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+Project Gutenberg's Museum of Antiquity, by L. W. Yaggy and T. L. Haines
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Museum of Antiquity
+ A Description of Ancient Life
+
+Author: L. W. Yaggy
+ T. L. Haines
+
+Release Date: February 4, 2009 [EBook #27988]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jeannie Howse, Juliet Sutherland and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Transcriber's Note: |
+ | |
+ | Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original |
+ | document have been preserved. Superscripted text is |
+ | marked with a carot character, i.e. ^o. |
+ | |
+ | This e-book contains a number of unusual accents. |
+ | Non-ascii diacritical marks are represented as follows: |
+ | The macron (long bar) used over n, C, E, N, O, T and V |
+ | are represented as [=n], [=C], [=E], [=N], [=O], [=T] |
+ | and [=V]. |
+ | |
+ | This e-book is full of lovely images and decorations, |
+ | the reader might like to look at the html version, |
+ | rather than the text version. |
+ | |
+ | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For |
+ | a complete list, please see the end of this document. |
+ | |
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+ [Illustration: Painted by J.M.W. Turner, R.A.
+ Engraved & Printed by Illman Brothers.
+ THE PALACE OF THE CAESARS]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+MUSEUM
+
+OF
+
+ANTIQUITY
+
+A DESCRIPTION OF
+
+_ANCIENT LIFE_:
+
+THE
+
+EMPLOYMENTS, AMUSEMENTS, CUSTOMS AND HABITS,
+THE CITIES, PALACES, MONUMENTS AND TOMBS,
+THE LITERATURE AND FINE ARTS
+OF 3,000 YEARS AGO.
+
+BY
+L.W. YAGGY, M.S.,
+AND
+T.L. HAINES, A.M.,
+
+_AUTHORS OF THE "ROYAL PATH OF LIFE,"
+"OUR HOME COUNSELOR,"
+"LITTLE GEMS."_
+
+ILLUSTRATED.
+
+
+MADISON, WIS.:
+J.B. FURMAN & CO.
+WESTERN PUBLISHING HOUSE, CHICAGO, ILL.
+
+1884.
+
+
+
+
+Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880 by
+L.W. YAGGY & T.L. HAINES,
+In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Egypt, Greece and Italy were the fountain heads of our civilization
+and the source of our knowledge; to them we can trace, link by link,
+the origin of all that is ornamental, graceful and beautiful. It is
+therefore a matter of greatest interest to get an intimate knowledge
+of the original state, and former perfection, the grandeur,
+magnificence and high civilization of these countries, as well as of
+the homes, the private and domestic life, the schools, churches,
+rites, ceremonies, &c.
+
+The many recent excavations in Troy, Nineveh, Babylon and the
+uncovering of the City of Pompeii, with its innumerable treasures, the
+unfolding of the long-hoarded secrets, have revealed information for
+volumes of matter. But works that treat on the various subjects of
+antiquity are, for the most part, not only costly and hard to procure,
+but also far too voluminous. The object of this work is to condense
+into the smallest possible compass the essence of information which
+usually runs through many volumes, and place it into a practical form
+for the common reader. We hope, however, that this work will give the
+reader a greater longing to extend his inquiries into these most
+interesting subjects, so rich in everything that can refine the taste,
+enlarge the understanding and improve the heart. It has been our
+object, so far as possible, to avoid every expression of opinion,
+whether our own or that of any school of thinkers, and to supply
+first, facts, and secondly, careful references by which the citations
+of those facts, may be verified, and the inferences from them traced
+by the reader himself, to their legitimate result.
+
+Before we close, we would tender our greatest obligations to the
+English and German authors, from whom we have drawn abundantly in
+preparing this work; also to the Directors of the British Museum of
+London, and the Society of Antiquarians of Berlin, and especially to
+the authorities of the excavated City of Pompeii and its treasures in
+the Museum of Naples, where we were furnished with an intelligent
+guide and permitted to spend days in our researches. To each and all
+of these, who have so kindly promoted our labor, our heartfelt thanks
+are cordially returned.
+
+Many of the engravings are from drawings made on the spot, but a
+greater number are from photographs, and executed with the greatest
+fidelity by German and French artists.
+
+
+
+
+Steel Plate Engravings.
+
+
+ PAGE
+
+_The Palace of the Caesars_, 1
+
+_House of the Tragic Poet--Sallust_, 112
+
+_Egyptian Feast_, 270
+
+_Approach to Karnac_, 384
+
+_Temple of Karnac_, 470
+
+_The Philae Islands_, 656
+
+_School of the Vestal Virgins_, 832
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS.
+
+
+POMPEII.
+
+ The Glory of the City--Destruction--Excavation--_Entering
+ Pompeii_ (_Page 21-25_)--The Streets of the City--The
+ Theatres of Pompeii--Villa of Julia Felix--Pavements and
+ Sidewalks--_Arrangement of Private Houses_ (_Page 26-53_)--
+ Elegance of Domestic Architecture--Ground Plan of Roman
+ House--Exterior Apartments--Interior Apartments--Dining
+ Halls--The Triclinium--Materials and Construction--The
+ Salve Lucru--Paintings and Decorations--The Drunken Hercules--
+ Wall Decoration--The Peristyle--The House of Siricus--Political
+ Inscriptions--Electioneering Advertisements--The Graffiti--
+ Street of the Lupanar--Eighty Loaves of Bread Found--The
+ House of the Balcony--Human Bodies Preserved--Discovered
+ Bodies--_House of Diomedes_ (_Page 54-74_)--Location of the
+ Villa--Ground Plan of the Villa--Detail of Ground Plan--The
+ Caldarium--Galleries and Halls--Porticoes and Terraces--Tomb
+ and Family Sepulchre--The Villa Destroyed--Conclusive
+ Evidence--Jewels and Ornaments--Pliny's Account of a Roman
+ Garden--_Stores and Eating Houses_ (_Page 75-81_)--Restaurant--
+ Pompeian Bill of Fare--Circe, Daughter of the Sun--_Houses of
+ Pansa and Sallust_ (_Page 82-102_)--Curious Religious Painting--
+ General View of House--Worship of the Lares--Domesticated
+ Serpents--Discoveries Confirm Ancient Authors--Ornamentation
+ and Draperies--Remarkable Mansions--House of the Vestals--
+ Surgical and other Instruments--Shop of an Apothecary--_House
+ of Holconius_ (_Page 103-112_)--Decorations of the Bed-Chambers--
+ Perseus and Andromeda--Epigraphs and Inscriptions--Ariadne
+ Discovered by Bacchus--_General Survey of the City_ (_Page
+ 113-118_)--Wine Merchant's Sign--Sculptor's Laboratory--House
+ of Emperor Joseph II 17-119
+
+
+AMUSEMENTS.
+
+ The Amphitheatre--Coliseum--84,000 Seats--The Bloody
+ Entertainments--Examining the Wounded--Theatres--_Roman
+ Baths_ (_Page 147-156_)--Description of the Baths--Cold
+ Baths--Warm Chambers--The Vapor Baths--Hot-Air Baths--_Social
+ Games and Sports_ (_Page 157-162_)--Domestic Games--Jugglers--
+ Game of Cities--Gymnastic Arts--_Social Entertainments_ (_Page
+ 163-180_)--Characteristics of the Dance--Grace and Dress of the
+ Dancers--Position at the Table--Vases and Ornaments--Food and
+ Vegetables--Mode of Eating--Reminders of Mortality--_Egyptian
+ Music and Entertainments_ (_Page 181-188_)--Musical Instruments--
+ Jewish Music--Beer, Palm Wine, Etc--_Games and Sports of the
+ Egyptians_ (_Page 189-202_)--Games with Dice--Games of Ball--
+ Wrestling--Intellectual Capabilities--Hunting 120-202
+
+
+DOMESTIC LIFE.
+
+ Occupation of Women--Bathing--Wedding Ceremonies--Children's
+ Toys--Writing Materials--Families, Schools and Marriages--
+ Duties of Children--_Dress, Toilet and Jewelry_ (_Page
+ 219-232_)--The Chiton--Dress Materials--Styles of Wearing
+ Hair--Head-Dress of Women--Hair-Pins--Sunshades--_Crimes and
+ Punishments; Contracts, Deeds, Etc._ (_Page 233-252_)--
+ Punishments--Laws Respecting Debt--Contracts--Superstition--Cure
+ of Diseases--_Houses, Villas, Farmyards, Orchards, Gardens, Etc._
+ (_Page 253-270_)--Character of the People--Construction of
+ Houses--Plans of Villas--Irrigation--Gardens--_Egyptian Wealth_
+ (_Page 271-280_)--Gold and Silver--Worth of Gold--Treasures--
+ Total Value of Gold 203-280
+
+
+DOMESTIC UTENSILS.
+
+ Writing Materials--Literature--Curious Lamps--The Candelabrum--
+ Candelabra--Oil-Lamps--The Steelyard--Drinking Vessels--Colored
+ Glass--Glass--Glass Vessels--Articles of Jewelry--Toilet-Boxes,
+ Etc.--_Furniture_ (_Page 309-322_)--Chairs and Stools--Bed-Room
+ Furniture--Tables, Etc.--Pottery--Drawings on Vases--_Vases_
+ (_Page 323-342_)--Greek Vases--Inscriptions on Vases--Historical
+ Subjects on Vases--Uses of Vases--Vases Found in Tombs--Silver
+ Vessels--Decorated Vases 281-342
+
+
+EMPLOYMENT.
+
+ Colored Glass Vessels--Imitation Jewels--Potters--Carpenter's
+ Tools--Professions--Husbandry--Rise of the Nile--Agricultural
+ Implements--Agriculture--_Baking, Dyeing and Painting_ (_Page
+ 363-384_)--Flour Mills--Bread-Baking--Dyeing--Scouring and
+ Dyeing--Coloring Substances--Mineral Used for Dyeing--Cost of
+ Dyeing--Cloth Manufacture--Persian Costumes 343-384
+
+
+TROY.
+
+ Ruins at Hissarlik--Settlement of Troy--First Settlers--Scaean
+ Gate--Call of Menelaus--Houses at Troy--Objects Found in
+ Houses--Silver Vases--Taking out the Treasure--Shield of the
+ Treasure--Contents of the Treasure--Ear-Rings and Chains--Gold
+ Buttons, Studs, Etc.--Silver Goblet and Vases--Weapons of
+ Troy-- Terra Cotta Mugs--Condition of the Roads--Lack of
+ Inscriptions 385-422
+
+
+NINEVEH AND BABYLON.
+
+ Explorations of Niebuhr and Rich--Excavations at Kouyunjik
+ Palace--Sennacherib's Conquests--Highly-Finished Sculptures--North
+ Palace, Kouyunjik--Temple of Solomon--The Oracle--Description of
+ the Palace--Modern Houses of Persia--Chambers in the Palace--The
+ Walls--Grandeur of Babylon--Building Materials--History of
+ Babylon--_Karnac and Baalbec_ (_Page 461-473_)--Stupendous
+ Remains--Temple of Luxor--Chambers of the Great Pyramid--The
+ Great Temple--The Pantheon at Rome--Egyptian Obelisks--
+ Obelisks 423-484
+
+
+RELIGION OR MYTHOLOGY.
+
+ Mythology--Mythological Characters--The Pythian Apollo--Phoebus
+ Apollo--Niobe and Leto--Daphne--Kyrene--Hermes--The Sorrow of
+ Demeter--The Sleep of Endymion--Phaethon--Briareos--Dionysos--
+ Pentheus--Asklepios--Ixion--Tantalos--The Toils of Herakles--
+ Admetos--Epimetheus and Pandora--Io and Prometheus--Deukalion--
+ Poseidon and Athene--Medusa--Danae--Perseus--Andromeda--
+ Akrisios--Kephalos and Prokris--Skylla--Phrixos and Helle--
+ Medeia--Theseus--Ariadne--Arethusa--Tyro--Narkissos--Orpheus
+ and Eurydike--Kadmos and Europa--Bellerophon--Althaia and the
+ Burning Brand--Iamos 485-642
+
+
+FINE ARTS.
+
+ Egyptian Sculpture--Etruscan Painting--Renowned Painters--
+ Parrhasius--Colors Used--Sculpture Painting--Fresco Painting--
+ _Sculpturing_ (_Page 667-694_)--Sculpture in Greece and Egypt--
+ Sculptures of Ancient Kings--Animal Sculpture--Modeling of the
+ Human Figure--"The Sculptor of the Gods"--Grandeur of Style--
+ Statues--Description of Statues--Work of Lysippus--The
+ Macedonian Age--Roman Art--Copies of Ancient Gods--_Mosaic_
+ (_Page 695-702_)--Mosaic Subjects--Battle Represented in
+ Mosaics--Grandeur of Style 643-702
+
+
+LITERATURE.
+
+ Homer--Paris--Achilles--The Vengeance of Odysseus--Sophocles--
+ Herodotus--The Crocodile--Artabanus Dissuades Xerxes--Socrates--
+ Socrates and Aristodemus--Aristophanes--Plato--The Perfect
+ Beauty--Last Hours of Socrates--Demosthenes--Philip and the
+ Athenians--Measures to Resist Philip--Former Athenians
+ Described--Oration on the Crown--Invective against Catiline--
+ Expulsion of Catiline from Rome--The Tyrant Praetor Denounced--
+ Immortality of the Soul--Julius Caesar--The Germans--Battle of
+ Pharsalia--Virgil--Employment of the Bee--Punishments in Hell--
+ Horace--To Licinius--Happiness Founded on Wisdom--The Equality
+ of Man--Plutarch--Proscription of Sylla--Demosthenes and Cicero
+ Compared 703-832
+
+
+TOMBS AND CATACOMBS.
+
+ Extent of the Tombs--An Acre and a quarter in a Tomb--
+ Sculpturings--Painting--Burying According to Rank--Mummies--Mummy
+ Cases and Sarcophagi--Roman Tombs--Inscriptions--_The Catacombs_
+ (_Page 873-910_)--Inscriptions--Catacombs--Christian
+ Inscriptions--Early Inscriptions--Catacombs, nearly 900 miles
+ long--Utensils from the Catacombs--Paintings--S. Calixtus--
+ Lord's Supper 833-910
+
+
+TRUTH OF THE BIBLE.
+
+ The Assyrian and Babylonian Discoveries--1100 Christian
+ Inscriptions--The use of the Bible for Excavators--Accordance
+ with Ancient Writings--Frieze from the Arch of Titus--No Book
+ produced by Chance--God the Author--Its Great Antiquity--The
+ Pentateuch--Preservation of the Scripture--Its Important
+ Discoveries--Its Peculiar Style--Its Harmony--Its Impartiality--
+ Its Prophecies--Its Important Doctrines--Its Holy Tendency--Its
+ Aims--Its Effects--Its General Reception--Persecuted but not
+ Persecuting 911-944
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+BY GERMAN ARTISTS.
+
+
+DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII 17
+
+VIEW OF POMPEII. (_From a Photograph_) 23
+
+PLAN OF A ROMAN HOUSE 28
+
+VESTIBULE OF A POMPEIAN HOUSE 30
+
+TRICLINIUM OR DINING-ROOM 33
+
+HERCULES DRUNK. (_From Pompeii_) 37
+
+DISCOVERED BODY AT POMPEII 51
+
+GROUND PLAN OF THE SUBURBAN VILLA OF DIOMEDES 57
+
+WALL PAINTING AT POMPEII 69
+
+HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS 72
+
+RESTAURANT. (_From Wall Painting_) 77
+
+BED AND TABLE AT POMPEII. (_From Wall Painting_) 78
+
+PLAN OF A TRICLINIUM 79
+
+HEAD OF CIRCE 81
+
+KITCHEN FURNITURE AT POMPEII 84
+
+BROOCHES OF GOLD FOUND AT POMPEII 98
+
+SCALES FOUND AT POMPEII 100
+
+WALL PAINTING FOUND AT POMPEII 105
+
+GOLD BREASTPINS FOUND AT POMPEII 114
+
+A LABORATORY, AS FOUND IN POMPEII 117
+
+FIRST WALLS DISCOVERED IN POMPEII 118
+
+VIEW OF THE AMPHITHEATRE AT POMPEII 121
+
+COLISEUM OF ROME 128
+
+EXAMINING THE WOUNDED 133
+
+ASKING PARDON 135
+
+NOT GRANTED 135
+
+COMBATS WITH BEASTS 137
+
+VIEW OF THE TEPIDARIUM 151
+
+ANCIENT BATH ROOM. (_As Discovered_) 155
+
+EGYPTIAN VASES 173
+
+SOCIAL ENJOYMENT OF WOMEN. (_From an Ancient Painting_) 205
+
+GOLD PINS 220
+
+SHAWL OR TOGA PIN 220
+
+PEARL SET PINS 221
+
+STONE SET BROOCHES 224
+
+HAIR DRESS. (_From Pompeii_) 227
+
+TOILET ARTICLES FOUND AT POMPEII 231
+
+WREATH OF OAK. (_Life Saving_) 247
+
+TABULAE, CALAMUS, AND PAPYRUS 283
+
+TABULAE, STYLUS, AND PAPYRUS 283
+
+TABULAE AND INK STAND 284
+
+LIBRARIES AND MONEY 284
+
+GOLD LAMP. (_Found at Pompeii_) 287
+
+CANDELABRUM, OR LAMP STAND 289
+
+CANDELABRA, OR LAMP STANDS 290
+
+STANDING LAMP 293
+
+ANCIENT LAMPS 293
+
+SCALES AND WEIGHTS 295
+
+VESSELS. (_From Pompeii_) 296
+
+DRINKING VESSEL 297
+
+GLASS VESSELS. (_From Pompeii_) 302
+
+CUPS AND METALS 304
+
+GOLD JEWELRY. (_From Pompeii_) 305
+
+HEAVY GOLD PINS 306
+
+BROOCHES INSET WITH STONE 307
+
+SAFETY TOGA PINS 308
+
+PLUNDERING CORINTH 317
+
+GREEK VASE 321
+
+ETRUSCAN VASE 324
+
+ROMAN VASES 325
+
+VASE REPRESENTING A MARRIAGE. (_Found at Pompeii_) 328
+
+VASE REPRESENTING TROJAN WAR. (_Found at Pompeii_) 333
+
+VASE. (_Found at Pompeii_) 334
+
+VASE REPRESENTING GREEK SACRIFICE 336
+
+VASE 2,000 YEARS OLD 337
+
+SILVER PLATTER 339
+
+SILVER CUP. (_Found at Hildesheim_) 340
+
+VASE OF THE FIRST CENTURY 341
+
+DISH OF THE FIRST CENTURY 341
+
+ANCIENT GLASS VESSELS 346
+
+GLASS BROOCH 347
+
+IMITATION OF REAL STONE 348
+
+ANCIENT EGYPTIAN POTTERY 350
+
+MILL AND BAKERY AT POMPEII 365
+
+BREAD DISCOVERED IN POMPEII 371
+
+METALS AND BEADS 389
+
+TERRA-COTTA LAMPS 394
+
+BRONZE LAMPS 394
+
+GOLDEN CUPS OF PRIAM. (_Found at Troy_) 396
+
+WONDERFUL VASES OF TERRA-COTTA FROM PALACE OF PRIAM 399
+
+FROM PALACE OF PRIAM 400
+
+LIDS AND METALS OF PRIAM 401
+
+TREASURES OF PRIAM. (_Found at Troy_) 404
+
+PART OF MACHINE OF PRIAM 406
+
+JEWELRY OF GOLD AND STONES 406
+
+VESSEL FOUND IN THE PALACE OF PRIAM 407
+
+SHIELD OF THE PALACE OF PRIAM 408
+
+GOLD NECKLACE OF TROY 409
+
+GOLD TASSELS OF TROY 409
+
+LAMPS FOUND AT TROY 409
+
+STUDS AND BRACELETS OF PRIAM 411
+
+GOLD PINS WITH SET GEMS 411
+
+GOLD EAR-RINGS OF TROY 412
+
+SPEARS, LANCES, AX AND CHAIN 415
+
+SHEARS, KNIVES AND SPEARS 415
+
+LANCES FOUND AT PALACE OF PRIAM, TROY 416
+
+COINS OR METALS 418
+
+ELEGANT BROOCH OF TROY 421
+
+LAMP FOUND AT TROY 422
+
+PALACE OF SENNACHERIB 427
+
+DISCOVERED IN THE PALACE 435
+
+VIEW OF A HALL 445
+
+COLUMNS OF KARNAC 463
+
+THE GREAT PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 469
+
+RUINS OF BAALBEC 473
+
+VIEW OF THE PANTHEON AT ROME 475
+
+PANTHEON AT ROME 477
+
+HALF SECTION OF THE PANTHEON 478
+
+OBELISK OF HELIOPOLIS 481
+
+JUPITER. (_or Zeus_) 491
+
+APOLLO. (_From an Ancient Sculpture_) 495
+
+PLUTO AND HIS WIFE 503
+
+CERES. (_or Demeter. From Pompeii Wall Painting_) 512
+
+JUNO. (_or Here_) 516
+
+DIANA. (_or Artemis_) 520
+
+VULCAN. (_or Hephaistos_) 526
+
+MINERVA. (_or Pallas Athene. Found at Pompeii_) 530
+
+ANCIENT SCULPTURING ON TANTALOS 537
+
+URANIA. (_Muse of Astronomy_) 538
+
+JUPITER. (_or Zeus with his Thunderbolt_) 544
+
+THALIA, THE MUSE 550
+
+LAOCOON, THE FALSE PRIEST 555
+
+GRECIAN ALTAR. (_3000 years old_) 563
+
+THEMIS. (_Goddess of Law_) 565
+
+EUTERPE. (_Muse of Pleasure_) 577
+
+THALIA. (_Muse of Comedy_) 584
+
+NUMA POMPILIUS VISITING THE NYMPH EGERIA 591
+
+POLYHYMNIA. (_Muse of Rhetoric_) 603
+
+SPHINX OF EGYPT 607
+
+CALLIOPE. (_Muse of Heroic Verse_) 614
+
+THE ORIGIN OF MAN 617
+
+ERATE. (_Muse of the Lute_) 623
+
+TERPSICHORE. (_Muse of Dancing_) 625
+
+ANCIENT SACRIFICE. (_From Wall Painting of Pompeii_) 631
+
+MELPOMENE. (_Muse of Tragedy_) 639
+
+CLIO. (_Muse of History_) 642
+
+ANCIENT ART AND LITERATURE 645
+
+PAINTING. (_2600 years old_) 655
+
+DYING GLADIATOR 689
+
+MOSAIC FLOOR 696
+
+MOSAIC DOVES 697
+
+APOLLO CHARMING NATURE 701
+
+ANCIENT AUTHORS 709
+
+LIBRARY OF HERCULANEUM 723
+
+TROJAN HEROES 735
+
+ANCIENT METAL ENGRAVING 745
+
+SOCRATES DRINKING THE POISON 762
+
+FROM ANCIENT SCULPTURING 775
+
+KING PHILIP. (_of Macedon_) 784
+
+AUGUSTUS CAESAR. (_Found at Pompeii_) 795
+
+JULIUS CAESAR. (_From an Ancient Sculpturing_) 805
+
+VIRGIL AND HORACE 813
+
+EUCLID 824
+
+ALEXANDER SEVERUS 831
+
+EGYPTIAN TOMB 835
+
+SARCOPHAGUS, OR COFFIN. (_With Noah's Ark Cut in Relief on
+ the Outside_) 841
+
+COFFIN OF ALABASTER. (_Features of the Deceased Sculptured_) 843
+
+DISCOVERED TOMB WITH ITS TREASURES. (_At Pompeii_) 847
+
+ARTICLES FOUND IN A TOMB 852
+
+HIEROGLYPHICS 857, 858, 859
+
+EGYPTIAN PILLAR 862
+
+EGYPTIAN COLUMN 867
+
+SECTIONS OF THE CATACOMBS WITH CHAMBERS 874
+
+PLAN OF THE CATACOMBS AT ROME 875
+
+STONE COFFIN 878
+
+STONE COFFIN WITH OPEN SIDE 879
+
+INSIDE VIEW OF THE CATACOMBS 881
+
+LAMPS FOUND IN THE CATACOMBS 884
+
+TOMB INSCRIPTION 896
+
+PAINTED CEILING 906
+
+CHAMBER OF A CATACOMB 909
+
+FRIEZE FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS 916
+
+PENTATEUCH, WRITTEN 3200 YEARS AGO 921
+
+SHISHAK AND HIS CAPTIVES ON SCULPTURED WALL AT KARNAC 935
+
+PORTRAIT OF REHOBOAM 936
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+ADDRESS TO THE MUMMY.
+
+
+ "And thou hast walked about, (how strange a story!)
+ In Thebes' streets three thousand years ago,
+ When the Memnonium was in all its glory,
+ And time had not begun to overthrow
+ Those temples, palaces and piles stupendous,
+ Of which the very ruins are tremendous.
+
+ "Perhaps that very hand now pinioned flat,
+ Has hob-a-nobbed with Pharaoh, glass to glass;
+ Or dropped a half-penny in Homer's hat;
+ Or doffed thine own to let Queen Dido pass;
+ Or held, by Solomon's own invitation,
+ A torch at the great Temple's dedication.
+
+ "Thou couldst develop--if that withered tongue
+ Could tell us what those sightless orbs have seen--
+ How the world looked when it was fresh and young
+ And the great deluge still had left it green;
+ Or was it then so old that history's pages
+ Contained no record of its early ages?
+
+ "Since first thy form was in this box extended
+ We have, above ground, seen some strange mutations;
+ The Roman Empire has begun and ended,
+ New worlds have risen--we have lost old nations;
+ And countless kings have into dust been humbled,
+ While not a fragment of thy flesh has crumbled.
+
+ "If the tomb's secrets may not be confessed,
+ The nature of thy private life unfold:
+ A heart has throbbed beneath that leathern breast,
+ And tears adown that dusty cheek have rolled;
+ Have children climbed those knees and kissed that face?
+ What was thy name and station, age and race?"
+
+
+ANSWER.
+
+ "Child of the later days! thy words have broken
+ A spell that long has bound these lungs of clay,
+ For since this smoke-dried tongue of mine hath spoken,
+ Three thousand tedious years have rolled away.
+ Unswathed at length, I 'stand at ease' before ye.
+ List, then. O list, while I unfold my story."
+ * * * * * * * * *
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+POMPEII.
+
+
+ [Illustration: DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII.]
+
+Pompeii was in its full glory at the commencement of the Christian
+era. It was a city of wealth and refinement, with about 35,000
+inhabitants, and beautifully located at the foot of Mount Vesuvius; it
+possessed all local advantages that the most refined taste could
+desire. Upon the verge of the sea, at the entrance of a fertile plain,
+on the bank of a navigable river, it united the conveniences of a
+commercial town with the security of a military station, and the
+romantic beauty of a spot celebrated in all ages for its pre-eminent
+loveliness. Its environs, even to the heights of Vesuvius, were
+covered with villas, and the coast, all the way to Naples, was so
+ornamented with gardens and villages, that the shores of the whole
+gulf appeared as one city.
+
+What an enchanting picture must have presented itself to one
+approaching Pompeii by sea! He beheld the bright, cheerful Grecian
+temples spreading out on the slopes before him; the pillared Forum;
+the rounded marble Theatres. He saw the grand Palaces descending to
+the very edge of the blue waves by noble flights of steps, surrounded
+with green pines, laurels and cypresses, from amidst whose dark
+foliage marble statues of gods gleamed whitely.
+
+The skillful architect, the sculptors, the painters, and the casters
+of bronze were all employed to make Pompeii an asylum of arts; all
+trades and callings endeavored to grace and beautify the city. The
+prodigious concourse of strangers who came here in search of health
+and recreation added new charms and life to the scene.
+
+But behind all this, and encased as it were in a frame, the landscape
+rose in a gentle slope to the summit of the thundering mountain. But
+indications were not wanting of the peril with which the city was
+threatened. The whole district is volcanic; and a few years before the
+final catastrophe, an earthquake had shaken Pompeii to its
+foundations; some of the buildings were much injured. On August 24,
+A.D. 79, the inhabitants were busily engaged in repairing the damage
+thus wrought, when suddenly and without any previous warning a vast
+column of black smoke burst from the overhanging mountain. Rising to a
+prodigious height in the cloudless summer sky, it then gradually
+spread out like the head of some mighty Italian pine, hiding the sun,
+and overshadowing the earth for miles in distance.
+
+The darkness grew into profound night, only broken by the blue and
+sulphurous flashes which darted from the pitchy cloud. Soon the thick
+rain of thin, light ashes, almost imperceptible to the touch, fell
+upon the land. Then quickly succeeded shower of small pumice stones
+and heavier ashes, and emitting stifling eruptic fumes. After a time
+the sounds of approaching torrent were heard, and soon streaming
+rivers of dense black mud poured slowly but irresistibly down the
+mountain sides, and circled through the streets, insidiously creeping
+into such recesses as even the subtle ashes had failed to penetrate.
+There was now no place of shelter left. No man could defend himself
+against this double enemy. It was too late for flight for such as had
+remained behind. Those who had taken refuge in the innermost parts of
+the houses, or in the subterranean passages, were closed up forever.
+Those who sought to flee through the streets were clogged by the
+small, loose pumice stones, which lay many feet deep, or were
+entangled and overwhelmed in the mud-streams, or were struck down by
+the rocks which fell from the heavens. If they escaped these dangers,
+blinded by the drifting ashes and groping in the dark, not knowing
+which way to go, they were overcome by the sulphurous vapors, and
+sinking on the highway were soon buried beneath the volcanic matter.
+Even many who had gained the open country, at the beginning of the
+eruption, were overtaken by the darkness and falling cinders, and
+perished miserably in the field or on the sea-shore, where they had
+vainly sought the means of flight.
+
+In three days the doomed city had disappeared. It lay buried beneath a
+vast mass of ashes, pumice stone and hardened mud, from twenty to
+seventy feet deep. Those of its terror-stricken inhabitants who
+escaped destruction, abandoned forever its desolate site. Years,
+generations, centuries went by, and the existence of Pompeii--yea,
+even its very name--had ceased to be remembered. The rich volcanic
+soil became covered with a profusion of vegetation. Vineyards
+flourished and houses were built on the site of the buried city.
+
+Nearly eighteen hundred years had elapsed since the thunderer Vesuvius
+had thrown the black mantle of ashes over the fair city before the
+resuscitation arrived. Some antique bronzes and utensils, discovered
+by a peasant, excited universal attention. Excavations were begun,
+and Pompeii, shaking off as it were her musty grave clothes, stared
+from the classic and poetical age of the first into the prosaic modern
+world of the nineteenth century. The world was startled, and looked
+with wondering interest to see this ancient stranger arising from her
+tomb--to behold the awakening of the remote past from the womb of the
+earth which had so long hoarded it.
+
+The excavation has been assiduously prosecuted, until to-day three
+hundred and sixty houses, temples, theatres, schools, stores,
+factories, etc., have been thrown open before us with their treasured
+contents. It is often, but erroneously, supposed that Pompeii, like
+Herculaneum, was overwhelmed by a flood of lava. Had this been the
+case, the work of excavation would have been immensely more difficult,
+and the result would have been far less important. The marbles must
+have been calcined, the bronzes melted, the frescoes effaced, and
+smaller articles destroyed by the fiery flood. The ruin was effected
+by showers of dust and scoriae, and by torrents of liquid mud, which
+formed a mould, encasing the objects, thus preserving them from injury
+or decay. We thus gain a perfect picture of what a Roman city was
+eighteen hundred years ago, as everything is laid bare to us in almost
+a perfect state.
+
+What wealth of splendid vessels and utensils was contained in the
+chests and closets! Gold and gilded ivory, pearls and precious stones
+were used to decorate tables, chairs and vessels for eating and
+drinking. Elegant lamps hung from the ceiling, and candelabra and
+little lamps of most exquisite shapes illuminated the apartments at
+night. To-day, looking at the walls, the eyes may feast on beautiful
+fresco paintings, with colors so vivid and fresh as if painted but
+yesterday; while gleaming everywhere on ceiling, wall and floor, are
+marbles of rarest hue, sculptured into every conceivable form of grace
+and beauty, and inlaid in most artistic designs.
+
+
+ENTERING POMPEII.
+
+We will now proceed to describe the general aspect of the city, and
+for this purpose it will be convenient to suppose that we have entered
+it by the gate of Herculaneum, though in other respects the Porta
+della Marina is the more usual and, perhaps, the best entrance.
+
+On entering, the visitor finds himself in a street, running a little
+east of south, which leads to the Forum. To the right, stands a house
+formerly owned by a musician; to the left, a thermopolium or shop for
+hot drinks; beyond is the house of the Vestals; beyond this the
+custom-house; and a little further on, where another street runs into
+this one from the north at a very acute angle, stands a public
+fountain. In the last-named street is a surgeon's house; at least one
+so named from the quantity of surgical instruments found in it, all
+made of bronze. On the right or western side of the street, by which
+we entered, the houses, as we have said, are built on the declivity of
+a rock, and are several stories high.
+
+The fountain is about one hundred and fifty yards from the city gate.
+About the same distance, further on, the street divides into two; the
+right-hand turning seems a by-street, the left-hand turning conducts
+you to the Forum. The most important feature in this space is a house
+called the house of Sallust or of Actaeon, from a painting in it
+representing that hunter's death. It stands on an area about forty
+yards square, and is encompassed on three sides by streets; by that
+namely which we have been describing, by another nearly parallel to
+it, and by a third, perpendicular to these two. The whole quarter at
+present excavated, as far as the Street of the Baths, continued by the
+Street of Fortune, is divided, by six longitudinal and one transverse
+street, into what the Romans called islands, or insulated masses of
+houses. Two of these are entirely occupied by the houses of Pansa and
+of the Faun, which, with their courts and gardens, are about one
+hundred yards long by forty wide.
+
+From the Street of the Baths and that of Fortune, which bound these
+islands on the south, two streets lead to the two corners of the
+Forum; between them are baths, occupying nearly the whole island.
+Among other buildings are a milk-shop and gladiatorial school. At the
+northeast corner of the Forum was a triumphal arch. At the end of the
+Street of the Baths and beginning of that of Fortune, another
+triumphal arch is still to be made out, spanning the street of
+Mercury, so that this was plainly the way of state into the city. The
+Forum is distant from the gate of Herculaneum about four hundred
+yards. Of it we shall give a full description in its place. Near the
+south-eastern corner two streets enter it, one running to the south,
+the other to the east. We will follow the former for about eighty
+yards, when it turns eastward for two hundred yards, and conducts us
+to the quarter of the theatres. The other street, which runs eastward
+from the Forum, is of more importance, and is called the Street of the
+Silversmiths;[1] at the end of which a short street turns southwards,
+and meets the other route to the theatres. On both these routes the
+houses immediately bordering on the streets are cleared; but between
+them is a large rectangular plot of unexplored ground. Two very
+elegant houses at the southwest corner of the Forum were uncovered by
+the French general Championnet, while in command at Naples, and are
+known by his name. On the western side of the Forum two streets led
+down towards the sea; the excavations here consist almost entirely of
+public buildings, which will be described hereafter.
+
+ [Illustration: VIEW OF POMPEII. (_From a photograph._)]
+
+The quarter of the theatres comprises a large temple, called the
+Temple of Neptune or Hercules, a temple of Isis, a temple of
+AEsculapius, two theatres, the Triangular Forum, and the quarters of
+the soldiers or gladiators. On the north and east it is bounded by
+streets; to the south and west it seems to have been enclosed partly
+by the town walls, partly by its own. Here the continuous excavation
+ends, and we must cross vineyards to the amphitheatre, about five
+hundred and fifty yards distant from the theatre, in the southeast
+corner of the city, close to the walls, and in an angle formed by
+them. Close to the amphitheatre are traces of walls supposed to have
+belonged to a Forum Boarium, or cattle market. Near at hand, a
+considerable building, called the villa of Julia Felix, has been
+excavated and filled up again. On the walls of it was discovered the
+following inscription, which may serve to convey an idea of the wealth
+of some of the Pompeian proprietors:
+
+ IN PRAEDIS JULLE SP F. FELICIS
+ LOCANTUR
+ BALNEUM VENERIUM ET NONGENTUM TABERNAE PERGULAE
+ COENACULA EX IDIBUS AUG PRIMIS
+ IN IDUS AUG. SEXTAS ANNOS CONTINUOS QUINQUE
+ S. Q. D. L. E. N. C.
+
+That is: "On the estate of Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius, are to be
+let a bath, a venereum, nine hundred shops, with booths and garrets,
+for a term of five continuous years, from the first to the sixth of
+the Ides of August." The formula, S. Q. D. L. E. N. C., with which the
+advertisement concludes, is thought to stand for--si quis domi
+lenocinium exerceat ne conducito: "let no one apply who keeps a
+brothel."
+
+A little to the south of the smaller theatre was discovered, in 1851,
+the Gate of Stabiae. Hence a long straight street, which has been
+called the Street of Stabiae, traversed the whole breadth of the city,
+till it issued out on the northern side at the gate of Vesuvius. It
+has been cleared to the point where it intersects the Streets of
+Fortune and of Nola, which, with the Street of the Baths, traverse the
+city in its length. The Street of Stabiae forms the boundary of the
+excavations; all that part of Pompeii which lies to the east of it,
+with the exception of the amphitheatre, and the line forming the
+Street of Nola, being still occupied by vineyards and cultivated
+fields. On the other hand, that part of the city lying to the west of
+it has been for the most part disinterred; though there are still some
+portions lying to the south and west of the Street of Abundance and
+the Forum, and to the east of the Vico Storto, which remain to be
+excavated.
+
+The streets of Pompeii are paved with large irregular pieces of lava
+joined neatly together, in which the chariot wheels have worn ruts,
+still discernible; in some places they are an inch and a half deep,
+and in the narrow streets follow one track; where the streets are
+wider, the ruts are more numerous and irregular. The width of the
+streets varies from eight or nine feet to about twenty-two, including
+the footpaths or trottoirs. In many places they are so narrow that
+they may be crossed at one stride; where they are wider, a raised
+stepping-stone, and sometimes two or three, have been placed in the
+centre of the crossing. These stones, though in the middle of the
+carriage way, did not much inconvenience those who drove about in the
+biga, or two-horsed chariot, as the wheels passed freely in the spaces
+left, while the horses, being loosely harnessed, might either have
+stepped over the stones or passed by the sides. The curb-stones are
+elevated from one foot to eighteen inches, and separate the
+foot-pavement from the road. Throughout the city there is hardly a
+street unfurnished with this convenience. Where there is width to
+admit of a broad foot-path, the interval between the curb and the line
+of building is filled up with earth, which has then been covered over
+with stucco, and sometimes with a coarse mosaic of brickwork. Here and
+there traces of this sort of pavement still remain, especially in
+those streets which were protected by porticoes.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+ARRANGEMENT OF PRIVATE HOUSES.
+
+We will now give an account of some of the most remarkable private
+houses which have been disinterred; of the paintings, domestic
+utensils, and other articles found in them; and such information upon
+the domestic manners of the ancient Italians as may seem requisite to
+the illustration of these remains. This branch of our subject is not
+less interesting, nor less extensive than the other. Temples and
+theatres, in equal preservation, and of greater splendor than those at
+Pompeii, may be seen in many places; but towards acquainting us with
+the habitations, the private luxuries and elegancies of ancient life,
+not all the scattered fragments of domestic architecture which exist
+elsewhere have done so much as this city, with its fellow-sufferer,
+Herculaneum.
+
+Towards the last years of the republic, the Romans naturalized the
+arts of Greece among themselves; and Grecian architecture came into
+fashion at Rome, as we may learn, among other sources, from the
+letters of Cicero to Atticus, which bear constant testimony to the
+strong interest which he took in ornamenting his several houses, and
+mention Cyrus, his Greek architect. At this time immense fortunes were
+easily made from the spoils of new conquests, or by peculation and
+maladministration of subject provinces, and the money thus ill and
+easily acquired was squandered in the most lavish luxury. One favorite
+mode of indulgence was in splendor of building. Lucius Cassius was the
+first who ornamented his house with columns of foreign marble; they
+were only six in number, and twelve feet high. He was soon surpassed
+by Scaurus, who placed in his house columns of the black marble called
+Lucullian, thirty-eight feet high, and of such vast and unusual weight
+that the superintendent of sewers, as we are told by Pliny,[2] took
+security for any injury which might happen to the works under his
+charge, before they were suffered to be conveyed along the streets.
+Another prodigal, by name Mamurra, set the example of lining his rooms
+with slabs of marble. The best estimate, however, of the growth of
+architectural luxury about this time may be found in what we are told
+by Pliny, that, in the year of Rome 676, the house of Lepidus was the
+finest in the city, and thirty-five years later it was not the
+hundredth.[3] We may mention, as an example of the lavish expenditure
+of the Romans, that Domitius Ahenobarbus offered for the house of
+Crassus a sum amounting to near $242,500, which was refused by the
+owner.[4] Nor were they less extravagant in their country houses. We
+may again quote Cicero, whose attachment to his Tusculan and Formian
+villas, and interest in ornamenting them, even in the most perilous
+times, is well known. Still more celebrated are the villas of Lucullus
+and Pollio; of the latter some remains are still to be seen near
+Pausilipo.
+
+Augustus endeavored by his example to check this extravagant passion,
+but he produced little effect. And in the palaces of the emperors, and
+especially the Aurea Domus, the Golden House of Nero, the domestic
+architecture of Rome, or, we might probably say, of the world, reached
+its extreme.
+
+The arrangement of the houses, though varied, of course, by local
+circumstances, and according to the rank and circumstances of the
+master, was pretty generally the same in all. The principal rooms,
+differing only in size and ornament, recur everywhere; those
+supplemental ones, which were invented only for convenience or luxury,
+vary according to the tastes and circumstances of the master.
+
+ [Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF A ROMAN HOUSE.]
+
+The private part comprised the peristyle, bed-chambers, triclinium,
+oeci, picture-gallery, library, baths, exedra, xystus, etc. We proceed
+to explain the meaning of these terms.
+
+Before great mansions there was generally a court or area, upon which
+the portico opened, either surrounding three sides of the area, or
+merely running along the front of the house. In smaller houses the
+portico ranged even with the street. Within the portico, or if there
+was no portico, opening directly to the street, was the vestibule,
+consisting of one or more spacious apartments. It was considered to be
+without the house, and was always open for the reception of those who
+came to wait there until the doors should be opened. The prothyrum, in
+Greek architecture, was the same as the vestibule. In Roman
+architecture, it was a passage-room, between the outer or house-door
+which opened to the vestibule, and an inner door which closed the
+entrance of the atrium. In the vestibule, or in an apartment opening
+upon it, the porter, _ostiarius_, usually had his seat.
+
+The atrium, or cavaedium, for they appear to have signified the same
+thing, was the most important, and usually the most splendid apartment
+of the house. Here the owner received his crowd of morning visitors,
+who were not admitted to the inner apartments. The term is thus
+explained by Varro: "The hollow of the house (cavum aedium) is a
+covered place within the walls, left open to the common use of all. It
+is called Tuscan, from the Tuscans, after the Romans began to imitate
+their cavaedium. The word atrium is derived from the Atriates, a
+people of Tuscany, from whom the pattern of it was taken." Originally,
+then, the atrium was the common room of resort for the whole family,
+the place of their domestic occupations; and such it probably
+continued in the humbler ranks of life. A general description of it
+may easily be given. It was a large apartment, roofed over, but with
+an opening in the centre, called _compluvium_, towards which the roof
+sloped, so as to throw the rain-water into a cistern in the floor
+called _impluvium_.
+
+The roof around the compluvium was edged with a row of highly
+ornamented tiles, called antefixes, on which a mask or some other
+figure was moulded. At the corners there were usually spouts, in the
+form of lions' or dogs' heads, or any fantastical device which the
+architect might fancy, which carried the rain-water clear out into the
+impluvium, whence it passed into cisterns; from which again it was
+drawn for household purposes. For drinking, river-water, and still
+more, well-water, was preferred. Often the atrium was adorned with
+fountains, supplied through leaden or earthenware pipes, from
+aqueducts or other raised heads of water; for the Romans knew the
+property of fluids, which causes them to stand at the same height in
+communicating vessels. This is distinctly recognized by Pliny,[5]
+though their common use of aqueducts, in preference to pipes, has led
+to a supposition that this great hydrostatical principle was unknown
+to them. The breadth of the impluvium, according to Vitruvius, was not
+less than a quarter, nor greater than a third, of the whole breadth of
+the atrium; its length was regulated by the same standard. The opening
+above it was often shaded by a colored veil, which diffused a softened
+light, and moderated the intense heat of an Italian sun.[6] The
+splendid columns of the house of Scaurus, at Rome, were placed, as we
+learn from Pliny,[7] in the atrium of his house. The walls were
+painted with landscapes or arabesques--a practice introduced about the
+time of Augustus--or lined with slabs of foreign and costly marbles,
+of which the Romans were passionately fond. The pavement was composed
+of the same precious material, or of still more valuable mosaics.
+
+ [Illustration: VESTIBULE OF A POMPEIAN HOUSE.]
+
+The tablinum was an appendage of the atrium, and usually entirely open
+to it. It contained, as its name imports,[8] the family archives, the
+statues, pictures, genealogical tables, and other relics of a long
+line of ancestors.
+
+Alae, wings, were similar but smaller apartments, or rather recesses,
+on each side of the further part of the atrium. Fauces, jaws, were
+passages, more especially those which passed to the interior of the
+house from the atrium.
+
+In houses of small extent, strangers were lodged in chambers which
+surrounded and opened into the atrium. The great, whose connections
+spread into the provinces, and who were visited by numbers who, on
+coming to Rome, expected to profit by their hospitality, had usually a
+_hospitium_, or place of reception for strangers, either separate, or
+among the dependencies of their palaces.
+
+Of the private apartments the first to be mentioned is the peristyle,
+which usually lay behind the atrium, and communicated with it both
+through the tablinum and by fauces. In its general plan it resembled
+the atrium, being in fact a court, open to the sky in the middle, and
+surrounded by a colonnade, but it was larger in its dimensions, and
+the centre court was often decorated with shrubs and flowers and
+fountains, and was then called _xystus_. It should be greater in
+extent when measured transversely than in length,[9] and the
+intercolumniations should not exceed four, nor fall short of three
+diameters of the columns.
+
+Of the arrangement of the bed-chambers we know little. They seem to
+have been small and inconvenient. When there was room they had usually
+a procoeton, or ante-chamber. Vitruvius recommends that they should
+face the east, for the benefit of the early sun. One of the most
+important apartments in the whole house was the triclinium, or
+dining-room, so named from the three beds, which encompassed the table
+on three sides, leaving the fourth open to the attendants. The
+prodigality of the Romans in matters of eating is well known, and it
+extended to all matters connected with the pleasures of the table. In
+their rooms, their couches, and all the furniture of their
+entertainments, magnificence and extravagance were carried to their
+highest point. The rich had several of these apartments, to be used at
+different seasons, or on various occasions. Lucullus, celebrated for
+his wealth and profuse expenditure, had a certain standard of
+expenditure for each triclinium, so that when his servants were told
+which hall he was to sup in, they knew exactly the style of
+entertainment to be prepared; and there is a well-known story of the
+way in which he deceived Pompey and Cicero, when they insisted on
+going home with him to see his family supper, by merely sending word
+home that he would sup in the Apollo, one of the most splendid of his
+halls, in which he never gave an entertainment for less than 50,000
+denarii, about $8,000. Sometimes the ceiling was contrived to open and
+let down a second course of meats, with showers of flowers and
+perfumed waters, while rope-dancers performed their evolutions over
+the heads of the company. The performances of these _funambuli_ are
+frequently represented in paintings at Pompeii. Mazois, in his work
+entitled "Le Palais de Scaurus," has given a fancy picture of the
+habitation of a Roman noble of the highest class, in which he has
+embodied all the scattered notices of domestic life, which a diligent
+perusal of the Latin writers has enabled him to collect. His
+description of the triclinium of Scaurus will give the reader the best
+notion of the style in which such an apartment was furnished and
+ornamented. For each particular in the description he quotes some
+authority. We shall not, however, encumber our pages with references
+to a long list of books not likely to be in the possession of most
+readers.
+
+"Bronze lamps,[10] dependent from chains of the same metal, or raised
+on richly-wrought candelabra, threw around the room a brilliant light.
+Slaves set apart for this service watched them, trimmed the wicks, and
+from time to time supplied them with oil.
+
+"The triclinium is twice as long as it is broad, and divided, as it
+were, into two parts--the upper occupied by the table and the couches,
+the lower left empty for the convenience of the attendants and
+spectators. Around the former the walls, up to a certain height, are
+ornamented with valuable hangings. The decorations of the rest of the
+room are noble, and yet appropriate to its destination; garlands,
+entwined with ivy and vine-branches, divide the walls into
+compartments bordered with fanciful ornaments; in the centre of each
+of which are painted with admirable elegance young Fauns, or
+half-naked Bacchantes, carrying thyrsi, vases and all the furniture of
+festive meetings. Above the columns is a large frieze, divided into
+twelve compartments; each of these is surmounted by one of the signs
+of the Zodiac, and contains paintings of the meats which are in
+highest season in each month; so that under Sagittary (December), we
+see shrimps, shell-fish, and birds of passage; under Capricorn
+(January), lobsters, sea-fish, wild-boar and game; under Aquarius
+(February), ducks, plovers, pigeons, water-rails, etc.
+
+ [Illustration: TRICLINIUM.]
+
+"The table, made of citron wood[11] from the extremity of Mauritania,
+more precious than gold, rested upon ivory feet, and was covered by a
+plateau of massive silver, chased and carved, weighing five hundred
+pounds. The couches, which would contain thirty persons, were made of
+bronze overlaid with ornaments in silver, gold and tortoise-shell; the
+mattresses of Gallic wool, dyed purple; the valuable cushions,
+stuffed with feathers, were covered with stuffs woven and embroidered
+with silk mixed with threads of gold. Chrysippus told us that they
+were made at Babylon, and had cost four millions of sesterces.[12]
+
+"The mosaic pavement, by a singular caprice of the architect,
+represented all the fragments of a feast, as if they had fallen in
+common course on the floor; so that at the first glance the room
+seemed not to have been swept since the last meal, and it was called
+from hence, _asarotos oikos_, the unswept saloon. At the bottom of the
+hall were set out vases of Corinthian brass. This triclinium, the
+largest of four in the palace of Scaurus, would easily contain a table
+of sixty covers;[13] but he seldom brings together so large a number
+of guests, and when on great occasions he entertains four or five
+hundred persons, it is usually in the atrium. This eating-room is
+reserved for summer; he has others for spring, autumn, and winter, for
+the Romans turn the change of season into a source of luxury. His
+establishment is so appointed that for each triclinium he has a great
+number of tables of different sorts, and each table has its own
+service and its particular attendants.
+
+"While waiting for their masters, young slaves strewed over the
+pavement saw-dust dyed with saffron and vermilion, mixed with a
+brilliant powder made from the lapis specularis, or talc."
+
+Pinacotheca, the picture-gallery, and Bibliotheca, the library, need
+no explanation. The latter was usually small, as a large number of
+rolls (_volumina_) could be contained within a narrow space.
+
+Exedra bore a double signification. It is either a seat, intended to
+contain a number of persons, like those before the Gate of
+Herculaneum, or a spacious hall for conversation and the general
+purposes of society. In the public baths, the word is especially
+applied to those apartments which were frequented by the philosophers.
+
+Such was the arrangement, such the chief apartments of a Roman house;
+they were on the ground-floor, the upper stories being for the most
+part left to the occupation of slaves, freedmen, and the lower
+branches of the family. We must except, however, the terrace upon the
+top of all (solarium), a favorite place of resort, often adorned with
+rare flowers and shrubs, planted in huge cases of earth, and with
+fountains and trellises, under which the evening meal might at
+pleasure be taken.
+
+The reader will not, of course, suppose that in all houses all these
+apartments were to be found, and in the same order. From the confined
+dwelling of the tradesman to the palace of the patrician, all degrees
+of accommodation and elegance were to be found. The only object of
+this long catalogue is to familiarize the reader with the general type
+of those objects which we are about to present to him, and to explain
+at once, and collectively, those terms of art which will be of most
+frequent occurrence.
+
+The reader will gain a clear idea of a Roman house from the
+ground-plan of that of Diomedes, given a little further on, which is
+one of the largest and most regularly constructed at Pompeii.
+
+We may here add a few observations, derived, as well as much of the
+preceding matter, from the valuable work of Mazois, relative to the
+materials and method of construction of the Pompeian houses. Every
+species of masonry described by Vitruvius, it is said, may here be met
+with; but the cheapest and most durable sorts have been generally
+preferred.
+
+Copper, iron, lead, have been found employed for the same purposes as
+those for which we now use them. Iron is more plentiful than copper,
+contrary to what is generally observed in ancient works. It is
+evident from articles of furniture, etc., found in the ruins, that the
+Italians were highly skilled in the art of working metals, yet they
+seem to have excelled in ornamental work, rather than in the solid and
+neat construction of useful articles. For instance, their lock-work is
+coarse, hardly equal to that which is now executed in the same
+country; while the external ornaments of doors, bolts, handles, etc.,
+are elegantly wrought.
+
+The first private house that we will describe is found by passing down
+a street from the Street of Abundance. The visitor finds on the right,
+just beyond the back wall of the Thermae Stabianae, the entrance of a
+handsome dwelling. An inscription in red letters on the outside wall
+containing the name of Siricus has occasioned the conjecture that this
+was the name of the owner of the house; while a mosaic inscription on
+the floor of the prothyrum, having the words SALVE LUCRU, has given
+rise to a second appellation for the dwelling.
+
+On the left of the prothyrum is an apartment with two doors, one
+opening on a wooden staircase leading to an upper floor, the other
+forming the entry to a room next the street, with a window like that
+described in the other room next the prothyrum. The walls of this
+chamber are white, divided by red and yellow zones into compartments,
+in which are depicted the symbols of the principal deities--as the
+eagle and globe of Jove, the peacock of Juno, the lance, helmet and
+shield of Minerva, the panther of Bacchus, a Sphinx, having near it
+the mystical chest and sistrum of Isis, who was the Venus Physica of
+the Pompeians, the caduceus and other emblems of Mercury, etc. There
+are also two small landscapes.
+
+Next to this is a large and handsome exedra, decorated with good
+pictures, a third of the size of life. That on the left represents
+Neptune and Apollo presiding at the building of Troy; the former,
+armed with his trident, is seated; the latter, crowned with laurel,
+is on foot, and leans with his right arm on a lyre. On the wall
+opposite to this is a picture of Vulcan presenting the arms of
+Achilles to Thetis. The celebrated shield is supported by Vulcan on
+the anvil, and displayed to Thetis, who is seated, whilst a winged
+female figure standing at her side points out to her with a rod the
+marvels of its workmanship. Agreeably to the Homeric description the
+shield is encircled with the signs of the zodiac, and in the middle
+are the bear, the dragon, etc. On the ground are the breast-plate, the
+greaves and the helmet.
+
+ [Illustration: HERCULES DRUNK. (_From Pompeii._)]
+
+In the third picture is seen Hercules crowned with ivy, inebriated,
+and lying on the ground at the foot of a cypress tree. He is clothed
+in a _sandyx_, or short transparent tunic, and has on his feet a sort
+of shoes, one of which he has kicked off. He supports himself on his
+left arm, while the right is raised in drunken ecstasy. A little Cupid
+plucks at his garland of ivy, another tries to drag away his ample
+goblet. In the middle of the picture is an altar with festoons. On the
+top of it three Cupids, assisted by another who has climbed up the
+tree, endeavor to bear on their shoulders the hero's quiver; while on
+the ground, to the left of the altar, four other Cupids are sporting
+with his club. A votive tablet with an image of Bacchus rests at the
+foot of the altar, and indicates the god to whom Hercules has been
+sacrificing.
+
+On the left of the picture, on a little eminence, is a group of three
+females round a column having on its top a vase. The chief and central
+figure, which is naked to the waist, has in her hand a fan; she seems
+to look with interest on the drunken hero, but whom she represents it
+is difficult to say. On the right, half way up a mountain, sits
+Bacchus, looking on the scene with a complacency not unmixed with
+surprise. He is surrounded by his usual rout of attendants, one of
+whom bears a thyrsus. The annexed engraving will convey a clearer idea
+of the picture, which for grace, grandeur of composition, and delicacy
+and freshness of coloring, is among the best discovered at Pompeii.
+The exedra is also adorned with many other paintings and ornaments
+which it would be too long to describe.
+
+On the same side of the atrium, beyond a passage leading to a kitchen
+with an oven, is an elegant _triclinium fenestratum_ looking upon an
+adjacent garden. The walls are black, divided by red and yellow zones,
+with candelabra and architectural members intermixed with quadrupeds,
+birds, dolphins, Tritons, masks, etc., and in the middle of each
+compartment is a Bacchante. In each wall are three small paintings
+executed with greater care. The first, which has been removed,
+represented AEneas in his tent, who, accompanied by Mnestheus, Achates,
+and young Ascanius, presents his thigh to the surgeon, Iapis, in order
+to extract from it the barb of an arrow. AEneas supports himself with
+the lance in his right hand, and leans with the other on the shoulder
+of his son, who, overcome by his father's misfortune, wipes the tears
+from his eyes with the hem of his robe; while Iapis, kneeling on one
+leg before the hero, is intent on extracting the barb with his
+forceps. But the wound is not to be healed without divine
+interposition. In the background of the picture Venus is hastening to
+her son's relief, bearing in her hand the branch of dictamnus, which
+is to restore him to his pristine vigor.
+
+The subject of the second picture, which is much damaged, is not easy
+to be explained. It represents a naked hero, armed with sword and
+spear, to whom a woman crowned with laurel and clothed in an ample
+_peplum_ is pointing out another female figure. The latter expresses
+by her gestures her grief and indignation at the warrior's departure,
+the imminence of which is signified by the chariot that awaits him.
+Signor Fiorelli thinks he recognizes in this picture Turnus, Lavinia,
+and Amata, when the queen supplicates Turnus not to fight with the
+Trojans.
+
+The third painting represents Hermaphroditus surrounded by six nymphs,
+variously employed.
+
+From the atrium a narrow _fauces_ or corridor led into the garden.
+Three steps on the left connected this part of the house with the
+other and more magnificent portion having its entrance from the Strada
+Stabiana. The garden was surrounded on two sides with a portico, on
+the right of which are some apartments which do not require particular
+notice.
+
+The house entered at a higher level, by the three steps just
+mentioned, was at first considered as a separate house, and by
+Fiorelli has been called the House of the Russian Princes, from some
+excavations made here in 1851 in presence of the sons of the Emperor
+of Russia. The peculiarities observable in this house are that the
+atrium and peristyle are broader than they are deep, and that they are
+not separated by a tablinum and other rooms, but simply by a wall. In
+the centre of the Tuscan atrium, entered from the Street of Stabiae, is
+a handsome marble impluvium. At the top of it is a square cippus,
+coated with marble, and having a leaden pipe which flung the water
+into a square vase or basin supported by a little base of white
+marble, ornamented with acanthus leaves. Beside the fountain is a
+table of the same material, supported by two legs beautifully
+sculptured, of a chimaera and a griffin. On this table was a little
+bronze group of Hercules armed with his club, and a young Phrygian
+kneeling before him.
+
+From the atrium the peristyle is entered by a large door. It is about
+forty-six feet broad and thirty-six deep, and has ten columns, one of
+which still sustains a fragment of the entablature. The walls were
+painted in red and yellow panels alternately, with figures of Latona,
+Diana, Bacchantes, etc. At the bottom of the peristyle, on the right,
+is a triclinium. In the middle is a small _oecus_, with two pillars
+richly ornamented with arabesques. A little apartment on the left has
+several pictures.
+
+In this house, at a height of seventeen Neapolitan palms (nearly
+fifteen feet) from the level of the ground, were discovered four
+skeletons together in an almost vertical position. Twelve palms lower
+was another skeleton, with a hatchet near it. This man appears to have
+pierced the wall of one of the small chambers of the prothyrum, and
+was about to enter it, when he was smothered, either by the falling in
+of the earth or by the mephitic exhalations. It has been thought that
+these persons perished while engaged in searching for valuables after
+the catastrophe.
+
+In the back room of a thermopolium not far from this spot was
+discovered a _graffito_ of part of the first line of the AEneid, in
+which the _r_s were turned into _l_s:
+
+ Alma vilumque cano Tlo.
+
+We will now return to the house of Siricus. Contiguous to it in the
+Via del Lupanare is a building having two doors separated with
+pilasters. By way of sign, an elephant was painted on the wall,
+enveloped by a large serpent and tended by a pigmy. Above was the
+inscription: Sittius restituit elephantum; and beneath the following:
+
+ Hospitium hic locatur
+ Triclinium cum tribus lectis
+ Et comm.
+
+Both the painting and the inscription have now disappeared. The
+discovery is curious, as proving that the ancients used signs for
+their taverns. Orelli has given in his _Inscriptions_ in Gaul, one of
+a Cock (a Gallo Gallinacio). In that at Pompeii the last word stands
+for "commodis." "Here is a triclinium with three beds and other
+conveniences."
+
+Just opposite the gate of Siricus was another house also supposed to
+be a _caupona_, or tavern, from some chequers painted on the door
+posts. On the wall are depicted two large serpents, the emblem so
+frequently met with. They were the symbols of the Lares viales, or
+compitales, and, as we have said, rendered the place sacred against
+the commission of any nuisance. The cross, which is sometimes seen on
+the walls of houses in a modern Italian city, serves the same purpose.
+Above the serpents is the following inscription, in tolerably large
+white characters: Otiosis locus hic non est, discede morator.
+"Lingerer, depart; this is no place for idlers." An injunction by the
+way which seems rather to militate against the idea of the house
+having been a tavern.
+
+The inscription just mentioned suggests an opportunity for giving a
+short account of similar ones; we speak not of inscriptions cut in
+stone, and affixed to temples and other public buildings, but such as
+were either painted, scrawled in charcoal and other substances, or
+scratched with a sharp point, such as a nail or knife, on the stucco
+of walls and pillars. Such inscriptions afford us a peep both into the
+public and the domestic life of the Pompeians. Advertisements of a
+political character were commonly painted on the exterior walls in
+large letters in black and red paint; poetical effusions or
+pasquinades, etc., with coal or chalk (Martial, _Epig._ xii. 61, 9);
+while notices of a domestic kind are more usually found in the
+interior of the houses, scratched, as we have said, on the stucco,
+whence they have been called _graffiti_.
+
+The numerous political inscriptions bear testimony to the activity of
+public life in Pompeii. These advertisements, which for the most part
+turn on the election of aediles, duumvirs, and other magistrates, show
+that the Pompeians, at the time when their city was destroyed, were in
+all the excitement of the approaching comitia for the election of such
+magistrates. We shall here select a few of the more interesting
+inscriptions, both relating to public and domestic matters.
+
+It seems to have been customary to paint over old advertisements with
+a coat of white, and so to obtain a fresh surface for new ones, just
+as the bill-sticker remorselessly pastes his bill over that of some
+brother of the brush. In some cases this new coating has been
+detached, or has fallen off, thus revealing an older notice, belonging
+sometimes to a period antecedent to the Social War. Inscriptions of
+this kind are found only on the solid stone pillars of the more
+ancient buildings, and not on the stucco, with which at a later period
+almost everything was plastered. Their antiquity is further certified
+by some of them being in the Oscan dialect; while those in Latin are
+distinguished from more recent ones in the same language by the forms
+of the letters, by the names which appear in them, and by archaisms in
+grammar and orthography. Inscriptions in the Greek tongue are rare,
+though the letters of the Greek alphabet, scratched on walls at a
+little height from the ground, and thus evidently the work of
+school-boys, show that Greek must have been extensively taught at
+Pompeii.
+
+The normal form of electioneering advertisements contains the name of
+the person recommended, the office for which he is a candidate, and
+the name of the person, or persons, who recommended him, accompanied
+in general with the formula O. V. F. From examples written in full,
+recently discovered, it appears that these letters mean _orat_ (or
+_orant_) _vos faciatis_: "beseech you to create" (aedile and so forth).
+The letters in question were, before this discovery, very often
+thought to stand for _orat ut faveat_, "begs him to favor;" and thus
+the meaning of the inscription was entirely reversed, and the person
+recommending converted into the person recommended. In the following
+example for instance--_M. Holconium Priscum duumvirum juri dicundo O.
+V. F. Philippus_; the meaning, according to the older interpretation,
+will be: "Philippus beseeches M. Holconius Priscus, duumvir of
+justice, to favor or patronize him;" whereas the true sense is:
+"Philippus beseeches you to create M. Holconius Priscus a duumvir of
+justice." From this misinterpretation wrong names have frequently been
+given to houses; as is probably the case, for instance, with the house
+of Pansa, which, from the tenor of the inscription, more probably
+belonged to Paratus, who posted on his own walls a request to
+passers-by to make his friend Pansa aedile. Had it been the house of
+Pansa, when a candidate for the aedileship, and if it was the custom
+for such candidates to post recommendatory notices on their doors, it
+may be supposed that Pansa would have exhibited more than this single
+one from a solitary friend. This is a more probable meaning than that
+Paratus solicited in this way the patronage of Pansa; for it would
+have been a bad method to gain it by disfiguring his walls in so
+impertinent a manner. We do not indeed mean to deny that adulatory
+inscriptions were sometimes written on the houses or doors of powerful
+or popular men or pretty women. A verse of Plautus bears testimony to
+such a custom (Impleantur meae foreis elogiorum carbonibus. _Mercator_,
+act ii. sc. 3). But first, the inscription on the so-called house of
+Pansa was evidently not of an adulatory, but of a recommendatory
+character; and secondly, those of the former kind, as we learn from
+this same verse, seem to have been written by passing admirers, with
+some material ready to the hand, such as charcoal or the like, and not
+painted on the walls with care, and time, and expense; a proceeding
+which we can hardly think the owner of the house, if he was a modest
+and sensible man, would have tolerated.
+
+Recommendations of candidates were often accompanied with a word or
+two in their praise; as _dignus_, or _dignissimus est_, _probissimus_,
+_juvenis integer_, _frugi_, _omni bono meritus_, and the like. Such
+recommendations are sometimes subscribed by guilds or corporations, as
+well as by private persons, and show that there were a great many such
+trade unions at Pompeii. Thus we find mentioned the _offectores_
+(dyers), _pistores_ (bakers), _aurifices_ (goldsmiths), _pomarii_
+(fruiterers), _caeparii_ (green-grocers), _lignarii_ (wood merchants),
+_plostrarii_ (cart-wrights), _piscicapi_ (fishermen), _agricolae_
+(husbandmen), _muliones_ (muleteers), _culinarii_ (cooks), _fullones_
+(fullers), and others. Advertisements of this sort appear to have been
+laid hold of as a vehicle for street wit, just as electioneering
+squibs are perpetrated among ourselves. Thus we find mentioned, as if
+among the companies, the _pilicrepi_ (ball-players), the _seribibi_
+(late topers), the _dormientes universi_ (all the worshipful company
+of sleepers), and as a climax, _Pompeiani universi_ (all the
+Pompeians, to a man, vote for so and so). One of these recommendations,
+purporting to emanate from a "teacher" or "professor," runs, _Valentius
+cum discentes suos_ (Valentius with his disciples); the bad grammar
+being probably intended as a gibe upon one of the poor man's weak
+points.
+
+The inscriptions in chalk and coal, the _graffiti_, and occasionally
+painted inscriptions, contain sometimes well-known verses from poets
+still extant. Some of these exhibit variations from the modern text,
+but being written by not very highly educated persons, they seldom or
+never present any various readings that it would be desirable to
+adopt, and indeed contain now and then prosodical errors. Other
+verses, some of them by no means contemptible, are either taken from
+pieces now lost, or are the invention of the writer himself. Many of
+these inscriptions are of course of an amatory character; some convey
+intelligence of not much importance to anybody but the writer--as,
+that he is troubled with a cold--or was seventeen centuries ago--or
+that he considers somebody who does not invite him to supper as no
+better than a brute and barbarian, or invokes blessings on the man
+that does. Some are capped by another hand with a biting sarcasm on
+the first writer, and many, as might be expected, are scurrilous and
+indecent. Some of the _graffiti_ on the interior walls and pillars of
+houses are memoranda of domestic transactions; as, how much lard was
+bought, how many tunics sent to the wash, when a child or a donkey was
+born, and the like. One of this kind, scratched on the wall of the
+peristyle of the corner house in the _Strada della Fortuna_ and
+_Vicolo degli Scienziati_, appears to be an account of the
+_dispensator_ or overseer of the tasks in spinning allotted to the
+female slaves of the establishment, and is interesting as furnishing
+us with their names, which are Vitalis, Florentina, Amarullis,
+Januaria, Heracla, Maria (M_a_ria, feminine of Marius, not Mar_i_a),
+Lalagia (reminding us of Horace's Lalage), Damalis, and Doris. The
+_pensum_, or weight of wool delivered to each to be spun, is spelled
+_pesu_, the _n_ and final _m_ being omitted, just as we find _salve
+lucru_, for _lucrum_, written on the threshold of the house of
+Siricus. In this form, _pesu_ is very close to the Italian word
+_peso_.
+
+We have already alluded now and then to the rude etchings and
+caricatures of these wall-artists, but to enter fully into the
+subject of the Pompeian inscriptions and _graffiti_ would almost
+demand a separate volume, and we must therefore resume the thread of
+our description.
+
+A little beyond the house of Siricus, a small street, running down at
+right angles from the direction of the Forum, enters the Via del
+Lupanare. Just at their junction, and having an entrance into both,
+stands the Lupanar, from which the latter street derives its name. We
+can not venture upon a description of this resort of Pagan immorality.
+It is kept locked up, but the guide will procure the key for those who
+may wish to see it. Next to it is the House of the Fuller, in which
+was found the elegant little bronze statuette of Narcissus, now in the
+Museum. The house contained nothing else of interest.
+
+The Via del Lupanare terminates in the Street of the Augustals, or of
+the Dried Fruits. In this latter street, nearly opposite the end of
+the Via del Lupanare, but a little to the left, is the House of
+Narcissus, or of the Mosaic Fountain. This house is one of recent
+excavation. At the threshold is a Mosaic of a bear, with the word
+_Have_. The prothyrum is painted with figures on a yellow ground. On
+the left is a medallion of a satyr and nymph; the opposite medallion
+is destroyed.
+
+The atrium is paved with mosaic. The first room on the right-hand side
+of it has a picture of Narcissus admiring himself in the water. The
+opposite picture has a female figure seated, with a child in her arms,
+and a large chest open before her. The tablinum is handsomely paved
+with mosaic and marble. Behind this, in place of a peristyle, is a
+court or garden, the wall of which is painted with a figure bearing a
+basin. At the bottom is a handsome mosaic fountain, from which the
+house derives one of its names, with a figure of Neptune surrounded by
+fishes and sea-fowl; above are depicted large wild boars.
+
+On the opposite side of the way, at the eastern angle of the Street of
+the Lupanar, is the House of the Rudder and Trident, also called the
+House of Mars and Venus. The first of these names is derived from the
+mosaic pavement in the prothyrum, in which the objects mentioned are
+represented; while a medallion picture in the atrium, with heads of
+Mars and Venus, gave rise to the second appellation. The colors of
+this picture are still quite fresh, a result which Signor Fiorelli
+attributes to his having caused a varnish of wax to be laid over the
+painting at the time of its discovery. Without some such protection
+the colors of these pictures soon decay; the cinnabar, or vermilion,
+especially, turns black after a few days' exposure to the light.
+
+The atrium, as usual, is surrounded with bed-chambers. A peculiarity
+not yet found in any other house is a niche or closet on the left of
+the atrium, having on one side an opening only large enough to
+introduce the hand, whence it has been conjectured that it served as a
+receptacle for some valuable objects. It is painted inside with a wall
+of quadrangular pieces of marble of various colors, terminated at top
+with a cornice. In each of the squares is a fish, bird, or quadruped.
+
+This closet or niche stands at a door of the room in which is an
+entrance to a subterranean passage, having its exit in the Via del
+Lupanare. There is nothing very remarkable in the other apartments of
+this house. Behind is a peristyle with twelve columns, in the garden
+of which shrubs are said to have been discovered in a carbonized
+state.
+
+Further down the same Street of the Augustals, at the angle which it
+forms with the Street of Stabiae, is the house of a baker, having on
+the external wall the name Modestum in red letters. For a tradesman it
+seems to have been a comfortable house, having an atrium and fountain,
+and some painted chambers. Beyond the atrium is a spacious court with
+mills and an oven. The oven was charged with more than eighty loaves,
+the forms of which are still perfect, though they are reduced to a
+carbonaceous state. They are preserved in the Museum.
+
+The narrow street to which we have alluded, as entering the Via del
+Lupanare nearly opposite to the house of Siricus, has been called the
+Via del Balcone, from a small house with a projecting balcony or
+maenianum. Indications of balconies have been found elsewhere, and
+indeed there were evidently some in the Via del Lupanare; but this is
+the only instance of one restored to its pristine state, through the
+care of Signor Fiorelli in substituting fresh timbers for those which
+had become carbonized. The visitor may ascend to the first floor of
+this house, from which the balcony projects several feet into the
+narrow lane. In the atrium of this house is a very pretty fountain.
+
+The house next to that of the Balcony, facing the entrance of a small
+street leading from the Via dell Abbondanza, and numbered 7 on the
+door post, has a few pictures in a tolerable state of preservation. In
+a painting in the furthest room on the left of the atrium Theseus is
+seen departing in his ship; Ariadne, roused from sleep, gazes on him
+with despair, while a little weeping Cupid stands by her side. In the
+same apartment are two other well-preserved pictures, the subjects of
+which it is not easy to explain. In one is a female displaying to a
+man two little figures in a nest, representing apparently the birth of
+the Dioscuri. The other is sometimes called the Rape of Helen. There
+are also several medallion heads around.
+
+In the small street which runs parallel with the eastern side of the
+Forum, called the Vico di Eumachia, is a house named the _Casa nuova
+della Caccia_, to distinguish it from one of the same name previously
+discovered. As in the former instance, its appellation is derived from
+a large painting on the wall of the peristyle, of bears, lions, and
+other animals. On the right-hand wall of the tablinum is a picture of
+Bacchus discovering Ariadne. A satyr lifts her vest, while Silenus and
+other figures look on in admiration. The painting on the left-hand
+wall is destroyed. On entering the peristyle a door on the right leads
+down some steps into a garden, on one side of which is a small altar
+before a wall, on which is a painting of shrubs.
+
+Proceeding from this street into the Vico Storto, which forms a
+continuation of it on the north, we find on the right a recently
+excavated house, which, from several slabs of variously colored
+marbles found in it, has been called the House of the Dealer in
+Marbles. Under a large court in the interior, surrounded with Doric
+columns, are some subterranean apartments, in one of which was
+discovered a well more than eighty feet deep and still supplied with
+fresh water; almost the only instance of the kind at Pompeii. The
+beautiful statuette of Silenus, already described, was found in this
+house. Here also was made the rare discovery of the skeletons of two
+horses, with the remains of a _biga_.
+
+This description might be extended, but it would be tedious to repeat
+details of smaller and less interesting houses, the features of which
+present in general much uniformity; and we shall therefore conclude
+this account of the more recent discoveries with a notice of a group
+of bodies found in this neighborhood, the forms of which have been
+preserved to us through the ingenuity of Signor Fiorelli.
+
+It has already been remarked that the showers of _lapillo_, or pumice
+stone, by which Pompeii was overwhelmed and buried, were followed by
+streams of a thick, tenacious mud, which flowing over the deposit of
+_lapillo_, and filling up all the crannies and interstices into which
+that substance had not been able to penetrate, completed the
+destruction of the city. The objects over which this mud flowed were
+enveloped in it as in a plaster mould, and where these objects
+happened to be human bodies, their decay left a cavity in which their
+forms were as accurately preserved and rendered as in the mould
+prepared for the casting of a bronze statue. Such cavities had often
+been observed. In some of them remnants of charred wood, accompanied
+with bronze or other ornaments, showed that the object inclosed had
+been a piece of furniture; while in others, the remains of bones and
+of articles of apparel evinced but too plainly that the hollow had
+been the living grave which had swallowed up some unfortunate human
+being. In a happy moment the idea occurred to Signor Fiorelli of
+filling up these cavities with liquid plaster, and thus obtaining a
+cast of the objects which had been inclosed in them. The experiment
+was first made in a small street leading from the Via del Balcone
+Pensile towards the Forum. The bodies here found were on the _lapillo_
+at a height of about fifteen feet from the level of the ground.
+
+"Among the first casts thus obtained were those of four human beings.
+They are now preserved in a room at Pompeii, and more ghastly and
+painful, yet deeply interesting and touching objects, it is difficult
+to conceive. We have death itself moulded and cast--the very last
+struggle and final agony brought before us. They tell their story with
+a horrible dramatic truth that no sculptor could ever reach. They
+would have furnished a thrilling episode to the accomplished author of
+the 'Last Days of Pompeii.'
+
+"These four persons had perished in a street. They had remained within
+the shelter of their homes until the thick black mud began to creep
+through every cranny and chink. Driven from their retreat they began
+to flee when it was too late. The streets were already buried deep in
+the loose pumice stones which had been falling for many hours in
+unremitting showers, and which reached almost to the windows of the
+first floor. These victims of the eruption were not found together,
+and they do not appear to have belonged to the same family or
+household. The most interesting of the casts is that of two women,
+probably mother and daughter, lying feet to feet. They appear from
+their garb to have been people of poor condition. The elder seems to
+lie tranquilly on her side. Overcome by the noxious gases, she
+probably fell and died without a struggle. Her limbs are extended, and
+her left arm drops loosely. On one finger is still seen her coarse
+iron ring. Her child was a girl of fifteen; she seems, poor thing, to
+have struggled hard for life. Her legs are drawn up convulsively; her
+little hands are clenched in agony. In one she holds her veil, or a
+part of her dress, with which she had covered her head, burying her
+face in her arm, to shield herself from the falling ashes and from the
+foul sulphurous smoke. The form of her head is perfectly preserved.
+The texture of her coarse linen garments may be traced, and even the
+fashion of her dress, with its long sleeves reaching to her wrists;
+here and there it is torn, and the smooth young skin appears in the
+plaster like polished marble. On her tiny feet may still be seen her
+embroidered sandals.
+
+ [Illustration: DISCOVERED BODY AT POMPEII.]
+
+"At some distance from this group lay a third woman. She appears to
+have been about twenty-five years of age, and to have belonged to a
+better class than the other two. On one of her fingers were two silver
+rings, and her garments were of a finer texture. Her linen head-dress,
+falling over her shoulders like that of a matron in a Roman statue,
+can still be distinguished. She had fallen on her side, overcome by
+the heat and gases, but a terrible struggle seems to have preceded her
+last agony. One arm is raised in despair; the hands are clenched
+convulsively; her garments are gathered up on one side, leaving
+exposed a limb of beautiful shape. So perfect a mould of it has been
+formed by the soft and yielding mud, that the cast would seem to be
+taken from an exquisite work of Greek art. She had fled with her
+little treasure, which lay scattered around her--two silver cups, a
+few jewels, and some dozen silver coins; nor had she, like a good
+housewife, forgotten her keys, after having probably locked up her
+stores before seeking to escape. They were found by her side.
+
+"The fourth cast is that of a man of the people, perhaps a common
+soldier. As may be seen in the cut, he is of almost colossal size; he
+lies on his left arm extended by his side, and his head rests on his
+right hand, and his legs drawn up as if, finding escape impossible,
+he had laid himself down to meet death like a brave man. His dress
+consists of a short coat or jerkin and tight-fitting breeches of some
+coarse stuff, perhaps leather. On one finger is seen his iron ring.
+His features are strongly marked the mouth open, as in death. Some of
+the teeth still remain, and even part of the moustache adheres to the
+plaster.
+
+"The importance of Signor Fiorelli's discovery may be understood from
+the results we have described. It may furnish us with many curious
+particulars as to the dress and domestic habits of the Romans, and
+with many an interesting episode of the last day of Pompeii. Had it
+been made at an earlier period we might perhaps have possessed the
+perfect cast of the Diomedes, as they clung together in their last
+struggle, and of other victims whose remains are now mingled together
+in the bone-house."
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+HOUSE OF DIOMEDES.
+
+This house, the most interesting, and by far the most extensive of the
+private buildings yet discovered, is the Suburban Villa, as it is
+called, from its position a little way without the gates, in the
+Street of the Tombs, which led to, or formed part of, the suburb
+called Augustus Felix. It is worthy of remark that the plan of this
+edifice is in close accord with the descriptions of country houses
+given us by Vitruvius and others--a circumstance which tends strongly
+to confirm the belief already expressed, that the houses of the city
+are built upon the Roman system of arrangement, although the Greek
+taste may predominate in their decoration. We will commence by
+extracting the most important passages in Pliny the Younger's
+description of his Laurentine villa, that the reader may have some
+general notion of the subject, some standard with which to compare
+that which we are about to describe.
+
+"My villa is large enough for convenience, though not splendid. The
+first apartment which presents itself is a plain, yet not mean,
+atrium; then comes a portico, in shape like the letter O, which
+surrounds a small, but pleasant area. This is an excellent retreat in
+bad weather, being sheltered by glazed windows, and still more
+effectually by an overhanging roof. Opposite the centre of this
+portico is a pleasant cavaedium, after which comes a handsome
+triclinium, which projects upon the beach, so that when the southwest
+wind urges the sea, the last broken waves just dash against its
+walls. On every side of this room are folding doors, or windows
+equally large, so that from the three sides there is a view, as it
+were, of three seas at once, while backwards the eye wanders through
+the apartments already described, the cavaedium, portico, and atrium,
+to woods and distant mountains. To the left are several apartments,
+including a bed-chamber, and room fitted up as a library, which jets
+out in an elliptic form, and, by its several windows, admits the sun
+during its whole course. These apartments I make my winter abode. The
+rest of this side of the house is allotted to my slaves and freedmen,
+yet it is for the most part neat enough to receive my friends. To the
+right of the triclinium is a very elegant chamber, and another, which
+you may call either a very large chamber (_cubiculum_), or
+moderate-sized eating-room (_coenatio_), which commands a full
+prospect both of the sun and sea. Passing hence, through three or four
+other chambers, you enter the _cella frigidaria_ of the baths, in
+which there are two basins projecting from opposite walls, abundantly
+large enough to swim in, if you feel inclined to do so in the first
+instance. Then come the anointing-room, the hypocaust, or furnace, and
+two small rooms; next the warm bath, which commands an admirable view
+of the sea. Not far off is the _sphaeristerium_, a room devoted to
+in-door exercises and games, exposed to the hottest sun of the
+declining day. Beside it is a triclinium, where the noise of the sea
+is never heard but in a storm, and then faintly, looking out upon the
+garden and the _gestatio_, or place for taking the air in a carriage
+or litter, which encompasses it. The gestatio is hedged with box, and
+with rosemary where the box is wanting; for box grows well where it is
+sheltered by buildings, but withers when exposed in an open situation
+to the wind, and especially within reach of spray from the sea. To the
+inner circle of the gestatio is joined a shady walk of vines, soft and
+tender even to the naked feet. The garden is full of mulberries and
+figs, the soil being especially suited to the former. Within the
+circuit of the gestatio there is also a cryptoportico, for extent
+comparable to public buildings, having windows on one side looking to
+the sea, on the other to the garden. In front of it is a xystus,
+fragrant with violets, where the sun's heat is increased by reflection
+from the cryptoportico, which, at the same time, breaks the northeast
+wind. At either end of it is a suite of apartments, in which, in
+truth, I place my chief delight."[14] Such was one of several villas
+described by Pliny. The directions given by Vitruvius for building
+country houses are very short. "The same principles," he says, "are to
+be observed in country houses as in town houses, except that in the
+latter the atrium lies next to the door, but in pseudo-urban houses
+the peristyles come first, then atria surrounded by paved porticoes,
+looking upon courts for gymnastic exercises and walking" (_palaestras
+et ambulationes_).[15] It will appear that the distribution of the
+Suburban Villa was entirely in accordance with these rules.
+
+The house is built upon the side of the hill, in such a manner that
+the ground falls away, not only in the line of the street, across the
+breadth of the house, but also from the front to the back, so that the
+doorway itself being elevated from five to six feet above the roadway,
+there is room at the back of the house for an extensive and
+magnificent suite of rooms between the level of the peristyle and the
+surface of the earth. These two levels are represented on the same
+plan, being distinguished by a difference in the shading. The darker
+parts show the walls of the upper floor, the lighter ones indicate the
+distribution of the lower. A further distinction is made in the
+references, which are by figures to the upper floor, and by letters to
+the lower. There are besides subterraneous vaults and galleries not
+expressed in the plan.
+
+ [Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE SUBURBAN VILLA OF DIOMEDES.]
+
+1. Broad foot pavement raised nine inches or a foot above the carriage
+way, running along the whole length of the Street of Tombs. 2.
+Inclined planes, leading up to the porch on each side. 3. Entrance. 4.
+Peristyle. This arrangement corresponds exactly with the directions of
+Vitruvius for the building of country houses just quoted. The order
+of the peristyle is extremely elegant. The columns, their capitals,
+and entablatures, and the paintings on the walls are still in good
+preservation. The architectural decorations are worked in stucco; and
+it is observed by Mazois that both here and in other instances the
+artist has taken liberties, which he would not have indulged in had he
+been working in more valuable materials. On this ground that eminent
+architect hazards a conjecture that the plasterer had a distinct style
+of ornamenting, different from that of architects, or of the masons in
+their employ. The lower third of the columns, which is not fluted, is
+painted red. The pavement was formed of _opus Signinum_. 5. Uncovered
+court with an impluvium, which collected the rain water and fed a
+cistern, whence the common household wants were supplied. 6.
+Descending staircase, which led to a court and building on a lower
+level, appropriated to the offices, as the kitchen, bakehouse, etc.,
+and to the use of slaves. It will be recollected that the ground
+slopes with a rapid descent away from the city gate. This lower story,
+therefore, was not under ground, though near eight feet below the
+level of the peristyle. It communicates with the road by a back door.
+From the bottom of the stair there runs a long corridor, A, somewhat
+indistinct in our small plan, owing to its being crossed several times
+by the lines of the upper floor, which leads down by a gentle slope to
+the portico surrounding the garden. This was the back stair, as we
+should call it, by which the servants communicated with that part of
+the house. There was another staircase, B, on the opposite side of the
+house, for the use of the family. 7. Door and passage to the upper
+garden, marked 17, on the same level as the court. 8. Open hall,
+corresponding in position with a tablinum. Being thus placed between
+the court and the gallery, 28, it must have been closed with folding
+doors of wood, which perhaps were glazed. 9, 10, 11, 12. Various rooms
+containing nothing remarkable. 13. Two rooms situated in the most
+agreeable manner at the two ends of a long gallery, 28, and looking
+out upon the upper terraces of the garden, from which the eye took in
+the whole gulf of Naples to the point of Sorrento, and the island of
+Capreae. 14. Procaeton, or antechamber. 15. Lodge of the cubicular
+slave, or attendant upon the bed-room. 16. Bed-room, probably that of
+the master, or else the state-chamber. _b._ Alcove. Several rings were
+found here which had evidently belonged to a curtain to draw across
+the front of it. _c._ Hollow stand or counter of masonry, probably
+coated with stucco or marble, which served for a toilet-table. Several
+vases were found there, which must have contained perfumes or cosmetic
+oils. The form of this bed-room is very remarkable, and will not fail
+to strike the reader from its exact correspondence with the elliptic
+chamber or library described by Pliny in his Laurentine villa. The
+windows in the semi-circular end are so placed that they receive the
+rising, noontide, and setting sun. Bull's eyes, placed above the
+windows, permitted them to be altogether closed without darkening the
+room entirely. These windows opened on a garden, where, in Mazois'
+time, the care of the guardian had planted roses, which almost
+beguiled him into the belief that he had found the genuine produce of
+a Pompeian garden. This must have been a delightful room, from its
+ample size, elegance of ornament, and the quiet cheerful retirement of
+its situation.
+
+17. Upper garden upon the level of the court.
+
+18. Entrance to the baths, which, though originally rare in private
+houses, had become so common, long before the destruction of Pompeii,
+that few wealthy persons were without them. The word _balneum_ was
+peculiarly applied to domestic, _thermae_ to public baths. This
+specimen, which fortunately was almost perfect, small as it is,
+suffices to give an idea of the arrangement of private baths among the
+Romans. 19. Portico upon two sides of a small triangular court. There
+is as much skill in the disposition, as taste in the decoration, of
+this court, which presents a symmetrical plan, notwithstanding the
+irregular form of the space allotted to it. Its situation is
+conformable to the advice of Vitruvius; and as it could not front the
+west, it has been placed to the south. The columns of the portico are
+octagonal. At the extremity of the gallery, on the left of the
+entrance, there is a small furnace where was prepared some warm
+beverage or restorative for the use of the bathers, who were
+accustomed to take wine or cordials before they went away. Here a
+gridiron and two frying pans were found, still blackened with smoke.
+In the centre of the base, or third side of the court, is placed a
+bath, 20, about six feet square, lined with stucco, the edge of which
+is faced with marble. It was covered with a roof, the mark of which is
+still visible on the walls, supported by two pillars placed on the
+projecting angles. The holes in the walls to admit the three principal
+beams are so contrived that each side is lined with a single brick.
+Under this covering the whole wall was painted to represent water,
+with fish and other aquatic animals swimming about. The water was
+blue, and rather deep in color: the fish were represented in the most
+vivid and varied tints. Some years ago this painting recovered, on
+being wetted, the original freshness and brilliancy of its coloring;
+but exposure to the weather has done its work, and now scarce a trace
+of it remains. In the middle of it there is a circular broken space to
+which a mask was formerly attached, through which a stream gushed into
+the basin below. Two or three steps led down to this _baptisterium_,
+where the cold bath was taken in the open air. This court and portico
+were paved in mosaic. 21. Apodyterium. 22. Frigidarium. 23.
+Tepidarium. These two rooms, in neither of which was there a bathing
+vessel, show that frequently rooms thus named were not intended for
+bathing, but simply to preserve two intermediate gradations of
+temperature, between the burning heat of the caldarium or laconicum
+and the open air. In fact, no trace of any contrivance for the
+introduction or reception of water has been found in No. 22. It was
+simply a cold chamber, cella frigidaria. Nor was the little chamber,
+23, large enough to receive conveniently a bathing vessel; but seats
+of wood were found there for the convenience of those who had quitted
+the bath, and who came there to undergo the discipline of the strigil,
+and a minute process of purification and anointing. This room is not
+above twelve feet by six: the bath, therefore, could not have been
+calculated for the reception of more than one, or, at most, of two
+persons at once. Here the great question relative to the use of glass
+windows by the ancients was finally settled. This apartment was
+lighted by a window closed by a movable frame of wood, which, though
+converted into charcoal, still held, when it was found, four panes of
+glass about six inches square. A more elaborate and curious glass
+window was found at a later period in the public baths. 24. Caldarium.
+It might, however, be employed at pleasure as a tepid or cold bath,
+when the weather was too cold for bathing in the open air. The
+suspensura caldariorum, as Vitruvius calls the hollow walls and floors
+raised upon pillars, are in remarkably good preservation. By means of
+these the whole apartment was entirely enveloped in flame, and might
+be easily raised to a most stifling temperature.
+
+We will, however, add that Vitruvius directs a bed of clay mixed with
+hair to be laid between the pillars and the pavement; and some
+tradition of this custom may be imagined to subsist, for the potters
+of the country, in some cases, work up wool with their clay, a
+practice unknown elsewhere, as we believe, in the art of pottery. The
+burning vapor passed out above the ceiling, gaining no entrance into
+the apartment. Air and light were admitted by two windows, one higher
+than the other. In one of these Mazois found a fragment of glass. The
+bathing-vessel, _e_, lined with stucco, and coated on the outside with
+marble, was fed by two cocks, which must have been very small, to
+judge from the space which they occupied. Hence, hot and cold water
+were supplied at pleasure; and it was only to fill the vessel with
+boiling water, and the whole apartment would be converted into one
+great vapor bath.
+
+As it would have been difficult or impossible to have kept alive a
+lamp or torch in so dense a steam, there is near the door a circular
+hole, closed formerly by a glass, which served to admit the light of a
+lamp placed in the adjoining chamber. The hypocaust, or furnace and
+apparatus, 25, for heating the water, are so placed that they can not
+be seen from the triangular court. They are small, but correspond with
+the small quantity of boiling water which they were required to
+furnish. _f._ Stone table. _g._ Cistern. _h._ Mouth of hypocaust. _i._
+A furnace, probably for boiling water when merely a tepid bath was
+required, without heating the suspensura caldariorum. By the side of
+the hypocaust were placed the vases for hot and cold water, as
+described in the chapter on Baths; their pedestals were observable
+between the mouth of the furnace and the letter _k._ _l._ Wooden
+staircase, no longer in existence, which led to the apartments above.
+26. Reservoir.
+
+Such was the distribution of this bath. Some paintings and mosaics,
+which are ordinary enough, formed its only decorations; yet, from the
+little that remains, we can discover that the good taste which reigned
+everywhere, and the freshness of the colors, must have rendered the
+effect of the whole most agreeable.
+
+27. This chamber seems to have been used as a wardrobe, where the
+numerous garments of the opulent masters of this dwelling were kept
+under presses, to give them a lustre. This conjecture is founded upon
+the remains of calcined stuffs, and the fragments of wardrobes and
+carbonized plank found in the course of excavation.
+
+28. Great gallery, lighted by windows which looked upon the two
+terraces, 34, separated by the large hall, 33. This gallery furnished
+an agreeable promenade, when the weather did not permit the enjoyment
+of the external porticoes or terraces.
+
+29, 29. These two small apartments, which were open to the gallery,
+and probably were closed by glass, may very well have been, one a
+library, the other a reading-room, since the place in which books were
+kept was not usually the place in which they were read; being small
+and confined, suitable to the comparatively small number of volumes
+which an ancient library generally contained, and also to the limited
+space within which a considerable number of rolls of papyrus might be
+placed.
+
+A bust, painted on the wall of one of them, confirms this supposition,
+for it is known that the ancients were fond of keeping the portraits
+of eminent men before their eyes, and especially of placing those of
+literary men in their libraries.
+
+30. The form of this hall is suitable to a triclinium, and its
+situation, protected from the immediate action of the sun's rays,
+would seem to mark it as a summer triclinium. Still the guests enjoyed
+the view of the country and of the sea, by means of a door opening
+upon the terrace. In front of the little chamber, 31, is a square
+opening for the staircase, which descends to the point B upon the
+floor below. It is to be remarked, that at the entrance of each
+division of the building there is a lodge for a slave. No doubt each
+suite of rooms had its peculiar keeper. The chamber, 10, seems to have
+been reserved for the keeper of the peristyle; the apartment, 15,
+belonged to the slave of the bed-chamber, who watched the apartment of
+his master; a recess under the staircase, 35, was, without doubt, the
+place of the atriensis, or attendant on the atrium, when the hall, 8,
+was open, to give admission to the interior of the house; and when
+this hall was closed, he attended in the chamber, 12, which commanded
+the entrance through the passage, or fauces.
+
+Lastly, the small lodge, 31, is so placed as to keep watch over all
+communication between the upper floor, where is the peristyle, and
+the lower floor, in which the apartments of the family seem to have
+been chiefly situated.
+
+32. Apartment, entirely ruined, to which it is difficult to assign a
+name.
+
+33. Large cyzicene oecus, about thirty-six feet by twenty-six. All the
+windows of this apartment opened almost to the level of the floor, and
+gave a view of the garden, the terraces and trellises which ornamented
+them, as well as of the vast and beautiful prospect towards the sea
+and Vesuvius.
+
+34. Large terraces, perhaps formerly covered with trellises, which
+communicate with the terraces over the gallery by which the garden is
+surrounded.
+
+35. Staircase leading to the upper floor, on which may have been the
+gynaeceum, or suite of apartments belonging to the women. So retired a
+situation, however, did not always suit the taste of the Roman ladies.
+
+Cornelius Nepos says that "they occupy for the most part the first
+floor in the front of the house." Mazois was long impressed with the
+idea that there must have been an upper story here, but for a long
+time he could not find the staircase.
+
+At last he discovered in this place marks in the plaster, which left
+no doubt in his mind but that it had existed here, though being of
+wood it disappeared with the other woodwork. He recognized the
+inclination and the height of the steps, and found that they were high
+and narrow, like those stone stairs which exist still in the same
+dwelling.
+
+36. A sort of vestibule at the entrance of the building, appropriated
+to the offices. This lower court probably contained the kitchen.
+
+37. Bake-house, apartments of the inferior slaves, stables, and other
+accessories. These are separated from the main building by means of a
+mesaulon, or small internal court, to diminish the danger in case of a
+fire happening in the kitchen or bake-house. There were two ways of
+communication from the level of the street to the level of the garden;
+on one side by the corridor, A, A, principally reserved for the
+servants, on the other by the staircase, B, C, C, C, Portico round the
+garden.
+
+The side beneath the house and that at the right of the plan are
+perfectly preserved, but it has been found necessary to support the
+terrace on this side by inserting a modern pillar between each of the
+old ones, and to build two massive piers beneath the terrace on which
+the great cyzicene hall is situated. This portico was elegantly
+ornamented. If we may judge of the whole from a part, which is given
+by Mazois, the interior entablature was ornamented with light
+mouldings and running patterns, while there was a little picture over
+each pillar. That in his plate represents a swan flying away with a
+serpent. The pillars were square, the lower part painted with flowers
+springing from trellises, apparently of very delicate execution. The
+same style of painting occurs in the court of the baths. The ceiling
+of the portico beneath the terrace is, in respect of its construction,
+one of the most curious specimens of ancient building which have
+reached our time. It is a plane surface of masonry, hung in the air,
+supported neither on the principle of the arch, nor by iron cramps,
+but owing its existence entirely to the adherence of the mortar by
+which it is cemented. It is divided into compartments by false beams
+(caissons) of the same construction. The whole is of remarkable
+solidity. D. Open hall at the end of the western portico. E. Fountain,
+supplied perhaps by the water of the cistern. There was formerly a
+well upon the terrace, 34, by which water might be drawn from the
+reservoir of this fountain, but it was effaced when the area of the
+terrace was restored. F, F, F. Different chambers, halls, triclinium,
+in which the remains of a carpet were found on the floor, and other
+rooms, to which it is difficult to assign any particular destination.
+They are all decorated in the most elegant and refined manner, but
+their paintings are hastening to decay with a rapidity which is
+grievous to behold. Fortunately, the Academy of Naples has published a
+volume of details, in which the greater part of the frescos of this
+villa are engraved. G. Passage, leading by the staircase B to the
+upper floor, and by the staircase H to the subterranean galleries.
+There is a similar staircase, H, on the other side of the portico.
+
+These galleries form a crypt beneath the portico, lighted and aired by
+loop-holes on the level of the ground. Amphorae, placed in sand against
+the wall, are still to be seen there, and for this reason it has been
+conjectured that the crypt served the purposes of a cellar; but even
+this crypt was coarsely painted. I. Mesaulon, or court, which
+separates the offices from the house. K. Small room at the extremity
+of the garden. L. An oratory; the niche served to receive a little
+statue. M. Xystus, or garden. N. Piscina, with a _jet d'eau_. O.
+Enclosure covered with a trellis. P. Door to the country and towards
+the sea. Q. This enclosure, about fifteen feet wide, appears to have
+been covered with a trellis, and must have been much frequented, since
+there is a noble flight of steps leading down to it from the upper
+garden. It fronted the south, and must have been a delightful winter
+promenade.
+
+The arch to the left is the end of the open hall, D, above the
+portico; on each side are the terraces, 34, 34, and in the centre are
+the remains of the cyzicene hall. Beneath on the level of the portico,
+are the several rooms marked F, probably the chief summer abode of the
+family, being well adapted to that purpose by their refreshing
+coolness. Their ceilings for the most part are semicircular vaults,
+richly painted, and the more valuable because few ceilings have been
+found in existence. We should attempt in vain to describe the
+complicated subjects, the intricate and varied patterns with which the
+fertile fancy of the arabesque painter has clothed the walls and
+ceilings, without the aid of drawings, which we are unable to give;
+and, indeed, colored plates would be requisite to convey an adequate
+notion of their effect. In the splendid work which Mr. Donaldson has
+published upon Pompeii, several subjects taken from these rooms will
+be found, some of them colored, together with eight mosaics, some of
+very complicated, all of elegant design; and to this and similar works
+we must refer the further gratification of the reader's curiosity.
+
+Such was this mansion, in which no doubt the owner took pride and
+pleasure, to judge from the expense lavished with unsparing hand on
+its decoration; and if he could be supposed to have any cognizance of
+what is now passing on earth, his vanity might find some consolation
+for having been prematurely deprived of it, in the posthumous
+celebrity which it has obtained. But his taste and wealth have done
+nothing to perpetuate his name, for not a trace remains that can
+indicate to what person or to what family it belonged. It is indeed
+usually called the Villa of Marcus Arius Diomedes, on the strength of
+a tomb discovered about the same period immediately opposite to it,
+bearing that name. No other tomb had then been discovered so near it,
+and on this coincidence of situation a conclusion was drawn that this
+must have been a family sepulchre, attached to the house, and, by
+consequence, that the house itself belonged to Diomedes. The
+conjecture at the outset rested but on a sandy foundation, which has
+since been entirely sapped by the discovery of numerous other tombs
+almost equally near. All that we know of the owner or his family may
+be comprised in one sentence, which, short as it is, speaks forcibly
+to our feelings. Their life was one of elegant luxury and enjoyment,
+in the midst of which death came on them by surprise, a death of
+singular and lingering agony.
+
+When Vesuvius first showed signs of the coming storm the air was
+still, as we learn from the description of Pliny, and the smoke of the
+mountain rose up straight, until the atmosphere would bear it no
+higher, and then spread on all sides into a canopy, suggesting to him
+the idea of an enormous pine tree. After this a wind sprung up from
+the west, which was favorable to carry Pliny from Misenum to Stabiae,
+but prevented his return. The next morning probably it veered
+something to the north, when, in the younger Pliny's words, a cloud
+seemed to descend upon the earth, to cover the sea, and hide the Isle
+of Capreae from his view. The ashes are said by Dion Cassius to have
+reached Egypt, and in fact a line drawn southeast from Vesuvius would
+pass very near Pompeii, and cut Egypt. It was probably at this moment
+that the hail of fire fell thickest at Pompeii, at daybreak on the
+second morning, and if any had thus long survived the stifling air and
+torrid earth which surrounded them, their misery probably was at this
+moment brought to a close. The villa of which we speak lay exactly
+between the city and the mountain, and must have felt the first, and,
+if there were degrees of misery, where all perished alike, the worst
+effects of this fearful visitation. Fearful is such a visitation in
+the present day, even to those who crowd to see an eruption of
+Vesuvius as they would to a picture-gallery or an opera; how much more
+terrible, accompanied by the certainty of impending death, to those
+whom neither history nor experience had familiarized with the most
+awful phenomenon presented by nature. At this, or possibly an earlier
+moment, the love of life proved too strong for the social affections
+of the owner of the house. He fled, abandoning to their fate a
+numerous family, and a young and beautiful daughter, and bent his way,
+with his most precious movables, accompanied only by a single slave,
+to the sea, which he never reached alive. His daughter, two children,
+and other members of his family and household sought protection in the
+subterranean vaults, which, by the help of the wine-jars already
+stored there, and the provisions which they brought down with them,
+they probably considered as sufficient refuge against an evil of which
+they could not guess the whole extent. It was a vain hope; the same
+fate awaited them all by different ways. The strong vaults and
+narrow openings to the day protected them, indeed, from the falling
+cinders; but the heat, sufficient to char wood, and volatilize the
+more subtle part of the ashes, could not be kept out by such means.
+The vital air was changed into a sulphurous vapor, charged with
+burning dust. In their despair, longing for the pure breath of heaven,
+they rushed to the door, already choked with scoriae and ruins, and
+perished in agonies on which the imagination does not willingly dwell.
+
+ [Illustration: WALL PAINTING AT POMPEII.]
+
+This the reader will probably be inclined to think might do very well
+for the conclusion of a romance, but why invent such sentimental
+stories to figure in a grave historical account? It is a remarkable
+instance, perhaps the strongest which has yet occurred, of the
+peculiar interest which the discoveries at Pompeii possess, as
+introducing us to the homes, nay, to the very persons of a
+long-forgotten age, that every circumstance of this tale can be
+verified by evidence little less than conclusive. Beside the garden
+gate, marked P, two skeletons were found; one presumed to be the
+master, had in his hand the key of that gate, and near him were about
+a hundred gold and silver coins; the other, stretched beside some
+silver vases, was probably a slave charged with the transport of them.
+When the vaults beneath the room, D, were discovered, at the foot of
+the staircase, H, the skeletons of eighteen adult persons, a boy and
+an infant were found huddled up together, unmoved during seventeen
+centuries since they sank in death. They were covered by several feet
+of ashes of extreme fineness, evidently slowly borne in through the
+vent-holes, and afterwards consolidated by damp. The substance thus
+formed resembles the sand used by metal founders for castings, but is
+yet more delicate, and took perfect impressions of everything on which
+it lay. Unfortunately this property was not observed until almost too
+late, and little was preserved except the neck and breast of a girl,
+which are said to display extraordinary beauty of form. So exact is
+the impression, that the very texture of the dress in which she was
+clothed is apparent, which by its extraordinary fineness evidently
+shows that she had not been a slave, and may be taken for the fine
+gauze which Seneca calls woven wind. On other fragments the impression
+of jewels worn on the neck and arms is distinct, and marks that
+several members of the family here perished. The jewels themselves
+were found beside them, comprising, in gold, two necklaces, one set
+with blue stones, and four rings, containing engraved gems. Two of the
+skeletons belonged to children, and some of their blonde hair was
+still existent; most of them are said to have been recognized as
+female. Each sex probably acted in conformity to its character, the
+men trusting to their own strength to escape, the women waiting with
+patience the issue of a danger from which their own exertions could
+not save them.
+
+In the same vault bronze candelabra and other articles, jewels and
+coins were found. Amphorae were also found ranged against the wall, in
+some of which the contents, dried and hardened by time, were still
+preserved. Archaeologists, it is said, pretend to recognize in this
+substance the flavor of the rich strong wine for which the
+neighborhood of Vesuvius is celebrated.
+
+Besides the interior garden within the portico, there must have been
+another garden extending along the southern side of the house. The
+passage from the peristyle, 7, the position of the elliptic chamber,
+16, and the trellis work, Q, with its spacious steps, leave no doubt
+on this subject. It has been stated in a German periodical that traces
+of the plowshare have been distinguished in the fields adjoining this
+villa. This is the only authority we have for supposing that the
+process of excavation has been extended at all beyond the house
+itself. The garden to the south is still, to the best of our
+information, uncleared, nor is it likely that it contains objects of
+sufficient interest to recompense the labor which would be consumed in
+laying it open. Our limited knowledge of ancient horticulture is not
+therefore likely to be increased by means of Pompeii; for such small
+flower-pots as are attached to houses within the town can not contain
+anything worth notice beyond a fountain or a summer triclinium.
+
+ [Illustration: HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS.]
+
+We will do our best, however, to complete the reader's notion of an
+Italian villa, and show what might have been, since we can not show
+what has been here, by borrowing Pliny's account of the garden
+attached to his Tuscan villa, the only account of a Roman garden which
+has come down to us.
+
+"In front of the house lies a spacious hippodrome, entirely open in
+the middle, by which means the eye, upon your first entrance, takes in
+its whole extent at one view. It is encompassed on every side with
+plane trees covered with ivy, so that while their heads flourish with
+their own green, their bodies enjoy a borrowed verdure; and thus the
+ivy twining round the trunk and branches, spreads from tree to tree
+and connects them together. Between each plane tree are placed box
+trees, and behind these, bay trees, which blend their shade with that
+of the planes. This plantation, forming a straight boundary on both
+sides of the hippodrome, bends at the further end into a semi-circle,
+which, being set round and sheltered with cypresses, casts a deeper
+and more gloomy shade; while the inward circular walks (for there are
+several) enjoying an open exposure, are full of roses, and correct the
+coolness of the shade by the warmth of the sun.
+
+"Having passed through these several winding alleys, you enter a
+straight walk, which breaks out into a variety of others, divided by
+box edges. In one place you have a little meadow; in another the box
+is cut into a thousand different forms, sometimes into letters; here
+expressing the name of the master, there that of the artificer; while
+here and there little obelisks rise, intermixed with fruit trees; when
+on a sudden, in the midst of this elegant regularity, you are
+surprised with an imitation of the negligent beauties of rural nature,
+in the centre of which lies a spot surrounded with a knot of dwarf
+plane trees. Beyond this is a walk, interspersed with the smooth and
+twining acanthus, where the trees are also cut into a variety of names
+and shapes. At the upper end is an alcove of white marble, shaded with
+vines, supported by four small columns of Carystian marble. Here is a
+triclinium, out of which the water, gushing through several little
+pipes, as if it were pressed out by the weight of the persons who
+repose upon it, falls into a stone cistern underneath, from whence it
+is received into a fine polished marble basin, so artfully contrived
+that it is always full without ever overflowing. When I sup here,
+this basin serves for a table, the larger sort of dishes being placed
+round the margin, while the smaller swim about in the form of little
+vessels and water-fowl.
+
+"Corresponding to this is a fountain, which is incessantly emptying
+and filling; for the water, which it throws up to a great height,
+falling back again into it, is returned as fast as it is received, by
+means of two openings.
+
+"Fronting the alcove stands a summer-house of exquisite marble, whose
+doors project and open into a green enclosure, while from its upper
+and lower windows also the eye is presented with a variety of
+different verdures. Next to this is a little private closet, which,
+though it seems distinct, may be laid into the same room, furnished
+with a couch; and notwithstanding it has windows on every side, yet it
+enjoys a very agreeable gloominess, by means of a spreading vine,
+which climbs to the top and entirely overshades it. Here you may lie
+and fancy yourself in a wood, with this difference only, that you are
+not exposed to the weather. In this place a fountain also rises, and
+instantly disappears. In different quarters are disposed several
+marble seats, which serve, as well as the summer-house, as so many
+reliefs after one is tired of walking. Near each seat is a little
+fountain, and throughout the whole hippodrome several small rills run
+murmuring along, wheresoever the hand of art thought proper to conduct
+them, watering here and there different spots of verdure, and in their
+progress refreshing the whole."
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+STORES AND EATING HOUSES.
+
+To notice all the houses excavated at Pompeii, would be wearisome in
+the extreme. We intend therefore merely to select some of the most
+important, to be described at length, the arrangement of which may
+serve, with variations according to place and circumstances, as a type
+of the whole. Some, which offer no particularity in their
+construction, are remarkable for the beauty of their paintings or
+other decorations; and, indeed, it is from the paintings on the walls
+that many of the houses have derived their names. Some again are
+designated from mosaics or inscriptions on the threshold, from the
+trade or profession evidently exercised by the proprietors, or from
+some accident, as the presence of distinguished persons at their
+excavation--as, for instance, those called the House of the Emperor
+Joseph II., del Gran Duca, degli Scienziati, etc. As it is the object
+of this work to convey a general notion of the remains of Pompeii, and
+to exhibit, as far as our materials will permit, the private life of
+the first century in all its degrees, we shall begin with one or two
+of the stores. These present great similarity in their arrangements,
+and indicate that the tribe of storekeepers was very inferior in
+wealth and comfort to that of our own time and country. They are for
+the most part very small, and sometimes without any interior apartment
+on the ground floor. The upper floor must have comprised one or two
+sleeping-rooms; but there is, as we believe, only one house in which
+the upper floor is in existence.
+
+It is rare at Pompeii to see a whole house set apart for purposes of
+trade, a part being occupied by the store itself, the rest furnishing
+a comfortable dwelling for the owner. The houses of the richer
+classes, instead of presenting a handsome elevation to the street,
+were usually surrounded with stores. They furnished considerable
+revenue.
+
+Cicero, in a letter to Atticus, speaks of the ruinous state into which
+some of his stores had fallen, "insomuch that not only the men, but
+the mice had quitted them," and hints at the gain which he hoped to
+derive from this seemingly untoward circumstance. One Julia Felix
+possessed nine hundred stores, as we learn from an inscription in
+Pompeii.
+
+At night the whole front was closed with shutters, sliding in grooves
+cut in the lintel and basement wall before the counter, and by the
+door, which is thrown far back, so as to be hardly visible.
+
+There is an oven at the end of the counter furthest from the street,
+and three steps have been presumed to support different sorts of
+vessels or measures for liquids. From these indications it is supposed
+to have been a cook's shop; for the sale, perhaps, both of undressed
+and dressed provisions, as is indicated in the view. The oven probably
+served to prepare, and keep constantly hot, some popular dishes for
+the service of any chance customer; the jars might hold oil, olives,
+or the fish-pickle called _garum_, an article of the highest
+importance in a Roman kitchen, for the manufacture of which Pompeii
+was celebrated.[16]
+
+Fixed vessels appear inconvenient for such uses on account of the
+difficulty of cleaning them out; but the practice, it is said,
+continues to this day at Rome, where the small shopkeepers keep their
+oil in similar jars, fixed in a counter of masonry. All the ornaments
+in the view are copied from Pompeii. In front of the store, which
+stands opposite the passage leading behind the small theatre to the
+Soldiers' Quarters, are three stepping-stones, to enable persons to
+cross the road without wetting their feet in bad weather.
+
+In conjunction with a street view, we give the view of another shop,
+which has also a counter containing jars for the reception of some
+liquid commodity. By some it is called a Thermopolium, or store for
+the sale of hot drinks, while others call it an oil store. In front is
+a fountain. It is situated at the angle of the street immediately
+adjoining the House of Pansa. The left-hand street leads to the Gate
+of Herculaneum; the right, skirting Pansa's house, is terminated by
+the city walls.
+
+ [Illustration: RESTAURANT. (_From Wall Painting._)]
+
+Tracks of wheels are very visible on the pavement. The interior was
+gaily painted in blue panels and red borders, as we learn from the
+colored view in Mr. Donaldson's Pompeii, from which this is taken. The
+counter is faced and covered with marble. Numerous thermopolia have
+been discovered in Pompeii, many of them identified, or supposed to
+be identified, by the stains left upon the counters by wet glasses.
+
+ [Illustration: BED AND TABLE AT POMPEII. (_From Wall
+ Painting._)]
+
+In the centre is a small altar, placed before a niche, ornamented with
+the painting of some goddess holding a cornucopia. She is reposing on
+a couch, closely resembling a modern French bed. The mattress is
+white, striped with violet, and spotted with gold; the cushion is
+violet. The tunic of the goddess is blue, the bed, the table, and the
+cornucopia, gold. This house stands just by the gate of Herculaneum,
+adjoining the broad flight of steps which leads up to the ramparts.
+Bonucci supposes that it belonged to the officer appointed to take
+charge of the gate and walls.
+
+We may take this opportunity to describe the nature and arrangement of
+the triclinium, of which such frequent mention has been made. In the
+earlier times of Rome, men sat at table--the habit of reclining was
+introduced from Carthage after the Punic wars. At first these beds
+were clumsy in form, and covered with mattresses stuffed with rushes
+or straw. Hair and wool mattresses were introduced from Gaul at a
+later period, and were soon followed by cushions stuffed with
+feathers. At first these tricliniary beds were small, low, and round,
+and made of wood; afterwards, in the time of Augustus, square and
+highly ornamented couches came into fashion. In the reign of Tiberius
+they began to be veneered with costly woods or tortoiseshell, and were
+covered with valuable embroideries, the richest of which came from
+Babylon, and cost incredible sums.
+
+Each couch contained three persons, and, properly, the whole
+arrangement consisted of three couches, so that the number at table
+did not exceed the number of the Muses, and each person had his seat
+according to his rank and dignity. The places were thus appropriated:
+1. The host. 2. His wife. 3. Guest. 4. Consular place, or place of
+honor. This was the most convenient situation at table, because he who
+occupied it, resting on his left arm, could easily with his right
+reach any part of the table without inconvenience to his neighbors. It
+was, therefore, set apart for the person of highest rank. 5, 6, 7, 8,
+9. Other guests.
+
+ [Illustration: PLAN OF A TRICLINIUM.]
+
+The entertainment itself usually comprised three services; the first
+consisting of fresh eggs, olives, oysters, salad, and other light
+delicacies; the second of made dishes, fish, and roast meats; the
+third of pastry, confectionery, and fruits. A remarkable painting,
+discovered at Pompeii, gives a curious idea of a complete feast. It
+represents a table set out with every requisite for a grand dinner. In
+the centre is a large dish, in which four peacocks are placed, one at
+each corner, forming a magnificent dome with their tails. All round
+are lobsters--one holding in his claws a blue egg, a second an oyster,
+a third a stuffed rat, a fourth a little basket full of grasshoppers.
+Four dishes of fish decorate the bottom, above which are several
+partridges, and hares, and squirrels, each holding its head between
+its paws. The whole is surrounded by something resembling a German
+sausage; then comes a row of yolks of eggs; then a row of peaches,
+small melons, and cherries; and lastly, a row of vegetables of
+different sorts. The whole is covered with a sort of green-colored
+sauce.
+
+Another house, also of the minor class, yet superior to any hitherto
+described, is recommended to our notice by the beauty of the
+paintings found. That the proprietor was not rich is evident from its
+limited extent and accommodation; yet he had some small property, as
+we may infer from the shop communicating with the house, in which were
+sold such articles of agricultural produce as were not required for
+the use of the family.
+
+This house was formerly decorated with paintings taken from the
+Odyssey, and from the elegant fictions of Grecian mythology. When
+Mazois visited it in 1812, two paintings in the atrium were still in
+existence, though in a very perishing state. Shortly after he had
+copied them they fell, owing to the plaster detaching itself from the
+wall. One of them is taken from the Odyssey, and represents Ulysses
+and Circe, at the moment when the hero, having drunk the charmed cup
+with impunity, by virtue of the antidote given him by Mercury, draws
+his sword and advances to avenge his companions.[17] The goddess,
+terrified, makes her submission at once, as described by Homer, while
+her two attendants fly in alarm; yet one of them, with a natural
+curiosity, can not resist the temptation to look back, and observe the
+termination of so unexpected a scene. Circe uses the very gesture of
+supplication so constantly described by Homer and the tragedians, as
+she sinks on her knees, extending one hand to clasp the knees of
+Ulysses, with the other endeavoring to touch his beard.[18] This
+picture is remarkable, as teaching us the origin of that ugly and
+unmeaning glory with which the heads of saints are often surrounded.
+The Italians borrowed it from the Greek artists of the lower empire,
+in whose paintings it generally has the appearance, as we believe, of
+a solid plate of gold. The glory round Circe's head has the same
+character, the outer limb or circle being strongly defined, not shaded
+off and divining into rays, as we usually see it in the Italian
+school. This glory was called nimbus, or aureola, and is defined by
+Servius to be "the luminous fluid which encircles the heads of the
+gods." It belongs with peculiar propriety to Circe, as the daughter of
+the sun. The emperors, with their usual modesty, assumed it as the
+mark of their divinity; and, under this respectable patronage, it
+passed, like many other Pagan superstitions and customs, in the use of
+the church.
+
+The other picture represents Achilles at Scyros, where Thetis had
+hidden him among the daughters of Lycomedes, to prevent his engaging
+in the Trojan war. Ulysses discovered him by bringing for sale arms
+mixed with female trinkets, in the character of a merchant. The story
+is well known. The painting represents the moment when the young hero
+is seizing the arms. Deidamia seems not to know what to make of the
+matter, and tries to hold him back, while Ulysses is seen behind with
+his finger on his lips, closely observing all that passes.
+
+ [Illustration: HEAD OF CIRCE.]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+HOUSES OF PANSA AND SALLUST.
+
+The two compartments marked 30 are houses of a very mean class, having
+formerly an upper story. Behind the last of them is a court, which
+gives light to one of the chambers of Pansa's house. On the other side
+of the island or block are three houses (32), small, but of much more
+respectable extent and accommodation, which probably were also meant
+to be let. In that nearest the garden were found the skeletons of four
+women, with gold ear and finger rings having engraved stones, besides
+other valuables; showing that such _inquilini_ or lodgers, were not
+always of the lowest class.
+
+The best view of this house is from the front of the doorway. It
+offers to the eye, successively, the doorway, the prothyrum, the
+atrium, with its impluvium, the Ionic peristyle, and the garden wall,
+with Vesuvius in the distance. The entrance is decorated with two
+pilasters of the Corinthian order. Besides the outer door, there was
+another at the end of the prothyrum, to secure the atrium against too
+early intrusion. The latter apartment was paved with marble, with a
+gentle inclination towards the impluvium. Through the tablinum the
+peristyle is seen, with two of its Ionic capitals still remaining. The
+columns are sixteen in number, fluted, except for about one-third of
+their height from the bottom. They are made of a volcanic stone, and,
+with their capitals, are of good execution. But at some period
+subsequent to the erection of the house, probably after the
+earthquake, A.D. 63, they have been covered with hard stucco, and
+large leaves of the same material set under the volutes, so as to
+transform them into a sort of pseudo-Corinthian, or Composite order.
+It is not impossible that the exclusively Italian order, which we call
+Composite, may have originated in a similar caprice. Of the
+disposition of the garden, which occupied the open part of the
+peristyle, we have little to say. Probably it was planted with choice
+flowers. Slabs of marble were placed at the angles to receive the
+drippings of the roof, which were conducted by metal conduits into the
+central basin, which is about six feet in depth, and was painted
+green. In the centre of it there stood a jet d'eau, as there are
+indications enough to prove. This apartment, if such it may be called,
+was unusually spacious, measuring about sixty-five feet by fifty. The
+height of the columns was equal to the width of the colonnade, about
+sixteen feet. Their unfluted part is painted yellow, the rest is
+coated with white stucco. The floor is elevated two steps above the
+level of the tablinum.
+
+A curious religious painting, now almost effaced, was found in the
+kitchen, representing the worship offered to the Lares, under whose
+protection and custody the provisions and all the cooking utensils
+were placed. In the centre is a sacrifice in honor of those deities,
+who are represented below in the usual form of two huge serpents
+brooding over an altar. There is something remarkable in the upper
+figures. The female figure in the centre holds a cornucopia, and each
+of the male figures holds a small vase in the hand nearer to the
+altar, and a horn in the other. All the faces are quite black, and the
+heads of the male figures are surrounded with something resembling a
+glory. Their dress in general, and especially their boots, which are
+just like the Hungarian boots now worn on the stage, appear different
+from anything which is to be met with elsewhere. Are these figures
+meant for the Lares themselves? On each side are represented different
+sorts of eatables. On the left a bunch of small birds, a string of
+fish, a boar with a girth about his body, and a magnificently curling
+tail, and a few loaves, or rather cakes, of the precise pattern of
+some which have been found in Pompeii: on the right, an eel spitted on
+a wire, a ham, a boar's head, and a joint of meat, which, as pig-meat
+seems to have been in request here, we may conjecture to be a loin of
+pork; at least it is as like that as anything else. It is suspended by
+a reed, as is still done at Rome. The execution of this painting is
+coarse and careless in the extreme, yet there is a spirit and freedom
+of touch which has hit off the character of the objects represented,
+and forbids us to impute the negligence which is displayed to
+incapacity. Another object of interest in the kitchen is a stove for
+stews and similar preparations, very much like those charcoal stoves
+which are seen in extensive kitchens at the present day. Before it lie
+a knife, strainers, and a strange-looking sort of a frying-pan, with
+four spherical cavities, as if it were meant to cook eggs. A similar
+one, containing twenty-nine egg-holes, has been found, which is
+circular, about fifteen inches in diameter, and without a handle.
+Another article of kitchen furniture is a sort of flat ladle pierced
+with holes, said to belong to the class called _trua_. It was meant
+apparently to stir up vegetables, etc., while boiling, and to strain
+the water from them.
+
+ [Illustration: KITCHEN FURNITURE AT POMPEII.]
+
+This house has been long excavated, and perhaps that is the reason
+that, considering its extent and splendor, the notices of it are
+particularly meagre. Of the decorations we have been able to procure
+no detailed accounts, though several paintings are said to have been
+found in it, and among them, one of Danae amid the golden shower,
+deserving of notice. Of the garden little can be said, for little is
+known. According to the best indications which Mazois could observe,
+it consisted of a number of straight parallel beds, divided by narrow
+paths, which gave access to them for horticultural purposes, but with
+no walk for air and exercise except the portico which adjoins the
+house.
+
+Inferior to the House of Pansa, and to some others in size, but second
+to none in elegance of decoration and in the interest which it
+excites, is a house in the street leading from the Gate of Herculaneum
+to the Forum, called by some the House of Actaeon, from a painting
+found in it; by others the House of Caius Sallustius. It occupies the
+southernmost portion of an insula extending backwards to the city
+walls.
+
+It is remarkable that the architects of Pompeii seem to have been
+careless for the most part whether they built on a regular or an
+irregular area. The practice of surrounding the owner's abode with
+shops, enabled them to turn to advantage the sides and corners of any
+piece of ground, however misshapen. Thus in another plan the
+apartments of the dwelling-houses are almost all well shaped and
+rectangular, though not one of the four angles of the area is a right
+angle.
+
+The general view of this house is taken from the street in front, and
+runs completely through to the garden wall. One of the pilasters which
+flank the doorway has its capital still in good preservation. It is
+cut out of gray lava, and represents a Silenus and Faun side by side,
+each holding one end of an empty leather bottle, thrown over their
+shoulders. Ornaments of this character, which can be comprehended
+under none of the orders of architecture, are common in Pompeii, and
+far from unpleasing in their effect, however contrary to established
+principles. On the right is the large opening into the vestibule. In
+the centre of the view is the atrium, easily recognized by the
+impluvium, and beyond it through the tablinum are seen the pillars of
+the portico. Beyond the impluvium is the place of a small altar for
+the worship of the Lares. A bronze hind, through the mouth of which a
+stream of water flowed, formerly stood in the centre of the basin. It
+bore a figure of Hercules upon its back.
+
+The walls of the atrium and tablinum are curiously stuccoed in large
+raised panels, with deep channels between them, the panels being
+painted of different colors, strongly contrasted with each other.
+
+We find among them different shades of the same color, several reds,
+for instance, as sinopis, cinnabar, and others. This sort of
+decoration has caused some persons to call this the house of a
+color-seller--a conjecture entirely at variance with the luxury and
+elegance which reign in it. The floor was of red cement, with bits of
+white marble imbedded in it.
+
+The altar in the atrium and the little oratory in the left-hand ala
+belong to the worship of the Lares _domestici_ or _familiares_, as is
+indicated by the paintings found in the false doorway, but now
+removed. They consisted of a serpent below and a group of four figures
+above, employed in celebrating a sacrifice to these gods.
+
+In the centre is a tripod, into which a priest, his head covered, is
+pouring the contents of a patera. On each side are two young men,
+dressed alike, apparently in the praetexta; at least their robes are
+white, and there is a double red stripe down the front of their
+tunics, and a red drapery is thrown over the shoulders of each. In one
+hand each holds a patera; in the other each holds aloft a cow's horn
+perforated at the small end, through which a stream is spouting into
+the patera at a considerable distance. This, though an inconvenient,
+seems to have been a common drinking-vessel. The method of using it
+has already been described. In the background is a man playing on the
+double flute.
+
+The worship of the Lares was thus publicly represented, and their
+images were exposed to view, that all persons might have an
+opportunity of saluting them and invoking prosperity on the house.
+Noble families had also a place of domestic worship (_adytum_ or
+_penetrale_) in the most retired part of their mansions, where their
+most valuable records and hereditary memorials were preserved.
+
+The worship of these little deities (_Dii minuti_, or _patellarii_)
+was universally popular, partly perhaps on account of its economical
+nature, for they seem to have been satisfied with anything that came
+to hand, partly perhaps from a sort of feeling of good fellowship in
+them and towards them, like that connected with the Brownies and
+Cluricaunes, and other household goblins of northern extraction.
+
+Like those goblins they were represented sometimes under very
+grotesque forms. There is a bronze figure of one found at Herculaneum,
+and figured in the Antiquites d'Herculanum, plate xvii. vol. viii.,
+which represents a little old man sitting on the ground with his knees
+up to his chin, a huge head, ass's ears, a long beard, and a roguish
+face, which would agree well with our notion of a Brownie. Their
+statues were often placed behind the door, as having power to keep out
+all things hurtful, especially evil genii. Respected as they were,
+they sometimes met with rough treatment, and were kicked or cuffed, or
+thrown out of window without ceremony, if any unlucky accident had
+chanced through their neglect. Sometimes they were imaged under the
+form of dogs, the emblems of fidelity and watchfulness, sometimes,
+like their brethren of the highways (Lares compitales), in the shape
+of serpents.
+
+The tutelary genii of men or places, a class of beings closely allied
+to Lares, were supposed to manifest themselves in the same shape: as,
+for example, a sacred serpent was believed at Athens to keep watch in
+the temple of Athene in the Acropolis. Hence paintings of these
+animals became in some sort the guardians of the spot in which they
+were set up, like images of saints in Roman Catholic countries, and
+not unfrequently were employed when it was wished to secure any place
+from irreverent treatment.
+
+From these associations the presence of serpents came to be considered
+of good omen, and by a natural consequence they were kept (a harmless
+sort of course) in the houses, where they nestled about the altars,
+and came out like dogs or cats to be patted by the visitors, and beg
+for something to eat. Nay, at table, if we may build upon insulated
+passages, they crept about the cups of the guests; and in hot weather
+ladies would use them as live boas, and twist them round their necks
+for the sake of coolness.
+
+Martial, however, our authority for this, seems to consider it as an
+odd taste. Virgil, therefore, in a fine passage, in which he has
+availed himself of the divine nature attributed to serpents, is only
+describing a scene which he may often have witnessed:
+
+ Scarce had he finished, when with speckled pride,
+ A serpent from the tomb began to glide;
+ His hugy bulk on seven high volumes rolled;
+ Blue was his breadth of back, but streaked with scaly gold;
+ Thus, riding on his curls, he seemed to pass
+ A rolling fire along, and singe the grass.
+ More various colors through his body run,
+ Than Iris, when her bow imbibes the sun.
+ Betwixt the rising altars, and around,
+ The rolling monster shot along the ground.
+ With harmless play amidst the bowls he passed,
+ And with his lolling tongue assayed the taste;
+ Thus fed with holy food, the wondrous guest
+ Within the hollow tomb retired to rest.
+ The pious prince, surprised at what he viewed,
+ The funeral honors with more zeal renewed;
+ Doubtful if this the place's genius were,
+ Or guardian of his father's sepulchre.
+
+We may conjecture from the paintings, which bear a marked resemblance
+to one another, that these snakes were of considerable size, and of
+the same species, probably that called AEsculapius, which was brought
+from Epidaurus to Rome with the worship of the god, and, as we are
+told by Pliny, was commonly fed in the houses of Rome. These sacred
+animals made war on the rats and mice, and thus kept down one species
+of vermin; but as they bore a charmed life, and no one laid violent
+hands on them, they multiplied so fast, that, like the monkeys of
+Benares, they became an intolerable nuisance. The frequent fires at
+Rome were the only things that kept them under.
+
+Passing through the tablinum, we enter the portico of the xystus, or
+garden, a spot small in extent, but full of ornament and of beauty,
+though not that sort of beauty which the notion of a garden suggests
+to us. It is not larger than a city garden, the object of our
+continual ridicule; yet while the latter is ornamented only with one
+or two scraggy poplars, and a few gooseberry-bushes with many more
+thorns than leaves, the former is elegantly decorated by the hand of
+art, and set apart as the favorite retreat of festive pleasure. True
+it is that the climate of Italy suits out-of-door amusements better
+than our own, and that Pompeii was not exposed to that plague of soot
+which soon turns marble goddesses into chimney-sweepers. The portico
+is composed of columns, fluted and corded, the lower portion of them
+painted blue, without pedestals, yet approaching to the Roman rather
+than to the Grecian Doric. The entablature is gone. From the portico
+we ascend by three steps to the xystus. Its small extent, not
+exceeding in its greatest dimensions seventy feet by twenty, did not
+permit trees, hardly even shrubs, to be planted in it. The centre,
+therefore, was occupied by a pavement, and on each side boxes filled
+with earth were ranged for flowers; while, to make amends for the want
+of real verdure, the whole wall opposite the portico is painted with
+trellises and fountains, and birds drinking from them; and above, with
+thickets enriched and ornamented with numerous tribes of their winged
+inhabitants.
+
+The most interesting discoveries at Pompeii are those which throw
+light on, or confirm passages of ancient authors. Exactly the same
+style of ornament is described by Pliny the Younger as existing in his
+Tuscan villa. "Another cubiculum is adorned with sculptured marble for
+the height of the podium; above which is a painting of trees, and
+birds sitting on them, not inferior in elegance to the marble itself.
+Under it is a small fountain, and in the fountain a cup, round which
+the playing of several small water-pipes makes a most agreeable
+murmur." At the end of this branch of the garden, which is shaped like
+an L, we see an interesting monument of the customs of private life.
+It is a summer triclinium, in plan like that which has been mentioned
+in the preceding chapter, but much more elegantly decorated. The
+couches are of masonry, intended to be covered with mattresses and
+rich tapestry when the feast was to be held here: the round table in
+the centre was of marble. Above it was a trellis, as is shown by the
+square pillars in front and the holes in the walls which enclose two
+sides of the triclinium. These walls are elegantly painted in panels,
+in the prevailing taste; but above the panelling there is a whimsical
+frieze, appropriate to the purpose of this little pavilion, consisting
+of all sorts of eatables which can be introduced at a feast. When
+Mazois first saw it the colors were fresh and beautiful; but when he
+wrote, after a lapse of ten years, it was already in decay, and ere
+now it has probably disappeared, so perishable are all those beauties
+which can not be protected from the inclemency of the weather by
+removal. In front a stream of water pours into a basin from the wall,
+on which, half painted, half raised in relief, is a mimic fountain
+surmounted by a stag. Between the fountain and triclinium, in a line
+between the two pilasters which supported the trellis, was a small
+altar, on which the due libations might be poured by the festive
+party. In the other limb of the garden is a small furnace, probably
+intended to keep water constantly hot for the use of those who
+preferred warm potations. Usually the Romans drank their wine mixed
+with snow, and clarified through a strainer, of which there are many
+in the Museum of Naples, curiously pierced in intricate patterns; but
+those who were under medical care were not always suffered to enjoy
+this luxury. Martial laments his being condemned by his physician to
+drink no cold wine, and concludes with wishing that his enviers may
+have nothing but warm water. At the other end of the garden, opposite
+the front of the triclinium, was a cistern which collected the rain
+waters, whence they were drawn for the use of the garden and of the
+house. There was also a cistern at the end of the portico, next the
+triclinium.
+
+The several rooms to the left of the atrium offer nothing remarkable.
+On the right, however, as will be evident upon inspecting the plan, a
+suite of apartments existed, carefully detached from the remainder of
+the house, and communicating only with the atrium by a single passage.
+The disposition and the ornaments of this portion of the house prove
+that it was a private _venereum_, a place, if not consecrated to the
+goddess from whom it derives its name, at least especially devoted to
+her service. The strictest privacy has been studied in its
+arrangements; no building overlooks it; the only entrance is closed by
+two doors, both of which we may conjecture, were never suffered to be
+open at once; and beside them was the apartment of a slave, whose duty
+was to act as porter and prevent intrusion. Passing the second door,
+the visitor found himself under a portico supported by octagonal
+columns, with a court or open area in the centre, and in the middle of
+it a small basin. At each end of the portico is a small cabinet, with
+appropriate paintings: in one of them a painting of Venus, Mars, and
+Cupid is conspicuous.
+
+The apartments were paved with marble, and the walls lined breast-high
+with the same material. A niche in the cabinet nearest the triclinium
+contained a small image, a gold vase, a gold coin, and twelve bronze
+medals of the reign of Vespasian; and near this spot were found eight
+small bronze columns, which appear to have formed part of a bed.
+
+In the adjoining lane four skeletons were found, apparently a female
+attended by three slaves; the tenant perhaps of this elegant
+apartment. Beside her was a round plate of silver, which probably was
+a mirror, together with several golden rings set with engraved stones,
+two ear-rings, and five bracelets of the same metal.
+
+Both cabinets had glazed windows, which commanded a view of the court
+and of each other; it is conjectured that they were provided with
+curtains. The court itself presents no trace of pavement, and,
+therefore, probably served as a garden.
+
+The ground of the wall is black, a color well calculated to set off
+doubtful complexions to the best advantage, while its sombre aspect is
+redeemed by a profusion of gold-colored ornament, in the most elegant
+taste. The columns were painted with the color called _sinopis
+Ponticum_, a species of red ochre of brilliant tint. Nearly all the
+wall of the court between the cabinets is occupied by a large painting
+of Actaeon, from which the house derives one of its names; on either
+side it is flanked by the representation of a statue on a high
+pedestal. The centre piece comprises a double action. In one part we
+see a rocky grotto, in which Diana was bathing when the unwary hunter
+made his appearance above: in the other he is torn by his own dogs, a
+severe punishment for an unintentional intrusion. The background
+represents a wild and mountainous landscape. A painted frieze, and
+other paintings on the walls, complete the decorations of the portico.
+
+The large apartment was a triclinium for the use of this portion of
+the house, where the place of the table, and of the beds which
+surrounded it on three sides, was marked by a mosaic pavement. Over
+the left-hand portico there was a terrace. The space marked 36
+contained the stair which gave access to it, a stove connected
+probably with the service of the triclinium and other conveniences.
+
+In the centre room is the opening into the tablinum, which probably
+was only separated from the atrium by curtains (_parapetasmata_),
+which might be drawn or undrawn at pleasure. Through the tablinum the
+pillars of the peristyle and the fountain painted on the garden wall
+are seen. To the right of the tablinum is the fauces, and on each side
+of the atrium the alae are seen, partly shut off, like the tablinum, by
+handsome draperies. The nearer doors belong to chambers which open
+into the atrium. Above the colored courses of stucco blocks the walls
+are painted in the light, almost Chinese style of architecture, which
+is so common, and a row of scenic masks fills the place of a cornice.
+The ceiling is richly fretted.
+
+The compluvium also was ornamented with a row of triangular tiles
+called antefixes, on which a mask or some other object was moulded in
+relief. Below, lions' heads are placed along the cornice at intervals,
+forming spouts through which the water was discharged into the
+impluvium beneath. Part of this cornice, found in the house of which
+we speak, is well deserving our notice, because it contains, within
+itself, specimens of three different epochs of art, at which we must
+suppose the house was first built, and subsequently repaired.
+
+It is made of fine clay, with a lion's head moulded upon it, well
+designed, and carefully finished. It is plain, therefore, that it was
+not meant to be stuccoed, or the labor bestowed in its execution would
+have been in great part wasted. At a later period it has been coated
+over with the finest stucco, and additional enrichments and mouldings
+have been introduced, yet without injury to the design or inferiority
+in the workmanship; indicating that at the time of its execution the
+original simplicity of art had given way to a more enriched and
+elaborate style of ornament, yet without any perceptible decay,
+either in the taste of the designer or the skill of the workman.
+
+Still later this elegant stucco cornice had been covered with a third
+coating of the coarsest materials, and of design and execution most
+barbarous, when it is considered how fine a model the artists had
+before their eyes.
+
+In the restoration, the impluvium is surrounded with a mosaic border.
+This has disappeared, if ever there was one; but mosaics are
+frequently found in this situation, and it is, therefore, at all
+events, an allowable liberty to place one here, in a house so
+distinguished for the richness and elegance of its decorations.
+
+Beside the impluvium stood a machine, now in the National Museum, for
+heating water, and at the same time warming the room if requisite. The
+high circular part, with the lid open, is a reservoir, communicating
+with the semi-circular piece, which is hollow, and had a spout to
+discharge the heated water. The three eagles placed on it are meant to
+support a kettle. The charcoal was contained in the square base.
+
+In the preceding pages we have taken indiscriminately, from all
+quarters of the town, houses of all classes, from the smallest to the
+most splendid, in the belief that such would be the best way of
+showing the gradations of wealth and comfort, the different styles of
+dwelling adopted by different classes of citizens, in proportion to
+their means. It would, however, be manifestly impossible so to
+classify all the houses which contain something worthy of description,
+and we shall, therefore, adopt a topographical arrangement as the
+simplest one, commencing at the Gate of Herculaneum, and proceeding in
+as regular order as circumstances will permit through the excavated
+part of the town.
+
+Most of the houses immediately about the gate appear to have been
+small inns or eating-houses, probably used chiefly by country people,
+who came into market, or by the lower order of travelers. Immediately
+to the right of it, however, at the beginning of the street called
+the Via Consularis, or Domitiana, there is a dwelling of a better
+class, called the House of the Musician, from paintings of musical
+instruments which ornamented the walls. Among these were the sistrum,
+trumpet, double flute, and others. Upon the right side of the street,
+however, the buildings soon improve, and in that quarter are situated
+some of the most remarkable mansions, in respect of extent and
+construction, which Pompeii affords. They stand in part upon the site
+of the walls which have been demolished upon this, the side next the
+port, for what purpose it is not very easy to say; not to make room
+for the growth of the city, for these houses stand at the very limit
+of the available ground, being partly built upon a steep rock. Hence,
+besides the upper floors, which have perished, they consist each of
+two or three stories, one below another, so that the apartments next
+the street are always on the highest level. Those who are familiar
+with the metropolis of Scotland will readily call to mind a similar
+mode of construction very observable on the north side of the High
+Street, where the ground-floor is sometimes situated about the middle
+of the house.
+
+One of the most remarkable of these houses contains three stories; the
+first, level with the street, contains the public part of the house,
+the vestibule, atrium, and tablinum, which opens upon a spacious
+terrace. Beside these is the peristyle and other private apartments,
+at the back of which the terrace of which we have just spoken offers
+an agreeable walk for the whole breadth of the house, and forms the
+roof of a spacious set of apartments at a lower level, which are
+accessible either by a sloping passage from the street, running under
+the atrium, or by a staircase communicating with the peristyle. This
+floor contains baths, a triclinium, a spacious saloon, and other rooms
+necessary for the private use of a family. Behind these rooms is
+another terrace, which overlooks a spacious court surrounded by
+porticoes, and containing a piscina or reservoir in the centre. The
+pillars on the side next the house are somewhat higher than on the
+other three sides, so as to give the terrace there a greater
+elevation. Below this second story there is yet a third, in part under
+ground, which contains another set of baths, and, besides apartments
+for other purposes, the lodging of the slaves. This was divided into
+little cells, scarcely the length of a man, dark and damp; and we can
+not enter into it without a lively feeling of the wretched state to
+which these beings were reduced.
+
+A few steps further on the same side, is another house somewhat of the
+same description, which evidently belonged to some man of importance,
+probably to Julius Polybius, whose name has been found in several
+inscriptions. Fragments of richly-gilt stucco-work enable us to
+estimate the richness of its decoration and the probable wealth of its
+owner. It will be readily distinguished by its immense Corinthian
+atrium, or rather peristyle. It has the further peculiarity of having
+two vestibules each communicating with the street and with the atrium.
+The portico of the atrium is formed by arcades and piers, ornamented
+with attached columns, the centre being occupied by a court and
+fountain. These arcades appear to be enclosed by windows. Square
+holes, worked in the marble coping of a dwarf wall which surrounds the
+little court, were perfectly distinguishable, and it is concluded that
+they were meant to receive the window-frames.
+
+Pliny the Younger describes a similar glazed portico at his Laurentine
+villa; and an antique painting, representing the baths of Faustina,
+gives the view of a portico, the apertures of which are entirely
+glazed, as we suppose them to have been here. The portico, and three
+apartments which communicate with it, were paved in mosaic. Attached
+to one of the corner piers there is a fountain. The kitchen and other
+apartments were below this floor. There was also an upper story, as is
+clear from the remains of stair-cases. This house extends to the point
+at which a by-street turns away from the main road to the Forum. We
+will now return to the gate, to describe the triangular island of
+houses which bounds the main street on the eastern side.
+
+That close to the gate, called the House of the Triclinium, derives
+its name from a large triclinium in the centre of the peristyle, which
+is spacious and handsome, and bounded by the city walls. The House of
+the Vestals is a little further on. What claim it has to this title,
+except by the rule of contraries, we are at a loss to guess; seeing
+that the style of its decorations is very far from corresponding with
+that purity of thought and manners which we are accustomed to
+associate with the title of vestal. The paintings are numerous and
+beautiful, and the mosaics remarkably fine. Upon the threshold here,
+as in several other houses, we find the word "Salve" (Welcome), worked
+in mosaic. One may be seen in cut on page 30.
+
+We enter by a vestibule, divided into three compartments, and
+ornamented with four attached columns, which introduces us to an
+atrium, fitted up in the usual manner, and surrounded by the usual
+apartments. The most remarkable of these is a triclinium, which
+formerly was richly paved with glass mosaics. Hence we pass into the
+private apartments, which are thus described by Bonucci:--"This house
+seems to have been originally two separate houses, afterwards,
+probably, bought by some rich man, and thrown into one. After
+traversing a little court, around which are the sleeping chambers, and
+that destined to business, we hastened to render our visit to the
+Penates. We entered the pantry, and rendered back to the proprietors
+the greeting that, from the threshold of this mansion, they still
+direct to strangers. We next passed through the kitchen and its
+dependencies. The corn-mills seemed waiting for the accustomed hands
+to grind with them, after so many years of repose. Oil standing in
+glass vessels, chestnuts, dates, raisins, and figs, in the next
+chamber, announce the provision for the approaching winter, and large
+amphorae of wine recall to us the consulates of Caesar and of Cicero.
+
+ [Illustration: BROOCHES OF GOLD FOUND AT POMPEII.]
+
+"We entered the private apartment. Magnificent porticoes are to be
+seen around it. Numerous beautiful columns covered with stucco, and
+with very fresh colors, surrounded a very agreeable garden, a pond,
+and a bath. Elegant paintings, delicate ornaments, stags, sphinxes,
+wild and fanciful flowers everywhere cover the walls. The cabinets of
+young girls, and their toilets, with appropriate paintings, are
+disposed along the sides. In this last were found a great quantity of
+female ornaments, such as seen in the cut, and others, and the
+skeleton of a little dog. At the extremity is seen a semicircular room
+adorned with niches, and formerly with statues, mosaics, and marbles.
+An altar, on which the sacred fire burned perpetually, rose in the
+centre. This is the _sacrarium_. In this secret and sacred place the
+most solemn and memorable days of the family were spent in rejoicing;
+and here, on birthdays, sacrifices were offered to Juno, or the
+Genius, the protector of the new-born child."
+
+The next house is called the House of a Surgeon, because a variety of
+surgical instruments were found in it. In number they amounted to
+forty; some resembled instruments still in use, others are different
+from anything employed by modern surgeons. In many the description of
+Celsus is realized, as, for instance, in the specillum, or probe,
+which is concave on one side and flat on the other; the scalper
+excisorius, in the shape of a lancet-point on one side and of a mallet
+on the other; a hook and forceps, used in obstetrical practice. The
+latter are said to equal in the convenience and ingenuity of their
+construction the best efforts of modern cutlers. Needles, cutting
+compasses (circini excisorii), and other instruments were found, all
+of the purest brass with bronze handles, and usually enclosed in brass
+or boxwood cases.
+
+There is nothing remarkable in the house itself, which contains the
+usual apartments, atrium, peristyle, etc., except the paintings. These
+consist chiefly of architectural designs, combinations of golden and
+bronze-colored columns placed in perspective, surmounted by rich
+architraves, elaborate friezes, and decorated cornices, one order
+above another. Intermixed are arabesque ornaments, grotesque
+paintings, and compartments with figures, all apparently employed in
+domestic occupations.
+
+One of them represents a female figure carrying rolls of papyrus to a
+man who is seated and intently reading. The method of reading these
+rolls or volumes, which were written in transverse columns across the
+breadth of the papyrus, is clearly shown here. Behind him a young
+woman is seated, playing on the harp. All these figures are placed
+under the light architectural designs above described, which seem
+intended to surmount a terrace. It is a common practice at the present
+day in Italy, especially near Naples, to construct light treillages on
+the tops of the houses, where the inhabitants enjoy the evening
+breeze, _al fresco_, in the same way as is represented in these
+paintings.
+
+The peristyle is small, but in good preservation. Its
+inter-columniations are filled up by a dwarf wall painted red, the
+lower part of the columns being painted blue. This house runs through
+the island from one street to the other. Adjoining it, on the south,
+is the custom-house, _telonium_. Here a wide entrance admits us into
+an ample chamber, where many scales were found, and among them a
+steelyard, _statera_, much resembling those now in use, but more
+richly and tastefully ornamented.
+
+ [Illustration: SCALES FOUND AT POMPEII.]
+
+Many weights of lead and marble were found here; one with the
+inscription, "Eme et habebis" (Buy and you shall have), also scales.
+Near the custom-house is a soap manufactory. In the first room were
+heaps of lime, the admirable quality of which has excited the wonder
+of modern plasterers. In an inner room are the soap-vats, placed on a
+level with the ground.
+
+Besides these, the block contains three houses which have been
+distinguished by names, the House of Isis and Osiris, the House of
+Narcissus, and the House of the Female Dancers. Of these the latter is
+remarkable for the beauty of the paintings which adorn its Tuscan
+atrium.
+
+Among them are four very elegant figures of female dancers, from which
+the name given to the house is taken. Another represents a figure
+reposing on the border of a clear lake, surrounded by villas and
+palaces, on the bosom of which a flock of ducks and wild-fowl are
+swimming. The house of Narcissus is distinguished by the elegance of
+its peristyle; the inter-columniations are filled up by a dwarf wall,
+which is hollowed at the top, probably to receive earth for the
+cultivation of select flowers. Our materials do not admit of a fuller
+description of the houses in this quarter.
+
+Passing onwards from the House of Sallust, the next island to the
+south, separated from it by a narrow lane, affords nothing remarkable,
+except the shop of a baker, to the details of which, in conjunction
+with the art of dyeing, we purpose to devote a separate chapter. It is
+terminated in a sharp point by the fountain before mentioned. The
+disposition of the streets and houses everywhere is most
+unsymmetrical, but here it is remarkably so, even for Pompeii. Just by
+the house with the double vestibule the main street divides into two,
+inclined to each other at a very acute angle, which form, together
+with a third cross street of more importance, called the Strada delle
+Terme, or Street of the Baths, another small triangular island.
+
+The house of the apex was an apothecary's shop. A great many drugs,
+glasses, and vials of the most singular forms, were found here; in
+some of the latter fluids were yet remaining. In particular one large
+glass vase is to be mentioned, capable of holding two gallons, in
+which was a gallon and a half of a reddish liquid, said to be balsam.
+On being opened, the contents began to evaporate very fast, and it
+was, therefore, closed hermetically. About an inch in depth of the
+contents has been thus lost, leaving on the sides of the vessel a
+sediment, reaching up to the level to which it was formerly filled.
+The right-hand street leads to buildings entirely in ruins, the
+left-hand one, which is a continuation of the Via Consularis, or
+Domitiana, conducts us towards the Forum.
+
+Immediately to the eastward of the district just described is the
+House of Pansa, which occupies a whole block. The block between it and
+the city walls, on the north, offers nothing remarkable. Beyond, still
+to the east, is a block separated from it by a narrow street, called
+the Via della Fullonica, and bounded on the other side by the Street
+of Mercury, which runs in a straight line from the walls nearly to the
+Forum. This block contains, besides several private houses of great
+beauty, the Fullonica, or establishment for the fulling and dyeing of
+woolen cloths. This, together with the bake-house above mentioned,
+will be described further on.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+HOUSE OF HOLCONIUS.
+
+Passing on the insula or block, bounded on the north by the Street of
+Holconius, on the south by the Street of Isis, on the west by the
+Street of the Theatres, and on the east by that of Stabiae, we find two
+remarkable houses excavated within the last few years. That at the
+northern corner of the street of the Theatres, numbered 4 on the
+entrance, is sometimes called the House of Holconius. The two stores
+which precede it, numbered 2 and 3, seem to have been the property of
+the master of the house, and communicate with each other. A third
+shop, numbered 1, at the angle of the street, appears to have been
+occupied by a dyer, and is called Taberna Offectoris. On the front of
+the house were some inscriptions for electioneering purposes.
+
+The pilasters on either side of the main entrance are painted red to
+about the height of a man, beyond which they are of white plaster. On
+entering the prothyrum may be observed a large hole in the wall,
+destined for the reception of the _repagulum_, or strong wooden bar
+with which the door was secured. The door appears, from the places for
+bolts on the threshold, to have been composed of two pieces (bifora).
+The walls of the prothyrum are painted black, with a red podium,
+divided into three compartments by green and yellow lines, in the
+middle of which are an aquatic bird, perhaps an _ibis_, a swan with
+spread wings, and an ornament that can not be made out. Towards the
+top the walls are painted with fantastic pieces of architecture on a
+white ground; amidst which, on one side, is a nymph descending
+apparently from heaven. She has a golden-colored vest, on her
+shoulders is a veil agitated by the breeze, and she bears in her hand
+a large dish filled with fruits and herbs. On the other side was a
+similar figure, playing on the lyre, with a sky-blue vest and
+rose-colored veil that fluttered about her. The remaining
+architectural paintings contained little winged Cupids, one holding a
+cornucopia, another a drum, and two with baskets of fruits and
+flowers. These were the good geniuses, which, by being depicted at the
+entrance of a house, repelled all evil influences and rendered it a
+joyful abode.
+
+The pavement of the Tuscan atrium is variegated with small pieces of
+white marble placed in rows. The impluvium in the middle appears to
+have been under repair, as it is stripped of its marble lining. The
+walls of the atrium are painted red, with vertical black zones like
+pilasters, or _antae_, besides lines and ornaments of various colors.
+On the wall to the left of the entrance is painted a recumbent
+Silenus, crowned with ivy, and pressing in his arms the little
+Bacchus, who in alarm is endeavoring to escape from his embraces. Near
+it, on a yellow ground, is the bearded head of a man, with two claws
+projecting from his temples like horns, and a beard floating as if it
+was in the water. It may probably be a mask of Oceanus, who is
+represented on coins of Agrigentum in a somewhat similar manner. Under
+the head is the figure of a hippocampus.
+
+Many objects were found in this atrium, some at the height of four or
+five yards from the floor, which must consequently have fallen in from
+the upper stories; and others on the pavement itself. But one of the
+most important discoveries was the skeleton of a woman, near the
+entrance of the tablinum. She appears to have been in the act of
+flight, and had with her a small box containing her valuables and
+nick-nacks. Among the most curious of these was a necklace composed of
+amulets, or charms, which, it will be observed, are all attributes of
+Isis and her attendant, Anubis, or of her husband Osiris, here
+considered as Bacchus. The mystic articles kept in the Isiac coffer
+were, says Eusebius, a ball, dice, (_turbo_) wheel, mirror, lock of
+wool.
+
+The first bed-chamber on the right of the atrium communicated with the
+store No. 3, and was probably occupied by the slave who conducted the
+business of it. The first bed-chamber on the left had a similar
+communication with the store outside.
+
+ [Illustration: WALL PAINTING DISCOVERED AT POMPEII.]
+
+There are few houses in Pompeii in which the paintings are more
+numerous or better preserved than in that which we are examining. The
+second bed-chamber on the right has several. In this room may be
+observed a space hollowed in the wall to receive the foot of a bed or
+coutch. The walls are white, with a red podium, and are surmounted by
+a cornice from which springs the vault. The upper part is painted with
+lines, between which are depicted griffins in repose, baskets with
+thyrsi, branches of herbs, and other objects.
+
+The lower part of the walls is divided into larger compartments by
+candelabra supporting little globes. In each compartment are eight
+small pictures, representing the heads and busts of Bacchic
+personages, in a very good state of preservation. On the left is
+Bacchus, crowned with ivy, his head covered with the _mitra_, a sort
+of veil of fine texture which descends upon his left shoulder. This
+ornament, as well as the cast of his features, reveals the half
+feminine nature of the deity. Opposite to him is the picture of
+Ariadne, also crowned with ivy, clothed in a green _chiton_ and a
+violet _himation_. She presses to her bosom the infant Iacchus,
+crowned with the eternal ivy, and bearing in his hand the thyrsus.
+Then follow Bacchic or Panic figures, some conversing, some drinking
+together, some moving apparently in the mazes of the dance. Paris,
+with the Phrygian cap and crook, seems to preside over this voluptuous
+scene, and to listen to a little Cupid seated on his shoulder.
+
+In the chamber on the opposite side of the atrium, fronting that just
+described, were also four pictures, two of which are destroyed, the
+walls having apparently been broken through, not long after the
+destruction of Pompeii, by persons in search of their buried property.
+Of the other two, which are almost effaced, one represents an aged
+Faun, holding in his hands a thyrsus and a vase; the other a young
+woman conversing with an African slave. A wooden chest seems to have
+stood close to the left-hand wall.
+
+The left _ala_, or wing, has its walls painted in yellow and red
+compartments, with a black podium. In the middle of each was a
+valuable painting, but these, with the exception of the greater part
+of one fronting the entrance, have been almost destroyed. The one
+saved represents Apollo, who has overtaken Daphne, and is clasping her
+in his arms, while the nymph, who has fallen on her knees, repels the
+embraces of the deity. A malicious little Cupid, standing on tiptoes,
+draws aside the golden-tissued veil which covered the nymph, and
+displays her naked form. On the left of the same apartment is a
+picture, almost effaced, of Perseus and Andromeda; and on the right
+another with three male figures, of which only the lower part remains.
+
+The right _ala_, which, however, from its capability of being closed
+with a door, does not properly come under that denomination, seems,
+from various culinary utensils of metal and earthenware found in it,
+to have served as a kitchen, or rather perhaps as a store-closet.
+
+The tablinum, opposite the entrance, and, as usual, without any
+enclosure on the side of the atrium, has a small marble threshold, and
+on its floor little squares of colored marbles surrounded with a
+mosaic border. The yellow walls, divided into compartments by vertical
+stripes of red, white, and black, were beautifully ornamented with the
+usual architectural designs and flying figures. On each side were two
+larger pictures, of which only that on the left of the spectator
+remains. It represents Leda showing to Tyndareus a nest containing the
+two boys produced from the egg. A stucco cornice runs round the wall,
+above which a flying nymph is painted on a white ground, between two
+balconies, from which a man and woman are looking down. There are also
+figures of sphinxes, goats, etc.
+
+A wooden staircase on the left of the tablinum, the first step being
+of stone, led to the floor above. On the right is the passage called
+_fauces_, leading to the peristyle. On its left-hand side, near the
+ground, was a rudely traced figure of a gladiator, with an inscription
+above, of which only the first letters, PRIMI, remain. On the left
+wall of the fauces, near the extremity, and level with the eye, is
+another inscription, or _graffito_, in small characters, difficult to
+be deciphered from the unusual _nexus_ of the letters, but which the
+learned have supposed to express the design of an invalid to get rid
+of the pains in his limbs by bathing them in water.
+
+At the extremity of the _fauces_, on the right, there is an entrance
+to a room which has also another door leading into the portico of the
+peristyle. The walls are painted black and red, and in the
+compartments are depicted birds, animals, fruits, etc. Two skeletons
+were found in this room. In the apartment to the left, or east of the
+tablinum, of which the destination can not be certainly determined,
+the walls are also painted black, with architectural designs in the
+middle, and figures of winged Cupids variously employed. On the larger
+walls are two paintings, of which that on the right represents the
+often-repeated subject of Ariadne, who, just awakened from sleep, and
+supported by a female figure with wings, supposed to be Nemesis, views
+with an attitude of grief and stupor the departing ship of Theseus,
+already far from Naxos. On the left side is a picture of Phryxus,
+crossing the sea on the ram and stretching out his arms to Helle, who
+has fallen over and appears on the point of drowning. The form of this
+chamber, twice as long as it is broad, its vicinity to the kitchen,
+and the window, through which the slaves might easily convey the
+viands, appear to show that it was a triclinium, or dining-room.
+
+The floor, which is lower by a step than the peristyle, is paved with
+_opus Signinum_, and ornamented only at one end with a mosaic. On one
+of the walls, about ten feet from the floor, is the _graffito_,
+_Sodales Avete_ (Welcome Comrades), which could have been inscribed
+there only by a person, probably a slave, mounted on a bench or a
+ladder.
+
+The viridarium, or xystus, surrounded with spacious porticoes, was
+once filled with the choicest flowers, and refreshed by the grateful
+murmur of two fountains. One of these in the middle of the peristyle
+is square, having in its centre a sort of round table from which the
+water gushed forth. The other fountain, which faces the tablinum, is
+composed of a little marble staircase, surmounted by the statue of a
+boy having in his right hand a vase from which the water spirted, and
+under his left arm a goose. The statue is rather damaged.
+
+Many objects were found in the peristyle, mostly of the kind usually
+discovered in Pompeian houses. Among them was an amphora, having the
+following epigraph in black paint:
+
+ COUM. GRAN.
+ OF.
+ ROMAE. ATERIO. FELICI.
+
+which has been interpreted to mean that it contained Coan wine
+flavored with pomegranate, and that it came from Rome, from the stores
+of Aterius Felix.
+
+The portico is surrounded by strong columns, and seems to have had a
+second order resting on the first, as may be inferred from some
+indications to the right of him who enters from the _fauces_. The
+walls are painted red and black, with architectural designs,
+candelabra, meanders, birds, winged Cupids, etc. There are also
+fourteen small pictures enclosed in red lines, eight of which
+represent landscapes and sea-shores, with fishermen, and the other six
+fruits and eatables. On the wall on the right side is the following
+_graffito_, or inscription, scratched with some sharp instrument:
+
+ IIX. ID. IVL. AXVNGIA. PCC.
+ ALIV. MANVPLOS. CCL.
+
+That is: "On the 25th July, hog's lard, two hundred pounds, Garlic,
+two hundred bunches." It seems, therefore, to be a domestic memorandum
+of articles either bought or sold.
+
+Around the portico are several rooms, all having marble thresholds,
+and closed by doors turning on bronze hinges. On the right hand of
+the peristyle, near the entrance, is a private door, or _posticum_,
+leading into the Street of the Theatres, by which the master of the
+house might escape his importunate clients.
+
+The rooms at the sides of the peristyle offer nothing remarkable, but
+the three chambers opposite to the tablinum are of considerable size,
+and contain some good pictures. The first on the right has two figures
+of Nereids traversing the sea, one on a sea-bull the other on a
+hippocampus. Both the monsters are guided by a Cupid with reins and
+whip, and followed by dolphins. Another painting opposite the entrance
+is too much effaced to be made out. The same wall has a feature not
+observed in any other Pompeian house, namely, a square aperture of
+rather more than a foot reaching down to the floor, and opening upon
+an enclosed place with a canal or drain for carrying off the water of
+the adjoining houses. It seems also to have been a receptacle for
+lamps, several of which were found there.
+
+Adjoining this room is a large _exedra_ with a little _impluvium_ in
+the middle, which seems to indicate an aperture in the roof, a
+construction hitherto found only in _atria_. The absence of any
+channels in the floor for conducting water seems to show that it could
+not have been a fountain. This exedra is remarkable for its paintings.
+In the wall in front is depicted Narcissus with a javelin in his hand,
+leaning over a rock and admiring himself in the water, in which his
+image is reflected; but great part of the painting is destroyed. A
+little Cupid is extinguishing his torch in the stream. In the
+background is a building with an image of the bearded Bacchus; and
+near it a terminal figure of Priapus Ithyphallicus, with grapes and
+other fruits. This picture was much damaged in the process of
+excavation.
+
+On the left wall is a painting of a naked Hermaphroditus. In his right
+hand is a little torch reversed; his left arm rests on the shoulders
+of Silenus, who appears to accompany his songs on the lyre, whilst a
+winged Cupid sounds the double flute. On the other side is a
+Bacchante with a thyrsus and tambourine, and near her a little Satyr,
+who also holds a torch reversed.
+
+But the best picture in this apartment is that representing Ariadne
+discovered by Bacchus. A youthful figure with wings, supposed to
+represent Sleep, stands at Ariadne's head, and seems to indicate that
+she is under his influence. Meanwhile a little Faun lifts the veil
+that covers her, and with an attitude indicating surprise at her
+beauty, turns to Bacchus and seems to invite him to contemplate her
+charms. The deity himself, crowned with ivy and berries, clothed in a
+short tunic and a pallium agitated by the breeze, holds in his right
+hand the thyrsus, and lifts his left in token of admiration. In the
+background a Bacchante sounds her tympanum, and invites the followers
+of the god to descend from the mountains. These, preceded by Silenus,
+obey the summons; one is playing the double flute, another sounding
+the cymbals, a third bears on her head a basket of fruit. A Faun and a
+Bacchante, planted on a mountain on the left, survey the scene from a
+distance.
+
+The adjoining triclinium, entered by a door from the exedra, had also
+three paintings, one of which however is almost destroyed. Of the
+remaining two, that on the left represents Achilles discovered by
+Ulysses among the damsels of Lycomedes. The subject of that on the
+right is the Judgment of Paris. It is more remarkable for its spirit
+and coloring than for the accuracy of its drawing. This apartment has
+also six medallions with heads of Bacchic personages.
+
+In the same block as the house just described, and having its entrance
+in the same street, stands the house of Cornelius Rufus. It is a
+handsome dwelling, but as its plan and decorations have nothing to
+distinguish them from other Pompeian houses, we forbear to describe
+them. The only remarkable feature in this excavation was the discovery
+of a Hermes at the bottom of the atrium on the left, on which was a
+marble bust of the owner, as large as life and well executed, having
+his name inscribed beneath.
+
+Not far from the houses just described, in the Street of Stabiae, at
+the angle formed by the street leading to the amphitheatre, stands the
+House of Apollo Citharoedus, excavated in 1864. It derives its name
+from a fine bronze statue, as large as life, of Apollo sounding the
+lyre, which was found there, but has now been placed in the Museum at
+Naples. In this house the tablinum and a peristyle beyond are on a
+higher level than the atrium; consequently the _fauces_, or passage
+leading to the latter, ascends. In the peristyle is a semicircular
+fountain, on the margin of which were disposed several animals in
+bronze, representing a hunting scene. In the centre was a wild boar in
+flight attacked by two dogs; at the sides were placed a lion, a stag,
+and a serpent. These animals, arranged in the same way in which they
+were found, are now preserved in the Museum.
+
+Adjoining the House of Lucretius are several stores. That next door
+but one appears to have belonged to a chemist or color-maker. On the
+right of the atrium is a triple furnace, constructed for the reception
+of three large cauldrons at different levels, which were reached by
+steps. The house contained a great quantity of carbonized drugs. At
+the sides of the entrance were two stores for the sale of the
+manufactured articles. In one of these stores was discovered, some
+yards below the old level of the soil, the skeleton of a woman with
+two bracelets of gold, two of silver, four ear-rings, five rings,
+forty-seven gold, and one hundred and ninety-seven silver coins, in a
+purse of netted gold.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Illustration: Painted by J. Coomans
+ Engraved & Printed by Illman Brothers.
+ HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET--SALLUST.
+ FOR THE MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+GENERAL SURVEY OF THE CITY.
+
+
+Proceeding southward along the Street of Mercury, we pass under the
+triumphal arch of Nero, and crossing the transverse street which leads
+towards the Gate of Nola, enter the Street of the Forum, a
+continuation of the Street of Mercury, leading straight to the
+triumphal arch at the north end of the Forum, and bounding the island
+of the Baths on the eastern side. This street is one of the most
+spacious in Pompeii. A long list of articles was found here in the
+course of excavation. One of the houses about the centre of the street
+nearly opposite the entrance to the Thermae, is of more consequence
+than the rest, and has been named the House of Bacchus, from a large
+painting of that god on a door opposite to the entry. Channels for the
+introduction of water were found in the atrium, which has been
+surrounded by a small trough, formed to contain flowers, the outer
+side of which is painted blue, to imitate water, with boats floating
+upon it. The wall behind this is painted with pillars, between which
+are balustrades of various forms. Cranes and other birds perch upon
+these, and there is a back ground of reeds and other vegetables, above
+which the sky is visible. The greater portion of the eastern side of
+the street is occupied by a row of shops with a portico in front of
+them. It is flanked on either side by footpaths, and must have
+presented a noble appearance when terminated by triumphal arches at
+either end, and overlooked by the splendid Temple of Jupiter and that
+of Fortune elevated on its lofty basis.
+
+It is to be noticed that the last-named edifice does not stand
+symmetrically either with the Street of the Forum or with the Street
+of the Baths running past the House of the Pansa. "The portico," we
+quote again from Gell, "is turned a little towards the Forum, and the
+front of the temple is so contrived that a part of it might be seen
+also from the other street. It is highly probable that these
+circumstances are the result of design rather than of chance. The
+Greeks seem to have preferred the view of a magnificent building from
+a corner, and there is scarcely a right-angled plan to be found either
+in ancient or modern Italy." In the Street of the Forum has been
+established a temporary museum of articles found in Pompeii. Adjoining
+it is a library containing all the best works that have been written
+on the city.
+
+ [Illustration: GOLD BREASTPINS FOUND AT POMPEII.]
+
+The street running westward between the baths and the Forum presents
+nothing remarkable, except that in it are the signs of the milk-shop
+and school of gladiators. There is also an altar, probably dedicated
+to Jupiter, placed against the wall of a house; above it is a
+bass-relief in stucco, with an eagle in the tympanum. Eastward of the
+Forum this street assumes the name of the Street of Dried Fruits, from
+an inscription showing that dried fruits were sold in it; and, indeed,
+a considerable quantity of figs, raisins, chestnuts, plums, hempseed,
+and similar articles were found. It is now, however, usually called
+the Street of the Augustals.
+
+Near the point at which this street is intersected by that of
+Eumachia, running at the back of the east side of the Forum, there is
+a remarkably graceful painting of a youthful Bacchus pressing the
+juice of the grape into a vase placed upon a pillar, at the foot of
+which is a rampant animal expecting the liquor, apparently meant for a
+tiger or panther, but of very diminutive size. This picture is one
+foot five inches high and one foot two inches wide. It probably served
+for the sign of a wine-merchant. Corresponding with it, on the other
+side of the shop, is a painting of Mercury, to render that knavish god
+propitious to the owner's trade.
+
+We will now proceed to the Street of Abundance, or of the Merchants,
+formerly called the Street of the Silversmiths. This is about
+twenty-eight feet wide, and bordered on each side by foot-paths about
+six feet wide, which are described as made in several places of a hard
+plaster, probably analogous to _opus Signinum_. At the end next the
+Forum it is blocked up by two steps, which deny access to wheel
+carriages, and is in other parts so much encumbered by large
+stepping-stones that the passage of such vehicles, if not prohibited,
+must have been difficult and inconvenient.
+
+We may here take notice of a peculiarity in this street. It slopes
+with a very gentle descent away from the Forum, and the courses of
+masonry, instead of being laid horizontally, run parallel to the
+slope of the ground, a unique instance, as we believe, of such a
+construction.
+
+The doors of several shops in this street have left perfect
+impressions on the volcanic deposit, by which it appears that the
+planks of which they were made lapped one over the other, like the
+planks of a boat.
+
+Although the houses that line this street have now been cleared, there
+still remains a large unexcavated space on its southern side. The only
+house requiring notice is that called the Casa del Cinghiale, or House
+of the Wild Boar, a little way down on the right-hand side in going
+from the Forum. Its name is derived from the mosaic pavement of the
+prothyrum, representing a boar attacked by two dogs. The house is
+remarkable for its well-preserved peristyle of fourteen Ionic columns,
+with their capitals. On the right is a brick staircase leading to a
+large garden. The atrium is bordered with a mosaic representing the
+walls of a city with towers and battlements, supposed by some to be
+the walls of Pompeii.
+
+Just beyond this house is a small street or lane, turning down to the
+right, called the _Vicolo dei Dodici Dei_, from a painting on the
+outside wall of the corner house, in the manner of a frieze,
+representing the twelve greater divinities. Below is the usual
+painting of serpents. At the corner of the quadrivium is the
+apothecary's shop, in which was a large collection of surgical
+instruments, mortars, drugs, and pills. The house is not otherwise
+remarkable.
+
+Of the early excavations at the southern extremity of the town few
+records are preserved. In the Quarter of the Theatres, besides the
+public buildings, there are but two houses of any interest. These
+occupy the space between the Temple of AEsculapius and the small
+theatre. The easternmost of them is one of the most interesting yet
+discovered in Pompeii, not for the beauty or curiosity of the building
+itself, but for its contents, which prove it to have been the abode
+of a sculptor. Here were found statues, some half finished, others
+just begun, with blocks of marble, and all the tools required by the
+artist. Among these were thirty-two mallets, many compasses, curved
+and straight, a great quantity of chisels, three or four levers, jacks
+for raising blocks, saws, etc., etc. The house has the usual
+arrangement of atrium, tablinum, and peristyle, but, owing to the
+inclination of the ground, the peristyle is on a higher level than the
+public part of the house, and communicates with it by a flight of
+steps. A large reservoir for water extended under the peristyle, which
+was in good preservation when first found, but has been much injured
+by the failure of the vault beneath.
+
+ [Illustration: A LABORATORY, AS FOUND IN POMPEII.]
+
+Returning by the southernmost of the two roads which lead to the
+Forum, we find, beside the wall of the triangular Forum as it is
+called, one of the most remarkable houses in Pompeii, if not for its
+size, at least for its construction.
+
+The excavations here made were begun in April, 1769, in the presence
+of the Emperor Joseph II., after whom this house has been named; but
+after curiosity was satisfied, they were filled up again with rubbish,
+as was then usual, and vines and poplars covered them almost entirely
+at the time when Mazois examined the place, insomuch that the
+underground stories were all that he could personally observe. The
+emperor was accompanied in his visit by his celebrated minister, Count
+Kaunitz, the King and Queen of Naples, and one or two distinguished
+antiquaries. This was one of the first private dwellings excavated at
+Pompeii. It appears to have been a mansion of considerable
+magnificence, and, from its elevated position, must have commanded a
+fine view over the Bay of Naples towards Sorrento. The "find" was so
+good on the occasion of the emperor's visit, as to excite his
+suspicion of some deceit. The numerous articles turned up afforded Sir
+W. Hamilton an opportunity to display his antiquarian knowledge.
+Joseph appears to have been rather disgusted on hearing that only
+thirty men were employed on the excavations, and insisted that three
+thousand were necessary. We give a cut of the house, page 119.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Now the Street of Abundance.
+
+[2] Nat. Hist. xxxvi. 2.
+
+[3] Ib. xxxvi. 15.
+
+[4] Sexagies sestertium.
+
+[5] Nat. Hist. xxxi. 6, S. 31: Aqua in plumbo subit altitudinem
+exortus sui.
+
+[6] Rubent (vela scil.) in cavis aedium, et museum a sole defendunt. We
+may conclude, then, that the impluvium was sometimes ornamented with
+moss or flowers, unless the words cavis aedium may be extended to the
+court of the peristyle, which was commonly laid out as a garden. [The
+latter seems more likely.]
+
+[7] xxxvi. 1.
+
+[8] From tabula, or tabella, a picture. Another derivation is, "quasi
+e tabulis compactum," because the large openings into it might be
+closed by shutters.
+
+[9] This rule, however, is seldom observed in the Pompeian houses.
+
+[10] The best of these were made at AEgina. The more common ones cost
+from $100 to $125; some sold for as much as $2000. Plin. Hist. Nat.
+xxxiv. 3.
+
+[11] These citreae mensae have given rise to considerable discussion.
+Pliny says that they were made of the roots or knots of the wood, and
+esteemed on account of their veins and markings, which were like a
+tiger's skin, or peacock's tail (xiii. 91. sqq.) Some copies read
+_cedri_ for citri; and it has been suggested that the cypress is
+really meant, the roots and knots of which are large and veined;
+whereas the citron is never used for cabinet work, and is neither
+veined nor knotted.
+
+[12] About $161,000.
+
+[13] The common furniture of a triclinium was three couches, placed on
+three sides of a square table, each containing three persons, in
+accordance with the favorite maxim, that a party should not consist of
+more than the Muses nor of fewer than the Graces, not more than nine
+nor less than three. Where such numbers were entertained, couches must
+have been placed along the sides of long tables.
+
+[14] Plin. Ep. lib. ii. 17. We have very much shortened the original,
+leaving out the description of, at least, one upper floor, and other
+particulars which did not appear necessary to the illustration of our
+subject.
+
+[15] Vitruvius, vi. 8.
+
+[16] It was made of the entrails of fish macerated in brine. That made
+from the fish called scomber was the best. This word is sometimes
+translated a herring, but the best authorities render it a mackerel.
+It was caught, according to Pliny, in the Straits of Gibraltar,
+entering from the ocean, and was used for no purpose but to make
+garum. The best was called garum sociorum, a term of which we have
+seen no satisfactory explanation, and sold for 1,000 sesterces for two
+congii, about $20 a gallon. An inferior kind, made from the anchovy
+(aphya), was called alec, a name also given to the dregs of garum. "No
+liquid, except unguents," Pliny says, "fetched a higher price."--Hist.
+Nat. xxxi. 43.
+
+[17]
+
+ "Hence, seek the sty--there wallow with thy friends."
+ She spake. I drawing from beside my thigh
+ My faulchion keen, with death-denouncing looks
+ Rushed on her; she with a shrill scream of fear
+ Ran under my raised arm, seized fast my knees,
+ And in winged accents plaintive thus began:
+ "Say, who art thou," etc.--Cowper's Odyss. x. 320.
+
+[18]
+
+ She sat before him, clasped with her left hand
+ His knees; her right beneath his chin she placed,
+ And thus the king, Saturnian Jove, implored.--Il. i. 500.
+
+
+ [Illustration: FIRST WALLS DISCOVERED IN POMPEII.]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+AMUSEMENTS.
+
+
+The amphitheatre stands some hundred yards from the theatres, in the
+south-eastern angle of the walls of the town. Although, perhaps, of
+Etruscan origin, the exhibitions of the amphitheatre are so peculiarly
+Roman, and Pompeii contains so many mementos of them, that a detailed
+account of them will not perhaps be misplaced. At an early period,
+B.C. 263, the practice of compelling human beings to fight for the
+amusement of spectators was introduced; and twelve years later the
+capture of several elephants in the first Punic war proved the means
+of introducing the chase, or rather the slaughter, of wild beasts into
+the Roman circus. The taste for these spectacles increased of course
+with its indulgence, and their magnificence with the wealth of the
+city and the increasing facility and inducement to practice bribery
+which was offered by the increased extent of provinces subject to
+Rome. It was not, however, until the last period of the republic, or
+rather until the domination of the emperors had collected into one
+channel the tributary wealth which previously was divided among a
+numerous aristocracy, that buildings were erected solely for the
+accommodation of gladiatorial shows; buildings entirely beyond the
+compass of a subject's wealth, and in which perhaps the magnificence
+of imperial Rome is most amply displayed. Numerous examples scattered
+throughout her empire, in a more or less advanced state of decay,
+still attest the luxury and solidity of their construction; while at
+Rome the Coliseum (see frontispiece) asserts the pre-eminent splendor
+of the metropolis--a monument surpassed in magnitude by the Pyramids
+alone, and as superior to them in skill and varied contrivance of
+design as to other buildings in its gigantic magnitude.
+
+ [Illustration: VIEW OF THE AMPHITHEATRE AT POMPEII.]
+
+The Greek word, which by a slight alteration of its termination we
+render amphitheatre, signifies a theatre, or place of spectacles,
+forming a continuous inclosure, in opposition to the simple theatre,
+which, as we have said, was semicircular, but with the seats usually
+continued somewhat in advance of the diameter of the semicircle. The
+first amphitheatre seems to have been that of Curio, consisting of two
+movable theatres, which could be placed face to face or back to back,
+according to the species of amusement for which they were required.
+
+Usually, gladiatorial shows were given in the Forum, and the chase
+and combats of wild beasts exhibited in the Circus, where once, when
+Pompey was celebrating games, some enraged elephants broke through the
+barrier which separated them from the spectators. This circumstance,
+together with the unsuitableness of the Circus for such sports, from
+its being divided into two compartments by the spina, a low wall
+surmounted by pillars, obelisks, and other ornamental erections, as
+well as from its disproportionate length, which rendered it ill
+adapted to afford a general view to all the spectators, determined
+Julius Caesar, in his dictatorship, to construct a wooden theatre in
+the Campus Martius, built especially for hunting, "which was called
+amphitheatre (apparently the first use of the word) because it was
+encompassed by circular seats without a scene."
+
+The first permanent amphitheatre was built partly of stone and partly
+of wood, by Statilius Taurus, at the instigation of Augustus, who was
+passionately fond of these sports, especially of the hunting of rare
+beasts. This was burnt during the reign of Nero, and though restored,
+fell short of the wishes of Vespasian, who commenced the vast
+structure completed by his son Titus--called the Flavian Amphitheatre,
+and subsequently the Coliseum. The expense of this building it is said
+would have sufficed to erect a capital city, and, if we may credit
+Dion, 9,000 wild beasts were destroyed in its dedication. Eutropius
+restricts the number to 5,000. When the hunting was over the arena was
+filled with water, and a sea-fight ensued.
+
+The construction of these buildings so much resembles the construction
+of theatres, that it will not be necessary to describe them at any
+great length. Without, they usually presented to the view an oval
+wall, composed of two or more stories of arcades, supported by piers
+of different orders of architecture adorned with pilasters or attached
+pillars. Within, an equal number of stories of galleries gave access
+to the spectators at different elevations, and the inclined plane of
+the seats was also supported upon piers and vaults, so that the
+ground plan presented a number of circular rows of piers, arranged in
+radii converging to the centre of the arena. A suitable number of
+doors opened upon the ground floor, and passages from thence,
+intersecting the circular passages between the piers, gave an easy
+access to every part of the building. Sometimes a gallery encompassed
+the whole, and served as a common access to all the stairs which led
+to the upper stories. This was the case in the amphitheatre at Nismes.
+Sometimes each staircase had its distinct communication from without:
+this was the case at Verona.
+
+The arrangement of the seats was the same as in theatres; they were
+divided horizontally by praecinctiones, and vertically into cunei by
+staircases. The scene and apparatus of the stage was of course
+wanting, and its place occupied by an oval area, called arena, from
+the sand with which it was sprinkled, to absorb the blood shed, and
+give a firmer footing than that afforded by a stone pavement. It was
+sunk twelve or fifteen feet below the lowest range of seats, to secure
+the spectators from injury, and was besides fenced with round wooden
+rollers turning in their sockets, placed horizontally against the
+wall, such as the reader may have observed placed on low gates to
+prevent dogs from climbing over, and with strong nets. In the time of
+Nero these nets were knotted with amber, and the Emperor Carinus
+caused them to be made of golden cord or wire. Sometimes, for more
+complete security, ditches, called _euripi_, surrounded the arena.
+This was first done by Caesar, as a protection to the people against
+the elephants which he exhibited, that animal being supposed to be
+particularly afraid of water. The arena was sometimes spread with
+pounded stone. Caligula, in a fit of extravagance, used chrysocolla;
+and Nero, to surpass him, caused the brilliant red of cinnabar to be
+mixed with it.
+
+In the centre of the arena was an altar dedicated sometimes to Diana
+or Pluto, more commonly to Jupiter Latiaris, the protector of Latium,
+in honor of whom human sacrifices were offered. Passages are to be
+found in ancient writers, from which it is inferred that the games of
+the amphitheatre were usually opened by sacrificing a _bestiarius_,
+one of those gladiators whose profession was to combat wild beasts, in
+honor of this bloodthirsty deity. Beneath the arena dens are supposed
+to have been constructed to contain wild beasts.
+
+At the Coliseum numerous underground buildings are said by Fulvius to
+have existed, which he supposed to be sewers constructed to drain and
+cleanse the building. Others with more probability have supposed them
+to be the dens of wild beasts. Immense accommodation was requisite to
+contain the thousands of animals which were slaughtered upon solemn
+occasions, but no great provision need have been made to carry off the
+rain-water which fell upon the six acres comprised within the walls of
+the building. Others again have supposed them formed to introduce the
+vast bodies of water by which the arena was suddenly transformed into
+a lake when imitations of naval battles were exhibited. Doors pierced
+in the wall which supported the podium communicated with these, or
+with other places of confinement beneath the part allotted to the
+audience, which being thrown open, vast numbers of animals could be
+introduced at once. Vopiscus tells us that a thousand ostriches, a
+thousand stags, and a thousand boars were thrown into the arena at
+once by the Emperor Probus. Sometimes, to astonish, and attract by
+novelty, the arena was converted into a wood. "Probus," says the same
+author, "exhibited a splendid hunting match, after the following
+manner: Large trees torn up by the roots were firmly connected by
+beams, and fixed upright; then earth was spread over the roots, so
+that the whole circus was planted to resemble a wood, and offered us
+the gratification of a green scene."
+
+The same order of precedence was observed as at the theatre--senators,
+knights, and commons having each their appropriate place. To the
+former was set apart the podium, a broad precinction or platform which
+ran immediately round the arena. Hither they brought the curule seats
+or bisellia, described in speaking of the theatres of Pompeii; and
+here was the suggestus, a covered seat appropriated to the Emperor. It
+is supposed that in this part of the building there were also seats of
+honor for the exhibitor of the games and the vestal virgins. If the
+podium was insufficient for the accommodation of the senators, some of
+the adjoining seats were taken for their use. Next to the senators sat
+the knights, who seem here, as in the theatre, to have had fourteen
+rows set apart for them; and with them sat the civil and military
+tribunes. Behind were the popularia, or seats of the plebeians.
+Different tribes had particular cunei allotted to them. There were
+also some further internal arrangements, for Augustus separated
+married from unmarried men, and assigned a separate cuneus to youths,
+near whom their tutors were stationed. Women were stationed in a
+gallery, and attendants and servants in the highest gallery. The
+general direction of the amphitheatre was under the care of an officer
+named _villicus amphitheatri_. Officers called _locarii_ attended to
+the distribution of the people, and removed any person from a seat
+which he was not entitled to hold. We may notice, as a refinement of
+luxury, that concealed conduits were carried throughout these
+buildings, from which scented liquids were scattered over the
+audience. Sometimes the statues which ornamented them were applied to
+this purpose, and seemed to sweat perfume through minute holes, with
+which the pipes that traversed them were pierced. It is this to which
+Lucan alludes in the following lines:--
+
+ ---- As when mighty Rome's spectators meet
+ In the full theatre's capacious seat,
+ At once, by secret pipes and channels fed,
+ Rich tinctures gush from every antique head;
+ At once ten thousand saffron currents flow,
+ And rain their odors on the crowd below.
+
+ Rowe's _Lucan_, book ix.
+
+Saffron was the material usually employed for these refreshing
+showers. The dried herb was infused in wine, more especially in sweet
+wine. Balsams and the more costly unguents were sometimes employed for
+the same purpose.
+
+Another contrivance, too remarkable to be omitted in a general account
+of amphitheatres, is the awning by which spectators were protected
+from the overpowering heat of an Italian sun. This was called Velum,
+or Velarium; and it has afforded matter for a good deal of
+controversy, how a temporary covering could be extended over the vast
+areas of these buildings. Something of the kind was absolutely
+necessary, for the spectacle often lasted for many hours, and when
+anything extraordinary was expected the people went in crowds before
+daylight to obtain places, and some even at midnight.
+
+The Campanians first invented the means of stretching awnings over
+their theatres, by means of cords stretched across the cavea and
+attached to masts which passed through perforated blocks of stone
+deeply bedded in the wall. Quintus Catulus introduced them at Rome
+when he celebrated games at the dedication of the Capitol, B.C. 69.
+Lentulus Spinther, a contemporary of Cicero, first erected fine linen
+awnings (carbasina vela). Julius Caesar covered over the whole Forum
+Romanum, and the Via Sacra, from his own house to the Capitol, which
+was esteemed even more wonderful than his gladiatorial exhibition. Dio
+mentions a report that these awnings were of silk, but he speaks
+doubtfully; and it is scarcely probable that even Caesar's extravagance
+would have carried him so far. Silk at that time was not manufactured
+at Rome; and we learn from Vopiscus, that even in the time of Aurelian
+the raw material was worth its weight in gold. Lucretius, speaking of
+the effect of colored bodies upon transmitted light, has a fine
+passage illustrative of the magnificence displayed in this branch of
+theatrical decoration.
+
+ This the crowd surveys
+ Oft in the theatre, whose awnings broad,
+ Bedecked with crimson, yellow, or the tint
+ Of steel cerulean, from their fluted heights
+ Wave tremulous; and o'er the scene beneath,
+ Each marble statue, and the rising rows
+ Of rank and beauty, fling their tint superb,
+ While as the walls with ampler shade repel
+ The garish noonbeam, every object round
+ Laughs with a deeper dye, and wears profuse
+ A lovelier lustre, ravished from the day.
+
+Wool, however, was the most common material, and the velaria made in
+Apulia were most esteemed, on account of the whiteness of the wool.
+
+Those who are not acquainted by experience with the difficulty of
+giving stability to tents of large dimensions, and the greater
+difficulty of erecting awnings, when, on account of the purpose for
+which they are intended, no support can be applied in the centre, may
+not fully estimate the difficulty of erecting and managing these
+velaria. Strength was necessary, both for the cloth itself and for the
+cords which strained and supported it, or the whole would have been
+shivered by the first gust of wind, and strength could not be obtained
+without great weight. Many of our readers probably are not aware, that
+however short and light a string may be, no amount of tension applied
+horizontally will stretch it into a line perfectly and mathematically
+straight. Practically the deviation is imperceptible where the power
+applied is very large in proportion to the weight and length of the
+string. Still it exists; and to take a common example, the reader
+probably never saw a clothes-line stretched out, though neither the
+weight nor length of the string are considerable, without the middle
+being visibly lower than the ends. When the line is at once long and
+heavy, an enormous power is required to suspend it even in a curve
+between two points; and the amount of tension, and difficulty of
+finding materials able to withstand it, are the only obstacles to
+constructing chain bridges which should be thousands, instead of
+hundreds of feet in length.
+
+In these erections the piers are raised to a considerable height, that
+a sufficient depth may be allowed for the curve of the chains without
+depressing the roadway. Ten times--a hundred times the power which was
+applied to strain them into that shape would not suffice to bring them
+even so near to a horizontal line but that the most inaccurate and
+unobservant eye should at once detect the inequality in their level;
+and the chains themselves would probably give way before such a force
+as this could be applied to them. The least diameter of the Coliseum
+is nearly equal in length to the Menai bridge; and if the labor of
+stretching cords over the one seems small in comparison with that of
+raising the ponderous chains of the other, we may take into
+consideration the weight of cloth which those cords supported, and the
+increase of difficulties arising from the action of the wind on so
+extensive a surface.
+
+In boisterous weather, as we learn from Martial and other authors,
+these difficulties were so great that the velum could not be spread.
+When this was the case the Romans used broad hats, or a sort of
+parasol, which was called _umbella_ or _umbraculum_, from _umbra_,
+shade. We may add, in conclusion, that Suctonius mentions as one of
+Caligula's tyrannical extravagances, that sometimes at a show of
+gladiators, when the sun's heat was most intense, he would cause the
+awning to be drawn back, and, at the same time, forbid any person to
+leave the place.
+
+The difficulty of the undertaking has given rise to considerable
+discussion as to the means by which the Romans contrived to extend the
+velum at such a height over so great a surface, and to manage it at
+pleasure. Sailors were employed in the service, for the Emperor
+Commodus, who piqued himself on his gladiatorial skill, and used to
+fight in the arena, believing himself mocked by the servile crowd of
+spectators, when once they hailed him with divine honors, gave
+order for their slaughter by the sailors who were managing the veils.
+
+ [Illustration: COLISEUM OF ROME.]
+
+Concerning the method of working them no information has been handed
+down. It is evident, however, that they were supported by masts which
+rose above the summit of the walls. Near the top of the outer wall of
+the Coliseum there are 240 consoles, or projecting blocks of stone, in
+which holes are cut to receive the ends of spars, which ran up through
+holes cut in the cornice to some height above the greatest elevation
+of the building. A sufficient number of firm points of support at
+equal intervals was thus procured; and, this difficulty being
+overcome, the next was to stretch as tight as possible the larger
+ropes, upon which the whole covering depended for its stability.
+
+The games to which these buildings were especially devoted were, as we
+have already hinted, two-fold--those in which wild beasts were
+introduced, to combat either with each other or with men, and those in
+which men fought with men. Under the general term of gladiators are
+comprised all who fought in the arena, though those who pitted their
+skill against the strength and ferocity of savage animals were
+peculiarly distinguished by the name of _bestiarii_. In general these
+unhappy persons were slaves or condemned criminals, who, by adopting
+this profession, purchased an uncertain prolongation of existence, but
+freemen sometimes gained a desperate subsistence by thus hazarding
+their lives; and in the decline of Rome, knights, senators, and even
+the emperors sometimes appeared in the arena, at the instigation of a
+vulgar and degrading thirst for popular applause.
+
+The origin of these bloody entertainments may be found in the earliest
+records of profane history and the earliest stages of society. Among
+half-civilized or savage nations, both ancient and modern, we find it
+customary after a battle to sacrifice prisoners of war in honor of
+those chiefs who have been slain. Thus Achilles offers up twelve young
+Trojans to the ghost of Patroclus. In course of time it became usual
+to sacrifice slaves at the funeral of all persons of condition; and
+either for the amusement of the spectators, or because it appeared
+barbarous to massacre defenceless men, arms were placed in their
+hands, and they were incited to save their own lives by the death of
+those who were opposed to them.
+
+In later times, the furnishing these unhappy men became matter of
+speculation, and they were carefully trained to the profession of
+arms, to increase the reputation and popularity of the contractor who
+provided them. This person was called _lanista_ by the Romans. At
+first these sports were performed about the funeral pile of the
+deceased, or near his sepulchre, in consonance with the idea of
+sacrifice in which they originated; but as they became more splendid,
+and ceased to be peculiarly appropriated to such occasions, they were
+removed, originally to the Forum, and afterwards to the Circus and
+amphitheatres.
+
+Gladiators were first exhibited at Rome, B.C. 265, by M. and D.
+Brutus, on occasion of the death of their father. This show consisted
+only of three pairs. B.C. 216, the three sons of M. AEmilius Lepidus,
+the augur, entertained the people in the Forum with eleven pair, and
+the show lasted three days. B.C. 201, the three sons of M. Valerius
+Laevinus exhibited twenty-five pairs. And thus these shows increased in
+number and frequency, and the taste for them strengthened with its
+gratification, until not only the heir of any rich or eminent person
+lately deceased, but all the principal magistrates, and the candidates
+for magistracies, presented the people with shows of this nature to
+gain their favor and support.
+
+This taste was not without its inconveniences and dangers. Men of rank
+and political importance kept _families_, as they were called, of
+gladiators--desperadoes ready to execute any command of their master;
+and towards the fall of the republic, when party rage scrupled not to
+have recourse to open violence, questions of the highest import were
+debated in the streets of the city by the most despised of its slaves.
+In the conspiracy of Catiline so much danger was apprehended from
+them, that particular measures were taken to prevent their joining the
+disaffected party; an event the more to be feared because of the
+desperate war in which they had engaged the republic a few years
+before, under the command of the celebrated Spartacus. At a much later
+period, at the triumph of Probus, A.D. 281, about fourscore gladiators
+exhibited a similar courage. Disdaining to shed their blood for the
+amusement of a cruel people, they killed their keepers, broke out from
+the place of their confinement, and filled the streets of Rome with
+blood and confusion. After an obstinate resistance they were cut to
+pieces by the regular troops.
+
+The oath which they took upon entering the service is preserved by
+Petronius, and is couched in these terms: "We swear, after the
+dictation of Eumolpus, to suffer death by fire, bonds, stripes, and
+the sword; and whatever else Eumolpus may command, as true gladiators
+we bind ourselves body and mind to our master's service."
+
+From slaves and freedmen the inhuman sport at length spread to persons
+of rank and fortune, insomuch that Augustus was obliged to issue an
+edict, that none of senatorial rank should become gladiators; and soon
+after he laid a similar restraint on the knights.
+
+Succeeding emperors, according to their characters, encouraged or
+endeavored to suppress this degrading taste. Nero is related to have
+brought upwards of four hundred senators and six hundred knights upon
+the arena; and in some of his exhibitions even women of quality
+contended publicly. The excellent Marcus Aurelius not only retrenched
+the enormous expenses of these amusements, but ordered that gladiators
+should contend only with blunt weapons. But they were not abolished
+until some time after the introduction of Christianity. Constantine
+published the first edict which condemned the shedding of human blood,
+and ordered that criminals condemned to death should rather be sent to
+the mines than reserved for the service of the amphitheatre. In the
+reign of Honorius, when he was celebrating with magnificent games the
+retreat of the Goths and the deliverance of Rome, an Asiatic monk, by
+name Telemachus, had the boldness to descend into the arena to part
+the combatants. "The Romans were provoked by this interruption of
+their pleasures, and the rash monk was overwhelmed under a shower of
+stones. But the madness of the people soon subsided; they respected
+the memory of Telemachus, who had deserved the honors of martyrdom,
+and they submitted without a murmur to the laws of Honorius, which
+abolished forever the human sacrifices of the amphitheatre." This
+occurred A.D. 404. It was not, however, until the year 500 that the
+practice was finally and completely abolished by Theodoric.
+
+Some time before the day appointed for the spectacle, he who gave it
+(_editor_) published bills containing the name and ensigns of the
+gladiators, for each of them had his own distinctive badge, and
+stating also how many were to fight, and how long the show would last.
+It appears that like our itinerant showmen they sometimes exhibited
+paintings of what the sports were to contain. On the appointed day the
+gladiators marched in procession with much ceremony into the
+amphitheatre. They then separated into pairs, as they had been
+previously matched. An engraving on the wall of the amphitheatre at
+Pompeii seems to represent the beginning of a combat. In the middle
+stands the arbiter of the fight, marking out with a long stick the
+space for the combatants. On his right stands a gladiator only half
+armed, to whom two others are bringing a sword and helmet. On the left
+another gladiator, also only partly armed, sounds the trumpet for the
+commencement of the fight; whilst behind him two companions, at the
+foot of one of the Victories which enclose the scene, are preparing
+his helmet and shield.
+
+ [Illustration: EXAMINING THE WOUNDED.]
+
+At first, however, they contended only with staves, called _rudes_, or
+with blunted weapons; but when warmed and inspirited by the pretense
+of battle, they changed their weapons, and advanced at the sound of
+trumpets to the real strife. The conquered looked to the people or to
+the emperor for life; his antagonist had no power to grant or to
+refuse it; but if the spectators were dissatisfied and gave the signal
+of death, he was obliged to become the executioner of their will. This
+signal was the turning down the thumbs; as is well known. If any
+showed signs of fear, their death was certain; if on the other hand
+they waited the fatal stroke with intrepidity, the people generally
+relented. But fear and want of spirit were of very rare occurrence,
+insomuch that Cicero more than once proposed the principle of honor
+which actuated gladiators as an admirable model of constancy and
+courage, by which he intended to animate himself and others to suffer
+everything in defence of the commonwealth.
+
+The bodies of the slain were dragged with a hook or on a cart through
+a gate called Libitinensis, the Gate of Death. The victor was rewarded
+with a sum of money, contributed by the spectators or bestowed from
+the treasury, or a palm-branch, or a garland of palm ornamented with
+colored ribbons--ensigns of frequent occurrence in ancient monuments.
+Those who survived three years were released from this service, and
+sometimes one who had given great satisfaction was enfranchised on the
+spot. This was done by presenting the staff (_rudis_) which was used
+in preluding to the combat; on receiving which, the gladiator, if a
+freeman, recovered his liberty; if a slave, he was not made free, but
+was released from the obligation of venturing his life any further in
+the arena.
+
+Gladiators were divided, according to the fashion of their armor and
+offensive weapons, into classes, known by the names of Thrax, Samnis,
+Myrmillo, and many others, of which a mere catalogue would be tedious,
+and it would be the work of a treatise to ascertain and describe their
+distinctive marks.
+
+Another group consists of four figures. Two are _secutores_,
+followers, the other two, _retiarii_, net men, armed only with a
+trident and net, with which they endeavored to entangle their
+adversary, and then dispatch him. These classes, like the Thrax and
+Myrmillo, were usual antagonists, and had their name from the secutor
+following the retiarius, who eluded the pursuit until he found an
+opportunity to throw his net to advantage. Nepimus, one of the latter,
+five times victorious, has fought against one of the former, whose
+name is lost, but who had triumphed six times in different combats. He
+has been less fortunate in this battle. Nepimus has struck him in the
+leg, the thigh, and the left arm; his blood runs, and in vain he
+implores mercy from the spectators. As the trident with which Nepimus
+is armed is not a weapon calculated to inflict speedy and certain
+death, the secutor Hyppolitus performs this last office to his
+comrade. The condemned wretch bends the knee, presents his throat to
+the sword, and throws himself forward to meet the blow, while Nepimus,
+his conqueror, pushes him, and seems to insult the last moments of his
+victim. In the distance is the retiarius, who must fight Hyppolitus in
+his turn. The secutores have a very plain helmet, that their adversary
+may have little or no opportunity of pulling it off with the net or
+trident; the right arm is clothed in armor, the left bore a _clypeus_,
+or large round shield; a sandal tied with narrow bands forms the
+covering for their feet. They wear no body armor, no covering but a
+cloth round the waist, for by their lightness and activity alone could
+they hope to avoid death and gain the victory. The retiarii have the
+head bare, except a fillet bound round the hair; they have no shield,
+but the left side is covered with a demi-cuiarass, and the left arm
+protected in the usual manner, except that the shoulder-piece is very
+high. They wear the caliga, or low boot common to the Roman soldiery,
+and bear the trident; but the net with which they endeavored to
+envelop their adversaries is nowhere visible. This bas-relief is
+terminated by the combat between a light-armed gladiator and a
+Samnite. This last beseeches the spectators to save him, but it
+appears from the action of the principal figure that this is not
+granted. The conqueror looks towards the steps of the amphitheatre; he
+has seen the fatal signal, and in reply prepares himself to strike.
+
+ [Illustration: ASKING PARDON.]
+
+ [Illustration: NOT GRANTED.]
+
+Between the pilasters of the door the frieze is continued. Two combats
+are represented. In the first a Samnite has been conquered by a
+Myrmillo. This last wishes to become his comrade's executioner without
+waiting the answer from the people, to whom the vanquished has
+appealed; but the _lanista_ checks his arm, from which it would seem
+that the Samnite obtained pardon.
+
+Another pair exhibits a similar combat, in which the Myrmillo falls
+stabbed to death. The wounds, the blood, and the inside of the
+bucklers are painted of a very bright red color. The swords, with the
+exception of that of Hyppolitus, are omitted; it is possible that it
+was intended to make them of metal.
+
+The bas-reliefs constituting the lower frieze are devoted to the chase
+and to combats between men and animals. In the upper part are hares
+pursued by a dog; beyond is a wounded stag pursued by dogs, to whom he
+is about to become the prey; below, a wild boar is seized by an
+enormous dog, which has already caused his blood to flow.
+
+In the middle of the composition a _bestiarius_ has transfixed a bear
+with a stroke of his lance. This person wears a kind of short hunting
+boot, and is clothed as well as his comrade in a light tunic without
+sleeves, bound round the hips, and called _subucula_. It was the dress
+of the common people, as we learn from the sculptures on Trajan's
+column. The companion of this man has transfixed a bull, which flies,
+carrying with him the heavy lance with which he is wounded. He turns
+his head toward his assailant, and seems to wish to return to the
+attack; the man by his gestures appears astonished, beholding himself
+disarmed and at the mercy of the animal, whom he thought mortally
+stricken. Pliny (lib. viii. cap. 45) speaks of the ferocity shown by
+bulls in these combats, and of having seen them, when stretched for
+dead on the arena, lift themselves up and renew the combat.
+
+ [Illustration: COMBATS WITH BEASTS.]
+
+Another sort of amphitheatrical amusements consisted in witnessing the
+death of persons under sentence of the law, either by the hands of the
+executioner, or by being exposed to the fury of savage animals. The
+early Christians were especially subjected to this species of cruelty.
+Nero availed himself of the prejudice against them to turn aside
+popular indignation after the great conflagration of Rome, which is
+commonly ascribed to his own wanton love of mischief; and we learn
+from Tertullian, that, after great public misfortunes, the cry of the
+populace was, "To the lions with the Christians."
+
+The Coliseum now owes its preservation to the Christian blood so
+profusely shed within its walls. After serving during ages as a quarry
+of hewn stone for the use of all whose station and power entitled them
+to a share in public plunder, it was at last secured from further
+injury by Pope Benedict XIV., who consecrated the building about the
+middle of the last century, and placed it under the protection of the
+martyrs, who had there borne testimony with their blood to the
+sincerity of their belief.
+
+There is nothing in the amphitheatre of Pompeii at variance with the
+general description of this class of buildings, and our notice of it
+will therefore necessarily be short. (See page 121.) Its form, as
+usual, is oval: the extreme length, from outside to outside of the
+exterior arcade, is 430 feet, its greatest breadth is 335 feet. The
+spectators gained admission by tickets, which had numbers or marks on
+them, corresponding with similar signs on the arches through which
+they entered. Those who were entitled to occupy the lower ranges of
+seats passed through the perforated arcades of the lower order; those
+whose place was in the upper portion of the cavea ascended by
+staircases between the seats and the outer wall of the building. From
+hence the women again ascended to the upper tier, which was divided
+into boxes, and appropriated to them.
+
+The construction consists for the most part of the rough masonry
+called _opus incertum_, with quoins of squared stone, and some
+trifling restorations of rubble. This rude mass was probably once
+covered with a more sumptuous facing of hewn stone: but there are now
+no other traces of it than a few of the key-stones, on one of which a
+chariot and two horses is sculptured, on another a head; besides which
+there are a few stars on the wedge-stones.
+
+At each end of the ellipse were entrances into the arena for the
+combatants, through which the dead bodies were dragged out into the
+spoliarium. These were also the principal approaches to the lower
+ranges of seats, occupied by the senators, magistrates, and knights,
+by means of corridors to the right and left which ran round the arena.
+The ends of these passages were secured by metal gratings against the
+intrusion of wild beasts. In the northern one are nine places for
+pedestals to form a line of separation, dividing the entrance into two
+parts of unequal breadth. The seats are elevated above the arena upon
+a high podium or parapet, upon which, when the building was first
+opened, there remained several inscriptions, containing the names of
+duumvirs who had presided upon different occasions. There were also
+paintings in fresco, one representing a tigress fighting with a wild
+boar; another, a stag chased by a lioness; another, a battle between a
+bull and bear. Other subjects comprised candelabra, a distribution of
+palms among the gladiators, winged genii, minstrels, and musicians;
+but all disappeared soon after their exposure to the atmosphere. The
+amphitheatre comprises twenty-four rows of seats, and about 20,000
+feet of sitting-room.
+
+It may be observed that the arena of the amphitheatre of Pompeii
+appears to be formed of the natural surface of the earth, and has none
+of those vast substructions observable at Pozzuoli and Capua. It does
+not, therefore, appear capable of being turned into a Naumachia, nor
+indeed would it have been easy to find there water enough for such a
+purpose.
+
+In the Roman theatre the construction of the orchestra and stage was
+different from that of the Greeks. By the construction peculiar to the
+Roman theatre, the stage was brought nearer to the audience (the arc
+not exceeding a semi-circle), and made considerably deeper than in the
+Greek theatre. The length of the stage was twice the diameter of the
+orchestra. The Roman orchestra contained no thymele. The back of the
+stage, or proscenium, was adorned with niches, and columns, and
+friezes of great richness, as may be seen in some of the theatres of
+Asia Minor, and in the larger theatre at Pompeii, which belong to the
+Roman period.
+
+On the whole, however, the construction of a Roman theatre resembled
+that of a Greek one. The Senate, and other distinguished persons,
+occupied circular ranges of seats within the orchestra; the praetor had
+a somewhat higher seat. The space between the orchestra and the first
+praecinctio, usually consisting of fourteen seats, was reserved for the
+equestrian order, tribunes, etc. Above them were the seats of the
+plebeians. Soldiers were separated from the citizens. Women were
+appointed by Augustus to sit in the portico, which encompassed the
+whole. Behind the scenes were the postscenium, or retiring-room, and
+porticoes, to which, in case of sudden showers, the people retreated
+from the theatre.
+
+The earliest theatres at Rome were temporary buildings of wood. A
+magnificent wooden theatre, built by M. AEmilius Scaurus, in his
+edileship, B.C. 58, is described by Pliny. In 55 B.C., Cn. Pompey
+built the first stone theatre at Rome, near the Campus Martius. A
+temple of Venus Victrix, to whom he dedicated the whole building, was
+erected at the highest part of the cavea.
+
+The next permanent theatre was built by Augustus, and named after his
+favorite, the young Marcellus, son of his sister Octavia. Vitruvius is
+generally reported to have been the architect of this building, which
+would contain 30,000 persons. The audience part was a semi-circle 410
+feet in diameter. Twelve arches of its external wall still remain.
+From marks still visible in the large theatre at Pompeii, the place
+reserved for each spectator was about 13 inches. This theatre
+contained 5,000. The theatre of Pompeii, at Rome, contained 40,000.
+The theatre of Scaurus is said to have contained 80,000. The Romans
+surpassed the Greeks in the grandeur and magnificence of these
+buildings. They built them in almost all their towns. Remains of them
+are found in almost every country where the Romans carried their rule.
+One of the most striking Roman provincial theatres is that of Orange,
+in the south of France.
+
+Odeum was a building intended for the recitations of rhapsodists and
+the performances of citharaedists, before the theatre was in existence.
+In its general form and arrangements the odeum was very similar to the
+theatre. There were, however, some characteristic differences. The
+odeum was much smaller than the theatre, and it was roofed over. The
+ancient and original Odeum of Athens in the Agora was probably
+erected in the time of Hipparchus, who, according to Plato, first
+introduced at Athens the poems of Homer, and caused rhapsodists to
+recite them during the Panathenaea. There were two others in
+Athens--the Odeum of Pericles, and that of Herodes Atticus. The Odeum
+of Pericles was built in imitation of the tent of Xerxes. It was burnt
+by Sylla, but was restored in exact imitation of the original
+building. It lay at the east side of the theatre of Dionysus. The
+Odeum of Herodes Atticus was built by him in memory of his departed
+wife Regilla, whose name it commonly bore. It lies under the southwest
+angle of the Acropolis. Its greatest diameter within the walls was 240
+feet, and it is calculated to have held about 8,000 persons. There
+were odea in several of the towns of Greece, in Corinth, Patrae, and at
+Smyrna, Ephesus and other places of Asia Minor. There were odea also
+in Rome; one was built by Domitian, and a second by Trajan. There are
+ruins of an Odeum in the villa of Adrian, at Tivoli and at Pompeii.
+
+Remains of amphitheatres are found in several cities of Etruria. The
+amphitheatre of Sutri is considered to be peculiarly Etruscan in its
+mode of construction. It is cut out of the tufa rock, and was no doubt
+used by that people for festal representations long before Rome
+attempted anything of the kind. The Romans copied these edifices from
+the Etruscans. We have historical evidence, also, that gladiatorial
+combats had an Etruscan origin, and were borrowed by the Romans.
+
+Amphitheatres were peculiar to the Romans. The gladiatorial shows, and
+the chase and combats of wild beasts with which the amphitheatre is
+always connected, were at first given in the circus. Its
+unsuitableness for such sports determined Julius Caesar, in his
+dictatorship, to construct a wooden theatre in the Campus Martius,
+built especially for hunting. Caius Scribonius Curio built the first
+amphitheatre, for the celebration of his father's funeral games. It
+was composed of two theatres of wood, placed on pivots, so that they
+could be turned round, spectators and all, and placed face to face,
+thus forming a double theatre, or amphitheatre, which ending suggested
+its elliptical shape. Statilius Taurus, the friend of Augustus, B.C.
+30, erected a more durable amphitheatre, partly of stone and partly of
+wood, in the Campus Martius. Others were afterwards built by Caligula
+and Nero. The amphitheatre of Nero was of wood, and in the Campus
+Martius.
+
+The assembled people in a crowded theatre must have been an imposing
+spectacle, in which the gorgeous colors of the dresses were blended
+with the azure of a southern sky. No antique rendering of this subject
+remains. The spectators began to assemble at early dawn, for each
+wished to secure a good seat, after paying his entrance fee. This, not
+exceeding two oboloi, was payable to the builder or manager of the
+theatre. After the erection of stone theatres at Athens, this entrance
+fee was paid for the poorer classes by Government, and formed, indeed,
+one of the heaviest items of the budget. For not only at the Dionysian
+ceremonies, but on many other festive occasions, the people clamored
+for free admission, confirmed in their demands by the demagogues.
+Frequently the money reserved for the emergency of a war had to be
+spent for this purpose. The seats in a theatre were, of course, not
+all equally good, and their prices varied accordingly. The police of
+the theatre had to take care that everybody took his seat in the row
+marked on his ticket. Most of the spectators were men. In older times
+women were allowed only to attend at tragedies, the coarse jokes of
+the comedy being deemed unfit for the ears of Athenian ladies. Only
+hetairai made an exception to this rule. It is almost certain that the
+seats of men and women were separate. Boys were allowed to witness
+both tragedies and comedies. Whether slaves were admitted amongst the
+spectators seems doubtful. As pedagogues were not allowed to enter
+the schoolroom, it seems likely that they had also to leave the
+theatre after having shown their young masters to their seats. Neither
+were the slaves carrying the cushions for their masters' seats
+admitted amongst the spectators. It is, however, possible that when
+the seats became to be for sale, certain classes of slaves were
+allowed to visit the theatre. Favorite poets and actors were rewarded
+with applause and flowers; while bad performers had to submit to
+whistling, and, possibly, other worse signs of public indignation.
+Greek audiences resembled those of southern Europe at the present day
+in the vivacity of their demonstrations, which were even extended to
+public characters amongst the spectators on their clearing the
+theatre.
+
+Vitruvius has given some minute directions, strongly illustrative of
+the importance of the subject, for choosing a proper situation for a
+theatre. "When the Forum is finished, a healthy situation must be
+sought for, wherein the theatre may be erected to exhibit sports on
+the festival days of the immortal gods. For the spectators are
+detained in their seats by the entertainment of the games, and
+remaining quiet for a long time, their pores are opened, and imbibe
+the draughts of air, which, if they come from marshy or otherwise
+unhealthy places, will pour injurious humors into the body. Neither
+must it front the south; for when the sun fills the concavity, the
+inclosed air, unable to escape or circulate, is heated, and then
+extracts and dries up the juices of the body. It is also to be
+carefully observed that the place be not unfitted to transmit sound,
+but one in which the voice may expand as clearly as possible."
+
+The ancient scene was not, like that of the modern stage, capable of
+being shifted. It consisted of a solid building (_scena stabilis_),
+representing the facade of a royal palace, and adorned with the
+richest architectural ornaments. It was built of stone, or brick cased
+with marble, and had three doors, of which the middle one, called
+_porta regia_, larger and handsomer than the others, was supposed to
+form the entrance to the palace. This was used only in the
+representation of tragedies, and then only by the principal personages
+of the drama. The door in the right wing was appropriated to inferior
+personages, and that on the left to foreigners or persons coming from
+abroad. In our plan, the five angles of the triangles not yet disposed
+of determine the disposition of the scene. Opposite the centre one are
+the regal doors; on each side are those by which the secondary
+characters entered. Behind the scene, as in the Greek theatre, there
+were apartments for the actors to retire into; and under it were
+vaults or cellars, which, as in the modern stage, served for the
+entrance of ghosts, or the appliance of any needful machinery. The
+_proscenium_, or space between the orchestra and the scene, answering
+to our stage, though deeper than the Greek, was of no great depth,
+which was not required for the performance of ancient dramas, in which
+only a few personages appeared on the stage at once. Besides, in the
+absence of any roof, the voice of the performers would have been lost
+if the stage had been too deep. That of Pompeii is only about
+twenty-one feet broad, though its length is one hundred and nine.
+
+Along the front of the stage, and between it and the orchestra, runs a
+tolerably deep linear opening, the receptacle for the _aulaeum_, or
+curtain, the fashion of which was just the reverse of ours, as it had
+to be depressed instead of elevated when the play began. This
+operation, performed by machinery of which we have no clear account,
+was called _aulaeum premere_, as in the well-known line of Horace:[19]
+
+ Quatuor aut plures aulaea premuntur in horas.
+
+It should, however, be mentioned that the ancients seem also to have
+had movable scenery (_scena ductilis_), to alter the appearance of
+the permanent scene when required. This must have consisted of painted
+board or canvas.
+
+Another method of illusion was by the use of masks. These were
+rendered necessary by the vastness of the ancient theatres, and the
+custom of performing in the open air.
+
+In the eastern portico of the Triangular Forum are four entrances to
+different parts of the greater theatre. The first two, as you enter,
+lead into a large circular corridor surrounding the whole cavea; the
+third opens on an area behind the scene, from which there is a
+communication with the orchestra and privileged seats; the fourth led
+down a long flight of steps, at the bottom of which you turn, on the
+right, into the soldiers' quarter, on the left, into the area already
+mentioned. The corridor is arched over. It has two other entrances,
+one by a large passage from the east side, another from a smaller
+passage on the north. Six inner doors, called vomitoria, opened on an
+equal number of stair-cases which ran down to the first praecinctio.
+The theatre is formed upon the slope of a hill, the corridor being the
+highest part, so that the audience upon entering descended at once to
+their seats, and the vast staircases, which conducted to the upper
+seats of the theatres and amphitheatres at Rome, were saved. By the
+side of the first entrance is a staircase which led up to the women's
+gallery above the corridor; here the seats were partitioned into
+compartments, like our boxes. The benches were about one foot three
+inches high and two feet four inches wide. One foot three inches and a
+half was allowed to each spectator, as may be ascertained in one part,
+where the divisions are marked off and numbered. There is space to
+contain about five thousand persons. Here the middle classes sat,
+usually upon cushions which they brought with them; the men of rank
+sat in the orchestra below, on chairs of state carried thither by
+their slaves. Flanking the orchestra, and elevated considerably above
+it, are observable two divisions, appropriated, one perhaps to the
+pro-consul, or duumvirs and their officers, the other to the vestal
+virgins, or to the use of the person who gave the entertainments. This
+is the more likely, because in the smaller theatre, where these boxes,
+if we may call them so, are also found, they have a communication with
+the stage.
+
+This theatre appears to have been entirely covered with marble; the
+benches of the cavea were of marble, the orchestra was of marble, the
+scene with all its ornaments was also of marble; and yet of this
+profusion of marble only a few fragments remain.
+
+It appears, from an inscription found in it, to have been erected, or
+much improved, by one Holconius Rufus. Upon the first step of the
+orchestra was another inscription, composed of bronze letters let into
+the marble. The metal has been carried away, but the cavities in the
+marble still remain. They were placed so as partly to encompass a
+statue, and run thus:
+
+ M. HOLCONIO. M. F. RVFO. II. V.I.D. QVINQVIENS. ITER.
+ QVINQ. TRIB. MIL. A. P. FLAMEN. AVG.
+ PATR. COLON. D.D.
+
+signifying, that the colony dedicated this to its patron, M. Holconius
+Rufus, son of Marcus: then follow his titles. In the middle of this
+inscription is a vacant space, where probably stood the statue of
+Holconius, as the cramps, by which something was fastened, still
+remain. Or possibly it may have been an altar, as it was the custom
+among the ancients to sacrifice to Bacchus in the theatre.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+ROMAN BATHS.
+
+After the excavations at Pompeii had been carried on to a considerable
+extent, it was matter of surprise that no public baths were
+discovered, particularly as they were sure almost to be placed in the
+most frequented situation, and therefore probably somewhere close to
+the Forum. The wonder was increased by the small number of baths found
+in private houses. That public baths existed, was long ago ascertained
+from an inscription discovered in 1749, purporting that one Januarius,
+an enfranchised slave, supplied the baths of Marcus Crassus Frugi with
+water, both fresh and salt. At length an excavation in the vicinity of
+the Forum brought to light a suite of public baths, admirably
+arranged, spacious, highly decorated, and superior to any even in the
+most considerable of our modern cities. They are fortunately in good
+preservation, and throw much light on what the ancients, and
+especially Vitruvius, have written on the subject.
+
+ Inscription in the Court of the Baths.
+
+ DEDICATIONE. THERMARUM. MUNERIS. CNAEI.
+ ALLEI. NIGIDII. MAII. VENATIO. ATHLETAE.
+ SPARSIONES. VELA. ERUNT. MAIO.
+ PRINCIPI. COLONIAE. FELICITER.
+
+ "On occasion of the dedication of the baths, at the expense of
+ Cnaeus Alleius Nigidius Maius, there will be the chase of wild
+ beasts, athletic contests, sprinkling of perfumes, and an
+ awning. Prosperity to Maius, chief of the colony."
+
+This announcement of a public entertainment is written on a wall of
+the court of the baths, to the right hand on entering.
+
+The provincial towns, imitating the example of Rome, and equally fond
+of all sorts of theatrical and gladiatorial exhibitions, of which we
+have spoken at length in describing the various theatres of Pompeii,
+usually solemnized the completion of any edifices or monuments erected
+for the public service by dedicating them. This ceremony was nothing
+more than opening or exhibiting the building to the people in a solemn
+manner, gratifying them at the same time with largesses and various
+spectacles. When a private man had erected the building, he himself
+was usually the person who dedicated it. When undertaken by the public
+order and at the public cost, the citizens deputed some magistrate or
+rich and popular person to perform the ceremony. In the capital vast
+sums were expended in this manner; and a man who aspired to become a
+popular leader could scarcely lay out his money to better interest
+than in courting favor by the prodigality of his expenses on these or
+similar occasions. It appears, then, that upon the completion of the
+baths, the Pompeians committed the dedication to Cnaeus Alleius
+Nigidius Maius, who entertained them with a sumptuous spectacle.
+
+There were combats (_venatio_) between wild beasts, or between beasts
+and men, a cruel sport, to which the Romans were passionately
+addicted; athletic games (_athletae_), sprinkling of perfumes
+(_sparsiones_), and it was further engaged that an awning should be
+raised over the amphitheatre. The convenience of such a covering will
+be evident, no less as a protection against sun than rain under an
+Italian sky: the merit of the promise, which may seem but a trifle,
+will be understood by considering the difficulty of stretching a
+covering over the immense area of an ancient amphitheatre. We may
+observe, by the way, that representations of hunting and of combats
+between wild beasts are common subjects of the paintings of Pompeii. A
+combat between a lion and a horse, and another, between a bear and a
+bull, have been found depicted in the amphitheatre. The velarium, or
+awning, is advertised in all the inscriptions yet found which give
+notice of public games. Athletae and sparsiones appear in no other. We
+learn from Seneca that the perfumes were disseminated by being mixed
+with boiling water, and then placed in the centre of the amphitheatre,
+so that the scents rose with the steam, and soon became diffused
+throughout the building.
+
+There is some reason to suppose that the completion and dedication of
+the baths preceded the destruction of the city but a short time, from
+the inscription being found perfect on the wall of the baths, for it
+was the custom to write these notices in the most public places, and
+after a very short season they were covered over by others, as one
+billsticker defaces the labors of his predecessors. This is abundantly
+evident even in the present ruined state of the town, especially at
+the corners of the principal streets, where it is easy to discover one
+inscription painted over another.
+
+But to return to the Baths. They occupy almost an entire block,
+forming an irregular quadrangle; the northern front, facing to the
+Street of the Baths, being about 162 feet in length, the southern
+front about 93 feet, and the average depth about 174 feet. They are
+divided into three separate and distinct compartments, one of which
+was appropriated to the fireplaces and to the servants of the
+establishment; the other two were occupied each by a set of baths,
+contiguous to each other, similar and adapted to the same purposes,
+and supplied with heat and water from the same furnace and from the
+same reservoir. It is conjectured that the most spacious of them was
+for the use of the men, the lesser for that of the women. The
+apartments and passages are paved with white marble in mosaic. It
+appears, from Varro and Vitruvius, that baths for men and women were
+originally united, as well for convenience as economy of fuel, but
+were separated afterwards for the preservation of morals, and had no
+communication except that from the furnaces. We shall call these the
+_old_ Baths by way of distinction, and because they were first
+discovered; but in reality, the more recently discovered Stabian Baths
+may probably be the more ancient.
+
+It should be observed here that the old Pompeian _thermae_ are adapted
+solely to the original purposes of a bath, namely, a place for bathing
+and washing. They can not therefore for a moment be compared to the
+baths constructed at Rome during the period of the empire, of which
+such magnificent remains may still be seen at the baths of Diocletian,
+and especially at those of Caracalla. In these vast establishments the
+bath formed only a part of the entertainment provided. There were also
+spacious porticoes for walking and conversing, halls and courts for
+athletic games and gladiatorial combats, apartments for the lectures
+and recitations of philosophers, rhetoricians and poets. In short,
+they formed a sort of vast public club, in which almost every species
+of amusement was provided. In the more recently discovered baths,
+called the Thermae Stabianae, there is indeed a large quadrangular
+court, or palaestra, which may have served for gymnastic exercises, and
+among others for the game of ball, as appears from some large balls of
+stone having been found in it. Yet even this larger establishment
+makes but a very slight approach to the magnificence and luxury of a
+Roman bath.
+
+The tepidarium, or warm chamber, was so called from a warm, but soft
+and mild temperature, which prepared the bodies of the bathers for the
+more intense heat which they were to undergo in the vapor and hot
+baths; and, _vice versa_, softened the transition from the hot bath to
+the external air. The wall is divided into a number of niches or
+compartments by Telamones, two feet high, in high relief, and
+supporting a rich cornice. These are male, as Caryatides are female
+statues placed to perform the office of pillars. By the Greeks they
+were named Atlantes, from the well-known fable of Atlas supporting the
+heavens. Here they are made of terra-cotta, or baked clay, incrusted
+with the finest marble stucco. Their only covering is a girdle round
+the loins; they have been painted flesh-color, with black hair and
+beards; the moulding of the pedestal and the baskets on their heads
+were in imitation of gold; and the pedestal itself, as well as the
+wall behind them and the niches for the reception of the clothes of
+the bathers, were colored to resemble red porphyry. Six of these
+niches are closed up without any apparent reason.
+
+ [Illustration: RECEPTION TO THE BATHS (_at Pompeii_).]
+
+The ceiling is worked in stucco, in low relief, with scattered figures
+and ornaments of little flying genii, delicately relieved on
+medallions, with foliage carved round them. The ground is painted,
+sometimes red and sometimes blue. The room is lighted by a window two
+feet six inches high and three feet wide, in the bronze frame of which
+were found set four very beautiful panes of glass fastened by small
+nuts and screws, very ingeniously contrived, with a view to remove the
+glass at pleasure. In this room was found a brazier, seven feet long
+and two feet six inches broad, made entirely of bronze, with the
+exception of an iron lining. The two front legs are winged sphinxes,
+terminating in lions' paws, the two other legs are plain, being
+intended to stand against the wall. The bottom is formed with bronze
+bars, on which are laid bricks supporting pumice-stones for the
+reception of charcoal. There is a sort of false battlement worked on
+the rim, and in the middle a cow is to be seen in high relief. Three
+bronze benches also were found, alike in form and pattern. They are
+one foot four inches high, one foot in width, and about six feet long,
+supported by four legs, terminating in the cloven hoofs of a cow, and
+ornamented at the upper ends with the heads of the same animal. Upon
+the seat is inscribed, M. NIGIDIUS, VACCULA. P.S.
+
+Varro, in his book upon rural affairs, tells us that many of the
+surnames of the Roman families had their origin in pastoral life, and
+especially are derived from the animals to whose breeding they paid
+most attention. As, for instance, the Porcii took their name from
+their occupation as swine-herds; the Ovini from their care of sheep;
+the Caprilli, of goats; the Equarii, of horses; the Tauri, of bulls,
+etc. We may conclude, therefore, that the family of this Marcus
+Vaccula were originally cow-keepers, and that the figures of cows so
+plentifully impressed on all the articles which he presented to the
+baths are a sort of _canting arms_, to borrow an expression from
+heraldry, as in Rome the family Toria caused a bull to be stamped on
+their money.
+
+A doorway led from the tepidarium into the caldarium, or vapor-bath.
+It had on one side the laconicum, containing the vase called labrum.
+On the opposite side of the room was the hot bath called lavacrum.
+Here it is necessary to refer to the words of Vitruvius as explanatory
+of the structure of the apartments (cap. xi. lib. v.): "Here should be
+placed the vaulted sweating-room, twice the length of its width, which
+should have at each extremity, on one end the _laconicum_, made as
+described above, on the other end the hot bath." This apartment is
+exactly as described, twice the length of its width, exclusively of
+the laconicum at one end and the hot bath at the other. The pavement
+and walls of the whole were hollowed to admit the heat.
+
+The labrum was a great basin or round vase of white marble, rather
+more than five feet in diameter, into which the hot water bubbled up
+through a pipe in its centre, and served for the partial ablutions of
+those who took the vapor-bath. It was raised about three feet six
+inches above the level of the pavement, on a round base built of small
+pieces of stone or lava, stuccoed and colored red, five feet six
+inches in diameter, and has within it a bronze inscription, which runs
+thus:
+
+ CNAEO. MELISSAEO. CNAEL FILIO. APRO. MARCO. STAIO. MARCI. FILIO.
+ RUFO. DUUMVIRIS. ITERUM. IURE. DICUNDO. LABRUM. EX DECURIONUM
+ DECRETO. EX. PECUNIA. PUBLICA. FACIENDUM. CURARUNT
+ CONSTAT. HS. D.C.C.L.
+
+Relating that "Cnaeus Melissaeus Aper, son of Cnaeus Aper. Marcus Staius
+Rufus, son of M. Rufus, duumvirs of justice for the second time,
+caused the labrum to be made at the public expense, by order of the
+Decurions. It cost 5,250 sesterces" (about $200). There is in the
+Vatican a magnificent porphyry labrum found in one of the imperial
+baths; and Baccius, a great modern authority on baths, speaks of labra
+made of glass.
+
+This apartment, like the others, is well stuccoed and painted yellow;
+a cornice, highly enriched with stucco ornaments, is supported by
+fluted pilasters placed at irregular intervals. These are red, as is
+also the cornice and ceiling of the laconicum, which is worked in
+stucco with little figures of boys and animals.
+
+The women's bath resembles very much that of the men, and differs only
+in being smaller and less ornamented. It is heated, as we have already
+mentioned, by the same fire, and supplied with water from the same
+boilers. Near the entrance is an inscription painted in red letters.
+All the rooms yet retain in perfection their vaulted roofs. In the
+vestibule are seats similar to those which have been described in the
+men's baths as appropriated to slaves or servants of the
+establishment. The robing-room contains a cold bath; it is painted
+with red and yellow pilasters alternating with one another on a blue
+or black ground, and has a light cornice of white stucco and a white
+mosaic pavement with a narrow black border. There are accommodations
+for ten persons to undress at the same time. The cold bath is much
+damaged, the wall only remaining of the alveus, which is square, the
+whole incrustation of marble being destroyed. From this room we pass
+into the tepidarium, about twenty feet square, painted yellow with red
+pilasters, lighted by a small window far from the ground. This
+apartment communicates with the warm bath, which, like the men's, is
+heated by flues formed in the floors and walls.
+
+There are in this room paintings of grotesque design upon a yellow
+ground, but they are much damaged and scarcely visible. The pavement
+is of white marble laid in mosaic. The room in its general arrangement
+resembles the hot bath of the men; it has a labrum in the laconicum,
+and a hot bath contiguous to the furnace. The hollow pavement and the
+flues in the walls are almost entirely destroyed; and of the labrum,
+the foot, in the middle of which was a piece of the leaden conduit
+that introduced the water, alone remains. On the right of the entrance
+into these women's baths is a wall of stone of great thickness and in
+a good style of masonry.
+
+These baths are so well arranged, with so prudent an economy of room
+and convenient distribution of their parts, and are adorned with such
+appropriate elegance, as to show clearly the intellect and resources
+of an excellent architect. At the same time some errors of the
+grossest kind have been committed, such as would be inexcusable in the
+most ignorant workman; as, for instance, the symmetry of parts has
+been neglected where the parts correspond; a pilaster is cut off by a
+door which passes through the middle of it; and other mistakes occur
+which might have been avoided without difficulty. This strange mixture
+of good and bad taste, of skill and carelessness, is not very easily
+accounted for, but it is of constant recurrence in Pompeii.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT BATH-ROOM. (_As discovered_).]
+
+Vitruvius recommends the selecting a situation for baths defended from
+the north and northwest winds, and forming windows opposite the south,
+or if the nature of the ground would not permit this, at least towards
+the south, because the hours of bathing used by the ancients being
+from after mid-day till evening, those who bathed could, by those
+windows, have the advantage of the rays and of the heat of the
+declining sun.
+
+For this reason the Pompeian baths hitherto described have the greater
+part of their windows turned to the south, and are constructed in a
+low part of the city, where the adjoining buildings served as a
+protection to them from the inconvenience of the northwest winds.
+
+Before concluding this account of the Stabian baths, we should mention
+that under the portico, near the entrance to the men's baths, was
+found a sun-dial, consisting as usual of a half circle inscribed in a
+rectangle, and with the gnomon in perfect preservation. It was
+supported by lion's feet and elegantly ornamented. On its base was an
+Oscan inscription, which has been interpreted as follows by Minervini:
+Marius. Atinius, Marii filius, quaestor, ex multatitia pecunia
+conventus decreto fieri mandavit. That is: the Quaestor M. Atinius, in
+accordance with a decree of the assembly, caused it to be made out of
+money levied by fines. The title of "Quaestor" seems to show that this
+inscription must have been written after the occupation of Pompeii by
+the Romans, but at the same time at a period when the Oscan tongue
+continued to be generally spoken. The fines alluded to were probably
+levied for breaches of the rules to be observed in the palaestra.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+SOCIAL GAMES AND SPORTS.
+
+Jugglers of both sexes, either single or in gangs, were common all
+over Greece putting up their booths, as Xenophon says, wherever money
+and silly people could be found. These frequently amused the guests at
+drinking feasts with their tricks. The reputation of this class of
+people was anything but above suspicion, as is proved by the verse of
+Manetho ("Apotheles," IV., 276), in which they are described as the
+"birds of the country, the foulest brood of the city." Their tricks
+were innumerable, and outvied in boldness and ingenuity those of our
+conjurors, barring, of course such as are founded on the modern
+discoveries of natural science. Male and female jugglers jumped
+forwards and backwards over swords or tables; girls threw up and
+caught again a number of balls or hoops to the accompaniment of a
+musical instrument; others displayed an astounding skill with their
+feet and toes while standing on their hands. Rope-dancers performed
+the most dangerous dances and _salti-mortali_. In Rome even elephants
+were trained to mount the rope. Flying-machines of a construction
+unknown to us are also mentioned, on which bold aeronauts traversed
+the air. Alkiphron tells a story about a peasant who, on seeing a
+juggler pulling little bullets from the noses, ears, and heads of the
+spectators, exclaimed: "Let such a beast never enter my yard, or else
+everything would soon disappear." Descriptions of these tricks are
+frequent in ancient writers, particularly in the indignant invectives
+of the early fathers of the Church. Amongst the pictures of female
+jugglers in all kinds of impossible postures, can be seen a girl
+performing the dangerous sword-dance, described by Plato. It consists
+in her turning somersaults forwards and backwards across the points of
+three swords stuck in the ground. A similar picture we see on a vase
+of the Berlin Museum. Another vase shows a female juggler dressed in
+long drawers standing on her hands, and filling with her feet a
+kantharos from a krater placed in front of her. She holds the handle
+of the kantharos with the toes of her left foot, while the toes of her
+other foot cling round the stem of the kyathos used for drawing the
+liquor. A woman sitting in front of her performs a game with three
+balls, in which the other artiste also seems to take a part. In
+another, a girl in a rather awkward position is shooting an arrow from
+a bow.
+
+Of social games played by the topers we mention, besides the
+complicated kottabos, the games played on a board or with dice. Homer
+already mentions a game of the former class, and names Palamedes as
+its inventor; of the exact nature of this game we know little or
+nothing. Neither are we informed of the details of another kind of
+petteia played with five little stones on a board divided by five
+lines.
+
+The so-called "game of cities" seems to have resembled our chess or
+draughts. The board was divided into five parts. Each player tried to
+checkmate the other by the skillful use of his men. Games of hazard
+with dice and astragaloi were most likely greater favorites with the
+topers than the intellectual ones hitherto described. The number of
+dice was at first three, afterwards two; the figures on the parallel
+sides being 1 and 6, 2 and 5, 3 and 4. In order to prevent cheating,
+they were cast from conical beakers, the interior of which was formed
+into different steps. Each cast had its name, sixty-four of which have
+been transmitted to us by the grammarians. The luckiest cast, each of
+the dice showing the figure 6, was called Aphrodite; the unluckiest,
+the three dice showing the figure 1, had the names of "dog" or "wine"
+applied to it.
+
+Another game of a similar nature was played with the so-called
+astragaloi, dice of a lengthy shape made of the knuckles of animals.
+Two of the surfaces were flat, the third being raised, and the fourth
+indented slightly. The last-mentioned side was marked 1, and had,
+amongst many other names, that of "dog;" the opposite surface, marked
+6. The Latin names of the two other sides marked 3 and 4 were _suppus_
+and _planus_ respectively. The figures 2 and 5 were wanting on the
+astragaloi, the narrow end-surfaces not being counted. The number of
+astragaloi used was always four, being the same as in the game of
+dice. Here also the luckiest cast was called Aphrodite, with which at
+the same time the honor of king-of-the-feast was connected.
+
+Young girls liked to play at a game with five astragaloi, or little
+stones, which were thrown into the air and caught on the upper surface
+of the hand. This game is still in use in many countries. We possess
+many antique representations of these various games.
+
+Two vase paintings show soldiers playing at draughts. Astragaloi and
+dice of different sizes, some with the figures as above described on
+them, others evidently counterfeited, are preserved in several
+museums. Of larger representations we mention the marble statue of a
+girl playing with astragaloi in the Berlin Museum, and a Pompeian
+wall-painting in which the children of Jason play the same game, while
+Medea threatens their lives with a drawn sword. The celebrated
+masterpiece of Polykletes, representing two boys playing with
+astragaloi, formerly in the palace of Titus in Rome, has unfortunately
+been lost. Another wall-painting shows in the foreground Aglaia and
+Hileaira, daughters of Niobe, kneeling and playing the same game.
+
+In connection with these social games we mention a few other favorite
+amusements of the Greeks. The existence of cock-fights is proved by
+vase-paintings, gems, and written evidence. It was a favorite pastime
+with both old and young. Themistokles, after his victory over the
+Persians, is said to have founded an annual entertainment of
+cock-fights, which made both these and the fights of quails popular
+among the Greeks. The breeding of fighting-cocks was a matter of great
+importance, Rhodes, Chalkis, and Media being particularly celebrated
+for their strong and large cocks. In order to increase their fury, the
+animals were fed with garlic previous to the fight. Sharp metal spurs
+were attached to their legs, after which they were placed on a table
+with a raised border. Very large sums were frequently staked on them
+by owners and spectators.
+
+Here, again, we see antique customs reproduced by various modern
+nations. The Italian game of _morra_ (_il giuco alla morra_ or _fare
+alla morra_) was also known to the ancients. In it both players open
+their clenched right hands simultaneously with the speed of lightning,
+whereat each has to call out the number of fingers extended by the
+other. It is the same game which figured among Egyptian amusements.
+Mimetic dances were another favorite amusement at symposia. They
+mostly represented mythological scenes. A few words about Greek
+dancing ought to be added.
+
+Homer mentions dancing as one of the chief delights of the feast; he
+also praises the artistic dances of the Phaiakian youths. This proves
+the esteem in which this art was held even at that early period. In
+the dances of the Phaiakai, all the young men performed a circular
+movement round a singer standing in the centre, or else two skilled
+dancers executed a _pas de deux_. Homer's words seem to indicate that
+the rhythmical motion was not limited to the legs, as in our modern
+dances, but extended to the upper part of the body and the arms.
+Perhaps the germs of mimetic art may be looked for in this dance.
+
+According to Lucian, the aim of the dance was to express sentiment,
+passion, and action by means of gestures. It soon developed into
+highest artistic beauty, combined with the rhythmic grace peculiar to
+the Greeks. Like the gymnastic and agonistic arts, the dance retained
+its original purity as long as public morality prevailed in Greece:
+its connection with religious worship preserved it from neglect.
+Gradually, however, here also mechanical virtuosity began to supplant
+true artistic principles.
+
+The division of dances according to their warlike or religious
+character seems objectionable, because all of them were originally
+connected with religious worship. The distinction between warlike and
+peaceful dances is more appropriate. Among the warlike dances
+particularly adapted to the Doric character, was the oldest and that
+most in favor. It dates from mythical times. Pyrrhichos, either a
+Kretan or Spartan by birth, the Dioskuroi, also Pyrrhos, the son of
+Achilles, are mentioned as its originators. The Pyrrhic dance,
+performed by several men in armor, imitated the movements of attack and
+defence. The various positions were defined by rule; hands and arms
+played an important part in the mimetic action. It formed the chief
+feature of the Doric gymnopaidia and of the greater and lesser
+Panathenaia at Athens. The value attached to it in the latter city is
+proved by the fact of the Athenians making Phrynichos commander-in-chief
+owing to the skill displayed by him in the Pyrrhic dance.
+
+Later a Bacchic element was introduced into this dance, which
+henceforth illustrated the deeds of Dionysos. A fragment of a marble
+frieze shows a satyr with a thyrsos and laurel crown performing a wild
+Bacchic dance between two soldiers, also executing a dancing movement;
+it most likely illustrates the Pyrrhic dance of a later epoch.
+
+Of other warlike dances we mention the _karpeia_, which rendered the
+surprise of a warrior plowing a field by robbers, and the scuffle
+between them. It was accompanied on the flute.
+
+More numerous, although less complicated, were the peaceful choral
+dances performed at the feasts of different gods, according to their
+individualities. With the exception of the Bacchic dances, they
+consisted of measured movements round the altar. More lively in
+character were the gymnopaidic dances performed by men and boys. They
+were, like most Spartan choral dances, renowned for their graceful
+rhythms. They consisted of an imitation of gymnastic exercises,
+particularly of the wrestling-match and the Pankration; in later times
+it was generally succeeded by the warlike Pyrrhic dance.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+SOCIAL ENTERTAINMENTS.
+
+We will now give some of the more domestic entertainments, such as
+parties or dinners, given by the Egyptians. In their entertainments
+they appear to have omitted nothing which could promote festivity and
+the amusement of the guests. Music, songs, dancing, buffoonery, feats
+of agility, or games of chance, were generally introduced; and they
+welcomed them with all the luxuries which the cellar and the table
+could afford.
+
+The party, when invited to dinner, met about midday, and they arrived
+successively in their chariots, in palanquins borne by their servants,
+or on foot. Sometimes their attendants screened them from the sun by
+holding up a shield (as is still done in Southern Africa), or by some
+other contrivance; but the chariot of the king or of a princess, was
+often furnished with a large parasol; and the flabella borne behind
+the king, which belonged exclusively to royalty, answered the same
+purpose. They were composed of feathers, and were not very unlike
+those carried on state occasions behind the Pope in modern Rome.
+Parasols or umbrellas were also used in Assyria, Persia, and other
+Eastern countries.
+
+When a visitor came in his car, he was attended by a number of
+servants, some of whom carried a stool, to enable him to alight, and
+others his writing tablet, or whatever he might want during his stay
+at the house. The guests are assembled in a sitting room within, and
+are entertained with music during the interval preceding the
+announcement of dinner; for, like the Greeks, they considered it a
+want of good breeding to sit down to table immediately on arriving,
+and, as Bdelycleon, in Aristophanes, recommended his father Philocleon
+to do, they praised the beauty of the rooms and the furniture, taking
+care to show particular interest in those objects which were intended
+for admiration. As usual in all countries, some of the party arrived
+earlier than others; and the consequence, or affectation of fashion,
+in the person who now drives up in his curricle, is shown by his
+coming some time after the rest of the company; one of his footmen
+runs forward to knock at the door, others, close behind the chariot,
+are ready to take the reins, and to perform their accustomed duties;
+and the one holding his sandals in his hand, that he may run with
+greater ease, illustrates a custom, still common in Egypt, among the
+Arabs and peasants of the country, who find the power of the foot
+greater when freed from the encumbrance of a shoe.
+
+To those who arrived from a journey, or who desired it, water was
+brought for their feet, previous to entering the festive chamber. They
+also washed their hands before dinner, the water being brought in the
+same manner as at the present day; and ewers, not unlike those used by
+the modern Egyptians, are represented, with the basins belonging to
+them, in the paintings of a Theban tomb. In the houses of the rich
+they were of gold, or other costly materials. Herodotus mentions the
+golden foot-pan, in which Amasis and his guests used to wash their
+feet.
+
+The Greeks had the same custom of bringing water to the guests,
+numerous instances of which we find in Homer; as when Telemachus and
+the son of Nestor were received at the house of Menelaus, and when
+Asphalion poured it upon the hands of his master, and the same guests,
+on another occasion. Virgil also describes the servants bringing water
+for this purpose when AEneas was entertained by Dido. Nor was the
+ceremony thought superfluous, or declined, even though they had
+previously bathed and been anointed with oil.
+
+It is also probable that, like the Greeks, the Egyptians anointed
+themselves before they left home; but still it was customary for a
+servant to attend every guest, as he seated himself, and to anoint his
+head; which was one of the principal tokens of welcome. The ointment
+was sweet-scented, and was contained in an alabaster, or in an elegant
+glass or porcelain vase, some of which have been found in the tombs of
+Thebes. Servants took the sandals of the guests as they arrived, and
+either put them by in a convenient place in the house, or held them on
+their arm while they waited upon them.
+
+After the ceremony of anointing was over, and in some cases at the
+time of entering the saloon, a lotus flower was presented to each
+guest, who held it in his hand during the entertainment. Servants then
+brought necklaces of flowers, composed chiefly of the lotus; a garland
+was also put round the head, and a single lotus bud, or a full-blown
+flower, was so attached as to hang over the forehead. Many of them,
+made up into wreaths and other devices, were suspended upon stands in
+the room ready for immediate use; and servants were constantly
+employed to bring other fresh flowers from the garden, in order to
+supply the guests as their bouquets faded.
+
+The Greeks and Romans had the same custom of presenting guests with
+flowers or garlands, which were brought in at the beginning of their
+entertainments, or before the second course. They not only adorned
+their _heads_, _necks_, and _breasts_, like the Egyptians, but often
+bestrewed the couches on which they lay, and all parts of the room,
+with flowers; though the head was chiefly regarded, as appears from
+Horace, Anacreon, Ovid, and other ancient authors. The wine-bowl, too,
+was crowned with flowers, as at an Egyptian banquet. They also
+perfumed the apartment with myrrh, frankincense and other choice
+odors, which they obtained from Syria; and if the sculptures do not
+give any direct representation of this practice among the Egyptians,
+we know it to have been adopted and deemed indispensable among them;
+and a striking instance is recorded by Plutarch, at the reception of
+Agesilaus by Tachos. A sumptuous dinner was prepared for the Spartan
+prince, consisting, as usual, of beef, goose, and other Egyptian
+dishes; he was crowned with garlands of papyrus, and received with
+every token of welcome; but when he refused "the sweatmeats,
+confections, and perfumes," the Egyptians held him in great contempt,
+as a person unaccustomed to, and unworthy of, the manners of civilized
+society.
+
+The Greeks, and other ancient people, usually put on a particular
+garment at festive meetings, generally of a white color; but it does
+not appear to have been customary with the Egyptians to make any great
+alteration in their attire, though they evidently abstained from
+dresses of a gloomy hue.
+
+The guests being seated, and having received these tokens of welcome,
+wine was offered them by the servants. To the ladies it was generally
+brought in a small vase, which, when emptied into the drinking-cup,
+was handed to an under servant, or slave, who followed; but to the men
+it was frequently presented in a one-handled goblet, without being
+poured into any cup, and sometimes in a larger or small vase of gold,
+silver, or other materials.
+
+Herodotus and Hellanicus both say that they drank wine out of brass or
+bronze goblets; and, indeed, the former affirms that this was the only
+kind of drinking-cup known to the Egyptians; but Joseph had one of
+silver, and the sculptures represent them of glass and porcelain, as
+well as of gold, silver and bronze. Those who could not afford the
+more costly kind were satisfied with a cheaper quality, and many were
+contented with cups of common earthenware; but the wealthy Egyptians
+used vases of glass, porcelain, and the precious metals, for numerous
+purposes, both in their houses and in the temples of the gods.
+
+The practice of introducing wine at the commencement of an
+entertainment, or before dinner had been served up, was not peculiar
+to this people; and the Chinese, to the present day, offer it at their
+parties to all the guests, as they arrive, in the same manner as the
+ancient Egyptians. They also drank wine during the repast, perhaps to
+the health of one another or of an absent friend, like the Romans; and
+no doubt the master of the house, or "the ruler of the feast,"
+recommended a choice wine, and pledged them to the cup.
+
+While dinner was preparing the party was enlivened by the sound of
+music; and a band, consisting of the harp, lyre, _guitar_, tambourine,
+double and single pipe, flute and other instruments, played the
+favorite airs and songs of the country. Nor was it deemed unbecoming
+the gravity and dignity of a priest to admit musicians into his house,
+or to take pleasure in witnessing the dance; and seated with their
+wives and family in the midst of their friends, the highest
+functionaries of the sacerdotal order enjoyed the lively scene. In the
+same manner, at a Greek entertainment, diversions of all kinds were
+introduced; and Xenophon and Plato inform us that Socrates, the wisest
+of men, amused his friends with music, jugglers, mimics, buffoons, and
+whatever could be desired for exciting cheerfulness and mirth.
+
+The dance consisted mostly of a succession of figures, in which the
+performers endeavored to exhibit a great variety of gesture; men and
+women danced at the same time, or in separate parties, but the latter
+were generally preferred, from their superior grace and elegance. Some
+danced to slow airs, adapted to the style of their movement; the
+attitudes they assumed frequently partook of a grace not unworthy of
+the Greeks; and others preferred a lively step, regulated by an
+appropriate tune. Men sometimes danced with great spirit, bounding
+from the ground more in the manner of Europeans than of an Eastern
+people; on which occasions the music was not always composed of many
+instruments, but consisted only of _crotala_ or maces, a man clapping
+his hand, and a woman snapping her fingers to the time.
+
+Graceful attitudes and gesticulation were the general style of their
+dance; but, as in other countries, the taste of the performance varied
+according to the rank of the person by whom they were employed, or
+their own skill; and the dance at the house of a priest differed from
+that among the uncouth peasantry, or the lower classes of townsmen.
+
+It was not customary for the upper orders of Egyptians to indulge in
+this amusement, either in public or private assemblies, and none
+appear to have practiced it but the lower ranks of society, and those
+who gained their livelihood by attending festive meetings. The Greeks,
+however, though they employed women who professed music and dancing,
+to entertain the guests, looked upon the dance as a recreation in
+which all classes might indulge, and an accomplishment becoming a
+gentleman; and it was also a Jewish custom for young ladies to dance
+at private entertainments, as it still is at Damascus and other
+Eastern towns.
+
+The Romans, on the contrary, were far from considering it worthy of a
+man of rank, or of a sensible person; and Cicero says: "No man who is
+sober dances, unless he is out of his mind, either _when alone_, or in
+any decent society; for dancing is the companion of wanton
+conviviality, dissoluteness, and luxury."
+
+Nor did the Greeks indulge in it to excess; and effeminate dances, or
+extraordinary gesticulation, were deemed indecent in men of character
+and wisdom. Indeed, Herodotus tells a story of Hippoclides, the
+Athenian, who had been preferred before all the nobles of Greece, as a
+husband for the daughter of Clisthenes, king of Argos, having been
+rejected on account of his extravagant gestures in the dance.
+
+Of all the Greeks, the Ionians were most noted for their fondness of
+this art; and, from the wanton and indecent tendency of their songs
+and gestures, dances of a voluptuous character (like those of the
+modern Almehs of the East) were styled by the Romans "Ionic
+movements." Moderate dancing was even deemed worthy of the gods
+themselves. Jupiter, "the father of gods and men," is represented
+dancing in the midst of the other deities; and Apollo is not only
+introduced by Homer thus engaged, but received the title of "the
+dancer," from his supposed excellence in the art.
+
+Grace in posture and movement was the chief object of those employed
+at the assemblies of the rich Egyptians; and the ridiculous gestures
+of the buffoon were permitted there, so long as they did not
+transgress the rules of decency and moderation. Music was always
+indispensable, whether at the festive meetings of the rich or poor;
+and they danced to the sound of the harp, lyre, guitar, pipe,
+tambourine, and other instruments, and, in the streets, even to the
+drum.
+
+Many of their postures resembled those of the modern ballet, and the
+_pirouette_ delighted an Egyptian party four thousand years ago.
+
+The dresses of the female dancers were light, and of the finest
+texture, showing, by their transparent quality, the forms and movement
+of the limbs; they generally consisted of a loose flowing robe,
+reaching to the ankles, occasionally fastened tight at the waist; and
+round the hips was a small narrow girdle, adorned with beads, or
+ornaments of various colors. Sometimes the dancing figures appear to
+have been perfectly naked; but this is from the outline of the
+transparent robe having been effaced; and, like the Greeks, they
+represented the contour of the figure as if seen through the dress.
+
+Slaves were taught dancing as well as music; and in the houses of the
+rich, besides their other occupations, that of dancing to entertain
+the family, or a party of friends, was required of them; and free
+Egyptians also gained a livelihood by their performances.
+
+While the party was amused with music and dancing, and the late
+arrivals were successively announced, refreshments continued to be
+handed round, and every attention was shown to the assembled guests.
+Wine was offered to each new comer, and chaplets of flowers were
+brought by men servants to the gentlemen, and by women or white slaves
+to the ladies, as they took their seats. An upper servant, or slave,
+had the office of handing the wine, and a black woman sometimes
+followed, in an inferior capacity, to receive an empty cup when the
+wine had been poured into the goblet. The same black slave also
+carried the fruits and other refreshments; and the peculiar mode of
+holding a plate with the hand reversed, so generally adopted by women
+from Africa, is characteristically shown in the Theban paintings.
+
+To each person after drinking a napkin was presented for wiping the
+mouth, answering to the _mahrama_ of the modern Egyptians; and the
+bearer of it uttered a complimentary sentiment, when she offered it
+and received back the goblet: as, "May it benefit you!" and no
+oriental at the present day drinks water without receiving a similar
+wish. But it was not considered rude to refuse wine when offered, even
+though it had been poured out; and a teetotaller might continue
+smelling a lotus without any affront.
+
+Men and women either sat together, or separately, in a different part
+of the room; but no rigid mistrust prevented strangers, as well as
+members of the family, being received into the same society; which
+shows how greatly the Egyptians were advanced in the habits of social
+life. In this they, like the Romans, differed widely from the Greeks,
+and might say with Cornelius Nepos, "Which of us is ashamed to bring
+his wife to an entertainment? and what mistress of a family can be
+shown who does not inhabit the chief and most frequented part of the
+house? Whereas in Greece she never appears at any entertainments,
+except those to which relations alone are invited, and constantly
+lives in the women's apartments at the upper part of the house, into
+which no man has admission, unless he be a near relation." Nor were
+married people afraid of sitting together, and no idea of their having
+had too much of each other's company made it necessary to divide them.
+In short, they were the most Darby and Joan people possible, and they
+shared the same chair at home, at a party, and even in their tomb,
+where sculpture grouped them together.
+
+The master and mistress of the house accordingly sat side by side on a
+large fauteuil, and each guest as he arrived walked up to receive
+their welcome. The musicians and dancers hired for the occasion also
+did obeisance to them, before they began their part. To the leg of the
+fauteuil was tied a favorite monkey, a dog, a gazelle, or some other
+pet; and a young child was permitted to sit on the ground at the side
+of its mother, or on its father's knee.
+
+In the meantime the conversation became animated, especially in those
+parts of the room where the ladies sat together, and the numerous
+subjects that occurred to them were fluently discussed. Among these
+the question of dress was not forgotten, and the patterns, or the
+value of trinkets, were examined with proportionate interest. The
+maker of an ear-ring, and the store where it was purchased, were
+anxiously inquired; each compared the workmanship, the style, and the
+materials of those she wore, coveted her neighbor's, or preferred her
+own; and women of every class vied with each other in the display of
+"jewels of silver and jewels of gold," in the texture of their
+"raiment," the neatness of their sandals, and the arrangement or
+beauty of their plaited hair.
+
+It was considered a pretty compliment to offer each other a flower
+from their own bouquet, and all the vivacity of the Egyptians was
+called forth as they sat together. The hosts omitted nothing that
+could make their party pass off pleasantly, and keep up agreeable
+conversation, which was with them the great charm of accomplished
+society, as with the Greeks, who thought it "more requisite and
+becoming to gratify the company by cheerful conversation, than with
+variety of dishes." The guests, too, neglected no opportunity of
+showing how much they enjoyed themselves; and as they drew each
+other's attention to the many nick-nacks that adorned the rooms, paid
+a well-turned compliment to the taste of the owner of the house. They
+admired the vases, the carved boxes of wood or ivory, and the light
+tables on which many a curious trinket was displayed; and commended
+the elegance and comfort of the luxurious fauteuils, the rich cushions
+and coverings of the couches and ottomans, the carpets and the other
+furniture. Some, who were invited to see the sleeping apartments,
+found in the ornaments on the toilet-tables, and in the general
+arrangements, fresh subjects for admiration; and their return to the
+guest-chamber gave an opportunity of declaring that good taste
+prevailed throughout the whole house. On one occasion, while some of
+the delighted guests were in these raptures of admiration, and others
+were busied with the chitchat, perhaps the politics, or the scandal of
+the day, an awkward youth, either from inadvertence, or a little too
+much wine, reclined against a wooden column placed in the centre of
+the room to support some temporary ornament, and threw it down upon
+those who sat beneath it.[20] The confusion was great: the women
+screamed; and some, with uplifted hands, endeavored to protect their
+heads and escape its fall. No one, however, seems to have been hurt;
+and the harmony of the party being restored, the incident afforded
+fresh matter for conversation; to be related in full detail to their
+friends, when they returned home.
+
+The vases were very numerous, and varied in shape, size, and
+materials; being of hard stone, alabaster, glass, ivory, bone,
+porcelain, bronze, brass, silver, or gold; and those of the poorer
+classes were of glazed pottery, or common earthenware. Many of their
+ornamental vases, as well as those in ordinary use, were of the most
+elegant shape, which would do honor to the Greeks, the Egyptians
+frequently displaying in these objects of private _luxe_ the taste of
+a highly refined people; and so strong a resemblance did they bear to
+the productions of the best epochs of ancient Greece, both in their
+shape and in the fancy devices upon them, that some might even suppose
+them borrowed from Greek patterns. But they were purely Egyptian, and
+had been universally adopted in the valley of the Nile, long before
+the graceful forms we admire were known in Greece; a fact invariably
+acknowledged by those who are acquainted with the remote age of
+Egyptian monuments, and of the paintings that represent them.
+
+ [Illustration: EGYPTIAN VASES.]
+
+For some of the most elegant date in the early age of the third
+Thothmes, who lived between 3,300 and 3,400 years before our time; and
+we not only admire their forms, but the richness of the materials of
+which they were made, their color, as well as the hieroglyphics,
+showing them to have been of gold and silver, or of this last, inlaid
+with the more precious metal.
+
+Those of bronze, alabaster, glass, porcelain, and even of ordinary
+pottery, were also deserving of admiration, from the beauty of their
+shapes, the designs which ornamented them, and the superior quality of
+the material; and gold and silver cups were often beautifully
+engraved, and studded with precious stones. Among these we readily
+distinguish the green emerald, the purple amethyst, and other gems;
+and when an animal's head adorned their handles, the eyes were
+frequently composed of them, except when enamel, or some colored
+composition, was employed as a substitute.
+
+While the guests were entertained with music and the dance dinner was
+prepared; but as it consisted of a considerable number of dishes, and
+the meat was killed for the occasion, as at the present day in Eastern
+and tropical climates, some time elapsed before it was put upon table.
+An ox, kid, wild goat, gazelle or an oryx, and a quantity of geese,
+ducks, teal, quails and other birds, were generally selected; but
+mutton was excluded from a Theban table. Plutarch even states that "no
+Egyptians would eat the flesh of sheep, except the Lycopolites," who
+did so out of compliment to the wolves they venerated; and Strabo
+confines the sacrifice of them to the Nome of Nitriotis. But though
+sheep were not killed for the altar or the table, they abounded in
+Egypt and even at Thebes; and large flocks were kept for their wool,
+particularly in the neighborhood of Memphis. Sometimes a flock
+consisted of more than 2,000; and in a tomb below the Pyramids, dating
+upwards of 4,000 years ago, 974 rams are brought to be registered by
+his scribes, as part of the stock of the deceased; implying an equal
+number of ewes, independent of lambs.
+
+A considerable quantity of meat was served up at those repasts, to
+which strangers were invited, as among people of the East at the
+present day; whose _azooma_, or feast, prides itself in the quantity
+and variety of dishes, in the unsparing profusion of viands, and,
+whenever wine is permitted, in the freedom of the bowl. An endless
+succession of vegetables was also required on all occasions; and, when
+dining in private, dishes composed chiefly of them were in greater
+request than joints, even at the tables of the rich, and consequently
+the Israelites, who, by their long residence there, had acquired
+similar habits, regretted them equally with the meat and fish of
+Egypt.
+
+Their mode of dining was very similar to that now adopted in Cairo and
+throughout the East; each person sitting round a table, and dipping
+his bread into a dish placed in the centre, removed on a sign made by
+the host, and succeeded by others, whose rotation depends on
+established rule, and whose number is predetermined according to the
+size of the party, or the quality of the guests.
+
+Among the lower orders, vegetables constituted a very great part of
+their ordinary food, and they gladly availed themselves of the variety
+and abundance of esculent roots growing spontaneously, in the lands
+irrigated by the rising Nile, as soon as its waters had subsided; some
+of which were eaten in a crude state, and others roasted in the ashes,
+boiled or stewed: their chief aliment, and that of their children,
+consisting of milk and cheese, roots, leguminous, cucurbitaceous and
+other plants, and the ordinary fruits of the country. Herodotus
+describes the food of the workmen who built the Pyramids, to have been
+the "_raphanus_, onions and garlic;" the first of which, now called
+_figl_, is like a turnip-radish in flavor; but he has omitted one more
+vegetable, lentils, which were always, as at the present day, the
+chief article of their diet; and which Strabo very properly adds to
+the number.
+
+The nummulite rock, in the vicinity of those monuments, frequently
+presents a conglomerate of testacea imbedded in it, which, in some
+positions, resemble small seeds; and Strabo imagines they were the
+petrified residue of the lentils brought there by the workmen, from
+their having been the ordinary food of the laboring classes, and of
+all the lower orders of Egyptians.
+
+Much attention was bestowed on the culture of this useful pulse, and
+certain varieties became remarkable for their excellence, the lentils
+of Pelusium being esteemed both in Egypt and in foreign countries.
+
+That dinner was served up at mid-day, may be inferred from the
+invitation given by Joseph to his brethren; but it is probable that,
+like the Romans, they also ate supper in the evening, as is still the
+custom in the East. The table was much the same as that of the present
+day in Egypt: a small stool, supporting a round tray, on which the
+dishes are placed; but it differed from this in having its circular
+summit fixed on a pillar, or leg, which was often in the form of a
+man, generally a captive, who supported the slab upon his head; the
+whole being of stone, or some hard wood. On this the dishes were
+placed, together with loaves of bread, some of which were not unlike
+those of the present day in Egypt, flat and round as our crumpets.
+Others had the form of rolls or cakes, sprinkled with seeds.
+
+It was not generally covered with any linen, but, like the Greek
+table, was washed with a sponge, or napkin, after the dishes were
+removed, and polished by the servants, when the company had retired;
+though an instance sometimes occurs of a napkin spread on it, at least
+on those which bore offerings in honor of the dead.
+
+One or two guests generally sat at a table, though from the mention of
+persons seated in rows according to rank, it has been supposed the
+tables were occasionally of a long shape, as may have been the case
+when the brethren of Joseph "sat before him, the first born according
+to his birth-right, and the youngest according to his youth," Joseph
+eating alone at another table where "they set on for him by himself."
+But even if round, they might still sit according to rank; one place
+being always the post of honor, even at the present day, at the round
+table of Egypt.
+
+In the houses of the rich, bread was made of wheat; the poorer classes
+being contented with bakes of barley, or of _doora_ (holcus sorghum),
+which last is still so commonly used by them; for Herodotus is as
+wrong in saying that they thought it "the greatest disgrace to live
+on wheat and barley," as that "no one drank out of any but bronze (or
+brazen) cups." The drinking cups of the Egyptians not only varied in
+their materials, but also in their forms. Some were plain and
+unornamented; others, though of small dimensions, were made after the
+models of larger vases; many were like our own cups without handles;
+and others may come under the denomination of beakers, and saucers. Of
+these the former were frequently made of alabaster, with a round base,
+so that they could not stand when filled, and were held in the hand,
+or, when empty, were turned downwards upon their rim: and the saucers,
+which were of glazed pottery, had sometimes lotus blossoms, or fish,
+represented on their concave surface.
+
+The tables, as at a Roman repast, were occasionally brought in, and
+removed, with the dishes on them; sometimes each joint was served up
+separately, and the fruit, deposited in a plate or trencher, succeeded
+the meat at the close of the dinner; but in less fashionable circles,
+particularly of the olden time, fruit was brought in baskets, which
+stood beside the table. The dishes consisted of fish; meat boiled,
+roasted, and dressed in various ways; game, poultry, and a profusion
+of vegetables and fruit, particularly figs and grapes, during the
+season; and a soup, or "pottage of lentils," as with the modern
+Egyptians, was not an unusual dish.
+
+Of figs and grapes they were particularly fond, which is shown by
+their constant introduction, even among the choice offerings presented
+to the gods; and figs of the sycamore must have been highly esteemed,
+since they were selected as the heavenly fruit, given by the goddess
+Netpe to those who were judged worthy of admission to the regions of
+eternal happiness. Fresh dates during the season, and in a dried state
+at other periods of the year, were also brought to table, as well as a
+preserve of the fruit, made into a cake of the same form as the
+tamarinds now brought from the interior of Africa, and sold in the
+Cairo market.
+
+The guests sat on the ground, or on stools and chairs, and, having
+neither knives and forks, nor any substitute for them answering to the
+chop-sticks of the Chinese, they ate with their fingers, like the
+modern Asiatics, and invariably with the right hand; nor did the Jews
+and Etruscans, though they had forks for other purposes, use any at
+table.
+
+Spoons were introduced when required for soup, or other liquids; and,
+perhaps, even a knife was employed on some occasions, to facilitate
+the carving of a large joint, which is sometimes done in the East at
+the present day.
+
+The Egyptians washed after, as well as before, dinner; an invariable
+custom throughout the East, as among the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, and
+others; and Herodotus speaks of a golden basin, belonging to Amasis,
+which was used by the King, and "the guests who were in the habit of
+eating at his table."
+
+An absorbent seems also to have been adopted for scouring the hands;
+and a powder of ground lupins, the _doqaq_ of modern Egypt, is no
+doubt an old invention, handed down to the present inhabitants.
+
+Soap was not unknown to the ancients, and a small quantity has been
+found at Pompeii. Pliny, who mentions it as an invention of the Gauls,
+says it was made of fat and ashes; and Aretaeus, the physician of
+Cappadocia, tells us that the Greeks borrowed their knowledge of its
+medicinal properties from the Romans. But there is no evidence of soap
+having been used by the Egyptians; and if by accident they discovered
+something of the kind, while engaged with mixtures of natron or
+potash, and other ingredients, it is probable that it was only an
+absorbent, without oil or grease, and on a par with steatite, or the
+argillaceous earths, with which, no doubt, they were long acquainted.
+
+The Egyptians, a scrupulously religious people, were never remiss in
+expressing their gratitude for the blessings they enjoyed, and in
+returning thanks to the gods for that peculiar protection they were
+thought to extend to them and to their country, above all the nations
+of the earth.
+
+They, therefore, never sat down to meals without saying grace; and
+Josephus says that when the seventy-two elders were invited by Ptolemy
+Philadelphus to sup at the palace, Nicanor requested Eleazer to say
+grace for his countrymen, instead of those Egyptians to whom that duty
+was committed on other occasions.
+
+It was also a custom of the Egyptians, during or after their repasts,
+to introduce a wooden image of Osiris, from one foot and a half to
+three feet in height, in the form of a human mummy, standing erect, or
+lying on a bier, and to show it to each of the guests, warning him of
+his mortality, and the transitory nature of human pleasures. He was
+reminded that some day he would be like that figure; that men ought
+"to love one another, and avoid those evils which tend to make them
+consider life too long, when in reality it is too short;" and while
+enjoying the blessings of this world, to bear in mind that their
+existence was precarious, and that death, which all ought to be
+prepared to meet, must eventually close their earthly career.
+
+Thus, while the guests were permitted, and even encouraged, to indulge
+in conviviality, the pleasures of the table, and the mirth so
+congenial to their lively disposition, they were exhorted to put a
+certain degree of restraint upon their conduct; and though this
+sentiment was perverted by other people, and used as an incentive to
+present excesses, it was perfectly consistent with the ideas of the
+Egyptians to be reminded that this life was only a lodging, or "inn"
+on their way, and that their existence here was the preparation for a
+future state.
+
+"The ungodly," too, of Solomon's time, thus expressed themselves: "Our
+life is short and tedious, and in the death of a man there is no
+remedy; neither was there any man known to have returned from the
+grave. For we are born at all adventure, and we shall be hereafter as
+though we had never been, ... come on, therefore, let us enjoy the
+good things that are present, ... let us fill ourselves with costly
+wine and ointments; and let no flower of the spring pass by us; let us
+crown ourselves with rosebuds, before they be withered; let none of us
+go without his part of our voluptuousness; let us leave tokens of our
+joyfulness in every place."
+
+But even if the Egyptians, like other men, neglected a good warning,
+the original object of it was praiseworthy; and Plutarch expressly
+states that it was intended to convey a moral lesson. The idea of
+death had nothing revolting to them; and so little did the Egyptians
+object to have it brought before them, that they even introduced the
+mummy of a deceased relative at their parties, and placed it at table,
+as one of the guests; a fact which is recorded by Lucian, in his
+"Essay on Grief," and of which he declares himself to have been an
+eye-witness.
+
+After dinner, music and singing were resumed; hired men and women
+displayed feats of agility; swinging each other round by the hand;
+throwing up and catching the ball; or flinging themselves round
+backwards head-over-heels, in imitation of a wheel; which was usually
+a performance of women. They also stood on each other's backs, and
+made a somersault from that position; and a necklace, or other reward,
+was given to the most successful tumbler.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+EGYPTIAN MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
+
+Though impossible for us now to form any notion of the character or
+style of Egyptian music, we may be allowed to conjecture that it was
+studied on scientific principles; and, whatever defects existed in the
+skill of ordinary performers, who gained their livelihood by playing
+in public, or for the entertainment of a private party, music was
+looked upon as an important science, and diligently studied by the
+priests themselves. According to Diodorus it was not customary to make
+music part of their education, being deemed useless and even
+injurious, as tending to render the minds of men effeminate; but this
+remark can only apply to the custom of studying it as an amusement.
+Plato, who was well acquainted with the usages of the Egyptians, says
+that they considered music of the greatest consequence, from its
+beneficial effects upon the mind of youth; and according to Strabo,
+the children of the Egyptians were taught letters, the songs appointed
+by law, and a certain kind of music, established by government.
+
+That the Egyptians were particularly fond of music is abundantly
+proved by the paintings in their tombs of the earliest times; and we
+even find they introduced figures performing on the favorite
+instruments of the country, among the devices with which they adorned
+fancy boxes or trinkets. The skill of the Egyptians in the use of
+musical instruments is also noticed by Athenaeus, who says that both
+the Greeks and barbarians were taught by refugees from Egypt, and
+that the Alexandrians were the most scientific and skillful players on
+pipes and other instruments.
+
+It is sufficiently evident, from the sculptures of the ancient
+Egyptians, that their hired musicians were acquainted with the triple
+symphony: the harmony of instruments; of voices; and of voices and
+instruments. Their band was variously composed, consisting either of
+two harps, with the single pipe and flute; of the harp and double pipe,
+frequently with the addition of the guitar; of a fourteen-stringed
+harp, a guitar, lyre, double pipe, and tambourine; of two harps,
+sometimes of different sizes, one of seven, the other of four, strings;
+of two harps of eight chords, and a seven-stringed lyre; of the guitar
+and the square or oblong tambourine; of the lyre, harp, guitar, double
+pipe, and a sort of harp with four strings, which was held upon the
+shoulder; of the harp, guitar, double pipe, lyre, and square
+tambourine; of the harp, two guitars, and the double pipe; of the harp,
+two flutes, and a guitar; of two harps and a flute; of a
+seventeen-stringed lyre, the double pipe, and a harp of fourteen
+chords; of the harp and two guitars; or of two seven-stringed harps and
+an instrument held in the hand, not unlike an eastern fan, to which
+were probably attached small bells, or pieces of metal that emitted a
+jingling sound when shaken, like the crescent-crowned _bells_ of our
+modern bands. There were many other combinations of these various
+instruments; and in the Bacchic festival of Ptolemy Philadelphus,
+described by Athenaeus, more than 600 musicians were employed in the
+chorus, among whom were 300 performers on the _cithara_.
+
+Sometimes the harp was played alone, or as an accompaniment to the
+voice; and a band of seven or more choristers frequently sang to it a
+favorite air, beating time with their hands between each stanza. They
+also sang to other instruments, as the lyre, guitar or double pipe; or
+to several of them played together, as the flute and one or more
+harps; or to these last with a lyre or a guitar. It was not unusual
+for one man or one woman to perform a solo; and a chorus of many
+persons occasionally sang at a private assembly without any
+instrument, two or three beating time at intervals with the hand.
+Sometimes the band of choristers consisted of more than twenty
+persons, only two of whom responded by clapping their hands; and in
+one instance we have seen a female represented holding what was
+perhaps another kind of jingling instrument.
+
+The custom of beating time by clapping the hands between the stanzas
+is still usual in Egypt.
+
+On some occasions women beat the tambourine and _darabooka_ drum,
+without the addition of any other instrument; dancing or singing to
+the sound; and bearing palm branches or green twigs in their hands,
+they proceeded to the tomb of a deceased friend, accompanied by this
+species of music. The same custom may still be traced in the Friday
+visit to the cemetery, and in some other funeral ceremonies among the
+Moslem peasants of modern Egypt.
+
+If it was not customary for the higher classes of Egyptians to learn
+music for the purpose of playing in society, and if few amateur
+performers could be found among persons of rank, still some general
+knowledge of the art must have been acquired by a people so alive to
+its charms; and the attention paid to it by the priests regulated the
+taste, and prevented the introduction of a vitiated style.
+
+Those who played at the houses of the rich, as well as the ambulant
+musicians of the streets, were of the lower classes, and made this
+employment the means of obtaining their livelihood; and in many
+instances both the minstrels and the choristers were blind.
+
+It was not so necessary an accomplishment for the higher classes of
+Egyptians as of the Greeks, who, as Cicero says, "considered the arts
+of singing and playing upon musical instruments a very principal part
+of learning; whence it is related of Epaminondas, who, in my judgment,
+was the first of all the Greeks, that he played very well upon the
+flute. And, some time before, Themistocles, upon refusing the harp at
+an entertainment, passed for an uninstructed and ill-bred person.
+Hence, Greece became celebrated for skillful musicians; and as all
+persons there learned music, those who attained to no proficiency in
+it were thought uneducated and unaccomplished."
+
+Cornelius Nepos also states that Epaminondas "played the harp and
+flute, and perfectly understood the art of dancing, with other liberal
+sciences," which, "though trivial things in the opinion of the Romans,
+were reckoned highly commendable in Greece."
+
+The Israelites also delighted in music and the dance; and persons of
+rank deemed them a necessary part of their education. Like the
+Egyptians with whom they had so long resided, the Jews carefully
+distinguished sacred from profane music. They introduced it at public
+and private rejoicings, at funerals, and in religious services; but
+the character of the airs, like the words of their songs, varied
+according to the occasion; and they had canticles of mirth, of praise,
+of thanksgiving, and of lamentation. Some were _epithalamia_, or songs
+composed to celebrate marriages; others to commemorate a victory, or
+the accession of a prince; to return thanks to the Deity, or to
+celebrate his praises; to lament a general calamity, or a private
+affliction; and others, again, were peculiar to their festive
+meetings. On these occasions they introduced the harp, lute, tabret,
+and various instruments, together with songs and dancing, and the
+guests were entertained nearly in the same manner as at an Egyptian
+feast. In the temple, and in the religious ceremonies, the Jews had
+female as well as male performers, who were generally daughters of the
+Levites, as the Pallaces of Thebes were either of the royal family, or
+the daughters of priests; and these musicians were attached
+exclusively to the service of religion.
+
+David was not only remarkable for his taste and skill in music, but
+took a delight in introducing it on every occasion. "And seeing that
+the Levites were numerous, and no longer employed as formerly in
+carrying the boards, veils, and vessels of the tabernacle, its abode
+being fixed at Jerusalem, he appointed a great part of them to sing
+and play on instruments, at the religious festivals."
+
+Solomon, again, at the dedication of the temple, employed "120
+priests, to sound with trumpets;" and Josephus pretends that no less
+than 200,000 musicians were present at that ceremony, besides the same
+number of singers, who were Levites.
+
+When hired to attend at a private entertainment, the musicians either
+stood in the centre, or at one side, of the festive chamber, and some
+sat cross-legged on the ground, like the Turks and other Eastern
+people of the present day. They were usually accompanied on these
+occasions by dancers, either men or women, sometimes both; whose art
+consisted in assuming all the graceful or ludicrous gestures, which
+could obtain the applause, or tend to the amusement, of the assembled
+guests. For music and dancing were considered as essential at their
+entertainments, as among the Greeks; but it is by no means certain
+that these diversions counteracted the effect of wine, as Plutarch
+imagines; a sprightly air is more likely to have invited another
+glass; and sobriety at a feast was not one of the objects of the
+lively Egyptians.
+
+They indulged freely in whatever tended to increase their enjoyment,
+and wine flowed freely at their entertainments.
+
+Private individuals were under no particular restrictions with regard
+to its use, and it was not forbidden to women. In this they differed
+widely from the Romans; for in early times no female at Rome enjoyed
+the privilege, and it was unlawful for women, or, indeed, for young
+men below the age of thirty, to drink wine, except at sacrifices.
+
+Even at a later time the Romans considered it disgraceful for a woman
+to drink wine; and they sometimes saluted a female relation, whom they
+suspected, in order to discover if she had secretly indulged in its
+use. It was afterwards allowed them on the plea of health.
+
+That Egyptian women were not forbidden the use of wine, is evident
+from the frescoes which represent their feasts; and the painters, in
+illustrating this fact, have sometimes sacrificed their gallantry to a
+love of caricature. Some call the servants to support them as they
+sit, others with difficulty prevent themselves from falling on those
+behind them; a basin is brought too late by a reluctant servant, and
+the faded flower, which is ready to drop from their heated hands, is
+intended to be characteristic of their own sensations.
+
+That the consumption of wine in Egypt was very great is evident from
+the sculptures, and from the accounts of ancient authors, some of whom
+have censured the Egyptians for their excesses; and so much did the
+quantity used exceed that made in the country, that, in the time of
+Herodotus, twice every year a large importation was received from
+Phoenicia and Greece.
+
+Notwithstanding all the injunctions or exhortations of the priests in
+favor of temperance, the Egyptians of both sexes appear from the
+sculptures to have committed occasional excesses, and men were
+sometimes unable to walk from a feast, and were carried home by
+servants. These scenes, however, do not appear to refer to members of
+the higher, but of the lower, classes, some of whom indulged in
+extravagant buffoonery, dancing in a ludicrous manner, or standing on
+their heads, and frequently in amusements which terminated in a fight.
+
+At the tables of the rich, stimulants were sometimes introduced, to
+excite the palate before drinking, and Athenaeus mentions cabbages as
+one of the vegetables used by the Egyptians for this purpose.
+
+Besides beer, the Egyptians had what Pliny calls factitious, or
+artificial, wine, extracted from various fruits, as figs, _myxas_,
+pomegranates, as well as herbs, some of which were selected for their
+medicinal properties. The Greeks and Latins comprehended every kind of
+beverage made by the process of fermentation under the same general
+name, and beer was designated as barley-_wine_; but, by the use of the
+name zythos, they show that the Egyptians distinguished it by its own
+peculiar appellation. Palm-wine was also made in Egypt, and used in
+the process of embalming.
+
+The palm-wine now made in Egypt and the Oases is simply from an
+incision in the heart of the tree, immediately below the base of the
+upper branches, and a jar is attached to the part to catch the juice
+which exudes from it. But a palm thus tapped is rendered perfectly
+useless as a fruit-bearing tree, and generally dies in consequence;
+and it is reasonable to suppose that so great a sacrifice is seldom
+made except when date-trees are to be felled, or when they grow in
+great abundance.
+
+The modern name of this beverage in Egypt is _lowbgeh_; in flavor it
+resembles a very new light wine, and may be drunk in great quantity
+when taken from the tree; but, as soon as the fermentation has
+commenced, its intoxicating qualities have a powerful and speedy
+effect.
+
+Among the various fruit-trees cultivated by the ancient Egyptians,
+palms, of course, held the first rank, as well from their abundance as
+from their great utility. The fruit constituted a principal part of
+their food, both in the month of August, when it was gathered fresh
+from the trees, and at other seasons of the year, when it was used in
+a preserved state.
+
+They had two different modes of keeping the dates; one was by the
+simple process of drying them, the other was by making them into a
+conserve, like the _agweh_ of the present day; and of this, which was
+eaten either cooked or as a simple sweetmeat, there have been found
+some cakes, as well as the dried dates, in the sepulchres of Thebes.
+
+Pliny makes a just remark respecting the localities where the palm
+prospers, and the constant irrigation it requires; and though every
+one in the East knows the tree will not grow except where water is
+abundant, we still read of "palm-trees of the desert," as if it
+delighted in an arid district. Wherever it is found it is a sure
+indication of water; and if it may be said to flourish in a sandy
+soil, this is only in situations where its roots can obtain a certain
+quantity of moisture. The numerous purposes for which its branches and
+other parts might be applied rendered the cultivation of this valuable
+and productive tree a matter of primary importance, for no portion of
+it is without its peculiar use.
+
+The trunk serves for beams, either entire, or split in half; of the
+_gereet_, or branches, are made wicker baskets, bedsteads, coops, and
+ceilings of rooms, answering every purpose for which laths or any thin
+woodwork are required; the leaves are converted into mats, brooms, and
+baskets; of the fibrous tegument as the base of the branches, strong
+ropes and mats are made, and even the thick ends of the _gereet_ are
+beaten flat and formed into brooms.
+
+Besides the _lowbgeh_ of the tree, brandy, wine, and vinegar are made
+from the fruit; and the quantity of saccharine matter in the dates
+might be used in default of sugar or honey.
+
+In Upper Egypt another tree called the _Dom_, or Theban palm, was also
+much cultivated, and its wood, more solid and compact than the
+date-tree, is found to answer as well for rafts, and other purposes
+connected with water, as for beams and rafters.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+GAMES AND SPORTS OF THE EGYPTIANS.
+
+The game of _morra_ was common in ancient as well as modern Italy, and
+was played by two persons, who each simultaneously threw out the
+fingers of one hand, while one party guessed the sum of both. They
+were said in Latin, "micare digitis," and this game, still so common
+among the lower order of Indians, existed in Egypt, about four
+thousand years ago, in the reigns of the Osirtasens.
+
+The same, or even a greater, antiquity may be claimed for the game of
+draughts, or, as it has been called, chess. As in the two former, the
+players sat on the ground, or on chairs, and the pieces, or men, being
+ranged in line at either end of the tables, moved on a chequered
+board, as in our own chess.
+
+The pieces were all of the same size and form, though they varied on
+different boards, some being small, others large with round summits:
+some were surmounted by human heads; and many were of a lighter and
+neater shape, like small nine-pins, probably the most fashionable
+kind, since they were used in the palace of king Remeses. These last
+seem to have been about one inch and a half high, standing on a
+circular base of half an inch in diameter; but some are only one inch
+and a quarter in height, and little more than half an inch broad at
+the lower end. Others have been found, of ivory, one inch and six
+eighths high, and one and an eighth in diameter, with a small knob at
+the top, exactly like those represented at Beni Hassan, and the tombs
+near the Pyramids.
+
+They were about equal in size upon the same board, one set black, the
+other white or red; or one with round, the other with flat heads,
+standing on opposite sides; and each player, raising it with the
+finger and thumb, advanced his piece towards those of his opponent;
+but though we are unable to say if this was done in a direct or a
+diagonal line, there is reason to believe they could not take
+backwards as in the Polish game of chess, the men being mixed together
+on the board.
+
+It was an amusement common in the houses of the lower classes, as in
+the mansions of the rich; and king Remeses is himself portrayed on the
+walls of his palace at Thebes, engaged in the game of chess with the
+ladies of his household.
+
+The modern Egyptians have a game of chess, very similar, in the
+appearance of the men, to that of their ancestors, which they call
+_dameh_, and play much in the same manner as our own.
+
+Analogous to the game of odd and even was one, in which two of the
+players held a number of shells, or dice, in their closed hands, over
+a third person who knelt between them, with his face towards the
+ground, and who was obliged to guess the combined number ere he could
+be released from this position.
+
+Another game consisted in endeavoring to snatch from each other a
+small hoop, by means of hooked rods, probably of metal; and the
+success of a player seems to have depended on extricating his own from
+an adversary's rod, and then snatching up the hoop, before he had time
+to stop it.
+
+There were also two games, of which the boards, with the men, are in
+the possession of Dr. Abbott. One is eleven inches long by three and a
+half, and has ten spaces or squares in three rows; the other twelve
+squares at the upper end (or four squares in three rows) and a long
+line of eight squares below, forming an approach to the upper part,
+like the arrangement of German tactics. The men in the drawer of the
+board are of two shapes, one set ten, the other nine in number.
+
+Other games are represented in the paintings, but not in a manner to
+render them intelligible; and many, which were doubtless common in
+Egypt, are omitted both in the tombs, and in the writings of ancient
+authors.
+
+The dice discovered at Thebes and other places, may not be of a
+Pharaonic period, but, from the simplicity of their form, we may
+suppose them similar to those of the earliest age, in which, too, the
+conventional number of six sides had probably always been adopted.
+They were marked with small circles, representing units, generally
+with a dot in the centre; and were of bone or ivory, varying slightly
+in size.
+
+Plutarch shows that dice were a very early invention in Egypt, and
+acknowledged to be so by the Egyptians themselves, since they were
+introduced into one of their oldest mythological fables; Mercury being
+represented playing at dice with the Moon, previous to the birth of
+Osiris, and winning from her the five days of the epact, which were
+added to complete the 365 days of the year.
+
+It is probable that several games of chance were known to the
+Egyptians, besides dice and _morra_, and, as with the Romans, that
+many a doubtful mind sought relief in the promise of success, by
+having recourse to fortuitous combinations of various kinds; and the
+custom of drawing, or casting lots, was common, at least as early as
+the period of the Hebrew Exodus.
+
+The games and amusements of children were such as tended to promote
+health by the exercise of the body, and to divert the mind by
+laughable entertainments. Throwing and catching the ball, running,
+leaping, and similar feats, were encouraged, as soon as their age
+enabled them to indulge in them; and a young child was amused with
+painted dolls, whose hands and legs, moving on pins, were made to
+assume various positions by means of strings. Some of these were of
+rude form, without legs, or with an imperfect representation of a
+single arm on one side. Some had numerous beads, in imitation of
+hair, hanging from the doubtful place of the head; others exhibited a
+nearer approach to the form of a man; and some, made with considerable
+attention to proportion, were small models of the human figure. They
+were colored according to fancy; and the most shapeless had usually
+the most gaudy appearance, being intended to catch the eye of an
+infant. Sometimes a man was figured washing, or kneading dough, who
+was made to work by pulling a string; and a typhonian monster, or a
+crocodile, amused a child by its grimaces, or the motion of its
+opening mouth. In the toy of the crocodile, we have sufficient
+evidence that the notion of this animal "not moving its lower jaw, and
+being the only creature which brings the upper one down to the lower,"
+is erroneous. Like other animals, it moves the lower jaw _only_; but
+when seizing its prey, it throws up its head, which gives an
+appearance of motion in the upper jaw, and has led to the mistake.
+
+The game of ball was of course generally played out of doors. It was
+not confined to children, nor to one sex, though the mere amusement of
+throwing and catching it appears to have been considered more
+particularly adapted to women. They had different modes of playing.
+Sometimes a person unsuccessful in catching the ball was obliged to
+suffer another to ride on her back, who continued to enjoy this post
+until she also missed it; the ball being thrown by an opposite player,
+mounted in the same manner, and placed at a certain distance,
+according to the space previously agreed upon; and, from the
+beast-of-burden office of the person who had failed, the same name was
+probably applied to her as to those in the Greek game, "who were
+called asses, and were obliged to submit to the commands of the
+victor."
+
+Sometimes they caught three or more balls in succession, the hands
+occasionally crossed over the breast; they also threw it up to a
+height and caught it, like our "sky-ball;" and the game described by
+Homer to have been played by Halius and Laodamus, in the presence of
+Alcinous, was known to them; in which one party threw the ball as high
+as he could, and the other, leaping up, caught it on its fall, before
+his feet again touched the ground.
+
+When mounted on the backs of the losing party, the Egyptian women sat
+sidewise. Their dress consisted merely of a short petticoat, without a
+body, the loose upper robe being laid aside on these occasions; it was
+bound at the waist with a girdle, supported by a strap over the
+shoulder, and was nearly the same as the undress garb of mourners,
+worn during the funeral lamentation on the death of a friend.
+
+The balls were made of leather or skin, sewed with string, crosswise,
+in the same manner as our own, and stuffed with bran, or husks of
+corn; and those which have been found at Thebes are about three inches
+in diameter. Others were made of string, or of the stalks of rushes,
+platted together so as to form a circular mass, and covered, like the
+former, with leather. They appear also to have had a smaller kind of
+ball probably of the same materials, and covered, like many of our
+own, with slips of leather of a rhomboidal shape, sewed together
+longitudinally, and meeting in a common point at both ends, each
+alternate slip being of a different color; but these have only been
+met with in pottery.
+
+In one of their performances of strength and dexterity, two men stood
+together side by side, and, placing one arm forward and the other
+behind them, held the hands of two women, who reclined backwards, in
+opposite directions, with their whole weight pressed against each
+other's feet, and in this position were whirled round; the hands of
+the men who held them being occasionally crossed, in order more
+effectually to guarantee the steadiness of the centre, on which they
+turned.
+
+Sometimes two men, seated back to back on the ground, at a given
+signal tried who should rise first from that position, without
+touching the ground with the hand. And in this, too, there was
+probably the trial who should first make good his seat upon the
+ground, from a standing position.
+
+Another game consisted in throwing a knife, or pointed weapon, into a
+block of wood, in which each player was required to strike his
+adversary's, or more probably to fix his own in the centre, or at the
+circumference, of a ring painted on the wood; and his success depended
+on being able to ring his weapon most frequently, or approach most
+closely to the line.
+
+Conjuring appears also to have been known to them, at least
+thimble-rig, or the game of cups, under which a ball was put, while
+the opposite party guessed under which of four it was concealed.
+
+The Egyptian grandees frequently admitted dwarfs, and deformed persons,
+into their household; originally, perhaps, from a humane motive, or
+from some superstitious regard for men who bore the external character
+of one of their principal gods, Pthah-Sokari-Osiris, the misshapen
+Deity of Memphis; but, whatever may have given rise to the custom, it
+is a singular fact, that already as early as the age of Osirtasen, or
+about 4,000 years ago, the same fancy of attaching these persons to
+their suite existed among the Egyptians, as at Rome, and even in modern
+Europe, till a late period.
+
+The games of the lower orders, and of those who sought to invigorate
+the body by active exercises, consisted of feats of agility and
+strength. Wrestling was a favorite amusement; and the paintings at
+Beni Hassan present all the varied attitudes and modes of attack and
+defence of which it is susceptible. And, in order to enable the
+spectator more readily to perceive the position of the limbs of each
+combatant, the artist has availed himself of a dark and light color,
+and even ventured to introduce alternately a black and red figure. The
+subject covers a whole wall.
+
+It is probable that, like the Greeks, they anointed the body with
+oil, when preparing for these exercises, and they were entirely naked,
+with the exception of a girdle, apparently of leathern thongs.
+
+The two combatants generally approached each other, holding their arms
+in an inclined position before the body; and each endeavored to seize
+his adversary in the manner best suited to his mode of attack. It was
+allowable to take hold of any part of the body, the head, neck, or
+legs; and the struggle was frequently continued on the ground, after
+one or both had fallen; a mode of wrestling common also to the Greeks.
+
+They also fought with the single stick, the hand being apparently
+protected by a basket, or guard projecting over the knuckles; and on
+the left arm they wore a straight piece of wood, bound on with straps,
+serving as a shield to ward off their adversary's blow. They do not,
+however, appear to have used the _cestus_, nor to have known the art
+of boxing; though in one group, at Beni Hassan, the combatants appear
+to strike each other. Nor is there an instance, in any of these
+contests, of the Greek sign of acknowledging defeat, which was by
+holding up a finger in token of submission; and it was probably done
+by the Egyptians with a word. It is also doubtful if throwing the
+discus, or quoit, was an Egyptian game; but there appears to be one
+instance of it, in a king's tomb of the 19th dynasty.
+
+One of their feats of strength, or dexterity, was lifting weights; and
+bags full of sand were raised with one hand from the ground and
+carried with a straight arm over the head, and held in that position.
+
+Mock fights were also an amusement, particularly among those of the
+military class, who were trained to the fatigues of war, by these
+manly recreations. One party attacked a temporary fort, and brought up
+the battering ram, under cover of the testudo; another defended the
+walls and endeavored to repel the enemy; others, in two parties of
+equal numbers, engaged in single stick, or the more usual _neboot_, a
+pole wielded with both hands; and the pugnacious spirit of the people
+is frequently alluded to in the scenes portrayed by their artists.
+
+The use of the _neboot_ seems to have been as common among the
+ancient, as among the modern, Egyptians; and the quarrels of villages
+were often decided or increased, as at present, by this efficient
+weapon.
+
+Crews of boats are also represented attacking each other with the
+earnestness of real strife. Some are desperately wounded, and, being
+felled by their more skillful opponents, are thrown headlong into the
+water; and the truth of Herodotus' assertion, that the heads of the
+Egyptians were harder than those of other people, seems fully
+justified by the scenes described by their own draughtsmen.
+
+It is fortunate that their successors have inherited this peculiarity,
+in order to bear the violence of the Turks, and their own combats.
+
+Many singular encounters with sticks are mentioned by ancient authors;
+among which may be noticed one at Papremis, the city of Mars,
+described by Herodotus. When the votaries of the deity presented
+themselves at the gates of the temple, their entrance was obstructed
+by an opposing party; and all being armed with sticks, they commenced
+a rude combat, which ended, not merely in the infliction of a few
+severe wounds, but even, as the historian affirms, in the death of
+many persons on either side.
+
+Bull-fights were also among their sports; which were sometimes
+exhibited in the _dromos_, or avenue, leading to the temples, as at
+Memphis before the temple of Vulcan; and prizes were awarded to the
+owner of the victorious combatant. Great care was taken in training
+them for this purpose; Strabo says as much as is usually bestowed on
+horses; and herdsmen were not loth to allow, or encourage, an
+occasional fight for the love of the exciting and popular amusement.
+
+They did not, however, condemn culprits, or captives taken in war, to
+fight with wild beasts, for the amusement of an unfeeling assembly;
+nor did they compel gladiators to kill each other, and gratify a
+depraved taste by exhibitions revolting to humanity. Their great
+delight was in amusements of a lively character, as music, dancing,
+buffoonery, and feats of agility; and those who excelled in gymnastic
+exercises were rewarded with prizes of various kinds; which in the
+country towns consisted, among other things, of cattle, dresses, and
+skins, as in the games celebrated in Chemmis.
+
+The lively amusements of the Egyptians show that they had not the
+gloomy character so often attributed to them; and it is satisfactory
+to have these evidences by which to judge of it, in default of their
+physiognomy, so unbecomingly altered by death, bitumen, and bandages.
+
+The intellectual capabilities, however, of individuals may yet be
+subject to the decision of the phrenologist; and if they have escaped
+the ordeal of the _supposed_ spontaneous rotation of a pendulum under
+a glass bell, their handwriting is still open to the criticisms of the
+wise, who discover by it the most minute secrets of character; and
+some of the old scribes may even now be amenable to this kind of
+scrutiny. But they are fortunately out of reach of the surprise, that
+some in modern days exhibit, at the exact likeness of themselves,
+believed to be presented to them from their own handwriting by a few
+clever generalities; forgetting that the sick man, in each malady he
+reads of in a book of medicine, discovers his own symptoms, and
+fancies they correspond with his own particular case. For though a
+certain neatness, or precision, carelessness, or other habit, may be
+discovered by handwriting, to describe from it all the minutiae of
+character is only feeding the love of the marvelous, so much on the
+increase in these days, when a reaction of credulity bids fair to make
+nothing too extravagant for our modern _gobe-mouches_.
+
+Among the various pastimes of the Egyptians, none was more popular
+than the chase; and the wealthy aristocracy omitted nothing that could
+promote their favorite amusement. They hunted the numerous wild
+animals in the desert; they had them caught with nets, to be turned
+out on some future day; and some very keen sportsmen took long
+journeys to spots noted for abundance of game.
+
+When a grand chase or hunt took place in the domain of some grandee,
+or in the extensive tracts of the desert, a retinue of huntsmen,
+beaters and others in his service, attended to manage the hounds, to
+carry the game baskets and hunting poles, to set the nets, and to make
+other preparations for a good day's sport. Some took a fresh supply of
+arrows, a spare bow, and various requisites for remedying accidents;
+some were merely beaters, others were to assist in securing the large
+animals caught by the _lasso_, others had to mark or turn the game,
+and some carried a stock of provisions for the chasseur and his
+friends. These last were borne upon the usual wooden yoke, across the
+shoulders, and consisted of a skin of water, and jars of good wine
+placed in wicker baskets, with bread, meats, and other eatables.
+
+Sometimes a portion of the desert of considerable extent, was enclosed
+by nets, into which the animals were driven by beaters; and the place
+chosen for fixing them was, if possible, across narrow valleys, or
+torrent beds, lying between some rocky hills. Here a sportsman on
+horseback, or in a chariot, could waylay them, or get within reach
+with a bow; for many animals, particularly gazelles, when closely
+pressed by dogs, fear to take a steep ascent, and are easily
+overtaken, or shot as they double back.
+
+The spots thus enclosed were usually in the vicinity of the water
+brooks, to which they were in the habit of repairing in the morning
+and evening; and having awaited the time when they went to drink, and
+ascertained it by their recent tracks on the accustomed path, the
+hunters disposed the nets, occupied proper positions for observing
+them unseen, and gradually closed in upon them.
+
+Such are the scenes partially portrayed in the Egyptian paintings,
+where long nets are represented surrounding the space they hunted in;
+and the hyaenas, jackals, and various wild beasts unconnected with the
+sport, are intended to show that they have been accidentally enclosed
+within the same line of nets with the antelopes and other animals.
+
+In the same way AEneas and Dido repaired to a wood at break of day,
+after the attendants had surrounded it with a temporary fence, to
+enclose the game.
+
+The long net was furnished with several ropes, and was supported on
+forked poles, varying in length, to correspond with the inequalities
+of the ground, and was so contrived as to enclose any space, by
+crossing hills, valleys or streams, and encircling woods, or whatever
+might present itself; smaller nets for stopping gaps were also used;
+and a circular snare, set round with wooden or metal nails, and
+attached by a rope to a log of wood, which was used for catching deer,
+resembled one still made by the Arabs.
+
+The dresses of the attendants and huntsmen were generally of a
+suppressed color, "lest they should be seen at a distance by the
+animals," tight fitting, and reaching only a short way down the thigh;
+and the horses of the chariots were divested of the feathers and showy
+ornaments used on other occasions.
+
+Besides the portions of the open desert and the valleys, which were
+enclosed for hunting, the parks and covers on their own domains in the
+valley of the Nile, though of comparatively limited dimensions,
+offered ample space and opportunity for indulging in the chase; and a
+quantity of game was kept there, principally the wild goat, oryx, and
+gazelle.
+
+They had also fish-ponds, and spacious poultry-yards, set apart for
+keeping geese and other wild fowl, which they fattened for the table.
+
+It was the duty of the huntsmen, or the gamekeepers, to superintend
+the preserves; and at proper periods of the year wild fawns were
+obtained, to increase the herds of gazelles and other animals, which
+always formed part of the stock of a wealthy Egyptian.
+
+The Egyptians frequently coursed with dogs in the open plains, the
+chasseur following in his chariot, and the huntsmen on foot. Sometimes
+he only drove to cover in his car, and having alighted, shared in the
+toil of searching for the game, his attendants keeping the dogs in
+slips, ready to start them as soon as it appeared. The more usual
+custom when the dogs threw off in a level plain of great extent, was
+for him to remain in his chariot, and, urging his horses to their full
+speed, endeavor to turn or intercept them as they doubled, discharging
+a well-directed arrow whenever they came within its range.
+
+The dogs were taken to the ground by persons expressly employed for
+that purpose, and for all the duties connected with the kennel; and
+were either started one by one or in pairs, in the narrow valleys or
+open plains; and when coursing on foot, the chasseur and his attendant
+huntsmen, acquainted with the direction and sinuosities of the torrent
+beds, shortened the road as they followed across the intervening
+hills, and sought a favorable opportunity for using the bow; or
+enjoyed the course in the level space before them.
+
+Having pursued on foot, and arrived at the spot where the dogs had
+caught their prey, the huntsman, if alone, took up the game, tied its
+legs together, and hanging it over his shoulders, once more led by his
+hand the coupled dogs, precisely in the same manner as the Arabs do at
+the present day. But this was generally the office of persons who
+carried the cages and baskets on the usual wooden yoke, and who took
+charge of the game as soon as it was caught; the supply of these
+substitutes for our game cart being in proportion to the proposed
+range of the chase, and the number of head they expected to kill.
+
+Sometimes an ibex, oryx, or wild ox, being closely pressed by the
+hounds, faced round and kept them at bay, with its formidable horns,
+and the spear of the huntsman as he came up, was required to decide
+the success of the chase.
+
+It frequently happened, when the chasseur had many attendants and the
+district to be hunted was extensive, that they divided into parties,
+each taking one or more dogs, and starting them on whatever animal
+broke cover; sometimes they went without hounds, merely having a small
+dog for searching the bushes, or laid in wait for the larger and more
+formidable animals, and attacked them with the lance.
+
+The noose, or _lasso_, was also employed to catch the wild ox, the
+antelope and other animals; but this could only be thrown by lying in
+ambush for the purpose, and was principally adopted when they wished
+to secure them alive.
+
+Besides the bow, the hounds and the noose, they hunted with lions,
+which were trained expressly for the chase, like the _cheeta_, or
+hunting leopard of India, being brought up from cubs in a tame state;
+and many Egyptian monarchs were accompanied in battle by a favorite
+lion. But there is no instance of hawking.
+
+The bow used for the chase was very similar to that employed in war;
+the arrows were generally the same, with metal heads, though some were
+only tipped with stone. The mode of drawing the bow was also the same;
+and if the chasseurs sometimes pulled the string only to the breast,
+the more usual method was to raise it, and bring the arrow to the ear;
+and occasionally, one or more spare arrows were held in the hand, to
+give greater facility in discharging them with rapidity on the
+antelopes and oxen.
+
+The animals they chiefly hunted were the gazelle, wild goat or _ibex_,
+the oryx, wild ox, stag, _kebsh_ or wild sheep, hare and porcupine; of
+all of which the meat was highly esteemed among the delicacies of the
+table; the fox, jackal, wolf, hyaena, and leopard, and others, being
+chased as an amusement, for the sake of their skins, or as enemies of
+the farm-yard. For though the fact of the hyaena being sometimes bought
+with the ibex and gazelle might seem to justify the belief that it was
+also eaten, there is no instance of its being slaughtered for the
+table. The ostrich held out a great temptation to the hunter from the
+value of its plumes. These were in great request among the Egyptians
+for ornamental purposes; they were also the sacred symbol of truth;
+and the members of the court on grand occasions decked themselves with
+the feathers of the ostrich. The labor endured during the chase of
+this swift-footed bird was amply repaid; even its eggs were required
+for some ornamental or for some religious use (as with the modern
+Copts); and, with the plumes, formed part of the tribute imposed by
+the Egyptians on the conquered countries where it abounded. Lion
+hunting was a favorite amusement of the kings, and the deserts of
+Ethiopia always afforded good sport, abounding as they did with lions;
+their success on those occasions was a triumph they often recorded;
+and Amunoph III. boasted having brought down in one _battue_ no less
+than one hundred and two head, either with the bow or spear. For the
+chase of elephants they went still further south; and, in after times,
+the Ptolemies had hunting places in Abyssinia.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[19] Epp. ii. 1, 189.
+
+[20] We regret having lost the copy of this amusing subject. It was in
+a tomb at Thebes.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+DOMESTIC LIFE.
+
+
+The life of married women, maidens, children while in the care of
+women, and of female slaves, passed in the gynaikonitis, from which
+they issued only on rare occasions. The family life of Greek women
+widely differed from our Christian idea; neither did it resemble the
+life in an Oriental harem, to which it was far superior. The idea of
+the family was held up by both law and custom, and although
+concubinage and the intercourse with hetairai was suffered, nay
+favored, by the state, still such impure elements never intruded on
+domestic relations.
+
+Our following remarks refer, of course, only to the better classes,
+the struggle for existence by the poor being nearly the same in all
+ages. In the seclusion of the gynaikonitis the maiden grew up in
+comparative ignorance. The care bestowed on domestic duties and on her
+dress was the only interest of her monotonous existence. Intellectual
+intercourse with the other sex was wanting entirely. Even where
+maidens appeared in public at religious ceremonies, they acted
+separately from the youths. An intercourse of this kind, at any rate,
+could not have a lasting influence on their culture. Even marriage did
+not change this state of things. The maiden only passed from the
+gynaikonitis of her father into that of her husband. In the latter,
+however, she was the absolute ruler. She did not share the
+intellectual life of her husband--one of the fundamental conditions of
+our family life. It is true that the husband watched over her honor
+with jealousy, assisted by the gynaikonomoi, sometimes even by means
+of lock and key. It is also true that common custom protected a
+well-behaved woman against offence; still her position was only that
+of the mother of the family. Indeed, her duties and achievements were
+hardly considered by the husband, in a much higher light than those of
+a faithful domestic slave.
+
+In prehistoric times the position of women seems to have been, upon
+the whole, a more dignified one. Still, even then, their duties were
+essentially limited to the house, as is proved, for instance, by the
+words in which Telemachus bids his mother mind her spindle and loom,
+instead of interfering with the debates of men. As the state became
+more developed, it took up the whole attention of the man, and still
+more separated him from his wife. Happy marriages, of course, were by
+no means impossible; still, as a rule, the opinion prevailed of the
+woman being by nature inferior to the man, and holding a position of a
+minor with regard to civic rights. This principle has, indeed, been
+repeatedly pronounced by ancient philosophers and lawgivers. Our
+remarks hitherto referred chiefly to the Ionic-Attic tribe, renowned
+for the modesty of its women and maidens. The Doric principle,
+expressed in the constitution of Sparta, gave, on the contrary, full
+liberty to maidens to show themselves in public, and to steel their
+strength by bodily exercise. This liberty, however, was not the result
+of a philosophic idea of the equality of the two sexes, but was
+founded on the desire of producing strong children by means of
+strengthening the body of the female.
+
+The chief occupation of women, beyond the preparing of the meals,
+consisted in spinning and weaving. In Homer we see the wives of the
+nobles occupied in this way; and the custom of the women making the
+necessary articles of dress continued to prevail even when the luxury
+of later times, together with the degeneracy of the women themselves,
+had made the establishment of workshops and places of manufacture for
+this purpose necessary. Antique art has frequently treated these
+domestic occupations. The Attic divinities, Athene Ergane and
+Aphrodite Urania, as well as the Argive Here, Ilithyia, the protecting
+goddess of child-bearing, Persephone, and Artemis, all these plastic
+art represents as goddesses of fate, weaving the thread of life, and,
+at the same time, protecting female endeavors; in which two-fold
+quality they have the emblem of domestic activity, the distaff, as
+their attribute. Only a few representations of spinning goddesses now
+remain; but many are the pictures of mortal spinning-maidens painted
+on walls, chiefly for female use. For the spinning, a spindle was
+used, as is still the case in places where the northern
+spinning-wheel has not supplanted the antique custom. Homer describes
+noble ladies handling the distaff with the spindle belonging to it.
+Helen received a present of a golden spindle, with a silver basket to
+keep the thread in. The distaff, with a bundle of wool or flax
+fastened to its point, was held under the left arm, while the thumb
+and first finger of the right hand, slightly wetted, spun the thread
+at the end of which hung the spindle, made of metal. The web was, from
+the spindle, wound round a reel, to be further prepared on the loom.
+
+ [Illustration: SOCIAL ENJOYMENT OF WOMEN (_From an ancient
+ painting._)]
+
+Akin to spinning are the arts of weaving and embroidering. We
+frequently see in vase-paintings women with embroidering-frames in
+their laps. The skill of Greek ladies in embroidery is sufficiently
+proved by the tasteful embroidered patterns and borders on Greek
+dresses, both of men and women. The vase-paintings supply many
+examples.
+
+Our remarks about female duties in preparing the meal must be short.
+The heavy parts of the duty, like grinding the corn in hand-mills,
+were performed by servants. In the palace of Odysseus twelve female
+slaves were employed all day in grinding wheat and barley in an equal
+number of hand-mills, to supply the numerous guests. The hand-mill
+consisted (like those still used in some Greek islands) of two stones,
+each about two feet in diameter, the upper one of which was made to
+rotate by means of a crooked handle, so as to crush the corn poured
+through an opening in it.
+
+Baking and roasting meat on the spit were among the duties of female
+slaves. In every house of even moderate wealth, several of these were
+kept as cooks, chambermaids, and companions of the ladies on their
+walks, it being deemed improper for them to leave the house
+unaccompanied by several slaves. How far ladies took immediate part in
+the preparing of dainty dishes we can not say. In later times it
+became customary to buy or hire male slaves as cooks.
+
+Antique representations of women bathing, adorning themselves,
+playing, and dancing, are numerous. The Athenian maiden, unlike her
+Spartan sister, did not think it proper to publicly exhibit her bodily
+skill and beauty in a short chiton, but taking a bath seems to have
+been among her every-day habits as is shown by the numerous bathing
+scenes on vases. In one of them, a slave pours the contents of a
+hydria over her nude mistress. Cowering on the floor in another we see
+an undressed woman catching in her hand the water-spout issuing from a
+mask of Pan in the wall into a bath. An alabastron and comb are lying
+on the floor. A picture on an amphora in the museum of Berlin offers a
+most interesting view of the interior of a Greek bath-chamber. We see
+a bathing establishment built in the Doric style. By a row of columns
+the inner space is divided into two bath-chambers, each for two women.
+The water is most likely carried by pressure to the tops of the hollow
+columns, the communication among which is effected by means of pipes
+about six feet from the ground. The openings of the taps are formed
+into neatly modeled heads of boars, lions, and panthers, from the
+mouths of which a fine rain spray is thrown on the bathers. Their hair
+has been tightly arranged into plaits. The above-mentioned pipes were
+evidently used for hanging up the towels; perhaps they were even
+filled with hot water to warm the bathing linen. Whether our picture
+represents a public or private bath seems doubtful. The dressing after
+the bath has also been frequently depicted.
+
+We need not enter upon the subject here. We will mention the chief
+utensils, as the comb, ointment-bottle, mirror, etc., on a following
+page. The scenes thus depicted are undoubtedly borrowed from daily
+life, although Aphrodite, with her attendance of Cupids and Graces,
+has taken the place of mortal women.
+
+For music, games, and dances, we mention only a game at ball, which
+was played in a dancing measure, and, therefore, considered as a
+practice of graceful movements. Homer mentions Nausikaa as a skilled
+player of this game. It is remarkable that wherever women playing at
+ball appear in pictures they are represented in a sitting posture.
+(See cut, page 205.)
+
+The swing was essentially a female amusement. In commemoration of the
+fate of Erigone, daughter of Ikarios, a festival had been ordained at
+Athens at which the maidens indulged in the joys of the swing.
+Illustrations of this pastime occur frequently on vases, free from any
+mythological symbolism, even in cases where Eros is made to move the
+swing.
+
+We now come to the point in the maiden's life when she is to preside
+over her own household as the legitimate mate of her husband. In most
+cases Greek marriage was a matter of convenience, a man considering it
+his duty to provide for the legitimate continuation of his family. The
+Doric tribe did not attempt to disguise this principle in its
+plain-spoken laws; the rest of Greece acknowledged it but in silence,
+owing to a more refined conception of the moral significance of
+marriage.
+
+The seclusion of female life, indeed, made the question of personal
+charms appear of secondary importance. Equity of birth and wealth were
+the chief considerations. The choice of the Athenian citizen was
+limited to Athenian maidens; only in that case were the children
+entitled to full birthright, the issue of a marriage of an Athenian
+man or maiden with a stranger being considered illegitimate by the
+law. Such a marriage was, indeed, nothing but a form of concubinage.
+The laws referring to this point were, however, frequently evaded. At
+the solemn betrothal, always preceding the actual marriage, the dowry
+of the bride was settled; her position as a married woman greatly
+depended upon its value. Frequently the daughter of poor, deserving
+citizens were presented with a dowry by the state or by a number of
+citizens.
+
+In Homer's time the bridegroom wooed the bride with rich gifts;
+Iphidamas, for instance, offers a hundred heifers and a thousand goats
+as a nuptial present. But afterwards this was entirely reversed, the
+father of the bride having to provide the dowry, consisting partly in
+cash, partly in clothes, jewelry, and slaves. In cases of separation
+the dowry had, in most cases, to be returned to the wife's parents.
+The most appropriate age for contracting a marriage, Plato in his
+Republic fixes, for girls, at twenty, for men, at thirty. There was,
+however, no rule to this effect. Parents were naturally anxious to
+dispose of their daughters as early as possible, without taking
+objection to the advanced years of the wooer, as is tersely pointed
+out by Aristophanes.
+
+The actual marriage ceremony, or leading home, was preceded by
+offerings to Zeus Teleios, Hera Teleia, Artemis Eukleia and other
+deities protecting marriage. The bridal bath was the second ceremony,
+which both bride and bridegroom had to go through previous to their
+union.
+
+On the wedding day, towards dark, after the meal at her parental home
+was over,[21] the bride left the festively adorned house, and was
+conducted by the bridegroom in a chariot to his dwelling. She sat
+between the bridegroom and the best man chosen from among his
+relatives or intimate friends. Accompanied by the sounds of the
+hymenaeos, and the festive sounds of flutes and friendly acclamations
+from all passers-by, the procession moved slowly towards the
+bridegroom's house, also adorned with wreaths of foliage. The mother
+of the bride walked behind the chariot, with the wedding torches,
+kindled at the parental hearth, according to custom immemorial. At the
+door of the bridegroom his mother was awaiting the young couple with
+burning torches in her hand. In case no wedding meal had been served
+at the bride's house, the company now sat down to it. To prognosticate
+the desired fertility of the union, cakes of sesame were distributed.
+The same symbolic meaning attached to the quince, which, according to
+Solon's law, the bride had to eat. After the meal the couple retired
+to the thalamos, where for the first time the bride unveiled herself
+to her husband. Before the door of the bridal chamber epithalamia were
+sung, a charming specimen of which we possess in the bridal hymn of
+Helena by Theokritos. On the two first days after the wedding,
+wedding-presents were received by the pair. Not till after these days
+did the bride appear without her veil.
+
+Very different from the social position of chaste women was that of
+the hetairai. We are not speaking of the lowest class of unfortunates,
+worshiping Aphrodite Pandemos, but of those women who, owing to their
+beauty and grace of conversation, exerted great influence even over
+superior men. We only remind the reader of Aspasia. In the graces of
+society the hetairai were naturally superior to respectable women,
+owing to their free intercourse with men. For the hetairai did not
+shun the light of day, and were not restrained by the law. Only the
+house of the married man was closed to them.
+
+Before passing from private to public life, we must cast a glance at
+the early education of the child by the mother. We begin with the
+earliest days of infancy. After the first bath the new-born child was
+put into swaddling-clothes, a custom not permitted by the rougher
+habits of Sparta. On the fifth or seventh day the infant had to go
+through the ceremony of purification; the midwife, holding him in her
+arms, walked several times round the burning altar. A festive meal on
+this day was given to the family, the doors being decorated with an
+olive crown for a boy, with wool for a girl. On the tenth day after
+its birth, when the child was named, another feast took place. This
+ceremony implied the acknowledgment, on the part of the father, of the
+child's legitimacy. The name of the child was chosen by both parents,
+generally after the name of either of the grandparents, sometimes,
+also, after the name or attributes of a deity, under whose particular
+protection the child was thus placed. A sacrifice, offered chiefly to
+the goddess of child-bearing, Here Ilithyia, and a meal, concluded the
+ceremony. At the latter, friends and relatives presented the infant
+with toys of metal or clay, while the mother received painted vases.
+The antique cradle consisted of a flat swing of basket work, such as
+appears in a terra-cotta relief in the British Museum, of the infant
+Bacchus being carried by a satyr brandishing a thyrsus, and a
+torch-bearing bacchante. Another kind of cradle, in the form of a
+shoe, is shown containing the infant Hermes, recognizable by his
+petasos. It also is made of basket-work. The advantage of this cradle
+consists in its having handles, and, therefore, being easily portable.
+It also might be suspended on ropes, and rocked without difficulty.
+Other cradles, similar to our modern ones, belong to a later period.
+The singing of lullabies, and the rocking of children to sleep, were
+common amongst the ancients. Wet-nurses were commonly employed amongst
+Ionian tribes; wealthy Athenians chose Spartan nurses in preference,
+as being generally strong and healthy. After the child had been weaned
+it was fed by the dry nurse and the mother with pap, made chiefly of
+honey.
+
+The rattle, said to be invented by Archytas, was the first toy of the
+infant. Other toys of various kinds were partly bought, partly made by
+the children themselves on growing older. We mention painted clay
+puppets, representing human beings or animals, such as tortoises,
+hares, ducks, and mother apes with their offspring. Small stones were
+put inside, so as to produce a rattling noise; which circumstance,
+together with the fact of small figures of this kind being frequently
+found on children's graves, proves their being toys. Small wooden
+carts, houses and ships made of leather, and many other toys, made by
+the children themselves, might be instanced. Up to their sixth year
+boys and girls were brought up together under their mother's care;
+from that point their education became separate. The education proper
+of the boy became a more public one, while the girl was brought up by
+the mother at home, in a most simple way, according to their notions.
+From amongst the domestic slaves a trustworthy companion was chosen
+for the boy. He was, however, not a tutor in our sense, but rather a
+faithful servant, who had to take care of the boy in his walks,
+particularly on his way to and from school. He also had to instruct
+his pupil in certain rules of good behavior. The boy had, for
+instance, to walk in the street with his head bent, as a sign of
+modesty, and to make room for his elders meeting him. In the presence
+of the latter he had to preserve a respectful silence. Proper behavior
+at table, a graceful way of wearing his garments, etc., might be
+mentioned as kindred subjects of education. Boys were accompanied by
+pedagogues up to their sixteenth year. The latter appear frequently in
+vase-paintings, and are easily recognizable by their dress, consisting
+of chiton and cloak, with high-laced boots; they also carry sticks
+with crooked handles, and their hair and beards give them a venerable
+aspect; while their pupils, according to Athenian custom, are clad
+more lightly and gracefully. The pedagogue of the group of the
+Niobides is well known.
+
+Education was, at Athens, a matter of private enterprise. Schools were
+kept by private teachers, the government supervision extending only to
+the moral not to the scientific qualification of the schoolmaster.
+Grammar, music and gymnastics, to which Aristotle adds drawing, as a
+means of aesthetic cultivation, were the common subjects of education
+at schools and gymnasia; also reading, writing and arithmetic. The
+method of teaching how to write consisted in the master's forming the
+letters, which the pupils had to imitate on their tablets, sometimes
+with the master's assistance. The writing materials were small tablets
+covered with wax, into which the letters were scratched by means of a
+pencil made of metal or ivory. It was pointed at one end, and
+flattened or bent at the other, so as to extinguish the writing, if
+required, and, at the same time, to smooth the surface again for other
+letters. A young girl, in a charming Pompeian wall-painting, has in
+her hand a double tablet, while with her other hand she holds a pencil
+to her chin, as if pondering over a letter. Her nurse looking over her
+shoulder tries to decipher the contents of the love-letter. Besides
+these tablets, Herodotus mentions the use of paper made of the bark of
+the Egyptian papyrus-plant. The stalk (three or four feet in length)
+was cut longitudinally, after which the outer bark was first taken
+off; the remaining layers of bark, about twenty in number, were
+carefully severed with a pin; and, afterwards, the single stripes
+plaited crosswise; by means of pressing and perforating the whole with
+lime-water, the necessary consistency of the material was obtained.
+The lower layers of bark yielded the best writing-paper, while the
+outer layers were made into packing-paper (_emporetica_); the
+uppermost bark was used for making ropes. A case of this kind full of
+parchment rolls, with a cover to it, stands by the side of Klio in a
+wall-painting of Herculaneum. In her left hand the muse holds a
+half-opened roll on which are inscribed the words "Klio teaches
+history." The ink was made of a black coloring substance; it was kept
+in an inkstand made of metal, with a cover to it. Double inkstands,
+frequently seen on monuments, were most likely destined for the
+keeping of black and red inks, the latter of which was frequently
+used. To write on paper or parchment, the ancients used the Memphic,
+Gnidic, or Anaitic reeds, pointed and split like our pens. As we
+mentioned before, it was the custom of adults to write either
+reclining on the kline, with the leaf resting on the bent leg, or
+sitting in a low arm-chair, in which case the writing apparatus was
+supported by the knee of the writer. The latter posture is exemplified
+by a reading ephebos in a vase-painting; it was, undoubtedly, also
+that of the boys sitting on the rising steps used as forms at the
+schools. After his elementary education was completed, the boy was
+made acquainted with the works of national poetry, particularly with
+the poems of Homer, the learning by heart and reciting of which
+inspired him with patriotic pride.
+
+Of the marriage contracts of the Egyptians we are entirely ignorant,
+nor do we even find the ceremony represented in the paintings of their
+tombs. We may, however, conclude that they were regulated by the
+customs usual among civilized nations; and, if the authority of
+Diodorus can be credited, women were indulged with greater privileges
+in Egypt than in any other country. He even affirms that part of the
+agreement entered into at the time of marriage was, that the wife
+should have control over her husband, and that no objection should be
+made to her _commands_, whatever they might be; but, though we have
+sufficient to convince us of the superior treatment of women among the
+Egyptians, as well from ancient authors as from the sculptures that
+remain, it may fairly be doubted if those indulgences were carried to
+the extent mentioned by the historian, or that command extended beyond
+the management of the house, and the regulation of domestic affairs.
+
+It is, however, remarkable that the royal authority and supreme
+direction of affairs were entrusted without reserve to women, as in
+those states of modern Europe where the Salic law has not been
+introduced; and we not only find examples in Egyptian history of
+queens succeeding to the throne, but Manetho informs us that the law,
+according this important privilege to the other sex, dated as early as
+the reign of Binothris, the third monarch of the second dynasty.
+
+In primitive ages the duties of women were very different from those
+of later and more civilized periods, and varied of course according to
+the habits of each people. Among pastoral tribes they drew water, kept
+the sheep, and superintended the herds as well as flocks. As with the
+Arabs of the present day, they prepared both the furniture and the
+woolen stuffs of which the tents themselves were made, ground the
+corn, and performed other menial offices. They were also engaged, as
+in ancient Greece, in weaving, spinning, needlework, embroidery, and
+other sedentary occupations within doors.
+
+The Egyptian ladies in like manner employed much of their time with
+the needle; and the sculptures represent many females weaving and
+using the spindle. But they were not kept in the same secluded manner
+as those of ancient Greece, who, besides being confined to certain
+apartments in the house, most remote from the hall of entrance, and
+generally in the uppermost part of the building, were not even allowed
+to go out of doors without a veil, as in many Oriental countries at
+the present day.
+
+The Egyptians treated their women very differently, as the accounts of
+ancient authors and the sculptures sufficiently prove. At some of the
+public festivals women were expected to attend--not alone, like the
+Moslem women at a mosque, but in company with their husbands or
+relations; and Josephus states that on an occasion of this kind, "when
+it was the custom for women to go to the public solemnity, the wife of
+Potiphar, having pleaded ill health in order to be allowed to stay at
+home, was excused from attending," and availed herself of the absence
+of her husband to talk with Joseph.
+
+That it was the custom of the Egyptians to have only one wife, is
+shown by Herodotus and the monuments, which present so many scenes
+illustrative of their domestic life; and Diodorus is wrong in
+supposing that the laity were allowed to marry any number, while the
+priests were limited to one.
+
+But a very objectionable custom, which is not only noticed by
+Diodorus, but is fully authenticated by the sculptures both of Upper
+and Lower Egypt, existed among them from the earliest times, the
+origin and policy of which it is not easy to explain--the marriage of
+brother and sister--which Diodorus supposes to have been owing to, and
+sanctioned by, that of Isis and Osiris; but as this was purely an
+allegorical fable, and these ideal personages never lived on earth,
+his conjecture is of little weight; nor does any ancient writer offer
+a satisfactory explanation of so strange a custom.
+
+Though the Egyptians confined themselves to one wife, they, like the
+Jews and other Eastern nations, both of ancient and modern times,
+scrupled not to admit other inmates to their _hareem_, most of whom
+appear to have been foreigners, either taken in war, or brought to
+Egypt to be sold as slaves. They became members of the family, like
+those in Moslem countries at the present day, and not only ranked next
+to the wives and children of their lord, but probably enjoyed a share
+of the property at his death.
+
+These women were white or black slaves, according to the countries
+from which they were brought; but, generally speaking, the latter were
+employed merely as domestics, who were required to wait upon their
+mistress and her female friends. The former, likewise, officiated as
+servants, though they of course held a rank above the black slaves.
+
+The same custom prevailed among the Egyptians regarding children, as
+with the Moslems and other Eastern people; no distinction being made
+between their offspring by a wife or any other woman, and all equally
+enjoying the rights of inheritance; for, since they considered a child
+indebted to the father for its existence, it seemed unjust to deny
+equal rights to all his progeny.
+
+In speaking of the duties of children in Egypt, Herodotus declares,
+that if a son was unwilling to maintain his parents he was at liberty
+to refuse, but that a daughter, on the contrary, was compelled to
+assist them, and, on refusal, was amenable to law. But we may question
+the truth of this statement; and, drawing an inference from the
+marked severity of filial duties among the Egyptians, some of which we
+find distinctly alluded to in the sculptures of Thebes, we may
+conclude that in Egypt much more was expected from a son than in any
+civilized nation of the present day; and this was not confined to the
+lower orders, but extended to those of the highest ranks of society.
+And if the office of fan-bearer was an honorable post, and the sons of
+the monarch were preferred to fulfill it, no ordinary show of humility
+was required on their part; and they walked on foot behind his
+chariot, bearing certain insignia over their father during the
+triumphal processions which took place in commemoration of his
+victories, and in the religious ceremonies over which he presided.
+
+It was equally a custom in the early times of European history, that a
+son should pay a marked deference to his parent; and no prince was
+allowed to sit at table with his father, unless through his valor,
+having been invested with arms by a foreign sovereign, he had obtained
+that privilege; as was the case with Alboin, before he succeeded his
+father on the throne of the Lombards. The European nations were not
+long in altering their early habits, and this custom soon became
+disregarded; but a respect for ancient institutions, and those ideas,
+so prevalent in the East, which reject all love of change, prevented
+the Egyptians from discarding the usages of their ancestors; and we
+find this and many other primitive customs retained, even at the
+period when they were most highly civilized.
+
+In the education of youth they were particularly strict; and "they
+knew," says Plato, "that children ought to be early accustomed to such
+gestures, looks, and motions as are decent and proper, and not to be
+suffered either to hear or learn any verses and songs, than those
+which are calculated to inspire them with virtue; and they
+consequently took care that every dance and ode introduced at their
+feasts or sacrifices should be subject to certain regulations."
+
+They particularly inculcated respect for old age; and the fact of this
+being required even towards strangers, argues a great regard for the
+person of a parent; for we are informed that, like the Israelites and
+the Lacedaemonians, they required every young man to give place to his
+superiors in years, and even, if seated, to rise on their approach.
+
+Nor were these honors limited to their lifetime; the memory of parents
+and ancestors was revered through succeeding generations; their tombs
+were maintained with the greatest respect; liturgies were performed by
+their children, or by priests at their expense; and we have previously
+seen what advantage was taken of this feeling, in the laws concerning
+debt.
+
+"For of all people" says Diodorus, "the Egyptians retain the highest
+sense of a favor conferred upon them, deeming it the greatest charm of
+life to make a suitable return for benefits they have received;" and
+from the high estimation in which the feeling of gratitude was held
+among them, even strangers felt a reverence for the character of the
+Egyptians.
+
+Through this impulse, they were induced to solemnize the funeral
+obsequies of their kings with the enthusiasm described by the
+historian; and to this he partly attributes the unexampled duration of
+the Egyptian monarchy.
+
+It is only doing justice to the modern Egyptians to say that gratitude
+is still a distinguishing trait of their character; and this is one of
+the many qualities inherited by them, for which their predecessors
+were remarkable; confirming what we have before stated, that the
+general peculiarities of a people are retained, though a country may
+be conquered, and nominally peopled by a foreign race.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+DRESS, TOILET AND JEWELRY.
+
+We now come to the dress of the Ancients. We shall have to consider
+those articles of dress used as a protection against the weather, and
+those prescribed by decency or fashion, also the coverings of the head
+and the feet, the arrangement of the hair and the ornaments.
+Unfortunately, the terminology is, in many cases, uncertain. Many
+points, therefore, must remain undecided. Before entering upon
+details, we must remark that the dress of the Greeks, compared with
+modern fashion, was extremely simple and natural. Owing to the warmth
+of the climate and the taste of the inhabitants, both superfluous and
+tight articles of dress were dispensed with. Moreover, the body was
+allowed to develop its natural beauty in vigorous exercise; and in
+this harmony and beauty of the limbs the Greeks prided themselves,
+which, of course, reacted favorably on the character of the dress.
+
+Identical with this in form is the chiton worn by Doric women. It was
+simple, short-skirted, and with a slit in the upper part at both
+sides. It was fastened with clasps over both shoulders, and shortened
+as far as the knees by means of pulling it through the girdle. In this
+form it is worn by two maidens in the Louvre, destined for the service
+of the Lakonian Artemis at Karyae. They carry kinds of baskets on their
+heads, and are performing the festive dance in honor of the goddess.
+The exomis is worn by the female statue in the Vatican known as the
+"Springing Amazon," and also by statues of Artemis, and
+representations of that goddess on gems and coins. The long chiton for
+women reaching down to the feet, and only a little pulled up at the
+girdle, we see in a vase painting, representing dancing youths and
+maidens, the former wearing the short, the latter the long, chiton. A
+development of the long chiton is the double-chiton. It was a very
+large, oblong piece of woven cloth, left open on one side, like the
+Doric chiton for men. It was equal to about one and a half lengths of
+the body. The overhanging part of the cloth was folded round the chest
+and back, from the neck downwards, the upper edge being arranged round
+the neck, and the two open corners clasped together on one shoulder.
+On this open side, therefore, the naked body was visible. Over the
+other shoulder the upper edge of the chiton was also fastened with a
+clasp--these clasps, as seen in annexed cuts, were elaborate
+ornaments, some being richly bejeweled, others being made of wrought
+gold--the arm being put through the opening left between this clasp
+and the corresponding corner of the cloth.
+
+ [Illustration: GOLD PINS.]
+
+ [Illustration: SHAWL OR TOGA PIN.]
+
+In the same way was arranged the half-open chiton, the open side of
+which, from the girdle to the lower hem, was sewed up. A bronze
+statuette illustrates this way of putting it on. A young girl is about
+to join together on her left shoulder the chiton, which is fastened
+over the right shoulder by means of an agraffe. It appears clearly
+that the whole chiton consists of one piece. Together with the open
+and half-open kinds of the chiton, we also find the closed
+double-chiton flowing down to the feet. It was a piece of cloth
+considerably longer than the human body, and closed on both sides,
+inside of which the person putting it on stood as in a cylinder. As
+in the chiton of the second form, the overhanging part of the cloth
+was turned outward, and the folded rim pulled up as far as the
+shoulders, across which (first on the right, and after it on the left
+side) the front and back parts were fastened together by means of
+clasps, the arms being put through the two openings affected in this
+manner. Round the hips the chiton was fastened by means of a girdle,
+through which the bottom part of the dress trailing along the ground
+was pulled up just far enough to let the toes be visible. Above the
+girdle the chiton was arranged in shorter or longer picturesque folds.
+The chief alterations of varying fashion applied to the arrangement of
+the diploidion which reached either to the part under the bosom or was
+prolonged as far as the hips; its front and back parts might either be
+clasped together across the shoulders, or the two rims might be pulled
+across the upper arm as far as the elbow, and fastened in several
+places by means of buttons or agraffes, so that the naked arm became
+visible in the intervals, by means of which the sleeveless chiton
+received the appearance of one with sleeves. Where the diploidion was
+detached from the chiton, it formed a kind of handsome cape, which,
+however, in its shape, strictly resembled the Diploidion proper. Its
+shape was considerably modified by fashion, taking sometimes the form
+of a close-fitting jacket, at others (when the sides remained open)
+that of a kind of shawl, the ends of which sometimes equaled in length
+the chiton itself. In the latter case, the ampechonion was naturally
+at least three times as long as it was wide. In antique pictures women
+sometimes wear a second shorter chiton over the other. A great many
+varieties of dress, more distinguishable in the vase-paintings,
+representing realistic scenes, than in the ideal costumes of
+sculptural types, we must omit, particularly as, in most cases, they
+may be reduced to the described general principles.
+
+ [Illustration: PEARL SET PINS.]
+
+From the chiton we now pass to the articles of dress of the nature of
+cloaks. They also show throughout an oblong form, differing in this
+essentially from the Roman toga. It, belonging to this class, was
+arranged so that the one corner was thrown over the left shoulder in
+front, so as to be attached to the body by means of the left arm. On
+the back the dress was pulled toward the right side so as to cover it
+completely up to the right shoulder, or, at least, to the armpit, in
+which latter case the right shoulder remained uncovered. Finally, the
+himation was again thrown over the left shoulder, so that the ends
+fell over the back.
+
+Concerning the materials of the described garments, we have mentioned
+before that linen was used principally by the Ionians, wool by the
+Dorians; the latter material in the course of time became the rule for
+male garments all over Greece. The change of seasons naturally
+required a corresponding modification in the thickness of these woolen
+garments; accordingly we notice the difference between summer and
+winter dresses. For women's dresses, besides sheep's wool and linen,
+byssos, most likely a kind of cotton, was commonly used. Something
+like the byssos, but much finer, was the material of which the
+celebrated transparent dresses were woven in the Isle of Amorgos; they
+consisted of the fibre of a fine sort of flax, undoubtedly resembling
+our muslins and cambrics. The introduction of silk into Greece is of
+later date, while in Asia it was known at a very early period. From
+the interior of Asia the silk was imported into Greece, partly in its
+raw state, partly worked into dresses. Ready made dresses of this kind
+differed greatly from the dresses made in Greece of the imported raw
+silk. The Isle of Kos was the first seat of silk manufacture, where
+silk dresses were produced rivaling in transparency the
+above-mentioned. These diaphanous dresses, clinging close to the body,
+and allowing the color of the skin and the veins to be seen, have been
+frequently imitated with astonishing skill by Greek sculptors and
+painters. We only remind the reader of the beautifully modeled folds
+of the chiton covering the upper part of the body of Niobe's youngest
+daughter, in a kneeling position, who seeks shelter in the lap of her
+mother; in painting, several wall-pictures of Pompeii may be cited.
+
+The antiquated notion of white having been the universal color of
+Greek garments, a colored dress being considered immodest, has been
+refuted by Becker. It is, however, likely that, with the cloak-like
+epiblememata, white was the usual color, as is still the case amongst
+Oriental nations much exposed to the sun. Brown cloaks are, however,
+by no means unusual; neither were they amongst Greek men.
+Party-colored Oriental garments were also used, at least by the
+wealthy Greek classes, both for male and female dresses, while white
+still remained the favorite color with modest Greek women. This is
+proved, not to mention written evidence, by a number of small painted
+statuettes of burnt clay, as also by several pictures on lekythoi from
+Attic graves. The original colors of the dresses, although
+(particularly the reds) slightly altered from the burning process, may
+still be distinctly recognized.
+
+The dresses were frequently adorned with interwoven patterns, or
+attached borders and embroideries. From Babylon and Phrygia, the
+ancient seats of the weaving and embroidering arts, these crafts
+spread over the occidental world, the name "Phrygiones," used in Rome
+at a later period for artists of this kind, reminding one of this
+origin. As we learn from the monuments, the simplest border either
+woven or sewed to the dresses, consisted of one or more dark stripes,
+either parallel with the seams of the chiton, himation, and
+ampechonion, or running down to the hem of the chiton from the girdle
+at the sides or from the throat in front. The vertical ornaments
+correspond to the Roman _clavus_. Besides these ornaments in stripes,
+we also meet with others broader and more complicated; whether woven
+into, or sewed on, the dress seems doubtful. They cover the chiton
+from the hem upwards to the knee, and above the girdle up to the neck,
+as is seen in the chiton worn by the spring goddess Opora, in a
+vase-painting. The whole chiton is sometimes covered with star or dice
+patterns, particularly on vases of the archaic style. The
+vase-painters of the decaying period chiefly represent Phrygian
+dresses with gold fringes and sumptuous embroideries of palmetto and
+"meandering" patterns, such as were worn by the luxurious
+South-Italian Greeks. Such a sumptuous dress is worn by Medea in a
+picture of the death of Talos on an Apulian amphora in the Jatta
+collection at Ruvo. In the same picture the chitones of Kastor and
+Polydeukes, and those of the Argonautai, are covered with palmetto
+embroideries, the edges at the bottom showing mythological scenes on
+the dark ground.
+
+ [Illustration: STONE SET BROOCHES.]
+
+In the cities Greeks walked mostly bareheaded, owing most likely to
+the more plentiful hair of southern nations, which, moreover, was
+cultivated by the Greeks with particular care. Travelers, hunters, and
+such artificers as were particularly exposed to the sun, used light
+coverings for their heads. The different forms of these may be
+classified. They were made of the skins of dogs, weasels, or cows.
+
+The hair is considered in Homer as one of the greatest signs of male
+beauty among the long-haired Achaioi; no less were the well-arranged
+locks of maidens and women praised by the tragic poets. Among the
+Spartans it became a sacred custom, derived from the laws of Lykurgos,
+to let the hair of the boy grow as soon as he reached the age of the
+ephebos, while up to that time it was cut short. This custom prevailed
+among the Spartans up to their being overpowered by the Achaic
+federation. Altogether the Dorian character did not admit of much
+attention being paid to the arrangement of the hair. Only on solemn
+occasions, for instance on the eve of the battle of Thermopylae, the
+Spartans arranged their hair with particular care.
+
+At Athens, about the time of the Persian wars, men used to wear their
+hair long, tied on to the top of the head in a knot, which was
+fastened by a hair-pin in the form of a cicada. Of this custom,
+however, the monuments offer no example. Only in the pictures of two
+Pankratiastai, on a monument dating most likely from Roman times, we
+discover an analogy to this old Attic custom. After the Persian war,
+when the dress and manners of the Ionians had undergone a change, it
+became the custom to cut off the long hair of the boys on their
+attaining the age of epheboi, and devote it as an offering to a god,
+for instance, to the Delphic Apollo or some local river-god. Attic
+citizens, however, by no means wore their hair cropped short, like
+their slaves, but used to let it grow according to their own taste or
+the common fashion. Only dandies, as, for instance, Alkibiades, let
+their hair fall down to their shoulders in long locks. Philosophers
+also occasionally attempted to revive old customs by wearing their
+hair long.
+
+The beard was carefully attended to by the Greeks. The barber's shop,
+with its talkative inmate, was not only frequented by those requiring
+the services of the barber in cutting the hair, shaving, cutting the
+nails and corns, and tearing out small hairs, but it was also, as
+Plutarch says, a symposion without wine, where political and local
+news were discussed. Alkiphron depicts a Greek barber in the following
+words: "You see how the d----d barber in yon street has treated me;
+the talker, who puts up the Brundisian looking-glass, and makes his
+knives to clash harmoniously. I went to him to be shaved; he received
+me politely, put me in a high chair, enveloped me in a clean towel,
+and stroked the razor gently down my cheek, so as to remove the thick
+hair. But this was a malicious trick of his. He did it partly, not all
+over the chin; some places he left rough, others he made smooth
+without my noticing it." After the time of Alexander the Great, a
+barber's business became lucrative, owing to the custom of wearing a
+full beard being abandoned, notwithstanding the remonstrances of
+several states.[22] In works of art, particularly in portrait statues,
+the beard is always treated as an individual characteristic. It is
+mostly arranged in graceful locks, and covers the chin, lips and
+cheeks, without a separation being made between whiskers and
+moustache. Only in archaic renderings the wedge-like beard is combed
+in long wavy lines, and the whiskers are strictly parted from the
+moustache. As an example we quote the nobly formed head of Zeus
+crowned with the stephane in the Talleyrand collection. The usual
+color of the hair being dark, fair hair was considered a great beauty.
+Homer gives yellow locks to Menelaos, Achilles, and Meleagros; and
+Euripides describes Menelaos and Dionysos as fair-haired.
+
+The head-dress of women was in simple taste. Hats were not worn, as a
+rule, because, at least in Athens, the appearance of women in the
+public street was considered improper, and therefore happened only on
+exceptional occasions. On journeys women wore a light broad-brimmed
+petasos as a protection from the sun. With a Thessalian hat of this
+kind Ismene appears in "Oedipus in Kolonos." The head-dress of
+Athenian ladies at home and in the street consisted, beyond the
+customary veil, chiefly of different contrivances for holding together
+their plentiful hair. We mentioned before, that the himation was
+sometimes pulled over the back of the head like a veil. But at a very
+early period Greek women wore much shorter or longer veils, which
+covered the face up to the eyes, and fell over the neck and back in
+large folds, so as to cover, if necessary, the whole upper part of the
+body. The care bestowed on the hair was naturally still greater
+amongst women than amongst men. Cut shows a number of heads of
+Athenian women, taken from an old painting of Pompeii. These, and the
+numerous heads represented in sculptures and gems, give an idea of the
+exquisite taste of these head-dresses. At the same time, it must be
+confessed that most modern fashions, even the ugly ones, have their
+models, if not in Greek, at least in Roman antiquity. The combing of
+the hair over the back in wavy lines was undoubtedly much in favor. A
+simple ribbon tied round the head, in that case, connected the front
+with the back hair. This arrangement we meet with in the maidens of
+the Parthenon frieze and in a bust of Niobe. On older monuments, for
+instance, in the group of the Graces on the triangular altar in the
+Louvre, the front hair is arranged in small ringlets, while the back
+hair partly falls smoothly over the neck, and partly is made into long
+curls hanging down to the shoulders. It was also not unusual to comb
+back the front hair over the temples and ears, and tie it, together
+with the back hair, into a graceful knot. Here, also, the
+above-mentioned ribbon was used. It consisted of a stripe of cloth or
+leather, frequently adorned, where it rested on the forehead, with a
+plaque of metal formed like a frontal. This stephane appears on
+monuments mostly in the hair of goddesses; the ribbon belonging to it,
+in that case, takes the form of a broad metal circle destined no more
+to hold together, but to decorate the hair. This is the case in a bust
+of Here in the Villa Ludovisi, in the statue of the same goddess in
+the Vatican, and in a statue of Aphrodite found at Capua. Besides this
+another ornamented tie of cloth or leather was used by the Greeks,
+broad in the centre and growing narrower towards both ends. Its shape
+had great similarity to the sling. It was either put with its broader
+side on the front of the head, the ends, with ribbons tied to them,
+being covered by the thick black hair, or _vice versa_; in which
+latter case the ends were tied on the forehead in an elaborate knot.
+The net, and after it the kerchief, were developed from the simple
+ribbon, in the same manner as straps on the feet gradually became
+boots.
+
+ [Illustration: HAIR-DRESS. (_From Pompeii._)]
+
+The kekryphalos proper consists of a net-like combination of ribbon
+and gold thread, thrown over the back hair to prevent it from
+dropping. The large tetradrachmai of Syrakuse, bearing the signature
+of the engraver, Kimon, show a beautiful head of Arethusa adorned
+with the kekryphalos. More frequent is the coif-like kekryphalos
+covering the whole hair, or only the back hair, and tied into a knot
+at the top.
+
+The modifications of the sakkos, and the way of its being tied, are
+chiefly illustrated by vase-paintings. At the present day the Greek
+women of Thessaly and the Isle of Chios wear a head-dress exactly
+resembling the antique sakkos. The acquaintance of the Greeks with the
+curling-iron and cosmetic mysteries, such as oil and pomatum, can be
+proved both by written evidence and pictures. It quite tallied with
+the aesthetical notions of the Greeks to shorten the forehead by
+dropping the hair over it, many examples of which, in pictures of both
+men and women, are preserved to us.
+
+We conclude our remarks about dress with the description of some
+ornaments, the specimens of which in Greek graves and in sculptural
+imitations are numerous. In Homer the wooers try to gain the favor of
+Penelope with golden breastpins, agraffes, ear-rings, and chains.
+Hephaistos is, in the same work, mentioned as the artificer of
+beautiful rings and hair-pins. The same ornaments we meet with again
+at a later period as important articles of female dress.
+
+Many preserved specimens show the great skill of Greek goldsmiths'
+breastpins. Hair-pins, in our sense, and combs for parting and holding
+up the hair were unknown to the Greeks. The double or simple comb of
+Greek ladies, made of box-wood, ivory, or metal, was used only for
+combing the hair. The back hair was prevented from dropping by means
+of long hair-pins, the heads of which frequently consisted of a
+graceful piece of sculpture. Well known are the hair-pins adorned with
+a golden cicada which, in Solon's time, were used by both Athenian men
+and women for the fastening of the krobylos.
+
+It was the custom of the Greeks to adorn their heads on festive
+occasions with wreaths and garlands. Thus adorned the bridegroom led
+home the bride. Flowers full of symbolic meaning were offered on the
+altars of the gods, and the topers at carousals were crowned with
+wreaths of myrtle, roses, and violets, the latter being the favorite
+flower with the Athenians. The flower-market of Athens was always
+supplied with garlands to twine round the head and the upper part of
+the body; for the latter also was adorned with garlands. Crowns
+consisting of other flowers, and leaves of the ivy and silver-poplar,
+are frequently mentioned. Wreaths also found a place in the serious
+business of life. They were awarded to the victors in the games; the
+archon wore a myrtle-wreath as the sign of his dignity, as did also
+the orator while speaking to the people from the tribune.
+
+The crowning with flowers was a high honor to Athenian
+citizens--awarded, for instance, to Perikles, but refused to
+Miltiades. The head and bier of the dead were also crowned with fresh
+wreaths of myrtle and ivy.
+
+The luxury of later times changed the wreaths of flowers for golden
+ones, with regard to the dead of the richer classes. Wreaths made of
+thin gold have repeatedly been found in graves. The barrows of the old
+Pantikapaion have yielded several beautiful wreaths of ivy and ears of
+corn; a gold imitation of a crown of myrtle has been found in a grave
+in Ithaka. Other specimens from Greek and Roman graves are preserved
+in our museums. A golden crown of Greek workmanship, found at Armento,
+a village of the Basilicata (at present in Munich), is particularly
+remarkable. A twig of oak forms the ground, from among the thin golden
+leaves of which spring forth asters with chalices of blue enamel,
+convolvulus, narcissus, ivy, roses, and myrtle, gracefully
+intertwined. On the upper bend of the crown is the image of a winged
+goddess, from the head of which, among pieces of grass, rises the
+slender stalk of a rose. Four naked male genii and two draped female
+ones, floating over the flowers, point towards the goddess, who stands
+on a pedestal bearing an inscription.
+
+Greek, particularly Athenian, women carried a sunshade, or employed
+slaves to hold it over them. In the Panathenaic procession even the
+daughters of metoikoi had to perform this service. Such sunshades,
+which, like our own, could be shut by means of wires, we often see
+depicted on vases and Etruscan mirrors. This form was undoubtedly the
+most common one. The cap-like sunshade painted on a skyphos, which a
+Silenus, instead of a servant, holds over a dignified lady walking in
+front of him, is undoubtedly intended as a parody, perhaps copied from
+the scene of a comedy. In vase paintings we also see frequently the
+leaf-like painted fan in the hands of women.
+
+ [Illustration: TOILET ARTICLES FOUND AT POMPEII.]
+
+The above articles were in good preservation when found. _a_, _l_,
+_n_, are hand-mirrors; _m_, is a wall-mirror; _c_, toilet-box, made of
+ivory and beautifully carved; _d_ and _k_, bronze combs; _i_, fine
+comb; _b_, ear and tooth-pick; _f_, pin-box, with glass and steel
+pins; _h_, salve-box; _g_, hair-pins made of ivory and gold; _e_, is a
+powder or paint-box.
+
+Of the secrets of Greek _toilette_ we will only disclose the fact that
+ladies knew the use of paint. The white they used consisted of
+white-lead; their reds were made either of red minium or of a root.
+This unwholesome fashion of painting was even extended to the
+eyebrows, for which black color was used, made either of pulverized
+antimony or of fine soot.
+
+The mirrors of the Greeks consisted of circular pieces of polished
+bronze, either without a handle or with one richly adorned. Frequently
+a cover, for the reflecting surface, was added. The Etruscan custom of
+engraving figures on the back of the mirror or the cover seems to have
+been rare among the Greeks, to judge, at least, from the numerous
+specimens of mirrors found in Greek graves. Characteristic of these
+are, on the other hand, the tasteful handles, representing mostly
+Aphrodite, as in a manner the ideal of a beautifully adorned woman.
+These hand-mirrors frequently occur in vase paintings, particularly in
+those containing bathing utensils.
+
+The carrying of a stick seems to have been a common custom. It is
+mostly of great length, with a crutched handle; young Athenian dandies
+may have used shorter walking-sticks. The first-mentioned sticks seem
+to have been used principally for leaning upon in standing still, as
+is indicated by frequent representations in pictures.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS; CONTRACTS, DEEDS, ETC.
+
+Truth or justice was thought to be the main cardinal virtue among the
+Egyptians, inasmuch as it relates more particularly to others;
+prudence, temperance, and fortitude being relative qualities, and
+tending chiefly to the immediate benefit of the individual who
+possesses them. It was, therefore, with great earnestness that they
+inculcated the necessity of fully appreciating it; and falsehood was
+not only considered disgraceful, but when it entailed an injury on any
+other person was punishable by law.
+
+A calumniator of the dead was condemned to a severe punishment; and a
+false accuser was doomed to the same sentence which would have been
+awarded to the accused, if the offense had been proved against him;
+but to maintain a falsehood by an oath was deemed the blackest crime,
+and one which, from its complicated nature, could be punished by
+nothing short of death. For they considered that it involved two
+distinct crimes--a contempt for the gods, and a violation of faith
+towards man; the former the direct promoter of every sin, the latter
+destructive of all those ties which are most essential for the welfare
+of society.
+
+The willful murder of a freeman, or even of a _slave_, was punished
+with death, from the conviction that men ought to be restrained from
+the commission of sin, not on account of any distinction of station in
+life, but from the light in which they viewed the crime itself; while
+at the same time it had the effect of showing that if the murder of a
+slave was deemed an offense deserving of so severe a punishment, they
+ought still more to shrink from the murder of one who was a compatriot
+and a free-born citizen.
+
+In this law we observe a scrupulous regard to justice and humanity,
+and have an unquestionable proof of the great advancement made by the
+Egyptians in the most essential points of civilization. Indeed, the
+Egyptians considered it so heinous a crime to deprive a man of life,
+that to be the accidental witness of an attempt to murder, without
+endeavoring to prevent it, was a capital offense, which could only be
+palliated by bringing proofs of inability to act.
+
+With the same spirit they decided that to be present when any one
+inflicted a personal injury on another, without interfering, was
+tantamount to being a party, and was punishable according to the
+extent of the assault; and every one who witnessed a robbery was bound
+either to arrest, or, if that was out of his power, to lay an
+information, and to prosecute the offenders; and any neglect on this
+score being proved against him, the delinquent was condemned to
+receive a stated number of stripes, and to be kept without food for
+three whole days.
+
+Although, in the case of murder, the Egyptian law was inexorable and
+severe, the royal prerogative might be exerted in favor of a culprit,
+and the punishment was sometimes commuted by a mandate from the king.
+
+Sabaco, indeed, during the fifty years of his reign, "made it a rule
+not to punish his subjects with death," whether guilty of murder or
+any other capital offence, but, "according to the magnitude of their
+crimes, he condemned the culprits to raise the ground about the town
+to which they belonged. By these means the situation of the different
+cities became greatly elevated above the reach of the inundation, even
+more than in the time of Sesostris;" and either on account of a
+greater proportion of criminals, or from some other cause, the mounds
+of Bubastis were raised considerably higher than those of any other
+city.
+
+The same laws that forbade a master to punish a slave with death took
+from a father every right over the life of his offspring; and the
+Egyptians deemed the murder of a child an odious crime, that called
+for the direct interposition of justice. They did not, however, punish
+it as a capital offence, since it appeared inconsistent to take away
+life from one who had given it to the child, but preferred inflicting
+such a punishment as would induce grief and repentance. With this view
+they ordained that the corpse of the deceased should be fastened to
+the neck of its parent, and that he should be obliged to pass three
+whole days and nights in its embrace, under the surveillance of a
+public guard.
+
+But parricide was visited with the most cruel of chastisements; and
+conceiving, as they did, that the murder of a parent was the most
+unnatural of crimes, they endeavored to prevent its occurrence by the
+marked severity with which it was avenged. The criminal was,
+therefore, sentenced to be lacerated with sharpened reeds, and, after
+being thrown on thorns, he was burned to death.
+
+When a woman was guilty of a capital offence, and judgment had been
+passed upon her, they were particularly careful to ascertain if the
+condemned was in a state of pregnancy; in which case her punishment
+was deferred till after the birth of the child, in order that the
+innocent might not suffer with the guilty, and thus the father be
+deprived of that child to which he had at least an equal right.
+
+But some of their laws regarding the female sex were cruel and
+unjustifiable; and even if, which is highly improbable, they succeeded
+by their severity in enforcing chastity, and in putting an effectual
+stop to crime, yet the punishment rather reminds us of the laws of a
+barbarous people than of a wise and civilized state. A woman who had
+committed adultery was sentenced to lose her nose, upon the principle
+that, being the most conspicuous feature, and the chief, or, at least,
+an indispensable, ornament of the face, its loss would be most
+severely felt, and be the greatest detriment to her personal charms;
+and the man was condemned to receive a bastinado of one thousand
+blows. But if it was proved that force had been used against a free
+woman, he was doomed to a cruel mutilation.
+
+The object of the Egyptian laws was to preserve life, and to reclaim
+an offender. Death took away every chance of repentance, it deprived
+the country of his services, and he was hurried out of the world when
+least prepared to meet the ordeal of a future state. They, therefore,
+preferred severe punishments, and, except in the case of murder, and
+some crimes which appeared highly injurious to the community, it was
+deemed unnecessary to sacrifice the life of an offender.
+
+In military as well as civil cases, minor offences were generally
+punished with the stick; a mode of chastisement still greatly in vogue
+among the modern inhabitants of the valley of the Nile, and held in
+such esteem by them, that convinced of (or perhaps by) its efficacy,
+they relate "its descent from heaven as a blessing to mankind."
+
+If an Egyptian of the present day has a government debt or tax to pay,
+he stoutly persists in his inability to obtain the money, till he has
+withstood a certain number of blows, and considers himself compelled
+to produce it; and the ancient inhabitants, if not under the rule of
+their native princes, at least in the time of the Roman emperors,
+gloried equally in the obstinacy they evinced, and the difficulty the
+governors of the country experienced in extorting from them what they
+were bound to pay; whence Ammianus Marcellinus tells us, "an Egyptian
+blushes if he can not show numerous marks on his body that evince his
+endeavors to evade the duties."
+
+The bastinado was inflicted on both sexes, as with the Jews. Men and
+boys were laid prostrate on the ground, and frequently held by the
+hands and feet while the chastisement was administered; but women, as
+they sat, received the stripes on their back, which was also inflicted
+by the hand of a man. Nor was it unusual for the superintendents to
+stimulate laborers to their work by the persuasive powers of the
+stick, whether engaged in the field or in handicraft employments; and
+boys were sometimes beaten without the ceremony of prostration, the
+hands being tied behind their back while the punishment was applied.
+
+The character of some of the Egyptian laws was quite consonant with
+the notions of a primitive age. The punishment was directed more
+particularly against the offending member; and adulterators of money,
+falsifiers of weights and measures, forgers of seals or signatures,
+and scribes who altered any signed document by erasures or additions,
+without the authority of the parties, were condemned to lose both
+their hands.
+
+But their laws do not seem to have sanctioned the gibbet, or the
+exposure of the body of an offender; for the conduct of Rhampsinitus,
+in the case of the robbery of his treasure, is mentioned by Herodotus
+as a singular mode of discovering an accomplice, and not as an
+ordinary punishment; if, indeed, the whole story be not the invention
+of a Greek _cicerone_.
+
+Thefts, breach of trust, and petty frauds were punished with the
+bastinado; but robbery and house-breaking were sometimes considered
+capital crimes, and deserving of death; as is evident from the conduct
+of the thief when caught by the trap in the treasury of Rhampsinitus,
+and from what Diodorus states respecting Actisanes.
+
+This monarch, instead of putting robbers to death, instituted a novel
+mode of punishing them, by cutting off their noses and banishing them
+to the confines of the desert, where a town was built, called
+Rhinocolura, from the peculiar nature of their punishment; and thus,
+by removing the bad, and preventing their corrupting the good, he
+benefited society, without depriving the criminals of life; at the
+same time that he punished them severely for their crimes, by
+obliging them to live by their labors, and derive a precarious
+sustenance from quails, or whatever they could catch, in that barren
+region. Commutation of punishment was the foundation of this part of
+the convict system of Egypt, and Rhinocolura was their Norfolk Island,
+where a sea of sand separated the worst felons from those guilty of
+smaller crimes; who were transported to the mines in the desert, and
+condemned to work for various terms, according to their offence.
+
+The Egyptians had a singular custom respecting theft and burglary.
+Those who followed the _profession_ of thief gave in their names to
+the chief of the robbers; and agreed that he should be informed of
+every thing they might thenceforward steal, the moment it was in their
+possession. In consequence of this the owner of the lost goods always
+applied by letter to the chief for their recovery; and having stated
+their quality and quantity, the day and hour when they were stolen,
+and other requisite particulars, the goods were identified, and, on
+payment of one quarter of their value, they were restored to the
+applicant in the same state as when taken from his house.
+
+For being fully persuaded of the impracticability of putting an entire
+check to robbery, either by the dread of punishment, or by any method
+that could be adopted by the most vigilant police, they considered it
+more for the advantage of the community that a certain sacrifice
+should be made in order to secure the restitution of the remainder,
+than that the law, by taking on itself to protect the citizen, and
+discover the offender, should be the indirect cause of greater loss.
+
+And that the Egyptians, like the Indians, and we may say the modern
+inhabitants of the Nile, were very expert in the art of stealing, we
+have abundant testimony from ancient authors.
+
+It may be asked, what redress could be obtained, if goods were stolen
+by thieves who failed to enter their names on the books of the chief;
+but it is evident that there could be few of those private
+speculators, since by their interfering with the interests of all the
+_profession_, the detection of such egotistical persons would have
+been certain; and thus all others were effectually prevented from
+robbing, save those of the privileged class.
+
+The salary of the chief was not merely derived from his own demands
+upon the goods stolen, or from any voluntary contribution of the
+robbers themselves, but was probably a fixed remuneration granted by
+the government, as one of the chiefs of the police; nor is it to be
+supposed that he was any other than a respectable citizen, and a man
+of integrity and honor. The same may be said of the modern "_shekh_ of
+the thieves," at Cairo, where this very ancient office is still
+retained.
+
+The great confidence reposed in the public weighers rendered it
+necessary to enact suitable laws in order to bind them to their duty;
+and considering how much public property was at their mercy, and how
+easily bribes might be taken from a dishonest tradesman, the Egyptians
+inflicted a severe punishment as well on the weighers as on the
+shopkeepers, who were found to have false weights and measures, or to
+have defrauded the customer in any other way; and these, as well as
+the scribes who kept false accounts, were punished (as before stated)
+with the loss of both their hands; on the principle, says Diodorus,
+that the offending member should suffer; while the culprit was
+severely punished, that others might be deterred from the commission
+of a similar offence.
+
+As in other countries, their laws respecting debt and usury underwent
+some changes, according as society advanced, and as pecuniary
+transactions became more complicated.
+
+Bocchoris (who reigned in Egypt about the year 800 B.C., and who, from
+his learning, obtained the surname of Wise), finding that in cases of
+debt many causes of dispute had arisen, and instances of great
+oppression were of frequent occurrence, enacted, that no agreement
+should be binding unless it were acknowledged by a written contract;
+and if any one took oath that the money had not been lent him, that no
+debt should be recognized, and the claims of the suing party should
+immediately cease. This was done, that great regard might always be
+had for the name and nature of an oath, at the same time that, by
+substituting the unquestionable proof of a written document, the
+necessity of having frequent recourse to an oath was avoided, and its
+sanctity was not diminished by constant repetition.
+
+Usury was in all cases condemned by the Egyptian legislature; and when
+money was borrowed, even with a written agreement, it was forbidden to
+allow the interest to increase to more than double the original sum.
+Nor could the creditors seize the debtor's person: their claims and
+right were confined to the goods in his possession, and such as were
+really his own; which were comprehended under the produce of his
+labor, or what he had received from another individual to whom they
+lawfully belonged. For the person of every citizen was looked upon as
+the property of the state, and might be required for some public
+service, connected either with war or peace; and, independent of the
+injustice of subjecting any one to the momentary caprice of his
+creditor, the safety of the country might be endangered through the
+avarice of a few interested individuals.
+
+This law, which was borrowed by Solon from the Egyptian code, existed
+also at Athens; and was, as Diodorus observes, much more consistent
+with justice and common sense than that which allowed the creditor to
+seize the person, while it forbade him to take the plows and other
+implements of industry. For if, continues the historian, it is unjust
+thus to deprive men of the means of obtaining subsistence, and of
+providing for their families, how much more unreasonable must it be to
+imprison those by whom the implements were used!
+
+To prevent the accumulation of debt, and to protect the interests of
+the creditor, another remarkable law was enacted by Asychis, which,
+while it shows how greatly they endeavored to check the increasing
+evil, proves the high respect paid by the Egyptians to the memory of
+their parents, and to the sanctity of their religious ceremonies. By
+this it was pronounced illegal for any one to borrow money without
+giving in pledge the body of his father, or the tomb of his ancestors;
+and, if he failed to redeem so sacred a deposit, he was considered
+infamous; and, at his death, the celebration of the accustomed funeral
+obsequies was denied him, and he could not enjoy the right of burial
+either in that tomb or in any other place of sepulture; nor could he
+inter his children, or any of his family, as long as the debt was
+unpaid, the creditor being put in actual possession of the family
+tomb.
+
+In the large cities of Egypt, a fondness for display, and the usual
+allurements of luxury, were rapidly introduced; and considerable sums
+were expended in furnishing houses, and in many artificial caprices.
+Rich jewels and costly works of art were in great request, as well
+among the inhabitants of the provincial capitals, as at Thebes and
+Memphis; they delighted in splendid equipages, elegant and commodious
+boats, numerous attendants, horses, dogs, and other requisites for the
+chase; and, besides, their houses, their villas and their gardens,
+were laid out with no ordinary expense. But while the funds arising
+from extensive farms, and the abundant produce of a fertile soil,
+enabled the rich to indulge extravagant habits, many of the less
+wealthy envied the enjoyment of those luxuries which fortune had
+denied to them; and, prompted by vanity, and a silly desire of
+imitation, so common in civilized communities, they pursued a career
+which speedily led to the accumulation of debt, and demanded the
+interference of the legislature; and it is probable that a law, so
+severe as this must have appeared to the Egyptians, was only adopted
+as a measure of absolute necessity, in order to put a check to the
+increasing evil.
+
+The necessary expenses of the Egyptians were remarkably small, less,
+indeed, than of any people; and the food of the poorer classes was of
+the cheapest and most simple kind. Owing to the warmth of the climate,
+they required few clothes, and young children were in the habit of
+going without shoes, and with little or no covering to their bodies.
+It was, therefore, luxury, and the increasing wants of an artificial
+kind, which corrupted the manners of the Egyptians, and rendered such
+a law necessary for their restraint; and we may conclude that it was
+mainly directed against those who contracted debts for the
+gratification of pleasure, or with the premeditated intent of
+defrauding an unsuspecting creditor.
+
+In the mode of executing deeds, conveyances, and other civil
+contracts, the Egyptians were peculiarly circumstantial and minute;
+and the great number of witnesses is a singular feature in those
+documents. In the time of the Ptolemies, sales of property commenced
+with a preamble, containing the date of the king in whose reign they
+were executed; the name of the president of the court, and of the
+clerk by whom they were written, being also specified. The body of the
+contract then followed.
+
+It stated the name of the individual who sold the land, the
+description of his person, an account of his parentage, profession,
+and place of abode, the extent and nature of the land, its situation
+and boundaries, and concluded with the name of the purchaser, whose
+parentage and description were also added, and the sum for which it
+was bought. The seller then vouched for his undisturbed possession of
+it; and, becoming security against any attempt to dispute his title,
+the name of the other party was inserted as having accepted it, and
+acknowledged the purchase. The names of witnesses were then affixed;
+and, the president of the court having added his signature, the deed
+was valid. Sometimes the seller formally recognized the sale in the
+following manner:
+
+"All these things have I sold thee: they are thine, I have received
+their price from thee, and will make no demand upon thee for them from
+this day; and if any person disturb thee in the possession of them, I
+will withstand the attempt; and, if I do not otherwise repel it, I
+will use compulsory means, or, I will indemnify thee."
+
+But, in order to give a more accurate notion of the form of these
+contracts, we shall introduce a copy of the whole of one of them, as
+given by Dr. Young, and refer the reader to others occurring in the
+same work. "Translation of the enchorial papyrus of Paris, containing
+the original deed relating to the mummies:--'This writing dated in the
+year 36, Athyr 20, in the reign of our sovereigns Ptolemy and
+Cleopatra his sister, the children of Ptolemy and Cleopatra the
+divine, the gods Illustrious: and the priest of Alexander, and of the
+Saviour gods, of the Brother gods, of the Beneficent gods, of the
+Father-loving gods, of the Illustrious gods, of the Paternal god, and
+of the Mother-loving gods, being (as by law appointed): and the
+prize-bearer of Berenice the Beneficent, and the basket-bearer of
+Arsinoe the Brother-loving, and the priestess of Arsinoe the
+Father-loving, being as appointed in the metropolis (of Alexandria);
+and in (Ptolemais) the royal city of the Thebaid? the guardian priest
+for the year? of Ptolemy Soter, and the priest of king Ptolemy the
+Father-loving, and the priest of Ptolemy the Brother-loving, and the
+priest of Ptolemy the Beneficent, and the priest of Ptolemy the
+Mother-loving; and the priestess of queen Cleopatra, and the priestess
+of the princess Cleopatra, and the priestess of Cleopatra, the (queen)
+mother, deceased, the Illustrious; and the basket-bearer of Arsinoe
+the Brother-loving (being as appointed): declares: The Dresser? in the
+temple of the Goddess Onnophris, the son of Horus, and of Senpoeris,
+daughter of Spotus? ("aged about forty, lively,") tall ("of a sallow
+complexion, hollow-eyed, and bald"); in the temple of the goddess to
+(Horus) his brother? the son of Horus and of Senpoeris, has sold, for
+a price in money, half of one-third of the collections for the dead
+"priests of Osiris?" lying in Thynabunum ... in the Libyan suburbs of
+Thebes, in the Memnonia ... likewise half of one-third of the
+liturgies: their names being, Muthes, the son of Spotus, with his
+children and his household; Chapocrates, the son of Nechthmonthes,
+with his children and his household; Arsiesis, the son of
+Nechthmonthes, with his children and his household; Petemestus, the
+son of Nechthmonthes; Arsiesis, the son of Zminis, with his children
+and his household; Osoroeris, the son of Horus, with his children and
+his household; Spotus, the son of Chapochonsis, surnamed? Zoglyphus
+(the sculptor), with his children and his household; while there
+belonged also to Asos, the son of Horus and of Senpoeris, daughter of
+Spotus? in the same manner one-half of a third of the collections for
+the dead, and of the fruits and so forth ... he sold it on the 20th of
+Athyr, in the reign of the King ever-living, to (complete) the third
+part: likewise the half of one-third of the collections relating to
+Peteutemis, with his household, and ... likewise the half of
+one-third? of the collections and fruits for Petechonsis, the bearer
+of milk, and of the ... place on the Asian side, called Phrecages, and
+... the dead bodies in it: there having belonged to Asos, the son of
+Horus, one-half of the same: he has sold to him in the month of ...
+the half of one-third of the collections for the priests of Osiris?
+lying in Thynabunum, with their children and their households:
+likewise the half of one-third of the collections for Peteutemis, and
+also for Petechonsis, the bearer of milk, in the place Phrecages on
+the Asian side: I have received for them their price in silver ... and
+gold; and I make no further demand on thee for them from the present
+day ... before the authorities ... (and if any one shall disturb thee
+in the possession of them, I will resist him, and, if I do not
+succeed, I will indemnify thee?).... Executed and confirmed. Written
+by Horus, the son of Phabis, clerk to the chief priests of
+Amonrasonther, and of the contemplar? Gods, of the Beneficent gods, of
+the Father-loving gods, of the Paternal god, and of the Mother-loving
+gods. Amen.
+
+"'Names of the witnesses present:
+ ERIEUS, the son of Phanres Erieus.
+ PETEARTRES, the son of Peteutemis.
+ PETEARPOCRATES, the son of Horus.
+ SNACHOMNEUS, the son of Peteuris.
+ SNACHOMES, the son of Psenchonsis.
+ TOTOES, the son of Phibis.
+ PORTIS, the son of Appollonius.
+ ZMINIS, the son of Petemestus.
+ PETEUTEMIS, the son of Arsiesis.
+ AMONORYTIUS, the son of Pacemis.
+ HORUS, the son of Chimnaraus.
+ ARMENIS (rather Arbais), the son of Zthenaetis.
+ MAESIS, the son of Mirsis.
+ ANTIMACHUS, the son of Antigenes.
+ PETOPHOIS, the son of Phibis.
+ PANAS, the son of Petosiris.'"
+
+In this, as in many other documents, the testimony required is very
+remarkable, sixteen witnesses being thought necessary for the sale of
+a moiety of the sums collected on account of a few tombs, and for
+services performed to the dead, the total value of which was only 400
+pieces of brass; and the name of each person is introduced, in the
+true Oriental style, with that of his father. Nor is it unreasonable
+to suppose that the same precautions and minute formulas were observed
+in similar transactions during the reigns of the Pharaonic kings,
+however great may have been the change introduced by the Ptolemies and
+Romans into the laws and local government of Egypt.
+
+The Egyptians paid great attention to health, and "so wisely," says
+Herodotus, "was medicine managed by them, that no doctor was permitted
+to practice any but his own peculiar branch. Some were oculists, who
+only studied diseases of the eye; others attended solely to
+complaints of the head; others to those of the teeth; some again
+confined themselves to complaints of the intestines; and others to
+secret and internal maladies; accoucheurs being usually, if not
+always, women." And it is a singular fact, that their dentists adopted
+a method, not very long practiced in Europe, of stopping teeth with
+gold, proofs of which have been obtained from some mummies of Thebes.
+
+They received certain salaries from the public treasury; and after
+they had studied those precepts which had been laid down from the
+experience of their predecessors, they were permitted to practice;
+and, in order to prevent dangerous experiments being made upon
+patients, they might be punished if their treatment was contrary to
+the established system; and the death of a person entrusted to their
+care, under such circumstances, was adjudged to them as a capital
+offence.
+
+If, however, every remedy had been administered according to the
+sanitary law, they were absolved from blame; and if the patient was
+not better, the physician was allowed to alter the treatment after the
+third day, or even before, if he took upon himself the responsibility.
+
+Though paid by Government as a body, it was not illegal to receive
+fees for their advice and attendance; and demands could be made in
+every instance except on a foreign journey, and on military service;
+when patients were visited free of expense.
+
+The principal mode adopted by the Egyptians for preventing illness was
+attention to regimen and diet; "being persuaded that the majority of
+diseases proceed from indigestion and excess of eating;" and they had
+frequent recourse to abstinence, emetics, slight doses of medicine,
+and other simple means of relieving the system, which some persons
+were in the habit of repeating every two or three days.
+
+ [Illustration: WREATH OF OAK. (_Life Saving._)]
+
+"Those who lived in the corn country," as Herodotus terms it, were
+particular for their attention to health. "During three successive
+days, every month, they submitted to a regular course of treatment;
+from the conviction that illness was wont to proceed from some
+irregularity in diet;" and if preventives were ineffectual they had
+recourse to suitable remedies, adopting a mode of treatment very
+similar to that mentioned by Diodorus.
+
+The employment of numerous drugs in Egypt has been mentioned by sacred
+and profane writers; and the medicinal properties of many herbs which
+grow in the deserts, particularly between the Nile and Red Sea, are
+still known to the Arabs; though their application has been but
+imperfectly recorded and preserved.
+
+"O virgin, daughter of Egypt," says Jeremiah, "in vain shalt thou use
+many medicines, for thou shalt not be cured;" and Homer, in the
+Odyssey, describes the many valuable medicines given by Polydamna, the
+wife of Thonis, to Helen while in Egypt, "a country whose fertile soil
+produces an infinity of drugs, some salutary and some pernicious;
+where each physician possesses knowledge above all other men."
+
+Pliny makes frequent mention of the productions of that country, and
+their use in medicine; he also notices the physicians of Egypt; and as
+if their number were indicative of the many maladies to which the
+inhabitants were subject, he observes, that it was a country
+productive of numerous diseases. In this, however, he does not agree
+with Herodotus, who affirms that, "after the Libyans, there are no
+people so healthy as the Egyptians, which may be attributed to the
+invariable nature of the seasons in their country."
+
+Pliny even says that the Egyptians examined the bodies after death, to
+ascertain the nature of the diseases of which they had died; and we
+can readily believe that a people so far advanced in civilization and
+the principles of medicine as to assign to each physician his peculiar
+branch, would have resorted to this effectual method of acquiring
+knowledge and experience.
+
+It is evident that the medical science of the Egyptians was sought and
+appreciated even in foreign countries; and we learn from Herodotus,
+that Cyrus and Darius both sent to Egypt for medical men. In later
+times, too, they continued to be celebrated for their skill; Ammianus
+says it was enough for a doctor to say he had studied in Egypt to
+recommend him; and Pliny mentions medical men going from Egypt to
+Rome. But though their physicians are often noticed by ancient
+writers, the only indication of medical attendance appears to be in
+the paintings of Beni Hassan; and even there it is uncertain whether a
+doctor, or a barber, be represented.
+
+Their doctors probably felt the pulse; as Plutarch shows they did at
+Rome, from this saying of Tiberius, "a man after he has passed his
+thirtieth year, who _puts forth his hand_ to a physician, is
+ridiculous;" whence our proverb of "a fool or a physician after
+forty."
+
+Diodorus tells us, that dreams were regarded in Egypt with religious
+reverence, and the prayers of the devout were often rewarded by the
+gods, with an indication of the remedy their sufferings required; and
+magic, charms, and various supernatural agencies, were often resorted
+to by the credulous; who "sought to the idols, and to the charmers,
+and to them that had familiar spirits, and to the wizards."
+
+Origen also says, that when any part of the body was afflicted with
+disease, they invoked the demon to whom it was supposed to belong, in
+order to obtain a cure.
+
+In cases of great moment oracles were consulted; and a Greek papyrus
+found in Egypt mentions divination "through a boy with a lamp, a bowl,
+and a pit;" which resembles the pretended power of the modern
+magicians of Egypt. The same also notices the mode of discovering
+theft, and obtaining any wish; and though it is supposed to be of the
+2d century, the practices it alludes to are doubtless from an old
+Egyptian source; and other similar papyri contain recipes for
+obtaining good fortune and various benefits, or for causing
+misfortunes to an enemy.
+
+Some suppose the Egyptians had even recourse to animal magnetism, and
+that dreams indicating cures were the result of this influence; and
+(though the subjects erroneously supposed to represent it apply to a
+very different act) it is not impossible that they may have discovered
+the mode of exercising this art, and that it may have been connected
+with the strange scenes recorded at the initiation into the mysteries.
+If really known, such a power would scarcely have been neglected; and
+it would have been easy to obtain thereby an ascendency over the minds
+of a superstitious people.
+
+Indeed, the readiness of man at all times to astonish on the one hand,
+and to court the marvelous on the other, is abundantly proved by
+present and past experience. That the nervous system may be worked
+upon by it to such a degree that a state either of extreme
+irritability, or of sleep and coma, may be induced, in the latter case
+paralyzing the senses so as to become deadened to pain, is certain;
+and a highly sensitive temperament may exhibit phenomena beyond the
+reach of explanation; but it requires very little experience to know
+that we are wonderfully affected by far more ordinary causes; for the
+nerves may be acted upon to such an extent by having as we commonly
+term it "our teeth set on edge," that the mere filing a saw would
+suffice to drive any one mad, if unable to escape from its unceasing
+discord. What is this but an effect upon the nerves? and what more
+could be desired to prove the power of any agency? And the world would
+owe a debt of gratitude to the professors of animal magnetism, if,
+instead of making it, as some do, a mere exhibition to display a
+power, and astonish the beholders, they would continue the efforts
+already begun, for discovering all the beneficial uses to which it is
+capable of being applied.
+
+We might then rejoice that, as astrology led to the more useful
+knowledge of astronomy, this influence enabled us to comprehend our
+nervous system, on which so many conditions of health depend, and with
+which we are so imperfectly acquainted.
+
+The cure of diseases was also attributed by the Egyptians to _Exvotos_
+offered in the temples. They consisted of various kinds. Some persons
+promised a certain sum for the maintenance of the sacred animals; or
+whatever might propitiate the deity; and after the cure had been
+effected, they frequently suspended a model of the restored part in
+the temple; and ears, eyes, distorted arms, and other members, were
+dedicated as memorials of their gratitude and superstition.
+
+Sometimes travelers, who happened to pass by a temple, inscribed a
+votive sentence on the walls, to indicate their respect for the deity,
+and solicit his protection during their journey; the complete formula
+of which contained the adoration of the writer, with the assurance
+that he had been mindful of his wife, his family, and friends; and the
+reader of the inscription was sometimes included in a share of the
+blessings it solicited. The date of the king's reign and the day of
+the month were also added, with the profession and parentage of the
+writer. The complete formula of one adoration was as follows:
+
+"The adoration of Caius Capitolinus, son of Flavius Julius, of the
+fifth troop of Theban horse, to the goddess Isis, with ten thousand
+names. And I have been mindful of (or have made an adoration for) all
+those who love me, and my consort, and children, and all my household,
+and for him who reads this. In the year 12 of the emperor Tiberius
+Caesar, the 15 of Pauni."
+
+The Egyptians, according to Pliny, claimed the honor of having
+invented the art of curing diseases. Indeed, the study of medicine and
+surgery appears to have commenced at a very early period in Egypt,
+since Athothes, the second king of the country, is stated to have
+written upon the subject of anatomy; and the schools of Alexandria
+continued till a late period to enjoy the reputation, and display the
+skill, they had inherited from their predecessors. Hermes was said to
+have written six books on medicine, the first of which related to
+anatomy; and the various recipes, known to have been beneficial, were
+recorded, with their peculiar cases, in the memoirs of physic
+inscribed among the laws deposited in the principal temples.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+HOUSES, VILLAS, FARMYARDS, ORCHARDS, GARDENS, ETC.
+
+The monumental records and various works of art, and, above all, the
+writings, of the Greeks and Romans, have made us acquainted with their
+customs and their very thoughts; and though the literature of the
+Egyptians is almost unknown, their monuments, especially the paintings
+in the tombs, have afforded us an insight into their mode of life
+scarcely to be obtained from those of any other people. The influence
+that Egypt had in early times on Greece gives to every inquiry
+respecting it an additional interest; and the frequent mention of the
+Egyptians in the Bible connects them with the Hebrew Records, of which
+many satisfactory illustrations occur in the sculptures of Pharaonic
+times. Their great antiquity also enables us to understand the
+condition of the world long before the era of written history; all
+existing monuments left by other people are comparatively modern; and
+the paintings in Egypt are the earliest descriptive illustrations of
+the manners and customs of any nation.
+
+It is from these that we are enabled to form an opinion of the
+character of the Egyptians. They have been pronounced a serious,
+gloomy people, saddened by the habit of abstruse speculation; but how
+far this conclusion agrees with fact will be seen in the sequel. They
+were, no doubt, less lively than the Greeks; but if a comparatively
+late writer, Ammianus Marcellinus, may have remarked a "rather sad"
+expression, after they had been for ages under successive foreign
+yokes, this can scarcely be admitted as a testimony of their character
+in the early times of their prosperity; and though a sadness of
+expression might be observed in the present oppressed population, they
+can not be considered a grave or melancholy people. Much, indeed, may
+be learned from the character of the modern Egyptians; and
+notwithstanding the infusion of foreign blood, particularly of the
+Arab invaders, every one must perceive the strong resemblance they
+bear to their ancient predecessors. It is a common error to suppose
+that the conquest of a country gives an entirely new character to the
+inhabitants. The immigration of a whole nation taking possession of a
+thinly-peopled country, will have this effect, when the original
+inhabitants are nearly all driven out by the new-comers; but
+immigration has not always, and conquest never has, for its object the
+destruction or expulsion of the native population; they are found
+useful to the victors, and as necessary for them as the cattle or the
+productions of the soil. Invaders are always numerically inferior to
+the conquered nation--even to the male population; and, when the women
+are added to the number, the majority is greatly in favor of the
+original race, and they must exercise immense influence on the
+character of the rising generation. The customs, too, of the old
+inhabitants are very readily adopted by the new-comers, especially
+when they are found to suit the climate and the peculiarities of the
+country they have been formed in; and the habits of a small mass of
+settlers living in contact with them fade away more and more with each
+successive generation. So it has been in Egypt; and, as usual, the
+conquered people bear the stamp of the ancient inhabitants rather than
+that of the Arab conquerors.
+
+Of the various institutions of the ancient Egyptians, none are more
+interesting than those which relate to their social life; and when we
+consider the condition of other countries in the early ages when they
+flourished, from the 10th to the 20th century before our era, we may
+look with respect on the advancement they had then made in
+civilization, and acknowledge the benefits they conferred upon mankind
+during their career. For like other people, they have had their part
+in the great scheme of the world's development, and their share of
+usefulness in the destined progress of the human race; for countries,
+like individuals, have certain qualities given them, which, differing
+from those of their predecessors and contemporaries are intended in
+due season to perform their requisite duties. The interest felt in the
+Egyptians is from their having led the way, or having been the first
+people we know of who made any great progress, in the arts and manners
+of civilization; which, for the period when they lived, was very
+creditable, and far beyond that of other kingdoms of the world. Nor
+can we fail to remark the difference between them and their Asiatic
+rivals, the Assyrians, who, even at a much later period, had the great
+defects of Asiatic cruelty--flaying alive, impaling, and torturing
+their prisoners, as the Persians, Turks, and other Orientals have done
+to the present century, the reproach of which can not be extended to
+the ancient Egyptians. Being the dominant race of that age, they
+necessarily had an influence on others with whom they came in contact;
+and it is by these means that civilization is advanced through its
+various stages; each people striving to improve on the lessons derived
+from a neighbor whose institutions they appreciate, or consider
+beneficial to themselves. It was thus that the active mind of the
+talented Greeks sought and improved on the lessons derived from other
+countries, especially from Egypt; and though the latter, at the late
+period of the 7th century B.C., had lost its greatness and the
+prestige of superiority among the nations of the world, it was still
+the seat of learning and the resort of studious philosophers; and the
+abuses consequent on the fall of an empire had not yet brought about
+the demoralization of after times.
+
+The early part of Egyptian monumental history is coeval with the
+arrivals of Abraham and of Joseph, and the Exodus of the Israelites;
+and we know from the Bible what was the state of the world at that
+time. But then, and apparently long before, the habits of social life
+in Egypt were already what we find them to have been during the most
+glorious period of their career; and as the people had already laid
+aside their arms, and military men only carried them when on service,
+some notion may be had of the very remote date of Egyptian
+civilization. In the treatment of women they seem to have been very
+far advanced beyond other wealthy communities of the same era, having
+usages very similar to those of the modern world; and such was the
+respect shown to women that precedence was given to them over men, and
+the wives and daughters of kings succeeded to the throne like the male
+branches of the royal family. Nor was this privilege rescinded, even
+though it had more than once entailed upon them the trouble of a
+contested succession; foreign kings often having claimed a right to
+the throne through marriage with an Egyptian princess. It was not a
+mere influence that they possessed, which women often acquire in the
+most arbitrary Eastern communities; nor a political importance
+accorded to a particular individual, like that of the Sultana Valideh,
+the Queen Mother, at Constantinople; it was a right acknowledged by
+law, both in private and public life. They knew that unless women were
+treated with respect, and made to exercise an influence over society,
+the standard of public opinion would soon be lowered, and the manners
+and morals of men would suffer; and in acknowledging this, they
+pointed out to women the very responsible duties they had to perform
+to the community.
+
+From their private life great insight is obtained into their character
+and customs: and their household arrangements, the style of their
+dwellings, their amusements and their occupations, explain their
+habits; as their institutions, mode of government, arts and military
+knowledge illustrate their history, and their relative positions among
+the nations of antiquity. In their form and arrangement, the houses
+were made to suit the climate, modified according to their advancement
+in civilization; and we are often enabled to trace in their abodes
+some of the primitive habits of a people, long after they have been
+settled in towns, and have adopted the manners of wealthy communities;
+as the tent may still be traced in the houses of the Turks, and the
+small original wooden chamber in the mansions and temples of ancient
+Greece.
+
+As in all warm climates, the poorer classes of Egyptians lived much in
+the open air; and the houses of the rich were constructed to be cool
+throughout the summer; currents of refreshing air being made to
+circulate freely through them by the judicious arrangement of the
+passages and courts. Corridors, supported on columns, gave access to
+the different apartments through a succession of shady avenues and
+areas, with one side open to the air, as in cloisters; and even small
+detached houses had an open court in the centre, planted as a garden
+with palms and other trees. _Mulkufs_, or wooden wind-sails, were also
+fixed over the terraces of the upper story, facing the prevalent and
+cool N.W. wind, which was conducted down their sloping boards into the
+interior of the house. They were exactly similar to those in the
+modern houses of Cairo; and some few were double, facing in opposite
+directions.
+
+The houses were built of crude brick, stuccoed and painted, with all
+the combinations of bright color in which the Egyptians delighted; and
+a highly decorated mansion had numerous courts, and architectural
+details derived from the temples. Over the door was sometimes a
+sentence, as "the good house;" or the name of a king, under whom the
+owner probably held some office; many other symbols of good omen were
+also put up, as at the entrances of modern Egyptian houses; and a
+visit to some temple gave as good a claim to a record as the
+pilgrimage to Mecca, at the present day. Poor people were satisfied
+with very simple tenements; their wants being easily supplied, both as
+to lodging and food; and their house consisted of four walls, with a
+flat roof of palm-branches laid across a split date-tree as a beam,
+and covered with mats plastered over with a thick coating of mud. It
+had one door and a few small windows closed by wooden shutters. As it
+scarcely ever rained, the mud roof was not washed into the sitting
+room; and this cottage rather answered as a shelter from the sun, and
+as a closet for their goods, than for the ordinary purpose of a house
+in other countries. Indeed at night the owners slept on the roof,
+during the greater part of the year; and as most of their work was
+done out of doors, they might easily be persuaded that a house was far
+less necessary for them than a tomb. To convince the rich of this
+ultra-philosophical sentiment was not so easy; at least the practice
+differed from the theory; and though it was promulgated among all the
+Egyptians, it did not prevent the priests and other grandees from
+living in very luxurious abodes, or enjoying the good things of this
+world; and a display of wealth was found to be useful in maintaining
+their power, and in securing the obedience of a credulous people. The
+worldly possessions of the priests were therefore very extensive, and
+if they imposed on themselves occasional habits of abstemiousness,
+avoided certain kinds of unwholesome food, and performed many
+mysterious observances, they were amply repaid by the improvement of
+their health, and by the influence they thereby acquired. Superior
+intelligence enabled them to put their own construction on regulations
+emanating from their sacred body, with the convenient persuasion that
+what suited them did not suit others; and the profane vulgar were
+expected to do, not as the priests did, but as they taught them to do.
+
+In their plans the houses of towns, like the villas in the country,
+varied according to the caprice of the builders. The ground-plan, in
+some of the former, consisted of a number of chambers on three sides
+of a court, which was often planted with trees. Others consisted of
+two rows of rooms on either side of a long passage, with an
+entrance-court from the street; and others were laid out in chambers
+round a central area, similar to the Roman _Impluvium_, and paved with
+stone, or containing a few trees, a tank or a fountain in its centre.
+Sometimes, though rarely, a flight of steps led to the front door from
+the street.
+
+Houses of small size were often connected together and formed the
+continuous sides of streets; and a court-yard was common to several
+dwellings. Others of a humbler kind consisted merely of rooms opening
+on a narrow passage, or directly on the street. These had only a
+basement story, or ground-floor; and few houses exceeded two stories
+above it. They mostly consisted of one upper floor; and though
+Diodorus speaks of the lofty houses in Thebes four and five stories
+high, the paintings show that few had three, and the largest seldom
+four, including, as he does, the basement-story. Even the greater
+portion of the house was confined to a first floor, with an additional
+story in one part, on which was a terrace covered by an awning, or a
+light roof supported on columns. This served for the ladies of the
+family to sit at work in during the day, and here the master of the
+house often slept at night during the summer, or took his _siesta_ in
+the afternoon. Some had a tower which rose even above the terrace.
+
+The first-floor was what the Italians call the "_piano nobile_;" the
+ground rooms being chiefly used for stores, or as offices, of which
+one was set apart for the porter, and another for visitors coming on
+business. Sometimes besides the parlor were receiving apartments on
+the basement-story, but guests were generally entertained on the
+first-floor; and on this were the sleeping-rooms also, except where
+the house was of two or three stories. The houses of wealthy citizens
+often covered a considerable space, and either stood directly upon the
+street, or a short way back, within an open court; and some large
+mansions were detached, and had several entrances on two or three
+sides. Before the door was a porch supported on two columns, decked
+with banners or ribbons, and larger porticoes had a double row of
+columns, with statues between them.
+
+In the distribution of the apartments numerous and different modes
+were adopted, according to circumstances; in general, however, the
+large mansions seem to have consisted of a court and several
+corridors, with rooms leading from them, not unlike many of those now
+built in Oriental and tropical countries. The houses in most of the
+Egyptian towns are quite destroyed, leaving few traces of their plans,
+or even of their sites; but sufficient remains of some at Thebes, at
+Tel el Amarna, and other places, to enable us, with the help of the
+sculptures, to ascertain their form and appearance.
+
+Granaries were also laid out in a very regular manner, and varied of
+course in plan as much as the houses, to which there is reason to
+believe they were frequently attached, even in the towns; and they
+were sometimes only separated from the house by an avenue of trees.
+
+Some small houses consisted merely of a court, and three or four
+store-rooms on the ground-floor, with a single chamber above, to which
+a flight of steps led from the court; but they were probably only met
+with in the country, and resembled some still found in the _fellah_
+villages of modern Egypt. Very similar to these was the model of a
+house now in the British Museum, which solely consisted of a
+court-yard and three small store-rooms on the ground-floor, with a
+staircase leading to a room belonging to the storekeeper, which was
+furnished with a narrow window or aperture opposite the door, rather
+intended for the purposes of ventilation than to admit the light. In
+the court a woman was represented making bread, as is sometimes done
+at the present day in Egypt, in the open air; and the store-rooms were
+full of grain.
+
+Other small houses in towns consisted of two or three stories above
+the ground-floor. They had no court, and stood close together,
+covering a small space, and high in proportion to their base, like
+many of those at Karnak. The lower part had merely the door of
+entrance and some store-rooms, over which were a first and second
+floor, each with three windows on the front and side, and above these
+an attic without windows, and a staircase leading to a terrace on the
+flat roof. The floors were laid on rafters, the end of which projected
+slightly from the walls like dentils; and the courses of brick were in
+waving or concave lines, as in the walls of an enclosure at Dayr el
+Medeeneh in Thebes. The windows of the first-floor had a sort of
+mullion dividing them into two lights each, with a transom above; and
+the upper windows were filled with trellis-work, or cross bars of
+wood, as in many Turkish harems. A model of a house of this kind is
+also in the British Museum. But the generality of Egyptian houses were
+far less regular in their plan and elevation; and the usual disregard
+for symmetry is generally observable in the houses even of towns.
+
+The doors, both of the entrances and of the inner apartments, were
+frequently stained to imitate foreign and rare woods. They were either
+of one or two valves, turning on pins of metal, and were secured
+within by a bar or bolts. Some of these bronze pins have been
+discovered in the tombs of Thebes. They were fastened to the wood with
+nails of the same metal, whose round heads served also as an ornament,
+and the upper one had a projection at the back, in order to prevent
+the door striking against the wall. We also find in the stone lintels
+and floor, behind the thresholds of the tombs and temples, the holes
+in which they turned, as well as those of the bolts and bars, and the
+recess for receiving the opened valves. The folding doors had bolts in
+the centre, sometimes above as well as below; a bar was placed across
+from one wall to the other; and in many instances wooden locks
+secured them by passing over the centre, at the junction of the two
+folds. For greater security they were occasionally sealed with a mass
+of clay, as is proved by some tombs found closed at Thebes, by the
+sculptures, and in the account given by Herodotus of Rhampsinitus'
+treasury.
+
+Keys were made of bronze or iron, and consisted of a long straight
+shank, about five inches in length, with three or more projecting
+teeth; others had a nearer resemblance to the wards of modern keys,
+with a short shank about an inch long; and some resembled a common
+ring with the wards at its back. These are probably of Roman date. The
+earliest mention of a key is in Judges (iii. 23-25), when Ehud having
+gone "through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him and
+locked them," Eglon's "servants took a key and opened them."
+
+The doorways, like those in the temples, were often surmounted by the
+Egyptian cornice; others were variously decorated, and some,
+represented in the tombs, were surrounded with a variety of ornaments,
+as usual richly painted. These last, though sometimes found at Thebes,
+were more general about Memphis and the Delta; and two good instances
+of them are preserved at the British Museum, brought from a tomb near
+the Pyramids.
+
+Even at the early period when the Pyramids were built, the doors were
+of one or two valves: and both those of the rooms and the entrance
+doors opened inwards, contrary to the custom of the Greeks, who were
+consequently obliged to strike on the inside of the street door before
+they opened it, in order to warn persons passing by; and the Romans
+were forbidden to make it open outward without a special permission.
+
+The floors were of stone, or a composition made of lime or other
+materials; but in humbler abodes they were formed of split date-tree
+beams, arranged close together or at intervals, with planks or
+transverse layers of palm branches over them, covered with mats and a
+coating of mud. Many roofs were vaulted, and built like the rest of
+the house of crude brick; and not only have arches been found of that
+material dating in the 16th century before our era, but vaulted
+granaries appear to be represented of much earlier date. Bricks,
+indeed, led to the invention of the arch; the want of timber in Egypt
+having pointed out the necessity of some substitute for it.
+
+Wood was imported in great quantities; deal and cedar were brought
+from Syria; and rare woods were part of the tribute imposed on foreign
+nations conquered by the Pharaohs. And so highly were these
+appreciated for ornamental purposes, that painted imitations were made
+for poorer persons who could not afford them; and the panels, windows,
+doors, boxes, and various kinds of woodwork, were frequently of cheap
+deal or sycamore, stained to resemble the rarest foreign woods. And
+the remnants of them found at Thebes show that these imitations were
+clever substitutes for the reality. Even coffins were sometimes made
+of foreign wood; and many are found of cedar of Lebanon. The value of
+foreign woods also suggested to the Egyptians the process of
+veneering; and this was one of the arts of their skillful cabinet
+makers.
+
+The ceilings were of stucco, richly painted with various devices,
+tasteful both in their form and the arrangement of the colors; among
+the oldest of which is the Guilloche, often miscalled the Tuscan or
+Greek border.
+
+Both in the interior and exterior of their houses the walls were
+sometimes portioned out into large panels of one uniform color, flush
+with the surface, or recessed, not very unlike those at Pompeii; and
+they were red, yellow, or stained to resemble stone or wood. It seems
+to have been the introduction of this mode of ornament into Roman
+houses that excited the indignation of Vitruvius; who says that in old
+times they used red paint sparingly, like physic, though now whole
+walls are covered over with it.
+
+Figures were also introduced on the blank walls in the sitting-rooms,
+or scenes from domestic life, surrounded by ornamental borders, and
+surmounted by deep cornices of flowers and various devices richly
+painted; and no people appear to have been more fond of using flowers
+on every occasion. In their domestic architecture they formed the
+chief ornament of the mouldings; and every visitor received a bouquet
+of real flowers, as a token of welcome on entering a house. It was the
+pipe and coffee of the modern Egyptians; and a guest at a party was
+not only presented with a lotus, or some other flower, but had a
+chaplet placed round his head, and another round his neck; which led
+the Roman poet to remark the "many chaplets on the foreheads" of the
+Egyptians at their banquets. Everywhere flowers abounded; they were
+formed into wreaths and festoons, they decked the stands that
+supported the vases in the convivial chamber, and crowned the
+wine-bowl as well as the servants who bore the cup from it to the
+assembled guests.
+
+The villas of the Egyptians were of great extent, and contained
+spacious gardens, watered by canals communicating with the Nile. They
+had large tanks of water in different parts of the garden, which
+served for ornament, as well as for irrigation, when the Nile was low;
+and on these the master of the house occasionally amused himself and
+his friends by an excursion in a pleasure-boat towed by his servants.
+They also enjoyed the diversion of angling and spearing fish in the
+ponds within their grounds, and on these occasions they were generally
+accompanied by a friend, or one or more members of their family.
+Particular care was always bestowed upon the garden, and their great
+fondness for flowers is shown by the number they always cultivated, as
+well as by the women of the family or the attendants presenting
+bouquets to the master of the house and his friends when they walked
+there.
+
+The house itself was sometimes ornamented with propylae and obelisks,
+like the temples themselves; it is even possible that part of the
+building may have been consecrated to religious purposes, as the
+chapels of other countries, since we find a priest engaged in
+presenting offerings at the door of the inner chambers; and, indeed,
+were it not for the presence of the women, the form of the garden, and
+the style of the porch, we should feel disposed to consider it a
+temple rather than a place of abode. The entrances of large villas
+were generally through folding gates, standing between lofty towers,
+as at the courts of temples, with a small door at each side; and
+others had merely folding-gates, with the jambs surmounted by a
+cornice. One general wall of circuit extended round the premises, but
+the courts of the house, the garden, the offices, and all the other
+parts of the villa had each their separate enclosure. The walls were
+usually built of crude brick, and, in damp places, or when within
+reach of the inundation, the lower part was strengthened by a basement
+of stone. They were sometimes ornamented with panels and grooved
+lines, generally stuccoed, and the summit was crowned either with
+Egyptian battlements, the usual cornice, a row of spikes in imitation
+of spear-heads, or with some fancy ornament.
+
+The plans of the villas varied according to circumstances, but their
+general arrangement is sufficiently explained by the paintings. They
+were surrounded by a high wall, about the middle of which was the main
+or front entrance, with one central and two side gates, leading to an
+open walk shaded by rows of trees. Here were spacious tanks of water,
+facing the doors of the right and left wings of the house, between
+which an avenue led from the main entrance to what may be called the
+centre of the mansion. After passing the outer door of the right wing,
+you entered an open court with trees, extending quite round a nucleus
+of inner apartments, and having a back entrance communicating with the
+garden. On the right and left of this court were six or more
+store-rooms, a small receiving or waiting room at two of the corners,
+and at the other end the staircases which led to the upper stories.
+Both of the inner facades were furnished with a corridor, supported on
+columns, with similar towers and gateways. The interior of this wing
+consisted of twelve rooms, two outer and one center court,
+communicating by folding gates; and on either side of this last was
+the main entrance to the rooms on the ground-floor, and to the
+staircases leading to the upper story. At the back were three long
+rooms, and a gateway opening on the garden, which, besides flowers,
+contained a variety of trees, a summer-house, and a large tank of
+water.
+
+The arrangement of the left wing was different. The front gate led to
+an open court, extending the whole breadth of the facade of the
+building, and backed by the wall of the inner part. Central and
+lateral doors thence communicated with another court, surrounded on
+three sides by a set of rooms, and behind it was a corridor, upon
+which several other chambers opened.
+
+This wing had no back entrance, and standing isolated, the outer court
+extended entirely around it; and a succession of doorways communicated
+from the court with different sections of the centre of the house,
+where the rooms, disposed like those already described, around
+passages and corridors, served partly as sitting apartments, and
+partly as store-rooms.
+
+The stables for the horses and the coach-houses for the traveling
+chariots and carts, were in the centre, or inner part of the building;
+but the farm-yard where the cattle were kept stood at some distance
+from the house, and corresponded to the department known by the Romans
+under the name of _rustica_. Though enclosed separately, it was within
+the general wall of circuit, which surrounded the land attached to the
+villa; and a canal, bringing water from the river, skirted it, and
+extended along the back of the grounds. It consisted of two parts; the
+sheds for housing the cattle, which stood at the upper end, and the
+yard, where rows of rings were fixed, in order to tie them while
+feeding in the day-time; and men always attended, and frequently fed
+them with the hand.
+
+The granaries were also apart from the house, and were enclosed within
+a separate wall; and some of the rooms in which they housed the grain
+appear to have had vaulted roofs. These were filled through an
+aperture near the top, to which the men ascended by steps, and the
+grain when wanted was taken out from a door at the base.
+
+The superintendence of the house and grounds was intrusted to
+stewards, who regulated the tillage of the land, received whatever was
+derived from the sale of the produce, overlooked the returns of the
+quantity of cattle or stock upon the estate, settled all the accounts,
+and condemned the delinquent peasants to the bastinado, or any
+punishment they might deserve. To one were intrusted the affairs of
+the house, answering to "the ruler," "overseer," or "steward of
+Joseph's house;" others "superintended the granaries," the vineyard,
+or the culture of the fields; and the extent of their duties, or the
+number of those employed, depended on the quantity of land, or the
+will of its owner.
+
+The mode of laying out their gardens was as varied as that of the
+houses; but in all cases they appear to have taken particular care to
+command a plentiful supply of water, by means of reservoirs and
+canals. Indeed, in no country is artificial irrigation more required
+than in the valley of the Nile; and, from the circumstance of the
+water of the inundation not being admitted into the gardens, they
+depend throughout the year on the supply obtained from wells and
+tanks, or a neighboring canal.
+
+The mode of irrigation adopted by the ancient Egyptians was
+exceedingly simple, being merely the _shadoof_, or pole and bucket of
+the present day; and, in many instances, men were employed to carry
+the water in pails, suspended by a wooden yoke they bore upon their
+shoulders. The same yoke was employed for carrying other things, as
+boxes, baskets containing game and poultry, or whatever was taken to
+market; and every trade seems to have used it for this purpose, from
+the potter and the brick-maker, to the carpenter and the shipwright.
+
+Part of the garden was laid out in walks shaded with trees, usually
+planted in rows, and surrounded, at the base of the stem, with a
+circular ridge of earth, which, being lower at the centre than at the
+circumference, retained the water, and directed it more immediately
+towards the roots. It is difficult to say if trees were trimmed into
+any particular shape, or if their formal appearance in the sculpture
+is merely owing to a conventional mode of representing them; but,
+since the pomegranate, and some other fruit trees, are drawn with
+spreading and irregular branches, it is possible that sycamores, and
+others, which presented large masses of foliage, were really trained
+in that formal manner, though, from the hieroglyphic signifying
+"_tree_" having the same shape, we may conclude it was only a general
+character for all trees.
+
+Some, as the pomegranates, date-trees, and _dom_-palms, are easily
+recognized in the sculptures, but the rest are doubtful, as are the
+flowering plants, with the exception of the lotus and a few others.
+
+To the garden department belonged the care of the bees, which were
+kept in hives very like our own. In Egypt they required great
+attention; and so few are its plants at the present day, that the
+owners of hives often take the bees in boats to various spots upon the
+Nile, in quest of flowers. They are a smaller kind than our own; and
+though found wild in the country, they are far less numerous than
+wasps, hornets, and ichneumons. The wild bees live mostly under
+stones, or in clefts of the rock, as in many other countries; and the
+expression of Moses, as of the Psalmist, "honey out of the rock,"
+shows that in Palestine their habits were the same. Honey was thought
+of great importance in Egypt, both for household purposes, and for an
+offering to the gods; that of Benha (thence surnamed _El assal_), or
+Athribis, in the Delta, retained its reputation to a late time; and a
+jar of honey from that place was one of the four presents sent by John
+Mekaukes, the governor of Egypt, to Mohammed.
+
+Large gardens were usually divided into different parts; the principal
+sections being appropriated to the date and sycamore trees, and to the
+vineyard. The former may be called the orchard. The flower and kitchen
+gardens also occupied a considerable space, laid out in beds; and
+dwarf trees, herbs, and flowers, were grown in red earthen pots,
+exactly like our own, arranged in long rows by the walks and borders.
+
+Besides the orchard and gardens, some of the large villas had a park
+or paradise, with its fish-ponds and preserves for game, as well as
+poultry-yards for keeping hens and geese, stalls for fattening cattle,
+wild goats, gazelles, and other animals originally from the desert,
+whose meat was reckoned among the dainties of the table.
+
+It was in these extensive preserves that the rich amused themselves
+with the chase; and they also enclosed a considerable space in the
+desert itself with net-fences, into which the animals were driven, and
+shot with arrows, or hunted with dogs.
+
+Gardens are frequently represented in the tombs of Thebes and other
+parts of Egypt, many of which are remarkable for their extent. The one
+here introduced is shown to have been surrounded by an embattled wall,
+with a canal of water passing in front of it, connected with the
+river. Between the canal and the wall, and parallel to them both, was
+a shady avenue of various trees; and about the centre was the
+entrance, through a lofty door, whose lintel and jambs were decorated
+with hieroglyphic inscriptions, containing the name of the owner of
+the grounds, who in this instance was the king himself. In the gateway
+were rooms for the porter, and other persons employed about the
+garden, and, probably, the receiving room for visitors, whose abrupt
+admission might be unwelcome; and at the back a gate opened into the
+vineyard. The vines were trained on a trellis-work, supported by
+transverse rafters resting on pillars; and a wall, extending round it,
+separated this part from the rest of the garden. At the upper end were
+suites of rooms on three different stories, looking upon green trees,
+and affording a pleasant retreat in the heat of summer. On the outside
+of the vineyard wall were placed rows of palms, which occurred again
+with the _dom_ and other trees, along the whole length of the exterior
+wall; four tanks of water, bordered by a grass plot, where geese were
+kept, and the delicate flower of the lotus was encouraged to grow,
+served for the irrigation of the grounds; and small _kiosks_ or
+summer-houses, shaded with trees, stood near the water, and overlooked
+beds of flowers. The spaces containing the tanks, and the adjoining
+portions of the garden, were each enclosed by their respective walls,
+and a small subdivision on either side, between the large and small
+tanks, seems to have been reserved for the growth of particular trees,
+which either required peculiar care, or bore a fruit of superior
+quality.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Illustration: Painted by Edwin Long, A.R.A.
+ Engraved & Printed by Illman Brothers
+ EGYPTIAN FEAST.
+ FOR THE MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+EGYPTIAN WEALTH.
+
+That the riches of the country were immense is proved by the
+appearance of the furniture and domestic utensils, and by the great
+quantity of jewels of gold and silver, precious stones, and other
+objects of luxury in use among them in the earliest times; their
+treasures became proverbial throughout the neighboring states, and a
+love of pomp and splendor continued to be the ruling passion of the
+Egyptians till the latest period of their existence as an independent
+state.
+
+The wealth of Egypt was principally derived from taxes, foreign
+tribute, monopolies, commerce, mines, and above all from the
+productions of a fruitful soil. The wants of the poorer classes were
+easily satisfied; the abundance of grain, herbs and esculent plants,
+afforded an ample supply to the inhabitants of the valley of the Nile,
+at a trifling expense, and with little labor; and so much corn was
+produced in this fertile country, that after sufficing for the
+consumption of a very extensive population, it offered a great surplus
+for the foreign market; and afforded considerable profit to the
+government, being exported to other countries, or sold to the traders
+who visited Egypt for commercial purposes.
+
+The gold mines of the Bisharee desert were in those times very
+productive; and, though we have no positive notice of their first
+discovery, there is reason to believe they were worked at the earliest
+periods of the Egyptian monarchy. The total of the annual produce of
+the gold and silver mines (which Diodorus, on the authority of
+Hecataeus, says, was recorded in the tomb of Osymandyas at Thebes,
+apparently a king of the 19th dynasty) is stated to have been 3,200
+myriads, or 32 millions of _minae_--a weight of that country, called by
+the Egyptians _mn_ or _mna_, 60 of which were equal to one talent. The
+whole sum amounted to 665 millions of our money; but it was evidently
+exaggerated.
+
+The position of the silver mines is unknown; but the gold mines of
+Allaga, and other quartz "diggings," have been discovered, as well as
+those of copper, lead, iron and emeralds, all of which are in the
+desert near the Red Sea; and the sulphur, which abounds in the same
+districts, was not neglected by the ancient Egyptians.
+
+The abundance of gold and silver in Egypt and other ancient countries,
+and the sums reported to have been spent, accord well with the reputed
+productiveness of the mines in those days; and, as the subject has
+become one of peculiar interest, it may be well to inquire respecting
+the quantity and the use of the precious metals in ancient times. They
+were then mostly confined to the treasures of princes, and of some
+rich individuals; the proportion employed for commercial purposes was
+small, copper sufficing for most purchases in the home market; and
+nearly all the gold and silver money (as yet uncoined) was in the
+hands of the wealthy few. The manufacture of jewelry, and other
+ornamental objects took up a small portion of the great mass; but it
+required the wealth and privilege of royalty to indulge in a grand
+display of gold and silver vases, or similar objects of size and
+value.
+
+The mines of those days, from which was derived the wealth of Egypt,
+Lydia, Persia, and other countries, afforded a large supply of the
+precious metals; and if most of them are now exhausted or barely
+retain evidences of the treasures they once gave forth, there can be
+no doubt of their former productiveness; and it is reasonable to
+suppose that gold and silver abounded in early times in those parts
+of the world which were first inhabited, as they did in countries more
+recently peopled. They may never have afforded at any period the
+immense riches of a California or an Australia, yet there is evidence
+of their having been sufficiently distributed over various parts of
+the old world.
+
+For though Herodotus (iii., 106) says that the extremities of the
+earth possess the greatest treasures; these extremities may approach
+or become the centre, _i.e._, of civilization, when they arrive at
+that eminence which all great countries in their turn seem to have a
+chance of reaching; and Britain, the country of the greatly coveted
+tin, once looked upon as separated from the rest of mankind, is now
+one of the commercial centres of the world. The day, too, has come
+when Australia and California are rivals for a similar distinction;
+and England, the rendezvous of America in her contests with Europe,
+has yielded its turn to younger competitors.
+
+The greatest quantity of gold and silver in early times was derived
+from the East; and Asia and Egypt possessed abundance of those metals.
+The trade of Colchis, and the treasures of the Arimaspes and
+Massagetae, coming from the Ural (or from the Altai) mountains,
+supplied much gold at a very early period, and Indian commerce sent a
+large supply to western Asia. Spain, the Isle of Thasos, and other
+places, were resorted to by the Phoenicians, particularly for silver;
+and Spain, for its mines, became the "El Dorado" of those adventurous
+traders.
+
+The mines of the Eastern desert, the tributes from Ethiopia and
+Central Africa, as well as from Asia, enriched Egypt with gold and
+silver; but it was long before Greece (where in heroic times the
+precious metals were scarcely known) obtained a moderate supply of
+silver from her own mines; and gold only became abundant there after
+the Persian war.
+
+Thrace and Macedonia produced gold, as well as other countries, but
+confined it to their own use, as Ireland employed the produce of its
+mines; and as early Italy did, when its various small states were
+still free from the Roman yoke; and though the localities from which
+silver was obtained in more ancient times are less known, it is
+certain that it was used at a very remote period; and (as before
+stated) it was commonly employed in Abraham's time for mercantile
+transactions.
+
+Gold is mentioned on the Egyptian monuments of the 4th dynasty, and
+silver was probably of the same early time; but gold was evidently
+known in Egypt before silver, which is consistent with reason, gold
+being more easily obtained than silver, and frequently near the
+surface or in streams.
+
+The relative value and quantity of the precious metals in the earliest
+times, in Egypt and Western Asia, are not known; and even if a greater
+amount of gold were found mentioned in a tribute, this could be no
+proof of the silver being more rare, as it might merely be intended to
+show the richness of the gifts. In the tribute brought to Thothmes
+III. by the Southern Ethiopians and three Asiatic people, the former
+present scarcely any silver, but great quantities of gold in rings,
+ingots, and dust. The Asiatic people of Pount bring two baskets of
+gold rings, and one of gold dust in bags, a much smaller amount of
+gold than the Ethiopians, and no silver; those of Kufa, or Kaf, more
+silver than gold, and a considerable quantity of both made into vases
+of handsome and varied shapes; and the Rot-[=n]-n (apparently living
+on the Euphrates) present rather more gold than silver, a large basket
+of gold and a smaller one of silver rings, two small silver and
+several large gold vases, which are of the most elegant shape, as well
+as colored glass or porcelain cups, and much incense and bitumen. The
+great Asiatic tribute to the same king at Karnak, speaks in one place
+of 100 ingots (or pounds weight?) of gold and silver, and afterwards
+of 401 of silver; but the imperfect preservation of that record
+prevents our ascertaining how much gold was brought, or the relative
+proportions of the two metals.
+
+M. Leon Faucher, indeed, suggested that the value of silver in some
+countries originally equaled, if it did not exceed, that of gold ...
+and the laws of Menes state that gold was worth two and a half times
+more than silver.... Everywhere, except in India, between the fifth
+and sixth century B.C., the relative value of gold and silver was 6 or
+8 to 1, as it was in China and Japan at the end of the last century.
+In Greece it was, according to Herodotus, as 13 to 1; afterwards, in
+Plato's and Xenophon's time, and more than 100 years after the death
+of Alexander, as 10 to 1, owing to the quantity of gold brought in
+through the Persian war; when the value of both fell so much, that in
+the time of Demosthenes it was five times less than at the death of
+Solon.
+
+Though it may not be possible to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion
+respecting the quantity of gold and silver taken from the mines,
+employed in objects of art and luxury, or in circulation as money in
+Egypt and other countries, we shall introduce a few facts derived from
+the accounts of ancient authors, relating to the amount of wealth
+amassed, and the purposes to which those precious metals were applied.
+We shall also show some of the fluctuations that have taken place in
+the supply of them at various periods; and shall endeavor to establish
+a comparison between the quantity said to have been in use in ancient
+and modern times.
+
+When we read of the enormous wealth amassed by the Egyptian and
+Asiatic kings, or the plunder by Alexander and the Romans, we wonder
+how so much could have been obtained; for, even allowing for
+considerable exaggeration in the accounts of early times, there is no
+reason to disbelieve the private fortunes of individuals at Rome, and
+the sums squandered by them, or even the amount of some of the
+tributes levied in the East. Of ancient cities, Babylon is
+particularly cited by Herodotus and others for its immense wealth.
+Diodorus (ii. 9) mentions a golden statue of Jupiter at Babylon 40
+feet high, weighing 1,000 Babylonian talents; another of Rhea, of
+equal weight, having two lions on its knees, and near it silver
+serpents of 300 talents each; a standing statue of Juno weighing 800
+talents, holding a snake, and a sceptre set with gems; as well as a
+golden table of 500 talents weight on which were two cups weighing 300
+talents, and two censers each of 300 talents weight, with three golden
+bowls, one of which, belonging to Jupiter, weighed 1,200 talents, the
+others each 600; making a total of at least 6,900 talents, reckoned
+equal to $55,000,000. And the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, 60
+cubits, or 90 feet high, at the same ratio would weigh 2,250 talents,
+or $17,934,820.
+
+David, who had not the Indian and Arabian trade afterwards obtained by
+Solomon, left for the building of the temple 100,000 talents of gold
+and 1,000,000 of silver; and the sum given by him of his "own proper
+good," "over and above all prepared for the holy house," was "3,000
+talents of gold" and "7,000 of refined silver;" besides the chief
+men's contributions of 500 talents and 10,000 drachms of gold, 10,000
+talents of silver, and an abundance of brass, iron, and precious
+stones.
+
+The annual tribute of Solomon was 666 talents of gold, besides that
+brought by the merchants, and the present from the Queen of Sheba of
+120 talents; and the quantity of gold and silver used in the temple
+and his house was extraordinary. Mr. Jacob, in his valuable work on
+the precious metals, has noticed many of these immense sums, collected
+in old times. Among them are the tribute of Darius, amounting to 9,880
+talents of silver and 4,680 of gold, making a total of 14,560,
+estimated at about $37,250,000; the sums taken by Xerxes to Greece;
+the wealth of Croesus; the riches of Pytheus, king of a small
+territory in Phrygia, possessing gold and silver mines, who
+entertained the army of Xerxes, and gave him 2,000 talents of silver
+and 4,093,000 staters of gold (equal to 23,850,000 dollars of our
+money); the treasures acquired by Alexander, in Susa and Persia,
+exclusive of that found in the Persian camp and in Babylon, said to
+have amounted to 40,000 or 50,000 talents; the treasure of Persepolis
+rated at 120,000 talents; that of Pasagarda at 6,000; and the 180,000
+talents collected at the capture of Ecbatana; besides 6,000 which
+Darius had with him, and were taken by his murderers. "Ptolemy
+Philadelphus is stated by Appian to have possessed treasure to the
+enormous amount of 740,000 talents;" either "890 million dollars, or
+at least a quarter of that sum;" and fortunes of private individuals
+at Rome show the enormous wealth they possessed. "Crassus had in lands
+$8,072,915, besides as much more in money, furniture, and slaves;
+Seneca, $12,109,375; Pallas, the freedman of Claudius, an equal sum;
+Lentulus, the augur, $16,145,805; Caec. Cl. Isidorus, though he had
+lost a great part of his fortune in the civil war, left by his will
+4,116 slaves, 3,600 yoke of oxen, 257,000 other cattle, and in ready
+money $2,421,875. Augustus received by the testaments of his friends
+$161,458,330. Tiberius left at his death $108,984,375, which Caligula
+lavished away in less than one year; and Vespasian, at his succession,
+said that to support the state he required _quadrigenties millies_, or
+$1,614,083,330. The debts of Milo amounted to $2,825,520. J. Caesar,
+before he held any office, owed 1,300 talents, $1,279,375; and when he
+set out for Spain after his praetorship, he is reported to have said,
+that 'Bis millies et quingenties sibi deesse, ut nihil haberet,' or
+'that he was $10,091,145 worse than nothing.' When he first entered
+Rome, in the beginning of the civil war, he took out of the treasury
+$5,479,895, and brought into it at the end of it $24,218,750; he
+purchased the friendship of Curio, at the commencement of the civil
+war, by a bribe of $2,421,856, and that of the consul, L. Paulus, by
+1,500 talents, about $1,397,500; Apicius wasted on luxurious living
+$2,421,875; Caligula laid out on a supper $403,625; and the ordinary
+expense of Lucullus for a supper in the Hall of Apollo was 50,000
+drachms, or $8,070. The house of Marius, bought of Cornelia for
+$12,105, was sold to Lucullus for $80,760; the burning of his villa
+was a loss to M. Scaurus of $4,036,455; and Nero's golden house must
+have cost an immense sum, since Otho laid out in furnishing a part of
+it $2,017,225." But though Rome was greatly enriched by conquest, she
+never obtained possession of the chief wealth of Asia; and the largest
+quantity of the precious metals was always excluded from the
+calculations of ancient writers.
+
+The whole revenue of the Roman Empire under Augustus is "supposed to
+have been equal to 200 millions of our money;" and at the time of his
+death (A.D. 14) the gold and silver in circulation throughout the
+empire is supposed to have amounted to $1,790,000,000; which at a
+reduction of 1 grain in 360 every year for wear, would have been
+reduced by the year A.D. 482 to $435,165,495; and when the mines of
+Hungary and Germany began to be worked, during the seventh and ninth
+centuries, the entire amount of coined money was not more than about
+42 at the former, and 165 or 170 million dollars at the latter,
+period; so that if no other supply had been obtained, the quantity
+then circulating would long since have been exhausted.
+
+"The loss by wear on silver" is shown by Mr. Jacob "to be four times
+that of gold;" that on our money is estimated at more than one part in
+a hundred annually; and "the smaller the pieces, the greater loss do
+they suffer by abrasion." "The maximum of durability of gold coins
+seems to be fixed at 22 parts, in 24, of pure gold with the
+appropriate alloys. When the fineness ascends or descends from that
+point, the consumption by abrasion is increased."
+
+It is from its ductility that gold wears so much less than silver; and
+many ancient gold coins (as those of Alexander and others), though
+evidently worn by use, nearly retain their true weight, from the
+surface being partly transferred into the adjacent hollows, and not
+entirely rubbed off as in silver.
+
+The quantity of the precious metals, formerly used for the purposes of
+luxury, greatly diminished after the decline of the Roman empire, and
+in the middle ages they were sparingly employed except for coinage;
+ornamental work in gold and silver, mostly executed by first-rate
+artists, being confined to men of rank, till the opening of new mines
+added to the supply; which was afterwards increased by the abundant
+treasures of America; and the quantity applied to ornamental purposes
+then began to vie with that of olden times.
+
+M. Leon Faucher even calculates the annual abstraction of the precious
+metals from circulation by use for luxury, disasters at sea, and
+export, at 25 million dollars, in Europe and the United States.
+
+The silver from the American mines exported to Europe in 100 years, to
+1630, gave an addition to the currency of 5 million dollars annually,
+besides that used for other purposes, or re-exported; and from 1630 to
+1830 from 7-1/2 to 10 millions annually; an increase in the quantity
+used for currency having taken place, as well as in that exported to
+India, and employed for purposes of luxury.
+
+Humboldt states the whole quantity of gold from the American mines, up
+to 1803, to be 162 millions of pounds in weight, and of silver 7,178
+millions, or 44 of silver to 1 of gold.
+
+Again, the total value of gold produced during three centuries to
+1848, including that from Russia, has been estimated at
+$2,825,000,000; and the total annual quantity of gold, before the
+discovery of the Californian fields, has been reckoned at about
+$50,000,000. That from California and Australia already amounts yearly
+to $170,000,000 (or 3-2/5 times as much as previously obtained), and
+is still increasing; but though far beyond the supply afforded by the
+discovery of America, the demand made upon it by the modern industry
+of man, together with the effect of rapid communication, and of the
+extension of trade, as well as by the great deficiency of gold in the
+world, will prevent its action being felt in the same way as when the
+American supply was first obtained; and still less will be the effect
+now, than it would have been in ancient times, if so large and sudden
+a discovery had then been made. For, as Chevalier says, "Vast as is
+the whole amount of gold in the world, it sinks into insignificance
+when contrasted with the aggregate product of other branches of human
+industry. If they increase as fast as the gold, little or no
+alteration will take place in its value; which depends on the relation
+between it and the annual production of other wealth."
+
+According to another calculation, all the gold now in the world is
+supposed to be equal to about $3,410,000,000; but the whole amount of
+either of the two precious metals in old times is not easily
+ascertained, nor can any definite comparison be established between
+their former and present value. And still less in Egypt, than in
+Greece and Rome, no standard of calculation being obtainable from the
+prices of commodities there, or from any other means of determining,
+the value of gold and silver.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[21] At this meal, contrary to the usual custom, women were present.
+
+[22] According to tradition, many Makedonians were killed by the
+Persians taking hold of their long beards, and pulling them to the
+ground. Alexander, in consequence, had his troops shaved during the
+battle.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+DOMESTIC UTENSILS.
+
+
+The immense number and variety of statues, lamps, urns, articles of
+domestic use, in metal or earthenware, etc., discovered at Herculaneum
+and Pompeii, have rendered the Museum at Naples an inexhaustible
+treasury of information relative to the private life of the ancients.
+To give an adequate description of the richness and variety of its
+contents would far exceed the whole extent of this work, much more the
+small space which it can have; but that space can not be better
+occupied than in describing some few articles which possess an
+interest from the ingenuity of their construction, the beauty of their
+workmanship, or their power to illustrate ancient usages or ancient
+authors.
+
+Writing implements are among the most important of the latter class,
+on account of the constant mention of them, as well as of the
+influence which the comparative ease or difficulty of producing copies
+of writing is always found to exert over society. On this head there
+is no want of information. The implements used are frequently
+mentioned, especially in familiar writings, as the letters of Cicero,
+and their forms have been tolerably ascertained from various fragments
+of ancient paintings.
+
+It is hardly necessary to state that for manuscripts of any length,
+and such as were meant to be preserved, parchment or vellum, and a
+vegetable tissue manufactured from the rush _papyrus_, were in use.
+The stalk of this plant consists of a number of thin concentric coats,
+which, being carefully detached, were pasted crossways one over the
+other, like the warp and woof in woven manufactures, so that the
+fibres ran longitudinally in each direction, and opposed in each an
+equal resistance to violence. The surface was then polished with a
+shell, or some hard smooth substance. The ink used was a simple black
+liquid, containing no mordant to give it durability, so that the
+writing was easily effaced by the application of a sponge. The length
+of the Greek papyri is said to vary from eight to twelve inches; the
+Latin often reach sixteen; the writing is in columns, placed at right
+angles to the length of the roll.
+
+To each of them is appended a sort of ticket, which served as a title.
+Hence the end of the roll, or volume, was called _frons_, a term of
+frequent recurrence in Ovid and Martial, and not always rightly
+understood. Hence, also, when we meet with the expression, _gemina
+frons_, we must understand that the volume had a ticket at each end.
+These books were also composed of two tables or pages, and served for
+memoranda, letters, and other writings, not intended to be preserved.
+They were composed of leaves of wood or metal coated over with wax,
+upon which the ancients wrote with a _stylus_, or iron pen, or point
+rather, for it was a solid sharp-pointed instrument, some 6 to 8
+inches in length, like a lady's stiletto upon a large scale. In the
+middle of each leaf there appears to have been a button, called
+_umbilicus_, intended to prevent the pages touching when closed, and
+obliterating the letters traced on the yielding wax.
+
+The tablets here represented would be called twofold, as consisting
+only of two leaves; in the following cut may be seen another sort,
+consisting of several leaves, united at the back with hinges or rings.
+In Latin they were called _tabulae_, or _tabellae_, and the epithets,
+duplices, triplices, quintuplices, served to mark the number of the
+leaves.
+
+Beside them stands a double inkstand, intended probably to contain
+both black and red ink. The former was made either of lampblack or
+some other sort of charcoal, or from the cuttlefish, and was called
+atramentum. As it contained no mordant, and was readily obliterated by
+moisture, it could be used for writing upon ivory tablets; and it has
+been conjectured that some sorts of paper were covered with a wash, or
+varnish, to facilitate the discharge of the old writing, and render
+the paper serviceable a second time. Red ink was prepared from
+cinnabar. The reed, cut to a point, which lies beside the inkstand, is
+the instrument used in writing with ink before the application of
+quills. It was called _calamus_. The open papyrus explains how
+manuscripts were read, rolled up at each end, so as to show only the
+column of writing upon which the student was intent. At the other side
+is a purse, or bag, to hold the reed, penknife, and other writing
+instruments.
+
+ [Illustration: TABULAE, CALAMUS, AND PAPYRUS.]
+
+The next cut represents, besides a set of tablets bound up, a single
+one hanging from a nail. Such, probably, were those suspended at
+Epidaurus, containing remedies by which the sick had been cured, by
+the perusal of which Hippocrates is said to have profited in the
+compilation of his medical works. It also contains, besides a papyrus
+similar to those described, a hexagonal inkstand, with a ring to pass
+the finger through, upon which there lies an instrument resembling a
+reed, but the absence of the knots, or joints, marks it to be a
+stylus. Another of these instruments leans against the open book.
+
+ [Illustration: TABULAE, STYLUS, AND PAPYRUS.]
+
+These were made of every sort of material; sometimes with the precious
+metals, but usually of iron, and on occasion might be turned into
+formidable weapons. It was with his stylus that Caesar stabbed Casca in
+the arm, when attacked in the senate by his murderers; and Caligula
+employed some person to put to death a senator with the same
+instruments.
+
+In the reign of Claudius women and boys were searched to ascertain
+whether there were styluses in their pen-cases. Stabbing with the pen,
+therefore, is not merely a metaphorical expression. Tablets such as
+those here represented, were the day-books, or account-books. When
+they were full, or when the writing on them was no longer useful, the
+wax was smoothed, and they were ready again for other service.
+
+ [Illustration: TABULAE AND INK STAND.]
+
+The cut above, besides an inkstand, represents an open book. The
+thinness and yellowish color of the leaves, which are tied together
+with ribbon, denotes that it was made of parchment or vellum.
+
+ [Illustration: LIBRARIES AND MONEY.]
+
+Below is a cylindrical box, called _scrinium_ and _capsa_, or
+_capsula_, in which the manuscripts were placed vertically, the titles
+at the top. Catullus excuses himself to Manlius for not having sent
+him the required verses, because he had with him only one box of his
+books. It is evident that a great number of volumes might be comprised
+in this way within a small space; and this may tend to explain the
+smallness of the ancient libraries--at least of the rooms which are
+considered to have been such. Beside the box are two tablets, which,
+from the money-bag and coins scattered about, had probably been used
+in reckoning accounts.
+
+No perfect papyri, but only fragments, have been found at Pompeii. At
+Herculaneum, up to the year 1825, 1,756 had been obtained, besides
+many others destroyed by the workmen, who imagined them to be mere
+sticks of charcoal. Most of them were found in a suburban villa, in a
+room of small dimensions, ranged in presses round the sides of the
+room, in the centre of which stood a sort of rectangular book-case.
+
+Sir Humphry Davy, after investigating their chemical nature, arrived
+at the conclusion that they had not been carbonized by heat, but
+changed by the long action of air and moisture; and he visited Naples
+in hopes of rendering the resources of chemistry available towards
+deciphering these long-lost literary treasures. His expectations,
+however, were not fully crowned with success, although the partial
+efficacy of his methods was established; and he relinquished the
+pursuit at the end of six months, partly from disappointment, partly
+from a belief that vexatious obstacles were thrown in his way by the
+jealousy of the persons to whom the task of unrolling had been
+intrusted. About five hundred volumes have been well and neatly
+unrolled. It is rather remarkable that, as far as we are acquainted,
+no manuscript of any known standard work has been found, nor, indeed,
+any production of any of the great luminaries of the ancient world.
+
+The most celebrated person, of whom any work has been found, is
+Epicurus, whose treatise, _De Natura_, has been successfully unrolled.
+This and a few other treatises have been published. The library in
+which this was found appears to have been rich in treatises on the
+Epicurean philosophy. The only Latin work which it contained was a
+poem, attributed to Rabirius, on the war of Caesar and Antony.
+
+A curious literary monument has been found in the shape of a
+calendar. It is cut on a square block of marble, upon each side of
+which three months are registered in perpendicular columns, each
+headed by the proper sign of the zodiac. The information given may be
+classed under three heads, astronomical, agricultural, and religious.
+The first begins with the name of the month; then follows the number
+of days; then the nones, which in eight months of the year fall on the
+fifth day, and were thence called quintanae--in the others on the
+seventh, and were, therefore, called septimanae. The ides are not
+mentioned, because seven days always elapsed between them and the
+nones. The number of hours in the day and night is also given, the
+integral part being given by the usual numerals, the fractional by an
+S for semissis, the half, and by small horizontal lines for the
+quarters. Lastly, the sign of the zodiac in which the sun is to be
+found is named, and the days of the equinoxes and of the summer
+solstice are determined; for the winter solstice we read, _Hiemis
+initium_, the beginning of winter. Next the calendar proceeds to the
+agricultural portion, in which the farmer is reminded of the principal
+operations which are to be done within the month. It concludes with
+the religious part, in which, besides indicating the god under whose
+guardianship the month is placed, it notes the religious festivals
+which fall within it, and warns the cultivator against neglecting the
+worship of those deities upon whose favor and protection the success
+of his labors is supposed mainly to depend.
+
+ [Illustration: GOLD LAMP. (_Found at Pompeii._)]
+
+No articles of ancient manufacture are more common than lamps. They
+are found in every variety of form and size, in clay and in metal,
+from the cheapest to the most costly description. A large and handsome
+gold lamp found at Pompeii in 1863 may be seen in the Pompeian room at
+the museum in Naples. We have the testimony of the celebrated
+antiquary, Winkleman, to the interest of this subject. "I place among
+the most curious utensils found at Herculaneum, the lamps, in which
+the ancients sought to display elegance and even magnificence. Lamps
+of every sort will be found in the museum at Portici, both in clay
+and bronze, but especially the latter; and as the ornaments of the
+ancients have generally some reference to some particular things, we
+often meet with rather remarkable subjects. A considerable number of
+these articles will be found in the British Museum, but they are
+chiefly of the commoner sort. All the works, however, descriptive of
+Herculaneum and Pompeii, present us with specimens of the richer and
+more remarkable class which attract admiration both by the beauty of
+the workmanship and the whimsical variety of their designs. We may
+enumerate a few which occur in a work now before us, 'Antiquites
+d'Herculanum,' in which we find a Silenus, with the usual
+peculiarities of figure ascribed to the jolly god rather exaggerated,
+and an owl sitting on his head between two huge horns, which support
+stands for lamps. Another represents a flower-stalk growing out of a
+circular plinth, with snail-shells hanging from it by small chains,
+which held the oil and wick; the trunk of a tree, with lamps suspended
+from the branches; another, a naked boy, beautifully wrought, with a
+lamp hanging from one hand, and an instrument for trimming it from the
+other, the lamp itself representing a theatrical mask. Beside him is a
+twisted column surmounted by the head of a Faun or Bacchanal, which
+has a lid in its crown, and seems intended as a reservoir of oil. The
+boy and pillar are both placed on a square plateau raised upon lions'
+claws. But beautiful as these lamps are, the light which they gave
+must have been weak and unsteady, and little superior to that of the
+old-fashioned common lamps, with which they are identical in
+principle. The wick was merely a few twisted threads drawn through a
+hole in the upper surface of the oil vessel, and there was no glass to
+steady the light and prevent its varying with every breeze that blew.
+
+"Still, though the Romans had not advanced so far in art as to apply
+glass chimneys and hollow circular wicks to their lamps, they had
+experienced the inconvenience of going home at night through a city
+poorly paved, watched and lighted, and accordingly soon invented
+lanterns to meet the want. These, we learn from Martial, who has
+several epigrams upon this subject, were made of horn or bladder: no
+mention, we believe, occurs of glass being thus employed. The rich
+were preceded by a slave bearing their lantern. This Cicero mentions
+as being the habit of Catiline upon his midnight expeditions; and when
+M. Antony was accused of a disgraceful intrigue, his lantern-bearer
+was tortured to extort a confession whither he had conducted his
+master. One of these machines, of considerable ingenuity and beauty of
+workmanship, was found in Herculaneum, and another almost exactly the
+same, at Pompeii a few years after. In form it is cylindrical, with a
+hemispherical top, and it is made of sheet-copper, except the two main
+pieces, which are cast. The bottom consists of a flat, circular copper
+plate, supported by three balls, and turned up all around the rim,
+from which rise the rectangular supports, which support the upper part
+of the frame. The top and bottom were further connected by the
+interior uprights, between which the laminae of horn or glass were
+placed, and secured at the top and bottom by the doublings of the
+copper. Horn was the most common substance used to transmit the light,
+but bladder and other membranes were also employed. In the centre of
+the lantern is seen the small lamp. The cover is hemispherical, and
+lifts up and down: it is pierced with holes for the admission of air,
+and has besides the characters NBVRTI-CATIS pricked upon it. These
+have been interpreted, Tiburti Cati Sum, or Tiburti Cati S. (ervus),
+indicating, the one that it belonged to Catus, or that it was to be
+carried by his slave."
+
+ [Illustration: CANDELABRUM, OR LAMP STAND.]
+
+One of the most elegant articles of furniture in ancient use was the
+candelabrum, by which we mean those tall and slender stands which
+served to support a lamp, but were independent of, and unconnected
+with, it. These, in their original and simple form, were mere reeds or
+straight sticks, fixed upon a foot by peasants to raise their light to
+a convenient height; at least such a theory of their origin is
+agreeable to what we are told of the rustic manners of the early
+Romans, and it is in some degree countenanced by the fashion in which
+many of the ancient candelabra are made. Sometimes the stem is
+represented as throwing out buds; sometimes it is a stick, the side
+branches of which have been roughly lopped, leaving projections where
+they grew; sometimes it is in the likeness of a reed or cane, the
+stalk being divided into joints. Most of those which have been found
+in the buried cities are of bronze, some few of iron. In their general
+plan and appearance there is a great resemblance, though the details
+of the ornaments admit of infinite variety. All stand on three feet,
+usually griffins' or lions' claws, which support a light shaft, plain
+or fluted according to the fancy of the maker. The whole supports
+either a plinth large enough for a lamp to stand on, or a socket to
+receive a wax candle, which the Romans used sometimes instead of oil
+in lighting their rooms. Some of them have a sliding shaft, like that
+of a music stand, by which the light might be raised or lowered at
+pleasure.
+
+ [Illustration: CANDELABRA, OR LAMP STANDS.]
+
+One of those elegant table lamps, by the praise of which the present
+discussion was introduced, is represented in the accompanying plate.
+Including the stand it is three feet high. On a rectangular plinth
+rises a rectangular pillar, crowned by a capricious capital. On the
+front of the pillar is a mask of a Bacchante, with fine features and
+long flowing hair; and on the opposite side, the head of a bull, with
+the Greek word Bucranion. From the extreme points of the abacus, four
+ornamental branches, beautifully chased, project; the lamps which now
+hang from them, though ancient, also, are not those which belong to
+the stand, and were not found with it. They are nearly alike in
+figure, but differ in size. Three of them are ornamented with various
+animals, the fourth is plain. One of them has each of its ends wrought
+into the form of a shell. Above are two eagles in high relief, with
+the thunderbolt of Jupiter in their talons. Another has two bulls'
+heads, a third two elephants' heads projecting from the sides. The
+latter is suspended by two dolphins, instead of the chains generally
+in use, whose tails are united, and attached to a small ball and ring.
+The pillar is not placed in the center, but at one end of the plinth,
+which is the case in almost every lamp of this description yet found.
+The space thus obtained may have served as a stand for the oil vase
+used in trimming the lamps. The plinth is beautifully damasked, or
+inlaid, in imitation of a vine, the leaves of which are of silver, the
+stem and fruit of bright brass. On one side is an altar with wood and
+fire upon it; on the other a Bacchus, naked, with his thick hair
+plaited and bound with ivy. He rides a tiger, and has his left hand in
+the attitude of holding reins, which time probably has destroyed; with
+the right he raises a drinking-horn. The workmanship of this lamp is
+exquisitely delicate in all its parts.
+
+Before we quit this subject we have still one candelabrum to notice,
+which for simplicity of design and delicacy of execution is hardly to
+be surpassed by any in the Neapolitan collection. The stem is formed
+of a liliaceous plant, divided into two branches, each of which
+supports a flat disc, which may represent the flower, upon which a
+lamp was placed. At the base is a mass of bronze which gives stability
+to the whole, upon which a Silenus is seated, earnestly engaged in
+trying to pour wine from a skin which he holds in his left hand into a
+cup in his right. In this figure all the distinctive marks of the
+companion and tutor of Bacchus are expressed with great skill; the
+pointed ears, the goat's tail, the shaggy skin, the flat nose, and the
+ample rotundity of body, leave no doubt on our minds as to the person
+intended to be represented. The head, especially, is admirable, both
+in respect of workmanship and expression.
+
+Amongst Greek domestic utensils we also count articles made of
+basket-work, which frequently occur in antique pictures. The
+kalathos, the basket for keeping wool (used for weaving and
+embroidering), and also flowers and fruit, is frequently met with in
+vase paintings illustrating the life of Greek women. As early as
+Homer's time baskets, probably round or oval, were used at meals, to
+keep bread and pastry in. They had a low rim and handles. The kaneon
+was also used at offerings, where it is filled with pomegranates,
+holly boughs and ribbons. At the Panathenaia noble Athenian maidens
+carried such baskets, filled with holy cakes, incense, and knives on
+their heads. These graceful figures were a favorite subject of antique
+sculpture. Both Polyklete and Skopas had done a celebrated
+kanephore--the former in bronze, the latter in marble. There was also
+a flat basket, chiefly used for carrying fish, similar to that used at
+the present day by fishermen in the south. Other baskets used by
+peasants appear frequently in antique pictures, in the original
+carried by a peasant on a stick over his shoulder, together with
+another basket of the same pear-like shape, taken from a bas-relief
+representing a vintage, in which the former appears filled with
+grapes, while the latter is being filled with must by a boy. This
+proves, at the same time, the knowledge amongst the Greeks of the art
+of making the basket-work dense enough to hold fluids. The same fact
+is shown by a passage in Homer, in which Polyphemos lets the milk
+coagulate to cheese in baskets, which cheese was afterwards placed on
+a hurdle through which the whey trickled slowly. Of plaited rushes, or
+twigs, consisted also a peculiar kind of net, a specimen of which is
+seen on the reverse of a medal coined under the Emperor Macrinus, as
+the emblem of the maritime city of Byzantium.
+
+To light and heat the room, in Homer's time, fire-baskets, or
+fire-basins were used, standing on high poles, and fed with dry logs
+of wood or splinters. The cinders were, at intervals, removed by
+serving-maids, and the flames replenished. Such fire-baskets on poles
+are still used by night-travelers in Southern Russia, and at nightly
+ceremonies in India. The use of pine-torches is of equal antiquity.
+They consisted of long, thin sticks of pine-wood, tied together with
+bark, rushes or papyrus. The bark of the vine was also used for
+torches, called lophis. The golden statues on pedestals, in the hall
+of Alkinoos, undoubtedly held such torches in their hands. In vase
+paintings we also see a different form of the torch, carried chiefly
+by Demeter and Persephone, which consists of two pieces of wood
+fastened crosswise to a staff. An imitation of this wooden torch was
+undoubtedly the torch-case made of clay or metal in the shape of a
+salpinx. Its surface was either smooth or formed in imitation of the
+bundles of sticks and the bark of the wooden torch, the inside being
+filled with resinous substances.
+
+ [Illustration: STANDING LAMP.]
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT LAMPS.]
+
+The date of oil-lamps in Greece can not be stated with accuracy; they
+were known at the time of Aristophanes. They were made of terra-cotta
+or metal, and their construction resembles those used by the Romans.
+They are mostly closed semi-globes with two openings, one, in the
+centre, to pour the oil in, the other in the nose-shaped prolongation
+destined to receive the wick. Amongst the small numbers of Greek lamps
+preserved to us we have chosen a few of the most graceful specimens,
+one of them showing the ordinary form of the lamp. Some are made of
+clay, the latter being painted in various colors. The Athenians also
+used lanterns made of transparent horn, and lit up with oil-lamps.
+They were carried at night in the streets like the torches. Sparks,
+carefully preserved under the ashes, served both Greeks and Romans to
+light the fire. The ancients had, however, a lighting apparatus
+consisting of two pieces of wood, of which the one was driven into the
+other, like a gimlet, the friction effecting a flame. According to
+Theophrast, the wood of nut or chestnut trees was generally used for
+the purpose.
+
+The street running from the Temple of Fortune to the Forum, called the
+Street of the Forum, in Pompeii, and forming a continuation of that of
+Mercury, has furnished an unusually rich harvest of various utensils.
+A long list of these is given by Sir W. Gell, according to which there
+were found no less than two hundred and fifty small bottles of
+inferior glass, with numerous other articles of the same material,
+which it would be tedious to particularize.
+
+A marble statue of a laughing faun, two bronze figures of Mercury, the
+one three inches and the other four inches high, and a statue of a
+female nine inches high, were also found, together with many bronze
+lamps and stands. We may add vases, basins with handles, paterae,
+bells, elastic springs, hinges, buckles for harness, a lock, an
+inkstand, and a strigil; gold ear-rings and a silver spoon; an oval
+cauldron, a saucepan, a mould for pastry, and a weight of alabaster
+used in spinning, with its ivory axis remaining. The catalogue
+finishes with a leaden weight, forty-nine lamps of common clay
+ornamented with masks and animals, forty-five lamps for two wicks,
+three boxes with a slit to keep money in, in one of which were found
+thirteen coins of Titus, Vespasian, and Domitian. Among the most
+curious things discovered, were seven glazed plates found packed in
+straw. There were also seventeen unvarnished vases of terra-cotta and
+seven clay dishes, and a large pestle and mortar. The scales and
+steelyard which we have given are said to have been found at the same
+time. On the beam of the steelyard are Roman numerals from X. to
+XXXX.; a V was placed for division between each X.; smaller divisions
+are also marked. The inscription is
+
+ IMP. VESP. AVG. IIX.
+ T. IMP. AVG. F. VI. C.
+ EXACTA. IN. CAPITO.
+
+which is translated thus: "In the eighth consulate of Vespasian
+Emperor Augustus, and in the sixth of Titus, Emperor and son of
+Augustus. Proved in the Capitol." This shows the great care taken to
+enforce a strict uniformity in the weights and measures used
+throughout the empire; the date corresponds with the year 77 of our
+era, only two years previous to the great eruption. The steelyard
+found was also furnished with chains and hooks, and with numbers up to
+XXX. Another pair of scales had two cups, with a weight on the side
+opposite to the material weighed, to mark more accurately the
+fractional weight; this weight was called by the ancients ligula, and
+examen.
+
+ [Illustration: SCALES AND WEIGHTS.]
+
+Gell tells us that the skeleton of a Pompeian was found here, "who
+apparently, for the sake of sixty coins, a small plate and a saucepan
+of silver, had remained in his house till the street was already half
+filled with volcanic matter." He was found as if in the act of
+escaping from his window. Two others were found in the same street.
+
+The shops in the street on the north side of the Temple of Augustus
+most probably supplied those who feasted with dainties; and it has
+been called the Street of Dried Fruits, from the quantity of raisins,
+figs, plums, and chestnuts, fruit of several sorts preserved in vases
+of glass, hempseed, and lentils. It is now, however, more generally
+known as the Street of the Augustals. Scales, money, moulds for pastry
+and bread, were discovered in the shops; and a bronze statue of Fame,
+small, and delicately executed, having golden bracelets round the
+arms.
+
+In the northern entrance to the building the name CELSVM was written
+on a pilaster; near it was found in a box a gold ring with an engraved
+stone set in it, forty-one silver, and a thousand and thirty-six brass
+coins.
+
+The next group of vessels, though nearly destitute of ornament, and
+probably of a very ordinary class, will serve to give us some idea of
+the cooking vessels of the Romans. One of the most celebrated vases in
+the Neapolitan collection was found with a bronze simpulum in it; and
+upon the vase itself there was a sacrificial painting, representing a
+priest in the act of pouring out a libation from a vase with the
+simpulum.
+
+Pottery in ancient times was usually much more ornamental than at
+present, although it was often the case that their ornaments were
+rather an inconvenience, and would simply encumber the vessels; in our
+practical age more importance is placed in the convenience and utility
+than in beauty. Even their common vessels are not without a certain
+degree of elegance, both in form and workmanship.
+
+ [Illustration: VESSELS. (_From Pompeii._)]
+
+Great numbers of clay vases have been found, of which the following is
+a very beautiful specimen. The lip and base have the favorite ovolo
+moulding; the body has two rows of fluting separated by a transverse
+band, charged with leaves, and with a swan in the centre. The neck of
+the vase is painted, and the same subject is given on each side. It
+represents a chariot, drawn by four animals at full gallop, which
+appear to be intermediate between tigers and panthers. A winged genius
+directs them with his left hand, while with his right he goads them
+with a javelin.
+
+Another winged figure preceding the quadriga, with a thyrsus in his
+left hand, is in the act of seizing the bridle of one of the animals.
+The whole is painted in white on a black ground, except some few of
+the details, which are yellow, and the car and mantle of the genius,
+which are red. The handles represent knotted cords, or flexible
+branches interlaced, which terminate in the heads of animals. This
+vase is much cracked, probably in consequence of the violence of the
+fire.
+
+Some drinking vessels of peculiar construction have been found, which
+merit a particular description. These were in the shape of a horn, the
+primitive drinking-vessel, and had commonly a hole at the point, to be
+closed with the finger, until the drinker, raising it above his mouth,
+suffered the liquor to flow in a stream from the orifice.
+
+ [Illustration: DRINKING VESSEL.]
+
+This method of drinking, which is still practiced in some parts of the
+Mediterranean, must require great skill in order to hit the mark
+exactly. Sometimes the hole at the tip was closed, and one or two
+handles fitted to the side, and then the base formed the mouth; and
+sometimes the whimsical fancy of the potter fashioned it into the head
+of a pig, a stag, or any other animal. One in the Neapolitan Museum
+has the head of an eagle with the ears of a man.
+
+These vases are usually of clay, but cheap as is the material, it is
+evident by their good workmanship that they were not made by the
+lowest artists.
+
+The learned seem to have been generally mistaken on the subject of
+glass-making among the ancients, who appear to have been far more
+skillful than had been imagined. The vast collection of bottles,
+vases, glasses, and other utensils, discovered at Pompeii, is
+sufficient to show that the ancients were well acquainted with the art
+of glass-blowing.
+
+There is no doubt but that the Romans possessed glass in sufficient
+plenty to apply it to purposes of household ornament. The raw material
+appears from Pliny's account to have undergone two fusions; the first
+converted it into a rough mass called ammonitrum, which was melted
+again and became pure glass. We are also told of a dark-colored glass
+resembling obsidian, plentiful enough to be cast into solid statues.
+
+Pliny mentions having seen images of Augustus cast in this substance.
+It probably was some coarse kind of glass resembling the ammonitrum,
+or such as that in which the scoriae of our iron furnaces abound. Glass
+was worked either by blowing it with a pipe, as is now practiced, by
+turning in a lathe, by engraving and carving it, or, as we have
+noticed, by casting it in a mould.
+
+The ancients had certainly acquired great skill in the manufacture, as
+appears both from the accounts which have been preserved by ancient
+authors, and by the specimens which still exist--among which we may
+notice, as pre-eminently beautiful, that torment of antiquaries, the
+Portland vase, preserved in the British Museum. We have already
+adverted to another vase of the same kind, and of almost equal beauty,
+found in one of the tombs near the Gate of Herculaneum.
+
+A remarkable story is told by Dion Cassius, of a man who, in the time
+of the Emperor Tiberius, brought a glass cup into the imperial
+presence and dashed it on the ground. To the wonder of the spectators,
+the vessel bent under the blow without breaking, and the ingenious
+artist immediately hammered out the bruise, and restored it whole and
+sound to its original form; in return for which display of his skill,
+Tiberius, it is said, ordered him to be immediately put to death.
+
+The story is a strange one, yet it is confirmed by Pliny, who both
+mentions the discovery itself, and gives a clue to the motives which
+may have urged the emperor to a cruelty apparently so unprovoked. He
+speaks of an artificer who had invented a method of making flexible
+glass, and adds that Tiberius banished him, lest this new fashion
+should injure the workers in metal, of whose trade the manufacture of
+gold, silver, and other drinking-cups, and furniture for the table,
+formed an extensive and important branch.
+
+The Romans were also well acquainted with the art of coloring glass,
+as appears, among other proofs, from the glass mosaics, of which
+mention has been made. Pliny speaks of a blood-red sort, called
+haematinum, from blood, of white glass, blue glass, etc. The most
+valuable sort, however, was the colorless crystal glass, for two cups
+of which, with handles on each side, Nero gave 6,000 sesterces, about
+$240.
+
+Under this head we may speak of the vases called _murrhina_, since one
+theory respecting them is, that they were made of variegated glass.
+Their nature, however, is doubtful; not so their value. Pliny speaks
+of 70 talents being given for one holding three sextarii, about four
+and a half pints. Titus Petronius on his death-bed defrauded the
+avarice of Nero, who had compelled him, by a common piece of tyranny,
+to appoint the crown his heir by breaking a murrhine trulla, or flat
+bowl, worth 300 talents. Nero himself, as became a prince, outdid all
+by giving 100 talents for a single capis, or drinking-cup, "a
+memorable circumstance, that an emperor, and father of his country,
+should have drunk at so dear a rate." Pliny's description of this
+substance runs thus:
+
+"It is to be noticed that we have these rich cassidoin vessels (called
+in Latin murrhina) from the East, and that from places otherwise not
+greatly renowned, but most within the kingdom of Parthia; howbeit the
+principal come from Carmania. The stone whereof these vessels are made
+is thought to be a certain humor, thickened as it were in the earth by
+heat. In no place are these stones found larger than small tablements
+of pillars or the like, and seldom were they so thick as to serve for
+such a drinking-cup as I have spoken of already. Resplendent are they
+in some sort, but it may rather be termed a gloss than a radiant and
+transparent clearness; but that which maketh them so much esteemed is
+the variety of colors, for in these stones a man shall perceive
+certain veins or spots, which, as they be turned about, resemble
+divers colors, inclining partly to purple and partly to white: he
+shall see them also of a third color composed of them both, resembling
+the flame of fire. Thus they pass from one to another as a man holdeth
+them, insomuch as their purple seemeth near akin to white, and their
+milky white to bear as much on the purple. Some esteem those cassidoin
+or murrhine stones, the richest, which present as it were certain
+reverberations of certain colors meeting altogether about their edges
+and extremities, such as we observe in rainbows; others are delighted
+with certain fatty spots appearing in them; and no account is made of
+them which show either pale or transparent in any part of them, for
+these be reckoned great faults and blemishes; in like manner if there
+be seen in the cassidoin any spots like corns of salts or warts, for
+then are they considered apt to split. Finally, the cassidoin stones
+are commended in some sort also for the smell that they do yield."
+
+On these words of Pliny a great dispute has arisen. Some think that
+onyx is the material described, a conjecture founded on the variety of
+colors which that stone presents. To this it is objected, that onyx
+and murrha, onyx vases and murrhine vases are alike mentioned by Latin
+writers, and never with any hint as to their identity; nay, there is a
+passage in which Heliogabalus is said to have onyx and murrhine vases
+in constant use. Others, as we have said, think that they were
+variegated glass; others that they were the true Chinese porcelain, a
+conjecture in some degree strengthened by a line of Propertius:
+
+ "Murrheaq. in Parthis pocula cocta focis."
+
+At the same time this quotation is not so conclusive as it might have
+been, since Pliny speaks of murrha as "hardened in the earth by heat,"
+and the poet may only have meant the same thing, though the expression
+in that case would be somewhat strained. To us, Pliny's description
+appears to clearly point to some opaline substance; the precious opal
+has never in modern times been found in masses approaching to the size
+necessary to make vessels such as we have spoken of. The question is
+not likely to be settled, and it is not improbable that the material
+of these murrhine vases is entirely unknown to us, as the quarries of
+many marbles used by the ancients have hitherto eluded our research,
+and the marbles themselves are only known by their recurrence among
+ancient buildings.
+
+We may here notice one or two facts connected with glass, which show
+that the ancients were on the verge of making one or two very
+important discoveries in physical science. They were acquainted with
+the power of transparent spherical bodies to produce heat by the
+transmission of light, though not with the manner in which that heat
+was generated by the concentration of the solar rays. Pliny mentions
+the fact that hollow glass balls filled with water would, when held
+opposite to the sun, grow hot enough to burn any cloth they touched;
+but the turn of his expression evidently leads to the conclusion that
+he believed the heat to become accumulated in the glass itself, not
+merely to be transmitted through it. Seneca speaks of similar glass
+balls, which magnified minute objects to the view. Nay, he had nearly
+stumbled on a more remarkable discovery, the composition of light, for
+he mentions the possibility of producing an artificial rainbow by the
+use of an angular glass rod. At a far earlier period Aristophanes
+speaks of "a transparent substance used to light fires with," usually
+translated glass. The passage is curious, as it shows a perfect
+acquaintance with the use of the burning glass.
+
+With the laws of reflection the ancients, as we know from the
+performances ascribed to Archimedes, were well acquainted. It is
+singular that being in possession of such remarkable facts connected
+with refraction, they should never have proceeded to investigate the
+laws by which it is governed.
+
+ [Illustration: GLASS VESSELS (_of Pompeii_).]
+
+The first object figured _h_, in the annexed block, is a glass funnel,
+_infundibulum_; _g_, is described as a wine-strainer, but the method
+of its use is not altogether clear. The bottom is slightly concave,
+and pierced with holes. It is supposed to have been used as a sort of
+tap, the larger part being placed within the barrel, and the wine
+drawn off through the neck or spout, which is broken. Fig. _n_, is a
+wine-taster, something on the principle of a siphon. It is hollow, and
+the air being exhausted by the mouth at the small end, the liquid to
+be tasted was drawn up into the cavity. _a_ and _b_, wine-jars; _c_,
+two small wine-jars in a glass casket; _d_, _e_, _f_ and _q_, goblets
+or drinking-glasses of toned and beautiful colored glass; _i_ and _m_,
+glass dishes, the first with a saucer.
+
+Another sort of glass strainer, of which there are several in the
+Neapolitan Museum, is made of bronze, pierced in elegant and intricate
+patterns as seen on page 84. The Romans used strainers filled with
+snow to cool their wines, and such may have been the destination of
+the one here represented. These were called _cola vinaria_, or
+_nivaria_. The poor used a linen cloth for the same purpose.
+
+With respect to the details of dress, the excavations, whether at
+Pompeii or Herculaneum, enable us to clear up no difficulties, and to
+add little to that which is already known on this subject. Still a
+short notice of the principal articles of dress, and explanation of
+their Latin names, may be expedient for the full understanding of some
+parts of our subject. The male costume will detain us a very short
+time.
+
+The proper Roman dress, for it would be tiresome and unprofitable to
+enter upon the variety of garments introduced in later times from
+foreign nations, consisted merely of the toga and tunica, the latter
+being itself an innovation on the simple and hardy habit of ancient
+times. It was a woolen vest, for it was late before the use of linen
+was introduced, reaching to the knees, and at first made without
+sleeves, which were considered effeminate; but, as luxury crept in,
+not only were sleeves used, but the number of tunics was increased to
+three or four. The toga was an ample semi-circular garment, also
+without sleeves. It is described as having an opening large enough to
+admit the head and the right arm and shoulder, which were left
+exposed, having a sort of lappet, or flap (lacinia), which was brought
+under the right arm and thrown over the left shoulder, forming the
+_sinus_, or bosom, the deep folds of which served as a sort of pocket.
+This is the common description, which, we confess, conveys no very
+clear notion of the construction or appearance of the dress. The left
+arm was entirely covered, or if exposed, it was by gathering up the
+lower edge of the ample garment.
+
+The female dress consisted of one or more tunics, with an upper
+garment, called _stola_, which superseded the toga, originally worn by
+women as well as men. The stola is said to have been a more ample and
+ornamented sort of tunic. The tunic worn by women does not seem to
+have differed from that worn by men, except that it reached to the
+feet. Above the stola, women wore a mantle called palla or pallium.
+This is said to have been thrown across the shoulders, the right end
+being gathered up and thrown over the left shoulder, leaving nothing
+but the right hand visible.
+
+ [Illustration: CUPS AND METALS.]
+
+Some minute speculations relative to one article in female dress have
+been based on a statue from Herculaneum, in which a Neapolitan
+antiquary thinks that he has discovered the nature and construction of
+that compound garment called the tunico-pallium, in which the
+appearance and uses of the tunic and mantle were united. It is the
+statue of a woman employed in buckling her dress over the right
+shoulder, having already fastened it on the left, in such a manner as
+to leave the arm bare.
+
+Numerous articles of female ornament have been found, of which we have
+collected a few into one block. They are drawn of the same size as the
+originals. The lower corners of the cut represent ear-rings, seen in
+front and sideways. It is a portion of a plain gold spheroid, very
+thick, with a metal hook at the back to pass through the ear. The next
+is of simpler construction, having pearl pendants. Both these patterns
+seem to have been very common. The upper right-hand corner of the cut
+represents a breast-pin, attached to a Bacchanalian figure, with a
+patera in one hand and a glass in the other. He is provided with bat's
+wings, and two belts, or bands of grapes, pass across his body. The
+bat's wings symbolize the drowsiness consequent upon hard drinking.
+There are also represented gold rings with serpent's heads, the eyes
+of which are inlaid with beautiful stones and diamonds; also bracelets
+of this pattern were very common.
+
+ [Illustration: GOLD JEWELRY (_From Pompeii_)]
+
+A beautiful gold necklace was also found, of which a cut is
+represented in the above plate. It was very elaborate and exquisite.
+Ornamental safety-pins were also found, as shown in following cuts.
+Lockets were also found, indicating religious subjects of later date.
+
+Small toilet-boxes, made of wood or ivory, were also numerous; and,
+like the vases, of many different forms; and some, which contained
+cosmetics of divers kinds, served to deck the dressing table, or a
+lady's boudoir. They were carved in various ways, and loaded with
+ornamental devices in relief; sometimes representing the favorite
+lotus flower, with its buds and stalks, a goose, gazelle, fox, or
+other animal. Many were of considerable length, terminating in a
+hollow shell, not unlike a spoon in shape and depth, covered with a
+lid turning on a pin; and to this, which may properly be styled the
+box, the remaining part was merely an accessory, intended for
+ornament, or serving as a handle.
+
+ [Illustration: HEAVY GOLD PINS.]
+
+They were generally of sycamore wood, sometimes of tamarisk, or of
+acacia; and occasionally ivory, and inlaid work, were substituted for
+wood. To many, a handle of less disproportionate length was attached,
+representing the usual lotus flower, a figure, a Typhonian monster, an
+animal, a bird, a fish, or a reptile; and the box itself, whether
+covered with a lid or open, was in character with the remaining part.
+Some shallow ones were probably intended to contain small portions of
+ointment, taken from a large vase at the time it was wanted, or for
+other purposes connected with the toilet, where greater depth was not
+required; and in many instances they rather resembled spoons than
+boxes.
+
+ [Illustration: BROOCHES INSET WITH STONE.]
+
+Many were made in the form of a royal oval, with and without a handle;
+and the body of a wooden fish was scooped out, and closed with a cover
+imitating the scales, to deceive the eye by the appearance of a solid
+mass. Sometimes a goose was represented, ready for table, or swimming
+on the water, and pluming itself; the head being the handle of a box
+formed of its hollow body; some consisted of an open part or cup,
+attached to a covered box; others of different shapes offered the
+usual variety of fancy devices, and some were without covers, which
+may come under the denomination of saucers. Others bore the precise
+form and character of a box, being deeper and more capacious; and
+these were probably used for holding trinkets, or occasionally as
+repositories for the small pots of ointment, or scented oils, and
+bottles containing the collyrium, which women applied to their eyes.
+
+Some were divided into separate compartments, covered by a common lid,
+either sliding in a groove, or turning on a pin at one end; and many
+of still larger dimensions sufficed to contain a mirror, combs, and,
+perhaps, even some articles of dress.
+
+These boxes were frequently of costly materials, veneered with rare
+woods, or made of ebony, inlaid with ivory, painted with various
+devices, or stained to imitate materials of a valuable nature; and the
+mode of fastening the lid, and the curious substitute for a hinge
+given to some of them, show the former was entirely removed, and that
+the box remained open, while used.
+
+Knobs of ebony, or other hard wood, were very common. They were
+covered with great care, and inlaid with ivory and silver.
+
+ [Illustration: SAFETY TOGA PINS.]
+
+Some boxes were made with a pointed summit, divided into two parts,
+one of which alone opened, turning on small pivots at the base, and
+the two ends of the box resembled in form the gable ends, as the top,
+the shelving roof, of a house. The sides were, as usual, secured by
+glue and nails, generally of wood, and dove-tailed, a method of
+joining adopted in Egypt at the most remote period; but the
+description of these belongs more properly to cabinet work, as those
+employed for holding the combs, and similar objects, to the toilet.
+
+Some vases have been found in boxes, made of wicker-work, closed with
+stoppers of wood, reed, or other materials, supposed to belong either
+to a lady's toilet or to a medical man; one of which, now in the
+Berlin Museum, has been already noticed.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+FURNITURE.
+
+
+In the furniture of the houses the Egyptians displayed considerable
+taste; and there, as elsewhere, they studiously avoided too much
+regularity, justly considering that its monotonous effect fatigued the
+eye. They preferred variety both in the arrangement of the rooms and
+in the character of their furniture, and neither the windows, doors,
+nor wings of the house, exactly corresponded with each other. An
+Egyptian would, therefore, have been more pleased with the form of our
+Elizabethan, than of the box-shaped rooms of later times.
+
+In their mode of sitting on chairs they resembled the modern Europeans
+rather than Asiatics, neither using, like the latter, soft _divans_,
+nor sitting cross-legged on carpets. Nor did they recline at meals, as
+the Romans, on a _triclinium_, though couches and ottomans formed part
+of the furniture of an Egyptian. When Joseph entertained his brethren,
+he ordered them to _sit_ according to their ages. Egyptians sometimes
+sat cross-legged on the ground, on mats and carpets, or knelt on one
+or both knees; these were rather the customs for certain occasions,
+and of the poorer classes. To sit on their heels was also customary as
+a token of respect in the presence of a superior, as in modern Egypt;
+and when a priest bore a shrine before the deity he assumed this
+position of humility; a still greater respect being shown by
+prostration, or by kneeling and kissing the ground. But the house of a
+wealthy person was always furnished with chairs and couches. Stools
+and low seats were also used, the seat being only from 8 to 14 inches
+high, and of wood, or interlaced with thongs; these, however, may be
+considered equivalent to our rush-bottomed chairs, and probably
+belonged to persons of humbler means. They varied in their quality,
+and some were inlaid with ivory and various woods.
+
+Those most common in the houses of the rich were the single and double
+chair (answering to the Greek _thronos_ and _diphros_), the latter
+sometimes kept as a family seat, and occupied by the master and
+mistress of the house, or a married couple. It was not, however,
+always reserved exclusively for them, nor did they invariably occupy
+the same seat; they sometimes sat like their guests on separate
+chairs, and a _diphros_ was occasionally offered to visitors, both men
+and women.
+
+Many of the fauteuils were of the most elegant form. They were made of
+ebony and other rare woods, inlaid with ivory, and very similar to
+some now used in Europe. The legs were mostly in imitation of those of
+an animal; and lions' heads, or the entire body, formed the arms of
+large fauteuils, as in the throne of Solomon (I Kings, x. 19). Some,
+again, had folding legs, like our camp-stools; the seat was often
+slightly concave; and those in the royal palace were ornamented with
+the figures of captives, or emblems of dominion over Egypt and other
+countries. The back was light and strong, and consisted of a single
+set of upright and cross bars, or of a frame receding gradually and
+terminating at its summit in a graceful curve, supported from without
+by perpendicular bars; and over this was thrown a handsome pillow of
+colored cotton, painted leather, or gold and silver tissue, like the
+beds at the feast of Abasuerus, mentioned in Esther, or like the
+feathered cushions covered with stuffs and embroidered with silk and
+threads of gold in the palace of Scaurus.
+
+Seats on the principle of our camp-stools seem to have been much in
+vogue. They were furnished with a cushion, or were covered with the
+skin of a leopard, or some other animal, which was removed when the
+seat was folded up; and it was not unusual to make even head-stools,
+or wooden pillows on the same principle. They were also adorned in
+various ways, bound with metal plates, and inlaid with ivory, or
+foreign woods; and the wood of common chairs was often painted to
+resemble that of a rarer and more valuable kind.
+
+The seats of chairs were frequently of leather, painted with flowers
+and fancy devices; of interlaced work made of string or thongs,
+carefully and neatly arranged, which, like our Indian cane chairs,
+were particularly adapted for a hot climate; but over this they
+occasionally placed a leather cushion, painted in the manner already
+mentioned.
+
+The forms of the chairs varied very much; the larger ones generally
+had light backs, and some few had arms. They were mostly about the
+height of those now used in Europe, the seat nearly in a line with the
+bend of the knee; but some were very low, and others offered that
+variety of position which we seek in the kangaroo chairs of our own
+drawing-room. The ordinary fashion of the legs was in imitation of
+those of some wild animal, as the lion or the goat, but more usually
+the former, the foot raised and supported on a short pin; and, what is
+remarkable, the skill of their cabinet-makers, even before the time of
+Joseph, had already done away with the necessity of uniting the legs
+with bars. Stools, however, and more rarely chairs, were occasionally
+made with these strengthening members, as is still the case in our own
+country; but the drawing-room fauteuil and couch were not disfigured
+by so unseemly and so unskillful a support.
+
+The stools used in the saloon were of the same style and elegance as
+the chairs, frequently differing from them only in the absence of a
+back; and those of more delicate workmanship were made of ebony, and
+inlaid, as already stated, with ivory or rare woods. Some of an
+ordinary kind had solid sides, and were generally very low; and
+others, with three legs, belonged to persons of inferior rank.
+
+The ottomans were simple square sofas, without backs, raised from the
+ground nearly to the same level as the chairs. The upper part was of
+leather, or a cotton stuff, richly colored, like the cushions of the
+fauteuils; the base was of wood painted with various devices; and
+those in the royal palace were ornamented with the figures of
+captives, the conquest of whose country was designated by their having
+this humiliating position. The same idea gave them a place on the
+soles of sandals, on the footstools of a royal throne, and on the
+walls of the palace at Medeenet Haboo, in Thebes, where their heads
+support some of the ornamental details of the building.
+
+Footstools also constituted part of the furniture of the sitting-room;
+they were made with solid or open sides, covered at the top with
+leather or interlaced work, and varied in height according to
+circumstances, some being of the usual size now adopted by us, others
+of inconsiderable thickness, and rather resembling a small rug.
+Carpets, indeed, were a very early invention, and they are often
+represented sitting upon them, as well as on mats, which are commonly
+used in their sitting-rooms, as at the present day, and remnants of
+them have been found in the Theban tombs.
+
+Their couches evinced no less taste than the fauteuils. They were of
+wood, with one end raised, and receding in a graceful curve; and the
+feet, as in many of the chairs, already described, were fashioned to
+resemble those of some wild animal.
+
+Egyptian tables were round, square, or oblong; the former were
+generally used during their repasts, and consisted of a circular flat
+summit, supported like the _monopodium_ of the Romans, on a single
+shaft, or leg, in the centre, or by the figure of a man, intended to
+represent a captive. Large tables had usually three or four legs, but
+some were made with solid sides; and though generally of wood, many
+were of metal or stone; and they varied in size, according to the
+purposes for which they were intended.
+
+Of the furniture of their bed-rooms we know little or nothing; but
+that they universally employed the wooden pillow above alluded to is
+evident, though Porphyry would lead us to suppose its use was confined
+to the priests, when, in noticing their mode of life, he mentions a
+half cylinder of well polished wood "sufficing to support their head,"
+as an instance of their simplicity and self-denial. For the rich they
+were made of Oriental alabaster, with an elegant grooved or fluted
+shaft, ornamented with hieroglyphics, carved in intaglio, of sycamore,
+tamarisk, and other woods of the country; the poor classes being
+contented with a cheaper sort, of pottery or stone. Porphyry mentions
+a kind of wicker bedstead of _palm branches_, hence called _bais_,
+evidently the species of framework called _kaffass_, still employed by
+the modern Egyptians as a support to the _divans_ of sitting rooms,
+and to their beds. Wooden, and perhaps also bronze, bedsteads (like
+the iron one of Og, King of Bashan), were used by the wealthier
+classes of the ancient Egyptians; and it is at least probable that the
+couches they slept upon were as elegant as those on which their bodies
+reposed after death; and the more so, as these last, in their general
+style, are very similar to the furniture of the sitting-room.
+
+The oldest specimen of a bedstead is that mentioned by Homer as joined
+together by Odysseus in his own house. He had cut off the stem of an
+olive-tree a few feet from the ground, and joined to it the boards of
+the bed, so that the trunk supported the bed at the head. It therefore
+was immovable. The antique bed must be considered as the prolongation
+of the diphros. The cross-legged diphros prolonged became the folding
+bed; that with perpendicular legs the couch. The former could easily
+be moved and replaced; they are perhaps identical with the beds
+frequently mentioned in the "Odyssey," which were put into the outer
+hall for guests. One of them is shown as the notorious bed of
+Prokrustes in a picture on a vase. The diphros corresponds to the
+couch resting on four legs, at first without head and foot-board,
+which were afterwards added at both ends. By the further addition of a
+back on one of the long sides, it became what we now call a _chaise
+longue_ or sofa. This sleeping kline was no doubt essentially the same
+as that used at meals. The materials were, besides the ordinary woods,
+maple or box, either massive or veneered. The legs and backs, and
+other parts not covered by the bed clothes, were carefully worked.
+Sometimes the legs are neatly carved or turned, sometimes the frames
+are inlaid with gold, silver, and ivory, as is testified in the
+"Odyssey," and elsewhere.
+
+The bedding mentioned in Homer did not consist of sumptuous bolsters
+and cushions, as in later times. It consisted, even amongst the richer
+classes, first of all of the blankets of a long-haired woolen
+material, or perhaps a kind of mattress. Hides, as spread by the poor
+on the hard floor, were sometimes put under the blankets, and other
+additional blankets, so as to soften the couch. The whole was covered
+with linen sheets. The light blankets served to cover the sleeper, who
+sometimes used his own dress for this purpose; sometimes they
+consisted of woolen blankets woven for the purpose. After Homer's
+time, when Asiatic luxury had been introduced into Greece, a mattress
+was placed immediately on the bed-straps. It was stuffed with plucked
+wool or feathers, and covered with some linen or woolen material.
+Pillows, like the mattresses stuffed with wool or feathers, were added
+to complete the bedding, at least in more luxurious times. (The cut on
+page 78 gives a good idea of the looks of an ancient Roman and Grecian
+bed.) Of a similar kind were the klinai placed in the sitting-rooms,
+lying on which, in a half-reclining position, people used to read,
+write and take their meals. They were covered with soft blankets of
+gorgeous colors, while one or more cushions served to support the body
+in its half-sitting position, or to prop the left arm.
+
+Tables were used by the ancients chiefly at meals, not for reading and
+writing. The antique tables, either square with four legs, or circular
+or oval with three connected legs, afterwards with one leg, resemble
+our modern ones, but for their being lower. Mostly their slabs did not
+reach higher than the kline; higher tables would have been
+inconvenient for the reclining person. In Homeric and even in later
+times, a small table stood before each thronos. The use of separate
+dishes for each guest is comparatively new. Originally the meats were
+brought in on large platters, divided by the steward, and each portion
+put on the bare table. In want of knives and forks the fingers were
+used. The pastry was put in baskets by the tables. Whether the Homeric
+tables were as low as the later ones, when lying instead of sitting
+had become the custom, we must leave undecided, in want of sculptural
+evidence. The legs of the tables were carefully finished, particularly
+those of the tripods, which frequently imitated the legs of animals,
+or at least had claws at their ends. The four-legged tables were more
+simple in design. The material was wood, particularly maple; later on,
+bronze, precious metals, and ivory were introduced.
+
+For the keeping of articles of dress, valuable utensils, ornaments,
+bottles of ointment, and documents, larger or smaller drawers and
+boxes were used. Chests of drawers and upright cupboards with doors
+seem to have been unknown in earlier times; only in few monuments of
+later date (for instance in the wall-painting of a shoemaker's
+workshop at Herculaneum) we see something resembling our wardrobe. The
+wardrobes mentioned by Homer doubtless resembled our old-fashioned
+trunks. The surfaces showed ornaments of various kinds, either cut
+from the wood in relief or inlaid with precious metal and ivory. Some
+smaller boxes with inlaid figures or painted arabesques are shown from
+pictures on vases. The ornamentation with polished nails seem to have
+been very much in favor--a fashion re-introduced in modern times. The
+most celebrated example of such ornamentation was the box of Kypselos,
+in the opisthodomos of the temple of Hera at Olympia. It dates
+probably from the time when the counting by Olympiads was introduced,
+and served, according to Botticher, for the keeping of votive tapestry
+and the like. According to Pausanias, it was made of cedar-wood, and
+elliptic in shape. It was adorned with mythological representations,
+partly carved in wood, partly inlaid with gold and ivory, encircling
+the whole box in five stripes, one over the other.
+
+Locks, keys and bolts, known at an early period for the closing of
+doors, were later applied to boxes, as is sufficiently proved by the
+still-existing small keys fastened to finger-rings, which, although
+all of Roman make, were most likely not unknown to the Greeks. For
+doors these would have been too small.
+
+The furniture of Greek houses was simple, but full of artistic beauty.
+This was particularly displayed in vessels for the keeping of both dry
+and fluid stores, as were found in temples, dwellings and even graves.
+Only the last-mentioned have been preserved to us. Earthen vessels are
+the most numerous. The invention of the potter's wheel is of great
+antiquity, and was ascribed by the Greeks in different places to
+different mythical persons. The Corinthians named Hyperbion as its
+inventor. In the Kerameikos, the potters' quarter of Athens, Keramos,
+the son of Dionysos and Ariadne, was worshiped as such. The name of
+the locality itself was derived from this "heros eponymos." Next to
+Corinth and Athens (which latter became celebrated for earthen
+manufactures, owing to the excellent clay of the promontory of
+Kolias), AEgina, Lakedaemon, Aulis, Tenedos, Samos and Knidos were
+famous for their earthenware. In these places the manufacture of
+painted earthenware was concentrated; thence they were exported to the
+ports of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for the markets of the
+adjoining countries. Owing to the beautiful custom of the ancients of
+leaving in the graves of the dead the utensils of their daily life, a
+great many beautiful vessels have been preserved which otherwise would
+have shared the destruction of the dwellings with much less fragile
+implements. From the pictures on these vases we derive, moreover,
+valuable information as to the public and private habits of the
+Greeks. The greatest number of graves in their original condition, and
+filled with vessels, are found in Italy.
+
+ [Illustration: PLUNDERING CORINTH.]
+
+Good, particularly red, clay was in demand for superior goods, and of
+this the promontory of Kolias, near Athens, furnished an unlimited
+supply. The potter's wheel was in use at a very early period. On it
+were formed both large and small vessels, with the difference,
+however, that of the former the foot, neck, and handles were formed
+separately, and afterwards attached, as was also the case in small
+vessels with widely curved handles.
+
+In order to intensify the red color the vessel was frequently glazed
+and afterwards dried and burnt on the oven. The outlines of the
+figures to be painted on the vase were either cut into the red clay
+and filled up with a brilliant black varnish, or the surface itself
+was covered with the black varnish up to the contours, in which case
+these stood out in the natural red color of the clay.
+
+The first mentioned process was the older of the two, and greater
+antiquity is, therefore, to be assigned to vessels with black figures
+on a red ground. In both kinds of paintings draperies or the muscles
+of nude figures were further indicated by the incision of additional
+lines of the color of the surface into the figures. Other colors,
+like dark red, violet, or white, which on close investigation have
+been recognized as dissolvable, were put on after the second burning
+of the vessel.
+
+About the historic development of pottery we know nothing beyond what
+may be guessed from the differences of style. As we said before,
+figures of a black or dark-brown color painted on the natural pale red
+or yellowish color of the clay indicate greater antiquity. The black
+figures were occasionally painted over in white or violet. These
+vessels are mostly small and somewhat compressed in form; they are
+surrounded with parallel stripes of pictures of animals, plants,
+fabulous beings, or arabesques. The drawings show an antiquated stiff
+type, similar to those on the vessels recently discovered at Nineveh
+and Babylon, whence the influence of Oriental on Greek art may be
+inferred. This archaic style, like the strictly hieratic style in
+sculpture, was retained together with a freer treatment at a more
+advanced period. As a first step of development we notice the
+combination of animals and arabesques, at first with half-human,
+half-animal figures, soon followed by compositions belonging mostly to
+a certain limited circle of myths. The treatment of figures shows
+rigidity in the calm, and violence in the active, positions. The Doric
+forms of letters and words on many vases of this style, whether found
+in Greece or Italy, no less than the uniformity of their _technique_,
+indicate _one_ place of manufacture, most likely the Doric Corinth,
+celebrated for her potteries; on the other hand, the inscriptions in
+Ionian characters and written in the Ionian dialect on vessels prove
+their origin in the manufactures of the Ionian Euboea and her
+colonies. The pictures on these vases, also painted in stripes, extend
+the mythological subject-matter beyond the Trojan cycle to the oldest
+epical myths, each story being represented in its consecutive phases.
+
+The latter vases form the transition to the second period. The shapes
+now become more varied, graceful, and slender. The figures are
+painted in black, and covered with a brilliant varnish; the
+_technique_ of the painting, however, does not differ from that of the
+first period. The outlines have been neatly incised and covered up
+with black paint; the details also of draperies and single parts of
+the body are done by incision, and sometimes painted over in white or
+dark red. The principle seems to be that of polychrome painting, also
+applied in sculpture. Single parts of the armor, embroideries, and
+patterns of dresses, hair, and beards of men, the manes of animals,
+etc., are indicated by means of dark red lines. This variety of color
+was required particularly for the draperies, which are stiff and
+clumsily attached to the body. The same stiffness is shown in the
+treatment of faces and other nude parts of the body, as also in the
+rendering of movements. The faces are always in profile, the nose and
+chin pointed and protruding, and the lips of the compressed mouth
+indicated only by a line. Shoulders, hips, thighs, and calves bulge
+out, the body being singularly pinched. The grouping is equally
+imperfect. The single figures of compositions are loosely connected by
+the general idea of the story. They have, as it were, a narrative
+character; an attempt at truth to nature is, however, undeniable.
+
+The subjects are taken partly from the twelve-gods cycle (like the
+frequently-occurring birth of Athene, Dionysian processions, etc.), or
+from Trojan and Theban myths; partly also from daily life, such as
+chases, wrestlings, sacrifices, symposia and the like. To this class
+belong most of those large Panathenaic prize-vases, which are of such
+importance for our knowledge of gymnastic competitions.
+
+In our third class the figures appear in the natural color of the
+surface, which itself has been painted black. The character of the
+figures in consequence appears gay and lively. Both styles seem at one
+time to have existed together, for we find them used severally on two
+sides of one and the same vessel, till at last the painting of black
+figures was disused entirely. The drawings now become more individual,
+and are freed from the fetters of conventional tradition--a proof of
+the free development of both political and artistic feelings, even
+among the lower classes of artificers. The specimens of the third
+class show the different stages of this process of liberation. At
+first the figures are somewhat hard, and the drapery, although
+following the lines of the body more freely than previously, shows
+still traces of archaic severity of treatment; the details, indicated
+by black lines, are still carefully worked out. For smaller folds and
+muscles, a darker shade of the red color is used; wreaths and flowers
+appear dark; red white is used only in few cases--for instance, for
+the hair of an old man. The composition shows greater concentration
+and symmetry in the grouping, according to the conditions of the space
+at disposal. The figures show a solemn dignity, with signs, however,
+of an attempted freer treatment.
+
+ [Illustration: GREEK VASE.]
+
+Kramer justly calls this period that of the "severe style," and
+compares it with the well-known "AEginetic" style in sculpture. The
+further development of the "severe style" is what Kramer calls the
+"beautiful style," in which grace and beauty of motion and drapery,
+verging on the soft, have taken the place of severe dignity. In high
+art this transition might be compared to that from Perugino's school
+to that of Raphael, or, if we may believe the ancient writers, from
+the school of Polygnotos to that of Zeuxis and Parrhasios.
+
+The form of the vessels themselves next calls for our attention. The
+vases, two-handled amphorai and krateres, found most frequently during
+this period, are slender and graceful. Together with them we meet with
+beautifully modeled drinking-horns, and heads or whole figures, used
+to put vessels upon. The variety of forms, and the largeness of some
+vessels, overloaded as they were with figures, soon led to want of
+care in the composition. The moderation characteristic of the
+"beautiful style" was soon relinquished for exaggerated ornamentation,
+combined with a preference for representing sumptuous dresses and the
+immoderate use of white, yellow, and other colors. This led gradually
+to the decadence of pottery.
+
+In some Etruscan cities earthenware was manufactured by local artists
+working after Greek patterns. The figures are distinguished from
+genuine Greek work by the contours being incised very deeply and
+filled up with red color. The clay also is coarser. The compositions
+show an admixture of local myths and usages, not to mention Etruscan
+inscriptions.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+VASES.
+
+
+Painted vases may be considered as the most curious, the most
+graceful, and the most instructive remains that have come down to us
+from ancient times. The beauty of the forms, the fineness of the
+material, the perfection of the varnish, the variety of the subjects,
+and their interest in an historical point of view give painted vases a
+very important place among the productions of the arts of the
+ancients. Painted vases have been collected with great eagerness ever
+since they have been known, and the most remarkable have been engraved
+by celebrated artists, and explained by profound archaeologists. Modern
+art and archaeology have obtained from them beautiful models and
+important information. They were known for the first time in the
+seventeenth century.
+
+Painted vases were, to a considerable extent, objects of traffic and
+of export from one country to another. They may be generally traced to
+Athens as the original place of exportation. Corinth also exported
+vases, for the products of Corinthian potters have been found in
+Sicily and Italy, and there can be no doubt that Corinth had
+established an active trade in works of art with the Greek colonies
+all over the Mediterranean. Athenian vases were carried by the
+Phoenicians, the commercial traders of the ancient world, as objects
+of traffic to the remotest parts of the then known world. In the
+Periplus of Scylax, the Phoenicians are mentioned as exchanging the
+pottery of Athens for the ivory of Africa. They were, in fact, the
+ornamental china of the ancient world.
+
+ [Illustration: ETRUSCAN VASE.]
+
+_Etruscan._--The potter's art was introduced into Etruria by Demaratus
+of Corinth, who, flying from that city, took up his abode at
+Tarquinii, the modern Corneto, where vases in the most archaic style,
+resembling those of Corinth, or those called Doric, have been found.
+Vases, the Etruscan origin of which can not be disputed, have been
+found at Volterra, Tarquinii (Corneto), Perugia, Orvieto, Viterbo,
+Aquapendente, and other towns of ancient Etruria. The clay of which
+they are made is of a pale or reddish yellow, the varnish is dull, the
+workmanship rather rude, the ornaments are devoid of taste and
+elegance, and the style of the figures possesses all those
+characteristics already assigned to that of the Etruscans. The figures
+are drawn in black on the natural color of the clay; sometimes a
+little red is introduced on the black ground of the drapery. It is by
+the subject chiefly that the Etruscan vases are distinguished from the
+Greek vases. On the former, the figures are in the costume peculiar to
+ancient Italy; the men and the heroes are represented with their
+beards and hair very thick; the gods and genii have large wings;
+monstrous combinations not capable of explanation by Hellenic myths;
+we may also observe divinities, religious customs, attributes,
+manners, arms, and symbols, different from those of Greece. Etruscan
+deities, such as Charun with his mace, denote their Etruscan origin;
+the subjects of the vases are, however, generally derived from Greek
+mythology, treated in a manner consonant to the Etruscan taste, and to
+their local religion, while their drawing is of the coarsest kind. If
+an inscription in Etruscan characters, traced invariably from right to
+left, accompanies the painting, certainty with regard to their origin
+may be considered as complete. It is true that the greater number of
+the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet are of the same form as
+those of the Etruscan alphabet; but there are in the latter some
+particular characters which will prevent any confusion. The names of
+the personages on the vases are spelt differently from those on the
+Greek, as Ainas for Ajax, Atreste for Adrastus, Akle for Achilles,
+Alesti for Alcestis, etc. We must also observe, that Etruscan painted
+vases are very rare, and are but few in number, compared with those
+for which we are indebted to the arts of Greece.
+
+ [Illustration: ROMAN VASES.]
+
+_Greek._--The paste of these vases is tender, easily scratched or cut
+with a knife, remarkably fine and homogeneous, but of loose texture.
+When broken, it exhibits a dull opaque color, more or less yellow, red
+or grey. It is composed of silica, alumina, carbonate of lime,
+magnesia and oxide of iron. The color depends on the proportions in
+which these elements are mixed; the paler parts containing more lime,
+the red more iron. The exterior coating is composed of a particular
+kind of clay, which seems to be a kind of yellow or red ochre, reduced
+to a very fine paste, mixed with some glutinous or oily substance, and
+laid on with a brush; great difference is observable in the pastes of
+vases coming from widely separated localities, owing either to their
+composition or baking. The paste of the early vases of Athens and
+Melos is of a very pale red; that of vases of the Doric or Corinthian
+style is of a pale lemon color. At the best period of the art, the
+paste is of a warm orange red; but Lucanian and Apulian vases are of a
+paler tone. The Etruscan painted vases of all ages are of a pale red
+tone, with a much greater proportion of white, which appears to be
+owing to the greater proportion of chalk used in preparing the paste.
+
+The earliest vases were made with the hand, while those of a later
+period were made with the wheel; the wheel, however, is a very early
+invention. Among the Egyptians and Greeks it was a low, circular
+table, turned with the foot. Representations of a potter turning the
+wheel with his foot, occur on painted vases of an early date. With
+this simple wheel the Greeks effected wonders, producing shapes still
+unrivalled in beauty.
+
+After the vases had been made on the wheel, Dr. Birch writes, they
+were duly dried in the sun, and then painted; for it is evident that
+they could not have been painted while wet. The simplest and probably
+the most common, process was to color the entire vase black. The under
+part of the foot was left plain. When a pattern was added, the
+outline, faintly traced with a round point on the moist clay, was
+carefully followed by the painter. It was necessary for the artist to
+follow his sketch with great rapidity, since the clay rapidly absorbed
+the coloring matter, and the outline was required to be bold and
+continuous, each time that it was joined detracting from its merit. A
+finely-ground slip was next laid upon a brush, and the figures and
+ornaments were painted in. The whole was then covered with a very fine
+siliceous glaze, probably formed of soda and well-levigated sand. The
+vase was next sent to the furnace, and carefully baked. It was then
+returned to the workshop, where a workman or painter scratched in all
+the details with a pointed tool. The faces of female figures were
+colored white, with a thick coat of lime or chalk, and the eyes red.
+Parts of the drapery, the crests of helmets, and the _antyges_, or
+borders of shields, were colored with a crimson coat, consisting of an
+oxide of iron and lime, like a body color.
+
+In the second style of vases the figures are painted in a dark brown
+or black, of an unequal tone, on yellow ground, formed of a siliceous
+coating over the pale red clay of the vase. An improvement upon this
+style was the changing of the color of the figures by painting, or
+stopping out, all the ground of the vase in black, thus leaving the
+figures of the natural red of the clay, and the marking of the muscles
+and finer portions, as an outline, of bright brown. After the paint
+had dried, the slip, or the siliceous glaze, was laid over the vase,
+except the under part of the foot and the inside. The colors used were
+few and simple, and were evidently ground excessively fine, and made
+into a kind of slip. Of these colors the black was the most important
+and the most extensively used. Great difference has always existed as
+to the nature of this color. Vauquelin takes it to be a carbonaceous
+matter, such as plumbagine or black lead. The Duc de Luynes asserts it
+to be an oxide of iron. Of opaque colors, the most important and
+extensively used is the white, said by Brongniart to be a carbonate of
+lime or fine clay. Red and yellow are sparingly used. Blue and green
+are rarely found, and only on vases of the latest styles. The liquid
+employed for mixing the colors is supposed to have been water.
+
+The glaze with which these vases were covered is described by M.
+Brongniart as lustrous (_lustre_), and only one kind was used, the
+recipe for making which is now lost. It appears to have been composed
+of one of the principal alkalies, either potash or soda. The vases of
+Nola and Vulci are remarkable for the beauty and brilliancy of their
+glaze.
+
+According to d'Hancarville the vases were baked in a naked furnace.
+Representations of ancient furnaces occur on painted vases. The
+furnaces were of simple construction, in shape like tall ovens, fed by
+fires from beneath, into which the vases were placed with a long
+shovel resembling the baker's peel.
+
+ [Illustration: VASE REPRESENTING A MARRIAGE. (_Found at
+ Pompeii._)]
+
+The colors being laid on in a different manner in the earlier and
+later vases has caused them to be distinguished into two general
+classes. In the earlier the ground is yellow or red, and the figures
+are traced on it in black, so as to form kinds of silhouettes. These
+are called the black or archaic vases; they are generally in an
+ancient style; their subjects belong to the most ancient mythological
+traditions, and their inscriptions to the most ancient forms of the
+Greek alphabet, written from right to left, or in boustrophedon. The
+draperies, the accessories, the harness of the horses, and the wheels
+of the chariots, are touched with white. At a later period, the whole
+vase was painted black, with the exception of the figures, which were
+then of the color of the clay of the vase; the contours of the
+figures, the hair, drapery, etc., being previously traced in black.
+There are then two general classes of Greek vases, distinguished by
+the figures, which are black or yellow. They are in general remarkable
+for the beauty and elegance of their forms. There is a great variety
+in their sizes; some being several feet high, and broad in proportion;
+others being not higher than an inch. The subject is on one side of
+the vase; sometimes it occupies the entire circumference, but more
+generally it is on one side alone, and then there is on the reverse
+some insignificant subject, generally two or three old men leaning on
+a stick, instructing a young man, or presenting him with some
+instrument or utensil; a bacchanalian scene is sometimes represented
+on the reverse. Some vases have been found with two subjects on the
+sides of the vase. On some of the finest vases, the subject goes round
+the entire circumference of the vase. On the foot, neck and other
+parts are the usual Greek ornaments, the Vitruvian scroll, the
+Meander, Palmetto, the honeysuckle. A garland sometimes adorns the
+neck, or, in its stead, a woman's head issuing from a flower. These
+ornaments are in general treated with the greatest taste and elegance.
+Besides the obvious difference in the style of the vases, there is a
+remarkable difference in the execution of the paintings. They are not
+all of the highest merit, but the boldness of the outlines is
+generally remarkable on them. They could be executed only with the
+greatest rapidity, the clay absorbing the colors very quickly, so that
+if a line was interrupted the joining would be perceptible. Some
+thought that the figures were executed by the means of patterns cut
+out, which being laid on the vase, preserved on the black ground the
+principal masses in yellow, which were finished afterwards with a
+brush. But this opinion of Sir William Hamilton has been abandoned by
+himself, particularly since the traces of a point have been
+recognized, with which the artist had at first sketched on the soft
+clay the principal outlines, which he afterwards finished with a brush
+dipped in the black pigment, without, however, strictly following the
+lines traced by the point. The traces of the point are rarely
+observed; all depended on the skill and talent of the artists. They
+must have been very numerous, as these vases are found in such
+numbers, and the greater number may be considered as models for the
+excellence of their design and the taste of their composition. Not
+unfrequently, the artists by whom the designs have been painted, have
+placed their names on them; the principal names known are those of
+Clitias, Doris who painted the celebrated Francois vase, Asteas, and
+Epictetos. Clitias is the most ancient; his designs evince the infancy
+of art, those of the other artists display greater progress in the
+art; the name can be recognized from the word _painted_, which follows
+it immediately. Some vases have the potter's name inscribed on them.
+
+One of the earliest makers was Taleides. Nearly fifty names of potters
+have been found, but they only occur on choice specimens of art. On
+many vases the name of the artist appears along with that of the
+potter, which much enhances the value of the vase. On the celebrated
+Francois vase appear the name of the artist Clitias, and the name of
+the potter Ergotimos. Some potters, such as Amasis and Euphronius,
+painted as well as made vases. Other inscriptions are sometimes found
+on vases which enhance their value greatly. They are generally the
+names of gods, heroes, and other mythological personages, which are
+represented in the paintings.
+
+These inscriptions are of great interest for two reasons: in the first
+place, from the form of the letters and the order according to which
+they are traced, the greater or lesser antiquity of the vase can be
+recognized, these inscriptions necessarily following all the changes
+of the Greek alphabet; care must be taken to examine whether the
+inscription goes from right to left, whether the long vowels, the
+double letters are replaced by the silent vowels, or single letters;
+these are in general signs of relative antiquity which prove that of
+the vase itself; secondly, because the names invariably explain the
+subject of the painting, and even indicate by a name hitherto unknown,
+either some personage who sometimes bore another name, or a person
+whose real name was unknown, in fine, some mythic being of whom
+ancient writers give us no information.
+
+The information derived from vases is of great importance for the
+study of Greek mythology viewed in its different epochs, and for the
+interpretation and understanding of ancient tragic or lyric poets.
+Moral or historical inscriptions, in prose and in verse, have also
+been found on vases. The letters of these inscriptions are capital or
+cursive; they are very delicately traced, and often require a great
+deal of attention to perceive. They are traced in black or white with
+a brush, sometimes they are incised with a very sharp point.
+
+On some which had been gifts to some "beautiful youths," we find the
+inscription, "the handsome boy," and also the form, "the handsome
+Onetorides," "the handsome Stroibos." One youth is called "the most
+handsome Hippocritus." The names of females, whether brides, beauties,
+or hetairae, are found accompanied with the expression, "the lovely
+Oenanthe," "the fair Rodon." On others, salutatory expressions are
+sometimes found, such as "Hail to thee;" "Happy as possible."
+
+The subjects represented on painted vases, although of infinite
+variety, may be reduced to three classes, which include them all: 1.
+Mythological subjects; 2. Heroic subjects; 3. Historical subjects. The
+_Mythological_ subjects relate to the history of all the gods, and
+their adventures in human form are reproduced on them in a thousand
+shapes. It requires a deep and intimate knowledge of Greek mythology,
+in order to explain the different subjects. One of the oldest and most
+popular subjects in Greece was the Gigantomachia, which is found
+represented as a whole upon many vases, while others contain
+individual incidents from it.
+
+Among the Olympic deities represented, Zeus takes a prominent part.
+The father of the gods, the great thunderer, seldom appears alone, but
+is chiefly seen in scenes from the Heracleid and the Trojan war. On
+the black vases, and on those of the finest style with red figures,
+his amorous adventures are also frequently depicted. The goddess Hera
+rarely appears.
+
+Athene, the great female deity of the Ionic race, plays an important
+part in many scenes. As Pallas Athene she frequently appears;
+generally on foot, but sometimes in her quadriga. Poseidon, the sea
+god, appears as a subordinate in many scenes, and as a protagonist in
+others. Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestos, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hermes,
+frequently appear in various scenes in the vases. The greater part of
+the paintings of the vases are relative to Dionysus, his festivals and
+mysteries. On them we see depicted his birth, childhood, education,
+all his exploits, his banquets, and his games; his habitual
+companions, his religious ceremonies, the lampadephori brandishing the
+long torches, the dendrophori raising branches of trees, adorned with
+garlands and tablets; the initiated preparing for the mysteries;
+lastly, the ceremonies peculiar to those great institutions, and the
+circumstances relative to their dogmas and their aim. The inferior
+deities also appear on the vases.
+
+The _Historical_ subjects begin with the war of Troy. Painters, as
+well as poets, found in this event a vast field to exercise their
+talents and their imagination. The principal actors in this memorable
+drama appear on the vases. The principal scenes of the Trojan war are
+depicted; but we must remark, that the historical subjects do not
+extend to a later period than that of the Heracleidae.
+
+Among the incidents represented are the opening scenes of the Iliad,
+the quarrel of Agamemnon and Achilles, Briseis led away by the
+heralds, Paris and Helen, the death of Patroclus, the grief of
+Achilles, the arming of Achilles, the death of Hector, Priam
+entreating for the corpse of Hector, the terrible scene of the last
+night of Troy. Many subjects from the Odyssey also occur. Incidents
+from the Greek drama are of common occurrence, such as the death of
+Agamemnon, Orestes and Pylades meeting Electra, the death of
+Clytemnestra, the Furies pursuing Orestes.
+
+ [Illustration: VASE REPRESENTING TROJAN WAR (_Found at
+ Pompeii._)]
+
+We may consider, as belonging to the class of historical vases, those
+with paintings relative to public and private customs; those
+representing games, repasts, scenic representations of combats of
+animals, hunting and funeral subjects.
+
+Millingen remarks that the subjects of the paintings vary according to
+the period and the places in which they have been executed; on the
+most ancient vases Dionysiac scenes are frequently seen. As,
+originally, the greater number were destined to contain wine, they
+were adorned with analogous subjects. Those of the beautiful period of
+the art, especially of the manufacture of Nola, a town in which Greek
+institutions were observed with extreme care, present the ancient
+traditions of mythological episodes in all their purity. Those of a
+later period represent subjects taken from the tragic writers. Lastly,
+on those of the decline, we see depicted the new ceremonies and
+superstitions which were mingled with the ancient and simple religion
+of the Greek. Painted vases are, therefore, of the greatest interest
+for the study of the manners and customs of ancient Greece, and of
+those which the Romans adopted from her in imitation.
+
+ [Illustration: VASE. (_Found at Pompeii._)]
+
+As to the uses of these vases, there have been a variety of opinions;
+but a careful examination of a great number of vases would lead us to
+suppose that many were, doubtless, articles of household furniture,
+for use and adornment, such as the larger vases, destined, by their
+size, weight, and form, to remain in the same place, while others, of
+different sizes and shapes, were made to hold wine and other liquids,
+unguents, and perfumes. It is evident that they were more for ornament
+than use, and that they were considered as objects of art, for the
+paintings seem to have been executed by the best artists of the
+period. They were chiefly employed for entertainments, and the
+banquets of the wealthy. They are seen in use in scenes painted on the
+vases themselves. Many, especially those of the later style, were
+solely used for decorative purposes, as is evident from the fact of
+one side only being executed with care, while the other has been
+neglected, both in the drawing and in the subject. Those with
+Panathenaic subjects were probably given full of oil, as prizes at the
+national games. These were called _Athla_. Certain vases bearing the
+inscription, "From Athens," or "Prize from Athens," seem to have been
+given to the victors in the pentathlon, or courses of athletic
+exercises in the Panathenaea. Others may have been given at the
+palaestric festivals, or as nuptial presents, or as pledges of love and
+friendship; and these are marked by some appropriate inscription.
+
+We find that they were also used in the ceremonies of the Mysteries,
+for we see their forms represented on the vases themselves: Bacchus
+frequently holds a cantharus, Satyrs carry a diota. A few seem to have
+been expressly for sepulchral purposes. Some have supposed that these
+vases were intended to hold the ashes of the dead; but this could not
+have been their use, for they are only found in tombs in which the
+bodies have been buried without being burnt. The piety of the
+relations adorned the tomb of the deceased with those vases, together
+with his armor and jewelry, which they had prized most in life, which
+were associated with their habits, or recalled circumstances the
+memory of which they cherished.
+
+We could not but feel astonished at the perfect preservation of such
+fragile objects, did we not know that they were found in tombs. Those
+in which they are found, are placed near the walls, but outside the
+town, at a slight depth, except those of Nola, where the eruptions of
+Vesuvius have considerably raised the soil since the period when the
+tombs were made, so that some of the tombs of Nola are about
+twenty-one feet under ground.
+
+In Greece, the graves are generally small, being designed for single
+corpses, which accounts for the comparatively small size of the vases
+discovered in that country. At Athens the earlier graves are sunk
+deepest in the soil, and those at Corinth, especially such as contain
+the early Corinthian vases, are found by boring to a depth of several
+feet beneath the surface.
+
+ [Illustration: A GREEK SACRIFICE.]
+
+The early tombs of Civita Vecchia, and Caere, or Cervetri, in Italy,
+are tunneled in the earth; and those at Vulci, and in the Etruscan
+territory, from which the finest and largest vases have been
+extracted, are chambers hewn in the rocks. In southern Italy,
+especially in Campania, the common tombs are constructed of rude
+stones or tiles, and are exactly of sufficient size to contain a
+corpse and five or six vases; a small one is placed near the head, and
+the others between the legs of the body, or they are ranged on each
+side, frequently on the left side alone.
+
+The number and beauty of the vases vary, probably, according to the
+rank and fortune of the owner of the tomb. The tombs of the first
+class are larger, and have been built with large cut stones, and
+rarely connected with cement; the walls inside are coated with stucco,
+and adorned with paintings; these tombs resemble a small chamber; the
+corpse is laid out in the middle, the vases are placed round it,
+frequently some others are hung up to the walls on nails of bronze.
+The number of vases is always greater in these tombs; they are also of
+a more elegant form.
+
+Several other articles are sometimes found in the tombs, such as gold
+and silver fibulae, swords, spears, armor, and several ornaments. The
+objects buried with the corpse generally bespeak the tastes and
+occupation of the deceased. Warriors are found with their armor, women
+with ornaments for the toilet, priests with their sacerdotal
+ornaments, as in the tomb at Cervetri. When the vases are taken out of
+the excavations, they are covered with a coating of whitish earth,
+something like tartar, and of a calcareous nature; it disappears on
+the application of aqua fortis. This operation ought to be done with
+great caution; for though the aqua fortis does not injure the black
+varnish, it might destroy some of the other colors.
+
+ [Illustration: 2000 YEARS OLD.]
+
+Some of these vases are as well preserved as if they had just been
+issued from the hands of the potter; others have been greatly injured
+by the earthy salts with which they have come in contact; many are
+found broken--these have been put together and restored with great
+skill. But this work of restoration, especially if the artist adds any
+details which are not visible on the original, might alter or
+metamorphose a subject, and the archaeologist ought to set little value
+on these modern additions, in the study of a painted vase.
+
+Several collections have been formed of these vases. The British
+Museum contains the finest collections, purchased by government from
+Sir William Hamilton and others. The Museum at Naples, and the
+Gregorian Museum in the Vatican, also contain many beautiful specimens
+from Magna Graecia and Etruria. The British Museum has about 2,600
+vases of all kinds. The Museum at Naples contains about 2,100, and the
+Gregorian Museum at Rome about 1,000. Several amateurs have also
+formed collections in England, France, and Italy. We may mention those
+of Roger, Hope, Sir Harry Englefield, in England; those of the Duc de
+Blacas, the Comte Pourtales, in France; and that of the Marquis
+Campana, in Rome. The total number of vases in public and private
+collections probably amounts to 15,000 of all kinds. Some of these
+collections have been published, such as the first collection of Sir
+William Hamilton, explained by d'Hancarville; the second by Tischbein.
+Several works have also been published, giving detailed accounts of
+painted vases in general.
+
+ [Illustration: FOUND AT HILDESHEIM.]
+
+We have mentioned before the luxurious custom, common amongst the
+Romans after the conquest of Greece and Asia, of having their utensils
+of the table, and even of the kitchen, made of solid silver. Valuable
+plate was of common occurrence in the houses of the rich. According to
+Pliny, common soldiers had the handles of their swords and their belts
+studded with silver; the baths of women were covered with the same
+valuable material, which was even used for the common implements of
+kitchen and scullery. Large manufactories of silver utensils were
+started, in which each part of the work was assigned to a special
+artificer; here the orders of the silver-merchants were executed.
+Amongst the special workmen of these manufactories were the modelers,
+founders, turners or polishers, chiselers, the workmen who attached
+the bas-reliefs to the surface of the vessel, and the gilders. Many
+valuable vessels have been recovered in the present century; others
+(for instance, several hundred silver vessels found near the old
+Falerii) have tracelessly disappeared. Amongst the discoveries which
+happily have escaped the hands of the melter, we mention the treasure
+of more than one hundred silver vessels, weighing together about 50
+pounds, found by Berney in Normandy (1830). According to their
+inscriptions, these vessels belonged to the treasury of a temple of
+Mercury; they are at present in the late imperial library at Paris. In
+the south of Russia the excavations carried on in 1831, 1862, and
+1863, amongst the graves of the kings of the Bosphoric empire, have
+yielded an astonishing number of gold and silver vessels and ornaments
+belonging to the third century of our era. At Pompeii fourteen silver
+vases were discovered in 1835; at Caere (1836) a number of silver vases
+(now in the Museo Gregoriano) were found in a grave. One of the most
+interesting discoveries was made near Hildesheim, 7th October, 1868,
+consisting of seventy-four eating and drinking vessels, mostly well
+preserved; not to speak of numerous fragments which seem to prove that
+only part of the original treasure has been recovered; the weight of
+all the vessels (now in the Antiquarium of the Royal Museum, Berlin)
+amounts to 107,144 lbs., some over 53 tons, of silver. The style and
+technical finish of the vases prove them to have been manufactured in
+Rome; the form of the letters of the inscriptions found on
+twenty-four vessels indicates the first half of the first century
+after Christ. The surfaces of many of them are covered with
+alto-relievos of beaten silver--a circumstance which traces back their
+origin to imperial times, distinguishing them, at the same time, from
+the bas-relief ornamentations of the acme of Greek art. The gilding of
+the draperies and weapons, and the silver color of the naked parts, in
+imitation, as it were, of the gold-and-ivory statues of Greek art,
+also indicate Roman workmanship. The annexed cuts show some of the
+finest pieces of this treasure. The composition of the figures on the
+surface of the vase in cut on page 340 shows true artistic genius;
+naked children are balancing themselves on water-plants growing in
+winding curves from a pair of griffins; some of the children attack
+crabs and eels with harpoons, while others drag the killed animals
+from the water. The graceful groups on the drinking-vessels in the
+above cuts are mostly taken from the Bacchic cycle of myths.
+
+ [Illustration: FOUND AT HILDESHEIM. (_Of the first century_)]
+
+ [Illustration: VASE OF THE FIRST CENTURY.]
+
+ [Illustration: VASE OF THE FIRST CENTURY.]
+
+Besides vessels of precious metals and stones, those of glass were in
+favorite use among the Romans. The manufactory of glass, originating
+in Sidon, had reached its climax of perfection, both with regard to
+color and form, in Alexandria about the time of the Ptolemies. Many
+of these Alexandrine glasses have been preserved to us, and their
+beauty fully explains their superiority in the opinion of the ancients
+to those manufactured in Italy. Here also, after the discovery of
+excellent sand at Cumae and Linternum, glass works had been
+established. Most of our museums possess some specimens of antique
+glass manufacture, in the shape of balsam or medicine bottles of white
+or colored glass. We also possess goblets and drinking-bottles of
+various shapes and sizes, made of white or common green glass; they
+generally taper toward the bottom, and frequently show grooves or
+raised points on their outer surfaces, so as to prevent the glass from
+slipping from the hand; urns, oinochoai, and dishes of various sizes
+made of glass, are of frequent occurrence. Some of these are dark blue
+or green, others party-colored with stripes winding round them in
+zigzag or in spiral lines, reminding one of mosaic patterns. Pieces of
+glittering glass, being most likely fragments of so-called
+_allassontes versicolores_ (not to be mistaken for originally white
+glass which has been discolored by exposure to the weather), are not
+unfrequently found. We propose to name in the following pages a few of
+the more important specimens of antique glass-fabrication. One of the
+first amongst these is the vessel known as the Barberini or Portland
+Vase, which was found in the sixteenth century in the sarcophagus of
+the so-called tomb of Severus Alexander and of his mother Julia
+Mammaea. It was kept in the Barberini Palace for several centuries,
+till it was purchased by the Duke of Portland, after whose death it
+was placed in the British Museum. After having been broken by the hand
+of a barbarian, it has fortunately been restored satisfactorily. Many
+reproductions of this vase in china and terra-cotta have made it known
+in wide circles. The mythological bas-reliefs have not as yet been
+sufficiently explained. Similar glass vases with bas-relief
+ornamentation occur occasionally either whole or in fragments.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+EMPLOYMENT.
+
+
+Many arts and inventions were in common use in Egypt for centuries
+before they are generally supposed to have been known; and we are now
+and then as much surprised to find that certain things were old 3,000
+years ago, as the Egyptians would be if they could hear us talk of
+them as late discoveries. One of them is the use of glass, with which
+they were acquainted at least as early as the reign of the first
+Osirtasen, more than 3,800 years ago; and the process of glass-blowing
+is represented during his reign, in the paintings of Beni Hassan, in
+the same manner as it is on later monuments, in different parts of
+Egypt, to the time of the Persian conquest.
+
+The form of the bottle and the use of the blow-pipe are unequivocally
+indicated in those subjects; and the green hue of the fused material,
+taken from the fire at the point of the pipe, sufficiently proves the
+intention of the artist. But, even if we had not this evidence of the
+use of glass, it would be shown by those well-known images of glazed
+pottery, which were common at the same period; the vitrified substance
+that covers them being of the same quality as glass, and containing
+the same ingredients fused in the same manner. And besides the many
+glass ornaments known to be of an earlier period is a bead, found at
+Thebes, bearing the name of a Pharaoh who lived about 1450 B.C., the
+specific gravity of which, 25 deg. 23', is precisely the same as of crown
+glass, now manufactured in England.
+
+Glass bottles are even met with on monuments of the 4th dynasty,
+dating long before the Osirtasens, or more than 4,000 years ago; the
+transparent substance shows the red wine they contained; and this kind
+of bottle is represented in the same manner among the offerings to the
+gods, and at the fetes of individuals, wherever wine was introduced,
+from the earliest to the latest times. Bottles, and other objects of
+glass, are commonly found in the tombs; and though they have no kings'
+names or dates inscribed upon them (glass being seldom used for such a
+purpose), no doubt exists of their great antiquity; and we may
+consider it a fortunate chance that has preserved _one_ bead with the
+name of a sovereign of the 18th dynasty. Nor is it necessary to point
+out how illogical is the inference that, because other kinds of glass
+have not been found bearing a king's name, they were not made in
+Egypt, at, or even before, the same early period.
+
+Pliny ascribes the discovery of glass to some Phoenician sailors
+accidently lighting a fire on the sea-shore; but if an effect of
+chance, the secret is more likely to have been arrived at in Egypt,
+where natron (or subcarbonate of soda) abounded, than by the sea side;
+and if the Phoenicians really were the first to discover it on the
+_Syrian_ coast, this would prove their migration from the Persian Gulf
+to have happened at a very remote period. Glass was certainly one of
+the great exports of the Phoenicians; who traded in beads, bottles,
+and other objects of that material, as well as various manufactures,
+made either in their own or in other countries: but Egypt was always
+famed for its manufacture; a peculiar kind of earth was found near
+Alexandria, without which, Strabo says, "it was impossible to make
+certain kinds of glass of many colors, and of a brilliant quality,"
+and some vases, presented by an Egyptian priest to the Emperor
+Hadrian, were considered so curious and valuable that they were only
+used on grand occasions.
+
+Glass bottles, of various colors, were eagerly bought from Egypt, and
+exported into other countries; and the manufacture as well as the
+patterns of many of those found in Greece, Etruria, and Rome, show
+that they were of Egyptian work; and though imitated in Italy and
+Greece, the original art was borrowed from the workmen of the Nile.
+
+Such, too, was their skill in making glass, and in the mode of
+staining it of various hues, that they counterfeited with success the
+emerald, the amethyst, and other precious stones; and even arrived at
+an excellence in the art of introducing numerous colors into the same
+vase, to which our European workmen, in spite of their improvements in
+many branches of this manufacture, are still unable to attain. A few
+years ago the glass-makers of Venice made several attempts to imitate
+the variety of colors found in antique cups; but as the component
+parts were of different densities, they did not all cool, or set, at
+the same rapidity, and the vase was unsound. And it is only by making
+an inner foundation of one color, to which those of the outer surface
+are afterwards added, that they have been able to produce their
+many-colored vases; some of which were sent to the Great Exhibition of
+1851.
+
+Not so the Egyptians, who combined all the colors they required in the
+same cup, without the interior lining: those which had it being of
+inferior and cheaper quality. They had even the secret of introducing
+gold between two surfaces of glass; and in their bottles, a gold band
+alternates within a set of blue, green, and other colors. Another
+curious process was also common in Egypt in early times, more than
+3,000 years ago, which has only just been attempted at Venice; whereby
+the pattern on the surface was made to pass in right lines directly
+through the substance; so that if any number of horizontal sections
+were made through it, each one would have the same device on its upper
+and under surface. It is in fact a Mosaic in glass; made by fusing
+together as many delicate rods of an opaque glass of the color
+required for the picture, in the same manner as the woods in
+Tunbridge-ware are glued together, to form a larger and coarser
+pattern. The skill required in this exquisite work is not only shown
+by the art itself, but the fineness of the design; for some of the
+feathers of birds, and other details, are only to be made out with a
+lens; which means of magnifying was evidently used in Egypt, when this
+Mosaic glass was manufactured. Indeed, the discovery of a lens of
+crystal by Mr. Layard, at Nimroud, satisfactorily proves its use at an
+early period in Assyria; and we may conclude that it was neither a
+recent discovery there, nor confined to that country.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT GLASS VESSELS.]
+
+Winkleman is of opinion that "the ancients carried the art of
+glass-making to a higher degree of perfection than ourselves, though
+it may appear a paradox to those who have not seen their works in this
+material;" and we may even add that they used it for more purposes,
+excepting of course windows, the inconvenience of which in the hot sun
+of Egypt would have been unbearable, or even in Italy, and only one
+pane of glass has been found at Pompeii, in a place not exposed to the
+outer light.
+
+ [Illustration: GLASS BROACH.]
+
+That the Egyptians, more than 3,000 years ago, were well acquainted
+not only with the manufacture of common glass, for beads and bottles
+of ordinary quality, but with the art of staining it with divers
+colors, is sufficiently proved by the fragments found in the tombs of
+Thebes; and so skillful were they in this complicated process, that
+they imitated the most fanciful devices, and succeeded in
+counterfeiting the rich hues, and brilliancy, of precious stones. The
+green emerald, the purple amethyst, and other expensive gems, were
+successfully imitated; a necklace of false stones could be purchased
+at an Egyptian jeweler's, to please the wearer, or deceive a stranger,
+by the appearance of reality; and some mock pearls (found lately at
+Thebes) have been so well counterfeited, that even now it is difficult
+with a strong lens to detect the imposition.
+
+Pliny says the emerald was more easily counterfeited than any other
+gem, and considers the art of imitating precious stones a far more
+lucrative piece of deceit than any devised by the ingenuity of man;
+Egypt was, as usual, the country most noted for this manufacture; and
+we can readily believe that in Pliny's time they succeeded so
+completely in the imitation as to render it difficult to distinguish
+false from real stones.
+
+Many, in the form of beads, have been met with in different parts of
+Egypt, particularly at Thebes; and so far did the Egyptians carry this
+spirit of imitation, that even small figures, scarabaei, and objects
+made of ordinary porcelain, were counterfeited, being composed of
+still cheaper materials. A figure, which was entirely of earthenware,
+with a glazed exterior, underwent a somewhat more complicated process
+than when cut out of stone and simply covered with a vitrified
+coating; this last could, therefore, be sold at a low price; it
+offered all the brilliancy of the former, and its weight alone
+betrayed its inferiority; by which means, whatever was novel, or
+pleasing from its external appearance, was placed within reach of all
+classes, or, at least, the possessor had the satisfaction of seeming
+to partake in each fashionable novelty.
+
+ [Illustration: IMITATION OF REAL STONES.]
+
+Such inventions, and successful endeavors to imitate costly ornaments
+by humbler materials, not only show the progress of art among the
+Egyptians, but strongly argue the great advancement they had made in
+the customs of civilized life; since it is certain, that until society
+has arrived at a high degree of luxury and refinement, artificial
+wants of this nature are not created, and the poorer classes do not
+yet feel the desire of imitating the rich, in the adoption of objects
+dependent on taste or accidental caprice.
+
+Glass bugles and beads were much used by the Egyptians for necklaces,
+and for a sort of network, with which they covered the wrappers and
+cartonage of mummies. They were arranged so as to form, by their
+varied hues, numerous devices or figures, in the manner of our bead
+purses; and women sometimes amused themselves by stringing them for
+ornamental purposes, as at the present day.
+
+A far more numerous class were the potters; and all the processes of
+mixing the clay, and of turning, baking and polishing the vases are
+represented in the tombs of Thebes and Beni Hassan, of which we have
+already spoken.
+
+They frequently kneaded the clay with their feet, and after it had
+been properly worked up, they formed it into a mass of convenient size
+with the hand, and placed it on the wheel, which was of very simple
+construction, and generally turned with the hand. The various forms of
+the vases were made out by the finger during the revolution; the
+handles, if they had any, were afterwards affixed to them; and the
+devices and other ornamental parts were traced with a wooden or metal
+instrument, previous to their being baked. They were then suffered to
+dry, and for this purpose were placed on planks of wood; they were
+afterwards arranged with great care in trays, and carried, by means of
+the usual yoke, borne on men's shoulders, to the oven.
+
+The Egyptians displayed much taste in their gold, silver, porcelain,
+and glass vases, but when made of earthenware, for ordinary purposes,
+they were frequently devoid of elegance, and scarcely superior to
+those of England before the taste of Wedgewood substituted the
+graceful forms of Greek models, for some of the unseemly productions
+of our old potteries. Though the clay of Upper Egypt was particularly
+suited to porous bottles, it could be obtained of a sufficiently fine
+quality for the manufacture of vases like those of Greece and Italy;
+in Egypt, too, good taste did not extend to all classes, as in Greece;
+and vases used for fetching water from a well, or from the Nile, were
+of a very ordinary kind, far inferior to those carried by the Athenian
+women to the fountain of Kallirhoe.
+
+The Greeks, it is true, were indebted to Egypt for much useful
+knowledge, and for many early hints in art, but they speedily
+surpassed their instructors; and in nothing, perhaps, is this more
+strikingly manifested than in the productions of the potter. Samples
+of the more common are seen below.
+
+Carpenters and cabinet-makers were a very numerous class of workmen;
+and their occupations form one of the most important subjects in the
+paintings which represent the Egyptian trades.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN POTTERY.]
+
+For ornamental purposes, and sometimes even for coffins, doors and
+boxes, foreign woods were employed; deal and cedar were imported from
+Syria; and part of the contributions, exacted from the conquered
+tribes of Ethiopia, and Asia, consisted in ebony and other rare woods,
+which were annually brought by the chiefs, deputed to present their
+country's tribute to the Egyptian Pharaohs.
+
+Boxes, chairs, tables, sofas, and other pieces of furniture were
+frequently made of ebony, inlaid with ivory, sycamore and acacia, were
+veneered with thin layers, or ornamented with carved devices of rare
+wood, applied or let into them; and a fondness for this display
+suggested to the Egyptians the art of painting common boards, to
+imitate foreign varieties, so generally adopted in other countries at
+the present day.
+
+The colors were usually applied on a thin coating of stucco, laid
+smoothly upon the previously prepared wood, and the various knots and
+grains painted upon this ground indicated the quality of the wood they
+intended to counterfeit.
+
+The usual tools of the carpenter were the ax, adze, handsaw, chisels
+of various kinds (which were struck with a wooden mallet), the drill,
+and two sorts of planes (one resembling a chisel, the other apparently
+of stone, acting as a rasp on the surface of the wood, which was
+afterwards polished by a smooth body, probably also of stone); and
+these, with the ruler, plummet, and right angle, a leather bag
+containing nails, the hone, and the horn of oil, constituted the
+principal, and perhaps the only, implements he used.
+
+Many adzes, saws and chisels, have been found at Thebes. The blades
+are all of bronze, the handles of the acacia or the tamarisk; and the
+general mode of fastening the blade to the handle appears to have been
+by thongs of hide. It is probable that some of those discovered in the
+tombs are only models, or unfinished specimens, and it may have been
+thought sufficient to show their external appearance, without the
+necessity of nailing them, beneath the thongs, for those they worked
+with were bound in the same manner, though we believe them to have
+been also secured with nails. Some, however, evidently belonged to the
+individuals in whose tombs they were buried, and appear to have been
+used; and the chisels often bear signs of having been beaten with the
+mallet.
+
+The drill is frequently represented in the sculptures. Like all the
+other tools, it was of the earliest date, and precisely similar to
+that of modern Egypt, even to the nut of the _dom_ in which it turned,
+and the form of its bow with a leathern thong.
+
+The chisel was employed for the same purposes, and in the same manner,
+as at the present day, and was struck with a wooden mallet, sometimes
+flat at the two ends, sometimes of circular or oval form; several of
+which last have been found at Thebes, and are in European museums. The
+handles of the chisel were of acacia, tamarisk, or other compact wood,
+the blades of bronze, and the form of the points varied in breadth,
+according to the work for which they were intended.
+
+The hatchet was principally used by boat-builders, and those who made
+large pieces of frame-work; and trees were felled with the same
+instrument.
+
+With the carpenters may be mentioned the wheelwrights, the makers of
+coffins, and the coopers, and this sub-division of one class of
+artisans shows that they had systematically adopted the partition of
+labor.
+
+The makers of chariots and traveling carriages were of the same class;
+but both carpenters and workers of leather were employed in their
+manufacture; and chariots either passed through the hands of both, or,
+which is more probable, chariot makers constituted a distinct trade.
+
+The tanning and preparation of leather was also a branch of art in
+which the Egyptians evinced considerable skill; the leather cutters
+constituted one of the principal sub-divisions of the fourth-class,
+and a district of the city was exclusively appropriated to them, in
+the Libyan part of Thebes, where they were known as "the
+leather-cutters of the Memnonia."
+
+Many of the occupations of their trade are portrayed on the painted
+walls of the tombs at Thebes. They made shoes, sandals, the coverings
+and seats of chairs or sofas, bow-cases, and most of the ornamental
+furniture of the chariot; harps were also adorned with colored
+leather, and shields and numerous other things were covered with skin
+prepared in various ways. They also make skins for carrying water,
+wine, and other liquids, coated within with a resinous substance, as
+is still the custom in Egypt.
+
+The stores of an Egyptian town were probably similar to those of Cairo
+and other Eastern cities, which consist of a square room, open in
+front, with falling or sliding shutters to close it at night, and the
+goods, ranged on shelves or suspended against the walls, are exposed
+to the view of those who pass. In front is generally a raised seat,
+where the owner of the shop and his customers sit during the long
+process of concluding a bargain previous to the sale and purchase of
+the smallest article, and here an idle lounger frequently passes whole
+hours, less intent on benefiting the merchant than in amusing himself
+with the busy scene of the passing crowd.
+
+It is probable that, as at the present day, they ate in the open front
+of their shops, exposed to the view of every one who passed, and to
+this custom Herodotus may allude, when he says, "the Egyptians eat in
+the street."
+
+There is no direct evidence that the ancient Egyptians affixed the
+name and trade of the owner of the shop, though the presence of
+hieroglyphics, denoting this last, together with the emblem which
+indicated it, may seem to argue in favor of the question; and the
+absence of many individuals' names in the sculpture is readily
+accounted for by the fact that these scenes refer to the occupation of
+the whole trade, and not to any particular person.
+
+The high estimation in which the priestly and military professions
+were held in Egypt placed them far above the rest of the community;
+but the other classes had also their degrees of consequence, and
+individuals enjoyed a position and importance in proportion to their
+respectability, their talents, or their wealth.
+
+According to Herodotus, the whole Egyptian community was divided into
+seven tribes, one of which was the sacerdotal, another of the
+soldiers, and the remaining five of the herdsmen, swineherds,
+merchants, interpreters, and boatmen. Diodorus states that, like the
+Athenians, they were distributed into three classes--the priests, the
+peasants, or husbandmen, from whom the soldiers were levied, and the
+artisans, who were employed in handicraft and other similar
+occupations, and in common offices among the people--but in another
+place he extends the number to five, and reckons the pastors,
+husbandmen, and artificers independent of the soldiers and priests.
+Strabo limits them to three, the military, husbandmen, and priests;
+and Plato divides them into six bodies, the priests, artificers,
+shepherds, huntsmen, husbandmen, and soldiers; each peculiar art or
+occupation he observes being confined to a certain sub-division of the
+caste, and every one being engaged in his own branch without
+interfering with the occupation of another. Hence it appears that the
+first class consisted of the priests, the second of the soldiers, the
+third of the husbandmen, gardeners, huntsmen, boatmen of the Nile, and
+others; the fourth of artificers, tradesmen and merchants, carpenters,
+boat-builders, masons, and probably potters, public weighers, and
+notaries; and in the fifth may be reckoned pastors, poulterers,
+fowlers, fishermen, laborers, and, generally speaking, the common
+people. Many of these were again sub-divided, as the artificers and
+tradesmen, according to their peculiar trade or occupation; and as the
+pastors, into oxherds, shepherds, goatherds, and swineherds, which
+last were, according to Herodotus, the lowest grade, not only of the
+class, but of the whole community, since no one would either marry
+their daughters or establish any family connection with them. So
+degrading was the occupation of tending swine, that they were looked
+upon as impure, and were even forbidden to enter a temple without
+previously undergoing a purification; and the prejudices of the
+Indians against this class of persons almost justify our belief in the
+statement of the historian.
+
+Without stopping to inquire into the relative rank of the different
+sub-divisions of the third class, the importance of agriculture in a
+country like Egypt, where the richness and productiveness of the soil
+have always been proverbial, suffices to claim the first place for the
+husbandmen.
+
+The abundant supply of grain and other produce gave to Egypt
+advantages which no other country possessed. Not only was her dense
+population supplied with a profusion of the necessaries of life, but
+the sale of the surplus conferred considerable benefits on the
+peasant in addition to the profits which thence accrued to the state,
+for Egypt was a granary, where, from the earliest times, all people
+felt sure of finding a plenteous store of corn, and some idea may be
+formed of the immense quantity produced there from the circumstance of
+"seven plenteous years" affording, from the superabundance of the
+crops, a sufficiency of corn to supply the whole population during
+seven years of dearth, as well as "all countries" which sent to Egypt
+"to buy" it, when Pharaoh, by the advice of Joseph, laid up the annual
+surplus for that purpose.
+
+The right of exportation, and the sale of superfluous produce to
+foreigners, belonged exclusively to the government, as is distinctly
+shown by the sale of corn to the Israelites from the royal stores, and
+the collection having been made by Pharaoh only; and it is probable
+that even the rich landowners were in the habit of selling to
+government whatever quantity remained on hand at the approach of each
+successive harvest, while the agricultural laborers, from their frugal
+mode of living, required very little wheat and barley, and were
+generally contented, as at the present day, with bread made of the
+_Doora_ flour; children and even grown persons, according to Diodorus,
+often living on roots and esculent herbs, as the papyrus, lotus, and
+others, either raw, toasted, or boiled.
+
+The government did not interfere directly with the peasants respecting
+the nature of the produce they intended to cultivate; and the
+vexations of later times were unknown under the Pharaohs. They were
+thought to have the best opportunities of obtaining, from actual
+observation, an accurate knowledge on all subjects connected with
+husbandry, and, as Diodorus observes, "being from their infancy
+brought up to agricultural pursuits, they far excelled the husbandmen
+of other countries, and had become acquainted with the capabilities of
+the land, the mode of irrigation, the exact season for sowing and
+reaping, as well as all the most useful secrets connected with the
+harvest, which they had derived from their ancestors, and had improved
+by their own experience." "They rented," says the same historian, "the
+arable lands belonging to the kings, the priests, and the military
+class, for a small sum, and employed their whole time in the tillage
+of their farms," and the laborers who cultivated land for the rich
+peasant, or other landed proprietors, were superintended by the
+steward or owner of the estate, who had authority over them, and the
+power of condemning delinquents to the bastinado. This is shown by the
+paintings of the tombs, which frequently represent a person of
+consequence inspecting the tillage of the field, either seated in a
+chariot, walking, or leaning on his staff, accompanied by a favorite
+dog.
+
+Their mode of irrigation was the same in the field of the peasant as
+in the garden of the villa; and the principal difference in the mode
+of tilling the former consisted in the use of the plow.
+
+The usual contrivance for raising water from the Nile for watering the
+crops was the _shadoof_, or pole and bucket, so common still in Egypt,
+and even the water-wheel appears to have been employed in more recent
+times.
+
+The sculptures of the tombs frequently represent canals conveying the
+water of the inundation into the fields, and the proprietor of the
+estate is seen, as described by Virgil, plying in a light painted
+skiff or papyrus punt, and superintending the maintenance of the
+dykes, or other important matters connected with the land. Boats carry
+the grain to the granary, or remove the flocks from the lowlands; as
+the water subsides the husbandman plows the soft earth with a pair of
+oxen, and the same subjects introduce the offering of first-fruits of
+the gods in acknowledgment of the benefits conferred by "a favorable
+Nile." The main canal was usually carried to the upper or southern
+side of the land, and small branches, leading from it at intervals,
+traversed the fields in straight or curving lines, according to the
+nature or elevation of the soil.
+
+Guards were placed to watch the dykes which protected the lowlands,
+and the utmost care was taken to prevent any sudden influx of water
+which might endanger the produce still growing there, the cattle, or
+the villages. And of such importance was the preservation of the dykes
+that a strong guard of cavalry and infantry was always in attendance
+for their protection; certain officers of responsibility were
+appointed to superintend them, being furnished with large sums of
+money for their maintenance and repairs, and in the time of Romans any
+person found destroying a dyke was condemned to hard labor in the
+public works or in the mines, or was branded and transported to the
+Oasis. According to Strabo, the system was so admirably managed, "that
+art contrived sometimes to supply what nature denied, and, by means of
+canals and embankments, there was little difference in the quantity of
+land irrigated, whether the inundation was deficient or abundant."
+"If," continues the geographer, "it rose only to the height of eight
+cubits, the usual idea was that a famine would ensue, fourteen being
+required for a plentiful harvest; but when Petronius was praefect of
+Egypt twelve cubits gave the same abundance, nor did they suffer from
+want even at eight;" and it may be supposed that long experience had
+taught the ancient Egyptians to obtain similar results from the same
+means, which, neglected at a subsequent period, were revived, rather
+than, as Strabo thinks, first introduced, by the Romans.
+
+In some parts of Egypt the villages were liable to be overflowed when
+the Nile rose to more than an ordinary height, by which the lives and
+property of the inhabitants were endangered, and when their crude
+brick houses had been long exposed to the damp the foundations gave
+way, and the fallen walls, saturated with water, were once more mixed
+with the mud from which they had been extracted. On these occasions
+the blessings of the Nile entailed heavy losses on the inhabitants,
+for, according to Pliny, "if the rise of water exceeded sixteen
+cubits famine was the result, as when it only reached the height of
+twelve." In another place he says, "a proper inundation is of sixteen
+cubits * * * * in twelve cubits the country suffers from famine, and
+feels a deficiency even in thirteen; fourteen cause joy, fifteen
+security, sixteen delight; the greatest rise of the river to this
+period being of eighteen cubits, in the reign of Claudius; the least
+during the Pharsalic war."
+
+The land being cleared of the water, and presenting in some places a
+surface of liquid mud, in others nearly dried by the sun and the
+strong northwest winds (that continue at intervals to the end of
+Autumn and commencement of Winter), the husbandman prepared the ground
+to receive the seed, which was either done by the plow and hoe, or by
+more simple means, according to the nature of the soil, the quality of
+the produce they intended to cultivate, or the time the land had
+remained under water.
+
+When the levels were low and the water had continued long upon the
+land they often dispensed with the plow, and, like their successors,
+broke up the ground with hoes, or simply dragged the moist mud with
+bushes after the seed had been thrown upon the surface, and then
+merely drove a number of cattle, asses, pigs, sheep, or goats into the
+field to tread in the grain. "In no country," says Herodotus, "do they
+gather their seed with so little labor. They are not obliged to trace
+deep furrows with the plow and break the clods, nor to partition out
+their fields into numerous forms as other people do, but when the
+river of itself overflows the land, and the water retires again, they
+sow their fields, driving the pigs over them to tread in the seed, and
+this being done every one patiently awaits the harvest." On other
+occasions they used to plow, but were contented, as we are told by
+Diodorus and Columella, with "tracing slight furrows with light plows
+on the surface of the land," and others followed with wooden hoes to
+break the clods of the rich and tenacious soil.
+
+The modern Egyptians sometimes substitute for the hoe a machine called
+_khonfud_, "hedgehog," which consists of a cylinder studded with
+projecting iron pins, to break the clods after the land has been
+plowed, but this is only used when great care is required in the
+tillage of the land, and they frequently dispense with the hoe,
+contenting themselves, also, with the same slight furrows as their
+predecessors, which do not exceed the depth of a few inches, measuring
+from the lowest part to the summit of the ridge. It is difficult to
+say if the modern Egyptians derived the hint of the "_hedgehog_" from
+their predecessors, but it is a curious fact that a clod-crushing
+machine, not very unlike that of Egypt, has only lately been invented
+in England, which was shown at the Great Exhibition.
+
+The ancient plow was entirely of wood, and of as simple a form as that
+of modern Egypt. It consisted of a share, two handles, and the pole or
+beam, which last was inserted into the lower end of the stilt, or the
+base of the handles, and was strengthened by a rope connecting it with
+the heel. It had no coulter, nor were wheels applied to any Egyptian
+plow, but it is probable that the point was shod with a metal sock,
+either of bronze or iron. It was drawn by two oxen, and the plowman
+guided and drove them with a long goad, without the assistance of
+reins, which are used by modern Egyptians. He was sometimes
+accompanied by another man, who drove the animals, while he managed
+the two handles of the plow, and sometimes the whip was substituted
+for the more usual goad.
+
+Cows were occasionally put to the plow, and it may not have been
+unknown to them that the cow plows quicker than the ox.
+
+The mode of yoking the beasts was exceedingly simple. Across the
+extremity of the pole, a wooden yoke or cross-bar, about fifty-five
+inches, or five feet, in length was fastened by a strap lashed
+backwards and forwards over a prominence projecting from the centre of
+the yoke, which corresponded to a similar peg, or knob, at the end of
+the pole, and, occasionally, in addition to these, was a ring passing
+over them as in some Greek chariots. At either end of the yoke was a
+flat or slightly concave projection, of semi-circular form, which
+rested on a pad placed upon the withers of the animal, and through a
+hole on either side of it passed a thong for suspending the
+shoulder-pieces which formed the collar. These were two wooden bars,
+forked at about half their length, padded so as to protect the
+shoulder from friction, and connected at the lower end by a strong
+broad band passing under the throat.
+
+Sometimes the draught, instead of being from the withers, was from the
+head, the yoke being tied to the base of the horns, and in religious
+ceremonies oxen frequently drew the bier, or the sacred shrine, by a
+rope fastened to the upper part of the horns, without either yoke or
+pole.
+
+From a passage in Deuteronomy, "Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an
+ass together," it might be inferred that the custom of yoking two
+different animals to the plow was common in Egypt; but it was
+evidently not so, and the Hebrew lawgiver had probably in view a
+practice adopted by some of the people of Syria, whose country the
+Israelites were about to occupy.
+
+The hoe was of wood, like the fork, and many other implements of
+husbandry, and in form was not unlike the letter A, with one limb
+shorter than the other, and curving inwards. The longer limb, or
+handle, was of uniform thickness, round and smooth, sometimes with a
+knob at the end, and the lower extremity of the blade was of increased
+breadth, and either terminated in a sharp point, or was rounded at the
+end. The blade was frequently inserted into the handle, and they were
+bound together, about the centre, with twisted rope. Being the most
+common tool, answering for hoe, spade, and pick, it is frequently
+represented in the sculptures, and several, which were found in the
+tombs of Thebes, are preserved in the museums of Europe.
+
+The hoe in hieroglyphics stands for the letter M, though the name of
+this instrument was in Egyptian, as in Arabic, _Tore_. It forms the
+commencement of the word _Mai_, "_beloved_," and enters into numerous
+other combinations.
+
+There are no instances of hoes with metal blades, except of very late
+time, nor is there any proof of the plowshare having been sheathed
+with metal.
+
+The ax had a metal blade, either bronze or iron, and the peasants are
+sometimes represented felling trees with this implement, while others
+are employed in hoeing the field preparatory to its being
+sown--confirming what we have observed, that the ancient, as well as
+the modern, Egyptians frequently dispensed with the use of the plow.
+
+The admission of swine into the fields, mentioned by Herodotus, should
+rather have been before than after they had sown the land, since their
+habits would do little good to the farmer, and other animals would
+answer as well for "treading in the grain;" but they may have been
+used before for clearing the fields of the roots and weeds encouraged
+by the inundation; and this seems to be confirmed by the herd of pigs
+with water plants represented in the tombs.
+
+They sometimes used a top dressing of nitrous soil, which was spread
+over the surface; a custom continued to the present day; but this was
+confined to certain crops, and principally to those reared late in the
+year, the fertilizing properties of the alluvial deposit answering all
+the purposes of the richest manure.
+
+Besides the admixture of nitrous earth the Egyptians made use of other
+kinds of dressing, and sought for different productions the soils best
+suited to them. They even took advantage of the edge of the desert for
+growing the vine and some other plants, which, being composed of clay
+and sand, was peculiarly adapted to such as required a light soil, and
+the cultivation of this additional tract, which only stood in need of
+proper irrigation to become highly productive, had the advantage of
+increasing considerably the extent of the arable land of Egypt. In
+many places we still find evidence of its having been tilled by the
+ancient inhabitants, even to the late time of the Roman empire; and in
+some parts of the Fyoom the vestiges of beds and channels for
+irrigation, as well as the roots of vines, are found in sites lying
+far above the level of the rest of the country.
+
+The occupation of the husbandman depended much on the produce he had
+determined on rearing. Those who solely cultivated corn had little
+more to do than to await the time of harvest, but many crops required
+constant attention, and some stood in need of frequent artificial
+irrigation.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+BAKING, DYEING AND PAINTING.
+
+
+The fame of an actor has been justly said to be of all fame the most
+perishable, because he leaves no memorial of his powers, except in the
+fading memories of the generation which has beheld him. An analogous
+proposition might be made with respect to the mechanical arts: of all
+sorts of knowledge they are the most perishable, because the knowledge
+of them can not be transmitted by mere description. Let any great
+convulsion of nature put an end to their practice for a generation or
+two, and though the scientific part of them may be preserved in books,
+the skill in manipulation, acquired by a long series of improvements,
+is lost. If the United States be destined to relapse into such a state
+of barbarism as Italy passed through in the period which divides
+ancient and modern history, its inhabitants a thousand years hence
+will know little more of the manual process of printing, dyeing, and
+the other arts which minister to our daily comfort, in spite of all
+the books which have been and shall be written, than we know of the
+manual processes of ancient Italy. We reckon, therefore, among the
+most interesting discoveries of Pompeii, those which relate to the
+manner of conducting handicrafts, of which it is not too much to say
+that we know nothing except through this medium. It is to be
+regretted, that as far as our information goes, there are but two
+trades on which any light has yet been thrown, those, namely, of the
+baker and the dyer. We shall devote this chapter to collecting what is
+known upon these subjects, and probably also speak some on painting.
+
+Several bakers' shops have been found, all in a tolerable state of
+preservation. The mills, the oven, the kneading-troughs, the vessels
+for containing flour, water, leaven, have all been discovered, and
+seem to leave nothing wanting to our knowledge; in some of the vessels
+the very flour remained, still capable of being identified, though
+reduced almost to a cinder. But in the centre some lumps of whitish
+matter resembling chalk remained, which, when wetted and placed on a
+red-hot iron, gave out the peculiar color which flour thus treated
+emits. Even the very bread, in a perfect though carbonized form, has
+in some instances been found in the oven. One of these bakers' shops
+was attached to the House of Sallust, another to the House of Pansa:
+probably they were worth a handsome rent. A third, which we select for
+description, for one will serve perfectly as a type for the whole,
+seems to have belonged to a man of higher class, a sort of capitalist;
+for, instead of renting a mere dependency of another man's house, he
+lived in a tolerably good house of his own, of which the bakery forms
+a part. It stands next to the House of Sallust, on the south side,
+being divided from it only by a narrow street. Its front is in the
+main street or Via Consularis, leading from the gate of Herculaneum to
+the Forum. Entering by a small vestibule, the visitor finds himself in
+a tetrastyle atrium (a thing not common at Pompeii), of ample
+dimensions, considering the character of the house, being about
+thirty-six feet by thirty. The pillars which supported the ceiling are
+square and solid, and their size, combined with indications observed
+in a fragment of the entablature, led Mazois to suppose that, instead
+of a roof, they had been surmounted by a terrace. The impluvium is
+marble. At the end of the atrium is what would be called a tablinum in
+the house of a man of family, through which we enter the bake-house,
+which is at the back of the house, and opens into the smaller street,
+which, diverging from the main street at the fountain by Pansa's
+house, runs up straight to the city walls. The atrium is surrounded
+by different apartments, offering abundant accommodation, but such as
+we need not stop to describe.
+
+ [Illustration: MILL AND BAKERY AT POMPEII.]
+
+The work-room is about thirty-three feet long by twenty-six. The
+centre is occupied by four stone mills, exactly like those found in
+the other two stores, for all the bakers ground their own flour. To
+give more room they are placed diagonally, so as to form, not a
+square, but a lozenge. Mazois was present at the excavation of this
+house, and saw the mills at the moment of their discovery, when the
+iron-work, though entirely rust-eaten, was yet perfect enough to
+explain satisfactorily the method of construction. This will be best
+understood from the following representation, one half of which is an
+elevation, the other half a section. The cut on page 365 gives some
+idea of them.
+
+The base is a cylindrical stone, about five feet in diameter and two
+feet high. Upon this, forming part of the same block, or else firmly
+fixed into it, is a conical projection about two feet high, the sides
+slightly curving inwards. Upon this there rests another block,
+externally resembling a dice-box, internally an hour-glass, being
+shaped into two hollow cones with their vertices towards each other,
+the lower one fitting the conical surface on which it rests, though
+not with any degree of accuracy. To diminish friction, however, a
+strong iron pivot was inserted in the top of the solid cone, and a
+corresponding socket let into the narrow part of the hour-glass. Four
+holes were cut through the stone parallel to this pivot. The narrow
+part was hooped on the outside with iron, into which wooden bars were
+inserted, by means of which the upper stone was turned upon its pivot,
+by the labor of men or asses. The upper hollow cone served as a
+hopper, and was filled with corn, which fell by degrees through the
+four holes upon the solid cone, and was reduced to powder by friction
+between the two rough surfaces. Of course it worked its way to the
+bottom by degrees, and fell out on the cylindrical base, round which a
+channel was cut to facilitate the collection. These machines are
+about six feet high in the whole, made of a rough gray volcanic stone,
+full of large crystals of leucite. Thus rude, in a period of high
+refinement and luxury, was one of the commonest and most necessary
+machines--thus careless were the Romans of the amount of labor wasted
+in preparing an article of daily and universal consumption. This,
+probably, arose in chief from the employment of slaves, the hardness
+of whose task was little cared for; while the profit and encouragement
+to enterprise on the part of the professional baker was
+proportionately diminished, since every family of wealth probably
+prepared its bread at home. But the same inattention to the useful
+arts runs through everything that they did. Their skill in working
+metals was equal to ours; nothing can be more beautiful than the
+execution of tripods, lamps, and vases, nothing coarser than their
+locks; while at the same time the door-handles, bolts, etc., which
+were seen, are often exquisitely wrought. To what cause can this
+sluggishness be referred? At present we see that a material
+improvement in any article, though so trifling as a corkscrew or
+pencil-case, is pretty sure to make the fortune of some man, though
+unfortunately that man is very often not the inventor. Had the
+encouragement to industry been the same, the result would have been
+the same. Articles of luxury were in high request, and of them the
+supply was first-rate. But the demands of a luxurious nobility would
+never have repaid any man for devoting his attention to the
+improvement of mills or perfecting smith's work, and there was little
+general commerce to set ingenuity at work. Italy imported largely both
+agricultural produce and manufactures in the shape of tribute from a
+conquered world, and probably exported part of her peculiar
+productions; but we are not aware that there is any ground for
+supposing that she manufactured goods for exportation to any extent.
+
+Originally mills were turned by hand, (many establishments may still
+be seen in the streets of Naples for grinding corn by means of a
+hand-mill, turned by a man. Such flour-shops have always a picture of
+the Madonna inside,) and this severe labor seems, in all half-savage
+times, to have been conducted by women. It was so in Egypt; it was so
+in Greece in the time of Homer, who employs fifty females in the house
+of Alcinous upon this service. It was so in Palestine in the time of
+the Evangelists, and in England in the fourteenth and sixteenth
+centuries. We find a passage of St. Matthew thus rendered by Wicliffe:
+"Two wymmen schulen (shall) be grinding in one querne," or hand-mill;
+and Harrison the historian, two centuries later, says that his wife
+ground her malt at home upon her quern. Among the Romans poor freemen
+used sometimes to hire themselves out to the service of the mill when
+all other resources failed; and Plautus is said to have done so, being
+reduced to the extreme of poverty, and to have composed his comedies
+while thus employed. This labor, however, fell chiefly upon slaves,
+and is represented as being the severest drudgery which they had to
+undergo. Those who had been guilty of any offense were sent to the
+mill as a punishment, and sometimes forced to work in chains. Asses,
+however, were used by those who could afford it. That useful animal
+seems to have been employed in the establishment we are describing,
+for the fragment of a jaw-bone, with several teeth in it, was found in
+a room which seems to have been the stable; and the floor about the
+mill is paved with rough pieces of stone, while in the rest of the
+rooms it is made of stucco or compost. The use of water-mills,
+however, was not unknown to the Romans. Vitruvius describes their
+construction in terms not inapplicable to the mechanism of a common
+mill of the present day, and other ancient authors refer to them. "Set
+not your hands to the mill, O women that turn the millstone! sleep
+sound though the cock's crow announce the dawn, for Ceres has charged
+the nymphs with the labors which employed your arms. These, dashing
+from the summit of a wheel, make its axle revolve, which, by the help
+of moving radii, sets in action the weight of four hollow mills. We
+taste anew the life of the first men, since we have learnt to enjoy,
+without fatigue, the produce of Ceres."
+
+In the centre of the pier, at the back, is the aperture to the cistern
+by which the water used in making bread was supplied. On each side are
+vessels to hold the water. On the pier above is a painting, divided
+horizontally into two compartments. The figures in the upper ones are
+said to represent the worship of the goddess Fornax, the goddess of
+the oven, which seems to have been deified solely for the advantages
+which it possessed over the old method of baking on the hearth. Below,
+two guardian serpents roll towards an altar crowned with a fruit very
+much like a pine-apple; while above, two little birds are in chase of
+large flies. These birds, thus placed in a symbolical picture, may be
+considered, in perfect accordance with the spirit of ancient
+mythology, as emblems of the genii of the place, employed in driving
+those troublesome insects from the bread.
+
+The oven is on the left. It is made with considerable attention to
+economy of heat. The real oven is enclosed in a sort of ante-oven,
+which had an aperture in the top for the smoke to escape. The hole in
+the side is for the introduction of dough, which was prepared in the
+adjoining room, and deposited through that hole upon the shovel with
+which the man in front placed it in the oven. The bread, when baked,
+was conveyed to cool in a room the other side of the oven, by a
+similar aperture. Beneath the oven is an ash-pit. To the right is a
+large room which is conjectured to have been a stable. The jaw-bone
+above mentioned and some other fragments of a skeleton were found in
+it. There is a reservoir for water at the further end, which passes
+through the wall, and is common both to this room and the next, so
+that it could be filled without going into the stable. The further
+room is fitted up with stone basins, which seem to have been the
+kneading-troughs. It contains also a narrow and inconvenient
+staircase.
+
+Though corn-bread formed the principal article of nourishment among
+the Italians, the use of bread itself was not of early date. For a
+long time the Romans used their corn sodden into pap, and there were
+no bakers in Rome antecedent to the war against Perseus, king of
+Macedonia, about B.C. 580. Before this every house made its own bread,
+and this was the task of the women, except in great houses, where
+there were men-cooks. And even after the invention of bread it was
+long before the use of mills was known, but the grain was bruised in
+mortars. Hence the names _pistor_ and _pistrinum_, a baker and baker's
+shop, which are derived from _pinsere_, to pound. The oven also was of
+late introduction, as we have hinted in speaking of the goddess
+Fornax, nor did it ever come into exclusive use. We hear of bread
+baked under the ashes; baked in the bread-pan, which was probably of
+the nature of a Dutch oven; and other sorts, named either from the
+nature of their preparation or the purpose to which they were to be
+applied. The finest sort was called _siligineus_, and was prepared
+from the best and whitest sort of wheaten flour. A bushel of the best
+wheat of Campania, which was of the first quality, containing sixteen
+sextarii, yielded four sextarii of siligo, here seemingly used for the
+finest flour; half a bushel of _flos_, bolted flour; four sextarii of
+_cibarium_, seconds; and four sextarii of bran; thus giving an excess
+of four sextarii. Their loaves appear to have been very often baked in
+moulds, several of which have been found; these may possibly be
+artoptae, and the loaves thus baked, artopticii. Several of these
+loaves have been found entire. They are flat, and about eight inches
+in diameter. One in the Neapolitan Museum has a stamp on the top:--
+
+ SILIGO . CRANII
+ E . CICER
+
+This has been interpreted to mean that cicer (vetch) was mixed with
+the flour. We know from Pliny that the Romans used several sorts of
+grain. The cut below gives an idea of their form.
+
+ [Illustration: BREAD DISCOVERED IN POMPEII.]
+
+In front of the house, one on each side the doorway, there are two
+shops. Neither of these has any communication with the house; it is
+inferred, therefore, that they were let out to others, like the shops
+belonging to more distinguished persons. This supposition is the more
+probable because none of the bakeries found have shops attached to
+them, and there is a painting in the grand work on Herculaneum, Le
+Pitture d'Ercolano, which represents a bread-seller established in the
+Forum, with his goods on a little table in the open air.
+
+There is only one trade, so far as we are aware, with respect to the
+practices of which any knowledge has been gained from the excavations
+at Pompeii--that of fulling and scouring cloth. This art, owing to the
+difference of ancient and modern habits, was of much greater
+importance formerly than it now is. Wool was almost the only material
+used for dresses in the earlier times of Rome, silk being unknown till
+a late period, and linen garments being very little used. Woolen
+dresses, however, especially in the hot climate of Italy, must often
+have required a thorough purification, and on the manner in which this
+was done of course their beauty very much depended. And since the
+toga, the chief article of Roman costume, was woven in one piece, and
+was of course expensive, to make it look and wear as well as possible
+was very necessary to persons of small fortune. The method pursued has
+been described by Pliny and others, and is well illustrated in some
+paintings found upon the wall of a building, which evidently was a
+_fullonica_, or scouring-house. The building in question is entered
+from the Street of Mercury, and is situated in the same island as the
+House of the Tragic Poet.
+
+The first operation was that of washing, which was done with water
+mixed with some detergent clay, or fuller's earth; soap does not
+appear to have been used. This was done in vats, where the clothes
+were trodden and well worked by the feet of the scourer. The painting
+on the walls of the Fullonica represents four persons thus employed.
+Their dress is tucked up, leaving their legs bare; it consists of two
+tunics, the under one being yellow and the upper green. Three of them
+seem to have done their work, and to be wringing the articles on which
+they have been employed; the other, his hands resting on the wall on
+each side, is jumping, and busily working about the contents of his
+vat. When dry, the cloth was brushed and carded, to raise the nap--at
+first with metal cards, afterwards with thistles. A plant called
+teazle is now largely cultivated in England for the same purpose. The
+cloth was then fumigated with sulphur, and bleached in the sun by
+throwing water repeatedly upon it while spread out on gratings. In the
+painting the workman is represented as brushing or carding a tunic
+suspended over a rope. Another man carries a frame and pot, meant
+probably for fumigation and bleaching; the pot containing live coals
+and sulphur, and being placed under the frame, so that the cloths
+spread upon the latter would be fully exposed to the action of the
+pent-up vapor. The person who carries these things wears something on
+his head, which is said to be an olive garland. If so, that, and the
+owl sitting upon the frame, probably indicate that the establishment
+was under the patronage of Minerva, the tutelary goddess of the loom.
+Another is a female examining the work which a young girl has done
+upon a piece of yellow cloth. A golden net upon her head, and a
+necklace and bracelets, denote a person of higher rank than one of the
+mere workpeople of the establishment; it probably is either the
+mistress herself, or a customer inquiring into the quality of the work
+which has been done for her.
+
+These pictures, with others illustrative of the various processes of
+the art, were found upon a pier in the peristyle of the Fullonica.
+Among them we may mention one that represents a press, similar in
+construction to those now in use, except that there is an unusual
+distance between the threads of the screw. The ancients, therefore,
+were acquainted with the practical application of this mechanical
+power. In another is to be seen a youth delivering some pieces of
+cloth to a female, to whom, perhaps, the task of ticketing, and
+preserving distinct the different property of different persons, was
+allotted. It is rather a curious proof of the importance attached to
+this trade, that the due regulation of it was a subject thought not
+unworthy of legislative enactments. B.C. 354, the censors laid down
+rules for regulating the manner of washing dresses, and we learn from
+the digests of the Roman law that scourers were compelled to use the
+greatest care not to lose or to confound property. Another female,
+seated on a stool, seems occupied in cleaning one of the cards. Both
+of the figures last described wear green tunics; the first of them has
+a yellow under-tunic, the latter a white one. The resemblance in
+colors between these dresses and those of the male fullers above
+described may perhaps warrant a conjecture that there was some kind of
+livery or described dress belonging to the establishment, or else the
+contents of the painter's color-box must have been very limited.
+
+The whole pier on which these paintings were found has been removed to
+the museum at Naples. In the peristyle was a large earthenware jar,
+which had been broken across the middle and the pieces then sewed
+carefully and laboriously together with wire. The value of these
+vessels, therefore, can not have been very small, though they were
+made of the most common clay. At the eastern end of the peristyle
+there was a pretty fountain, with a jet d'eau. The western end is
+occupied by four large vats in masonry, lined with stucco, about seven
+feet deep, which seem to have received the water in succession, one
+from another.
+
+Dyeing and painting in ancient times was rather more perfect than at
+present, at least the colors were stronger and more durable. The
+Egyptians had the most durable colors. The Henna is a plant which is
+abundant in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, and was used by the
+ancients, as it is by the moderns, for dyeing. The leaves were dried
+and pulverized, and then made into a paste. It is a powerful
+astringent dye, and is applied to desiccate and dye the palms of the
+hands and soles of the feet and nails of both, and gives a sort of dun
+or rust color to animal tissues, which is very permanent.
+
+It is stated that when sal-ammoniac and lime were put upon the colored
+parts they changed to a dark greenish-blue color, and passed on to
+black, probably from the sal-ammoniac containing iron which would give
+this result.
+
+The Tyrian ladies dyed rings and stars upon their persons. Men gave a
+black dye to the hair of their heads and beards. The dyeing of the
+nails with henna is a very ancient custom. Some of the old Egyptian
+mummies are so dyed. It is supposed that the Jewish women also
+followed this custom. Reference is made to it in Deuteronomy, where
+the newly-married wife is desired to stain her nails. Also, in the
+Song of Solomon, _Camphire_, in the authorized version, is said to
+mean henna, which has finely-scented flowers growing in bunches, and
+the leaves of the plant are used by women to impart a reddish stain to
+their nails.
+
+Speaking of the Arabian women at the present day, Dr. Thomson, in "The
+Land and the Book," says: "They paint their cheeks, putting tahl
+around their eyes, arching their eyebrows with the same, and stain
+their hands and feet with henna thus to deck themselves, and should an
+unmarried woman do so, an impression is conveyed highly injurious to
+the girl's character."
+
+GALLS are named among the substances known to the ancients, but we can
+not find whether they were used as a dyeing agent. Wilkinson says that
+tanning was in Egypt a subdivision of dyeing, and it is mentioned that
+copperas with galls dyed leather black; and there can be little doubt
+that galls were used for a similar purpose in ordinary dyeing. The
+_Myrobollans_ and several sorts of barks and pods of the _Acacia
+nilotica_ were also used for tanning, from their astringent
+properties, and may have been similarly used for dyeing.
+
+These are a few of the principal coloring matters used by dyers in
+ancient times. There is a little confusion with respect to some of the
+salts mentioned as having been used by them, especially the alkaline
+salts--a circumstance, however, not to be wondered at. In more modern
+times there is a similar confusion on this same head.
+
+When nitre, for instance, is burned with carbonaceous matter, the
+product is carbonate of potash. The ashes left by burning wood contain
+the same salt. The ashes left by burning sea-weed produce carbonate of
+soda. When nitre is burned with sulphur, the product is sulphate of
+potash, etc. These have all been called generically, even in modern
+times, nitre, having each a certain prefix well understood by the
+adept, or chemist, of the day.
+
+We think it probable that all these processes for making the different
+salts were practiced in ancient times, but now having only the generic
+name _nitre_ given us by historians, we can not understand exactly
+when nitre is mentioned which of the nitres is meant.
+
+When Solomon speaks of the action of vinegar upon nitre, the chemist
+understands that the salt referred to is a carbonate, but when the
+nature of the action or application is not given, we have no idea what
+particular salt is meant. There is no doubt, however, that the
+ancients were well acquainted with the alkaline salts of potash and
+soda, and applied them in the arts. The metallic salts of iron,
+copper, and alumina were well known, and their application to dyeing
+was generally the same as at the present day. That they were used both
+as mordants and alterants is evident from several references.
+
+A very suggestive statement is made by Pliny about the ancient
+Egyptians. "They began," says he, "by painting or drawing on white
+cloths with certain drugs, which in themselves possessed no color, but
+had the property of attracting or absorbing coloring matter, after
+which these cloths were immersed in a heated dyeing liquor; and
+although they were colorless before, and although this dyeing liquor
+was of one equable and uniform color, yet when taken out of it soon
+afterwards, the cloth was found to be wonderfully tinged of different
+colors according to the peculiar nature of the several drugs which had
+been applied to their respective parts, and these colors could not be
+afterwards discharged by washing."
+
+Herodotus states that certain people who lived near the Caspian Sea
+could, by means of leaves of trees which they bruised and steeped in
+water, form on cloth the figures of animals, flowers, etc., which were
+as lasting as the cloth itself. This statement is more suggestive than
+instructive.
+
+Persia was much famed for dyeing at a very early period, and dyeing is
+still held in great esteem in that country. Persian dyers have chosen
+Christ as their patron; and Bischoff says that they at present call a
+dye-house Christ's workshop, from a tradition they have that He was of
+that profession. They have a legend, probably founded upon what Pliny
+tells of the Egyptian dyers, "that Christ being put apprentice to a
+dyer, His master desired Him to dye some pieces of cloth of different
+colors; He put them all into a boiler, and when the dyer took them out
+he was terribly frightened on finding that each had its proper color."
+
+This or a similar legend occurs in the apocryphal book entitled "The
+First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ." The following is the
+passage:
+
+ "On a certain day also, when the Lord Jesus was playing with the
+ boys, and running about, He passed by a dyer's shop whose name
+ was Salem, and there were in his shop many pieces of cloth
+ belonging to the people of that city, which they designed to dye
+ of several colors. Then the Lord Jesus, going into the dyer's
+ shop, took all the cloths and threw them into the furnace. When
+ Salem came home and saw the cloth spoiled, he began to make a
+ great noise and to chide the Lord Jesus, saying: "What hast Thou
+ done unto me, O thou son of Mary? Thou hast injured both me and
+ my neighbors; they all desired their cloths of a proper color,
+ but Thou hast come and spoiled them all." The Lord Jesus
+ replied: "I will change the color of every cloth to what color
+ thou desirest," and then He presently began to take the cloths
+ out of the furnace; and they were all dyed of those same colors
+ which the dyer desired. And when the Jews saw this surprising
+ miracle they praised God."
+
+TIN.--We have no positive evidence as to whether the ancients used
+oxide, or the salts of tin, in their dyeing operations. A modern dyer
+could hardly produce permanent tints with some of the dye drugs named
+without tin salts. We know that the ancients used the oxides of tin
+for glazing pottery and painting; they may therefore have used salts
+of tin in their dyeing operations. However, they had another
+salt--sulphate of alumina--which produces similar results, although
+the moderns in most cases prefer tin, as it makes a more brilliant and
+permanent tint.
+
+ALUM.--This is what is termed a double salt, and is composed of
+sulphate of alumina and sulphate of potash. The process of
+manufacturing it in this country is by subjecting clay slate
+containing iron pyrites to a calcination, when the sulphur with the
+iron is oxidized, becoming sulphuric acid, which, combining with the
+alumina of the clay, and also with the iron, becomes sulphate of
+alumina and iron; to this is added a salt of potash, which, combining
+with the sulphate of alumina, forms the double salt alum. Soda or
+ammonia may be substituted for potash with similar results; the alum
+is crystallized from the solution. That the ancients were acquainted
+with this double salt has been disputed, but we think there can be no
+doubt of its existence and use at a very early period. A very pure
+alum is produced in volcanic districts by the action of sulphurous
+acid and oxygen on felspathic rocks, and used by the ancients for
+different purposes. Pliny mentions _Alumine_, which he describes as
+white, and used for whitening wool, also for dyeing wool of bright
+colors. Occasionally he confounds this salt with a mixture of sulphate
+of alumina and iron, which, in all probability, was alum containing
+iron, the process of separation not being perfect; and he mentions
+that this kind of alumen blackens on the application of nut-galls,
+showing that iron was in it. Pliny says of alumen, that it is
+"understood to be a sort of brine which exudes from the earth; of
+this, too, there are several kinds. In Cyprus there is a white alumen,
+and another kind of a darker color; the uses of these are very
+dissimilar, the white liquid alumen being employed for dyeing a whole
+bright color, and the darker, on the other hand, for giving wool a
+tawny or sombre tint." This is very characteristic of a pure aluminous
+mordant, and of one containing iron. He also mentions that this dark
+alumen was used for purifying gold. He must be referring here to its
+quality of giving gold a rich color. The liquid of this iron alumen,
+if put upon light-colored gold, and heated over a fire, gives it a
+very rich tint; a process practiced still for the same purpose. So
+far, however, as the application to dyeing is concerned, it is
+unnecessary to prove that the ancients used our double salt alum.
+Probably the alumen referred to by Pliny, as exuding from the earth,
+was sulphate of alumina, without potash or soda, a salt not easily
+crystallized, but as effective, in many cases more effective, in the
+operations of dyeing, as alum, which is attested by the preference
+given to this salt over alum for many purposes at the present day.
+Pliny says that alumen was a product of Spain, Egypt, Armenia,
+Macedonia, Pontus, Africa, and the Islands of Sardinia, Melos, Lipara,
+and Strangyle, and that the most esteemed is that of Egypt. And
+Herodotus mentions that King Amasis of Egypt sent the people of Delphi
+a thousand talents of this substance, as his contribution toward the
+rebuilding of their temple. Notwithstanding considerable confusion in
+Pliny's account of this substance, our belief is, that it refers to
+different salts of alumina, and whether or not they were all used in
+the processes of dyeing, they were used for manufacturing purposes,
+and thus gives us some insight to the advanced state of the arts in
+those times.
+
+Respecting the cost and durability of the Tyrian purple, it is related
+that Alexander the Great found in the treasury of the Persian monarch
+5,000 quintals of Hermione purple of great beauty, and 180 years old,
+and that it was worth $125 of our money per pound weight. The price of
+dyeing a pound of wool in the time of Augustus is given by Pliny, and
+this price is equal to about $160 of our money. It is probable that
+his remarks refer to some particular tint or quality of color easily
+distinguished, although not at all clearly defined by Pliny. He
+mentions a sort of purple, or hyacinth, which was worth, in the time
+of Julius Caesar, 100 denarii (about $15 of our money) per pound.
+
+Since, according to our modern researches into this dye, one fish, the
+common _Purpura lapillus_, produces only about one drop of the liquor,
+then it would take about 10,000 fish to dye 1 lb. of wool, so that
+$160 is not extravagant.
+
+Spinning and weaving in ancient times were principally performed by
+women; indeed, the words _woof_, _weaving_, and _web_ are allied to
+the word _wife_. However, in ancient Egypt and in India men also
+wrought at the loom. Probably nothing could be simpler or ruder than
+the looms used by ancient weavers. Were we to compare these with the
+looms and other weaving apparatus of the present day, and reason
+therefrom that as the loom so must have been the cloth produced
+thereon, we would make a very great mistake. There are few arts which
+illustrate with equal force our argument in favor of the perfection of
+ancient art so well as this of weaving. It would appear that our
+advancement is not so much in the direction of quality as in that of
+quantity. There are few things we can do which were not done by the
+ancients equally perfect. Rude as were their looms in ancient Egypt,
+they produced the far-famed linen so often mentioned in Scripture and
+the writings of other nations. In order to show that this is not to be
+regarded as a merely comparative term applicable to a former age, we
+will here quote from G. Wilkinson respecting some mummy-cloths
+examined by the late Mr. Thomson, of Clithero:--"My first impression
+on seeing these cloths was, that the first kinds were muslins, and of
+Indian manufacture; but this suspicion of their being cotton was soon
+removed by the microscope. Some were thin and transparent, and of
+delicate texture, and the finest had 140 threads to the inch in the
+warp." Some cloth Mr. Wilkinson found in Thebes had 152 threads to the
+inch in the warp, but this is coarse when compared with a piece of
+linen cloth found in Memphis, which had 540 threads to the inch of the
+warp. How fine must these threads have been! In quoting this extract
+from Wilkinson to an old weaver, he flatly said it was impossible, as
+no reed could be made so fine. However, there would be more threads
+than one in the split, and by adopting this we can make cloth in our
+day having between 400 and 500 in the inch. However, the ancient
+cloths are much finer in the warp than woof, probably from want of
+appliance for driving the threads of the weft close enough, as they do
+not appear to have _lays_ as we have for this purpose. Pliny refers to
+the remains of a linen corselet, presented by Amasis, king of Egypt,
+to the Rhodians, each thread of which was composed of 365 fibres:
+"Herodotus mentions this corselet, and another presented by Amasis to
+the Lacedaemonians, which had been carried off by the Samians. It was
+of linen, ornamented with numerous figures of animals worked in gold
+and cotton. Each thread of the corselet was worthy of admiration, for
+though very fine, every one was composed of 360 other threads all
+distinct." No doubt this kind of thread was symbolical. It was
+probably something of this sort that Moses refers to when he mentions
+the material of which the corselet or girdle of the high priest was
+made--the fine twined linen. Jewish women are represented in the Old
+Testament as being expert in the art of spinning.
+
+Ancient Babylon was also celebrated for her cloth manufacture and
+embroidery work, and to be the possessor of one of these costly
+garments was no ordinary ambition. It is not to be wondered at that
+when Achan saw amongst the spoils of Jericho a goodly Babylonish
+garment he "coveted it and took it." The figure represented on the
+ancient seal of Urukh has, says Rawlinson, fringed garments delicately
+striped, indicating an advanced condition of this kind of manufacture
+five or six centuries before Joshua. It may be mentioned, however,
+that such manufactures were in ancient times, especially in Egypt,
+national. Time was of little importance, labor was plentiful, and no
+craftsman was allowed to scheme, or plan, or introduce any change, but
+was expected to aim at the perfection of the operation he was engaged
+in, and this led to perfection every branch. Every trade had its own
+quarters in the city or nation, and the locality was named after the
+trade, such as goldsmiths' quarters, weavers' quarters, etc. This same
+rule seems to have been practised by the Hebrews after their
+settlement in Palestine, for we find such names in Scripture as the
+Valley of Craftsmen. We also find that certain trades continued in
+families; passages such as the following are frequent--"The father of
+those who were craftsmen," and "The father of Mereshah, a city, and of
+the house of those who wrought fine linen;" and again, "The men of
+Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had the dominion of Moab and
+Jashubalahem, these were potters, and those that dwelt among plants
+and hedges, and did the king's work." In ancient Egypt every son was
+obliged to follow the same trade as his father. Thus caste was formed.
+Whether this same was carried out in Babylon, Persia, and Greece, we
+do not know; but certainly, in these nations there were in all cases
+officers directing the operations, and overseers, to whom these again
+were responsible, so that every manufacturing art was carried on under
+strict surveillance, and to the highest state of perfection. As the
+possession of artistic work was an object of ambition amongst the
+wealthy or favored portion of the community, it led to emulation among
+the workers. Professor Rawlinson, in his "Five Ancient Monarchies,"
+speaks of the Persians emulating with each other in the show they
+could make of their riches and variety of artistic products. This
+emulation led both to private and public exhibitions. One of those
+exhibitions, which lasted over a period of six months, is referred to
+in the Old Testament; so when we opened our Great Exhibition in 1876
+we were only resuscitating a system common in ancient times, the event
+recorded in the Book of Esther having happened at least 2,200 years
+before:
+
+ "In those days, when the King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his
+ kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, in the third year of
+ his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his
+ servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes
+ of the provinces, being before him: when he showed the riches of
+ his glorious kingdom, and the honor of his excellent majesty,
+ many days, even an hundred and fourscore days. And when these
+ days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people
+ that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and
+ unto small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's
+ palace; where were white green and blue hangings, fastened with
+ cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of
+ marble; the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of
+ red, and blue, and white, and black marble. And they gave them
+ drink in vessels of gold (the vessels being diverse one from
+ another), and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of
+ the king."
+
+This must have been a magnificent exhibition. The number attending
+this feast is not ascertainable; but, if the princes and nobles of the
+provinces (the provinces were 127 in number), and all the officers and
+great men of Persia and Media, and the servants of the palace, great
+and small, were there, it must have formed an immense company. Now, as
+every one drank out of a golden cup of a different pattern, we obtain
+an idea of profusion in art of which we can form but a very limited
+conception. This fact indicates that variety of pattern was an object
+sought after--a fashion fostering and favoring the development of art
+and design, and worthy of being emulated in the present day.
+
+Speaking of the Persians, Professor Rawlinson says that the richer
+classes seem to have followed the court in their practices. In their
+costume they wore long purple or flowered robes, with loose-hanging
+sleeves, flowered tunics reaching to the knee, also sleeved,
+embroidered trowsers, tiaras, and shoes of a more elegant shape than
+the ordinary Persian. Under their trowsers they wore drawers, and
+under their tunics shirts, and under their shoes stockings or socks.
+In their houses their couches were spread with gorgeous coverlets, and
+their floors with rich carpets--habits that must have necessitated an
+immense labor and skill, and indicate great knowledge in the
+manufacture of textile fabrics.
+
+Among the great historic nations of antiquity, the chief consumption
+of copper and tin was in the manufacture of bronze; and the quantities
+of these metals necessary for the purpose must have been very great,
+for bronze seems to have been the principal metallic substance of
+which articles both of utility and art were formed. Wilkinson, Layard,
+and others, found bronze articles in abundance amongst the _debris_ of
+all the ancient civilizations to which their researches extend,
+proving that the manufacture of this alloy was widely known at a very
+early period; and strange to say, when we consider the applications of
+some of the tools found, we are forced to the conclusion that the
+bronze of which they were made must originally have been in certain
+important particulars superior to any which we can produce at the
+present day. In these researches were found carpenters' and masons'
+tools, such as saws, chisels, hammers, etc., and also knives, daggers,
+swords, and other instruments which require both a fine hard edge and
+elasticity. Were we to make such tools now, they would be useless for
+the purpose to which the ancients applied them. Wilkinson says: "No
+one who has tried to perforate or cut a block of Egyptian granite will
+scruple to acknowledge that our best steel tools are turned in a very
+short time, and require to be re-tempered; and the labor experienced
+by the French engineers who removed the obelisk of Luxor from Thebes,
+in cutting a space less than two feet deep along the face of its
+partially decomposed pedestal, suffices to show that, even with our
+excellent modern implements, we find considerable difficulty in doing
+what to the Egyptians would have been one of the least arduous tasks."
+
+But Wilkinson believes that bronze chisels were used for cutting
+granite, as he found one at Thebes, of which he says, "Its point is
+instantly turned by striking it against the very stone it was used to
+cut; and yet, when found, the summit was turned over by blows it had
+received from the mallet, while the point was intact, as if it had
+recently left the hands of the smith who made it."
+
+"Another remarkable feature in their bronze," says the same author,
+"is the resistance it offers to the effects of the atmosphere--some
+continuing smooth and bright though buried for ages, and since exposed
+to the damp European climate. They had also the secret of covering the
+surface with a rich patina of dark or light green, or other color, by
+applying acids to it."
+
+ [Illustration: Engraved & Printed by Illman Brothers
+ APPROACH TO KARNAC.
+ FOR THE MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+TROY.
+
+AS EXCAVATED BY DR. SCHLIEMANN.
+
+
+No words can describe the interest which belongs to such a
+contribution to the history of the world as the discovery of Troy by
+Dr. Schliemann. The belief of a large part of the classic world for
+centuries has been embodied in a saying quite common among the Greeks:
+"I know of but one Ilion, and that is the Ilion as sung by Homer,
+which is not to be found except among the muses who dwell on Olympus."
+To-day is given to the world a description of the fire-scathed ruins
+of that city whose fate inspired the immortal first-fruits of Greek
+poetry, and from these remains are brought to light thousands of facts
+bearing upon the origin and history of the inhabitants, and
+illustrating their religion and language, their wealth and
+civilization. He has supplied the missing link, long testified by
+tradition as well as poetry, between the famous Greeks and their
+kindred in the East.
+
+The satisfaction which the discovery of Troy gives to the Greeks
+especially is, perhaps, nearly commensurate with the joy that a
+discovery would bring to the Christian which would so confirm the
+truth of the Bible as to forever silence its critics and the
+skepticism of the day. The Iliad was the Greek Bible, and every page
+of it was full of accounts of Troy, its people and its heroes. It was
+the ultimate standard of appeal on all matters of religious doctrine
+and early history. It was learned by the boys at school. It was the
+study of men in their riper years, and even in the time of Socrates
+there were Athenian gentlemen who could repeat both the Iliad and
+Odyssey by heart. In whatever part of the ancient world a Greek
+settled he carried with him a love for the great poet, just as much as
+the Christian family takes the Bible to its new frontier home. No work
+of profane literature has exercised so wide and long-continued an
+influence.
+
+The site of Troy is upon a plateau on the eastern shore of the AEgean
+Sea, about 4 miles from the coast and 4-1/2 miles southeast from the
+port of Sigeum. The plateau lies on an average about 80 feet above the
+plain, and descending very abruptly on the north side. Its
+northwestern corner is formed by a hill about 26 feet higher still,
+which is about 705 feet in breadth and 984 in length, and from its
+imposing situation and natural fortifications this hill of _Hissarlik_
+seems specially suited to be the Acropolis of the town.
+
+Like the other great Oriental capitals of the Old World, the present
+condition of Troy is that of a mound, such as those in the plain of
+the Tigris and Euphrates, offering for ages the invitation to
+research, which has only been accepted and rewarded in our own day.
+The resemblance is so striking as to raise a strong presumption that,
+as the mounds of Nimrud and Hillah have been found to contain the
+palaces of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings, so we may accept the
+ruins found in the mound of Hissarlik as those of the capital of that
+primeval empire in Asia Minor.
+
+As the mounds opened by Layard and his fellow laborers contained only
+the "royal quarters," which towered above the rude buildings of
+cities, the magnitude of which is attested by abundant proofs, so it
+is reasonable to believe that the ruins at Hissarlik are those of the
+royal quarter, the only really _permanent_ part of the city built on
+the hill capping the lower plateau which lifted the huts of the common
+people above the marshes and inundations of the Scamander and the
+Simois. In both cases the fragile dwellings of the multitude have
+perished, and the pottery and other remains, which were left in the
+surface of the plateau of Ilium, would naturally be cleared away by
+the succeeding settlers. Homer's poetical exaggeration exalted the
+mean dwellings that clustered about the acropolis into the "well-built
+city" with her "wide streets."
+
+The erroneous theory which assigns Troy to the heights of Bunarbashi
+could, in fact, never have gained ground, had its advocates employed
+the few hours which they spent on the heights, and in Bunarbashi
+itself, in making small holes, with the aid of even a single workman.
+No one can conceive how it is possible that the solution of the great
+problem, "ubi Troja fait"--which is surely one of the greatest
+interest to the whole civilized world--should have been treated so
+superficially that, after a few hours' visit to the Plain of Troy, men
+have sat down at home and written voluminous works to defend a theory,
+the worthlessness of which they would have perceived had they but made
+excavations for a single hour.
+
+The view from the hill of Hissarlik is extremely magnificent. Before
+it lies the glorious Plain of Troy, which is covered with grass and
+yellow buttercups; on the north northwest, at about an hour's
+distance, it is bounded by the Hellespont. The peninsula of Gallipoli
+here runs out to a point, upon which stands a lighthouse. To the left
+of it is the island of Imbros, above which rises Mount Ida of the
+island of Samothrace, at present covered with snow; a little more to
+the west, on the Macedonian peninsula, lies the celebrated Mount
+Athos, or Monte Santo, with its monasteries, at the northwestern side
+of which there are still to be seen traces of that great canal, which,
+according to Herodotus (vii. 22, 23), was made by Xerxes, in order to
+avoid sailing round the stormy Cape Athos.
+
+Returning to the Plain of Troy we see to the right of it, upon a spur
+of the promontory of Rhoeteum, the sepulchral mound of Ajax, at the
+foot of the opposite Cape of Sigeum that of Patroclus, and upon a spur
+of the same cape the sepulchre of Achilles; to the left of the latter,
+on the promontory itself, is the Village of Yenishehr. The Plain,
+which is about two hours' journey in breadth, is thence bounded on the
+west by the shores of the AEgean, which are, on an average, about 131
+feet high, and upon which we see first the sepulchral mound of Festus,
+the confidential friend of Caracalla, whom the Emperor (according to
+Herodian IV.) caused to be poisoned on his visit to Ilium, that he
+might be able to imitate the funeral rites which Achilles celebrated
+in honor of his friend Patroclus, as described by Homer. Then upon the
+same coast there is another sepulchral mound, called _Udjek-Tepe_,
+rather more than 78-1/2 feet in height, which most archaeologists
+consider to be that of the old man AEsyetes, from which Polites,
+trusting to the swiftness of his feet, watched to see when the Greek
+army would set forth from the ships.
+
+ "Swift Iris stood amidst them, and the voice
+ Assuming of Polites, Priam's son,
+ The Trojan scout, who, trusting to his speed,
+ Was posted on the summit of the mound
+ Of ancient AEsyetes, there to watch
+ Till from their ships the Grecian troops should march--"
+
+Between the last-named mounds we see projecting above the high shores
+of the AEgean Sea the island of Tenedos, to which the crafty Greeks
+withdrew their fleet when they pretended to abandon the siege. To the
+south we see the Plain of Troy, extending again to a distance of two
+hours, as far as the heights of Bunarbashi, above which rises
+majestically the snow-capped Gargarus of Mt. Ida, from which Jupiter
+witnessed the battles between the Trojans and the Greeks.
+
+One of the greatest difficulties has been to make the enormous
+accumulation of _debris_ at Troy agree with chronology; and in this
+Dr. Schliemann only partially succeeded. According to Herodotus (vii.
+43): "Xerxes in his march through the Troad, before invading Greece
+(B.C. 480) arrived at the Scamander and went up to Priam's Pergamus,
+as he wished to see that citadel; and, after having seen it, and
+inquired into its past fortunes, he sacrificed 1,000 oxen to the Ilian
+Athena, and the Magi poured libations to the manes of the heroes."
+
+ [Illustration: METALS AND BEADS.]
+
+This passage tacitly implies that at that time a Greek colony had long
+since held possession of the town, and according to Strabo's testimony
+(XIII. i. 42), such a colony built Ilium during the dominion of the
+Lydians. Now, as the commencement of the Lydian dominion dates from
+the year 797 B.C., and as the Ilians seem to have been completely
+established there long before the arrival of Xerxes in 480 B.C., we
+may fairly assume that their first settlement in Troy took place about
+700 B.C. Now, there are found no inscriptions later than those
+belonging to the second century after Christ, and no coins of later
+date than Constantine II., but very many belonging to Constantine the
+Great, who, as is well known, intended to build Constantinople on that
+site, but it remained an uninhabited place till about the end of the
+reign of Constans II., that is till about A.D. 361. Since the
+accumulation of _debris_ during this long period of 1061 years amounts
+only to six and one-half feet, whereas we have still to dig to a depth
+of forty feet, and in places to forty-six and one-half below this,
+before reaching the native soil, how many years did it require to form
+a layer of forty to forty-six and one-half feet? The formation of the
+uppermost one, the Greek layer of six and one-half feet required 1061.
+The time required to cover the foundations of Troy to a depth of
+forty-six and one-half feet of _debris_ must have been very long. The
+first layer of from thirteen to twenty feet on this hill of Hissarlik
+belonged to the Aryan race, of whom very little can be said. The
+second layer was formed by the Trojans of Homer, and are supposed, by
+Dr. Schliemann and others to have flourished here about 1400 years
+before Christ. We have only the general supposition of antiquity that
+the Trojan war occurred about B.C. 1200, and Homer's statement that
+Dardanus, the first Trojan King, founded Dardania, which town Virgil
+and Euripides consider identical with Ilium, and that after him it was
+governed by his son Erichthonius, and then by his grandson Tros, by
+his great-grandson Ilus, and then by his son Laomedon, and by his
+grandson Priam. Even if we allow every one of these six kings a long
+reign of thirty-three years, we nevertheless scarcely carry the
+foundation of the town beyond 1400 B.C., that is 700 years before the
+Greek colony.
+
+During Dr. Schliemann's three-year excavations in the depths of Troy,
+he has had daily and hourly opportunities of convincing himself that,
+from the standard of our own or of the ancient Greek mode of life, we
+can form no idea of the life and doings of the four nations which
+successively inhabited this hill before the time of the Greek
+settlement. They must have had a terrible time of it, otherwise we
+should not find the walls of one house upon the ruined remains of
+another, in continuous but _irregular_ succession; and it is just
+because we can form no idea of the way in which these nations lived
+and what calamities they had to endure, that it is impossible to
+calculate the duration of their existence, even approximately, from
+the thickness of their ruins. It is extremely remarkable, but
+perfectly intelligible from the continual calamities which befel the
+town, that the civilization of all the four nations constantly
+declined; the terra-cottas, which show continuous _decadence_, leave
+no doubt of this.
+
+The first settlement on this hill of _Hissarlik_ seems to have been of
+the longest duration, for its ruins cover the rock to a height of from
+thirteen to twenty feet. Its houses and walls of fortification were
+built of stones, large and small, joined with earth, and manifold
+remains of these may be seen in the excavations. It was supposed that
+these settlers were identical with the Trojans of whom Homer sang,
+which is not the case.
+
+All that can be said of the first settlers is that they belonged to
+the Aryan race, as is sufficiently proved by the Aryan religious
+symbols met with in the strata of their ruins, both upon the pieces of
+pottery and upon the small curious terra-cottas with a hole in the
+centre, which have the form of the crater of a volcano or of a
+_carrousel_, _i.e._, a top.
+
+The excavations made have sufficiently proved that the second nation
+which built a town on this hill, upon the _debris_ of the first
+settlers (which is from 13 to 20 feet deep), are the Trojans of whom
+Homer sings. Their _debris_ lies from 23 to 33 feet below the surface.
+This Trojan stratum, which, without exception, bears marks of great
+heat, consists mainly of red ashes of wood, which rise from 5 to 10
+feet above the Great Tower of Ilium, the double Scaean Gate, and the
+great enclosing Wall, the construction of which Homer ascribes to
+Poseidon and Apollo, and they show that the town was destroyed by a
+fearful conflagration. How great the heat must have been is clear also
+from the large slabs of stone upon the road leading from the double
+Scaean Gate down to the Plain; for when the road was laid open all the
+slabs appeared as uninjured as if they had been put down quite
+recently; but after they had been exposed to the air for a few days,
+the slabs of the upper part of the road, to the extent of some 10
+feet, which had been exposed to the heat, began to crumble away, and
+they have now almost disappeared, while those of the lower portion of
+the road, which had not been touched by the fire, have remained
+uninjured, and seem to be indestructible. A further proof of the
+terrible catastrophe is furnished by a stratum of scoriae of melted
+lead and copper, from one fifth to one and one fifth of an inch thick,
+which extends nearly through the whole hill at a depth of from 28 to
+29-1/2 feet. That Troy was destroyed by enemies after a bloody war is
+further attested by the many human bones which were found in these
+heaps of _debris_, and above all the skeletons with helmets, found in
+the depths of the Temple of Athena, for, as we know from Homer, all
+corpses were burned and the ashes were preserved in urns. Of such urns
+were found an immense number in all the pre-Hellenic strata on the
+hill. Lastly, the Treasure, which some member of the royal family had
+probably endeavored to save during the destruction of the city, but
+was forced to abandon, leaves no doubt that the city was destroyed by
+the hands of enemies. This Treasure was found on the large enclosing
+wall by the side of the royal palace, at a depth of 27-1/2 feet, and
+covered with red Trojan ashes from 5 to 6-1/2 feet in depth, above
+which was a post-Trojan wall of fortification 19-1/2 feet high.
+
+As Homer is so well informed about the topography and the climatic
+conditions of the Troad, there can surely be no doubt that he had
+himself visited Troy. But, as he was there long after its destruction,
+and its site had moreover been buried deep in the _debris_ of the
+ruined town, and had for centuries been built over by a new town,
+Homer could neither have seen the Great Tower of Ilium nor the Scaean
+Gate, nor the great enclosing Wall, nor the palace of Priam; for, as
+every visitor to the Troad may convince himself by the excavations,
+the ruins and red ashes of Troy alone--forming a layer of from five to
+ten feet thick--covered all these remains of immortal fame, and this
+accumulation of _debris_ must have been much more considerable at the
+time of Homer's visit. Homer made no excavations so as to bring those
+remains to light, but he knew of them from tradition; for the tragic
+fate of Troy had for centuries been in the mouths of all minstrels,
+and the interest attached to it was so great that tradition itself
+gave the exact truth in many details.
+
+ "Say now, ye Nine, who on Olympus dwell,
+ Muses--for ye are Goddesses, and ye
+ Were _present_ and know all things; _we ourselves_
+ _But hear from Rumor's voice_, and nothing know--
+ Who were the chiefs and mighty lords of Greece."
+
+Such, for instance, is the memory of the Scaean Gate in the Great Tower
+of Ilium, and the constant use of the name Scaean Gate in the plural,
+because it had to be described as double, and in fact it has been
+proved to be a double gate. According to the lines of the Iliad, it
+now seems extremely probable that, at the time of Homer's visit, the
+King of Troy declared that his race was descended in a direct line
+from AEneas.
+
+ "But o'er the Trojans shall AEneas reign,
+ And his sons' sons, through ages yet unborn."
+
+Now, as Homer never saw Ilium's Great Tower, nor the Scaean Gate, and
+could not imagine that these buildings lay buried deep beneath his
+feet, and as he probably imagined Troy to have been very
+large--according to the then existing poetical legends--and perhaps
+wished to describe it as still larger, we can not be surprised that he
+makes Hector descend from the palace in the Pergamus and hurry through
+the town in order to arrive at the Scaean Gate; whereas that gate and
+Ilium's Great Tower, in which it stands, are in reality directly in
+front of the royal house. That this house is really the king's palace
+seems evident from its size, from the thickness of its stone walls, in
+contrast to those of the other houses of the town, which are built
+almost exclusively of unburned bricks, and from its imposing
+situation upon an artificial hill directly in front of or beside the
+Scaean Gate, the Great Tower, and the great surrounding Wall. This is
+confirmed by the many splendid objects found in its ruins, especially
+the enormous royally ornamented vase with the picture of the
+owl-headed goddess Athena, the tutelary divinity of Ilium; and lastly,
+above all other things, the rich Treasure found close by it. It can
+not, of course, be proved that the name of this king, the owner of
+this Treasure, was really PRIAM; but he is so called by Homer and in
+all the traditions. All that can be proved is, that the palace of the
+owner of this Treasure, this last Trojan king, perished in the great
+catastrophe, which destroyed the Scaean Gate, the great surrounding
+Wall, and the Great Tower, and which desolated the whole city. It can
+be proved, by the enormous quantities of red and yellow calcined
+Trojan ruins, from five to ten feet in height, which covered and
+enveloped these edifices, and by the many post-Trojan buildings, which
+were again erected upon these calcined heaps of ruins, that neither
+the palace of the owner of the Treasure, nor the Scaean Gate, nor the
+great surrounding Wall, nor Ilium's Great Tower, were ever again
+brought to light. A city, whose king possessed such a Treasure, was
+immensely wealthy, considering the circumstances of these times; and
+because Troy was rich it was powerful, had many subjects, and obtained
+auxiliaries from all quarters.
+
+ [Illustration: TERRA-COTTA LAMPS.]
+
+ [Illustration: BRONZE LAMPS.]
+
+This Treasure of the supposed mythical king Priam, of the mythical
+heroic age, is, at all events, a discovery which stands alone in
+archaeology, revealing great wealth, great civilization and great taste
+for art, in an age preceding the discovery of bronze, when weapons and
+implements of pure copper were employed contemporaneously with
+enormous quantities of stone weapons and implements. This Treasure
+further leaves no doubt that Homer must have actually seen gold and
+silver articles, such as he continually describes; it is, in every
+respect, of inestimable value to science, and will for centuries
+remain the object of careful investigation.
+
+While the Trojan war was the last it was also the greatest of all the
+achievements of the heroic age, and was immortalized by the genius of
+Homer. Paris, son of Priam, king of Ilium or Troy, abused the
+hospitality of Menelaus, king of Sparta, by carrying off his wife
+Helen, the most beautiful woman of the age. All the Grecian princes
+looked upon the outrage as committed upon themselves. Responding to
+the call of Menelaus, they assemble in arms, elect his brother
+Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, leader of the expedition, and sail across
+the AEgean in nearly 1,200 ships to recover the faithless fair one.
+Some, however, excelled Agamemnon in fame. Among them Achilles stands
+pre-eminent in strength, beauty and value, while Ulysses surpasses all
+the rest in the mental qualities of counsel, subtility and eloquence.
+Thus, by the opposite endowments, these two heroes form the centre of
+the group.
+
+Among the Trojans, Hector, one of the sons of Priam, is most
+distinguished for heroic qualities, and forms a striking contrast to
+his handsome, but effeminate brother, Paris. It is said that even the
+gods took part in the contest, encouraging their favorite heroes, and
+sometimes fighting by their side or in their stead. It was not until
+the tenth year that Troy yielded to the inevitable fate. It was
+delivered over to the sword and its glory sank in ashes.
+
+The houses of Troy were all very high, and had several stories, as is
+obvious from the thickness of the walls, the construction and colossal
+heaps of _debris_. The city was immensely rich, and as it was wealthy,
+so was it powerful and its buildings large. The ruins are found in a
+badly decayed state, because of the great fires that occurred there,
+and the neighboring towns were largely built with stone from the ruins
+of Troy; Archaeanax is said to have built a long wall around Sigeum
+with its stones.
+
+ [Illustration: GOLDEN CUPS OF PRIAM.]
+
+A portion of a large building was laid bare, the walls of which are
+6-1/4 feet thick, and consist for the most part of hewn blocks of
+limestone joined with clay. None of the stones seem to be more than 1
+foot 9 inches long, and they are so skillfully put together, that the
+walls form a smooth surface. This house is built upon a layer of
+yellow and brown ashes and ruins, at a depth of 20 feet, and the
+portion of the walls preserved reaches up to within 10 feet below the
+surface of the hill. In the house, as far as has been excavated, only
+one vase, with two breasts in front and one breast at the side, has
+been found.
+
+This is the first house that Dr. Schliemann excavated, which is quite
+evident by what he writes about it: "It is with a feeling of great
+interest that, from this great platform, that is, at a perpendicular
+height of from thirty-three to forty-two feet, I see this very
+ancient building (which may have been erected 1000 years before
+Christ) standing as it were in mid air."
+
+A room was excavated which is ten feet high and eleven and one-fourth
+wide; it was at one time much higher; its length has not been
+ascertained.
+
+One of the compartments of the uppermost houses, below the Temple of
+Athena and belonging to the pre-Hellenic period, appears to have been
+used as a wine-merchant's cellar or as a magazine, for in it there are
+nine enormous earthen jars of various forms, about five and
+three-fourths feet high and four and three-fourths feet across, their
+mouths being from twenty-nine and one-half to thirty-five and
+one-fourth inches broad. Each of these earthen jars has four handles,
+three and three-fourths inches broad, and the clay of which they are
+made has the enormous thickness of two and one-fourth inches.
+
+A house of eight rooms was also brought to light at a depth of
+twenty-six feet. It stands upon the great Tower, directly below the
+Greek Temple of Athena. Its walls consist of small stones cemented
+with earth, and they appear to belong to different epochs; for, while
+some of them rest directly upon the stones of the Tower, others were
+not built till the Tower was covered with eight inches, and in several
+cases even with three and one-fourth feet, of _debris_. These walls
+also show differences in thickness; one of them is four and one-half
+feet, others are only twenty-five and one-half inches, and others
+again not more than nineteen and two-thirds inches thick. Several of
+these walls are ten feet high, and on some of them may be seen large
+remnants of the coatings of clay, painted yellow or white. Black
+marks, the result of fire, upon the lower portion of the walls of the
+other rooms which have been excavated, leave no doubt that their
+floors were of wood, and were destroyed by fire. In one room there is
+a wall in the form of a semicircle, which has been burnt as black as
+coal. All the rooms as yet laid open, and not resting directly upon
+the Tower, have been excavated down to the same level; and, without
+exception, the _debris_ below them consists of red or yellow ashes and
+burnt ruins. Above these, even in the rooms themselves, were found
+nothing but either red or yellow wood-ashes, mixed with bricks that
+had been dried in the sun and subsequently burnt by the conflagration,
+or black _debris_, the remains of furniture, mixed with masses of
+small shells: in proof of this there are the many remains which are
+still hanging on the walls.
+
+A very large ancient building was found standing upon the wall or
+buttress. At this place the wall appears to be about seventy-nine feet
+wide, or thick. The site of this building, upon an elevation, together
+with its solid structure, leave no doubt that it was the grandest
+building in Troy; nay, that it must have been the Palace of Priam.
+This edifice, now first laid open from beneath the ashes which covered
+it in the burning of the city, was found by Dr. Schliemann in the very
+state to which, in Homer, Agamemnon threatens to reduce it: "The house
+of Priam _blackened with fire_."
+
+Upon this house, by the side of the double gate, upon Ilium's Great
+Tower, at the edge of the western slope of the Acropolis, sat Priam,
+the seven elders of the city, and Helen; and this is the scene of the
+most splendid passage in the Iliad:
+
+ "Attending there on aged Priam, sat
+ The Elders of the city; ...
+ All these were gathered at the Scaean Gates.
+ ... so on Ilion's Tower
+ Sat the sage chiefs and counselors of Troy.
+ Helen they saw, as to the Tower she came."
+
+From this spot the company surveyed the whole plain, and saw at the
+foot of the Acropolis the Trojan and the Achaean armies face to face,
+about to settle their agreement to let the war be decided by a single
+combat between Paris and Menelaus.
+
+ "Upon _Seamander's flowery mead_ they stood
+ Unnumbered as _the vernal leaves and flowers_."
+
+The description which Homer gives of the Tower of Ilium, and the
+incidents connected with it, corresponds so closely to the tower which
+Dr. Schliemann found that it leaves no doubt that the two are
+identical.
+
+ [Illustration: WONDERFUL VASES OF TERRA-COTTA. (_From the
+ Palace of Priam, at 24-1/4 feet._)]
+
+"Now, with regard to the objects found in these houses, I must first
+of all mention having discovered, at a depth of twenty-six feet, in
+the Palace of Priam, a splendid and brilliant brown vase, twenty-four
+and one-fourth inches high, with a figure of the tutelar goddess of
+Troy, that is, with her owl's head, two breasts, a splendid necklace,
+indicated by an engraved pattern, a very broad and beautifully
+engraved girdle, and other very artistic decorations; there are no
+arms, nor are there any indications of them. Unfortunately this
+exquisite vase has suffered from the weight of stones which lay upon
+it. No. 4 resembles an owl's beak, and especially as this is seen
+between the ear-shaped ornaments, it was doubtless intended to
+represent the image of the owl with upraised wings on each side of the
+vases, which image received a noble appearance from the splendid lid
+with a coronet. I give a drawing of the largest vase of this type,
+which was found a few days ago in the royal palace at a depth of from
+twenty-eight to twenty-nine and one-half feet; on the top of it I have
+placed the bell-shaped lid with a coronet, which was discovered close
+by and appears to have belonged to it.
+
+ [Illustration: FROM PALACE OF PRIAM.]
+
+"I also found in the Treasure three great silver vases, the largest of
+which is above eight and one-fourth inches high and nearly eight
+inches in diameter, and has a handle five and one-half inches in
+length and three and one-half in breadth. (No. 23.) The second vase is
+6.9 inches high and nearly six inches in diameter; another silver vase
+is welded to the upper part of it (No. 22), of which, however, only
+portions have been preserved. No. 19 is a splendid Terra-cotta vase
+from the Palace of Priam. It is the largest vase of the type frequent
+in the ruins, with two small handles and two great upright wings. The
+cover was found near it.
+
+ [Illustration: LIDS AND METALS OF PRIAM.]
+
+"On the south side of the hill, where, on account of the slight
+natural slope, I had to make my great trench with an inclination of
+fourteen degrees, I discovered, at a distance of 197 feet from the
+declivity, a Tower, forty feet thick, which I have uncovered on the
+north and south sides along the whole breadth of my trench, and have
+convinced myself that it is built on the rock at a depth of forty-six
+and a half feet.
+
+"The Tower is at present only twenty feet high, but the nature of its
+surface, and the masses of stones lying on both sides, seem to prove
+that it was at one time much higher. For the preservation of what
+remains we have only to thank the ruins of Troy, which entirely
+covered the Tower as it now stands. It is probable that after the
+destruction of Troy much more of it remained standing, and that the
+part which rose above the ruins of the town was destroyed by the
+successors of the Trojans, who possessed neither walls nor
+fortifications. The western part of the Tower, so far as it is yet
+uncovered, is only from 121 to 124 feet distant from the steep western
+slope of the hill; and, considering the enormous accumulation of
+_debris_, I believe that the Tower once stood on the western edge of
+the Acropolis, where its situation would be most interesting and
+imposing, for its top would have commanded, not only a view of the
+whole Plain of Troy, but of the sea with the Islands of Tenedos,
+Imbros and Samothrace. There is not a more sublime situation in the
+area of Troy than this, and I therefore presume that it is the 'Great
+Tower of Ilium' which Andromache ascended because 'she had heard that
+the Trojans were hard pressed and that the power of the Achaeans was
+great.'
+
+ "'But to the height of Ilion's topmost tower
+ Andromache is gone; since tidings came
+ The Trojan force was overmatched, and great
+ The Grecian strength.'
+
+"After having been buried for thirty-one centuries, and after
+successive nations have built their houses and palaces high above its
+summit during thousands of years, this Tower has now again been
+brought to light, and commands a view, if not of the whole Plain, at
+least of the northern part and of the Hellespont. May this sacred and
+sublime monument of Greek heroism forever attract the eyes of those
+who sail through the Hellespont! May it become a place to which the
+inquiring youth of all future generations shall make pilgrimage to fan
+their enthusiasms for knowledge, and above all for the noble language
+and literature of Greece!
+
+"Directly by the side of the Palace of King Priam I came upon a large
+copper article of the most remarkable form, which attracted my
+attention all the more as I thought I saw gold behind it. On the top
+of this copper article lay a stratum of red and calcined ruins, from
+four and three-quarters to five and one-quarter feet thick, as hard as
+stone, and above this again lay a wall of fortification (six feet
+broad and twenty feet high) which was built of large stones and earth,
+and must have belonged to an early date after the destruction of Troy.
+In order to withdraw the Treasure from the greed of my workmen, and to
+save it for archaeology, I had to be most expeditious, and although it
+was not yet time for breakfast, I immediately had breakfast called.
+While the men were eating and resting I cut out the Treasure with a
+large knife, which it was impossible to do without the very greatest
+exertion and the most fearful risk of my life, for the great
+fortification wall, beneath which I had to dig, threatened every
+moment to fall down upon me. But the sight of so many objects, every
+one of which is of inestimable value to archaeology, made me foolhardy,
+and I never thought of any danger. It would, however, have been
+impossible for me to have removed the Treasure without the help of my
+dear wife, who stood by me ready to pack the things which I cut out in
+her shawl and to carry them away.
+
+ [Illustration: TREASURES OF PRIAM.]
+
+"The first thing I found was a large copper shield, in the form of an
+oval salver, in the middle of which is a knob or boss encircled by a
+small furrow. It is a little less than twenty inches in length, is
+quite flat, and surrounded by a rim one and one-half inches high; the
+boss is two and one-third inches high and four and one-third inches
+in diameter; the furrow encircling it is seven inches in diameter and
+two-fifths of an inch deep. This round shield of copper (or bronze?)
+with its central boss, and the furrow and rim so suitable for holding
+together a covering of ox-hides, reminds one irresistibly of the
+seven-fold shield of Ajax (_Iliad_ vii. 219-223):
+
+ "'Ajax approached; before him, as a tower,
+ His mighty shield he bore, seven-fold, brass-bound,
+ The work of Tychius, best artificer
+ That wrought in leather; he in Hyla dwelt.
+ Of seven-fold hides the ponderous shield was wrought
+ Of lusty bulls; the eighth was glittering brass.'
+
+"It is equally striking to compare the shield of the Treasure with the
+description of Sarpedon's shield, with its round plate of hammered
+copper (or bronze), and its covering of ox-hides, fastened to the
+inner edge of the rim by gold wires or rivets (_Iliad_ xii. 294-297):
+
+ "'His shield's broad _orb_ before his breast he bore,
+ Well wrought, _of beaten brass_, which the armorer's hand
+ Had beaten out, and lined with stout bull's hide
+ With golden rods, continuous, all around.'
+
+"The second object which I got out was a copper caldron with two
+horizontal handles. It is sixteen and one-half inches in diameter and
+five and one-half inches high; the bottom is flat, and is nearly eight
+inches in diameter. In the Iliad this vessel is used almost always as
+a caldron, and is often given as a prize at games; in the Odyssey it
+is always used for washing the hands or feet. This one shows the marks
+of a fearful conflagration, and near the left handle are seen two
+fragments of copper weapons (a lance and a battle-ax) firmly molten
+on. (See No. 25.)
+
+"The third object was a copper plate two-fifths of an inch thick, six
+and one-third inches broad, and seventeen and one-third inches long;
+it has a rim about one-twelfth of an inch high; at one end of it there
+are two immovable wheels with an axle-tree. This plate is very much
+bent in two places, but I believe that these curvatures have been
+produced by the heat to which the article was exposed in the
+conflagration; a silver vase four and three-fourths inches high and
+broad has been fused to it; I suppose, however, that this also
+happened by accident in the heat of the fire. (See No. 14.)
+
+"This remarkable object lay at the top of the whole mass, and I
+suppose it to have formed a hasp to the lid of the wooden chest in
+which the Treasure was packed. The fourth article I brought out was a
+copper vase five and one-half inches high and four and one-third
+inches in diameter. Thereupon followed a globular bottle of the purest
+gold, weighing 6,220 grains, or above one pound troy; it is nearly six
+inches high and five and one-half inches in diameter, and has the
+commencement of a zigzag decoration on the neck, which, however, is
+not continued all round. Then came a cup, likewise of the purest gold,
+weighing seven and one-fourth oz. troy; it is three and one-half
+inches high and three inches broad. (See Nos. 4 and 12.)
+
+ [Illustration: PART OF MACHINE OF PRIAM.]
+
+ [Illustration: JEWELRY OF GOLD AND STONES.]
+
+"Next came another cup of purest gold, weighing about one pound and
+six oz. troy; it is three and one-half inches high, seven and
+one-fourth inches long, and seven and one-fifth inches broad; it is in
+the form of a ship, with two large handles; on one side there is a
+mouth one and one-fifth inches broad, for drinking out of, and another
+at the other side two and three-fourths inches broad. Prof. Stephanos
+Kumanudes, of Athens, remarks, the person who presented the filled cup
+may have first drank from the small mouth as a mark of respect, to let
+the guest drink from the larger mouth. (See No. 10.)
+
+ [Illustration: FOUND IN THE PALACE OF PRIAM.]
+
+"The Treasure further contained a small cup of gold weighing two and
+one-fourth oz. troy; also six pieces of the purest silver in the form
+of large knife blades; they have all been wrought with a hammer.
+
+"I also found in the Treasure three great silver vases, the largest
+of which is above eight and one-fourth inches high and nearly eight
+inches in diameter, and has a handle five and one-half inches in
+length and three and one-half in breadth; I found besides a number of
+silver goblets and cups. Upon and beside the gold and silver articles
+I found thirteen copper lances; also fourteen copper weapons, which
+are frequently met with here, and seven large double-edged copper
+daggers.
+
+"As I found all these articles together, forming a rectangular mass,
+or packed into one another, it seems to be certain that they were
+placed on the city wall in a wooden chest, such as those mentioned by
+Homer as being in the Palace of King Priam. This appears to be the
+more certain, as close by the side of these articles I found a copper
+key above four inches long, the head of which (about two inches long
+and broad) greatly resembles a large safe-key of a bank. Curiously
+enough this key has had a wooden handle.
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+"That the Treasure was packed together at terrible risk of life, and
+in the greatest anxiety, is proved among other things also by the
+contents of a large silver vase, at the bottom of which I found two
+gold diadems, a fillet and four beautiful ear-rings of most exquisite
+workmanship; upon these lay fifty-six gold ear-rings of exceedingly
+curious form, and 8,750 small gold rings, perforated prisms and dice,
+gold buttons and similar jewels; then followed six gold bracelets,
+and, on the top of all, the two small gold goblets. Some of these are
+mentioned by Homer:
+
+ "'Far off were flung the adornments of her head;
+ The net, the fillet, and the woven band,
+ The nuptial-veil by golden Venus given.'
+
+ [Illustration: GOLD NECKLACE OF TROY.]
+
+ [Illustration: GOLD TASSELS OF TROY.]
+
+ [Illustration: LAMPS FOUND AT TROY.]
+
+"The one diadem consists of a gold fillet, twenty-one and two-thirds
+inches long and nearly half an inch broad, from which there hang on
+either side seven little chains to cover the temples, each of which
+has eleven square leaves with a groove; these chains are joined to one
+another by four little cross chains, at the end of which hangs a
+glittering golden idol of the tutelar goddess of Troy, nearly an inch
+long. The entire length of each of these chains, with the idols,
+amounts to ten and one-quarter inches. Almost all these idols have
+something of the human form, but the owl's head with the two large
+eyes can not be mistaken; their breadth at the lower end is about
+nine-tenths of an inch. Between these ornaments for the temples there
+are forty-seven little pendant chains adorned with square leaves; at
+the end of each little chain is an idol of the tutelar goddess of
+Ilium, about three-quarters of an inch long; the length of these
+little chains with the idols is not quite four inches. The fillet is
+above eighteen inches long and two-fifths of an inch broad, and has
+three perforations at each end. Eight quadruple rows of dots divide it
+into nine compartments, in each of which there are two large dots, and
+an uninterrupted row of dots adorns the whole edge. (See Fig. 1.) Of
+the four ear-rings only two are exactly alike; from the upper part,
+which is almost in the shape of a basket, and is ornamented with two
+rows of decorations in the form of beads, there hang six small chains
+on which are three little cylinders; attached to the end of the chains
+are small idols of the tutelar goddess of Troy. The length of each
+ear-ring is three and one-half inches. The upper part of the other two
+ear-rings is larger and thicker, but likewise almost in the shape of a
+basket; from it are suspended five little chains entirely covered with
+small round leaves, on which are likewise fastened small but more
+imposing idols of the Ilian tutelar divinity; the length of one of
+these pendants is three and one-half inches, that of the other a
+little over three inches. (See Fig. 17.)
+
+"Homer, in the Iliad, sings of 'beautifully twined tassels of solid
+gold' which adorned Athene:
+
+ "'All around
+ A hundred tassels hung, rare works of art,
+ All gold, each one a hundred oxen's price.'
+
+"Again, when Hera adorns herself to captivate Jove, her zone is
+fringed with a hundred tassels, and her ear-rings are described in
+terms corresponding exactly to the triple leaves above described:
+
+ "'Her zone, from which a hundred tassels hung,
+ She girt above her; and, in three bright drops,
+ Her glittering gems suspended from her ears,
+ And all around her grace and beauty shone.'
+
+"Of the six gold bracelets two are quite simple, and closed, but
+consist of an ornamented band one-twenty-fifth of an inch thick and
+one-fourth of an inch broad. The other three are double, and the ends
+are turned round and furnished with a head. The princess who wore
+these bracelets must have had unusually small hands, for they are so
+small that a girl of ten would have difficulty in putting them on.
+
+"The fifty-six other gold ear-rings are of various sizes, and three
+of them appear to have also been used by the princesses of the royal
+family as finger-rings. Also gold buttons were found, or studs,
+one-sixth of an inch high, in the cavity of which is a ring above
+one-tenth of an inch broad for sewing them on; gold double buttons,
+exactly like our shirt studs, three-tenths of an inch long, which,
+however, are not soldered, but simply stuck together, for from the
+cavity of the button there projects a tube, nearly one-fourth of an
+inch long, and from the other a pin of the same length, and the pin is
+merely stuck into the tube to form a double stud. (See Fig. No. 16.)
+These double buttons or studs can only have been used, probably, as
+ornament upon leather articles, for instance upon the handle-straps of
+swords, shields, or knives. I found in the vase also two gold
+cylinders above one-tenth of an inch long; also a small peg above
+four-fifths of an inch in length, and from six one-hundreths to eight
+one-hundreths of an inch thick; it has at one end a perforated hole
+for hanging it up, and on the other side six encircling incisions,
+which give the article the appearance of a screw; it is only by means
+of a magnifying glass that it is found not to be really a screw. I
+also found in the same vase two pieces of gold, one of which is
+one-seventh of an inch, the other above two inches long; each of them
+has twenty-one perforations.
+
+ [Illustration: SIX GOLDEN BRACELETS WELDED TOGETHER BY THE
+ CONFLAGRATION.]
+
+ [Illustration: GOLD PINS WITH SET GEMS.]
+
+"The persons who endeavored to save the Treasure had fortunately the
+presence of mind to stand the silver vase, containing the valuable
+articles described above, upright in the chest, so that not so much as
+a bead could fall out, and everything has been preserved uninjured.
+
+"M. Landerer, of Athens, a chemist well known through his discoveries
+and writings, who has most carefully examined all the copper articles
+of the Treasure, and analyzed the fragments, finds that all of them
+consist of pure copper without any admixture of tin or zinc, and that,
+in order to make them more durable, they have been wrought with the
+hammer.
+
+ [Illustration: GOLD EAR-RINGS OF TROY.]
+
+"As I hoped to find other treasures here, and also wished to bring to
+light the wall surrounding Troy, the erection of which Homer ascribes
+to Poseidon and Apollo, as far as the Scaean Gate, I have entirely cut
+away the upper wall, which rested partly upon the gate, to an extent
+of fifty-six feet. Visitors to the Troad can, however, still see part
+of it in the northwest earth-wall opposite the Scaean Gate. I have also
+broken down the enormous block of earth which separated my western and
+northwestern cutting from the Great Tower. The result of this new
+excavation is very important to archaeology, for I have been able to
+uncover several walls, and also a room of the Royal Palace, twenty
+feet in length and breadth, upon which no buildings of a later period
+rest.
+
+"Of the objects discovered there I have only to mention an excellently
+engraved inscription found upon a square piece of red slate, which has
+two holes not bored through it and an encircling incision, but neither
+can my learned friend Emile Burnouf nor I tell in what language the
+inscription is written. Further, there were some interesting
+terra-cottas, among which is a vessel, quite the form of a modern
+cask, and with a tube in the centre for pouring in and drawing off the
+liquid. There were also found upon the walls of Troy, one and
+three-fourths feet below the place where the Treasure was discovered,
+three silver dishes, two of which were broken to pieces in digging
+down the _debris_, they can, however, be repaired, as I have all the
+pieces. These dishes seem to have belonged to the Treasure, and the
+fact of the latter having otherwise escaped our pickaxes is due to the
+above mentioned large copper vessels which projected, so that I could
+cut everything out of the hard _debris_ with a knife.
+
+"I found, further, a silver goblet above three and one-third inches
+high, the mouth of which is nearly four inches in diameter; also a
+silver flat cup or dish five and one-half inches in diameter, and two
+beautiful small silver vases of most exquisite workmanship. The larger
+one, which has two rings on either side for hanging up by strings, is
+nearly eight inches high with its hat-shaped lid, and three and
+one-half inches in diameter across the bulge. The smaller silver vase,
+with a ring on either side for suspension by a string, is about six
+and three-fourths inches high, with its lid, and above three inches
+broad.
+
+"I now perceive that the cutting which I made in April was exactly at
+the proper point, and that if I had only continued it I should in a
+few weeks have uncovered the most remarkable buildings in Troy,
+namely, the Palace of King Priam, the Scaean Gate, the Great
+Surrounding Wall, and the Great Tower of Ilium; whereas, in
+consequence of abandoning this cutting, I had to make colossal
+excavations from east to west and from north to south through the
+entire hill in order to find those most interesting buildings.
+
+"In the upper strata of the north western and western excavations we
+came upon another great quantity of heads of beautiful terra-cotta
+figures of the best Hellenic period, and at a depth of twenty-three
+feet upon some idols, as well as the upper portion of a vase with the
+owl's face and a lid in the form of a helmet. Lids of this kind, upon
+the edge of which female hair is indicated by incisions, are
+frequently found in all the strata between thirteen and thirty-three
+feet deep, and as they belong to vases with owls' faces, the number of
+lids gives us an idea of the number of the vases with the figure of
+the owl-headed Athene, which existed here in Troy.
+
+"Homer rarely mentions temples, and, although he speaks of the Temple
+of Athene, yet, considering the smallness of the city, it is very
+doubtful whether it actually existed. It is probable that the tutelar
+goddess at that time possessed only the sacrificial altar which I
+discovered, and the crescent form of which greatly resembles the upper
+portion of the ivory idol found in the lowest strata as well as the
+one end of the six talents contained among the Treasure.
+
+"Valuable stones, such as those large flags which cover the road
+leading from the Scaean Gate to the Plain, as well as the stones of the
+enclosing wall and of the Great Tower, have been left untouched, and
+not a single stone of the Scaean Gate is wanting. Nay, with the
+exception of the houses which I myself destroyed, it would be quite
+possible to uncover the 'carcasses' of all the houses, as in the case
+of Pompeii. The houses must have been very high, and a great deal of
+wood must have been used in their construction, for otherwise the
+conflagration could not have produced such an enormous quantity of
+ashes and rubbish.
+
+"Upon and beside the gold and silver articles, I found thirteen copper
+lances, from nearly seven to above twelve and one-half inches in
+length, and from above one and one-half to two and one-third inches
+broad at the broadest point; at the lower end of each is a hole, in
+which, in most cases, the nail or peg which fastened the lance to the
+wooden handle is still sticking. The pin-hole is clearly visible in a
+lance-head which the conflagration has welded to a battle-ax. The
+Trojan lances were therefore quite different from those of the Greeks
+and Romans.
+
+ [Illustration: SPEARS, LANCES, AX AND CHAIN.]
+
+ [Illustration: SHEARS, KNIVES AND SPEARS.]
+
+"I also found fourteen of those copper weapons, which are frequently
+met with here, but which have never been discovered elsewhere; at one
+end they are pointed but blunt, and at the other they end in a broad
+edge. I formerly considered them to be a species of lance, but now,
+after mature consideration, I am convinced that they could have been
+used only as battle-axes. They are from above six to above twelve
+inches in length, from nearly one-half to above three-fourths of an
+inch thick, and from above one to nearly three inches broad; the
+largest of them weighs about three pounds avoirdupois.
+
+ [Illustration: LANCES FOUND AT PALACE OF PRIAM, TROY.]
+
+"There were also seven large double-edged copper daggers, with a
+handle from about two to two and three-fourths inches long, the end of
+which is bent round at a right angle. These handles must at one time
+have been encased in wood, for if the cases had been made of bone they
+would still have been wholly or partially preserved. The pointed
+handle was inserted into a piece of wood, so that the end projected
+about half an inch beyond it, and this end was simply bent round. The
+largest of these daggers is ten and two-thirds inches in length and
+above two inches broad at the broadest part; a second dagger, which is
+above one and three-fourths inches broad, has the point broken off,
+and is now less than nine inches long, but appears to have been eleven
+inches; a third dagger is eight and two-thirds inches long, and
+measures above one and one-fourth inches at the broadest point.
+
+"On the north side of the hill I have now also uncovered several
+house-walls at a depth of forty-two and one-half feet, and also the
+beginning of a remarkable wall of fortification, the continuation of
+which may be seen in the labyrinth of the house-walls in the depths of
+the Temple of Athene. On the north side, above the primary soil, I
+have also brought to light a portion of the pavement already
+mentioned, composed of small, round, white sea-pebbles, below which
+are the calcined ruins of a building which formerly stood there.
+
+"Among some very remarkable terra-cottas discovered since my last
+report I must mention two jugs found on the north side, at a depth of
+from twenty-three to twenty-six feet, each of which has two upright
+necks standing side by side, but their handles are united. One of them
+has also beside the mouths two small elevations, which may probably
+indicate eyes. Of a third jug of this kind I only found the upper
+portion. I must also mention an exceedingly curious cup, discovered at
+a depth of thirteen feet, which consists of a tube resting upon three
+feet and ending in one large and two small goblets; the larger goblet
+is connected with the opposite side of the tube by a handle. At the
+same depth I met with a large vase, from which projects a separate
+small vase; it is ornamented with incisions, and has three feet and
+two very pretty handles and rings for hanging it up. I found likewise,
+at the depth of thirteen feet, a vase with two female breasts, two
+large handles and engravings resembling letters. Among other extremely
+curious terra-cottas I must also mention three pots with three rows of
+perforations; they have the usual handle on one side and three feet on
+the other; also three large vases with perforations right round, on
+all sides, from the bottom to the top; their use is a riddle to me;
+can they have served as bee-hives? Also a vessel in the form of a pig,
+with four feet, which are, however, shorter than the belly, so that
+the vessel can not stand upon them; the neck of the vessel, which is
+attached to the back of the pig, is connected with the hinder part by
+a handle. I further found a pot in the form of a basket with a handle
+crossing the mouth, and a tube in the bulge for drawing off the
+liquid. Also two terra-cotta funnels, at a depth of ten feet, with a
+letter which I have repeatedly met with on some of the terra-cottas.
+At a depth of five feet I found one of those round twice-perforated
+terra-cottas with a stamp, in which there are Egyptian hieroglyphics;
+also a dozen of the same articles in the stamps of which are a crowned
+head, a bird, a dog's head, a flying man or an eagle and a stag. At a
+depth of sixteen and one-half feet I found the handle of a cup with
+the beautifully modeled head of a bull.
+
+"Neither can I prove that the terra-cottas here frequently met with,
+in the form of horses' heads, represent the mother of Hera, Cybele or
+Rhea, but it is very likely, for, as it is well known, in Phrygia she
+was represented with a horse's head. Terra-cotta idols of the Ilian
+Athene are rarely met with, but we daily find marble idols of this
+goddess, most of which have almost a human form. We also frequently
+come upon oblong flat pieces of rough marble upon which the owl's face
+of the goddess is more or less deeply engraved. It is often so finely
+scratched that the aid of a magnifying glass is required to convince
+one that it actually exists; we found several such pieces of marble
+where the owl's head was painted in a black color. Since I have come
+to the conclusion that they are idols of the tutelar divinity of Troy
+I have carefully collected them.
+
+ [Illustration: COINS OR METALS.]
+
+"In excavating the ground upon which my wooden house had stood we
+found, at a depth of from nine to nineteen inches, eighteen copper and
+two silver medals; one of the latter is of Marcus Aurelius. The other
+is a tetra-drachm of the island of Tenedos; on the obverse, to the
+right, is the head of Jupiter, to the left that of Juno, both having
+one neck in common, like the heads of Janus. The head of Jupiter is
+crowned with laurels, that of Juno has a wreath or crown. Upon the
+reverse of the coin there is a laurel wreath round the edge, and in
+the centre a large double ax, above which stands the word Teneelion,
+below and to the right of the handle of the double ax there is a
+winged Eros, who is holding up an object which it is difficult to
+distinguish, to the left is a bunch of grapes and a monogram, which
+looks like the letter A.
+
+"Of the copper coins five are of Alexandria Troas, two of Ophrynium,
+one of Tenedos, two of Abydos, and one of Dardania.
+
+"When I uncovered the road paved with large flags of stone, which
+leads from the Scaean Gate to the Plain, the stones looked as new as if
+they had just been hewn. But since then, under the influence of the
+burning sun, the flags of the upper portion of the road, which have
+specially suffered from the conflagration that destroyed the city, are
+rapidly crumbling away, and will probably have quite disappeared in a
+few years. However, the flags of stone on the northwestern half of the
+road, which have been less exposed to the heat, may still last many
+centuries.
+
+"In this day, closing the excavations at Ilium forever, I can not but
+fervently thank God for His great mercy, in that, notwithstanding the
+terrible danger to which we have been exposed owing to the continual
+hurricanes, during the last three years' gigantic excavations, no
+misfortune has happened, no one has been killed, and no one has been
+seriously hurt.
+
+"In my last report I did not state the exact number of springs in
+front of the Ilium. I have now visited all the springs myself, and
+measured their distance from my excavations, and I can give the
+following account of them. The first spring, which is situated
+directly below the ruins of the ancient town-wall, is exactly 399
+yards from my excavations; its water has a temperature of 60.8 deg.
+Fahrenheit. It is enclosed to a height of six and-one-half feet by a
+wall of large stones joined with cement, nine and one-quarter feet in
+breadth, and in front of it there are two stone troughs for watering
+cattle. The second spring, which is likewise still below the ruins of
+the ancient town-wall, is exactly 793 yards distant from my
+excavations. It has a similar enclosure of large stones, seven feet
+high and five feet broad, and has the same temperature. But it is out
+of repair, and the water no longer runs through the stone pipe in the
+enclosure, but along the ground before it reaches the pipe. The double
+spring spoken of in my last report is exactly 1,033 yards from my
+excavations. It consists of two distinct springs, which run out
+through two stone pipes lying beside each other in the enclosure
+composed of large stones joined with earth, which rises to a height of
+seven feet and is twenty-three feet broad; its temperature is 62.6 deg.
+Fahrenheit. In front of these two springs there are six stone troughs,
+which are placed in such a manner that the superfluous water always
+runs from the first trough through all the others. It is extremely
+probable that these are the two springs mentioned by Homer, beside
+which Hector was killed.
+
+ "'They (Hector and Achilles) in flight and pursuit,
+ They by the watch-tower, and beneath the wall
+ Where stood the wind-beat fig-tree, raced amain
+ Along the public road, until they reached
+ The fairly-flowing founts, whence issued forth,
+ From double source, Scamander's eddying streams.
+ One with hot current flows, and from beneath,
+ As from a furnace, clouds of steam arise;
+ 'Mid Summer's heat the other rises cold
+ As hail, or snow, or water crystallized;
+ Beside the fountains stood the washing-troughs
+ Of well-wrought stone, where erst the wives of Troy
+ And daughters fair their choicest garments washed,
+ In peaceful times, ere came the sons of Greece.'
+
+"In this new excavation I find four earthen pipes, from eighteen and
+three-quarters to twenty-two and one-quarter inches long, and from
+six and one-half to eleven and three-quarters inches thick, laid
+together for conducting water, which was brought from a distance of
+about seven miles from the upper Thymbrius. This river is now called
+the Kemar, from the Greek word kamara (vault), because an aqueduct of
+the Roman period crosses its lower course by a large arch. This
+aqueduct formerly supplied Ilium with drinking water from the upper
+portion of the river. But the Pergamus required special aqueducts, for
+it lies higher than the city.
+
+ [Illustration: ELEGANT BROOCH OF TROY.]
+
+"Unfortunately upon none of the articles of the Treasure of Priam are
+there found any inscriptions or any religious symbols except 100 idols
+of the Homeric 'owl-faced goddess Athene.' (Thea glaukopis Athene)
+which glitter upon the two diadems and the four ear-rings. These are,
+however, an undeniable proof that the Treasure belongs to the city and
+to the age of which Homer sings."
+
+The question asked is: Has Schliemann found any inscriptions which
+throw the certain light of written testimony on the language, the
+history and social condition, the religion, science and literature of
+the old inhabitants of the hill, whose records form as yet no part of
+ancient history? Upon this point very little satisfaction can be
+given, yet the people of ancient Troy did have a written language. At
+a depth of twenty-six feet, in the royal palace, a vase with an
+inscription was found. One of the letters resembles the Greek P. This
+same letter occurs on a seal found at a depth of twenty-three feet;
+two other letters of this inscription occurred on one other
+terra-cotta, likewise found at a depth of twenty-three feet.
+
+To Dr. Martin Haug belongs the honor of first deciphering the Trojan
+inscriptions on the above-mentioned vase. He, not without much
+research, interpreted it as a dedication "To the divine Sigo," a deity
+whose name was found in Sigeum. The transmutation, however, seemed
+forced; and, while Haug was right in his method, his results were
+pronounced at best,
+
+ "Fragments of broken words and thoughts,
+ Yet glimpses of the true."
+
+Prof. T. Gomperz, of Vienna, after making one correction in Haug's
+reading, still found it unsatisfactory, till the thought struck him of
+reading it from right to left round the vase, instead of from left to
+right, when the confused syllables flashed, as by sudden
+crystallization, into the pure Greek, and read: "To the divine
+Prince."
+
+Another inscription was found which Prof. Max Muller read as the very
+name of ILION. Others were found which are not as yet interpreted.
+
+ [Illustration: LAMP FOUND AT TROY.]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+NINEVEH AND BABYLON.
+
+
+Far away from the highways of modern commerce and the tracks of
+ordinary travel lay a city buried in the sandy earth of a half-desert
+Turkish province, with no trace of its place of sepulture. Vague
+tradition said it was hidden somewhere near the river Tigris; but for
+a long series of ages its existence in the world was a mere name--a
+word. That name suggested the idea of an ancient capital of fabulous
+splendor and magnitude; a congregation of palaces and temples,
+encompassed by vast walls and ramparts--of "the rejoicing city that
+dwelt carelessly; that said in her heart, I am, and there is none
+beside me," and which was to become "a desolation and dry like a
+wilderness."
+
+More than two thousand years had it lain in its unknown grave, when a
+French _savant_ and a wandering scholar sought the seat of the once
+powerful empire, and searching till they found the dead city, threw
+off its shroud of sand and ruin, and revealed once more to an
+astonished and curious world the temples, the palaces, and the idols;
+the representations of war and the chase, of the cruelties and
+luxuries of the ancient Assyrians. The Nineveh of Scripture, the
+Nineveh of the oldest historians; the Nineveh--twin sister of
+Babylon--glorying in pomp and power, all traces of which were believed
+to be gone; the Nineveh in which the captive tribes of Israel had
+labored and wept, and against which the words of prophecy had gone
+forth, was, after a sleep of twenty centuries, again brought to
+light. The proofs of ancient splendor were again beheld by living
+eyes, and by the skill of draftsmen and the pen of antiquarian
+travelers made known and preserved to the world.
+
+In the history of Jonah's visit, Nineveh is twice described as "that
+great city," and again as an "exceedingly great city of three days'
+journey."
+
+The measurement assigned to Nineveh by the sacred writer applies,
+without doubt, to its circuit, and gives a circumference of about
+sixty miles.
+
+None of the historical books of the Old Testament give any details
+respecting Nineveh. The prophets, however, make frequent incidental
+allusion to its magnificence, to the "fenced place," the "stronghold,"
+the "valiant men and chariots," the "silver and gold," the "pleasant
+furniture," "carved lintels and cedar work." Zephaniah, who wrote
+about twenty-four years before the fall of Nineveh, says of it:
+
+ "This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly;
+ That said in her heart, 'I am, and there is none beside me.'"
+
+The ruins of Nineveh were virtually unknown to the ancient classical
+writers, though we gather from all of them that it was one of the
+oldest, most powerful and most splendid cities in the world; that it
+perished utterly many hundred years before the Christian Era; and that
+after its fall Babylon became the capital of the Assyrian empire,
+which finally grew still greater and mightier. On examining their
+details, we find names confounded, incidents transposed, and
+chronology by turns confused, extended or inverted. Difficulties of
+another and more peculiar kind beset this path of inquiry, of which it
+will suffice to instance one illustration--proper names, those fixed
+points in history around which the achievements or sufferings of its
+heroes cluster, are constantly shifting in the Assyrian nomenclature;
+both men and gods being designated, not by a word composed of certain
+fixed sounds or signs, but by all the various expressions equivalent
+to it in meaning, whether consisting of a synonym or a phrase. Hence
+we find that the names furnished by classic authors generally have
+little or no analogy with the Assyrian, as the Greeks generally
+construed the proper names of other countries according to the genius
+of their own language, and not unfrequently translated the original
+name into it. Herodotus, however, though he mentions but one Assyrian
+king, gives his true name, Sennacherib.
+
+The immense mounds of brick and rubbish which marked the presumed
+sites of Babylon and Nineveh had been used as quarries by the
+inhabitants of the surrounding country, from time immemorial, without
+disclosing to other eyes than those of the wild occupier of the soil
+the monuments they must have served to support or cover. Though
+carefully explored by Niebuhr and Claudius James Rich, no other traces
+of buildings than a few portions of walls, of which they could not
+understand the plan, had been presented; if, however, the
+investigations of these travelers produced few immediate results, the
+first-named certainly has the merit of being the first to break the
+ground, and by his intelligence, to have awakened the enterprise of
+others. Rich, who was the East India Company's resident at Baghdad,
+employed his leisure in the investigation of the antiquities of
+Assyria. He gave his first attention to Babylon, on which he wrote a
+paper, originally published in Germany--his countrymen apparently
+taking less interest in such matters than did the scholars of Vienna.
+In a note to a second memoir on Babylon, printed in London in 1818, we
+find Nineveh thus alluded to by Rich. He says: "Opposite the town of
+Mosul is an enclosure of rectangular form, corresponding with the
+cardinal points of the compass; the eastern and western sides being
+the longest, the latter facing the river. The area, which is now
+cultivated, and offers no vestiges of building, is too small to have
+contained a town larger than Mosul, but it may be supposed to answer
+to the palace of Nineveh. The boundary, which may be perfectly traced
+all round, now looks like an embankment of earth or rubbish, of small
+elevation; and has attached to it, and in its line, at several places,
+mounds of greater size and solidity. The first of these forms the
+southwest angle, and on it is built the village of Nebbi Younis, the
+prophet's tomb (described and delineated by Niebuhr as Nurica), where
+they show the tomb of the prophet Jonah, much revered by the
+Mohammedans. The next, and largest of all, is the one which may be
+supposed to be the monument of Ninus. It is situated near the centre
+of the western face of the enclosure, and is joined like the others by
+the boundary wall;--the natives call it Kouyunjik Tepe. Its form is
+that of a truncated pyramid, with regular steep sides and a flat top;
+it is composed, as I ascertained from some excavations, of stones and
+earth, the latter predominating sufficiently to admit of the summit
+being cultivated by the inhabitants of the village of Kouyunjik, which
+is built on it at the northeast extremity. The only means I had, at
+the time I visited it, of ascertaining its dimensions, was by a cord
+which I procured from Mosul. This gave 178 feet for the greatest
+height, 1,850 feet for the length of the summit east and west, and
+1,147 for its breadth north and south.
+
+This mound has revealed the grandest and most stupendous remains of
+ancient Neneveh. Within the boundaries of ancient walls there are many
+mounds and elevations. All of them are artificial and are caused by
+the remains of the ancient structures. Mound Nimroud is about four
+miles in circumference at its base, on the top of which is a great
+pyramid mound 777 feet in circumference and 144-1/2 feet high.
+
+M. Botta distinctly traced the walls of an enclosure forming nearly a
+perfect square, two sides of which are 5,750 feet, the other 5,400, or
+rather more than a mile each way, all the four angles being right
+angles, which face the cardinal points. M. Botta commenced researches
+in the mound of Kouyunjik in 1842, and, meeting with little success,
+he abandoned his excavations in the following year.
+
+ [Illustration: PALACE OF SENNACHERIB.
+ _Discovered in a mound 1850 feet long, 1145 feet wide, and 178
+ feet high._]
+
+Layard, in 1846, opened some trenches in the southern face of the
+mound, but, at that time, without any important results. At a
+subsequent period he made some inquiries respecting the bas-relief
+described by Rich, and the spot where it was discovered having been
+pointed out to him in the northern group of ruins, he opened trenches,
+but, not finding any traces of sculptures, discontinued his
+operations.
+
+Upon completing his labors at Nimroud, in 1847, Layard determined on
+making some farther researches at Kouyunjik. He commenced at the
+southwestern corner, and not only discovered the remains of a palace,
+which had been destroyed by fire, but, within the short space of a
+month, had explored nine of its chambers. All the chambers were long
+and narrow, and the walls lined with bas-reliefs of larger size than
+most of those he had found at Nimroud. The slabs were not divided by
+bands of inscription, but were covered with figures scattered
+promiscuously over the entire surface, all the details being carefully
+and delicately executed. The winged human-headed bulls at the
+entrances resembled those found at Khorsabad and Persepolis in the
+forms of the head-dress, and feathered cap; and the costumes of the
+figures in general were also like those found at Khorsabad. The period
+of the palace was conjectured to be between those of Khorsabad and
+Nimroud. After Mr. Layard had left Mosul, Mr. Ross continued the
+excavations, and discovered several additional bas-reliefs--an
+entrance, which had been formed of four sphinxes, and a very large
+square slab, which he conjectured to be a dais or altar, like that
+found at Nimroud.
+
+Here he found a chamber lined with sculptured slabs, divided, like
+those of Khorsabad and Nimroud, by bands of inscription. He also
+found, at the foot of the mound, a monument about three feet high, and
+rounded at the top, containing a figure with a long cuneiform
+inscription, and above it various sacred emblems. When discovered it
+was supported by brickwork, and near it was a sarcophagus in baked
+clay.
+
+On the departure of Mr. Ross from Mosul the excavations were placed
+under the charge of Mr. Rassam, the English consul, with power to
+employ a small body of men, so as not to entirely abandon possession
+of the spot.
+
+Layard says: "During a short period several discoveries of the
+greatest interest and importance were made, both at Kouyunjik and
+Nimroud. I will first describe the results of the excavations in the
+ruins opposite Mosul.
+
+"Shortly before my departure for Europe, in 1848, the forepart of a
+human-headed bull of colossal dimensions had been uncovered on the
+east side of the Kouyunjik Palace. This sculpture then appeared to
+form one side of an entrance or doorway. The excavations had, however,
+been abandoned before any attempt could be made to ascertain the fact.
+On my return a tunnel, nearly 100 feet in length, was opened at right
+angles to the winged bull, but without coming upon any other remains
+but a pavement of square limestone slabs, which continued as far as
+the excavation was carried.
+
+"On uncovering the bull, which was still partly buried in the rubbish,
+it was found that adjoining it were other sculptures, and that it
+formed part of an exterior facade. The upper half of the slab had been
+destroyed; upon the lower was part of the figure of the Assyrian
+Hercules strangling the lion, similar to that discovered between the
+bulls in the propylaea of Khorsabad, and now in the Louvre. The hinder
+part of the lion was still preserved. The legs, feet, and drapery of
+the god were in the boldest relief, and designed with great truth and
+vigor. Beyond this figure, in the same line, was a second bull. Then
+came a wide portal, guarded by a pair of winged bulls twenty feet
+long, and probably, when entire, more than twenty feet high, and two
+gigantic winged figures in low relief. Flanking them were two smaller
+figures, one above the other. Beyond this entrance the facade was
+continued by a group similar to that on the opposite side by a smaller
+entrance into the palace and by a wall of sculptured slabs; then all
+traces of building and sculpture ceased near the edge of a water-worn
+ravine.
+
+"Thus, part of the facade of the southeast side of the palace, forming
+apparently the grand entrance to the edifice, had been discovered. Ten
+colossal bulls, with six human figures of gigantic proportions,
+altogether 180 feet in length, were here grouped together. Although
+the bas-reliefs to the right of the entrance had apparently been
+purposely destroyed with a sharp instrument, enough remained to allow
+me to trace their subject. They had represented the conquest of a
+district, probably part of Babylonia, watered by a broad river and
+wooded with palms, spearmen on foot in combat with Assyrian horsemen,
+castles besieged, long lines of prisoners, and beasts of burden
+carrying away the spoil. Amongst various animals brought as tribute to
+the conquerors could be distinguished a lion led by a chain. There
+were no remains whatever of the superstructure which once rose above
+the colossi, guarding this magnificent entrance.
+
+"Although the upper part of the winged bulls was destroyed,
+fortunately the lower part, and, consequently, the inscriptions, had
+been more or less preserved. To this fact we owe the recovery of some
+of the most precious records of the ancient world.
+
+"On the two great bulls forming the center entrance was one continuous
+inscription, injured in parts, but still so far preserved as to be
+legible almost throughout. It contained 152 lines. On the four bulls
+of the facade were two inscriptions, one inscription being carried
+over each pair, and the two being precisely of the same import. These
+two different inscriptions complete the annals of six years of the
+reign of Sennacherib, and contain numerous particulars connected with
+the religion of the Assyrians, their gods, their temples, and the
+erection of their palaces. We gather from them that, in the third year
+of his reign, Sennacherib turned his arms against Merodach-Baladan,
+king of Babylon, whom he entirely defeated, capturing his cities and a
+large amount of spoil. The fourth year appears to have been chiefly
+taken up with expeditions against the inhabitants of the mountainous
+regions to the north and east of Assyria. In the fifth he crossed the
+Euphrates into Syria, the inhabitants of which country are called by
+their familiar Biblical name of Hittites. He first took possession of
+Phoenicia, which was abandoned by its King Luliya (the Eululaeus of the
+Greeks). He then restored to his throne Padiya, or Padi, king of
+Ekron, and a tributary of Assyria, who had been deposed by his
+subjects and given over to Hezekiah, king of Jerusalem. The king of
+Ethiopia and Egypt sent a powerful army to the assistance of the
+people of Ekron, but it was entirely defeated by Sennacherib, who
+afterwards marched against Hezekiah, probably to punish him for having
+imprisoned Padiya. The inscriptions record this expedition, according
+to the translation of the late Dr. Hincks, in the following
+term:--'Hezekiah, king of Judah, who had not submitted to my
+authority, forty-six of his principal cities, and fortresses and
+villages depending upon them, of which I took no account, I captured
+and carried away their spoil. I _shut up_ (?) himself within
+Jerusalem, his capital city. The fortified towns, and the rest of his
+towns, which I spoiled, I severed from his country, and gave to the
+kings of Ascalon, Ekron, and Gaza, so as to make his country small. In
+addition to the former tribute imposed upon their countries, I added a
+tribute, the nature of which I fixed.' The next passage is somewhat
+illegible, but the substance of it appears to be, that he took from
+Hezekiah the treasure he had collected in Jerusalem, thirty talents of
+gold and eight hundred talents of silver, the treasures of his
+palace, besides his sons and his daughters, and his male and female
+servants or slaves, and brought them all to Nineveh. This city itself,
+however, he does not pretend to have taken.
+
+"The translation of this passage by Sir H. Rawlinson varies in some
+particulars from that given in the text. It is as follows: 'Because
+Hezekiah, king of Judah, would not submit to my yoke I came up against
+him, and by force of arms, and by the might of my power I took
+forty-six of his fenced cities; and of the smaller towns which were
+scattered about I took and plundered a countless number. And from
+these places I captured and carried off, as spoil, 200,150 people, old
+and young, male and female, together with horses and mares, asses and
+camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude. And Hezekiah himself I
+shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage,
+building towers around the city to hem him in, and raising banks of
+earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape. * * * * Then upon
+this Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent
+out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with thirty talents
+of gold and eight hundred talents of silver, and divers treasures, a
+rich and immense booty. * * * * All these things were brought to me at
+Nineveh, the seat of my government, Hezekiah having sent them by way
+of tribute, and as a token of his submission to my power.'
+
+"There can be no doubt that the campaign against the cities of
+Palestine, recorded in the inscriptions of Sennacherib in this palace,
+is that described in the Old Testament; and it is of great interest,
+therefore, to compare the two accounts, which will be found to agree
+in the principal incidents mentioned to a very remarkable extent. In
+the Second Book of Kings it is said--'Now, in the fourteenth year of
+king Hezekiah did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, come up against all
+the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah, king of
+Judah, sent to the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying, I have
+offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear.
+And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah three hundred talents
+of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the
+silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of
+the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off [_the gold from_]
+the doors of the temple of the Lord, and [_from_] the pillars which
+Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the king of
+Assyria.'"
+
+When Mr. Layard revisited Kouyunjik in 1849, there were no vestiges of
+the sculptured walls discovered two years previously. The more recent
+trenches, however, dug under the superintendence of Mr. Ross, were
+still open; and the workmen employed by direction of the British
+Museum had run tunnels along the walls within the mound, to save the
+trouble of clearing away the soil, which had accumulated to a depth of
+thirty feet above the ruins. Under the direction of Layard, the
+excavations were resumed with great spirit, and before the lapse of
+many weeks, several chambers had been entered, and numerous
+bas-reliefs discovered. One hall, 124 feet by 90 feet, appears, says
+Layard, "to have formed a center, around which the principal chambers
+in this part of the palace were grouped. Its walls had been completely
+covered with the most elaborate and highly-finished sculptures.
+Unfortunately, all the bas-reliefs, as well as the gigantic monsters
+at the entrances, had suffered more or less from the fire which had
+destroyed the edifice; but enough of them still remained to show the
+subject, and even to enable him, in many places, to restore it
+entirely."
+
+Continuing his discoveries in the mound, Layard "opened no less than
+seventy-one halls and chambers, also passages, whose walls, almost
+without an exception, had been paneled with slabs of sculptured
+alabaster, recording the wars, the triumphs, and the great deeds of
+the Assyrian king. By a rough calculation, about 9,880 feet, or
+nearly two miles of bas-reliefs, with twenty-seven portals formed by
+colossal winged bulls and lion sphinxes, were uncovered in that part
+alone of the building explored during his researches. The cut on page
+435 shows some of them. The greatest length of the excavations was
+about 720 feet, the greatest breadth about 600 feet. The pavement of
+the chambers was from twenty to thirty-five feet below the surface of
+the mound. The measurements merely include that part of the palace
+actually excavated."
+
+ [Illustration: DISCOVERED IN THE PALACE.
+
+ EXPLANATION OF CUT.
+
+ 1.} Figures from the portal of the palace of Sennacherib, having
+ 2.} the forms of winged bulls with human heads, bearing crowns.
+ 3. King Sennacherib on his throne. A sculpture found at Nimroud,
+ dating from the 7th century Before Christ.
+ 4. A king on the hunt.
+ 5. The storming of a fortress. In the foreground are two
+ warriors clad in armor, helmeted and heavily armed with
+ swords and spears.
+ 6.} Vases of glass and alabaster engraved with the word Sargon.
+ 7.} From Nimroud.
+ 8. Vessel of glazed earthenware--, found at Babel.
+ 9. Bronze drinking cup ornamented with the head of an animal.
+ 10. Lamp of earthenware.
+ 11. Stuff woven in patterns of Assyrian style. From relief at
+ Nimroud.
+ 12. Table formed of fragments of sculptures found at Nimroud.
+ 13.}
+ 14.} Swords.
+ 15.}
+ 16. Bent sword.
+ 17. Double edged ax.
+ 18. Spear.
+ 19. Quiver filled with arrows and elaborately sculptured.
+ 20. Bow.
+ 21.}
+ 22.} Daggers and knife in one case.
+ 23.}
+ 24. Helmet.
+ 25. Round shield such as was borne by foot soldiers.
+ 26. Breastplate of a knight of high degree.
+ 27. Parasol found at Nimroud. (Now in British Museum.)
+ 28. Ear-ring of gold.
+ 29.}
+ 30.}
+ 31.} Bracelets of gold.
+ 32.}
+ 33.{
+ 34.{ Diadems.
+ 35. Wall painting representing lions.]
+
+Most of the sculptures discovered in this hall and group of chambers
+have been deposited in the British Museum.
+
+For the more recent collection of sculptures which have been brought
+to light, we are indebted to Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, a native of Mosul,
+and a friend and colleague of Layard; and to Mr. William Kennet
+Loftus, the agent of the Assyrian excavation fund. In 1852, Mr. Rassam
+was appointed by the Trustees of the British Museum to take charge of
+the excavations at Nineveh. For more than a year his researches were
+nearly fruitless, when, at length, just as his appointment was about
+to terminate, he turned again to a previously-abandoned trench in the
+north side of the mound, and was almost immediately rewarded by the
+discovery of numerous chambers and passages, covered with a variety of
+bas-reliefs in an excellent state of preservation, having suffered
+less injury from fire than those of the other palaces. In one room was
+a lion hunt, in a continuous series of twenty-three slabs, with but
+one interval. The other slabs represented exteriors of palaces,
+gardens, battles, sieges, processions, etc., the whole forming the
+decorations of what must have been a splendid palace.
+
+Subsequently, in 1854, at the instance of Sir Henry Rawlinson, Mr.
+Loftus and his coadjutor, Mr. Boutcher, transferred their operations
+from South Babylonia to Nineveh. At first Mr. Loftus' excavations were
+unsuccessful, but about the beginning of August he discovered the
+remains of a building on a level twenty feet lower than the palace
+that Mr. Rassam was exploring, and which proved to be a lower terrace
+of the same building, even more highly elaborated and in better
+preservation than those previously discovered in the ruins. At the
+entrance of an ascending passage there was also found a "mass of
+solid masonry--apparently the pier of an arch--the springing of which
+is formed by projecting horizontal layers of limestone."
+
+Mr. Loftus, in his Report of the 9th of October, observes: "The
+excavations carried on at the western angle of the North Palace,
+Kouyunjik, continue to reveal many interesting and important facts,
+and to determine several points which were previously doubtful.
+
+"1. The existence of an outer basement wall of roughly cut stone
+blocks, supporting a mud wall, upon which white plaster still remains,
+and from which painted bricks have fallen. 2. At the corner of the
+palace, and at a considerable distance from the principal chambers, is
+an entrance hall, with column bases, precisely as we see them
+represented in the sculptures. 3. Above this entrance hall and its
+adjoining chambers, there was formerly another story, the first upper
+rooms yet discovered in Assyria. This, with its sculptured slabs, has
+fallen into the rooms below. 4. The various sculptures here
+disinterred are the works of four, if not five, different artists,
+whose styles are distinctly visible. It is evident that this portion
+of the edifice has been willfully destroyed, the woodwork burned, and
+the slabs broken to pieces. The faces of all the principal figures are
+slightly injured by blows of the ax."
+
+This highly interesting series of bas-reliefs, which has now been
+placed in a lower chamber in the British Museum, consequently
+represents the siege and capture of Lachish, as described in the
+Second Book of Kings, and in the inscriptions on the human-headed
+bulls. Sennacherib himself is seen seated on his throne, and receiving
+the submission of the inhabitants of the city, whilst he had sent his
+generals to demand the tribute of payment from Hezekiah. The defenders
+of the castle walls and the prisoners tortured and crouching at the
+conqueror's feet are Jews, and the sculptor has evidently endeavored
+to indicate the peculiar physiognomy of the race, and the dress of the
+people.
+
+The value of this discovery can scarcely be overrated. Whilst we have
+thus the representations of an event recorded in the Old Testament, of
+which consequently these bas-reliefs furnish a most interesting and
+important illustration, they serve to a certain extent to test the
+accuracy of the interpretation of the cuneiform inscriptions, and to
+remove any doubt that might still exist as to the identification of
+the King who built the palace on the mound of Kouyunjik with the
+Sennacherib of Scripture. Had these bas-reliefs been the only remains
+dug up from the ruins of Nineveh, the labor of the explorer would have
+been amply rewarded, and the sum expended by the nation on the
+excavations more than justified. They furnish, together with the
+inscriptions which they illustrate, and which are also now deposited
+in the national collection, the most valuable cotemporary historical
+record possessed by any museum in the world. They may be said to be
+the actual manuscript, caused to be written or carved by the principal
+actor in the events which it relates. Who would have believed it
+probable or possible, before these discoveries were made, that beneath
+the heap of earth and rubbish which marked the site of Nineveh, there
+would be found the history of the wars between Hezekiah and
+Sennacherib, written at the very time when they took place by
+Sennacherib himself and confirming even in minute details the Biblical
+record? He who would have ventured to predict such a discovery would
+have been treated as a dreamer or an impostor. Had it been known that
+such a monument really existed, what sum would have been considered
+too great for the precious record?
+
+A few remarks are necessary on the architecture and architectural
+decorations, external and internal of the Assyrian palaces. The
+inscriptions on their walls, especially on those of Kouyunjik and
+Khorsabad, appear to contain important and even minute details not
+only as to their general plan and mode of construction, but even as to
+the materials employed for their different parts, and for the objects
+of sculpture and ornaments placed in them. (Capt. Jones calculated
+that the mound of Kouyunjik contains 14,500,000 tons of earth, and
+that its construction would have taken 10,000 men for twelve years.)
+This fact furnishes another remarkable analogy between the records of
+the Jewish and Assyrian kings. To the history of their monarchs and of
+their nation, the Hebrew chroniclers have added a full account of the
+building and ornaments of the temple and palaces of Solomon. In both
+cases, from the use of technical words, we can scarcely hope to
+understand, with any degree of certainty, all the details. It is
+impossible to comprehend, by the help of the description alone, the
+plan or appearance of the temple of Solomon. This arises not only from
+our being unacquainted with the exact meaning of various Hebrew
+architectural terms, but also from the difficulty experienced even in
+ordinary cases, of restoring from mere description an edifice of any
+kind. In the Assyrian inscriptions we labor, of course, under still
+greater disadvantages. The language in which they were written is as
+yet but very imperfectly known, and although we may be able to explain
+with some confidence the general meaning of the historical paragraphs,
+yet when we come to technical words relating to architecture, even
+with a very intimate acquaintance with the Assyrian tongue, we could
+scarcely hope to ascertain their precise signification. On the other
+hand, the materials, and the general plan of the Assyrian palaces are
+still preserved, whilst of the great edifices of the Jews, not a
+fragment of masonry, nor the smallest traces, are probably left to
+guide us. But, as Mr. Fergusson has shown, the architecture of the one
+people may be illustrated by that of the other. With the help of the
+sacred books, and of the ruins of the palaces of Nineveh, together
+with those of cotemporary and after remains, as well as from customs
+still existing in the East, we may, to a certain extent, ascertain the
+principal architectural features of the buildings of both nations.
+
+Before suggesting a general restoration of the royal edifices of
+Nineveh, we shall endeavor to point out the analogies which appear to
+exist between their actual remains and what is recorded of the temple
+and palaces of Solomon. In the first place, as Sennacherib in his
+inscriptions declares himself to have done, the Jewish king sent the
+bearers of burdens and the hewers into the mountains to bring great
+stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundations, which
+were probably artificial platforms, resembling the Assyrian mounds,
+though constructed of more solid materials. We have the remains of
+such a terrace or stage of stone masonry, perhaps built by King
+Solomon himself, at Baalbec. The enormous size of some of the hewn
+stones in that structure, and of those still remaining in the
+quarries, some of which are more than sixty feet long, has excited the
+wonder of modern travelers. The dimensions of the temple of Jerusalem,
+threescore cubits long, twenty broad, and thirty high, were much
+smaller than those of the great edifices explored in Assyria.
+Solomon's own palace, however, appears to have been considerably
+larger, and to have more nearly approached in its proportions those of
+the kings of Nineveh, for it was one hundred cubits long, fifty broad
+and thirty high. "The porch before the temple," twenty cubits by ten,
+may have been a propylaeum, such as was discovered at Khorsabad in
+front of the palace. The chambers, with the exception of the oracle,
+were exceedingly small, the largest being only seven cubits broad,
+"for without, _in the wall_ of the house, he made numerous rests round
+about, that _the beams_ should not be fastened in the walls of the
+house." The words in italics are inserted in our version to make good
+the sense, and may consequently not convey the exact meaning, which
+may be, that these apartments were thus narrow in order that the beams
+might be supported without the use of pillars, a reason already
+suggested for the narrowness of the greater number of chambers in the
+Assyrian palaces. These smaller rooms appear to have been built round
+a large central hall called the oracle, the whole arrangement thus
+corresponding with the courts, halls, and surrounding rooms at
+Nimroud, Khorsabad, and Kouyunjik. The oracle was twenty cubits
+square, smaller far in dimensions than the Nineveh halls; but it was
+twenty cubits _high_--an important fact, illustrative of Assyrian
+architecture, for as the building itself was thirty cubits in height
+the oracle must not only have been much loftier than the adjoining
+chambers, but must have had an upper structure of ten cubits. Within
+it were the two cherubim of olive wood ten cubits high, with wings
+each five cubits long--"and he carved all the house around with carved
+figures of cherubim and palm trees, and open flowers, within and
+without." The cherubim have been described by Biblical commentators as
+mythic figures, uniting the human head with the body of a lion, or an
+ox, and the wings of an eagle. If for the palm trees we substitute the
+sacred trees of the Nineveh sculptures, and for the open flowers the
+Assyrian tulip-shaped ornament--objects most probably very nearly
+resembling each other--we find that the oracle of the temple was
+almost identical, in the general form of its ornaments, with some of
+the chambers of Nimroud and Khorsabad. In the Assyrian halls, too, the
+winged human-headed bulls were on the side of the wall, and their
+wings, like those of the cherubim, "touched one another in the midst
+of the house." The dimensions of these figures were in some cases
+nearly the same in the Jewish and Assyrian temples, namely, fifteen
+feet square. The doors were also carved with cherubim and palm trees,
+and open flowers; and thus, with the other parts of the building,
+corresponded with those of the Assyrian palaces. On the walls at
+Nineveh the only addition appears to have been the introduction of the
+human form and the image of the king, which were an abomination to the
+Jews. The pomegranates and lilies of Solomon's temple must have been
+nearly identical with the usual Assyrian ornament, in which, and
+particularly at Khorsabad, the promegranate frequently takes the place
+of the tulip and the cune.
+
+But the description given by Josephus of the interior of one of
+Solomon's houses still more completely corresponds with and
+illustrates the chambers in the palaces of Nineveh. "Solomon built
+some of these (houses) with stones of ten cubits, and wainscoted the
+walls with other stones that were sawed, and were of great value, such
+as were dug out of the bowels of the earth, for ornaments of temples,"
+etc. The arrangement of the curious workmanship of these stones was in
+three rows; but the fourth was pre-eminent for the beauty of its
+sculpture, for on it were represented trees and all sorts of plants,
+with the shadows caused by their branches and the leaves that hung
+down from them. These trees and plants covered the stone that was
+beneath them, and their leaves were wrought so wonderfully thin and
+subtle that they appeared almost in motion; but the rest of the wall,
+up to the roof, was plastered over, and, as it were, wrought over with
+various colors and pictures.
+
+To complete the analogy between the two edifices, it would appear that
+Solomon was seven years building his temple, and Sennacherib about the
+same time in erecting his great palace at Kouyunjik.
+
+The ceiling, roof, and beams of the Jewish temple were of cedar wood.
+The discoveries of the ruins at Nimroud show that the same precious
+wood was used in Assyrian edifices; and the king of Nineveh, as we
+learn from the inscriptions, sent men, precisely as Solomon had done,
+to cut it in Mount Lebanon. Fir was also employed in the Jewish
+buildings, and probably in those of Assyria.
+
+In order to understand the proposed restoration of the palace at
+Kouyunjik from the existing remains, the reader must refer to the cut,
+on page 427, of the excavated ruins. It will be remembered that the
+building does not face the cardinal points of the compass. We will,
+however, assume, for convenience sake that it stands due north and
+south. To the south, therefore, it immediately overlooked the Tigris;
+and on that side rose one of the principal facades. The edifice must
+have stood on the very edge of the platform, the foot of which was at
+that time washed by the river, which had five massive staircases
+leading to the river. Although from the fact of there having been a
+grand entrance to the palace on the east side, it is highly probable
+that some such approach once existed on the west side, yet no remains
+whatever of it have been discovered. The northern facade, like the
+southern, was formed by five pairs of human-headed bulls, and numerous
+colossal figures, forming three distinct gateways.
+
+The principal approach to the palace appears, however, to have been on
+the eastern side, where the great bulls bearing the annals of
+Sennacherib were discovered. In the cut we have been able, by the
+assistance of Mr. Fergusson, to give a restoration of this magnificent
+palace and entrances. Inclined ways, or broad flights of steps, appear
+to have led up to it from the foot of the platform, and the remains of
+them, consisting of huge squared stones, are still in the ravines,
+which are but ancient ascents, deepened by the winter rains of
+centuries. From this grand entrance direct access could be had to all
+the principal halls and chambers in the palace; that on the western
+face, as appears from the ruins, only opened into a set of eight
+rooms.
+
+The chambers hitherto explored appear to have been grouped round three
+great courts or halls. It must be borne in mind, however, that the
+palace extends considerably to the northeast of the grand entrance,
+and that there may have been another hall, and similar dependent
+chambers in that part of the edifice. Only a part of the palace has
+been hitherto excavated, and we are not, consequently, in possession
+of a perfect ground-plan of it.
+
+The general arrangement of the chambers at Kouyunjik is similar to
+that at Khorsabad, though the extent of the building is very much
+greater. The Khorsabad mound falls gradually to the level of the
+plain, and there are the remains of a succession of broad terraces or
+stages. Parts of the palace, such as the propylaea, were actually
+beneath the platform, and stood at some distance from it in the midst
+of the walled enclosure. At Kouyunjik, however, the whole of the royal
+edifice, with its dependent buildings, appears to have stood on the
+summit of the artificial mound, whose lofty perpendicular sides could
+only have been accessible by steps, or inclined ways. No propylaea, or
+other edifices connected with the palace, have as yet been discovered
+below the platform.
+
+The inscriptions, it is said, refer to four distinct parts of the
+palace, three of which, inhabited by the women, seem subsequently to
+have been reduced to one. It is not clear whether they were all on the
+ground-floor, or whether they formed different stories. Mr. Fergusson,
+in his ingenious work on the restoration of the palaces of Nineveh, in
+which he has, with great learning and research, fully examined the
+subject of the architecture of the Assyrians and ancient Persians,
+endeavors to divide the Khorsabad palace, after the manner of modern
+Mussulman houses, into the Salamlik or apartments of the men, and the
+Harem, or those of the women. The division he suggests must, of
+course, depend upon analogy and conjecture; but it may, we think, be
+accepted as highly probable, until fuller and more accurate
+translations of the inscriptions than can yet be made may furnish us
+with some positive data on the subject. In the ruins of Kouyunjik
+there is nothing, as far as we are aware, to mark the distinction
+between the male and female apartments. Of a temple no remains have as
+yet been found at Kouyunjik, nor is there any high conical mound as at
+Nimroud and Khorsabad.
+
+ [Illustration: VIEW OF A HALL.
+ (_Of which 71 were discovered in the Palace._)]
+
+In all the Assyrian edifices hitherto explored we find the same
+general plan. On the four sides of the great courts or halls are two
+or three narrow parallel chambers opening one into the other. Most of
+them have doorways at each end leading into smaller rooms, which have
+no other outlet. It seems highly probable that this uniform plan was
+adopted with reference to the peculiar architectural arrangements
+required by the building, and we agree with Mr. Fergusson in
+attributing it to the mode resorted to for lighting the apartments.
+
+Early excavators expressed a belief that the chambers received light
+from the top. Although this may have been the case in some instances,
+yet recent discoveries now prove that the Assyrian palaces had more
+than one story. Such being the case, it is evident that other means
+must have been adopted to admit light to the inner rooms on the
+ground-floor. Mr. Fergusson's suggestion, that the upper part of the
+halls and principal chambers was formed by a row of pillars supporting
+the ceiling and admitting a free circulation of light and air, appears
+to us to meet, to a certain extent, the difficulty. It has, moreover,
+been borne out by subsequent discoveries, and by the representation of
+a large building, apparently a palace, on one side of the bas-reliefs
+from Kouyunjik.
+
+Although the larger halls may have been lighted in this manner, yet
+the inner chambers must have remained in almost entire darkness. And
+it is not improbable that such was the case, to judge from modern
+Eastern houses, in which the rooms are purposely kept dark to mitigate
+the great heat. The sculptures and decorations in them could then only
+be properly seen by torchlight. The great courts were probably open to
+the sky, like the courts of the modern houses of Mosul, whose walls
+are also adorned with sculptured alabaster. The roofs of the large
+halls must have been supported by pillars of wood or brick work. It
+may be conjectured that there were two or three stories of chambers
+opening into them, either by columns or by windows. Such appears to
+have been the case in Solomon's temple; for Josephus tells us that the
+great inner sanctuary was surrounded by small rooms, "over these rooms
+were other rooms, and others above them, equal both in their measure
+and numbers, and these reached to a height equal to the _lower part_
+of the house, for the upper had no buildings about it." We have also a
+similar arrangement of chambers in the modern houses of Persia, in
+which a lofty central hall, called the Iwan, of the entire height of
+the building, has small rooms in two or three separate stories opening
+by windows into it, whilst the inner chambers have no windows at all,
+and only receive light through the door. Sometimes these side chambers
+open into a center court, as we have suggested may have been the case
+in the Nineveh palaces, and then a projecting roof of woodwork
+protects the carved and painted walls from injury by the weather.
+Curtains and awnings were no doubt suspended above the windows and
+entrances in the Assyrian palaces to ward off the rays of the sun.
+
+Although the remains of pillars have hitherto been discovered in the
+Assyrian ruins, we now think it highly probable, as suggested by Mr.
+Fergusson, that they were used to support the roof. The modern Yezidi
+house, in the Sinjar, is a good illustration not only of this mode of
+supporting the ceiling, but of the manner in which light may have been
+admitted into the side chambers. It is curious, however, that no stone
+pedestals, upon which wooden columns may have rested, have been found
+in the ruins; nor have marks of them been found on the pavement. We
+can scarcely account for the entire absence of all such traces.
+However, unless some support of this kind were resorted to, it is
+impossible that the larger halls at Kouyunjik could have been covered
+in. The great hall, or house, as it is rendered in the Bible, of the
+forest of Lebanon was thirty cubits high, upon four rows of cedar
+pillars with cedar beams upon the pillars. The Assyrian kings, as we
+have seen, cut wood in the same forests as King Solomon; and probably
+used it for the same purpose, namely, for pillars, beams and ceilings.
+The dimensions of this hall, 100 cubits (about 150 feet) by 50 cubits
+(75 feet), very much resemble those of the center halls of the palaces
+of Nineveh. "The porch of pillars" was fifty cubits in length; equal,
+therefore, to the breadth of the hall, of which, we presume, it was a
+kind of inclosed space at the upper end, whilst "the porch for the
+throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment * * * *
+covered with cedar wood from one side of the floor to the other," was
+probably a raised place within it, corresponding with a similar
+platform where the host and guests of honor are seated in a modern
+Eastern house. Supposing the three parts of the building to have been
+arranged as we have suggested, we should have an exact counterpart of
+them in the hall of audience of the Persian palaces. The upper part of
+the magnificent hall in which we have frequently seen the governor of
+Isfahan, was divided from the lower part by columns, and his throne
+was a raised place of carved headwork adorned with rich stuffs, ivory,
+and other precious materials. Suppliants and attendants stood outside
+the line of pillars, and the officers of the court within. Such also
+may have been the interior arrangements of the great halls in the
+Assyrian edifices.
+
+We have already described the interior decorations of the Assyrian
+palaces, and have little more to add upon the subject. The walls of
+Kouyunjik were more elaborately decorated than those of Nimroud and
+Khorsabad. Almost every chamber explored there, and they amounted to
+about seventy, was paneled with alabaster slabs carved with numerous
+figures and with the minutest details. Each room appears to have been
+dedicated to some particular event, and in each, apparently, was the
+image of the king himself. In fact, the walls recorded in sculpture
+what the inscriptions did in writing--the great deeds of Sennacherib
+in peace as well as in war. It will be remarked that, whilst in other
+Assyrian edifices the king is frequently represented taking an active
+part in war, slaying his enemies, and fighting beneath a besieged
+city, Sennacherib is never represented at Kouyunjik otherwise than in
+an attitude of triumph, in his chariot or on his throne, receiving the
+captives and the spoil. Nor is he ever seen torturing his prisoners,
+or putting them to death with his own hand.
+
+There were chambers, however, in the palace of Sennacherib, as well as
+in those at Nimroud and Khorsabad, whose walls were simply coated with
+plaster, like the walls of Belshazzar's palace at Babylon. Some were
+probably richly ornamented in color with figures of men and animals,
+as well as with elegant designs; or others may have been paneled with
+cedar wainscoting, as the chambers in the temple and palaces of
+Solomon, and in the royal edifices of Babylon. Gilding, too, appears
+to have been extensively used in decoration, and some of the great
+sphinxes may have been overlaid with gold, like the cherubim in
+Solomon's temple. The cut on page 445 gives a beautiful representation
+of the interior of the palaces. It is taken from the halls of the
+palace of Sennacherib.
+
+At Kouyunjik, the pavement slabs were not inscribed as at Nimroud; but
+those between the winged bulls, at some of the entrances, were carved
+with an elaborate and very elegant pattern. The doors were probably of
+wood, gilt, and adorned with precious materials, like the gates of the
+temple of Jerusalem, and their hinges appear to have turned in stone
+sockets, some of which were found in the ruins. To ward off the glare
+of an Eastern sun, hangings or curtains, of gay colors and of rich
+materials, were probably suspended to the pillars supporting the
+ceiling, or to wooden poles raised for the purpose, as in the palaces
+of Babylon and Shushan.
+
+Layard's researches have satisfied him that a very considerable
+period elapsed between the earliest and latest buildings discovered
+among the mounds of Nimroud. We incline to this opinion, but differ
+from the surmise that the ruins of Nimroud and the site of Nineveh
+itself are identical. The dimensions of Nineveh, as given by Diodorus
+Siculus, were 150 stadia on the two longest sides of the quadrangle,
+and 90 on the opposite; the square being 480 stadia, 60 miles; or,
+according to some, 74 miles. Layard thinks, that by taking the four
+great mounds of Nimroud, Kouyunjik, Khorsabad and Karamles, as the
+corners of a square, the four sides will correspond pretty accurately
+with the 60 miles of the geographer, and the three days' journey of
+the prophet Jonah.
+
+The parallelogram, or line of boundary, being thus completed, we have
+now to ascertain how far it accords with the localities of the
+researches; and we find that it not only comprehends the principal
+mounds which have already been examined, but many others, in which
+ruins are either actually, or almost certainly, known to exist.
+Another important object of remark connected with this subject, is the
+thickness of the wall surrounding the palace of Khorsabad, which Botta
+states to be fifteen metres, _i.e._, forty-eight feet, nine inches, a
+very close approximation to the width of the wall of the city itself,
+which was "so broad as that three chariots might be driven upon it
+abreast." This is about half the thickness of the wall of Babylon,
+upon which "six chariots could be driven together," and which
+Herodotus tells were eighty-seven feet broad, or nearly double that of
+Khorsabad. The extraordinary dimensions of the walls of cities is
+supported by these remains at Khorsabad. The Median wall, still
+existing, in part nearly entire, and which crosses obliquely the plain
+of Mesopotamia from the Tigris to the banks of the Euphrates, a
+distance of forty miles, is another example. The great wall of China,
+also, of like antiquity, we are told, "traverses high mountains, deep
+valleys, and, by means of arches, wide rivers, extending from the
+province of Shen Si to Wanghay, or the Yellow Sea, a distance of 1,500
+miles. In some places, to protect exposed passages, it is double and
+treble. The foundation and corner stones are of granite, but the
+principal part is of blue bricks, cemented with pure white mortar. At
+distances of about 200 paces are distributed square towers or strong
+bulwarks." In less ancient times, the Roman walls in our own country
+supply additional proof of the universality of this mode of enclosing
+a district or guarding a boundary before society was established on a
+firm basis. It may be objected against the foregoing speculations on
+the boundary of Nineveh, that the river runs within the walls instead
+of on the outside. In reply, we submit that when the walls were
+destroyed, as described by the historian, the flooded river would
+force for itself another channel, which in process of time would
+become more and more devious from the obstructions offered by the
+accumulated ruins, until it eventually took the channel in which it
+now flows.
+
+Babylon was the most beautiful and the richest city in the world. Even
+to our age, it stands as a marvel. It was built about 3,000 years ago,
+but did not reach the summit of its magnificence until about 570 years
+Before Christ, when Nebuchadnezzar lavished almost an endless amount
+of wealth upon it.
+
+Its magnitude was 480 furlongs, or sixty miles, in compass. It was
+built in an exact square of fifteen miles on each side, and was
+surrounded by a brick wall eighty-seven feet thick and 350 feet high,
+on which were 250 towers, or, according to some writers, 316. The top
+of the wall was wide enough to allow six chariots to drive abreast.
+The materials for building the wall were dug from a vast ditch or
+moat, which was also walled up with brickwork and then filled with
+water from the River Euphrates. This moat was just outside of the
+walls, and surrounded the city as another strong defence.
+
+The city had 100 brass gates, one at the end of each of its fifty
+streets. The streets were 150 feet wide and ran at right angles
+through the city, thus forming 676 great squares. Herodotus says
+besides this there was yet another wall which ran around within, not
+much inferior to the other, yet narrower, and the city was divided
+into two equal parts by the River Euphrates, over which was a bridge,
+and at each end of the bridge was a palace. These palaces had
+communication with each other by a subterranean passage.
+
+To prevent the city from suffering from an overflow of the river
+during the summer months, immense embankments were raised on either
+side, with canals to turn the flood waters of the Tigris. On the
+western side of the city an artificial lake was excavated forty miles
+square, or 160 miles in circumference, and dug out, according to
+Megasthenes, seventy-five feet deep, into which the river was turned
+when any repairs were to be made, or for a surplus of water, in case
+the river should be cut off from them.
+
+Near to the old palace stood the Tower of Babel. This prodigious pile
+consisted of eight towers, each seventy-five feet high, rising one
+upon another, with an outside winding staircase to its summit, which,
+with its chapel on the top, reached a height of 660 feet. On this
+summit is where the chapel of Belus was erected, which contained
+probably the most expensive furniture of any in the world. One golden
+image forty feet high was valued at $17,500,000, and the whole of the
+sacred utensils were reckoned to be worth $200,000,000. There are
+still other wonderful things mentioned. One, the subterraneous
+banqueting rooms, which were made under the River Euphrates and were
+constructed entirely of brass; and then, as one of the seven wonders
+of the world, were the famous hanging gardens; they were 400 feet
+square and were raised 350 feet high, one terrace above the other, and
+were ascended by a staircase ten feet wide. The terraces were
+supported by large vaultings resting upon curb-shaped pillars and
+were hollow and filled with earth, to allow trees of the largest size
+to be planted, the whole being constructed of baked bricks and
+asphalt. The entire structure was strengthened and bound together by a
+wall twenty-two feet in thickness. The level of the terrace was
+covered with large stones, over which was a bed of rushes, then a
+thick layer of asphalt, next two courses of bricks likewise cemented
+with asphalt, and finally plates of lead to prevent leakage, the earth
+being heaped on the platform and terrace and large trees planted. The
+whole had the appearance from a distance of woods overhanging
+mountains.
+
+The great work is affirmed to have been effected by Nebuchadnezzar to
+gratify his wife, Anytis, daughter of Astyages, who retained strong
+predilection for the hills and groves which abounded in her native
+Media.
+
+Babylon flourished for nearly 200 years in this scale of grandeur,
+during which idolatry, pride, cruelty, and every abomination prevailed
+among all ranks of the people, when God, by His prophet, pronounced
+its utter ruin, which was accordingly accomplished, commencing with
+Cyrus taking the city, after a siege of two years, in the year 588
+Before Christ, to emancipate the Jews, as foretold by the prophets. By
+successive overthrows this once "Glory of the Chaldees' Excellency,"
+this "Lady of Kingdoms," has become a "desolation" without an
+inhabitant, and its temple a vast heap of rubbish.
+
+The ancient Tower of Babel is now a mound of oblong form, the total
+circumference of which is 2,286 feet. At the eastern side it is cloven
+by a deep furrow and is not more than fifty or sixty feet high, but on
+the western side it rises in a conical figure to the elevation of 198
+feet, and on its summit is a solid pile of brick thirty-seven feet in
+height and twenty-eight in breadth, diminishing in thickness to the
+top, which is broken and irregular and rent by large fissures
+extending through a third of its height; it is perforated with small
+holes.
+
+The fire-burnt bricks of which it is built have inscriptions on them,
+and so excellent is the cement, which appears to be lime mortar, that
+it is nearly impossible to extract one whole. The other parts of the
+summit of this hill are occupied by immense fragments of brickwork of
+no determinate figure, tumbled together and converted into solid
+vitrified masses, as if they had undergone the action of the fiercest
+fire, or had been blown up by gunpowder, the layers of brick being
+perfectly discernible. These ruins surely proclaim the divinity of the
+Scriptures. Layard says the discoveries amongst the ruins of ancient
+Babylon were far less numerous and important than could have been
+anticipated. No sculptures or inscribed slabs, the paneling of the
+walls of palaces, appear to exist beneath them, as in those of
+Nineveh. Scarcely a detached figure in stone, or a solitary tablet,
+has been dug out of the vast heaps of rubbish. "Babylon is fallen, is
+fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the
+ground." (Isaiah xxi. 9.)
+
+The complete absence of such remains is to be explained by the nature
+of the materials used in the erection of even the most costly edifices
+of Babylon. In the vicinity there were no quarries of alabaster, or of
+limestone, such as existed near Nineveh. The city was built in the
+midst of an alluvial country, far removed from the hills. The deposits
+of the mighty rivers which have gradually formed the Mesopotamian
+plains consist of a rich clay. Consequently stone for building
+purposes could only be obtained from a distance. The black basalt, a
+favorite material amongst the Babylonians for carving detached
+figures, and for architectural ornaments, as appears from fragments
+found amongst the ruins, came from the Kurdish Mountains, or from the
+north of Mesopotamia.
+
+The Babylonians were content to avail themselves of the building
+materials which they found on the spot. With the tenacious mud of
+their alluvial plains, mixed with chopped straw, they made bricks,
+whilst bitumen and other substances collected from the immediate
+neighborhood furnished them with an excellent cement. A knowledge of
+the art of manufacturing glaze, and colors, enabled them to cover
+their bricks with a rich enamel, thereby rendering them equally
+ornamental for the exterior and interior of their edifices. The walls
+of their palaces and temples were also coated, as we learn from
+several passages in the Bible, with mortar and plaster, which, judging
+from their cement, must have been of very fine quality. The fingers of
+a man's hand wrote the words of condemnation of the Babylonian empire
+"upon the plaster of the king's palace." Upon those walls were painted
+historical and religious subjects, and various ornaments, and,
+according to Diodorus Siculus, the bricks were enameled with the
+figures of men and animals. Images of stone were no doubt introduced
+into the buildings. We learn from the Bible that figures of the gods
+in this material, as well as in metal, were kept in the Babylonian
+temples. But such sculptures were not common, otherwise more remains
+of them must have been discovered in the ruins. The great inscription
+of Nebuchadnezzar, engraved on a black stone, and divided into ten
+columns, in the museum formed by the East India Company, appears to
+contain some interesting details as to the mode of construction and
+architecture of the Babylonian palaces and temples.
+
+It may be conjectured that, in their general plan, the Babylonian
+palaces and temples resembled those of Assyria. We know that the arts,
+the religion, the customs, and the laws of the two kindred people were
+nearly identical. They spoke, also, the same language, and used, very
+nearly, the same written characters. One appears to have borrowed from
+the other; and, without attempting to decide the question of the
+priority of the independent existence as a nation and of the
+civilization of either people, it can be admitted that they had a
+certain extent of common origin, and that they maintained for many
+centuries an intimate connection. We find no remains of columns at
+Babylon, as none have been found at Nineveh. If such architectural
+ornaments were used, they must have been either of wood or of brick.
+
+Although the building materials used in the great edifices of Babylon
+may seem extremely mean when compared with those employed in the
+stupendous palace-temples of Egypt, and even in the less massive
+edifices of Assyria, yet the Babylonians appear to have raised, with
+them alone, structures which excited the wonder and admiration of the
+most famous travelers of antiquity. The profuse use of color, and the
+taste displayed in its combination, and in the ornamental designs,
+together with the solidity and vastness of the immense structure upon
+which the buildings proudly stood, may have chiefly contributed to
+produce this effect upon the minds of strangers. The palaces and
+temples, like those of Nineveh, were erected upon lofty platforms of
+brickwork. The bricks, as in Assyria, were either simply baked in the
+sun, or were burned in the kiln. The latter are of more than one shape
+and quality. Some are square, others are oblong. Those from the Birs
+Nimroud are generally of a dark red color, while those from the
+Mujelibe are mostly of a light yellow. A large number of them have
+inscriptions in a complex cuneiform character peculiar to Babylon.
+These superscriptions have been impressed upon them by a stamp, on
+which the whole inscription was cut in relief. Each character was not
+made singly, as on the Assyrian bricks, and this is the distinction
+between them. Almost all the bricks brought from the ruins of Babylon
+bear the same inscription, with the exception of one or two
+unimportant words, and record the building of the city by
+Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabubaluchun. We owe the interpretation of
+these names to the late Dr. Hincks.
+
+It may not be out of place to add a few remarks upon the history of
+Babylon. The time of the foundation of this celebrated city is still a
+question which does not admit of a satisfactory determination, and
+into which we will not enter. Some believe it to have taken place at a
+comparatively recent date; but if, as the Egyptian scholars assert,
+the name of Babylon is found on monuments of the eighteenth Egyptian
+dynasty, we have positive evidence of its existence at least in the
+fifteenth century Before Christ. After the rise of the Assyrian
+empire, it appears to have been sometimes under the direct rule of the
+kings of Nineveh, and at other times to have been governed by its own
+independent chiefs. Expeditions against Babylon are recorded in the
+earliest inscriptions yet discovered in Assyria; and as it has been
+seen, even in the time of Sennacherib and his immediate predecessors,
+large armies were still frequently sent against its rebellious
+inhabitants. The Babylonian kingdom was, however, almost absorbed in
+that of Assyria, the dominant power of the East. When this great
+empire began to decline Babylon rose for the last time. Media and
+Persia were equally ready to throw off the Assyrian yoke, and at
+length the allied armies of Cyaxares and the father of Nebuchadnezzar
+captured and destroyed the capital of the Eastern world.
+
+Babylon now rapidly succeeded to that proud position so long held by
+Nineveh. Under Nebuchadnezzar she acquired the power forfeited by her
+rival. The bounds of the city were extended; buildings of
+extraordinary size and magnificence were erected; her victorious
+armies conquered Syria and Palestine, and penetrated into Egypt. Her
+commerce, too, had now spread far and wide, from the east to the west,
+and she became "a land of traffic and a city of merchants."
+
+But her greatness as an independent nation was short-lived. The
+neighboring kingdoms of Media and Persia, united under one monarch,
+had profited no less than Babylon, by the ruin of the Assyrian empire,
+and were ready to dispute with her the dominion of Asia. Scarcely
+half a century had elapsed from the fall of Nineveh, when "Belshazzar,
+the king of the Chaldaeans, was slain, and Darius, the Median, took the
+kingdom." From that time Babylonia sank into a mere province of
+Persia. It still, however, retained much of its former power and
+trade, and as we learn from the inscriptions of Bisutun, as well as
+from ancient authors, struggled more than once to regain its ancient
+independence.
+
+After the defeat of Darius and the overthrow of the Persian supremacy,
+Babylon opened its gates to Alexander, who deemed the city not
+unworthy to become the capital of his mighty empire. On his return
+from India, he wished to rebuild the temple of Belus, which had fallen
+into ruins, and in that great work he had intended to employ his army,
+now no longer needed for war. The priests, however, who had
+appropriated the revenues of this sacred shrine, and feared lest they
+would have again to apply them to their rightful purposes, appear to
+have prevented him from carrying out his design.
+
+This last blow to the prosperity and even existence of Babylon was
+given by Seleucus when he laid the foundation of his new capital on
+the banks of the Tigris (B.C. 322). Already Patrocles, his general,
+had compelled a large number of the inhabitants to abandon their
+homes, and to take refuge in the desert, and in the province of
+Susiana. The city, exhausted by the neighborhood of Seleucia, returned
+to its ancient solitude. According to some authors, neither the walls
+nor the temple of Belus existed any longer, and only a few of the
+Chaldaeans continued to dwell around the ruins of their sacred
+edifices.
+
+Still, however, a part of the population appear to have returned to
+their former seats, for, in the early part of the second century of
+the Christian era, we find the Parthian king, Evemerus, sending
+numerous families from Babylon into Media to be sold as slaves, and
+burning many great and beautiful edifices still standing in the city.
+
+In the time of Augustus, the city is said to have been entirely
+deserted, except by a few Jews who still lingered amongst the ruins.
+St. Cyril, of Alexandria, declares, that in his day, about the
+beginning of the fifth century, in consequence of the choking up of
+the great canals derived from the Euphrates, Babylon had become a vast
+marsh; and fifty years later the river is described as having changed
+its course, leaving only a small channel to mark its ancient bed. Then
+were verified the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, that the mighty
+Babylon should be but "pools of water," that the sea should come upon
+her, and that she should be covered with the multitude of the waves
+thereof.
+
+In the beginning of the seventh century, at the time of the Arab
+invasion, the ancient cities of Babylonia were "a desolation, a dry
+land and a wilderness." Amidst the heaps that alone marked the site of
+Babylon there rose the small town of Hillah.
+
+Long before Babylon had overcome her rival Nineveh, she was famous for
+the extent and importance of her commerce. No position could have been
+more favorable than hers for carrying on a trade with all the regions
+of the known world. She stood upon a navigable stream that brought to
+her quays the produce of the temperate highlands of Armenia,
+approached in one part of its course within almost one hundred miles
+of the Mediterranean Sea, and emptied its waters into a gulf of the
+Indian Ocean. Parallel with this great river was one scarcely inferior
+in size and importance. The Tigris, too, came from the Armenian hills,
+flowed through the fertile districts of Assyria, and carried the
+varied produce to the Babylonian cities. Moderate skill and enterprise
+could scarcely fail to make Babylon, not only the emporium of the
+Eastern world, but the main link of commercial intercourse between the
+East and the West.
+
+The inhabitants did not neglect the advantages bestowed upon them by
+nature. A system of navigable canals that may excite the admiration
+of even the modern engineer, connected together the Euphrates and
+Tigris, those great arteries of her commerce.
+
+The vast trade that rendered Babylon the gathering-place of men from
+all parts of the known world, and supplied her with luxuries from the
+remotest clime, had the effect of corrupting the manners of her
+people, and producing that general profligacy and those effiminate
+customs which mainly contributed to her fall. The description given by
+Herodotus of the state of the population of the city when under the
+dominion of the Persian kings, is sufficient to explain the cause of
+her speedy decay and ultimate ruin. The account of the Greek historian
+fully tallies with the denunciation of the Hebrew prophets against the
+sin and wickedness of Babylon. Her inhabitants had gradually lost
+their warlike character. When the Persian broke into their city they
+were reveling in debauchery and lust; and when the Macedonian
+conqueror appeared at their gates, they received with indifference the
+yoke of a new master.
+
+Such were the causes of the fall of Babylon. Her career was equally
+short and splendid; and although she has thus perished from the face
+of the earth, her ruins are still classic, indeed sacred, ground. The
+traveler visits, with no common emotion, those shapeless heaps, the
+scene of so many great and solemn events. In this plain, according to
+tradition, the primitive families of our race first found a resting
+place. Here Nebuchadnezzar boasted of the glories of his city, and was
+punished for his pride. To these deserted halls were brought the
+captives of Judaea. In them Daniel, undazzled by the glories around
+him, remained steadfast to his faith, rose to be a governor amongst
+his rulers, and prophesied the downfall of the kingdom. There was held
+Belshazzar's feast, and was seen the writing on the wall. Between
+those crumbling mounds Cyrus entered the neglected gates. Those
+massive ruins cover the spot where Alexander died.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+KARNAC AND BAALBEC.
+
+
+The city of Thebes is, perhaps, the most astonishing work executed by
+the hand of man. Its ruins are the most unequivocal proof of the
+ancient civilization of Egypt, and of the high degree of power which
+the Egyptians had reached by the extent of their knowledge. Its origin
+is lost in the obscurity of time, it being coeval with the nation
+which first took possession of Egypt; and it is sufficient to give a
+proper idea of its antiquity to say that the building of Memphis was
+the first attempt made to rival the prosperity of Thebes.
+
+Its extent was immense; it filled the whole valley which was permeated
+by the Nile. D'Anville and Denon state its circumference to have been
+thirty-six miles; its diameter not less than ten and a half. The
+number of its inhabitants was in proportion to these vast dimensions.
+Diodorus says that the houses were four and five stories high.
+Although Thebes had greatly fallen off from its ancient splendor at
+the time of Cambyses, yet it was the fury of this merciless conqueror
+that gave the last blow to its grandeur. This prince pillaged the
+temples, carried away all the ornaments of gold, silver, and ivory,
+which decorated its magnificent buildings, and ruined both its temples
+and its buildings. Before this unfortunate epoch, no city in the world
+could be compared with it in extent, splendor, and riches; and,
+according to the expression of Diodorus, the sun had never seen so
+magnificent a city.
+
+Previous to the establishment of the monarchical government, Thebes
+was the residence of the principal college of the priesthood, who
+ruled over the country. It is to this epoch that all writers refer the
+elevation of its most ancient edifices. The enumeration of them all
+would require more time than we have.
+
+Here was the temple, or palace of Karnac, of Luxor; the Memnonium; and
+the Medineh-Tabou, or, as some other travelers spell it,
+Medinet-habou.
+
+The temple, or the palace of Karnac was, without doubt, the most
+considerable monument of ancient Thebes. It was not less than a mile
+and a half in circumference, and enclosed about ten acres. M. Denon
+employed nearly twenty minutes on horseback in going round it, at full
+gallop. The principal entrance of the grand temple is on the northwest
+side, or that facing the river. From a raised platform commences an
+avenue of Crio-sphinxes leading to the front propyla, before which
+stood two granite statues of a Pharaoh. One of these towers retains a
+great part of its original height, but has lost its summit and
+cornice. Passing through the pylon of these towers you arrive at a
+large open court, or area, 275 feet by 329 feet, with a covered
+corridor on either side, and a double line of columns down the centre.
+Other propylaea terminate this area, with a small vestibule before the
+pylon, and form the front of the grand hall of assembly, the lintel
+stones of whose doorway were forty feet ten inches in length. The
+grand hall, or hypostyle hall, measures 170 feet by 329 feet,
+supported by a central avenue of twelve massive columns, 62 feet high
+(without the plinth or abacus), and 36 feet in circumference; besides
+122 of smaller, or, rather less gigantic dimensions, 42 feet 5 inches
+in height, and 28 feet in circumference, distributed in seven lines,
+on either side of the former. It had in front two immense courts,
+adorned by ranges of columns, some of which were sixty feet high, and
+others eighty; and at their respective entrances there were two
+colossal statues on the same scale. In the middle of the second
+court there were four obelisks of granite of a finished workmanship,
+three of which are still standing. They stood before the sanctuary,
+built all of granite, and covered with sculptures representing
+symbolical attributes of the god to whom the temple was consecrated.
+This was the Maker of the universe, the Creator of all things, the
+Zeus of the Greeks, the Jupiter of the Latins, but the Ammon of the
+Egyptians. By the side of the sanctuary there were smaller buildings,
+probably the apartments of those attached to the service of the
+temple; and behind it other habitations, adorned with columns and
+porticos, which led into another immense court, having on each side
+closed passages, or corridors, and at the top a covered portico, or
+gallery, supported by a great number of columns and pilasters. In this
+way the sanctuary was entirety surrounded by these vast and splendid
+buildings, and the whole was enclosed by a wall, covered internally
+and externally with symbols and hieroglyphics, which went round the
+magnificent edifice.
+
+ [Illustration: COLUMNS OF KARNAC.]
+
+Beyond this wall there were other buildings, and other courts, filled
+with colossal statues of grey and white marble. These buildings, or
+temples, communicated with each other by means of galleries and
+passages, adorned with columns and statues. The most striking
+circumstance, however, is, that attached to this palace are the
+remains of a much more considerable edifice, of higher antiquity,
+which had been introduced into the general plan when this magnificent
+building was restored by the Pharaoh Amenophis, the third king of the
+eighteenth dynasty, nearly 4,000 years ago. This more ancient edifice,
+or rather its ruins, are considered to be more than 4,000 years old,
+or 2,272 years Before Christ. A second wall enclosed the whole mass of
+these immense and splendid buildings, the approach to which was by
+means of avenues, having on their right and left colossal figures of
+sphinxes. In one avenue they had the head of a bull; in another they
+were represented with a human head; in a third with a ram's head. This
+last was a mile and a half in length, began at the southern gate, and
+led to the temple of Luxor.
+
+Dr. Manning says: "We now enter the most stupendous pile of remains
+(we can hardly call them ruins) in the world. Every writer who has
+attempted to describe them avows his inability to convey any adequate
+idea of their extent and grandeur. The long covered avenues of
+sphinxes, the sculptured corridors, the columned aisles, the gates and
+obelisks, and colossal statues, all silent in their desolation, fill
+the beholder with awe." (See cut on page 463.)
+
+There is no exaggeration in Champollion's words: "The imagination,
+which, in Europe, rises far above our porticos, sinks abashed at the
+foot of the 140 columns of the hypostyle hall at Karnac. The area of
+this hall is 70,629 feet; the central columns are thirty-six feet in
+circumference and sixty-two feet high, without reckoning the plinth
+and abacus. They are covered with paintings and sculptures, the colors
+of which are wonderfully fresh and vivid. If, as seems probable, the
+great design of Egyptian architecture was to impress man with a
+feeling of his own littleness, to inspire a sense of overwhelming awe
+in the presence of the Deity, and at the same time to show that the
+monarch was a being of superhuman greatness, these edifices were well
+adapted to accomplish their purpose. The Egyptian beholder and
+worshiper was not to be attracted and charmed, but overwhelmed. His
+own nothingness and the terribleness of the power and the will of God
+was what he was to feel. But, if the awfulness of Deity was thus
+inculcated, the divine power of the Pharaoh was not less strikingly
+set forth. He is seen seated amongst them, nourished from their
+breasts, folded in their arms, admitted to familiar intercourse with
+them. He is represented on the walls of the temple as of colossal
+stature, while the noblest of his subjects are but pigmies in his
+presence; with one hand he crushes hosts of his enemies, with the
+other he grasps that of his patron deity.
+
+"The Pharaoh was the earthly manifestation and avatar of the unseen
+and mysterious power which oppressed the souls of man with terror. 'I
+am Pharaoh,' 'By the life of Pharaoh,' 'Say unto Pharaoh whom art thou
+like in thy greatness.' These familiar phrases of Scripture gain a new
+emphasis of meaning as we remember them amongst these temple palaces."
+
+Speaking of this magnificent temple, and of the avenue of sphinxes we
+have just mentioned, Belzoni exclaims, that "on approaching it the
+visitor is inspired with devotion and piety; their enormous size
+strikes him with wonder and respect to the gods to whom they were
+dedicated. The immense colossal statues, which are seated at each side
+of the gate, seems guarding the entrance to the holy ground; still
+farther on was the majestic temple, dedicated to the great God of the
+creation." And a little after, "I was lost," says he, "in a mass of
+colossal objects, every one of which was more than sufficient of
+itself alone to attract my whole attention. I seemed alone in the
+midst of all that is most sacred in the world; a forest of enormous
+columns, adorned all round with beautiful figures and various
+ornaments from top to bottom. The graceful shape of the lotus, which
+forms their capitals, and is so well-proportioned to the columns, that
+it gives to the view the most pleasing effect; the gates, the walls,
+the pedestals, and the architraves also adorned in every part with
+symbolical figures in _basso relievo_ and _intaglio_, representing
+battles, processions, triumphs, feasts, offerings, and sacrifices, all
+relating to the ancient history of the country; the sanctuary, wholly
+formed of fine red granite, with the various obelisks standing before
+it, proclaiming to the distant passenger, 'Here is the seat of
+holiness;' the high portals, seen at a distance from the openings of
+the vast labyrinth of edifices; the various groups of ruins of the
+other temples within sight; these altogether had such an effect upon
+my soul as to separate me, in imagination, from the rest of mortals,
+exalt me on high over all, and cause me to forget entirely the trifles
+and follies of life. I was happy for a whole day, which escaped like a
+flash of lightning."
+
+Such is the language of Belzoni in describing these majestic ruins,
+and the effect they had upon him. Strong and enthusiastic as his
+expressions may, perhaps, appear, they are perfectly similar, we
+assure you, to those of other travelers. They all seem to have lost
+the power of expressing their wonder and astonishment, and frequently
+borrow the words and phrases of foreign nations to describe their
+feelings at the sight of these venerable and gigantic efforts of the
+old Egyptians.
+
+We have said that this avenue of sphinxes led to the temple of Luxor.
+
+This second temple, though not equal to that of Karnac in regard to
+its colossal proportions, was its equal in magnificence, and much
+superior to it in beauty and style of execution.
+
+At its entrance there still stand two obelisks 100 feet high, and of
+one single block covered with hieroglyphics executed in a masterly
+style. It is at the feet of these obelisks that one may judge of the
+high degree of perfection to which the Egyptians had carried their
+knowledge in mechanics. We have seen that it costs fortunes to move
+them from their place. They were followed by two colossal statues
+forty feet high. After passing through three different large courts,
+filled with columns of great dimensions, the traveler reached the
+sanctuary, surrounded by spacious halls supported by columns, and
+exhibiting the most beautiful mass of sculpture in the best style of
+execution.
+
+"It is absolutely impossible," again exclaims Belzoni, "to imagine the
+scene displayed, without seeing it. The most sublime ideas that can
+be formed from the most magnificent specimens of our present
+architecture, would give a very incorrect picture of these ruins. It
+appeared to me like entering a city of giants, who, after a long
+conflict, were all destroyed, leaving ruins of their various temples,
+as the only proofs of their former existence. The temple of Luxor," he
+adds, "presents to the traveler at once one of the most splendid
+groups of Egyptian grandeur. The extensive propylaeon, with the two
+obelisks, and colossal statues in the front; the thick groups of
+enormous columns, the variety of apartments, and the sanctuary it
+contains. The beautiful ornaments which adorn every part of the walls
+and columns, cause in the astonished traveler an oblivion of all that
+he has seen before."
+
+So far Belzoni; and in this he is borne out by Champollion, who speaks
+of Thebes in terms of equal admiration. "All that I had seen, all that
+I had admired on the left bank," says this learned Frenchman,
+"appeared miserable in comparison with the gigantic conceptions by
+which I was surrounded at Karnac. I shall take care not to attempt to
+describe any thing; for either my description would not express the
+thousandth part of what ought to be said, or, if I drew a faint
+sketch, I should be taken for an enthusiast, or, perhaps, for a
+madman. It will suffice to add, that no people, either ancient or
+modern, ever conceived the art of architecture on so sublime and so
+grand a scale as the ancient Egyptians."
+
+The Great Pyramid, which is yet an enigma, stands for our
+astonishment. Herodotus tells us, when speaking of the Labyrinth of
+Egypt, that it had 3,000 chambers, half of them above and half below
+ground. He says, "The upper chambers I myself passed through and saw,
+and what I say concerning them is from my own observation. Of the
+underground chambers I can only speak from the report, for the keepers
+of the building could not be got to show them, since they contained,
+as they said, the sepulchres of the kings who built the labyrinth,
+and also those of the sacred crocodiles; thus it is from hearsay only
+that I can speak of the lower chambers. The upper chambers, however, I
+saw with my own eyes, and found them to excel all other human
+productions. The passage through the houses, and the various windings
+of the path across the courts, excited in me infinite admiration, as I
+passed from the courts into the chambers, and from chambers into
+colonnades, and from colonnades into fresh houses, and again from
+these into courts unseen before. The roof was throughout of stone like
+the walls, and the walls were carved all over with figures. Every
+court was surrounded with a colonnade, which was built of white stone
+exquisitely fitted together. At the corner of the labyrinth stands a
+pyramid forty fathoms high, with large figures engraved on it, which
+is entered by a subterranean passage." No one who has read an account
+of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, the building of Solomon's Temple, and
+of the ruins of ancient stone buildings still remaining, will doubt
+the ability of the ancients in the art of building with stones.
+Baalbec has probably the largest stones ever used.
+
+ [Illustration: THE GREAT PYRAMID AND SPHINX.]
+
+Baalbec is situated on a plain now called Bukaa, at the northern end
+of a low range of black hills, about one mile from the base of
+Anti-Lebanon.
+
+It is unknown just how old it is, or by whom it was built. Dr. Kitto,
+in his "History of the Bible," ascribes the building of it to Solomon.
+But the present remains are mostly of a later period, probably about
+3,000 years old. Some of the material and some of the original
+foundations were used again for the second structures.
+
+Baalbec has justly received a world-wide celebrity, owing to the
+magnificence of its ruins, which have excited the wonder and
+admiration of travelers who have enjoyed the privilege of seeing them.
+Its temples are among the most magnificent of Grecian architecture.
+The temples of Athens no doubt excel them in taste and purity of
+style, but they are vastly inferior in dimensions.
+
+While the edifices of Thebes exceed them in magnitude, they bear no
+comparison with the symmetry of the columns, with the richness of the
+doorways, and the friezes, which abound at Baalbec. The foundations of
+the great temple are themselves entitled to rank with the pyramids
+among the wonders of the world, being raised twenty feet above the
+level of the ground, and have in them stones of one solid mass ninety
+feet long, eighteen feet wide, and thirteen feet thick.
+
+The main attractions, however, are the three temples or main chambers.
+The first, which may be called the great temple, consists of a
+peristyle, of which only six columns remain, two courts and a portico
+are standing on an artificial platform, nearly thirty feet high, and
+having vaults underneath. Beneath the whole platform is an immense
+court of two hundred feet across; it is a hexagon or nearly round
+shape. It is accessible by a vaulted passage, which leads to a triplet
+gateway, with deep mouldings, which opens into the first court.
+
+The great court is 440 feet long by 370 feet wide, and has on each of
+its sides niches and columns, which, even in their ruins, are
+magnificent.
+
+The two sides exactly correspond with each other, but the south is in
+better condition than the other. These niches have columns in front of
+them in the style of the hexagon, with chambers at the angles of the
+great court or square. The visitor entering through the portico,
+and passing into the great court, has before him on the opposite side
+(the west) of the court, the Great Temple originally dedicated to
+Baal. This was a magnificent peristyle measuring 290 feet by 160 feet,
+with nineteen huge columns on each side, and ten on each end, making
+fifty-eight in all. The circumference of these columns at the base is
+twenty-three feet and two inches, and at the top twenty feet; and
+their height, including base and capital, was seventy-five feet, while
+over this was the entablature fourteen feet more. In the walls of the
+foundation are seen those enormous stones, some ninety feet in length;
+others, sixty-four, sixty-three, sixty-two, etc., and all from
+thirteen to eighteen feet wide, and very frequently thirteen feet
+thick. These stones mark the extent of a platform of unknown
+antiquity, but far older than the peristyle temple, and it is from
+this that the temple took its early date and name. It is probable that
+the great stones lying in the adjoining quarry were intended for it,
+as the temple at that date seems to have been left unfinished.
+
+ [Illustration: Engraved & Printed by Illman Brothers
+ TEMPLE OF KARNAC.
+ FOR THE MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY]
+
+The second temple has not quite the dimensions that the first has, but
+it is one of the grandest monuments of the ancient art in Syria. It is
+227 feet by 117. Its peristyle is composed of forty-two columns,
+fifteen on each side and eight on each end. At the portico was an
+immense row of six fluted columns, and within these, and opposite to
+the ends of the antae, were two others. The height of these columns is
+sixty-five feet, and their circumference nineteen feet and two inches,
+while the entablature, richly ornamented above the columns, was about
+twelve feet high.
+
+The portico is destroyed, only a few pieces of the shafts remaining,
+and the steps by which it was approached are also destroyed. The
+columns of the peristyle have mostly fallen; but four remain with
+their entablatures on the south side near the portico; on the west end
+there are six remaining, and on the north there are nine. The cut on
+page 473 gives somewhat of an idea of this temple.
+
+In 1759 an earthquake threw down three columns of the great temple and
+nine of the peristyle of the Temple of the Sun. It would appear as
+though nothing but an earthquake could destroy these remains, and they
+even seem to withstand this with wonderful resistance. At the western
+end is the _cella_, or innermost sacred part of the edifice, it is 160
+feet by 85. A modern wall was built across the vestibule and the only
+entrance is through a low hole broken in the wall. Entering through
+this aperture the spectator has before him the gem of the structure,
+the _great portal_. It was twenty-one feet high and forty-two feet
+long and gorgeously ornamented. The sides are each of a single stone,
+and the lintels are composed of three huge blocks. Borders of fruit,
+flowers and leaves are profuse on the architrave, and on the soffit of
+the door is the celebrated figure of the eagle with a caduceus in his
+talons, and in his beak strings of long twisted garlands, which are
+extended on each side and have the opposite ends borne by flying
+genii.
+
+In 1751 the portal was perfect. When Wood sketched it, but eight years
+afterwards, the shock of an earthquake rent the wall and permitted the
+central stone to sink about two feet. Yet, even in this state, it is
+one of the most striking and beautiful gateways in the world. The
+first compartment measures ninety-eight feet by sixty-seven, having
+fluted columns on each side, and the sanctum, or place for the altar
+and statue, occupies a space of twenty-nine feet deep at the western
+end and considerably raised above the floor of the nave. Such were the
+arrangements of this vast magnificent edifice.
+
+It may be well to mention here another building although not so old
+nor large, but we wish to speak of it because it is so remarkable in
+withstanding time.
+
+ [Illustration: RUINS OF BAALBEC.]
+
+We are speaking of the Pantheon, the splendid building erected by M.
+Agrippa, the friend of Augustus, in immediate connection with the
+Thermae, built and dedicated to Jupiter Ultor by him. This building,
+which embodied, as it were, the highest aspirations of Roman national
+pride and power, was completed, according to the original inscription
+preserved on it, B.C. 25, in which year Agrippa was consul for the
+third time. According to the statement of Pliny ("His. Nat.," 36, 24,
+I), which however, has been disputed, it was originally dedicated to
+Jupiter Ultor, whose statue, therefore, undoubtedly stood in the chief
+niche opposite the entrance. The other six niches contained the
+statues of as many gods; those of the chief deities of the Julian
+family, Mars and Venus, and of the greatest son of that family, the
+divine Caesar, being the only ones amongst the number of which we have
+certain knowledge. Was it that the statues of Mars and Venus showed
+the attributes of the other principal gods, or that the statues of the
+latter stood in the small chapels (_aediculae_) between the niches, or
+that the unequaled enormous cupola was supposed to represent heaven,
+that is, the house of all the gods? Certain it is that, together with
+the old appellation the new name of the Pantheon, _i.e._, temple of
+all the gods, was soon applied to the building. The latter name has
+been unanimously adopted by posterity, and has even originated the
+Christian destination of the edifice as church of all the martyrs (S.
+Maria ad Martyres). Without entering into the consecutive changes the
+building has undergone in the course of time, we will now attempt a
+description of its principal features. The temple consists of two
+parts, the round edifice and the portico. The former was 132 feet in
+diameter, exclusive of the thickness of the wall, which amounts to 19
+feet. The wall is perfectly circular, and contains eight apertures,
+one of which serves as entrance, while the others form, in a certain
+order, either semicircular or quadrangular niches; the former are
+covered by semi-cupolas, the latter by barrel-vaults. Only the niche
+opposite the entrance is, at the present time, uninterrupted, and
+open up to its full height, thus corresponding with the formation of
+the entrance section; in front of each of the others, two columns have
+been erected, the beams of which close the opening of the semicircular
+vault. To this chief portion of the building is attached the splendid
+portico which, in the manner of the above-mentioned temples, projects
+by three columns, besides a massive wall-structure. The frontage
+shows eight columns. As a rule, the whole space of the pronaos was
+without columns; contrary to the rule we here see it divided into
+three naves by means of two pairs of columns. The center nave, which
+was also the widest, led to the entrance-door, each of the two others
+being terminated by an enormous niche. Not to mention aesthetical
+considerations, these columns were required as props of the roof
+covering the vast space (the portico is about 100 feet long).
+
+ [Illustration: INSIDE VIEW OF PANTHEON.]
+
+The columns of the portico carried beams, on the frieze of which the
+following inscription in large letters has been placed:
+M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT. Another inscription below this one,
+in smaller characters, states the building to have been restored by
+Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The beams carry a large pediment,
+originally adorned with groups of statues representing Jupiter's
+victories over the Gigantes. Behind and above this gable rises a
+second one of the same proportions, serving as an ornament of the
+projecting wall which connects the round building with the portico.
+The roof of the portico was supported by beams made of brass.
+According to the drawing of Serlio, these beams were not massive, but
+consisted of brass plates riveted together into square pipes--a
+principle frequently applied by modern engineers on a larger scale in
+building bridges, etc. Unfortunately, the material of the roof,
+barring some of the large rivets, has been used by Pope Urban VIII.
+for guns and various ornaments of doubtful taste in St. Peter's
+Cathedral. The large columns carrying the ugly tabernacle on the grave
+of St. Peter are one of the results of this barbarous spoliation. The
+old door, also made of brass, which leads from the portico into the
+interior has, on the contrary, been preserved. The outer appearance of
+the round building is simple and dignified. It most likely was
+originally covered with stucco and terra-cotta ornaments, of which,
+however, little remains at present; but the simple bricks,
+particularly in the upper stripes, where the insertion of the vault
+becomes visible, look, perhaps, quite as beautiful as the original
+coating. The whole cylinder of masonry is divided into three stripes
+by means of cornices, which break the heaviness of the outline, the
+divisions of the inner space corresponding to those of the outer
+surface. The first of these stripes is about forty feet high, and
+rests on a base of Travertine freestone. It consists of simple
+horizontal slabs of stone, broken only by doors which lead to chambers
+built in the thickness of the wall between the niches. It corresponds
+to the columns forming the first story of the interior, the two
+cornices, in and outside, being on a level. The second stripe, about
+thirty feet in height, answers to the second story of the interior,
+where the semicircular arches of the niches are situated. The
+horizontal stone layers outside are accordingly broken by large double
+arches, destined to balance the vaults in the interior. They alternate
+with smaller arches, thus forming a decoration of the exterior at once
+dignified and in harmony with the general design of the building. The
+two cornices in and outside are again on a level. The third stripe
+corresponds to the cupola, the tension of which is equal to 140 feet.
+The outer masonry reaches up to about a third of its height, from
+which point the cupola proper begins to rise in seven mighty steps.
+
+ [Illustration: THE PANTHEON AT ROME.]
+
+ [Illustration: HALF-SECTION OF THE PANTHEON.]
+
+The height of the dome is equal to the diameter of the cylindrical
+building, 132 feet, which adds to the sober and harmonious impression
+of the whole building. The lower of the above-mentioned interior
+stories is adorned with columns and pilasters, the latter of which
+enclosed the niches. Eight of these columns, over thirty-two feet in
+height, are monoliths of _giallo antico_--a yellow kind of marble
+beautifully veined, and belonging to the most valuable materials used
+by ancient architects. Six other columns are made of a kind of marble
+known as _pavonazzetto_; by an ingenious mode of coloring these
+columns are made to harmonize with those consisting of the rarer
+material. Above the first lies a second lower story, the architectural
+arrangements of which may be recognized from Adler's ingenious attempt
+at reconstruction. Its original decoration consisted of tablets of
+colored marble, the effect being similar to that of a sequence of
+narrow pilasters. This original decoration has later been changed for
+another. Above the chief cornice which crowns this story, and at the
+same time terminates the circular walls, rises the cupola, divided
+into five stripes, each of which contains twenty-five "caskets"
+beautifully worked and in excellent perspective. In the center at the
+top is an opening, forty feet in diameter, through which the light
+enters the building. Near this opening a fragment has been preserved
+of the bronze ornamentation which once seems to have covered the whole
+cupola. Even without these elegant decorations the building still
+excites the spectator's admiration, as one of the masterpieces of
+Roman genius.
+
+Obelisks were in Egypt commemorative pillars recording the style and
+the title of the king who erected them, his piety, and the proof he
+gave of it in dedicating those monoliths to the deity whom he
+especially wished to honor. They are made of a single block of stone,
+cut into a quadrilateral form, the width diminishing gradually from
+the base to the top of the shaft, which terminates in a small pyramid
+(pyramidion). They were placed on a plain square pedestal, but larger
+than the obelisk itself. Obelisks are of Egyptian origin. The Romans
+and the moderns have imitated them, but they never equaled their
+models.
+
+Egyptian obelisks are generally made of red granite of Syene. There
+are some, however, of smaller dimensions made of sandstone and basalt.
+They were generally placed in pairs at the entrances of temples, on
+each side of the propyla. The shaft was commonly ten diameters in
+height, and a fourth narrower at the top than at the base. Of the two
+which were before the palace of Luxor at Thebes, one is seventy-two
+feet high, and six feet, two inches wide at the base; the other is
+seventy-seven feet high, and seven feet, eight inches wide. Each face
+is adorned with hieroglyphical inscriptions in _intaglio_, and the
+summit is terminated by a pyramid, the four sides of which represent
+religious scenes, also accompanied by inscriptions. The corners of the
+obelisks are sharp and well cut, but their faces are not perfectly
+plane, and their slight convexity is a proof of the attention the
+Egyptians paid to the construction of their monuments. If their faces
+were plane they would appear concave to the eye; the convexity
+compensates for this optical illusion. The hieroglyphical inscriptions
+are in a perpendicular line, sometimes there is but one in the middle
+of the breadth of the face, and often there are three. The inscription
+was a commemoration by the king who had the temple or palace built
+before which the obelisk was placed. It contained a record stating the
+houses and titles which the king who erected, enlarged, or gave rich
+presents to a temple, had received in return from the priesthood, and
+setting forth, for instance, that Rameses was the lord of an obedient
+people, and the beloved of Ammon. Such is the subject of the
+inscription which is in the middle of each face of the obelisks; and
+though the name of the same king and the same events are repeated on
+the four sides, there exists in the four texts, when compared, some
+difference, either in the invocation to the particular divinities or
+in the titles of the king. Every obelisk had, in its original form,
+but a single inscription on each face, and of the same period of the
+king who had erected it; but a king who came after him, adding a
+court, a portico, or colonnade to the temple or palace, had another
+inscription relative to his addition, with his name engraved on the
+original obelisk; thus, every obelisk adorned with many inscriptions
+is of several periods. The pyramidion which terminates them generally
+represents in its sculptures the king who erected the obelisk making
+different offerings to the principal deity of the temple, and to other
+divinities. Sometimes also the offering is of the obelisk itself. The
+short inscriptions of the pyramidion bear the oval of the king and the
+name of the divinity. By these ovals can be known the names of the
+kings who erected the obelisks still existing, whether in Egypt or
+elsewhere. The largest obelisk known is that of St. John Lateran,
+Rome. It was brought from Heliopolis to Alexandria by the emperor
+Constantine, and was conveyed to Rome by Constantius, who erected it
+in the Circus Maximus. The height of the shaft is 105 feet, 7 inches.
+The sides are of unequal breadth at the base, two measure nine feet,
+eight and one-half inches, the other two only nine feet. It bears the
+name of Thohtmes III. in the central, and that of Thohtmes IV. in the
+lateral lines, kings of the eighteenth dynasty, in the fifteenth
+century B.C. The two obelisks at Luxor were erected by the king
+Rameses II., of the nineteenth dynasty, 1311 B.C. (Wilkinson). One of
+these has been taken to Paris. The obelisk of Heliopolis bears the
+name of Osirtasen I., 2020 B.C. (Wilkinson), and is consequently the
+most ancient. It is about sixty-seven feet high. The obelisks at
+Alexandria were brought from Heliopolis about 2,000 years ago. The one
+that was lying in the sand, and the smaller of the two, was removed to
+London some years ago, and the other, which was still standing, was
+presented to the United States by Ismail Pasha, father of the present
+Khedive. This monument of antiquity is an inestimable treasure to our
+country. It bears the name of Thohtmes III. In the lateral lines are
+the ovals of Rameses the Great. It is of red granite of Syene. It
+bears the name of Cleopatra's Needle, is about seventy feet high, with
+a diameter at its base of seven feet, seven inches. We can hardly
+appreciate that we should have standing in New York a relic so
+ancient--a column upon which Moses and Aaron looked, and doubtless
+read its hieroglyphic inscription; that Rameses the Great (Sesostris)
+had his knightly banner carved upon it; that Darius, Cambyses,
+Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Mark
+Antony and Augustus knew it; that it was equally known and beheld of
+Pythagoras, Herodotus and Strabo; that a long procession of the most
+illustrious characters of the middle ages have passed before it, from
+the days of Clement and Anastasius to those of Don John of Austria;
+and, finally, that it was the first herald of Egypt to Napoleon and
+Mohammed Ali. A monument like this will truly be cherished by every
+citizen. The obelisk of the Piazza del Popolo claims great interest,
+as it also stood before the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. Lepsius
+attributes it to Meneptha. It was removed to Rome by Augustus, B.C.
+19, to ornament the Circus Maximus. The obelisk in front of St.
+Peter's was brought to Rome by Caligula, and placed on the Vatican in
+the Circus of Caligula. It is about eighty-three feet high. There are
+several other Egyptian obelisks in Rome. Nothing can afford a greater
+idea of the skill of the Egyptians, and of their wonderful knowledge
+of mechanism, than the erection of these monoliths.
+
+ [Illustration: OBELISK OF HELIOPOLIS. (_Over 4000 years old_).
+ The following is a translation of the hieroglyphic writing
+ which is set into it: "The Horus; the living from his birth;
+ the king of Upper and Lower Egypt; Ra Kheper Ka; Lord of the
+ two diadems; Son of the sun; Osirtasen; the loved of the God of
+ Heliopolis from his birth; Ever-living; The golden Horus; the
+ Good God; Ra Kheper Ka to the first celebration of the
+ panegyry. He (has) made (this obelisk) the eternal generator."]
+
+The Greeks never made obelisks outside of Egypt. The Macedonian kings,
+or Ptolemies, who reigned in that country, from Alexander to Augustus,
+erected, terminated, or enlarged many monuments, but always according
+to Egyptian rules. Egyptian artists executed obelisks for their Greek
+princes, but they did not depart, any more than in the other
+monuments, from their ancient customs. The Egyptian style and
+proportions are always to be recognized, and the inscriptions are also
+traced in hieroglyphics. The obelisk found at Philae was erected in
+honor of Ptolemy Evergetes II. and of Cleopatra, his sister, or
+Cleopatra, his wife, and placed on a base bearing a Greek inscription
+relating the reason and occasion of this monument. It was removed from
+Philae by Belzoni, and has been now erected at Kingston Hall, Dorset,
+by Mr. Bankes. It is very far from equaling the Pharaonic obelisks in
+dimensions, it being only twenty-two feet high.
+
+After the Romans had made Egypt a Roman province they carried away
+some of its obelisks. Augustus was the first who conceived the idea of
+transporting these immense blocks to Rome; he was imitated by
+Caligula, Constantine, and others. They were generally erected in some
+circus. Thirteen remain at the present day at Rome, some of which are
+of the time of the Roman domination in Egypt. The Romans had obelisks
+made in honor of their princes, but the material and the workmanship
+of the inscriptions cause them to be easily distinguished from the
+more ancient obelisks. The Barberini obelisk, on the Monte Pincio, is
+of this number; it bears the names of Adrian, of Sabina, his wife, and
+of Antinous, his favorite. The obelisk of the Piazza Navona, from the
+style of its hieroglyphics, is supposed to be a Roman work of the time
+of Domitian. The name of Santus Rufus can be read on the Albani
+obelisk, now at Munich, and as there are two Roman prefects of Egypt
+known of that name, it was, therefore, one of those magistrates who
+had executed in that country these monuments in honor of the reigning
+emperors, and then had them sent to Rome. The Romans also attempted to
+make obelisks at Rome; such is the obelisk of the Trinita de' Monti,
+which formerly stood in the Circus of Sallust. It is a bad copy of
+that of the Porta del Popolo. The Roman emperors in the east had also
+some Egyptian obelisks transported to Constantinople. Fragments of two
+of these monuments have been found in Sicily, at Catania; one of them
+has eight sides, but it is probably not a genuine Egyptian work. The
+use of the obelisk as a gnomon, and the erection of it on a high base
+in the center of an open space, were only introduced on the removal of
+single obelisks to Rome.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+RELIGION OR MYTHOLOGY.
+
+
+Mythology is from the word myth, meaning fable, it is therefore a
+system of fabulous opinions and doctrines respecting the deities which
+the heathen nations have supposed to preside over the world or to
+influence its affairs.
+
+They had twelve gods, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Mercury, Mars, Vulcan,
+Apollo, Diana, Minerva, Juno, Ceres and Vesta. Besides these there
+were other lesser gods, Bacchus, Isis, Hebe, the Muses and the Fates,
+etc.; also Sleep, Dreams and Death; and there were still others who
+had free will and intelligence, and having mixed forms, such as the
+Pegasus, or winged horse, the Centaur, half man and half horse, Hydra,
+etc.
+
+The Greek theory of the origin of things was that the beginning was
+chaos laden with the seed of all nature, then came the Earth and the
+Heavens, or Uranus; these two were married and from this union came a
+numerous and powerful brood. First were the six Titans, all males, and
+then the six females, and the Cyclops, three in number; these latter
+were of gigantic size, having but one eye, and that in the center of
+the forehead. They represented Thunder, Lightning and Fire, or the
+rapid flame.
+
+The Titans made war upon their father and wounded him, and from the
+drops of blood which flowed from the wound and fell upon the earth
+sprang the Furies, whose names signified "Unceasing," "Envier," and
+"Blood-Avenger;" and the Giants and melian Nymphs, and from the blood
+drops which fell into the sea sprang Venus, the goddess of love and
+beauty.
+
+The youngest and bravest son, Saturn, who wounded and dethroned his
+father, was, by the consent of his brethren, permitted to reign with
+an understanding that his male children should all be destroyed. But
+his wife, Rhea, hid from him three of her sons, Jupiter, Neptune and
+Pluto, who, waging a ten-year war against their father, finally
+dethroned him and divided the kingdom among themselves. The oldest,
+Jupiter, had the heavens, and reigned over all gods, Neptune over the
+sea, and Pluto the lower regions.
+
+Jupiter then built his courts on Mount Olympos, reigned supreme god
+over heaven and earth; he was called the father of man and gods, and
+is placed at the head of the entire creation.
+
+He is generally represented as majestic in appearance, seated on a
+throne with a sceptre in one hand and thunderbolts in the other.
+Jupiter had a number of wives; he also married his sister Juno, who
+was the queen goddess. Besides Jupiter, Juno, Neptune and Pluto the
+other eight gods were the children of Jupiter.
+
+Neptune was second to Jupiter in power. He is represented as carrying
+a trident or three-tined fork, with which he strikes the earth and
+shakes it; he is therefore often called the "earth-shaker." He is
+usually represented like Jupiter, of a serene and majestic aspect,
+seated in a chariot made of shells and drawn by dolphins and
+sea-horses, while the Tritons and the Nymphs gambol about him.
+
+Pluto is represented as the grim, stern ruler over hell. He is also
+called Hades and Orcus. He has a throne of sulphur, from beneath which
+flows the Rivers Lethe, or "Oblivion," Phlegethon, Cocytus and
+Acheron. In one hand he holds his fork and in the other the keys of
+hell, and beside him is the dog with three heads. He is described as
+being well qualified for his position, being inexorable and deaf to
+supplications, and an object of aversion and hatred to both gods and
+men. From his realms there is no return, and all mankind, sooner or
+later, are sure to be gathered into his kingdom.
+
+As none of the goddesses would marry the stern and gloomy god, he
+seized Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres, while she was gathering
+flowers, and opened the earth and carried her through into his
+dominion.
+
+Mercury was the messenger and ambassador of the gods. He was
+represented by wings on his hat, and sandals, and usually carrying a
+wand, or staff, with two serpents twined around it. He himself was a
+god of eloquence and the patron of orators, merchants, thieves,
+robbers, travelers and shepherds.
+
+Mars was the god of war. Sorrow and fear accompanied him, disorder and
+discord in tattered garments go before him and anger and clamor
+follow. He is of huge size and gigantic strength, and his voice was
+louder than those of ten thousand mortals.
+
+Vulcan was the forger, and is generally represented at an anvil in a
+short tunic, with a hammer in his right hand. He was lame when he was
+born, and his mother, Juno, was so shocked that she flung him headlong
+from the Mt. Olympos.
+
+Apollo was the god of archery, prophecy and music, and is usually seen
+with a harp in his hand and of beautiful figure.
+
+Diana was the goddess of chase, and appears with a bow in her hand and
+a quiver of arrows at her back, and on her side is a hound. She
+devoted herself to perpetual celibacy, and her chief joy was to speed
+like a Dorian maid over the hills, followed by a train of nymphs in
+pursuit of the flying game.
+
+Minerva is the goddess of wisdom and skill, and the teacher in
+warfare. She has a serious and thoughtful countenance, a spear in one
+hand and a shield in the other, while a helmet covers her head. She is
+said to have sprung from the brains of Jupiter.
+
+Juno, the wife of Jupiter, was haughty, jealous and inexorable; a
+goddess of dignified and matronly air, often found with a peacock at
+her feet.
+
+Ceres is the goddess of grain and harvest. She is represented riding
+on a chariot drawn by dragons, and distributing grain to the different
+regions of the earth. She holds in one hand corn and wheat, in the
+other a lighted torch, and wears on her head a garland of wheat heads.
+
+After Pluto stole her daughter, Proserpine, she searched for her
+throughout the whole world.
+
+Vesta, the goddess of the household and domestic hearths, is
+represented in a long-flowing robe, with a veil on her head, a lamp in
+one hand, and a spear or javelin in the other. In her temple at Rome,
+the sacred fire was guarded by six priestesses, called the Vestal
+Virgins.
+
+Among the lesser gods there were many, but the most common was
+Bacchus, who was the god of lust, wine, and the patron of drunkenness
+and debauchery. He is represented as an effeminate young man, with
+long flowing hair. In one hand he holds a goblet, in the other a bunch
+of grapes and a short dagger.
+
+The Muses were goddesses who presided over music and poetry, and all
+the liberal arts and sciences. They were nine in number.
+
+The Graces were three in number, and personified Splendor, Joy and
+Pleasure. They were three beautiful sisters, standing with their arms
+entwined.
+
+The Fates were also three goddesses, who presided over the destiny of
+mortals. The first was the staff of life, the second spun the cord,
+and the third cut it off.
+
+This is a brief outline of the origin and nature of the gods and
+goddesses: and the legends are numerous, and some of them are of
+exceeding interest and beauty, while others shock and disgust us by
+the gross impossibilities and hideous deformities which they reveal.
+We have concluded to give a direct translation of them from the Greek,
+so that the reader may have them in the pure original form, and
+thereby have not only the beauty and interest retained, but at the
+same time an idea of the style of the ancient writings; only a few
+stories have been modified to bring them nearer to the level of the
+rest. We will, however, be obliged to use the Greek names instead of
+the Latin in this translation, as it is from the Greek, and will
+therefore give the names translated below:
+
+ _Greek._ _Latin._
+
+ ZEUS, JUPITER.
+ HERE, JUNO.
+ POSEIDON, NEPTUNE.
+ PLOUTON, PLUTO.
+ DEMETER, CERES.
+ APOLLO, APOLO.
+ ARTEMIS, DIANA.
+ HEPHAISTOS, VULCAN.
+ ATHENE, MINERVA.
+ ARES, MARS.
+ APHRODITE, VENUS.
+ HERMES, MERCURY.
+ HESTIA, VESTA.
+
+The most of the Greek people appear to have believed that their
+divinities were real persons, but their philosophers explained the
+legends concerning them as allegorical representations of general
+physical and moral truths. The Greeks, therefore, instead of favoring
+nature, worshiped the powers of nature personified.
+
+
+THE DELPHIAN APOLLO.
+
+From land to land the lady Leto wandered in fear and sorrow, for no
+city or country would give her a home where she might abide in peace.
+From Crete to Athens, from Athens to AEgina, from AEgina to the heights
+of Pelion and Athos, through all the islands of the wide AEgaean Sea,
+Skyros and Imbros and Lemnos, and Chios the fairest of all, she
+passed, seeking a home. But in vain she prayed each land to receive
+her, until she came to the Island of Delos, and promised to raise it
+to great glory if only there she might rest in peace. And she lifted
+up her voice and said, "Listen to me, O island of the dark sea. If
+thou wilt grant me a home, all nations shall come unto thee, and great
+wealth shall flow in upon thee; for here shall Phoebus Apollo, the
+lord of light and life, be born, and men shall come hither to know his
+will and win his favor." Then answered Delos, and said, "Lady, thou
+promisest great things; but they say that the power of Phoebus Apollo
+will be such as nothing on the wide earth may withstand; and mine is
+but a poor and stony soil, where there is little to please the eye of
+those who look upon me. Wherefore I fear that he will despise my hard
+and barren land, and go to some other country where he will build a
+more glorious temple, and grant richer gifts to the people who come to
+worship him." But Leto swore by the dark water of Styx, and the wide
+heaven above, and the broad earth around her, that in Delos should be
+the shrine of Phoebus, and that there should the rich offerings burn
+on his altar the whole year round.
+
+So Leto rested in the Island of Delos, and there was Phoebus Apollo
+born. And there was joy among the undying gods who dwell in Olympos,
+and the earth laughed beneath the smile of heaven. Then was his temple
+built in Delos, and men came to it from all lands to learn his will
+and offer rich sacrifices on his altar.
+
+
+THE PYTHIAN APOLLO.
+
+Long time Apollo abode in Delos; and every year all the children of
+Ion were gathered to the feast which was held before his temple. But
+at length it came to pass that Apollo went through many lands,
+journeying towards Pytho. With harp in hand he drew nigh to the gates
+of Olympos, where Zeus and the gods dwell in their glory; and
+straightway all rejoiced for the sweetness of his harping. The Muses
+sang the undying gifts of the gods, and the griefs and woes of mortal
+men who can not flee from old age and death. The bright Horai joined
+hands together with Hebe and Harmonia; and Ares stood by the side of
+Aphrodite with Hermes the slayer of Argos, gazing on the face of
+Phoebus Apollo, which glistened as with the light of the new-risen
+sun. Then from Olympos he went down into the Pierian land, to Iolkos
+and the Lelantian plain; but it pleased him not there to build himself
+a home. Thence he wandered on to Mykalessos, and, traversing the
+grassy plains of Teumessos, came to the sacred Thebes; but neither
+would he dwell there, for no man had yet come hither, neither was
+there road nor path, but only wild forests in all the land.
+
+ [Illustration: JUPITER. (_Zeus_)]
+
+Further and further he roamed, across the stream of Kephisos and
+beyond Okalea and Haliartos, until he came to Telphusa. There he
+thought to build himself a temple, for the land was rich and fair, so
+he said, "Beautiful Telphusa, here would I rest in thy happy vale, and
+here shall men come to ask my will and seek for aid in the hour of
+fear; and great glory shall come to thee while I abide in thy land."
+But Telphusa was moved with anger as she saw Phoebus marking out the
+place for his shrine and laying its foundations; and she spake
+craftily to him, and said, "Listen to me, Phoebus Apollo. Thou seekest
+here to have a home, but here thou canst never rest in peace; for my
+broad plain will tempt men to the strife of battle, and the tramp of
+war-horses shall vex the stillness of thy holy temple. Nay, even in
+the time of peace, the lowing cattle shall come in crowds to my
+fountain, and the tumult will grieve thine heart. But go thou to
+Krisa, and make for thyself a home in the hidden clefts of Parnassos,
+and thither shall men hasten with their gifts from the utmost bounds
+of the earth." So Apollo believed her words, and he went on through
+the land of the Phlegyes until he came to Krisa. There he laid the
+foundations of his shrine in the deep cleft of Parnassos; and
+Trophonios and Agamedes, the children of Erginos, raised the wall.
+There also he found the mighty dragon who nursed Typhaon, the child of
+Here, and he smote him, and said, "Rot there upon the ground, and vex
+not more the children of men. The clays of thy life are ended, neither
+can Typhoeus himself aid thee now, nor Chimaera of the evil name. But
+the earth and the burning sun shall consume and scorch thy body." So
+the dragon died, and his body rotted on the ground; wherefore the name
+of the place is called Pytho, and they worship Phoebus Apollo as the
+great Pythian king.
+
+But Phoebus knew now that Telphusa had deceived him, because she said
+nothing of the great dragon of Krisa, or of the roughness of the land.
+So he hastened back in his anger and said, "Thou hast beguiled me,
+Telphusa, with thy crafty words; but no more shall thy fountain send
+forth its sweet water, and the glory shall be mine alone." Then Apollo
+hurled great crags down and choked the stream near the beautiful
+fountain, and the glory departed from Telphusa.
+
+Then he thought within himself what men he should choose to be his
+priests at Pytho; and far away, as he stood on the high hill, he saw a
+ship sailing on the wine-faced sea, and the men who were in it were
+Cretans, sailing from the land of King Minos to barter their goods
+with the men of Pylos. So Phoebus leaped into the sea, and changed his
+form to the form of a dolphin, and hastened to meet the ship. None
+knew whence the great fish came which smote the side of their vessel
+with its mighty fins; but all marveled at the sight, as the dolphin
+guided the ship through the dark waters, and they sat trembling with
+fear, as they sped on without a sail by the force of the strong south
+wind. From the headland of Malea and the land of the Lakonians they
+passed to Helos and to Taenaron where Helios dwells, in whom the sons
+of men take delight, and where his cattle feed in the rich pastures.
+There the sailors would have ended their wanderings; but they sought
+in vain to land, for the ship would not obey its helm. Onward it went
+along the coast of the Island of Pelops, for the mighty dolphin guided
+it. So from Arene and Arguphea it came to the sandy Pylos, by Chalkis
+and Dyme to the land of the Epeians, to Pherae and to Ithaka. There the
+men saw spread out before them the waters which wash the shores of
+Krisa; and the strong west wind came with its fierce breath, and drove
+them off to the east and towards the sunrising until they came to
+Krisa.
+
+Then Phoebus Apollo came forth from the sea, like a star, and the
+brightness of his glory reached up to the high heaven. Into his shrine
+he hastened, and on the altar he kindled the undying fire, and his
+bright arrows were hurled abroad, till all Krisa was filled with the
+blaze of his lightnings, so that fear came upon all, and the cries of
+the women rose shrill on the sultry air. Then, swift as a thought of
+the heart, he hastened back to the ship; but his form was now the form
+of a man in his beauty, and his golden locks flowed over his broad
+shoulders. From the shore he called out to the men in the Cretan ship,
+and said "Who are ye, strangers? and do ye come as thieves and
+robbers, bringing terror and sorrow whithersoever ye may go? Why stay
+ye thus, tarrying in your ships, and seek not to come out on the land?
+Surely ye must know that all who sail on the wide sea rejoice when
+their ship comes to the shore, that they may come forth and feast with
+the people of the land?" So spake Phoebus Apollo; and the leader of
+the Cretans took courage and said, "Stranger, sure I am that thou art
+no mortal man, but one of the bright heroes or the undying gods.
+Wherefore tell us now the name of this land and of the people who
+dwell in it. Hither we never sought to come, for we were sailing from
+the land of Minos to barter our wares at Pylos; but some one of the
+gods hath brought us hither against our will."
+
+Then spake the mighty Apollo, and said to them, "O, strangers, who
+have dwelt in Knossos of the Cretan land, think not to return to your
+ancient home, to your wives or to your children. Here ye must guard
+and keep my shrine, and ye shall be honored of all the children of
+men. For I am the son of Zeus, and my name is Phoebus Apollo. It was I
+who brought you hither across the wide sea, not in guile or anger, but
+that in all time to come ye may have great power and glory, that ye
+may learn the counsel of the undying gods and make known their will to
+men. Hasten then to do my bidding; let down your sails, and bring your
+ship to the shore. Then bring out your goods, and build an altar on
+the beach, and kindle a fire, and offer white barley as an offering;
+and because I led you hither under the form of a dolphin, so worship
+me as the Delphian god. Then eat bread and drink wine, as much as your
+soul may lust after; and after that come with me to the holy place,
+where ye shall guard my temple."
+
+So they obeyed the words of Phoebus; and when they had offered the
+white barley, and feasted richly on the sea-shore, they arose to go,
+and Apollo led them on their way. His harp was in his hand, and he
+made sweet music, such as no mortal ear had heard before; and they
+raised the chant Io Paean, for a new power was breathed into their
+hearts, as they went along. They thought not now of toil or sorrow;
+but with feet unwearied they went up the hill until they reached the
+clefts of Parnassos, where Phoebus would have them dwell.
+
+Then out spake the leader of the Cretans, and said, boldly, "O king,
+thou hast brought us far away from our homes to a strange land; whence
+are we to get food here? No harvest will grow on these bare rocks, no
+meadows are spread out before our eyes. The whole land is bare and
+desolate." But the son of Zeus smiled and said, "O foolish men, and
+easy to be cast down, if ye had your wish ye would gain nothing but
+care and toil. But listen to me and ponder well my words. Stretch
+forth your hands and slay each day the rich offerings, for they shall
+come to you without stint and sparing, seeing that the sons of men
+shall hasten hither from all lands, to learn my will and ask for aid
+in the hour of fear. Only guard ye my temple well, and keep your hands
+clean and your hearts pure; for if ye deal rightly no man shall take
+away your glory; but if ye speak lies and do iniquity, if ye hurt the
+people who come to my altar, and make them to go astray, then shall
+other men rise up in your place, and ye yourselves shall be thrust out
+forever, because ye would not obey my words."
+
+ [Illustration: APOLLO. (_From an ancient Sculpture._)]
+
+
+NIOBE AND LETO.
+
+In the little Island of Delos there lived a long time ago a lady who
+was called Niobe. She had many sons and many daughters, and she was
+very proud of them, for she thought that in all the Island of Delos,
+and even in all the world, there were no children so beautiful as her
+own. And as they walked, and leaped, and ran among the hills and
+valleys of that rocky island, all the people looked at them, and said,
+"Surely there are no other children like the children of the lady
+Niobe." And Niobe was so pleased at hearing this, that she began to
+boast to every one how strong and beautiful her sons and daughters
+were.
+
+Now in this Island of Delos there lived also the lady named Leto. She
+had only two children, and their names were Artemis and Phoebus
+Apollo; but they were very strong and fair, indeed. And whenever the
+lady Niobe saw them, she tried to think that her own children were
+still more beautiful, although she could hardly help feeling that she
+had never seen any so glorious as Artemis and Apollo. So one day the
+lady Leto and the lady Niobe were together, and their children were
+playing before them; and Phoebus Apollo played on his golden harp, and
+then he shot from his golden bow the arrows which never missed their
+mark. But Niobe never thought of Apollo's bow, and the arrows which he
+had in his quiver; and she began to boast to the lady Leto of the
+beauty of her children, and said, "See, Leto; look at my seven sons
+and my seven daughters, and see how strong and fair they are. Apollo
+and Artemis are beautiful, I know, but my children are fairer still;
+and you have only two children while I have seven sons and seven
+daughters." So Niobe went on boasting, and never thought whether she
+should make Leto angry. But Leto said nothing until Niobe and her
+children were gone, and then she called Apollo, and said to him, "I do
+not love the lady Niobe. She is always boasting that her sons and
+daughters are more beautiful than you and your sister; and I wish you
+to show her that no one else is so strong as my children, or so
+beautiful." Then Phoebus Apollo was angry, and a dark frown came upon
+his fair young face, and his eyes were like the flaming fire. But he
+said nothing, and he took his golden bow in his hand, and put his
+quiver with his terrible arrows across his shoulder, and went away to
+the hills where he knew that the lady Niobe and her children were. And
+when he saw them he went and stood on a bare high rock, and stretched
+the string of his golden bow, and took an arrow from his quiver. Then
+he held out the bow, and drew the string to his breast, until the
+point of the arrow touched the bow; and then he let the arrow fly.
+Straight to its mark it went, and one of the lady Niobe's sons fell
+dead. Then another arrow flew swiftly from the bow, and another, and
+another, and another, till all the sons and all the daughters of Niobe
+lay dead on the hillside. Then Apollo called out to Niobe, and said,
+"Go and boast now of your beautiful children!"
+
+It had all passed so quickly that Niobe scarcely knew whether it was
+not a dream. She could not believe that her children were really
+gone--all her sons and all her daughters, whom she had just now seen
+so happy and strong around her. But there they lay, still and cold,
+upon the ground. Their eyes were closed as if they were asleep, and
+their faces had still a happy smile, which made them look more
+beautiful than ever. And Niobe went to them all one by one, and
+touched their cold hands, and kissed their pale cheeks; and then she
+knew that the arrows of Phoebus Apollo had killed them. Then she sat
+down on a stone which was close to them, and the tears flowed from her
+eyes, and they streamed down her face, as she sat there as still as
+her children who lay dead before her. She never raised her head to
+look at the blue sky--she never moved hand or foot, but she sat
+weeping on the cold rock until she became as cold as the rock itself.
+And still her tears flowed on, and still her body grew colder and
+colder, until her heart beat no more, and the lady Niobe was dead. But
+there she still seemed to sit and weep, for her great grief had turned
+her into a stone; and all the people, whenever they came near that
+place, said, "See, there sits the lady Niobe, who was turned into
+stone, when Phoebus Apollo killed all her children because she boasted
+that no one was so beautiful as they were." And long after, when the
+stone was grown old and covered with moss, the people still thought
+they could see the form of the lady Niobe; for the stone, which did
+not look much like the form of a woman when they came near to it,
+seemed at a distance just as though Niobe still sat there, weeping for
+her beautiful children whom Phoebus Apollo slew.
+
+
+DAPHNE.
+
+In the vale of Tempe, where the stream of Peneios flows beneath the
+heights of Olympos towards the sea, the beautiful Daphne passed the
+days of her happy childhood. Fresh as the earliest morning, she
+climbed the crags to greet the first rays of the rising sun; and when
+he had driven his fiery horses over the sky, she watched his chariot
+sink behind the western mountains. Over hill and dale she roamed, free
+and light as the breeze of spring. Other maidens round her spoke each
+of her love, but Daphne cared not to listen to the voice of man,
+though many a one sought her to be his wife.
+
+One day as she stood on the slopes of Ossa in the glow of early
+morning, she saw before her a glorious form. The light of the
+new-risen sun fell on his face with a golden splendor, and she knew
+that it was Phoebus Apollo. Hastily he ran towards her, and said, "I
+have found thee, Child of the Morning. Others thou hast cast aside,
+but from me thou canst not escape. I have sought thee long, and now
+will I make thee mine." But the heart of Daphne was bold and strong;
+and her cheek flushed and her eye sparkled with anger, as she said, "I
+know neither love nor bondage. I live free among the streams and
+hills; and to none will I yield my freedom." Then the face of Apollo
+grew dark with anger, and he drew near to seize the maiden; but swift
+as the wind she fled away. Over hill and dale, over crag and river,
+the feet of Daphne fell lightly as falling leaves in autumn; but
+nearer yet came Phoebus Apollo, till at last the strength of the
+maiden began to fail. Then she stretched out her hands, and cried for
+help to the lady Demeter; but she came not to her aid. Her head was
+dizzy, and her limbs trembled in utter feebleness as she drew near the
+broad river which gladdens the plains of Thessaly, till she almost
+felt the breath of Phoebus, and her robe was almost in his grasp.
+Then, with a wild cry, she said, "Father Peneios, receive thy child,"
+and she rushed into the stream, whose waters closed gently over her.
+
+She was gone; Apollo mourned for his madness in chasing thus the free
+maiden. And he said, "I have punished myself by my folly; the light of
+the morning is taken out of the day. I must go on alone till my
+journey shall draw towards its end." Then he spake the word, and a
+laurel came up on the bank where Daphne had plunged into the stream;
+and the green bush with its thick clustering leaves keeps her name
+forever.
+
+
+KYRENE.
+
+Among the valleys and hills of Thessaly, Kyrene, the fair-armed
+daughter of Hypseus, wandered free as the deer upon the mountain side.
+Of all the maidens of the land, there was none to vie her in beauty;
+neither was there any that could be matched with her for strength of
+arm and speed of foot. She touched not the loom or the spindle; she
+cared not for banquets with those who revel under houses. Her feasts
+were spread on the green grass, beneath the branching tree; and with
+her spear and dagger she went fearless among the beasts of the field,
+or sought them out in their dens.
+
+One day she was roaming along the winding banks of Peneios, when a
+lion sprang from a thicket across her path. Neither spear nor dagger
+was in her hand, but the heart of Kyrene knew no fear, and she
+grappled with him until the beast sank wearied at her feet. She had
+conquered, but not unseen, for Phoebus Apollo had watched the maiden
+as she battled with the angry lion; and straightway he called the wise
+centaur Cheiron, who had taught him in the days of his youth. "Come
+forth," he said, "from thy dark cave, and teach me once again, for I
+have a question to ask thee. Look at yonder maiden, and the beast
+which lies beaten at her feet; and tell me (for thou art wise) whence
+she comes, and what name she bears. Who is she, that thus she wanders
+in these lonely valleys without fear and without hurt? Tell me if she
+may be wooed and won." Then Cheiron looked steadfastly at the face of
+Phoebus, and a smile passed over his countenance as he answered,
+"There are hidden keys to unlock the prison-house of love; but why
+askest thou me of the maiden's name and race--thou who knowest the end
+of all things, and all the paths along which the sons of men are
+journeying? Thou hast counted the leaves which burst forth in the
+spring-time, and the grains of sand which the wind tosses on the river
+bank, or by the sea shore. But if I must needs match thee in suitable
+wisdom, then listen to my words. The maiden is wooed and won already;
+and thou art going to bear her as thy bride over the dark sea, and
+place her in golden halls on the far-off Libyan land. There she shall
+have a home rich in every fruit that may grow up from the earth; and
+there shall thy son Aristaios be born, on whose lips the bright Horai
+shall shed nectar and ambrosia, so that he may not come under the doom
+of mortal men."
+
+Then Phoebus Apollo smiled as he answered, "Of a truth, Cheiron, thou
+deservest thy fame, for there are none to match with thee for wisdom;
+and now I go with Kyrene to the land which shall be called by her
+name, and where, in time to come, her children shall build great and
+mighty cities, and their name shall be spread abroad throughout all
+the earth for strength and wisdom."
+
+So the maiden Kyrene came to the Libyan land, and there Aristaios, her
+child, was born. And Hermes carried the babe to the bright Horai, who
+granted him an endless life; and he dwelt in the broad Libyan plains,
+tending his flocks, and bringing forth rich harvests from the earth.
+For him the bees wrought their sweetest honey; for him the sheep gave
+their softest wool; for him the cornfields waved with their fullest
+grain. No blight touched the grapes which his hand had tended; no
+sickness vexed the herds which fed in his pastures. And they who dwelt
+in the land said, "Strife and war bring no such gifts as these to the
+sons of men; therefore let us live in peace."
+
+
+HERMES.
+
+Early in the morning, long ago, in a cave of the great Kyllenian hill,
+lay the new-born Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia. The cradle-clothes
+were scarcely stirred by his soft breathing, while he slept as
+peacefully as the children of mortal mothers. But the sun had not
+driven his fiery chariot half over the heaven, when the babe arose
+from his sacred cradle and stepped forth from the dark cavern. Before
+the threshold a tortoise fed lazily on the grass; and when the child
+saw it he laughed merrily. "Ah! this is luck, indeed," he said;
+"whence hast thou come, pretty creature, with thy bright speckled
+shell? Thou art mine now, and I must take thee into my cave. It is
+better to be under shelter than out of doors; and though there may be
+some use in thee while thou livest, it will comfort thee to think that
+thou wilt sing sweetly when thou art dead." So the child Hermes took
+up his treasure in both arms, and carried it into the cavern. There he
+took an iron probe, and pierced out the life of the tortoise; and
+quick as thought, he drilled holes in its shell, and fixed in them
+reed-canes. Then across the shell he fastened a piece of ox-hide, and
+with seven sheep-gut cords he finished the making of his lyre.
+Presently he struck it with the bow, and a wave of sweet music swelled
+out upon the air. Like the merry songs of youths and maidens, as they
+sport in village feasts, rose the song of the child Hermes; and his
+eyes laughed slyly as he sang of the loves of Zeus and Maia, and how
+he himself was born of the mighty race of the gods. Still he sang on,
+telling of all that he saw around him in the home of the nymph, his
+mother, but all the while, as he sang, his mind was pondering on other
+things; and when the song was ended, he went forth from the cave, like
+a thief in the night, on his wily errand.
+
+The sun was hastening down the slope of heaven, with his chariot and
+horses to the slow-rolling stream of Ocean, as Hermes came to the
+shadowy hills of Pieria, where the cattle of the gods fed in their
+large pastures. There he took fifty from the herd, and made ready to
+drive them to the Kyllenian hill. But before him lay vast plains of
+sand; and, therefore, lest the track of the cattle should tell the
+tale of his thieving, he drove the beasts round about by crooked
+paths, until it seemed as though they had gone to the place from
+whence he had stolen them. He had taken good care that his own
+footsteps should not betray him, for with branches of tamarisk and
+myrtle, well twisted with their leaves, he hastily made sandals, and
+sped away from Pieria. One man alone saw him, a very old man, who was
+working in his vineyard on the sunny plain of Onchestos. To him Hermes
+went quickly, and said, "Old man, thou wilt have plenty of wine when
+these roots come all into bearing trim. Meanwhile keep a wise head on
+thy crumpled shoulders, and take heed not to remember more than may be
+convenient."
+
+ [Illustration: PLUTO AND HIS WIFE.]
+
+Onwards, over dark hills, and through sounding dells, and across
+flowery plains, hastened the child Hermes, driving his flock before
+him. The night waxed and waned, and the moon had climbed to her
+watchtower in the heaven, when, in the flush of early morning, Hermes
+reached the banks of the great Alpheian stream. Then he turned his
+herd to feed on the grassy plain, while he gathered logs of wood, and,
+rubbing two sticks together, kindled the first flame that burned upon
+the earth where dwell the sons of men. The smoke went up to the
+heaven, and the flame crackled fiercely beneath it, as Hermes brought
+forth two of the herd, and, tumbling them on their back, pierced out
+the life of both. Their hides he placed on the hard rock; their flesh
+he cut up into twelve portions; and so Hermes hath the right of
+ordering all sacrifices which the children of men offer to the undying
+gods. But he ate not of the flesh or fat, although hunger sorely
+pressed him; and he burnt the bones in the fire, and tossed his
+tamarisk sandals into the swift stream of Alpheios. Then he quenched
+the fire, and with all his might trampled down the ashes, until the
+pale moon rose up again in the sky. So he sped on his way to Kyllene.
+Neither god nor man saw him as he went, nor did the dogs bark. Early
+in the morning he reached his mother's cave, and darted through the
+keyhole of the door, softly as a summer breeze. Without a sound his
+little feet paced the stony floor, till he reached his cradle and lay
+down, playing like a babe among the clothes with his left hand, while
+the right held the tortoise-lyre hidden underneath them.
+
+But, wily as he was, he could not cheat his mother. To his cradle she
+came, and said, "Whither hast thou wandered in the dark night? Crafty
+rogue, mischief will be thy ruin. The son of Leto will soon be here,
+and bear thee away bound in chains not easily shaken off. Out of my
+sight, little wretch, born to worry the blessed gods and plague the
+race of men!" "Mother," said Hermes, gently, "why talk thus to me, as
+though I were like mortal babes, a poor cowering thing, to cry for a
+little scolding? I know thy interest and mine: why should we stay here
+in this wretched cave, with never a gift nor a feast to cheer our
+hearts? I shall not stay. It is pleasanter to banquet with the gods
+than to dwell in a cavern in draughts of whistling wind. I shall try
+my luck against Apollo, for I mean to be his peer; and if he will not
+suffer me, and if Zeus, my father, take not up my cause, I will see
+what I can do for myself, by going to the shrine of Pytho and stealing
+thence the tripods and caldrons, the iron vessels and glittering
+robes. If I may not have honor in Olympos, I can at least be the
+prince of thieves."
+
+Meanwhile, as they talked together, Eos rose up from the deep ocean
+stream, and her tender light flushed across the sky, while Apollo
+hastened to Onchestos and the holy grove of Poseidon. There the old
+man was at work in his vineyard, and to him Phoebus went quickly, and
+said, "Friend hedger, I am come from Pieria looking for my cows. Fifty
+of them have been driven away, and the bull has been left behind with
+the four dogs who guarded them. Tell me, old man, hast thou seen any
+one with these cows, on the road?" But the old man said that it would
+be a hard matter to tell of all that he might chance to see. "Many
+travelers journey on this road, some with evil thoughts, some with
+good; I can not well remember all. This only I know, that yesterday,
+from the rising of the sun to its setting, I was digging in my
+vineyard, and I think, but I am not sure, that I saw a child with a
+herd of cattle. A babe he was, and he held a staff in his hand, and,
+as he went, he wandered strangely from the path on either side."
+
+Then Phoebus stayed not to hear more, for now he knew of a surety that
+the new-born son of Zeus had done him the mischief. Wrapped in a
+purple mist, he hastened to beautiful Pylos, and came on the track of
+the cattle. "O Zeus!" he cried, "this is indeed a marvel. I see the
+footprints of cattle, but they are marked as though the cattle were
+going to the asphodel meadow, not away from it. Of man or woman, of
+wolf, bear, or lion, I spy not a single trace. Only here and there I
+behold the footprints of some strange monster, who has left his mark
+at random on either side of the road." So on he sped to the woody
+heights of Kyllene, and stood on the doorstep of Maia's cave.
+Straightway the child Hermes nestled under the cradle-clothes in fear,
+like a new-born babe asleep. But, seeing through all his craft,
+Phoebus looked steadily through all the cave and opened three secret
+places full of the food and drink of the gods, and full also of gold
+and silver and raiment; but not a cow was in any of them. At last he
+fixed his eyes sternly on the child, and said, "Wily babe, where are
+my cows? If thou wilt not tell me, there will be strife between us;
+and then I will hurl thee down to the gloomy Tartaros, to the land of
+darkness, whence neither thy father nor thy mother can bring thee
+back, and where thy kingdom shall be only over the ghosts of men."
+"Ah!" said Hermes, "these are dreadful words, indeed; but why dost
+thou chide me thus, or come here to look for cows? I have not seen or
+heard of them, nor has any one told me of them. I can not tell where
+they are, or get the reward, if any were promised, for discovering
+them. This is no work of mine; what do I care for but for sleeping and
+sucking, and playing with my cradle-clothes, and being washed in warm
+water? My friend, it will be much better that no one should hear of
+such a silly quarrel. The undying gods would laugh at the very thought
+of a little babe leaving its cradle to run after cows. I was born but
+yesterday. My feet are soft, and the ground is hard. But if it be any
+comfort to thee, I will swear by my father's head (and that is a very
+great oath) that I have not done this deed, nor seen any one else
+steal your cows, and that I do not know what cows are."
+
+As he spoke he looked stealthily from one side to the other, while his
+eyes winked slyly, and he made a long soft whistling sound, as if the
+words of Phoebus had amused him mightily. "Well, friend," said Apollo,
+with a smile, "thou wilt break into many a house, I see, and thy
+followers after thee; and thy fancy for beef will set many a herdsman
+grieving. But come down from the cradle, or this sleep will be thy
+last. Only this honor can I promise thee, to be called the prince of
+thieves forever." So without more ado Phoebus caught up the babe in
+his arms; but Hermes gave so mighty a sneeze that he quickly let him
+fall, and Phoebus said to him, gravely, "This is the sign that I shall
+find my cows; show me, then, the way." In great fear Hermes started up
+and pulled the cradle-clothes over his ears, as he said, "Cruel god,
+what dost thou seek to do with me? Why worry me thus about cows? I
+would there were not a cow in all the earth. I stole them not, nor
+have I seen any one steal the cows, whatever things cows may be. I
+know nothing but their name. But come; Zeus must decide the quarrel
+between us."
+
+Thus each with his own purpose spake to the other, and their minds
+grew all the darker, for Phoebus sought only to know where his cows
+might be, while Hermes strove only to cheat him. So they went quickly
+and sulkily on, the babe first, and Phoebus following after him, till
+they came to the heights of Olympos and the home of the mighty Zeus.
+There Zeus sat on the throne of judgment, and all the undying gods
+stood around him. Before them in the midst stood Phoebus and the child
+Hermes, and Zeus said, "Thou hast brought a fine booty after thy hunt
+to-day, Phoebus--a child of a day old. A fine matter is this to put
+before the gods."
+
+"My father," said Apollo, quickly, "I have a tale to tell which will
+show that I am not the only plunderer. After a weary search I found
+this babe in the cave of Kyllene; and a thief he is such as I have
+never seen whether among gods or men. Yester eve he stole my cattle
+from the meadow, and drove them straight towards Pylos to the shore of
+the sounding sea. The tracks left were such that gods and men might
+well marvel at them. The footprints of the cows on the sand were as
+though they were going to my meadows, and not away from them; his own
+footmarks beggar all words, as if he had gone neither on his feet nor
+on his hands, and as if the oak tops had suddenly taken to walking. So
+was it on the sandy soil; and after this was passed, there remained no
+marks at all. But an old man saw him driving them on the road to
+Pylos. There he shut up the cattle at his leisure, and, going to his
+mother's cave, lay down in his cradle like a spark in a mass of
+cinders, which an eagle could scarcely spy out. When I taxed him with
+the theft he boldly denied it, and told me that he had not seen the
+cows or heard naught of them, and could not get the reward if one were
+offered for restoring them."
+
+So the words of Phoebus were ended, and the child Hermes made
+obeisance to Zeus, the lord of all the gods, and said, "Father Zeus, I
+shall tell thee the truth, for I am a very truthful being, and I know
+not how to tell a lie. This morning, when the sun was but newly risen,
+Phoebus came to my mother's cave, looking for cows. He brought no
+witnesses; but urged me by force to confess; he threatened to hurl me
+into the abyss of Tartaros. Yet he has all the strength of early
+manhood, while I, as he knows, was born but yesterday, and am not in
+the least like a cattle-reiver. Believe me (by thy love for me, thy
+child) that I have not brought these cows home, or passed beyond my
+mother's threshold. This is strict truth. Nay, by Helios and the other
+gods, I swear that I love thee and have respect for Phoebus. Thou
+knowest that I am guiltless, and, if thou wilt, I will also swear it.
+But, spite of all his strength, I will avenge myself some day on
+Phoebus for his unkindness; and then help thou the weaker."
+
+So spake Hermes, winking his eyes and holding the clothes to his
+shoulders; and Zeus laughed aloud at the wiliness of the babe, and
+bade Phoebus and the child be friends. Then he bowed his head and
+charged Hermes to show the spot where he had hidden the cattle, and
+the child obeyed, for none may despise that sign and live. To Pylos
+they hastened and to the broad stream of Alpheios, and from the fold
+Hermes drove forth the cattle. But as he stood apart, Apollo beheld
+the hides flung on the rock, and he asked Hermes, "How wast thou able,
+cunning rogue, to flay two cows, thou a child but one day old? I fear
+thy might in time to come, and I can not let thee live." Again he
+seized the child, and bound him fast with willow bands; but the child
+tore them from his body like flax, so that Phoebus marveled greatly.
+In vain Hermes sought a place wherein to hide himself, and great fear
+came upon him till he thought of his tortoise-lyre. With his bow he
+touched the strings, and the wave of song swelled out upon the air
+more full and sweet than ever. He sang of the undying gods and the
+dark earth, how it was made at the first, and how to each of the gods
+his own appointed portion was given, till the heart of Apollo was
+filled with a mighty longing, and he spake to Hermes, and said,
+"Cattle-reiver, wily rogue, thy song is worth fifty head of cattle.
+We will settle our strife by and by. Meanwhile, tell me, was this
+wondrous gift of song born with thee, or hast thou it as a gift from
+any god or mortal man? Never on Olympos, from those who can not die,
+have I heard such strains as these. They who hear thee may have what
+they will, be it mirth, or love, or sleep. Great is thy power, and
+great shall be thy renown, and by my cornel staff I swear that I will
+not stand in the way of thy honor or deceive thee in anywise."
+
+Then said Hermes, "I grudge thee not my skill, son of Leto, for I seek
+but thy friendship. Yet thy gifts from Zeus are great. Thou knowest
+his mind, thou canst declare his will, and reveal what is stored up in
+time to come for undying gods or mortal men. This knowledge I fain
+would have. But my power of song shall this day be thine. Take my
+lyre, the soother of the wearied, the sweet companion in hours of
+sorrow or of feasting. To those who come skilled in its language, it
+can discourse sweetly of all things, and drive away all thoughts that
+annoy and cares that vex the soul. To those who touch it, not knowing
+how to draw forth its speech, it will babble strange nonsense, and
+rave with uncertain moanings. But thy knowledge is born with thee, and
+so my lyre is thine. Wherefore now let us feed the herds together, and
+with our care they shall thrive and multiply. There is no more cause
+for anger."
+
+So saying the babe held out the lyre, and Phoebus Apollo took it. In
+his turn he gave to the child Hermes a glittering scourge, with charge
+over his flocks and herds. Then, touching the chords of the lyre, he
+filled the air with sweet music, and they both took their way to
+Olympos, and Zeus was glad at heart to see that the wrath of Apollo
+had passed away. But Phoebus dreaded yet the wiles of Hermes, and
+said, "I fear me much, child of Maia, that in time to come thou mayest
+steal both my harp and my bow, and take away my honor among men. Come
+now, and swear to me by the dark water of Styx that thou wilt never
+do me wrong." Then Hermes bowed his head, and swore never to steal
+anything from Apollo, and never to lay hands on his holy shrine; and
+Phoebus swore that of all the undying gods there should be none so
+dear to him as Hermes. "And of this love," he said, "I will give thee
+a pledge. My golden rod shall guard thee, and teach thee all that Zeus
+may say to me for the well or ill-doing of gods or men. But the higher
+knowledge for which thou didst pray may not be thine; for that is
+hidden in the mind of Zeus, and I have sworn a great oath that none
+shall learn it from me. But the man who comes to me with true signs, I
+will never deceive; and he who puts trust in false omens and then
+comes to inquire at my shrine, shall be answered according to his
+folly, but his offering shall go into my treasure-house. Yet further,
+son of Maia, in the clefts of Parnassos far away dwell the winged
+Thriai, who taught me long ago the secret things of times to come. Go
+thou, then, to the three sisters, and thus shalt thou test them. If
+they have eaten of the honeycomb before they speak, they will answer
+thee truly; but if they lack the sweet food of the gods, they will
+seek to lead astray those who come to them. These I give thee for thy
+counselors; only follow them warily; and have thou dominion over all
+flocks and herds, and over all living things that feed on the wide
+earth; and be thou the guide to lead the souls of mortal men to the
+dark kingdom of Hades."
+
+So was the love of Apollo for Hermes made sure; and Hermes hath his
+place amongst all the deathless gods and dying men. Nevertheless, the
+sons of men have from him no great gain, for all night long he vexes
+them with his treacherous wiles.
+
+
+THE SORROW OF DEMETER.
+
+In the fields of Enna, in the happy Island of Sicily, the beautiful
+Persephone was playing with the girls who lived there with her. She
+was the daughter of the lady Demeter, and every one loved them both,
+for Demeter was good and kind to all, and no one could be more gentle
+and merry than Persephone. She and her companions were gathering
+flowers from the field, to make crowns for their long flowing hair.
+They had picked many roses and lilies and hyacinths, which grew in
+clusters around them, when Persephone thought she saw a splendid
+flower far off; and away she ran, as fast as she could, to get it. It
+was a beautiful narcissus, with a hundred heads springing from one
+stem; and the perfume which came from its flowers gladdened the broad
+heaven above, and the earth and sea around it. Eagerly Persephone
+stretched out her hand to take this splendid prize, when the earth
+opened, and a chariot stood before her, drawn by four coal-black
+horses; and in the chariot there was a man with a dark and solemn
+face, which looked as though he could never smile, and as though he
+had never been happy. In a moment he got out of his chariot, seized
+Persephone round the waist, and put her on the seat by his side. Then
+he touched the horses with his whip, and they drew the chariot down
+into the great gulf, and the earth closed over them again.
+
+Presently the girls who had been playing with Persephone came up to
+the place where the beautiful narcissus was growing; but they could
+not see her anywhere. And they said, "Here is the very flower which
+she ran to pick, and there is no place here where she can be hiding."
+Still for a long time they searched through the fields of Enna; and
+when the evening was come they went home to tell the lady Demeter that
+they could not tell what had become of Persephone.
+
+Very terrible was the sorrow of Demeter when she was told that her
+child was lost. She put a dark robe on her shoulders, and took a
+flaming torch in her hand, and went over land and sea to look for
+Persephone. But no one could tell her where she was gone. When ten
+days were passed she met Hekate, and asked her about her child; but
+Hekate said, "I heard her voice, as she cried out when some one seized
+her; but I did not see it with my eyes, and so I know not where she is
+gone." Then she went to Helios, and said to him, "O Helios, tell me
+about my child. Thou seest everything on the earth, sitting in the
+bright sun." Then Helios said to Demeter, "I pity thee for thy great
+sorrow, and I will tell thee the truth. It is Hades who has taken
+away Persephone to be his wife in the dark and gloomy land which lies
+beneath the earth."
+
+ [Illustration: CERES. (_or Demeter, from Pompeii Wall
+ Painting_)]
+
+Then the rage of Demeter was more terrible than her sorrow had been;
+and she would not stay in the palace of Zeus, on the great Thessalian
+hill, because it was Zeus who had allowed Hades to take away
+Persephone. So she went down from Olympos, and wandered on a long way
+until she came to Eleusis, just as the sun was going down into his
+golden cup behind the dark blue hills. There Demeter sat down close to
+a fountain, where the water bubbled out from the green turf and fell
+into a clear basin, over which some dark olive trees spread their
+branches. Just then the daughters of Keleos, the king of Eleusis, came
+to the fountain with pitchers on their heads to draw water; and when
+they saw Demeter, they knew from her face that she must have some
+great grief; and they spoke kindly to her, and asked if they could do
+anything to help her. Then she told them how she had lost and was
+searching for her child; and they said, "Come home and live with us;
+and our father and mother will give you everything that you can want,
+and do all that they can to soothe your sorrow." So Demeter went down
+to the house of Keleos, and she stayed there for a whole year. And all
+this time, although the daughters of Keleos were very gentle and kind
+to her, she went on mourning and weeping for Persephone. She never
+laughed or smiled, and scarcely ever did she speak to any one, because
+of her great grief. And even the earth, and the things which grow on
+the earth, mourned for the sorrow which had come upon Demeter. There
+was no fruit upon the trees, no corn came up in the fields, and no
+flowers blossomed in the gardens. And Zeus looked down from his high
+Thessalian hill, and saw that everything must die unless he could
+soothe the grief and anger of Demeter. So he sent Hermes down to
+Hades, the dark and stern king, to bid him send Persephone to see her
+mother, Demeter. But before Hades let her go he gave her a
+pomegranate to eat, because he did not wish her to stay away from him
+always, and he knew that she must come back if she tasted but one of
+his pomegranate seeds. Then the great chariot was brought before the
+door of the palace, and Hermes touched with his whip the coal-black
+horses, and away they went as swiftly as the wind, until they came
+close to Eleusis. Then Hermes left Persephone, and the coal-black
+horses drew the chariot away again to the dark home of King Hades.
+
+The sun was sinking down in the sky when Hermes left Persephone, and
+as she came near to the fountain she saw some one sitting near it in a
+long black robe, and she knew that it must be her mother who still
+wept and mourned for her child. And as Demeter heard the rustling of
+her dress, she lifted up her face, and Persephone stood before her.
+
+Then the joy of Demeter was greater, as she clasped her daughter to
+her breast, than her grief and her sorrow had been. Again and again
+she held Persephone in her arms, and asked her about all that had
+happened to her. And she said, "Now that you are come back to me, I
+shall never let you go away again; Hades shall not have my child to
+live with him in his dreary kingdom," But Persephone said, "It may not
+be so, my mother; I can not stay with you always; for before Hermes
+brought me away to see you, Hades gave me a pomegranate, and I have
+eaten some of the seeds; and after tasting the seed I must go back to
+him again when six months have passed by. And, indeed, I am not afraid
+to go, for although Hades never smiles or laughs, and everything in
+his palace is dark and gloomy, still he is very kind to me, and I
+think that he feels almost happy since I have been his wife. But do
+not be sorry, my mother, for he has promised to let me come up and
+stay with you for six months in every year, and the other six months I
+must spend with him in the land which lies beneath the earth."
+
+So Demeter was comforted for her daughter Persephone, and the earth
+and all the things that grew in it felt that her anger and sorrow had
+passed away. Once more the trees bore their fruits, the flowers spread
+out their sweet blossoms in the garden, and the golden corn waved like
+the sea under the soft summer breeze. So the six months passed happily
+away, and then Hermes came with his coal-black horses to take
+Persephone to the dark land. And she said to her mother, "Do not weep
+much; the gloomy king whose wife I am is so kind to me that I can not
+be really unhappy, and in six months more he will let me come to you
+again." But still, whenever the time came round for Persephone to go
+back to Hades, Demeter thought of the happy days when her child was a
+merry girl playing with her companions and gathering the bright
+flowers in the beautiful plains of Enna.
+
+
+THE SLEEP OF ENDYMION.
+
+One beautiful evening, when the sun was sinking down in the West,
+Selene was wandering on the banks of the River Meander; and she
+thought that of all the places which she had ever seen there was none
+more lovely than the quiet valley through which that gentle river was
+flowing. On her right hand rose a hill, whose sides were covered with
+trees and flowers, where the vine clambered over the elm, and the
+purple grapes shone out from amongst the dark leaves. Then Selene
+asked some people who were passing by to tell her the name of the
+hill, and they told her that it was called the hill of Latmos. On she
+went, under the tall trees, whose branches waved over her in the clear
+evening light, till at last she reached the top, and looked down on
+the valley which lay beneath her. Then Selene was indeed astonished,
+for she had never seen anything so beautiful before, even in a dream.
+She had fancied that nothing could be more lovely than the vale of the
+Meander, and now she saw something far more beautiful than the rocks
+and stones and clear bright water of that winding river. It was a
+small valley, at the bottom of which a lake shone like silver in the
+light of the setting sun. All around it beautiful trees covered the
+sloping banks; and their long branches drooped down over the water.
+Not a breath of wind was stirring the dark leaves--not a bird was
+flying in the air. Only the large green dragon-fly floated lazily on
+the lake, while the swan lay half asleep on the silvery waters. On one
+side, in the loveliest corner of the valley, there was a marble
+temple, whose pillars shone like the white snow; and, leading down to
+the lake, there were steps of marble, over which the palm trees spread
+their branches, and everywhere were clusters of all beautiful flowers,
+amongst which mosses, and ferns, and the green ivy were tangled. There
+was the white narcissus and the purple tulip--the dark hyacinth and
+the soft red rose. But more beautiful than all the trees and flowers,
+a man lay sleeping on the marble steps of the temple. It was Endymion,
+who lived in this quiet valley, where the storms never came, and where
+the dark rain-clouds never covered the sides of the mountain. There he
+lay in the still evening hour; and at first Selene thought that it
+could scarcely be a living man whom she saw, for he lay as still as
+if he were made of marble himself. And as she looked upon him, Selene
+drew in her breath for wonder; and she went gently down the valley
+till she came to the steps where Endymion lay asleep. Presently the
+sun sank behind the hill, and the rich glow of the evening made the
+silvery lake gleam like gold; and Endymion awoke and saw Selene
+standing near him. Then Selene said, "I am wandering over the earth;
+and I may not stay here. Come away, and I will show you larger lakes
+and more glorious valleys than these." But Endymion said, "Lady, I can
+not go. There may be lakes which are larger, and valleys more splendid
+than this, but I love this still and quiet place, where the storms
+never come, and the sky is never black with clouds. You must not ask
+me to leave the cool shade of these sleeping trees, and the myrtles
+and roses which twine under the tall elms, and these waters, where the
+swans rest in the hot hours of the day and the dragon-fly spreads his
+green and golden wings to the sun."
+
+ [Illustration: JUNO (_or Here_).]
+
+Many times did Selene ask him, but Endymion would not leave his
+pleasant home; and at last she said, "I can stay no more, but if you
+will not come with me, then you shall sleep on these marble steps and
+never wake up again." So Selene left him, and presently a deep sleep
+came over Endymion, and his hands dropped down by his side, and he lay
+without moving on the steps of the temple, while the evening breeze
+began to stir gently the broad leaves of the palm trees, and the
+lilies which bowed their heads over the calm water. There he lay all
+through the still and happy night; and there he lay when the sun rose
+up from the sea, and mounted up with its fiery horses into the sky.
+There was a charm now on this beautiful valley, which made the breeze
+more gentle and the lake more still than ever. The green dragon-flies
+came floating lazily in the air near Endymion, but he never opened his
+eyes; and the swans looked up from the lake, to see if he was coming
+to feed them; but he stirred not in his deep and dreamless sleep.
+There he lay day and night, for weeks, and months, and years; and many
+times, when the sun went down into the sea, Selene came and stood on
+the Latmian hill, and watched Endymion as he lay asleep on the marble
+steps beneath the drooping palm trees; and she said, "I have punished
+him because he would not leave his home; and Endymion sleeps forever
+in the land of Latmos."
+
+
+PHAETHON.
+
+In the golden house which Hephaistos had wrought for him with his
+wondrous skill, Helios saw nothing fairer than his son Phaethon; and
+he said to his mother, Klymene, that no mortal child might be matched
+with him for beauty. And Phaethon heard the words, and his heart was
+filled with an evil pride. So he stood before the throne of Helios,
+and said, "O father, who dwellest in the dazzling light, they say that
+I am thy child; but how shall I know it while I live in thy house
+without name and glory? Give me a token, that men may know me to be
+thy son." Then Helios bade him speak, and swear to grant his prayer;
+and Phaethon said, "I will guide thy chariot for one day through the
+high heaven; bid the Horai make ready the horses for me, when Eos
+spreads her quivering light in the sky." But the heart of Helios was
+filled with fear, and he besought his son with many tears to call back
+his words. "O Phaethon, bright child of Klymene, for all thy beauty
+thou art mortal still; and the horses of Helios obey no earthly
+master." But Phaethon harkened not to his words, and hastened away to
+the dwelling of the Horai, who guard the fiery horses. "Make ready for
+me," he said, "the chariot of Helios, for this day I go through the
+high heaven in the stead of my father."
+
+The fair-haired Eos spread her faint light in the pale sky, and
+Lampetie was driving the cattle of Helios to their bright pastures,
+when the Horai brought forth his horses and harnessed them to the
+fiery chariot. With eager hand Phaethon seized the reins, and the
+horses sped upon their way up the heights of the blue heaven, until
+the heart of Phaethon was full of fear and the reins quivered in his
+grasp. Wildly and more madly sped the steeds, till at last they
+hurried from the track which led to the Hesperian land. Down from
+their path they plunged, and drew near to the broad plains of earth.
+Fiercer and fiercer flashed the scorching flames; the trees bowed down
+their withered heads; the green grass shriveled on the hillsides; the
+rivers vanished from their slimy beds, and the black vapors rose with
+smoke and fire from the hidden depths of the mighty hills. Then in
+every land the sons of men lay dying on the scorched and gaping
+ground. They looked up to the yellow sky, but the clouds came not;
+they sought the rivers and fountains, but no water glistened on their
+seething beds; and young and old, all lay down in madness of heart to
+sleep the sleep of death.
+
+So sped the horses of Helios on their fiery wanderings, and Zeus
+looked down from his Thessalian hill and saw that all living things on
+the earth must die unless Phaethon should be smitten down from his
+father's chariot. Then the mighty thunders woke in the hot sky which
+mourned for the clouds that were dead; and the streams of lightning
+rushed forth upon Phaethon, and bore him from the blazing heaven far
+down beneath the waters of the green sea.
+
+But his sisters wept sore for the death of the bright Phaethon, and
+the daughters of Hesperos built his tomb on the sea-shore, that all
+men might remember the name of the son of Helios and say, "Phaethon
+fell from his father's chariot, but he lost not his glory, for his
+heart was set upon great things."
+
+
+BRIAREOS.
+
+There was strife in the halls of Olympos, for Zeus had conquered the
+ancient gods, and sat on the throne of his father Kronos. In his hand
+he held the thunderbolts; the lightning slumbered at his feet, and
+around him all the gods trembled for the greatness of his power. For
+he laid hard tasks on all, and spoke hard words, and he thought to
+rule harshly over the gods who dwell on the earth and in the broad
+sea. All the day long Hermes toiled on weary errands to do his will;
+for Zeus sought to crush all alike, and remembered not the time when
+he, too, was weak and powerless.
+
+ [Illustration: DIANA (_or Artemis_).]
+
+Then were there secret whisperings, as the gods of earth and sea took
+counsel together; and Poseidon, the lord of the dark waters, spoke in
+fierce anger, and said, "Hearken to me, Here and Athene, and let us
+rise up against Zeus, and teach him that he has not power over all.
+See how he bears himself in his new majesty--how he thinks not of the
+aid which we gave him in the war with his father Kronos--how he has
+smitten down even the mightiest of his friends. For Prometheus, who
+gave fire to mortal men and saved them from biting cold and gnawing
+hunger, lies chained on the crags of Caucasus; and if he shrink not to
+bind the Titan, see that he smite not thee also in his wrath, O lady
+Here." And Athene said, "The wisdom of Zeus is departed from him, and
+all his deeds are done now in craft and falsehood; let us bind him
+fast, lest all the heaven and earth be filled with strife and war." So
+they vowed a vow that they would no more bear the tyranny of Zeus; and
+Hephaistos forged strong chains at their bidding to cast around him
+when sleep lay heavy on his eyelids.
+
+But Thetis heard the words of Poseidon and Athene, as she sat beneath
+the waters in her coral cave, and she rose up like a white mist from
+the sea, and knelt before the throne of Zeus. Then she clasped her
+arms round his knees, and said, "O Zeus, the gods tremble at thy
+might, but they love not thy hard words, and they say that thy wisdom
+hath departed from thee, and that thou doest all things in craft and
+falsehood. Hearken to me, O Zeus, for Hephaistos hath forged the chain
+and the lady Here, and Poseidon, the lord of the sea, and the pure
+Athene have vowed a vow to bind thee fast when sleep lies heavy on
+thine eyes. Let me therefore go, that I may bring Briareos to aid thee
+with his hundred hands, and when he sits by thy side, then shalt thou
+need no more to fear the wrath of Here and Poseidon. And when the
+peril is past, then, O Zeus, remember that thou must rule gently and
+justly, for that power shall not stand which fights with truth and
+love; and forget not those who aid thee, nor reward them as thou hast
+rewarded Prometheus on the crags of Caucasus, for it may be that, in
+time to come, I may ask a boon from thee for Achilleus, my child, who
+dwells now in the house of his father, Peleus; and when that hour
+shall come, then call to mind how in time past I saved thee from the
+chains of Hephaistos."
+
+Then Zeus spoke gently, and said, "Hasten, Thetis, and bring hither
+the mighty Briareos, that he may guard me with his hundred hands, and
+fear not for the words that thou hast spoken, for Zeus will not cast
+aside good counsel, and the gods shall hate me no more for hard and
+unkindly words."
+
+So from the depths of the inmost earth Thetis summoned Briareos to the
+aid of Zeus, and presently his giant form was seen in the hall of
+Olympos; and the gods trembled as he sat down by the side of Zeus,
+exulting in the greatness of his strength. And Zeus spoke, and said,
+"Hearken to me, O lady Here, and Poseidon, and Athene. I know your
+counsels, and how ye purposed to bind me for my evil deeds; but fear
+not. Only do my bidding in time to come, and ye shall no more have
+cause to say that Zeus is a hard and cruel master."
+
+
+DIONYSOS.
+
+In the dark land beneath the earth, where wander the ghosts of men,
+lay Semele, the daughter of Kadmos, while her child Dionysos grew up
+full of strength and beauty on the flowery plain of Orchomenos. But
+the wrath of the lady Here still burned alike against the mother and
+the child. No pity felt she for the helpless maiden whom the fiery
+lightning of Zeus had slain; and so in the prison-house of Hades
+Semele mourned for the love which she had lost, waiting till her child
+should lead her forth to the banquet of the gods. But for him the
+wiles of Here boded long toil and grievous peril. On the land and on
+the sea strange things befel him; but from all dangers his own strong
+arm and the love of Zeus, his father, rescued him. Thus throughout the
+land men spake of his beauty and his strength, and said that he was
+worthy to be the child of the maiden who had dared to look on the
+majesty of Zeus. At length the days of his youth were ended, and a
+great yearning filled his heart to wander through the earth and
+behold the cities and the ways of men. So from Orchomenos Dionysos
+journeyed to the sea-shore, and he stood on a jutting rock to gaze on
+the tumbling waters. The glad music of the waves fell upon his ear and
+filled his soul with a wild joy. His dark locks streamed gloriously
+over his shoulders, and his purple robe rustled in the soft summer
+breeze. Before him on the blue waters the ships danced merrily in the
+sparkling sunlight, as they hastened from shore to shore on the
+errands of war and peace. Presently a ship drew near to the beach. Her
+white sail was lowered hastily to the deck, and five of her crew
+leaped out and plunged through the sea-foam to the shore, near the
+rock on which stood Dionysos. "Come with us," they said, with rough
+voices, as they seized him in their brawny arms; "it is not every day
+that Tyrrhenian mariners fall in with youths like thee." With rude
+jests they dragged him into the ship, and there made ready to bind
+him. "A brave youth and fair he is," they said; "we shall not lack
+bidders when we put forth our goods for sale." So round his limbs they
+fastened stout withy bands, but they fell from off him as withered
+leaves fall from off trees in autumn, and a careless smile played on
+his face as he sat down and looked calmly on the robbers who stood
+before him. Then on a sudden the voice of the helmsman was heard, as
+he shouted, "Fools, what do ye? The wrath of Zeus is hurrying you to
+your doom. This youth is not of mortal race; and who can tell which of
+the undying gods has put on this beautiful form? Send him straightway
+from the ship in peace, if ye fear not a deadly storm as we cross the
+open sea." Loud laughed the crew, as their chief answered, jeeringly,
+"Look out for the breeze, wise helmsman, and draw up the sail to the
+wind. That is more thy task than to busy thyself with our doings. Fear
+not for the boy. The withy bands were but weak; it is no great marvel
+that he shook them off. He shall go with us, and before we reach Egypt
+or Cyprus or the land of the Hyperboreans, doubtless he will tell us
+his name and the name of his father and mother. Fear not, we have
+found a godsend."
+
+So the sail was drawn up to the mast, and it swelled proudly before
+the breeze as the ship dashed through the crested waves. And still the
+sun shone brightly down on the water, and the soft white clouds
+floated lazily in the heavens, as the mighty Dionysos began to show
+signs and wonders before the robbers who had seized him. Over the deck
+ran a stream of purple wine, and a fragrance as of a heavenly banquet
+filled the air. Over mast and sailyard clambered the clustering vine,
+and dark masses of grapes hung from the branches. The ivy twined in
+tangled masses round the tackling, and bright garlands shone, like
+jeweled crowns, on every oar-pin. Then a great terror fell on all, as
+they cried to the old helmsman, "Quick, turn the ship to the shore;
+there is no hope for us here." But there followed a mightier wonder
+still. A loud roar broke upon the air, and a tawny lion stood before
+them, with a grim and grizzly bear by his side. Cowering like pitiful
+slaves, the Tyrrhenians crowded to the stern, and crouched round the
+good helmsman. Then the lion sprang and seized the chief, and the men
+leaped in their agony over the ship's side. But the power of Dionysos
+followed them still; and a change came over their bodies as they heard
+a voice, which said, "In the form of dolphins shall ye wander through
+the sea for many generations. No rest shall ye have by night or by
+day, while ye fly from the ravenous sharks that shall chase you
+through the seas."
+
+But before the old helmsman again stood Dionysos, the young and fair,
+in all the glory of undying beauty. Again his dark locks flowed gently
+over his shoulders, and the purple robe rustled softly in the breeze.
+"Fear not," he said, "good friend and true, because thou hast aided
+one who is sprung from the deathless race of the gods. I am Dionysos,
+the child of Zeus, the lord of the wine-cup and the revel. Thou hast
+stood by me in the hour of peril; wherefore my power shall shield thee
+from the violence of evil men and soothe thee in a green old age, till
+thine eyes close in the sleep of death and thou goest forth to dwell
+among brave heroes and good men in the asphodel meadows of Elysium."
+
+Then at the bidding of Dionysos, the north wind came and wafted the
+ship to the land of Egypt, where Proteus was King. And so began the
+long wanderings of the son of Semele, through the regions of the
+Ethiopians and the Indians, towards the rising of the sun.
+Whithersoever he went, the women of the land gathered round him with
+wild cries and songs, and he showed them of his secret things,
+punishing grievously all who set at naught the laws which he ordained.
+So, at his word, Lykurgos, the Edonian chieftain, was slain by his
+people, and none dared any more to speak against Dionysos, until he
+came back to the city where Semele, his mother, had been smitten by
+the lightnings of Zeus.
+
+
+PENTHEUS.
+
+For many years Dionysos wandered far away from the land of his birth;
+and wherever he went he taught the people of the country to worship
+him as a god, and showed them strange rites. Far away he roamed, to
+the regions where the Ganges rolls his mighty stream into the Indian
+Sea, and where the Nile brings every year rich gifts from the southern
+mountains. And in all the lands to which he came he made the women
+gather round him and honor him with wild cries and screams and
+marvelous customs such as they had never known before. As he went
+onwards the face of the land was changed. The women grouped themselves
+in companies far away from the sight of men, and, high up on the
+barren hills or down in the narrow valleys, with wild movements and
+fierce shoutings, paid honor to Dionysos, the lord of the wine-cup and
+the feast. At length, through the Thracian highlands and the soft
+plains of Thessaly, Dionysos came back to Thebes, where he had been
+born amid the roar of the thunder and the blaze of the fiery
+lightning. Kadmos, the King, who had built the city, was now old and
+weak, and he had made Pentheus, the child of his daughter Agave, King
+in his stead. So Pentheus sought to rule the people well, as his
+father Kadmos had done, and to train them in the old laws, that they
+might be quiet in the days of peace, and orderly and brave in war.
+
+ [Illustration: VULCAN (_or Hephaistos_).]
+
+Thus it came to pass that when Dionysos came near to Thebes, and
+commanded all the people to receive the new rites, which he sought to
+teach them, it grieved Pentheus at the heart; and when he saw how the
+women seemed smitten with madness, and that they wandered away in
+groups to desert places, where they lurked for many days and nights,
+far from the sight of men, he mourned for the evils which his kinsman,
+Dionysos, was bringing upon the land. So King Pentheus made a law that
+none should follow these new customs, and that the women should stay
+quietly doing their own work in their homes. But when they heard this,
+they were all full of fury, for Dionysos had deceived them by his
+treacherous words, and even Kadmos himself, in his weakness and old
+age, had been led astray by them. In crowds they thronged around the
+house of Pentheus, raising loud shouts in honor of Dionysos, and
+besought him to follow the new way, but he would not hearken to them.
+
+Thus it was for many days; and when all the city was shaken by the
+madness of the new worship, Pentheus thought that he would see with
+his own eyes the strange rites by which the women, in their
+lurking-places, did honor to Dionysos. So he went secretly to some
+hidden dells, whither he knew that the women had gone; but Dionysos
+saw him and laid his hands upon him, and straightway the mind of King
+Pentheus himself was darkened, and the madness of the worshipers was
+upon him, also. Then in his folly he climbed a tall pine-tree, to see
+what the women did in their revelry; but on a sudden one of them saw
+him, and they shrieked wildly and rooted up the tree in their fury.
+With one accord they seized Pentheus and tore him in pieces; and his
+own mother, Agave, was among the first to lay hands on her son. So
+Dionysos, the wine god, triumphed; and this was the way in which the
+new worship was set up in the Hellenic land.
+
+
+ASKLEPIOS.
+
+On the shores of the Lake Boibeis, the golden-haired Apollo saw and
+loved Koronis, the beautiful daughter of Phlegyas. Many a time they
+wandered beneath the branching elms while the dew-drops glistened like
+jewels on the leaves, or sat beneath the ivy bowers as the light of
+evening faded from the sky and the blue veil of mist fell upon the
+sleeping hills. But at length the day came when Apollo must journey to
+the western land, and as he held Koronis in his arms, his voice fell
+softly and sadly on her ear. "I go," he said, "to a land that is very
+far off, but surely I will return. More precious to me than aught else
+on the wide earth is thy love, Koronis. Let not its flower fade, but
+keep it fresh and pure as now, till I come to thee again. The dancing
+Horai trip quickly by, Koronis, and when they bring the day on which I
+may clasp thee in mine arms once more, it may be that I shall find
+thee watching proudly over the child of our love."
+
+He was gone, and for Koronis it seemed as though the sun had ceased to
+shine in the heaven. For many a day she cared not to wander by the
+winding shore in the light of early morning, or to rest in the myrtle
+bowers as the flush of evening faded from the sky. Her thoughts went
+back to the days that were passed, when Apollo, the golden-haired,
+made her glad with the music of his voice. But at length a stranger
+came to the Boibean land, and dwelt in the house of Phlegyas, and the
+spell of his glorious beauty fell upon Koronis, and dimmed the love
+which she had borne for Apollo, who was far away. Again for her the
+sun shone brightly in the heaven, and the birds filled the air with a
+joyous music, but the tale went swiftly through the land, and Apollo
+heard the evil tidings as he journeyed back with his sister, Artemis,
+to the house of Phlegyas. A look of sorrow that may not be told passed
+over his fair face; but Artemis stretched forth her hand towards the
+flashing sun and swore that the maiden should rue her fickleness.
+Soon, on the shore of the Lake Boibeis, Koronis lay smitten by the
+spear which may never miss its mark, and her child, Asklepios, lay a
+helpless babe by her side. Then the voice of Apollo was heard saying,
+"Slay not the child with the mother, he is born to do great things,
+but bear him to the wise centaur, Cheiron, and bid him train the boy
+in all his wisdom, and teach him to do brave deeds, that men may
+praise his name in the generations that shall be hereafter."
+
+So in the deep glens of Pelion the child, Asklepios, grew up to
+manhood under the teaching of Cheiron, the wise and good. In all the
+land there was none that might vie with him in strength of body; but
+the people marveled yet more at his wisdom, which passed the wisdom of
+the sons of men, for he had learned the power of every herb and leaf
+to stay the pangs of sickness and bring back health to the wasted
+form. Day by day the fame of his doings was spread abroad more widely
+through the land, so that all who were sick hastened to Asklepios and
+besought his help. But soon there went forth a rumor that the strength
+of death had been conquered by him, and that Athene, the mighty
+daughter of Zeus, had taught Asklepios how to bring back the dead from
+the dark kingdom of Hades. Then, as the number of those whom he
+brought from the gloomy Stygian land increased more and more, Hades
+went in hot anger to Olympos, and spoke bitter words against the son
+of Koronis, so that the heart of Zeus was stirred with a great fear
+lest the children of men should be delivered from death and defy the
+power of the gods. Then Zeus bowed his head, and the lightnings
+flashed from heaven, and Asklepios was smitten down by the scathing
+thunderbolt.
+
+Mighty and terrible was the grief that stirred the soul of the
+golden-haired Apollo when his son was slain. The sun shone dimly from
+the heaven; the birds were silent in the darkened groves; the trees
+bowed down their heads in sorrow, and the hearts of all the sons of
+men fainted within them, because the healer of their pains and
+sickness lived no more upon the earth. But the wrath of Apollo was
+mightier than his grief, and he smote the giant Cyclopes, who shaped
+the fiery lightnings far down in the depths of the burning mountain.
+Then the anger of Zeus was kindled against his own child, the
+golden-haired Apollo, and he spake the word that he should be banished
+from the home of the gods to the dark Stygian land. But the lady Leto
+fell at his knees and besought him for her child, and the doom was
+given that a whole year long he should serve as a bondsman in the
+house of Admetos, who ruled in Pherai.
+
+
+IXION.
+
+Fair as the blushing clouds which float in early morning across the
+blue heaven, the beautiful Dia gladdened the hearts of all who dwelt
+in the house of her father Hesioneus. There was no guile in her soft
+clear eye, for the light of Eos was not more pure than the light of
+the maiden's countenance. There was no craft in her smile, for on her
+rested the love and the wisdom of Athene. Many a chieftain sought to
+win her for his bride; but her heart beat with love only for Ixion the
+beautiful and mighty, who came to the halls of Hesioneus with horses
+which can not grow old or die. The golden hair flashed a glory from
+his head dazzling as the rays which stream from Helios when he drives
+his chariot up the heights of heaven, and his flowing robe glistened
+as he moved like the vesture which the sun-god gave to the wise maiden
+Medeia, who dwelt in Kolchis.
+
+ [Illustration: MINERVA, OR PALLAS ATHENE. (_Found in
+ Pompeii._)]
+
+Long time Ixion abode in the house of Hesioneus, for Hesioneus was
+loth to part with his child. But at the last Ixion sware to give for
+her a ransom precious as the golden fruits which Helios wins from the
+teeming earth. So the word was spoken, and Dia the fair became the
+wife of the son of Amythaon, and the undying horses bare her away in
+his gleaming chariot. Many a day and month and year the fiery steeds
+of Helios sped on their burning path, and sank down hot and wearied in
+the western sea; but no gifts came from Ixion, and Hesioneus waited in
+vain for the wealth which had tempted him to barter away his child.
+Messenger after messenger went and came, and always the tidings were
+that Ixion had better things to do than to waste his wealth on the
+mean and greedy. "Tell him," he said, "that every day I journey across
+the wide earth, gladdening the hearts of the children of men, and that
+his child has now a more glorious home than that of the mighty gods
+who dwell on the high Olympos. What would he have more?" Then day by
+day Hesioneus held converse with himself, and his people heard the
+words which came sadly from his lips. "What would I more?" he said; "I
+would have the love of my child. I let her depart, when not the wealth
+of Phoebus himself could recompense me for her loss. I bartered her
+for gifts, and Ixion withholds the wealth which he sware to give. Yet
+were all the riches of his treasure-house lying now before me, one
+loving glance from the eyes of Dia would be more than worth them all."
+
+But when his messengers went yet again to plead with Ixion, and their
+words were all spoken in vain, Hesioneus resolved to deal craftily,
+and he sent his servants by night and stole the undying horses which
+bare his gleaming chariot. Then the heart of Ixion was humbled within
+him, for he said, "My people look for me daily throughout the wide
+earth. If they see not my face their souls will faint with fear; they
+will not care to sow their fields, and the golden harvests of Demeter
+will wave no more in the summer breeze." So there came messengers
+from Ixion, who said, "If thou wouldst have the wealth which thou
+seekest, come to the house of Ixion, and the gifts shall be thine, and
+thine eyes shall once more look upon thy child." In haste Hesioneus
+went forth from his home, like a dark and lonely cloud stealing across
+the broad heaven. All night long he sped upon his way, and, as the
+light of Eos flushed the eastern sky he saw afar off the form of a
+fair woman who beckoned to him with her long white arms. Then the
+heart of the old man revived, and he said, "It is Dia, my child. It is
+enough if I can but hear her voice and clasp her in mine arms and
+die." But his limbs trembled for joy, and he waited until presently
+his daughter came and stood beside him. On her face there rested a
+softer beauty than in former days, and the sound of her voice was more
+tender and loving, as she said, "My father, Zeus has made clear to me
+many dark things, for he has given me power to search out the secret
+treasures of the earth, and to learn from the wise beings who lurk in
+its hidden places the things that shall be hereafter. And now I see
+that thy life is well-nigh done, if thou seekest to look upon the
+treasures of Ixion, for no man may gaze upon them and live. Go back,
+then, to thy home if thou wouldst not die. I would that I might come
+with thee, but so it may not be. Each day I must welcome Ixion when
+his fiery horses come back from their long journey, and every morning
+I must harness them to his gleaming chariot before he speeds upon his
+way. Yet thou hast seen my face and thou knowest that I love thee now
+even as in the days of my childhood." But the old greed filled again
+the heart of Hesioneus, and he said, "The faith of Ixion is pledged.
+If he withhold still the treasures which he sware to give, he shall
+never more see the deathless horses. I will go myself into his
+treasure-house, and see whether in very truth he has the wealth of
+which he makes such proud boasting." Then Dia clasped her arms once
+again around her father, and she kissed his face, and said, sadly,
+"Farewell, then, my father; I go to my home, for even the eyes of Dia
+may not gaze on the secret treasures of Ixion." So Dia left him, and
+when the old man turned to look on her departing form it faded from
+his sight as the clouds melt away before the sun at noon-day. Yet,
+once again he toiled on his way, until before his glorious home he saw
+Ixion, radiant as Phoebus Apollo in his beauty; but there was anger in
+his kindling eye, for he was wroth for the theft of his undying
+horses. Then the voice of Ixion smote the ear of Hesioneus, harsh as
+the flapping of the wings of Erinys when she wanders through the air.
+"So thou wilt see my secret treasures. Take heed that thy sight be
+strong." But Hesioneus spake in haste, and said, "Thy faith is
+pledged, not only to let me see them, but to bestow them on me as my
+own, for therefore didst thou win Dia my child to be thy wife." Then
+Ixion opened the door of his treasure-house and thrust in Hesioneus,
+and the everlasting fire devoured him.
+
+But far above, in the pure heaven, Zeus beheld the deed of Ixion, and
+the tidings were sent abroad to all the gods of Olympos, and to all
+the sons of men, that Ixion had slain Hesioneus by craft and guile. A
+horror of great blackness fell on the heaven above and the earth
+beneath for the sin of which Zeus alone can purge away the guilt. Once
+more Dia made ready her husband's chariot, and once more he sped on
+his fiery journey; but all men turned away their faces, and the trees
+bowed their scorched and withered heads to the ground. The flowers
+drooped sick on their stalks and died, the corn was kindled like dried
+stubble on the earth, and Ixion said within himself, "My sin is great;
+men will not look upon my face as in the old time, and the gods of
+Olympos will not cleanse my hands from the guilt of my treacherous
+deed." So he went straightway and fell down humbly before the throne
+of Zeus, and said, "O thou that dwellest in the pure aether far above
+the dark cloud, my hands are foul with blood, and thou alone canst
+cleanse them; therefore purge mine iniquity, lest all living things
+die throughout the wide earth."
+
+Then the undying gods were summoned to the judgment seat of Zeus. By
+the side of the son of Kronos stood Hermes, ever bright and fair, the
+messenger who flies on his golden sandals more swiftly than a dream;
+but fairer and more glorious than all who stood near his throne was
+the lady Here, the queen of the blue heaven. On her brow rested the
+majesty of Zeus and the glory of a boundless love which sheds gladness
+on the teeming earth and the broad sea. And even as he stood before
+the judgment-seat, the eyes of Ixion rested with a strange yearning on
+her undying beauty, and he scarce heard the words which cleansed him
+from blood-guiltiness.
+
+So Ixion tarried in the house of Zeus, far above in the pure aether,
+where only the light clouds weave a fairy net-work at the rising and
+setting of the sun. Day by day his glance rested more warm and loving
+on the countenance of the lady Here, and Zeus saw that her heart, too,
+was kindled by a strange love, so that a fierce wrath was stirred
+within him.
+
+Presently he called Hermes, the messenger, and said, "Bring up from
+among the children of Nephele one who shall wear the semblance of the
+lady Here, and place her in the path of Ixion when he wanders forth on
+the morrow." So Hermes sped away on his errand, and on that day Ixion
+spake secretly with Here, and tempted her to fly from the house of
+Zeus. "Come with me," he said; "the winds of heaven can not vie in
+speed with my deathless horses, and the palace of Zeus is but as the
+house of the dead by the side of my glorious home." Then the heart of
+Ixion bounded with a mighty delight, as he heard the words of Here.
+"To-morrow I will meet thee in the land of the children of Nephele."
+So on the morrow when the light clouds had spread their fairy net-work
+over the heaven, Ixion stole away from the house of Zeus to meet the
+lady Here. As he went, the fairy web faded from the sky, and it seemed
+to him that the lady Here stood before him in all her beauty. "Here,
+great queen of the unstained heaven," he said, "come with me, for I am
+worthy of thy love, and I quail not for all the majesty of Zeus." But
+even as he stretched forth his arms, the bright form vanished away.
+The crashing thunder rolled through the sky, and he heard the voice of
+Zeus saying, "I cleansed thee from thy guilt, I sheltered thee in my
+home, and thou hast dealt with me treacherously, as thou didst before
+with Hesioneus. Thou hast sought the love of Here, but the maiden
+which stood before thee was but a child of Nephele, whom Hermes
+brought hither to cheat thee with the semblance of the wife of Zeus.
+Wherefore hear thy doom. No more shall thy deathless horses speed with
+thy glistening chariot over the earth, but high in the heaven a
+blazing wheel shall bear thee through the rolling years, and the doom
+shall be on thee for ever and ever."
+
+So was Ixion bound on the fiery wheel, and the sons of men see the
+flashing spokes day by day as it whirls in the high heaven.
+
+
+TANTALOS.
+
+Beneath the mighty rocks of Sipylos stood the palace of Tantalos, the
+Phrygian King, gleaming with the blaze of gold and jewels. Its
+burnished roofs glistened from afar like the rays which dance on
+ruffled waters. Its marble columns flashed with hues rich as the hues
+of purple clouds which gather round the sun as he sinks down in the
+sky. And far and wide was known the name of the mighty chieftain, who
+was wiser than all the sons of mortal men; for his wife, Euryanassa,
+they said, came of the race of the undying gods, and to Tantalos Zeus
+had given the power of Helios, that he might know his secret counsels
+and see into the hidden things of earth and air and sea. Many a time,
+so the people said, he held converse with Zeus himself in his home, on
+the high Olympos, and day by day his wealth increased, his flocks and
+herds multiplied exceedingly, and in his fields the golden corn waved
+like a sunlit sea.
+
+But, as the years rolled round, there were dark sayings spread abroad,
+that the wisdom of Tantalos was turned to craft, and that his wealth
+and power were used for evil ends. Men said that he had sinned like
+Prometheus, the Titan, and had stolen from the banquet-hall of Zeus
+the food and drink of the gods, and given them to mortal men. And
+tales yet more strange were told, how that Panderos brought to him the
+hound which Rhea placed in the cave of Dikte to guard the child, Zeus,
+and how, when Hermes bade him yield up the dog, Tantalos laughed him
+to scorn, and said, "Dost thou ask me for the hound which guarded Zeus
+in the days of his childhood? It were as well to ask me for the unseen
+breeze which sounds through the groves of Sipylos."
+
+Then, last of all, men spake in whispers of a sin yet more fearful,
+which Tantalos had sinned, and the tale was told that Zeus and all the
+gods came down from Olympos to feast in his banquet-hall, and how,
+when the red wine sparkled in the golden goblets, Tantalos placed
+savory meat before Zeus, and bade him eat of a costly food, and, when
+the feast was ended, told him that in the dish had lain the limbs of
+the child Pelops, whose sunny smile had gladdened the hearts of mortal
+men. Then came the day of vengeance, for Zeus bade Hermes bring back
+Pelops again from the kingdom of Hades to the land of living men, and
+on Tantalos was passed a doom which should torment him for ever and
+ever. In the shadowy region where wander the ghosts of men, Tantalos,
+they said, lay prisoned in a beautiful garden, gazing on bright
+flowers and glistening fruits and laughing waters, but for all that
+his tongue was parched, and his limbs were faint with hunger. No drop
+of water might cool his lips, no luscious fruit might soothe his
+agony. If he bowed his head to drink, the water fled away; if he
+stretched forth his hand to pluck the golden apples, they would vanish
+like mists before the face of the rising sun, and in place of ripe
+fruits glistening among green leaves, a mighty rock beetled above his
+head, as though it must fall and grind him to powder. Wherefore men
+say, when the cup of pleasure is dashed from the lips of those who
+would drink of it, that on them has fallen the doom of the Phrygian
+Tantalos.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT SCULPTURING ON TANTALOS.]
+
+
+THE TOILS OF HERAKLES.
+
+By the doom of his father Zeus, Herakles served in Argos the false and
+cruel Eurystheus. For so it was that Zeus spake of the birth of
+Herakles to Here, the Queen, and said, "This day shall a child be born
+of the race of Perseus, who shall be the mightiest of the sons of
+men." Even so he spake, because Ate had deceived him by her evil
+counsel. And Here asked whether this should be so in very deed, and
+Zeus bowed his head, and the word went forth which could not be
+recalled. Then Here went to the mighty Eileithyiai, and by their aid
+she brought it about that Eurystheus was born before Herakles the son
+of Zeus.
+
+ [Illustration: URANIA (_Muse of Astronomy_).]
+
+So the lot was fixed that all his life long Herakles should toil at
+the will of a weak and crafty master. Brave in heart and stout of
+body, so that no man might be matched with him for strength or beauty,
+yet was he to have no profit of all his labor till he should come to
+the land of the undying gods. But it grieved Zeus that the craft of
+Here, the Queen, had brought grievous wrong on his child, and he cast
+forth Ate from the halls of Olympos, that she might no more dwell
+among the gods. Then he spake the word that Herakles should dwell with
+the gods in Olympos, as soon as the days of his toil on earth should
+be ended.
+
+Thus the child grew in the house of Amphitryon, full of beauty and
+might, so that men marveled at his great strength; for as he lay one
+day sleeping, there came two serpents into the chamber, and twisted
+their long coils round the cradle, and peered upon him with their
+cold glassy eyes, till the sound of their hissing woke him from his
+slumber. But Herakles trembled not for fear, but he stretched forth
+his arms and placed his hands on the serpents' necks, and tightened
+his grasp more and more till they fell dead on the ground. Then all
+knew by this sign that Herakles must do great things and suffer many
+sorrows, but that in the end he should win the victory. So the child
+waxed great and strong, and none could be matched with him for
+strength of arm and swiftness of foot and in taming of horses and in
+wrestling. The best men in Argos were his teachers, and the wise
+centaur Cheiron was his friend, and taught him ever to help the weak
+and take their part against any who oppressed them. So, for all his
+great strength, none were more gentle than Herakles, none more full of
+pity for those who were bowed down by pain and labor.
+
+But it was a sore grief to Herakles that all his life long he must
+toil for Eurystheus, while others were full of joy and pleasure and
+feasted at tables laden with good things. And so it came to pass that
+one day, as he thought of these things, he sat down by the wayside,
+where two paths met, in a lonely valley far away from the dwellings of
+men. Suddenly, as he lifted up his eyes, he saw two women coming
+towards him, each from a different road. They were both fair to look
+upon; but the one had a soft and gentle face, and she was clad in a
+seemly robe of pure white. The other looked boldly at Herakles, and
+her face was more ruddy, and her eyes shone with a hot and restless
+glare. From her shoulders streamed the long folds of her soft
+embroidered robe, which scantily hid the beauty of her form beneath.
+With a quick and eager step she hastened to Herakles, that she might
+be the first to speak. And she said, "I know, O man of much toil and
+sorrow, that thy heart is sad within thee, and that thou knowest not
+which way thou shalt turn. Come then with me, and I will lead thee on
+a soft and pleasant road, where no storms shall vex thee and no
+sorrows shall trouble thee. Thou shalt never hear of wars and battles,
+and sickness and pain shall not come nigh to thee; but all day long
+shalt thou feast at rich banquets and listen to the songs of
+minstrels. Thou shalt not want for sparkling wine, and soft robes, and
+pleasant couches; thou shalt not lack the delights of love, for the
+bright eyes of maidens shall look gently upon thee, and their songs
+shall lull thee to sleep in the soft evening hour, when the stars come
+out in the sky." And Herakles said, "Thou promisest to me pleasant
+things, lady, and I am sorely pressed down by a hard master. What is
+thy name?" "My friends," said she, "call me the happy and joyous one;
+and they who look not upon me with love have given me an evil name,
+but they speak falsely."
+
+Then the other spake, and said, "O Herakles, I, too, know whence thou
+art, and the doom which is laid upon thee, and how thou hast lived and
+toiled even from the days of thy childhood; and therefore I think that
+thou wilt give me thy love, and if thou dost, then men shall speak of
+thy good deeds in time to come, and my name shall be yet more exalted.
+But I have no fair words wherewith to cheat thee. Nothing good is ever
+reached without labor; nothing great is ever won without toil. If thou
+seek for fruit from the earth thou must tend and till it; if thou
+wouldst have the favor of the undying gods thou must come before them
+with prayers and offerings; if thou longest for the love of men thou
+must do them good." Then the other brake in upon her words, and said,
+"Thou seest, Herakles, that Arete seeks to lead thee on a long and
+weary path, but my broad and easy road leads thee quickly to
+happiness." Then Arete answered her (and her eye flashed with anger),
+"O wretched one, what good thing hast thou to give, and what pleasure
+canst thou feel, who knowest not what it is to toil? Thy lusts are
+pampered, thy taste is dull. Thou quaffest the rich wine before thou
+art thirsty, and fillest thyself with dainties before thou art
+hungry. Though thou art numbered amongst the undying ones the gods
+have cast thee forth out of heaven, and good men scorn thee. The
+sweetest of all sounds, when a man's heart praises him, thou hast
+never heard; the sweetest of all sights, when a man looks on his good
+deeds, thou has never seen. They who bow down to thee are weak and
+feeble in youth, and wretched and loathsome in old age. But I dwell
+with the gods in heaven and with good men on earth; and without me
+nothing good and pure may be thought and done. More than all others am
+I honored by the gods, more than all others am I cherished by the men
+who love me. In peace and in war, in health and in sickness, I am the
+aid of all who seek me; and my help never fails. My children know the
+purest of all pleasures, when the hour of rest comes after the toil of
+day. In youth they are strong, and their limbs are quick with health;
+in old age they look back upon a happy life; and when they lie down to
+the sleep of death their name is cherished among men for their brave
+and good deeds. Love me, therefore, Herakles, and obey my words, and
+thou shalt dwell with me, when thy toil is ended, in the home of the
+undying gods."
+
+Then Herakles bowed down his head and sware to follow her counsels;
+and when the two maidens passed away from his sight he went forth with
+a good courage to his labor and suffering. In many a land he sojourned
+and toiled to do the will of the false Eurystheus. Good deeds he did
+for the sons of men; but he had no profit of all his labor, save the
+love of the gentle Iole. Far away in Oechalia, where the sun rises
+from the eastern sea, he saw the maiden in the halls of Eurytos, and
+sought to win her love. But the word which Zeus spake to Here, the
+Queen, gave him no rest; and Eurystheus sent him forth to other lands,
+and he saw the maiden no more.
+
+But Herakles toiled on with a good heart, and soon the glory of his
+great deeds were spread abroad throughout all the earth. Minstrels
+sang how he slew the monsters and savage beasts who vexed the sons of
+men, how he smote the Hydra in the land of Lernai, and the wild boar,
+which haunted the groves of Erymanthos, and the Harpies, who lurked in
+the swamps of Stymphalos. They told how he wandered far away to the
+land of the setting sun, when Eurystheus bade him pluck the golden
+apples from the garden of the Hesperides--how, over hill and dale,
+across marsh and river, through thicket and forest, he came to the
+western sea, and crossed to the African land, where Atlas lifts up his
+white head to the high heaven--how he smote the dragon which guarded
+the brazen gates, and brought the apples to King Eurystheus. They sang
+of his weary journey, when he roamed through the land of the
+Ethiopians and came to the wild and desolate heights of Caucasus--how
+he saw a giant form high on the naked rock, and the vulture which
+gnawed the Titan's heart with its beak. They told how he slew the
+bird, and smote off the cruel chains, and set Prometheus free. They
+sang how Eurystheus laid on him a fruitless task, and sent him down to
+the dark land of King Hades to bring up the monster, Kerberos; how,
+upon the shore of the gloomy Acheron, he found the mighty hound who
+guards the home of Hades and Persephone; how he seized him in his
+strong right hand and bore him to King Eurystheus. They sang of the
+days when he toiled in the land of Queen Omphale, beneath the Libyan
+sun; how he destroyed the walls of Ilion when Laomedon was King, and
+how he went to Kalydon and wooed and won Deianeira, the daughter of
+the chieftain, Oineus.
+
+Long time he abode in Kalydon, and the people of the land loved him
+for his kindly deeds. But one day his spear smote the boy, Eunomos,
+and his father was not angry, because he knew that Herakles sought not
+to slay him. Yet Herakles would go forth from the land, for his heart
+was grieved for the death of the child. So he journeyed to the banks
+of the Evenos, where he smote the centaur, Nessos, because he sought
+to lay hands on Deianeira. Swiftly the poison from the barb of the
+spear ran through the centaur's veins; but Nessos knew how to avenge
+himself on Herakles, and with a faint voice he besought Deianeira to
+fill a shell with his blood, so that, if ever she lost the love of
+Herakles, she might win it again by spreading it on a robe for him to
+wear.
+
+So Nessos died, and Herakles went to the land of Trachis, and there
+Deianeira abode while he journeyed to the eastern sea. Many times the
+moon waxed and waned in the heaven, and the corn sprang up from the
+ground and gave its golden harvest, but Herakles came not back. At
+last the tidings came how he had done great deeds in distant lands,
+how Eurytos, the King of Oechalia, was slain, and how, among the
+captives, was the daughter of the King, the fairest of all the maidens
+of the land.
+
+Then the words of Nessos came back to Deianeira, and she hastened to
+anoint a broidered robe, for she thought only that the love of
+Herakles had passed away from her, and that she must win it to herself
+again. So with words of love and honor, she sent the gift for Herakles
+to put on, and the messenger found him on the Keneian shore, where he
+was offering rich sacrifice to Zeus, his father, and gave him the
+broidered robe in token of the love of Deianeira. Then Herakles wrapt
+it closely round him, and he stood by the altar while the dark smoke
+went up in a thick cloud to the heaven. Presently the vengeance of
+Nessos was accomplished. Through the veins of Herakles the poison
+spread like devouring fire. Fiercer and fiercer grew the burning pain,
+and Herakles vainly strove to tear the robe and cast it from him. It
+ate into the flesh, and as he struggled in his agony, the dark blood
+gushed from his body in streams. Then came the maiden Iole to his
+side. With her gentle hands she sought to soothe his pain, and with
+pitying words to cheer him in his woe. Then once more the face of
+Herakles flushed with a deep joy, and his eye glanced with a pure
+light, as in the days of his might and strength, and he said, "Ah,
+Iole, brightest of maidens, thy voice shall cheer me as I sink down in
+the sleep of death. I loved thee in the bright morning time, when my
+hand was strong and my foot swift, but Zeus willed not that thou
+shouldst be with me in my long wanderings. Yet I grieve not now, for
+again thou hast come, fair as the soft clouds which gather round the
+dying sun." Then Herakles bade them bear him to the high crest of Oita
+and gather wood. So when all was ready, he lay down to rest, and they
+kindled the great pile. The black mists were spreading over the sky,
+but still Herakles sought to gaze on the fair face of Iole and to
+comfort her in her sorrow. "Weep not, Iole," he said, "my toil is
+done, and now is the time for rest. I shall see thee again in the
+bright land which is never trodden by the feet of night."
+
+ [Illustration: JUPITER (_or Zeus with his Thunderbolt_).]
+
+Blacker and blacker grew the evening shades, and only the long line of
+light broke the darkness which gathered round the blazing pile. Then
+from the high heaven came down the thick cloud, and the din of its
+thunder crashed through the air. So Zeus carried his child home, and
+the halls of Olympos were opened to welcome the bright hero who rested
+from his mighty toil. There the fair maiden, Arete, placed a crown
+upon his head, and Hebe clothed him in a white robe for the banquet of
+the gods.
+
+
+ADMETOS.
+
+There was high feasting in the halls of Pheres, because Admetos, his
+son, had brought home Alkestis, the fairest of all the daughters of
+Pelias, to be his bride. The minstrels sang of the glories of the
+house of Pherai, and of the brave deeds of Admetos--how, by the aid of
+the golden-haired Apollo, he had yoked the lion and the boar, and made
+them drag his chariot to Iolkos, for Pelias had said that only to one
+who came thus would he give his daughter, Alkestis, to be his wife. So
+the sound of mirth and revelry echoed through the hall, and the red
+wine was poured forth in honor of Zeus and all the gods, each by his
+name, but the name of Artemis was forgotten, and her wrath burned sore
+against the house of Admetos.
+
+But one, mightier yet than Artemis, was nigh at hand to aid him, for
+Apollo, the son of Leto, served as a bondman in the house of Pheres,
+because he had slain the Cyclopes, who forged the thunderbolts of
+Zeus. No mortal blood flowed in his veins, but, though he could
+neither grow old nor die, nor could any of the sons of men do him
+hurt, yet all loved him for his gentle dealing, for all things had
+prospered in the land from the day when he came to the house of
+Admetos. And so it came to pass that when the sacrifice of the
+marriage feast was ended, he spake to Admetos, and said, "The anger of
+Artemis, my sister, is kindled against thee, and it may be that she
+will smite thee with her spear, which can never miss its mark. But
+thou hast been to me a kind task-master, and though I am here as thy
+bond-servant, yet have I power still with my father, Zeus, and I have
+obtained for thee this boon, that, if thou art smitten by the spear of
+Artemis, thou shalt not die, if thou canst find one who in thy stead
+will go down to the dark kingdom of Hades."
+
+Many a time the sun rose up into the heaven and sank down to sleep
+beneath the western waters, and still the hours went by full of deep
+joy to Admetos and his wife, Alkestis, for their hearts were knit
+together in a pure love, and no cloud of strife spread its dark shadow
+over their souls. Once only Admetos spake to her of the words of
+Apollo, and Alkestis answered with a smile, "Where is the pain of
+death, my husband, for those who love truly? Without thee I care not
+to live; wherefore, to die for thee will be a boon."
+
+Once again there was high feasting in the house of Admetos, for
+Herakles, the mighty son of Alkmene, had come thither as he journeyed
+through many lands, doing the will of the false Eurystheus. But, even
+as the minstrels sang the praises of the chieftains of Pherai, the
+flush of life faded from the face of Admetos, and he felt that the
+hour of which Apollo had warned him was come. But soon the blood came
+back tingling through his veins, when he thought of the sacrifice
+which alone could save him from the sleep of death. Yet what will not
+a man do for his life? and how shall he withstand when the voice of
+love pleads on his side? So once again the fair Alkestis looked
+lovingly upon him, as she said, "There is no darkness for me in the
+land of Hades, if only I die for thee," and even as she spake the
+spell passed from Admetos, and the strength of the daughter of Pelias
+ebbed slowly away.
+
+The sound of mirth and feasting was hushed. The harps of the minstrels
+hung silent on the wall, and men spake in whispering voices, for the
+awful Moirai were at hand to bear Alkestis to the shadowy kingdom. On
+the couch lay her fair form, pale as the white lily which floats on
+the blue water, and beautiful as Eos when her light dies out of the
+sky in the evening. Yet a little while, and the strife was ended, and
+Admetos mourned in bitterness and shame for the love which he had
+lost.
+
+Then the soul of the brave Herakles was stirred within him, and he
+sware that the Moirai should not win the victory. So he departed in
+haste, and far away in the unseen land he did battle with the powers
+of death, and rescued Alkestis from Hades, the stern and rugged King.
+
+So once more she stood before Admetos, more radiant in her beauty than
+in former days, and once more in the halls of Pherai echoed the sound
+of high rejoicing, and the minstrels sang of the mighty deeds of the
+good and brave Herakles, as he went on his way from the home of
+Admetos to do in other lands the bidding of the fair mean Eurystheus.
+
+
+EPIMETHEUS AND PANDORA.
+
+There was strife between Zeus and men, for Prometheus stood forth on
+their side and taught them how they might withstand the new god who
+sat on the throne of Kronos; and he said, "O men, Zeus is greedy of
+riches and honor, and your flocks and herds will be wasted with
+burnt-offerings if ye offer up to Zeus the whole victim. Come and let
+us make a covenant with him, that there may be a fair portion for him
+and for men." So Prometheus chose out a large ox, and slew him and
+divided the body. Under the skin he placed the entrails and the
+flesh, and under the fat he placed the bones. Then he said, "Choose
+thy portion, O Zeus, and let that on which thou layest thine hands be
+thy share forever." So Zeus stretched forth his hand in haste, and
+placed it upon the fat, and fierce was his wrath when he found only
+the bare bones underneath it. Wherefore men offer up to the undying
+gods only the bones and fat of the victims that are slain.
+
+Then in his anger Zeus sought how he might avenge himself on the race
+of men, and he took away from them the gift of fire, so that they were
+vexed by cold and darkness and hunger, until Prometheus brought them
+down fire which he had stolen from heaven. Then was the rage of Zeus
+still more cruel, and he smote Prometheus with his thunderbolts, and
+at his bidding Hermes bare him to the crags of Caucasus, and bound him
+with iron chains to the hard rock, where the vulture gnawed his heart
+with its beak.
+
+But the wrath of Zeus was not appeased, and he sought how he might yet
+more vex the race of men; and he remembered how the Titan Prometheus
+had warned them to accept no gift from the gods, and how he left his
+brother Epimetheus to guard them against the wiles of the son of
+Kronos. And he said within himself, "The race of men knows neither
+sickness nor pain, strife or war, theft or falsehood; for all these
+evil things are sealed up in the great cask which is guarded by
+Epimetheus. I will let loose the evils, and the whole earth shall be
+filled with woe and misery."
+
+So he called Hephaistos, the lord of fire, and he said, "Make ready a
+gift which all the undying gods shall give to the race of men. Take
+the earth, and fashion it into the shape of woman. Very fair let it be
+to look upon, but give her an evil nature, that the race of men may
+suffer for all the deeds that they have done to me." Then Hephaistos
+took the clay and moulded from it the image of a fair woman, and
+Athene clothed her in a beautiful robe, and placed a crown upon her
+head, from which a veil fell over her snowy shoulders. And Hermes, the
+messenger of Zeus, gave her the power of words, and a greedy mind, to
+cheat and deceive the race of men. Then Hephaistos brought her before
+the assembly of the gods, and they marveled at the greatness of her
+beauty; and Zeus took her by the hand and gave her to Epimetheus, and
+said, "Ye toil hard, ye children of men; behold one who shall soothe
+and cheer you when the hours of toil are ended. The undying gods have
+taken pity on you, because ye have none to comfort you; and woman is
+their gift to men, therefore is her name called Pandora."
+
+Then Epimetheus forgot the warning of his brother, and the race of men
+did obeisance to Zeus, and received Pandora at his hands, for the
+greatness of her beauty enslaved the hearts of all who looked upon
+her. But they rejoiced not long in the gift of the gods, for Pandora
+saw a great cask on the threshold of the house of Epimetheus, and she
+lifted the lid, and from it came strife and war, plague and sickness,
+theft and violence, grief and sorrow. Then in her terror she set down
+the lid again upon the cask, and Hope was shut up within it, so that
+she could not comfort the race of men for the grievous evil which
+Pandora had brought upon them.
+
+
+IO AND PROMETHEUS.
+
+In the halls of Inachos, King of Argos, Zeus beheld and loved the fair
+maiden Io, but when Here, the Queen, knew it, she was very wroth, and
+sought to slay her. Then Zeus changed the maiden into a heifer, to
+save her from the anger of Here, but presently Here learned that the
+heifer was the maiden whom she hated, and she went to Zeus, and said,
+"Give me that which I shall desire," and Zeus answered, "Say on." Then
+Here said, "Give me the beautiful heifer which I see feeding in the
+pastures of King Inachos." So Zeus granted her prayer, for he liked
+not to confess what he had done to Io to save her from the wrath of
+Here, and Here took the heifer and bade Argos, with the hundred eyes,
+watch over it by night and by day.
+
+ [Illustration: THALIA.]
+
+Long time Zeus sought how he might deliver the maiden from the
+vengeance of Here, but he strove in vain, for Argos never slept, and
+his hundred eyes saw everything around him, and none could approach
+without being seen and slain. At the last Zeus sent Hermes, the bright
+messenger of the gods, who stole gently towards Argos, playing soft
+music on his lute. Soothingly the sweet sounds fell upon his ear, and
+a deep sleep began to weigh down his eyelids, until Argos, with the
+hundred eyes, lay powerless before Hermes. Then Hermes drew his sharp
+sword, and with a single stroke he smote off his head, wherefore men
+call him the slayer of Argos, with the hundred eyes. But the wrath of
+Here was fiercer than ever when she learned that her watchman was
+slain, and she sware that the heifer should have no rest, but wander
+in terror and pain from land to land. So she sent a gad-fly to goad
+the heifer with its fiery sting over hill and valley, across sea and
+river, to torment her if she lay down to rest, and madden her with
+pain when she sought to sleep. In grief and madness she fled from the
+pastures of Inachos, past the city of Erechtheus into the land of
+Kadmos, the Theban. On and on still she went, resting not by night or
+day, through the Dorian and Thessalian plains, until at last she came
+to the wild Thrakian land. Her feet bled on the sharp stones, her body
+was torn by the thorns and brambles, and tortured by the stings of the
+fearful gad-fly. Still she fled on and on, while the tears streamed
+often down her cheeks, and her moaning showed the greatness of her
+agony. "O Zeus," she said, "dost thou not see me in my misery? Thou
+didst tell me once of thy love, and dost thou suffer me now to be
+driven thus wildly from land to land, without hope of comfort or rest?
+Slay me at once, I pray thee, or suffer me to sink into the deep sea,
+that so I may put off the sore burden of my woe."
+
+But Io knew not that, while she spake, one heard her who had suffered
+even harder things from Zeus. Far above her head, towards the desolate
+crags of Caucasus, the wild eagle soared shrieking in the sky, and the
+vulture hovered near, as though waiting close to some dying man till
+death should leave him for its prey. Dark snow-clouds brooded heavily
+on the mountain, the icy wind crept lazily through the frozen air, and
+Io thought that the hour of her death was come. Then, as she raised
+her head, she saw far off a giant form, which seemed fastened by nails
+to the naked rock, and a low groan reached her ear, as of one in
+mortal pain, and she heard a voice which said, "Whence comest thou,
+daughter of Inachos, into this savage wilderness? Hath the love of
+Zeus driven thee thus to the icy corners of the earth?" Then Io gazed
+at him in wonder and awe, and said, "How dost thou know my name and my
+sorrows? and what is thine own wrong? Tell me (if it is given to thee
+to know) what awaits thee and me in the time to come, for sure I am
+that thou art no mortal man. Thy giant form is as the form of gods or
+heroes, who come down sometimes to mingle with the sons of men, and
+great must be the wrath of Zeus, that thou shouldst be thus tormented
+here." Then he said, "Maiden, thou seest the Titan Prometheus, who
+brought down fire for the children of men, and taught them how to
+build themselves houses and till the earth, and how to win for
+themselves food and clothing. I gave them wise thoughts and good laws
+and prudent counsel, and raised them from the life of beasts to a life
+which was fit for speaking men. But the son of Kronos was afraid at
+my doings, lest, with the aid of men, I might hurl him from his place
+and set up new gods upon his throne. So he forgot all my good deeds in
+times past, how I had aided him when the earth-born giants sought to
+destroy his power and heaped rock on rock and crag on crag to smite
+him on his throne, and he caught me by craft, telling me in smooth
+words how that he was my friend, and that my honor should not fail in
+the halls of Olympos. So he took me unawares and bound me with iron
+chains, and bade Hephaistos take and fasten me to this mountain-side,
+where the frost and wind and heat scorch and torment me by day and
+night, and the vulture gnaws my heart with its merciless beak. But my
+spirit is not wholly cast down, for I know that I have done good to
+the sons of men, and that they honor the Titan Prometheus, who has
+saved them from cold and hunger and sickness. And well I know, also,
+that the reign of Zeus shall one day come to an end, and that another
+shall sit at length upon his throne, even as now he sits on the throne
+of his father, Kronos. Hither come, also, those who seek to comfort
+me, and thou seest before thee the daughters of Okeanos, who have but
+now left the green halls of their father to talk with me. Listen,
+then, to me, daughter of Inachos, and I will tell thee what shall
+befall thee in time to come. Hence from the ice-bound chain of
+Caucasus thou shalt roam into the Scythian land and the regions of
+Chalybes. Thence thou shalt come to the dwelling-place of the Amazons,
+on the banks of the river Thermodon; these shall guide thee on thy
+way, until at length thou shalt come to a strait, which thou wilt
+cross, and which shall tell by its name forever where the heifer
+passed from Europe into Asia. But the end of thy wanderings is not
+yet."
+
+Then Io could no longer repress her grief, and her tears burst forth
+afresh; and Prometheus said, "Daughter of Inachos, if thou sorrowest
+thus at what I have told thee, how wilt thou bear to hear what beyond
+these things there remains for thee to do?" But Io said, "Of what use
+is it, O Titan, to tell me of these woeful wanderings? Better were it
+now to die and be at rest from all this misery and sorrow." "Nay, not
+so, O maiden of Argos," said Prometheus, "for if thou livest, the days
+will come when Zeus shall be cast down from his throne, and the end of
+his reign shall also be the end of my sufferings. For when thou hast
+passed by the Thrakian Bosporos into the land of Asia, thou wilt
+wander on through many regions, where the Gorgons dwell, and the
+Arimaspians and Ethiopians, until at last thou shalt come to the
+three-cornered land where the mighty Nile goes out by its many arms
+into the sea. There shall be thy resting-place, and there shall
+Epaphos, thy son, be born, from whom, in times yet far away, shall
+spring the great Herakles, who shall break my chain and set me free
+from my long torments. And if in this thou doubtest my words, I can
+tell thee of every land through which thou hast passed on thy journey
+hither; but it is enough if I tell thee how the speaking oaks of
+Dodona hailed thee as one day to be the wife of Zeus and the mother of
+the mighty Epaphos. Hasten, then, on thy way, daughter of Inachos.
+Long years of pain and sorrow await thee still, but my griefs shall
+endure for many generations. It avails not now to weep, but this
+comfort thou hast, that thy lot is happier than mine, and for both of
+us remains the surety that the right shall at last conquer, and the
+power of Zeus shall be brought low, even as the power of Kronos, whom
+he hurled from his ancient throne. Depart hence quickly, for I see
+Hermes, the messenger, drawing nigh, and perchance he comes with fresh
+torments for thee and me."
+
+So Io went on her weary road, and Hermes drew nigh to Prometheus, and
+bade him once again yield himself to the will of the mighty Zeus. But
+Prometheus laughed him to scorn, and as Hermes turned to go away, the
+icy wind came shrieking through the air, and the dark cloud sank
+lower and lower down the hillside, until it covered the rock on which
+the body of the Titan was nailed, and the great mountain heaved with
+the earthquake, and the blazing thunderbolts darted fearfully through
+the sky. Brighter and brighter flashed the lightning, and louder
+pealed the thunder in the ears of Prometheus, but he quailed not for
+all the fiery majesty of Zeus, and still, as the storm grew fiercer
+and the curls of fire were wreathed around his form, his voice was
+heard amid the din and roar, and it spake of the day when the good
+shall triumph and unjust power shall be crushed and destroyed forever.
+
+
+DEUKALION.
+
+From his throne on the high Olympos, Zeus looked down on the children
+of men, and saw that everywhere they followed only their lusts, and
+cared nothing for right or for law. And ever, as their hearts waxed
+grosser in their wickedness, they devised for themselves new rites to
+appease the anger of the gods, till the whole earth was filled with
+blood. Far away in the hidden glens of the Arcadian hills the sons of
+Lykaon feasted and spake proud words against the majesty of Zeus, and
+Zeus himself came down from his throne to see their way and their
+doings.
+
+The sun was sinking down in the sky when an old man drew nigh to the
+gate of Lykosoura. His gray locks streamed in the breeze, and his
+beard fell in tangled masses over his tattered mantle. With staff in
+hand he plodded wearily on his way, listening to the sound of revelry
+which struck upon his ear. At last he came to the Agora, and the sons
+of Lykaon crowded round him. "So the wise seer is come," they said;
+"what tale hast thou to tell us, old man? Canst thou sing of the days
+when the earth came forth from Chaos? Thou art old enough to have been
+there to see." Then with rude jeering they seized him and placed him
+on the ground near the place where they were feasting. "We have done
+a great sacrifice to Zeus this day, and thy coming is timely, for thou
+shalt share the banquet." So they placed before him a dish, and the
+food that was in it was the flesh of man, for with the blood of men
+they thought to turn aside the anger of the gods. But the old man
+thrust aside the dish, and, as he rose up, the weariness of age passed
+away from his face, and the sons of Lykaon were scorched by the glory
+of his countenance, for Zeus stood before them and scathed them all
+with his lightnings, and their ashes cumbered the ground.
+
+ [Illustration: LAOCOON, THE FALSE PRIEST. (_Sculptured 3000
+ years ago._)]
+
+Then Zeus returned to his home on Olympos, and he gave the word that a
+flood of waters should be let loose upon the earth, that the sons of
+men might die for their great wickedness. So the west wind rose in his
+might, and the dark rain-clouds veiled the whole heaven, for the winds
+of the north which drive away the mists and vapors were shut up in
+their prison-house. On the hill and valley burst the merciless rain,
+and the rivers, loosened from their courses, rushed over the wide
+plains and up the mountain-side. From his home on the highlands of
+Phthia, Deukalion looked forth on the angry sky, and, when he saw the
+waters swelling in the valleys beneath, he called Pyrrha, his wife,
+the daughter of Epimetheus, and said to her, "The time is come of
+which my father, the wise Prometheus, forewarned me. Make ready,
+therefore, the ark which I have built, and place in it all that we may
+need for food while the flood of waters is out upon the earth. Far
+away on the crags of Caucasus the iron nails rend the flesh of
+Prometheus, and the vulture gnaws his heart, but the words which he
+spake are being fulfilled, that for the wickedness of men the flood of
+waters would come upon the earth, for Zeus himself is but the servant
+of one that is mightier than he, and must do his bidding."
+
+Then Pyrrha hastened to make all things ready, and they waited until
+the waters rose up to the highlands of Phthia and floated away the ark
+of Deukalion. The fishes swam amidst the old elm groves, and twined
+amongst the gnarled boughs of the oaks, while on the face of the
+waters were tossed the bodies of men, and Deukalion looked on the dead
+faces of stalwart warriors, of maidens, and of babes, as they rose and
+fell upon the heaving waves. Eight days the ark was borne on the
+flood, while the waters covered the hills, and all the children of men
+died save a few who found a place of shelter on the summit of the
+mountains. On the ninth day the ark rested on the heights of
+Parnassos, and Deukalion, with his wife Pyrrha, stepped forth upon the
+desolate earth. Hour by hour the waters fled down the valleys, and
+dead fishes and sea-monsters lay caught in the tangled branches of the
+forest. But, far as the eye could reach, there was no sign of living
+thing, save of the vultures who wheeled in circles through the heaven
+to swoop upon their prey, and Deukalion looked on Pyrrha, and their
+hearts were filled with a grief which can not be told. "We know not,"
+he said, "whether there live any one of all the sons of men, or in
+what hour the sleep of death may fall upon us. But the mighty being
+who sent the flood has saved us from its waters; to him let us build
+an altar and bring our thankoffering." So the altar was built and Zeus
+had respect to the prayer of Deukalion, and presently Hermes, the
+messenger, stood before him. "Ask what thou wilt," he said, "and it
+shall be granted thee, for in thee alone of all the sons of men hath
+Zeus found a clean hand and a pure heart." Then Deukalion bowed
+himself before Hermes, and said, "The whole earth lies desolate; I
+pray thee, let men be seen upon it once more." "Even so shall it come
+to pass," said Hermes, "if ye will cover your faces with your mantles
+and cast the bones of your mother behind you as ye go upon your way."
+
+So Hermes departed to the home of Zeus, and Deukalion pondered his
+words, till the wisdom of his father, Prometheus, showed him that his
+mother was the earth, and that they were to cast the stones behind
+them as they went down from Parnassos. Then they did each as they were
+bidden, and the stones which Deukalion threw were turned into men, but
+those which were thrown by Pyrrha became women, and the people which
+knew neither father nor mother went forth to their toil throughout the
+wide earth. The sun shone brightly in the heaven and dried up the
+slime beneath them; yet was their toil but a weary labor, and so hath
+it been until this day--a struggle hard as the stones from which they
+have been taken.
+
+But as the years passed on, there were children born to Pyrrha and
+Deukalion, and the old race of men still lived on the heights of
+Phthia. From Helen their son, sprang the mighty tribes of the
+Hellenes, and from Protogeneia, their daughter, was born Aethlios, the
+man of toil and suffering, the father of Endymion, the fair, who
+sleeps on the hill of Latmos.
+
+
+POSEIDON AND ATHENE.
+
+Near the banks of the stream Kephisos, Erechtheus had built a city in
+a rocky and thin-soiled land. He was the father of a free and brave
+people, and though his city was small and humble, yet Zeus, by his
+wisdom, foresaw that one day it would become the noblest of all cities
+throughout the wide earth. And there was a strife between Poseidon,
+the lord of the sea, and Athene, the virgin child of Zeus, to see by
+whose name the city of Erechtheus should be called. So Zeus appointed
+a day in which he would judge between them in presence of the great
+gods who dwell on high Olympos.
+
+When the day was come, the gods sat each on his golden throne, on the
+banks of the stream Kephisos. High above all was the throne of Zeus,
+the great father of gods and men, and by his side sat Here, the
+Queen. This day even the sons of men might gaze upon them, for Zeus
+had laid aside his lightnings, and all the gods had come down in peace
+to listen to his judgment between Poseidon and Athene. There sat
+Phoebus Apollo with his golden harp in his hand. His face glistened
+for the brightness of his beauty, but there was no anger in his
+gleaming eye, and idle by his side lay the unerring spear, with which
+he smites all who deal falsely and speak lies. There, beside him, sat
+Artemis, his sister, whose days were spent in chasing the beasts of
+the earth and in sporting with the nymphs on the reedy banks of
+Eurotas. There, by the side of Zeus, sat Hermes, ever bright and
+youthful, the spokesman of the gods, with staff in hand, to do the
+will of the great father. There sat Hephaistos, the lord of fire, and
+Hestia, who guards the hearth. There, too, was Ares, who delights in
+war, and Dionysos, who loves the banquet and the wine-cup, and
+Aphrodite, who rose from the sea-foam, to fill the earth with laughter
+and woe.
+
+Before them all stood the great rivals, awaiting the judgment of Zeus.
+High in her left hand, Athene held the invincible spear, and on her
+aegis, hidden from mortal sight, was the face on which no man may gaze
+and live. Close beside her, proud in the greatness of his power,
+Poseidon waited the issue of the contest. In his right hand gleamed
+the trident, with which he shakes the earth and cleaves the waters of
+the sea.
+
+Then, from his golden seat, rose the spokesman, Hermes, and his clear
+voice sounded over all the great council. "Listen," he said, "to the
+will of Zeus, who judges now between Poseidon and Athene. The city of
+Erechtheus shall bear the name of that god who shall bring forth out
+of the earth the best gift for the sons of men. If Poseidon do this,
+the city shall be called Poseidonia, but if Athene brings the higher
+gift it shall be called Athens."
+
+Then King Poseidon rose up in the greatness of his majesty, and with
+his trident he smote the earth where he stood. Straightway the hill
+was shaken to its depths, and the earth clave asunder, and forth from
+the chasm leaped a horse, such as never shall be seen again for
+strength and beauty. His body shone white all over as the driven snow,
+his mane streamed proudly in the wind as he stamped on the ground and
+scoured in very wantonness over hill and valley. "Behold my gift,"
+said Poseidon, "and call the city after my name. Who shall give aught
+better than the horse to the sons of men?"
+
+But Athene looked steadfastly at the gods with her keen gray eye, and
+she stooped slowly down to the ground, and planted in it a little
+seed, which she held in her right hand. She spoke no word, but still
+gazed calmly on that great council. Presently they saw springing from
+the earth a little germ, which grew up and threw out its boughs and
+leaves. Higher and higher it rose, with all its thick green foliage,
+and put forth fruit on its clustering branches. "My gift is better, O
+Zeus," she said, "than that of King Poseidon. The horse which he has
+given shall bring war and strife and anguish to the children of men;
+my olive-tree is the sign of peace and plenty, of health and strength,
+and the pledge of happiness and freedom. Shall not, then, the city of
+Erechtheus be called after my name?"
+
+Then with one accord rose the voices of the gods in the air, as they
+cried out, "The gift of Athene is the best which may be given to the
+sons of men; it is the token that the city of Erechtheus shall be
+greater in peace than in war, and nobler in its freedom than its
+power. Let the city be called Athens."
+
+Then Zeus, the mighty son of Kronos, bowed his head in sign of
+judgment that the city should be called by the name of Athene. From
+his head the immortal locks streamed down, and the earth trembled
+beneath his feet as he rose from his golden throne to return to the
+halls of Olympos. But still Athene stood gazing over the land which
+was now her own; and she stretched out her spear towards the city of
+Erechtheus, and said: "I have won the victory, and here shall be my
+home. Here shall my children grow up in happiness and freedom, and
+hither shall the sons of men come to learn of law and order. Here
+shall they see what great things may be done by mortal hands when
+aided by the gods who dwell on Olympos, and when the torch of freedom
+has gone out at Athens, its light shall be handed on to other lands,
+and men shall learn that my gift is still the best, and they shall say
+that reverence for law and freedom of thought and deed has come to
+them from the city of Erechtheus, which bears the name of Athene."
+
+
+MEDUSA.
+
+In the far western land, where the Hesperides guard the golden apples
+which Gaia gave to the lady Here, dwelt the maiden Medusa, with her
+sisters Stheino and Euryale, in their lonely and dismal home. Between
+them and the land of living men flowed the gentle stream of ocean, so
+that only the name of the Gorgon sisters was known to the sons of men,
+and the heart of Medusa yearned in vain to see some face which might
+look on her with love and pity, for on her lay the doom of death, but
+her sisters could neither grow old nor die. For them there was nothing
+fearful in the stillness of their gloomy home, as they sat with stern,
+unpitying faces, gazing on the silent land beyond the ocean stream.
+But Medusa wandered to and fro, longing to see something new in a home
+to which no change ever came, and her heart pined for lack of those
+things which gladden the souls of mortal men. For where she dwelt
+there was neither day nor night. She never saw the bright children of
+Helios driving his flocks to their pastures in the morning. She never
+beheld the stars as they look out from the sky, when the sun sinks
+down into his golden cup in the evening. There no clouds ever passed
+across the heaven, no breeze ever whispered in the air, but a pale
+yellow light brooded on the land everlastingly. So there rested on the
+face of Medusa a sadness such as the children of men may never feel;
+and the look of hopeless pain was the more terrible because of the
+greatness of her beauty. She spake not to any of her awful grief, for
+her sisters knew not of any such thing as gentleness and love, and
+there was no comfort for her from the fearful Graiai who were her
+kinsfolk. Sometimes she sought them out in their dark caves, for it
+was something to see even the faint glimmer of the light of day which
+reached the dwelling of the Graiai, but they spake not to her a word
+of hope when she told them of her misery, and she wandered back to the
+land which the light of Helios might never enter. Her brow was knit
+with pain, but no tear wetted her cheek, for her grief was too great
+for weeping.
+
+But harder things yet were in store for Medusa, for Athene, the
+daughter of Zeus, came from the Libyan land to the dwelling of the
+Gorgon sisters, and she charged Medusa to go with her to the gardens
+where the children of Hesperos guard the golden apples of the lady
+Here. Then Medusa bowed herself down at the feet of Athene, and
+besought her to have pity on her changeless sorrow, and she said,
+"Child of Zeus, thou dwellest with thy happy kinsfolk, where Helios
+gladdens all with his light and the Horai lead the glad dance when
+Phoebus touches the strings of his golden harp. Here there is neither
+night nor day, nor cloud or breeze or storm. Let me go forth from this
+horrible land and look on the face of mortal men, for I, too, must
+die, and my heart yearns for the love which my sisters scorn." Then
+Athene looked on her sternly, and said, "What hast thou to do with
+love? and what is the love of men for one who is of kin to the beings
+who may not die? Tarry here till thy doom is accomplished, and then it
+may be that Zeus will grant thee a place among those who dwell in his
+glorious home." But Medusa said, "Lady, let me go forth now. I can not
+tell how many ages may pass before I die, and thou knowest not the
+yearning which fills the heart of mortal things for tenderness and
+love." Then a look of anger came over the fair face of Athene, and she
+said, "Trouble me not. Thy prayer is vain, and the sons of men would
+shrink from thee, if thou couldst go among them, for hardly could they
+look on the woeful sorrow of thy countenance." But Medusa answered,
+gently, "Lady, hope has a wondrous power to kill the deepest grief,
+and in the pure light of Helios my face may be as fair as thine."
+
+ [Illustration: GRECIAN ALTAR. (_3000 years old._)]
+
+Then the anger of Athene became fiercer still, and she said, "Dost
+thou dare to vie with me? I stand by the side of Zeus, to do his
+will, and the splendor of his glory rests upon me, and what art thou,
+that thou shouldst speak to me such words as these? Therefore, hear
+thy doom. Henceforth, if mortal man ever look upon thee, one glance of
+thy face shall turn him to stone. Thy beauty shall still remain, but
+it shall be to thee the blackness of death. The hair which streams in
+golden tresses over thy fair shoulders shall be changed into hissing
+snakes, which shall curl and cluster round thy neck. On thy
+countenance shall be seen only fear and dread, that so all mortal
+things which look on thee may die." So Athene departed from her, and
+the blackness of the great horror rested on the face of Medusa, and
+the hiss of the snakes was heard as they twined around her head and
+their coils were wreathed about her neck. Yet the will of Athene was
+not wholly accomplished, for the heart of Medusa was not changed by
+the doom which gave to her face its deadly power, and she said,
+"Daughter of Zeus, there is hope yet, for thou hast left me mortal
+still, and, one day, I shall die."
+
+
+DANAE.
+
+From the home of Phoebus Apollo, at Delphi, came words of warning to
+Akrisios, the King of Argos, when he sent to ask what should befall
+him in the after days, and the warning was that he should be slain by
+the son of his daughter, Danae. So the love of Akrisios was changed
+towards his child, who was growing up fair as the flowers of spring,
+in her father's house, and he shut her up in a dungeon, caring nothing
+for her wretchedness. But the power of Zeus was greater than the power
+of Akrisios, and Danae became the mother of Perseus, and they called
+her child the Son of the Bright Morning, because Zeus had scattered
+the darkness of her prison-house. Then Akrisios feared exceedingly,
+and he spake the word that Danae and her child should die.
+
+The first streak of day was spreading its faint light in the eastern
+sky when they led Danae to the sea-shore, and put her in a chest, with
+a loaf of bread and a flask of water. Her child slept in her arms, and
+the rocking of the waves, as they bore the chest over the heaving sea,
+made him slumber yet more sweetly, and the tears of Danae fell on him
+as she thought of the days that were past and the death which she must
+die in the dark waters. And she prayed to Zeus, and said, "O Zeus, who
+hast given me my child, canst thou hear me still and save me from this
+terrible doom?" Then a deep sleep came over Danae, and, as she slept
+with the babe in her arms, the winds carried the chest at the bidding
+of Poseidon, and cast it forth on the shore of the island of Seriphos.
+
+Now it so chanced that Diktys, the brother of Polydektes, the King of
+the Island, was casting a net into the sea, when he saw something
+thrown up by the waves on the dry land, and he went hastily and took
+Danae with her child out of the chest, and said, "Fear not, lady, no
+harm shall happen to thee here, and they who have dealt hardly with
+thee shall not come nigh to hurt thee in this land." So he led her to
+the house of King Polydektes, who welcomed her to his home, and Danae
+had rest after all her troubles.
+
+ [Illustration: THEMIS (_Goddess of Law_).]
+
+Thus the time went on, and the child Perseus grew up brave and strong,
+and all who saw him marveled at his beauty. The light of early morning
+is not more pure than was the color on his fair cheeks, and the golden
+locks streamed brightly over his shoulders, like the rays of the sun
+when they rest on the hills at midday. And Danae said, "My child, in
+the land where thou wast born, they called thee the Son of the Bright
+Morning. Keep thy faith, and deal justly with all men; so shalt thou
+deserve the name which they gave thee." Thus Perseus grew up, hating
+all things that were mean and wrong, and all who looked on him knew
+that his hands were clean and his heart pure.
+
+But there were evil days in store for Danae--for King Polydektes
+sought to win her love against her will. Long time he besought her to
+hearken to his prayer, but her heart was far away in the land of
+Argos, where her child was born, and she said, "O King, my life is sad
+and weary; what is there in me that thou shouldst seek my love? There
+are maidens in thy kingdom fairer far than I; leave me, then, to take
+care of my child while we dwell in a strange land." Then Polydektes
+said, hastily, "Think not, lady, to escape me thus. If thou wilt not
+hearken to my words, thy child shall not remain with thee, but I will
+send him forth far away into the western land, that he may bring me
+the head of the Gorgon Medusa."
+
+So Danae sat weeping when Polydektes had left her, and when Perseus
+came he asked her why she mourned and wept, and he said, "Tell me, my
+mother, if the people of this land have done thee wrong, and I will
+take a sword in my hand and smite them." Then Danae answered, "Many
+toils await thee in time to come, but here thou canst do nothing. Only
+be of good courage, and deal truly, and one day thou shalt be able to
+save me from my enemies."
+
+Still, as the months went on, Polydektes sought to gain the love of
+Danae, until at last he began to hate her because she would not listen
+to his prayer. And he spake the word, that Perseus must go forth to
+slay Medusa, and that Danae must be shut up in a dungeon until the boy
+should return from the land of the Graiai and the Gorgons.
+
+So once more Danae lay within a prison, and the boy Perseus came to
+bid her farewell before he set out on his weary journey. Then Danae
+folded her arms around him, and looked sadly into his eyes, and said,
+"My child, whatever a mortal man can do for his mother, that, I know,
+thou wilt do for me, but I can not tell whither thy long toils shall
+lead thee, save that the land of the Gorgons lies beyond the
+slow-rolling stream of Ocean. Nor can I tell how thou canst do the
+bidding of Polydektes, for Medusa alone of the Gorgon sisters may grow
+old and die, and the deadly snakes will slay those who come near, and
+one glance of her woeful eye can turn all mortal things to stone.
+Once, they say, she was fair to look upon, but the lady Athene has
+laid on her a dark doom, so that all who see the Gorgon's face must
+die. It may be, Perseus, that the heart of Medusa is full rather of
+grief than hatred, and that not of her own will the woeful glare of
+her eye changes all mortal things into stone, and, if so it be, then
+the deed which thou art charged to do shall set her free from a
+hateful life, and bring to her some of those good things for which now
+she yearns in vain. Go, then, my child, and prosper. Thou hast a great
+warfare before thee, and though I know not how thou canst win the
+victory, yet I know that true and fair dealing gives a wondrous might
+to the children of men, and Zeus will strengthen the arm of those who
+hate treachery and lies."
+
+Then Perseus bade his mother take courage, and vowed a vow that he
+would not trust in craft and falsehood, and he said, "I know not, my
+mother, the dangers and the foes which await me, but be sure that I
+will not meet them with any weapons which thou wouldst scorn. Only, as
+the days and months roll on, think not that evil has befallen me, for
+there is hope within me that I shall be able to do the bidding of
+Polydektes and to bear thee hence to our Argive land." So Perseus went
+forth with a good courage to seek out the Gorgon Medusa.
+
+
+PERSEUS.
+
+The east wind crested with a silvery foam the waves of the sea of
+Helle, when Perseus went into the ship which was to bear him away from
+Seriphos. The white sail was spread to the breeze, and the ship sped
+gaily over the heaving waters. Soon the blue hills rose before them,
+and as the sun sank down in the west, Perseus trod once more the
+Argive land.
+
+But there was no rest for him now in his ancient home. On and on,
+through Argos and other lands, he must wander in search of the Gorgon,
+with nothing but his strong heart and his stout arm to help him. Yet
+for himself he feared not, and if his eyes filled with tears, it was
+only because he thought of his mother, Danae; and he said within
+himself, "O, my mother, I would that thou wert here. I see the towers
+of the fair city where Akrisios still is King. I see the home which
+thou longest to behold, and which now I may not enter, but one day I
+shall bring thee hither in triumph, when I come to win back my
+birthright."
+
+Brightly before his mind rose the vision of the time to come, as he
+lay down to rest beneath the blue sky, but when his eyes were closed
+in sleep, there stood before him a vision yet more glorious, for the
+lady Athene was come from the home of Zeus, to aid the young hero as
+he set forth on his weary labor. Her face gleamed with a beauty such
+as is not given to the daughters of men. But Perseus feared not
+because of her majesty, for the soft spell of sleep lay on him, and he
+heard her words as she said, "I am come down from Olympos, where
+dwells my father, Zeus, to help thee in thy mighty toil. Thou art
+brave of heart and strong of hand, but thou knowest not the way which
+thou shouldst go, and thou hast no weapons with which to slay the
+Gorgon Medusa. Many things thou needest, but only against the freezing
+stare of the Gorgon's face can I guard thee now. On her countenance
+thou canst not look and live, and even when she is dead, one glance of
+that fearful face will still turn all mortal things to stone. So, when
+thou drawest nigh to slay her, thine eye must not rest upon her. Take
+good heed, then, to thyself, for while they are awake the Gorgon
+sisters dread no danger, for the snakes which curl around their heads
+warn them of every peril. Only while they sleep canst thou approach
+them, and the face of Medusa, in life or in death, thou must never
+see. Take, then, this mirror, into which thou canst look, and when
+thou beholdest her image there, then nerve thy heart and take thine
+aim, and carry away with thee the head of the mortal maiden. Linger
+not in thy flight, for her sisters will pursue after thee, and they
+can neither grow old nor die."
+
+So Athene departed from him, and early in the morning he saw by his
+side the mirror which she had given to him, and he said, "Now I know
+that my toil is not in vain, and the help of Athene is a pledge of yet
+more aid in time to come." So he journeyed on with a good heart over
+hill and dale, across rivers and forests, towards the setting of the
+sun. Manfully he toiled on, till sleep weighed heavy on his eyes, and
+he lay down to rest on a broad stone in the evening. Once more before
+him stood a glorious form. A burnished helmet glistened on his head, a
+golden staff was in his hand, and on his feet were the golden sandals,
+which bore him through the air with a flight more swift than the
+eagle's. And Perseus heard a voice which said, "I am Hermes, the
+messenger of Zeus, and I come to arm thee against thine enemies. Take
+this sword, which slays all mortal things on which it may fall, and go
+on thy way with a cheerful heart. A weary road yet lies before thee,
+and for many a long day must thou wander on before thou canst have
+other help in thy mighty toil. Far away, towards the setting of the
+sun, lies the Tartessian land, whence thou shalt see the white-crested
+mountains where Atlas holds up the pillars of the heaven. There must
+thou cross the dark waters, and then thou wilt find thyself in the
+land of the Graiai, who are of kin to the Gorgon sisters, and thou
+wilt see no more the glory of Helios, who gladdens the homes of living
+men. Only a faint light from the far-off sun comes dimly to the
+desolate land where, hidden in the gloomy cave, lurk the hapless
+Graiai. These thou must seek out, and when thou hast found them, fear
+them not. Over their worn and wrinkled faces stream tangled masses of
+long gray hair, their voice comes hollow from their toothless gums,
+and a single eye is passed from one to the other when they wish to
+look forth from their dismal dwelling. Seek them out, for these alone
+can tell thee what more remaineth yet for thee to do."
+
+When Perseus woke in the morning, the sword of Hermes lay beside him,
+and he rose up with great joy, and said, "The help of Zeus fails me
+not; if more is needed will he not grant it to me?" So onward he went
+to the Tartessian land, and thence across the dark sea towards the
+country of the Graiai, till he saw the pillars of Atlas rise afar off
+into the sky. Then, as he drew nigh to the hills which lay beneath
+them, he came to a dark cave, and as he stooped to look into it, he
+fancied that he saw the gray hair which streamed over the shoulders of
+the Graiai. Long time he rested on the rocks without the cave, till he
+knew by their heavy breathing that the sisters were asleep. Then he
+crept in stealthily, and took the eye which lay beside them, and
+waited till they should wake. At last, as the faint light from the
+far-off sun, who shines on mortal men, reached the cave, he saw them
+groping for the eye which he had taken, and presently, from their
+toothless jaws, came a hollow voice, which said, "There is some one
+near us who is sprung from the children of men, for of old time we
+have known that one should come and leave us blind until we did his
+bidding." Then Perseus came forth boldly and stood before them, and
+said, "Daughters of Phorkos and of Keto, I know that ye are of kin to
+the Gorgon sisters, and to these ye must now guide me. Think not to
+escape my craft or guile, for in my hands is the sword of Hermes, and
+it slays all living things on which it may fall." And they answered,
+quickly, "Slay us not, child of man, for we will deal truly by thee,
+and will tell thee of the things which must be done before thou canst
+reach the dwelling of the Gorgon sisters. Go hence along the plain
+which stretches before thee, then over hill and vale, and forest and
+desert, till thou comest to the slow-rolling Ocean stream; there call
+on the nymphs who dwell beneath the waters, and they shall rise at thy
+bidding and tell thee many things which it is not given to us to
+know."
+
+Onwards again he went, across the plain, and over hill and vale till
+he came to the Ocean which flows lazily round the world of living men.
+No ray of the pure sunshine pierced the murky air, but the pale yellow
+light, which broods on the land of the Gorgons, showed to him the dark
+stream, as he stood on the banks and summoned the nymphs to do his
+bidding. Presently they stood before him, and greeted him by his name,
+and they said, "O Perseus, thou art the first of living men whose feet
+have trodden this desolate shore. Long time have we known that the
+will of Zeus would bring thee hither to accomplish the doom of the
+mortal Medusa. We know the things of which thou art in need, and
+without us thy toil would in very truth be vain. Thou hast to come
+near to beings who can see all around them, for the snakes which twist
+about their heads are their eyes, and here is the helmet of Hades,
+which will enable thee to draw nigh to them unseen. Thou hast the
+sword which never falls in vain; but without this bag which we give
+thee, thou canst not bear away the head, the sight of which changes
+all mortal things to stone. And when thy work of death is done on the
+mortal maiden, thou must fly from her sisters who can not die, and who
+will follow thee more swiftly than eagles, and here are the sandals
+which shall waft thee through the air more quickly than a dream.
+Hasten, then, child of Danae, for we are ready to bear thee in our
+hands across the Ocean stream."
+
+So they bare Perseus to the Gorgon land, and he journeyed on in the
+pale yellow light which rests upon it everlastingly.
+
+On that night, in the darkness of their lonesome dwelling, Medusa
+spake to her sisters of the doom which should one day be accomplished,
+and she said, "Sisters, ye care little for the grief whose image on my
+face turns all mortal things to stone. Ye who know not old age or
+death, know not the awful weight of my agony, and can not feel the
+signs of the change that is coming. But I know them. The snakes which
+twine around my head warn me not in vain; but they warn me against
+perils which I care not now to shun. The wrath of Athene, who crushed
+the faint hopes which lingered in my heart, left me mortal still, and
+I am weary with the woe of the ages that are past. O sisters, ye know
+not what it is to pity, but something more, ye know what it is to
+love, for even in this living tomb we have dwelt together in peace,
+and peace is of kin to love. But hearken to me now. Mine eyes are
+heavy with sleep, and my heart tells me that the doom is coming, for I
+am but a mortal maiden, and I care not if the slumber which is
+stealing on me be the sleep of those whose life is done. Sisters, my
+lot is happier at the least than yours, for he who slays me is my
+friend. I am weary of my woe, and it may be that better things await
+me when I am dead."
+
+But even as Medusa spake, the faces of Stheino and Euryale remained
+unchanged, and it seemed as though for them the words of Medusa were
+but an empty sound. Presently the Gorgon sisters were all asleep. The
+deadly snakes lay still and quiet, and only the breath which hissed
+from their mouths was heard throughout the cave.
+
+Then Perseus drew nigh, with the helmet of Hades on his head, and the
+sandals of the nymphs on his feet. In his right hand was the sword of
+Hermes, and in his left the mirror of Athene. Long time he gazed on
+the image of Medusa's face, which still showed the wreck of her
+ancient beauty, and he said within himself, "Mortal maiden, well may
+it be that more than mortal woe should give to thy countenance its
+deadly power. The hour of thy doom is come, but death to thee must be
+a boon." Then the sword of Hermes fell, and the great agony of Medusa
+was ended. So Perseus cast a veil over the dead face, and bare it away
+from the cave in the bag which the nymphs gave him on the banks of the
+slow-rolling Ocean.
+
+
+ANDROMEDA.
+
+Terrible was the rage of the Gorgon sisters when they woke up from
+their sleep and saw that the doom of Medusa had been accomplished. The
+snakes hissed as they rose in knotted clusters round their heads, and
+the Gorgons gnashed their teeth in fury, not for any love of the
+mortal maiden whose woes were ended, but because a child of weak and
+toiling men had dared to approach the daughters of Phorkos and Keto.
+Swifter than the eagles they sped from their gloomy cave, but they
+sought in vain to find Perseus, for the helmet of Hades was on his
+head, and the sandals of the nymphs were bearing him through the air
+like a dream. Onwards he went, not knowing whither he was borne, for
+he saw but dimly through the pale yellow light which brooded on the
+Gorgon land everlastingly; but presently he heard a groan as from one
+in mortal pain, and before him he beheld a giant form, on whose head
+rested the pillars of the heaven, and he heard a voice, which said,
+"Hast thou slain the Gorgon Medusa, child of man, and art thou come to
+rid me of my long woe? Look on me, for I am Atlas, who rose up with
+the Titans against the power of Zeus, when Prometheus fought on his
+side; and of old time have I known that for me is no hope of rest till
+a mortal man should bring hither the Gorgon head which can turn all
+living things to stone. For so was it shown to me from Zeus, when he
+made me bow down beneath the weight of the brazen heaven. Yet, if thou
+hast slain Medusa, Zeus hath been more merciful to me than to
+Prometheus who was his friend, for he lies nailed on the rugged crags
+of Caucasus, and only thy child in the third generation shall scare
+away the vulture which gnaws his heart, and set the Titan free. But
+hasten now, Perseus, and let me look on the Gorgon's face, for the
+agony of my labor is well nigh greater than I can bear." So Perseus
+hearkened to the words of Atlas, and he unveiled before him the dead
+face of Medusa. Eagerly he gazed for a moment on the changeless
+countenance, as though beneath the blackness of great horror he could
+yet see the wreck of her ancient beauty and pitied her for her
+hopeless woe. But in an instant the straining eyes were closed, the
+heaving breast was still, the limbs which trembled with the weight of
+heaven were still and cold, and it seemed to Perseus, as he rose again
+into the pale yellow air, that the gray hairs which streamed from the
+giant's head were like the snow which rests on the peaks of the great
+mountain, and that in place of the trembling limbs he saw only the
+rents and clefts on a rough hill-side.
+
+Onward yet and higher he sped, he knew not whither, on the golden
+sandals, till from the murky glare of the Gorgon land he passed into a
+soft and tender light, in which all things wore the colors of a dream.
+It was not the light of sun or moon, for in that land was neither day
+nor night. No breeze wafted the light clouds of morning through the
+sky, or stirred the leaves of the forest trees where the golden fruits
+glistened the whole year round, but from beneath rose the echoes of
+sweet music, as he glided gently down to the earth. Then he took the
+helmet of Hades from off his head, and asked the people whom he met
+the name of this happy land, and they said, "We dwell where the icy
+breath of Boreas can not chill the air or wither our fruits, therefore
+is our land called the garden of the Hyperboreans." There, for a
+while, Perseus rested from his toil, and all day long he saw the
+dances of happy maidens fair as Hebe and Harmonia, and he shared the
+rich banquets at which the people of the land feasted with wreaths of
+laurel twined around their head. There he rested in a deep peace, for
+no sound of strife or war can ever break it, and they know nothing of
+malice and hatred, of sickness or old age.
+
+But presently Perseus remembered his mother, Danae, as she lay in her
+prison-house, at Seriphos, and he left the garden of the Hyperboreans
+to return to the world of toiling men, but the people of the land knew
+only that it lay beyond the slow-rolling Ocean stream, and Perseus saw
+not whither he went as he rose on his golden sandals into the soft and
+dreamy air. Onwards he flew, until far beneath he beheld the Ocean
+river, and once more he saw the light of Helios, as he drove his fiery
+chariot through the heaven. Far away stretched the mighty Libyan
+plain, and further yet, beyond the hills which shut it in, he saw the
+waters of the dark sea, and the white line of foam, where the breakers
+were dashed upon the shore. As he came nearer, he saw the huge rocks
+which rose out of the heaving waters, and on one of them he beheld a
+maiden, whose limbs were fastened with chains to a stone. The folds of
+her white robe fluttered in the breeze, and her fair face was worn and
+wasted with the heat by day and the cold by night. Then Perseus
+hastened to her, and stood a long time before her, but she saw him
+not, for the helmet of Hades was on his head, and he watched her there
+till the tears started to his eyes for pity. Her hands were clasped
+upon her breast, and only the moving of her lips showed the greatness
+of her misery. Higher and higher rose the foaming waters, till at last
+the maiden said, "O Zeus, is there none whom thou canst send to help
+me?" Then Perseus took the helmet in his hand, and stood before her in
+all his glorious beauty, and the maiden knew that she had nothing to
+fear when he said, "Lady, I see that thou art in great sorrow; tell me
+who it is that has wronged thee, and I will avenge thee mightily." And
+she answered, "Stranger, whoever thou art, I will trust thee, for thy
+face tells me that thou art not one of those who deal falsely. My name
+is Andromeda, and my father, Kepheus, is King of the rich Libyan land,
+but there is strife between him and the old man, Nereus, who dwells
+with his daughters in the coral caves, beneath the sea, for, as I grew
+up in my father's house, my mother made a vain boast of my beauty, and
+said that among all the children of Nereus there was none so fair as
+I." So Nereus rose from his coral caves, and went to the King
+Poseidon, and said, "King of the broad sea, Kassiopeia, hath done a
+grievous wrong to me and to my children. I pray thee let not her
+people escape for her evil words.
+
+Then Poseidon let loose the waters of the sea, and they rushed in over
+the Libyan plains till only the hills which shut it in remained above
+them, and a mighty monster came forth and devoured all the fruits of
+the land. In grief and terror the people fell down before my father,
+Kepheus, and he sent to the home of Ammon to ask what he should do for
+the plague of waters and for the savage beast who vexed them; and soon
+the answer came that he must chain up his daughter on a rock, till the
+beast came and took her for his prey. So they fastened me here to this
+desolate crag, and each day the monster comes nearer as the waters
+rise; and soon, I think, they will place me within his reach." Then
+Perseus cheered her with kindly words, and said, "Maiden, I am
+Perseus, to whom Zeus has given the power to do great things. I hold
+in my hand the sword of Hermes, which has slain the Gorgon Medusa,
+and I am bearing to Polydektes, who rules in Seriphos, the head which
+turns all who look on it into stone. Fear not, then, Andromeda. I will
+do battle with the monster, and, when thy foes are vanquished, I will
+sue for the boon of thy love." A soft blush as of great gladness came
+over the pale cheek of Andromeda, as she answered, "O Perseus, why
+should I hide from thee my joy? Thou hast come to me like the light of
+the morning when it breaks on a woeful night." But, even as she spake,
+the rage of the waves waxed greater, and the waters rose higher and
+higher, lashing the rocks in their fury, and the hollow roar of the
+monster was heard as he hastened to seize his prey. Presently by the
+maiden's side he saw a glorious form with the flashing sword in his
+hand, and he lashed the waters in fiercer anger. Then Perseus went
+forth to meet him, and he held aloft the sword which Hermes gave to
+him, and said, "Sword of Phoebus, let thy stroke be sure, for thou
+smitest the enemy of the helpless." So the sword fell, and the blood
+of the mighty beast reddened the waters of the green sea.
+
+ [Illustration: EUTERPE (_Muse of Pleasure_).]
+
+In gladness of heart Perseus led the maiden to the halls of Kepheus,
+and said, "O King, I have slain the monster to whom thou didst give
+thy child for a prey; let her go with me now to other lands, if she
+gainsay me not." But Kepheus answered, "Tarry with us yet a while, and
+the marriage feast shall be made ready, if indeed thou must hasten
+away from the Libyan land." So, at the banquet, by the side of Perseus
+sate the beautiful Andromeda; but there arose a fierce strife, for
+Phineus had come to the feast, and it angered him that another should
+have for his wife the maiden whom he had sought to make his bride.
+Deeper and fiercer grew his rage, as he looked on the face of Perseus,
+till at last he spake evil words of the stranger who had taken away
+the prize which should have been his own. But Perseus said, calmly,
+"Why, then, didst thou not slay the monster thyself and set the maiden
+free?" When Phineus heard these words his rage almost choked him, and
+he charged his people to draw their swords and slay Perseus. Wildly
+rose the din in the banquet hall, but Perseus unveiled the Gorgon's
+face, and Phineus and all his people were frozen into stone.
+
+Then, in the still silence, Perseus bare away Andromeda from her
+father's home, and when they had wandered through many lands they came
+at length to Seriphos. Once more Danae looked on the face of her son,
+and said, "My child, the months have rolled wearily since I bade thee
+farewell; but sure I am that my prayer has been heard, for thy face is
+as the face of one who comes back a conqueror from battle." Then
+Perseus said, "Yes, my mother, the help of Zeus has never failed me.
+When the eastern breeze carried me hence to the Argive land, my heart
+was full of sorrow, because I saw the city which thou didst yearn to
+see, and the home which thou couldst not enter, and I vowed a vow to
+bring thee back in triumph when I came to claim my birthright.
+
+That evening, as I slept, the lady Athene came to me from the home of
+Zeus, and gave me a mirror so that I might take the Gorgon's head
+without looking on the face which turns everything into stone, and yet
+another night, Hermes stood before me, and gave me the sword whose
+stroke never fails, and the Graiai told me where I should find the
+nymphs who gave me the helmet of Hades, and the bag which has borne
+hither the Gorgon's head, and the golden sandals which have carried me
+like a dream over land and sea. O, my mother, I have done wondrous
+things by the aid of Zeus. By me the doom of Medusa has been
+accomplished, and I think that the words which thou didst speak were
+true, for the image of the Gorgon's face, which I saw in Athene's
+mirror, was as the countenance of one whose beauty has been marred by
+a woeful agony, and whenever I have looked since on that image, it has
+seemed to me as though it wore the look of one who rested in death
+from a mighty pain. So, as the giant Atlas looked on that
+grief-stricken brow, he felt no more the weight of the heaven as it
+rested on him, and the gray hair which streamed from his head seemed
+to me, when I left him, like the snow which clothes the mountain-tops
+in winter. So, when from the happy gardens of the Hyperboreans I came
+to the rich Libyan plain, and had killed the monster who sought to
+slay Andromeda, the Gorgon's face turned Phineus and his people into
+stone, when they sought to slay me because I had won her love." Then
+Danae answered the questions of Perseus, and told him how Polydektes
+had vexed her with his evil words, and how Diktys alone had shielded
+her from his brother. And Perseus bade Danae be of good cheer, because
+the recompense of Polydektes was nigh at hand.
+
+There was joy and feasting in Seriphos when the news was spread abroad
+that Perseus had brought back for the King the head of the Gorgon
+Medusa, and Polydektes made a great feast, and the wine sparkled in
+the goblets as the minstrels sang of the great deeds of the son of
+Danae. Then Perseus told him of all that Hermes and Athene had done
+for him. He showed them the helmet of Hades, and the golden sandals,
+and the unerring sword, and then he unveiled the face of Medusa before
+Polydektes and the men who had aided him against his mother, Danae. So
+Perseus looked upon them, as they sat at the rich banquet, stiff and
+cold as a stone, and he felt that his mighty work was ended. Then, at
+his prayer, came Hermes, the messenger of Zeus, and Perseus gave him
+back the helmet of Hades, and the sword which had slain the Gorgon,
+and the sandals which had borne him through the air like a dream. And
+Hermes gave the helmet again to Hades, and the sandals to the Ocean
+nymphs, but Athene took the Gorgon's head, and it was placed upon her
+shield.
+
+Then Perseus spake to Danae, and said, "My mother, it is time for thee
+to go home. The Gorgon's face has turned Polydektes and his people
+into stone, and Diktys rules in Seriphos." So once more the white
+sails were filled with the eastern breeze, and Danae saw once more the
+Argive land. From city to city spread the tidings that Perseus was
+come, who had slain the Gorgon, and the youths and maidens sang "Io
+Paian," as they led the conqueror to the halls of Akrisios.
+
+
+AKRISIOS.
+
+The shouts of "Io Paian" reached the ear of Akrisios, as he sat in his
+lonely hall, marveling at the strange things which must have happened
+to waken the sounds of joy and triumph; for, since the day when Danae
+was cast forth with her babe on the raging waters, the glory of war
+had departed from Argos, and it seemed as though all the chieftains
+had lost their ancient strength and courage. But the wonder of
+Akrisios was changed to a great fear when they told him that his
+child, Danae, was coming home, and that the hero, Perseus, had rescued
+her from Polydektes, the King of Seriphos. The memory of all the wrong
+which he had done to his daughter tormented him, and still in his mind
+dwelt the words of warning which came from Phoebus Apollo that he
+should one day be slain by the hands of her son; so that, as he looked
+forth on the sky, it seemed to him as though he should see the sun
+again no more.
+
+In haste and terror Akrisios fled from his home. He tarried not to
+hear the voice of Danae, he stayed not to look on the face of Perseus,
+nor to see that the hero who had slain the Gorgon bore him no malice
+for the wrongs of the former days. Quickly he sped over hill and dale,
+across river and forest, till he came to the house of Teutamidas, the
+great chieftain who ruled in Larissa.
+
+The feast was spread in the banquet-hall, and the Thessalian minstrels
+sang of the brave deeds of Perseus, for even thither had his fame
+reached already. They told how from the land of toiling men he had
+passed to the country of the Graiai and the Gorgons, how he had slain
+the mortal Medusa and stiffened the giant Atlas into stone, and then
+they sang how, with the sword of Hermes, he smote the mighty beast
+which ravaged the Libyan land, and won Andromeda to be his bride. Then
+Teutamidas spake, and said, "My friend, I envy thee for thy happy lot,
+for not often in the world of men may fathers reap such glory from
+their children as thou hast won from Perseus. In the ages to come men
+shall love to tell of his great and good deeds, and from him shall
+spring mighty chieftains, who shall be stirred up to a purer courage
+when they remember how Perseus toiled and triumphed before them. And
+now tell me, friend, wherefore thou hast come hither. Thy cheek is
+pale, and thy hand trembles, but I think not that it can be from the
+weight of years, for thy old age is yet but green, and thou mayest
+hope still to see the children of Perseus clustering around thy
+knees."
+
+But Akrisios could scarcely answer for shame and fear; for he cared
+not to tell Teutamidas of the wrongs which he had done to Danae. So he
+said, hastily, that he had fled from a great danger, for the warning
+of Phoebus was that he should be slain by his daughter's son. And
+Teutamidas said, "Has thy daughter yet another son?" And then Akrisios
+was forced to own that he had fled from the hero, Perseus. But the
+face of Teutamidas flushed with anger as he said, "O shame, that thou
+shouldst flee from him who ought to be thy glory and thy pride!
+Everywhere men speak of the goodness and the truth of Perseus, and I
+will not believe that he bears thee a grudge for anything that thou
+hast done to him. Nay, thou doest to him a more grievous wrong in
+shunning him now than when thou didst cast him forth in his mother's
+arms upon the angry sea." So he pleaded with Akrisios for Perseus,
+until he spoke the word that Danae and her child might come to the
+great games which were to be held on the plain before Larissa.
+
+With shouts of "Io Paian" the youths and maidens went out before
+Perseus as he passed from the city of Akrisios to go to Larissa, and
+everywhere as he journeyed the people came forth from town and village
+to greet the bright hero and the beautiful Andromeda, whom he had
+saved from the Libyan dragon. Onwards they went, spreading gladness
+everywhere, till the cold heart of Akrisios himself was touched with a
+feeling of strange joy, as he saw the band of youths and maidens who
+came before them to the house of Teutamidas. So once more his child
+Danae stood before him, beautiful still, although the sorrows of
+twenty years had dimmed the brightness of her eye, and the merry laugh
+of her youth was gone. Once more he looked on the face of Perseus, and
+he listened to the kindly greeting of the hero whom he had wronged in
+the days of his helpless childhood. But he marveled yet more at the
+beauty of Andromeda, and he thought within himself that throughout the
+wide earth were none so fair as Perseus and the wife whom he had won
+with the sword of Hermes.
+
+Then, as they looked on the chiefs who strove together in the games,
+the shouting of the crowd told at the end of each that Perseus was the
+conqueror. At last they stood forth to see which should have most
+strength of arm in hurling the quoit; and, when Perseus aimed at the
+mark, the quoit swerved aside and smote Akrisios on the head, and the
+warning of Phoebus Apollo was accomplished.
+
+Great was the sorrow of Teutamidas and his people as the chieftain of
+Argos lay dead before them; but deeper still and more bitter was the
+grief of Perseus for the deed which he had unwittingly done, and he
+said, "O Zeus, I have striven to keep my hands clean and to deal
+truly, and a hard recompense hast thou given me."
+
+So they went back mourning to Argos, but although he strove heartily
+to rule his people well, the grief of Perseus could not be lessened
+while he remained in the house of Akrisios. So he sent a messenger to
+his kinsman, Megapenthes, who ruled at Tiryns, and said, "Come thou
+and rule in Argos, and I will go and dwell among thy people." So
+Perseus dwelt at Tiryns, and the men of the city rejoiced that he had
+come to rule over them. Thus the months and years went quickly by, as
+Perseus strove with all his might to make his people happy and to
+guard them against their enemies. At his bidding, the Cyclopes came
+from the far-off Lykian land, and built the mighty walls which gird
+the city round about; and they helped him to build yet another city,
+which grew in after-times to be even greater and mightier than Tiryns.
+So rose the walls of Mykenae, and there, too, the people loved and
+honored Perseus for his just dealing more than for all the deeds which
+he had done with the sword of Hermes. At last the time came when the
+hero must rest from his long toil, but as they looked on his face,
+bright and beautiful even in death, the minstrels said, "We shall hear
+his voice no more, but the name of Perseus shall never die."
+
+
+KEPHALOS AND PROKRIS.
+
+Of all the maidens in the land of Attica none was so beautiful as
+Prokris, the daughter of King Erechtheus. She was the delight of her
+father's heart, not so much for her beauty as for her goodness and
+her gentleness. The sight of her fair face and the sound of her happy
+voice brought gladness to all who saw and heard her. Every one stopped
+to listen to the songs which she sang as she sat working busily at the
+loom, and the maidens who dwelt with her were glad when the hour came
+to go with Prokris and wash their clothes or draw water from the
+fountain. Then, when all her tasks were ended, she would roam over
+hill and valley, into every nook and dell. There was no spot in all
+the land where Prokris had not been. She lay down to rest in the top
+of the highest hills, or by the side of the stream where it murmured
+among the rocks far down in the woody glen. So passed her days away;
+and while all loved her and rejoiced to see her face, only Prokris
+knew not of her own beauty, and thought not of her own goodness. But
+they amongst whom she lived, the old and the young, the sorrowful and
+happy, all said that Prokris, the child of Herse, was always as fair
+and bright as the dew of early morning.
+
+ [Illustration: THALIA (_Muse of Comedy_).]
+
+Once in her many wanderings she had climbed the heights of Mount
+Hymettos, almost before the first streak of dawn was seen in the sky.
+Far away, as she looked over the blue sea, her eyes rested on the
+glittering cliffs of Euboea, and she looked and saw that a ship was
+sailing towards the shore beneath the hill of Hymettos. Presently it
+reached the shore, and she could see that a man stepped out of the
+ship, and began to climb the hill, while the rest remained on the
+beach. As he came nearer to her, Prokris knew that his face was very
+fair, and she thought that she had never seen such beauty in mortal
+man before. She had heard that sometimes the gods come down from their
+home on Olympos to mingle among the children of men, and that
+sometimes the bright heroes were seen in the places where they had
+lived on the earth before they were taken to dwell in the halls of
+Zeus. As the stranger came near to her the sun rose brightly and
+without a cloud from the dark sea, and its light fell on his face, and
+made it gleam with more than mortal beauty. Gently he came towards
+her, and said, "Lady, I am come from the far-off eastern land, and as
+I drew near to this shore I saw that some one was resting here upon
+the hill. So I hastened to leave the ship that I might learn the name
+of the country which I have reached. My name is Kephalos, and my
+father, Helios, lives in a beautiful home beyond the sea, but I am
+traveling over the earth, till I shall have gone over every land and
+seen all the cities which men have built. Tell me now thy name, and
+the name of this fair land." Then she said, "Stranger, my name is
+Prokris, and I am the daughter of King Erechtheus, who dwells at
+Athens yonder, where thou seest the bright line of Kephisos flowing
+gently into the sea." So Prokris guided the stranger to her father's
+house, and Erechtheus received him kindly, and spread a banquet before
+him. But as they feasted and drank the dark red wine, he thought
+almost that Kephalos must be one of the bright heroes come back to his
+own land, so fair and beautiful was he to look upon, and that none
+save only his own child, Prokris, might be compared to him for beauty.
+
+Long time Kephalos abode in the house of Erechtheus, and, each day, he
+loved more and more the bright and happy Prokris; and Prokris became
+brighter and happier, as the eye of Kephalos rested gently and
+lovingly upon her. At last Kephalos told her of his love, and
+Erechtheus gave him his child to be his wife, and there were none in
+all the land who dwelt together in a love so deep and pure as that of
+Kephalos and Prokris.
+
+But among the maidens of that land there was one who was named Eos.
+She, too, was fair and beautiful, but she had not the gentle spirit
+and the guileless heart of Prokris. Whenever Kephalos wandered forth
+with his young wife, then Eos would seek to follow them stealthily,
+or, if she met them by chance, she would suffer her eyes to rest long
+on the fair face of Kephalos, till she began to envy the happiness of
+Prokris. And so one day, when there was a feast of the people of the
+land, and the maidens danced on the soft grass around the fountain,
+Kephalos and Eos talked together, and Eos suffered herself to be
+carried away by her evil love. From that day she sought more and more
+to talk with Kephalos, till at last she bowed her head before him and
+told him softly of her love. But Kephalos said to her, gently,
+"Maiden, thou art fair to look upon, and there are others who may love
+thee well, and thou deservest the love of any. But I may not leave
+Prokris, whom Erechtheus has given to me to be my wife. Forgive me,
+maiden, if Prokris appear to me even fairer than thou art; but I prize
+her gentleness more than her beauty, and Prokris, with her pure love
+and guileless heart, shall be always dearer to me than any other in
+all the wide earth." Then Eos answered him craftily, "O Kephalos, thou
+hast suffered thyself to be deceived. Prokris loves thee not as I do;
+prove her love and thou shalt see that I have spoken truly."
+
+Thus Eos spoke to him for many days, and the great happiness of his
+life was marred, for the words of Eos would come back to his mind, as
+he looked on the happy and guileless Prokris. He had begun to doubt
+whether she were in very deed so pure and good as she seemed to be,
+and at last he said to Eos that he would prove her love. Then Eos told
+him how to do so, and said that if he came before his wife as a
+stranger and brought to her rich gifts, as from a distant land, she
+would forget her love for Kephalos.
+
+With a heavy heart he went away, for he foreboded evil days from the
+subtle words of Eos, and he departed and dwelt in another land. So the
+time passed on, until many weeks and months had gone by, and Prokris
+mourned and wept in the house of Erechtheus, until the brightness of
+her eye was dimmed and her voice had lost its gladness. Day after day
+she sought throughout all the land for Kephalos, day after day she
+went up the hill of Hymettos, and as she looked towards the sea, she
+said, "Surely he will come back again; ah, Kephalos, thou knowest not
+the love which thou hast forsaken." Thus she pined away in her sorrow,
+although to all who were around her she was as gentle and as loving as
+ever. Her father was now old and weak, and he knew that he must soon
+die, but it grieved him most of all that he must leave his child in a
+grief more bitter than if Kephalos had remained to comfort her. So
+Erechtheus died, and the people honored him as one of the heroes of
+the land, but Prokris remained in his house desolate, and all who saw
+her pitied her for her true love and her deep sorrow. At last she felt
+that Kephalos would return no more, and that she could no more be
+happy until she went to her father in the bright home of the heroes
+and the gods.
+
+Then a look of peace and loving patience came over her fair face, and
+she roamed with a strange gladness through every place where Kephalos
+had wandered with her; and so it came to pass that one day Prokris sat
+resting in the early morning on the eastern slopes of Mount Hymettos,
+when suddenly she beheld a man coming near to her. The dress was
+strange, but she half thought she knew his tall form and the light
+step as he came up the hill. Presently he came close to her, and she
+felt as if she were in a strange dream. The sight of his face and the
+glance of his eye carried her back to the days that were past, and she
+started up and ran towards him, saying, "O Kephalos, thou art come
+back at last; how couldst thou forsake me so long?" But the stranger
+answered, in a low and gentle voice (for he saw that she was in great
+sorrow), "Lady, thou art deceived. I am a stranger come from a far
+country, and I seek to know the name of this land." Then Prokris sat
+down again on the grass, and clasped her hands, and said, slowly, "It
+is changed and I can not tell how; yet surely it is the voice of
+Kephalos." Then she turned to the stranger, and said, "O stranger, I
+am mourning for Kephalos, whom I have loved and lost; he, too, came
+from a far land across the sea. Dost thou know him, and canst thou
+tell me where I may find him?" And the stranger answered, "I know him,
+lady; he is again in his own home, far away, whither thou canst not
+go; yet think not of him, for he has forgotten his love." Then the
+stranger spoke to her in gentle and soothing words, until her grief
+became less bitter. Long time he abode in the land, and it pleased
+Prokris to hear his voice while his eye rested kindly on her, until
+she almost fancied that she was with Kephalos once more. And she
+thought to herself, "What must that land be, from which there can come
+two who are beautiful as the bright heroes?"
+
+So at last, when with soft and gentle words he had soothed her sorrow,
+the stranger spoke to her of his love, and Prokris felt that she, too,
+could love him, for had not Kephalos despised her love and forsaken
+her long ago? So he said, "Canst thou love me, Prokris, instead of
+Kephalos?" and when she gently answered "Yes," then a change came over
+the face of the stranger, and she saw that it was Kephalos himself who
+clasped her in his arms. With a wild cry she broke from him, and as
+bitter tears ran down her cheek, she said, "O Kephalos, Kephalos, why
+hast thou done thus? all my love was thine, and _thou_ hast drawn me
+into evil deeds." Then, without tarrying for his answer, with all her
+strength she fled away, and she hastened to the sea shore and bade
+them make ready a ship to take her from her father's land. Sorrowfully
+they did as she besought them, and they took her to the Island of
+Crete, far away in the eastern sea.
+
+When Prokris was gone, the maiden Eos came and stood before Kephalos,
+and she said to him, "My words are true, and now must thou keep the
+vow by which thou didst swear to love me, if Prokris should yield
+herself to a stranger." So Kephalos dwelt with Eos, but for all her
+fond words he could not love her as still he loved Prokris.
+
+Meanwhile Prokris wandered, in deep and bitter sorrow, among the hills
+and valleys of Crete. She cared not to look on the fair morning as it
+broke on the pale path of night; she cared not to watch the bright sun
+as he rose from the dark sea, or when he sank to rest behind the
+western waters. For the earth had lost all its gladness, and she felt
+that she could die. But one day as she sat on a hill-side and looked
+on the broad plains which lay stretched beneath, suddenly a woman
+stood before her, brighter and more glorious than the daughters of
+men, and Prokris knew, from the spear which she held in her hand and
+the hound which crouched before her, that it was Artemis, the mighty
+child of Zeus and Leto. Then Prokris fell at her feet, and said, "O
+lady Artemis, pity me in my great sorrow;" and Artemis answered, "Fear
+not, Prokris, I know thy grief. Kephalos hath done thee a great wrong,
+but he shall fall by the same device wherewith he requited thy pure
+and trusting love." Then she gave to Prokris her hound and her spear,
+and said, "Hasten now to thine own land, and go stand before Kephalos,
+and I will put a spell upon him that he may not know thee. Follow him
+in the chase, and at whatsoever thou mayest cast this spear, it shall
+fall, and from this hound no prey which thou mayest seek for shall
+ever escape."
+
+So Prokris sailed back to the land of Erechtheus with the gifts of
+Artemis. And when Kephalos went to the chase, Prokris followed him,
+and all the glory of the hunt fell to her portion, for the hound
+struck down whatever it seized, and her spear never missed its aim.
+And Kephalos marveled greatly, and said to the maiden, "Give me thy
+hound and thy spear," and he besought the stranger many times for the
+gift, till at last Prokris said, "I will not give them but for thy
+love, thou must forsake Eos and come to dwell with me." Then Kephalos
+said, "I care not for Eos; so only I have thy gifts, thou shalt have
+my love." But even as he spoke these words, a change came over the
+face of the stranger, and he saw that it was Prokris herself who stood
+before him. And Prokris said, "Ah, Kephalos, once more thou hast
+promised to love me, and now may I keep thy love, and remain with thee
+always. Almost I may say that I never loved any one but thee, but thou
+art changed, Kephalos, although still the same, else wouldst thou not
+have promised to love me for the gift of a hound and a spear." Then
+Kephalos besought Prokris to forgive him, and he said, "I am caught in
+the trap which I laid for thee, but I have fallen deeper. When thou
+gavest thy love to me as to a stranger, it pleased thee yet to think
+that I was like Kephalos, and my vow to thee has been given for the
+mere gifts which I coveted." But Prokris only said, "My joy is come
+back to me again, and now I will leave thee no more."
+
+So once more in the land of Erechtheus Prokris and Kephalos dwelt
+together in a true and deep love. Once more they wandered over hill
+and dale as in the times that were past, and looked out from the
+heights of Hymettos to the white shore of Euboea, as it glistened in
+the light of early day. But whenever he went to the chase with the
+hound and the spear of Artemis, Prokris saw that Eos still watched if
+haply she might talk with Kephalos alone, and win him again for
+herself. Once more she was happy, but her happiness was not what it
+had been when Kephalos first gave her his love, while her father,
+Erechtheus, was yet alive. She knew that Eos still envied her, and she
+sought to guard Kephalos from the danger of her treacherous look and
+her enticing words. She kept ever near him in the chase, although he
+saw her not, and thus it came to pass that one day, as Prokris
+watched him from a thicket, the folds of her dress rustled against the
+branches, so that Kephalos thought it was some beast moving from his
+den, and hurled at her the spear of Artemis that never missed its
+mark. Then he heard the cry as of one who has received a deadly blow,
+and when he hastened into the thicket, Prokris lay smitten down to the
+earth before him. The coldness of death was on her face, and her
+bright eye was dim, but her voice was as loving as ever, while she
+said, "O Kephalos, it grieves me not that thy arm hath struck me down.
+I have thy love, and having it, I go to the land of the bright heroes,
+where my father, Erechtheus, is waiting for his child, and where thou,
+too, shalt one day meet me, to dwell with me forever." One loving look
+she gave to Kephalos, and the smile of parting vanished in the
+stillness of death.
+
+ [Illustration: NUMA POMPILIUS VISITING THE NYMPH EGERIA.]
+
+Then over the body of Prokris Kephalos wept tears of bitter sorrow,
+and he said, "Ah, Eos, Eos, well hast thou rewarded me for doubting
+once a love such as thou couldst never feel." Many days and many weeks
+he mourned for his lost love, and daily he sat on the slopes of
+Hymettos, and thought with a calm and almost happy grief how Prokris
+there had rested by his side. All this time the spear of Artemis was
+idle, and the hound went not forth to the chase, until chieftains came
+from other lands to ask his aid against savage beasts or men. Among
+them came Amphitryon, the lord of Thebes, to ask for help, and
+Kephalos said, "I will do as thou wouldst have me. It is time that I
+should begin to journey to the bright land where Prokris dwells,
+beyond the western sea."
+
+So he went with Amphitryon into the Theban land, and hunted out the
+savage beasts which wasted his harvests, and then he journeyed on till
+he came to the home of Phoebus Apollo, at Delphi. There the god bade
+him hasten to the western sea, where he should once again find
+Prokris. Onward he went, across the heights and vales of AEtolia, until
+he stood on the Leukadian cape and looked out on the blue water. The
+sun was sinking low down in the sky, and the golden clouds of evening
+were gathered round him as he hastened to his rest. And Kephalos said,
+"Here must I rest, also, for my journey is done, and Prokris is
+waiting for me in the brighter land." There on the white cliff he
+stood, and just as the sun touched the waters, the strength of
+Kephalos failed him, and he sank gently into the sea.
+
+So again, in the homes of the bright heroes, Kephalos found the wife
+whom he had loved and slain.
+
+
+SKYLLA.
+
+From the turret of her father's house, Skylla, the daughter of Nisos,
+watched the ships of King Minos, as they drew near from the Island of
+Crete. Their white sails and the spears of the Cretan warriors
+sparkled in the sunshine, as the crested waves rose and fell, carrying
+the long billows to the shore. As she watched the goodly sight, Skylla
+thought sadly of the days that were gone, when her father had
+sojourned as a guest in the halls of King Minos, and she had looked on
+his face as on the face of a friend. But now there was strife between
+the chieftains of Crete and Megara, for Androgeos, the son of Minos,
+had been slain by evil men as he journeyed from Megara to Athens, and
+Minos was come hither with his warriors to demand the price of his
+blood. But when the herald came with the message of Minos, the face of
+Nisos, the King, flushed with anger, as he said, "Go thy way to him
+that sent thee, and tell him that he who is guarded by the undying
+gods cares not for the wrath of men whose spears shall be snapped like
+bulrushes." Then said the herald, "I can not read thy riddle,
+chieftain of Megara, but the blood of the gods runs in the veins of
+Minos, and it can not be that the son of Europa shall fall under the
+hands of thee or of thy people."
+
+The sun went down in a flood of golden glory behind the purple
+heights of Geraneia, and as the mists of evening fell upon the land,
+the warriors of Minos made ready for the onset on the morrow. But when
+the light of Eos flushed the eastern sky, and the men of Crete went
+forth to the battle, their strength and their brave deeds availed them
+nothing, for the arms of the mightiest became weak as the hands of a
+little child, because the secret spell, in which lay the strength of
+the undying gods, guarded the city of Nisos. And so it came to pass
+that, as day by day they fought in vain against the walls of Megara,
+the spirit of the men of Crete waxed feeble, and many said that they
+came not thither to fight against the deathless gods.
+
+But each day as Minos led his men against the city, the daughter of
+Nisos had looked forth from her turret, and she saw his face,
+beautiful as in the days when she had sojourned in his house at
+Gnossos, and flushed with the pride and eagerness of the war. Then the
+heart of Skylla was filled with a strange love, and she spake musingly
+within herself, "To what end is this strife of armed men? Love is
+beyond all treasures, and brighter for me than the love of others
+would be one kindly look from the bright son of Europa. I know the
+spell which keeps the city of the Megarians, and where is the evil of
+the deed, if I take the purple lock of hair which the gods have given
+to my father as a pledge that so long as it remains untouched, no harm
+shall befall his people? If I give it to Minos the struggle is ended,
+and it may be that I shall win his love."
+
+So when the darkness of night fell again upon the earth, and all the
+sons of men were buried in a deep sleep, Skylla entered stealthily
+into her father's chamber, and shore off the purple lock in which lay
+his strength and the strength of his people. Then, as the tints of
+early morning stole across the dark heavens, the watchmen of the
+Cretans beheld the form of a woman as she drew nigh to them and bade
+them lead her to the tent of King Minos. When she was brought before
+him, with downcast face she bowed herself to the earth, and said, "I
+have sojourned in thy halls in the days that are gone, when there was
+peace between thee and the house of my father, Nisos. O Minos, peace
+is better than war, and of all treasures the most precious is love.
+Look on me, then, gently as in former days, for at a great price do I
+seek thy kindness. In this purple lock is the strength of my father
+and his people." Then a strange smile passed over the face of Minos,
+as he said, "The gifts of fair maidens must not be lightly cast aside;
+the requital shall be made when the turmoil of strife is ended."
+
+With a mighty shout the Cretan warriors went forth to the onset as the
+fiery horses of Helios rose up with his chariot into the kindled
+heaven. Straightway the walls of Megara fell, and the men of Crete
+burst into the house of Nisos. So the city was taken, and Minos made
+ready to go against the men of Athens, for on them also he sought to
+take vengeance for the death of his son, Androgeos. But even as he
+hastened to his ship, Skylla stood before him on the sea-shore. "Thy
+victory is from me," she said, "where is the requital of my gift?"
+Then Minos answered, "She who cares not for the father that has
+cherished her has her own reward, and the gift which thou didst bring
+me is beyond human recompense." The light southern breeze swelled the
+outspread sail, and the ship of Minos danced gaily over the rippling
+waters. For a moment the daughter of Nisos stood musing on the shore.
+Then she stretched forth her arms, as with a low cry of bitter anguish
+she said, "O Love, thy sting is cruel, and my life dies poisoned by
+the smile of Aphrodite!" So the waters closed over the daughter of
+Nisos, as she plunged in the blue depths; but the strife which vexes
+the sons of men follows her still, when the eagle swoops down from the
+clouds for his prey in the salt sea.
+
+
+PHRIXOS AND HELLE.
+
+Many, many years ago, there was a man called Athamas, and he had a
+wife whose name was Nephele. They had two children--a boy and a girl.
+The name of the boy was Phrixos, and his sister was called Helle. They
+were good and happy children, and played about merrily in the fields,
+and their mother, Nephele, loved them dearly. But by and by their
+mother was taken away from them, and their father, Athamas, forgot all
+about her, for he had not loved her as he ought to do. And very soon
+he married another wife whose name was Ino, but she was harsh and
+unkind to Phrixos and Helle, and they began to be very unhappy. Their
+cheeks were no more rosy, and their faces no longer looked bright and
+cheerful, as they used to do when they could go home to their mother,
+Nephele, and so they played less and less, until none would have
+thought that they were the same children who were so happy before
+Nephele was taken away. But Ino hated these poor children, for she was
+a cruel woman, and she longed to get rid of Phrixos and Helle, and she
+thought how she might do so. So she said that Phrixos spoiled all the
+corn, and prevented it from growing, and that they would not be able
+to make any bread till he was killed. At last she persuaded Athamas
+that he ought to kill Phrixos. But although Athamas cared nothing
+about Phrixos and Helle, still their mother, Nephele, saw what was
+going on, although they could not see her, because there was a cloud
+between them; and Nephele was determined that Athamas should not hurt
+Phrixos. So she sent a ram which had a golden fleece to carry her
+children away, and one day, when they were sitting down on the grass
+(for they were too sad and unhappy to play), they saw a beautiful ram
+come into the field. And Phrixos said to Helle, "Sister, look at this
+sheep that is coming to us; see, he shines all over like gold--his
+horns are made of gold, and all the hair on his body is golden, too."
+So the ram came nearer and nearer, and at last he lay down quite close
+to them, and looked so quiet that Phrixos and Helle were not at all
+afraid of him. Then they played with the sheep, and they took him by
+the horns, and stroked his golden fleece, and patted him on the head,
+and the ram looked so pleased that they thought they would like to
+have a ride on his back. So Phrixos got up first, and put his arms
+round the ram's neck, and little Helle got up behind her brother and
+put her arms round his waist, and then they called to the ram to stand
+up and carry them about. And the ram knew what they wanted, and began
+to walk first, and then to run. By and by it rose up from the ground
+and began to fly. And when it first left the earth, Phrixos and Helle
+became frightened, and they begged the ram to go down again and put
+them upon the ground, but the ram turned his head round, and looked so
+gently at them, that they were not afraid any more. So Phrixos told
+Helle to hold on tight round his waist, and he said, "Dear Helle, do
+not be afraid, for I do not think the ram means to do us any harm, and
+I almost fancy that he must have been sent by our dear mother,
+Nephele, and that he will carry us to some better country, where the
+people will be kind to us, as our mother used to be."
+
+Now it so happened that, just as the ram began to fly away with the
+two children on its back, Ino and Athamas came into the field,
+thinking how they might kill Phrixos, but they could not see him
+anywhere; and when they looked up, then, high up in the air over their
+heads, they saw the ram flying away with the children on its back. So
+they cried out and made a great noise, and threw stones up into the
+air, thinking that the ram would get frightened and come down to the
+earth again; but the ram did not care how much noise they made or how
+many stones they threw up. On and on he flew, higher and higher, till
+at last he looked only like a little yellow speck in the blue sky; and
+then Ino and Athamas saw him no more.
+
+So these wicked people sat down, very angry and unhappy. They were
+sorry because Phrixos and Helle had got away all safe, when they
+wanted to kill them. But they were much more sorry because they had
+gone away on the back of a ram whose fleece was made of gold. So Ino
+said to Athamas, "What a pity that we did not come into the field a
+little sooner, for then we might have caught this ram and killed him
+and stripped off his golden fleece, and we should have been rich for
+the rest of our days."
+
+All this time the ram was flying on and on, higher and higher, with
+Phrixos and Helle on his back. And Helle began to be very tired, and
+she said to her brother that she could not hold on much longer, and
+Phrixos said, "Dear Helle, try and hold on as long as you possibly
+can; I dare say the ram will soon reach the place to which he wants to
+carry us, and then you shall lie down on the soft grass, and have such
+pleasant sleep that you will not feel tired any more." But Helle said,
+"Dearest Phrixos, I will indeed try and hold fast as long as I can,
+but my arms are becoming so weak that I am afraid that I shall not be
+able to hold on long." And by and by, when she grew weaker, she said,
+"Dear Phrixos, if I fall off, you will not see Helle any more, but you
+must not forget her, you must always love her as she loved you, and
+then some day or other we shall see each other again, and live with
+our dear mother, Nephele." Then Phrixos said, "Try and hold fast a
+little longer still, Helle. I can never love any one so much as I love
+you; but I want you to live with me on earth, and I can not bear to
+think of living without you."
+
+But it was of no use that he talked so kindly and tried to encourage
+his sister, because he was not able to make her arms and her body
+stronger; so by and by poor Helle fell off, just as they were flying
+over a narrow part of the sea, and she fell into it and was drowned.
+And the people called the part of the sea where she fell in, the
+Hellespont, which means the sea of little Helle.
+
+So Phrixos was left alone on the ram's back; and the ram flew on and
+on a long way, till it came to the palace of Aietes, the King of
+Kolchis. And King Aietes was walking about in his garden, when he
+looked up into the sky, and saw something which looked very like a
+yellow sheep with a little boy on its back. And King Aietes was
+greatly amazed, for he had never seen so strange a thing before, and
+he called his wife and his children, and everyone else that was in his
+house, to come and see this wonderful sight. And they looked, and saw
+the ram coming nearer and nearer, and then they knew that it really
+was a boy on its back; and by and by the ram came down upon the earth
+near their feet, and Phrixos got off its back. Then King Aietes went
+up to him, and took him by the hand, and asked him who he was, and he
+said, "Tell me, little boy, how it is that you come here, riding in
+this strange way on the back of a ram." Then Phrixos told him the ram
+had come into the field where he and Helle were playing, and had
+carried them away from Ino and Athamas, who were very unkind to them,
+and how little Helle had grown tired, and fallen off his back, and had
+been drowned in the sea. Then King Aietes took Phrixos up in his arms,
+and said, "Do not be afraid; I will take care of you and give you all
+that you want, and no one shall hurt you here; and the ram which has
+carried you through the air shall stay in this beautiful place, where
+he will have as much grass to eat as he can possibly want, and a
+stream to drink out of and to bathe in whenever he likes."
+
+So Phrixos was taken into the palace of King Aietes, and everybody
+loved him, because he was good and kind, and never hurt anyone. And he
+grew up healthy and strong, and he learned to ride about the country
+and to leap and run over the hills and valleys, and swim about in the
+clear rivers. He had not forgotten his sister Helle, for he loved her
+still as much as ever, and very often he wished that she could come
+and live with him again, but he knew that she was with his mother,
+Nephele, in the happy land to which good people go after they are
+dead. And therefore he was never unhappy when he thought of his
+sister, for he said, "One day I, too, shall be taken to that bright
+land, and live with my mother and my sister again, if I try always to
+do what is right." And very often he used to go and see the beautiful
+ram with the golden fleece feeding in the garden, and stroke its
+golden locks.
+
+But the ram was not so strong now as he was when he flew through the
+air with Phrixos and Helle on his hack, for he was growing old and
+weak, and at last the ram died, and Phrixos was very sorry. And King
+Aietes had the golden fleece taken off from the body, and they nailed
+it up upon the wall, and every one came to look at the fleece which
+was made of gold, and to hear the story of Phrixos and Helle.
+
+But all this while Athamas and Ino had been hunting about everywhere,
+to see if they could find out where the ram had gone with the children
+on his back; and they asked every one whom they met, if they had seen
+a sheep with a fleece of gold carrying away two children. But no one
+could tell anything about it, till at last they came to the house of
+Aietes, the King of Kolchis. And they came to the door, and asked
+Aietes if he had seen Phrixos and Helle, and the sheep with the golden
+fleece. Then Aietes said to them, "I have never seen little Helle, for
+she fell off from the ram's back, and was drowned in the sea, but
+Phrixos is with me still, and as for the ram, see here is his golden
+fleece nailed up upon the wall." And just then Phrixos happened to
+come in, and Aietes asked them, "Look, now, and tell me if this is the
+Phrixos whom you are seeking." And when they saw him, they said, "It
+is indeed the same Phrixos who went away on the ram's back, but he is
+grown into a great man;" and they began to be afraid, because they
+thought they could not now ill-treat Phrixos, as they used to do when
+he was a little boy. So they tried to entice him away by pretending to
+be glad to see him, and they said, "Come away with us, and we shall
+live happily together." But Phrixos saw from the look of their faces
+that they were not telling the truth, and that they hated him still,
+and he said to them, "I will not go with you; King Aietes has been
+very good to me, and you were always unkind to me and to my sister,
+and therefore I will never leave King Aietes to go away with you."
+Then they said to Aietes, "Phrixos may stay here, but give us the
+golden fleece which came from the ram that carried away the children."
+But the King said, "I will not--I know that you only ask for it
+because you wish to sell it, and therefore you shall not have it."
+
+Then Ino and Athamas turned away in a rage, and went to their own
+country again, wretched and unhappy because they could not get the
+golden fleece. And they told every one that the fleece of the ram was
+in the palace of the King of Kolchis, and they tried to persuade every
+one to go in a great ship and take away the fleece by force. So a
+great many people came, and they all got into a large ship called the
+Argo, and they sailed and sailed, until at last they came to Kolchis.
+Then they sent some one to ask Aietes to give them the golden fleece,
+but he would not, and they would never have found the fleece again, if
+the wise maiden, Medeia, had not shown Iason how he might outdo the
+bidding of King Aietes. But when Iason had won the prize and they had
+sailed back again to their own land, the fleece was not given to
+Athamas and Ino. The other people took it, for they said, "It is quite
+right that we should have it, to make up for all our trouble in
+helping to get it." So, with all their greediness, these wretched
+people remained as poor and as miserable as ever.
+
+
+MEDEIA.
+
+Far away in the Kolchian land, where her father, Aietes, was King, the
+wise maiden, Medeia, saw and loved Iason, who had come in the ship,
+Argo, to search for the golden fleece. To her Zeus had given a wise
+and cunning heart, and she had power over the hidden things of the
+earth, and nothing in the broad sea could withstand her might. She had
+spells to tame the monsters which vex the children of men, and to
+bring back youth to the wrinkled face and the tottering limbs of the
+old. But the spells of Eros were mightier still, and the wise maiden
+forgot her cunning as she looked on the fair countenance of Iason, and
+she said within herself that she would make him conqueror in his
+struggle for the golden fleece, and go with him to be his wife in the
+far-off western land. So King Aietes brought up in vain the
+fire-breathing bulls that they might scorch Iason as he plowed the
+land with the dragon's teeth, and in vain from these teeth sprang up
+the harvest of armed men ready for strife and bloodshed. For Medeia
+had anointed the body of Iason with ointment, so that the fiery breath
+of the bulls hurt him not; and by her bidding he cast a stone among
+the armed men, and they fought with one another for the stone till all
+lay dead upon the ground. Still King Aietes would not give to him the
+golden fleece, and the heart of Iason was cast down till Medeia came
+to him and bade him follow her. Then she led him to a hidden dell
+where the dragon guarded the fleece, and she laid her spells on the
+monster and brought a heavy sleep upon his eye, while Iason took the
+fleece and hastened to carry it on board the ship Argo.
+
+So Medeia left her father's house, and wandered with Iason into many
+lands--to Iolkos, to Athens, and to Argos. And wherever she went, men
+marveled at her for her wisdom and her beauty, but as they looked on
+her fair face and listened to her gentle voice, they knew not the
+power of the maiden's wrath if any one should do her wrong. So she
+dwelt at Iolkos, in the house of Pelias, who had sent forth Iason to
+look for the golden fleece, that he might not be King in his stead,
+and the daughters of Pelias loved the beautiful Medeia, for they
+dreamed not that she had sworn to avenge on Pelias the wrong which he
+had done to Iason. Craftily she told the daughters of Pelias of the
+power of her spells, which could tame the fire-breathing bulls, and
+lull the dragon to sleep, and bring back the brightness of youth to
+the withered cheeks of the old. And the daughters of Pelias said to
+her, "Our father is old, and his limbs are weak and tottering, show us
+how once more he can be made young." Then Medeia took a ram and cut it
+up, and put its limbs into a caldron, and when she had boiled them on
+the hearth there came forth a lamb, and she said, "So shall your
+father be brought back again to youth and strength, if ye will do to
+him as I have done to the ram, and when the time is come, I will speak
+the words of my spell, and the change shall be accomplished." So the
+daughters of Pelias followed her counsel, and put the body of their
+father into the caldron, and, as it boiled on the hearth, Medeia said,
+"I must go up to the house-top and look forth on the broad heaven,
+that I may know the time to speak the words of my charm." And the fire
+waxed fiercer and fiercer, but Medeia gazed on at the bright stars,
+and came not down from the house-top till the limbs of Pelias were
+consumed away.
+
+ [Illustration: POLYHYMNIA (_Muse Of Rhetoric and Eloquence_).]
+
+Then a look of fierce hatred passed over her face, and she said,
+"Daughters of Pelias, ye have slain your father, and I go with Iason
+to the land of Argos." So thither she sped with him in her dragon
+chariot, which bore them to the house of King Kreon.
+
+Long time she abode in Argos, rejoicing in the love of Iason and at
+the sight of her children, who were growing up in strength and beauty.
+But Iason cared less and less for the wise and cunning Medeia, and he
+loved more to look on Glauke, the daughter of the King, till at last
+he longed to be free from the love and the power of Medeia.
+
+Then men talked in Argos of the love of Iason for the beautiful
+Glauke, and Medeia heard how he was going to wed another wife. Once
+more her face grew dark with anger, as when she left the daughters of
+Pelias mourning for their father, and she vowed a vow that Iason
+should repent of his great treachery. But she hid her anger within her
+heart, and her eye was bright and her voice was soft and gentle as she
+spake to Iason and said, "They tell me that thou art to wed the
+daughter of Kreon; I had not thought thus to lose the love for which I
+left my father's house and came with thee to the land of strangers.
+Yet do I chide thee not, for it may be that thou canst not love the
+wise Kolchian maid like the soft daughters of the Argive land, and yet
+thou knowest not altogether how I have loved thee. Go, then, and dwell
+with Glauke, and I will send her a bright gift, so that thou mayest
+not forget the days that are past."
+
+So Iason went away, well pleased that Medeia had spoken to him gently
+and upbraided him not, and presently his children came after him to
+the house of Kreon, and said, "Father, we have brought a wreath for
+Glauke, and a robe which Helios gave to our mother, Medeia, before she
+came away with thee from the house of her father." Then Glauke came
+forth eagerly to take the gifts, and she placed the glittering wreath
+on her head, and wrapped the robe round her slender form. Like a
+happy child, she looked into a mirror to watch the sparkling of the
+jewels on her fair forehead, and sat down on the couch playing with
+the folds of the robe of Helios. But soon a look of pain passed over
+her face, and her eyes shone with a fiery light as she lifted her hand
+to take the wreath away, but the will of Medeia was accomplished, for
+the poison had eaten into her veins, and the robe clung with a deadly
+grasp to her scorched and wasted limbs. Through the wide halls rang
+the screams of her agony, as Kreon clasped his child in his arms. Then
+sped the poison through his veins also, and Kreon died with Glauke.
+
+Then Medeia went with her children to the house-top, and looked up to
+the blue heaven, and stretching forth her arms, she said, "O Helios,
+who didst give to me the wise and cunning heart, I have avenged me on
+Iason, even as once I avenged him on Pelias. Thou hast given me thy
+power; yet, it may be, I would rather have the life-long love of the
+helpless daughters of men."
+
+Presently her dragon chariot rose into the sky, and the people of
+Argos saw the mighty Medeia no more.
+
+
+THESEUS.
+
+Many a long year ago a little child was playing on the white sand of
+the Bay of Troizen. His golden locks streamed in the breeze as he ran
+amongst the rippling waves which flung themselves lazily on the beach.
+Sometimes he clapped his hands in glee as the water washed over his
+feet, and he stopped again to look with wondering eyes at the strange
+things which were basking on the sunny shore, or gazed on the mighty
+waters which stretched away bright as a sapphire stone into the far
+distance. But presently some sadder thoughts troubled the child, for
+the look of gladness passed away from his face, and he went slowly to
+his mother, who sat among the weed-grown rocks, watching her child
+play.
+
+"Mother," said the boy, "I am very happy here, but may I not know
+to-day why I never see my father as other children do? I am not now so
+very young, and I think that you feel sometimes lonely, for your face
+looks sad and sorrowful, as if you were grieving for some one who is
+gone away."
+
+Fondly and proudly the mother looked on her boy, and smoothed the
+golden locks on his forehead, as she said, "My child, there is much to
+make us happy, and it may be that many days of gladness are in store
+for us both. But there is labor and toil for all, and many a hard task
+awaits thee, my son. Only have a brave heart, and turn away from all
+things mean and foul, and strength will be given thee to conquer the
+strongest enemy. Sit down, then, here by my side, and I will tell thee
+a tale which may make thee sad, but which must not make thee unhappy,
+for none can do good to others who waste their lives in weeping. Many
+summers have come and gone since the day when a stranger drew nigh to
+the house of my father, Pittheus. The pale light of evening was fading
+from the sky, but we could see, by his countenance and the strength of
+his stalwart form, that he was come of a noble race and could do brave
+deeds. When Pittheus went forth from the threshold to meet him, the
+stranger grasped his hand, and said, 'I come to claim the rights of
+our ancient friendship, for our enemies have grown too mighty for us,
+and Pandion, my father, rules no more in Athens. Here, then, let me
+tarry till I can find a way to punish the men who have driven away
+their King and made his children wanderers on the earth.' So Aigeus
+sojourned in my father's house, and soon he won my love, and I became
+his wife. Swiftly and happily the days went by, and one thing only
+troubled me, and this was the thought that one day he must leave me,
+to fight with his enemies and place his father again upon his throne.
+But even this thought was forgotten for awhile, when Aigeus looked on
+thee for the first time, and, stretching forth his hands towards
+heaven, said, 'O Zeus, that dwellest in the dark cloud, look down on
+my child, and give him strength that he may be a better man than his
+father, and if thou orderest that his life shall be one of toil, still
+let him have the joy which is the lot of all who do their work with a
+cheerful heart and keep their hands from all defiling things.' Then
+the days passed by more quickly and happily than ever, but at last
+there came the messengers from Athens, to tell him that the enemies of
+Pandion were at strife among themselves, and that the time was come
+that Aigeus should fight for his father's house. Not many days after
+this we sat here, watching thee at play among the weeds and flowers
+that climb among the rocks, when thy father put his arms gently round
+me, and said, 'Aithra, best gift of all that the gods have ever given
+to me, I leave thee to go to my own land, and I know not what things
+may befall me there, nor whether I may return hither to take thee to
+dwell with me at Athens. But forget not the days that are gone, and
+faint not for lack of hope that we may meet again in the days that are
+coming. Be a brave mother to our child, that so he, too, may grow up
+brave and pure, and when he is old enough to know what he must do,
+tell him that he is born of a noble race, and that he must one day
+fight stoutly to win the heritage of his fathers.' And now, my son,
+thou seest yonder rock, over which the wild briars have clambered. No
+hands have moved it since the day when thy father lifted it up and
+placed beneath it his sword and his sandals. Then he put back the
+stone as it was before, and said to me, 'When thou thinkest fit, tell
+our child that he must wait until he is able to lift this stone. Then
+must he put my sandals on his feet, and gird my sword on his side, and
+journey to the city of his forefathers.' From that day, my child, I
+have never seen thy father's face, and the time is often weary,
+although the memory of the old days is sweet and my child is by my
+side to cheer me with his love. So now thou knowest something of the
+task that lies before thee. Think of thy father's words, and make
+thyself ready for the toil and danger that may fall to thy lot in time
+to come."
+
+ [Illustration: SPHINX OF EGYPT.]
+
+The boy looked wistfully into his mother's face, and a strange
+feeling of love and hope and strength filled his heart, as he saw the
+tears start to her eyes when the tale was ended. His arms were clasped
+around her neck, but he said only, "Mother, I will wait patiently till
+I am strong enough to lift the stone, but before that time comes,
+perhaps my father may come back from Athens."
+
+So for many a year more the days went by, and the boy, Theseus, grew
+up brave, truthful, and strong. None who looked upon him grudged him
+his beauty, for his gentleness left no room for envy, and his mother
+listened with a proud and glad heart to the words with which the
+people of the land told of his kindly deeds. At length the days of his
+youth were ended, but Aigeus came not back, and Theseus went to
+Aithra, and said, "The time is come, my mother; I must see this day
+whether I am strong enough to lift the stone." And Aithra answered,
+gently, "Be it as thou wilt, and as the undying gods will it, my son."
+Then he went up to the rock, and nerved himself for a mighty effort,
+and the stone yielded slowly to his strength, and the sword and
+sandals lay before him. Presently he stood before Aithra, and to her
+it seemed that the face of Theseus was as the face of one of the
+bright heroes who dwell in the halls of Zeus. A flush of glorious
+beauty lit up his countenance, as she girt the sword to his side and
+said, "The gods prosper thee, my son, and they will prosper thee, if
+thou livest in time to come as thou hast lived in the days that are
+gone."
+
+So Theseus bade his mother farewell, there on the white sea-shore,
+where long ago he had asked her first to tell him of his name and
+kindred. Sadly, yet with a good hope, he set out on his journey. The
+blue sea lay before him, and the white sails of ships glistened as
+they danced on the heaving waters. But Theseus had vowed a vow that he
+would do battle with the evil-doers who filled the land with blood,
+and for terror of whom the travelers walked in by-ways. So at
+Epidauros he fought with the cruel Periphetes, and smote him with his
+own club, and at the Megarian isthmus he seized the robber, Sinis, and
+tore him to pieces between the trunks of pines, even as he had been
+wont to do with the wayfarers who fell into his hands. Then, in the
+thickets of Krommyon, he slew the huge sow that ravaged the fair
+corn-fields, and on the borderland he fought a sore fight with Skiron,
+who plundered all who came in his path, and, making them wash his
+feet, hurled them, as they stooped, down the cliffs which hung over
+the surging sea. Even so did Theseus to him, and journeying on to the
+banks of Kephisos, stretched the robber, Prokroustes, on the bed on
+which he had twisted and tortured the limbs of his victims till they
+died.
+
+Thus, amid the joyous shoutings of the people whom he had set free,
+Theseus entered into the city of his fathers, and the rumor of him was
+brought to Aigeus, the King. Then the memory of the days that were
+gone came back to Aigeus, and his heart smote him as he thought within
+himself that this must be the child of Aithra, whom he had left
+mourning on the shore of Troizen. But soon there was a strife in the
+city, for among the mightiest of the people were many who mocked at
+Theseus, and said, "Who is this stranger that men should exalt him
+thus, as though he came of the race of heroes? Let him show that he is
+the child of Aigeus, if he would win the heritage which he claims." So
+was Theseus brought before the King, and a blush of shame passed over
+the old man's face when he saw the sword and sandals which he had left
+beneath the great stone, near the Troizenian shore. Few words only he
+spake of welcome, and none of love or kindness for his child or for
+the wife who still yearned for the love of the former days. Then, at
+his father's bidding, Theseus made ready to go forth once again on his
+path of toil, and he chafed not against the hard lot which had fallen
+to his portion. Only he said, "The love of a father would sweeten my
+labor, but my mother's love is with me still, and the battle is for
+right and for law."
+
+So in after-times the minstrels sang of the glorious deeds of Theseus
+the brave and fair. They told how at last at the bidding of his father
+he went forth from the gates of Athens and smote the bull which
+ravaged the broad plains of Marathon, and how in the secret maze of
+the labyrinth he smote the Minotauros. They sang of his exploits in
+the day when the Amazons did battle with the men of Athens--how he
+went with Meleagros and his chieftains to the chase of the boar in
+Kalydon--how with the heroes in the ship Argo he brought back the
+golden fleece from Kolchis. They told how at last he went down with
+Peirithoos, his comrade, into the gloomy kingdom of Hades and seized
+on the daughter of Demeter, to bring her to the land of living men.
+They sang of the fierce wrath of Hades when his lightnings burst forth
+and smote Peirithoos--of the dark prison-house where Theseus lay while
+many a rolling year went round, until at last the mighty Herakles
+passed the borders of the shadowy land and set the captive free.
+
+And so it was that, when the heroes had passed to the home of Zeus and
+the banquet of the gods, the glory of Theseus was as the glory of the
+brave son of Alkmene who toiled for the false Eurystheus; and ever in
+the days of feasting, the minstrels linked together the names of
+Herakles and Theseus.
+
+
+ARIADNE.
+
+The soft western breeze was bearing a ship from the Athenian land to
+the fair haven of Gnossos, and the waters played merrily round the
+ship as it sped along the paths of the sea. But on board there were
+mournful hearts and weeping eyes, for the youths and maidens which
+that ship was bearing to Crete were to be the prey of the savage
+Minotauros. As they came near the harbor gates, they saw the people
+of King Minos crowded on the shore, and they wept aloud because they
+should no more look on the earth and on the sun as he journeyed
+through the heaven.
+
+In that throng stood Ariadne, the daughter of the King, and as she
+gazed on the youths and maidens who came out of the tribute ship,
+there passed before her one taller and fairer than all, and she saw
+that his eye alone was bright and his step firm, as he moved from the
+shore to go to the house of Minos. Presently they all stood before the
+King, and he saw that one alone gazed steadfastly upon him, while the
+eyes of the rest were dim with many tears. Then he said, "What is thy
+name?" The young man answered, "I am Theseus, the son of King Aigeus,
+and I have come as one of the tribute children, but I part not with my
+life till I have battled for it with all my strength. Wherefore send
+me first, I pray thee, that I may fight with Minotauros; for if I be
+the conqueror, then shall all these go back with me in peace to our
+own land." Then Minos said, "Thou shalt indeed go first to meet
+Minotauros; but think not to conquer him in the fight, for the flame
+from his mouth will scorch thee, and no mortal man may withstand his
+strength." And Theseus answered, "It is for man to do what best he
+may; the gods know for whom remains the victory."
+
+But the gentle heart of Ariadne was moved with love and pity as she
+looked on his fair face and his bright and fearless eye, and she said
+within herself, "I can not kill the Minotauros or rob him of his
+strength, but I will guide Theseus so that he may reach the monster
+while sleep lies heavy upon him."
+
+On the next day Theseus, the Athenian, was to meet the dreadful
+Minotauros, who dwelt in the labyrinth of Gnossos. Far within its
+thousand twisted alleys was his den, where he waited for his prey, as
+they were brought each along the winding paths. But Ariadne talked in
+secret with Theseus in the still evening time, and she gave him a
+clue of thread, so that he might know how to come back out of the
+mazes of the labyrinth after he had slain the Minotauros; and when the
+moon looked down from heaven, she led him to a hidden gate, and bade
+him go forth boldly, for he should come to the monster's den while
+sleep lay heavy on his eyes. So when the morning came, the Minotauros
+lay lifeless on the ground, and there was joy and gladness in the
+great city of Gnossos, and Minos himself rejoiced that the youths and
+maidens might go back with Theseus in peace to Athens.
+
+So once again they went into the ship, and the breeze blew softly to
+carry them to the homes which they had not thought to see again. But
+Theseus talked with Ariadne, in the house of Minos, and the maiden
+wept as though some great grief lay heavy upon her, and Theseus twined
+his arm gently round her, and said, "Fairest of maidens, thy aid hath
+saved me from death, but I care not now to live if I may not be with
+thee. Come with me, and I will lead thee to the happier land, where my
+father, Aigeus, is King. Come with me, that my people may see and love
+the maiden who rescued the tribute children from the savage
+Minotauros."
+
+Then Ariadne went with him joyfully, for her own love made her think
+that Theseus loved her not less dearly. So she wept not as she saw the
+towers of Gnossos growing fainter and fainter while the ship sped over
+the dancing waters, and she thought only of the happy days which she
+should spend in the bright Athens where Theseus should one day be
+King. Gaily the ship sped upon her way, and there was laughter and
+mirth among the youths and maidens who were going back to their home.
+And Theseus sat by the side of Ariadne, speaking the words of a deeper
+love than in truth he felt, and fancying that he loved the maiden even
+as the maiden loved him. But while yet he gazed on the beautiful
+Ariadne, the image of Aigle came back to his mind, and the old love
+was wakened again in his heart. Onward sailed the ship, cleaving its
+way through the foaming waters, by the Islands of Thera and Amorgos,
+till the high cliffs of Naxos broke upon their sight.
+
+The sun was sinking down into the sea when they came to its winding
+shores, and the seamen moored the ship to the land, and came forth to
+rest until the morning. There they feasted gaily on the beach, and
+Theseus talked with Ariadne until the moon was high up in the sky. So
+they slept through the still hours of night, but when the sun was
+risen, Ariadne was alone upon the sea-shore. In doubt and fear, she
+roamed along the beach, but she saw no one, and there was no ship
+sailing on the blue sea. In many a bay and nook she sought him, and
+she cried in bitter sorrow, "Ah, Theseus, Theseus, hast thou forsaken
+me?" Her feet were wounded by the sharp flints, her limbs were faint
+from very weariness, and her eyes were dim with tears. Above her rose
+the high cliffs like a wall, before her was spread the bright and
+laughing sea, and her heart sank within her, for she felt that she
+must die. "Ah, Theseus," she cried, "have I done thee wrong? I pitied
+thee in the time of thy sorrow and saved thee from thy doom, and then
+I listened to thy fair words, and trusted them as a maiden trusts when
+love is first awakened within her. Yet hast thou dealt me a hard
+requital. Thou art gone to happy Athens, and it may be thou thinkest
+already of some bright maiden who there has crossed thy path, and thou
+hast left me here to die for weariness and hunger. So would I not
+requite thee for a deed of love and pity."
+
+ [Illustration: CALLIOPE. (_Muse of Heroic Verse._)]
+
+Wearied and sad of heart, she sank down on the rock, and her long
+hair streamed over her fair shoulders. Her hands were clasped around
+her knees, and the hot tears ran down her cheeks, and she knew not
+that there stood before her one fairer and brighter than the sons of
+men, until she heard a voice which said, "Listen to me, daughter of
+Minos. I am Dionysos, the lord of the feast and revel. I wander with
+light heart and the sweet sounds of laughter and song over land and
+sea; I saw thee aid Theseus when he went into the labyrinth to slay
+the Minotauros. I heard his fair words when he prayed thee to leave
+thy home and go with him to Athens. I saw him this morning, while yet
+the stars twinkled in the sky, arouse his men and sail away in his
+ship to the land of Aigeus; but I sought not to stay him, for,
+Ariadne, thou must dwell with me. Thy love and beauty are a gift too
+great for Theseus; but thou shalt be the bride of Dionysos. Thy days
+shall be passed amid feasts and banquets, and when thy life is ended
+here, thou shalt go with me to the homes of the undying gods, and men
+shall see the crown of Ariadne in the heavens when the stars look
+forth at night from the dark sky. Nay, weep not, Ariadne, thy love for
+Theseus hath been but the love of a day, and I have loved thee long
+before the black-sailed ship brought him from poor and rugged Athens."
+Then Ariadne wept no more, and in the arms of Dionysos she forgot the
+false and cruel Theseus; so that among the matrons who thronged round
+the joyous wine-god the fairest and the most joyous was Ariadne, the
+daughter of Minos.
+
+
+ARETHUSA.
+
+On the heights of Maenalos the hunter Alpheios saw the maiden Arethusa
+as she wandered joyously with her companions over the green swelling
+downs where the heather spread out its pink blossoms to the sky.
+Onward she came, the fairest of all the band, until she drew nigh to
+the spot where Alpheios stood marveling at the brightness of her
+beauty. Then, as she followed the winding path on the hill-side, she
+saw his eye resting upon her, and her heart was filled with fear, for
+his dark face was flushed by the toil of the long chase and his torn
+raiment waved wildly in the breeze. And yet more was she afraid when
+she heard the sound of his rough voice, as he prayed her to tarry by
+his side. She lingered not to listen to his words, but with light foot
+she sped over hill and dale and along the bank of the river where it
+leaps down the mountain cliffs and winds along the narrow valleys.
+
+Then Alpheios vowed a vow that the maiden should not escape him. "I
+will follow thee," he said, "over hill and dale; I will seek thee
+through rivers and seas, and where thou shalt rest, there will I rest,
+also." Onward they sped, across the dark heights of Erymanthos and
+over the broad plains of Pisa, till the waters of the western sea lay
+spread out before them, dancing in the light of the midday sun.
+
+Then with arms outstretched, and with wearied limbs, Arethusa cried
+aloud, and said, "O daughters of the gentle Okeanos, I have played
+with you on the white shore in the days of mirth and gladness, and now
+I come to your green depths. Save me from the hand of the wild
+huntsman." So she plunged beneath the waves of the laughing sea, and
+the daughters of Okeanos bore her gently downwards till she came to
+the coral caves, where they sat listening to the sweet song of the
+waters. But there they suffered her not to rest, for they said, "Yet
+further must thou flee, Arethusa, for Alpheios comes behind thee."
+Then in their arms they bore her gently beneath the depths of the sea,
+till they laid her down at last on the Ortygian shore of the
+Thrinakian land, as the sun was sinking down in the sky. Dimly she saw
+spread before her the blue hills, and she felt the soft breath of the
+summer breeze, as her eyes closed for weariness. Then suddenly she
+heard the harsh voice which scared her on the heights of Maenalos, and
+she tarried not to listen to his prayer. "Flee not away, Arethusa,"
+said the huntsman, Alpheios, "I mean not to harm thee; let me rest in
+thy love, and let me die for the beauty of thy fair face." But the
+maiden fled with a wild cry along the winding shore, and the light
+step of her foot left no print on the glistening sand. "Not thus shalt
+thou escape from my arms," said the huntsman, and he stretched forth
+his hand to seize the maiden, as she drew nigh to a fountain whose
+waters flashed clear and bright in the light of the sinking sun. Then
+once again Arethusa called aloud on the daughters of Okeanos, and she
+said, "O friends, once more I come to your coral caves, for on earth
+there is for me no resting-place." So the waters closed over the
+maiden, and the image of heaven came down again on the bright
+fountain. Then a flush of anger passed over the face of Alpheios, as
+he said, "On earth thou hast scorned my love, O maiden, but my form
+shall be fairer in thy sight when I rest beside thee beneath the
+laughing waters." So over the huntsman, Alpheios, flowed the Ortygian
+stream, and the love of Arethusa was given to him in the coral caves,
+where they dwell with the daughters of Okeanos.
+
+ [Illustration: THE ORIGIN OF MAN. (_From an antique
+ Sculpture._)]
+
+
+TYRO.
+
+On the banks of the fairest stream in all the land of Thessaly, the
+golden-haired Enipeus wooed the maiden Tyro; with her he wandered in
+gladness of heart, following the path of the winding river, and
+talking with her of his love. And Tyro listened to his tender words,
+as day by day she stole away from the house of her father, Salmoneus,
+to spend the livelong day on the banks of his beautiful stream.
+
+But Salmoneus was full of rage when he knew that Tyro loved Enipeus,
+and how she had become the mother of two fair babes. There was none to
+plead for Tyro and her helpless children, for her mother, Alkidike,
+was dead, and Salmoneus had taken the iron-hearted Sidero to be his
+wife. So he followed her evil counsels, and he said to Tyro, "Thy
+children must die, and thou must wed Kretheus, the son of the mighty
+Aiolos."
+
+Then Tyro hastened in bitter sorrow to the banks of the stream, and
+her babes slept in her arms, and she stretched out her hands with a
+loud cry for aid, but Enipeus heard her not, for he lay in his green
+dwelling far down beneath the happy waters. So she placed the babes
+amidst the thick rushes which grew along the banks, and she said, "O
+Enipeus, my father says that I may no more see thy face; but to thee I
+give our children; guard them from the anger of Salmoneus, and it may
+be that in time to come they will avenge my wrongs."
+
+There, nestled amid the tall reeds, the children slept, till a
+herdsman saw them as he followed his cattle along the shore. And Tyro
+went back in anguish of heart to the house of Salmoneus, but she would
+not have the love of Kretheus or listen to his words. Then Sidero
+whispered again her evil counsels into the ear of Salmoneus, and he
+shut up Tyro, so that she might not see the light of the sun or hear
+the voice of man. He cut off the golden locks that clustered on her
+fair cheeks, he clothed her in rough raiment, and bound her in fetters
+which gave her no rest by night or by day. So in her misery she pined
+away, and her body was wasted by hunger and thirst, because she would
+not become the wife of Kretheus. Then more and more she thought of the
+days when she listened to the words of Enipeus as she wandered with
+him by the side of the sounding waters, and she said within herself,
+"He heard me not when I called to him for help, but I gave him my
+children, and it may be that he has saved them from death; and if ever
+they see my face again, they shall know that I never loved any save
+Enipeus, who dwells beneath the stream."
+
+So the years passed on, and Pelias and Neleus dwelt with the herdsman,
+and they grew up strong in body and brave of soul. But Enipeus had not
+forgotten the wrongs of Tyro, and he put it into the heart of her
+children to punish Sidero for her evil counsels. So Sidero died, and
+they brought out their mother from her dreary dungeon, and led her to
+the banks of the stream where she had heard the words of Enipeus in
+the former days. But her eyes were dim with long weeping, and the
+words of her children sounded strangely in her ears, and she said, "O
+my children, let me sink to sleep while I hear your voices, which
+sound to me like the voice of Enipeus." So she fell asleep and died,
+and they laid her body in the ground by the river's bank, where the
+waters of Enipeus made their soft music near her grave.
+
+
+NARKISSOS.
+
+On the banks of Kephisos, Echo saw and loved the beautiful Narkissos,
+but the youth cared not for the maiden of the hills, and his heart was
+cold to the words of her love, for he mourned for his sister, whom
+Hermes had taken away beyond the Stygian River. Day by day he sat
+alone by the streamside, sorrowing for the bright maiden whose life
+was bound up with his own, because they had seen the light of the sun
+in the self-same day, and thither came Echo and sat down by his side,
+and sought in vain to win his love. "Look on me and see," she said, "I
+am fairer than the sister for whom thou dost mourn." But Narkissos
+answered her not, for he knew that the maiden would ever have
+something to say against his words. So he sat silent and looked down
+into the stream, and there he saw his own face in the clear water, and
+it was to him as the face of his sister for whom he pined away in
+sorrow, and his grief became less bitter as he seemed to see again her
+soft blue eye, and almost to hear the words which came from her lips.
+But the grief of Narkissos was too deep for tears, and it dried up
+slowly the fountain of his life. In vain the words of Echo fell upon
+his ears, as she prayed him to hearken to her prayer: "Ah, Narkissos,
+thou mournest for one who can not heed thy sorrow, and thou carest not
+for her who longs to see thy face and hear thy voice forever." But
+Narkissos saw still in the waters of Kephisos the face of his twin
+sister, and still gazing at it he fell asleep and died. Then the
+voice of Echo was heard no more, for she sat in silence by his grave,
+and a beautiful flower came up close to it. Its white blossoms drooped
+over the banks of Kephisos where Narkissos had sat and looked down
+into its clear water, and the people of the land called the plant
+after his name.
+
+
+ORPHEUS AND EURYDIKE.
+
+In the pleasant valleys of a country which was called Thessaly there
+lived a man whose name was Orpheus. Every day he made soft music with
+his golden harp, and sang beautiful songs such as no one had ever
+heard before. And whenever Orpheus sang, then everything came to
+listen to him, and the trees bowed down their heads to hear, and even
+the clouds sailed along more gently and brightly in the sky when he
+sang, and the stream which ran close to his feet made a softer noise,
+to show how glad his music made it.
+
+Now, Orpheus had a wife who was called Eurydike, whom he loved very
+dearly. All through the winter, when the snow was on the hills, and
+all through the summer, when the sunshine made everything beautiful,
+Orpheus used to sing to her, and Eurydike sat on the grass by his side
+while the beasts came round to listen, and the trees bowed down their
+heads to hear him.
+
+But one day when Eurydike was playing with some children on the bank
+of the river, she trod upon a snake in the long grass, and the snake
+bit her. And by and by she began to be very sick, and Eurydike knew
+that she must die. So she told the children to go to Orpheus (for he
+was far away) and say how sorry she was to leave him, and that she
+loved him always very dearly, and then she put her head down upon the
+grass and fell asleep and died. Sad indeed was Orpheus when the
+children came to tell him that Eurydike was dead. He felt so wretched
+that he never played upon his golden harp, and he never opened his
+lips to sing, and the beasts that used to listen to him wondered why
+Orpheus sat all alone on the green bank where Eurydike used to sit
+with him, and why it was that he never made any more of his beautiful
+music. All day long he sat there, and his cheeks were often wet with
+tears. At last he said, "I can not stay here any more, I must go and
+look for Eurydike. I can not bear to be without her, and perhaps the
+king of the land where people go after they are dead will let her come
+back and live with me again."
+
+So he took his harp in his hand, and went to look for Eurydike in the
+land which is far away, where the sun goes down into his golden cup
+before the night comes on. And he went on and on a very long way, till
+at last he came to a high and dark gateway. It was barred across with
+iron bars, and it was bolted and locked so that nobody could open it.
+
+It was a wretched and gloomy place, because the sunshine never came
+there, and it was covered with clouds and mist. In front of this great
+gateway there sat a monstrous dog, with three heads, and six eyes, and
+three tongues, and everything was dark around, except his eyes, which
+shone like fire, and which saw every one that dared to come near. Now,
+when Orpheus came looking for Eurydike, the dog raised his three
+heads, and opened his three mouths, and gnashed his teeth at him, and
+roared terribly, but when Orpheus came nearer, the dog jumped up upon
+his feet and got himself ready to fly at him and tear him to pieces.
+Then Orpheus took down his harp and began to play upon its golden
+strings. And the dog, Kerberos (for that was his name), growled and
+snarled and showed the great white teeth which were in his three
+mouths, but he could not help hearing the sweet music, and he wondered
+why it was that he did not wish any more to tear Orpheus in pieces.
+Very soon the music made him quiet and still, and at last it lulled
+him to sleep, and only his heavy breathing told that there was any dog
+there. So when Kerberos had gone to sleep, Orpheus passed by him and
+came up to the gate, and he found it wide open, for it had come open
+of its own accord while he was singing. And he was glad when he saw
+this, for he thought that now he should see Eurydike.
+
+So he went on and on a long way, until he came to the palace of the
+King, and there were guards placed before the door who tried to keep
+him from going in, but Orpheus played upon his harp, and then they
+could not help letting him go.
+
+ [Illustration: ERATE (_Muse of the Lute_).]
+
+So he went into the great hall, where he saw the King and Queen
+sitting on a throne, and as Orpheus came near, the King called out to
+him with a loud and terrible voice, "Who are you, and how dare you to
+come here? Do you not know that no one is allowed to come here till
+after they are dead? I will have you chained and placed in a dungeon,
+from which you will never be able to get out." Then Orpheus said
+nothing, but he took his golden harp in his hand and began to sing
+more sweetly and gently than ever, because he knew that, if he liked
+to do so, the King could let him see Eurydike again. And as he sang,
+the face of the King began to look almost glad, and his anger passed
+away, and he began to feel how much happier it must be to be gentle
+and loving than to be angry and cruel. Then the King said, "You have
+made me feel happy with your sweet music, although I have never felt
+happy before; and now tell me why you have come, because you must want
+something or other, for, otherwise, no one would come, before he was
+dead, to this sad and gloomy land of which I am the King." Then
+Orpheus said, "O King, give me back my dear Eurydike, and let her go
+from this gloomy place and live with me on the bright earth again." So
+the King said that she should go. And the King said to Orpheus, "I
+have given you what you wanted, because you sang so sweetly, and when
+you go back to the earth from this place, your wife whom you love
+shall go up after you, but remember that you must never look back
+until she has reached the earth, for if you do, Eurydike will be
+brought back here, and I shall not be able to give her to you again,
+even if you should sing more sweetly and gently than ever."
+
+Now, Orpheus was longing to see Eurydike, and he hoped that the King
+would let him see her at once, but when the King said that he must not
+try to see her till she had reached the earth, he was quite content,
+for he said, "Shall I not wait patiently a little while, that Eurydike
+may come and live with me again?" So he promised the King that he
+would go up to the earth without stopping to look behind and see
+whether Eurydike was coming after him.
+
+Then Orpheus went away from the palace of the King, and he passed
+through the dark gateway, and the dog, Kerberos, did not bark or
+growl, for he knew that Orpheus would not have been allowed to come
+back if the King had not wished it. So he went on and on a long way,
+and he became impatient, and longed more and more to see Eurydike. At
+last he came near to the land of living men, and he saw just a little
+streak of light, where the sun was going to rise from the sea, and
+presently the sky became brighter, and he saw everything before him so
+clearly that he could not help turning round to look at Eurydike. But,
+ah! she had not yet quite reached the earth, and so now he lost her
+again. He just saw something pale and white, which looked like his own
+dear wife, and he just heard a soft and gentle voice, which sounded
+like the voice of Eurydike, and then it all melted away. And still he
+thought that he saw that pale white face, and heard that soft and
+gentle voice, which said, "O Orpheus, Orpheus, why did you look back?
+How dearly I love you, and how glad I should have been to live with
+you again, but now I must go back, because you have broken your
+promise to the King, and I must not even kiss you, and say how much I
+love you."
+
+ [Illustration: TERPSICHORE. (_Muse of Dancing._)]
+
+And Orpheus sat down at the place where Eurydike was taken away from
+him, and he could not go on any further, because he felt so miserable.
+There he stayed day after day, and his cheek became more pale, and his
+body weaker and weaker, till at last he knew that he must die. And
+Orpheus was not sorry, for although he loved the bright earth, with
+all its flowers and soft grass and sunny streams, he knew that he
+could not be with Eurydike again until he left it. So at last he laid
+his head upon the earth, and fell asleep, and died; and then he and
+Eurydike saw each other in the land which is far away, where the sun
+goes down at night into his golden cup, and were never parted again.
+
+
+KADMOS AND EUROPA.
+
+In a beautiful valley in Phoenicia, a long time ago, two children,
+named Kadmos and Europa, lived with their mother, Telephassa. They
+were good and happy children, and full of fun and merriment. It was a
+very lovely place in which they lived, where there were all sorts of
+beautiful trees with fruits and flowers. The oranges shone like gold
+among the dark leaves, and great bunches of dates hung from the tall
+palm trees which bowed their heads as if they were asleep, and there
+was a delicious smell from the lime groves, and from many fruits and
+flowers which are never seen in America, but which blossom and ripen
+under the hot sun in Syria.
+
+So the years went; and one day, as they were playing about by the side
+of the river, there came into the field a beautiful white bull. He was
+quite white all over--as white as the whitest snow; there was not a
+single spot or speck on any part of his body. And he came and lay down
+on the green grass, and remained still and quiet. So they went nearer
+and nearer to the bull, and the bull did not move, but looked at them
+with his large eyes as if he wished to ask them to come and play with
+him, and at last they came to the place where the bull was. Then
+Kadmos thought that he would be very brave, so he put out his hand,
+and began to pat the bull on his side, and the bull only made a soft
+sound to show how glad he was. Then Europa put out her hand, and
+stroked him on the face, and laid hold of his white horn, and the bull
+rubbed his face gently against her dress.
+
+So by and by Kadmos thought that it would be pleasant to have a ride
+on the back of the bull, and he got on, and the bull rose up from the
+ground, and went slowly round the field with Kadmos on his back, and
+just for a minute or two Kadmos felt frightened, but when he saw how
+well and safely the bull carried him, he was not afraid any more. So
+they played with the bull until the sun sank down behind the hills,
+and then they hastened home.
+
+When they reached the house, they ran quickly to Telephassa, and said
+to her, "Only think, we have been playing in the field with a
+beautiful white bull." And Telephassa was glad that they had been so
+happy, but she would not have been so glad if she had known what the
+bull was going to do.
+
+Now, the next day while Europa was on its back, the bull began to trot
+quickly away, but Kadmos thought he was only trotting away for fun.
+So he ran after him, and cried out to make him stop. But the faster
+that Kadmos ran, the bull ran faster still, and then Kadmos saw that
+the bull was running away with his sister, Europa. Away the bull flew,
+all along the bank of the river, and up the steep hill and down into
+the valley on the other side, and then he scoured along the plain
+beneath. And Kadmos watched his white body, which shone like silver as
+he dashed through the small bushes and the long waving grass and the
+creeping plants which were trailing about all over the ground, till at
+last the white body of the bull looked only like a little speck, and
+then Kadmos could see it no more.
+
+Very wretched was Kadmos when his sister was taken away from him in
+this strange way. His eyes were full of tears so that he could
+scarcely see, but still he kept on looking and looking in the way the
+bull had gone, and hoping that he would bring his sister back by and
+by. But the sun sank lower and lower in the sky, and then Kadmos saw
+him go down behind the hills, and he knew now that the bull would not
+come again, and then he began to weep bitterly. He hardly dared to go
+home and tell Telephassa what had happened, and yet he knew that he
+ought to tell her. So he went home slowly and sadly, and Telephassa
+saw him coming alone, and she began to be afraid that something had
+happened to Europa, and when she came up to him Kadmos could scarcely
+speak. At last he said, "The bull has run away with Europa." Then
+Telephassa asked him where he had gone, and Kadmos said that he did
+not know. But Telephassa said, "Which way did he go?" and then Kadmos
+told her that the bull had run away towards the land of the West,
+where the sun goes down into his golden cup. Then Telephassa said that
+they, too, must get up early in the morning and go towards the land of
+the West, and see if they could find Europa again.
+
+That night they hardly slept at all, and their cheeks were pale and
+wet with their tears. And before the sun rose, and while the stars
+still glimmered in the pale light of the morning, they got up and went
+on their journey to look for Europa. Far away they went, along the
+valleys and over the hills, across the rivers and through the woods,
+and they asked every one whom they met if they had seen a white bull
+with a girl upon its back. But no one had seen anything of the kind,
+and many people thought that Kadmos and Telephassa were silly to ask
+such a question, for they said, "Girls do not ride on the backs of
+bulls; you can not be telling the truth." So they went on and on,
+asking every one, but hearing nothing about her; and as they
+journeyed, sometimes they saw the great mountains rising up high into
+the sky, with their tops covered with snow, and shining like gold in
+the light of the setting sun; sometimes they rested on the bank of a
+great broad river, where the large white leaves lay floating and
+sleeping on the water, and where the palm trees waved their long
+branches above their heads. Sometimes they came to a water-fall, where
+the water sparkled brightly as it rushed over the great stones. And
+whenever they came to these beautiful places, Kadmos would say to
+Telephassa, "How we should have enjoyed staying here if Europa were
+with us; but we do not care to stay here now, we must go on looking
+for her everywhere." So they went on and on till they came to the sea,
+and they wondered how they could get across it, for it was a great
+deal wider than any river which they had seen. At last they found a
+place where the sea was narrow, and here a boatman took them across in
+his boat, just where little Helle had been drowned when she fell off
+the back of the ram that was carrying her and her brother away to
+Kolchis. So Telephassa and Kadmos crossed over Hellespontos, which
+means the Sea of Helle, and they went on and on, over mountains and
+hills and rocks, and wild gloomy places, till they came to the sunny
+plains of Thessaly. And still they asked every one about Europa, but
+they found no one who had seen her. And Kadmos saw that his mother was
+getting weak and thin, and that she could not walk now as far and as
+quickly as she had done when they had set out from home to look for
+his sister. So he asked her to rest for a little while. But Telephassa
+said, "We must go on, Kadmos, for if we do, perhaps we may still find
+Europa." So they went on, until at last Telephassa felt that she could
+not go any further. And she said to Kadmos, "I am very tired, and I do
+not think I shall be able to walk any more with you; I must lie down
+and go to sleep here, and perhaps, Kadmos, I may not wake again. But
+if I die while I am asleep, then you must go on by yourself and look
+for Europa, for I am quite sure that you will find her some day,
+although I shall not be with you. And when you see your sister, tell
+her how I longed to find her again, and how much I loved her always.
+And now, my child, I must go to sleep, and if I do not wake up any
+more, then I trust that we shall all see each other again one day, in
+a land which is brighter and happier than even the land in which we
+used to live before your sister was taken away from us."
+
+So when she had said this, Telephassa fell asleep, just as the
+daylight was going away from the sky, and when the bright round moon
+rose up slowly from behind the dark hill. All night long Kadmos
+watched by her side, and when the morning came, he saw that Telephassa
+had died while she was asleep. Her face was quite still, and Kadmos
+knew by the happy smile which was on it, that she had gone to the
+bright land to which good people go when they are dead. Kadmos was
+very sorry to be parted from his mother, but he was not sorry that now
+she could not feel tired or sorrowful any more. So Kadmos placed his
+mother's body in the ground, and very soon all kinds of flowers grew
+up upon her grave.
+
+But Kadmos had gone on to look for his sister, Europa, and presently
+he met a shepherd who was leading his flock of sheep. He was very
+beautiful to look at. His face shone as bright almost as the sun. He
+had a golden harp, and a golden bow, and arrows in a golden quiver,
+and his name was Phoebus Apollo. And Kadmos went up to him and said,
+"Have you seen my sister, Europa? a white bull ran away with her on
+his back. Can you tell me where I can find her?" And Phoebus Apollo
+said, "I have seen your sister, Europa, but I can not tell you yet
+where she is, you must go on a great way further still, till you come
+to a town which is called Delphi, under a great mountain named
+Parnassos, and there perhaps you may be able to find out something
+about her. But when you have seen her you must not stay there, because
+I wish you to build a city, and become a King, and be wise and strong
+and good. You and Europa must follow a beautiful cow that I shall
+send, till it lies down upon the ground to rest, and the place where
+the cow shall lie down shall be the place where I wish you to build
+the city."
+
+So Kadmos went on and on till he came to the town of Delphi, which lay
+beneath the great mountain, called Parnassos. And there he saw a
+beautiful temple with white marble pillars, which shone brightly in
+the light of the early morning. And Kadmos went into the temple, and
+there he saw his dear sister, Europa. And Kadmos said, "Europa, is it
+you, indeed? How glad I am to find you." Then Europa told Kadmos how
+the bull had brought her and left her there a long time ago, and how
+sorry she had been that she could not tell Telephassa where she was.
+Then she said to Kadmos, "How pale and thin and weak you look; tell me
+how it is you are come alone, and when shall I see our dear mother?"
+Then his eyes became full of tears, and Kadmos said, "We shall never
+see our mother again in this world. She has gone to the happy land
+where good people go when they are dead. She was so tired with seeking
+after you that at last she could not come any further, and she lay
+down and fell asleep, and never waked up again. But she said that
+when I saw you I must tell you how she longed to see you, and how she
+hoped that we should all live together one day in the land to which
+she has gone before us. And now, Europa, we must not stay here, for I
+met a shepherd whose name is Phoebus Apollo. He had a golden harp and
+a golden bow, and his face shone like the sun, and he told me that we
+must follow a beautiful cow which he would send, and build a city in
+that place where the cow shall lie down to rest."
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT SACRIFICE. (_From Wall Painting of
+ Pompeii._)]
+
+So Europa left Delphi with her brother, Kadmos, and when they had gone
+a little way, they saw a cow lying down on the grass. But when they
+came near, the cow got up, and began to walk in front of them, and
+then they knew that this was the cow which Phoebus Apollo had sent. So
+they followed the cow, and it went on and on, a long way, and at last
+it lay down to rest on a large plain, and Kadmos knew then that this
+was the place where he must build the city. And there he built a great
+many houses, and the city was called Thebes. And Kadmos became the
+King of Thebes, and his sister, Europa, lived there with him. He was a
+wise and good King, and ruled his people justly and kindly. And by and
+by Kadmos and Europa both fell asleep and died, and then they saw
+their mother, Telephassa, in the happy land to which good people go
+when they are dead, and were never parted from her any more.
+
+
+BELLEROPHON.
+
+The minstrels sang of the beauty and the great deeds of Bellerophon
+through all the lands of Argos. His arm was strong in the battle, his
+feet were swift in the chase, and his heart was pure as the pure heart
+of Artemis and Athene. None that were poor and weak and wretched
+feared the might of Bellerophon. To them the sight of his beautiful
+form brought only joy and gladness, but the proud and boastful, the
+slanderer and the robber, dreaded the glance of his keen eye. But the
+hand of Zeus lay heavy upon Bellerophon. He dwelt in the halls of King
+Proetos, and served him even as Herakles served the mean and crafty
+Eurystheus. For many long years Bellerophon knew that he must obey the
+bidding of a man weaker than himself, but his soul failed him not, and
+he went forth to his long toil with a heart strong as the sun when he
+rises in his strength, and pure as the heart of a little child.
+
+But Anteia, the wife of King Proetos, saw day by day the beauty of
+Bellerophon, and she would not turn away her eye from his fair face.
+Every day he seemed to her to be more and more like to the bright
+heroes who feast with the gods in the halls of high Olympos, and her
+heart became filled with love, and she sought to beguile Bellerophon
+by her enticing words. But he hearkened not to her evil prayer, and
+heeded not her tears and sighs; so her love was turned to wrath, and
+she vowed a vow that Bellerophon should suffer a sore vengeance,
+because he would not hear her prayer. Then, in her rage, she went to
+King Proetos, and said, "Bellerophon, thy slave, hath sought to do me
+wrong, and to lead me astray by his crafty words. Long time he strove
+with me to win my love, but I would not hearken to him. Therefore, let
+thine hand lie more heavy upon him than in time past, for the evil
+that he hath done, and slay him before my face." Then was Proetos also
+full of anger, but he feared to slay Bellerophon, lest he should bring
+on himself the wrath of Zeus, his father. So he took a tablet of wood,
+and on it he drew grievous signs of toil and war, of battles and
+death, and gave it to Bellerophon to carry to the far-off Lykian land,
+where the father of Anteia was King, and as he bade him farewell, he
+said, "Show this tablet to the King of Lykia, and he will recompense
+thee for all thy good deeds which thou hast done for me, and for the
+people of Argos."
+
+So Bellerophon went forth on his long wandering, and dreamed not of
+the evil that was to befall him by the wicked craft of Anteia. On and
+on he journeyed towards the rising of the sun, till he came to the
+country of the Lykians. Then he went to the house of the King, who
+welcomed him with rich banquets, and feasted him for nine days, and on
+the tenth day he sought to know wherefore Bellerophon had come to the
+Lykian land. Then Bellerophon took the tablet of Proetos and gave it
+to the King, who saw on it grievous signs of toil and woe, of battles
+and death. Presently the King spake, and said, "There are great
+things which remain for thee to do, Bellerophon, but when thy toil is
+over, high honor awaits thee here and in the homes of the bright
+heroes." So the King sent him forth to slay the terrible Chimaera,
+which had the face of a lion with a goat's body and a dragon's tail.
+Then Bellerophon journeyed yet further towards the rising of the sun,
+till he came to the pastures where the winged horse, Pegasos, the
+child of Gorgo, with the snaky hair, was feeding, and he knew that if
+he could tame the steed he should then be able to conquer the fierce
+Chimaera.
+
+Long time he sought to seize on Pegasos, but the horse snorted wildly
+and tore up the ground in his fury, till Bellerophon sank wearied on
+the earth and a deep sleep weighed down his eyelids. Then, as he
+slept, Pallas Athene came and stood by his side, and cheered him with
+her brave words, and gave him a philtre which should tame the wild
+Pegasos. When Bellerophon awoke, the philtre was in his hand, and he
+knew now that he should accomplish the task which the Lykian King had
+given him to do. So, by the help of Athene, he mounted the winged
+Pegasos and smote the Chimaera, and struck off his head, and with it he
+went back, and told the King of all that had befallen him. But the
+King was filled with rage, for he thought not to see the face of
+Bellerophon again, and he charged him to go forth and do battle with
+the mighty Solymi and the fair Amazons. Then Bellerophon went forth
+again, for he dreamed not of guile and falsehood, and he dreaded
+neither man nor beast that might meet him in open battle. Long time he
+fought with the Solymi and the Amazons, until all his enemies shrank
+from the stroke of his mighty arm, and sought for mercy. Glad of
+heart, Bellerophon departed to carry his spoils to the home of the
+Lykian King, but as he drew nigh to it and was passing through a
+narrow dell where the thick brushwood covered the ground, fifty of the
+mightiest Lykians rushed upon him with fierce shoutings, and sought to
+slay him. At the first, Bellerophon withheld his hands, and said,
+"Lykian friends, I have feasted in the halls of your King, and eaten
+of his bread; surely ye are not come hither to slay me." But they
+shouted the more fiercely, and they hurled spears at Bellerophon; so
+he stretched forth his hand in the greatness of his strength, and did
+battle for his life until all the Lykians lay dead before him.
+
+Weary in body and sad of heart, Bellerophon entered the hall where the
+King was feasting with his chieftains. And the King knew that
+Bellerophon could not have come thither unless he had first slain all
+the warriors whom he had sent forth to lie in wait for him. But he
+dissembled his wrath, and said, "Welcome, Bellerophon, bravest and
+mightiest of the sons of men. Thy toils are done, and the time of rest
+is come for thee. Thou shalt wed my daughter, and share with me my
+kingly power."
+
+Then the minstrels praised the deeds of Bellerophon, and there was
+feasting for many days when he wedded the daughter of the King. But
+not yet was his doom accomplished; and once again the dark cloud
+gathered around him, laden with woe and suffering. Far away from his
+Lykian home, the wrath of Zeus drove him to the western land where the
+sun goes down into the sea. His heart was brave and guileless still,
+as in the days of his early youth, but the strength of his arm was
+weakened, and the light of his eye was now dim. Sometimes the might
+was given back to his limbs, and his face shone with its ancient
+beauty; and then, again, he wandered on in sadness and sorrow, as a
+man wanders in a strange path through the dark hours of night, when
+the moon is down. And so it was that when Bellerophon reached the
+western sea, he fell asleep and died, and the last sight which he saw
+before his eyes were closed was the red glare of the dying sun, as he
+broke through the barred clouds and plunged beneath the sea.
+
+
+ALTHAIA AND THE BURNING BRAND.
+
+There was feasting in the halls of Oineus, the chieftain of Kalydon,
+in the AEtolian land, and all prayed for wealth and glory for the
+chief, and for his wife, Althaia, and for the child who had on that
+day been born to them. And Oineus besought the King of gods and men
+with rich offerings, that his son, Meleagros, might win a name greater
+than his own, that he might grow up stout of heart and strong of arm,
+and that in time to come men might say, "Meleagros wrought mighty
+works and did good deeds to the people of the land."
+
+But the mighty Moirai, whose word even Zeus himself may not turn
+aside, had fixed the doom of Meleagros. The child lay sleeping in his
+mother's arms, and Althaia prayed that her son might grow up brave and
+gentle, and be to her a comforter in the time of age and the hour of
+death. Suddenly, as she yet spake, the Moirai stood before her. There
+was no love or pity in their cold, grey eyes, and they looked down
+with stern, unchanging faces on the mother and her child, and one of
+them said, "The brand burns on the hearth, when it is burnt wholly,
+thy child shall die." But love is swifter than thought, and the mother
+snatched the burning brand from the fire, and quenched its flame in
+water, and she placed it in a secret place where no hand but her own
+might reach it.
+
+So the child grew, brave of heart and sturdy of limb, and ever ready
+to hunt the wild beasts or to go against the cities of men. Many great
+deeds he did in the far-off Kolchian land, when the chieftains sailed
+with Athamas and Ino to take away the golden fleece from King Aietes.
+But there were greater things for him to do when he came again to
+Kalydon, for his father, Oineus, had roused the wrath of the mighty
+Artemis. There was rich banqueting in his great hall when his harvest
+was ingathered, and Zeus and all the other gods feasted on the fat
+burnt-offerings, but no gift was set apart for the virgin child of
+Leto. Soon she requited the wrong to Oineus, and a savage boar was
+seen in the land, which tore up the fruit-trees, and destroyed the
+seed in the ground, and trampled on the green corn as it came up. None
+dared to approach it, for its mighty tusks tore everything that
+crossed its path. Long time the chieftains took counsel what they
+should do, until Meleagros said, "I will go forth; who will follow
+me?" Then from Kalydon and from the cities and lands round about came
+mighty chieftains and brave youths, even as they had hastened to the
+ship, Argo, when they sought to win the golden fleece from Kolchis.
+With them came the Kouretes, who live in Pleuron, and among them were
+seen Kastor and Polydeukes, the twin brethren, and Theseus, with his
+comrade, Peirithoos, and Iason and Admetos. But more beautiful than
+all was Atalante, the daughter of Schoineus, a stranger from the
+Arcadian land. Much the chieftains sought to keep her from the chase,
+for the maiden's arm was strong, and her feet swift, and her aim sure,
+and they liked not that she should come from a far country to share
+their glory or take away their name. But Meleagros loved the fair and
+brave maiden, and said, "If she go not to the chase, neither will I go
+with you." So they suffered her, and the chase began. At first the
+boar fled, trampling down those whom he chanced to meet, and rending
+them with his tusks, but at last he stood fiercely at bay, and fought
+furiously, and many of the hunters fell, until at length the spear of
+Atalante pierced his side, and then Meleagros slew him.
+
+Then was there great gladness as they dragged the body of the boar to
+Kalydon, and made ready to divide the spoil. But the anger of Artemis
+was not yet soothed, and she roused a strife between the men of
+Pleuron and the men of Kalydon. For Meleagros sought to have the head,
+and the Kouretes of Pleuron cared not to take the hide only for their
+portion. So the strife grew hot between them, until Meleagros slew the
+chieftain of the Kouretes, who was the brother of Althaia, his mother.
+Then he seized the head of the boar, and bare it to Atalante, and
+said, "Take, maiden, the spoils are rightly thine. From thy spear came
+the first wound which smote down the boar; and well hast thou earned
+the prize for the fleetness of thy foot and the sureness of thy aim."
+
+So Atalante took the spoils and carried them to her home in the
+Arcadian land, but the men of Pleuron were full of wrath, and they
+made war on the men of Kalydon. Many times they fought, but in every
+battle the strong arm of Meleagros and his stout heart won the victory
+for the men of his own city, and the Kouretes began to grow faint in
+spirit, so that they quailed before the spear and sword of Meleagros.
+But presently Meleagros was seen no more with his people, and his
+voice was no longer heard cheering them on to the battle. No more
+would he take lance in hand or lift up his shield for the strife, but
+he tarried in his own house by the side of the beautiful Kleopatra,
+whom Idas, her father, gave to him to be his wife.
+
+For the heart of his mother was filled with grief and rage when she
+heard the story of the deadly strife, and that Meleagros, her child,
+had slain her brother. In heavy wrath and sorrow she sat down upon the
+earth, and she cast the dust from the ground into the air, and with
+wild words called on Hades, the unseen King, and Persephone, who
+shares his dark throne: "Lord of the lands beneath the earth, stretch
+forth thy hand against Meleagros, my child. He has quenched the love
+of a mother in my brother's blood, and I will that he should die." And
+even as she prayed, the awful Erinys, who wanders through the air,
+heard her words and swore to accomplish the doom. But Meleagros was
+yet more wrathful when he knew that his mother had laid her curse upon
+him, and therefore he would not go forth out of his chamber to the
+aid of his people in the war.
+
+So the Kouretes grew more and more mighty, and their warriors came up
+against the City of Kalydon, and would no longer suffer the people to
+come without the walls. And everywhere there was faintness of heart
+and grief of spirit, for the enemy had wasted their fields and slain
+the bravest of the men, and little store remained to them of food. Day
+by day Oineus besought his son, and the great men of the city fell at
+the knees of Meleagros and prayed him to come out to their help, but
+he would not hearken. Still he tarried in his chamber with his wife,
+Kleopatra, by his side, and heeded not the hunger and the wailings of
+the people. Fiercer and fiercer waxed the roar of war; the loosened
+stones rolled from the tottering wall, and the battered gates were
+scarce able to keep out the enemy. Then Kleopatra fell at her
+husband's knee, and she took him by the hand, and called him gently by
+his name, and said, "O Meleagros, if thou wilt think of thy wrath,
+think also of the evils which war brings with it--how when a city is
+taken, the men are slain, and the mother with her child, the old and
+the young are borne away into slavery. If the men of Pleuron win the
+day, thy mother may repent her of the curse which she has laid upon
+thee; but thou wilt see thy children slain and me a slave."
+
+ [Illustration: MELPOMENE. (_Muse of Tragedy._)]
+
+Then Meleagros started from his couch and seized his spear and shield.
+He spake no word, but hastened to the walls, and soon the Kouretes
+fell back before the spear which never missed its mark. Then he
+gathered the warriors of his city, and bade them open the gates, and
+went forth against the enemy. Long and dreadful was the battle, but at
+length the Kouretes turned and fled, and the danger passed away from
+the men of Kalydon.
+
+But the Moirai still remembered the doom of the burning brand, and the
+unpitying Erinys had not forgotten the curse of Althaia, and they
+moved the men of Kalydon to withhold the prize of his good deeds from
+the chieftain, Meleagros. "He came not forth," they said, "save at the
+prayer of his wife. He hearkened not when we besought him, he heeded
+not our misery and tears; why should we give him that which he did not
+win from any love for us?" So his people were angry with Meleagros,
+and his spirit grew yet more bitter within him. Once again he lay
+within his chamber, and his spear and shield hung idle on the wall,
+and it pleased him more to listen the whole day long to the soft words
+of Kleopatra than to be doing brave and good deeds for the people of
+his land.
+
+Then the heart of his mother, Althaia, was more and more turned away
+from him, so that she said in bitterness of spirit, "What good shall
+his life now do to me?" and she brought forth the half-burnt brand
+from its secret place, and cast it on the hearth. Suddenly it burst
+into a flame, and suddenly the strength of Meleagros began to fail as
+he lay in the arms of Kleopatra. "My life is wasting within me," he
+said; "clasp me closer in thine arms; let others lay a curse upon me,
+so only I die rejoicing in thy love." Weaker and weaker grew his
+failing breath, but still he looked with loving eyes on the face of
+Kleopatra, and his spirit went forth with a sigh of gladness, as the
+last spark of the brand flickered out upon the hearth.
+
+Then was there grief and sorrow in the house of Oineus and through all
+the City of Kalydon, but they wept and mourned in vain. They thought
+now of his good deeds, his wise counsels, and his mighty arm, but in
+vain they bewailed the death of their chieftain in the glory of his
+age. Yet deeper and more bitter was the sorrow of Althaia, for the
+love of a mother came back to her heart when the Moirai had
+accomplished the doom of her child. And yet more bitterly sorrowed his
+wife, Kleopatra, and yearned for the love which had been torn away
+from her. There was no more joy within the halls of Oineus, for the
+Erinys had done their task well. Soon Althaia followed her child to
+the unknown land, and Kleopatra went forth with joy to meet Meleagros
+in the dark kingdom of Hades and Persephone.
+
+
+IAMOS.
+
+On the banks of Alpheios, Evadne watched over her new-born babe, till
+she fled away because she feared the wrath of Aipytos, who ruled in
+Phaisana. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she prayed to Phoebus
+Apollo, who dwells at Delphi, and said, "Lord of the bright day, look
+on thy child, and guard him when he lies forsaken, for I may no longer
+tarry near him."
+
+So Evadne fled away, and Phoebus sent two serpents, who fed the babe
+with honey as he lay amid the flowers which clustered round him. And
+ever more and more through all the land went forth the saying of
+Phoebus, that the child of Evadne should grow up mighty in wisdom and
+in the power of telling the things that should happen in the time to
+come. Then Aipytos asked of all who dwelt in his house to tell him
+where he might find the son of Evadne. But they knew not where the
+child lay, for the serpents had hidden him far away in the thicket,
+where the wild flowers sheltered him from wind and heat. Long time
+they searched amid the tall reeds which clothe the banks of Alpheios,
+until at last they found the babe lying in a bed of violets. So
+Aipytos took the child and called his name Iamos, and he grew up brave
+and wise of heart, pondering well the signs of coming grief and joy,
+and the tokens of hidden things which he saw in the heaven above him
+or the wide earth beneath. He spake but little to the youths and
+maidens who dwelt in the house of Aipytos, but he wandered on the bare
+hills or by the stream side, musing on many things. And so it came to
+pass that one night, when the stars glimmered softly in the sky, Iamos
+plunged beneath the waters of Alpheios, and prayed to Phoebus who
+dwells at Delphi, and to Poseidon, the lord of the broad sea; and he
+besought them to open his eyes, that he might reveal to the sons of
+men the things which of themselves they could not see. Then they led
+him away to the high rocks which look down on the plain of Pisa, and
+they said, "Look yonder, child of Evadne, where the white stream of
+Alpheios winds its way gently to the sea. Here, in the days which are
+to come, Herakles, the son of the mighty Zeus, shall gather together
+the sons of Helen, and give them in the solemn games the mightiest of
+all bonds; hither shall they come to know the will of Zeus, and here
+shall it be thy work and the work of thy children to read to them the
+signs which of themselves they can not understand." Then Phoebus
+Apollo touched his ears, and straightway the voices of the birds spake
+to him clearly of the things which were to come and he heard their
+words as a man listens to the speech of his friend. So Iamos prospered
+exceedingly, for the men of all the Argive land sought aid from his
+wisdom, and laid rich gifts at his feet. And he taught his children
+after him to speak the truth and to deal justly, so that none envied
+their great wealth, and all men spake well of the wise children of
+Iamos.
+
+ [Illustration: CLIO (_Muse of History_).]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+FINE ARTS.
+
+
+The artistic instinct is one of the earliest developed in man; the
+love of representation is evolved at the earliest period; we see it in
+the child, we see it in the savage, we find traces of it among
+primitive men. The child in his earliest years loves to trace the
+forms of objects familiar to his eyes. The savage takes a pleasure in
+depicting and rudely giving shape to objects which constantly meet his
+view. The artistic instinct is of all ages and of all climes; it
+springs up naturally in all countries, and takes its origin alike
+everywhere in the imitative faculty of man. Evidences of this instinct
+at the earliest period have been discovered among the relics of
+primitive men; rough sketches on slate and on stone of the mammoth,
+the deer, and of man, have been found in the caves of France; the
+American savage traces rude hunting scenes, or the forms of animals on
+the covering of his tents, and on his buffalo robes; the savage
+Australian covers the side of caverns, and the faces of rocks with
+coarse drawings of animals. We thus find an independent evolution of
+the art of design, and distinct and separate cycles of its development
+through the stages of rise, progress, maturity, decline and decay, in
+many countries the most remote and unconnected with one another. The
+earliest mode of representing men, animals and objects was in outline
+and in profile. It is evidently the most primitive style, and
+characteristic of the commencement of the art, as the first attempts
+made by children and uncivilized people are solely confined to it;
+the most inexperienced perceive the object intended to be represented,
+and no effort is required to comprehend it. Outline figures were thus
+in all countries the earliest style of painting, and we find this mode
+practiced at a remote period in Egypt and in Greece. In Egypt we meet
+paintings in this earliest stage of the art of design in the tombs of
+Beni Hassan, dating from over 2000 B.C. They are illustrative of the
+manners and customs of that age. Tradition tells us that the origin of
+the art of design in Greece was in tracing in outline and in profile
+the shadow of a human head on the wall and afterwards filling it in so
+as to present the appearance of a kind of silhouette. The Greek
+painted vases of the earliest epoch exhibit examples of this style.
+From this humble beginning the art of design in Greece rose in
+gradually successive stages, until it reached its highest degree of
+perfection under the hands of Zeuxis and Apelles.
+
+The interest that attaches to Egyptian art is from its great
+antiquity. We see it in the first attempts to represent what in after
+times, and in some other countries, gradually arrived, under better
+auspices, at the greatest perfection; and we even trace in it the germ
+of much that was improved upon by those who had a higher appreciation
+of, and feeling for, the beautiful. For, both in ornamental art, as
+well as in architecture, Egypt exercised in early times considerable
+influence over other people less advanced than itself, or only just
+emerging from barbarism; and the various conventional devices, the
+lotus flowers, the sphinxes, and other fabulous animals, as well as
+the early Medusa's head, with a protruding tongue, of the oldest Greek
+pottery and sculptures, and the ibex, leopard, and above all the
+(Nile) "goose and sun," on the vases, show them to be connected with,
+and frequently directly borrowed from, Egyptian fancy. It was, as it
+still is, the custom of people to borrow from those who have attained
+to a greater degree of refinement and civilization than themselves;
+the nation most advanced in art led the taste, and though some had
+sufficient invention to alter what they adopted, and to render it
+their own, the original idea may still be traced whenever it has been
+derived from a foreign source. Egypt was long the dominant nation, and
+the intercourse established at a very remote period with other
+countries, through commerce of war, carried abroad the taste of this
+the most advanced people of the time; and so general seems to have
+been the fashion of their ornaments, that even the Nineveh marbles
+present the winged globe, and other well-known Egyptian emblems, as
+established elements of Assyrian decorative art.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT ART AND LITERATURE.]
+
+While Greece was still in its infancy, Egypt had long been the leading
+nation of the world; she was noted for her magnificence, her wealth,
+and power, and all acknowledged her pre-eminence in wisdom and
+civilization. It is not, therefore, surprising that the Greeks should
+have admitted into their early art some of the forms then most in
+vogue, and though the wonderful taste of that gifted people speedily
+raised them to a point of excellence never attained by the Egyptians
+or any others, the rise and first germs of art and architecture must
+be sought in the Valley of the Nile. In the oldest monuments of
+Greece, the sloping or pyramidal line constantly predominates; the
+columns in the oldest Greek order are almost purely Egyptian, in the
+proportions of the shaft, and in the form of its shallow flutes
+without fillets; and it is a remarkable fact that the oldest Egyptian
+columns are those which bear the closest resemblance to the Greek
+Doric.
+
+Though great variety was permitted in objects of luxury, as furniture,
+vases, and other things depending on caprice, the Egyptians were
+forbidden to introduce any material innovations into the human figure,
+such as would alter its general character, and all subjects connected
+with religion retained to the last the same conventional type. A god
+in the latest temple was of the same form as when represented on
+monuments of the earliest date; and King Menes would have recognized
+Amun, or Osiris, in a Ptolemaic or a Roman sanctuary. In sacred
+subjects the law was inflexible, and religion, which has frequently
+done so much for the development and direction of taste in sculpture,
+had the effect of fettering the genius of Egyptian artists. No
+improvements, resulting from experience and observation, were admitted
+in the mode of drawing the human figure; to copy nature was not
+allowed; it was therefore useless to study it, and no attempt was made
+to give the proper action to the limbs. Certain rules, certain models,
+had been established by the priesthood, and the faulty conceptions of
+ignorant times were copied and perpetuated by every successive artist.
+For, as Plato and Synesius say, the Egyptian sculptors were not
+suffered to attempt anything contrary to the regulations laid down
+regarding the figures of the gods; they were forbidden to introduce
+any change, or to invent new subjects and habits, and thus the art,
+and the rules which bound it, always remained the same.
+
+Egyptian bas-relief appears to have been, in its origin, a mere copy
+of painting, its predecessor. The first attempt to represent the
+figures of gods, sacred emblems, and other subjects, consisted in
+drawing or painting simple outlines of them on a flat surface, the
+details being afterwards put in with color; but in process of time
+these forms were traced on stone with a tool, and the intermediate
+space between the various figures being afterwards cut away, the once
+level surface assumed the appearance of a bas-relief. It was, in fact,
+a pictorial representation on stone, which is evidently the character
+of all the bas-reliefs on Egyptian monuments, and which readily
+accounts for the imperfect arrangement of their figures.
+
+Deficient in conception, and above all in a proper knowledge of
+grouping, they were unable to form those combinations which give true
+expression; every picture was made up of isolated parts, put together
+according to some general notions, but without harmony, or
+preconceived effect. The human face, the whole body, and everything
+they introduced, were composed in the same manner, of separate members
+placed together one by one according to their relative situations: the
+eye, the nose, and other features composed a face, but the expression
+of feelings and passions was entirely wanting; and the countenance of
+the King, whether charging an enemy's phalanx in the heat of battle,
+or peaceably offering incense in a sombre temple, presented the same
+outline and the same inanimate look. The peculiarity of the front view
+of an eye, introduced in a profile, is thus accounted for: it was the
+ordinary representation of that feature added to a profile, and no
+allowance was made for any change in the position of the head.
+
+It was the same with drapery: the figure was first drawn, and the
+drapery then added, not as part of the whole, but as an accessory;
+they had no general conception, no previous idea of the effect
+required to distinguish the warrior or the priest, beyond the
+impressions received from costume, or from the subject of which they
+formed a part, and the same figure was dressed according to the
+character it was intended to perform. Every portion of a picture was
+conceived by itself, and inserted as it was wanted to complete the
+scene; and when the walls of the building, where a subject was to be
+drawn, had been accurately ruled with squares, the figures were
+introduced, and fitted to this mechanical arrangement. The members
+were appended to the body, and these squares regulated their form and
+distribution, in whatever posture they might be placed.
+
+As long as this conventional system continued, no great change could
+take place, beyond a slight variation in the proportions, which at one
+period became more elongated, particularly in the reign of the second
+Remeses; but still the general form and character of the figures
+continued the same, which led to the remark of Plato, "that the
+pictures and statues made ten thousand years ago, are in no one
+particular better or worse than what they now make." And taken in this
+limited sense--that no nearer approach to the beau ideal of the human
+figure, or its real character, was made at one period than
+another--his remark is true, since they were always bound by the same
+regulations, which prohibited any change in these matters, even to the
+latest times, as is evident from the sculptures of the monuments
+erected after Egypt had long been a Roman province. All was still
+Egyptian, though of bad style; and if they then attempted to finish
+the details with more precision, it was only substituting ornament for
+simplicity; and the endeavor to bring the proportions of the human
+figure nearer to nature, with the retention of its conventional type,
+only made its deformity greater, and showed how incompatible the
+Egyptian was with any other style.
+
+In the composition of modern paintings three objects are required: one
+main action, one point of view, and one instant of time, and the
+proportions and harmony of the parts are regulated by perspective, but
+in Egyptian sculpture these essentials were disregarded; every thing
+was sacrificed to the principal figure; its colossal dimensions
+pointed it out as a center to which all the rest was a mere accessory,
+and, if any other was made equally conspicuous, or of equal size, it
+was still in a subordinate station, and only intended to illustrate
+the scene connected with the hero of the piece.
+
+In the paintings of the tombs greater license was allowed in the
+representation of subjects relating to private life, the trades, or
+the manners and occupations of the people, and some indication of
+perspective in the position of the figures may occasionally be
+observed; but the attempt was imperfect, and, probably, to an Egyptian
+eye, unpleasing, for such is the force of habit, that even where
+nature is copied, a conventional style is sometimes preferred to a
+more accurate representation.
+
+In the battle scenes on the temples of Thebes, some of the figures
+representing the monarch pursuing the flying enemy, despatching a
+hostile chief with his sword, and drawing his bow, as his horses carry
+his car over the prostrate bodies of the slain, are drawn with much
+spirit, and the position of the arms gives a perfect idea of the
+action which the artist intended to portray; still, the same
+imperfections of style, and want of truth, are observed; there is
+action, but no sentiment, expression of the passions, nor life in the
+features; it is a figure ready formed, and mechanically _varied_ into
+movement, and whatever position it is made to assume, the point of
+view is the same: the identical profile of the human body with the
+anomaly of the shoulders seen in front. It is a description rather
+than a representation.
+
+But in their mode of portraying a large crowd of persons they often
+show great cleverness, and, as their habit was to avoid uniformity,
+the varied positions of the heads give a truth to the subject without
+fatiguing the eye. Nor have they any symmetrical arrangement of
+figures, on opposite sides of a picture, such as we find in some of
+the very early paintings in Europe.
+
+As their skill increased, the mere figurative representation was
+extended to that of a descriptive kind, and some resemblance of the
+hero's person was attempted; his car, the army he commanded, and the
+flying enemies, were introduced, and what was at first scarcely more
+than a symbol, aspired to the more exalted form and character of a
+picture. Of a similar nature were all their historical records, and
+these pictorial illustrations were a substitute for written documents.
+Rude drawing and sculpture, indeed, long preceded letters, and we find
+that even in Greece, to describe, draw, engrave, and write, were
+expressed by the same word.
+
+Of the quality of the pencils used by the Egyptians for drawing and
+painting, it is difficult to form any opinion. Those generally
+employed for writing were a reed or rush, many of which have been
+found with the tablets or inkstands belonging to the scribes; and with
+these, too, they probably sketched the figures in red and black upon
+the stone or stucco of the walls. To put in the color, we may suppose
+that brushes of some kind were used, but the minute scale on which the
+painters are represented in the sculptures prevents our deciding the
+question.
+
+Habits among men of similar occupations are frequently alike, even in
+the most distant countries, and we find it was not unusual for an
+Egyptian artist, or scribe, to put his reed pencil behind his ear,
+when engaged in examining the effect of his painting, or listening to
+a person on business, like a clerk in the counting-house.
+
+The Etruscans, it is said, cultivated painting before the Greeks, and
+Pliny attributes to the former a certain degree of perfection before
+the Greeks had emerged from the infancy of the art. Ancient paintings
+at Ardea, in Etruria, and at Lanuvium still retained, in the time of
+Pliny, all their primitive freshness. According to Pliny, paintings of
+a still earlier date were to be seen at Caere, another Etruscan city.
+Those paintings mentioned by Pliny were commonly believed to be
+earlier than the foundation of Rome. At the present day the tombs of
+Etruria afford examples of Etruscan painting in every stage of its
+development, from the rudeness and conventionality of early art in the
+tomb of Veii to the correctness and ease of design, and the more
+perfect development of the art exhibited in the painted scenes in the
+tombs of Tarquinii. In one of these tombs the pilasters are profusely
+adorned with arabesques, and a frieze which runs round the side of the
+tomb is composed of painted figures draped, winged, armed, fighting,
+or borne in chariots. The subjects of these paintings are various; in
+them we find the ideas of the Etruscans on the state of the soul after
+death, combats of warriors, banquets, funeral scenes. The Etruscans
+painted also bas-reliefs and statues.
+
+The Greeks carried painting to the highest degree of perfection; their
+first attempts were long posterior to those of the Egyptians; they do
+not even date as far back as the epoch of the siege of Troy; and Pliny
+remarks that Homer does not mention painting. The Greeks always
+cultivated sculpture in preference. Pausanias enumerates only
+eighty-eight paintings, and forty-three portraits; he describes, on
+the other hand, 2,827 statues. These were, in fact, more suitable
+ornaments to public places, and the gods were always represented in
+the temple by sculpture. In Greece painting followed the invariable
+law of development. Its cycle was run through. Painting passed through
+the successive stages of rise, progress, maturity, decline, and decay.
+The art of design in Greece is said to have had its origin in Corinth.
+The legend is: the daughter of Dibutades, a potter of Corinth, struck
+by the shadow of her lover's head cast by the lamp on the wall, drew
+its outline, filling it in with a dark shadow. Hence, the earliest
+mode of representing the human figure was a silhouette. The simplest
+form of design or drawing was mere outline, or monogrammon, and was
+invented by Cleanthes, of Corinth. After this the outlines were filled
+in, and light and shade introduced of one color, and hence were styled
+mono-chromes. Telephanes, of Sicyon, further improved the art by
+indicating the principal details of anatomy; Euphantes, of Corinth, or
+Craton, of Sicyon, by the introduction of color. Cimon, of Cleonae, is
+the first who is mentioned as having advanced the art of painting in
+Greece, and as having emancipated it from its archaic rigidity, by
+exchanging the conventional manner of rendering the human form for an
+approach to truthfulness to nature. He also first made muscular
+articulations, indicated the veins, and gave natural folds to
+draperies. He is also supposed to have been the first who used a
+variety of colors, and to have introduced foreshortening. The first
+painter of great renown was Polygnotus. Accurate drawing, and a noble
+and distinct manner of characterizing the most different mythological
+forms was his great merit; his female figures also possessed charms
+and grace. His large tabular pictures were conceived with great
+knowledge of legends, and in an earnest religious spirit. At Athens he
+painted, according to Pausanias, a series of paintings of mythological
+subjects in the Pinakotheke in the Propylaea on the Acropolis, and
+pictorial decorations for the temple of Theseus, and the Poecile. He
+executed a series of paintings at Delphi on the long walls of the
+Lesche. The wall to the right on entering the Lesche bore scenes
+illustrative of the epic myth of the taking of Troy; the left, the
+visit of Ulysses to the lower world, as described in the Odyssey.
+Pliny remarks that in place of the old severity and rigidity of the
+features he introduced a great variety of expression, and was the
+first to paint figures with the lips open. Lucian attributes to him
+great improvements in the rendering of drapery so as to show the forms
+underneath. Apollodorus, of Athens, was the first great master of
+light and shade. According to Pliny he was the first to paint men and
+things as they really appear. A more advanced stage of improved
+painting began with Zeuxis, in which art aimed at illusion of the
+senses and the rendering of external charms. He appears to have been
+equally distinguished in the representation of female charms, and of
+the sublime majesty of Zeus on his throne. His masterpiece was his
+picture of Helen, in painting which he had as his models the five most
+beautiful virgins of Croton.
+
+Neither the place nor date of the birth of Zeuxis can be accurately
+ascertained, though he was probably born about 455 B.C., since thirty
+years after that date we find him practicing his art with great
+success at Athens. He was patronized by Archelaus, King of Macedonia,
+and spent some time at his court. He must also have visited Magna
+Graecia, as he painted his celebrated picture of Helen for the City of
+Croton. He acquired great wealth by his pencil, and was very
+ostentatious in displaying it. He appeared at Olympia in a magnificent
+robe, having his name embroidered in letters of gold, and the same
+vanity is also displayed in the anecdote that, after he had reached
+the summit of his fame, he no longer sold, but gave away, his
+pictures, as being above all price. With regard to his style of art,
+single figures were his favorite subjects. He could depict gods or
+heroes with sufficient majesty, but he particularly excelled in
+painting the softer graces of female beauty. In one important respect
+he appears to have degenerated from the style of Polygnotus, his
+idealism being rather that of _form_ than of _character_ and
+_expression_. Thus his style is analogous to that of Euripides in
+tragedy. He was a great master of color, and his paintings were
+sometimes so accurate and life-like as to amount to illusion. This is
+exemplified in the story told of him and Parrhasius. As a trial of
+skill, these artists painted two pictures. That of Zeuxis represented
+a bunch of grapes, and was so naturally executed that the birds came
+and pecked at it. After this proof, Zeuxis, confident of success,
+called upon his rival to draw aside the curtain which concealed his
+picture. But the painting of Parrhasius was the curtain itself, and
+Zeuxis was now obliged to acknowledge himself vanquished, for, though
+he had deceived birds, Parrhasius had deceived the author of the
+deception. But many of the pictures of Zeuxis also displayed great
+dramatic power. He worked very slowly and carefully, and he is said to
+have replied to somebody who blamed him for his slowness, "It is true
+I take a long time to paint, but then I paint works to last a long
+time." His master-piece was the picture of Helen, already mentioned.
+
+Parrhasius was a native of Ephesus, but his art was chiefly exercised
+at Athens, where he was presented with the right of citizenship. His
+date can not be accurately ascertained, but he was probably rather
+younger than his contemporary, Zeuxis, and it is certain that he
+enjoyed a high reputation before the death of Socrates. The style and
+degree of excellence attained by Parrhasius appear to have been much
+the same as those of Zeuxis. He was particularly celebrated for the
+accuracy of his drawing, and the excellent proportions of his figures.
+For these he established a canon, as Phidias had done in sculpture for
+gods, and Polycletus for the human figure, whence Quintilian calls him
+the legislator of his art. His vanity seems to have been as remarkable
+as that of Zeuxis. Among the most celebrated of his works was a
+portrait of the personified Athenian _Demos_, which is said to have
+miraculously expressed even the most contradictory qualities of that
+many-headed personage.
+
+ [Illustration: PAINTING. (_2600 years old._)
+
+Parrhasius excelled in giving a roundness and a beautiful contour to
+his figures, and was remarkable for the richness and variety of his
+creations. His numerous pictures of gods and heroes attained the
+highest consideration in art. He was overcome, however, in a pictorial
+contest, in which the subject was the contest of Ulysses and Ajax for
+the arms of Achilles, by the ingenious Timanthes, in whose sacrifice
+of Iphigenia the ancients admired the expression of grief carried to
+that pitch of intensity at which art had only dared to hint. The most
+striking feature in the picture was the concealment of the face of
+Agamemnon in his mantle. (The concealment of the face of Agamemnon in
+this picture has been generally considered as a "trick" or ingenious
+invention of Timanthes, when it was the result of a fundamental law in
+Greek art--to represent alone what was beautiful, and never to present
+to the eye anything repulsive or disagreeable; the features of a
+father convulsed with grief would not have been a pleasing object to
+gaze on; hence the painter, fully conscious of the laws of his art,
+concealed the countenance of Agamemnon.) Timanthes was distinguished
+for his invention and expression. Before all, however, ranks the great
+Apelles, who united the advantages of his native Ionia--grace, sensual
+charms, and rich coloring--with the scientific accuracy of the
+Sicyonian school. The most prominent characteristic of his style was
+grace (charis), a quality which he himself avowed as peculiarly his,
+and which serves to unite all the other gifts and faculties which the
+painter requires; perhaps in none of his pictures was it exhibited in
+such perfection as in his famous Anadyomene, in which Aphrodite is
+represented rising out of the sea, and wringing the wet out of her
+hair. But heroic subjects were likewise adapted to his genius,
+especially grandly-conceived portraits, such as the numerous
+likenesses of Alexander, by whom he was warmly patronized. He not
+only represented Alexander with the thunderbolt in his hand, but he
+even attempted, as the master in light and shade, to paint
+thunderstorms, probably at the same time as natural scenes and
+mythological personifications. The Anadyomene, originally painted for
+the temple of AEsculapius, at Cos, was transferred by Augustus to the
+temple of D. Julius, at Rome, where, however, it was in a decayed
+state even at the time of Nero. Contemporaneously with him flourished
+Protogenes and Nicias. Protogenes was both a painter and a statuary,
+and was celebrated for the high finish of his works. His master-piece
+was the picture of Ialysus, the tutelary hero of Rhodes, where he
+lived. He is said to have spent seven years on it. Nicias, of Athens,
+was celebrated for the delicacy with which he painted females. He was
+also famous as an encaustic painter, and was employed by Praxiteles to
+apply his art to his statues. The glorious art of these masters, as
+far as regards light, tone, and local colors, is lost to us, and we
+know nothing of it except from obscure notices and later imitations.
+It is not thus necessary to speak at length of the various schools of
+painting in Greece, their works being all lost, the knowledge of the
+characteristics peculiar to each school would be at the present day
+perfectly useless. Painting had to follow the invariable law of all
+development; having reached a period of maturity, it followed, as a
+necessary consequence, that the period of decline should begin. The
+art of this period of refinement, Mr. Wornum writes, which has been
+termed the Alexandrian, because the most celebrated artist of this
+period lived about the time of Alexander the Great, was the last of
+progression, or acquisition, but it only added variety of effect to
+the tones it could not improve, and was principally characterized by
+the diversity of the styles of so many contemporary artists. The
+decadence of the arts immediately succeeded, the necessary
+consequence, when, instead of excellence, variety and originality
+became the end of the artist. The tendencies which are peculiar to
+this period gave birth sometimes to pictures which ministered to a low
+sensuality; sometimes to works which attracted by their effects of
+light, and also to caricatures and travesties of mythological
+subjects. The artists of this period were under the necessity of
+attracting attention by novelty and variety; thus rhyparography, and
+the lower classes of art, attained the ascendency, and became the
+characteristic styles of the period. In these Pyreieus was
+pre-eminent; he was termed rhyparographos, on account of the mean
+quality of his subjects. After the destruction of Corinth by Mummius
+and the spoliation of Athens by Sylla the art of painting experienced
+a rapid and total decay.
+
+ [Illustration: Engraved & Printed by Illman Brothers
+ THE PHILAE ISLANDS.
+ FOR THE MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY]
+
+We shall now make a few extracts from Mr. Wornum's excellent article
+on the vehicles, materials, colors, and methods of painting used by
+the Greeks.
+
+The Greeks painted with wax, resins, and in water-colors, to which
+they gave a proper consistency, according to the material upon which
+they painted, with gum, glue, and the white of egg; gum and glue were
+the most common.
+
+They painted upon wood, clay, plaster, stone, parchment, and canvas.
+They generally painted upon panels or tables, and very rarely upon
+walls; and an easel, similar to what is now used, was common among the
+ancients. These panels, when finished, were fixed into frames of
+various descriptions and materials, and encased in walls. The ancients
+used also a palette very similar to that used by the moderns, as is
+sufficiently attested by a fresco painting from Pompeii, which
+represents a female painting a copy of Hermes, for a votive tablet,
+with a palette in her left hand.
+
+The earlier Grecian masters used only four colors: the earth of Melos
+for white; Attic ochre for yellow; Sinopis, an earth from Pontus, for
+red; and lamp-black; and it was with these simple elements that
+Zeuxis, Polygnotus, and others of that age, executed their celebrated
+works. By degrees new coloring substances were found, such as were
+used by Apelles and Protogenes.
+
+So great, indeed, is the number of pigments mentioned by ancient
+authors, and such the beauty of them, that it is very doubtful
+whether, with all the help of modern science, modern artists possess
+any advantage in this respect over their predecessors.
+
+We now give the following list of colors, known to be generally used
+by ancient painters:
+
+_Red._--The ancient reds were very numerous, cinnabar, vermilion,
+bisulphuret of mercury, called also by Pliny and Vitruvius, minium.
+The cinnabaris indica, mentioned by Pliny and Dioscorides, was what is
+vulgarly called dragon's blood, the resin obtained from various
+species of the calamus palm. Miltos seems to have had various
+significations; it was used for cinnabaris, minium, red lead, and
+rubrica, red ochre. There were various kinds of rubricae; all were,
+however, red oxides, of which the best were the Lemnian, from the Isle
+of Lemnos, and the Cappadocian, called by the Romans rubrica sinopica,
+from Sinope in Paphlagonia. Minium, red oxide of lead, red lead, was
+called by the Romans cerussa usta, and, according to Vitruvius,
+sandaracha.
+
+The Roman sandaracha seems to have had various significations. Pliny
+speaks of the different shades of sandaracha; there was also a
+compound color of equal parts of sandaracha and rubrica calcined,
+called sandyx, which Sir H. Davy supposed to approach our crimson in
+tint; in painting it was frequently glazed with purple, to give it
+additional lustre.
+
+_Yellow._--Yellow-ochre, hydrated peroxide of iron, the _sil_ of the
+Romans, formed the base of many other yellows, mixed with various
+colors and carbonate of lime. Ochre was procured from different
+parts--the Attic was considered the best; sometimes the paler sort of
+sandaracha was used for yellow.
+
+_Green._--Chrysocolla, which appears to have been green carbonate of
+copper, or malachite (green verditer), was the green most approved of
+by the ancients; there was also an artificial kind which was made from
+clay impregnated with sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) rendered green
+by a yellow dye. The commonest and cheapest colors were the Appianum,
+which was a clay, and the creta viridis, the common green earth of
+Verona.
+
+_Blue._--The ancient blues were very numerous; the principal of these
+was coeruleum, azure, a species of verditer, or blue carbonate of
+copper, of which there were many varieties. The Alexandrian was the
+most valued, as approaching the nearest to ultramarine. It was also
+manufactured at Pozzuoli. This imitation was called coelon. Armenium
+was a metallic color, and was prepared by being ground to an
+impalpable powder. It was of a light blue color. It has been
+conjectured that ultramarine (lapis lazuli) was known to the ancients
+under the name of Armenium, from Armenia, whence it was procured. It
+is evident, however, from Pliny's description, that the "sapphirus" of
+the ancients was the lapis lazuli of the present day. It came from
+Media.
+
+Indigo, indicum, was well known to the ancients.
+
+_Purple._--The ancients had several kinds of purple, purpurissimum,
+ostrum, hysginum, and various compound colors. Purpurissimum was made
+from creta argentaria, a fine chalk or clay, steeped in a purple dye,
+obtained from the murex. In color it ranged between minium and blue,
+and included every degree in the scale of purple shades. The best sort
+came from Pozzuoli. Purpurissimum indicum was brought from India. It
+was of a deep blue, and probably was the same as indigo. Ostrum was a
+liquid color, to which the proper consistence was given by adding
+honey. It was produced from the secretion of a fish called ostrum, and
+differed in tint according to the country from whence it came; being
+deeper and more violet when brought from the northern, redder when
+from the southern coasts of the Mediterranean. The Roman ostrum was a
+compound of red ochre and blue oxide of copper. Hysginum, according to
+Vitruvius, is a color between scarlet and purple. The celebrated
+Tyrian dye was a dark, rich purple, of the color of coagulated blood,
+but, when held against the light, showed a crimson hue. It was
+produced by a combination of the secretions of the murex and buccinum.
+In preparing the dye the buccinum was used last, the dye of the murex
+being necessary to render the colors fast, while the buccinum
+enlivened by its tint of red the dark hue of the murex. Sir H. Davy,
+on examining a rose-colored substance, found in the baths of Titus,
+which in its interior had a lustre approaching to that of carmine,
+considered it a specimen of the best Tyrian purple. The purpura, as
+mentioned in Pliny, was an amethyst or violet color.
+
+_Brown._--Ochra usta, burnt ochre.--The browns were ochres calcined,
+oxides of iron and manganese, and compounds of ochres and blacks.
+
+_Black._--Atramentum, or black, was of two sorts, natural and
+artificial. The natural was made from a black earth, or from the
+secretion of the cuttle-fish, sepia. The artificial was made of the
+dregs of wine carbonized, calcined ivory, or lamp-black. The
+atramentum indicum, mentioned by Pliny, was probably the Chinese
+Indian ink.
+
+_White._--The ordinary Greek white was melinum, an earth from the Isle
+of Melos; for fresco-painting the best was the African paroetonium.
+There was also a white earth of Eretria and the annularian white.
+Carbonate of lead, or white lead, cerussa, was apparently not much
+used by the ancient painters. It has not been found in any of the
+remains of painting in Roman ruins.
+
+_Methods of Painting._--There were two distinct classes of painting
+practiced by the ancients--in water colors and in wax, both of which
+were practiced in various ways. Of the former the principal were
+fresco, al fresco; and the various kinds of distemper (a tempera),
+with glue, with the white of egg, or with gums (a guazzo); and with
+wax or resins when these were rendered by any means vehicles that
+could be worked with water. Of the latter the principal was through
+fire, termed encaustic.
+
+Fresco was probably little employed by the ancients for works of
+imitative art, but it appears to have been the ordinary method of
+simply coloring walls, especially amongst the Romans. Coloring al
+fresco, in which the colors were mixed simply in water, as the term
+implies, was applied when the composition of the stucco on the walls
+was still wet (udo tectorio), and on that account was limited to
+certain colors, for no colors except earths can be employed in this
+way.
+
+The fresco walls, when painted, were covered with an encaustic
+varnish, both to heighten the colors and to preserve them from the
+injurious effects of the sun or the weather. Vitruvius describes the
+process as a Greek practice. When the wall was colored and dry, Punic
+wax, melted and tempered with a little oil, was rubbed over it with a
+hard brush (seta); this was made smooth and even by applying a
+_cauterium_ or an iron pan, filled with live coals, over the surface,
+as near to it as was just necessary to melt the wax; it was then
+rubbed with a candle (wax) and a clean cloth. In encaustic painting
+the wax colors were _burnt into_ the ground by means of a hot iron
+(called cauterium) or pan of hot coals being held near the surface of
+the picture. The mere process of burning in constitutes the whole
+difference between encaustic and the ordinary method of painting with
+wax colors.
+
+We shall now say a few words with regard to the much canvassed
+question of painting or coloring statues. Its antiquity and
+universality admit of no doubt. Indeed, the practice of painting
+statues is a characteristic of a primitive and workmanship of clay or
+wood. It was a survival of the old religious practices of daubing the
+early statues of the gods with vermilion, and was done to meet the
+superstitious tastes of the uneducated. Statues for religious purposes
+may have been painted in obedience to a formula prescribed by
+religion, but statues as objects of art, on which the sculptor
+exhibited all his genius and taste, were unquestionably executed in
+the pure and uncolored marble alone. In the chryselephantine, or ivory
+statues of Jove and Minerva, by Phidias, art was made a handmaid to
+religion. Phidias himself would have preferred to have executed them
+in marble.
+
+We may further remark that form, in its purest ideal, being the chief
+aim of sculpture, any application of color, which would detract from
+the purity and ideality of this purest of the arts, could never be
+agreeable to refined taste. Coloring sculpture and giving it a
+life-like reality is manifestly trenching on the province of painting,
+and so departing from the true principle of sculpture, which is to
+give form in its most perfect and idealized development. We must also
+consider that sculpture in marble, by its whiteness, is calculated for
+the display of light and shade. For this reason statues and
+bas-reliefs were placed either in the open light to receive the direct
+rays of the sun, or in underground places, or thermae, where they
+received their light either from an upper window, or, by night, from
+the strong light of a lamp, the sculptor having for that purpose
+studied the effects of the shadows. It must also be remembered that
+the statues in Greek and Roman temples received their light from the
+upper part of the building, many of the temples being hypaethral, thus
+having the benefit of a top light, the sculptor's chief aim. Color in
+these statues or bas-reliefs would have tended to mar the contrasts of
+light and shade, and blended them too much; for example, color a
+photograph of a statue, which exhibits a marked contrast of light and
+shade, and it will tend to confuse and blend the two. The taste for
+polychrome sculpture in the period of the decline of art was obviously
+but a returning to the primitive imperfection of art, when an attempt
+was made to produce illusion in order to please the uneducated taste
+of the vulgar.
+
+The Romans derived their knowledge of painting from the Etruscans,
+their ancestors and neighbors; the first Grecian painters who came to
+Italy are said to have been brought over by Demaratus, the father of
+Tarquinius Priscus, King of Rome; at all events Etruria appears to
+have exercised extensive influence over the arts of Rome during the
+reign of the Tarquins. Tradition attributes to them the first works
+which were used to adorn the temples of Rome, and, according to Pliny,
+not much consideration was bestowed either on the arts or on the
+artists. Fabius, the first among the Romans, had some painting
+executed in the temple of Salus, from which he received the name of
+Pictor. The works of art brought from Corinth by Mummius, from Athens
+by Sulla, and from Syracuse by Marcellus, introduced a taste for
+paintings and statues in their public buildings, which eventually
+became an absorbing passion with many distinguished Romans. Towards
+the end of the republic Rome was full of painters. Julius Caesar,
+Agrippa, Augustus, were among the earliest great patrons of artists.
+Suetonius informs us that Caesar expended great sums in the purchase of
+pictures by the old masters. Under Augustus, Marcus Ludius painted
+marine subjects, landscape decorations, and historic landscape as
+ornamentation for the apartments of villas and country houses. He
+invented that style of decoration which we now call arabesque or
+grotesque. It spread rapidly, insomuch that the baths of Titus and
+Livia, the remains discovered at Cumae, Pozzuoli, Herculaneum, Stabiae,
+Pompeii, in short, whatever buildings about that date have been found
+in good preservation, afford numerous and beautiful examples of it. At
+this time, also, a passion for portrait painting prevailed; an art
+which flattered their vanity was more suited to the tastes of the
+Romans than the art which could produce beautiful and refined works
+similar to those of Greece. Portraits must have been exceedingly
+numerous; Varro made a collection of the portraits of 700 eminent men.
+Portraits, decorative and scene painting, seem to have engrossed the
+art. The example, or rather the pretensions, of Nero must also have
+contributed to encourage painting in Rome; but Roman artists were,
+however, but few in number; the victories of the consuls, and the
+rapine of the praetors, were sufficient to adorn Rome with all the
+master-pieces of Greece and Italy. They introduced the fashion of
+having a taste for the beautiful works of Greek art. At a later
+period, such was the corrupt state of taste, that painting was almost
+left to be practiced by slaves, and the painter was estimated by the
+quantity of work that he could do in a day.
+
+The remains of painting found at Pompeii, Herculaneum, and in the
+baths of Titus, at Rome, are the only paintings which can give us any
+idea of the coloring and painting of the ancients, which, though they
+exhibit many beauties, particularly in composition, are evidently the
+works of inferior artists in a period of decline. At Pompeii there is
+scarcely a house the walls of which are not decorated with fresco
+paintings. The smallest apartments were lined with stucco, painted in
+the most brilliant and endless variety of colors, in compartments
+simply tinted with a light ground, surrounded by an ornamental margin,
+and sometimes embellished with a single figure or subject in the
+center, or at equal distances. These paintings are very frequently
+historical or mythological, but embrace every variety of subject, some
+of the most exquisite beauty. Landscape painting was never a favorite
+with the ancients, and if ever introduced in a painting, was
+subordinate. The end and aim of painting among the ancients was to
+represent and illustrate the myths of the gods, the deeds of heroes,
+and important historical events, hence giving all prominence to the
+delineation of the human form. Landscape, on the other hand,
+illustrated nothing, represented no important event deserving of
+record, and was thus totally without significance in a Grecian temple
+or pinacotheca. In an age of decline, as at Pompeii, it was employed
+for mere decorative purposes. Many architectural subjects are
+continually found in which it is easy to trace the true principles of
+perspective, but they are rather indicated than minutely expressed or
+accurately displayed; whereas in most instances a total want of the
+knowledge of this art is but too evident. Greek artists seem to have
+been employed; indeed, native painters were few, while the former
+everywhere abounded, and their superiority in design must have always
+insured them the preference.
+
+The subjects of Roman mural paintings are usually Greek myths; in the
+composition and style we see Greek conception, modified by Roman
+influence. The style of drawing is rather dexterous than masterly;
+rapidity of execution seems to be more prized than faithful,
+conscientious representation of the truth of nature; the drawing is
+generally careless, and effects are sometimes produced by tricks and
+expedients, which belong rather to scene-painting than to the higher
+branches of art. It must not, however, be forgotten that the majority
+of these pictures were architectural decorations, not meant to be
+regarded as independent compositions, but as parts of larger
+compositions, in which they were inserted as in a frame. As examples
+of ancient coloring they are of the highest interest, and much may be
+learnt from them in reference to the technical materials and processes
+employed by ancient artists.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+SCULPTURING.
+
+
+We do not intend to enter here on the history of sculpture in all its
+phases, but to give the distinctive features which characterize the
+different styles of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sculpture, as they are
+visible in statues of the natural or colossal size, in statues of
+lesser proportion, and lastly in busts and bas-reliefs.
+
+We shall give also the styles of each separate nation which prevailed
+at each distinct age or epoch, styles which mark the stages of the
+development of the art of sculpture in all countries. Sculpture, like
+architecture and painting, indeed all art, had an indigenous and
+independent evolution in all countries, all these arts springing up
+naturally, and taking their origin alike everywhere in the imitative
+faculty of man. They had their stages of development in the ascending
+and descending scales, their rise, progress, culminating point,
+decline and decay, their cycle of development; the sequence of these
+stages being necessarily developed wherever the spirit of art has
+arisen, and has had growth and progress. The first and most important
+step in examining a work of ancient sculpture is to distinguish with
+certainty whether it is of Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, or Roman
+workmanship; and this distinction rests entirely on a profound
+knowledge of the style peculiar to each of those nations. The next
+step is, from its characteristic features, to distinguish what period,
+epoch, or stage of the development of the art of that particular
+nation it belongs to. We shall further give the various attributes and
+characteristics of the gods, goddesses, and other mythological
+personages which distinguish the various statues visible in Egyptian,
+Etruscan, Greek, and Roman sculpture.
+
+This enumeration will be found of use in the many sculpture galleries
+of the various museums both at home and abroad.
+
+Man _attempted_ sculpture long before he _studied_ architecture; a
+simple hut, or a rude house, answered every purpose as a place of
+abode, and a long time elapsed before he sought to invent what was not
+demanded by necessity.
+
+Architecture is a creation of the mind; it has no model in nature, and
+it requires great imaginative powers to conceive its ideal beauties,
+to make a proper combination of parts, and to judge of the harmony of
+forms altogether new and beyond the reach of experience. But the
+desire in man to imitate and to record what has passed before his
+eyes, in short, to transfer the impression from his own mind to
+another, is natural in every stage of society; and however imperfectly
+he may succeed in representing the objects themselves, his attempts to
+indicate their relative position, and to embody the expression of his
+own ideas, are a source of the highest satisfaction.
+
+As the wish to record events gave the first, religion gave the second
+impulse to sculpture. The simple pillar of wood or stone, which was
+originally chosen to represent the deity, afterwards assumed the human
+form, the noblest image of the power that created it; though the
+_Hermae_ of Greece were not, as some have thought, the origin of
+statues, but were borrowed from the mummy-shaped gods of Egypt.
+
+Pausanias thinks that "all statues were in ancient times of wood,
+particularly those made in Egypt;" but this must have been at a period
+so remote as to be far beyond the known history of that country;
+though it is probable that when the arts were in their infancy the
+Egyptians were confined to statues of that kind; and they occasionally
+erected wooden figures in their temples, even till the times of the
+latter Pharaohs.
+
+Long after men had attempted to make out the parts of the figure,
+statues continued to be very rude; the arms were placed directly down
+the side of the thighs, and the legs were united together; nor did
+they pass beyond this imperfect state in Greece, until the age of
+Daedalus. Fortunately for themselves and for the world, the Greeks were
+allowed to free themselves from old habits, while the Egyptians, at
+the latest periods, continued to follow the imperfect models of their
+early artists, and were forever prevented from arriving at excellence
+in sculpture; and though they made great progress in other branches of
+art, though they evinced considerable taste in the forms of their
+vases, their furniture, and even in some architectural details, they
+were forever deficient in ideal beauty, and in the mode of
+representing the natural positions of the human figure.
+
+In Egypt the prescribed automaton character of the figures effectually
+prevented all advancement in the statuary's art; the limbs being
+straight, without any attempt at action, or, indeed, any indication of
+life; they were really _statues_ of the person they represented, not
+the person "living in marble," in which they differed entirely from
+those of Greece. No statue of a warrior was sculptured in the varied
+attitudes of attack and defence; no wrestler, no _discobolus_, no
+pugilist exhibited the grace, the vigor, or the muscular action of a
+man; nor were the beauties, the feeling, and the elegance of female
+forms displayed in stone: all was made to conform to the same
+invariable model, which confined the human figure to a few
+conventional postures.
+
+A sitting statue, whether of a man or woman, was represented with the
+hands placed upon the knees, or held across the breast; a kneeling
+figure sometimes supported a small shrine or sacred emblem; and when
+standing the arms were placed directly down the sides of the thighs,
+one foot (and that always the left) being advanced beyond the other,
+as if in the attitude of walking, but without any attempt to separate
+the legs.
+
+The oldest Egyptian sculptures on all large monuments were in low
+relief, and, as usual at every period, painted (obelisks and
+everything carved in hard stone, some funeral tablets, and other small
+objects, being in intaglio); and this style continued in vogue until
+the time of Remeses II., who introduced intaglio very generally on
+large monuments; and even his battle scenes at Karnac and the
+Memnonium are executed in this manner. The reliefs were little raised
+above the level of the wall; they had generally a flat surface with
+the edges softly rounded off, far surpassing the intaglio in effect;
+and it is to be regretted that the best epoch of art, when design and
+execution were in their zenith, should have abandoned a style so
+superior; which, too, would have improved in proportion to the
+advancement of that period.
+
+After the accession of the twenty-sixth dynasty some attempt was made
+to revive the arts, which had been long neglected; and, independent of
+the patronage of government, the wealth of private individuals was
+liberally employed in their encouragement. Public buildings were
+erected in many parts of Egypt, and beautified with rich sculpture;
+the City of Sais, the royal residence of the Pharaohs of that dynasty,
+was adorned with the utmost magnificence, and extensive additions were
+made to the temples of Memphis, and even to those of the distant
+Thebes.
+
+The fresh impulse thus given to art was not without effect; the
+sculptures of that period exhibit an elegance and beauty which might
+even induce some to consider them equal to the productions of an
+earlier age, and in the tombs of the Assaseef, at Thebes, are many
+admirable specimens of Egyptian art. To those, however, who understand
+the true feeling of this peculiar school, it is evident, that though
+in minuteness and finish they are deserving of the highest
+commendation, yet in grandeur of conception and in boldness of
+execution they fall far short of the sculptures of Sethos and the
+second Remeses.
+
+The skill of the Egyptian artists in drawing bold and clear outlines
+is, perhaps, more worthy of admiration than anything connected with
+this branch of art, and in no place is the freedom of their drawing
+more conspicuous than in the figures in the unfinished part of
+Belzoni's tomb, at Thebes. It was in the drawing alone that they
+excelled, being totally ignorant of the correct mode of coloring a
+figure, and their painting was not an imitation of nature, but merely
+the harmonious combination of certain hues, which they well
+understood. Indeed, to this day the harmony of positive colors is
+thoroughly felt in Egypt and the East, and it is strange to find the
+little perception of it in Northern Europe, where theories take upon
+themselves to explain to the mind what the eye has not yet learned, as
+if a grammar could be written before the language is understood.
+
+A remarkable feature of Egyptian sculpture is the frequent
+representation of their Kings in a colossal form. The two most famous
+colossi are the seated figures in the plain of Thebes. One is
+recognized to be the vocal Memnon (Amunoph III.) mentioned by Strabo.
+They are forty-seven feet high, and measure about eighteen feet three
+inches across the shoulders. But the grandest and largest colossal
+statue was the stupendous statue of King Remeses II., a Syenite
+granite, in the Memnonium, at Thebes. It represented the King seated
+on a throne, in the usual attitude of Kings, the hands resting on his
+knees. It is now in fragments. It measured twenty-two feet four inches
+across the shoulders. According to Sir G. Wilkinson, the whole mass,
+when entire, must have weighed about 887 tons. A colossal statue of
+Remeses II. lies with his face upon the ground on the site of Memphis;
+it was placed before the temple of Pthah. Its total height is
+estimated at forty-two feet eight inches, without the pedestal. It is
+of white siliceous limestone. Another well-known colossus is the
+statue of the so-called Memnon, now in the British Museum. It is
+supposed to be the statue of Remeses II. It was brought by Belzoni
+from the Memnonium, at Thebes.
+
+In the different epochs of Egyptian sculpture, the Egyptian artists
+were bound by certain fixed canons or rules of proportion to guide
+them in their labors, and which they were obliged to adhere to
+rigidly. The following are the canons of three distinct epochs: 1. The
+canon of the time of the pyramids, the height was reckoned at six feet
+from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, and subdivisions
+obtained by one-half or one-third of a foot. 2. The canon from the
+twelfth to the twenty-second dynasty is only an extension of the
+first. The whole figure was contained in a number of squares of half a
+foot, and the whole height divided into eighteen parts. In these two
+canons the height above the sixth foot is not reckoned. 3. The canon
+of the age of Psammetici, which is mentioned by Diodorus, reckoning
+the entire height at twenty-one and one-fourth feet from the sole to
+the crown of the head, taken to the upper part. The proportions are
+different, but without any introduction of the Greek canon. The canon
+and the leading lines were originally traced in red, subsequently
+corrected by the principal artist in black, and the design then
+executed. In Egypt, almost every object of sculpture and architecture
+was painted. The colossal Egyptian statues are generally of granite,
+basalt, porphyry, or sandstone. The two colossi on the plain of Thebes
+are, of course, hard gritstone. The Egyptians also worked in dark and
+red granites, breccias, serpentines, arragonite, limestones, jaspers,
+feldspar, cornelian, glass, gold, silver, bronze, lead, iron, the hard
+woods, fir or cedar, sycamore, ebony, acacia, porcelain and ivory, and
+terra cotta. All objects, from the most gigantic obelisk to the minute
+articles of private life, are found decorated with hieroglyphics.
+
+Egyptian sculptors were also remarkable for the correct and excellent
+representation of animals. They may, indeed, be noticed in their
+representation a freedom of hand, a choice and variety of forms, a
+truthfulness, and even what deserves to be called imitation, which
+contrast with the uniformity, the rigidity, the absence of nature and
+life, which human figures present. Plato mentions a law which forbade
+the artists to depart, in the slightest degree, in the execution of
+statues of the human form from the type consecrated by priestly
+authority. The artist, therefore, not being restricted in his study of
+the animal form, could thus give to his image greater variety of
+motion, and by imitating animals in nature, indemnify himself for the
+constraint he experienced when he represented Kings and priests. The
+two colossal lions in red granite, brought to England by the late Duke
+of Northumberland, may be considered as remarkably good specimens of
+Egyptian art, as applied to the delineation of animal forms. They
+evince a considerable knowledge of anatomy in the strongly-marked
+delineation of the muscular development. The form also is natural and
+easy, thus admirably expressing the idea of strength in a state of
+repose. They were sculptured in the reign of Amunoph III. The
+representations of the sacred animals, the cynocephalus, the lion, the
+jackal, the ram, etc., are frequently to be met with in Egyptian
+sculpture.
+
+_Greek._--The stages of the cycle of development of the art of
+sculpture in Greece may be given in five distinct periods or epochs,
+naming these, for greater convenience, chiefly from the name of the
+principal artist whose style prevailed at that period.
+
+ I. The Daedalean, or early ( -580 B.C.)
+ II. The AEginetan, or archaic (580-480 B.C.)
+ III. The Phidian, or the grand (480-400 B.C.)
+ IV. The Praxitelean, or the beautiful (400-250 B.C.)
+ V. The Decline (250- )
+
+Prior to the age of Daedalus, there was an earlier stage in the
+development of art, in which the want of art, which is peculiar to
+that early stage, was exhibited in rude attempts at the
+representation of the human figure, for similar and almost identical
+rude representations are attempted in the early stages of art in all
+countries; as the early attempts of children are nearly identical in
+all ages. The presence of a god was indicated in a manner akin to the
+Fetichism of the African, by the simplest and most shapeless objects,
+such as unhewn blocks of stone and by simple pillars or pieces of
+wood. The first attempt at representation consisted in fashioning a
+block of stone or wood into some semblance of the human form, and this
+rude attempt constituted a divinity. Of this primitive form was the
+Venus of Cyprus, the Cupid of Thespiae; the Juno of Argos was fashioned
+in a similar rude manner from the trunk of a wild pear tree. These
+attempts were thus nothing more than shapeless blocks, the head, arms,
+and legs scarcely defined. Some of these wooden blocks are supposed to
+have been, in a coarse attempt at imitation, furnished with real hair,
+and to have been clothed with real draperies in order to conceal the
+imperfection of the form. The next step was to give these shapeless
+blocks a human form. The upper part assumed the likeness of a head,
+and by degrees arms and legs were marked out; but in these early
+imitations of the human figure the arms were, doubtless, represented
+closely attached to the sides; and the legs, though to a certain
+extent defined, were still connected and united in a common pillar.
+
+The age of Daedalus marks an improvement in the modeling of the human
+figure, and in giving it life and action. This improvement in the art
+consisted in representing the human figure with the arms isolated from
+the body, the legs detached, and the eyes open; in fine, giving it an
+appearance of nature as well as of life, and thus introducing a
+principle of imitation. This important progress in the practice of the
+art is the characteristic feature of the school of Daedalus, for under
+the name of Daedalus we must understand the art of sculpture itself in
+its primitive form, and in its first stage of development. According
+to Flaxman, the rude efforts of this age were intended to represent
+divinities and heroes only--Jupiter, Neptune, Hercules, and several
+heroic characters, had the self-same face, figure, and action; the
+same narrow eyes, thin lips, with the corners of the mouth turned
+upwards; the pointed chin, narrow loins, turgid muscles; the same
+advancing position of the lower limbs; the right hand raised beside
+the head, and the left extended. Their only distinctions were that
+Jupiter held the thunderbolt, Neptune the trident, and Hercules a palm
+branch or bow. The female divinities were clothed in draperies divided
+into few and perpendicular folds, their attitudes advancing like those
+of the male figures. The hair of both male and female statues of this
+period is arranged with great care, collected in a club behind,
+sometimes entirely curled.
+
+Between the rudeness of the Daedalean and the hard and severe style of
+the AEginetan there was a transitional style, to which period the
+artists Dipoenus and Scyllis are assigned by Pliny. The metopes of the
+temple of Selinus in Sicily, the bas-reliefs representing Agamemnon,
+Epeus, and Talthybius, in the Louvre, the Harpy monument in the
+British Museum, and the Apollo of Tenea, afford examples of this
+style.
+
+_AEginetan._--In the AEginetan period of sculpture there was still
+retained in the character of the heads, in the details of the costume,
+and in the manner in which the beard and the hair are treated,
+something archaic and conventional, undoubtedly derived from the
+habits and teachings of the primitive school. But there prevails at
+the same time, in the execution of the human form, and the manner in
+which the nude is treated, a knowledge of anatomy, and an excellence
+of imitation carried to so high a degree of truth as to give
+convincing proofs of an advanced step and higher stage in the
+development of the art. The following are the principal
+characteristics of the AEginetan style, as derived from a careful
+examination of the statues found in AEgina, which were the undoubted
+productions of the school of the AEginetan period. The style in which
+they are executed is called Hieratic, or Archaic.
+
+The heads, either totally destitute of expression, or all reduced to a
+general and conventional expression, present, in the oblique position
+of the eyes and mouth, that forced smile which seems to have been the
+characteristic feature common to all productions of this archaic
+style; for we find it also on the most ancient medals, and on
+bas-reliefs of the primitive period.
+
+The hair, treated likewise in a systematic manner in small curls or
+plaits, worked with wonderful industry, imitates not real hair, but
+genuine wigs, a peculiarity which may be remarked on other works in
+the ancient style, and of Etruscan origin. The beard is indicated on
+the cheek by a deep mark, and is rarely worked in relief, but, in the
+latter case, so as to imitate a false beard, and consequently in the
+same system as the hair. The costume partakes of the same conventional
+and hieratic taste; it consists of drapery, with straight and regular
+folds, falling in symmetrical and parallel masses, so as to imitate
+the real draperies in which the ancient statues in wood were draped.
+These conventional forms of the drapery and hair may, therefore, be
+considered as deriving their origin from an imitation of the early
+statues in wood, the first objects of worship and of art among the
+Greeks, which were frequently covered with false hair, and clothed
+with real draperies. The muscular development observable in these
+figures is somewhat exaggerated, but, considering the period, is
+wonderfully accurate and true to nature. The genius for imitation
+exhibited in this style, carried as far as it is possible in the
+expression of the forms of the body, although still accompanied by a
+little meagreness and dryness, the truth of detail, the exquisite care
+in the execution, evince so profound a knowledge of the structure of
+the human body, so great a readiness of hand--in a word, an imitation
+of nature so skillful, and, at the same time, so simple, that one can
+not but recognize in them the productions of an art which had arrived
+at a point which required only a few steps more to reach perfection.
+To the latter part of this period belong the sculptors Canachus,
+Calamis, and Pythagoras. Canachus was the sculptor of a famous statue
+of a nude Apollo in bronze, termed Philesius, at Didymi, near Miletus,
+and was considered as very hard in his style.
+
+_Phidian._--"This period (we here adopt Mr. Vaux's words) is the
+golden age of Greek art. During this period arose a spirit of
+sculpture which combined grace and majesty in the happiest manner, and
+by emancipating the plastic art from the fetters of antique stiffness,
+attained, under the direction of Pericles, and by the hand of Phidias,
+its culminating point. It is curious to remark the gradual progress of
+the arts; for it is clear that it was slowly and not _per saltum_ that
+the gravity of the elder school was changed to the perfect style of
+the age of Phidias." In this phase of the art, the ideal had reached
+its zenith, and we behold a beauty and perfection which has never been
+equaled. In this age alone sculpture, by the grandeur and sublimity it
+had attained to in its style, was qualified to give a form to the
+sublime conceptions of the deity evolved by the mind of Phidias. He
+alone was considered able to embody and to render manifest to the eye
+the sublime images of Homer. Hence, he was called "the sculptor of the
+gods." It is well known that in the conception of his Jupiter Olympus,
+Phidias wished to render manifest, and that he succeeded in realizing,
+the sublime image under which Homer represents the master of the gods.
+The sculptor embodied that image in the following manner, according to
+Pausanias: "The god, made of ivory and gold, is seated on a throne,
+his head crowned with a branch of olive, his right hand presented a
+Victory of ivory and gold, with a crown and fillet; his left hand
+held a sceptre, studded with all kinds of metals, on which an eagle
+sat; the sandals of the god were gold, so was his drapery, on which
+were various animals, with flowers of all kinds, especially lilies;
+his throne was richly wrought with gold and precious stones. There
+were also statues; four Victories, alighting, were at each foot of the
+throne; those in front rested each on a sphinx that had seized a
+Theban youth; below the sphinxes the children of Niobe were slain by
+the arrows of Apollo and Artemis." This statue, Flaxman observes,
+sixty feet in height, was the most renowned work of ancient sculpture,
+not for stupendous magnitude alone, but more for careful majesty and
+sublime beauty. His Minerva in the Parthenon was of gold and ivory.
+The goddess was represented standing robed in a tunic, and her head
+covered with the formidable aegis; with her right hand she held a
+lance; in the left she held a statue of Victory about five feet high;
+her helmet was surmounted by a sphinx and two griffins, and over the
+visor eight horses in front in full gallop. The shield erected at the
+feet of the goddess was adorned on both sides with bas-reliefs. At the
+base of the statue were a sphinx and a serpent. This colossus was
+thirty-seven feet high. The gem of Aspasus and the silver tetra-drachm
+of Athens are said to be copies of the head of this Minerva.
+
+Another remarkable statue of Phidias was the Athene Promachus, in the
+Acropolis. It represented the tutelary goddess of the Athenians, fully
+armed and in the attitude of battle, with one arm raised and holding
+spear in her hand. This work was of colossal dimensions and stood in
+the open air, nearly opposite the Propylaea. It towered above the roof
+of the Parthenon and it is said the crest of the helmet and the point
+of the spear could be seen far off by ships approaching Athens from
+Sunium. Its height is supposed to have been, with its pedestal, about
+seventy feet, the material was bronze. There are two marble statues
+which have come down to us, and which give some idea of the Minervas
+of Phidias. One is the Pallas of Velletri, which is supposed to be a
+copy of the Minerva Promachus (cut is on p. 530). The Farnese Minerva,
+at Naples, may afford some idea of the chryselephantine statue of the
+Parthenon. It does not, however, present the accessories of the
+Athenian figure. The Sphinx, the serpent and the shield are not
+represented. The sculptures of the Parthenon, now in the British
+Museum, can lead us to appreciate the manner of Phidias, and the
+character of his school, so observed by Flaxman. The statues of the
+pediments, the metopes, and bas-reliefs, are remarkable for the
+grandeur of style, simplicity, truth, beauty, which are the
+characteristics of this school. On the eastern pediment was
+represented the birth of Minerva, and on the western the contest
+between Minerva and Neptune for the guardianship of the soil of
+Attica. Of the figures still preserved to us of the eastern pediment,
+it has been generally supposed that the reclining figure may be
+identified as Theseus, that another is Ceres, a third Iris, the
+messenger, about to announce to mortals the great event of the birth
+of Minerva, which has just taken place, while the group of three
+female figures are considered to represent the three Fates. Of the
+western pediment, the remaining figures are Cecrops, the first King
+and founder of Athens, and Aglaura, his wife, and the river god,
+Ilissus, or Cephisus. The metopes, which generally represent single
+contests between the Athenians and the Centaurs, are in strong high
+relief, full of bold action and passionate exertion--though this is
+for the most part softened by great beauty of form and a masterly
+style of composition which knows how to adapt itself with the utmost
+freedom to the strict conditions of the space. These reliefs were
+placed high, as they were calculated for the full light of the sun,
+and to throw deeper shadows.
+
+The frieze may be considered as the chief glory of the art of
+Phidias. The artists here expressed with the utmost beauty the
+signification of the temple by depicting a festive procession, which
+was celebrated every fifth year at Athens, in honor of Minerva,
+conveying in solemn pomp to the temple of the Parthenon the peplos, or
+sacred veil, which was to be suspended before the statue of the
+goddess. The end of the procession has just reached the temple, the
+archons and heralds await, quietly conversing together, the end of the
+ceremony. They are followed by a train of Athenian maidens, singly or
+in groups, many of them with cans and other vessels in their hands.
+Then follow men and women, then bearers of sacrificial gifts, then
+flute-players and musicians, followed by combatants in chariots, with
+four splendid horses. The whole is concluded by prancing horsemen, the
+prime of the manly youth of Athens. This frieze was within the
+colonnade of the Parthenon, on the upper part of the wall of the
+cella, and was continued round the building. By its position it only
+obtained a secondary light. Being placed immediately below the soffit,
+it received all its light from between the columns, and by reflection
+from the pavement below. Mr. Westmacott remarks that these works are
+unquestionably the finest specimens of the art that exist, and they
+illustrate fully and admirably the progress and, as it may be said,
+the consummation of sculpture. They exhibit in a remarkable degree all
+the qualities that constitute fine art--truth, beauty, and perfect
+execution. In the forms, the most perfect, the most appropriate and
+the most graceful have been selected. All that is coarse or vulgar is
+omitted, and that only is represented which unites the two essential
+qualities of truth and beauty. The result of this happy combination is
+what has been termed ideal beauty. These sculptures, however, which
+emanated from the mind of Phidias, and were most certainly executed
+under his eyes, and in his school, are not the works of his hands.
+Phidias himself disdained or worked but little in marble. They were,
+doubtless, the works of his pupils, Alcamenes, Agoracritus, Colotes,
+Paeonios, and some other artists of his time. For, as Flaxman remarks,
+the styles of different hands are sufficiently evident in the alto and
+basso rilievo. To the age of Phidias belong the sculptors Alcamenes,
+Agoracritus, and Paeonios. The greatest work of Alcamenes was a statue
+of Venus in the Gardens, a work to which it is said Phidias himself
+put the finishing touch. He also executed a bronze statue of a
+conqueror in the games, which Pliny says was known as the
+"Encrinomenos, the highly approved." Agoracritus, who, Pliny says, was
+such a favorite of Phidias that he gave his own name to many of that
+artist's works, entered into a contest with Alcamenes, the subject
+being a statue of Venus. Alcamenes was successful, Pliny tells us, not
+that his work was superior, but because his fellow-citizens chose to
+give their suffrages in his favor, in preference to a stranger. It was
+for this reason that Agoracritus, indignant at his treatment, sold his
+statue on the express condition that it should never be taken to
+Athens, and changed its name to Nemesis. It was accordingly erected at
+Rhamnus.
+
+A marble statue of Victory, a beautiful Nike in excellent
+preservation, has been lately discovered at Olympia, bearing the name
+of Paeonios. This statue is mentioned by Pausanius as a votive offering
+set up by the Messenians in the Altis, the sacred grove of Zeus at
+Olympia. The statues in the eastern pediment of the temple of Jupiter
+at Olympia were by Paeonios, and those in the western by Alcamenes. The
+first represented the equestrian contest of Pelops against Oenomaus,
+and in the second the Lapithae were represented fighting with the
+centaurs at the marriage of Pirithous.
+
+The frieze of the temple of Apollo at Bassae, near Phigaleia, in
+Arcadia, belongs to this period. It was the work of Ictinus, the
+architect of the Parthenon. Contests with the Amazons and battles with
+the centaurs form the subject of the whole. The most animated and
+boldest compositions are sculptured in these reliefs. They exhibit,
+however, exaggeration, and are wanting in that repose and beauty which
+are the characteristics of the works of Phidias.
+
+In the half draped Venus of Milo now in the Louvre, we have a genuine
+Greek work, which represents an intermediate style between that of
+Phidias and Praxiteles. "Grandly serious," Professor Lubke writes,
+"and almost severe, stands the goddess of Love, not yet conceived as
+in later representations, as a love requiring woman. The simple
+drapery, resting on the hips, displays uncovered the grand forms of
+the upper part of the body, which, with all her beauty, have that
+mysteriously unapproachable feeling which is the genuine expression of
+the divine."
+
+_Praxitilean._ This period is characterized by a more rich and flowing
+style of execution, as well as by the choice of softer and more
+delicate subjects than had usually been selected for representation.
+In this the beautiful was sought, after rather than the sublime.
+Praxiteles may be considered the first sculptor who introduced this
+more sensual, if it may be so called, style of art, for he was the
+first who, in the unrobed Venus, combined the utmost luxuriance of
+personal charms with a spiritual expression in which the queen of love
+herself appeared as a woman needful of love, and filled with inward
+longing. He first gave a prominence to corporeal attractions, with
+which the deity was invested. His favorite subjects were of youthful
+and feminine beauty. In his Venus of Cnidos he exhibited the goddess
+in the most exquisite form of woman. His Cupid represented the beauty
+and grace of that age in boys which seemed to the Greeks the most
+attractive. His Apollo Sauroctonos presented the form of a youth of
+exquisite beauty and proportion. The Venus of Cnidos stands foremost
+as one of the celebrated art creations of antiquity. This artist
+represented the goddess completely undraped; but this bold innovation
+was justified by the fact that she was taking up her garment with her
+left hand, as if she were just coming from her bath, while with her
+right she modestly covered her figure. Many as are the subsequent
+copies preserved of this famous statue, we can only conceive the
+outward idea of the attitude, but none of the pure grandeur of the
+work of Praxiteles. In the Vatican (Chiaramonte gallery, No. 112)
+there is one of very inferior execution, but perhaps the only one
+which gives a correct idea of this Venus, as it corresponds as nearly
+as possible with the pose of the statue on the coin of Cnidos and with
+the description of Lucan.
+
+His Cupid is represented as a slender, undeveloped boy, full of
+liveliness and activity, earnestly endeavoring to fasten the strings
+to his bow. A Roman copy of this statue is in the British Museum.
+
+He also executed in bronze a Faun, which was known as "Periboetos, the
+much famed;" the finest of the many copies of this celebrated statue
+that have come down to us, is in the Capitol; and a youthful Apollo,
+styled Sauroctonos, because he is aiming an arrow at a lizard which is
+stealing towards him; a copy of this statue in marble is in the
+Vatican, and one in bronze in the Villa Albani.
+
+Contemporary with Praxiteles was Scopas. His works exhibit powerful
+expression, grandeur, combined with beauty and grace. The group of
+Niobe and her children, at Florence, has been attributed to him.
+Another very celebrated work of Scopas was the statue of the Pythian
+Apollo playing on the lyre, which Augustus placed in the temple which
+he built to Apollo, on the Palatine, in thanksgiving for his victory
+at Actium. An inferior Roman copy of this statue is in the Vatican. He
+was also celebrated for his heads of Apollo. Of these many excellent
+copies are still extant, the finest being that formerly in the
+Giustiniani collection, and now in the British Museum.
+
+The late discoveries at Halicarnassus have yielded genuine works of
+Scopas in the sculptures of the bas-reliefs of Mausoleum, erected by
+Artemisia in memory of her husband, Mausolus, King of Caria, the east
+side of which is known to have proceeded from his hands; the other
+sides by his contemporaries, Bryaxis, Timotheus and Leochares. Parts
+of these are now in the British Museum.
+
+The bas-reliefs of the temple of Nike Apteros have been associated
+with the peculiarities which characterize the productions of Scopas. A
+figure of Victory, stooping to loose her sandal, in bas-relief from
+this temple, is remarkable for its admirably arranged drapery.
+
+The sculptural decorations of the temple of Artemis, at Ephesus, the
+foundations of which have been lately discovered by Mr. Wood, there is
+every reason to believe were contributed by Praxiteles and Scopas. The
+drum of a column, with figures in bas-relief from this temple, has
+been lately added to the British Museum.
+
+The beautiful figure of a Bacchante in bas-relief in the British
+Museum is generally referred to Scopas.
+
+The following are some of the more particular characteristics of the
+human form, adopted by the Grecian sculptors of this age:
+
+In the profile, the forehead and lips touch a perpendicular line drawn
+between them. In young persons, the brow and nose nearly form a
+straight line, which gives an expression of grandeur and delicacy to
+the face. The forehead was low, the eyes large, but not prominent. A
+depth was given to the eye to give to the eyebrow a finer arch, and,
+by a deeper shadow, a bolder relief. To the eyes a living play of
+light was communicated by a sharp projection of the upper eyelid, and
+a deep depression of the pupil. The eye was so differently shaped in
+the heads of divinities and ideal heads that it is itself a
+characteristic by which they can be distinguished. In Jupiter, Apollo,
+and Juno the opening of the eye is large, and roundly arched; it has
+also less length than usual, that the curve which it makes may be more
+spherical. Pallas likewise has large eyes, but the upper lid falls
+over them more than in the three divinities just mentioned, for the
+purpose of giving her a modest maiden look. Small eyes were reserved
+for Venuses and voluptuous beauties, which gave them a languishing
+air. The upper lip was short, the lower lip fuller than the upper, as
+this tended to give a roundness to the chin; the short upper lip, and
+the round and grandly-formed chin, being the most essential signs of
+genuine Greek formation. The lips were generally closed; they slightly
+open in the statues of the gods, especially in the case of Venus, but
+the teeth were never seen. The ear was carefully modeled and finished.
+The beauty, and especially the execution of them, is, according to
+Winkelman, the surest sign by which to discriminate the antique from
+additions and restorations. The hair was curly, abundant, and disposed
+in floating locks, and executed with the utmost imaginable care; in
+females it was tied in a knot behind the head. The frontal hair was
+represented as growing in a curve over the temples in order to give
+the face an oval shape. The face was always oval, and a cross drawn in
+the oval indicated the design of the face. The perpendicular line
+marked the position of the brow, the nose, the mouth, and the chin;
+the horizontal line passed through the eyes, and was parallel to the
+mouth. The hands of youth were beautifully rounded, and the dimples
+given; the fingers were tapered, but the articulations were not
+generally indicated. In the male form the chest was high, arched, and
+prominent. In the female form, especially in that of goddesses and
+virgins, the form of the breasts is virginal in the extreme, since
+their beauty was generally made to consist in the moderateness of
+their size. They were generally a little higher than nature. The
+abdomen was without prominence. The legs and knees of youthful
+figures are rounded with softness and smoothness, and unmarked by
+muscular movements. The proportion of the limbs was longer than in the
+preceding period. In male and female figures the foot was rounded in
+its form; in the female the toes are delicate, and have dimples over
+their first joints gently marked.
+
+It is evident that this type of beauty of form, adopted by the Grecian
+sculptors, is in unison with, and exhibits a marked analogy to the
+type of face and form of the Greeks themselves, for, as Sir Charles
+Bell observes, the Greek face is a fine oval, the forehead full and
+carried forward, the eyes large, the nose straight, the lips and chin
+finely formed; in short, the forms of the head and face have been the
+type of the antique, and of all which we most admire.
+
+The sculptors of this age, instead of aiming at an abstract,
+unattainable ideal, studied nature in its choicest forms, and attained
+the beautiful by selecting and concentrating in one those charms which
+are found diffused over all. They avoided the representation of all
+violent motions and perturbations of the passions, which would have
+completely marred that expression of serene repose which is a
+prominent characteristic of the beautiful period of Greek sculpture.
+Indeed, the chief object of the Greek sculptor was the representation
+of the beautiful alone, and to this principle he made character,
+expression, costume, and everything else subordinate.
+
+Lysippus, the successor of Praxiteles and Scopas, was a contemporary
+of Alexander the Great. He contributed to advance their style by the
+peculiar fullness, roundness, and harmonious general effect by which
+it appears that his works were characterized. His school exhibited a
+strong naturalistic tendency, a closer imitation of nature, leading to
+many refinements in detail. It was unquestionably greater in portrait
+than in ideal works. Pliny thus speaks of his style: "He is considered
+to have contributed very greatly to the art of the statuary by
+expressing the details of the hair, and by making the head smaller
+than had been done by the ancients, and the body more graceful and
+less bulky, a method by which his statues were made to appear taller."
+
+The portrait statues of Alexander the Great by Lysippus were very
+numerous. The great King would only allow himself to be modeled by
+Lysippus. The head of Alexander, as the young Ammon on the coins of
+Lysimachus, is said to have been designed by him. An athlete, scraping
+his body with a strigil, was the most famous of the bronze statues of
+Lysippus. The statue of an athlete in the Vatican, in a similar
+position, is supposed to be a marble copy of the original bronze of
+Lysippus; though an inferior work, it illustrates the statements of
+Pliny regarding the proportions adopted by Lysippus--a small head and
+the body long and slim. The bas-reliefs also on the monument of
+Lysicrates, representing the story of Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian
+pirates, presented all the characteristic features of the school of
+Lysippus. It was erected in the archonship of Euaenetus, B.C. 335.
+
+The canon of Polycletus began to be generally adopted at this period.
+It was followed by Lysippus, who called the Doryphoros of that artist
+his master. In his practice of dealing with the heads and limbs of his
+figures, Lysippus was followed by Silanion and Euphranor, and his
+authority may be said to have governed the school of Greece to a late
+period of the art.
+
+Pliny tells us that Euphranor was the first who represented heroes
+with becoming dignity, and who paid particular attention to
+proportion. He made, however, in the generality of instances, the
+bodies somewhat more slender and the heads larger. His most celebrated
+statue was a Paris, which expressed alike the judge of the goddesses,
+the lover of Helen, and the slayer of Achilles. The very beautiful
+sitting figure of Paris, in marble, in the Vatican, is, no doubt, a
+copy of this work.
+
+Subsequently to these sculptors we have Chares, the Rhodian, who
+constructed the famous colossus of Helios at the entrance of the
+harbor of Rhodes, which was 105 feet high. It appears there is no
+authority for the common statement that its legs extended over the
+mouth of the harbor.
+
+Of the later Asiatic or Rhodian schools we have the famous groups of
+the Laocoon, on page 555, and of Dirce tied to a bull, commonly called
+the Toro Farnese. In both of these the dramatic element is
+predominant, and the tragic interest is not appreciated. In the
+Laocoon consummate skill is shown in the mastery of execution; but if
+the object of the artist was to create pity or awe, he has drawn too
+much attention to his power of carving marble. The Laocoon was
+executed, according to Pliny, by Agesander, Polydorus and Athenodorus,
+natives of Rhodes. This group, now in the Vatican, was found in the
+baths of Titus. From the evidence of an antique gem, on which is
+engraved a representation of this group, we find the right arm of the
+Laocoon has been wrongly restored. In the gem the hand of Laocoon is
+in contact with his head, and not, as restored by Giovanni da
+Montorsoli, raised high.
+
+The Farnese Bull, a work in which we possess the most colossal group
+of antiquity, was executed by Apollonius and Tauriscus, of Tralles. To
+the same school belongs the Dying Gladiator, who unquestionably
+represents, as usually supposed, a combatant who died in the
+amphitheatre. It is remarkable for the entire absence of ideal
+representation, and for its complete individuality and close imitation
+of nature. This statue is probably one of the masterpieces of the
+celebrated Pyromachus, who executed several groups, and large
+compositions of battle scenes for Attalus, King of Pergamus, to
+celebrate his decisive victory over the Gauls (B.C. 240).
+
+To the later Athenian school belong probably the Belvidere Torso, so
+much admired by Michael Angelo, the Farnese Hercules, the Venus
+de'Medici, and the Fighting Gladiator. The Belvidere Torso is now
+considered to be a copy by Apollonius, the son of Nestor, of the
+Hercules of Lysippus, and probably executed in the Macedonian period.
+The Farnese Hercules is so exaggerated in its style as to have been
+deemed a work as late as the Roman empire. According to Flaxman, the
+Venus de'Medici is a deteriorated variety or repetition of a Venus of
+Praxiteles. It is now generally admitted that it is a work of the
+latest Macedonian period, probably by Cleomenes, whose name appears on
+its base. The Fighting Gladiator bears the name of Agasias of Ephesus.
+From the attitude of the figure it is clear that the statue represents
+not a gladiator, but a warrior contending with a mounted combatant,
+probably an Athenian, warding off a blow from a centaur.
+
+ [Illustration: DYING GLADIATOR.]
+
+The Macedonian age, to which most of these statues belonged, commenced
+with Alexander the Great, and terminated with the absorption of Greek
+art by the Romans.
+
+Art having, in the two previous periods, reached its culminating point
+of perfection, as is the law of all development, when a culminating
+point is reached, a downward tendency and a period of decline begins,
+for the cycle of development must be completed and the stages of
+rise, progress, maturity, decline and decay run through.
+
+No exact date, however, can be assigned to the beginning of the stage
+of decline; no sharp line of demarcation can be pointed out dividing
+one stage from the other. The decline was so gradual that there was an
+inevitable blending of the two. We perceive evident signs of decline
+in the fourth stage, while, in the fifth, or stage of decline, we
+sometimes meet some noble works of art partaking of the perfect style
+of the earlier periods. A period of decline inevitably and invariably
+follows an age of maturity and perfection. As Mr. Lecky observes, "The
+sculptor and the painter of the age of Praxiteles precipitated art
+into sensuality; both of them destroyed its religious character, both
+of them raised it to high aesthetic perfection, but in both cases that
+perfection was followed by a speedy decline." Muller remarks, "The
+creative activity, the real central point of the entire activity of
+art, which fashions peculiar forms for peculiar ideas, must have
+flagged in its exertions when the natural circle of ideas among the
+Greeks had received complete plastic embodiment, or it must have been
+morbidly driven to abnormal inventions. We find, therefore, that art,
+during this period, with greater or less degrees of skill in
+execution, delighted now in fantastical, now in effeminate
+productions, calculated merely to charm the senses. And even in the
+better and nobler works of the time there was still on the whole
+something--not, indeed, very striking to the eye, but which could be
+felt by the natural sense, something which distinguished them from the
+earlier works--the _striving after effect_." The spirit of imitation
+marked the later portion of this period of decline. The sculptors of
+this age, despairing of equaling the productions of the former age,
+gave themselves up completely to servile imitation. The imitation was
+naturally inferior to the original, and each succeeding attempt at
+imitation was but a step lower in degradation of the art. When they
+ceased to study nature they thought to repair the deterioration of the
+beauty of form by the finish of the parts, and in a still later period
+they gave, instead of a grandeur of style, an exaggeration of form.
+Lastly, being utterly unable to cope with their predecessors in the
+sculpture of statues, they had recourse to the manufacture of busts
+and portraits, which they executed in countless numbers. The art
+reached its lowest ebb, and thus the cycle of the development of Greek
+sculpture terminated in its last stage--utter decay and degradation.
+
+_Roman._--In the very early periods the Romans imitated the Etruscans,
+for, generally speaking, all the works of the first periods of Rome
+were executed by Etruscan artists. Their earliest statues of gods were
+in clay. Etruscan art exercised the greatest influence in Rome, for
+Rome was adorned with monuments of Etruscan art, in its very infancy;
+it was a Tuscan called Veturius Mamurius who made the shields
+(ancilia) of the temple of Numa, and who made, in bronze, the statue
+of Vertumna, a Tuscan deity, in the suburb of Rome. The Romans owed
+all their culture to the Etruscans, from whom they learned the arts of
+architecture, terra-cotta work, and painting; calling in artists of
+that more tasteful race when anything of that sort was required for
+the decoration of their simple edifices. The most ancient monuments of
+Rome thus corresponded with the contemporaneous style of Etruscan art;
+there is thus a similarity in the figures; the attributes alone can
+lead one to distinguish them, as these attributes tell if the statue
+was connected with the creed or modes of belief of Etruria or Rome.
+There was not, therefore, any Roman style, properly so called; the
+only distinction to be remarked is that the statues of the early
+periods, executed by the Romans, are characterized, like the Romans
+themselves of the same period, by a beard and long hair. At a late
+period all the architecture, all the sculpture of the public edifices
+at Rome, were in the Tuscan style, according to the testimony of
+Pliny.
+
+After the second Punic war, Greek artists took the place of Etruscan
+artists at Rome; the taking of Syracuse gave the Romans a knowledge of
+the beautiful works of Greece, and the treasures of art brought from
+Corinth chiefly contributed to awaken a taste among them, and they
+soon turned into ridicule their ancient statues in clay; Greek art was
+gradually transferred to Rome; Greek artists began to abound there,
+and the history of Roman art was thenceforward confounded with that of
+the vicissitudes of Greek art. The style of the works of sculpture
+under the first Emperors may be considered as a continuation and
+sequel of the development of Greek sculpture. These works, more
+particularly the portrait statues, which were the prevailing works of
+this period, exhibit a great deal of force and character, though a
+want of care is visible in some parts, especially in the hair. The
+characters of the heads always bear out the descriptions which
+historians have given of the person they belong to, the Roman head
+differing essentially from the Greek, in having a more arched
+forehead, a nose more aquiline, and features altogether of a more
+decided character. It may be observed, however, as a general remark,
+that the Roman statues are of a thicker and more robust form, with
+less ease and grace, more stern, and of a less ideal expression than
+Greek statues, though equally made by Greek artists. Under Augustus,
+and the following Roman Emperors, to meet the demand for Greek statues
+to embellish their houses and villas, several copies and imitations of
+celebrated Greek works were manufactured by the sculptors of the age.
+The Apollo Belvidere, the Venus of the Capitol, and several copies of
+celebrated Greek works, in various Museums, such as the Faun, Cupid,
+Apollo Sauroctonos, and Venus of Praxiteles, the Discobolos of Myron,
+and several works of Scopas and Lysippus, are supposed to be of this
+age. Archaeologists are now generally agreed in thinking that the
+Apollo Belvidere is only a copy of a Roman period of a very fine Greek
+statue of about the beginning of the third century B.C., and that the
+original was in bronze. Another copy has been identified in a bronze
+statuette now in St. Petersburg, known as the Stroganoff Apollo. From
+this statuette it is found that the Apollo Belvidere held forward in
+his left hand, not a bow as was thought, but the _aegis_, in the
+attitude of spreading consternation among an enemy. The production of
+this statue is generally assigned to the period after the invasion of
+the Gauls, whom, in 278 B.C., the god drove in alarm from his
+sanctuary, at Delphi. (A cut of Apollo Belvidere is seen on page 495.)
+
+Of the Faun of Praxiteles there are two copies in the Vatican, but
+both are inferior to that in the Capitol. A copy of the Cupid of
+Praxiteles is in the British Museum. Of the Apollo Sauroctonos there
+are two copies, one in the Vatican, and another in bronze in the Villa
+Albani. Of the Venus of Cnidos of Praxiteles there are several copies
+in the Vatican; one in particular, in the Chiaramonte Gallery, No.
+112, though very inferior as a work of art, gives the exact pose of
+the original statue as it appears on the coin of Cnidos. The Venus of
+the Capitol is a Roman version of the Praxitelean statue; it differs
+in attitude. Several copies of the Discobolos of Myron are still in
+existence: one in the British Museum, one in the Vatican, and a third,
+much finer than either of the others, in the possession of Prince
+Massimo. A very fine marble copy of the celebrated bronze of Lysippus
+is in the Vatican. A copy of the Pythian Apollo by Scopas is in the
+same museum.
+
+The noble statue of Augustus, discovered in 1863, and now in the
+Vatican, is a grand example of the portrait statues of this period. It
+is full of life and individuality. The pose is simple and majestic, as
+befitting the portrait of an Emperor. The bust of the young Augustus
+in the Vatican for depth of expression, individuality, truth to
+nature, and delicacy of finish and treatment, is a marvel in
+portraiture.
+
+Under Tiberius and Claudius a limit was placed to the right of having
+statues exposed in public; consequently a lesser number of statues
+were made, and less attention was paid to the perfection of the
+portrait. However, some excellent works were produced in this period.
+The style became purer and more refined under Hadrian, for a partial
+revival of Greek art is attributed to this Emperor. The hair was
+carefully worked, the eyebrows were raised, the pupils were indicated
+by a deep cavity--an essential characteristic of this age, rare before
+this period, and frequently introduced afterwards; the heads required
+greater strength, without, however, increasing in character. Of the
+most remarkable productions of the age of Hadrian are the numerous
+repetitions of the statue of Antinous, an ideal portrait of Hadrian's
+favorite, exhibiting much artistic perfection. That in the Capitol is
+remarkable, not only for its exceeding beauty, but also for its
+correct anatomy. Of the Emperor Hadrian there is a fine portrait
+statue in the British Museum. Under the Antonines, the decay of the
+art was still more manifest, displaying a want of simplicity, and an
+attention in trivial and meretricious accessories. Thus, in the busts,
+the hair and the beard luxuriate in an exaggerated profusion of curls,
+the careful expression of features of the countenance being at the
+same time frequently neglected. This age was remarkable also for its
+recurrence to the style of a primitive and imperfect art in the
+reproduction of Egyptian statues.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+MOSAIC.
+
+
+Mosaic, opus musivum, is a kind of painting made with minute pieces of
+colored substances, generally either marble or natural stones, or else
+glass, more or less opaque, and of every variety of hue which the
+subject may require, set in very fine cement, and which thus form
+pictures of different kinds, rivaling in color and hue those painted
+by the brush.
+
+Early nations knew the art of mosaic, and it is supposed to derive its
+origin from Asia, where paintings of this kind were composed, in
+imitation of the beautiful carpets manufactured at all periods in
+those countries. The Egyptians employed it very probably for different
+purposes; no traces of it have, however, been found in the temples or
+palaces the ruins of which remain. There is in the Egyptian collection
+at Turin a fragment of a mummy case, the paintings of which are
+executed in mosaic with wonderful precision and truth. The material is
+enamel, the colors are of different hues, and their variety renders
+with perfect truth the plumage of birds. It is believed to be the only
+example of Egyptian mosaic.
+
+The Greeks carried the art of mosaic to the highest perfection,
+assuming after the time of Alexander an importance which entitled it
+to be ranked as an independent art. Skillfully managing the hues, and
+giving to the figures in their compositions an exquisite harmony, they
+resembled at a slight distance real paintings. Different names were
+given to the mosaics, according as they were executed in pieces of
+marble of a certain size; it was then _lithostroton_, opus sectile; or
+in small cubes, in this case it was called _opus tessellatum_, or
+_vermiculatum_. The name of _asaroton_ was given to a mosaic destined
+to adorn the pavement of a dining hall. It was supposed to represent
+an unswept hall, on the pavement of which the crumbs and remains of
+the repast which fell from the table still remained. It was said to be
+introduced by Sosus of Pergamus, the first mosaic artist of
+consequence of whom we hear.
+
+ [Illustration: MOSAIC FLOOR.]
+
+Mosaic was used to adorn the pavements, walls, and ceilings of public
+and private edifices. The Greeks in general preferred marble to every
+other material. A bed of mortar was prepared, which served as a base,
+which was covered with a very fine cement. The artist, having before
+him the colored design which he was to execute, fixed the colored
+cubes in the cement, and polished the entire surface when it had
+hardened, taking care, however, that too great a polish, by its
+reflection, might not mar the general effect of his work. The great
+advantage of mosaic is that it resists humidity, and all which could
+change the colors and the beauty of painting. Painting could not be
+employed in the pavement of buildings, and mosaics gave them an
+appearance of great elegance. The mosaic of the Capitol, found in
+Hadrian's Villa, may give an idea of the perfection which the Greeks
+attained to in that art. It represents a vase full of water, on the
+sides of which are four doves, one of which is in the act of drinking.
+It is supposed by some to be the mosaic of Pergamus mentioned by
+Pliny. It is entirely composed of cubes of marble, without any
+admixture of colored glass. Mosaic of this kind may be considered as
+the most ancient; it was only by degrees that the art of coloring
+marble, enamel, and glass multiplied the materials suited for mosaics,
+and rendered their execution much more easy. It was then carried to a
+very high degree of perfection. The mosaic found at Pompeii, which
+represents three masked figures playing on different instruments, with
+a child near them, is of the most exquisite workmanship. It is formed
+of very small pieces of glass, of the most beautiful colors, and of
+various shades. The hair, the small leaves which ornament the masks,
+and the eyebrows, are most delicately expressed. What enhances the
+value of this mosaic is the name of the artist who worked in
+it--Dioscorides of Samos. Another mosaic found at Pompeii is the
+beautiful one of Acratus on a Panther. The subjects represented in
+mosaics are in endless variety, and generally are derived from
+mythology or heroic myths. Landscapes and ornaments in borders, in
+frets, in compartments, intermingled with tritons, nereides, centaurs,
+are to be found on them. The principal subject is in the center, the
+rest serves as a bordering or framework. In the Greek tessellated
+pavement found at Halicarnassus, the mosaic is of very fine
+workmanship, being composed of small cubes of white, black and red
+marble.
+
+ [Illustration: MOSAIC DOVES.]
+
+Another and a still more remarkable mosaic was discovered in the House
+of the Faun, and is perhaps the most beautiful and magnificent
+specimen of the art that has yet been found. This mosaic, which is now
+preserved in the museum at Naples, is about eighteen feet long by nine
+broad. The subject represents a battle between Greeks and barbarians,
+the latter apparently of eastern race; but a variety of conjectures
+have been hazarded as to what battle is actually depicted. Some have
+seen in it the combat between Patroclus and Sarpedon, and the death of
+the latter; others have recognized in it the battles of the Granicus,
+of Arbela, of Plataea, of Marathon, etc. But the opinion most commonly
+adopted is that of Professor Quaranta, who refers the picture to the
+battle of Issus. The Grecian leader, supposed to represent Alexander
+the Great, is drawn with great beauty and vigor. Charging, bareheaded,
+in the midst of the fight, he has transfixed with his lance one of
+the Persian leaders, whose horse, wounded in the shoulder, had already
+fallen. The expression of physical agony in the countenance of the
+wounded man is admirably depicted. Another horse, which an attendant
+had brought for him, has arrived too late. The death of the Persian
+general has evidently decided the fortune of the day. In the
+background, the Persian spears are still directed against the
+advancing Greeks. But at the sight of the fallen general, another
+Persian leader in a quadriga, who, from the richness of his dress and
+accoutrements, the height of his tiara, and his red chlamys, is
+probably Darius himself, stretches forth his right hand in an attitude
+of alarm and despair, while the charioteer urges his horses to
+precipitate flight. Nothing can exceed the vigor with which both men
+and animals are depicted in this unequaled mosaic. If the Grecian hero
+really represents Alexander the Great, the mosaic may probably be a
+copy of a picture by Appelles, the only artist privileged to paint the
+Macedonian conqueror. It is unfortunate that the work has suffered
+much damage on the left side, or that which contains the Grecian host.
+It was, however, in this mutilated state when discovered, and seems to
+have been under a process of reparation. The border represents a
+river, apparently the Nile, with a crocodile, hippopotamus, ichneumon,
+ibises, etc.; whence some have been led to think that the mosaic is a
+copy of a picture on the same subject known to have been painted by a
+female Egyptian artist named Helena, and brought to Rome by Vespasian.
+
+Painted floors were first used by the Greeks, who made and colored
+them with much care, until they were driven out by the mosaic floors
+called _lithostrota_. The most famous workman in this kind was Sosus,
+who wrought at Pergamus the pavement which is called _asarotus oikos_,
+the unswept hall, made of quarrels or square tesserae of different
+colors, in such a way as to resemble the crumbs and scraps that fell
+from the table, and such-like things as usually are swept away, as if
+they were still left by negligence upon the pavement. There also is
+admirably represented a dove drinking, in such a way that the shadow
+of her head is cast on the water. Other doves are seen sitting on the
+rim of the vessel preening themselves and basking in the sun. The
+first paved floors which came into use were those called barbarica and
+subtegulanea, which were beaten down with rammers, as may be known by
+the name pavimentum, from pavire, to ram. The pavements called
+scalpturata were first introduced into Italy in the Temple of Jupiter
+Capitolinus, after the beginning of the third Punic war. But ere the
+Cimbric wars began, such pavements were in common use at Rome, and men
+took great delight and pleasure therein.
+
+For galleries and terraces open to the sky, they were devised by the
+Greeks, who, enjoying a warm climate, used to cover their houses with
+them; but where the rain waters freeze, pavements of this sort are not
+to be trusted. To make a terrace of this sort, it is necessary to lay
+two courses of boards, one athwart the other, the ends of which ought
+to be nailed, that they should not twist nor warp; which done take two
+parts of new rubbish, and one of tiles stamped to powder; then with
+other three parts of old rubbish mix two parts of lime, and herewith
+lay a bed of a foot thickness, taking care to ram it hard together.
+Over this must be laid a bed of mortar, six fingers thick, and upon
+this middle couch, large paving-tiles, at least two fingers deep. This
+sort of pavement is to be made to rise to the center in the proportion
+of one inch and a-half to ten feet. Being thus laid, it is to be
+planed and polished diligently with some hard stone; but, above all,
+regard is to be had that the boarded floor be made of oak. As for such
+as do start or warp any way, they be thought naught. Moreover, it were
+better to lay a course of flint or chaff between it and the lime, to
+the end that the lime may not have so much force to hurt the board
+underneath it. It were also well to put at the bottom a bed of round
+pebbles.
+
+ [Illustration: APOLLO CHARMING NATURE.]
+
+And here we must not forget another kind of these pavements which are
+called Graecanica, the manner of which is this: Upon a floor well
+beaten with rammers, is laid a bed of rubbish, or else broken
+tile-shards, and then upon it a couch of charcoal, well beaten, and
+driven close together, with sand, and lime, and small cinders, well
+mixed together, to the thickness of half a foot, well leveled; and
+this has the appearance of an earthen floor; but, if it be polished
+with a hard smooth stone, the whole pavement will seem all black. As
+for those pavements called lithostrota, which are made of divers
+colored squares or dice, they came into use in Sylla's time, who made
+one at Praeneste, in the temple of Fortune, which pavement remains to
+be seen at this day.
+
+It may be remarked here, that the Roman villa at Northleigh, in
+Oxfordshire, examined and described by Mr. Hakewill, abounded with
+beautiful pavements. The substratum of one of these, which had been
+broken, was investigated, when it was found that the natural soil had
+been removed to a depth of near seven feet, and the space filled up
+with materials which bear a near resemblance to those which Pliny
+recommends.
+
+A specimen of the coarser sort of mosaic pavement is to be seen in the
+Townley Gallery, in the British Museum.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+LITERATURE.
+
+
+The perfection which the Greeks attained in literature and art is one
+of the most striking features in the history of the people. Their
+intellectual activity and their keen appreciation of the beautiful
+constantly gave birth to new forms of creative genius. There was an
+uninterrupted progress in the development of the Grecian mind from the
+earliest dawn of the history of the people to the downfall of their
+political independence, and each succeeding age saw the production of
+some of those master works of genius which have been the models and
+admiration of all subsequent time.
+
+The poets were the popular writers of ancient Greece; prose writers
+appear no earlier than the sixth century before the Christian era, at
+which time the first literary prose essay was produced, for which
+three contemporary authors claim the honor. The Greeks had arrived at
+a high degree of civilization before they can be said to have
+possessed a history of their own. Nations far behind them in
+intellectual development have infinitely excelled them in this
+respect. The imagination seems to have been entirely dazzled and
+fascinated with the glories of the heroic ages, and to have taken but
+little interest in the events which were daily passing around them.
+Poetry constitutes the chief part of early Greek literature. We give
+specimens of both Greek poetry and prose. We will not attempt to give
+specimens of all, but only such as are considered, by common consent,
+the best.
+
+
+HOMER.
+
+Seven cities have contested for the honor of the birth-place of Homer.
+It is now generally agreed that he was born about 950 B.C., in the
+City of Melesigenes.
+
+It is not a little strange that nothing should be known with certainty
+of the parentage or of the birth-place, or even of the era of the
+greatest poet of antiquity, of him who, next to Milton, ranks as the
+greatest epic poet of the world. In two respects, all the accounts
+concerning him agree--that he had traveled much, and that he was
+afflicted with blindness. From the first circumstance, it has been
+inferred that he was either rich or enjoyed the patronage of the
+wealthy; but this will not appear necessary when it is considered
+that, in his time, journeys were usually performed on foot, and that
+he probably traveled, with a view to his support, as an itinerant
+musician or reciter. From most of the traditions respecting him, it
+appears that he was poor, and it is to be feared that necessity,
+rather than the mere desire of gratifying curiosity, prompted his
+wanderings. All that has been advanced respecting the occasion of his
+blindness is mere conjecture. Certain it is, that this misfortune
+arose from accident or disease, and not from the operation of nature
+at his birth; for the character of his compositions seems rather to
+suppose him all eye, than destitute of sight; and if they were even
+framed during his blindness, they form a glorious proof of the vivid
+power of the imagination more than supplying the want of the bodily
+organs, and not merely throwing a variety of its own tints over the
+objects of nature, but presenting them to the mind in a clearer light
+than could be shed over them by one whose powers of immediate vision
+were perfectly free from blemish.
+
+Of the incidents in the life of Homer, almost as little is known as
+of his parentage and birth-place. However, the general account is that
+he was for many years a school-master in Smyrna; that, being visited
+by one Mentes, the commander of a Leucadian ship, he was induced by
+him to leave his occupation and travel; that, in company with this
+captain, he visited the various countries around the shores of the
+Mediterranean, and at last was left at Ithaca, in consequence of a
+weakness in his eyes. While in this island, he was entertained by a
+man of fortune named Mentor, who narrated to him the stories upon
+which afterwards the Odyssey was founded. On the return of Mentes, he
+accompanied him to Colophon, where he became totally blind. He then
+returned to Smyrna, and afterwards removed to Cyme (called also Cuma),
+in AEolis, where he received great applause in the recitations of his
+poems, but no pecuniary reward; the people alleging that they could
+not maintain all the Homeroi, or _blind men_, and hence he obtained
+the name of _Homer_. Thence he went about from place to place,
+acquiring much wealth by his recitations, and died at the Island of
+Ios, one of the Cyclades, where he was buried.
+
+The works attributed to Homer consist of the two epic poems, the
+_Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_, of twenty-four books each, the
+_Batrachomyomachia_, or "Battle of the Frogs and Mice," a humorous,
+mock-heroic poem, and somewhat of a parody on the _Iliad_; the
+_Margites_, a satirical, personal satire, and about thirty _Hymns_.
+All of these but the two great epics are now, however, considered as
+spurious.
+
+But it was left to modern skepticism (which seems to think that to
+doubt shows a higher order of intellect than to believe on evidence)
+to maintain the bold position that the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" were
+a collection of separate lays by different authors, arranged and put
+together for the first time during the tyranny and by the order of
+Pisistratus, at Athens, about 550 B.C. The chief supporters of this
+theory are the celebrated German scholars, Wolf and Heyne, who
+flourished about the year 1800.
+
+Those who may desire to go into the subject fully will read Wolf's
+"Prolegomena," and the strictures of his great opponent, G.W. Nitzsch;
+but a succinct account of the argument may be found in Browne's
+"Classical Literature," and in the "History of Greek Literature," by
+Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd.
+
+Even Wolf himself candidly declares that when he reads the "Iliad" he
+finds such unity of design, such harmony of coloring, and such
+consistency of character, that he is ready to give up his theories,
+and to be angry with himself for doubting the common faith in the
+personality of Homer.
+
+Professor Felton, in his excellent edition of the "Iliad," thus
+remarks in the preface: "For my part, I prefer to consider it, as we
+have received it from ancient editors, as one poem, the work of one
+author, and that author Homer--the first and greatest of minstrels. As
+I understand the 'Iliad,' there is a unity of plan, a harmony of
+parts, a consistency among the different situations of the same
+character, which mark it as the production of one mind; but of a mind
+as versatile as the forms of nature, the aspects of life, and the
+combinations of powers, propensities and passions in man are various."
+In these views, the literary world now very generally concurs.
+
+"The hypothesis to which the antagonists of Homer's personality must
+resort implies something more wonderful than the theory which they
+impugn. They profess to cherish the deepest veneration for the genius
+displayed in the poems. They agree, also, in the antiquity usually
+assigned to them; and they make this genius and this antiquity the
+arguments to prove that one man could not have composed them. They
+suppose, then, that in a barbarous age, instead of one being
+marvelously gifted, there were many; a mighty race of bards, such as
+the world has never since seen--a number of miracles instead of one.
+All experience is against this opinion. In various periods of the
+world great men have arisen, under very different circumstances, to
+astonish and delight it; but that the intuitive power should be so
+strangely diffused, at any one period, among a great number, who
+should leave no successors behind them, is unworthy of credit. And we
+are requested to believe this to have occurred in an age which those
+who maintain the theory regard as unfavorable to the poetic art! The
+common theory, independent of other proofs, is _prima facie_ the most
+probable. Since the early existence of the works can not be doubted,
+it is easier to believe in one than in twenty Homers."--_Talfourd._
+
+
+OPENING ARGUMENT OF THE ILIAD.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+
+ Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
+ Of woes unnumbered, heavenly goddess sing!
+ That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign
+ The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
+ Whose limbs, unburied on the naked shore,
+ Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore;
+ Since great Achilles and Atrides strove.
+ Such was the sov'reign doom, and such the will of Jove.
+
+ _Pope._
+
+
+MINERVA ARMING HERSELF FOR BATTLE.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ Minerva wrapt her in the robe that curiously she wove
+ With glorious colors, as she sate on th' azure floor of Jove;
+ And wore the arms that he puts on, bent to the tearful field.
+ About her broad-spread shoulders hung his huge and horrid shield,
+ Fring'd round with ever-fighting snakes; though it was drawn to life
+ The miseries and deaths of fight; in it frown'd bloody Strife;
+ In it shin'd sacred Fortitude; in it fell Pursuit flew;
+ In it the monster Gorgon's head, in which held out to view
+ Were all the dire ostents of Jove; on her big head she plac'd
+ His four-plum'd glittering casque of gold, so admirably vast,
+ It would an hundred garrisons of soldiers comprehend.
+ Then to her shining chariot her vigorous feet ascend;
+ And in her violent hand she takes his grave, huge, solid lance,
+ With which the conquests of her wrath she useth to advance,
+ And overturn whole fields of men; to show she was the seed
+ Of him that thunders. Then heaven's queen, to urge her horses' speed,
+ Takes up the scourge, and forth they fly; the ample gates of heaven
+ Rung, and flew open of themselves; the charge whereof is given,
+ With all Olympus and the sky, to the distinguish'd Hours;
+ That clear or hide it all in clouds, or pour it down in showers.
+ This way their scourge-obeying horse made haste, and soon they won
+ The top of all the topful heavens, where aged Saturn's son
+ Sate severed from the other gods.
+
+ _Chapman's translation_, v.
+
+
+PARTING OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ Hector now pass'd, with sad presaging heart,
+ To seek his spouse, his soul's far dearer part;
+ At home he sought her, but he sought in vain:
+ She, with one maid of all her menial train,
+ Had thence retired; and with her second joy,
+ The young Astyanax, the hope of Troy:
+ Pensive she stood on Ilion's towery height,
+ Beheld the war, and sicken'd at the sight;
+ There her sad eyes in vain her lord explore,
+ Or weep the wounds her bleeding country bore.
+ Hector this heard, return'd without delay;
+ Swift through the town he trod his former way,
+ Through streets of palaces and walks of state,
+ And met the mourner at the Scaean gate.
+ With haste to meet him sprung the joyful fair,
+ His blameless wife, Aetion's wealthy heir.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT AUTHORS.]
+
+ The nurse stood near, in whose embraces press'd,
+ His only hope hung smiling at her breast;
+ Whom each soft charm and early grace adorn,
+ Fair as the new-born star that gilds the morn.
+ Silent the warrior smiled, and pleased resign'd
+ To tender passions all his mighty mind:
+ His beauteous princess cast a mournful look,
+ Hung on his hand, and then dejected spoke;
+ Her bosom labor'd with a boding sigh,
+ And the big tear stood trembling in her eye.
+ "Too darling prince! ah, whither dost thou run?
+ Ah, too forgetful of thy wife and son!
+ And think'st thou not how wretched we shall be,
+ A widow I, a helpless orphan he!
+ For sure such courage length of life denies,
+ And thou must fall, thy virtues sacrifice.
+ Greece in her single heroes strove in vain;
+ Now hosts oppose thee, and thou must be slain!
+ Oh grant me, gods! ere Hector meets his doom,
+ All I can ask of heaven, an early tomb!
+ So shall my days in one sad tenor run,
+ And end with sorrows as they first begun.
+ No parent now remains my griefs to share,
+ No father's aid, no mother's tender care.
+ The fierce Achilles wrapp'd our walls in fire,
+ Laid Thebe waste, and slew my warlike sire!
+ By the same arm my seven brave brothers fell,
+ In one sad day beheld the gates of hell.
+ My mother lived to bear the victor's bands,
+ The queen of Hippoplacia's sylvan lands.
+ Yet, while my Hector still survives, I see
+ My father, mother, brethren, all in thee:
+ Alas! my parents, brothers, kindred, all
+ Once more will perish, if my Hector fall.
+ Thy wife, thy infant, in thy danger share:
+ O, prove a husband's and a father's care!
+ That quarter most the skillful Greeks annoy
+ Where yon wild fig-trees join the walls of Troy;
+ Thou from this tower defend the important post;
+ There Agamemnon points his dreadful host,
+ That pass Tydides, Ajax, strive to gain.
+ And there the vengeful Spartan fires his train.
+ Thrice our bold foes the fierce attack have given,
+ Or led by hopes, or dictated from heaven.
+ Let others in the field their arms employ,
+ But stay my Hector here, and guard his Troy."
+ The chief replied: "That post shall be my care,
+ Nor that alone, but all the works of war.
+ How would the sons of Troy, in arms renown'd,
+ And Troy's proud dames, whose garments sweep the ground,
+ Attaint the lustre of my former name,
+ Should Hector basely quit the field of fame?
+ My early youth was bred to martial pains,
+ My soul impels me to the embattled plains;
+ Let me be foremost to defend the throne,
+ And guard my father's glories and my own.
+ Yet come it will, the day decreed by fates;
+ (How my heart trembles while my tongue relates!)
+ The day when thou, imperial Troy! must bend,
+ Must see thy warriors fall, thy glories end.
+ And yet no dire presage so wounds my mind,
+ My mother's death, the ruin of my kind,
+ Not Priam's hoary hairs defiled with gore,
+ Not all my brothers gasping on the shore,
+ As thine, Andromache! thy griefs I dread;
+ I see the trembling, weeping, captive led!
+ In Argive looms our battles to design,
+ And woes of which so large a part was thine!
+ To bear the victor's hard commands, or bring
+ The weight of waters from Hyperia's spring.
+ There, while you groan beneath the load of life,
+ They cry, 'Behold the mighty Hector's wife!'
+ Some haughty Greek, who lives thy tears to see,
+ Embitters all thy woes by naming me.
+ The thoughts of glory past, and present shame,
+ A thousand griefs shall waken at the name!
+ May I lie cold before that dreadful day,
+ Press'd with a load of monumental clay!
+ Thy Hector, wrapt in everlasting sleep,
+ Shall neither hear thee sigh, nor see thee weep."
+ Thus having spoke, the illustrious chief of Troy
+ Stretch'd his fond arms to clasp the lovely boy.
+ The babe clung crying to his nurse's breast,
+ Scared at the dazzling helm and nodding crest.
+ With secret pleasure each fond parent smiled,
+ And Hector hasted to relieve his child;
+ The glittering terrors from his brows unbound,
+ And placed the gleaming helmet on the ground.
+ Then kiss'd the child, and, lifting high in air,
+ Thus to the gods preferr'd a father's prayer:--
+ "O, thou whose glory fills the ethereal throne!
+ And all ye deathless powers, protect my son!
+ Grant him, like me, to purchase just renown,
+ To guard the Trojans, to defend the crown;
+ Against his country's foes the war to wage,
+ And rise the Hector of the future age!
+ So when, triumphant from successful toils
+ Of heroes slain, he bears the reeking spoils,
+ Whole hosts may hail him with deserved acclaim,
+ And say, 'This chief transcends his father's fame;'
+ While pleased, amidst the general shouts of Troy,
+ His mother's conscious heart o'erflows with joy."
+ He spoke, and fondly gazing on her charms,
+ Restored the pleasing burden to her arms;
+ Soft on her fragrant breast the babe he laid,
+ Hush'd to repose, and with a smile survey'd.
+ The troubled pleasure soon chastised by fear.
+ She mingled with the smile a tender tear.
+ The soften'd chief with kind compassion view'd,
+ And dried the falling drops, and thus pursued:--
+ "Andromache, my soul's far better part,
+ Why with untimely sorrows heaves thy heart?
+ No hostile hand can antedate my doom,
+ Till fate condemns me to the silent tomb.
+ Fix'd is the term to all the race of earth;
+ And such the hard condition of our birth,
+ No force can then resist, no flight can save,
+ All sink alike, the fearful and the brave.
+ No more--but hasten to thy tasks at home,
+ There guide the spindle, and direct the loom:
+ Me glory summons to the martial scene,
+ The field of combat is the sphere for men;
+ Where heroes war, the foremost place I claim,
+ The first in danger, as the first in fame."
+ Thus having said, the glorious chief resumes
+ His towery helmet black with shading plumes.
+ His princess parts, with a prophetic sigh,
+ Unwilling parts, and oft reverts her eye,
+ That stream'd at every look; then, moving slow,
+ Sought her own palace, and indulged her woe.
+ There, while her tears deplored the god-like man,
+ Through all her train the soft infection ran.
+ The pious maids their mingled sorrows shed,
+ And mourn the living Hector as the dead.
+
+ _Pope_, _Iliad_, vi.
+
+
+THE RACE OF MAN.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
+ Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
+ Another race the following spring supplies;
+ They fall successive, and successive rise:
+ So generations in their course decay;
+ So flourish these when those are past away.
+
+ _Pope_, _Iliad_, vi.
+
+
+COUNCIL OF THE GODS.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ Aurora now, fair daughter of the dawn,
+ Sprinkled with rosy light the dewy lawn;
+ When Jove convened the senate of the skies,
+ Where high Olympus' cloudly tops arise.
+ The Sire of Gods his awful silence broke,
+ The heavens attentive trembled as he spoke:--
+ "Celestial states, immortal gods, give ear!
+ Hear our decree, and reverence what ye hear;
+ The fix'd decree, which not all heaven can move;
+ Thou, Fate, fulfill it; and ye, Powers, approve!
+ What god but enters yon forbidden field,
+ Who yields assistance, or but wills to yield,
+ Back to the skies with shame he shall be driven,
+ Gash'd with dishonest wounds, the scorn of heaven:
+ Or far, oh far, from steep Olympus thrown,
+ Low in the dark Tartarean gulf shall groan,
+ With burning chains fix'd to the brazen floors,
+ And lock'd by hell's inexorable doors;
+ As deep beneath the infernal center hurl'd,
+ As from that center to the ethereal world.
+ Let him who tempts me dread those dire abodes,
+ And know the Almighty is the god of gods.
+ League all your forces, then, ye powers above,
+ Join all, and try the omnipotence of Jove:
+ Let down our golden everlasting chain,
+ Whose strong embrace holds heaven, and earth, and main;
+ Strive all, of mortal and immortal birth,
+ To drag, by this, the Thunderer down to earth:
+ Ye strive in vain! If I but stretch this hand,
+ I heave the gods, the ocean, and the land;
+ I fix the chain to great Olympus' height,
+ And the vast world hangs trembling in my sight!
+ For such I reign, unbounded and above;
+ And such are men and gods, compared to Jove."
+
+ _Pope_, _Iliad_, viii.
+
+
+NIGHT-SCENE.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ The troops exulting sat in order round,
+ And beaming fires illumined all the ground.
+ As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night!
+ O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light,
+ When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,
+ And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene;
+ Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
+ And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole,
+ O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,
+ And tip with silver every mountain's head;
+ Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
+ A flood of glory bursts from all the skies:
+ The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight,
+ Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.
+ So many flames before proud Ilion blaze,
+ And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays:
+ The long reflections of the distant fires
+ Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires.
+
+ _Pope_, _Iliad_, viii.
+
+
+HATEFULNESS OF WAR.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ Cursed is the man, and void of law and right,
+ Unworthy property, unworthy light,
+ Unfit for public rule, or private care;
+ That wretch, that monster, who delights in war:
+ Whose lust is murder, and whose horrid joy
+ To tear his country, and his kind destroy!
+
+ _Pope_, _Iliad_, ix.
+
+
+FALSEHOOD.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
+ My heart detests him as the gates of hell.
+
+ _Pope_, _Iliad_, ix.
+
+
+SHOWERS OF ARROWS.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ As the feathery snows
+ Fall frequent on some wintry day, when Jove
+ Hath risen to shed them on the race of man,
+ And show his arrowy stores; he lulls the wind
+ Then shakes them down continual, covering thick
+ Mountain tops, promontories, flowery meads,
+ And cultured valleys rich, and ports and shores
+ Along the margined deep; but there the wave
+ Their further progress stays; while all besides
+ Lies whelm'd beneath Jove's fast-descending shower;
+ So thick, from side to side, by Trojans hurled
+ Against the Greeks, and by the Greeks returned,
+ The stony volleys flew.
+
+ _Cowper_, _Iliad_, xii.
+
+
+PRIAM BEGGING THE BODY OF HECTOR.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ "Think, O Achilles, semblance of the gods,
+ On thine own father, full of days like me.
+ And trembling on the gloomy verge of life.
+ Some neighbor chief, it may be, even now
+ Oppresses him, and there is none at hand,
+ No friend to succor him in his distress.
+ Yet, doubtless, hearing that Achilles lives,
+ He still rejoices, hoping day by day,
+ That one day he shall see the face again
+ Of his own son, from distant Troy returned.
+ But me no comfort cheers, whose bravest sons,
+ So late the flowers of Ilium, are all slain.
+ When Greece came hither, I had fifty sons;
+ But fiery Mars hath thinn'd them. One I had,
+ One, more than all my sons, the strength of Troy,
+ Whom, standing for his country, thou hast slain--
+ Hector. His body to redeem I come
+ Into Achaia's fleet, bringing myself,
+ Ransom inestimable to thy tent.
+ Rev'rence the gods, Achilles! recollect
+ Thy father; for his sake compassion show
+ To me, more pitiable still, who draw
+ Home to my lips (humiliation yet
+ Unseen on earth) his hand who slew my son!"
+ So saying, he waken'd in his soul regret
+ Of his own sire; softly he placed his hand
+ On Priam's hand, and pushed him gently away,
+ Remembrance melted both. Rolling before
+ Achilles' feet, Priam his son deplored,
+ Wide-slaughtering Hector, and Achilles wept
+ By turns his father, and by turns his friend
+ Patroclus: sounds of sorrow fill'd the tent.
+
+ _Cowper_, _Iliad_, xxiv.
+
+
+HELEN'S LAMENTATION OVER HECTOR.
+
+(_By Homer._)
+
+ Grief fell on all around;
+ Then Helen thus breathed forth her plaintive sound:--
+ "Hector, to Helen's soul more lov'd than all
+ Whom I in Ilion's walls dare brother call,
+ Since Paris here to Troy his consort led,
+ Who in the grave had found a happier bed.
+ 'Tis now, since here I came, the twentieth year,
+ Since left my land, and all I once held dear:
+ But never from that hour has Helen heard
+ From thee a harsh reproach or painful word;
+ But if thy kindred blam'd me, if unkind
+ The queen e'er glanc'd at Helen's fickle mind--
+ (For Priam, still benevolently mild,
+ Look'd on me as a father views his child)--
+ Thy gentle speech, thy gentleness of soul,
+ Would by thine own, their harsher minds control.
+ Hence, with a heart by torturing misery rent,
+ Thee and my hapless self I thus lament;
+ For no kind eye in Troy on Helen rests,
+ But who beholds me shudders and detests."
+
+ _Sotheby_, _Iliad_, xxi.
+
+We will here give a few pages of the history of the Trojan war, giving
+some of the characters, subjects, etc., referred to in the preceding
+poems in a prose story.
+
+
+PARIS.
+
+There was sorrow, instead of gladness, in the halls of Priam, because
+a son was born unto him, and because the lady Hecuba had dreamed a
+dream, from which the seers knew that the child should bring ruin on
+the Ilion land. So his mother looked with cold, unloving eyes on the
+babe as he lay weak and helpless in his cradle, and Priam bade them
+take the child and leave him on rugged Ida, for the fountain of his
+love was closed against him.
+
+For five days the dew fell on the babe by night, and the sun shone
+fiercely on him by day, as he lay on the desolate hill-side, and the
+shepherd who placed him there to sleep the sleep of death looked upon
+the child and said, "He sleeps as babes may slumber on silken couches;
+the gods will it not that he should die." So he took him to his home,
+and the child grew up with ruddy cheek and nimble feet, brave and
+hardy, so that none might be matched with him for strength and beauty.
+The fierce wolves came not near the flocks while Paris kept guard near
+the fold, the robber lurked not near the homestead when Paris sat by
+the hearth. So all sang of his strength and his great deeds, and they
+called him Alexandros, the helper of men.
+
+Many years he tended the flocks on woody Ida, but Priam, his father,
+dwelt in Ilion, and thought not to see his face again, and he said
+within himself, "Surely my child is long since dead, and no feast has
+been given to the gods that Paris may dwell in peace in the dark
+kingdom of Hades." Then he charged his servants to fetch him a bull
+from the herd, which might be given to the man who should conquer in
+the games, and they chose out one which Paris loved above all others
+that he drove out to pasture. So he followed the servants of Priam in
+grief and anger, and he stood forth and strove with his brethren in
+the games, and in all of them Paris was the conqueror. Then one of his
+brothers was moved with wrath, and lifted up his sword against him,
+but Paris fled to the altar of Zeus, and the voice of Cassandra, his
+sister, was heard saying, "O blind of eye and heart, see ye not that
+this is Paris, whom ye sent to sleep the sleep of death on woody Ida?"
+
+But Paris would not dwell in the sacred Ilion, for he loved not those
+who sought to slay him while he was yet a helpless child, and again he
+tended the flocks on the wide plains and up the rough hillsides.
+Strong he was of limb and stout of heart, and his face shone with a
+marvelous beauty, so that they who saw it thought him fair as the
+bright heroes. There, as he wandered in the woody dells of Ida, he saw
+and wooed the beautiful Oenone, the child of the river-god, Kebren.
+Many a time he sat with the maiden by the side of the stream, and the
+sound of their voices was mingled with the soft murmur of the waters.
+He talked to her of love, and Oenone looked up with a wondrous joy
+into his beautiful face, when the morning dew glistened white upon the
+grass and when the evening star looked out upon the pale sky.
+
+So was Paris wedded to Oenone, and the heart of the maiden was full of
+happiness, for none was braver or more gentle--none so stout of heart,
+so lithe of limb, so tender and loving as Paris. Thus passed the days
+away in a swift dream of joy, for Oenone thought not of the change
+that was coming.
+
+There was feasting and mirth among the gods and men, for the brave
+Peleus had won Thetis, the maiden of the sea, for his bride; and she
+rose from the depths of her coral caves to go to his home in Phthia.
+The banquet was spread in his ancient hall, and the goblets sparkled
+with the dark wine, for all the gods had come down from Olympus to
+share the feast in the house of Peleus. Only Eris was not bidden, for
+she was the child of War and Hatred, and they feared to see her face
+in the hours of laughter and mirth; but her evil heart rested not till
+she found a way to avenge herself for the wrong which they had done to
+her.
+
+The gods were listening to the song of Phoebus Apollo as he made sweet
+music on the strings of his harp, when a golden apple was cast upon
+the table before them. They knew not whence it came, only they saw
+that it was to be a gift for the fairest in that great throng, for so
+was it written on the apple. Then the joy of the feast was gone, and
+the music of the song ceased, for there was a strife which should have
+the golden prize; and Here, the Queen, said, "The gods themselves do
+obeisance to me when I enter the halls of Olympus, and men sing of the
+glory of my majesty; therefore must the gift be mine." But Athene
+answered, and said, "Knowledge and goodness are better things than
+power; mine is the worthier title." Then the fair Aphrodite lifted her
+white arm, and a smile of triumph passed over her face as she said, "I
+am the child of love and beauty, and the stars danced in the heaven
+for joy as I sprang from the sea foam; I dread not the contest, for to
+me alone must the golden gift be given."
+
+So the strife waxed hot in the banquet hall, till Zeus spake with a
+loud voice, and said, "It needs not to strive now. Amid the pine
+forest of Ida dwells Paris, the fairest of the sons of men; let him
+be judge, and the apple shall be hers to whom he shall give it." Then
+Hermes rose and led them quickly over land and sea, to go to the rough
+hillside where Paris wooed and won Oenone.
+
+Presently the messenger of Zeus stood before Paris, and said, "Fairest
+of the sons of men, there is strife among the undying gods, for Here
+and Aphrodite and Athene seek each to have the golden apple which must
+be given to her who is most fair. Judge thou, therefore, between them
+when they come, and give peace again to the halls of Zeus."
+
+In a dream of joy and love Oenone sate by the river-side, and she
+looked on her own fair face, which was shown to her in a still calm
+pool where the power of the stream came not, and she said to herself,
+"The gods are kind, for they have given to me a better gift than that
+of beauty, for the love of Paris sheds for me a wondrous beauty over
+the heaven above and the broad earth beneath." Then came Paris, and
+said, "See, Oenone, dearest child of the bright waters, Zeus hath
+called me to be judge in a weighty matter. Hither are coming Here, the
+Queen, and Aphrodite and Athene, seeking each the golden apple which
+must be given to her alone who is the fairest. Yet go not away,
+Oenone; the broad vine leaves have covered our summer bower; there
+tarry and listen to the judgment, where none may see thee."
+
+So Paris sat in judgment, and Here spake to him, and said, "I know I
+am the fairest, for none other has beauty and majesty like mine.
+Hearken, then, to me, and I will give thee power to do great deeds
+among the sons of men, and a name which the minstrels shall sing of
+among those who shall be born in long time to come." But Athene
+answered, "Heed not her words, O Paris. Thy hand is strong and thy
+heart is pure, and the men among whom thou dwellest honor thee even
+now because thou hast done them good. There are better things than
+power and high renown; and if thou wilt hearken to me, I will give
+thee wisdom and strength; and pure love shall be thine, and the memory
+of happy days when thou drawest near to the dark land of Hades."
+
+Then Paris thought that he heard the voice of Oenone, and it seemed to
+whisper to him, "Wisdom and right are better than power, give it to
+Athene." But Aphrodite gazed upon him with laughing eyes, as she came
+up closer to his side. Her dark curls fell waving over his shoulder,
+and he felt the breath from her rosy lips, as she laid her hand on his
+arm and whispered softly in his ear, "I talk not to thee of my beauty,
+for it may be thou seest that I am very fair, but hearken to me, and I
+will give thee for thy wife the fairest of all the daughters of men."
+But Paris answered, "I need not thy gift, O child of the bright sea
+foam, for fairer wife than Oenone no mortal man may hope to have. Yet
+art thou the fairest of all the daughters of the undying gods, and the
+gift of the fairest is thine."
+
+So he placed the golden apple in the palm of her snow-white hand, and
+the touch of her slender fingers thrilled through the heart of Paris
+as she parted from him with smiling lip and laughing eye. But Here,
+the Queen, and Athene, the virgin child of Zeus, went away displeased,
+and evermore their wrath lay heavy on the city and land of Ilion.
+
+Then went Paris to Oenone, and he twined his arms around her and said,
+"Didst thou see the dark countenance of the lady Here when I gave to
+the fairest the gift which the fairest alone may have? Yet what care I
+for the wrath of Here and Athene? One smile from the lips of Aphrodite
+is better than their favor for a whole life long." But Oenone answered
+sadly, "I would that thou mayest speak truly, Paris; yet in my eyes
+the lady Athene is fairer far, and Aphrodite is ever false as fair."
+Then Paris clasped her closer in his arms and kissed her pale cheek,
+and said nothing.
+
+ [Illustration: LIBRARY OF HERCULANEUM.]
+
+But the fierce wrath of Eris was not ended yet. Far away in the
+western land, there was sore famine in the kingdom of the mighty
+Menelaus, the people died by the wayside, and the warriors had no
+strength to go forth to the battle or the huntsmen to the chase. Many
+times they sought to know the will of the gods, but they heard only
+dark words for answers, till Phoebus Apollo said that the famine
+should never cease from the land until they brought from Ilion the
+bones of the children of Prometheus, whom Zeus bound on the desolate
+crags of Caucasus. So Menelaus, the King, departed from his home and
+went to the city of Priam. There he saw the beautiful Paris, and took
+him to the Spartan land, for he said that Paris should return home
+rich and wealthy. So Paris believed his words, and sailed with him
+over the wide sea. Long time he abode in Sparta, and day by day he saw
+the lady Helen in the halls of Menelaus. At the first he thought
+within himself, "I would that Oenone were here to see the wife of
+Menelaus, for surely she is fairer than aught else on the earth." But
+soon he thought less and less of Oenone, who was sorrowing for his
+long sojourn in the strange land, as she wandered amid the pine
+forests of woody Ida.
+
+Quickly sped the days for Paris, for his heart was filled with a
+strange love, and the will of Eris was being accomplished within him.
+He thought not of Oenone and her lonely wanderings on heathy Ida; he
+cared not for the kindly deeds of Menelaus; and so it came to pass
+that, when Menelaus was far away, Paris spoke words of evil love to
+Helen and beguiled her to leave her home. Stealthily they fled away,
+and sailed over the sea till they came to the Ilion land; and Helen
+dwelt with Paris in the house of his father, Priam.
+
+But Oenone mourned for the love which she had lost, and her tears fell
+into the gentle stream of Kebren as she sat on its grassy banks. "Ah
+me," she said, "my love hath been stung by Aphrodite. O Paris, Paris!
+hast thou forgotten all thy words? Here thine arms were clasped around
+me, and here, as thy lips were pressed to mine, thou didst say that
+the wide earth had for thee no living thing so fair as Oenone. Sure am
+I that Helen hath brought to thee only a false joy; for her heart is
+not thine as the heart of a maiden when it is given to her first
+love; and sure am I, too, that Helen is not a fairer wife than I, for
+my heart is all thine, and the beauty of woman is marred when she
+yields herself to a lawless love. But the cloud is gathering round
+thee; and I am sprung from the race of the gods, and mine eyes are
+opened to behold the things that willingly I would not see. I see the
+waters black with ships, and the hosts of the Achaians gathered round
+the walls of Ilion. I see the moons roll round, while thy people
+strive in vain against the wrath of Here and the might of the son of
+Peleus; and far away I see the flames that shall burn the sacred
+Ilion. I see thy father smitten down in his own hall, and the spear
+that shall drink thy life-blood. Ah me! for the doom that is coming,
+and for the pleasant days when we loved and wandered among the dells
+of Ida."
+
+So Paris dwelt with Helen in the house of Priam; but men said, "This
+is no more the brave Alexandros," for he lay at ease on silken
+couches, and his spear and shield hung idle on the wall. For him the
+wine sparkled in the goblet while the sun rose high in the heavens,
+and he cared only to listen to the voice of Helen, or the minstrels
+who sang of the love and the bowers of laughter-loving Aphrodite. And
+Helen sat by his side in sullen mood, for she thought of the former
+days and of the evil which she had done to the good King Menelaus.
+Then there came into her heart a deep hatred for Paris, and she
+loathed him for his false words and his fond looks, as he lay quaffing
+the wine and taking his rest by day and by night upon the silken
+couches.
+
+But throughout the streets of Ilion there was hurrying and shouting of
+armed men, and terror and cries of women and children; for the hosts
+of the Achaians were come to take vengeance for the wrongs of
+Menelaus. Yet Paris heeded not the prayers of his brethren, that he
+should send back Helen; so she tarried by his side in his gilded
+chambers, and he went not forth to the battle, till all men reviled
+him for his evil love, because he had forsaken the fair Oenone.
+
+So for Paris fell the mighty Hector; for him died the brave Sarpedon;
+and the women of Ilion mourned for their husbands who were smitten
+down by the Achaian warriors. Fiercer and fiercer grew the strife, for
+Here and Athene fought against the men of Troy, and no help came from
+the laughter-loving Aphrodite.
+
+Many times the years went round, while yet the Achaians strove to take
+the city of Priam, till at last for very shame Paris took from the
+wall his spear and shield, and went forth to the battle, but the
+strength of his heart and of his arm was gone, and he trembled at the
+fierce war-cries, as a child trembles at the roaring of the storm.
+Then before the walls of Ilion there was fiercer strife, and the
+bodies of the slain lay in heaps upon the battle plain. Faint and
+weary, the people of Priam were shut up within the walls, until the
+Achaians burst into the gates and gave the city to sword and flame.
+Then the cry of men and women went up to the high heaven, and the
+blood ran in streams upon the ground. With a mighty blaze rose up the
+flames of the burning city, and the dream of Paris was ended.
+
+Fast he fled from the wrath of Menelaus, and he cared not to look back
+on the Argive Helen or the slaughter of his kinsfolk and his people.
+But the arrow of Philoctetes came hissing through the air, and the
+barb was fixed in the side of Paris. Hastily he drew it from the
+wound, but the weapons of Herakles failed not to do their work, and
+the poison sped through his burning veins. Onwards he hastened to the
+pine forests of Ida, but his limbs trembled beneath him, and he sank
+down as he drew nigh to the grassy bank where he had tended his flocks
+in the former days. "Ah, Oenone," he said, "the evil dream is over,
+and thy voice comes back to mine ear, soft and loving as when I wooed
+and won thee among the dells of Ida. Thou hearest me not, Oenone, or
+else I know that, forgiving all the wrong, thou wouldst hasten to help
+me."
+
+And even as he spoke Oenone stood before him, fair and beautiful as in
+the days that were past. The glory as of the pure evening time was
+shed upon her face, and her eye glistened with the light of an undying
+love. Then she laid her hand upon him and said, gently, "Dost thou
+know me, Paris? I am the same Oenone whom thou didst woo in the dells
+of woody Ida. My grief hath not changed me, but thou art not the same,
+O Paris, for thy love hath wandered far away, and thou hast yielded
+thyself long to an evil dream." But Paris said, "I have wronged thee,
+Oenone, fairest and sweetest, and what may atone for the wrong? The
+fire burns in my veins, my head reels, and mine eye is dim; look but
+upon me once, that thinking on our ancient love, I may fall asleep and
+die."
+
+Then Oenone knelt by the side of Paris, and saw the wound which the
+arrow of Philoctetes had made; but soon she knew that neither gods nor
+men could stay the poison with which Herakles had steeped his mighty
+weapons. There she knelt, but Paris spoke not more. The coldness of
+death passed over him as Oenone looked down upon his face and thought
+of the days when they lived and loved amid the dells of Ida.
+
+Long time she knelt by his side, until the stars looked forth in the
+sky. Then Oenone said, "O Eris, well hast thou worked thy will, and
+well hath Aphrodite done thy bidding. O Paris, we have loved and
+suffered, but I never did thee wrong, and now I follow thee to the
+dark land of Hades."
+
+Presently the flame shot up to heaven from the funeral pile of Paris,
+and Oenone lay down to rest on the fiery couch by his side.
+
+
+ACHILLES.
+
+Nine years the Achaians had fought against Ilion to avenge the wrongs
+and woes of Helen, and still the war went on, and only the words of
+Kalchas, which he spoke long ago in Aulis, cheered them with the hope
+that the day of vengeance was near at hand. For strife had arisen
+between the King, Agamemnon, and the mighty son of Peleus, and it
+seemed to the men of Argos that all their toil must be for naught. In
+fierce anger Achilles vowed a vow that he would go forth no more to
+the battle, and he sat in sullen silence within his tent, or wandered
+gloomily along the sea-shore. With fresh courage the hosts of the
+Trojans poured out from their walls when they knew that Achilles
+fought no more on the side of the Achaians, and the chieftains sought
+in vain for his help when the battle went against them. Then the face
+of the war was changed, for the men of Ilion came forth from their
+city, and shut up the Achaians within their camp, and fought fiercely
+to take the ships. Many a chief and warrior was smitten down, and
+still Achilles sat within his tent, nursing his great wrath, and
+reviling all who came before him with gifts and prayers.
+
+But dearer than all others to the child of the sea-nymph, Thetis, was
+Patroclus, the son of Menoetius, and the heart of Achilles was touched
+with pity when he saw the tears stream down his face, and he said,
+"Dear friend, tell me thy grief, and hide nothing from me. Hast thou
+evil tidings from our home at Phthia, or weepest thou for the troubles
+which vex us here?" Then Patroclus spoke out boldly, and said, "Be not
+angry at my words, Achilles. The strength of the Argives is wasted
+away, and the mightiest of their chieftains lie wounded or dead around
+their ships. They call thee the child of Peleus and of Thetis, but men
+will say that thou art sprung from the rugged rocks and the barren
+sea, if thou seest thy people undone and liftest not an arm to help
+them." Then Achilles answered, "My friend, the vow is on me, and I can
+not go, but put thou on my armor and go forth to the battle. Only take
+heed to my words, and go not in my chariot against the City of Ilion.
+Drive our enemies from the ships, and let them fight in the plain, and
+then do thou come back to my tent."
+
+Then the hearts of the Achaians were cheered, for next to Achilles
+there was not in all the host a warrior more brave and mighty than
+Patroclus. At his word the Myrmidons started up from their long rest,
+and hastily snatched their arms to follow him to the battle. Presently
+Patroclus came forth. The glistening helmet of Achilles was on his
+head, and his armor was girt around his body. Only he bore not his
+mighty spear, for no mortal man might wield that spear in battle but
+Achilles. Before the tent stood the chariot, and harnessed to it were
+the horses, Xanthos and Balios, who grow not old nor die.
+
+So Patroclus departed for the fight, and Achilles went into his tent,
+and as he poured out the dark wine from a golden goblet, he prayed to
+Zeus, and said, "O thou that dwellest far away in Dodona, where the
+Selloi do thy bidding and proclaim thy will, give strength and victory
+to Patroclus, my friend. Let him drive the men of Ilion from the ships
+and come back safe to me after the battle." But Zeus heard the prayer
+in part only, for the doom was that Achilles should see Patroclus
+alive no more.
+
+Then the hosts of the Trojans trembled as Patroclus drew nigh on the
+chariot of Achilles, and none dared to go forth against him. Onward
+sped the undying horses, and wherever they went the ground was red
+with the blood of the Trojans who were smitten down by his spear. Then
+Sarpedon, the great chief of the Lykians, spake to Glaucus, and said,
+"O friend, I must go forth and do battle with Patroclus. The people
+fall beneath his sword, and it is not fit that the chieftains should
+be backward in the strife." But the doom of Sarpedon was sealed, and
+presently his body lay lifeless on the ground, while the men of Argos
+and of Ilion fought for his glittering arms.
+
+Then the doom came on Patroclus also, for Phoebus Apollo fought
+against him in the battle, and in the dust was rolled the helmet which
+no enemy had touched when it rested on the head of Achilles. Before
+him flashed the spear of Hector, as he said, "The hour of thy death is
+come, Patroclus, and the aid of Achilles can not reach thee now." But
+Patroclus said only, "It is thy time for boasting now; wait yet a
+little while, and the sword of Achilles shall drink thy life-blood."
+
+So Patroclus died, and there was a fierce fight over his body, and
+many fell on both sides, until there was a great heap of dead around
+it. But away from the fight, the horses Xanthos and Balios wept for
+their charioteer, and they would not stir with the chariot, but stood
+fixed firm as pillars on the ground, till Zeus looked down in pity on
+them, and said, "Was it for this that I gave you to Peleus, the
+chieftain of Phthia--horses who can not grow old or die, to a mortal
+man, the most wretched thing that crawls upon the earth? But fear not;
+no enemy shall lay hands on the chariot of Achilles, or on the
+immortal horses which bear it. Your limbs shall be filled with new
+strength, and ye shall fly like birds across the battle-field till ye
+come to the tent of your master." Then the horses wept no more, but
+swift as eagles they bore Automedon through the fight, while Hector
+and his people strove fiercely to seize them. At last the battle was
+over, and, while the Achaians bore the body of Patroclus to the ships,
+Antilochus, the son of Nestor, went to the tent of Achilles, and said,
+"Thy friend is slain, and Hector has his armor."
+
+Then the dark cloud of woe fell on the soul of Achilles. In a fierce
+grief he threw earth with both hands into the air, and rent his
+clothes, and lay down weeping in the dust. Far away in her coral caves
+beneath the sea Thetis heard the deep groans of her child, and, like a
+white mist, she rose from the waters and went to comfort him; and she
+said, "Why weepest thou, my son? When Agamemnon did thee wrong, thou
+didst pray that the Achaians might sorely need thy aid in the battle,
+and thy wish has been accomplished. So may it be again." But Achilles
+answered, "Of what profit is it to me, my mother, that my prayer has
+been heard, since Patroclus, my friend, is slain, and Hector has my
+armor? One thing only remains to me now. I will slay Hector and avenge
+the slaughter of Patroclus." Then the tears ran down the cheeks of
+Thetis as she said, "Then is thine own doom accomplished, for when
+thou slayest Hector, thou hast not many days to live," "So then let it
+be," said Achilles; "the mighty Herakles tasted of death; therefore
+let me die also, so only Hector dies before me."
+
+Then Thetis sought no more to turn him from his purpose, but she went
+to the house of Hephaistos to get armor for her child in place of that
+which Hector had taken from Patroclus. And Achilles vowed a vow that
+twelve sons of the Trojans should be slain at the grave of his friend,
+and that Hector should die before the funeral rites were done. Then
+Agamemnon sent him gifts, and spake kindly words, so that the strife
+between them might end, and Achilles now go forth to fight for the
+Achaians. So, in the armor which Hephaistos had wrought at the prayer
+of Thetis, he mounted his chariot, and bade his horses bring him back
+safe from the battle-field. Then the horse Xanthos bowed his head, and
+the long tresses of his mane flowed down to the earth as he made
+answer, "We will in very truth save thee, O mighty Achilles; but thy
+doom is near at hand, and the fault rests not with us now, or when we
+left Patroclus dead on the battle-field, for Phoebus Apollo slew him
+and gave the glory and the arms to Hector." And Achilles said, "Why
+speak to me of evil omens? I know that I shall see my father and my
+mother again no more; but if I must die in a strange land, I will
+first take my fill of vengeance."
+
+Then the war-cry of Achilles was heard again, and a mighty life was
+poured into the hearts of the Achaians, as they seized their arms at
+the sound. Thick as withering leaves in autumn fell the Trojans
+beneath his unerring spear. Chief after chief was smitten down, until
+their hosts fell in terror within the walls of Ilion. Only Hector
+awaited his coming, but the shadow of death was stealing over him, for
+Phoebus Apollo had forsaken the great champion of Troy because Zeus so
+willed it. So in the strife the strength of Hector failed, and he sank
+down on the earth. The foot of Achilles rested on his breast, and the
+spear's point was on his neck, while Hector said, "Slay me if thou
+wilt, but give back my body to my people. Let not the beasts of the
+field devour it, and rich gifts shall be thine from my father and my
+mother for this kindly deed." But the eyes of Achilles flashed with a
+deadly hatred, as he answered, "Were Priam to give me thy weight in
+gold, it should not save thy carcass from the birds and dogs." And
+Hector said, "I thought not to persuade thee, for thy heart is made of
+iron, but see that thou pay not the penalty for thy deed on the day
+when Paris and Phoebus Apollo shall slay thee at the Scaean gates of
+Ilion." Then the life-blood of Hector reddened the ground as Achilles
+said, "Die, wretch! My fate I will meet in the hour when it may please
+the undying gods to send it."
+
+But not yet was the vengeance of Achilles accomplished. At his feet
+lay Hector dead, but the rage in his heart was fierce as ever, and he
+tied the body to his chariot and dragged it furiously, till none who
+looked on it could say, "This was the brave and noble Hector." But
+things more fearful still came afterwards, for the funeral rites were
+done to Patroclus, and twelve sons of the Trojans were slain in the
+mighty sacrifice. Still the body of Hector lay on the ground, and the
+men of Ilion sought in vain to redeem it from Achilles. But Phoebus
+Apollo came down to guard it, and he spread over it his golden shield
+to keep away all unseemly things. At last the King, Priam, mounted his
+chariot, for he said, "Surely he will not scorn the prayer of a father
+when he begs the body of his son." Then Zeus sent Hermes to guide the
+old man to the tent of Achilles, so that none others of the Achaians
+might see him. Then he stood before the man who had slain his son, and
+he kissed his hands, and said, "Hear my prayer, Achilles. Thy father
+is an old man like me, but he hopes one day to see thee come back with
+great glory from Ilion. My sons are dead, and none had braver sons in
+Troy than I; and Hector, the flower and pride of all, has been smitten
+by thy spear. Fear the gods, Achilles, and pity me for the remembrance
+of thy father, for none has ever dared like me to kiss the hand of the
+man who has slain his son." So Priam wept for his dear child, Hector,
+and the tears flowed down the cheeks of Achilles as he thought of his
+father, Peleus, and his friend, Patroclus, and the cry of their
+mourning went up together.
+
+So the body of Hector was borne back to Ilion, and a great sacrifice
+was done to the gods beneath the earth, that Hector might be welcomed
+in the kingdom of Hades and Persephone. But the time drew nigh that
+the doom of Achilles must be accomplished, and the spear of Phoebus
+Apollo pierced his heart as they fought near the Scaean gates of Ilion.
+In the dust lay the body of Achilles, while the Achaians fought the
+whole day around it, till a mighty storm burst forth from the heaven.
+Then they carried it away to the ships, and placed it on a couch, and
+washed it in pure water. And once more from her coral caves beneath
+the sea rose the silver-footed Thetis, and the cry of the nymphs who
+followed her filled the air, so that the Achaians who heard it
+trembled, and would have fled to the ships, but Nestor, the wise chief
+of the Pylians, said, "Flee not, ye Argives, for those come to mourn
+for the dead Achilles." So Thetis stood weeping by the body of her
+child, and the nymphs wrapped it in shining robes. Many days and
+nights they wept and watched around it, until at last they raised a
+great pile of wood on the sea-shore, and the flame went up to heaven.
+Then they gathered up the ashes, and placed them, with the ashes of
+Patroclus, in a golden urn which Hephaistos wrought and gave to
+Dionysus, and over it they raised a great cairn on the shore of the
+Sea of Helle, that men might see it afar off as they sailed on the
+broad waters.
+
+
+THE VENGEANCE OF ODYSSEUS.
+
+A fair breeze filled the sail of the Phaeakian ship in which Odysseus
+lay asleep as in the dreamless slumber of the dead. The wild music of
+the waves rose on the air as the bark sped on its glistening pathway,
+but their murmur reached not the ear of the wanderer, for the spell of
+Athene was upon him, and all his cares and griefs were for a little
+while forgotten.
+
+The dawn light was stealing across the eastern sky when the good ship
+rode into the haven of the sea-god, Phorkys, and rested without anchor
+or cable beneath the rocks which keep off the breath of the harsh
+winds. At the head of the little bay a broad-leaved olive tree spread
+its branches in front of a cave where the sea nymphs wove their
+beautiful purple robes. Gently the sailors raised Odysseus in their
+arms; gently they bore him from the ship, and placed him on the land
+with the gifts which Alkinous and Arete and Naosikaa had given to him
+when he set off to go to Ithaka. So the Phaeakians went away, and
+Odysseus rested once more in his own land. But when he awoke from his
+sleep, he knew not where he was, for Athene had spread a mist on land
+and sea. The haven, the rocks, the trees, the pathways wore a strange
+look in the dim and gloomy light; but while Odysseus yet pondered
+where he should stow away the gifts lest thieves should find them,
+there stood before him a glorious form, and he heard a voice, which
+said, "Dost thou not know me, Odysseus? I am Pallas Athene, who have
+stood by thy side to guard thee in all thy wanderings and deliver thee
+from all thy enemies. And now that thou standest again on thine own
+land of Ithaka, I have come to thee once more, to bid thee make ready
+for the great vengeance, and to bear with patience all that may befall
+thee until the hour be come." But Odysseus could scarcely believe that
+he was in Ithaka, even though it was Athene who spake to him, until
+she scattered the mist and showed him the fair haven with its
+broad-spreading olive trees, and the home of the sea nymphs, and the
+old hill of Neritos with its wooded sides.
+
+ [Illustration: _Menelaus. Paris. Diomedes. Odysseus. Nestor.
+ Achilles. Agamemnon._
+ HEROES OF THE TROJAN WAR.]
+
+Then they placed the gifts of the Phaeakians in the cave hard by the
+stream of living waters which flowed through it to the sea, and Athene
+touched him with a staff, and all the beauty of his form was gone. His
+face became seamed with wrinkles, his flashing eyes grew dim, and the
+golden locks vanished from his shoulders. His glistening raiment
+turned to noisome rags, as Athene put a beggar's wallet on his
+shoulder and placed a walking staff in his hand, and showed him the
+path which led to the house of the swineherd Eumaius.
+
+So Odysseus went his way, but when he entered the court-yard of
+Eumaius in his tattered raiment, the dogs flew at him with loud
+barkings, until the swineherd drove them away, and led the stranger
+into his dwelling, where he placed a shaggy goat-skin for him to lie
+on. "Thou hast welcomed me kindly," said Odysseus, "the gods grant
+thee in return thy heart's desire." Then Eumaius answered sadly, "My
+friend, I may not despise a stranger though he be even poorer and
+meaner than myself, for it is Zeus who sends to us the poor man and
+the beggar. Little indeed have I to give, for so it is with bondmen
+when the young chiefs lord it in the land. But he is far away who
+loved me well and gave me all my substance. I would that the whole
+kindred of Helen had been uprooted from the earth, for it was for her
+sake that my master went to fight with the Trojans at Ilion."
+
+Then Eumaius placed meat and wine before him. "It is but a homely
+meal," he said, "and a poor draught, but the chiefs who throng about
+my master's wife eat all the fat of the land. A brave life they have
+of it, for rich were the treasures which my master left in his house
+when he went to take vengeance for the wrongs of Helen." "Tell me thy
+master's name, friend," said the stranger. "If he was indeed so rich
+and great, I may perhaps be able to tell you something about him, for
+I have been a wanderer in many lands." "Why, what would be the use?"
+answered the swineherd. "Many a vagabond comes here with trumped-up
+tales to my master's wife, who listens to them greedily, hoping
+against hope. No, he must long ago have died; but we love Odysseus
+still, and we call him our friend, though he is very far away." "Nay,
+but thou art wrong this time," said the stranger, "for I do know
+Odysseus, and I swear to thee that the sun shall not finish his
+journey through the heavens before thy lord returns." But Eumaius
+shook his head. "I have nothing to give you for your news. Sure I am
+that Odysseus will not come back. Say no more about him, for my heart
+is pained when any make me call to mind the friend whom I have lost.
+But what is your name, friend, and whence do you come?"
+
+Then Odysseus was afraid to reveal himself, so he told him a long
+story how he had come from Crete, and been made a slave in Egypt, how
+after many years Phoinix had led him to the purple land, how Pheidon,
+the chief of the Thesprotians, had showed him the treasures of
+Odysseus, and how at last he had fallen into the hands of robbers, who
+had clothed him in beggarly rags and left him on the shore of Ithaka.
+But still Eumaius would not believe. "I can not trust your tale, my
+friend, when you tell me that Odysseus has sojourned in the
+Thesprotian land. I have had enough of such news since an AEolian came
+and told me that he had seen him in Crete with Idomeneus, mending the
+ships which had been hurt by a storm, and that he would come again to
+his home before that summer was ended. Many a year has passed since,
+and if I welcome you still, it is not for your false tidings about my
+master." "Well," said Odysseus, "I will make a covenant with you. If
+he returns this year, you shall clothe me in sound garments and send
+me home to Doulichion, if he does not, bid thy men hurl me from the
+cliffs, that beggars may learn not to tell lies." "Nay, how can I do
+that," said Eumaius, "when you have eaten bread in my house? Would
+Zeus ever hear my prayer again? Tell me no more false tales, and let
+us talk together as friends."
+
+Meanwhile Telemachus was far away in Sparta, whither he had gone to
+seek his father, Odysseus, if haply he might find him; and one night
+as he lay sleepless on his couch, Athene stood before him and warned
+him to hasten home. "The suitors are eating up thy substance, and they
+lie in wait that they may slay thee before the ship reaches Ithaka;
+but the gods who guard thee will deliver thee from them, and when thou
+comest to the land, go straightway to the house of Eumaius."
+
+Then in the morning Telemachus bade farewell to Menelaus, and the
+fair-haired Helen placed in his hands a beautiful robe which her own
+fingers had wrought. "Take it," she said, "as a memorial of Helen, and
+give it to thy bride when thy marriage day has come." So they set off
+from Sparta, and came to Pylos, and there, as Telemachus offered
+sacrifice, the wise seer Theoklymenus stood by his side, and asked him
+of his name and race, and when he knew that he was the son of Odysseus
+he besought Telemachus to take him with him to the ship, for he had
+slain a man in Argos and he was flying from the avenger of blood. So
+Theoklymenus, the seer, came with Telemachus to Ithaka.
+
+Then again Odysseus made trial of the friendship of Eumaius, and when
+the meal was over, he said, "To-morrow, early in the morning, I must
+go to the house of Odysseus. Therefore, let some one guide me thither.
+It may be that Penelope will listen to my tidings, and that the
+suitors will give alms to the old man. For I can serve well, my
+friends, and none can light a fire and heap on wood, or hand a
+winecup, more deftly than myself." But Eumaius was angry, and said
+sharply, "Why not tarry here? You annoy neither me nor my friends, and
+when Odysseus comes home, be sure he will give you coat and cloak and
+all else that you may need." And the beggar said, "God reward thee,
+good friend, for succoring the stranger," and he asked him if the
+father and mother of Odysseus were yet alive. Then Eumaius told him
+how his mother had pined away and died after Odysseus went to Ilion,
+and how Laertes lingered on in a wretched and squalid old age.
+
+But the ship of Telemachus had now reached the land, and he sent some
+of his men to tell Penelope that her son was come back, while he
+himself went to the house of Eumaius. Glad indeed was the swineherd to
+see him, for he had not thought to look upon his face again. And
+Telemachus said, "Is my mother yet in her home, or has she wedded
+another, and is the bridal couch of Odysseus covered with the webs of
+spiders?" "Nay, she is still in her home," said Eumaius; "but night
+and day she sheds bitter tears in her grievous sorrow." Then
+Telemachus spied the beggar; and when he learned his story from
+Eumaius, he was troubled. "What can we do with him? Shall I give him a
+cloak and a sword and send him away? I am afraid to take him to my
+father's house, for the suitors may flout and jeer him." Then the
+beggar put in his word: "Truly these suitors meet us at every turn.
+How comes it all about? Do you yield to them of your own free will, or
+do the people hate you, or have you a quarrel with your kinsfolk? If
+these withered arms of mine had but the strength of their youth, soon
+should some of these suitors smart for their misdeeds; and if their
+numbers were too great for me to deal with, better so to die than see
+them thus devour the land." "Nay, friend, your guesses are wrong,"
+said Telemachus. "The people do not hate me, and I have no feud with
+my kindred; but these suitors have swarmed in upon us like bees from
+all the country round about."
+
+Presently Eumaius rose up to go with tidings to Penelope, and when he
+was gone a glorious form stood before the door, but the eyes only of
+Odysseus saw her, and he knew that it was Pallas Athene. "The time is
+come," she said; "show thyself to Telemachus and make ready with him
+for the great vengeance." Then Athene passed her golden staff over his
+body, and straightway his tattered raiment became a white and
+glistening robe. Once more the hue of youth came back to his cheek and
+the golden locks flowed down over his shoulders, so that Telemachus
+marveled, and said, "Who art thou, stranger, that thou lookest like
+one of the bright gods? But now thy garment was torn, and thy hands
+shook with age." "Nay, I am no god," answered the man of many toils
+and sorrows, "I am thy father." Then Odysseus kissed his son, and the
+tears ran down his cheek, but Telemachus would not believe. "Men
+change not thus," he said, "from age to youth, from squalor and
+weakness to strength and splendor." "It is the work of Athene," said
+the stranger, "who can make all things fresh and fair, and if I be not
+Odysseus, none other will ever come to Ithaka." Then Telemachus put
+his arms around his father and wept, and the cry of their weeping went
+up together, and Odysseus said, "The time for vengeance draws nigh.
+How many are these suitors?" "They may be told by scores," said
+Telemachus, "and what are two against so many?" "They are enough,"
+answered Odysseus, "if only Zeus and Athene be on their side."
+
+Then Telemachus went to the house of Odysseus, where the suitors were
+greatly cast down because their messengers had not been able to kill
+him. And Penelope came forth from her chamber, beautiful as Artemis
+and Aphrodite, and she kissed her son, who told her how he had
+journeyed to Sparta, seeking in vain for his father. But Theoklymenus,
+the seer, put in a word, and said, "Odysseus is now in Ithaka, and is
+making ready for the day of the great vengeance."
+
+Presently Eumaius went back to his house, and there he found the
+beggar, for Odysseus had laid aside his glistening robe and the glory
+of youth had faded away again from his face. So they went to the city
+together, and sat by the beautiful fountain, whither the people came
+to draw water, and Melanthius, the goatherd, as he drove the flock for
+the suitors, spied them out and reviled them. "Thieves love thieves,
+they say; where hast thou found this vagabond, friend swineherd?" and
+he pushed Odysseus with his heel. Then Odysseus was wroth, and would
+have slain him, but he restrained himself, and Eumaius prayed aloud to
+the nymphs that they would bring his master home. And Melanthius said,
+"Pray on, as thou wilt, but Telemachus shall soon lie low, for
+Odysseus shall see Ithaka no more." Then he drove the goats onwards to
+the house of Odysseus, and Eumaius and the beggar followed him, and as
+they communed by the way, the swineherd bade him go first into the
+house, lest any finding him without might jeer or hurt him. But the
+beggar would not. "Many a hard buffet have I had by land and by sea,"
+he said, "and I am not soon cast down." Soon they stood before the
+door, and a dog worn with age strove to rise and welcome him, but his
+strength was gone, and Odysseus wept when he saw his hound, Argos, in
+such evil plight. Then, turning to Eumaius, he said, "The hound is
+comely in shape. Was he swift and strong in his youth?" "Never
+anything escaped him in the chase; but there are none to care for him
+now." It mattered not, for the twenty long years had come to an end,
+and when Argos had once more seen his master, he sank down upon the
+straw and died.
+
+Then Odysseus passed into his house, and he stood a beggar in his own
+hall, and asked an alms from Antinous. "Give," said he, "for thou
+lookest like a King, and I will spread abroad thy name through the
+wide earth. For I, too, was rich once, and had a glorious home, and
+often I succored the wanderer; but Zeus took away all my wealth, and
+drove me forth to Cyprus and to Egypt." But Antinous thrust him aside.
+"What pest is this?" he said. "Stand off, old man, or thou shalt go
+again to an Egypt and a Cyprus which shall not be much to thy
+liking." Then Antinous struck him on the back; but Odysseus stood firm
+as a rock, and he shook his head for the vengeance that was coming.
+But the others were angry, and said, "Thou hast done an evil deed, if
+indeed there be a god in heaven; nay, often in the guise of strangers
+the gods themselves go through the earth, watching the evil and the
+good."
+
+When the tidings were brought to Penelope, she said to Eumaius, "Go
+call me this stranger hither, for he may have something to tell me of
+Odysseus." But the beggar would not go then. "Tell her," he said,
+"that I know her husband well, and that I have shared his troubles;
+but I can not talk with her before the sun goes down. At eventide she
+shall see me."
+
+Then, as Odysseus sate in the hall, there came up to him the beggar
+Arnaius, whom the suitors called Iros because he was their messenger,
+and he said, "Get up, old man, and go, for the chiefs have bidden me
+to cast thee out; yet I would rather see thee depart of thy own will."
+But Odysseus said, "Nay, friend, there is room enough here for both of
+us. You are a beggar like me, and let us pray the gods to help us; but
+lay not thine hand upon me, lest I be angry and smite thee; for if I
+do, thou wilt not, I take it, care to come again to the house of
+Odysseus, the son of Laertes." But Iros looked scornfully at him, and
+said, "Hear how the vagabond talks, just like an old furnace woman.
+Come now, and gird up thyself, and let us see which is the stronger."
+Then Antinous, who had heard them quarreling, smiled pleasantly and
+called to the other suitors: "See here, the stranger and Iros are
+challenging each other. Let us bring them together and look on." But
+Iros shrank back in fear as the beggar arose, and only one feeble blow
+had he given, when Odysseus dashed him to the ground. Then all the
+suitors held up their hands and almost died with laughter, as the
+stranger dragged Iros from the hall, and said, "Meddle not more with
+other men's matters, lest a worse thing befall thee." Then Odysseus
+gathered up his tattered garment and went and sat down again upon the
+threshold, while the suitors praised him with loud cheers for his
+exploit, and Amphinomus held out to him a goblet of rosy wine: "Drink,
+stranger, and mayest thou have good luck in time to come, for now thy
+lot is hard and gloomy enough." The kindly words stirred the beggar's
+heart, and he said, "Hear my counsel, Amphinomus, and trust me who
+have borne many griefs and sorrows and wandered in many lands since
+Zeus drove me from my home. Depart from these evil men who are wasting
+another's substance and heed not the woes that are coming, when
+Odysseus shall once more stand in his father's house." But Amphinomus
+would not hear, for so had Athene doomed that he should fall on the
+day of the great vengeance.
+
+So, laughing at the beggar as he sat quietly on the threshold, the
+suitors feasted at the banquet table of Odysseus, till the stars
+looked forth in the sky. But when they were gone away to sleep,
+Odysseus bade Telemachus gather up their arms and place them in the
+inner chamber. And they carried in the spears and shields and helmets,
+while Athene went before with a golden lamp in her hand to light the
+way. And Telemachus said, "Surely some one of the blessed gods must be
+here, my father, for walls, beams and pillars all gleam as though they
+were full of eyes of blazing fire." But Odysseus bade him be silent
+and sleep, and Telemachus went his way, and Odysseus tarried to take
+counsel with Athene for the work of the coming vengeance.
+
+Then, as he sat alone in the hall, Penelope came forth from her
+chamber, to hear what the stranger might tell her of Odysseus. But
+before she spake, Melantho reviled him as her father, Melanthius, had
+reviled him by the fountain, and Odysseus said, "Dost thou scorn me
+because my garments are torn and my face is seamed with age and
+sorrow? Well, I, too, have been young and strong. See, then, that the
+change come not on thee when Odysseus returns to his home." Then
+Penelope asked him straightly, "Who art thou, stranger, and whence
+hast thou come?" And the beggar said, "Ask me not, for I have had
+grievous troubles, and the thought of all my woes will force the tears
+into my eyes, so that ye may think I am mad with misery." But Penelope
+urged him: "Listen to me, old man. My beauty faded away when Odysseus
+left me to go to Ilion, and my life has been full of woe since the
+suitors came thronging round me, because my husband, as they said,
+lived no more upon the earth. So I prayed them to let me weave a
+shroud for Laertes, and every night I undid the web which I had woven
+in the day time. Thus three years passed away, but in the fourth the
+suitors found out my trick, and I know not how to avoid longer the
+marriage which I hate. Wherefore tell me who thou art, for thou didst
+not spring forth a full-grown man from a tree or a stone." Then
+Odysseus recounted to her the tale which he had told to the swineherd,
+Eumaius, and the eyes of Penelope were filled with tears as the
+stranger spoke of the exploits of Odysseus. "Good friend," she said,
+"thy kindly words fall soothingly on my ear. Here shalt thou sojourn,
+and I will give thee a robe which I had meant for him who will come
+back to me no more." But Odysseus would not take it, and he strove to
+comfort her, till at the last he swore to her that before the year's
+end her husband should stand before her.
+
+And now, at the bidding of Penelope, his old nurse, Eurykleia, came
+with water to wash his feet, and looking hard at him she said, "Many a
+stranger has come to this house, but never one so like in form and
+voice to my child, Odysseus," and the stranger answered, smiling,
+"Most folk who have seen us both have marked the likeness." So she
+knelt down to wash his feet, but Odysseus turned himself as much as he
+could from the fire, for he feared that she might see the mark of the
+wound which the boar's tusk had made long ago when he went to
+Parnassus. But he strove in vain. For presently she saw the scar, and
+she let go his feet, and the water was spilt upon the ground, as she
+cried out, "It is Odysseus, and I knew him not until I saw the print
+of the deadly wound which Autolykus healed by his wondrous power."
+Then Odysseus bade her be silent, for Athene had dulled the ear of
+Penelope that she might not hear, and he would not that any should
+know that the chieftain had come back to his home.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT METAL ENGRAVING.]
+
+So all were gone, and Odysseus alone remained in the hall through the
+still hours of night. But when the morning came, the suitors again
+feasted at the banquet board, and many a time they reviled the beggar
+and Telemachus, until Penelope brought forth the bow which Iphitus,
+the son of Eurytus, had given to Odysseus. Then she stood before the
+chiefs and said, "Whoever of you can bend this bow, that man shall be
+my husband, and with him I will leave the home which I have loved, and
+which I shall still see in my dreams." But when Antinous saw it, his
+heart failed him, for he knew that none had ever bent the bow save
+Odysseus only, and he warned the suitors that it would sorely tax
+their strength. Then Telemachus would have made trial of the bow, but
+his father suffered him not. So Leiodes took it in his hand, and tried
+in vain to stretch it, till at last he threw it down in a rage, and
+said, "Penelope must find some other husband; for I am not the man."
+But Antinous reviled him for his faintheartedness, and made Melanthius
+bring fat to anoint the bow and make it supple; yet even thus they
+strove in vain to stretch it.
+
+Then Odysseus went out into the courtyard, whither the cowherd and the
+swineherd had gone before him, and he said to them, "Friends, are ye
+minded to aid Odysseus if he should suddenly come to his home, or will
+ye take part with the men who devour his substance?" And they sware
+both of them that they would fight for their master to the death. Then
+Odysseus said, "I am that man, who after grievous woes has come back
+in the twentieth year to his own land; and if ye doubt, see here is
+the scar of the wound where the boar's tusk pierced my flesh, when I
+went to Parnassus in the days of my youth." When they saw the scar,
+they threw their arms round Odysseus, and they kissed him on his head
+and his shoulders and wept, until he said, "Stay, friends, lest any
+see us and tell the suitors in the house. And now hearken to me. These
+men will not let me take the bow; so do thou, Eumaius, place it in my
+hands, and let Philoitius bar the gates of the court-yard." But within
+the hall Eurymachus groaned with vexation because he could not stretch
+the bow; and he said, "It is not that I care for Penelope, for there
+are many Achaian women as fair as she; but that we are all so weak in
+comparison of Odysseus." Then the beggar besought them that he, too,
+might try, and see whether the strength of his youth still remained to
+him, or whether his long wanderings had taken away the force of his
+arm. But Antinous said, "Old man, wine hath done thee harm; still it
+is well to drink yet more than to strive with men who are thy
+betters." Then said Penelope, "What dost thou fear, Antinous? Vex not
+thyself with the thought that the beggar will lead me away as his
+bride, even if he should be able to stretch the bow of Odysseus."
+"Nay, lady," he answered, "it is not that; but I dread lest the
+Achaians should say, 'The suitors could not stretch the bow, but there
+came a wandering beggar, who did what they strove to do in vain.'"
+
+Then the swineherd took up the bow, but the suitors bade him lay it
+down again, until at last Telemachus told Eumaius to bear it to
+Odysseus; and as the swineherd placed it in the beggar's hands,
+Eurykleia shut the doors of the hall and made them fast with the
+tackling of a ship. Then, as Odysseus raised the bow, the thunder
+pealed in the heaven, and his heart rejoiced because Zeus had given
+him a sign of his great victory. Presently the arrow sped from the
+string, and Antinous lay dead upon the floor.
+
+Then the others spake in great wrath, and said, "The vultures shall
+tear thy flesh this day, because thou hast slain the greatest chief
+in Ithaka." But they knew not, as they spake thus, that the day of the
+great vengeance was come; and the voice of Odysseus was heard above
+the uproar, as he said, "Wretches, did ye fancy that I should never
+stand again in my own hall? Ye have wasted my substance, ye have
+sought to steal my wife from me, ye have feared neither gods nor men,
+and this is the day of your doom." The cheeks of the suitors turned
+ghastly pale through fear; but Eurymachus alone took courage and told
+Odysseus that Antinous only had done the mischief, because he wished
+to slay Telemachus and become King in Ithaka in the stead of Odysseus.
+"Spare, then, the rest, for they are thy people, and we will pay thee
+a large ransom." But Odysseus looked sternly at him, and said, "Not
+this house full of silver and gold shall stay my hand in the day of my
+great vengeance."
+
+Then Eurymachus drew his sword and bade his comrades fight bravely for
+their lives; but again the clang of the bow was heard, and Eurymachus
+was stretched lifeless on the earth. So they fell, one after the
+other, until the floor of the hall was slippery with blood. But
+presently the arrows in the quiver of Odysseus were all spent, and
+laying his bow against the wall, he raised a great shield on his
+shoulder and placed a helmet on his head, and took two spears in his
+hand. Then Agelaus called to Melanthius, "Go up to the stair-door and
+shout to the people, that they may break into the hall and save us."
+But Melanthius said, "It can not be, for it is near the gate of the
+hall, and one man may guard it against a hundred. But I will bring you
+arms, for I know that Odysseus and his son have stowed them away in
+the inner chamber." Hastily he ran thither and brought forth shields
+and spears and helmets, and the heart of Odysseus failed him for fear
+as he saw the suitors donning their armor and brandishing the lances.
+"Who has done this?" he asked, and Telemachus answered, "It is my
+fault, my father. I left the door ajar, but Eumaius shall go and see
+whether some of the women have given this help to the suitors, or
+whether, as I think, it be Melanthius." So Eumaius and the cowherd
+placed themselves on one side of the chamber door, and when Melanthius
+came forth with more arms for the chieftains, they caught him, and
+binding him with stout cords they hoisted him up to the beams and left
+him dangling in the air. "Keep guard there, Melanthius, all night long
+in thy airy hammock, and when the golden Morning comes back from the
+stream of Ocean you will not fail to see her."
+
+But in the hall the troop of suitors stood facing Odysseus and
+Telemachus in deadly rage, and presently Athene stood before them in
+the likeness of Mentor. Then all besought her help, and the suitors
+threatened her, and said, "Be not led astray, Mentor, by the words of
+Odysseus, for if you side with him, we will leave you neither house
+nor lands, wife nor children, when we have taken vengeance for the
+evil deeds of the son of Laertes." But the wrath of Athene was kindled
+more fiercely, and she said, "Where is thy strength, Odysseus? Many a
+year the Trojans fell beneath the stroke of thy sword, and by thy
+wisdom it was that the Achaians stormed the walls of breezy Ilion. And
+now dost thou stand trembling in thine own hall?" Then the form of
+Mentor vanished, and they saw a swallow fly away above the roof-tree.
+In great fear the suitors took council together, and six of them stood
+forth and hurled their spears at Odysseus and Telemachus. But all
+missed their mark except Amphimedon and Ktesippus, and these wounded
+Telemachus on the wrist and Eumaius on the shoulder.
+
+But once again Athene came, and this time she held aloft her awful
+AEgis before the eyes of the suitors, and the hearts of all fainted for
+fear, so that they huddled together like cattle which have heard the
+lion's roar, and like cattle were they slain, and the floor of the
+hall was floated with blood.
+
+So was the slaughter ended, and the house of Odysseus was hushed in a
+stillness more fearful than the din of battle, for the work of the
+great vengeance was accomplished.
+
+But Penelope lay on her couch in a sweet slumber which Athene had sent
+to soothe her grief, and she heard not the footsteps of Eurykleia as
+she hastened joyously into the chamber. "Rise up, dear child, rise up.
+Thy heart's desire is come. Odysseus stands once more in his own home,
+the suitors are dead, and none are left to vex thee." But Penelope
+could not believe for joy and fear, even when Eurykleia told her of
+the mark of the boar's bite which Autolykus and his sons had healed.
+"Let us go, dear nurse," she said, "and see the bodies of the
+chieftains and the man who has slain them." So she went down into the
+hall, and sate down opposite to Odysseus, but she spake no word, and
+Odysseus also sat silent. And Telemachus said to his mother, "Hast
+thou no welcome for my father who has borne so many griefs since Zeus
+took him from his home twenty long years ago?"
+
+And Penelope said, "My child, I can not speak, for my heart is as a
+stone within me; yet if it be indeed Odysseus, there are secret signs
+by which we shall know each other." But when she bade Eurykleia make
+ready the couch which lay outside the bridal chamber, Odysseus asked,
+hastily, "Who has moved the couch which I wrought with my own hands,
+when I made the chamber round the olive tree which stood in the
+courtyard? Scarcely could a mortal man move it, for it was heavy with
+gold and ivory and silver, and on it I spread a bull's hide gleaming
+with a purple dye."
+
+Then Penelope wept for joy, as she sprang into his arms; for now she
+knew that it was indeed Odysseus who had come back in the twentieth
+year. Long time they wept in each other's arms; but the keen-eyed
+Athene kept back the bright and glistening horses of the morning, that
+the day might not return too soon.
+
+Then the fair Eurynome anointed Odysseus, and clothed him in a royal
+robe; and Athene brought back all his ancient beauty as when he went
+forth in his youth to Ilion. So they sat together in the light of the
+blazing torches, and Penelope heard from Odysseus the story of his
+griefs and wanderings, and she told him of her own sorrows, while he
+was far away in Ilion avenging the wrongs and woes of Helen. But for
+all his deep joy and his calm peace, Odysseus knew that here was not
+the place of his rest.
+
+"The time must come," he said, "when I must go to the land where there
+is no sea; but the seer who told me of the things that are to be, said
+that my last hour should be full of light, and that I should leave my
+people happy."
+
+And Penelope said, "Yet we may rejoice, my husband, that the hateful
+chiefs are gone who darkened thy house and devoured thy substance, and
+that once again I hold thee in my arms. Twenty years has Zeus grudged
+me this deep happiness; but never has my heart swerved from thee, nor
+could aught stay thee from coming again to gladden my heart as in the
+morning of our life and joy."
+
+
+SOLON.
+
+(636 B.C.)
+
+REMEMBRANCE AFTER DEATH.
+
+
+ Let not a death unwept, unhonor'd, be
+ The melancholy fate allotted me!
+ But those who loved me living, when I die
+ Still fondly keep some cherish'd memory.
+
+
+TRUE HAPPINESS.
+
+(_By Solon._)
+
+ The man that boasts of golden stores,
+ Of grain, that loads his groaning floors,
+ Of fields with freshening herbage green,
+ Where bounding steeds and herds are seen,
+ I call not happier than the swain,
+ Whose limbs are sound, whose food is plain,
+ Whose joys a blooming wife endears,
+ Whose hours a smiling offspring cheers.
+
+
+SOPHOCLES.
+
+Sophocles was born at Athens B.C. 495. His father, though a poor
+mechanic, had the discrimination as well as generosity to bestow an
+excellent education upon his son, whose great powers began early to
+unfold themselves, and to attract the notice of the first citizens of
+Athens. Before he had attained his twenty-fifth year he carried off
+the prize in a dramatic contest against his senior, AEschylus, and his
+subsequent career corresponded to this splendid beginning. He is said
+to have composed one hundred and twenty tragedies, to have gained the
+first prize twenty-four times, and on other occasions to have ranked
+second in the list of competing poets. So excellent was his conduct,
+so majestic his wisdom, so exquisite his poetical capacities, so rare
+his skill in all the fine arts, and so uninterrupted his prosperity,
+that the Greeks regarded him as the peculiar favorite of heaven. He
+lived in the first city of Greece, and throughout her best times,
+commanding an admiration and love amounting to reverence. He died in
+extreme old age, without disease and without suffering, and was
+mourned with such a sincerity and depth of grief as were manifested
+at the death of no other citizen of Athens.
+
+
+HERODOTUS.
+
+Scarcely more is known of the celebrated historian, Herodotus, than of
+the illustrious poet, Homer. He was born in Asia Minor about 484 B.C.
+
+After being well educated he commenced that course of patient and
+observant travel which was to render his name illustrious as a
+philosophic tourist and historian. The shores of the Hellespont,
+Scythia, and the Euxine Sea; the Isles of the AEgaean; Syria, Egypt,
+Palestine, Colchis, the northern parts of Africa, Ecbatana, and even
+Babylon were the objects of his unwearied research. On his return from
+his travels, after about twenty years, he settled for some time at
+Samos, where he wrote the nine books of his travels in those
+countries.
+
+The charm of Herodotus' writings consists in the earnestness of a man
+who describes countries as an eye-witness, and events as one
+accustomed to participate in them. The life, the raciness, the vigor
+of an adventurer and a wanderer, glow in every page. He has none of
+the defining disquisitions that are born of the closet. He paints
+history, rather than descants on it; he throws the colorings of a
+mind, unconsciously poetic, over all he describes. Now a soldier--now
+a priest--now a patriot--he is always a poet, if rarely a philosopher.
+He narrates like a witness, unlike Thucydides, who sums up like a
+judge. No writer ever made so beautiful an application of
+superstitions to truths. His very credulities have a philosophy of
+their own; and modern historians have acted unwisely in disdaining the
+occasional repetition even of his fables. For if his truths record
+the events--his fables paint the manners and the opinions of the time;
+and the last fill up the history, of which events are only the
+skeleton.
+
+To account for his frequent use of dialogue, and his dramatic effects
+of narrative, we must remember the tribunal to which the work of
+Herodotus was subjected. Every author, unconsciously to himself,
+consults the tastes of those he addresses. No small coteries of
+scholars, no scrupulous and critical inquirers, made the ordeal
+Herodotus underwent. His chronicles were not dissertations to be
+coldly pondered over, and skeptically conned; they were read aloud at
+solemn festivals to listening thousands: they were to arrest the
+curiosity--to amuse the impatience--to stir the wonder of a lively and
+motley crowd. Thus the historian imbibed naturally the spirit of the
+tale-teller, as he was driven to embellish his history with the
+romantic legend--the awful superstition--the gossipy anecdote--which
+yet characterize the stories of the popular and oral fictionist in the
+bazaars of the Mussulman, or on the sea-sands of Sicily. Still it has
+been rightly said, that a judicious reader is not easily led astray by
+Herodotus in important particulars. His descriptions of localities, of
+manners and of customs, are singularly correct; and travelers can yet
+trace the vestiges of his fidelity.
+
+Few enlightened tourists are there who can visit Egypt, Greece, and
+the regions of the East, without being struck by the accuracy, with
+the industry, with the patience of Herodotus. To record all the facts
+substantiated by travelers, illustrated by artists, and amplified by
+learned research, would be almost impossible; so abundant, so rich,
+has this golden mine been found, that the more its native treasures
+are explored, the more valuable do they appear. The oasis of Siwah,
+visited by Browne, Hornemann, Edmonstone, and Minutuoli; the
+engravings of the latter, demonstrating the co-identity of the god
+Ammon and the god of Thebes; the Egyptian mode of weaving, confirmed
+by the drawings of Wilkinson and Minutuoli; the fountain of the sun,
+visited by Belzoni; one of the stelae or pillars of Sesostris, seen by
+Herodotus in Syria, and recognized on the road to Beyrout with the
+hieroglyphic of Remeses still legible; the kneading of dough, drawn
+from a sculpture in Thebes, by Wilkinson; the dress of the lower
+classes, by the same author; the prodigies of Egyptian architecture at
+Edfou; Caillaud's discovery of Meroe in the depths of AEthiopia; these,
+and a host of brilliant evidences, center their once divergent rays in
+one flood of light upon the temple of genius reared by Herodotus, and
+display the goddess of Truth enshrined within.
+
+The following are the main subjects of his nine books, which were
+named after the nine muses:--
+
+Book I. CLIO.--Transfer of the Lydian Kingdom from Gyges to
+Croesus--minority of Cyrus--his overthrow of the Lydian power--rising
+greatness of Athens and Lacedaemon.
+
+Book II. EUTERPE.--Dissertation on Egypt--Egyptian customs, and the
+regal succession of that Empire.
+
+Book III. THALIA.--Achievements of Cambyses--his total subjugation of
+Egypt--election of Darius Hystaspes to the Persian throne, then vacant
+by the assassination of Smerdis, the impostor.
+
+Book IV. MELPOMENE.--Full narrative of the calamitous expeditions of
+the Persians against the Scythians in the reign of Darius Hystaspes.
+
+Book V. TERPSICHORE.--The political progress of Lacedaemon, Athens and
+Corinth--view of their relative resources during the time of
+Darius--expulsion of Hippias from Athens.
+
+Book VI. ERATE.--Origin of the Kings of Lacedaemon--causes of Darius'
+hostility to Greece--first Persian invasion of Hellas--battle of
+Marathon.
+
+Book VII. POLYHYMNIA.--Preparations and grand expedition of Xerxes
+into Greece--battle at Thermopylae.
+
+Book VIII. URANIA.--Further progress of the Persian arms--Athens
+captured and burned--defeat of the Persians at the sea-fight of
+Salamis.
+
+Book IX. CALLIOPE.--Defeat of the Persians at Plataea--defeat at the
+promontory of Mycale, and their complete retreat within their own
+territories.
+
+
+THE CROCODILE.
+
+(_By Herodotus._)
+
+The following are the peculiarities of the crocodile: During the
+winter months they eat nothing; they are four-footed, and live
+indifferently on land or in the water. The female lays and hatches her
+eggs ashore, passing the greater portion of the day on dry land, but
+at night retiring to the river, the water of which is warmer than the
+night-air and the dew. Of all known animals this is the one which from
+the smallest size grows to be the greatest, for the egg of the
+crocodile is but little bigger than that of the goose, and the young
+crocodile is in proportion to the egg, yet when it is full grown, the
+animal measures frequently seventeen cubits, and even more. It has the
+eyes of a pig, teeth large and tusk-like, of a size proportioned to
+its frame; unlike any other animal, it is without a tongue; it can not
+move its under-jaw, and in this respect, too, it is singular, being
+the only animal in the world which moves the upper-jaw but not the
+under. It has strong claws and a scaly skin, impenetrable upon the
+back. In the water it is blind, but on land it is very keen of sight.
+As it lives chiefly in the river, it has the inside of its mouth
+constantly covered with leeches, hence it happens that, while all the
+other birds and beasts avoid it, with the trochilus it lives at peace,
+since it owes much to that bird, for the crocodile, when he leaves the
+water and comes out upon the land, is in the habit of lying with his
+mouth wide open, facing the western breeze; at such times the
+trochilus goes into his mouth and devours the leeches. This benefits
+the crocodile, who is pleased, and takes care not to hurt the
+trochilus.
+
+The crocodile is esteemed sacred by some of the Egyptians, by others
+he is treated as an enemy. Those who live near Thebes, and those who
+dwell around Lake Moeris, regard them with especial veneration. In
+each of these places they keep one crocodile in particular, who is
+taught to be tame and tractable. They adorn his ears with ear-rings of
+molten stone or gold, and put bracelets on his fore-paws, giving him
+daily a set portion of bread, with a certain number of victims; and,
+after having thus treated him with the greatest possible attention
+while alive, they embalm him when he dies and bury him in a sacred
+repository. The people of Elephantine, on the other hand, are so far
+from considering these animals as sacred that they even eat their
+flesh.
+
+The modes of catching the crocodile are many and various. I shall only
+describe the one which seems to me most worthy of mention. They bait a
+hook with a chine of pork and let the meat be carried out into the
+middle of the stream, while the hunter upon the bank holds a living
+pig, which he belabors. The crocodile hears its cries and, making for
+the sound, encounters the pork, which he instantly swallows down. The
+men on the shore haul, and when they have got him to land, the first
+thing the hunter does is to plaster his eyes with mud. This once
+accomplished, the animal is dispatched with ease, otherwise he gives
+great trouble.
+
+
+ARTABANUS DISSUADES XERXES.
+
+(_By Herodotus._)
+
+The other Persians were silent, for all feared to raise their voice
+against the plan proposed to them. But Artabanus, the son of
+Hystaspes, and uncle of Xerxes, trusting to his relationship, was bold
+to speak: "O King," he said, "it is impossible, if no more than one
+opinion is uttered, to make choice of the best; a man is forced then
+to follow whatever advice may have been given him, but if opposite
+speeches are delivered, then choice can be exercised. In like manner
+pure gold is not recognized by itself, but when we test it along with
+baser ore, we perceive which is the better. I counseled thy father,
+Darius, who was my own brother, not to attack the Scyths, a race of
+people who had no town in their own land. He thought, however, to
+subdue those wandering tribes, and would not listen to me, but marched
+an army against them, and ere he returned home lost many of his
+bravest warriors. Thou art about, O King, to attack a people far
+superior to the Scyths, a people distinguished above others both by
+land and sea. 'Tis fit, therefore, that I should tell thee what danger
+thou incurrest hereby. Thou sayest that thou wilt bridge the
+Hellespont, and lead thy troops through Europe against Greece.
+
+"Now, suppose some disaster befall thee by land or sea, or by both. It
+may be even so, for the men are reputed valiant. Indeed one may
+measure their prowess from what they have already done; for when Datis
+and Artaphernes led their huge army against Attica, the Athenians
+singly defeated them. But grant they are not successful on both
+elements. Still, if they man their ships, and, defeating us by sea,
+sail to the Hellespont, and there destroy our bridge--that, sire, were
+a fearful hazard. And here 'tis not by my own mother wit alone that I
+conjecture what will happen, but I remember how narrowly we escaped
+disaster once, when thy father, after throwing bridges over the
+Thracian Bosphorus and the Ister, marched against the Scythians, and
+they tried every sort of prayer to induce the Ionians, who had charge
+of the bridge over the Ister, to break the passage. On that day, if
+Histiaeus, the King of Miletus, had sided with the other princes, and
+not set himself to oppose their views, the empire of the Persians
+would have come to naught. Surely a dreadful thing is this even to
+hear said, that the King's fortunes depended wholly on one man.
+
+"Think, then, no more of incurring so great a danger when no need
+presses, but follow the advice I tender. Break up this meeting, and
+when thou hast well considered the matter with thyself, and settled
+what thou wilt do, declare to us thy resolve. I know not of aught in
+the world that so profits a man as taking good counsel with himself;
+for even if things fall out against one's hopes, still one has
+counseled well, though fortune has made the counsel of no effect:
+whereas, if a man counsels ill and luck follows, he has gotten a
+windfall, but his counsel is none the less silly. Seest thou how God
+with His lightning smites alway the bigger animals, and will not
+suffer them to wax insolent, while those of lesser bulk chafe Him not?
+How likewise His bolts fall ever on the highest houses and the tallest
+trees? So plainly does He love to bring down everything that exalts
+itself. Thus oft-times a mighty host is discomfitted by a few men,
+when God in His jealousy sends fear or storm from heaven, and they
+perish in a way unworthy of them. For God allows no one to have high
+thoughts but Himself. Again, hurry always brings about disasters, from
+which huge sufferings are wont to arise; but in delay lie many
+advantages, not apparent (it may be) at first sight, but such as in
+the course of time are seen of all. Such, then, is my counsel to thee,
+O King.
+
+"And thou, Mardonius, son of Gobryas, forbear to speak foolishly
+concerning the Greeks, who are men that ought not to be lightly
+esteemed by us. For while thou revilest the Greeks, thou dost
+encourage the King to lead his own troops against them; and this, as
+it seems to me, is what thou art specially striving to accomplish.
+Heaven send thou succeed not to thy wish! For slander is of all evils
+the most terrible. In it two men do wrong, and one man has wrong done
+to him. The slanderer does wrong, forasmuch as he abuses a man behind
+his back; and the hearer, forasmuch as he believes what he has not
+searched into thoroughly. The man slandered in his absence suffers
+wrong at the hands of both; for one brings against him a false charge,
+and the other thinks him an evil-doer. If, however, it must needs be
+that we go to war with this people, at least allow the King to abide
+at home in Persia. Then let thee and me both stake our children on the
+issue, and do thou choose out thy men, and taking with thee whatever
+number of troops thou likest, lead forth our armies to battle. If
+things go well for the King, as thou sayest they will, let me and my
+children be put to death; but if they fall out as I prophesy, let thy
+children suffer, and thou, too, if thou shalt come back alive. But
+shouldst thou refuse this wager, and still resolve to march an army
+against Greece, sure I am that some of those whom thou leavest behind
+thee will one day receive the sad tidings that Mardonius has brought a
+great disaster upon the Persian people, and lies a prey to dogs and
+birds somewhere in the land of the Athenians, or else in that of the
+Lacedaemonians; unless, indeed, thou shalt have perished sooner by the
+way, experiencing in thy own person the might of those men on whom
+thou wouldst fain induce the King to make war."
+
+
+SOCRATES.
+
+Socrates was born at Athens about the middle or latter part of April,
+469 B.C. He commanded more admiration and reverence than any other
+individual of ancient or modern times. By his ability and purity he
+emerged from a barbaric sophistry into the purest form of religion
+that was ever invented by man, it was nearer like that of Christ than
+was ever reached by mortal before. The object of his entire philosophy
+was the attainment of correct ideas concerning moral and religious
+obligations.
+
+Although Socrates was the son of a sculptor of limited means, he was
+educated according to the manner of the times. Music and poetry and
+gymnastic exercises formed the principal part of the education of an
+Athenian youth, and in these Socrates was instructed.
+
+Through the influence of Crito, a wealthy Athenian who subsequently
+became an intimate friend and disciple of our philosopher, he was
+induced to rise into a higher sphere. He then began the study of
+physics, mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy, etc.
+
+Socrates, however, was unable to obtain any satisfactory knowledge
+from the philosophers and teachers of his time. Dissatisfied with the
+pretended wisdom of the Cosmologists and Sophists he entirely
+abandoned all speculative subjects and devoted his entire attention to
+human affairs, and his earnestness as a social reformer brought upon
+him increasing odium from the "Conservatives" of the day, as well as
+from that still larger class whose feelings of malice and revenge
+towards those who expose their follies and their vices, their wicked
+private customs and public institutions, can never be appeased but
+with the death of their victim. Accordingly, prejudice, unpopularity
+and hate finally prevailed, and two charges were brought against him,
+one of not believing in the national deities and the other of
+corrupting the youth. That he did not believe in the idols that most
+of his contemporaries worshiped, is true; but that he corrupted the
+youth was as absurd as false, for all his teachings tended ever to
+purify them, and lead them in the paths of virtue and truth. He
+defended himself, and his defense is a perfect whole, neither more nor
+less than what it ought to have been. Proudly conscious of his
+innocence, he sought not to move the pity of his judges, for he cared
+not for acquittal, and "exhibited that union of humility and
+high-mindedness which is observable in none, perhaps, with the
+exception of St. Paul." His speech availed not, and he was condemned
+to drink the hemlock. He continued in prison thirty days before the
+sentence was executed, and to this interval we are indebted for that
+sublime conversation on the immortality of the soul which Plato has
+embodied in his Phaedo.
+
+ [Illustration: SOCRATES DRINKING THE POISON (_From ancient Wall
+ Painting._)]
+
+At length the fatal day arrived, when he had reached his full three
+score years and ten. Refusing all means of escape to which his friends
+continually and importunely urged him, he took the poisoned cup from
+the hands of the boy who brought it to him in his prison-chamber,
+drank it off calmly amid the tears and sobs of surrounding friends,
+walked about till the draught had begun to take effect upon his
+system, and then laid himself down upon his bed, and soon breathed his
+last. Such was the life and such the death of this great man. It has
+been felt as the greatest of all human examples, not only by his own
+countrymen, but by the whole civilized world.
+
+
+SOCRATES AND ARISTODEMUS.
+
+(_By Socrates._)
+
+We will now relate the manner in which Socrates discoursed with
+Aristodemus, surnamed _the Little_, concerning the Deity. For,
+observing that he neither prayed nor sacrificed to the gods nor yet
+consulted any oracle, but, on the contrary, ridiculed and laughed at
+those who did, he said to him:
+
+"Tell me, Aristodemus, is there any man whom you admire on account of
+his merit?"
+
+Aristodemus having answered, "_Many._"--"Name some of them, I pray
+you."
+
+"I admire," said Aristodemus, "Homer for his epic poetry, Melanippides
+for his dithyrambics, Sophocles for tragedy, Polycletes for statuary,
+and Xeuxis for painting."
+
+"But which seems to you most worthy of admiration, Aristodemus--the
+artist who forms images void of motion and intelligence, or one who
+hath the skill to produce animals that are endued, not only with
+activity, but understanding."
+
+"The _latter_, there can be no doubt," replied Aristodemus, "provided
+the production was not the effect of _chance_, but of wisdom and
+contrivance."
+
+"But since there are many things, some of which we can easily see the
+_use_ of, while we can not say of others to what purpose they were
+produced, which of these, Aristodemus, do you suppose the work of
+wisdom?"
+
+"It should seem the most reasonable to affirm it of those whose
+fitness and utility is so evidently apparent."
+
+"But it is evidently apparent, that He, who at the beginning made man,
+endued him with senses _because_ they were _good_ for him; eyes,
+wherewith to behold whatever was visible; and ears, to hear whatever
+was to be heard. For say, Aristodemus, to what purpose should odors be
+prepared, if the sense of smelling had been denied? Or why the
+distinctions of bitter and sweet, of savory and unsavory, unless a
+palate had been likewise given, conveniently placed, to arbitrate
+between them, and declare the difference? Is not that Providence,
+Aristodemus, in a most eminent manner conspicuous, which, because the
+eye of man is so delicate in its contexture, hath therefore prepared
+eyelids like doors, whereby to secure it; which extend of themselves
+whenever it is needful, and again close when sleep approaches? Are not
+these eyelids provided, as it were, with a fence on the edge of them,
+to keep off the wind and guard the eye? Even the eyebrow itself is not
+without office, but, as a penthouse, is prepared to turn off the
+sweat, which, falling from the forehead, might enter and annoy that no
+less _tender_ than _astonishing_ part of us! Is it not to be admired
+that the ears should take in sounds of every sort, and yet are not too
+much filled by them? That the fore-teeth of the animal should be
+formed in such a manner as evidently best suited for the cutting of
+its food, and those on the side for grinding it in pieces? That the
+mouth, through which this food is conveyed, should be placed so near
+the nose and the eyes, as to prevent the passing, _unnoticed_,
+whatever is unfit for nourishment; while Nature, on the contrary, hath
+set at a distance, and concealed from the senses, all that might
+disgust them? And canst thou still doubt, Aristodemus! whether a
+disposition of parts like _this_ should be the work of chance, or of
+wisdom and contrivance?"
+
+"I have no longer any doubt," replied Aristodemus; "and, indeed, the
+more I consider it, the more evident it appears to me, that man must
+be the _masterpiece_ of some great Artificer, carrying along with it
+infinite marks of love and favor of Him who hath thus formed it."
+
+"And what thinkest thou, Aristodemus, of that _desire_ in the
+individual which leads to the continuance of the species? Of that
+tenderness and affection in the female towards her young, so necessary
+for its preservation? Of that unremitted love of life, and dread of
+dissolution, which take such strong possession of us from the moment
+we begin to be?"
+
+"I think of them," answered Aristodemus, "as so many regular
+operations of the same great and wise Artist, deliberately determining
+to _preserve_ what He hath once made."
+
+"But, farther (unless thou desirest to ask me questions), seeing,
+Aristodemus, thou thyself art conscious of reason and intelligence,
+supposest thou there is no intelligence elsewhere? Thou knowest thy
+body to be a small part of that wide-extended earth which thou
+everywhere beholdest; the moisture contained in it, thou also knowest
+to be a small portion of that mighty mass of waters whereof seas
+themselves are but a part, while the rest of the elements contribute,
+out of their abundance, to thy formation. It is the soul, then, alone,
+that intellectual part of us, which is come to _thee_ by some lucky
+chance, from I know not where. If so be, there is indeed no
+intelligence elsewhere; and we must be forced to confess, that this
+stupendous universe, with all the various bodies contained
+therein--equally amazing, whether we consider their magnitude or
+number, whatever their use, whatever their order--_all_ have been
+produced, not by _intelligence_, but _chance_!"
+
+"It is with difficulty that I can suppose otherwise," returned
+Aristodemus, "for I behold none of those gods, whom you speak of as
+_making_ and _governing_ all things, whereas I see the artists when at
+their work here among us."
+
+"Neither yet seest thou thy soul, Aristodemus, which, however, most
+assuredly _governs_ thy body: although it may well seem, by thy manner
+of talking, that it is _chance_, and not _reason_, which governs
+thee."
+
+"I do not despise the gods," said Aristodemus; "on the contrary, I
+conceive so highly of their excellence, as to suppose they stand in no
+need of either me or of my services."
+
+"Thou mistakest the matter, Aristodemus; the greater magnificence they
+have shown in their care of _thee_, so much the more honor and service
+thou owest them."
+
+"Be assured," said Aristodemus, "if I once could be persuaded the gods
+took care of man, I should want no monitor to remind me of my duty."
+
+"And canst thou doubt, Aristodemus, if the gods take care of man? Hath
+not the glorious privilege of walking upright been _alone_ bestowed on
+him, whereby he may, with the better advantage, survey what is around
+him, contemplate, with more ease, those splendid objects which are
+above, and avoid the numerous ills and inconveniences which would
+otherwise befall him? Other animals, indeed, they have provided with
+feet, by which they may remove from one place to another; but to _man_
+they have also given _hands_, with which he can form many things for
+his use, and make himself happier than creatures of any other kind. A
+tongue hath been bestowed on every other animal, but what animal,
+except man, hath the power of forming words with it, whereby to
+explain his thoughts, and make them intelligible to others? And to
+show that the gods have had regard to his very _pleasures_, they have
+not limited them, like those of other animals, to _times_ and seasons,
+but man is left to indulge in them whenever not hurtful to him.
+
+"But it is not with respect to the body alone that the gods have shown
+themselves thus bountiful to man! Their most excellent gift is that
+_soul_ they have infused into him, which so far surpasses what is
+elsewhere to be found. For, by what animal, except man, is even the
+_existence_ of those gods discovered, who have _produced_, and still
+_uphold_, in such regular order, this beautiful and stupendous frame
+of the universe? What other species of creatures are to be found that
+can serve, that can adore them? What other animal is able, like man,
+to provide against the assaults of heat and cold, of thirst and
+hunger? That can lay up remedies for the time of sickness and improve
+the strength nature hath given by a well-proportioned exercise? That
+can receive, like him, information and instruction, or so happily keep
+in memory what he hath seen, and heard, and learnt? These things being
+so, who seeth not that man is, as it were, _a god_ in the midst of
+this visible creation; so far doth he surpass, whether in the
+endowments of soul or body, all animals whatsoever that have been
+produced therein! For, if the _body_ of the _ox_ had been joined to
+the _mind_ of _man_, the acuteness of the latter would have stood him
+in small stead, while unable to execute the well-designed plan; nor
+would the _human_ form have been of more use to the brute, so long as
+it remained destitute of understanding! But in thee, Aristodemus, hath
+been joined to a wonderful _soul_, a body no less wonderful, and
+sayest thou, after _this_, 'the gods take no thought for me!' What
+wouldst thou, then, more to convince thee of their care?"
+
+"I would they should send, and inform me," said Aristodemus, "what
+things I _ought_ or _ought not_ to do in like manner as thou sayest
+they frequently do to thee."
+
+"And what then, Aristodemus! Supposest thou, that when the gods give
+out some oracle to _all_ the Athenians, they mean it not for _thee_?
+If, by their prodigies, they declare aloud to all Greece--to _all_
+mankind--the things which shall befall them, are they dumb to _thee_
+alone? And art _thou_ the only person whom they have placed beyond
+their care? Believest thou they would have wrought into the mind of
+man a persuasion of their being _able_ to make him happy or miserable,
+if so be they had no such _power_? or would not even man himself, long
+ere this, have seen through the gross delusion? How is it,
+Aristodemus, thou rememberest, or remarkest not, that the kingdoms and
+commonwealths most renowned as well for their _wisdom_ as antiquity,
+are those whose piety and devotion hath been the most observable? And
+why thinkest thou that the providence of God may not easily extend
+itself throughout the whole universe? As, therefore, among men, we
+make best trial of the affection and gratitude of our neighbor, by
+showing him kindness, and discover his wisdom, by consulting him in
+our distress; do thou, in like manner, behave towards the gods, and,
+if thou wouldst experience what their wisdom, and what their love,
+render thyself deserving the communication of some of those divine
+secrets which may not be perpetrated by man, and are imparted to those
+alone who consult, who adore, who obey the Deity. Then shalt thou, my
+Aristodemus, understand there is a Being whose eye pierceth throughout
+all nature, and whose ear is open to every sound; _extended_ to all
+places; _extending_ through all time, and whose bounty and care can
+know no other bounds than those fixed by his own creation!"
+
+By this discourse, and others of the like nature, Socrates taught his
+friends that they were not only to forbear whatever was impious,
+unjust, or unbecoming before _men;_ but even, when alone, they ought
+to have a regard to their actions; since the gods have their eyes
+continually upon us, and none of our designs can be concealed from
+them.
+
+
+EURIPIDES.
+
+Euripides flourished about 450 B.C.; was born 480 B.C. He spent his
+youth in the highest mental and physical training. He was a native of
+Athens, and enjoyed the most glorious days of her annals, being
+brought in direct connection with AEschylus and Sophocles, and in his
+older days was a pupil of Socrates.
+
+In comparing Euripides and the other two masters in Grecian tragedy,
+it may be said that he ranks first in tragic representation and
+effect; Sophocles first in dramatic symmetry and ornament; AEschylus
+first in poetic vigor and grandeur. AEschylus was the most sublime;
+Sophocles the most beautiful; Euripides the most pathetic. The first
+displays the lofty intellect; the second exercises the cultivated
+taste; the third indulges the feeling heart. Each, as it were, shows a
+fine piece of sculpture. In AEschylus, it is a naked hero, with all the
+strength, boldness, and dignity of olden time. In Sophocles and
+Euripides, it may be perhaps the same hero; but with the former, he
+has put on the flowing robes, the elegant address, and the soft
+urbanity of a polished age; with the latter, he is yielding to some
+melancholy emotion, ever heedless of his posture or gait, and casting
+his unvalued drapery negligently about him. They have been compared by
+an illustration from another art: "The sublime and daring AEschylus
+resembles some strong and impregnable castle situated on a rock, whose
+martial grandeur awes the beholder--its battlements defended by
+heroes, and its gates proudly hung with trophies." Sophocles appears
+with splendid dignity, like some imperial palace of richest
+architecture; the symmetry of the parts and the chaste magnificence of
+the whole delight the eye and command the approbation of the judgment.
+The pathetic and moral Euripides has the solemnity of a Gothic temple,
+whose storied windows admit a dim religious light, enough to show its
+high embowed roof, and the monuments of the dead which rise in every
+part, impressing our minds with pity and terror as emblems of the
+uncertain and short duration of human greatness, and with an awful
+sense of our own mortality.
+
+
+ARISTOPHANES.
+
+Very little is known about the life of Aristophanes. He was born about
+444 B.C., and devoted himself to comic poetry. He wrote fifty-four
+plays, of which eleven are extant.
+
+The comedies of Aristophanes are universally regarded as the standard
+of Attic writing in its greatest purity. His genius was vast,
+versatile, and original, and his knowledge of human nature surpassed
+by Homer and Shakspeare alone.
+
+The noble tone of morals, the elevated taste, the sound political
+wisdom, the boldness and acuteness of the satire, the grand object,
+which is seen throughout, of correcting the follies of the day, and
+improving the condition of his country--all these are features in
+Aristophanes, which, however disguised, as they intentionally are, by
+coarseness and buffoonery, entitle him to the highest respect from
+every reader of antiquity. He condescended, indeed, to play the part
+of jester to the Athenian tyrant. But his jests were the vehicles for
+telling to them the soundest truths. They were never without a far
+higher aim than to raise a momentary laugh. He was no farce writer,
+but a deep philosophical politician; grieved and ashamed at the
+condition of his country, and through the stage, the favorite
+amusement of Athenians, aiding to carry on the one great common work,
+which Plato proposed in his dialogues, and in which all the better and
+nobler spirits of the time seem to have concurred as by a
+confederacy--the reformation of an atrocious democracy. There is as
+much system in the comedies of Aristophanes as in the dialogues of
+Plato. Every part of a vitiated public mind is exposed in its turn.
+Its demagogues in the Knights, its courts of justice in the Wasps, its
+foreign policy in the Acharnians, its tyranny over the allies in the
+Birds, the state of female society in the Sysistrate and the
+Ecclesiazusae, and its corrupt poetical taste in the Frogs. No one play
+is without its definite object; and the state of national education,
+as the greatest cause of all, is laid open in the Clouds. Whatever
+light is thrown, by that admirable play, upon the character of
+Socrates, and the position which he occupies in the Platonic
+Dialogues--a point, it may be remarked, on which the greatest mistakes
+are daily made--it is chiefly valuable as exhibiting, in a short but
+very complete analysis, and by a number of fine Rembrandt-like
+strokes, not any of which must be overlooked, all the features of that
+frightful school of sophistry, which at that time was engaged
+systematically in corrupting the Athenian youth, and against which the
+whole battery of Plato was pointedly directed.
+
+
+PLATO.
+
+Plato was born in the year 429 B.C., and died when he was eighty-two
+years old, on his birthday. He was a pupil of Socrates, the first and
+purest of moral philosophers. By the rare union of a brilliant
+imagination with a fondness for severe mathematical studies and
+profound metaphysical investigations; by extensive foreign travel; by
+familiar intercourse with the most enlightened men of his time,
+particularly Socrates, whose instructive conversations he attended for
+eight years, as well as by the correspondence which he maintained with
+the Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia, this great philosopher came to
+surpass all others in the vastness and profoundness of his views, and
+in the correctness and eloquence with which he expressed them; while
+his pure moral character entitled him to take his place by the side of
+Socrates. Socrates once said, "For what higher reward could a teacher
+ask than to have such pupils as Xenophon and Plato?"
+
+The object of Plato was evidently the noble one of placing before man
+a high intellectual, and consequently, by implication, a high moral
+standard as the end and object of his aspirations; to encourage his
+efforts after the true, the pure, the beautiful, and the virtuous,
+knowing that the character would be purified in the endeavor, and that
+the consciousness of the progress made, step by step, would be of
+itself a reward. The object of science was, as he taught, the true,
+the eternal, the immutable, that which is; in one alone could these
+attributes be found united--that is God. Man's duty, then, according
+to the Platonic system is to know God and His attributes, and to aim
+at being under the practical influence of this knowledge. This the
+Christian is taught, but much more simply and plainly, to know God,
+and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, and to propose to himself a
+perfect standard, to be perfect even as his Father in heaven is
+perfect, and to look forward, by that help which Plato had no warrant
+to look for, to attain the perfect measure of the fulness of Christ.
+Although Plato believed and taught that man ought to strive after and
+devote himself to the contemplation of the One, the Eternal, the
+Infinite, he was humbly conscious that no one could attain to the
+perfection of such knowledge; that it is too wonderful and excellent
+for human powers. Man's incapacity for apprehending this knowledge he
+attributed to the soul, during his present state of existence, being
+cramped and confined by its earthly tabernacle.
+
+Plato defined virtue to be the imitation of God, or the free effort of
+man to attain to a resemblance to his original, or, in other terms, a
+unison and harmony of all our principles and actions according to
+reason, whence results the highest degree of happiness. Evil is
+opposed to this harmony as a disease of the soul. Virtue is _one_,
+indeed, but compounded of four elements--_wisdom_, _courage_,
+_temperance_, and _justice_. In his practical philosophy he blended a
+rigid principle of moral obligation with a spirit of gentleness and
+humanity; and education he described as a liberal cultivation and
+moral discipline of the mind. Politics he defined to be the
+application, on a great scale, of the laws of morality; for a society,
+being composed of individuals, is under similar moral obligations, and
+the end of politics to be liberty and concord. Beauty he considered to
+be the sensible representation of moral and physical perfection;
+consequently it is one with truth and goodness, and inspires love,
+which leads to virtue.
+
+Would that many so-called Christian legislators and Christian people
+would go to this "heathen" philosopher and learn of him--learn that to
+do right is always and ever the highest safety, the highest
+expediency, the highest "conservatism," the highest good!
+
+How beautifully Akenside expresses this:--
+
+ "Thus was beauty sent from heaven,
+ The lovely ministress of truth and good,
+ In this dark world: for TRUTH AND GOOD ARE ONE,
+ AND BEAUTY DWELLS IN THEM, AND THEY IN HER,
+ WITH LIKE PARTICIPATION. Wherefore, then,
+ O sons of earth! would ye dissolve the tie?
+ O wherefore, with a rash, impetuous aim,
+ Seek ye those flowery joys with which the hand
+ Of lavish fancy paints each flattering scene
+ Where beauty _seems_ to dwell, nor once inquire
+ Where is the sanction of eternal truth,
+ Or where the seal of undeceitful good,
+ To save your search from folly! wanting these,
+ Lo! beauty withers in your void embrace,
+ And with the glittering of an idiot's toy
+ Did fancy mock your vows."
+
+
+THE PERFECT BEAUTY.
+
+(_By Plato._)
+
+"He who aspires to love rightly, ought from his earliest youth to seek
+an intercourse with beautiful forms, and first to make a single form
+the object of his love, and therein to generate intellectual
+excellencies. He ought, then, to consider that beauty in whatever form
+it resides is the brother of that beauty which subsists in another
+form; and if he ought to pursue that which is beautiful in form, it
+would be absurd to imagine that beauty is not one and the same thing
+in all forms, and would therefore remit much of his ardent preference
+towards one, through his perception of the multitude of claims upon
+his love. In addition, he would consider the beauty which is in souls
+more excellent than that which is in form. So that one endowed with an
+admirable soul, even though the flower of the form were withered,
+would suffice him as the object of his love and care, and the
+companion with whom he might seek and produce such conclusions as tend
+to the improvement of youth; so that it might be led to observe the
+beauty and the conformity which there is in the observation of its
+duties and the laws, and to esteem little the mere beauty of the
+outward form. He would then conduct his pupil to science, so that he
+might look upon the loveliness of wisdom; and that contemplating thus
+the universal beauty, no longer would he unworthily and meanly enslave
+himself to the attractions of one form in love, nor one subject of
+discipline or science, but would turn towards the wide ocean of
+intellectual beauty, and from the sight of the lovely and majestic
+forms which it contains, would abundantly bring forth his conceptions
+in philosophy; until, strengthened and confirmed, he should at length
+steadily contemplate one science which is the science of this
+universal beauty.
+
+ [Illustration: FROM ANCIENT SCULPTURING.]
+
+"Attempt, I entreat you, to mark what I say with as keen an
+observation as you can. He who has been disciplined to this point in
+love, by contemplating beautiful objects gradually, and in their
+order, now arriving at the end of all that concerns love, on a sudden
+beholds a beauty wonderful in its nature. This is it, O Socrates, for
+the sake of which all the former labors were endured. It is eternal,
+unproduced, indestructible; neither subject to increase nor decay;
+not, like other things, partly beautiful and partly deformed; not at
+one time beautiful and at another time not; not beautiful in relation
+to one thing and deformed in relation to another; not here beautiful
+and there deformed; not beautiful in the estimation of one person and
+deformed in that of another; nor can this supreme beauty be figured to
+the imagination like a beautiful face, or beautiful hands, or any
+portion of the body, nor like any discourse, nor any science. Nor does
+it subsist in any other that lives or is, either in earth, or in
+heaven, or in any other place; but it is eternally uniform and
+consistent, and monoeidic with itself. All other things are beautiful
+through a participation of it, with this condition, that although they
+are subject to production and decay, it never becomes more or less, or
+endures any change. When any one, ascending from a correct system of
+love, begins to contemplate this supreme beauty, he already touches
+the consummation of his labor. For such as discipline themselves upon
+this system, or are conducted by another beginning to ascend through
+these transitory objects which are beautiful, towards that which is
+beauty itself, proceeding as on steps from the love of one form to
+that of two, and from that of two, to that of all forms which are
+beautiful; and from beautiful forms to beautiful habits and
+institutions, and from institutions to beautiful doctrines; until,
+from the meditation of many doctrines, they arrive at that which is
+nothing else than the doctrine of the supreme beauty itself, in the
+knowledge and contemplation of which at length they repose.
+
+"Such a life as this, my dear Socrates," exclaimed the stranger
+Prophetess, "spent in the contemplation of the beautiful, is the life
+for men to live; which, if you chance ever to experience, you will
+esteem far beyond gold and rich garments, and even those lovely
+persons whom you and many others now gaze on with astonishment, and
+are prepared neither to eat nor drink so that you may behold and live
+forever with these objects of your love! What, then, shall we imagine
+to be the aspect of the supreme beauty itself, simple, pure,
+uncontaminated with the intermixture of human flesh and colors, and
+all other idle and unreal shapes attendant on mortality; the divine,
+the original, the supreme, the monoeidic beautiful itself? What must
+be the life of him who dwells with and gazes on that which it becomes
+us all to seek? Think you not that to him alone is accorded the
+prerogative of bringing forth, not images and shadows of virtue, for
+he is in contact not with a shadow but with reality; with virtue
+itself, in the production and nourishment of which he becomes dear to
+the gods, and if such a privilege is conceded to any human being,
+himself immortal?"--_From the Banquet, translated by the poet
+Shelley._
+
+
+THE LAST HOURS OF SOCRATES.
+
+(_By Plato._)
+
+"When the dead arrive at the place to which their demon leads them
+severally, first of all they are judged, as well those who have lived
+well and piously, as those who have not. And those who appear to have
+passed a middle kind of life, proceeding to Acheron, and embarking in
+the vessels they have, on these arrive at the lake, and there dwell,
+and when they are purified, and have suffered punishment for the
+iniquities they may have committed, they are set free, and each
+receives the reward of his good deeds, according to his deserts; but
+those who appear to be incurable, through the magnitude of their
+offences, either from having committed many and great sacrileges, or
+many unjust and lawless murders, or other similar crimes, these a
+suitable destiny hurls into Tartarus, whence they never come forth.
+But those who appear to have been guilty of curable, yet great
+offences, such as those who through anger have committed any violence
+against father or mother, and have lived the remainder of their life
+in a state of penitence, or they who have become homicides in a
+similar manner, these must fall into Tartarus, but after they have
+fallen, and have been there for a year, the wave casts them forth, the
+homicides into Cocytus, but the parricides and matricides into
+Pyriphlegethon; but when, being borne along, they arrive at the
+Acherusian lake, there they cry out to and invoke, some those whom
+they slew, others those whom they injured, and invoking them, they
+entreat and implore them to suffer them to go out into the lake, and
+to receive them, and if they persuade them, they go out, and are freed
+from their sufferings, but if not, they are borne back to Tartarus,
+and thence again into the rivers, and they do not cease from suffering
+this until they have persuaded those whom they have injured; for this
+sentence was imposed upon them by the judges. But those who are found
+to have lived an eminently holy life, these are they, who, being freed
+and set at large from these regions in the earth, as from prison,
+arrive at the pure abode above, and dwell on the upper parts of the
+earth. And among these, they who have sufficiently purified themselves
+by philosophy shall live without bodies, throughout all future time,
+and shall arrive at habitations yet more beautiful than these, which
+it is neither easy to describe, nor at present is there sufficient
+time for the purpose.
+
+"But for the sake of these things which we have described, we should
+use every endeavor, Simmias, so as to acquire virtue and wisdom in
+this life; for the reward is noble, and the hope great.
+
+"To affirm positively, indeed, that these things are exactly as I have
+described them, does not become a man of sense; that however either
+this, or something of the kind, takes place with respect to our souls
+and their habitations--since our soul is certainly immortal--this
+appears to me most fitting to be believed, and worthy the hazard for
+one who trusts in its reality; for the hazard is noble, and it is
+right to allure ourselves with such things, as with enchantments; for
+which reason I have prolonged my story to such a length. On account of
+these things, then, a man ought to be confident about his soul, who
+during this life has disregarded all the pleasures and ornaments of
+the body as foreign from his nature, and who, having thought that they
+do more harm than good, has zealously applied himself to the
+acquirement of knowledge, and who having adorned his soul not with a
+foreign but its own proper ornament, temperance, justice, fortitude,
+freedom, and truth, thus waits for his passage to Hades, as one who is
+ready to depart whenever destiny shall summon him. You then," he
+continued, "Simmias and Cebes, and the rest, will each of you depart
+at some future time; but now destiny summons me, as a tragic writer
+would say, and it is nearly time for me to betake myself to the bath;
+for it appears to me to be better to drink the poison after I have
+bathed myself, and not to trouble the women with washing my dead
+body."
+
+When he had thus spoken, Crito said, "So be it, Socrates; but what
+commands have you to give to these or to me, either respecting your
+children, or any other matter, in attending to which we can most
+oblige you?"
+
+"What I always say, Crito," he replied, "nothing new; that by taking
+care of yourselves you will oblige both me and mine and yourselves,
+whatever you do, though you should not now promise it; but if you
+neglect yourselves, and will not live as it were in the footprints of
+what has been now and formerly said, even though you should promise
+much at present, and that earnestly, you will do no good at all."
+
+"We will endeavor then so to do," he said; "but how shall we bury
+you?"
+
+"Just as you please," he said, "if only you can catch me, and I do not
+escape from you." And at the same time smiling gently, and looking
+round on us, he said, "I can not persuade Crito, my friends, that I am
+that Socrates who is now conversing with you, and who methodizes each
+part of the discourse; but he thinks that I am he whom he will shortly
+behold dead, and asks how he should bury me. But that which I some
+time since argued at length, that when I have drunk the poison I shall
+no longer remain with you, but shall depart to some happy state of the
+blessed, this I seem to have urged to him in vain, though I meant at
+the same time to console both you and myself. Be ye, then, my sureties
+to Crito," he said, "in an obligation contrary to that which he made
+to the judges; for he undertook that I should remain; but do you be
+sureties that, when I die, I shall not remain, but shall depart, that
+Crito may more easily bear it, and when he sees my body either burned
+or buried, may not be afflicted for me, as if I suffered some dreadful
+thing, nor say at my interment that Socrates is laid out, or is
+carried out, or is buried. For be well assured," he said, "most
+excellent Crito, that to speak improperly is not only culpable as to
+the thing itself, but likewise occasions some injury to our souls. You
+must have a good courage, then, and say that you bury my body, and
+bury it in such a manner as is pleasing to you, and as you think is
+most agreeable to our laws."
+
+When he had said this, he rose, and went into a chamber to bathe, and
+Crito followed him, but he directed us to wait for him. We waited,
+therefore, conversing among ourselves about what had been said, and
+considering it again, and sometimes speaking about our calamity, how
+severe it would be to us, sincerely thinking that, like those who are
+deprived of a father, we should pass the rest of our lives as orphans.
+When he had bathed, and his children were brought to him, for he had
+two little sons and one grown up, and the women belonging to his
+family were come, having conversed with them in the presence of Crito,
+and giving them such injunctions as he wished, he directed the women
+and children to go away, and then returned to us. And it was now near
+sunset; for he spent a considerable time within. But when he came from
+bathing he sat down, and did not speak much afterwards. Then the
+officer of the Eleven came in, and, standing near him, said,
+"Socrates, I shall not have to find that fault with you that I do with
+others, that they are angry with me, and curse me, when, by order of
+the archons, I bid them drink the poison. But you, on all other
+occasions during the time you have been here, I have found to be the
+most noble, meek, and excellent man of all that ever came into this
+place; and, therefore, I am now well convinced that you will not be
+angry with me, for you know who are to blame, but with them. Now,
+then, for you know what I came to announce to you, farewell, and
+endeavor to bear what is inevitable as easily as possible." And at the
+same time, bursting into tears he turned away and withdrew.
+
+And Socrates, looking after him, said, "And thou, too, farewell; we
+will do as you direct." At the same time turning to us, he said, "How
+courteous this man is; during the whole time I have been here he has
+visited me, and conversed with me sometimes, and proved the worthiest
+of men; and now how generously he weeps for me. But come, Crito, let
+us obey him, and let some one bring the poison, if it is ready
+pounded, but if not, let the man pound it."
+
+Then Crito said, "But I think, Socrates, that the sun is still on the
+mountains, and has not yet set. Besides, I know that others have drank
+the poison very late, after it had been announced to them, and have
+supped and drank freely. Do not hasten, then, for there is yet time."
+
+Upon this Socrates replied, "These men whom you mention, Crito, do
+these things with good reason, for they think they shall gain by so
+doing, and I, too, with good reason shall not do so; for I think I
+shall gain nothing by drinking a little later, except to become
+ridiculous to myself, in being so fond of life, and sparing of it when
+none any longer remains. Go, then," he said, "obey, and do not
+resist."
+
+Crito having heard this, nodded to the boy that stood near. And the
+boy having gone out, and stayed for some time, came, bringing with him
+the man that was to administer the poison, who brought it ready
+pounded in a cup. And Socrates, on seeing the man, said, "Well, my
+good friend, as you are skilled in these matters, what must I do?"
+
+"Nothing else," he replied, "than, when you have drank it, walk about
+until there is a heaviness in your legs, then lie down: thus it will
+do its purpose." And at the same time he held out the cup to Socrates.
+And he having received it very cheerfully, neither trembling, nor
+changing at all in color or countenance, but, as he was wont, looking
+steadfastly at the man, said, "What say you of this potion, with
+respect to making a libation to any one, is it lawful or not?"
+
+"We only pound so much, Socrates," he said, "as we think sufficient to
+drink."
+
+"I understand you," he said, "but it is certainly both lawful and
+right to pray to the gods that my departure hence thither may be
+happy; which therefore I pray, and so may it be." And as he said this
+he drank it off readily and calmly. Thus far, most of us were with
+difficulty able to restrain ourselves from weeping; but when we saw
+him drinking, and having finished the draught, we could do so no
+longer; but in spite of myself the tears came in full torrent, so
+that, covering my face, I wept for myself, for I did not weep for him,
+but for my own fortune, in being deprived of such a friend. But Crito,
+even before me, when he could not restrain his tears, had risen up.
+But Apollodorus even before this had not ceased weeping, and then
+bursting into an agony of grief, weeping and lamenting, he pierced the
+heart of every one present, except Socrates himself. But he said,
+"What are you doing, my admirable friends? I indeed for this reason
+chiefly, sent away the women, that they might not commit any folly of
+this kind. For I have heard that it is right to die with good omens.
+Be quiet, therefore, and bear up."
+
+When we heard this we were ashamed, and restrained our tears. But he,
+having walked about, when he said that his legs were growing heavy,
+laid down on his back; for the man so directed him. And at the same
+time he who gave him the poison, taking hold of him, after a short
+interval examined his feet and legs; and then having pressed his foot
+hard, he asked if he felt it; he said that he did not. And after this
+he pressed his thighs; and thus going higher, he showed us that he was
+growing cold and stiff. Then Socrates touched himself, and said that
+when the poison reached his heart he should then depart. But now the
+parts around the lower belly were almost cold; when, uncovering
+himself, for he had been covered over, he said, and they were his last
+words, "Crito, we owe a cock to AEsculapius; pay it, therefore, and do
+not neglect it."
+
+"It shall be done," said Crito, "but consider whether you have any
+thing else to say."
+
+To this question he gave no reply, but shortly after he gave a
+convulsive movement, and the man covered him, and his eyes were fixed,
+and Crito, perceiving it, closed his mouth and eyes.
+
+This, Echecrates, was the end of our friend, a man, as we may say, the
+best of all of his time that we have known, and, moreover, the most
+wise and just.
+
+
+DEMOSTHENES.
+
+Demosthenes was born 382 B.C. and died 322 B.C., at the age of sixty.
+His father died when he was but seven years old and left his son a
+large estate, which was squandered by his guardians.
+
+Demosthenes, most happily, was forced to depend upon the resources of
+his own intellect, and determined to devote his life to oratory. He
+chose Isaeus for his master, and though having a weakly constitution,
+and an impediment in his speech, yet by steady, persevering effort,
+and daily practice, he brought himself to address without
+embarrassment, and with complete success, the assembled multitudes of
+the Athenian people. His first attempts at oratory were made to
+vindicate his own claims, and recover the property which his guardians
+had appropriated to themselves. In this he proved entirely successful.
+After this, he displayed his ability as an orator on several public
+occasions, and succeeded by the power of his eloquence in preventing
+the Athenians from engaging in a war with Persia.
+
+ [Illustration: KING PHILIP (_of Macedon_).]
+
+But most of the oratorical efforts of Demosthenes were directed to
+rouse the Athenians from indolence, and to arm them against the
+insidious designs and ambitious schemes of Philip, who, in the year
+358 B.C., began the attack upon the northern maritime allies of
+Athens.
+
+In modern times, Lord Chatham's speech on American affairs, delivered
+in the House of Lords, November 18, 1877; Edmund Burke's, on the
+"Nabob of Arcot's Debts," delivered in the House of Commons, February
+28, 1785; Fisher Ames', on the "British Treaty," delivered in our
+House of Representatives, April 28, 1796; Daniel Webster's, on the
+"Public Lands," delivered in the United States Senate, 1830, and
+Charles Sumner's, on the infamous "Fugitive Slave Bill," delivered in
+the Senate in 1852, will, for effective, brilliant, and logical
+eloquence, rank side by side with the masterly efforts of Demosthenes.
+
+
+PHILIP AND THE ATHENIANS.
+
+(_Oration of Demosthenes._)
+
+If any one of you, Athenians, think that Philip is hard to struggle
+with, considering both the magnitude of the power already to his hand
+and the fact that all the strong places are lost to our state--he
+thinks rightly enough. But let him take this into account: that we
+ourselves, Athenians, once held Pydna, and Potidaea, and Methone, and
+all that country--as it were in our own home-circle; and many of the
+states now under his sway were beginning to be self-ruled and free,
+and preferred to hold friendly relations with us rather than with him.
+Now, then, if Philip had harbored at that time the idea that it was
+hard to struggle with the Athenians when they had such strongholds in
+his country, while he was destitute of allies--he would have effected
+none of those things which he has accomplished, nor would he have ever
+acquired so great power. But he at least knew this well enough,
+Athenians--that all these strongholds are prizes of war open to each
+contestant, and that naturally the possessions of the absent fall to
+those who are on the spot, and the opportunities of the careless are
+seized by those willing to work and to risk. It has been so in his
+case, for, possessed by such sentiments, he has thoroughly subdued and
+now holds all places; some, as one might hold them in his grasp by
+custom of war; others, by having made them allies and friends. No
+wonder; for all are ready to give their heartfelt adherence to those
+whom they see prepared and ready to do what necessity demands.
+
+In like manner, if you, also, Athenians, are now ready to adopt the
+same principle (since, alas! you were not before), and each one of
+you, throwing away all dissimulation, is ready to show himself useful
+to the state, as far as its necessity and his power extend; if each is
+ready to _do_--the rich to contribute, those of serviceable age to
+take the field; in a word, if you choose to be your own masters, and
+each individual ceases to do nothing, hoping that his neighbor will do
+all for him--you will both regain your possessions (with heaven's
+permission) and recover your opportunities recklessly squandered; you
+will take vengeance on HIM.
+
+Do not suppose his present happy fortune immutable--immortal, like a
+god's; on the other hand, some hate him, others fear him, Athenians,
+and envy him, and that, too, in the number of those who seem on
+intimate terms with him; for all those passions that rage in other
+men, we may assume to be hidden in the bosoms of those also that
+surround him. Now, however, all these passions have crouched before
+him, having no escape on account of your laziness and indifference,
+which, I repeat, you ought immediately to abandon. For you see the
+state of things, Athenians, to what a pitch of arrogance he has
+come--this man who gives you no choice to act or to remain quiet, but
+brags about and talks words of overwhelming insolence, as they tell
+us. He is not such a character as to rest with the possessions which
+he has conquered, but is always compassing something else, and at
+every point hedging us, dallying and supine, in narrower and narrower
+circles. When, then, Athenians, when will you do what you ought? As
+soon as something happens? As soon, great Jove! as necessity compels
+you? Why, what does necessity compel you to think now of your deeds?
+In my opinion, the most urgent necessity to freemen is the disgrace
+attendant upon their public policy.
+
+Or do you prefer--tell me, do you prefer to wander about here and
+there, asking in the market-place, "What news? what news?" What can be
+newer than that a Macedonian should crush Athenians in war and lord it
+over all Greece? "Is Philip dead?" "No, by Jove, but he's sick." What
+difference is it to you? what difference? For if anything should
+happen to him, you would quickly raise up another Philip, if you
+manage your public affairs as you now do. For not so much to his own
+strength as to your laziness does he owe his present aggrandizement.
+
+Yet even if anything should happen to him, and fortune begin to favor
+us (for she has always cared for us more kindly than we for
+ourselves); you know that by being nearer to them you could assert
+_your_ power over all these disordered possessions, and could dictate
+what terms you might choose; but as you now act, if some chance should
+give you Amphipolis, you could not take it, so lacking are you in your
+preparations and zeal.
+
+
+MEASURES TO RESIST PHILIP.
+
+(_Oration of Demosthenes._)
+
+Let any one now come forward and tell me by whose contrivance but ours
+Philip has grown strong. Well, sir, this looks bad, but things at home
+are better. What proof can be adduced? The parapets that are
+whitewashed? The roads that are repaired? fountains and fooleries?
+Look at the men of whose statesmanship these are the fruits. They have
+risen from beggary to opulence, or from obscurity to honor; some have
+made their private houses more splendid than the public buildings, and
+in proportion as the state has declined, their fortunes have been
+exalted.
+
+What has produced these results? How is it that all went prosperously
+then, and now goes wrong? Because anciently the people, having the
+courage to be soldiers, controlled the statesmen, and disposed of all
+emoluments; any of the rest was happy to receive from the people his
+share of honor, office, or advantage. Now, contrariwise, the statesmen
+dispose of emoluments; through them everything is done; you, the
+people, enervated, stripped of treasure and allies, are become as
+underlings and hangers-on, happy if these persons dole you out
+show-money or send you paltry beeves; and, the unmanliest part of all,
+you are grateful for receiving your own. They, cooping you in the
+city, lead you to your pleasures, and make you tame and submissive to
+their hands. It is impossible, I say, to have a high and noble spirit,
+while you are engaged in petty and mean employments; whatever be the
+pursuits of men, their characters must be similar. By Ceres, I should
+not wonder if I, for mentioning these things, suffered more from your
+resentment than the men who have brought them to pass. For even
+liberty of speech you allow not on all subjects; I marvel indeed you
+have allowed it here.
+
+Would you but even now, renouncing these practices, perform military
+service and act worthily of yourselves; would you employ these
+domestic superfluities as a means to gain advantage abroad; perhaps,
+Athenians, perhaps you might gain some solid and important advantage,
+and be rid of these perquisites, which are like the diet ordered by
+physicians for the sick. As that neither imparts strength, nor
+suffers the patient to die, so your allowances are not enough to be of
+substantial benefit, nor yet permit you to reject them and turn to
+something else. Thus do they increase the general apathy. What? I
+shall be asked, mean you stipendiary service? Yes, and forthwith the
+same arrangement for all, Athenians, that each, taking his dividend
+from the public, may be what the state requires. Is peace to be had?
+You are better at home, under no compulsion to act dishonorably from
+indigence. Is there such an emergency as the present? Better to be a
+soldier, as you ought, in your country's cause, maintained by those
+very allowances. Is any one of you beyond the military age? What he
+now irregularly takes without doing service, let him take by just
+regulation, superintending and transacting needful business. Thus,
+without derogating from or adding to our political system, only
+removing some irregularity, I bring it into order, establishing a
+uniform rule for receiving money, for serving in war, for sitting on
+juries, for doing what each, according to his age, can do, and what
+occasion requires. I never advise we should give to idlers the wages
+of the diligent, or sit at leisure, passive and helpless, to hear that
+such a one's mercenaries are victorious, as we now do. Not that I
+blame any one who does you a service; I only call upon you, Athenians,
+to perform upon your own account those duties for which you honor
+strangers, and not to surrender that post of dignity which, won
+through many glorious dangers, your ancestors have bequeathed.
+
+I have said nearly all that I think necessary. I trust you will adopt
+that course which is best for the country and yourselves.
+
+
+FORMER ATHENIANS DESCRIBED.
+
+(_By Demosthenes._)
+
+I ask you, Athenians, to see how it was in the time of your ancestors;
+for by domestic (not foreign) examples you may learn your lesson of
+duty. Themistocles who commanded in the sea-fight at Salamis, and
+Miltiades who led at Marathon, and many others, who performed services
+unlike the generals of the present day--assuredly they were not set up
+in brass nor overvalued by our forefathers, who honored them, but only
+as persons on a level with themselves. Your forefathers, O my
+countrymen, surrendered not their part to any of those glories. There
+is no man who will attribute the victory of Salamis to Themistocles,
+but to the Athenians; nor the battle of Marathon to Miltiades, but to
+the republic. But now people say that Timotheus took Corcyra, and
+Iphicrates cut off the Spartan division, and Chabrias won the naval
+victory at Naxos; for you seem to resign the merit of these actions,
+by the extravagance of the honors which you have bestowed on their
+account upon each of the commanders.
+
+So wisely did the Athenians of that day confer political rewards; so
+improperly do you. But how the rewards of foreigners? To Menon the
+Pharsalian, who gave twelve talents in money for the war at Eion by
+Amphipolis, and assisted them with two hundred horsemen of his own
+retainers, the Athenians then voted not the freedom of their city, but
+only granted immunity from imposts. And in earlier times to Perdiccas,
+who reigned in Macedonia during the invasion of the Barbarian--when he
+had destroyed the Persians who retreated from Plataea after their
+defeat, and completed the disaster of the King--they voted not the
+freedom of their city, but only granted immunity from imposts;
+doubtless esteeming their country to be of high value, honor, and
+dignity, surpassing all possible obligation. But now, ye men of
+Athens, ye adopt the vilest of mankind, menials and the sons of
+menials, to be your citizens, receiving a price as for any other
+salable commodity. And you have fallen into such a practice, not
+because your natures are inferior to your ancestors, but because they
+were in a condition to think highly of themselves, while from you, men
+of Athens, this power is taken away. It can never be, methinks, that
+your spirit is generous and noble, while you are engaged in petty and
+mean employments; no more than you can be abject and mean-spirited,
+while your actions are honorable and glorious. Whatever be the
+pursuits of men their sentiments must necessarily be similar.
+
+Mark what a summary view may be taken of the deeds performed by your
+ancestors and by you. Possibly from such comparison you may rise
+superior to yourselves. They for a period of five and forty years took
+the lead of the Greeks by general consent, and carried up more than
+ten thousand talents into the citadel; and many glorious trophies they
+erected for victories by land and sea, wherein even yet we take a
+pride. And remember, they erected these, not merely that we may survey
+them with admiration, but, also, that we may emulate the virtues of
+the dedicators. Such was their conduct; but for ours--fallen as we
+have on a solitude manifest to you all--look if it bears any
+resemblance. Have not more than fifteen hundred talents been lavished
+ineffectually on the distressed people of Greece? Have not all private
+fortunes, the revenues of the state, the contributions from our
+allies, been squandered? Have not the allies, whom we gained in the
+war, been lost recently in the peace? But forsooth, in these respects
+only was it better anciently than now, in other respects worse. Very
+far from that! Let us examine what instances you please. The edifices
+which they left, the ornaments of the city in temples, harbors, and
+the like, were so magnificent and beautiful, that room is not left
+for any succeeding generation to surpass them; yonder gateway, the
+Parthenon, docks, porticos, and others structures, which they adorned
+the city withal and bequeathed to us. The private houses of the men in
+power were so modest and in accordance with the name of the
+constitution, that if any one knows the style of house which
+Themistocles occupied, or Cimon, or Aristides, or Miltiades, and the
+illustrious of that day, he perceives it to be no grander than that of
+the neighbors. But now, ye men of Athens--as regards public
+measures--our government is content to furnish roads, fountains,
+whitewashing, and trumpery; not that I blame the authors of these
+works; far otherwise; I blame you, if you suppose that such measures
+are all you have to execute. As regards individual conduct--your men
+in office have (some of them) made their private houses, not only more
+ostentatious than the multitude, but more splendid than the public
+buildings; others are farming land which they have purchased of such
+an extent as once they never hoped for in a dream.
+
+The cause of this difference is, that formerly the people were lords
+and masters of all; any individual citizen was glad to receive from
+them his share of honor, office, or profit. Now, on the contrary,
+these persons are the disposers of emoluments; everything is done by
+their agency; the people are treated as underlings and dependents, and
+you are happy to take what these men allow you for your portion.
+
+
+ORATION ON THE CROWN.
+
+(_By Demosthenes._)
+
+Let me begin, men of Athens, by imploring, of all the Heavenly Powers,
+that the same kindly sentiments which I have, throughout my public
+life, cherished towards this country and each one of you, may now by
+you be shown towards me in the present contest! In two respects my
+adversary plainly has the advantage of me. First, we have not the same
+interests at stake; it is by no means the same thing for me to forfeit
+your esteem, and for AEschines, an unprovoked volunteer, to fail in his
+impeachment. My other disadvantage is, the natural proneness of men to
+lend a pleased attention to invective and accusation, but to give
+little heed to him whose theme is his own vindication. To my
+adversary, therefore, falls the part which ministers to your
+gratification, while to me there is only left that which, I may almost
+say, is distasteful to all. And yet, if I do not speak of myself and
+my own conduct, I shall appear defenseless against his charges, and
+without proof that my honors were well earned. This, therefore, I must
+do; but it shall be with moderation. And bear in mind that the blame
+of my dwelling on personal topics must justly rest upon him who has
+instituted this personal impeachment.
+
+At least, my judges, you will admit that this question concerns me as
+much as Ctesiphon, and justifies on my part an equal anxiety. To be
+stripped of any possession, and more especially by an enemy, is
+grievous to bear, but to be robbed of your confidence and esteem--of
+all possessions the most precious--is indeed intolerable. Such, then,
+being my stake in this cause, I conjure you all to give ear to my
+defense against these charges, with that impartiality which the laws
+enjoin--those laws first given by Solon, and which he fixed, not only
+by engraving them on brazen tables, but by the sanction of the oaths
+you take when sitting in judgment; because he perceived that, the
+accuser being armed with the advantage of speaking first, the accused
+can have no chance of resisting his charges, unless you, his judges,
+keeping the oath sworn before Heaven, shall receive with favor the
+defense which comes last, and, lending an equal ear to both parties,
+shall thus make up your minds upon the whole of the case.
+
+
+CICERO.
+
+Cicero, taken all in all, for his eloquence, for his learning, for his
+true patriotism, for the profound and ennobling views he has left us
+in his critical, oratorical and philosophical writings, as well as for
+his purity in all the domestic relations of life, in the midst of
+almost universal profligacy, stands forth upon the page of history as
+one of the very brightest names the ancients have left us. He was
+probably distinguished most as an orator, in which character he is
+most generally known, though as a general scholar and statesman he was
+almost without a peer. He was born on the third of January, 106 B.C.
+His father was a member of the Equestrian order, and lived in easy
+circumstances near Arpinum, but afterwards removed to Rome for the
+purpose of educating his sons, Marcus and Quintus. The very best
+teachers were procured for them. Almost immediately after his
+schooling he was promoted, and rose from one station of honor and
+distinction to another.
+
+It may be doubted whether any individual ever rose to power by more
+virtuous and truly honorable conduct, and the integrity of his public
+life was only equaled by the purity of his private morals. But as his
+history is taught to our school boys and his orations read in their
+original language, we will not lengthen our remarks. The following are
+his works. They are numerous and diversified, but may be arranged
+under five separate heads: 1. _Philosophical Works._ 2. _Speeches._ 3.
+_Correspondence._ 4. _Poems._ 5. _Historical and Miscellaneous Works._
+The following are the most important:
+
+First, his _Philosophical Works_, 1. _De Inventione Rhetorica_, "On
+the Rhetorical Art;" intended to exhibit, in a compendious form, all
+that are most valuable in the works of the Grecian rhetoricians. 2.
+_De Partitione Oratorio Dialogus_, "A Dialogue on the several
+Divisions of Rhetoric," a sort of catechism of rhetoric. 3. _De
+Oratore_, "On the True Orator," a systematic work on the art of
+oratory. This is one of his most brilliant efforts, and so accurately
+finished in its minute parts, that it may be regarded as a masterpiece
+of skill in all that relates to the graces of style and composition.
+4. _Brutus: de claris Oratoribus._ This is in the form of a dialogue,
+and contains a complete critical history of Roman eloquence. 5.
+_Orator_, "The Orator," addressed to Marcus Brutus, giving his views
+as to what constitutes a perfect orator. 6. _De Republica_, "On the
+Republic," in six books, designed to show the best form of government
+and the duty of the citizen; but a considerable portion of this is
+lost. 7. _De Officiis_; a treatise on moral obligations, viewed not so
+much with reference to a metaphysical investigation of the basis on
+which they rest, as to the practical business of the world, and the
+intercourse of social and political life. This is one of his most
+precious legacies. 8. _De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum_, "On the Ends of
+Good and Evil," a series of dialogues dedicated to M. Brutus, in which
+the opinions of the Grecian schools, especially of the Epicureans, the
+Stoics, and the Peripatetics, on the Supreme Good, the _Summum Bonum_,
+that is, the _finis_, "the end."
+
+ [Illustration: AUGUSTUS CAESAR. (_Found at Pompeii._)]
+
+
+INVECTIVE AGAINST CATILINE.
+
+(_By Cicero._)
+
+How long, O Catiline, wilt thou abuse our patience? How long shalt
+thou baffle justice in thy mad career? To what extreme wilt thou carry
+thy audacity? Art thou nothing daunted by the nightly watch, posted to
+secure the Palatium? Nothing, by the city guards! Nothing, by the
+rally of all good citizens? Nothing, by the assembling of the senate
+in this fortified place? Nothing, by the averted looks of all here
+present? Seest thou not that all thy plots are exposed?--that thy
+wretched conspiracy is laid bare to every man's knowledge, here in the
+senate?--that we are well aware of thy proceedings of last night; of
+the night before; the place, of meeting, the company convoked, the
+measures concerted? Alas, the times! Alas, the public morals! The
+senate understands all this. The Consul sees it. Yet the traitor
+lives! Lives? Ay, truly, and confronts us here in council; takes part
+in our deliberations; and, with his measuring eye, marks out each man
+of us for slaughter! And we, all this while, strenuous that we are,
+think we have amply discharged our duty to the state, if we but _shun_
+this madman's sword and fury!
+
+Long since, O Catiline, ought the Consul to have ordered thee to
+execution, and brought upon thy own head the ruin thou hast been
+meditating against others! There was that virtue once in Rome, that a
+wicked citizen was held more execrable than the deadliest foe. We have
+a law still, Catiline, for thee. Think not that we are powerless
+because forbearing. We have a decree--though it rests among our
+archives like a sword in its scabbard--a decree by which thy life
+would be made to pay the forfeit of thy crimes. And, should I order
+thee to be instantly seized and put to death, I make just doubt
+whether all good men would not think it done rather too late, than any
+man too cruelly. But, for good reasons, I will yet defer the blow,
+long since deserved. _Then_ will I doom thee, when no man is found so
+lost, so wicked, nay, so like thyself, but shall confess that it was
+justly dealt. While there is one man that dares defend thee, live! But
+thou shalt live so beset, so surrounded, so scrutinized, by the
+vigilant guards that I have placed around thee, that thou shalt not
+stir a foot against the Republic without my knowledge. There shall be
+eyes to detect thy slightest movement, and ears to catch thy wariest
+whisper, of which thou shalt not dream. The darkness of night shall
+not cover thy treason--the walls of privacy shall not stifle its
+voice. Baffled on all sides, thy most secret counsels clear as
+noon-day, what canst thou now have in view? Proceed, plot, conspire,
+as thou wilt; there is nothing you can contrive, nothing you can
+propose, nothing you can attempt which I shall not know, hear, and
+promptly understand. Thou shalt soon be made aware that I am even more
+active in providing for the preservation of the state than thou in
+plotting its destruction!--_First Oration._
+
+
+EXPULSION OF CATILINE FROM ROME.
+
+(_By Cicero._)
+
+At length, Romans, we are rid of Catiline! We have driven him forth,
+drunk with fury, breathing mischief, threatening to revisit us with
+fire and sword. He is gone; he is fled; he has escaped; he has broken
+away. No longer, within the very walls of the city, shall he plot her
+ruin. We have forced him from secret plots into open rebellion. The
+bad citizen is now the avowed traitor. His flight is the confession of
+his treason! Would that his attendants had not been so few! Be speedy,
+ye companions of his dissolute pleasures; be speedy, and you may
+overtake him before night, on the Aurelian road. Let him not languish,
+deprived of your society. Haste to join the congenial crew that
+compose his army; _his_ army, I say--for who doubts that the army
+under Manlius expect Catiline for their leader? And such an army!
+Outcasts from honor, and fugitives from debt; gamblers and felons;
+miscreants, whose dreams are of rapine, murder, and conflagration!
+
+Against these gallant troops of your adversary, prepare, O Romans,
+your garrisons and armies; and first to that maimed and battered
+gladiator oppose your consuls and generals; next, against that
+miserable, outcast horde, lead forth the strength and flower of all
+Italy! On the one side, chastity contends; on the other wantonness;
+here purity, there pollution; here integrity, there treachery; here
+piety, there profaneness; here constancy, there rage; here honesty,
+there baseness; here continence, there lust; in short, equity,
+temperance, fortitude, prudence, struggle with iniquity, luxury,
+cowardice, rashness; every virtue with every vice; and, lastly, the
+contest lies between well-grounded hope and absolute despair. In such
+a conflict, were even human aid to fail, would not the immortal gods
+empower such conspicuous virtue to triumph over such complicated
+vice?--_Second Oration._
+
+
+THE TYRANT PRAETOR DENOUNCED.
+
+(_By Cicero._)
+
+An opinion has long prevailed, fathers, that, in public prosecutions,
+men of wealth, however clearly convicted, are always safe. This
+opinion, so injurious to your order, so detrimental to the state, is
+now in your power to refute. A man is on trial before you who is rich,
+and who hopes his riches will compass his acquittal, but whose life
+and actions are sufficient condemnation in the eyes of all candid men.
+I speak of Caius Verres, who, if he now receive not the sentence his
+crimes deserve, it shall not be through the lack of a criminal or of a
+prosecutor, but through the failure of the ministers of justice to do
+their duty. Passing over the shameful irregularities of his youth,
+what does the quaestorship of Verres exhibit but one continued scene of
+villainies? The public treasure squandered, a Consul stripped and
+betrayed, an army deserted and reduced to want, a province robbed, the
+civil and religious rights of a people trampled on! But his
+praaetorship in Sicily has crowned his career of wickedness, and
+completed the lasting monument of his infamy. His decisions have
+violated all law, all precedent, all right. His extortions from the
+industrious poor have been beyond computation. Our most faithful
+allies have been treated as enemies. Roman citizens have, like slaves,
+been put to death with tortures. Men the most worthy have been
+condemned and banished without a hearing, while the most atrocious
+criminals have, with money, purchased exemption from the punishment
+due to their guilt.
+
+I ask now, Verres, what have you to advance against these charges? Art
+thou not the tyrant praetor, who, at no greater distance than Sicily,
+within sight of the Italian coast, dared to put to an infamous death,
+on the cross, that ill-fated and innocent citizen, Publius Gavius
+Cosanus? And what was his offense? He had declared his intention of
+appealing to the justice of his country against your brutal
+persecutions! For this, when about to embark for home, he was seized,
+brought before you, charged with being a spy, scourged and tortured.
+In vain did he exclaim: "I am a Roman citizen! I have served under
+Lucius Pretius, who is now at Panormus, and who will attest my
+innocence!" Deaf to all remonstrance, remorseless, thirsting for
+innocent blood, you ordered the savage punishment to be inflicted!
+While the sacred words, "I am a Roman citizen," were on his
+lips--words which, in the remotest regions, are a passport to
+protection--you ordered him to death, to a death upon the cross!
+
+O liberty! O sound once delightful to every Roman ear! O sacred
+privilege of Roman citizenship! once sacred--now trampled on! Is it
+come to this? Shall an inferior magistrate--a governor, who holds his
+whole power of the Roman people--in a Roman province, within sight of
+Italy, bind, scourge, torture, and put to an infamous death, a Roman
+citizen? Shall neither the cries of innocence expiring in agony, the
+tears of pitying spectators, the majesty of the Roman commonwealth,
+nor the fear of the justice of this country, restrain the merciless
+monster, who, in the confidence of his riches, strikes at the very
+root of liberty, and sets mankind at defiance? And shall this man
+escape? Fathers, it must not be! It must not be, unless you would
+undermine the very foundations of social safety, strangle justice, and
+call down anarchy, massacre and ruin on the commonwealth.--_Oration
+against Verres._
+
+
+ADVANTAGES OF AGE.
+
+(_By Cicero._)
+
+Indeed, old age is so far from being necessarily a state of languor
+and inactivity, that it generally continues to exert itself in that
+sort of occupation which was the favorite object of its pursuit in
+more vigorous years. I will add, that instances might be produced of
+men who, in this period of life, have successfully applied themselves
+even to the acquisition of some art of science to which they were
+before entirely strangers. Thus Solon in one of his poems, written
+when he was advanced in years, glories that "he learned something
+every day he lived." And old as I myself am, it is but lately that I
+acquired a knowledge of the Greek language; to which I applied with
+the more zeal and diligence, as I had long entertained an earnest
+desire of becoming acquainted with the writings and characters of
+those excellent men, to whose examples I have occasionally appealed in
+the course of our present conversation. Thus, Socrates, too, in his
+old age, learned to play upon the lyre, an art which the ancients did
+not deem unworthy of their application. If I have not followed the
+philosopher's example in this instance (which, indeed, I very much
+regret), I have spared, however, no pains to make myself master of the
+Greek language and learning.
+
+Inestimable, too, are the advantages of old age, if we contemplate it
+in another point of view; if we consider it as delivering us from the
+tyranny of lust and ambition; from the angry and contentious passions;
+from every inordinate and irrational desire; in a word, as teaching us
+to retire within ourselves, and look for happiness in our own bosoms.
+If to these moral benefits naturally resulting from length of days be
+added that sweet food of the mind which is gathered in the fields of
+science, I know not any season of life that is passed more agreeably
+than the learned leisure of a virtuous old age.
+
+
+IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
+
+(_By Cicero._)
+
+And now, among the different sentiments of the philosophers concerning
+the consequences of our final dissolution, may I not venture to
+declare my own? and the rather, as the nearer death advances towards
+me, the more clearly I seem to discern its real nature.
+
+I am well convinced, then, that my dear departed friends, your two
+illustrious fathers, are so far from having ceased to live, that the
+state they now enjoy can alone with propriety be called _life_. The
+soul, during her confinement within this prison of the body, is doomed
+by fate to undergo a severe penance; for her native seat is in heaven,
+and it is with reluctance that she is forced down from those celestial
+mansions into these lower regions, where all is foreign and repugnant
+to her divine nature. But the gods, I am persuaded, have thus widely
+disseminated immortal spirits, and clothed them with human bodies,
+that there might be a race of intelligent creatures, not only to have
+dominion over this, our earth, but to contemplate the host of heaven,
+and imitate in their moral conduct the same beautiful order and
+uniformity so conspicuous in those splendid orbs. This opinion I am
+induced to embrace, not only as agreeable to the best deductions of
+reason, but in just deference, also, to the authority of the noblest
+and most distinguished philosophers. And I am further confirmed in my
+belief of the soul's immortality by the discourse which Socrates--whom
+the oracle of Apollo pronounced to be the wisest of men--held upon
+this subject just before his death. In a word, when I consider the
+faculties with which the human mind is endued; its amazing celerity;
+its wonderful power in recollecting past events, and sagacity in
+discerning future; together with its numberless discoveries in the
+several arts and sciences, I feel a conscious conviction that this
+active, comprehensive principle can not possibly be of a mortal
+nature. And as this unceasing activity of the soul derives its energy
+from its own intrinsic and essential powers, without receiving it from
+any foreign or external impulse, it necessarily follows (as it is
+absurd to suppose the soul would desert itself) that this activity
+must continue forever. But farther; as the soul is evidently a simple,
+uncompounded substance, without any dissimilar parts or heterogeneous
+mixture, it can not, therefore, be divided; consequently, it can not
+perish. I might add, that the facility and expedition with which youth
+are taught to acquire numberless very difficult arts, is a strong
+presumption that the soul possessed a considerable portion of
+knowledge before it entered into the human form, and that what seems
+to be received from instruction is, in fact, no other than a
+reminiscence or recollection of its former ideas. This, at least, is
+the opinion of Plato.
+
+
+JULIUS CAESAR.
+
+Julius Caesar was born on the 12th of July, 100 B.C. As to his
+intellectual character, Caesar was gifted by nature with the most
+varied talents, and was distinguished by an extraordinary genius, and
+by attainments in very diversified pursuits. He was, at one and the
+same time, a general, a statesman, a lawgiver, a jurist, an orator, a
+poet, an historian, a philologer, a mathematician, and an architect.
+He seemed equally fitted to excel in all, and has given proofs that he
+would surpass most men in any subject to which he should devote the
+energies of his great mind; and Middleton says he was the only man in
+Rome capable of rivaling Cicero as an orator. During his whole busy
+life he found time for literary pursuits, and always took pleasure in
+the society and conversation of men of learning.
+
+Caesar wrote many works on different subjects, but they are now all
+lost but his "Commentaries." These relate the history of the first
+seven years of the Gallic War in seven books, and the Civil War down
+to the commencement of the Alexandrine in three books. The purity of
+his Latin, and the clearness and beauty of his style have rendered his
+"Commentaries" a most popular and desirable text book for students of
+the Latin language.
+
+A most important change was introduced by him in the reformation of
+the calendar, which was not only of vast importance to his country and
+to the civilized world, but its benefits have extended to the present
+day. What consummate folly, then, to say nothing of the wickedness,
+was displayed by the conspirators who put him to death; for instead of
+the wise, the noble, the magnanimous, they exalted to supreme power
+one of the basest men in all Rome--Augustus, who, as one of the
+second Triumvirate, consented to the murder of his intimate and noble
+friend, Cicero.
+
+ [Illustration: JULIUS CAESAR. (_From an Ancient Sculpturing._)]
+
+
+THE GERMANS.
+
+(_By Julius Caesar._)
+
+The Germans differ much from these usages, for they have neither
+Druids to preside over sacred offices, nor do they pay great regard to
+sacrifices. They rank in the number of the gods those alone whom they
+behold, and by whose instrumentality they are obviously benefited,
+namely, the sun, fire, and the moon; they have not heard of the other
+deities even by report. Their whole life is occupied in hunting and
+in the pursuits of the military art; from childhood they devote
+themselves to fatigue and hardships. Those who have remained chaste
+for the longest time receive the greatest commendation among their
+people; they think that by this the growth is promoted, by this the
+physical powers are increased and the sinews are strengthened.
+
+They do not pay much attention to agriculture, and a large portion of
+their food consists in milk, cheese, and flesh; nor has any one a
+fixed quantity of land or his own individual limits; but the
+magistrates and the leading men each year apportion to the tribes and
+families, who have united together, as much land as, and in the place
+which, they think proper, and the year after compel them to remove
+elsewhere. For this enactment they advance many reasons--lest seduced
+by long-continued custom, they may exchange their ardor in the waging
+of war for agriculture; lest they may be anxious to acquire extensive
+estates, and the more powerful drive the weaker from their
+possessions; lest they construct their houses with too great a desire
+to avoid cold and heat; lest the desire of wealth spring up, from
+which cause divisions and discords arise; and that they may keep the
+common people in a contented state of mind, when each sees his own
+means placed on an equality with those of the most powerful.
+
+It is the greatest glory to the several states to have as wide deserts
+as possible around them, their frontiers having been laid waste. They
+consider this the real evidence of their prowess, that their neighbors
+shall be driven out of their lands and abandon them, and that no one
+dare settle near them; at the same time they think that they shall be
+on that account the more secure, because they have removed the
+apprehension of a sudden incursion. When a state either repels war
+waged against it, or wages it against another, magistrates are chosen
+to preside over that war with such authority that they have power of
+life and death. In peace there is no common magistrate, but the
+chiefs of provinces and cantons administer justice and determine
+controversies among their own people. Robberies which are committed
+beyond the boundaries of each state bear no infamy, and they avow that
+these are committed for the purpose of disciplining their youth and of
+preventing sloth. And when any of their chiefs has said in an assembly
+"that he will be their leader, let those who are willing to follow
+give in their names," they who approve of both the enterprise and the
+man arise and promise their assistance and are applauded by the
+people; such of them as have not followed him are accounted in the
+number of deserters and traitors, and confidence in all matters is
+afterwards refused them. To injure guests they regard as impious; they
+defend from wrong those who have come to them for any purpose
+whatever, and esteem them inviolable; to them the houses of all are
+open and maintenance is freely supplied.
+
+
+BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.
+
+(_By Julius Caesar._)
+
+There was so much space left between the two lines as sufficed for the
+onset of the hostile armies; but Pompey had ordered his soldiers to
+await Caesar's attack, and not to advance from their position, or
+suffer their line to be put into disorder. And he is said to have done
+this by the advice of Caius Triarius, that the impetuosity of the
+charge of Caesar's soldiers might be checked, and their line broken,
+and that Pompey's troops, remaining in their ranks, might attack them
+while in disorder; and he thought that the javelins would fall with
+less force if the soldiers were kept in their ground, than if they met
+them in their course; at the same time he trusted that Caesar's
+soldiers, after running over double the usual ground, would become
+weary and exhausted by the fatigue. But to me Pompey seems to have
+acted without sufficient reason; for there is a certain impetuosity of
+spirit and an alacrity implanted by nature in the hearts of all men,
+which is inflamed by a desire to meet the foe. This a general should
+endeavor not to repress, but to increase; nor was it a vain
+institution of our ancestors that the trumpets should sound on all
+sides, and a general shout be raised; by which they imagined that the
+enemy were struck with terror, and their own army inspired with
+courage.
+
+But our men, when the signal was given, rushed forward with their
+javelins ready to be launched, but perceiving that Pompey's men did
+not run to meet their charge, having acquired experience by custom,
+and being practiced in former battles, they of their own accord
+repressed their speed, and halted almost midway, that they might not
+come up with the enemy when their strength was exhausted, and after a
+short respite they again renewed their course, and threw their
+javelins, and instantly drew their swords, as Caesar had ordered them.
+Nor did Pompey's men fail in this crisis, for they received our
+javelins, stood our charge, and maintained their ranks; and having
+launched their javelins, had recourse to their swords. At the same
+time Pompey's horse, according to their orders, rushed out at once
+from his left wing, and his whole host of archers poured after them.
+Our cavalry did not withstand their charge, but gave ground a little,
+upon which Pompey's horse pressed them more vigorously, and began to
+file off in troops, and flank our army. When Caesar perceived this, he
+gave the signal to his fourth line, which he had formed of the six
+cohorts. They instantly rushed forward and charged Pompey's horse with
+such fury that not a man of them stood; but all wheeling about, not
+only quitted their post, but galloped forward to seek a refuge in the
+highest mountains. By their retreat the archers and slingers, being
+left destitute and defenseless, were all cut to pieces. The cohorts,
+pursuing their success, wheeled about upon Pompey's left wing, whilst
+his infantry still continued to make battle, and attacked them in the
+rear.
+
+At the same time Caesar ordered his third line to advance, which till
+then had not been engaged, but had kept their post. Thus, new and
+fresh troops having come to the assistance of the fatigued, and others
+having made an attack on their rear, Pompey's men were not able to
+maintain their ground, but all fled, nor was Caesar deceived in his
+opinion that the victory, as he had declared in his speech to his
+soldiers, must have its beginning from those six cohorts, which he had
+placed as a fourth line to oppose the horse. For by them the cavalry
+were routed; by them the archers and slingers were cut to pieces; by
+them the left wing of Pompey's army was surrounded, and obliged to be
+the first to flee. But when Pompey saw his cavalry routed, and that
+part of his army on which he reposed his greatest hopes thrown into
+confusion, despairing of the rest, he quitted the field, and retreated
+straightway on horseback to his camp, and calling to the centurions,
+whom he had placed to guard the praetorian gate, with a loud voice,
+that the soldiers might hear: "Secure the camp," says he; "defend it
+with diligence, if any danger should threaten it; I will visit the
+other gates, and encourage the guards of the camp." Having thus said,
+he retired into his tent in utter despair, yet anxiously waiting the
+issue.
+
+Caesar having forced the Pompeians to flee into their entrenchment, and
+thinking that he ought not to allow them any respite to recover from
+their fright, exhorted his soldiers to take advantage of fortune's
+kindness, and to attack the camp. Though they were fatigued by the
+intense heat, for the battle had continued till mid-day, yet, being
+prepared to undergo any labor, they cheerfully obeyed his command. The
+camp was bravely defended by the cohorts which had been left to guard
+it, but with much more spirit by the Thracians and foreign
+auxiliaries. For the soldiers who had fled for refuge to it from the
+field of battle, affrighted and exhausted by fatigue, having thrown
+away their arms and military standards, had their thoughts more
+engaged on their further escape than on the defense of the camp. Nor
+could the troops who were posted on the battlements long withstand the
+immense number of our darts, but fainting under their wounds, quitted
+the place, and under the conduct of their centurions and tribunes,
+fled, without stopping, to the high mountains which joined the camp.
+
+In Pompey's camp you might see arbors in which tables were laid; a
+large quantity of plate set out; the floors of the tents covered with
+fresh sods; the tents of Lucius Lentulus and others shaded with ivy;
+and many other things which were proofs of excessive luxury, and a
+confidence of victory; so that it might readily be inferred, that they
+had no apprehensions of the issue of the day, as they indulged
+themselves in unnecessary pleasures, and yet upbraided with luxury
+Caesar's army, distressed and suffering troops, who had always been in
+want of common necessaries. Pompey, as soon as our men had forced the
+trenches, mounting his horse, and stripping off his general's habit,
+went hastily out of the back gate of the camp, and galloped with all
+speed to Larissa. Nor did he stop there, but with the same dispatch,
+collecting a few of his flying troops, and halting neither day nor
+night, he arrived at the sea-side, attended by only thirty horses, and
+went on board a victualing barque, often complaining, as we have been
+told, that he had been so deceived in his expectation, that he was
+almost persuaded that he had been betrayed by those from whom he had
+expected victory, as they began the flight.
+
+
+VIRGIL.
+
+Virgil was born October 15, 70 B.C., and died 19 B.C. His father was
+an opulent farmer, and gave his son a liberal Greek and Latin
+education. His principal works were the _Georgica_ and the _AEneid_.
+The _Georgica_ (Georgics), or "Agricultural Poems," is a didactic poem
+in four books, dedicated to Maecenas. In the first book he treats of
+the cultivation of the soil; in the second, of fruit trees; in the
+third, of horses and other cattle, and in the fourth, of bees. It
+gives us the most finished specimen of the Latin hexameter which we
+have. It is acknowledged by scholars to stand at the head of all
+Virgil's works, and is certainly the most elaborate and extraordinary
+instance of power in embellishing a most barren subject which human
+genius has ever afforded. The commonest precepts of farming are
+delivered with an elegance which could scarcely be attained by a poet
+who should endeavor to clothe in verse the sublimest maxims of
+philosophy.
+
+At what time Virgil projected the _AEneid_ is uncertain, but from a
+very early age he appears to have had a strong desire of composing an
+epic poem which would be an enduring monument of his fame. And he has
+succeeded, for this poem is ranked as one of the great epics of the
+world. It is divided into twelve books, and originates from an old
+Roman tradition that AEneas and his company of Trojans settled in
+Italy, and founded the Roman nation.
+
+
+PRAISE OF RURAL LIFE.
+
+(_By Virgil._)
+
+ Thrice happy swains! whom genuine pleasures bless,
+ If they but knew and felt their happiness!
+ From wars and discord far, and public strife,
+ Earth with salubrious fruits supports their life;
+ Tho' high-arch'd domes, tho' marble halls they want,
+ And columns cased in gold and elephant,
+ In awful ranks where brazen statues stand,
+ The polish'd works of Grecia's skillful hand;
+ Nor dazzling palace view, whose portals proud
+ Each morning vomit out the cringing crowd;
+ Nor wear the tissu'd garment's cumb'rous pride,
+ Nor seek soft wool in Syrian purple dy'd,
+ Nor with fantastic luxury defile
+ The native sweetness of the liquid oil;
+ Yet calm content, secure from guilty cares,
+ Yet home-felt pleasure, peace, and rest, are theirs;
+ Leisure and ease, in groves, and cooling vales,
+ Grottoes, and bubbling brooks, and darksome dales;
+ The lowing oxen, and the bleating sheep,
+ And under branching trees delicious sleep!
+ There forests, lawns, and haunts of beasts abound,
+ There youth is temperate, and laborious found;
+ There altars and the righteous gods are fear'd,
+ And aged sires by duteous sons rever'd.
+ There Justice linger'd ere she fled mankind,
+ And left some traces of her reign behind!
+
+ _Georgics II. Warton._
+
+
+EMPLOYMENTS OF THE BEE.
+
+(_By Virgil._)
+
+ If all things with great we may compare,
+ Such are the bees, and such their busy care:
+ Studious of honey, each in his degree,
+ The youthful swain, the grave, experienced bee;
+ That in the field; this in affairs of state,
+ Employed at home, abides within the gate,
+ To fortify the combs, to build the wall,
+ To prop the ruins, lest the fabric fall:
+ But late at night, with weary pinions come
+ The laboring youth, and heavy laden home.
+ Plains, meads, and orchards, all the day he plies,
+ The gleans of yellow thyme distend his thighs:
+ He spoils the saffron flowers, he sips the blues
+ Of violets, wilding blooms, and willow dews.
+ Their toil is common, common is their sleep;
+ They shake their wings when morn begins to peep;
+ Rush through the city gates without delay,
+ Nor ends their work but with declining day:
+ Then, having spent the last remains of light,
+ They give their bodies due repose at night;
+ When hollow murmurs of their evening bells
+ Dismiss the sleepy swains, and toll them to their cells.
+
+ _Georgics IV. Dryden._
+
+ [Illustration: VIRGIL AND HORACE.]
+
+
+PUNISHMENTS IN HELL.
+
+(_By Virgil._)
+
+ Now to the left, AEneas darts his eyes,
+ Where lofty walls with tripple ramparts rise.
+ There rolls swift Phlegethon, with thund'ring sound,
+ His broken rocks, and whirls his surges round.
+ On mighty columns rais'd, sublime are hung
+ The massy gates, impenetrably strong.
+ In vain would men, in vain would gods essay,
+ To hew the beams of adamant away.
+ Here rose an iron tow'r; before the gate,
+ By night and day, a wakeful fury sate,
+ The pale Tisiphone; a robe she wore,
+ With all the pomp of horror, dy'd in gore.
+ Here the loud scourge and louder voice of pain,
+ The crashing fetter, and the ratt'ling chain.
+ Strike the great hero with the frightful sound,
+ The hoarse, rough, mingled din, that thunders round:
+ Oh! whence that peal of groans? what pains are those?
+ What crimes could merit such stupendous woes?
+ Thus she--brave guardian of the Trojan state,
+ None that are pure must pass that dreadful gate.
+ When plac'd by Hecat o'er Avernus' woods,
+ I learnt the secrets of those dire abodes,
+ With all the tortures of the vengeful gods.
+ Here Rhadamanthus holds his awful reign,
+ Hears and condemns the trembling impious train.
+ Those hidden crimes the wretch till death supprest,
+ With mingled joy and horror in his breast,
+ The stern dread judge commands him to display,
+ And lays the guilty secrets bare to-day;
+ Her lash Tisiphone that moment shakes;
+ The ghost she scourges with a thousand snakes;
+ Then to her aid, with many a thund'ring yell,
+ Calls her dire sisters from the gulfs of hell.
+ Near by the mighty Tityus I beheld,
+ Earth's mighty giant son, stretch'd o'er the infernal field;
+ He cover'd nine large acres as he lay,
+ While with fierce screams a vulture tore away
+ His liver for her food, and scoop'd the smoking prey;
+ Plunged deep her bloody beak, nor plung'd in vain,
+ For still the fruitful fibres spring again,
+ Swell, and renew th' enormous monster's pain,
+ She dwells forever in his roomy breast,
+ Nor gives the roaring fiend a moment's rest;
+ But still th' immortal prey supplies th' immortal feast.
+ Need I the Lapiths' horrid pains relate,
+ Ixion's torments, or Perithous' fate?
+ On high a tottering rocky fragment spreads,
+ Projects in air, and trembles o'er their heads.
+ Stretch'd on the couch, they see with longing eyes
+ In regal pomp successive banquets rise,
+ While lucid columns, glorious to behold,
+ Support th' imperial canopies of gold.
+ The queen of furies, a tremendous guest,
+ Sits by their side, and guards the tempting feast,
+ Which if they touch, her dreadful torch she rears,
+ Flames in their eyes, and thunders in their ears
+ They that on earth had low pursuits in view,
+ Their brethren hated, or their parents slew,
+ And, still more numerous, those who swelled their store,
+ But ne'er reliev'd their kindred or the poor;
+ Or in a cause unrighteous fought and bled;
+ Or perish'd in the foul adulterous bed;
+ Or broke the ties of faith with base deceit;
+ Imprison'd deep their destin'd torments wait.
+ But what their torments, seek not thou to know,
+ Or the dire sentence of their endless wo.
+ Some roll a stone, rebounding down the hill,
+ Some hang suspended on the whirling wheel;
+ There Theseus groans in pain that ne'er expire,
+ Chain'd down forever in a chair of fire.
+ There Phlegyas feels unutterable wo,
+ And roars incessant thro' the shades below;
+ Be just, ye mortals! by these torments aw'd,
+ These dreadful torments, not to scorn a god.
+ This wretch his country to a tyrant sold,
+ And barter'd glorious liberty for gold.
+ Laws for a bribe he past, but past in vain,
+ For those same laws a bribe repeal'd again.
+ To some enormous crimes they all aspir'd;
+ All feel the torments that those crimes requir'd!
+ Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues,
+ A voice of brass, and adamantine lungs,
+ Not half the mighty scene could I disclose,
+ Repeat their crimes, or count their dreadful woes!
+
+ _AEneid VI. Pitt._
+
+
+HORACE.
+
+Horace was born 65 B.C. and died 8 B.C. His father gave him a good
+education. About the age of seventeen he lost his father, and
+afterwards his property was confiscated. He had to write for
+bread--_Paupertas impulit audax ut versus facerem_--and in so doing
+gained much reputation, and sufficient means to purchase the place of
+scribe in the Quaestor's office. He now made his acquaintance with
+Virgil and Varius, and by them was introduced to that munificent
+patron of scholars, Maecenas, who gave to our poet a place next to his
+heart, while he, in return, is never weary of acknowledging how much
+he owes to his illustrious friend.
+
+The following happy remarks on the Roman Satirists are by Professor
+Sanborn, formerly Professor of Latin in Dartmouth College, and now in
+the University of St. Louis: "The principal Roman Satirists were
+Horace, Juvenal and Persius. Horace is merry; Persius serious; Juvenal
+indignant. Thus, wit, philosophy and lofty scorn mark their respective
+pages. The satire of Horace was playful and good natured. His arrows
+were always dipped in oil. He was a fine specimen of an accomplished
+gentleman. His sentiments were evidently modified by his associates.
+He was an Epicurean and a stoic by turns. He commended and ridiculed
+both sects. He practiced economy and praised liberality. He lived
+temperate, and sang the praises of festivity. He was the favorite of
+the court and paid for its patronage in compliments and panegyrics,
+unsurpassed in delicacy of sentiment and beauty of expression. Horace
+is every man's companion. He has a word of advice and admonition for
+all. His criticisms constitute most approved canons of the
+rhetorician; his sage reflections adorn the page of the moralist; his
+humor and wit give point and force to the satirist, and his graver
+maxims are not despised by the Christian philosopher. Juvenal is
+fierce and denunciatory. His characteristics are energy, force, and
+indignation; his weapons are irony, wit and sarcasm; he is a decided
+character, and you must yield and submit, or resist. His denunciations
+of vice are startling. He hated the Greeks, the aristocracy and woman
+with intense hatred. No author has written with such terrible
+bitterness of the sex. Unlike other satirists, he never relents. His
+arrow is ever on the string, and whatever wears the guise of woman is
+his game. The most celebrated of the modern imitators of Horace and
+Juvenal are Swift and Pope."
+
+The Odes, Satires and Epistles are his chief productions.
+
+
+TO LICINIUS.
+
+(_By Horace._)
+
+ Receive, dear friend, the truths I teach
+ So shalt thou live beyond the reach
+ Of adverse Fortune's power;
+ Not always tempt the distant deep,
+ Nor always timorously creep
+ Along the treacherous shore.
+
+ He that holds fast the golden mean,
+ And lives contentedly between
+ The little and the great,
+ Feels not the wants that pinch the poor,
+ Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door,
+ Embittering all his state.
+
+ The tallest pines feel most the power
+ Of wintry blasts; the loftiest tower
+ Comes heaviest to the ground;
+ The bolts that spare the mountain's side,
+ His cloud-capt eminence divide,
+ And spread the ruin round.
+
+ The well-inform'd philosopher
+ Rejoices with an wholesome fear,
+ And hopes, in spite of pain;
+ If Winter bellow from the north,
+ Soon the sweet Spring comes dancing forth,
+ And Nature laughs again.
+
+ What if thine heaven be overcast?
+ The dark appearance will not last;
+ Expect a brighter sky;
+ The god that strings the silver bow,
+ Awakes sometimes the Muses, too,
+ And lays his arrows by.
+
+ If hindrances obstruct thy way,
+ Thy magnanimity display,
+ And let thy strength be seen;
+ But oh! if Fortune fill thy sail
+ With more than a propitious gale,
+ Take half thy canvas in.
+
+ _Cowper._
+
+
+TO PYRRHA.
+
+(_By Horace._)
+
+ What youth, O Pyrrha! blooming fair,
+ With rose-twined wreath and perfumed hair,
+ Woos thee beneath yon grotto's shade,
+ Urgent in prayer and amorous glance?
+ For whom dost thou thy tresses braid,
+ Simple in thine elegance?
+ Alas! full soon shall he deplore
+ Thy broken faith, thy altered mien:
+ Like one astonished at the roar
+ Of breakers on a leeward shore,
+ Whom gentle airs and skies serene
+ Had tempted on the treacherous deep,
+ So he thy perfidy shall weep
+ Who now enjoys thee fair and kind,
+ But dreams not of the shifting wind.
+ Thrice wretched they, deluded and betrayed,
+ Who trust thy glittering smile and Siren tongue!
+ I have escaped the shipwreck, and have hung
+ In Neptune's fane my dripping vest displayed
+ With votive tablet on his altar laid,
+ Thanking the sea-god for his timely aid.
+
+ _Lord Ravensworth._
+
+
+SENECA.
+
+Seneca was born 7 B.C. and died 65 A.D. His writings were of a
+philosophical nature. His character was much doubted. His great
+misfortune was to have known Nero, who ordered him to be put to death,
+to which he merely replied that he who had murdered his brother and
+his mother could not be expected to spare his teacher. He had been
+absent from Rome some time, and when he returned to visit his mother
+in the country, he was spied, and Nero sent a squad of armed men to
+the house to ask him to choose the manner of his death. His fame rests
+on his numerous writings, which, with all their faults, have great
+merits. His principal works, which are of a philosophical character,
+are essays "On Anger," "On Consolation," "On Providence," "On
+Tranquillity of Mind," "On the Firmness of the Wise Man," "On
+Clemency," "On the Brevity of Human Life," "On a Happy Life," etc.,
+together with "Epistles of Lucilius," one hundred and twenty-four in
+number. Besides these, there are extant ten tragedies attributed to
+him, entitled, _Hercules Furens_, _Thyestes_, _Thebais_ or
+_Phoenissae_, _Hippolytus_ or _Phaedra_, _Oedipus_, _Troades_ or
+_Hecuba_, _Medea_, _Agamemnon_, _Hercules Oetaeus_ and _Octavia_. These
+were never intended for the stage, but were designed for reading or
+recitation, after the Roman fashion. They contain many striking
+passages, and have some merits as poems.
+
+
+HAPPINESS FOUNDED ON WISDOM.
+
+(_By Seneca._)
+
+Taking it for granted that _human happiness_ is founded upon _wisdom_
+and _virtue_, we shall treat of these two points in order as they lie,
+and _first_ of _wisdom_; not in the latitude of its various
+operations, but only as it has a regard to good life and the happiness
+of mankind.
+
+Wisdom is a right understanding; a faculty of discerning good from
+evil; what is to be chosen, and what rejected; a judgment grounded
+upon the value of things, and not the common opinion of them; an
+equality of force and strength of resolution. It sets a watch over our
+words and deeds, it takes us up with the contemplation of the works of
+nature, and makes us invincible by either good or evil fortune. It is
+large and spacious, and requires a great deal of room to work in; it
+ransacks heaven and earth; it has for its object things past and to
+come, transitory and eternal. It examines all the circumstances of
+time; "what it is, when it began, and how long it will continue;" and
+so for the mind; "whence it came; what it is; when it begins; how long
+it lasts; whether or no it passes from one form to another, or serves
+only one, and wanders when it leaves us; where it abides in the state
+of separation, and what the action of it; what use it makes of its
+liberty; whether or no it retains the memory of things past, and comes
+to the knowledge of itself." It is the habit of a perfect mind and the
+perfection of humanity, raised as high as nature can carry it. It
+differs from _philosophy_, as avarice and money; the one desires, and
+the other is desired; the one is the effect and the reward of the
+other. To be wise is the use of wisdom, as seeing is the use of eyes
+and well-speaking the use of eloquence. He that is perfectly wise is
+perfectly happy; nay, the very beginning of wisdom makes life easy to
+us. Neither is it enough to know this, unless we print it in our
+minds by daily meditation, and so bring a _good will_ to a good habit.
+And we must practice what we preach, for _philosophy_ is not a subject
+for popular ostentation, nor does it rest in words, but in things. It
+is not an entertainment taken up for delight, or to give a taste to
+leisure, but it fashions the mind, governs our actions, tells us what
+we are to do, and what not. It sits at the helm, and guides us through
+all hazards; nay, we can not be safe without it, for every hour gives
+us occasion to make use of it. It informs us in all the duties of
+life, piety to our parents, faith to our friends, charity to the
+miserable, judgment in counsel; it gives us _peace_, by _fearing_
+nothing, and _riches_, by _coveting nothing_.
+
+There is no condition of life that excludes a wise man from
+discharging his duty. If his fortune be good, he _tempers_ it; if bad,
+he _masters_ it; if he has an estate, he will exercise his virtue in
+plenty, if none, in poverty; if he can not do it in his country, he
+will do it in banishment; if he has no command, he will do the office
+of a common soldier. Some people have the skill of reclaiming the
+fiercest of beasts: they will make a lion embrace his keeper, a tiger
+kiss him, and an elephant kneel to him. This is the case of a wise man
+in the extremest difficulties; let them be never so terrible in
+themselves, when they come to him once, they are perfectly tame. They
+that ascribe the invention of tillage, architecture, navigation, etc.,
+to wise men, may perchance be in the right, that they were invented by
+wise men; but they were not invented by wise men, as _wise men_; for
+wisdom does not teach our fingers, but our minds: fiddling and
+dancing, arms and fortifications, were the works of luxury and
+discord; but wisdom instructs us in the way of nature, and in the arts
+of unity and concord; not in the instruments, but in the government of
+life; nor to make us live only, but to live happily. She teaches us
+what things are good, what evil, and what only appear so; and to
+distinguish betwixt true greatness and tumor. She clears our minds of
+dross and vanity; she raises up our thoughts to heaven, and carries
+them down to hell; she discourses on the nature of the soul, the
+powers and faculties of it; the first principles of things; the order
+of providence: she exalts us from things corporeal to things
+incorporeal; and retrieves the truth of all: she searches nature,
+gives laws to life; and tells us, "that it is not enough to know God
+unless we obey Him." She looks upon all accidents as acts of
+providence; sets a true value upon things; delivers us from false
+opinions, and condemns all pleasures that are attended with
+repentance. She allows nothing to be good that will not be so forever;
+no man to be happy but he that needs no other happiness than what he
+has within himself; no man to be great or powerful, that is not master
+of himself;--and this is the felicity of human life; a felicity that
+can neither be corrupted nor extinguished.
+
+
+AGAINST RASH JUDGMENT.
+
+(_By Seneca._)
+
+It is good for every man to fortify himself on his weak side; and if
+he loves his peace, he must not be inquisitive and harken to
+tale-bearers; for the man that is over-curious to hear and see
+everything, multiplies troubles to himself; for a man does not feel
+what he does not know. He that is listening after private discourse,
+and what people say of him, shall never be at peace. How many things
+that are innocent in themselves, are made injurious yet by
+misconstruction? Wherefore some things we are to pause upon, others to
+laugh at, and others again to pardon. Or if we can not avoid the sense
+of indignities, let us, however, shun the open profession of it; which
+may be easily done, as appears by many examples of those who have
+suppressed their anger, under the awe of a greater fear. It is a good
+caution not to believe anything until you are very certain of it; for
+many probable things prove false, and a short time will make evidence
+of the undoubted truth. We are prone to believe many things which we
+are unwilling to hear, and so we conclude, and take up a prejudice
+before we can judge. Never condemn a friend unheard; or without
+letting him know his accuser, or his crime. It is a common thing to
+say, "Do not tell that you had it from me; for if you do, I will deny
+it; and never tell you anything again." By which means friends are set
+together by the ears, and the informer slips his neck out of the
+collar. Admit no stories, upon these terms; for it is an unjust thing
+to believe in private, and be angry openly. He that delivers himself
+up to guess and conjecture, runs a great hazard; for there can be no
+suspicion without some probable grounds; so that without much candor
+and simplicity, and making the best of everything, there is no living
+in society with mankind. Some things that offend us we have by report;
+others we see or hear. In the first case, let us not be too credulous;
+some people frame stories that may deceive us; others only tell us
+what they hear, and are deceived themselves; some make it their sport
+to do ill offices; others do them only to receive thanks; there are
+some that would part the dearest friends in the world; others love to
+do mischief, and stand off aloof to see what comes of it. If it be a
+small matter, I would have witnesses; but if it be a greater, I would
+have it upon oath, and allow time to the accused, and counsel, too,
+and hear it over and over again.
+
+ [Illustration: EUCLID.]
+
+
+THE EQUALITY OF MAN.
+
+(_By Seneca._)
+
+It is not well done to be still murmuring against nature and fortune,
+as if it were their unkindness that makes you inconsiderable, when it
+is only by your own weakness that you make yourself so; for it is
+virtue, not pedigree, that renders a man either valuable or happy.
+Philosophy does not either reject or choose any man for his quality.
+Socrates was no _patrician_, Cleanthes but an _under-gardener_;
+neither did Plato dignify philosophy by his birth, but by his
+goodness. All these worthy men are our _progenitors_, if we will but
+do ourselves the honor to become their _disciples_. The original of
+all mankind was the same, and it is only a clear conscience that makes
+any man noble, for that derives even from heaven itself. It is the
+saying of a great man, that if we could trace our descents we should
+find all slaves to come from princes and all princes from slaves. But
+fortune has turned all things topsy-turvy, in a long story of
+revolutions. It is most certain that our beginning had nothing before
+it, and our ancestors were some of them splendid, others sordid, as it
+happened. We have lost the memorials of our extraction; and, in truth,
+it matters not whence we come, but whither we go. Nor is it any more
+to our honor the glory of our predecessors, than it is to their shame
+the wickedness of their posterity. We are all of us composed of the
+same elements; why should we, then, value ourselves upon our nobility
+of blood, as if we were not all of us equal, if we could but recover
+our evidence? But when we can carry it no farther, the _herald_
+provides us some _hero_ to supply the place of an illustrious
+original, and there is the rise of arms and families. For a man to
+spend his life in pursuit of a title, that serves only when he dies,
+to furnish out an _epitaph_, is below a wise man's business.
+
+
+ALL THINGS ORDERED BY GOD.
+
+(_By Seneca._)
+
+Every man knows without telling, that this wonderful fabric of the
+universe is not without a Governor, and that a constant order can not
+be the work of chance, for the parts would then fall foul one upon
+another. The motions of the stars, and their influences, are acted by
+the command of an eternal decree. It is by the dictate of an Almighty
+Power, that the heavy body of the earth hangs in balance. Whence come
+the revolutions of the seasons and the flux of the rivers? the
+wonderful virtue of the smallest seeds? as an _oak_ to arise from an
+_acorn_. To say nothing of those things that seem to be most irregular
+and uncertain; as clouds, rain, thunder, the eruptions of fire out of
+mountains, earthquakes, and those tumultuary motions in the lower
+region of the air, which have their ordinate causes, and so have those
+things, too, which appear to us more admirable because less frequent;
+as scalding fountains and new islands started out of the sea; or what
+shall we say of the ebbing and flowing out of the ocean, the constant
+times and measures of the tides, according to the changes of the moon
+that influences most bodies; but this needs not, for it is not that we
+doubt of providence, but complain of it. And it were a good office to
+reconcile mankind to the gods, who are undoubtedly best to the best.
+It is against nature that good should hurt good. A good man is not
+only the friend of God, but the very image, the disciple, and the
+imitator of Him, and a true child of his heavenly Father. He is true
+to himself, and acts with constancy and resolution.
+
+
+PLUTARCH.
+
+Plutarch was born A.D. 90, in Chaeronea, a city of Boeotia. To him we
+are indebted for so many of the lives of the philosophers, poets,
+orators and generals of antiquity. No book has been more generally
+sought after or read with greater avidity than "Plutarch's Lives."
+However ancient, either Greek or Latin, none has received such a
+universal popularity. But the character of Plutarch himself, not less
+than his method of writing biography, explains his universal
+popularity, and gives its special charm and value to his book. He was
+a man of large and generous nature, of strong feeling, of refined
+tastes, of quick perceptions. His mind had been cultivated in the
+acquisition of the best learning of his times, and was disciplined by
+the study of books as well as of men. He deserves the title of
+philosopher; but his philosophy was of a practical rather than a
+speculative character--though he was versed in the wisest doctrines of
+the great masters of ancient thought, and in some of his moral works
+shows himself their not unworthy follower. Above all, he was a man of
+cheerful and genial temper. A lover of justice and of liberty, his
+sympathies are always on the side of what is right, noble and
+honorable.
+
+He was educated at Delphi and improved himself by the advantages of
+foreign travel. On his return he was employed by his country on an
+embassy to Rome, where he opened a school for youth, employing all his
+leisure time at that capital of the world and chief seat of erudition
+in acquiring those vast stores of learning which he afterwards read
+for the delight and instruction of mankind. "It must be borne in
+mind," he says, "that my design is not to write histories, but lives.
+And the most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the
+clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men; sometimes a matter of
+less moment, an expression or a jest, informs us better of their
+characters and inclinations than the most famous sieges, the greatest
+armaments, or the bloodiest battles whatsoever. Therefore, as
+portrait-painters are more exact in the lines and features of the
+face, in which the character is seen, than in the other parts of the
+body, so I must be allowed to give my more particular attention to the
+marks and indications of the souls of men; and, while I endeavor by
+these to portray their lives, may be free to leave more weighty
+matters and great battles to be treated by others."
+
+
+THE HORRIBLE PROSCRIPTIONS OF SYLLA.
+
+(_By Plutarch._)
+
+Sylla being thus wholly bent upon slaughter, and filling the city with
+executions without number or limit, many wholly uninterested persons
+falling a sacrifice to private enmity, through his permission and
+indulgence to his friends, Caius Metellus, one of the younger men,
+made bold in the senate to ask him what end there was of these evils,
+and at what point he might be expected to stop? "We do not ask you,"
+said he, "to pardon any whom you have resolved to destroy, but to free
+from doubt those whom you are pleased to save." Sylla answering, that
+he knew not as yet whom to spare, "Why, then," said he, "tell us whom
+you will punish." This Sylla said he would do. These last words, some
+authors say, were spoken not by Metellus, but by Afidus, one of
+Sylla's fawning companions. Immediately upon this, without
+communicating with any of the magistrates, Sylla proscribed eighty
+persons, and notwithstanding the general indignation, after one day's
+respite he posted two hundred and twenty more, and on the third,
+again, as many. In an address to the people on this occasion, he told
+them he had put up as many names as he could think of; those that had
+escaped his memory he would publish at a future time. He issued an
+edict likewise, making death the punishment of humanity, proscribing
+any who should dare to receive and cherish a proscribed person,
+without exception to brother, son, or parents. And to him who should
+slay any one proscribed person, he ordained two talents reward, even
+were it a slave who had killed his master, or a son his father. And
+what was thought most unjust of all, he caused the attainder to pass
+upon their sons, and son's sons, and made open sale of all their
+property. Nor did the proscription prevail only at Rome, but
+throughout all the cities of Italy the effusion of blood was such,
+that neither sanctuary of the gods, nor hearth of hospitality, nor
+ancestral home escaped. Men were butchered in the embraces of their
+wives, children in the arms of their mothers. Those who perished
+through public animosity, or private enmity, were nothing in
+comparison of the numbers of those who suffered for their riches. Even
+the murderers began to say, that "his fine house killed this man, a
+garden that, a third, his hot baths." Quintus Aurelius, a quiet,
+peaceable man, and one who thought all his part in the common calamity
+consisted in condoling with the misfortunes of others, coming into the
+forum to read the list, and finding himself among the proscribed,
+cried out, "Woe is me, my Alban farm has informed against me." He had
+not gone far, before he was dispatched by a ruffian, sent on that
+errand.
+
+
+DEMOSTHENES AND CICERO COMPARED.
+
+(_By Plutarch._)
+
+Omitting an exact comparison of the respective faculties in speaking
+of Demosthenes and Cicero, yet this much seems fit to be said; that
+Demosthenes, to make himself a master in rhetoric, applied all the
+faculties he had, natural or acquired, wholly that way; that he far
+surpassed in force and strength of eloquence all his cotemporaries in
+political and judicial speaking, in grandeur and majesty all the
+panegyrical orators, and in accuracy and science all the logicians and
+rhetoricans of his day; that Cicero was highly educated, and by his
+diligent study became a most accomplished general scholar in all these
+branches, having left behind him numerous philosophical treatises of
+his own on Academic principles; as, indeed, even in his written
+speeches, both political and judicial, we see him continually trying
+to show his learning by the way. And one may discover the different
+temper of each of them in their speeches. For Demosthenes' oratory was
+without all embellishment and jesting, wholly composed for real effect
+and seriousness; not smelling of the lamp, as Pytheas scoffingly said,
+but of the temperance, thoughtfulness, austerity, and grave
+earnestness of his temper. Whereas Cicero's love for mockery often ran
+him into scurrility; and in his love of laughing away serious
+arguments in judicial cases by jests and facetious remarks, with a
+view to the advantage of his clients, he paid too little regard to
+what was decent. Indeed, Cicero was by natural temper very much
+disposed to mirth and pleasantry, and always appeared with a smiling
+and serene countenance. But Demosthenes had constant care and
+thoughtfulness in his look, and a serious anxiety, which he seldom, if
+ever, set aside, and, therefore, was accounted by his enemies, as he
+himself confessed, morose and ill-mannered.
+
+Also, it is very evident, out of their several writings, that
+Demosthenes never touched upon his own praises but decently and
+without offense when there was need of it, and for some weightier end;
+but, upon other occasions, modestly and sparingly. But Cicero's
+immeasurable boasting of himself in his orations argues him guilty of
+an uncontrollable appetite for distinction, his cry being evermore
+that arms should give place to the gown, and the soldier's laurel to
+the tongue. And at last we find him extolling not only his deeds and
+actions, but his orations, also, as well those that were only spoken,
+as those that were published. * *
+
+ [Illustration: ALEXANDER SEVERUS.]
+
+The power of persuading and governing the people did, indeed, equally
+belong to both, so that those who had armies and camps at command
+stood in need of their assistance. But what are thought and commonly
+said most to demonstrate and try the tempers of men, namely, authority
+and place, by moving every passion, and discovering every frailty,
+these are things which Demosthenes never received; nor was he ever in
+a position to give such proof of himself, having never obtained any
+eminent office, nor led any of those armies into the field against
+Philip which he raised by his eloquence. Cicero, on the other hand,
+was sent quaestor into Sicily, and proconsul into Cilicia and
+Cappadocia, at a time when avarice was at the height, and the
+commanders and governors who were employed abroad, as though they
+thought it a mean thing to steal, set themselves to seize by open
+force; so that it seemed no heinous matter to take bribes, but he that
+did it most moderately was in good esteem. And yet he, at this time,
+gave the most abundant proofs alike of his contempt of riches and of
+his humanity and good nature. And at Rome, when he was created consul
+in name, but indeed received sovereign and dictatorial authority
+against Catiline and his conspirators, he attested the truth of
+Plato's prediction, that then the miseries of states would be at an
+end, when by a happy fortune supreme power, wisdom and justice should
+be united in one. * *
+
+Finally, Cicero's death excites our pity; for an old man to be
+miserably carried up and down by his servants, flying and hiding
+himself from that death which was, in the course of nature, so near at
+hand, and yet at last to be murdered. Demosthenes, though he seemed at
+first a little to supplicate, yet, by his preparing and keeping the
+poison by him, demands our admiration; and still more admirable was
+his using it. When the temple of the god no longer afforded him a
+sanctuary, he took refuge, as it were, at a mightier altar, freeing
+himself from arms and soldiers, and laughing to scorn the cruelty of
+Antipater.
+
+[This seems to have been Plutarch's views of suicide, and, in fact,
+the spirit of the age in which he lived. From the standpoint of the
+philosophy of our day, suicide manifests nothing but a weakness and
+very generally insanity.]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Illustration: Engraved & Printed by Illman Brothers.
+ SCHOOL OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS.
+ (WALL-PAINTING POMPEII)
+ FOR THE MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+TOMBS AND CATACOMBS.
+
+TOMBS.
+
+
+Respect for the dead, and a considerate regard for the due performance
+of the rites of burial, have been distinctive features in man in all
+ages and countries. Among the Greeks and Romans great importance was
+attached to the burial of the dead, as, if a corpse remained unburied,
+it was believed that the spirit of the departed wandered for a hundred
+years on the hither side of the Styx. Hence it became a religious duty
+to scatter earth over any unburied body which any one might chance to
+meet. This was considered sufficient to appease the infernal gods. The
+earliest tomb was the tumulus or mound of earth, heaped over the dead.
+It is a form naturally suggested to man in the early stages of his
+development. There are two classes of primitive tombs, which are
+evidently of the highest antiquity. The _hypergaean_, or raised mounds,
+or tumuli, and _hypogaean_, which are subterranean or excavated. The
+tumulus may be considered as the most simple and the most ancient form
+of sepulture. Its adoption was universal among all primitive nations.
+Such was the memorial raised by the Greeks over the bodies of their
+heroes. These raised mounds are to be met with in all countries. The
+Etruscans improved upon this form by surrounding the base with a
+podium, or supporting wall of masonry, as at the Cocumella at Vulci,
+and in the Regulini-Galassi tomb. The Lydians adopted a similar
+improvement in the tomb of Alyattes, near Sardis. The pyramid, which
+is but a further development in stone of this form of sepulture, is
+not peculiar to Egypt alone, it has been adopted in several other
+countries. Examples of subterranean tombs are to be found in Egypt,
+Etruria, Greece. Those of Egypt and Etruria afford instances of
+extraordinary labor bestowed in excavating and constructing these
+subterranean abodes of the dead. The great reverence paid by the
+Egyptians to the bodies of their ancestors, and their careful
+preservation of them by embalmment, necessitated a great number and
+vast extent of tombs. The Egyptians called their earthly dwellings
+inns, because men stay there but a brief while; the tombs of the
+departed they called everlasting mansions, because the dead dwelt in
+them forever.
+
+The pyramids were tombs. These monuments were the last abode of the
+Kings of the early dynasties. They are to be met with in Lower Egypt
+alone. The Theban Kings and their subjects erected no pyramids, and
+none of their tombs are structural. In Upper Egypt numerous
+excavations from the living rock in the mountains of the Thebaid
+received their mortal remains. Nothing can exceed the magnificence and
+care with which these tombs of the Kings were excavated and decorated.
+It appears to have been the custom with their Kings, so soon as they
+ascended the throne, to begin preparing their final resting place. The
+excavation seems to have gone on uninterruptedly, year by year, the
+painting and adornment being finished as it progressed, till the hand
+of death ended the King's reign, and simultaneously the works of his
+tomb. The tomb thus became an index of the length of a King's reign as
+well as of his magnificence. Their entrance, carefully closed, was
+frequently indicated by a facade cut on the side of the hill. A number
+of passages, sometimes intersected by deep wells and large halls,
+finally led, frequently by concealed entrances, to the large chamber
+where was the sarcophagus, generally of granite, basalt, or alabaster.
+The sides of the entire excavation, as well as the roof, were covered
+with paintings, colored sculptures, and hieroglyphic inscriptions in
+which the name of the deceased King was frequently repeated. We
+generally find represented in them the funeral ceremonies, the
+procession, the visit of the soul of the deceased to the principal
+divinities, its offerings to each of them, lastly, its presentation by
+the god who protected it to the supreme god of the Amenti, the
+under-world or Hades. The splendor of these works, and the richness
+and variety of their ornamentation, exceed all conception; the
+figures, though in great number, are sometimes of colossal size;
+frequently scenes of civil life are mingled with funeral
+representations; the labors of agriculture, domestic occupations,
+musicians, dances, and furniture of wonderful richness and elegance,
+are also figured on them; on the ceiling are generally astronomical or
+astrological subjects. Several tombs of the Kings of the eighteenth
+dynasty and subsequent dynasties have been found in the valley of
+Biban-el-Molouk on the western side of the plain of Thebes. One of the
+most splendid of these is that opened by Belzoni, and now known as
+that of Osirei Menepthah, of the nineteenth dynasty. A sloping passage
+leads to a chamber which has been called "The Hall of Beauty."
+
+ [Illustration: EGYPTIAN TOMB.]
+
+Forcing his way farther on, Belzoni found as a termination to a series
+of chambers a large vaulted hall which contained the sarcophagus which
+held the body of the monarch, now in Sir John Soane's Museum. The
+entire extent of this succession of chambers and passages is hollowed
+to a length of 320 feet into the heart of the rock, and they are
+profusely covered with the paintings and hieroglyphics usually found
+in those sepulchral chambers. The tombs of the other Kings, Remeses
+III. and Remeses Miamun, exhibit similar series of passages and
+chambers, covered with paintings and sculptures, in endless variety,
+some representing the deepest mysteries of the Egyptian religion; but,
+as Mr. Fergusson says, like all the tombs, they depend for their
+magnificence more on the paintings that adorn the walls than on
+anything which can strictly be called architecture. One of the tombs
+at _Biban-el Molouk_ is 862 feet in length without reckoning the
+lateral chambers; the total area of excavation is 23,809, occupying an
+acre and a quarter of space for one chamber.
+
+Private individuals were buried according to their rank and fortune.
+Their tombs, also excavated from the living rock, consisted of one or
+of several chambers ornamented with paintings and sculptures; the last
+contained the sarcophagus and the mummy. According to Sir G.
+Wilkinson, the tombs were the property of the priests, and a
+sufficient number being always kept ready, the purchase was made at
+the shortest notice, nothing being requisite to complete even the
+sculptures or inscriptions but the insertion of the deceased's name
+and a few statements respecting his family and profession. The
+numerous subjects representing agricultural scenes, the trades of the
+people, in short, the various occupations of the Egyptians, varying
+only in their details and the mode of their execution, were figured in
+these tombs, and were intended as a short epitome of human life, which
+suited equally every future occupant. The tombs at Beni Hassan are
+even of an earlier date than those of Thebes. Among these the tomb of
+a monarch or provincial governor is of the age of Osirtasen I. The
+walls of this tomb are covered with a series of representations,
+setting forth the ordinary occupations and daily avocations of the
+deceased, thus illustrating the manners and customs of the Egyptians
+of that age. These representations are a sort of epitome of life, or
+the career of man, previous to his admission to the mansions of the
+dead. They were therefore intended to show that the deceased had
+carefully and duly fulfilled and performed all the duties and
+avocations which his situation in life and the reverence due to the
+gods required. In the cemeteries of Gizeh and Sakkara are tombs of the
+time of Nephercheres, sixth King of the second dynasty, probably the
+most ancient in Egypt. Around the great pyramid are numerous tombs of
+different periods; among them are the tombs of the princes, and other
+members of the family or time of Khufu. One of the most interesting is
+that known as Campbell's tomb, of the supposed date of about 660 B.C.
+It contained a tomb built up in its center, covered by three stones as
+struts, over which was a semicircular arch of brick. Near it, also,
+are several tombs of private individuals, who were mostly priests of
+Memphis. Many of these have false entrances, and several have pits
+with their mouths at the top of the tomb. The walls are covered with
+the usual paintings representing the ordinary occupations of the
+deceased.
+
+_Mummies._--The origin of the process of embalming has been variously
+accounted for. The real origin appears to be this: it was a part of
+the religious belief of the Egyptians that, as a reward of a
+well-spent and virtuous life, their bodies after death should exist
+and remain undecayed forever in their tombs, for we find in the "Book
+of the Dead" the following inscription placed over the spirits who
+have found favor in the eyes of the Great God: "The bodies which they
+have forsaken shall _sleep forever_ in their sepulchres, while they
+rejoice in the presence of God most high." This inscription evidently
+shows a belief in a separate eternity for soul and body; of an eternal
+existence of the body in the tomb, and of the soul in the presence of
+God. The soul was supposed to exist as long as the body existed. Hence
+the necessity of embalming the body as a means to insure its eternal
+existence. Some have considered that the want of ground for
+cemeteries, and also the excavations made in the mountains for the
+extraction of materials employed in the immense buildings of Egypt,
+compelled them to have recourse to the expedient of mummification.
+Others consider the custom arose rather from a sanitary regulation for
+the benefit of the living. According to Mr. Gliddon, mummification
+preceded, in all probability, the building of the pyramids and tombs,
+because vestiges of mummies have been found in the oldest of these,
+and, in fact, the first mummies were buried in the sand before the
+Egyptians possessed the necessary tools for excavating sepulchres in
+the rock. The earliest mode of mummification was extremely simple; the
+bodies were prepared with natron, or dried in ovens, and wrapped in
+woolen cloth. At a later period every provincial temple was provided
+with an establishment for the purpose of mummification. The bodies
+were delivered to the priests to be embalmed, and after seventy days
+restored to their friends, to be carried to the place of deposit. The
+mode of embalming depended on the rank and position of the deceased.
+There were three modes of embalming; the first is said to have cost a
+talent of silver (about $1,250); the second, 22 minae ($300); the third
+was extremely cheap. The process is thus described by Herodotus;--"In
+Egypt certain persons are appointed by law to exercise this art as
+their peculiar business, and when a dead body is brought them they
+produce patterns of mummies in wood, imitated in painting. In
+preparing the body according to the most expensive mode, they commence
+by extracting the brain from the nostrils by a curved hook, partly
+cleansing the head by these means, and partly by pouring in certain
+drugs; then making an incision in the side with a sharp Ethiopian
+stone (black flint), they draw out the intestines through the
+aperture. Having cleansed and washed them with palm wine, they cover
+them with pounded aromatics, and afterwards filling the cavity with
+powder of pure myrrh, cassia, and other fragrant substances,
+frankincense excepted, they sew it up again. This being done, they
+salt the body, keeping it in natron during seventy days, to which
+period they are strictly confined. When the seventy days are over,
+they wash the body, and wrap it up entirely in bands of fine linen
+smeared on the inner side with gum. The relatives then take away the
+body, and have a wooden case made in the form of a man, in which they
+deposit it; and when fastened up they keep it in a room in their
+house, placing it upright against the wall. (This style of mummy was
+supposed to represent the deceased in the form of Osiris.) This is the
+most costly mode of embalming.
+
+"For those who choose the middle kind, on account of the expense, they
+prepare the body as follows:--They fill syringes with oil of cedar,
+and inject this into the abdomen without making any incision or
+removing the bowels; and, taking care that the liquid shall not
+escape, they keep it in salt during the specified number of days. The
+cedar-oil is then taken out, and such is its strength that it brings
+with it the bowels and all the inside in a state of dissolution. The
+natron also dissolves the flesh, so that nothing remains but the skin
+and bones. This process being over, they restore the body without any
+further operation.
+
+"The third kind of embalming is only adapted for the poor. In this
+they merely cleanse the body by an injection of syrmaea, and salt it
+during seventy days, after which it is returned to the friends who
+brought it."
+
+Sir G. Wilkinson gives some further information with regard to the
+more expensive mode of embalming. The body, having been prepared with
+the proper spices and drugs, was enveloped in linen bandages sometimes
+1,000 yards in length. It was then enclosed in a cartonage fitting
+close to the mummied body, which was richly painted and covered in
+front with a network of beads and bugles arranged in a tasteful form,
+the face being laid over with a thick gold leaf, and the eyes made of
+enamel. The three or four cases which successively covered the
+cartonage were ornamented in like manner with painting and gilding,
+and the whole was enclosed in a sarcophagus of wood or stone,
+profusely charged with painting or sculpture. These cases, as well as
+the cartonage, varied in style and richness, according to the expense
+incurred by the friends of the deceased. The bodies thus embalmed were
+generally of priests of various grades. Sometimes the skin itself was
+covered with gold leaf; sometimes the whole body, the face, or
+eyelids; sometimes the nails alone. In many instances the body or the
+cartonage was beautified in an expensive manner, and the outer cases
+were little ornamented; but some preferred the external show of rich
+cases and sarcophagi. Some mummies have been found with the face
+covered by a mask of cloth fitting closely to it, and overlaid with a
+coating of composition, so painted as to resemble the deceased, and to
+have the appearance of flesh. These, according to Sir G. Wilkinson,
+are probably of a Greek epoch. Greek mummies usually differed from
+those of the Egyptians in the manner of disposing the bandages of the
+arms and legs. No Egyptian is found with the limbs bandaged
+separately, as those of Greek mummies. On the breast was frequently
+placed a scarabaeus in immediate contact with the flesh. These
+scarabaei, when of stone, had their extended wings made of lead or
+silver. On the cartonage and case, in a corresponding situation above,
+the same emblem was also placed, to indicate the protecting influence
+of the Deity. The subjects painted upon the cartonage were the four
+genii of Amenti, and various emblems belonging to deities connected
+with the dead. A long line of hieroglyphics extending down the front
+usually contained the name and quality of the deceased, and the
+offerings presented by him to the gods; and transverse bands
+frequently repeated the former, with similar donations to other
+deities. On the breast was placed the figure of Netpe, with expanded
+wings, protecting the deceased; sacred arks, boats, and other things
+were arranged in different compartments, and Osiris, Isis, Anubis, and
+other deities, were frequently introduced. In some instances Isis was
+represented throwing her arms round the feet of the mummy, with this
+appropriate legend: "I embrace thy feet." A plaited beard was attached
+to the chin when the mummy was that of a man; the absence of this
+appendage indicated the mummy of a woman.
+
+ [Illustration: SARCOPHAGUS, OR COFFIN. (_With Noah's Ark cut in
+ relief on the outside._)]
+
+_Mummy Cases and Sarcophagi._--The outer case of the mummy was either
+of wood--sycamore or cedar--or of stone. When of wood it had a flat or
+circular summit, sometimes with a stout square pillar rising at each
+angle. The whole was richly painted, and some of an older age
+frequently had a door represented near one of the corners. At one end
+was the figure of Isis, at the other Nepthys, and the top was painted
+with bands or fancy devices. In others, the lid represented the
+curving top of the ordinary Egyptian canopy. The stone coffins,
+usually called sarcophagi, were of oblong shape, having flat straight
+sides, like a box, with a curved or pointed lid. Sometimes the figure
+of the deceased was represented upon the latter in relief, like that
+of the Queen of Amasis in the British Museum; and some were in the
+form of a King's name or oval. Others were made in the shape of the
+mummied body, whether of basalt, granite, slate, or limestone,
+specimens of which are met with in the British Museum. These cases
+were deposited in the sepulchral chambers. Various offerings were
+placed near them, and sometimes the instruments of the profession of
+the deceased. Near them were also placed vases and small figures of
+the deceased, of wood or vitrified earthenware. In Sir John Soane's
+museum is the sarcophagus of Seti I. (Menephtha) B.C. 1322, cut out of
+a single block of Oriental alabaster. It is profusely covered with
+hieroglyphics, and scenes on it depict the passage of the sun through
+the hours of the night. It was found by Belzoni in his tomb in the
+Biban-el-molouk. The sarcophagus now in the British Museum was
+formerly supposed to have been the identical sarcophagus which
+contained the body of Alexander the Great. The hieroglyphic name,
+which has been read upon the monument, proves it to be that of
+Nectanebo I., of the thirtieth dynasty, who reigned from B.C. 381 to
+363. Its material is a breccia from a quarry near Thebes, and is
+remarkable for its hardness. A remarkable rectangular-shaped coffin of
+whinstone was that of Menkare, the Mycerinus of the Greeks, and the
+builder of the third pyramid; this interesting relic was found by
+Colonel Vyse in the sepulchral chambers of the third pyramid, but was
+unfortunately lost at sea while on its way to England. The remains of
+the cedar-coffin of this monarch are in the British Museum. Many
+beautiful sarcophagi are in the Vatican at Rome.
+
+ [Illustration: COFFIN OF ALABASTER. (_Features of the deceased
+ Sculptured._)]
+
+The vases, generally named canopi, from their resemblance to certain
+vases made by the Romans to imitate the Egyptian taste, but
+inadmissible in its application to any Egyptian vase, were four in
+number, of different materials, according to the rank of the deceased,
+and were placed near his coffin in the tomb. Some were of common
+limestone, the most costly were of Oriental alabaster. These four
+vases form a complete series; the principal intestines of the mummy
+were placed in them, embalmed in spices and various substances, and
+rolled up in linen, each containing a separate portion. They were
+supposed to belong to the four genii of Amenti, whose heads and names
+they bore. The vase with a cover, representing the human head of
+Amset, held the stomach and large intestines; that with the
+cynocephalus head of Hapi contained the small intestines; in that
+belonging to the jackal-headed Tuautmutf were the lungs and heart; and
+for the vase of the hawk-headed Kabhsenuf were reserved the
+gall-bladder and liver. On the sides of the vases were several columns
+of hieroglyphics, which expressed the adoration of the deceased to
+each of the four deities whose symbols adorned the covers, and which
+gave the name of the deceased.
+
+Small figures, called _shabti_, offered through respect for the dead,
+are to be found in great numbers in the tombs. They were images of
+Osiris, whose form the deceased was supposed to assume, and who thence
+was called the Osirian. They are in several shapes, sometimes in that
+of the deceased, standing in the dress of the period, but more
+generally in the shape of a mummy, the body swathed in bandages, from
+which the hands come out, holding a hoe, _hab_, and pick-ax, and the
+cord of a square basket, slung on the left shoulder, or nape of the
+neck. The head attire of the deceased is either that of the period or
+dignity, and in the case of monarchs accompanied by the uraeus, emblem
+of royalty. Some figures hold the emblem of life, _ankh_, and of
+stability, _tat_, or a whip, _khu_. They are generally of wood, or
+vitrified earthenware. The name and quality of the deceased are found
+on all those in the same tomb, and thrown on the ground round the
+sarcophagus. They usually bear in hieroglyphics the sixth chapter of
+the funeral ritual. Some are found with a blank space left for the
+name of the deceased, which leads one to think that the relations and
+friends procured these figures from dealers; the funeral formula, with
+a list of the customary presentations of offerings for his soul to
+Osiris were already on them; nothing was wanting but the name of the
+deceased; this being added, they were then evidently offered as
+testimonies of respect by the relations and friends of the deceased,
+perhaps at the funeral, and then collected and placed in the tomb.
+Sometimes these small figures were placed in painted cases divided
+into compartments. These cases were about two feet long and one foot
+high.
+
+Manuscripts on papyrus, of various lengths, have been found on some
+mummies. These rolls of papyrus are found in the coffins, or under the
+swathings of the mummies, between the legs, on the breast, or under
+the arms. Some are enclosed in a cylindrical case. The papyrus of the
+Museum of Turin is sixty-six feet long, that at Paris is twenty-two
+feet long; others are of different lengths, down to two or three
+feet. That of Turin may be considered as complete. On all, the upper
+part of the page is occupied by a line of figures of the divinities
+which the soul visits in succession; the rest is filled with
+perpendicular columns of hieroglyphics, which are prayers which the
+soul addresses to each divinity; towards the end of the manuscript is
+painted the judgment scene; the great god Osiris is on his throne; at
+his feet is an enormous female crocodile, its mouth open; behind is
+the divine balance, surmounted by a cynocephalus emblem of universal
+justice; the good and bad actions of the soul are weighed in his
+presence. Horus examines the plummet, and Thoth records the sentence;
+standing close by is the soul of the deceased in its corporeal form,
+conducted by the two goddesses, Truth and Justice, before the great
+judge of the dead. The name of Ritual of the Dead has been given by
+Egyptologists to these papyri, but in reality they bear the title of
+"The Book of the Manifestation to Light." A copy of this, more or less
+complete, according to the fortune of the deceased, was deposited in
+the case of every mummy. The book was revised under the twenty-sixth
+dynasty, and then assumed its final definite form. But many parts of
+it are of the highest antiquity. The whole series of pilgrimages which
+the soul, separated from the body, was believed to accomplish in the
+various divisions of the lower regions, are related in this book. It
+contained also a collection of prayers for the use of the deceased in
+the other world, and of magical formulae intended to secure the
+preservation of the mummy from decay, and to prevent its possession by
+an evil spirit, till the ultimate return of the soul of the deceased.
+Many of these rituals are also found written, not in hieroglyphics,
+but in hieratic characters, which are an abbreviated form of
+hieroglyphic signs. Papyri with hieroglyphics are nearly always
+divided by ruled lines into narrow vertical columns of an inch or less
+in breadth, in which the hieroglyphic signs are arranged one under
+the other. Sometimes the papyri are found written in the enchorial
+character. Several manuscripts in Greek on papyrus have been also
+discovered in Egypt; they are, however, of a late date, and relate to
+the sale of lands; many have been discovered referring to lands and
+possessions about Thebes, one of which has been given in full on page
+245.
+
+ [Illustration: DISCOVERED TOMB WITH ITS TREASURES. (_At
+ Pompeii._)]
+
+_Roman Tombs._--Before commencing our description of the tombs which
+line the way as the visitor approaches Pompeii, and seem to prepare
+him for that funeral silence which reigns in the long-lost city, the
+more remarkable for its contrast with the gay and festive style of
+decoration which still characterizes the remains which surround him,
+it is our intention, as we have done in other instances, to give some
+general information upon the subject which we are about to treat in
+detail, for the benefit of those among our readers to whom the forms
+of Roman burial and the expressions of Roman sorrow are unfamiliar.
+
+Great, absurdly great among the uneducated, as is the importance
+attached to a due performance of the rites of burial in the present
+day, it is as nothing compared to the interest which was felt on this
+subject by the Romans; and not by them only, but by other nations of
+antiquity, with whose manners we have nothing to do here. The Romans
+indeed had a good reason for this anxiety, for they believed, in
+common with the Greeks, that if the body remained unentombed, the soul
+wandered for a hundred years on the hither side of the Styx, alone and
+desponding, unable to gain admission to its final resting-place,
+whether among the happy or the miserable. If, therefore, any person
+perished at sea, or otherwise under such circumstances that his body
+could not be found, a _cenotaph_, or empty tomb, was erected by his
+surviving friends, which served as well for his passport over the
+Stygian ferry as if his body had been burnt or committed to the earth
+with due ceremonies. Hence it became a religious duty, not rashly to
+be neglected, to scatter earth over any unburied body which men
+chanced to see, for even so slight a sepulchre as this was held
+sufficient to appease the scruples of the infernal gods. The reader,
+if there be any readers of Latin to whom these superstitions are
+unfamiliar, may refer to the sixth book of the AEneid, line 325, and to
+a remarkable ode of Horace, the 28th of the first book, which turns
+entirely upon this subject. Burial, therefore, was a matter of
+considerable importance.
+
+When death approached, the nearest relative hung over the dying
+person, endeavoring to inhale his last breath, in a fond belief that
+the _anima_, the living principle, departed at that moment, and by
+that passage from the body. Hence the phrases, _animam in primo ore
+tenere, spiritum excipere_, and the like. It is curious to observe how
+an established form of expression holds its ground. Here are we, after
+the lapse of eighteen hundred years, still talking of receiving a
+dying friend's last breath, as if we really meant what we say. After
+death the body was washed and anointed by persons called
+_pollinctores_; then laid out on a bier, the feet to the door, to
+typify its approaching departure, dressed in the best attire which it
+had formerly owned. The bier was often decked with leaves and flowers,
+a simple and touching tribute of affection, which is of the heart, and
+speaks to it, and therefore has maintained its ground in every age and
+region, unaffected by the constant changes in customs merely arbitrary
+and conventional.
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+In the early ages of Rome the rites of burial and burning seem to have
+been alike in use. Afterwards the former seems (for the matter is not
+very clear) to have prevailed, until towards the close of the seventh
+century of the city, after the death of Sylla, who is said to have
+been the first of the patrician Cornelii who was burnt. Thenceforward
+corpses were almost universally consumed by fire until the
+establishment of Christianity, when the old fashion was brought up
+again, burning being violently opposed by the fathers of the church,
+probably on account of its intimate connection with Pagan associations
+and superstitions. Seven days, we are told, elapsed between death and
+the funeral; on the eighth the corpse was committed to the flames; on
+the ninth the ashes were deposited in the sepulchre. This probably
+refers only to the funerals of the great, where much splendor and
+extent of preparation was required, and especially those public
+funerals (_funera indictiva_) to which the whole people were bidden by
+voice of crier, the ceremony being often closed by theatrical and
+gladiatorial exhibitions, and a sumptuous banquet. But we have no
+intention to narrate the pomp which accompanied the princely nobles of
+Rome to the tomb: it is enough for our purpose to explain the usages
+of private life, to which the Street of Tombs owes its origin and its
+interest.
+
+In the older times funerals were celebrated at night because the rites
+of religion were celebrated by day; and it was pollution for the
+ministers, or for anything connected with worship of the deities of
+the upper world, even to see, much more to touch, anything connected
+with death. From this nightly solemnization many of the words
+connected with this subject are derived. Those who bore the bier were
+called originally _Vesperones_, thence _Vespillones_, from _Vespera_,
+evening; and the very term _funus_ is derived by grammarians, _a
+funalibus_, from the rope torches coated with wax or tallow which
+continued to be used long after the necessity for using them ceased.
+This practice, now far more than two thousand years old, is still
+retained in the Roman Church, with many other ceremonies borrowed from
+heathen rites. St. Chrysostom assures us that it is not of modern
+revival, and gives a beautiful reason for its being retained. "Tell
+me," he says, "what mean those brilliant lamps? Do we not go forth
+with the dead on their way rejoicing, as with men who have fought
+their fight?"
+
+The corpse being placed upon a litter or bier, the former being used
+by the wealthy, the latter by the poor, was carried out preceded by
+instrumental musicians, and female singers, who chanted the dirge.
+These hired attendants, whose noisy sorrow was as genuine as the dumb
+grief of our mutes, were succeeded, if the deceased were noble, or
+distinguished by personal exploits, by numerous couches containing the
+family effigies of his ancestors, each by itself, that the length of
+his lineage might be the more conspicuous; by the images of such
+nations as he had conquered, such cities as he had taken; by the
+spoils which he had won; by the ensigns of the magistracies which he
+had filled; but if the fasces were among them these were borne
+reversed. Then came the slaves whom he had emancipated (and often with
+a view to this post-mortem magnificence, a master emancipated great
+numbers of them), wearing hats in token of their manumission. Behind
+the corpse came the nearest relations, profuse in the display of grief
+as far as it can be shown by weeping, howling, beating the breasts and
+cheeks, and tearing the hair, which was laid, as a last tribute of
+affection, on the breast of the deceased, to be consumed with him. To
+shave the head was also a sign of mourning. It is a curious inversion
+of the ordinary customs of life, that the sons of the deceased mourned
+with the head covered, the daughters with it bare.
+
+With this attendance the body was borne to the place of burial, being
+usually carried through the Forum, where, if the deceased had been a
+person of any eminence, a funeral oration was spoken from the rostra
+in his honor. The place of burial was without the city, in almost
+every instance. By the twelve tables it was enacted that no one should
+be burned or buried within the city; and as this wholesome law fell
+into disuse, it was from time to time revived and enforced. The
+reasons for its establishment were twofold, religious and civil. To
+the former head belongs the reason, already assigned for a different
+observance, that the very sight of things connected with death brought
+pollution on things consecrated to the gods of the upper world. So far
+was this carried that the priest of Jupiter might not even enter any
+place where there was a tomb, or so much as hear the funeral pipes;
+nay, his wife, the Flaminica, might not wear shoes made of the hide of
+an ox which had died a natural death, because all things which had
+died spontaneously were of ill omen. Besides, it was an ill omen to
+any one to come upon a tomb unawares. Another reason was that the
+public convenience might not be interrupted by private rites, since
+no tombs could be removed without sacrilege when once established,
+unless by the state, upon sufficient cause. The civil reasons are to
+be sought in the unwholesome exhalations of large burying-grounds, and
+the danger of fire from burning funeral piles in the neighborhood of
+houses. It is not meant, however, that there were no tombs within the
+city. Some appear to have been included by the gradual extension of
+the walls; others were established in those intervals when the law of
+the twelve tables fell, as we have said, into desuetude; nor does it
+appear that these were destroyed, nor their contents removed. Thus
+both the Claudian and the Cincian clans had sepulchres in Rome, the
+former under the Capitol.
+
+ [Illustration: ARTICLES FOUND IN A TOMB.]
+
+If the family were of sufficient consequence to have a patrimonial
+tomb the deceased was laid in it; if he had none such, and was
+wealthy, he usually constructed a tomb upon his property during life,
+or bought a piece of ground for the purpose. If possible the tomb was
+always placed near a road. Hence the usual form of inscription,
+_Siste, Viator_ (Stay, Traveler), continually used in churches by
+those small wits who thought that nothing could be good English which
+was not half Latin, and forgot that in our country the traveler must
+have stayed already to visit the sexton before he can possibly do so
+in compliance with the advice of the monument. For the poor there were
+public burial-grounds, called _puticuli, a puteis_, from the trenches
+ready dug to receive bodies. Such was the ground at the Esquiline
+gate, which Augustus gave Maecenas for his gardens. Public tombs were
+also granted by the state to eminent men, an honor in early times
+conferred on few. These grants were usually made in the Campus
+Martius, where no one could legally be buried without a decree of the
+senate in his favor. It appears from the inscriptions found in the
+Street of Tombs, at Pompeii, that much, if not the whole of the ground
+on which those tombs are built, was public property, the property of
+the corporation, as we should now say; and that the sites of many,
+perhaps of all, were either purchased or granted by the decurions, or
+municipal senate, in gratitude for obligations received.
+
+Sometimes the body was burned at the place where it was to be
+entombed, which, when the pile and sepulchre were thus joined, was
+called _bustum_; sometimes the sepulchre was at a distance from the
+place of burning, which was then called _ustrina_. The words _bustum_
+and _sepulchrum_, therefore, though often loosely used as synonymous,
+are not in fact so, the latter being involved in, but by no means
+comprehending the former. The pile was ordered to be built of rough
+wood, unpolished by the ax. Pitch was added to quicken the flames, and
+cypress, the aromatic scent of which was useful to overpower the
+stench of the burning body. The funeral piles of great men were of
+immense size and splendidly adorned; and all classes appear to have
+indulged their vanity in this respect to the utmost of their means, so
+that a small and unattended pyre is mentioned as the mark of an
+insignificant or friendless person. The body was placed on it in the
+litter or bier; the nearest relation present then opened the eyes,
+which it had been the duty of the same person to close immediately
+after death, and set fire to the wood with averted face, in testimony
+that he performed that office not of good will, but of necessity. As
+the combustion proceeded, various offerings were cast into the flames.
+The manes were believed to love blood; animals, therefore, especially
+those which they had loved while alive, were killed and thrown upon
+the pile, as horses, dogs and doves, besides the beasts commonly used
+in sacrifice, as sheep and oxen. Human beings, especially prisoners of
+war, were sometimes put to death, though not in the later times of the
+republic. The most costly robes and arms of the deceased, especially
+trophies taken in warfare, were also devoted in his honor, and the
+blaze was fed by the costly oils and gums of the East. The body being
+reduced to ashes, these were then quenched with wine, and collected by
+the nearest relation; after which, if the grief were real, they were
+again bedewed with tears; if not, wine or unguents answered the
+purpose equally well. The whole ceremony is described in a few lines
+by Tibullus:
+
+ There, while the fire lies smouldering on the ground,
+ My bones, the all of me, can then be found.
+ Arrayed in mourning robes, the sorrowing pair
+ Shall gather all around with pious care;
+ With ruddy wine the relics sprinkle o'er,
+ And snowy milk on them collected pour.
+ Then with fair linen cloths the moisture dry,
+ Inurned in some cold marble tomb to lie.
+ With them enclose the spices, sweets and gums,
+ And all that from the rich Arabia comes,
+ And what Assyria's wealthy confines send,
+ And tears, sad offering, to my memory lend.
+
+ _Eleg. iii._ 2-17.
+
+The ashes thus collected were then finally deposited in the urn, which
+was made of different materials, according to the quality of the dead;
+usually of clay or glass, but sometimes of marble, bronze, and even
+the precious metals. The ceremony thus over, the praefica gave the
+word, _Ilicet_ (the contracted form of _Ire licet_, It is lawful to
+go), and the bystanders departed, having been thrice sprinkled with a
+branch of olive or laurel dipped in water, to purify them from the
+pollution which they had contracted, and repeating thrice the words,
+_Vale_, or _Salve_, words of frequent occurrence in monumental
+inscriptions, as in one of beautiful simplicity which we quote:
+
+"Farewell, most happy soul of Caia Oppia. We shall follow thee in such
+order as may be appointed by nature. Farewell, sweetest mother."
+
+The distinction between cenotaphs and tombs has been already
+explained. Cenotaphs, however, were of two sorts: those erected to
+persons already duly buried, which were merely honorary, and those
+erected to the unburied dead, which had a religious end and efficacy.
+This evasion of the penal laws against lying unburied was chiefly
+serviceable to persons shipwrecked or slain in war; but all came in
+for the benefit of it whose bodies could not be found or identified.
+When a cenotaph of the latter class was erected sacrifices were
+offered, the names of the deceased were thrice invoked with a loud
+voice, as if to summon them to their new abode, and the cenotaph was
+hallowed with the same privileges as if the ashes of the deceased
+reposed within it.
+
+The heir, however, had not discharged his last duty when he had laid
+the body of his predecessor in the tomb; there were still due solemn
+rites, and those of an expensive character. The Romans loved to keep
+alive the memory of their dead, showing therein a constancy of
+affection which does them honor; and not only immediately after the
+funeral, but at stated periods from time to time, they celebrated
+feasts and offered sacrifices and libations to them. The month of
+February was especially set apart for doing honor to the manes, having
+obtained that distinction in virtue of being, in old times, the last
+month of the year. Private funeral feasts were also celebrated on the
+ninth day after death, and indeed at any time, except on those days
+which were marked as unlucky, because some great public calamity had
+befallen upon them. Besides these feasts, the dead were honored with
+sacrifices, which were offered to the manes, and with games; but the
+latter belong more to those splendid public funerals which we have
+professed not to describe. The inferiae consisted principally of
+libations, for which were used water, milk, wine, but especially
+blood, the smell of which was thought peculiarly palatable to the
+ghosts. Perfumes and flowers were also thrown upon the tomb; and the
+inexpediency of wasting rich wines and precious oils on a cold stone
+and dead body, when they might be employed in comforting the living,
+was a favorite subject with the _bons vivans_ of the age. It was with
+the same design to crown it with garlands, and to honor it with
+libations, that Electra and Orestes met and recognized each other at
+their father's tomb. Roses were in especial request for this service,
+and lilies also:
+
+ Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring,
+ Mixed with the purple roses of the Spring;
+ Let me with funeral flowers his body strow,
+ This gift which parents to their children owe,
+ This unavailing gift at least I may bestow.
+
+ _Dryden, AEn, vi. 883._
+
+_Inscriptions._--Before entering upon a description of the catacombs,
+we will speak of the inscriptions of the ancients. Most of the tombs
+are really Egyptian, and no nation has left so many inscriptions as
+the Egyptian. All its monuments are covered with them. Its temples,
+palaces, tombs, isolated monuments, present an infinite number of
+inscriptions in hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic characters. The
+Egyptians rarely executed a statue, or figured representation, without
+inscribing by its side its name or subject. This name is invariably
+found by the side of each divinity, personage, or individual. In each
+painted scene, on each sculptured figure, an inscription, more or less
+extensive, explains its subject.
+
+The characters used by the Egyptians were of three
+kinds--hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic. The latter has been also
+termed _enchorial_, or popular. The first was doubtless a system of
+representational signs, or picture writing--the earliest form of
+writing, in the first stage of its development; the hieratic is an
+abbreviated form of the hieroglyphic; the demotic, a simplified form
+of the hieratic, and a near approach towards the alphabetic system.
+
+ [Illustration: HIEROGLYPHICS.]
+
+Hieroglyphics (styled by the Egyptians _skhai en neter tur_--writing
+of sacred words) are composed of signs representing objects of the
+physical world, as animals, plants, stars, man and his different
+members, and various objects. They are pure or linear, the latter
+being a reduction of the former. The pure were always sculptured or
+painted. The linear were generally used in the earlier papyri,
+containing funeral rituals.
+
+They have been divided into four classes:--1, Representational or
+ikonographic; 2, Symbolic or tropical; 3, Enigmatic; 4, Phonetic. From
+the examination of hieroglyphic inscriptions of different ages, it is
+evident that these four classes of symbols were used promiscuously,
+according to the pleasure and convenience of the artist.
+
+1. Ikonographic, representational, or imitative hieroglyphics, are
+those that present the images of the things expressed, as the sun's
+disk to signify the sun, the crescent to signify the moon. These may
+be styled pure hieroglyphics.
+
+2. The symbolical, or tropical (by Bunsen termed ideographic),
+substituted one object for another, to which it bore an analogy, as
+heaven and a star expressed night; a leg in a trap, deceit; two arms
+stretched towards heaven expressed the word offering; a censer with
+some grains of incense, adoration; a bee was made to signify Lower
+Egypt; the fore-quarters of a lion, strength; a crocodile, darkness.
+The following hieroglyphics were on the triumph Hall Thothmes III.,
+and mean, after translating:
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+"I went: I order that you reduce and crush all the high officers of
+Tsahi. I cast them together with all their possessions at thy feet."
+
+This kind of character appears to have been particularly invented for
+the expression of abstract ideas, especially belonging to religion or
+the royal power. These are the characters generally alluded to by the
+ancients when they speak of hieroglyphics, and are the most difficult
+of interpretation.
+
+3. Enigmatic are those in which an emblematic figure is put in lieu of
+the one intended to be represented, as a hawk for the sun; a seated
+figure with a curved beard, for a god. These three kinds were either
+used _alone_, or _in company_ with the phonetically written word they
+represented. Thus: 1. The word Ra, sun, might be written in letters
+only, or be also followed by the ikonograph, the _solar disk_ (which
+if alone would still have the same meaning--Ra, the sun). So, too, the
+word "moon," Aah, was followed by the crescent. In these cases the
+sign so following the phonetic word has been called a _terminative_,
+from its serving to determine the meaning of what preceded it. We give
+here a few words translated:
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+"In your transformation as golden sperbe you have accomplished it."
+
+2. In the same manner, the _tropical_ hieroglyphics might be alone or
+in company with the word written phonetically; and the expression "to
+write," _skhai_, might be followed or not by its tropical
+hieroglyphic, the "pen and inkstand," as its determinative sign. 3.
+The emblematic figure, a _hawk-headed_ god, bearing the disk,
+signifying the "sun," might also be alone, or after the name "Ra"
+written phonetically, as a determinative sign; and as a general rule
+the determinative followed, instead of preceding the names.
+Determinatives are of two kinds--ideograms, and generic
+determinatives: the first were the pictures of the object spoken of;
+the second, conventional symbols of the class of notions expressed by
+the word.
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+4. Phonetic. Phonetic characters or signs were those expressive of
+sounds. They are either purely _alphabetic_ or _syllabic_. All the
+other Egyptian phonetic signs have _syllabic_ values, which are
+resolvable into combinations of the letters of the alphabet. This
+phonetic principle being admitted, the numbers of figures used to
+represent a sound might have been increased almost without limit, and
+any hieroglyphic might stand for the first letter of its name. So
+copious an alphabet would have been a continual source of error. The
+characters, therefore, thus applied, were soon fixed, and the
+Egyptians practically confined themselves to particular hieroglyphics
+in writing certain words.
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+"Out of bad comes good."
+
+Hieroglyphic writing was employed on monuments of all kinds, on
+temples as well as on the smallest figures, and on bricks used for
+building purposes. On the most ancient monuments this writing is
+absolutely the same as on the most recent Egyptian work. Out of Egypt
+there is scarcely a single example of a graphic system identically the
+same during a period of over two thousand years. The hieroglyphic
+characters were either engraved in relief, or sunk below the surface
+on the public monuments, and objects of hard materials suited for the
+glyptic art. The hieroglyphics on the monuments are either sculptured
+and plain, or decorated with colors. The colored are divided into two
+distinct classes, the monochromatic of one simple tone, and the
+polychromatic, or those which rendered with more or less fidelity the
+color of the object they were intended to depict. The hieroglyphic
+figures were arranged in vertical columns or horizontal lines, and
+grouped together as circumstances required, so as to leave no spaces
+unnecessarily vacant. They were written from right to left, or from
+left to right. The order in which the characters were to be read, was
+shown by the direction in which the figures are placed, as their heads
+are invariably turned towards the reader. A single line of
+hieroglyphics--the dedication of a temple or of any other monument,
+for example--proceeds sometimes one half from left to right, and the
+other half from right to left; but in this case a sign, such as the
+sacred tau, or an obelisk, which has no particular direction, is
+placed in the middle of the inscription, and it is from that sign that
+the two halves of the inscription take each an opposite direction.
+
+The period when hieroglyphics--the oldest Egyptian characters--were
+first used, is uncertain. They are found in the Great Pyramid of the
+time of the fourth dynasty, and had evidently been invented long
+before, having already assumed a cursive style.[23] This shows them to
+be far older than any other known writing; and the written documents
+of the ancient languages of Asia, the Sanskrit and the Zend, are of a
+recent time compared with those of Egypt, even if the date of the
+Rig-Veda in the fifteenth century B.C. be proved. Manetho shows that
+the invention of writing was known in the reign of Athoth (the son
+and successor of Menes), the second King of Egypt, when he ascribes to
+him the writing of the anatomical books, and tradition assigned to it
+a still earlier origin. At all events, hieroglyphics, and the use of
+the papyrus, with the usual reed pen, are shown to have been common
+when the pyramids were built, and their style in the sculptures proves
+that they were then a very old invention. In hieroglyphics of the
+earliest periods there were fewer phonetic characters than in after
+ages, these periods being nearer to the original picture-writing. The
+number of signs also varied at different times; but they may be
+reckoned at from 900 to 1,000. Various new characters were added at
+subsequent periods, and a still greater number were introduced under
+the Ptolemies and Caesars, which are not found in the early monuments;
+some, again, of the older times, fell into disuse.
+
+Hieratic is an abbreviated form of the hieroglyphic; thus each
+hieroglyphic sign--ikonographic, symbolic, or phonetic--has its
+abridged hieratic form, and this abridged form has the same import as
+the sign itself of which it is a reduced copy. It was written from
+right to left, and was the character used by the priests and sacred
+scribes, whence its name. It was invented at least as early as the
+ninth dynasty (4,240 years ago), and fell into disuse when the demotic
+had been introduced. The hieratic writing was generally used for
+manuscripts, and is also found on the cases of mummies, and on
+isolated stones and tablets. Long inscriptions have been written on
+them with a brush. Inscriptions of this kind are also found on
+buildings, written or engraved by ancient travelers. But its most
+important use was in the historical papyri, and the registers of the
+temples. Most valuable information respecting the chronology and
+numeric systems of the Egyptians has been derived from them.
+
+Demotic, or enchorial, is composed of signs derived from the hieratic,
+and is a simplified form of it, but from which figurative or
+ikonographic signs are generally excluded, and but few symbolical
+signs, relative to religion alone, are retained; signs nearly
+approaching the alphabetic are chiefly met with in this third kind of
+writing. It was invariably written, like the hieratic, from right to
+left. It is thus evident that the Egyptians, strictly speaking, had
+but one system of writing, composed of three kinds of signs, the
+second and third being regularly deduced from the first, and all three
+governed by the same fundamental principles. The demotic was reserved
+for general use among the Egyptians: decrees and other public acts,
+contracts, some funeral stelae, and private transactions, were written
+in demotic. The intermediate text of the Rosetta inscription is of
+this kind. It is not quite certain when the demotic first came into
+use, but it was at least as early as the reign of Psammetichus II., of
+the twenty-sixth dynasty (B.C. 604); and it had therefore long been
+employed when Herodotus visited Egypt. Soon after its invention it was
+adopted for all ordinary purposes.
+
+The chief objects of interest in the study of an Egyptian inscription
+are its historical indications. These are found in the names of Kings
+or of chief officers, and in the dates they contain. The names of
+Kings are always enclosed in an oval called _cartouche_. An oval
+contains either the royal title or praenomen, or the proper name or
+nomen of the King.
+
+ [Illustration: EGYPTIAN PILLAR.]
+
+The dates which are found with these royal legends are also of great
+importance in an historical point of view, and monuments which bear
+any numerical indications are exceedingly rare. These numerical
+indications are either the age of the deceased on a funeral tablet, or
+the number of different consecrated objects which he has offered to
+the gods, or the date of an event mentioned in the inscription.
+Dates, properly so called, are the most interesting to collect; they
+are expressed in hieroglyphic cyphers, single lines expressing the
+number of units up to nine, when an arbitrary sign represents 10,
+another 100, and another 10,000.
+
+The most celebrated Egyptian inscriptions are those of the Rosetta
+stone. This stone, a tablet of black basalt, contains three
+inscriptions, one in hieroglyphics, another in demotic or enchorial,
+and a third in the Greek language. The inscriptions are to the same
+purport in each, and are a decree of the priesthood of Memphis, in
+honor of Ptolemy Epiphanes, about the year B.C. 196. "Ptolemy is there
+styled King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Son of the gods Philopatores,
+approved by Pthah, to whom Ra has given victory, a living image of
+Amun, son of Ra, Ptolemy Immortal, beloved by Pthah, God Epiphanes,
+most gracious. In the date of the decree we are told the names of the
+priests of Alexander, of the gods Soteres, of the gods Adelphi, of the
+gods Euergetae, of the gods Philopatores, of the god Epiphanes himself,
+of Berenice Euergetis, of Arsinoe Philadelphus, and of Arsinoe
+Philopator. The preamble mentions with gratitude the services of the
+King, or rather of his wise minister, Aristomenes, and the enactment
+orders that the statue of the King shall be worshipped in every temple
+of Egypt, and be carried out in the processions with those of the gods
+of the country, and lastly that the decree is to be carved at the foot
+of every statue of the King in sacred, in common and in Greek writing"
+(Sharpe). It is now in the British Museum. This stone is remarkable
+for having led to the discovery of the system pursued by the Egyptians
+in their monumental writing, and for having furnished a key to its
+interpretation, Dr. Young giving the first hints by establishing the
+phonetic value of the hieroglyphic signs, which were followed up and
+carried out by Champollion.
+
+Another important and much more ancient inscription is the tablet of
+Abydos in the British Museum. It was discovered by Mr. Banks in a
+chamber of the temple of Abydos, in 1818. It is now greatly
+disfigured, but when perfect it represented an offering made by
+Remeses II., of the nineteenth dynasty, to his predecessors on the
+throne of Egypt. The tablet is of fine limestone, and originally
+contained the names of fifty-two Kings disposed in the two upper
+lines, twenty-six in each line, and a third or lower line with the
+name and praenomen of Remeses II. or III. repeated twenty-six times. On
+the upper line, beginning from the right hand, are the names of
+monarchs anterior to the twelfth dynasty. The names in the second line
+are those of monarchs of the twelfth and the eighteenth or nineteenth
+dynasties. The King Remeses II. probably stood on the right hand of
+the tablet, and on the other is the lower part of a figure of Osiris.
+The lateral inscription is the speech of the deceased King to "their
+son" Remeses II.
+
+The tablet of Karnac, now in one of the halls of the Bibliotheque at
+Paris, was discovered by Burton in a chamber situated in the southeast
+angle of the temple-palace of Thebes, and was published by its
+discoverer in his "Excerpta Hieroglyphica." The chamber itself was
+fully described by Rosellini in his "Monumenti Storici." The Kings are
+in two rows, overlooked each of them by a large figure of Thothmes
+III., the fifth King of the eighteenth dynasty. In the row to the left
+of the entrance are thirty-one names, and in that to the right are
+thirty, all of them predecessors of Thothmes. The Theban Kings who
+ruled in Upper Egypt during the usurpation of the Hyksos invaders are
+also exhibited among the lists. Over the head of each King is his
+oval, containing his royal titles.
+
+A most valuable tablet of Kings has been lately discovered by M.
+Mariette in a tomb near Memphis, that of a priest who lived under
+Remeses II., and was called Tunar-i. It contains two rows of Kings'
+names, each twenty-nine in number. Six have been wholly obliterated
+out of the upper row, and five out of the lower row. The upper row
+contains the names of Remeses II. and his predecessors, who seem all
+meant for Kings of Upper Egypt, or Kings of Memphis who ruled over
+Upper Egypt, while the names in the lower row seem meant for
+contemporaneous High Priests of Memphis, some or all of whom may have
+called themselves Kings of Lower Egypt. The result of the comparison
+of this tablet with other authorities, namely, Manetho, Eratosthenes,
+and the tablet of Abydos, is supposed by some to contradict the longer
+views of chronology held by Bunsen, Lepsius and others. Thus, reading
+the list of names backwards from Remeses II. to Amosis, the first of
+the eighteenth dynasty, this tablet, like the tablet of Abydos,
+immediately jumps to the Kings of Manetho's twelfth dynasty; thus
+arguing that the intermediate five dynasties mentioned by Manetho must
+have been reigning contemporaneously with the others, and add no
+length of time to a table of chronology. There is also a further
+omission in this tablet of four more dynasties. This tablet would thus
+seem to confirm the views of the opponents of the longer chronology of
+Bunsen and others, by striking out from the long chronology two
+periods amounting together to 1,536 years. But a complete counterpart
+of the tablet of Memphis has been recently found at Abydos by M.
+Mariette, fully confirming the chronology of Manetho, and bearing out
+the views of Bunsen and Lepsius. The _Moniteur_ publishes a letter
+from M. Mariette, containing the following statement:--"At Abydos I
+have discovered a magnificent counterpart of the tablet of Sakharah.
+Seti I., accompanied by his son, subsequently Remeses II. (Sesostris),
+presents an offering to seventy-six Kings drawn up in line before him.
+Menes (the first King of the first dynasty on Manetho's list) is at
+their head. From Menes to Seti I., this formidable list passes through
+nearly all the dynasties. The first six are represented therein. We
+are next introduced to sovereigns still unknown to us, belonging to
+the obscure period which extends from the end of the sixth to the
+beginning of the eleventh. From the eleventh to the eighteenth the new
+table follows the beaten track, which it does not quit again during
+the reign of Thothmes, Amenophis, and the first Remeses. If in this
+new list everything is not absolutely new, we at least find in it a
+valuable confirmation of Manetho's list, and in the present state of
+science we can hardly expect more. Whatever confirms Manetho gives us
+confidence in our own efforts, even as whatever contradicts it weakens
+the results we obtain. The new tablet of Abydos is, moreover, the
+completest and best preserved monument we possess in this respect. Its
+style is splendid, and there is not a single cartouche or oval
+wanting. It has been found engraved on one of the walls of a small
+chamber in the large temple of Abydos."
+
+An important stone bearing a Greek inscription with equivalent
+Egyptian hieroglyphics has been discovered by Professor Lepsius, at
+San, the former Tanis, the chief scene of the grand architectural
+undertakings of Remeses II. The Greek inscription consists of
+seventy-six lines, in the most perfect preservation, dating from the
+time of Ptolemy Euergetes I. (B.C. 238). The hieroglyphical
+inscription has thirty-seven lines. It was also found that a demotic
+inscription was ordered to be added by the priests, on a stone or
+brass stele, in the sacred writing of the Egyptians and in Greek
+characters; this is unfortunately wanting. The contents of the
+inscription are of great interest. It is dated the ninth year the
+seventh Apellaeus--seventeen Tybi, of the reign of Euergetes I. The
+priests of Egypt came together in Canopus to celebrate the birthday of
+Euergetes, on the fifth Dios, and his assumption of the royal honor on
+the twenty-eighth of the same month, when they passed the decree here
+published. They enumerate all the good deeds of the King, amongst them
+the merit of having recovered in a military expedition the sacred
+images carried off in former times by the Persians, and order great
+honors to be paid in reward for his services. This tablet of
+calcareous stone with a rounded top, is about seven feet high, and is
+completely covered by the inscription. The discovery of this stone is
+of the greatest importance for hieroglyphical studies.
+
+We may mention here another inscribed tablet, the celebrated Isiac
+table in the Museum at Turin. It is a tablet in bronze, covered with
+Egyptian figures or hieroglyphics engraved or sunk, the outlines being
+filled with silvering, forming a kind of niello. It was one of the
+first objects that excited an interest in the interpretation of
+hieroglyphics, and elicited learned solutions from Kircher and others.
+It is now considered to be one of those pseudo-Egyptian productions so
+extensively fabricated during the reign of Hadrian.
+
+ [Illustration: EGYPTIAN COLUMN.]
+
+The Egyptian obelisks also present important inscriptions. Of these
+the most ancient is that of Heliopolis.
+
+We have selected these few examples of Egyptian inscriptions for their
+celebrity. Almost every Egyptian monument, of whatever period,
+temples, statues, tablets, small statues, were inscribed with
+hieroglyphic inscriptions, all generally executed with great care and
+finish. The Egyptian edifices were also covered with religious or
+historical tableaux, sculptured and painted on all the walls; it has
+been estimated that in one single temple there existed no less than
+30,000 square feet of sculpture, and at the sides of these tableaux
+were innumerable inscriptions, equally composed of ingeniously grouped
+figurative signs, in explanation of the subjects, and combining with
+them far more happily than if they had been the finest alphabetical
+characters in the world.
+
+Their study would require more than a lifetime, and we have only space
+to give a few general hints.
+
+We have a much more accurate knowledge of Greek inscriptions than we
+have of Egyptian palaeography. The Greek alphabet, and all its
+variations, as well as the language, customs, and history of that
+illustrious people, are better known to us. Greek inscriptions lead us
+back to those glorious periods of the Greek people when their heroes
+and writers made themselves immortal by their illustrious deeds and
+writings. What emotions must arise in the breast of the archaeologist
+who finds in a marble worn by time the funereal monument placed by
+Athens, twenty-three centuries ago, over the grave of its warriors who
+died before Potidaea.
+
+ "Their souls high heaven received; their bodies gained,
+ In Potidaea's plains, this hallowed tomb.
+ Their foes unnumbered fell: a few remained
+ Saved by their ramparts from the general doom.
+ The victor city mourns her heroes slain,
+ Foremost in fight, they for her glory died."
+
+The most important monumental inscription which presents Greek
+records, illustrating and establishing the chronology of Greek
+history, is the Parian chronicle, now preserved among the Arundelian
+marbles at Oxford. It was so called from the supposition of its having
+been made in the Island of Paros, B.C. 263. In its perfect state it
+was a square tablet, of coarse marble, five inches thick; and when
+Selden first inspected it it measured three feet seven inches by two
+feet seven inches. On this stone were engraved some of the principal
+events in the history of ancient Greece, forming a compendium of
+chronology during a series of 1,318 years, which commenced with the
+reign of Cecrops, the first King of Athens, B.C. 1582, and ended with
+the archonship of Diognetus. It was deciphered and published by the
+learned Selden in 1628. It makes no mention of Olympiads, and reckons
+backwards from the time then present by years.
+
+Particular attention should be paid, in the interpretation of Greek
+inscriptions, to distinguish the numerous titles of magistrates of
+every order, of public officers of different ranks, the names of gods
+and of nations, those of towns, and the tribes of a city; the
+prescribed formulas for different kinds of monuments; the text of
+decrees, letters, etc., which are given or cited in analogous texts;
+the names of monuments, such as stelae, tablets, cippi, etc., the
+indication of places, or parts belonging to those places, where they
+ought to be set up or deposited, such as a temple or vestibule, a
+court or peristyle, public square, etc.; those at whose cost it was
+set up, the entire city or a curia, the public treasure, or a private
+fund, the names and surnames of public or private individuals;
+prerogatives or favors granted, such as the right of asylum, of
+hospitality, of citizenship; the punishments pronounced against those
+who should destroy or mutilate the monument; the conditions of
+treaties and alliances; the indications of weights, moneys and
+measures.
+
+Another early example of a commemorative inscription of which the date
+can also be positively fixed is that lately discovered by Dr. Frick on
+the bronze serpent with the three heads, now at Constantinople, which
+supported the golden tripod which was dedicated, as Herodotus states,
+to Apollo by the allied Greeks as a tenth of the Persian spoils at
+Plataea, and which was placed near the altar at Delphi. On this
+monument, as we learn from Thucydides, Pausanias, regent of Sparta,
+inscribed an arrogant distich, in which he commemorates the victory in
+his own name as general in chief, hardly mentioning the allied forces
+who gained it. This epigram was subsequently erased by the
+Lacedaemonians, who substituted it for an inscription enumerating the
+various Hellenic states who had taken a part in repulsing the Persian
+invaders. The inscription contains exactly what the statements of
+Thucydides and Herodotus would lead us to expect; the names of those
+Greek states which took an active part in the defeat of the Persians.
+Thirty-one names have been deciphered, and there seem to be traces of
+three more. The first three names in the list are the Lacedaemonians,
+Athenians, Corinthians. The remainder are nearly identical with those
+inscribed on the statue of Zeus at Olympia, as they are given by
+Pausanias. The names of the several states seem to be arranged on the
+serpent generally according to their relative importance, and also
+with some regard to their geographical distribution. The states of
+continental Greece are enumerated first; then the islanders and
+outlying colonies in the north and west. It is supposed the present
+inscription was placed on the serpent B.C. 476.
+
+The dedicatory inscriptions on the statues at Branchidae probably range
+from B.C. 580-520. The famous Sigean inscription, brought from the
+Troad to England in the last century, is now admitted to be not a
+pseudo-archaic imitation, as Bockh maintained, but a genuine specimen
+of Greek writing in Asia Minor, contemporary, or nearly so, with the
+Branchidae inscriptions. Kirchhoff considers it not later than Olympiad
+69 (B.C. 504-500).
+
+A most interesting inscription of the archaic period is the celebrated
+bronze tablet, which Sir William Gell obtained from Olympia, and on
+which is engraved a treaty between the Eleans and Heraeans. The terms
+of this specimen of ancient diplomacy are singularly concise.
+Kirchhoff places this inscription before Olympiad 75 (B.C. 480); Bockh
+assigns it to a much earlier date. In any case, we may regard this as
+the oldest extant treaty in the Greek language. It must have been
+originally fixed on the wall of some temple at Olympia.
+
+A series of Athenian records on marble has been found inscribed on the
+wall of the Parthenon, while others have been put together out of many
+fragments extracted from the ruins on the Acropolis and from
+excavations at Athens. Of the public records preserved in these
+inscriptions, the following are the most important classes: the
+tribute lists, the treasure lists, and the public accounts.
+
+An interesting inscription has been lately brought to light in the
+diggings on the Athenian Acropolis. It is the treaty-stone between
+Athens and Chalcis. The inscription is of the days of Pericles, and
+records the terms on which Chalcis in Euboea was again received as an
+Athenian dependency or subject ally after its revolt and recovery in
+B.C. 445. The event is recorded in Thucydides. The inscription is in
+Attic Greek, but the spelling is archaic.
+
+Funeral monuments usually bear an inscription which gives the names
+and titles of the deceased, his country, his age, the names of his
+father and of his mother, his titles and his services, his
+distinguished qualities and his virtues. Frequently a funereal
+inscription contains only the names of the deceased, that of his
+country, and acclamations and votive formulae generally terminate it.
+
+The Sigean marble is one of the most celebrated palaeographical
+monuments in existence. It is written in the most ancient Greek
+characters, and in the Boustrophedon manner. The purport of the
+inscription, which in sense is twice repeated, on the upper and lower
+part of the stone, is to record the presentation of three vessels for
+the use of the Prytaneum, or Town Hall of the Sigeans. The upper and
+lower inscriptions, in common letters, read thus:
+
+The first inscription is thus translated: "I am the gift of
+Phanodicus, the son of Hermocrates, of Proconnesus; he gave a vase (a
+crater), a stand or support for it, and a strainer, to the Sigeans for
+the Prytaneum." The second, which says, "I also am the gift of
+Phanodicus," repeating the substance of the former inscription, adds,
+"if any mischance happens to me, the Sigeans are to mend me. AEsop and
+his brethren made me." The lower inscription is the more ancient. It
+is now nearly obliterated. Kirchhoff considers it to be not later than
+Olympiad 69 B.C. (504-500).
+
+_The Athenian People erects this Statue of Socrates, the Son of
+Socrates of Thoricus._
+
+ "The Sons of Athens, Socrates, from thee
+ Imbibed the lessons of the Muse divine;
+ Hence this thy meed of wisdom: prompt are we
+ To render grace for grace, our love for thine."
+
+ _Wordsworth's Athens._
+
+ To Perpenna the Roman,
+ of Consular dignity, the Senate and People of Syracuse.
+
+A man by whose wise counsels this city of Syracuse hath breathed from
+its labors, and seen the hour of repose. For these services the best
+of its citizens have erected to him an image of marble, but they
+preserve that of his wisdom in their breasts.
+
+ _Museum of Syracuse._
+
+_On a Gateway at Nicaea_ (_Translation_):
+
+"The very splendid, and large, and good city of the Nicaeans [erects]
+this wall for the autocrat Caesar Marcus Aurelius Claudius, the pious,
+the fortunate, august, of Tribunitial authority, second time
+Proconsul, father of his country, and for the Sacred Senate, and the
+people of the Romans, in the time of the illustrious Consular Velleius
+Macrinus, Legate and Lieutenant of the august Caesar Antoninus, the
+splendid orator." A.D. 269.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+THE CATACOMBS.
+
+The catacombs, or under-ground cemeteries, are among the most
+stupendous wonders of antiquity, and have ever since their discovery
+excited the keenest interest of archaeologists.
+
+The cut on page 875 is a plan of the catacombs of Rome. These alone
+were years ago computed to be 590 miles in length, while Mr. Marchi,
+in the light of more recent investigations and new discoveries has
+calculated their length to be between 800 and 900 miles, and, that in
+the sepulchral enclosures of their vast hollows between 6,000,000 and
+7,000,000 of the human race have been entombed. Most of the catacombs
+are situated from fifty to seventy-five feet below the surface of the
+earth, not a ray of natural light can penetrate the dense blackness of
+night which everywhere abounds. Woe to the man whose boldness leads
+him to venture alone into these dark depths! So extensive and so
+intricate are the corridors and passages that he must be irrevocably
+lost and miserably perish in this endless labyrinth. Even the most
+experienced guides, with burning torches in hand, would rather follow
+only thoroughly explored passages, and care not to leave well-beaten
+tracks.
+
+The passages are from six to twelve feet high and have an average
+width of from three to six feet. In the tufa rock of which their walls
+are composed niches are hollowed out, one above the other, in which
+the dead were laid, from three to six persons having been placed on
+each side. All the passages and galleries have these ghastly linings,
+and most of them end their long and dreary course in a chamber, as the
+reader may observe on examining the cuts below.
+
+These chambers are often of large dimensions, and were originally
+adorned with great splendor and high art. They were the tombs of
+wealthy and noble families, who spared neither labor nor money in
+beautifying their final habitations. The walls and ceilings were
+exquisitely sculptured and painted by the most gifted artists of the
+age. Sarcophagi or coffins of bronze, of porphyry and other rare
+marbles contained the bodies of the dead. On their massive lids and
+sides were carved the forms and features of those lying within, so
+that even to-day we are in possession of fine and accurate portraits
+of ancient people. Around the sarcophagi were placed rich vases of
+gold, drinking cups of silver, and many other valuable treasures dear
+to the departed when alive. Statues of bronze and marble were ranged
+about in lavish array and gleamed under the soft light which fell from
+quaint lamps of precious metals, curious in shape and wrought with
+elaborate skill.
+
+ [Illustration: SECTIONS OF CATACOMBS WITH CHAMBERS.]
+
+In the Roman Campagna there were forty-three catacombs, whose names
+are recorded in inscriptions, in martyrologies, and in the Pontifical
+Registers used by Anastasius, since republished, with additions, in
+various forms, and repeated in substance by Baronius in his Annals,
+and Panvinius in his treatise on the Cemeteries. Aringhi reckons on
+the number at fifty-six, and from the account of Signor de Rossi it
+appears that the number is now reckoned at about sixty. The number of
+_general_ cemeteries is not so large.
+
+ [Illustration: PLAN OF CATACOMBS AT ROME. (_Estimated to be
+ between 800 and 900 miles in length._)]
+
+The original entrances to the catacombs were in many instances by
+subterranean roads or corridors, sometimes called streets. These
+corridors, which served as entrances to and passages in the
+burial-places, were originally old sand-pit roads, from which the
+Pozzolana sand had been extracted; when this bed of sand is extracted,
+the entrance is usually closed. The soft bed of Pozzolana sand was,
+however, not generally used for interments, but the harder bed under
+it, called "tufa granulare." The different horizontal layers or beds
+of tufa vary very much in hardness and also in thickness.
+
+Although these catacombs may not be the finest cemeteries, yet the use
+of these would be infinitely preferable to the recent Roman practice
+of throwing the bodies of all persons, whose families can not afford
+to buy a piece of land in perpetuity, into a pit, in the same manner
+as the ancient Romans did the bodies of their slaves.
+
+There are three hundred and eighty pits provided in the burial ground
+of S. Lorenzo, one of which was opened every night. All the bodies
+brought for interment that day or night were thrown into it, after
+being first stripped to the skin by the officials; and then hot lime
+was thrown upon them, that they might be thoroughly decayed before the
+year came round. The mouth of the pit was closed with lime grouting,
+so that no effluvium could escape, and this covering was not broken
+until the pit was wanted to be used again.
+
+These corridors or passages of the sand-pits from which the Pozzolana
+sand had been excavated are large enough to admit a horse and cart;
+these were frequently the entrances to the catacombs, the corridors of
+which are usually by the side of or under those of the _arenariae_, or
+sand-pits, and are only just large enough for a man, or two men with
+a body, to pass along; the height varies from five to seven or eight
+feet, or more, according to the thickness of the bed of tufa. In the
+catacomb of S. Hermes, part of the wide sand-pit road has been reduced
+to one-third of its width, by building up brick walls on each side
+with _loculi_ in them.
+
+There is in general, at present, no communication between one catacomb
+and another; each occupies a separate hill or rising ground in the
+Campagna, and is separated from the others by the intervening valleys.
+When the first tier of tombs extended to the edges of the hill, a
+second was made under it, and then sometimes a third, or more. The
+manner in which the rock is excavated in a number of corridors
+twisting in all directions, in order to make room for the largest
+possible number of bodies, is thus accounted for. The plan of the
+catacomb of S. Priscilla is a good illustration of this. It would have
+been hardly safe to have excavated the rock to any greater extent. The
+lowest corridors are frequently below the level of the valleys, and
+there may have been originally passages from one to the other, so that
+one entrance to S. Calixtus may have been through S. Sebastian's. The
+peculiarly dry and drying nature of the sandstone, or tufa rock, in
+which these tombs are excavated, made them admirably calculated for
+the purpose. These catacombs were the public cemeteries of Christian
+Rome for several centuries, and it would have been well for the health
+of the city if they could always have continued so. Unfortunately
+after the siege of Rome by the Goths, in the time of Justinian, when
+some of the catacombs were rifled of their contents, the use of these
+excellent burying places was discontinued.
+
+That the _arenaria_ were considered as burying places in the time of
+Nero is evident from his exclamations of horror at the idea of being
+taken there alive for the purpose of concealment. The sand-pits are
+also mentioned by Cicero in his Oration for Cluentius, where he says
+that the young Asinius, a citizen of noble family, was inveigled into
+one of them and murdered.
+
+ [Illustration: STONE COFFIN.]
+
+This shows they were in use before the Christian era, and there is
+every reason to believe that they have been in use ever since
+lime-mortar came into use, which is believed to have been many
+centuries before that period. The celebrated Pozzolana sand makes the
+best mortar in the world, from its gritty nature. This valuable sand
+is found to any extent nearly all over the Campagna of Rome, in
+horizontal beds or layers between the beds of tufa; some of the tufa
+itself, which is sandstone, may be scraped into this sand, but it is
+easier to take it as ready provided by nature. People once accustomed
+to the use of this sand can not do without it, and hundreds of carts
+filled with it may be seen daily traversing the Campagna, conveying it
+either to Rome, or to Ostia, or to Porto, for exportation. The
+horizontal layers or beds of this sand are not usually more than six
+feet thick, although they extend at a certain level over the whole
+surface of the country. It is therefore excavated in horizontal
+corridors, with various branches, extending for many miles,
+undermining the whole surface of the soil, but not in large or deep
+pits, so that the name of sand-pit is rather deceitful to American
+people, who commonly imagine it to be always a large and deep pit to
+which these roads lead only; this is not always the case, the roads
+themselves being excavated in the layer of sand, and frequently
+themselves the sand-pits. Sometimes there are different layers of sand
+at different levels, and in some cases there may be two sand-pit roads
+one over the other, with the bed of hard tufa between them.
+
+We are told in the _Acta Sanctorum_ that one of the punishments
+inflicted on the Christians by the Emperor Maximinus in the sixth
+persecution, A.D. 35, was digging sand and stone. The martyrs,
+Ciriacus and Sisinnus are especially mentioned as ordered to be
+strictly guarded, and compelled to dig sand and to carry it on their
+own shoulders.
+
+Some of the catacombs were evidently made under tombs by the side of
+the road, and in that of S. Calixtus there are remains of the tomb on
+the surface of the ground. The burial-chapels of the fourth century
+commonly found over a catacomb probably replace earlier tombs. The
+church of S. Urban is now considered to have been a family tomb of the
+first century, made into a church long afterwards.
+
+ [Illustration: STONE COFFIN WITH OPEN SIDE.]
+
+Many inscriptions are preserved relating to the preservation of a tomb
+with the land belonging to it in perpetuity, and they frequently
+mention the number of feet along the road and in the field. Their size
+varies enormously. Horace mentions one that was 1,000 feet by 300
+feet. The inscription of one dug up in the Via Labicana gives 1,800
+feet by 500 feet; another was only twenty-four feet by fifteen feet,
+and another sixteen feet square. In the case of one of the larger
+tombs belonging to a family that became Christian, it was easy for
+them to make a catacomb under it and allow their fellow-Christians to
+be buried there, or to sell portions of the large space for separate
+vaults. Many vaults of sixteen feet square might be made in the space
+of 1,800 feet long by 500 feet wide, as the one on the Via Labicana.
+If the adjoining field belonged to the same family, the catacomb might
+be extended as far as the family property itself extended. This is the
+most probable explanation of the _praedium_ of the Lady Lucina and
+other Christian martyrs. They were heiresses to whom such a tomb and
+meadow belonged. When the space was limited, three or four stories
+were excavated in succession, one under the other, as we see in many
+instances.
+
+The measurements of Michele de Rossi coincide with this in a
+remarkable manner. He finds the _area_ of each separate catacomb to be
+respectively 100, 125, 150, 180 and 250 feet. None of these spaces are
+at all too large for the area commonly left round a tomb of
+importance, and the family property of this area would extend to any
+depth. Each cemetery was complete in itself, but sometimes connected
+with others by subterranean roads.
+
+These tombs were protected by special laws, and the _area_ in which
+the tomb stood was included with it. The area was often of
+considerable extent, and was intended for the burial-place of
+succeeding generations of the family to whom it belonged. The tombs of
+the period of the early empire were by no means exclusively for the
+_columbaria_ for cinerary urns. The instances in which there are both
+places for bodies and urns are perhaps more numerous than those for
+urns only. The fine sarcophagi now found in museums, or applied to all
+sorts of uses, as water-troughs, vases for flowers, and various other
+purposes, were all originally in tombs, and generally in tombs in
+which there were also _columbaria_ for cinerary urns. Some Pagan tombs
+on the Via Latina have catacombs for the interment of bodies under
+them, and often bodies were put in them.
+
+The custom of burning the bodies was never universal, and lasted only
+for a certain period; the custom of burying bodies came in again soon
+after the Christian era, and probably was influenced by the strong
+feeling which sprung up among the Christians on this subject. The
+sumptuous painted chambers in the upper part of the tombs of the first
+and second centuries on the Via Latina were evidently imitated by the
+poor in the catacombs in the fourth and fifth centuries and later;
+but there is no evidence of any Scriptural or religious subjects for
+paintings before the time of Constantine. The character of the
+paintings is almost universally later, and the few that are early are
+not Christian nor Scriptural.
+
+ [Illustration: INSIDE VIEW OF CATACOMBS.]
+
+It might very well happen that some members of the family were
+Christians and others were not, and this would account for the mixture
+of Pagan tombs with Christian ones in the same catacombs. The
+subterranean sand-pit roads frequently run parallel to the high roads
+at a little distance from them, and such a road passing at the back of
+the subterranean cemetery or catacomb would be very convenient to
+Christians in time of persecution. The part of these roads which came
+within the limits of the cemetery would naturally be used for burial
+places, also, as we see that they were distinctly in the case of S.
+Hermes, and nearly with equal certainty in other cases. In ordinary
+times, there was no necessity for secrecy. The bodies of Christian
+martyrs were given up for the purpose of burial to those who applied
+for them.
+
+The catacombs of SS. Saturnius and Thraso, the entrance to which is in
+the gardens of the Villa Gangalani, about a mile from Rome, on the Via
+Salaria, are stated to have formed part of the great catacomb of S.
+Priscilla, the entrance to which is about a quarter of a mile farther
+from Rome, on the same road. On descending into that of S. Saturninus
+by a steep flight of steps of modern appearance, but perhaps restored
+only, we soon pass under the road and hear carriages passing overhead;
+we then continue to descend to the depth of about fifty feet, divided
+into five corridors, only four of which can at present be seen; but we
+pass the entrance to the fifth on one of the stair-cases, and see the
+opening to it. The two lower corridors of this catacomb have tombs or
+_cubicula_ on the sides; a few of these are painted, and the vault of
+the corridor in front of them, also.
+
+The sandstone in which this catacomb is made is more than usually
+hard, for which reason apparently there are only three of the side
+chapels for family burying places, and few of the arched tombs; most
+of the recesses for graves are merely parallelograms just large enough
+to contain the body, or two bodies side by side, one behind the other,
+the recess being excavated to a sufficient depth for that purpose, and
+some of these have the slabs covering the openings left in their
+places. The skeletons are allowed to remain in several of the tombs
+where the slab has been removed and left open. One of the chapels has
+remains of paintings of the fourth century in a very decayed state.
+The other two chapels are connected by a short passage; they have
+evidently been family burying places, a second added when the first
+was full. The passage is made through the principal tomb of the first
+chapel, the body previously interred there was probably removed to the
+inner chapel when that was made. The painted chapel is in the upper
+corridor, the double one in the lowest.
+
+In descending from the garden, the two upper corridors have tombs on
+the sides, and are regular catacombs; the third is an _arenarium_, or
+sand-pit, without tombs, and large enough for a horse and cart to pass
+along, as in the ordinary sand-pits. There must have been another
+entrance to this, and it is said to have been half a mile off, which
+is not improbable, judging by other sand-pits, both those now in use
+and others that are closed, some of which are known to be more than a
+mile long, and with the different branch galleries, the corridors
+altogether often extend several miles. These galleries are large and
+wide enough for a horse and cart, but not for two to pass, sidings
+being made at intervals for that purpose. The passages in the
+catacombs vary much both in height and in width, but are seldom more
+than three feet wide. The chapels also vary in size, but none of them
+would hold more than fifty people; those in the present catacomb are
+small.
+
+ [Illustration: LAMPS FOUND IN THE CATACOMBS.]
+
+That each of these chapels was the burial-place of a family, and was
+considered as private property, is evident from the remains of a door
+at the entrance of several of them, as in the catacomb of S.
+Priscilla. In one of these, the stone corbel, with the hole for the
+pivot to work in, remains in its place; the lower stone, with the
+corresponding hole, has been moved, but is lying on the floor in an
+adjoining chapel. Another door has been made to slide up and down like
+a portcullis or a modern sash-window, as we see by the groove
+remaining on both sides. This is close to a _luminaria_, or well for
+admitting light and air, and it seems quite possible that it really
+was a window, or that the upper part was made to slide down to admit
+the light and air from the _luminaria_. If this was the burial-place
+of Priscilla, the paintings were probably renewed in the restoration
+by John I., A.D. 523. The lower part of the wall is faced with stucco
+paneled with oblong panels, colored in imitation of different kinds of
+marble; the stucco is about an inch thick, like slabs of marble, and
+the divisions between the panels are sunk to that depth, as if each
+panel had been painted before it was placed and fixed to the walls
+like marble slabs. There are some long narrow slips of white stucco
+lying about, which seem to have been fitted into the hollow grooves
+between the slabs. The vaults in this catacomb are in many parts
+supported by brick arches; in one place, at a crossing, are four small
+low brick arches, the character of which agrees with the period of the
+restoration in the sixth century; the mortar between the bricks or
+tiles is about the same thickness as the tiles themselves, which are
+rather more than an inch thick, so that there are five tiles to a
+foot, including the mortar between them. These brick arches are not
+subsequent repairs, but part of the original construction to carry the
+vault. The _arenarium_, or sand-pit gallery, through which the present
+entrance is made, has evidently been used as a subterranean road. A
+branch of an aqueduct running along the side of this is part of an
+extensive system of irrigation carried on throughout all this
+district, the water having been brought from the Aqua Virgo, which
+passed in this direction. It was probably part of the original line of
+the Aqueduct, which has been altered in the portion near to Rome; this
+has not been traced out to any considerable extent, but Signor de
+Rossi has found many remains and indications of it. The sand-pit
+roads, or _arenaria_, ran for miles parallel to the high roads, and
+were probably used by the carters in preference to the open roads in
+hot weather, as they are always cool.
+
+_Christian Inscriptions_ are all funereal, and are for the most part
+found in the catacombs, or subterranean cemeteries. The word cemetery
+is derived from a Greek word, meaning "a sleeping place," hence the
+frequent formulae in the Christian epitaphs, "dormit in pace," he
+sleeps in peace; "dormitio Elpidis," the sleeping place of Elpis;
+"cubiculum Aureliae," the sleeping chamber of Aurelia. The term
+catacomb was applied to these subterranean cemeteries at a much later
+period. The practice of subterranean burial among the early Christians
+was evidently derived from the Jewish custom of burying the dead in
+excavated sepulchres, and thus may have been adopted by the early
+Jewish converts. The Roman Jews had a very early catacomb of their
+own, in the Monte Verde, contiguous to their place of abode, in the
+Trasteverine quarter of Rome. This subterranean mode of sepulture is
+undoubtedly of Egyptian origin. It is generally supposed that the
+early Christians used for their burial places the excavations made by
+the Romans for procuring stone and cement for building purposes. This
+is an erroneous view. Recent geological observations on the soil of
+the Agro Romano have shown that the surface of the Campagna consists
+of volcanic rocks of different natures and ages. The earliest of the
+series, the tufa lithoide, was constantly employed from the earliest
+ages in the buildings of the city, as attested by the massive blocks
+of the Cloaca Maxima, the tabularium of the Capitol, and the walls of
+Romulus; the second, or tufa granolare, which though it has just
+consistency enough to retain the form given to it by the excavator,
+can not be hewn or extracted in blocks; and the pozzolana, which has
+been extensively used in all ages for mortar or Roman cement. The tufa
+lithoide and the pozzolana were thus alone used for building purposes
+by the Romans, and the catacombs are never found excavated in these.
+The catacombs were hewn only in the tufa granolare, and were
+consequently excavated expressly for burials by the early Christians.
+The Christian architects carefully avoided the massive strata of the
+tufa lithoide, and we believe it is ascertained that all the known
+catacombs are driven exclusively along the courses of the tufa
+granolare. With equal care these subterranean engineers avoided the
+layers of pozzolana, which would have rendered their work insecure,
+and in which no permanent rock tomb could have been constructed. Thus
+we arrive at the curious fact, that in making the catacombs the
+excavators carefully avoided the strata of hard stone and the strata
+of soft stone, used respectively for building and for mortar, and
+selected that course of medium hardness which was best adapted to
+their peculiar purpose. The early Christian tomb inscriptions are
+characterized by symbols and formulae peculiar to the Christian creed;
+the idea of another life, a life beyond the grave, usually prevails in
+them.
+
+The symbols found in connection with the funereal inscriptions are of
+three kinds; the larger proportion of these refer to the profession of
+Christianity, its doctrines and its graces. A second class, of a
+partly secular description, only indicate the trades of the deceased,
+and the remainder represent proper names: thus a lion must be read as
+a proper name, _Leo_; an ass, _Onager_; a dragon, _Dracontius_. Of the
+first kind the most usually met with is the monogram of Christ. The
+other symbols generally in use are the ship, the emblem of the church;
+the fish, the emblem of Christ, the palm, the symbol of martyrdom. The
+anchor represented hope in immortality; the dove, peace; the stag
+reminded the faithful of the pious aspiration of the Psalmist; the
+horse was the emblem of strength in the faith; the hunted hare, of
+persecution; the peacock and the phoenix stood for signs of the
+resurrection. Christ, as the good pastor, was also introduced in the
+epitaph. Even personages of the Pagan mythology were introduced, which
+the Christians employed in a concealed sense, as Orpheus, enchanting
+the wild beasts with the music (see page 701) of his lyre, was the
+secret symbol of Christ as the civilizer of men leading all nations to
+the faith. Ulysses, fastened to the mast of his ship, was supposed to
+present some faint resemblance to the crucifixion.
+
+In classifying the Roman inscriptions, M. de Rossi has adopted the
+following divisions. The first comprises those inscriptions only which
+contain some express note of time, and are therefore susceptible of
+exact chronological arrangement. The second comprises the select
+inscriptions, viz.: first, sacred and historical ones, and next those
+which, either by testimony, by forms, or by symbols, illustrate the
+doctrines, the worship, or the morals of the Christians. The third,
+the purely topographical, assigns each inscription its proper place
+among the ancient localities of Rome. This comprises also inscriptions
+of unknown or uncertain locality, as well as inscriptions of spurious
+origin or doubtful authenticity.
+
+In considering the chronological arrangements of Christian
+inscriptions, it is important to keep in view that in the earlier
+centuries the Christians kept note of time either by the years of the
+bishop, or by some of the civil forms which prevailed in the various
+countries in which they resided. In Rome the common date was that of
+the consular year. The common use of the Christian era as a note of
+time began, as is well known, later than the sixth century, at which
+M. de Rossi's series terminates. In M. de Rossi's collection one
+inscription bears date from the year A.D. 107, and another from 111.
+Of the period from the year 204, in which the next inscription with a
+date occurs, till the peace of the church in 312, twenty-eight dated
+inscriptions have been found; after the peace of the church the number
+of dated inscriptions increases rapidly. Between the accession of
+Constantine and the close of the fourth century, his collection
+contains 450 dated inscriptions, and the fifth century presents about
+the same number; but in the sixth, the number again declines, that
+century producing little more than 200.
+
+In those cases where no note of time is marked, M. de Rossi has
+availed himself of other chronological indications and tests, founded
+on the language, on the style, on the names, and on the material
+execution of the inscription, in determining the date. Out of the
+11,000 extant Roman inscriptions anterior to the seventh century, M.
+de Rossi finds chronological evidence of the date of no fewer than
+1374.
+
+There are also varieties in inflection, such as "spiritu sancta" for
+"spiritu sancto," "pauperorum," for "pauperum," "vocitus" for
+"vocatus," "requiescent" for "requiescunt," etc.
+
+There are also new or unusual terms, or new familiar words in new or
+unusual meanings, such as "pausavit, rested, bisomus, trisomus,
+quadrisomus," holding two, three, four bodies; compar and conpar
+(husband and wife); fecit for egit, _passed_; "percepit," received,
+_scil._ baptism, as also "consecutus est," in the same sense, etc.
+
+Sometimes Latin is written in Greek characters and sometimes Greek in
+Latin.
+
+The age is expressed by "vixit," or "vixit in saeculo," "annos" (or
+"annis") "menses," "dies" (or "diebus") ----, with the number of hours
+sometimes stated. Sometimes "qui fuit" stands for "vixit;" sometimes
+neither is expressed, and we have the form in the genitive, "sal.
+annorum," etc.
+
+Frequently the time passed in married life is mentioned, and we find
+such phrases as "vixit mecum, duravit mecum, vixit in conjugio, fecit
+mecum, fecit in conjugio, fecit cum compare," with a precise statement
+of the number of years, etc., and often with some expression marking
+the happiness of the couple's married life.
+
+The epithets applied to the deceased indicate strong affection, and
+the eulogies are sometimes extravagant.
+
+The occupation or position in life is stated, with the proper titles,
+in many dated Christian epitaphs. But they are all, it is supposed,
+later than the time of Constantine.
+
+The same designations of the place of burial and of the tomb are found
+in both Christian and Pagan epitaphs.
+
+Acclamations or expressions of good wishes or prayers to or for the
+deceased frequently occur in the inscriptions.
+
+The letters also of these inscriptions are usually very irregular.
+They are from half an inch to four inches in height, colored in the
+incision with a pigment resembling Venetian red. The sense, too, of
+the inscriptions is not always very obvious. An extreme simplicity of
+language and sentiment is the prevailing characteristic of the earlier
+inscriptions. But, on the other hand, exaggerated examples of the
+opposite style are occasionally met with.
+
+Another peculiarity in these Christian inscriptions is the disuse of
+the three names usually assumed by the Romans. M. de Rossi has given
+twenty inscriptions with the names complete, prior to Constantine. Of
+these, no fewer than seventeen have praenomina, whereas after
+Constantine praenomina may be said entirely to disappear.
+
+The year is usually indicated by the names of the consuls. The
+abbreviation COS for "consulibus" was in use up to the middle of the
+third century, when COSS, CONS, and CONSS began to be adopted; COS is
+very seldom found during the fourth century, and almost never in the
+fifth or sixth; COSS fell into disuse about the first quarter of the
+fifth century, and after that CONS was used; in the time of Diocletian
+with S for one consul and SS for two. At the same time CC. SS. CS were
+introduced, but they were very rarely used in the fifth, and there is
+scarcely an example of them in the sixth. From about the middle of the
+fourth century CONS began to be placed before instead of after the
+names, and this usage became the prevalent custom in the fifth and
+sixth.
+
+At the date of the discovery of the Roman catacombs, the whole body of
+known Christian inscriptions collected from all parts of Italy fell
+far short of a thousand in number. Of these, too, not a single one was
+of subterranean origin, and not dated earlier than A.D. 553. At
+present the Christian inscriptions of Rome on catacombs alone, and
+anterior to the sixth century, considerably exceed 11,000. They have
+been carefully removed from the cemeteries, and are now systematically
+arranged by M. de Rossi, on the walls of the Christian museum,
+recently formed by order of Pius IX., in the Lateran Palace. A large
+number of these inscriptions are also inserted in the walls of the
+Galleria Lapidaria in the Vatican.
+
+
+EARLY INSCRIPTIONS.
+
+ VG. VESPASIANO III COS
+ IAN A.D. 71.
+
+This fragment has been received as a part of a Christian epitaph by
+Reggi, Marini and de Rossi. It is the most ancient of all such as bear
+dates.
+
+ SERVILIA. ANNORVM. XIII
+ PIS. ET BOL. COSS.
+
+ Servilia, aged thirteen, died in the consulate of Piso and
+ Bolanus. A.D. 111.
+
+ TEMPORE. ADRIANI. IMPERATORIS. MARVIS. ADOLESCENS DVX.
+ MILITVM QVI SATIS. VIXIT DVM VITAM PRO CHO CVM. SANGVINE
+ CONSVNSIT. IN. PACE. TANDEM QUIEVIT. BENE MERENTES CVM.
+ LACRIMIS. ET. METV. POSVERVNT. I.D. VI.
+
+ "In the time of the Emperor Adrian, Marius, a young military
+ officer who had lived long enough, when with blood he gave up
+ his life for Christ. At length he rested in peace. The
+ well-deserving set up this with tears and in fear, on the 6th
+ before the ides." A.D. 130.
+
+ ALEXANDER MORTVVS NON EST SED VIVIT SVPER ASTRA ET CORPVS
+ IN HOC TVMVLO QVIESCIT VITAM EXPLEVIT SVS ANTONINO IMP^o
+ QVIVBI MVLTVM BENE FITII ANTEVENIRE PRAEVIDERET PROGRATIA
+ ODIVM REDDIDIT GENVA ENIM FLECTENS VERO DEO SACRIFICATVRVS
+ AD SVPPLICIA DVCITVRO TEMPORA INFAVSTA QVIBVS INTER SACRA
+ ET VOTA NE IN CAVERNIS QVIDEM SALVARI POSSIMVS QVID MISERIVS
+ VITA SED QVID MISERIVS IN MORTE CVM AB AMICIS ET PARENTIBVS
+ SEPELIRI NEQVEANT TANDEM IN COELO CORVSCANT PARVM VIXIT
+ QVI
+ VIXIT IV. X. TEM.
+
+ "In Christ. Alexander is not dead, but lives beyond the stars,
+ and his body rests in this tomb. He lived under the Emperor
+ Antoninus, who, foreseeing that great benefit would result from
+ his services, returned evil for good. For, while on his knees,
+ and about to sacrifice to the true God, he was led away to
+ execution. O, sad times! in which sacred rites and prayers,
+ even in caverns, afford no protection to us. What can be more
+ wretched than such a life? and what than such a death? when
+ they could not be buried by their friends and relations. At
+ length they sparkle in heaven. He has scarcely lived who has
+ lived in Christian times." A.D. 160.
+
+ _From the Cemetery of St. Callisto._
+
+ AVRELIA DULCISSIMA FILIA QVAE
+ DE. SAECVLO RECESSIT VIXIT ANN. XV. M. IIII.
+ SEVERO ET QVINTIN COSS.
+
+ "Aurelia; our sweetest daughter, who departed from the world.
+ She lived fifteen years and four months. Severus and Quintinus
+ being consuls." A.D. 325.
+
+ Consule Claudio et Paterno, nonis Novembribus, die Veneris,
+ luna XXIV, Leuces filiae Severae carissimae posuit et spiritui
+ sancto tuo. Mortua annorum LV et mensium XI dierum X.
+
+ "In the consulship of Claudius and Paternus, on the nones of
+ November, on Friday, the 24th day of the moon, Leuce erected
+ (this memorial) to her very dear daughter, and to thy holy
+ spirit. She (died at the age) of fifty-five years, and eleven
+ months, (and) ten days." A.D. 269.
+
+
+ D. M.
+ P. LIBERIO VICXIT
+ ANN N. V MENSES N. III
+ DIES N. VIII R. ANICIO
+ FAVSTO ET VIRIO GALLO
+ COSS
+
+ "Publius Liberio lived five years, three months, and eight
+ days. He retired (from this world) in the consulship of Anicius
+ Faustus and Virius Gallus." A.D. 298.
+
+
+ B.M.
+ CVBICVLVM. AVRELIAE. MARTINAE. CASTISSIMAE ADQVE. PVDI.
+ CISSIMAE FEMINAE QVE FECIT. IN. COIVGIO. ANN. XXIII. D. XIIII.
+ BENE MERENTI. QVE VIXIT. ANN. XL. M. XI. D. XIII. DEPOSITIO EIS
+ DIE. III. NONAS. OCT. NEPOTIANO. ET FACVNDO. CONNS. IN PACE
+
+ "To the well-deserving.
+
+ The chamber of Aurelia Martina, my wife, most chaste and
+ modest, who lived in wedlock twenty-three years and fourteen
+ days. To the well-deserving one, who lived forty years, eleven
+ months, and thirteen days. Her burial was on the third nones of
+ October. Nepotianus and Facundus being consuls." In peace. A.D.
+ 336.
+ _Galleria Lapidaria. Vatican._
+
+
+Another in Greek characters:
+
+ "Here lies Euterpe, the companion of the Muses, having lived
+ simply and piously, and irreproachably for fifteen years,
+ twenty-two days, and three months. She died on the fifth day
+ before the calends of December, in consulship of our lords, for
+ the tenth time, and for the third time (_i.e._, in the
+ Consulship of Constantine, for the tenth time, and Julian for
+ the third time)." A.D. 360.
+
+
+ ROMANO. NEOFITO
+ BENEMERENTI QVI VI
+ XIT. ANNOS. VIII. DXV.
+ REQVIESCIT IN PACE DN
+ FL. GRATIANO. AVG. II. ET.
+ PETRONIO PROBO. CS.
+
+ "To Romanus, the neophyte, the well-deserving, who lived eight
+ years, fifteen days. He rests in the peace of the Lord. Flavius
+ and Gratianus and Petronius Probus being consuls."
+
+ HIC QVIESCIT ANCILLA DEI QVE DE
+ SVA OMNIO POSSIDIT DOMVM ISTA
+ QVEM AMICE DEFLEN SOLACIVMQ REQVIRVNT.
+ PRO HVNC VNVM ORA SVBOLEM QVEM SVPERIS.
+ TITEM REQVISTI ETERNA REQVIEM FELICITA.
+ S. CAVSA MANBIS IIIIX. KALENDAS OTOBRIS
+ CVCVRBITINVS ET ABVMDANTIVS HIC SIMVL QVIESCIT
+ DD. NN. GRATIANO V. ET TEODOSIO. AAGG.
+
+ Hic quiescit ancilla Dei, quae de suis omnibus possidet domum
+ istam, quam amicae deflent solaciumque requirunt. Pro hac una
+ ora subole, quam superstitem reliquisti. AEterna in requie
+ felicitatis causa manebis, XIV. kalendis Octobris, Cucurbitinus
+ et Abumdantius hic simul quiescunti. DDNN Gratiano v et
+ Theodosio Augustis (Consulibus).
+
+ "Here rests a handmaid of God, who out of all her riches now
+ possesses but this one house, whom her friends bewail, and seek
+ in vain for consolation. Oh pray for this one remaining
+ daughter, whom thou hast left behind! Thou wilt remain in the
+ eternal repose of happiness. On the 14 of the Calends of
+ October. Curcurbitinus and Abumdantius rest here together. In
+ the consulship of our Lords Gratian (V.) and Theodosius
+ Emperors." A.D. 380.
+
+ HIC POSITA EST ANIMA DVLCES
+ INNOCA SAPIENS ET PVLCHRA NOMINE
+ QUIRIACE QVE VIXIT. ANNOS. III. M III. DVIII.
+ DP IN PACE IIII. ID IAN. CONSS. DN. TEVDOSIO.
+ AVG. II ET MEROBAVDE. VC. III
+
+ Hic posita est anima dulces (dulcis) innoca (innocua), sapiens
+ et pulchra, nomine Quiriace, quae vixit annos III., menses III.,
+ dies VIII. Deposita in pace, IV. Idus Januarias, Consulibus
+ Domino nostro Teudosio (Theodoric) Augusto II. et Merobaude
+ Vire Clarissimo III.
+
+ "Here has been laid a sweet spirit, guileless, wise and
+ beautiful, by name Quiriace, who lived three years, three
+ months, and eight days. Buried in peace, in the fourth day
+ before the Ides of January, in the consulship of our Lord
+ Theodorius Augustus, for the second time, and Merobaudes, a
+ most distinguished man, for the third time." A.D. 388.
+
+ PERPETVAM SEDEM NVTRITOR POSSIDES IPSE
+ HIC MERITVS FINEM MAGNIS DEFVNCTE PERICLIS
+ HIC REQVIEM FELIX SVMIS COGENTIBVS ANNIS
+ HIC POSITVS PAPAS ANTIMIOO VIXIT ANNIS LXX
+ DEPOSITVS DOMINO NOSTRO ARCADIO II ET FL. RVFINO VVCCSS NONAS
+ NOBEMB.
+
+ "You, our nursing father, occupy a perpetual seat, being dead,
+ and deserving an end of your great dangers. Here happy, you
+ find rest, bowed down with years. Here lies the tutor, Antimio,
+ who lived seventy years. Buried on the nones of November; our
+ Lords Arcadius for the second time, and Flavius Rufinus being
+ consuls." A.D. 392.
+ _Galleria Lapidaria._
+
+
+ HIC REQVIESCET IN SOMNO PACIS
+ MALA QVI VIXIT ANNOS XXXVIII. M. V. DV.
+ ACCEPTA APVT DE IV. IDVS IVNIAS AETIO CONL.
+
+ Hic requiescet (requiescit) in somno pacis, Mala qui (quae)
+ vixit annos XXXVIII. menses V. dies V. Accepta aput (apud)
+ De(um) IV idus Junias. Aetio Consule.
+
+ "Here rests in the sleep of peace Mala, who lived thirty-eight
+ years, five months, five days. Received before God, on the
+ fourth day before the Ides of June, in the consulship of
+ Aetius." A.D. 432.
+
+ LEVIVAE CONIVNX PETRONIA FORMA PVDORIS
+ HIS MEA DEPONENS SEDISVS OSSA LOCO
+ PARCITE VOS LACRIMIS DVLCES CVM CONIVGE NATAE
+ VIVENTEMQVE DEO CREDITE FLERE NEFAS
+ DP IN PACE III NON OCTOBRIS FESTO VC. CONSS.
+
+ "Petronia, a priest's wife, the type of modesty. In this place
+ I lay my bones; spare your tears, dear husband and daughters,
+ and believe that it is forbidden to weep for one who lives in
+ God. Buried in peace on the 3d nones of October, in the
+ consulate of Festus." A.D. 472.
+
+ IN PACE
+ AVRELIO. FELICI QVI BIXIT CVM COIVCE
+ ANNOS X. VIII DVLCIS. IN COIVGIO
+ BONE MEMORIE BIXIT. ANNOS. L. V
+ RAPTVS ETERNE DOMVS. XII KAL. IENVARIAS.
+
+
+ "In peace
+ To Aurelius Felix, who lived with his wife eighteen years in
+ sweetest wedlock. Of good memory. He lived fifty-five years.
+ Snatched away eternally on the twelfth kalend of January."
+
+
+ IRENE IN PACE. ARETVSA IN DEO
+
+ "Irene sleeps in peace." "Aretusa sleeps in God."
+
+
+ [Illustration: "Valeria sleeps in peace."]
+
+ ZOTICVS HIC AD DORMIEN DVM.
+ "Zoticus laid here to sleep."
+
+ DOMITIANUS ANIMA SIMPLEX
+ DORMIT IN PACE.
+
+ "Domitianus, a simple soul, sleeps in peace."
+
+ NICEFORVS ANIMA
+ DVLCIS IN REFRIGERIO.
+
+ "Nicephorus, a sweet soul, in a place of refreshment."
+
+ PRIMITIVS IN PACE QVI POST
+ MVLTAS. ANGVSTIAS FORTISSIMVS MARTYR
+ ET. VIXIT. ANNOS P.M. XXXVIII CONIVG. SVO
+ PERDVLCISSIMO BENEMERENTI FECIT.
+
+ "Primitius in peace: a most valiant martyr after many torments.
+ Aged 38. His wife raised this to her dearest well-deserving
+ husband."
+
+ LANNVS XPI. MARTIR HIC REQVIESCIT.
+ SVB DIOCLIZIANO PASSVS.
+
+ "Lannus, a martyr of Christ, rests here. He suffered under
+ Diocletian."
+
+ NABIRA IN PACE ANIMA DVLCIS
+ QVI BIXIT ANNOS XVI. M. V
+ ANIMA MELEIEA
+ TITVLV FACTV
+ A PARENTES
+
+ "Navira in peace; a sweet soul who lived sixteen years and five
+ months; a soul sweet as honey: this epitaph was made by her
+ parents."
+
+ SEVERO FILIO DVL
+ CISSIMO LAVRENTIVS
+ PATER BENEMERENTI QVI BI
+ XIT ANN. IIII. ME. VIII. DIES V.
+ ACCERSITVS AB ANGELIS VII. IDVS. IANVA.
+
+ "Laurence to his sweetest son Severus, borne away by angels on
+ the 7th ides of January."
+
+ MACVS PVER INNOCENS
+ ESSE IAMINTER INNOCENTIS COEPISTI.
+ QVAM STAVILES TIVI HAEC VITA EST
+ QVAM TELETVM EXCIP ET MATER ECLESIAE DEOC
+ MVNDO REVERTENTEM COMPREMATVR PECTORVM
+ GEMITVS STRVATVR FLETVS OCVLORVM.
+
+ "Macus (or Marcus) an innocent boy. You have already begun to
+ be among the innocent ones. How enduring is such a life to
+ you! How gladly will your mother, the church of God, receive
+ you, returning to this world! Let us restrain our sighs and
+ cease from weeping."
+ _Galleria Lapidaria._
+
+ PAX
+ HIC MIHI SEMPER DOLOR ERIT IN AEVO
+ ET TVVM BENERABILEM BVLTVM LICEAT VIDERE SOPORE
+ CONIVNX ALBANAQVE MIHI SEMPER CASTA PVDICA
+ RELICTVM ME TVO GREMIO QVEROR.
+ QYOD MIHI SANCTVM TE DEDERAT DIVINITVS AVTOR
+ RELICTIS TVIS IACES IN PACE SOPORE
+ MERITA RESVRGIS TEMPORALIS TIBI DATA REQVETIO
+ QVE VIXIT ANNIS XLV. MENV. DIES XIII
+ DEPOSITA IN PACE FECIT PLACVS MARITVS
+
+ Peace.
+ "This grief will always weigh upon me: may it be granted me to
+ behold in sleep your revered countenance. My wife, Albana,
+ always chaste and modest, I grieve, deprived of your support,
+ for our Divine Author gave you to me as a sacred (boon). You,
+ well-deserving one, having left your (relations), lie in
+ peace--in sleep--you will arise--a temporary rest is granted
+ you. She lived forty-five years, five months, and thirteen
+ days. Buried in peace. Placus, her husband, made this."
+ _Galleria Lapidaria._
+
+
+CHURCH OF S. SEBASTIAN "IN CATACUMBIS."
+
+I. INSCRIPTION OF POPE DAMASUS IN HONOR OF S. EUTYCHIUS, THE MARTYR,
+IN TWELVE VERSES (on the left hand on entering the church). These
+inscriptions are very numerous in the catacombs, and all of this
+beautiful calligraphy, and usually in Latin verse, not without
+elegance of style, though the construction of the sentences is
+sometimes not clear. Damasus restored all the catacombs, after they
+had been damaged during the persecution under Julian the Apostate.
+
+ EVTYCHIVS. MARTYR. CRVDELIA. IVSSA. TYRANNI
+ CARNIFICVMQ. VIAS. PARITER. TVNC. MILLE. NOCENDI
+ VINCERE. QVOD. POTVIT. MONSTRAVIT. GLORIA. CHRISTV
+ CARCERIS. INLVVIEM. SEQVITVR. NOVA. POENA. PER. ARTVS
+ TESTARVM. FRAGMENTA. PARANT. NE. SOMNVS. ADIRET
+ BISSENI. TRANSIERE. DIES. ALIMENTA. NEGANTVR
+ MITTITVR. IN. BARATHRUM. SANCTVS. LAVAT. OMNIA. SANGVIS
+ VVLNERA. QVAE. INTVLERAT. MORTIS. METVENDA. TOTESTAS
+ NOCTE. SOPORIFERA. TVRBANT. INSOMNIA. MENTEM
+ OSTENDIT. LATEBRA. INSONTIS. QVAE. MEMBRA. TENERET
+ QVAERITVR. INVENTVS. COLITVR. FOVET. OMNIA. PRESTANS
+ EXPRESSIT. DAMASVS. MERITVM. VENERARE. SEPVLCHQVM F
+
+ "That Eutychius, the Martyr, was able to overcome the cruel
+ orders of the tyrant, and equally at that time the
+ executioners' thousand ways of torment, the glory of Christ
+ shewed. A new punishment follows the filth of the prison. They
+ provide breaking of tiles on his limbs, to prevent sleep
+ approaching. Twice six days passed, food is refused. The saint
+ is thrown into a pit, blood bedews all the wounds which the
+ dread power of death had caused. In night, which usually brings
+ sleep, sleeplessness troubles his mind. The place of
+ concealment which held the limbs of the innocent, manifested
+ them(?). He is sought for, being found he is reverenced, he
+ benefits all things. Damasus shewed forth his exceeding merit;
+ venerate his tomb."
+
+2. ANOTHER INSCRIPTION IN THE SAME CATACOMB CHURCH (over a door on the
+right-hand side, looking towards the altar).
+
+ VISITET. HIC. PIA. MENS. SCTORVM. BVSTA. FREQVENTER
+ IN. CRISTO. QVORVM. GLORIA. PERPES. ERIT
+
+ HIC. EST. CEMETERI[=V]. BEATI. CHALIXTI. PAPE. ET. MARTIRIS INCLITI.
+ QVIC[=V]QVE. ILLVD. C[=O]TRICTVS. ET. C[=O]FESSVS. INGRESSVS FVERIT.
+ PLENAM. REMISSIO[=N]E. OMNI[=V]. PE[=C]TOR[=V]. SVOR[=V]. OBTINEBIT
+ PER. MERITA. GLORIOSA. CENT[=V]. SEPTVAGINTA. QVATVOR. MILI[=V]
+ S[=C]TOR[=V]. MARTIR[=V]. QVOR[=V]. IBI. CORPORA. IN. PACE. SEPVLTA.
+ S[=V][=T] VNA. C[=V]. QVADRAGINTA. SEX. PONTIFICIBVS. BEATIS. QVI.
+ OMNES EX MAGNA. TRIBVLATIONE. VENER[=V]T. ET. VT. HEREDES. IN. DOMO
+ DOMINI. FIER[=E]T. MORTIS. SVPPLICIVM. PRO. CRISTI. NOMINE PERTVLERVNT
+
+ "Here let the pious mind often visit the tombs of the saints,
+ Whose glory will be everlasting in Christ."
+
+ "Here is the cemetery of the blessed Calixtus, renowned Pope
+ and Martyr. Whoever shall have entered it contrite and after
+ confession, shall obtain full remission of all his sins,
+ through the glorious merits of 174,000 martyr saints, whose
+ bodies are buried here in peace, together with forty-six
+ blessed pontiffs, who all came out of great tribulation, and
+ suffered the punishment of death for Christ's name, that they
+ might become heirs in the Lord's house."
+
+
+PAINTINGS.
+
+If the tombs of the early martyrs, before "the peace of the church,"
+were commonly decorated with paintings at all, which is not probable,
+it is almost certain that some of those paintings have been renewed at
+various subsequent periods. The best monuments of the first three
+centuries are the tomb stones with inscriptions and small simple
+emblems incised upon them.
+
+It is difficult to decide by the art of drawing only between the end
+of the third and the beginning of the fourth century. But this art was
+in the height of perfection in the first century, in the second it was
+still very good, in the third it had begun to decline, but not so
+rapidly as to justify the assumption that the very bad drawings in the
+catacombs belong to that period, with the exception of those already
+mentioned as not Christian. The drawing of the figures in the mosaic
+pictures in the vault of S. Constantia, which are of the first half of
+the fourth century, are decidedly better than any of the Scriptural
+subjects in the catacombs. The mosaic pictures of the fifth century on
+the sides of the nave of S. Maria Maggiore, published by Ciampini,
+are much more like them.
+
+S. Paulinus, bishop of Nola, writing in the fifth century, says that
+he had painted a catacomb, _for the pilgrims_, and gives his reasons
+for doing so. He thought good to enliven the whole _temple_ of S.
+Felix, in order that these colored representations might arrest the
+attention of the rustics, and prevent their drinking too much at the
+feasts. The _temple_ here evidently means the tomb or crypt in which
+the commemorative feasts were held, and were represented by paintings.
+His expressions imply that such paintings were not then a received
+custom.
+
+That the painted vaults in the catacombs were used for feasts on
+various occasions in the same manner as the painted chambers in the
+Pagan tombs, is evident from the manner in which several writers of
+the fourth and fifth centuries mention them; in addition to the
+letters of Paulinus of Nola and S. Augustine, and the hymns of
+Prudentius, there is also a remarkable passage in a sermon of
+Theodoret on the Martyrs (written about A.D. 450):
+
+"Our Lord God leads His own even after death into the temples for your
+Gods, and renders them vain and empty; but to these [Martyrs] He
+renders the honors previously paid to them. For your daily food and
+your sacred and other feasts of Peter, Paul, and Thomas, and Sergius
+and Marcellinus, and Leontius, and Antoninus, and Mauricius, and other
+martyrs, the solemnities are performed; and in place of the old base
+pomp and obscene words and acts, their modest festivities are
+celebrated, not with drunkenness and obscene and ludicrous
+exhibitions, but with hearing divine songs and holy sermons, and
+prayers and praises adorned with tears. When, therefore, you would
+dilate on the honor of the martyrs, what use is there in sifting them?
+Fly, my friends, the error of demons, and under their guidance seize
+upon the road that leads to God, and welcome their presence with holy
+songs, as the way is to eternal life."
+
+Bosio enumerates six _cubicula_ or family burial-chapels in the
+cemetery or catacomb of Priscilla, and thirteen arched tombs with
+paintings. These pictures, of which he gives engravings, were far more
+perfect in his time than they are now. His engravings are good for the
+period when they were executed; but it was a time when all drawing was
+bad, slovenly, and incorrect, so that the general idea only of the
+picture is all we can expect. The costume and ornaments do not
+indicate any very early period of art, but rather a time when it had
+declined considerably. Costume in Rome, as in the East generally, was
+far more stationary and less subject to changes than in the West, and
+these _may_ be as early as the fourth or fifth century, but can hardly
+be earlier. Several of the martyrs buried in the Via Salaria suffered
+in the tenth persecution under Diocletian, called the great
+persecution, about the year 300: the decorations of their tombs,
+therefore, can not be earlier than the fourth century, and many of
+them have been restored or renewed at subsequent times. John I., A.D.
+523, is recorded to have renewed the cemetery of Priscilla, and this
+probably means that he renewed the paintings in the style of his own
+time, as the greater part of the paintings now remaining are of the
+character of that period.
+
+On comparing the costumes of the figures in this catacomb with those
+in the illuminations of the celebrated manuscript of Terence, usually
+attributed to the seventh or eighth century, and which can hardly be
+earlier than the fifth, we see at once that the long flowing robe was
+the ordinary costume of the period, and that the narrow scarf of black
+ribbon hanging over the shoulders, with the ends reaching nearly to
+the ground, was the usual badge of a servant. This seems to have been
+adopted as part of the costume of a Christian going to pray to God,
+whether in a church or chapel or any other place, emblematical of the
+yoke of Christ, as Durandus says. The surplice and stole of the priest
+of the Anglican Church is a more close copy of this ancient costume
+than any now worn in the Roman church. The rich cope, cape, or cloak
+was the dress of the Roman senator and of the Pagan priests; it was
+probably adopted by the Bishop of Rome when he assumed the title and
+office of Pontifex Maximus, and after a time the custom was followed
+by other bishops and priests of his communion.
+
+
+GLASS VASES.
+
+A valuable work on the ancient glass vases found in the catacombs was
+published by F. Buonarotti in Florence, nearly simultaneously with the
+work of Boldetti on the catacombs, and of Fabretti on the inscriptions
+found in them. This is the foundation of all the subsequent works on
+the subject; the figures are badly drawn and engraved, according to
+the fashion of the period, but many of the later works are not much
+better. The subjects are generally the same as in the paintings on the
+walls: the Good Shepherd, more numerous than any other; Adam and Eve,
+Moses striking the Rock, Noah and the Ark, the raising of Lazarus,
+Peter and Paul, generally busts--these are very numerous. Both the
+style of drawing and the character of the inscriptions indicate late
+dates and frequent copying from the same type. In one are three
+figures, S. Peter, S. Paul, with S. Laurence seated between them. S.
+Agnes occurs frequently, always drawn as in the usual type of the
+eighth century. Other busts are evidently portraits of persons
+interred. In some are the father, mother and child;--one has the name
+of Cerontius; another of two busts, Cericia and Sottacus;--another is
+a family group, father, mother and four children; the name is partly
+broken off ....N ... BVSVISTRIS. P. Z. remains.--Abraham with a drawn
+sword in his hand, and Isaac with his eyes bound, kneeling at his
+feet, with the ram. A tall female figure with the hands uplifted in
+prayer; the inscription is PETRVS PAVLVS ANE possibly for AGNES.
+Another similar subject consists of two figures seated facing each
+other; over the left hand figure the name CRISTVS, over the right hand
+one ISTEFANVS. Several of the subjects are distinctly Pagan; others
+are evidently from the Jews' catacomb, as two lions guarding the ark,
+and under them two of the seven-branched candlesticks, with leaves and
+vases and palm-branch.
+
+
+S. CALIXTUS.
+
+This is one of the earliest of the catacombs; it is mentioned at a
+very early period as a burying-place, then in use, not as being then
+just made. Michele de Rossi, in the course of his investigations in
+this catacomb, found a brick staircase and some brick _loculi_,
+evidently an alteration of and addition to the original catacombs, and
+the stamps on these bricks were those of Marcus Aurelius, A.D.
+161-180. This staircase is in the lower part of the catacomb, made for
+the purpose of enlarging it, and seems to show that the ground had
+been used as a cemetery in the first century. The original part was
+probably made before there were any Christians to be buried. Although
+the staircase is later, and the bricks used again, they were probably
+found on the spot.
+
+Calixtus is said to have been entrusted with the government of the
+clergy, and set over _the cemetery_ by Zephyrinus his predecessor,
+before he became bishop or pope. This expression, _over the cemetery_,
+seems to prove that the whole of the catacombs were considered as one
+cemetery, and that he had the general superintendence of the burial of
+the Christians.
+
+This is the catacomb usually exhibited to strangers and now used for
+pilgrimages; its present state is very uninteresting to the
+archaeologist. The upper part of it nearest to the entrance has been so
+much _restored_ that it has lost all archaeological importance. This
+portion of the catacomb is illuminated on certain occasions, and is
+employed to excite the devotion of the faithful. A low mass is said at
+an altar fitted up in the cemetery chapel of S. Caecilia, on the
+anniversary of her martyrdom, and this part of the catacomb on that
+occasion is illuminated with candles.
+
+The other parts are in the usual state, stripped of nearly every
+inscription, and the graves empty. The earliest inscription from this
+catacomb, of ascertained date, is of A.D. 268 or 279; it is dated by
+the names of the consuls, which would apply to either of these two
+dates. One important inscription of Bishop Damasus is preserved, and
+is valuable in many ways; it shows that the cemetery chapel, in which
+it was found, was made in his time, and the slab of marble on which it
+is engraved has a Pagan inscription on the back of it, evidently
+proving that it was used merely as a slab of marble, without reference
+to that inscription. It shows for what purpose _some_ of the Pagan
+inscriptions found in the catacombs may have been brought there. Two
+small and very curious tombstones, consisting of mosaic pictures said
+to have been taken from this catacomb, are now preserved in the
+sacristy of the church of S. Maria in Trastevere. They were for some
+centuries in the nave, built into one of the piers; but during the
+_restorations_ made in 1868-76, they were removed and built into the
+wall of the sacristy. One represents a landscape, with building in the
+style of the third century, and a harbor or a lake with a vessel, and
+fishermen dragging in a great net, evidently intended for the
+miraculous draught of fishes. This is an extremely curious mosaic
+picture, the probable date of which is the beginning of the fourth
+century. The other small mosaic represents birds of various kinds, and
+is much earlier than the view of the harbor, perhaps as early as the
+first century. Possibly the birds were intended to be symbolical of
+the souls of the faithful. These are engraved by Ciampini in his work
+on Mosaics. Some of the original paintings [Bosio gives, on eight
+plates, engravings of a number of vases and lamps found in this
+catacomb, several views of _cubicula_, and upwards of seventy
+paintings. The same subjects have been repeated by Perret and Signor
+de Rossi.] remain in the lower part of this catacomb that have not
+been restored, and these are of the usual subjects: Daniel and the two
+lions, Moses striking the rock, the raising of Lazarus, etc.
+
+ [Illustration: PAINTED CEILING.]
+
+
+THE LAST SUPPER.
+
+S. CALIXTUS.
+
+This painting has more the appearance of being really intended for the
+Last Supper than most of the paintings of this class. The central
+figure has a certain dignity about it. Upon the round plates on the
+table are fishes, and the eight baskets are full of bread. It may be a
+Christian painting of a bad period, and intended to commemorate some
+of our Lord's miracles. The principal lines on the edges of the
+dresses have been renewed. This painting is under an _arco-solium_ in
+the chapel of the Sacraments, the burial-place of the Bishops of Rome
+in the third century. All the paintings in that part of this great
+catacomb that is usually open to the public, and in which masses are
+said on certain occasions, have long been said by well-informed
+persons to have been _restored_ within the last twenty years, but this
+is now denied by the Roman Catholic authorities.
+
+An engraving of this painting is given by Bosio in the sixth
+_arco-solium_ of this catacomb, p. 523; he calls it Christ and the
+Apostles. It is also given by Perret in the modern French style, vol.
+i. p. 28; and by Dr. Northcote in plate xiii., much embellished by
+color and improved by the skill of modern artists.
+
+
+S. PONTIANUS.
+
+The Baptistery, with the Baptism of Christ painted on the wall, over
+the arch. He is represented standing in the River Jordan up to His
+waist in water, in which fishes are swimming, and at which a hart is
+drinking; the Holy Dove is over His head. S. John Baptist is standing
+on the bank, and pouring water on His head, or perhaps only holding
+out his hand to touch it. On the opposite side is another figure in a
+white dress, hiding his face. All the three figures have the nimbus.
+
+
+AN AGAPE.
+
+An Agape, or love-feast, is a common subject of the paintings in the
+catacombs, and sometimes seems to be evidently a representation of the
+family gatherings that were held on the anniversaries in these tombs,
+in the same manner as they were in the painted tombs in the Via Latina
+or the Via Appia. These paintings are often supposed to be the LAST
+SUPPER, and sometimes may be so, but the one before us can hardly be
+intended for Christ and his Apostles.
+
+
+CHRIST AND THE CHURCH.
+
+These two figures, one on either side of a small table, on which are
+two dishes, one with a fish upon it and the other with bread, are
+supposed to represent our Lord after the Resurrection, and the
+Christian Church in the form of a woman, with the hands uplifted in
+the Oriental attitude of prayer, such as is usually called in the
+catacombs an Orante. This explanation is of course conjectural only,
+but seems not improbable. The painting is so much damaged that it is
+difficult to tell to what period it belongs. A part of this great
+catacomb is as early as the second century. In this passage _stravit_
+may mean covering the walls with slabs of porphyry also, as well as
+the floor. It is evident that in several instances the word _platonia_
+is applied by Anastasius to a chapel lined with marble plates for
+inscriptions, as at S. Sebastian's.
+
+
+HEAD OF CHRIST IN AN AUREOLE.--MARY, MOTHER OF
+CHRIST, AND MARY MAGDALENE.--ST. MARK,
+ST. PAUL AND ST. PETER.
+
+This cemetery or catacomb is on the western side of the Tiber, about
+half a mile beyond the Porta Portuensis, on the road to Porto, but on
+the hill above, and on a higher level than the road in what is now a
+vineyard. The soil in which this catacomb is made is quite different
+from the others; instead of the granular tufa, or volcanic sand, which
+is the soil generally used for them near the Via Appia and the Via
+Ardeatina, this is an alluvial soil formed by the action of water on
+the bank of the Tiber. Whether from this cause, or from some others
+that have not been explained, the paintings in this catacomb are far
+more perfect than those in any other; they are the most celebrated and
+the most popular, and those that have been more often engraved and
+published than any others.
+
+ [Illustration: CHAMBER OF A CATACOMB. (_With head of Christ,
+ etc., of the first century._)]
+
+The picture of the head of Christ is a very fine one, in an aureole or
+circular nimbus, with the cross on it, called also a cruciform nimbus.
+This head has been many times engraved and published, and it is
+amusing to compare those commonly sold in the shops of Rome with the
+original as shown in the photograph. These will illustrate the manner
+in which the clever modern artists have _improved upon_ the originals;
+it is difficult to understand that they are intended for the same
+picture.
+
+The figures of the three saints, St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Mark,
+are painted on the ceiling, while Mary, the Mother of Christ, and Mary
+Magdalene are over and on the left side of the head of Christ.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+TRUTH OF THE BIBLE.
+
+
+It may seem presumptuous for us to undertake to write upon this
+subject. "It is to paint the sun with charcoal," for the most
+scholastic divine to give his reflections on the Word of God. With the
+most devout feeling of the infinite value of such an article or the
+great evil which might result from the complexity of its appearance,
+we have concluded that nothing but the most reverential feeling of the
+sacredness of the subject can secure us from falling into dangers not
+to be lightly regarded, not merely in regard to facts, but in respect
+also to comments and reflections; but with this caution such an
+article may be rendered eminently edifying and interesting.
+
+Why should we conclude this work, in this age of infidelity, without
+at least stating what was known of the Bible? Why should we not bring
+the "cloud of witnesses" of the ruins we have already described? The
+discovery of the Assyrian and Babylonian historic records running
+contemporaneously with Scripture narratives have afforded innumerable
+points of proof. From the ruins of Nineveh and the Valley of the Nile;
+from the slabs and bas-reliefs of Sennacherib and the tombs, the
+catacombs with their 1,100 Christian inscriptions, and the monuments
+of Pharaoh; from the rolls of Chaldee paraphrasts and Syrian
+versionists; from the cells and libraries of monastic scribes and the
+dry and dusty labors of scholars and antiquarians, the skepticism of
+history has almost been silenced by the vivid reproductions of the
+ancient and eastern world.
+
+An attentive perusal of the present volume will afford many
+illustrations of these remarks. Knowing that the substance of the
+narrative is drawn from sources of indisputable authority, the reader
+can have no anxiety respecting the truth of the facts recorded. He
+will, therefore, be able to resign himself altogether to the gracious
+influence which such a history is calculated to exercise on the mind.
+
+The assistance which the reader will derive from a well-arranged
+narrative of these sublime events will be found of importance, not
+only as exciting attention to facts, otherwise less noticed, but as
+habituating him, in perusing the divine originals, to arrange and
+classify the several portions of the history for himself. When this
+ability is acquired, the mind will have a readier command over the
+materials of reflection, and the several arguments on which the proof
+of heavenly truth is founded will be seen with greater distinctness,
+and appreciated with a more practical feeling of their strength and
+value.
+
+With the assistance of the many scholarly productions on this matter,
+why should we not at least set the Bible side by side with Homer,
+Herodotus, Virgil, Horace, and others, which have already taken quite
+a space in the present work. The Scripture surely contains,
+independently of a divine origin, more true _sublimity_, more
+exquisite _beauty_, purer _morality_, more important _history_, and
+finer strains both of _poetry_ and _eloquence_, than could be
+collected within the same compass from all other books that were ever
+composed in any age or in any idiom.
+
+The Bible accords in a wonderful manner with universal history. There
+is nothing more common in history than the recognition of a God.
+Sacred and profane history alike involve this principle. The fictions
+of the poets respecting the different ages of the world coincide with
+Scripture facts. The first, or Golden Age, is described as a
+paradisiacal state, feebly representing the bliss of the first pair in
+Eden, Gen. ii. And the second, or Iron Age, described in the fiction
+of Pandora and her fatal box of evils, which overspread the earth, is
+in accordance with the history of the introduction of evil into the
+world, Gen. iii. The celebrated Vossius shows, with great ingenuity,
+the similitude there is between the history of Moses and the fable of
+Bacchus. The cosmogony of the ancient Phoenicians is evidently similar
+to the account of creation given by Moses, and a like assertion may be
+made respecting the ancient Greek philosophy. Travel north, south,
+east and west, and you find the period employed in creation used as a
+measure of time, though no natural changes point it out as a measure,
+as is the case with the month and year. Consult the heathen classics,
+the records of our Scythian ancestors, the superstitions of Egypt, of
+the Indies, both East and West, and, indeed, of all the varied forms
+in which superstition has presented herself, and in one or in all you
+meet with evidences of a universal flood, of man's fall, of the
+serpent having been the instrument in it, of propitiatory sacrifices,
+of the expectation of a great deliverer. The long lives of men in the
+early ages of the world are mentioned by Berosus, Manetho, Hiromus and
+Helanicus, as also by Hesoid and many other writers quoted by
+Josephus, and afterwards by Servius, in his notes on Virgil.
+Pausanius, Philostratus, Pliny and several other writers give us
+accounts of the remains of gigantic bodies which have been found in
+the earth, serving in some degree to confirm Moses' account of the
+antediluvian giants. Berosus, the Chaldean historian, quoted by
+Josephus, and Abidenus by Eusebius, Plutarch, Lucian, Molo, Nicholas
+Damascenus, as well as many of the heathen poets, mention the deluge;
+and some traditions respecting it are to be found among the Americans
+and Chinese; not to mention what some modern travelers have fabulously
+related concerning some ruins of the ark, said to remain on Mount
+Ararat, and to have been seen there a few centuries ago. Alexander
+Polyphistor quotes Artapanus and Eupolemus, as mentioning the Tower of
+Babel; and the former speaks of it as built by Belus. Strabo, Tacitus,
+Pliny, etc., give us an account of the destruction of Sodom and
+Gomorrah and the neighboring cities, in the main agreeable to that of
+Moses. Herodotus, Diodorus, Strabo, etc., mention circumcision as a
+rite used by several of those nations into which, according to Moses,
+Abraham traveled, or which were descended from him. Berosus, and
+several others, make express and honorable mention of Abraham and some
+of his family. Eupolemus and Dius, as quoted by Eusebius and Grotius,
+mention many remarkable circumstances of David and Solomon, agreeing
+with the Old Testament story. As for the mention of Nebuchadnezzar,
+and some of the succeeding kings of Babylon, as well as of Cyrus and
+his successors, it is so common in ancient writers, as not to need a
+more particular notice of it. And very many passages of the Old
+Testament are mentioned by Celsus, and objections to Christianity
+formed upon them. Is not all this in favor of the credibility of the
+Old Testament? And with respect to the New Testament, we have the
+testimony of Tacitus and Suetonius to the existence of Jesus Christ,
+the Founder of the Christian religion, and to His crucifixion in the
+reign of Tiberius, and during the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate,
+the time in which the evangelists place that event. Porphyry, also,
+though an inveterate enemy to Christianity, not only allowed that
+there was such a person as Christ, but honored Him as a most wise and
+pious man, translated into heaven as being approved by the gods; and
+accordingly quotes some oracles, referring both to His sufferings and
+virtues, with their subsequent rewards. Celsus, likewise, an Epicurean
+philosopher, full of enmity to the Christian religion, mentions
+numberless circumstances in the history of Christ, indeed so many,
+that an abstract of the Christian history might almost be taken from
+the very fragments of his book preserved by Origen, and never pretends
+to dispute His real existence, or the truth of the facts recorded of
+Him. Hierocles, a man of learning and a magistrate, who wrote against
+the Christians, speaks of Jesus as extolled by the Christians as a
+god; mentions Peter and Paul by name; and refers both to the Gospels
+and to the Epistles. The Emperor Julian, in the fourth century, called
+"Apostate," writes of the birth of Jesus in the reign of Augustus;
+bears witness to the genuineness and authenticity of the Gospels, and
+the Acts of the Apostles; and allows that Jesus Christ wrought
+miracles. He aimed to overthrow the Christian religion, but has
+confirmed it. The slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem is attested by
+Macrobius; the darkness at the crucifixion is recorded by Phlegon, and
+quoted by Origen. The manners and worship of the primitive Christians
+are distinctly named by Pliny. The great dearth throughout the Roman
+world, foretold by Agabus, in the reign of Claudius (Acts xi. 28), is
+attested by Suetonius Dion, Josephus, and others. The expulsion of the
+Jews from Rome by Claudius (Acts xviii. 2) was occasioned, says
+Suetonius, by the insurrection they had made about Chrestus, which is
+his way of spelling Christ. It has been repeatedly proved, with
+laborious research, and profuse erudition, that vestiges of all the
+principal doctrines of the Christian religion are to be found in the
+monuments, writings, or mythologies of all nations and ages. And the
+principal facts contained in the Gospels are confirmed by monuments of
+great fame subsisting in every Christian country at this very day. For
+instance, baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the
+rite by which from the beginning men have been initiated into the
+Church of Christ, and the profession of Christianity. The Lord's
+Supper, celebrated in memory of the dying love of Christ. And the
+stated observation of the first day of the week, in honor of Christ's
+resurrection from the dead. Who can say, and prove, that this is not
+evidential of the truth and credibility of the New Testament? What but
+inspiration could have produced such internal harmony, and such
+external accordance?
+
+ [Illustration: FRIEZE FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS.]
+
+Of the monuments, none is more striking than the Arch of Titus. This
+celebrated structure was erected by the Senate and the people of Rome
+in estimation of the services of Titus in conquering the Jews. It is
+probable that the monument was completed after the death of Titus. It
+consists of a single arch of Grecian marble, of exquisite proportions,
+with fluted columns on each side. The frieze, which gives it special
+interest and value, is on the right-hand side passing under the arch
+going towards the Coliseum. It represents the triumphal procession of
+captive Jews, the silver trumpets, the tables of shew-bread, and the
+golden candlestick, with its seven branches. The candlestick itself is
+said to have been thrown into the Tiber from the Milvina Bridge, on
+the occasion of the battle between Maxentius and Constantine. Should
+the proposal to turn the course of the Tiber be carried into effect it
+is not impossible that this precious relic may yet be recovered.
+
+_No book was ever produced by chance._ Every volume in the world is
+indebted for its existence to some being or beings. And the Bible, we
+are assured, could not but have had an intelligent author. But within
+the range of intelligence there exist only bad beings, good beings,
+and God. Hence, among these must be found whatever originates in
+intelligence, for this classification includes all beings that are
+intelligent. Now that bad beings--wicked men and infernal
+spirits--could not have originated a book so full of goodness, is a
+reasonable opinion; for it bears no resemblance to such an origin. It
+commands all duty, forbids all sin, and pronounces the heaviest
+penalties against all unholy conduct; and as darkness can not
+originate light, so neither can evil originate good. Nor would it help
+the matter to suppose that good beings--pious men and holy
+angels--were the contrivers of these well-arranged records; for they
+neither could nor would write a book, ascribing their own inventions
+to divine inspiration; especially as such forgeries are most severely
+reprobated in every part of it. As therefore God is the only remaining
+being within the range of intelligence to whom the Scriptures can be
+reasonably ascribed, they must, of necessity, have been written by
+Him. And, indeed, the Bible is a work as much exceeding every effort
+of mere man as the sun surpasses those scanty illuminations by which
+his splendor is imitated, or his absence supplied.
+
+We are now conducted, by fair and consecutive reasoning, to our last
+general proposition, which is this: _God was the author of the Bible._
+
+By the Bible we mean, of course, both the Old and New Testaments. "The
+two Testaments," says one, "may be likened to the double-doors of the
+Temple--the Old is the New infolded--the New is the Old unfolded." The
+New Testament distinctly recognizes the Old as a revelation from God;
+and, referring to the Canon as received by the Jews, declares the
+books of which it consists genuine and credible. And by God being the
+author of the Bible we mean that it was "given by inspiration of Him."
+It may be necessary here to define certain terms which either have
+been, or may be, hereafter, employed in this essay. And these
+are:--Scripture; Testament; Inspiration; Gospel; Christianity; and
+Religion. Scripture, from scriptura, signifies writing--applied by way
+of eminence to what is written in the Bible. Testament, from
+testamentum, a deed or will; but according to another rendering the
+appropriate name of the Bible is, the Old and New Covenants; namely,
+the Mosaic and the Christian. Inspiration, from spiro, signifies I
+breathe. "By the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures," says an
+able writer, "I mean, such an immediate and complete discovery, by the
+Holy Spirit to the minds of the sacred penmen, of these things which
+could not have been otherwise known, and such an effectual
+superintendency as to those matters of which they might be informed or
+by other means, as entirely to preserve them from all error, in every
+particular which could in the least affect any of the doctrines or
+commandments contained in their writings." Gospel, from god, good, and
+spell, a history, a narrative, or message; and which denotes good
+news, glad tidings, news from God--applied emphatically to the book
+which contains the recital of our Saviour's life, miracles, death, and
+so on. Christianity, from christianitas, signifies the religion of
+Christians. And Religion, from religare, signifies to tie or bind,
+because by true religion the soul is tied or bound, as it were, to God
+and His service. These things being premised, we shall be justified in
+proceeding to establish our proposition; namely, that God was the
+author of the Bible. And we hold this to be demonstrable.
+
+_From its great antiquity._ It is acknowledged to be the oldest book
+in the world. Its records embrace the creation of the world, the
+origin of man, the introduction of evil, the fall and recovery of our
+race; and it contains the only rational account ever given of these
+momentous matters. We can trace the Bible to the time of the Caesars,
+beyond that to the translation of the Septuagint, and beyond that we
+can carry the proof up to the separation of the Jews and Samaritans;
+we can ascend up to the time when we discover that the law must have
+been given by a person called Moses to a people in the wilderness, at
+a time when idolatry was universal, and just as we have the facts
+recorded in the nineteenth and twentieth chapters of the book of
+Exodus. And if Moses did not get the law from God, the getting it at
+all--the having it then as it is--is just as great a miracle as its
+coming from God Himself; and you may take your choice of the
+miracles--for the one is as great a miracle as the other. Tatian, one
+of the Greek fathers, tells us, that "Though Homer was before all
+poets, philosophers, and historians, and was the most ancient of all
+profane writers, yet Moses was more ancient than Homer himself."
+Tertullian, another celebrated writer of the second century, speaks to
+the same effect. "The Pagans themselves have not denied that the
+books of Moses were extant many ages before the states and cities of
+Greece; before their temples and gods; and also before the beginning
+of Greek letters." He moreover adds, "Moses lived five hundred years
+before Homer's time; and the other prophets who came a long time after
+Moses were yet more ancient than any of the wise men, lawgivers, and
+philosophers of Greece. And as the writings of Homer were a pattern to
+them, so in like manner he followed the writings of the prophets, as
+they were then known and spread abroad in the world." And the
+excellent and learned Sir W. Jones, adverting to the same point,
+remarked, "The antiquity of these writings no man doubts."
+
+_From its uncorrupted preservation._ Though it has been hated and held
+in utter detestation by thousands, yet it has been preserved amidst
+all the revolutions of time, and handed down from generation to
+generation, even until now. And that it is in all essential points the
+same as it came originally from the hands of its authors, we have the
+most satisfactory evidence that can be required. "With regard to the
+Old Testament," says the late learned William Greenfield, "the
+original manuscripts were long preserved among the Jews, who were
+always remarkable for being most faithful guardians of their sacred
+books, which they transcribed repeatedly, and compared most carefully
+with the originals, of which they even numbered the words and letters.
+That the Jews have neither mutilated nor corrupted these writings is
+fully proved by the silence of the prophets as well as of Christ and
+His apostles, who, though they bring many heavy charges against them,
+never once accuse them of corrupting one of their sacred writings; and
+also by the agreement, in every essential point, of all the versions
+and manuscripts, amounting to nearly 1,150, which are now extant, and
+which furnishes a clear proof of their uncorrupted preservation."
+
+ [Illustration: PENTATEUCH, WRITTEN 3200 YEARS AGO.]
+
+One of the most wonderful and ancient of these is the Pentateuch, as
+represented in the cut below. Mr. Mills says of it: "The roll itself
+is of what we would call parchment, but of a material much older than
+that, written in columns twelve inches deep and seven and a half wide.
+The writing is in a fair hand but not nearly so large or beautiful as
+the book copies which I had previously examined. The writing being
+rather small each column contains from seventy to seventy-two lines.
+The name of the scribe is written in a kind of acrostic, and forms
+part of the text, running through three columns and is found in the
+book of Deuteronomy. It was the work of the great grandson of Aaron,
+as indicated in the writing. The roll has all the appearance of a very
+high antiquity, and is wonderfully well preserved, considering its
+venerable age.
+
+"One of the halves of the metal cylinder is very curious and deserves
+more attention than it has received at the hands of Biblical
+archaeologists. It is of silver, about two feet and six inches long, by
+ten or twelve inches in diameter, and is covered with embossed work
+with a descriptive legend attached to each portion. It proves to be
+the Tabernacle of the Wilderness.
+
+"In fact, the constant reading of the sacred books, which were at once
+the rule of their faith and of their political constitution, in public
+and private; the numerous copies of the original as well as of the
+Septuagint version, which was widely spread over the world; the
+various sects and parties into which the Jews were divided after their
+canon was closed, as well as their dispersion into every part of the
+globe, concurred to render any attempt at fabrication impossible
+before the time of Christ, and after that period, the same books being
+in the hands of the Christians, they would instantly have detected the
+fraud of the Jews if they had endeavored to accomplish such a design,
+while the silence of the Jews, who would not have failed to notice the
+attempt if it had been made, is a clear proof that they were not
+corrupted by the Christians.
+
+"Equally satisfactory is the evidence for the integrity and
+incorruptness of the New Testament. The multiplication of copies, both
+of the original and of translations into a variety of languages, which
+were read, not only in private, but publicly in the religious
+assemblies of the early Christians; the reverence of the Christians
+for these writings; the variety of sects and heresies which soon arose
+in the Christian Church, each of whom appealed to the Scriptures for
+the truth of their doctrines, rendered any material alteration in the
+sacred books utterly impossible; while the silence of their acutest
+enemies, who would most assuredly have charged them with the attempt
+if it had been made, and the agreement of all the manuscripts and
+versions extant, are positive proofs of the integrity and
+incorruptness of the New Testament; which are further attested by the
+agreement with it of all the quotations which occur in the writings of
+the Christians from the earliest age to the present time. In fact, so
+far from there having been any gross adulteration in the Sacred
+Volumes, the best and most able critics have proved that, even in
+lesser matters, the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament have suffered
+less from the injuries of time and the errors of transcribers than any
+other ancient writings whatever; and that the very worst manuscript
+extant would not pervert one article of our faith, nor destroy one
+moral precept."
+
+Add to this the testimony of the British Critic. "Not one syllable
+penned by eight obscure authors of the Scriptures of the New
+Testament, received by the Church as canonical at the death of John,
+has been lost in the course of eighteen centuries. Yet of the
+historical works of Tacitus half at least are wanting; out of the one
+hundred and forty-four books of Livy only thirty-five exist; the
+collections of Atticus have entirely perished; the orations of
+Hortensius are known only through the allusions of his rival; and the
+literary fame of the great dictator survives but in two narratives,
+one of which has sometimes been doubted. 'Where is the wise? Where is
+the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world?' May it not be the
+power of God which, amidst this wreck of eloquence and learning, has
+preserved unmutilated, even to these later days, the simple and
+unstudied compositions of the illiterate Galileans--the impassioned
+but rugged addresses of the tent-maker of Cilicia?" Dr. Adam Clarke,
+no mean judge, pronounced by the late Rev. Robert Hall to have been
+"an ocean of learning," said, "I have diligently examined the
+question, and I can conscientiously say that we have the Sacred
+Oracles, at least in essential sum and substance, as they were
+delivered by God to Moses and the prophets; and to the Church of
+Christ by Jesus, His evangelists and apostles; and that nothing in the
+various readings of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts can be found to
+strengthen any error in doctrine or obliquity in moral practice. All
+is safe and sound--all is pure and holy." And the judicious Selden,
+whom Grotius calls "the glory of the English nation," in his "Table
+Talk," speaking of the Bible, says, "The English translation of the
+Bible is the best translation in the world, and renders the sense of
+the original best; taking in for the English translation the Bishop's
+Bible as well as King James'. The translators in King James' time took
+an excellent way. That part of the Bible was given to him who was most
+excellent in such a tongue, and then they met together, and one read
+the translation, the others holding in their hands some Bible, either
+of the learned tongues, or French, Spanish, or Italian, etc. If they
+found any fault they spoke, if not he read on."[24]
+
+_From its important discoveries._ It makes discoveries to man on the
+most momentous subjects, which natural reason never could have made.
+One of the ancients said, "The Bible is the history of God." It
+reveals all that is needful to be known of the existence, nature,
+perfections, relations, mind and will of God. It discloses the whole
+history of man--opening with his creation, continuing with his present
+state, and closing with his eternal destiny. It lays open the amazing
+love of God to man, the plan of redemption, the means of salvation and
+the cleansing nature of the blood of Christ. It furnishes answers to
+the most interesting and perplexing questions ever suggested to man by
+himself, or propounded to him by his fellow-beings; and thus supplies
+him with that information which no other volume can impart. It points
+a second life, unveils eternity, and speaks of the resurrection of the
+body--the immortality of the soul--a judgment to come--a heaven, the
+gift of redeeming love--and a hell, the dire desert of sin. In one
+word, it is God's heart opened to man--a map of heaven--an infallible
+rule of life--an immovable ground of hope--an everlasting spring of
+consolation--and the only sure guide to eternal life and happiness. A
+fine old writer beautifully remarks, "What is there not in the holy
+Scriptures? Are we poor? There is a treasury of riches. Are we sick?
+There is a shop of soul-medicines. Are we fainting? There is a cabinet
+of cordials. Are we Christless? There is the star that leads to
+Christ. Are we Christians? There are the bands that keep in Christ.
+Are we afflicted? There is our solace. Are we persecuted? There is our
+protection. Are we deserted? There is our recovery. Are we tempted?
+There are our sword and victory. Are we young? There is our beauty.
+Are we old? There is our wisdom. While we live, here is the rule of
+our conversation; when we die, here is the hope of our glorification.
+So that I may say with Tertullian, 'I adore the fullness of the
+Scripture.' Oh blessed Scriptures! Who can know them and not love
+them? Who can love them and not delight to meditate in them night and
+day? Who can meditate in them and not desire to love them, love to
+desire them, and both desire and love to understand them? This is the
+Book of books, as David said of Goliah's sword, 'There's none like
+that.'" The Bible is, indeed, what that great philosopher, the
+Honorable Robert Boyle, called it, "that matchless book." We have
+often thought that the sublime descriptions which it gives of God, the
+humbling and exalting doctrines which it reveals, and the high-toned
+morality which it inculcates, are of themselves proofs decisive of its
+divine authority. For, certainly, there is nothing like them in the
+most admired productions of the most celebrated authors, either in
+ancient or modern times.
+
+_From its peculiar style._ How remarkably simple and plain! No
+histories were ever so plainly related as those of the Bible: no
+precepts were ever so clear, or promises less ambiguous. How
+wonderfully grand and sublime! Whenever the matter requires it, the
+style is
+
+ "Like the ladder in the Patriarch's dream,
+ Its foot on earth, its height beyond the skies."
+
+Witness many of the Psalms; the book of Job; the prophets, especially,
+Isaiah xl. and xliii.; and the Apocalypse. And how astonishingly
+concise and expressive! The sacred writers never burden their subject
+with a load of words. They express themselves in words few, and
+well-chosen--"in comely dress, without the paint of art." Witness the
+Proverbs; 1 Cor. xiii., etc. "Let there be light," is noticed by the
+great critic Longinus, as a truly lofty expression. And the style of
+Scripture has awakened the attention even of infidels. Rousseau was
+struck with the majesty of the Scriptures. His eloquent eulogium on
+the Gospel and its author is well known. Dr. Tillotson observes "The
+descriptions which Virgil makes of the Elysian Fields and the Infernal
+Regions fall infinitely short of the majesty of the holy Scriptures
+when describing heaven and hell, so that in comparison they are
+childish and trifling;" and yet, perhaps, he had the most regular and
+best governed imagination of any man, and observed the greatest
+decorum in his descriptions. "There are I know," said the elegant
+Joseph Addison, "men of heavy temper and without genius, who can read
+the words of Scripture with as much indifference as they do other
+papers; however, I will not despair to bring men of wit into a love
+and admiration of the sacred writings, and, old as I am, I promise
+myself to see the day when it shall be as much the fashion among men
+of politeness, to admire a rapture of St. Paul's, as a fine expression
+of Virgil or Homer; and to see a well-dressed young man produce an
+evangelist out of his pocket, and be no more out of countenance than
+if it were a classic printed by Elzevir."
+
+_From its internal harmony._ Though written at different periods, by
+persons residing in different parts of the earth, and by persons whose
+natural abilities, education, habits, employments, etc., were
+exceedingly varied, yet where is there any real contradiction? The
+sacred writers exactly coincide in the exhibition they give us of God;
+of man; of sin and salvation; of this world and the next; and, in
+short, of all things connected with our duty, safety, interest, and
+comfort. They all were evidently of the same judgment, aimed to
+establish the same principles, and applied them to the same practical
+purposes. They could not write by concert--comparing notes, etc., for
+they lived in different times and places; and yet the exact
+coincidence that is perceived among them, by the diligent student, is
+most astonishing, and can not be accounted for on any rational
+principles without admitting that they "wrote as they were moved by
+the Holy Ghost."
+
+ "Whence, but from heaven, should men, unskilled in arts,
+ In different nations born, and different parts,
+ Weave such agreeing truths; or how or why
+ Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?
+ Unasked their pains; ungrateful their advice;
+ Starving their gains, and martyrdom their prize."
+
+_From its striking impartiality._ The amanuenses or penmen of the Holy
+Ghost for the Scriptures were not contemptible or ordinary, but
+incomparable and extraordinary persons. As Moses, "the meekest man on
+earth," the peculiar favorite of God, with whom God "talked face to
+face;" the None-such of all the prophets in Israel. Samuel, the
+mighty man in prayer. David the King, "that man after God's own
+heart." King Solomon, that "wisest of all the Kings," whom God honored
+with the building of the Temple. Daniel, in whom was found "an
+excellent spirit," and great dexterity in "expounding secrets and
+mysteries." John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" above all the rest,
+who "leaned on Jesus' breast." Paul, "who was caught up into the third
+heavens," "whose writings," saith Chrysostom, "like a wall of adamant,
+compass about, or surround all the churches." In a word, "all of them
+holy men of God, moved by the Holy Ghost." The moral character of the
+sacred penmen is above suspicion: their greatest enemies have never
+attempted to throw the least stain upon their characters. Many of them
+were actually present at the scenes which they describe; eye-witnesses
+of the facts, and ear-witnesses of the discourses which they describe.
+They could not, therefore, be deceived themselves: nor could they have
+the least inducement to deceive others. They honestly record their own
+mistakes and faults, as well as the other particulars of the story.
+Every candid person must admit that the Scriptures are remarkable for
+faithfulness of narrative, and that, contrary to the practice of other
+histories, they do not conceal the faults of the persons they
+describe. The faults of Abraham and Jacob are detailed, as well as
+their virtues; and the incredulity of Thomas, and the defection of
+Peter, are not concealed, but faithfully recorded. The apostles,
+especially, seem everywhere to forget that they are writing of
+themselves, and appear not at all solicitous about their own
+reputation, but only that they might represent facts just as they
+were, whatever might be the consequences. Hence they readily confess,
+not only the meanness of their original employments, and the scandals
+of their former life, but their prejudices, follies, faults, unbelief,
+cowardice, ambition, rash zeal, foolish contentions, etc. How faithful
+is the pen of inspiration--here truth with impartial hand dips her
+pencil, now in brighter, now in darker colors, and thus draws her
+characters to the very life. Dr. Beattie justly says, "The style of
+the Gospel bears intrinsic evidence of its truth. We find there no
+appearance of artifice or party spirit; no attempt to exaggerate on
+the one hand, or depreciate on the other; no remarks thrown in to
+anticipate objections, nothing of that caution which never fails to
+distinguish the testimony of those who are conscious of imposture; no
+endeavor to reconcile the reader's mind to what may be extraordinary
+in the narrative; all is fair, candid, and simple." And we number this
+among the proofs of the Divine authority of the Bible.
+
+_From its stupendous miracles._ Miracle, from miraculum, a wonder, a
+prodigy. "A miracle," says Horne, "is a sensible suspension or
+controlment of, or deviation from, the known laws of nature." It is a
+signal act of Divine Omnipotence, that which no other being but God
+can do. Miracles flow from Divine power, and are the proper evidence
+of a Divine mission. The _reality_ of the miracles recorded in
+Scripture, wrought by Christ, and by prophets and apostles, may be
+proved by the _number_ and _variety_--their being performed
+_publicly_, and not in a corner--before _enemies_ as well as before
+friends--_instantaneously_, and not by degrees--and _independent_ of
+all second causes--were such as _all men could examine_ and judge
+of--and all served _an important end_, worthy of a Divine author:
+viz., to establish Divine truth. How superior the miracles wrought by
+Moses and Aaron to those wrought by the wise men and the sorcerers and
+the magicians of Egypt! Witness the transformation of the rod, Exodus
+vii. 10-12--the production of the annoying vermin lice--Exodus viii.
+16-19--the plague of darkness, Exodus x. 22-24--the dividing of the
+Red Sea, Exodus xiv. 21-31. These bear all the characters of true
+miracles. And how far above the pretended supernatural doings of
+Mohammed, and the alleged Pagan and Romish miracles, were the
+wonderful deeds of Christ and His apostles! For example, our Saviour
+stilled the tempest, calmed the ruffled ocean, walked upon the sea,
+fed the famished multitude, opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped
+the ears of the deaf, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, cast out
+devils, raised the dead, and restored Himself to life; and His
+apostles healed the lame, cast out a spirit of divination, gave the
+Holy Ghost, restored the dead to life, etc. Every ingenuous mind must
+see in these all the characters of real miracles. Ponder Matt. xi.
+2-6; and John xiv. 11. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler among the Jews,
+was so struck with the extraordinary character of our Lord's miracles
+that he came to Him, saying, "Rabbi," excellent master, "we know that
+Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles
+that Thou doest, except God be with Him." And miracles we think, with
+Nicodemus, show that a prophet or religious teacher comes from God,
+because God would not work a miracle in attestation of a falsehood, or
+to encourage a false teacher. When, therefore, a miracle is wrought in
+confirmation of anything, or as evidence of anything, we know that the
+thing is true, because God has given to it His testimony. Every real
+miracle is a work of God, done by His permission, and with His
+concurrence; it is therefore, emphatically, the testimony of God. And
+that greatest of miracles, the resurrection of our Lord Himself from
+the dead, crowns the whole, and clearly attests the Divinity of the
+Bible, and the truth of the Christian religion.
+
+_From its wonderful prophecies._ Prophecy is a declaration of
+something to come; a prediction of future events. It is the
+foretelling of such future things as were beyond the reach of human
+sagacity, and which, therefore, none but God could reveal. What mere
+man can foretell the events of to-morrow? Who can say what shall
+transpire in ages to come? This is the sole prerogative of God, who
+alone knows the end from the beginning. Now the Bible abounds with
+predictions which were uttered long before their actual fulfillment,
+and which no human sagacity or foresight could possibly conjecture or
+foretell. Take the first gospel promise given--the seed of the woman
+to bruise the serpent's head; and remember that this promise was
+delivered at least four thousand years before its fulfillment. The
+celebrated prediction of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 10) was uttered between
+sixteen and seventeen hundred years before it took place. Moses
+declared the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, etc. (Deut. xxviii. 49,
+etc.), fifteen centuries previously. In the first book of Kings (chap.
+xiii. 2, 3) there is a prophecy concerning Josiah by name, three
+hundred and thirty-one years; and in Isaiah (xlv. 1) concerning Cyrus,
+one hundred years, before either of them were born. According to the
+predictions of the prophets Nineveh has been desolated (Nahum i. 1, 2,
+3); Babylon swept with the bosom of destruction (Isaiah xiii. 14);
+Tyre become a place for the spreading of nets (Ezekiel xxvi. 4, 5);
+Egypt the basest of the kingdoms, etc. (Ezekiel xxix. 14, 15). Daniel
+distinctly predicted the overthrow, in succession, of the four great
+empires of antiquity--the Babylonian, the Persian, the Grecian and the
+Roman, all of which has taken place. Not only are the leading features
+of the character of Christ delineated with the faithfulness of history
+hundreds of years before He appeared, but there is scarcely an
+incident in His life which prophecy has overlooked. And according to
+the predictions of the New Testament we see Jerusalem in ruins; the
+Temple not rebuilt; the Jews scattered, but not destroyed; the
+conversion of the nations to Christianity; the many anti-christian
+corruptions of the Gospel; the idolatry, tyranny and persecution of
+the Roman hierarchy, etc. What prescience does all this
+imply--prescience no where to be found but in God! "Let now the
+infidel or the skeptical reader meditate thoroughly and soberly on
+these predictions. The priority of the records to the events admits
+of no question. The completion is obvious to every competent enquirer.
+Here, then, are facts. We are called upon to account for those facts
+on rational and adequate principles. Is human foresight equal to the
+task? Enthusiasm? Conjecture? Chance? Political contrivance? If none
+of these, neither any other principle that may be devised by man's
+sagacity, can account for the facts; then true philosophy, as well as
+true religion, will ascribe them to the inspiration of the Almighty.
+Every effect must have a cause." Prophecy is a species of perpetual
+miracle. And the prophecies of Scripture do not come short of the
+fullest demonstration which the case will admit of, that the books
+that contain them are the unerring word of God.
+
+_From its holy tendency._ It came immediately from God, and leads
+immediately to Him. It bears on it the stamp and impression of Deity;
+and is, emphatically and really, "the power of God unto salvation to
+every one that believeth." It contains the most excellent
+precepts--the most weighty exhortations--and the most precious
+promises. The Bible teaches us the best way of living; the noblest way
+of suffering; and the most comfortable way of dying. The word of God,
+accompanied by His Spirit, conveys strength to the weak, wisdom to the
+simple, comfort to the sorrowful, light to those who are in darkness,
+and life to the dead. It introduces the infinite God as speaking in a
+manner worthy of Himself; with simplicity, majesty and authority.
+
+_It places before us the most important doctrines._ For example, the
+doctrine of the Trinity of persons or substances in the Unity of the
+Godhead--the proper, supreme, and eternal divinity of Christ--the
+personality, divinity, and offices of the Holy Spirit--the great works
+of creation and providence--the fall of man from the mortal image of
+God--the necessity, nature, and extent of redemption--repentance
+toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ--justification
+through the blood of the cross--the witness of the Spirit in the soul
+of believers--regeneration by the Spirit of God--holiness in heart and
+life--the resurrection of the dead--the general judgment--and the
+eternity of future rewards and punishments.
+
+_It inculcates the highest morality._ The love of God, and the love of
+our neighbor--the doing to others as we would they should do to
+us--the forgiving of our enemies--the living "soberly"--in the use of
+food, apparel, and all things relating to ourselves, "righteously"--in
+the performance of all duties towards our neighbors, and
+"godly"--worshiping God in a right manner--the checking of all
+impurity of thought and desire--the rendering of honor to whom honor,
+and tribute to whom tribute, is due--the cultivation of humility,
+meekness, gentleness, placability, disinterestedness, truth, justice,
+beneficence, charity, and other virtues--and the avoidance of pride,
+discontent, despair, revenge, cruelty, oppression, contention,
+adultery, suicide, and other vices and crimes which injure mankind.
+
+_It preserves from all error._ It is an infallible rule of judgment
+and of practice, and clearly teaches what we ought to believe and what
+we ought to do--it enlightens the mind, informs the judgment,
+instructs the heart, and saves from those "faults in the life," which
+"breed errors in the brain." All error--false judgment of things, or
+assent unto falsehood--springs from ignorance of the Scriptures, Mark
+xii. 24; John vii. 17; 2 Tim. iii. 13-17.
+
+_It promotes holiness and peace here, as well as leads to happiness
+and heaven hereafter._ "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his
+way?" Psalm cxix. 9, 103-105. "The law of the Lord is perfect,
+converting the soul," Psalm xix. 7-11. What an eulogy is this on the
+perfection of the sacred writings! the perfection of their
+utility--their certainty--their purity--their value--their
+comforts--their peace--and their sweetness. And this eulogy was
+pronounced by a prophet, a poet, and a king--no common assemblage.
+
+_It secures to the lover of it, in a rich degree, the Divine favor._
+"Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my
+footstool; but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and
+of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." "Such a heart," says
+Matthew Henry, "is a living temple of God; He dwells there, and it is
+the place of His rest; it is like heaven and earth, His throne and His
+footstool."
+
+_And it furnishes the most powerful motives to the practice of its
+precepts._ For its rewards are such as "eye hath not seen, nor ear
+heard;" and its threats are eminently calculated to terrify offenders.
+The Bible everywhere abounds with an intenseness of zeal for the
+Divine glory, and with a depth of self-renunciation on the part of the
+writers. And what a contrast does it, in this respect, exhibit to all
+other productions of authorship! In Scripture, God is all in all: in
+other writings, man is always a prominent, and generally the sole
+claimant of praise and admiration. And no man can attentively peruse
+the sacred volume without being awe-struck. For O how solemn and
+inspiring! and how admirably calculated to restrain from sin, and to
+sublimate the views and feelings! We say, therefore, that no man can
+diligently read the Scriptures without becoming a wiser and better
+man. The celebrated John Locke, whose pure philosophy taught him to
+adore its source, said, with his dying lips, when tendering his advice
+to a young nobleman, "Study the Holy Scriptures, especially the New
+Testament; for therein are contained the words of eternal life: it
+hath God for its author--salvation for its end--and truth, without any
+mixture of error, for its matter."
+
+ "It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts,
+ In this dark vale of tears."
+
+It does more--
+
+ "It sheds a lustre all abroad,
+ And points the path to bliss and heaven."
+
+ [Illustration: SHISHAK AND HIS CAPTIVES ON SCULPTURED WALL AT
+ KARNAC.]
+
+"Tis for our light and guidance given." And O what a source of light,
+and strength and peace! How it clears the understanding, and fills the
+soul with sweet delight! How it quickens our inactive powers, and sets
+all our wandering footsteps right! And how its promises rejoice our
+hearts, and its precepts direct our lives!
+
+ "A glory gilds the sacred page,
+ Majestic like the sun;
+ It gives a light to every age,
+ It gives, but borrows none."
+
+Ah! there are no words comparable to the Scriptures. None containing
+doctrines so useful--commands so reasonable--arguments so powerful.
+The lines of Scripture are richer than the mines of gold. How
+evidently suited to a sinful, sinning race! and how delightfully
+framed for the perfection of human happiness! What proofs of a Divine
+original! Show, if you can, in all this world, any one book of all
+that ever was produced in any age or nation, like the Bible. Ay, the
+Bible came from God; and it bears a moral resemblance to Him from whom
+it came. God is holy, just, and good; and the Bible is also holy in
+its nature, just in its requirements, and good in its provisions and
+tendency.
+
+ [Illustration: PORTRAIT OF REHOBOAM.]
+
+_From its beneficial effects._ It has wrought wonders in all ages, in
+all places, on all persons, and in all possible varieties of human life.
+Christianity--the religion of the Bible--has taught the great lessons of
+devotion, self-government, and benevolence. It has diffused and
+preserved literature--abated illiberal prejudices--produced humility,
+forgiveness of injuries, regard to truth, justice, and honesty, firmness
+under persecution, patience under worldly afflictions, and calmness and
+resignation at the approach of death--discouraged fornication, polygamy,
+adultery, divorces, suicide, and duels--checked infanticide, cruel
+sports, the violence of war, the vices of Kings and the assaults of
+princes--and rendered its sincere professors true, honest, just, pure,
+lovely, and of good report. It has improved the condition of
+females--reclaimed dissolute men--abolished human sacrifices--prevented
+assassinations of princes, and revolutions in states--encouraged
+hospitality to strangers--founded charitable institutions--emancipated
+slaves--abated the rigors of servitude--redeemed captives--relieved
+prisoners--protected widows and orphans--softened into tenderness and
+tears the hearts of despots--and given stability to thrones, wisdom to
+human laws, and protection to the people. Has it not done more for the
+honor of the prince and the weal of the subject than any other system?
+
+_It has been a blessing to every country into which it has been
+introduced._ It has been a blessing to Britain. It has enwrapped in
+graceful robes the once naked inhabitants of this great country: it
+has built cities, cultivated forests, reared our temples, regulated
+our institutions, and rendered the country both powerful and happy.
+America has found in it her freedom and her peace. The wrongs of
+Africa have been mitigated and removed by its justice and generosity.
+Asia, and the isles of the sea, are waiting for its light and healing.
+In every Pagan country where it has prevailed, it has abolished
+idolatry, with its sanguinary and polluted rites; raised the standard
+of morality, and thus improved the manners of the people; and diffused
+far and wide the choicest blessings of heaven--freedom to the captive,
+light to the blind, comfort to the distressed, hope to the despairing,
+and life to the dying. Ask the people of New Zealand, of Taheita, of
+Tonga, cannibals, infanticides, murderers of whole islands, what it
+has done for the salvation of their souls. It is at once the desire of
+all nations, and the glory of all lands.
+
+_And it has produced the most happy effects on multitudes of men._ It
+has enlightened the most ignorant; softened the most hardened;
+reclaimed the most profligate; converted the most estranged; purified
+the most polluted; exalted the most degraded; and plucked the most
+endangered from hell to heaven. What was it that transformed the
+persecuting and blaspheming Saul into a kind and devoted man? It was
+religion. What was it which brought the woman who was a sinner to
+bathe the feet of Jesus with her tears, and to wipe them with the
+hairs of her head? It was religion. What was it which produced the
+faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses, the patience of Job, the
+wisdom of Solomon, the placability of Joseph, the penitence and zeal
+of David, the gentleness of Stephen, the boldness of the prophets, the
+undaunted zeal of Paul, the heroism of Peter, and the sweet temper of
+"the beloved disciple?" It was religion. What was it which produced
+such purity of life, and gave such majesty in death, in the cases of
+Grotius, Selden, Salmasius, Hale, Paschal, Boyle, Locke, Newton,
+Boerhave, Addison, Maclaurin, Lyttleton, and a thousand others? It was
+religion.
+
+Even men who labored to erase out of the mind all respect for religion
+have acknowledged the importance and expediency of it. Bayle admits
+religion to be useful if men acted agreeably to its principles; and
+Voltaire says, expressly, that religion is necessary in every fixed
+community; the laws are a curb upon open crimes, and religion on those
+that are private. "No religion," says Bolingbroke, "ever appeared in
+the world whose natural tendency was so much directed to promote the
+peace and happiness of mankind as the Christian. The system of
+religion recorded by the evangelists is a complete system to all the
+purposes of true religion, natural or revealed. The Gospel of Christ
+is one continued lesson of the strictest morality, justice,
+benevolence, and universal charity.... Supposing Christianity to have
+been purely an human invention, it had been the most amiable, and the
+most useful invention that was ever imposed on mankind for their
+good." Hume acknowledges, that, "the disbelief in futurity loosens, in
+a great measure, the ties of morality, and may be supposed, for that
+reason, pernicious to the peace of civil society." Rousseau
+acknowledges, that, "if all were perfect Christians, individuals would
+do their duty, the people would be obedient to the laws, the chiefs
+just, the magistrates incorrupt, the soldiers would despise death, and
+there would be neither vanity nor luxury in such a state." Gibbon
+admits, that the gospel, or the church, discouraged suicide, advanced
+erudition, checked oppression, promoted the manumission of slaves, and
+softened the ferocity of barbarous nations; that fierce nations
+received at the same time the lessons of faith and humanity, and that,
+in the most corrupt state of Christianity, the barbarians might learn
+justice from the law, and mercy from the gospel. "To impute crimes to
+Christianity," says the celebrated King of Prussia, "is the act of a
+novice." His word may fairly be taken for such an assertion. And yet
+these unbelievers have been so vile and perverse as to decry a system
+which they acknowledge to be useful. How ungrateful! How
+reprehensible! Collect now the thoughts scattered under this branch of
+the subject, and be honest--heartily believe, and openly acknowledge,
+that God was the author of the Bible. What but a superhuman, a truly
+divine influence breathing in the Scriptures, can account for the
+energy and beneficence of their moral tendencies?
+
+_From its general reception._ Vast numbers of wise and good men,
+through many generations and in different countries, have agreed in
+receiving the Bible as a revelation from God. Many of them have been
+noted for seriousness, erudition, penetration, and impartiality in
+judging of men and things. We might refer to Alfred, "replete with
+soul--the light of a benighted age"--to Charles V., Emperor of
+Germany--to Gustavus Adolphus, the renowned King of Sweden; to Selden,
+the learned and laborious lawyer and antiquary--to Bacon, "the bright
+morning star of science"--to Usher, the well-known archbishop of
+Armagh--to Newton, "the sun whose beams have irradiated the world"--to
+Boyle, celebrated for genius and erudition--to Milton, the prince of
+poets--to Locke, the man of profound thought--to Jones, one of the
+brightest geniuses and most distinguished scholars of the eighteenth
+century--and to many other deathless names. And if the evidence of the
+truth of the Bible satisfied men of such high intellectual capacity,
+ought it not to satisfy us? We do not wish to insinuate that we ought
+to believe in the Divinity of the Scriptures merely because they
+believed it. But we do mean to say that we ought not rashly to
+conclude against that which they received. They are acknowledged
+authorities in other cases; then why not in this? If we can place
+reliance upon them in their philosophical inquiries, why not in their
+religious ones? Surely the infidels of the present day, so far
+inferior to the believers of the former days, ought to express
+themselves with more modesty upon this important subject, and to
+hesitate before they openly profess their opposition to that book of
+religion and morals which has received the countenance of such
+honorable names as those which have been mentioned.
+
+On the subject of the propagation of Christianity it has been
+eloquently said: "In spite of violent and accumulated opposition it
+diffused its blessings among the cities of Asia and the islands of
+Greece; over the deserts of Arabia and the European continent! From
+the hill of Calvary it speedily found its way to imperial Rome,
+gathering fresh laurels as it progressed, until it entered the palace
+and waved its banner over the proud dwelling of Caesar! With all the
+influence of priests and kings against it, and all the terrors of the
+gibbet or the flames, it rapidly overspread the extensive Roman empire
+and reached Britain, the little isle of the sea. With a power divine
+it achieved a triumph over mental and moral obliquity, surpassing all
+that the philosophy of Greece or Rome could boast; and still will it
+conquer, until the sun in the heavens shall not look down on a single
+human being destitute of the knowledge of Jesus Christ." And the Rev.
+Robert Hall, whom to mention is to praise, remarked: "We see
+Christianity as yet but in its infancy. It has not already reached the
+great ends it is intended to answer and to which it is constantly
+advancing. At present it is but a grain of mustard seed and seems to
+bring forth a tender and weakly crop, but be assured it is of God's
+own right hand planting, and He will never suffer it to perish. It
+will soon stretch its branches to the river and its shades to the ends
+of the earth. The weary will repose themselves under it, the hungry
+will partake of its fruits, and its leaves will be for the healing of
+the nations. Those who profess the name of Jesus will delight in
+contemplating the increase and grandeur of His kingdom. 'He must reign
+until He hath put all enemies under His feet.' The religion of Jesus
+is not the religion of one age or of one nation. It is a train of
+light first put in motion by God, and which will continue to move and
+to spread till it has filled the whole earth with its glory. Its
+blessings will descend and its influence will be felt to the latest
+generations. Uninterrupted in its course, and boundless in its extent,
+it will not be limited by time or space. The earth is too narrow for
+the display of its effects and the accomplishment of its purposes. It
+points forward to an eternity. The great Redeemer will again appear
+upon the earth as the judge and ruler of it; will send forth His
+angels and gather His elect from the four winds; will abolish sin and
+death; will place the righteous forever in the presence of his God, of
+their God, of his Father, and their father."
+
+ "As the waters the depth of the blue ocean cover,
+ So fully shall God among mortals be known;
+ His word, like the sunbeams, shall range the world over,
+ The globe His vast temple, and mercy His throne."
+
+Christianity, though not persecuting, has been bitterly persecuted;
+yet it has triumphed--and triumphed, too, in spite of all its foes.
+Like Moses' bush, it was unconsumable by fire; and rose up amid the
+flames and prospered. And like the eagle--the imperial bird of
+storms--it will continue securely to soar amid every tempest. All
+attempts to impede its progress will be as powerless and vain as
+attempts to drive back the flowing tide with the point of a needle.
+When infidels can grasp the winds in their fists, hush the voice of
+the thunder by the breath of their mouth, suspend the succession of
+the seasons by their nod, and extinguish the light of the sun by a
+veil, then, and not till then, can they arrest the progress of truth
+or invalidate the verities of the Bible. Unwise and unhappy men! they
+are but plowing the air--striking with a straw--writing on the surface
+of the water--and seeking figs where only brambles grow.
+
+And compare not the propagation of Mohammedanism with the propagation
+of Christianity; for it is useless, if not absurd. Suffice it to say
+that the former was propagated by fanaticism, falsehood, pandering to
+the passions, promising a voluptuous paradise, and the frequent use of
+the sword; but the latter by sanity, truth, restraining the passions,
+promising a pure and holy heaven, and the use of no other sword but
+the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God. Christianity
+came--saw--and conquered. And all her victories have been
+bloodless--of untold advantage to the vanquished themselves. They have
+desolated no country--produced no tears but to wipe them away--and
+broken no hearts but to heal them. Now to what is all this to be
+attributed? Can we reasonably ascribe the general reception of the
+Bible and the consequent spread of Christianity to anything short of
+divine power? Is it not unprecedented? "Could any books," says an able
+writer, "have undergone so fearful and prolonged an ordeal and
+achieved so spotless and perfect a triumph, unless they had been given
+and watched over by the Deity?"
+
+_From its innumerable martyrs._ "If a person," says Dr. Jortin, "lays
+down his life for the name of Christ, or for what he takes to be the
+religion of Christ, when he might prolong his days by renouncing his
+faith, he must stand for a martyr in every reasonable man's calendar,
+though he may have been much mistaken in some of his opinions." It has
+been calculated that since Christianity arose, not less than fifty
+millions of martyrs have laid down their lives for its sake. Some were
+venerable for years; others were in the bloom of life; and not a few
+were of the weaker sex. They were, for the most part, well-instructed
+persons. Many were learned and respectable men; neither factious in
+their principles nor violent in their passions. They were neither wild
+in their notions, nor foolishly prodigal of their lives. This may
+safely be affirmed of such men as Polycarp and Ignatius, Jerome and
+Huss, Latimer and Cranmer, Ridley and Hooper, Philpot and Bradford,
+Lambert and Saunders, and many others. Yet these so valued the Bible,
+that, rather than renounce it, and relinquish the hopes it inspired,
+they yielded their bodies to be burnt, or otherwise tormented, and
+"rejoiced and clapped their hands in flames," or the like. "All that a
+man hath will he give for his life." All account life sweet and
+precious. No man of sense and understanding will sacrifice his life,
+when he can preserve it, but for some deeply rooted conviction of
+truth or duty. In this view, Christian martyrs are entitled to our
+respect and esteem. For, they gave the strongest proof of sincerity of
+their faith: and no suspicion of fraud can reasonably be entertained
+against them. "We conclude," says Dr. Jortin, "that they were assisted
+by God, who alleviated their pain, and gave them not only resignation
+and patience, but exultation and joy. And this wonderful behavior of
+the former Christians may justly be accounted a proof of the truth of
+the Bible, and our holy religion, and we should deserve to be blamed
+and despised if we parted with it, and gave it up tamely on account
+of a few objections." "No man," observes Dr. Beattie, "ever laid down
+his life for the honor of Jupiter, Neptune, or Apollo; but how many
+thousands have sealed their Christian testimony with their blood!"
+What a moral victory! And whence but from heaven such a religion,
+having such attestation?
+
+Other arguments might be added tending to demonstrate the truth of our
+proposition; but surely, enough have been produced to establish the
+authority of the Bible on an immovable basis. "Forever, O Lord, Thy
+word is settled in heaven. I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all
+things to be right; and I hate every false way." "All flesh is as
+grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass
+withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the
+Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is
+preached unto you."
+
+ "The proudest works of Genius shall decay,
+ And Reason's brightest lustre fade away;
+ The Sophist's art, the Poet's boldest flight,
+ Shall sink in darkness, and conclude in night;
+ But Faith triumphant over Time shall stand,
+ Shall grasp the Sacred Volume in her hand;
+ Back to its source the heavenly gift convey,
+ Then in the flood of Glory melt away."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+ [Page Decoration]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[23] The most ancient hieroglyphs, according to M. Pierret, which can
+be seen in an European museum, are those on the statues of Sefa and
+Nesa in the Louvre; they date from a period anterior to the fourth
+dynasty. The lintel of the door of the tomb of one of the priests of
+Senat, fifth King of the second dynasty in the Ashmolean Library,
+Oxford, exhibits, however, hieroglyphs of an earlier date.
+
+[24] King James' Bible is that now commonly used in this country and
+Great Britain.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Typographical errors corrected in text: |
+ | |
+ | Page 103: 'composed af two' replaced with |
+ | 'composed of two' |
+ | Page 134: victorius replaced with victorious |
+ | Page 174: saccrifice replaced with sacrifice |
+ | Page 204: Telemachos replaced with Telemachus |
+ | Page 270: 'suits of rooms' replaced with |
+ | 'suites of rooms' |
+ | Page 280: significance replaced with insignificance |
+ | (see Chevalier's book "Remarks on the |
+ | production of the precious metals, and on the |
+ | depreciation of gold" on page 28. |
+ | http://www.archive.org/details/remarksonproduct00chevuoft)|
+ | Page 292: maratime replaced with maritime |
+ | Page 334: Dionysaic replaced with Dionysiac |
+ | Page 393: Ilaid replaced with Iliad |
+ | Page 446: admiting replaced with admitting |
+ | Page 475: uninterupted replaced with uninterrupted |
+ | Page 484: oblelisks replaced with obelisks |
+ | Page 515: 'THE SLEEP OP ENDYMION.' replaced with |
+ | 'THE SLEEP OF ENDYMION.' |
+ | Page 525: chieftan replaced with chieftain |
+ | Page 561: glimmmer replaced with glimmer |
+ | Page 568: Grogon's replaced with Gorgon's |
+ | Page 653: 'rendering of drapery so as to show the forms |
+ | underdeath' replaced with 'rendering of |
+ | drapery so as to show the forms underneath' |
+ | Page 698: 'the name of the artist worked in it' |
+ | replaced with |
+ | 'the name of the artist who worked in it' |
+ | Page 712: Sacred replaced with Scared |
+ | Page 754: Egyptain replaced with Egyptian |
+ | Page 837: Egytians replaced with Egyptians |
+ | Page 874: 'of porphyry and and other rare' replaced with |
+ | 'of porphyry and other rare' |
+ | Page 882: cemetry replaced with cemetery |
+ | Page 888: Chiristians replaced with Christians |
+ | Page 929: 'instantaneously, and and not by degrees' |
+ | replaced with |
+ | 'instantaneously, and not by degrees' |
+ | |
+ | Notes on Unusual Words: |
+ | |
+ | Page 88: The poem on page 88 really does say: |
+ | "His hugy bulk on seven high volumes rolled" |
+ | Page 105: coutch is a legitimate variant spelling for |
+ | couch |
+ | Page 659: 'sil' means yellow ochre. |
+ | |
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Museum of Antiquity, by
+L. W. Yaggy and T. L. Haines
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