger, and spear, and were protected by +helmets, breastplates, and greaves. Fortified cities were built +on rocky elevations, although the people generally lived in +unfortified villages. The means of defense were superior to +those of offense, which enabled men to preserve their acquisitions, +for the ancient chieftains resembled the feudal barons +<pb n="176"/><anchor id="Pg176"/> +of the Middle Ages in the passion for robbery and adventure. +We do not read of coined money nor the art of writing, nor +sculpture, nor ornamental architecture among the Homeric +Greeks; but they were fond of music and poetry. Before +history commences, they had their epics, which, sung by +the bards and minstrels, furnished Homer and Hesiod with +materials for their noble productions. It is supposed by +Grote that the Homeric poems were composed eight hundred +and fifty years before Christ, and preserved two hundred +years without the aid of writing—of all poems the most +popular and natural, and addressed to unlettered minds. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the heroic ages with their myths, their heroes, +their simple manners, their credulity, their religious faith, +their rude civilization. We have now to trace their progress +through the historical epoch. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="177"/><anchor id="Pg177"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XV. THE GRECIAN STATES AND COLONIES TO THE PERSIAN +WARS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XV.</head> +<head>THE GRECIAN STATES AND COLONIES TO THE PERSIAN +WARS.</head> + +<p> +We come now to consider those States which grew into +importance about the middle of the eighth century before +Christ, at the close of the legendary period. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Lycurgus.</note> +The most important of these was Sparta, which was the +leading State. We have seen how it was conquered +by Dorians, under Heraclic princes. Its first great +historic name was Lycurgus, whom some historians, however, +regard as a mythical personage. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His legislation.</note> +Sparta was in a state of anarchy in consequence of the +Dorian conquest, a contest between the kings, aiming at absolute +power, and the people, desirous of democratic liberty. +At this juncture the king, Polydectes, died, leaving Lycurgus, +his brother, guardian of the realm, and of the infant +heir to the throne. The future lawgiver then set +out on his travels, visiting the other States of Greece, Asia +Minor, Egypt, and other countries, and returned to Sparta +about the period of the first Olympiad, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 776, with a rich +store of wisdom and knowledge. The State was full of disorders, +but he instituted great reforms, aided by the authority +of the Delphic oracle, and a strong party of influential men. +His great object was to convert the citizens of Sparta into +warriors united by the strongest bonds, and trained to the +severest discipline, governed by an oligarchy under the form +of the ancient monarchy. In other words, his object was to +secure the ascendency of the small body of Dorian invaders +that had conquered Laconia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Spartan citizens.</note> +The descendants of these invaders, the Spartans, alone +possessed the citizenship, and were equal in political rights. +<pb n="178"/><anchor id="Pg178"/> +They were the proprietors of the soil, which was tilled by +Helots. The Spartans disdained any occupation +but war and government. They lived within +their city, which was a fortified camp, and ate in common at +public tables, and on the simplest fare. Every virtue and +energy were concentrated on self-discipline and sacrifice, in +order to fan the fires of heroism and self-devotion. They +were a sort of stoics—hard, severe, proud, despotic, and +overbearing. They cared nothing for literature, or art, or +philosophy. Even eloquence was disdained, and the only +poetry or music they cultivated were religions hymns and +heroic war songs. Commerce was forbidden by the constitution, +and all the luxuries to which it leads. Only iron was +allowed for money, and the precious metals were prohibited. +Every exercise, every motive, every law, contributed to +make the Spartans soldiers, and nothing but soldiers. Their +discipline was the severest known to the ancients. Their +habits of life were austere and rigid. They were trained to +suffer any hardship without complaint. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The old +Achæan +population.</note> +Besides these Spartan citizens were the <hi rend='italic'>Periœci</hi>—remnants +of the old Achæan population, but mixed with an +inferior class of Dorians. They had no political +power, but possessed personal freedom. They were landed +proprietors, and engaged in commerce and manufactures. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Helots.</note> +Below this class were the Helots—pure Greeks, but reduced +to dependence by conquest. They were bound +to the soil, like serfs, but dwelt with their families +on the farms they tilled. They were not bought and sold +as slaves. They were the body servants of the Spartan citizens, +and were regarded as the property of the State. They +were treated with great haughtiness and injustice by their +masters, which bred at last an intense hatred. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Ecclesia.</note> +All political power was in the hands of the citizen warriors, +only about nine thousand in number in the time of Lycurgus. +From them emanated all delegated authority, except that of +kings. This assembly, or <hi rend='italic'>ecclesia</hi>, of Spartans over +thirty years of age, met at stated intervals to decide +<pb n="179"/><anchor id="Pg179"/> +on all important matters submitted to them, but they had no +right of amendment—only a simple approval or rejection. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Senate.</note> +The body to which the people, it would seem, delegated +considerable power, was the Senate, composed of +thirty members, not under sixty years of age, and +elected for life. They were a deliberative body, and judges +in all capital charges against Spartans. They were not chosen +for noble birth or property qualifications, but for merit and +wisdom. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The kings.</note> +At the head of the State, at least nominally, were two +kings, who were numbered with the thirty senators. +They had scarcely more power than the Roman +consuls; they commanded the armies, and offered the public +sacrifices, and were revered as the descendants of Hercules. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Ephors.</note> +The persons of most importance were the ephors, chosen +annually by the people, who exercised the chief +executive power, and without responsibility. They +could even arrest kings, and bring them to trial before the +Senate. Two of the five ephors accompanied the king in +war, and were a check on his authority. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Aristocratic +form of government. +The citizen +lost in the +State.</note> +It would thus seem that the government of Sparta was +a republic of an aristocratic type. There were +no others nobler than citizens, but these citizens +composed but a small part of the population. They were +Spartans—a handful of conquerors, in the midst of hostile +people—a body of lords among slaves and subjects. They +sympathized with law and order, and detested the democratical +turbulence of Athens. They were trained, by their +military education, to subordination, obedience, and self-sacrifice. +They, as citizens or as soldiers, existed only for +the <emph>State</emph>, and to the State every thing was subordinate. In +our times, the State is made for the people; in Sparta, the +people for the State. This generated an intense patriotism +and self-denial. It also permitted a greater interference of +the State in personal matters than would now be tolerated in +any despotism in Europe. It made the citizens +submissive to a division of property, which if not +<pb n="180"/><anchor id="Pg180"/> +a perfect community of goods, was fatal to all private fortunes. +But the property which the citizens thus shared +was virtually created by the Helots, who alone tilled the +ground. The wealth of nations is in the earth, and it is its +cultivation which is the ordinary source of property. The +State, not individual masters, owned the Helots; and they +toiled for the citizens. In the modern sense of liberty, there +was very little in Sparta, except that which was possessed by +the aristocratic citizens—the conquerors of the country—men, +whose very occupation was war and government, and whose +very amusement were those which fostered warlike habits. +The Roman citizens did not disdain husbandry, nor the Puritan +settlers of New England, but the Spartan citizens despised +both this and all trade and manufacture. Never was a +haughtier class of men than these Spartan soldiers. They +exceeded in pride the feudal chieftain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Number of +citizens.</note> +Such an exclusive body of citizens, however, jealous of their +political privileges, constantly declined in numbers, so that, in +the time of Aristotle, there were only one thousand +Spartan citizens; and this decline continued in +spite of all the laws by which the citizens were compelled to +marry, and those customs, so abhorrent to our Christian +notions, which permitted the invasion of marital rights for +the sake of healthy children. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Spartan +armies.</note> +As it was to war that the best energies of the Spartans +were directed, so their armies were the admiration of the +ancient world for discipline and effectiveness. +They were the first who reduced war to a science. +The general type of their military organization was the +phalanx, a body of troops in close array, armed with a long +spear and short sword. The strength of an army was in the +heavy armed infantry; and this body was composed almost +entirely of citizens, with a small mixture of Periœci. From +the age of twenty to sixty, every Spartan was liable to military +service; and all the citizens formed an army, whether +congregated at Sparta, or absent on foreign service. +</p> + +<p> +Such, in general, were the social, civil, and military institutions +<pb n="181"/><anchor id="Pg181"/> +of Sparta, and not peculiar to her alone, but to all +the Dorians, even in Crete; from which we infer that it was +not Lycurgus who shaped them, but that they existed independent +of his authority. He may have re-established the +old regulations, and gave his aid to preserve the State from +corruption and decay. And when we remember that the +constitution which he re-established resisted both the usurpations +of tyrants and the advances of democracy, by which +other States were revolutionized, we can not sufficiently +admire the wisdom which so early animated the Dorian +legislators. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Spartans +obtain the +ascendency +on the Peninsula.</note> +The Spartans became masters of the country after a long +struggle, and it was henceforth called Laconia. +The more obstinate Achæans became Helots. +After the conquest, the first memorable event in +Spartan history was the reduction of Messenia, for which it +took two great wars. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Messenia. +The war +with Sparta.</note> +Messenia has already been mentioned as the southwestern +part of the Peloponnesus, and resembling Laconia in its general +aspects. The river Parnisus flows through its entire +length, as Eurotas does in Laconia, forming fertile valleys +and plains, and producing various kinds of cereals +and fruits, even as it now produces oil, silk, figs, +wheat, maize, cotton, wine, and honey. The area of Messenia +is one thousand one hundred and ninety-two square +miles, not so large as one of our counties. The early inhabitants +had been conquered by the Dorians, and it was against +the descendants of these conquerors that the Spartans made +war. The murder of a Spartan king, Teleclus, at a temple +on the confines of Laconia and Messenia, where sacrifices +were offered in common, gave occasion for the first war, +which lasted nineteen years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 743. Other States were +involved in the quarrel—Corinth on the side of +Sparta, and Sicyon and Arcadia on the part of the +Messenians. The Spartans having the superiority in the field, +the Messenians retreated to their stronghold of Ithome, +where they defended themselves fifteen years. But at +<pb n="182"/><anchor id="Pg182"/> +last they were compelled to abandon it, and the fortress was +razed to the ground. The conquered were reduced to the +condition of Helots—compelled to cultivate the land and +pay half of its produce to their new masters. The Spartan +citizens became the absolute owners of the whole soil of +Messenia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Aristomenes. +Conquest of +Messenia.</note> +After thirty-nine years of servitude, a hero arose among +the conquered Messenians, Aristomenes, like Judas +Maccabeus, or William Wallace, who incited his +countrymen to revolt. The whole of the Peloponnesus became +involved in the new war, and only Corinth became the +ally of Sparta; the remaining States of Argos, Sicyon, Arcadia, +and Pisa, sided with the Messenians. The Athenian +poet, Tyrtæus, stimulated the Spartans by his war-songs. In +the first great battle, the Spartans were worsted; in the +second, they gained a signal victory, so that the Messenians +were obliged to leave the open country and retire to the +fortress on Mount Ira. Here they maintained themselves +eleven years, the Spartans being unused to sieges, +and trained only to conflict in the open field. The +fortress was finally taken by treachery, and the hero who +sought to revive the martial glories of his State fled to +Rhodes. Messenia became now, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 668, a part of Laconia, +and it was three hundred years before it appeared again in +history. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Aggrandizement +of +Sparta.</note> +The Spartans, after the conquest of Messenia, turned their +eyes upon Arcadia—that land of shepherds, free +and simple and brave like themselves. The city +of Tegea long withstood the arms of the Spartans, but finally +yielded to superior strength, and became a subject ally, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +560. Sparta was further increased by a part of Argos, and +a great battle, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 547, between the Argives and Spartans, +resulted in the complete ascendency of Sparta in the southern +part of the Peloponnesus, about the time that Cyrus +overthrew the Lydian empire. The Ionian Greeks of Asia +Minor invoked their aid against the Persian power, and +Sparta proudly rallied in their defense. +</p> + +<pb n="183"/><anchor id="Pg183"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Political +changes. +The age of +Tyrants.</note> +Meanwhile, a great political revolution was going on in +the other States of Greece, in no condition to resist the pre-eminence +of Sparta, The patriarchal monarchies of the +heroic ages had gradually been subverted by the +rising importance of the nobility, enriched by +conquered lands. Every conquest, every step to national +advancement, brought the nobles nearer to the crown, and +the government passed into the hands of those nobles who +had formerly composed the council of the king. With the +growing power of nobles was a corresponding growth of the +political power of the people or citizens, in consequence of +increased wealth and intelligence. The political changes were +rapid. As the nobles had usurped the power of the kings, +so the citizens usurped the power of the nobles. The everlasting +war of classes, where the people are intelligent and +free, was signally illustrated in the Grecian States, and democracy +succeeded to the oligarchy which had prostrated +kings. Then, when the people had gained the ascendency, +ambitious and factious demagogues in turn, got the control, +and these adventurers, now called Tyrants, assumed +arbitrary powers. Their power was only maintained +by cruelty, injustice, and unscrupulous means, which +caused them finally to be so detested that they were removed +by assassination. These natural changes, from a monarchy, +primitive and just and limited, to an oligarchy of nobles, +and the gradual subversion of their power by wealthy and +enlightened citizens, and then the rise of demagogues, who +became tyrants, have been illustrated in all ages of the +world. But the rapidity of these changes in the Grecian +States, with the progress of wealth and corruption, make +their history impressive on all generations. It is these rapid +and natural revolutions which give to the political history +of Greece its permanent interest and value. The age of the +Tyrants is generally fixed from <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +650 to <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 500—about +one hundred and fifty years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Corinthia.</note> +No State passed through these changes of government more +signally than Corinthia, which, with Megaris, formed the isthmus +<pb n="184"/><anchor id="Pg184"/> +which connected the Peloponnesus with Greece Proper. +It was a small territory, covered with the ridges +and the spurs of the Geranean and and Oneian +mountains, and useless for purposes of agriculture. Its principal +city was Corinth; was favorably situated for commerce, +and rapidly grew in population and wealth. It also commanded +the great roads which led from Greece Proper through the +defiles of the mountains into the Peloponnesus. It rapidly +monopolized the commerce of the Ægean Sea, and the East +through the Saronic Gulf; and through the Corinthian Gulf +it commanded the trade of the Ionian and Sicilian seas. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Changes in +Corinth.</note> +Corinth, by some, is supposed have been a Phœnician colony. +Before authentic history begins, it was inhabited +by a mixed population of Æolians and +Ionians, the former of whom were dominant. Over them +reigned Sisyphus, according to tradition, the grandfather of +Bellerophon who laid the foundation of mercantile prosperity. +The first historical king was Aletes, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 1074, the leader of +Dorian invaders, who subdued the Æolians, and incorporated +them with their own citizens. The descendants of Aletes +reigned twelve generations, when the nobles converted the +government into an oligarchy, under Bacchis, who greatly +increased the commercial importance of the city. In 754, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, Corinth began to colonize, and fitted out a war fleet for +the protection of commerce. The oligarchy was supplanted +by Cypselus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 655, a man of the people, whose mother +was of noble birth, but rejected by her family, of the ruling +house of the Bacchiadæ, on account of lameness. His son +Periander reigned forty years with cruel despotism, but +made Corinth the leading commercial city of Greece, and +he subjected to her sway the colonies planted on the islands +of the Ionian Sea, one of which was Corcyra (Corfu), which +gained a great mercantile fame. It was under his reign that +the poet Arion, or Lesbos, flourished, to whom he gave his +patronage. In three years after the death of Periander, 585 +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, the oligarchal power was restored, and Corinth allied +herself with Sparta in her schemes of aggrandizement. +</p> + +<pb n="185"/><anchor id="Pg185"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Changes in +Megara.</note> +The same change of government was seen in Megara, a +neighboring State, situated on the isthmus, between +Corinth and Attica, and which attained great +commercial distinction. As a result of commercial opulence, +the people succeeded in overthrowing the government, +an oligarchy of Dorian conquerors, and elevating a demagogue, +Theagenes, to the supreme power, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 630. He ruled +tyrannically, in the name of the people, for thirty years, but +was expelled by the oligarchy, which regained power. +During his reign all kinds of popular excesses were perpetrated, +especially the confiscation of the property of the rich. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Changes in +other States.</note> +Other States are also illustrations of this change of government +from kings to oligarchies, and oligarchies to +demagogues and tyrants, as on the isle of Lesbos, +where Pittacus reigned dictator, but with wisdom and virtue—one +of the seven wise men of Greece—and in Samos, where +Polycrates rivaled the fame of Periander, and adorned his +capital with beautiful buildings, and patronized literature +and art. One of his friends was Anacreon, the poet. He was +murdered by the Persians, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 522. +</p> + +<p> +But the State which most signally illustrates the revolutions +in government was Athens. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="pre">Where on the Ægean shore a city stands,—</q></l> +<l>Built nobly; pure the air, and light the soil:</l> +<l>Athena, the eye of Greece, mother of arts</l> +<l><q rend="post">And eloquence, native to famous wits.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Early history +of Athens. Theseus. +Codrus.</note> +Every thing interesting or impressive in the history of +classical antiquity clusters round this famous city, +so that without Athens there could be no Greece. +Attica, the little State of which it was the capital, formed a +triangular peninsula, of about seven hundred square miles. +The country is hilly and rocky, and unfavorable to agriculture; +but such was the salubrity of the climate, and the industry +of the people, all kinds of plants and animals flourished. +The history of the country, like that of the other States, +is mythical, to the period of the first Olympiad. Ogyges +has the reputation of being the first king of a people who +<pb n="186"/><anchor id="Pg186"/> +claimed to be indigenous, about one hundred and fifty years +before the arrival of Cecrops, who came, it is supposed, from +Egypt, and founded Athens, and taught the simple but savage +natives a new religion, and the elements of civilized life, +1556 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> It received its name from the goddess +Neith, introduced by him from Egypt, under the name of Athena, or +Minerva. It was also called Cecropia, from its founder. Until +the time of Theseus it was a small town, confined to the +Acropolis and Mars Hill. This hero is the great +name of ancient Athenian legend, as Hercules is to +Greece generally. He cleared the roads of robbers, and +formed an aristocratical constitution, with a king, who was +only the first of his nobles. But he himself, after having +given political unity, was driven away by a conspiracy of +nobles, leaving the throne to Menesthius, a descendant of the +ancient kings. This monarch reigned twenty-four years, +and lost his life at the siege of Troy. The whole period of +the monarchy lies within the mythical age. Tradition makes +Codrus the last king, who was slain during an invasion +of the Dorians, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 1045. Resolving to +have no future king, the Athenians substituted the office of +archon, or ruler, and made his son, Medus, the superior magistrate. +This office remained hereditary in the family of +Codrus for thirteen generations. In <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 752, the duration of +the office was fixed for ten years. It remained in the +family of Codrus thirty-eight years longer, when it was left +open for all the nobles. In 683 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> nine archons were annually +elected from the nobles, the first having superior dignity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Draco.</note> +The first of these archons, of whom any thing of importance +is recorded, was Draco, who governed Athens +in the year 624 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, who promulgated written +laws, exceedingly severe, inflicting capital punishment +for slight offenses. The people grew weary of him and +his laws, and he was banished to Ægina, where he died, from +a conspiracy headed by Cylon, one of the nobles, who seized +the Acropolis, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 612. His insurrection, however, failed, +and he was treacherously put to death by one of the archons, +<pb n="187"/><anchor id="Pg187"/> +which led to the expulsion of the whole body, and a change +in the constitution. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Solon.</note> +This was effected by Solon, the Athenian sage and law-giver—himself +of the race of Codrus, whom the +Athenians chose as archon, with full power to make +new laws. Intrusted with absolute power, he abstained from +abusing it—a patriot in the most exalted sense, as well as +a poet and philosopher. Urged by his friends to make himself +tyrant, he replied that tyranny might be a fair country, +only there was no way out of it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His +institutions.</note> +When he commenced his reforms, the nobles, or Eupatridæ, +were in possession of most of the fertile land of Attica, while +the poorer citizens possessed only the sterile highlands. This +created an unhappy jealousy between the rich and poor. Besides, +there was another class that had grown rich by commerce, +animated by the spirit of freedom. But their +influence tended to widen the gulf between the rich +and poor. The poor got into debt, and fell in the power of +creditors, and sunk to the condition of serfs, and many were +even sold in slavery, for the laws were severe against debtors, +as in ancient Rome. Solon, like Moses in his institution of +the Year of Jubilee, set free all the estates and persons that +had fallen in the power of creditors, and ransomed such as +were sold in slavery. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Loss of +aristocratic +power. Different +classes.</note> +Having removed the chief source of enmity between the +rich and poor, he repealed the bloody laws of Draco, and +commenced to remodel the political constitution. The fundamental +principles which he adopted was a distribution of +power to all citizens according to their wealth. +But the nobles were not deprived of their ascendency, +only the way was opened to all citizens to reach political +distinction, especially those who were enriched by commerce. +He made an assessment of the landed property of all +the citizens, taking as the medium a standard of value which +was equivalent to a drachma of annual produce. The first +class, who had no aristocratic titles, were called Pentacosio +medimni, from possessing five hundred medimni or upward. +<pb n="188"/><anchor id="Pg188"/> +They alone were eligible to the archonship and other high +offices, and bore the largest share of the public burdens. The +second class was called Knights, because they were bound to +serve as cavalry. They filled the inferior offices, +farmed the revenue, and had the commerce of the +country in their hands. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Other political +changes.</note> +The third class was called Zeugitæ (yokesmen), from their +ability to keep a yoke of oxen. They were small farmers, +and served in the heavy-armed infantry, and were subject to +a property-tax. All those whose incomes fell short of two +hundred medimni formed the fourth class, and served in the +light-armed troops, and were exempt from property-tax, but +disqualified for public office, and yet they had a vote in popular +elections, and in the judgment passed upon archons at +the expiration of office. <q>The direct responsibility of all the +magistrates to the popular assembly, was the most democratic +of all the institutions of Solon; and though the government +was still in the hands of the oligarchy, +Solon clearly foresaw, if he did not purposely prepare +for, the preponderance of the popular element.</q> <q>To +guard against hasty measures, he also instituted the Senate +of four hundred, chosen year by year, from the four Ionic +tribes, whose office was to prepare all business for the popular +assembly, and regulate its meetings. The Areopagus retained +its ancient functions, to which Solon added a general oversight +over all the public institutions, and over the private +life of the citizens. He also enacted many other laws for +the administration of justice, the regulation of social life, +the encouragement of commerce, and the general prosperity +of the State.</q> His whole legislation is marked by wisdom +and patriotism, and adaptation to the circumstances of the +people who intrusted to him so much power and dignity. +The laws were, however, better than the people, and his legislative +wisdom and justice place him among the great benefactors +of mankind, for who can tell the ultimate influence +of his legislation on Rome and on other nations. The most +beautiful feature was the responsibility of the chief magistrates +<pb n="189"/><anchor id="Pg189"/> +to the people who elected them, and from the fact that +they could subsequently be punished for bad conduct was +the greatest security against tyranny and peculation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Departure of +Solon from +Athens. +Pisistratus. +His reign. Hippias.</note> +After having given this constitution to his countrymen, +the lawgiver took his departure from Athens, for +ten years, binding the people by a solemn oath +to make no alteration in his laws. He visited Egypt, Cyprus, +and Asia Minor, and returned to Athens to find his work +nearly subverted by one of his own kinsmen. Pisistratus, +of noble origin, but a demagogue, contrived, by his arts and +prodigality, to secure a guard, which he increased, +and succeeded in seizing the Acropolis, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 560, +and in usurping the supreme authority—so soon are good +laws perverted, so easily are constitutions overthrown, when +demagogues and usurpers are sustained by the +people. A combination of the rich and poor +drove him into exile; but their divisions and hatreds favored +his return. Again he was exiled by popular dissension, and +a third time he regained his power, but only by a battle. +He sustained his usurpation by means of Thracian mercenaries, +and sent the children of all he suspected as hostages +to Naxos. He veiled his despotic power under the forms of +the constitution, and even submitted himself to the judgment +of the Areopagus on the charge of murder. He kept up his +popularity by generosity and affability, by mingling freely +with the citizens, by opening to them his gardens, by adorning +the city with beautiful edifices, and by a liberal patronage +of arts and letters. He founded a public library, and collected +the Homeric poems in a single volume. He ruled beneficently, +as tyrants often have,—like Cæsar, like Richelieu, like +Napoleon,—identifying his own glory with the welfare of the +State. He died after a successful reign of thirty-three years, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 527, and his two sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, succeeded +him in the government, ruling, like their father, at first wisely +but despotically, cultivating art and letters and friendship +of great men. But sensual passions led to outrages which +resulted in the assassination of Hipparchus. Hippias, having +<pb n="190"/><anchor id="Pg190"/> +punished the conspirators, changed the spirit of the government, +imposed arbitrary taxes, surrounded +himself with an armed guard, and ruled tyrannically +and cruelly. After four years of despotic government, +Athens was liberated, chiefly by aid of the Lacedæmonians, +now at the highest of their power. Hippias +retired to the court of Persia, and planned and guided the +attack of Darius on Greece—a traitor of the most infamous +kind, since he combined tyranny at home with the coldest +treachery to his country. His accursed family were doomed +to perpetual banishment, and never succeeded in securing a +pardon. Their power had lasted fifty years, and had been +fatal to the liberties of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cleisthenes. +The increase +of the Senate.</note> +The Lacedæmonians did not retire until their king Cleomenes +formed a close friendship with Isagoras, the leader of +the aristocratic party—and no people were prouder of their +birth than the old Athenian nobles. Opposed to him was +Cleisthenes, of the noble family of the Alcmæonids, +who had been banished in the time of +Megacles, for the murder of Cylon, who had been treacherously +enticed from the sanctuary at the altar of Athena. +Cleisthenes gained the ear of the people, and prevailed over +Isagoras, and effected another change in the constitution, by +which it became still more democratic. He remodeled the +basis of citizenship, heretofore confined to the four Ionic +tribes; and divided the whole country into demes, or parishes, +each of which managed its local affairs. All freemen were +enrolled in the demes, and became members of the tribes, +now ten in number, instead of the old four Ionian tribes. He +increased the members of the senate from four to five +hundred, fifty members being elected from each +tribe. To this body was committed the chief functions of executive +government. It sat in permanence, and was divided +into ten sections, one for each tribe, and each section or committee, +called <hi rend='italic'>prytany</hi>, had the presidency of the senate and +ecclesia during its term. Each prytany of fifty members was +subdivided into committees of ten, each of which held the +<pb n="191"/><anchor id="Pg191"/> +presidency for seven days, and out of these a chairman was +chosen by lot every day, to preside in the senate and assembly, +and to keep the keys of the Acropolis and treasury, and +public seal. Nothing shows jealousy of power more than +the brief term of office which the president exercised. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The ecclesia.</note> +The ecclesia, or assembly of the people, was the arena for +the debate of all public measures. The archons +were chosen according to the regulations of Solon, +but were stripped of their power, which was transferred to +the senate and ecclesia. The generals were elected by the +people annually, one from each tribe. They were called +strategi, and had also the direction of foreign affairs. It +was as first strategus that Pericles governed—<q>prime minister +of the people.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ostracism.</note> +In order to guard against the ascendency of tyrants—the +great evil of the ancient States, Cleisthenes devised the institution +of <hi rend='italic'>ostracism</hi>, by which a suspected or +obnoxious citizen could be removed from the city +for ten years, though practically abridged to five. It simply +involved an exclusion from political power, without casting +a stigma on the character. It was virtually a retirement, +during which his property and rights remained intact, and +attended with no disgrace. The citizens, after the senate had +decreed the vote was needful, were required to write a name +in an oyster shell, and he who had less than six thousand +votes was obliged to withdraw within ten days from the +city. The wisdom of this measure is proved in the fact that +no tyrannical usurpation occurred at Athens after that of +Pisistratus. This revolution which Cleisthenes effected was +purely democratic, to which the aristocrats did not submit +without a struggle. The aristocrats called to their aid the +Spartans, but without other effect than creating that long +rivalry which existed between democracy and oligarchy in +Greece, in which Sparta and Athens were the representatives. +</p> + +<p> +About this time began the dominion of Athens over the +islands of the Ægean and the system of colonizing conquered +<pb n="192"/><anchor id="Pg192"/> +States, This was the period which immediately preceded +the Persian wars, when Athens reached the climax of political +glory. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bœotia.</note> +Next in importance to the States which have been briefly +mentioned was Bœotia, which contained fourteen +cities, united in a confederacy, of which Thebes +took the lead. They were governed by magistrates, called +bœtarchs, elected annually. In these cities aristocratic +institutions prevailed. The people were chiefly of Æolian +descent, with a strong mixture of the Dorian element, and +were dull and heavy, owing, probably, to the easy facilities +of support, in consequence of the richness of the soil. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Phocis.</note> +At the west of Bœotia, Phocis, with its small territory, +gained great consideration from the possession +of the Delphic oracle; but its people thus far, of +Achæan origin, played no important part in the politics of +Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thessaly.</note> +North of the isthmus lay the extensive plains of Thessaly, +inclosed by lofty mountains. Nature favored this +State more than any other in Greece for political +pre-eminence, but inhabitants of Æolian origin were any +thing but famous. At first they were governed by kings, but +subsequently an aristocratic government prevailed. They +were represented in the Amphictyonic Council. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Macedonia.</note> +The history of Macedonia is obscure till the time of the +Persian wars; but its kings claimed an Heraclid +origin. The Doric dialect predominated in a +rude form. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Epirus.</note> +Epirus, west of Thessaly and Macedonia, was inhabited by +various tribes, under their own princes, until the +kings of Molossus, claiming descent from Achilles, +founded the dynasty which was so powerful under +Pyrrus. +</p> + +<p> +There is but little interest connected with the States of +Greece, before the Persian wars, except Sparta, Athens, and +Corinth; and hence a very brief notice is all that is needed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Grecian +colonies. The Ionian +cities in Asia +Minor.</note> +But the Grecian colonies are of more importance. They +<pb n="193"/><anchor id="Pg193"/> +were numerous in the islands of the Ægean Sea, in Epirus, +and in Asia Minor, and even extended into Italy, +Sicily, and Gaul. They were said to be planted +as early as the Trojan war by the heroes who lived to return—by +Agamemnon on the coast of Asia; by the sons +of Theseus in Thrace; by Ialmenus on the Euxine; by Diomed +and others in Italy. But colonization, to any extent, +did not take place until the Æolians invaded Bœotia, and +the Dorians, the Peloponnesus. The Achæans, driven from +their homes by the Dorians, sought new seats in the East, +under chieftains who claimed descent from Agamemnon and +other heroes who went to the siege of Troy. They settled, +first, on the Isle of Lesbos, where they founded six cities. +Others made settlements on the mainland, from the Hermes +to Mount Ida. But the greatest migration was made by the +Ionians, who, dislodged by Achæans, went first to Attica, and +thence to the Cyclades and the coasts of Asia, afterward +called Ionia. Twelve independent States were gradually +formed of divers elements, and assumed the Ionian name. +Among those twelve cities, or States, were Sarnos, Chios, +Miletus, Ephesus, Colophon, and Phocæa. The +purest Ionian blood was found at Miletus, the seat +of Neleus. These cities were probably inhabited by other +races before the Ionians came. To these another was subsequently +added—Smyrna, which still retains its ancient name. +The southwest corner of the Asiatic peninsula, about the +same time, was colonized by a body of Dorians, accompanied +by conquered Achæans, the chief seat of which was +Halicarnassus. Crete, Rhodes, Cos, and Cnidus, were colonized +also by the same people; but Rhodes is the parent +of the Greek colonies on the south coast of Asia Minor. A +century afterward, Cyprus was founded, and then Sicily was +colonized, and then the south of Italy. They were successively +colonized by different Grecian tribes, Achæan or +Æolian, Dorian, and Ionian. But all the colonists had to +contend with races previously established, Iberians, Phœnicians, +Sicanians; and Sicels. Among the Greek cities in +<pb n="194"/><anchor id="Pg194"/> +Sicily, Syracuse, founded by Dorians, was the most important, +and became, in turn, the founder of other cities. Sybaris +and Croton, in the south of Italy, were of Achæan origin. +The Greeks even penetrated to the northern part of Africa, +and founded Cyrene; while, on the Euxine, along the north +coast of Asia Minor, Cyzicus and Sinope arose. These migrations +were generally undertaken with the approbation and +encouragement of the mother States. There was no colonial +jealousy, and no dependence. The colonists, straitened +for room at home, carried the benedictions of their fathers, +and were emancipated from their control. Sometimes the +colony became more powerful than the parent State, but +both colonies and parent States were bound together by +strong ties of religion, language, customs, and interests. The +colonists uniformly became conquerors where they settled, +but ever retained their connection with the mother country. +And they grew more rapidly than the States from which +they came, and their institutions were more democratic. +The Asiatic colonies especially, made great advances in civilization +by their contact with the East. Music, poetry, and +art were cultivated with great enthusiasm. The Ionians +took the lead, and their principal city, Miletus, is said to +have planted no less than eighty colonies. The greatness of +Ephesus was of a later date, owing, in part, to the splendid +temple of Artemis, to which Asiatics as well as Greeks +made contributions. One of the most remarkable of the +Greek colonies was Cyrene, on the coast of Africa, which was +of peculiar beauty, and was famous for eight hundred years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Political importance +of +the colonies.</note> +So the Greeks, although they occupied a small territory, +yet, by their numerous colonies in all those parts watered by +the Mediterranean, formed, if not politically, at least socially, +a powerful empire, and exercised a vast influence +on the civilized world. From Cyprus to Marseilles—from +the Crimea to Cyrene, numerous States spoke +the same language, and practiced the same rites, which were +observed in Athens and Sparta. Hence the great extent of +country in Asia and Europe to which the Greek language +<pb n="195"/><anchor id="Pg195"/> +was familiar, and still more the arts which made Athens the +centre of a new civilization. Some of the most noted philosophers +and artists of antiquity were born in these colonies. +The power of Hellas was not a centralized empire, like +Persia, or even Rome, but a domain in the heart and mind +of the world. It was Hellas which worked out, in its various +States and colonies, great problems of government, as well +as social life. Hellas was the parent of arts, of poetry, of +philosophy, and of all æsthetic culture—the pattern of new +forms of life, and new modes of cultivation. It is this Grecian +civilization which appeared in full development as early +as five hundred years before the Christian era, which we now +propose, in a short chapter, to present—the era which immediately +preceded the Persian wars. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="196"/><anchor id="Pg196"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XVI. GRECIAN CIVILIZATION BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XVI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XVI.</head> +<head>GRECIAN CIVILIZATION BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='amrgin'>Early civilization.</note> +We understand by civilization the progress which nations +have made in art, literature, material strength, +social culture, and political institutions, by which +habits are softened, the mind enlarged, the soul elevated, and +a wise government, by laws established, protecting the weak, +punishing the wicked, and developing wealth and national +resources. +</p> + +<p> +Such a civilization did exist to a remarkable degree among +the Greeks, which was not only the admiration of their own +times, but a wonder to all succeeding ages, since it was established +by the unaided powers of man, and affected the +relations of all the nations of Europe and Asia which fell +under its influence. +</p> + +<p> +It is this which we propose briefly to present in this chapter, +not the highest developments of Grecian culture and +genius, but such as existed in the period immediately preceding +the Persian wars. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Legislation.</note> +One important feature in the civilization of Greece was +the progress made in legislation by Lycurmis and +Solon, But as this has been alluded to, we pass +on to consider first those institutions which were more +national and universal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Amphictyonic +Council.</note> +The peculiar situations of the various States, independent +of each other, warlike, encroaching, and ambitious, led +naturally to numerous wars, which would have been civil +wars had all these petty States been united under a common +government. But incessant wars, growing out of endless +causes of irritation, would have soon ruined these States, +and they could have had no proper development. Something +<pb n="197"/><anchor id="Pg197"/> +was needed to restrain passion and heal dissensions +without a resort to arms, ever attended by dire calamities. +And something was needed to unite these various States, in +which the same language was spoken, and the same religion +and customs prevailed. This union was partially effected by +the Amphictyonic Council. It was a congress, +composed of deputies from the different States, +and deliberating according to rules established from time +immemorial. Its meetings were held in two different places, +and were convened twice a year, once in the spring, at Delphi, +the other in the autumn, near the pass of Thermopylæ. +Delphi was probably the original place of meeting, and was, +therefore, in one important sense, the capital of Greece. +Originally, this council or congress was composed of deputies +from twelve States, or tribes—Thessalians, Bœotians, +Dorians, Ionians, Perrhæbians, Magnetes, Locrians, Octæans, +Phthiots, Achæans, Melians, and Phocians. These tribes +assembled together before authentic history commences, before +the return of the Heracleids. There were other States +which were not represented in this league—Arcadia, Elis, +Æolia, and Acarnania; but the league was sufficiently +powerful to make its decisions respected by the greater part +of Greece. Each tribe, whether powerful or weak, had two +votes in the assembly. Beside those members who had the +exclusive power of voting, there were others, and more numerous, +who had the privilege of deliberation. The object +of the council was more for religious purposes than political, +although, on rare occasions and national crises, subjects of a +political nature were discussed. The council laid down the +rules of war, by which each State that was represented was +guaranteed against complete subjection, and the supplies of +war were protected. There was no confederacy against +foreign powers. The functions of the league were confined +to matters purely domestic; the object of the league was the +protection of temples against sacrilege. But the council +had no common army to execute its decrees, which were +often disregarded. In particular, the protection of the Delphic +<pb n="198"/><anchor id="Pg198"/> +oracle, it acted with dignity and effect, whose responses +were universally respected. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Delphic +oracle.</note> +As the Delphic oracle was the object which engrossed the +most important duties of the council, and the responses +of this oracle in early times was a sacred +law, the deliberations of the league had considerable influence, +and were often directed to political purposes. But the +immediate management of the oracle was in the hands of +the citizens of Delphi. In process of time the responses of +the oracle, by the mouth of a woman, which were thus controlled +by the Delphians, lost much of their prestige, in consequence +of the presents or bribery by which favorable +responses were gained. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Olympic +games.</note> +More powerful than this council, as an institution, were +the Olympic games, solemnized every four years, +in which all the states of Greece took part. These +games lasted four days, and were of engrossing interest. +They were supposed to be founded by Hercules, and were of +very ancient date. During these celebrations there was a +universal truce, and also during the time it was necessary +for the people to assemble and retire to their homes. Elis, +in whose territory Olympia was situated, had the whole +regulation of the festival, the immediate object of which +were various trials of strength and skill. They included +chariot races, foot races, horse races, wrestling, boxing, and +leaping. They were open to all, even to the poorest Greeks; +no accidents of birth or condition affected these honorable +contests. The palm of honor was given to the men who +had real merit. A simple garland of leaves was the prize, +but this was sufficient to call out all the energies and ambition +of the whole nation. There were, however, incidental +advantages to successful combatants. At Athens, the citizen +who gained a prize was rewarded by five hundred +drachmas, and was entitled to a seat at the table of the +magistrates, and had a conspicuous part on the field of +battle. The victors had statues erected to them, and called +forth the praises of the poets, and thus these primitive sports +<pb n="199"/><anchor id="Pg199"/> +incidentally gave an impulse to art and poetry. In later +times, poets and historians recited their compositions, and +were rewarded with the garland of leaves. The victors of +these games thus acquired a social pre-eminence, and were held +in especial honor, like those heroes in the Middle Ages who +obtained the honor of tournaments and tilts, and, in modern +times, those who receive decoration at the hands of kings. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Pythian +games.</note> +The celebrity of the Olympic games, which drew spectators +from Asia as well as all the States of Greece, +led to similar institutions or festivals in other places. +The Pythian games, in honor of Apollo, were celebrated near +Delphi every third Olympic year; and various musical contests, +exercises in poetry, exhibitions of works of art were +added to gymnastic exercises and chariot and horse races. +The sacrifices, processions, and other solemnities, resemble +those at Olympia in honor of Zeus. They lasted as long as +the Olympic games, down to <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 394. Wherever the worship +of Apollo was introduced, there were imitations of these +Pythian games in all the States of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Nemæan +and Ithmian +games.</note> +The Nemæan and Ithmian games were celebrated each +twice in every Olympiad, the former on the plain +of Nemæa, in Argolis; the latter in the Corinthian +Isthmus, under the presidency of Corinth. These also +claimed a high antiquity, and at these were celebrated the +same feats of strength as at Olympia. But the Olympic +festival was the representation of all the rest, and transcended +all the rest in national importance. It was viewed +with so much interest, that the Greeks measured time itself +by them. It was Olympiads, and not years, by which the +date of all events was determined. The Romans reckoned +their years from the foundation of their city; modern Christian +nations, by the birth of Christ; Mohammedans, by the +flight of the prophet to Medina; and the Greeks, from the +first recorded Olympiad, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 776. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Effect of +these festivals.</note> +It was in these festivals, at which no foreigner, however +eminent, was allowed to contend for prizes, that +the Greeks buried their quarrels, and incited each +<pb n="200"/><anchor id="Pg200"/> +other to heroism. The places in which they were celebrated +became marts of commerce like the mediæval fairs of Germany; +and the vast assemblage of spectators favored that +communication of news, and inventions, and improvements +which has been produced by our modern exhibitions. These +games answered all the purposes of our races, our industrial +exhibitions, and our anniversaries, religious, political, educational, +and literary, and thus had a most decided influence +on the development of Grecian thought and enterprise. +The exhibition of sculpture and painting alone made them +attractive and intellectual, while the athletic exercises +amused ordinary minds. They were not demoralizing, like +the sports of the amphitheatre, or a modern bull-fight, or +even fashionable races. They were more like tournaments +in the martial ages of Europe, but superior to them +vastly, since no woman was allowed to be present at the +Olympic games under pain of death. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Changes in +government. Erection of +temples. Legal equality +and political +rights.</note> +It has already been shown that the form of government in +the States of Ancient Greece, in the Homeric +ages, was monarchical. In two or three hundred +years after the Trojan war, the authority of kings had greatly +diminished. The great immigration and convulsions destroyed +the line of the ancient royal houses. The abolition of royalty +was in substance rather than name. First, it was divided +among several persons, then it was made elective, first for +life, afterward for a definite period. The nobles or chieftains +gained increasing power with the decline of royalty, and +the government became, in many States, aristocratic. But +the nobles abused their power by making an oligarchy, +which is a perverted aristocracy. This aroused hatred and +opposition on the part of the people, especially in the maritime +cities, where the increase of wealth by commerce and the +arts raised up a body of powerful citizens. Then followed +popular revolutions under leaders or demagogues. These +leaders in turn became tyrants, and their exactions gave rise +to more hatred than that produced by the government of +powerful families. They gained power by stratagem, and perverted +<pb n="201"/><anchor id="Pg201"/> +it by violence. But to amuse the people whom they +oppressed, or to please them, they built temples, +theatres, and other public buildings, in which a +liberal patronage was extended to the arts. Thus Athens and +Corinth, before the Persian wars, were beautiful cities, from +the lavish expenditure of the public treasury by the tyrants +or despots who had gained ascendency. In the mean time, +those who were most eminent for wealth, or power, or virtue, +were persecuted, for fear they would effect a revolution. But +the parties which the tyrants had trampled upon were rather +exasperated than ruined, and they seized every opportunity +to rally the people under their standard, and effect an overthrow +of the tyrants. Sparta, whose constitution remained +aristocratic, generally was ready to assist any State in throwing +off the yoke of the usurpers. In some States, like +Athens, every change favored the rise of the people, who +gradually obtained the ascendency. They instituted the principle +of legal equality, by which every freeman was +supposed to exercise the attributes of sovereignty. +But democracy invariably led to the ascendency of factions, +and became itself a tyranny. It became jealous of all who +were distinguished for birth, or wealth, or talents. It encouraged +flatterers and sycophants. It was insatiable in its +demands on the property of the rich, and listened to charges +which exposed them to exile and their estates to confiscation. +It increased the public burdens by unwise expenditures +to please the men of the lower classes who possessed +political franchise. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Different +forms of +government.</note> +But different forms of government existed in different +States. In Sparta there was an oligarchy of nobles which +made royalty a shadow, and which kept the people in slavery +and degradation. In Athens the democratic principle prevailed. +In Argos kings reigned down to the Persian wars. +In Corinth the government went through mutations +as at Athens. In all the States and cities experiments +in the various forms of government were perpetually +made and perpetually failed. They existed for a time, and +<pb n="202"/><anchor id="Pg202"/> +were in turn supplanted. The most permanent government +was that of Sparta; the most unstable was that of Athens. +The former promoted a lofty patriotism and public morality +and the national virtues; the latter inequalities of wealth, +the rise of obscure individuals, and the progress of arts. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Commercial +enterprise.</note> +The fall of the ancient monarchies and aristocracies was +closely connected with commercial enterprise and +the increase of a wealthy class of citizens. In the +beginning of the seventh century before Christ, a great +improvement in the art of ship-building was made, especially +at Corinth. Colonial settlements kept pace with maritime +enterprise; and both of these fostered commerce and +wealth. The Euxine lost its terrors to navigators, and the +Ægean Sea was filled with ships and colonists. The +Adriatic Sea was penetrated, and all the seas connected +with the Mediterranean. From the mouth of the Po was +brought amber, which was highly valued by the ancients. A +great number of people were drawn to Egypt, by the liberal +offers of its kings, who went there for the pursuit of knowledge +and of wealth, and from which they brought back the +papyrus as a cheap material for writing. The productions of +Greece were exchanged for the rich fabrics which only Asia +furnished, and the cities to which these were brought, like +Athens and Corinth, rapidly grew rich, like Venice and Genoa +in the Middle Ages. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Increase of +wealth. +Introduction +of art.</note> +Wealth of course introduced art. The origin of art may have +been in religious ideas—in temples and the statues +of the gods—in tombs and monuments of great +men. But wealth immeasurably increased the facilities both +for architecture and sculpture. Artists in old times, as in +these, sought a pecuniary reward—patrons who could afford +to buy their productions, and stimulate their genius. Art +was cultivated more rapidly in the Asiatic colonies +than in the mother country, both on account of +their wealth, and the objects of interest around them. The +Ionian cities, especially, were distinguished for luxury and +refinement. Corinth took the lead in the early patronage +<pb n="203"/><anchor id="Pg203"/> +of art, as the most wealthy and luxurious of the Grecian +cities. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Architecture.</note> +The first great impulse was given to architecture. The +Pelasgi had erected Cyclopean structures fifteen +hundred years before Christ. The Dorians built +temples on the severest principles of beauty, and the Doric +column arose, massive and elegant. Long before the Persian +wars the temples were numerous and grand, yet simple and +harmonious. The temple of Here, at Samos, was begun in +the eighth century, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, and built in the Doric style, and, +soon after, beautiful structures ornamented Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sculpture.</note> +Sculpture rapidly followed architecture, and passed from +the stiffness of ancient times to that beauty which +afterward distinguished Phidias and Polynotus. +Schools of art, in the sixth century, flourished in all the +Grecian cities. We can not enter upon the details, from the +use of wood to brass and marble. The temples were filled +with groups from celebrated masters, and their deep recesses +were peopled with colossal forms. Gold, silver, and ivory +were used as well as marble and brass. The statues of heroes +adorned every public place. Art, before the Persian wars, +did not indeed reach the refinement which it subsequently +boasted, but a great progress was made in it, in all its +forms. Engraving was also known, and imperfect pictures +were painted. But this art, and indeed any of the arts, did +not culminate until after the Persian wars. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Literature.</note> +Literature made equal if not greater progress in the early +ages of Grecian history. Hesiod lived <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 735; +and lyric poetry flourished in the sixth and +seventh centuries before Christ, especially the elegiac form, +or songs for the dead. Epic poetry was of still earlier +date, as seen in the Homeric poems. The Æolian and Ionic +Greeks of Asia were early noted for celebrated poets. Alcæus +and Sappho lived on the Isle of Lesbos, and were surrounded +with admirers. Anacreon of Teos was courted by +the rulers of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philosophy.</note> +Even philosophy was cultivated at this early age. Thales +<pb n="204"/><anchor id="Pg204"/> +of Miletus flourished in the middle of the seventh century, +and Anaximander, born <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 610—one of the great +original mathematicians of the world, speculated +like Thales, on the origin of things. Pythagoras, born in +Samos, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 580—a still greater name, grave and majestic, +taught the harmony of the spheres long before the Ionian +revolt. +</p> + +<p> +But neither art, nor literature, nor philosophy reached +their full development till a later era. It is enough for our +purpose to say that, before the Persian wars, civilization was +by no means contemptible, in all those departments which +subsequently made Greece the teacher and the glory of the +world. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="205"/><anchor id="Pg205"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XVII. THE PERSIAN WAR."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XVII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XVII.</head> +<head>THE PERSIAN WAR.</head> + +<p> +We come now to the most important and interesting of +Grecian history—the great contest with Persia—the age of +heroes and of battle-fields, when military glory was the master +passion of a noble race. What inspiration have all ages +gained from that noble contest in behalf of liberty! +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Condition of +the Ionian +cities. +Invasion of +Scythia by +Darius.</note> +We have seen how Asiatic cities were colonized by Greeks, +among whom the Ionians were pre-eminent. The cities were +governed by tyrants, who were sustained in their usurpation +by the power of Persia, then the great power of the world. +Darius, then king, had absurdly invaded Scythia, with an +immense army of six hundred thousand men, to +punish the people for their inroad upon Western +Asia, subject to his sway, about a century before. He was +followed by his allies, the tyrants of the Ionian cities, to +whom he intrusted the guardianship of the bridge of boats +by which he had crossed the Danube, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 510. As he did +not return within the time specified—sixty days—the Greeks +were left at liberty to return. A body of Scythians then +appeared, who urged the Greeks to destroy the bridge, as +Darius was in full retreat, and thus secure the destruction +of the Persian army and the recovery of +their own liberty. Miltiades, who ruled the Chersonese—the +future hero of Marathon, seconded the wise proposal of the +Scythians, but Histiæus, tyrant of Miletus, feared that such +an act would recoil upon themselves, and favor another +inroad of Scythians—a fierce nation of barbarians. The +result was that the bridge was not destroyed, but the further +end of it was severed from the shore. Night arrived, and the +<pb n="206"/><anchor id="Pg206"/> +Persian hosts appeared upon the banks of the river, but finding +no trace of it, Darius ordered an Egyptian who had a +trumpet-voice to summon to his aid Histiæus, the Milesian. +He came forward with a fleet and restored the bridge, and +Darius and his army were saved, and the opportunity was +lost to the Ionians for emancipating themselves from the +Persians. The bridge was preserved, not from honorable +fidelity to fulfill a trust, but selfish regard in the despot of +Miletus to maintain his power. For this service he was +rewarded with a principality on the Strymon. Exciting, however, +the suspicion of Darius, by his intrigues, he was carried +captive to the Persian court, but with every mark of honor. +Darius left his brother Artaphernes as governor of all the +cities in Western Asia Minor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Revolt of the Ionian cities from Persia. Defeat of the +Ionian cities.</note> +A few years after this unsuccessful invasion of Scythia by +Darius, a political conflict broke out in Naxos, an island of +the Cyclades, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 502, which had not submitted to the Persian +yoke, and the oligarchy, which ruled the island, were +expelled. They applied for aid to Aristagoras, the tyrant +of Miletus, the largest of the Ionian cities, who persuaded +the Persian satrap to send an expedition against the island. +The expedition failed, which ruined the credit of Aristagoras, +son-in-law to Histiæus, who was himself incensed at his +detention in Susa, and who sent a trusty slave with a message +urging the Ionians to revolt. Aristagoras, +as a means of success, conciliated popular favor +throughout Asiatic Greece, by putting down the various +tyrants—the instruments of Persian ascendency. The flames +of revolt were kindled, the despots were expelled, the revolted +towns were put in a state of defense, and Aristagoras +visited Sparta to invoke its aid, inflaming the mind of the +king with the untold wealth of Asia, which would become +his spoil. Sparta was then at war with her neighbors, and +unwilling to become involved in so uncertain a contest. +Rejected at Sparta, Aristagoras proceeded to Athens, then +the second power in Greece, and was favorably received, for +the Athenians had a powerful sympathy with the revolted +<pb n="207"/><anchor id="Pg207"/> +Ionians; they agreed to send a fleet of twenty ships. When +Aristagoras returned, the Persians had commenced the siege +of Miletus. The twenty ships soon crossed the Ægean, +and were joined by five Eretrian ships coming to the succor +of Miletus. An unsuccessful attempt of Aristagoras on Sardis +disgusted the Athenians, who abandoned the alliance. +But the accidental burning of the city, including the temple +of the goddess Cybele, encouraged the revolters, and incensed +the Persians. Other Greek cities on the coast took part in +the revolt, including the island of Cyprus. The revolt now +assumed a serious character. The Persians rallied their +allies, among whom were the Phœnicians. An armament of +Persians and Phœnicians sailed against Cyprus, and a victory +on the land gave the Persians the control of the island. A +large army of Persians and their allies collected at Sardis, +and, under different divisions reconquered all their +principal Ionian cities, except Miletus; but the +Ionian fleet kept its ascendency at sea. Aristagoras as the +Persians advanced, lost courage and fled to Myrkinus, where +he shortly afterward perished. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Histiæus.</note> +Meanwhile Histiæus presented himself at the gates of Miletus, +having procured the consent of Darius to proceed +thither to quell the revolt. He was, however, +suspected by the satrap, Artaphernes, and fled to Chios, +whose people he gained over, and who carried him back to +Miletus. On his arrival, he found the citizens averse to his +reception, and was obliged to return to Chios, and then to +Lesbos, where he abandoned himself to piracy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Want of union +among the +Ionian cities. Their signal +defeat.</note> +A vast Persian host, however, had been concentrated near +Miletus, and with the assistance of the Phœnicians, invested +the city by sea and land. The entire force of the confederated +cities abandoned the Milesians to their fate, and took +to their ships, three hundred and fifty-three in number, +with a view of fighting the Phœnicians, who had six hundred +ships. But there was a want of union among +the Ionian commanders, and the sailors abandoned +themselves to disorder and carelessness; upon which +<pb n="208"/><anchor id="Pg208"/> +Dionysius, of Phocæa, which furnished but three ships, +rebuked the Ionians for their neglect of discipline. His +rebuke was not thrown away, and the Ionians having their +comfortable tents on shore, submitted themselves to the +nautical labors imposed by Dionysius. At last, after seven +days of work, the Ionian sailors broke out in open mutiny, +and refused longer to be under the discipline of a man whose +State furnished the smallest number of ships. They left +their ships, and resumed their pleasures on the shore, unwilling +to endure the discipline so necessary in so great a +crisis. Their camp became a scene of disunion and mistrust. +The Samians, in particular, were discontented, and on the +day of battle, which was to decide the fortunes of Ionia, +they deserted with sixty ships, and other Ionians followed +their example. The ships of Chios, one hundred in number, +fought with great fidelity and resolution, and Dionysius captured, +with his three ships, three of the Phœnicians'. But +these exceptional examples of bravery did not compensate the +treachery and cowardice of the rest, and the consequence +was a complete defeat of the Ionians at +Lade. Dionysius, seeing the ruin of the Ionian camp, did +not return to his own city, and set sail for the Phœnician +coast, doing all he could as a pirate. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Attack of +Miletus. +Complete +conquest of +the Ionian +Greeks.</note> +This victory of Lade enabled the Persians to attack Miletus +by sea as well as land; the siege was prosecuted +with vigor, and the city shortly fell. The adult +male population was slain, while the women and children +were sent as slaves to Susa. The Milesian territory was +devastated and stripped of its inhabitants. The other States +hastened to make their submission, and the revolt was +crushed, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 496, five years after its commencement. The +Persian forces reconquered all the Asiatic Greeks, +insular and continental, and the Athenian Miltiades +escaped with difficulty from his command in the +Chersonese, to his native city. All the threats which were +made by the Persians were realized. The most beautiful +virgins were distributed among the Persian nobles; the +<pb n="209"/><anchor id="Pg209"/> +cities were destroyed; and Samos alone remained, as a +reward for desertion at the battle of Lade. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Artaphernes +organizes the +Government. +Darius prepares +for the +invasion of +Greece.</note> +The reconquest of Ionia being completed, the satrap +proceeded to organize the future government, +the inhabitants now being composed of a +great number of Persians. Meanwhile, Darius made preparations +for the complete conquest of Greece. The wisdom of +the advice of Miltiades, to destroy the bridge over the Danube, +when Darius and his army would have been annihilated +by the Scythians, was now apparent. Mardonius was +sent with a large army into Ionia, who deposed the despots +in the various cities, whom Artaphernes had reinstated, and +left the people to govern themselves, subject to the Persian +dominion and tribute. He did not remain long in Ionia, but +passed with his fleet to the Hellespont, and joined +his land forces. He transported his army to Europe, +and began his march through Thrace. Thence +marched into Macedonia, and subdued a part of its inhabitants. +He then sent his fleet around Mount Athos, with a +view of joining it with his army at the Gulf of Therma. But +a storm overtook his fleet near Athos, and destroyed three +hundred ships, and drowned twenty thousand men. This +disaster compelled a retreat, and he recrossed the Hellespont +with the shame of failure. He was employed no more by +the Persian king. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His immense +preparations.</note> +Darius, incited by the traitor Hippias, made new preparation +for the invasion of Greece. He sent his heralds +in every direction, demanding the customary +token of submission—earth and water. Many of the continental +cities sent in their submission, including the Thebans, +Thessalians, and the island of Ægina, which was on bad +terms with Athens. The heralds of Darius were put to death +at Athens and Sparta, which can only be explained from the +fiercest resentment and rage. These two powers made common +cause, and armed all the other States over which they had +influence, to resist the Persian domination. Hellas, headed +by Sparta, now resolved to put forth all its energies, and +<pb n="210"/><anchor id="Pg210"/> +embarked, in desperate hostility. A war which Sparta had +been waging for several years against Argos crippled that +ancient State, and she was no longer the leading power. The +only rival which Sparta feared was weakened, and full scope +was given, for the prosecution of the Persian war. Ægina, +which had submitted to Darius, was visited by Cleomenes, +king of Sparta, and hostages were sent to Athens for the +neutrality of that island. Athens and Sparta suspended +their political jealousies, and acted in concert to resist the +common danger. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His vast +army.</note> +By the spring of 490 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> the preparations of Darius were +completed, and a vast army collected on a plain +upon the Cilician shore. A fleet of six hundred +ships convoyed it to the rendezvous at Samos. The exiled +tyrant Hippias was present to guide the forces to the attack +of Attica. The Mede Datis, and Artaphernes, son of the +satrap of Sardis, nephew to Darius, were the Persian generals. +They had orders from Darius to bring the inhabitants +of Athens as slaves to his presence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Persian +fleet.</note> +The Persian fleet, fearing a similar disaster as happened +near Mount Athos, struck directly across the +Ægean, from Samos to Eubœa, attacking on the +way the intermediate islands. Naxos thus was invaded and +easily subdued. From Naxos, Datis sent his fleet round the +other Cyclades Islands, demanding reinforcements and hostages +from all he visited, and reached the southern extremity +of Eubœa in safety. Etruria was first subdued, unable to +resist. After halting a few days at this city, he crossed +to Attica, and landed in the bay of Marathon, on the eastern +coast. The despot Hippias, son of Pisistratus, twenty years +after his expulsion from Athens, pointed out the way. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Political +change at +Athens. Miltiades, +and other +generals.</note> +But a great change had taken place at Athens since his +expulsion. The city was now under democratic +rule, in its best estate. The ten tribes had become +identified with the government and institutions of the city. +The senate of the areopagus, renovated by the annual +archons, was in sympathy with the people. Great men had +<pb n="211"/><anchor id="Pg211"/> +arisen under the amazing stimulus of liberty, among whom +Miltiades, Themistocles, and Aristides were the most distinguished. +Miltiades, after an absence of six years in the +Chersonesus of Thrace, returned to the city full of patriotic +ardor. He was brought to trial before the popular +assembly on the charge of having misgoverned +the Chersonese; but he was honorably acquitted, and +was chosen one of the ten generals of the republic annually +elected. He was not, however, a politician of the +democratic stamp, like Themistocles and Aristides, being a +descendant of an illustrious race, which traced their lineage +to the gods; but he was patriotic, brave, and decided. His +advice to burn the bridge over the Danube illustrates his +character—bold and far-seeing. Moreover, he was peculiarly +hostile to Darius, whom he had so grievously offended. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Themistocles.</note> +Themistocles was a man of great native genius and sagacity. +He comprehended all the embarrassments and dangers +of the political crisis in which his city was +placed, and saw at a glance the true course to be pursued. +He was also bold and daring. He was not favored by the +accidents of birth, and owed very little to education. He +had an unbounded passion for glory and for display. He had +great tact in the management of party, and was intent on +the aggrandizement of his country. His morality was reckless, +but his intelligence was great—a sort of Mirabeau: +with his passion, his eloquence, and his talents. His unfortunate +end—a traitor and an exile—shows how little intellectual +pre-eminence will avail, in the long run, without +virtue, although such talents as he exhibited will be found +useful in a crisis. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Aristides.</note> +Aristides was inferior to both Alcibiades and Themistocles +in genius, in resource, in boldness, and in +energy; but superior in virtue, in public fidelity, +and moral elevation. He pursued a consistent course, was no +demagogue, unflinching in the discharge of trusts, just, +upright, unspotted. Such a man, of course, in a corrupt +society, would be exposed to many enmities and jealousies. +<pb n="212"/><anchor id="Pg212"/> +But he was, on the whole, appreciated, and died, in a period +of war and revolution, a poor man, with unbounded means +of becoming rich—one of the few examples which our world +affords of a man who believed in virtue, in God, and a judgment +to come, and who preferred the future and spiritual to +the present and material—a fool in the eyes of the sordid +and bad—a wise man according to the eternal standards. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Athens allies +herself +with Sparta.</note> +Aristides, Miltiades, and perhaps Themistocles, were +elected among the ten generals, by the ten tribes, in the year +that Datis led his expedition to Marathon. Each of the ten +generals had the supreme command of the army for a day. +Great alarm was felt at Athens as tidings reached the city +of the advancing and conquering Persians. Couriers were +sent in hot haste to the other cities, especially +Sparta, and one was found to make the journey to +Sparta on foot—one hundred and fifty miles—in forty-eight +hours. The Spartans agreed to march, without delay, after +the last quarter of the moon, which custom and superstition +dictated. This delay was fraught with danger, but was insisted +upon by the Spartans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Prominence +of the +dangers.</note> +Meanwhile the dangers multiplied and thickened, that +not a moment should be lost in bringing +the Persians into action. Five of the generals +counseled delay. The polemarch, Calimachus, who then had +the casting vote, decided for immediate action. Themistocles +and Aristides had seconded the advice of Miltiades, to whom +the other generals surrendered their days of command—a rare +example of patriotic disinterestedness. The Athenians +marched at once to Marathon to meet their foes, and were +joined by the Platæans, one thousand warriors, from a little +city—the whole armed population, which had a great moral +effect. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Marshaling +of the Grecian +forces +at Marathon. The battle of +Marathon.</note> +The Athenians had only ten thousand hoplites, including +the one thousand from Platæa. The Persian army +is variously estimated at from one hundred and ten +thousand to six hundred thousand. The Greeks +<pb n="213"/><anchor id="Pg213"/> +were encamped upon the higher ground overlooking +the plain which their enemies occupied. The fleet was +ranged along the beach. The Greeks advanced to the combat +in rapid movement, urged on by the war-cry, which ever +animated their charges. The wings of the Persian army +were put to flight by the audacity of the charge, but the +centre, where the best troops were posted, resisted the +attack until Miltiades returned from the pursuit +of the retreating soldiers on the wings. The defeat +of the Persians was the result. They fled to their +ships, and became involved in the marshes. Six thousand +four hundred men fell on the Persian side, and only one hundred +and ninety-two on the Athenian. The Persians, though +defeated, still retained their ships, and sailed toward Cape +Sunium, with a view of another descent upon Attica. Miltiades, +the victor in the most glorious battle ever till then +fought in Greece, penetrated the designs of the Persians, and +rapidly retreated to Athens on the very day of battle. +Datis arrived at the port of Phalerum to discover that his +plans were baffled, and that the Athenians were still ready to +oppose him. The energy and promptness of Miltiades had +saved the city. Datis, discouraged, set sail, without landing, +to the Cyclades. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Results of +the battle.</note> +The battle of Marathon, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 490, must be regarded as +one of the great decisive battles of the world, and the +first which raised the political importance of the +Greeks in the eyes of foreign powers. It was +fought by Athens twenty years after the expulsion of the +tyrants, and as a democratic State. On the Athenians rest +the glory forever. It was not important for the number +of men who fell on either side, but for giving the first great +check to the Persian domination, and preventing their conquest +of Europe. And its moral effect was greater than its +political. It freed the Greeks from that fear of the Persians +which was so fatal and universal, for the tide of Persian +conquest had been hitherto uninterrupted. It animated the +Greeks with fresh courage, for the bravery of the Athenians +<pb n="214"/><anchor id="Pg214"/> +had been unexampled, as had been the generalship of Miltiades. +Athens was delivered by the almost supernatural +bravery of its warriors, and was then prepared to make +those sacrifices which were necessary in the more desperate +struggles which were to come. And it inspired the people +with patriotic ardor, and upheld the new civil constitution. +It gave force and dignity to the democracy, and prepared it +for future and exalted triumphs. It also gave force to the +religious sentiments of the people, for such a victory was +regarded as owing to the special favor of the gods. +</p> + +<p> +The Spartans did not arrive until after the battle had been +fought, and Datis had returned with his Etrurian prisoners +to Asia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fame of +Miltiades. +His subsequent +reverses. +His death. Jealousies +between +Aristides and +Themistocles.</note> +The victory of Marathon raised the military fame of Miltiades +to the most exalted height, and there were +no bounds to the enthusiasm of the Athenians. +But the victory turned his head, and he lost both prudence +and patriotism. He persuaded his countrymen, in the full +tide of his popularity, to intrust him with seventy ships, +with an adequate force, with powers to direct an expedition +according to his pleasure. The armament was cheerfully +granted. But he disgracefully failed in an attack on the +island of Paros, to gratify a private vindictive animosity. +He lost all his <hi rend='italic'>éclat</hi> and was impeached. He +appealed, wounded and disabled from a fall he had +received, to his previous services. He was found guilty, but +escaped the penalty of death, but not of a fine of fifty talents. +He did not live to pay it, or redeem his fame, but +died of the injury he had received. Thus this +great man fell from a pinnacle of glory to the deepest disgrace +and ruin—a fate deserved, for he was not true to himself +or country. The Athenians were not to blame, but +judged him rightly. It was not fickleness, but a change in +their opinions, founded on sufficient grounds, from the deep +disappointment in finding that their hero was unworthy of +their regards. No man who had rendered a favor has a +claim to pursue a course of selfishness and unlawful ambition. +<pb n="215"/><anchor id="Pg215"/> +No services can offset crimes. The Athenians, in +their unbounded admiration, had given unbounded trust, +and that trust was abused. And as the greatest despots +who had mounted to power had earned their success by +early services, so had they abused their power by imposing +fetters, and the Athenians, just escaped from the tyranny of +these despots, felt a natural jealousy and a deep repugnance, +in spite of their previous admiration. The Athenians, in their +treatment of Miltiades, were neither ungrateful nor fickle, +but acted from a high sense of public morality, and in a +stern regard to justice, without which the new constitution +would soon have been subverted. On the death of Miltiades +Themistocles and Aristides became the two leading +men of Athens, and their rivalries composed the +domestic history of the city, until the renewed and +vast preparations of the Persians caused all dissensions to be +suspended for the public good. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Not altogether +on +personal +grounds.</note> +But the jealousies and rivalries of these great men were +not altogether personal. They were both patriotic, but each +had different views respecting the course which Athens should +adopt in the greatness of the dangers which impended. The +policy of Aristides was to strengthen the army—that of +Themistocles, the navy. Both foresaw the national dangers, +but Themistocles felt that the hopes of Greece rested on +ships rather than armies to resist the Persians. +And his policy was adopted. As the world can +not have two suns, so Athens could not be prospered +by the presence of two such great men, each advocating +different views. One or the other must succumb to the +general good, and Aristides was banished by the power of +ostracism. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewed +preparations +of Darius. His death.</note> +The wrath of Darius—a man of great force of character, +but haughty and self-sufficient, was tremendous when he +learned the defeat of Datis, and his retreat into Asia. He +resolved to bring the whole force of the Persian +empire together to subdue the Athenians, from +whom he had suffered so great a disgrace. Three years were +<pb n="216"/><anchor id="Pg216"/> +spent in active preparations for a new expedition which +should be overwhelming. All the allies of Persia were called +upon for men and supplies. Nor was he deterred by a revolt +of Egypt, which broke out about this time, and he was on +the point of carrying two gigantic enterprises—one +for the reconquest of Egypt, and the other for the +conquest of Greece—when he died, after a reign of thirty-six +years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 485. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Xerxes. +His enormous preparations. His bridges +over the +Hellespont.</note> +He was succeeded by his son Xerxes, who was animated +by the animosities, but not the genius of his father. +Though beautiful and tall, he was faint-hearted, +vain, blinded by a sense of power, and enslaved by women. +Yet he continued the preparations which Darius projected. +Egypt was first subdued by his generals, and he then turned +his undivided attention to Greece. He convoked the dignitaries +of his empire—the princes and governors of provinces, +and announced his resolution to bridge over the Hellespont +and march to the conquest of Europe. Artabanus, his +uncle, dissuaded him from the enterprise, setting forth especially +the probability that the Greeks, if victorious at sea, +would destroy the bridge, and thus prevent his safe return. +Mardonius advised differently, urging ambition and revenge, +motives not lost on the Persian monarch. For four years +the preparations went forward from all parts of the empire, +including even the islands in the Ægean. In the autumn of +481 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, the largest army this world has ever seen assembled +at Sardis. Besides this, a powerful fleet of +one thousand two hundred and seven ships of war, +besides transports, was collected at the Hellespont. Large +magazines of provisions were formed along the coast of Asia +Minor. A double bridge of boats, extending from Abydos to +Sestos—a mile in length across the Hellespont, was constructed +by Phœnicians and Egyptians; but this was destroyed by a +storm. Xerxes, in a transport of fury, caused the heads of +the engineers to be cut off, and the sea itself scourged with +three hundred lashes. This insane wrath being expended, +the monarch caused the work to be at once reconstructed, +<pb n="217"/><anchor id="Pg217"/> +this time by the aid of Greek engineers. Two bridges were +built side by side upon more than six hundred +large ships, moored with strong anchors, with their +heads toward the Ægean. Over each bridge were sketched six +vast cables, which held the ships together, and over these +were laid planks of wood, upon which a causeway was formed +of wood and earth, with a high palisade on each side. To +facilitate his march, Xerxes also constructed a canal across +the isthmus which connects Mount Athos with the main +land, on which were employed Phœnician engineers. The +men employed in digging the canal worked under the whip. +Bridges were also thrown across the river Strymon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His advance. +He crosses +the Hellespont. His review +of his army.</note> +These works were completed while Xerxes wintered at +Sardis. From that city he dispatched heralds to all the +cities of Greece, except Sparta and Athens, to demand the +usual tokens of submission—earth and water. He also sent +orders to the maritime cities of Thrace and Macedonia to prepare +dinner for himself and hosts, as they passed through. +Greece was struck with consternation as the news reached +the various cities of the vast forces which were on the march +to subdue them. The army proceeded from Sardis, +in the spring, in two grand columns, between +which was the king and guards and select troops—all native +Persians, ten thousand foot and ten thousand horse. From +Sardis the hosts of Xerxes proceeded to Abydos, through +Ilium, where his two bridges across the Hellespont awaited +him. From a marble throne the proud and vainglorious +monarch saw his vast army defile over the bridges, perfumed +with frankincense and strewed with myrtle boughs. One +bridge was devoted to the troops, the other to the beasts and +baggage. The first to cross were the ten thousand +household troops, called Immortals, wearing +garlands on their heads; then followed Xerxes himself in +his gilded chariot, and then the rest of the army. It occupied +seven days for the vast hosts to cross the bridge. +Xerxes then directed his march to Doriscus, in Thrace, near +the mouth of the Hebrus, where he joined his fleet. There he +<pb n="218"/><anchor id="Pg218"/> +took a general review, and never, probably, was so great an +army marshaled before or since, and composed of so many +various nations. There were assembled nations +from the Indus, from the Persian Gulf, the Red +Sea, the Levant, the Ægean and the Euxine—Egyptian, +Ethiopian, and Lybian. Forty-six nations were represented—all +that were tributary to Persia. From the estimates +made by Herodotus, there were one million seven hundred +thousand foot, eighty thousand horse, besides a large +number of chariots. With the men who manned the fleet +and those he pressed into his service on the march, the +aggregate of his forces was two million six hundred and forty +thousand. Scarcely an inferior number attended the soldiers +as slaves, sutlers, and other persons, swelling the amount of +the males to five million two hundred and eighty-three thousand +two hundred and twenty—the whole available force of +the Eastern world—Asia against Europe: as in mediæval +times it was Europe against Asia. It is, however, impossible +for us to believe in so large a force, since it could not +have been supplied with provisions. But with every deduction, +it was still the largest army the world ever saw. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The magnitude +of his +forces.</note> +After the grand enumeration of forces, Xerxes passed in +his chariot to survey separately each body of +contingents, to which he put questions. He then +embarked in a gilded galley, and sailed past the prows of +the twelve hundred ships moored four hundred feet from the +shore. That such a vast force could be resisted was not even +supposed to be conceivable by the blinded monarch. But +Demaratus, the exiled king of Sparta, told him he would be +resisted unto death, a statement which was received with derision. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Progress of +the Persians.</note> +After the review, the grand army pursued its course westward +in three divisions and roads along Thrace, levying enormous +contributions on all the Grecian towns, which submitted +as the Persian monarch marched along, for +how could they resist? The mere provisioning +this great host for a single day impoverished the country. +<pb n="219"/><anchor id="Pg219"/> +But there was no help, for to mortal eyes the success of +Xerxes was certain. At Acanthus, Xerxes separated from +his fleet, which was directed to sail round Mount Athos, +while he pursued his march through Pæonia and Crestonia, +and rejoin him at Therma, on the Thermaic Gulf, in Macedonia, +within sight of Mount Olympus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Preparations +of the Athenians. +Sparta commands +the +land forces +and Athens +the naval.</note> +Meanwhile, the Athenians, fully alive to their danger, +strained every nerve to make preparations to resist +the enemy; fortunately, there was in the treasury +a large sum derived from the Lamian mines, and this they +applied, on the urgent representations of Themistocles, to +building ships and refitting their navy. A Panhellenic +congress, under the presidency of Athens and Sparta, +assembled at the Isthmus of Corinth.—the first great league +since the Trojan war. The representatives of the various +States buried their dissensions, the most prominent of which +were between Athens and Ægina. In reconciling these +feuds, Themistocles took a pre-eminent part. Indeed, there +was need, for the political existence of Hellas was threatened, +and despair was seen in most every city. Even the Delphic +oracle gave out replies discouraging and terrible; intimating, +however, that the safety of Athens lay in the wooden wall, +which, with extraordinary tact, was interpreted by Themistocles +to mean that the true defense lay in the navy. +Salamis was the place designated by the oracle for the retreat, +which was now imperative, and thither the Athenians +fled, with their wives and children, guarded by their fleet. +It was decided by the congress that Sparta should +command the land forces, and Athens the united +navy of the Greeks; but many States, in deadly +fear of the Persians, persisted in neutrality, among which +were Argos, Cretes, Corcyra. The chief glory of the defense +lay with Sparta and Athens. The united army was +sent into Thessaly to defend the defile of Tempe, but discovering +that they were unable to do this, since another pass +over Mount Olympus was open in the summer, they retreated +to the isthmus of Corinth, and left all Greece north of +<pb n="220"/><anchor id="Pg220"/> +Mount Citheron and the Megarid territory without defense. +Had the Greeks been able to maintain the passes of Olympus +and Ossa, all the northern States would probably have joined +in the confederation against Persia; but, as they were left +defenseless, we can not wonder that they submitted, including +even the Achæans, Borotians, and Dorians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The pass of +Thermopylæ.</note> +The Pass of Thermopylæ was now fixed upon as the +most convenient place of resistance, next to the +vale of Tempe. Here the main land was separated +from the island of Eubœa by a narrow strait two miles +wide. On the northern part of the island, near the town of +Histiæa, the coast was called Artemisium, and here the fleet +was mustered, to co-operate with the land forces, and oppose, +in a narrow strait, the progress of the Persian fleet. The +defile of Thermopylæ itself, at the south of Thessaly, was +between Mount Œta and an impassable morass on the Maliac +Gulf. Nature had thus provided a double position of defense—a +narrow defile on the land, and a narrow strait on the +water, through which the army and the fleet must need pass +if they would co-operate. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Interruption +of military +preparations +by the Olympic +games.</note> +While the congress resolved to avail themselves of the +double position, by sea and land, the Olympic +games, and the great Dorian, of the Carneia, were +at hand. These could not be dispensed with, even +in the most extraordinary crisis to which the nation could be +exposed. While, therefore, the Greeks assembled to keep the +national festivals, probably from religious and superstitious +motives, auguring no good if they were disregarded, +Leonidas, king of Sparta, with three hundred Spartans, two +thousand one hundred and twenty Arcadians, four hundred +Corinthians, two hundred men from Philius, and eighty from +Mycenæ—in all three thousand one hundred hoplites, besides +Helots and light troops, was sent to defend the pass against +the Persian hosts. On the march through Bœotia one thousand +men from Thebes and Thespiæ joined them, though on +the point of submission to Xerxes. The Athenians sent their +whole force on board their ships, joined by the Platæans. +</p> + +<pb n="221"/><anchor id="Pg221"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Leonidas +defends the +pass +of +Thermopylæ.</note> +It was in the summer of 480 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> when Xerxes reached +Therma, about which time the Greeks arrived at their allotted +posts. Leonidas took his position in the middle of the Pass—a +mile in length, with two narrow openings. +He then repaired the old wall built across the Pass +by the Phocians, and awaited the coming of the +enemy, for it was supposed his force was sufficient to hold it +till the games were over. It was also thought that this narrow +pass was the only means of access possible to the invading +army; but it was soon discovered that there was also a +narrow mountain path from the Phocian territory to Thermopylæ. +The Phocians agreed to guard this path, and leave +the defense of the main pass to the Peloponnesian troops. +But Leonidas painfully felt that his men were insufficient in +number, and found it necessary to send envoys to the different +States for immediate re-enforcements. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Greek +fleet. +Disaster to +the Persian +fleet.</note> +The Greek fleet, assembled at Artemisium, was composed +of two hundred and seventy-one triremes and nine penteconters, +commanded by Themistocles, but furnished +by the different States. A disaster happened to +the Greeks very early; three triremes were captured by the +Persians, which caused great discouragement, and in a panic +the Greeks abandoned their strong naval position, and sailed +up the Eubœan Strait to Chalcis. This was a great misfortune, +since the rear of the army of Leonidas was no longer +protected by the fleet. But a destructive storm dispersed +the fleet of the Persians at this imminent crisis, so that it +was impossible to lend aid to their army now arrived at +Thermopylæ. Four hundred ships of war, together with a +vast number of transports, were thus destroyed. +The storm lasted three days. After this disaster +to the Persians, the Greek fleet returned to Artemisium. +Xerxes encamped within sight of Thermopylæ four days, +without making an attack, on account of the dangers to which +his fleet were exposed. On the fifth day he became wroth +at the impudence and boldness of the petty force which +quietly remained to dispute his passage, for the Spartans +<pb n="222"/><anchor id="Pg222"/> +amused themselves with athletic sports and combing their +hair. Nor was it altogether presumption on the part of the +Greeks, for there were four or five thousand heavily-armed +men, the bravest in the land, to defend a passage scarcely +wider than a carriage-road—with a wall and other defenses +in front. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Attack on +the Greeks +by the Persians.</note> +The first attack on the Greeks was made by the Medea—the +bravest of the Persian army, but their arrows and short +spears were of little avail against the phalanx +which opposed, armed with long spears, and protected +by shields. For two days the attack continued, +and was constantly repulsed, for only a small detachment +of Greeks fought at a time. Even the <q>Immortals</q>—the +chosen band of Xerxes—were repulsed with a great loss, +to the agony and shame of Xerxes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Leonidas +defends the +pass, but is +slain. +Heroic +death of the +three hundred +Spartans.</note> +On the third day, a Malian revealed to the Persian king +the fact that a narrow path, leading over the mountains, was +defended only by Phocians, and that this path led to the rear +of the Spartans. A strong detachment of Persians was sent +in the night to secure this path, and the Phocian guardians +fled. The Persians descended the path, and attacked the +Greeks in their rear. Leonidas soon became +apprised of his danger, but in time to send away +his army. It was now clear that Thermopylæ +could no longer be defended, but the heroic and self-sacrificing +general resolved to remain, and sell his life as dearly as +possible, and retard, if he could not resist, the march of the +enemy. Three hundred Spartans, with seven hundred Thespians +and four hundred Thebans joined him, while the rest +retired to fight another day. It required all the efforts of +the Persian generals, assisted by the whip, to force the men +to attack this devoted band. The Greeks fought with the +most desperate bravery, till their spears were broken, and +no weapons remained but their swords and daggers. +At last, exhausted, they died, surrounded by vast +forces, after having made the most heroic defence +in the history of the war. Only one man, Aristodemus, +<pb n="223"/><anchor id="Pg223"/> +returned to his home of all the three hundred Spartans, but +only to receive scorn and infamy. The Theban band alone +yielded to the Persians, but only at the last hour. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The dismay +and indignation +of +Xerxes.</note> +Nothing could exceed the blended anger and admiration +of Xerxes as he beheld this memorable resistance. +He now saw, for the first time, the difficulty of +subduing such a people as the Greeks, resolved to +resist unto death. His mind was perplexed, and he did not +know what course to adopt. Had he accepted the advice +of Demaratus, to make war on the southern coast of Laconia, +and thus distract the Spartans and prevent their co-operation +with Athens, he would have probably succeeded. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Naval battle +of Artemisium.</note> +But he followed other councils. Meanwhile, the Persian +fleet rallied after the storm, and was still formidable, +in spite of losses. The Greeks were disposed to retire +and leave the strait open to the enemy. The Eubœans, +seeing the evil which would happen to them if their +island was unprotected, sent to Themistocles a present +of thirty talents, if he would keep his position. This +money he spent in bribing the different commanders who +wished to retire, and it was resolved to remain. The Persians, +confident of an easy victory, sent round the island of Eubœa +a detachment of two hundred ships, to cut off all hopes of +escape to the ships which they expected to capture. A +deserter revealed the intelligence to Themistocles, and +it was resolved to fight the Persians, thus weakened, at +once, but at the close of the day, so that the battle would +not be decisive. The battle of Artemisium was a +sort of skirmish, to accustom the Greeks to the +Phœnician mode of fighting. It was, however, successful, +and thirty ships of the Persians were taken or disabled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Themistocles +sails for +Salamis.</note> +But the Greeks derived a greater succor than ships and +men. Another storm overtook the Persians, damaged their +fleet, and destroyed the squadron sent round the island of +Eubœa. Another sea-fight was the result, since +the Greeks were not only aided by the storm, but +new re-enforcements; but this second fight was indecisive. +<pb n="224"/><anchor id="Pg224"/> +Themistocles now felt he could not hold the strait against +superior numbers, and the disaster of Thermopylæ being also +now known, he resolved to retreat farther into Greece, and +sailed for Salamis. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Despair of +the Greeks. +Themistocles +revives +courage by +his <q>wooden +wall.</q></note> +At this period the Greeks generally were filled with consternation +and disappointment. Neither the Pass +of Thermopylæ, nor the strait which connected the +Malicas Gulf with the Ægean, had been successfully defended. +The army of Xerxes was advancing through Phocis +and Bœotia to the Isthmus of Corinth, while the navy sailed +unobstructed through the Eubœan Sea. On the part of the +Greeks there had been no preparations commensurate with +the greatness of the crisis, while, had they rallied to Thermopylæ, +instead of wasting time at the festivals, they would +have saved the pass, and the army of Xerxes, strained for +provisions, would have been compelled to retreat. The, +Lacedæmonians, aroused by the death of their king, at last +made vigorous efforts to fortify the Isthmus of Corinth, too +late, however, to defend Bœotia and Attica. The situation +of Athens was now hopeless, and it was seen what a fatal +mistake had been made not to defend, with the whole force +of Greece, the Pass of Thermopylæ. There was no help +from the Spartans, for they had all flocked to the Isthmus of +Corinth, as the last chance of protecting the Peloponnesus. +In despair, the Athenians resolved to abandon Athens, with +their families, and take shelter at Salamis. Themistocles +alone was undismayed, and sought to encourage +his countrymen that the <q>wooden wall</q> would +still be their salvation. The Athenians, if dismayed, +did not lose their energies. The recall of the exiles +was decreed by Themistocles' suggestion. With incredible +efforts the whole population of Attica was removed to Salamis, +and the hopes of all were centered in the ships. Xerxes +took possession of the deserted city, but found but five hundred +captives. He ravaged the country, and a detachment +of Persians even penetrated to Delphi, to rob the shrine, but +were defeated. Athens was, however, sacked. +</p> + +<pb n="225"/><anchor id="Pg225"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The hostile +fleets at Salamis.</note> +The combined fleet of the Greeks now numbered three +hundred and sixty-six ships, more than half of +which were Athenian. Many wished to retreat to +the Isthmus of Corinth, and co-operate with the Spartans. +Dissensions came near wrecking the last hopes of Greece, +and Themistocles only prevailed by threatening to withdraw +the Athenian ships unless a battle were at once fought. He +resorted to stratagem to compel the fleet to remain together, +with no outlet of escape if conquered. Aristides came in +the night from Ægina, and informed the Greeks that their +whole fleet was surrounded by the Persians—just what +Themistocles desired. There was nothing then left but to +fight with desperation, for on the issue of the battle depended +the fortunes of Greece. Both fleets were stationed +in the strait between the bay of Eleusis and the Saronic +Gulf, on the west of the island of Salamis. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Self-confidence +of +Xerxes. +Battle of Salamis +and +retreat of +Xerxes.</note> +Xerxes, seated upon a throne upon one of the declivities of +Mount Ægaleos, surveyed the armaments and the +coming battle. Both parties fought with bravery; +but the space was too narrow for the Persians to engage their +whole fleet, and they had not the discipline of the Greeks, +schooled by severe experience. The Persian fleet became unmanageable, +and the victory was gained by the Greeks. Two +hundred ships fell into the hands of the victors. But a sufficient +number remained to the Persians to renew the battle +with better hopes. Xerxes, however, was intimidated, and in a +transport of rage, disappointment, and fear, gave the order to +retreat. He distrusted the fidelity of the allies, and feared for +his own personal safety; he feared that the victors would sail +to the Hellespont, and destroy the bridges. Themistocles, +on the retreat of the Persians, employed his fleet in levying +fines and contributions upon the islands which had +supported the Persians, while Xerxes made his +way back to the Hellespont, and crossed to +Asia, leaving Mardonius in Thessaly, with a large army, +to pursue the conquest on land. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The important +results.</note> +Thus Greece was saved by the battle of Salamis, and the +<pb n="226"/><anchor id="Pg226"/> +distinguished services of Themistocles, which can not be too +highly estimated. The terrific cloud was dispersed, +the Greeks abandoned themselves to joy. Unparalleled +honors were bestowed upon the victor, especially +in Sparta, and his influence, like that of Alcibiades, after +the battle of Marathon, was unbounded. No man ever +merited greater reward. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mardonius +left in command +of the +Persians. +He ravishes +Attica and +Bœotia.</note> +Though the Persians now abandoned all hopes of any farther +maritime attack, yet still great success was anticipated +from the immense army which Mardonius +commanded. The Greeks in the northern parts still +adhered to him, and Thessaly was prostrate at his feet. He +sent Alexander, of Macedon, to Athens to offer honorable +terms of peace, which were nobly rejected, and he was sent +back with this message: <q>Tell Mardonius that as long as the +sun shall continue in his present path we will never contract +alliance with a foe who has shown no reverence to our gods +and heroes, and who has burned their statues and houses.</q> +The league was renewed with Sparta for mutual defense and +offense, in spite of seductive offers from Mardonius; but +the Spartans displayed both indifference and selfishness to +any interests outside the Peloponnesus. They fortified the +Isthmus of Corinth, but left Attica undefended. Mardonius +accordingly marched to Athens, and again the city was the +spoil of the Persians. The Athenians again retreated to +Salamis, with bitter feelings against Sparta for her selfishness +and ingratitude. Again Mardonius sought to conciliate the +Athenians, and again his overtures were rejected with wrath +and defiance. The Athenians, distressed, sent envoys to +Sparta to remonstrate against her slackness and selfishness, +not without effect, for, at last, a large Spartan force was collected +under Pausanias. Meanwhile Mardonius +ravaged Attica and Bœotia, and then fortified his +camp near Platæa, ten furlongs square. Platæa was a +plain favorable to the action of the cavalry, not far from +Thebes; but his army was discouraged after so many disasters—in +modern military language, demoralized—while Artabazus, +<pb n="227"/><anchor id="Pg227"/> +the second in command, was filled with jealousy. +Nor could much be hoped from the Grecian allies, who secretly +were hostile to the invaders. The Thebans and Bœotians +appeared to be zealous, but were governed by fear merely of +a superior power, and hence were unreliable. It can not +be supposed that the Thebans, who sided with the Persians, +by compulsion, preferred their cause to that of their countrymen, +great as may have been national jealousy and rivalries. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Greeks +assemble +against the +Persians at +Platæa. +Preparations +for battle.</note> +The total number of Lacedæmonians, Corinthians, Athenians, +and other Greeks, assembled to meet the Persian +army, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 479, was thirty-eight thousand seven +hundred men, heavily armed, and seventy-one +thousand three hundred light armed, without defensive armor; +but most of these were simply in attendance on the +hoplites. The Persians, about three hundred thousand in +number, occupied the line of the river Asopus, on a plain; +the Greeks stationed themselves on the mountain declivity +near Erythæ. The Persian cavalry charged, to dislodge the +Greeks, unwilling to contend on the plain; but the ground +was unfavorable for cavalry operations, and after a brief success, +was driven back, while the general, Masistias, who +commanded it, was slain. His death, and the repulse of the +cavalry, so much encouraged Pausanias, the Spartan general, +that he quitted his ground on the mountain declivity, and +took position on the plain beneath. The Lacedæmonians +composed the right wing; the Athenians, the left; and various +other allies, the centre. Mardonius then slightly +changed his position, crossing the Asopus, nearer +his own camp, and took post on the left wing, opposite the +right wing of the Greeks, commanded by Pausanias. Both +armies then offered sacrifices to the gods, but Mardonius was +able to give constant annoyance to the Greeks by his cavalry, +and the Thebans gave great assistance. Ten days were +thus spent by the two armies, without coming into general +action, until Mardonius, on becoming impatient, against the +advice of Artabazus, second in command, resolved to commence +the attack. The Greeks were forewarned of his intention, +<pb n="228"/><anchor id="Pg228"/> +by Alexander of Macedon, who came secretly to the +Greek camp at night—a proof that he, as well as others, were +impatient of the Persian yoke. The Lacedæmonians, posted in +the right wing, against the Persians, changed places with the +Athenians, who were more accustomed to Persian warfare; +but this manœuvre being detected, Mardonius made a corresponding +change in his own army—upon which Pausanias led +back again his troops to the right wing, and a second movement +of Mardonius placed the armies in the original position. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of +Platæa.</note> +A vigorous attack of the Persian cavalry now followed, +which so annoyed the Greeks, that Pausanias in +the night resolved to change once again his +position, and retreated to the hilly ground, north of Platæa, +about twenty furlongs distant, not without confusion and +mistrust on the part of the Athenians. Mardonias, astonished +at this movement, pursued, and a general engagement followed. +Both armies fought with desperate courage, but discipline +was on the side of the Greeks, and Mardonius was slain, +fighting gallantly with his guard. Artabazus, with the forty +thousand Persians under his immediate command, had not +taken part, and now gave orders to retreat, and retired from +Greece. The main body, however, of the defeated Persians +retired to their fortified camp. This was attacked by the +Lacedæmonians, and carried with immense slaughter, so that +only three thousand men survived out of the army of Mardonius, +save the forty thousand which Artabazus—a more +able captain—had led away. The defeat of the Persians +was complete, and the spoils which fell to the victors was +immense—gold and silver, arms, carpets, clothing, horses, +camels, and even the rich tent of Xerxes himself, left with +Mardonius. The booty was distributed among the different +contingents of the army. The real victors were the Lacedæmonians, +Athenians, and Tegeans; the Corinthians did +not reach the field till the battle was ended, and thus missed +their share of the spoil. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Chastisement +of +Thebes.</note> +There was one ally of the Persians which Pausanias resolved +to punish—the city of Thebes when a merited chastisement +<pb n="229"/><anchor id="Pg229"/> +was inflicted, and the customary solemnities were +observed, and honors decreed for the greatest +and most decisive victory which the Greeks had +ever gained. A confederacy was held at Platæa, in which a +permanent league was made between the leading Grecian +States, not to separate until the common foe was driven back +to Asia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of +Mycale.</note> +While these great events were transpiring in Bœotia, the +fleet of the Greeks, after the battle of Salamis, undertook +to rescue Samos from the Persians, and +secure the independence of the Ionian cities in Asia. The +Persian fleet, now disheartened, abandoned Samos and retired +to Mycale, in Ionia. The Greek fleet followed, but the +Persians abandoned or dismissed their fleet, and joined their +forces with those of Tigranes, who, with an army of sixty +thousand men, guarded Ionia. The Greeks disembarked, +and prepared to attack the enemy just as the news reached +them of the battle of Platæa. This attack was successful, +partly in consequence of the revolt of the Ionians in the +Persian camp, although the Persians fought with great +bravery. The battle of Mycale was as complete as that of +Platæa and Marathon, and the remnants of the Persian +army retired to Sardis. The Ionian cities were thus, for the +time, delivered of the Persians, as well as Greece itself +chiefly by means of the Athenians and Corinthians. The +Spartans, with inconceivable narrowness, were reluctant to +receive the continental Ionians as allies, and proposed to +transport them across the Ægean into Western Greece, +which proposal was most honorably rejected by the Athenians. +In every thing, except the defense of Greece Proper, +and especially the Peloponnesus, the Spartans showed themselves +inferior to the Athenians in magnanimity and enlarged +views. After the capture of Sestos, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 478, which relieved +the Thracian Chersonese from the Persians, the fleet of +Athens returned home. The capture of this city concludes +the narration of Herodotus, which ended virtually the Persian +war, although hostilities were continued in Asia. The battle +<pb n="230"/><anchor id="Pg230"/> +of Marathon had given the first effective resistance to +Persian conquests, and created confidence among the Greeks. +The battle of Salamis had destroyed the power of Persia on +the sea, and prevented any co-operation of land and naval +forces. The battle of Platæa freed Greece altogether of +the invaders. The battle of Mycale rescued the Ionian cities. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rivalry +between +Athens and +Sparta.</note> +Athens had, on the whole, most distinguished herself in +this great and glorious contest, and now stood +forth as the guardian of Hellenic interests on the +sea and the leader of the Ionian race. Sparta continued +to take the lead of the military States, to which Athens +had generously submitted. But a serious rivalry now was +seen between these leading States, chiefly through the +jealousy of Sparta, which ultimately proved fatal to that +supremacy which the Greeks might have maintained overall +the powers of the world. Sparta wished that Athens might +remain unfortified, in common with all the cities of Northern +Greece, while the isthmus should be the centre of all the +works of defense. But Athens, under the sagacious and +crafty management of Themistocles, amused the Spartans +by delays, while the whole population were employed upon +restoring its fortifications. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Disgrace and +death of Pausanias.</note> +Although the war against the Persians was virtually concluded +by the capture of Sestos, an expedition was fitted +out by Sparta, under Pausanias, the hero of Platæa, to prosecute +hostilities on the shores of Asia. After liberating most +of the cities of Cyprus, and wresting Byzantium from the +Persians, which thus left the Euxine free to Athenian ships, +from which the Greeks derived their chief supplies of foreign +corn, Pausanias, giddy with his victories, unaccountably +began a treasonably correspondence with Xerxes, whose +daughter he wished to marry, promising to bring all Greece +again under his sway. He was recalled to Sparta, before +this correspondence was known, having given offense by +adopting the Persian dress, and surrounding himself +with Persian and Median guards. When his +treason was at last detected, he attempted to raise a rebellion +<pb n="231"/><anchor id="Pg231"/> +among the Helots, but failed, and died miserably by +hunger in the temple in which he had taken sanctuary. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of Themistocles. +Cimon Death of +Themistocles..</note> +A fall scarcely less melancholy came to the illustrious +Themistocles. In spite of his great services, his popularity +began to decline. He was hated by the Spartans +for the part he took in the fortification of the city, +who brought all their influence against him. He gave umbrage +to the citizens by his personal vanity, continually boasting +of his services. He erected a private chapel in honor of +Artemis. He prostituted his great influence for arbitrary +and corrupt purposes. He accepted bribes without scruple, +to the detriment of the State, and in violation of justice and +right. And as the Persians could offer the highest bribes, +he was suspected of secretly favoring their interests. The +old rivalries between him and Aristides were renewed; and +as Aristides was no longer opposed to the policy which +Athens adopted, of giving its supreme attention to naval +defenses, and, moreover, constantly had gained the respect +of the city by his integrity and patriotism, especially by his +admirable management at Delos, where he cemented the +confederacy of the maritime States, his influence was perhaps +greater than that of Themistocles, stained with the imputation +of <hi rend='italic'>Medism</hi>. Cimon, the son of Miltiades, +also became a strong opponent. Though acquitted +of accepting bribes from Persia, Themistocles was banished +by a vote of ostracism, as Aristides had been before—a kind +of exile which was not dishonorable, but resorted to from +regard to public interests, and to which men who became unpopular +were often subjected, whatever may have been their +services or merits. He retired to Argos, and while there the +treason of Pausanias was discovered. Themistocles was involved +in it, since the designs of Pausanias were known by +him. Joint envoys from Sparta and Athens were sent to +arrest him, which, when known, he fled to Corcyra, and +thence to Admetus, king of the Molossians. The Epirotic +prince shielded him in spite of his former hostility, and furnished +him with guides to Pydna, across the mountains, from +<pb n="232"/><anchor id="Pg232"/> +which he succeeded in reaching Ephesus, and then repaired +to the Persian court. At Athens he was proclaimed a +traitor, and his property, amounting to one hundred talents, +accumulated by the war, was confiscated. In Persia, he +represented himself as a deserter, and subsequently acquired +influence with Artaxerxes, and devoted his talents to laying +out schemes for the subjugation of Greece. He +received the large sum of fifty talents yearly, and +died at sixty-five years of age, with a blighted reputation, +such as no previous services could redeem from infamy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Aristides.</note> +Aristides died four years after the ostracism of Themistocles, +universally respected, and he died so poor +as not to have enough for his funeral expenses. +Nor did any of his descendants ever become rich. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Xerxes.</note> +Xerxes himself, the Ahasuerus of the Scriptures, who +commanded the largest expedition ever recorded in human +annals, reached Sardis, eight months after he had left it, disgusted +with active enterprise, and buried himself amid the +intrigues of his court and seraglio, in Susa, as recorded in the +book of Esther. He was not deficient in generous +impulses, but deficient in all those qualities which +make men victorious in war. He died fifteen years after, the +victim of a conspiracy, in his palace, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 465—six +years after Themistocles had sought his protection. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="233"/><anchor id="Pg233"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XVIII. THE AGE OF PERICLES."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XVIII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XVIII.</head> +<head>THE AGE OF PERICLES.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rivalry between +the +Grecian +States.</note> +With the defeat of the Persian armies, Athens and Sparta +became, respectively, the leaders of two great parties in +Greece. Athens advocated maritime interests and +democratic institutions; Sparta, was the champion +of the continental and oligarchal powers. The one +was Ionian, and organized the league of Delos, under the management +of Aristides; the other was Dorian, and chief of the +Peloponnesian confederacy. The rivalries between these leading +States involved a strife between those ideas and interests +of which each was the recognized representative. Those +States which previously had been severed from each other by +geographical position and diversity of interests, now rallied +under the guidance either of Athens or Sparta. The intrigues +of Themistocles and Pausanias had prevented that Panhellenic +union, so necessary for the full development of political +power, and which was for a time promoted by the Persian +war. Athens, in particular, gradually came to regard herself +as a pre-eminent power, to which the other States were to be +tributary. Her empire, based on maritime supremacy, became +a tyranny to which it was hard for the old allies to submit. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pre-eminently +between +Athens and +Sparta.</note> +But the rivalry between Sparta and Athens was still more +marked. Sparta had thus far taken the lead among the Grecian +States, and Athens had submitted to it in the +Persian invasion. But the consciousness of new +powers, which naval warfare developed, the +<hi rend='italic'>éclat</hi> of the battles of Marathon and Salamis, and the confederacy +of Delos, changed the relative position of the two +States. Moreover, to Athens the highest glory of resisting +<pb n="234"/><anchor id="Pg234"/> +the Persians was due, while her patriotic and enlarged spirit +favorably contrasted with the narrow and selfish policy of +Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Opposition +by Sparta to +the fortifications +of +Athens.</note> +And this policy was seen in nothing more signally than in +the oppositions he made to the new fortifications of +Athens, so that Themistocles was obliged to go to +Sparta, and cover up by deceit and falsehood the +fact that the Athenians were really repairing their walls, +which they had an undoubted right to do, but which Ægina +beheld with fear and Sparta with jealousy. And this +unreasonable meanness and injustice on the part of Sparta, +again reacted on the Athenians, and created great bitterness +and acrimony. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The city nevertheless +fortified. +The Peireus. Increase of +the navy. Confederacy +of Delos.</note> +But in spite of the opposition of Sparta, the new fortifications +arose, to which all citizens, rich and poor, lent +their aid, and on a scale which was not unworthy +of the grandeur of a future capital. The circuit of the walls +was fifty stadia or seven miles, and they were of sufficient +strength and height to protect the city against external enemies. +And when they were completed Themistocles—a +man of great foresight and genius, persuaded the citizens to +fortify also their harbor, as a means of securing the ascendency +of the city in future maritime conflicts. He foresaw +that the political ascendency of Athens was based on those +<q>wooden walls</q> which the Delphic oracle had declared to be +her hope in the Persian invasion. The victory at Salamis +had confirmed the wisdom of the prediction, and given to +Athens an imperishable glory. Themistocles persuaded his +countrymen that the open roadstead of Phalerum was insecure, +and induced them to inclose the more spacious harbors +of Peireus and Munychia, by a wall as long +as that which encircled Athens itself,—so thick +and high that all assault should be hopeless, while within its +fortifications the combined fleets of Greece could safely he +anchored, and to which the citizens of Athens could also retire +in extreme danger. Peireus accordingly was inclosed at vast +expense and labor by a wall fourteen feet in thickness, which +<pb n="235"/><anchor id="Pg235"/> +served not merely for a harbor, but a dock-yard and arsenal. +Thither resorted metics or resident foreigners, and much of +the trade of Athens was in their hands, since they were less +frequently employed in foreign service. They became a +thrifty population of traders and handy craftsmen identified +with the prosperity of Athens. These various works, absorbed +much of the Athenian force and capital, yet enough remained +to build annually twenty new triremes—equivalent +to our modern ships of the line. Athens now became +the acknowledged head and leader of the allied States, +instead of Sparta, whose authority as a presiding State was +now openly renunciated by the Athenians. The Panhellenic +union under Sparta was now broken forever, +and two rival States disputed the supremacy,—the maritime +States adhering to Athens, and the land States, +which furnished the larger part of the army at Platæa, +adhering to Sparta. It was then that the confederacy +of Delos was formed, under the presidency of +Athens, which Aristides directed. His assessment was so +just and equitable that no jealousies were excited, and the +four hundred and sixty talents which were collected from the +maritime States were kept at Delos for the common benefit of +the league, managed by a board of Athenian officers. It was +a common fear which led to this great contribution, for the +Phœnician fleet might at any time reappear, and, co-operating +with a Persian land force, destroy the liberties of Greece. +Although Athens reaped the chief benefit of this league, it +was essentially national. It was afterward indeed turned +to aggrandize Athens, but, when it was originally made, was +a means of common defense against a power as yet unconquered +though repulsed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Confederacy +of Delos.</note> +During all the time that the fortifications of Athens and +the Peireus were being made, Themistocles was the ruling +spirit at Athens, while Aristides commanded the fleet and +organized the confederacy of Delos. It was thus +several years before he became false to his Countrymen, +and the change was only gradually wrought in his +<pb n="236"/><anchor id="Pg236"/> +character, owing chiefly to his extravagant habits and the arrogance +which so often attends success. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Change in +the Athenian +constitution.</note> +During this period, a change was also made in the civil +constitution of Athens. All citizens were rendered +admissible to office. The State became still more +democratic. The archons were withdrawn from +military duties, and confined to civil functions. The stategi +or generals gained greater power with the extending political +relations, and upon them was placed the duty of superintending +foreign affairs. Athens became more democratical +and more military at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The political +growth of +Athens.</note> +From this time, 479 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, we date the commencement of +the Athenian empire. It gradually was cemented +by circumstances rather than a long-sighted and +calculating ambition. At the head of the confederacy of +Delos, opportunities were constantly presented of centralizing +power, while its rapid increase of population and wealth +favored the schemes which political leaders advanced for its +aggrandizement. The first ten years of the Athenian hegemony +or headship were years of active warfare against the +Persians. The capture of Eion, on the Strymon, with its +Persian garrison, by Cimonon, led to the settlement of +Amphipolis by the Athenians; and the fall of the cities +which the Persians had occupied in Thrace and in the various +islands of the Ægean increased the power of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Confederate +States.</note> +The confederate States at last grew weary of personal military +service, and prevailed upon the Athenians to +provide ships and men in their place, for which +they imposed upon themselves a suitable money-payment. +They thus gradually sunk to the condition of tributary +allies, unwarlike and averse to privation, while the Athenians, +stimulated by new and expanding ambition, became +more and more enterprising and powerful. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Unpopularity +of Athens.</note> +But with the growth of Athens was also the increase of +jealousies. Athens became unpopular, not only +because she made the different maritime States +her tributaries, but because she embarked in war against +<pb n="237"/><anchor id="Pg237"/> +them to secure a still greater aggrandizement. Naxos revolted, +but was conquered, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 467. The confederate +State was stripped of its navy, and its fortifications +were razed to the ground. Next year the island of Thasos +likewise seceded from the alliance, and was subdued with +difficulty, and came near involving Athens in a war with +Sparta. The Thasians invoked the aid of Sparta, which was +promised though not fulfilled, which imbittered the relations +between the two leading Grecian States. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Expeditions +against Persia.</note> +During this period, from the formation of the league at +Delos, and the fall of Thasos, about thirteen years, +Athens was occupied in maintaining expeditions +against Persia, being left free from embarrassments in Attica. +The towns of Platæa and Thespiæ were restored and repeopled +under Athenian influence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sparta. +Rebellion of +the Helots. Cimon opposed +to +Pericles. Alliance of +different +states with +Athens.</note> +The jealousy of Sparta, in view of the growing power of +Athens, at last gave vent in giving aid to Thebes, +against the old policy of the State, to enable that +city to maintain supremacy over the lesser Bœotian towns. The +Spartans even aided in enlarging her circuit and improving +her fortifications, which aid made Thebes a vehement partisan +of Sparta. Soon after, a terrible earthquake happened +in Sparta, 464 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, which calamity was seized upon by the +Helots as a fitting occasion for revolt. Defeated, +but not subdued, the insurgents retreated to +Ithome, the ancient citadel of their Messenian ancestors, and +there intrenched themselves. The Spartans spent two years +in an unsuccessful siege, and were forced to appeal to their +allies for assistance. But even the increased force made no +impression on the fortified hill, so ignorant were the Greeks, +at this period, of the art of attacking walls. And when the +Athenians, under Cimon, still numbered among the allies of +Sparta, were not more successful, their impatience degenerated +to mistrust and suspicion, and summarily dismissed the +Athenian contingent. This ungracious and jealous treatment +exasperated the Athenians, whose feelings were +worked upon by Pericles who had opposed the policy of +<pb n="238"/><anchor id="Pg238"/> +sending troops at all to Laconia. Cimon here was antagonistic +to Pericles, and wished to cement the more complete +union of Greece against Persia, and maintain the +union with Sparta. Cimon, moreover, disliked the +democratic policy of Pericles. But the Athenians rallied +under Pericles, and Cimon lost his influence, which had been +paramount since the disgrace of Themistocles. A formal +resolution was passed at Athens to renounce the alliance +with Sparta against the Persians, and to seek alliance with +Argos, which had been neutral during the Persian invasion, +but which had regained something of its ancient prestige +and power by the conquest of Mycenæ and other small +towns. The Thessalians became members of this new +alliance which was intended to be antagonistic to Sparta. +Megara, shortly after, renounced the protection of the +Peloponnesian capital, and was enrolled +among the allies of Athens,—a great acquisition +to Athenian power, since this city secured the passes of +Mount Gerania, so that Attica was protected from invasion +by the Isthmus of Corinth. But the alliance of Megara and +Athens gave deep umbrage to Corinth as well as Sparta, +and a war with Corinth was the result, in which Ægina was +involved as the ally of Sparta and Corinth. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Defeat of +Athens on +the land and +victory on +the sea.</note> +The Athenians were at first defeated on the land; but this +defeat was more than overbalanced by a naval +victory over the Dorian seamen, off the island of +Ægina, by which the naval force of <hi rend='italic'>Ægina</hi> +hitherto great, was forever prostrated. The Athenians captured +seventy ships and commenced the siege of the city +itself. Sparta would have come to the rescue, but was preoccupied +in suppressing the insurrection of the Helots. +Corinth sent three hundred hoplites to Ægina and attacked +Megara. But the Athenians prevailed both at Ægina and +Megara, which was a great blow to Corinth. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pericles +begins his +career. Cimon +banished.</note> +Fearing, however, a renewed attack from Corinth and the +Peloponnesian States, now full of rivalry and enmity, +the Athenians, under the leadership of +<pb n="239"/><anchor id="Pg239"/> +Pericles, resolved to connect their city with the harbor of +Peireus by a long wall—a stupendous undertaking at that +time. It excited the greatest alarm among the enemies of +Athens, and was a subject of contention among different +parties in the city. The party which Cimon, now +ostracised, had headed, wished to cement the various +Grecian States in a grand alliance against the Persians, +and dreaded to see this long wall arise as a standing menace +against the united power of the Peloponnesus. Moreover, the +aristocrats of Athens disliked a closer amalgamation with the +maritime people of the Peireus, as well as the burdens and +taxes which this undertaking involved. These fortifications +doubtless increased the power of Athens, but weakened the +unity of Hellenic patriotism; and increased those jealousies +which ultimately proved the political ruin of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hostilities +between +Sparta and +Athens.</note> +Under the influence of these rivalries and jealousies the +Lacedæmonians, although the Helots wore not subdued, +undertook a hostile expedition out of the +Peloponnesus, with eleven thousand five hundred +men, ostensibly to protect Doris against the Phœcians, but +really to prevent the further aggrandizement of Athens, and +this was supposed to be most easily effected by strengthening +Thebes and securing the obedience of the Bœotian cities. +But there was yet another design, to prevent the building +of the long walls, to which the aristocratical party of Athens +was opposed, but which Pericles, with long-sighted views, +defended. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ascendency +of Pericles. His character +and accomplishments.</note> +This extraordinary man, with whom the glory and greatness +of Athens are so intimately associated, now +had the ascendency over all his rivals. He is considered +the ablest of all the statesmen which Greece produced. +He was of illustrious descent, and spent the early +part of his life in retirement and study, and when he emerged +from obscurity his rise was rapid, until he gained the control +of his countrymen, which he retained until his death. He +took the side of the democracy, and, in one sense, was a +demagogue, as well as a statesman, since he appealed to +<pb n="240"/><anchor id="Pg240"/> +popular passions and interests. He was very eloquent, and +was the idol of the party which was dominant in the State. +His rank and fortune enabled him to avail himself of every +mode of culture and self-improvement known in +his day. He loved music, philosophy, poetry, and +art. The great Anaxagoras gave a noble direction +to his studies, so that he became imbued with the sublimest +ideas of Grecian wisdom. And his eloquence is said to +have been of the most lofty kind. His manners partook of +the same exalted and dignified bearing as his philosophy. +He never lost his temper, and maintained the severest self-control. +His voice was sweet, and his figure was graceful +and commanding. He early distinguished himself as a +soldier, and so gained upon his countrymen that, when +Themistocles and Aristides were dead, and Cimon engaged +in military expeditions, he supplanted all who had gone +before him in popular favor. All his sympathies were with +the democratic party, while his manners and habits and +tastes and associations were those of the aristocracy. His +political career lasted forty years from the year 469 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +He was unremitting in his public duties, and was never seen +in the streets unless on his way to the assembly or senate. +He was not fond of convivial pleasures, and was, though +affable, reserved and dignified. He won the favor of the +people by a series of measures which provided the poor with +amusement and means of subsistence. He caused those who +served in the courts to be paid for their attendance and services. +He weakened the power of the court of the Areopagus, +which was opposed to popular measures. Assured of +his own popularity, he even contrived to secure the pardon +of Cimon, his great rival, when publicly impeached. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The union +of the Peireus +with +Athens.</note> +Pericles was thus the leading citizen of his country, when +he advocated the junction of the Peireus with Athens by the +long walls which have been alluded to, and when +the Spartan army in Bœotia threatened to sustain +the oligarchal party in the city. The Athenians, +in view of this danger, took decisive measures. They took +<pb n="241"/><anchor id="Pg241"/> +the field at once against their old allies, the Lacedæmonians. +The unfortunate battle of Tanagra was decided in favor of +the Spartans, chiefly through the desertion of the Thessalian +horse. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Magnanimity +of +Cimon.</note> +Cimon, though ostracised, appeared in the field of battle, +and requested permission to fight in the ranks. +Though the request was refused, he used all his +influence with his friends to fight with bravery and fidelity +to his country's cause, which noble conduct allayed the existing +jealousies, and through the influence of Pericles, his banishment +of ten years was revoked. He returned to Athens, +reconciled with the party which had defeated him, and so +great was the admiration of his magnanimity that all parties +generously united in the common cause. Another battle +with the enemy was fought in Bœotia, this time attended +with success, the result of which was the complete ascendency +of the Athenians over all Bœotia. They became masters +of Thebes and all the neighboring towns, and reversed +all the acts of the Spartans, and established democratic governments, +and forced the aristocratical leaders into exile. +Phocis and Locris were added to the list of dependent allies, +and the victory cemented their power from the Corinthian +Gulf to the strait of Thermopylæ. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Completion +of the long +walls.</note> +Then followed the completion of the long walls, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 455, +and the conquest of Ægina. Athens was now +mistress of the sea, and her admiral displayed his +strength by sailing round the Peloponnesus, and taking possession +of many cities in the Gulf of Corinth. But the +Athenians were unsuccessful in an expedition into Thessaly, +and sustained many losses in Egypt in the great warfare +with Persia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Cimon.</note> +After the success of the Lacedæmonians at Tanagra they +made no expeditions out of the Peloponnesus for several +years, and allowed Bœotia and Phocis to be absorbed in the +Athenian empire. They even extended the truce with +Athens for five years longer, and this was promoted by +Cimon, who wished to resume offensive operations against +<pb n="242"/><anchor id="Pg242"/> +the Persians. Cimon was allowed to equip a fleet of two +hundred triremes and set sail to Cyprus, where he +died. The expedition failed under his successor, +and this closed all further aggressive war with the Persians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pericles +without +rivals.</note> +The death of Cimon, whose interest it was to fight the +Persians, and thus by the spoils and honors of +war keep up his influence at home, left Pericles +without rivals, and with opportunities to develop his policy +of internal improvements, and the development of national +resources, to enable Athens to maintain her ascendency over +the States of Greece. So he gladly concluded peace with +the Persians, by the terms of which they were excluded from +the coasts of Asia Minor and the islands of the Ægean; +while Athens stipulated to make no further aggression on +Cyprus, Phœnicia, Cilicia, and Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Aggrandizement +of +Athens.</note> +Athens, at peace with all her enemies, with a large empire +of tributary allies, a great fleet, and large accumulations +of treasure, sought now to make herself +supreme in Greece. The fund of the confederacy of Delos +was transferred to the Acropolis. New allies sought her +alliance. It is said the tributary cities amounted to one +thousand. She was not only mistress of the sea, but she was +the equal of Sparta on the land. Beside this political power, +a vast treasure was accumulated in the Acropolis. Such +rapid aggrandizement was bitterly felt by Corinth, Sicyon, +and Sparta, and the feeling of enmity expanded until it +exploded in the Peloponnesian war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Change in +the constitution +by +Pericles. Increase of +democratic +power. The dikasts. Ascendency +of the democratic +power.</note> +It was while Athena was at this height of power and +renown that further changes were made in the constitution +by Pericles. Great authority was still in the hands +of the court of the Areopagus, which was composed +exclusively of ex-archons, sitting for life, and +hence of very aristocratic sentiments. It was indeed a judicial +body, but its functions were mixed; it decided all disputes, +inquired into crimes, and inflicted punishments. And +it was enabled to enforce its own mandates, which were +without appeal, and led to great injustice and oppression. +<pb n="243"/><anchor id="Pg243"/> +The magistrates, serving without pay, were generally +wealthy, and though their offices were eligible to all the citizens, +still, practically, only the rich became magistrates, as +is the case with the British House of Commons. Hence, +magistrates possessing large powers, and the senate sitting +for life, all belonging to the wealthy class, were animated by +aristocratic sympathies. But a rapidly increasing democracy +succeeded in securing the selection of archons +by lot, in place of election. This threw more popular +elements into the court of Areopagus. The innovations +which Pericles effected, of causing the jury courts, or Dikasteries, +to be regularly paid, again threw into public life the +poorer citizens. But the great change which he effected was +in transferring to the numerous dikasts, selected from the +citizens, a new judicial power, heretofore exercised by the +magistrates, and the senate of the Areopagus. +The magistrate, instead of deciding causes and +inflicting punishment beyond the imposition of a small fine, +was constrained to impanel a jury to try the cause. In fact, +the ten dikasts became the leading judicial tribunals, and as +these were composed, each, of five hundred citizens, judgments +were virtually made by the people, instead of the old +court. The pay of each man serving as a juror was determined +and punctually paid. The importance of this revolution +will be seen when these dikasts thus became the exclusive +assemblies, of course popular, in which all cases, civil and +criminal, were tried. The magistrates were thus deprived +of the judicial functions which they once enjoyed, and were +confined to purely administrative matters. The commanding +functions of the archon were destroyed, and he only retained +power to hear complaints, and fix the day of trial, and preside +over the dikastic assembly. The senate of the Areopagus, +which had exercised an inquisitorial power over the +lives and habits of the citizens, and supervised the meetings +of the assembly—a power uncertain but immense, and sustained +by ancient customs,—now became a mere nominal tribunal. +And this change was called for, since the members +<pb n="244"/><anchor id="Pg244"/> +of the court were open to bribery and corruption, and had +abused their powers, little short of paternal despotism. And +when the great public improvements, the growth +of a new population, the rising importance of the +Penæus, the introduction of nautical people, and the active +duties of Athens as the head of the Delian confederacy—all, +together, gave force to the democratic elements of society, +the old and conservative court became stricter, and more +oppressive, instead of more popular and conciliatory. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Other political +changes +effected by +Pericles.</note> +But beside this great change in the constitution, Pericles +effected others also. Under his influence, a general +power of supervision, over the magistrates and +the assembly, was intrusted to seven men called +Nomophylakes, or Law Guardians, changed every year, who +sat with the president in the senate and assembly, and interposed +when any step was taken contrary to existing laws. +Other changes were also effected with a view to the enforcement +of laws, upon which we can not enter. It is enough to +say that it was by means of Pericles that the magistrates +were stripped of judicial power, and the Areopagus of all its +jurisdiction, except in cases of homicide, and numerous and +paid and popular dikasts were substituted to decide judicial +cases, and repeal and enact laws; this, says Grote, was the +consummation of the Athenian democracy. And thus it +remained until the time of Demosthenes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Improvements +of +Athens.</note> +But the influence of Pericles is still more memorable from +the impulse he gave to the improvements of Athens +and his patronage of art and letters. He conceived +the idea of investing his city with intellectual glory, +which is more permanent than any conquests of territory. +And since he could not make Athens the centre of political +power, owing to the jealousies of other States, he resolved +to make her the great attraction to all scholars, artists, and +strangers. And his countrymen were prepared to second +his glorious objects, and were in a condition to do so, enriched +by commerce, rendered independent by successes over +the Persians, and jealous Grecian rivals, and stimulated by +<pb n="245"/><anchor id="Pg245"/> +the poets and philosophers who flourished in that glorious +age. The age of Pericles is justly regarded as the epoch of +the highest creation genius ever exhibited, and gave to +Athens an intellectual supremacy which no military genius +could have secured. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The public +buildings.</note> +The Persian war despoiled and depopulated Athens. The +city was rebuilt on a more extensive plan, and the streets +were made more regular. The long walls to the Peiræus +were completed—a double wall, as it were, with a space +between them large enough to secure the communication +between the city and the port, in case an enemy should gain +a footing in the wide space between the Peiræan and Thaleric +walls. The port itself was ornamented with beautiful public +buildings, of which the Agora was the most considerable. +The theatre, called the Odeon, was +erected in Athens for musical and poetical contests. The +Acropolis, with its temples, was rebuilt, and the splendid +Propylæa, of Doric architecture, formed a magnificent approach +to them. The temple of Athenæ—the famous Parthenon—was +built of white marble, and adorned with sculptures +in the pediments and frieze by the greatest artists of +antiquity, while Phidias constructed the statue of the goddess +of ivory and gold. No Doric temple ever equaled the +severe proportions and chaste beauty of the Parthenon, and +its ruins still are one of the wonders of the world. The +Odeon and Parthenon were finished during the first seven +years of the administration of Pericles, and many other +temples were constructed in various parts of Attica. The +genius of Phidias is seen in the numerous sculptures which +ornamented the city, and the general impulse he gave to art. +Other great artists labored in generous competition,—sculptors, +painters, and architects,—to make Athens the most +beautiful city in the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Impulse +given to +literature. The drama.</note> +<q>It was under the administration of Pericles that Greek +literature reached its culminating height in the Attic drama, +a form of poetry which Aristotle justly considers +as the most perfect; and it shone with undiminished +<pb n="246"/><anchor id="Pg246"/> +splendor to the close of the century. It was this branch of +literature which peculiarly marked the age of Pericles—the +period between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. The +first regular comedies were produced by Epicharmus, who +was born in Cos, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 540, and exhibited at Syracuse. +Comedy arose before tragedy, and was at first at the celebration +of Dionysus by rustic revelers in the season of the +vintage, in the form of songs and dances. But these were +not so appropriate in cities, and the songs of the revelers +were gradually molded into the regular choral dithyramb, +while the performers still preserved the wild dress and gestures +of the satyrs—half goat and half man—who accompanied +Dionysus.</q> The prevalence of tales of crime and +fate and suffering naturally impressed spectators with tragic +sentiments, and tragedy was thus born and separated +from comedy. Both forms received their +earliest development in the Dorian States, and were particularly +cultivated by the Megarians. <q>Thespis, a native of +Icaria, first gave to tragedy its dramatic character, in the +time of Pisistratus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 535. He introduced the dialogue, +relieved by choral performances, and the recitation of mythological +and heroic adventures. He traveled about Attica in +a wagon, which served him for a stage; but the art soon +found its way to Athens, where dramatic contests for prizes +were established in connection with the festivals of Dionysus. +These became State institutions. Chœrilus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 523, and +Phrynichus followed Thespis, and these ventured from the +regions of mythology to contemporaneous history.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Æschylus. +Sophocles.</note> +It was at this time that Æschylus, the father of tragedy, +exhibited his dramas at Athens, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 500. He added a second +actor, and made the choral odes subordinate +to the action. The actors now made use of masks, +and wore lofty head-dresses and magnificent robes. Scenes +were painted according to the rules of perspective, and an +elaborate mechanism was introduced upon the stage. New +figures were invented for the dancers of the chorus. +Sophocles still further improved tragedy by +<pb n="247"/><anchor id="Pg247"/> +adding the third actor, and snatched from Æschylus the +tragic prize. He was not equal to Æschylus in the boldness +and originality of his characters, or the loftiness of his +sentiments, or the colossal grandeur of his figures; but in +the harmony of his composition, and the grace and vigor +displayed in all the parts—the severe unity, the classic elegance +of his style, and the charm of his expressions he is his +superior. These two men carried tragedy to a degree of +perfection never afterward attained in Greece. It was not +merely a spectacle to the people, but was applied to moral +and religious purposes. The heroes of Æschylus are raised +above the sphere of real life, and often they are the sport +of destiny, or victims of a struggle between superior beings. +The characters of Sophocles are rarely removed beyond the +sphere of mortal sympathy, and they are made to rebuke +injustice and give impressive warnings. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Comedy.</note> +Comedy also made a great stride during the administration +of Pericles; but it was not till his great ascendency +was at its height that Aristophanes was born, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 444. The comedians of the time were allowed great +license, which they carried even into politics, and which was +directed against Pericles himself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Power of the +stage.</note> +The Athenian stage at this epoch was the chief means by +which national life and liberty were sustained. It +answered the functions of the press and the pulpit +in our day, and quickened the perceptions of the people. +The great audiences which assembled at the theatres were +kindled into patriotic glow, and were moved by the noble +thoughts, and withering sarcasm, and inexhaustible wit of +the poets. <q>The gods and goddesses who swept majestically +over the tragic stage were the objects of religious and national +faith, real beings, whose actions and sufferings claimed +their deepest sympathy, and whose heroic fortitude served +for an example, or their terrific fate for a warning. So, too, +in the old comedy, the persons, habits, manners, principles held +up to ridicule were all familiar to the audience in their daily +lives; and the poet might exhibit in a humorous light objects +<pb n="248"/><anchor id="Pg248"/> +which to attack seriously would have been a treason +or a sacrilege, and might recommend measures which he +could only have proposed in the popular assembly with a +halter round his neck.</q> This susceptibility of the people to +grand impressions, and the toleration of rulers, alike show a +great degree of popular intelligence and a great practical +liberty in social life. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The historians +and +philosophers.</note> +The age of Pericles was also adorned by great historians +and philosophers. Herodotus and Thucydides have +never been surpassed as historians, while the +Sophists who succeeded the more earnest philosophers of a +previous age, gave to Athenian youth a severe intellectual +training. Rhetoric, mathematics and natural history supplanted +speculation, led to the practice of eloquence as an +art, and gave to society polish and culture. The Sophists +can not indeed be compared with those great men who preceded +or succeeded them in philosophical wisdom, but their +influence in educating the Grecian mind, and creating polished +men of society, can not be disproved. Politics became a profession +in the democratic State, which demanded the highest +culture, and an extensive acquaintance with the principles of +moral and political science. This was the age of lectures, +when students voluntarily assembled to learn from the great +masters of thought that knowledge which would enable them +to rise in a State where the common mind was well +instructed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Athens declines +in moral +power.</note> +But it must also be admitted that while the age of Pericles +furnished an extraordinary stimulus to the people, in art, in +literature, in political science, and in popular institutions, the +great teachers of the day inculcated a selfish morality, and +sought an æsthetic enjoyment irrespective of high moral improvement, +and the inevitable result was the rapid degeneracy +of Athens, and the decline even in political influence, and +strength, as was seen in the superior power of Sparta +in the great contest to which the two leading States +of Greece were hurried by their jealousies and animosities. +The prosperity was delusive and outside; for no intellectual +<pb n="249"/><anchor id="Pg249"/> +triumph, no glories of art, no fascinations of literature, can +balance the moral forces which are generated in self-denial +and lofty public virtue. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Aspasia.</note> +It was while the power and glory of Pericles were at their +height that he formed that memorable attachment +to Aspasia, a Milesian woman, which furnished a +fruitful subject for the attacks of the comic poets. She +was the most brilliant and intellectual woman of the age, and +her house was the resort of the literary men and philosophers +and artists of Athens until the death of Pericles. He +formed as close a union with her as the law allowed, and her +influence in creating a sympathy with intellectual excellence +can not be questioned. But she was charged with pandering to +the vices of Pericles, and corrupting society by her example +and influence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Latter days +of Pericles. +Policy of +Pericles.</note> +The latter years of Pericles were marked by the outbreak of +that great war with Sparta, which crippled the power +of Athens and tarnished her glories. He also was +afflicted by the death of his children by the plague which +devastated Athens in the early part of the Peloponnesian +war, to which attention is now directed. The probity of +Pericles is attested by the fact that during his long +administration he added nothing to his patrimonial +estate. His policy was ambitious, and if it could have been +carried out, it would have been wise. He sought first to +develop the resources of his country—the true aim of all enlightened +statesmen—and then to make Athens the centre of +Grecian civilization and political power, to which all other +Stales would be secondary and subservient. But the rivalries +of the Grecian States and inextinguishable jealousies +would not allow this. He made Athens, indeed, the centre +of cultivated life; he could not make it the centre of national +unity. In attempting this he failed, and a disastrous war +was the consequence. +</p> + +<p> +Pericles lived long enough to see the commencement of +the contest which ultimately resulted in the political ruin of +Athens, and which we now present. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="250"/><anchor id="Pg250"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XIX. THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XIX."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XIX.</head> +<head>THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Causes of +the war.</note> +The great and disastrous war between the two leading +States of Greece broke out about two years and a +half before the death of Pericles, but the causes of +the war can be traced to a period shortly after the Persians +were driven out of the Ionian cities. It arose primarily from +the rapid growth and power of Athens, when, as the leader +of the maritime States, it excited the envy of Sparta and other +republics. A thirty years' truce was made between Athens +and Sparta, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 445, after the revolution in Bœotia, when +the ascendency of Pericles was undisputed, which forced his +rival, Thucydides, a kinsman of Cimon, to go into temporary +exile. The continuance of the truce is identical with the +palmy days of Athens, and the glory of Pericles, during +which the vast improvements to the city were made, and art +and literature flourished to a degree unprecedented in the +history of the ancient world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War between +Corcyra and +Corinth. Both parties +appealed to +Athens. Athens decides +in favor +of Corcyra.</note> +After the conquest of Samos the jealousy of Sparta reached +a point which made it obvious that the truce could not much +longer be maintained, though both powers shrunk from open +hostilities, foreseeing the calamities which would result. +The storm burst out in an unexpected quarter. The city of +Epidamnus had been founded by colonists from Corcyra, on the +eastern side of the Adriatic. It was, however, the prey of +domestic factions, and in a domestic revolution a part of the +inhabitants became exiles. These appealed to the neighboring +barbarians, who invested the city by sea and land. The +city, in distress, invoked the aid of Corcyra, the parent State, +which aid being disregarded, the city transferred its allegiance +to Corinth. The Corinthians, indulging a hatred of +<pb n="251"/><anchor id="Pg251"/> +Corcyra, took the distressed city under their protection. +This led to a war between Corcyra and Corinth, in which +the Corinthians were defeated. But Corinth, burning to revenge +the disaster, fitted out a still larger force against Corcyra. +The Corcyræans, in alarm, then sent envoys +to Athens to come to their assistance. The Corinthians +also sent ambassadors to frustrate their proposal. +Two assemblies were held in Athens in reference to +the subject. The delegates of Corcyra argued that peace +could not long be maintained with Sparta, and that +in the coming contest the Corcyræans would prove +useful allies. The envoys of Corinth, on the other hand, +maintained that Athens could not lend aid to Corcyra without +violating the treaty with Corinth. The Athenians +decided to assist Corcyra, and ten ships were sent, +under the command of Lacedæmonieus, the son of Cimon. +This was considered a breach of faith by the Corinthians, and a +war resulted between Corinth and Athens. The Corinthians +then invited the Lacedæmonians to join them and make common +cause against an aggressive and powerful enemy, that +aimed at the supremacy of Greece. In spite of the influence +of Athenian envoys in Sparta, who attempted to justify the +course their countrymen had taken, the feeling against +Athens was bitter and universally hostile. Instant hostilities +were demanded in defense of the allies of Sparta, and war +was decided upon. +</p> + +<p> +Thus commenced the Peloponnesian war, which led to such +disastrous consequences, and which was thus brought about by +the Corinthians, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 433, sixteen years before the conclusion +of the truce. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Intrigues of +Sparta.</note> +To Athens the coming war was any thing but agreeable. +It had no hopes of gain, and the certainty of prodigious loss. +But the Spartans were not then prepared for the contest, +and hostilities did not immediately commence. They contented +themselves, at first, with sending envoys to Athens +to multiply demands and enlarge the grounds of quarrel. +The offensive was plainly with Sparta. The first requisition +<pb n="252"/><anchor id="Pg252"/> +which Sparta made was the expulsion of the Alcmæonidæ +from Athens, to which family Pericles belonged—a +mere political manœuvre to get rid of so +commanding a statesman. The enemies of Pericles, especially +the comic actors at Athens, seized this occasion to +make public attacks upon him, and it was then that the persecution +of Aspasia took place, as well as that against +Anaxagoras, the philosopher, the teacher, and friend of Pericles. +He was also accused of peculation in complicity with +Phidias. But he was acquitted of the various charges made +by his enemies. Nor could his services be well dispensed +with in the great crisis of public affairs, even had he been +guilty, as was exceedingly doubtful. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pericles +urges the +Athenians to +support a +war. +Imperious +demands of +Sparta. Preparations +for war. Wealth of +Athens.</note> +The reluctance on the part of the Athenians to go to war +was very great, but Pericles strenuously urged +his countrymen to resent the outrageous demands +of Sparta, which were nothing less than the virtual +extinction of the Athenian empire. He showed that +the Spartans, though all-powerful on the Peloponnesus, had +no means of carrying on an aggressive war at a distance, +neither leaders nor money, nor habits of concert with allies; +while Athens was mistress of the sea, and was impregnable +in defense; that great calamities would indeed happen in +Attica, but even if overrun by Spartan armies, there were +other territories and islands from which a support could be +derived. <q>Mourn not for the loss of land,</q> said the orator, +<q>but reserve your mourning for the men that acquire land.</q> +His eloquence and patriotism prevailed with a majority of +the assembly, and answer was made to Sparta that the +Athenians were prepared to discuss all grounds of complaint +pursuant to the truce, by arbitration, but that they would +yield nothing to authoritative command. This closed the negotiations, +which Pericles foresaw would be vain and useless, +since the Spartans were obstinately bent on war. The first +imperious blow was struck by the Thebans—allies of Sparta. +They surprised Platæa in the night. The gates +were opened by the oligarchal party; a party of Thebans +<pb n="253"/><anchor id="Pg253"/> +were admitted into the agora; but the people rallied, and +the party was overwhelmed. Meanwhile another detachment +of Thebans arrived in the morning, and, discovering what had +happened, they laid waste the Platæan territory without the +walls. The Platæans retaliated by slaughtering their prisoners. +Messengers left the city, on the entrance of the Thebans, to +carry the news to Athens, and the Athenians +issued orders to seize all the Bœotians who could be +found in Attica, and sent re-enforcements to Platæa. This +aggression of the Thebans silenced the opponents of Pericles, +who now saw that the war had actually begun, and that +active preparations should be made. Athens immediately +sent messengers to her allies, tributary as well as free, and +contributions flowed in from all parts of the Athenian empire. +Athens had soon three hundred triremes fit for service, +twelve hundred horsemen, sixteen hundred bowmen, and +twenty-nine thousand hoplites. The Acropolis was filled +with the treasure which had long been accumulating, not +less than six thousand talents—about $7,000,000 +of our money—an immense sum at that time, +when gold and silver were worth twenty or thirty +times as much as at present. Moreover, the various temples +were rich in votive offerings, in deposits, plate, and sacred +vessels, while the great statue of the goddess, lately set up +in the Parthenon by Phidias, composed of gold and ivory, +was itself valued at four hundred talents. The contributions +of allies swelled the resources of Athens to one thousand +talents, or over $11,000,000. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Immense array +of forces +against +Athens.</note> +Sparta, on the other hand, had but few ships, no funds, and +no powers of combination, and it would seem that success +would be on the side of Athens, with her unrivaled maritime +skill, and the unanimity of the citizens. Pericles did not +promise successful engagements on the land, but a successful +resistance, and the maintenance of the empire. His policy +was purely defensive. But if Sparta was weak in money +and ships, she was rich in allies. The entire strength of the +Peloponnesus was brought out, assisted by Megarians, Bœotians, +<pb n="254"/><anchor id="Pg254"/> +Phocians, Locrians, and other States. Corinth, Megara, +Sicyon, Elis, and other maritime cities furnished +ships while Bœotians, Phocians, and Locrians +furnished cavalry. Not even to resist the Persian +hosts was so large a land force collected, as was now assembled +to destroy the supremacy of Athens. And this great +force was animated with savage hopes, while the Athenians +were not without desponding anticipations, for there was +little hope of resisting the Spartans and their allies on the +field. The Spartans, moreover, resolved, by means of their +allies, to send a fleet able to cope with that of Athens, and +even were so transported with enmity and jealousy as to lay +schemes for invoking the aid of Persia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Invasion of +Attica. +Defensive +policy of +Pericles.</note> +The invasion of Attica was the primary object of Sparta +and her allies; and at the appointed time the +Lacedæmonian forces were mustered on the Isthmus +of Corinth, under the command of Archidamus. Envoys +were sent to Athens to summon a surrender, but Pericles +would not receive them, nor allow them to enter the city, +upon which the Lacedæmonian army commenced its march +to Attica. It required all the eloquence and tact of Pericles +to induce the proprietors of Attica to submit to the devastation +of their cultivated territory, and fly with +their families and movable property to Athens +or the neighboring islands, without making an effort to resist +the invaders. But this was the policy of Pericles. He knew +he could not contend with superior forces on the land. It +was hard for the people to submit to the cruel necessity of +seeing their farms devastated without opposition. But they +made the sacrifice, and intrenched themselves behind the +fortifications of Athens. Then was seen the wisdom of the +long walls which connected Athens with the Piræus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Retreat of +the Lacedæmonians.</note> +Meanwhile the Spartan forces—sixty thousand hoplites, +advanced through Attica, burning and plundering every +thing on their way, and reached Acharnæ, within seven +miles of Athens. The Athenians, pent up behind their walls, +and seeing the destruction of their property, were eager to +<pb n="255"/><anchor id="Pg255"/> +go forth and fight, but were dissuaded by Pericles. Then +came to him the trying hour. He was denounced as the +cause of the existing sufferings, and was reviled as a coward. +But nothing disturbed his equanimity, and he refused even +to convene the assembly. As one of the ten generals he +had this power; but it was a remarkable thing that the people +should have respected the democratic constitution so far +as to submit, when their assembly would have been justified +by the exigency of the crisis. But while the Athenians +remained inactive behind their walls, the cavalry was sent out +on skirmishing expeditions, and a large fleet was sent to the +Peloponnesus with orders to devastate the country in retaliation. +The Spartans, after having spent thirty or forty days +in Attica, retired for want of provisions. Ægina +was also invaded, and the inhabitants were expelled +and sent to the Peloponnesus. Megara was soon after invaded +by an army under Pericles himself, and its territory was +devastated—a retribution well deserved, for both Megara +and Ægina had been zealous in kindling the war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Athens sets +aside 1,000 +talents for +future contingencies.</note> +Expecting a prolonged struggle, the Athenians now made +arrangements for putting Attica in permanent +defense, both by sea and land, and set apart one +thousand talents, out of the treasure of the Acropolis, +which was not to be used except in certain dangers previously +prescribed, and a law was passed making it a capital +offense for any citizen to propose its use for any other purpose. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Results of +the first +year of the +war.</note> +The first year of the war closed without decisive successes +on either side. The Athenians made a more +powerful resistance than was anticipated. It was +supposed they could not hold out against the +superior forces of their enemies more than a year. They had +the misfortune to see their territory wasted, and their treasures +spent in a war which they would gladly have avoided. But, +on the other hand, they inflicted nearly equal damages upon +the Peloponnesus, and still remained masters of the sea. +Pericles pronounced a funeral oration on those who had fallen +and stimulated his countrymen to continued resistance, and +<pb n="256"/><anchor id="Pg256"/> +excited their patriotic sentiments. Thus far the anticipations +of the statesman and orator had been more than realized. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Spartans +again +invade Attica.</note> +The second year of the war opened with another invasion +of Attica by the Spartans and their allies. They +inflicted even more injury than in the preceding +year, but they found the territory deserted, all the +population having retired within the defenses of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The plague +at Athens.</note> +But a new and unforeseen calamity now fell upon the Athenians, +and against which they could not guard. A great +pestilence broke out in the city, which had already +overrun Western Asia. Its progress was rapid +and destructive, and the overcrowded city was but too favorable +for its ravages. Thucydides has left a graphic and +mournful account of this pestilence, analogous to the plague +of modern times. The victims generally perished on the +seventh or ninth day, and no treatment was efficacious. +The sufferings and miseries of the people were intense, and +the calamity by many was regarded as resulting from the +anger of the gods. The pestilence demoralized the population, +who lost courage and fortitude. The sick were left to +take care of themselves. The utmost lawlessness prevailed. +The bonds of law and morality were relaxed, and the +thoughtless people abandoned themselves to every species of +folly and excess, seeking, in their despair, to seize some +brief moments of joy before the hand of destiny should fall +upon them. For three years did this calamity desolate +Athens, and the loss of life was deplorable, both in the army +and among private citizens. Pericles lost both his children +and his sister; four thousand four hundred hoplites died, and +a greater part of the horsemen. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Naval expedition +against +Sparta. Death of +Pericles.</note> +And yet, amid the devastation which the pestilence inflicted, +Pericles led another expedition against the coasts of +the Peloponnesus. But the soldiers carried infection +with them, and a greater part of them died +of the disease at the siege or blockade of Potidæa. +The Athenians were nearly distracted by the double ravages +<pb n="257"/><anchor id="Pg257"/> +of pestilence and war, and became incensed against Pericles, +and sent messengers to Sparta to negotiate peace. But the +Spartans turned a deaf ear, which added to the bitterness +against their heroic leader, whose fortitude and firmness +were never more effectively manifested. He was accused, +and condemned to pay a fine, and excluded from re-election. +Though he was restored to power and confidence, his affliction +bore heavily upon his exalted nature, and he died, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +430, in the early period of the war. He had, indeed, +many enemies, and was hunted down by the +comic writers, whose trade it was to deride all political +characters, yet his wisdom, patriotism, eloquence, and +great services are indisputable, and he died, leaving on +the whole, the greatest name which had ever ennobled the +Athenians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sparta invokes +the +aid of the +Persians.</note> +The war, of course, languished during the prevalence of +the epidemic, and much injury was done to Athenian commerce +by Peloponnesian privateers, who put to death all +their prisoners. It was then that Sparta sent envoys +to Persia to solicit money and troops against +Athens, which shows that no warfare is so bitter +as civil strife, and that no expedients are too disgraceful not +to be made use of, in order to gratify malignant passions. +But the envoys were seized in Thrace by the allies of Athens, +and delivered up to the Athenians, and by them were put to +death. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Results of +the second +year of the +war.</note> +In January, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 429, Potidæa surrendered to the Athenian +generals, upon favorable terms, after enduring all the +miseries of famine. The fall of this city cost +Athens two thousand talents. The Lacedæmonians, +after two years, had accomplished nothing. They +had not even relieved Potidæa. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Siege of +Platæa.</note> +On the third year, the Lacedæmonians, instead of ravaging +Attica, marched to the attack of Platæa. The inhabitants +resolved to withstand the whole force of the enemies. +Archidemus, the Lacedæmonian general, commenced +the siege, defended only by four hundred native citizens +<pb n="258"/><anchor id="Pg258"/> +and eighty Athenians. So unskilled were the Greeks in +the attack of fortified cities, that the besiegers made no progress, +and were obliged to resort to blockade. A wall of circumvallation +was built around the city, which was now left +to the operations of famine. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Naval defeat +of the +Spartans.</note> +At the same time the siege was pressed, an Athenian +armament was sent to Thrace, which was defeated; but in +the western part of Greece the Athenian arms were more +successful. The Spartans and their allies suffered a repulse +at Stratus, and their fleet was defeated by Phormio, +the Athenian admiral. Nothing could exceed the +rage of the Lacedæmonians at these two disasters. They +collected a still larger fleet, and were again defeated with +severe loss near Naupactus, by inferior forces. But the defeated +Lacedæmonians, under the persuasion of the Megarians, +undertook the bold enterprise of surprising the Piræus, +during the absence of the Athenian fleet; but the courage +of the assailants failed at the critical hour, and the port of +Athens was saved. The Athenians then had the precaution +to extend a chain across the mouth of the harbor, to guard +against such surprises in the future. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Results of +the third +campaign.</note> +Athens, during the summer, had secured the alliance of +the Odrysians, a barbarous but powerful nation in Thrace. +Their king, Sitalces, with an army of fifteen thousand +men, attacked Perdiccas, the king of Macedonia, +and overran his country, and only retired from the +severity of the season and the want of Athenian co-operation. +Such were the chief enterprises and events of the third campaign, +and Athens was still powerful and unhumbled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewed invasion +of Athens. Revolt and +subjugation +of Mitylene.</note> +The fourth year of the war was marked by a renewed +invasion of Attica, without any other results than +such as had happened before. But it was a more +serious calamity to the Athenians to learn that Mitylene and +most of Lesbos had revolted—one of the most powerful +of the Athenian allies. Nothing was left to Athens but to +subjugate the city. A large force was sent for this purpose, +but the inhabitants of Mitylene appealed to the Spartans for +<pb n="259"/><anchor id="Pg259"/> +aid, and prepared for a vigorous resistance. But the treasures +of Athens were now nearly consumed, and the Athenians +were obliged to resort to contributions to force the siege, +which they did with vigor. The Lacedæmonians promised +succor, and the Mitylenæans held out till their provisions +were exhausted, when they surrendered to the +Athenians. The Lacedæmonians advanced to relieve +their allies, but were too late. The Athenian admiral +pursued them, and they returned to the Peloponnesus without +having done any thing. Paches, the Athenian general, +sent home one thousand Mitylenæan prisoners, while it was +decreed to slaughter the whole remaining population—about +six thousand—able to carry arms, and makes slaves of the +women and children. This severe measure was prompted +by Cleon. But the Athenians repented, and a second decree +of the assembly, through the influence of Diodotus, prevented +the barbarous revenge; but the Athenians put to death the +prisoners which Paches had sent, razed the fortifications +of Mitylene, took possession of all her ships of war, and +confiscated all the land of the island except that which +belonged to one town that had been faithful. So severe was +ancient warfare, even among the most civilized of the Greeks. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Surrender of +Platæa.</note> +The surrender of Platæa to the Lacedæmonians took place +not long after; but not until one-half of the garrison +had sallied from the city, scaled the wall of +circumvallation, and escaped safely to Athens. The Platæans +were sentenced to death by the Spartan judges, and barbarously +slain. The captured women were sold as slaves, and +the town and territory were handed over to the Thebans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cruelties of +the Athenians +at Corcyra.</note> +Scenes not less bloody took place in the western part of +Greece, in the island of Corcyra, before which a naval battle +was fought between the Lacedæmonians and the Athenians. +The island had been governed by oligarchies, under the protection +of Sparta, but the retirement of the Lacedæmonian +fleet enabled the Athenian general to wreak +his vengeance on the party which had held supremacy, +which was exterminated in the most cruel manner, +<pb n="260"/><anchor id="Pg260"/> +which produced a profound sensation, and furnished Thucydides +a theme for the most profound reflections on the acerbity +and ferocity of the political parties, which, it seems, then divided +Greece, and were among the exciting causes of the war +itself—the struggle between the advocates of democratic and +aristocratic institutions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nicias. +He continues +the policy of +Pericles. +Opposed by +Alcibiades +and Cleon.</note> +A new character now appears upon the stage at Athens—Nicias—one +of the ten generals who, in rank and +wealth, was the equal of Pericles. He belonged +to the oligarchal party, and succeeded Cimon and Thucydides +in the control of it. But he was moderate in his conduct, +and so won the esteem of his countrymen, that he +retained power until his death, although opposed to the +party which had the ascendency. He was incorruptible as +to pecuniary gains, and adopted the conservative +views of Pericles, avoiding new acquisitions at a +distance, or creating new enemies. He surrounded himself, +not as Pericles did, with philosophers, but religions men, +avoided all scandals, and employed his large fortune in +securing popularity. Pericles disdained to win the people +by such means, cultivated art, and patronized the wits who +surrounded Aspasia. Nicias was zealous in the worship of +the gods, was careful to make no enemies, and conciliated +the poor by presents. Yet he increased his private fortune, +so far as he could, by honorable means, and united thrift and +sagacity with honesty and piety. He was not a man of commanding +genius, but his character was above reproach, and +was never assailed by the comic writers. He was +the great opponent of Alcibiades, the oracle of the +democracy—one of those memorable demagogues who made +use of the people to forward his ambitious projects. He was +also the opponent of Cleon, whose office it was to supervise +official men for the public conduct—a man of great eloquence, +but fault-finding and denunciatory. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The fifth +year of the +war.</note> +The fifth year of the war was not signalized by the usual +invasion of Attica, which gave the Athenians leisure +to send an expedition under Nicias against the +<pb n="261"/><anchor id="Pg261"/> +island of Melos, inhabited by ancient colonists from Sparta. +Demosthenes, another general, was sent around the Peloponnesus +to attack Acarnania, and he ravaged the whole territory +of Leueas. He also attacked Ætolia, but was completely +beaten, and obliged to retire with loss; but this defeat was +counterbalanced by a great victory, the next year, over the +enemy at Olpæ, when the Lacedæmonian general was slain. +He returned in triumph to Athens with considerable spoil. +The attention of the Athenians was now directed to Delos, +the island sacred to Apollo, and a complete purification +of the island was made, and the old Delian festivals renewed +with peculiar splendor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The sixth +year of the +war. +Undecisive +nature of +the conflict. Great defeat +of the Lacedæmonians +at Pylus. Sparta seeks +peace. Peace prevented +by +Cleon.</note> +The war had now lasted six years, without any grand or +decisive results on either side. The expeditions +of both parties were of the nature of raids—destructive, +cruel, irritating, but without bringing any +grand triumphs. Though the seventh year was marked by +the usual enterprise on the part of the Lacedæmonians—the +invasion of Attica—Corcyra promised to be the principal +scene of military operations. Both an Athenian and Spartan +fleet was sent thither. But an unforeseen incident gave a +new character to the war. In the course of the voyage to +Corcyra, Demosthenes, the Athenian general, stopped at +Pylus, with the intention of erecting a fort on the uninhabited +promontory, since it protected the spacious basin +now known as the bay of Navarino, and was itself +easily defended. Eurymedon, the admiral, insisted +on going directly to Corcyra, but the fleet was driven +by a storm into the very harbor which Demosthenes proposed +to defend. The place was accordingly fortified by +Demosthenes, where he himself remained with a garrison, +while the fleet proceeded to Corcyra. Intelligence of this +insult to Sparta—the attempt to plant a hostile fort on its +territory—induced the Lacedæmonians to send their fleet to +Pylus, instead of Corcyra. Forty-three triremes, under +Thrasymelidas, and a powerful land force, advanced to attack +Demosthenes, intrenched with his small army on the +<pb n="262"/><anchor id="Pg262"/> +rocky promontory. When the news of this new diversion +reached the Athenian fleet at Corcyra, it returned to Pylus, +to succor Demosthenes. Here a naval battle took place, in +which the Lacedæmonians were defeated. This +defeat jeopardized the situation of the Spartan +army which had occupied the island of Shacteria, +cut off from supplies from the main land, as well as +the existence of the fleet. So great was this exigency, that +the ephors came from Sparta to consult on operations. +They took a desponding view, and sent a herald to the +Athenian generals to propose an armistice, in order to allow +time for envoys to go to Athens and treat for +peace. But Athens demanded now her own terms, +elated by the success. Cleon, the organ of the popular +mind, excited and sanguine, gave utterance to the feelings +of the people, and insisted on the restoration of all the territory +they had lost during the war. The Lacedæmonian +envoys, unable to resist a vehement speaker like Cleon, +which required qualities they did not possess, and which +could only be acquired from skill in managing popular assemblies, +to which they were unused, returned to Pylus. +And it was the object of Cleon to prevent a hearing of the +envoys by a select committee (what they desired) for fear that +Nicias and other conservative politicians would accede to +their proposals. Thus the best opportunity that could be +presented for making an honorable peace and reuniting +Greece was lost by the arts of a demagogue, +who inflamed and shared the popular passions. Had +Pericles been alive, the treaty would probably have been +made, but Nicias had not sufficient influence to secure it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewed +hostilities. Surrender of +Sphacteria. Triumph +of the +Athenians. Who refuse +all overtures +of peace.</note> +War therefore recommenced, with fresh irritation. The +Athenian fleet blockaded the island where the +Spartan hoplites were posted, and found in the +attempt, which they thought so easy, unexpected obstacles. +Provisions clandestinely continually reached the besieged. +Week after week passed without the expected surrender. +Demosthenes, baffled for want of provisions and water for +<pb n="263"/><anchor id="Pg263"/> +his own fleet, sent urgently to Athens for re-enforcements, +which caused infinite mortification. The people now began +to regret that they had listened to Cleon, and not to the +voice of wisdom. Cleon himself was sent with the re-enforcements +demanded, against his will, although he was not +one of the ten generals. The island of Sphacteria now contained +the bravest of the Lacedæmonian troops—from the +first families of Sparta—a prey which Cleon and Demosthenes +were eager to grasp. They attacked the island with +a force double of that of the defenders, altogether ten +thousand men, eight hundred of whom were hoplites. The +besieged could not resist this overwhelming force, and retreated +to their last redoubt, but were surrounded and taken +prisoners. This surrender caused astonishment +throughout Greece, since it was supposed the +Spartan hoplites would die, as they did at Thermopylæ, +rather than allow themselves to be taken alive, and this +calamity diminished greatly the lustre of the Spartan arms. +A modern army, surrounded with an overwhelming force, +against which all resistance was madness, would have done +the same as the Spartans. But it was a sad blow to them. +Cleon, within twenty days of his departure, arrived at +Athens with his three hundred Lacedæmonian +prisoners, amid universal shouts of joy, for it was +the most triumphant success which the Athenians had yet +obtained. The war was prosecuted with renewed vigor, +and the Lacedæmonians again made advances for peace, but +without effect. The flushed victors would hear of +no terms but what were disgraceful to the Spartans. +The chances were now most favorable to Athens. Nicias +invaded the Corinthian territory with eighty triremes, two +thousand hoplites, and two hundred horsemen, to say nothing +of the large number which supported these, and committed +the same ravages that the Spartans and their allies had inflicted +upon Attica. +</p> + +<p> +Among other events, the Athenians this year captured the +Persian ambassador, Artaphernes, on his way to Sparta. He +<pb n="264"/><anchor id="Pg264"/> +was brought to Athens, and his dispatches were translated +and made public. He was sent back to Ephesus, with +Athenian envoys, to the great king, to counteract the +influence of the Spartans, but Artaerxes had died when +they reached Susa. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Situation of +Athens in +eighth year +of the war.</note> +The capture of Sphacteria, and the surrender of the whole +Lacedæmonian fleet, not only placed Athens, on the +opening of the eighth year of the war, in a situation +more commanding than she had previously +enjoyed, but stimulated her to renewed operations on a +grander scale, not merely against Sparta, but to recover the +ascendency in Bœotia, which was held before the thirty +years' truce. The Lacedæmonians, in concert with the +revolted Chalcidic allies of Athens in Thrace, and Perdiccas, +king of Macedonia, also made great preparations for more +decisive measures. The war had dragged out seven years, +and nothing was accomplished which seriously weakened +either of the contending parties. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Despair of +the Lacedæmonians, +and +slaughter of +the Helots.</note> +The first movement was made by the Athenians on the +Laconian coast. The island of Cythera was captured by an +expedition led by Nicias, of sixty triremes and two thousand +hoplites, beside other forces, and the coast was ravaged. +Then Thyrea, an Æginetan settlement, between Laconia and +Argolis, fell into the hands of the Athenians, and all the +Æginetans were either killed in the assault, or put to death +as prisoners. These successive disasters alarmed the Lacedæmonians, +and they now began to fear repeated assaults on +their own territory, with a discontented population of Helots. +This fear prompted an act of cruelty and treachery which +had no parallel in the history of the war. Two thousand of +the bravest Helots were entrapped, as if especial +honors were to be bestowed upon them, and barbarously +slain. None but the five ephors knew the +bloody details. There was even no public examination of this +savage inhumanity, which shows that Sparta was governed, +as Venice was in the Middle Ages, by a small but exceedingly +powerful oligarchy. +</p> + +<pb n="265"/><anchor id="Pg265"/> + +<p> +After this cruelty was consummated, envoys came from +Perdiccas and the Chalcidians of Thrace, invoking aid against +Athens. It was joyfully granted, and Brasidas, at the +request of Perdiccas and the Chalcidians, was sent with a +large force of Peloponnesian hoplites. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Attack of +Megara.</note> +Meanwhile the Athenians formed plans to attack Megara, +whose inhabitants had stimulated the war, and had +been the greatest sufferers by it. A force was +sent under Hippocrates and Demosthenes to surprise the +place, and also Nisæa. The long walls of Megara, similar +to those of Athens, were taken by surprise, and the Athenians +found themselves at the gates of the city, which came +near falling into their hands by treachery. Baffled for the +moment, the Athenians attacked Clisæa, which lay behind +it, and succeeded. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Relieved by +Brasidas.</note> +But Brasidas, the Lacedæmonian general, learning that the +long walls had fallen into the hands of the Athenians, +got together a large force of six thousand +hoplites and six hundred cavalry, and relieved Megara, and +the Athenians were obliged to retire. Ultimately the Megarians +regained possession of the long walls, and instituted an +oligarchal government. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Occupation +of Delium +by the Athenians.</note> +The Athenians, disappointed in getting possession of Megara, +which failed by one of those accidents ever recurring in war, +organized a large force for the attack of Bœotia, on three sides, +under Hippocrates and Demosthenes. The attack was first +made at Siphae, by Demosthenes, on the Corinthian Gulf, but +failed. In spite of this failure by sea, Hippocrates +marched with a land force to Delium, with seven +thousand hoplites, and twenty-five thousand other +troops, and occupied the place, which was a temple consecrated +to Apollo, and strongly fortified it. When the work +of fortification was completed, the army prepared to return +to Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of +Delium.</note> +Forces from all parts of Bœotia rallied, and met the Athenians. +Among the forces of the Bœotians was the famous +Theban band of three hundred select warriors, accustomed +<pb n="266"/><anchor id="Pg266"/> +to fight in pairs, each man attached to his companion by +peculiar ties of friendship. At Delium was fought the great +battle of the war, in which the Athenians were +routed, and the general, Hippocrates, with a thousand +hoplites, were slain. The victors refused the Athenians +the sacred right of burying their dead, unless they retired +altogether from Delium—the post they had fortified on +Bœotian territory. To this the Athenians refused to submit, +the consequence of which was the siege and capture of +Delium. +</p> + +<p> +Among the hoplites who fought in this unfortunate battle, +which was a great discouragement to the Athenian cause, +was the philosopher Socrates. The famous Alcibiades also +served in the cavalry, and helped to protect Socrates in his +retreat, after having bravely fought. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Disasters of +the Athenians +in +Thrace. +Successes of +Brasidas.</note> +The disasters of the Athenians in Thrace were yet more +considerable. Brasidas, with a large force, including +seventeen hundred hoplites, rapidly marched +through Thrace and Thessaly, and arrived in +Macedonia safely, and attacked Acanthus, an ally of Athens. +It fell into his hands, as well as Stageirus, and he was thus +enabled to lay plans for the acquisition of Amphipolis, which +was founded by Athenian colonists. He soon became master +of the surrounding territory. He then offered favorable +terms of capitulation to the citizens of the town, which were +accepted, and the city surrendered—the most important of +all the foreign possessions of Athens. The bridge over the +Strymon was also opened, by which all the eastern +allies of Athena were approachable by land. This +great reverse sent dismay into the hearts of the Athenians, +greater than had before been felt. The bloody victory at +Delium, and the conquests of Brasidas, more than balanced +the capture of Sphacteria. Sparta, under the victorious +banner of Brasidas, a general of great probity, good faith, +and moderation, now proclaimed herself liberator of Greece. +Athens, discouraged and baffled, lost all the prestige she had +gained. +</p> + +<pb n="267"/><anchor id="Pg267"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Loss of Amphipolis.</note> +But Amphipolis was lost by the negligence of the Athenian +commanders. Encles and Thucydides, the historian, to +whom the defense of the place was intrusted, had +means ample to prevent the capture had they employed +ordinary precaution. The Athenians, indignant, banished +Thucydides for twenty years, and probably Eucles +also—a just sentence, since they did not keep the bridge over +the Strymon properly guarded, nor retained the Athenian +squadron at Eion. The banishment of Thucydides gave him +leisure to write the history on which his great fame rests—the +most able and philosophical of all the historical works +of antiquity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Truce of one +year.</note> +Brasidas, after the fall of Amphipolis, extended his military +operations with success. He took Torone, Lecythus, and +other places, and then went into winter quarters. The campaign +had been disastrous to the Athenians, and +a truce of one year was agreed upon by the belligerent +parties—Athens of the one party, and Sparta, Corinth, +Sicyon, Epidaurus, and Megara, of the other. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Its conditions.</note> +The conditions of this truce stipulated that Delphi might +be visited by all Greeks, without distinction; that all violations +of the property of the Delphian god should be promptly +punished; that the Athenian garrisons at Pylus, +Cythera, Nisæa, and Methana, should remain +unmolested; that the Lacedæmonians should be free to use +the sea for trading purposes; and that neither side should +receive deserters from the other—important to both parties, +since Athens feared the revolt of subject allies, and Sparta +the desertion of Helots. +</p> + +<p> +But two days had elapsed after the treaty was made before +Scione in Thrace revolted to Brasidas—a great cause of +exasperation to the Athenians, although the revolt took +place before the treaty was known. Mendes, a neighboring +town, also revolted. Brasidas sent the inhabitants a garrison +to protect themselves, and departed with his forces for an +expedition into the interior of Macedonia, but was soon +compelled to retreat before the Illyrians. +</p> + +<pb n="268"/><anchor id="Pg268"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Both Cleon +and Brasidas +opposed to +the truce.</note> +An Athenian force, under Nicias and Nicostratus, however, +proceeded to Thrace to recover the revolted cities. Everywhere +else the truce was observed. It was intended +to give terms for more complete negotiations. +This was the policy of Nicias. But Cleon +and his party, the democracy, was opposed to peace, and +wished to prosecute the war vigorously in Thrace. Brasidas, +on his part, was equally in favor of continued hostilities. +And this was the great question of the day in Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Cleon and of +Brasidas.</note> +The war party triumphed, and Cleon, by no means an able +general, was sent with an expedition to recover Amphipolis, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 422. He succeeded in taking Torone, but Amphipolis, +built on a hill in the peninsula formed by the river Strymon, +as it passes from the Strymonic Gulf to Lake Kerkernilis, +was a strongly fortified place in which Brasidas intrenched. +He was obliged to remain inactive at Eion, at the mouth of +the river, three miles distant from Amphipolis, which excited +great discontent in his army, but which was the wiser +course, until his auxiliaries arrived. But the murmur of the +hoplites compelled him to some sort of action, and while he +was reconnoitering, he was attacked by Brasidas. +Cleon was killed, and his army totally defeated. +Brasidas, the ablest general of the day, however, was also +mortally wounded, and carried from the field. This unsuccessful +battle compelled the Athenians to return home, +deeply disgusted with their generals. But they embarked +in the enterprise reluctantly, and with no faith in their +leader, and this was one cause of their defeat. The death +of Brasidas, however, converted the defeat into a substantial +victory, since there remained no Spartan with sufficient +ability to secure the confidence of the allies. Brasidas, when +he died, was the first man in Greece, and universally admired +for his valor, intelligence, probity, and magnanimity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Consequences +of +the battle of +Amphipolis. +The peace +of Nicias.</note> +The battle of Amphipolis was decisive; it led to a peace +between the contending parties. It is called the +peace of Nicias, made in March, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 421. By the +provisions of this treaty of peace, which was made +<pb n="269"/><anchor id="Pg269"/> +for fifty years, Amphipolis was restored to the Athenians, +all persons had full liberty to visit the public temples of +Greece, the Athenians restored the captive Spartans, and the +various towns taken during the war were restored on both +sides. This peace was concluded after a ten years' +war, when the resources of both parties were exhausted. +It was a war of ambition and jealousy, without +sufficient reasons, and its consequences were disastrous to +the general welfare of Greece. In some respects it must be +considered, not merely as a war between Sparta and Athens +to gain supremacy, but a war between the partisans of aristocratic +and democratic institutions throughout the various +States. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Causes of +the war still +continued.</note> +The peace made by Nicias between Athens and Sparta for +fifty years was not of long continuance. It was a +truce rather than a treaty, since neither party was +overthrown—but merely crippled—like Rome and Carthage +after the first Punic war. The same causes which provoked +the contest still remained—an unextinguishable +jealousy between States nearly equal in power, and the +desire of ascendency at any cost. But we do not perceive +in either party that persistent and self-sacrificing spirit which +marked the Romans in their conquest of Italy. The Romans +abandoned every thing which interfered with their aggressive +policy: the Grecian States were diverted from political +aggrandizement by other objects of pursuit—pleasure, art, +wealth. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alcibiades.</note> +There was needed only a commanding demagogue, popular, +brilliant, and unprincipled, to embroil Greece once more +in war, and such a man was Alcibiades, who appeared upon +the stage at the death of Cleon. And hostilities were easily +kindled, since the allies on both sides were averse to the +treaty which had been made, and the conditions of the peace +were not fulfilled. Athens returned the captive +Spartans she had held since the battle of Sphacteria, +but Amphipolis was not restored, from the continued enmity +of the Thracian cities. Both parties were full of intrigues, +<pb n="270"/><anchor id="Pg270"/> +and new combinations were constantly being formed. Argos +became the centre of a new Peloponnesian alliance. A +change of ephors at Sparta favored hostile measures, and an +alliance was made between the Bœotians and Lacedæmonians. +The Athenians, on their side, captured Scione, and put to +death the prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Character of +Alcibiades.</note> +It was in this unsettled state of things, when all the late +contending States were insincere and vacillating, that Alcibiades +stood forth as a party leader. He was +thirty-one years of age, belonged to an ancient and +powerful family, possessed vast wealth, had great personal +beauty and attractive manners, but above all, was unboundedly +ambitious, and grossly immoral—the most insolent, unprincipled, +licentious, and selfish man that had thus far scandalized +and adorned Athenian society. The only redeeming +feature in his character was his friendship for Socrates, who, +it seems, fascinated him by his talk, and sought to improve +his morals. He had those brilliant qualities, and luxurious +habits, and ostentatious prodigality, which so often dazzle +superficial people, especially young men of fashion and wealth, +but more even than they, the idolatrous rabble. So great +was his popularity and social prestige, that no injured person +ever dared to bring him to trial, and he even rescued his own +wife from the hands of the law when she sought to procure a +divorce—a proof that even in democratic Athens all bowed +down to the insolence of wealth and high social position. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His intellectual +training +under Socrates.</note> +Alcibiades, though luxurious and profligate, saw that a +severe intellectual training was necessary to him if he would +take rank as a politician, for a politician who can +not make a speech stands a poor chance of popular +favor. So he sought the instructions of Socrates, +Prodicus, Protagoras, and others—not for love of learning, +but as means of success, although it may be supposed that +the intellectual excitement, which the discourse, cross-examination, +and ironical sallies of Socrates produced, was not +without its force on so bright a mind. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His abandoned +habits.</note> +Alcibiades commenced his public life with a sullied reputation, +<pb n="271"/><anchor id="Pg271"/> +and with numerous enemies created by his unbearable +insolence, but with a flexibility of character which +enabled him to adapt himself to whatever habits +circumstances required. He inspired no confidence, and +his extravagant mode of life was sure to end in ruin, unless +he reimbursed himself out of the public funds; and yet he +fascinated the people who mistrusted and hated him. The +great comic poet, Aristophanes, said of him to the Athenians: +<q>You ought not to keep a lion's whelp in your city at all, +but if you choose to keep him, you must submit to his +behavior.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His +intrigues.</note> +Alcibiades, in commencing his political life, departed from +his family traditions; for he was a relative of Pericles, and +became a partisan of the oligarchal party. But he +soon changed his polities, on receiving a repulse +from the Spartans, who despised him, and he became a violent +democrat. His first memorable effort was to bring +Argos, then in league with Sparta, into alliance with Athens, +in which he was successful. He then cheated the Lacedæmonian +envoys who were sent to protest against the alliance +and make other terms, and put them in a false position, and +made them appear deceitful, and thus arrayed against them +the wrath of the Athenians. As Alcibiades had prevailed +upon these envoys, by false promises and advice, to act a part +different from what they were sent to perform, Nicias was +sent to Sparta to clear up embarrassments, but failed in his +object, upon which Athens concluded an alliance with Argos, +Elis, and Mantinea, which only tended to complicate existing +difficulties. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His extravagance +at the +Olympic +games.</note> +Shortly after this alliance was concluded, the Olympic +games were celebrated with unusual interest, from +which the Athenians had been excluded during the +war. Here Alcibiades appeared with seven chariots, +each with four horses, when the richest Greeks had hitherto +possessed but one, and gained two prizes. He celebrated his +success by a magnificent banquet more stately and expensive +than those given by kings. But while the Athenians thus +<pb n="272"/><anchor id="Pg272"/> +appeared at the ninetieth Olympiad, the Lacedæmonians were +excluded by the Eleians, who controlled the festival, from an +alleged violation of the Olympic truce, but really from the +intrigues of Alcibiades. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewal of +hostilities.</note> +The subsequent attack of Argos and Athens on Epidaurus +proved that the peace between Athens and Sparta +existed only in name. It was distinctly violated +by the attack of Argos by the Lacedæmonians, Bœotians, and +Corinthians, and the battle of Mantinea opened again the +war. This was decided in favor of the Lacedæmonians, with +a great loss to the Athenians and their allies, including both +their generals, Laches and Nicostratus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Effect of the +battle of +Mantinea.</note> +The moral effect of the battle of Mantinea, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 418, was +overwhelming throughout Greece, and re-established +the military prestige of Sparta. It was lost by the +withdrawal of three thousand Eleians before the battle, illustrating +the remark of Pericles that numerous and equal allies +could never be kept in harmonious co-operation. One effect +of the battle was a renewed alliance between Sparta and +Argos, and the re-establishment of an oligarchal government +in the latter city. Mantinea submitted to Sparta, and +the Achaian towns were obliged to submit to a remodeling +of their political institutions, according to the views of +Sparta. The people of Argos, however, took the first occasion +which was presented for regaining their power, assisted +by an Athenian force under Alcibiades, and Argos once again +became an ally of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Siege of +Melos.</note> +The next important operation of the war was the siege +and conquest of Melos, a Dorian island, by the +Athenians, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 416. The inhabitants were killed, +and the women and children were sold as slaves, and an +Athenian colony was settled on the island. But this massacre, +exceeding even the customary cruelty of war in those times, +raised a general indignation among the allies of Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The invasion +of +Sicily.</note> +But an expedition of far greater importance was now undertaken +by the Athenians—the most gigantic +effort which they ever made, but which terminated +<pb n="273"/><anchor id="Pg273"/> +disastrously, and led to the ruin and subjugation of their +proud and warlike city, as a political power. This was the +invasion of Sicily and siege of Syracuse. +</p> + +<p> +Before we present this unfortunate expedition, some brief +notice is necessary of the Grecian colonies in Sicily. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Grecian +colonies in +Sicily. +Syracuse.</note> +In the eighth century before Christ Sicily was inhabited +by two distinct races of barbarians—the Sikels +and Sikans—besides Phœnician colonies, for purposes +of trade. The Sikans were an Iberian tribe, and were +immigrants of an earlier date than the Sikels, by whom +they were invaded. The earliest Grecian colony was +(<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 735) at Naxos, on the eastern coast of the island, +between the Straits of Messina and Mount Ætna, founded by +Theocles, a Chalcidian mariner, who was cast by storms upon +the coast, and built a fort on a hill called Taurus, to defend +himself against the Sikels, who were in possession of the +larger half of the island. Other colonists followed, chiefly +from the Peloponnesus. In the year following that Naxos +was founded, a body of settlers from Corinth landed on the +islet Ortygia, expelled the Sikel inhabitants, and laid the +foundation of Syracuse. Successive settlements +were made forty-five years after at Gela, in the +southwestern part of the island. Other settlements continued +to be made, not only from Greece, but from the colonies +themselves; so that the old inhabitants were gradually +Hellenized and merged with Greek colonists, while the Greeks, +in their turn, adopted many of the habits and customs of +the Sikels and Sikans. The various races lived on terms of +amity, for the native population was not numerous enough +to become formidable to the Grecian colonists. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Agrigentum +and Gela. The reign +of Gelo. His power +in Sicily. His successor +Hiero. Grandeur of +Syracuse.</note> +Five hundred years before Christ the most powerful +Grecian cities in Sicily were Agrigentum and Gela, +on the south side of the island. The former, +within a few years of its foundation, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 570, fell under the +dominion of one of its rich citizens, Phalasaris, who proved +a cruel despot, but after a reign of sixteen years he was +killed in an insurrection, and an oligarchal government was +<pb n="274"/><anchor id="Pg274"/> +established, such as then existed in most of the Grecian +cities. Syracuse was governed in this way by the descendants +of the original settlers. Gela was, on the +other hand, ruled by a despot called Gelo, the +most powerful man on the island. He got possession of +Syracuse, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 485, and transferred the seat of his power to +this city, by bringing thither the leading people and making +slaves of the rest. Under Gelo Syracuse became the first +city on the island, to which other towns were tributary. +When the Greeks confederated against Xerxes, they sent to +solicit his aid as the imperial leader of Sicily, and he could +command, according to Herodotus, twenty thousand hoplites, +two hundred triremes, two thousand cavalry, two thousand +archers, and two thousand light-armed horse. So great was +then the power of this despot, who now sought to +expel the Carthaginians and unite all the Hellenic +colonies in Sicily under his sway. But the aid was not given, +probably on account of a Carthaginian invasion simultaneous +with the expedition of the Persian king. The Carthaginians, +according to the historian, arrived at Panormus <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +480, with a fleet of three thousand ships and a land force of +three hundred thousand men, besides chariots and horses, +under Hamilcar—a mercenary army, composed of various +African nations. Gelo marched against him with fifty thousand +foot and five thousand horse, and gained a complete +victory, so that one hundred and fifty thousand, on the side +of the Carthaginians, were slain, together with their general. +The number of the combatants is doubtless exaggerated, +but we may believe that the force was very great. Gelo was +now supreme in Sicily, and the victory of Himera, which he +had gained, enabled him to distribute a large body of +prisoners, as slaves, in all the Grecian colonies. It appears +that he was much respected, but he died shortly after his +victory, leaving an infant son to the guardianship of two of +his brothers, Polyzelus and Hiero, who became the +supreme governors of the island. A victory gained +by Hiero over the tyrant of Agrigentum gave him the same +<pb n="275"/><anchor id="Pg275"/> +supremacy which Gelo had enjoyed. On his death, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 467, +the succession was disputed between his brother, Thrasybulus, +and his nephew, the son of Gelo; but Thrasybulus +contrived to make away with his nephew, and reigned alone, +cruelly and despotically, until a revolution took place, which +resulted in his expulsion and the fall of the Gelonian dynasty. +Popular governments were now established in all the Sicilian +cities, but these were distracted by disputes and confusions. +Syracuse became isolated from the other cities, and a government +whose powers were limited by the city. The expulsion +of the Gelonian dynasty left the Grecian cities to reorganize +free and constitutional governments; but Syracuse +maintained a proud pre-eminence, and her power +was increased from time to time by conquests in +the interior over the old population. Agrigentum was next +in power, and scarcely inferior in wealth. The temple of +Zeus, in this city, was one of the most magnificent in the +world. The population was large, and many were the rich +men who kept chariots and competed at the Olympic games. +In these Sicilian cities the intellectual improvement kept +pace with the material, and the little town of Elea supported +the two greatest speculative philosophers of Greece—Parmenides +and Zeno. Empedocles, of Agrigentum, was +scarcely less famous. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Dorian +cities of +Sicily make +war on the +Ionian.</note> +Such was the state of the Sicilian cities on the outbreak of +the Peloponnesian war. Being generally of Dorian +origin, they sympathized with Sparta, and great +expectations were formed by the Lacedæmonians +of assistance from their Sicilian allies. The cities of Sicily +could not behold the contest between Athens and Sparta +without being drawn into the quarrel, and the result was +that the Dorian cities made war on the Ionian cities, which, +of course, sympathized with Athens. As these cities were +weaker than the Dorian, they solicited aid from Athens, and +an expedition was sent to Sicily under Laches, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 426. +Another one, under Polydorus, followed, but without decisive +results. The next year still another and larger expedition, +<pb n="276"/><anchor id="Pg276"/> +under Eurymedon and Sophocles, arrived in Sicily, while +Athens was jubilant by the possession of the Spartan prisoners, +and the possession of Pylus and Cythera. The Sicilian +cities now fearing that their domestic strife would endanger +their independence and make them subject to Athens, +the most ambitious and powerful State in Greece, made a +common league with each other. Eurymedon acceded to +the peace and returned to Athens, much to the displeasure +of the war party, which embraced most of the people, and he +and his colleague were banished. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Intervention +of Athens. +Opposed by +Nicias, but +favored by +Alcibiades.</note> +But wars between the Sicilian cities again led to the intervention +of Athens. Egesta especially sent envoys +for help in her struggle against Selinus, which was +assisted by Syracuse. Alcibiades warmly seconded these +envoys, and inflamed the people with his ambitious projects. +He, more than any other man, was the cause of the +great Sicilian expedition which proved the ruin of his +country. He was opposed by Nicias, who foretold all the +miserable consequences of so distant an expedition, +when so little could be gained and so much would +be jeopardized, and when, on the first reverse, the +enemies of Athens would rally against her. He particularly +cautioned his countrymen not only against the expedition, +but against intrusting the command of it to an +unprincipled and selfish man who squandered his own +patrimony in chariot races and other extravagances, and +would be wasteful of the public property—a man without +the experience which became a leader in so great an +enterprise. Alcibiades, in reply, justified his extravagance +at the Olympic games, where he contested with seven +chariots, as a means to impress Sparta with the wealth +and power of Athens, after a ten years' war. He inflamed +the ambition of the assembly, held out specious hopes of +a glorious conquest which would add to Athenian power, +and make her not merely pre-eminent, but dominant in +Greece. The assembly, eager for war and glory, sided +with the youthful and magnificent demagogue, and disregarded +<pb n="277"/><anchor id="Pg277"/> +the counsels of the old patriot, whose wisdom and +experience were second to none in the city. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Athenian +expedition +against +Syracuse.</note> +Consequently the expedition was fitted out for the attack +of Syracuse—the largest and most powerful +which Athens ever sent against an enemy; for +all classes, maddened by military glory, or +tempted by love of gain, eagerly embarked in the enterprise. +Nicias, finding he could not prevent the expedition, +demanded more than he thought the people would +be willing to grant. He proposed a gigantic force. But +in proposing this force, he hoped he might thus discourage +the Athenians altogether by the very greatness of the armament +which he deemed necessary. But so popular was the +enterprise, that the large force he suggested was voted. +Alcibiades had flattered the people that their city was +mistress of the sea, and entitled to dominion over all the +islands, and could easily prevail over any naval enemy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Self-confidence +of the +Athenians.</note> +Three years had now elapsed since the peace of Nicias, +and Athens had ample means. The treasury was +full, and triremes had accumulated in the harbor. +The confidence of the Athenians was as unbounded +as was that of Xerxes when he crossed the Hellespont, and +hence there had been great zeal and forwardness in +preparation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Unfavorable +auguries.</note> +When the expedition was at last ready, an event occurred +which filled the city with gloom and anxious forebodings. +The half statues of the god Hermes +were distributed in great numbers in Athens in the most +conspicuous situations, beside the doors of private houses +and temples, and in the agora, so that the people were +accustomed to regard the god as domiciled among them for +their protection. In one night, at the end of May, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 415, +these statues were nearly all mutilated. The heads, necks, +and busts were all destroyed, leaving the lower part of +them—mere quadrangular pillars, without arms, or legs, or +body—alone standing. The sacrilege sent universal dismay +into the city, and was regarded as a most depressing omen, +<pb n="278"/><anchor id="Pg278"/> +and was done, doubtless, with a view of ruining Alcibiades +and frustrating the expedition. But all efforts were vain to +discover the guilty parties. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alcibiades +accused of divulging +the +Eleusinian +mysteries.</note> +And this was not the only means adopted to break down +the power of a man whom the more discerning +perceived was the evil genius of Athens. Alcibiades +was publicly accused of having profaned and +divulged the Eleusinian mysteries. The charge was denied +by Alcibiades, who demanded an immediate trial. It was +eluded by his enemies, who preferred to have the charge +hanging over his head, in case of the failure of the enterprise +which he had projected. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sailing of the +Athenian +fleet.</note> +So the fleet sailed from Piræus amid mingled sentiments +of anxiety and popular enthusiasm. It consisted +of one hundred triremes, with a large body of hoplites. +It made straight for Corcyra, where the contingents +of the allies were assembled, which nearly doubled its force. +The Syracusans were well informed as to its destination, and +made great exertions to meet this great armament, under +Nicias, Alcibiades, and Lamachus. The latter commander +recommended an immediate attack of Syracuse, as unprepared +and dismayed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Escape of +Alcibiades +to Sparta.</note> +Alcibiades wished first to open negotiations with the +Sikels, of the interior, to detach them from the aid of Syracuse. +His plan was followed, but before he could carry it +into operation he was summoned home to take his trial. +Fearing the result of the accusations against him, +for, in his absence, the popular feeling had changed +respecting him—fear and reason had triumphed over the +power of his personal fascination—Alcibiades made his escape +to the Peloponnesus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nicias commands +the +expedition. Rebellion and +treason of Alcibiades.</note> +The master spirit of the expedition was now removed, and +its operations were languid and undecided, for Nicias had no +heart in it. The delays which occurred gave the +Syracusans time to prepare, and more confidence +in their means of defense. So that when the forces of the +Athenians were landed in the great harbor, they found a +<pb n="279"/><anchor id="Pg279"/> +powerful army ready to resist them. In spite of a victory +which Nicias gained near Olympeion, the Syracusans were +not dejected, and the Athenian fleet was obliged to seek +winter quarters at Catana, and also send for additional re-enforcements. +Nicias unwisely delayed, but his inexcusable +apathy afforded the enemy leisure to enlarge their fortifications. +The Syracusans constructed an entirely new wall +around the inner and outer city, and which also extended +across the whole space from the outer sea to the great harbor, +so that it would be difficult for the Athenians, in the +coming siege, to draw lines of circumvallation around the city. +Syracuse also sent envoys to Corinth and Sparta for aid, +while Alcibiades, filled now with intense hatred of +Athens, encouraged the Lacedæmonians to send a +force to the Sicilian capital. He admitted that it was the design +of Athens first to conquer the Sicilian Greeks, and then +the Italian Greeks; then to make an attempt on Carthage, and +then, if that was successful, to bring together all the forces +of the subjected States and attack the Peloponnesus itself, +and create a great empire, of which Athens was to be the +capital. Such an avowal was doubtless the aim of the +ambitious Alcibiades when he first stimulated the enterprise, +which, if successful, would have made him the most powerful +man in Greece; but he was thwarted by his enemies at +home, and so he turned all his energies against his native +State. His address made a powerful effect on the Lacedæmonians, +who, impelled by hatred and jealousy, now resolved +to make use of the services of the traitor, and send an +auxiliary force to Syracuse. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Situation of +Syracuse. Inaction of +Nicias. Athenian +fleet inclosed +by the Syracusans. Retreat of +Athenians.</note> +That city then consisted of two parts—an inner and an +outer city. The outer city was defended on two sides by +the sea, and a sea wall. On the land side a long +wall extended from the sea to the fortified high +land of Achradina, so that the city could only be taken by a +wall of circumvallation, so as to cut off supplies by land; at +the same time it was blockaded by sea. But the delay of +Nicias had enabled the Syracusans to construct a new wall, +<pb n="280"/><anchor id="Pg280"/> +covering both the outer and inner city, and extending from +the great port to the high land near the bay of Magnesi, so +that any attack, except from a single point, was difficult, unless +the wall of circumvallation was made much larger than was +originally intended. Amid incredible difficulties the Athenians +constructed their works, and in an assault from the cliff +of Epipolæ, where they were intrenched, their general, Lamachus, +was slain. But the Athenians had gained an advantage, +and the siege was being successfully prosecuted. It +was then that the Lacedæmonians arrived under Gylippus, +who was unable to render succor. But Nicias, despising +him, allowed him to land at Himera, from whence he marched +across Sicily to Syracuse. A Corinthian fleet, +under Gorgylus, arrived only just in time to prevent +the city from capitulating, and Gylippus entered Syracuse +unopposed. The inaction of Nicias, who could have +prevented this, is unaccountable. But the arrival of Gylippus +turned the scale, and he immediately prosecuted vigorous +and aggressive measures. He surprised an Athenian fort, +and began to construct a third counter-wall on the north +side of the Athenian circle. The Athenians, now shut up +within their lines, were obliged to accept battle, and were +defeated, and even forced to seek shelter within their fortified +lines. Under this discouragement, Nicias sent to Athens +for another armament, and the Athenians responded to +his call. But Sparta also resolved to send re-enforcements, +and invade Attica besides. Sicilian forces also marched in +aid of Syracuse. The result of all these gathering forces, in +which the whole strength of Greece was employed, was the +total defeat of the Athenian fleet in the Great Harbor, in +spite of the powerful fleet which had sailed from Athens +under Demosthenes. The Syracusans pursued their +advantage by blocking up the harbor, and inclosing +the whole Athenian fleet. The Athenians +resolved then to force their way out, which led to another +general engagement, in which the Athenians were totally +defeated. Nicias once again attempted to force his way out, +<pb n="281"/><anchor id="Pg281"/> +with the remainder of his defeated fleet, but the armament +was too much discouraged to obey, and the Athenians sought +to retreat by land. But all the roads were blockaded. The +miserable army, nevertheless, began its hopeless march completely +demoralized, and compelled to abandon the sick and +wounded. The retreating army was harassed on every +side, no progress could be made, and the discouraged army +sought in the night to retreat by a different route. +The rear division, under Demosthenes, was overtaken +and forced to surrender, and were carried captives to +Syracuse—some six thousand in number. The next day, the +first division, under Nicias, also was overtaken and made prisoners. +No less than forty thousand who had started from the +Athenian camp, six days before, were either killed or made +prisoners, with the two generals who commanded them. +The prisoners at first were subjected to the most cruel and +inhuman treatment, and then sold as slaves. Both Nicias +and Demosthenes were put to death, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 413. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mismanagement +of +Nicias.</note> +Such was the disastrous close of the Sicilian expedition. +Our limits prevent an extended notice. We can only give +the barren outline. But never in Grecian history had so +large a force been arrayed against a foreign power, and +never was ruin more complete. The enterprise was started +at the instance of Alcibiades. It was he who brought this +disaster on his country. But it would have been better to +have left the expedition to his management. Nicias was a +lofty and religious man, but was no general. He grossly mismanaged +from first to last. The confidence of the +Athenians was misplaced; and he, after having +spent his life in inculcating a conservative policy, which was +the wiser, yet became the unwilling instrument of untold +and unparalleled calamities. His fault was over-confidence. +He was personally brave, religious, incorruptible, munificent, +affable—in all respects honorable and respectable, but +he had no military genius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Exhaustion +of Athens.</note> +The Lacedæmonians, at the suggestion of Alcibiades, had +permanently occupied Decelea—a fortified post within fifteen +<pb n="282"/><anchor id="Pg282"/> +miles of Athens, and instead of spending a few weeks +in ravaging Attica, now intrenched themselves, and issued +out in excursions until they had destroyed all that was +valuable in the neighborhood of Athens. The great calamities +which the Athenians had suffered prevented them from +expelling the invaders, and the city itself was now in the +condition of a post besieged. All the accumulations in her +treasury were exhausted, and she was compelled +to dismiss even her Thracian mercenaries. They +were sent back to their own country under Dotrephes; but +after inflicting great atrocities in Bœotia, were driven back +by the Thebans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Athenian +navy +hopelessly +crippled.</note> +The Athenian navy was now so crippled that it could no +longer maintain the supremacy of the sea. The +Corinthians were formidable rivals and enemies. +A naval battle at Naupactus, at the mouth of the +Corinthian Gulf, between the Athenians and Corinthians, +though indecisive, yet really was to the advantage of the +latter. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Effects of +the disastrous +expedition +against +Syracuse. The Athenians +compelled to +make use of +their reserved +fund.</note> +The full effects of the terrible catastrophe at Syracuse +were not at first made known to the Athenians, but gradually +a settled despair overspread the public mind. +The supremacy of Athens in Greece was at an end, +and the city itself was endangered. The inhabitants +now put forth all the energies that a forlorn +hope allowed. The distant garrisons were recalled; all expenses +were curtailed; timber was collected for new ships, +and Capo Sunium was fortified. But the enemies of Athens +were also stimulated to renewed exertions, and subject-allies +were induced to revolt. Persia sent envoys to Sparta. The +Eubœans and Chians applied to the same power for aid in +shaking off the yoke of Athens now broken and defenseless. +Although a Peloponnesian fleet was defeated by the Athenians +on its way to assist Chios in revolt, yet new dangers +multiplied. The infamous Alcibiades crossed with a squadron +to Chios, and the Athenians were obliged to make use +of their reserved fund of one thousand talents, which Pericles +<pb n="283"/><anchor id="Pg283"/> +had set aside for the last extremity, in order to equip a +fleet, under the command of Strombichides. Alcibiades +passed over to Miletus, and induced this city +also to revolt. A shameful treaty was made between +Sparta and Persia to carry on war against +Athens; and the first step in the execution of the treaty was +to hand Miletus over to a Persian general. Ionia now became +the seat of war, and a victory was gained near Miletus +by the Athenians, but this was balanced by the capture of +Iasus by the Lacedæmonians. The Athenians rallied at +Samos, which remained faithful, and still controlled one hundred +and twenty-eight triremes at this island. Alternate +successes and defeats happened to the contending parties, +with no decided result. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Escape of +Alcibiades +from Sparta.</note> +The want of success on the coast of Asia led the Lacedæmonians +to suspect Alcibiades of treachery. Moreover, his +intrigue with the wife of Agis made the king of Sparta his +relentless enemy. Agis accordingly procured a decision of +the ephors to send out instructions for his death. He was +warned in time, and made his escape to the satrap +Tissaphernes, who commanded the forces of Persia. +He persuaded the Persian not to give a decisive superiority +to either of the contending parties, who followed his +advice, and kept the Peloponnesian fleet inactive, and bribed +the Spartan general. Having now gratified his revenge +against Athens and lost the support of Sparta, Alcibiades +now looked to his native country as the best field for his +unprincipled ambition. <q>He opened negotiations with the +Athenian commanders at Samos, and offered the alliance of +Persia as the price of his restoration, but proposed as a +further condition the overthrow of the democratic government +at Athens.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Popular revolution +in +Athens.</note> +Then followed the political revolution which Alcibiades +had planned, in conjunction with oligarchal conspirators. +The rally of the city, threatened with complete +ruin, had been energetic and astonishing, and she +was now, a year after the disaster at Syracuse, able to carry +<pb n="284"/><anchor id="Pg284"/> +on a purely defensive system, though with crippled resources. +But for this revolution Athens might have secured her independence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Restless +schemes of +Alcibiades.</note> +The proposal of Alcibiades to change the constitution was +listened to by the rich men, on whom the chief burden of the +war had fallen. With the treasures of Persia to help them, +they hoped to carry on the war against Sparta without cost +to themselves. It was hence resolved at Samos, among the +Athenians congregated there, to send a deputation to Athens, +under Pisander, to carry out their designs. But they had no +other security than the word of Alcibiades, that +restless and unpatriotic schemer, that they would +secure the assistance of Persia. And it is astonishing that +such a man—so faithless—could be believed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Vain promises +of +Alcibiades. +Aid invoked +from Persia. An oligarchy +at +Athens. Alcibiades +cheats the +Athenians.</note> +One of the generals of the fleet at Samos, Phrynichus, +strongly opposed this movement, and gave good reasons; +but the tide of opinion among the oligarchal conspirators +ran so violently against him, that Pisander was at once +dispatched to Athens. He laid before the public assembly +the terms which Alcibiades proposed. The people, +eager at any cost to gain the Persian king as an +ally, in their extremity listened to the proposal, though +unwilling, and voted to relinquish their political power. +Pisander made them believe it was a choice between utter +ruin and the relinquishment of political privileges, since the +Lacedæmonians had an overwhelming force against them. It +was while Chios seemed likely to be recovered by the Athenians, +and while the Peloponnesian fleet was paralyzed at +Rhodes by Persian intrigues, that Pisander returned to +Ionia to open negotiations with Alcibiades and Tissaphernes. +But Alcibiades had promised too much, +the satrap having no idea of lending aid to Athens, and yet +he extricated himself by such exaggerated demands, which +he knew the Athenians would never concede to Persia, that +negotiations were broken off, and a reconciliation was made +between Persia and Sparta. The oligarchal conspirators +had, however, gone so far that a retreat was impossible. +<pb n="285"/><anchor id="Pg285"/> +The democracy of Athens was now subverted. Instead of +the Senate of Five Hundred and the assembled people, an +oligarchy of Four Hundred sat in the Senate +house, and all except five thousand were disfranchised—and +these were not convened. The oligarchy +was in full power when Pisander returned to Athens. All +democratic magistrates had been removed, and no civil functionaries +were paid. The Four Hundred had complete control. +Thus perished, through the intrigues of Alcibiades, the democracy +of Athens. He had organized the unfortunate expedition +to Sicily; he had served the bitterest enemies of his +country; and now, he had succeeded in overturning the constitution +which had lasted one hundred years, during which +Athens had won all her glories. Why should the Athenians +receive back to their confidence so bad a man? But whom +God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad, and Alcibiades, it +would seem, was the instrument by which Athens was humiliated +and ruined as a political power. The revolution was +effected in an hour of despair, and by delusive +promises. The character and conduct of the insidious +and unscrupulous intriguer were forgotten in his +promises. The Athenians were simply cheated. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Athens +seeks peace +with Sparta. +Unprincipled +conduct of +Alcibiades.</note> +The Four Hundred, installed in power, solemnized their +installation by prayer and sacrifice, put to death some +political enemies, imprisoned and banished others, and ruled +with great rigor and strictness. They then sought +to make peace with Sparta, which was declined. +The army at Samos heard of these changes with exceeding +wrath, especially the cruelties which were inflicted on all +citizens who spoke against the new tyranny. A democratic +demonstration took place at Samos, by which the Samians +and the army were united in the strongest ties, for the +Samians had successfully resisted a like revolution on their +island. The army at Samos refused to obey any orders from +the oligarchy, and constituted a democracy by +themselves. Yet the man who had been instrumental +in creating this oligarchy, with characteristic +<pb n="286"/><anchor id="Pg286"/> +versatility and impudence, joined the democracy at Samos. +He came to Samos by invitation of the armament, and +pledged himself to secure Persian aid, and he was believed +and again trusted. He then launched into a new career, +and professed to take up again the interests of the democracy +at Athens. The envoys of the Four Hundred which were +sent to Samos were indignantly sent back, and the general +indignation against the oligarchy was intensified. Envoys +from Argos also appeared at Samos, offering aid to the +Athenian democracy. There was now a strong and organized +resistance to the Four Hundred, and their own divisions +placed them further in a precarious situation. Theramenes +demanded that the Five Thousand, which body had been +thus far nominal, should be made a reality. The Four +Hundred again solicited aid from Sparta, and constructed a +fort for the admission of a Spartan garrison, while a Lacedæmonian +fleet hovered near the Piræus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Subversion +of the +oligarchy. +Restoration +of the old +constitution.</note> +The long-suppressed energies of the people at length burst +forth. A body of soldiers seized the fortress the oligarchy +were constructing for a Spartan garrison, and demolished it. +The Four Hundred made important concessions, and +agreed to renew the public assembly. While these +events occurred a naval battle took place near Eretria between +the Lacedæmonians and the Athenians, in which the latter were +defeated. The victory, if they had pushed their success, +would have completed the ruin of Athens, since her home +fleet was destroyed, and that at Samos was detained by +Alcibiades. When it was seen the hostile fleet did not enter +the harbor, the Athenians recovered their dismay and prosecuted +their domestic revolution by deposing the Four Hundred +and placing the whole government in the +hands of the Five Thousand, and this body was +soon enlarged to that of universal citizenship. The old constitution +was restored, except that part of it which allowed +pay to the judges. Most of the oligarchal leaders fled, and +a few of them were tried and executed—those who had sought +Spartan aid. Thus this selfish movement terminated, after +<pb n="287"/><anchor id="Pg287"/> +the oligarchy had enjoyed a brief reign of only a few +months. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alternate +successes +and failures +of the belligerents.</note> +While Athens was distracted by changes of government, +the war was conducted on the coasts of Asia between the +belligerents with alternate success and defeat. Abydos, +connected with Miletus by colonial ties, revolted from Athens, +and Lampsacus, a neighboring town, followed its example +two days afterward. Byzantium also went over +to the Lacedæmonians, which enabled them to +command the strait. Alcibiades pursued still +his double game with Persia and Athens. An Athenian fleet +was sent to the Hellespont to contend with the Lacedæmonian +squadron, and gained an incomplete victory at Cynossema, +whose only effect was to encourage the Athenians. The +Persians gave substantial aid to the Lacedæmonians, withheld +for a time by the intrigues of Alcibiades, who returned +to Samos, but was shortly after seized by Tissaphernes and +sent to Sardis, from which he contrived to escape. He +partially redeemed his infamy by a victory over the Peloponnesian +fleet at Cyzicus, and captured it entirely, which +disaster induced the Spartans to make overtures of peace, +which were rejected through the influence of Cleophon, the +demagogue. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Revival of +the hopes +of the +Athenians.</note> +The Athenian fleet now reigned alone in the Propontis, the +Bosphorus, and the Hellespont, and levied toll +on all the ships passing through the straits, while +Chrysopolis, opposite to Byzantium, was occupied +by Alcibiades. Athens now once more became hopeful and +energetic. Thrasyllus was sent with a large force to Ionia, +and joined his forces with the fleet which Alcibiades commanded +at Sestos, but the conjoined forces were unable to +retake Abydos, which was relieved by Pharnabazus, the +Persian satrap. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cyrus sent +to Phrygia.</note> +The absence of the fleet from Athens encouraged the +Lacedæmonians, who retook Pylus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 409, while +the Athenians captured Chalcedon, and the following +year Byzantium itself. Such was the state of the +<pb n="288"/><anchor id="Pg288"/> +contending parties when Cyrus the younger was sent by +his father Darius as satrap of Lydia, Phrygia, and Cappadocia, +and whose command in Asia Minor was attended +by important consequences. Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus +were still left in command of the coast. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Union of +Cyrus with +Lysander.</note> +Cyrus, a man of great ambition and self-control, came to +Asia Minor with a fixed purpose of putting down the +Athenian power, which for sixty years had humbled the +pride of the Persian kings. He formed a hearty and cordial +alliance with Lysander, the Spartan admiral, and +the most eminent man, after Brasidas, whom the Lacedæmonians +had produced during the war. He was a +man of severe Spartan discipline and virtue, but +ambitious and cruel. He visited Cyrus at Sardis, was +welcomed with every mark of favor, and induced Cyrus to +grant additional pay to every Spartan seaman. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Return of +Alcibiades +to Athens. +His exploits.</note> +Meanwhile Alcibiades re-entered his native city in triumph, +after eight years' exile, and was welcomed by all +parties as the only man who had sufficient capacity +to restore the fallen fortunes of Athens. His confiscated +property was restored, and he was made captain-general with +ample powers, while all his treasons were apparently forgotten, +which had proved so fatal to his country—the sending of +Gylippus to Syracuse, the revolt of Chios and Miletus, and +the conspiracy of the Four Hundred. The effect of +this treatment, so much better than what he +deserved, intoxicated this wayward and unprincipled, but +exceedingly able man. His first exploit was to sail to Andros, +now under a Lacedæmonian garrison, whose fields he devastated, +but was unable to take the town. He then went to +Samos, and there learned that all his intrigues with Persia +had failed, and that Persia was allied still more strongly +with the Lacedæmonians under Lysander. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His reverses. Lysander +recalled to +Sparta.</note> +This great general, now at Ephesus, pursued a cautious +policy, and refused to give battle to the Athenian +forces under Alcibiades, who then retired to Phocæa, +leaving his fleet under the command of Antiochus, his +<pb n="289"/><anchor id="Pg289"/> +favorite pilot. Antiochus, in the absence of his general, +engaged the Lacedæmonian fleet, but was defeated and +slain at Notium. The conduct of Alcibiades produced great +disaffection at Athens. He had sailed with a fleet not +inferior to that which he commanded at Syracuse, and had +made great promises of future achievements, yet +in three months he had not gained a single success. +He was therefore dismissed from his command, which +was given to ten generals, of whom Conon was the most +eminent, while he retired to the Chersonese. Lysander, at the +same time, was superseded in the command of the Lacedæmonians +by Callicratidas, in accordance with Spartan custom, +his term being expired. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Vigorous +measures of +the Lacedæmonians. +The battle of +Arginusæ.</note> +Callicratidas was not welcomed by Cyrus, and he was also +left without funds by Lysander, who returned to +the Persians the sums he had received. This conduct +so much enraged the Spartan admiral that he +sailed with his whole fleet—the largest which had been +assembled during the war, one hundred and forty triremes, +of which only ten were Lacedæmonian—the rest being furnished +by allies—to Lesbos, and liberated the Athenian +captives and garrison at Methymna, and seemed animated by +that old Panhellenic patriotism which had united the Greeks +half a century before against the Persian invaders, declaring +that not a single Greek should be reduced to slavery if he +could help it. But while he was thus actuated by these +noble sentiments, he also prosecuted the war of his country, +which had been intrusted to him to conduct. He blocked +up the Athenian fleet at Mitylene, which had no provisions +to sustain a siege. The Athenians now made prodigious +efforts to relieve Conon, and one hundred and ten triremes +were sent from the Piræus, and sailed to Samos. Callicratidas, +apprised of the approach of the large fleet, went out +to meet it. At Arginusæ was fought a great +battle, in which the Spartan admiral was killed, +and his forces completely defeated. Sixty-nine Lacedæmonian +ships were destroyed; the Athenians lost twenty-five, +<pb n="290"/><anchor id="Pg290"/> +a severe loss to Greece, since, if Callicratidas had gained +the victory, he would, according to Grote, have closed the +Peloponnesian war, and united the Greeks once more against +Persia. +</p> + +<p> +The battle of Arginusæ now gave the Athenians the control +of the Asiatic seas, and so discouraged were the Lacedæmonians, +that they were induced to make proposals of +peace. This is doubted, indeed, by Grote, since no positive +results accrued to Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Lysander +returns to +power.</note> +The Chians and other allies of Sparta, in conjunction with +Cyrus, now sent envoys to the ephors, to request +the restoration of Lysander to the command of +the fleet. They acceded to the request substantially, and +Lysander reached Ephesus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 405, to renovate the +Lacedæmonian power and turn the fortunes of war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Capture of +the Athenian +fleet. +Despair +of +Athens.</note> +The victorious Athenian fleet was now at Ægospotami, in +the Hellespont, opposite Lampsacus, having been inactive +for nearly a year. There the fleet was exposed to imminent +danger, which was even seen by Alcibiades, in his forts opposite, +on the Chersonese. He expostulated with the Athenian +admirals, but to no purpose, and urged them to retire to +Sestos. As he feared, the Athenian fleet was surprised, +at anchor, on this open shore, while the +crews were on shore in quest of a meal. One hundred and +seventy triremes were thus ingloriously captured, without +the loss of a man—the greatest calamity which had happened +to Athens since the beginning of the war, and +decisive as to its result. The captive generals were +slaughtered, together with four thousand Athenian prisoners. +Conon, however, made his escape. So disgraceful and unnecessary +was this great calamity, that it is supposed the +fleet was betrayed by its own commanders; and this supposition +is strengthened by its inactivity since the battle of +Arginusæ. This crowning disaster happened in September, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 405, and caused a dismay at Athens such as +had never before been felt—not even when the +Persians were marching through Attica. Nothing was now +<pb n="291"/><anchor id="Pg291"/> +left to the miserable city but to make what preparation it +could for the siege, which everybody foresaw would soon take +place. The walls were put in the best defense it was possible, +and two of the three ports were blocked up. Not +only was Athens deprived of her maritime power, but her +very existence was now jeopardized. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Annihilation +of the +Athenian +empire.</note> +Lysander was in no haste to march upon Athens, since he +knew that no corn ships could reach the city from the +Euxine, and that a famine would soon set in. The Athenian +empire was annihilated, and nothing remained +but Athens herself! The Athenians now saw that +nothing but union between the citizens could give +them any hope of success, and they made a solemn pledge +in the Acropolis to bury their dissensions and cultivate harmonious +feelings. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Surrender of +Athens to +the Spartans.</note> +In November, Lysander, with two hundred triremes, +blockaded the Piræus. The whole force of Sparta, under +King Pausanias, went out to meet him, and encamped at the +gates of Athens. The citizens bore the calamity with fortitude, +and, when they began to die of hunger, sent propositions +for capitulation. But no proposition was received +which did not include the demolition of the long walls which +Pericles had built. As famine pressed, and the condition of +the people had become intolerable, Athens was obliged to +surrender on the hard conditions that the Piræus +should be destroyed, the long walls demolished, +all foreign possessions evacuated, all ships surrendered, and, +most humiliating of all, that Athens should become the ally +of Sparta, and follow her lead upon the sea and upon the +land. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fate of +Athens.</note> +Thus fell imperial Athens, after a glorious reign of one +hundred years. Lysander entered the city as a conqueror. +The ships were surrendered, all but twelve, which +the Athenians were allowed to retain; the unfinished +ships in the dockyards were burned, the fortifications +demolished, and the Piræus dismantled. The constitution of +the city was annulled, and a board of thirty was nominated, +<pb n="292"/><anchor id="Pg292"/> +under the dictation of Lysander, for the government of the +city. The conqueror then sailed to Samos, which was easily +reduced, and oligarchy was restored on that island, as at +Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Close of the +war.</note> +The fall of Athens virtually closed the Peloponnesian war, +after a bitter struggle between the two leading States of +Greece for thirty years. Lysander became the +leading man in Greece, and wielded a power greater +than any individual Greek before or after him. Sparta, +personified in him, became supreme, and ruled over all the +islands, and over the Asiatic and Thracian cities. The +tyrants whom he placed over Athens exercised their power +with extreme rigor—sending to execution all who were obnoxious, +seizing as spoil the property of the citizens, and disarming +the remaining hoplites in the city. They even forbade +intellectual teaching, and shut the mouth of Socrates. Such +was Athens, humbled, deprived of her fleet, and rendered +powerless, with a Spartan garrison occupying the Acropolis, +and discord reigning even among the Thirty Tyrants themselves. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cause of the +fall of +Athens. Miserable +spirit of the +war. Alcibiades +the evil genius +of Athens. His inglorious +death.</note> +In considering the downfall of Athens, we perceive that +the unfortunate Sicilian expedition which Alcibiades had +stimulated proved the main cause. Her maritime supremacy +might have been maintained but for this aggression, +which Pericles never would have sanctioned, +and which Nicias so earnestly disapproved. After +that disaster, the conditions of the State were totally changed, +and it was a bitter and desperate struggle to retain the fragments +of empire. And the catastrophe proved, ultimately, +the political ruin of Greece herself, since there was left no +one State sufficiently powerful to resist foreign attacks. The +glory of Athens was her navy, and this being destroyed, +Greece was open to invasion, and to the corruption brought +about by Persian gold. It was Athens which had resisted +Persia, and protected the maritime States and islands. When +Athens was crippled, the decline of the other States was rapid, +for they had all exhausted themselves in the war. And the +<pb n="293"/><anchor id="Pg293"/> +war itself has few redeeming features. It was a wicked contest +carried on by rivalry and jealousy. And it produced, +as war generally does, a class of unprincipled +men who aggrandize themselves at the expense of their +country. Nothing but war would have developed such men +as Alcibiades and Lysander, and it is difficult to say which +of the two brought the greatest dishonor on their respective +States. Both were ambitious, and both hoped to gain an +ascendency incompatible with free institutions. To my +mind, Alcibiades is the worst man in Grecian history, and +not only personally disgraced by the worst vices, but his +influence was disastrous on his country. Athens owed her +political degradation more to him than any other +man. He was insolent, lawless, extravagant, and +unscrupulous, from his first appearance in public life. He +incited the Sicilian expedition, and caused it to end disastrously +by sending Gylippus to Syracuse. He originated the +revolt of Chios and Miletus, the fortification of Decelea, and +the conspiracy of the Four Hundred. And though he partially +redeemed his treason by his three years' services, after +his exile, yet his vanity, and intrigues, and prodigality prevented +him from accomplishing what he promised. It is +true he was a man of great resources, and was never defeated +either by sea or land; <q>and he was the first man in every +party he espoused—Athenian, Spartan, or Persian, oligarchial +or democratical, but he never inspired confidence with any +party, and all parties successively threw him off.</q> The end +of such a man proclaims the avenging Nemesis in +this world. He died by the hands of Persian assassins +at the instance of both Lysander and Cyrus, who felt that +there could be nothing settled so long as this restless schemer +lived. And he died, unlamented and unhonored, in spite of +his high birth, wealth, talents, and personal accomplishments. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Glory of Lysander.</note> +Lysander was more fortunate; he gained a great ascendency +in Sparta, but his ambition proved ruinous +to his country, by involving it in those desperate +wars which are yet to be presented. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="294"/><anchor id="Pg294"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XX. MARCH OF CYRUS AND RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND +GREEKS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XX."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XX.</head> +<head>MARCH OF CYRUS AND RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND +GREEKS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Effect of +the Peloponnesian +war.</note> +The Peloponnesian war being closed, a large body of +Grecian soldiers were disbanded, but rendered +venal and restless by the excitements and changes +of the past thirty years, and ready to embark in any warlike +enterprise that promised money and spoil. They were unfitted, +as is usually the case, for sober and industrial pursuits. +They panted for fresh adventures. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The real +ends of +Cyrus disguised.</note> +This restless passion which war ever kindles, found vent +and direction in the enterprise which Cyrus led +from Western Asia to dethrone his brother Artaxerxes +from the throne of Persia. Some fourteen +thousand Greeks from different States joined his standard—not +with a view of a march to Babylon and an attack on the +great king, but to conquer and root out the Pisidian mountaineers, +who did much mischief from their fastnesses in the +southeast of Asia Minor. This was the ostensible object of +Cyrus, and he found no difficulty in enlisting Grecian mercenaries, +under promise of large rewards. All these Greeks +were deceived but one man, to whom alone Cyrus revealed +his real purpose. This was Clearchus, a Lacedæmonian +general of considerable ability and experience, who had been +banished for abuse of authority at Byzantium, which he +commanded. He repaired to Sardis and offered his services +to Cyrus, who had been sent thither by his father Darius to +command the Persian forces. Cyrus accepted the overtures +of Clearchus, who secured his confidence so completely that +<pb n="295"/><anchor id="Pg295"/> +he gave him the large sum of ten thousand darics, which +he employed in hiring Grecian mercenaries. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mercenary +Greeks enlist +under Cyrus.</note> +Other Greeks of note also joined the army of Cyrus with +a view of being employed against the Pisidians. +Among them were Aristippus and Menon, of a +distinguished family in Thessaly; Proxenus, a Bœotian; +Agis, an Arcadian; Socrates, an Achæan, who were employed +to collect mercenaries, and who received large sums of +money. A considerable body of Lacedæmonians were also +taken under pay. +</p> + +<p> +The march of these men to Babylon, and their successful +retreat, form one of the most interesting episodes in Grecian +history, and it is this march and retreat which I purpose +briefly to present. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Character of +Cyrus. +High estimation +in +which he +held the +Greeks.</note> +Cyrus was an extraordinary man. The younger son of +the Persian king, he aimed to secure the sovereignty +of Persia, which fell to his elder brother, +Artaxerxes, on the death of Darius. During his residence +at Sardis, as satrap or governor, he perceived and felt the +great superiority of the Greeks to his own countrymen, not +only intellectually, but as soldiers. He was brave, generous, +frank, and ambitious. Had it been his fortune to have +achieved the object of his ambition, the whole history of +Persia would have been changed, and Alexander +would have lived in vain. Perceiving and appreciating +the great qualities of the Greeks, and +learning how to influence them, he sought, by their aid, to +conquer his way to the throne. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He dissembles +his +designs.</note> +But he dissembled his designs so that they were not suspected, +even in Persia. As has been remarked, he +communicated them only to the Spartan general, +Clearchus. Neither Greek nor Persian divined his object +as he collected a great army at Sardis. At first he employed +his forces in the siege of Miletus and other enterprises, which +provoked no suspicion of his real designs. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He commences +his +march.</note> +When all was ready, he commenced his march from Sardis, +in March, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 401, with about eight thousand Grecian +<pb n="296"/><anchor id="Pg296"/> +hoplites and one hundred thousand native troops, while a +joint Lacedæmonian and Persian fleet coasted +around the south of Asia Minor to co-operate with +the land forces. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Character +of the +Greeks who +joined his +standard.</note> +These Greeks who thus joined his standard under promise +of large pay, and were unwittingly about to plunge +into unknown perils, were not outcasts and +paupers, but were men of position, reputation, and, +in some cases, of wealth. About half of them were Arcadians. +Young men of good family, ennuied of home, restless +and adventurous, formed the greater part, although +many of mature age had been induced by liberal offers to +leave their wives and children. They simply calculated on +a year's campaign in Pisidia, from which they would return +to their homes enriched. So they were assured by the +Greek commanders at Sardis, and so these commanders believed, +for Cyrus stood high in popular estimation for liberality +and good faith. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Xenophon.</note> +Among other illustrious Greeks that were thus to be led +so far from home was Xenophon, the Athenian +historian, who was induced by his friend Proxenus, +of Bœotia, to join the expedition. He was of high +family, and a pupil of Socrates, but embarked against the +wishes and advice of his teacher. +</p> + +<p> +When the siege of Miletus was abandoned, and Cyrus +began his march, his object was divined by the satrap Tissaphernes, +who hastened to Persia to put the king on his +guard. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cyrus reviews +his +army. The Greeks +perceive +that they +have been +deceived.</note> +At Celenæ, or Kelænæ, a Phrygian city, Cyrus halted and +reviewed his army. Grecian re-enforcements here +joined him, which swelled the number of Greeks +to thirteen thousand men, of whom eleven thousand were +hoplites. As this city was on the way to Pisidia, no mistrust +existed as to the object of the expedition, not even when the +army passed into Lycaonia, since its inhabitants were of the +same predatory character as the Pisidians. But when it had +crossed Mount Taurus, which bounded Cilicia, and reached +<pb n="297"/><anchor id="Pg297"/> +Tarsus, the Greeks perceived that they had been cheated, and +refused to advance farther. Clearchus attempted +to suppress the mutiny by severe measures, +but failed. He then resorted to stratagem, and +pretended to yield to the wishes of the Greeks, and likewise +refused to march, but sent a secret dispatch to Cyrus that +all would be well in the end, and requested him to send fresh +invitations, that he might answer by fresh refusals. He +then, with the characteristic cunning and eloquence of a +Greek, made known to his countrymen the extreme peril of +making Cyrus their enemy in a hostile country, where +retreat was beset with so many dangers, and induced them +to proceed. So the army continued its march to Issus, at the +extremity of the Issican Gulf, and near the mountains which +separate Cilicia from Syria. Here Cyrus was further re-enforced, +making the grand total of Greeks in his army fourteen +thousand. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cyrus crosses into Syria. +He crosses the Euphrates. Battle of Cunaxa.</note> +He expected to find the passes over the mountains, a day's +journey from Issus, defended, but the Persian +general Abrocomas fled at his approach, and Cyrus +easily crossed into Syria by the pass of Beilan, over Mount +Amanus. He then proceeded south to Myriandus, a Phœnician +maritime town, where he parted from his fleet. Eight +days' march brought his army to Thapsacus, on the Euphrates, +where he remained five days to refresh his troops. Here +again the Greeks showed a reluctance to proceed, but, on +the promise of five minæ a head, nearly one hundred dollars +more than a year's pay, they consented to advance. It was +here Cyrus crossed the river unobstructed, and +continued his march on the left bank for nine days, +until he came to the river Araxes, which separates Syria +from Arabia. Thus far his army was well supplied with +provisions from the numerous villages through which they +passed; but now he entered a desert country, entirely without +cultivation, where the astonished Greeks beheld for the +first time wild asses, antelopes, and ostriches. For eighteen +days the army marched without other provisions than what +<pb n="298"/><anchor id="Pg298"/> +they brought with them, parched with thirst and exhausted +by heat. At Pylæ they reached the cultivated territory of +Babylonia, and the alluvial plains commenced. Three days' +further march brought them to Cunaxa, about seventy miles +from Babylon, where the army of Artaxerxes was +marshaled to meet them. It was an immense +force of more than a million of men, besides six thousand +horse-guards and two hundred chariots. But so confident +was Cyrus of the vast superiority of the Greeks and their +warfare, that he did not hesitate to engage the overwhelming +forces of his brother with only ten thousand Greeks and one +hundred thousand Asiatics. The battle of Cunaxa was +fatal to Cyrus; he was slain and his camp was pillaged. The +expedition had failed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dismay of +the Greeks. +They +retreat.</note> +Dismay now seized the Greeks, as well it might—a handful +of men in the midst of innumerable enemies, +and in the very centre of the Persian empire. But +such men are not driven to despair. They refused to surrender, +and make up their minds to retreat—to +find their way back again to Greece, since all +aggressive measures was madness. +</p> + +<p> +This retreat, amid so many difficulties, and against such +powerful and numerous enemies, is one of the most gallant +actions in the history of war, and has made those ten thousand +men immortal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their +forlorn +condition.</note> +Ariæus, who commanded the Asiatic forces on the left +wing of the army at the battle of Cunaxa, joined the Greeks +with what force remained, in retreat, and promised to guide +them to the Asiatic coast, not by the route which Cyrus had +taken, for this was now impracticable, but by a longer one, +up the course of the Tigris, through Armenia, to the Euxine +Sea. The Greeks had marched ninety days from Sardis, +about fourteen hundred and sixty-four English miles, and +rested ninety-six days in various places. Six months had +been spent on the expedition, and it would take more than +that time to return, considering the new difficulties which it +was necessary to surmount. The condition of the Greeks, +<pb n="299"/><anchor id="Pg299"/> +to all appearance, was hopeless. How were they to ford rivers +and cross mountains, with a hostile cavalry in +their rear, without supplies, without a knowledge +of roads, without trustworthy guides, through hostile territories? +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Deceitful +negotiations +of the +Persians.</note> +The Persians still continued their negotiations, regarding +the advance or retreat of the Greeks alike impossible, +and curious to learn what motives had +brought them so far from home. They replied +that they had been deceived, that they had no hostility to +the Persian king, that they had been ashamed to desert +Cyrus in the midst of danger, and that they now desired +only to return home peaceably, but were prepared to repel +hostilities. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Persian +king aims at +their overthrow.</note> +It was not pleasant to the Persian monarch to have thirteen +thousand Grecian veterans, whose prestige +was immense, and whose power was really formidable, +in the heart of the kingdom. It was not easy +to conquer such brave men, reduced to desperation, without +immense losses and probable humiliation. So the Persians +dissembled. It was their object to get the Greeks +out of Babylonia, where they could easily intrench and +support themselves, and then attack them at a disadvantage. +So Tissaphernes agreed to conduct them home +by a different route. They acceded to his proposal, +and he led them to the banks of the Tigris, and advanced +on its left bank, north to the Great Zab River, about +two hundred miles from Babylon. The Persians marched in +advance, and the Greeks about three miles in the rear. At +the Great Zab they halted three days, and then Tissaphernes +enticed the Greek generals to his tent, ostensibly to feast +them and renew negotiations. There they were seized, sent +prisoners to the Persian court, and treacherously murdered. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The despair +of the +Greeks.</note> +Utter despair now seized the Greeks. They were deprived +of their generals, in the heart of Media, with unscrupulous +enemies in the rear, and the mountains +of Armenia in their front, whose passes were defended +<pb n="300"/><anchor id="Pg300"/> +by hostile barbarians, and this in the depth of winter, +deprived of guides, and exposed to every kind of hardship, +difficulty, and danger. They were apparently in the hands +of their enemies, without any probability of escape. They +were then summoned to surrender to the Persians, but they +resolved to fight their way home, great as were their dangers +and insurmountable the difficulties—a most heroic resolution. +And their retreat, under these circumstances, to the +Euxine, is the most extraordinary march in the whole history +of war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Xenophon +rallies the +Greeks.</note> +But a great man appeared, in this crisis, to lead them, +whose prudence, sagacity, moderation, and courage can +never be sufficiently praised, and his successful retreat +places him in the ranks of the great generals +of the world. Xenophon, the Athenian historian, now +appears upon the stage with all those noble qualities which +inspired the heroes at the siege of Troy—a man as religious as +he was brave and magnanimous, and eloquent even for a +Greek. He summoned together the captains, and persuaded +them to advance, giving the assurance of the protection of +Zeus. He then convened the army, and inspired them by +his spirit, with surpassing eloquence, and acquired the ascendency +of a Moses by his genius, piety, and wisdom. His +military rank was not great, but in such an emergency +talents and virtues have more force than rank. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their retreat +to the +Tigris. Their perils +and hardships.</note> +So, under his leadership, the Greeks crossed the Zab, and +resumed their march to the north, harassed by Persian +cavalry, and subjected to great privations. The +army no longer marched, as was usual, in one undivided +hollow square, but in small companies, for they were +obliged to cross mountains and ford rivers. So long as they +marched on the banks of the Tigris, they found well-stocked +villages, from which they obtained supplies; but as they +entered the country of the Carducians, they were obliged to +leave the Tigris to their left, and cross the high mountains +which divided it from Armenia. They were also compelled +to burn their baggage, for the roads were nearly impassable, +<pb n="301"/><anchor id="Pg301"/> +not only on account of the narrow defiles, but from the vast +quantities of snow which fell. Their situation was +full of peril, and fatigue, and privation. Still they +persevered, animated by the example and eloquence of +their intrepid leader. At every new pass they were obliged +to fight a battle, but the enemies they encountered could not +withstand their arms in close combat, and usually fled, contented +to harass them by rolling stones down the mountains +on their heads, and discharging their long arrows. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The march +through Armenia. +They reach +the Euxine.</note> +The march through Armenia was still more difficult, for +the inhabitants were more warlike and hardy, and +the passage more difficult. They also were sorely +troubled for lack of guides. The sufferings of the Greeks +were intense from cold and privation. The beasts of burden +perished in the snow, while the soldiers were frost-bitten and +famished. It was their good fortune to find villages, after +several days' march, where they halted and rested, but +assailed all the while by hostile bands. Yet onward they +pressed, wearied and hungry, through the country of the +Taochi, of the Chalybes, of the Scytheni, of the +Marones, of the Colchians, and reached Trapezus +(Trebizond) in safety. The sight of the sea filled the Greeks +with indescribable joy after so many perils, for the sea was +their own element, and they could now pursue their way in +ships rather than by perilous marches. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>New +troubles and +dangers.</note> +But the delays were long and dreary. There were no ships +to transport the warriors to Byzantium. They +were exposed to new troubles from the indifference +or hostility of the cities on the Euxine, for so large a force +created alarm. And when the most pressing dangers were +passed, the license of the men broke out, so that it was difficult +to preserve order and prevent them from robbing their +friends. They were obliged to resort to marauding expeditions +among the Asiatic people, and it was difficult to support +themselves. Not being able to get ships, they marched +along the coast to Cotyora, exposed to incessant hostilities. +It was now the desire of Xenophon to found a new city on +<pb n="302"/><anchor id="Pg302"/> +the Euxine with the army; but the army was eager to return +home, and did not accede to the proposal. Clamors arose +against the general who had led them so gloriously from the +heart of Media, and his speeches in his defense are among +the most eloquent on Grecian record. He remonstrated +against the disorders of the army, and had sufficient influence +to secure reform, and completely triumphed over faction as +he had over danger. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>They pass by sea to Sinope. +Their courage and faith.</note> +At last ships were provided, and the army passed by sea +to Sinope—a Grecian colony—where the men +were hospitably received, and fed, and lodged. +From thence the army passed by sea to Heracleia, where +the soldiers sought to extort money against the opposition +of Xenophon and Cherisophus, the latter of whom had nobly +seconded the plans of Xenophon, although a Spartan of +superior military rank. The army, at this opposition, divided +into three factions, but on suffering new disasters, reunited. +It made a halt at Calpe, where new disorders broke +out. Then Cleander, Spartan governor of Byzantium, +arrived with two triremes, who promised to conduct the +army, and took command of it, but subsequently threw up his +command from the unpropitious sacrifices. Nothing proved +the religious character of the Greeks so forcibly +as their scrupulous attention to the rites imposed +by their pagan faith. They undertook no enterprise of importance +without sacrifices to the gods, and if the auguries +were unfavorable, they relinquished their most cherished +objects. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>They reach +Byzantium.</note> +From Calpe the army marched to Chalcedon, turning into +money the slaves and plunder which it had collected. There +it remained seven days. But nothing could be done without +the consent of the Spartan admiral at Byzantium, Anaxibius, +since the Lacedæmonians were the masters of Greece +both by sea and land. This man was bribed by the Persian +satrap Pharnabazus, who commanded the north-western +region of Asia Minor, to transport the +army to the European side of the Bosphorus. It accordingly +<pb n="303"/><anchor id="Pg303"/> +crossed to Byzantium, but was not allowed to halt in the +city, or even to enter the gates. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>But are +excluded +from the +city. +They enlist +in the +service of +Sparta.</note> +The wrath of the soldiers was boundless when they were +thus excluded from Byzantium. They rushed into +the town and took possession, which conduct +gave grave apprehension to Xenophon, who +mustered and harangued the army, and thus prevented +anticipated violence. They at length consented to leave the +city, and accepted the services of the Theban Coeratidas, who +promised to conduct them to the Delta of Thrace, for purposes +of plunder, but he was soon dismissed. After various +misfortunes the soldiers at length were taken under the pay +of Seuthes, a Thracian prince, who sought the recovery of +his principality, but who cheated them out of their pay. A +change of policy among the Lacedæmonians led to the conveyance +of the Cyrenian army into Asia in order to make +war on the satraps. Xenophon accordingly conducted his +troops, now reduced to six thousand men, over Mount Ida +to Pergamus. He succeeded in capturing the Persian general +Asidates, and securing a valuable booty, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 399. The +soldiers whom he had led were now incorporated +with the Lacedæmonian army in Asia, and Xenophon +himself enlisted in the Spartan service. His +subsequent fortunes we have not room to present. An exile +from Athens, he settled in Scillus, near Olympia, with +abundant wealth, but ultimately returned to his native city +after the battle of Leuctra. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Moral effect +of the +expedition.</note> +The impression produced on the Grecian mind by the +successful retreat of the Ten Thousand was profound +and lasting. Its most obvious effect was to +produce contempt for Persian armies and Persian generals, +and to show that Persia was only strong by employing +Hellenic strength against the Hellenic cause. The real +weakness of Persia was thus revealed to the Greeks, and +sentiments were fostered which two generations afterward +led to the expeditions of Alexander and the subjection of +Asia to Grecian rule. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="304"/><anchor id="Pg304"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXI. THE LACEDÆMONIAN EMPIRE."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXI.</head> +<head>THE LACEDÆMONIAN EMPIRE.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sparta +never lost +her power.</note> +I have already shown that Sparta, after a battle with the +Argives, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 547, obtained the ascendency in the +southern part of the Peloponnesus, and became +the leading military State of Greece. This prestige and +power were not lost. The severe simplicity of Spartan life, +the rigor of political and social institutions, the aristocratic +form of government, and above all the military spirit and +ambition, gave permanence to all conquests, so that in the +Persian wars Sparta took the load of the land forces. The +great rival power of Sparta was Athens, but this was founded +on maritime skill and enterprise. It was to the navy of +Athens, next after the hoplites of Sparta, that the successful +resistance to the empire of Persia may be attributed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Continued +glory of +Athens also.</note> +After the Persian wars the rivalship between Athens and +Sparta is the most prominent feature in Grecian +history. The confederacy of Delos gave to Athens +supremacy over the sea, and the great commercial prosperity +of Athens under Pericles, and the empire gained over the +Ionian colonies and the islands of the Ægaean, made Athens, +perhaps, the leading State. It was the richest, the most +cultivated, and the most influential of the Grecian States, +and threatened to absorb gradually all the other States of +Greece in her empire. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Consequences +of +the Peloponnesian +war.</note> +This ascendency and rapid growth in wealth and power +were beheld with jealous eyes, not only by Sparta, but other +States which she controlled, or with which she was in alliance. +The consequence was, the Peloponnesian war, which lasted +<pb n="305"/><anchor id="Pg305"/> +half a generation, and which, after various vicissitudes and +fortunes, terminated auspiciously for Sparta, but +disastrously to Greece as a united nation. The +Persian wars bound all the States together by a +powerful Hellenic sentiment of patriotism. The Peloponnesian +war dissevered this Panhellenic tie. The disaster at +Syracuse was fatal to Athenian supremacy, and even independence. +But for this Athens might have remained the +great power of Greece. The democratic organization of the +government gave great vigor and enterprise to all the ambitious +projects of Athens. If Alcibiades had lent his vast +talents to the building up of his native State, even then +the fortunes of Athens might have been different. But he +was a traitor, and threw all his energies on the side of +Sparta, until it was too late for Athens to recover the prestige +she had won. He partially redeemed his honor, but +had he been animated by the spirit of Pericles or Nicias, to +say nothing of the self-devotion of Miltiades, he might have +raised the power of Athens to a height which nothing could +have resisted. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Paramount +authority of +Sparta after +the victories +of Lysander.</note> +Lysander completed the war which Brasidas had so nobly +carried on, and took possession of Athens, abolished the +democratic constitution, demolished the walls, and set up, +as his creatures, a set of tyrants, and also a Spartan governor +in Athens. Under Lysander, the Lacedæmonian +rule was paramount in Greece. At one time, +he had more power than any man in Greece ever +enjoyed. He undertook to change the government of the +allied cities, and there was scarcely a city in Greece where +the Spartans had not the ascendency. In most of the Ionian +cities, and in all the cities which had taken the side of Athens, +there was a Spartan governor, so that when Xenophon +returned with his Ten Thousand to Asia Minor, he found he +could do nothing without the consent of the Spartan governors. +Moreover, the rule of Sparta was hostile to all democratic +governments. She sought to establish oligarchal institutions +everywhere. Perhaps this difference between Athens +<pb n="306"/><anchor id="Pg306"/> +and Sparta respecting government was one great cause of +tho Peloponnesian war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sparta incurs +the +jealousy of +Greece.</note> +But the same envy which had once existed among the +Grecian States of the prosperity of Athens, was +now turned upon Sparta. Her rule was arrogant +and hard and she in turn had to experience the +humiliation of revolt from her domination. <q>The allies of +Sparta,</q> says Grote, <q>especially Corinth and Thebes, not only +relented in their hatred of Athens, now she had lost her +power, but even sympathized with her suffering exiles, and +became disgusted with the self-willed encroachments of +Sparta; while the Spartan king, Pausanias, together with +some of the ephors, were also jealous of the arbitrary and +oppressive conduct of Lysander. He refused to prevent the +revival of the democracy. It was in this manner that Athens, +rescued from that sanguinary and rapacious <hi rend='italic'>régime</hi> of the +Thirty Tyrants, was enabled to reappear as a humble and +dependent member of the Spartan alliance—with nothing +but the recollection of her former power, yet with her democracy +again in vigorous action for internal government.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Her oppressive +superiority.</note> +The victory of Ægospotami, which annihilated the Athenian +navy, ushered in the supremacy of Sparta, both on the +land and sea, and all Greece made submission to the +ascendant power. Lysander established in most +of the cities an oligarchy of ten citizens, as well as a Spartan +harmost, or governor. Everywhere the Lysandrian dekarchy +superseded the previous governments, and ruled oppressively, +like the Thirty at Athens, with Critias at their head. And +no justice could be obtained at Sparta against the bad conduct +of the harmosts who now domineered in every city. +Sparta had embroiled Greece in war to put down the ascendency +of Athens, but exercised a more tyrannical usurpation +than Athens ever meditated. The language of Brasidas, +who promised every thing, was in striking contrast to the +conduct of Lysander, who put his foot on the neck of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Effect of the +tyrannical +policy of +Sparta.</note> +The rule of the Thirty at Athens came to an end by the +noble efforts of Thrasybulus and the Athenian democracy, +<pb n="307"/><anchor id="Pg307"/> +and the old constitution was restored because the Spartan +king was disgusted with the usurpations and arrogance of +Lysander, and forbore to interfere. Had Sparta +been wise, with this vast accession of power gained +by the victories of Lysander, she would have +ruled moderately, and reorganized the Grecian world on +sound principles, and restored a Panhellenic stability and +harmony. She might not have restored, as Brasidas had +promised, a universal autonomy, or the complete independence +of all the cities, but would have bound together all the +States under her presidency, by a just and moderate rule. +But Sparta had not this wisdom. She was narrow, hard, +and extortionate. She loved her own, as selfish people generally +do, but nothing outside her territory with any true +magnanimity. And she thus provoked her allies into rebellion, +so that her chance was lost, and her dominion short-lived. +Athens would have been more enlightened, but she +never had the power, as Sparta had, of organizing a general +Panhellenic combination. The nearest approach which +Athens ever made was the confederacy of Delos, which +did not work well, from the jealousy of the cities. But +Sparta soon made herself more unpopular than Athens ever +was, and her dream of empire was short. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewal of +the war with +Persia.</note> +The first great movement of Sparta, after the establishment +of oligarchy in all the cities which yielded to her, was +a renewal of the war with Persia. The Asiatic +Greek cities had been surrendered to Persia according +to treaty, as the price for the assistance which Persia +rendered to Sparta in the war with Athens. But the +Persian rule, under the satraps, especially of Tissaphernes, +who had been rewarded by Artaxerxes with more power +than before, became oppressive and intolerable. Nothing +but aggravated slavery impended over them. They therefore +sent to Sparta for aid to throw off the Persian yoke. +The ephors, with nothing more to gain from Persia, and +inspired with contempt for the Persian armies—contempt +created by the expedition of the Ten Thousand—readily +<pb n="308"/><anchor id="Pg308"/> +listened to the overtures, and sent a considerable force into +Asia, under Thimbron. He had poor success, and was recalled, +and Dereyllidas was sent in his stead. He made a truce +with Tissaphernes, in order to attack Pharnabazus, against +whom he had an old grudge, and with whom Tissaphernes +himself happened for the time to be on ill terms. Dereyllidas +overrun the satrapy of Pharnabazus, took immense +spoil, and took up winter-quarters in Bythinia. Making +a truce with Pharnabazus, he crossed over into Europe +and fortified the Chersonesus against the Thracians. He +then renewed the war both against Pharnabazus and +Tissaphernes upon the Mæander, the result of which was +an agreement, on the part of the satraps, to exempt +the Grecian cities from tribute and political interference, +while the Spartan general promised to withdraw from Asia +his army, and the Spartan governors from the Grecian cities. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Agesilaus, +king of +Sparta.</note> +At this point, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 397, Dercyllidas was recalled to Sparta, +and King Agesilaus, who had recently arrived +with large re-enforcements, superseded him in command +of the Lacedæmonian army. Agesilaus was the son of +king Archidamus, and half-brother to King Agis. He was +about forty when he became king, through the influence of +Lysamler, in preference to his nephew, and having been +brought up without prospects of the throne, had passed +through the unmitigated rigor of the Spartan drill and +training. He was distinguished for all the Spartan virtues—obedience +to authority, extraordinary courage and energy, +simplicity and frugality. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Recall of +Agesilaus +from the +war.</note> +Agesilaus was assisted by large contingents from the allied +Greek cities for his war in Asia; but Athens, Corinth, and +Thebes stood aloof. Lysander accompanied him as one of +the generals, but gave so great offense by his overweening +arrogance, that he was sent to command at the Hellespont. +The truce between the Spartans and Persians being broken, +Agesilaus prosecuted the war vigorously against both Tissaphernes +and Pharnabazus. He gained a considerable victory +over the Persians near Sardis, invaded Phrygia, and laid +<pb n="309"/><anchor id="Pg309"/> +waste the satrapy of Pharnabazus. He even surprised the +camp of the satrap, and gained immense booty. +But in the midst of his victories he was recalled +by Sparta, which had need of his services at home. +A rebellion of the allies had broken out, which seriously +threatened the stability of the Spartan empire. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Discontent +of the Grecian +States. +Alienation of +the allies of Sparta.</note> +<q>The prostration of the power of Athens had removed that +common bond of hatred and alarm which attached the allied +cities to the headship of Sparta; while her subsequent +conduct had given positive offense, and had excited +against herself the same fear of unmeasured +imperial ambition which had before run so powerfully against +Athens. She had appropriated to herself nearly the whole +of the Athenian maritime empire, with a tribute of one +thousand talents. But while Sparta had gained so much by +the war, not one of her allies had received the smallest +remuneration. Even the four hundred and seventy talents +which Lysander brought home out of the advances made +by Cyrus, together with the booty acquired at Decelea, +was all detained by the Lacedæmonians. Hence there +arose among the allies not only a fear of the grasping +dominion, but a hatred of the monopolizing rapacity +of Sparta. This was manifested by the Thebans and +Corinthians when they refused to join Pausanias in his +march against Thrasybulus and the Athenian exiles in +Piræus. But the Lacedæmonians were strong enough to despise +this alienation of the allies, and even to take +revenge on such as incurred their displeasure. +Among these were the Elians, whose territory they invaded, +but which they retreated from, on the appearance of an earthquake.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The following year the Spartans, under King Agis, again +invaded the territory of Elis, enriched by the offerings made +to the temple of Olympeia. Immense booty in slaves, cattle, +and provisions was the result of this invasion, provoked by +the refusal of the Elians to furnish aid in the war against +Athens. The Elians were obliged to submit to hard terms +<pb n="310"/><anchor id="Pg310"/> +of peace, and all the enemies of Sparta were rooted out of the +Peloponnesus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Enrichment +of Sparta.</note> +Such was the triumphant position of Sparta at the close of +the Peloponnesian war. And a great change had also taken +place in her internal affairs. The people had become enriched +by successful war, and gold and silver were +admitted against the old institution of Lycurgus, +which recognized only iron money. The public men were +enriched by bribes. The strictness of the old rule of Spartan +discipline was gradually relaxed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conspiracy +against the +States.</note> +It was then, shortly after the accession of Agesilaus to the +throne, on the death of Agis, that a dangerous conspiracy +broke out in Sparta itself, headed by Cinadon, a +man of strength and courage, who saw that men +of his class were excluded from the honors and distinctions +of the State by the oligarchy—the ephors and the senate. +But the rebellion, though put down by the energy of Agesilaus, +still produced a dangerous discontent which weakened +the power of the State. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Lacedæmonian +fleet +threatened. +Naval victory +over the +Lacedæmonians.</note> +The Lacedæmonian naval power, at this crisis, was seriously +threatened by the union of the Persian and Athenian +fleet under Conon. That remarkable man had +escaped from the disaster of Ægospotami with +eight triremes, and sought the shelter of Cyprus, governed by +his friend Evagoras, where he remained until the war between +Sparta and the Persians gave a new direction to his enterprising +genius. He joined Pharnabazus, enraged with the +Spartans on account of the invasion of his satrapy by Lysander +and Agesilaus, and by him was intrusted with the command +of the Persian fleet. He succeeded in detaching +Rhodes from the Spartan alliance, and gained, some time +after, a decisive victory over Pisander—the Spartan +admiral, off Cnidus, which weakened the +power of Sparta on the sea, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 394. More than +half of the Spartan ships were captured and destroyed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Revolt of +Thebes.</note> +This great success emboldened Thebes and other States to +throw off the Spartan yoke. Lysander was detached from +<pb n="311"/><anchor id="Pg311"/> +his command at the Hellespont to act against Bœotia, while +Pausanias conducted an army from the Peloponnesus. +The Thebans, threatened by the whole power of +Sparta, applied to Athens, and Athens responded, no longer +under the control of the Thirty Tyrants. Lysander was +killed before Haliartus, an irreparable blow to Sparta, since he +was her ablest general. Pausanias was compelled to evacuate +Bœotia, and the enemies of Sparta took courage. An alliance +between Athens, Corinth, Thebes, and Argos was now made +to carry on war against Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewed +power of the +city.</note> +Thebes at this time steps from the rank of a secondary +power, and gradually rises to the rank of an ascendant city. +Her leading citizen was Ismenias, one of the great +organizers of the anti-Spartan movement—the precursor +of Pelopidas and Epaminondas. He conducted successful +operations in the northern part of Bœotia, and captured +Heracleia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of +Coronæa.</note> +Such successes induced the Lacedæmonians to recall Agesilaus +from Asia, and to concentrate all their forces against +this new alliance, of which Thebes and Corinth were then +the most powerful cities. The allied forces were also considerable—some +twenty-four thousand hoplites, besides light +troops and cavalry, and these were mustered at Corinth, +where they took up a defensive position. The Lacedæmonians +advanced to attack them, and gained an indecisive victory, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 394, which secured their ascendency within the +Peloponnesus, but no further. Agesilaus advanced from Asia +through Thrace to co-operate, but learned, on the confines of +Bœotia, the news of the great battle of Cnidus. At Coronæa +another battle was fought between the Spartan +and anti-Spartan forces, which was also indecisive, +but in which the Thebans displayed great heroism. This +battle compelled Agesilaus, with the Spartan forces, which +he commanded, to retire from Bœotia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Decline of +Sparta.</note> +This battle was a moral defeat to Sparta. Nearly all her +maritime allies deserted her—all but Abydos, which was held +by the celebrated Dercyllidas. Pharnabazus and Conon now +<pb n="312"/><anchor id="Pg312"/> +sailed with their fleet to Corinth, but the Persian satrap +soon left and Conon remained sole admiral, assisted +with Persian money. With this aid he rebuilt +the long walls of Athens, with the hearty co-operation of +those allies which had once been opposed to Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Corinth becomes +the +seat of war.</note> +Conon had large plans for the restoration of the Athenian +power. He organized a large mercenary force at Corinth, +which had now become the seat of war. But as many evils +resulted from the presence of so many soldiers in the city, a +conspiracy headed by the oligarchal party took place, with a +view of restoring the Lacedæmonian power. Pasimelus, the +head of the conspirators, admitted the enemy within the long walls +of the city, which, as in Athens, secured a communication +between the city and the port. And between these walls +a battle took place, in which +the Lacedæmonians were victorious with a severe loss. They +pulled down a portion of the walls between Corinth and the +port of Lechæum, sallied forth, and captured two Corinthian +dependencies, but the city of Corinth remained in the hands +of their gallant defenders, under the Athenian Iphicrates. +The long walls were soon restored, by aid of the Athenians, +but were again retaken by Agesilaus and the Spartans, together +with Lechæum. This success alarmed Thebes, which +unsuccessfully sued for peace. The war continued, with the +loss, to the Corinthians, of Piræum, an important island +port, which induced the Thebans again to open negotiations +for peace, which were contemptuously rejected. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Great disaster +to +Sparta.</note> +In the midst of these successes, tidings came to Agesilaus +of a disaster which was attended with important consequences, +and which spoiled his triumph. This was +the destruction of a detachment of six hundred +Lacedæmonian hoplites by the light troops of Iphicrates—an +unprecedented victory—for the hoplites, in their heavy defensive +armor, held in contempt the peltarts with their darts +and arrows, even as the knights of mediæval Europe despised +an encounter with the peasantry. This event revived the +courage of the anti-Spartan allies, and intensely humiliated +<pb n="313"/><anchor id="Pg313"/> +the Lacedæmonians. It was not only the loss of the aristocratic +hoplites, but the disgrace of being beaten by peltarts. +Iphicrates recovered the places which Agesilaus had taken, +and Corinth remained undisturbed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sparta invokes +the +aid of Persia.</note> +Sparta, in view of these great disasters, now sought to +detach Persia from Athens. She sent Antalcidas to Ionia, +offering to surrender the Asiatic Greeks, and promising +a universal autonomy throughout the Grecian +world. These overtures were disliked by the allies, +who sent Conon to counteract them. But Antalcidas gained +the favor of the Persian satrap Tiribasus, who had succeeded +Tissaphernes, and he privately espoused the cause of Sparta, +and seized Conon and caused his death. Tiribasus, however, +was not sustained by the Persian court, which remained +hostile to Sparta. Struthas, a Persian general, was sent into +Ionia, to act more vigorously against the Lacedæmonians. +He gained a victory, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 390, over the Spartan forces, +commanded by Thimbron, who was slain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Thrasybulus.</note> +The Lacedæmonians succeeded, after the death of Conon, +in concentrating a considerable fleet near Rhodes. Against +this, Thrasybulus was sent from Athens with a still larger +one, and was gaining advantages, when he was +slain near Aspendus, in Pamphylia, in a mutiny, +and Athens lost the restorer of her renovated democracy, and +an able general and honest citizen, without the vindictive animosities +which characterized the great men of his day. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Investment +of Rhodes. Evil consequences +of +the rivalries +of the Grecian +States.</note> +Rhodes still held out against the Lacedæmonians, who +were now commanded by Anaxibius, in the place of Dercyllidas. +He was surprised by Iphicrates, and was +slain, and the Athenians, under this gallant +leader, again became masters of the Hellespont. But this +success was balanced by the defection of Ægina, which +island was constrained by the Lacedæmonians into war with +Athens. I need not detail the various enterprises on both +sides, until Antalcidas returned from Susa with the treaty +confirmed between the Spartans and the court of Persia, +which closed the war between the various contending parties, +<pb n="314"/><anchor id="Pg314"/> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 387. This treaty was of great importance, but it indicates +the loss of all Hellenic dignity when Sparta, too, descends +so far as to comply with the demands of a Persian satrap. +Athens and Sparta, both, at different times, invoked +the aid of Persia against each other—the +most mournful fact in the whole history of Greece, +showing how much more powerful were the rivalries of States +than the sentiment of patriotism, which should have united +them against their common enemy. The sacrifice of Ionia +was the price which was paid by Sparta, in order to retain +her supremacy over the rest of Greece, and Persia ruled +over all the Greeks on the Asiatic coast. Sparta became +mistress of Corinth and of the Corinthian Isthmus. She organized +anti-Theban oligarchies in the Bœotian cities, with +a Spartan harmost. She decomposed the Grecian world +into small fragments. She crushed Olythus, and formed a +confederacy between the Persian king and the Dionysius of +Syracuse. In short, she ruled with despotic sway over all +the different States. +</p> + +<p> +We have now to show how Sparta lost the ascendency +she had gained, and became involved in a war with Thebes, +and how Thebes became, under Pelopidas and Epaminondas, +for a time the dominant State of Greece. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="315"/><anchor id="Pg315"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXII. THE REPUBLIC OF THEBES."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXII.</head> +<head>THE REPUBLIC OF THEBES.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thebes.</note> +After Sparta and Athens, no State of Greece arrived at +pre-eminence, until the Macedonian empire arose, +except Thebes, the capital of Bœotia; and the +empire of this city was short, though memorable, from the +extraordinary military genius of Epaminondas. +</p> + +<p> +In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 370, Sparta was the ascendant power of +Greece, and was feared, even as Athens was in the time of +Pericles. She had formed an alliance with the Persian king +and with Dionysius of Syracuse. All Greece, within and +without the Peloponnesus, except Argos and Attica and +some Thessalian cities, was enrolled in a confederacy under +the lead of Sparta, and Spartan governors and garrisons +occupied the principal cities. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Under the +domination of +Sparta.</note> +Thebes especially was completely under Spartan influence +and control, and was apparently powerless. Her citadel, +the Cadmea, was filled with Spartan soldiers, +and the independence of Greece was at an end. +Confederated with Macedonians, Persians, and Syracusans, +nobody dared to call in question the headship of Sparta, or +to provoke her displeasure. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Invectives +of the +orators +against +Sparta.</note> +This destruction of Grecian liberties, with the aid of the +old enemies of Greece, kindled great indignation. The +orator Lysias, at Athens, gave vent to the general +feeling, in which he veils his displeasure under the +form of surprise, that Sparta, as the chief of +Greece, should permit the Persians, under Artaxerxes, and +the Syracusans, under Dionysius, to enslave Greece. The +orator Isocrates spoke still more plainly, and denounced the +<pb n="316"/><anchor id="Pg316"/> +Lacedæmonians as <q>traitors to the general security and freedom +of Greece, and seconding foreign kings to aggrandize +themselves at the cost of autonomous Grecian cities—all in +the interest of their own selfish ambition.</q> Even Xenophon, +with all his partiality for Sparta, was still more emphatic, +and accused the Lacedæmonians with the violation +of their oaths. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Discontent +in Thebes.</note> +In Thebes the discontent was most apparent, for their +leading citizens were exiled, and the oligarchal party, headed +by Leontiades and the Spartan garrison, was oppressive +and tyrannical. The Theban exiles found +at Athens sympathy and shelter. Among these was Pelopidas, +who resolved to free his country from the Spartan yoke. +Holding intimate correspondence with his friends in Thebes, +he looked forward patiently for the means of effecting deliverance, +which could only be effected by the destruction +of Leontiades and his colleagues, who ruled the city. Philidas, +secretary of the polemarchs, entered into the conspiracy, +and, being sent in an embassy to Athens, concocted the +way for Pelopidas and his friends to return to Thebes and +effect a revolution. Charon, an eminent patriot, agreed to +shelter the conspirators in his house until they struck the +blow. Epaminondas, then living at Thebes, dissuaded the +enterprise as too hazardous, although all his sympathies were +with the conspirators. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rebellion +under +Philidas. Its success.</note> +When all was ready, Philidas gave a banquet at his house +to the polemarchs, agreeing to introduce into the company +some women of the first families of Thebes, distinguished +for their beauty. In concert with the +Theban exiles at Athens, Pelopidas, with six companions, +crossed Cithæron and arrived at Thebes, in December, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +379, disguised as hunters, with no other arms than concealed +daggers. By a fortunate accident they entered the gates +and sought shelter in the house of Charon until the night of +the banquet. They were introduced into the banqueting +chamber when the polemarchs were full of wine, disguised +in female attire, and, with the aid of their Theban conspirators, +<pb n="317"/><anchor id="Pg317"/> +dispatched three of the polemarchs with their daggers. +Leontiades was not present, but the conspirators were conducted +secretly to his house, and effected their purpose. +Leontiades was slain, in the presence of his wife. The conspirators +then proceeded to the prison, slew the jailer, and +liberated the prisoners, and then proclaimed, by +heralds, in the streets, at midnight, that the despots +were slain and Thebes was free. But the Spartans still +held possession of the citadel, and, apprised of the <hi rend='italic'>coup +d'etat</hi>, sent home for re-enforcements. But before they could +arrive Pelopidas and the enfranchised citizens stormed the +Cadmea, dispersed the garrison, put to death the oligarchal +Thebans, and took full possession of the city. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Theban +revolution +produces a +great +sensation. +Thebes +forms an alliance +with +Athens.</note> +This unlooked-for revolution was felt throughout Greece like +an electric shook, and had a powerful moral effect. But the +Spartans, although it was the depth of winter, +sent forth an expedition, under King Cleombrotus—Agesilaus +being disabled—to reconquer Thebes. +He conducted his army along the Isthmus of Corinth, through +Megara, but did nothing, and returned, leaving his lieutenant, +Sphodrias, to prosecute hostilities. Sphodrias, learning that +the Piræus was undefended, undertook to seize it, but +failed, which outrage so incensed the Athenians, that they +dismissed the Lacedæmonian envoys, and declared war +against Sparta. Athens now exerted herself to +form a second maritime confederacy, like that of +Delos, and Thebes enrolled herself a member. +As the Athenian envoys, sent to the islands of the Ægean, +promised the most liberal principles, a new confederacy was +formed. The confederates assembled at Athens and threatened +war on an extensive scale. A resolution was passed to +equip twenty thousand hoplites, five hundred horsemen, and +two hundred triremes. A new property-tax was imposed at +Athens to carry on the war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Theban government.</note> +At Thebes there was great enthusiasm, and Pelopidas, +with Charon and Melon, were named the first bœotrarchs. +The Theban government became democratic +<pb n="318"/><anchor id="Pg318"/> +in form and spirit, and the military force was put upon +a severe training. A new brigade of three hundred hoplites, +called the Sacred Band, was organized for the special defense +of the citadel, composed of young men from the best families, +distinguished for strength and courage. The Thebans had +always been good soldiers, but the popular enthusiasm raised +up the best army for its size in Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Epaminondas. +His +accomplishments.</note> +Epaminondas now stands forth as a leader of rare excellence, +destined to achieve the greatest military reputation +of any Greek, before or since his time, with +the exception of Alexander the Great—a kind of Gustavus +Adolphus, introducing new tactics into Grecian warfare. +He was in the prime of life, belonging to a poor but honorable +family, younger than Pelopidas, who was rich. He had +acquired great reputation for his gymnastic exercises; +and was the most cultivated man in Thebes, +a good musician, and a still greater orator. He learned to +play on both the lyre and flute from the teachings of the +best masters, sought the conversation of the learned, but +was especially eloquent in speech, and effective, even against +the best Athenian opponents. He was modest, unambitious, +patriotic, intellectual, contented with poverty, generous, and +disinterested. When the Cadmea was taken, he was undistinguished, +and his rare merits were only known to Pelopidas +and his friends. He was among the first to join the revolutionists, +and was placed by Pelopidas among the organizers +of the military force. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sparta +attacks +Thebes.</note> +The Spartans now made renewed exertions, and King +Agesilaus, the greatest military man of whom Sparta can +boast, marched with a large army, in the spring of <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 378, +to attack Thebes. He established his head-quarters +in Thespiæ, from which he issued to devastate +the Theban territory. +</p> + +<p> +The Thebans and Athenians, unequal in force, still kept +the field against him, acting on the defensive, declining +battle, and occupying strong positions. After a month of +desultory warfare, Agesilaus retired, leaving Phœbidas +<pb n="319"/><anchor id="Pg319"/> +in command at Thespiæ, who was slain in an incautious +pursuit of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Second unsuccessful +expedition +of Agesilaus.</note> +In the ensuing summer Agesilaus undertook a second expedition +into Bœotia, but gained no decided advantage, while +the Thebans acquired experience, courage, and strength. +Agesilaus having strained his lame leg, was incapacitated +for active operation, and returned to +Sparta, leaving Cleombrotus to command the +Spartan forces. He was unable to enter Bœotia, since the +passes over Mount Cithæron were held by the Thebans, and +he made an inglorious retreat, without even reaching Bœotia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Naval victory +of the +Athenians. +Victory of +Pelopidas.</note> +The Spartans now resolved to fit out a large naval force +to operate against Athens, by whose assistance the Thebans +had maintained their ground for two years. The Athenians, +on their part, also fitted out a fleet, assisted by their allies, +under the command of Chabrias, which defeated the Lacedæmonian +fleet near Naxos, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 376. This was the +first great victory which Athens had gained since +the Peloponnesian war, and filled her citizens with joy and +confidence, and led to a material enlargement of their maritime +confederacy. Phocion, who had charge of a squadron +detached from the fleet of Chabrias, also sailed victorious +round the Ægean, took twenty triremes, three thousand +prisoners, with one hundred and ten talents in money, and +annexed seventeen cities to the confederacy. Timotheus, +the son of Conon, was sent with the fleet of Chabrias, to +circumnavigate the Peloponnesus, and alarm the coast of +Laconia. The important island of Corcyra entered into the +confederation, and another Spartan fleet, under Nicolochus, +was defeated, so that the Athenians became once again the +masters of the sea. But having regained their ascendency, +Athens became jealous of the growing power of Thebes, now +mistress of Bœotia, and this jealousy, inexcusable after such +reverses, was increased when Pelopidas gained a great victory +over the Lacedæmonians near Tegyra, which +led to the expulsion of their enemies from all parts +of Bœotia, except Orchomenus, on the borders of Phocis. +<pb n="320"/><anchor id="Pg320"/> +That territory was now attacked by the victorious Thebans, +upon which Athens made peace with the Lacedæmonians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The jealousy +of the Grecian +republics.</note> +It would thus seem that the ancient Grecian States were +perpetually jealous of any ascendant power, and +their policy was not dissimilar from that which +was inaugurated in modern Europe since the treaty +of Westphalia—called the balance of power. Greece, thus +far, was not ambitious to extend her rule over foreign nations, +but sought an autonomous independence of the several +States of which she was composed. Had Greece united +under the leadership of Sparta or Athens, her foreign conquests +might have been considerable, and her power, centralized +and formidable, might have been a match even for +the Romans. But in the anxiety of each State to secure its +independence, there were perpetual and unworthy jealousies +of each rising State, when it had reached a certain point of +prosperity and glory. Hence the various States united under +Sparta, in the Peloponnesian war, to subvert the ascendency +of Athens. And when Sparta became the dominant power +of Greece, Athens unites with Thebes to break her domination. +And now Athens becomes jealous of Thebes, and +makes peace with Sparta, in the same way that England in +the eighteenth century united with Holland and other +States, to prevent the aggrandizement of France, as different +powers of Europe had previously united to prevent the +ascendency of Austria. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Humiliation +of Sparta.</note> +The Spartan power was now obviously humbled, and one +of the greatest evidences of this was the decline +of Sparta to give aid to the cities of Thessaly, in +danger of being conquered by Jason, the despot of Pheræ, +whose formidable strength was now alarming Northern +Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hostilities +between +Athens and +Sparta. Peace between +Athens and +Sparta.</note> +The peace which Sparta had concluded with Athens was +of very short duration. The Lacedæmonians resolved to +attack Corcyra, which had joined the Athenian confederation. +An armament collected from the allies, under Mnasippus, +in the spring of <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 373, proceeded against Corcyra. The +<pb n="321"/><anchor id="Pg321"/> +inhabitants, driven within the walls of the city, were in +danger of famine, and invoked Athenian aid. Before it +arrived, however, the Corcyræans made a successful sally +upon the Spartan troops, over-confident of victory, in which +Mnasippus was slain, and the city became supplied with +provisions. After the victory, Iphicrates, in command +of the Athenian fleet, which had been +delayed, arrived and captured the ships which +Dionysius of Syracuse had sent to the aid of the Lacedæmonians. +These reverses induced the Spartans to send +Antalcidas again to Persia to sue for fresh intervention, but +the satraps, having nothing more to gain from Sparta, +refused aid. But Athens was not averse to peace, since she +no longer was jealous of Sparta, and was jealous of Thebes. +In the mean time Thebes seized Platæa, a town of Bœotia, +unfriendly to her ascendency, and expelled the inhabitants +who sought shelter in Athens, and increased the feeling of +disaffection toward the rising power. This event led to +renewed negotiations for peace between Athens +and Sparta, which was effected at a congress held +in the latter city. The Athenian orator Callistratus, +one of the envoys, proposed that Sparta and Athens +should divide the headship of Greece between them, the +former having the supremacy on land, the latter on the sea. +Peace was concluded on the basis of the autonomy of +each city. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Epaminondas +at the +congress of +Sparta.</note> +Epaminondas was the Theban deputy to this congress. +He insisted on taking the oath in behalf of the +Bœotian confederation, even as Sparta had done +for herself and allies. But Agesilaus required he +should take the oath for Thebes alone, as Athens had done +for herself alone. He refused, and made himself memorable +for his eloquent speeches, in which he protested against the +pretensions of Sparta. <q>Why,</q> he maintained, <q>should not +Thebes respond for Bœotia, as well as Sparta for Laconia, +since Thebes had the same ascendency in Bœotia that Sparta +had in Laconia?</q> Agesilaus, at last, indignantly started +<pb n="322"/><anchor id="Pg322"/> +from his seat, and said to Epaminondas: <q>Speak plainly. +Will you, or will you not, leave to each of the Bœotian cities +its separate autonomy?</q> To which the other replied: +<q>Will you leave each of the Laconian towns autonomous?</q> +Without saying a word, Agesilaus struck the name of the Thebans +out of the roll, and they were excluded from the treaty. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewal of +hostilities +between +Sparta and +Thebes.</note> +The war now is to be prosecuted between Sparta and +Thebes, since peace was sworn between all the other States. +The deputies of Thebes returned home discouraged, +knowing that their city must now encounter, +single-handed, the whole power of the dominant +State of Greece. <q>The Athenians—friendly with both, yet +allies with neither—suffered the dispute to be fought out +without interfering.</q> The point of it was, whether Thebes +was in the same relation to the Bœotian towns that Sparta +was to the Laconian cities. Agesilaus contended that the +relations between Thebes and other Bœotian cities was the +same as what subsisted between Sparta and her allies. This +was opposed by Epaminondas. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Great preparations +of +Sparta.</note> +After the congress of <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 371, both Sparta and Athens +fulfilled the conditions to which their deputies had sworn. +The latter gave orders to Iphicrates to return home with his +fleet, which had threatened the Lacedæmonian coast; the +former recalled her harmosts and garrisons from +all the cities which she occupied, while she made +preparations, with all her energies, to subdue Thebes. It +was anticipated that so powerful a State as Sparta would +soon accomplish her object, and few out of Bœotia doubted +her success. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Defeat of a +Theban +force.</note> +King Cleombrotus was accordingly ordered to march out +of Phocis, where he was with a powerful force, into Bœotia. +Epaminondas, with a body of Thebans, occupied a narrow +pass near Coronea, between a spur of Mount Helicon and +the Lake Copais. But instead of forcing this pass, the Spartan +king turned southward by a mountain road, +over Helicon, deemed scarcely practicable, and defeated +a Theban division which guarded it, and marched to +<pb n="323"/><anchor id="Pg323"/> +Creusis, on the Gulf of Alcyonis, and captured twelve Theban +triremes in the harbor. He then left a garrison to occupy +the post, and proceeded over a mountainous road in the +territory of Thespiæ, on the eastern declivity of Helicon, to +Leuctra, where he encamped. He was now near Thebes, +having a communication with Sparta through the port of +Creusis. The Thebans were dismayed, and it required all +the tact and eloquence of Epaminondas and Pelopidas to +rally them. They marched out at length from Thebes, under +their seven bœotrarchs, and posted themselves opposite the +Spartan camp. Epaminondas was one of these generals, +and urged immediate battle, although the Theban forces +were inferior. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Military tactics +of Epaminondas. +Great victory +obtained +by Thebes.</note> +It was through him that a change took place in the ordinary +Grecian tactics. It was customary to fight +simultaneously along the whole line, in which the +opposing armies were drawn up. Departing from this custom, +he disposed his troops obliquely, or in échelon, placing +on his left chosen Theban hoplites to the depth of fifty, so as +to bear with impetuous force on the Spartan right, while his +centre and right were kept back for awhile from action. +Such a combination, so unexpected, was completely successful. +The Spartans could not resist the concentrated and impetuous +assault made on their right, led by the Sacred Band, with +fifty shields propelling behind. Cleombrotus, the Spartan +king, was killed, with the most distinguished of his staff, and +the Spartans were driven back to their camp. The allies, +who fought without spirit or heart, could not be rallied. +The victory was decisive, and made an immense +impression throughout Greece; for it was only +twenty days since Epaminondas had departed from Sparta, +excluded from the general peace. The Spartans bore the defeat +with their characteristic fortitude, but their prestige was +destroyed. A new general had arisen in Bœotia, who carried +every thing before him. The Athenians heard of the victory +with ill-concealed jealousy of the rising power. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Spartans +evacuate +Bœotia.</note> +Jason, the tyrant of Pheræ, now joined the Theban camp +<pb n="324"/><anchor id="Pg324"/> +and the Spartan army was obliged to evacuate Bœotia. +The great victory of Leuctra gave immense extension +to the Theban power, and broke the Spartan +rule north of the Peloponnesus. All the cities of Bœotia +acknowledged the Theban supremacy, while the harmosts +which Sparta had placed in the Grecian cities were forced to +return home. Sparta was now discouraged and helpless, and +even many Peloponnesian cities put themselves under the +presidency of Athens. None were more affected by the +Spartan overthrow than the Arcadians, whose principal +cities had been governed by an oligarchy in the interest +of Sparta, such as Tegea and Orchomenus, while Mantinea +was broken up into villages. The Arcadians, free from +Spartan governors, and ceasing to look henceforth for victory +and plunder in the service of Sparta, became hostile, +and sought their political independence. A Pan-Arcadian +union was formed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Agesilaus +marches into +Arcadia. +Epaminondas +invades +Sparta.</note> +Sparta undertook to recover her supremacy over Arcadia, +and Agesilaus was sent to Mantinea with a considerable +force, for the city had rebuilt its walls, and resumed +its former consolidation, which was a great offense +in the eyes of Sparta. The Arcadians, invaded by Spartans, +first invoked the aid of Athens, which being refused, +they turned to Thebes, and Epaminondas came to their relief +with a great army of auxiliaries—Argeians, Elians, Phocians, +Locrians, as well as Thebans, for his fame now drew +adventurers from every quarter to his standard. These +forces urged him to invade Laconia itself, and his +great army, in four divisions, penetrated the country +through different passes. He crossed the Eurotas and +advanced to Sparta, which was in the greatest consternation, +not merely from the near presence of Epaminondas with a +powerful army of seventy thousand men, but from the discontent +of the Helots. But Agesilaus put the city in the +best possible defense, while every means were used to secure +auxiliaries from other cities. Epaminondas dared not to +attempt to take the city by storm, and after ravaging Laconia, +<pb n="325"/><anchor id="Pg325"/> +returned into Arcadia. This insult to Sparta was of +great moral force, and was an intense humiliation, greater +even than that felt after the battle of Leuctra. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Restores the +independence +of Messenia. +The Spartan +kingdom dismembered.</note> +This expedition, though powerless against Sparta herself, +prepared Epaminondas to execute the real object which led +to the assistance of the Arcadians. This was the +re-establishment of Messenia, which had been conquered +by Sparta two hundred years before. The new city +of Messenia was built on the site of Mount Ithome, where the +Messenians had defended themselves in their long war against +the Laconians, and the best masons and architects were invited +from all Greece to lay out the streets, and erect the public +edifices, while Epaminondas superintended the fortifications. +All the territory westward and south of Ithome—the southwestern +corner of the Peloponnesus, richest on the peninsula, +was now subtracted from Sparta, while the country to the +east was protected by the new city in Arcadia, Megalopolis, +which the Arcadians built. This wide area, the best half of +the Spartan territory, was thus severed from Sparta, and was +settled by Helots, who became free men, with inextinguishable +hatred of their old masters. But +these Helots were probably the descendants of the old Messenians +whom Sparta had conquered. This renovation of +Messenia, and the building of the two cities, Messenia and +Megalopolis, was the work of Epaminondas, and were the +most important events of the day. The latter city was +designed as the centre of a new confederacy, comprising all +Arcadia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sparta forms +an alliance +with Athens.</note> +Sparta being thus crippled, dismembered, and humbled, +Epaminondas evacuated the Peloponnesus, filled, however, +with undiminished hostility. Sparta condescends to solicit aid +from Athens, so completely was its power broken +by the Theban State, and Athens consents to +assist her, in the growing fear and jealousy of Thebes, +thereby showing that the animosities of the Grecian States +grew out of political jealousy rather than from revenge or +injury. To rescue Sparta was a wise policy, if it were +<pb n="326"/><anchor id="Pg326"/> +necessary to maintain a counterpoise against the ascendency +of Thebes. An army was raised, and Iphicrates was appointed +general. He first marched to Corinth, and from +thence into Arcadia, but made war with no important results. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Greece +emancipated +from the +Spartan +yoke.</note> +Such were the great political changes which occurred +within two years under the influence of such a hero as +Epaminondas. Laconia had been invaded and devastated, +the Spartans were confined within their walls, Messenia had +been liberated from Spartan rule, two important cities had +been built, to serve as great fortresses to depress Sparta, +Helots were converted into freemen, and Greece +generally had been emancipated from the Spartan +yoke. Such were the consequences of the battle +of Leuctra. +</p> + +<p> +And this battle, which thus destroyed the prestige of +Sparta, also led to renewed hopes on the part of the Athenians +to regain the power they had lost. Athens already had +regained the ascendency on the sea, and looked for increased +maritime aggrandizement. On the land she could only +remain a second class power, and serve as a bulwark against +Theban ascendency. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Athens seeks +to recover +Amphipolis. +A part of +Thessaly +under the +protection +of Thebes.</note> +Athens sought also to recover Amphipolis—a maritime +city, colonized by Athenians, at the head of the +Strymonican Gulf, in Macedonia, which was taken +from her in the Peloponnesian war, by Brasidas. Amyntas, +the king of Macedonia, seeking aid against Jason of Pheræ, +whose Thessalian dominion and personal talents and ambition +combined to make him a powerful potentate, consented +to the right of Athens to this city. But Amyntas died not +long after the assassination of Jason, and both Thessaly and +Macedonia were ruled by new kings, and new complications +took place. Many Thessalian cities, hostile to Alexander, +the son of Jason, invoked the aid of Thebes, and Pelopidas +was sent into Thessaly with an army, who took +Larissa and various other cities under his protection. +A large part of Thessaly thus came under +the protection of Thebes. On the other hand, Alexander, +<pb n="327"/><anchor id="Pg327"/> +who succeeded Amyntas in Macedonia, found it difficult +to maintain his own dominion without holding Thessalian +towns in garrison. He was also harassed by interior commotions, +headed by Pausanias, and was slain. Ptolemy, of +Alorus, now became regent, and administered the kingdom +in the name of the minor children of Amyntas—Perdiccas and +Philip. The mother of these children, Eurydice, presented +herself, with her children, to Iphicrates, and invoked protection. +He declared in her favor, and expelled Pausanias, +and secured the sceptre of Amyntas, who had been friendly +to the Athenians, to his children, under Ptolemy as regent. +The younger of these children lived to overthrow the liberties +of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Theban +supremacy +in Thessaly +and Macedonia.</note> +But Iphicrates did not recover Amphipolis, which was a +free city, and had become attached to the Spartans after +Brasidas had taken it. Iphicrates was afterward sent to +assist Sparta in the desperate contest with Thebes. The +Spartan allied army occupied Corinth, and guarded the +passes which prevented the Thebans from penetrating into +the Peloponnesus. Epaminondas broke through the defenses +of the Spartans, and opened a communication with his +Peloponnesian allies, and with these increased forces was +more than a match for the Spartans and Athenians. He +ravaged the country, induced Sicyon to abandon Sparta, +and visited Arcadia to superintend the building of Megalopolis. +Meanwhile Pelopidas, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 368, conducted an expedition +into Thessaly, to protect Larissa against Alexander of +Pheræ, and to counterwork the projects of that despot, +who was in league with Athens. He was successful, and +then proceeded to Macedonia, and made peace with +Ptolemy, who was not strong enough to resist him, taking, +among other hostages to Thebes, Philip, the son of +Amyntas. The Thebans and Macedonians now +united to protect the freedom of Amphipolis against +Athens. Pelopidas returned to Thebes, having extended +her ascendency over both Thessaly and Macedonia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thebes now +aspires to +the leadership +of +Greece.</note> +Thebes, now ambitious for the headship of Greece, sent +<pb n="328"/><anchor id="Pg328"/> +Pelopidas on a mission to the Persian king at Susa, who +obtained a favorable rescript. The States which +were summoned to Thebes to hear the rescript +read refused to accept it; and even the Arcadian +deputies protested against the headship of Thebes. +So powerful were the sentiments of all the Grecian States, +from first to last, against the complete ascendency of any +one power, either Athens, or Sparta, or Thebes. The rescript +was also rejected at Corinth. Pelopidas was now sent +to Thessaly to secure the recognition of the headship of +Thebes; but in the execution of his mission he was seized +and detained by Alexander of Pheræ. +</p> + +<p> +The Thebans then sent an army into Thessaly to rescue +Pelopidas. Unfortunately, Epaminondas did not command +it. Having given offense to his countrymen, he was not +elected that year as bœotrarch, and served in the ranks as +a private hoplite. Alexander, assisted by the Athenians, +triumphed in his act of treachery, and treated his illustrious +captive with harshness and cruelty, and the Theban army, +unsuccessful, returned home. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thebes rescues +Pelopidas. +Complicated +political relations +of +the Grecian +States.</note> +The Thebans then sent another army, under Epaminondas, +into Thessaly for the rescue of Pelopidas, and such +was the terror of his name, that Alexander surrendered +his prisoner, and sought to make peace. But the +rescue of Pelopidas disabled Thebes from prosecuting the +war in the Peloponnesus. As soon, however, as this was +effected, Epaminondas was sent as an envoy into Arcadia to +dissuade her from a proposed alliance with Athens, and there +had to contend with the Athenian orator Callistratus. The +complicated relations of the different Grecian States now became +so complicated, that it is useless, in a book +like this, to attempt to unravel them. Negotiations +between Athens and Persia, the efforts of Corinth and +other cities to secure peace, the ambition of Athens to maintain +ascendency on the sea, the creation of a Theban navy—these +and other events must be passed by. +</p> + +<p> +But we can not omit to notice the death of Pelopidas. +</p> + +<pb n="329"/><anchor id="Pg329"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Pelopidas. +Grief of the +Thebans.</note> +He had been sent with an army into Thessaly against +Alexander of Pheræ, who was at the height of his +power, holding in dependence a considerable part of +Thessaly, and having Athens for an ally. In a battle which +took place between Pelopidas and Alexander, near Pharsalus, +the Thessalians were routed. Pelopidas, seeing his +enemy apparently within his reach, and remembering only his +injuries, sallied forth, unsupported, like Cyrus, on the field +of Cunaxa, at the sight of his brother, to attack him when +surrounded by his guards, and fell while fighting bravely. +Nothing could exceed the grief of the victorious +Thebans in view of this disaster, which was the +result of inexcusable rashness. He was endeared by uninterrupted +services from the day he slew the Spartan governors +and recovered the independence of his city. He had +taken a prominent part in all the struggles which had raised +Thebes to unexpected glory, and was second in abilities to +Epaminondas alone, whom he ever cherished with more than +fraternal friendship, without envy and without reproach. All +that Thebes could do was to revenge his death. Alexander +was stripped of all his Thessalian dependencies, and confined +to his own city, with its territory, near the Gulf of Pegasæ. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Orchomenus +revolts from +Thebes. +Unfortunate +fate of the +city.</note> +It was while Pelopidas was engaged in his Thessalian +campaign, that a conspiracy against the power of +Thebes took place in the second city of Bœotia—Orchomenus, +on Lake Copais. This city was always disaffected, +and in the absence of Pelopidas in Thessaly, and +Epaminondas with a fleet on the Hellespont, some three +hundred of the richest citizens undertook to overthrow the +existing government. The plot was discovered before it +was ripe for execution, the conspirators were executed, +the town itself was destroyed, the male adults +were killed, and the women and children were +sold into slavery. This barbarous act was but the result of +long pent up Theban hatred, but it kindled a great excitement +against Thebes throughout Greece. The city, indeed, +sympathized with the Spartan cause, and would have been +<pb n="330"/><anchor id="Pg330"/> +destroyed before but for the intercession of Epaminondas, +whose policy was ever lenient and magnanimous. It was a +matter of profound grief to this general, now re-elected as +one of the bœotarchs, that Thebes had stained her name by +this cruel vengeance, since he knew it would intensify the +increasing animosity against the power which had arrived +so suddenly to greatness. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewed +hostilities. +Epaminondas +attempts +to surprise +Sparta. His great +victory over +the Lacedæmonians +at +Mantinea. His death.</note> +Hostilities, as he feared, soon broke out with increased +bitterness between Sparta and Thebes. And +these were precipitated by difficulties in Arcadia, +then at war with Elis, and the appropriation of the treasures +of Olympia by the Arcadians. Sparta, Elis, and Achaia +formed an alliance, and Arcadia invoked the aid of Thebes. +The result was that Epaminondas marched with a large +army into the Peloponnesus, and mustered his forces at +Tegea, which was under the protection of Thebes. His army +comprised, besides Thebans and Bœotians, Eubœans, Thessalians, +Locrians, and other allies from Northern Greece. The +Spartans, allied with Elians, Achæans, and Athenians, united +at Mantinea, under the command of Agesilaus, now an old +man of eighty, but still vigorous and strong. Tegea lay in +the direct road from Sparta to Mantinea, and while Agesilaus +was moving by a more circuitous route to the +westward, Epaminondas resolved to attempt a +surprise on Sparta. This movement was unexpected, +and nothing saved Sparta except the accidental +information which Agesilaus received of the movement +from a runner, in time to turn back to Sparta and +put it in a condition of defense before Epaminondas +arrived, for Tegea was only about thirty miles from +Sparta. The Theban general was in no condition to assault +the city, and his enterprise failed, from no fault of his. +Seeing that Sparta was defended, he marched back immediately +to Tegea, and dispatched his cavalry to surprise Mantinea, +about fifteen miles distant. The surprise was baffled +by the unexpected arrival of Athenian cavalry. An encounter +took place between these two bodies of cavalry, in which +<pb n="331"/><anchor id="Pg331"/> +the Athenians gained an advantage. Epaminondas saw +then no chance left for striking a blow but by a pitched +battle, with all his forces. He therefore marched from +Tegea toward the enemy, who did not expect to be attacked, +and was unprepared. He adopted the same tactics that +gave him success at Leuctra, and posted himself, with his +Theban phalanx on the left, against the opposing +right, and bore down with irresistible force, both +of infantry and cavalry, while he kept back the +centre and right, composed of his trustworthy troops, until +the battle should be decided. His column, not far from fifty +shields in depth, pressed upon the opposing column of only +eight shields in depth, like the prow of a trireme impelled +against the midships of an antagonist in a sea-fight. This +mode of attack was completely successful. Epaminondas +broke through the Lacedæmonian line, which turned and +fled, but he himself, pressing on to the attack, at the +head of his column, was mortally wounded. He +was pierced with a spear—the handle broke, leaving the +head sticking in his breast. He at once fell, and his own +troops gathered around his bleeding body, giving full expression +to their grief and lamentations. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His great +military +genius. +His character.</note> +Thebes gained, by the battle of Mantinea, the preservation +of her Arcadian allies and of her anti-Spartan frontier; while +Sparta lost, beyond hope, her ancient prestige and +power. But the victory was dearly purchased by +the death of Epaminondas, who has received, and probably +deserves, more unmingled admiration than any hero whom +Greece ever produced. He was a great military genius, and +introduced new tactics into the art of war. He was a true +patriot, thinking more of the glory of his country than his +own exaltation. He was a man of great political insight, +and merits the praise of being a great statesman. He was, +above all, unsullied by vices, generous, devoted, merciful in +war, magnanimous in victory, and laborious in +peace. He was also learned, eloquent, and wise, +ruling by moral wisdom as well as by genius. His death +<pb n="332"/><anchor id="Pg332"/> +was an irreparable loss—one of those great men whom his +country could not spare, and whose services no other man +could render. Of modern heroes he most resembles Gustavus +Adolphus. And as the Thirty Years in Germany loses +all its interest after the battle of Leutzen, when the Swedish +hero laid down his life in defense of his Protestant brethren, +so the Theban contest with Sparta has no great significance +after the battle of Mantinea. The only great blunder which +Epaminondas made was to encourage his countrymen to +compete with Athens for the sovereignty of the seas. That +sovereignty was the natural empire of Athens, even as the +empire of the land was the glory of Sparta. If these two +powers had been contented with their own peculiar sphere, +and joined in a true alliance with each other, the empire of +Greece might have resisted the encroachments of Philip and +Alexander, and defied the growing ascendency of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Agesilaus. +Death of +Artaxerxes.</note> +Shortly after the death of Epaminondas, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 362, the +greatest man of Spartan annals disappeared from +the stage of history. Agesilaus died in Egypt, +having gone there to assist the king in his revolt from Persia. +He also possessed all the great qualities of a prince, a soldier, +a statesman and a man. He, too, was ambitious, but only to +perpetuate the power of Sparta. It was his misfortune to +contend with a greater man, but he did all that was in the +power of a king of Sparta to retrieve her fortunes, +and died deeply lamented and honored. Artaxerxes +died <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 358, after having subdued the revolt of his satraps +and of Egypt, having reigned forty-five years, and Ochus succeeded +to his throne, taking his father's name. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philip of +Macedon.</note> +Athens recovered, during the wars between Sparta and +Thebes, much of her former maritime power, and succeeded +in retaking the Chersonese. But another great +character now arises to our view—Philip of Macedon, +who succeeded in overturning the liberties of Greece. +But before we present his career, that of Dionysius of Syracuse, +demands a brief notice, and the great power of Sicily, +as a Grecian State, during his life. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="333"/><anchor id="Pg333"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXIII. DIONYSIUS AND SICILY."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXIII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXIII.</head> +<head>DIONYSIUS AND SICILY.</head> + +<p> +We have already seen how the Athenian fleet was destroyed +at the siege of Syracuse, where Nicias and Demosthenes +were so lamentably defeated, which defeat resulted +in the humiliation of Athens and the loss of her power as the +leading State of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +The destruction of this great Athenian armament in September, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 413, created an intoxication of triumph in the +Sicilian cities. Nearly all of them had joined Syracuse, +except Naxos and Catana, which sided with Athens. Agrigentum +was neutral. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Syracuse +after the +failure of +Nicias.</note> +The Syracusans were too much exhausted by the contest +to push their victory to the loss of the independence of these +cities, but they assisted their allies, the Lacedæmonians, +with twenty triremes against Athens, +under Hermocrates, while Rhodes furnished a still +further re-enforcement, under Dorieus. But the Peloponnesian +war was not finished as soon as the Syracusans anticipated. +Even the combined Peloponnesian and Syracusan +fleets sustained two defeats in the Hellespont. The battle +of Cyxicus was even still more calamitous, since the Spartan +admiral Mindarus was slain, and the whole of his fleet was +captured and destroyed. The Syracusans suffered much by +this latter defeat, and all their triremes were burned to prevent +them falling into the hands of their enemies, and the +seamen were left destitute on the Propontis, in the satrapy +of Pharnabazus. These adverse events led to the disgrace +of Hermocrates, who stimulated the movement and promised +what he could not perform. But his conduct had been good, +<pb n="334"/><anchor id="Pg334"/> +and his treatment was unjust and harsh. War recognizes +only success, whatever may be the virtues and talents of +the commanders; and this is one of the worst phases of war, +when accident and circumstances contribute more to military +rewards than genius itself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Internal +condition of +the city.</note> +The banishment of Hermocrates was followed by the +triumph of the democratical party, and Diocles, an influential +citizen, was named, with a commission of ten, to +revise the constitution and the laws. The laws of +Diocles did not remain in force long, and were exceeding +severe in their penalties. But they were afterward revived, +and copied by other Sicilian cities, and remained in force to +the Grecian conquest of the island. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The wars of +the Syracusans +with +Carthage.</note> +The Syracusans then prosecuted war with vigor against +Naxos, which sided with Athens, until it was brought to a +sudden close by an invasion of the Carthaginians, +the ancient foes of Greece. As far back as the +year 480 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>—that year which witnessed the invasion +of Greece by Xerxes—the Carthaginians had invaded +Sicily, with a mercenary army under Hamilcar, for the purpose +of reinstating the tyrant of Himera, expelled by Theron of +Agrigentum. The Carthaginian army was routed, and +Hamilcar was slain by Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse. This +defeat was so signal, that it was seventy years before the Carthaginians +again invaded Sicily, shortly after the destruction +of Athenian power at Syracuse. No sooner was the protecting +naval power of Athens withdrawn from Greece, than +the Persians and the Carthaginians pressed upon the Hellenic +world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carthage. Its maritime +power.</note> +It is singular that so little is known of the early history +of Carthage, which became the great rival of Rome. +It was founded by the Phœnicians, and became a +considerable commercial city before Athens had +reached the naval supremacy of Greece. Her possessions +were extensive on the coast of Africa, both east and west, +comprehending Sardinia and the Balearic isles. At the +maximum of her power, before the first Punic war, the population +<pb n="335"/><anchor id="Pg335"/> +was nearly a million of people. It was built on a +fortified peninsula of about twenty miles in circumference, +with the isthmus. Upon this isthmus was the citadel Byrsa, +surrounded with a triple wall, and crowned at its summit +by a magnificent temple of Æsculapius. It possessed three +hundred tributary cities in Libya, which was but a small +part of the great empire which belonged to it in the fourth +century before Christ. All the towns on the coast, even +those founded by the Phœnicians, like Hippo and +Utica, were tributary, with the exception of Utica. +Although the Carthaginians were averse to land service, yet +no less than forty thousand hoplites, with one thousand +cavalry and two thousand war chariots, marched out from +the gates to resist an enemy. But the Carthaginian armies +were mostly composed of mercenaries—Gauls, Iberians, and +Libyans, and forming a discordant host in language and +custom. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Its political +constitution.</note> +The political constitution of Carthage was oligarchal. +Two kings were elected annually, and presided over the +Senate, of three hundred persons, made up from +the principal families. The great families divided +between them, as in Rome, the offices and influence of the +State, and maintained an insolent distinction from the +people. It was an aristocracy, based on wealth, and +created by commerce, as in Venice, in the Middle Ages. +There was a demos, or people, at Carthage, who were +consulted on particular occasions; but, whether numerous +or not, they were kept in dependence to the rich families +by banquets and lucrative employments. The government +was stable and well conducted, both for internal tranquillity +and commercial aggrandizement. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Its eminent +men.</note> +The first eminent historical personage was Mago, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 500, +who greatly extended the dominions of Carthage. Of his +two sons, Hamilcar was defeated and slain by +Gelon of Syracuse. The other son, Hasdrubal, +perished in Sardinia. His sons remained the most powerful +citizens of the State, carrying on war against the Moors and +<pb n="336"/><anchor id="Pg336"/> +other African tribes. Hannibal, grandson of Hamilcar, distinguished +himself in an invasion of Sicily, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 410, and +with a large army, of one hundred thousand men, stormed +and took Selinus, and killed one hundred and sixty thousand +of the inhabitants, and carried away captive five thousand +more. He then laid siege to Himera, which he also took, and +slaughtered three thousand of the inhabitants, in expiation +of the memory of his grandfather. These were Grecian cities, +and the alarm throughout Greece was profound for this new +enemy. These events look place about the time that Hermocrates +was banished for an unsuccessful maritime war. Hermocrates +afterward attempted to enter Syracuse, but was +defeated and slain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dionysius at +Syracuse.</note> +At this period Dionysius appears upon the stage—for the +next generation the most formidable name in the Grecian +world. He had none of the advantages of family +or wealth—but was well educated, and espoused the +cause of Hermocrates, and rose to distinction during the +intestine commotions which resulted from the death of Hermocrates +and the banishment of Diocles, the lawgiver. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carthaginians +invade +Sicily.</note> +In 406 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, Sicily was again invaded by a large force from +Carthage, estimated by some writers as high as +three hundred thousand men, who were chiefly +mercenaries. Hannibal was the leader of these forces. All +the Greek cities now prepared for vigorous war. The Syracusans +sent to Sparta and the Italian Greek cities for aid. +Agrigentum was most in danger, and most alarmed of the +Greek Sicilian cities. It was second only to Syracuse in +numbers and wealth, having a population of eight hundred +thousand people, though this is probably an exaggeration. +It was rich in temples and villas and palaces; its citizens +were wealthy, luxurious, and hospitable. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rise of +Dionysius.</note> +The army of Hannibal advanced against this city, which +was strongly fortified, and re-enforced by a strong body of +troops from Syracuse, under Daphneus. He defeated the +Iberian mercenaries, but did not preserve his victory, so that +the Carthaginians were enabled to take and plunder Agrigentum. +<pb n="337"/><anchor id="Pg337"/> +There was, of course, bitter complaint against the +Syracusan generals, who might have prevented this calamity. +In the discontent which succeeded, Dionysius was elevated +to the command. He procured a vote to restore +the Hermocratean exiles, and procured, also, a body +of paid guards, and established himself as despot of Syracuse; +and he arrived at this power by demagogic arts, allying himself +with the ultra democratic party. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Defeated by +the Carthaginians.</note> +Soon after his elevation, the Carthaginians advanced, under +Imoleo, to attack Gela, which was relieved by Dionysius +with a force of fifty thousand men. Intrenching himself +between Gela and the sea, opposite the Carthaginians, he +resolved to attack the invaders, but was defeated +and obliged to retreat, so that Gela fell into the +hands of the Carthaginians, who perpetrated their usual +cruelties. This defeat occasioned a mutiny at Syracuse, and +his house was plundered of the silver and gold and valuables +which he had already collected. But he rapidly returned +to Syracuse, and punished the mutineers, and became master +of the city, driving away the rich citizens who had vainly +obstructed his elevation. He abolished every remnant of +freedom, and ruled despotically with the aid of his mercenaries, +and the common people who rallied to his standard. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carthaginians +make peace.</note> +It was fortunate for him that the Carthaginians, although +victors at Gela, made proposals of peace, which +were accepted. Dionysius accepted a peace, the +terms of which were favorable to Carthage, in order to secure +his own power. He betrayed the interests of Sicily to +an enemy from selfish and unworthy motives. The whole +south of Sicily was consigned to the Carthaginians, and +Syracuse to Dionysius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dionysius +centralizes +his power.</note> +Dionysius now concentrated all his efforts to centralize +and maintain his power. He greatly strengthened the fortifications +of Syracuse. He constructed a new +wall, with lofty towers and elaborate defenses, outside +the mole which connected the islet Ortygia with Sicily. +He also erected a citadel. He then had an impregnable +<pb n="338"/><anchor id="Pg338"/> +stronghold, powerful for attack and defense. The fortress +he erected in the islet of Ortygia he filled with his devoted +adherents, consisting mostly of foreigners, to whom he assigned +a permanent support and residence. He distributed +anew the Syracusan territory, reserving the best lands for +his friends, who thus became citizens. By this wholesale +confiscation he was enabled to support ten thousand mercenary +troops, devoted to him and his tyranny. The contributions +he extorted were enormous, so that in five years +twenty per cent of the whole property of Syracuse was paid +into his hands. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Marches +against the +Sikels. +His critical +condition. Strengthens +the fortifications +of +Syracuse. His +vast +military +preparations.</note> +Having thus strengthened his power in Syracuse, he +marched against the Sikels, in the interior of the +island. But his absence was taken advantage of +by the discontented citizens, who attempted to regain their +freedom. He returned at once to Syracuse, and intrenched +himself in his fortress, where he was besieged by the insurgents. +The tyrant was now driven to desperation, and +nothing saved him but the impregnable fortifications which +he had erected. But his situation was so desperate +that his adherents melted away, and he began to +abandon all hope of retaining his position. As a last resource, +he purchased the aid of a body of Campanian cavalry, +in the Carthaginian service, which was stationed at Gela, +while he amused the Syracusans, to gain time, by a pretended +submission. They agreed to allow him to depart with five +triremes, and relaxed the siege, supposing him already subdued. +Meanwhile the Carthaginian mercenaries arrived and +defeated the Syracusans, already dispersed and divided. +Dionysius, finding himself rescued and re-established in his +dominions, strengthened the fortifications of Ortygia, and +employed his forces, now that Syracuse was subdued, in +conquering the Grecian cities of Naxos, Catana, and Leontini. +Strengthened at home and in the interior, Dionysius +then prepared to attack the Carthaginians, but previously +took measures to insure the defensibility of Syracuse. Six +thousand persons were employed on a wall three and a half +<pb n="339"/><anchor id="Pg339"/> +miles in length, from the fort of Trogilus to Euryalus, the +summit of the slope of Epipolæ, a high cliff, which +commanded the roads to the city. Six thousand +teams of oxen were employed in drawing +the stones from the quarries. This wall was not like +Ortygia, a guard-house against the people of Syracuse, but +a defense against external enemies. As it was a great public +work of defense, the citizens worked with cheerfulness +and vigor, and so enthusiastically did they labor, that the +work was completed in twenty days. The city being now +impregnable, he commenced preparations for offensive war, +and changed his course toward the citizens, pursuing a mild, +and conciliatory policy. He made peace with Messene and +Rhegium, and married a lady from Locri. He collected all +the best engineers, mechanics, and artisans from +Sicily and Italy, constructed immense machines, +provided arms from every nation around the Mediterranean, +so that he collected or fabricated one hundred and +forty thousand shields and fourteen thousand breastplates, +destined for his body-guard and officers, together with a +vast number of helmets, spears, and daggers. All these were +accumulated in his impregnable fortress of Ortygia. His +naval preparations were equally stupendous. The docks of +Syracuse were filled with workmen, and two hundred triremes +were added to the one hundred and ten which already +were housed in the docks. The trireme was the largest ship +of war which for three hundred years had sailed in the +Grecian or Mediterranean waters. But Dionysius constructed +triremes with five banks of oars, and had a navy +vastly superior to what Athens ever possessed. He now +hired soldiers from every quarter, enlisting Syracusans and +the inhabitants of the cities depending upon her. He sent +envoys to Italy and the Peloponnesus for recruits, offering +the most liberal pay. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His +marriage. Marches against +the +Carthaginians.</note> +When all his preparations were completed, he married, on +the same day, two wives—the Locrian (Doris), and +the Syracusan (Aristomache), and both of these +<pb n="340"/><anchor id="Pg340"/> +women lived with him at the same table in equal dignity. +He had three children by Doris, the oldest of whom was +Dionysius the Younger, and four by Aristomache. When +his nuptials had been celebrated with extraordinary magnificence, +and banquets, and fetes, in which the whole population +shared, he convoked a public assembly, and exhorted +the citizens to war against Carthage, as the common enemy +of Greece, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 397. He then granted permission to plunder +the Carthaginian ships in the harbor, and shortly after +marched out from Syracuse with an army against +the Carthaginians in Sicily, consisting of eighty +thousand men, while a fleet of two hundred triremes +and five hundred transports accompanied his march along +the coast—the largest military force hitherto assembled under +Grecian command. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His success.</note> +The first place he attacked was Motya, north of Cape +Lilybæum, in the western extremity of the island, all the +Grecian cities under Carthaginian leadership having revolted. +This city was both populous and wealthy, built on an islet, +which was separated from Sicily by a narrow +strait two-thirds of a mile in width, bridged over +by a narrow mole. The Motyans, seeing the approach of +so formidable an army, broke up their mole, and insulated +themselves from Sicily. The Carthaginians sent a large fleet +to assist Motya, under Imilco, but being inferior to that of +Dionysius, it could not venture on a pitched battle. Motya +made a desperate defense, but a road across the strait being +built by the besiegers, the new engines of war carried over +it were irresistible, the town was at length carried and +plundered, and the inhabitants slaughtered or sold as slaves. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He returns +to Syracuse. His naval +defeat at +Catana.</note> +The siege occupied the summer, and Dionysius, triumphant, +returned to Syracuse. But Imilco being +elevated to the chief magistracy of Carthage, +brought over to Sicily an overwhelming force, collected from +all Africa and Iberia, amounting to one hundred thousand +men, afterward re-enforced by thirty thousand more, at the +lowest estimate, with four hundred ships and six hundred +<pb n="341"/><anchor id="Pg341"/> +transports. This army disembarked at Panormus, on the +northwestern side of the island (Palermo) retook Motya, +regained Eryx, then marched east and captured Messene, at +the extreme eastern part of the island near Italy, which +prevented Dionysius from getting aid from Italy. The +Sikels also rebelled, and Dionysius, greatly disquieted by the +loss of all his conquests, and by approaching dangers, +strengthened the fortifications of Syracuse, to which he had +retired, and made preparations to resist the enemy. He had +still a force of thirty thousand foot and three thousand horse, +and one hundred and eighty ships of war. He sent also to +Sparta for aid. He then advanced to Catana. +A naval battle took place off this city, gained by +the Carthaginians, from superior numbers. One hundred +of the Syracusan ships were destroyed, with twenty thousand +men, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 395. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Imilco lays +siege to +Syracuse.</note> +After this defeat, Dionysius retreated to Syracuse with his +land forces, amid great discontent, and invoked the aid +of Sparta and Corinth. Imilco advanced also to +Syracuse, while his victorious fleet occupied the +great harbor—a much more imposing armament than that +the Athenians had at the close of the Persian war. The +total number of vessels was two thousand. Imilco established +his head-quarters at the temple of Zeus Olympius, one +mile and a half from the city, and allowed his troops thirty +days for plunder over the Syracusan territory; then he +established fortified posts, and encircled his camp with a +wall, and set down in earnest to reduce the city to famine. +But as he was not master of Epipolæ, as Nicias was, +Syracuse was able to communicate with the country around, +both west and north, and also found means to secure supplies +by sea. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Disasters of +the Carthaginians. They retire +from +Syracuse.</note> +Meanwhile the Syracusans defeated a portion of the Carthaginian +fleet, and a terrific pestilence overtook +the army before the city. The military strength +of the Carthaginians was prostrated by the terrible malady, +which swept away one hundred and fifty thousand persons +<pb n="342"/><anchor id="Pg342"/> +in the camp. When thus weakened and demoralized, the +Carthaginians were attacked by the Syracusans, and were +completely routed. The fleet was also defeated and set on +fire, and the conflagration reached the camp, which was thus +attacked by pestilence, fire, and sword. The disaster was +fatal to the Carthaginians, and retreat was necessary. +Imilco dispatched a secret envoy to Dionysius, offering +three hundred talents if the fleet was allowed to sail away +unmolested to Africa. This could not be permitted, but +Imilco and the native Carthaginians were allowed +to retire. The remaining part of the army, deprived +of their head, was destroyed, with the exception of +the Sikels, who knew the roads, and made good their +escape. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of +Imilco.</note> +This immense disaster, greater than that the Athenians +had suffered under Nicias, produced universal mourning and +distress at Carthage, while the miserable Imilco vainly +endeavoring to disarm the wrath of his countrymen, +shut himself up in his house, and starved +himself to death. This misfortune led also to a revolt of the +African allies, which was subdued with difficulty, while the +power of Carthage in Sicily was reduced to the lowest ebb. +Dionysius was now left to push his conquests in other directions, +and Syracuse was rescued from impending ruin. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Financial +embarrassments +of +Dionysius.</note> +Dionysius had now reigned eleven years, with absolute +power. The pestilence, and the treachery of Imilco, had +freed him of the Carthaginians. But a difficulty arose as to +the payment of his mercenaries, which he compromised +by giving them the rich territory of Leontini, +so that ten thousand quitted Syracuse, and took +up their residence in the town. The cost of maintaining a +large standing army was exceeding burdensome, and we +only wonder how the tyrant found means to pay it, and +prosecute at the same time such great improvements. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Makes himself +master +of Messene.</note> +He now directed his attention to the Sikels, in the interior +of the island, and took several of their +towns, but from one of them he met with desperate +<pb n="343"/><anchor id="Pg343"/> +resistance, find came near losing his life from a wound by a +spear which penetrated his cuirass. This repulse caused the +Carthaginians to rally in the west of the island, under Magon, +with an army of eighty thousand. But he was repulsed by +Dionysius, and concluded a truce with him, which gave the +latter leisure to make himself master of Messene and Taurominium—the +two most important maritime posts on the +Italian side of Sicily, and thus prepare for the invasion of +the Greek cities in the south of Italy, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 391. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Invades +Italy.</note> +Dionysius departed from Syracuse, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 389, with a powerful +force, to subdue the Italiot Greeks, and laid +siege to Caulonia. He defeated their army, and +slew their general. The victor treated the defeated Greeks +with lenity, and then laid siege to Rhegium, to which he +granted peace on severe terms. Caulonia and Hipponeum, +two cities whose territory occupied the breadth of the Calabrian +peninsula, fell into his hands. Rhegium surrendered +after a desperate defense, and Phyton, who commanded the +town, was treated with brutal inhumanity. The town was +dismantled, and all the territory of Southern Calabria was +united to Locri. It was at this time that the peace of Antalcidas +took place, which put an end to the Spartan wars in +Asia Minor. The ascendant powers of Greece were now +Sparta and Syracuse, each fortified by alliance with the +other. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conquers +Croton.</note> +Croton, the largest city in Magna Grecia, was now conquered +by Dionysius, who plundered the temple of Ilere, +near Cape Lacinium, and among its treasure was a +splendid robe, decorated in the most costly manner, which +the conqueror sold to the Carthaginians, which long remained +one of the ornaments of their city. The value and +beauty of the robe may be estimated at the price paid for it—one +hundred and twenty talents, more than one hundred +thousand dollars. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Becomes +master of +Southern +Italy. Hissed at the +Grecian +games.</note> +He now undertook a maritime expedition along the coast +of Latium and Etruria, and pillaged the rich temple at +Agylla, stripping it of gold and ornaments to the value of +<pb n="344"/><anchor id="Pg344"/> +one thousand talents. So great was the celebrity he acquired, +that the Gauls of Northern Italy, who had recently +sacked Rome, proffered their alliance and aid. +Master of Sicily and Southern Italy, he inspired, by +his unscrupulous plundering of temples, the greatest +terror and dislike throughout Central Greece. He then +entered as competitor at the festivals of Greece for the prize +of tragic poetry. But so contemptible were his poems, they +were disgracefully hissed and ridiculed. Especially those +poems which were recited at Olympeia—where he +sent legations decked in the richest garments, furnished +with gold and silver, and provided with splendid +tents—were received with a storm of hisses, which plunged +him in an agony of shame and grief, and drove him nearly +mad, and made him conscious of the deep hatred which +everywhere existed toward him. All his rich displays, +which surpassed every thing that had ever before been seen +in that holy plain, were worse than a failure—because they +came from him. Not all his grandeur in Syracuse could save +him from the disgrace and insults which he had received in +Olympeia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dion.</note> +It was at this time, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 387, that Plato visited Sicily on +a voyage of inquiry and curiosity, chiefly to see Mount +Ætna, and was introduced to Dion, then a young +man in Syracuse, and brother-in-law to Dionysius. +Dion was so impressed with the conversation of Plato, that +he invited the tyrant to talk with him also. Plato discoursed +on virtue and justice, showing that happiness belonged +only to the virtuous, and that despots could not lay claim +even to the merit of true courage—most unpalatable doctrine +to the tyrant, who became bitterly hostile to the philosopher. +He even caused Plato to be exposed in the market as +a slave, and sold for twenty minæ, which his friends paid +and released him. On his voyage home, through the influence +of the tyrant, he was again sold at Egina, and again +repurchased, and set at liberty. So bitter are tyrants +of the virtues which contrast with their misdeeds; and +<pb n="345"/><anchor id="Pg345"/> +so vindictive especially was the despot who reigned at +Syracuse. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Power and +wealth of +Dionysius.</note> +Dionysius was now occupied, by the new defenses and fortifications +of his capital, so that the whole slope of +Epipolæ was bordered and protected by massive +walls and towers, and five divisions of the city had each its +separate fortifications, so that it was the largest fortified city +in all Greece—larger than Athens herself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Defeated in a +war with +Carthage.</note> +The plunder the tyrant had accumulated enabled him to +make new preparations for a war with Carthage. But he +was defeated in a great battle at Cronium, with +terrible loss, by the youthful son of Magon, which +compelled him to make peace, and cede to Carthage all the +territory of Sicily west of the river Halycus, and pay a tribute +of one thousand talents. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Again +defeated. +Gains a prize +for poetry, +dies from a +fit of debauchery. +His +character.</note> +Very little is recorded of Dionysius after this peace, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +382, for thirteen years, during which the Spartans had made themselves +master of Thebes, and placed a garrison in Cadmea. +In the year 368 he made war again with Carthage, but was +defeated near Lilybæum, and forced to return to +Syracuse. In the year 367 it would seem that he +was at last successful with his poems, for he gained the prize of +tragedy at the Lenæan festival at Athens, which so intoxicated +him with joy, that he invited his friends to a splendid +banquet, and died from the effects of excess and +wine, after a reign of thirty-eight years. He was +a man of restless energy and unscrupulous ambition. +His personal bravery was great, and he was vigilant +and long sighted—a man of great abilities, sullied by cruelty +and jealousy. In his spare time he composed tragedies to +compete for prizes. No other Greek had ever arrived at so +great power from a humble position, or achieved so striking +exploits abroad, or preserved his grandeur so unimpaired at +his death. But he was greatly favored by fortune, especially +when the pestilence destroyed the hosts of +Imilco. He maintained his power by intimidation +of his subjects, careful organization, and liberal pay to his +<pb n="346"/><anchor id="Pg346"/> +mercenaries. He cared nothing for money excepting as a +means to secure dominion. His exactions were exorbitant, +and his rapacity boundless. He trusted no one, and his suspicion +was extended even to his wives. He allowed no one +to shave him, and searched his most intimate friends for concealed +weapons before they were allowed in his presence. +He made Syracuse a great fortress, to the injury of Sicily and +Italy, and fancied that he left his dominions fastened by +chains of adamant. He could point to Ortygia with its +impregnable fortifications, to a large army of mercenaries—to +four hundred ships of war, and to vast magazines of arms +and military stores. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dion.</note> +He left no successor competent to rivet the chains he had +forged. His son Dionysius succeeded to his +throne at the age of twenty-five. His brother-in-law +Dion was the next prominent member of his family, and +possessed a fortune of one hundred talents—a man of great +capacity, ambitious, luxurious, but fond of literature and +philosophy. He was, however, so much influenced by Plato, +whose Socratic talk and democratic principles enchained and +fascinated him, that his character became essentially modified, +and he learned to hate the despotism under which he +grew up, and formed large schemes for political reform. He +aspired to cleanse Syracuse of slavery, and clothe her in the +dignity of freedom, by establishing an improved constitutional +polity, with laws which secured individual rights. +He exchanged his luxurious habits for the simple fare of a +philosopher. Never before had Plato met with a pupil who +so profoundly and earnestly profited from his instructions. +The harsh treatment which Plato received from the tyrant +was a salutary warning to Dion. He saw that patience was +imperatively necessary, and he so conducted as to maintain +the favor of Dionysius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dionysius +II. His feeble +character. Plato visits +Syracuse. His +injudicious +teachings.</note> +Dionysius II. was twenty-five years old when his father +died, and though he possessed generous impulses, +was both weak and vain, given to caprice, and +insatiate of praise. He had been kept from business from the +<pb n="347"/><anchor id="Pg347"/> +excessive jealousy of his father, and his life had been passed +in idleness and luxury at the palace of Ortygia. His father's +taste for poetry had introduced guests to his table whose +conversation opened his mind to generous sentiments, but +the indecision of his character prevented his profiting +from any serious studies. Dion supported +this feeble novice on the throne of his father, and tried to +gain influence over him, and frankly suggested the measures +to be adopted, and Dionysius listened at first to his wise +counsels. Dion wished to make Syracuse a free city, with +good laws, to expel the Carthaginians from Sicily, and +replant the semi-barbarian Hellenic cities. He also endeavored +to reform the life of Dionysius as well as Syracuse, and +actually wrought a signal change in his royal pupil, so that +he desired to see and converse with the great sage who had +so completely changed the life of Dion, and inspired him +with patriotic enthusiasm. Accordingly, Plato +was sent for, who reluctantly consented to visit +Syracuse. He had no great faith in the despot who sought +his wisdom, and he did not wish, at sixty-one, to leave his +favorite grove, with admiring disciples from every part of +Greece, where he reigned as monarch of the mind. He +went to Syracuse, not with the hope so much of converting +a weak tyrant, as from unwillingness to desert his friend, +and be taunted with the impotence of his philosophy. He +was received with great distinction at court, and a royal +carriage conveyed him to his lodgings. The banquets of the +Acropolis became distinguished for simplicity, and the royal +pupil commenced at once in taking lessons in geometry. +The old courtiers were alarmed, and disgusted. <q>A single +Athenian sophist,</q> they said, <q>with no force but his tongue +and reputation, has achieved the conquest of Syracuse.</q> +Dionysius seemed to have abdicated in favor of Plato, and +the noble objects for which Dion labored seemed to be on +the way of fulfillment. But Plato acted injudiciously, +and spoiled his influence by unreasonable +vigor. It was absurd to expect that the despot would go +<pb n="348"/><anchor id="Pg348"/> +to school like a boy, and insist upon a mental regeneration +before he gave him lessons of practical wisdom in politics. +All the necessary reforms were postponed on the ground +that the royal pupil was not yet ripe for them, and every +influence was exerted to show him his own unworthiness—that +his whole past life had been vicious—delicate ground +for any teacher to assume, since he irritated rather than reformed. +He was even averse to any political changes until +Dionysius had gone through his schooling. Plato also +maintained a proud, philosophical dignity, showing no +respect to persons, and refusing to the defects of his pupil +any more indulgence than he granted to those who listened +to his teachings at home. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Banishment +of Dion. +Second visit +of Plato.</note> +Such a mistake was attended soon with difficulties. The old +courtiers recovered their influence. Dion was calumniated +and slandered, as seeking to usurp the sovereign powers, and +that Plato was brought to Syracuse as an agent in the conspiracy. +Plato tried to counterwork this mischief, but in +vain. Dionysius lost all inclination to reform, and Dion was +hated, for he was superior to his nephew in dignity and +ability, and was haughty and austere in his manners. He +was accordingly banished from Syracuse, and +Plato was retained <emph>in the Acropolis</emph>, but was otherwise +well treated, and entreated to remain. The tyrant, +however, refused to recall Dion, but consented to the departure +of Plato. Another visit to Syracuse, which +he made with the hope of securing the recall of +Dion, was a splendid captivity, and although he was treated +with extraordinary deference, he was not at rest until he +obtained permission to depart. He had failed in his mission +of benevolence and friendship. All the vast possessions of +Dion were confiscated, and Plato had the mortification to +hear of this injury in the very palace to which he went as a +reformer. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dion in +exile. Meditates +the overthrow +of +Dionysius.</note> +Incensed at the seizure of his property, and hopeless of +permission to return, and of all those reforms which +he had projected, Dion now meditated the overthrow +<pb n="349"/><anchor id="Pg349"/> +of the power of Dionysius, and his own restoration at +the point of the sword. During his exile he had +chiefly resided in Athens, enjoying the teaching +of his friend Plato, and dispensing his vast wealth +in generous charities. Nor did Plato fully approve of his +plans for the overthrow of Dionysius, anticipating little good +from such violence, although he fully admitted his wrongs. +But other friends, less judicious and more interested, warmly +seconded his projects. With aid from various sources, he +at last could muster eight hundred veterans, with which he +ventured to attack the most powerful despot in Greece, and +in his own stronghold. And so enthusiastic was Dion, all +disparity of forces was a matter of indifference. Moreover, +he accounted it glory and honor to perish in so just and +noble a cause as the liberation of Sicily from a weak and +cruel despot, every way inferior to his father in character, +though as strong in resources. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He lands in +Sicily.</note> +But the friends of Dion did not dream of throwing away +their lives. They calculated on a rising of the Syracusans +to throw off an insupportable yoke, and they had utter contempt +for the tyrant himself, knowing his drunken habits, +and effeminate character, and personal incompetency. So, +after ten years' exile, Dion, with his followers, +landed in Sicily, at Heracleia, also in the absence +of Dionysius, who had quitted Syracuse for Italy, with +eighty triremes, so that the city was easy of access. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Enters Syracuse +in triumph.</note> +This unaccountable mistake of the tyrant in leaving his +capital at such a crisis, was regarded with great joy by the +small army of Dion, which marched out at once from Heracleia, +and was joined in the Agrigentian territory with two +hundred horsemen. As he approached Syracuse, other bands +joined him, so that he had five thousand men as he approached +the capital. Timocrates, the husband of Dion's late wife, +for his wife was taken away from him, was left in command +at Syracuse with a large force of mercenaries. But as Dion +advanced to the city, there was a general rising of the citizens, +and Timocrates was obliged to return, leaving the fortresses +<pb n="350"/><anchor id="Pg350"/> +garrisoned. Dion entered the city by the principal +street, which was decorated as on a day of jubilee, +and proclaimed liberty to all. He was also chosen +general, with his brother Megacles, and approached Ortygia, +and challenged the garrison to come out and fight. He then +succeeded in capturing Epipolæ and Eurylæ, those fortified +quarters, and erected a cross wall from sea to sea to block +up Ortygia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Demands +the abdication +of +Dionysius.</note> +At the end of seven days, when all these results had been +accomplished, Dionysius returned to Syracuse, but Ortygia +was the only place which remained to him, and that, +too, shut up on the land side by a blockading wall. The rest +of the city was in possession of his enemies, though those +enemies were subjects. His abdication was imperatively +demanded by Dion, who refused all conciliation +and promises of reform. Rallying, then, his +soldiers, he made a sally to surprise the blockading wall, +and was nearly successful, but Dion, at length, repulsed his +forces, and recovered the wall. Ortygia was again blockaded, +but as Dionysius was still master of the sea, he ravaged +the coasts for provisions, and maintained his position, until +the arrival of Heraclides, with a Peloponnesian fleet, gave +the Syracusans a tolerable naval force. Philistus commanded +the fleet of Dionysius, but in a battle with Heraclides, he +lost his life. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dionysius +resorts to +intrigues. +Unpopularity +of Dion. But Ortygia +surrenders +to him.</note> +Dionysius now lost all hope of recovering his power by +force, and resorted to intrigues, stimulating the +rivalry of Heraclides, and exposing the defeats +of Dion, whose arrogance and severity were far from making +him popular. Calumnies now began to assail Dion, and he +was mistrusted by the Syracusans, who feared only an +exchange of tyrants. There was also an unhappy dissension +between Dion and Heraclides, which resulted in the deposition +of Dion, and he was forced to retreat from +Syracuse, and seek shelter with the people of Leontini, +who stood by him. Dionysius again had left Ortygia +for Italy, leaving his son in command, and succeeded in +<pb n="351"/><anchor id="Pg351"/> +sending re-enforcements from Locri, under Nypsius, so that +the garrison of Ortygia was increased to ten thousand men, +with ample stores. Nypsius sallied from the fortress, mastered +the blockading wall, and entered Neapolis and Achradina, +fortified quarters of the city. The Syracusans, in distress, +then sent to Leontini to invoke the aid of Dion, who +returned as victor, drove Nypsius into his fortress, and saved +Syracuse. He also magnanimously pardoned Heraclides, +and prosecuted the blockade of Ortygia, and was again +named general. Still Heraclides, who was allowed to command +the fleet, continued his intrigues, and frustrated the +operations against Dionysius. At last, Ortygia surrendered +to Dion, who entered the fortress, where he found +his wife and sister, from whom he had been separated +twelve years. At first, Arete, his wife, who had consented +to marry Timocrates, was afraid to approach him, but +he received her with the tenderest emotion and affection. +His son, however, soon after died, having fallen into the +drunken habits of Dionysius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dion master +of Syracuse. +His mistakes. His death. His character.</note> +Dion was now master of Syracuse, and on the pinnacle of +power. His enterprise had succeeded against all +probabilities. But prosperity, which the Greeks +were never able to bear, poisoned all his good qualities and +exaggerated his bad ones. He did not fall into the luxury +of his predecessors. He still wore the habit of a philosopher, +and lived with simplicity, but he made public mistakes. +His manners, always haughty, became +repulsive. He despised popularity. He conferred no real +liberty. He retained his dictatorial power. He preserved +the fortifications of Ortygia. He did not meditate a permanent +despotism, but meant to make himself king, with a +modified constitution, like that of Sparta. He had no popular +sympathies, and sought to make Syracuse, like Corinth, completely +oligarchial. He took no step to realize any measure +of popular freedom, and, above all, refused to demolish the +fortress, behind whose fortifications the tyrants of Syracuse +had intrenched themselves in danger. He also caused Heraclides +<pb n="352"/><anchor id="Pg352"/> +to be privately assassinated, so that the Syracusans +began to hate him as cordially as they had hated Dionysius. +This unpopularity made him irritable, and suspicious and disquieted. +A conspiracy, headed by Callippus, put an end to +his reign. He was slain by the daggers of assassins. +Thus perished one of the noblest of the Greeks, but +without sufficient virtue to bear success. His great defect +was inexperience in government, and it may be doubted +whether Plato himself could have preserved liberty in so +corrupt a city as Syracuse. The character of Dion +also changed greatly by his banishment, since vindictive +sentiments were paramount in his soul. He had a +splendid opportunity of becoming a benefactor to his country, +but this was thrown away, and instead of giving liberty he +only ruled by force, and moved from bad to worse, until he +made a martyr of the man whom once he magnanimously +forgave. Had he lived longer, he probably would have +proved a remorseless tyrant like Tiberius. So rare is it +for men to be temperate in the use of power, and so much +easier is it to give expression to grand sentiments than practice +the self-restraint which has immortalized the few Washingtons +of the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dionysius +recovers +Ortygia. +Syracuse +invokes +the aid of +Corinth. +Timoleon +sent as +general.</note> +The Athenian Callippus, who overturned Dion, remained +master of Syracuse for more than a year, but its condition +was miserable and deplorable, convulsed by passions and +hostile interests. In the midst of the anarchy +which prevailed, Dionysius contrived to recover +Ortygia, and establish himself as despot. The Syracusans +endured more evil than before, for the returned tyrant had +animosities to gratify. There was also fresh danger from +Carthage, so that the Syracusans appealed to their mother +city, Corinth, for aid. Timoleon was chosen as the +general of the forces to be sent—an illustrious citizen +of Corinth, then fifty years of age, devoted to +the cause of liberty, with hatred of tyrants and wrongs, who +had even slain his brother when he trampled on the +liberties of Corinth—and a brother whom he loved. +<pb n="353"/><anchor id="Pg353"/> +But he was forced to choose between him and his country, +and he chose his country, securing the gratitude of +Corinth, but the curses of his mother and the agonies of self-reproach, +so that he left for years the haunts of men, and +buried himself in the severest solitude. Twenty years +elapsed from the fratricide to his command of a force to relieve +the Syracusans from their tyrant Dionysius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His wonderful +successes.</note> +Timoleon commenced his preparations of ships and soldiers +with alacrity, but his means were scanty, not equal even to +those of Dion when he embarked on his expedition. He was +prevented with his small force from reaching Sicily by a Carthaginian +fleet of superior force, but he effected his +purpose by stratagem, and landed at Taurominium +under great discouragements. He defeated Hicetas, who +had invoked the aid of Carthage, at Adranum, and marched +unimpeded to the walls of Syracuse. Dionysius, blocked +up at Ortygia, despaired of his position, and resolved to surrender +the fortress, stipulating for a safe conveyance and +shelter at Corinth. This tyrant, broken by his drunken +habits, did not care to fight, as his father did, for a sceptre +so difficult to be maintained, and only sought his ease and +self-indulgence. So he passed into the camp of Timoleon +with what money he could raise, and the fortress was surrendered. +A re-enforcement from Corinth enabled Timoleon +to maintain his ground. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dionysius +an exile in +Corinth.</note> +The appearance of the fallen tyrant in Corinth produced a +great sensation. Some from curiosity, others from +sympathy, and still more from derision, went to +see a man who had enjoyed so long despotic power, now +suing only for a humble domicile. But his conduct, considering +his drunken habits, was marked by more dignity than +was to be expected from so weak a man. He is said to have +even opened a school to teach boys to read, and to have instructed +the public singers in reciting poetry. His career, at +least, was an impressive commentary on the mutability of +fortune, to which the Greeks were fully alive. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Timoleon demolishes +the +stronghold of +tyranny. His +noble +administration.</note> +Timoleon, in possession of Ortygia, with its numerous +<pb n="354"/><anchor id="Pg354"/> +stores, found himself able to organize a considerable force to +oppose the Carthaginians who sought to get possession of +the fortress. Hicetas, now assisted by a Carthaginian force +under Magon, attacked Ortygia, but was defeated by the +Corinthian Neon, who acquired Achradina, and joined it by +a wall to Ortygia. But Magon now distrusted Hicetas, and +suddenly withdrew his army. Timoleon thus became +master of Syracuse, and Hicetas was obliged +to retire to Leontini. Timoleon ascribed his good +fortune to the gods, but purchased a greater hold on men's +minds than fortune gave him by his moderation in the hour +of success—a striking contrast to Dion and the elder Dionysius. +He invited the Syracusans to demolish the stronghold +of tyranny, where the despots had so long intrenched themselves. +He erected courts of justice on its site. He +recalled the exiles, and invited new colonists to +the impoverished city, so that sixty thousand immigrants +arrived. He relieved the poverty and distress of the people +by selling the public lands, and employed his forces to expel +remaining despots from the island. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His great +victory over +the Carthaginians.</note> +But Hicetas again invited the Carthaginians to Sicily. +They came, with a vast army of seventy thousand men and +twelve hundred ships, under Hasdrubal and Hamilcar, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +340. Timoleon could only assemble twelve thousand to meet +this overwhelming force, but with these he marched against +the Carthaginians, and gained a great victory, by +the aid of a terrible storm which pelted the Carthaginians +in the face. No victory was ever more +complete than this at Crimisus. Ten thousand of the invaders +were slain, and fifteen thousand made prisoners, together +with an enormous spoil. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He lays +down his +power.</note> +Timoleon had now to deal with two Grecian enemies—Hicetas +and Mamercus—tyrants of Leontini and Catana. +Over these he gained a complete victory, and put them +to death. He then, after having delivered Syracuse, +and defeated his enemies, laid down his +power, and became a private citizen. But his influence remained, +<pb n="355"/><anchor id="Pg355"/> +as it ought to have been, as great as ever, for he was +a patriot of most exalted virtue, a counselor whom all could +trust—a friend who sacrificed his own interests. And he +exerted his influence for the restoration of Syracuse, for the +introduction of colonists, and the enforcement of wise laws. +The city was born anew, and the gratitude and admiration +of the citizens were unbounded. In his latter years he became +blind, but his presence could not then even be spared +when any serious difficulty arose—ruling by the moral power +of wisdom and sanctity—one of the best and loftiest characters +of all antiquity. And nothing was more remarkable than +his patience under contradiction, and his eagerness to insure +freedom of speech, even against himself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His death +and character.</note> +Thus, by the virtues and wisdom of this remarkable man, +were freedom and comfort diffused throughout Sicily for +twenty-four years, until the despotism of Agathocles. +Timoleon died <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 337—a father and +benefactor—and the Syracusans solemnized his funeral with +lavish honors, which was attended by a countless procession, +and passed a vote to honor him for all future time with festive +matches, in music and chariot-races, and such gymnastics +as were practiced at the Grecian games. A magnificent +monument was erected to his memory. <q>The mournful letters +written by Plato after the death of Dion contrasts +strikingly with the enviable end of Timoleon, and with the +grateful inscription of the Syracusans on his tomb.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="356"/><anchor id="Pg356"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<anchor id="Chapter_XXIV"/> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXIV. PHILIP OF MACEDON."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXIV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXIV.</head> +<head>PHILIP OF MACEDON.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Unexpected +Rise of Macedonia.</note> +No one would have supposed, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 400, that the destruction +of Grecian liberties would come from Macedonia—a +semi-barbarous kingdom which, during the ascendency +of Sparta, had so little political importance. +And if any new power threatened to rise over the ruins of the +Spartan State, and become paramount in Greece, it was +Thebes. The successes of Pelopidas and Epaminondas had +effectually weakened the power of Sparta. She no longer +enjoyed the headship of Greece. She no longer was the +leader of dependent allies, submitting to her dictation in all +external politics, serving under the officers she appointed, +administering their internal affairs by oligarchies devoted to +her purposes, and even submitting to be ruled by governors +whom she put over them. She had lost her foreign auxiliary +force and dignity, and even half of her territory in Laconia. +The Peloponnesians, who once rallied around her were +disunited, and Megalopolis and Messene were hostile. +Corinth, Sicyon, Epidaurus, and other cities, formerly allies, +stood aloof, and the grand forces of Hellas now resided outside +of the Peloponnesus. Athens and Thebes were the new +seats of power. Athens had regained her maritime supremacy, +and Thebes was formidable on the land, having +absorbed one-third of the Bœotian territory, and destroyed +three or four autonomous cities, and secured powerful allies +in Thessaly. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philip of +Macedon.</note> +When the battle of Mantinea was fought, at which Epaminondas +lost his life, Perdiccas, son of Amyntas, was the king +of Macedonia. He was slain, in the flower of his life, in a +<pb n="357"/><anchor id="Pg357"/> +battle with the Illyrians, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 359. On the advice of Plato, +who had been his teacher, he was induced to bestow +upon his brother Philip a portion of territory +in Macedonia, who for three years preceding had been living +in Thebes as a hostage, carried there by Pelopidas at fifteen +years of age, when he had reduced Macedonia to partial submission. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philip at +Thebes.</note> +At Thebes the young prince was treated with courtesy, +and resided with one of the principal citizens, and +received a good education. He was also favored +with the society of Pelopidas and Epaminondas, and witnessed +with great interest the training of the Theban forces +by these two remarkable men—one the greatest organizer, +and the other the greatest tactician of the age. When transferred +from Thebes to a subordinate government of a district +in his brother's kingdom, he organized a military force on +the principles he had learned in Thebes. The unexpected +death of Perdiccas, leaving an infant son, opened to him the +prospect of succeeding to the throne. He first assumed the +government as guardian of his young nephew Amyntas, but +the difficulties with which he was surrounded, having many +competitors from other princes of the family of Amyntas, his +father, that he assumed the crown, putting to death one of +his half brothers, while the other two fled into exile. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Surrender of +Amphipolis.</note> +His first proceeding as king was to buy the Thracians, his +enemies, by presents and promises, so that only the Athenians +and the Illyrians remained formidable. But he +made peace with Athens by yielding up Amphipolis, +for the possession of which the Athenians had made war +in Macedonia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Revolt from +Athens of +Lesbos, Chios, +Samos, &c. +Death of +Timotheus.</note> +The Athenians, however, neglected to take possession of +Amphipolis, being engaged in a struggle to regain the island +of Eubœa, then under the dominion of Thebes. It also happened +that a revolt of a large number of the islands +of the Ægean, which belonged to the confederacy +of which Athens was chief, took place—Lesbos, +Chios, Samos, Cos, and Rhodes, including Byzantium. This +<pb n="358"/><anchor id="Pg358"/> +revolt is called the social war, caused by the selfishness of +Athens in acting more for her own interest than that of her +allies, and neglecting to pay the mercenaries in her service. +The revolt was also stimulated by the intrigues of the Carian +prince, Mausolus. But it was a serious blow to the foreign +ascendency of Athens, and in a battle to recover these islands, +the Athenians, under Chabrias, were defeated at Chios. +They were also unsuccessful on the Hellespont from quarrels +among their generals—Timotheus, Iphicrates, and Chares. +The popular voice at Athens laid the blame of defeat on the +two former unjustly, in consequence of which Timotheus was +fined one hundred talents, the largest fine ever imposed at +Athens, and shortly after died in exile—a distinguished +man, who had signally maintained the +honor and glory of his country. Iphicrates also was never +employed again. The loss of these two generals could scarcely +be repaired. Soon after, peace was made with the revolted +cities, by which their independence and autonomy were +guaranteed. This was an inglorious result of the war to +Athens, and fatally impaired her power and dignity, so that +she was unable to make a stand against the aggressions of +Philip. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philip lays +siege to Amphipolis. +Fall of the +city.</note> +One of the first things he did after defeating the Illyrians +was to lay siege to Amphipolis, although he had +ceded the city to Athens. For this treachery there +was no other reason than ambition and the weakened power +of Athens. Amphipolis had long remained free, and was +not disposed to give up its liberties, and sent to Athens for +aid. Philip, an arch politician, contrived by his intrigues to +prevent Athens from giving assistance. The neglect of +Athens was a great mistake, for Amphipolis commanded the +passage over the Strymon, and shut up Macedonia from the +east, and was, moreover, easily defensible by sea. Deprived +of aid from Athens, the city fell into the hands of +Philip, and was an acquisition of great importance. +It was the most convenient maritime station in Thrace, and +threw open to him all the country east of the Strymon, and +<pb n="359"/><anchor id="Pg359"/> +especially the gold region near Mount Pangreus. This place +henceforward became one of the bulwarks of Macedonia, +until the Roman conquest. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Duplicity of +Philip.</note> +Having obtained this place, he commenced, without a declaration +of war against Athens, a series of hostile measures, +while he professed to be her friend. He deprived her of her +hold upon the Thermaic Gulf, conquered Pydna +and Potidæa, and conciliated Olynthus. His +power was thus so far increased that he founded a new city, +called Philippi, in the regions where his gold mines yielded +one thousand talents yearly. He then married Olympias, +daughter of a prince of the Molossi, who gave birth, in the +year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 356, to a son destined to conquer the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War with +Athens.</note> +The capture of Amphipolis by Philip was, of course, followed +by war with Athens, which lasted twelve +years. And this war commenced at a time Athens +was in great embarrassments, owing to the social war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The sacred +war.</note> +But he was aided by another event of still greater importance—the +sacred war, which for a time convulsed +the Hellenic world, and which grew out of the +accusation of Thebes, before the Amphictyonic Council, that +Sparta had seized her citadel in time of profound peace. The +sentence of the council, that Sparta should pay a fine of five +hundred talents, was a departure of Grecian custom, and +Sparta refused to pay it, which refusal led to her exclusion +from the council, the Delphic temple, and the Pythian +games, and this exclusion again arrayed the different States +of Greece against each other, as to the guardianship of the +Oracle itself. +</p> + +<p> +Philip of Macedon seized this opportunity, when so many +States were engaged in war, to prosecute his schemes. He +attacked Methone, the last remaining possession of Athens +on the Macedonian coast, and captured the city, and then +advanced into Thessaly against the despots of Pheræ, who +invoked the aid of Onomarchus, now very powerful. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Demosthenes. +His accomplishments. His great +eloquence.</note> +It was at this time, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 353, that Demosthenes, the orator, +appeared before the Athenian people. He was about twenty-seven +<pb n="360"/><anchor id="Pg360"/> +years of age, and the wealth of his father secured him +great advantages in education. His father died +while he was young, and his property was confided +to the care of guardians, named in his father's will. But +they administered the property with such negligence, that +only a small sum came to Demosthenes when he attained his +civil majority, at the age of sixteen. After repeated complaints, +he brought a judicial action against one of the guardians, +and obtained verdict against him to the extent of ten +talents. But the guardian delayed the payment, and Demosthenes +lost nearly all his patrimony. He had, however, +received a good education, and in spite of a feeble constitution, +he mastered all the learning of the age. His family +influence enabled him to get an early introduction to public +affairs, and he proceeded to train himself as a speaker, and a +writer of speeches for others. He put himself under the +teaching of a famous rhetorician, Iænus, and profited by +the discourses of Plato and Isocrates then in the +height of their fame. He also was a great student +of Thucydides, and copied his whole history, with his own +hand, eight times. He still had to contend against a poor +voice, and an ungraceful gesticulation; but by unwearied +labor he overcame his natural difficulties so as to satisfy the +most critical Athenian audience. But this conquest in self-education +was only made by repeated trials and humiliations, +and it is said he even spoke with pebbles in his mouth, and +prepared himself to overcome the noise of the Assembly by +declaiming in stormy weather on the sea-shore. He sometimes +passed two or three mouths in a subterranean chamber, +practicing by day and by night, both in composition and declamation, +such pains did those old Greeks take to perfect +themselves in art; for public speaking is an art, as well as +literary composition. He learned Sophocles by heart, and +took lessons from actors even to get the true accent. It was +several years before he was rewarded with success, and then +his delivery was full of vehemence and energy, but elaborate +and artificial. But it was not more labor which made Demosthenes +<pb n="361"/><anchor id="Pg361"/> +the greatest orator of antiquity, and perhaps, of +all ages and nations, but also natural genius. His self-training +merely developed the great qualities of which he +was conscious, as was Disraeli when he made his early failures +in Parliament. Without natural gifts of eloquence, he +might have worked till doomsday without producing +the extraordinary effect which is ascribed to +him, for his speeches show great insight, genius, and natural +force, as well as learning, culture, and practice; so that they +could be read like the speeches of Burke and Webster, with +great effect. He had great political sagacity, moral wisdom, +elevation of sentiment, and patriotic ardor, as well as art. +He would have been great, if he had stammered all his life. +He composed speeches for other great orators before he +had confidence in his own eloquence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Phocion.</note> +In contrast with Demosthenes, who was rich, was Phocion, +who remained poor, and would receive neither money nor +gifts. He went barefoot, like Socrates, and had +only one female slave in his household, was personally +incorruptible, and also brave in battle, so that he +was elected to the office of strategus, or general, forty-five +times, without ever having solicited place or been present at +the election. He had great contempt of fine speeches, yet +was most effective as an orator for his brevity, good sense, +and patriotism, and despised the <q>warlike eloquence, un-warlike +despotism, paid speech-writing, and delicate habits +of Demosthenes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Different policy +of these +two leaders.</note> +This Athenian, with Spartan character and habits, was +opposed to the war with Philip, and was therefore the leading +opponent of Demosthenes, whose foresight and +sagacity led him to penetrate the schemes of the +Macedonian king. But the Athenians were generally induced +to a peace policy in degenerate times, and did not +sympathize with the lofty principles which Demosthenes +declared, and hence the influence of Phocion, though of commanding +patriotism and morality, was mischievous, while that +of Demosthenes was good. The citizens of Athens, enriched +<pb n="362"/><anchor id="Pg362"/> +by commerce and enervated by leisure, were at this time +averse to the burdens of military service, and formed a striking +contrast to their ancestors one hundred years earlier, in the +time of Pericles. In the time of Demosthenes, they sought +home pleasures, the refinements of art, and the enjoyments +of cultivated life, not warlike enterprises. And this decline +in military spirit was equally noticeable in the cities of the +Peloponnesus. And hence the cities of Greece resorted to +mercenaries, like Carthage, and intrusted to them the defense +of their liberties. The warlike spirit of ancient Sparta +and Athens now was pre-eminent in Macedonia, where the +people were poor, hardy, adventurous and bold. +</p> + +<p> +It was against these warlike Macedonians, rude and hardy, +that the refined Athenians were now to contend, led by a +prince of uncommon military talents and insatiable ambition, +and who joined craft to bravery and genius. Demosthenes +in vain invoked the ancient spirit which had inspired the +heroes of Marathon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conquests of +Philip to +Thessaly. +Threatens +Central +Greece.</note> +In the year 383 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, Philip attacked Lyeophron, of Pheræ, +in Thessaly. Onomarchus, then victorious over the Thebans, +advanced against Philip, and defeated him in two +battles, so that the Macedonian army withdrew +from Thessaly. But Philip repaired his losses, marched +again into Thessaly, defeated the Phocians, and slew Onomarchus. +His conquest of Pheræ was now easy, and he +rapidly made himself master of all Thessaly, and expelled +Lycophron. He then marched to Thermopylæ, to the great +alarm of Athens, which sent a force to resist him, +which force succeeded in defending the pass, and +keeping Philip, for a time, from entering Southern Greece. +The Phocians also rallied, again availed themselves of the +treasure of Delphi, and melted down the golden ornaments +and vessels which Crœsus, the Lydian king, had given one hundred +years before, among which were three hundred and +sixty golden goblets, from the proceeds of which a new +army of mercenaries was raised. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>No generals +fit to cope +with him.</note> +The power of Philip was now exceedingly formidable, and +<pb n="363"/><anchor id="Pg363"/> +his successes inspired great alarm throughout Greece, as +would appear from the first Philippic of Demosthenes, +delivered in <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 352. But the Grecian +States had no general able to cope with him on the land, +while he created a navy to annoy the Athenians at sea. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philip +conquers the +Olynthians. +Revolt of +Eubœa. +Ravages of Philip.</note> +For a time, however, the efforts of Philip were diverted +from Southern and Central Greece, in order to conquer the +Olynthians. They were his neighbors, and had +been his allies; but the expulsion of the Athenians +from the coast of Thrace and Macedonia now alarmed the +Olynthians, together with the increasing power of Philip, so +that they concluded a treaty of peace with Athens. Hostilities +broke out in the year 350 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, and Demosthenes put +forward all his eloquence to excite his countrymen to vigorous +war. Athens, partially aroused, sent a body of mercenaries +to the assistance of Olynthus, one of the most +flourishing of the cities of Chalcidia, southeast of Macedonia. +But before effective aid could he rendered, the island of +Eubœa, through the intrigues of Philip, revolted +from Athens. It was in an expedition to recover +that island that Demosthenes served as a hoplite in the army, +under Phocion as general. It was not till the summer of +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 348 that this territory was recovered by Athens. In the +year following, Athens made great exertions in behalf of +Olynthus, and amid great financial embarrassments. Three +expeditions were sent into Chalcidia, under the command of +Chares, numbering altogether four thousand Athenians and +ten thousand mercenaries. But they were powerless against +the conquering arms of Philip, who completely +overran and devastated the peninsula, taking thirty-two +cities, and selling the people for slaves. At last +Olynthus fell, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 347, and +the spoils of this old Hellenic city +were divided among the soldiers of the conqueror, who +celebrated his victories by a splendid festival. +</p> + +<p> +No such calamity had befallen Greece for a century as the +conquest of Chalcidia, and it filled Athens with unspeakable +alarms. Æschines, the rival of Demosthenes as an orator, +<pb n="364"/><anchor id="Pg364"/> +now joined with him in denouncing Philip as the common +enemy of Greece. Aristodemus was sent to him with propositions +of peace, and Philip professed to entertain them +favorably, with his characteristic duplicity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The temple +of Delphi +robbed. +Encroachments +of +Philip. +His duplicities +and intrigues. Philip obtains +possession +of the +pass of Thermopylæ.</note> +Meanwhile the sacred war had impoverished the Phocians, +and there were dissensions among themselves. Their temple +of Delphi had already been stripped of the enormous +sum of ten thousand talents, eleven million +five hundred thousand dollars, probably equal in our times +to two hundred and thirty million dollars; so that it must +have been richer, when the relative value of gold and silver +is considered, than any church in Christendom. The treasures +of the temple, enriched for three hundred years by offerings +from all parts of the world, still enabled the Phocians +to maintain war with Thebes. At last the Thebans invoked +the aid of Philip, and a Macedonian army, under Parmenio, +advanced as far as Thessaly. But the Phocians, in alarm, +entreated both Sparta and Athens for assistance. The +crisis was great, for if Philip should once secure the Pass of +Thermopylæ, all Southern Greece was in imminent danger. +The whole defense of Greece now turned upon this Pass, of as +much importance to Philip as to Athens and Sparta, for it +was the only road into Greece. Envoys were again sent +from Athens to Philip, to learn on what conditions peace +could be secured, among whom were Demosthenes and Æschines. +But he would grant no better terms than that each +party should retain what they already possessed, and the +Athenians consented. Philip reaped all the advantages +of a peace, which gave him the possession +of the cities and territory he had taken. The Phocians were +left out in the negotiations, a fatal step, since it required the +united forces of Greece from preventing the further encroachments +of the Macedonian king. He had now leisure for the +completion of the conquest of Thrace. When this was completed, +he marched toward Thermopylæ, which was +held by the Phocians, carefully veiling his real intentions, +and even pretending that his advance to the south +<pb n="365"/><anchor id="Pg365"/> +was for the purpose of reconstituting the Bœotian cities and +putting down Thebes. His real object was to surprise the +Pass, for he was a man who had very little respect to treaties, +promises, or oaths. All this while he contrived to deceive +Athens and the Phocians, with the connivance of Æschines, +whom he had bribed or cheated. But he did not deceive +Demosthenes, who entreated his countrymen to make a stand +against him, even at the eleventh hour, for he was then within +three days' march of the Pass. But the eloquence and +warnings of Demosthenes were in vain. The people went +with Æschines, who persuaded them that Philip was friendly +to Athens and only hostile to Thebes. It was the design of +Philip to detach Athens from the Phocians, and thus make his +conquest easier; and he succeeded by his falsehoods and intrigues. +Under these circumstances, the Phocians +surrendered to Philip the pass, which they ought +to have defended at all hazard, and the king retired +to Phocis, but still professed the greatest friendship for +Athens, with whom he made peace. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>And is +master of +the keys of +Greece.</note> +Master now of Phocis, with a triumphant army, he openly +joined the Thebans and restored the Temple of Delphi to its +inhabitants, and convoked the Amphictyonic Council, which +dispossessed the Phocians of their place in the +assembly, and conferred it upon Philip. The +unhappy Phocians were now reduced to a state of +utter ruin. Their towns were dismantled, and their villages +were not allowed to contain over fifty houses each. They +were stripped, and slain, and their fields laid waste. Philip +was now master of the keys of Greece, and the recognized +leader of the Amphictyonic Council. Athens had secured +an inglorious peace with her enemy, through the corruption +of her own envoys, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 346, and was soon to reap the penalty +of her credulity and indolence. She allowed herself to be +deceived, and Philip, in co-operation with Thebes, the enemy +of Athens, presently threw off the mask and disgracefully renewed +the war with Athens, He had gained his object by +bribery and falsehood. It is mournful that the Athenians +<pb n="366"/><anchor id="Pg366"/> +should not have listened to the warnings of the most sagacious +patriot who adorned those degenerate times, but the +influence of Æschines was then paramount, and he was sold +to Philip. He cried peace, when there was no peace. The +great error of Athens was in not rendering timely assistance +to the Phocians, who possessed the Pass of Thermopylæ, +although they had brought upon themselves the indignation +of Greece by the seizure of the Delphic treasures. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Lamentations +of Demosthenes.</note> +The victories and encroachments of Philip, within the line +of common Grecian defense, were profoundly +lamented by Demosthenes, and he now felt that it +was expedient to keep on terms of peace with so powerful +and unscrupulous and cunning a man. Isocrates wished +Philip to reconcile the four great cities of Greece, Sparta, +Athens, Thebes, and Argos, put himself at the head of their +united forces, and Greece generally, invade Persia, and +liberate the Asiatic Greeks. But this was putting the +Hellenic world under one man, and renouncing the independence +of States and the autonomy of cities—the great +principles of Grecian policy from the earliest historic times, +and therefore a complete subversion of Grecian liberties, and +the establishment of a centralized power under Philip, whose +patrimonial kingdom was among the least civilized in +Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philip's +continued +encroachments. +His insatiate +ambition.</note> +The peace between Philip and Athens lasted, without any +formal renunciation, for six years, during which +the Macedonian king pursued his aggressive +policy and his intrigues in all the States of Greece. +His policy was precisely that of Rome when it meditated +the conquest of the world, only his schemes were confined +chiefly to Greece. Every year his power increased, while the +States of Greece remained inactive and uncombined—a proof +of the degeneracy of the times—certainly in regard to self-sacrifices +to secure their independence. Demosthenes plainly +saw the approaching absorption of Greece in the +Macedonian dominion, unless the States should +unite for common defense; and he took every occasion +<pb n="367"/><anchor id="Pg367"/> +to denounce Philip, not only in Athens, but to the envoys +of the different States. The counsels of the orator were +a bitter annoyance to the despot, who sent to Athens +letters of remonstrance. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Athens at +last aroused +by Demosthenes. +Siege of +Perinthus. Philip withdraws +from +Byzantium.</note> +At last an occasion was presented for hostilities by the +refusal of the Athenians to allow Philip to take possession +of the island of Halicarnassus, claiming the island as +their own. Reprisals took place, and Philip demanded +the possession of the Hellespont and Bosphorus, and the +Greek cities on their coast, of the greatest value to Athens, +since she relied upon the possession of the straits for the +unobstructed importation of corn. The Athenians now +began to realize the encroaching ambition of Philip, and +to listen to Demosthenes, who, about this time, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 341, delivered his third Philippic. From +this time to the battle of Chæronea, the influence +of Demosthenes was greater than that of any other man +in Athens, which too late listened to his warning voice. +Through his influence, Eubœa was detached from Philip, +and also Byzantium, and they were brought into alliance +with Athens. Philip was so much chagrined that +he laid siege to Perinthus, and marched through the +Chersonese, which was part of the Athenian territory, upon +which Athens declared war. Philip, on his side, issued a +manifesto declaring his wrongs, as is usual with conquerors, +and announced his intention of revenge. The Athenians +fitted out a fleet and sent it under Chares to the Hellespont. +Philip prosecuted, on his part, the siege of Perinthus, +on the Propontis, with an army of thirty +thousand men, with a great number of military +engines. One of his movable towers was one hundred +and twenty feet high, so that he was able to drive away +the defenders of the walls by missiles. He succeeded in +driving the citizens of this strong town into the city, and it +would have shared the fate of Olynthus, had it not been +relieved by the Byzantine and Grecian mercenaries. Philip +was baffled, after a siege of three months, and turned his +<pb n="368"/><anchor id="Pg368"/> +forces against Byzantium, but this town was also relieved by +the Athenians, and the inhabitants from the islands of the +Ægean. These operations lasted six mouths, and were the +greatest adverses which Philip had as yet met with. A vote +of thanks was decreed by the Athenians to Demosthenes, +who had stimulated these enterprises. Philip was obliged +to withdraw from Byzantium, and retreated to +attack the Scythians. An important reform in the +administration of the marine was effected by Demosthenes, +although opposed by the rich citizens and by Æschines. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Another +sacred war. +Ruinous to +Grecian liberties.</note> +While these events transpired, a new sacred war was declared +by the Amphictyonic Council against the +Locrians of Amphissa, kindled by Æschines, which +more than compensated Philip for his repulse at Byzantium, +bringing advantage to him and ruin to Grecian liberty. But +the Athenians stood aloof from this suicidal war, when all +the energies of Greece were demanded to put down the +encroachments of Philip. As was usual in these intestine +troubles, the weaker party invoked the aid of a foreign +power, and the Amphictyonic Assembly, intent on +punishing Amphissa, sought assistance from Philip. +He, of course, accepted the invitation, and marched south +through Thermopylæ, proclaiming his intention to avenge +the Delphian god. In his march he took Nicæa from the +Thebans, and entered Phocis, and converted Elatea into a +permanent garrison. Hitherto he had only proclaimed himself +as a general acting under the Amphictyonic vote to +avenge the Delphian god,—now he constructed a military +post in the heart of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alliance of +Thebes and +Athens. Renewed +military preparations +of +Philip.</note> +Thebes, ever since the battle of Leuctra, had been opposed +to Athens, and even now unfriendly relations +existed between the two cities, and Philip hoped +that Thebes would act in concert with him against Athens. +But this last outrage of Philip exceedingly alarmed Athens, +and Demosthenes stood up in the Assembly to propose +an embassy to Thebes with offers of alliance. His advice +was adopted, and he was dispatched with other envoys to +<pb n="369"/><anchor id="Pg369"/> +Thebes. The Athenian orator, in spite of the influence +of the Macedonian envoys, carried his point with the Theban +Assembly, and an alliance was formed between Thebes and +Athens. The Athenian army marched at once to Thebes, +and vigorous measures were made at Athens for the +defensive war which so seriously threatened the loss of +Grecian liberty. The alliance was a great disappointment to +Philip, who remained at Phocis, and sent envoys to Sparta, +inviting the Peloponnesians to join him against Amphissa. +But the Thebans and Athenians maintained their ground +against him, and even gained some advantages. Among +other things, they reconstituted the Phocian towns. The +Athenians and their allies had a force of fifteen thousand +infantry and two thousand cavalry, and Demosthenes was +the war minister by whom these forces were collected. +These efforts on the part of Thebes and +Athens led to renewed preparations on the part +of Philip. He defeated a large body of mercenaries, and took +Amphissa. Unfortunately, the Athenians had no general +able to cope with him, and it was the work of Demosthenes +merely to keep up the courage of his countrymen and incite +them to effort. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of +Chæronea. +Its decisive +character. Macedonian +phalanx.</note> +At last, in the month of August, Philip, with thirty thousand +foot and two thousand horse, met the allied Greeks at +Chæronea, the last Bœotian town on the frontiers +of Phocis. The command of the armies of the +allies was shared between the Thebans and Athenians, but +their movements were determined by a council of civilians +and generals, of which Demosthenes was the leading spirit. +Philip, in this battle, which decided the fortunes of Greece, +commanded the right wing, opposed to the +Athenians, and his son Alexander, the left wing, +opposed to the Thebans. The Macedonian phalanx, organized +by Philip, was sixteen deep, with veteran soldiers +in the front. The Theban <q>Sacred Band</q> was overpowered +and broken by its tremendous force, much increased +by the long pikes which projected in front of the foremost +<pb n="370"/><anchor id="Pg370"/> +soldiers. But the battle was not gained by the phalanx +alone. The organization of the Macedonian army +was perfect, with many other sorts of troops, bodyguards, +light hoplites, light cavalry, bowmen, and slingers. +One thousand Athenians were slain, and two thousand more +were made captives. The Theban loss was still greater. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Desperate +measures of +Athens.</note> +Unspeakable was the grief and consternation of Athens, +when the intelligence reached her of this decisive victory. +A resolution was at once taken for a vigorous +defense of the city. All citizens sent in their contributions, +and every hand was employed on the fortifications. +The temples were stripped of arms, and envoys were +sent to various places for aid. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of +Thebes.</note> +Thebes was unable to rally, and fell into the hands of the +victors, and a Macedonian garrison was placed in +the Cadmea, or citadel. From Athens, envoys +were sent to Philip for peace, which was granted on the condition +that he should be recognized as the chief of the Hellenic +world. It was a great humiliation to Athens to concede +this, after having defeated the Persian hosts, and keeping +out so long all foreign domination. But times had +changed, and the military spirit had fled. +</p> + +<p> +Athens was not prostrated by the battle of Chæronea. +She still retained her navy, and her civic rights. Thebes +was utterly prostrated, and never rallied again. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philip invades +the +Peloponnesus. Collects a +large force +against the Persians.</note> +Philip, having now subjugated Thebes, and constrained +Athens into submission, next proceeded to carry his arms +into the Peloponnesus. He found but little resistance, except +in Laconia. The Corinthians, Argeians, Messenians, +Elians, and Arcadians submitted to his +power. Even Sparta could make but feeble resistance. +He laid waste Laconia, and then convened a congress +of Grecian cities at Corinth, and announced his purpose to +undertake an expedition against the king of Persia, avenge +the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, and liberate the Asiatic +Greeks. A large force of two hundred thousand foot and +fifteen thousand horse was promised him, and all the States +<pb n="371"/><anchor id="Pg371"/> +of Greece concurred, except Sparta, which held aloof from +the congress. Athens was required to furnish a +well equipped fleet. All the States, and all the +islands, and all the cities of Greece, were now +subservient to Philip, and no one State could exercise control +over its former territories. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Philip.</note> +It was in the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 337, that this great scheme for the +invasion of Persia was concerted, which created no general +enthusiasm, since Persia was no longer a power to be feared. +The only power to be feared now was Macedonia. While +preparations were going on for this foolish and unnecessary +expedition, the prime mover of it was assassinated, and his +career, so disastrous to Grecian liberty, came to an +end. It seems that he had repudiated his wife, +Olympias, disgusted with the savage impulses of her character, +and married, for his last wife, for he had several, Cleopatra, +which provoked bitter dissensions among the partisans +of the two queens, and also led to a separation between himself +and his son Alexander, although a reconciliation afterward +took place. It was while celebrating the marriage of +his daughter by Olympias, with Alexander, king of Epirus, +and also the birth of a son by Cleopatra, that Pausanias, +one of the royal body-guard, who nourished an implacable +hatred of Philip, chose his opportunity, and stabbed him +with a short sword he had concealed under his garment. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alexander. Character of +Philip.</note> +Alexander, the son of Philip by Olympias, was at once +declared king, whose prosecution of the schemes of his father +are to be recounted in the next chapter. Philip perished at +the age of forty-seven, after a most successful reign of +twenty-three years. On his accession he found his +kingdom a narrow territory around Pella, excluded +from the sea-coast. At his death the Macedonian +kingdom was the most powerful in Greece, and all the States +and cities, except Sparta, recognized its ascendency. He +had gained this great power, more from the weakness and +dissensions of the Grecian States, than from his own strength, +great as were his talents. He became the arbiter of Greece +<pb n="372"/><anchor id="Pg372"/> +by unscrupulous perjury and perpetual intrigues. But he +was a great organizer, and created a most efficient army. +Without many accomplishments, he affected to be a patron of +both letters and religion. His private life was stained by +character or drunkenness, gambling, perfidy, and wantonness. +His wives and mistresses were as numerous as those +of an Oriental despot. He was a successful man, but it must +be borne in mind that he had no opponents like Epaminondas, +or Agesilaus, or Iphicrates. Demosthenes was his great opponent, +but only in counsels and speech. The generals of Athens, +and Sparta, and Thebes had passed away, and with the decline +of military spirit, it is not remarkable that Philip should +have ascended to a height from which he saw the Grecian +world suppliant at his feet. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="373"/><anchor id="Pg373"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXV. ALEXANDER THE GREAT."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXV.</head> +<head>ALEXANDER THE GREAT.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alexander +the Great. +Sent by +Providence +to do a great +work.</note> +We come now to consider briefly the career of Alexander, +the son of Philip—the most successful, fortunate, and brilliant +hero of antiquity. I do not admire either +his character or his work. He does not compare the +with Cæsar or Napoleon in comprehensiveness of genius, +or magnanimity, or variety of attainments, or posthumous +influences. He was a meteor—a star of surprising magnitude, +which blazed over the whole Oriental world with +unprecedented brilliancy. His military genius was doubtless +great—even transcendent, and his fame is greater than +his genius. His prestige is wonderful. He conquered the +world more by his name than by his power. Only two men, +among military heroes, dispute his pre-eminence in the history +of nations. After more than two thousand years, his +glory shines with undiminished brightness. His conquests +extended over a period of only twelve years, yet they were +greater and more dazzling than any man ever made before in a +long reign. Had he lived to be fifty, he might have subdued +the whole world, and created a universal empire equal to that +of the Cæsars—which was the result of five hundred years' +uninterrupted conquests by the greatest generals of a military +nation. Though we neither love nor reverence Alexander, +we can not withhold our admiration, for his almost +superhuman energy, courage, and force of will. He looms +up as one of the prodigies of earth—yet sent by +Providence as an avenger—an instrument of punishment +on those effeminated nations, or rather +dynasties, which had triumphed over human misery. I look +<pb n="374"/><anchor id="Pg374"/> +upon his career, as the Christians of the fifth century looked +upon that of Alaric or Attila, whom they called the scourge +of God. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Which was +prepared by +his father. +Extent of +the Persian +empire. The accumulation +of +riches in +the royal +cities.</note> +His conquests and dominions were, however, prepared by +one perhaps greater than himself in creative genius, +and as unscrupulous and cruel as he. Philip found +his kingdom a little brook; he left it a river—broad, deep, and +grand. Under Alexander, this river became an irresistible +torrent, sweeping every thing away which impeded its +course. Philip created an army, and a military system, and +generals, all so striking, that Greece succumbed before him, +and yielded up her liberties. Alexander had only to follow +out his policy, which was to subdue the Persians. The +Persian empire extended over all the East—Asia +Minor, Syria, Egypt, Parthia, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, +Armenia, Bactria, and other countries—the one hundred +and twenty provinces of Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, from the +Mediterranean to India, from the Euxine and Caspian Seas to +Arabia and the Persian Gulf—a monstrous empire, whose +possession was calculated to inflame the monarchs who +reigned at Susa and Babylon with more than mortal pride +and self-sufficiency. It had been gradually won by successive +conquerors, from Nimrod to Darius. It was the gradual +absorption of all the kingdoms of the East in the successive +Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires—for these three +empires were really one under different dynasties, and were +ruled by the same precedents and principles. The various +kingdoms which composed this empire, once independent, +yielded to the conquerors who reigned at Babylon, or +Nineveh, or Persepolis, and formed satrapies paying tribute +to the great king. The satraps of Cyrus were like the +satraps of Nebuchadnezzar, members or friends of the imperial +house, who ruled the various provinces in the name of +the king of Babylon, or Persia, without much interference with +the manners, or language, or customs, or laws, or religion of +the conquered, contented to receive tribute merely, and +troops in case of war. And so great was the accumulation +<pb n="375"/><anchor id="Pg375"/> +of treasure in the various royal cities where the king resided +part of the year, that Darius left behind him on +his flight, in Ecbatana alone, one hundred and +eighty thousand talents, or two hundred million +dollars. It was by this treasure that the kings of Persia +lived in such royal magnificence, and with it they were able +to subsidize armies to maintain their power throughout their +vast dominions, and even gain allies like the Greeks, when +they had need of their services. Their treasures were inexhaustible—and +were accumulated with the purpose of maintaining +empire, and hence were not spent, but remained as +a sacred deposit. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Philip had +aspired to +overturn +the empire. +Knowing its +internal +weakness.</note> +It was to overthrow this empire that Philip aspired, after +he had conquered Greece, in part to revenge the +injuries inflicted by the Persian invasions, but +more from personal ambition. And had he lived, +he would have succeeded, and his name would have been +handed down as the great conqueror, rather than that of his +more fortunate son. Philip knew what a rope of sand the +Persian military power was. Xenophon had enlightened +the Greeks as to the inefficiency of the +Persian armies, if they needed any additional instruction +after the defeat of Xerxes and his generals. The vast armies +of the Persians made a grand show, and looked formidable +when reviewed by the king in his gilded chariot, surrounded +by his nobles, the princes of his family, and the women of +his harem. And these armies were sufficient to keep the +empire together. The mighty prestige attending victories +for one thousand years, and all the pomp of millions in battle +array, was adequate to keep the province together, for the +system of warfare and the character of the forces were +similar in all the provinces. It was external enemies, with +a different system of warfare, that the Persian kings had to +dread—not the revolt of enervated States, and unwarlike +cities. The Orientals were never warlike in the sense that +Greece and Rome were. The armies of Greece and Rome +were small, but efficient. It was seldom that any Grecian +<pb n="376"/><anchor id="Pg376"/> +or Roman army exceeded fifty thousand men, but they were +veterans, and they had military science and skill and discipline. +The hosts of Xerxes or Darius were undisciplined, +and they were mercenaries, unlike the original troops of +Cyrus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>But this +work is reserved +for +Alexander. +Who was the +conqueror of +the Oriental +world? +What constituted +his +military +genius.</note> +Now it was the mission of Alexander to overturn the dynasties +which reigned so ingloriously on the banks +of the Euphrates—to overrun the Persian empire +from north to south and east to west—to cut it up, +and form new kingdoms of the dismembered provinces, and +distribute the hoarded treasures of Susa, Persepolis, and +Ecbatana—to introduce Greek satraps instead of Persian—to +favor the spread of the Greek language and institutions—to +found new cities where Greeks might reign, from which +they might diffuse their spirit and culture. Alexander spent +only one year of his reign in Greece, all the rest of his life +was spent in the various provinces of Persia. He was the +conqueror of the Oriental world. He had no hard +battles to fight, like Cæsar or Napoleon. All he +had to do was to appear with his troops, and the +enemy fled. Cities were surrendered as he approached. The +two great battles which decided the fate of Persia—Issus +and Arbela—were gained at the first shock of his cavalry. +Darius fled from the field, in both instances, at the very +beginning of the battle, and made no real resistance. The +greater the number of Persian soldiers, the more disorderly +was the rout. The Macedonian soldiers fought retreating +armies in headlong flight. The slaughter of the Persians +was mere butchery. It was something like collecting a vast +number of birds in a small space, and shooting them when +collected in a corner, and dignifying the slaughter with a +grand name—not like chasing the deer over rocks and hills. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>It was his +passion to +conquer, not +reconstruct.</note> +The military genius of Alexander was seen in the +siege of the few towns which <emph>did</emph> resist, like Tyre +and Gaza; in his rapid marches; in the combination +of his forces; in the system, foresight, and sagacity +he displayed, conquering at the light time, marching upon +<pb n="377"/><anchor id="Pg377"/> +the right place, husbanding his energies, wasting no time in +expeditions which did not bear on the main issue, and concentrating +his men on points which were vital and important. +Philip, if he had lived, might have conquered the +Persian empire; but he would not have conquered so rapidly +as Alexander, who knew no rest, and advanced from conquering +to conquer, in some cases without ulterior objects, +as in the Indian campaigns—simply from the love and +excitement of conquest. He only needed time. He met no +enemies who could oppose him—more, I apprehend, from the +want of discipline among his enemies, than from any irresistible +strength of his soldiers, for he embodied the +conquered soldiers in his own army, and they fought +like his own troops, when once disciplined. Nor +did he dream of reconstruction, or building up a great central +power. He would, if he had lived, have overrun Arabia, +and then Italy, and Gaul. But he did not live to measure +his strength with the Romans. His mission was ended when +he had subdued the Persian world. And he left no successor. +His empire was divided among his generals, and new +kingdoms arose on the ruins of the Persian empire. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His early +history. His conquest +of the +Grecian +States.</note> +<q>Alexander was born <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 356, and like his father, Philip, +was not Greek, but a Macedonian and Epirot, only +partially imbued with Grecian sentiment and intelligence.</q> +He inherited the ambition of Philip, and the +violent and headstrong temperament of his furious mother, +Olympias. His education was good, and he was instructed +by his Greek tutors in the learning common to Grecian princes. +His taste inclined him to poetry and literature, rather than to +science and philosophy. At thirteen he was intrusted to +the care of the great Aristotle, and remained under his teaching +three years. At sixteen he was left regent of the Macedonian +kingdom, whose capital was Pella, while his father +was absent in the siege of Byzantium. At eighteen he commanded +one of the wings of the army at the battle of Chæronea. +His prospects were uncertain up to the very day +when Philip was assassinated, on account of family dissensions, +<pb n="378"/><anchor id="Pg378"/> +and the wrath of his father, whom he had displeased. +But he was proclaimed king on the death of Philip, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, 336 +and celebrated his funeral with great magnificence, and slew +many of his murderers. The death of Philip had excited +aspirations of freedom in the Grecian States, but there was +no combination to throw off the Macedonian yoke. Alexander +well understood the discontent of Greece, and his first +object was to bring it to abject submission. With the army +of his father he marched from State to State, compelling submission, +and punishing with unscrupulous cruelty all who +resisted. After displaying his forces in various +portions of the Peloponnesus, he repaired to Corinth +and convened the deputies from the Grecian cities, +and was chosen to the headship of Greece, as his father, +Philip, had been. He was appointed the keeper of the +peace of Greece. Each Hellenic city was declared free, and +in each the existing institutions were recognized, but no new +despot was to be established, and each city was forbidden to +send armed vessels to the harbor of any other, or build +vessels, or engage seamen there. Such was the melancholy +degradation of the Grecian world. Its freedom was extinguished, +and there was no hope of escaping the despotism +of Macedonia, but by invoking aid from the Persian king. +Had he been wise, he would have subsidized the Greeks with +a part of his vast treasures, and raised a force in Greece able +to cope with Alexander. But he was doomed, and the +Macedonian king was left free to complete the conquest of +all the States. He first marched across Mount Hæmus, and +subdued the Illyrians, Pæonians, and Thracians. He even +crossed the Danube, and defeated the Gætæ. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He annihilates +the +Theban +power. Moral effect +of his merciless +severity. He is master +of Greece.</note> +Just as he had completed the conquest of the barbarians +north of Macedonia, he heard that the Thebans had declared +their independence, being encouraged by his long +absence in Thrace, and by reports of his death. +But he suddenly appeared with his victorious +army, and as the Thebans had no generals equal to Pelopidas +and Epaminondas, they were easily subdued. Thebes +<pb n="379"/><anchor id="Pg379"/> +was taken by assault, and the population was massacred—even +women and children, whether in their houses or in +temples. Thirty thousand captives were reserved for sale. +The city was razed to the ground, and the Cadmea alone +was preserved for a Macedonian garrison. The Theban territory +was partitioned among the reconstructed cities of Orchomenus +and Platæa. This severity was unparalleled +in the history of Greece, but the remorseless +conqueror wished to strike with terror all other cities, and +prevent rebellion. He produced the effect he desired. All +the cities of Greece hastened to make peace with so terrible +an enemy. He threatened a like doom on Athens because +she refused to surrender the anti-Macedonian leaders, including +Demosthenes, but was finally appeased through the influence +of Phocion, since he did not wish to drive Athens to +desperate courses, which might have impeded his contemplated +conquest of Persia, for the city was still strong in +naval defenses, and might unite with the Persian king. So +Athens was spared, but the empire of Thebes was utterly +destroyed. He then repaired to Corinth to make arrangements +for his Persian campaign, and while in that +city he visited the cynical philosopher, Diogenes, +who lived in a tub. It is said that when the philosopher +was asked by Alexander if he wished any thing, he +replied: <q>Nothing, except that you would stand a little +out of my sunshine</q>—a reply which extorted from the +conqueror the remark: <q>If I were not Alexander, I would +be Diogenes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Prepares to +invade Persia.</note> +It took Alexander a year and a few months to crush out +what little remained of Grecian freedom, subdue +the Thracians, and collect forces for his expedition +into Persia. In the spring of 334 <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, his army was mustered +between Pella and Amphipolis, while his fleet was at hand +to render assistance. In April he crossed the strait from +Sestos to Abydos, and never returned to his own capital—Pella—or +to Europe. The remainder of his life, eleven years +and two months, was spent in Asia, in continued and increasing +<pb n="380"/><anchor id="Pg380"/> +conquests; and these were on such a gigantic scale that +Greece dwindled into insignificance. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He marshals +his forces in +Asia. +His phalanx +and the +armor of his +troops.</note> +When marshalled on the Asiatic shore, the army of Alexander +presented a total of thirty thousand infantry, +and four thousand five hundred cavalry—a small +force, apparently, to overthrow the most venerable and +extensive empire in the world. But these troops were +veterans, trained by Philip, and commanded by able generals. +Of these troops twelve thousand were Macedonians, +armed with the sarissa, a long pike, which made the phalanx, +sixteen deep, so formidable. The sarissa was twenty-one +feet in length, and so held by both hands as to project fifteen +feet before the body of the pikeman. The soldier +of the phalanx was also provided with a short +sword, a circular shield, a breastplate, leggings, +and broad-brimmed hat. But, besides the phalanx of heavy +armed men, there were hoplites lightly armed, hypaspists for +the assault of walled places, and troops with javelins and with +bows. The cavalry was admirable, distributed into squadrons, +among whom were the body-guards—all promoted out +of royal pages and the picked men of the army, sons of the +chief people in Macedonia, and these were heavily armed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His generals.</note> +The generals who served under Alexander were all Macedonians, +and had been trained by Philip. Among +these were Hephæstion, the intimate personal +friend of Alexander, Ptolemy, Perdiccas, Antipater, Clitus, +Parmenio, Philotas, Nicanor, Seleucus, Amyntas, Phillipes, +Lysimachus, Antigonas, most of whom reached great power. +Parmenio and Antipater were the highest in rank, the latter +of whom was left as viceroy of Macedonia, Eumenes was +the private secretary of Alexander, the most long-headed +man in his army. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alexander is unobstructed +in crossing the Hellespont. Error of the +Persians. Battle of the +Granicus. Alexander dispenses +with his fleet. Fall of +Miletus.</note> +Alexander had landed, unopposed, against the advice of +Memnon and Mentor—two Rhodians, in the service of +Darius, the king—descendants of one of the brothers +of Artaxerxes Mnemon—the children of King +Ochus, after his assassination, having all been +<pb n="381"/><anchor id="Pg381"/> +murdered by the eunuch Bagoas. As the Persians were +superior by sea to the Macedonians, it was an imprudence to +allow Alexander to cross the Hellespont without opposition; +but Memnon was overruled by the Persian satraps, who supposed +that they were more than a match for Alexander on +the land, and hoped to defeat him. Arsites, the Phrygian +satrap, commanded the Persian forces, assisted by +other satraps, and Persians of high rank, among +whom were Spithridates, satrap of Lydia and Ionia. The +cavalry of the Persians greatly outnumbered that of the +Macedonians, but the infantry was inferior. Memnon +advised the satraps to avoid fighting on the land, and +to employ the fleet for aggressive movements in Macedonia +and Greece, but Arsites rejected his advice. The +Persians took post on the river Granicus, near the town +of Parium, on one of the declivities of Mount Ida. Alexander +at once resolved to force the passage of the river, +taking the command of the right wing, and giving the +left to Parmenio. The battle was fought by the cavalry, in +which Alexander showed great personal courage. +At one time he was in imminent danger of his life, +from the cimeter of Spithridates, but Clitus saved him by +severing the uplifted arm of the satrap from his body with +his sword. The victory was complete, and great numbers of +the satraps were slain. There remained no force in Asia +Minor to resist the conqueror, and the Asiatics submitted in +terror and alarm. Alexander then sent Parmenio to subdue +Dascyleum, the stronghold of the satrap of Phrygia, while he +advanced to Sardis, the capital of Lydia, and the main station of +the Persians in Asia Minor. The citadel was considered impregnable, +yet such was the terror of the Persians, that both +city and citadel surrendered without a blow. Phrygia and +Lydia then fell into his hands, with immense treasure, of +which he stood in need. He then marched to Ephesus, +and entered the city without resistance, and +thus was placed in communication with his fleet, +under the command of Nicanor. He found no opposition +<pb n="382"/><anchor id="Pg382"/> +until he reached Miletus, which was encouraged to resist +him from the approach of the Persian fleet, four hundred +sail, chiefly of Phœnician and Cyprian ships, which, a +few weeks earlier, might have prevented his crossing into +Asia. But the Persian fleet did not arrive until the city was +invested, and the Macedonian fleet, of one hundred and sixty +sail, had occupied the harbor. Alexander declined to fight on +the sea, but pressed the siege on the land, so that the Persian +fleet, unable to render assistance, withdrew to Halicarnassus. +The city fell, and Alexander took the resolution of +disbanding his own fleet altogether, and concentrating +all his operations on the land—doubtless a wise, but +desperate measure. He supposed, and rightly, that after +he had taken the cities on the coast, the Persian fleet +would be useless, and the country would be insured to his +army. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The siege of +Halicarnassus. Conquest of Asia Minor.</note> +Alexander found some difficulty at the siege of Halicarnassus, +from the bravery of the garrison, commanded by Memnon, +and the strength of the defenses, aided by the Persian +fleet. But his soldiers, <q>protected from missiles by +movable pent-houses, called tortoises, gradually +filled up the deep and wide ditch round the town, so as to +open a level road for his engines (rolling towers of wood) to +come up close to the walls.</q> Then the battering-rams overthrew +the towers of the city wall, and made a breach in them, +so that the city was taken by assault. Memnon, forced to +abandon his defenses, withdrew the garrison by sea, and +Alexander entered the city. The ensuing winter months +were employed in the conquest of Lydia, Pamphylia, +and Pisidia, which was effected easily, since +the terror of his arms led to submission wherever he appeared. +At Gordium, in Phrygia, he performed the exploit +familiarly known as the cutting of the Gordian knot, which +was a cord so twisted and entangled, that no one could untie +it. The oracle had pronounced that to the person who +should untie it, the empire of Persia was destined. Alexander, +after many futile attempts to disentangle the knot, in a +<pb n="383"/><anchor id="Pg383"/> +fit of impatience, cut it with his sword, and this was accepted +as the solution of the problem. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Persians +resolve on offensive +operations.</note> +Meanwhile Memnon, to whom Darius had intrusted the +guardianship of the whole coast of Asia Minor, with a large +Phœnician fleet and a considerable body of Grecian mercenaries, +acquired the important island of Chios, and a large part +of Lesbos. But in the midst of his successes, he died of +sickness, and no one was left able to take his place. Had +his advice been taken, Alexander could not have landed in +Asia. His death was an irreparable loss to +Persian cause, and with his death vanished all hope +of employing the Persian force with wisdom and +effect. Darius now changed his policy, and resolved to carry +on offensive measures on the land. He therefore summoned a +vast army, from all parts of his empire, of five hundred +thousand infantry, and one hundred thousand cavalry. An +eminent Athenian, Charidemus, advised the Persian king to +employ his great treasure in subsidizing the Greeks, and not to +dream, with his undisciplined Asiatics, to oppose the +Macedonians in battle. But the advice was so unpalatable +to the proud and self-reliant king, in the midst of his vast +forces, that he looked upon Charidemus as a traitor, and sent +him to execution. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Neglect to guard the mountain passes. +Which Alexander passes through unobstructed. +Infatuation and errors of the Persians. +The Persians advance to Issus.</note> +It would not have been difficult for Darius to defend his +kingdom, had he properly guarded the mountain passes +through which Alexander must needs march to invade +Persia. Here again Darius was infatuated, +and he, in his self-confidence, left the passes over +Mount Taurus and Mount Amanus undefended. Alexander, +with re-enforcements from Macedonia, now marched from +Gordium through Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, whose inhabitants +made instant submission, and advanced to the Cilician +Gates—an impregnable pass in the Taurus range, which +opened the way to Cilicia. It had been traversed +seventy years before by Cyrus the Younger, with +the ten thousand Greeks, and was the main road +from Asia Minor into Cilicia and Syria. The narrowest part +<pb n="384"/><anchor id="Pg384"/> +of this defile allowed only four soldiers abreast, and here +Darius should have taken his stand, even as the Greeks took +possession of Thermopylæ in the invasion of Xerxes. But +the pass was utterly undefended, and Alexander marched +through unobstructed without the loss of a man. He then +found himself at Tarsus, where he made a long halt, from a +dangerous illness which he got by bathing in the river +Cydnus. When he recovered, he sent Parmenio to secure the +pass over Mount Amanus, six days' march from Tarsus, called +the Cilician Gates. These were defended, but the guard fled +at the approach of the Macedonians, and this important defile +was secured. Alexander then marched through Issus to +Myriandrus, to the south of the Cilician Gates, which he had +passed. The Persians now advanced from Sochi +and appeared in his rear at Issus—a vast host, in +the midst of which was Darius with his mother, his wife, his +harem, and children, who accompanied him to witness his +anticipated triumph, for it seemed to him an easy matter to +overwhelm and crush the invaders, who numbered only +about forty thousand men. So impatient was Darius to +attack Alexander that he imprudently advanced into Cilicia +by the northern pass, now called Beylan, with all his army, +so that in the narrow defiles of that country his cavalry was +nearly useless. He encamped near Issus, on the river +Pinarus. Alexander, learning that Darius was in his rear, +retraced his steps, passed north through the Gates of Cilicia, +through which he had marched two days before, and advanced +to the river Pinarus, on the north bank of +which Darius was encamped. And here Darius +resolved to fight. He threw across the river thirty thousand +cavalry and twenty thousand infantry, to insure the undisturbed +formation of his main force. His main line was composed +of ninety thousand hoplites, of which thirty thousand +were Greek in the centre. On the mountain to his left, he +posted twenty thousand, to act against the right wing of the +Macedonian army. He then recalled the thirty thousand +cavalry and twenty thousand infantry, which he had sent +<pb n="385"/><anchor id="Pg385"/> +across the river, and awaited the onset of Alexander, +Darius was in his chariot, in the centre, behind the Grecian +hoplites. But the ground was so uneven, that only a part of +his army could fight. A large proportion of it were mere +spectators. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The great and decisive battle of Issus.</note> +Alexander advanced to the attack. The left-wing was +commanded by Parmenio, and the right by himself, +on which were placed the Macedonian cavalry. +The divisions of the phalanx were in the centre, +and the Peloponnesian cavalry and Thracian light infantry on +the left. The whole front extended only one and a half mile. +Crossing the river rapidly, Alexander, at the head of his +cavalry, light infantry, and some divisions of the phalanx, +fell suddenly upon the Asiatic hoplites which were stationed +on the Persian left. So impetuous and unexpected was the +charge, that the troops instantly fled, vigorously pressed by +the Macedonian right. Darius, from his chariot, saw the +flight of his left wing, and, seized with sudden panic, caused +his chariot to be turned, and fled also among the foremost fugitives. +In his terror he cast away his bow, shield, and regal +mantle. He did not give a single order, nor did he remain +a moment after the defeat of his left, as he ought, for he +was behind thirty thousand Grecian hoplites, in the centre, +but abandoned himself to inglorious flight, and this was the +signal for a general flight also of all his troops, who turned +and trampled each other down in their efforts to get beyond +the reach of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mistakes of the Persians, and +the cowardice of Darius.</note> +Thus the battle was lost by the giving way of the Asiatic +hoplites on the left, and the flight of Darius in a +few minutes after. The Persian right showed +some bravery, till Alexander, having completed +the rout of the left, turned to attack the Grecian mercenaries +in the flank and rear, when all fled in terror. The +slaughter of the fugitives was prodigious. The camp of +Darius was taken, with his mother, wife, sister, and children. +One hundred thousand Persians were slain, not in +<emph>fight</emph>, but in <emph>flight</emph>, and among them were several eminent +<pb n="386"/><anchor id="Pg386"/> +satraps and grandees. The Persian hosts were completely +dispersed, and Darius did not stop till he had crossed the +Euphrates. The booty acquired was immense, in gold, +silver, and captives. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Important consequences of the battle.</note> +Such was the decisive battle of Issus, where the cowardice +and incompetency of Darius were more marked than the +generalship of Alexander himself. No victory was ever +followed by more important consequences. It +dispersed the Persian hosts, and opened Persia to +a victorious enemy, and gave an irresistible prestige to the +conqueror. The fall of the empire was rendered probable, +and insured successive triumphs to Alexander. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The flight and inaction of Darius.</note> +But before he proceeded to the complete conquest of the Persian +empire, Alexander, like a prudent and far-reaching +general, impetuous as he was, concluded to subdue +first all the provinces which lay on the coast, and thus +make the Persian fleet useless, and ultimately capture it, and +leave his rear without an enemy. Accordingly he sent Parmenio +to capture Damascus, where were collected immense +treasures. It was surrendered without resistance though it +was capable of sustaining a siege. There were captured vast +treasures, with prodigious numbers of Persians of high rank, +and many illustrious Greek exiles. Master of Damascus, +Alexander, in the winter of <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 331, advanced upon Phœnicia, +the cities of which mostly sent letters of submission. While +at Maranthus, Darius wrote to Alexander, asking for the +restitution of his wife, mother, sister, and daughter, and tendering +friendship, to which Alexander replied in a haughty +letter, demanding to be addressed, not as an equal, but as +lord of Asia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The siege of Tyre. Its fall.</note> +The last hope of Darius was in the Phœnicians, who furnished +him ships; and one city remained firm in its allegiance—Tyre—the +strongest and most important place in Phœnicia. +But even this city would have yielded on fair and honorable +conditions. This did not accord with Alexander's views, +who made exorbitant demands, which could not be accepted +by the Tyrians without hazarding their all. Accordingly +<pb n="387"/><anchor id="Pg387"/> +they prepared for a siege, trusting to the impregnable defenses +of the city. It was situated on an islet, half +a mile from the main land, surrounded by lofty +walls and towers of immense strength and thickness. But +nothing discouraged Alexander, who loved to surmount +difficulties. He constructed a mole from the main land to +the islet, two hundred feet wide, of stone and timber, which +was destroyed by a storm and by the efforts of the Tyrians. +Nothing daunted, he built another, still wider and stronger, +and repaired to Sidon, where he collected a great fleet, with +which he invested the city by sea, as well as land. The doom +of the city was now sealed, and the Tyrians could offer no +more serious obstructions. The engines were then rolled +along the mole to the walls, and a breach was at last +made, and the city was taken by assault. The citizens then +barricaded the streets, and fought desperately until they +were slain. The surviving soldiers were hanged, and the +women and children sold as slaves. Still the city resisted +for seven months, and its capture was really the +greatest effort of genius that Alexander had shown, +and furnished an example to Richelieu in the siege of La +Rochelle. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Offer of Darius. +Rejected by Alexander.</note> +On the fall of this ancient and wealthy capital, whose +pride and wealth are spoken of in the Scriptures, Alexander +received a second letter from Darius, offering +ten thousand talents, his daughter in marriage, with the +cession of all the provinces of his empire west +of the Euphrates, for the surrender of his family. +To which the haughty and insolent conqueror replied: <q>I +want neither your money nor your cession. All your money +and territory are mine already, and you are tendering +me a part instead of the whole. If I choose +to marry your daughter I <emph>shall</emph> marry her, whether you give +her to me or not. Come hither to me, if you wish for +friendship.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Who conquers Egypt.</note> +Darius now saw that he must risk another desperate battle, +and summoned all his hosts. Yet Alexander did not +<pb n="388"/><anchor id="Pg388"/> +immediately march against him, but undertook first the conquest +of Egypt. Syria, Phœnicia, and Palestine +were now his, as well as Asia Minor. He had also +defeated the Persian fleet, and was master of all the islands +of the Ægean. He stopped on his way to Egypt to take +Gaza, which held out against him, built on a lofty artificial +mound two hundred and fifty feet high, and encircled with a +lofty wall. The Macedonian engineers pronounced the place +impregnable, but the greater the difficulty the greater the +eagerness of Alexander to surmount it. He accordingly +built a mound all around the city, as high as that on which +Gaza was built, and then rolled his engines to the wall, +effected a breach, and stormed the city, slew all the garrison, +and sold all the women and children for slaves. As +for Batis, the defender of the city, he was dragged by a +chariot around the town, as Achilles, whom Alexander imitated, +had done to the dead body of Hector. The siege of +these two cities, Tyre and Gaza, occupied nine months, and +was the hardest fighting that Alexander ever encountered. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Founding of Alexandria.</note> +He entered and occupied Egypt without resistance, and +resolved to found a new city, near the mouth of +the Nile, not as a future capital of the commercial +world, but as a depot for his ships. While he was preparing +for this great work, he visited the temple of Jupiter Ammon +in the desert, and was addressed by the priests as the Son of +God, not as a mortal, which flattery was agreeable to him, so +that ever afterward he claimed divinity, in the arrogance of +his character, and the splendor of his successes, and even slew +the man who saved his life at the Granicus, because he denied +his divine claims—the most signal instance of self-exaggeration +and pride recorded in history, transcending both Nebuchadnezzar +and Napoleon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alexander marches to the Euphrates.</note> +After arranging his affairs in Egypt, and obtaining re-enforcements +of Greeks and Thracians, he set out +for the Euphrates, which he crossed at Thapsacus, +unobstructed—another error of the Persians. +But Darius was paralyzed by the greatness of his misfortunes, +<pb n="389"/><anchor id="Pg389"/> +and by the capture of his family, and could not act +with energy or wisdom. He collected his vast hosts on a +plain near Arbela, east of the Tigris, and waited for the approach +of the enemy. He had one million of infantry, forty +thousand cavalry, and two hundred scythed chariots, besides +a number of elephants. He placed himself in the centre, +with his choice troops, including the horse and foot-guards, +and mercenary Greeks. In the rear stood deep masses of +Babylonians, and on the left, and right, Bactrians, Cadusians, +Medes, Albanians, and troops from the remote provinces. In +the front of Darius, were the scythed chariots with advanced +bodies of cavalry. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Marshalling of the armies at Arbela.</note> +Alexander, as he approached, ranged his forces with great +care and skill, forty thousand foot and seven thousand +horse. His main line was composed, on the +right, of choice cavalry; then, toward the left, of hypaspists; +then the phalanx, in six divisions, which formed the centre; +then Greek cavalry on the extreme left. Behind the main +line was a body of reserves, intended to guard against +attack on the flanks and rear. In front of the main line were +advanced squadrons of cavalry and light troops. The Thracian +infantry guarded the baggage and camp. He himself +commanded the right, and Parmenio the left. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Utter discomfiture of Darius. +His inglorious flight. +The battle of Arbela a death-blow to Persia. +Military genius of the conqueror.</note> +Darius, at the commencement of the attack, ordered his +chariots to charge, and the main line to follow, calculating on +disorder. But the horses of the chariots were terrified and +wounded by the Grecian archers and darters in +front, and most turned round, or were stopped. +Those that pressed on were let through the Macedonian lines +without mischief. As at Issus, Alexander did not attack the +centre, where Darius was surrounded with the choicest troops +of the army, but advanced impetuously upon the left wing, +turned it, and advanced by a flank movement toward the +centre, where Darius was posted. The Persian king, seeing +the failure of the chariots, and the advancing troops +of Alexander, lost his self-possession, turned his +chariot, and fled, as at Issus. Such folly and cowardice led, +<pb n="390"/><anchor id="Pg390"/> +of course, to instant defeat and rout; and nothing was left for +the victor, but to pursue and destroy the disorderly fugitives, +so that the slaughter was immense. But while the left +and centre of the Persians were put to flight, the right fought +vigorously, and might have changed the fortune of the day, +had not Alexander seasonably returned from the pursuit, +and attacked the left in the rear and flank. Then all was +lost, and headlong flight marked the Persian hosts. The +battle was lost by the cowardice of Darius, who insisted, +with strange presumption, on commanding in person. Half +the troops, under an able general, would have overwhelmed +the Macedonian army, even with Alexander at the head. +But the Persians had no leader of courage and skill, and were +a mere rabble. According to some accounts, three hundred +thousand Persians were slain, and not more than one hundred +Macedonians. There was no attempt on the part of +Darius to rally or collect a new army. His cause and throne +were irretrievably lost, and he was obliged to fly to his farthest +provinces, pursued by the conqueror. The battle of +Arbela was the death-blow to the Persian empire. +We can not help feeling sentiments of indignation +in view of such wretched management on the part +of the Persians, thus throwing away an empire. But, on the +other hand, we are also compelled to admit the extraordinary +generalship of Alexander, who brought into action +every part of his army, while at least three-quarters +of the Persians were mere spectators, so that his available +force was really great. His sagacious combinations, his +perception of the weak points of his adversary, and the instant +advantage which he seized—his insight, rapidity of movement, +and splendid organization, made him irresistible against +any Persian array of numbers, without skill. Indeed, the +Persian army was too large, since it could not be commanded +by one man with any effect, and all became confusion and +ruin on the first misfortune. The great generals of antiquity, +Greek and Roman, rarely commanded over fifty thousand +men on the field of battle; and fifty thousand, under Alexander's +<pb n="391"/><anchor id="Pg391"/> +circumstances, were more effective, perhaps, than +two hundred thousand. In modern times, when battles are +not decided by personal bravery, but by the number and +disposition of cannon, and the excellence of firearms, an +army of one hundred thousand can generally overwhelm an +army of fifty thousand, with the same destructive weapons. +But in ancient times, the impetuous charge of twenty thousand +men on a single point, followed by success, would produce +a panic, and then a rout, when even flight is obstructed +by numbers. Thus Alexander succeeded both at Issus and +Arbela. He concentrated forces upon a weak point, which, +when carried, produced a panic, and especially sent dismay +into the mind of Darius, who had no nerve or self-control. +Had he remained firm, and only fought on the defensive, the +Macedonians might not have prevailed. But he fled; and +confusion seized, of course, his hosts. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Surrender of Babylon and Susa.</note> +Both Babylon and Susa, the two great capitals of the +empire, immediately surrendered after the decisive +battle of Arbela, and Alexander became the great +king and Darius a fugitive. The treasure found at Susa was +even greater than that which Babylon furnished—about +fifty thousand talents, or fifty million dollars, one-fifth of +which, three years before, would have been sufficient to subsidize +Greece, and present a barrier to the conquests of both +Philip and Alexander. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The enormous treasures of the Persian +Kings.</note> +The victor spent a month in Babylon, sacrificing to the +Babylonian deities, feasting his troops, and organizing his +new empire. He then marched into Persia proper, +subdued the inhabitants, and entered Persepolis. +Though it was the strongest place in the empire, +it made no resistance. Here were hoarded the chief treasures +of the Persian kings, no less than one hundred and +twenty thousand talents, or about one hundred and twenty +million dollars of our money—an immense sum in gold and +silver in that age, a tenth of which, judiciously spent, would +have secured the throne to Darius against any exterior +enemy. He was now a fugitive in Media, and thither Alexander +<pb n="392"/><anchor id="Pg392"/> +went at once in pursuit, giving himself no rest. He +established himself at Ecbatana, the capital, without resistance, +and made preparations for the invasion of the eastern +part of the Persian empire, beyond the Parthian desert, +even to the Oxus and the Indus, inhabited by warlike barbarians, +from which were chiefly recruited the Persian armies. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Successive conquests of Alexander.</note> +It would be tedious to describe the successive conquests of +Sogdiana, Margiana, Bactriana, and even some +territory beyond the Indus. Alexander never met +from these nations the resistance which Cæsar found in Gaul, +nor were his battles in these eastern countries remarkable. +He only had to appear, and he was master. At last his +troops were wearied of these continual marchings and easy +victories, when their real enemies were heat, hunger, thirst, +fatigue, and toil. They refused to follow their general and +king any further to the east, and he was obliged to return. +Yet some seven years were consumed in marches and conquests +in these remote countries, for he penetrated to Scythia +at the north, and the mouth of the Indus to the south. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He kills his friend Clitus. +Agony and remorse of Alexander.</note> +It was in the expeditions among these barbarians that +some of the most disgraceful events of his life took place. +He seldom rested, but when he had leisure he indulged +in great excesses at the festive board. His +revelries with his officers were prolonged often during the +night, and when intoxicated, he did things which gave +him afterward the deepest remorse and shame. Thus +he killed, with his own hand, Clitus, at a feast, because +Clitus ventured to utter some truths which were in +opposition to his notions of omnipotence. But the agony +of remorse was so great, that he remained in +bed three whole days and nights immediately +after, refusing all food and drink. He also killed Philotas, +one of his most trusted generals, and commander of his body-guard, +on suspicion of treachery, and then, without other +cause than fear of the anger of his father, Parmenio, he +caused that old general to be assassinated at Ecbatana, in +command of the post—the most important in his dominions—where +<pb n="393"/><anchor id="Pg393"/> +his treasures were deposited. He savagely mutilated +Bessus, the satrap, who stood out against him in Bactria. +Callisthenes, one of the greatest philosophers of the age, +was tortured and assassinated for alleged complexity in a +conspiracy, but he really incurred the hatred of the monarch +for denying his claim to divinity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He penetrates to the Indus. +Porus.</note> +In the spring of <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 326, Alexander crossed the Indus, +but met with no resistance until he reached the +river Hydaspes (Jhylum) on the other side of which, +Porus, an Indian prince, disputed his passage, with a formidable +force and many trained elephants—animals which the +Macedonians had never before encountered. By a series of +masterly combinations Alexander succeeded in crossing the +river, and the combat commenced. But the Indians could +not long withstand the long pikes and close combats of the +Greeks, and were defeated with great loss. Porus +himself, a prince of gigantic stature, mounted on an +elephant, was taken, after having fought with great courage. +Carried into the presence of the conqueror, Alexander asked +him what, he wished to be done for him, for his gallantry and +physical strength excited admiration. Porus replied that he +wished to be treated as a king, which answer still more excited +the admiration of the Greeks. He was accordingly +treated with the utmost courtesy and generosity, and retained +as an ally. Alexander was capable of great magnanimity, +when he was not opposed. He was kind to the family +of Darius, both before and after his assassination by the +satrap Bessus. And his munificence to his soldiers was +great, and he never lost their affections. But he was cruel +and sanguinary in his treatment of captives who had made +him trouble, putting thousands to the sword in cold blood. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The soldiers of Alexander refuse to advance +further to the East.</note> +As before mentioned, the soldiers were wearied with victories +and hardships, without enjoyments, and +longed to return to Europe. Hence Sangala, in +India, was the easternmost point to which he penetrated. +On returning to the river Hydaspes, he constructed +a fleet of two thousand boats, in which a part of his +<pb n="394"/><anchor id="Pg394"/> +army descended the river with himself, while another part +marched along its banks. He sailed slowly down the river +to its junction with the Indus, and then to the Indian ocean. +This voyage occupied nine months, but most of the time was +employed in subduing the various people who opposed his +march. On reaching the ocean, he was astonished and interested +by the ebbing and flowing of the tide—a new phenomenon +to him. The fleet was conducted from the mouth +of the Indus, round by the Persian Gulf to the mouth of the +Tigris—a great nautical achievement in those days; but he +himself, with the army, marched westward through deserts, +undergoing great fatigues and sufferings, and with a great +loss of men, horses, and baggage. At Carmania he halted, +and the army for seven days was abandoned to drunken +festivities. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He returns to Persepolis. +His abandonment to pleasure.</note> +On returning to Persepolis, in Persia, he visited and repaired +the tomb of Cyrus, the greatest conqueror +the world had seen before himself. In February, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 324, he marched to Susa, where he spent several months +in festivities and in organizing his great government, since +he no longer had armies to oppose. He now surrounded +himself with the pomp of the Persian kings, wore their +dress, and affected their habits, much to the disgust +of his Macedonian generals. He had married +a beautiful captive—Roxana, in Bactria, and he now took +two additional wives, Statira, daughter of Darius, and Parysatis, +daughter of King Ochus. He also caused his principal +officers to marry the daughters of the old Persian grandees, +and seemed to forget the country from which he came, +and which he was destined never again to see. Here also he +gave a donation to his soldiers of twenty thousand talents—about +five hundred dollars to each man. But even this did +not satisfy them, and when new re-enforcements arrived, the +old soldiers mutinied. He disbanded the whole of them in +anger, and gave them leave to return to their homes, but +they were filled with shame and regret, and a reconciliation +took place. +</p> + +<pb n="395"/><anchor id="Pg395"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Hephæstion and grief of Alexander.</note> +It was while he made a visit to Ecbatana, in the summer +of <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 324, that his favorite, Hephæstion, died. +His sorrow and grief were unbounded. He cast +himself upon the ground, cut his hair close, and +refused food and drink for two days. This was the most +violent grief he ever manifested, and it was sincere. He refused +to be comforted, yet sought for a distraction from his +grief in festivals and ostentation of life. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His entrance into Babylon. +Splendor of the funeral of Hephæstion. +Death of Alexander.</note> +In the spring of <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 323, he marched to Babylon, where +were assembled envoys from all the nations of the +known world to congratulate him for his prodigious +and unprecedented successes, and invoke his friendship, +which fact indicates his wide-spread fame. At Babylon he +laid plans and made preparations for the circumnavigation +and conquest of Arabia, and to found a great maritime city +in the interior of the Persian Gulf. But before setting out, +he resolved to celebrate the funeral obsequies of Hephæstion +with unprecedented splendor. The funeral pile +was two hundred feet high, loaded with costly +decorations, in which all the invention of artists +was exhausted. It cost twelve thousand talents, or twelve +million dollars of our money. The funeral ceremonies were +succeeded by a general banquet, in which he shared, passing +a whole night in drinking with his friend Medius. This last +feast was fatal. His heated blood furnished fuel for the +raging fever which seized him, and which carried +him off in a few days, at the age of thirty-two, +and after a reign of twelve years and eight months, June, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 323. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His boundless ambition. +His death a fortunate event. +Effects of his conquests.</note> +He indicated no successor. Nor could one man have governed +so vast an empire with so little machinery of government. +His achievements threw into the shade those of all +previous conquerors, and he was, most emphatically, the +Great King—the type of all worldly power. <q>He +had mastered, in defiance of fatigue, hardship, +and combat, not merely all the eastern half of the Persian +empire, but unknown Indian regions beyond. Besides Macedon, +<pb n="396"/><anchor id="Pg396"/> +Greece, and Thrace, he possessed all the treasures and +forces which rendered the Persian king so formidable,</q> and +he was exalted to all this power and grandeur by conquest +at an age when a citizen of Athens was intrusted with important +commands, and ten years less than the age for a +Roman consul. But he was unsatisfied, and is said to have +wept that there were no more worlds to conquer. He would, +had he lived, doubtless have encountered the Romans, and +all their foes, and added Italy and Spain and Carthage to his +empire. But there is a limit to human successes, and when +his work of chastisement of the nations was done, he died. +But he left a fame never since surpassed, and <q>he overawes +the imagination more than any personage of antiquity.</q> He +had transcendent merits as a general, but he was much indebted +to fortunate circumstances. He thought of new conquests, +rather than of consolidating what he had made, so +that his empire must naturally be divided and subdivided +at his death. Though divided and subdivided, the +effect of those conquests remained to future generations, +and had no small effect on civilization, and yet, instead +of Hellenizing Asia, he rather Asiatized Hellas. That process, +so far as it was carried out, is due to his generals—the Diadochi—Antigonas, +Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, &c., who +divided between them the empire. But Hellenism in reality +never to a great extent passed into Asia. The old Oriental +habits and sentiments and intellectual qualities +remained, and have survived all succeeding conquests. +Oriental habits and opinions rather invaded the +western world with the progress of wealth and luxury. +Asia, by the insidious influences of effeminated habits, undermined +Greece, and even Rome, rather than received from +Europe new impulses or sentiments, or institutions. A new +and barbarous country may prevail, by the aid of hardy +warriors, adventurous and needy, over the civilized nations +which have been famous for a thousand years, but the conquered +country almost invariably has transmitted its habits +and institutions among the conquerors, so much more majestic +<pb n="397"/><anchor id="Pg397"/> +are ideas than any display of victorious brute forces. +Dynasties are succeeded by dynasties, but civilization survives, +when any material exists on which it can work. +</p> + +<p> +Athens was never a greater power in the world than at +the time her political ruin was consummated. Hence the +political changes of nations, which form the bulk of all histories, +are insignificant in comparison with those ideas and +institutions which gradually transform the habits and opinions +of ordinary life. Yet it is these silent and gradual +changes which escape the notice of historians, and are the +most difficult to be understood and explained, for lack of +sufficient and definite knowledge. Moreover, it is the feats +of extraordinary individuals in stirring enterprise and heroism +which have thus far proved the great attraction of past +ages to ordinary minds. No history, truly philosophical, +would be extensively read by any people, in any age, and +least of all by the young, in the process of education. +</p> + +<p> +The remaining history of Greece has little interest until +the Roman conquests, which will be presented in the next +book. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n="398"/><anchor id="Pg398"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="BOOK III. THE ROMAN EMPIRE."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="BOOK III."/> +<head type="sub">BOOK III.</head> +<head>THE ROMAN EMPIRE.</head> + +<div> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXVI. ROME IN ITS INFANCY, UNDER KINGS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXVI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXVI.</head> +<head>ROME IN ITS INFANCY, UNDER KINGS.</head> + +<p> +In presenting the growth of that great power which +gradually absorbed all other States and monarchies so as to +form the largest empire ever known on earth, I shall omit a +notice of all other States, in Italy and Europe, until they +were brought into direct collision with Rome herself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Obscurity of the early history of Rome.</note> +The early history of Rome is involved in obscurity, and +although many great writers have expended vast +learning and ingenuity in tracing the origin of +the city and its inhabitants, still but little has been established +on an incontrovertible basis. We look to poetry and +legends for the foundation of the <q>Eternal City.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Æneas.</note> +These legends are of peculiar interest. Æneas, in his +flight from Troy, after many adventures, reaches +Italy, marries the daughter of Latinus, king of the +people, who then lived in Latium, and builds a city, which he +names Lavinium, and unites his Trojan followers with the +aboriginal inhabitants. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Latium. +Foundation of Rome.</note> +Latium was a small country, bounded on the north by the +Tiber, on the East by the Liris and Vinius, and on +the south and west by the Tuscan Sea. It was immediately +surrounded by the Etruscans, Sabines, Equi, and +<pb n="399"/><anchor id="Pg399"/> +Marsi. When Latium was originally settled we do not +know, but the people doubtless belonged to the Indo-European +race, kindred to the early settlers of Europe. +Latium was a plain, inclosed by mountains and traversed +by the Tiber, of about seven hundred square miles. Between +the Alban Lake and the Alban Mount, was Alba—the +original seat of the Latin race, and the mother city of Rome. +Here, according to tradition, reigned Ascanius, the son of +Æneas, and his descendants for three hundred years were +the Latin tribes. After eleven generations of kings, Amulius +usurps the throne, which belonged to Numitor, the elder +brother, and dooms his only daughter, Silvia, to perpetual +virginity as a Vestal. Silvia, visited by a god, gives birth to +twins, Romulus and Remus. The twins, exposed by the order +of Amulius, are suckled by a she-wolf, and brought up by +one of the king's herdsmen. They feed their flocks on the +Palatine, but a quarrel ensuing between them and the herdsmen +of Numitor on the Aventine, their royal origin is discovered, +and the restoration of Numitor is effected. But +the twins resolve to found a city, and Rome +arises on the Palatine, an asylum for outlaws and +slaves, who are provided with wives by the <q>rape of the +Sabine women.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The early inhabitants. +Rome founded in violence.</note> +Thus, according to the legends, was the foundation of +Rome, on a hill about fourteen miles from the mouth of the +Tiber, and on a site less healthy than the old Latin towns, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 751, or 753. According to the speculations of Mommsen, +it would seem that Rome was at a very early period the +resort of a lawless band of men, who fortified +themselves on the Palatine, and perhaps other +hills, and robbed the small merchants, who sailed up and +down the Tiber, as well as the neighboring rural population, +even as the feudal barons intrenched themselves on hills overlooking +plains and rivers. But all theories relating to the +foundation of Rome are based either on legend or speculation. +Until we arrive at certain facts, I prefer those based on legend, +such as have been accepted for more than two thousand years. +<pb n="400"/><anchor id="Pg400"/> +It is but little consequence whether Romulus and Remus are +real characters, or poetic names. This is probable, that the +situation of Rome was favorable in ancient times +for rapine, even if it were not a healthy locality. +The first beginnings of Rome were violence and robbery, +and the murder of Remus by Romulus is a type of its early +history, and whole subsequent career. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Sabine element of Rome.</note> +Romulus and his associate outlaws, now intrenched on +the Palatine, organize a city and government, and +extend the limits. The rape of the Sabines leads +to war, and Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, obtains possession +of the Capitoline Hill—the smallest but most famous +of the seven hills on which Rome was subsequently built. +In the valley between, on which the forum was afterward +built, the combatants are separated by the Sabine wives of +the outlaws, and the tribes or nations are united under the +name of Ramnes and Tities, the Sabines retaining the capitol +and the Quirinal, and the Romans the Palatine. Some +Etruscans, in possession of the Cælian Hill, are incorporated +as a third tribe, called Luceres. But it is probable that the +Sabine element prevailed. Each tribe contains ten curiæ of +a hundred citizens, which, with the three hundred horsemen, +form a body of three thousand three hundred citizens, who +alone enjoyed political rights. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The constitution.</note> +The government, though monarchical, was limited. The +king was bound to lay all questions of moment before the +assembly of the thirty curiæ, called the <hi rend='italic'>Comitia Curiata</hi>. But +the king had a council called the <hi rend='italic'>Senate</hi>, composed +of one hundred members, who were called <hi rend='italic'>Patres</hi>, +or Fathers, and doubtless were the heads of clans called +<hi rend='italic'>Gentes</hi>. The Gentes were divided +into <hi rend='italic'>Familiæ</hi>, or families. +These <hi rend='italic'>Patres</hi> were the heads of the patrician houses—that +class who alone had political rights, and who were Roman +citizens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Numa Pompilius.</note> +Romulus is said to have reigned justly and ably for thirty-seven +years, and no one could be found worthy to +succeed him. At length the Roman tribe, the +<pb n="401"/><anchor id="Pg401"/> +Ramnes, elected Numa Pompilius, from the Sabines, a man +of wisdom and piety, and said to have acquired his learning +from Pythagoras. This king instituted the religious and +civil legislation of Rome, and built the temple of Janus in +the midst of the Forum, whose doors were shut in peace and +opened in war, but were never closed from his death to the +reign of Augustus, but a brief period after the first Punic +war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Establishment of religion.</note> +He established the College of Pontiffs, who directed all +the ceremonies of religion and regulated festivals +and the system of weights and measures; also the +College of Augurs, who interpreted by various omens the +will of the gods; and also the College of Heralds, who +guarded the public faith. He fixed the boundaries of fields, +divided the territory of Rome into districts, called <hi rend='italic'>pagi</hi>, and +regulated the calendar. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tullus Hostilius. +The Horatii and the Curiatii.</note> +According to the legends, Tullus Hostilius was the third +king of Rome, elected by the curiæ. He assigned +the Cælian Mount for the poor, and the strangers +who flocked to Rome, and was a warlike sovereign. The +great event of his reign was the destruction of Alba. The +growing power of Rome provoked the jealousy of this +ancient seat of Latin power, and war ensued. The armies +of the two States were drawn up in battle array, when it +was determined that the quarrel should be settled by three +champions, chosen from each side. Hence the beautiful +story of the Curiatii and the Horatii, three brothers +on each side. Two of the Horatii were slain, and +the three Curiatii were wounded. The third of the Horatii +affected to fly, and was pursued by the Curiatii, but as they +were wounded, the third Roman subdued them in detail, and +so the Albans became subjects of the Romans. The conqueror +met his sister at one of the gates, who, being betrothed +to one of the Curiatii, reproached him for the death +of her lover, which so incensed him that he slew her. Thus +early does patriotism surmount natural affections among the +Romans. But Horatius was nevertheless tried for his life by +<pb n="402"/><anchor id="Pg402"/> +two judges and condemned. He appealed to the people, +who reversed the judgment—the first instance on record +of an appeal in a capital case to the people, which subsequently +was the right of Roman citizens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Destruction of Alba.</note> +Hostilities again breaking out between Alba and Rome, +the former city was demolished and the inhabitants +removed to the Cæilian Mount and enrolled among +the citizens. By the destruction of Alba, Rome obtained +the presidency over the thirty cities of the Latin confederacy. +Tullus, it would seem, was an unscrupulous king, but able, +and to him is ascribed the erection of the Curia Hostilia, +where the Senate had its meetings. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The origin of plebians.</note> +The Sabine Ancus Martius was the fourth king, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 640, +who pursued the warlike policy of his predecessor, conquering +many Latin towns, and incorporating their inhabitants +with the Romans, whom he settled on Mount Aventine. +They were freemen, but not citizens. They were called +plebeians, with modified civil, but not political +rights, and were the origin of that great middle +class which afterward became so formidable. The plebeians, +though of the same race as the Romans, were a conquered +people, and yet were not reduced to slavery like most conquered +people among the ancients. They had their Gentes +and Familiæ, but they could not intermarry with the patricians. +Though they were not citizens, they were bound to +fight for the State, for which, as a compensation, they +retained their lands, that is, their old possessions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tarquinius Priscus.</note> +On the death, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 616, of Ancus Marlius, Lucius Tarquinius, +of an Etruscan family, became king, best known as +Tarquinius Priscus. He had been guardian of the +two sons of Ancus, but offered himself as candidate +for the throne, from which it would appear that the +monarchs were elected by the people. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His public work.</note> +He carried on successful war against the Latins and +Sabines, and introduced from Etruria, by permission of the +Senate, a golden crown, an ivory chain, a sceptre topped +with an eagle, and a crimson robe studded with gold—emblems +<pb n="403"/><anchor id="Pg403"/> +of royalty. But he is best known for various +public works of great magnificence at the time, as +well as of public utility. Among these was the +Cloaca Maxima, to drain the marshy land between the Palatine +and the Tiber—a work so great, that Niebuhr ranks it +with the pyramids. It has lasted, without the displacement +of a stone, for more than two thousand years. It shows that +the use of the arch was known at that period. The masonry +of the stones is perfect, joined together without cement. +Tarquin also instituted public games, and reigned with more +splendor than we usually associate with an infant State. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Servius Tullius.</note> +This king, who excited the jealousy of the patricians, was +assassinated <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 578, and Servius Tullius reigned +in his stead. He was the greatest of the Roman +kings, and arose to his position by eminent merit, being +originally obscure. He married the daughter of Tarquin, +and shared all his political plans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His reforms.</note> +He is most celebrated for remodeling the constitution. He +left the old institutions untouched, but added new ones. He +made a new territorial division of the State, and created a +popular assembly. He divided the whole population into +thirty tribes, at the head of each of which was a +tribune. Each tribe managed its own local affairs, +and held public meetings. These tribes included both patricians +and plebeians. This was the commencement of the +power of the plebs, which was seen with great jealousy by +the patricians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Based on property. +New division of the people.</note> +The basis or principle of the new organization of Servius +was the possession of property. All free citizens, +whether patricians or plebeians, were called to defend +the State, and were enrolled in the army. The equites, +or cavalry, took the precedence in the army, and was composed +of the wealthy citizens. There were eighteen centuries +of these knights, six patrician and twelve plebeian, all +having more than one hundred thousand ases. They were +armed with sword, spear, helmet, shield, greaves, and cuirass. +The infantry was composed of the classes, variously armed, +<pb n="404"/><anchor id="Pg404"/> +of which, including equites, there were one hundred and +ninety-four centuries, one hundred of whom were +of the first rank, heavily armed—all men possessing +one hundred thousand ases. Each class was divided +into seniores—men between forty-five and sixty, and juniores—from +seventeen to forty-five. The former were liable to +be called out only in emergencies. This division of the citizens +was a purely military one, and each century had one +vote. But as the first class numbered one hundred centuries, +each man of which was worth land valued at one hundred +thousand ases, it could cast a larger vote than all the +other classes, which numbered only ninety-four together. +Thus the rich controlled all public affairs. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Comitia Centuriata.</note> +To this military body of men, in which the rich preponderated, +Servius committed all the highest functions of the +State, for the Comitia Centuriata possessed elective, +judicial, and legislative functions. Servius +also rendered many other benefits to the plebeians, He divided +among them the lands gained from the Etruscans. He +inclosed the city with a wall, which remained for centuries, +embracing the seven hills on which Rome was built. But it +is as the hero of the plebeian order that he is famous, and +paid the penalty for being such. He was assassinated, probably +by the instigation of the patricians, by his son-in-law, +Lucius Tarquinius, who mounted his throne as Tarquinius +Superbus, the last king of Rome, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 534. The daughter +of the murdered king, Tullia, who rode in her chariot over +his bleeding body, is enrolled among the infamous women +of antiquity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The despotism of Tarquin.</note> +Tarquinius Superbus, a usurper and murderer, abrogated +the popular laws of Servius Tullius, and set aside even the +assembly of the Curiæ, and degraded and decimated +the Senate, and appropriated the confiscated +estates of those whom he destroyed. He reigned +as a despot, making treaties without consulting the Senate, +and living for his pleasure alone. But he ornamented the +city with magnificent edifices, and completed the Circus Maximus +<pb n="405"/><anchor id="Pg405"/> +as well as the Capitoline Temple, which stood five hundred +years. He was also successful in war, and exalted the +glory of the Roman name. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The legend of Lucretia. +Death of Lucretia. +Banishment of the Tarquins.</note> +An end came to his tyranny by one of those events on +which poetry and history have alike exhausted all their fascinations. +It was while Tarquin was conducting a war +against Ardea, and the army was idly encamped before the +town, that the sons of Tarquin, with their kinsmen, were +supping in the tent of Sextus, that conversation turned upon +the comparative virtue of their wives. By a simultaneous +impulse, they took horse to see the manner +in which these ladies were at the time employed. The +wives of Tarquin's sons at Rome were found in luxurious +banquets with other women. Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, +was discovered carding wool in the midst of her maidens. +The boast of Collatinus that his wife was the most +virtuous was confirmed. But her charms or virtues made a +deep impression on the heart or passions of Sextus, and he +returned to her dwelling in Collatia to propose infamous +overtures. They were proudly rejected, but the disappointed +lover, by threats and force, accomplished his purpose. +Lucretia, stung with shame, made known the crime of Sextus +to her husband and father, who hastened to her house, +accompanied with Brutus. They found the ravished beauty +in agonies of shame and revenge, and after she +had revealed the scandalous facts, she plunged a +dagger in her own bosom and died, invoking revenge. Her +relatives and friends carried her corpse to the market-place, +revealed the atrocity of the crime of Sextus, and demanded +vengeance. The people rallied in the Forum at +Rome, and the assembled Curiæ deprived Tarquin of his +throne, and decreed the banishment of his accursed +family. On the news of the insurrection, the +tyrant started for the city with a band of chosen +followers, but Brutus reached the army after the king had +left, recounted the wrongs, and marched to Rome, whose +gates were already shut against Tarquin. He fled to Etruria, +<pb n="406"/><anchor id="Pg406"/> +with two of his sons, but Sextus was murdered by the people +of Gabii. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The restoration of power to the patricians.</note> +Thus were the kings driven out of Rome, never to return. +In the revolution which followed, the patricians recovered +their power, and a new form of government was instituted, +republican in name, but oligarchal and aristocratic in reality, +two hundred and forty-five years after the foundation of the +city, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 510. Historical criticism throws doubt +on the chronology which assigns two hundred and +forty-five years to seven elective kings, and some +critics think that a longer period elapsed from the reign of +Romulus to that of Tarquin than legend narrates, and that +there must have been a great number of kings whose names +are unknown. As the city advanced in wealth and numbers, +the popular influence increased. The admission of commons +favored the establishment of despotism, and its excesses led +to its overthrow. It would have been better for the commons +had Brutus established a monarchy with more limited +powers, for the plebeians were now subjected to the tyranny +of a proud and grasping oligarchy, and lost a powerful protector +in the king, and the whole internal history of Rome, +for nearly two centuries, were the conflicts between the plebeians +and their aristocratic masters for the privileges they +were said to possess under the reign of Tullius. Under the +patricians the growth of the city was slow, and it was not +till the voices of the tribunes were heard that Rome advanced +in civilization and liberty. Under the kings, the +progress in arts and culture had been rapid. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jurisprudence.</note> +Mommsen, in his learned and profound history of Rome, +enumerates the various forms of civilization that existed on +the expulsion of the Tarquins, a summary of which I present. +Law and justice were already enforced on some of the elemental +principles which marked the Roman jurisprudence. The +punishment of offenses against order was severe, and compensation +for crime, where injuries to person and property +were slight, was somewhat similar to the +penalties of the Mosaic code. The idea of property was associated +<pb n="407"/><anchor id="Pg407"/> +with estate in slaves and cattle, and all property passed +freely from hand to hand; but it was not in the power of +the father arbitrarily to deprive his children of their hereditary +rights. Contracts between the State and a citizen were +valid without formalities, but those between private persons +were difficult to be enforced. A purchase only founded an +action in the event of its being a transaction for ready money, +and this was attested by witnesses. Protection was afforded +to minors and for the estate of persons not capable of bearing +arms. After a man's death, his property descended to +his nearest heirs. The emancipation of slaves was difficult, +and that of a son was attended with even greater difficulties. +Burgesses and clients were equally free in their private +rights, but foreigners were beyond the pale of the law. The +laws indicated a great progress in agriculture and commerce, +but the foundation of law was the State. The greatest +liberality in the permission of commerce, and the most rigorous +procedure in execution, went hand in hand. Women +were placed on a legal capacity with men, though restricted +in the administration of their property. Personal credit was +extravagant and easy, but the creditor could treat the +debtor like a thief. A freeman could not, indeed, be tortured, +but he could be imprisoned for debt with merciless +severity. From the first, the laws of property were stringent +and inexorable. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Religion. +Objects of worship.</note> +In religion, the ancient Romans, like the Greeks, personified +the powers of nature, and also abstractions, like +sowing, field labor, war, boundary, youth, health, +harmony, fidelity. The profoundest worship was that of the +tutelary deities, who presided over the household. Next to +the deities of the house and forest, held in the greatest veneration, +was Hercules, the god of the inclosed homestead, and, +therefore, of property and gain. The souls of departed +mortals were supposed to haunt the spot where the bodies +reposed, but dwelt in the depths below. The hero +worship of the Greeks was uncommon, and even Numa +was never worshiped as a god. The central object +<pb n="408"/><anchor id="Pg408"/> +of worship was Mars, the god of war, and this was conducted +by imposing ceremonies and rites. The worship of Vesta +was held with peculiar sacredness, and the vestal virgins +were the last to yield to Christianity. The worshipers of +the gods often consulted priests and augurs, who had great +colleges, but little power in the State. The Latin worship +was grounded on man's enjoyment of earthly pleasures, and +not on his fear of the wild forces of nature, and it gradually +sunk into a dreary round of ceremonies. The Italian god was +simply an instrument for the attainment of worldly ends, and +not an object of profound awe or love, and hence the Latin +worship was unfavorable to poetry, as well as philosophical +speculation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Agriculture. +Fruits and cereals.</note> +Agriculture is ever a distinguishing mark of civilization, +and forms the main support of a people. It early +occupied the time of the Latins, and was their chief +pursuit. In the earliest ages arable land was cultivated in +common, and was not distributed among the people as their +special property, but in the time of Servius there was a distribution. +Attention was chiefly given to cereals, +but roots and vegetables were also diligently cultivated. +Vineyards were introduced before the Greeks made +settlements in Italy, but the olive was brought to Italy by +the Greeks. The fig-tree is a native of Italy. The plow +was drawn by oxen, while horses, asses, and mules were used +as beasts of burden. The farm was stocked with swine and +poultry, especially geese. The plow was a rude instrument, +but no field was reckoned perfectly tilled unless the +furrows were so close that harrowing was deemed unnecessary. +Farming on a large scale was not usual, and the proprietor +of land worked on the soil with his sons. The use +of slaves was a later custom, when large estates arose. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Trades.</note> +Trades scarcely kept pace with agriculture, although in +the time of Numa eight guilds of craftsmen were +numbered among the institutions of Rome—flute-blowers, +goldsmiths, coppersmiths, carpenters, fullers, dyers, +potters, and shoemakers. There was no yield for workers in +<pb n="409"/><anchor id="Pg409"/> +iron, which shows that iron was a later introduction than +copper. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Commerce.</note> +Commerce was limited to the mutual dealings of the +Italians themselves. Fairs are of great antiquity, +distinguished from ordinary markets, and +barter and traffic were carried on in them, especially that of +Soracte, being before Greek or Phœnicians entered from the +sea. Oxen and sheep, grain and slaves, were the common +mediums of exchange. Latium was, however, deficient of +articles of export, and was pre-eminently an agricultural +country. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Measures and weights.</note> +The use of measures and weights was earlier than the art +of writing, although the latter is of high antiquity. +Latin poetry began in the lyrical form. Dancing +was a common trade, and this was accompanied with pipers, +and religious litanies were sung from the remotest antiquity. +Comic songs were sung in Saturnian metre, accompanied by +the pipe. The art of dancing was a public care, and a powerful +impulse was early given by Hellenic games. But in all +the arts of music and poetry there was not the easy development +as in Greece. Architecture owed its first impulse to +the Etruscans, who borrowed from the Greeks, and was not +of much account till the reigns of the Tuscan kings. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="410"/><anchor id="Pg410"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXVII. THE ROMAN REPUBLIC TILL THE INVASION OF THE +GAULS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXVII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXVII.</head> +<head>THE ROMAN REPUBLIC TILL THE INVASION OF THE GAULS.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Heroic period of Roman History.</note> +The Tarquins being expelled, political power fell into the +hands of the patricians, under whose government +the city slowly increased in wealth and population, +but it was the heroic period of Roman history, +and the legends of patriotic bravery are of great +interest. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The consuls.</note> +The despotism of Tarquinius Superbus inflamed all classes +with detestation of the very name of king—the wealthy +classes, because they were deprived of their ancient +powers; the poorer classes, because they were oppressed +with burdens. The executive power of the State +was transferred to two men, called consuls, annually elected +from the patrician ranks. But they ruled with restricted +powers, and were shorn of the trappings of royalty. They +could not nominate priests, and they were amenable to the +laws after their term of office expired. They were elected +by the Comitia Centuriata, in which the patrician power +predominated. They convened the Senate, introduced +ambassadors, and commanded the armies. In public, they +were attended by lictors, and wore, as a badge of authority, +a purple border on the toga. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Senate.</note> +The Senate, a great power, still retained its dignity. The +members were elected for life, and were the advisers +of the consuls. They were elected by the consuls; +but, as the consuls were practically chosen by the +wealthy classes, men were chosen to the Senate who belonged +to powerful families. The Senate was a judicial and legislative +body, and numbered three hundred men. All men who +<pb n="411"/><anchor id="Pg411"/> +had held curule magistracies became members. Their decisions, +called Senatus Consulta, became laws—<hi rend='italic'>leges</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The Roman government at this time was purely oligarchic. +The aristocratical clement prevailed. Nobles virtually controlled +the State. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Brutus the first consul.</note> +Brutus, on the overthrow of the monarchy, was elected +the first consul <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 507 with L. Tarquinius Colatinus; +but the latter was not allowed to possess +his office, from hatred of his family, and he withdrew peaceably +to Lavinium, and Publius Valerius was elected consul +in his stead—a harsh measure, prompted by necessity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The legends of ancient Rome. +Tarquin attempts to recover his throne.</note> +The history of Rome at this period is legendary. The +story goes that Tarquin, at the head of the armies +of Veii and Tarquinii, seeking to recover his throne, +marched against Rome, and that for thirteen years he struggled +with various success, assisted by Porsenna, king of Etruria. +The legends say Horatius Cocles defended a bridge, +single-handed, against the whole Etrurian army—that Mamillus, +the ruler of Tuscalum, fought a battle at Lake Regillus, +in which the cause of Tarquin was lost—the subject of the +most beautiful of Macaulay's lays—and that Mutius Scævola +attempted to assassinate Porsenna, and, as a proof of his fortitude, +held his hand in the fire until it was consumed, which +act converted Porsenna into a friend. Another interesting +legend is related in reference to Brutus, who slew his own +sons for their sympathy with, and treasonable aid, to the +banished king. These stories are not history, but still shed +light on the spirit of the time. It is probable that Tarquin +made desperate efforts to recover his dominion, +aided by the Etruscans, and that the first wars of +the republic were against them. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Etruria.</note> +The Etruscans were then in the height of their power, and +were in close alliance with the Carthaginians. Etruria was +a larger State than Latium, from which it was separated by +the Tiber. It was bounded on the west by the +Tyrrhenian Sea, on the north by the Appenines, +and the east by Umbria. Among the cities were Veii and +<pb n="412"/><anchor id="Pg412"/> +Tarquinii, the latter the birthplace of Tarquinius Priscus, and +the former the powerful rival of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War with the Etruscans.</note> +In the war with the Etruscans, the Romans were worsted, +and they lost all their territory on the right bank +of the Tiber, won by the kings, and were thrown +back on their original limits. But the Etruscans were driven +back, by the aid of the Latin cities, beyond the Tiber. It +took Rome one hundred and fifty years to recover what she +had lost. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dictators.</note> +It was in those wars with the Etruscans that we first read +of dictators, extraordinary magistrates, appointed +in great political exigencies. The dictator, or commander, +was chosen by one of the consuls, and his authority +was supreme, but lasted only for six months. He had all +the powers of the ancient kings. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Oppression and miseries of the plebeians.</note> +The misfortunes of the Romans, in the contest with the +Etruscans, led to other political changes, and internal +troubles. The strife between the patricians and the plebeians +now began, and lasted two centuries before the latter were +admitted to a full equality of civil rights. The cause of the +conflict, it would appear, was the unequal and burdensome +taxation to which the plebeians were subjected, and +especially vexations from the devastations which +war produced. They were small land-owners, and +their little farms were overrun by the enemy, and they were +in no condition to bear the burdens imposed upon them: +and this inequality of taxation was the more oppressive, since +they had no political power. They necessarily incurred +debts, which were rigorously exacted, and they thus became +the property of their creditors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Their rebellion.</note> +In their despair, they broke out in open rebellion, in the +fifteenth year of the republic, during the consulship +of Publius Servilius and Appius Claudius—the +latter a proud Sabine nobleman, who had lately settled in +Rome. They took position on a hill between the Anio and +Tiber, commanding the most fertile part of the Roman territory. +The patrician and wealthy classes, abandoned by +<pb n="413"/><anchor id="Pg413"/> +the farmers, who tilled the lands, were compelled to treat, in +spite of the opposition of Appius Claudius. And the result +was, that the plebeians gained a remission of their debts, and +the appointment of two magistrates, as protectors, under the +name of tribunes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Tribunes. +Comitia Tributa.</note> +This new office introduced the first great change in the condition +of the plebeians. The tribunes had the power +of putting a stop to the execution of the law which +condemned debtors to imprisonment or a military levy. Their +jurisdiction extended over every citizen, even over the consul. +There was no appeal from their decisions, except in the +Comitia Tributa, where the plebeian interest predominated—an +assembly representing the thirty +Roman tribes, according to the Servian constitution, but +which, at first, had insignificant powers. The persons of the +tribunes were inviolable, but their power was negative. +They could not originate laws; they could insure the +equitable administration of the laws, and prevent wrongs. +They had a constitutional veto, of great use at the time, but +which ended in a series of dangerous encroachments. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ædiles.</note> +The office of ædiles followed that of tribunes. There +were at first two, selected from plebeians, whose +duty it was to guard the law creating tribunes, +which was deposited in the temple of Vesta, They were +afterward the keepers of the resolutions of the Senate as +well as of the plebs, and had the care of public buildings, +and the sanitary police of the city, the distribution of corn, +and of the public lands, the superintendence of markets and +measures, the ordering of festivals, and the duty to see that +no new deities or rites were introduced. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Coriolanus.</note> +One year after the victory of the plebeians, a distinguished +man appeared, who was their bitter enemy. This was Caius +Marcius, called Coriolanus, from his bravery at +the capture of a Volscian town, Corioli. When a +famine pressed the city, a supply of corn was sent by a +Sicilian prince, but the proud patrician proposed to the +Senate to withhold it from the plebeians until they surrendered +<pb n="414"/><anchor id="Pg414"/> +their privileges. The rage of the plebeians was intense, +and he was impeached by the tribunes, and condemned +by the popular assembly to exile. He went over, in +indignation, to the Volscians, became their general, defeated +the Romans, and marched against their city. In this emergency, +the city was saved by the intercession of his mother, +Volumnia, who went to seek him in his camp, accompanied +by other Roman matrons. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Spurius Cassius. +Agrarian law.</note> +A greater man than he, was Spurius Cassius, who rendered +public services of the greatest magnitude, +yet a man whose illustrious deeds no poet sang. +He lived in a great crisis, when the Etruscan war had destroyed +the Roman dominions on the right bank of the Tiber, +and where the Volscians and Acquians were advancing with +superior forces. Rome was in danger of being conquered, +and not only conquered, but reduced to servitude. But he +concluded a league with the Latins, and also with the Hernicians—a +Sabine people, who dwelt in one of the valleys of +the Appenines, by which the power of Rome was threatened. +He is also known as the first who proposed an agrarian +law. It seems that the patricians had occupied +the public lands to the exclusion of the plebeians. +Spurius Cassius proposed to the Comitia Centuriata that the +public domain—land obtained by conquest—should be measured, +and a part reserved for the use of the State, and +another portion distributed among the needy citizens—a just +proposition, since no property held by individuals was meddled +with. This popular measure was carried against +violent opposition, but when the term of office of Cassius +as consul expired, he was accused before the curiæ, who +assumed the right to judge a patrician, and he lost his life. +He was accused of seeking to usurp regal power, because he +had sought to protect the commons against his own order. +<q>His law was buried with him, but its spectre haunted the +rich, and again and again it arose from its tomb, till the +conflicts to which it led destroyed the commonwealth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fabius. +Increased power of plebians.</note> +The following seven years was a period of incessant war +<pb n="415"/><anchor id="Pg415"/> +with the Acquians and Veientines, as well as dissensions in the +city, during which the great house of the Fabii arose to power, +for Fabius was chosen consul seven successive +years, and even proposed the execution of the +agrarian law of Cassius, for which he was scorned by the +patricians, and left Rome in disgust, with his family, and +all were afterward massacred by the Veientines. But one +of the tribunes accused the consuls for their opposition of +the tribunes for the execution of the agrarian law. He was +assassinated. This violation of the sacred person of a +tribune created great indignation among the commons, and +Volero, a tribune, proposed the celebrated <q>Publilian Law,</q> +that the tribunes henceforth, as well as the plebeian ædiles, +should be elected by the plebeians themselves in the Comitia +Tributa. Great disorders followed, but the commons +prevailed, and the Senate adopted the plebiscitum, +and proposed it to the Comitia Curiata, and it +became a law. This step raised the authority of the tribunes, +and added to Roman liberties. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The dictatorship of Cincinnatus.</note> +The critical condition of Rome, from the renewed assaults +of the Acquians and Volscians, led to the appointment of +another very remarkable man to the dictatorship—L. Quintius +Cincinnatus, a patrician, who maintained the +virtues of better days. He cultivated a little farm +of four jugera with his own hands, and lived with great simplicity. +He summoned every man of military age to meet +him in the Campus Martius, and these were provided with +rations for five days. He then marched against the triumphant +enemy, surrounded them, and compelled them to surrender. +He made no use of his political power, and after +sixteen days, laid down the dictatorship, and retired to his +farm, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 458. All subsequent ages and nations have embalmed +the memory of this true patriot, who preferred the +quiet labors of his small farm of three and a half acres to the +enjoyment of absolute power. +</p> + +<p> +But his victory was not decisive, and the Romans continued +to be harassed by the neighboring nations, and they, +<pb n="416"/><anchor id="Pg416"/> +moreover, suffered all the evils of pestilence. It was at +this time, in the three hundredth year of the city, that +they sought to make improvements in their laws—at +least, to embody laws in a written form. Greece was then +in the height of her glory, in the interval between the +Persian and Peloponnesian wars, and thither a commission +was sent to examine her laws, especially those of Solon, at +Athens. On the return of the three commissioners, a new +commission of ten was appointed to draw up a new code, +composed wholly of patricians, at the head of which was +Appius Claudius, consul elect, a man of commanding influence +and talents, but ill-regulated passions and unscrupulous +ambition. The new code was engraved upon ten tables, and +subsequently two more tables were added, and these twelve +tables are the foundation of the Roman jurisprudence, that +branch of science which the Romans carried to considerable +perfection, and for which they are most celebrated. The +jurisprudence of Rome has survived all her conquests, and +is the most valuable contribution to civilization which she +ever made. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The decemvirs.—Appius Claudius.</note> +The decemvirs—those who codified the laws—came into +supreme power, and suspended the other great magistracies, +and ruled, under the direction of Appius Claudius, +in an arbitrary and tyrannical manner. Their +power came to an end in a signal manner, and the history +of their fall is identified with one of the most beautiful +legends of this heroic age, which is also the subject of one of +Macaulay's lays. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His injustice and punishment.</note> +Appius Claudius, who perhaps aspired to regal power, +became enamored of the daughter of a centurion, +L. Virginius. In order to gratify his passions, +Claudius suborned a false accuser, one of his clients, who was +to pretend that the mother of Virginia had been his slave. +Appius sat in judgment, and against his own laws, and also +the entreaties of the people, declared her to be the slave of +the accuser. Her father returned from the army, and in his +indignation plunged a dagger in her breast, preferring her +<pb n="417"/><anchor id="Pg417"/> +death to shame. The people and soldiers rallied around the +courageous soldier, took the capitol, and compelled the decemvirs +to lay down their office. The result of this insurrection +was the creation of ten tribunes instead of the old number, +and ten continued to be the regular number of tribunes +till the fall of the republic. It was further decreed that the +votes of the plebs, passed in the Comitia Tributa, should be +binding on the whole people, provided they were confirmed +by the Senate and the assemblies of the curias and centuries. +The persons of the tribunes were declared to be inviolable, +under the sanctions of religion, and they, moreover, +were admitted to the deliberations of the Senate, though +without a vote. Thus did the commons ascend another step +in political influence, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 449. The next movement of the +commons was to take vengeance on Appius Claudius, who +ended his life in prison. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Intermarriage of plebians and patricians.</note> +The plebs, now strengthened by the plebeian nobles, who +sought power through the tribunate, insisted on +the abrogation of the law which prevented the +marriage of plebeians with patricians. This was +effected four years later, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 445. These then attempted to +secure the higher magistracies, but this was prevented for a +time, although they acquired the right of plebeians to become +military tribunes, or chief officer of the legions, but +none of the plebeians arose to that rank for several years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Censors.</note> +A new office of great dignity was now created, that of +censors, who were chosen from men who had been +consuls, and therefore had higher rank than they. +It was their duty to superintend the public morals, take the +census, and administer the finances. They could brand with +ignominy the highest officers of the State, could elect to the +Senate, and control, with the ædiles, the public buildings and +works. There were two elected to this high office, and were +chosen from the patrician ranks till the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 421, when +plebeians were admitted. They were even held in great +reverence, and enjoyed a larger term of office than the consuls, +even of five years. +</p> + +<pb n="418"/><anchor id="Pg418"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Quæstors.</note> +The commons gained additional importance by the opening +of the quæstorship to the plebeians, which +took place about this time. The quæstors virtually +had charge of the public money, and were the paymasters of +the army. As these were curule officers, they had, by their +office, admission to the Senate. Another great increase of +power among the plebeians, about twenty years after the +decemviral legislature, was the right, transferred from the +curiæ to the centuries, of determining peace and war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The siege and fall of Veii.</note> +While these internal changes were in progress, the State +was in almost constant war with the Volscians and Acquians, +and also with the Etruscans. The former were kept at bay +by the aid of the Latin and Hernican allies. The latter were +more formidable foes, and especially the inhabitants of Veii—a +powerful city in the plain of Southern Etruria, and the +largest of the confederated Etruscan cities, equal in size to +Athens, defended by a strong citadel on a hill. The Veientines, +not willing to contend with the Romans in the field, +shut themselves up in their strong city, to which the Romans +laid siege. They drew around it a double line of +circumvallation, the inner one to prevent egress +from the city, the outer one to defend themselves against +external attacks. The siege lasted ten years, as long as that +of Troy, but was finally taken by the great Camillus, by +means of a mine under the citadel. The fall of this strong +place was followed by the submission of all the Etruscan +cities south of the Ciminian forest, and the lands of the people +of Veii were distributed among the whole Roman people, +at the rate of seven jugera to each landholder, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 396. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Invasion of the Gauls. +Habits and manners of the Gauls.</note> +But this event was soon followed by a great calamity to +Rome—the greatest she had ever suffered. The +city fell into the hands of the Gauls—a Celtic race. +They were rather pastoral than agricultural, and reared great +numbers of swine. They had little attachment to +the soil, like the Italians and Germans, and delighted +in towns. Their chief qualities were personal bravery, +an impetuous temper, boundless vanity, and want of perseverance. +<pb n="419"/><anchor id="Pg419"/> +They were good soldiers and bad citizens. They +were fond of a roving life, and given to pillage. They loved +ornaments and splendid dresses, and wore a gold collar round +the neck. After an expedition, they abandoned themselves +to carousals. They sprung from the same cradle as the Hellenic, +Italian, and German people. Their first great migration +flowed past the Alps, and we find them in Gaul, Britain, +and Spain. From these settlements, they proceeded westward +across the Alps. In successive waves they invaded Italy. +It was at the height of Etruscan power, that they assumed +a hostile attitude. From Etruria they proceeded to the +Roman territories. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Disastrous battle with the Gauls.</note> +The first battle with these terrible foes resulted disastrously +to the Romans, who regarded them as half-disciplined +barbarians, and underrated their strength. +Their defeat was complete, and their losses immense. The +flower of the Roman youth perished, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 390. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The fall of Rome.</note> +The victors entered Rome without resistance, while the +Romans retreated to their citadel, such as were +capable of bearing arms. The rest of the population +dispersed. The fathers of the city, aged citizens, and +priests, seated themselves in the porches of their patrician +houses, and awaited the enemy. At first, they were mistaken +for gods, so venerable and calm their appearance; but the +profanation of the sacred person of Papirius dissolved the +charm, and they were massacred. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>M. Manlius.</note> +The Gauls then attempted to assault the capital, but failed. +But a youth, Pontius Cominius, having climbed the hill in the +night with safety, and opened communication with the +Romans at Veii, the marks of his passage suggested to the +Gauls the means of taking the citadel. In the dead of the +following night a party of Gauls scaled the cliff, and were +about to surprise the citadel, when some geese, sacred to Juno, +cried out and flapped their wings, which noise awakened M. +Manlius, who rushed to the cliff and overpowered +the foremost Gaul. A panic seized the rest, and +the capitol was saved. At length, when the siege had lasted +<pb n="420"/><anchor id="Pg420"/> +seven months, and famine pressed, the invaders were bought +off by a ransom of one thousand pounds weight of gold. +<q>The iron of the barbarians had conquered; but they sold +their victory, and by selling, lost it.</q> They were subsequently +defeated by Camillus, and Manlius, surnamed Torquatus, +from the gold collar he took from a gigantic Gaul, +and also by other generals. +</p> + +<p> +The destruction of Rome was not a permanent calamity; +it was a misfortune. The period which followed was one of +distress, but the energy of Camillus reorganized the military +force, and new alliances were made with the Latin cities. +Etruria, humbled and restricted within narrower limits, and +moreover enervated by luxury, was in no condition to oppose +a people inured to danger and sobered by adversity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His services and fall. +The Lincinian rogation.</note> +The subsequent fate of Manlius, who saved the city, suggests +the fickleness and ingratitude of a republican +State. The distress of the lower classes, in consequence +of the Gaulish invasion, became intolerable. They +became involved in debt, and thus were in the power of their +creditors. Manlius undertook to be their defender, but the +envy of the patricians caused him to be accused of aspiring +to the supreme power, and he was, in spite of his great services, +sentenced to death and hurled from the Tarpeian rock. +His error was in premature reform. But, in the year 367 +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, the tribunes Licinius and L. Sextius secured the passage +of three memorable laws in the Curiata Tributa—the +abolition of the military tribunate, which had increased the +power of the patricians, and the restoration of the consulate, +on the condition that one of the consuls should be a plebeian; +the second, that no citizen should possess more than five +hundred jugera of the public lands; and the third, that all +interest thus paid on loans should be deducted from the principal. +These were called the <hi rend='italic'>Licinian Rogations</hi>. +But a new curule magistracy was created, as a sort +of compensation to the patricians, that of prætors, to be held +by them, exclusively. These political changes were made +peaceably, and with them the old gentile aristocracy ceased +<pb n="421"/><anchor id="Pg421"/> +to be a political institution. The remaining patrician offices +were not long withheld from the plebeians. But these political +changes did not much ameliorate the social condition of +the poorer classes. The strictness of the Licinian laws, the +oppression of the rich, the high rate of interest, and the +existence of slavery, made the poor poorer, and the rich +richer, and prevented the expansion of industry. The +plebeians had gained political privileges, but not till great +plebeian families had arisen. Power was virtually in the +hands of nobles, whether patrician or plebeian, and aristocratic +distinctions still remained. The plebeian noble sympathized +with patricians rather than with the poorer classes. +Debt, usury, and slavery began to bear fruits before the conquest +of Italy. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="422"/><anchor id="Pg422"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXVIII. THE CONQUEST OF ITALY."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXVIII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXVIII.</head> +<head>THE CONQUEST OF ITALY.</head> + +<p> +Hitherto, the Romans, after the expulsion of the kings, +were involved in wars with their immediate neighbors, and +exposed to great calamities. All they could do for one hundred +and fifty years was to recover the possessions they had +lost. During this period great prodigies of valor were performed, +and great virtues were generated. It was the heroic +period of their history, when adversity taught them patience, +endurance, and public virtue. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The period of conquest begins.</note> +But a new period opens, when the plebeians had obtained +political power, and the immediate enemies were +subdued. This was a period of conquest over the +various Italian States. The period is still heroic, but historical. +Great men arose, of talent and patriotism. The ambition of +the Romans now prominently appears. They had been +struggling for existence—they now fought for conquest. +<q>The great achievement of the regal period was the establishment,</q> +says Mommsen, <q>of the sovereignty of Rome over +Latium.</q> That was shaken by the expulsion of Tarquin, but +was re-established in the wars which subsequently followed. +After the fall of Veii, all the Latin cities became subject to +the Romans. On the overthrow of the Volscians, the Roman +armies reached the Samnite territory. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Samnium.</note> +The next memorable struggle of Rome was with Samnium, +for the supremacy of Italy. Samnium was a hilly +country on the east of the Volscians, and its people +were brave and hardy. The Samnites had, at the fall of +Veii, an ascendency over Lower Italy, with the exception of +the Grecian colonies. Tarentum, Croton, Metapontum, +<pb n="423"/><anchor id="Pg423"/> +Heraclea, Neapolis, and other Grecian cities, maintained a +precarious independence, but were weakened by the successes +of the Samnites. Capua, the capital of Campania, +where the Etruscan influence predominated, was taken by +them, and Cumæ was wrested from the Greeks. +</p> + +<p> +But in the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 343, the Samnites came in collision +with Rome, from an application of Capua to Rome for assistance +against them. The victories of Valerius Corvus, and +Cornelius Cossus gave Campania to the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Latins throw off the Roman yoke.</note> +In the mean time the Latins had recovered strength, and +determined to shake off the Roman yoke, and the +Romans made peace with the Samnites and formed +a close alliance, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 341. The Romans and Samnites were +ranged against the Latins and Campanians. The hostile +forces came in sight of each other before Capua, and the first +great battle was fought at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. It was +here that Titus Manlius, the son of the consul, was beheaded +by him for disobedience of orders, for the consuls issued +strict injunctions against all skirmishing, and Manlius, disregarding +them, slew an enemy in single combat. <q>The +consul's cruelty was execrated, but the discipline of the +army was saved.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Reconquest of the Latin cities.</note> +This engagement furnishes another legend of the heroic +and patriotic self-devotion of those early Romans. The +consuls, before the battle, dreamed that the general on the +one side should fall, and the army on the other side should +be beaten. Decius, the plebeian consul, when he found his +troops wavering, called the chief pontiff, and after invoking +the gods to assist his cause, rushed into the thickest of the +Latin armies, and was slain. The other consul, Torquatus, +by a masterly use of his reserve, gained the battle. Three-fourths +of the Latin army were slain. The Latin +cities, after this decisive victory, lost their independence, +and the Latin confederacy was dissolved, and +Latin nationality was fused into one powerful State, and all +Latium became Roman. Roman citizens settled on the forfeited +lands of the conquered cities. +</p> + +<pb n="424"/><anchor id="Pg424"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jealousy of the Samnites.</note> +The subjugation of Latium and the progress of Rome in +Campania filled the Samnites with jealousy, and it +is surprising that they should have formed an alliance +with Rome, when Rome was conquering Campania. +They were the most considerable power in Italy, next to +Rome, and to them fell the burden of maintaining the independence +of the Italian States against the encroachments of +the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The war. +The Samnite war. +Siege of Lucania.</note> +The Greek cities of Palæapolis and Neapolis, the only +communities in Campania not yet reduced by the +Romans, gave occasion to the outbreak of the inevitable +war between the Samnites and Romans. The Tarentines +and Samnites, informed of the intention of the +Romans to seize these cities, anticipated the seizure, upon +which the Romans declared war, and commenced the siege +of Palæapolis, which soon submitted, on the offer of favorable +terms. An alliance of the Romans with the Lucanians, +left the Samnites unsupported, except by tribes on the eastern +mountain district. The Romans invaded the +Samnite territories, pillaging and destroying as +far as Apulia, on which the Samnites sent back the Roman +prisoners and sought for peace. But peace was refused by +the inexorable enemy, and the Samnites prepared for desperate +resistance. They posted themselves in ambush at an +important pass in the mountains, and shut up the Romans, +who offered to capitulate. Instead of accepting the capitulation +and making prisoners of the whole army, the Samnite +general, Gaius Pontius, granted an equitable peace. But the +Roman Senate, regardless of the oaths of their generals, and +regardless of the six hundred equites who were left as +hostages, canceled the agreement, and the war was renewed +with increased exasperation on the part of the Samnites, +who, however, were sufficiently magnanimous not to sacrifice +the hostages they held. Rome sent a new army, under +Lucius Papirius Cursor, and laid siege to Lucania, +where the Roman equites lay in captivity. The +city surrendered, and Papirius liberated his comrades, and +<pb n="425"/><anchor id="Pg425"/> +retaliated on the Samnite garrison. The war continued, like +all wars at that period between people of equal courage and +resources, with various success—sometimes gained by one +party and sometimes by another, until, in the fifteenth year +of the war, the Romans established themselves in Apulia, on +one sea, and Campania, on the other. +</p> + +<p> +The people of Northern and Central Italy, perceiving that +the Romans aimed at the complete subjugation of the whole +peninsula, now turned to the assistance of the Samnites. +The Etruscans joined their coalition, but were at length subdued +by Papirius Cursor. The Samnites found allies in the +Umbrians of Northern, and the Marsi and Pieligni of Central +Italy, But these people were easily subdued, and a peace +was made with Samnium, after twenty-two years' war, +when Bovianum, its strongest city, was taken by storm, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +298. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Victory of Seutinum.</note> +The defeated nations would not, however, submit to Rome +without one more final struggle, and the third Samnite war +was renewed the following year, for which the Samnites +called to their aid the Gauls. This war lasted nine years, +and was virtually closed by the great victory of +Seutinum—a fiercely contested battle, where the +Romans, though victorious, lost nine thousand men. Umbria +submitted, the Gauls dispersed, and the Etruscans made +a truce for four hundred months. The Samnites still made +desperate resistance, but were finally subdued in a decisive +battle, where twenty thousand were slain, and their great general, +Pontius, was taken prisoner, with four thousand Samnites. +This misfortune closed the war, but the Samnites +were not subjected to humiliating terms. The Romans, +however, sullied their victories by the execution of C. Pontius, +the Samnite general, who had once spared the lives of +two Roman armies, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 291. Rome now became the ruling +State of Italy, but there were still two great nations unsubdued—the +Etruscans in the north, and the Lucanians in the +south. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>New coalition against Rome. +Tarentum.</note> +A new coalition arose against Rome, soon after the Samnites +<pb n="426"/><anchor id="Pg426"/> +were subdued, composed of Etruscans, Bruttians, +and Lucanians. The war began in Etruria, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +283, and continued with alternate successes, until +the decisive victory at the Vadimonian Lake, gained by +G. Domitius Calvinus, destroyed forever the power of the +Etruscans. The attention of Rome was now given to Tarentum, +a Greek city, at the bottom of the gulf of +that name, adjacent to the fertile plain of Lucania. +This city, which was pre-eminent among the States of +Magna Grecia, had grown rich by commerce, and was sufficiently +powerful to defend herself against the Etruscans and +the Syracusans. It was a Dorian colony, but had abandoned +the Lacedæmonian simplicity, and was given over to +pleasure and luxury; but, luxurious as it was, it was the only +obstacle to the supremacy of Rome over Italy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pyrrhus.</note> +This thoughtless and enervated, but great city, ruled by +demagogues, had insulted Rome—burning and destroying +some of her ships. It was a reckless insult which Rome +could not forget, prompted by fear as well as hatred. When +the Samnite war closed, the Tarentines, fearing the vengeance +of the most powerful State in Italy, sent to Pyrrhus, +king of Epirus, a soldier of fortune, for aid. They +offered the supreme command of their forces, with +the right to keep a garrison in their city, till the independence +of Italy was secured. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Marches to the assistance of the Tarentines. +Battle of Heraclea.</note> +Pyrrhus, who was compared with Alexander of Macedon, +aspired to found an Hellenic empire in the West, as Alexander +did in the East, and responded to the call of the Tarentines. +Rome was not now to contend with barbarians, but +with Hellenes—with phalanxes and cohorts instead of a militia—with +a military monarchy and sustained by military +science. He landed, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 281, on the Italian shores, +with an army of twenty thousand veterans in phalanx, +two thousand archers, three thousand cavalry, +and twenty elephants. The Tarentine allies promised +three hundred and fifty thousand infantry and twenty thousand +cavalry to support him. The Romans strained every +<pb n="427"/><anchor id="Pg427"/> +nerve to meet him before these forces could be collected and +organized. They marched with a force of fifty thousand +men, larger than a consular army, under Lævinius and Æmilius. +They met the enemy on the plain of Heraclea. +Seven times did the legion and phalanx drive +one or the other back. But the reserves of Pyrrhus, with his +elephants, to which the Romans were unaccustomed, decided +the battle. Seven thousand Romans were left dead on the +field, and an immense number were wounded or taken prisoners. +But the battle cost Pyrrhus four thousand of his veterans, +which led him to say that another such victory would +be his ruin. The Romans retreated into Apulia, but the +whole south of Italy, Lucania, Samnium, the Bruttii, and +the Greek cities were the prizes which the conqueror won. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pyrrhus offers peace.</note> +Pyrrhus then offered peace, since he only aimed to establish +a Greek power in Southern Italy. The Senate +was disposed to accept it, but the old and blind +Appius Claudius was carried in his litter through the crowded +forum—as Chatham, in after times, bowed with infirmities +and age, was carried to the parliament—and in a vehement +speech denounced the peace, and infused a new spirit into +the Senate. The Romans refused to treat with a foreign +enemy on the soil of Italy. The ambassador of Pyrrhus, the +orator Cineas, returned to tell the conqueror that to fight +the Romans was to fight a hydra—that their city was a temple, +and their senators were kings. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Retreat of Pyrrhus.</note> +Two new legions were forthwith raised to re-enforce Lævinius, +while Pyrrhus marched direct to Rome. But when he +arrived within eighteen miles, he found an enemy in his +front, while Lævinius harassed his rear. He was obliged +to retreat, and retired to Tarentum with an immense +booty. The next year he opened the campaign +in Apulia; but he found an enemy of seventy thousand +infantry and eight thousand horse—a force equal to +his own. The first battle was lost by the Romans, who +could not penetrate the Grecian phalanx, and were trodden +down by the elephants. But he could not prosecute his victory, +<pb n="428"/><anchor id="Pg428"/> +his troops melted away, and he again retired to Tarentum +for winter quarters. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of Beneventum.</note> +Like a military adventurer, he then, for two years, turned +his forces against the Carthaginians, and relieved Syracuse. +But he did not avail himself of his victories, being led by a +generous nature into political mistakes. He then returned +to Italy to renew his warfare with the Romans. The battle +of Beneventum, gained by Carius, the Roman general, +decided the fate of Pyrrhus. The flower of +his Epirot troops was destroyed, and his camp fell, with +all its riches, into the hands of the Romans. The king +of Epirus retired to his own country, and was assassinated +by a woman at Argos, after he had wrested the crown of +Macedonia from Antigonus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 272. He had left, however, +to garrison, under Milo, at Tarentum. The city fell into the +hands of the Romans the year that Pyrrhus died. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Complete subjugation of Italy.</note> +With the fall of Tarentum, the conquest of Italy was complete. +The Romans found no longer any enemies to +resist them on the peninsula. A great State was +organized for the future subjection of the world. The +conquest of Italy greatly enriched the Romans. Both rich +and poor became possessed of large grants of land from +the conquered territories. The conquered cities were incorporated +with the Roman State, and their inhabitants became +Roman citizens or allies. The growth of great plebeian +families re-enforced the aristocracy, which was based on +wealth. Italy became Latinized, and Rome was now acknowledged +as one of the great powers of the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Appius Claudius.</note> +The great man at Rome during the period of the Samnite +wars was Appius Claudius—great grandson of the +decemvir, and the proudest aristocrat that had yet +appeared. He enjoyed all the great offices of State. To +him we date many improvements in the city, also the highway +which bears his name. He was the patron of art, of +eloquence, and poetry. But, at this period, all individual +greatness was lost in the State. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="429"/><anchor id="Pg429"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXIX. THE FIRST PUNIC WAR."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXIX."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXIX.</head> +<head>THE FIRST PUNIC WAR.</head> + +<p> +A contest greater than with Pyrrhus and the Greek +cities, more memorable in its incidents, and more important +in its consequences, now awaited the Romans. This was +with Carthage, the greatest power, next to Rome, in the +world at that time—a commercial State which had been +gradually aggrandized for three hundred years. It was a +rich and powerful city at the close of the Persian wars. It +had succeeded Tyre as the mistress of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Causes of the Punic war.</note> +We have seen, in the second book, how the Carthaginians +were involved in wars with Syracuse, when that city +had reached the acme of its power under Dionysius. We +have also alluded to the early history and power +of Carthage. At the time Pyrrhus landed in +Sicily, it contained nearly a million of people, and controlled +the northern coast of Africa, and the western part of +the Mediterranean. Carthage was strictly a naval power, +although her colonies were numerous, and her dependencies +large. The land forces were not proportionate to the naval; +but large armies were necessary to protect her dependencies +in the constant wars in which she was engaged. These +armies were chiefly mercenaries, and their main strength +consisted in light cavalry. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Territories of Carthage. +Sicilian affairs.</note> +The territories of Carthage lay chiefly in the islands which +were protected by her navy and enriched by her +commerce. Among these insular possessions, Sardinia +was the largest and most important, and was the commercial +depot of Southern Europe. A part of Sicily, also, as +we have seen (<ref target="Chapter_XXIV">Book ii., chap. 24</ref>), was colonized and +held by +<pb n="430"/><anchor id="Pg430"/> +her, and she aimed at the sovereignty of the whole island. +Hence the various wars with Syracuse. The Carthaginians +and Greeks were the rivals for the +sovereignty of this fruitful island, the centre of the oil and +wine trade, the store-house for all sorts of cereals. Had +Carthage possessed the whole of Sicily, her fleets would have +controlled the Mediterranean. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rhegium.</note> +The embroilment of Carthage with the Grecian States on +this island was the occasion of the first rupture with Rome. +Messina, the seat of the pirate republic of the Mamertines, +was in close alliance with Rhegium, a city which had grown +into importance during the war with Pyrrhus. Rhegium, +situated on the Italian side of the strait, solicited +the protection of Rome, and a body of Campanian +troops was sent to its assistance. These troops expelled or +massacred the citizens for whose protection they had been +sent, and established a tumultuary government. On the +fall of Tarentum, the Romans sought to punish this outrage, +and also to embrace the opportunity to possess a town which +would facilitate a passage to Sicily, for Sicily as truly belonged +to Italy as the Peloponnesus to Greece, being separated +only by a narrow strait. A Roman army was accordingly +sent to take possession of Rhegium, but the defenders +made a desperate resistance. It was finally taken by storm, +and the original citizens obtained repossession, as dependents +and allies of Rome. The fall of Rhegium robbed the pirate +city of Messina of the only ally on which it could count, +and subjected it to the vengeance of both the Carthaginians +and the Syracusans. The latter were then under the sway +of Hiero, who, for fifty years, had reigned without despotism, +and had quietly developed both the resources and +the freedom of the city. He collected an army of citizens, +devoted to him, who expelled the Mamertines from many of +their towns, and gained a decisive victory over them, not far +from Messina. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Mamertines.</note> +The Mamertines, in danger of subjection by the Syracusans, +then looked for foreign aid. One party looked to Carthage, +<pb n="431"/><anchor id="Pg431"/> +and another to Rome. The Carthaginian party prevailed +on the Mamertines to receive a Punic garrison. +The Romans, seeking a pretext for a war with +Carthage, sent an army ostensibly to protect Messina against +Hiero. But the strait which afforded a passage to Sicily +was barred by a Carthaginian fleet. The Romans, unaccustomed +to the sea, were defeated. Not discouraged, however, +they finally succeeded in landing at Messina, and although +Carthage and Rome were at peace, seized Hanno, the Carthaginian +general, who had the weakness to command the +evacuation of the citadel as a ransom for his person. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hiero.</note> +On this violation of international law, Hiero, who feared +the Romans more than the Carthaginians, made an +alliance with Carthage, and the combined forces +of Syracuse and Carthage marched to the liberation of Messina. +The Romans, under Appius, the consul, then made +overtures of peace to the Carthaginians, and bent their +energies against Hiero. But Hiero, suspecting the Carthaginians +of treachery, for their whole course with the Syracusans +for centuries had been treacherous, retired to Syracuse. +Upon which the Romans attacked the Carthaginians +singly, and routed them, and spread devastation over the +whole island. +</p> + +<p> +This was the commencement of the first Punic war, in +which the Romans were plainly the aggressors. Two consular +armies now threatened Syracuse, when Hiero sought +peace, which was accepted on condition of provisioning the +Roman armies, and paying one hundred talents to liberate +prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +The first Punic war began <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 264, and lasted twenty-four +years. Before we present the leading events of that +memorable struggle, let us glance at the power of Carthage—the +formidable rival of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Wealth and population of Carthage. +Power of Carthage.</note> +As has been narrated, Carthage was founded upon a +peninsula, or rocky promontory, sixty-five years +before the foundation of Rome. The inhabitants of +Carthage, descendants of Phœnicians, were therefore of Semitic +<pb n="432"/><anchor id="Pg432"/> +origin. The African farmer was a Canaanite, and all the +Canaanites lacked the instinct of political life. The Phœnicians +thought of commerce and wealth, and not political +aggrandizement. With half their power, the Hellenic cities +achieved their independence. Carthage was a colony of +Phœnicians, and had their ideas. It lived to traffic and get +rich. It was washed on all sides, except the west, by the +sea, and above the city, on the western heights, was the +citadel Byrsa, called so from the word βύρσα, a hide, according +to the legend that Dido, when she came to Africa, +bought of the inhabitants as much land as could be encompassed +by a bull's hide, which she cut into thongs, and +inclosed the territory on which she built the citadel. The +city grew to be twenty-three miles in circuit, and contained +seven hundred thousand people. It had two harbors, an +outer and inner, the latter being surrounded by a lofty wall. +A triple wall was erected across the peninsula, to protect it +from the west, three miles long, and between the walls were +stables for three hundred elephants, four thousand horses, +and barracks for two thousand infantry, with magazines and +stores. In the centre of the inner harbor was an island, called +Cothon, the shores of which were lined with quays and +docks for two hundred and twenty ships. The citadel, Byrsa, +was two miles in circuit, and when it finally surrendered to +the Romans, fifty thousand people marched out of it. On +its summit was the famous temple of Æsculapius. At the +northwestern angle of the city were twenty immense reservoirs, +each four hundred feet by twenty-eight, filled with +water, brought by an aqueduct at a distance of fifty-two +miles. The suburb Megara, beyond the city walls, but +within those that defended the peninsula, was the site of +magnificent gardens and villas, which were adorned +with every kind of Grecian art, for the Carthaginians +were rich before Rome had conquered even Latium. +This great city controlled the other Phœnician cities, part of +Sicily, Numidia, Mauritania, Lybia—in short, the northern +part of Africa, and colonies in Spain and the islands of the +<pb n="433"/><anchor id="Pg433"/> +western part of the Mediterranean. The city alone could +furnish in an exigency forty thousand heavy infantry, one +thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand war chariots. The +garrison of the city amounted to twenty thousand foot and +four thousand horse, and the total force which the city could +command was more than one hundred thousand men. The +navy was the largest in the world, for, in the sea-fight with +Regulus, it numbered three hundred and fifty ships, carrying +one hundred and fifty thousand men. +</p> + +<p> +Such was this great power against which the Romans +were resolved to contend. It would seem that Carthage +was willing that Rome should have the sovereignty of Italy, +provided it had itself the possession of Sicily. But this was +what the Romans were determined to prevent. The object +of contention, then, between these two rivals, the one all-powerful +by land and the other by sea, was the possession of +Sicily. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Creation of a Roman fleet.</note> +During the first three years of the war, the Romans made +themselves masters of all the island, except the +maritime fortresses at its western extremity, +Eryx and Panormus. Meanwhile the Carthaginians ravaged +the coasts of Italy, and destroyed its commerce. The Romans +then saw that Sicily could not be held without a navy as +powerful as that of their rivals, and it was resolved to build +at once one hundred and twenty ships. A Carthaginian +quinquereme, wrecked on the Bruttian shore, furnished the +model, the forests of Silo the timber, and the maritime cities +of Italy and Greece, the sailors. In sixty days a fleet of +one hundred and twenty ships was built and ready for sea. +The superior seamanship of the Carthaginians was neutralized +by converting the decks into a battle-field for soldiers. +Each ship was provided with a long boarding-bridge, hinged +up against the mast, to be let down on the prow, and fixed +to the hostile deck by a long spike, which projected from its +end. The bridge was wide enough for two soldiers to pass +abreast, and its sides were protected by bulwarks. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Naval battle of Mylæ.</note> +The first encounter of the Romans with the Carthaginians +<pb n="434"/><anchor id="Pg434"/> +resulted in the capture of the whole force, a squadron of +seventeen ships. The second encounter ended in the capture +of more ships than the Roman admiral, Cn. Scipio, +had lost. The next battle, that of Mylæ, in which +the whole Roman fleet was engaged, again turned in favor +of the Romans, whose bad seamanship provoked the contempt +of their foes, and led to self-confidence. The battle +was gained by grappling the enemy's ships one by one. The +Carthaginians lost fourteen ships, and only saved the rest +by inglorious flight. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Great victory of Regulus.</note> +For six years no decided victories were won by either +side, but in the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 256, nine years from the +commencement of hostilities, M. Atilius Regulus, +a noble of the same class and habits as Cincinnatus and +Fabricius, with a fleet of three hundred and thirty ships, +manned by one hundred thousand sailors, encountered the +Carthaginian fleet of three hundred and fifty ships on the +southern coast of Sicily, and gained a memorable victory. +It was gained on the same principle as Epaminondas and +Alexander won their battles, by concentrating all the forces +upon a single point, and breaking the line. The Romans +advanced in the shape of a wedge, with the two consuls' +ships at the apex. The Carthaginian admirals allowed the +centre to give way before the advancing squadron. The +right wing made a circuit out in the open sea, and took the +Roman reserve in the rear, while the left wing attacked the +vessels that were towing the horse transports, and forced +them to the shore. But the Carthaginian centre, being thus +left weak, was no match for the best ships of the Romans, +and the consuls, victorious in the centre, turned to the relief +of the two rear divisions. The Carthaginians lost sixty-four +ships, which were taken, besides twenty-four which were +sunk, and retreated with the remainder to the Gulf of Carthage, +to defend the shores against the anticipated attack. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Other victories of Regulus.</note> +The Romans, however, made for another point, and landed +in the harbor of Aspis, intrenched a camp to protect +their ships, and ravaged the country. Twenty +<pb n="435"/><anchor id="Pg435"/> +thousand captives were sent to Rome and sold as slaves, +besides an immense booty—a number equal to a fifth part of +the free population of the city. A footing in Africa was +thus made, and so secure were the Romans, that a large part +of the army was recalled, leaving Regulus with only forty +ships, fifteen thousand infantry, and five hundred cavalry. +Yet with this small army he defeated the Carthaginians, and +became master of the country to within ten miles of Carthage. +The Carthaginians, shut up in the city, sued for peace; but +it was granted only on condition of the cession of Sicily and +Sardinia, the surrender of the fleet, and the reduction of Carthage +to the condition of a dependent city. Such a proposal +was rejected, and despair gave courage to the defeated +Carthaginians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hamilcar.</note> +They made one grand effort while Regulus lay inactive in +winter quarters. The return of Hamilcar from +Sicily with veteran troops, which furnished a nucleus +for a new army, inspired the Carthaginians with hope, +and assisted by a Lacedæmonian general, Xanthippus, with a +band of Greek mercenaries, the Carthaginians marched unexpectedly +upon Regulus, and so signally defeated him at +Tunis, that only two thousand Romans escaped. Regulus, +with five hundred of the legionary force, was taken captive +and carried to Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hasdrubal.</note> +The Carthaginians now assumed the offensive, and Sicily +became the battle-field. Hasdrubal, son of Hanno, +landed on the island with one hundred and forty +elephants, while the Roman fleet of three hundred ships +suffered a great disaster off the Lucanian promontory. A +storm arose, which wrecked one hundred and fifty ships—a +disaster equal to the one which it suffered two years before, +when two-thirds of the large fleet which was sent to relieve +the two thousand troops at Clupea was destroyed by a +similar storm. In spite of these calamities, the Romans took +Panormus and Thermæ, and gained a victory under the +walls of the former city which cost the Carthaginians twenty +thousand men and the capture of one hundred and twenty +<pb n="436"/><anchor id="Pg436"/> +elephants. This success, gained by Metellus, was the greatest +yet obtained in Sicily, and the victorious general adorned his +triumph with thirteen captured generals and one hundred +and four elephants. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Imprisonment of Regulus. +Death of Regulus.</note> +The two maritime fortresses which still held out at the +west of the island, Drepanum and Lilybæum, were now invested, +and the Carthaginians, shut up in these fortresses, sent +an embassy to Rome to ask an exchange of prisoners, and sue +for peace. Regulus, now five years a prisoner, was +allowed to accompany the embassy, on his promise +to return if the mission was unsuccessful. As his condition +was now that of a Carthaginian slave, he was reluctant to +enter the city, and still more the Senate, of which he was no +longer a member. But when this reluctance was overcome, +he denounced both the peace and the exchange of prisoners. +The Romans wished to retain this noble patriot, but he was +true to his oath, and returned voluntarily to Carthage, after +having defeated the object of the ambassadors, +knowing that a cruel death awaited him. The +Carthaginians, indignant and filled with revenge, it is said, +exposed the hero to a burning sun, with his eyelids cut off, +and rolled him in a barrel lined with iron spikes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hamilcar Barca.</note> +The embassy having thus failed, the attack on the fortresses, +which alone linked Africa with Sicily, was renewed. +The siege of Lilybæum lasted till the end of the war, which, +from the mutual exhaustion of the parties, now languished +for six years. The Romans had lost four great fleets, three +of which had arms on board, and the census of the city, in +the seventeenth year, showed a decrease of forty thousand +citizens. During this interval of stagnation, when petty +warfare alone existed, Hamilcar Burca was appointed +general of Carthage, and in the same year +his son Hannibal was born, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 247. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conquest of Sicily.</note> +The Romans, disgusted with the apathy of the government, +fitted out a fleet of privateers of two hundred ships, +manned by sixty thousand sailors, and this fleet gained a +victory over the Carthaginians, unprepared for such a force, +<pb n="437"/><anchor id="Pg437"/> +so that fifty ships were sunk, and seventy more were carried +by the victors into port. This victory gave Sicily +to the Romans, and ended the war. The Roman +prisoners were surrendered by Hamilcar, who had full powers +for peace, and Carthage engaged to pay three thousand two +hundred talents for the expenses of the war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Acquisition of Sicily.</note> +The Romans were gainers by this war. They acquired +the richest island in the world, fertile in all the +fruits of the earth, with splendid harbors, cities, +and a great accumulation of wealth. The long war of +twenty-four years, nearly a whole generation, was not conducted +on such a scale as essentially to impoverish the contending +parties. There were no debts contracted for future +generations to pay. It was the most absorbing object of +public interest, indeed; but many other events and subjects +must also have occupied the Roman mind. It was a foreign +war, the first that Rome had waged. It was a war of ambition, +the commencement of those unscrupulous and aggressive +measures that finally resulted in the political annihilation +of all the other great powers of the world. +</p> + +<p> +But this war, compared with those foreign wars which +Rome subsequently conducted, was carried on without +science and skill. It was carried on in the transition period +of Roman warfare, when tactics were more highly prized +than strategy. It was by a militia, and agricultural generals, +and tactics, and personal bravery, that the various Italian +nations were subdued, when war had not ripened into a +science, such as was conducted even by the Greeks. There +was no skill or experience in the conduct of sieges. The +navy was managed by Greek mercenaries. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Creation of a Roman naval power.</note> +The great improvement in the science of war which this +first contest with a foreign power led to, was the +creation of a navy, and the necessity of employing +veteran troops, led by experienced generals. A deliberative +assembly, like the Senate, it was found could not conduct a +foreign war. It was left to generals, who were to learn +marches and countermarches, sieges, and a strategical system. +<pb n="438"/><anchor id="Pg438"/> +The withdrawal of half the army of Regulus by the +Senate proved nearly fatal. Carthage could not be subdued +by that rustic warfare which had sufficed for the conquest +of Etruria or Samnium. The new system of war demanded +generals who had military training and a military eye, and +not citizen admirals. The final success was owing to the +errors of the Carthaginians rather than military science. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="439"/><anchor id="Pg439"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXX. THE SECOND PUNIC OR HANNIBALIC WAR."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXX."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXX.</head> +<head>THE SECOND PUNIC OR HANNIBALIC WAR.</head> + +<p> +The peace between the Carthaginians and Romans was a +mere truce. Though it lasted twenty-one years, new sources +of quarrel were accumulating, and forces were being prepared +for a more decisive encounter. +</p> + +<p> +Before we trace the progress of this still more memorable +war, let us glance at the events which transpired in the +interval between it and the first contest. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Condition of Carthage after the war.</note> +That interval is memorable for the military career of +Hamilcar, and his great ascendency at Carthage. +That city paid dearly for the peace it had secured, +for the tribute of Sicily flowed into the treasury of +the Romans. Its commercial policy was broken up, and the +commerce of Italy flowed in new channels. This change +was bitterly felt by the Phœnician city, and a party was soon +organized for the further prosecution of hostilities. There +was also a strong peace party, made up of the indolent and +cowardly money-worshipers of that mercantile State. The +war party was headed by Hamilcar, the peace party by +Hanno, which at first had the ascendency. It drove the +army into mutiny by haggling about pay. The Libyan +mercenaries joined the revolt, and Carthage found herself +alone in the midst of anarchies. In this emergency the +government solicited Hamilcar to save it from the effect of +its blunders and selfishness. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hamilcar.</note> +This government, as at Rome, was oligarchic, but the +nobles were merely mercantile grandees, without ability—jealous, +exclusive, and selfish. The great body of the people +whom they ruled were poor and dependent. In intrusting +<pb n="440"/><anchor id="Pg440"/> +power to Hamilcar, the government of wealthy citizens only +gave him military control. The army which he +commanded was not a citizen militia, it was made +up of mercenaries. Hamilcar was obliged to construct a +force from these, to whom the State looked for its salvation. +</p> + +<p> +He was a young man, a little over thirty, and foreboding +that he would not live to complete his plans, enjoined his +son Hannibal, nine years of age, when he was about to leave +Carthage, to swear at the altar of the Eternal God hatred of +the Roman name. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hasdrubal.</note> +He left Carthage for Spain, taking with him his sons, to be +reared in the camp. He marched along the coast, accompanied +by the fleet, which was commanded by Hasdrubal. +He crossed the sea at the Pillars of Hercules, with +the view of organizing a Spanish kingdom to assist the Carthaginians +in their future warfare. But he died prematurely, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 229, leaving his son-in-law, Hasdrubal, to carry out his +designs, and the southern and eastern provinces of Spain +became Carthaginian provinces. Carthagena arose as the +capital of this new Spanish kingdom, in the territory of the +Contestana. Here agriculture flourished, and still more, +mining, from the silver mines, which produced, a century +afterward, thirty-six millions of sesterces—nearly two million +dollars—yearly. Carthage thus acquired in Spain a market +for its commerce and manufactures, and the New Carthage +ruled as far as the Ebro. But the greatest advantage of +this new acquisition to Carthage was the new class of mercenary +soldiers which were incorporated with the army. At +first, the Romans were not alarmed by the rise of this new +Spanish power, and saw only a compensation for the tribute +and traffic which Carthage had lost in Sicily. And while +the Carthaginians were creating armies in Spain, the +Romans were engaged in conquering Cisalpine Gaul, and +consolidating the Italian conquests. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hannibal.</note> +Hasdrubal was assassinated after eight years of successful +administration, and Hannibal was hailed as his +successor by the army, and the choice was confirmed +<pb n="441"/><anchor id="Pg441"/> +by the Carthaginians, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 221. He was now twenty-nine, +trained to all the fatigue and dangers of the camp, +and with a native genius for war, which made him, according +to the estimation of modern critics, the greatest general of +antiquity. He combined courage with discretion, and +prudence with energy. He had an inventive craftiness, which +led him to take unexpected routes. He profoundly studied +the character of antagonists, and kept himself informed of +the projects of his enemies. He had his spies at Rome, and +was frequently seen in disguises in order to get important +information. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of Saguntum.</note> +This crafty and able general resolved, on his nomination, +to make war at once upon the Romans, whom he regarded +as the deadly foe of his country. His first great exploit was +the reduction of Saguntum, an Iberian city on the +coast, in alliance with the Romans. It defended +itself with desperate energy for eight months, and its siege +is memorable. The inhabitants were treated with savage +cruelty, and the spoil was sent to Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hannibal retires to Carthagena.</note> +This act of Hannibal was the occasion, though not the +cause, of the second Punic war. The Romans, indignant, +demanded of Carthage the surrender of the general who had +broken the peace. On the fall of Saguntum, Hannibal +retired to Carthagena for winter quarters, +and to make preparations for the invasion of Italy. He collected +an army of one hundred and twenty thousand infantry, +sixteen thousand cavalry, and fifty-eight elephants, assisted +by a naval force. But the whole of this great army was not +designed for the Italian expedition. A part of it was sent +for the protection of Carthage, and a part was reserved for +the protection of Spain, the government of which he intrusted +to his brother Hasdrubal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He prepares for vigorous war.</note> +The nations of the earth, two thousand years ago, would +scarcely appreciate the magnitude of the events which were +to follow from the invasion of Italy, and the war which followed—perhaps +<q>the most memorable of all the wars ever +waged,</q> certainly one of the most memorable in human +<pb n="442"/><anchor id="Pg442"/> +annals. The question at issue was, whether the world was +to be governed by a commercial oligarchy, with +all the superstitions of the East, or by the laws +of a free and patriotic State. It was a war waged between +the genius of a mighty general and the resources of the +Roman people, for Hannibal did not look for aid so much to +his own State, as to those hardy Spaniards who followed his +standard. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Crosses the Ebro.</note> +In the spring, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 218, Hannibal set out from New Carthage +with an army of ninety thousand infantry +and twelve thousand cavalry. He encountered at +the Ebro the first serious resistance, but this was from the +natives, and not the Romans. It took four months to surmount +their resistance, during which he lost one-fourth of +his army. As it was his great object to gain time before the +Romans could occupy the passes of the Alps, he made this +sacrifice of his men. When he readied the Pyrenees, he +sent home a part of his army, and crossed those mountains +with only fifty thousand infantry and nine thousand cavalry; +but these were veteran troops. He took the coast route by +Narbonne and Nimes, through the Celtic territory, and +encountered no serious resistance till he reached the Rhone, +opposite to Avignon, about the end of July. The passage +was disputed by Scipio, assisted by friendly Gauls, but Hannibal +outflanked his enemies by sending a detachment across +the river, on rafts, two days' march higher up, and thus easily +forced the passage, and was three days' march beyond the +river before Scipio was aware that he had crossed. Scipio +then sailed back to Pisa, and aided his colleague to meet the +invader in Cisalpine Gaul. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hannibal crosses the Alps.</note> +Hannibal, now on Celtic territory on the Roman side +of the Rhone, could not be prevented from reaching the Alps. +Two passes then led from the lower Rhone across the Alps—the +one by the Cottian Alps (Mount Geneva); and the other, +the higher pass of the Grain Alps (Mount St. Bernard), +and this was selected by Hannibal. The +task of transporting a large army over even this easier pass +<pb n="443"/><anchor id="Pg443"/> +was a work of great difficulty, with baggage, cavalry, and +elephants, when the autumn snows were falling, resisted by +the mountaineers, against whom they had to fight to the very +summit of the pass. The descent, though free from enemies, +was still more dangerous, and it required, at one place, +three days' labor to make the road practicable for the elephants. +The army arrived, the middle of September, in the +plain of Ivrea, where his exhausted troops were quartered +in friendly villages. Had the Romans met him near Turin +with only thirty thousand men, and at once forced a battle, +the prospects of Hannibal would have been doubtful. But +no army appeared; the object was attained, but with the loss +of half his troops, and the rest so demoralized by fatigue, that +a long rest was required. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio.</note> +The great talents by which Scipio atoned for his previous +errors now extricated his army from destruction. +He retreated across the Ticinio and the Po, refusing +a pitched battle on the plains, and fell back upon a +strong position on the hills. The united consular armies, +forty thousand men, were so posted as to compel Hannibal +to attack in front with inferior force, or go into winter +quarters, trusting to the doubtful fidelity of the Gauls. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of the Trasimene Lake.</note> +It has been well said, <q>that it was the misfortune of +Rome's double magistracy when both consuls were present +on the field.</q> Owing to a wound which Scipio had received, +the command devolved upon Sempronius, who, eager for distinction, +could not resist the provocations of Hannibal to +bring on a battle. In one of the skirmishes the Roman cavalry +and light infantry were enticed by the flying Numidians +across a swollen stream, and suddenly found themselves +before the entire Punic army. The whole Roman force hurried +across the stream to support the vanguard. +A battle took place on the Trasimene Lake, in +which the Romans were sorely beaten, but ten thousand +infantry cut their way through the masses of the enemy, and +reached the fortress of Placentia, where they were joined by +other bands. After this success, which gave Hannibal all of +<pb n="444"/><anchor id="Pg444"/> +Northern Italy, his army, suffering from fatigue and disease, +retired into winter quarters. He now had lost all his elephants +but one. The remains of the Roman army passed the +winter in the fortresses of Placentia and Cremona. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hannibal in Italy.</note> +The next spring, the Romans, under Flaminius, took the +field, with four legions, to command the great northern and +eastern roads, and the passes of the Appenines. But Hannibal, +knowing that Rome was only vulnerable at +the heart, rapidly changed his base, crossed the +Appenines at an undefended pass, and advanced, by the +lower Arno, into Etruria, while Flaminius was watching by +the upper course of that stream. Flaminius was a mere party +leader and demagogue, and was not the man for such a crisis, +for Hannibal was allowed to pass by him, and reach Fæsulæ +unobstructed. The Romans prepared themselves for the +worst, broke down the bridges over the Tiber, and nominated +Quintus Fabius Maximus dictator. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hannibal marches to the Adriatic.</note> +Pyrrhus would have marched direct upon Rome, but Hannibal +was more far-sighted. His army needed a new organization, +and rest, and recruits, so he marched unexpectedly +through Umbria, devastated the country, and +halted on the shores of the Adriatic. Here he +rested, reorganized his Libyan cavalry, and resumed his communication +with Carthage. He then broke up his camp, and +marched into Southern Italy, hoping to break up the confederacy. +But not a single Italian town entered into alliance +with the Carthaginians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fabius. Efforts of the Romans.</note> +Fabius, the dictator, a man of great prudence, advanced +in years, and a tactitian of the old Roman school, determined +to avoid a pitched battle, and starve or weary out his enemy. +Hannibal adjusted his plans in accordance with the character +of the man he opposed. So he passed the Roman army, +crossed the Appenines, took Telesia, and turned against +Capua, the most important of all the Italian dependent cities, +hoping for a revolt among the Campanian towns. +Here again he was disappointed. So, retracing +his steps, he took the road to Apulia, the dictator following +<pb n="445"/><anchor id="Pg445"/> +him along the heights. So the summer was consumed +by marchings and counter-marchings, the lands of the Hispanians, +Campamans, Samnites, Pælignians, and other provinces, +being successively devastated. But no important +battle was fought. He selected then the rich lands of Apulia +for winter quarters, and intrenched his camp at Gerenium. +The Romans formed a camp in the territory of the +Larinates, and harassed the enemy's foragers. +This defensive policy of Fabius wounded the Roman pride, +and the dictator became unpopular. The Senate resolved to +depart from a policy which was slowly but surely ruining +the State, and an army was equipped larger than Rome ever +before sent into the field, composed of eight legions, under +the command of the two consuls, L. Æmilius Paulus, and M. +Terentius Varro. The former, a patrician, had conducted +successfully the Illyrian war; the latter, the popular candidate, +incapable, conceited, and presumptuous. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of Cannæ. +Its great consequences. +Varro.</note> +As soon as the season allowed him to leave his winter-quarters, +Hannibal, assuming the offensive, marched out of +Gerenium, passed Luceria, crossed the Aufidus, and took the +citadel of Cannæ, which commanded the plain of Canusium. +The Roman consuls arrived in Apulia in the beginning of the +summer, with eighty thousand infantry and six thousand +cavalry. Hannibal's force was forty thousand infantry and +ten thousand cavalry, inured to regular warfare. The Romans +made up their minds to fight, and confronted the Carthaginians +on the right bank of the Aufidus. According to a foolish +custom, the command devolved on one of the consuls every +other day, and Varro determined to avail himself of the first +opportunity for a battle. The forces met on the plain west +of Cannæ, more favorable to the Carthaginians than the Romans, +on account of the superiority of the cavalry. +It is difficult, without a long description, to give +clear conceptions of this famous battle. Hannibal, it would +seem, like Epaminondas and Alexander, brought to bear his +heavy cavalry, under Hasdrubal, upon the weakest point of +the enemy, after the conflict had continued awhile without +<pb n="446"/><anchor id="Pg446"/> +decisive results. The weaker right of the Roman army, led +by Paulus, after bravely fighting, were cut down and driven +across the river. Paulus, wounded, then rode to the centre, +composed of infantry in close lines, which had gained an +advantage over the Spanish and Gaulish troops that encountered +them. In order to follow up this advantage, the legions +pressed forward in the form of a wedge. In this position the +Libyan infantry, wheeling upon them right and +left, warmly assailed both sides of the Roman +infantry, which checked its advance. By this double flank +attack the Roman infantry became crowded, and were not +free. Meanwhile, Hasdrubal, after defeating the right wing, +which had been led by Paulus, led his cavalry behind the +Roman centre and attacked the left wing, led by Varro. +The cavalry of Varro, opposed by the Numidian +cavalry, was in no condition to meet this double +attack, and was scattered. Hasdrubal again rallied his cavalry, +and led it to the rear of the Roman centre, already in +close fight with the Spanish and Gaulish infantry. This last +charge decided the battle. Flight was impossible, for the +river was in the rear, and in front was a victorious enemy. +No quarter was given. Seventy thousand Romans were +slain, including the consul Paulus and eighty men of senatorial +rank. Varro was saved by the speed of his horse. +The Carthaginians lost not quite six thousand. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Revolt of allies.</note> +This immense disaster was the signal for the revolt of the +allies, which Hannibal before in vain had sought +to procure. Capua opened her gates to the conqueror. +Nearly all the people of Southern Italy rose against +Rome. But the Greek cities of the coast were held by +Roman garrisons, as well as the fortresses in Apulia, Campania, +and Samnium. The news of the battle of Cannæ, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +216, induced the Macedonian king to promise aid to Hannibal. +The death of Hiero at Syracuse made Sicily an enemy +to Rome, while Carthage, now elated, sent considerable +re-enforcements. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Wisdom of Hannibal.</note> +Many critics have expressed surprise that Hannibal, after +<pb n="447"/><anchor id="Pg447"/> +this great victory, did not at once march upon Rome. Had +he conquered, as Alexander did, a Persian, Oriental, +effeminate people, this might have been his +true policy. But Rome was still capable of a strong defense, +and would not have succumbed under any pressure of +adverse circumstances, and she also was still strong in allies. +And more, Hannibal had not perfected his political combinations. +He was not ready to strike the final blow. He had +to keep his eye on Macedonia, Africa, Sicily, and Spain. +Alexander did not march to Babylon, until he had subdued +Phœnicia and Egypt. Even the capture of Rome would not +prevent a long war with the States of Italy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fortitude of the Romans.</note> +Nor did the Romans lose courage when they learned the +greatest calamity which had ever befallen them. They +made new and immense preparations. All the reserve forces +were called out—all men capable of bearing arms—young +or old. Even the slaves were armed, after +being purchased by the State, and made soldiers. Spoils +were taken down from the temples. The Latin cities sent in +contingents, and the Senate refused to receive even the +envoy of the conqueror. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The crisis.</note> +Such courage and fortitude and energy were not without +effect, while the enervating influence of Capua, the +following winter, demoralized the Carthaginians. +The turning point of the war was the winter which followed +the defeat at Cannæ. The great aim of Hannibal, in his +expedition to Italy, had been to break up the Italian confederacy. +After three campaigns, that object was only imperfectly +accomplished, in spite of his victories, and he had a +great frontier to protect. With only forty thousand men, +he could not leave it uncovered, and advance to Rome. +The Romans, too, learning wisdom, now appointed only generals +of experience, and continued them in command. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Marcellus.</note> +The animating soul of the new warfare was Marcus Claudius +Marcellus, a man fifty years of age, who had +received a severe military training, and performed +acts of signal heroism. He was not a general to be a mere +<pb n="448"/><anchor id="Pg448"/> +spectator of the movements of the enemy from the hills, but +to take his position in fortified camps under the walls of fortresses. +With the two legions saved from Cannæ, and the +troops raised from Rome and Ostia, he followed Hannibal to +Campania, while other Roman armies were posted in other +quarters. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal now saw that without great re-enforcements from +Carthage, Spain, Macedonia, and Syracuse, he would be +obliged to fight on the defensive. But the Carthaginians +sent only congratulations; the king of Macedonia failed +in courage; while the Romans intercepted supplies from +Syracuse and Spain. Hannibal was left to his own +resources. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio.</note> +Scipio, meanwhile, in Spain, attacked the real base of Hannibal, +overran the country of the Ebro, secured the +passes of the Pyrenees, and defeated Hasdrubal +while attempting to lead succor to his brother. The capture +of Saguntum gave the Romans a strong fortress between the +Ebro and Carthagena. Scipio even meditated an attack on +Africa, and induced Syphax, king of one of the Numidian +nations, to desert Carthage, which caused the recall of +Hasdrubal from Spain. His departure left Scipio master of +the peninsula; but Hasdrubal, after punishing the disaffected +Numidians, returned to Spain, and with overwhelming +numbers regained their ascendency, and Scipio was slain, +as well as his brother, and their army routed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Revolt of Syracuse. +Archimedes.</note> +It has been mentioned that on the death of Hiero, who +had been the long-tried friend of Rome, Syracuse threw her +influence in favor of Carthage, being ruled by +factions. Against this revolted city the consul +Marcellus now advanced, and invested the city by land and +sea. He was foiled by the celebrated mathematician Archimedes, +who constructed engines which destroyed +the Roman ships. This very great man advanced +the science of geometry, and made discoveries which rank +him among the lights of the ancient world. His theory of +the lever was the foundation of statics till the time of Newton. +<pb n="449"/><anchor id="Pg449"/> +His discovery of the method of determining specific +gravities by immersion in a fluid was equally memorable. He +was not only the greatest mathematician of the old world, +but he applied science to practical affairs, and compelled +Marcellus to convert the siege of Syracuse into a blockade. +He is said to have launched a ship by the pressure of the +screw, which, reversed in its operation, has revolutionized +naval and commercial marines. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Siege of Syracuse. +Death of Archimedes.</note> +The time gained by this eminent engineer, as well as geometer, +enabled the Carthaginians to send an army to relieve +Syracuse. The situation of Marcellus was critical, +when, by a fortunate escalade of the walls, left unguarded +at a festival, the Romans were enabled to take possession +of a strong position within the walls. A pestilence +carried off most of the African army encamped in the valley +of Anapus, with the general Himilco. Bomilcar, the Carthaginian +admiral, retreated, rather than fight the Roman fleet. +Marcellus obtained, by the treachery of a Sicilian captain, +possession of the island of Ortygia, where Dionysius had once +intrenched himself, the key to the port and the city, and +Syracuse fell. The city was given up to plunder and massacre, +and Archimedes was one of the victims. +Marcellus honored the illustrious defender with +a stately funeral, and he was buried outside the gate of +Aeradina. One hundred and fifty years later, the Syracusans +had forgotten even where he was buried, and his tomb was +discovered by Cicero. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of Capua.</note> +While these events took place in Spain and Sicily, Hannibal +bent his efforts to capture Tarentum, and the Romans +were equally resolved to recover Capua. The fall of Tarentum +enabled Hannibal to break up the siege of Capua, and +foiled in his attempts to bring on a decisive battle before that +city, he advanced to Rome, and encamped within five miles +of the city, after having led his troops with consummate skill +between the armies and fortresses of the enemy. But Rome +was well defended by two legions, under Fabius, who refused +to fight a pitched battle. Hannibal was, therefore, compelled +<pb n="450"/><anchor id="Pg450"/> +to retreat in order to save Capua, which, however, +in his absence, had surrendered to the Romans, after +a two years' siege, and was savagely punished +for its defection from the Roman cause. The fall of Capua +gave a renewed confidence to the Roman government, which +sent re-enforcements to Spain. But it imprudently reduced +its other forces, so that Marcellus was left to face Hannibal +with an inadequate army. The war was now carried on with +alternate successes, in the course of which Tarentum again +fell into Roman hands. Thirty thousand Tarentines were +sold as slaves, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 209. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of Metaurus. +Reverses of Hannibal.</note> +This great war had now lasted ten years, and both parties +were sinking from exhaustion. In this posture of affairs the +Romans were startled with the intelligence that Hasdrubal +had crossed the Pyrenees, and was advancing to join his +brother in Italy. The Romans, in this exigency, made prodigious +exertions. Twenty-three legions were enrolled; but +before preparations were completed, Hasdrubal crossed the +Alps, re-enforced by eight thousand Ligurian mercenaries. +It was the aim of the two Carthaginian generals to form a +juncture of their forces, and of the Romans to prevent it. +Gaining intelligence of the intended movements of Hannibal +and Hasdrubal by an intercepted dispatch, the Roman consul, +Nero, advanced to meet Hasdrubal, and encountered +him on the banks of the Metaurus. +Here a battle ensued, in which the Carthaginians were +defeated and Hasdrubal slain. Hannibal was waiting in +suspense for the dispatch of his brother in his Apulian camp, +when the victor returned from his march of five hundred +miles, and threw the head of Hasdrubal within his outposts, +On the sight of his brothers head, he exclaimed; +<q>I recognize the doom of Carthage.</q> Abandoning +Apulia and Lucania, he retired to the Bruttian peninsula, +and the victor of Cannæ retained only a few posts to re-embark +for Africa. +</p> + +<p> +And yet this great general was able to keep the field four +years longer, nor could the superiority of his opponents compel +<pb n="451"/><anchor id="Pg451"/> +him to shut himself up in a fortress or re-embark, a proof +of his strategic talents. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio.</note> +In the mean time a brilliant career was opened in Spain to +the young Publius Scipio, known as the elder Africanus. He +was only twenty-four when selected to lead the +armies of Rome in Spain; for it was necessary to +subdue that country in order to foil the Carthaginians in +Italy. Publius Scipio was an enthusiast, who won the hearts +of soldiers and women. He was kingly in his bearing, confident +of his greatness, graceful in his manners, and eloquent +in his speech—popular with all classes, and inspiring the +enthusiasm which he felt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His successes in Spain.</note> +He landed in Spain with an army of thirty thousand, and +at once marched to New Carthage, before the distant armies +of the Carthaginians could come to its relief. In a single +day the schemes of Hamilcar and his sons were +dissolved, and this great capital fell into the hands +of the youthful general, not yet eligible for a single curule +magistracy. Ten thousand captives were taken and six +hundred talents, with great stores of corn and munitions of +war. Spain seemed to be an easy conquest; but the following +year the Carthaginians made a desperate effort, and sent +to Spain a new army of seventy thousand infantry, four thousand +horse, and thirty-two elephants. Yet this great force, +united with that which remained under Hasdrubal and Mago, +was signally defeated by Scipio. This grand victory, which +made Scipio master of Spain, left him free to carry the war +into Africa itself, assisted by his ally Masinassa. Gades +alone remained to the Carthaginians, the original colony of +the Phœnicians, and even this last tie was severed when +Mago was recalled to assist Hannibal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio consul. +He invades Africa.</note> +Scipio, ambitious to finish the war, and seeking to employ +the whole resources of the empire, returned to +Italy and offered himself for the consulship, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +205, and was unanimously chosen by the centuries, though +not of legal age. His colleague was the chief pontiff P. +Licinius Crassus, whose office prevented him from leaving +<pb n="452"/><anchor id="Pg452"/> +Italy, and he was thus left unobstructed in the sole conduct +of the war. Sicily was assigned to him as his province, +where he was to build a fleet and make preparations for +passing over to Africa, although a party, headed +by old Fabius Maximus, wished him to remain in +Italy to drive away Hannibal. The Senate withheld the +usual power of the consul to make a new levy, but permitted +Scipio to enroll volunteers throughout Italy. In the state of +disorganization and demoralization which ever attend a long +war, this enrollment was easily effected, and money was raised +by contributions on disaffected States. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hannibal evacuates Italy.</note> +Hannibal was still pent up among the Bruttii, unwilling +to let go his last hold on Italy. Mago, in cisalpine Gaul, was +too far off to render aid. The defense of Africa +depended on him alone, and he was recalled. He +would probably have anticipated the order. Rome breathed +more freely when the <q>Libyan Lion</q> had departed. For +fifteen years he had been an incubus or a terror, and the +Romans, in various conflicts, had lost three hundred thousand +men. Two of the Scipios, Paulus Gracchus and Marcellus, +had yielded up their lives in battle. Only Fabius, among +the experienced generals at the beginning of the war, was +alive, and he, at the age of ninety, was now crowned with a +chaplet of the grass of Italy, as the most honorable reward +which could be given him. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hannibal seeks for peace.</note> +Hannibal now sought a conference with Scipio, for both +parties were anxious for peace, but was unable to +obtain any better terms than the cession of Spain, +as well as the Mediterranean islands, the surrender of the +Carthaginian fleet, the payment of four thousand talents, +and the confirmation of Masinissa in the kingdom of Syphax. +Such terms could not be accepted, and both parties prepared +for one more decisive conflict. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The battle of Zama.</note> +The battle was fought at Zama. <q>Hannibal arranged his +infantry in three lines. The first division contained +the Carthaginian mercenaries; the second, the +African allies, and the militia of Carriage; the third, the +<pb n="453"/><anchor id="Pg453"/> +veterans who followed him from Italy. In the front of the +lines were stationed eighty elephants; the cavalry was +placed on the wings. Scipio likewise disposed the legions +in three divisions. The infantry fought hand to hand in the +first division, and both parties falling into confusion, sought +aid in the second division. The Romans were supported, +but the Carthaginian militia was wavering. Upon seeing +this, Hannibal hastily withdrew what remained of the two +first lines to the flanks, and pushed forward his choice Italian +troops along the whole line. Scipio gathered together in the +centre all that were able to fight of the first line, and made +the second and third divisions close up on the right and left +of the first. Once again the conflict was renewed with more +desperate fighting, till the cavalry of the Romans and of +Masinassa, returning from pursuit of the beaten cavalry of +the enemy, surrounded them on all sides. This movement +annihilated the Punic army. All was lost, and Hannibal +was only able to escape with a handful of men.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio gives peace to Carthage.</note> +It was now in the power of Scipio to march upon Carthage +and lay siege to the city, neither protected nor +provisioned. But he made no extravagant use of +his victory. He granted peace on the terms previously rejected, +with the addition of an annual tribute of two hundred +talents for fifty years. He had no object to destroy a city +after its political power was annihilated, and wickedly overthrow +the primitive seat of commerce, which was still one +of the main pillars of civilization. He was too great and +wise a statesman to take such a revenge as the Romans +sought fifty years afterward. He was contented to end the +war gloriously, and see Carthage, the old rival, a tributary +and broken power, with no possibility of reviving its former +schemes, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 201. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Close of the war.</note> +This ended the Hannibalic war, which had lasted seventeen +years, and which gave to Rome the undisputed +sovereignty of Italy, the conversion of Spain +into two Roman provinces, the union of Syracuse with the +Roman province of Sicily, the establishment of a Roman +<pb n="454"/><anchor id="Pg454"/> +protectorate over the Numidian chiefs, and the reduction of +Carthage to a defenseless mercantile city. The hegemony +of Rome was established over the western region of the +Mediterranean. These results were great, but were obtained +by the loss of one quarter of the burgesses of Rome, the ruin +of four hundred towns, the waste of the accumulated capital +of years, and the general demoralization of the people. It +might seem that the Romans could have lived side by side +with other nations in amity, as modern nations do. But, in +ancient times, <q>it was necessary to be either anvil or hammer.</q> +Either Rome or Carthage was to become the great +power of the world. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="455"/><anchor id="Pg455"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXI. THE MACEDONIAN AND ASIATIC WARS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXI.</head> +<head>THE MACEDONIAN AND ASIATIC WARS.</head> + +<p> +Scarcely was Rome left to recover from the exhaustion +of the long and desperate war with Hannibal, before she was +involved in a new war with Macedonia, which led to very +important consequences. +</p> + +<p> +The Greeks had retained the sovereignty which Alexander +had won, and their civilization extended rapidly into the East. +There were three great monarchies which arose, however, +from the dismemberment of the empire which Alexander had +founded—Macedonia, Asia, and Egypt—and each of them, +in turn, was destined to become provinces of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Macedonia. +Philip.</note> +Macedonia was then ruled by Philip V., and was much +such a monarchy as the first Philip had consolidated. +The Macedonian rule embraced Greece and +Thessaly, and strong garrisons were maintained at Demetrias +in Maguesia, Calchis in the island of Eubœa, and in Corinth, +<q>the three fetters of the Hellenes.</q> But the strength of the +kingdom lay in Macedonia. In Greece proper all moral and +political energy had fled, and the degenerate, but still intellectual +inhabitants spent their time in bacchanalian pleasures, +in fencing, and in study of the midnight lamp. The +Greeks, diffused over the East, disseminated their culture, +but were only in sufficient numbers to supply officers, statesmen, +and schoolmasters. All the real warlike vigor remained +among the nations of the North, where Philip +reigned, a genuine king, proud of his purple, and +proud of his accomplishments, lawless and ungodly, indifferent +to the lives and sufferings of others, stubborn and tyrannical. +He saw with regret the subjugation of Carthage, but +<pb n="456"/><anchor id="Pg456"/> +did not come to her relief when his aid might have turned +the scale, ten years before. His eyes were turned to another +quarter, to possess himself of part of the territories of Egypt, +assisted by Antiochus of Asia. In this attempt he arrayed +against himself all the Greek mercantile cities whose interests +were identified with Alexandria, now, on the fall of Carthage, +the greatest commercial city of the world. He was opposed +by Pergamus and the Rhodian league, while the Romans +gave serious attention to their Eastern complications, not so +much with a view of conquering the East, as to protect their +newly-acquired possessions. A Macedonian war, then, became +inevitable, but was entered into reluctantly, and was +one of the most righteous, according to Mommsen, which +Rome ever waged. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Makes war with the Romans. Battle of Cynocephalæ. +The Achæan League.</note> +The pretext for war—the <hi rend='italic'>casus belli</hi>—was furnished by +an attack on Athens by the Macedonian general, to +avenge the murder of two Arcanians for intruding +upon the Eleusinan Mysteries, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 201. Athens was an +ally of Rome. Two legions, under Publius Sulpicius Galba, +embarked at Brundusium for Macedonia, with one thousand +Numidian cavalry and a number of elephants. Nothing was +accomplished this year of any historical importance. The +next spring Galba led his troops into Macedonia, and encountered +the enemy, under Philip, on a marshy plain on +the northwest frontier. But the Macedonians avoided battle, +and after repeated skirmishes and marches the Romans +returned to Apollonia. Philip did not disturb the army in +its retreat, but turned against the Ætolians, who had joined +the league against him. At the end of the campaign the +Romans stood as they were in the spring, but would have +been routed had not the Ætolians interposed. The successes +of Philip filled him with arrogance and self-confidence, and +the following spring he assumed the offensive. The Romans, +meantime, had been re-enforced by new troops, under the +command of Flaminius, who attacked Philip in his intrenched +camp. The Macedonian king lost his camp and two thousand +men, and retreated to the Pass of Tempe, the gate of Macedonia +<pb n="457"/><anchor id="Pg457"/> +proper, deserted by many of his allies. The Achæans +entered into alliance with Rome. The winter came on, and +Philip sought terms of peace. All he could obtain from +Flaminius was an armistice of two months. The Roman +Senate refused all terms unless Philip would renounce all +Greece, especially Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias. These +were rejected, and Philip strained all his energies to meet +his enemy in a pitched battle. He brought into the field +twenty-six thousand men, an equal force to the +Romans, and encountered them at Cynocephalæ. +The Romans were victorious, and a great number of prisoners +fell into their hands. Philip escaped to Larissa, burned +his papers, evacuated Thessaly, and returned home. He was +completely vanquished, and was obliged to accept such a +peace as the Romans were disposed to grant. But the +Romans did not abuse their power, but treated Philip with +respect, and granted to him such terms as had been given to +Carthage. He lost all his foreign possessions in Asia Minor, +Thrace, Greece, and the islands of the Ægean, but retained +Macedonia. He was also bound not to conclude foreign +alliances without the consent of the Romans, nor send garrisons +abroad, nor maintain an army of over five thousand +men, nor possess a navy beyond five ships of war. He was +also required to pay a contribution of one thousand talents. +He was thus left in possession only of as much power as was +necessary to guard the frontiers of Hellas against the barbarians. +All the States of Greece were declared free, and +most of them were incorporated with the Achæan +League, a confederation of the old cities, which +were famous before the Dorian migration, to resist the Macedonian +domination. This famous league was the last struggle +of Greece for federation to resist overpowering foes. As +the Achæan cities were the dominant States of Greece at the +Trojan war, so the expiring fires of Grecian liberty went out +the last among that ancient race. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The liberties of Greece secured. Flaminius.</note> +The liberator of Greece, as Flaminius may be called, assembled +the deputies of all the Greek communities at Corinth, exhorted +<pb n="458"/><anchor id="Pg458"/> +them to use the freedom which he had conferred upon +them with moderation, and requested, as the sole +return for the kindness which the Romans had +shown, that they would send back all the Italian captives +sold in Greece during the war with Hannibal, and then he +evacuated the last fortresses which he held, and returned to +Rome with his troops and liberated captives. Rome really +desired the liberation and independence of Greece, now that +all fears of her political power were removed, and that glorious +liberty which is associated with the struggles of the Greeks +with the Persians might have been secured, had not the +Hellenic nations been completely demoralized. There was +left among them no foundation and no material for liberty, +and nothing but the magic charm of the Hellenic +name could have prevented Flaminius from establishing +a Roman government in that degenerate land. It was +an injudicious generosity which animated the Romans, but +for which the war with Antiochus might not have arisen. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Antiochus.</note> +Antiochus III., the great-great-grandson of the general +of Alexander who founded the dynasty of the +Seleucidæ, then reigned in Asia. On the fall of +Philip, who was his ally, he took possession of those districts +in Asia Minor that formerly belonged to Egypt, but had +fallen to Philip. He also sought to recover the Greek cities +of Asia Minor as a part of his empire. This enterprise embroiled +him with the Romans, who claimed a protectorate +over all the Hellenic cities. And he was further complicated +by the arrival at Ephesus, his capital, of Hannibal, to whom +he gave an honorable reception. A rupture with Rome +could not be avoided. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Power of Antiochus.</note> +To strengthen himself in Asia for the approaching conflict, +Antiochus married one of his daughters to Ptolemy, king of +Egypt, another to the king of Cappadocia, a third to the king +of Pergamus, while the Grecian cities were amused by promises +and presents. He was also assured of the +aid of the Ætolians, who intrigued against the +Romans as soon as Flaminius had left. Then was seen the +<pb n="459"/><anchor id="Pg459"/> +error of that general for withdrawing garrisons from Greece, +which was to be the theatre of the war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His preparations for war.</note> +Antiochus collected an army and started for Greece, hoping +to be joined by Philip, who, however, placed all +his forces at the disposal of the Romans. The +Achæan League also was firm to the Roman cause. The +Roman armies sent against him, commanded by Maninius +Acilius Glabrio, numbered forty thousand men. Instead of +retiring before this superior force, Antiochus intrenched +himself in Thermopylæ, but his army was dispersed, and he +fled to Chalcis, and there embarked for Ephesus. The war +was now to be carried to Asia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio in Asia.</note> +Both parties, during the winter, vigorously prepared for the +next campaign, and the conqueror of Zama was +selected by Rome to conduct her armies in Asia. +It was a long and weary march for the Roman armies to the +Hellespont, which was crossed, however, without serious obstacles, +from the mismanagement of Antiochus, who offered +terms of peace when the army had safely landed in Asia. +He offered to pay half the expenses of the war and the cession +of his European possessions, as well as of the Greek +cities of Asia Minor that had gone over to the Romans. But +Scipio demanded the whole cost of the war and the cession +of Asia Minor. These terms were rejected, and the Syrian +king hastened to decide the fate of Asia by a pitched battle. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Defeat of Antiochus. +Syria a Roman province.</note> +This fight was fought at Magnesia, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 190, not far from +Smyrna, in the valley of the Hermus. The forces +of Antiochus were eighty thousand, including +twelve thousand cavalry, but were undisciplined and +unwieldy. Those of Scipio were about half as numerous. +The Romans were completely successful, losing only twenty-four +horsemen and three hundred infantry, whereas the loss +of Antiochus was fifty thousand—a victory as brilliant as +that of Alexander at Issus. Asia Minor was surrendered to +the Romans, and Antiochus was compelled to pay three +thousand talents (little more than three million dollars) at +once, and the same contribution for twelve years, so that +<pb n="460"/><anchor id="Pg460"/> +he retained nothing but Cilicia. His power was broken +utterly, and he was prohibited from making aggressive war +against the States of the West, or from navigating the sea +west of the mouth of the Calycadnus, in Cilicia, with armed +ships, or from taming elephants, or even receiving +political fugitives. The province of Syria never +again made a second appeal to the decision of arms—a proof +of the feeble organization of the kingdom of the Seleucidæ. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Subjection of the Greek cities.</note> +The king of Cappadocia escaped with a fine of six hundred +talents. All the Greek cities which had joined the +Romans had their liberties confirmed. The Ætolians +lost all cities and territories which were in the hands +of their adversaries. But Philip and the Achæans were disgusted +with the small share of the spoil granted to them. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Hannibal.</note> +Thus the protectorate of Rome now embraced all the States +from the eastern to the western end of the Mediterranean. +And Rome, about this time, was delivered of the last enemy +whom she feared—the homeless and fugitive Carthaginian, +who lived long enough to see the West subdued, as well as +the armies of the East overpowered. At the age +of seventy six he took poison, on seeing his house +beset with assassins. For fifty years he kept the oath he +had sworn as a boy. About the same time that he killed +himself in Bithynia, Scipio, on whom fortune had lavished +all her honors and successes—who had added Spain, Africa, +and Asia to the empire, died in voluntary banishment, little +over fifty years of age, leaving orders not to bury his remains +in the city for which he had lived, and where his ancestors +reposed. He died in bitter vexation from the false charges +made against him of corruption and embezzlement, with +hardly any other fault than that overweening arrogance +which usually attends unprecedented success, and which +corrodes the heart when the <hi rend='italic'>èclat</hi> of prosperity is dimmed +by time. The career and death of both these great men—the +greatest of their age—shows impressively the vanity of +all worldly greatness, and is an additional confirmation of +the fact that the latter years of illustrious men are generally +<pb n="461"/><anchor id="Pg461"/> +sad and gloomy, and certain to be so when their lives are +not animated by a greater sentiment than that of ambition. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Perseus.</note> +Philip of Macedon died, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 179, in the fifty-ninth year +of his age and the forty-second of his reign, and +his son Perseus succeeded to his throne at the age +of thirty-one. Macedonia had been humbled rather than +weakened by the Romans, and after eighteen years of peace, +had renewed her resources. This kingdom chafed against +the foreign power of Rome, as did the whole Hellenic world. +A profound sentiment of discontent existed in both Asia and +Europe. Perseus made alliances with the discontented cities—with +the Byzantines, the Ætolians, and the Bœotians. +But so prudently did he conduct his intrigues, that it was +not till the seventh year of his reign that Rome declared war +against him. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Makes war on Rome. +Battle of Pydna.</note> +The resources of Macedonia were still considerable. The +army consisted of thirty thousand men, without considering +mercenaries or contingents, and great quantities of military +stores had been collected in the magazines. And Perseus +himself was a monarch of great ability, trained and disciplined +to war. He collected an army of forty-three thousand +men, while the whole Roman force in Greece +was scarcely more. Crassus conducted the Roman +army, and in the first engagement at Ossa, was decidedly +beaten. Perseus then sought peace, but the Romans never +made peace after a defeat. The war continued, but the military +result of two campaigns was null, while the political +result was a disgrace to the Romans. The third campaign, +conducted by Quintus Marcius Philippus, was equally undecisive, +and had Perseus been willing to part with his money, +he could have obtained the aid of twenty thousand Celts who +would have given much trouble. At last, in the fourth year +of the war, the Romans sent to Macedonia Lucius Æmilius +Paulus, son of the consul that fell at Cannæ—an excellent +general and incorruptible; a man sixty years of age, cultivated +in Hellenic literature and art. Soon after his arrival +at the camp at Heracleum, he brought about the battle of +<pb n="462"/><anchor id="Pg462"/> +Pydna, which settled the fate of Macedonia. The overthrow +of the Macedonians was fearful. Twenty +thousand were killed and eleven thousand made +prisoners. All Macedonia submitted in two days, and the +king fled with his gold, some six thousand talents he had +hoarded, to Samothrace, accompanied with only a few followers. +The Persian monarch might have presented a more +effectual resistance to Alexander had he scattered his treasures +among the mercenary Greeks. So Perseus could have +prolonged his contest had he employed the Celts. When a +man is struggling desperately for his life or his crown, his +treasures are of secondary importance. Perseus was soon +after taken prisoner by the Romans, with all his treasures, +and died a few years later at Alba. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Its decisive results. +Supremacy of the Romans in the civilized world.</note> +<q>Thus perished the empire of Alexander, which had subdued +and Hellenized the East, one hundred and +forty-four years from his death.</q> The kingdom +of Macedonia was stricken out of the list of States, and the +whole land was disarmed, and the fortress of Demetrias was +razed. Illyria was treated in a similar way, and became a +Roman province. All the Hellenic States were reduced to +dependence upon Rome. Pergamus was humiliated. Rhodes +was deprived of all possessions on the main land, although +the Rhodians had not offended. Egypt voluntarily submitted +to the Roman protectorate, and the whole empire of +Alexander the Great fell to the Roman commonwealth. +The universal empire of the Romans dates from the battle of +Pydna—<q>the last battle in which a civilized State confronted +Rome in the field on the footing of equality as a great +power.</q> All subsequent struggles were with barbarians. +Mithridates, of Pontus, made subsequently a desperate +effort to rid the Oriental world of the dominion of Rome, but +the battle of Pydna marks the real supremacy of the Romans +in the civilized world. Mommsen asserts that +it is a superficial view which sees in the wars +of the Romans with tribes, cities, and kings, an +insatiable longing after dominion and riches, and that it was +<pb n="463"/><anchor id="Pg463"/> +only a desire to secure the complete sovereignty of Italy, +unmolested by enemies, which prompted, to this period, the +Roman wars—that the Romans earnestly opposed the introduction +of Africa, Greece, and Asia into the pale of protectorship, +till circumstances compelled the extension of that pale—that, +in fact, they were driven to all their great wars, +with the exception of that concerning Sicily, even those with +Hannibal and Antiochus, either by direct aggression or disturbance +of settled political relations. <q>The policy of Rome +was that of a narrow-minded but very able deliberate assembly, +which had far too little power of grand combination, and +far too much instinctive desire for the preservation of its +own commonwealth, to devise projects in the spirit of a +Cæsar or a Napoleon.</q> Nor did the ancient world know of +a balance of power among nations, and hence every nation +strove to subdue its neighbors, or render them powerless, +like the Grecian States. Had the Greeks combined for a +great political unity, they might have defied even the Roman +power, or had they been willing to see the growth of equal +States without envy, like the modern nations of Europe, without +destructive conflicts, the States of Sparta, Corinth, and +Athens might have grown simultaneously, and united, would +have been too powerful to be subdued. But they did not +understand the balance of power, and they were inflamed +with rival animosities, and thus destroyed each other. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="464"/><anchor id="Pg464"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXII. THE THIRD PUNIC WAR."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXII.</head> +<head>THE THIRD PUNIC WAR.</head> + +<p> +The peace between Carthage and Rome, after the second +Punic war, lasted fifty years, during which the Carthaginians +gave the Romans no cause of complaint. Carthage, in +the enjoyment of peace, devoted itself to commerce and +industrial arts, and grew very rich and populous. The government +alone was weak, from the anarchical ascendency of +the people, who were lawless and extravagant. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Causes of the third Punic war.</note> +Their renewed miseries can be traced to Masinissa, who +was in close alliance with the Romans. The Carthaginians +endured everything rather than provoke +the hostility of Rome, which watched the first opportunity +to effect their ruin. Having resigned themselves to +political degradation, general cowardice and demoralization +were the result. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Masinissa. +Usurpation of Masinissa.</note> +Masinissa, king of Numidia, made insolent claims on +those Phœnician settlements on the coast of Byzacene, +which the Carthaginians possessed from the +earliest times. Scipio was sent to Carthage, to arrange the +difficulty, as arbitrator, and the circumstances were so +aggravated that he could not, with any justice, decide in +favor of the king, but declined to pronounce a verdict, so +that Masinissa and Carthage should remain on terms of +hostility. And as Masinissa reigned for fifty years after +the peace, Carthage was subjected to continual vexations. +At last a war broke out between them. Masinissa was +stronger than Carthage, but the city raised a considerable +army, and placed it under the conduct of Hasdrubal, who +marched against the perfidious enemy with fifty thousand +<pb n="465"/><anchor id="Pg465"/> +mercenaries. The battle was not decisive, but Hasdrubal +retreated without securing his communication with Carthage. +His army was cut off, and he sought terms of peace, +which were haughtily rejected, and he then gave +hostages for keeping the peace, and agreed to pay five thousand +talents within fifty years, and acknowledge Masinissa's +usurpation. The Romans, instead of settling the difficulties, +instigated secretly Masinissa. And the Roman commissioners +sent to the Senate exaggerated accounts of the +resources of Carthage. The Romans compelled the Carthaginians +to destroy their timber and the materials they had +in abundance for building a new fleet. Still the Senate, +having the control of the foreign relations, and having +become a mere assembly of kings, with the great power +which the government of provinces gave to it, was filled with +renewed jealousy. Cato never made a speech without closing +with these words: <q><hi rend='italic'>Carthago est delenda.</hi></q> A blind +hatred animated that vindictive and narrow old patrician, +who headed a party with the avowed object of the destruction +of Carthage. And it was finally determined to destroy +the city. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carthage called to account.</note> +The Romans took the Carthaginians to account for the +war with Masinissa, and not contented with the +humiliation of their old rival, aimed at her absolute +ruin, though she had broken no treaties. The Carthaginians, +broken-hearted, sent embassy after embassy, imploring +the Senate to preserve peace, to whom the senators gave +equivocal answers. The situation of Carthage was hopeless +and miserable—stripped by Masinissa of the rich towns of +Emporia, and on the eve of another conflict with the mistress +of the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Power of Carthage.</note> +Had the city been animated by the spirit which Hannibal +had sought to infuse, she was still capable of a +noble defense. She ruled over three hundred +Libyan cities, and had a population of seven hundred thousand. +She had accumulated two hundred thousand stand +of arms, and two thousand catapults. And she had the +<pb n="466"/><anchor id="Pg466"/> +means to manufacture a still greater amount. But she had, +unfortunately, on the first demand of the Romans, surrendered +these means of defense. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War declared.</note> +At last Rome declared war, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 149—the wickedest war +in which she ever engaged—and Cato had the +satisfaction of seeing, at the age of eighty-five, his +policy indorsed against every principle of justice and honor. +A Roman army landed in Africa unopposed, and the Carthaginians +were weak enough to surrender, not only three +hundred hostages from the noblest families, but the arms +already enumerated. Nothing but infatuation can account +for this miserable concession of weakness to strength, all +from a blind confidence in the tender mercies of an unpitying +and unscrupulous foe. Then, when the city was defenseless, +the hostages in the hands of the Romans, and they almost +at the gates, it was coolly announced that it was the will of +the Senate that the city should be destroyed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Despair of the Carthaginians.</note> +Too late, the doomed city prepared to make a last stand +against an inexorable enemy. The most violent feelings of +hatred and rage, added to those of despair, at last animated +the people of Carthage. It was the same passion which +arrayed Tyre against Alexander, and Jerusalem against +Titus. It was a wild patriotic frenzy which knew no bounds, +inspired by the instinct of self-preservation, and +aside from all calculation of success or failure. As +the fall of the city was inevitable, wisdom might have counseled +an unreserved submission. Resistance should have +been thought of before. In fact, Carthage should not have +yielded to the first Africanus. And when she had again +become rich and populous, she should have defied the Romans +when their spirit was perceived—should have made a +more gallant defense against Masinissa, and concentrated +all her energies for a last stand upon her own territories. +But why should we thus speculate? The doom of Carthage +had been pronounced by the decrees of fate. The fall has all +the mystery and solemnity of a providential event, like the +fall of all empires, like the defeat of Darius by Alexander, +<pb n="467"/><anchor id="Pg467"/> +like the ruin of Jerusalem, like the melting away of North +American Indians, like the final overthrow of the <q>Eternal +City</q> itself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The city makes desperate efforts. +Hasdrubal.</note> +The desperation of the city in her last conflict proves, +however, that, with proper foresight and patriotism, +her fall might have been delayed, for it took +the Romans three years to subdue her. The disarmed +city withstood the attack of the Romans for a period +five times as long as it required Vespasian and Titus to capture +Jerusalem. The city resounded day and night with the +labors of men and women on arms and catapults. One hundred +and forty shields, three hundred swords, five hundred +spears, and one thousand missiles were manufactured daily, +and even a fleet of one hundred and fifty ships was built +during the siege. The land side of the city was protected +by a triple wall, and the rocks of Cape Camast and Cape +Carthage sheltered it from all attacks by sea, except one +side protected by fortified harbors and quays. +Hasdrubal, with the remnant of his army, was still +in the field, and took up his station at Nephesis, on the +opposite side of the lake of Tunis, to harass the besiegers. +Masinissa died at the age of ninety, soon after hostilities +began. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Failure of the Romans.</note> +The first attack on Carthage was a failure, and the army of +the Consuls Censorinus and Manius Manilius would +have been cut to pieces, had it not been for the the +reserve led by Scipio Æmilianus, a grandson of Africanus, +who was then serving as military tribune. He also performed +many gallant actions when Censorinus retired to +Rome, leaving the army in the hands of his incompetent +colleague. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rome disgusted.</note> +The second campaign was equally unsuccessful, under L. +Calpurnius Fiso and L. Mancinus. The slow progress +of the war excited astonishment throughout the +world. The suspense of the campaign was intolerable +to the proud spirit of the Romans, who had never dreamed +of such resistance. The eyes of the Romans were then turned +<pb n="468"/><anchor id="Pg468"/> +to the young hero who alone had thus far distinguished +himself. Although he had not reached the proper age, he +was chosen consul, and the province of Africa was assigned +to him. He sailed with his friends Polybius and Lælius. +He was by no means equal to the elder Scipio, although he +was an able general and an accomplished man. He was +ostentatious, envious, and proud, and had cultivation rather +than genius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mistake of Mancinus.</note> +When he arrived at Utica, he found the campaign of <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +147 opened in such a way that his arrival saved +a great disaster. The admiral Mancinus had attempted +an attack on an undefended quarter, but a desperate +sally of the besieged had exposed him to imminent danger, +and he was only relieved by the timely arrival of Scipio. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Siege of Carthage.</note> +The new general then continued the siege with new vigor. +His headquarters were fixed on an isthmus uniting +the peninsula of Carthage with the main-land, +from which he attacked the suburb called Megara, and took +it, and shut up the Carthaginians in the old town and ports. +The garrison of the suburb and the army of Hasdrubal retreated +within the fortifications of the city. The Carthaginian +leader, to cut off all retreat, inflicted inhuman barbarities +and tortures on all the Roman prisoners they took. +Scipio, meanwhile, intrenched and fortified in the suburb, +cut off all communication between the city and main-land +by parallel trenches, three miles in length, drawn across the +whole isthmus. The communication with the sea being still +open, from which the besieged received supplies, the port was +blocked up by a mole of stone ninety-six feet wide. The +besieged worked night and day, and cut a new channel to +the sea, and, had they known how to improve their opportunity, +might, with the new fleet they had constructed, +have destroyed that of their enemies, unprepared for action. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio master of the ports.</note> +Scipio now resolved to make himself master of the ports, +which were separated from the sea by quays and +a weak wall. His battering-rams were at once +destroyed by the Carthaginians. He then built a wall or +<pb n="469"/><anchor id="Pg469"/> +rampart upon the quay, to the height of the city wall, and +placed upon it four thousand men to harass the besieged. +As the winter rains then set in, making his camp unhealthy, +and the city was now closely invested by sea and land, he +turned his attention to the fortified camp of the enemy at +Nephesis, which was taken by storm, and seventy thousand +persons put to the sword. The Carthaginian army was annihilated. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Attack of the citadel. +Capture and destruction of Carthage.</note> +Meanwhile famine pressed within the besieged city, and +Hasdrubal would not surrender. An attack, led +by Lælius, on the market-place, gave the Romans +a foothold within the city, and a great quantity of spoil. +One thousand talents were taken from the temple of Apollo. +Preparations were then made for the attack of the citadel, +and for six days there was a hand-to-hand fight between the +combatants amid the narrow streets which led to the Byrsa. +The tall Oriental houses were only taken one by one and +burned, and the streets were cumbered with the dead. The +miserable people, crowded within the citadel, certain now of +destruction, then sent a deputation to Scipio to beg the lives +of those who had sought a retreat in the Byrsa. The request +was granted to all but Roman deserters. But out of the +great population of seven hundred thousand, only thirty +thousand men and twenty-five thousand women marched +from the burning ruins. Hasdrubal and the three hundred +Roman deserters, certain of no mercy, retired to the temple +of Æsculapius, the heart of the citadel. But the Carthaginian, +uniting pusillanimity with cruelty, no sooner found +the temple on fire, than he rushed out in Scipio's +presence, with an olive-branch in his hands, and abjectly +begged for his life, which Scipio granted, after he had prostrated +himself at his feet in sight of his followers, who loaded +him with the bitterest execrations. The wife of Hasdrubal, +deserted by the abject wretch, called down the curses of the +gods on the man who had betrayed his country and deserted +at last his family. She then cut the throats of her children +and threw them into the flames, and then leaped into them +<pb n="470"/><anchor id="Pg470"/> +herself. The Roman deserters in the same manner perished. +The city was given up to plunder, the inhabitants whose +lives were spared were sold as slaves, and the gold and +works of art were carried to Rome and deposited in the +temples. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Her awful fate. +Carthage utterly destroyed.</note> +Such was the fate of Carthage—a doom so awful, that we +can not but feel that it was sent as a chastisement +for crimes which had long cried to Heaven for +vengeance. Carthage always was supremely a wicked city. +All the luxurious and wealthy capitals of ancient times were +wicked, especially Oriental cities, as Carthage properly, +though not technically, was—founded by Phœnicians, and a +worshiper of the gods of Tyre and Sidon. The Roman Senate +decreed that not only the city, but even the villas of the +nobles in the suburb of Megara, should be leveled with the +ground, and the plowshare driven over the soil +devoted to perpetual desolation, and a curse to the +man who should dare to cultivate it or build upon it. For +fourteen days, the fires raged in this once populous and +wealthy city, and the destruction was complete, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 146. +So deep-seated was the Roman hatred of rivals, or States that +had been rivals; so dreadful was the punishment of a wicked +city, of which Scipio was made the instrument, not merely +of the Romans, but of Divine providence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The fate of great commercial capitals.</note> +All the great cities of antiquity, which had been seats of +luxury and pride, had now been utterly destroyed—Nineveh, +Babylon, Tyre, and Carthage. Corinth was already +sacked by Mummius, and Jerusalem was to be +by Titus, and Rome herself was finally to receive +a still direr chastisement at the hands of Goths and Vandals. +So Providence moves on in his mysterious power +to bring to naught the grandeur and power of rebellious +nations—rebellious to those mighty moral laws which are as +inexorable as the laws of nature. +</p> + +<p> +The territory on the coast of Zeugitana and Byzantium, +which formed the last possession of Carthage, was erected +into the province of Africa, and the rich plain of that fertile +<pb n="471"/><anchor id="Pg471"/> +province became more important to Rome for supplies of corn +than even Sicily, which had been the granary of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio triumphs.</note> +Scipio returned to Rome, and enjoyed a triumph more gorgeous +than the great Africanus. He also lived to +enjoy another triumph for brilliant successes in +Spain, yet to be enumerated, but was also doomed to lose his +popularity, and to perish by the dagger of assassins. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Change in Roman manners.</note> +Rome had now acquired the undisputed dominion of the +civilized world, and with it, the vices of the nations she subdued. +A great decline in Roman morals succeeded these +brilliant conquests. Great internal changes took place. The +old distinction of patricians and plebeians had vanished, +and a new nobility had arisen, composed of +rich men and of those whose ancestors had enjoyed curule +magistracies. They possessed the Senate, and had control of +the Comitia Centuriata, by the prerogative vote of the equestrian +centuries. A base rabble had grown up, fed with corn +and oil, by the government, and amused by games and spectacles. +The old republican aristocracy was supplanted by a +family oligarchy. The vast wealth which poured into Rome +from the conquered countries created disproportionate fortunes. +The votes of the people were bought by the rich candidates +for popular favor. The superstitions of the East +were transferred to the capitol of the world, and the decay +in faith was as marked as the decay in virtue. Chaldæan +astrologers were scattered over Italy, and the gods of all the +conquered peoples of the earth were worshiped at Rome. +The bonds of society were loosed, and a state was prepared +for the civil wars which proved even more destructive than +the foreign. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="472"/><anchor id="Pg472"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXIII. ROMAN CONQUESTS FROM THE FALL OF CARTHAGE TO +THE TIMES OF THE GRACCHI."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXIII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXIII.</head> +<head>ROMAN CONQUESTS FROM THE FALL OF CARTHAGE TO THE +TIMES OF THE GRACCHI.</head> + +<p> +Although the Roman domination now extended in some +form or other over most of the countries around the Mediterranean, +still several States remained to be subdued, in the +East and in the West. +</p> + +<p> +The subjugation of Spain first deserves attention, commenced +before the close of the third Punic war, and which I +have omitted to notice for the sake of clearness of connection. +</p> + +<p> +After the Hannibalic war, we have seen how Rome planted +her armies in Spain, and added two provinces to her empire. +But the various tribes were far from being subdued, and +Spain was inhabited by different races. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Spanish peninsula.</note> +This great peninsula, bounded on the north by the ocean +Cantabricus, now called the Bay of Biscay, and the Pyrenees, +on the east and south by the Mediterranean, and on the west +by the Atlantic Ocean, was called Iberia, by the +Greeks, from the river Iberus, or Ebro. The term +Hispania was derived from the Phœnicians, who planted +colonies on the southern shores. The Carthaginians invaded +it next, and founded several cities, the chief of which was +New Carthage. At the end of the second Punic war, it was +wrested from them by the Romans, who divided it into two +provinces, Citerior and Ulterior. In the time of Augustus, +Ulterior Spain was divided into two provinces, called Lusitania +and Bætica, while the Citerior province, by far the +larger, occupying the whole northern country from the +Atlantic to the Mediterranean, was called Tanagona. It +included three-fifths of the peninsula, or about one hundred +<pb n="473"/><anchor id="Pg473"/> +and seven thousand three hundred square miles. It +embraced the modern provinces of Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, +Biscay, Asturias, Galicia, Northern Leon, old and +new Castile, Murcia, and Valentia, and a part of Portugal. +Bætica nearly corresponded with Andalusia, and +embraced Granada, Jaen, Cordova, Seville, and half of +Spanish Estremadura. Lusitania corresponds nearly with +Portugal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Geography of Spain.</note> +The Tanaconneusis was inhabited by numerous tribes, and +the chief ancient cities were Barcelona, Tanagona +the metropolis, Pampeluna, Oporto, Numantia, Saguntum, +Saragossa, and Cartagena. In Bætica were Cordova, +Castile, Gades, and Seville. In Lusitania were Olisipo +(Lisbon), and Salamanca. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War with the Spaniards.</note> +Among the inhabitants of these various provinces were +Iberians, Celts, Phœnicians, and Hellenes. In the year 154 +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, the Lusitanians, under a chieftain called Punicus, +invaded the Roman territory which the elder Scipio had +conquered, and defeated two Roman governors. The Romans +then sent a consular army, under Q. Fulvius Nobilior, +which was ultimately defeated by the Lusitanians under +Cæsarus. This success kindled the flames of war far and +near, and the Celtiberians joined in the warfare against the +Roman invaders. Again the Romans were defeated with +heavy loss. The Senate then sent considerable re-enforcements, +under Claudius Marcellus, who soon +changed the aspect of affairs. The nation of the Arevacæ +surrendered to the Romans—a people living on the branches +of the Darius, near Numantia—and their western neighbors, +the Vaccæi, were also subdued, and barbarously dealt with. +On the outbreak of the third Punic war the affairs of Spain +were left to the ordinary governors, and a new insurrection +of the Lusitanians took place. Viriathus, a Spanish chieftain, +signally defeated the Romans, and was recognized as +king of all the Lusitanians. He was distinguished, not only +for bravery, but for temperance and art, and was a sort of +Homeric hero, whose name and exploits were sounded +<pb n="474"/><anchor id="Pg474"/> +throughout the peninsula. He gained great victories over +the Roman generals, and destroyed their armies. General +after general was successively defeated. For five years this +gallant Spaniard kept the whole Roman power at bay, and +he was only destroyed by treachery. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Inglorious war.</note> +While the Lusitanians at the South were thus prevailing +over the Roman armies on the bunks of the Tagus, another +war broke out in the North among the Celtiberian natives. +Against these people Quintus Cæcilius Metellus, the consul, +was sent. He showed great ability, and in two years reduced +the whole northern province, except the two cities of +Termantia and Numantia. These cities, wearied at last with +war, agreed to submit to the Romans, and delivered up +hostages and deserters, with a sum of money. But +the Senate, with its usual policy, refused to confirm +the treaty of its general, which perfectly aroused the Numantines +to resentment and despair. These brave people +obtained successes against the Roman general Lænas and his +successors, Mancinus and M. Æmilius Lepides, as well as +Philus and Piso. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Scipio.</note> +The Romans, aroused at last to this inglorious war, which +had lasted nearly ten years, resolved to take the city of the +Numantines at any cost, and intrusted the work to +Scipio Æmilianus, their best general. He spent +the summer (<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 134) in extensive preparations, and it was +not till winter that he drew his army round the walls +of Numantia, defended by only eight thousand citizens. +Scipio even declined a battle, and fought with mattock and +spade. A double wall of circumvallation, surmounted with +towers, was built around the city, and closed the access to +it by the Douro, by which the besieged relied upon for provisions. +The city sustained a memorable siege of nearly a +year, and was only reduced by famine. The inhabitants +were sold as slaves, and the city was leveled with the +ground. The fall of this fortress struck at the root of opposition +to Rome, and a senatorial commission was sent to +Spain, in order to organize with Scipio the newly-won territories, +<pb n="475"/><anchor id="Pg475"/> +and became henceforth the best-regulated country of +all the provinces of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Difficulties in Asiatic provinces.</note> +But a graver difficulty existed with the African, Greek, +and Asiatic States that had been brought under +the influence of the Roman hegemony, which was +neither formal sovereignty nor actual subjection. The client +States had neither independence nor peace. The Senate, +nevertheless, perpetually interfered with the course of African, +Hellenic, Asiatic, and Egyptian affairs. Commissioners +were constantly going to Alexandria, to the Achæan diet, +and to the courts of the Asiatic princes, and the government +of Rome deprived the nations of the blessings of freedom and +the blessings of order. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Province of Africa.</note> +It was time to put a stop to this state of things, and the +only way to do so was to convert the client States +into Roman provinces. After the destruction of +Carthage, the children of Masinissa retained in substance +their former territories, but were not allowed to make Carthage +their capital. Her territories became a Roman province, +whose capital was Utica. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Macedonian war.</note> +Macedonia also disappeared, like Carthage, from the ranks +of nations. But the four small States into which the kingdom +was parceled could not live in peace. Neither Roman +commissioners nor foreign arbiters could restore order. At +this crisis a young man appeared in Thrace, who called himself +the son of Perseus. This pseudo-Philip, for such was his +name, strikingly resembled the son of Perseus. Unable to +obtain recognition in his native country, he went to Demetrius +Sotor, king of Syria. By him he was sent to Rome. +The Senate attached so little importance to the man, that he +was left, imperfectly guarded, in an Italian town, and fled to +Miletus. Again arrested, and again contriving to escape, he +went to Thrace, and obtained a recognition from Teres, the +chief of the Thracian barbarians. With his support +he invaded Macedonia, and obtained several +successes over the Macedonian militia. The Roman commissioner +Nasica, without troops, was obliged to call to his +<pb n="476"/><anchor id="Pg476"/> +aid the Achæan and Pergamene soldiers, until defended by a +Roman legion under the prætor Juventius. Juventius was +slain by the pretender, and his army cut to pieces. And it +was not until a stronger Roman array, under Quintus Cæcilius +Metellus, appeared, that he was subdued. The four +States into which Macedonia had been divided were now +converted into a Roman province, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 148, and Macedonia +became, not a united kingdom, but a united province, with +nearly the former limits. +</p> + +<p> +The defense of the Hellenic civilization now devolved on +the Romans, but was not conducted with adequate forces or +befitting energy, and the petty States were therefore exposed +to social disorganization, and the Greeks evidently sought to +pick a quarrel with Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of Corinth.</note> +Hence the Achæan war, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 149. It is not of much historical +importance. It was commenced under Metellus, +and continued under Mummius, who reduced +the noisy belligerents to terms, and entered Corinth, the seat +of rebellion, and the first commercial city of Greece. By +order of the Senate, the Corinthian citizens were sold into +slavery, the fortifications of the city leveled with the ground, +and the city itself was sacked. The mock sovereignty of +leagues was abolished, and all remains of Grecian liberty +fled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Asia Minor.</note> +In Asia Minor, after the Seleucidæ were driven away, Pergamus +became the first power. But even this +State did not escape the jealousy of the Romans, +and with Attalus III. the house of Attalids became extinct. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War in Asia.</note> +He, however, had bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans, +and his testament kindled a civil war. Aristonicus, a natural +son of Eumenes II., made his appearance at Lecuæ, a small +sea-port near Smyrna, as a pretender to the crown. He was +defeated by the Ephesians, who saw the necessity of the protection +and friendship of the Roman government. But he +again appeared with new troops, and the struggle was serious, +since there were no Roman troops in Asia. But, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 131, +a Roman army was sent under the consul Publius Licinius +<pb n="477"/><anchor id="Pg477"/> +Crassus Mucianus, one of the wealthiest men of Rome, distinguished +as an orator and jurist. This distinguished general +was about to lay siege to Leucæ, when he was +surprised and taken captive, and put to death. His +successor, Marcus Perpenua, was fortunate in his warfare, +and the pretender was taken prisoner, and executed at Rome. +The remaining cities yielded to the conqueror, and Asia Minor +became a Roman province. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Syria.</note> +In other States the Romans set up kings as they chose. +In Syria, Antiochus Eupater was recognized over +the claims of Demetrius Sotor, then a hostage in +Rome. But he contrived to escape, and seized the government +of his ancestral kingdom. But it would seem that the +Romans, at this period, did not take a very lively interest in +the affairs of remote Asiatic States, and the decrees of the +Senate were often disregarded with impunity. A great reaction +of the East took place against the West, and, under +Mithridates, a renewed struggle again gave dignity to the +Eastern kingdoms, which had not raised their heads since +the conquests of Alexander. That memorable struggle will +be alluded to in the proper place. It was a difficult problem +which Rome undertook when she undertook to govern the +Asiatic world. It was easy to conquer; it was difficult to +rule, when degeneracy and luxury became the vices of the +Romans themselves. We are now to trace those domestic +dissensions and civil wars which indicate the decline of the +Roman republic. But before we describe those wars, we +will take a brief survey of the social and political changes in +Rome at this period. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="478"/><anchor id="Pg478"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXIV. ROMAN CIVILIZATION AT THE CLOSE OF THE THIRD +PUNIC WAR, AND THE FALL OF GREECE."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXIV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXIV.</head> +<head>ROMAN CIVILIZATION AT THE CLOSE OF THE THIRD PUNIC +WAR, AND THE FALL OF GREECE.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dominion of Rome.</note> +Rome was now the unrivaled mistress of the world. She +had conquered all the civilized States around the +Mediterranean, or had established a protectorate +over them. She had no fears of foreign enemies. Her empire +was established. +</p> + +<p> +Before we proceed to present subsequent conquests or +domestic revolutions, it would be well to glance at the +political and social structure of the State, as it was two hundred +years before the Christian era, and also at the progress +which had been made in literature and art. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The rise of a new nobility. +Roman nobility.</note> +One of the most noticeable features of the Roman State +at this period was the rise of a new nobility. The +patricians, when they lost the exclusive control of +the government, did not cease to be a powerful aristocracy. +But another class of nobles arose in the fifth century of the +city, and shared their power—those who had held curule +offices and were members of the Senate. Their descendants, +plebeian as well as patrician, had the privilege of placing the +wax images of their ancestors in the family hall, and to have +them carried in funeral processions. They also wore a stripe +of purple on the tunic, and a gold ring on the finger. These +were trifling insignia of rank, still they were emblems and +signs by which the nobility were distinguished. The plebeian +families, ennobled by their curule ancestors, were united into +one body with the patrician families, and became +a sort of hereditary nobility. This body of exclusive +families really possessed the political power of the +<pb n="479"/><anchor id="Pg479"/> +State. The Senate was made up from their members, and +was the mainstay of Roman nobility. The equites, or equestrian +order, was also composed of the patricians and wealthy +plebeians. Noble youths gradually withdrew from serving +in the infantry, and the legionary cavalry became a closed +aristocratic corps. Not only were the nobles the possessors +of senatorial privileges, and enrolled among the equites, but +they had separate seats from the people at the games and at +the theatres. The censorship also became a prop to the +stability of the aristocratic class. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Leading families.</note> +We have some idea of the influence of the aristocracy from +the families which furnished the higher offices of +the State. For three centuries the consuls were +chiefly chosen from powerful families. The Cornelii gentes +furnished fifteen consuls in one hundred and twelve years, +and the Valerii, ten. And, what is more remarkable, for the +following one hundred and fifty years these two families furnished +nearly the same number. In one hundred and twelve +years fifteen families gave seventy consuls to the State: the +Cornelii, fifteen; the Valerii, ten; the Claudii, four; the +Æmilii, nine; the Fabii, six; the Manilii, four; the Postumii, +two; the Servilii, three; the Sulpicii, six; and also +about the same number the following one hundred and fifty +years, thereby showing that old families, whether patrician +or plebeian, were long kept in sight, and monopolized political +power. This was also seen in the elevation of young men of +these ranks to high office before they had reached the lawful +age. M. Valerius Corvus was consul at twenty-three, Scipio +at thirty, and Flaminius at twenty-nine. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Provincial governors.</note> +The control of Rome over conquered provinces introduced +a new class of magistrates, selected by the Senate, +and chosen from the aristocratic circles. These were +the provincial governors or prætors, who had great power, +and who sometimes appeared in all the pomp of kings. They +resided in the ancient palaces of the kings, and had great +opportunities for accumulating fortunes. Nor could the governors +be called to account, until after their term of office +<pb n="480"/><anchor id="Pg480"/> +expired, which rarely happened. The governors were, virtually, +sovereigns while they continued in office—were satraps, +who conducted a legalized tyranny abroad, and returned +home arrogant and accustomed to adulation—a class of men +who proved dangerous to the old institutions, those which +recognized equality within the aristocracy and the subordination +of power to the senatorial college. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Decline of the burgesses. +Public amusements.</note> +The burgesses, or citizens, before this period, were a very +respectable body, patriotic and sagacious. They occupied +chiefly Latium, a part of Campania, and the maritime colonies. +But gradually, a rabble of clients grew +up on footing equality with these independent +burgesses. These clients, as the aristocracy increased in +wealth and power, became parasites and beggars, and undermined +the burgess class, and controlled the Comitia. This +class rapidly increased, and were clamorous for games, festivals, +and cheap bread, for corn was distributed to them +by those who wished to gain their favor at elections, at less +than cost. Hence, festivals and popular amusements became +rapidly a great feature of the times. For five hundred +years the people had been contented with +one festival in a year, and one circus. Flaminius added +another festival, and another circus. In the year 550 of the +city, there were five festivals. The candidates for the consulship +spent large sums on these games, the splendor of +which became the standard by which the electoral body +measured the fitness of candidates. A gladiatorial show +cost seven hundred and twenty thousand sesterces, or thirty-six +thousand dollars. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Decay of military sports. +Distinctions in society.</note> +And corruption extended to the army. The old burgess +militia were contented to return home with some trifling +gift as a memorial of victory, but the troops of Scipio, and +the veterans of the Macedonian and Asiatic wars, +came back enriched with spoils. A decay of a +warlike spirit was observable from the time the burgesses +converted war into a traffic in plunder. A great passion also +arose for titles and insignia, which appeared under different +<pb n="481"/><anchor id="Pg481"/> +forms, especially for the honors of a triumph, originally +granted only to the supreme magistrate who had signally +augmented the power of the State. Statues and monuments +were often erected at the expense of the person whom they +purported to honor. And finally, the ring, the robe, and the +amulet case distinguished not only the burgesses from the +foreigners and slaves, but also the person who was +born free from one who had been a slave, the son +of the free-born from the son of the manumitted, the son of a +knight from a common burgess, the descendant of a curule +house from the common senators. These distinctions in rank +kept pace with the extension of conquests, until, at last, there +was as complete a net work of aristocratic distinctions as in +England at the present day. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cato.</note> +All these distinctions and changes were bitterly deplored +by Marcus Portius Cato—the last great statesman +of the older school—a genuine Roman of the +antique stamp. He was also averse to schemes of universal +empire. He was a patrician, brought up at the plow, and +in love with his Sabine farm. Yet he rose to the consulship, +and even the censorship. He served in war under Marcellus, +Fabius, and Scipio, and showed great ability as a soldier. +He was as distinguished in the forum as in the camp and +battle-field, having a bold address, pungent wit, and great +knowledge of the Roman laws. He was the most influential +political orator of his day. He was narrow in his political +ideas, conservative, austere, and upright; an enemy to all +corruption and villainy, also to genius, and culture, and innovation. +He was the protector of the Roman farmer, plain, +homely in person, disdained by the ruling nobles, but fearless +in exposing corruption from any quarter, and irreconcilably +at war with aristocratic coteries, like the Scipios +and Flaminii. He was publicly accused twenty-four times, +but he was always backed by the farmers, notwithstanding +the opposition of the nobles. He erased, while censor, the +name of the brother of Flaminius from the roll of senators, +and the brother of Scipio from that of the equites. He +<pb n="482"/><anchor id="Pg482"/> +attempted a vigorous reform, but the current of corruption +could only be stemmed for awhile. The effect of the sumptuary +laws, which were passed through his influence, was +temporary and unsatisfactory. No legislation has proved +of avail against a deep-seated corruption of morals, for the +laws will be avoided, even if they are not defied. In +vain was the eloquence of the hard, arbitrary, narrow, +worldly wise, but patriotic and stern old censor. The age +of Grecian culture, of wealth, of banquets, of palaces, of +games, of effeminate manners, had set in with the conquest +of Greece and Asia. The divisions of society widened, and +the seeds of luxury and pride were to produce violence and +decay. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Political changes. +Rise of demagogues.</note> +Still some political changes were effected at this time. The +Comitia Centuriata was remodeled. The equites +no longer voted first. The five classes obtained +an equal number of votes, and the freedmen were placed on +an equal footing with free-born. Thus terminated the long +conflict between patricians and plebeians. But although +the right of precedence in voting was withdrawn from the +equites, still the patrician order was powerful enough to fill, +frequently, the second consulship and the second censorship, +which were open to patricians and plebeians alike, with men +of their own order. At this time the office of dictator went +into abeyance, and was practically abolished; the priests were +elected by the whole community; the public assemblies interfered +with the administration of the public property—the +exclusive prerogative of the Senate in former times—and thus +transferred the public domains to their own pockets. These +were changes which showed the disorganization of the government +rather than healthy reform. To this period we date +the rise of demagogues, for a minority in the +Senate had the right to appeal to the Comitia, +which opened the way for wealthy or popular men to thwart +the wisest actions and select incompetent magistrates and +generals. Even Publius Scipio was not more distinguished +for his arrogance and title-hunting than for the army of +<pb n="483"/><anchor id="Pg483"/> +clients he supported, and for the favor which he courted, +of both legions and people, by his largesses of grain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Agriculture. +The slaves. Small farmers.</note> +At this period, agriculture had reached considerable perfection, +but Cato declared that his fancy farm was +not profitable. Figs, apples, pears were cultivated, +as well as olives and grapes—also shade-trees. The rearing +of cattle was not of much account, as the people lived chiefly +on vegetables, and fruits and corn. Large cattle were kept +only for tillage. Considerable use was made of poultry and +pigeons—kept in the farm-yard. Fish-ponds and hare-preserves +were also common. The labor of the fields was performed +by oxen, and asses for carriage and the turning of +mills. The human labor on farms was done by slaves. +Vineyards required more expenditure of labor than ordinary +tillage. An estate of one hundred jugera, with vine plantations, +required one plowman, eleven slaves, and two herdsmen. +The slaves were not bred on the estate, but were purchased. +They lived in the farm-buildings, among cattle and +produce. A separate house was erected for the master. A +steward had the care of the slaves. The stewardess attended +to the baking and cooking, and all had the same +fare, delivered from the produce of the farm on +which they lived. Great unscrupulousness pervaded the +management of these estates. Slaves and cattle were placed +on the same level, and both were fed as long as they could +work, and sold when they were incapacitated by age or sickness. +A slave had no recreations or holidays. His time was +spent between working and sleeping. And when we remember +that these slaves were white as well as black, and had +once been free, their condition was hard and inhuman. No +negro slavery ever was so cruel as slavery among the +Romans. Great labors and responsibilities were imposed +upon the steward. He was the first to rise in the morning, +and the last to go to bed at night; but he was not doomed +to constant labor, like the slaves whom he superintended. +He also had few pleasures, and was obsequious to the landlord, +who performed no work, except in the earlier ages. The +<pb n="484"/><anchor id="Pg484"/> +small farmer worked himself with the slaves and his +children. He more frequently cultivated flowers +and vegetables for the market of Rome. Pastoral +husbandry was practiced on a great scale, and at least eight +hundred jugera were required. On such estates, horses, oxen, +mules, and asses were raised, also herds of swine and goats. +The breeding of sheep was an object of great attention and +interest, since all clothing was made of wool. The shepherd-slaves +lived in the open air, remote from human habitations, +under sheds and sheep-folds. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Decline of agriculture. +The farmers sacrificed to the city population.</note> +The prices of all produce were very small in comparison +with present rates, and this was owing, in part, to the +immense quantities of corn and other produce delivered by +provincials to the Roman government, sometimes gratuitously. +The armies were supported by transmarine corn. The +government regulated prices. In the time of Scipio, African +wheat was sold as low as twelve ases for six <hi rend='italic'>modii</hi>—(one +and a half bushel)—about sixpence. At +one time two hundred and forty thousand bushels of Sicilian +grain were distributed at this price. The rise of demagogism +promoted these distributions, which kept prices down, so that +the farmers received but a small reward for labors, which +made, of course, the condition of laborers but little above +that of brutes: when the people of the capital paid but sixpence +sterling for a bushel and a half of wheat, or one hundred +and eighty pounds of dried figs, or sixty pounds of oil, or +seventy-two pounds of meat, or four and a half gallons of wine +sold only for fivepence, or three-fifths of a denarius. In the +time of Polybius, the traveler was charged for victuals and +lodgings at an inn only about two farthings a day, and a bushel +of wheat sold for fourpence. At such prices there was very +little market for the farmer. Sicily and Sardinia were the +real granaries of Rome. Thus were all the best interests of +the country sacrificed to the unproductive population +of the city. Such was the golden age of the +republic—a state of utter misery and hardship +among the productive classes, and idleness among the Roman +<pb n="485"/><anchor id="Pg485"/> +people—a state of society which could but lead to ruin. The +farmers, without substantial returns, lost energy and spirit, +and dwindled away. Their estates fell into the hands of +great proprietors, who owned great numbers of slaves. They +themselves were ruined, and sunk into an ignoble class. +The cultivation of grain in Italy was gradually neglected, +and attention was given chiefly to vines, and olives, and +wool. The rearing of cattle became more profitable than +tillage, and small farms were absorbed in great estates. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Money.</note> +The monetary transactions of the Romans were preeminently +conspicuous. No branch of commercial +industry was prosecuted with more zeal than +money-lending. The bankers of Rome were a great class, +and were generally rich. They speculated in corn and all +articles of produce. Usury was not disdained even by the +nobles. Money-lending became a great system, and all the +laws operated in favor of capitalists. +</p> + +<p> +Industrial art did not keep pace with usurious calculations, +and trades were concentrated in the capital. Mechanical +skill was neglected in all the rural districts. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Business operations.</note> +Business operations were usually conducted by slaves. +Even money-lenders and bankers made use of them. +Every one who took contracts for building, bought +architect slaves. Every one who provided spectacles purchased +a band of serfs expert in the art of fighting. The +merchants imported wares in vessels managed by slaves. +Mines were worked by slaves. Manufactories were conducted +by slaves. Everywhere were slaves. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Great fortunes.</note> +While the farmer obtained only fourpence a bushel for his +wheat, a penny a gallon for his wine, and fivepence for sixty +pounds of oil, the capitalists, centered in Rome, possessed +fortunes which were vastly disproportionate to +those which are seen in modern capitals. Paulus +was not reckoned wealthy for a senator, but his estate was +valued at sixty talents, nearly £15,000, or $75,000. In other +words, the daily interest of his capital was fifteen dollars, +enough to purchase one hundred and eighty bushels of +<pb n="486"/><anchor id="Pg486"/> +wheat—as much as a farmer could raise in a year on eight +jugera—a farm as large as that of Cincinnatus. Each of the +daughters of Scipio received as a dowry fifty talents, or +$60,000. The value of this sum, in our money, when measured +by the scale of wheat, or oil, or wine—allowing wheat now +to be worth five shillings sterling a bushel—against fivepence +in those times, would make gold twelve times more valuable +then than now. And hence, Scipio left each of his daughters +a sum equal to $720,000 of our money. In estimating the +fortune of a Roman, by the prices charged at an inn per day, +a penny would go further then than a dollar would now. But +I think that gold and silver, in the time of Scipio, were about +the same value as in England at the time of Henry VII., +about twenty times our present standard. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The rich favored.</note> +Every law at Rome tended in its operation to the benefit +of the creditor, and to vast accumulations of property; for +the government being in the hands of the rich, +as in England a century since, and in France +before the Revolution, favored the rich at the expense of the +poor. It became disgraceful at Rome to perform manual +labor, and a wall separated the laboring classes from the capitalists, +which could not be passed. Industrial art took the +lowest place in the scale of labor, and was in the hands of +slaves. The traffic in money, and the farming of the revenue +formed the mainstay and stronghold of the Roman +economy. The free population of Italy declined, while the +city of Rome increased. The loss was supplied by slaves. +In the year 502 of the city, the Roman burgesses in Italy +numbered two hundred and ninety-eight thousand men +capable of bearing arms. Fifty years later, the number +was only two hundred and fourteen thousand. The nation +visibly diminished, and the community was resolved into +masters and slaves. And this decline of citizens and increase +of slaves were beheld with indifference, for pride, and +cruelty, and heartlessness were the characteristics of the +higher classes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Extravagant prices for luxuries.</note> +With the progress of luxury, and the decline of the rural +<pb n="487"/><anchor id="Pg487"/> +population, and the growth of disproportionate fortunes, +residence in the capital became more and more +coveted, and more and more costly. Rents rose +to an unexampled height. Extravagant prices were paid for +luxuries. When a bushel of corn sold for fivepence, a barrel +of anchovies from the Black Sea cost £14, and a beautiful +boy twenty-four thousand sesterces (£246), more than a +farmer's homestead. Money came to be prized as the end of +life, and all kinds of shifts and devices were made to secure +it. Marriage, on both sides, became an object of mercantile +speculation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Education.</note> +In regard to education, there was a higher development +than is usually supposed, and literature and art were cultivated, +even while the nation declined in real virtue and +strength. By means of the Greek slaves, the +Greek language and literature reached even the +lower ranks, to a certain extent. <q>The comedies indicate +that the humblest classes were familiar with a sort of Latin, +which could no more be understood without a knowledge of +Greek, than Wieland's German without a knowledge of +French.</q> Greek was undoubtedly spoken by the higher +classes, as French is spoken in all the courts of Europe. In +the rudiments of education, the lowest people were instructed, +and even slaves were schoolmasters. At the close of the Punic +wars, both comedy and tragedy were among the great +amusements of the Romans, and great writers arose, who +wrote, however, from the Greek models. Livius translated +Homer, and Nævius popularized the Greek drama. Plautus, +it is said, wrote one hundred and thirty plays. The tragedies +of Ennius were recited to the latter days of the empire. +The Romans did not, indeed, make such advance in literature +as the Greeks, at a comparatively early period of their history, +but their attainments were respectable when Carthage +was destroyed. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="488"/><anchor id="Pg488"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXV. THE REFORM MOVEMENT OF THE GRACCHI."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXV.</head> +<head>THE REFORM MOVEMENT OF THE GRACCHI.</head> + +<p> +A new era in the history of Rome now commences, a +period of glory and shame, when a great change took place +in the internal structure of the State, now corrupted by the +introduction of Greek and Asiatic refinements, and the vast +wealth which rolled into the capital of the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rome after the battle of Pydna.</note> +<q>For a whole generation after the battle of Pydna, the +Roman State enjoyed a profound calm, scarcely +varied by a ripple here and there upon the surface. +Its dominion extended over three continents; all eyes rested +on Italy; all talents and all riches flowed thither; it seemed +as if a golden age of peaceful prosperity and intellectual enjoyment +of life had begun. The Orientals of this period told +each other with astonishment of the mighty republic of the +West. And such was the glory of the Romans, that no one +usurped the crown, and no one glittered in purple dress; +but they obeyed whomsoever from year to year they made +their master, and there was among them neither envy nor +discord.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The inefficiency of the government.</note> +So things seemed at a distance. But this splendid external +was deceptive. The government of the aristocracy was hastening +to its ruin. There was a profound meaning, says +Mommsen, in the question of Cato: <q>What was to become of +Rome when she should no longer have any State +to fear?</q> All her neighbors were now politically +annihilated, and the single thought of the aristocracy was +how they should perpetuate their privileges. A government +of aristocratic nobodies was now inaugurated, which kept +new men of merit from doing any thing, for fear they should +<pb n="489"/><anchor id="Pg489"/> +belong to their exclusive ranks. Even an aristocratic conqueror +was inconvenient. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Opposition to the ruling classes. +Capitalists. +Slaves.</note> +Still opposition existed to this aristocratic régime, and +some reforms had been carried out. The administration +of justice was improved. The senatorial +commissions to the provinces were found inadequate. An +effort was made to emancipate the Comitia from the prepondering +influence of the aristocracy. The senators were compelled +to renounce their public horse on admission to the +Senate, and also the privilege of voting in the eighteen equestrian +centimes. But there was the semblance of increased +democratic power rather than the reality. All the great +questions of the day turned upon the election of the curule +magistracies, and there was sufficient influence among the +nobles to secure these offices. Young men from noble families +crowded into the political arena, and claimed what once +was the reward of distinguished merit. Powerful connections +were indispensable for the enjoyment of political power, +as in England at the time of Burke. A large body of clients +waited on their patron early every morning, and the candidates +for office used all those arts which are customary when +votes were to be bought. The government no longer disposed +of the property of burgesses for the public good, nor +favored the idea among them that they were exempted from +taxes. Political corruption reached through all grades and +classes. Capitalists absorbed the small farms, and +great fortunes were the scandal of the times. Capital +was more valued than labor. Italian farms depreciated +from the conversion of tillage into pasture lands and parks, +as in England in the present day. Slavery inordinately +increased from the captives taken in war. Western Asia +furnished the greatest number of this miserable population, +and Cretan and Cilician slave-hunters were found on all +the coasts of Syria and Greece. Delos was the great slave-market +of the world, where the slave-dealers of +Asia Minor disposed of their wares to Italian speculators. +In one day as many as ten thousand slaves were +<pb n="490"/><anchor id="Pg490"/> +disembarked and sold. Farms, and trades, and mines +were alike carried on by these slaves from Asia, and their +sufferings and hardships were vastly greater than ever endured +by negroes on the South Carolinian and Cuban plantations. +But they were of a different race—men who had +seen better days, and accustomed to civilization—and hence +they often rose upon their masters. Servile wars were of +common occurrence, Sicily at one time had seventy thousand +slaves in arms, and when consular armies were sent to suppress +the revolt, the most outrageous cruelties were inflicted. +Twenty thousand men, at one time, were crucified in Sicily +by Publius Rupilius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tiberius Gracchus.</note> +At this crisis, when disproportionate wealth and slavery +were the great social evils, Tiberius Gracchus arose—a young +man of high rank, chivalrous, noble, and eloquent. +His mother, Cornelia, was the daughter of Scipio +Africanus, and therefore belonged to the most exclusive of +the aristocratic circles. Tiberius Gracchus was therefore the +cousin of Scipio Æmilianus, under whom he served with distinction +in Africa. He was seconded in his views of reform +by some stern old patriots and aristocrats, who had not +utterly forgotten the interests of the State, now being undermined. +Appius Claudius, his father-in-law, who had been +both consul and censor; Publius Mucius Scævola, the great +lawyer and founder of scientific jurisprudence; his brother, +Publius Crassus Mucianus; the Pontifex Maximus; Quintus +Metellus, the conqueror of Macedonia—all men of the highest +rank and universally respected, entered into his schemes of +reform. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His reforms.</note> +This patriotic patrician was elected tribune <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 134, at a +time when political mismanagement, moral decay, the decline +of burgesses, and the increase of slaves, were most +apparent. So Gracchus, after entering upon his office, proposed +the enaction of an agrarian law, by which all State +lands, occupied by the possessors, without remuneration, +should revert to the State, except five hundred jugera for +himself, and two hundred and fifty for each son. The +<pb n="491"/><anchor id="Pg491"/> +domain land thus resumed was to be divided into lots of +thirty jugera, and these distributed to burgesses and Italian +allies, not as free property, but inalienable leaseholds, for +which they paid rent to the State. This was a +declaration of war upon the great landholders. +The proposal of Gracchus was paralyzed by the vote of his +colleague, Marcus Octavius. Gracchus then, in his turn, +suspended the business of the State and the administration +of justice, and placed his seal on the public chest. The government +was obliged to acquiesce. Gracchus, also, as the year +was drawing to a close, brought his law to the vote a second +time. Again it was vetoed by Octavius. Gracchus then, at +the invitation of the consuls, discussed the matter in the +Senate; but the Senate, composed of great proprietors, would +not yield. All constitutional means were now exhausted, +and Gracchus must renounce his reform or begin a revolution. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His unlawful movements.</note> +He chose the latter. Before the assembled people he demanded +that his colleague should be deposed, +which was against all the customs, and laws, and +precedents of the past. The assembly, composed chiefly +of the proletarians who had come from the country—the +Comitia Tributa—voted according to his proposal, and +Octavius was removed by the lictors from the tribune bench, +and then the agrarian law was passed by acclamation. The +Commissioners chosen to confiscate and redistribute the lands +were Tiberius Gracchus, his brother Gaius, and his father-in-law +Appius Claudius, which family selection vastly increased +the indignation of the Senate, who threw every obstacle in +the way. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His death.</note> +The author of the law, fearing for his personal safety, no +longer appeared in the forum without a retinue of three +or four thousand men, another cause of bitter hatred on +the part of the aristocracy. He also sought to be re-elected +tribune, but the Assembly broke up without a choice. The +next day the election terminated in the same manner, and it +was rumored in the city that Tiberius had deposed all the +<pb n="492"/><anchor id="Pg492"/> +tribunes, and was resolved to continue in office without re-election. +A tumult, originating with the Senate, +was the result. A mob of senators rushed through +the streets, with fury in their eyes and clubs in their hands. +The people gave way, and Gracchus was slain on the slope +of the capitol. The Senate officially sanctioned the outrage, +on the ground that Tiberius meditated the usurpation of +supreme power. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Character of Gracchus. +Nature of his reform.</note> +In regard to the author of this agrarian law, there is no +doubt he was patriotic in his intentions, was public-spirited, +and wished to revive the older and better +days of the republic. I do not believe he contemplated the +usurpation of supreme power. I doubt if he was ambitious, +as Cæsar was. But he did not comprehend the issues at +stake, and the shock he was giving to the constitution of his +country. He was like Mirabeau, that other aristocratic reformer, +who voted for the spoliation of the church property +of France, on the ground, which that leveling sentimentalist +Rousseau had advanced, that the church property belonged +to the nation. But this plea, in both cases, was sophistical. +It was, doubtless, a great evil that the property of the State +had fallen into the hands of wealthy proprietors, as it was an +evil that half the landed property of France was in possession +of the clergy. But, in both cases, this property had been +enjoyed uninterruptedly for centuries by the possessors, and, to +all intents and purposes, was <emph>private</emph> property. And this law +of confiscation was therefore an encroachment on the rights +of property, in all its practical bearings. It appeared to the +jurists of that age to be an ejection of the great landholders +for the benefit of the proletarians. The measure itself was +therefore not without injustice, desirable as a division of +property might be. But the mode to effect this division was +incompatible with civilization itself. It was an appeal to +revolutionary forces. It was setting aside all constitutional +checks and usages. It was a defiance of the Senate, +the great ruling body of the State. It was an appeal +to the people to overturn the laws. It was like assembling +<pb n="493"/><anchor id="Pg493"/> +the citizens of London to override the Parliament. It +was like the French revolution, when the Assembly was dictated +to by the clubs. Robespierre may have been sincere +and patriotic, but he was a fanatic, fierce and uncompromising. +So was Gracchus. In setting aside his colleagues, to +accomplish what he deemed a good end, he did evil. When +this rich patrician collected the proletarian burgesses to +decree against the veto of the tribune that the public property +should be distributed among them, he struck a vital +blow on the constitution of his country, and made a step +toward monarchy, for monarchy was only reached through +the democracy—was only brought about by powerful demagogues. +And hence the verdict of the wise and judicious +will be precisely that, of the leading men of Rome at the time, +even that of Cornelia herself: <q>Shall then our house have no +end of madness? Have we not enough to be ashamed of in +the disorganization of the State?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Death of Scipio.</note> +The law of Tiberius Gracchus survived its author. The +Senate had not power to annul it, though it might slay its +author. The work of redistribution continued, even as the +National Assembly of France sanctioned the legislation of +preceding revolutionists. And in consequence of the law, +there was, in six years, an increase of burgesses capable of +bearing arms, of seventy-six thousand. But so many evils +attended the confiscation and redistribution of the public +domain—so many acts of injustice were perpetrated—there +was such gross mismanagement, that the consul Scipio Æmilianus +intervened, and by a decree of the people, through his +influence, the commission was withdrawn, and the matter +was left to the consuls to adjudicate, which was virtually the +suspension of the law itself. For this intervention Scipio +lost his popularity, unbounded as it had been, even as Daniel +Webster lost his prestige and influence when he made his +7th of March speech—the fate of all great men, however +great, when they oppose popular feelings and +interests, whether they are right or wrong. Scipio, +the hero of three wars, not only lost his popularity, but his +<pb n="494"/><anchor id="Pg494"/> +life. He was found murdered in his bed at the age of fifty-six. +<q>Scipio's assassination was the democratic reply to the +aristocratic massacre of Tiberius Gracchus.</q> The greatest +general of the age, a man of unspotted moral purity, and +political unselfishness, and generous patriotism, could not +escape the vengeance of a baffled populace, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 129. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gaius Gracchus.</note> +The distribution of land ceased, but the revolution did not +stop. The soul of Tiberius Gracchus <q>was marching +on.</q> A new hero appeared in his brother, +Gaius Gracchus, nine years younger—a man who had no +relish for vulgar pleasures,—brave, cultivated, talented, energetic, +vehement. A master of eloquence, he drew the people; +consumed with a passion for revenge, he led them on to +revolutionary measures. He was elected tribune in the year +123, and at once declared war on the aristocratic party, to +which by birth he belonged. +</p> + +<p> +He inaugurated revolutionary measures, by proposing to +the people a law which should allow the tribune to solicit a +re-election. He then, to gain the people and secure material +power, enacted that every burgess should be allowed, +monthly, a definite quantity of corn from the public stores +at about half the average price. And he caused a law to be +passed that the existing order of voting in the Comitia Centuriata, +according to which the five property classes voted +first, should be done away with, and that all the centuries +should vote in the order to be determined by lot. He also +caused a law to be passed that no citizen should enlist in the +army till seventeen, nor be compelled to serve in the army +more than twenty years. These measures all had the effect +to elevate the democracy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He makes war on the aristocracy. +The Equestrian order.</note> +He also sought to depress the aristocracy, by dividing its +ranks. The old aristocracy embraced chiefly the +governing class, and were the chief possessors of +landed property. But a new aristocracy of the rich had +grown up, composed of speculators, who managed the mercantile +transactions of the Roman world. The old senatorial +aristocracy were debarred by the Claudian ordinance +<pb n="495"/><anchor id="Pg495"/> +from mercantile pursuits, and were merely sleeping partners +in the great companies, managed by the speculators. But +the new aristocracy, under the name of the equestrian order, +began at this time to have political influence. Originally, +the equestrians were a burgess cavalry; but gradually all who +possessed estates of four hundred thousand sesterces were liable +to cavalry service, and became enrolled in the order, which +thus comprehended the whole senatorial and non-senatorial +noble society of Rome. In process of time, the +senators were exempted from cavalry service, and +were thus marked off from the list of those liable to do cavalry +service. The equestrian order then, at last, comprehended +the aristocracy of rich men, in contradistinction from +the Senate. And a natural antipathy accordingly grew +up between the old senatorial aristocracy and the men to +whom money had given rank. The ruling lords stood +aloof from the speculators; and were better friends of +the people than the new moneyed aristocrats, since they, +brought directly in contact with the people, oppressed them, +and their greediness and injustice were not usually countenanced +by the Senate. The two classes of nobles had united +to put down Tiberius Gracchus; but a deep gulf still yawned +between them, for no class of aristocrats was ever more +exclusive than the governing class at Rome, confined chiefly +to the Senate. The Roman Senate was like the House of +Peers in England, when the peers had a preponderating political +power, and whose property lay in landed estates. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The speculators.</note> +Gracchus raised the power of the equestrians by a law +which provided that the farming of the taxes raised in the +provinces should be sold at auction at Rome. A +gold mine was thus opened for the speculators. +He also caused a law to be passed which required the judges +of civil and criminal cases to be taken from the equestrians, +a privilege before enjoyed by the Senate. And thus a senator, +impeached for his conduct as provincial governor, was +now tried, not as before, by his peer, but by merchants and +bankers. +</p> + +<pb n="496"/><anchor id="Pg496"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The power of the Senate curtailed.</note> +Gracchus, by the aid of the proletarians and the mercantile +class, then proceeded to the overthrow of the ruling +aristocracy, especially in the functions of legislation, which +had belonged to the Senate. By means of comitial laws and +tribunician dictation, he restricted the business of +the Senate. He meddled with the public chest by +distributing corn at half its value; he meddled with the +domains by sending colonies by decrees of the people; he +meddled with provincial administration by overturning the +regulations which had been made by the Senate. He also +sought to re-enforce the Senate by three hundred new members +from the equestrians elected by the comitia, a creation +of peers which would have reduced the Senate to dependence +on the chief of the State. But this he did not succeed in +effecting. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Radical reforms.</note> +It is singular that he could have carried these measures +during his term of office, two years, for he was re-elected, +with so little opposition—a proof of the power of +the moneyed classes, such, perhaps, as are now +represented by the Commons of England. The great change +he sought to effect was the re-election of magistrates—an unlimited +tribuneship, which was truly Napoleonic. And he +knew what he was doing. He was not a fanatic, but a +Statesman of great ability, seeking to break the oligarchy, +and transfer its powers to the tribunes of the people. He +desired a firm administration, but resting on continuous individual +usurpations. He was a political incendiary, like Mirabeau. +He was the true founder of that terrible civic proletariate, +which, flattered by the classes above it, led to the +usurpations of Sulla and Cæsar. He is the author of the +great change, which in one hundred years was effected, of +transferring power from the Senate to an emperor. He furnished +the tactics for all succeeding demagogues. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gracchus loses his popularity.</note> +Great revolutionists are doomed to experience the loss of +popularity, and Gracchus lost his by an attempt +to extend the Roman franchise to the people of +the provinces. The Senate and the mob here united to prevent +<pb n="497"/><anchor id="Pg497"/> +what was ultimately effected. The Senate seized the +advantage by inciting a rival demagogue, in the person of +Marcus Livius Drusus, to propose laws which gave still +greater privileges to the equestrians. The Senate bid for +popularity, as English prime ministers have retained place, +by granting more to the people than their rivals would have +granted. The Livian laws, which released the proletarians +from paying rent for their lands, were ratified by the people as +readily as the Sempronian laws had been. The foundation of +the despotism of Gracchus was thus assailed by the Senate +uniting with the proletarians. An opportunity was only +wanted to effect his complete overthrow. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gracchus assassinated.</note> +On the expiration of two years, Gracchus ceased to be tribune, +and his enemy, Lucius Opimius, a stanch aristocrat, +entered upon his office. The attack on the ex-tribune was +made by prohibiting the restoration of Carthage, which Gracchus +had sought to effect, and which was a popular measure. +On the day when the burgesses assembled with a view to +reject the measure which Gracchus had previously secured, +he appeared with a large body of adherents. An attendant +on the consul demanded their dispersion, on which he was +cut down by a zealous Gracchian. On this, a tumult arose. +Gracchus in vain sought to be heard, and even interrupted a +tribune in the act of speaking, which was against an obsolete +law. This offense furnished a pretense for the Senate and the +citizens to arm. Gracchus retired to the temple of Castor, +and passed the night, while the capitol was filled with armed +men. The next day, he fled beyond the Tiber, but +the Senate placed a price upon his head, and he was +overtaken and slain. Three thousand of his adherents were +strangled in prison, and the memory of the Gracchi remained +officially proscribed. But Cornelia put on mourning for her +last son, and his name became embalmed in the hearts of +the democracy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His character.</note> +Thus perished Gaius Gracchus, a wiser man than his brother—a +man who attempted greater changes, and did +not defy the constitutional forms. He was, undoubtedly, +<pb n="498"/><anchor id="Pg498"/> +patriotic in his intentions, but the reforms which he +projected were radical, and would have changed the whole +structure of government. It was the consummation of the +war against the patrician oligarchy. Whether wise or foolish, +it is not for me to give an opinion, since such an opinion +is of no account, and would imply equally a judgment as to +the relative value of an aristocratical or democratic form of +government, in a corrupt age of Roman society. This is a +mooted point, and I am not capable of settling it. The efforts +of the Gracchi to weaken the power of the ruling noble houses +formed a precedent for subsequent reforms, or usurpations, as +they are differently regarded, and led the way to the rule of +demagogues, to be supplanted in time by that of emperors, +with unbounded military authority. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="499"/><anchor id="Pg499"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXVI. THE WARS WITH JUGURTHA AND THE +CIMBRI.—MARIUS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXVI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXVI.</head> +<head>THE WARS WITH JUGURTHA AND THE CIMBRI.—MARIUS.</head> + +<p> +The fall of the Gracchi restored Rome to the rule of the +oligarchy. The government of the Senate was resumed, and +a war of prosecution was carried on against the followers of +Gracchus. His measures were allowed to drop. The claims +of the Italian allies were disregarded, the noblest of all the +schemes of the late tribune, that of securing legal equality +between the Roman burgesses and their Italian allies. The +restoration of Carthage was set aside. Italian colonies were +broken up. The allotment commission was abolished, and a +fixed rent was imposed on the occupants of the public domains, +but the proletariate of the capital continued to have +a distribution of corn, and jurymen or judges (<hi rend='italic'>judices</hi>) were +still selected from the mercantile classes. The Senate continued +to be composed of effeminated nobles, and insignificant +persons were raised to the highest offices. +</p> + +<p> +The administration, under the restoration, was feeble and +unpopular. Social evils spread with alarming rapidity. +Both slavery and great fortunes increased. The provinces +were miserably governed, while pirates and robbers pillaged +the countries around the Mediterranean. There was a great +revolt of slaves in Sicily, who gained, for a time, the mastery +of the island. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Numidian war. Jugurtha.</note> +While public affairs were thus disgracefully managed, a +war broke out between Numidia and Rome. That +African kingdom extended from the river Molochath +to the great Syrtis on the one hand, and to Cyrene and +Egypt on the other, and included the greatest part of the +ancient Carthaginian territories. Numidia, next to Egypt, +<pb n="500"/><anchor id="Pg500"/> +was the most important of the Roman client States. On the +fall of Carthage, it was ruled by the eldest son of Masinassa, +Micipsa, a feeble old man, who devoted himself to the study +of philosophy, rather than affairs of State. The government +was really in the hands of his nephew, Jugurtha, +courageous, sagacious, and able. He was adopted +by Micipsa, to rule in conjunction with his two sons, Adherbal +and Hiempsal. In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 118 Micipsa died, and a +collision arose, as was to be expected, among his heirs. +Hiempsal was assassinated, and the struggle for the Numidian +crown lay between Adherbal and Jugurtha. The latter +seized the whole territory, and Adherbal escaped to Rome, +and laid his complaint before the Senate. Jugurtha's envoys +also appeared, and the Senate decreed that the two heirs +should have the kingdom equally divided between them, but +Jugurtha obtained the more fertile western half. +</p> + +<p> +Then war arose between the two kings, and Adherbal was +defeated, and retired to his capital, Aita, where he was +besieged by Jugurtha. Adherbal made his complaints to +Rome, and a commission of aristocratic but inexperienced +young men came to the camp of Jugurtha to arrange the +difficulties. Jugurtha rejected their demands, and the young +men returned home. Adherbal sent again messengers to +Rome, being closely pressed, demanding intervention. The +Senate then sent Marcus Scaurus, who held endless debates +with Jugurtha, at Utica, to which place he was summoned. +These were not attended with any results. Scaurus returned +to Rome, and Jugurtha pressed the siege of Aita, which soon +capitulated. Adherbal was executed with cruel torture, and +the adult population was put to the sword. +</p> + +<p> +A cry of indignation arose in Italy. The envoys of Jugurtha +were summarily dismissed, and Scaurus was sent to +Africa with an army, but a peace with Rome was purchased +by the African prince through the bribery of the generals. +The legal validity of the peace was violently assailed in the +Senate, and Massiva, a grandson of Masinissa, then in Rome, +laid claim to the Numidian throne. But this prince was +<pb n="501"/><anchor id="Pg501"/> +assassinated by one of the confidants of Jugurtha, which outrage, +perpetrated under the eyes of the Roman government, +led to a renewed declaration of war, and Spurius Albinus +was intrusted with the command of an army. But Jugurtha +bribed the Roman general into inaction, and captured the +Roman camp. This resulted in the evacuation of Numidia, +and a second treaty of peace. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Metellus.</note> +Such an ignoble war created intense dissatisfaction at +Rome, and the Senate was obliged to cancel the treaty, +and renewed the war in earnest, intrusting the conduct of +it to Quintus Metellus, an aristocrat, of course, +but a man of great ability. Selecting for his +lieutenants able generals, he led over his army to Africa. +Jugurtha made proposals of peace, which were refused, and +he prepared for a desperate defense. Intrenched on a ridge +of hills in the wide plain of Muthul, he awaited the attack +of his enemies, but was signally defeated by Metellus, assisted +by Marius, a brave plebeian, who had arisen from the common +soldiers. After this battle Jugurtha contented himself with +a guerrilla warfare, while his kingdom was occupied by the +conquerors. Metellus even intrigued to secure the assassination +of the king. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Difficulties of the war.</note> +The war continued to be prosecuted without decisive +results, as is so frequently the case when civilized +nations fight with barbarians. Like the war of +Charlemagne against the Saxons, victories were easily +obtained, but the victors gained unsubstantial advantages. +Jugurtha retired to inaccessible deserts with his children, his +treasures, and his best troops, to await better times. Numidia +was seemingly reduced, but its king remained in arms. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Marius.</note> +It was then, in the third year of the renewed war, that +Metellus was recalled, and Marius, chosen consul, +was left with the supreme command. But even he +did not find it easy, with a conquering army, to seize Jugurtha, +and he was restricted to a desultory war. At last +Bocchus, king of Mauritania, slighted by the Romans, but +in alliance with Jugurtha, effected by treachery what could +<pb n="502"/><anchor id="Pg502"/> +not be gained by arms. He entered into negotiations with +Marius to deliver up the king of Numidia, who had married +his daughter, and had sought his protection. Marius sent +Sulla to consummate the treachery. Jugurtha, the traitor, +was thus in turn sacrificed, and became a Roman prisoner. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Close of the war.</note> +This miserable war lasted seven years, and its successful +termination secured to Marius a splendid triumph, +at which the conquered king, with his two sons, +appeared in chains before the triumphal car, and was then +executed in the subterranean prison on the Capitoline Hill. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Results of the war.</note> +Numidia was not converted into a Roman province, but +into a client State, because the country could not +be held without an army on the frontiers. The +Jugurthan war was important in its consequences, since it +brought to light the venality of the governing lords, and +made it evident that Rome must be governed by a degenerate +and selfish oligarchy, or by a tyrant, whether in the +form of a demagogue, like Gracchus, or a military chieftain, +like Marius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Cimbri.</note> +But a more difficult war than that waged against the +barbarians of the African deserts was now to be conducted +against the barbarians of European forests. The war +with the Cimbri was also more important in its +political results. There had been several encounters +with the northern nations of Spain, Gaul, and Italy, +under different names, with different successes, which it +would be tedious to describe. But the contest with the +Cimbri has a great and historic interest, since they were the +first of the Germanic tribes with which the Romans contended. +Mommsen thinks these barbarians were Teutonic, +although, among older historians, they were supposed to be +Celts. The Cimbri were a migratory people, who left their +northern homes with their wives and children, goods and +chattels, to seek more congenial settlements than they had +found in the Scandinavian forests. The wagon was their +house. They were tall, fair-haired, with bright blue eyes. +They were well armed with sword, spear, shield, and helmet. +<pb n="503"/><anchor id="Pg503"/> +They were brave warriors, careless of danger, and willing to +die. They were accompanied by priestesses, whose warnings +were regarded as voices from heaven. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War with the Cimbri.</note> +This homeless people of the Cimbri, prevented from advancing +south on the Danube by the barrier raised by the +Celts, advanced to the passes of the Carnian Alps, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 113, protected by Gnæus Papirius Carbo, not +far from Aquileia. An engagement took place not far from +the modern Corinthia, where Carbo was defeated. Some +years after, they proceeded westward to the left bank of the +Rhine, and over the Jura, and again threatened the Roman +territory. Again was a Roman army defeated under Silanus +in Southern Gaul, and the Cimbri sent envoys to Rome, with +the request that they might be allowed peaceful settlements. +The Helvetii, stimulated by the successes of the Cimbri, also +sought more fertile settlements in Western Gaul, and formed +an alliance with the Cimbri. They crossed the Jura, the +western barrier of Switzerland, succeeded in decoying the +Roman army under Longinus into an ambush, and gained +a victory. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Invasion of Italy.</note> +In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi>, 105 the Cimbrians, under their king +Boiorix, advanced to the invasion of Italy. They +were opposed on the right bank of the Rhone by +the proconsul Cæpio, and on the left by the consul Gnæus +Mallius Maximus, and the consular Marcus Aurelius Scaurus. +The first attack fell on the latter general, who was taken +prisoner and his corps routed. Maximus then ordered his +colleague to bring his army across the Rhone, where the +Roman force stood confronting the whole Cimbrian army, +but Cæpio refused. The mutual jealousy of these generals, +and refusal to co-operate, led to one of the most disastrous +defeats which the Romans ever suffered. No less than +eighty thousand soldiers, and half as many more camp followers, +perished. The battle of Aransio (Orange) filled +Rome with alarm and fear, and had the Cimbrians immediately +advanced through the passes of the Alps to Italy, +overwhelming disasters might have ensued. +</p> + +<pb n="504"/><anchor id="Pg504"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Marius called to command.</note> +In this crisis, Marius was called to the supreme command, +hated as he was by the aristocracy, which still +ruled, and in defiance of the law which prohibited +the holding of the consulship more than once. He was accompanied +by a still greater man, Lucius Sulla, destined to +acquire great distinction. Marius maintained a strictly defensive +attitude within the Roman territories, training and +disciplining his troops for the contest which was yet to come +with the most formidable antagonists the Romans had ever +encountered, and who were destined in after times to subvert +the empire. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of Aquæ Sextiæ.</note> +The Cimbri formed a confederation with the Helvetii and +the Teutons, and after an unsuccessful attempt to sweep +away the Belgæ, who resisted them, concluded to invade +Italy, through Roman Gaul and the Western passes of the +Alps. They crossed the Rhone without difficulty, and resumed +the struggle with the Romans. Marius awaited them +in a well-chosen camp, well fortified and provisioned, at the +confluence of the Rhone and the Isère, by which he intercepted +the passage of the barbarians, either over the Little +St. Barnard—the route Hannibal had taken—or along the +coast. The barbarians attacked the camp, but were repulsed. +They then resolved to pass the camp, leaving an enemy in +the rear, and march to Italy. Marius, for six days, permitted +them to defile with their immense baggage, and when +their march was over, followed in the steps of the enemy, +who took the coast road. At Aquæ Sextiæ the +contending parties came into collision, and the +barbarians were signally defeated; the whole horde was +scattered, killed, or taken prisoners. It would seem that +these barbarians were Teutons or Germans; but on the +south side of the Alps, the Cimbri and Helvetii crossed the +Alps by the Brenner Pass, and descended upon the plains of +Italy. The passes had been left unguarded, and the Roman +army, under Catulus, on the banks of the Adige, suffered a +defeat, and retreated to the right bank of the Po. The +whole plain between the Po and the Alps was in the hands +<pb n="505"/><anchor id="Pg505"/> +of the barbarians, who did not press forward, as they should +have done, but retired into winter quarters, where they became +demoralized by the warm baths and abundant stores +of that fertile and lovely region. Thus the Romans gained +time, and the victorious Marius, relinquishing all attempts +at the conquest of Gaul, conducted his army to the banks of +the Po, and formed a junction with Catulus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of Vercillæ.</note> +The two armies met at Vercillæ, not far from the place +where Hannibal had fought his first battle on the +Italian soil. The day of the battle was fixed beforehand +by the barbaric general and Marius, on the 30th +of June, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 101. A complete victory was gained by the +Romans, and the Cimbri were annihilated. The victory of +the rough plebeian farmer was not merely over the barbarians, +but over the aristocracy. He became, in consequence, +the leading man in Rome. He had fought his way from the +ranks to the consulship, and had distinguished himself in all +the campaigns in which he fought. In Spain, he had arisen to +the grade of an officer. In the Numantine war he attracted, at +twenty-three, the notice of Scipio. On his return to Rome, with +his honorable scars and military <hi rend='italic'>éclat</hi>, he married a lady of the +great patrician house of the Julii. At forty, he obtained +the prætorship; at forty-eight, he was made consul, and +terminated the African war, and his victories over the Cimbri +and Teutons enabled him to secure his re-election five consecutive +years, which was unexampled in the history of the +republic. As consul he administered justice impartially, +organized the military system, and maintained in the army +the strictest discipline. He had but little culture; his voice +was harsh, and his look wild. But he was simple, economical, +and incorruptible. He stood aloof from society and +from political parties, exposed to the sarcasms of the aristocrats +into whose ranks he had entered. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Reforms of Marius.</note> +He made great military reforms, changing the burgess +levy into a system of enlistments, and allowing +every free-born citizen to enlist. He abolished +the aristocratic classification, reduced the infantry of the line +<pb n="506"/><anchor id="Pg506"/> +to a level, and raised the number of the legion from four +thousand two hundred to six thousand, to which he gave a +new standard—the silver eagle, which proclaims the advent +of emperors. The army was changed from a militia to a +band of mercenaries. +</p> + +<p> +After effecting these military changes, he sought political +supremacy by taking upon himself the constitutional magistracies. +In effecting this he was supported by the popular, +or democratic party, which now regained its political importance. +He, therefore, obtained the consulship for the sixth +time, while his friends among the popular party were made +tribunes and prætors. He was also supported at the election +by his old soldiers who had been discharged. +</p> + +<p> +But the whole aristocracy rallied, and Marius was not +sufficiently a politician to cope with experienced demagogues. +He made numerous blunders, and lost his political influence. +But he accepted his position, and waited for his time. Not +in the field of politics was he to arise to power, but in the +strife and din of arms. An opportunity was soon afforded +in the convulsions which arose from the revolt of the Roman +allies in Italy, soon followed by civil wars. It is these wars +which next claim our notice. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="507"/><anchor id="Pg507"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXVII. THE REVOLT OF ITALY, AND THE SOCIAL +WAR.—MARIUS AND SULLA."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXVII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXVII.</head> +<head>THE REVOLT OF ITALY, AND THE SOCIAL WAR.—MARIUS +AND SULLA.</head> + +<p> +Great discontent had long existed among the Italian subjects +of Rome. They were not only oppressed, but they +enjoyed no political privileges. They did not belong to the +class of burgesses. +</p> + +<p> +With the view of extending the Roman franchise, a movement +was made by the tribune, M. Livius Drusus, an aristocrat +of great wealth and popular sympathies. He had, also, +projected other reforms, which made him obnoxious to all +parties; but this was peculiarly offensive to the order to which +he belonged, and he lost his life while attempting to effect +the same reforms which were fatal to Gracchus. +</p> + +<p> +On his assassination, the allies, who outnumbered the +Roman burgesses, and who had vainly been seeking citizenship, +found that they must continue without political rights, +or fight, and they made accordingly vast preparations for +war. Had all the Italian States been united, they would, +probably, have obtained their desire without a conflict in the +field, but in those parts where the moneyed classes preponderated, +the people remained loyal to Rome. But the insurgents +embraced most of the people in Central and Southern Italy, +who were chiefly farmers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Indecisive war.</note> +The insurrection broke out in Asculum in Picenum, and +spread rapidly through Samnium, Apulia, and Lucania. All +Southern and Central Italy was soon in arms against Rome. +The Etruscans and Umbrians remained in allegiance as +they had before taken part with the equestrians, now a +most powerful body, against Drusus. Italy was divided into +<pb n="508"/><anchor id="Pg508"/> +two great military camps. The insurgents sent envoys to +Rome, with the proposal to lay down their arms if citizenship +were granted them, but this was refused. Both sides now +made extensive preparations, and the forces were nearly balanced. +One hundred thousand men were in arms, in two +divisions, on either side, the Romans commanded by the consul, +Publius Rutilius Lupus, and the Italians by Quintus +Silo and Gaius Papius Mutilus. Gaius Marius served as a +lieutenant-commander. The war was carried on +with various successes, for <q>Greek met Greek.</q> +The first campaign proved, on the whole, to the disadvantage +of the Romans, who suffered several defeats. In a political +point of view, also, the insurgents were the gainers. Great +despondency reigned in the capital, for the war had become +serious. At length, it was resolved to grant the political +franchise to such Italians as had remained faithful, or who +had submitted. This concession, great as it was, did not +include the actual insurgents, but it operated in strengthening +wavering communities on the side of Rome. Etruria +and Umbria were tranquilized. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sulla.</note> +The second campaign, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 89, was opened in Bicenum. +Marius was not in the field. His conduct in the previous +campaign was not satisfactory, and the conqueror of the +Cimbri, at sixty-six, was thought to be in his dotage. Asculum +was besieged and taken by the Romans, who had seventy-five +thousand troops under the walls. The Sabellians and +Marsians were next subjugated, and all Campania was lost +to the insurgents, as far as Nola. The Southern army was +under the command of the consul, Lucius Sulla, +whose great career had commenced in Africa, under +Marius. Sulla advanced into the Samnite country and took +its capital, Bovianum. Under his able generalship, the position +of affairs greatly changed. At the close of the campaign, +most of the insurgent regions were subdued. The +Samnites were almost the only people which held out. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Asiatic rising.</note> +It was fortunate for Rome that the rebellion was so far +suppressed when the flames of war were rekindled in the +<pb n="509"/><anchor id="Pg509"/> +East. A great reaction against the Roman domination +had taken place, and the eastern nations seemed +determined to rally once more for independent +dominion. This was the last great Asiatic rising till the fall +of the Roman empire. The potentate under whom the Oriental +forces rallied, was Mithridates, king of Pontus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Disgust of Marius.</note> +The army of Sulla, in Campania, was destined to embark for +Asia as soon as the state of things in Southern Italy should allow +his departure. So the third campaign of the Social war, as +it is called, began favorably for Rome, when events transpired +in the capital which gave fresh life to the almost extinguished +insurrection. The attack of Drusus on the equestrian courts, +and his sudden downfall, had sown the bitterest discord +between the aristocracy and the burgess class. The Italian +communities, received into Roman citizenship, were fettered +by restrictions which had an odious stigma, which led to +great irritation, for the aristocracy had conferred the +franchise grudgingly. And this franchise was moreover +withheld from the insurgent communities which had again +submitted. A deep indignation also settled in +the breast of Marius, on his return from the first +campaign, to find himself neglected and forgotten. To these +discontents were added the distress of debtors, who, amid +the financial troubles of the war, were unable to pay the +interest on their debts, and were yet inexorably pressed by +creditors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Sulpician laws.</note> +It was then, in this state of fermentation and demoralization, +that the tribune Publius Sulpicius Rufus proposed that +every senator who owed more than two thousand denarii +(£82) should forfeit his seat in the Senate; that +burgesses condemned by non-free jury courts +should have liberty to return home; and that the new burgesses +should be distributed among all the tribes, in which the +freed men should also have the privilege of voting. These +proposals, although made by a patrician, met with the greatest +opposition from the Senate, but were passed amid riots +and tumults. Sulla was on the best terms with the Senate, +<pb n="510"/><anchor id="Pg510"/> +and Sulpicius feared that he might return from his camp at +Nola, and take vengeance for these popular measures. The +tribune, therefore, conceived the plan of taking the command +from Sulla, who was then consul, and transfer it upon Marius, +who was also to conduct the war against Mithridates, in +Asia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Sullan legislation.</note> +Sulla disobeyed the mandate, and marched to Rome with +his army—little more than a body of mercenaries +devoted to him. In his eyes, the sovereign +Roman citizens were a rabble, and Rome itself a city without +a garrison. Sulla had an army of thirty-five thousand men, +and before the Romans could organize resistance he appeared +at the gate, and crossed the sacred boundary which the law +had forbidden war to enter. In a few hours Sulla was the +absolute master of Rome. Marius and Sulpicius fled. It +was the conservative party which exchanged the bludgeon +for the sword. Sulla at once made null the Sulpician laws, +punished their author and his adherents, as Sulpicius had +feared. The gray-haired conqueror of the Cimbri fled, and +found his way to the coast and embarked on a trading-vessel, +but the timid mariners put him ashore, and Marius stole +along the beach with his pursuers in the rear. He was found +in a marsh concealed in reeds and mud, seized and imprisoned +by the people of Minturnæ, and a Cimbrian slave was +sent to put him to death, The ax, however, fell from his +hands when the old hero demanded in a stern voice if he +dared to kill Gaius Marius. The magistrates of the town, +ashamed, then loosed his fetters, gave him a vessel, and sent +him to Ænaria (Ischia). There, in those waters, the proscribed +met, and escaped to Numidia, and Sulla was spared +the odium of putting to death his old commander, who had +delivered Rome from the Cimbrians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sullan constitution.</note> +Sulla, master of Rome, did not destroy her liberties. He +suggested a new series of legislative enactments in +the interests of the aristocracy. He created three +hundred new senators, and brought back the old Servian +rule of voting in the Comitia Centuriata. The poorer classes +<pb n="511"/><anchor id="Pg511"/> +were thus virtually again disfranchised. He also abolished +the power of the tribune to propose laws to the people, and +the initiatory of legislation was submitted to the Senate. +The absurd custom by which a consul, prætor, or tribune, +could propose to the burgesses any measure he pleased, and +carry it without debate, was in itself enough to overturn any +constitution. +</p> + +<p> +Having settled these difficulties, and made way with his +enemies, Sulla, still consul, embarked with his legion for the +East, where the presence of a Roman army was imperatively +needed. But before he left, he extorted a solemn oath from +Cinna, consul elect, that he would attempt no alteration in +the recent changes which had been made. Cinna took the +oath, but Sulla had scarcely left before he created new +disturbances. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="512"/><anchor id="Pg512"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE MITHRIDATIC AND CIVIL +WARS.—MARIUS AND SULLA."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXVIII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXVIII.</head> +<head>THE MITHRIDATIC AND CIVIL WARS.—MARIUS AND SULLA.</head> + +<p> +There reigned at this time in Pontus, the northeastern +State of Asia Minor, bordered on the south by Cappadocia, on +the east by Armenia, and the north by the Euxine, a powerful +prince, Mithridates VI., surnamed Eupator, who traced +an unbroken lineage to Darius, the son of the Hystaspes, and +also to the Seleucidæ. He was a great eastern hero, whose +deeds excited the admiration of his age. He could, on foot, +overtake the swiftest deer; he accomplished journeys on +horseback of one hundred and twenty miles a day; he drove +sixteen horses in hand at the chariot races; he never missed +his aim in hunting; he drank his boon companions under +the table; he had as many mistresses as Solomon; he was +fond of music and poetry; he collected precious works of +art; he had philosophers and poets in his train; he was the +greatest jester and wit of his court. His activity was +boundless; he learned the antidotes for all poisons; he +administered justice in twenty-two languages; and yet he +was coarse, tyrannical, cruel, superstitious, and unscrupulous. +Such was this extraordinary man who led the great reaction +of the Asiatics against the Occidentals. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mithridates.</note> +The resources of this Oriental king were immense, since +he bore rule over the shores of the Euxine to the interior of +Asia Minor. His field for recruits to his armies +stretched from the mouth of the Danube to the +Caspian Sea. Thracians, Scythians, Colchians, Iberians, +crowded under his banners. When he marched into Cappadocia, +he had six hundred scythed chariots, ten thousand +horse, and eighty thousand foot. A series of aggressions and +<pb n="513"/><anchor id="Pg513"/> +conquests made this monarch the greatest and most formidable +Eastern foe the Romans ever encountered. The Romans, +engrossed with the war with the Cimbri and the insurrection +of their Italian subjects, allowed his empire to be silently +aggrandized. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tigranes.</note> +The Roman Senate, at last, disturbed and jealous, sent +Lucius Sulla to Cappadocia with a handful of troops to +defend its interests. On his return, Mithridates continued +his aggressions, and formed an alliance with his +father-in-law, Tigranes, king of Armenia, but +avoided a direct encounter with the great Occidental power +which had conquered the world. Things continued for +awhile between war and peace, but, at last, it was evident +that only war could prevent the aggrandizement of Mithridates, +and it was resolved upon by the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Preparations of Mithridates. +Power of Mithridates.</note> +The king of Pontus made immense preparations to resist +his powerful enemies. He strengthened his alliance +with Tigranes. He made overtures to the +Greek cities. He attempted to excite a revolt in Thrace, in +Numidia, and in Syria. He encouraged pirates on the Mediterranean. +He organized a foreign corps after the Roman +fashion, and took the field with two hundred and fifty thousand +infantry and forty thousand cavalry—the largest army +seen since the Persian wars. He then occupied Asia Minor, +and the Roman generals retreated as he advanced. He made +Ephesus his head-quarters, and issued orders to all the governors +dependent upon him to massacre, on the same day, +all Italians, free or enslaved—men, women, and children, +found in their cities. One hundred and fifty thousand were +thus barbarously slaughtered in one day. The States of +Cappadocia, Sinope, Phrygia, and Bithynia were organized +as Pontic satrapies. The confiscation of the property of the +murdered Italians replenished his treasury, as well as the +contributions of Asia Minor. He not only occupied the +Asiatic provinces of the Romans, but meditated the +invasion of Europe. Thrace and Macedonia were +occupied by his armies, and his fleet appeared in the Ægean +<pb n="514"/><anchor id="Pg514"/> +Sea. Delos, the emporium of Roman commerce, was taken, +and twenty thousand Italians massacred. Most of the small +free States of Greece entered into alliance with him—the +Achæans, Laconians, and Bœotians. So commanding was +his position, that an embassy of Italian insurgents invited him +to land in Italy. +</p> + +<p> +The position of the Roman government was critical. Asia +Minor, Hellas, and Macedonia were in the hands of Mithridates, +while his fleet sailed without a rival. The Italian +insurrection was not subdued, and political parties divided +the capital. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sulla lands in Epirus. +Siege of Athens.</note> +At this crisis Sulla landed on the coast of Epirus, but with +an army of only thirty thousand men, and without +a single vessel of war. He landed with an empty +military chest. But he was a second Alexander—the greatest +general that Rome had yet produced. He soon made himself +master of Greece, with the exception of the fortresses of +Athens and the Piræus, into which the generals of Mithridates +had thrown themselves. He intrenched himself at +Eleusis and Megara, from which he commanded +Greece and the Peloponnesus, and commenced the +siege of Athena. This was attended with great difficulties, +and the city only fell, after a protracted defense, when provisions +were exhausted. The conqueror, after allowing his +soldiers to pillage the city, gave back her liberties, in honor +of her illustrious dead. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sulla deposed.</note> +But a year was wasted, and without ships it was impossible +for Sulla to secure his communications. He +sent one of his best officers, Lucullus, to Alexandria, +to raise a fleet, but the Egyptian court evaded the +request. To add to his embarrassments, the Roman general +was without money, although he had rifled the treasures +which still remained in the Grecian temples. Moreover, +what was still more serious, a revolution at Rome overturned +his work, and he had been deposed, and his Asiatic command +given to M. Valerius Flaccus. +</p> + +<p> +Sulla was unexpectedly relieved by the resolution of +<pb n="515"/><anchor id="Pg515"/> +Mithridates to carry on the offensive in Greece. Taxiles, +one of the lieutenants of the Pontic king, was sent to combat +Sulla with an army of one hundred thousand infantry +and ten thousand cavalry. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of Chæronea.</note> +Then was fought the battle of Chæronea, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 86, against +the advice of Archelaus, in which the Romans +were the victors. But Sulla could not reap the +fruits of victory without a fleet, since the sea was covered +with Pontic ships. In the following year a second army was +sent into Greece by Mithridates, and the Romans and +Asiatics met once more in the plain of the Cephissus, near +Orchomenus. The Romans were the victors, who speedily +cleared the European continent of its eastern invaders. At +the end of the third year of the war, Sulla took up his +winter quarters in Thessaly, and commenced to build ships. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Revolt of Asia against Mithridates.</note> +Meanwhile a reaction against Mithridates took place in +Asia Minor. His rule was found to be more +oppressive than that of the Romans. The great +mercantile cities of Smyrna, Colophon, Ephesus, and Sardis +were in revolt, and closed their gates against his governors. +The Hellenic cities of Asia Minor had hoped to gain civil +independence and a remission of taxes, and were disappointed. +And those cities which were supposed to be +secretly in favor of the Romans were heavily fined. The +Chians were compelled to pay two thousand talents. Great +cruelties were also added to fines and confiscations. Lucullus, +unable to obtain the help of an Alexandrian fleet, was +more fortunate in the Syrian ports, and soon was able to +commence offensive operations. Flaccus, too, had arrived +with a Roman army, but this incapable general was put to +death by a mob-orator, Fimbria, more able than he, who +defeated a Pontic army at Miletopolis. The situation of +Mithridates then became perilous. Europe was lost; Asia +Minor was in rebellion; and Roman armies were pressing +upon him. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Negotiations for peace.</note> +He therefore negotiated for peace. Sulla required the +restoration of all the conquests he had made: Cappadocia, +<pb n="516"/><anchor id="Pg516"/> +Paphlagonia, Galatia, Bithynia, the Hellenic cities, the +islands of the sea, and a contribution of three thousand +talents. These conditions were not accepted, +and Sulla proceeded to Asia, upon which Mithridates reluctantly +acceded to his terms. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sulla returns to Italy.</note> +Sulla then turned against Fimbria, who commanded the +Roman army sent to supplant him, which, as was to be +expected, deserted to his standard. Fimbria fled to Pergamus, +and fell on his own sword. Sulla intrusted the two +legions which had been sent from Rome under Flaccus to the +command of his best officer, Murena, and turned his attention +to arrange the affairs of Asia. He levied contributions to +the amount of twenty thousand talents, reduced +Mithridates to the rank of a client king, richly +compensated his soldiers, and embarked for Italy, leaving +Lucullus behind to collect the contributions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His greatness. +Cinna.</note> +Thus was the Mithridatic war ended by the genius of a +Roman general, who had no equal in Roman history, with the +exception of Pompey and Julius Cæsar. He had distinguished +himself in Africa, in Spain, in Italy, and +in Greece. He had defeated the barbarians of the +West, the old Italian foes of Rome, and the armies of the +most powerful Oriental monarch since the fall of Persia. He +had triumphed over Roman factions, and supplanted the +great Marius himself. He was now to contend with one +more able foe, Lucius Cornelius Cinna, who represented +the revolutionary forces which had rallied under +the Gracchi and Marius—the democratic elements +of Roman society. +</p> + +<p> +When Sulla embarked for the Mithridatic war, Cinna, +supported by a majority of the College of Tribunes, concerted +a reaction against the rule which Sulla had re-established—the +rule of the aristocracy. But Cinna, a mere tool of the +revolutionary party,—a man without ability,—was driven out +of the city by the aristocratic party, and outlawed, and L. +Cornelia Mesula was made consul in his stead. The outlaws +fled to the camp before Nola. The Campanian army, democratic +<pb n="517"/><anchor id="Pg517"/> +and revolutionary, recognized Cinna as the leader of +the republic. Gaius Marius, then an exile in Numidia, +brought six thousand men, whom he had rallied to his standard, +to the disposal of the consul, and was placed by Cinna +in supreme command at Etruria. A storm gathered around +the capitol. Cinna was overshadowed by the greatness of +that plebeian general who had defeated the Cimbrians, and +who was bent upon revenge for the mortification and insults +he had received from the Roman aristocracy. Famine and +desertion soon made the city indefensible, and Rome capitulated +to an army of her own citizens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Civil war. +Success of Cinna.</note> +Marius, now master of Rome, entered the city, and a reign +of terror commenced. The gates were closed, and the +slaughter of the aristocratic party commenced. +The consul Octavius was the first victim, and with +him the most illustrious of his party. The executioners of +Marius fulfilled his orders, and his revenge was complete. +He entered upon a new consulate, execrated by all the leading +citizens. But in the midst of his victories he was seized +with a burning fever, and died in agonies, at the age of seventy, +in the full possession of honor and power. Cinna succeeded +him in the consulship and Rome was under the +government of a detested tyrant. For four years +his reign was absolute, and was a reign of terror, during +which the senators were struck down, as the French nobles +were in the time of Robespierre. Cinna, like Robespierre, +reigned with the mightiest plenitude of power, united with +incapacity. +</p> + +<p> +In this state of anarchy Sulla's wife and children escaped +with difficulty, and Sulla himself was deprived of his command +against Mithridates. But Cinna, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 84, was killed +in a mutiny, and the command of the revolutionists devolved +on Carbo. The situation of Sulla was critical, even at the +head of his veteran forces. In the spring of the year following +the death of Cinna, he landed in Brundusium, where he +was re-enforced by partisans and deserters. The Senate made +advances to Sulla, and many patricians joined his ranks, +<pb n="518"/><anchor id="Pg518"/> +including Cneius Pompeius, then twenty-three years of +age. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sulla ends the war.</note> +Civil war was now inaugurated between Sulla and the +revolutionary party, at the head of which were now the consul +Carbo and the younger Marius. Carbo was +charged with Upper Italy, while Marius guarded +Rome at the fortress of Præneste. At Sacriportus Sulla defeated +Marius, and entered Rome. But the insurgent +Italians united with the revolutionary forces of Rome, and +seventy thousand Samnites and Lucanians approached the +capital. At the Colline gate a battle was fought, in which +Sulla was victorious. This ended the Social war, and the +subjugation of the revolutionists soon followed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Absolute power of Sulla.</note> +Sulla was now made dictator, and the ten years of revolution +and insurrection were at an end in both West and East. +The first use which Sulla made of his absolute +power was to outlaw all his enemies. Lists of the +proscribed were posted at Rome and in the Italian cities. +It was a fearful visitation. A second reign of terror took +place, more fearful and systematic than that of Marius. +Four thousand seven hundred persons were slaughtered, +among whom were forty senators, and one thousand six hundred +equites. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His triumphs.</note> +The next year Sulla celebrated his magnificent triumph +over Mithridates, and was saluted by the name of Felix. +The despotism at which the Gracchi were accused +of aiming was introduced by a military conqueror, +aided by the aristocracy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He reforms. The reforms of Sulla.</note> +Sulla then devoted himself to the reorganization of the +State. He conferred citizenship upon all the Italians +but freedmen, and bestowed the sequestered +estates of those who had taken side against him or his soldiers. +The office of judices was restored to the Senate, and +the equites were deprived of their separate seats at festivals. +The Senate was restored to its ancient dignity and power, +and three hundred new members appointed. The number of +prætors was increased to eight. The government still rested +<pb n="519"/><anchor id="Pg519"/> +on the basis of popular election, but was made more aristocratic +than before. The Comitia Centuriata was left in possession +of the nominal power of legislation, but it +could only be exercised upon the initiation of a +decree of the Senate. The Comitia Tributa was stripped of +the powers by which it had so long controlled the Senate +and the State. Tribunes of the people were selected from +the Senate. The College of Pontiffs was no longer filled by +popular election, but by the choice of their own members. +A new criminal code was made, and the several courts were +presided over by the prætors. Such, in substance, were the +Cornelian laws to restore the old powers of the aristocracy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His retirement.</note> +Having effected this labor, Sulla, in the plenitude of +power, retired into private life. He retired, not like Charles +V., wearied of the toils of war, and disgusted with +the vanity of glory and fame, nor like Washington, +from lofty patriotic motives, but to bury himself in epicurean +pleasures. In the luxury of his Cumænon villa he divided his +time between hunting and fishing, and the enjoyments of +literature, until, worn out with sensuality, he died in his sixtieth +year, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 78. A grand procession of the Senate he had +saved, the equites, the magistrates, the vestal virgins, and +his disbanded soldiers, bore his body to the funeral pyre, and +his ashes were deposited beside the tombs of the kings. A +splendid monument was raised to his memory, on which was +inscribed his own epitaph, that no friend ever did him a +kindness, and no enemy a wrong, without receiving a full +requital. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="520"/><anchor id="Pg520"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XXXIX. ROME FROM THE DEATH OF SULLA TO THE GREAT CIVIL +WARS OF CÆSAR AND POMPEY.—CICERO, POMPEY, AND +CÆSAR."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XXXIX."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XXXIX.</head> +<head>ROME FROM THE DEATH OF SULLA TO THE GREAT CIVIL +WARS OF CÆSAR AND POMPEY.—CICERO, POMPEY, AND +CÆSAR.</head> + +<p> +On the death of Sulla, the Roman government was once +more in the hands of the aristocracy, and for several years +the consuls were elected from the great ruling families. +But, in spite of all the conquests of Sulla and all his laws, +the State was tumbling into anarchy, and was convulsed with +fresh wars. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Reaction in favor of the aristocracy.</note> +Sulla was alive when M. Lepidus came forward as the +leader of the democratic party against C. Lutatius +Catulus—a man without character or ability, who +had deserted from the optimates to the popular party, to +escape prosecution for the plunder of Sicily. The fortune +he acquired in his government of that province enabled +Lepidus to secure his election as consul, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 78, and he even +attempted to deprive Sulla of his funeral honors. A conspiracy +was organized in Etruria, where the Sullan confiscation +had been most severe. Lepidus came forward as an +avenger of the old Romans whose fortunes had been ruined. +The Senate, fearing convulsions, made Lepidus and Catulus, +the consuls, swear not to take up arms against each +other; but at the expiration of the consulship of Lepidus, +went, as was usual, to the province assigned to him. +This was Gaul, and here the war first broke out. An +attempt on Rome was frustrated by Catulus, who defeated +Lepidus, and the latter soon died in Sardinia, whither he +had retired. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sertorius.</note> +Sertorius was then in command of the army in Spain,—a +<pb n="521"/><anchor id="Pg521"/> +man who had risen from an obscure position, but who possessed +the hardy virtues of the old Sabine farmers. He +served under Marius in Gaul, and was prætor when +Sulla returned to Italy. When the cause of Marius +was lost in Africa, he organized a resistance to Sulla in +Spain. His army was re-enforced by Marian refugees, and he +was aided by the Iberian tribes, among whom he was a +favorite. For eight years this celebrated hero baffled the +armies which Rome, under the lead of the aristocracy, sent +against him, for he undertook to restore the cause of the +democracy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pompey.</note> +Against Sertorius was sent the man who, next to Cæsar, +was destined to play the most important part in the history +of those times—Cn. Pompeius, born the same +year as Cicero, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 106, who had enlisted in the +cause of Sulla, and early distinguished himself against the +generals of Marius. He gained great successes in Sicily and +Africa, and was, on his return to Rome, saluted by the dictator +Sulla himself with the name of <hi rend='italic'>Magnus</hi>, which title he +ever afterward bore. He was then a simple equestrian, and +had not risen to the rank of quæstor, or prætor, or consul. +Yet he had, at the early age of twenty-four, without enjoying +any curule office, the honor of a triumph, even +against the opposition of Sulla. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Sertorius.</note> +Pompey was sent to Spain with the title of proconsul, and +with an army of thirty thousand men. He crossed the Alps +between the sources of the Rhone and Po, and advanced to +the southern coast of Spain. Here he was met by Sertorius, +and at first was worsted. I need not detail the varied events +of this war in Spain. The Spaniards at length grew weary +of a contest which was not to their benefit, but which was +carried on in behalf of rival factions at the capital. Dissensions +broke out among the officers of Sertorius, and he was +killed at a banquet by Perpenna, his lieutenant. +On the death of the only man capable of resisting +the aristocracy of Rome, and whose virtues were worthy of +the ancient heroes, the progress of Pompey was easy. Perpenna +<pb n="522"/><anchor id="Pg522"/> +was taken prisoner and his army was dispersed, and +Spain was reduced to obedience. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Servile war. +Pompey.</note> +In the mean time, while Pompey was fighting Sertorius in +Spain, a servile war broke out in Italy, produced +in part by the immense demand of slaves for the +gladiatorial shows. One of these slaves, Spartacus, once a +Thracian captain of banditti, escaped with seventy comrades +to the crater of Vesuvius, and organized an insurrection, +and he was soon at the head of one hundred thousand of +those wretched captives whose condition was unendurable. +Italy was ravaged from the Alps to the Straits of Messina. +No Roman general, then in Italy, was equal to the task of +subduing them. But, in the second year of the war, Crassus, +who was a great proprietor of slaves, and who had ably +served under Sulla, undertook the task of subduing the +insurrectionary slaves. With six legions he drove them to +the extremity of the Bruttian peninsula, and shut them up in +Rhegium by strong lines of circumvallation. Spartacus was +killed, after having broken through the lines, and most of his +followers were destroyed; but six thousand escaped into +Cisalpine Gaul, as the northern part of Italy was then called, +and met Pompey on his victorious return from Spain, by +whom they were utterly annihilated. Pompey claimed the +merit of ending the servile war, and sought the honor of +the consulship, although ineligible. Crassus, also ineligible, +also demanded the consulship, and both these lieutenants of +Sulla obtained their ends. But both, in order to obtain the +consulship, made great promises. Pompey, in +particular, promised to restore the tribunitian +power. Pompey now broke with the aristocracy, whose +champion he had been, and even carried another law by +which the judices were taken from the equites as well as +the Senate. Thus was the constitution of Sulla subverted +within ten years. In this movement Pompey was supported +by Julius Cæsar, who was a young man of thirty years +of age. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The pirates. Great power given to Pompey.</note> +On the expiration of his consulship, Pompey remained +<pb n="523"/><anchor id="Pg523"/> +inactive, refusing a province, until the troubles with the +Mediterranean pirates again called him into active +military service. These pirates swarmed on every +coast, plundering cities, and cutting off communication between +Rome and the provinces. They especially attacked +the corn vessels, so that the price of provisions rose inordinately. +The people, in distress, turned their eyes to Pompey; +but he was not willing to accept any ordinary command, +and through his intrigues, his tool, the tribune Gabinius, +proposed that the people should elect a man for this service +of consular rank, who should have absolute power for three +years over the whole of the Mediterranean, and to a distance +of fifty miles inward from the coast, and who should command +a fleet of two hundred ships. He did not name Pompey, +but everybody knew who was meant. The people, +furious at the price of corn, and full of admiration for the +victories of Pompey, were ready to appoint him; the Senate, +alarmed and jealous, was equally determined to prevent his +appointment. Tumults and riots were the consequence. +Pompey affected to desire some other person for the command +but himself; but the law passed, in spite of +the opposition of the Senate, and Pompey was +commissioned to prepare five hundred ships, enlist one hundred +and twenty thousand sailors and soldiers, and also to +take from the public treasury whatever sum he needed. +</p> + +<p> +In the following spring his preparations were made, and in +forty days he cleared the western half of the Mediterranean +from the pirates, and drove them to the Cilician coast. Here +he gained a great victory over their united fleets, and took +twenty thousand prisoners, whom he settled at various points +on the coasts, and returned home in forty-nine days after +he had sailed from Brundusium. In less than three months +he had ended the war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewal of hostilities in the East. Lucullus.</note> +This great success led to his command against Mithridates, +who had again rallied his forces for one more decisive +and desperate struggle with the Romans. +Asia rallied against Europe, as Europe rallied against Asia +<pb n="524"/><anchor id="Pg524"/> +in the crusades. Mithridates, after his defeat by Sulla, had +retired to Armenia to the court of his son-in-law, Tigranes, +whose power was greater than that of any other Oriental +potentate. Tigranes was not at first inclined to break with +Rome, but (<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 70) he consented to the war, which continued +for seven years without decisive results. The Romans were +commanded by Lucullus, the old lieutenant of +Sulla, and although his labors were not appreciated +at Rome, he broke really the power of Mithridates. But, +through the intrigues of Pompey and his friends, he was recalled, +and Pompey was commissioned, with the extraordinary +power of unlimited control of the Eastern army and fleet, +and the rights of proconsul over the whole of Asia. He +already had the dominion of the Mediterranean. The Senate +opposed this dangerous precedent, but it was carried by the +people, who could not heap too many honors on their favorite. +Cicero, then forty years of age, with Cæsar, supported +the measure, which was opposed by Hortensius and Catulus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His victories. +Defeat of Mithridates. His death.</note> +Lucullus retired to his luxurious villa to squander the +riches he had accumulated in Asia, and to study +the academic philosophy, while Pompey pursued +his conquests in the East over foes already broken and humiliated. +He showed considerable ability, and drove Mithridates +from post to post in the heart of his dominion. The +Eastern monarch made overtures of peace, which were rejected. +Nothing but unconditional surrender would be +accepted. His army was finally cut to pieces, and the old +man escaped only with a few horsemen. Rejected by Tigranes, +he made his way to the Cimmerian Bosphorus, which +was his last retreat. Pompey then turned his attention to +Armenia, and Tigranes threw himself upon his mercy, at the +cost of all his territories but Armenia Proper. Pompey then +resumed the pursuit of Mithridates, fighting his +way though the mountains of Iberia and Albania, +but he did not pursue his foe over the Caucasus. Mithridates, +secure in the Crimea, then planned a daring attempt +on Rome herself, which was to march round the Euxine and +<pb n="525"/><anchor id="Pg525"/> +up the Danube, collecting in his train the Sarmatians, Gætæ, +and other barbarians, cross the Alps, and descend upon Italy. +<emph>His</emph> kingdom of Pontus was already lost, and had been made +a Roman province. His followers, however, became disaffected, +his son Pharnaces rebelled, and he had no other remedy +than suicide to escape capture. He died <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> +63, after a reign of fifty-three years, in the sixty-ninth +year of his age—the greatest Eastern prince since +Cyrus. Racine has painted him in one of his dramas as one +of the most heroic men of the world. But it was his misfortune +to contend with Rome in the plenitude of her power. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pompey in Syria. +His victories.</note> +Pompey, before the death of Mithridates, went to Syria +to regulate its affairs, it being ceded to Rome by +Tigranes. After the defeat of Tigranes by Lucullus, +that kingdom, however, had been recovered by Antiochus +XIII., the last of the Seleucidæ, who held a doubtful sovereignty. +He was, however, reduced by a legate of Pompey, +and Syria became a Roman province. The next year, Pompey +advanced south, and established the Roman supremacy +in Phœnicia and Palestine, the latter country being the seat +of civil war between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. It was +then that Jerusalem was taken by the Roman general, after +a siege of three months, and the conqueror entered the most +sacred precincts of the temple, to the horror of the priesthood. +He established Hyrcanus as high priest, as has been +already related, and then retired to Pontus, settled its affairs, +and departed with his army for Italy, having won +a succession of victories never equaled in the East, +except by Alexander. And never did victories receive such +great <hi rend='italic'>éclat</hi>, which, however, were easily won, as those of +Alexander had been. No Asiatic foe was a match for either +Greeks or Romans in the field. The real difficulties were in +marches, in penetrating mountain passes, in crossing arid +plains. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His triumph.</note> +But before the conqueror of Asia received the reward of his +great services to the State—the most splendid +triumph which had as yet been seen on the Via +<pb n="526"/><anchor id="Pg526"/> +Sacra—Rome was brought to the verge of ruin by the conspiracy +of Catiline. The departure of Pompey to punish the +pirates of the Mediterranean and conquer Mithridates, left +the field clear to the two greatest men of their age, Cicero +and Cæsar. It was while Cicero was consul that the conspiracy +was detected. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cicero.</note> +Marcus Tullius Cicero, the most accomplished man, on the +whole, in Roman annals, and as immortal as Cæsar +himself, was born <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 106, near Arpinum, of an +equestrian, but not senatorial family. He received a good +education, received the manly gown at sixteen, and entered +the forum to hear the debates, but pursued his studies with +great assiduity. He was intrusted by his wealthy father to +the care of the augur, Q. Mucius Scævola, an old lawyer +deeply read in the constitution of his country and the principles +of jurisprudence. At eighteen he served his first and +only campaign under the father of the great Pompey, in the +social war. He was twenty-four before he made a figure in +the eye of the public, keeping aloof from the fierce struggles +of Marius and Sulla, identifying himself with neither party, +and devoted only to the cultivation of his mind, studying +philosophy and rhetoric as well as law, traveling over Sicily +and Greece, and preparing himself for a forensic orator. At +twenty-five he appeared in the forum as a public pleader, +and boldly defended the oppressed and injured, and even +braved the anger of Sulla, then all-powerful as dictator. At +twenty-seven he again repaired to Athens for greater culture, +and extensively traveled in Asia Minor, holding converse +with the most eminent scholars and philosophers in the +Grecian cities. At twenty-nine he returned to Rome, improved +in health as well as in those arts which contributed +to his unrivaled fame as an orator—a rival with Hortensius +and Cotta, the leaders of the Roman bar. At thirty he was +elected quæstor, not, as was usually the case, by family interest, +but from his great reputation as a lawyer. The duties +of his office called him to Sicily, under the prætor of Lilybæum, +which he admirably discharged, showing not only +<pb n="527"/><anchor id="Pg527"/> +executive ability, but rare virtue and impartiality. The +vanity which dimmed the lustre of his glorious name, and +which he never exorcised, received a severe wound on his +return to Italy. He imagined he was the observed of all +observers, but soon discovered that his gay and fashionable +friends were ignorant, not only of what he had done in Sicily +but of his administration at all. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Verres.</note> +For the next four years he was absorbed in private studies, +and in the courts of law, at the end of which he became +ædile, the year that Verres was impeached for +misgovernment in Sicily. This was the most +celebrated State trial for impeachment on record, with the +exception, perhaps, of that of Warren Hastings. But Cicero, +who was the public accuser and prosecutor, was more fortunate +than Burke. He collected such an overwhelming mass +of evidence against this corrupt governor, that he went into +exile without making a defense, although defended by Hortensius, +consul elect. The speech which the orator <emph>was to +have</emph> made at the trial was subsequently published by Cicero, +and is one of the most eloquent tirades against public corruption +ever composed or uttered. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Public career of Cicero. +Cicero as consul. Catiline.</note> +Nothing of especial interest marked the career of this great +man for three more years, until <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 67 he was +elected first prætor, or supreme judge, an office for +which he was supremely qualified. But it was not merely +civic cases which he decided. He appeared as a political +speaker, and delivered from the rostrum his celebrated speech +on the Manilian laws, maintaining the cause of Pompey when +he departed from the policy of the aristocracy. He had now +gained by pure merit, in a corrupt age, without family influence, +the highest offices of the State, even as Burke became +the leader of the House of Commons without aristocratic +connections, and now naturally aspired to the consulship,—the +great prize which every ambitious man sought, but which, +in the aristocratic age of Roman history, was rarely conferred +except on members of the ruling houses, or very eminent +success in war. By the friendship of Pompey, and also +<pb n="528"/><anchor id="Pg528"/> +from the general admiration which his splendid talents and +attainments commanded, this great prize was also secured. +He had six illustrious competitors, among whom were Antonius +and Catiline, who were assisted by Crassus and Cæsar. +As consul, all the energies of his mind and character were +absorbed in baffling the treason of this eminent +patrician demagogue. L. Sergius Catiline was +one of those wicked, unscrupulous, intriguing, popular, abandoned +and intellectual scoundrels that a corrupt +age and patrician misrule brought to the surface +of society, aided by the degenerate nobles to whose class he +belonged. In the bitterness of his political disappointments, +headed off by Cicero at every turn, he meditated the complete +overthrow of the Roman constitution, and his own +elevation as chief of the State, and absolutely inaugurated +rebellion. Cicero, who was in danger of assassination, boldly +laid the conspiracy before the Senate, and secured the arrest +of many of his chief confederates. Catiline fled and assembled +his followers, which numbered twelve thousand desperate +men, and fought with the courage of despair, but was +defeated and slain. +</p> + +<p> +Had it not been for the vigilance, energy, and patriotism of +Cicero, it is possible this atrocious conspiracy would have succeeded. +The state of society was completely demoralized; the +disbanded soldiers of the Eastern wars had spent their money +and wanted spoils; the Senate was timid and inefficient, and +an unscrupulous and able leader, at the head of discontented +factions, on the assassination of the consuls and the virtuous +men who remained in power, might have bid defiance to +any force which could then, in the absence of Pompey in the +East, have been marshaled against him. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cicero's services.</note> +But the State was saved, and saved by a patriotic statesman +who had arisen by force of genius and character +to the supreme power. The gratitude of the +people was unbounded. Men of all ranks hailed him as the +savior of his country; thanksgivings to the gods were voted +in his name, and all Italy joined in enthusiastic praises. +</p> + +<pb n="529"/><anchor id="Pg529"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His fall. +Accomplishments and character of Cicero.</note> +But he had now reached the culminating height of his +political greatness, and his subsequent career was one of sorrow +and disappointment. Intoxicated by his elevation,—for +it was unprecedented at Rome, in his day, for a man to rise +so high by mere force of eloquence and learning, without +fortune, or family, or military exploits,—he became conceited +and vain. In the civil troubles which succeeded the return +of Pompey, he was banished from the country he +had saved, and there is nothing more pitiful than +his lamentations and miseries while in exile. His fall was +natural. He had opposed the demoralising current which +swept every thing before it. When his office of consul was +ended, he was exposed to the hatred of the senators whom +he had humiliated, of the equites whose unreasonable demands +he had opposed, of the people whom he disdained to +flatter, and of the triumvirs whose usurpation he detested. +No one was powerful enough to screen him from these +combined hostilities, except the very men who aimed at the +subversion of Roman liberties, and who wished him out of +the way; his friend Pompey showed a mean, pusillanimous, +and calculating selfishness, and neither Crassus nor Cæsar +liked him. But in his latter days, part of which were passed +in exile, and all without political consideration, he +found time to compose those eloquent treatises on +almost every subject, for which his memory will be +held in reverence. Unlike Bacon, he committed no crime +against the laws; yet, like him, fell from his high estate in the +convulsions of a revolutionary age, and as Bacon soothed his +declining years with the charms of literature and philosophy, +so did Cicero display in his writings the result of long years +of study, and unfold for remotest generations the treasures of +Greek and Roman wisdom, ornamented, too, by that exquisite +style, which, of itself, would have given him immortality +as one of the great artists of the world. He lived to see +the utter wreck of Roman liberties, and was ultimately executed +by order of Antonius, in revenge for those bitter +philippics which the orator had launched against him before +<pb n="530"/><anchor id="Pg530"/> +the descending sun of his political glory had finally disappeared +in the gloom and darkness of revolutionary miseries. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pompey.</note> +But we resume the thread of political history in those +tangled times. Cicero was at the highest of his fame and +power when Pompey returned from his Asiatic +conquests, the great hero of his age, on whom all +eyes were fixed, and to whom all bent the knee of homage +and admiration. His triumph, at the age of forty-five, was +the grandest ever seen. It lasted two days. Three hundred +and twenty-four captive princes walked before his +triumphal car, followed by spoils and emblems of a war +which saw the reduction of one thousand fortresses. The +enormous sum of twenty thousand talents was added to the +public treasury. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His policy.</note> +Pompey was, however, greater in war than in peace. Had +he known how to make use of his prestige and his +advantages, he might have henceforth reigned without +a rival. He was not sufficiently noble and generous to +live without making grave mistakes and alienating some of +his greatest friends, nor was he sufficiently bad and unscrupulous +to abuse his military supremacy. He pursued a middle +course, envious of all talent, absorbed in his own greatness, +vain, pompous, and vacillating. His quarrels with Crassus +and Lucullus severed him from the aristocratic party, whose +leader he properly was. His haughtiness and coldness alienated +the affections of the people, through whom he could +only advance to supreme dominion. He had neither the +arts of a demagogue, nor the magnanimity of a conqueror. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cæsar.</note> +It was at this crisis that Cæsar returned from Spain as the +conqueror of the Lusitanians. Caius Julius Cæsar +belonged to the ancient patrician family of the +Julii, and was born <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 100, and was six years younger +than Pompey and Cicero. But he was closely connected +with the popular party by the marriage of his aunt Julia +with the great Marius, and his marriage with Cornelia, the +daughter of Cinna, one of the chief opponents of Sulla. He +early served in the army of the East, but devoted his earliest +<pb n="531"/><anchor id="Pg531"/> +years to the art of oratory. His affable manners and +unbounded liberality made him popular with the people. He +obtained the quæstorship at thirty-two, the year he lost his +wife, and went as quæstor to Antistius Vetus, into the province +of Further Spain. On his return, the following year, he +married Pompeia, the granddaughter of Sulla, of the Cornelia +gens, and formed a union with Pompey. By his family +connections he obtained the curule ædileship at the age of +thirty-five, and surpassed his predecessors in the extravagance +of his shows and entertainments, the money for which +he borrowed. At thirty-seven he was elected Pontifex Maximus, +so great was his popularity, and the following year he +obtained the prætorship, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 62, and on the expiration of +his office he obtained the province of Further Spain. His +debts were so enormous that he applied for aid to Crassus, +the richest man in Rome, and readily obtained the loan he +sought. In Spain, with an army at his command, he gained +brilliant victories over the Lusitanians, and returned to +Rome enriched, and sought the consulship. To obtain this, +he relinquished the customary triumph, and, with the aid of +Pompey, secured his election, and entered into that close +alliance with Pompey and Crassus which historians call the +first triumvirate. It was merely a private agreement +between the three most powerful men of Rome to support +each other, and not a distinct magistracy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The consulship of Cæsar.</note> +As consul, Cæsar threw his influence against the aristocracy, +to whose ranks he belonged, both by birth +and office, and caused an agrarian law to be +passed, against the fiercest opposition of the Senate, by which +the rich Campanian lands were divided for the benefit of +the poorest citizens—a good measure, perhaps, but which +brought him forward as the champion of the people. He +next gained over the equites, by relieving them, by a law +which he caused to be passed, of one-third of the sum they +had agreed to pay for the farming of the taxes of Asia. He +secured the favor of Pompey by causing all his acts in the +East to be confirmed. At the expiration of his consulship he +<pb n="532"/><anchor id="Pg532"/> +obtained the province of Gaul, as the fullest field for the +development of his military talents, and the surest way to +climb to subsequent greatness. At this period Cicero went +into exile without waiting for his trial—that miserable +period made memorable for aristocratic broils and intrigues, +and when Clodius, a reckless young noble, entered into the +house of the Pontifex Maximus, disguised as a woman, in +pursuit of a vile intrigue with Cæsar's wife. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cæsar in Gaul.</note> +The succeeding nine years of Cæsar's life were occupied +by the subjugation of Gaul. In the first campaign he subdued +the Helvetii, and conquered Ariovistus, a powerful +German chieftain. In the second campaign he opposed a +confederation of Belgic tribes—the most warlike of all the +Gauls, who had collected a force of three hundred thousand +men, and signally defeated them, for which victories the Senate +decreed a public thanksgiving of fifteen days. That given +in Pompey's honor, after the Mithridatic war, had +lasted but ten. At this time he made a renewed +compact with Pompey and Crassus, by which Pompey was +to have the two Spains for his province, Crassus that of +Syria, and he himself should have a prolonged government +in Gaul for five years more. The combined influence of +these men was enough to secure the elections, and the year +following Crassus and Pompey were made consuls. Cæsar +had to resist powerful confederations of the Gauls, and in +order to strike terror among them, in the fourth year of the +war, invaded Britain. But I can not describe the various +campaigns of Cæsar in Gaul and Britain without going into +details hard to be understood—his brilliant victories over +enemies of vastly greater numbers, his marchings and +countermarchings, his difficulties and dangers, his inventive +genius, his strategic talents, his boundless resources, his +command over his soldiers and their idolatry, until, after +nine years, Gaul was subdued and added to the Roman +provinces. During his long absence from Rome his interests +were guarded by the tribune Curio, and Marcus Antonius, +the future triumvir. During this time Crassus had ingloriously +<pb n="533"/><anchor id="Pg533"/> +conducted a distant war in Parthia, in quest of fame +and riches, and was killed by an unknown hand after a disgraceful +defeat. This avaricious patrician must not be confounded +with the celebrated orator, of a preceding age, who +was so celebrated for his elegance and luxury. +</p> + +<p> +Affairs at Rome had also taken a turn which indicated a +rupture with Cæsar and Pompey, now left, by the death of +Crassus, at the head of the State. The brilliant victories of +the former in Gaul were in everybody's mouth, and the fame +of the latter was being eclipsed. A serious rivalry between +these great generals began to show itself. The disturbances +which also broke out on the death of Clodius led to the +appointment of Pompey as sole consul, and all his acts as +consul tended to consolidate his power. His government in +Spain was prolonged for five years more; he entered into +closer connections with the aristocracy, and prepared for a +rupture with his great rival, which had now become inevitable, +as both grasped supreme power. That struggle is now +to be presented in the following chapter. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="534"/><anchor id="Pg534"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XL. THE CIVIL WARS BETWEEN CÆSAR AND POMPEY."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XL."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XL.</head> +<head>THE CIVIL WARS BETWEEN CÆSAR AND POMPEY.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Power of Cæsar and Pompey.</note> +The condition of Rome when Cæsar returned, crowned +with glory, from his Gallic campaign, in which he had displayed +the most consummate ability, was miserable +enough. The constitution had been assailed by +all the leading chieftains, and even Cicero could only give +vent to his despair and indignation in impotent lamentations. +The cause of liberty was already lost. Cæsar had obtained +the province of Gaul for ten years, against all former precedent, +and Pompey had obtained the extension of his imperium +for five additional years. Both these generals thus had +armies and an independent command for a period which +might be called indefinite—that is, as long as they could +maintain their authority in a period of anarchy. Rome was +disgraced by tumults and assassinations; worthless people +secured the highest offices, and were the tools of the two +great generals, who divided between them the empire of the +world. All family ties between these two generals were +destroyed by the death of Julia. The feud between Clodius +and Milo, the one a candidate for the prætorship, and +the other for the consulship, was most disgraceful, in the +course of which Clodius was slain. Each wanted an office +as the means of defraying enormous debts. Pompey, called +upon by the Senate to relieve the State from anarchy, was +made sole consul—another unprecedented thing. The trial +of Milo showed that Pompey was the absolute master at +Rome, and it was his study to maintain his position against +Cæsar. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rivalship between Cæsar and Pompey. Deplorable +state of public affairs.</note> +It was plain that the world could not have two absolute +<pb n="535"/><anchor id="Pg535"/> +masters, for both Pompey and Cæsar aspired to universal +sovereignty. One must succumb to the other—be either anvil +or hammer. Neither would have been safe without their +unities and their armed followers. And if both were destroyed, +the State would still be convulsed with +factions. All true constitutional liberty was at an +end, for both generals and demagogues could get +such laws passed as they pleased, with sufficient money to bribe +those who controlled the elections. It was a time of universal +corruption and venality. Money was the mainspring of society. +Public virtue had passed away,—all elevated sentiment,—all +patriotism,—all self-sacrifice. The people cared but little +who ruled, if they were supplied with corn and wine at nominal +prices. Patrician nobles had become demagogues, and +demagogues had power in proportion to their ability +or inclination to please the people. Cicero +despaired of the State, and devoted himself to literature. +There yet remained the aristocratic party, which had wealth +and prestige and power, and the popular party, which aimed +to take these privileges away, but which was ruled by demagogues +more unprincipled than the old nobility. Pompey +represented the one, and Cæsar the other, though both were +nobles. +</p> + +<p> +Both these generals had rendered great services. Pompey +had subdued the East, and Cæsar the West. Pompey had +more prestige, Cæsar more genius. Pompey was a greater +tactician, Cæsar a greater strategist. Pompey was proud, +pompous, jealous, patronizing, self-sufficient, disdainful. +Cæsar was politic, intriguing, patient, lavish, unenvious, easily +approached, forgiving, with great urbanity and most genial +manners. Both were ambitious, unscrupulous, and selfish. +Cicero distrusted both, flattered each by turns, but inclined +to the side of Pompey as more conservative, and less dangerous. +The Senate took the side of Pompey, the people +that of Cæsar. Both Cæsar and Pompey had enjoyed power +so long, that neither would have been contented with private +life. +</p> + +<pb n="536"/><anchor id="Pg536"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Senate demands the abdication of Cæsar. +Cæsar seeks a compromise. +Rejected by Pompey. Cæsar pursues Pompey.</note> +In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 49, Cæsar's proconsular imperium was to +terminate one year after the close of the Gallic war. He +wished to be re-elected consul, and also secure his triumph. +But he could not, according to law, have the triumph without +disbanding the army, and without an army he would not be +safe at Rome, with so many enemies. Neither could he be +elected consul, according to the forms, while he enjoyed his +imperium, for it had long been the custom that no one could +sue for the consulship at the head of an army. He, therefore, +could neither be consul nor enjoy a triumph, legitimately, +without disbanding his army. Moreover, the party of Pompey, +being then in the ascendant at Rome, demanded that +Cæsar should lay down his imperium. The tribunes, in the +interests of Cæsar, opposed the decree of the Senate; +the reigning consuls threatened the tribunes, +and they fled to Cæsar's camp in Cisalpine Gaul. +It should, however, be mentioned, that when the consul Marcellus, +an enemy of Cæsar, proposed in the Senate that he +should lay down his command, Curio, the tribune, whose +debts Cæsar had paid, moved that Pompey should do the +same; which he refused to do, since the election of Cæsar to +the consulship would place the whole power of the republic +in his hands. Cæsar made a last effort to avoid the inevitable +war, by proposing to the Senate to lay down +his command, if Pompey would also; but Pompey +prevaricated, and the compromise came to nothing. Both +generals distrusted each other, and both were disloyal to the +State. The Senate then appointed a successor to Cæsar in +Gaul, ordered a general levy of troops throughout Italy, and +voted money and men to Pompey. Cæsar had already +crossed the Rubicon, which was high treason, before his last +proposal to compromise, and he was on his way to Rome. +No one resisted him, for the people had but little interest in +the success of either party. Pompey, exaggerating +his popularity, thought he had only to stamp +the ground, and an army would appear, and when he discovered +that his rival was advancing on the Flaminican way, +<pb n="537"/><anchor id="Pg537"/> +fled hastily from Rome with most of the senators, and went +to Brundusium. Cæsar did not at once seize the capital, +but followed Pompey, and so vigorously attacked +him, that he quit the town and crossed over to +Illyricum. Cæsar had no troops to pursue him, and therefore +retraced his steps, and entered Rome, after an absence of +ten years, at the head of a victorious army, undisputed master +of Italy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cæsar in Spain.</note> +But Pompey still controlled his proconsular province of +Spain, where seven legions were under his lieutenants, and +Africa also was occupied by his party. Cæsar, after arranging +the affairs of Italy, marched through Gaul into +Spain to fight the generals of Pompey. That campaign +was ended in forty days, and he became master of +Spain. While in Spain he was elected to his second consulship, +and also made dictator. He returned to Rome as rapidly +as he had marched into Spain, and enacted some wholesome +laws, among others that by which the inhabitants of Cisalpine +Gaul, the northern part of Italy, obtained citizenship. After +settling the general affairs of Italy, he laid down the dictatorship, +and went, to Brundusium, and collected his forces from +various parts for a decisive conflict with Pompey, who had +remained, meanwhile, in Macedonia, organizing his army. He +collected nine legions, with auxiliary forces, while his fleet +commanded the sea. He also secured vast magazines of corn +in Thessaly, Asia, Egypt, Crete, and Cyrene. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Military preparations.</note> +Cæsar was able to cross the sea with scarcely more than +fifteen thousand men, on account of the insufficiency +of his fleet, and he was thrown upon a hostile shore, +cut off from supplies, and in presence of a vastly superior +force. But his troops were veterans, and his cause was +strengthened by the capture of Apollonia. He then advanced +north to seize Dyrhachiuim, where Pompey's stores were +deposited, but Pompey reached the town before him, and +both armies encamped on the banks of the river Apsus, the +one on the left and the other on the right bank. There Cæsar +was joined by the remainder of his troops, brought over with +<pb n="538"/><anchor id="Pg538"/> +great difficulty from Brundusium by Marcus Antonius, his +most able lieutenant and devoted friend. Pompey was also +re-enforced by two legions from Syria, led by his father-in-law, +Scipio. Both parties abstained from attacking each +other while these re-enforcements were being brought forward, +and Cæsar even made a last effort at compromise, while +the troops on each side exchanged mutual courtesies. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of Dyrhachium. +Battle of Pharsalia.</note> +Pompey avoided a pitched battle, and intrenched himself +on a hill near Dyrhachium. Cæsar surrounded +him with lines of circumvallation. Pompey broke +through them, and compelled Cæsar to retire, with considerable +loss. He retreated to Thessaly, followed by Pompey, +who, had he known how to pursue his advantage, might, after +this last success—the last he ever had—have defeated Cæsar. +He had wisely avoided a pitched battle until his troops should +become inured to service, or until he should wear out his +adversary; but now, puffed up with victory and self-confidence, +and unduly influenced by his officers, he concluded to +risk a battle. Cæsar was encamped on the plain of Pharsalia, +and Pompey on a hill about four miles distant. The steep +bank of the river Enipeus covered the right of Pompey's line +and the left of Cæsar's. The infantry of the former numbered +forty-five thousand; that of the latter, twenty-two thousand, +but they were veterans. Pompey was also superior in cavalry, +having seven thousand, while Cæsar had only one thousand. +With these, which formed the strength of Pompey's +force, he proposed to outflank the right of Cæsar, extended +on the plain. To guard against this movement, +Cæsar withdrew six cohorts from his third line, +and formed them into a fourth in the rear of his cavalry on +the right. The battle commenced by a furious assault on the +lines of Pompey by Cæsar's veterans, who were received +with courage. Meanwhile Pompey's cavalry swept away +that of Cæsar, and was advancing to attack the rear, when +they received, unexpectedly, the charge of the cohorts which +Cæsar had posted there, The cavalry broke, and fled to the +mountains. The six cohorts then turned upon the slingers +<pb n="539"/><anchor id="Pg539"/> +and archers, who had covered the attack of the cavalry, defeated +them, and fell upon the rear of Pompey's left. Cæsar +then brought up his third line, and decided the battle. Pompey +had fled when he saw the defeat of his cavalry. His +camp was taken and sacked, and his troops, so confident of +victory, were scattered, surrounded, and taken prisoners. +Cæsar, with his usual clemency, spared their lives, nor had +he any object to destroy them. Among those who surrendered +after this decisive battle was Junius Brutus, who was +not only pardoned, but admitted to the closest friendship. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Flight of Pompey to Egypt. +Pompey assassinated.</note> +Pompey, on his defeat, fled to Larissa, embarked with his +generals, and sailed to Mitylene. As he had still +the province of Africa and a large fleet, it was his +policy to go there; but he had a silly notion that his true +field of glory was the East, and he saw no place of refuge +but Egypt. That kingdom was then governed by the children +of Ptolemy Auletes, Cleopatra and Ptolemy, neither of +whom were adults, and who, moreover, were quarreling with +each other for the undivided sovereignty of Egypt. At this +juncture, Pompey appeared on the coast, on which Ptolemy +was encamped. He sent a messenger to the king, with the +request that he might be sheltered in Alexandria. To grant +it would compromise Ptolemy with Cæsar; to refuse it would +send Pompey to the camp of Cleopatra in Syria. He was +invited to a conference, and his minister Achillus was sent +out in a boat to bring him on shore. Pompey, infatuated, +imprudently trusted himself in the boat, in which +he recognized an old comrade, Septimius, who, +however, did not return his salutation. On landing, he was +stabbed by Septimius, who had persuaded Ptolemy to take +his life, in order to propitiate Cæsar and gain the Egyptian +crown. Thus ingloriously fell the conqueror of Asia, and +the second man in the empire, by treachery. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cæsar in Egypt. +Eastern conquests.</note> +On the flight of Pompey from the fatal battle-field, Cæsar +pressed in pursuit, with only one legion and a troop +of cavalry. Fearing a new war in Asia, Cæsar +waited to collect his forces, and then embarked for Egypt. +<pb n="540"/><anchor id="Pg540"/> +He arrived at Alexandria only a few days after the murder +of his rival, and was met by an officer bearing his head. He +ordered it to be burned with costly spices, and placed the +ashes in a shrine, dedicated to Nemesis. He then demanded +ten million drachmas, promised by the late king, and summoned +the contending sovereigns to his camp. Cleopatra +captivated him, and he decided that both should share the +throne, but that the ministers of Ptolemy should be deposed, +which was reducing the king to a cipher. But the fanaticism +of the Alexandrians being excited, and a collision +having taken place between them and his troops, +Cæsar burned the Egyptian fleet, and fortified himself at +Pharos, awaiting re-enforcements. Ptolemy, however, turned +against him, when he had obtained his release, and perished +in an action on the banks of the Nile. Cleopatra was restored +to the throne, under the protection of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pharnaces.</note> +Pharnaces, son of Mithridates, rewarded by Pompey with +the throne of the Bosphorus for the desertion of his +father, now made war against Rome. Galvinus, +sent against him, sustained a defeat, and Cæsar rapidly +marched to Asia to restore affairs. It was then he wrote to the +Senate that brief, but vaunting letter: <q><hi rend='italic'>Veni, vidi, vici.</hi></q> +He already meditated those conquests in the East which had +inflamed the ambition of his rival. He caught the spirit of +Oriental despotism. He was not proof against the flatteries +of the Asiatics. But his love for Cleopatra worked a still +greater change in his character, even as it undermined the +respect of his countrymen. History brands with infamy that +unfortunate connection, which led to ostentation, arrogance, +harshness, impatience, and contempt of mankind—the same +qualities which characterized Napoleon on his return from +Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dictatorship of Cæsar.</note> +In September, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 47, Cæsar returned to Italy, having +been already named dictator by a defeated and +obsequious Senate. Cicero was among the first to +meet him, and was graciously pardoned. The only severe +measure which he would allow was the confiscation of the +<pb n="541"/><anchor id="Pg541"/> +property of Pompey and his sons, whose statues, however, +he replaced. He now ruled absolutely, but under the old +forms, and was made tribune for life. The Senate nominated +him consul for five years, and he was also named dictator. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cato.</note> +The only foes who now seriously stood out against him +were the adherents of Pompey, who had time, during his +absence in the East, to reorganize their forces, and it was in +Africa that the last conflict was to be fought. The Pompeians +were commanded by Scipio, who fixed his head-quarters at +Hadrumentum, with an army of ten legions, a large force of +Numidian cavalry, and one hundred and twenty elephants. +But Cæsar defeated this large army with a vastly inferior +force, and the rout was complete. Scipio took ship for Spain, +but was driven back, as Marius had been on the Italian coasts +when pursued by the generals of Sulla, and ended his life by +suicide. Cato, the noblest Roman of his day, whose +march across the African desert was one of the +great feats of his age, might have escaped, and would probably +have been pardoned: but the lofty stoic could not endure +the sight of the prostration of Roman liberties, and, +fortifying his courage with the <hi rend='italic'>Phædon</hi> of Plato, also fell upon +his sword. The Roman republic ended with his death. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Triumph of Cæsar. +The vast power of Cæsar.</note> +After reducing Numidia to a Roman province, Cæsar returned +to Italy with immense treasures, and was +everywhere received with unexampled honors. +At Rome he celebrated a fourfold triumph—for victories in +Gaul, Egypt, Africa, and the East—and the Senate decreed +that his image in ivory should be carried in procession with +those of the gods. His bronze statue was set upon a globe +in the capitol, as the emblem of universal sovereignty. All +the extravagant enthusiasm which marked the French people +for the victories of Napoleon, and all the servility which +unbounded power everywhere commands, were +bestowed upon the greatest conqueror the ancient +world ever saw. A thanksgiving was decreed for forty days; +the number of the lictors was doubled; he was made dictator +for ten years, with the command of all the armies of the State, +<pb n="542"/><anchor id="Pg542"/> +and the presidency of the public festivals. He also was made +censor for three years, by which he regulated the Senate +according to his sovereign will. His triumphs were followed +by profuse largesses to the soldiers and people, and he also +instituted magnificent games under an awning of silk, at the +close of which the <hi rend='italic'>Forum Julium</hi> was dedicated. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Julian calendar. +Last battle of Cæsar.</note> +Such were his unparalleled honors and powers. All the +great offices of the State were invested and united in him, +and nothing was wanted to complete his aggrandizement but +the name of emperor. But we turn from these, the usual +rewards of conquerors, to glance at the services he rendered +to civilization, which constitute his truest claim to immortality. +One of the greatest was the reform of the calendar, +for the Roman year was ninety days in advance of the true +meaning of that word. The old year had been determined +by lunar months rather than by the apparent path of the sun +among the fixed stars which had been determined by the +ancient astronomers, and was one of the greatest discoveries +of ancient science. The Roman year consisted of three hundred +and fifty-five days, so that January was an +autumn month. Cæsar inserted the regular intercalary +month of twenty-three days, and two additional ones +of sixty-seven days. These were added to the three hundred +and sixty-five days, making a year of transition of four hundred +and forty-five days, by which January was brought +back to the first month of the year, after the winter solstice. +And to prevent the repetition of the error, he directed that +in future the year should consist of three hundred and sixty-five +days and one quarter of a day, which he effected by adding +one day to the months of April, June, September, and +November, and two days to the months of January, Sextilis, +and December, making an addition of ten days to the old +year of three hundred and fifty-five, and he provided for a +uniform intercalation of one day in every fourth year. Cæsar +was a student of astronomy, and always found time for its +contemplation. He even wrote an essay on the motion of +the stars, assisted in his observation by Sosigenes, an Alexandrian +<pb n="543"/><anchor id="Pg543"/> +astronomer. He took astronomy out of the hands of +priests, and made it a matter of civil legislation. He was +drawn away from legislation to draw the sword once more +against the relics of the Pompeian party, which had been +collected in Spain. On the field of Munda was +fought his last great battle, contested with unusual +fury, and attended with savage cruelties. Thirty thousand +of his opponents fell in this battle, and Sextus Pompey alone, +of all the marked men, escaped to the mountains, and defied +pursuit. On this victory he celebrated his last triumph, and +the supple Senate decreed to him the title of Imperator. He +was made consul for ten years, dictator for life, his person was +decreed inviolable, and he was surrounded by a guard of +nobles and senators. He also received the insignia of royalty, +a golden chair and a diadem set with gems, and was allowed +to wear the triumphal robe of purple whenever he appeared +in public. The coins were stamped with his image, his statue +was placed in the temples, and his friends obtained all the +offices of the State. He adopted Octavius, his nephew, for +his heir, and paved the way for an absolute despotism under +his successors. The measure of his glory and ambition was +full. He was the undisputed master of the world. +</p> + +<p> +He then continued his reforms and improvements, as +Napoleon did after his coronation as emperor. He gave the +Roman franchise to various States and cities out of Italy, +and colonized new cities. He excluded <hi rend='italic'>judices</hi> from all ranks +but those of senators and knights, and enacted new laws for +the security of persons and property. He gave unbounded +religious toleration, and meditated a complete codification of +the Roman law. He founded a magnificent public library, +appointed commissioners to make a map of the whole empire, +and contemplated the draining of the Pontine marshes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Cæsar.</note> +After these works of legislation and public improvement, +he prepared for an expedition to Parthia, in which he hoped +to surpass the conquests of Alexander in the East. But his +career was suddenly cut off by his premature death. The +nobles whom he humiliated, and the Oriental despotism he +<pb n="544"/><anchor id="Pg544"/> +contemplated, caused a secret hostility which he did not suspect +amid the universal subserviency to his will. Above all, +the title of king, the symbol of legitimate sovereignty, to +which he aspired, sharpened the daggers of the few remaining +friends of the liberty which had passed away for ever. +All the old party of the State concocted the conspiracy, some +eighty nobles, at the head of which were Brutus and Cassius. +On the fifteenth day of March, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 44, the Ides of +March, the day for which the Senate was convened +for his final departure for the East, he was stabbed in the +senate-house, and he fell, pierced with wounds, at the foot of +Pompey's statue, in his fifty-sixth year, and anarchy, and new +wars again commenced. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Character of Cæsar.</note> +The concurrent voices of all historians and critics unite to +give Cæsar the most august name of all antiquity. He was +great in every thing,—as orator, as historian, as statesman, +as general, and as lawgiver. He had genius, understanding, +memory, taste, industry, and energy. He could write, read, +and dictate at the same time. He united the bravery of Alexander +with the military resources of Hannibal. He had a +marvelous faculty of winning both friends and enemies. He +was generous, magnanimous, and courteous. Not +even his love for Cleopatra impaired the energies +of his mind and body. He was not cruel or sanguinary, except +when urged by reasons of State. He pardoned Cicero, +and received Brutus into intimate friendship. His successes +were transcendent, and his fortune never failed him. He +reached the utmost limit of human ambition, and was only +hurled from his pedestal of power by the secret daggers of +fanatics, who saw in his elevation the utter extinction of Roman +liberty. But liberty had already fled, and a degenerate +age could only be ruled by a despot. It might have been +better for Rome had his life been prolonged when all constitutional +freedom had become impossible. But he took the +sword, and Nemesis demanded that he should perish by it, as +a warning to all future usurpers who would accomplish even +good ends by infamous means. Vulgar pity compassionates +<pb n="545"/><anchor id="Pg545"/> +the sad fate of the great Julius; but we can not forget that it +was he who gave the last blow to the constitution and liberties +of his country. The greatness of his gifts and services +pale before the gigantic crime of which he stands accused at +the bar of all the ages, and the understanding of the world is +mocked when his usurpation is justified. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="546"/><anchor id="Pg546"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XLI. THE CIVIL WARS FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF +CÆSAR.—ANTONIUS.—AUGUSTUS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XLI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XLI.</head> +<head>THE CIVIL WARS FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF CÆSAR.—ANTONIUS.—AUGUSTUS.</head> + +<p> +The assassination of Cæsar was not immediately followed +with the convulsions which we should naturally expect. The +people were weary of war, and sighed for repose, and, moreover, +were comparatively indifferent on whom the government +fell, since their liberties were hopelessly prostrated. +Only one thing was certain, that power would be usurped by +some one, and most probably by the great chieftains who +represented Cæsar's interests. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Great men of Rome at this time.</note> +The most powerful men in Rome at this time, were Marcus +Antonius, the most able of Cæsar's lieutenants, +the most constant of his friends, and the nearest +of his relatives, although a man utterly unprincipled; +Octavius, grandson of Julius, whom Cæsar adopted as his +heir, a young man of nineteen; Lepidus, colleague consul +with Cæsar, the head of the ancient family of the Lepidi, +thirteen of whom had been honored with curule magistracies; +Sextus Pompeius, son of Pompey; Brutus and Cassius, +chief conspirators; Dolabella, a man of consular rank, +and one of the profligate nobles of his time; Hirtia and +Pansa, consuls; Piso, father-in-law of Cæsar, of a powerful +family, which boasted of several consuls; and Cicero—still +influential from his great weight of character. All these +men were great nobles, and had filled the highest offices. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Antonius takes the lead at Rome.</note> +The man who, to all appearance, had the fairest chance +for supreme command in those troubled times, was Antony, +whose mother was Julia, Cæsar's sister. He was grandson +to the great orator M. Antonius, who flourished during the +<pb n="547"/><anchor id="Pg547"/> +civil wars between Marius and Sulla, and was distinguished +for every vice, folly, and extravagance which characterized +the Roman nobles. But he was a man of consummate ability +as a general, was master of the horse, and was consul with +Cæsar, when he was killed, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 44. He was also eloquent, +and pronounced the funeral oration of the murdered Imperator, +as nearest of kin. He had possession of Cæsar's papers, +and was the governor of Cisalpine Gaul. He formed a union +with Lepidus, to whom he offered the office of Pontifex Maximus, +the second office in the State. As consul, he could +unlock the public treasury, which he rifled to the extent of +seven hundred million of sesterces—the vast sum left by +Cæsar. One of his brothers was prætor, and another, a +tribune. He convened the Senate, and employed, by the +treasure he had at command, the people to overawe the Senate, +as the Jacobin clubs of the French revolution overawed +the Assembly. He urged the Senate to ratify Cæsar's acts +and confirm his appointments, and in this was +supported by Cicero and a majority of the members. +Now that the deed was done, he wished to have the +past forgotten. This act of amnesty confirmed his fearful +pre-eminence, and the inheritance of the mighty dead seemingly +devolved upon him. The conspirators came to terms +with him, and were even entertained by him, and received +the provinces which he assigned to them. Brutus received +Macedonia; Cassius, Syria; Trebonius, Asia; Cimber, Bythinia; +and Decimus, Cisalpine Gaul. Dolabella was his colleague +in the consulship,—a personal enemy, yet committed +to his policy. +</p> + +<p> +Cæsar had left three hundred sesterces to every citizen, +(about £3,) and his gardens beyond the Tiber to the use +of the people. Such gifts operated in producing an intense +gratitude for the memory of a man who had proved so great +a benefactor, and his public funeral was of unprecedented +splendor. Antony, as his nearest heir, and the first magistrate, +pronounced the oration, which was a consummate +piece of dramatic art, in which he inflamed the passions of the +<pb n="548"/><anchor id="Pg548"/> +people, and stimulated them to frenzy, so that they turned +upon the assassins with fury. But he assured the Senate of +his moderation, abolished the dictatorship forever, and +secured his own personal safety by a body-guard. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Octavius.</note> +He had, however, a powerful rival in the young Octavius, +who had been declared by Cæsar's will his principal heir, +then absent in Apollonia. He resolved to return at +once and claim his inheritance, and was warmly +received at Brundusium by the veteran troops, and especially +by Cicero, who saw in him a rival to Antony. Octavius +flattered the old orator, and ingratiated himself in the favor +of everybody by his unassuming manners, and his specious +language. He entered Rome under favorable omens, paid +his court to the senators, and promised to fulfill his uncle's +requests. He was received by Antony in the gardens of +Pompeius, and claimed at once his inheritance. Antony +replied that it was not private property but the public treasure, +and was, moreover, spent. Octavius was not to be put off, +and boldly declared that he would and could pay the legacies, +and contrived to borrow the money. Such an act +secured unrivaled popularity. He gave magnificent shows, +and then claimed that the jeweled crown of Cæsar should be +exhibited on the festival which he instituted to Venus, and +to whose honor Cæsar had vowed to build a temple, on the +morning of his victory at Pharsalia. The tribunes, instigated +by Antonius, refused to sanction this mark of honor, but fortune +favored Octavius, and, in the enthusiasm of the festival, +which lasted eleven days, the month Quintilius was changed +to Julius—the first demigod whom the Senate had translated +to Olympus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Brutus and Cassius.</note> +Meanwhile Brutus and Cassius retired from public affairs, +lingering in the neighborhood of Rome, and the provinces +promised to them were lost. At Antium they had +an interview with Cicero, who advised them to +keep quiet, and not venture to the capital, where the people +were inflamed against them. Their only encouragement was +the successes of Sextus Pompeius in Spain, who had six +<pb n="549"/><anchor id="Pg549"/> +legions at his command. Cicero foresaw that another civil +war was at hand, and had the gloomiest forebodings, for one +or the other of the two great chieftains of the partisans of +Cæsar was sure of ultimately obtaining the supreme power. +The humiliating conviction that the murder of Cæsar was a +mistake, was now deeply impressed upon his mind, since it +would necessarily inaugurate another bloody war. Self banished +from Rome, this great and true patriot wandered from +place to place to divert his mind. But neither the fascinations +of literature, nor the attractions of Tusculum, Puteoli, +Pompeii, and Neapolis, where he had luxurious villas, could +soothe his anxious and troubled soul. Religious, old, and +experienced, he could only ponder on the coming and final +prostration of that cause of constitutional liberty to which +he was devoted. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cicero.</note> +Antonius, also aware of the struggle which was impending, +sought to obtain the government of Cisalpine Gaul, and of +the six legions destined for the Parthian war. But he was +baffled by the Senate, and by the intrigues of Octavius, who +sheltered himself behind the august name of the man by +whom he had been adopted. He therefore made a hollow +reconciliation with Octavius, and by his means, obtained the +Gaulish provinces. Cicero, now only desirous to die honorably, +returned to Rome to accept whatever fate +was in store for him, and defend to the last his +broken cause. It was then, in the Senate, that he launched +forth those indignant philippies against Antonius, as a public +enemy, which are among his greatest efforts, and which +most triumphantly attest his moral courage. +</p> + +<p> +The hollow reconciliation between Antonius and Octavius +was not of long duration, and the former, as consul, repaired +to Brundusium to assume command of the legions stationed +there, and Octavius collected his forces in Campania. Both +parties complained of each other, and both invoked the +name of Cæsar. Cicero detested the one, and was blinded +as to the other. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Prospects of civil war. +Situation of Roman affairs. +The triumvirate of Antonius, Octavius and Lepidus. +They proscribe their enemies.</note> +The term of office as consul, which Antonius held, had now +<pb n="550"/><anchor id="Pg550"/> +expired, and Hirtius, one of the new consuls, marched into +Cisalpine Gaul, and Octavius placed himself under +his command. The Senate declared a state of public +danger. The philippics of Cicero had taken effect, and +the Senate and the government were now opposed to Antonius, +as the creator of a new revolution. The consuls crossed +swords with Antonius at Forum Gallorum, and the consul +Pansa fell, but success was with the government. Another +success at Mutina favored the government party, which +Octavius had joined. On the news of this victory, Cicero +delivered his fourteenth and last philippic against Antonius, +who now withdrew from Cisalpine Gaul, and formed a junction +with Lepidus beyond the Alps. Octavius declined to +pursue him, and Plancus hesitated to attack him, although +joined by Decimus, one of the murderers of Cæsar, with ten +legions. Octavius now held aloof from the government +army, from which it was obvious that he had ambitious +views of his own to further, and was denounced by Plancus +to Cicero. The veteran statesman, at last, perceived that +Octavius, having deserted Decimus (who, of all the +generals, was the only one on whose fidelity the +State could securely lean), was not to be further relied upon, +and cast his eyes to Macedonia and Syria, to which provinces +Brutus and Cassius had retired. The Senate, too, now distrusted +Octavius, and treated him with contumely; but supported +by veteran soldiers, he demanded the consulship, and +even secretly corresponded with Antonius, and assured him +of his readiness to combine with him and Lepidus, and invited +them to follow him to Rome. He marched at the head +of eight legions, pretending all the while to be coerced by +them. The Senate, overawed, allowed him, at twenty years +of age, to assume the consulship, with Pedius, grand-nephew +of Cæsar, for his colleague. Since Hirtius and Pansa had +both fallen, Octavius, then leaving the city in the hands of +a zealous colleague, opened negotiations with Antonius and +Lepidus, perceiving that it was only in conjunction with +them that his usurpation could be maintained. They met +<pb n="551"/><anchor id="Pg551"/> +for negotiations at Bononia, and agreed to share the empire +between them. They declared themselves triumvirs for the +settlement of the commonwealth, and after a conference +of three days, divided between themselves +the provinces and legions. They then concerted +a general proscription of their enemies. The number whom +they thus doomed to destruction was three hundred senators +and two thousand knights, from the noblest families of +Rome, among whom were brothers, uncles, and favorite officers. +The possession of riches was fatal to some, and of +beautiful villas to others. Cicero was among this number, as +was to be expected, for he had exhausted the Latin language +in vituperations of Antonius, whom he hated beyond all +other mortals, and which hatred was itself a passion. He +spoke of Cæsar with awe, of Pompey with mortification, +of Crassus with dislike, and of Antony with +bitter detestation and unsparing malice. It was impossible +that he could escape, even had he fled to the ends of the +earth. The vacillation of his last hours, his deep distress, +and mournful agonies are painted by Plutarch. He fell a +martyr to the cause of truth, and public virtue, and exalted +patriotism, although his life was sullied by weakness and +infirmities, such as vanity, ambition, and jealousy. In the +dark and wicked period which he adorned by his transcendent +talents and matchless services, he lived and died in faith—the +most amiable and the most noble of all his contemporaries. +</p> + +<p> +The triumvirs had now gratified their vengeance by a +series of murders never surpassed in the worst ages of religious +and political fanaticism. And all these horrible crimes +were perpetrated in the name of that great and august +character who had won the world by his sword. The prestige +of that mighty name sanctioned their atrocities and upheld +their power. Cæsar still lived, although assassinated, +and the triumvirs reigned as his heirs or avengers, even as +Louis Napoleon grasped the sceptre of his uncle, not from +any services <emph>he</emph> had rendered, but as the heir of his conquests. +<pb n="552"/><anchor id="Pg552"/> +The Romans loved Cæsar as the French loved Napoleon, +and submitted to the rule of the triumvirs, as the French +submitted to the usurpations of the proscribed prisoner of +Ham. And in the anarchy which succeeded the assassination +of the greatest man of antiquity, it must need be that the +strongest would seize the reins, since all liberty and exalted +patriotism had fled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cassius and Brutus rally the aristocracy. +Battle of Philippi.</note> +But these usurpers did not secure their power without one +more last struggle of the decimated and ruined +aristocracy. They rallied under the standards of +Brutus and Cassius in Macedonia and Syria. The +one was at the head of eight legions, and the other of eleven, +a still formidable force. Sextus Pompeius also still lived, +and had intrenched himself in Sicily. A battle had still to +be fought before the republic gave its last sigh. Cicero +ought to have joined these forces, and might have done so, +but for his vacillation. So Lepidus, as consul, took control +of Rome and the interests of Italy, while Antonius marched +against Brutus and Cassius in the East, and Octavius assailed +Sextus in Sicily; unable, however, to attack him without +ships, he joined his confederate. Their united forces were +concentrated in Philippi, in Thrace, and there was fought +the last decisive battle between the republicans, if the senatorial +and aristocratic party under Brutus and Cassius can +be called republicans, and the liberators, as they called themselves, +or the adherents of Cæsar. The republicans had a +force of eighty thousand infantry and twenty thousand +cavalry, while the triumvirs commanded a still superior +force. The numbers engaged in this great conflict exceeded +all former experience, and the battle of Philippi +was the most memorable in Roman annals, since +all the available forces of the empire were now arrayed +against each other. The question at issue was, whether +power should remain with the old constitutional party, or +with the party of usurpation which Cæsar had headed and +led to victory. It was whether Rome should be governed +by the old forms, or by an imperator with absolute authority. +<pb n="553"/><anchor id="Pg553"/> +The forces arrayed on that fatal battle-field—the last conflict +for liberty ever fought at Rome—were three times as great +as fought at Pharsalia. On that memorable battle-field the +republic perished. The battle was fairly and bravely fought +on both sides, but victory inclined to the Cæsarians, in two +distinct actions, after an interval of twenty days, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 42. +Both Cassius and Brutus fell on their own swords, and their +self-destruction, in utter despair of their cause, effectually +broke up their party. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Roman liberty extinguished.</note> +The empire was now in the hands of the triumvirs. The +last contest was decisive. Future struggles were worse than +useless. Destiny had proclaimed the extinction of +Roman liberties for ever. It was vice and faction +which had prepared the way for violence, and the last appeal +to the sword had settled the fate of the empire, henceforth to +be governed by a despot. +</p> + +<p> +But there being now three despots among the partisans of +Cæsar, who sought to grasp his sceptre, Which should prevail? +Antonius was the greatest general; Octavius was the +greatest man; Lepidus was the tool of both. The real +rivalry was between Octavius and Antonius. But they did +not at once quarrel. Antonius undertook the subjugation of +the eastern provinces, and Octavius repaired to Rome. The +former sought, before the great encounter with his rival, to +gain military <hi rend='italic'>éclat</hi> from new victories; the latter to control +factions and parties in the capital. They first got rid of +Lepidus, now that their more powerful enemies were subdued, +and compelled him to surrender the command in Italy +and content himself with the government of Africa. Antonius, +commanding no less than twenty-eight legions, which, +with auxiliaries, numbered one hundred and seventy thousand, +had perhaps the best chance. His exactions were awful; but +he squandered his treasures, and gave vent to his passions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cleopatra and Antonius. +War between Octavius and Sextus.</note> +The real cause of his overthrow was Cleopatra, for had he +not been led aside by his inordinate passion for this +woman, and had he exercised his vast power with +the wisdom and ability which he had previously shown, +<pb n="554"/><anchor id="Pg554"/> +the most able of all of Cæsar's generals, he probably would +have triumphed over every foe. On his passage through +Cilicia, he was met by Cleopatra, in all the pomp and luxury +of an Oriental sovereign. She came to deprecate his wrath, +ostensibly, and ascended the Cydnus in a bark with gilded +stern and purple sails, rowed with silver oars, to the sound +of pipes and flutes. She reclined, the most voluptuous of +ancient beauties, under a spangled canopy, attended by +Graces and Cupids, while the air was scented with the perfumes +of Olympus. She soon fascinated the most powerful +man in the empire, who, forgetting his ambition, resigned +himself to love. Octavius, master of himself, and of Italy, +confiscated lands for the benefit of the soldiership prepared +for future contingencies. Though Antonius married Octavia, +the sister of Octavius, he was full of intrigues against him +and Octavius, on his part, proved more than a match in +duplicity and concealed hostilities. They, however, pretended +to be friends; and the treaty of Brundusium, celebrated +by Virgil, would seem to indicate that the world was +now to enjoy the peace it craved. After a debauch, Antonius +left Rome for the East, and Octavius for Gaul, each with a +view of military conquests. Antonius, with his new wife, had +seemingly forgotten Cleopatra, and devoted himself to the +duties of the camp with an assiduity worthy of Cæsar himself. +Octavius has a naval conflict with Sextus, +and is defeated, but Sextus fails to profit from his +victory, and Octavius, with the help of his able lieutenants, +and re-enforced by Antonius, again attacks Sextus, and is +again defeated. In a third conflict he is victorious, and Sextus +escapes to the East. Lepidus, ousted and cheated by +both Antonius and Octavius, now combines with Sextus and +the Pompeians, and makes head against Octavius; but is +deserted by his soldiers, and falls into the hands of his +enemy, who spares his life in contempt. He had owed his +elevation to his family influence, and not to his own abilities. +Sextus, at last, was taken and slain. +</p> + +<p> +At this juncture Octavius was at the head of the Cæsarian +<pb n="555"/><anchor id="Pg555"/> +party. He had won the respect and friendship of the Romans +by his clemency and munificence. He was not a great +general, but he was served by a great general, Agrippa, and +by another minister of equal talents, Mecrenas. He controlled +even more forces than Antonius, no less than forty-five legions +of infantry, and twenty-five thousand cavalry, and thirty-seven +thousand light-armed auxiliaries. Antonius, on the +other hand, had forfeited the esteem of the Romans by his +prodigalities, by his Oriental affectations, and by his slavery +to Cleopatra. +</p> + +<p> +This artful and accomplished woman again met Antonius +in Asia, and resumed her sway. The general of one hundred +battles became effeminated by his voluptuous dalliance, so +that his Parthian campaign was a failure, even though he led +an army of one hundred thousand men. He was obliged to +retreat, and his retreat was disastrous. It was while he was +planning another campaign that Octavia, his wife, and the +sister of his rival,—a woman who held the most dignified +situation in the world,—brought to his camp both money and +troops, and hoped to allay the jealousies of her husband, and +secure peace between him and her brother. But Antonius +heartlessly refused to see this noble-minded woman, while he +gave provinces to Cleopatra. At Alexandria this abandoned +profligate plunged, with his paramour, into every excess of +extravagant debauchery, while she who enslaved him only +dreamed of empire and domination. She may have loved +him, but she loved power more than she did debauchery. +Her intellectual accomplishments were equal to her personal +fascinations, and while she beguiled the sensual Roman with +costly banquets, her eye was steadily directed to the establishment +of her Egyptian throne. +</p> + +<p> +The rupture which Octavia sought to prevent between her +brother and her husband—for, with the rarest magnanimity +she still adhered to him in spite of his infatuated love for +Cleopatra—at last took place, when Octavius was triumphant +over Sextus, and Antonius was unsuccessful in the distant +East. Octavius declared war against the queen of Egypt, +<pb n="556"/><anchor id="Pg556"/> +and Antonius divorced Octavia. Throughout the winter of +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 31, both parties prepared for the inevitable conflict, for +Rome now could have but one master. The fate of the empire +was to be settled, not by land forces, but a naval battle, +and that was fought at Actium, not now with equal forces, +for those of Antonius had been weakened by desertions. +Moreover, he rejected the advice of his ablest generals, and +put himself under the guidance of his mistress, while Octavius +listened to the counsels of Agrippa. +</p> + +<p> +The battle had scarcely begun before Cleopatra fled, followed +by Antonius. The destruction of the Antonian fleet +was the consequence. This battle, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 31, gave the empire +of the world to Octavius, and Antonius fled to Alexandria +with the woman who had ruined him. And it was well that +the empire fell into the hands of a politic and profound statesman, +who sought to consolidate it and preserve its peace, +rather than into those of a debauched general, with insatiable +passions and blood-thirsty vengeance. The victor landed in +Egypt, while the lovers abandoned themselves to despair. +Antonius, on the rumor of Cleopatra's death, gave himself a +mortal wound, but died in the arms of her for whom he had +sacrificed fame, fortune, and life. Cleopatra, in the interview +which Octavius sought at Alexandria, attempted to fascinate +him by those arts by which she had led astray both Cæsar +and Antonius, but the cold and politic conqueror was unmoved, +and coldly demanded the justification of her political +career, and reserved her to grace his future triumph. She +eluded his vigilance, and destroyed herself, as is supposed, +by the bite of asps, since her dead body showed none of the +ordinary spots of poison. She died, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 30, in the fortieth +year of her age, and was buried as a queen by the side of her +lover. Her son Cæsarion, by Julius Cæsar, was also put to +death, and then the master of the world <q>wiped his blood-stained +sword, and thrust it into the scabbard.</q> No more +victims were needed. No rivalship was henceforth to be +dreaded, and all opposition to his will had ceased. +</p> + +<p> +Octavius reduced Egypt to the form of a Roman province, +<pb n="557"/><anchor id="Pg557"/> +and after adjusting the affairs of the East, among which was +the confirmation of Herod as sovereign of Judea, he returned +to Rome to receive his new honors, and secure his undivided +sovereignty. Peace was given to the world at last. The +imperator dedicated temples to the gods, and gave games +and spectacles to the people. The riches of all previous +conquests were his to dispose and enjoy—the extent of +which may be conjectured from the fact that Cæsar alone had +seized an amount equal to one hundred and seventy million +pounds, not reckoning the relative value to gold in these +times. Divine honors were rendered to Octavius as the +heir of Cæsar. He assumed the prænomen of imperator, +but combined in himself all the great offices of the republic +which had been overturned. As censor, he purged and controlled +the Senate, of which he was appointed <hi rend='italic'>princeps</hi>, or +chief. As consul he had the control of the armies of the State; +as perpetual proconsul over all the provinces of the empire, he +controlled their revenues, their laws, their internal reforms, +and all foreign relations. As tribune for life, he initiated +legal measures before the Comitia of the tribes; as Pontifex +Maximus, he had the regulation of all religious ceremonials. +All these great offices were voted him by a subservient people. +The only prerogative which remained to them was the +making of laws, but even this great and supreme power he +controlled, by assuming the initiation of all laws and +measures,—that which Louis Napoleon has claimed in the +Corps Legislatif. He had also resorted to edicts, which had +the force of laws, and ultimately composed no small part of +the Roman jurisprudence. Finally, he assumed the name of +Cæsar, as he had of Augustus, and consummated the reality +of despotism by the imposing title of imperator, or +emperor. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="558"/><anchor id="Pg558"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XLII. THE ROMAN EMPIRE ON THE ACCESSION OF +AUGUSTUS."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XLII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XLII.</head> +<head>THE ROMAN EMPIRE ON THE ACCESSION OF AUGUSTUS.</head> + +<p> +Octavius, now master of the world, is generally called +Augustus Cæsar—the name he assumed. He was the first +of that great line of potentates whom we call emperors. Let +us, before tracing the history of the empire, take a brief survey +of its extent, resources, population, institutions, state of +society, and that development of Art, science, and literature, +which we call civilization, in the period which immediately +preceded the birth of Christ, when the nations were subdued, +submissive to the one central power, and at peace with each +other. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Prosperity of the empire.</note> +The empire was not so large as it subsequently became, +nor was it at that height of power and prosperity +which followed a century of peace, when uninterrupted +dominion had reconciled the world to the rule of the +Cæsars. But it was the golden age of imperial domination, +when arts, science, and literature flourished, and when the +world rested from incessant wars. It was not an age of +highest glory to man, since all struggles for liberty had +ceased; but it was an age of good government, when its +machinery was perfected, and the great mass of mankind felt +secure, and all classes abandoned themselves to pleasure, or +gain, or uninterrupted toils. It was the first time in the history +of the world, when there was only <emph>one</emph> central authority, +and when the experiment was to be tried, not of liberty and +self-government, but of universal empire, growing up from +universal rivalries and wars—wielded by one central and +irresistible will. The spectacle of the civilized world obedient +to <emph>one</emph> master has sublimity, and moral grandeur, and +<pb n="559"/><anchor id="Pg559"/> +suggests principles of grave interest. The last of the great +monarchies which revelation had foretold, and the greatest +of all—the iron monarchy which Daniel saw in prophetic +vision, reveals lessons of profound significance. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Extent of the empire. +Cities of the empire. +Magnificence of Rome.</note> +The empire then embraced all the countries bordering on +the Mediterranean—that great inland sea upon +whose shores the most famous cities of antiquity +flourished, and toward which the tide of Assyrian and Persian +conquests had rolled, and then retreated for ever. The +boundaries of this mighty empire were great mountains, and +deserts, and oceans, and impenetrable forests. On the east +lay the Parthian empire, separated from the Roman by the +Tigris and Euphrates, and the Armenian Mountains, beyond +which were other great empires not known to the Greeks, like +the Indian and the Chinese monarchies, with a different civilization. +On the south were the African deserts, not penetrated +even by travelers. On the west was the ocean; and +on the north were barbaric tribes of different names and +races—Slavonic, Germanic, and Celtic. The empire extended +over a territory of one million six hundred thousand square +miles, and among its provinces were Spain, Gaul, Sicily, +Africa, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, Achaia, Macedonia, and +Illyricum—all tributary to Italy, whose capital was Rome. +The central province numbered four millions who were free, +and could furnish, if need be, seven hundred thousand foot, +and seventy thousand horse for the armies of the republic. +It was dotted with cities, and villages, and villas, +and filled with statues, temples, and works of art, +brought from remotest provinces—the spoil of three hundred +years of conquest. In all the provinces were great cities, +once famous and independent—centres of luxury and wealth—Corinth, +Athens, Syracuse, Carthage, Alexandria, Antioch, +Ephesus, Damascus, and Jerusalem, with their dependent +cities, all connected with each other and the capital by granite +roads, all favored by commerce, all rejoicing in a uniform +government. Rome, the great mistress who ruled over one +hundred and twenty millions, contained an immense population, +<pb n="560"/><anchor id="Pg560"/> +variously estimated, in which were centred whatever +wealth or power had craved. This capital had become rapidly +ornamented with palaces, and temples, and works of art, with +the subjugation of Greece and Asia Minor, although it did not +reach the climax of magnificence until the time of Hadrian. +In the time of Augustus, the most imposing buildings were +the capitol, restored by Sulla and Cæsar, whose gilded roof +alone cost $15,000,000. The theatre of Pompey could accommodate +eighty thousand spectators, behind which was a +portico of one hundred pillars. Cæsar built the Forum Julium, +three hundred and forty feet long, and two +hundred wide, and commenced the still greater +structures known as the Basilica Julia and Curia Julia. +The Forum Romanum was seven hundred feet by four hundred +and seventy, surrounded with basilica, halls, porticoes, +temples, and shops—the centre of architectural splendor, as +well as of life and business and pleasure. Augustus restored +the Capitoline Temple, finished the Forum and Basilica Julia, +built the Curia Julia, and founded the imperial palace on the +Palatine, and erected many temples, the most beautiful of +which was that of Apollo, with columns of African marble, +and gates of ivory finely sculptured. He also erected the +Forum Augusti, the theatre of Marcellus, capable of holding +twenty thousand spectators, and that mausoleum which contained +the ashes of the imperial family to the time of Hadrian, +at the entrance of which were two Egyptian obelisks. +It was the boast of this emperor, that he found the city of +brick and left her of marble. But great and beautiful as +Rome was in the Augustan era, enriched not only by his +own munificence, but by the palaces and baths which were +erected by his ministers and courtiers,—the Pantheon, the +Baths of Agrippa, the Gardens of Mæcenas,—it was not until +other emperors erected the Imperial Palace, the Flavian +Amphitheatre, the Forum Trajanum, the Basilica Ulpia, the +Temple of Venus and Rome, the Baths of Caracalla, the +Arches of Septimius Severus and Trajan, and other wonders, +that the city became so astonishing a wonder, with its palaces, +<pb n="561"/><anchor id="Pg561"/> +theatres, amphitheatres, baths, fountains, bronze statues +of emperors and generals, so numerous and so grand, that +we are warranted in believing its glories, like its population, +surpassed those of both Paris and London combined. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The imperial master.</note> +And this capital and this empire seemed to be the domain +of one man, so vast his power, so august his dignity, absolute +master of the lives and property of one hundred and +twenty millions, for the people were now deprived +of the election of magistrates and the creation of laws. How +could the greatest nobles otherwise than cringe to the supreme +captain of the armies, the prince of the Senate, and the high-priest +of the national divinities—himself, the recipient of honors +only paid to gods! But Augustus kept up the forms of +the old republic—all the old offices, the old dignities, the old +festivals, the old associations. The Senate, prostrate and +powerless, still had external dignity, like the British House +of Peers. There were six hundred senators, each of whom +possessed more than one million two hundred thousand sesterces—about +$50,000, when that sum must have represented +an amount equal to a million of dollars in gold, at the present +time, and some of whom had an income of one thousand +pounds a day, the spoil of the provinces they had administered. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Roman Senate.</note> +The Roman Senate, so august under the republic, still continued, +with crippled legislative powers, to wield +important functions, since the ordinary official +business was performed by them. The provinces were governed +by men selected from senatorial ranks. They wore the +badges of distinction; they had the best places in the circus +and theatre; they banqueted in the capitol at the public +charge; they claimed the right to elect emperors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The equestrians.</note> +The equestrian order also continued to farm the revenues +of the provinces, and to furnish judges. The +knights retained external decorations, were required +to possess property equal to one-third of the senators, +and formed an aristocratic class. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The consuls.</note> +The consuls, too, ruled, but with delegated powers from the +<pb n="562"/><anchor id="Pg562"/> +emperor. They were his eyes, and ears, and voice, and +hands; but neither political experience nor military +services were required as qualifications of the office. +They wore the wreath of laurel on their brow, the striped +robe of white and purple, and were attended with lictors. +All citizens made way for them, and dismounted when they +passed, and rose in their presence. The prætors, too, continued +to be the supreme judges, and the quæstors regulated +the treasury. The tribunes existed also, but without their +former independence. The prefect of the city was a new +office, and overshadowed all other offices—appointed by the +emperor as his lieutenant, his most efficient executive minister, +his deputy in his absence from the city. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The army.</note> +A standing army, ever the mark of despotism, became an +imperial institution. At the head of this army +were the prætorian guards, who protected the person +of the emperor, and had double pay over that of the +ordinary legionaries. They had a regular camp outside the +city, and were always on hand to suppress tumults. Twenty-five +legions were regarded as sufficient to defend the empire, +and each legion was composed of six thousand one hundred +foot and seven hundred and twenty-six horse. They were +recruited with soldiers from the countries beyond Italy. +Auxiliary troops were equal to the legions, and all together +numbered three hundred and forty thousand—the standing +army of the empire, stationed in the different provinces. +Naval armaments were also established in the different seas +and in great frontier rivers. +</p> + +<p> +The revenue for this great force, and the general expenses +of the government, were derived from the public domains, +from direct taxes, from mines and quarries, from salt works, +fisheries and forests, from customs and excise, from the succession +to property, from enfranchisement of slaves. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Policy of Augustus.</note> +The monarchy instituted by Augustus, in all but the name, +was a political necessity. Pompey would have +ruled as the instrument of the aristocracy, but he +would only have been <hi rend='italic'>primus inter pares</hi>; Cæsar recognized +<pb n="563"/><anchor id="Pg563"/> +the people as the basis of sovereignty; Augustus based his +power on an organized military establishment, of which he +was the permanent head. All the soldiers swore personal +fealty to him—all the officers were appointed by him, directly +or indirectly. But he paid respect to ancient traditions, +forms, and magistracies, especially to the dignity of the Senate, +and thus vested his military power, which was his true +power, under the forms of an aristocracy, which was the governing +power before the constitution was subverted. +</p> + +<p> +It need scarcely be said that the great mass of the people +were indifferent to these political changes. The horrors of +the Marian and Sullan revolutions, the struggles of Cæsar +and Pompey, and the awful massacres of the triumvirs had +alarmed and disgusted all classes, and they sought repose, +security, and peace. Any government which would repress +anarchy was, to them, the best. They wished to be spared +from executions and confiscations. The great enfranchisement +of foreign slaves, also, degraded the people, and made them +indifferent to the masters who should rule over them. All +races were mingled with Roman citizens. The spoliation of +estates in the civil wars cast a blight on agriculture, and the +population had declined from war and misery. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Institutions of Augustus.</note> +Augustus, intrenched by military power, sought to revive +not merely patrician caste, but religious customs, +which had declined. Temples were erected, and +the shrines of gods were restored. Marriage was encouraged, +and the morals of the people were regulated by sumptuary +laws. Severe penalties were enacted against celibacy, to +which the people had been led by the increasing profligacy +of the times, and the expenses of living. Restrictions were +placed on the manumission of slaves. The personal habits +of the imperator were simple, but dignified. His mansion +on the Palatine was moderate in size. His dress was that of +a senator, and woven by the hands of Livia and her maidens. +He was courteous, sober, decorous, and abstemious. His +guests were chosen for their social qualities. Virgil and +Horace, plebeian poets, were received at his table, as well as +<pb n="564"/><anchor id="Pg564"/> +Pollio and Messala. He sought to guard morals, and revive +ancient traditions. He was jealous only of those who would +not flatter him. He freely spent money for games and festivals, +and secured peace and plenty within the capital, where +he reigned supreme. The people felicitated themselves on +the appearance of unbounded prosperity, and servile poets +sung the praises of the emperor as if he were a god. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Roman commerce.</note> +And, to all appearance, Rome was the most favored spot +upon the globe. Vast fleets brought corn from Gaul, Spain, +Sicily, Sardinia, Africa, and Egypt, to feed the four +millions of people who possessed the world. The +capital was the emporium of all the luxuries of distant provinces. +Spices from the East, ivory, cotton, silk, pearls, diamonds, +gums thither flowed, as well as corn, oil, and wine. +A vast commerce gave unity to the empire, and brought all +the great cities into communication with each other and with +Rome—the mighty mistress of lands and continents, the +directress of armies, the builder of roads, the civilizer and +conservator of all the countries which she ruled with her iron +hand. There was general security to commerce, as well as +property. There were order and law, wherever proconsular +power extended. The great highways, built originally for +military purposes, extending to every part of the empire, and +crossing mountains and deserts, and forests and marshes, and +studded with pillars and post-houses, contributed vastly to +the civilization of the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Residences of the nobility. +Amusements of the aristocracy.</note> +At this time, Rome herself, though not so large and splendid +as in subsequent periods, was the most attractive place +on earth. Seven aqueducts already brought water to the +city, some over stone arches, and some by subterranean pipes. +The sepulchres of twenty generations lined the great roads +which extended from the capital to the provinces. As these +roads approached the city, they became streets, and the +houses were dense and continuous. The seven original +hills were covered with palaces and temples, +while the valleys were centres of a great population, in which +were the forums, the suburra, the quarter of the shops, the circus, +<pb n="565"/><anchor id="Pg565"/> +and the velabrum. The Palatine, especially, was occupied +by the higher nobility. Here were the famous mansions of +Drusus, of Crassus, of Cicero, of Clodius, of Scaurus, and of +Augustus, together with the temples of Cybele, of Juno Sospita, +of Luna, of Febris, of Fortune, of Mars, and Vesta. On +the Capitoline were the Arx, or citadel, and the temple of +Jupiter. On the Pincian Hill were villas and gardens, including +those of Lucullus and Sallust. Every available inch of +ground in the suburra and velabrum was filled with dwellings, +rising to great altitudes, even to the level of the Capitoline +summit. The temples were all constructed after the +Grecian models. The houses of the great were of immense +size. The suburbs were of extraordinary extent. The population +exceeded that of all modern cities, although it has +been, perhaps, exaggerated. It was computed by Lipsius to +reach the enormous number of four millions. Nothing could +be more crowded than the streets, whose incessant din was +intolerable to those who sought repose. And they were +filled with idlers, as well as trades-people, and artisans and +slaves. All classes sought the excitement of the theater and +circus—all repaired to the public baths. The amphitheatres +collected, also, unnumbered thousands within their walls to +witness the combats of beasts with man, and man with man. +The gladiatorial sports were the most exciting +exhibitions ever known in ancient or modern times, +and were the most striking features of Roman society. The +baths, too, resounded with shouts and laughter, with the +music of singers and of instruments, and even by the recitations +of poets and lecturers. The luxurious Roman rose with +the light of day, and received, at his levee, a crowd of clients +and retainers. He then repaired to the forum, or was carried +through the crowds on a litter. Here he presided as a judge, +or appeared as a witness or advocate, or transacted his business +affairs. At twelve, the work of the day ceased, and he +retired for his midday siesta. When this had ended, he +recreated himself with the sports of the Field of Mars, and +then repaired to the baths, after which was the supper, or +<pb n="566"/><anchor id="Pg566"/> +principal meal, in which he indulged in the coarsest luxuries, +valued more for the cost than the elegance. He reclined at +table, on a luxurious couch, and was served by slaves, who +carved for him, and filled his cup, and poured water into his +hand after every remove. He ate without knives or forks, +with his fingers only. The feast was beguiled by lively conversation, +or music and dancing. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Roman literature.</note> +At this period, the literature of Rome reached its highest +purity and terseness. Livy, the historian, secured the friendship +of Augustus, and his reputation was so high +that an enthusiastic Spaniard traveled from Cadiz +on purpose to see him, and having gratified his curiosity, immediately +returned home. He took the dry chronicles of his +country, drew forth from them the poetry of the old traditions, +and incited a patriotic spirit. A friend of the old oligarchy, +an aristocrat in all his prejudices and habits, he +heaped scorn on tribunes and demagogues, and veiled the +despotism of his imperial master. Virgil also inflamed +the patriotism of his countrymen, while he flattered the +tyrant in whose sunshine he basked. Patronized by Mæcenas, +countenanced by Octavius, he sung the praises of law, +of order, and of tradition, and attempted to revive an age of +faith, a love of agricultural life, a taste for the simplicities of +better days, and a veneration of the martial virtues of heroic +times. Horace ridiculed and rebuked the vices of his age, and +yet obtained both riches and honors. His matchless wit and +transcendent elegance of style have been admired by every +scholar for nearly two thousand years. Propertius and Tibullus, +and Ovid, also adorned this age, never afterward equaled +by the labors of men of genius. Literature and morals went +hand in hand as corruption accomplished its work. The age +of Augustus saw the highest triumph in literature that Rome +was destined to behold. Imperial tyranny was fatal to that +independence of spirit without which all literature languishes +and dies. But the limit of this work will not permit an +extended notice of Roman civilization. This has been attempted +by the author in another work. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="567"/><anchor id="Pg567"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XLIII. THE SIX CÆSARS OF THE JULIAN LINE."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XLIII."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XLIII.</head> +<head>THE SIX CÆSARS OF THE JULIAN LINE.</head> + +<p> +We have alluded to the centralization of political power +in the person of Octavius. He simply retained all the great +offices of State, and ruled, not so much by a new title, as he +did as consul, tribune, censor, pontifex maximus, and chief +of the Senate. But these offices were not at once bestowed. +</p> + +<p> +His reign may be said to have commenced on the final +defeat of his rivals, <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 29. Two years later, he received +the title of Augustus, by which he is best known in history, +although he was ordinarily called Cæsar. That proud name +never lost its pre-eminence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The wives of Augustus.</note> +The first part of the reign was memorable for the organization +of the State, and especially of the army; and also for +the means he used to consolidate his empire. Augustus had +no son, and but one daughter, although married three times. +His first wife was Clodia, daughter of Clodius; his +second was Scribonia, sister-in-law of Sextus Pompey; +and the third was Livia Drusilla. The second wife was +the mother of his daughter, Julia. This daughter was married +to M. Claudius Marcellus, son of Marcellus and Octavia, +the divorced wife of Antonius, and sister of Octavius. M. +Claudius Marcellus thus married his cousin, but died two +years afterward. It was to his honor that Augustus built +the theatre of Marcellus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The family of Augustus.</note> +On the death of Marcellus, Augustus married his daughter +Julia to Agrippa, his prime minister and principal lieutenant. +The issue of this marriage were three sons and +two daughters. The sons died early. The youngest +daughter, Agrippina, married Germanicus, and was the +<pb n="568"/><anchor id="Pg568"/> +mother of the emperor Caligula. The marriage of Agrippina +with Germanicus united the lines of Julia and Livia, the two +last wives of Augustus, for Germanicus was the son of Drusus, +the younger son of Livia by her first husband, Tiberius +Claudius Nero. The eldest son of Livia, by Tiberius Claudius +Nero, was the emperor Tiberius Nero, adopted by Augustus. +Drusus married Antonia, the daughter of Antonius the +triumvir, and was the father, not only of Germanicus, but +of Claudius Drusus Cæsar, the fifth emperor. Another +daughter of Antonius, also called Antonia, married L. Domitius +Ahenobardus, whose son married Agrippina, the mother +of Nero. Thus the descendants of Octavia and Antony became +emperors, and were intertwined with the lines of Julia +and Livia. The four successors of Augustus were all, in the +male line, sprung from Livia's first husband, and all, except +Tiberius, traced their descent from the defeated triumvir. +Only the first six of the twelve Cæsars had relationship with +the Julian house. +</p> + +<p> +I mention this genealogy to show the descent of the first six +emperors from Julia, the sister of Julius Cæsar, and grandmother +of Augustus. Although the first six emperors were +elected, they all belonged to the Julian house, and were the +heirs of the great Cæsar. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mæcenas and Agrippa.</note> +When the government was organized, Augustus left the +care of his capital to Mæcenas, his minister of +civil affairs and departed for Gaul, to restore order +in that province, and build a series of fortifications to the +Danube, to check the encroachments of barbarians. The +region between the Danube and the Alps was peopled by +various tribes, of different names, who gave perpetual trouble +to the Romans; but they were now apparently subdued, and +the waves of barbaric conquest were stayed for three hundred +years. Vindelicea and Rhætia were added to the empire, +in a single campaign, by Tiberius and Drusus, the sons +of Livia—the emperor's beloved wife. Agrippa returned +shortly after from a successful war in the East, but sickened +and died <hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 12. By his death Julia was again a widow, and +<pb n="569"/><anchor id="Pg569"/> +was given in marriage to Tiberius, whom Augustus afterward +adopted as his successor. Drusus, his brother, remained +in Gaul, to complete the subjugation of the Celtic +tribes, and to check the incursions of the Germans, who, +from that time, were the most formidable enemies of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Teutonic races.</note> +What interest is attached to those Teutonic races who +ultimately became the conquerors of the empire! +They were more warlike, persevering, and hardy, +than the Celts, who had been incorporated with the empire. +Tacitus has painted their simple manners, their passionate +love of independence, and their religious tendency of mind. +They occupied those vast plains and forests which lay between +the Rhine, the Danube, the Vistula, and the German +Ocean. Under different names they invaded the Roman +world—the Suevi, the Franks, the Alemanni, the Burgundians, +the Lombards, the Goths, the Vandals; but had not, at +the time of Augustus, made those vast combinations which +threatened immediate danger. They were a pastoral people, +with blue eyes, ruddy hair, and large stature, trained to +cold, to heat, to exposure, and to fatigue. Their strength +lay in their infantry, which was well armed, and their usual +order of battle was in the form of a wedge. They were +accompanied even in war with their wives and children, and +their women had peculiar virtue and influence. They inspired +that reverence which never passed away from the +Germanic nations, producing in the Middle Ages the graces +of chivalry. All these various tribes had the same peculiarities, +among which reverence was one of the most marked. +They were not idol worshipers, but worshiped God in the +form of the sun, moon, and stars, and in the silence of their +majestic groves. Odin was their great traditional hero, +whom they made an object of idolatry. War was their +great occupation, and the chase was their principal recreation +and pleasure. Tacitus enumerates as many as fifty +tribes of these brave warriors, who feared not death, and +even gloried in their losses. The most powerful of these +tribes, in the time of Augustus, was the confederation of the +<pb n="570"/><anchor id="Pg570"/> +Suevi, occupying half of Germany, from the Danube to the +Baltic. Of this confederation the Cauci were the most +powerful, living on the banks of the Elbe, and obtaining a +precarious living. In close connection with them were the +Saxons and Longobardi (Long-beards). On the shores of +the Baltic, between the Oder and the Vistula, were the +Goths. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Drusus.</note> +The arms of Cæsar and Augustus had as yet been only +felt by the smaller tribes on the right bank of the +Rhine, and these were assailed by Drusus, but only +to secure his flank during the greater enterprise of sailing +down the Rhine, to attack the people of the maritime plains. +Great feats were performed by this able step-son of Augustus, +who advanced as far as the Elbe, but was mortally +injured by a fall from his horse. He lingered a month, and +died, to the universal regret of the Romans, for he was the +ablest general sent against the barbarians since Julius Cæsar, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>B.C.</hi> 9. The effect of his various campaigns was to check +the inroads of the Germans for a century. It was at this +time that the banks of the Rhine were studded by the +forts which subsequently became those picturesque towns +which now command the admiration of travelers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Banishment of Julia.</note> +After the death of Drusus, to whose memory a beautiful +triumphal arch was erected, Tiberius was sent against the +Germans, and after successful warfare, at the age of forty, +obtained the permission of Augustus to retire to Rhodes, in +order to improve his mind by the study of philosophy, or, +as it is supposed by many historians, from jealousy of Caius +and Lucius Cæsar, the children of Julia and Agrippa—those +young princes to whom the throne of the world was apparently +destined. At Rhodes, Tiberius, now the ablest man +in the empire, for both Agrippa and Mæcenas were +dead, lived in simple retirement for seven years. But the +levities of Julia, to which Augustus could not be blind, compelled +him to banish her—his only daughter—to +the Campanian coast, where she died neglected +and impoverished. The emperor was so indignant in view +<pb n="571"/><anchor id="Pg571"/> +of her disgraceful conduct, that he excluded her from any +inheritance. The premature death of her sons nearly broke +the heart of their grandfather, bereft of the wise councils and +pleasant society of his great ministers, and bending under +the weight of the vast empire which he, as the heir of +Cæsar, had received. The loss of his grandsons compelled +the emperor to provide for his succession, and he turned his +eyes to Tiberius, his step-son, who was then at Rhodes. +He adopted him as his successor, and invested him with the +tribunitian power. But, while he selected him as his heir, +he also required him to adopt Germanicus, the son of his +brother Drusus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Domitius Ahenobardus.</note> +Another great man now appeared upon the stage, L. Domitius +Ahenobardus, the son-in-law of Octavia and Antony, +who was intrusted with the war against the Germanic tribes, +and who was the first Roman general to cross the +Elbe. He was the grandfather of Nero. But Tiberius +was sent to supersede him, and following the plan of +his brother Drusus, he sent a flotilla down the Rhine, with +orders to ascend the Elbe, and meet his army at an appointed +rendezvous, which was then regarded as a great military feat, +in the face of such foes as the future conquerors of Rome. +After this Tiberius was occupied in reconquering the wide +region between the Adriatic and the Danube, known as +Illyricum, which occupied him three years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 7-9. In +this war he was assisted by his nephew and adopted son, +Germanicus, whose brilliant career revived the hope which +had centred in Drusus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Disaster of Varus.</note> +Meanwhile Augustus, wearied with the cares of State, provoked +by the scandals which his daughter occasioned, and +irritated by plots against his life, began to relax his attention +to business, and to grow morose. It was then that he banished +Ovid, whose <hi rend='italic'>Tristia</hi> made a greater sensation than his immortal +<hi rend='italic'>Metamorphoses</hi>. The disaster which befell Varus with a +Roman army, in the forest of Teutoburg, near the +river Lippe, when thirty thousand men were cut to +pieces by the Germans under Arminius (Hermann), completed +<pb n="572"/><anchor id="Pg572"/> +the humiliation of Augustus, for, in this defeat, he must have +foreseen the future victories of the barbarians. All ideas of +extending the empire beyond the Rhine were now visionary, +and that river was henceforth to remain its boundary on the +north. New levies were indeed dispatched to the Rhine, +and Tiberius and Germanicus led the forces. But the princes +returned to Rome without effecting important results. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Augustus. +Character of Augustus.</note> +Soon after, in the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 14, Augustus died in his +seventy-seventh year, after a reign of forty-four years from the battle +of Actium, and fifty from the triumvirate—one of the longest +reigns in history, and one of the most successful. From his +nineteenth year he was prominent on the stage of +Roman public life. Under his auspices the empire +reached the Elbe, and Egypt was added to its provinces. He +planted colonies in every province, and received from the +Parthians the captured standards of Crassus. His fleets navigated +the Northern Ocean; his armies reduced the Pannonians +and Illyrians. He added to the material glories of his +capital, and sought to secure peace throughout the world. +He was both munificent and magnificent, and held the reins +of government with a firm hand. He was cultivated, unostentatious, +and genial; but ambitious, and versed in all the +arts of dissimulation and kingcraft. But he was a great +monarch, and ruled with signal ability. After the battle of +Actium, his wars were chiefly with the barbarians, +and his greatest generals were members of +the imperial family. That he could have reigned so long, in +such an age, with so many enemies, is a proof of his wisdom +and moderation, as well as of his good fortune. That he +should have triumphed over such generals as Brutus, and +Antonius, and Sextus—representing the old parties of the +republic, is unquestionable evidence of transcendent ability. +But his great merit was his capacity to rule, to organize, and +to civilize. He is one of the best types of a sovereign ruler +that the world has seen. It is nothing against him, that, in +his latter years, there were popular discontents. Such generally +happen at the close of all long reigns, as in the case of +<pb n="573"/><anchor id="Pg573"/> +Solomon and Louis XIV. And yet, the closing years of his +reign were melancholy, like those of the French monarch, in +view of the extinction of literary glories, and the passing +away of the great lights of the age, without the appearance +of new stars to take their place. But this was not the fault +of Augustus, whose intellect expanded with his fortunes, and +whose magnanimity grew with his intellect—a man who +comprehended his awful mission, and who discharged his +trusts with dignity and self-reliance. +</p> + +<p> +Tiberius Cæsar, the third of the Roman emperors, found +no opposition to his elevation on the death of Augustus. He +ascended the throne of the Roman world at the mature age +of fifty-six, after having won great reputation both as a +statesman and a general. He was probably the most capable +man in the empire, and in spite of all his faults, the empire +was never better administered than by him. His great misfortune +and fault was the suspicion of his nature, which +made him the saddest of mankind, and finally, a monster of +cruelty. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tiberius veils his power.</note> +Like Augustus, he veiled his power as emperor by assuming +the old offices of the republic. A subservient Senate and people +favored the consolidation of the new despotism +to which the world was now accustomed, and with power, +which it cheerfully acquiesced as the best government for the +times. The last remnant of popular elections was abolished, +and the Comitia was transferred from the Campus Martius +to the Senate, who elected the candidate proposed by the +emperor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Germanicus.</note> +The first year of the accession of Tiberius was marked by +mutinies in the legions, which were quelled by his nephew +Germanicus, whose popularity was boundless, even +as his feats had been heroic. This young prince, +on whom the hopes of the empire rested, had married Agrippina, +the daughter of Julia and Agrippa, and traced through +his mother Antonia, and grandmother Octavia, a direct +descent from Julia, the sister of the dictator. The blood of +Antony also ran in his veins, as well as that of Livia. His +<pb n="574"/><anchor id="Pg574"/> +wife was worthy of him, and was devotedly attached to him. +By this marriage the lines of Julia and Livia were united; +and by his descent from Antony the great parties of the +revolution were silenced. He was equally the heir of Augustus +and of Antonius, of Julia and of Livia; and of all the +chiefs of Roman history no one has been painted in fairer +colors. In natural ability, in military heroism, in the virtues +of the heart, in exalted rank, he had no equal. As consul, +general, and governor, he called forth universal admiration. +His mind was also highly cultivated, and he excelled in +Greek and Latin verse, while his condescending and courteous +manners won both soldiers and citizens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Jealousy of Tiberius.</note> +Of such a man, twenty-nine years of age, Tiberius was naturally +jealous, especially since, through his wife, Germanicus +was allied with the Octavian family and through his +mother, with the sister of the great Julius; and, +therefore, had higher claims than he, on the principle of legitimacy. +He was only the adopted son of Octavius, but Germanicus, +through his mother Antonia, had the same ancestry as +Octavius himself. Moreover, the cries of the legionaries, +<q>Cæsar Germanicus will not endure to be a subject,</q> added +to the fears of the emperor, that he would be supplanted. +So he determined to send his nephew on distant and dangerous +expeditions, against those barbarians who had defeated +Varus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The campaign of Germanicus. +Triumph of Germanicus.</note> +Germanicus, no sooner than he had quelled the sedition in +his camp, set out for Germany with eight legions and an +equal number of auxiliaries. With this large force he crossed +the Rhine, revisited the scene of the slaughter of Varus, and +paid funeral honors to the remains of the fallen Romans. +But the campaigns were barren of results, although attended +with great expenses. No fortresses were erected to check +the return of the barbarians from the places where they had +been dislodged, and no roads were made to expedite future +expeditions. Germanicus carried on war in savage +and barbarous tracts, amid innumerable +obstacles, which tasked his resources to the utmost. Tiberius +<pb n="575"/><anchor id="Pg575"/> +was dissatisfied with these results, and vented his +ill-humor in murmurs against his nephew. The Roman +people were offended at this jealousy, and clamored for +his recall. Germanicus, however, embarked on a third campaign, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 15, with renewed forces, and confronted the Germans +on the Weser, and crossed the river in the face of the +enemy. There the Romans obtained a great victory over +Arminius, leader of the barbaric hosts, who retreated beyond +the Elbe. The great German confederacy was, for a +time, dispersed. Germanicus himself retired to the banks of +the Rhine—which became the final boundary of the empire +on the side of Germany. The hero who had persevered +against innumerable obstacles, in overcoming which the discipline +and force of the Roman legions were never more +apparent, not even under Julius Cæsar, was now recalled to +Rome, and a triumph was given him, amid the wildest enthusiasm +of the Roman people. The young hero was +the great object of attraction, as he was borne +along in his triumphal chariot, surrounded by the five male +descendants of his union with Agrippina—his faithful and +heroic wife. Tiberius, in the name of his adopted son, +bestowed three hundred sesterces apiece upon all the citizens, +and the Senate chose the popular favorite as consul for the +ensuing year, in conjunction with the emperor himself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Drusus.</note> +Troubles in the East induced Tiberius to send Germanicus +to Asia Minor, while Drusus was sent to Illyricum. This +prince was the son of Tiberius by his first wife, +Vipsania, and was the cousin of Germanicus. He +was disgraced by the vices of debauchery and cruelty, and +was finally poisoned by his wife, Livilla, at the instance of +Sejanus. So long as Germanicus lived, the court was divided +between the parties of Drusus and Germanicus, and Tiberius +artfully held the balance of favor between them, taking care +not to declare which should be his successor. But Drusus +was, probably, the favorite of the emperor, although greatly +inferior to the elder prince in every noble quality. Tiberius, +in sending him to Illyricum, wished to remove him from the +<pb n="576"/><anchor id="Pg576"/> +dissipations of the capital, and also, to place a man in that +important post who should be loyal to his authority. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cnæus Piso. +Death of Germanicus.</note> +In appointing Germanicus to the chief command of the +provinces beyond the Ægean, Tiberius also gave the province +of Syria to Cnæus Piso, of the illustrious Calpurnian +house, one of the proudest and most powerful of +the Roman nobles. His wife, Plancina, was the +favorite of Livia,—the empress-mother,—and he believed +himself appointed to the government of Syria for the purpose +of checking the ambitious designs which were imputed to Germanicus, +while his wife was instructed to set up herself as a +rival to Agrippina. The moment Piso quitted Italy, he +began to thwart his superior, and to bring his authority into +contempt. Yet he was treated by Germanicus with marked +kindness. After visiting the famous cities of Greece, Germanicus +marched to the frontiers of Armenia to settle its +affairs with the empire—the direct object of his mission. He +crowned a prince, called Zeno, as monarch of that country, +reduced Cappadocia, and visited Egypt, apparently to examine +the political affairs of the province, but really to study +its antiquities, even as Scipio had visited Sicily in the heat +of the Punic war. For thus going out of his way, he was +rebuked by the emperor. He then retraced his steps, and +shaped his course to Syria, where he found his regulations +and appointments had been overruled by Piso, between whom +and himself bitter altercations ensued. While in Syria, he +fell sick and died, and his illness was attributed to +poison administered by Piso, although there was +little evidence to support the charge. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Funeral of Germanicus. +Able administration of Tiberius. +Excellence of the imperial rule.</note> +The death of Germanicus was received with great grief by +the Roman people, and the general sorrow of the Roman +world, and his praises were pronounced in every quarter. +He was even fondly compared to Alexander the Great. His +character was embellished by the greatest master of pathos +among the Roman authors, and invested with a +gleam of mournful splendor. His remains were +brought to Rome by his devoted wife, and the most splendid +<pb n="577"/><anchor id="Pg577"/> +funeral honors were accorded to him. Drusus, with the +younger brother and children of Germanicus, went forth to +meet the remains, and the consuls, the Senate, and a large +concourse of people, swelled the procession, as it neared the +city. The precious ashes were deposited in the Cæsarian +mausoleum, and the memory of the departed prince was +cherished in the hearts of the people. Whether he would +have realized the expectations formed of him, had he lived +to succeed Tiberius, can not be known. He, doubtless, had +most amiable traits of character, while his talents were +undoubted. But he might have succumbed to the temptations +incident to the most august situation in the world, or +have been borne down by its pressing cares, or have +shown less talent for administration than men disgraced +by private vices. Had Tiberius died before Augustus, +his character would have appeared in the +most favorable light, for he was a man of great abilities, +and was devoted to the interests of the empire. He became +moody, suspicious, and cruel, and yielded to the pleasures so +lavishly given to the master of the world. When we remember +the atmosphere of lies in which he lived,—as is the case +with all absolute monarchs, especially in venal and corrupt +times,—the unbounded temptations, the servile and sycophantic +attentions of his courtiers, the perpetual vexations and +cares incident to such overgrown and unlimited powers, and +the disgust, satiety, and contempt which his experiences engendered, +we can not wonder that his character should change +for the worse. And when we see a man rendered uninteresting +and unamiable by cares, temptations, and bursts of passion +or folly, yet who still governs vigilantly and ably, our +indignation should be modified, when the lower propensities +are indulged. It is not pleasant to palliate injustices, tyrannies, +and lusts. But human nature, at the best, is weak. Of +all men, absolute princes claim a charitable judgment, and +our eyes should be directed to their services, rather than to +their defects. These remarks not only pertain to Tiberius, +but to Augustus, and many other emperors who have been +<pb n="578"/><anchor id="Pg578"/> +harshly estimated, but whose general ability and devotion +to the interests of the empire are undoubted. How few monarchs +have been free from the stains of occasional excesses, +and that arbitrary and tyrannical character which unlimited +powers develop! Even the crimes of monsters, whom we +execrate, are to be traced to madness and intoxication, more +than to natural fierceness and wickedness. But when monarchs +<emph>do</emph> reign in justice, and conquer the temptations +incident to their station, like the Antonines, +then our reverence becomes profound. <q>Heavy is the head +that wears a crown.</q> Kings are objects of our sympathy, as +well as of our envy. Their burdens are as heavy as their +temptations are great; and frivolous or wicked princes are +almost certain to yield, like Nero or Caligula, to the evils +with which they are peculiarly surrounded. +</p> + +<p> +But to return to our narrative of the leading events connected +with the reign of Tiberius, one of the ablest of all the +emperors, so far as administrative talents are concerned. +After the death of Germanicus, which was probably natural, +the vengeance of the people and the court was directed to +his supposed murderer, Piso. He was arraigned and tried by +the Senate, not only for the crime of which he was accused +by the family of Germanicus, who thought himself poisoned, +but for exceeding his powers as governor of Syria, which +province he continued unwisely to claim. Tiberius abstained +from all interference with the great tribunal which sat in +judgment. He even checked the flow of popular feeling. +Cold and hard, he allowed the trial to take its course, without +betraying sympathy or aversion, and acted with great +impartiality. Piso found no favor from the Senate or the +emperor, and killed himself when his condemnation was +certain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tiberius becomes a tyrant. +Instruments of tyranny. +Provincial governors. +Reforms of Tiberius.</note> +Relieved by the death of Germanicus and Piso, Tiberius +began to reign more despotically, and incurred the +hatred of the people, to which he was apparently +insensible. He was greatly influenced by his mother, Livia, +an artful and ambitious princess, and by Sejanus, his favorite, +<pb n="579"/><anchor id="Pg579"/> +a man of rare energy and ability, who was prefect of the +prætorian guards. This office, unknown to the republic, +became the most important and influential under the emperors. +The prefect was virtually the vizier, or prime minister, +since it was his care to watch over the personal safety of a +monarch whose power rested on the military. The instruments +of his government, however, were the Senate, +which he controlled especially by his power +as censor, and the law of <hi rend='italic'>majestas</hi>, which was virtually a +great system of espionage and public accusation, which the +emperor encouraged. But his general administration was +marked by prudence, equity, and mildness. Under him the +Roman dominion was greatly consolidated, and it was his +policy to guard rather than extend the limits of the empire. +The legions were stationed in those provinces which were +most likely to be assailed by external dangers, especially on +the banks of the Rhine, in Illyricum, and Dalmatia. But +they were scattered in all the provinces. The city of Rome +was kept in order by the prætorian guards. Their discipline +was strenuously maintained. Governors of provinces were +kept several years in office, which policy was justified +by the apologue he was accustomed to use, +founded on the same principle as that which is recognized in +all corrupt times by great administrators, whether of States, +or factories, or railroads. <q>A number of flies had settled on +a soldier's wound, and a compassionate passer-by was about +to scare them away. The sufferer begged him to refrain. +<q>These flies,</q> he said, <q>have nearly sucked their full, and are +beginning to be tolerable; if you drive them away, they will +be immediately succeeded by fresh-comers with keener +appetites.</q></q> The emperor saw the abuses which existed, +but despaired to remedy them, since he distrusted human +nature. But there is no doubt that the government of the +provinces was improved under this prince, and the governors +were made responsible. The emperor also was assiduous to +free Italy from robbers and banditti, and in stimulating the +diligence of the police, so that riots seldom occurred, and +<pb n="580"/><anchor id="Pg580"/> +were severely punished. There was greater security of life and +property throughout the empire, and the laws were wise and +effective. Tiberius limited the number of the gladiators, +expelled the soothsayers from Italy, and suppressed +the Egyptian rites. The habits of the people, even +among the higher classes, were so generally disgraceful and +immoral,—the dissipation was so widely spread, that Tiberius +despaired to check it by sumptuary laws, but he restrained +it all in his power. He was indefatigable in his vigilance. +For several years he did not quit the din and dust of the city +for a single day, and he lived with great simplicity, apparently +anxious to exhibit the ancient ideal of a Roman statesman. +He took no pleasure in the sports of the circus or +theatre, and was absorbed in the cares of office, as Augustus +had been before him. Augustus, however, was a man of +genius, while he was only a man of ability, and his great +defect was jealousy of the family of Germanicus, and the +favor he lavished on Sejanus, who even demanded the hand +of Livilla, the widow of Drusus,—a suit which Tiberius +rejected. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tiberius secludes himself in Capreæ. +Sejanus.</note> +Weariness of the cares of State, and the desire of repose, +at last induced Tiberius to retire from the city. He had +neither happiness nor rest. He quarreled with Agrippina, +the widow of Germanicus, and his temper was exasperated +by the imputations and slanders from which no monarch can +escape. His enemies, however, declared that he had no +higher wish than to exercise in secret the cruelty and libidinousness +to which he was abandoned. For eleven years he +ruled in the retirement of his guarded fortress, and +never again re-entered the city he had left in disgust. +But in this retirement, he did not relax his +vigilance in the administration of affairs, although his government +was exceedingly unpopular, and was doubtless +stained by many acts of cruelty. At Capreæ, a small island +near Naples, barren and desolate, but beautiful in climate +and scenery, the master of the world spent his latter years, +surrounded with literary men and soothsayers. I do not +<pb n="581"/><anchor id="Pg581"/> +believe the calumnies which have been heaped on this imperial +misanthrope. And yet, the eleven years he spent in his +retreat were marked by great complaints against him, and +by many revolting crimes and needless cruelties. He persecuted +the family of Germanicus, banished Agrippina, and +imprisoned her son, Drusus. Sejanus, however, +instigated these proceedings, and worked upon the +jealousy of the emperor. This favorite was affianced to Livilla, +the widow of Drusus, and was made consul conjointly +with Tiberius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His conspiracy and death.</note> +Tiberius penetrated, at last, the character of this ambitious +officer, and circumvented his ruin with that profound dissimulation +which was one of his most marked traits. Sejanus +conspired against his life, but the emperor shrank +from openly denouncing him to the Senate. He +used consummate craft in securing his arrest and execution, +the instrument of which was Macro, an officer of his bodyguard, +and his death was followed by the ruin of his accomplices +and friends. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Drusus. +Death of Tiberius. +His funeral.</note> +Shortly after the execution of Sejanus, Drusus, the son of +Agrippina, was starved to death in prison, and +many cruelties were inflicted on the friends of Sejanus. +Tiberius now began to show signs of insanity, and +his life henceforth was that of a miserable tyrant. His +career began to draw to a close, and he found himself, in his +fits of despair and wretchedness, supported by only three surviving +members of the lineage of Cæsar: Tiberius Claudius +Drusus, the last of the sons of Drusus, and nephew of the +emperor, infirm in health and weak in mind, and had been +excluded from public affairs; Caius, the younger son of +Germanicus, and Tiberius, the son of the second Drusus,—the +one, grand-nephew, and the other, grandson, of the +emperor. Both were young; one twenty-five, the other +eighteen. The failing old man failed to designate either as +his successor, but the voice of the public pointed out the son +of Germanicus, nicknamed Caligula. At the age of seventy-eight, +the tyrant died, unable in his last sickness to restrain +<pb n="582"/><anchor id="Pg582"/> +his appetite. He died at Misenum, on his way to Capreæ, +which he had quitted for a time, to the joy of the +whole empire; for his reign, in his latter years, +was one of terror, which caused a deep gloom to settle upon +the face of the higher society at Rome, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 37. The body +was carried to Rome with great pomp, and its +ashes were deposited in the mausoleum of the +Cæsars. Caius was recognized as his successor without opposition, +and he commenced his reign by issuing a general +pardon to all State prisoners, and scattering, with promiscuous +munificence, the vast treasures which Tiberius had +accumulated. He assumed the collective honors of the +empire with modesty, and great expectations were formed +of a peaceful and honorable reign. +</p> + +<p> +Caligula was the heir of the Drusi, grandson of Julia and +Agrippa, great-grandson of Octavius, of Livia, and of Antony. +In him the lines of Julia and Livia were united. His +defects and vices were unknown to the people, and he made +grand promises to the Senate. He commenced his reign by +assiduous labors, and equitable measures, and professed to +restore the golden age of Augustus. His popularity with +the people was unbounded, from his lavish expenditure for +shows and festivals, by the consecration of temples, and the +distribution of corn and wine. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Caligula. +His infamous pleasures. +Cruelty of Caligula.</note> +But it was not long before he abandoned himself to the +most extravagant debauchery. His brain reeled +on the giddy eminence to which he had been elevated +without previous training and experience. Augustus +fought his own way to power, and Tiberius had spent the +best years of his life in the public service before his elevation. +Yet even he, with all his experience and ability, could not +resist the blandishments of power. How, then, could a giddy +and weak young man, without redeeming qualities? He fell +into the vortex of pleasures, and reeling in the +madness which excesses caused, was soon guilty of +the wildest caprices, and the most cruel atrocities. He was +corrupted by flattery as well as pleasure. He even descended +<pb n="583"/><anchor id="Pg583"/> +into the arena of the circus as a charioteer, and the +races became a State institution. In a few months he +squandered the savings of the previous reign, swept away +the wholesome restraints which Augustus and Tiberius had +imposed upon gladiators, and carried on the sports of the +amphitheatre with utter disregard of human life. His extravagance +and his necessities led to the most +wanton murders of senators and nobles whose +crime was their wealth. The most redeeming features of the +first year of his reign were his grief at the death of his sister, +his friendship with Herod Agrippa, to whom he gave a +sovereignty in Palestine, and the activity he displayed in the +management of his vast inheritance. He had a great passion +for building, and completed the temple of Augustus, projected +the grandest of the Roman aqueducts, enlarged the +imperial palace, and carried a viaduct from the Palatine to +the Capitoline over the lofty houses of the Velabrum. But +his prodigalities led to a most oppressive taxation, which +soon alienated the people, while his senseless debaucheries, +especially his costly banquets, disgusted the more contemplative +of the nobles. He was also disgraced by needless +cruelties, and it was his exclamation: <q>Would that the +people of Rome had but one neck!</q> His vanity was preposterous. +He fancied himself divine, and insisted on divine +honors being rendered to him. He systematically persecuted +the nobles, and exacted contributions. He fancied himself, +at one time an orator, and at another a general; and absolutely +led an army to the Rhine, when there was no enemy +to attack. He married several wives, but divorced them +with the most fickle inconstancy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His madness and folly. +His assassination.</note> +It is needless to repeat the wanton follies of this young +man who so outrageously disgraced the imperial +station. The most charitable construction to be +placed upon acts which made his name infamous among the +ancients is that his brain was turned by his elevation to a +dignity for which he was not trained or disciplined—that +unbounded power, united with the most extravagant abandonment +<pb n="584"/><anchor id="Pg584"/> +to sensual pleasures, undermined his intellect. +His caprices and extravagance can only be explained by +partial madness. He had reigned but four years, and all +expectations of good government were dispelled. +The majesty of the empire was insulted, and assassination, +the only way by which he could be removed, freed +the world from a madman, if not a monster. +</p> + +<p> +There was great confusion after the assassination of Caius +Cæsar, and ill-concerted efforts to recover a freedom which +had fled forever, ending, as was to be expected, by military +power. The consuls convened the Senate for deliberation +(for the forms of the republic were still kept up), but no +settled principles prevailed. Various forms of government +were proposed and rejected. While the Senate deliberated, +the prætorian guards acted. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Claudius.</note> +Among the inmates of the palace, in that hour of fear, +among slaves and freed men, half hidden behind a curtain in +an obscure corner, was a timid old man, who was +dragged forth with brutal violence. He was no +less a personage than Claudius, the neglected uncle of the +emperor, the son of Drusus and Antonia, and nephew of +Tiberius, and brother of Germanicus. Instead of slaying the +old man, the soldiers, respecting the family of Cæsar, hailed +him, partly in jest, as imperator, and carried him to their +camp. Claudius, heretofore thought to be imbecile, and +therefore despised, was not unwilling to accept the dignity, +and promised the prætorians, if they would swear allegiance +to him, a donation of fifteen thousand sesterces apiece. The +Senate, at the dictation of the prætorians, accepted Claudius +as emperor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His efforts at reform.</note> +He commenced his reign, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 41, by proclaiming a general +amnesty. He restored confiscated estates, +recalled the wretched sisters of Caius, sent back to +Greece and Asia the plundered statues of temples which +Caius had transported to Rome, and inaugurated a <hi rend='italic'>régime</hi> +of moderation and justice. His life had been one of sickness, +neglect, and obscurity, but he was suffered to live because he +<pb n="585"/><anchor id="Pg585"/> +was harmless. His mother was ashamed of him, and his +grandmother, Livia, despised him, and his sister, Livilla, +ridiculed him. He was withheld from public life, and he +devoted himself to literary pursuits, and even wrote a history +of Roman affairs from the battle of Actium, but it gained +him no consideration. Tiberius treated him with contumely, +and his friends deserted him. All this neglect and contempt +were the effects of a weak constitution, a paralytic gait, and +an imperfect utterance. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The able administration of Claudius.</note> +Claudius took Augustus as his model, and at once a great +change in the administration was observable. +There was a renewed activity of the armies on the +frontiers, and great generals arose who were destined +to be future emperors. The colonies were strengthened +and protected, and foreign affairs were conducted with +ability. Herod Agrippa, the favorite of Caius, was confirmed +in his government of Galilee, and received in addition the +dominions of Samaria and Judæa. Antiochus was restored +to the throne of Commagene, and Mithridates received a +district of Cilicia. The members of the Senate were made +responsible for the discharge of their magistracies, and +vacancies to this still august body were filled up from the +wealthy and powerful families. He opened an honorable +career to the Gauls, revised the lists of the knights, and took +an accurate census of Roman citizens. He conserved the +national religion, and regulated holidays and festivals. His +industry and patience were unwearied, and the administration +of justice extorted universal admiration. His person +was accessible to all petitioners, and he relieved distress +wherever he found it. He relinquished the most grievous +exactions of his predecessors, and tenderly guarded neglected +slaves. He also constructed great architectural works, +especially those of utility, completed the vast aqueduct +which Caius commenced, and provided the city with provisions. +He built the port of Ostia, to facilitate commerce, +and drained marshes and lakes. The draining of the Lake +Fucinus occupied thirty thousand men for eleven years. +<pb n="586"/><anchor id="Pg586"/> +While he executed vast engineering works to supply the +city with water, he also amused the people with gladiatorial +shows. In all things he showed the force of the old Roman +character, in spite of bodily feebleness. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conquest of Britain.</note> +The most memorable act of his administration was the conquest +of South Britain. By birth a Gaul, being +born at Lugdunum, he cast his eyes across the +British channel and resolved to secure the island beyond as +the extreme frontier of his dominions, then under the +dominion of the Druids—a body of Celtic priests whom the +Romans ever detested, and whose rites all preceding emperors +had proscribed. Julius Cæsar had pretended to impose +a tribute on the chiefs of Southern Britain, but it was never +exacted. Both Augustus and Tiberius felt but little interest +in the political affairs of that distant island, but the rapid +progress of civilization in Gaul, and the growing cities on +the banks of the Rhine, elicited a spirit of friendly intercourse. +Londinium, a city which escaped the notice of +Cæsar, was a great emporium of trade in the time of Claudius. +But the southern chieftains were hostile, and jealous +of their independence. So Claudius sent four legions to +Britain, under Plautius, and his lieutenant, Vespasianus, to +oppose the forces under Caractacus. He even entered +Britain in person, and subdued the Trinobantes. But for +nine years Caractacus maintained an independent position. +He was finally overthrown in battle, and betrayed to the +Romans, and exhibited at Rome. The insurrection was suppressed, +or rather, a foothold was secured in the island, +which continued henceforth under the Roman rule. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Messalina.</note> +The feeble old man, always nursed by women, had the misfortune +to marry, for his third wife, the most infamous +woman in Roman annals (Valeria Messalina), under +whose influence the reign, at first beneficent, +became disgraceful. Claudius was entirely ruled by her. +She amassed fortunes, sold offices, confiscated estates, and +indulged in guilty loves. She ruled like a Madame de Pompadour, +and degraded the throne which she ought to have +<pb n="587"/><anchor id="Pg587"/> +exalted. The influence of women generally was bad in +those corrupt times, but her influence was scandalous and +degrading. +</p> + +<p> +Claudius also was governed by his favorites, generally men +of low birth—freedmen who usurped the place of statesmen. +Narcissus and Pallus were the most confidential of the +emperor's advisers, who, in consequence, became enormously +rich, for favors flowed through them, and received the great +offices of State. The court became a scene of cabals and +crimes, disgraced by the wanton shamelessness of the +empress and the venality of courtiers. Appius Silanus, one +of the best and greatest of the nobles, was murdered through +the intrigues of Messalina, to whose progress in wickedness +history furnishes no parallel, and Valerius Asiaticus, another +great noble, also suffered the penalty of offending her, and +was destroyed; and his magnificent gardens, which she coveted, +were bestowed upon her. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Agrippina. +Assassination of Messalina. +Marriage of Claudius with Agrippina.</note> +But Messalina was rivaled in iniquity by another princess, +between whom and herself there existed the deadliest +animosity. Thus was Agrippina, the daughter +of Germanicus, who had been married to Cn. Domitius +Ahenobardus, grandson of Octavia, and whose issue was the +future emperor Nero. The niece of Claudius occupied the +second place in the imperial household, and it became her +aim to poison the mind of her uncle against the woman she +detested, and who returned her hatred. She now leagued +with the freedmen of the palace to destroy her rival. An +opportunity to gratify her vengeance soon occurred. Messalina, +according to Tacitus, was guilty of the inconceivable +madness of marrying Silanus, one of her paramours, while +her husband lived, and that husband an emperor, which +story can not be believed without also supposing that Claudius +was a perfect idiot. Such a defiance of law, of religion, +and of the feelings of mankind, to say nothing of its folly, +is not to be supposed. Yet such was the scandal, and it +filled the imperial household with consternation. Callistus, +Pallas, and Narcissus—the favorites who ruled Claudius—united +<pb n="588"/><anchor id="Pg588"/> +with Agrippina to secure her ruin. The emperor, +then absent in Ostia, was informed of the shamelessness of +his wife. It was difficult for him to believe such a fact, but +it was attested by the trusted members of his household. +His fears were excited, as well as his indignation, and he +hastened to Rome for vengeance and punishment. Messalina +had retired to her magnificent gardens on the Pineian, +which had once belonged to Lucullus, the price of the blood +of the murdered Asiaticus; but, on the approach of the +emperor, of which she was informed, she advanced boldly to +confront him, with every appearance of misery and distress, +with her children Britannicus and Octavia. Claudius vacillated, +and Messalina retired to her gardens, hoping to convince +her husband of her innocence on the interview which +he promised the following day. But Narcissus, knowing +her influence, caused her to be assassinated, and the +emperor drowned his grief, or affection, or anger, +in wine and music, and seemingly forgot her. That Messalina +was a wicked and abandoned woman is most probable; +that she was as bad as history represents her, may be +doubted, especially when we remember she was calumniated +by a rival, who succeeded in taking her place as wife. It +is easier to believe she was the victim of Agrippina and the +freedmen, who feared as well as hated her, than +to accept the authority of Tacitus and Juvenal. +On the death of Messalina, Agrippina married her +uncle, and the Senate sanctioned the union, which was incest +by the Roman laws. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Infamy of Agrippina.</note> +The fourth wife of the emperor transcended the third in +intrigue and ambition, and her marriage, at the age of +thirty-three, was soon followed by the betrothal of her son, +L. Domitius, a boy of twelve, with Octavia, the daughter +of Claudius and Messalina. He was adopted by the emperor, +and assumed the name of Nero. Henceforth she labored for +the advancement of her son only. She courted the army +and the favor of the people, and founded the city on the +Rhine which we call Cologne. But she outraged the notions +<pb n="589"/><anchor id="Pg589"/> +and sentiments of the people more by her unfeminine usurpation +of public honors, than by her cruelty or her +dissoluteness. She seated herself by the side of +the emperor in military festivals. She sat by him at a sea-fight +on the Lucrine Lake, clothed in a soldier's cloak. She +took her station in front of the Roman standard, when +Caractacus, the conquered British chief, was brought in +chains to the emperor's tribunal. She caused the dismissal +of the imperial officers who incurred her displeasure. She +exercised a paramount sway over her husband, and virtually +ruled the empire. She distracted the palace with discords, +cabals, and jealousies. +</p> + +<p> +How the bad influence of these women over the mind of +Claudius can be reconciled with the vigilance, and the +labors, and the beneficent measures of the emperor, as generally +admitted, history does not narrate. But it was during +the ascendency of both Messalina and Agrippina, that Claudius +presided at the tribunals of justice with zeal and intelligence, +that he interested himself in works of great public +utility, and that he carried on successful war in Britain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Claudius.</note> +In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 54, and in the fourteenth of his +reign, Claudius, exhausted by the affairs of State, and also, +it is said, by intemperance, fell sick at Rome, and sought +the medicinal waters of Sinuessa. It was there that Agrippina +contrived to poison him, by the aid of Locusta, +a professed poisoner, and Xenophon, a physician, +while she affected an excess of grief. She held his +son Britannicus in her arms, and detained him and his sisters +in the palace, while every preparation was made to secure +the accession of her own son, Nero. She was probably +prompted to this act from fear that she would be supplanted +and punished, for Claudius had said, when wine had unloosed +his secret thoughts, <q>that it was his fate to suffer the crimes +of his wives, but at last to punish them.</q> She also was +eager to elevate her own son to the throne, which, of right, +belonged to Britannicus, and whose rights might have been +subsequently acknowledged by the emperor, for his eyes +<pb n="590"/><anchor id="Pg590"/> +could not be much longer blinded to the character of his +wife. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Character of Claudius.</note> +Claudius must not be classed with either wicked or imbecile +princes, in spite of his bodily infirmities, or +the slanders with which his name is associated. +It is probable he indulged to excess in the pleasures of the +table, like the generality of Roman nobles, but we are to +remember that he ever sought to imitate Augustus in his +wisest measures; that he ever respected letters when literature +was falling into contempt; that his administration was +vigorous and successful, fertile in victories and generals; +that he exceeded all his ministers in assiduous labors, and +that he partially restored the dignity and authority of the +Senate. His great weakness was in being ruled by favorites +and women; but his favorites were men of ability, and his +women were his wives. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ascension of Nero. +His early character.</note> +Nero, the son of Agrippina and Cn. Domitius Ahenobardus, +by the assistance of the prætorian guards, was now +proclaimed imperator, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 54, directly descended, +both on his paternal and maternal side, from Antonia +Major, the granddaughter of Antony and Domitius Ahenobardus. +Through Octavia, his grandmother, he traced his +descent from the family of Cæsar. The Domitii—the paternal +ancestors of Nero—had been illustrious for several hundred +years, and no one was more distinguished than Lucius +Domitius, called Ahenobardus, or Red-Beard, in the early +days of the republic. The father of Nero, who married +Agrippina, was as infamous for crimes as he was exalted for +rank. But he died when his son Nero was three years of +age. He was left to the care of his father's sister, Domitia +Lepida, the mother of Messalina, and was by her neglected. +His first tutors were a dancer and a barber. On the return +of his mother from exile his education was more in accordance +with his rank, as a prince of the blood, though not in +the line of succession. He was docile and affectionate +as a child, and was intrusted to the care +of Seneca, by whom he was taught rhetoric and moral philosophy, +<pb n="591"/><anchor id="Pg591"/> +and who connived at his taste for singing, piping, +and dancing, the only accomplishments of which, as emperor, +he was afterward proud. He was surrounded with +perils, in so wicked an age, as were other nobles, and, by +his adoption, was admitted a member of the imperial family—the +sacred stock of the Claudii and Julii. He was under +the influence of his mother—the woman who subverted Messalina, +and murdered Claudius,—who used every art and +intrigue to secure his accession. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>He gives promise of reigning wisely.</note> +When he mounted the throne of the Cæsars, he gave +promise of a benignant reign. His first speech to the Senate +made a good impression, and his first acts were +beneficent. But he ruled only through his mother, +who aspired to play the empress, a woman who +gave answers to ambassadors, and sent dispatches to foreign +courts. Burrhus, the prefect of the imperial guard, and Seneca, +tutor and minister, through whose aid the claims of Nero +had been preferred over those of Britannicus, the son of the +late emperor, opposed her usurpations, and attempted to +counteract her influence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>New developments in the character of Nero.</note> +The early promises of Nero were not fulfilled. He soon +gave vent to every vice, which was disguised by +his ministers. One of the first acts was to disgrace +the freedman, Pallas,—the prime minister of +Claudius,—and to destroy Britannicus by poison, which +crimes were palliated, if not suggested, by Seneca. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His ministers.</note> +The influence which Seneca and Burrhus had over the young +emperor, who screened his vices from the eyes of the people +and Senate, necessarily led to a division between +Nero and Agrippina. He withdrew her guard of +honor, and paid her only formal visits, which conduct led to +the desertion of her friends, and the open hostility of her +enemies. The wretched woman defended herself against the +charges they brought, with spirit, and for a time she escaped. +The influence of Seneca, at this period, was paramount, and +was exerted for the good of the empire, so that the Senate +acquiesced in the public measures of Nero, and no notice was +<pb n="592"/><anchor id="Pg592"/> +taken of his private irregularities. The empress mother +apparently yielded to the ascendency of the ministers, and +provoked no further trial of strength. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Poppæa Sabina. +Her vile character.</note> +Thus five years passed, until Nero was twenty-two, when +Poppæa Sabina, the fairest woman of her time, appeared upon +the stage. Among the dissolute women of imperial +Rome, she was pre-eminent. Introduced to the +intimacy of Nero, she aspired to still higher elevation, and +this was favored by the detestation with which Agrippina +was generally viewed, and the continued decline of her influence, +since she had ruled by fear rather than love. Poppæa +was now found intriguing against her, and induced Nero to +murder his own mother, to whose arts and wickedness he +owed his own elevation. The murder was effected in her +villa, on the Lucrine Lake, under circumstances of utter brutality. +Nero came to examine her mangled body, and coolly +praised the beauty of her form. Nor were her ashes even +placed in the mausoleum of Augustus. This wicked Jezebel, +who had poisoned her husband, and was accused +of every crime revolting to our nature, paid the +penalty of her varied infamies, and her name has descended +to all subsequent ages as the worst woman of antiquity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The infamies of Nero.</note> +With the murder of Agrippina, the madness and atrocities +of Nero gained new force. He now appears as a monster, +and was only tolerated for the amusements with +which he appeased the Roman people. He disgraced +the imperial dignity by descending upon the stage, +which was always infamous; he instituted demoralizing +games; he was utterly insensible to national sentiments and +feelings; he exceeded all his predecessors in extravagance +and follies; he was suspected of poisoning Burrhus, by whom +he was advanced to power; he executed men of the highest +rank, whose crime was their riches; he destroyed the members +of the imperial family; he murdered Doryphorus and +Pallas, because they were averse to his marriage with Poppæa; +he drove his chariot in the Circus Maximus, pleased +with the acclamations of two hundred thousand spectators; +<pb n="593"/><anchor id="Pg593"/> +he gave banquets in which the utmost excesses of bacchanalian +debauchery were openly displayed; he is said to have +kindled the conflagration of his own capital; he levied +oppressive taxes to build his golden palace, and support his +varied extravagance; he even destroyed his tutor and minister, +Seneca, that he might be free from his expostulations, +and take possession of the vast fortune which this philosopher +had accumulated in his service; and he finally kicked his +wife so savagely that she died from the violence he inflicted. +If it were possible to add to his enormities, his persecution of +the Christians swelled the measure of his infamies—the first +to which they had been subjected in Rome, and in which Paul +himself was a victim. But his government was supported +by the cruelty and voluptuousness of the age, and which has +never been painted in more vivid colors than by St. Paul +himself. The corrupt morality of the age tolerated all these +crimes, and excesses, and follies—an age which saw no great +writers except Seneca, Lucan, Perseus, and Martial, two of +whom were murdered by the emperor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conspiracies against him. +Flight of Nero. +Death of Nero.</note> +But the hour of retribution was at hand. The provinces +were discontented, and the city filled with cabals and conspiracies. +Though one of them, instigated by Piso, +was unsuccessful, and its authors punished, a revolt +in Gaul, headed by Galba—an old veteran of seventy-two, and +assisted by Vindex and Virginius, was fatal to Nero. The +Senate and the prætorian guards favored the revolution. +The emperor was no longer safe in his capital. Terrified by +dreams, and stung by desertion, the wretched tyrant +fled to the Servilian Gardens, and from thence to +the villa of one of his freedmen, near which he committed +suicide, at the age of thirty-six, and in the fourteenth year of +his inglorious reign, during which there are scarcely other +events to chronicle than his own personal infamies. <q>In him +perished the last scion of the stock of the Julii, refreshed in +vain by grafts from the Octavii, the Claudii, and +the Domitii.</q> Though the first of the emperors +had married four wives, the second three, the third two, +<pb n="594"/><anchor id="Pg594"/> +the fourth three, the fifth six, and the sixth three, yet Nero +was the last of the Cæsars. None of the five successors of +Julius were truly his natural heirs. They trace their lineage +to his sister Julia, but the three last had in their veins the +blood of Antony as well as Octavia, and thus the descendants +of the triumvir reigned at Rome as well as those of his rival +Octavius. We have only to remark that it is strange that +the Julian line should have been extinguished in the sixth +generation, with so many marriages. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="595"/><anchor id="Pg595"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XLIV. THE CLIMAX OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XLIV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XLIV.</head> +<head>THE CLIMAX OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.</head> + +<p> +On the extinction of the Julian line, a new class of emperors +succeeded, by whom the prosperity of the empire was +greatly advanced. We have now to fall back on Niebuhr, +Gibbon, and the Roman historians, and also make more use +of Smith's digest of these authors. But so much ground still +remains to go over, that we can only allude to salient points, +and our notice of succeeding emperors must be brief. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Galba.</note> +The empire was now to be the prize of successful soldiers, +and Galba, at the age of seventy-three, was saluted imperator +by the legions before the death of Nero, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 68, and +acknowledged by the Senate soon after. There is nothing +memorable in his short reign of a few months, and he was +succeeded by Otho, who only reigned three months, and he +was succeeded by Vitellius, who was removed by violent +death, like Galba and Otho. These three emperors +left no mark, and were gluttons and sensualists, +who excited nothing but contempt; soldiers of fortune—only +respectable in inferior rank. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Vespasian proclaimed emperor.</note> +On the first of July, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 69, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, +of humble family, arose, as general, to the highest honors of +the State, and was first proclaimed emperor at Alexandria, +at the close of the Jewish war, which he conducted to a +successful issue. A brief contest with Vitellius secured +his recognition by the Senate, and the first of the Flavian +line began to reign—a man of great talents and virtues. +On the fall of Jerusalem, his son Titus returned to +Rome, and celebrated a joint triumph with his +father, and the gates of the temple of Janus were shut,—the +<pb n="596"/><anchor id="Pg596"/> +first time since Augustus,—and universal peace was proclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His first acts. +Titus.</note> +One of the first acts of the new emperor was to purify the +Senate, reduced to two hundred members, soon followed +by the restoration of the finances. He +rebuilt the capitol, erected the temple of Peace, the new +forum, the baths of Titus, and the Coliseum. He extended +a generous patronage to letters, and under his reign Quintilian, +the great rhetorician, and Pliny, the naturalist, +flourished. It was in the ninth year of his reign that an +eruption of Vesuvius occurred, when Herculaneum and +Pompeii were destroyed, to witness which Pliny lost his life. +Vespasian had associated with himself his son Titus in the +government, and died, after a reign of ten years, exhausted +by the cares of empire; and Titus quietly succeeded him, but +reigned only for two years and a quarter, and was +succeeded by his brother, Domitian, a man of some +ability, but cruel, like Nero. He was ten years younger than +Titus, and was thirty years of age when proclaimed emperor +by the prætorians, and accepted by the Senate, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 81. At +first he was a reformer, but soon was stained by the most +odious vices. He continued the vast architectural works of +his father and brother, and patronized learning. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Domitian. +Conquest of Britain.</note> +It was during the reign of Domitian that Britain was +finally conquered by Agricola, who was recalled +by the jealousy of the emperor, after a series +of successes which gave him immortality. The reduction of +this island did not seriously commence until the reign of +Claudius. By Nero, Suetonius Paulinus was sent to Britain, +and under him Agricola took his first lessons of soldiership. +Under Vespasian he commanded the twentieth legion in +Britain, and was the twelfth Roman general sent to the +island. On his return to Rome he was made consul, +and Britain was assigned to him as his province, +where he remained seven years, until he had extended his +conquests to the Grampian Hills. He taught the Britons the +arts and luxuries of civilized life, to settle in towns, and to +<pb n="597"/><anchor id="Pg597"/> +build houses and temples. Among the foes he encountered, +the most celebrated was Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, on +the eastern coast, who led the incredible number of two +hundred and forty thousand against the Roman legions, but +was defeated, with the loss of eighty thousand,—some atonement +for the seventy thousand Romans, and their allies, who +had been slain at Londinium, when Suetonius Paulinus +commanded. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Persecution of Christians.</note> +The year of Agricola's recall, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 84, forms the epoch of +the undisguised tyranny which Domitian subsequently exercised. +The reign of informers and proscriptions recommenced, +and many illustrious men were executed +for insufficient reasons. The Christians were +persecuted, and the philosophers were banished, and +yet he received the most fulsome flattery from the poet +Martial. The tyrant lived in seclusion, in his Alban villa, +and was finally assassinated, after a reign of fifteen years, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 96. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nerva.</note> +On his death a new era of prosperity and glory was +inaugurated, by the election of Nerva, and for five +successive reigns the Roman world was governed +with virtue and ability. It is the golden era of Roman +history, praised by Gibbon and admired by all historians, +during which the eyes of contemporaries saw nothing but to +panegyrize. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Nerva.</note> +Marcus Cocceius Nerva was the great-grandson of a minister +of Octavius, and was born in Umbria. He was consul with +Vespasian, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 71, +and with Domitian, in <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 90, and was +far advanced in life when chosen by the Senate. The +public events of his short but beneficent reign are unimportant. +He relieved poverty, diminished the expenses of +the State, and set, in his own life, an example of republican +simplicity. But he did not reign long enough to +have his character tested. He died in sixteen +months after his elevation to the purple. His chief +work was to create a title for his successor, for he assumed +the right of adoption, and made choice of Trajan, without +<pb n="598"/><anchor id="Pg598"/> +regard to his own kin, then at the head of the armies of +Germany. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Trajan.</note> +The new emperor, one of the most illustrious that ever +reigned at Rome, was born in Spain, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 52, and +had spent his life in the camp. He had a tall and +commanding form, was social and genial in his habits, and +inspired universal respect. No better choice could have +been made. He entered his capital without pomp, unattended +by guards, distinguished only for the dignity of his bearing, +allowing free access to his person, and paying vows to the +gods of his country. His wife, Plotina, bore herself as the +spouse of a simple senator, and his sister, Marciana, exhibited +a demeanor equally commendable. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Dacian war. +Gladiatorial sports. +The Forum Trajanum.</note> +The great external event of his reign was the war against +the Dacians, and their country was the last which +the Romans subdued in Europe. They belonged +to the Thracian group of nations, and were identical with +the Getæ. They inhabited the country which was bordered +on the south by the Danube and Mœsia. They were engaged +in frequent wars with the Romans, and obtained a decided +advantage, in the reign of Domitian, under their king Decebalus. +The honor of the empire was so far tarnished as to +pay a tribute to Dacia, but Trajan resolved to wipe away the +disgrace, and headed himself an expedition into this distant +country, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 101, with eighty thousand veterans, subdued +Decebalus, and added Dacia to the provinces of the empire. +He built a bridge over the Danube, on solid stone piers, about +two hundred and twenty miles below the modern Belgrade, +which was a remarkable architectural work, four thousand +five hundred and seventy feet in length. Enough treasures +were secured by the conquest of Dacia to defray the expenses +of the war, and of the celebrated triumph which commemorated +his victories. At the games instituted in honor of this +conquest, eleven thousand beasts were slain, and +ten thousand gladiators fought in the Flavian Amphitheatre. +The column on which his victories were represented +still remains to perpetuate his magnificence, with its +<pb n="599"/><anchor id="Pg599"/> +two thousand five hundred figures in bas-relief, winding in a +spiral band around it from the base to the summit—one of +the most interesting relics of antiquity. Near this column +were erected the Forum Trajanum, and the Basilica +Ulpia, the former one thousand one hundred +feet long, and the basilica connected with it, surrounded with +colonnades, and filled with colossal statues. This enormous +structure covered more ground than the Flavian Amphitheatre, +and was built by the celebrated Apollodorus, of Damascus. +It filled the whole space between the Capitoline and +the Quirinal. The double colonnade which surrounded it +was one of the most beautiful works of art in the world. +</p> + +<p> +On the conquest of Dacia, Trajan devoted himself to the +internal administration of his vast empire. He maintained +the dignity of the Senate, and allowed the laws to take their +course. He was untiring in his efforts to provide for the +material wants of his subjects, and in developing the resources +of the empire, nor did he rule by oppressive exactions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Parthian expedition. +Death of Trajan.</note> +After seven years of wise administration, he again was +called into the field to extend the eastern frontier +of the empire. His efforts were directed against +Armenia and Parthia. He reduced the former to a Roman +province, and advanced into those Caucasian regions where +no Roman imperator had preceded him, except Pompey, +receiving the submission of Iberians and Albanians. To +overthrow Parthia was now his object, and he advanced +across the Tigris to Ctesiphon. In the Parthian capital he +was saluted as imperator; but, oppressed with gloom and +enfeebled by sickness, he did not presume to reach, as he had +aspired, the limits of the Macedonian conquest. He was too +old for such work. He returned to Antioch, sickened, +and died in Cilicia, August, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 117, after +a prosperous and even glorious reign of nineteen and a half +years. But he had the satisfaction of having raised the +empire to a state of unparalleled prosperity, and of having +extended its limits on the east and on the west to the farthest +point it ever reached. +</p> + +<pb n="600"/><anchor id="Pg600"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hadrian.</note> +Publius Ælius Hadrian succeeded this great emperor, and +was born in Rome <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 76, and was a son of the +first cousin of Trajan. He made extraordinary +attainments as a youth, and served honorably in the armies +of his country, especially during the Dacian wars. At +twenty-five he was quæstor, at thirty-one he was prætor, and +in the following year was made consul, for the forms of the +old republic were maintained under the emperors. He was +adopted by Trajan, and left at the head of the army at +Antioch at the age of forty-two, when Trajan died on his +way to Rome. He was at once proclaimed emperor by the +army, and its choice was confirmed by the Senate. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His warlike expeditions.</note> +He entered upon his reign with matured knowledge and +experience, and sought the development of the empire rather +than its extension beyond the Euphrates. He therefore +withdrew his armies from Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Parthia, +and returned to Rome to celebrate, in Trajan's name, +a magnificent triumph, and by employing the spoils of war +in largesses and remission of taxes. Averse to the extension +of the empire, he still aimed to secure its limits +from hostile inroads, and was thus led to repel +invasions in Dacia and Britain. He marched at the head of +his legions, bareheaded and on foot, as far as Mœsia, and in +another campaign through Gaul to the Rhine, and then +crossed over to Britain, and secured the northern frontier, by +a wall sixty-eight and a half miles in length, against the +Caledonians. He then returned to Gaul, passed through +Spain, crossed the straits to Mauritania, threatened by the +Moors, restored tranquillity, and then advanced to the frontiers +of Parthia. He then returned through Asia Minor, and +across the Ægean to Athens, and commenced the splendid +works with which he adorned the intellectual capital of the +empire. Before returning to Rome, he visited Carthage and +Sicily. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hadrian visits the provinces.</note> +Five years later, he made a second progress through the +empire, which lasted ten years, with some intervals, spent in +his capital, residing chiefly at Athens, constructing great +<pb n="601"/><anchor id="Pg601"/> +architectural works, and holding converse with philosophers +and scholars. During this period he visited Alexandria, +whose schools were rivaled only by those of +Athens, studying the fantastic philosophy of the +Gnostics, and probably examining the Christian system. He +ascended the Nile as far as Thebes, and then repaired to Antioch, +and returned to Rome through Asia Minor. In his +progress, he not merely informed himself of the condition of +the empire, but corrected abuses, and made the Roman rule +tolerable. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His public works.</note> +His remaining years were spent at Rome, diligently +administrating the affairs of his vast government, +founding libraries and schools, and decorating his +capital with magnificent structures. His temple of Venus +at Rome was the largest ever erected in the city, and his +mausoleum, stripped of its ornaments, now forms the Castle +of St. Angelo. Next to the Coliseum, it was the grandest +architectural monument in Rome. He also built a villa at +Tivoli, whose remains are among the most interesting which +seventeen centuries have preserved. +</p> + +<p> +This good emperor made a noble choice for his successor, +Titus Aurelius Antonius, and soon after died childless, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> +138, after a peaceful reign of twenty-one years, in which, +says Merivale, <q>he reconciled, with eminent success, things +hitherto found irreconcilable: a contented army and a peaceful +frontier; an abundant treasury with lavish expenditure; a +free Senate and stable monarchy; and all this without the +lustre of a great military reputation, the foil of an odious +predecessor, or disgust at recent civil commotions. He +recognized, in theory, both conquerors and conquered as one +people, and greeted in person every race among his subjects.</q> +He had personal defects of character, but his reign +is one of the best of the imperial series, and marked the +crowning age of Roman civilization. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Antonius Pius. +Death of Antonius. +His eulogy.</note> +Antonius Pius, his successor, had less ability, but a still +more faultless character. He sprung from the +ranks of the nobility; was consul in the third +<pb n="602"/><anchor id="Pg602"/> +year of Hadrian, and was prefect of Asia until his adoption, +when he took up his residence in Rome, and never left its +neighborhood during the remainder of his life. His peaceful +reign is barren of external events, but fruitful in the peace +and security of his subjects, and the only drawback in his +happiness was the licentious character of his wife, who bore +him two sons and two daughters. The sons died before his +elevation, but one of his daughters married M. Annius Verus, +whom he adopted as his successor, and associated with him +in the government of the empire. He died after a +reign of twenty-three years, and was buried in the +mausoleum of Hadrian, which he completed. His character +is thus drawn by his son-in-law and successor, Marcus Aurelius: +<q>In my father, I noticed mildness of manner with firmness +of resolution, contempt of vainglory, industry in business, +and accessibility of person. He knew how +to relax, as well as when to labor. From him I +learned to acquiesce in every fortune, to exercise foresight in +public affairs, to rise superior to vulgar praises, to worship the +gods without superstition, to serve mankind without ambition, +to be sober and steadfast, to be content with little, to be no +sophist or dreaming bookworm, to be practical and active, to +be neat and cheerful, to be temperate, modest in dress, and indifferent +to the beauty of slaves and furniture, not to be led +away by novelties, yet to render honor to true philosophers.</q> +What a picture of a heathen emperor, drawn by a pagan +philosopher!—the single purpose of ruling for the happiness +of their subjects, and realizing the idea of a paternal government, +and this in one of the most corrupt periods of Roman +society. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Marcus Aurelius.</note> +Marcus Aurelius, like Trajan and Hadrian, derived his +origin from Spain, but was born in Italy. His +features are the most conspicuously preserved in +the repositories of ancient art, as his name is the most honorably +enshrined on the pages of history—the noblest and most +august type of the ancient rulers of the world, far transcending +any Jewish king in the severity of his virtues, and +<pb n="603"/><anchor id="Pg603"/> +the elevation of his soul. His life was modeled on the strictest +discipline of the stoical philosophy, of which he was the +brightest ornament. He was nearly forty years of age on +the death of his father-in-law, although for twenty-three +years he had sat side by side with him on the tribunals of +the State. His reign, therefore, was virtually a long one, +and he was devoted to all the duties which his station imposed. +He was great as ruler, as he was profound as a +philosopher. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Invasion of the empire. +Death of Aurelius.</note> +It was under his illustrious reign that the barbarians +formed a general union for the invasion of the +Roman world, and struck the first of those fatal +blows under which the empire finally succumbed. We have +but little information of the long contest with Germans, Sarmatians, +Marcomanni, Quadi, and Alani, on the banks of the +Danube, who were pressed forward by the Scythian tribes. +They were repelled, indeed, but they soon after advanced, +with renovated forces, when the empire was weakened by +the miserable emperors who succeeded Aurelius. And although +this great prince commemorated his victory over the +barbarians by a column similar to that of Trajan, still they +were far from being subdued, and a disgraceful peace, which +followed his death, shows that they were exceedingly +formidable. He died at Sirmium, or Vindobona +(Vienna), exhausted by incessant wars and the cares +of State, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 180, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, and +twentieth of his reign. The concurrent testimony of historians +represents this emperor as the loftiest character that ever +wielded a sceptre among the nations of antiquity, although +we can not forget that he was a persecutor of the Christians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Commodus.</note> +His son, Commodus, succeeded him, and the thirteen years +of his inglorious reign are summed up in conflicts with the +Moors, Dacians, and Germans. Skillful generals, +by their successes, warded off the attacks of barbarians, +but the character and rule of the emperor resembled +that of Nero and Domitian. He was weak, cruel, pleasure-seeking, +and dissolute. His time was divided between private +<pb n="604"/><anchor id="Pg604"/> +vices and disgraceful public exhibitions. He fought as +a gladiator more than seven hundred times, and against +antagonists whose only weapons were tin and lead. He +also laid claim to divinity, and was addicted to debasing +superstitions. He destroyed the old ministers of his father, +and decimated the Senate. All who excited his jealousy, or +his covetousness, were put out of the way. He was poisoned +by his favorite mistress, Marcia, and the Senate set the brand +of infamy on his name. Thus perished the last of the line +of the Antonines, even as the Julian line was ended by the +assassination of Nero, and the Flavian by that of Domitian, +and the empire became once again the prize of the soldier, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A. D.</hi> 192. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="605"/><anchor id="Pg605"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XLV. THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XLV."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XLV.</head> +<head>THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Apparent prosperity.</note> +Able or virtuous princes had now ruled the Roman world, +with a few exceptions, from Julius Cæsar to Commodus, +a period of more than two hundred years. +Among these were some odious tyrants, or madmen, who +were removed by assassination. But some of these very +tyrants governed with ability, and such was the general +prosperity, such the wonderful mechanism of government for +which the Romans had a genius, that the general condition +of the world was better than at any preceding period. All +that government could do to preserve and extend civilization +was done, on the whole. Despotism was not signally oppressive, +and the <hi rend='italic'>regime</hi> of Augustus, of Vespasian, and +Hadrian was generally maintained. The Roman governors, +appointed by the emperors, ruled more wisely and beneficently +than in the time of the republic. Peace, security, and +law reigned, and, in consequence, the population increased, +civilization advanced, and wealth was accumulated. The +whole empire rejoiced in populous cities, in works of art, in +literary culture, and in genial manners. Society was pagan, +but attractive, and Rome herself was the resort of travelers, +the centre of fashion and glory, the joy and the pride of the +whole earth. There were no destructive wars, except on the +frontiers; all classes were secure, the face of nature was +cultivated and beautiful, and poets sung the praises of +civilization such as never existed but in isolated cities +and countries. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Great moral changes.</note> +But now we observe the commencement of a great and +melancholy change. Prosperity had led to vice, false security, +<pb n="606"/><anchor id="Pg606"/> +and pride. All classes had become corrupt. Disproportionate +fortunes, slavery, and luxury undermined +the moral health, and destroyed not only elevation +of sentiment but martial virtues. Literature declined +in spirit and taste, and was directed to frivolous subjects. +Christianity had not become a power sufficiently strong to +change or modify the corrupt institutions controlled by the +powerful classes. The expensive luxury of the nobles was +almost incredible. The most distant provinces were ransacked +for game, fish, and fowl for the tables of the great. +Usury was practiced at a ruinous rate. Every thing was +measured by the money standard. Art was prostituted to +please degraded tastes. There was no dignity of character; +women were degraded; only passing vanities made any +impression on egotistical classes; games and festivals were +multiplied; gladiatorial sports outraged humanity; the +descendants of the proudest families prided themselves +chiefly on their puerile frivolities; the worst rites of paganism +were practiced; slaves performed the most important +functions; the circus and the theatre were engrossing pleasures; +the baths were the resort of the idle and the luxurious, +who almost lived in them, and were scenes of disgraceful +orgies; great extravagance in dress and ornaments was +universal; the pleasures of the table degenerated to riotous +excesses; cooks, buffoons, and dancers received more consideration +than scholars and philosophers; everybody worshiped +the shrine of mammon; all science was directed to +utilities that demoralized; sensualism reigned triumphant, +and the people lived as if there were no God. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Preparations for violence.</note> +Such a state must prepare the way for violence, and when +external dangers came there were not sufficient virtues +to meet them. But the decline was gradual, +and dangers were still at a distance. Both nature and art +were the objects of perpetual panegyric, and the worldly and +sensual Romans dreamed only of a millennium of protracted +joys. +</p> + +<p> +The last experiment of a constitutional empire was succeeded +<pb n="607"/><anchor id="Pg607"/> +by undisguised military despotism, and no one now +desired or expected the restoration of the republic. The +Senate was servile and submissive, the people had no voice +in public affairs, and the prefects of the imperial guard +were the recognized lieutenants and often masters of the +emperors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pertinax and Julianus. +Severus.</note> +Pertinax succeeded to the sceptre of Commodus, a wise and +good man, and great hopes were entertained of a +beneficent reign, when they were suddenly blasted +by a sedition of the prætorians, only eighty-six days after +the death of Commodus, and these guards publicly sold the +empire to Didius Julianus, a wealthy senator, at the price +of one thousand dollars to each soldier. Such a bargain disgusted +the capital, and raised the legions in the provinces to +revolt. Each of the three principal armies set up their own +candidate, but L. Septimius Severus, who commanded +in Illyricum, was the fortunate one, and +was confirmed by the Senate. Didius Julianus was murdered +after a brief reign of sixty-six days, and the prætorians who +had created the scandal were disbanded. +</p> + +<p> +The reign of this general was able and fortunate, although +he was cruel and superstitious. His vigor prevented the +separation of the empire for a century; but he had powerful +rivals in Clodius Albinus, in Britain, and Pescennius +Niger, in Syria, both of whom he subdued. At Lyons it is +said that one hundred and fifty thousand Romans fought on +both sides, when Albinus was killed. The full of Niger at +the Hellespont insured the submission of the East, and the +victorious emperor penetrated as far as Ctesiphon, and +received the submission of Mesopotamia and Arabia. The +triumphal arch erected by him celebrated those military +successes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Vigorous rule of Severus.</note> +Having bestowed peace, and restored the dignity of the +empire, this martial prince established an undisguised +military despotism, and threw aside all +deference to the Senate. He created a new guard of prætorian +soldiers four times as numerous as the old, which were +<pb n="608"/><anchor id="Pg608"/> +recruited from the ranks of the barbarians, who thus began +to overawe the capital. The commander of this great force +was no less a man than the celebrated jurist, Papianus, and +he was the prime minister of the emperor. It was during +his reign that a violent persecution of the Christians took +place, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 200, which +called out the famous apology of Tertullian. +Severus died in Britain, to which he was summoned +by an irruption of Caledonians, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 211, having reigned +nineteen years, and with a vigor worthy of Trajan. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Caracalla and Geta.</note> +He left two sons, who are best known by the names of +Caracalla and Geta, and both of whom, in their +father's lifetime, had been raised to the dignity of +Augustus. The oldest son succeeded to the empire, and the +year after his elevation murdered his brother in his mother's +arms. He also executed Papinian, the prætorian prefect, +because he refused to justify the fratricide, together with +twenty thousand persons who were the friends of Geta. +After this wholesale murder he left his capital, and never +returned to it, spending his time in different provinces, which +were alternately the scene of his cruelty and rapine, a victim +of the foulest superstitions of the East, and arrogant and +vainglorious as he was savage. His tyranny became unendurable, +and he was murdered by an agent of the prætorian +prefect, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 217, Opilius Macrinus, who became the next +emperor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Macrinus.</note> +Macrinus was only elevated to the purple by promising +rich donations to the soldiers, for his rank was +only that of a knight. He undertook to restore +discipline in the army, and the licentious soldiery found a +new candidate for the empire in the person of Avitus, of the +family of Severus, a beautiful boy of seventeen, who officiated +as priest of the sun in Syria, and whose name in history, +from the god he served, is called Elagabalus, or Heliogabalus. +But Macrinus was at the head of a formidable force, +and fought his rival with bravery, but without success. +The battle was decided against him, and he was overtaken +in flight and put to death, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 218. +</p> + +<pb n="609"/><anchor id="Pg609"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Elagabalus. +His luxury.</note> +With Elagabalus is associated the most repulsive and +loathsome reign of all the emperors. He was +guilty of the most shameless obscenities, and the +most degrading superstitions. He painted and dressed himself +like an Oriental prince; he banqueted in halls hung with +cloth of gold, and enriched with jewels; he slept on mattresses +stuffed with down found only under the wings of +partridges; he dined from tables of pure gold; he danced +in public, arrayed in the garb of a Syrian priest; and he +collected in his capital all the forms of idolatry and all +the hideous abominations which even Grecian paganism +despised. This wretch, who insulted every consecrated +sentiment, was murdered after a reign of +little more than three years, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 222, and his body was +thrown into the Tiber, and his memory branded with infamy +by the Senate. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alexander Severus.</note> +The prætorians, who now controlled the State, offered the +purple to his cousin, Alexander Severus, grand-nephew +of Septimius Severus, an emperor who +adorned those degenerate times, and who resembled the +great Aurelius in the severity of his virtues. His prime +minister—the prefect of the prætorian guards—was the celebrated +Ulpian, the greatest of Roman jurists, and next to +him in dignity and power was the historian, Dion Cassius, +consul, governor in Africa, and legate in Dalmatia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>His labors.</note> +The great labors of Alexander Severus were to quell the +mutinous spirit of the prætorian guards, who +reveled in the spoil of the empire; to subdue the +Persians; and to repel barbarian inroads on the western +frontiers. It was while he was in Thrace that a young barbarian +of gigantic stature solicited permission to contend for +the prize of wrestling. Sixteen of the stoutest Roman soldiers +he successively overthrew, and he was permitted to enlist +among the troops. The next day he attracted the notice of the +emperor, and again contended successfully with seven of the +Roman champions, and received, at the hand of the emperor, +a gold collar and a place in the body-guard. He rose, step +<pb n="610"/><anchor id="Pg610"/> +by step, till appointed to discipline the recruits of the army +of the Rhine. He became the favorite of the army, and was +saluted as imperator. Severus fled to his tent, and was +assassinated, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 235. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Maximin. +His cruelties.</note> +The savage, Maximin, who now governed the empire, +ruled like a barbarian, as he was, disdaining all +culture, and hostile to all refinements. Confiscations, +exile, or death awaited the few illustrious men who +adorned the age. Only brute force was recognized +as a claim to imperial favor. The sole object +of Maximin was to secure the favor of the soldiers, barbarians +like himself, whom he propitiated with exorbitant donations, +extorted by fines and confiscations, and derived from +the sack of temples. He lived in the camp, and knew +nothing of the cities he ruled. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gordianus. +Death of Maximin. +Philip.</note> +Such outrages of course provoked rebellion, and M. Antonius +Gordianus, the proconsul of Africa, a descendant +of the Gracchi and of Trajan, distinguished +for wealth and culture, was proclaimed emperor, at the age +of eighty, who associated with him, in the government, his +son. The Senate confirmed the Gordians, who fixed their +court at Carthage, but Maximin suppressed the insurrection, +and proceeded to Rome to satisfy his vengeance. The +Senate, in despair, conferred the purple on two members +of their own body, Maximus, an able soldier, and Balbinus, +a poet and orator. The prætorians supported their +claims, and Maximin was assassinated in his tent, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 238. But the new emperors had scarcely +given promise of a wise administration, before they in turn +were assassinated by the prætorians, and Gordian, a grandson +of the first of that name, was elevated to the imperial +dignity. He, again, was soon murdered in a mutiny of the +soldiers, who elected Philip as his successor, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> +244. This emperor, whose reign was marked by the +celebration of the secular games with unwonted magnificence, +to commemorate the one thousand years since Rome +was founded, was put to death by the prætorian guards the +<pb n="611"/><anchor id="Pg611"/> +following year, and the dignity of Augustus was conferred +on Decius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Persecution of the Christians. +Ravages of the Goths.</note> +His reign is memorable for a savage persecution of the +Christians, and the victories of the Goths, who, in +the preceding reign, had penetrated to Dacia, and +conquered Mœsia. The next twenty years were mournful +and disgraceful. The emperor marched against these barbarians +in person, but was defeated by them in Thrace, and +lost his life at a place called Abrutum, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 251. The Goths +continued their ravages along the coasts of the Euxine, and +made themselves masters of the Crimea. They +then sailed, with a large fleet, to the northern parts +of the Euxine, took Pityus and Trapezus, attacked the +wealthy cities of the Thracian Bosphorus, conquered Chalcedon, +Nicomedia, and Nice, and retreated laden with spoil. +The next year, with five hundred boats, they pursued their +destructive navigation, destroyed Cyzicus, crossed the +Ægean, landed at Athens, plundered Thebes, Argos, Corinth +and Sparta, advanced to the coasts of Epirus, and devastated +the whole Illyrian peninsula. In their ravages they +destroyed the famous temple of Ephesus, and, wearied with +plunder, returned through Mœsia to their own settlements +beyond the Danube. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Successive emperors. +Gallienus.</note> +During this raid, the son of Decius, Hostilianus, reigned in +conjunction with Gallus, one of the generals of Decius, but +were put to death by Æmilianus, governor of +Pannonia and Mœsia, who had succeeded in +gaining a victory over the new and terrible enemy. He was +in turn overthrown by Valerianus—a nobleman of great distinction, +who signalized himself by considerable military +ability, and who associated with himself in the empire his son, +Gallienus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 253, whose frivolities were an offset to the +virtues of his father. Valerian was taken prisoner by Sapor, +king of Persia, and shortly after died, and the Roman world +relapsed under the sway of his son, and at a time of great +calamity, memorable for the successes of the Goths, and the +direst pestilence which had ever visited the empire. Gallienus—not +<pb n="612"/><anchor id="Pg612"/> +without accomplishments, but utterly unfit to +govern an empire in the stormy times which witnessed +the fierce irruptions of the Goths—was +slain by a conspiracy of his officers, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 268. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gothic invasions. +Defeat of the barbarians.</note> +The empire was now threatened by barbarians, and wasted +by pestilence, and distracted by rebellions and riots. It was +on the verge of ruin; but the ruin was averted for one +hundred years by a succession of great princes, who traced +their origin to the martial province of Illyricum. The first of +these emperors was Claudius, one of the generals of Gallienus, +and was fifty-four years of age when invested with the +purple. He led the armies of the waning empire against the +Alemanni, who had invaded Italy, and drove them beyond +the Alps. But a fiercer tribe of Germanic barbarians +remained to be subdued or repelled—those who had devastated +Greece—the Goths. They again appeared upon the +Euxine with a fleet, variously estimated from two +thousand to six thousand vessels, carrying three +hundred and twenty thousand men. A division of this vast, +but undisciplined force, invaded Crete and Cyprus, but the +main body ravaged Macedonia, and undertook the siege of +Thessalonica. Claudius advanced to meet them, and gained at +Naissus a complete victory, where fifty thousand of +the barbarians perished. A desultory war followed +in Thrace, Macedonia, and Mœsia, which resulted in the +destruction of the Gothic fleet, and an immense booty in +captives and cattle. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Aurelian. +Zenobia. +Palmyra. +Zenobia taken captive.</note> +Claudius survived this great, but not decisive victory, but +two years, and was carried off by pestilence, at Sirmiun, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> +270; but not until he had designated for his successor a still +greater man—the celebrated Aurelian, whose +father had been a peasant. Every day of his short +reign was filled with wonders. He put an end to the Gothic +war, chastised the Germans who invaded Italy, recovered +Gaul, Britain, and Spain, defeated the Alemanni, +who devastated the empire from the Po to the +Danube, destroyed the proud monarchy which Zenobia had +<pb n="613"/><anchor id="Pg613"/> +built up in the deserts of the East, took the queen captive, and +carried her to Rome, where he celebrated the most magnificent +triumph which the world had seen since the days of +Pompey and Cæsar. This celebrated woman, equaling Cleopatra +in beauty, and Boadicea in valor, and blending the +popular manners of the Roman princes with the stately pomp +of Oriental kings, had retired, on her defeat, to the beautiful +city which Solomon had built, shaded with palms, and ornamented +with palaces. There, in that Tadmor of the wilderness, +Palmyra, the capital of her empire, which +embraced a large part of Asia Minor, Syria, and +Egypt, she had cultivated the learning of the Greeks, and +the Oriental tongues of the countries she ruled, excelling +equally in the chase and in war, the most truly accomplished +woman of antiquity,—sprung, like Cleopatra, from the Greek +kings of Egypt. Among her counselors was the celebrated +Longinus—the most conspicuous ornament of the last age of +Greek classic literature, and a philosopher who taught the wisdom +of Plato. When Palmyra was taken by Aurelian, this +great man, who had stimulated Zenobia in her rebellion, was +executed, without uttering a word of complaint, together with +the people of the city, with remorseless barbarity, and the +city of Solomon became an inconsiderable Arab town. The +queen, who had fled, was pursued and taken, and +graced the magnificent triumph of the martial +emperor. The captive queen was made to precede the triumphal +chariot, on foot, loaded with fetters of gold, and +arrayed in the most gorgeous dress of her former empire. +She was not executed, but permitted to reside in the capital +in the state of princes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Triumph of Aurelian.</note> +This great and brilliant triumph—one of the last glories +of the setting sun of Roman greatness—seemed to +augur the restoration of the empire. The emperor +was sanguine, and boasted that all external danger had +passed away. But in a few months he was summoned to +meet new enemies in the East, and he was murdered by a +conspiracy of his officers, probably in revenge for the cruelties +<pb n="614"/><anchor id="Pg614"/> +and massacres he had inflicted at Rome. In one of his +reforms a sedition arose, and was quelled inexorably by the +slaughter of seven thousand of the soldiers, besides a large +number of the leading nobles. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tacitus.</note> +His sceptre descended to Tacitus, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 275, a descendant +of the great historian: a man, says Niebuhr, <q>who +was great in every thing that could distinguish a +senator; he possessed immense property, of which he made +a brilliant use; he was a man of unblemished character; he +possessed the knowledge of a statesman, and had, in his +youth, shown great military skill.</q> Scarcely was he inaugurated +as emperor before he marched against the Alans, a Scythian +tribe, who had ravaged Pontus, Cappadocia, Cilicia, and +Galatea. He, however, lost his life amid the hardships of +his first campaign, at the age of seventy-five, and after a +brief reign of six months. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Probus. +His warlike career.</note> +The veteran general, M. Aurelius Probus, the commander +of the Eastern provinces, was proclaimed emperor +by the legions, although originally of peasant rank. +He was forty-five years of age, and united the military +greatness of Aurelian with political prudence, in all respects +the best choice which could have been made, and one of +the best and greatest of all the emperors. His six years of +administration were marked by uninterrupted successes, and +he won a fame equal to that of the ancient heroes. He restored +peace and order in all the provinces; he broke the power +of the Sarmatians; he secured the alliance of the +Goths; he drove the Isaurians to their strongholds +among their inaccessible mountains; he chastised the rebellious +cities of Egypt; he delivered Gaul from the Germanic +barbarians; he drove the Franks to their morasses at the +mouth of the Rhine; he vanquished the Burgundians who +had wandered in quest of booty from the banks of the Oder; +he defeated the Lygii, a fierce tribe on the borders of Silesia; +he extended his victories to the Elbe, and erected a wall, +two hundred miles in length, from the Danube to the Rhine; +so that <q>there was not left,</q> says Gibbon, <q>in all the +<pb n="615"/><anchor id="Pg615"/> +provinces, a hostile barbarian, or tyrant, or even a robber.</q> +After having destroyed four hundred thousand of the barbarians, +he returned to his capital to celebrate a triumph, +which equaled in splendor that of Aurelian. He, too, fancied +that all external enemies were subdued forever, and +that Rome should henceforth rejoice in eternal peace. But +scarcely had the pæans of victory been sung by a triumphant +and infatuated people, when he was assassinated in a mutiny +of his own troops, whom he had compelled to labor in +draining the marshes around Sirmium, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 282. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carus.</note> +The soldiers, repenting the act as soon as it was done, +conferred the purple on the prætorian prefect, and +<emph>notified</emph> the Senate of its choice. And the choice +was a good one; and the new emperor, Carus, at sixty years +of age, conferring the title of Cæsar upon his two sons, +Carinus and Numerianus, whom he left to govern the West, +hastened against the Sarmatians, who had overrun Illyricum. +Successful in his objects, he advanced, in the depth of winter, +through Thrace and Asia Minor to the confines of Persia. +The Persian king, wishing to avert the storm, sent his ambassadors +to the imperial camp, and found the emperor +seated on the grass, dining from peas and bacon, in all the +simplicity of the early successors of Mohammed. But before +he could advance beyond the Tigris, his tent was struck +by lightning, and he was killed, on Christmas day, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 283. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carinus.</note> +Carinus and Numerian succeeded to the vacant throne. +The former, at Rome, disgraced his trust by indolence +and shameless vices; while the latter, in +the camp, was unfit, though virtuous, to control the turbulent +soldiers, and was found murdered in his bed the very day +that Carinus celebrated the games with unusual +magnificence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Diocletian.</note> +The army raised C. Valerius Diocletianus to the vacant +dignity, and his first act was to execute the murderer of +Numerian. His next was to encounter Carinus in battle, +who was slain, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 285, and Diocletian—perhaps the greatest +emperor after Augustus—reigned alone. +<pb n="616"/><anchor id="Pg616"/> +Diocletian is, however, rendered infamous in ecclesiastical +history, as the most bitter of all the persecutors of +the Christians, now a large and growing body; but +he was a man of the most distinguished abilities, though of +obscure birth, in a little Dalmatian town. He commenced +his illustrious reign at the age of thirty-nine, and reigned +twenty years,—more as a statesman than warrior,—politic, +judicious, indefatigable in business, and steady in his +purposes. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Important political changes.</note> +This emperor inaugurated a new era, and a new policy of +government. The cares of State in a disordered +age, when the empire was threatened on every +side by hostile barbarians, and disgraced by insurrections +and tumults, induced Diocletian to associate with himself +three colleagues, who had won fame in the wars of Aurelian +and Carus. Maximian, Galerius, and Constantine—one of +whom had the dignity of Augustus, and two that of Cæsar. +</p> + +<p> +Maximian, associated with Diocletian, with the rank of +Augustus, had been also an Illyrian peasant, and was +assigned to the government of the western provinces, while +Diocletian retained that of the eastern. Maximum established +the seat of his government at Milan, giving a death-blow +to the Senate, which, though still mentioned honorably +by name, was henceforth severed from the imperial court. +The empire had been ruled by soldiers ever since pressing +dangers had made it apparent that only men of martial virtues +could preserve it from the barbarians. But now the +most undisguised <emph>military</emph> rule, uninfluenced by old constitutional +form, was the only recognized authority, and the +warlike emperors, bred in the camp, had a disdain of the +ancient capital, as well as great repugnance to the enervated +prætorian soldiers, who made and unmade emperors, whose +privileges were abolished forever. Milan was selected for +the seat of imperial government, from its proximity to the +frontier, perpetually menaced by the barbarians; and this +city, before a mere military post, now assumed the splendor +of an imperial city, and was defended by a double wall. +</p> + +<pb n="617"/><anchor id="Pg617"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>New seat of government. +Oriental pomp of Diocletian.</note> +Diocletian made choice, at first, of Nicomedia, the old capital +of the Bithynian kings, as the seat of his Eastern government, +equally distant from the Danube and the +Euphrates. He assumed the manner and state of +an Oriental monarch. He wore a diadem set with pearls, +and a robe of silk and gold instead of the simple toga with +its purple stripe. His shoes were studded with precious +stones, and his court was marked by Oriental ceremonials. +His person was difficult of access, and +the avenues to his palace were guarded by various classes of +officers. No one could approach him without falling prostrate +in adoration, and he was addressed as <q>My lord the +emperor.</q> But he did not live in Oriental seclusion, and was +perpetually called away by pressing dangers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Galerius and Constantius.</note> +The Cæsars Galerius and Constantius were sent to govern +the provinces on the frontiers; the former, from his capital, +Sirmium, in Illyricum, watched the whole frontier +of the Danube; the latter spent his time in Britain. +Galerius was adopted by Diocletian, and received his +daughter Valeria in marriage; while Constantius was +adopted by Maximian, and married his daughter Theodora. +</p> + +<p> +The division of the empire under these four princes nearly +corresponded with the prefectures which Constantine subsequently +established, and which were deemed necessary to +preserve the empire from dissolution—a dissolution inevitable, +had it not been for the great emperors whom the necessities +of the empire had raised up, but whose ruin was only for a +time averted. Not even able generals and good emperors +could save the corrupted empire. It was doomed. Vice had +prepared the way for violence. The four emperors, who now +labored to prevent a catastrophe, were engaged in perpetual +conflicts, and through their united efforts peace was restored +throughout the empire, and the last triumph that Rome ever +saw was celebrated by them. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Persecution of Christians. +The reason of their persecution.</note> +Only one more enemy, to the eye of Diocletian, remained +to be subdued, and this was Christianity. But this enemy +was unconquerable. Silently, surely, without pomp, and +<pb n="618"/><anchor id="Pg618"/> +without art, the new religion had made its way, against +all opposition, prejudice, and hatred, from Jews and pagans +alike, and was now a power in the empire. The +followers of the hated sect were, however, from the +humble classes, and but few great men had arisen among +them, and even these were unimportant to the view of philosophers +and rulers. The believers formed an esoteric circle, +and were lofty, stern, and hostile to all the existing institutions +of society. They formed an <hi rend='italic'>imperium in imperio</hi>, but +did not aim, at this time, to reach political power. They +were scattered throughout the great cities of the empire, and +were ruled by their bishops and ministers. They did not +make war on men, but on their ideas and habits and customs. +They avoided all external conflicts, and contended +with devils and passions. But government distrusted and +disliked them, and sought at different times to exterminate +them. There had already been nine signal persecutions from +the time of Nero, and yet they had constantly increased in +numbers and influence. But now a more serious attack was to +be made upon them by the emperors, provoked, probably, by +the refusal of some Christians to take the military oath, and +serve in the armies, on conscientious principles: +but interpreted by those in authority as disloyalty +in a great national crisis. The mind of the emperor was +alienated; and both Galerius and Diocletian resolved that +a religion which seemed hostile to the political relations of +the empire, should be suppressed. A decree was issued to +destroy all the Christian churches, to confiscate their property, +to burn the sacred writings, to deprive Christians of +their civil rights, and even to doom them to death. The +decree which was publicly exhibited in Nicomedia, was torn +down by a Christian, who expressed the bitterest detestation +of the tyrannical governors. The fires which broke out in the +palace were ascribed to the Christians, and the command was +finally issued to imprison all the ministers of religion, and +punish those who protected them. A persecution which has +had no parallel in history, was extended to all parts of the +<pb n="619"/><anchor id="Pg619"/> +empire. The whole civil power, goaded by the old priests +of paganism, was employed in searching out victims, and all +classes of Christians were virtually tormented and murdered. +The earth groaned for ten years under the sad calamity, and +there was apparently no hope. But whether scourged, or +lacerated, or imprisoned, or burned, the martyrs showed +patience, faith, and moral heroism, and invoked death to +show its sting, and the grave its victory. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Retirement of Diocletian.</note> +The persecution of the Christians—this attempt to suppress +religion thought to be hostile to the imperial authority, and +not without some plausibility, since many Christians refused +to be enrolled in the armies, and suffered death sooner than +enlist—was the last great act of Diocletian. Whether wearied +with the cares of State, or disgusted with his +duties, or ill, or craving rest and repose, he took +the extraordinary resolution of abdicating his throne, at the +very summit of his power, and at the age of fifty-nine. He +influenced Maximian to do the same, and the two Augusti gave +place to the two Cæsars. The double act of resignation was +performed at Nicomedia and Milan, on the same day, May 1, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 305. Diocletian took a graceful farewell of his soldiers, +and withdrew to a retreat near his native city of Salonæ, on +the coast of the Adriatic. He withdrew to a magnificent +palace, which he had built on a square of six hundred feet, +in a lovely and fertile spot, in sight of the sea, and the +mountains, and luxurious plains. He there devoted himself +to the pleasures of agriculture, and planted cabbages with +his own hand, and refused all solicitations to resume his +power. But his repose was alloyed by the sight of +increasing troubles, and the failure of the system he had +inaugurated. If the empire could not be governed by one +master, it could not be governed by four, with their different +policies and rivalries. He lived but nine years in retirement; +but long enough to see his religious policy reversed, +by the edict of Milan, which confirmed the Christian religion, +and the whole imperial fabric which he had framed reversed +by Constantine. +</p> + +<pb n="620"/><anchor id="Pg620"/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The evils which flowed from it. +Death of Constantius.</note> +Confusion followed his abdication. Civil wars instead of +barbaric wasted the empire. The ancient heart +of the empire had no longer the presence of an +Augustus, and a new partition virtually took place, by which +Italy and Africa became dependencies of the East. Galerius—now +Augustus—assumed the right to nominate the +two new Cæsars, one of whom was his sister's son, who +assumed the name of Galerius Valerius Maximinus, to whom +were assigned Syria and Egypt, and the other was his faithful +servant, Severus, who was placed over Italy and Africa. +According to the forms of the constitution, he was subordinate +to Constantius, but he was devoted to Galerius. The +emperor Constantius, then in Boulogne, was dying, and his +son, Constantine, was at the court of Galerius. Though summoned +to the bedside of his father, Galerius sought to retain +him, but Constantine abruptly left Nicomedia, evaded Severus, +traversed Europe, and reached his father, who was just +setting out for Britain, to repel an invasion of the Caledonians. +He reached York only to die, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 306, and with his +last breath transmitted his empire to his son, and +commended him to the soldiers. Galerius was +transported with rage, but was compelled to submit, and +named Constantine Cæsar over the western provinces, who +was not elevated to the dignity of Augustus till two years +later. +</p> + +<p> +The elevation of Severus to supreme power in Italy by +Galerius, filled the abdicated emperor Maximian with indignation, +and humiliated the Roman people. The prætorians +rose against the party of Severus, who retired to Ravenna, +and soon after committed suicide. The Senate assumed their +old prerogative, and conferred the purple on Maxentius, the +son of Maximilian. Galerius again assumed the power of +nominating an Augustus, and bestowed the purple, made +vacant by the death of Severus, on an old comrade, Licinius, +originally a Dacian peasant. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Six emperors.</note> +Thus, there were six emperors at a time; Constantine, in +Britain; Maximian, who resumed the purple; Maxentius, +<pb n="621"/><anchor id="Pg621"/> +his son; Licinius Galerius, in the East; and Maximin, his +nephew. Maximian crossed the Alps in person, won +over Constantine to his party, and gave him his +daughter, Fausta, in marriage, and conferred upon him the +rank of Augustus; so, in the West, Maxentius and Constantine +affected to be subordinate to Maximian; while, in the +East, Licinius and Maximin obeyed the orders of their benefactor, +Galerius. The sovereigns of the East and West +were hostile to each other, but their mutual fears produced +an apparent tranquillity, and a feigned reconciliation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Civil wars.</note> +The first actual warfare, however, broke out between Maximian +and his son. Maxentius insisted on the +renewed abdication of his father, and had the support +of the prætorian guards. Driven into exile, he returned +to Gaul, and took refuge with his son and daughter, who +received him kindly; but in the absence of Constantine, he +seized the treasure to bribe his troops, and was holding communication +with Maxentius when Constantine returned from +the Rhine. The old intriguer had only time to throw himself +into Marseilles, where he strangled himself, when the city +was hard pressed by Constantine, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 310. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Galerius.</note> +In a year after, Galerius died, like Herod Agrippa, a prey +to loathsome vermin—morbus pediculosus, and his +dominions were divided between Maximin and +Licinius, each of whom formed secret alliances with Maxentius +and Constantine, between whom was war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Elevation of Constantine. +Successors of Constantine.</note> +The tyranny of Maxentius led his subjects to look to Constantine +as a deliverer, who marched to the relief +of the Senate and Roman people. He crossed the +Alps with forty thousand men. Maxentius collected a force +of one hundred and seventy thousand, to maintain which he +had the wealth of Italy, Africa, and Sicily. Constantine +first encountered the lieutenants of Maxentius in the plains +of Turin, and gained a complete victory, the prize of +which was Milan, the new capital of Italy. He was +advancing to Rome on the Flaminian way, before Maxentius +was aroused to his danger, being absorbed in pleasures. A +<pb n="622"/><anchor id="Pg622"/> +few miles from Rome was fought the battle of Saxa Rubra, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 312, between the rival emperors, at which Maxentius +perished, and Constantine was greeted by the Senate as the +first of the three surviving Augusti. The victory of Constantine +was commemorated by a triumphal arch, which still +remains, and which was only a copy of the arch of Trajan. +The ensuing winter was spent in Rome, during +which Constantine abolished forever the prætorian +guards, which had given so many emperors to the world. +In the spring Constantine gave his daughter Constantia in +marriage to Licinius, but was soon called away to the +Rhine by an irruption of Franks, while Licinius marched +against Maximin, and defeated him under the walls of +Heracles. Maximin retreated to Nicomedia, and was about +to renew the war, when he died at Tarsus, and Licinius +became master of the Eastern provinces. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conversion of Constantine. +Establishment of Christianity.</note> +There were now but two emperors, one in the East, and +the other in the West. Constantine celebrated the +restoration of tranquillity by promulgating at Milan +an edict in favor of universal religious toleration, and the +persecution of the Christians by the pagans was ended forever, +in Europe. About this time Constantine himself was +converted to the new religion. In his march against Maxentius, +it is declared by Eusebius, that he saw at noonday a +cross in the heavens, inscribed with the words, <q>By this +conquer.</q> It is also asserted that the vision of the cross was +seen by the whole army, and the cross henceforth became +the standard of the Christian emperors. It was called the +<hi rend='italic'>Labarum</hi>, and is still seen on the coins of Constantine, and +was intrusted to a chosen guard of fifty men. It undoubtedly +excited enthusiasm in the army, now inclined to accept +the new faith, and Constantine himself joined the progressive +party, and made Christianity the established religion of the +empire. Henceforth the protection of the Christian +religion became one of the cherished objects of his +soul, and although his life was stained by superstitions and +many acts of cruelty and wickedness, Constantine stands out +<pb n="623"/><anchor id="Pg623"/> +in history as the first Christian emperor. For this chiefly he +is famous, and a favorite with ecclesiastical writers. The +edict of Milan is an era in the world's progress. But he was +also a great sovereign, and a great general. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Renewed wars.</note> +The harmony between so ambitious a man and Licinius +was not of long duration. Rival interests and +different sympathies soon led to the breaking out +of hostilities, and Licinius was defeated in two great battles, +and resigned to Constantine all his European possessions, +except Thrace. The nine successive years were spent by +Licinius in slothful and vicious pleasures, while Constantine +devoted his energies to the suppression of barbarians, and the +enactment of important laws. He repulsed the Gothic and +Sarmatian hordes, who had again crossed the Danube, and +pursued them into Dacia; nor did the Goths secure peace +until they had furnished forty thousand recruits to the +Roman armies. This recruiting of the imperial armies from +the barbarians was one of the most melancholy signs of +decaying strength, and indicated approaching ruin. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Victory of Constantine over Licinius.</note> +In the year 323 a new civil war broke out between Constantine +and Licinius. The aged and slothful +Eastern emperor roused himself to a grand effort +and marshalled an army of one hundred and fifty +thousand foot and fifteen thousand horse on the plains of +Hadrianople, while his fleet of three hundred and fifty +triremes commanded the Hellespont. Constantine collected +an army of one hundred and twenty thousand men at Thessalonica, +and advanced to attack his foe, intrenched in a +strong position. The battle was decided in favor of Constantine, +who slew thirty-four thousand of his enemies, and +took the fortified camp of Licinius, who fled to Byzantium, +July, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 323. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Licinius.</note> +The fleet of Licinius still remained, and with his superior +naval force he might have baffled his rival. But fortune, or +valor, again decided in favor of the Western emperor, and +after a fight of two days the admiral of Licinius retired to +Byzantium. The siege of this city was now pressed with +<pb n="624"/><anchor id="Pg624"/> +valor by Constantine, and Licinius fled with his treasures to +Chalcedon, and succeeded in raising another army of fifty +thousand men. These raw levies were, however, powerless +against the veterans of Constantine, whom he led in person. +The decisive battle was fought at Chrysopolis, and Licinius +retired to Nicomedia, but soon after abdicated, and was banished +to Thessalonica. There he was not long +permitted to remain, being executed by order +of Constantine, one of the foul blots on his memory and +character. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Constantine reigns alone.</note> +The empire was now reunited under a single man, at the +cost of vast treasures and lives. The policy of +Diocletian had only inaugurated civil war. There +is no empire so vast which can not be more easily governed +by one man than by two or four. It may be well for empires +to be subdivided, like that of Charlemagne, but it is +impossible to prevent civil wars when the power is shared +equally by jealous rivals. It was better for the Roman +world to be united under Octavius, than divided between +him and Antony. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Foundation of Constantinople.</note> +On the fall of Byzantium, Constantine was so struck with +its natural advantages, that he resolved to make it +the capital of the empire. Placed on the inner of +two straits which connect the Euxine and the Ægean with +the Mediterranean, on the frontiers of both Europe and Asia, +it seemed to be the true centre of political power, while its +position could be itself rendered impregnable against any +external enemy that threatened the Roman world. The +wisdom of the choice of Constantine, and his unrivaled sagacity, +were proved by the fact, that while Rome was successively +taken and sacked by Goths and Vandals, Constantinople +remained the capital of the eastern Roman empire for +eleven continuous centuries. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Council of Nice. +Athanasius. +Theological discussion on the Trinity.</note> +The reign of Constantine as sole emperor was marked by +another event, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 325. which had a great influence +on the subsequent condition of the world in +a moral and religious point of view, and this was the famous +<pb n="625"/><anchor id="Pg625"/> +Council of Nicæa, which assembled to settle points of faith +and discipline in the new religion which was now established +throughout the empire. It is called the first Ecumenical, +or General Council, and was attended by three hundred and +eighteen bishops, with double the number of presbyters, +assembled from all parts of the Christian world. Here the +church and the empire met face to face. In this council the +emperor left the cares of State, and the command of armies, +to preside over discussions on the doctrine of the Trinity, as +expounded by two great rival parties,—one headed by +Athanasius, then archdeacon, afterward archbishop +of Alexandria—the greatest theologian that had as +yet appeared in the church,—and the other by Arius, a +simple presbyter of Alexandria, but a man of subtle and +commanding intellect. Arius maintained that the Son, the +second person of the Trinity, derived his being from the +Father within the limits of time, and was secondary to him +in power and glory. Athanasius maintained that the Son +was co-eternal with the Father, and the same in substance +with the Father. This theological question had long been +discussed, and the church was divided between the +two parties, each of which exhibited extreme acrimony. +Constantine leaned to the orthodox side, +although his most influential adviser, Eusebius, bishop of +Cæsarea, the historian, inclined to the Arian view. But the +emperor was more desirous to secure peace and unity, than +the ascendency of any dogma, and the doctrine of Athanasius +became the standard of faith, and has since remained the +creed of the church. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Assassination of Crispus. +The new capital.</note> +After the settlement of the faith of the church, now becoming +the great power of the world, the reign of Constantine +was disgraced by a domestic tragedy seldom paralleled +in history. His son, Crispus, by a low-born +woman, conspicuous for talents and virtues, either +inflamed the jealousy of his father, or provoked him by a +secret conspiracy. It has never been satisfactorily settled +whether he was a rival or a conspirator, but he was accused, +<pb n="626"/><anchor id="Pg626"/> +tried, and put to death, in the twentieth year of the reign, +while Constantine was celebrating at Rome the festival of +his <hi rend='italic'>vicennalia</hi>. After this bloody tragedy, for which he is +generally reproached, he took his final departure from Rome, +and four years after, the old capital was degraded to the rank +of a secondary city, and Constantinople was dedicated as the +new capitol of the empire. From the eastern +promontory to the Golden Horn, the extreme length +of Constantinople was three Roman miles, and the circumference +measured ten, inclosing an area of two thousand acres, +besides the suburbs. The new city was divided into fourteen +wards, and was ornamented with palaces, fora, and churches. +The church of St. Sophia was built on the site of an old temple, +and was in the form of a Greek cross, surmounted by a +beautiful and lofty dome. In a century afterward, Constantinople +rivaled Rome in magnificence. It had a capitol, a +circus, two theatres, eight public baths, fifty-two porticoes, +eight aqueducts, four halls, and fourteen churches, and four +thousand three hundred and eighty-three large palatial +residences. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>New divisions of the empire.</note> +After the building of this new and beautiful city, Constantine +devoted himself to the internal regulation of the empire, +which he divided into four prefectures, subdivided +into thirteen dioceses, each governed by vicars or +vice-prefects, who were styled counts and dukes. The provinces +were subdivided to the number of one hundred and +sixteen. Three of these were governed by proconsuls, thirty-seven +by consuls, five by correctors, and seventy-one by +presidents, chosen from the legal profession, and called +<hi rend='italic'>clarissimi</hi>. The prefecture of the East embraced the Asiatic +provinces, together with Egypt, Thrace, and the lower +Mœsia; that of Illyricum contained the countries between +the Danube, the Ægean, and the Adriatic; that of Italy extended +over the Alps to the Danube; and that of the Gauls +embraced the western provinces beyond the Rhine and the +Alps. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Changes in the army.</note> +The military power was separated from the civil. There +<pb n="627"/><anchor id="Pg627"/> +were two master-generals, one of infantry, and the other of +cavalry, afterward increased to eight, under whom +were thirty-five commanders, ten of whom were +counts, and twenty dukes. The legions were reduced from +six thousand to fifteen hundred men. Their number was +one hundred and thirty-two, and the complete force of the +empire was six hundred and forty-five thousand, holding five +hundred and eighty-three permanent stations. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The ministers.</note> +The ministers of the palace, who exercised different functions +about the presence of the emperor, were seven in number: +the prefect of the bed-chamber; a eunuch, who +waited on the emperor; the master of offices—the +supreme magistrate of the palace; the quæstor—at the +head of the judicial administration, and who composed the +orations and edicts of the emperor; the treasurer, and two +counts of domestics, who commanded the body-guard. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The bishoprics.</note> +The bishopric nearly corresponded with the civil divisions +of the empire, and the bishops had different ranks. +We now observe archbishops and metropolitans. +</p> + +<p> +The new divisions complicated the machinery of government, +and led to the institution of many new offices, which +greatly added to the expense of government, for which +taxation became more rigorous and oppressive. The old +constitution was completely subverted, and the emperor +became an Oriental monarch. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Constantine.</note> +Constantine was called away from his labors of organization +to resist the ambition of Sapor II., when he +died, at the age of sixty-four, at his palace near +Nicomedia, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 337, after a memorable but tumultuous +reign—memorable for the recognition of Christianity as a +State religion; tumultuous, from civil wars and contests +with barbarians. Constantinople, not Rome, became the +future capital of the empire. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="628"/><anchor id="Pg628"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc" level1="CHAPTER XLVI. THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE."/> +<index index="pdf" level1="CHAPTER XLVI."/> +<head type="sub">CHAPTER XLVI.</head> +<head>THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE.</head> + +<p> +After the death of Constantine, the decline was rapid, +and new dangers multiplied. Warlike emperors had staved +off the barbarians, and done all that man could do to +avert ruin. But the seeds of ruin were planted, and must +bear their wretched fruit. The seat of empire was removed +to a new city, more able, from its position, to withstand the +shock which was to come. In the strife between new and +hardy races, and the old corrupt population, the issue could +not be doubtful. The empire had fulfilled its mission. +Christianity was born, protected, and rendered triumphant. +Nothing more was wanted than the conversion of the barbarians +to the new faith before desolation should overspread +the world—and a State prepared for new ideas, passions, and +interests. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The heirs of Constantine.</note> +Constantine left three sons and two daughters, by Fausta, +the daughter of Maximian,—Constantine, Constantius, +Constans, Constantina, and Helena. The imperial +dignity was enjoyed by the sons, and the +youngest daughter, Helena, married the emperor Julian, +grandson of Constantius Chlorus. The three sons of Constantine +divided the empire between them. The oldest, at the +age of twenty-one, retained the prefecture of Gaul; Constantius, +aged twenty, kept Thrace and the East; while Constans, +the youngest, at the age of seventeen, added the Italian prefecture +with Greece. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Constantius.</note> +The ablest of these princes was Constantius, on whom fell +the burden of the Persian war, and which ultimately +ended on the defeat of Julian, in Sapor +<pb n="629"/><anchor id="Pg629"/> +wresting from the emperor all the countries beyond the +Euphrates. +</p> + +<p> +Constantine II. was dissatisfied with his share of the empire, +and compelled Constans to yield up Africa, but was slain +in an expedition beyond the Julian Alps, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 340. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Constans.</note> +Constans held the empire of the West for ten years, during +which he carried on war with the Franks, upon the +Rhine, and with the Scots and Picts. His vices +were so disgraceful that a rebellion took place, under Magnentius, +who slew Constans, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 350, and reigned in his +stead, the seat of his government being Treves. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>War with Magnentius.</note> +Constantius II. made war on the usurper, Magnentius, a +rough barbarian, and finally defeated him on the +banks of the Danube, where fifty-four thousand men +perished in battle, soon after which the usurper killed himself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Athanasius.</note> +Constantius, by the death of his brother, and overthrow +of Magnentius, was now sole master of the empire, and +through his permission Athanasius was restored to the arch-bishopric +of Alexandria, but was again removed, the emperor +being an Arian. This second removal raised a tumult in +Alexandria, and he was allowed to return to his see, +where he lived in peace until he died, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 372—the +great defender of the orthodox creed, which finally was +established by councils and the emperors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Wars of Constantius.</note> +The emperor Constantius was engaged in successive wars +with the barbarians,—with the Persians on the East, +the Sarmatians on the Danube, and the Franks and +Alemanni, on the Rhine. During these wars, his brother-in-law, +Julian, was sent to the West with the title of Cæsar, +where he restored order, and showed signal ability. On the +death of Constantius, he was recognized as emperor without +opposition, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 361. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Julian.</note> +Julian is generally called the Apostate, since he proclaimed +a change in the established religion, but tolerated +Christianity. He was a Platonic philosopher—a +man of great virtue and ability, whose life was unstained by +vices. But his attempt to restore paganism was senseless +<pb n="630"/><anchor id="Pg630"/> +and ineffectual. As a popular belief, paganism had expired. +His character is warmly praised by Gibbon, and commended +by other historians. He struggled against the spirit of his +age, and was unsuccessful. He was worthy of the best ages +of the empire in the exercise of all pagan virtues—the true +successor of Hadrian and the Antonines. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Julian. +Jovian.</note> +He was also a great general, and sought to crush the +power of the Persian kings and make Babylonia a +Roman province. Here, too, he failed, although +he gained signal successes. He was mortally wounded while +effecting a retreat from the Tigris, after a short reign of +twenty months. With him ended the house of Constantine. +The empire was conferred by the troops on Flavius Claudius +Jovianus, chief of the imperial household, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 363—a +man of moderate talents and good intentions, +but unfit for such stormy times. He restored Christianity, +which henceforth was the national religion. He died the +following year, and was succeeded by Flavius Valentinianus, +the son of Count Gratian, a general who had arisen from +obscurity in Pannonia, to the command of Africa and +Britain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Valentinian. +Barbaric invasions.</note> +Valentinian was forty-four years of age when he began to +reign, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 364, a man of noble character and +person, and in a month associated his brother +Flavius Valens with him in the government of the empire. +Valentinian kept the West, and conferred the East on Valens. +Thus was the empire again formally divided, and was not +reunited until the reign of Theodosius. Valentinian chose +the post of danger, rather than of pleasure and luxury, for +the West was now invaded by various tribes of the Germanic +race. The Alemanni were powerful on the Rhine; the +Saxons were invading Britain; the Burgundians +were commencing their ravages in Gaul; and the +Goths were preparing for another inroad. The emperor, +whose seat of power was Milan, was engaged in perpetual, +but indecisive conflicts. He reigned with vigor, and repressed +the barbarians. He bestowed the title of Augustus on his +<pb n="631"/><anchor id="Pg631"/> +son Gratian, and died in a storm of wrath by the bursting +of a blood-vessel, while reviling the ambassadors of the +Quadi, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 375. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Valens.</note> +The emperor Valens, at Constantinople, was exposed to +no less dangers, without the force to meet them. +The great nation of the Goths, who had been at +peace with the empire for a generation, resumed their hostilities +upon the Danube. Hermanneric, the first historic name +among these fierce people, had won a series of brilliant victories +over other barbarians, after he was eighty years of +age. His dominions extended from the Danube to the +Baltic, and embraced the greater part of Germany and +Scythia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gothic invasion. +Death of Valens. +Ravages of the Goths.</note> +But the Goths were invaded by a fierce race of barbarians, +more savage than themselves, from the banks +of the Don, called Scythians, or Huns, of Sclavonic +origin. Pressed by this new enemy, they sought shelter in +the Roman territory. Instead of receiving them as allies, the +emperor treated them as enemies. Hostages from the flower +of their youth were scattered through the cities of Asia +Minor, while the corrupt governors of Thrace annoyed them +by insults and grievances. The aged Hermanneric, exasperated +by misfortune, made preparations for a general war, +while Sarmatians, Alans, and Huns united with them. After +three indecisive campaigns, the emperor Valens advanced to +attack their camp near Hadrianople, defended by Fritagern. +Under the walls of this city was fought the most bloody +and disastrous battle which Rome ever lost, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 378. Two-thirds +of the imperial army was destroyed, the +emperor was slain, and the remainder fled in consternation. +Sixty thousand infantry and six thousand +cavalry lay dead upon the fatal field. The victors, intoxicated +with their success, invested Hadrianople, but were +unequal to the task, being inexperienced in sieges. Laden +with spoil, they retired to the western boundaries of Thrace. +From the shores of the Bosphorus to the Julian Alps, nothing +was seen but conflagration, murder, and devastation. So +<pb n="632"/><anchor id="Pg632"/> +great were the misfortunes of the Illyrian provinces, that they +never afterward recovered. Churches were turned +into stables, palaces were burned, works of art +were destroyed, the relics of martyrs were desecrated, the +population decimated, and the provinces were overrun. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Theodosius.</note> +In this day of calamity a hero and deliverer was needed. +The feeble Gratian, who ruled in the West, cast his eyes +upon an exile, whose father, an eminent general, had been +unjustly murdered by the emperor Valentinian. +This man was Theodosius, then living in modest +retirement on his farm near Valladolid, in Spain, as unambitious +as David among his sheep, as contented as Cincinnatus +at the plow. Even Gibbon does not sneer at this great +Christian emperor, who revived for a while the falling +empire. He accepted the sceptre of Valens, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 370, and +the conduct of the Gothic war, being but thirty-three years +of age. One of the greatest of all the emperors, and the last +great man who swayed the sceptre of Trajan, his ancestor, +he has not too warmly been praised by the Church, whose +defender he was—the last flickering light of an expiring +monarchy,—although his character has been assailed by +modern critics of great respectability. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Successes over the Goths.</note> +As soon as he was invested with the purple, he took up his +residence in Thessalonica, and devoted his energies +to the task assigned him by the necessities of the +empire. He succeeded in putting a stop to the progress of +the Goths, disarmed them by treaties, and allowed them to +settle on the right bank of the Danube, within the limits of +the empire. He invited the aged Athanaric to his capital +and table, who was astonished by his riches and glory. +Peace was favored by the death of Fritagern, and forty thousand +Goths were received as soldiers of the empire,—an +impolitic act. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Uphilas.</note> +At this period the Goths settled in Mœsia were visited by +Uphilas, a Christian missionary and Arian bishop, +who translated the Bible, and had great success in +the conversion of the barbarians to a nominal faith. This is +<pb n="633"/><anchor id="Pg633"/> +the earliest instance of the reception of the new faith by the +Germanic races. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gratian. +Valentinian II.</note> +While Theodosius was restoring the eastern empire, Gratian +relapsed into indolent pleasures at Milan, +which provoked a revolution. Maximus was proclaimed +emperor by the legions in Britain, and invaded Gaul. +Gratian fled, with a retinue of three hundred horse, and was +overtaken and slain. Theodosius recognized the claims of +the usurper, unwilling to waste the blood of the enfeebled +soldiers in a new civil war, provided that Italy and Africa +were secured to Valentinian II., the younger brother +of Gratian. The young emperor made himself unpopular +by espousing Arianism, and for being governed by his +mother Justina, and four years after was obliged to flee to +Thessalonica, on an invasion of Italy by Maximus, and invoke +the aid of Theodosius, who responded to his call, won by the +charms of the princess Galla, whom he married. Maximus +was defeated, put to death, and Valentinian II. was replaced +upon his throne. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ambrose. +Penance of Theodosius.</note> +It was when Maximus was triumphant in Gaul that the +celebrated Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, was sent +to the usurper's camp to demand the dead body +of the murdered Gratian. But this intrepid prelate made +himself still more famous for his defense of orthodoxy against +the whole power of Valentinian II. and his mother. He is +also immortalized for the chastisement he inflicted upon +Theodosius himself for the slaughter of Thessalonica. The +emperor was in Milan when intelligence arrived of a sedition +in the city, caused by factions of the circus, during which +Boderic, the commander of the imperial troops, was killed. +This outrage was revenged by the wanton massacre of seven +thousand people. The news of this barbarity filled Ambrose +with horror, and he wrote a letter to the emperor, which led +to his repentance; but as he was about to enter the basilica, +the prelate met him at the door, and refused admission +until he had expiated his crime by a rigorous +penance, and the emperor submitted to the humiliation—an +<pb n="634"/><anchor id="Pg634"/> +act of submission to the Church which was much admired—an +act of ecclesiastical authority which formed a precedent +for the heroism of Hildebrand. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Theodosius defends the church.</note> +Under the influence of the clergy, now a great power, +Theodosius the same year promulgated an edict +for the suppression of all acts of pagan worship, +private and public, under heavy penalties, and the Church, +in turn, became persecuting. At this lime the corruption +of the Church made rapid progress. Pretended miracles, +pious frauds, the worship of saints, veneration of relics, +ascetic severities, monastic superstitions, the pomp of bishops, +and a secular spirit marked the triumph of Christianity over +paganism. The Church was united to the State, and the +profession of the new faith was made a necessary qualification +for the enjoyment of civil rights. But the Church was +now distinguished for great men, who held high rank, theologians, +and bishops, like Augustine, Ambrose, Chrysostom, +Gregory, Nazianzin, Basil, Eusebius, and Martin of Tours. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Theodosius. +Arcadius and Honorius.</note> +Theodosius died in Milan, in the arms of Ambrose, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> +395, and with him the genius of Rome expired, +and the real drama of the fall of the empire began. +He was succeeded by his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, +the one in the East and the other in the West, the former +being under the tutelage of Rufinus, the latter +under the care of Stilicho, master-general of the +armies. Both emperors were unworthy or unequal to maintain +their inheritances. The barbarians gained fresh courage +from the death of Theodosius, and recommenced their ravages. +The soldiers of the empire were dispirited and enervated, +and threw away their defensive armor. They even +were not able to bear the weight of the cuirass and helmet, +and the heavy weapons of their ancestors were exchanged +for the bow. Thus they were exposed to the deadly missiles +of their enemies, and fled upon the approach of danger. +Gainas the Goth, who commanded the legions, slew Rufinus +in the presence of Arcadius, who abandoned himself at Constantinople +to the influence of the eunuch Eutropius, most +<pb n="635"/><anchor id="Pg635"/> +celebrated for introducing Chrysostom to the court. The +eunuch minister soon after was murdered in a tumult, and +Arcadius was then governed by his wife Eudoxia, who +secured the banishment of Chrysostom. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Final division of the empire.</note> +The empire was now finally divided. A long succession +of feeble princes reigned in the East, ruled by favorites and +women, at whose courts the manners and customs +of Oriental kings were introduced. The Eastern +empire now assumes the character of an Eastern monarchy, +and henceforth goes by the name of the Greek empire, at +first, embracing those countries bounded by the Adriatic and +Tigris, but gradually narrowed to the precincts of Constantinople. +It lasted for one thousand years longer, before it +was finally subdued by the Turks. The history of the +Greek empire properly belongs to the mediæval ages. It is +our object to trace the final fall of the Western empire. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alaric. +Defeat of the Goths. +Stilicho.</note> +Under Honorius, the Visigoths, ruled by Alaric, appear in +history as a great and warlike people. Stilicho, +the general of Honorius, encountered them unsuccessfully +in two campaigns, in Macedonia and Thessaly, and +the degenerate cities of Greece purchased their preservation +at an enormous ransom. In the year 402, Alaric crossed the +Alps, and Honorius fled to the marshes of Ravenna, where, +protected by the shallow sea, the Western emperors a long +time resided. Stilicho gained, however, a great +victory over the Goths at Pollentia, near Turin, +and arrested the march of Alaric upon Rome. The defeated +Goth rose, however, superior to this defeat, celebrated by the +poet Claudian, as the greatest victory which Rome had ever +achieved. He escaped with the main body of his cavalry, +broke through the passes of the Apennines, spread devastation +on the fruitful fields of Tuscany, resolved to risk +another battle for the great prize he aimed to secure, even +imperial Rome. But Stilicho purchased the retreat +of the Goths by a present of forty thousand +pounds of gold. The departure of Alaric from Italy, which +he had ravaged, was regarded by the Roman people as a +<pb n="636"/><anchor id="Pg636"/> +complete and final deliverance, and they abandoned themselves +to absurd rejoicings and gladiatoral shows. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Successive barbaric irruptions. +Loss of Gaul to the empire.</note> +But scarcely was Italy delivered from the Goths before an +irruption of Vandals, Suevi, and Burgundians, under the +command of Rodogast, or Rhadagast, two hundred +thousand in number, issued from the coast of the +Baltic, crossed the Vistula, the Alps, and the Apennines, +ravaged the northern cities of Italy, and laid siege to Florence. +The victor of Pollentia appeared for the rescue with +the last army which the empire could raise, surrounded the +enemy with strong intrenchments, and forced them to retire. +Stilicho again delivered Italy, but one hundred thousand +barbarians remained in arms between the Alps and the Apennines, +who crossed into Gaul, then the most +cultivated of the Western provinces, and completely +devastated its fields, and villas, and cities. Mentz +was destroyed; Worms fell, after an obstinate siege; Strasburg, +Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras, and Amiens, all fell +under the German yoke, and Gaul was finally separated from +the empire. The Vandals, Sueves, and Alans, passed into +Spain, while the Burgundians remained behind, masters of +the mountainous regions of Eastern Gaul, to which was given +the name of Burgundy, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 409. +</p> + +<p> +The troubles of the empire led to the final withdrawal of +the legions from Britain about the time that Gaul was lost, +and about forty years before the conquest of the island by +the Saxons. +</p> + +<p> +Italy, for a time delivered, forgot the services of Stilicho, +the only man capable of defending her. The jealousy of the +timid emperor he served, and the frivolous Senate which he +saved, removed for ever the last hope of Rome. This able +general was assassinated at Ravenna, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 408. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alaric advances to Rome.</note> +The Gothic king, in his distant camp, beheld with joy the +intrigues and factions which deprived the emperor of his +best and last defender, and prepared for a new invasion +of Italy. He descended like an avalanche +upon the plains of Italy, and captured the cities of Aquileia, +<pb n="637"/><anchor id="Pg637"/> +Concordia, and Cremona. He then ravaged the coasts of +the Adriatic, and following the Flaminian way, crossed the +Appennines, devastated Umbria, and reached, without obstruction, +the city which for six hundred years had not seen +a foreign enemy at her gates. Rome still contained within +her walls, twenty-three miles in circuit, a vast population, +but she had no warriors. She could boast of a long line of +senatorial families, one thousand seven hundred and eighty +palaces, and two million of people, together with the spoil +of the ancient world, immense riches, and innumerable works +of art; but where were her defenders? It is a sad proof of +the degeneracy of the people that they were incapable of +defense. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Siege of Rome. +Heavy tribute imposed on Rome. +Alaric master-general.</note> +Alaric made no effort to storm the city, but quietly sat +down, and inclosed the wretched inhabitants with a cordon +through which nothing could force its way. He +cut off all communication with the country and +the sea, and commanded the gates. Famine, added to pestilence, +did the work of soldiers. Despair seized the haughty +and effeminate citizens, who invoked the clemency of the +barbarians. He derided the ambassadors, and insulted them +with rude and sarcastic jokes. <q>The thicker the hay, the +easier it is mowed,</q> replied he, when warned not to drive +the people to despair. He condescended to spare +the lives of the people on condition that they gave +up <emph>all</emph> their gold and silver, <emph>all</emph> their precious movables, and +<emph>all</emph> their slaves of barbaric birth. More moderate terms +were afterward granted, but the victor did not retreat until +he had loaded his wagons with precious spoil. He retired +to the fertile fields of Tuscany, to make negotiations with +Honorius, intrenched at Ravenna; and it was only on the +condition of being appointed master-general of the imperial +army, with an annual subsidy of corn and money, +the free possession of Dalmatia, Noricum, and +Venetia, that he consented to peace with the emperor. These +terms were disregarded, and the indignant barbarian once +again turned his face to the city he had spared. He took +<pb n="638"/><anchor id="Pg638"/> +possession of Ostia, and Rome was at his mercy, since her +magazines were in his hands. Again the Senate, fearful of +famine, consented to the demands of the conqueror. He +nominated Atticus, prefect of the city, as emperor, and from +him received the commission of master-general of the armies +of the West. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sack of Rome.</note> +Atticus, after a brief reign, was degraded, and negotiations +were opened with Honorius. Repelled by fresh insults, +which can not be comprehended other than from that infatuation +which is sent upon the doomed, Alaric, vindictive and +indignant, once more set out for Rome, resolved on plunder +and revenge. In vain did the nobles organize a defense. +Cowardice or treachery opened the Salarian gate. In the +dead of night the Goths entered the city, which now was the +prey of soldiers. For five days and five nights the +<q>Eternal City</q> was exposed to every barbarity +and license, and only the treasures accumulated and deposited +in the churches of St. Paul and St. Peter were saved. +A cruel slaughter of the citizens added to the miseries of +a sack. Forty thousand slaves were let loose upon the +people. The matrons and women of Rome were exposed +to every indignity. The city was given up to pillage. +The daughters and wives of senatorial families were +made slaves. Italian fugitives thronged the shores of +Africa and Syria, begging daily bread. The whole world +was filled with consternation. The news of the capture of +Rome made the tongue of St. Jerome cleave to the roof of +his mouth, in his cell at Bethlehem. Sorrow, misery, desolation, +and despair, were everywhere. The end of the world +was supposed to be at hand, and the great churchmen of the +age found consolation only in the doctrine of the second +coming of our Lord amid the clouds of heaven, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 410. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Evacuation of Rome.</note> +After six days the Goths evacuated the city, and advanced +on the Appian way, to the southern provinces of +Italy, destroying ruthlessly all who opposed their +march, and laden with the spoil of Rome. The beautiful +villas of the Campanian coast, where the masters of the +<pb n="639"/><anchor id="Pg639"/> +world had luxuriated for centuries, were destroyed or +plundered, and the rude Goths gave themselves up to all +the license of barbaric soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Death of Alaric.</note> +At length, gorged with wine and plunder, they prepared +to invade Sicily, when Alaric sickened and died in +Bruttium, and was buried beneath the bed of a +river, that the place of his sepulchre should never be found +out. He was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Adolphus, +with whom Honorius concluded peace, and whom he created +a general of his armies. As such, he led his forces into +Gaul, and the southern part of the country became the seat of +their permanent settlement, with Toulouse for a capital. The +Visigoths extended their conquests on both sides of the +Pyrenees; Vandalusia was conquered by his son, Wallia, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 418, on whom the emperor bestowed Aquitania. His +son, Theodoric, was the first king of the Goths. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Kingdom of the Franks. +Discords between Boniface and Aetius.</note> +The same year that saw the establishment of this new +Gothic kingdom, also witnessed the foundation of +the kingdom of the Franks, by Pharamund, and +the final loss of Britain. Thus province after province was +wrested away from the emperor, who died, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 423, and +was succeeded by Constantius, who had married his sister. +He died the same year, leaving an infant, called Valentinian. +The chief secretary of the late emperor, John, was proclaimed +emperor; but he was dethroned two years after, and Valentinian +III. six years of age, reigned in his stead, +favored by the services of two able generals, Boniface +and Aetius, who arrested by their talents the +incursions of the barbarians, But they quarreled, and their +discord led to the loss of Africa, invaded by the Vandals. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Vandals.</note> +These barbarians also belonged to the great Teutonic race, +and their settlements were on the Elbe and the Vistula. In +the time of Marcus Aurelius they had invaded the empire, +but were signally defeated. One hundred years later, they +settled in Pannonia, where they had a bitter contest +with the Goths. Defeated by them, they sought the protection +of Rome, and enlisted in her armies. In 406 they +<pb n="640"/><anchor id="Pg640"/> +invaded Gaul, and advanced to the Pyrenees, inflicting every +atrocity. They then crossed into Spain, and settled in +Andalusia, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 409, and resumed the agricultural life they +had led in Pannonia. The Roman governor of Spain +intrigued with their old enemies, the Goths, then +settled in Gaul, to make an attack upon them, +under Wallia. Worried and incensed, the Vandals turned +against the Romans, and routed them, and got possession of +the peninsula. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Vandals in Africa.</note> +It was then that Aetius, the general of Valentinian III., +persuaded the emperor,—or rather his mother, Placidia, the +real ruler,—to recall Boniface from the government of +Africa. He refused the summons, revolted, and called to his +aid the Vandals, who had possession of Spain. They were +commanded by Genseric, one of those hideous +monsters, who combined great military talents +with every vice. He responded to the call of Boniface, and +invaded Africa, rich in farms and cities, whose capital, Carthage, +was once more the rival of Rome, and had even outgrown +Alexandria as a commercial city. With fifty thousand +warriors, Genseric devastated the country, and Boniface, too +late repenting of his error, turned against the common foe, +but was defeated, and obliged to cede to the barbarians +three important provinces, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 432. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fall of Carthage.</note> +Peace was not of long duration, and the Vandals renewed +the war, on the retreat of Boniface to Italy, where +he was killed in a duel, by Aetius. All Africa was +overrun, and Carthage was taken and plundered, and met a +doom as awful as Tyre and Jerusalem, for her iniquities +were flagrant, and called to heaven for vengeance. In the +sack of the city, the writings of Augustine, bishop of Hippo, +were fortunately preserved as a thesaurus of Christian theological +literature, the influence of which can hardly be overrated +in the dark period which succeeded, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 439. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Vandals in Italy. +Sack of Rome by the Vandals.</note> +The Vandals then turned their eyes to Rome, and landed +on the Italian coast. The last hope of the imperial +city, now threatened by an overwhelming force, +<pb n="641"/><anchor id="Pg641"/> +was her Christian bishop—the great Leo, who hastened to +the barbarians' camp, and in his pontifical robes, sought the +mercy of the unrelenting and savage foe. But he could +secure no better terms, than that the unresisting should be +spared, the buildings protected from fire, and the captives +from torture. But this promise was only partially fulfilled. +The pillage lasted fourteen days and fourteen nights, and all +that the Goths had spared was transported to the ships of +Genseric. The statues of the old pagan gods, which adorned +the capitol, the holy vessels of the Jewish temple, which +Titus had brought from Jerusalem, the shrines and altars +of the Christian churches, the costly ornaments of the +imperial palace, the sideboards of massive silver +from senatorial mansions,—the gold, the silver, +the brass, the precious marbles,—were all transported to the +ships. The Empress Eudoxia, herself, stripped of her jewels, +was carried away captive, with her two daughters, the sole +survivors of the family of Theodosius. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The fall of Rome.</note> +Such was the doom of Rome, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 455, forty-five years +after the Gothic invasion. The haughty city met +the fate which she had inflicted on her rivals, +and nothing remained but desolation and recollections. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Huns.</note> +While the Vandals were plundering Rome, the Huns—a +Sclavonic race, hideous and revolting barbarians, under +Attila, called the scourge of God, were ravaging +the remaining provinces of the empire. Never +since the days of Xerxes was there such a gathering of +nations as now inundated the Roman world—some five hundred +thousand warriors, chiefly Asiatic, armed with long +quivers and heavy lances, cuirasses of plaited hair, scythes, +round bucklers, and short swords. This host, composed of +Huns, Alans, Gepidæ, and other tribes, German as well as +Asiatic, from the plains of Sarmatia, and the banks of the +Vistula and Niemen, extended from Bash to the mouth of +the Rhine. The great object of attack was Orleans—an +important strategic position. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Battle of Chalons.</note> +The leader of the imperial forces was Aetius, banished for +<pb n="642"/><anchor id="Pg642"/> +the death of Boniface, composed of Britains, Franks, Burgundians, +Sueves, Saxons, and Visigoths. It was not +now the Romans against barbarians, but Europe +against Asia. The contending forces met on the plains of +Champagne, and at Chalons was fought the decisive battle +by which Europe was delivered from Asia, and the Gothic +nations from the Mongol races, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 451. Attila was beaten, +and Gaul was saved from Sclavonic invaders. It is said +that three hundred thousand of the barbarians, on both sides, +were slain. +</p> + +<p> +The discomfited king of the Huns led back his forces to +the Rhine, ravaging the country through which he passed. +The following year he invaded Italy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Attila in Italy.</note> +Aetius had won one of the greatest victories of ancient +times, and alone remained to stem the barbaric hosts. But +he was mistrusted by the emperor at Ravenna, whose +daughter he had solicited in marriage for his son, and was left +without sufficient force. Aquileia, the most important city in +Northern Italy, fell into the hands of Attila. He then +resolved to cross the Apennines and give a last blow to +Rome. Leo, the intrepid bishop, sought his camp, +as he had once before entreated Genseric. The +Hun consented to leave Italy for an annual tribute, and the +hand of the princess Honoria, sister of the Emperor Valentinian. +He retired to the Danube by the passes of the Alps, +and spent the winter in bacchanalian orgies, but was cut off +in his career by the poisoned dagger of a Burgundian princess, +whose relations he had slain. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Retreat of the Huns. +The last emperors.</note> +The retreat of the Huns did not deliver the wasted provinces +of a now fallen empire from renewed ravages. For +twenty years longer, Italy was subject to incessant +depredations. Valentinian, the last emperor of +the family of Theodosius, was assassinated <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 455, at the +instigation of Maximus—a senator of the Anician family, +whose wife had been violated by the emperor. +The successive reigns of Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, +Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius, Glycerins, Nepos,and Augustulus—nine +<pb n="643"/><anchor id="Pg643"/> +emperors in twenty-one years, suggest nothing +but ignominy and misfortune. They were shut up in their +palaces, within the walls of Ravenna, and were unable to +arrest the ruin. Again, during this period, was Rome +sacked by the Vandals. The great men of the period were +Theodoric—king of the Ostrogoths, who ruled both sides of +the Alps, and supported the crumbling empire, and Count +Ricimer, a Sueve, and generalissimo of the Roman armies. +It was at this disastrous epoch that fugitives from the Venetian +territory sought a refuge among the islands which skirt +the northern coast of the Adriatic—the haunts of fishermen +and sea-birds. There Venice was born—to revive the glory +of the West, and write her history upon the waves for one +thousand years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Odoacer. +Theodoric.</note> +The last emperor was the son of Orestes—a Pannonian, +who was christened Romulus. When elevated by the soldiers +upon a shield and saluted Augustus, he was too small +to wear the purple robe, and they called him Augustulus!—a +bitter mockery, recalling the foundation and the imperial +greatness of Rome. This prince, feeble and powerless, was +dethroned by Odoacer—chief of the Heruli, and +one of the unscrupulous mercenaries whose aid the +last emperor had invoked. The throne of the Cæsars was +now hopelessly subverted, and Odoacer portioned out the +lands of Italy among his greedy followers, but allowed +Augustulus to live as a pensioner in a Campanian villa, +which had once belonged to Sulla, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 476. Odoacer, +however, reigned but fourteen years, and was supplanted by +Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> 490. The +barbarians were now fairly settled in the lands +they had invaded, and the Western empire was completely +dismembered. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gothic kingdom of Italy. +Division of the empire among barbarians.</note> +In Italy were the Ostrogoths, who established a powerful +kingdom, afterward assailed by Belisarius and +Narses, the generals of Justinian, the Eastern emperor, +and also by the Lombards, under Alboin, who secured +a footing in the north of Italy. Gaul was divided among +<pb n="644"/><anchor id="Pg644"/> +the Franks, Burgundians, and Visigoths, among whom were +perpetual wars. Britain was possessed by the +Saxons. Spain became the inheritance of Vandals, +Suevi, and Visigoths. The Vandals retained +Africa. The Eastern empire, with the exception of Constantinople, +finally fell into the hands of the Saracens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Reflections on the fall of the empire.</note> +It would be interesting to trace the various fortunes of the +Teutonic nations in their new settlements, but this +belongs to mediæval history. The real drama of +the fall of Rome was ended when Alaric gained possession +of the imperial city. <q>The empire fell,</q> says Guizot, <q>because +no one would belong to it.</q> At the period of barbaric +invasion it had lost all real vigor, and was kept together by +mechanism—the mechanism of government which had been +one thousand years perfecting. It was energy, patriotism, +patience, and a genius for government which built up the +empire. But prosperity led to luxury, self-exaggeration, and +enervating vices. Society was steeped in sensuality, frivolity, +and selfishness. The empire was rotten to the core, and must +become the prey of barbarians, who had courage and vitality. +Three centuries earlier, the empire might have withstood the +shock of external enemies, and the barbarians might have +been annihilated. But they invaded the provinces when +central power was weak, when public virtue had fled, when +the middle classes were extinct, when slavery, demoralizing +pleasures, and disproportionate fortunes destroyed elevation +of sentiment, and all manly energies. A noble line of martial +emperors for a time arrested ruin, but ruin was inevitable. +Natural law asserted its dignity. The penalty of sin must +be paid. Nothing could save the empire. No conservative +influences were sufficiently strong—neither literature, nor +art, nor science, nor philosophy, nor even Christianity. +Society retrograded as the new religion triumphed, a mysterious +fact, but easily understood when we remember that +vices were universal before a remedy could be applied. The +victories of Christianity came not too late for the human +race, but too late for the salvation of a worn-out empire. +</p> + +<pb n="645"/><anchor id="Pg645"/> + +<p> +The barbarians were advancing when Constantine was converted. +The salvation of the race was through these barbarians +themselves, for, though they desolated, they reconstructed; +and, when converted to the new faith, established +new institutions on a better basis. The glimmering life-sparks +of a declining and miserable world disappeared, but new +ideas, new passions, new interests arose, and on the ruins of +the pagan civilization new Christian empires were founded, +which have been gaining power for one thousand five hundred +years, and which may not pass away till civilization +itself shall be pronounced a failure in the present dispensations +of the Moral Governor of the World. +</p> + +<p> +THE END. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n="647"/><anchor id="Pg647"/> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<index index="toc"/> +<index index="pdf"/> +<head>Advertisements.</head> + +<p> +EDINBURGH REVIEW.—<q>The BEST History of the Roman Republic.</q> +</p> + +<p> +LONDON TIMES—<q>BY FAR THE BEST History of the Decline and Fall +of the Roman Commonwealth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +NOW READY, VOLUME I, +of the +History of Rome, +FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO THE PERIOD OF ITS DECLINE. +</p> + +<p> +By Dr. THEODOR MOMMSEN. +</p> + +<p> +Translated, with the author's sanction and additions, +by the Rev. <hi rend='smallcaps'>W. P. Dickson</hi>, Regius +Professor of Biblical Criticism in the University of Glasgow, late Classical +Examiner in the University of St. Andrews. With an Introduction +by Dr. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Leonhard Schmitz</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +REPRINTED FROM THE REVISED LONDON EDITION. +</p> + +<p> +Four Volumes crown 8vo. Price of Volume I., $2.50. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Mommsen has long been known and appreciated through his researches +into the languages, laws, and institutions of Ancient Rome and Italy, as +the most thoroughly versed scholar now living in these departments of historical +investigation. To a wonderfully exact and exhaustive knowledge of +these subjects, he unites great powers of generalization, a vigorous, spirited, +and exceedingly graphic style and keen analytical powers, which give this +history a degree of interest and a permanent value possessed by no other +record of the decline and fall of the Roman Commonwealth. <q>Dr. +Mommsen's work,</q> as Dr. Schmitz remarks in the introduction, <q>though +the production of a man of most profound and extensive learning and +knowledge of the world, is not as much designed for the professional +scholar as for intelligent readers of all classes who take an interest in the history +of by-gone ages, and are inclined there to seek information that may +guide them safely through the perplexing mazes of modern history.</q> +</p> + +<p> +CRITICAL NOTICES. +</p> + +<p> +<q>A work of the very highest merit; its learning is exact and profound; its narrative full +of genius and skill; its descriptions of men are admirably vivid. We wish to place on +record our opinion that Dr. Mommsen's is by far the best history of the Decline and Fall +of the Roman Commonwealth.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>London Times.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Since the days of Niebuhr, no work on Roman History has appeared that combines so +much to attract, instruct, and charm the reader. Its +style—a rare quality in a German author—is +vigorous, spirited, and animated. Professor Mommsen's work can stand a comparison +with the noblest productions of modern history.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>Dr. Schmitz.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +<q>This is the best history of the Roman Republic, taking the work on the whole—the +author's complete mastery of his subject, the variety of his gifts and acquirements, his +graphic power in the delineation of national and individual character, and the vivid interest +which he inspires in every portion of his book. He is without an equal in his own +sphere.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>Edinburgh +Review.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +<q>A book of deepest interest.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>Dean Trench.</hi> +</p> + +<pb n="648"/><anchor id="Pg648"/> + +<p> +SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. +</p> + +<p> +THE POPULAR EDITION +</p> + +<p> +OF +</p> + +<p> +Froude's History of England, +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>From the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='bold'>In Twelve Volumes 12mo., $1.25 per Volume.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>New York</hi>, October, 1869. +</p> + +<p> +Messrs. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Charles Scribner</hi> & Co. +will complete FROUDE'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, +by the republication of the eleventh and twelfth volumes early in 1870; and +in view of the marked favor with which this great work has been received in the more expensive +form, they have determined to re-issue it at a price which shall secure it that +extended sale to which its acknowledged merits so fully entitle it. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='bold'>THE POPULAR EDITION OF FROUDE'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND</hi> +</p> + +<p> +is printed upon white paper, and it is substantially and attractively bound. 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