THE JEWISH KACE ANCIENT AND EOMAN HISTOBY I. THE JEWISH EACE IN ANCIENT AND ROMAN HISTORY FROM 7WE ELEVENTH REVISED EDITION OF A. RENDU, LL.D. TRANSLATED BY THERESA CROOK LONDON: BUKNS & GATES, LIMITED NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO : BENZIGER BROTHERS CONTENTS FIKST PART HISTORY OF THE JEWS CHAP. PAGE I. PRIMITIVE TIMES 3 II. HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD, FROM MOSES TO THE ESTABLISHMEKT OF THE MONARCHY . . 23 III. HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS, FROM THE ESTABLISH- MENT OF THE MONARCHY UNTIL THE END OF THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY 43 IV. HISTORY OF JUDAEA, FROM THE END OF THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY TO THE TAKING OF JERUSALEM BY THE ROMANS . . . . -74 SECOND PART ANCIENT HISTORY, PROPERLY SO CALLED BOOK I. AFRICA I. EGYPT 97 II. CARTHAGE . . Il6 BOOK II. ASIA I. ASIA BEFORE THE TIME OF CYRUS . . . .12$ II. THK PERSIAN EMPIRE ' . -133 III. PHCENICIA 142 IV. SYRIA 147 V. KINGDOMS FORMED OF THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE EMPIRE OF THE SELEUCID.^ , , . .154 VI CONTENTS BOOK III. EUROPE CHAP. PAGE I. GREECE UNTIL THE DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS . . l6l II. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 205 III. LATTKR TIMES OF GREECE 219 THIRD PART HISTORY OF ROME BOOK I. THE MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENT I. THE EARLY AGES OF ITALY 229 II. ROME UNDER THE MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENT . 232 BOOK II. THE ROMAN REPUBLIC I. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC WARS IN ITALY 239 II. FROM THE DECEMVIRATE TO THE INVASION OF ROME BY THE GAULS 248 III. FROM THE GALLIC INVASION TO THE FIRST FOREIGN CONQUESTS OF THE ROMANS 252 IV. ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 261 V. CIVIL WARS LAST CONQUESTS OF THE REPUBLIC . 291 BOOK III. THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE CHURCH I. REIGN OF AUGUSTUS 319 II. INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE, FROM TIBERIUS TO CONSTANTINE 327 III. THE RISE AKD RKVERSES OF THE ROMAN ARMIES, FROM AUGUSTUS TO CONSTANTINE . . . 343 IV. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, FROM ITS FOUNDATION TO THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY UNDER CONSTANTINE . ., . . -. . 352 CONTENTS Vll CHAP. PAGE V. HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, FROM THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE TO THAT OF THEODOSIUS THE GREAT . 372 VI. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, FROM THE DEATH OK CONSTANTINE TO THAT OF THEODOSIUS . . 381 VII. LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS AMONGST THE ROMANS DURING THE REPUBLIC AND THE MONARCHY 392 VIII. INVASION BY THE BARBARIANS FALL OF THE EMPIRE IN THE WEST 402 INDEX 415 ERRATA Page 58, line 18, for " Jeoram" read '' Joram." ,, 104, line 6 from foot of page, for " Psammenitus " read " Psammetichus." 1 70, footnote, for " Africa " read " Attica." 277, line 1 2, for " Scipio Africanus dEmilianus " read " Scipio jEmilianus Africanus." ffirst part HISTORY OF THE JEWS ANCIENT HISTORY CHAPTER I PRIMITIVE TIMES I. Creation of the World The Universal Deluge Dispersion of Mankind. 1 i. THE CREATION. IN the commencement, God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was without form and void, darkness covered the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the waters. And God said : " Be light made ; " and there was light. And God saw that the light was good ; and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day and the darkness, Night ; and the evening and the morn- ing were the first day. And God said : " Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said : " Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together 1 Synchronism. Foundation of the first empires : India, China, Egypt (No. 52). Phrygia. Sidon founded by the eldest son of Chanaan (No. 81). Foundation of Babylon by Nemrod ; of Nineve by Assur (No. 72). 4 ANCIENT HISTORY into one place, and let the dry land appear : " and it was so. And God called the dry land earth ; and the gathering together of the waters called He seas : and God saw that it was good. And God said : " Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : " and it was so. And the evening and the morning were the third day. And God said : " Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night ; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years ; to shine in the firmament of heaven and give light upon the earth." And it was so done. God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night : and the stars. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said: "Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven." And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature which the waters brought forth according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind : and God saw that it was good. And He blessed them, saying, " Increase and multiply and fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth." And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said : " Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds : " and it was so done. And God said : " Let us make man to our image and likeness : and let him have ' dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the PRIMITIVE TIMES 5 earth. And God created man to His own image, to the image of God He created him ; male and female He created them. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul. After creating the man (Adam) God placed him in a delightful garden, called the Terrestrial paradise, permitting him to eat of all the trees in the garden, with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. " For," said the Lord, " in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Now Adam was all alone in this beautiful garden, with beasts and fowls of every kind, to each of which he gave a name. God said : " It is not good for man to be alone ; " and while Adam slept He took one of his ribs, of which He made a woman, and when Adam awoke God presented her to him. And Adam said, " This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." He gave to her the name of Em, which signified that she should be the mother of all living. 2. ADAM AND EVE. Adam and Eve had been created immortal and in a state of perfect purity and innocence. Exempt from pain and sickness, they might enjoy, in the terrestrial paradise, a happiness without alloy, if they observed the prohibition God made to them, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were naked ; but they were not ashamed, because their bodies were as pure as their hearts. The devil, jealous of their happiness, resolved to ruin them by inciting them to disobey God. He entered into the 6 ANCIENT HISTORY body of the serpent and said to the woman : " Why hath God commanded you that you should not eat of every tree of Paradise ? " And the woman answered : " Of the fruit of the trees that are in Paradise we do eat ; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of Paradise God hath commanded us that we should not eat, and that we should, not touch it, lest perhaps we die." And the serpent said to the woman, " No, you shall not die the death : For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." " And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold, and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat." After that God pronounced against the prevaricators that terrible condemnation, source of all the evils of mankind ; but He accompanied it by the promise of a Redeemer. He said to the serpent : " Thou art cursed among all cattle and beasts of the earth ; upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life : I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed ; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." To the woman also He said, " I will multiply thy sorrows and thy concep- tions ; in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children ; and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee." And to Adam He said : " Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work ; in labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it PRIMITIVE TIMES 7 bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken ; for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return." Then God sent forth Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden, and placed at the entrance Cherubims, and a flaming sword. 3. THE CHILDREN OF ADAM. The first children of Adam and Eve were Cain and Abel. Cain was a tiller of the ground, and Abel a keeper of sheep. Each of them offered sacrifices to the Lord : Cain presented to Him the fruits of the earth, and Abel offered the firstlings of his flock. Abel's offering was acceptable to the Lord, who rejected that of Cain. The latter thereupon conceived a violent jealousy against his brother, and when they were in the field Cain rose up against Abel and slew him. Soon after the Lord appeared to him and said, " Where is Abel thy brother ? " Cain answered, " I know not : am I my brother's keeper ? " God then said to him, " What hast thou done ? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her rnouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand ; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength ; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." And Cain said unto the Lord : " My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon." And going forth from the presence of the Lord, he went to dwell in a dis- tant country, where he became the father of several 8 ANCIENT HISTORY children. After Abel's death, Adam had another son named Seth (4834-3934), and several daughters, who became the wives of their brothers. The descendants of Cain invented instruments of music and the art of working brass and iron ; but they were wicked , like their father, and received the name of sons of men. The descendants of Seth, on the contrary, merited by the purity of their life the appellation of the- sons of God. One of their number, Henoch (4342-3978), so pleased the Lord by his piety that God carried him up to heaven, without allowing him to undergo death, after he had passed three hundred and sixty-five years on the earth. He left a son named Mathusala (42773308), who lived nine hundred and sixty -nine years. Adam died over two hundred years after the birth of Mathusala at the age of nine hundred and thirty years. Even Seth's posterity soon became unfaithful. " The sons of God, seeing the daughters of men that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all which they chose." Of these marriages were born men extraordinarily strong and powerful, but wicked and corrupt, who, by reason of their great stature, were called giants. God, seeing the wickedness of man that it was great, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, repented that He had made man on the earth. And the Lord said, " I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth ; from man even to beasts ; from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air ; for it repenteth Me that I have made them." PRIMITIVE TIMES 4. NOE AND THE DELUGE. Nevertheless, amongst the descendants of Seth, there lived a just man called Noe (39082958), son of Lamech, and who himself had three sons, named Sem, Cham, and Japheth. The Lord, before whom he had found grace, warned him that He was going to destroy all flesh from the face of the earth by a deluge, and He commanded him to construct a great vessel, in form of a hutch or chest, which He called the Ark. Noe worked one hundred years at its construction, and when it was finished he entered with his wife, his sons, and their wives, and two of every sort of living thing. Seven days after there was an overflow of all the waters of the earth, and during forty days and forty nights rain fell so abun- dantly that the waters arose fifteen cubits above the summits of the highest mountains. All mankind, whom Noe had vainly exhorted to repentance, perished with every living thing on the earth, and there were saved only those who were closed up in the ark (3308). One hundred and fifty days after the deluge had submerged the earth, the waters having commenced to abate, the course of the ark was arrested, about the end of the seventh month, on the mountains of Ararat. 1 Soon after, the green olive leaf brought by the dove which Noe had sent out, apprised him that the earth had again become inhabitable ; he went forth from the ark with his family, and offered to God a solemn sacrifice of thanksgiving. This sacrifice was 1 Mount Ai'arat is the highest mountain in Armenia (17,323 feet in height). 10 ANCIENT HISTORY acceptable to the Lord, and He said in His heart : " I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man ; for the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth ; therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as 1 have done." And God blessed Noe and his children, and said to them, " In- crease and multiply, and fill the earth." ..." Every- thing that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you ; even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you. Saving that flesh with blood thou shalt not eat. . . . Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed : for man was made to the image of God." The Lord then made a covenant with Noe and his children, and with every living thing, and He pro- mised that the rainbow should be a token of the covenant. After the deluge, the three sons of Noe, Sem, Cham, and Japheth, had many children, who them- selves became the fathers of divers nations ; but they, for a long time, lived united in one family, at the foot of the mountains on which the course of the ark had been arrested. It was then that Noe, ignoring the effects of wine, became inebriated unawares ; and Cham, through his irreverent conduct towards his father, merited to be cursed in the person of Chanaan. The posterity of this son of Cham had subsequently to become exter- minated or reduced to slavery by the descendants of Sem and Japbeth. Noe died at the age of nine hundred and fifty years. After his death, the duration of man's life was rapidly shortened, and it soon became cur- tailed to the limits which are not passed at our own time. PRIMITIVE TIMES I I 5. DISPERSION OF MANKIND. The descendants of Noe, departing from the East, as the Scripture informs us, went to inhabit the plain of Sennaar, between the Tigris and the Euphrates, where they multiplied so rapidly that it was found impossible for them to continue living in one place. They said, then, one to another : " Let us make a city and a tower ; the top thereof may reach to heaven ; and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands" (2907). But God rendered vain their projects by confounding their language, so that they could not understand one another. The tower, left incomplete, was called Babd) which means confusion. Thus, forced to sepa- rate, the descendants of Noe went to people the different parts of the earth. The sons of Sem, Elam, Assur, Lud, Aram, and Arphaxad, ancestor of Heber, were dispersed in the whole of central and eastern Asia. Several great nations derive from them their origin and their name (Elamites or Persians, Assyrians, Hebrews, Lydians, &c.) The family of Ham peopled the country called the Land of Chanaan, Egypt, where lived Misra'im (perhaps the King Menes), and without doubt also the greater portion of Africa. Finally, the descendants of Japbeth estab- lished themselves in Asia Minor, in Northern Asia, and occupied " the isles of the Gentiles ; " that is to say, according to the general belief, the different countries of Europe. The world was entirely opened to the human race. Long migrations, the souvenir of which is for ever lost, drew the dispersed families from one side to the 12 ANCIENT HISTORY eastern limits of Asia, and even beyond, to the midst of the plains of America, where nations lived and died, ignored during more than 3000 years; from another side, to the western shores of Europe, to the deserts of central Africa. II. The Patriarchs Abraham, Joseph. 1 6. HISTORY OF ABRAM. Mankind, as they departed from the places inha- bited by their forefathers, were not long in forgetting the God who had made the world out of nothing, the God who had saved Noe and his family from the chastisement merited by the crimes of the human race. Soon the depravity of mankind became greater than before the Deluge ; men abandoned themselves to all their passions, and prostituted to unworthy idols the worship due only to the Lord. Virtue and truth seemed on the point of disappearing for ever from the universe. The Lord resolved to choose to Himself a people who should guard without change the charge of the Divine beliefs; who should preserve, in the midst of darkness, the light of eternal truths. A just man named Abram was destined to become the chief of this privileged nation. Abram (2366-2191) was born in Ur 2 of the Chaldees. He went from thence, by order of God, with Tharc, his father, and Lot, his nephew, to go into the land of Chanaan (2296). Arrived at the isle of Haran, he lost his father ; but God ordered him to 1 Synchronism. Conquest of the kingdom of Babylon and of Egypt by the Shepherd Arabs. Reign of the Shepherd Kings (No. 53). 2 In Paran-Arani (Mesopotamia), in Asiatic Turkey. Now called Urfah (anciently Orphah), and by the Greeks and Romans Edessa. PRIMITIVE TIMES 13 continue his journey toward the land of Chanaan. Abram at last arrived there with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his servants. He stopped at a place called Sichem ; there God promised to give to his descendants this land, which from that epoch was called the Promised Land. A famine obliged Abram to pass into Egypt ; after that he returned into the land of Chanaan, estab- lishing himself first near Bethel, where God promised to make his posterity as the dust of the earth which cannot be numbered for multitude. While Abram was at Bethel, a quarrel arising between his shepherds and those of his nephew, Lot determined to go away to live in the city of Sodom. A short time afterwards that city was taken by Chodorlahamor, King of Elam, and by three other kings, who took away Lot into captivity. At this news, Abram armed his three hundred and eighteen ser- vants; then, pursuing the victors, he smote them unawares by night, took back all the booty, and delivered his nephew. On his return, he received the blessing of Melchisedech, King of Salem, and priest of the Most High, who offered to God the bread and wine, and Abram gave to the priest tithes of all the riches taken from the enemy. Some time after the patriarch's victory over the confederate kings, God appeared to him in a dream, and said : " Look up to heaven, and number the stars if thou canst; so shall thy seed be." Nevertheless, Abram was already old ; his wife Sarai was barren ; she therefore besought him to take for wife, according to the custom in the Orient, her maid Aga/r. The latter gave birth to a son, who was named Ismael (2280); but the son of the slave had not to become inheritor of the promises of the 14 ANCIENT HISTORY Lord. God renewed His covenant with Abram, order- ing him to practise circumcision as a token of the covenant, and reiterated the promise to make him the father of a numerous posterity. Indeed, soon after, Sarai, notwithstanding her advanced age, gave birth to a son, who was circumcised on the eighth day, and who received the name of Isaac (2266). About this same epoch, God smote with a terrible chastisement the city of Sodom, which had made itself abominable by its iniquities. After the departure of Lot with his family, the Lord rained fire and brim- stone on Sodom and upon all the cities of Gomorrha, Admah, and Zeboim, condemned for the same crimes. Those cities were destroyed, and the soil where they had been built became a lake l of impure and bitu- minous waters. Escaped from this disaster, Lot had two sons, from whom originated two great nations the Ammonites and the Moabites. They had to inhabit the east of the land of Chanaan. Meanwhile, Abram had chased from his house Ismael and his mother. Agar wan- dered with her child for a long time in the desert ; an angel came to console her and to announce to her that her son should become the head of a great nation. Ismael, now grown up, established himself in the wil- derness of Paran, 2 and became an archer. He married an Egyptian woman, and became the father of the fsmaelites or Agarasins, so celebrated at a later period under the name of Saracens. Isaac, the child of Abram's old age, was the inheritor of the divine promises ; nevertheless, God, 1 Lake Asphaltites, or the Dead Sea. It is on the lowest surface of any land of the globe, being 1298 feet below the Mediterranean. 3 A desert in Arabia. PRIMITIVE TIMES 15 to prove the faith of the patriarch, ordered him to immolate his son. Abram, submissive to the will of the Most High, went to offer the sacrifice ; but God, content with his obedience, arrested his hand, and promised to bless in his posterity all the nations of the earth ; that is, that out of it should come the Saviour who should redeem the human race. Abram, desiring to marry his son, feared to mix his race with the idolatrous nations in the midst of which he lived. He sent his servant Eliezer into Meso- potamia, where his family lived, to bring back a wife for Isaac. Eliezer departed with ten camels loaded with presents. On arriving near the city in which his master's kindred dwelt, he stopped at the side of a fountain where the young women were accustomed to draw water, and he made this prayer : " Lord God of my master Abram, ... let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink ; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also : let the same be she that Thou hast appointed for Thy servant Isaac ; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast showed kindness unto my master." Shortly after appeared Rebecca, the grand-daughter of Nachor, brother of Abram : Eliezer approached her, and asked for a drink of water. " Drink, my lord," she answered, in- clining towards him the vase which she had carried on her shoulder ; and she added : " I will draw water for thy camels also." Eliezer, hearing those words, thanked the Lord, and followed Rebecca to the house of her brother Lciban, to whom he explained the object of his journey ; he presented to the damsel and her family jewels of gold, precious vases, and magnificent raiment, and obtained permission to take Rebecca back with 1 6 ANCIENT HISTORY him to the land of Chanaan, where Abram united her to his son Isaac. Twenty years after she gave birth to twin-sons, of whom one was called Esau, because he was red and covered with hair ; the other received the name of Jacob (2206). Abram died soon after, leaving his three hun- dred servants, his flocks, and his riches to his son Isaac. 7. LIFE OF THE PATRIARCHAL FAMILIES ISAAC JACOB AND ESAU. Thus was perpetuated the race of the Patriarchs, from which had to come the Hebrew people. The head of a family, and not of a nation, submissive to God only, the Patriarch had all authority over his wife, his children, his servants, and required from them an absolute obedience. He had the power to bless and to curse : he offered sacrifices in the name of all, and consecrated by his prayers the marriage of his children ; he alone owned the family property ; to him belonged the cattle and the fruits of the earth. The herds and flocks formed his chief riches ; he wan- dered with them from plain to plain, and settled him- self in the midst of a country which offered the best pasturages. The patriarch was the protector of all his family ; he armed his servants to repel the attacks of strangers, that is to say, of other heads of families who coveted the same domain, or who had carried away his flocks. Such was the life of mankind before the formation of the first nations ; such is still the condition of the Arab families, of whom the chief, independent and sovereign, reigns in his tent, in the PRIMITIVE TIMES I/ midst of deserts, as on a throne, and decides at his will the destinies of his tribe. Isaac entered upon the patriarchal authority after Abram's death. Of his two sons, he preferred Esau, who was a skilful hunter, and he desired to leave him his blessing and his heritage ; but Esau, being pressed one day by hunger, had sold, for a pottage of lentils, his birthright to his brother Jacob, Rebecca's favourite son. By a ruse of his mother, Jacob obtained his father's blessing, which was reserved for Esau ; this one, irrevocably deprived of that supreme benediction and of the covenant which God had contracted with his ancestor, conceived a violent hatred against his brother. Kebecca, fearing for the life of Jacob, sent him into Mesopotamia, to the house of his uncle, Laban. During his journey, he tarried one evening at a place called Luza ; he put a stone under his head for a pillow, and sleeping, he beheld in a dream the Lord, Who said to him : "I am the Lord God of Abram thy father, and the God of Isaac : the land whereon thou liest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed ; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south ; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." When Jacob awoke, he consecrated to the Lord the stone on which he had reposed, and naming the place Bethel, he con- tinued his journey, and arrived in Mesopotamia, near the city of Haran, 1 where his uncle Laban dwelt. Jacob, after meeting with his cousin Rachel near the well to which she came to water the sheep, was received by Laban, from whom he obtained his two daughters in marriage, by taking charge, during 1 Carrhce, or Charran, in Mesopotamia. B I 8 ANCIENT HISTORY fourteen years, of their father's flocks. Besides Lia and Rachel, he took also for wives two servants, Zdpha and Bala, and he had twelve sons, who were the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel : Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Zabulon, sons of Lia ; Dan and Nephtali, sons of Bala ; Gad and Aser, sons of Zelpha ; and finally, Joseph and Benjamin, sons of Rachel. Jacob, having become rich in the service of his father-in-law, desired to re-behold his country, and taking along with him his flocks, he returned into the land of Chanaan. He learnt on his way that Esau was coming to meet him, at the head of four hundred armed men. Seized with fear, he sent to him presents. But the Lord aroused his courage in causing to descend towards him an angel, who, in the form of a man, wrestled with him without prevailing against him : that is why he was called Israel, a name which signifies " one who prevails against God." Esau, on his side, felt his anger expire on beholding again his brother ; and, after the reconciliation which took place between them, he returned into the land of Edom, that is, into Idumea, where he dwelt, while Jacob went to establish himself in the land of Chanaan, near the city of Salem, in the country of the King of Sichem. The son of the King of Sichem having seen Dina, daughter of Lia, carried her away. Her brothers, in order to revenge this outrage, entered by stealth into the city of the Sichernites, massacring the male inhabitants, taking their wives captive, and pillag- ing the city. This cruel avengement rendered Jacob and his family odious to all in that country : they quitted it to go and dwell at Bethel. It was there that Rachel died in giving birth to Benjamin, the PRIMITIVE TIMES 1 9 last of the sons of Jacob (2096). Ten years after Jacob lost also his father Isaac, aged one hundred and eighty years (2086). 8. JOSEPH AND HIS BKETHREN. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other children, because he was the son of his old age. This prefer- ence excited the jealousy of his brothers, which in- creased yet more when they heard him relate the dreams foretelling his future greatness. "I thought," said he to them, " we were binding sheaves in the field : and my sheaf arose as it were and stood, and your sheaves standing about, bowed down before my sheaf." Another time he said to them : " I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars worshipping me." The brothers of Joseph, hearing these words, conceived against him a mortal hatred, which they delayed not to gratify. One day, Jacob having sent Joseph, aged sixteen years, to seek out his brethren, who fed their flocks at a distant place, they threw him into an empty pit to leave him to die; but perceiving some Ismaelitish merchants who were going down to Egypt, they drew Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver. Then they sent to their father a coat covered with blood, in order to persuade him that a ferocious beast had devoured Joseph. The Ismaelitish merchants conducted Joseph into Egypt, where he was sold to Putiphar, one of the principal officers of the king. God favoured Putiphar because of Joseph ; he obtained the entire confidence of his master, who made him overseer of his house ; but, victim of the calumnious accusations of Putiphar 's 20 ANCIENT HISTORY wife, whose criminal proposals he had rejected, he was thrown into a prison. There, were two officers of the king, the chief butler and the chief baker, to whom Joseph predicted their several destinies in interpreting their dreams. 9. JOSEPH, MINISTER OF PHARAO. Two years after, Pharao l himself had two strange dreams : it seemed to him that he stood by the Nile, out of which there came up seven well-favoured kine, which went to feed in a meadow ; soon, seven others came up, ill-favoured and lean-fleshed, which de- voured the first seven. He believed also to see " seven ears of corn upon one stalk, full and very fair ; " but after, from the same stalk, there sprang up seven thin ears, " blasted with the east wind," which devoured the first seven. When he awoke, Pharao consulted in vain all the magicians of Egypt ; not one of them could explain to him the meaning of the vision. The chief butler, who had been set at liberty, as Joseph had predicted, spoke of him to the king, who sent for the Hebrew and related to him his dreams. Joseph answered him that seven years of abundance would be succeeded by seven years of famine in Egypt, and he exhorted him to set over the kingdom a discreet man, who should prepare, during the first seven years, provision for the time of dearth. Pharao, admiring the wisdom of Joseph, put his ring upon Joseph's hand, arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, naming him ruler over all the land of Egypt ; then, 1 Thus the Kings of Egypt were named. PRIMITIVE TIMES 21 making him ride in his second best chariot, the people bowed the knee before the man who had been confided with the government of all the kingdom (2090). During the seven years of abundance, Joseph went over all the land of Egypt and stocked the public granaries in all the cities ; so that, when the famine came (2083), he was able to sell to the Egyptians the corn of which they stood in need. The dearth was so great that the Egyptians, after having paid for the wheat with their money, became reduced to give in exchange their lands and even their persons ; thus, they and their goods became the property of the king, and all the freeholders became merely farmers. The famine, spreading itself beyond the land of Egypt, and particularly into that of Chanaan, where Jacob dwelt, he sent his sons into Egypt to buy corn. Joseph's brethren bowed low before the minister, far from thinking that this great man was he whom they had sold as a slave to the Ismaelites. But Joseph recognised his brothers. Forgetting the injuries they had done him, he after a while made himself known to them, embraced them tenderly, and sent them back to their own country, with the order to return into Egypt with their father Jacob and all his family, which then consisted of seventy persons. 10. MULTIPLICATION OF THE ISRAELITES OPPRESSION. Joseph obtained from the king, so as to establish his father and his brethren, the land of Gessen, the most fertile of all Egypt, and which abounded in pasturages (2076). Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years. Before dying, the holy Patriarch, who remem- bered the Divine promises, exacted from Joseph the ANCIENT HISTORY oath to carry his remains out of Egypt into the land of Chanaan. He expired in the midst of his children, after having blessed them all and predicted to each one his destiny (2059), addressing to Juda these prophetic words : " . . . The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till He come that is to be sent, and He shall be the expectation of nations." Joseph continued to extend his powerful protection to his brothers until his death. He apprised them that God would visit their posterity, which He would cause to leave the land of Egypt to conduct it to the one He had promised to Abram, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Like his father, he made them swear that, on quitting Egypt, they would carry his bones with them, and he died at the age of I 10 years (2003). CHAPTER II HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD, FROM MOSES TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY I. Moses Josue. 1 I I . BIRTH OF MOSES. THE posterity of Jacob or Israel multiplied so that they formed a people numerous enough to inspire fears in the Egyptians, who beheld with displeasure, in the midst of their sedentary tribes, that wandering population, whose simple and patriarchal manners con- trasted strongly with all the customs of the country, and whose religion repelled with disdain their national superstitions. The ancient inhabitants enveloped all the Hebrew race in the hatred which they bore to the Arabian Shepherds or Hyksos (No. 53), who had es- tablished themselves by force amongst them. A king who knew not Joseph commenced to persecute the Israelites in overwhelming them with heavy work ; but as, notwithstanding these vexations, their numbers daily increased the more, he gave order that all the male children should be cast into the Nile. It was 1 Synchronism. The Pelasgian Greece ; Foundation of Sicyon (about 2089) ; Inacnus (No. 95). First empire of Assyria; Ninus (1963) ; Semiramis (1916) ; Ninyas, 1874 (No. 73^ Deluge of Ogyges (1832) ; The Shepherds chased from Egypt (No. 53)> Scamander, the first King of Troy ( No. 99). Foundation of the Kingdom of Lydia ; Cecrops, first King of Athens (1643); The Deucalion Deluge (1590), Danaus (Nos. 96, 97). 23 24 ANCIENT HISTORY then that a woman of the tribe of Levi, being no longer able to conceal her son, whom she had hidden for three months, made an ark of bulrushes, and laid it in the flags by the river's brink. God watched over the frail cradle which held the deliverer of Israel. Thermutis, the daughter of Pharao, having come down to the river to wash herself, perceived the little ark ; she sent her maid to fetch it, and, beholding the babe weep, she took, and brought him up near her, and when he was grown she adopted him, giving him the name of Moses, that is to say, saved from the waters (1725). 12. MOSES DELIVERANCE OF THE ISRAELITES (1645). Moses was surrounded by riches and honours, and learned all the sciences of the Egyptians ; but he recalled to mind his origin, and beheld with sorrow the burdens of the Israelites, his brethren. Having killed an Egyptian who had ill-treated a Hebrew, he was obliged to fly into the land of Madian, where he went to a priest named Jetliro, whose daughter he married (1685). While he was guarding the flocks of his father-in- law at the foot of Mount Horeb, God appeared to him in a burning bush, and Moses turned aside to see why the bush was not burnt. God said to him : " Behold the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me : and I have seen their affliction wherewith they are oppressed by the Egyptians. But come, and I will send thee to Pharao, that thou mayest bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." The formal orders of the Lord, the miracles Moses beheld, overcame the Hebrew's hesitation, and he HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 25 returned into Egypt, accompanied by his brother Aaron, who was associated with him in the sacred mission. Notwithstanding miracles performed in his presence, Pharao responded to Moses' first appeal, only by oppressing the Israelites with a yoke still more grievous. Moses then invoked the Lord, and nine terrible plagues fell successively on Egypt, but with- out triumphing over the king's obduracy. At last God sent the tenth and the most appalling of all the plagues. The exterminating angel passed over the land of Egypt, and, in one night, smote all the first- born, from the son of the king who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave, and all the firstborn of cattle : a universal wail arose in Egypt. During that same night each Israelitish family had united, in obedience to the Lord's command, to eat the flesh of a roasted lamb, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, having their loins girded, shoes on their feet, and a staff in the hand, like travellers : they ate in haste, for it was the Passover ; that is, the Lord passed over their houses when He slew the Egyptians. The Israelites had struck the lintel and the two side-posts of the house door with the blood of the Paschal lamb, and, according to the word of the Lord, the de- stroying angel, on seeing this sign, had spared the Hebrews. Pharao, thus appalled, enjoined Moses and Aaron to speedily lead away the children of Israel. . Six hundred thousand men, in martial order, then set out, besides a mixed multitude, taking with them a quantity of jewels, of silver, and of gold, which they had demanded of the Egyptians. The Israelites directed their steps towai'ds the Red 26 ANCIENT HISTORY Sea l shore, led in the daytime by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a light of fire. Learning that the Israelites had fled, the Egyptian king repented that he had let them go. He assembled his army, and set out in pursuit of the Hebrews, whom he overtook on the coast of the Red Sea. Seized with fear, the people began to murmur against Moses. But, at the Lord's command, he stretched forth his hand over the sea ; suddenly a violent east wind arose, the waters divided, and the Israelites, walking on dry ground, admiringly beheld the waves suspended like walls on their right and their left. They were already reach- ing the opposite shore, when Pharao in quick pursuit entered the bed of the sea ; but Moses had a second time extended his hand over the waves, which re-joined, and swallowed up the Egyptian monarch with all his army. Moses and the Israelites cele- brated their miraculous deliverance by a song of thanksgiving, saying, " Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously magnified ; the horse and the rider He hath thrown into the sea." The Israelites next found themselves in a vast desert, 2 where they were destined to wander forty years. God thus pre- 1 The Arabian Gulf (Sinus Arabicus) is formed by the Indian Ocean, and is called by the Hebrew historian Yam Suph, or "Weedy Sea." The Red Sea derives its name from the colour which its waters take at certain seasons of the year, a phenomenon which is explained by the presence of microscopic zoophytes (oscillator ia). The same remark applies to the Vermillion Sea, America. It abounds also in coral reefs. At its northern extremity it bifurcates, the longest and westernmost arm being the Sinus Jferoopolites (Gulf of Suez), crossed by the Israelites, and the easternmost the Sinus sEelanites (Gulf of Akaba). Between them is found the region of Sinai. 2 It comprised the Desert of Sin, between Sinai (on the south) and Klhn (on the north), the Desert of Shur, north-east of the Sinus Heroopolites, and the Desert of Paran, which includes Kadesh and Zin, south of Chanaan and north of Sinai. HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 27 pared them by long fatigues to struggle against the valiant population of the Promised Land. Their trials and privations soon commenced. Wanting food, the Israelites regretted the vegetables and bread given to them by the Egyptians in their bondage ; but God nourished them by sending them manna, a miraculous food, which each morning fell upon the earth before the rising of the sun. He quenched their thirst in causing to flow an abundant supply of water from the rock. 13. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE LEGISLATION OF MOSES. A victory over the Amalecites was another proof of Divine protection, for which Moses had prayed during the combat ; he had confided the command of the army to the valiant and pious Josue. Following the counsels of Jethro, his father-in-law, he shared with a certain number of judges the care of regulating ordinary affairs, reserving to himself only the most important ; but already the precepts of the natural law proved insufficient to content a nation so numerous and indocile. The Israelitish people hav- ing arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai, 1 God struck them with terror in unfolding the splendour of His majesty on the summit of the mountain, surrounded by thunderings and lightnings ; he called Moses alone to come near Him, while the people kept themselves at a certain distance, in religious terror. Descend- ing from the sacred mountain, Moses brought to the Hebrews that universal law which had to regulate at 1 Situate in Arabia Petrea, and between the Gulfs of Suez and Akaba. 28 ANCIENT HISTORY the same time all affairs political, civil, moral, and religious that law, which, quite contrary to all others, instead of being elaborated by long and laborious essays, appeared all at once in its majestic whole, never to undergo any alteration. The law of Moses presented a general character of severity and rigour, although already tempered by dispositions unusual in antique legislations. This rigour was necessary when it concerned the restrain- ment of a people such as the Jews. The Bible attests their spirit of disobedience and of revolt ; their annals are frequently the story of their ingrati- tude ; no one people was ever more restless, more distrustful, more indocile. From Abram to Joseph, from the birth of Moses to the death of Josue, nearly all is prodigy ; and one of the things the most extraordinary is, without doubt, that obstinacy, that incredulity of the Hebrews, that frequent de- sertion of the God who had emancipated them for the gods of that country where they had lived in the most terrible slavery. All crimes are severely punished, and death, accompanied by divers suffer- ings, is an ordinary chastisement, but justly applied. The law of God is at the same time the law of the state ; the violation of bhe duties of religion is con- sidered and punished like a violation of the civil law. Thus the pain of death is pronounced against him who violates the commandments of God, that supreme code of the Israelites ; against him who has smitten or cursed his father or his mother ; against him who has stolen a man and has sold him in short, against all culpable homicide, against all murder. The foremost characteristic of the religious law of the Jews is the hatred of idolatry, that great vice of HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 29 all the religions of the ancient world. In the midst of a crowd of pagan nations, of whom the Jews, thoughtless, inconstant, and ungrateful, were only too ready to imitate the deplorable errors, it was neces- sary to engrave profoundly that dogma of the unity of God in the mind of a people destined to save that supreme principle from the universal wreck of truths. Moses interdicted everything which resembled the practice of idolatry ; he prescribed all which recalled the unity of God : one altar only had been raised in the desert; later, one sole Tabernacle was erected, one sole Temple built, one sole tribe was consecrated to the service of the sanctuary. Moses forbade the immolation of victims in the woods and on the mountains, so often testimony of the homage that mortals rendered to the divinities they had them- selves constructed. The belief in the unity of God is prescribed in the first words of the Decalogue, which contains the essence of the Jewish religion : I. " I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. " Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. "Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them nor serve them. . . . II. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. . . . III. " Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy works ; but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt do no work on it, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, 30 ANCIENT HISTORY nor thy maid-servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. . . . IV. " Honour thy father and thy mother. . . . V. " Thou shalt not kill. VI. " Thou shalt not commit adultery. VII. " Thou shalt not steal. VIII. " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. IX. " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house ; X. " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his." After proclaiming those great precepts, God Him- self regulated the religious ceremonies, the solemnities by which He was willing men should honour Him. All seemed yet to tend to the general aim of the legislation of the Hebrews, to render impossible the mixture of the chosen people of God with other peoples. The entire life of the Hebrews was charged with religious practices which united them together in separating them from other men. The service of the altar was exclusively confided to the tribe of Levi. The firstborn amongst the descendants of the sons of Aaron exercised the functions of the sovereign pontifi- cate ; the other members of this family were destined to the priesthood. The rest of the Levites filled inferior offices. Numerous prerogatives, but also strict duties, were attached to the priesthood. The priests had to explain to the people the Divine Law, and guide their conduct by irreproachable examples ; they expiated their faults by penalties of extreme severity. The Levites, entirely devoted to God, did not occupy themselves in agriculture, and no property was assigned to them ; but they had right, amongst HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 31 other advantages which were attributed to them by the law itself, to the tenth part or tithe of the corn and fruits gathered by the other Israelites. One of the most important charges of the priests was the custody of the Tabernacle ; it was there where was enclosed the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tables on which the Divine Law was engraved, Aaron's rod, and a vase filled with manna, in memory of the wonders God had performed in favour of His people. 14. UNFAITHFULNESS OF THE ISRAELITES. God had promulgated His law on Mount Sinai, in the midst of thunderings and lightnings, and the people of Israel had been seized with fear. Never- theless, scarcely had Moses, after having made the people swear obedience to the Divine precepts, ascended alone on to the mountain to receive further orders of the Lord, than the Hebrews, at the foot of Sinai itself, persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf, to which they offered adoration. Descending from the mountain with the two tables of stone, on which God had inscribed the law, Moses broke them in his indignation at seeing the monstrous ingratitude of the people ; he reduced the golden calf to powder, and caused to perish three thousand of the idolaters by the sword of the Levites before he asked God for new tables to replace the first. Notwithstanding this terrible example, the Israelites often renewed their unfaithfulness, and each time it required severe chastisement from God to lead them back to obedience. Even the two elder sons of Aaron were devoured by a fire issuing from the taber- 32 ANCIENT HISTORY nacle, for having, in spite of the law, offered strange incense before the Lord. A plague carried away a great number of the Israelites who yet regretted the flesh and vegetables of Egypt ; those who murmured about the length of the journey were bitten by fiery serpents, and could be cured only by regarding the brazen serpent set up by Moses, which was a symbol of the Redeemer of mankind. Twenty-four thousand men perished in the land of Madian for having wor- shipped the idols of the Madianites. Core, Dathan, and Abiron, who wished to usurp the sacerdotal func- tions that the Lord had assigned to the family of Aaron, were swallowed up by the earth, which opened under their feet, whilst the two hundred and fifty accom- plices in the rebellion were devoured by fire. The Israelites, however, approached the frontiers of the land of Chanaan, that land promised to their fathers ; but some spies sent by Moses, on returning with some of the marvellous products of that fertile country, where milk and honey flowed, terrified the tribes by bringing back an evil report of the strength and number of its inhabitants. The people doubted yet again the promises of the Almighty, and recom- menced murmuring. God punished them in declaring that none of those who came out of Egypt at the age of twenty and upwards should enter the promised land, with the exception of Caleb and Josue, who had guarded faith in His word. Moses himself, and his brother Aaron, were not deemed worthy of enter- ing the Promised Land, because they had rebelled against the word of the Lord " at the water of Meribah." Aaron died soon after. As for Moses, he made the conquest of the whole country from the East to the HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 33 Jordan, where the tribes of Eeuben and Gad became established, with a portion of that of Manasses. He then made an enumeration of the Israelites able to bear arms ; they were of the number of six hundred thousand and a thousand seven hundred and thirty ; there were also twenty-three thousand Levites " who were not numbered among the children of Israel," because there was no inheritance given them amongst the Israelites. After blessing all the tribes, he went up on to Mount Nebo, whence the Lord caused him to see, over the Jordan, the land promised to Abram, to Isaac, and to Jacob, but into which he was not permitted to enter. Moses then died, and no man has ever known the place of his sepulture (1605). i 5 . CONQUEST OF THE LAND OF CHANAAN. By order of the Lord, Moses had chosen Josue as his successor. Meazar, son of Aaron, had been before designated by Moses to succeed his father in the dignity of High Priest. It was under these two leaders that the Israelites were put in possession of the land of Chanaan. As soon as Josue had taken upon him the direction of the people of Israel, God , promised him His protection, and ordered him to pass over Jordan. 1 Josue then set out, causing the ark of the covenant to be carried before the people. The priests, bearing the ark, entered the bed of the river ; the waters then divided, and the people passed over Jordan on dry ground. The Hebrews next found themselves near Jericho, a powerful city, fortified by strong walls. By a second miracle God confirmed 1 It takes its source in Anti-Lebanon, traverses the Waters of Merom, the Lake of Geneserath, and falls into the Dead Sea. C 34 ANCIENT HISTORY the mission He had given to Josue. In accordance with God's command, the army, preceded by the ark of the covenant, marched round the city six con- secutive days ; on the seventh day, at the sound of trumpets, the people shouted and the walls fell down flat. The Israelites then entered the city and slew the inhabitants. The town was razed to the ground, and all the booty was consecrated to the Lord. The protection of God did not cease to accompany His people. All the tribes of Chanaan who dared to offer them resistance were vanquished and destroyed. The Gabaonites alone made a league with Josue, who accorded to them his succour against the neighbour- ing nations, irritated by their defection. It was while combating the enemies of the Gabaonites that Josue, desirous for the completion of the battle, which the approach of night threatened to interrupt, gave the word to the sun to stand still, and the day was pro- longed until the foes were entirely defeated. After struggles which proved nearly always fatal to their enemies, the Israelites had triumphed over thirty-five kings and conquered the land of Chanaan ; they were from that time sole masters of the country formerly occupied by the Amorrhites, the Jebusites, the Hevites, the Chanaanites, and the Pherizites. This land was then divided by Josue among the twelve tribes of Israel. Men from each tribe were chosen to make the division. As we have before stated, that of Levi had no lands, because God had ordained that the tithe and the firstfruits of all the products of the soil should be assigned to them ; but there were allotted to them, for dwelling-places only, forty-eight cities, given out of the territories of the divers tribes of HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 35 Israel. The two tribes of Manasses and Ephraim received their portions like the other tribes of Israel, and that of Manasses had even two lots one on the east and the other on the west of the Jordan. Josue then regulated the government and interior administration. He organised tribunals, fixed the jurisdiction of the magistrates, and determined their divers powers. He died at the age of one hundred and ten years, after having established order and peace among his people (1580). "Before his death he called for all Israel and the elders, and judges and officers, saying to them : . . . The Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong : but as for you no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand : for the Lord your God, He it is that fighteth for you, as He hath promised you. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves that ye love the Lord your God." Yet order did not long prevail in the nation. After Josue died, the Israelites refused to obey one sole chief regularly instituted. The government passed into the hands of elders belonging to each tribe, who united in council to deliberate on public affairs. The sole influence of the high priest maintained a bond of unity in spite of this division of power. But after the death of the elders who outlived Josue, anarchy prevailed. Left to themselves, the people forgot the law of the Lord, and began to follow the idols of the neighbouring nations. God punished them by per- mitting them to be vanquished several times and reduced to servitude ; nevertheless He raised for them at intervals, to deliver them from oppressors, just men, animated by His Spirit, who were called Judges. 36 ANCIENT HISTORY II. The Judicature. 1 1 6. SERVITUDE OF THE ISRAELITES THE JUDICATURE. The judges had not a determined and constant authority ; appointed in cases of danger, they each became the ruler of their compatriots after having been their deliverer. They commanded sometimes one section of the Israelites, sometimes the other. Occa- sionally the dignity of judge was awarded to a person for his wisdom, irrespective of social rank, and it was seen even in the hands of a woman. Nevertheless, very often this power resembled more that of a general than that of a magistrate. " Under the name of judge," says the historian Josephus, " they placed at the head of the people the citizen the most distinguished for his courage and his warlike talents." For the rest, when peril was passed and the liberator was dead, they did not ordinarily appoint a successor, and the government of the tribes recurred to the elders. The most celebrated judges were Othoniel, Aod, Debbora, Gedeon, Jephte, Samson, Heli, and Samuel. Chushan-rasathaim, King of Mesopotamia, having 1 Synchronism. Cadmus at Thebes, 1549 (No. 96). The Amphic- tyonic Council (No. 97). Sesostris, King of Egypt, 1491 (No. 54). Invasion of the Hellenes ; Invasion of Pelops, 1362 (No. 97). Exploits of Hercules (Edipus The Argonauts Theseus, King of Athens, 1323 ; the Heraclides chased from the Peloponnesus ; Eteocles and Polynice (No. 98). Priam, King of Troy, 1311 ; siege and capture of Troy, 1280-1270 (No. 99). The Trojan ^Eneas in Italy; return of the Heraclides into the Peloponnesus, 1190 (No. 101). Foundation of Alba Longa, 1158; devotedness of Codrus ; Archonship at Athens, 1132 (No. 102). Greek colonies in Asia Minor (No. 103). HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 37 subjected the Israelites to pay tribute, God, at the end of eight years, had pity on them, and placed at their head Otkoniel (15541514), who delivered them, and governed them during fourteen years. After his time the people fell again into idolatry, and God suffered them to be under the yoke of Eglon, King of Moab. Scarcely had Aod (14961416) drawn them out of this captivity than they returned to their old iniquities, and merited to be punished by a third se-rvitude. During twenty years they were subject to Jabin, a powerful king, who had a numerous army, and nine hundred chariots of iron. At that time a woman, Debbora, the prophetess, dwelt at the foot of a palm- tree, on Mount Ephraim, 1 and judged the people of Israel. She placed herself with the general, Barac, at the head of the army, and marched against Sisara, captain of Jabin's troops. Sisara was vanquished, and ned from the battlefield, but was killed by a woman named Jalid, in whose tent he had taken refuge. Debbora and Barac celebrated the deliverance of the Israelites by a sublime song : " Arise, arise, Deb- bora ; arise, arise, and utter a canticle : arise, Barac, and take hold of thy captives, son of Abinoem. The remnants of the people are saved ; the Lord hath fought among the valiant ones. . . . War from heaven was made against them, the stars remaining in their order and courses fought against Sisara. The torrent of Cison dragged their carcasses, the torrent of Cadu- min, the torrent of Cison ; tread thou, my soul, upon the strong ones " (1396). 1 In the territory of Ephraiin, east of the plain of Sharon. 38 ANCIENT HISTORY 17. GEDEON JEPHTE (1349-1237). But, so often ungrateful towards the Lord, the Israelites offended anew, and fell into the power of the Madianites. At the end of seven years of the most cruel servitude, God raised up for their deliver- ance Gedeon (1349), who, for proof of his mission, obtained several signs from the Lord. This new judge of Israel overthrew the altars of the false gods, called all the tribes to arms, and gathered under his standard upwards of thirty thousand warriors ; but God, not wishing His people to attribute their deliverance to their own strength, caused the army to be reduced to three hundred men. Having furnished them with trumpets, and with pitchers containing lighted lamps, Gedeon penetrated with them into the camp of the Madianites, crying, " The sword of the Lord and of Gedeon ! " At the same time, the sound of trumpets and the glare of the lamps threw fear amongst the Madianites, of whom many slew each other as they fled. Gedeon died (1309), having governed Israel for fourteen years, unwilling to take the title of king, which was offered him, "for it was tlu Lord who was King over Israel." He left seventy-one sons. One of them, Abimelech, an ambitious and cruel man, mur- dered his brothers, with the exception of one, and made himself proclaimed king by the inhabitants of Sichem j 1 but his tyranny caused the people to rise up against him, and he was killed by the hand of a woman, whilst he was besieging a city of the tribe of Ephraim (1306). Soon after, taking advantage of dissensions amongst the Israelites, the Ammonites subjected 1 Sichem was in the territory of Ephraim, and is now called " Nablouse." HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 39 them to a fifth servitude. The Lord sent for their deliverance Jephte (1243-1237), an adventurer of the land of Galaad. Before marching against the enemy, the leader of the Israelites promised that, if he came back as victor, he would immolate to the Lord whosoever should come out of his house to meet him on his return ; but the first person Jephte beheld as he approached his dwelling was his own daughter, who came forth to meet him, dancing to the sound of the timbrel. On being informed of her father's vow, she went for two months upon the mountains to bewail her virginity, and then returned to submit to her lot. It is generally believed that Jephte fulfilled his promise in consecrating his daughter to the service of the Tabernacle. During this epoch God led Ruth, a poor Moabitish woman, toward one of her relatives named Booz, a rich inhabitant of Bethlehem, who, touched by her love for Noemi, her mother-in-law, took her in marriage. Of this union had to be born Obed, who gave the day to Isai, father of King David (No. 21). 18. HISTORY OF SAMSON (1172-1152). The Israelites, having been once more unfaithful, had been subdued by the Philistines, when a child was born, announced by the angels as the future deli- verer of Israel, Samson, a Nazarene, whose head had never to be shorn. At eighteen years of age, Samson displayed his prodigious strength by rending in pieces a young lion. Soon after, declaring war against the oppressors of his people, he killed, near Ascalon, 1 1 Situate on the coast of the Mediterranean, north of Gaza, in the land of Chanaan. 40 ANCIENT HISTORY thirty thousand men of the Philistine nation. Irri- tated at seeing himself betrayed by a woman whom he had married from amongst them, he became their bitter enemy. He burnt the harvests of the Philis- tines, by letting loose into their corn-fields and vine- yards three hundred foxes with lighted torches attached to their tails. On being given up by the Israelites to his enemies, he broke asunder his bonds and killed one thousand Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass. Some time after, shut up in Gaza, 1 whose inhabitants wished to capture him, he left the town, carrying off with him on his shoulders the city gates. The enemies of Israel fled in all directions, and Samson was advanced to the Judicature.- The Philistines con- tinued unable to render themselves master of their terrible enemy until a woman, named Dalila, whom they had gained over by presents, had obtained, by force of enticements and caresses, the secret of Sam- son's strength, and had cut his hair, in which resided his supernatural power. The Philistines put out his eyes and threw him into prison ; but some time after they led him into a temple, where they were celebrat- ing the feast of their idol, and Samson, whose strength had by degrees returned with his growing hair, over- threw the two pillars by which the edifice was sus- tained, and was buried under the ruins of the temple with three thousand Philistines (1152). Nevertheless the power of the Israelites became more and more feeble ; unity slackened, idolatry penetrated amongst the tribes. " Every man did that which was right in his own eyes," says the Scripture. The descendants 1 The site of Gaza is now deserted and desolated, and must not be confounded with the ancient chief city of the Pashalic of that name, in Palestine. HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 41 of Benjamin insulted a Levite, and caused the death of his wife by loading her with outrages. The Levite cut her corpse into twelve pieces, one of which he sent to each of the tribes. A cry of horror arose in Israel. All the tribes took up arms ; the Benjamites were nearly exterminated. 19. HELI SAMUEL (1092). The disorder was only augmented by the feebleness of the high priest Heli. Even Ophni and Phinees, the two sons of Heli, profaned the Holy Place, took away the offerings made to the Lord, and excited the murmurs of all the people. The Lord, irritated against Heli, sent to him a prophet with the announce- ment that He was about to deprive the high priest's family of their honourable functions. These menaces were reported to the high priest by a child who be- became associated in the designs of God : it was the young Samuel, accorded to the vows of his mother after a long sterility, and brought up in the taber- nacle, where he served at the sacrificial altar. The prediction repeated by the mouth of Samuel was soon after fulfilled. The culpable children of Israel were vanquished near Silo, notwithstanding the presence of the holy ark. Thirty thousand men, with the two sons of Heli, were slain on the battlefield, and the ark was taken by the Philistines. Heli, at this fatal news, fell over and broke his neck (i 1 12). Samuel, revered by all the people, was named judge of Israel (1092); he renewed the covenant of the Israelites with the Lord in persuading them to reject the strange gods whose worship had been intro- duced amongst them. From that time they triumphed 42 ANCIENT HISTORY over their euemies. The Philistines had been obliged to send back the ark of the covenant, which had become for them a source of calamities. A short time after, they came to fight against the Israelites ; but they were completely conquered, and, humiliated by this defeat, they dared not attack the people of God for several years. When Samuel was become old, the elders of the nation, discontented with the government administered by his sons, who were abandoned to vice, asked him to choose for them a king to judge the Israelites and to fight at their head. Samuel consulted the Lord, who said to him, " Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king." CHAPTER III HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS, FROM THE ESTAB- LISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY UNTIL THE END OF THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY I. Foundation of the Monarchy amongst the Hebrews Saul David Solomon. 1 20. REIGN OF SAUL (1080). GOD sent toward Samuel the young Saul, a rich and powerful man of the tribe of Benjamin, and the tallest of all the children of Israel. The prophet, knowing that Saul was he whom the Lord had chosen to reign over his people, consecrated him, pouring a vial of oil over his head. Some days after Samuel assembled the people at Masphath, and after reproaching them with their ingratitude towards God, who had alone been their King, he proposed to choose the new king by lot. The lot confirming the election already made by Samuel in the name of the Lord, designated Saul, son of Cis ; the people proclaimed him king, and he commenced to govern, guided by the counsels of Samuel. Notwithstanding some resistance, Saul was victo- riously established on his throne. Naas, king of the Ammonites, having proceeded to lay siege to 1 Synchronism. Hiratn, king of Tyre (1040). Successive abolition of monarchs in Greece (No. 102). Alliance of Egypt with Judaea (No. 55). 43 44 ANCIENT HISTORY Jabes-Galaad, 1 Saul assembled three hundred thou- sand warriors and smote the Ammonites, who were completely vanquished ; then all the people uniting at Galgal, hailed Saul the second time king of Israel. But prosperity already turned him away from the fear of the Lord. Attacked by the Philistines, who invaded the territory of Israel with an innumerable army, Saul, usurping the sacerdotal functions, dared to offer a sacrifice which should have been presented by Samuel only. The prophet declared to Saul that God, as punishment of his fault, would take from him his kingdom to give it to a man after His own heart, whom He had already chosen. Nevertheless, the valour of JonatJwn, son of Saul, again rendered the Israelites victorious over their enemies. Accompanied only by his equerry, he had penetrated into the camp of the Philistines and thrown confusion amongst them. Saul wished to complete the victory, and put himself in pursuit of the enemy, cursing the one in his troops who should take any nourishment before the Philistines were entirely de- feated. Jonathan, not hearing the king's adjuration, disobeyed, and his father was sending him to death ; but the Israelites forced Saul to spare the one who had saved the people, and the king retired from pursuing the Philistines. Soon Samuel ordered him, in the name of God, to attack the Amalecites and to exterminate that people, who had laid wait for the Israelites when they arrived from Egypt to establish themselves in the land of Chanaan. Saul marched against them at the head of 1 Was in the north of the province of Oad and east of the great plain of Jordan in Chanaan, north-west of the kingdom of the Am- monites. HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 45 an army of two hundred and ten thousand men, com- pletely conquered them, made prisoner their king Agag, and put to death the Amalecites ; but he spared the king, and reserved all the best of the flocks and the most precious things taken as booty. Samuel then came to find Saul ; he reproached him again for his disobedience, telling him that as he had rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord had rejected him from being king. 21. SAMUEL ANOINTS DAVID DEATH OF SAUL. As soon as the prophet had left Saul, he went, according to the word of the Lord, to Bethlehem to anoint David (the youngest son of Isai), who had already displayed great courage in defending his flocks against a lion and a bear (1051). From that time the Spirit of God rested on David and abandoned the deviating king to the evil spirit. To moderate the cruel agitation of this unhappy prince, it was suggested that David should be sent for, as he was a very skilful player upon the harp ; his mysterious election was yet unknown to all Israel. Every time that the evil spirit tormented Saul, the harper's harmonious chords refreshed him, and the demon departed ; the king took David in affection, and appointed him as his equerry. Soon, the defeat of the giant Goliath exhibited the valour of David and the protection which the Lord accorded to him. The young shepherd, wearing no armour, overthrew the giant by slinging a stone which smote his opponent in the forehead, then standing upon him, David seized Goliath's sword, and cut off his head. The Philistine?, on seeing their illustrious 46 ANCIENT HISTORY warrior dead, fled precipitately. The Israelites pursued them, killed a considerable number, and pillaged their camp (1048). Saul, as a recompense to David for this victory, placed him in command of the army, and soon after, at the end of a fresh triumph, he accorded him his daughter Michol in marriage. Jonathan, son of Saul, conceived for David, his companion in arms, a never-failing affection, but jealousy entered into the king's soul on hearing the Israelites celebrate the ex- ploits of David, saying : " Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." "What can he have more but the kingdom ? " exclaimed the monarch, and he began to hate him. He twice attempted to smite David with his javelin, while the youth was playing before him on his harp, to calm the evil spirit. At last David took flight in order to escape from the king's persecutions. He, however, returned his enemy good for evil, and, breathing forth his sorrows to God, he twice spared the life of his persecutor, of whom he could have rid himself with impunity. Touched at last by so much generous dealing, the king promised to desist from pursuing David ; Saul, however, returned not to the Lord. In the year 1040 the Philistines commenced a fresh attack on the Israelites. Abandoned by God, Saul went by night to find the Witch of Endor, 1 and ordered her to raise up the ghost of Samuel, who had been dead then two years. The prophet's shade arose, he reproached Saul for his crimes, and predicted to him that on the morrow the monarch and his sons would be with him. In effect, in the morning the Philistines made a furious attack on the Israelites, on 1 A town in the land of Issachar (Chanaan), south-west of Mount Tabor. HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 47 Mount Gelboe. 1 Jonathan and two other sons of Saul were slain, the king himself was wounded, and in order to avoid falling into the hands of his foes, threw him- self on the point of his sword. David lamented over Saul, uttering this funeral chant : " The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains : how are the valiant fallen ! Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew nor rain come upon you, neither be they fields of first fruits : for there was cast away the shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. . . . Saul and Jonathan, lovely and comely in their life, even in death they were not divided : they were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. . . . How are the valiant fallen, and the weapons of war perished." David put to death an Amalecite who boasted of having given the mortal stroke to Saul, and he rendered all the goods of the deceased king to a son of Jonathan, named MipJiiboseth. 22. REIGN OF DAVID (1040-1001). After consulting the Lord David went to Hebron, where he was consecrated king by the house of Juda, but at the same time the general, Abner, proclaimed Isboseth, son of Saul, king over all the other tribes. A war broke out between the two monarchs, which was terminated at the end of seven years (1040-1033) by the death of Isboseth. Six months after, the Elders of Israel went to David at Hebron, submitted themselves to him, and recognised him as king of all Israel (1033). He was then thirty-seven years old. 1 A ridge of mountains in the territory of Issachar. west of the plain of Jordan, 48 ANCIENT HISTORY The unity of the kingdom was founded ; but there was no capital city to serve as a centre for the twelve tribes. David took from the Jebusites (the most bel- ligerent of the people of Chanaan) the citadel of Jeru- salem, on Mount Sion. There he established the royal dwelling. He built himself a palace of cedar wood sent to him by his ally, Hiram, King of Tyre (1031). Sion was thenceforth called the City of David ; but the king, not daring to repose under golden canopies while the Ark of the Lord remained under a tent, transported the Ark from " Baal of Juda " to Jeru- salem, 1 to the sound of musical instruments and the acclamations of the people. David himself, " girded with a linen ephod," danced before the Ark of the Lord. He had formed the project of raising to the Almighty a magnificent temple. But the Lord forbade him, as David had been a warrior king, and had stained his hands with blood ; thus the honour was reserved for the son who should reign after him. God promised that He would not withdraw His mercy from David's house, and that his throne should be established for ever: which was an announcement of the reign of the Messias, who had to come of the race of David. 23. WARS AND CONQUESTS OF DAVID. This monarch, protected by the Lord, extended afar the power of Israel. After humiliating the Philistines and freeing his own people (1028) from the tribute paid to their enemies since the defeat at Gelboe, he vanquished the Moabites, and subdued those who had 1 The capital of Judea, in the tribe of Benjamin (on the brook Ceclron), situate at nearly equal distance between the Great Sea (Mediterranean) and Lake Asphaltitis (Dead Sea). HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 49 not perished in the war. The Ammonites were, in their turn, defeated, and the victor, David, attacked the foreigners who had furnished aid to his enemies at Ohanaan. He made an expedition up the Euphrates, fought against the Oriental Idumeans, near the site on which Tadmor (Palmyra) was afterwards built (No. 25), and took a great number of their cities ; he triumphed over the King of Mesopotamia, besides the Syrians of Damascus and those of Soba, who had retained in captivity a great number of Israelitish families. While the King of Einath's son prostrated himself at David's feet, as the bearer of messages and presents from his father, the general, Jodb, besieged the strongly fortified town of Rabba, massacring the inhabitants, or reducing them to servitude. In vain did the Ammonites, in conjunction with the people of Syria, form a powerful league against the Israelites. David, seconded by his generals, Joab and Abisai, fought against Israel's enemies, killed about fifty thousand men, and received the submission of a great number of cities. David's conquests extended as far as the Red Sea. The capture of the ports of Ailath and Asiongaber permitted the Hebrews to extend their commerce into the remotest countries of Asia and Africa. In the West the Phoenicians of Tyre begged alliance with the King of the Israelites, and Hiram gave up to him a numerous fleet (No. 98). David counted in his kingdom thirteen hundred thousand men capable of bearing arms. 24. DOUBLE CRIME OF DAVID His REPENTANCE. In the midst of all his glory David suddenly fell into a double crime, as if to serve as a lesson to all D 50 ANCIENT HISTORY those who should pride themselves on their grandeur and their justice. He caused one of his officers named Urias to perish, after having seduced his wife Beth- sdbee ; but his repentance equalled his fault when his eyes had been opened by the prophet Nathan, and he submissively accepted all the punishments which the Lord visited on His culpable servant. David's infant son died. After the birth of another son, named Solomon, born after his marriage with Bethsabee, the whole of the royal family was troubled by the dissen- sions and crimes of the king's children. One of his daughters was outraged by Amnon, who was after- wards slain by David's son Absalom. The murderer incited ten tribes against his father. David, acknow- ledging the Divine justice, quitted Jerusalem on foot, and was insulted by Semei, a man of the house of Saul, whom, however, he would not punish ; but soon all those of his subjects who had remained faithful to him reunited around him. Absalom gave battle to his father's troops in the forest of Ephraim. David had formally commanded Joab and Abisai to spare his culpable son, but the rebellious army was cut in pieces ; Absalom, who had fled on a mule across the forest, remained suspended by his long thick hair to the branches of a tree under which he was riding, and Joab, perceiving him in that plight, pierced him with darts (1010). On learning the dismal end of his son, the king forgot his own victory, and fell into a profound melancholy. Finally he saw, in the very year that he died, another of his children, Adonias, revolt against him, supported by the aid of Joab, and of the high priest Abiathar. David, who, by the Lord's order, destined the crown for Solomon, caused him to be consecrated and acknowledged by the whole HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 5 I people. At this news, Adonias, abandoned by his par- tisans, submitted himself and obtained favour. David died about the close of the year i oo I , after having given wise instructions to his son, and having remitted to him the plan of the temple which he had to raise to the Lord. He is the author of those psalms or canticles which are rendered each day by the Church in its services, as the admirable expression of a lively gratitude, of an ardent piety, of profound repentance, and as a prophetic picture of the sufferings and glory of the Messias. 25. REIGN OF SOLOMON (1001-962). Solomon was in his seventeenth year when he ascended the throne (1001). He commenced his reign by several acts of severity, so as to intimidate the factious tribes whose revolts had troubled his father's last days. Adonias, who had renewed his intrigues, was put to death ; so also were Joab and Semei, because of their culpable conduct with regard to King David. Affirming his throne by these signal executions, Solomon went forth to offer a thousand victims on the Lord's altar. God received those homages, and appeared to him, promising to accord to him what he should ask. Solomon desired wisdom. God, approving of his wish, gave him at the same time riches and might. Solomon, in effect, was the wisest and the most glorious of kings. His penetration of mind, and the equity of his judgments, filled his subjects with admiration and respect. Faithful to the advice of his father David, he under- 52 ANCIENT HISTORY took to raise a temple to the Lord on Mount Moriah, east of Jerusalem ; nearly two thousand men were employed in its construction, for which Hiram, his ally, furnished the cedar and fir wood, obtained from trees felled by his workmen on Mount Libanus. Seven years and a half were devoted to the erection and decoration of the superb edifice, of which all the walls were wainscotted with cedar wood, overlaid with plates of gold. The Temple, properly so called, was constructed on the model of the tabernacle raised by Moses, and consisted of three successive enclosures, viz., the Porch, the Holy Place or Sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies, In the eighth year (991) Solomon consecrated the Temple with great pomp, and in the midst of an immense concourse of people, and thence- forth it was the only place in Israel in which God permitted sacrificial offerings. The unity of the Temple was a symbol of the unity of God. Solomon also raised magnificent palaces in Jeru- salem ; he surrounded the capital by strong walls ; he built or embellished Heser, Mageddo, Gazer, Baalath, and the great city of Tadmor, 1 the latter being situate on an oasis in a desert, as a resting-place for caravans journeying from Damascus to Babylon. 26. POWER OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. Mightier than his father David, Solomon yet further extended the kingdom of Israel. The King of Egypt made a league with him, and gave him his daughter 1 Tadmor, callud by the Greeks Palmyra, was a famous town in the Arabian desert, situate between Syria and the Euphrates. Magnifi- cent ruins now occupy the site. HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 53 in marriage. Hiram furnished him with ships, send- ing him sailors and pilots, and asked for friend- ship only in return. Solomon confirmed his empire over the Amorrhites, the Hevites, the Hethites, and the Jebusites. He extended his dominion over the countries enclosed between the interior sea and the Euphrates in the environs of Thapsacus, and in a westerly direction to the frontiers of Egypt. Peace reigned in his time in the interior of the kingdom, and each one dwelt without fear under his vine, or under his Jig tree, from Dan l to Bersabee. An immense trade augmented the riches of the kingdom. Solomon's fleet, combined with that of Hiram, went out in search of gold, silver, and ivory to Ophir and Tharsis that is to say, according to the general belief, to the shores of Spain and Africa. In the south, ships, equipped at Ailath and at Asion- gaber, set sail to Ethiopia and all the Asiatic coasts ; and the precious metals at Jerusalem " he made as plenteous as stones, and cedars to be as common as sycamores which grow in the plains." Solomon's stables contained forty thousand horses ; he had twelve thousand chariots of war, and an immense army. The kings of all the neighbouring countries came to render him homage, and, from the extremity of Arabia, the Queen of Saba arrived in great pomp at Jerusalem, to behold the monarch whose wisdom was celebrated throughout the Orient. But these immense riches, this formidable power, had the effect of corrupting the king's heart, who allowed himself to be seduced by love of pleasures, and to forget the God of his fathers. He espoused 1 Dan was the most northerly and Bersabee the most south- westerly portion of Chanaan. 54 ANCIENT HISTORY a great number of foreign women, who dragged him into idolatry : from that time David's son he whom the Spirit of God had inspired to write the Book of Proverbs, Ecdesiastes, the Song of Songs was seen to prostrate himself before Ashtarthe, the goddess of Tyre, before Molech, the god of the Ammonites, and before Chamosh, " the abomination of Moab." His mind became obscured in the midst of these infamies, and his heart degraded. At the same time his power gave way, and several ambitious men commenced to agitate the kingdom. God appeared to Solomon, and announced to him that, as punishment for his un- faithfulness, the kingdom should be rent after his death, and that two tribes only should remain to his son Roboam. The Hebrew monarch, before descend- ing to the tomb, saw the Idumean Adctd arm the King of Egypt against Israel ; Eazon also became his enemy, and installed himself King of Damascus, and Jeroboam, inciting the tribes to revolt, prepared the division of the kingdom (962). II. Schism of the Ten Tribes Achab, Athaliah End of the Kingdom of Israel. 1 27. EOBOAM SCHISM OF THE TEN TRIBES- KINGDOM OF JUDA. (962-904). After the death of Solomon (962), Roboam, his son, went to Sichem, where all Israel was assembled to proclaim him king. The people, having Jeroboam at their head, asked him for a diminution of the taxes 1 Synchronism. Sesac pillages Jerusalem (No. 55). Poems of Homer ; Legislation of Lycurgus (No. 105). Dido founds Carthage, 860 (No. 65). Date of the first Olympiad, 776 (No. 102). HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 55 with which Solomon had charged them. He was advised by the elders of Israel to accede to the just reclamations of the people ; but the king, giving heed only to the counsels of the young men who surrounded him, sent this arrogant answer to his subjects : " My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions." The people, irritated at these words, arose on all sides. Two tribes only, Juda and Benjamin, remained faithful to Roboam ; the ten others elected Jeroboam for king (962). Thus was consummated the separation of the kingdom of Juda, of which the capital remained fixed at Jerusalem, and the kingdom of Israel, which had for capital Sichem, and after- wards Thusa, where Jeroboam dwelt. Notwithstand- ing the extreme disproportion of the number of tribes forming each of the two kingdoms, that of Juda, composed of the two tribes whose territory was the most fertile and the most peopled, was really more powerful than that of Israel, which consisted of the ten other tribes. Roboam imitated the idolatry of his father, and raised altars to Belphegor ; he was punished by the invasion of Sesac, King of Egypt, who took several towns and entered into Jerusalem (No. 55). The conqueror returned to Egypt, taking with him Solo- mon's shield and the riches of the temple (958). Roboam died soon after, and had for successor his son Abiam, who walked in his predecessor's footsteps (946). Nevertheless he carried over Jeroboam, near Mount Zemaraim, a brilliant victory, which affirmed the superiority of the kingdom of Juda over that of Israel. After a reign of three years, he left the throne -to his son Asa, aged five years (944). Ma-acha, mother of the young prince, favoured idolatry ; but 56 ANCIENT HISTORY Asa, on attaining his majority, re-established the religion of the true God. He triumphed over the King of Ethiopia, who, after subjugating Egypt, invaded Judea, at the head of a million men and a multitude of chariots. The barbarians fled in disorder, leaving immense booty in the hands of the victor (945). Asa made a league with Benadad, King of Syria, and died after a long and peaceable reign (904). 28. KINGDOM OF ISRAEL JEROBOAM. In Israel the first six kings, whose reigns did not surpass in duration that of the three first kings of Juda, signalised themselves by their crimes and their impiety. So, as better to separate his subjects from the faithful tribes of the race of David, Jeroboam had broken all bond with Jerusalem in abolishing from his kingdom the religion of his fathers, and in raising calves of gold at Bethel and at Dan. God smote Jeroboam before he had repented. His son Nadab (943), as impious as his father, was, after a reign of two years, assassinated by Baasa (941), who slew all the family of Jeroboam, allying himself with the King of Damascus, and occupying the throne of Israel for twenty-two years. Ma, son of Baasa, succeeded him (919); but this monarch and all his race were exterminated by Zambri, who enjoyed the fruit of his crimes seven days only. Besieged in Thersa by Amri, he set fire to his palace, and was burnt to death with all his house (9 1 8). Amri occupied the throne of Israel twelve years, and built Samaria, which he made the capital of his kingdom (914). His successor was Achab (907). HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 57 29. KINGDOM OF JUDA JOSAPHAT AND HIS SUCCESSORS (904-876). About the same time the throne of Juda passed into the hands of Josaphat. Josaphat, son of Asa, one of the most celebrated of all the kings of Juda for his piety, led back his people to an exact observation of the laws of Moses, and abolished the practice which had become estab- lished, notwithstanding the prohibition of the Lord, to offer sacrifices on the high places. He reformed the administration of the judicature, and rendered the tribunals easily accessible to all. At the same time he caused agriculture and trade to flourish, placing under tribute the Philistines and the Ammonites ; but he brought down upon himself the chastisements of God by contracting a close alliance with the im- pious Achab, King of Israel, and his son Joram marry- ing Athalia, daughter of the above-named king and Jezabel. God punished him by the loss of a convoy of ships that he had equipped in concert with Ochozias, in the port of Asiongaber, for the purpose of extend- ing commerce with foreign nations (888). A short time after, a fearful invasion of the Moabites and the Ammonites threw the kingdom into a state of terror. The enemy had already arrived at En-gedi, three hundred stadia from Jerusalem. Josaphat marched to their rencounter, preceded by a troop of Levites, who sang the praises of the Lord. God, touched by their prayers and the trust of the pious king, threw trouble into the enemy's ranks, who fled in great haste. Josaphat died (880) after a reign of twenty-five years. Joram, his son, who must not be confounded with 58 ANCIENT HISTORY the prince of the same name who then reigned in Israel, ascended the throne of Juda, and, to affirm his dominion, he slew his six brothers and all the princes of Israel. Perverted by his wife, Atkalia, he imitated the impiety of the kings of Israel and re-established the worship of idols. The Idumeans, having revolted against him, he fought, but could not place them under his yoke, and was in his turn conquered by the Philistines and the Arabians, who took Jerusalem and pillaged it. His wife and children were carried into captivity, with the exception of the young Ochozias ; at last, after an unhappy reign, he died in his fortieth year, smitten by the Lord with a horrible malady, in punishment of his crimes (877). Ochozias, his son and successor, reigned only one year, and was killed by Jehu (No. 31), after the siege of Ramoth-galaad, which place he had attacked with the aid of Jeoram, King of Israel (876). Under this monarch, Edom (Idumea) definitely separated itself from the kingdom of Juda. Esau broke the yoke of Jacob. 30. KINGDOM OF ISRAEL IMPIETY OF ACIIAB. Achab ascended the throne of Israel three years before Josaphat succeeded in Juda to his father, Asa (907). He surpassed all his predecessors in his crimes and his impiety. His wife, Jezalel, daughter of Ithobal, King of Tyre, led him as well as his subjects to adopt the worship of Baal and of other Phoenician deities. God punished his unfaithfulness by a horrible famine, which lasted three years, accord- ing to the prediction of Elias. This prophet, beloved of God, flying from the anger of the King of Israel, HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 59 was nourished in the desert with bread carried to him by ravens ; he recompensed the charity of a poor widow of Sarephta, by rendering her provisions inex- haustible, and by raising to life her only son. Elias confounded the priests of Baal, by causing to descend from heaven fire, for which the idolaters had called in vain, and the people, filled with admiration for the prophet, massacred the impostors. But Jezabel, irri- tated at the triumph of Elias over the ministers of her false god, forced him to fly once more into the desert. He came forth from thence only to announce to Achab and Jezabel the chastisement that they merited in putting to death the poor Nciboth, in order to gain possession of his vineyard. "In this place where dogs have licked the blood of Naboth," said the prophet to the King of Israel, "they shall lick thy blood also." And of Jezabel he said, " The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezarah : and the carcase of Jezabel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezrahel ; so that they shall say, Is this that same Jezabel ? " Achab was the first to be smitten by the celestial justice ; after having vanquished the Kings of Tyre and Damascus with the aid of Josaphat, he died by a bow drawn at a venture in a second battle against the King of Syria (888). 31. SUCCESSORS OF ACHAB. After him, Amasia reigned, and he was succeeded by his brother Joram (887). The latter, allied with the Kings of Juda and Edom, made the Moabites his tributaries ; but he was besieged in Samaria, his capital, by Benadad, King of Syria. Soon the city 60 ANCIENT HISTORY was reduced to a horrible famine, until mothers ate even their own children. The King had recourse to Elias. Suddenly, according to the word of the pro- phet, the Syrians, seized by a panic of fear, precipi- tately fled from their encampment, and the Samaritans pillaged the abandoned tents. It was after this that Joram went with Amasias, King of Juda, to lay siege to Ramoth-galaad ; he was wounded and retired from the field, leaving before the city walls his general, Jehu. But the latter caused himself to be consecrated King by a disciple of Eliseus, and then went forth to kill Joram, near Jezrahel (876). Joram's mother, the impious Jezabel, richly attired, awaited the return of the conqueror, in her palace ; but Jehu caused the queen to be thrown from a high window, and her body was devoured by dogs, as the prophet Elias had predicted. Jehu, the instrument of Divine vengeance against the impious race of the Kings of Israel, put to death seventy of Achab's descendants, and slew the priests of Baal, but he con- tinued to adore the golden calves, and God punished him by raising against him Hazael, King of Damascus, who ravaged his provinces. Joachaz, son and suc- cessor of Jehu, and like him, a worshipper of idols, was continually vanquished by the Syrians, who ravaged his kingdom. 32. KINGDOM OF JUDA (876-752) ATIIALIA JOAS. At the same time that Jehu ascended the throne of Israel, Athalia, daughter of Jezabel, and widow of Joram, succeeded her son Ochozias. This queen, yet more impious and cruel than her mother, mas- HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 6 1 sacred the members of the royal house of Juda, established the worship of Baal at Jerusalem, and lived on the fruit of her crime six years ; but Ocho- zias' son, aged only one year, had escaped from the massacre of his house. Saved by his aunt, Josaba, sister of Ochozias, and wife of the high priest Joiada, the young Joas was brought up secretly within the enclosure of the temple. The seventh year of the reign of Athalia, on the day of Pentecost, the high priest assembled in the temple the Levites and the chieftains of the army ; he declared to them that a son remained, Ochozias, and made them swear to acknowledge and to defend him. At this news, Athalia ran to the temple ; but she was put to death by order of the pontiff (870). During several years, Joas, guided by the counsels of Joiada, faithfully observed the law of the Lord. But, after the death of the high priest, he forgot his wise advice, and allowed the re-establishment of the worship of idols, and drove his ingratitude so far as to cause Zechariah, priest, and son of his benefactor, to be stoned within the porch of the Temple. The victim exclaimed, with his dying breath, "The Lord look upon it, and require it." Soon after, in effect, Hazael, King of Damascus, took Jerusalem, and loaded Joas with outrages. Some time after, this prince, despised by his subjects, was assassinated by two of his officers (831). He had reigned nearly forty years. Amasias (831803), following his father's fatal example, was at first faithful to the Lord, who made him victorious over the Idumeans, in the Valley of Salt, 1 but he soon abandoned the worship of the true 1 An extensive plain, south-west of Lake Asphaltitis (the Dead Sea). 62 ANCIENT HISTORY God, and dared to attack Joas, King of Israel, under a frivolous pretext ; he was vanquished, and chased from his capital, which was taken and pillaged by the enemy. Soon after, a revolt again caused his fall from the throne, which Joas had allowed him to remount, and he was assassinated by the rebels (803). His son and successor, Uzziah or Azarias, followed the counsels of Zechariah, the prophet, and God made him victorious over his enemies ; he subdued the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Philistines, won back the port of Blath on the Red Sea, and further enriched his kingdom by maritime commercial enter- prises. But, elated by success, he wished to usurp the sacerdotal functions ; God smote him with leprosy as he stood in the temple, a censer in his hand, and he died miserably after a reign of over fifty years (752). 33. KINGDOM OF ISRAEL (832-753) JEHOASH AND HIS SUCCESSORS. Six princes succeeded each other in Israel, while Amasias and Uzziah occupied the throne of Juda. During sixteen years of a glorious reign, Jehoash (852817) vanquished three times the King of Syria, Benadad II. , Hazael's successor, and took from him all the previously acquired cities of the Syrians, corn- batted, and made prisoner, Amasias, who had suc- ceeded to Joas, King of Juda, and left a flourishing kingdom to his son Jeroboam II. (817776). The latter confirmed his domination by new victories over the Syrian kings, who were constrained to cede to him several provinces ; but his own impiety and that of his subjects foreran the evils which were destined HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 63 to fall, after his death, on the Israelites, and which were announced by the prophets Jonas, Hosea, Amos, and Abdias. Israel turned a deaf ear to all those prophetic warnings. A foreign city proved more docile : Nineve repented at the voice of Jonas. The kingdom of Israel was hurrying on toward ruin, notwithstanding the glorious reign of Jero- boam II. After a long interregnum that monarch was succeeded by his son, Zacharias (766), who was assassinated after reigning six years, and replaced by usurpers. Sellum appeared on the scene for one month; Manahem (766-754) maintained himself on the throne for twelve years by paying tribute to Phul, King of Assyria, through which means he obtained the protection he required against his own subjects. Manahem's son, Phaccia, who was an idolater like his father before, had reigned scarcely two years when he was killed in Samaria by his general, Phacee (753). 34. KINGDOM OF JUDA (752-723) ACHAZ. A prince no less impious than the monarchs of Israel had ascended the throne of Juda ; this was Achaz (737723), the unworthy successor of Joiham (son of Uzziah), whose piety God had recompensed by renewing to him, through the voices of the pro- phets MicJieas and Isaias, the promise of a Messias, issue of his race, who should be born at Bethlehem. Achaz forgot his father's example, and adopted all the superstitious practices of the neighbouring nations ; besides, his reign was noted only for disasters. Attacked at once by Phacee, King of Israel ; by Radin, King of Syria ; by the Idumeans and the Philistines, he appealed for protection to Theglatliphalasar, King of 64 ANCIENT HISTORY Assyria, who took pay for aid rendered by capturing the commercial port of Elath (No. 74). Achaz found it impossible to remove his redoubtable ally without giving up to him all the riches of the temple, the doors of which he closed. Fortunately the piety of the son of Achaz averted from Juda the chastisement with which Israel was smitten. 35. END OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. Phacee, the regicide, had himself been put to death by Hosea (726), at the time when Theglathphalasar, con- queror of Syria, was menacing Israel. The successor of Theglathphalasar, Salmanasar, marched against Hosea after having subdued all the countries bordering on his own kingdom (No. 74). Hosea applied for aid to Sabaco the Ethiopian, who had taken possession of Egypt. " Noiv" said Salmanasar, " thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean it will break and go into his hand and pierce it" and he forthwith proceeded to lay siege to Samaria. After three years the Assyrians gained possession of the city, which they utterly destroyed (718), slaying a great number of the inhabitants and leading away a vast number of prisoners. Hosea himself was loaded with chains and led captive in the train of the conqueror. Thus was annihilated the kingdom of Israel, after a duration of two hundred and forty-four years since the revolt of Jeroboam (962718). Forty-six years after, those Israelites who had not been transported into Assyria arose against Asarhaddon; the revolt was suppressed (672), and the rest of the vanquished nation was chased beyond the Euphrates. HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 65 It was in that land of exile that the Israelites could expiate their many infidelities, consoled by the pro- mises of the prophets, and sustained by the examples of resignation and courage of a few just men, such as the pious Toby and his son. III. Later Times of the Kingdom of Juda The Baby- lonish Captivity End of the Kingdom of Juda. 1 36. KINGDOM OF JUDA EZECHIAS MANASSES JUDITH. While the children of Israel wept in captivity, the kingdom of Juda regained its power under the wise government of Ezechias, who was an example of all virtue, and who re-established the worship of the true God throughout his kingdom (723694). This prince recaptured from the Philistines the greater part of the cities taken by them from his father, when Salmanasar, ruler of Samaria, wished to exact from Ezechias the tribute he had been accustomed to receive from Achaz. The Assyrian died before he had 1 Synchronism. Sardanaplus. End of the empire of Assyria, 759 (No. 73). Foundation of Rome, 754. Romulus (No. 141). Era of Nabuchodonosor, 747. First Messinian War, 744 (No. 106). Theg- lathphalasar, King of Nineve, 742. Salmanasar, 724. Sennacherib, 712 (No. 74). Numa Pompilius at Rome, 714 (No. 142). Asarhaddon, King of Nineve, 707. Capture of Babylon, 680 (No. 74). Second Messinian War, 684 (No. 107). The twelve kings of Egypt, 671 (No. 56). Tullus Hostilius at Rome, 671 (No. 142). Nabuchodonosor I., 657 (No. 74). Ancus Marcius, 614 (No. 142). Laws of Draco (No. 1 10). Nabopolassar. Second empire of Assyria, 625 (No. 74). The Elder Tarquin, 614 (No. 142). Nabuchodonosor II., 605. Capture of Tyre (No. 83). Laws of Solon (No. III). Servius Tullius, 578 (No. 142). Pisistratus at Athens, 561 (No. 112). Cyras (No. 76). Croasus vanquished at Pteria, 547. Baltassar. Capture of Babylon, 538 (No. 74). E 66 ANCIENT HISTORY found occasion to take vengeance on the King of Juda's refusal ; but his successor, Sennacherib, invaded Judaea and slaughtered many of its inhabitants. Ezechias, to deliver his kingdom, was obliged to give up the treasures of the temple. Nevertheless, Sennacherib, not content with the riches he had taken from the Hebrews, wished to destroy the kingdom of Juda, as his father had destroyed that of Israel. He went to Pelusium, where he conquered the Egyptians, who were advancing to the succour of the King of Juda, and he returned with an innumerable army to lay siege to Jerusalem, at the time that God had recompensed the faith of Ezechias in delivering him from a mortal sickness. But the pious king was saved from the attacks of the enemy. The angel of the Lord exterminated one hun- dred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, and Senna- cherib, in terror, returned to his own kingdom (707). This event made the name of King Ezechias cele- brated throughout all nations ; he repaired the injuries wrought by the war, and embellished his capital with magnificent buildings. He slept with his fathers after a reign of twenty-nine years. He was succeeded by his son Manasses (694640), who, far from following his father's example, was, on the contrary, one of the most impious of princes ; he cruelly persecuted the prophets sent to recall him from his errors, and also caused the death of Isaias. God punished his crimes by giving him up to Asar- haddon, King of Assyria, who invaded his kingdom and led him into captivity (673). At last, opening his eyes, Manasses besought pardon of the Lord, who re-established him on his throne ; but a new king of Assyria, named Saosduchin, or Ndbuchodonosor I. (No. HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 67 74), wishing to extend his conquests as far as the kingdom of Juda, sent out his general, Holofernes, who proceeded (in 659) to lay siege to Bethulia. 1 The city lacked water, and was near the point of surrendering, when it was saved by a woman named Judith. After attiring herself in her richest habits, she went to the Assyrian encampment, where she found the general Holofernes, who invited her to par- take of supper with him ; but whilst, dulled with wine, he slept profoundly in his tent, Judith, beseeching the Lord to lend her strength, cut off the Assyrian's head and carried it, during the night, as a trophy to the inhabitants of Bethulia (658). The enemy, deprived of their chief, fled in disorder, and the kingdom of Juda rested in peace until the end of Manasses' reign. 37. COMMENCEMENT OF THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY (640). Amon (640), who succeeded Manasses, copied that monarch's impiety without imitating his repentance ; he was assassinated in the second year of his reign. Josias, his son, on the contrary, re-established in this kingdom, and even in the territory of Israel, the worship of the true God, and he purified the temple (622). He set himself to reform the morals of his subjects, and he gave the people a solemn reading of all the Laws of Moses ; but the time approached when the catastrophes so often predicted by the prophets had to descend upon the people of Juda. Josias, against the order of God, allied himself with the King of Assyria, to fight against Nechao, King of Egypt (No. 561); he was conquered and killed at 1 A town of the tribe of Zebulon ; Chanaan (now in Syria). 68 ANCIENT HISTORY Magiddo (609). The victor continued his triumphal progress ; after ravaging Assyria he entered Jerusalem, which could not defend itself, and led Joachaz into captivity. He left the throne to Jehoiachim, or Eliakim, elder brother of the late king, who paid tribute to the kingdom of Egypt (608). Nevertheless the prophets redoubled their warnings and menaces, for they foresaw the ruin of Juda. Jeremias re- peated his sublime lamentations, in which he painted, in lugubrious colours, the calamities overhanging his brethren. Jehoiachim answered by putting to death, or by persecuting, the prophets ; the menaces were, however, put into execution. Sent by his father, Nabopolassar, against Egypt (No. 74), Nebuchodonosor conquered Nechao, whom he made his tributary, and, returning to besiege Jerusalem, pillaged the city and temple, and led captive into Assyria Jehoiachim, besides the principal inhabitants (606). From this moment dates the Babylonian captivity. 38. ZEDEKIAH END OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDA. Nevertheless, the kingdom of Juda was not yet destroyed. The King of Assyria consented shortly after to restore Jehoiachim to liberty and to the throne, on condition that he should be his tributary ; but Jehoiachim, leaning on the support of Nechao, King of Egypt, ventured to rebel against Nebu- chodonosor. Nechao was vanquished at Oarchemish. 1 Nebuchodonosor entered forcibly into Jerusalem, made Jehoiachim prisoner, and soon after sent him to Babylon, where he died. The Jews again arose in the reign of Jchoiachin (or Jeconias). Besieged a third time 1 On the Euphrates. HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 69 by Nebuchodonosor, Jerusalem was reduced to a famine so terrible that the father ate his son and the mother her daughter. The citizens at last sur- rendered, the town was pillaged anew, as well as the temple, and partly destroyed by the flames ; Jehoiachin was led away captive to Babylon. The last king of Juda was Sedecias (597587), uncle of Jehoiachim. This prince, whom Nebucho- donosor placed on the throne, imitated his predecessors. Despising the counsels of Jerernias, who predicted that the captivity would last seventy years, he formed with the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Syrians, the Sidonians, and the Egyptians a powerful league against Nebuchodonosor ; but this monarch fought against the King of Egypt, who came to the aid of the Jews, and took Jerusalem by assault (587). Sedecias was taken and conducted to Nebuchodonosor, who ordered the massacre of the unfortunate king's sons in their father's presence ; Sedecias himself had his eyes put out, and was led captive to Babylon, where he was imprisoned until his death, thus verify- ing the prophecy of Jeremias, " Yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there" Jerusalem was reduced to ashes, and the conqueror left scarcely any one in Judoea except the vine-dressers and labourers to cul- tivate the soil. Thus was the kingdom of Juda destroyed, after a duration of 375 years since the accession of Roboam (962587). 39. THE PROPHETS JEREMIAS DANIEL AT THE COURT OF NEBUCHODONOSOR. Jeremias had remained in the land of Juda with the poorest citizens to lament over the ruins of his 70 ANCIENT HISTORY country. " How doth the city sit solitary," cried the prophet, " that was full of people ! how is the mistress of the Gentiles become as a widow : the princes of provinces made tributary ! Her adversaries are be- come her lords ; her enemies are enriched, because the Lord bath spoken against her for the multitude of her iniquities : her children are led into captivity before the face of the oppressor." Dispersed in the provinces of the empire of Assyria, the Jews, without country and without altar, never- theless subsisted under the Lord's protection in a foreign land. After the destruction of Jerusalem Nebuchodonosor had treated the captives humanely ; he also permitted to them the exercise of their own customs and laws ; nevertheless he wished to oblige them to adore a statue sixty cubits high, which he had raised in honour of the god Bel or Baal. Three young Israelites, named Ananias, 1 Misael, and Azarias, who had been brought up with Daniel at the king's court since the captivity of the house of Juda, to which they belonged, refused to abandon their reli- gion, and the irritated monarch had them thrown into a fiery furnace ; but as they were saved from death by divine protection, Nebuchodonosor, astonished at the miracle, forbade his subjects to blaspheme the name of the God of Israel. Daniel had given to his young companions an example of fidelity to the precepts of the Lord ; he received from God understanding to interpret dreams, being also endowed with a marvellous wisdom, of which he gave a striking proof in causing the people 1 The four children of Sedecias's family, viz., Daniel, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, were re-named by Nebuchodonosor' s chamberlain respectively, Baltassar, Sidrach, Misach, and Abedenago. HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 7 I to see and acknowledge the innocence of the chaste Susanna, and in confounding the infamous elders who, by their impostures, would have sent to death she whom they were unable to seduce. His fame reached the ears of the king, who, tor- mented by a frightful dream, had in vain resorted to the penetration of the magicians. Daniel, inspired by God himself, recalled to the king his dream, of which he had lost the remembrance ; he explained the myste- rious sense of the apparition of a statue with a golden head, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and his feet of clay, overthrown and reduced to powder by a stone detached from a mountain : it was the image of the four great empires of Assyria, Persia, Macedonia, and of Rome, who, destroying each other, should become absorbed by an empire infinite and immortal, which is that of Jesus Christ on the earth. Nebuchodonosor, in his admiration for the wisdom of Daniel, called him to the court and loaded him with honours ; but the pride of the king brought down upon himself the vengeance of heaven, and he was for seven years deprived of reason. Evil-Merodach, Nebuchodonosor's successor, wished to oblige Daniel to worship the idol of Baal, to which the people were each day obliged to offer a great quantity of meat and wine. These offerings were carried off by the priests during the night, who pre- tended that they had been devoured by the god. Daniel secretly strewed the pavement of the temple with ashes, and on the morrow the traces of footsteps in the dust discovered to the king the wiles of the priests of the idol. Evil-Merodach put the impostors to death ; but the idolatrous Babylonians could not 72 ANCIENT HISTORY pardon Daniel, who again augmented their resentment by causing a serpent to perish adored at Babylon as a divinity. The prophet's enemies succeeded in caus- ing him to be thrown into a den of lions. God pro- tected him, and Daniel came forth without having experienced any hurt. 39A. EDICT OF CYRUS END OF THE CAPTIVITY (536). The voice of Daniel was again raised in the court of the kings of Babylon to announce the approaching accomplishment of the prophecies uttered against that city, rendered abominable by its iniquities. Baltassar, or Ldbynit, fourth successor of Nebuchodonosor, was in possession of the throne, when Cyaxeres, King of Media, came with his nephew Cyrus to lay siege to Babylon. Baltassar, counting on the height and strength of his walls, continued to give himself up to excess of revelry. Suddenly, in the midst of the fes- tival, in which he had profaned the sacred vessels taken from the temple at Jerusalem, a hand traced on the wall some mysterious characters (see book ii. ch. i. No. 74). The magi and the diviners were troubled at the sight, and remained silent. Daniel alone recognised the fatal arrest of the empire, whose sove- reigns had dared to neglect the warnings of the Lord. In effect, during that same night, Cyrus took the city, Baltassar was slain, and soon all Assyria was in the power of the conqueror. Daniel, having obtained by his wisdom the confidence of Cyrus, showed to him the prophecies of Isaias, calling Cyrus by his name, saying, " Thus saith the Lord to my anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face. ... I am the Lord, and there HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 73 is none else, there is no God besides Me : I girded thee, and thou hast not known Me : that they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, and there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is none else." Cyrus, struck by the evidence of this prophecy, and proud to see him- self designated as the instrument in the hands of the Almighty, issued, in the first year of his reign, the famous edict which permitted the Jews to return into their own land, and to rebuild the Temple of Jeru- saleni (536). CHAPTER IV HISTORY OF yUDMA, FROM THE END OF THE BABY- LONIAN CAPTIVITY TO THE TAKING OF JERU- SALEM BY THE ROMANS I. Return of the Jews to Jerusalem. 1 40. RETURN OF THE JEWS TO JUD.EA ZOROBABEL ESTHER. WHEN the edict of Cyrus had restored liberty to the Jews, about forty-two thousand persons departed from Babylon under the guidance of Zorobabel and of the high priest Josiw, or Jesus; they took back with them the sacred vessels, previously carried off by Nebuchodonosor. Arrived at Jerusalem, they com- 1 Synchronism. Tarquinius Superbus, 534 (No. 142). Darius, son of Hystaspes, 522 (No. 77). Liberty re-established at Athens, 510 (No. 112). Expulsion of the King of Rome; Roman Republic; Brutus, 509 (No. 143). The Consuls : Porsena, 508 ; Dictature, 498 (No. 144). First War of the Persians against the Greeks, 496 ; Battle of Marathon, 490 (No. 114). Tribuneship at Rome, 491 ; Siege of Rome by Coriolanus, 490 (Nos. 145, 146). Xerxes invades Greece, 481 ; Battles of Thermopylae, of Salainis, of Platsea, and of Mycale, 480, 479 (No. 115). Artaxerxes Longimanus, 472; Rivalship of Sparta and Athens (No. 116) ; Decemvirate. The Twelve Tables, 451 (No. 148). Treaty of Cimon (449). Pericles (No. 117). The Pelopon- nesian War, 431. Alcibiades (No. 158). Taking of Athens by Lysan- der, 404 ; Battle of Cutiaxa ; Retreat of the Ten Thousand, 401 (No. 119). Ageailaus (No. 120). Capture of Rome by the Gauls ; Camillus, 389 (No. 150). Treaty of Antalcidas, 387 (No. 120). Pelopidas and Epaminondas at Thebes (No. 121). Philip II., King of Macedonia ; Demosthenes (No. 130) ; Battle of the Chersonesus, 338. The Tamnite War (No. 152). Battle at the Caudine Forks ; Alexander the Great, 74 HISTORY OF JUD^A 75 rnenced the re-erection of the altar, and obtained from the Phoenicians the wood necessary for the construc- tion of the temple. Yet the works were often interrupted through the jealousy of the Samaritans, and it was only at the end of twenty years of perse- verance that the Jews, encouraged by the prophets Affc/eus and Zacharias, could finish the new temple and make the solemn dedication. A great number of Hebrews had failed to profit by the authorisation accorded by Cyrus, and had continued to sojourn in the divers provinces of Assyria, united to the empire of Persia. Separated from their con- querors by their religion, their traditions, and their manners, they had many enemies at the court of the Persian king. An Amalecite, named Aman, Minister of the king Aliasuerus, or Darius I. (Nos. 77, 78), animated by a mortal hatred against a Jew named Mardochai, determined on the death of this man and of the entire nation to which he belonged ; but God had placed on the throne a young Jewess, Esther, niece of 336; Darius CoJomannus ; Battles of Issus, 333; of Arbela, 331; Conquest of Asia (No. 131). Death of Alexander, 323; Division of his Empire (No. 132). Battle of Ipsus, 301 ; Kingdom of Egypt ; Lagides ; Kingdom of Syria; Seleucus, 133; Demetrius Poliorcetes, 133. War of the Romans against Pyrrhus, 280 (No. 153). First Punic War, 264 ; Regulus, Hamilcar Barca (No. 155). Arsaces founds the Parthian Empire, 255 (No. 93). Achaean League; Aratus, 251 (No. 137). Reforms by Agis and Cleomenes ; Antiochus the Great in Syria, 222; Second Punic War, 219; Hannibal; Battles of the Ticinus, of Trebia, 218, of Trasimenus, 217, of Cannae, 216 (No. 156). Pilopoemen, Chief of the Achaean League, 214 (No. 137). Expedition of the Romans to Sicily, 214 ; Capture of Syracuse ; Archimedes, 212 (No. 156). Scipio Africanus ; Battle of Zama, 202. Philip vanquished at Cynoscepalae, 197 (No. 157). Antiochus the Great vanquished at Magnesia, 190 (No. 85). The Censor, Cato (No. 161). Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, 175 (No. 85). Perseus vanquished at Pynda, 768 (No. 159). 76 ANCIENT HISTORY Mardochai, whom the King had preferred to all the women in his kingdom, and whom he had married unknowing her origin, after repudiating the proud queen Vasthi (519). Instructed by Mardochai con- cerning Aman's projects, and sustained by a con- sciousness of right, Esther dared to infringe the law which forbade, under pain of death, approach to the King's throne without a call, and she revealed to the monarch all the villainy of his Minister. Aman was hung on a gallows fifty cubits high, which he had himself destined for Mardochai, and the latter succeeded to all the offices and dignities of his enemy. A pompous fete preserved the souvenir of the deliverance of the Jewish nation. 41. NEHEMIAS REFOKMS MADE BY ESDKAS MALACHIAS. From that time Darius and, later, his son Xerxes (No. 1 1 5), accorded an equal protection to the Jews who had remained in Persia, and to those who had returned to Judaea. The latter remained, until the time of Alexander the Great (332), faithfully sub- servient to the authority of the Satrap who governed the provinces of Syria and Palestine. For the rest, the administration of religious things appertained exclusively to their high priest, and the care of ordinary affairs was confided to the chiefs of Judah. Strangers to all the revolts which then agitated several countries of Asia, they recovered, during this time of peace for them, a part of their old prosperity. Nehemias, officer of King Artaxerxes Longimanm (No. 117), obtained an edict authorising the recon- struction of the walls of Jerusalem (454); he himself HISTORY OF JUDAEA 77 directed the works, hindered, more than once, by the efforts of the neighbouring people of Judaea. From the epoch of time when this edict was issued, seventy weeks of years only had to flow by until the death of the Saviour, according to the prophecy of Daniel. Shortly, the Jew Esdras, uniting his efforts to those of Nehemias, reformed the interior administration, re-established the observation of the precepts of religion too often forgotten, restored the priesthood to its ancient sanctity, and put in order the Holy Books. It was he who composed the Paralipomenon, and who established those places of public reunion, called Synagogues, in which the people might listen to the reading and explanation of Holy Scrip- ture. Near this time appeared Malachias, the last of the prophets, who announced once again the coming of the Messias. God's people were waiting for the arrival of Him who had to be the Desired of the Nations. Malachias, though uttering words of hope, condemned the vices and unfaithfulness of the Israelites. New disorders already shook the barely reconstituted nation. A violent revolt broke out in 437, and the erection of a temple at Gerizin consummated the separation of the Israelites into two hostile peoples, the Jews and the Samaritans. Some years after (397) an atrocious crime soiled the sanctuary ; John assured himself of the dignity of High Priest by slaying, with his own hand, at the foot of the altar, his brother Je&us. In 351, the Jews took part in a revolt of the Phoenicians against the Persians ; but Artaxerxes Ochus invaded Judaea, took Jericho and several other towns, and transported a great number of Jews into distant lands. ANCIENT HISTORY 42. ALEXANDER AT JERUSALEM. Judaea remained submissive to Persia until the invasion of Alexander the Ghvat, King of Macedon (No. 131). The Jews, says Josephus, having refused to submit to the vanquisher of Darius, the enraged Alexander marched against Jerusalem, with the resolve to wreak his vengeance on the city (332). At his approach, the High Priest Jaddiia, who had succeeded his father, John, about the year 359, caused the city gates to be opened ; then, putting on his pontifical ornaments, " and carrying the golden plate whereon the name of GOD was engraved," he set out, accom- panied by the priests in their sacerdotal vestments, followed by an innumerable crowd of citizens, and soon came within sight of the conqueror. Alexander, struck with the appearance of this majestic spectacle, suddenly changed his ideas. He respectfully advanced towards the High Priest, adored the name of the Lord, and, entering the temple, he there offered sacrifice to the true God. Samaria, on the contrary, had to submit to a terrible chastisement for having dared to massacre a governor established there by Alexander ; all its in- habitants were chased away, and replaced by a Mace- donian colony. Alexander again set forth on his conquering career, and, according to the expression of Scripture, the earth was silent before him. 43. REVOLUTION IN JUD^A. After the death of Alexander, while the anarchical disputes of his successors were in progress, Judaea, placed between the kingdoms of Syria and Egypt, was HISTORY OP JTJD.EA 79 claimed by both those countries, and for some time they had alternate possession of it. Conquered (320) by Ptolemy Soter, King of Egypt (No. 58), it soon fell under the power of Seleucus Nicanor, the Syrian king (301), who permitted the Jews to live in accordance with their laws, and under the government of their sovereign pontiffs. It was then that the High Priest inserted into the sacred canon the books of Esdras, Nehemias, and the Paralipomenon. Judasa had been re-united to Egypt by Ptolemy Philadelphia, when this monarch caused to be made, by seventy-two learned Jews, a Greek translation of the Holy Book, which he was greatly desirous of placing in the library at Alexandria. This was the celebrated Version of the Septuagint. Antiochus the Great (No. 85), then in the height of his power, wished for the possession of Pales- tine. The defeat at Eaphia obliged him to retire from before Ptolemy Philopator, King of Egypt (No. 58). The latter visited Jerusalem, and attempted to penetrate into the sanctuary, where the High Priest himself entered once only in each year ; but an invisible hand overthrew him, and he was carried away half dead. Furious at this chastisement from the Lord, he re- venged himself on the Jews by treating them with cruelty. After his death (203), Judaea again fell under the Syrian yoke ; but the country many times changed hands prior to the epoch in which it was definitely united to the kingdom of Syria (186). The evils which befell the Jews under the latter Seleucidaa were caused chiefly by the rivalry of a few ambitious men, who disputed the pre-eminence in Judsea. Simon, jealous of Onias, the High Priest, excited the avaricious spirit of Seleiicus Philopator, by causing the informa- tion to reach him that considerable treasures were So ANCIENT HISTORY preserved in the temple. The king commissioned his minister, Ifeliodorus, to seize that rich prey ; but God smote the sacrilegious offender in the midst of the sacred edifice, and he owed his life only to the prayers of the High Priest (175). Heliodorus returned to Syria, proclaimed the power of Isi'ael's God, and Seleucus sent the traitor Simon into exile. Under Antiochus Epiphanes depravity greatly in- creased amongst the Jews ; Joshua purchased with money the office of High Priest, of which he had deprived the virtuous Onias. In order to please the king he took the Pagan name of Jason, and introduced among the people the depraved manners of the Greeks. He soon had several rivals, and wishing to conciliate the favour of Antiochus, he promised him to abandon the law of Moses. Civil war broke out in Judsea, which became divided into several sections. On Jason inciting the Jews against the Syrians, Antiochus pro- ceeded to lay siege to Jerusalem. He took the city, pillaged the temple, and massacred forty thousand persons (170). Jason, author of all those evils, ended his criminal life in Lacedemonia. 44. ANTIOCHUS PERSECUTES THE JEWS. Two years after, Antiochus, who was arrested in the course of his exploits in Egypt by the envoy of the Roman Senate (No. 85), revenged himself of this affront by charging one of his generals to put Judaea to fire and slaughter. Having resolved to abolish the Jewish religion he issued a decree forbidding his subjects to acknowledge any other deities than those worshipped by the king. He placed an idol in the sanctuary, and threw the Books of the Law into the HISTORY OF JUD^A 8 I flames ( 1 68). At the same period he built in Jerusalem the fortress of Acre, and stationed a garrison commis- sioned to massacre all those who should attempt to go to the temple to adore their God. A terrible persecu- tion fell upon a small number of the faithful in the midst of these trials. It was then that Elcazar, the pious elder, with an invincible constancy, refusing to eat the flesh forbidden by the law, allowed himself to be put to death rather than give by his frailty a per- nicious example to men younger than himself. It was then that a mother, beholding her children put to death, all the time exhorted them to confess God in the midst of their torments, she herself perishing the last, displaying an admirable courage. II. History of the Machabees The Kings of Judaea Herod. 1 45. MATHATHIAS AND HIS SONS. The blood of so many victims cried for vengeance. Then arose a priest named Mathathias, who, unwilling to witness the shameful apostasy of some of his com- patriots, had quitted Jerusalem accompanied by his five sons, Joannan, Judas, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Simon. He called all his compatriots to stand up in 1 Synchronism. Third Punic War, 149; Capture of Carthage (No. 70). Reduction of Macedonia, 147 ; and of Greece into a Roman pro- vince, 146 (No. 159). Scipio Africanus. Capture of Numantia, 134 (No. i6oa). The Gracchi, 133-121 (No. 162). War against Jugurtha, 112 (No. 163). Defeat of the Cimbri and Teutones ; Marius (No. 164). Social war (No. 163). Rivalry of Marius and Sulla (No. 169). Com- mencement of the War against Mithridates, 86 (No. 1 66). Proscriptions and death of Marius, 86 ; proscriptions, dictature, and death of Sulla, 83-79 (No. 169). War of Sertorius (No. 170). Exploits of Lucullus against Mitridates (No. 166). Pompey Wars against the Pirates, 67 ; Death of Mitridates, 65. Syria reduced into a Roman province F 82 ANCIENT HISTORY defence of the Law of the Lord, and was joined by a great number of Jews ; he formed a regiment of soldiers, with which he overran Judaea, slaughtering the partisans of Antiochus and overthrowing their idols. Learning that one thousand of his companions had chosen to be slain rather than fight on the day consecrated to the Lord, he caused a decree to be issued by the Elders, allowing warfare on the Sabbath-day when it concerned self-defence from the enemy's attacks. A great many powerful Israelites joined the ranks of Mathathias. Yet he did not live to see the consummation of his great enterprises. He died engaging his children to recog- nise for their leader his third son, Judas Machaleus (i 66). 4 5 A. JUDAS MACHABEUS His VICTORIES, HIS DEATH (166-161). Judas assembled an army of six thousand men, and, after invoking the Lord, he exterminated the wor- shippers of idols, delivered the city, and rebuilt the demolished fortifications. The governor of Judsea and that of Coelesyria were vanquished, the one after the other. Being apprised of Judas' victories, Antiochus sent into Judsea an army of forty-seven thousand men, under the leadership of Nicanor and two other gene- (No. 87). Conjuration of Catiline. Cicero (No. lyoa). First Triumvi- rate, 60; Campaigns of Caesar in Gaul, 59-51; War of Crassus against the Parthians, 54 (Nos. 172, 173). Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, 52 (No. 59). Civil war Battle of Pharsalia, 48 ; Triumph and Dic- tatorship of Caesar (Nos. 174, 175). Death of Crassus, 44; Second Triumvirate, 43; Battle of Philippi, 42 (No. 177). War of Antony against the Parthians, 35 ; War botween Octavius and Antony Battle of Actium, 31 (No. 178). Death of Antony and Cleopatra. Reduction of Egypt into a Roman province, 30 ; Accession of Augustus (No. 179). The Empire founded. HISTORY OF JUDAEA 83 rals. After preparing for the combat by fasting and prayer, Judas, with three thousand men, attacked his numerous enemies and annihilated their army. His soldiers captured immense booty, and carried off a great quantity of silver from a troop of merchants who had gone in the train of the Syrian army in the hope of purchasing the vanquished Israelites as slaves. In the following year (165), Judas gained a fresh victory over two other Syrian generals. At last Lysias, Minister and relative of Antiochus, arrived in Judaea with sixty-five thousand men. Judas had only ten thousand ; but full of confidence in the Lord, he attacked Lysias at Betlisur, a village near Jerusalem, slew five thousand of the hostile army, put the rest to flight, and triumphantly entered into the capital of Judasa. He found the holy places deserted, the altar profaned, the temple gates burnt, and the court full of brambles. At this sight, seized with profound sorrow, he besought the Lord to avert such evils from his people, and, after purifying the temple, he cele- brated the new dedication by a magnificent festival, and offered sacrifices of expiation for the dead. Antiochus heard of the victories of Judas Machabeus as he was returning from an unfortunate expedition against the Persians. As his reverses had made him furious, he swore to make Jerusalem the tomb of the Jews, and hastened his march in order to put his cruel project into execution as soon as possible ; but he fell, overthrown from his chariot, and was smitten by a fearful distemper. In this punishment he recog- nised the hand of the Lord, acknowledging that His just judgment had fallen upon him, and he died in great suffering. Judas fought against the generals of Antiochus 84 ANCIENT HISTORY Eupator, the new king, with the same success as against those of Epiphanus, and after several victories he laid siege to the citadel of Jerusalem, that was defended by the king in person, at the head of an army composed of one hundred and thirty thousand men, thirty-two elephants, and three hundred chariots of iron. After seeking the Lord by fasting and prayer, Judas ventured to attack those formidable troops. The battle, fought on the plain of Bethsura, without any decisive result, has become celebrated owing to the devotion of an heroic Jew named Eleazar. This valiant warrior, perceiving an elephant of taller pro- portions and more magnificently decorated than the rest, imagined that it carried King Antiochus. Hop- ing to deliver his country by a sudden stroke of bravery, he threw himself in the midst of the hostile host, sword in hand, reached the elephant, and, gliding under it, he pierced the enormous beast, which, falling upon Eleazar, crushed him to death, as also the man who was riding upon it. After the battle, Judas, per- ceiving that his little army could not prevail against the superior numbers of the Syrian troops, retired to Jerusalem, and placed a brave garrison within the enclosure of the temple, which he strongly fortified. Eupator lay siege to it ; but being recalled to Syria by a sedition, he made a league with Judas Machabeus, whom he recognised as sovereign chieftain of the Jewish nation (162). This peace was violated tbat same year by Demetrius Soter, Eupator's successor. Nicanor, the Syrian general, being sent to Judiea, was repulsed in the first combat, near Jerusalem, and he perished the year after at Bethoron ; but soon after- wards Judas M'ichabeus was att icked by a still greater army. Fatigued with war, the Jews lost courage and HISTORY OF JUD^A 85 abandoned their leader. Judas retained near him only eight hundred men, and with these he attacked the vast army of the Syrians, and put to flight several of their troops ; but, overwhelmed by superior numbers, he perished, enshrouded in his triumph. The whole Jewish nation wept and lamented this hero, saying, " How ! Is the great man fallen who saved the people of Israel ? " 46. JONATHAN AND SIMON THE MACHABEE (161-135). Judas Machabeus had worthy successors in his brothers. Jonathan (161 144) animated the courage of all around him, and fought against the general Bacchidcs, who had taken Judasa, whilst profiting of the consternation within its boundaries consequent on the death of Judas. Having forced his enemies to make peace, Jonathan governed Judsea after the manner of the ancient judges of Israel. Soon the quarrels of the disputants for the throne of Syria affirmed the independence of the Hebrews. With the view of gaining over Jonathan to his interests, Demetrius Soter restored to him all the fortified places which the Syrians still occupied in Judasa, and allowed him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (153). Alexander Sales, 1 on his side, deferred to him the dignity of high priest, which was confirmed to him by the suffrages of the nation. After several times fighting with glory against the enemies of the Syrian princes, who had declared themselves protectors of the Jews, Jonathan perished, assassinated in an ambuscade (144). Jonathan was succeeded by his brother Simon, the last of Mathathias' children. Simon obtained from 1 Sales in Douay Bible ; Balas in Fredet's Ancient History. 86 ANCIENT HISTORY Demetrius Nicator, king of Syria, the exemption of all the tributes imposed on Judaa ( 1 44) ; he chased from Jerusalem the Syrian garrison, which still occupied the fortress of Acre (142), and having thus assured the independence of his country, he obtained from the Jews assembled at Jerusalem an Act, which declared the sovereign authority and the high priesthood here- ditary in his family. Thus, becoming the veritable sovereign of Judsea, Simon renewed (139) the alliance already concluded by his brothers with the Romans, in whose protection he calculated to find a more solid support than in the doubtful benevolence of the Syrian princes. He took possession of the port of Joppe for establishing communications with Greece and the islands of the Mediterranean. At the same time peace reigned in Israel. " Under him," says the Scripture, " every man tilled his land with peace ; and the land of Juda yielded her increase, and the trees of the fields their fruit. The ancient men sat all in the streets and treated together of the good things of the land." Nevertheless, some years after, Simon became, like his brother, victim of a conspiracy ; he died, assassinated by his own relations, who wished to seize upon the pontifical authority (135). But it was John Hyrcanus (135107), Simon's son, already com- mander of the troops in Judsea, who succeeded to the dignities of his father, after a bitter struggle against the Syrians, who had again invaded the land of Israel. During a reign of twenty-nine years, the son of Simon augmented the power and riches of the nation, whose tranquillity was troubled only by the quarrels of the two great religious and political sects, the Sad- ducees and the Pharisees. HISTORY OF JUD^A 87 47. THE KINGS OF JUD^IA. ARISTOBULUS HYRCANUS HEROD. The successor of John Hyrcanus was the son of Aristobulus (107). This prince threw into chains three of his brothers, slew a fourth, and took the title of king, which had never been borne by the governors of Judsea since the captivity of Babylon. Aristobulus having died after a reign of one year, Alexander Janneus, his brother, succeeded him, and secured him- self on the throne, like Aristobulus, by a fratricide (19679). His battles against his foreign enemies never ceased, and he was conquered by" Ptolemy Lathyrus, who soiled his victory by horrible massacres. Alexander had, nevertheless, taken a great number of cities, when a rising of the Pharisees, sustained by the King of Syria, threw all Judsea into confusion. Alex- ander punished the revolters with unheard-of barbari- ties, and died sometime after of an ague. Alexandra, his widow (7970), who governed after him, favoured, on the contrary, the Pharisees, who revenged on the Sadducees the cruelties of Alexander, and inundated with blood the city of Jerusalem. Queen Alexandra, in dying (70), had designated as her successor her eldest son, Hyrcanus II., who was acknowledged king by the Pharisees ; but soon Aris- tobulus II., having incited the people, long ago tired of the yoke of the Pharisees, obliged his brother Hyrcanus to cede to him the throne and the priest- hood (69). Nevertheless the war was rekindled between the partisans of the two brothers. Aristo- bulus, vanquished in his turn (65), implored the aid of Pompey, the Eoman, who had made great conquests 88 ANCIENT HISTORY in Asia. (See Roman History, No. 166.) This general consented to serve as arbiter to the two brothers, and he declared for Hyrcanus, who, thanks to the aid of the Romans, triumphed over all the efforts of his enemies, and became sole governor under the title of Ethnarch (57). Notwithstanding the attachment he had shown for Pompey, this prince obtained the same protection from Caesar. Soon new troubles broke out in Judaea ; Antigoniis, son of Aristobulus, pretended to revindicate the power, and dethroned Hyrcanus, but he himself was divested of authority by Herod of Asccelon, who merited the crown for his devotedness to the Eoman cause. Herod, proclaimed through the influence of Antony and Octavius (40), put himself by force of arms in possession of the states which had been given him, and took Jerusalem by assault, where he made prisoner Antigonus, who was afterwards beheaded (37). In order to consolidate his power, Herod massacred the Sanhedrim^ or great council of the nation, who opposed his tyrannical measures ; and he sentenced to death the old king Hyrcanus, as also Aristobulus, the last branch of the Asmonean race, whose sister Marianne he had married. This princess soon afterwards perished, victim of her husband's jealousy. 1 The great council of the Jews, consisting of sevc nty elders, besides the high priest, who presided over it. HISTORY OF JUDAEA 89 III. Birth of Jesus Chritt Preaching of the Gospel Revolt of the Jews Destruction of Jerusalem (i). 48. BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST DIVISION OF JUD.EA PREACHING OF OUR SAVIOUR His DEATH. It was during the reign of the cruel Herod that the Saviour of the world was born at Bethlehem. (See Roman History, No. 192.) Three years after our Saviour's birth Herod divided his kingdom amongst his three sons Judaea, Samaria, and Idumea, to Archclaus, with the title of Tetrarch ; Galilee to Herod Antipas ; and Trachonitis and Iturea to Philip. Archelaus, to whom Herod had granted the kingdom, having displeased the Romans, was de- prived by them (6 years A.D.) of his estates, which were reduced into a Roman province, the government being administered by procurators. It was under this new rule that our Saviour Jesus Christ began to accomplish His divine mission. After passing thirty years in obedience and retreat, He traversed Judaea and Galilee, healing the sick, com- forting the poor and afflicted, teaching all that sublime moral contained in the double precept of love to God and man, confirming His words by striking miracles, and uniting near Him the apostles and disciples who had to go and preach the Gospel to the whole world. Betrayed by one of His apostles, pursued by the out- rages of that people whom He had loaded with benefits, and who had just previously received Him triumph- antly, the Saviour appeared before one of the Roman 90 ANCIENT HISTORY procurators named Pontius Pilate, 1 after having been taken before the tribunal of Caiaplias the high priest, and of Herod Antipas the Tetrarch of Galilee. Al- though convinced of His innocence, Pilate abandoned Him, through cowardice, to the fury of the Jews, and the Son of God, expiring on the Cross, consummated by His death the redemption of humankind. 49. DECADENCE OF JUDAEA REVOLTS. After the death of Philip (34), Herod Agrippa, a grandson of Herod the Elder, obtained from the friend- ship of the emperor Caligula the title of king, which his grandfather had borne. In the year 39, Agrippa took possession of the tetrarchy of Antipas, his uncle, who was in exile, and, two years later, he was pro- claimed by Claudius King of all Judrea. The Eoman rule became re-established. After Agrippa's death, far from recognising Agrippa II. (44), the emperor Claudius ruled as if he were master of the government in Judaea. By the feebleness and incertitude of the administration, the kingdom was soon given up to the most deplorable disorder. By the exactions and tyranny of Gessius Florus, the procurator, the evils in Judoea attained their height. Reduced to despair, the Jews took up arms (66). The governor of Syria essayed in vain to overcome them by force. Vespasian, who succeeded him (67), took and reduced to ashes several towns, notwithstanding the efforts of Joscphus, historian and general, who developed in this war all the resources of an active genius. Vespasian for some 1 Sometime after he was exiled, and is supposed to have died in a city of Gallia, Narbonensis, now called Vienne (on the Isdrc), a tributary of the Rhone, in the province of Dauphine, France. HISTORY OF JUDAEA 91 time left the Jews to aggravate their evils by mutual discords ; at last, in the spring of the following year (68), he proceeded to lay siege to Jerusalem. (Rom. Hist., No. 191.) Proclaimed emperor during his ab- sence (69), he quitted the army to return to Eome, confiding to Titus his son the task of terminating the war. 50. TAKING OF JERUSALEM BY TITUS (70). Although divided into several factions, the Jews defended the city of Jerusalem with an incredible desperation ; but Josephus had gone over to the enemy's ranks. The feast of the Passover (i4th April of the year 79) had, notwithstanding the furies of war, attracted to the city great crowds of people. The blockade commenced while this great multitude was within the city ; famine soon after began to be felt with all its horrors ; the most vile aliment was sold for its weight in gold; a mother devoured her child. Titus, having taken part of the city (28th April), submitted to the Jews overtures of peace, which they continually rejected. The capture of the tower or fort Antonia, which defended the temple (with which it communicated by a gallery), led the Romans under the walls of the outward enclosure. A general assault was repulsed ; but a Roman soldier, led, says the historian Josephus, by a divine impulse, having thrown a lighted torch into one of the apart- ments surrounding the sanctuary, the fire communi- cated with rapidity to every part of the temple, and, notwithstanding the efforts of Titus, who wished to preserve the splendid building, it was entirely con- sumed. Thus, as Jesus Christ had predicted, not one 92 ANCIENT HISTORY stone remained upon another. The Eoman soldiers pillaged all that they could tear from the flames, and such was the wealth of the spoils that the value of silver fell one-half in Syria. Notwithstanding the destruction of the temple, the besieged prolonged for yet one month their resistance in the upper town ; but that portion of the city fell also into the hands of the Romans (8th September 70). More than thirteen hundred thousand Jews, who perished in this war, were the direct instruments of their own destruction, when they cried, " His blood be upon us, and upon our children." 51. REVOLT OF THE JEWS UNDER HADRIAN THEIR DISPERSION. This appalling disaster, in which the pagan Titus witnessed a proof of Divine vengeance, did not open the eyes of the unhappy Jews, who still awaited the coming of a warrior Messias, who should be their Deliverer. They gathered round the walls of Jeru- salem and built a new town ; but the emperor Hadrian attempted to raise, within its enclosure, a temple to Jupiter. The Jews, filled with indignation, rose once again in arms under the leadership of an adventurer named Barchochebas. Five hundred and sixty thousand men perished in this war, which terminated with the death of Barchocliebas, who was slain in a fortress which he was obstinately de- fending. Hadrian established a Roman colony at Jerusalem ; the city received the name of ^Elia Capitolina l (130), 1 Its ancient name (Jerusalem) was restored to it by Constantino the Great. HISTORY OF JUD^A 93 and, with the view of preventing new seditions, Hadrian permitted the Jews to enter it once only in each year, on the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem. Thus was consummated the ruin of the Jewish nation, whose feeble remnants are scattered over all the countries of the earth (135). Seconfc part ANCIENT HISTORY PROPERLY SO CALLED BOOK L AFRICA CHAPTER I EGYPT 1. Historical Events. 52. PRIMITIVE TIMES. PLACED in the centre of the Ancient World, belonging, so to speak, equally to Asia and Africa, Egypt owed to its fortunate position a civilisation so advanced that its early historians, astonished at its rapid progress, have accorded to it twenty or thirty thousand years of existence. The neighbouring nations imported to it their industries and inventions of all kinds, and the great men of almost every land went to study the sciences cultivated in its midst. Moses was instructed there in all human knowledge; the Greek Herodotus gained there an insight of the origin of history ; the sage Plato imbibed there the most elevated principles of philosophy. This land was also the cradle of many nations now spread over the surface of the globe. From Egypt emerged those colonies which peopled Greece. Again, in Egypt the descendants of the patri- archs multiplied, and in her midst commenced to form the people of God. Even the constitution of the soil of this celebrated country is one of the most astonishing of natural 97 G 98 ANCIENT HISTORY phenomena. Being a vast oasis in the midst of a desert, it owes its existence to the Nile, 1 worshipped in antiquity as the Personification of Ammon, the supreme god of Egypt. This river alone waters and vivifies the soil, which would, without its aid, be only a shifting, burning sand, like the neighbouring desert. The whole valley was in primitive times constantly submerged, being nothing but a vast morass ; the ancients, however, by degrees, excavated a bed for the Nile, 2 and dried the fertilising slime which it unceas- ingly bears in its course from the mountains of Ethiopia. They also succeeded in directing and regulating the inundations of the river, whose waters annually over- flow the plain, giving to the whole country the aspect of a great lake, leaving behind, on their recession, a stratum of fertilising mud, by the effects of which, almost wholly unaccompanied by agricultural labour, two harvests are yearly reaped. Thus the hand of man has delivered the land of Egypt from the waters, and its fertility presents a chef-d'oeuvre of human industry. 1 The White Nile, or Bahr-el-Abiad (the True Nile), takes its source in the great lake called Victoria-Nyanza (or Eherevee, Little Sea), and after traversing a country called Barri, and receiving numerous afflu- ents, it flows on to Khartoum, where it is joined by the Blue Nile, or Bahr-el-Azrek, issuing from Lake Tzana (in Abyssinia). Then entering Nubia it describes many sinuosities, and forms successively, at long intervals, six cataracts, by reason of ridges of granite. In this region it passes Chendy and Dongola. After clearing the last cataract near Assouan (Syone) it waters Egypt, passing Luxor, Girgeh, Siout, and Cairo, then it divides into three principal arms, the Damietta, Rosetta, and Alexandria. 2 The river rises near the end of June ; in the latter half of August it overflows ; at the end of September the waters attain their greatest height. For two weeks their level remains stationary, and then begins to decline, and as the waters retire the seed time begins. The gathering in of the harvest commences in March, and when it is ended the irrigating trenches are opened, and a second harvest is reaped before another inundation. EGYPT 99 Egypt was successively peopled. The descendants of Cham, who had passed from Southern Arabia into Africa, arrived at the latter place from Ethiopia, situate on the south of Egypt; they descended the length of the Nile, stationing themselves in all those localities which the flow of waters left inhabitable ; they estab- lished themselves first in Upper Egypt, or the Thcba/id, afterwards in Middle Egypt, or the Heptanomide, and finally in Lower Egypt, or the Delta, 1 situate near the Mediterranean, and which remained the longest sub- merged. The history of Egypt, properly speaking, commences at that time, but at an epoch so remote, it is naturally enveloped in profound darkness, and very few enlightening facts are found in the chaos of its old annals until the reign of Sesostris. At an early period Egypt was divided into a multi- tude of little states, governed by a great number of royal dynasties. These reigned simultaneously, and not successively, as the ancient historian Manetho has maintained, who enumerates more than three hundred sovereigns belonging to seventeen dynasties. Thebes was ruled by kings, of whom Menes, it has been as- serted, was the first (about the twenty-ninth century B.C.) Elephantini, 2 Memphis, 3 Tanis, 4 and other cities, possessed also their respective monarchs. They were 1 The Delta is so called because of its triangular shape, resembling the Greek letter of that name, A, identical with our D. It is formed by the Damietta and Rosetta, two arms of the Nile. 2 A small island in the Nile, Upper Egypt. 3 The Noph, and Moph of Sacred Scripture. The site is now occu- pied by the village of Metrahenny (in Middle Egypt). 4 A city in Lower Egypt, of which ruins still remain. It is sup- posed to be identical with the Zoan of Sacred Scripture, and is now called San. The city was rebuilt by Saites, the first of the Shepherd kings. It is asserted by some that the Shepherd kings removed their court to Tanis during the dynasty of the Hyksos. 100 ANCIENT HISTORY chieftains of that southern race by which the country had been primarily peopled, but they did not long retain peaceable hold of the reins of government. 53. INVASION OF THE SHEPHERDS. The Arabian shepherds, or Hyksos, arrived by the Isthmus of Suez, 1 chasing before them the ancient population, who fled till they reached the Thebaid, where they remained confined over two hundred years. During that time the Shepherd kings reigned at Memphis under the name of Pharaolis (about 2 1 oo). It was they who were visited by Abraham and Jacob; one of the monarchs had Joseph for Minister of State. Under this dynasty the Hebrews were established in the Land of Gessen, 2 where they rapidly multiplied (No. n). However, the war re-commenced between the con- querors and the ancient inhabitants of Egypt ; those dwellers in the Thebai'd felt the necessity of uniting to repel the invaders and invest the Kings of Thebes 3 with sovereign authority. The Shepherd Pharaohs lost their conquests one by one. By the capture of Pelusium, Thotness III., or Mceris, completed the work of deliverance. This prince, one of the greatest Kings 1 A neck of land which connects Asia with Africa. a A region east of the Nile in Lower Egypt. 3 One of the most splendid of ancient cities. The site is occupied by most magnificent ruins, and the little Arab village of Luxor gives its name to the obelisk of Paris ; and Harnac gives its name to the ruins of a splendid temple, on the east bank of the Nile. Its necropolis, which consists of excavations in the rock which bounds the western side of the plain of Thebes, is on the opposite bank of the river, with the villages of Gournon and Medenit above. The Kings of Thebes held their court at the city during the dynasty of the Hyksos, probably as tributaries to the Shepherd kings. EGYPT I O I of Egypt, is for ever renowned as the monarch in whose reign the lake which bears his name was excavated. (See No. 63.) Scarcely any one remained in Egypt but the ancient Egyptians and the Hebrews ; but the condition of the latter was changed. Tranquil and flourishing under the benign reign of the Shepherds, they were now subject to a king who knew not Joseph. Moeris and his successors essayed to incorporate the Hebrews into the Egyptian nation, by drawing them from their pastoral life and subjecting them to close and laborious work. This was the grand constructive period of Egypt; a great number of canals were established, temples and pyramids were erected. These enormous labours fell to the Israelites, whose lives, says the Scriptures, became bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick. But their oppression had an end. Moses, saved from the waters by Pharaoh's daughter, placed himself at the head of his compatriots. The celebration of the Passover was the sign by which the Lord made known to His people the time of their deliverance. The Eed Sea opened to allow them a passage and closed behind them, swallowing up Pharaoh with all his army. (See No. 12.) Another change took place in Egypt at this epoch. The last descendants of the Shepherds, yet established at the further end of the Delta, were expelled for ever under the reign of King Amenophis. The whole of Egypt then formed one united and powerful nation. Guided by the genius of Sesostris, son of Amenophis, it revenged itself at last on Asia, returning conquest for conquest. 102 ANCIENT HISTORY 54. SESOSTRIS. From the time of Sesostris (1491), the history of Egypt has a stated chronology, and takes an aspect of truth. This hero of the ancient ages commenced his reign by attacking Ethiopia, 1 so as to arrest for ever the invasions of the people from the South. After obliging the Ethiopians to promise him a tribute of gold, ivory, and ebony, he passed the Isthmus of Pelusium 2 with his army, while a fleet of four hundred ships watched over the coasts ; it was the most formid- able expedition that had yet been seen. He traversed Syria, where he engraved triumphal inscriptions on the columns, passed the Euphrates and the Tigris, subdued Persia, advanced into India, returning to combat and vanquish the warlike nation of the Scyths. After establishing a colony at the foot of the Caucasus, he conquered Thrace, where still existed, at the time of Herodotus, several monuments constructed by the Egyptian conqueror ; the Danube could not arrest his victorious inarch, and he returned by the coasts of Greece and Occidental Asia. But the traces of his marvellous exploits proved more brilliant than durable. In vain he enriched Egypt with the spoils of the universe ; in vain was his chariot drawn by fettered kings; the nations, rather frightened than subdued, recovered by small degrees their independence. Sesos- tris rendered truer service to his kingdom by regularis- ing the administration of the country, which was divided into thirty-six provinces, or nomes, by building 1 A vast country south of Egypt (in Nubia). 2 The town of Pelusium (anciently Sin) was on the eastern mouth of the Nile. EGYPT 103 cities and fortresses, and finishing the canals which regulated the course of the Nile. 55. CONTINUATION OF THE PHAKAOHS (1458-673). After him, princes of divers races reigned over his States reduced to their natural limits. One of them made a league with Solomon, giving him his daughter in marriage. Another, named in Scripture Jesac, took the city of Jerusalem, and his armies ravaged Pales- tine. Under his successors, the Ethiopians twice made the conquest of Egypt, which was, after their retreat, governed by a priest of Vulcan named Sethos (1713); but the death of this prince became a new source of calamities to the country, which remained for two years a prey to factions. 56. THE TWELVE KINGS (671). At last twelve kings divided the power; a solemn treaty united them for twelve years, and they con- structed at their joint expense the famous labyrinth (No. 63). The strength of Egypt augmented by favour of this union, and the country commenced to entertain more frequent relations with the western nations. But the ambition of Psammetichus, one of the twelve, broke up the harmony. Fortified by the alliance of some Grecian troops, he aspired to reign alone. After a war of several years, he subdued the whole of Egypt to his dominion. At this epoch, the maritime expeditions of Egypt multiplied. To facilitate commercial communications, Neco, son of Psammetichus, attempted, but in vain, to join the Red Sea with the Mediterranean by means of 104 ANCIENT HISTORY a canal ; he, however, succeeded in another enterprise. By his orders, some Phoenician navigators set out from the northern extremity of the Ked Sea (614), made (without the aid of a compass) the tour of Africa, and, three years after, brought back their vessels by the Strait of Hercules 1 to the mouths of the Nile. Twenty-one centuries later, Vasco de Gama had to find this route again for the Moderns, which surren- dered to Europe the riches of India. But Egypt had passed the zenith of its glory. A new struggle with Asia led to its decadence. Neco, vanquisher of Josiah, King of Juda, at Megiddo, was soon afterwards repulsed by Nebuchodonosor. Under Pharaoh-ffophra, as the Bible informs us, God aban- doned the kingdom of Egypt to Nebuchodonosor. The Babylonian covered himself with riches as a shepherd covereth himself with his mantle, and retired in peace (No. 74). Since that time, conformably to Ezechiel's prophesy, Egypt has had no national sovereigns. 57. DOMINATION OF THE PERSIANS. Egypt never rallied from this stroke. Amasis, a robber by profession, secured the throne, which until then had appertained exclusively to the caste of priests, or, sometimes, to that of warriors. Forty years after, Egypt, torn by factions, offered an easy con- quest to Cambyses, King of Persia, who vanquished and slew Psammcnitus, son of Amasis (526). (See the reign of Cambyses, King of Persia, No. 77.) Egypt became a province of the Persian empire. 1 The Strait of Gibraltar. The two rocks, Mount Calpe (the Rock of Gibraltar) in Europe, and Mount Abyla (" Jebel Muza") on the opposite African shore, were called the Pillars of Hercules. EGYPT 105 58. ALEXANDER AND THE PTOLEMIES. Subdued by Alexander the Great (No. 131), Egypt became, after the death of that illustrious conqueror (3 2 3)> the portion of one of his generals, Ptolemy, son of Lagus, who replaced it amongst the number of the most powerful kingdoms of the East. (See herein- after the conquests of Alexander.) Egypt then began a new existence, taking an active part in the affairs of Europe, and, until the moment when she was destined to break herself against the Eoman colossus, playing an important role in the world's history. Ptolemy, first of the Lagidian dynasty, was often far from his kingdom occupied in war, whether it was to prevent any of the States formed of the debris of Alexander's empire acquiring a power capable of menacing the independence of Egypt, or whether it was to shelter it from invasions and ravages, he strove to drive back into their own States each one of his turbulent colleagues. (See History of the Wars of Alexander's Generals, Nos. 132, and following.) Thus he united with several other generals to resist the enterprises of Perdiccas, the Eegent of Macedon, who was at last massacred by his own soldiers in an attempted invasion of Egypt. Always hostile to the most ambitious adversary, he next warred against Antigonus (see No. 133), who exerted himself to re- establish, to his own advantage, a universal dominion, and profited by this struggle to render himself master of Syria and Palestine. In 306, he caused himself to be declared King of Egypt, after the example of his colleagues, who had all assumed the diadem. Five years after, he fought at the terrible battle of Ipsus, 106 ANCIENT HISTORY in which Antigonus perished (301), and in the dis- tribution which followed, he definitely united to his States of Egypt and Lybia, 1 Cyrenaica, Coele-Syria, and Palestine. From that time Ptolemy had a peace- able reign ; he applied himself only to the adminis- tration and internal prosperity of his kingdom, and died in 283, having abdicated, two years before, in favour of his son Ptolemy Philadelphus. The grati- tude of the Egyptians awarded to him the name of Soter (Saviour). He had founded the celebrated library at Alexandria. Ptolemy Philadelphus, leaving the defence of the frontiers to his generals, devoted all his care to the cultivation of science and literature, and in extending commerce. Alexandria became the centre of Oriental civilisation. It was by this king's orders that the translation of the Sacred Books was made, known under the name of Version of the Septuagint (No. 43). In this reign the canal commenced by Neco, intended to unite the Red Sea with the Mediterranean, was made navigable. In 247 a treaty of alliance united Egypt with Rome for the first time. Ptolemy Evergetes (247) was more warlike than his father. He went to combat Antiochus, King of Syria (No. 85), and returned to his kingdom loaded with spoils taken from the people who dwelt between Mount Taurus and the river Tigris, Syria and Cilicia acknowledged his rule, and King Seleucus-Callinicus, Antiochus' suc- cessor, who tried to oppose his progress, was beaten in his turn. Able politician, as well as a great general, Evergetes was careful to maintain his influence in Greece by declaring himself protector of the Achsean 1 The Greek for Africa. A vast country situated west of Egypt (now called the Desert of Barca). EGYPT 107 League (No. 137). He died in 222, leaving Egypt in a position of power and glory ; but she did not then maintain herself long ; unworthy princes successively dishonoured the throne. Ptolemy PMlopator was satiated in the blood of his nearest relatives and in the most shameful debauch- eries. He had the cowardliness to put to death Cleomenes, King of Sparta, who had come to seek a shelter in his states. His son, Ptolemy Epiphanes (205), who was only an infant at his father's death, was valiantly defended by his generals against the kings of Macedonia and Syria, who united to crush his feebleness ; but, declared major before the age, he used his authority only to slay those who had most faithfully served him. His cruelties and his infamous morals excited frequent revolts against him. He nevertheless escaped from the attacks of Antiochus the Great, King of Syria, and strengthened the alliance of Egypt with Eome. He perished while quite young, poisoned by his ministers, whom he wished to despoil (181). The Lagidian dynasty had become enfeebled under the two latter princes. Syria, which had been for a short time subdued, commenced in its turn to domi- nate. Ptolemy Philometor, king at six years old, under the regency of his mother, Cleopatra, was made prisoner by Antiochus Epiphanus (see hereinafter, No. 583), who reigned in his name. Ptolemy Ever- getes II., or Physcon, brother of Philometor, and elected iu his place, was combated by the Syrian, who in- vaded his kingdom. Egypt could be delivered only by the intervention of the Komans ; but she escaped from the influence of Syria only to fall under a more dangerous power. 108 ANCIENT HISTORY The Roman Senate, by its clever policy, prepared the subjugation of Egypt, and already the time could be foreseen when she would become its prey. It made itself arbiter in the quarrels of Philometor and Physcon, who disputed the crown, and terminated their contest by obliging them to share the kingdom with each other. After Philometor's death (146), Physcon, become sole monarch, hastened to slay his brother's son. Detested for his cruelty, despised for his de- bauchery, he was chased from Alexandria by his revolted subjects. He reascended the throne, dis- honoured it again by new crimes, and, notwithstanding, died in peace (117). The ambition of Cleopatra, widow of Physcon, and the disputes of her sons, Laihyrus and Alexander /., afforded the Romans a fresh excuse to interfere with the affairs of Egypt. The Dictator, Sulla, so as to put an end to the civil war, placed on the throne Ptolemy Alexander IT., son of Alexander I., declared him king by a decree of the Senate, and caused him to marry his cousin, daughter of Lathyrus (81); but at the end of nineteen days, the king slew his wife, and he himself was massacred by the people of Alex- andria, who nominated, in his place, Ptolemy Auletus, natural son of Lathyrus. A king of Egypt, elected without the agreement of the Senate, must have regarded himself as very fortunate in not being de- prived of his crown. Under a testament of Alexander II., who bequeathed his States to the Roman people, the Senate took possession of the king's treasures, after several times debating the question, as to whether the Romans should occupy Egypt; but the weakness of Auletus, and his docility to the will of Rome, pre- served to him a degraded sceptre. By dint of gold, EGYPT I Op he bought successively the friendship of Pompey and that of Caesar ; then, chased by a revolt, he had credit enough to obtain from the Eomans his re-establish- ment. He died the humble slave of his too powerful protectors, leaving a tottering throne to his son Ptolemy Dionysius (Osiris, or Bacchus), who, according to the custom in Egypt, married his sister, the famous Cleopatra (52). 59. CLEOPATRA EEDUCTION OF EGYPT INTO A EOMAN PROVINCE. Ptolemy Auletus had bequeathed to the Eoman people the guardianship of his children : which was nearly equivalent to devising to them his kingdom. Dionysius thought he was wooing his protectors in assassinating Pompey after the battle of Pharsalia. But Caesar conceived for him only hatred and scorn, which he soon proved to him. A quarrel arose between the man and wife. Caesar, dictator and representative of the Eoman people, was chosen as arbiter (No. 174); but her judge soon be- came captivated of Cleopatra, and he did not hesitate to declare against Ptolemy. The young king wished to defend his rights by force of arms ; but he drowned himself in the Nile, after having besieged and failed to take Caesar in the isle of Pharos, 1 near Alexandria. Cleopatra married her second brother, aged twelve years, and, sometime after, she bore a son to Csesar. The latter, during this time, raised statues to her at Eome near that of Venus : these two divinities were worthy one of the other. 1 On this small isle there anciently stood a lighthouse, built by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and which was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world (described by Pliny). 110 ANCIENT HISTORY It was the destiny of Cleopatra to subjugate the hearts of the Roman generals. After Cesar's death, the Triumvir Antony (No. 178) was in his turn fascinated. He travelled over Egypt with Cleopatra, disguised as a goddess, and surrounded by all the luxury of the Orient. He showed her to Greece ; surrendering himself to unlimited follies on their return to Alex- andria ; he even dared to declare her independent Queen of Egypt and the Isle of Cyprus. The report of the progress of Octavian, his rival, at last aroused him from his listless n ess ; but he lost the battle of Actium (31) through Cleopatra's fault (see the Roman History, No. 1 78), and returned again with her to Alex- andria, to stupefy himself in excess of pleasures. Cleopatra could not live alone ; she tried on her slaves the most subtile poisons, with which to serve herself as a last resource, if Octavian should resist her charms. She disembarrassed herself of Antony in exciting him, by a stratagem, to put himself to death ; then she tranquilly waited for the conqueror, and seeing all her allurements for the retention of her crown lost upon him, caused herself to be stung by an asp, to prevent being drawn behind the triumphal car at Eome. Egypt made no attempt to defend itself. For a long time it had been submissive in effect to the Romans, and it was declared a Roman province (thirty years before Jesus Christ) by Octavian, who, under the name of Augustus, was to become master of the world. EGYPT I I I II. Religion, Government, Manners, Sciences, and Arts of the Egyptians. 60. EELIGION. Perhaps no religion offers a more monstrous as- semblage of superstitions than that of the Egyptians. Amun-Ba, worshipped in a celebrated temple in the midst of a desert, was the most powerful of the gods. After him the sun and moon were venerated under the names of Asiris and Isis, and they were always occupied in striving against Typhon, the evil genius. Behind them followed a crowd of secondary divinities, who correspond to the Hercules, Mars, Mercury, Venus, &c., of the Greeks. To complete the folly, the gods were not only worshipped under their statues of gold or of clay, but the lowest animals, considered as sacred symbols, received divine honours. A young black bull, chosen with great care, received the name of god Apis, and lived in a magnificent temple, where he was ministered to by legions of priests. He who killed, even involuntarily, a ram, a cat, or an ibis, had to be punished with death. The Egyptian even wor- shipped the onion which grew in his garden. It was well said that there all was god, excepting God Himself. Such was the popular religion, the only one pub- licly practised, the sole system of faith taught to the great mass of the people. Nevertheless, in the re- cesses of the temples the priests carefully preserved a purer doctrine, clear from vulgar superstitions. They had, it is said, almost sound ideas of the existence of God and of a future life, but this religion, taught in the seclusion of the temple, remained entirely I I 2 ANCIENT HISTORY unknown to the nation at large. Besides, we have but very incomplete data anent these mysteries of Egypt. But it is known for certain that several illustrious Greek philosophers came to study wisdom at the side of the Egyptian priests. 61. GOVERNMENT. Originally the priests alone enjoyed supreme power. When the monarchy was established, elective at first, then hereditary, the sacerdotal caste still preserved great authority, extending over the sovereign himself. Although apparently clothed with absolute power, the king really passed his life in constant dependence, for he was obliged to regard the laws and customs of the land, which determined, even from the hour of his rising, to the quality and quantity of his food. War alone freed him from this yoke ; then he commanded his armies on foot or in a chariot. He had the power of life and death over the person of all his subjects, but when he died, a reckoning was made of his conduct, and he was judged by the nation. His mummy l might not be received into the tomb which he had himself constructed if the tribunal of forty-two judges, charged with the examination of his actions during life, declared him guilty of any crime. At the extinction of each dynasty, the new king had to be chosen from the privileged class of the priests. The priests alone digested the laws, read the sacred 1 The Egyptians possessed the art of submitting corpses to a pre- paration which preserved them indefinitely from corruption. The corpses thus preserved were designated by the name of mummies. The greater part of the Egyptian mummies brought to Europe are from the necropolis of ancient Thebes. EGYPT 1 1 3 writings, arranged the annals of the nation ; they alone also cultivated the sciences. They guarded this treasure remote from the vulgar, and preserved their influence by aid of the secrecy which enveloped them. Below the pontifical order was that of the warriors, mighty in war, but taking little part in the govern- ment. At the assemblies, the vote of an unbeneficed priest was worth as much as the suffrages of ten warriors ; the vote of a high priest was valued at a hundred. Each warrior received from the sovereign a domain free from all taxes. Lower again were the people. They had the right to accuse the king after his death ; but otherwise they were only a slavish and miserable band. They en- joyed no political rights, and were constantly subjected to the most laborious works. 62. LEGISLATION. Historians have celebrated the wisdom contained in the Egyptian laws. Egypt, says Bossuet, is the source of all good policy. A tribunal of thirty members administered justice, and the causes were argued by writing only, so that the judges might not be influenced by the magic power of eloquence. The perjurer was punished by death, as also the homicide ; the parricide underwent the punishment of fire. Any man who had not hindered a crime when he might have done so, was chastised as if he had committed it. In fine, the culpable person who had escaped justice during his life could not avoid the tribunal which judged him after his death ; his memory was dishonoured, and his remains deprived of sepulture. H 114 ANCIENT HISTORY 63. MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ARTS, AND MONUMENTS. The rapid development of civilisation in Egypt was arrested betimes. All in this country has a singular character of immobility. It looks as if nothing had to change nor be destroyed, not even the corpses ; the Egyptians preserved with the greatest care, in their own houses, the mummies of their ancestors. The statues adorning a great number of their public edifices represented personages without expression and without movement. In the remotest antiquity they knew how to use the plough, weave the richest materials, erect immense monuments ; but their architecture, like their sculpture, has something about it sad and death- like. Without elegance, without grace, it is remark- able only for the excessive magnitude of its proportions. It suffices to cite the pyramids, vast tombs of the kings, one of them having a base of " 746 feet each way," and a height of 461 feet ; the numerous obelisks, on which the annals of the national history are en- graved in ineffaceable characters, of which Paris possesses one of the most remarkable, finished by Sesostris; 1 the labyrinth, work of twelve kings (No. 5 6), and formed by the union of twelve palaces ; the sphinxes, enormous figures of granite representing monsters with the heads of women, and that statue of Memnon, which emitted harmonious sounds at sun- rise, and all those colossi whose gigantic forms still rise here and there in the midst of sand under which the wind of the desert has nearly buried them. 1 The Luxor obelisk, placed in the Place de la Concorde, Paris. The village of Luxor, from which the obelisk was brought, stands (with other villages and ruins) on the site of ancient Thebes. EGYPT 1 1 5 Amongst the works of the Egyptians, the Lake Moeris must not be forgotten, excavated in the neighbourhood of the Nile, and vast enough to receive the excess of the river inundation, or to act as a reservoir for the waters which were spread over the plain, by means of sluices, when the overflow from the Nile was deficient. In the centre of the lake were two pyramids bearing the statues of King Mceris and his wife. 64. SCIENCES. While the people were occupied in these manual works, the sciences were cultivated by the sacerdotal caste. The most ancient of bibliothecas was founded in Egypt. Astronomy was studied betimes ; at a remote epoch, the Egyptian year was fixed at 365 days six hours. The necessity of land-surveying after the inundations of the Nile led to geometry. The invention of writing is attributed to the Egyptians ; they applied it ordinarily on to thin light scrolls fabricated from the pith of the papyrus, a plant which grows abundantly in their land. The writing em- ployed for the recording of their annals was the hieroglyphic, composed, not like ours, of an assemblage of letters, but of symbolical characters. A great number of hieroglyphics are preserved to our own time on blocks of granite, and in that mysterious writing the patient genius of Champollion has recog- nised the most indubitable traits of ancient Egyptian history. CHAPTEE II CARTHAGE 65. FOUNDATION OF CAKTHAGE. ON the African coast, west of Egypt, the Phoenicians had, in the remotest antiquity, established several colonies. One of these received Dido, Pygmalion's sister, chased from Phoenicia through the tyranny of that prince (No. 82). Dido enlarged and organised it about 860 ; she was the Foundress, or rather the Restorer, of Carthage. Faithful to the traditions of the mother country, Carthage became, like Tyre, a commercial city. Its physical situation tended also to make it a conquering State. A desert prevented her extension on the south ; but opposite, the rich coasts of Spain and Sicily were incessantly visited by her ships. At first she estab- lished factories there ; from that only one step was required to conquer the country. It was by the same means that, later, the Portuguese, and after them the English, had to establish themselves in India. 66. MANNERS AND GOVERNMENT. The Grecian authors have praised the constitution of the Carthaginian government ; it must have con- tained excellent policy, as it was maintained without alteration for five hundred years : it was a republic 116 CARTHAGE II 7 tempered by an aristocracy, and administered by two magistrates elected for life, named Suffetes. The government was in the hands of a Senate, or Synedrin, a permanent and very numerous assembly, composed of the wealthiest negociators, whose interest, in a state strictly commercial, was the same as in that of a re- public. This Senate, in affinity with reports presented to it by an appointed committee, named Gerusia, digested the laws and decided the great questions concerning commerce, peace, and war, which had for general aim the maintenance and the propagation of colonies. The affairs were prepared in private re-unions called Circles, generally held at the house of one of the wealthiest citizens ; they conversed, after a repast, about the laws to propose, the measures to take, and the approaching elections ; and ordinarily, the decision was resolved prior to the affair being carried before the Senate. The Suffetes were elected by the people; but the latter were consulted about the affairs of government only in cases of great necessity, or when the Suffetes did not agree with the Senate. 67. COMMERCE. The principal strength of Carthage consisted in its marine and its commercial resources. The environs of the city had a flourishing aspect, being adorned with a multitude of splendid villas, and the coinmodi- ousness and luxuriousuess of those habitations denoted the opulence of the Carthaginians, fruit of their double commerce, inland and foreign. Several adjacent towns served Carthage as marts, and they formed one com- mercial confederation, of which the great city was the I I 8 ANCIENT HISTORY centre. The inhabitants of the desert loaded their caravans with Carthaginian manufactures, taking them to the peoples in the interior of Africa, and receiving in exchange the productions of that country, which Carthage then exported to all parts of the world. The foreign trade occupied a great number of vessels ; they visited all those coasts known long before in ancient times, passed the Strait of Hercules, sailed the length of the coasts of Spain and Gaul, and penetrated even to the British Isles, 1 for the purpose of taking back several sorts of rnetals ; for their trade, nearly always, was carried on by exchange. Carthage had established commercial colonies in Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia ; they had naval stations in Madeira and the neighbouring isles, for the fleets which they sent out on to the African coasts as far as Guinea. But a great fault in the government showed how soon all those means of power and prosperity became suddenly sterile, when Carthage had to sustain long and obstinate wars. Bereft of national troops, its citizens had recourse to mercenaries levied from all countries. Neither patriotism nor enthusiasm could be expected of such armies ; they could only retain a personal attachment to their own general, and this sentiment, which could easily be made a source of profit to an ambitious chieftain, was again a motive for disquietude and fear for the country. It may thus be accounted for, how, notwithstanding many brilliant successes, the Carthaginians nearly always lost in their struggles with the Romans. 1 Probably to the Cassiteridcs (Scilly Isles), off the coast of Cornwall, in search of tin, as the supply in Spain was falling off. CARTHAGE I 1 9 68. CONTEST WITH SICILY. But it was not thus with the short and easier expe- ditions, which at first extended the power of the Carthaginians. From the year 480, not only were they established in all Northern Africa, but they had conquered the Balearic Islands, 1 Sardinia, and a por- tion of Sicily. Syracuse alone constantly repelled their efforts, and several of its kings or its generals, Gelon, Denys, Timolcon, completely defeated them. Besieged in Syracuse, Agathocles conceived the auda- cious project of raising the siege in attacking Carthage itself, and he did not leave Africa (308) before he had devastated all, even to the gates of the city. Never- theless these were only momentary reverses, and the Carthaginian influence was great in Sicily at the time of the commencement of the Punic wars. 2 69. CONTEST WITH EOME. For a long time Carthage had held relations with Eome. The two States were united by several com- mercial treaties; the first bears the date of 509, epoch of the foundation of the Eoman Eepublic. The friend- ship endured only while the vast expanse of the sea separated the two powers ; but when they met in Sicily, rivals in strength and ambition, the rupture broke out. Sicily, placed like an arena between Africa and Italy, became the first theatre of their bitter contests. 1 In the Mediterranean, Majorca, Minorca, Ivica, &c. 2 From Pceni, the Carthaginians, or from " Phoeni the Phoenicians," hence Punicus (Punic), relating to Carthage. 120 ANCIENT HISTORY The Mamertini some Italian brigands who had taken refuge in Sicily appealed to the Romans for aid against ffiero, King of Syracuse, and an ally of the Carthaginians. The Senate made no hesitation in this case of assisting banditti, whom it would have condemned in Italy. Already it had become accus- tomed to put justice aside when it was supposed to interfere with the aggrandisement of the Eomans. The struggle commenced under the walls of Messina (264). (See the Roman History, No. 155.) After twenty-four years of war, and a long alternation of successes and reverses, the Carthaginians were van- quished in a great naval battle near the Agates, 1 and forced to accept a humiliating peace. They had to evacuate Sicily, give up the prisoners without ransom, and pay a sum of 2200 talents. But soon the Roman Senate found this tribute too feeble, and it exacted a further sum of 1000 talents (241). Nevertheless, these losses were not the most baleful results of the defeat. Carthage, once so powerful and so rich, was much enfeebled by the sacrifices Rome had imposed upon her, but she was nearly lost by a revolt which broke out, owing to her deplorable mili- tary system. The treasury was exhausted by the payment of sums to the Romans. The mercenary troops who claimed their pay could not be satisfied. They arose in mutiny under the leadership of Spendius and Matho, two of their associates. Nearly all the towns yielded to them, and an army of 70,000 men appeared before Carthage. Never before had she been in such great peril. But she was saved at last by the genius of Hamilcar Barca, father of the great Hannibal. The 1 A group of islands in the Mediterranean. CARTHAGE I 2 I mercenary troops were decimated in a series of com- bats, and finally annihilated by a general battle (238) ; the two chieftains were put to death ; the soldiers who escaped from punishment fled into Sardinia, and gave themselves up to the Romans, who had no great scruple in receiving them, notwithstanding existing treaties of peace (237). The good faith of the Eomans has more than once resembled what has been termed the Punic faith, which was (accord ing to Eoman views) "treachery" (" Punica Fides "). Deprived of the two richest islands in the Mediterranean, the Carthaginians sought to compensate themselves by the conquest of Spain. In eight years, Hamilcar, aided by his relative Hasdrubal, subdued the country as far as the Iberus, which Eome had imposed as limit to the Carthaginian possessions (227). Hamilcar died (228) after making his son Hannibal swear an eternal hatred against the Komans, and this oath was not to be forgotten by Hannibal. He replaced Hasdrubal in the command of the army (221), and commenced the Second Punic War by attacking Saguntum l (219.) (See Eoman History, No. 156). Seventeen years after, Hannibal, who had vanquished the Eoman legions several times previously, now lost the battle of Zama z (202), which proved the last blow to the power of Carthage. She found it neces- sary to submit to a new treaty, by which she engaged herself to give up all war vessels, all the elephants, and 10,000 talents (55,000,000 francs), and to enter into no war without the consent of the Eoman people (201). Eome was at the same time careful to elevate the kings of Mauritania to their little states at the 1 A seaport in the north of the modern province of Valencia, Spain ; Murviedro now stands on the site. - In Nuuiidia. 122 ANCIENT HISTORY expense of Carthage ; and those monarchs, who had at one time previously been subject to the Eomans, were now secretly commissioned to harass unintermit- tingly the remains of the Carthaginian nation, and to prepare, by their repeated attacks, for the last stroke of the Koman armies. Nevertheless, Hannibal, since his return to Carthage, had concentrated all his energy in efforts to restore the government, and to reform the jurisdiction and the finances. Eome could not brook the idea of her rival's re-advancement ; and the political talents of Hannibal gave umbrage to the Roman people, and Carthage was compelled to either surrender her great general, or sustain a new war. She took the first course, but Hannibal had already sought out a refuge far from his country. Pursued by the hatred and fear of the Romans, he went first to Antiochus, King of Syria, and afterwards to Prusias, King of Bithynia, but in the house of the latter prince he poisoned himself, as the king intended delivering him to the commissioners of the Roman Senate. Scipio Africanus, the van- quisher of Hannibal at Zama, died in the same year, exiled likewise by his countrymen (183). 70. REDUCTION INTO A ROMAN PROVINCE. Hannibal dead, the Romans believed that the moment had arrived for them to chase away even the shadow of that rival power which ever disquieted them. The Senate heard one of its most illustrious citizens, Cato the elder, unceasingly terminate his discourses with the sinister words, Ddenda Carthago ! (Carthage must be destroyed). By the orders of Rome, the Numidian kings commenced the attack CARTHAGE 123 under frivolous pretexts. Carthage complained to the Romans of the injustice of their allies ; for all re- sponse war was declared (149). It will be seen in the Roman History ( 1 60) by what course of treachery the future masters of the world tore successively from the unhappy city even her last resources, attacking her with the greatest vigour when she was deprived of ships and arms. Expiring Carthage defended herself with the energy of despair, and the Senate would have paid dearly for its perfidy if the young Scipio had not come to avenge his defeats and crush Rome's ancient enemy under the debris of her walls. The great aim was to abolish even the name of Car- thage ; the inhabitants were chased from the city, and the plough passed over the ruins. In the year 146 before Jesus Christ, Africa was nothing but a province of Rome. We know but little of the history of the Cartha- ginians excepting what can be gathered from the recitals of the Romans. Humiliated by seeing their fortune balanced, even for a time, by their redoubt- able rivals, they have left us an odious portrait, which we cannot accept without much mistrust. Never- theless, what the Carthaginians can be undoubtedly reproached with (but what nation has not merited a similar censure when God has forsaken it ?) is their religion, often infamous, sometimes atrocious. 71. RELIGION. This religion was a degenerated souvenir of the traditions of the Orient, that country of cruel super- stitions. The principal Carthaginian divinities, like those of the Phoenicians, were Astarte (or Venus), whom 124 ANCIENT HISTORY they honoured by debauches, and Moloch, whose altars were, without ceasing, inundated with human blood ; by a refinement of cruelty, infants of tender age were sacrificed to this abominable deity in presence of their mothers, who appropriated to themselves a hor- rible honour in throwing their children into an ardent furnace, or in closing them up in a bronze statue, which was supposed to be heated by their god. It is said that Gelon, King of Syracuse (No. 68), and vanquisher of the Carthaginians in the great battle of Himera (480), imposed upon them a treaty for the abolition of those frightful sacrifices. Another barbarous custom constantly reigned in Carthage ; they crucified the generals of the republic when they had been vanquished. But it would ill befit the Greeks or the Athenians to brand this cus- tom of the Carthaginians when they themselves often caused the death of their victorious generals by leaving them to perish of misery and hunger. BOOK I L ASIA CHAPTER I ASIA BEFORE THE TIME OF CYRUS 72. THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS THEIR ORIGIN. DISPERSED by the hand of God, mankind had divided on the plain of Shinar 1 (No. 5); some, however, remained in the vicinity of the places where the first man had been created, and where the miraculous Ark had rested containing Noe and his children. Nemrod, grandson of Cham, was of this number. " He was," says the Sacred Scriptures, " a stout hunter before the Lord." Having gained celebrity through his strength and courage, he placed himself at the head of his companions and founded the kingdom of Babel (Babylon) on the banks of the Euphrates, 2 about 2690. Assur, a descendant of Sem, set out from the plain of Shinar, and at the other side of Mesopo- tamia, 3 on the Tigris, 4 he traced the enclosure of 1 Probably the same meaning as Senaar (in Ethiopia), " The country of the two rivers." - A great river which rises in the Armenian Highlands ; after re- ceiving many tributaries it joins the Tigris, from which time it takes the name of Shat-el-Arab, and flows into the Persian Gulf. 3 The term "Mesopotamia" (in Hebrew, Aram-Raharaim), meaning " the country between the rivers," is sometimes used when it signifies the whole region of Padan-Aram (Mesopotamia) and Babylonia. 4 The Hiddekel of Eden ; takes its source on the south side of Mount Niphates, in Armenia. 126 ANCIENT HISTORY Nineve ; thus two kingdoms arose almost simulta- neously, neighbours, but foreign to each other during several centuries. Babylon 1 did not long remain in the possession of Nemrod's successors. While the people were ascribing to them divine honours, under the names of Bel, Belus, and Baal (for idolatry was already spread amongst the nations), a ferocious and warlike people poured down upon the plains of Mesopotamia, where the character of the inhabitants had degenerated through a long period of peace and idleness. The Arabs, who in the West were invading Egypt, imposed their kings on the rising Babylon ; but when the conquerors had to undergo the influence of the foreign climate and Eastern customs, they also became enervated, and found themselves in want of strength to resist a new invasion of the country with which they were threatened. 73. FIRST EMPIRE OF ASSYRIA. The Empire of Assur (Assyria) 2 had grown along- side that of Nemrod. The former country was peopled by a race hardened by violent exercise ; accustomed to the fatigues of war, it easily enslaved the rich and commercial population of Babylon. 1 Babylonia is the southern continuation of the region situated between the two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. It is a flat alluvial plain about 100 miles broad in its widest part, and about 400 miles long. It is divided into Upper Babylonia and Lower Babylonia, or Chaldaea. Sometimes the term Chaldaea designates the whole plain, called in Scripture the Land of Shinar, which includes Babel or Babylon, Accad, Calneh, and Erech (founded by Nemrod) in Upper Babylonia, and Lower Babylonia, or Chaldaea. 3 The country on the east and west of the Tigris in Upper Meso- potamia. Its chief cities were Nineve and Resen east of the river, and Rehoboth and Calah on the west. ASSYRIA 127 Now sovereign of the two nations, the King of Assyria took the venerated name of Bel, or Belus, and was adored after his decease along with the ancient kings. We arrive at the brilliant epoch of Assyrian rule. About 2000 years before our era, Ninus was a glorious and victorious prince, like Sesostris at a later period. Two million men, with Ninus at their head, overran, like a torrent, the whole of Asia, from the Indus to the Western Seas, from the rocks of Arabia to those of Bactria. The monarch returned with myriads of slaves taken in war, whom he employed, according to the custom then prevalent, in the great task of raising an imperishable monument to his glory ; he rebuilt the city of Nineve 1 and surrounded it by a wall 100 feet high, on the top of which three chariots could be drawn, and so vast that at the time of the prophet Jonas it contained 2,400,000 inhabi- tants. All this glory was surpassed by a woman, Semira- mis (1916), whose birth, fabulous tradition attributes to a goddess. Semiramis, the heroine of the ancient Orient, married Ninus the king, accompanied him in his wars, and after probably assassinating him, succeeded him on the throne. She was desirous of adding to the conquests her husband had made. Five hundred and fifty thousand horsemen, three million foot soldiers, and a hundred thousand chariots, traversed, with her, the whole of Asia, and everywhere they left gigantic traces of their victorious march. Here, roads were cut across the mountains to afford a passage for the troops ; there, a lake was excavated in 1 Nineve was situated between the Tigris and its tributary the " Lycus." The site is now covered with extensive ruins. 128 ANCIENT HISTORY < token of their sojourn ; Semiramis gave laws to Egypt, and China still remembers her invasion. India alone could arrest her progress ; she sustained there a defeat, but returned to her own land powerful enough to build a city larger than Nineve itself. Babylon was sur- rounded by a quadrangular wall, each side of which was twenty stadia long (20 kilometres, or five miles), its height was two hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits. One hundred bronze gates were placed at equal distances in the ramparts of brick and bitu- men ; the Euphrates itself, which flowed through the city, was bounded by walls. A bridge joined the two portions. At one extremity the temple of Bel was raised, composed of eight superposed towers, magnifi- cent observatory of the Babylonian astronomers ; at the other end was the royal palace, with its hanging gardens, one of the marvels of the ancient world. After these great exploits and these great works, Semiramis abdicated, it is said, in favour of her son Ninyas (1874); other historians pretend that she was assassinated by her son, impatient to enter upon his vast heritage. With this prince the decadence of the Assyrian empire commenced. From that time the kings, hidden in the seclusion of their harems, resumed the effemi- nate and sensual life of the ancient Babylonian monarchs, leaving to their Satraps the care of adminis- tering the government of all their states ; but during this time the provinces, which had been previously united by force to their extensive dominions, separated the one from the other. The empire, disturbed in all parts, began to fall in pieces at the first "shock ; and under the king Sardanaplus, a general rising, prepared long before, and not, as the Greeks have stated, a ASSYRIA 129 mere revolt in the palace, put an end to the empire of Assyria. Sardanaplus was not more effeminate than his predecessors, and he seemed willing to efface the follies of his life by a courageous defence of the city. Overwhelmed, after a war of three years, by the forces of the principal Satraps united to the troops of Arabia and Scythia, he burnt himself in his palace, so as not to leave to the conqueror his wives and treasures, which he placed with himself on the funeral pyre (759)- 74. SECOND EMPIRE OF ASSYRIA. The empire of Assyria had not been entirely buried in the tomb of its last king. Babylon had separated itself, and, as before, the two rival powers existed simultaneously. At Nineve the throne continued to be occupied by the descendants of Sardanaplus. At Babylon, the sacerdotal caste furnished a new dynasty This city, which retained the pre-eminence for religion and learning, continued to enjoy the benefits of an advanced civilisation ; the priests established, in the time of Nalonassar, the era known under the name of this king (747), which determined the chronology thenceforth. Nineve had remained faithful to its warlike customs ; to its conquering genius. Amongst these kings, Tiglath-Pileser, or Ninus II. (742724), marched toward the west, and imposed a tribute on Achaz, King of Juda (No. 34) ; Shalmanesir, his son, came down upon the kingdom of Israel, made prisoner the King Hoshea, and led all his subjects into captivity (No. 35). Thus God punished the unfaithfulness of Jeroboam's successors. Sennacherib (712707) prepared the same lot for the Kingdom of I 130 ANCIENT HISTORY Juda, governed at that time by Hezekiah ; but the Lord protected the pious monarch, and the exter- minating angel destroyed in one night the Ninevitish army (707). Babylon was soon obliged to recognise the supre- macy of her redoubtable rival, and at last, in 680, the armies of Esar-haddon completed the task of replacing her under the yoke which she had thrown off on the death of Sardanaplus. Manasses, King of Juda, was led into captivity by the same prince. Nebuchodonosor, son of Esar-haddon and vanquisher of the Medes, sent Holophernes against the Jews ; but the proud Assyrian general perished in his encamp- ment before Bethulia by the hand of Judith, and his army was dispersed (658). (See above, First Part, No. 36.) This check was the signal for the fall of Nineve. Ndbopolassar, Satrap of Babylon, revolted, and the dominating city, besieged by the Babylonians and the Medes (No. 75), fell never to rise again, in accordance with the predictions so often repeated by the prophets (635). The conqueror's son, Nebuchodonosor II., still more illustrious than his father, ravaged Egypt and subdued the whole of Western Asia. God delivered into his hands even the kingdom of Juda. Jeru- salem and Solomon's Temple were overthrown, and the captivity of seventy years, predicted long before, punished at last the unfaithfulness of the people of God (Nos. 37, 38). So much success inebriated Nebuchodonosor ; he dared to ascribe to himself divine honours, but the Lord punished him in making him during seven years like unto animals without reason. But corruption had reached its height in Babylon ; Isaias, Jeremias, and all the Jewish prophets inveighed ASSYRIA I 3 I against the sacrilegious city ; Daniel compared it to a colossus with feet of clay. In effect, its ruin drew nigh. Nations arose on all sides against this empire which God held in abomination ; Baltassar, or Ldby- nit, the most impious and the most depraved of her kings, abandoned himself to easy voluptuousness, while Cyrus, chosen to accomplish the great designs of Pro- vidence, came with the Persians against the impreg- nable city of Semiramis. On the same night when, in the midst of a splendid banquet, Daniel explained to Baltassar the mysterious signs traced on the palace wall, which announced to him the catastrophe of which he was soon to be a victim (No. 39A), Cyrus entered the city by strategy ; all the people recognised the laws of the conqueror, and the second empire of Assyria became a province of Persia (538). 75. MEDES AND PERSIANS. At the fall of Sardanaplus, a Satrap, named Arbaces, made himself independent governor of Media, 1 and founded there a kingdom. The first period in the history of this new State is obscure and uninteresting ; it is known only that frequent revolts broke out until the coming of Dcioccs (about 733), a prince of active genius, who reigned with wisdom and firmness, and who introduced important reforms in the government of his country. Before his time, the Medes lived dispersed in villages and little towns. He founded the great city of Ecbatana, 2 composed of seven circuits 1 Media was situate north-east of Elam, and north of Persia and Cuth. - The Achmetha of Scripture. The town of Hamadan now occupies the site east of Mount Orontes. 132 ANCIENT HISTORY (each enclosed by a wall), in which he united a great number of families ; he constructed a palace and citadel in the centre of the town, and surrounded it by a numerous guard. It was he, according to Herodotus, who, to augment the people's respect towards his per- son, established in Media that custom, common to all the effeminate kings of Asia, of living invisible in the seclusion of a palace. Phraortes, Deioces's son (690), wished to enlarge his kingdom by war, but Nebucho- donosor vanquished and slew him. Cyaxares I. (about 655) avenged his father by ravaging Assyria, and by gaining a great victory over Nebuchodonosor ; never- theless an invasion of the Scyths arrested his projects, and he could deliver his own country only after an obstinate battle. Soon after, this warlike prince, in unison with Nabopolassar, a revolted Satrap of Babylon (No. 74), took possession of the city, which he ruined. He left the throne to his son Astyages. Media had already played an important part in the Asiatic wars ; she already shone with all the splendour of an advanced civilisation, and yet, by the genius of one man, she was on the eve of being overcome by an obscure pro- vince, which had been submissive until then to her influence. Astyages married his daughter Mandane to a Persian named Gambyses ; of this union a prince was born, mentioned by the prophets, the prince who was destined to unite the two neighbouring kingdoms, to uplift them conjointly to the highest degree of power and glory, on the ruins of the ancient Assyrian Empire. CHAPTER II THE PERSIAN EMPIRE 76. CYKUS CRCESUS PERSIAN CONQUESTS. HISTORIANS have been pleased to surround the cradle of Cyrus with prodigies ; if their stories are to be credited, he was exposed at his birth, by order of his grandfather, who had been frightened by a sinister prediction ; rescued by shepherds, he was trained amongst them in all exercises of the chase and war- fare, being eventually raised to the throne through the fame of his bravery and talents. But those traditions have no character in truth, and the reign of Cyrus is sufficiently glorious to obviate all want of adding to its interest by fabulous stories. He was brought up at the court of Media, and placed at the head of the Median and Persian armies during the life of his grandfather ; he soon gained renown by his brilliant exploits, and his savage and warlike mountaineers chased before them, like a flock of sheep, the brilliant but cowardly armies of voluptuous Asia. Cyrus de- feated the united forces of Babylon and Assyria at the battle of Thymbarra (555). Notwithstanding the death of Neriglissor, King of Assyria, slain in the combat, Crcesus, the powerful King of Lydia, raised fresh troops to prosecute the war more vigorously, and dis- pute the empire of Asia with his redoubtable enemy. 134 ANCIENT HISTORY During the reign of Croesus, Asia Minor was united for the first time under one sceptre. For several centuries, it had been parcelled out in a multitude of nations of different origin and customs. The most ancient was that of the Phrygians, a people probably come from Central Asia at a very remote epoch, as they pretended to struggle for priority of antiquity with the Egyptians. It appears that they exercised great influence in primitive times ; later on, their history is unknown. A kingdom of much greater celebrity, though of less extent, had arisen west of Phrygia it was the realm of Troy. It had been founded by a colony of Dardanians, descended from Thrace. It grew under the reign of Tros, who gave his name to the nation, and of Ilus, who founded the citadel of Ilion. Destroyed by Hercules under the rule of Laomedon, Troy rose again under Priam she was one of the most powerful cities of Asia Minor when commenced, about 1280, the famous siege which terminated with her ruin. (See No. 99.) The Grecian invasion was not confined to the war with Troy. The western coast of Asia Minor was peopled by colonies who entertained commercial and friendly relations with the mother country; it was these who, at a later period, had to drag Greece into the Median wars. A kingdom destined to arise above all those little states of Asia Minor, the realm of Lydia* traced its origin, like Phrygia, to great antiquity. In that rich and fertile region civilisation was early developed. Its power was by degrees extended over the environ- ing provinces ; the Greek colonies were forced to pay tribute ; the ancient kingdom of Phrygia was in its 1 West of Phrygia. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE 135 turn subdued ; and Croesus, the most celebrated of the Lydian kings, had completed the work of his pre- decessors in extending his realm as far as the river Halys, when he was attacked by Cyrus (547). Proud of his immense riches, Croesus declared himself the happiest of monarchs. Cyrus vanquished him in the battle of Pteria, one of the most celebrated of anti- quity, made him prisoner in Sardis, 1 his capital, and condemned him, it is said, to the stake. At the moment of submitting to his torments, Croesus cried aloud, "Solon! Solon!" Cyrus demanded the meaning of his exclamation. " I recalled to mind," answered Croesus, " the sage Athenian who, on beholding me in the height of prosperity and grandeur, remarked that no man could be called happy before his death." Cyrus, touched by this reflection, and fearing a similar reverse of fortune for himself, spared his enemy, and assigned to him a remote province, in which the Lydian obscurely lived and died. Syria and Babylon, allies of the King of Lydia, were immediately invaded by the conqueror. Syria yielded after a short resistance, and Cyrus proceeded to besiege the culpable Babylon where King Baltassar encouraged the greatest abominations. Behind his high walls, flanked with strong towers and furnished with two hundred bronze gates, the Babylonian disdained the useless efforts of the Persians ; but at last Cyrus succeeded in diverting the course of the Euphrates, and his troops entered by the dry bed of the river right into the heart of the city. It has been seen above (No. 3 9 A) how, in a night of sacrilegious orgies, Babylon was sacked from one end to the other, and how Bal- tassar perished in the ruin of his palace (538). 1 On the Pactolus, the sands of which were auriferous. 136 ANCIENT HISTORY Thus Cyrus witnessed the fulfilment of the words of the prophet Isaias. He glorified the true God, and permitted the Jews, by a solemn edict, to return to their country (536). Thus terminated, at the end of seventy years, the Babylonish captivity. Cyrus reigned yet seven years. Some historians have pretended that he was killed in an expedition against the Scyths, 1 and that the queen, Tomyris, had his head cut off and plunged into a leather vessel filled with blood, address- ing to it these words : " Satiate thyself after thy death with this blood, for which thou wast so thirsty during life." But, according to the most likely opinion, Cyrus ended his reign, occupied to the last in confirming his conquests, and uniting, by wise institutions, all those provinces which were foreign to each other before his time, both by their laws and customs, and dying peace- ably at the height of his power and renown (530). 77. SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. He was succeeded by his son Cambyses. Inheriting the conquering genius of his father, he led his troops against Egypt, where Psammenitus then reigned (No. 57). The progress of his innumerable army was arrested at Pelusium ; so Cambyses placed in the front rank all the dogs, cats, and rams he could find ; the Egyptians dared not draw the bow on their sacred animals, and Pelusium was carried by assault. Psam- menitus was vanquished, and soon afterwards perished in irons. Egypt being subdued, Cambyses essayed the conquest of Ethiopia, and commissioned one sec- tion of his army to penetrate as far as the Cartha- 1 The Scyths inhabited the region beyond the Araxes (Aras) in the Steppes of Southern Russia, on the coast of the Euxine (Black Sea). THE PERSIAN EMPIRE 137 ginians, by the desert route. The latter troops charged with this expedition were all buried in the moving sand. The Ethiopian king was at no pains to combat the Persian armies; the troops, decimated by hunger and sickness, were obliged to retire precipitately into Egypt. These reverses embittered Cambyses' soul. At his departure the envious despot had, in a fit of jealousy, slain his young brother Smerdig. On his return from the Ethiopian expedition, he found the Egyptians in the midst of rejoicings ; they were cele- brating the feast of Apis ; he believed that they were insulting him on his defeat, as he ignored the Egyp- tian customs ; furious, he slew the sacred bull with his short Persian sword, and dishonoured himself by perpetrating frightful cruelties. In the midst of a festival he pierced to the heart the son of one of his courtiers with an arrow, and the unhappy father had the cowardice to felicitate him on his adroitness, saying, " Apollo could not have drawn the bow more accurately." In an access of frenzy he kicked his sister Meroe to death. A revolt recalled him to his kingdom, when he perished in consequence of a fall from his horse (522). A magian, named Gomates, profited by his resemblance to the young Smerdis, to take his name and to proclaim himself king. But this magian had aforetime had his ears cut off. Notwithstanding the care he took of never removing his tiara, 1 one of his women perceived the mutilation, and imparted the information to several great men in the kingdom, who assassinated the pseudo Smerdis six months after his accession. A great number of the magi of the Median nation perished in this revolt, effected under the influence of the Persian lords. A 1 The Persian wig, which covered the whole head. 138 ANCIENT HISTORY memorial was perpetuated by the institution of an annual festival, called Magophonia (massacre of the magi). An agitation was set on foot to replace the race of Cyrus on the throne. An astonishing thing was that the conspirators, whose number was seven, did not dispute the crown ; it was agreed that he whose horse should neigh the first at sunrise should be king. Darius, son of Hystaspes, was elected, thanks to a stratagem of his equerry (522). The new king had some difficulty in affirming his throne. The magi incited the Babylonians to revolt, and it was only after a siege of eighteen months that Darius took possession of the city, thanks to the devotedness of ZopyriLs, one of his officers. This man had offered himself to the Babylonians, after severe self-mutilations, feigning that he had been thus unjustly treated by his master; and having in this manner obtained an introduction into the city, he was placed in charge of a battalion, and straight- way opened the gates to Darius. During this time the savage northern tribes disquieted the frontiers. Darius subdued a portion of Thrace (510): this opened to the Persians the road to Greece. He was less fortunate against the Scyths ; they had sent him a bird, a rat, a frog, and arrows, which signified that if the Persians did not rise in the air like birds, or hide themselves under the earth like rats, or in the swamps like frogs, they should not escape from the arrows of their enemies. Notwithstanding this warning Darius marched onwards; but losing himself in the deserts of Scythia, 1 he with difficulty returned with the debris of his army. 1 Scythia, in Europe, between the Ister (Danube) and the Tanais (Don), in European Russia. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE 139 78. DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE INTO TWENTY SATRAPIES. To repair his defeat Darius made an expedition to India, of which he subdued a considerable portion ; he then formed one of the great government codes for his empire, which was from that time divided into twenty provinces, or satrapies. That was an important epoch, for from that moment dates the aggrandise- ment and power of the Persians. The empire of Cyrus seemed replete with power and glory ; innumerable troops guarded the frontiers ; ten thousand warriors, called the Immortals, formed the life-guard of the great king. The provinces were constantly visited by Ministers of State. The Sove- reign held unlimited authority, but for all that, like a hidden evil, depravity and luxury undermined this great body. Of external brilliancy, it was feeble within, and the colossus twice injured itself by col- liding with the little Greek armies. 79. GOVERNMENT, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS. At the time that preparations were being made for a war with the Greeks, it was easy to foresee the approaching decadence of the Persian empire, by con- sidering the grave alterations which had been intro- duced in their manners, government, and discipline. Before Cyrus' accession, the Persians, confined in their bleak mountains, led a hard and laborious life ; bread and some vegetables were their sole sustenance. From their youth upward, they were prepared by the rude exercises of the chase for the fatigues of war. Their 140 ANCIENT HISTORY princes, brought up along with other children, were early accustomed to believe themselves on a level with the rest of humanity, and the king, invested with absolute power, allowed his subjects a salutary freedom, which developed in them a noble and courageous nature. Thus such men as these subdued all Asia in a few years ; but, like all victorious nations, they did not escape the contagion of the vices of the people they had vanquished. Cyrus himself, who in his youth had found some- thing repulsive in the sumptuousness of the Median mode of living, he, the victor, now set an example of an ostentatious display of splendour hitherto unknown in the kingdom. The austere manners of the ancient Persians were replaced by voluptuous and effeminate customs, while the monarchs, dwelling in the seclusion of their palace and adored like gods, became invisible to their subjects, while any omission of the humiliating court ceremonies imposed on officials was punished like a sacrilege. The kings reigned over a nation of slaves, and a people who have lost the shadow of liberty is very near losing all patriotism and every spark of valour. In the army the depravity of morals had the most deplorable effects. The kings never could make an expedition without taking in their train all the women of their harems, and the great officers imitated their example. The soldiers, become incapable of bearing fatigue, used only light weapons of warfare. They could well enough yet crush by their numbers some few effeminate peoples like themselves, but it will readily be understood how their feeble efforts were unavailing against the warlike courage and the patriotic devotedness of the Greeks. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE 141 80. EELIGION. The religion of the Persians became corrupted like all the rest in their association with the other Asiatic peoples. Aforetime the magi taught them the existence of a supreme being, to whom they raised no temple, being under the impression that it was insulting to the divinity to enclose his image in a building con- structed by the hand of man. They worshipped him in the open air under the symbol of fire, the most incorruptible of the elements. They recognised at the same time two celestial powers charged with the government of the world Ormazd, principle of good, and Ahriman, principle of evil. Such was, it is said, the doctrine of Zoroaster. After the conquest Sabeism was introduced, a religion much less pure, which owed its origin to the Chaldees ; at first it consisted solely in the worship of the stars, but soon it admitted a crowd of gods, adored under the form of statues, with the extravagant ceremonies of ordinary idolatry. From the Chaldees the Persians learnt also astro- nomy, or rather, it should be said, astrology. Originat- ing with the pastoral peoples of Mesopotamia, this science was cultivated by all the Asiatic nations, but, instead of confining itself to the observation and ex- planation of celestial phenomena, it pretended to apply them by some connection to earthly events, and to read in the heavens the secrets of futurity. Thence- forth it became only a source of error and falsehood. CHAPTER III PHOENICIA 8 1. SIDON AND TYKE. BY the side of the subdued provinces of the empire of the Persians was found a country of small extent, which nevertheless ever escaped their grasp Phoe- nicia, 1 a State of no importance if its continental possessions only are considered, but which played a grand role as a maritime power. Sidon, 2 the first capital of the Phoenicians, possessed ships in the time of Abram, and was in a flourishing commercial state. It was the refuge of all the popula- tions chased from the land of Chanaan by the Hebrews; but the supremacy did not remain to it long. Near a famous Phoenician temple a new town was built, called Tyre, 3 founded, it is said, by the Egyptian Agenor ; powerful already in Solomon's time, it began, from that epoch, to unite within its walls the van- quished Sidonians. 82. PHOENICIAN COLONIES. The history of the Phoenician nation, in its connec- tions with the peoples of Asia, consists of little but a series of treaties with the kings of Israel. Amongst 1 A strip of land on the Syrian coast, about 10 miles broad and 70 miles long. 2 Now called Saida. 3 Now a mean hamlet called Sur. PHOENICIA 143 the Tyrian monarchs none were specially remarkable until the eighth century, excepting Pygmalion, brother of the celebrated Dido, foundress of Carthage (No. 65). Phoenicia owes all its glory to its maritime expedi- tions. As the mart of the Western and Eastern worlds it received various productions from all parts, and in return it sent numerous colonies. In remote times the Phoenician Cadmus founded Thebes (No. 96) ; the Tyrians established factories in the Cyclades, 1 the Sporades, 2 and in nearly all the Grecian isles. They left traces of their passage in Sicily and Sardinia. They were constantly attracted to Spain, that Peru of the ancient world, with its precious mines, which fur- nished Tyre with valuable metals, while more than one hundred Phoenician colonies were established along its shores. The Phosnician fleets crossed the Strait of Her- cules ; they colonised the Fortunate 3 Islands, and we have already mentioned their voyage round Africa (No. 56). The northern coast of Africa was, above all, peopled by Phoenician merchants. There they built Utica and Leptis ; there Dido (No. 65) founded the great city of Carthage (860). Phoenicia was sheltered from continental wars so long as the kingdom of Israel existed, which sepa- rated it from the other countries of Asia. Under the King Salmanasar, the Tyrian ships of war had to contend against those of Syria. The city of Tyre itself was momentarily blockaded ; she found little difficulty in defending herself, but the Assyrians soon reappeared, notwithstanding their defeat. Nabucho- 1 A group of islands in the south of the Archipelago, east of Mam- lafset, so called because of their circling round Delos. 2 The Sporades (scattered) in the Archipelago. 3 The Canaries, in the Atlantic, off the western coast of Africa. 144 ANCIENT HISTORY donosor, vanquisher of the Jews (No. 73), invaded the Phoenician frontiers. Sidon and the other smaller cities opened their gates to the conquerors (591). Tyre alone resisted during thirteen years, and when an entrance was finally effected by the Assyrians, they found the city deserted ; all its inhabitants had removed to an adjacent island, where they became established. Nabuchodonosor burned the abandoned dwellings; but the new Tyre, protected by the sea, was capable of withstanding all the efforts of an enemy. More glorious still than Tyre of the main- land, insular Tyre beheld from afar, unagitated, the fall of the Assyrian empire and the elevation of the Persians. Two hundred years she existed indepen- dently near subdued Asia ; and it required an Alex- ander the Great to crush the city, considered until then impregnable, but which the sea itself could not protect against the genius of that conqueror. (See History of Alexander, No. 131.) 83. SUMMARY NOTIONS ON THE RELIGION, THE ARTS, AND COMMERCE OF THE PHOENICIANS. Being almost entirely peopled by nations hailing from Syria, Phoenicia adopted their religion and manners. At Tyre was found the creed of Astarte, the Asiatic Venus, honoured also in the Tyrian colo- nies ; that of Moloch, and that of Baal or Bel, the ancient god of the Assyrians. The Phoenicians added a special divinity, Mdkarth, or Hercules, to whom they attributed the most of their scientific discoveries ; to this god the Phoenicians raised a temple, which was celebrated throughout all Western Asia. By means of her fleets and numerous colonies, PHOENICIA 1 4 5 Phoenicia maintained an immense commercial connec- tion with nearly all the known nations of the ancient world; from the year 1500, to about the year 501 before Jesus Christ, she covered the coasts of the Mediterranean with her colonies. She had factories in the West on the sea coast, in the East on the shores of the Persian Gulf and of the Indian Ocean. The sublime canticle of Ezechiel should be read, con- taining a brilliant description of all the riches, of all the precious merchandise which the commercial Tyrians gathered from the Cassiterides isles, on the banks of the Ganges. The cedars of Lebanon furnished wood for the construction of their vessels ; the inhabitants of Tarshish brought silver and brass ; those of Ionia sent slaves ; the Syrians furnished the emeralds, purple, and embroidery; the Egyptians their fine linen, re- nowned throughout the Orient. The peoples of Juda carried balm, oil, and honey to the Phoenician markets ; the Arabians sent flocks and herds of cattle; the in- habitants of the land of Sheba sent perfumes, precious stones, and gold. " What city is like Tyre ? " . . . says the pro- phecy. ..." Which by thy merchandise that went from thee by sea didst fill many people : which by the multitude of thy riches and of thy people didst enrich the kings of the earth." 1 Industry and trade are nearly always united. The Phoenicians quickly learnt the art of manufacturing the same kind of gorgeous materials which they collected from all parts. The magnificent embroidery fabricated at Tyre had a great reputation in ancient times ; a shell-fish, 2 plentiful on 1 Ezech. xxvii. 33. 2 The " murex," or " conchylium ; " the colour obtained from it was, according to the species of the fish, red or violet. K 146 ANCIENT HISTORY the Phoenician coasts, procured the inhabitants the most beautiful purple dyes. Clever in the construc- tive art, they sent to David and Solomon a great number of overseers to superintend the works of the Israelites; they furnished them also with pilots to navigate their first ships. The Phoenicians have dis- puted with the Egyptians the glory of having invented the art of writing ; but it is probable that the usage was introduced amongst them by some Egyptian colony. CHAPTEE IV SYRIA 84. SYRIA BEFORE THE TIME OF SELEUCUS. SYRIA, that portion of Western Asia which reaches from Palestine to the Taurus, from the Euphrates to Lebanon, was originally divided into several little kingdoms, the most important of which was Damascus, already celebrated in the time of Abram. Inde- pendent until the reign of David, these divers realms had a great number of wars to maintain against that prince, who laid a portion of Syria under tribute, and later against the kings of Juda and Israel. The Syrians, enfeebled by those struggles, had long been compelled to recognise the supremacy of the princes of Israel, when Syria was conquered and united to the empire of Nineve (733, 732) by Theglathphalasar (No. 73). She thenceforth joined in the fortune of her conquerors ; subdued by Cyrus, and become a satrapy of Persia, she was dragged down with the fall of that vast monarchy, and Alexander the Great, in one of his triumphant campaigns, added her to his other acquisitions. After his time she became the portion of Laomedon, one of his generals ; but only a short period elapsed before she fell into the hands of a prince much more active and powerful. 148 ANCIENT HISTORY 85. EMPIRE OF THE SELEUCID^E. To Seleucus, one of the most celebrated of Alex- ander's lieutenants, had been allotted the command of the cavalry of the allies (No. 132). This secon- dary role did not satisfy his ambition. He hasted to take part in the quarrels which divided his colleagues, as they gave him the opportunity of aug- menting his own power. He obtained at once the government of Babylon as recompense for the aid he furnished to Antigonus against two other generals, Eumenes and Perdiccas. While Demetrius Polior- cetes, son of Antigonus, defended the states of his father against a formidable invasion, Seleucus estab- lished himself in Syria, took possession of Upper Asia, and in 306 assumed the title of king, same as the other generals. From that time his influence became all-powerful; united with Ptolemy, King of Egypt, against the ambitious Antigonus, he decided the success of the battle of Ipsus, in which his rival perished (301). A definite division assured him of all Asia, from Lebanon to the Taurus, from the Indus to the Tigris. The cavalry general had succeeded, by force of perseverance and talents, in submitting to his laws the greater part of Alexander's empire. Lysi- machus, King of Macedon, essayed to shake that formidable power ; but he was vanquished and slain by Seleucus, who, like himself, was over eighty years old, and his dominions were joined to the vast king- dom of the Conqueror of tJie Conquerors (No. 133). Seleucus, surviving all his colleagues, thought he might now enjoy a glorious repose ; but he was assassinated by the son of the King of Egypt, Ptolemy Ceraunus, to whom he had accorded a refuge (281). His successors were for the most part incapable of SYRIA I 49 bearing the heavy crown which had been bequeathed to them. Antiochus, after a war without decisive results against the Bithynians and the Macedonians who had revolted, vanquished the Gauls, who inundated Asia, and received from a grateful public the appella- tion of Soter (saviour) ; but his ambition urged him to war against the King of Egypt, who defeated him, and he died without being able to prevent his adversary from ravaging his kingdom (260). Not- withstanding the impious pride of his name, Antiochus Theos (god), son of Soter, beheld the first symptoms of the dissolution of his empire. Arsaces revolted with the Parthians (255), who thenceforth became unsub- jectable. Vanquished at the same time by Ptolemy Philadelphus, Theos was constrained to espouse Berenice, daughter of that prince, repudiating his wife Laodice. The latter poisoned him, and placed on the throne Seleucus Callinicus (247-225). Ptolemy- Evergetes, determined to avenge his sister assassinated by Laodice, invaded the greater portion of- the states of Seleucus (No. 5 7) ; whose own brother, the young Antiochus, at the same time rose against him. The dynasty of the Seleucidse seemed, by its dissensions, to invite foreign adversaries. Arsaces took advan- tage of these troubles to invade Syria, and he made prisoner the King Seleucus himself. Nevertheless the kingdom of Syria had yet to shine gloriously for a time. After the obscure reign of Seleucus Ceraunus, its humiliated sceptre was raised by his brother, Antiochus the Great (222). His position was critical. The Egyptians occupied Ccele- Syria and Phoenicia. Bactria had risen in open mutiny. The King of Pergamus advanced on Asia Minor. The revolt of an able general, named Achceus, 150 ANCIENT HISTORY threatened to augment the peril. Antiochus, although yet very young, did not lose courage ; at first van- quished by Ptolemy, and obliged to submit to a dis- advantageous peace, he succeeded in gaining over to his side the King of Pergamus, and soon after the rebel Achceus destroyed himself. The Parthians, who had appeared on the frontiers, were driven into the deserts. The revolted provinces became submissive. Antiochus received general admiration, and the sur- name of " The Great." But the time of his prosperity was passed. He had re-encountered the Romans who always took the part of his adversaries. Arrested in the south by the redoubtable guardians of the Egyptian monarch, he beheld them again in the north protecting the King of Pergamus, who had once more become his enemy. It was under these circumstances that the great Hannibal, chased from Carthage through Roman intrigue, sought a refuge near Antiochus (No. 157). He found him quite disposed for war ; but, instead of following the advice of the greatest general of antiquity, the King listened to the interested flattery of an obscure Etolian. He passed into Greece with a small number of soldiers, and, proud of a few insignificant successes, he thought himself sufficiently able to maintain, with his feeble army, a war against the powerful Romans. Chased from Greece in a second campaign, deprived of his fleet through his own imprudence, he shortly after- wards beheld his kingdom invaded by Scipio Asiaticus, who gained over him a decisive victory near Magnesia (iQo). 1 The empire of the Seleucidse had received 1 Magnesia is a town on the Sarabat in Asia Minor ; in its vicinity there are mines of loadstones, which were first called magnets, after the name of the place. SYRIA I 5 I a death stroke. Antiochus was forced to abandon Asia as far as the Taurus, and to pay an enormous tribute. In order to recruit his finances, the king went to pillage the temple of Belus at Susiana. The inhabitants, filled with indignation, massacred him (187). After his time the decadence set in rapidly. The history of Syria offers little else, like that of Egypt at the same epoch, than a shameful series of discords, crimes, and defeats. In the interior of the kingdom the descendants of Seleucus successively tore from each other's grasp, by dint of betrayals and bribery, the debris of their crown, whilst the governors of the principal provinces rendered themselves independent (88, and following ISTos.) Externally, it was the Roman power which ever became greater and increas- ingly straitened that empire which it eventually engulfed. God Himself defended His people against the sacrilegious audacity of the King of Syria (No. 43). While Seleucus Philopater retreated into Asia Minor from before the menaces of Rome, his minister, Heliodorus, who had been commissioned to persecute the Jews, and to spoil the temple of the Lord, was struck by a fearful malady in the sanctuary itself, into which he had dared to penetrate (175). He returned to his own land and assassinated the monarch by whom he had been sent. Antiochus JSpiphanes, successor of Philopater, in- vaded Egypt. The Roman Popilius ordered him to retire. Antiochus hesitated ; Popilius traced a circle round him with his cane. "You shall not come out of that," said he, " without giving me an answer." Antiochus decided to evacuate Egypt, and at that price he remained a friend of the Senate. 152 ANCIENT HISTORY Such was already the extent of Roman influence (No. 58). Epiphanes, infuriated, but unable to revenge himself, let his anger fall upon the Jews. He essayed to abolish the true religion, and to extinguish the faith in the blood of the children of Israel (No. 44). His sacrilegious commands met with a heroic resistance from the high priest Mathathias, who, dying, confided to his son Judas the defence of his country. It is well known how the little armies of Judas the Machabee, sustained by the arm of the Almighty, ex- terminated the innumerable troops of Syria ; how the temple arose from its ruins ; how the sacrificial altar was repaired, and the priesthood re-established (No. 45A). Antiochus made a personal attempt to crush the handful of men whom his generals found impossible to vanquish; but he was striving against the people of God. Smitten by the Lord, the impious king perished on the field, suffering from a horrible malady (164). Judas continued his successful run, killed the famous General Nicanor, and nailed his hand to the gates of the temple, which he had so often menaced. It was only after brilliant victories that Judas Machabeus perished in battle, being overwhelmed by the superior number of his enemies. He left an inheritor of his talents and glory in his brother Jonathan, who, profiting by the troubles in Syria, declared the Jews independent and under the protection of Rome (No. 46). 86. THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE EMPIRE. The Divine anger weighed down the unhappy heri- tage of the Seleucidse. A woman, Cleopatra, soiled SYRIA I 5 3 the throne with blood and crimes, whilst foreigners menaced it from without. Disembarrassed successively by revolts, and by wars with the Parthians, of her two husbands, Demetrius Nicator and Antiochus Soter, Cleopatra assassinated her eldest son, so as to reign alone. Her younger son, Antiochus Gryphus, would have met with the same fate if he had not forced her to poison herself (120). The sequel of the history of the Seleucidse presents only a continuous chain of civil wars, of family quarrels, and of revolting cruelties. The kingdom extended then only to the Euphrates, because all Upper Asia belonged to the Parthians ; and as the Jews had also rendered themselves independent, it consisted only of Syria, properly so called, and Phoenicia. 87. KEDUCTION INTO A EOMAN PROVINCE. The impairment of the kingdom obliged the Syrians to place themselves, of their own accord, under the empire of Tigranes, King of Armenia. Eome did not interfere ; she had no need to intermeddle in the affairs of the kingdom, now a prey to the last con- vulsions of its agony. A new sedition replaced the sceptre into the hands of a Seleucide (70) ; but Antiochus Asiaticus was destined to be the last king of his line. The greater part of Syria had already fallen under the power of neighbouring nations. At the prayer of Antiochus the Eomans gave back to him what Tigranes had retained, but it was only to resume possession in the year 64 before Jesus Christ. In his march across Asia, Pompey declared Syria a Koman province. CHAPTEE V KINGDOMS FORMED OF THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE EMPIRE OF THE SELEUCID& THE empire of the Seleucidrc, which, on the death of its founder, comprised Upper Asia and nearly the whole of Asia Minor, had fallen in pieces, and its dismemberment had commenced with the early suc- cessors of Seleucus. Amongst the kingdoms which formed themselves, or which arose from its ruins, were principally Pergamus, Cappadocia, Armenia, Bithynia, Pontus, Bactriana, and Parthia. 88. THE KINGDOM OF PERGAMus. 1 Established by Lysimachus (No. 133) in favour of one of his eunuchs (283), the government of Perga- mus made no delay in enlarging itself at the expense of the kingdom of Syria. Attains I. took the title of king in 241. Following his example, the successive princes invariably attached themselves to the alliance with the Romans, so as to better strengthen them- selves against the ambition of the kings of Syria. Eumenes II. (198) joined the Romans in their wars against Antiochus the Great, and against Philip, a former king of Macedon, and, thanks to their power- ful protection, he extended his empire as far as the 1 In Mysia, a country of Asia Minor ; capital, Pergamum, now Bergama. THE EMPIRE OF THE SELEUCHLE 155 Taurus. The Senate thus affirmed its influence throughout Asia Minor. It consented to support the kings of Pergamus in all their wars, just or unjust ; but, in return, those princes had to accustom them- selves to regard as commands the desires of the Eoman people. Attains III. paid it for its inte- rested services by bequeathing to it all his goods. The Senate claimed that the prince had implied by those words nothing less than the legacy of his king- dom (132). A natural son of Eumenes II., Aristonicus, pro- tested against this perfidious interpretation of an ambiguous expression. Vanquisher of a Consul, he was afterwards defeated, made prisoner, and put to death, after being dragged behind the conqueror's triumphal car (129). 89. CAPPADOCIA.. 1 The kingdom of Cappadocia fell to the lot of Eumenes, afterwards to that of Perdiccas, both Alex- ander's generals. When Perdiccas died, Ariathes III., a descendant of the ancient kings of the country, ascended the throne, and maintained himself there by favour of the quarrels which agitated Asia (about 3 1 2). This kingdom existed obscurely during two hun- dred years. Ariathes VIII. was assassinated (94) by Mithridates the Great, King of Pontus (No. 92), who took possession of his estates. After the fall of Mithridates, the Komans left to the Cappadocians the choice of their government. They continued to elect kings who played a secondary role in the Eoman wars 1 North of Cilicia, Asia Minor. Its capital was Cscsarea, now called Kaisarieh. 156 ANCIENT HISTORY until the reign of Tiberius, an epoch in which Cappa- docia was reduced to a Eoman province, 17 A.D. 90. BITHYNIA. The kingdom of Bithynia 1 traced back its origin to a rather remote epoch. Although independent in name, it was not in character, but, under the kings of Persia, it was able to evade serving as an addition to the other conquests of Alexander, and it preserved a separate existence until the moment when, like all the other neighbouring states, it submitted to the Eoman yoke. The most noted King of Bithynia is Prusias II. (192148); he had welcomed the fugitive Hannibal (No. 69), but, frightened by the menaces of the Senate, he was about to deliver the illustrious exile to the Eomans, when the Carthaginian put an end to his own life by administering to himself a poison which he always carried about his person (183). From that time the kings of Bithynia became merely subjects of Eome, and gave themselves the name of The frcedmen of the Eoman people. The Senate, satisfied with this humble submission, maintained them on the throne until Nicomedes III. had, in his will, bequeathed his kingdom to the Eomans (75). 91. ARMENIA. The kingdom of Armenia, detached from the empire of the Seleucidae after the battle of Magnesia (189), was of little note until the Mithridatic wars. Tigranes 1 Bithynia was situated north-west of the ancient kingdom of Pontus, north of Galatia and south of the Black Sea (Euxine) ; east of Thrace and the Propontis. Its chief city was Heraclea. THE EMPIRE OF THE SELEUCIB^ 157 II. , who had arrogated to himself the title of " King of Kings," had taken the side of the Pontic monarch. On being apprised that the Eoman army was march- ing against him, he looked out from his encampment and said, "Those men are too many for an embassy and too few for a combat." Notwithstanding this boastful remark, he was defeated by Lucullus (No. 1 66), and compelled to beg on his knees the favour of being allowed to retain his crown. After the death of Tigranes, Armenia, which had been continually devastated by the incursions of the Parthians, now surrendered entirely to the Eomans, who thenceforth provided it with kings. 92. PONTUS. The destinies of the kingdom of Pontus 1 were more glorious than those of Armenia. The realm had been established by Xerxes in favour of his brother, and it became more extensive during the quarrels of Alex- ander's generals. It early contracted alliance with the Eoman Eepublic, and King Mithridates VI. (157) received from the conquerors the province of Greater Phrygia as a reward for his services during the third Punic war ; but the kingdom of Pontus was indignant at being reduced to play a secondary part under Eoman protection. Mithridates the Great (123), gifted with a moral and physical force which often degenerated into cruelty, animated by a violent hatred against the Eomans, 1 Now identified with the province of Rumili in Asiatic Turkey, on the southern shore of the Euxine (Black Sea). Its capital was Amasia, on an affluent of the Black Sea. In its vicinity are caverns cut out of the rock, which served as places of sepulture to the kings of Pontus. 158 ANCIENT HISTORY undertook to destroy their domination in Asia. He sac- rificed all the resources of his kingdom, all the power of his active genius, to realise his gigantic projects. We shall relate in another portion of this work (see Roman History, No. 166) how those long and bloody wars were commenced by the massacre of sixty thousand Romans. All Asia Minor was for an instant under the power of Mithridates ; but vanquished successively by Sylla, Lucullus, and Pompey, abandoned by his own relative Tigraues, and betrayed by his son Pharnaces, he killed himself to avoid falling into the hands of the Romans, at the moment in which he was prepared to avenge his former defeats by carrying the war right into Central Italy (65). His kingdom was immediately reduced to a Roman province. 93. THE PARTHIANS. All those above-mentioned kingdoms, more or less important, had only a short existence, and were succes- sively invaded by the Romans. Such was not the lot of the realm of Parthia. Detached from the empire of the Seleucidae by Arsaces (its first monarch) in 255, it was able to maintain its independence even on the borders of the Roman provinces ; its deserts and the courage of its children protected it constantly against invasion, and dreadful wars often terminated in defeat for the masters of the world in their dealings with Parthia (Nos. 173, 177). Again, it was the Parthian empire which, under another name, had, during the decadence of Rome, to deal the hardest blows to hasten its fall. It seemed to have been preserved free to avenge the enslaved world. On the THE EMPIRE OF THE SELEUCID^E 159 east of Syria, and without fixed limits, in the immense steppes of Asia, the kingdom of Parthia, 1 born of war, grew by war. Antiochus the Great essayed in vain to conquer it, and Seleucus Callinicus, one of his successors, was made prisoner by the troops of the Arsacide (No. 85). Thenceforth the power of the new empire was firmly established. Mithridates I. (died in 138) subdued all Upper Asia, and slew his am- bassador because he had ceded the place of honour to a Eoman Consul. The Parthians continued to rule the adjacent provinces until the Romans, proceeding from conquest to conquest, reached their frontiers. The blind ambition of Crassus urged him on to war. Elsewhere we shall relate how the light Parthian cavalry, accustomed to flinging back their arrows whilst retreating, thus became an unseizable enemy, who lured the pursuing Romans on and on to the plains of Mesopotamia, where the skeleton of hunger gathered up those who had escaped from the adver- sary's arrows (54). The eagles of Crassus, carried away by the conqueror, remained as a trophy at the Parthian court, and Ventidius, a lieutenant of the triumvir Antony, found it impossible to recover them (No. 177). Afterwards, Antony himself, bent on the same object, was obliged to fly before the enemy's cavalry. It required the fame of the victories and power of Augustus to frighten the Parthian king, enthroned in the recesses of the desert. The eagles were sent back to Rome (No. 181), and peace was established between the two empires. The Parthians had long since extended their domi- 1 Its principal portion comprised the great salt desert of Khorasan in Persia. 160 ANCIENT HISTORY nation over Bactria, 1 raised by Thodotes (225), at the same period iii which Arsaces shook off the Syrian yoke. This new empire, after extending its rule over a great part of Central Asia, was obliged to submit to the Arsacidae, about the year 141 B.C. 1 Bactria ; capital, Balkh, one of the most ancient cities in the world (in Turkestan, north-east of Persia). BOOK IIL EUROPE CHAPTER I GREECE UNTIL THE DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS I. Historical Events 94. FABULOUS TIMES. THE Greek poets and historians have enveloped the early ages of their country in a mist of shadows and fictions. Of the primitive times in Grecian history there is only left to us an untrustworthy record of improbable events, and they have, on that account, been christened Fabulous times ; the succeeding times received the name of Heroic, but in their relation the truth is difficult to distinguish, through the cloud of allegories, embellished by the imagination of its writers ; in the Historical times even, facts have been frequently disguised in narration, through a false notion of the interests of national honour. By an ambition common to nearly all nations, the Greeks have laid claim to an antique origin. They say that their ancestors were sons of Grecian soil (Autochthonal). But it can be determined only for certain that the country was populated at a very remote period ; and that its primitive inhabitants, as a great number of traditions in accord with the Bible 161 L 1 62 ANCIENT HISTORY prove, came from the East, mankind's first home. Sons of Japheth, they arrived, some by the deserts of Scythia, others by the Bosporus route. 95. THE PELASGI. The latter were the Pelasgi ; they ruled the country during the first epoch, and specially occupied them- selves in agricultural pursuits, and in working at vast constructions. The soil began to show signs of cultivation; several towns were built, with ramparts formed of rocks, gigantic monuments, of which traces yet remain. About this epoch the throne was occu- pied by Saturn, but he was chased from it by his sons Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, who divided the kingdom amongst themselves. After death these three princes were placed in the rank of gods, and worshipped by all Greece. Again, it is said that JEgialus founded the ancient kingdom of Sicyonia. 1 Inachus (about 2000 B.C.), believed by some histo- rians to have come from either Phoenicia or Egypt, is generally regarded as one of the first Pelasgic chieftains. The latter did not long remain peaceable possessors of Grecian territory. Foreigners arrived from Egypt, that country being then in a mutinous state, and its vanquished tribes now sought another home. 96. PHOENICIAN, EGYPTIAN, AND PHRYGIAN COLONIES. THE FOUNDATION OF SPARTA AND ATHENS. About eighteen centuries B.C., Phoroneus established himself in the district called Argolis ; z one of his 1 In the Peloponnesus (Southern Greece). Its capital was Sicyon. z Argos ; its capital (in the Peloponnesus) was the oldest city in Greece. A small town stands on the site, and it contains numerous ruins and a citadel, the foundations of which are of a Cyclopean epoch. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 163 descendants, Argus, gave his name to the principal town, subdued later on by Danaus (about 1572). Sparto, of the race of Inachus, laid the foundation of the city, named by him Sparta, 1 or Lacedaemon. About 1643, a tribe of Egyptian shepherds was led into Attica z by Cecrops, who bore the olive branch in his hand, and who enlarged the twelve little towns whose union subsequently formed Athens. 3 The Pe- lasgi were driven from all sides to the north ; they had made an attempt to establish themselves in Bceotia, 4 but were chased from thence by Cadmus the Phoenician, who built the city of Thebes 5 (1549). Eleusis 6 was founded by Eredheus, who introduced into the town the Mysteries of Isis, or Ceres. About the same time several Asiatic populations, flying from before the armies of Sesostris, founded colonies in several Greek islands. 1 The large village of Sparta, or Mistra, now stands near the ruin- bestrewed site of the ancient Republic. 2 A famous district in Hellas (Northern Greece) ; capital, Athens. 3 Capital of Attica. Athens, on the banks of the Cephissus and Ilissus, is now a large modern city, with many historic sites in its vicinity. It possesses magnificent ruins of the Acropolis (citadel) ; the Parthenon, the most beautiful edifice of Greek architecture; the Areopagus, or Mars' hill, showing steps hewn out of the rock leading to the place where the sovereign tribunal of Athens held its sessions ; the Pynx, a hill, on the summit of which is a huge block of stone, upon which the great orators stood while addressing the popular assemblies; the Propylseum; the temple of Jupiter Olympus (one of the seven wonders of the world), &c. 4 A district south of Attica, in the Peloponnesus ; its capital was Thebes. 5 Thebes, capital of Bo3otia, is now a small village called Thiva. 6 The site is now occupied by a village called Lepsina. 164 ANCIENT HISTORY 97. THE HELLENES. While all these divers races confounded in one an- other their morals, their sciences, and their gods, a new invasion was being prepared. A chieftain, one of the Japhetic race, arrived by the Caucasian route. After having escaped, with great difficulty, from the inun- dation of Phocis l (the Deucalion Deluge, between 1600 and 1500), Deucalion vainly endeavoured to establish himself in Greece. He, however, left two sons, Amphictyon and Hdlen, who resolved to carry out their father's long-meditated projects. Amphic- tyon obtained a settlement by private contract. Hellen, however, was obliged to have recourse to arms, and four of his descendants, Dorus, jfflolus, Achceus, and Ion, were the founders of the four great Hellenic families, who, from 1500 to 1 300, held possession of all Greece. The primitive inhabitants disappeared, or became confounded with the new arrivals. Greece had once more to submit to new invaders coming from the coasts of Asia Minor. Pclops, son of Tantalus, both celebrated in the songs of the poets, was chased from his country and fled into Europe ; he entered, 1362, into the peninsula subsequently called Peloponnesus; 2 he brought with him the arts and magnificence of Phrygia ; 3 his arrival also favoured civilisation, which was afterwards developed in Greece. That country, so long convulsed by continual shocks, 1 South-west of Bceotia, in Northern Greece. Mount Parnassus is within its boundaries. 3 Southern Greece, now called the Morea, on account of the mulberry trees with which it abounds. 3 In Asia Minor ; it was divided into Great and Little Pbrygia. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 165 now became organised, favoured by a few years of tranquillity. All the tribes, which had been until then feeble and dispersed, felt the want of communion with one another. Amphictyon established a sovereign council which received his name (Amphidyonic Council), to which a great number of cities sent deputies to dis- cuss affairs of public interest ; thus these little republics, although entirely independent of one another, acquired strength to combat foreign invaders. Nothing was wanting but the occasional repression of a few ambi- tious princes who disturbed the general unity, and the deliverance of peaceable populations from brigands, who frequently pillaged their territory, and the de- struction of ferocious animals by whom the country was devastated ; but this work was reserved for heroes. 98. HISTOKIC TIMES. There was in Greece an age of enthusiastic chivalry. Some men, confiding in their strength and tact, over- ran the country, declaring themselves avengers of mankind, protectors of the feeble. Their divers ex- ploits united, and attributed by the poets to only a small number of the heroic band, resembled, as it were, phantoms of grandeur suspended between heaven and earth. These benefactors of humanity were called semi-gods, and only a short time elapsed before they had altars erected to them. It suffices to mention Hercules, Theseus, then Castor and Pollux, twin sons of Tyndarus and chieftains of Sparta. Hercules, or Alcides, was the most celebrated. We cannot here recount the Twelve Labours of that con- queror of the Lerna3an 1 Hydra and the Nemsean 2 1 Lerna was the name of a marsh and stream near Argos. 2 Nemsea was a town in the north-east of Argolis. 1 66 ANCIENT HISTORY Lion, which belong to the domain of mythology ; but we find in history that he conquered Eurystheus, his brother and persecutor; that he traversed the whole of Greece, overthrowing tyrants and delivering the oppressed. His great exploit was the capture of Troy, which he put to fire and sword as a punishment for a violation of faith of Laomedon, the king (about 1314). Theseus, friend and successor of Hercules, made him- self famous by slaying some notorious brigands; he freed Athens, his country, from a humiliating tribute which she paid to the island of Crete ; l he united in one city the twelve little towns of which she was composed, and restored to her the antique legislation which she had formerly enjoyed. At this time, also, Minos, King of Crete, administered such wise laws to his people, that after his demise the admiring Greeks proclaimed him judge of the infernal regions. At the epoch of the Herculean exploits, fifty-four illustrious warriors (about 1330), the Argonauts, embarked on the first ship of war, and sailed under the guidance of Jason in search of the Golden Fleece, that is to say, to pillage the riches of the Asiatic king JfkUt? But a more serious struggle with Asia was about to take place, though before that a national war desolated Greece. This war broke out as a sequel to the quarrel of two brothers, Eteodes and Polynices, sons of (Edipus. The last-named prince, son of La'ius, King of Thebes, had unfortunately killed his father, taking him for a stranger, and had married his own mother, Jocasta, ignoring who she was. In his despair, he tore out his 1 An island in the Mediterranean, now called Candia. It contains Mount Ida of mythological association. The island now belongs to European Turkey. 3 King of Colchis, a country watered by the river Phasis (the Rion), and lying east of the Black Sea. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OP EPAMINONDAS 167 eyes and quitted his kingdom, leaving his execrable sceptre to his two sons, on condition that they should reign alternately for one year at a time. Eteocles, put first in possession of the throne, refused to cede it at the expiration of the specified terra ; Polynices, sup- ported by the principal chiefs of Greece, claimed his heritage by force of arms (1315). The two brothers killed each other in single combat; nevertheless the partisans of Eteocles claimed the victory (1312). But some years after, the descendants of the allies of Polynices, the Epigoni, laid anew the siege to Thebes, which was taken and sacked. 99. SIEGE OF TROY. But a powerful State had arisen opposite Greece, on the coast of Asia. Founded by the Pelasgi, refuge of the Pelasgic race, Troy, which had been sacked under Laomedon by Hercules, had again become rich and powerful in the reign of Priam. The hatred of the Pelasgi of Asia against the Hellenes of Greece waited only occasion to give itself visible mani- festation. Paris, son of Priam, aroused indignation throughout Greece by carrying off Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta, who had hospitably enter- tained him in his palace. The whole nation arose to punish this cowardly treachery. Eleven hundred and eighty vessels were equipped, and more than 100,000 disembarked on the Asiatic coast (1280). For nine years, Troy, 1 defended by the valorous Hector, remained proof against the assaults on her ramparts made by 1 Situated in Little Phrygia, Asia Minor. The surrounding region is called the Troas. Two rivers, the Simois and the Scamander, run through the plain of Troy. 1 68 ANCIENT HISTORY Agamemnon, " King of Kings," and of Menelaus his brother, of the two Ajax, of the prudent Ulysses. Having been insulted by Agamemnon, Achilles, the Grecian hero, gave vent to his resentment by depriving his compatriots of his valuable aid, quitting the battle- field to retire morosely to his tent. After a while, however, he re-armed himself with his invincible sword in order to avenge Patrodus, his friend, who had been slain by the valiant Trojan chieftain ; he slew Hector, but he himself perished by the hand of Paris. The war seemed destined to be long continued, when Ulysses devised that famous wooden horse, whose flanks, if the poet may be credited, contained a number of warriors, and to which the Trojans im- prudently allowed admittance through a breach in their walls. The Greek soldiers quitted their fatal machine during the night, and opened the city gates to the besiegers. Troy was sacked ; Priam perished with his fifty sons ; his wife and daughters were led into captivity (1270). 100. REVOLUTION IN GREECE. The fall of Troy resounded through the world, but it proved fatal to the conquerors. Several Greek princes perished on the return voyage, or were, like Ulysses, driven by tempests far from their homes. Agamemnon even, returned to his native land only to perish, assassinated by Clytemnestra, his adulterous wife, and by j&gisthus, accomplice of the culpable princess. The children of Priam became avenged of the heinous crimes of the family of the Atridse. 1 The 1 Family of Agamemnon, who descended from King Atreus. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 169 fugitive Trojans had sought a shelter in Italy ; there also the banished Hellenes had taken refuge. Later, rivalry commenced between the two races, represented by Rome and Great Greece (Magna Graecia). 101. EETURN OF THE HERACLHLE. The misfortunes of the Hellenes had prepared the way for a great political revolution. The Heradidce, or descendants of Hercules, whom the power of their father had established in a great number of Greek cities, 1 were soon chased thence by numerous enemies ; having made three futile attempts to reinstate them- selves in their dominions, they made an incursion on the warlike descendants of Dorus (Dorians), dwelling in the mountains of Thessaly ; they poured down also on the Peloponnesians. They made a rapid conquest, and their generals divided the subdued States ( 1 1 90). Argolis fell before Temenus; Messenia 2 before Cres- phontes; Eurysthenes and Procles, established in Lace- demonia, 3 became the heads of those two royal families who concurrently placed a king on the throne, the Agidce and the Prodi. After this last movement, the whole of Greece entered into a great calm, and peace lasted for many long years. An almost general revolution, however, took place, but it excited little confusion. In nearly the whole of the nation the regal power gave place to the Republican Government. Thebes gave the signal (1190). 1 A great number of Greek settlements in Southern Italy. 2 In the Peloponnesus. 3 Laconia, or Sparta. 170 ANCIENT HISTORY 102. DEATH OF CODKUS. After the devotedness of their king Codrus (No. 1 08), who had flung himself in the heat of the battle, having been told that victory could only by his death be assured to his compatriots (1132), the Athenians believed it impossible to appoint a worthy successor to the throne, and they determined to accept no sovereign but Jupiter. The Megareans l slew their king, for the purpose of transferring the government to magistrates appointed by the election of the people, and revocable at their will. Royalty was at the same time abolished in Phocis, in JEtolia, and in Bceotia. The kings maintained their power for a longer period in Corinth, in Arcadia, and in Messenia ; yet in 668 they had, in their turn, disappeared. Sparta alone retained her kings, but they were scarcely more than warrior chieftains. The political movements favoured the development of the Amphictyonic Council, which seemed to make of entire Greece but one sole confe- deration. The Amphictyones at this period exercised such a happy influence that they succeeded in main- taining a general tranquillity until the war of Mes- sinia (742). The public games greatly contributed to strengthen the unity of the Greeks. The most famous were the Olympic Games and the Isthmian Games, established during the Heroic times. All the provinces sent their most able athletes to dispute the prize for racing and wrestling; the poets came also to compete for popular approval with their poetical recitations, and the prize-winner was cele- brated throughout Greece (No. 128). The Olympic 1 Megaris, south-west of Africa, was a country in Northern Greece. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS Games were held every four years. After many interruptions, they were solemnly re-established in 884, and in 776 they were taken as basis for the Grecian chronology. The first Olympiad dates from twenty-two years before the foundation of Kome. Each Olympiad received the name of the prize-winner. 103. PEINCIPAL COLONIES IN ASIA, IN ITALY, AND IN SICILY. This epoch, in which the Greeks became accustomed to a definitive constitution, was also one of importance for the colonies. The lonians and the Boeotians l were chased beyond the seas by the Heraclidse, who had invaded their domains. Cast out of the Peloponnesus, the Boeotians established themselves in Mysia and in Lydia. 2 where they founded Smyrna, 3 Cumee, 4 and Mitylene. 5 The almost entire Ionian race passed over to the same coasts. The name of Ionia was given to the territory on which twelve cities were built by the new colonists ; the most celebrated were, Phocsea, 6 Samos, 7 Erythrae, Ephesus, 8 and Miletus. 9 Some of the Dorians became established on the 1 One of the four Hellenic tribes. 2 Mysia and Lydia were countries in the west of Asia Minor. 3 On a gulf of the same name, in the Archipelago, in Asia Minor. 4 In Central Italy. 5 The capital of Lesbos, an island of the Archipelago. 6 A town of Asia Minor, in the ^Egean Sea. 7 An island of the Archipelago. 8 The greatest of the twelve Ionian cities. On its site, which is now deserted and desolate, once stood the Temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the world, but of which no traces now remain. Ruins, how- ever, of other historical erections strew the plain. 9 A city in Asia Minor. 1/2 ANCIENT HISTORY shores and on the Southern Islands of Asia Minor. Such were the Eastern colonies. In the West, several colonists, going to Italy, re- joined the descendants of the conqueror of Troy. Tarentum, 1 Heraclea, 2 Sybaris, 3 and Crotona 4 were built by the Dorians and the Actasa ; Messena, 5 daughter of Messenia ; Syracuse, 6 a Corinthian colony, Catina, 7 Agrigentum, 8 arose in Sicily. Even on the Gaulish coast a Phocsean colony founded Massilia (Marseilles). In Spain, Saguntum 9 is also of Hel- lenic origin. Thus Greece spread far and wide her people, her manners, her laws, and her gods. Her numerous colonies faithfully preserved the traditions of the mother country, and in this way her influence was extended over a large portion of the world. The names of Sparta and Athens had been of little note during this early period ; those celebrated cities had remained until now confounded with the secondary towns. But the moment had arrived when they were destined to be placed above the others, when they should govern entire Greece, when they should be divided as in two camps by a long rivalship; they 1 Now called Taranto, on a gulf of that name in Southern Italy. 2 A town in Pontus (the modern Erekli), in the Euxine, Asia Minor. 3 Was a town on the Gulf of Tarentum in Southern Italy. 4 A town of Southern Italy, now called Croton. 5 Capital of Messinia, in the ancient Peloponnesus. 6 One of the greatest of the Greek colonies. It was the chief city of Sicily, on the east coast, and possessed a splendid harbour. 7 North of Syracuse, on the east coast of Sicily ; a marine town at the foot of JEtna, and now called Catania. 8 The small town of Girgenti is situate near the magnificent ruins of Agrigentum, on the east coast of Sicily. 9 Now Murviedro, or Morvedro. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 173 owed this power to the strength of their government, and to the legislations, justly called famous, of Lycur- gus and Solon. 104. SPARTA. Sparta, 1 the Heraclide city, was constituted the first. Two kings of the Hercules race, one named Agis, the other Proclides, reigned there together over one popu- lation, which was composed almost entirely of the descendants of the victorious races of the Heraclidse and the Dorians. The ancient Pelasgic people had been nearly all chased from Laconia. The Spartans, vanquishers of the Helotes, their neighbours, whose city they had destroyed, now transported them into their territory, but only to subject them to bitter slavery. By degrees the people encroached upon the authority of their princes ; confusion arose in the State, and a reform became necessary ; this was accomplished by Lycurgus. 105. LYCUHGUS. Lycurgus, a descendant of Procles, was the brother of Polydectes, the deceased king (898); the wife of the latter proposed to slay her infant if Lycurgus would espouse her and reign on the throne with her. But the Spartan refused to obtain the sceptre by a crime, and he declared his nephew king under the name of Charilaus (The People's Joy). After that he made long voyages for the purpose of studying the manners and laws of different peoples, and on his return he undertook to give to his country that austere and 1 Once a Republic in Southern Greece. 174 ANCIENT HISTORY powerful constitution which it has never replaced by another. Issue of a conquering race, he wished, above all, to infuse into his country a warlike genius, and to develop the strength and courage of the citizens. Such was the aim of education in all connected with education and manners. The Spartan was required to be vigorous ; a child, feeble or deformed at birth, was condemned to perish. Until the age of thirty years the youths were subjected to unmerciful masters, having to accustom themselves to the hardest bodily fatigues; the young girls even wrestled or fought publicly in the gymnasium. To prevent ease or softness from ever destroying the effects of that hard apprenticeship of a citizen's life, all wealth and luxury were banished from Sparta. The land was equally divided amongst all families. Iron money was the only kind in use ; it was so heavy that it was nearly impossible to use it in commercial trans- actions, therefore the possession of a great quantity was useless ; besides, commerce itself and manufac- tures were considered dishonouring professions, as they favoured the development of luxury. All the citizens, even the kings, were obliged to participate in repasts common to all, at which frugal simplicity reigned. Even the material and form of clothing was decided by the law. For the rest, this legislation, which occupied itself with so much solicitude in physical education, neglected, almost entirely, moral education ; it was intended to develop one sole sentiment Love of Fatherland, an excellent sentiment without doubt, but which should not annihilate the other legitimate affections. At Sparta courage was enforced till it attained a GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 175 hard insensibility which passed for heroism. The mother would coldly send her son to death without ever dreaming of regretting his loss. The Helotes were retained in Sparta, but they served only to give the young Spartans a horror of vice by the hideous spectacle of their degradation. Besides, they were punished with death for slight faults, and if they made an escape, the event served as an occasion for a slave chase, which exercised the Spartan youths in the custom of pursuing an enemy. Behold the morals which have been so much vaunted ; if they produced a few sublime traits, it must be avowed that a high price was paid for them by the sacrifice of all that is most saintly in humanity. The political part of the Lycurguan legislation lays a more just claim to praise. The constitution of Sparta was nearly republican, although two monarchs reigned simultaneously; the kings, leaders of the army, and possessing absolute power during war, were, in time of peace, merely presidents over a senate of twenty-eight elders illustrious for their wisdom, who discussed political questions, and presented laws to the people, which had to be either received or rejected without amendments. This senate exercised judicial functions in capital affairs, and, united with the powerful college of the five JEphori, who were supreme magistrates and the veritable rulers of Sparta, it held the right to judge and condemn the kings them- selves. The spirit of opposition, which had sometimes been manifested by the Spartans against these laws, caused Lycurgus to fear that they were about to abolish them. He made the people swear that they would change none of them, at least during his absence ; he departed, ANCIENT HISTORY dying far from his country, and so as to render his return impossible, and thus oblige his fellow-citizens to preserve his work, he caused his ashes to be thrown into the sea. It is known that Sparta remained long faithful to her vow. 1 06. THE FIRST MESSENIAN WAR. The aim and purpose of the Lycurguan legislation was fully attained. Sparta became a powerful war- like Republic ; this was proved in the Messenian wars. The struggle commenced because of an insult offered by the Messenians to the young Spartan girls who had gone to sacrifice in a temple situate on the frontiers of the two countries. Being of the same race as the Spartans, the Messenians opposed the energetic valour of their enemies by an indefatigable resistance (742). During nineteen years the blood of the two hostile peoples flowed around Mount Ithome, the natural rampart of Messena. Aristodemus, the Messenian chieftain, captured and immolated three hundred Spartans with Theopompus their king ; but on the faith of a lying oracle he sacrificed his daughter, then killed himself in despair. Mount Ithome had lost its defender. The Messenian warriors were forced to submit to a servitude of forty years (724-684), but they wearied of a hard and shameful slavery. 107. SECOND MESSENIAN WAR. Aristomenes, a descendant of the ancient kings, incited his compatriots to revenge their wrongs and to strike for freedom; all responded to the call, and the second Messenian war commenced (684). Alone, and in the obscurity of night, Aristomenes penetrated into the hostile city, and entering the Temple of Minerva, he suspended from its central ceiling a trophy which he had carried off from the Spartans. This insulting challenge was succeeded by brilliant victories, and Sparta, in consternation, stooped to beg a general from the Athenians ; the latter sent, in derision, Tyrteus, the poet, lame, and devoid of military experience, who was beaten in the first engagement by Aristomenes. But he quitted the sword to return to the lyre ; he excited, by his songs, the enthusiasm of the Spartans, at the same time that a defection enfeebled the Mes- senian army. Aristomenes, vanquished in the battle of Tranches (680), retired to Mount Ira. After a heroic defence, he was captured by his enemies and thrown into a gulf destined for the reception of criminals. But, out of regard for his valour, the Spartans had permitted him to retain his shield, and this protected him in his fall ; he succeeded in escap- ing from out of the midst of the corpses of his companions, and signalised his return amongst his compatriots by new successes. Perhaps victory would have again crowned so much courage and perseverance, if treachery had not once more come to the aid of the Spartans. The fortresses of Ira had been consigned to a deserter, and Aristomenes had great difficulty in flying for refuge to Sicily with a small number of his compatriots. The Messenians preserved their name and their race, while their brethren of Greece were placed by the conquerors in the rank of the Helotes (668). Messenia had perished under the ruins of its last ramparts. The war, which broke out afresh at Ithome two hundred years later, was only a revolt of slaves thenceforth without country. M 178 ANCIENT HISTORY 1 08. ATHENS. By favour of those desperate struggles, Athens was enabled to rear her head in peace, and to prepare for becoming one day the rival of Sparta. In the first, as in the second of those two cities, there was a mixture of divers races who never lived in perfect unity. The ancient population had submitted to the yoke of the lonians and ^Eolians. The latter were the Eupatoria or nobles, reserving to themselves all the honourable positions ; the most fertile plains were allotted to them, whilst the vanquished were driven to the mountains or the sea-coasts. The union of the principal Eupatoria constituted a mighty oligarchy, which made gradual but sure encroachments on the regal power. After Theseus (1322), the throne in- clined ever more and more toward ruin ; Codrus was the last king (No. 102). An invasion of the Hera- clidae and the Dorians menaced Athens. The Oracle declared that the army whose leader should perish in the combat would prove victorious. Codrus cast off his royal ornaments and threw himself into the enemy's ranks. The latter killed him unwittingly, and preci- pitately fled on learning that the Oracle was accom- plished in favour of the Athenians. The nobles extolled the devotedness of their chieftain to the extent of declaring any mortal unworthy of succeeding to such a prince, and they forthwith invested them- selves with the sovereign power. 109. THE ARCHONS. The monarchy was replaced by a new dignity called an Archonship. At first pronounced perpetual, and GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 179 confided to one alone (1132), it was declared de- cennial in 754, and became annual seventy years later, and was divided amongst nine magistrates. The descendants of Codrus for long exercised this high function. The first result of the new government was the increased oppression of the people dwelling on the mountains and sea-coast. The captives, however, found aid in a few ambitious nobles, dissatisfied with the oligarchy ; powerful divisions formed themselves in the State ; laws made in favour of one class of citizens had only the effect of embittering the dis- sensions. The people claimed a more uniform legis- lation, and Draco was charged to give this to Athens (624). no. DRACO. It has been said that the laws of this austere Archon were written in characters of blood. In effect, they decreed that the least faults should be punished by death as well as the greatest crimes ; but they did not survive Draco, and Athens re-fell into a state of anarchy. Civil and foreign wars, con- tagious maladies and famine all those evils befell the city at one time. The struggle between the nobility and people was vigorously recommenced. The Athenians called to their aid Epimenides the Cretan (596), a man full of moderation and wisdom, who exerted himself to re-establish order by aid of religion. But the spirit of dissension, which had been momentarily appeased, broke out afresh after his time ; at this juncture Solon appeared. 180 ANCIENT HISTORY iii. SOLON. Distinguished for his nobleness of soul and for his military exploits, Solon had merited, by his great judi- ciousness, to be counted among the number of the seven sages of Greece scholars, philosophers, and, above all, virtuous men an honour and an example to their country, oracles of all Greece. 1 Solon was named Archon in 593 ; he found the people insur- rectionary against the rich nobles, and obedient to a military chieftain. It behoved him, above all, to restore peace to the State. Solon believed it expedient to set at liberty all debtors, and to abolish the debts ; but, at the same time, he left the agricultural lands in possession of those who had seized them thus doing enough to con- tent the people without monopolising the credit. Order being restored, he could now dream of reforming the State ; the divers elements of which it was composed were cleverly remodelled by him into a new constitution. The citizens were divided into four classes, accord- ing to their wealth. The richest alone were allowed to participate in public functions, to deliberate on State affairs, or to concur in the election of magistrates. The Archons continued to regulate the interior admi- nistration and to submit laws to the people, the statutes being first examined by a Senate of four hundred members. Placed above all was the mighty tribunal of the Areopagus? which was bound, on one 1 The seven sages of Greece are : Solon, Thales, Pittacus, Bias, Cleobulus, Periander, and Chilo. Solon was born at Salamis, an island near the Piraeus, on the Gulf of ^gina, about 638 B.C. 2 Traces of the stone bench are still visible on the Areopagus, or Mars' hill, on which the Areopagite judges sat, who always held their sessions at night, and in the open air. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS l8l side, to arrest the encroachments of the people, and, on the other, to survey the Archons, and make them render, on their resignment, a severe account of their stewardship. Thus was resolved the problem of the union of the democracy with the aristocracy. In the civil laws Solon did not, like Lycurgus, subordinate the moral and intellectual dignity of man to his material development; education was the object of several sage rules, which prescribed exercises of the mind as well as those of the body ; private as well as public virtues were held in honour. Solon abolished all the criminal laws of Draco, excepting those which applied to homicide ; in his own, he was sparing of capital punishment, and would not foresee either sacrilege or parricide ; those crimes were un- known in Athens. Solon's legislation was perhaps a chef-d'ceuvre of human wisdom in ancient times ; but the mobile character of the Athenians did not allow them to remain long faithful to anything. During Solon's absence on a voyage the people, who had sworn to observe his laws, suddenly forgot them, and forthwith resuscitated quarrels which had been momentarily suppressed. 112. THE PISISTEATID.E. The ambitious Pisistratus joined the most popular faction, profiting, at the same time, by the disunity of other parties, to augment his own. He one day presented himself before the people covered with self- inflicted wounds ; he complained of having received that barbarous treatment from his political enemies, and demanded a life-guard ; he thus obtained by an I 82 ANCIENT HISTORY artifice six hundred men, with whom he took posses- sion of the citadel and of the reins of government (561). In vain did the good and fearless Solon raise his respected voice against the usurper. In his last days he beheld the enslavement of his country. Pisistratus was, however, twice overthrown by rival factions ; but they were each time ranged under his control by their own mutual dissensions. For the rest, his government was paternal and wise. The laws of Solon were maintained, literature and the arts were protected, and the city was embellished ; l bound by those brilliant yet slender chains, Athens did not regret her loss of freedom. At the death of Pisistratus (528), the throne was accorded by the citizens to the deceased king's two sons, Hipparchus and Hippias. For the space of four- teen years the young sovereigns imitated their father's example. They were eventually lost through a mis- demeanour. Hipparchus insulted the sister of an Athenian named Harmodius ; the latter, conjointly with his friend, resolved to punish the tyrant. Harmodius gave the deathblow to Hipparchus, and was forth- with instantly killed by the guards of the deceased prince (514); but Aristogiton, immediately placed under arrest, was pleased to point out as his accom- plices the most faithful partisans of Hippias. Having contracted a suspicious and cruel character, Hippias was soon deprived of power by the discontented section (510). The popular government was re-established, while Hippias prostrated himself at the feet of the great king to appeal for protection against his own hostile countrymen. 1 During this reign the erection of the temple of Jupiter Olympius was commenced, which was completed in Hadrian's time. . GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 183 Athens, however, gained strength by victorious results in her struggles with bordering peoples ; able generals were formed in these combats ; the names of Miltiades, of Aristides, now became known ; they were prepared for the Median war. At this epoch Greece had reason to be proud of her forces. A healthy constitution ruled those two great cities, Sparta and Athens, which, preserving within their walls the Hellenistic race, merited, at a later period, to have the sole government in their hands. Never before was the noble character of the nation more energetically displayed, whose might consisted of patriotism and love of freedom. It was easy, then, to predict with whom victory would rest, for on one side thousands were ready to die for their beloved country; on the other, millions of soldiers were driven like a flock of sheep. under the rod of a tyrant. 113. KEVOLT IN IONIA. It was in Ionia the Grecian part of Asia Minor, covered with colonies that the struggles first began. Tired of the Persian yoke, the lonians revolted in 504, and appealed to Greece for aid; the Athenians forwarded some troops, who burned the city of Sardis. Darius (No. 78), infuriated, raised a formidable army, while the Phoenician fleet, whose services he had bought, ravaged the coasts. The greater number of the towns were taken and sacked, and the destruction of the Ionian fleet forced the revolters to submit to the great king's discretion, who, moreover, made a cruel use of his authority (498). No one now re- mained unavenged but the allies of the vanquished I 84 ANCIENT HISTORY colonies. Darius ordered a slave to repeat to him each day the words, " Master, remember the Athe- nians ! " and if he delayed the moment of vengeance, it was only to more fully assure himself of victory. 1 1 4. THE MEDIAN WAR. As soon as the preparations for war were complete, he commissioned Mardonius, his son-in-law, to invade Greece by way of Thrace (495). But the Persian fleet was destroyed by a storm near Mount Athos ; the savage and warlike Thracian tribes killed a great many of their number, and Mardonius was obliged to return without having set foot in Greece (495). This was a fresh outrage to avenge. In 490, Datis and Artaphernes, two Persian generals, disembarked near Athens with five thousand men. The Athenians put the Persian ambassadors to death, so as to render all accommodation impossible, and then appealed for aid to the neighbouring nations. A general terror, however, prevailed in Greece ; the Plataeans sent a thousand soldiers; the Spartans armed their troops, but they waited for the full moon before setting out, and arrived when the battle was over. Nine thousand Athenian warriors and a thousand Plateans set forth to encamp at Mafa&on. 1 Ten generals shared the command of the army. Miltiades, the Athenian, ob- tained the dangerous honour of sole commander on the day of combat, and he proved himself worthy of the confidence reposed in him. His able plan for the disposal of his troops made up for lack of numbers. Sheltered behind by a mountain which prevented their 1 An extensive plain, about twenty-five miles from Athens, and lying contiguous to the sea. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 1 8$ being surrounded, and favoured by the inequality of the ground, the Athenians crushed the Persian multi- tude. Hippias, who had fought with the enemies of his country, was slain, and the Persians fled to their ships. The Athenians had displayed prodigious valour. A Greek soldier, named Cyncegirus, desirous of prevent- ing the escape of a barque containing foes, seized the vessel with his left hand this hand was cut off by the enemy ; he seized the barque with his right, which was forthwith severed ; Cynoagirus then held the vessel with his teeth until death. Another soldier ran to Athens, after the battle, and fell dead of exhaustion as he was announcing the victory. Occupied in re- pressing a revolt in Egypt, Darius was forced to leave Greece in peace for several years ; he had, however, made great preparations for war when he died, coun- selling his son Xerxes to forget not the dishonour of Marathon (485). Athens, who had won the victory almost unaided ; Athens, who had saved Greece, soiled her glory during peace. Miltiades, the hero of Marathon, was, for a slight defeat, thrown into a dungeon as if he had been a criminal, and he died in misery. Aristides, an austere man, the Light of the tribunals, and who had been chosen on account of his high virtue as Arbiter of the Eepublic, was banished on some slight pretext from Athens (485). A countryman, failing to recog- nise him, had asked Aristides to write out for him the vote which pronounced his own exile. Without reveal- ing his identity, he said to the peasant, " What evil hath he done ? " The Athenian answered, " None ; but I am tired of hearing him always called the Just ! " In such ways was declared the cruel and fatal levity of the people, which ultimately proved one of the 1 86 ANCIENT HISTORY chief sources of their country's ruin ; but till that time they were ruled by patriotism. Athens had either slain or banished her great men, but she found no difficulty in finding them successors. Of these was Themistocles, an upright man, eloquent and brave. He, perhaps, merits the accusation of having provoked, out of jealousy, the exile of Aristides ; but his too great ambition was pardoned when he proved himself the deliverer of his country. He hastened to accustom his fellow-citizens to warfare by several campaigns against pirates, and devoted all his energy to the formation of a powerful navy. All was ready when Xerxes appeared. 115. INVASION OF XERXES. The great king had marched forth at the head of a vast army, with the determination of avenging his father's disgrace (401). The entire Hellespont 1 was covered with his ships. In order to connect the two shores he built a bridge of boats, but this being broken by the waves, Xerxes ordered that the sea should be flagellated, and placed chains on its surface. The bridge was reconstructed, and the Persian army was seven days and seven nights in crossing it. Mount Athos was pierced in order to afford a passage for the fleet, and five million men inundated Greece. This caused a general consternation. The Thessalians, the Thebseans, and the Argians, implored the great king's clemency. The Oracle dared to give only evasive answers ; but the Athenian and Spartan warriors 1 A strait, from one to four miles broad, which divides Asia from Europe, and connects the Propontis (Sea of Marmora) with the ^Egean Sea (the Archipelago). GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 187 mutually engaged themselves to perish rather than submit. Leonidas, King of Sparta, was posted in the Pass of Thermopylae. 1 Themistocles, the Athenian, whom the laurels of Miltiades prevented from sleeping, held the command, conjointly with the Spartan Eury- biades, of the fleet which cruised before Eubasa. However, Xerxes continued to approach. Arrived at Thermopylae, he sent a messenger demanding Leo- nidas to surrender his arms. " Come and take them," was the hero's answer to the Persian king. Xerxes ordered his finest troops to force a way through the Pass ; they were repulsed, suffering enormous loss ; but a traitor led the Persians by an unknown path across the mountain. Seeing all resistance to be now use- less, Leonidas, accompanied by three hundred Spartans, in the night-time invaded the camp of Xerxes, and died with his brave three hundred in the midst of the corpses of twenty thousand foes. The defile traversed, Xerxes began to ravage Greece. Themistocles foresaw that it would be wisest to let the torrent flow on unchecked. He therefore transported all his Athe- nians on their ships, and the city dedicated to Minerva was set on fire by the enemy ; but the Persians had to expiate this transitory success. Appointed naval commander, Themistocles showed himself worthy of confidence at Salamis. 2 The exile, Aristides, had for- gotten his own injuries in his anxiety for his country in her hour of peril ; he returned, on the eve of combat, to join Themistocles, offering him the aid of his wisdom and experience. The Persian vessels 1 It derives its name from some hot springs (Thermae) found in the defile. It stretches from Breotia to Thessaly, and lies between Mount Aota and the sea. 2 A small island in the Laronic Gulf (now Gulf of ^Egina), close to the Piraeus. 1 88 ANCIENT HISTORY made a disorderly attack on the Grecian fleet ranged in the gulf. Embarrassed by their own overweening numbers, they sank on coming in contact with the Athenian galleys. Artemisia, 1 Queen of Caria, an ally of Xerxes, alone courageously sustained the combat; but she was at last compelled to fly in the train of the Persian fleet. Xerxes, who had flattered himself with the prospect of a glorious triumph, beheld the disaster from the height of his improvised throne. He now also fled, and crossed the sea in a fisherman's barque, leaving Mardonius behind him at the head of 300,000 men (480). Athens was victorious at Salamis ; Sparta undertook the completion of the war. At Platcea (46g),Pausanias, the Spartan, killed Mardonius and 90,000 Persians ; on the same day, near Mycale, the remains of the great king's fleet were destroyed by the Greeks. With the news of these two defeats, Xerxes heard of the enfran- chisement of Ionia, and he was soon after assassinated (472), without having been able to revenge himself on the Greeks. 1 1 6. COMMENCEMENT OF THE EIVALSHIP BETWEEN SPARTA AND ATHENS. The greatness of Sparta and Athens increased during the war, of which they had conjointly borne almost the sole expense. Athens especially was elated, and now began to openly claim pretensions to domi- nate over all Greece. The Spartans and other tribes were disquieted, and forbade the Athenians to rebuild 1 It was she who erected a stately tomb (regarded as one of the seven wonders) to her husband, Mausolius (hence mausoleum), at Halicarnassus (the capital of Caria), now called Budrus. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 189 their city walls, which had been overthrown by the Persians. Themistocles, however, diverted his rivals by a deceptive negotiation, and when at last the ruse was discovered, the walls were rebuilt. Sparta could not forgive the conqueror of Salamis; its resent- ment was seconded by the ungrateful and inconstant Athenians, and, for his intrigues, the great man was chased into the realm of Persia. Themistocles soon after poisoned himself, in order to prevent being forced to carry arms against his own countrymen. The Greeks had repelled the invaders, but they thought themselves insufficiently avenged so long as the theatre of war was confined to Grecian territory. They resolved to transport it to Asia. The allied cities agreed to levy a tax in order to raise funds for the Asiatic war, the sums thus obtained being entrusted to the care of the virtuous Aristides, who, however, died soon after, leaving a fortune insufficient to clear his own funeral expenses. Pausanias, and Cimon, the son of Miltiades, were placed at the head of the united forces. Byzantium and the Isle of Cyprus were captured from the Per- sians ; but Pausanias, puffed up with success, and corrupted by Persian bribes, meditated the enslave- ment of his country. His underhand practices were discovered, condemned by the Ephori, and they let him die of hunger in the temple in which he had sought refuse. 117. GLORIOUS EXPEDITION OF CIMON PERICLES GRANDEUR OF ATHENS. Cimon remained alone ; brave as Themistocles, wise as Aristides, he could from that time work unshackled 190 ANCIENT HISTORY for a double aim the humiliation of the Persians and the elevation of Athens. The moment was favourable for a war against Persia. After a civil war, Artaxerxes Longimanus, son of Xerxes (471), had ascended the throne. Cimon ravaged all the coast of Asia which he found undefended, and when he re-encountered the Persians he destroyed their fleet and their army. A slight check, which the Athenians received in Egypt, was soon avenged by fresh con- quests over Artaxerxes. Athens had bound herself to sustain all the expenses incurred by the war, with a view of reaping all the advantages which might be gained by his talents and his irreproachable fame ; Cimon stifled the murmurs raised through the ambi- tion of his compatriots, made the Spartans depose their arms, and established the supremacy of Athens ; dying of wounds received in a last victorious battle, he crowned his glorious career by compelling the great king, sovereign of the Eastern world, to sign an igno- minious treaty, by which he solemnly acknowledged the independence of the Greek colonies in Asia Minor (449). The empire of Cyrus has now been seen to tremble before a Grecian city ; yet another century, and it will have been entirely overthrown by Greece. Now had arrived the epoch of the highest glory and illustriousness for the Hellenic race ; and Athens, victorious with Cimon, became under Pericles the most brilliant and the most polished of all the cities in the universe. Equal to Pisistratus in ambition, eloquence, and genius, Pericles, who gave a name to his age as, in later times, did Augustus, Leo X., and Louis XIV. Pericles had resolved to place Athens at the head of Greece, so that he himself could rule in greater splendour. With this aim in view, he affirmed GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 19 1 the power of his country abroad, while he surrounded it by all the fascinations of the fine arts at home. Dazzled by the chefs-d'oeuvre of those famous artists, Zcuxis 1 and Phidias 2 (No. 126), by the magnificence of her monuments 3 and the splendour of her festivals ; happy, and proud of the glorious peace which she at last enjoyed, Athens did not at first perceive that she had given herself a master. Nevertheless, dissatisfac- tion was gradually manifested with Pericles ; the allies, whose treasure he had employed in the interests of his country, and even his compatriots themselves, jealous of his power, spoke of demanding from him a strict account of his administration. He plainly saw that he had better find occupation elsewhere for the uneasy and restless spirits, and call into existence events which would make his talents necessary to the people ; he aroused all the rivalries dormant in Greece, and his policy led to the fatal Peloponnesian war. 1 1 8. THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR CAPTURE OF ATHENS. A quarrel between Corey ra 4 and Corinth 5 furnished the necessary pretext ; Sparta declared herself on the side of Corinth, Athens on that of Corcyra ; nearly all the Grecian people grouped around the hostile cities (431). The war raged furiously ; the march of the armies 1 A Greek painter, a native of Heraclea, a town in Pontus. 2 A Greek sculptor, who lived in the reign of Pericles. 3 The Acropolis was built in the reign of Pericles. It enclosed the Parthenon. 4 Now called Corfu, the largest of the Ionian Isles, south-east of Epirus (S. Albania). 5 A town in the Peloponnesus (S. Greece). IP 2 ANCIENT HISTORY was signalised on all sides by frightful ravages; the vanquished were often slaughtered in cold blood. Sparta was momentarily worsted ; her ships were taken, her land devastated; she demanded a truce. The Athenians harshly refused to accede to her re- quest; they were not long, however, before they bitterly repented of their unmerciful conduct toward their foes. Athens was thrown into sorrow and mourning by a horrible plague, while the Spartans, drawing new strength from desperation, made her pay in deadly defeats for past success. Pericles, the author of the war, died a victim to the contagion ; the two peoples were alike exhausted ; a truce of fifty years was concluded through the efforts of the Athe- nian Nicias (422). Alcibiades, the nephew of Pericles, and inheritor of his ambition and talents, now laid claim to the succes- sion. In order to procure for himself a role in Kepub- lican affairs, he incited his fellow-citizens to a war against Syracuse, and he was appointed, in conjunc- tion with Nicias, to the command of the army, but was subsequently recalled to extenuate himself from an accusation of sacrilege. Taking umbrage at this, he retired, in great anger, to Sparta. He gained the confidence of his new friends by abandoning his luxu- rious and effeminate habits, in order to curb himself to habitual observance of their austere manners, and then incited them to fight against the Athenians. The Spartan Gylippus, who had been sent to the aid of the Syracusians, promptly brought the successful career of Nicias and Demostlienes to a close. The Athenian army, drawn into an ambuscade, was forced to surrender (414); the two commanders were put to death by the Syracusians. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 193 The revenge of Alcibiades had created a bitter time for Athens ; but his behaviour at last caused him to be chased from Sparta itself, and he took refuge near the satrap Tissaphernes ; but he could not calmly behold the humiliation of his country by a people who had withdrawn their protection from himself. He returned to Greece, conquered the Lacedemonians, and made a triumphant entry into Athens, where the citizens enthusiastically received him. Some time after, however, the jealousy of his compatriots was again aroused, and the Liberator returned into exile. The Athenians seemed to have been seized with a spirit of infatuation ; ten generals who had been appointed to fill the place of Alcibiades, and who had vanquished the Lacedemonian fleet, were put to death because they had been unable to find a place of sepulture for their dead. The Spartan, Lysander, an able warrior and wily politician, who diverted men with oaths as children are amused with knuckle-bones, Lysander suc- ceeded to the vanquished general ; from that time the issue of the war was decided. Discouraged by the death of its commanders, the Athenian fleet was beaten at ^Jgos-Potamos, and Lysander appeared with his troops before the Piraeus 1 (404) ; Athens was soon compelled to open her gates to the conqueror, who burnt all her galleys and destroyed her ramparts. Sparta burdened her rival with a heavy yoke ; she placed at the head of the Athenian Government thirty magistrates, or rather thirty tyrants, who preserved their authority by force of crimes only, and succeeded in obtaining from the Persians the assassination of Alcibiades. The banished Thrasybulus placed himself 1 The Port of Athens on the Gulf of Saronica (now the Gulf of ^Egina). N 194 ANCIENT HISTORY at the head of a conspiracy to overthrow them ; he chased the tyrants from the citadel and established the Republican government. The death of the sage, Socrates, who had been compelled to drink hemlock (No. 125), signalised the return of freedom to the most ungrateful city of Greece (400). Although Athens had recovered her independence, she had failed to regain her former power ; being still too feeble for self-defence, she implored the aid of the Persians. 1 1 9. RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND. The mutual hatred of the two nations gradually slackened. During the rivalship of Artaxerxes Mnemon and his young brother Cyrus (called Cyrus the younger), 13,000 Greeks had gone to the latter's aid. Their ally being vanquished and killed in the great battle of Cunaxa (401), they set out in march to return into Greece. But their generals were treacherously killed ; new leaders were nominated, and soon, by the intense cold and famine, and the furious onslaughts made on them by the Karduchi (Kurds), their number was reduced to ten thousand, and these made across all the western l part of Asia, notwithstanding innu- merable obstacles and perils that retreat so famous under the name of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, celebrated by Xenophon (No. 124), who became its historian after having been its hero. Affirmed on the throne, Artaxerxes overlooked this intervention of the Greeks, and joyfully received the propositions of the Athenians. 1 The Highlands of Armenia. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 195 1 20. AGESILAUS LEAGUE OF THE PRINCIPAL PEOPLES OF GREECE AND THE PERSIANS AGAINST SPARTA PEACE OF ATALCIDAS. In demanding Eastern aid, Greece was considered to have derogated from her glory. Sparta pretended to lift her out of her degradation, and Agesilaus, the Spartan king, invaded Asia Minor, quickly subduing all the satraps in Persia, and carrying terror into the heart of the empire. In the full career of his suc- cesses, a league, formed by the Athenians, forced Sparta to recall her conquering general. At the first intimation of the Ephori, Agesilaus returned, and beat the allies at Coronea ; but, aided by subsidies from Persia, Athens had rebuilt her city walls and con- structed a fleet. The Lacedemonians clearly perceived that they could not wrestle with the united efforts of Athens and Persia. Negotiations with the great king were entered upon, and they were terminated by the Treaty of Antalcidas, which renounced all the Greek colonies of Asia Minor in favour of Persia. How different from Cimon's glorious treaty ! (No. 1 1 7.) 121. PELOPIDAS AND EPAMINONDAS. For price of her humiliation, Greece was still governed by Sparta ; but the latter eventually fell. By an abuse of power, she had quietly taken posses- sion of the citadel of Thebes. Following the example of Thrasybulus, Pdopidas formed a conspiracy against his oppressors. In the midst of a banquet, at which the principal Spartans were present, some one entered 196 ANCIENT HISTORY the apartment with a letter, in which the plot was revealed. Kejecting all perusal of it, the Spartans cast it aside, exclaiming, We will discuss serious affairs to-morrow ! On the next day they were driven from Thebes, or put to death (379). This was the signal for the struggle which followed, by which a hitherto obscure and uninfluential city was suddenly placed in the first rank. Hostilities were opened by Pelopidas ; his opponent, Agesilaus, taught him the art of war even by victories, and, though several times defeated, the headstrong Theban soon gained possession of several important cities. Pelopidas was then joined by Epaminondas, his friend, and the successful issue of the struggle was no longer doubtful. At Leuctres, 400 Spartans, with one of their kings, were slain (311). Victory was decided by the Sacred Bat- talion, formed of the elite of the young Thebans, commanded by Pelopidas ; Laconia was forthwith invaded, and the capture of Sparta would have been inevitable save for the indefatigable valour of the aged Agesilaus. 122. POWER OF THEBES. Yet the success of Thebes * disquieted Greece. Athens sided with Sparta, who now retrieved her fallen fortunes. Left alone through the death of Pelopidas, who was slain in a combat in Thessaly, the courage of Epaminondas did not fail ; he, a second time, attempted the capture of Sparta; but Agesilaus, notwithstanding his eighty years, again repelled him. All the hostile forces met at Mantinea. The vic- torious Thebans lost their general ; defeat would have 1 The capital of Boeotia (now a hamlet called Thiva). GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 197 been more welcome. Epaminondas died saying, " I leave behind me two immortal daughters Leuctres and Mantinea." The great man's fame was estab- lished ; but Thebes, who had risen through her general, now re- fell into obscurity (363). II. Religion, Institutions, Literature, Sciences, and Arts of the Greeks. 123. LITER AKY AND ARTISTIC GLORY OF GREECE. Doubtless several nations deserve to be more celebrated than Greece for warlike exploits ; but civilisation and the arts have surrounded Greece with an unrivalled lustre; and the renown gained by her brilliant feats of arms was owing to the eloquence of her historians or to the genius of her poets. The age of Pericles, especially, presented the most astonishing assembly of great men that had yet been seen ; it is to that golden age of civilisation that we owe the greater part of those famous monuments of art and literature, the fragments of which still constitute a theme of admiration. Our great writers have formed themselves at the schools of the Greek Masters ; at the base of the tottering columns of Greece our architects limn their designs ; and our sculptors have often imbibed their most delightful inspirations at the foot of her mutilated statues. 124. LITERATURE. In remote times, Homer gave to the world a poem, 198 ANCIENT HISTORY which, although so many centuries have elapsed, still remains the model of epic poetry. The Greeks, being enthusiastic admirers of the author of the Iliad, raised altars in his honour, and for many centuries poets called Rhapsodists journeyed from town to town like the Troubadours of the Middle Ages, repeating on their lyre some stanza of the immortal poem. ffcsiodus followed in the footsteps of Homer, and gave the first models of didactic poetry. A more delicate and lively style of writing was born in the midst of the troubles and revolutions which agitated Greece. Tyrtoeus sang his martial hymns on fields of battle (No. 107); Pindarus (No. 131), the greatest of lyrics, celebrated, in his odes, the conquerors in the Olympic Games. A more graceful muse inspired with songs of love the celebrated Sappho 1 and the aged Anacreon. 2 In Tragedy, the rude essays of Thespis, 3 actor of the tumbril, with his face besmeared with lees, are improved by jfflschylusf whose manly language, at times sublime, exalts the great deeds of his fellow- citizens. The energy of ^Eschylus was tainted with roughness ; Sophocles completed the work of clearing dramatic poetry from the last vestiges of its antique barbarity. Euripides? by his pathetic verses, made all Greece weep over the misfortunes of her ancient heroes. By the side of Tragedy, Comedy came into being ; at first replete with deadly satires, then of less gross allusions, yet still too direct, from the pen of Aristophanes (No. 125), and at last, in modern times, it became the general means of the criticism of folly 1 A poetess, born in the island of Lesbos. 8 A native of Teos, a town of Ionia. 3 Lived 600 B.C. 4 Lived about 480 B.C. 5 Lived about 300 B.C. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 1 99 and vice. Menander 1 was the author of this useful revolution. The glory of founding History is ascribed to Herodotus? At first interwoven with fabulous recitals, historical narration was rendered in a graver and truer style by Thiicydides, the most perfect of Greek historians. Xenophon (No. 1 1 9), warrior, his- torian, and philosopher, has shown himself, by his works, a worthy rival of his illustrious predecessors. In Greece, no branch of literature was more culti- vated than Rhetoric. In fact, it was no wonder that a crowd of orators should spring up from those per- petual discussions in the public places, where the most important political questions were argued by popular assemblies. No one arrived at a state of eminence without the gift of eloquence. The sprightly and idle people of Athens accorded their votes to the one who had charmed their ears. Thus, in a Re- public, Pericles and Alcibiades created for themselves a nearly regal power ; thus, from the height of that rostrum on which he had to struggle with the elo- quence of Eschines, the famous Demosthenes (No. 130) could, at his will, stir up a whole nation, and, by his thundering Philippics, lead all Greece against the father of Alexander the Great. 125. PHILOSOPHY. In Greece, philosophy was primarily composed of moral precepts. These soon became mingled with theoretical researches, and great schools were founded : 1 Lived 300 B.C. - Born 484 B.C. at Halicarnassus (now called Budrun), the capital of Caria (in Asia Minor). 200 ANCIENT HISTORY the Ionic school, which remounts to Tholes* accused of a materialising tendency ; the Italian school, estab- lished by Pythagoras, who often lost himself in the reveries of an overstrained intellect. The study of the doctrines of these great men formed the most illustrious philosophers of ancient times : Anaxagoras? Socrates, and his disciples Plato and Aristotle. 3 Socrates effected an important reform in philosophy ; he led back the thinkers, lost in vain speculations, to the study of the human soul ; he wished to make of philosophy a code of moral practice, and his life was the model of the virtues which he taught. Scarce any man in antiquity merits more than Socrates the name of Sage, hardly any one has preached a purer morality. He seemed destined to show, like Plato, his chosen disciple, how far human reason could stretch by its own innate force. Socrates rencountered the fate of all the other Greek adversaries of vice. Pursued by the insulting raillery of the comic poet Aristophanes, followed by the more violent attacks of his enemies, he became a victim to their hatred, and was compelled to drink hemlock in 400 B.C. 126. THE FINE ARTS. Greece was as successful in the fine arts as in literature. In this branch she cites names which will never perish. The three orders of architecture, 1 Born about 610 B.C., in Miletus, a city between Laodicea and Caria (in Asia Minor). * The tutor of Pericles. 3 Tutor of Alexander the Great and founder of the Peripatetic system. He was a native of Stagira in Macedonia, and died at Chalcis (now Egripo), capital of Eubrea (Negropont), an island in the ^Egean Sea. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 2OI Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, present an ever-imitated type of grace and regularity of outline. The temples, with their majestic porches, were further embellished with all the resources of sculpture, carried to perfec- tion by Phidias, 1 Lysippus? and Praxiteles? Painting, introduced from Egypt, had in Greece a far dif- ferent development than in the immobile country in which it had taken birth ; it suffices to name amongst the painters, Zeuxis, Parrhasiusf and, above all, Apelles. 5 127. SCIENCES. The sciences did not attain in Greece such brilliant success. However, instructed by Egyptian priests, Pythagoras 6 (No. 125) applied himself ardently to the study of mathematics, and Euclid 7 earned the title of Father of Geometry. Astronomy was cultivated by Tholes of Miletus* (about 640 B.C.), but after his time this science made little progress. Such was not the case with medicine, first taught by Esculapius, whom the grateful public placed in the rank of the gods, a knowledge of which became more general under 1 The sculptures iu the Parthenon were executed under the direction of Phidias, who lived in the reign of Pericles. 3 Sculptor to Alexander the Great. 3 Lived about 320 B.C. He executed many of the sculptures in the second Temple of Diana at Ephesus. The first temple was destroyed in the year 337 B.C. 4 400 B.c. 5 Contemporary with the sculptor Praxiteles, in the time of Alex- ander the Great. 6 A native of the isle of Samos, but who subsequently settled in Italy about 560 B.C. 7 A native of Alexandria, Troas, in Asia Minor ; about 250 B.C. 8 A town in Asia Minor, between Laodicea and Caria. 202 ANCIENT HISTORY Hippocrates? who was for some time an incontestable authority, and whose works, notwithstanding the pro- gress of science, are still held in great respect. 128. RE LIGIONS INSTITUTIONS. But what was the ultimatum of all those prodi- gious efforts of the human mind ? That Greece, so brilliant, so polished, so learned in human wisdom, fell like other pagan nations into the most deplorable error, offering the afflicting spectacle of a civilised nation plunged into an abyss of folly and degradation through the medium of a false religion. Greek philo- sophy has shown that the human mind, of its own innate force, can rise to a stupendous height, but, unsustained, it shudders at its certain fall. Greek religion has shown how very low the human mind can descend, and, unassisted by Divine providence, find itself unable to rise again. Olympus, 2 the heaven of the Greeks, was peopled by the reunion of the divinities of all nations, as Greece herself was peopled by their colonies ; there were found Egyptian, Phrygian, and Phoenician deities; Grecian heroes took places amongst the strange gods ; then was commenced the deification of all sentiments, all the passions, all vices ; and an author has enume- rated by thousands the names of those scandalous objects of the adoration of men. Each tribe honoured certain gods with a peculiar form of worship. Jupiter, 1 A native of the island of Cos, in the ^Egean Sea (Archipelago), about 420 B. C. 2 A many-peaked mountain (now called "Lacha") in the north- east of Thessaly, on the sea-coast (its highest summit 9754 feet). It forms the southern boundary of Macedonia, and lies south of Mount Ossa, from which it is divided by the Vale of Tempe. GREECE UNTIL DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS 2O3 the most mighty of all (No. 95), and his son Hercules, the destroyer of monsters (No. 98), were the most generally adored. Athens was dedicated to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. The warlike Lacedemo- nians offered perpetual sacrifices to the god Mars ; at Delphi x was the famous Temple of Apollo ; Corinth, 2 the most corrupt of the Greek cities, honoured Venus by debauchery. The fe~tes of Ceres served to veil with their mysteries the most infamous voluptuous- ness. In the city of Eleusis, defiled with impurity, the religion was yet further polluted with effusion of blood ; human sacrifices were not rare, and the custom spread around. Themistocles prepared for the victory of Salamis by the immolation of three young Persians. Divination, the source of falsity and imposture, was one of the principal bases of the religion of the ancients. They searched the secrets of futurity in the flight of birds, in the entrails of victims ; each season had its oracle, and the disconnected phrases escaping from an intoxicated and deceitful priestess were received with veneration. The most celebrated oracle was stationed at Delphi, where the Pythoness uttered sentences whilst seated on a tripod placed at the entrance of a mysterious cave. The Greeks united on several great occasions to celebrate the festivals held iu honour of their gods. Such were the four solemn games called the Olympic, Isthmic, Nemcean, and Pythian Games institutions which were at the same time political and religious. 1 A town in Phocis (now Kastri), at the foot of Mount Parnassus. 2 A city in the Peloponnesus, situate on the isthmus of Corinth, between the ^Egean and the Ionian seas. 204 ANCIENT HISTORY The most memorable were the Olympic Games ; in these the prizes for wrestling, the cestus, boxing, foot, horse, and chariot racing were disputed. The victor received only a wreath of wild olive ; but he triumphantly re-entered his native town, and his name, sung by all the poets, designated an Olympiad. 1 This was one of the greatest benefits gained by that celebrated institution. 1 The Olympic Games were held once every four years. The reckoning of time by Olympiads began 775 B.C., and ended 440 A.D. The games were held in an olive grove at Olympia, in Elis, Southern Greece. CHAPTEE II THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 129. THE EARLY INHABITANTS OF MACEDONIA. AFTER the ephemeral rise of Thebes, a new State suddenly appeared, which founded a rather more durable domination. Founded by Caranus (about 800), the kingdom of Macedonia l existed, almost entirely unnoticed, for many long years in the north of Greece, occupied in struggles with the savage hordes who inhabited the bordering mountains. Although governed by the descendants of Hercules, it held little connection with the Greeks ; it remained in obscurity until the time of Philip II., son of Amynthas. In- structed by Epaminondas in the art of war and of good government, this monarch civilised and discip- lined his barbarous nation, and by dint of skill and perseverance paved the way for Alexander the Great. 130. PHILIP II. (360-336). He commenced by creating the redoubtable Phalanx, the 8000 men of which wore heavy armour, and by 1 Situated west of Thrace and north of Thessaly. Its capital was Philippi, founded by Philip of Macedon. Its principal port was Thessalonica (Saloniki), now in Roumelia, European Turkey, on the gulf of the same name, and west of the peninsula which forms a trident of three peninsulas stretching into the ^Egean Sea, on one of which stood Mount Athos. 205 206 ANCIENT HISTORY their method of crossing their pikes (which were seven yards long), formed a body of troops almost invincible. While a war between the inhabitants of the mainland and those of the isles (civil war) occupied all Greece, Philip founded his naval power by taking possession of a portion of Thrace, besides several maritime towns. The sacred war broke out soon afterwards. The Phocseans, accused of sacrilege, were attacked by the Thebeans, and all the Greeks sided with either one or the other. Philip, who had already intermeddled with the affairs of Greece, succeeded in gaining from the Amphictyonic Council the title of Avenger of the Temple of Delphi ; he beat the Phocaeans, placed gar- risons in the captured cities, and for his pretended services claimed a right to exert his authority over all Greece. But this alone did not satisfy his ambition. While the Greeks lost time in vain disputes, Philip advanced ever onward, and established his power over all the towns of Thessaly without fighting or con- fusion ; for he found no citadel to be impregnable from the moment that he sent up to it a mule cJmrged ivith gold. An attempt on Eubcea, 1 and the capture of Olyn- thus, at last opened the eyes of the Athenians (348). For a long season past, the illustrious orator Demos- thenes (No. 124) had divined the policy of Philip; long since had he drawn attention to his usurpations ; the effect of the patriot's words was destroyed by Philip's gold. The sacred war broke out afresh; for the second time the Macedonian was chosen to punish the sacrileges. Demosthenes raised his voice ; it was heard at last, but too late, Philip's army was already stationed on the frontiers of Attica. Commanded by 1 The largest island in the ^Egean Sea, now called Negropont. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 2O7 unskilful generals, the Greeks were completely beaten at Chceronea, 1 and the first to fly was Demosthenes, who was seen demanding mercy from the bushes on the roadside, which in terror he mistook for enemies (338). The freedom of the Greeks was over. Philip obliged them to declare him generalissimo of all their forces ; he regulated at his will the government of each city, and already made preparations to carry the war into Persia with his Grecian troops, but his task was finished. Leaving Greece submissive, Philip died by an assassin's hand (336). Upon Alexander, his son, devolved the conquest of the Eastern world. 131. ALEXANDER THE GREAT (337-323). It was in the midst of his father's armies that Alexander had been formed for war. Inheriting his ancestor's ambition and talents, he hastened to affirm the power already won for him in Greece, and was declared by the Amphictyonse father of the country, and was appointed leader of the soldiers levied against Persia. The Greeks had vainly flattered themselves with the prospective hope of recovering their inde- pendence on the death of Philip. Thus, they were scandalised at falling a second time under the Mace- donian yoke, and an unfounded rumour that Alexander was dead was received with transports of joy, and many arose in mutiny at the voice of Demosthenes, who had been bought over by the great king. Alex- ander clearly perceived that it would be wise for him to make an example of the mutineers at the moment preceding a long absence which he held in contempla- tion. Taking by assault the city of Thebes he razed 1 In Boeotia. 208 ANCIENT HISTORY it to the ground, sparing only the house of Pindarus (No. 1 24), out of respect for his genius. The monarch had just subdued several barbarous tribes who had disturbed the Macedonian frontiers ; he could now quit his kingdom, leaving no enemies behind. It was with 30,000 foot soldiers and 4500 horse- men that Alexander ventured to attack the empire ruled by Darius Codomanus, which was defended by 600,000 Persians and 50,000 auxiliary Greeks (334). From his first steps in Asia, the Macedonian's daring valour carried him victorious over his numerous enemies on the banks of the Cfranicus ; l he forced a passage over the river at the peril of his life. His exertions were rewarded by the submission of the inhabitants of the coasts of Asia Minor. The G-ordian Knot, 2 celebrated by an Oracle, who prophesied that he who could undo it should gain the empire of Asia, was cut asunder by Alexander's sword. The only redoubtable enemy of the Macedonian king, Memnon the Ehodian, who had commanded the Greek army, died at the commencement of the Persian campaign. The Con- queror was destined to make a victorious progress as the avenger of the Asiatic abominations. He could lead his army with a good heart. After passing through the defiles of Cilicia, he was led by sickness to the gate of the tomb. His physician Philip offered him a beverage, which he represented as a potent remedy. But previously, the patient had received a letter stating that the doctor, bribed by Darius, in- tended to poison him. Throwing away the contents 1 A small river of Mysia ; it rises in Mount Ida, and flows into the Propontis. - An inextricable knot in the harness belonging to " Gorclius, King of Gordium," in Phrygia. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 2 09 of the flagon, Alexander showed the letter to the scheming Philip, and found that he owed his life to the intrepid constancy of the writer. On his recovery he hastened to fight Darius in the defiles of Issus. 1 The Persian monarch fled, leaving his wives and his mother in the enemy's hands. The victor distinguished himself by his generous treatment of the captives (333)- Having invaded Phoenicia, Alexander's rapid pro- gress was checked at Tyre ; but vain was the belief of this great city that the waves on her sea-tossed sands formed an invincible barrier. The intrepid warrior united the maritime town to the mainland by an immense causeway, and, at the end of seven months, he carried insular Tyre by assault (No. 81). The enraged conqueror could not forgive its heedless resist- ance, and the city was utterly destroyed. Gaza met with the same treatment, and Betis, its intrepid governor, attached by the heels to Alexander's chariot, was dragged round the city. Even Jerusalem, remain- ing faithful to the Persians, was marked as the next object of attack ; but the high priest, Jaddua, appeared before the conqueror surrounded by all the pomp of sacred ceremonies. Alexander, struck with the majesty of the creed of the true God, humbled himself in His holy temple and pardoned the city. 2 Thenceforth no obstacle arrested his progress. His journey in Egypt 1 In Cilicia, Asia Minor. The historian Josephus adds that Alexander read with admiration, in the Book of Daniel, the predictions so precise by which that prophet announced, four centuries in advance, the conqueror's future grandeur. Although the Jewish historian is the only one who speaks of the journey of Alexander to Jerusalem, we have not thought that we could reject that tradition, so generally admitted, and otherwise justified by the care shown everywhere by Alexander, to treat with respect the religious beliefs of the nations subdued by his armies. 210 ANCIENT HISTORY was one triumphal march ; he founded there the great town of Alexandria, and the enthusiasm of the Egyptians proclaimed him a god and the son of Ammon. In the meanwhile, Darius had repaired his defeat ; all the Persian forces had arisen at his voice, and the struggle recommenced, terrible but decisive. Alexander re-appeared in the East. As a compromise Darius offered him the half of his kingdom. " I would accept it," said Parmenio, one of the Mace- donian generals, " if I were Alexander." " And so would I," said Alexander, "if I were Parmenio." Darius, forced to try his fortune once again in war, met his enemy near Arbela. For one instant the Greeks wavered before an immense army which covered all the plain with its innumerable bat- talions; but a soothsayer cried out that he saw an eagle fly over the head of Alexander; the Greeks recovered courage, and the Persians were put to the rout (331). At the news of the victory, all the empire of Darius submitted to its fate, and the unhappy king fled from province to province, whilst his rival overran the numerous satrapies with an incredible rapidity. Babylon, Susa, 1 Persepolis, 2 opened their gates almost unresistingly. Darius, closely followed by Alexander, fled into Bactria. His favourite Bcssus assassinated him, hoping thus to gain favour of the victor (330); but Alexander wept over his dead enemy, and the execution of the traitor avenged the last successor of Cyrus. From Bactria, the satrapy of Bessus, Alexander passed into Scythia, where the astonished tribes pros- 1 A royal city of Persia (Susiana), the Susan of the Book of Esther (on the Choaspes). 2 At that time the capital of Persia. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 2 I I trated themselves before him whom they believed to be the god of the East; their brave warriors joined his army, and all the troops together poured into India, where the renown of Alexander had preceded him. The greater part of the people submitted them- selves to his yoke. Poms, who dared to resist, was beaten, notwithstanding the number of his elephants, and in spite of his courage (327). "How would'st thou be treated ? " asked Alexander of his foe, whom they had brought before him as prisoner. " As a king," answered Porus. The victor, admiring this proud and noble response, allowed the Indian to retain possession of his kingdom. But the Macedonians tired of these distant wars ; their murmurs and prayers obliged Alexander at last to forbear ; he raised twelve altars to mark the limit of his conquests, and then he and his army returned to Babylon, sailing across an unknown ocean, and combating all the peoples whom they rencountered on their way. Alexander's mission was accomplished ; he had blended the Eastern and the Western worlds, which had been until then so completely separate. He had himself adopted and had introduced amongst his own people Persian customs. He had celebrated the marriage of several thousands of Macedonians with young Persian women, after having himself espoused one of the wives of Darius. He had en- larged his army with a great number of barbarians, trained now with Grecian discipline, and had made great efforts to propagate European civilisation in those countries which had been overrun by his armies. It only remained for him to affirm this immense em- pire, where, from Thrace to India, he wished to be a king and a god. This great project suddenly collapsed; 212 ANCIENT HISTORY a debauch at table, 1 where perhaps poison was pre- pared, carried him off at the age of thirty-two years. He died in the midst of his generals, bequeathing his estates to the most worthy; this was precursory to murderous obsequies (323). 132. DIVISION OF THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. A first division was effected with order. The generals declared the infant son of Alexander and of his wife Eoxana, successor to the empire, and they appointed Aridceus, brother of the late monarch, as regent ; but the infant prince, imbecile from his birth, could never be more than the phantom of king. Perdiccas, the most ambitious of the generals, caused himself to be proclaimed Regent, leaving the others to distribute the provinces amongst themselves. We will mention only the principal. Lysimachus obtained Thrace ; Antipater and Craterus, Macedonia and Greece ; Ptolemy received Egypt and the adjacent countries ; Antigonus, Eumenes, and Cassander divided Asia Minor. Seleucus was declared generalissimo of the allied cavalry. Perdiccas had reserved to himself the command of the army and navy. By favour of the division of the empire, and under the pretext of sustaining, in quality of guardian, the rights of the family of Alexander, he strove to rise little by little on the ruin of others, and reconstitute for himself the vast empire which was being torn into fragments. Eumenes, the only honest man amongst so many ambitious ones, blinded by his devotedness to Alex- 1 Alexander, who often gave himself up to excess in drinking, had, in one of his orgies, killed with his own hand one of his generals, named Clytns, who had saved his king's life at the battle of Granicum. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 213 ander's son, joined Perdiccas. The others, of clearer vision, manifested already their hostile intentions against him. Nevertheless, several revolts in the ill-subdued provinces first occupied the generals for some time, but peace was scarcely re-established before they began to turn their arms one against another. 133. RIVALRIES AND WARS AMONGST ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS. Perdiccas awakened the jealousy of his rivals by marrying the sister of Alexander ; immediately Anti- pater, Craterus, Antigonus, and Ptolemy entered into a league against him. Eumenes, his ally, was at first victorious, but Perdiccas died, assassinated by his own soldiers. Antipater, who succeeded to the Regency, was soon after replaced by Polysperchon, the oldest of Alexander's generals. A league was formed anew, under the influence of Antigonus ; Eumenes was declared enemy of the public, while Ptolemy aggran- dised himself in the south, and Seleucus rendered himself master of Babylon. The antique heritage of Philip was at the same time a prey to the most inexpressible confusion. Cassander, son of Antipater, and supplanted by Polysperchon, raised an army with which to take possession of Macedonia. Olym- pias, Alexander's mother, who desired to gain the Regentship at any price, put Aridaeus to death ; but Cassander, disquieted by her projects, took possession of her person and sentenced her to death. An appalling series of assassinations commenced. The pretenders to the empire of the world comprehended too well that only the death of their rivals could leave the course free, and open to them the path to the throne. 214 ANCIENT HISTORY Antigonus had sworn the fall of Eurnenes, who remained ever faithful to the memory of his master ; he chased him into Upper Asia, and, after a struggle sustained by his adversary with the courage of despair, he arrived by treachery at gaining power over him who had been in former times his friend ; the unfor- tunate general was immediately put to death. This was a competitor less (316). Alexander's family had lost in Eumenes its only support. The aged Polysperchon, affrighted by the struggles which were preparing, abandoned the Re- gency; the little principalities had already disappeared. Five governors survived all the others Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Seleucus. Antigonus revived the project of Perdiccas, and covered all Asia with his armies. Seleucus yielded to his fate, and fled nigh to Ptolemy ; but, directly, a new league was formed against the most powerful. Notwithstanding the talents and the partial success of his son Demetrius, who merited his surname of Poliorcetes (Taker of Cities), Antigonus was forced to allow Seleucus to reappear in Upper Asia, and Cas- sander to affirm his power in Macedonia ; he himself, however, preserved his domination in the rest of the Orient (311). The members of Alexander's family embarrassed the ambitious generals ; some assassinations took place. Cassander killed the son of Eoxana, and the blood of Hercules, natural son of Alexander, was the seal of an infamous bargain concluded with Polysperchon. The last descendant of Alexander's house had disappeared ; the ambition of the generals increased in ardour. Antigonus hastened to take the title of King ; his rival imitated his example (307). THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 215 This did not satisfy Antigonus ; he not only wished to reign, but to reign alone. His new progress in Asia, the brilliant expeditions of his son Demetrius against Khodes and Greece, caused the league by which he was at last punished. The five generals met at Ipsus, in Phrygia (301). All the forces of each party were present ; the battle was terrible. The aged Antigonus fought with all the valour of his early years ; but he perished in the mele'e, whilst his son Demetrius sought a refuge amongst his fleet of battle-ships. The hopes of his partisans were, however, from thenceforth completely crushed. Four great kingdoms were constituted that of Egypt for Ptolemy of Macedon, and of Greece for Cassander, of Thrace and Asia Minor for Lysimachus, of Upper Asia for Seleucus. The distribution was definitive, and could not be destroyed by the adventurous expeditions of Deme- trius Poliorcetes, who continued during several years to overrun the world, now as king, now as outlaw, always sword in hand. Cassauder having died in Macedonia (298), his children disputed the crown, and sullied it with crimes. Demetrius abolished this parricidal race ; but he soon beheld rising up before him a royal adventurer like himself, Pyrrhus, Prince of Epirus. 1 Repulsed from Greece by his rival, Deme- trius fell into the hands of another enemy, Seleucus, who retained him prisoner (228). The Macedonian crown passed to Pyrrhus, who could not defend it against Lysimachus. Puffed up by his success, Lysimachus, in his turn, dared to pretend to the universal dominion ; but he met with the same fate 1 A country north-west of Greece, on the coast of the Adriatic (now Lower Albania). 216 ANCIENT HISTORY as Perdiccas and Antigonus ; he was killed in a battle against Seleucus, who extended his frontiers as far as the confines of Thrace. The throne of Macedonia seemed to carry unhappiness with it ; Seleucus, at the height of his power and glory, was assassinated (281) by the son of Ptolemy Lagus, to whom he had accorded a refuge (No. 85). 134. INVASION OF THE GAULS. The murderer himself perished two years after in a war against the Gauls, whose redoubtable hordes inundated Macedonia. Three princes successively sat on the throne without strength to free their country from the yoke of the barbarians. Antigonus Gonatas (or, of Goni), son of Poliorcetes, appeared in his turn in Macedonia, and the crown was the prize of his victory against the invaders. Dethroned by Pyrrhus, that ancient rival of his father, Antigonus returned after the death of the King of Epirus, who was killed at the siege of Argo (272) by the hand of a woman (No. i 5 3). From that time the family of Poliorcetes was definitely established on the throne. After so many broils, crimes, and wars, the estates of Alexander had at last formed three kingdoms, which preserved a separate existence until they were swal- lowed up one after the other by the Roman conquest the kingdom of Syria under the Seleucidse, that of Egypt under the Ptolemies, that of Macedonia under the son of Demetrius. We have related elsewhere (Nos. 57 and following; 85 and following Nos.) the story of the two first powers ; that of Macedon was shorter and less brilliant ; the place was too near Rome to evade for long its grasp. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 2I/ 135. REDUCTION OF MACEDONIA. INTO A EOMAN PROVINCE. Macedonia, after having extended so much beyond its limits, now returned within its ancient frontiers ; it did not now seek aggrandisement ; its only want was rest, after so many troubles and wars. On the death of Gonatas, Antigonus Doson affirmed his throne by maintaining internal tranquillity in the country, and in obtaining the obedience of the little tribu- tary peoples. Philip V., his successor (221), was not content with this role, humble, but sure ; be- lieving the future of Macedonia to be compromised by the successive triumphs of Roman power, he dared to attempt putting a term to those encroachments. He strengthened himself by an alliance with the Greeks, and made, after the battle of Cannse (No. 156), a treaty with Hannibal (215). This was equivalent to declaring war against the Eomans ; but from the following year he was beaten on land, lost his fleet, and beheld Roman policy raise enemies against him in every part of Greece. The treaty of 205 gave to Philip a desired peace ; but the war had produced fatal results ; already Macedonian influence in Greece had been destroyed by the sway of the Roman Senate. Philip wished to revenge himself on the Greeks, but the Punic war was ended, and Rome had no intention of abandoning her allies. The struggle recommenced, and lasted two years with equal success for both sides ; the third year, the Consul Flamininus appeared with considerable forces ; Philip was vanquished at the battle of CynoscepJialce (197), aud obliged to subscribe to extremely harsh condi- tions. (See 'Roman History, No. 157.) The Mace- 218 ANCIENT HISTORY donian king soon afterwards died of chagrin at having slain his legitimate son Demetrius, through the perfi- dious suggestions of Perseus, his natural son (178). Perseus could not maintain himself on the throne which he had bought with fratricide. His father, who had foreseen a rupture with the Romans, had secretly made great preparations for an attack ; in- stead of completing these arrangements with all his power, Perseus deprived himself of foreign aid by refusing to pay the promised sums, and, at the same time, he imprudently precipitated a crisis which he had reason to dread. He ventured to engage in the struggle after alienating the greater part of his allies ; he had at first some success, of which his incapacity lost him the fruit; then he was beaten near Pydna by the Consul ^Emilius Paullus (168), made prisoner, and condemned to go to Rome to .serve to adorn the triumph of his conqueror. Macedonia, declared an independent province, was incited to rebellion, some years after, by Andriscus, who pretended to be the son of Perseus; but Metellus destroyed, in one cam- paign, all the hopes of the adventurer, and Macedonia became a Roman province in the year 147 B.C. CHAPTER III LATTER TIMES OF GREECE 136. GREECE UNDER THE SUCCESSORS OF ALEXANDER. THE Greeks had been completely subdued when Macedonia gained the ascendency under Philip and Alexander. At the death of the Macedonian con- queror, they believed themselves at liberty ; Athens, above all, broke out into delirious joy, and notwith- standing the sage advice of Phocion, she confided to the eloquence of Demosthenes the care of suscitating a league against Macedonia. The Lamiac War commenced (322). Some advan- tages gained by the Greeks were followed by a decisive battle won by Antipater (No. 132). The victor granted a cessation of hostilities on condition that the Athenians should deliver up Demosthenes and admit a garrison into their city. The Athenians, habitually ungrateful, consented without demur, and the most celebrated of the orators of antiquity, pur- sued from, isle to isle by the agents of Macedonia, became reduced to such despair as to take away his own life in a temple in which he had sought refuge. Phocion, the only virtuous man amongst those who now governed Athens, was able at last to establish order in the city. His able policy obtained from the victor several concessions of value to the country ; he 219 220 ANCIENT HISTORY recalled the unjustly banished citizens. But, after Antipater's death, this great man vainly essayed to struggle against the factions which divided the town. Being connected with Cassander's party, he was con- demned to death, in a tumultuous assembly, where the friends of Polysperchon preponderated. The Greeks, in their cowardly insolence, dared to load him with gross insults, and the sage was compelled to drink hemlock in that city which had caused the death of Socrates, Miltiades, Themistocles, and Demosthenes. Nevertheless, Cassander succeeded in taking posses- sion of the citadel of Athens, and confided the power to Demetrius Phalereus, whose wise and moderate government recalled to mind during six years that of Pisistratus. In a moment of enthusiasm the Athe- nians had raised to his honour three hundred statues, but this did not hinder them from sending him into exile, like Aristides, to ponder at his leisure on the victories of Demetrius Poliorcetes. This people, who of yore was so proud and jealous of its independence, now knew no better than to bow to the fortune of the victor ; the result of this cowardly policy was for Athens complete subjection to Macedonia. Sparta had known better how to preserve its old character. Agis III. and Cleomenes undertook to restore to it its first vigour in re-establishing the legislation of Lycurgus, fallen into oblivion. Agis perished, assassinated by the faction hostile to his reforms ; but Cleomenes resumed his project with re- newed steadfastness, himself giving the example of the austere manners which he was desirous of estab- lishing. All the lands were divided amongst four thousand families ; the education of the children was resumed with its ancient severity, and meals partaken LATTER TIMES OF GREECE 221 of in common were re-instituted. Soon, regenerated Sparta could imagine itself returned to its golden age. 137. ACHJEAN LEAGUE. There was then in Greece a universal bound towards liberty. A great number of towns banished the tyrants whose domination had been imposed upon them during the civil war, and several, too feeble to maintain, unaided, their independence, united to form the famous Achaean League. Aratus, liberator of Sicyon (251), was named chief of the League, and all his life was consecrated to attain this double end ; freeing the Grecian States and associating them all in one confederation. Corinth, Megaris, Argo, the towns of Arcadia and of Messenia, and Athens herself, delivered successively (243229) by Aratus from the Macedonian yoke, joined the Achrean League. All the Peloponnesus was gained, excepting Sparta ; the city of Leonidas wished to preserve an entire independence. In 226, the Confederation was constituted of twelve towns ; all had recovered their democratic government, and each one administered its own laws ; only affairs of public interest were treated of in an assembly of deputies elected by each city ; it was the most perfect model of federal government. Aratus had a great interest in attaching Sparta to the Achaean League. Finding himself unable to persuade, he wished to force her. Sparta, renewed with strength by her ancient constitution, carried brilliant victories over her king, Cleomenes, and ob- tained pre-eminence in the Peloponnesus in place of the vanquished League. To escape from the disastrous 222 ANCIENT HISTORY consequences of a false policy, Aratus engaged himself in a still more dangerous enterprise ; he called Anti- gonus Doson, King of Macedonia, to the succour of Greek liberty (No. 135). Overwhelmed by a superior force, Cleomenes could not prevent the entrance of bis enemy into Sparta, and the abolition there of all the new reforms. Aratus had no reason to be proud of his victory, for he lost at the same time the fruit of his entire life's work. Thenceforth reduced to submit to Macedonian protection, he appealed to it yet again for assistance against the ^tolians, a nation of pirates, inured to war, who ravaged the little States of Greece. This offered a new occasion for divisions; Sparta embraced the cause of the .^Etolians against the Achaean League. The war was protracted without any decisive result ; but each combat enfeebled Greece ; it was her own blood with which she was inundating the country at a time when she needed to reserve all her old vigour for the pending struggle with Home. Philip of Macedon concluded peace in 217, to occupy himself exclusively in contracting an alliance with Hannibal. After an unfortunate war against the Eomans, Philip, dissatisfied with the proceedings of Aratus, caused a poison to be administered to him, which led him to the tomb in the year 213. The League, thenceforth worked by the intriguing king, became subservient to his interests, whilst Roman policy, which commenced to agitate Greece, sowed dis- cord amongst all the tribes. To the Achaean League was now opposed the uEtolian League, of which Sparta was the main support; Greece, by these fatal dissensions, hastened the moment of her ruin. A leader was yet to appear who should detain LATTER TIMES OF GREECE 223 her for an instant on the brink of the precipice, and hold the destinies of Greece in his hand, but all was over with Hellenic liberty when he quitted the scene. Philopcemen, who had done good service to the League during the life of Aratus, was chosen to suc- ceed him (211). Greece was then divided into two camps ; that of the Spartans, Athenians, and ^Etolians, was placed under the influence of the Romans, for whom they were ready to declare at any time. The Achsean League remained attached to the Macedonian cause ; but the death of Aratus, an attempted assassina- tion of Philopcemen himself, and several other crimes, commenced to render Philip odious to all Greece. The chief of the League, however, felt that it would be unwise to augment the discord by breaking with Macedonia ; he turned his arms against Machanidas, tyrant of Sparta, whom he slew with his own hand ; but Nabis, another tyrant, yet refused to adhere to the Achsean League. Under these circumstances the second war against Philip was commenced. The Macedonian had provoked it by ravaging Attica, which, being incapable of defending itself, besought Pv,oman aid. The Consul Sulpicius obtained the alliance of the ^Etolians ; Flamininus incited Nabis against Philip (No. 1 5 7). This prince, who had voluntarily alienated from himself all the tribes of Greece, could not maintain the struggle alone (199). The war was terminated by the battle of Cynosce- phalse (197), (No. 157). The shortsighted Greeks rejoiced at the downfall of Macedonia ; at an . order of the Senate, Flamininus appeared in Greece, not for the purpose of announcing war, but to proclaim the independence of all the tribes at the solemnity of the Isthmic Games. The Greeks greeted the proclama- 224 ANCIENT HISTORY tion with enthusiasm ; they did not comprehend that thenceforth a word of the Senate could declare them subjects of Rome as easily as it had now pronounced them free. The Jitolians alone appeared to foresee the conse- quences of Rome's device ; they again took up arms, and induced the Spartans to espouse their cause ; but Philopcemen conquered Nabis, and, soon afterwards, the death of the tyrant decided Sparta to enter the Achaean League (191). It was then that the en- feebled ^Etolians invoked the aid of Antiochus the Great, King of Syria (see the History of Syria, No. 85); but a fortunate campaign did not prevent Antiochus from being chased from Greece in the following year, and the Roman armies forced the Jitolians back to submission (see hereinafter, No. I 5 7). 138. ENFEEBLEMENT OF GREECE. The unsuccessful attempt of this brave and liberty- loving people proved henceforth the powerlessness of Greece ; she was about to lose her last support. Philopcemen, charged with the punishment of the Messenians, who had detached themselves from the League, was by them imprisoned and poisoned at the age of seventy years (183). He alone had been able, if not to secure the League from Roman influence, at least to evade an open rupture, without, however, ceasing to combat with address the secret attacks of Rome. It was too true that with him the last of the Greeks was dead. The Achaeans, for this loss, took a signal but useless revenge on their opponents by the ravage of Messenia. Once disembarrassed of the integrity and ability of LATTER TIMES OF GREECE 225 Philopcemen, the Senate laboured by the most con- temptible means to augment its influence in every part of Greece. Most of the magistrates had been gained over by bribery, when the defeat of Perseus and the abasement of Macedonia permitted the em- ployment of more violent measures. A suspicious and brutal despotism searched out and punished, as if he had been a criminal, the Greek who had been in his heart a partisan of Perseus. The Acheeans, full of despair, and terrified by the reduction of Macedonia into a Eoman province (No. 158), after the defeat of Andriscus, at last took up arms to shake off an into- lerable yoke, or to perish. 139. EEDUCTION INTO A EOMAN PROVINCE. The Eoman deputies were insulted, and the war commenced, but what availed the patriotism of a few towns when placed in a state of contention with Eoman power ? DiaBus and Critolaiis, chiefs of the League, were successively vanquished by the Consuls Metellus and Mummius. Corinth made the most pro- longed resistance, but Mummius took it by assault and utterly destroyed it (see hereinafter, No. 159). The fall of this celebrated city taught Greece that she no longer existed as a nation ; she was reduced into a Eoman province, under the name of Achaia (146). We have studied the history of the principal peoples of the world ; we have seen their birth, their grandeur, their common end. It is time for us now to enter upon a special study of the origin and aggrandisement of that Eoman empire which was destined to rise upon the ruins of all other nations. Ubfrfc {part HISTORY OF ROME BOOK I. THE MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENT CHAPTER I 140. THE EARLY AGES OF ITALY. THE Italian peninsula was, like Greece, populated by colonies derived from a multitude of nations. The Illyrii 1 and the Gauls 2 descended into it by way of the Alps ; the Iberians 3 became established in Liguria, 4 from whence they sent one of their tribes, that of the Sicani, to people the Isle of Trinacria, giving it their own name (Sicania, later Sicily). Several lapy- gian tribes appeared in Italy at a period so remote that they were generally regarded as aborigines, chil- dren of the soil. After the lapygians came the Etruscans or Tusci, the best known of those ancient races ; they became established on the banks of the Tiber. As they were benefactors of Italy from the date of their arrival, so were they also the first to present it a model of advanced civilisation. They 1 They came from Illyricum, now Dalmatia, on the shores of the Adriatic, and settled in Northern Italy. 2 They settled in Gallia Cisalpina, in Northern Italy. Cisalpina (on this side) ; Cis, the Alps as regards Rome, opposed to Transalpine. 3 Spaniards. 4 The westernmost extremity of Northern Italy. 229 230 ANCIENT HISTORY fixed their home in the smiling land of Tuscany, 1 founding there twelve cities, or Lucumonias, governed by Laris? whose union formed a powerful League. The Tuscans cultivated the arts ; they replaced the rude constructions of the lapygians by a more regu- lar and harmonious architecture ; and they held the sciences of medicine and astronomy in high honour. When Rome was founded, Etruria was the most flourishing land of Italy. About the epoch of the siege of Troy many Greek colonies arrived in Southern Italy to dispute with its occupants the possession of the soil. Little faith must be accorded to the grave but uncertain traditions by which the remembrance of their arrival has been preserved. If the recital of the poet may be credited, ^Eneas, the Trojan, escaping from his ruined country, arrived in Central Italy, and settled in the poor domains of Evander. He married the daughter of Latinus, king of an adjacent country, and founded a Trojan domination in the centre of Latiurn. His son Ascanius (who had fled with him from Troy) built, it is said, Alba Longa, which became the chief city of Italy. In process of time, one of Ascanius' successors, named Numitor, was dethroned by his brother Amu- lius (796). His daughter Rhea Silvia, placed among the Vestals, who were virgins consecrated to religion, became, nevertheless, mother of twins, Romulus and Remus. Exposed, according to their uncle's order, on the banks of the Tiber, suckled, says tradition, by a 1 Etruria (Tuscany) was in Italy Proper, and lay south of the Apennines and north of Latium. It stretched along the shores of the Tyrrhenian ea, and was bounded on the east by the Tiber ; its other considerable stream was the Arnus (Arno). 2 Lars was the title usually given to the eldest son of a royal house. THE EARLY AGES OF ITALY 231 wolf, saved and nourished by shepherds, the two youths became intrepid hunters. On discovering the secret of their birth, they overthrew Amulius, re- established Numitor, and devised the foundation of a new city, aided by the counsel of those companions who had joined in their former adventurous courses. CHAPTER II ROME UNDER THE MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENT 141. THE FOUNDATION OF KoME. 1 AFTER a dispute concerning the selection of a site for the new city, which was ultimately decided by an omen in favour of Romulus, a spot was chosen on the banks of the Tiber, environed with verdant slopes and shades (754). A deep furrow was traced by means of a ploughshare round the Palatine. A certain space within and without this boundary was regarded as sacred, and was called the Pomcerium. After laying the foundations, Romulus commenced to build the city walls, but Remus, in mockery of the enterprise, leapt over the boundary, saying, " Behold with what ease the enemy will clear this rampart ! " Romulus, enraged, forthwith slew his brother, exclaiming, " So perish whosoever shall leap over these walls ! " And thus Romulus was left alone to complete his work and become invested with sovereign power. With the view of augmenting the population of the little town which arose, he opened an asylum (on the Capitoline Hill) for all the banditti of the surrounding country ; such was the origin of the Roman people. When lands were acquired by conquest the king distributed them amongst his subjects. He declared himself head 1 Rome was situate in the northern extremity of Latium. It was originally limited to the boundary traced by Romulus on the Palatine Hill. 232 ROME UNDER MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENT 233 of the new religion, surrounded his person by a guard of 300 men, and appointed a Senate of 300 vener- able elders, called Patres, from whom the Patrician families descended. The rest of the people composed the order of the Plebeians, divided into three tribes. Women were still wanting to the new people, and the neighbouring nations scornfully refused their daughters to those whom they regarded as brigands and outlaws. Romulus gave a brilliant festival in honour of one of their gods, and at a given signal the soldiers carried off the wives and daughters of the Cseninans, the Anternnse, and the Sabines, who had come in crowds to witness the display of magnificence usually attending the Roman festivities (749). A war, however, broke out between the two nations. The Caeninans were the first to avenge themselves, but Eomulus defeated them, and slew their general, Acron, with his own hand. He then took his armour, which he placed in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, at Rome, as spolia opima. The Antemnse were also defeated ; but the Sabines, by far the most difficult to conquer, were quieted only by the Sabine women throwing themselves between their husbands and their fathers, thus separating the combatants. Peace was ulti- mately re-established, on the condition that Romulus should accept Tatius, the Sabine general, as his colleague, the latter reigning over the Sabines. The Romans also called themselves in civil affairs Quirites, which was the name of the Sabine inhabitants of the town of Cures (744). Five years afterwards Tatius was assassinated, and Romulus was to be in sole possession of power. In order to find occupation for the turbulently active troops, he permitted them to overrun the countries of all invaders of Roman terri- 234 ANCIENT HISTORY tory, and he then established colonies in the midst of the vanquished nations. The augmentation of his power, however, disquieted the Senate, which he had already ceased to consult. While Eomulus was one day reviewing his troops on the Campus Martius, 1 a fearful thunderstorm broke forth, and in the midst of it Eomulus suddenly disappeared. He had been most probably assassinated by the senators, and a short time after, one of them (Proculus) stated before an assembly of the people, that the king had appeared to him in a dream, and had commissioned him to tell them that he had ascended Olympus, 2 and desired to be worshipped under the name of Quirinus. The populace was duped by this fable, and the regicides escaped all suspicion by the erection of altars to their victim. Little did it cost them to feign adoration of him in the supposed Elysium, so long as they had him not to fear on earth (445). 142. THE SUCCESSORS OF EOMULUS INSTITUTIONS; MONUMENTS. After an interregnum of one year (during which time the people were ruled by the senators in succes- sion), the Eomans chose for king (in 712) a wise and peaceable man, Numa Pompilius, the Sabine, who, inspired, it was stated, by the nymph Egeria, gave to his subjects a code of laws and a religious creed. Three principal pontiffs, called Flamens, presided over 1 An alluvial plain on the east bank of the Tiber, now the most commercial portion of the city of Rome. 2 The supposed abode of the Greek deities. It is a mountain with several snow-crowned peaks in the north-east of Thessaly, which borders on Macedonia (its modern name is Lacha). 235 the worship of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus, and were chosen only from the Patricians. Twelve Salii, or priests of Mars, guarded the sacred shield * (with the eleven others placed beside their prototype), which, it was said, fell from heaven during Numa's reign as a gage of the immortal destinies of Rome. To Numa is also attributed the institution of the Petioles, a com- munity of ecclesiastics, whose office it was to sanction treaties of peace, and if these were rejected the Fetiales declared war by throwing into the enemy's territory an arrow stained with blood. The religious institutions softened a little the manners of the Romans, during the long and pacific reign of Numa (714-671). Under Tullus Hostilius, his successor, the nation re-assumed its warlike career. A struggle arose between Rome and Alba Longa. With the view of putting an end to the miseries of war, the two cities agreed to choose each three champions from their re- spective armies, who had to decide by combat the issue of the war. The Horatii fought for the Romans, the Curiatii for the Albans. At the first shock two Romans fell dead, and the three Albans were more or less wounded. The surviving Horatius, unable to contend with his three foes united, feigned flight. He was pursued at unequal distances by the halting Curiatii. When they were separated by sufficient space, Horatius turned on them, slaying them one by one as they approached. The triumph was thus assured to Rome, and Alba submitted to laws imposed by Tullus (657). Soon after, an attempted revolt was avenged by the entire destruction of the city. All its inhabitants were transported to Rome. At that early period the Eternal City adopted the custom 1 The twelve shields were called Ancilia. 236 ANCIENT HISTORY of incorporating the vanquished, a custom which was perhaps the most active cause of the perpetual progress of her might. Ancus Marcius, the successor of Tullus Hostilius, a warrior like his ancestors, wise and religious like Numa, caused the Roman arms to be respected by foreign nations, founded the port of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber, enlarged the city of Borne, and, for the maintenance of order, he raised in the Forum l a prison of menacing aspect. An Etruscan of Greek descent succeeded Ancus (6 1 4). Welcomed into a city almost entirely peopled by refugees, it was not astonishing that Tarquin, rich and eloquent, should ultimately rise to the throne. He was indeed Rome's greatest king. His family had been long settled in Etruria, and the new monarch introduced the fine arts to his adopted country, built a circus, and crowded the temples with Etruscan divinities, embellished the city, and constructed that enormous sewer (the Cloaca Marina), which was admired even in the reign of Augustus. The introduction of a hundred plebeians into the Senate increased Tarquin's popularity, and his military successes further conduced to endear him to the land of his adoption. The Sabiues and the Latins were successively beaten, and after a long war, all the Etruscans were forced to recognise the supremacy of Rome. Tarquin re-entered in a tri- umphal car the city he had so gloriously served, but in 578 he was assassinated by the sons of Ancus. A slave's child, brought up in the royal palace, succeeded him, and became also a great king. Servius Tullius* vanquished the Latins, who had again renewed 1 Situate between the Capitoline and Palatine hills. " He was the son of a Latin slave (hence his name Servius servus, slave), who had married the widow of the King of Corniculum, after the capture of that city by the Romans. ROME UNDER MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENT 237 hostilities, and imposed upon them an alliance, one of the clauses in the treaty being, that the Latins should offer a great number of sacrifices in the temple of Diana. He instituted the census, by which we learn that Eome then contained 80,000 citizens. Until that period the individual vote had been the only one in use ; Servius Tullius substituted in its stead the vote by centurise ; all the people were divided into 193 centuries, subdivided into six classes, according to their wealth. Each centuria comprehended the number of citizens necessary for the production, by their united contributions, of a certain sum, deter- mined by law. The result was, that a small number of opulent citizens, paying considerable taxes, sufficed to form one of these divisions, and that consequently the centuries of the rich were very numerous, while all the poor combined formed only one. Thus poli- tical influence appertained almost exclusively to the aristocracy of wealth in possession of the patricians. Servius Tullius thus posed the base of the tyrannical rule of the patrician class. For the rest, useful re- forms, brought about by a redistribution of taxes, and the equitable administration of justice, conciliated the good graces of the plebeians ; however, the obscure origin of the monarch was not destined to be over- looked by the patricians. His son-in-law, who was heir to his predecessor, placed himself at the head of the malcontents, and with a view to gaining the throne, assassinated the king ; this murderer was Lucius Tar- quinius Superbus (534). The new monarch claimed the government without consulting either the Senate or the people. His unmerciful tyranny for some time stifled the murmurs of the great, while his military glory imposed upon the imagination of the people. 238 ANCIENT HISTORY Tarquin founded the Capitolium, 1 and an alliance which he concluded with the Latins was strengthened by the establishment of festivals called Latin Ferise ; he worked actively at the extension of his dominion over all the bordering nations, and several important cities were already subjugated, when the death of Lucretia, who had stabbed herself after having been outraged by Sextus, Tarquin's son, caused the storm at last to burst forth. The Senate and people were in- cited to insurrection by Tarquin Collatinus, husband of Lucretia, and by Junius Brutus, who had previously escaped from the suspicious cruelty of the tyrant only by feigning idiocy. The monarchy was abolished, and the gates of Eome were for ever closed against Tarquin and all his race. 1 In digging the foundations of the citadel a bleeding head was found, bearing on its forehead the inscription TOLUS. It was augured from this that Rome should be the caput (which signifies both head and capital) of the world, and from Tolus was formed the termination of the word Capitolium Caput, Tolus. BOOK II. THE ROMAN REPUBLIC CHAPTEE I ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. WARS IN ITALY 143. THE EEPUBLIC AND THE CONSULATE (509). THE revolution had been brought about by the patricians : it turned to their exclusive advantage ; an aristocratic republic became established, and the people, far from having gained some freedom by the expulsion of their kings, fell under the yoke of an in- credible despotism. Two consuls were invested with the first power in the State; they might be chosen only from the patricians and at the Comitia Centu- riata. So as better to rule the plebeians, the patri- cians, proud of their wealth and their ancestry, formed themselves into an absolutely separate caste ; to them alone pertained fortune, conquered territory, public offices, admission to the Senate, the right of admini- stering justice and celebrating religious functions ; marriages even were forbidden between patrician and plebeian families. The law, it is true, allowed to each plebeian the support of a patrician who became his patron, and was bound to render him assistance when required ; but, in return, the client had to place himself and his goods at the service of his superior, 939 240 ANCIENT HISTORY who, often er than not, abused his power by the op- pression of him whom he was in duty bound to pro- tect. Few years were required to manifest the baleful results of this system. The name of king had escaped from the ruin of the monarchy ; it was left to an uninfluential pontiff, who exercised the sacrificial functions of the ancient sove- reigns. The first consuls were Brutus and Tarquinius Col- latinus, who had been the principal authors of the revolution. Some young nobles, to whom the severity of the new government gave displeasure, formed a conspiracy for the restoration of the Tar- quins. The plot was discovered by a slave named Vindex, and the conspirators were punished with death. Among the traitors had been found the sons of Brutus, who were condemned with their accom- plices, the consul, their father, having the terrible courage to assist the lictors in their execution. The Tarquins became more than ever the objects of deadly hatred, their property was confiscated, and the consul Collatinus was banished because he was suspected of favouring the tyrants (who were his kinsmen). Vale- rius was appointed his successor. Tarquin, however, enlisted the sympathy of the bordering nations who had shaken off the Eoman yoke ; since the revolution, Eome had lost all her conquered territory. The barely subdued tribes eagerly seized the first opportunity of revenging former defeats. The Etruscan people of Tarquinii and Veii were the first to take up arms. At the com- mencement of the attack Brutus rencountered Aruns, Tarquin's son ; the two foes mortally wounded each other, and the surviving consul, winning the battle ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC 241 after a fierce engagement, returned to Eome bearing the dead body of Brutus. However, a year passed and Valerius had elected no successor to the late consul, and as he was building a residence for himself at the top of the hill Velia, which the people imagined was also intended for a fortress, they accused him of aspiring to the Tyranny. To dispel all suspicions he demolished the house, and also enacted several laws exceedingly favourable to the plebeians. These popular measures won for him the surname of Publicola (" the people's friend"). Tarquin had, however, invoked the aid of Porsena, King of Clusium in Etruria, and these powerful troops already menaced Eome. In vain did Horatius Codes * defend the Sublician bridge against the whole Etruscan host ; in vain did Mucius (afterwards surnamed Scse- vola, or left-handed), the intended assassin of Porsena, hold his hand in an ardent fire to show the king how little he heeded pain ; according to apparently truthful traditions, Eome was now compelled to accept an ignominious treaty. But, at this juncture the Etrus- can king was recalled to his own land by a revolt, and the Tarquins failed to enter Eome. 144. THE DICTATORSHIP. The people already repented of having abolished the monarchy. Loaded with debt, ruined by usury, and 1 Codes signifies blind of one eye. "One-eyed" was a surname of Horatius, who with two assistants prevented the Etruscan army from gaining access to the timber bridge across the Tiber, which separated Rome from the Janiculum, of which hill the Etruscans had already gained possession. Horatius was finally left alone to defend the bridge, while his comrades broke it down behind him. He then swam across to the opposite shore. Q 242 ANCIENT HISTORY the exactions of the patricians, they were loud in their complaints. The Senate gladly diverted their atten- tion by a new foreign war all Latium had arisen against the Romans. It was now considered wise to elect a Dictator 1 a magistrate invested with absolute power for six months. As an inducement to enlist in the army, the Senate promised full and entire satisfac- tion after the war. The soldiers marched enthusi- astically against the enemy, and the victory of Lake Regillvs z annihilated for ever the hopes of the Tar- quins (496). Once rid of disquieting fears, the Senate forgot its promises. No sooner had the soldiers quitted their armour than they were thrown into prison on accusations of debt. They were sold, enchained, put to death, or cut into pieces, which were divided amongst the creditors. Behold the treatment of human kind amongst Pagan nations ! So much perfidy and harsh- ness irritated the people. At the sight of an old soldier who, escaping from prison, showed to his fellow-citizens his wounds, caused by fetters, indignation broke out on all sides. The plebeians refused to assist in a new war against the Volsci. It was found necessary to nominate as Dictator the patrician who was least ob- noxious to the people ; and once again, imposed upon by promises, the plebeians continued to fight for their tyrannical masters. But as danger from external sources vanished, home vexations were renewed till 1 This magistrate was elected in cases of emergency. He possessed unlimited authority, having the power of life and death over his sub- jects, and the right to decide questions of peace and war. He always went out on foot, and was preceded by twenty-four lictors bearing the fasces (a bundle of rods and an axe, tied together, used for scourging and beheading criminals). 2 This victory was gained by Postumius the Dictator, who had been elected on the abdication (after sixteen days of rule) of Titus Lartius, who was the first Dictator of Rome. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC 243 they became intolerable. Then, in an access of despair, 3000 plebeians quitted Rome, and retired to the Sacred Mount. 1 145. THE TRIBUNESHIP. The dangerous consequences of such a desertion were foreseen by the Senate. Its promises were re- newed. Menenius Agrippa was delegated to address the people, and he related to them the fable of the members that pined away through lack of sustenance from the belly, for which they had refused to work. Applying the moral of the apologue to their own case, the plebeians consented to re-enter Rome ; but, warned by past deceptions, they exacted the Senate's sanction to the nomination of two magistrates of the plebeian order, who should watch over their vested interests. These magistrates (whose number was increased to five, and subsequently to ten), called Tribunes, were elected annually ; their persons were held sacred and inviolable, and they were invested with power suffi- cient to check the encroachments of the Senate on the rights of the people (492). At the same time, before quitting the Sacred Mount, the plebeians obtained the nomination of two other magistrates of their own order, called (Edilesf who had the superintendence of the city police, and the care of the public edifices, roads, &c. 146. STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE PLEBEIANS AND PATRICIANS. CORIOLANUS. The Tribunate soon gained enormous power. Not content with the defensive role, it made no delay in 1 A hill about two miles north-east of Rome, near the mouth of the Anio. 2 From (Edes, a building (edifice). 244 ANCIENT HISTORY assuming the offensive. Thenceforth a struggle, less unequal than heretofore, engaged the two parties. After the secession to the Sacred Mount the lands remained uncultivated ; a famine was the result. A young patrician, who had gained a glorious surname at the siege of Corioli, enraged at his rejection from the consulship through the Tribunes' influence, suggested to the Senate the advisability of abolishing the Tribunate before distributing amongst the people the corn and wheat which had been sent as a gift from Sicily. Coriolanus was consequently cited before the Comitia of the tribes. Alarmed at the defiant and indignant attitude of the plebeians, the patricians cowardly abandoned the accused, who was sent into exile, vowing vengeance on the whole nation (491). Soon after, he appeared under the walls of Eome (after devastating all the territory in the vicinity per- taining to the plebeians), at the head of an army of the Volsci. He had already captured several towns in his victorious progress, and now the Senate, alarmed, sent delegates to implore his mercy. But the con- queror disdainfully rejected the prayers of all classes in the state, and unmoved, beheld at his feet senators and pontiffs. He was, however, unable to resist the tears and supplications of his wife and of his mother, exclaiming, " Mother, thou hast saved Rome, but hast lost thy son." And returning to the land of his exile, it is stated by some that he was assassinated by the enraged Volsci. 147. THE AGRARIAN LAW. Although the enemy was far away, Rome was not at peace. A patrician named Spurius Cassius, moved ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC 245 perhaps by ambitious views, and with a hope of gaining popularity, recommended a distribution of a portion of the conquered territory (or public land), which had, of course, become the patrimony of the nobles; this was the introduction of that famous Agrarian Law, which was afterwards so many times represented by the Tribunes (456). But Spurius imprudently admitted strangers into his administration. The plebeians, jealous, abandoned him to the vengeance of the nobles, who put him to death. In vain did the Senate seek to divert the people's attention by fresh wars ; in vain did a single noble house, the Fabii, 1 consisting of 306 warriors, set an example of patriotism, by supporting the whole weight of a war against the Veientes (who had made repeated incur- sions on Koman territory), and by whom they were at last treacherously slain (477). No foreign peril served to stifle the quarrels of the Forum. The Tribunate incessantly renewed its attacks, and the struggle daily increased in violence ; by a law which had been brought forward by the Tribunes, defaulting consuls, on laying down their office, were tried by the Comitia Tributa, and one of these, Menenius, who had failed to save the Fabii when it was in his power (being encamped only a short distance from the scene of the massacre), was condemned, and suffered to die 1 The Fabian House was of very ancient nobility, its members had many times held the highest offices in the State. After being bitter opponents of the Agrarian Law, one of the Fabii, Haeso Fabius, had become an advocate for it. By this he gained the hatred of the patricians, and found it advisable to quit Rome with his house. One of the family was, however, left behind in the city, and his descendants (the Fabii) were subsequently celebrated in Roman history ; one of them was Fabius the Delayer (Fabius Maximus Cunctator), named in the war against Hannibal (217). 246 ANCIENT HISTORY of hunger (476). The patricians sought revenge by the assassination, in spite of the inviolability of the person of a tribune, of the plebeian Mimicius. Although hating their oppressors, the people were once more gained over by Appius Claiidim ; they soon after, however, cited him before the judgment-seat because he had decimated his army. A slight diversion from the general wretchedness was afforded by the exploits of Titus Quinctius Capitoiinus. The Sabini, the Volsci, and the .^Equi were vanquished, but the foreign war was not terminated before internal dis- sensions were renewed. Terentilius Arsa proposed the nomination of ten commissioners, who should draw up a code of laws, by which a curb might be placed on the arbitrary authority of the patricians (462). For ten years the Senate vehemently opposed this proposition. Foreigners naturally profited by these dissensions. For several days a Sabine, named Herdonius, was master of the Capitol, but he was at last chased from thence by the patrician Cincinnatus, who was a noble model of the simplicity of Roman manners. Called from the plough to be invested with the insignia of the consulate, he thwarted, solely by the powerful ascendant of his character, all the pretensions of the Tribunes ; made Dictator, he signalised his magistracy of sixteen days by a double triumph over foreign enemies (the ^Equi), and then returned to his plough (4 5 7). By his disinterested character, Cincinnatus had obtained a happy and universal influence, and the quarrels in Rome had been suspended ; he had not long quitted the city, however, before bitter dissen- sions were renewed. The Senate sought to pacify the tribunes by increasing their number to ten, but so ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC 247 long as victory remained unassured to these men of the people, they rested united ; they used their utmost endeavours to quell mutiny amongst the soldiers, they menaced the prison officials, imposing fines upon them, and fought in the public places, sword in hand, against the uncompromising patricians. CHAPTER II FROM THE DECEMVIR ATE TO THE INVASION OF ROME BY THE GAULS 148. THE DECEMVIRATE LAW OF THE TWELVE TABLES. THE Senate was ultimately compelled to yield. The law of Terentilius came into force. On the return of the three commissioners, who had been sent into Greece, it is related, with an order to collect informa- tion respecting the best laws of Solon, ten magistrates (the Decemviri) were elected to form a code appropriate to the manners of the Roman people. The Senate exercised care in selecting Decemvirs from the patri- cian class, and investing them with dictatorial power. During the first year (451) they used their unlimited authority with discretion, and ten tables of laws were submitted to the approbation of the people. These laws were only derived from ancient customs, modified by the exigencies of the time, and by several disposi- tions borrowed from the Greek legislation ; they were employed for the regulation of the government, the dispensation of justice, and the administration of penal laws. Without changing anything in the constitution, without depriving the patricians of their authority, they were, nevertheless, favourable to the people, be- cause they debarred the nobles from arbitrarily dis- posing the lot of the citizen. Some gaps to fill up seemed to render necessary the supplement of new 248 THE DECEMVIRATE 249 tables. The Decemvirate was retained for another year, but the haughtiest of the Decemviri, Appius Claudius, was re-elected, and he chose men for his colleagues whose views he knew to be identical with his own. From that time his despotic intentions were unveiled. Neither the Senate or people were any longer convoked. Two new tables were published without receiving the people's approval. Appius pro- rogued his government another year, and signalised his tyranny by assassinating Sicinius Dentatus, the bravest of plebeians ; but Appius desired to violate a young plebeian, named Virginia. Her father, a cen- turion, killed her in the Forum, with his own hand, so as to save her from the Decemvir, and then demanded vengeance from the Romans. The indignant people arose in one body. The army abandoned the De- cemvirs ; consuls and tribunes were nominated. The Decemvirs, placed on their trial, either put themselves to death, or were banished from Rome (449). But this alone did not satisfy the Tribunes. They re- claimed admission to the consulate, and liberty of marriage between the two orders. The Senate eluded the first demand by substituting, in the consulate, the Military Tribunate, which the plebeians might hold (444). This magistracy soon, however, disappeared, to give place once more to the consulate, which the plebeians were not destined to join until after the lapse of twenty years. The nomination of Censors (443), charged with the presidency of the census and collection of taxes, and with the superintendence of the life and manners of the citizens, was the fruit of a moment of internal tranquillity. 250 ANCIENT HISTORY 149. WARS AGAINST BORDERING NATIONS. Abroad, Eome ceased not to struggle against the Volsci, the yEqui, the Veientes, and the Hernici, who, since the expulsion of the kings, incessantly invaded Eoman territory. The war, momentarily interrupted by the (supposed) attempts of Spuriiis Mcdius to gain the kingly power, but who perished in a riot (438), was renewed, and signalised by Eoman success. The most powerful Etrusci, the Veientes, were obliged to accept a truce of twenty years, and the Volsci lost one of their most strongly fortified cities, namely, Anxur (Tarracina). Notwithstanding numerous victories, the Eomans never obtained a complete triumph. The Eepublic gave no pay to its soldiers. After each campaign they were sent to their homes, and, during this period of enforced repose, the enemy had time to recruit. This system smote all their efforts with sterility. After the capture of Anxur, the Senate devoted all the booty to the institution of a fund for the payment of the infantry and cavalry (402). From that period, though expeditions, both more distant and of longer duration, were undertaken, the results were more decisive : victory dawned on the Romans. Veii was the first to be attacked, and, thanks to the institution of soldiers' pay, Eome was enabled to maintain her army for a long time under the walls of that rich and powerful city. But the dissensions, combined with the incompetence, of the military tri- bunes who conducted the siege, favoured the defence of the Veientes. After a lapse of ten years it re- quired all the talents and valour of the patrician THE DECEMVIRATE 251 Camillas to overcome the resistance of the besieged, and to carry the town by assault (395). The triumph- ant Camillus entered Eome in a chariot drawn by four white horses. But notwithstanding the capture of Falerii, notwithstanding fresh victories gained over the Volsci and over the ^Bqui, who were compelled to implore for mercy, the jealous Tribunes attacked the reputation of Camillus. The great general was accused of peculation, and finding that no person un- dertook his defence, he went into exile. His country had to pay dearly for its ingratitude in the terrible struggle in which it had shortly to be engaged. It had required one hundred and twenty years for Eome to recover in Italy, by wars and combats, that influence which she had exercised under the last Tarquin ; and behold, suddenly her fortune was about to be violently shaken, her very existence compromised, and the fruit of her long labours lost. Rome had not yet under- gone so severe a trial as the Gallic war. Before issu- ing victorious from the strife, she had to sustain a struggle of fifty years, marked from time to time by bloody defeats ; and, after half a century of repose, those terrible enemies the Gauls were destined to arise once more, at the report of the fall of the Sam- nites (No. 1 5 2), and take up arms with Hannibal (No. 156). CHAPTER III FROM THE GALLIC INVASION TO THE FIRST FOREIGN CONQUESTS OF THE ROMANS 150. THE INVASION OF HOME BY THE GAULS. DURING the reign of the elder Tarquin, a Gaulic tribe had become established in that portion of Northern Italy, subsequently called Cisalpine Gaul. In 390 an army set forth from thence to invade Etruria, attracted by its wealth and its fertile soil. The siege was laid to Clusium. Receiving an application for aid, Rome sent three Fabii as negotiators ; but as the Gauls treated their proposals of peace with disdain, the Roman ambassadors fought in the Clusine ranks. On the refusal of the Romans to make the demanded reparation for this violation of civil rights, the enraged Gauls marched against Rome, and signally defeated the Romans on the banks of the Allia. 1 The Gallic chief- tain rennus, after a march of twelve miles with his army, entered the city without striking a blow, for the panic-stricken people had fled ! All was deserted ex- cepting the Forum, where several aged senators had remained. They were massacred as they sat on their curule thrones. The Capitol was defended by Romans for a few months. During the dead of night some Gauls strove to gain access to it by scaling the Tarpeian rock, and after evading the vigilance of the sentinels posted on the way, they had clambered to the very 1 A small stream, tributary of the Tiber. 253 THE GALLIC INVASION 253 summit of the ramparts, when some geese, sacred to Juno (which had been preserved by the besieged, in spite of the lack of provisions), awoke by their cries the brave Manlius, who instantly repulsed the daring Gauls. Ultimately, however, famine compelled the Eomans to purchase peace with gold. At last the Gauls, called to their own land by a foreign war, retired, taking with them the spoils and the ransom of Eome (389). Eome was destroyed. The Tribunes desired to transport the population to Veii. Camillus, who had been recalled from exile during the period of danger, rejected the proposition, and the city of Romulus was hurriedly rebuilt. 1 Scarcely had she arisen from her ruins than she was hurriedly attacked by all those nations who had regained their independence during the Gallic invasion. Camillus, who had saved the debris of the Eoman army, was now charged to quell the enemy. Internal troubles recommenced. Manlius was precipitated from the height of the Capitol, which he had previously defended, because he was supposed to aspire to the Tyranny. A cruelly rigorous execu- tion ! " But" says Bossuet, " the fundamental maxim of the Republic was to regard liberty as a thing insepar- able from the Roman name ; " everything had to be sacrificed to freedom. The Tribunes already made vio- lent claims for an equal distribution of the public land. They also earnestly demanded the admission of plebeians to the Consulate. They dared even to prorogue the session of the Comitia Tributa, and Camillus the Dictator found himself unequal to the strife. But the attention of all was diverted by a fresh invasion. The 1 It was rebuilt without much regard to construction, and remained inefficiently drained down to the time of Nero. 254 ANCIENT HISTORY Gauls arrived for a second time ; but the Romans had become accustomed to their savage aspect and co- lossal stature. Moreover, the happy innovations made in the construction of the armour and weapons used by the legions, rendered them capable of withstanding the shock of the heavy Gallic swords. The Barbarians were vanquished near the Anio by Camillus (367), and in subsequent invasions they were generally entirely defeated. In one of these Gallic wars a warrior of the house of Manlius gained the surname of Tor- qudtu, 1 for bearing away the golden chain worn by a most gigantic and redoubtable Gaul whom he had slain in single combat (362). By a decisive victory gained by the Romans in 349, the Barbaric hordes were driven back into their own land for a space of fifty years. 151. ADMISSION OF THE PLEBEIANS TO ALL THE MAGISTERIAL OFFICES. During these wars the Tribunes had unremittingly attacked the patricians ; they were at last rewarded by a complete triumph. In 366 the re-established Consulate was shared by the two orders, and the patricians were but feebly consoled by the reservation of the Cunde ^Sdileship. Ten years after a plebeian was elected to the Dictatorship, and in 359 a plebeian Dictator declared the Decrees of the Commonalty (the Plebiscite?) obligatory to the Senate. The Censorship, even, became accessible to the people. About the same time the formulae of procedure, until then held secret, were divulged by a greffier, and the patricians thus lost the means of regulating at will the decisions 1 From Torques, which signifies a collar or necklace. THE GALLIC INVASION 255 of justice ; finally, the plebeians were admitted to the Pontificate. Thenceforth, religion, the laws, the government were open to all alike. Equality was attained. Internal peace could now reign for many long years its advent was desirable. Eome had no surplus of strength for her approaching struggles with the Samnites, with Pyrrlms, and with Hannibal. 152. CONQUEST OF CENTRAL ITALY THE SAMNITE WAE. In the mountains on the south and east of Latium there dwelt a people of rude and warlike manners. They had been for long allies of Eome ; but they de- clared themselves Defenders of Italian Independence when the Eomans laid claim to the southern districts. The Samnites 1 made frequent incursions on the inhabi- tants of the Plain, 2 they had pursued hostilities so far as to lay siege to Capua, 3 and as this city applied for aid to the Komans, it was granted, notwithstanding conventions, and this was the cause of the first Samnite war (343), which was, however, terminated in the following year by a treaty of peace (342). The hostile parties had made only trial of their force. The Latins were of almost equal power with the Romans, and were also their allies ; but they now became anxious to gauge their true position, and sent ambassadors to Eome, to demand for their nation, either freedom or an equal share in Eoman offices and dignities. As these propositions were disdain- fully regarded by the Senate, a general rising of the 1 A branch of the Latines. - The Plain of Teanum Sidicinum. 3 The capital of Campania, in Central Italy. 256 ANCIENT HISTORY Latins took place. The Romans met their foes (who fought with the same sort of weapons, and spoke the same tongue), on the banks of the Veseris, near Mount Vesuvius, in Campania. After a bitter struggle the Latins were completely defeated, and the Romans acquired possession of the district in which the battle had been fought. They then marched toward Latium, and capturing all the Latin cities in the space of two years, the inhabitants were definitely placed under the Roman yoke (338). In 227 the war recommenced with the Samnites, and lasted almost uninterruptedly until the entire subjugation of Samnium (about 282). The war contracted a character of incredible bitterness, from the ambition and valour of the Romans and the patriotic and indefatigable energy of the Samnites. Rome's greatest generals of that period were engaged in the strife. Valerius Corvus, Papirius Cursor, and Fabius Maximus distinguished themselves by numerous triumphs ; but the Samnites incessantly repaired their defeats, being sustained, sometimes by the Campanians and Etruscans, at other times by the Umbrians and the Gauls, and the Romans were more than once compelled to respect their courageous foes. In 321 Pontius, the great Samnite general, captured a wing of the Roman army in the Pass of the Caudine Forks (Fur- culm Caudince). 1 As the defile was blocked at each end by the enemy, the two Roman consuls were com- pelled to acquiesce in a treaty drawn up by Pontius, and after stripping off their armour, the legionaries were permitted to file out of the gorge under the yoke. The Senate sought to palliate their disgrace by an act of perfidy ; they refused to ratify the treaty imposed 1 A narrow and sombre gorge, near the town of Caudium, in Samnium, Central Italy. THE GALLIC INVASION 257 by the foe ; after this, in many battles, the fortune of the two nations hung in the balance. It required the defeat of Sentimim 1 (in the third and last war), by which the flower of the Samnite army was destroyed, to force those indomitable tribes to submit to the Roman yoke (290). They were, indeed, again seen, seven years later, seconding a fresh effort of the Gauls to shatter Eoman power. They laid down their arms at last, from sheer fatigue and exhaustion. The Senate hastened to affirm its uncertain domination by cover- ing Samnium with colonies. Rome had carried the victory far from her city gates ; launched forth in the ocean of conquest, she was wafted ever onward. 153. CONQUEST OF SOUTHERN ITALY. Southern Italy had yet to be conquered. A pre- text for war was soon found. The powerful Taren- tines had lent secret support to the Samnites in the late war, and a few years afterwards they insulted some Roman ships which were doubling the Lacinian promontory, in contradistinction to a treaty existing between Rome and Tarentum. 2 An embassy was sent by the Senate to demand reparation, but it was treated by the Tarentines with the utmost scorn and disdain. War was declared. Alarmed at the anger of the Romans, Tarentum implored the aid of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, that adventurous monarch who had con- quered and lost Macedonia, and who unceasingly dreamed of new enterprises. Although assailed by a 1 A town in Umbria, in the northern portion of Central Italy. 2 One of the cities of Magna Graecia (Great Greece), situate on the south-west coast of Calabria ; it is now called Taranto, and is placed on the gulf of the same name. R 2$8 ANCIENT HISTORY violent tempest, through which he lost several ships, Pyrrhus reached the Gulf of Tarentum with a nume- rous and valiant army. He immediately set about the discipline of the Tarentine troops at Heradea (280), compelling them (contrary to their expectations) to join in the war. In his first contest with the Eomans (which was fought near Heraclea in Lucania) the battle raged furiously, and with no decisive results, until Pyrrhus ordered the advance of his troops of elephants, which inspired the Romans with such terror that they took to flight and were completely defeated. Pyrrhus, however, had seen enough of Eoman bravery to make him fear the ultimate success of the war. He therefore sent his minister Cineas (who was famous for his piercing eloquence), to Rome with negotiations of peace. The Senate had already an inclination to hearken to his proposals, when the speech of the aged Appius, " Claudius Ccecus," turned them from their purpose, and with that pride and constancy, which in spite of terrible reverses was destined to gain for Rome the empire of the world, the Senate returned the answer : " When Pyrrhus has quitted Italy, then lie may talk of peace." Another battle was fought near Ascu- lum, 1 by which Pyrrhus gained an advantage so doubt- ful that he exclaimed, " Yet another such victory, and we are lost," and he hastened to quit Italy at the invita- tion of the Sicilian Greeks to free them from the yoke of Carthage. 2 After a series of victories and defeats he left the isle (in 276) exclaiming, " What a splendid battle-field do I leave to the Romans and Carthaginians ! " Arrived in Italy (275), he was defeated by the Romans near Beneventum, 3 and he shortly afterwards left for 1 A town in the east of Apulia, a region in the south-east of Italy. 2 Carthage was on the opposite African shore. 3 A town in Samnium. THE GALLIC INVASION 259 Greece, where he perished (in 272) at the siege of Argos (No. 134). Abandoned to their own resources, the Tarentines found themselves unable to offer a prolonged resist- ance. Tarentum was captured and dismantled. The victorious Eomans, enriched by their spoils, struck silver money for the first time. All the colonies of Magna Grsecia were subdued, and all the nations of Italy, from the Rubicon to the Straits of Messina, observed the laws of the Roman Republic. 154. ROMAN COLONIES. From the period in which Rome began to extend her rule beyond the boundaries of Italy she affirmed her domination in the Peninsula by the formation of a great number of colonies. Instead of sending out to the conquered territory a governor and a few soldiers, instead of enslaving the subdued nations without seek- ing their affection, she established in their midst a Roman colony, from whom emanated the influence of civilised manners, rendering the vanquished citizens Roman by degrees, through perpetual contact with the children of the mother- country, and thus the interests of the conquerors and the conquered became identical. Very different from the Greek system, by which the colonies were kept entirely separate and distinct from the Metropolis, those of Rome were ever allied by un- interrupted ties of dependence to the capital city, and united by continual protection and reciprocal services. These branches of the great Roman family had the right to demand from the Senate, in cases of danger, both pecuniary and physical aid. The colonies were constituted on the model of the 260 ANCIENT HISTORY metropolis : Duumvirs replaced consuls, and Quinquevirs exercised the functions of censors. This system of colonisation could trace its origin to remote antiquity. Eomulus had founded primitive colonies amongst the tribes subdued by his arms ; but the number, especially in Central Italy, greatly in- creased. Although the citizens were chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits, the towns were strongly fortified, and were supplied with weapons both for defence and attack, which assured them of the submission of the surrounding territory, and more than once they found it necessary to crush seeds of revolt. Nearly fifty colonies were thus held under the Roman yoke at the commencement of the Punic war. They of themselves alone possessed power sufficient to bend the indomitable Samnites to a durable obedience. CHAPTEE IV ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 155. THE FIRST PUNIC l WAR. DURING the Italian wars Rome had become united with Carthage by many treaties of peace ; but already under the walls of Agrigentum the two rivals in ambi- tion and power rencountered, sword in hand. Their conquered territories were separated only by the Strait of Messana. This was a too feeble barrier ; a rupture became inevitable, and, as Pyrrhus had predicted Sicily was chosen as the field of battle. A Roman army, sent to the aid of the Mamertini, 2 who had re- volted against Hiero, King of Syracuse (who was merely resisting invasions on his territory), crossed the Strait, and beat the Syracusians and Carthaginians united. The capture of Messana and of several im- portant cities was the fruit of this victory (264). But Carthage was pre-eminently a maritime power, there- fore the Senate clearly perceived that Rome was precluded from carrying over her any decisive victory except by naval combat. The Romans, however, un- daunted, were soon employed in constructing a fleet on 1 From Pceni, the Carthaginians ; from Phoeni, the Phoenicians, who founded Carthage. " A body of mercenary troops from Campania, who, after fighting under Agathocles (the Sicilian king) had (about 289) taken possession of Messana, a town situate in the strait between Italy and Sicily. If Rome had not aided the Mamertini, they would have applied to Car- thage, who would have thus gained access to Italy. 261 262 ANCIENT HISTORY the model of a stranded Carthaginian galley. Though possessed of little experience in his new office, the consul Duillius set forth at the head of his squadron of unwieldy ships, and by strategy he ultimately gained a signal victory. A flying-bridge, armed with grappling- irons, was thrown into each of the enemies' galleys, which arrested manoeuvres, and being thus fastened to the clumsy constructions of the Eomans, the naval battle was changed into a combat resembling one on dry land, where the legions could fight advantageously. On his return to Rome Duillius was accorded a mag- nificent triumph, and the Columna Roslrata was erected in his honour. Grand results were the issue of the victory. Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily were almost com- pletely subjugated, and in 256 Rer/uliis, the conqueror of another Carthaginian fleet, was enabled to disembark in Africa. He, however, unfortunately lacked modera- tion. He attempted to impose intolerable conditions on his foes, and his rigour only served to re-animate their courage. Commanded by one of their mer- cenaries, Xanthippus the Spartan, they gained a great victory, but subsequently experiencing a serious defeat under the walls of Panormus (now Palermo), they began ardently to desire a cessation of hostilities. An embassy, accompanied by the prisoner Eegulus, was sent to Rome to propose a treaty of peace to the Senate, the captive being under a promise to return to Carthage if the propositions were rejected. It is related in Roman history that, although the Romans would have agreed to an exchange of prisoners, Regulus ex- horted them to abandon all ideas of arbitration, and, notwithstanding the entreaties of friends, returned to his land of exile, where he was subsequently subjected to the most torturous treatment, which caused his ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 263 death. The war was continued for nine years, with no decisive victory on either side. The Carthaginian stronghold of Lilybseum was proof against all attacks when defended by the brave Hamilcar Barca. It re- quired the Roman triumph near the Agates 1 for the two nations, equally impoverished in soldiers and money, to think seriously of peace. Carthage, whose commercial transactions, upon which her greatness chiefly depended, had been almost ruined by the war, chose rather to submit to harsh conditions than to prolong hostilities. She agreed to evacuate Sicily, to restore all prisoners, and to pay a sum of 3000 talents. The isle, with the exception of Syracuse and the land adjoining, became a Roman province (241). After the combat with the Mercenaries (see above, No. 69), the Senate profited by the enfeeblement of Carthage to seize Sardinia and Corsica, in despite of treaties and good faith, and could not resist at- tempting fresh conquests. It gained rather more decided possession of Istria and Illyria, who had un- ceasingly sent forth clouds of pirates to desolate the coasts of the Adriatic. The enemies of Rome again took up arms. Notwithstanding a brilliant victory gained near Clusium, they could not long resist the redoubled efforts of the Republic. The Romans crossed the river Po for the first time, and traversed the country as conquerors to the foot of the Alps. 156. SECOND PUNIC WAR. During this time the Carthaginians had sought to compensate themselves by conquests in Spain for the loss of the great islands in the Mediterranean. 1 A group of islands off the west coast of Sicily (now called the .^Egades). 264 ANCIENT HISTORY Hamilcar Barca, after having during eight years led triumphant armies in the Hispanic peninsula, died, leaving his son, Hannibal, inheritor of his talents and of his hatred of the Eomans. Instructed in the art of war by Hasdriibal, his brother-in-law, Hamilcar's suc- cessor, the young hero was placed, at the age of twenty- five years, at the head of the Carthaginian armies, and soon the capture of Saguntum (219), notwithstanding its alliance with Eome, and in spite of the intervention of her ambassadors, taught the Romans with what sort of enemy they had to contend. While they precipi- tated their preparations against Spain and Sicily, Hannibal conceived the audacious project of transport- ing the war into Italy. He rapidly crossed Gaul, dispersed the Gallic army, who disputed his passage over the Rhone, cleared the Alps in nine days of un- heard-of fatigue, and appeared in Cisalpine Gaul (218). At the same time the Consul Scipio, who had set sail for Spain, was apprised of these events, and returned in all haste to Italy. Hannibal had lost one-half of his troops during their celebrated march over the moun- tains. Nevertheless, at the end of a few days, he had vanquished Scipio on the banks of the Ticinus, 1 and Sempronius, his colleague, near the Trebia. 2 In the middle of winter the Consul Flaminius was destroyed with all his army in the defiles bordering on tbe Lake of Trasimenus. 3 It was time to place at the head of the troops Q. Fdbius Maximus, who, through his manner of conducting this campaign, was surnamed Cunctator, or the Delayer. Without hazarding a single combat, he followed the traces of the enemy, cut off all pro- visions, and embarrassed his adversary by continual 1 In Cisalpine Gaul. " A tributary of the river Padus. 3 In Etruria. ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 265 skirmishes, so as to destroy his foes by fatigue and famine. In vain Hannibal, by force of ability, sought to frustrate the plan of his enemy. In vain he multi- plied schemes to escape from ambuscades. Some partial successes could not compensate too frequent losses. He beheld his army dwindling away. Per- haps he would have been obliged to quit Italy if the people, tired of a war without brilliancy, had not re- placed Fabius by the rash and incompetent Varro. Notwithstanding the wise representations of ^Emilius Paullus, his colleague Varro boasted his power of ter- minating the war with one stroke, and profited by his one day of command to engage in the disastrous battle of Cannce (216). Hannibal, by the wise disposal of his troops, supplied inferiority of numbers, and, with- out losing more than six thousand men, he killed fifty thousand Roman soldiers, and the consul, ^Emilius Paullus. Varro fled with the debris of his troops. The Senate congratulated him on not despairing of his country in her hour of danger, and praised him for returning to his position as consul which was admir- able policy. The panic reigning in the city could not hold out against such courage. The Eomans pre- pared to defend themselves with renewed energy. The citizens eagerly enlisted, and carried their riches to the public treasury. The slaves themselves took up arms. The town was now ready to sustain a siege. Hannibal, with an army enfeebled, though victorious, could not dream of attacking the enemy. He sent to Carthage for reinforcements, but a powerful faction had vowed eternal hatred to the illustrious family of Barca. " If Hannibal is conqueror," answered they, " he has no need of aid ; if he is vanquished, he is unworthy, for 266 ANCIENT HISTORY he deceives us" This unjust reasoning flattered the avarice of the Carthaginian senators ; Hannibal was left to his own resources at a time when Rome was redoubling her efforts to repair her loss. The disas- trous results of this baleful policy were soon mani- fested. The two best generals of the Republic, Marcellus and Fdbius, the Sword and the Shield of Rome, were charged to pursue Hannibal without inter- mission. As for the Carthaginians, all combat, even though attended by victory, proved fatal, for it exhausted the troops with difficulty recruited by the aid of the provinces which had revolted against Rome. Marcellus was the first to prove before Kola 1 that Hannibal was not invincible (215214), and he then proceeded to subdue Sicily, which had declared for Carthage. Syracuse, defended by the genius of Archimedes, resisted for three years. The illustrious geometrician invented machines which attracted the Roman vessels towards the rocks, against which they split, or they were submerged by great masses of stone falling upon them. Nevertheless, the persever- ance of Marcellus triumphed over all obstacles : the city was taken by assault, and Archimedes was slain (notwithstanding the order to spare him), by a soldier unacquainted with his person (2 1 2). The fall of Syracuse was followed by the subjugation of all Sicily, which, in 210, was declared a Roman province. Philip of Macedon, who had allied himself with Hannibal (No. 135), was at the same time beaten on the coast of Epirus, before he could pass into Italy. Forced to burn his fleet, he derived, from an expedi- tion undertaken in the most favourable circumstances, only the shame and regret of defeat. Hannibal, in 1 A town near Naples. ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 267 the midst of the disasters of his allies, was the sole genius, capable of balancing all the efforts of Roman perseverance. He had seen Capua and Tarentum fall again into the power of the enemy ; but he himself defeated several armies, killed in one combat both Marcellus and his colleague, at the same time withdrawing towards Central Italy, leaving the peninsula a prey to general despondency. A crowd of deserters had come to swell his troops ; and in Spain, ffasdrubal, his brother-in-law, after the destruction of two Roman armies, and after the death of Cneius and of Piiblius Scipio, prepared to pass into Italy. Only a short time elapsed before he had crossed the Alps with 60,000 men. The Roman legions, headed by the Consul Nero, were occupied in keeping Hannibal in check at the other extremity of the peninsula. Never since the battle of Cannae had Rome been in such imminent danger, but she was saved by the heroic efforts of her generals. The Consul Livius was in Northern Italy, encamped in presence of Hasdrubal (who had already sent letters to his brother informing him of his arrival, and desiring to meet him in some Italian province). His communications were, however, intercepted by the Consul Nero, who immediately set forth with his best troops to join his colleague, Livius ; he traversed Italy in six days, and with their joint forces the two generals defeated Hasdrubal on the banks of the Metaums. The Carthaginian's severed head was soon afterwards thrown into Hannibal's camp, who was thus apprised of his brother's defeat and death (207). Hannibal understood that all was over. He retired with his forces within the peninsula of the Bruttii ; * 1 The southern extremity of Italy. 268 ANCIENT HISTORY there, like a lion grievously wounded, but which dare not yet approach the hunters, during three years, he, with his enfeebled army, without aid, without allies, repelled all the attacks of the Eoman generals. His last campaigns were perhaps more admirable than those of Trebia and Cannae; they added much to the glory of Hannibal, but little to the success of his enterprise. Carthage had too long obstinately main- tained her dispiriting system of neutrality between her general and the Eomaris. She at last sent Mago, Hannibal's second brother, to Italy, but it was too late ; Italy had returned to the Eomans, and Mago was defeated immediately he had disembarked in Cisalpine Gaul. The young PuUius Scipio, afterwards surnamed Africanus, charged with the war in Spain after the death of his father and his uncle, had taken the fortified city of New Carthage, expelled the Carthaginian garrison, and subdued the people. On his return to Eome, he obtained permission to carry the war into Africa, to the very gates of Car- thage : this was the only means of drawing Hannibal from Italy. Soon, in effect, the destruction of the Carthaginian and Numidian camp, the defeat of the allied troops at the battle of the Great Plains (by which he gained the country of Numidia), brought home to the Carthaginian Senate the necessity of recalling Hannibal to his country. He quitted Italy weeping in despair, and landing in Africa, vainly essayed to bring about a reconciliation with Scipio, lost the famous battle of Zama, 1 nothwithstanding the skilful disposal of his troops, and then re-entered the city which he had quitted thirty-nine years before, to force her to submit 1 In the ancient province of Numidia, North Africa. ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 269 to the peace now rendered compulsory by defeat, as long as she refused victory when it was in her hands (202). By the treaty which terminated the war, Rome was assured of Spain and all the islands between Italy and Africa. The Carthaginians promised to surrender their elephants, their ships, excepting commercial vessels, to pay ten thousand talents (in the period of fifty years), and to pursue no war without the consent of Rome. This last clause placed Carthage at the mercy of her enemy. A great question was decided for Rome ; the only nation which could dispute with her the empire of the world was fallen. Thenceforth the efforts of the Senate were redoubled to effect the realisation of universal rule to which the Roman people believed themselves destined from their origin. Carthage was humbled, but her destruction was deemed necessary. Spain still fought on, therefore it was resolved to subdue her ; Greece was a prey to Italy she had soon to renounce her liberty ; then the attention of Rome was turned to Asia ; thus the East and West were doomed to successive invasion. Behold the plan to be worked out at any price ; the Senate would walk in the right path when practicable, but neither honour nor justice would be placed in the balance with the interests of Rome. i 5 7. ROMAN CONQUESTS IN THE WEST. The defeat of Carthage had aroused the world to a sense of the dominating pretensions of Rome. Philip of Macedon, the Greeks, Antiochus, the Gauls of Italy, the Spaniards, had either taken up arms or were pre- paring to do so; the Senate foresaw that it would 270 ANCIENT HISTORY be wise to assume the aggressive, and destroy its enemies successively, before they had time to unite. Philip had already fought against the Romans during the second Punic War ; they now challenged him. The Greeks complained against the Macedonian king ; the Senate declared for them, and the war broke out. The Consul Flamininus decided the issue of the combat ; he had won the goodwill of the Greeks by his gentleness, by the facility with which he expressed himself in their language, and by the discipline which he maintained in his army. Philip, reduced to his own resources, yet cherished a hope of conquering at Cynoscephalse, 1 by aid of his phalanx, that monster bristling with steel (197); but that redoubtable body was broken up through the inequality of the ground, and Philip, completely beaten, was obliged to buy peace at the price of a thousand talents and the surrender of all his ships of war (No. 135). It was then that Flamininus proclaimed, during the Isthmian games, the freedom of Greece, so as to better separate those tribes, that fear alone of the Roman domination had been able to unite, and to sow, by this misleading announcement, even in that country which called Rome her saviour, a thousand seeds of division (No. 137). If the Romans had not yet succeeded in reducing Greece to a Roman province, at least they had opened out for themselves a free passage into Italy. The vast dominion of Antiochus the Great, still resplendent although terribly reduced, irritated the Roman pride. The King of Syria foresaw the inevitable approach of 1 A plain in Pharsalia (Thessaly), scattered over with hills whose summits resemble dogs' heads (cynoscephali), like those of the Afri- can ape. ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD war (No. 85). The experience of Hannibal (who, driven from his country by the jealous policy of the Cartha- ginian Senate, now sought a refuge at his court), might have proved of great service to Antiochus in the event of a rupture. The hero demanded eleven thousand men to recom- mence the struggle in Italy, and engaged Antiochus to invade Greece with all his forces, promising him help from Carthage. The king preferred to believe envious courtiers ; he gave to the greatest general of antiquity a subaltern role (192). He himself went down into Greece with barely ten thousand soldiers, and, content with receiving from the ^Etolians the in- significant title of generalissimo, he passed the winter at Chalcis, where he spent his time revelling in the sound of lyres and the perfume of roses. At this period the Roman army appeared. It required only one campaign and the valour of the Elder Cato (No. 161) to drive Antiochus into Asia. Lucius Scipio, brother of Africanus, pursued and completely van- quished him at the great battle of Magnesia, 1 which gained for the Roman general the title of Asiaticus (190). This cruel defeat caused Antiochus to bitterly repent the disdain with which he had treated the counsels of the Carthaginian. The king promised to pay the Romans fifteen thousand talents, to abandon Asia Minor as far as the Taurus, and to surrender Hannibal. Rome hastened to divide the spoils taken from Antiochus amongst the subordinate princes of Asia Minor. Her policy was to grant her protection where she could not yet obtrude her laws. The submission of the Gallsecians, or Gallo-Greeks, 1 Magnesia, on the banks of the Hermus, at the foot of Mount Sipylus, in Lydia. 272 ANCIENT HISTORY who had been settled ninety years in a portion of Phrygia, completed the establishment of Roman in- fluence throughout Asia Minor. But Rome was not to enjoy her triumph unmolested. Hannibal still lived, and the footsteps of the heroic old man were shadowed by the hatred of his bitter foes, who followed him even to his last retreat. Roman ambassadors demanded the head of the illustrious fugitive from the King of Bithynia (see No. 90). The cowardly Prusias was about to surrender Hannibal when the latter took poison, to avoid falling into the hands of his enemies. In the same year, according to Titus Livius, Roman policy obtained from the Messinians the death of Philopcemon (No. 138); in the same year also the ingratitude of the Roman people suffered Scipio, the hero of Zama, to die in exile (183). 158. WAKS IN THE WEST. The Romans set themselves to work in the West to thoroughly subdue the Spaniards ; they also tried energetically to subjugate the Gauls of Italy, who persevered in trying to throw off the Roman yoke. Scipio Africanus had captured Spain from the Carthaginians without giving his own country full assurance of its permanent possession. In the year 200, a general insurrection broke out in the penin- sula. The war was destined to last for many long years, and to employ vast numbers of legions, which found it a country impossible to be won by a decisive battle, but where each mountain had to be taken like a fortress, and where each shrub and tree had to be regarded as the hiding-place of an enemy. The defeat and death of a Proconsul (197) showed the Romans ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 273 with what kind of enemy they had to deal. The great victory of JZmporice, 1 gained by the Elder Cato, followed, it is said, by the capture of four hundred small towns, arrested the progress of the war, on the north of the Ebro. In the remaining portion of the peninsula, for the next seventeen years, the Spaniards never ceased to resist the enemy ; each victory had to be dearly paid for by the Eomans, but the conciliatory conduct and gentleness of Sempronius Gh-acchus conduced more than force of arms to estab- lish a peace which lasted for sixteen years. Nevertheless, in 154, the defeat of the two Eoman armies taught the Senate that all was to be recom- menced, and that Spain would yet be again for a long period the tomb of her legions. This time, a new order of tactics was adopted ; by treachery the Romans fought against the indefatigable patriotism of their enemies. An entire garrison was massacred by Lucullus, notwithstanding a capitulation. Galba butchered thirty thousand Lusitatiians, after promising them Eoman protection. The Senate, accomplice in all these horrors, acquitted him on his return. By not less odious means did the Eomans rid themselves of Viriathus, their illustrious foe. At first a shepherd, afterwards a brigand, then a chieftain in the army, Viriathus had taken in hand the cause of national liberty (149). He terrified Eome by the defeat of five Praetors ; and the Senate, treating with a victori- ous foe, for the first time in Spain, left the treaty of alliance to be concluded between the Roman people and Viriathus. Suddenly, notwithstanding sworn faith, Ccepio received orders to attack the Spaniard, who had laid down his arms ; but even then Viriathus inspired 1 A city in the North of Spain (Ampurias). S 2/4 ANCIENT HISTORY the Eoman with fear; Csepio commissioned some envoys to assassinate their general, and by this he evaded the chances of a defeat (140). The death of Viriathus was a vital stroke to Spanish liberty; nevertheless Numantia, the second terror of the Romans, was again in arms ; this place was destined to fall only after Carthage, under the attacks of the same enemy. During this struggle with Spain, important wars had been terminated in the North of Italy, where the Cisalpine Gauls had unceasingly resumed their arms with renewed energy. The Eomans were obliged to annihilate entire tribes, or to transport the debris to the Italian peninsula, so as to finally reduce those proud enemies, who for two hundred years had boasted of carrying off the Eoman ransom (200-163). The whole of Italy was thenceforth Eoman Istria had also been definitely conquered. 159. SUBMISSION OF MACEDONIA AND OF GREECE. It was now considered time to terminate the war with Macedonia. Perseus, who had reigned since the death of his brother Demetrius (see above, No. 135), had begged alliance with all the neighbouring nations. The Greeks, the Thracians, Carthage even, guaranteed him assistance when the struggle promised to be with Eome ; but of course all those mercenaries expected pay. Perseus, more parsimonious than ambitious, compromised all the success of his scheme by refusing to his allies the sums demanded. Nearly all aban- doned him. He proved victorious in the first cam- paign ; but j&milius Paullus, an able Eoman general, animated his soldiers with confidence, re-established ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 2/5 discipline, and soon seized the advantage. The defiles of Macedonia were forced, and the heavy phalanx, in the plains of Pynda, once more gave way before the indefatigable Koman legions (168). Perceiving his army destroyed and his children delivered to the enemy, Perseus prostrated himself at the feet of the consul, who led him to Eome, where he served to adorn the triumph of the victor. Several years after an adventurer named Andriscus, who pretended to be the natural son of Perseus, in- cited the Eomans to revolt ; but after a few ephemeral advantages, he was vanquished by the Praetor Metellus, who reduced Macedonia to a Eoman province (147). Metellus was then commissioned to annul the de- risive independence of Greece, which had been but recently proclaimed by the Eomans. Since the death of Philopoemen (No. 138), the Senate had left no means, however odious, unemployed which might tend to the establishment of its permanent authority in that country. After exiling a thousand Achseans, who had remained faithful to the national cause, and corrupt- ing by bribery the leaders of the confederation, it ordered all the people who had joined the League to dissolve their unity. The League, reduced to the last extremity, took up arms in answer to the tyrannical order ; but they were not the Greeks of Miltiades and of Thernistocles. After two battles the remaining de- fenders of liberty were obliged to take refuge in Co- rinth. The city was taken, sacked, and utterly ruined by the Eomans, on the same day, it is said, with which Carthage met with a similar fate (146). The greater part of the chefs-d'ceuvre of the Corinthian artists were spared. Yet, the Eomans were even at this period plunged in gross ignorance ; the consul 2/6 ANCIENT HISTORY menaced the workmen charged with the carriage of the goods with the loss of a part of their wages as pay for any pictures or sculptures that might be damaged in transport, yet the soldiers played at dice on the paintings of Parrhasius and Apelles (No. 126). Greece once subdued, the Romans envied her a name which recalled too much glory : she became the province of Achaia (No. 139). 1 60. THIRD PUNIC WAR. DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE. For some time back the Elder Cato had been dis- quieted by the reviving prosperity of Carthage, and he unceasingly provoked the Romans against her, ter- minating all his discourses with those celebrated words : " Carthage must be destroyed " (Delenda Carthago /) The Senate, in order to open war, had only to raise against its old rival, Masinissa, a Numidian prince who invaded Carthaginian territory, which he devastated. Carthage, thus attacked, thought proper to defend herself ; Rome then reproached her with non- observance of treaties. The affrighted Carthaginians proffered all satisfaction, and commenced by the banishment of those of their generals who authorised the war. The consuls, nevertheless, arrived in Africa, promising peace on condition of three hundred hos- tages being given up; the hostages were sent; then, the surrender of her arms and implements of war was demanded. Carthage, having been once deceived, now hesitated; at last, she disarmed, still believing in the promises of the consuls ; then her inhabitants were ordered to quit the city, which they were told must be destroyed, and go to establish themselves ten ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 277 miles distant from the sea-shore. A cry of horror and indignation was the only answer. At the end of a few days, the walls of Carthage were covered with soldiers protected with armour formed from the gold, silver, and brass of the temples ; the women gave their hair, of which strings were manufactured ; and vessels were constructed from the wood of house- beams and girders. The Eoman fleet was burnt, the consuls were besieged in their camp, and the Senate trembled for the issue of the war: it was believed that a Scipio, alone, could prove victorious in Africa. Scipio Africanits ^milianus, son of ^Emilius Paullus, and grandson by adoption of the great Scipio Afri- canus, a young man of twenty-seven years, soon obliged the Carthaginians to retire within their walls, which they, however, found impossible to defend against a terrible assault. But the city was not yet taken ; a siege of each street, of each house, had to be made, and the frightful struggle was prolonged for six days. A fire put an end to the resistance of the heroic defenders of Carthage ; those who had escaped the flames implored the victor's clemency, and soon nothing remained of Carthage but a heap of smoking ruins (No. 70). Scipio could not refrain from weep- ing at the sight of such a great disaster he foresaw a similar future for Rome. The Carthaginian portion of Africa was declared a Roman province. i6oA. THE NUMANTINE WAR. Scipio ^Emilianus (now surnamed Africanus) was destined to become, in all parts, the minister of Roman vengeance. He was sent against ISTumantia, which re- 278 ANCIENT HISTORY mained turbulent, situate in the midst of subdued Spain. Like Carthage, Numantia defended its existence and its liberty. During seven years, its eight thousand champions had held their own against the Eoman troops ; but they had forced to pass under their yoke an army of the great Republic, and their blood was now required by the Romans to wash away a like affront. ^Emilianus Africauus surrounded the city by an almost indestructible blockade ; one half of the Numantians perished by famine many were killed by lot. A few only remained, but their number proved too small to defend their city walls ; they slew their wives and children, and then killed one another by sword, fire, or poison. A conflagration in the city soon destroyed the remains of Numantia. Africanus left horrible traces of his passage (134). 161. INTERNAL STATE OF ROME CENSORSHIP OF CATO DECADENCE OF MANNERS. For a century back, the power of Rome had had a prodigious growth abroad, and nevertheless a Roman historian asked himself, if it had not been better for her to rule only over Italy than to become aggran- dised to the height of destroying herself through her own strength. In effect, witli the spoils of vanquished nations, all the vices of the latter had inundated Rome. That city, so beautiful before in her own strong virtue, now became a receptacle of depravity. There no longer remained those ancient Romans, who cul- tivated a little plot of land with their triumphant hands ; the consulars were no longer those who took their repasts from vases of wood and of clay, possess- ing only one service of silver, which they mutually ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 279 lent for the entertainment of foreign ambassadors. Gold now shone forth on all the tables ; an unbridled luxury now became the distinctive mark of the patricians. They deigned to go into the country districts only for relaxation and repose ; following the example of the Scipios, who had been reduced by the softness of Oriental manners, the patrician youth abandoned the ancient rusticity of their ancestors to copy the elegant fashions of the Greeks. Great service would have been rendered to the country if civilisation and politeness only had been introduced into Rome, if encouragement had been given to the first essays of her rising literature, by admiring only the chefs-d'oeuvre brought from the west ; but a frightful depravity accompanied those first 'progres- sive rays of light. A pernicious example was given by the most illustrious citizens, and but few men might be counted who escaped from the general con- tagion. Amongst these they have placed the Elder Cato (M. Porcius Cato Censorius), already celebrated for his ex- ploits in Greece and Spain Cato, whose censorship left, in history, an ineffaceable souvenir. Excessive admirer of the virtues of the ancient Romans, he was seen to work in the fields along with the slaves, and to leave the command of an army as poor as when he received it. He detested, as a cause of moral en- feeblement, all the developments of civilisation in Rome, and perhaps this was the motive of the im- placable hatred with which he incessantly pursued Scipio Africanus, who, more than any one, had con- tributed to the refinement and corruption of Roman manners. Scipio being placed on his trial on an accu- sation of receiving bribes in the war with Antiochus, 280 ANCIENT HISTORY escaped condemnation by a recital of all his won- drous feats of arms, which turned the tide of popular feeling in his favour. However, finding it useless to attempt averting the malice of his enemies, he ex- patriated himself, and died on his private estate at Liternum l (in the year 183 B.C.). Before Cato was elected to the censorship, the Senate had discovered and punished with death seven thousand culpable members of the odious worship of Bacchus. Cato, about this time surnamed Censorius (185), commenced to rail against the progress of luxury, and in spite of opposition he brought about severe laws, laid a heavy tax on the diversely-coloured gar- ments of women, their golden ornaments and superb habitations ; expelled several members of the Senate, and degraded Lucius Scipio Asiaticus from the Ordo Equestris. He destroyed all the luxurious buildings which encroached on the public highway, but im- proved the roads, drainage, &c. The patricians were loud in their cries against him, but the plebeians raised a statue to the man who had re-elevated the Eoman Republic by restoring morality. Unfortunately, how- ever, that Cato, the model of such rigid integrity in his public career, afforded in his private life a deplor- able example of tyranny and usuriousness. Behold a type of virtue, before the advent of Christianity ! After Cato's death (149) the torrent ran its course unimpeded. By an imposing display of riches and splendour the aristocracy recovered that supremacy which had of late been disputed, and the laws to which the poor appealed in vain held silence before the patricians. Magistrates, elected expressly to punish intrigues and peculation, publicly sold their votes ; 1 A city in Campania, on the Siris (now called Patria). ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 28 I indeed, there was no excess which had not become ordinary. The governors regarded their provinces only as mines to explore. They pillaged the temples and towns, and publicly sold the inhabitants as slaves. In vain did complaints arise on all sides. The guilty named themselves censors, so as better to escape the law. At Rome, the people, reduced to misery, were deprived of all political rights. They were reduced to uninfluential tribes, and the candidates had no need to buy their votes now of no utility. The poor had some consolation the hope of becoming colons or farmers in the service of the nobles ; but the latter, for this role, preferred slaves, who were more easily nourished, and who were more amenable to chastise- ment. As, after the expulsion of the kings, the nobility, or rather the rich, had all the power, the people lost all their rights ; but they were on the eve of making violent efforts to regain them. The Gracchi will be seen to give them the dominion for one instant. Marius will wash his opprobrium in blood. 162. HISTORY OF THE GRACCHI. Tiberius Gracchus was the son of Sempronius Gracchus (No. 158), illustrious by his victories in Spain and Sardinia, and of Cornelia, daughter of Scipio Africanus the elder. This virtuous and proud Roman matron, who had refused the hand of a king of Egypt, and who desired no other jewels but her children, was a dame of high accomplishments, and took the greatest pains with the education of her sons, who responded to the maternal ambition. Tiberius, although rich and noble, had been long touched by the misery and de- gradation of the people. He requested the Tribunate 282 ANCIENT HISTORY to bring about a general reformation (133). An Agrarian law, revised with the counsel of the most wise and moderate citizens, was drawn up and pre- sented as offering suggestions as to the mildest means of repairing the evils caused by injustice and usurpa- tion. Tiberius did not pretend to despoil the rich of all their ill-gotten gains ; he left them, besides their patrimony, five hundred acres of private property for themselves, and two hundred and fifty for each of their children ; but the surplus had to be given up, for which he promised to pay them the value in money. Tiberius pleaded his noble cause with irresistible elo- quence. " What ! " cried he, " the wild beasts have their dens, and they who shed their blood in the de- fence of Italy have no other property than the air which they breathe ! " He exhorted them to fight for their tombs and their temples. " But, among so many Romans, is there one who possesses a domestic hearth, or a tomb where his ancestors repose ? They are called masters of the world, and they have not one little spot of land they can call their own ! " The proposition, although so moderate, excited a violent uproar. The rich succeeded in gaining to their cause the Tribune Octavius, who opposed the law o his colleague. Tiberius, indignant, brought out another law still more severe, and after employing every means, without avail, to overcome the resistance of Octavius, he deposed him, notwithstanding the in- violability of the tribuneship ; he was ruining himself by the triumph of a day ; he was shaking the foun- dation of the power of the Tribunes. Nevertheless, the law was adopted, and Tiberius, with his young brother Caius, was charged with its execution. The nobles strove to revenge themselves by secret ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 283 and continual attacks. Tiberius added to their dis- content by distributing to the people, without due notice to the Senate, the treasures of the King of Per- gamus ; they accused him of aspiring to the Tyranny. The attitude even of the people became cool towards their defender. Tiberius offered himself as candidate for the Tribuneship another year ; but his death was decreed. In the midst of a tumultuous assembly, he was suddenly assailed by a crowd of patricians, and assassinated at the foot of the Tribune along with three hundred of his partisans. Such a victory called for vengeance, and Tiberius left behind him a brother as able and as ambitious as himself. The Senate had not dared to abolish the Agrarian law, and Caius Gracchus had remained amongst the number of commissioners. A reaction was announced by the seditious laws of the Tribune Carlo. Scipio ^Emilianus Africanus, brother-in-law of the Gracchi, protected for a moment by the lustre of his glorious military career, called upon his own head the implacable hatred of the people in daring to publicly approve of the death of Tiberius, and soon afterwards he was found dead in his room (130). The Senate was affrighted; it hasted to remove Caius Gracchus from Eome by making him Qusestor of Sardinia. But Caius, whose noble and disinterested administration had gained him the admi- ration of the Sardinians, after serving beyond the term required by law, returned to Eome, in spite of all the efforts of the Senate to keep him in the province. He was elected Tribune by the Roman people, who gave him an enthusiastic welcome (123), and the plans of Tiberius were put in practice with renewed ardour. Caius exercised the Agrarian law, instituted distribu- 284 ANCIENT HISTORY tions of corn and money, decreed the establishment of several colonies, and in order to find work for the poor, he intersected Italy with wide and substantial roads ; public granaries, raised in all parts, guaranteed prosperity and abundance to the people. A chorus of praise echoed round the young Tribune ; he was re- elected to office, though he had not offered himself as candidate. He made the senators abandon their judi- cial power in favour of the " Ordo Equestris," com- posed of wealthy plebeians whether or not connected with the army, and these served as a check upon patri- cian influence. The Senate, however, depended on the inconstancy of the people. But Caius, master of the government and of the administration, consulted in all councils, flattered by the people, was the ruling power. The Senate attacked his popularity by raising up a still more popular Tribune; they even succeeded in removing him for a short time from Rome, under pre- text of founding a colony on the site of Carthage. During his absence, intrigues, menaces, calumnies, were all set at work against him and his partisans. On his return he found his credit greatly diminished. Failing to be re-elected Tribune, he yet persevered, as a private gentleman, to defend his laws against all obstacles ; but the Senate accorded unlimited power to the Consul Opimius, his personal enemy. In a de- signedly excited tumult 3000 partisans of Caius were massacred (121); he himself, abandoned by all the people, sought refuge in a grove consecrated to the Furies, where he persuaded his slave to kill him. All the corpses were thrown into the river by order of the Senate, which rejoiced insolently over its triumph. The widows of the victims were forbidden to wear mourning. A temple of peace was raised on the spot ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 285 which had been the scene of blood ; the laws insti- tuted by the Gracchi were abolished, and the Romans fell again into their old miserable state. But already a man appeared who was destined to avenge the Gracchi, and give a violent reaction to the popular party ; this was Cains Marius. This ambitious and ferocious plebeian had suc- ceeded in raising himself from obscurity by the sole power of his bravery and talents, which shone forth particularly in the Nuniidian war. 163. WAR WITH JUGURTHA. After the death of Masinissa, a prote'ge' of the Romans, Micipsa, his son, remained their faithful ally ; and, as proof of the sincerity of his friendship, he sent his nephew Jugurtha to the siege of Numantia. The young prince distinguished himself by many brilliant feats of arms. Micipsa adopted him, and bequeathed to him a third of his kingdom, like to his own sons Hietnpsal and Adherbal ; but Jugurtha aspired to the sole dominion, and he put Hiempsal to death and usurped the throne. Adherbal vainly implored Roman protection, and notwithstanding a treaty with Rome, by which Adherbal was assured of a small portion of the Numidian kingdom, his territory was devastated by Jugurtha, who put his rival to death in spite of the presence of Roman commissioners. The Senate, indignant, sent over an army ; Jugurtha bought peace from the Consul Calpurnius l (112), went to Rome to justify his conduct, smothered all complaints by force of presents, dared even to assassinate one of his 1 A native of Arpinum, a small town in Latium (the modern Arpino). 286 ANCIENT HISTORY relatives who was an aspirant to the Numidian throne, and then quitted Rome, crying : " venal city, thou wouldst be on sale if a purchaser could be found." Nevertheless he met with a Roman impervious to corruption, who was destined to avenge much insolence and crime. In two campaigns, Mctdlus had checked Numidia ; but suddenly, Marius, his lieutenant, by force of intrigues and calumnies, succeeded in sup- planting him in the command, and thus deprived him of the honour of terminating the war. In a short time, the plebeian had put the finishing stroke to an almost completed work. Jugurtha, made prisoner by the Quaestor Sulla, was led to Home and thrown into a dungeon, where he was left to die of hunger. Marius reduced the greater part of Numidia into a Roman province (106). He returned to Rome, where he was surrounded by popular admiration. He had already secured a party of devoted followers by enrolling in his army the meanest citizens ; these men, possessing no property, and consequently holding no interest in the state, attached themselves exclu- sively to the general who led them on to war and plunder. 164. FIRST ATTACKS OF THE NORTHERN BARBARIANS THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES. Scarcely had Marius given the Roman people the spectacle of his triumph, than he had to save Italy from a great peril. The Cimbri, driven from the Cimbric Chersonesus by an overflow of the Baltic, uniting with the Teutones, a people of Germany, inundated Gaul, devastating all on their route, dragging with them the vanquished populations. During five ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 287 years (110106), the Roman armies were crushed by the Barbarians ; a last decisive battle cost the life of sixty thousand men. All the hopes of Eome were now centred in Marius ; during his absence he was elected Consul, and held the office for three years. Marius subjected his soldiers to hard labour and severe discipline, so as better to accustom them to the fatigues of war, while the Barbarians gave breathing time to the Romans by leaving them in order to invade Spain. On their return Marius had all in readiness. Near Aix l he destroyed 2 the innumerable army of the Teutones ; then he returned to Italy, into which country the Cimbri had already penetrated, demanding lands for themselves and their brethren the Teutones, of whose defeat they were unaware. "Disturb not yourselves" said Marius, " your brethren have for ever the land, which you demand for them" The battle was fought near Vercellce? the Romans were victorious, and the whole nation of the Cimbri was annihilated. Italy and ancient civilisation were saved (102). 165. REVOLT OF SLAVES. During the triumphant campaigns of Marius in the North of Italy, a revolt of slaves had carried desolation into Sicily and the south of the Peninsula. For the cultivation of their immense gardens, and the manage- 1 Aix, a contraction of the Aquae Sextise of the Romans (in Provence, S.E. France), the plain on which the battle was fought, is called the Pourrieres (putrid fields), as Marius made such a carnage of the Teutones that their heaped-up corpses putrified by exposure to the sun and the rain. 2 At the conclusion of the battle a messenger from Rome announced to him that he was elected Consul for the fifth time. 3 In Gallia Cisalpina. 288 ANCIENT HISTORY ment of their sumptuous villas, the wealthy Eomans employed a vast number of slaves, whom they treated with a barbarity which rendered their lot intolerable. These enslaved labourers, ten times more numerous than their tyrants, mutinously arose en masse in Sicily, under the leadership of a certain Eunus, who had taken the title of King. The first insurrection had been quelled (134) at a moment when all Italy was endangered. A second, still more redoubtable, successfully withstood for two years all the efforts of the Eoman legions to suppress it, and massacres alone put an end to the war (102) ; these two revolts cost the lives of one million slaves. At last Rome approached the end of the many agitations and wars to which she had been subjected. Yet one more enemy to be overthrown, and none would remain to dispute with her the supremacy of the world ; but we shall see how this last enemy will sustain the struggle with bitterness, and give in only after a terrible resistance. Rome will have need of her most valiant legions, of her greatest generals, to terminate the war against Mithridates. 1 66. WAR AGAINST MITHRIDATES. This prince, who had extended his empire over all Asia Minor, believed himself strong enough to anni- hilate Roman rule in the East (see above, No. 92) ; he declared war, by butchering, in one day, eighty thousand Romans who lived in his provinces. Sulla was sent with five legions to avenge this sanguinary provocation. The King of Pontus, vanquished on sea and land, was obliged to subscribe to very hard con- ditions of peace, too happy in preserving that hand ITALIAN CONQUESTS ABROAD 289 which had signed the order for the massacre of so many Romans (85). Sulla would undoubtedly have consum- mated the ruin of his foe, but events recalled him to Italy, and the war was soon after to be recommenced. Hearing of dissensions in the Republic, the King of Pontus arose, on the departure of Sulla. Warned by his former reverses, he disciplined his army with the utmost care, and formed a redoubtable plan of defence. It required all the ability of Lucullus to arrest the first successes of Mithridates, interrupt his negotiations with Sertorius and Spartacus (No. 170), in arms in Spain and Italy, and retain the upper hand in combat. Notwithstanding the insubordination of his soldiers, Lucullus destroyed the fleet of the King of Pontus, deprived him of his conquests, and annihilated his troops in two great battles (72). Mithridates, escap- ing with difficulty, returned from Armenia, where he had sought a refuge from Tigranes, to fight and lose again, notwithstanding the succour of his ally, and to bring down upon Armenia the victorious troops of Lucullus (69). Mithridates was checked : suddenly Lucullus was recalled by a plebiscite (68), and the Manilian law, supported by Cicero and the young Ccesar, gave to Pompey unlimited power to com- plete the conquest in Asia. Although the retreat of Lucullus had again allowed Mithridates the oppor- tunity of re-entering his own kingdom, he was not in a position to sustain a struggle against his powerful enemy. Pompey had only to show himself to ensure victory. The king fled to the Cimmerian Bosporus, but still this man of indomitable energy again dared to form the gigantic project of invading Italy, when the treachery of his son Pharnaces led him to put an end to his own life. T 290 ANCIENT HISTORY Tigranes, King of Armenia, had presumptuously commenced hostilities. Attacked by Lucullus, he rallied the Romans on their poverty of numbers 1 (see above, No. 91) ; but he soon had to take flight before that feeble army, as during the night he was affrighted by the shadows of the legionaries, which, under the light of the moon, cast themselves on the plain before him, thus illusively doubling the number of the Roman ranks. He cowardly deposited the Armenian crown at the feet of Pompey, who traversed Asia triumphantly, adding to the Roman province the kingdoms of Bithynia, of Pontus, and of Syria, the latter having been easily captured from the last of the Seleucidae (No. 87). The conqueror of Asia went to Judsea to replace Hyrcanus II., the lawful king, on the throne, who had been dethroned by his brother Aristobulus (see above, Book I., No. 47), and recompensed, in his turn, the treachery of Pharnaces, by placing him in possession of the kingdom of Bosporus (64). Rome was thenceforth sovereign of the East. Kingdoms which she had not converted into provinces were subject to her influence, from Egypt to the Caucasus; but she had now withdrawn from that quarter to approach the term of her conquests ; the Parthians were at her frontiers. 1 The troops of Tigranes numbered 400,000 men, while those of the Romans numbered only 14,000, CHAPTEK V CIVIL WARS LAST CONQUESTS OF THE REPUBLIC 167. INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. WHILST the Republic was extending its power abroad, it had been a prey to the most violent agitations at home. The quarrels between the nobility and the people, renewed with violence, had prepared the way for the first civil war, which was the result of the rivalry of Marius and Sulla. These two men, one a plebeian, the other a patrician, who represented the two opposing orders, had declared their mutual hatred at the commencement of their military career. Sulla, then QuaBstor in the army of Marius, had succeeded, by adroit negotiations, in gain- ing possession of the person of the Numidian king (No. 163); thus depriving his general of a part of his glory. This was an injury which Marius could not forgive. However it might be, Eome owed much to Marius, and had not neglected to acknowledge her gratitude by according him exceptionable honours, having elected him six times as Consul. But the plebeian was not satisfied; he aspired to the sole dominion, and desired to establish his sovereignty on the ruins of the aristocracy. He first showed his intentions by joining himself to the most turbulent citizens, by 291 2 Q2 ANCIENT HISTORY favouring the Italian allies, who, as they did not enjoy the civil and political rights of the Eoman citizens, wearied of fighting unceasingly for Eome, and at last demanded a reward for their prolonged devotedness. A law in favour of the allies was presented by Satur- ninus, the Tribune, and most seditious of the dema- gogues. Marius accorded his powerful support, and satisfied his hatred by chasing from the Senate, Metel- lus, his old general, who opposed the law ; but the excesses of Saturninus obliged Marius himself to take up arms against his imprudent accomplice, who was massacred. This was a check to the popular party ; the discontented Marius retired from the scene, until a better occasion should present itself. 1 6 8. THE CIVIL WAK. The pretensions of the allies were, however, upheld by Drusus the Tribune, who demanded for them the right of citizenship, and Drusus was put to death (91). But all Italy had been stirred by the propositions of the Tribune ; she formed a powerful league to gain, by war, what had been refused to her prayers. The struggle was terrible but decisive ; on each side was displayed the same courage, the same discipline, and the same habit of conquering. The greatest generals of Rome were employed in the defence of their country ; but Marius had no desire to fight against the cause which he had formerly sustained, and he refused the command offered to him. The wily and ambitious Sulla turned to his own profit this volun- tary retirement of his rival, and it was he who had the glory of terminating, by two victories, a war which had cost Italy 300,000 soldiers. The Senate had CIVIL WARS 293 weakened the hostile party by according the right of citizenship to all who should voluntarily submit. After the triumph, the same concession was extended to all ; but it was rendered illusory by the relegation of the new citizens to a class deprived of all political rights (89). 169. EIVALSHIP OF MARIUS AND SULLA. For some time Marius had watched, with an en- vious eye, the daily increasing popularity of Sulla. When, at last, he learnt that the Senate had confided to his rival the responsibility of the war against Mith- ridates, he reappeared in the Forum, and succeeded in having the same honour conferred upon himself, by a plebiscite ; ,but Sulla, although already arrived in Campania with his army, returned to Eome, and de- clared Marius an enemy to his country. The plebeian fled in great haste. Discovered in the marshes of Minturnse, 1 he was condemned to death, and a Cim- brian slave was commissioned to kill him : the con- queror of the Cimbri gave the barbarian a terrible glance, and shouted, "Darest thou slay Caius Marius?" The frightened slave dropped his sword and fled. Marius obtained permission from the magistrates of Minturnse to pass into Africa, and they even provided him with a vessel to favour his flight. On disembark- ing, the Praetor Sextilius sent him a lictor who forbade his residence in his province. As the illustrious exile, drowned in sorrow, kept silence, the messenger de- manded an answer ; to which the proscribed plebeian replied, " Go, tell thy master that thou hast seen Caius Marius sitting on the ruins of Carthage ! " Neverthe- 1 A town of Latium (on the borders of Campania), on the Liris. 294 ANCIENT HISTORY less he again set sail, and passed the winter on the ocean, his boat skimming the surface of the waves at the will of the wind keeping clear of the coast, as there all danger lay. Sulla had quitted Rome ; profiting by his absence, the Consul Carlo reanimated the popular party, and recalled Marius. Rome, ineffectually defended against four armies by the followers of Sulla, was taken by the Marian party, and reduced to famine (87). Marius beheld, with ferocious joy, the approaching day of revenge. A crowd of Senators were assassinated in the city ; all the friends of Sulla were massacred ; the carnage was carried on unceasingly day and night. But, for all that, notwithstanding the revocation of all the laws carried by his hated rival, and notwith- standing his election as Consul for the seventh time, Marius was still anxious. Sulla yet lived and was victorious, and the proscriptions had not extended to him. Death spared Marius the chagrin of witnessing and perhaps of being the victim of the triumph of his rival (86). Already Sulla, recalled by the voices of the oppressed, approached the city in a blaze of fame. Cinna, the most redoubtable of Marius' partisans, had just been assassinated. Carbo, and the son of Marius, attempted to arrest Sulla. Pontius Telesinus, a Samnite, joined them with the purpose of regain- ing, by civil wars, the liberty lost to Italy ; but Sulla, aided by three legions lent him by the young Pompey, who afterwards became so celebrated, was fortunate everywhere. In a last battle, fought under the walls of Rome, Telesinus perished at the moment he believed himself the victor. Sulla entered Rome (83), and on the same day the Senate was terrified by the cries of seven thousand Samuites, who were CIVIL WARS 295 butchered in the Campus Martius. Sulla tranquilly remarked, " It is nothing / am only chastising some rebels" His vengeance was more atrocious than that of Marius. Each day lists of proscriptions were posted up in the Forum : some were massacred for their reputation, several for their wealth. Private hatred and animosities became more violent through the example of the master of Kome. Sulla coldly executed all his cruelties ; he wished to destroy the Democratic party, he desired to satisfy his own followers with the goods of the proscribed, and to establish his veteran soldiers in the domains of the colons throughout Italy. He calculated how many dead would be required for this purpose, and no one was safe during the time of the executions, which amounted to thousands except the young Csesar, in whom, nevertheless, he beheld several Mariuses. At last he forbore, and occupied his time only in regulating his sanguinary work, and founding the patrician supremacy. Named perpetual Dictator (8 2), he made useful rules for the prevention of cabals and for the repression of the avidity of the venal governors of the provinces ; he published laws forbidding assassi- nations, excepting of persons named in his proscrip- tions ; he restored full judiciary power to the Senate, and degraded the Tribunate, by depriving it of all actual authority. Pompey, who had been sent to subdue Numidia, .received after his victory the sur- name of Great (Magnus) from the Dictator Sertorius (jSTo. 170). One leader of the Marian party still re- sisted in Spain, and Sulla was not destined to behold his downfall. The Dictator, now satisfied with the triumph which he had assured to the aristocracy, and wearied perhaps with a grandeur too dearly bought, or 296 ANCIENT HISTORY tired of searching for new glory, abdicated his sove- reignty, and entered into the life of a private gentle- man, in the midst of that population which he had decimated (79). He too greatly despised the Eomans to fear them. He sullied his private life by infamous debauches, which brought on a horrible disease, of which he died (78). The sentiment of adoration and of terror, which had protected Sulla after his abdication, followed him even after his death. He was accorded a magnificent funeral, and the Senate allowed this epitaph, which he had himself composed, to be inscribed upon his tomb : " No one has done more good to his friends, or more harm to his enemies. 1 ' We have already pronounced the name of that Pompey who was destined to acquire, in Rome, so much renown and power. At the age of twenty- three, he had been proclaimed Imperator by Sulla himself, and, by a fortunate combination of circum- stances, he was several times placed without legal title at the head of the Republican armies. He was often commissioned to decide wars, the difficulties of which had been already removed by other generals. He thus often reaped the honour really due to others, and although a man of only moderate genius, he even- tually excited to its highest point the enthusiasm of his country, and, in short, became the Great Pompey. 1 70. SEKTOEIUS SPARTACUS POMPEY. A reaction had already set in against the aristo- cratic party. The Consul Lepidus (77) had incited Northern Italy, and even his defeat failed to put an CIVIL WARS 297 end to the civil war ; the debris of his troops went into Spain to join the army of Sertorius, who was as brave and able as Marius, and above all, a friend to his country, and who supported, with all his energy, the Democratic party. For eleven years he struggled against the most able Eoman generals and one hun- dred and twenty thousand legionaries. Metellus, who despaired of ever vanquishing his opponent in war- fare, tried to effect this end by strategy. He per- fidiously put a price upon the head of Sertorius, and Pompey arrived, as usual, just in time to reap the fruit of this treacherous act. The cowardly Perperna assassinated Sertorius, and then aspired to the com- mand of the army ; but he was betrayed by his own soldiers (73). Pompey, who had been beaten in all his combats with Sertorius, was now enabled to bring the war to a victorious conclusion. While the popular party was struggling in Spain, a third revolt of slaves, headed by the gladiator Spar- tacus, caused the Romans to tremble. During three years, Spartacus, as Hannibal had done before, occu- pied Italy and defeated several Consuls ; he suc- cumbed under the efforts of Crassus the Prsetor, through the undisciplined conduct of his soldiers, who had obliged him to abandon a wisely-digested plan (75-71). But all the glory of success was not reserved for Crassus : Pompey, returning from Spain, fell in with five thousand fugitives, whom he destroyed, and for this he claimed the credit of terminating the war, which had been really ended by Crassus, and the Ptomans as usual applauded their favourite (7 1 ). Crassus had acquired, through his great riches, immense influence ; Pompey counterbalanced this 298 ANCIENT HISTORY advantage of his rival by supporting the pretensions of the Equites and people. The Tribunes, to whom he had restored a part of their ancient power, were devoted to the cause of their protector. The great question which now agitated the Senate was how to put an end to the violence of a number of pirates who infested the coasts of the Mediterranean. At the proposition of Gdbinius the Tribune, Pompey was charged with pursuing them ; clothed under the title of Maritime Proconsul, he performed his task with great ability and dexterity ; in a few months he had cleared the seas of the corsairs' fleets, and chased the pirates from their hiding-places in the creeks and coves (67). He returned to Eome covered with glory. The Tri- bune immediately confided to him the command of the Roman army in Asia, in order to terminate the war with Mithridates (No. 166). I/OA. CATILINE'S CONSPIRACY CICERO. Whilst all the Roman armies were absent from Italy achieving brilliant triumphs, their country was placed in great danger, " and Pompey," says Bossuet, " would have had no place in which to hold his tri- umphs over as many enemies, if it had not been for the Consul Cicero, 1 who saved the city (Rome) from the flames which had been prepared for its destruction by Catiline!' This young patrician, steeped in debt and crime, disqualified for the positions of honour to which he aspired through his scandalous conduct, furious at beholding himself rejected from the Consulship through his rival Cicero, joined the most profligate and disso- 1 A native of Arpinum, a town in Latium. CIVIL WARS 299 lute citizens, with whom he formed a project to esta- blish his own fortune by the assassination of the most illustrious personages, and, if need be, by the ruin of the State. Cicero, who had been elected Consul, and who was already celebrated for his eloquence and his devotedness to the Eepublic, discovered the conspiracy. His energetic and rapid measures, as well as his bril- liant orations, baffled the plotting Catiline, who, having been unable to carry out his plan for the assassination of the orator, now fled from Rome and collected a great force of the villains of Italy (63). Cicero, who had succeeded in arresting one section of the conspirators, put them to death, and a short time after, Catiline perished in a battle (62). Some, thus rescued, proclaimed Cicero Father of his country. 171. POMPEY, C^SAR, CRASSUS FIRST TRIUM- VIRATE. Pompey returned to Rome loaded with the spoils of the East. But his grandeur had already created un- easiness ; to the general enthusiasm had succeeded a cold indifference. Pompey soon perceived that, to sustain his credit, it was necessary to make common cause with the citizens whose elevation might prove prejudicial to his own Crassus, the wealthiest of the Romans ; Caesar, the most able and the most ambi- tious. Caesar, nephew of Marius, had attached him- self to the popular faction. Crassus had joined no party, but he held an equal balance between the two rivals. By the alliance of these three men was formed the First Triumvirate (60). The Senate and the people were forced to submit to the triple ascendency of glory, riches, and genius. Caesar reaped the first- 300 ANCIENT HISTORY fruits of the association: he was elected Consul (59). In spite of the constant opposition of his colleague, he caused the Agrarian law to be adopted, confirmed the acts of Pompey in Asia, and obtained for himself the government of Transalpine Gaul l for a period of five years ; he desired to rise by military glory and to com- mand an army. In quitting Koine, he wished to leave no enemies behind. Cato, great-grandson of the Censor, devoted, like Cicero, to the cause of liberty, was banished to a distant province. Against Cicero, Caesar incited the Tribune Clodius, who succeeded in bringing about the exile of the father of his country, for having ordered the execution, without trial, of citizens, accomplices of Catiline. In vain did a multi- tude of gequites and patricians protest in favour of a measure which had received the authorisation of the Senate. To please his colleague, Pompey cowardly abandoned the illustrious orator, and Cicero, startled at the violence of Clodius, quitted Italy (58). Caesar now fearlessly engaged in a long war with the Gauls, while Pompey remained in Eome to watch over their common interests. 172. The Eomans had for a long time been estab- lished in that part of Gaul which is to-day called Provence ; they had there founded several towns (Aix, 2 Aquae Sextiae, Narbonne, &c.), and Marseille was their faithful ally. A hostile demonstration of the Helvetii (Swiss) against Eoman Gaul furnished Caesar with a pretext for commencing that conquest which cost him nine campaigns and untold efforts. Having crushed 1 " Gallia Transalpine " (now France) beyond (Trans) Alpine, the Alps as regards Rome in opposition to Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy). 2 The Consul Sextus founded Aquae Sextice, near the source of some thermal waters. CIVIL WARS 3OI the Helvetii (58), Csesar met with the Sequani, a people of Germany, whose incursions incessantly menaced Gaul. Their gigantic stature, their savage aspect, and indomitable courage frightened the legions : " If you will not follow me" said Csesar, " / will go with my tenth legion, and will make it my Pretorian cohort." All the legions advanced, and the Sequani were exterminated with their king Ariovistus. The Belgic tribes, the bravest of all the Gauls, beholding the successes of Caesar against the Helvetii and the Germans, besides the submission of the ^dui, now trembled for their own independence and safety. They defied the domination of the conqueror, and held themselves ready in their almost inaccessible caves and impenetrable forests. But, armed with their axes, the Eomans pierced a route through the woods, cut down the enemy at Bibrax, on the banks of the Aisne (57), and successively vanquished all the Belgic tribes. In the following year Caesar made the conquest of Armorica, 1 and having thus subjugated the whole of Gaul in three campaigns, he next determined to attack the Germans, who had sent two of their bar- barous tribes into Gaul. After nearly destroying these hordes, Csesar crossed the Ehine and struck terror into the inhabitants round about (55). Two expeditions into Britain sufficed for the subjugation of the greater part of that hitherto unknown land, and the Senate ordered a public thanksgiving of twenty days in honour of the audacious conqueror. But all was not yet accomplished ; the Gauls entered into a great conspiracy to regain their independence. In Central Gaul a vast confederation was formed against the Eomans, under the leadership of Ver- 1 Brittany. 302 ANCIENT HISTORY cingetorix, King of the Averni. In his preceding campaigns Csesar had attacked and defeated the hostile tribes, one after the other ; he now found himself in a position of extreme danger. Nearly all the barbarians, for an instant subdued, now rallied round their brave leader in the grand cause of independence. The Eomans were harassed on every side, and the Gauls, following the advice of Vercingetorix, burnt their towns and laid waste the surrounding country, with the object of reducing their enemy to famine. In accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants (the Bituriges), Vercingetorix spared Avaricum (Bourges, in Burgundy), their capital, a superb town and strongly fortified, from the general conflagration. After capturing several places from the enemy, Caesar besieged Avaricum, which he took with difficulty, and after slaying all the inhabitants, he made that place his winter quarters. The spring saw a recommencement of hostilities. Csesar now led his army into the land of the Averni, 1 but as he received a slight check at the siege of Gergovia 2 the courage of the Gauls was reanimated. They encountered Csesar on the banks of the Saone, where a terrible combat took place. The struggle was so dreadful, that Caesar, throwing himself into the rne'le'e, left his sword in the hands of the enemy. Csesar laid siege to Alesia (Alise), to which strongly fortified city Vercingetorix had retired. The Romans were, how- ever, soon surrounded by a Gallic army of 240,000 men, who thus cut off all hopes of retreat. The siege was a prodigy of perseverance and courage. Gigantic works of circumvallation, rapidly executed by the 1 The modern Auvergne. 2 About three miles from the modern Clermont-Ferrand in the department of the Puy-de-D6me, Auvergne. CIVIL WARS 303 legionaries, displayed the military genius of Csesar. Soon the town was reduced to the extremities of famine, and was obliged at last to surrender. Caesar, who had completely overthrown the Gallic army abroad, now received the submission of Vercingetorix, as principal author of the war and devoted servant of his country. Csesar reserved him as an addition to the pomp of his triumph. Gallic independence had succumbed with the surrender of Vercingetorix (52). A last rising was punished with barbarity. Csesar cut off the wrists of all the inhabitants of an insurgent town, and the Gauls, frightened at this terrible example, finally laid down their arms. All the country, from the Ehine to the Pyrenees, was subdued in 5 i B.C. Thenceforth Caesar tried to reconcile his fierce enemies by the gentleness of his government (50). He invariably succeeded in attaching them to his cause, and, during the civil war, one of his most faithful legions was Gallic. The interests of Gaul coinciding with those of Eome rendered the country in a short time as Eoman as Italy herself. If the conquest of Gaul appears to be a chef-d'ceuvre of bravery and military talent, the frank and entire submission of that redoubtable country is a chef-d'ceuvre of policy still more admirable. Cassar had departed from Rome a friend of Pompey; he was now returning to be the irreconcilable enemy of his old colleague. During his absence a rupture had taken place in the Triumvirate, and the face of affairs had been changed by great events. Pompey had aforetime blindly favoured the ambi- tious projects of Caesar, and had obtained for him a prolongation of five years in his proconsulate of Gaul ; 304 ANCIENT HISTORY he had, at the same time, given the government of Syria to Crassus. However, the popularity, the glory of Caesar, and the growing insolence of Clodius, his partisan, made Pompey perceive, but too late, that in elevating the fortunes of his colleague he was abasing his own. The recall of Cicero was the first sign he made of any attempt antagonistic to Caesar's cause. He worked assiduously to gain the affection of the Senate by the wisdom with which he employed his immense power. The death of Julia, daughter of Caesar and wife of Pompey, broke yet another link which bound the two colleagues ; and the death of Crassus, destroying the equilibrium of the Triumvir- ate, tended to confirm the rupture. 173. WAR AGAINST THE PARTHIANS RUPTURE OF POMPEY AND CAESAR. That old general (Crassus), proud of his past mili- tary exploits, believed himself destined to tame the Parthians, who were the most redoubtable enemies of Rome (see above, No. 93). Pompey had, not long before, avoided a struggle with that warlike nation ; his example failed to enlighten the blind presumption of Crassus (54). He crossed the Euphrates, but when he landed in the steppes of Central Asia, a guide in whom he trusted adroitly led him and his army into the deserts of Mesopotamia, where they were soon surrounded by the Parthians, who engaged them in battle (in the Plain of Carrha3 a ). The Roman army, previously exhausted by fatigue and hunger, were soon decimated by the enemy, who, with wily retreats, led the Romans still further into the desert, all the 1 Near the " Charran," or "Haran," of sacred history. CIVIL WARS 305 while continually deluging them with arrows. Crassus survived his defeat, but the following day he was assassinated during an interview that he was holding, by invitation, with Surenas the Parthian general (53). This event led to rapid and grave consequences. The Triumvirate broken, Pompey resolved that he would spare no efforts to gain the supremacy, and internal dissensions then favoured his ambition. The Senate, tired of seeing the Forum converted into a theatre for sanguinary struggles, startled by the quarrels of Milo and Clodius, which were termi- nated by the death of the latter, and by the violent manifestations of the people against the murderer of Caesar's friend, the Senate believed that peace could be established only by giving Pompey the supreme power, on the proposition of Cato himself. All com- menced to fear, above all, the secret ambition of Cassar. By the exile of Milo, and several sage mea- sures introduced into the State, tranquillity was restored to Kome ; but already all amicable relations had ceased between the Triumvirs. Pompey, after refusing the Consulship to Caesar, sent him orders to resign the command of the army ; Caesar responded by summoning Pompey to retire into private life (49). 174. CIVIL WAR CAESAR'S TRIUMPH. Such a means of conciliation could not be accepted. Cassar hastened his march towards Italy with his invincible soldiers ; he crossed the Rubicon, 1 which marked the extreme limit of his province, exclaiming, " The die is cast ! " thus accepting the designation of Enemy of the State, which Pompey declared him to 1 A stream which divided Italy proper from Cisalpine Gaul. U 306 ANCIENT HISTORY be if he disobeyed orders to disband his army. Pompey, priding himself on a false security, had said that he had only to strike the earth with his foot to Taring forth legions. " Strike, then ! " remarked a senator, who had heard of Caesar's approach ; but it was too late. Pompey, taken unawares, fled into Greece, along with the consternated Senate. Caesar had then only to take peaceable possession of all the Italian Peninsula. However, while he was himself in Spain fighting against two generals who were devoted to his rival, his own lieutenants were beaten in Africa, and Pompey was assembling considerable forces in Greece. After subduing Spain, he returned to Rome, where he prepared his army to march against Pompey, who had levied troops in Greece, in Egypt, and the East, thus being master of the sea, whilst Caesar, disembarking in Apollonia, had with him only six hundred horse and five legions. Tired of waiting for reinforcements, he resolved to depart for Brundusium 1 to fetch the remainder of his troops. As he was sailing across the Adriatic in a small barque, he was assailed by a violent tempest, and the pilot ordered the return of the boat ; but Csesar, revealing himself, said, " What fearest thou ? Thou conductest Ccesar and his fortunes." The sailors, animated by these words, made fresh efforts to overcome the power of the waves, but unavailingly. Ccesar was obliged to return to his camp. Antonius, his lieutenant, at last con- veyed the remainder of the legions in safety. But Caesar's position was critical in a country devoted to his rival, and he received a severe check near Dyrrhachium ; but suddenly Pompey, to satisfy the impatience of his soldiers, abandoned his plan, and 1 Brindisi, on the Adriatic. CIVIL WARS 307 entered into a general engagement with Caesar's veterans. The defeat at Pharsalia^ was a mortal blow to Pompey and the Senate. Pompey, who fled across the seas to seek a refuge from the King of Egypt (No. 59), was assassinated in sight of the coast by order of the cowardly Ptolemy (48). Following the tracks of the enemy, Caesar went into Egypt. While he was captivated by the charms of Cleopatra, he was unexpectedly besieged in the Isle of Pharos, and with difficulty escaped from the Alex- andrians. The partisans of Pompey, rather dispersed than destroyed, began to reassemble. The danger aroused Caesar ; he hastened to the Bosphorus, where he quickly vanquished Pharnaces, son of Mithridates. His despatch to the Senate was, / came, I saw, I con- quered? But in Africa, ten complete legions, under Metellus, Scipio, and Cato, were sustained by the Mauritanian cavalry of Jiiba. In Spain, the sons of Pompey prepared for an obstinate resistance. Caesar first conducted his victorious troops into Africa. As he touched the shore he accidentally fell ; the soldiers being depressed at this disaster, Caesar exclaimed, " Be thankful ; do you not see how I take possession of the earth which has been given to me ? " Soon the victory of Thapsus 3 put an end to the war, notwith- standing the determined resistance of Metellus and Juba. Cato killed himself after the battle of Utica, so as not to survive his liberty (46). After celebrating his triumph at Eome, Caesar passed into Spain ; he there encountered at Munda (near Cordova) the army of Cneius and Sextus, sons of Pompey. The old legions 1 Pharsalus, now called Fersala, near the Vale of Tempe, in Thessaly. 2 Veni, vidi, vici, 3 Tbapsacus, on the Euphrates, in Mesopotamia. 308 ANCIENT HISTORY of the conqueror of Gaul refused to advance against the enemy, as they were tired of being mutilated in every part of the world. Caesar seized the shield of a soldier, and threw himself in front of the Pompeian army. His troops, electrified by his example, returned to the charge, and thirty thousand enemies were killed, along with one of Pompey's sons. This terrible battle, in which Caesar, as he said, had combated, not for victory, but for his life, was the last effort of the Re- publican party (45). On his return to Rome, Caesar celebrated his triumph for his victories in Spain. The people resented this exultation at what they regarded as a civil war; it reminded them bitterly of their slavery. 175. DICTATORSHIP AND DEATH OF C^SAR. However, they had to yield. The Senate pro- claimed Csesar Dictator for life, and perpetual Impe- rator, and they awarded him divine honours. For the rest, Caesar used his power for the re-establishment of peace and the wellbeing of the Republic. He pardoned all his enemies, and several of those who had fought by his side were now elevated to the highest dignities. But nothing could disarm the par- tisans of liberty. Although Caesar was affable and generous to those who had been faithful to him, and indulgent towards his old enemies, still the nation beheld, with a feeling of horror, their ruler trample beneath his feet their ancient laws, modify the con- stitution of the government, humiliate the Senate, and suffer that, in a public solemnity, Antony should offer him a diadem, which he had, however, the political discretion to refuse. Brutus (Gate's nephew) and CIVIL WARS 309 Cassius, both austere Republicans, urged by a great number of citizens, framed a conspiracy against him whom they denominated the Tyrant. Caesar was assas- sinated in the Senate-house on the Ides of March (i5th March), on which day, it is said, it had been arranged that he should be proclaimed king. He expired, pierced by thirty-five wounds, at the foot of Pompey's statue (44). 176. OCTAVIAN WAR AGAINST ANTONY. The Republic was not re-established by Caesar's death ; the causes which had destroyed it continued to exist. The conspirators in vain, with their sanguinary daggers in their hands, called the nation to freedom. The people, recalling to mind the Dictator's gentle and paternal rule, answered only by cries of hatred and revenge to the call of the conspirators, who sought refuge in the Capitol. The Senate, frightened by these demonstrations, dared not, however, disown the champions of their own cause, and silently awaited the result. The Consul Antonius at last put an end to their vicissitudes. He read, in presence of the people, Caesar's last will and testament, and roused general indignation against the murderers by a recital of the benefits 1 with which their late victim had loaded them : he excited popular exasperation to its highest degree by displaying from the height of the Tribunal the Dictator's robe covered with blood. The con- spirators, menaced by all the people, were obliged to leave Rome in haste, and the ambitious Antony pro- 1 He bequeathed his splendid gardens, situate on the banks of the Tiber, to the public, and left to each Roman citizen the sum of three hundred sesterces (2, i6s. 3d.) 310 ANCIENT HISTORY fited by their departure to establish his authority, under pretext of avenging Caesar; he was seconded by Zepidus, Master of the Horse under the late Dictator, who gave him the support of his troops. But he found a rival where he least expected. A young man of eighteen years, sickly and feeble, still occupied in collegiate studies, arrived suddenly at Rome, claiming to be Caesar's heir; he was his grand-nephew Octavius (C. Julius Cassar Octavianus). Antony had commenced by taking possession of all the sums of money left by Caesar's will to the Roman citizens. The young Octavius, less avaricious but more ingenious, promised to pay the legacies, even if by so doing he impoverished himself. His gene- rosity gained him favour of the people and veterans ; his gentle and moderate words conciliated the affec- tion of the Senate. Cicero, who doubted the influence of Antony, favoured the pretensions of Octavius, hoping thus to obtain in him a convenient instrument of the policy of the Senate. Antony, alarmed at the general desertion of his partisans, at last comprehended that he had to deal with a redoubtable enemy, and quitted Rome in order to assemble an army. Cicero then launched against him his thundering and eloquent philippics, through which war was declared. Octavius and two consuls were sent in his pursuit. Antony was vanquished ; but the two consuls died of their wounds, and by this hazard, Octavius found himself alone at the head of a victorious army. Now he could make himself feared ; notwithstanding his age, they dared not refuse him the Consulship. But his party was yet feeble ; like his uncle, he resolved to call to his aid the ambition of his own rivals, to rise by their support, and eventually to overthrow them. CIVIL WARS 3 I I He opened, with Antony and Lepidus, conferences of which the result was the formation of the Second Triumvirate (43). 177. SECOND TRIUMVIRATE. It was an infamous alliance. The Triumvirs, after dividing the provinces amongst themselves, agreed to reciprocally immolate their enemies. Octavius aban- doned Cicero, 1 his protector, to the hatred of Antony ; Antony gave up his uncle ; Lepidus, his brother. These crimes were the signal of proscriptions more frightful than those of Marius and Sulla. Money was wanted for the war which was now in preparation. The richest citizens were murdered by the daggers of assassins, and the lists of proscription contained the names of three hundred senators and two thousand ^Bquites. When the three monsters were gorged with blood and spoils, they believed themselves able to leave desolated Italy without fear of resentment. Lepidus remained alone at Rome ; Antony and Octa- vius passed over into Greece, where they were expected by Brutus and Cassius with their troops. It was difficult to foresee the issue of the struggle. The Triumvirs possessed Italy and the Western provinces ; Brutus and Cassius, during the troubles at Rome, had taken possession of Greece, Macedonia, and Asia. The fleet of Sextus Pompeius assured them the empire of the seas. One hundred thousand men of the Repub- lican party, and one hundred and thirteen thousand under the orders of the Triumvirs, met in the plains of 1 Cicero was arrested and killed, as he was proceeding in his litter about a mile from his villa at FormiiB, a town in Latium. 312 ANCIENT HISTORY Philippi. 1 In two battles the fate of the Republic was for ever decided. In the first, Cassius, vanquished, killed himself. Brutus had been successful with the wing which he commanded ; he might still have seized the advantage and ruined the hostile army, who lacked provisions, by prolonging the war ; but he ceded, like Pompey, to the impatience of his troops, was beaten, and then committed suicide. Antony, who had fought valiantly, showed some generosity after the victory ; Octavius, who had cowardly withdrawn from the combat, unpityingly massacred the most illustrious prisoners (42). The Republican party was annihilated on land ; no army remained on its side ; but the fleet of Sextus Pompeius had yet, for several years, to remain mistress of the seas. After the victory, the Tri- umvirs had to satisfy the exigencies of their partisans. Octavius was charged with the government of the western division of the empire, with the task of dis- tributing lands to the soldiers as a reward for their services. If this task presented great difficulties, still it offered the best means of acquiring, over the army, an all-powerful influence. Antony took the more bril- liant role of subduing the Eastern provinces ; he went afar in search of glory and pleasures, while his col- league, already become his rival, gained partisans to his side, and seized upon the government of Italy ; Lepidus was forgotten, and sunk into obscurity. It required odious violence and crying injustice to allay the avidity of one hundred thousand soldiers. The Italians were despoiled of their property and treated as conquered people. The territory divided, the towns were next pillaged for their treasures ; it befell 1 A city of Macedonia, east of Thrace (now a hamlet in European Turkey). CIVIL WARS 313 more than once, that in the midst of the complaints and lamentations of the oppressed, the insolence of the soldiers menaced the life of Octavius himself. But finally his policy prevailed, and the bravest army of the Republic became thenceforth devoted to his for- tune. Antony, however, inebriated by the servile homage of the Asiatic kings, and captivated by Cleopatra, forgot his political interests. The war of Pentsia, 1 excited in his favour by Fulma, his wife, and by his brother (who had both remained behind in Italy), only furnished his rival with an occasion for a triumph ; and it would have proved a fatal blow to the cause of Antony, if Octavius had not found himself surrounded by difficulties and obstacles. The fleets of Sextus Pompeius blocked the Italian ports and reduced Rome to a state of famine (39); the soldiers of Octavius cared little for new wars, which promised no gain for themselves. These favourable circumstances, and the instances of Fulvia, at last served to tear Antony from the attractions he found at Alexandria. He appeared in Greece, and Octavius, whose army was at this moment insufficiently strong to sustain a struggle, had to submit to a compromise. The marriage of Antony to the Emperor's sister Octavia, after Fulvia's death, was a gage of their alliance. At the same time, he negotiated with Sextus Pompey for the deliverance of Italy ; he gave him the great isles in the Mediterranean (in return for corn), and promised him the Consulship. All durable accord was never- theless impossible between the son of Pompey and the Triumvirs. In this false reconciliation, Octavius 1 In Etruria (now called Perugia, situate in the province of Umbria, and built on a mountain washed by the Tiber). 314 ANCIENT HISTORY had seen only one means of escaping from the momentary danger, and of gaining time to make preparations for war. Already he had sworn the fall of Sextus Pompey ; he wished, on the ruins of his rival, to elevate his own power, while Antony should return to the East to employ his forces against the Parthians, and to spend his time at the voluptuous Court of Egypt. In order to successfully combat S. Pompey, Octavius had need of a redoubtable fleet. By the genius of Agrippa, his lieutenant, and the treachery of one of Pompey's freedmen, the Triumvir was at last furnished with the lacking vessels ; by a new treaty with Antony, his fleet was increased to I 20 ships. Nevertheless, Octavius was twice beaten ; but the naval victory of Naulochus, gained by Agrippa (36), forced Pompey to flee into Asia, where (through the agency of Antony) he was put to death, at Miletus, by order of a Prefect of Syria. Octavius, triumphant, hastened to deprive the feeble Lepidus of his dignity of Triumvir, so as to be sole ruler of the East. 178. ANTONY IN EGYPT BATTLE OF ACTIUM. While Caesar's nephew augmented his power by overthrowing all obstacles which he dared openly to attack, Antony's influence gradually declined in the East. Cleopatra had already caused him to forget the gentle and virtuous Octavia, and he deeply offended Roman pride by giving the foreigner the provinces bordering on Egypt. Jealous of the suc- cesses of Ventidius, his delegate, who had returned from vanquishing the Parthians in several combats, Antony resolved to risk a struggle with that redoubt- able nation which had once crushed the armies of CIVIL WARS 315 Crassus. Dissensions in the Parthian empire, and an alliance with the Armenian king, who had engaged himself to lead the troops of Antony right into the heart of Parthia by the mountain route, seemed to assure victory to the Romans (35). But Antony compromised the success of his expedition by his reluctance to tear himself from the fascinations of Cleopatra, thus delaying his march until late in the year. The war proved unfortunate; the Armenian king, frightened by the menaces of the Parthians, abandoned him. He was forced to make a disastrous retreat, and, notwithstanding prodigies of courage and patience, he led back into Syria the de'bris of a pre- viously flourishing army. He revenged himself on Armenia, and returned to Alexandria to celebrate his triumph, surrounded by all the pomp of a Roman Consul. This was for Rome a fresh source of vexa- tion. Octavius patiently waited until his rival had, by his extravagances, provoked to its height the general indignation. He took care to publish the facts that Antony had permitted himself to be adored under the guise of Osiris or Bacchus, while the Egyptian queen appeared with him as Isis, and that to his two sons by Cleopatra he had accorded pro- vinces in the East. He also encouraged a report that Antony was about to solemnly enter Rome with his Egyptian. Suddenly it became known that Antony had repudiated Octavia. A rupture became inevitable. The Comitia hastened to deprive Antony of his power as Triumvir, and to place Octavius in charge of the war against Cleopatra. Octavius had on his side, like Caesar, a valiant and devoted army ; like Pompey, Rome and the Senate. Antony was able to oppose him with a 316 ANCIENT HISTORY fleet and more numerous legions. The influence of Cleopatra paralysed all Antony's efforts. It was she who prevented him from invading Italy, who per- suaded him to undertake a naval combat when he possessed every advantage for fighting on land ; it was she, in fact, who caused his defeat. The two hostile fleets were facing each other near the promontory of Actium, being nearly equal in strength, and manned by soldiers of equal valour. Antony had still every reason to hope that he would win ; but Cleopatra took to flight at the first shock, and when Antony per- ceived her squadron of sixty vessels sailing past his ships and putting them in a state of confusion, he fled after her, abandoning all else, and forgetting that powerful and faithful army which awaited him on the shore. Those brave legions, without a leader, were now forced to surrender to Octavius. The battle of Actium 1 terminated the struggle, and decided the fate of the world (31). By the death of Antony and Cleopatra, Egypt was given up to the conqueror (see above, 2nd Part, No. 5 9). It was reduced into a Roman province ; but Octavius dared not confide to any senator the care of a territory so rich and powerful. A simple Roman aequite received the reins of government under the title of Prefect (60). 179. ACCESSION OF AUGUSTUS. The legates of Octavius had, in all parts, subdued the provinces still attached to Antony's cause. From the burning deserts of Africa to the banks of the Danube 1 At the entrance of the Gulf of Ambracia, near the promontory of Actium, in Epirus (on the western coast of Greece). CIVIL WARS 317 and the Rhine, from the Euphrates to the Atlantic Ocean, all recognised the authority of the vanquisher. He was veritably master of the world ; but the old prejudices against royalty yet existed at Rome. To establish a solid foundation to his authority Octavius had to humour the susceptibility of the Romans, and continue to appear as the simple delegate of the Senate and people, and to make use of republican institutions in order to place his power on a solid basis. We shall see that such was the constant policy of this new master of Rome. It also behoved him to cause the passions of the former Triumvir to fall into oblivion. He changed his name of Octavius, of sanguinary memory, to that of Augustus, which became thenceforth the distinctive title of the Roman emperors. A great historical period is ended ; to the ancient era succeeds a new one, an era of regeneration and salvation. In presence of that immense and imperishable revolution, in pre- sence of the greatest fact in the history of human kind, let us rapidly sketch the events which preceded it, and which prepared for it, by borrowing from Bossuet that magnificent picture in which he has painted, with master strokes, the political situation of the universe at the coming of our Saviour. " The remnants of the Republic had perished with Brutus and Cassius. Antony and Caesar Octavian, after ruining Lepidus, turn against each other. Caesar gains the battle of Actium ; the forces of Egypt and the Orient, which Antony led with him, are dispersed ; all his friends abandon him, even Cleopatra, for whom he had lost all. Herod the Idumean, who owed all to him, is constrained to surrender to the conqueror, and maintain by this means the possession of the 318 ANCIENT HISTORY kingdom of Judea, which the feebleness of the old Hyrcanus had lost to the Asmoneans. All cedes to Caesar's fortune. Alexandria opens to him her gates ; Egypt becomes a Eoman province ; Cleopatra, who despairs of retaining power, kills herself after Antony's death. Rome extends her open arms to Caesar, who rests, under the name of Augustus and under the title of Emperor, sole master of all the empire. Near the Pyrenees he tames the rebellious Cantabrians and Asturians ; Ethiopia demands of him peace ; the terrified Parthians send back to him the standards taken from Crassus, with all the Roman prisoners ; the Indies seek his alliance; his arms make them- selves felt by the Rhetians or Orisons, whose moun- tains could not defend them ; Pannonia recognises him, Germany dreads him, and the Weser receives his laws. Victorious on sea and land, he closes the temple of Janus. 1 All the universe lives in peace under his power, and JESUS CHRIST COMES INTO THE WOULD." 1 Janus was an ancient Italian deity, to whom Numa Pompilius constructed a temple at Rome. His statue, which stood in a vestibule with two entrances, had two faces looking in opposite directions, indi- cating the Past and the Future. The gates of his temple were open in time of war, and closed in time of peace. BOOK III. THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE CHURCH CHAPTER I REIGN OF AUGUSTUS 1 80. CHANGES INTRODUCED BY AUGUSTUS INTO THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION. IT must not be supposed that by a brusque transition the Roman Republic had perished at the accession of Augustus to give place to a monarchy. The Republic had been really destroyed from the moment when one man, leaning exclusively on one body of the State, had arrived at supreme power. Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Csesar had accustomed the Romans to cede to one will, and had in consequence destroyed the very prin- ciple of Republican government, which is the sove- reignty of the people. Republican forms had, however, been long respected, and were still in existence. Augustus was too prudent and able a politician to hasten their entire disappearance. He did not seek to constitute a new government, which should make the Romans feel their subjection ; he wished to obtain a universal authority by the reunion, in his person, of all the powers hitherto known, without creating a new dignity, which should appear as usurpation. His Tribunician power (30) rendered his person in- violable. The Censorship, which was accorded to him 319 320 ANCIENT HISTORY under the title of Prcefectus moratus (29 B.C.), per- mitted him to purify the Senate and the order of ^Equites. He was titled Princeps on the proposition of Agrippa, his colleague in the Consulship. In the year 17 he received the appellation of Augustus, which subsequently became the surname of the Eoman emperors. In the year 1 9 he was elected Consul for life, thus being placed at the head of all the magis- trates. As Imperator he had command of the army ; and his title of Prcefectus urbis and Prcefectus annonce placed in his hands the whole body of police, and gave him the means of satisfying the populace by distribu- tions and games, an indispensable thing in a town in which the people called itself King. (" It is necessary to thee that the attention of the people should be occupied with us," once boldly said a mountebank to Caesar.) On the death of Lepidus he was elected Pontifex Maximus (high priest of their religion), the only life office of which he had not despoiled his old colleague (13). All these titles were crowned by that of Father of his country (8). From all this there resulted nothing for the civil constitution, but a legal authority of all the different magistracies in which the prince was clothed, and of which the jurisdiction re- mained nearly tbe same as under the Republic. Save a few laws, which the Senate had abrogated in honour of Augustus, the others still remained ; in fact, he was only the first magistrate of a Republic, and this particular power was well expressed by the name of Principal (Princeps, Premier). It was not absolute authority. For instance, Augustus had neither the right nor the power to impose taxes at his will ; it was with the greatest difficulty that he established a fund for soldiers' pen- REIGN OF AUGUSTUS 321 sions. A tax on succession to property was unwel- comed, and badly paid. The nation could never be brought to submit to the import duties ; and, never- theless, this was the same people whom the Emperor was obliged to nourish and amuse. Its last, but fatal, privilege was to exhaust the treasury without re- funding it. It was by the Senate and people that Augustus had caused all these honours to be conferred on him- self ; and he caused their renewal to be accorded him at periodic intervals. He had constantly near him a council formed of his colleague and a few Senators. The people preserved its Comitia and its elective rights, and Augustus even sued for justice at the popular assemblies for himself and friends. In short, this chief of the State feigned to guard authority only while it was necessary for the re- establishment and maintenance of order ; he several times offered to abdicate the power, and seemed to re- tain it only at the pressing instances of his councillors. This comedy proves how earnestly he sought to make it appear that he held his power by the will of his subjects. Augustus governed, but he did not reign. If there was no change made in the civil adminis- tration than the reunion of several judicious func- tions in the hands of one ruler, such was not the case with the military. Augustus modified the old system, with the view of establishing his own un- divided authority over all who carried arms. From the year 3 I , when he had been declared generalissimo, under the title of Imperator, and invested with Pro- consular power over the provinces, he had only shared the administration with the Senate. He now succeeded in choosing his own troops, but took care that this X 322 ANCIENT HISTORY favour should not be prejudicial to himself; he con- fided to the Senate all those provinces which had been long submissive and tranquil, and forbade the governors to retain soldiers within their boundaries. As for himself, conformably to his former conduct as Triumvir, he took upon his shoulders the most laborious but most useful task ; he reserved to himself all the most recently conquered provinces, all those which required military protection ; in these only the troops were permanently stationed. Twenty-five legions, stationed on the frontiers, formed a great army, at the disposition of the Emperor. Augustus, who had more than once experienced in the civil wars the insolence and insubordination of the soldiers, hastened to isolate the different corps, hoping thus to check the old spirit of revolt. Under the name of Pretorian Cohort and Urbanus Cohort, some troops remained in Rome as an Imperial body-guard and for the protection of the town. These favoured troops, who had double pay, must indeed have exercised a fatal influence ; more than all the others they depended immediately upon the prince, who was thus invested with full military power. Augustus did not abuse his supreme authority. His government was full of moderation and gentle- ness. He flattered in every possible way the vanity of those Romans he had made his subjects, and took a thousand precautions of never wounding the sus- ceptibility of the Senate and people. He avoided all ostentation, all pride ; it pleased him to traverse the town on foot, visiting the different citizens ; at the same time he maintained in Rome a strict body of police, and caused calm to reign throughout the empire. Is it astonishing that the world, so long REIGN OF AUGUSTUS 323 disturbed by horrible shocks, should so easily accept a government which at last procured it prosperity and peace ? A crowd of monuments were raised in Romulus' town, and Augustus could truly say, " 1 found Rome built of brick, and I have left it marble." An enlightened protection accorded to arts and litera- turS by the Emperor himself, and, above all, by his favourite Maecenas, developed talent, and produced chefs-d'oeuvre. Horace and Virgil shared the royal favour, and their songs celebrated the father of the Roman world, while altars were raised to him by public gratitude. Still there yet remained a few men enamoured of past liberty, jealous of the new power, and their hatred sometimes menaced the life of the monarch. After condemning several conspirators to death, he pardoned, on the advice of Lima, his wife, the young Cinna, who had attempted to assassinate him, and he further loaded him with benefits. This generosity disarmed the vengeance of his enemies, and put an end to the conspiracies. But nothing saved him from having severe domestic troubles. The mis- conduct of his daughter Julia embittered his age ; the death of his two grandsons, that of Marcellus, son of his sister Octavia, whose youth promised the most brilliant qualities, that of Agrippa, the companion of his victories, whom he had adopted, were so many blows to his paternal affection, as also to his hopes for the future. He had lost all his direct heirs ; there only remained Tiberius, his son-in-law, whom he loved not, and whom he had more than once harshly treated. However, he was obliged to adopt him (4 years A.D.), and destine him to the empire, on condition that Tiberius would himself adopt Ger- manicus, his nephew. 324 ANCIENT HISTORY 1 8 1. WARS. Augustus had for fixed rule that no conquest should ever be made beyond the dimensions of the empire. All his energies were employed in affirming and de- fending, never in attacking, never in invading. He generally found this plan successful. The Parthians, alarmed at the approach of the legions, sent back the eagles taken from Crassus ; the King of Armenia ac- knowledged himself a protege* of the Romans (24 B.C.) In the West, Spain, which had never been completely subdued, was at last (about the year 1 8 B.C.) definitely reduced to obedience. It was now close upon two hundred years that this indomitable people had strug- gled with Rome. The barbarians- who disturbed the Northern provinces were repressed by the establish- ment of fortified camps on the banks of the Danube ; but the most serious resistance was near the Rhine, in those savage countries inhabited by the tribes which had frightened Caesar's legions. It required the con- stant presence of armies at their frontiers to repress their independent and warlike nature. Augustus be- lieved he could better subdue them by instructing them in the arts of civilisation. He sent them Roman legates, who endeavoured to introduce among them the forms of jurisprudence. This constraint of a new character profoundly wounded the proud and indocile disposition of the ill-subdued Germans. Her- mann (Arminius), a young chieftain, recalled to their mind all their old traditions, their revered customs, and the remembrance of the patriotism of their ances- tors. At his words all Germany trembled with indig- nation, and prepared a terrible vengeance against their REIGN OP AUGUSTUS 325 oppressors. The Roman army was surprised in a wild defile, and surrounded by a multitude of armed Ger- mans. Pushed back into impassable marshes, 1 it was destroyed after three days of useless resistance. Varus, the general, killed himself (9 A.D.) The news of this disaster plunged Augustus into violent despair. " Varus, Varus, give me back my legions ! " he ex- claimed during his sleepless nights. In vain did he send fresh troops under the leadership of Germanicus and Tiberius ; they feared to penetrate into the German forests, and Augustus died without revenging his legions ( 1 4 of the Christian era). The reign of Augustus astonishes after the Trium- virate of Octavius. One word explains the contrast between the two men. " It was not the man that changed," said a Roman philosopher ; " it was his interest." He had shed blood for the annihilation of a hostile party; he had been unpitying to his opponents, and a tyrant in accustoming the Romans to bear his yoke. Systematically cruel, like Sulla, it cost him no greater effort to be gentle and humane. Whenever he found it necessary to his interest to be beloved, he could conciliate all hearts by his inex- haustible benevolence. Although he had signed long lists of proscriptions, he was often seen to hesitate before condemning the guilty. The admiration and love of the Romans accompanied him beyond the tomb. Posterity has remembered his last words : " My friends, have I not played my role well ? Applaud" Li via, the second wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius, had kept secret the death of the prince, so as to gain time in order to insure the succession to 1 In the hills and forests of the Tcutobnrger Wold, near the source of the Weser (in Germany). 326 ANCIENT HISTORY her son by taking all necessary measures. The people learnt on the same day that Augustus was dead, and that Tiberius was chief of the State. Augustus, adored during life throughout the country, was, after death, placed in the rank of the gods by the Senate, and afterwards the apotheosis became one of the imperial rights. It was in the second part of Augustus' reign, and seven hundred and forty-eight years after the founda- tion of Eome, that Jesus Christ was born in Bethle- hem, a town of Judah, to consummate by His death, in the reign of Tiberius, the mystery of the redemp- tion of mankind. CHAPTER II INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE FROM TIBERIUS TO CONSTANTINE 182. REVOLUTION IN THE EMPIRE. FKOM the time that all the powers of the State had been placed in the hands of one individual, the might and prosperity of the empire depended solely on the talents and leadership of the supreme head. If wise and virtuous princes had consecutively succeeded to power, if they had known, like Augustus, how to maintain financial economy, avoid foreign war and maintain it with vigour when it was indispensable, the Roman empire, solidly affirmed on the throne of the world, could have subsisted for many long cen- turies in brilliancy and grandeur. But it happened that, for the greatest part, Augustus' successors were incompetent and perverse princes, whose incapacities and vices proved baleful to the empire ; one compro- mised the power, the others exhausted the revenues. After all, this sad series of barbarous and wicked monarchs is not an extraordinary phenomenon. It would be unjust to suppose that their actions arose from a blind rage, which delighted in shedding blood merely for the sake of shedding it. They were urged to these frightful extremes by what they deemed an imperious necessity, by a continual want of money, which they found impossible to satisfy by legal 328 ANCIENT HISTORY means. Of all their ancient privileges, the people had preserved the one immunity from taxes. The emperors were obliged to nourish and amuse their subjects gratuitously ; the soldiers cost them even more than the people, because of the expensive enter- tainments they expected at the accession of each new prince, and on various other occasions. There were soon no fewer than six million inhabitants who escaped all taxation, and who were themselves the most onerous subjects. " Now the emperors, as we have seen by the example of Augustus, were placed in a position which made it impossible for them to fill the treasury by imposing new taxes ; only by extreme parsimony could they save their virtue and preserve the fortune of the State. If the princes allowed themselves the indulgence of one caprice, they left an empty trea- sury, which could be replenished only by injustice and cruelty. Condemnations, murders, confiscations were their only resource. Caligula each month re- viewed the list of accused persons to choose from amongst them those whom he wished condemned to death so as to procure their wealth. This he called settling his accounts. It is an odious phrase, but it shows the spirit of the times and the true situation of things. " This shocking constitution placed the Roman emperors in a violent state. If they were not the most perfect of men, they were liable to become monsters. There was only one path opened to them, like those rivulets which overflow most easily because they run in too narrow a bed " (Bureau Delamalle). The government was not hereditary. Thus, like each one of the constitutions whose unity composed their INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE 329 chief power, it was essentially elective ; but by the ascendency naturally enjoyed by the author of all great political revolutions, it was for long maintained in the family of Augustus. In process of time several imperial families succeeded in raising some of their members to the chief power ; but the elective principle continued to exist, and had to be rigorously upheld by those who had strength to sustain it. The soldiers, kept by the first princes from participating in the management of political affairs, soon seized the right of election from the Senate, who dared not dispute with them. At first it was the cohorts of the city, placed in the seat of government, who exer- cised power to the exclusion of all others. Then the more distant legions protested against the supremacy of the cohorts of the city ; they proclaimed also their chiefs, and from this arose those disastrous civil wars which stained the Eoman world with blood at nearly each election. In the midst of these perpetual revolutions, three principal periods may be distinguished ; the govern- ment of a leader to the fall of the Antonins (192), mili- tary despotism until the accession of Diocletian (284), by whom the monarchy was regularly established, and from which time the emperors reigned and governed (284-395). In the first period, the power of governing was generally transmitted by hereditary right or by adop- tion. The Senate continued, at least under the good princes, to exercise some influence, and Pliny, in his panegyric of Trajan, still calls that emperor the First Magistrate of the Republic. But already the Praetorian cohorts, already the legions, had tried to dispose of the government ; and if the right of election still escapes 33 ANCIENT HISTORY them, the moment will be seen when they will hold undivided possession. 183. TIBERIUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS. Four princes of the family of Augustus reigned after the death of their head. Tiberius (1437) adopted by his predecessor, was, like him, a wise and politic administrator, and like him he nattered the Senate and people ; nevertheless, it was this emperor who struck the last blow to the ancient constitution in abolishing the Comitia. He hid beneath a dissembling exterior of moderation a heinous character, vindictive and cruel ; he caused poison to be administered to the valiant Germanicus, of whom he was jealous (18); he reintroduced the accusations of ( tee-majesty, source of the most arbitrary condemnations ; he favoured dela- tions, which, in feasts, rejoicings, or the most innocent acts, could find something which might be considered as an insult against the person of the sovereign. His minister Sejanus was a worthy instrument of the monarch's cruelty and tyranny. Tiberius indulged in obscene debauches, and during his retreat to the Isle of Caprea, where he had gone to conceal his decrepi- tude caused by his horrible diseases, he practised the most atrocious revenge. It was from there that he sent the sentence of death to Sejanus, who had ac- quired an almost sovereign authority, and who aspired to overthrow his master ; it was that place also to which many victims were frequently led, that the emperor might enjoy the spectacle of their sufferings. He died saying that he left to the people a serpent to devour them ; to the Roman world a Phaeton to burn it up, in the person of Caligula, the only one of Germa- INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE 33! nicus' children whom he had spared. The world now obeyed a furious madman (Caligula), who appointed his horse as pontiff, and wished that the Roman people had but one head, so that he could fell it at one stroke (37-41). On the death of Caligula the Praetorians deprived the Senate of the right of conferring the supreme power ; they named Claudius, who manifested laudable intentions, but whose feebelness was un- worthily worked upon by his wife, the odious Messa- lina, and by a multitude of freedmen, who ruined and desolated the empire by rapine and cruelty. Claudius had not even the energy to transmit the government to his son Britannicus, for, after the death of Messalina, he married Agrippina. This artful princess persuaded him to adopt her son Nero, issue of her first marriage, and, on the death of Claudius, she succeeded, with the Praetorians' aid, of insuring to him the government to the detriment of Britannicus (54). Nero (5468), whose name became opprobrious, seemed for a short time, while he remained under the wise tutorship of the philosopher Seneca and the Pras- tor Burrhus, to be an ideal prince. His prodigality, exhausting his resources, was perhaps the principal cause of the terrible change which came over him. All at once the monster was revealed in all his fero- city his life became one tissue of debauchery and crime. Besides being a fratricide and parricide, he was the first persecutor of the Christians (No. 193), and enlivened one of his fe"tes by burning down the city of Home. Jealous of the comedians, he dragged the imperial dignity on to the boards of the theatre, and on being condemned to death by the Senate, he found only this ridiculous complaint, " What an artist the world is about to lose ! " (68). 332 ANCIENT HISTORY With him the family of Augustus became extinct. The Praetorians recognised G-albx, elected by the legions of Spain ; but the provincial troops, proud of their number and strength, soon began to neglect seeking the concurrence of the Praetorian cohort. This Imperial body-guard, which had assassinated Galba and pro- claimed Otho, beheld the latter give place to Bedriac ( 5 9), and essayed in vain to defend a new emperor, Vitellius ; who appeared only on the throne to render his gluttony celebrated, and to leave to posterity an atrocious souvenir of a sanguinary and oppressive government. After this vile tyrant, the Praetorians submitted to the domination of Vespasian, who was supported by the Eastern legions. The military anarchy lasted two years. 184. THE FLAVIA AND THE ANTONIA. The election of Vespasian was confirmed by the Senate, and the succession regularly established. By rigid economy, which amounted perhaps to avarice, Vespasian (6979) restored the dilapidated finances, re-established order by the unswerving firmness of his government, and prepared the reign of Titus (7981) Titus, who bore the appellation of the delight of mankind, and who wept, as a day lost, that in which he had performed no good deed. By a distressful contrast, Vespasian's other son, Domitian, assassin of his brother, was a monster worthy of the Caligulas and the Neros (8196). Through the accusations of leze-majesty, and the persecution of the Christians, the empire was stained with blood for a period of fifty years. The Roman world at last breathed freely under INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE 333 a succession of princes, illustrious alike for their talents and their virtues, and to whom it owed the longest and most astonishing prosperity. The aged Nerva (9 6-9 8) appeared on the scene to adopt Trajan, famous for his military exploits, a terror to barbarians, an able and economic administrator, simple in his manners, and whose renown would have been un- tarnished if he had not permitted new persecutions against the Christians (98117). The reign of Hadrian (117138), consecrated to an entire inspec- tion of the provinces, preceded the most happy period, the Golden Age of the empire. Antoninus (138161), whom public gratitude surnamed Second Numa, Father of his country, caused abundance, prosperity, and peace to reign with him. His last beneficent act was the adoption of Marcus Aurelius. Torn from the tranquil speculations of philosophy, Marcus Aurelius brought to the throne all the virtues of stoicism ; of greater regularity of conduct than his predecessor, he tried to imitate him in all, and consecrated his life to the alleviation of the woes which now began to assail the empire. In order to be enabled better to resist the attacks of the Barbarians who assailed his frontiers, he joined himself to a colleague, and thus the im- portant innovations of Diocletian were preluded (see hereinafter, No. 187 (161-180). But all the plagues of pestilence, famine, and war, which then desolated the world, could not equal the miseries of the reign of Commodus (180192), the unworthy son of Marcus Aurelius ; indeed, of the latter it may be said that he completely neglected the education of his suc- cessor. Commodus, as debauched as cruel, desired to become gladiator as Nero had wished to become comedian. The tyrant was in the end assassinated ; 334 ANCIENT HISTORY but he had closed for long the list of good princes, who, since Domitian, had succeeded to the throne. For a whole century after Commodus the army was all-powerful, and relegated to itself the election of sovereigns. After the two sons of Vespasian, four emperors had been peacefully raised to the throne by the method of adoption ; l but events which followed the death of Commodus proved that this mode of suc- cession, maintained for some time by custom, was not nevertheless a law of the State. 185. THE SEVERI. The right of electing the sovereign was again dis- puted between the Praetorians, the legions, and the Roman people. The legions, who were the strongest party, always carried the day : this was the period of military despotism. The Senate accorded the purple to an old man named Pertinax, who was soon after, however, assassinated by the Praetorians ; the latter then dared to put the empire up to auction, and it was bought by Didius Julianus, who was almost immedi- ately afterwards put to death (193). Three pretenders were then proclaimed by the legions : Niger in Syria, Albinus in Great Britain, and Septimus Severus in Illyria. Albinus, supported by the Senate, was van- quished by Severus, and the proscription of forty-one noble families punished the Senate for having inter- vened in State affairs. Severus laid such a solid foundation to his rule that the regal power was main- tained uninterruptedly in his family for twenty-four 1 Hadrian was the first to adopt this system ; the heir to the throne was called Caesar, and the emperor was named Augustus. Sometimes there were more Caesars than one, and sometimes even more than one Augustus. INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE 335 years. This prince, who rose by his military genius, caused the empire to be respected abroad, and van- quished the barbarous hordes who menaced the fron- tiers ; but at the same time he treated it as a conquered country. His maxim was Secure to yourself the army, without taking thought for the rest ; this explains all his policy (193-21 1). Severus left the throne to his two sons, Caracalla and Geta ; the latter was soon assassinated by his brother, who oppressed the empire by frightful tyranny, and dissipated with a foolish prodigality all the re- sources of the State (211-217). His successor, Macrinus, usurper of a day, was replaced on the throne by the young Elagdbal or Heliogdbalus(2i?>222\ of the family of Severus. The new emperor, priest of a Syrian idol, surpassed the most odious of his predecessors in debauchery, folly, and cruelty. The calamities of these three reigns caused the accession of Alexander Severus to be hailed with joy (222-235). This young prince, worthy of a happier time, subject to the beneficent influence of Christianity, of which he revered the Divine Author (No. 194), procured a moment of calm and prosperity to the empire ; but his reforms alarmed the army. A shepherd of Thrace assassinated him, to reign in his place with all the ferocity of a beast of prey. 1 8 6. ANARCHY IN THE ARMY. From that time, a period of anarchy commenced, in which the Roman world was delivered to the mercy of the army (235). A great number of princes succeeded each other, all despots, because they were raised to the sovereign dignity by force, but all dependent 33 6 ANCIENT HISTORY on the soldiers to whom they owed the purple. The meanest of the legionaries, foreigners from all parts, might now pretend to the first offices in the State. The accession of Maximin, that of Philippe the Arab (244), and after the death of Decius the Persecutor (249) (see hereinafter, No. 194), the reign of Emilian and of Valerian (253260), all soldiers of fortune, gave so many proofs of this ; it was an epoch of continual civil wars, of frightful disorders. During the reign of Gfalliemis, whose effeminacy degraded the Imperial dignity, there were no fewer than thirty pretenders to the dominion, and amongst them were several women, renowned for their talents and their courage. Some of the sovereigns defended the frontiers against the Barbarians ; the greater part quarrelled amongst themselves, and alternately over- threw each other. The most celebrated were Odenatus, King of Palmyra, and his wife Zenobia. Odenatus, triumphant in the East, which he had protected from invasion, constrained Gallienus to asso- ciate him in the dominion of the empire. Claudius II. (268270) next saw his authority disputed in the pro- vinces by several rivals. On the accession of Aurelian, Zenobia, widow of Odenatus, was reigning in splen- dour (No. 1 90) ; but the emperor overturned the heroine's power, and proud of having at last estab- lished his rule over all the Roman world, he was first to wear a diadem. The hatred to royalty had insensibly disappeared. At times, in the midst of the universal disorder, the legions, tired of war and tumult, had remitted to the Senate the care of choosing an emperor ; thus Gallus and Tacitus owed to it their crowns. Probus (276) himself, a warrior prince, submitted his election INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE 337 to the Senate, and accorded to it the administration of all the provinces, reserving to himself only the military power. Carus(2S2) made it his task to re-elevate the dignity of the Consulate ; this was a return to order, which became re-established with the monarchy under Diocletian, successor of Carus' sons, Carin and Nu- merian (283, 284). 187. DIOCLETIAN. Diocletian (284) accomplished the first important revolution in the administration of the empire. Founder of the Imperial monarchy, he established in his palace a veritable court ; he introduced the luxury, manners, and customs of the East ; he, like Aurelian, wore the diadem, and surrounded his person by a court which was obliged to observe ceremonials hitherto unknown. Already, several times, had two emperors been simul- taneously clothed with the purple. Diocletian regu- lated and developed this innovation ; he associated Maximianus Herculius, and, conjointly with him, took the title of Augustus; then, believing this double power still insufficient for the proper defence of the empire, he chose from amongst his generals two im- perial lieutenants, who were ordained to succeed the two Augustuses, and who, designated by the name of Ccesar, had themselves to choose successors by adop- tion. The empire was divided into four great depart- ments, each one of which was provided with a chief minister, magistrates, and officers. So that the unity of the empire should not be broken, each Act of one of the ministers was published in the name of all. This organisation responded for a time to the views of Y 338 ANCIENT HISTORY its author. The Imperial majesty was ennobled, and the frontiers were valiantly protected. It was again Diocletian who gave the last decisive blow to the influence of the Senate, by punishing a great number of senators as guilty of conspiracy. He broke up the redoubtable body of Praetorians, who were replaced by legions from Illyria. Rome ceased to be the seat of Imperial power. Maximianus lived at Milan, Diocletian at Nicomedia. Constantius Chlorus and Galerius, the two Caesars, guarded the frontiers of the Rhine and the Danube. Already the definite division of the empire could be foreseen. These changes were not brought about without trouble. Several usurpers arose in the different provinces, and if the efforts of the four princes succeeded in triumph- ing against the revolts, still the abdication of Dio- cletian and Maximianus (305), who were forced by Galerius to lay down the purple, was the signal for fresh disorders. Diocletian, after a reign which would have been glorious had it not been soiled by sanguinary vengeance, and if he had not consented to the most frightful persecution of the Christians (No. 195), consoled himself for loss of regal power by cultivating his garden at Salona. He died peace- fully, but his work scarcely survived him. Constantius and Galerius, the two new Augustuses (emperors), had only had time to choose Severus and Maximianm Dam as Caesars before the Roman world was again enveloped in all the horrors of civil war, through the dissensions and hostilities of several pre- tenders to the dominion, amongst whom was the aged Maximianus himself, who protested against an enforced retreat. INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE 339 I 8 8. CONSTANTINE. The young Constantine, son of Constantius Chlorus, had already distinguished himself by famous military exploits. After escaping from a thousand dangers, in which Galerius wished to entrap him, on the death of his father he was proclaimed Augustus by the legions of Britain (306), but to avoid exciting the irascible suspicion of his colleague, he contented himself with the title of Caesar. At the same time, the people of Rome, indignant at the desertion of the greatest city in the world as a residence by the emperors, favoured the pretensions of Maximianus and of his son Maxen- tius. On the death of Severus, Galerius chose Lici- nius as Augustus, and Maximianus, whose jealousy was aroused, persuaded the army to confer the same dignity on himself. Diocletian's old colleague, on his side, sent the purple to his son Constantius Chlorus (308). There were now six Augustuses at one time. A like anarchy could not long prevail. Maximianus, turning traitor to Constantine, whom he had before served, was put to death by order of the monarch. Galerius, the most atrocious of the persecutors, was punished by a horrible death (31 i). Constantine had now to free the world from the other tyrants. Italy, crushed by the oppressions of Maxentius, called for a liberator. Constantine advanced strong in the protection of Heaven. It is said that a lumi- nous cross appeared in the sky, which he took as a presage of victory. The Ldbarum, now become his standard (No. 197), headed his triumphant soldiers in the three battles of Turin, Verona, and Pontus Milvius ; Maxentius, beaten at the very gates of Rome, 340 ANCIENT HISTORY was drowned in crossing the Tiber (512). Constan- tine entered the city, and, victorious through the cross, he hastened publicly to embrace the Christian religion. The edict of Milan (313) declared Christianity the re- ligion of the State. Constantino had now only one competitor, Licinius, who had just conquered Maxentius. To him, the king's sister named Constantia was married, and during eight years peace was maintained between the two contemporary Augustuses ; but, rivals in ambition, alienated in religion and interests, they could not long remain united. The battle of Adrianople 1 (323), fol- lowed by that of Chalcedon, 2 overthrew Licinius, who was soon afterwards put to death, because he sought to regain regal power. Constantino rested sole master of the empire. Rome once more beheld the title of capital of the world wrested from her. The emperor could not suffer in that city its old souvenirs of liberty, its phantom of a Senate, the insolence of its people, nor its obstinate attachment to paganism. He trans- ported the seat of the empire to Byzantium, which he enlarged, embellished, to which he gave his name, and Constantinople soon became equal in luxury and splen- dour to her rival. Thus was prepared the approach- ing separation of the two empires, the East and the West. Like Diocletian, Constantino made every effort to fortify the authority of the emperor ; so as to augment the brilliancy of supreme power, he surrounded it with several privileged classes, destined to replace the old nobility, become extinct during the wars. The Illus- 1 A town rebuilt by the Emperor Adrian, north-west of Byzantium. 2 A town in Asia Minor, opposite Byzantium. INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE 341 trissima were of the first aristocratic rank ; then the Honourdbles and the Respectables, &c., composed of all the personages who held high offices in the State. A multitude of dignitaries in the palace formed the em- peror's court. So as to diminish the dangers caused by the excessive influence of the soldiers, Constantino took care to confide the civil functions and military dignities to different ministers, and to cease the ancient custom of placing them in one hand. The empire was divided into four prefectures, subdivided into dioceses and provinces. The prefects and vice-prefects, charged with the administration, had merely a civil authority ; militiamen were charged with the government of the troops. In short, to prevent any future revolt of the army, Constantine diminished the number of the legions, called them, for the greater part, from distant frontiers, and placed them in garrisons in the towns. All the administrative system was changed. Unhappily, Constantine, too preoccupied in destroy- ing existing abuses, did not perceive that he created some still more mischievous. He had succeeded in annihilating all authority which would prove hurtful to that of the Sovereign, by keeping all the power in his own hands ; but in separating the civil and military functions, in complicating the general admini- stration, he had infinitely multiplied State offices, and augmented in a startling manner the government expenses. In vain did his financial system raise the revenues : the taxes became excessive, brought with the ruin of the ratepayers a general misery and depopulation. He had invented a remedy for the insubordination of the troops, by depriving the empire of its native protectors on the frontiers, its oldest and most natural defenders. The soldiers, enervated in 34 2 , ANCIENT HISTORY their new cantonments, which had replaced the fortified camps, became incapable of supporting the fatigues of war ; .it became necessary to lighten their armour, to disembarrass them of the baggage which the legionaries had known formerly how to carry when they set forth for the conquest of the world ; this involved a necessity to introduce amongst the degenerate troops a crowd of barbarians to serve as auxiliaries, and these soon raised themselves to the first rank by the superiority of their strength and valour. The Roman army ceased to be a national army the ancient patriotism of the legions had fled. Constantino did not see all the mischievous conse- quences of his policy. Satisfied with remedying the most apparent evils, re-establishing tranquillity in the empire, and causing his power to be respected by barbarous nations, he died in 337, after having divided his provinces amongst his sons and nephews. Whatever may be the reproaches alleged to the government of this prince, no one contests with Constantino the Great the immense glory of having substituted the Christian religion for paganism ; of having thus posed as the principal Roman regenerator of manners and laws, renewed the taste for literature and the arts, and re-established tranquillity in the empire. In truth, some political murders, and above all, the precipitate condemnation of a son falsely accused by his mother, are ineffaceable blots on a name which it would be a pleasure to admire un- reservedly ; but these faults are far from warranting the injustice of certain writers, who, in their hatred for the Christian religion, have wished to see only, in Constantine, a feeble, superstitious, and cruel sovereign. CHAPTEE III THE RISE AND THE REVERSES OF THE ROMAN ARMIES FROM AUGUSTUS TO CONSTANTINE 189. FOREIGN ENEMIES. THE Roman armies had been occupied in a great number of wars during the first three centuries of Imperial sway ; and still, under Constantine, the territory was yet limited to the boundaries fixed by Augustus. It had, now and then, extended itself beyond, but it soon returned to its former limits. In fact, the chief endeavour was to preserve what was already acquired, rather than to encroach upon others. The empire was surrounded by a multitude of savage nations, who for the greater part led a nomadic life in the deserts ; nations whom it was possible to vanquish, but who could scarcely ever be subdued. During three hundred years, the legions had often succeeded in repressing the incessant invasions of those bar- barians, envious of the empire's wealth ; but already a crowd of neighbouring tribes had settled themselves under the title of allies on Roman territory, gradually denaturalising the population, whilst still more power- ful nations descended from the North, congregating against the frontier like the waves of a torrent -against a dyke, breaking it open at last by their combined efforts, and inundating all the provinces with their innumerable armies. 343 344 ANCIENT HISTORY Let us examine successively the events by which this great disaster was established in the West, then in the East of the empire. 190. WARS IN THE WEST. On the death of Augustus, the blood of the legions of Varus (No. 1 8 1 ), cried vengeance in Germany. Germanicus, nephew of Tiberius, was commissioned to repair that disaster. After three laborious campaigns, and unheard-of fatigues, he penetrated into the depths of the forest, where he found the still unburied remains of the Romans, which he interred with funeral honours. In the sanguinary battle of Idistavisiis, he vanquished the whole German army. But Germany was not subdued ; the Roman general made a difficult retreat, incessantly harassed in the forests and marshes by the unexpected attacks of his indomitable enemies. He wished to enter Germany by the coasts, but a terrible tempest destroyed his fleet, and Tiberius (No. 183), recalled him before he had ended the war. The ruses of Imperial policy went further than the force of arms : Tiberius succeeded in exciting powerful rivalries against Hermann, and that Liberator of Germany, as he is called by Tacitus himself, fell by the assassin's dagger (2 i). The Germans, without a leader, remained some time in peace. Gaul, organised by Augustus on the model of Italy, had displayed, during sixty years, an unalterable fidelity to its conquerors. Its long patience was, however, at last tired out by the excessive burden of its tributes and the exactions of its governors. The repression of a double revolt did not prevent the Frisians 1 from 1 A people who lived south of the Zuider Zee. RISE AND REVERSES OF THE ROMAN ARMIES 345 refusing to pay the tax imposed upon them (28); their rulers dared not punish them. Some years after, during the turbulent times of the empire, the Batavian Civilis conceived the idea of restoring to his country its independence. He raised all the tribes living on the banks of the Ehine ; the legions who guarded the river joined him, either voluntarily or by force, and the Batavian had inscribed on his banners The Gaulish Empire. Another chief, Sabinus, took the Imperial purple ; but the accession of Vespa- sian (No. 184) disconcerted their projects. Sabinus, forced to hide himself in a subterraneous cave, where he remained nine years, was at last discovered and put to death, notwithstanding the admirable devoted- ness of his wife Eponines. Civilis made an intrepid defence, and the treaty which he concluded with the emperor declared the Batavians allies and not subjects of Rome (70). The people of Great Britain, that uncertain conquest of Cassar, had, like the Gauls, never been completely subdued, and the Roman legions were more than once occupied in fighting the barbarous troops. Caligula (No. 183), eager for military glory, made a ridiculous demonstration of war against them, and brought back with him a trophy of shells gathered by his soldiers on the seashore. Claudius appeared in Britain, with the sole result that he took the name of Britannicus (43). It became necessary to send over fresh legions while the Emperor triumphed in Rome. Vespasian and Titus displayed great military talent in the direction of this new war. Soon, the revolt of Queen JBoadicea, 1 which cost the life of eighty thousand Romans, and which 1 Queen of the Iceni, a British people located in the modern counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon. 34-6 ANCIENT HISTORY was appeased only by the death of the heroine, neces- sitated the most powerful efforts. After Suetonius Paulinus, who had combated Boadicea, Vespasian sent against the Britons Agricola, the best general in the empire ; this one at last subdued (79) all the tribes as far as the frontiers of Caledonia, then, pene- trating into the savage mountainous defiles of that hitherto unknown region, he conquered Gralgacus, chief of the Caledonians or Picts, whose courage was vaunted by Tacitus, and explored all the coasts by sailing round the isle. He divided Britain into three pro- vinces, and, as a shelter from the invasions of the Picts, he established in the North a line of fortresses between the rivers of Glota 1 and Bodotria. 2 But he had to pay for his glory at the price of his life, through the jealousy of Domitian ; however, the great general had been able to consolidate his work. Later, Hadrian, on the western British frontier, 3 raised a rampart twenty-seven miles long. In the year 2 I o, Septimus Severus (No. 185), in an expedition against the Caledonians, built a new wall thirty miles north of that of Hadrian, on the ruins of the fortifications erected by Agricola : this was a barrier beyond which the Romans never passed. Already, on the banks of the Rhine and Danube, appeared those savage tribes who were destined to subsequently effect the overthrow of the empire. Trajan (No. 184) was the first who warred against the Dacii, a warlike people on the banks of the Danube, who in Domitian's time had attacked the Italian frontiers and imposed tribute on the Romans. 1 The Firth of Clyde. 2 The Firth of Forth. 3 Between the Tyne and the So] way Firth. This wall is now represented on English copper coins by the image of the wall or shield on which the figure of Britannia reclines. RISE AND REVERSES OF THE ROMAN ARMIES 347 He now forced them in their turn to plead for peace, and five years after (106) he punished a new revolt by the turning of Dacia into a Roman province. Trajan's column was erected in commemoration of this exploit. Hadrian, fearing a rupture with the Marcomani, 1 the Quadi, 2 and the Vandals, 3 introduced the fatal custom of paying these Barbarians certain subsidies, which, having the effect of augmenting their avarice, became of itself a perpetual cause of war. Those nations, vanquished but not submissive, soon formed a vast confederation, and in a first expedition they penetrated as far as Aquila. Marcus Aurelius and his colleague Verus, being unable with their enfeebled legions to repel those redoubtable enemies, were obliged to enrol slaves and gladiators, and to sell, even to the last ornaments, all the furniture of the Imperial palace in order to pay their troops. The Barbarians were with difficulty driven back beyond the Alps, and Marcus Aurelius was only too happy to grant them peace. A short time after, he again took up arms : the emperor now believed that he could this time pursue them into their own country ; but, de- ceived by a feigned retreat and drawn into a defile, he was on the eve of perishing with his whole army from starvation and misery, when a violent storm (No. 194) frightened the enemy and saved the Roman army (No. 174). After re-establishing peace, Marcus Aurelius began to introduce the Barbarians on Roman territory, employing them to guard the frontiers ; he did not foresee that those same Barbarians would one day fling down the frontier barriers when aiding their 1 A people of Germany. 2 A German tribe who lived in Austria, on the border of Germany. 3 A people of Northern Germany, on the shores of the Baltic. 348 ANCIENT HISTORY brethren to penetrate within the empire. Tranquillity was with difficulty maintained during the succeeding years. Fresh nations incessantly appeared, incited by the Goths, who came down from the North. Commodus, like all the weak Roman princes, paid with subsidies a peace of short duration. Redoubtable confederations were formed, those of the Germans (213) affrighted Caracalla, who exhausted the empire's resources to buy a pretended submission. The Goths commenced to disturb the frontiers of Dacia ; under Gallian, they made an invasion of Greece. Aurelian, after driving them back beyond the Danube, had still to overcome, in three battles, the Germans who had penetrated into Italy. The League of the Franks, those future conquerors of Gaul, and ancestors of the French nation, was constituted about the year 240. Sixteen years after, they traversed Gaul on their way to pillage Spain and Africa. In 297, the valour of Probus, and the establishment of several garrisons and agricultural colonies, could scarcely arrest their invasions and ravages in Gaul. Constantius Chlorus successfully fought them, during several years, and in 310, Constantine's decisive victory rendered them for some time powerless. 191. WARS IN THE EAST. The most celebrated and most obstinate war in the East at that period was the war of Juda3a, of which the principal circumstances have been already related (see Nos. 49, 50). Continual entanglements with the Parthians occupied the Roman emperors. At peace with Augustus (No. 181) these Barbarians invaded Armenia in the reign of Tiberius. This sovereign, RISE AND REVERSES OF THE ROMAN ARMIES 349 who tried to revenge himself by exciting troubles and divisions amongst them, was baffled in all his intrigues, and before dying he received an insulting letter from their king. The emperors thenceforth placed their policy in suscitating pretenders to the Parthian crown, so as to enfeeble by internal dissensions the power which they could not destroy. Through the exploits of the able and valiant Corbulo, the throne of Parthia was at last placed at the disposal of Nero. Trajan took Armenia, forced the passage of the Tigris, and appeared as conqueror under the walls of Arbela, where Alexander had conquered Darius. To subdued Mesopotamia, he added some provinces beyond the Tigris, and advanced as far as the Indian Ocean. " Oh that I had my full strength," cried he, " to under- take the work of an Alexander ! " He contented him- self with giving a king to the Parthians (117), and in subduing, on his return, Arabia Felix. These conquests of Trajan were the last provinces added to the empire ; they did not long remain to it. Hadrian, Trajan's successor, hastened, with the view of avoiding interminable wars, to abandon the newly-subdued countries, and the empire was restricted to its old limits. Peace was maintained for some time on the frontiers through the mutual feebleness of the Romans and Parthians. Septimus Sever us took up arms to punish those perpetual enemies for having supported his rival Niger. He excited against them Odenatus, a power- ful chieftain of the Arabian tribes of Palmyra 1 (No. 1 8 6), with whom he made an alliance. That general, 1 The ancient Tadmor, called by the Greeks Palmyra, situated in Syria, on an oasis in the desert. It is now a mean hamlet in the midst of splendid ruins. 35 ANCIENT HISTORY some years after, gloriously revenged the defeats of Caracalla, while the Parthian empire, for long under- mined by deep divisions, crumbled away to give place to a domination still more redoubtable. Artaxerxes, son of the shepherd Sassan, founded the Persian dynasty of the Sassanids on the ruins of the throne of the last of the Arsacidre (226). He took the title of Great King, and was ambitious to ex- tend his empire to equal the ancient one of Cyrus. The success of Severus momentarily arrested his de- signs, but his losses were soon compensated by the disasters of Valerian, who, vanquished by Sapor, was led into captivity, and condemned to serve as foot- step to the conqueror when he mounted his horse. Sapor invaded the Syrian region, and Odenatus him- self submitted to his supremacy ; but irritated with the disdain shown him by the Great King, he pursued him in his turn, defeated him in battle in Mesopo- tamia (260), and, as a reward for his military services, he invested himself and his wife Zenobia with the ensigns of the imperial dignity. Odenatus sustained valiantly, for several years, the honour of his title of Augustus, of which Gallian left him the undisputed possession. After him Zenobia reigned gloriously over the East ; but she essayed to augment her estates at the expense of the Roman provinces. After having spread terror by force of arms over all the frontiers, Aurelian could not suffer a rival power in the heart of the empire. Two great battles and the capture of Palmyra overthrew the throne of Zenobia (273). On his return to Rome Aurelian was enabled to display before the eyes of the people the unusual pomp of a triumph in celebration of his victories over the Goths, Germans, Syrians, Arabs, and Egyptians. Probus RISE AND REVERSES OF THE ROMAN ARMIES 3 5 I vigorously continued the prosecution of the task which had been undertaken by Aurelian, and the finishing stroke was put by Diocletian, who reduced the King of Persia to sign a humiliating treaty, by which the Roman Empire regained all the provinces aforetime conquered by Trajan, as far as the Tigris. This glorious peace was celebrated by a magnificent triumph ; and during thirty years the expeditions of the legions were limited to a few unimportant ones on the Rhine and the Danube. Under Constantine, the empire had not yet lost any territory whatsoever ; a few provinces had even been added in the East. The splendour of a long and brilliant reign might well dissimulate the causes of decadence ; but foreseeing the abandonment of the frontiers, deprived of their protecting legions ; foresee- ing the introduction of Barbarians into every part of the empire, or the chafing of their "savage brethren at the barriers which separated them from Roman pos- sessions ; foreseeing the still more terrible agitation of those redoubtable hordes who urged on the hostility of the tribes bordering on Rome, and who directed their own course and their ravages towards the rich countries of the South, it would have been easy to pre- dict the speedy overthrow of that colossus, which yet subsisted in all its extent rather by the terror which its old renown inspired and by its imposing grandeur, than by its vigour and its real might. CHAPTER IV HISTORY OP THE CHURCH FROM ITS FOUNDATION TO THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY UNDER CONSTANTINE 192. THE CHURCH FOUNDED. IN the midst of that old empire on the verge of ruin, of that corrupted and decrepit community rapidly fall- ing into dissolution, arose a young and strong society, whose mission was the regeneration of the world, and whose destiny it was to be eternal : this was the Christian society. The universe had more need than ever of a general revival. The darkness of idolatry, spread over the whole earth, had ended by obscuring all reason and all truth. Philosophy, lost in the intricacies of its own vain systems, taught a few precepts which its followers themselves left unpractised. The Grecian schools had become the schools of sophists. A fright- ful corruption had invaded all classes of society. The mysteries of the Pagan religion were celebrated by scenes of debauchery ; the public festivals, even, pre- sented hideous spectacles of depravity; all sorts of infamies were covered under the veil of religion ; philo- sophy dared not proscribe those vices to which altars had been raised; it even ceded to the strength of the torrent. Those who were styled virtuous were only the least perverse. Souls became enervated and 352 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 353 degraded under these disastrous influences, and all sentiments of humanity seemed to have disappeared. The atrocious combats of the arena, where men slew each other before the multitude, or perished p6le-m6le with savage animals, were alone able to attract the regards of a debased people. A whole community of men, reduced to the condition of beasts of burden, groaned under a cruel despotism. But the world felt ill at ease in the midst of its profound misery. Already the Divine promises, the sacred dogmas pre- served by the Jews, had become generally spread. While Judaea, on the faith of the prophets, waited for a restorer, the Pagan nations, agitated by a vague inquietude, also raised their eyes to catch the gleam of a new aurora. Behold the coming of the Desired of the nations. There was a sudden and profound silence in the universe. Peace, so long unknown, reigned, according as Isaias had predicted, from one end of the world to the other ; Augustus had closed the temple of Janus ; the empire had reached the pinnacle of power and glory. In Judsea, the sceptre had departed from the House of Juda : this was in the middle of the sixty- fourth week denoted by the prophet Daniel. Then before the eyes of the shepherds of Bethlehem an angel descended from heaven, to the Oriental kings a star appeared, announcing to them the Messias, Son of God. In a poor stable the divine Child was born ; the shepherds fell down and adored Him ; the Magi, first fruits of Gentilism, brought their presents to the Man- God, myrrh to humanity, gold to royalty, and incense to divinity. This is not the place to recount the life of the Saviour, His thirty years of obscure existence, His three Z 354 ANCIENT HISTORY years of preaching, of miraculous acts, of well-doing ; His passion, His death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection. Let us recall only the fact that, having lived thirty-three years with the children of men, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, leaving to His apostles the mission of teaching and baptizing all nations (see No. 48). Twelve poor Galileeans, rude and ignorant, drawn from their nets to become fishers of men, so timid and feeble that they abandoned their Divine Master on the first trial, that one of them denied Him three times, are chosen to change the face of the world. They set forth to preach a doctrine, the moral of which attacks all passions, contradicts all received prejudices, and the dogmas of which shock human reasoning by opposing to it the folly of the Cross ; a doctrine against which emperors fought with the sword, philosophers and pontiffs with sophisms, and which the rich and great of the earth repelled in the name of voluptuous- ness and pride. But " God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty . . . and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are." At the end of three centuries, the blood of the martyrs, become seed for Christians, was destined to have peopled the earth ; at the end of three centuries, imperial majesty was to bow its head, and the Cross of Calvary be raised on the temples and on the Capitol, higher and more triumphant than the Roman eagle. The Holy Spirit, descending on the apostles, made new men of them. Suddenly animated by an all- divine strength, they boldly appeared in the midst of Jerusalem. Saint Peter, prince of apostles, converted eight thousand Jews by preaching twice. Scarcely is HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 355 the Church founded than she becomes exposed to all the persecutions predicted by the Saviour. Saint Peter and Saint John are beaten with rods ; Saint Stephen stoned, becomes the first martyr ; his death bears the fruits of life ; he has prayed for his executioners, and one of them, Saul, an ardent persecutor, is thrown to the earth by Divine power, and becomes, under the name of Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles. The twelve, 1 in a great council held at Jerusalem, drew up the symbol of faith which they were about to carry over the whole universe. But there was already a society of Christians which they left be- hind in Judsea, the virtues of which offered the most touching and admirable spectacle. " They were per- severing in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul ; many wonders and signs were done by the apostles in Jeru- salem, and there was great fear in all. And all that believed were together, and had all things common. Their possessions and goods they sold, and divided them to all as every one had need. And continuing daily with one accord in the Temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they took their meat with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord increased daily together such as should be saved " (Saint Luke, Acts of the Apostles) chap. ii. 42-47. Meanwhile the apostles were being dispersed throughout the whole earth. Saint Peter had founded the Church of Antioch, 2 and then established himself 1 It will be remembered that Judas Iscariot had been replaced by Saint Matthias. 2 The small village of Antakia, on the Orontes, in Syria, is built in the midst of the ruins of the once splendid city of Antioch. 356 ANCIENT HISTORY and his doctrine at Rome, the centre of Paganism. Saint Paul, after having converted Asia Minor, and evangelised Corinth and Athens, went and rejoined, in the capital of the world, the visible Head of the Church. The pagans became alarmed ; already several apostles had perished, victimised by the jealousy of the synagogue ; the persecution of Christians was be- coming universal. 193. PERSECUTIONS. During the three first centuries of the Christian era, numerous edicts were issued against the Christians, and they were never revoked ; the persecution was almost unremittingly continued for that long space of time ; but some monarchs proclaimed more rigorous edicts than others, and pursued the faithful with greater bitterness ; that is why ten persecutions are enume- rated, including that of Diocletian. The first was ordered by Nero. This tyrant, who was accused of the incendiarism of Rome (No. 183), imputed his crime to the Christians, and the new religion was proscribed (64). Fresh torments were invented to punish such an offence as that of which they were pronounced guilty. Repeatedly told that they were odious to mankind, the Christians were clothed in the skins of beasts and thrown to dogs ; or, steeped in resin, they served as torches to illuminate Nero's gardens. Saint Peter was crucified on the Janiculum, 1 Saint Paul was beheaded. Dissensions in the empire, and afterwards the peaceful reigns of Vespasian and Titus, afforded a respite to the Christians. But under Domitian the 1 One of the hills of Rome on the north-west bank of the river. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 357 persecution recommenced (95)- This sovereign be- held with fear the Christian religion penetrating even into his palace. He spared none. Clement, his first cousin, was put to death, and his wife sent into exile. A consul named Grlabrion had to submit to the same fate as Clement ; and Saint John the Evangelist, after having been plunged in boiling oil (from which he received no injury), was banished to the Isle of Patmos, 1 where he wrote the Apocalypse. An edict issued against the secret societies formed the pretext for a fresh persecution under Trajan (106). The services held by the Christians were likened by the pagans to those hideous orgies held in celebration of some of the heathen deities. Virtue was so unknown in the world, that they could not conceive that it should exist with the Christians, who were now made subjects of the most absurd accusa- tions. The Church was proscribed, as renewing the ancient bacchanals. The Bishop of Jerusalem, 2 and Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, were put to death. Ignatius, after being interrogated by Trajan himself, was sent to Eome to be thrown to the beasts in the amphitheatre, and to serve as an amusement to that populace who asked for nothing better than festivals and plays. However, on the representation of a pagan governor, Trajan, startled at the number of victims felled by his cruel law, ordained that the Christians should not be sought for, but that only those who should make themselves known should be punished with death. 1 A small rocky isle in the ^Egean Sea (Greek Archipelago). Some historians state that, after the death of Domitian, Saint John returned to Ephesus. 2 Saint Simon, of the race of David. It is stated that after being subjected to cruel torments he was crucified by order of Trajan. 358 ANCIENT HISTORY 194. THE APOLOGIES CONTINUATION OF THE PERSECUTIONS. The Jews had allied themselves with the idolaters. It was they who, for the greater part of the time, displayed the greatest animosity towards the followers of Jesus Christ ; it was they who excited continual seditions against the most faithful subjects of the emperors. The people, accustomed to believe the prosperity of the empire to be associated with the worship of their gods, attributed to the Christians all the public calamities. If a new war, a plague or famine, afflicted the empire if the harvest had been destroyed by excessive rains if the Tiber overflowed, or the Nile did not overflow sufficiently, all the people cried furiously, " The Christians to the lions ! " Philosophers were troubled at the discredit into which the growing influence of Christianity threat- ened to throw their doctrines ; their cause became identical with that of idolatry. They at first de- fended it with sophisms, but soon called the execu- tioners to their aid. The stoic Marcus Aurelius having been raised to the imperial dignity (No. 184), took part in the struggle, and supported his philoso- phical arguments by the authority of his edicts. The fourth persecution commenced ( 1 66) ; it was carried out with the same cruelty, and supported with the same courage as the preceding ones. However, the Christians, confident in the truth of their faith, tried to enlighten the ignorance which caused the blind rage of their persecutors. Saint Justinian, in his eloquent Apology, proved, by cir- cumstantial evidence, the purity of the Christian HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 359 doctrine, and the sanctity of its morality ; he over- threw the accusations of rebellion by the precepts of the Gospel, which enjoin submission to the powers that be ; he refuted the calumnies uttered against the Christians by the simple account of their pious cere- monies. " If this doctrine appears to you reasonable," cried he in his peroration, " accord it the esteem which it deserves. At least, order an exact research of the crimes imputed to us, and, if we do no evil, condemn us not for the sole fact that we are Chris- tians." This noble defence of the faith drew from Antoninus a few favourable decrees ; but the influence of the philosophers, of Celsus, and of Cressens (the latter a personal enemy of Justinian), destroyed the effect which it might have produced on Marcus Aurelius. The edicts were re-issued, and Justinian paid for his courage with his life. One of the most illustrious victims of this persecution was Saint Poly- carpus, Bishop of Smyrna. This venerable old man, dragged to Rome to be thrown into the amphitheatre, and arriving only when the games were over, was burnt by the populace. The miraculous event, by which the army of Marcus Aurelius was saved in the war against the Marcomans, an event attributed to the prayers of a legion (called the Thunderer), which was entirely Christian, could alone decide the Emperor to abate the persecution (see above, No. 190). It was, however, renewed with still greater violence in Gaul. The torments to which the Christians were condemned were horrible ; some few succumbed to the atrocity of their sufferings, and sacrificed to idols ; the greater part were immovable. The admirable patience of a young slave named Blandinus, who, in the midst of his torments, could only cry, / am 360 ANCIENT HISTORY Christian ! tired the executioners themselves, stupefied at the sight of so much courage. The imagination is startled at the thought of the torture to which the Christians were subjected. Their bodies, torn with red-hot pincers, ripped up with sharp hooks, half con- sumed by ardent flames or by molten lead, were thrown into dungeons to undergo without repose the torture of the rack, a machine which dislocated their members. They threw them into the amphitheatres, or placed them at the stake, only when all sorts of torments had been exhausted upon them. It was forbidden to plead for the victims. A Gaulish senator offered to argue their cause, but the advocate of the Christians was consigned to a dungeon. After the death of Marcus Aurelius the Church enjoyed a respite of a few years ; but the unpity- ing Septimus Severus, after proscribing his political opponents, thought fit to proscribe the enemies of his religion (No. 185). Instruments of torture reappeared in all the provinces (197), and illustrious martyrs shed their blood for the faith. Saint Irenceus, Bishop of Lyons (where nineteen thousand Christians were now massacred) was put to death. Victor, the Pope, suffered at Rome in like manner, also the holy women, Perpetua and Felicitas^ at Carthage. Crowds of the faithful were led to execution ; if any one ventured to accord them a word of compassion he was himself dragged to the stake as a suspect of Christianity. For all that nothing relaxed the ardour of the Christians ; they voluntarily presented themselves before the tri- bunals. New candidates replaced those who had disappeared in the struggle. At Alexandria, Origen? 1 Was put to death with her seven sons. 1 He was the founder of a famous college at Alexandria. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 361 aged seventeen years, was brave enough to undertake the functions of catechist after the flight of the Bishop. At last the heroic courage, the admirable unity, the all- divine charity of the Christians touched the persecu- tors themselves. " Behold how they love one another !" exclaimed the astonished pagans. Tertullian? that noble genius, who had been won to the faith on seeing the constancy of the Christians, presented to the Senate the most able and eloquent defence of Christianity. Persecution relaxed or changed method ; the Christians were permitted to buy their life with a tax, and several years after, in the reign of Alexander Severus, the severities entirely ceased. Already Christian influ- ence made itself felt in all classes of society ; the mother of Alexander, struck with the maxims of the gospel, had inspired a liking for them in her son. In his private oratory he adored Jesus Christ and Abra- ham, side by side with Apollonius of Tyana, 2 an im- postor of the first century. Light was still obscured, but the clouds were dispersing. But the ferocious brutality of Maximinus, assassin of Alexander, did not spare the proteges of his victim (235). This (the sixth) persecution, fell principally on the priests and bishops ; a depopulation of the pro- vinces was feared, if all the faithful were sacrificed ; however, the sacred edifices were pulled down or set on fire. By the death of Maximinus, the Church enjoyed several years of repose ; Philip favoured the Christians so much, that he was accused of having embraced their religion. This leaning towards them drew on them the vengeance of Decius, Philip's vanquisher and murderer. 1 A priest of Carthage. 2 A town in Cappadocia (in Asia Minor). ANCIENT HISTORY Believing the Christians to be partisans of his former rival, Decius persecuted them rigorously as opponents to both his religion and his political power (250) ; no persecution had heretofore rivalled this one (the seventh) in atrocity. The death of Fabianus, Pope of Rome, was the prelude to a crowd of executions, accompanied by unheard-of tortures. To several courage was lacking, and the feeble were taunted with the name of Fallen. Several fled to the desert, and gave, with Saint Paul the Hermit (a native of the The- baid), the first examples of monastic life. The greater part, however, braved the storm ; at the stake, in the amphitheatres, where their blood was drunk by fero- cious beasts, the words only resounded, lam Christian ! and the people infuriated, pressed on to the steps of the arena, at Rome, and at Carthage, repeating this sinister cry, The, Christians to the lions ! Africa aiid Gaul were the principal theatres of the eighth persecution, ordained by the Emperor Valerian (256). Saint Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, was be- headed ; Saint Denis (the first Bishop of Paris), and his companions (a priest and a deacon), the apostles of Gaul, sealed their divine work with their blood, and the Mont des Martyrs (Mount of Martyrs), abbreviated to Montmartre, near Lutece (la cite", Paris), was the scene of their execution. However, disastrous wars, and the captivity of the emperor, fallen into the power of the Persians (see above, No. 191), terrified Gallian, the monarch's son, who believed he recognised in these misfortunes a punishment of Heaven, and he forthwith ordered the restitution of the cemeteries and churches. A frightful plague, which ravaged Italy and the provinces, afforded the Christians an oppor- tunity of exercising their admirable charity towards HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 363 the pagans as towards brethren. The people, softened by their sublime devotedness, relaxed its hatred against the name of Christian ; but the growing influence of Platonists, and the writings of Porphyms, reanimated the fury of the defenders of Paganism. Aurelian recommenced the persecution (273), which was carried on almost uninterruptedly till the reign of Diocletian. The massacre of one of the bravest legions in the Roman army, the Thebaid legion, the whole of which (6000 men) laid down its arms to extend its neck to the executioners, was one of the most striking examples of the blind cruelty of the emperors. Wherever the faithful could be found, there also were martyrs. Great Britain, where the faith had scarcely penetrated, was sprinkled with the blood of several Christians. 195. THE ERA. OF MA.RTYRDOM END OF THE PERSECUTIONS. Yet one combat, and the Church was destined to enjoy its triumph in peace ; but this last combat had to be the most terrible and the most sanguinary : the era of martyrdom had now to commence. Galerius, 1 sur- rounded by sophists, those irreconcilable enemies of Christianity, swore the complete annihilation of the religion. Diocletian (No. 187), ceding to his impor- tunate solicitations, tormented, besides, by public rumour, which associated the destinies of the empire with those of the gods, permitted the proclamation of three edicts, one of which interdicted the public pro- fession of Christianity, the other prohibited believers from seeking employment in any trade or profession, 1 One of the Caesars (or heirs - apparent) under the Augustus (Emperor) Diocletian. 364 ANCIENT HISTORY and the third ordained the imprisonment of bishops. Galerius, however, was still dissatisfied : twice he set fire to the royal palace, and then accused the Chris- tians of the incendiarism. The emperor, infuriated, at last ordained a general persecution. All the provinces in the empire, all classes of citizens, furnished a mul- titude of martyrs ; a great number of court officials were condemned to death, and the sand of the Coli- seum was again reddened by Christian blood. The formalities of trial were found too tedious ; the faith- ful were massacred in bands. In Egypt the Nile daily swallowed up a crowd of victims ; in Phrygia a little town was committed to the flames with all its Christian inhabitants. Gaul alone, under the govern- ment of Constantius Chlorus, remained tranquil in the midst of the great tempest. But elsewhere so much blood was shed that the persecutors, proud of their frightful vengeance, dared to boast that they had destroyed the new religion and abolished the name of Christian. One moment of calm, on the death of Galerius, taught them the vanity of their triumph ; after several days the Christians, returning from exile or venturing forth from their caves, reappeared in all parts. The rage of the persecution relaxed ; the frightful death of Galerius, that most cruel of persecutors, had struck the pagans with terror. Maximinus, intimidated besides by the messages of Constantine, put the Christians to death in secret ; he contented himself with interdicting Christian assemblies, and with suscitating against the faithful, legions of sophists and a new band of pagan priests. But this means had been long worn out; the pro- scriptions of Maxentius in Italy had just placed the HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 365 Christians on a last trial ; the hour of victory was at hand (No. 188). 196. PEOGRESS OF THE PEKSECUTED CHURCH. In the midst of so many combats the hand of God had constantly sustained the growing Church ; during three centuries in which the blood of Christians had flowed in torrents, the Church had marvellpusly increased. Even when the first persecution was still in progress, the Churches of Antioch, Smyrna, Corinth, and Alexandria were already flourishing ; several towns in Gaul and Spain had received Christianity, which, extending its conquests from the Roman empire, penetrated into Persia, India, and Ethiopia. 1 The poor eagerly embraced a religion which helped to console them in their misery, by placing their hopes beyond this world. But this religion also triumphed, more than once, over the opposition of the great and the rich ; many renounced a life of selfishness and pride to become humble under the yoke of the faith ; members of the Areopagus, courtesans of Nero and Domitian, proconsuls, even consuls themselves, joined the despised crowd who adored Jesus crucified. A letter, addressed to Trajan by Pliny the younger, governor of Bithynia, in rendering homage to the innocence of the Christians, attests at the same time their incredible progress. " I have suspended," it says, "all affairs, because of the multitude of those who are implicated in the accusation : there is a great number of all ages, of every rank, of both sexes ; the contagion has not only infected the towns, but it has 1 Saint Peter carried the evangelical doctrine into Syria before he went to Rome. 366 ANCIENT HISTORY reached the villages and the country districts. The festivals of our gods are interrupted, their temples are deserted." Pliny wrote thus at the end of the first century (No. 193). The second century is the epoch of the conversion of the Gauls and a great many northern nations. In Gaul, Saint Trophimes and the disciples of the Apostle Saint Paul founded the bishoprics of Narbonne and Aries, and the latter town became the Christian metropolis of Southern Gaul. Missionaries sent over by Saint Polycarpus, Bishop of Smyrna, and led by Saint Irenceus, established the faith at Lyons and Vienna. Irenseus cemented with his blood the most illus- trious of the Gallic churches. At the same time a sovereign of Great Britain demanded missionaries from the Pope of Rome. In the East, Christianity continued to make rapid progress. Saint Thomas and Saint Bartholomew had carried the faith to the Indians, who dearly preserved the holy doctrines, and the Gospel of St. Matthew was found among them by Pantenus, the apostle of all Eastern Asia. The light of the truth commenced to penetrate the mind of scholars and philosophers ; several amongst them became firm defenders of the Christian faith ; we have named Saint Justin, Saint Clement, and Origen (No. 194), the glory of that Christian college at Alexandria, and born in that town in which pagan philosophy united all its energies to restore to its doctrines their ancient influence and honour. But the Christian schools were already more frequented than those of Zeno and Epicurus ; more than one disciple, throwing off dark errors, came to search for truth in the bosom of the Church, and the multiplied attacks of the pagan philosophers proved how re- HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 3 6 7 doubtable they considered the progress of the new faith. Notwithstanding the persevering efforts of perse- cutors, the third century had scarcely begun before the definite triumph of the Church could no longer be denied even by its enemies. Emperors hesitated to launch forth edicts of persecution against the Chris- tians on account of their great number. Several towns in the Empire had been gained over to the faith ; the northern portion of Africa was almost entirely evangelised ; already, in those countries, the glory continued of that Church which became so flourishing, so fertile in men of genius, at the time of the great Augustine. In the North and in the South barbarous nations were converted by captives living amongst them. Edifices consecrated to the worship of Christ arose in all the provinces. Amongst the bishops, the Pope of Eome distinguished himself by sending forth missionaries to all parts. Notwith- standing the attacks of Porphyrius, and the Neoplat- onic school ; notwithstanding the rage of Maximinus and Galerius, Christianity was propagated in the highest ranks of society ; a great number of officials at the imperial palace were Christians ; Prisca, wife of Diocletian, and Valeria, his daughter, adored Jesus Christ. The oracles were troubled at the report of such marvellous success, and Apollo of Miletus became as if dumb in the presence of the righteous men. At the same time, the raillery of a few enlightened spirits amongst the pagans turned the impostures of their pontiffs into ridicule. Idolatry, abased, was supported only by the interested zeal of its priests and the anxious disquietude of the emperors. As better to attack Christianity they were now forced 368 ANCIENT HISTORY to borrow the outward form of its morality, and the influence of its ceremonies : this was an avowal of their defeat. 197. TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCH. In the midst of the persecutions practised by his contemporaries, Constantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine (No. 187), did not hide his profound esteem for Christianity. When Diocletian published his general Edict against the Christians (303), Con- stantius publicly proclaimed the decree, his object being to try the fidelity of the Christian officers in his army, and, indignant at the cowardliness which caused some to deny their faith, he dismissed the timid from his service, retaining only those who had remained faithful ; for he thought that fidelity to their religion was the surest guarantee of fidelity to their earthly sovereign. While the blood of martyrs flowed in torrents throughout all the provinces, peace continued to reign in Gaul, and the number of churches rapidly increased. The submissiveness of the newly converted, and the spectacle of their virtue, had dis- posed Constantius' son to favour the Christian faith long before he decided to embrace it. Proving vic- torious in war by the assistance of Heaven, he adored the Christians' God, whom he had already learned to know (No. 1 8 8). He entered Rome preceded by the standard of the Cross, and caused a statue of himself, bearing in his hand a representation of the Labarum, to be erected in the Forum. His first care was to issue ordinances to his proconsuls, by which Chris- tians were accorded the right of the public exercise of their religion, and he recalled all the faithful from HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 369 exile. Helena his mother, and Fausta his wife, besides a great number of senators and other illustrious per- sonages, embraced Christianity. Finally, by the Edict of 'Milan, the Christian religion was declared the religion of the State (313). At the same time, the ecclesiastical goods and the places of assembly of which the faithful had been formerly dispossessed, were now restored to them. The privi- leges which it had been customary to bestow on the pagan priests were now transferred to the Christian clergy. The Pope of Rome was presented with the Lateran palace as a dwelling-place. Constantine, the first of throned monarchs who publicly professed Christianity, did not neglect those places which formed its cradle. The pious Helena, armed with imperial authority (326), went to over- throw the sacrilegious altars of Venus and Adonis, raised by Hadrian on Calvary and at Bethlehem, in derision of the Divine mysteries which had been there accomplished. A magnificent church was built on the spot to receive the Cross, which had been found through the efforts of the Empress Helena, and which was supposed to be that of our Saviour. The salutary influence of Christianity commenced to purify and soften manners. Baffled by the force of virtuous example paganism tardily retired, like a torrent of which the source is dried up. With it disappeared those infamous customs which had so long degraded human dignity : the suppression of gladiatorial combats was one of the first-fruits of the triumph of the faith ; slavery, too generally spread, too deeply rooted to cede so quickly, at least softened its rigours ; and emancipations, being encouraged, became very numerous. 2 A ANCIENT HISTORY The barbarous excesses of paternal power became rarer ; prisoners and the indigent learned to bless evangelical charity. While the beneficent influence of Christianity regenerated a perverted society, many souls found consolation and renewed energy under the inspiration of high truths, and of the sublime teachings of re- ligion ; the love of science and literature revived : the chef-d'oeuvre of the Christian era was now to be pre- sented to the world. Ip8. CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH. Then, in the midst of universal calm, appeared in all its grandeur the magnificent unity of the Catholic Church. In the first rank was the Pope, Bishop of Eome. The bishops, inheritors of apostolic powers, who form, essentially, the body of the teaching Church, are spread over all the earth to preserve and propagate the faith. Invested with all the dignity attached to the exercise of sacerdotal functions, they administer the sacraments, ordain priests, and, assembled in general or oecumenical councils, imploring the aid of the Holy Spirit, who has been promised to the Church to the end of time, they decide matters of dogma with a sovereign authority, and establish rules of discipline. From the assembled Tribunal of the Church there is no appeal. Other councils, however, unite to regulate questions of local discipline ; these are the national or provincial councils, presided over by the Metropolitan bishops or archbishops. The parish ministers and the simple priests form the third order of the ecclesiastical hier- archy ; subordinate to the bishop, they assist in the teaching of religion, in the celebration of the holy HISTORY OP THE CHURCH 371 mysteries, and in the administration of several sac- raments. The Church advances across the path of centuries, firm, immovable, in the midst of revolutions, of dis- orders in the universe. Emperors and kings fall from their thrones, human dignities lose their brilliancy, ranks become confounded, the order of society is troubled ; and, nevertheless, the great community of Christians rests as one family in the bosom of the Catholic Church. Amongst nations, to a fallen dynasty succeeds another dynasty ; Eoman power will crumble away to give place to the rule of Barbarians ; Rome herself will become the prey of usurpers and strangers ; and during all the tumult of human things, the Church, as the ark on the diluvian waves, rests secure, and sur- rounded by the respect and submission of the faithful. Surely, there is no spectacle more marvellous in this world than the indestructibility of the Divine work, in the midst of the ruin of human things, than that in- variable regularity in the midst of all the disorders of society and the overthrow of empires. CHAPTER V HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, FROM THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE TO THAT OF THEO- DOSIUS THE GREAT 199. CONSTANTINE'S SUCCESSORS CONST ANTIUS. BY his last will and testament, Constantine destroyed the unity of the empire in appointing to the succession his three sons, Constantine II., Constantius, and Constans, besides several nephews. The nobility, foreseeing the disastrous results of such a division, united to prevent the accomplishment of the emperor's last wishes. The army, which had been bought over by the great of the land, massacred the brothers and nephews of Constan- tine. With great difficulty a bishop saved Gallus and his brother Julian, who ultimately merited the name of Apostate. The three sons of the late emperor, disem- barrassed of their rivals by a crime which Constan- tius alone was suspected of having provoked, peaceably divided the empire. Constantine II. received the Western regions (Gaul, Spain, and Britain). Constans reigned in the centre (Italy, Western Illyria, and Africa). Constantius reigned in the East (Asia, Egypt, and Thrace), and kept Constantinople for his capital (357)j but no good feeling existed between the three brothers. Discontented with his share, Constantine II. entered Italy, attacked Constans, and perished in an ambuscade (340) ; the conqueror hastened to seize 372 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 373 the heritage of the unfortunate prince, while Constan- tius was detained in the East, where he sustained a laborious struggle with Sapor II., King of Persia. This prince triumphed eight times over the Eomans, whom he cut in pieces at the great battle of Singar (348). However, the courageous resistance of Nisibis, and above all, an invasion of Barbarians into Persia, for some time released the Eoman empire from its redoubt- able enemy, and permitted Constantius to turn his forces against the West, to which quarter he was recalled through the death of Constans, his brother (3 5 o). Inebriated with his first successes, Constantius treated all the provinces, which had formerly belonged to his brother, in the manner of an irritated vanquisher. The Gauls were aroused by his tyranny to a formidable revolt, and it was with Magnentius, in particular, the murderer of Constans, that the emperor had to dispute the heritage which had been stained with the blood of his two brothers. Magnentius, who had declared him- self Augustus (Emperor), after suffering several defeats died by his own hand, and his accomplices were put to death. Constantius had at last become sole master of the whole of the empire formerly ruled by Constantine the Great ; but having contended for this possession against so many rivals, he had now to defend the empire from the Barbarians, who attacked it on every side, while it suffered internally from religious dissen- sions (see History of Arianism, No. 204). His weak- ness was unable to compete with his difficult task. The world's sceptre was too heavy for his hand ; he decided to share his burden with two young princes, who had escaped from the massacre of his family. Gallus and Julian were successively proclaimed Csesar. 374 ANCIENT HISTORY But Gallus, become a relative of Constantius, ceded to the counsels of an ambitious woman; he sought to render himself independent in the government of the realm, and put to death some officers sent by the em- peror. Constantius hastened to send for Constantia, who soon perished through the emperor's commands that he should be slain (354). Julian was more and more fortunate. Though greatly weakened by civil dissensions, the empire arduously strove against the double invasion of the Persians in the East and the Germans in the West. Sapor haughtily demanded the provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia ; the Franks and Germans, whom Constantius himself had invited into Gaul against Magnentius, were now estab- lished in all the region watered by the Meuse, after having sacked a great number of flourishing towns. Constantius undertook the war in the East, where he encountered scarcely anything but defeat ; he sent Julian to the Western frontiers ; he did not fear for the ambition of that young man, who had been brought up until then in obscurity and retreat, and apparently better fitted to listen to the lessons of philosophers than to command armies. The foresight of Constantius was deceived at every point. The young beginner in a warlike career, pos- sessed all the talents of a great general ; the disciple of philosophers was the most able of the ambitious. Although encompassed with obstacles caused by the distrust of the emperor and the deplorable state of the Gaulic provinces, he began a long series of successes by a brilliant victory gained near Strasburg (387). Chased from Gaul, the Franks and Germans beheld Julian and his legions penetrate three times into their forests beyond the Ehine. The terror of the Roman HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 375 name was spread over all the neighbouring countries. The humiliated Barbarians sued for peace, and Gaul was free from invasion for several years. During the winter, in the interval between campaigns, Julian was actively employed in restoring the strong fortified places destroyed by the Barbarians ; he embellished Lutece (the city of Paris), his chosen residence ; he worked to relieve the provinces, ruined by excess of taxes and desolated by famine; he distributed corn bought from foreigners, severely repressed extortion, and by his judicious government was a means of caus- ing a hitherto unknown prosperity to prevail throughout that land. His conduct won for him the affection of both the army and people, while the noise of his fame spread throughout the empire. Less than this was re- quired to arouse the jealousy of Constantius. The emperor ordered Julian to send a great number of his troops to the East ; but the soldiers, devoted to their general, refused to leave him, and offered him the crown. Julian accepted it, in order to obey, said he, the dictates of Jupiter, who he declared had appeared to him in a dream. For some time back he had abandoned Christianity. Scarcely had he donned the purple (the soldiers placed his necklace on his head in form of the diadem), than he publicly declared his apostasy. On receiving news of all that had occurred, Constantius hastened to conclude peace with the Persians, and returned with all speed towards Italy ; but he died on the journey, and his fortunate rival, without any contention, became sole master of the empire (361). 3/6 ANCIENT HISTORY 200. JULIAN THE APOSTATE. Instructed in pagan philosophy, Julian the Apostate brought to the throne the customs and principles of the pagans. He is no doubt worthy of praise for having reduced the ostentatious prodigality of the regal court, from which he had dismissed an innumer- able number of cooks and other servants, whose ex- penses absorbed, unnecessarily, the revenues of the empire, and of having thus relieved a suffering people by diminishing by one-fifth their oppressive taxes ; but he committed, even from a political point of view, an enormous error in seeking to restore paganism, when Christianity was already irrevocably established in the empire. It was indeed sowing new seeds of discord ; it was shaking the base on which the whole of society leaned thereafter. The blind hatred of Julian did not calculate on these consequences ; however, he abstained from open persecution (see No. 205). Otherwise Julian displayed real talents for regal power ; he accorded some dignity to the Senate of Constanti- nople, by showing to it a constant deference, and applied himself to restore the consular authority. Now, as Augustus, he wished to defend the frontiers, as he had before defended them when he was Csesar ; but a different fortune awaited him. Since the death of Constantius, Sapor had carried his ravages into Syria. Julian repelled the King of Persia, and pur- sued him beyond the Euphrates ; but the Christian King of Armenia abandoned the Apostate ; a false guide led him into the desert, and caused his fleet to be burnt. A subsequent victory, however, reanimated the courage of the troops, but in a second engagement HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 377 Julian fell, mortally wounded, and perished without wishing to designate his successor (363). 20 1. VALENTINIAN AND VALENS. Jovinus, the duke, accepted the difficult task of leading home an exhausted and famishing army; to save the de'bris of which, he had to submit to an ignominious treaty, by which Sapor gained a number of the Eastern provinces. The reign of Jovinus, so sadly commenced, was soon over, and two brothers, Vahntinian and Valens, were raised to the imperial dignity. Valentinian ruled over the West and Valens over the East (364). The empire was irrevocably divided Diocletian's work was consummated. Valentinian, a brave officer of fortune, who had attained, by his talents alone, a position in the first rank of the army, seemed to multiply himself in order to watch over the defence of the frontiers, without neglecting the internal affairs of the empire. He succeeded in appeasing the troubles in the West by his firmness with regard to the Arians, whilst his brother, protector of the heretics, revived in the East all the religious dissensions (No. 206). The Germans, Saxons, and Quadi, pursued with an equal vigour, and driven back into the recesses of their wild forests, humbly sued for peace ; but Valentinian died in the year 375, and scarcely had the feeble Gratianus, his son, succeeded to the throne, than a fatal incident burst open the dyke which had until then kept the bordering Barbarians at bay, and in preparing a general invasion, opened a way for the dismemberment of the empire. The Goths, impelled towards the frontiers by an emigration of the Huns, hailing from the borders of 378 ANCIENT HISTORY China, demanded leave to establish themselves on this side the Danube ; the emperor imprudently admitted a whole nation into the heart of the empire. The vexatious behaviour of the Eoman officers soon provoked to rebellion those men impatient of all restraint, and who, notwithstanding conventions and the express orders of the emperor, had never been dis- armed. Valens was vanquished and killed at the battle of Adrianople 1 (378). This disaster seemed as if it would carry with it the fall of the empire ; but a great man appeared, who, by his genius, was destined to detain it a while longer on the brink of ruin. 202. THEODOSIUS. While the young Valentinian II. was assuming the purple for a short time after the death of Valens, Gratianus associated Theodosius with him in the rule of the empire, and commissioned him to fight the Goths. After several advantageous engagements, the able general succeeded in conciliating the vanquished by his generous conduct, and even in converting them into useful allies of the empire. The King of Persia, alarmed at this success, dared not expose himself in a struggle which he knew well would prove fatal to himself, so he hastened to conclude peace (379), which was destined to remain undisturbed for a long time. The death of Gratianus, who had been assas- sinated by Maximus, the usurper, left Theodosius in sole possession of the East (383). Valentinian had been forced to cede one-half of 1 The city of Adrianople, near which the battle was fought, was north of Byzant, and was an obscure town till the time of Adrian, who rebuilt it on an enlarged scale. HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 379 his provinces in the West. Maximus was not satis- fied, he invaded Italy ; but rencountering Theodosius, to whom Valentinian had applied for aid, he was taken at Aquilaand put to death (388). Disembarrassed of his rival, Valentinian reigned alone in the West, and showed himself for some time the worthy emulator of Theodosius, whom he took as his model in every- thing. His dominion had been affirmed by a fortunate expedition against the Franks, when Arboyastus, a chieftain of that nation, who had succeeded in gaining his confidence, got many of his fellow-citizens into civil and military posts of honour, and became himself a great power in the land. Soon he assassinated Valentinian (390), putting in his place a mere phantom of emperor, Eugenius, the rhetorician, who had pre- viously held the office of secretary to the victim. Arbogastus practically reigned some time in the name of Eugenius ; but Theodosius could not leave the murder of his colleague unavenged. In 394, the defeat and death of the usurpers placed the West, as also the East, in his power. This last reunion before the definite schism lasted scarcely one year. Theodosius died in 395. He had been baptized on his accession to the throne, and his strong and wise administration had restored some prosperity to the empire, or at least had diminished its miseries. This monarch can be reproached with nothing save the massacre of the Thessalonians, 1 ordered in a fit of rage, but nobly expiated at the command of Saint Ambrosius, Archbishop of Milan (No. 207), by a public penance. 1 About 7000 inhabitants of Thessalonica (now Saloniki), one of the chief cities of Macedonia, were slain, because of a revolt in the town, and the assassination of their governor. 380 ANCIENT HISTORY Theodosius had been unable to accomplish his task so gloriously without using for his wars and reforms the last resources of the empire. In the exhaustion of the Eoman population he had fought against Arbogastus with an army composed of Barbarians; foreigners occupied all the posts of honour; the territory was the same, but the inhabitants were changed. The Roman Empire had ceased to exist at the death of Theodosius ; there was then an Eastern and a Western Empire (see No. 213). CHAPTER VI HISTORY OF THE CHURCH FROM THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE TO THAT OF THEODOSIUS 203. HERESIES. A TRIAL more redoubtable than that of persecution had afflicted the Church. Saint Paul had foretold that there would be heresies. At first, some new converts, yet imbued with the errors of paganism or of philosophical systems ; later, some of the Church's children, proud and rebellious, under- took to associate the dogmas and morality of Chris- tianity with the exigencies of their corrupted heart and their indocile reason. It required all the purity of the Catholic doctrine, all the light of bishops and doctors, and, above all, the protection of the Holy Spirit, promised to the Church by its Divine Founder, to free the faith from the darkness into which heretics by turn energetically tried to drive it ; but the Church, in her councils, discovered and overthrew all the inno- vations. The heresies, like branches detached from the trunk by which they had been nourished, succes- sively decayed and perished. In all those periods of struggle and combat the spirit of insubordination and of dispute drained all its resources and its subtleties, and the errors of modern times are for the greater part only reproductions more or less faithful of the vain 381 382 ANCIENT HISTORY opinions of those innumerable sects, attacked on their first appearance by the reprobation of the Church. The Church alone remains standing in the midst of their ruins, the Church alone preserves until our own day the unalterable deposit of the truth. 204. HERESY OF ARIUS. From the time of the Apostles heresies had arisen in the Church. Simon the Magician commenced the list of those men who wished to substitute their own ideas for canonical interpretation ; a great number of errors first saw the light of day during the period of the persecutions, but the Church was then too often steeped in the blood of her members for corruption to make great progress. It was after the victory that she had to sustain a terrible struggle against all the passions of her rebellious children. A deluded ambition gave birth, in the reign of Constantine, to Arianism, the most notorious and baleful of the ancient heresies. Having been unable to obtain the bishopric of Alex- andria, to which he aspired, Ariiis enveloped in his resentment all the Catholic Church, and especially the Patriarch Alexander, who had been preferred before him. He attacked the fundamental dogma of the Christian religion in denying the divinity of Jesus Christ. Alexander, after vainly trying to lead him back by warnings and prayers, excommunicated him, and denounced him to all the bishops as a public enemy of the faith. Arius responded to Alexander's letter by an indecent poem, which he distributed amongst the people in order to spread his doctrine. He succeeded in gaining Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia, and even in shaking the good faith of Constautine, HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 383 but the Emperor, soon undeceived, convoked, in accord with the Pope, the first Universal or (Ecumenical Council, at Niccea 1 (325). Hosius, the Pope's legate and Bishop of Cordova, presided over the assembly in place of the aged Pope 2 of Rome, whose feeble health detained him in Italy. Athanasius, a young deacon, displayed in this great assembly his remarkable know- ledge and insight, and his zeal for the faith, in con- founding all the subtilties of Arius, who had come to uphold his doctrines in the midst of the Council. The creed of Nicsea, in repelling the heresy, estab- lished in all their purity the Catholic dogmas ; many Arians became submissive and signed the condemna- tion of their sect ; but Arius refused to retract his errors and was banished to Illyria. Eusebius had remained secretly attached to the heresiarch ; his per- fidious insinuations would soon have prejudiced Con- stantine against Athanasius and re-established Arius in his mind. Athanasius, become Bishop of Alexandria, was represented as an obstacle to the peace of the Church ; he was judged and condemned by a council of Arian bishops. Finally, Constantino, beset by calumnious reports concerning him, sent him into exile at Treves 3 without giving him the benefit of an audience (336). Arius, proud of his victory, aspired to establish himself in the see from which he had driven Athanasius. Repelled by the people, indignant at his audacity, he essayed to render his former triumphs more brilliant, by causing himself to be 1 The village of Isnilc stands on the site of Nicsea (in Bithynia), on the borders of a lake (in the province of Anatolia, Asiatic Turkey). 2 The Pope Sylvester. 3 The ancient capital of Gallia Belgica (Treves, or Triers), is situated on the Moselle, in the Rhine Province, and contains fine Roman 384 ANCIENT HISTORY solemnly received iiito the Church of Constantinople, notwithstanding the bishop of the place, who had remained faithful to the Nicene Creed. A shocking death struck the heresiarch in the midst of the sacri- legious ceremony. Such a terrible effect of Divine vengeance opened the eyes of Constantine. Before presenting himself for baptism, which he had until then deferred receiving, he recognised the fault he had made in banishing Athanasius. During his last illness he recalled the pious bishop and all the other exiles. Constantine II. (No. 199), in compliance with his father's last wishes, re-established St. Athanasius in his see ; but soon after, the whole ' of the Eastern empire fell into the power of Constantius, who had been gained over by Eusebius to the Arians. The reign of this sovereign was in a great measure devoted to the persecution of the Catholics, and above all of Athanasius. In vain did Constantine offer to plead in their defence ; his death left them without protection against the attacks of the Arian bishops. Yet once again, Athanasius was chased from his see, as well as several illustrious bishops in other provinces who had remained attached to the Catholic creed. To the Council of Sardica, 1 voluntarily assembled, who de- clared for the Nicene Creed, the Arian bishops opposed several conventicles, the decisions of which formed a new source of vexation and trouble. Constantius, always devoted to the Arians, tolerated the exercise of the most odious violence throughout his empire. Venerable prelates were tortured with the object of wringing from them approbation of some 1 A town of ancient Illyrium, now called Sophia or Sofia (now the chief town of Bulgaria, European Turkey). HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 385 of the Arian dogmas. Liberius, Pope of Koine, was for an instant shaken ; but he hastened to repair his frailty by anathematizing the heresy. Constantius, who desired that his will should serve as canon law, surrounded the bishops with armed soldiers, so as to enforce their decision, and when they refused to comply obediently, he sent them into exile. But the enemies of the Church, in repeating their attacks against her, had already commenced to fight amongst themselves. Truth alone remains in unity, and error cannot rest long in accord with itself. The Arians had existed only a few years, when they separated into two hostile camps. The emperor favoured each alternately, which only increased the dis- cord. Their professions of faith multiplying, divided souls instead of uniting them. In 360 the Arians had already reached their thirteenth symbol. The Catholics had no need to combat them they were destroyed of themselves. The deplorable struggles were for an instant interrupted during the reign of Julian the Apostate ; but it was only to put the Church to fresh trial. 205. EFFORTS OF JULIAN TO EE-ESTABLISH PAGANISM. Julian, welcomed by expiring paganism, doubted by the Christians, who had understood his character, surrounded by sophists who yet hoped to rise from their downfall, Julian was perhaps for the faith a more redoubtable enemy than the most cruel of perse- cutors (No. 200). His resentment against the mur- derers of his family changed, under the influence of pagan philosophers, into a violent hatred against Christianity, which had nevertheless saved and pro- 2 B 386 ANCIENT HISTORY tected his infancy. He early became initiated in the mysteries of idolatry, and he was scarcely proclaimed Augustus before he publicly declared his apostasy. He was sufficiently cunning to avoid engaging in open war with the Church, which augmented under the executioner's axe ; he attacked her by less violent but more certain means. By a first edict, full of toler- ance, he permitted all the Catholic bishops to return to their sees ; this was the surest means of render- ing odious the government of Constantius. This end attained, the apostate changed tactics. He commenced by favouring the sophists and magicians, re-erected the pagan altars, himself resumed the title of High Pontiff, and re-established the sacrifices and the oracles. The pagans were loaded with riches, and elected to all the posts of honour. Julian deprived the ecclesiastics of all their privileges ; he wished, said he in derision, to recall them to the perfection of their first state in reducing them to evangelical poverty. The goods of the Church were given to adorn the temples of idols, the Christians were excluded from public functions under the false pretext that the Gospel forbade them to use the sword. Often they were prohibited from defending their cause before tribunals, because, said the monarch, their religion interdicted law proceedings and quarrels. This unworthy abuse of evangelical morality was accompanied by all sorts of provocations. Those who were cowardly enough to deny their faith were elevated to dignity ; in the army a reward of gold was given to apostate soldiers. At the same time Julian energetically tried to raise against the Church all her old enemies ; he encouraged heretics by authorising their disputes so as to triumph over the divisions amongst those whom he contemp- HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 387 tuously called Galileeans. The Jews received an order to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, so as to give the lie to the prophecies of Christ ; but the projects of the impious emperor were disconcerted by a prodigy. The death of Julian put a term to the afflictions of the Church. 206. CONTINUATION OF THE HISTOEY OF ARIANISM SAINT BASIL. Arianism again lifted up its head after the blow it had received. Valens, an ardent favourer of Arianism (No. 201), renewed the persecutions formerly practised by Constantius. Another banishment of Saint Athan- asius, ever a butt for the attacks of heretics, forewarned the other Catholic bishops of the lot which was des- tined for them ; but the murmurs of the inhabitants of Alexandria constrained Valentinian to restore them their pastor. Saint Basil, Bishop of Csesarea, by his firmness, obtained the respect even of the emperor, his opponent. The Prefect, who was commissioned to order him to receive the Arians into his communion, was struck with astonishment at the intrepidity of the man who cared nothing for confiscations,. for he had no riches ; nor for exile, as he regarded all the earth as a place of passage ; nor for death, for that would bring him to the presence of his Maker. " Who is this man?" cried the magistrate, "no one has ever spoken with such boldness" " That is because" said Basil, " you have never before had to do with a bishop" The em- peror, informed of this response, ordered that Basil should be left in possession of his see ; but he had, nevertheless, just countenanced the execution of eighty Catholic priests ; he sent an Arian successor to Athan- asius, and caused Arianism to be preached to the Goths 388 ANCIENT HISTORY established in the empire. By his death alone could cairn be restored to the eastern world. In the west Valentinian, and after him Gratianus, enlightened defenders of the Catholic faith, had seen religious discords gradually diminished. The triumph of Arianism was passed. The Church, which had pro- nounced its fatal doom at the Council of Nicsea, con- firmed the sentence at a second (Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople through the efforts of the Emperor Theodosius (No. 202). All the decrees of the Council of Nicsea were renewed : Arianism, and all the sects separated from the Church, were anathematized. Theodosius respectfully acknowledged all the canons of the Council, and caused them to be published throughout the land. Notwithstanding fresh efforts made in the reign of the son of Theodosius (No. 213), Arianism gradually disappeared from the empire, but finding a refuge amongst the Barbarians, it returned with the invasion, to add to the public misfortune of fresh religious dissensions. 207. ILLUSTRIOUS MEN OF THE CHURCH IN THE FOURTH CENTURY. In the midst of the degradation and dissolution of pagan society, the human mind had lost its vigour. For a long time back the accents of poets and orators had not been heard, or their voices arose at rare in- tervals, as if to bear witness to their weakness. It was because there was no inspiration in the debased dogmas, in the decried instructions of paganism ; it was because creeds, which are the life of the soul, were withdrawn from men ; genius had to be re-animated under vigo- rous conditions ; human thought had to be elevated ; HISTORY OF THE CHURCH heaven had to be implored for what could not be found on earth. Christianity answered to this much- felt want, and it was that which was to regenerate the intellectual world, as it was to regenerate the moral world. "VVe have cited the names of several Churchmen renowned for their learning and talents who lived during the time of the persecutions. Scarcely had re-established peace given some leisure for long studies and profound meditations than there appeared a crowd of fine geniuses, the light and glory of Christianity the fathers and doctors of the Church. The Christians had lost no time in opposing the pagan schools by other schools where science and literature were taught by the faithful. From the midst of a multitude of Christian masters, who shone in the fourth century, we will cite some of the most celebrated names. Lactantius, who had been chosen by Diocletian himself to direct a pagan school, had not ceased in the bosom of Christianity to teach polite learning after the mode of Origen. His eloquence, his numerous works, the renown of which had gained him the honour of instructing Constantine's eldest son, had caused him to be surnamed the Cicero of Christianity. We have mentioned the young deacon who, at the council of Nicaea, struggled victoriously against Arius ; that Bishop of Alexandria, the object of indefatigable hatred of Arianism, Athanasius the Persecuted (No. 204). After him, two illustrious friends united their knowledge and talents for the defence and glorification of the Faith, Saint Basil and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. Taught at the same school, rival students, they both sustained the same zeal in their struggle against heresy ; both maintained, in the most elevated posi- 390 ANCIENT HISTORY tions, the honour of the Catholic priesthood. Basil appeared before the Imperial governor ; Gregory gave up the second bishopric in the world (Constantinople) in order to appease some quarrels, thus giving a fine example of Apostolic firmness and disinterestedness. Both equally served the Church by their writings : Basil with his profound reasoning, his vast erudition, his compositions always learned, sometimes sublime ; Gregory with that sweetness, that unction, that grace, which made his doctrine beloved by the unlearned as well as the erudite. The tears of the Church em- balmed the memory of that most admirable brother- hood of devotedness to the same cause, virtue and genius. But their place was soon filled by two doctors no less illustrious, Jerome and Ambrosius. Saint Jerome (about 33 1420), the most learned of the fathers of the Latin Church, quitted the scene of his splendid renown to live in a desert ; but the souvenirs of Eome and the noise of the glory of the world reached him even there, and more than once disturbed his passionate soul and his vivid imagination ; he had need of all his heroic strength and of austere penances to stifle his involuntary regrets. From that time he consecrated himself wholly to the defence of the Catholic Faith. To him, we owe the translation of the Holy Book into the Latin tongue. More than once, from the seclusion of his hermitage, he con- founded heretics, and was pursued by their fury from one retreat to another. The name of Saint Ambrosius (340397) crowns the fourth century. Ambrosius, orator, philosopher; Ambrosius, Christian doctor, and author of several learned works; Ambrosius, bishop, who arrested on the threshold of the Church that emperor covered with the blood of his subjects, forcing HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 39! him to penitence for his crime (No. 202); Ambrosius, apostle and dispenser of evangelical truth, who led to the foot of the Cross him who had afterwards to be known as Saint Augustine. How admirable under every condition ! Successors were not wanting to these great men. In the Greek Church, in the Latin Church, there appeared contemporaneously the illustrious Saint Augus- tine, bishop of Hippo, 1 and Saint John Chrysostom (of the Golden Mouth), Bishop of Constantinople. 1 Hippo, or Hippo Regius, was one of the chief cities of Numidia (the modern Boua, a seaport town in Algeria). LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS AMONGST THE ROMANS DURING THE REPUBLIC AND THE MONARCHY 208. LITERATURE IN THE TIME OF THE REPUBLIC. " THE chief characteristic of genius amongst the Romans was Imitation. Excepting legal science, they have invented nothing, and they have perfected little, with the exception of agriculture " (Dumont). The Romans, ever occupied in bitter struggles which compromised their very existence, entirely neglected literature and the fine arts, while their conquests were confined to Italy. Etruscan civilisation exercised only a slight influence over men whose life consisted of warfare, and of whom military glory was the leading passion. It required the immediate contact of Rome with Greece, so polite and learned ; it required that Grecian civilisation should in some sort make an inva- sion into Italy, to give an impulse to the coarse and torpid genius of the Romans. After the composition of some crude essays, Ennius, who was really the founder and the most national writer of Roman poetry, Ennius, who celebrated the great exploits of his countrymen in a long epos, occupied himself in translating several Greek poems, and made known to his fellow -citizens the tragedies of Euripides. Plautus (a native of Sarsina, Umbria, 254184 B.C.) and 39 2 LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS 393 Terence (born at Carthage about 195 B.C., but pur- chased as a slave and manumitted by Terentius, a Roman noble), often borrowed their inspirations from the Grecian comic muse ; their subjects, plots, and personages are for the most part Greek, though in some of the most popular comedies, especially in those of Plautus, the characters are entirely Roman. Both poets docilely followed on the traces of their masters. They, however, gave to the Latin tongue a purity and elegance until then unknown. But Roman ears were little sensible to the charms of harmony, and notwith- standing the noble protection of Scipio and Laelius accorded to both Plautus and Terence, the people often interrupted the representation of their plays to hasten on the combats of gladiators. Philosophy, also imported from Greece by slaves and exiles, obtained some favour from the majority of citizens ; but it was, at the same time, the butt of violent opposition. Cato the Censor, that inflexible defender of antique manners (No. 161), caused the Greek philosophers to be chased from Rome, as utterly useless to a people who had to follow a military career. However, the example of the Scipios proved of greater force than the exaggerated rigour of a retrograding zeal, the youth of the land continued to ardently pursue the studies of the masters, and the prohibitions soon fell of themselves. Poetry contributed to the success of philosophy, in lending it its charm and popularity ; Lucretius, who died 50 B.C., made, in a poem, an exposition of the materialistic and sensual theory of Epicurus. This loose doctrine had already come to be preferred to the severe maxims of the Stoics, which had before been in the ascendant. Cicero combated this ten- 394 AMENT HISTORY dency by restoring to honour the principles of Stoicism, tempered by the doctrine of Plato. In the time of the empire, philosophy again found a medium in Seneca, the tutor of Nero ; but the greater part of the philosophers stretched the severity of their precepts too far, and they were chased from Rome by Nero and Vespasian ; imperial protection was restored to them by Nerva and Marcus Aurelius. Yet all these philosophers confined themselves to the repeti- tion of what they had learnt from the Greeks ; no Roman founded a School ; philosophical works soon became a rarity in Rome ; at Alexandria only was philosophy destined to revive and shed a last lustrous ray. The violent disputes of the Forum had arisen and inflamed popular eloquence, which lives by great pas- sions : at Rome, as in Greece, eloquence was the surest means to arrive at honour. For long, oratory had been in nowise enslaved by rules of art. The energetic discourses of Cato and of the Gracchi owed their success only to the natural elevation of talent and to the gravity of circumstances. It was in the last days of the Republic that rhetoric, yet animated by the enthusiasm of freedom, and at the same time fortified with the assistance of art, produced its master- pieces. The defence of several friends who were pur- sued by the hatred of political opponents, commenced the reputation of the illustrious Cicero (No. I/OA). Soon he uttered from the height of the rostra * those thundering words against the odious extortions of a governor hardened by impunity ; the condemnation of 1 A tribune in the Forum ; it was called the Rostrum because ornamented with the Rostra or beaks of ships captured from the "Antiates." LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS 395 Verres (praetor of Sicily) was one of the most splendid triumphs of the celebrated orator. Devoted thence- forth to the consideration of the great questions apper- taining to the State, he was seen, intrepid before the daggers of assassins, before the no less redoubtable menaces of a future triumvir, to overthrow the Cati- linian conspirators, shake the influence of Antony in Rome, causing to be declared enemy of the public be whom the people had shortly before saluted with acclamations as the Avenger of Csesar (No. 176). Such a man would have deeply influenced the destinies of Rome, if the constancy of his political character had responded to the might of his talent. By a strange contrast, that tribune, still resounding with the accents of the prince of Latin orators, hardly ever heard, after the accession of Augustus, more than the cold declamations of a few rhetoricians. It is that eloquence, which rises and is fortified in the midst of the storms of liberty, languishes and dies in the calm of despotism. The suspicious jealousy of emperors soon repressed the dangerous flights of oratorical genius. 209. THE AUGUSTAN AGE. Every class of literature did not meet with the same lot as rhetoric, and the first century of the empire was the most brilliant and fruitful era of Roman letters. Augustus loved learning ; he encou- raged the efforts of writers, and recompensed their successes. Maecenas, his favourite, made himself their friend, and more than once gratitude was the inspira- tion of the chefs-d'ceuvre of his illustrious proteges. As the house of Pericles before, so now the palace of Augustus was the shelter of all talents. An academy, 396 ANCIENT HISTORY often frequented by the emperor himself, was formed by Maecenas, Virgil, 1 and Horace, Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid, and Gallus. Virgil (70 B.C. 19 A.D.) having been saved by Octavius from the brutal oppression of some soldiers on his estate (which was comprised in the lands awarded to the military after the combat of Philippi), and having, on application to the monarch, had his small inheritance restored, his first Eclogue was consecrated to chant the praises of his benefactor. He celebrates his growing grandeur, and predicts to the world a time of glory and happiness. In the Georgics, that treasure of poetical harmony, he more than once interrupts his pastoral descriptions to render homage to his noble protector. The JEntid, the finest epic poem after the Iliad, is an elevated monument consecrated entirely to the glory of the Roman nation and of Augustus. Horace (65 B.C. -8 A.D.), friend of Virgil, and the greatest lyric poet of the Romans, exalts in his Odes the effeminate philosophy of Epi- curus, reproaches folly in his intellectual Satires, and in his Art of Poetry traces with precision all the rules of good taste. Ovid became in his Metamorphoses the ingenious interpreter of popular beliefs and ancient traditions. Propertius, Tibullus, and Catullus are dis- tinguished for their graceful elegies. Phcedrus com- posed his fables, which gained him immortal renown. Amongst the celebrities of the Augustan age, Titus Livius, the historian (59 B.C. 17 A.D.), must not be forgotten. After the Greek Polybius, a contemporary and friend of the Scipios, had taught the Romans to write their history, several national authors had tried to imitate their model. The 1 Virgil was a native of Andes, near Mantua. He died at Brun - dusiuin (Brindisi), and was buried at Naples. LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS 397 dry nomenclature of facts, designated under the name of Pontifical Annals, was replaced by recitals of greater interest ; but often love of country feared not to satisfy its ambition by a perversion of truth. Sallust, with his concise and energetic style, Ccesar, in his Commentaries, remarkable for elegance and facility of diction, prepared the way for Titus Livius (Patavinus), that writer so superior for the wealth of description, for the incomparable charm of his historical narration (Livy's " History of Eome "), and Tacitus* who, according to Eacine, was the greatest portrayer of antiquity Tacitus, that model so proper for historians of every age, that profound thinker who abridged all, because he saw all at a glance, and compressed in each one of his phrases a judgment on the past and a lesson for the future. After him Florus wrote another his- tory of Rome ; but already, with this writer, de- clamation had taken the place of the majestic simplicity found in the works of his predecessor. From that time the Roman annalists sought in vain to attain to the height of the great masters ; and the two best authors which we might yet cite in this branch of literature, Herodian and Plutarch, are biographers and not historians. 210. DECADENCE OF LITERATURE. A decadence in literature became manifest shortly after the death of Augustus. Apparent gigantic efforts, the pompous and inflated style of Lucanus 2 reveals already the impotence of talent and the first deterioration in the language. The tragedies of Seneca, imitated from those of the Greeks, have generally 1 About 90 A.D. 5 Lived in the reign of Nero. 39^ ANCIENT HISTORY neither grace nor naturalness, and inflated phrases take the place of grandeur of thought. The long compositions of Statins and of Silius Italicus, still colder and weaker in invention and style than the Phar salia of Lucan, attest the exhaustion of poetic genius. The lyric style, so graceful, sometimes so elevated in Horace, had perished with him. Satire only, in the midst of the general corruption, awoke with its grievous irony. The indignation of a few generous souls inspired them to express, often in fine verse, bitter reproaches and severe lessons. But the unprofitableness of the efforts of Persius and Juvenal discouraged even satirical writers ; of all classes of poetry, productions of the light and facile descriptive kind alone appeared from time to time, to replace works of a higher order, of a more solemn inspiration. At the same time, pagan philosophy wrestled with destruction. She still produced several names worthy of commemoration, that of Galenus, for instance, an illustrious physician, who, leaving far behind all his contemporaries, made an immense stride in scientific research by recurring to the true method of observation and experience. Galenus, the greatest physician after Hippocrates, was also one of the first philosophers of the century in which he lived ; but he shared the deplorable prejudices of his class against Christian dogmas, and thus he could not arrest philosophy in the path which led to her ruin. In the seclusion of the Alexandrian schools, Plotinus and Porphyrion tried to reconcile the theory of Aristotle with that of Plato, and to establish true doctrine by collecting the scattered maxims found in all intellectual works ; but this eclecticism tended only to augment the confusion of systems. In hatred of Christianity, and in imitation LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS 399 of its prodigies, the philosophers introduced into their instructions the study 01 magic, of the occult sciences, and of divination. Sound philosophy soon disappeared from the midst of these extravagances. It was the Fathers of the Church who, saving the ancient doctrines from wreckage, and often enriching science with new ideas and principles, prepared the regenera- tion of the human mind, and posed the basis of modern science. 211. SCIENCES. In literature, in historical narration, and in philo- sophy we have seen that the Roman writers were constant imitators of the Greeks ; there is, however, a science of which the Romans had no model, and that is legal science. The journey of the Commissioners into Greece has been contested against this assertion ; still, it ever remains, that the Code of Twelve Tables (No. 148) is rather the digestion of native laws which had for long been flourishing, some of which had been established even by Romulus, than an abridgment of the laws of Solon and other Greek legislators. The patricians, who had reserved to themselves the cognis- ance of legal formularies, now found it necessary to apply themselves diligently to the study of them, in order to maintain their influence : the pursuit of legal knowledge became one of their most important occupa- tions ; after having carefully perused the Senatus Consulta, the Plebiscita, and the Praetorian Edicts, a great number of them instituted public conferences, and their decisions tended to enlighten and complete their knowledge of jurisprudence. But the science of law underwent strange complications ; it became a means of abusing the crowd, and that all the more 400 ANCIENT HISTORY easily because there was no regularly instituted pandect. Augustus introduced the first remedy for this evil in limiting the number of authorised juris- consults. At this epoch several public schools for the teach- ing of legal science were founded, and the divers doctrines of jurisprudence were taught there in a learned way. In the reign of Hadrian (No. 184) was published the first Code, the Perpetual Edict, a col- lection of Praetorian Edicts ; but, imperial ordinances multiplying alongside of the works of jurisconsults, the science of law became more and more difficult, and lent itself ever more readily to the subtilties of chicanery. In the midst of the chaos of laws, the masters of the schools ended by losing themselves in vain systems. However, an energetic attempt was made to assemble in one body all legislative disposi- tions. But a few isolated efforts could not bring such an arduous enterprise to a successful issue : this had to be effected in the reign of Justinian. The exact sciences were little cultivated amongst the Romans. After the death of Archimedes (No. 1 5 6), they remained almost stationary for a space of three hundred years. It was only at the commencement of the second century that they suddenly made rapid progress. Ptolemceus, 1 one of the most celebrated astronomers, geographers, and mathematicians ot antiquity, left behind him geographical works more complete than those of Strabo, who flourished in the time of Augustus ; he composed learned mathematical treatises, and produced that famous System of the Universe (or theory of the laws which regulate the motions of the stars), which was the only one admitted 1 Ptolemy lived during the reign of Otho. LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS 40! until the adoption of the Copernican system. But the march of science halted with Ptolemy. After him, the annals of pagan nations do not present one single name illustrious in geometry or astrology. It was reserved for modern times to restore to the sciences animation and life. 212. ARTS. We will say only a few words about Art amongst the Romans. In the arts they did little else than imitate ; they carried off from foreigners the works of their artists to embellish their city, then the mistress of the world, and Rome was like a grand trophy adorned with the spoils of all nations. Architecture alone produced veritable chefs-d'ceuvre. It suffices to name the Capitol, the Pantheon, and the magnificent palaces raised by Augustus ; the Coliseum, constructed by Vespasian and Titus ; the columns of Trajan and Antoninus, with their admirable bas-reliefs but yet the greater part of these grand monuments were due to Grecian architects. Ancient Rome never produced famous painters or sculptors to the names of Apelles and Phidias she offers no rival ; she had to borrow from Greece the ornamentation of her palaces and temples : to the same people could not belong all triumphs and all glories. 2 C CHAPTER YIII INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS FALL OF THE EMPIRE IN THE WEST 213. DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE. FOR a long time back partial invasions had announced the great movement which was to suddenly change the face of the world. The bordering Barbarians were the greediest of their prey, and they thought that their position on the frontiers tended to success. The example of the Goths admitted into the empire (see above, No. 201) had stimulated the ambition of all those nomadic tribes who, tired of a wan- dering life, wished to establish themselves far from the harsh climate of their native land, in a less un- grateful soil. In the North, it was the Franks and Germans, on the left bank of the river when they were conquerors, and on the right bank when they were vanquished, but always carrying arms, ready to seize the first opportunity of entering into Gaul ; it was the Suabians, the Herules, Vandals, Bituriges, and the Lombards, buried in the forests of ancient Germany, who were already attracted towards Gaul. The Saxons, the Angles, had to direct their course towards Great Britain ; the Goths, toward the East, had crossed the frontier of the Danube; the Huns and the Alani arrived from the confines of Asia to add their savage INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS 403 hordes to all those innumerable nations, harassing at once the three thousand miles of frontier which the empire yet preserved. In this imminent danger the empire, menaced on every side, had nothing, in place of a strong and vigorous military organisation, but some foreign defenders, ready to turn their mercenary arms against her on the first occasion. At the same time, the counts and dukes disputed possession of the provinces, little dreaming that their mutual dissensions only tended to the realisation of the rapacious projects of their barbarous foes. The division of the empire or rather the sharing of the administration with a col- league had appeared to Theodosius, as it had to Constantino and to Diocletian, the only means of re- medying internal evils, by lightening the cares of supervision, and of repelling the attacks of foreigners, by a more direct extension of regal power in the re- mote provinces ; but to attain this end it was necessary that the two emperors should be animated with one spirit, and while they maintained their own sub- 1 jects in a peaceable though subordinate state, they should mutually devise measures to repel the common enemy. But the sequel proved otherwise ; instead of being allies, the two emperors were rivals. Far from offering mutual support, they both aspired to the superiority, working only at reciprocal enfeeblement, and raising enemies against each other. They succeeded equally well in their deplorable task, and the result of their dissensions was the general invasion, hastened on by Eastern policy, and which was soon followed by the dismemberment and the rapid fall of the Western Empire. On the death of Theodosius (No. 202), Arcadius had the Eastern Empire, comprising the two Prefectures of 404 ANCIEtfT HISTORY the East and of Grecian Illyria, 1 that is to say, Egypt, the whole of Asia, Thrace, 2 Moesia, 3 Dacia, 4 and all Greece (Greece, Thessaly, and Epirus). ffonorius, in the West, reigned over the Prefectures of Italy and Gaul, 6 composed of Roman Illyria, Pannonia, 6 Norica, 7 Rhetia, 8 Italy, 9 Africa, Spain, 10 Gaul and Great Britain (about 395 A.D.). Arcadius resided at Constantinople, Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), although Rome re- tained her title of Metropolis. Stilicho the Vandal, who had been appointed by Theodosius as tutor to the two brothers, now administered the government in the West. Rufin the Gaul, and after him Eutropius the Eunuch, followed by Ga'inas the Goth and assassin of Rufin, governed the East, for Arcadius. 214. COMMENCEMENT OF THE INVASION ALARIC RHADAGAISUS. The low jealousy of Rufin had been aroused by Stilicho's military talents and exploits, he therefore sought to injure his rival by inciting the Barbarians to a ravage of the provinces. Alaric, chieftain of the Visigoths (Western Goths), settled in Dacia, sounded the clang to arms. He made an incursion into Greece, devastating all on his way, until he came to the Pelo- ponnesus, where he barely escaped the vengeance of the 1 Illyricum was composed of the two Illyrias, one Greek, the other Roman. It corresponds to the modern Dalmatia and Albania, situated on the Adriatic coast. - Roumelia. 8 Croatia, Servia, and Bulgaria. 4 Part of Hungary, Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia. 5 France, Belgium, and a part of Switzerland. 6 A portion of Hungary, Austria, &c. 7 Styria and a portion of Austria. 8 A part of Switzerland (the Orisons) and the Tyrol. 9 Modern Italy and Venetia. 10 Spain and Portugal. INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS 40$ pursuing Stilicho. However, Arcadius made peace with the Goth, to whom he granted territory in Illyria, investing him with the title of generalissimo (400), and declared Stilicho an enemy of the Eastern Em- pire. Alaric crowned himself King of the Visigoths, and then augmented his own army with expenses drawn from the empire's treasury, which had been left at his disposal by the undeliberating Arcadius. He then crossed the Alps, with the intention of invading Italy and sacking Kome. The Goths left frightful traces of their passage, which, however, received a check on the arrival of Stilicho, who speedily deli- vered Italy and rescued the emperor, besieged in Asti. Alaric was completely defeated in three battles, and returned without his army to Illyria. Honorius hastily quitted Milan to take up his residence at Eavenna, where, ensconced in the midst of lagunes, he felt at least secure from sudden attacks (403). Alaric's signal had been joyfully hailed by the Bar- barians. Scarcely had he quitted the Italian shore than the Suevi (Suabians, a Germanic tribe) poured into Cisalpine Gaul. Italy again fell a prey to the devas- tating scourge, but Stilicho had a watchful eye to the defence of his country, and Rhadagaisus, the Barbaric chieftain who had laid siege to Florence, was driven from beneath its walls, and compelled to seek shelter in the rocks of Fesula, where he was, however, encom- passed and slain, and his whole horde was sold in the slave market (406). 215. THE GREAT INVASION. The war had been hitherto confined to Italy ; but now the whole Western Empire was threatened with 406 ANCIENT HISTORY invasion, and Stilicho, betrayed by the cowardly Honorius, was slain at the moment when Italy could ill spare its only protector. The Suevian army had indeed been annihilated at the defeat of Rhadagaisus, but it was only the van- guard of the rest of the nation, besides the Vandals, the Alani and the Bituriges. Exasperated at the ill success of Rhadagaisus, the barbaric hordes pressed on towards Gaul, tearing down all on their way, utterly destroying the Ripuarian l Franks (allies of the Romans), who had dared to oppose their progress (404), and, like an overflowing torrent, spread them- selves over Gaul, leaving behind them nothing but ruin and a devastated waste. The tribes of the Bituriges founded settlements between the Rhine and the Saone, but the other hordes crossed the Pyrenees, and ravaged Spain still more atrociously than Gaul (409). The Salian 2 Franks now formed the project of taking a share in the conquests, and their progress was only momentarily checked by an ally of Rome stationed on the Rhine. Perhaps at this epoch lived that chieftain, called by historians Pharamond, who has been so often placed, though without reason, at the head of the list of the kings of France. He commanded the Franks settled beyond the Rhine, but he never crossed that river. It was reserved for Clodion the Long-Haired to conduct his tribes into Gaul, already divided between the Visigoths in the South, the Bituriges in the East, the Britons in the West (Armorica), and the Romans in the centre. 1 Julian had granted them territory on the left bank of the Rhine, between the mouths of that river and Mayence. 2 They dwelt on the banks of the Issel (hence their name). Their settlement was in the " Bataves : " isles formed by the mouths of the Meuse and the Rhine. INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS 407 Being repulsed by the Roman general ^Etius, he with- drew, but subsequently made a treaty with the Romans, who granted him the city of Tournai, on condition that he should, as an ally of Rome, guard that portion of the empire against foreign invaders. He was suc- ceeded by Merovceus? who was called upon to defend Gaul against the terrible Attila (No. 218) at the battle of Chalons, when the Hun was defeated and compelled to withdraw beyond the Rhine. CMlderic, son and successor of Merovaeus (458), was soon chased from the throne by his subjects, to whom his govern- ment failed to give satisfaction ; but having succeeded in appeasing their anger, he was reinstated by them in his former power, and after affirming his throne by several victories, he transmitted the sceptre to his son Clovis, the real founder of the kingdom of France. The centre of Gaul (the provinces between the Seine, the Oise, and the Loire) had not been regained by Honorius. Constantine, the leader of the British legions, who had contributed to the dispersion of the flood of invaders, was proclaimed emperor in Gaul and Spain ; Honorius was compelled to acknowledge his supremacy : Alaric yet once again invaded Italy. A massacre of the auxiliary Goths had been promised to the enemies of Stilicho. Thirty thousand men, who had escaped from this sanguinary execution, fled to Alaric, who, rallying these around him, hastened into Italy to avenge them. At the first attack Rome bought her peace with gold, but being a second time besieged, the Prefect Attains was, by the Visigoths, invested with the purple ; finally, on the refusal of 1 The founder of the Merovingian dynasty of France (the kings of the First Race) ; he probably gained the distinction from the victory at Chalons. 40 8 ANCIENT HISTORY Honorius to comply with sworn conditions, Rome was besieged a third time, taken by assault and pillaged (410); the churches alone were spared. On their entrance into the empire most of the Goths had been converted to Christianity, and without doubt the faith, which missionaries had carried to the greater part of Barbaric nations before the commencement of the great invasion, often tended with its soothing in- fluences to diminish the horrors of that disastrous time. 2 1 6. DISMEMBERMENT OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. Of all the Western Empire there remained scarcely anything to Honorius but the lagunes of Ravenna. He was at last in possession of more leisure after the death of Alaric (411); then, by an entire abandon- ment of several provinces, he hoped to be spared the government of a few. Constantius, the Roman who had taken the place of Stilicho, reduced Gerontius, the usurper, to such extremity as caused him to commit suicide in Gaul ; he made Constantino prisoner, and sent him to Honorius, who put him to death. The Visigoths ceased to be the empire's enemies. Athaulphus, the successor of Alaric, married Placidia, Honorius' sister, and, becoming his brother-in-law's ally and defender, he overthrew two pretenders to the Imperial dominion, who had just arisen in Gaul aided by the Bituriges. As for the Barbarians established in the empire, Honorius found it useless to dream of ridding himself of them, so he determined to acknowledge them. He confirmed the Bituriges * in the possession of Helvetia, 1 Honorius had formerly granted the territory lying between Lake Leman (Geneva) and the junction of the Moselle and the Rhine to Jovinus, chieftain of the Bituriges, for their possession. INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS 409 and they became the most gentle and peaceful people in the North. Desiring to drive the Barbarians from Spain, and with the view of ridding Gaul of the Visigoths, he strove to induce Athaulphus to fix his troops on the other side of the Pyrenees. Wallia, the successor of Athaulphus, crossed the mountains and subdued the Alani and the Vandals. The Suevi obtained a footing in Galicia, promising to live there peaceably under protection of the empire (419). Honorius assigned to Wallia, as a reward for his services, all the Southern portion of Gaul, which extended to the Garonne, and Wallia founded the kingdom of the Visigoths, 1 which had Toulouse for capital. The provinces, not comprised in these barbaric kingdoms, remained the property of Honorius. He recompensed Constantius by investing him with the title of Augustus, and giving him the hand of his sister, Athaulphus' widow ; but the dissolution could no longer be arrested, and the tottering ruin, to which was yet accorded the name of Western Empire, was gradually crumbling away. 217. GENSERIC AND THE VANDALS. Honorius died in 423 ; he was succeeded by Valen- tinian III., after the ephemeral usurpation of the secretary John. Placidia, his mother, reigned in his name ; another female, Pulcheria, governed the East during the minority of the young emperor's brother, Theodosius II. The two empires now enjoyed a 1 This comprised the provinces in Spain of which they had dis- possessed the Barbarians, and that pait of Gaul which extends frcjn the Loire to the Pyrenees. 410 ANCIENT HISTORY moment of repose ; but the enmity existing between ^Etius and Boniface, two of Placidia's generals, threat- ened to deprive the West of another province. .ZEtius, vanquisher of Clodion, the Salian chieftain (No. 215) of the Bituriges and of the Visigoths, could not en- dure the ascendency which Boniface had acquired over the Regent ; he deposed his rival, who fled to his province of Africa, where he invoked the aid of the Vandals. Boniface was, however, led back to a sense of duty by Saint Augustine (No. 207), but it was too late to retrieve the mischief he had caused. By a series of victories undertaken on his own account, Genseric the Vandal became powerful enough to force Valentinian to cede to him a portion of Africa (435). Four years later Genseric surprised Carthage ; all Africa was lost to the Eomans, and the town founded by Dido became the capital of the kingdom. Soon Carthage beheld Rome at her feet enriching her with her spoils. Genseric made her, as she had been in other times, a great naval power ; he constructed a multitude of ships with which he overran the seas, devastating all the coasts, urged on, said he, against those whom Heaven would punish. 218. ATTILA AND THE HUNS. The northern provinces of the two empires were alarmed at the progress of a Barbarian as redoubtable as Genseric. Attila, called the scourge of God, had led his Huns 1 along the banks of the Danube and down the valley of the Rhine against the Eastern Empire, 1 A Scythian tribe, now come from Pannonia, which they had recently conquered. From them and their successors and followers is derived the name of Hungary. INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS 4 l l and compelled Theodosius II. to pay an impost in return for peace. He found a more worthy adversary in Marcian, Theodosius' successor, who answered the Barbaric envoy sent to claim the tribute : " / have gold for my friends, and steel for my enemies." Dread- ing to engage in a struggle with his fearless foe, Attila led his innumerable hordes to the West. The first place to be invaded was Gaul, which was again put to fire and sword. But Paris was saved by the prayers of Saint Genevieve. 1 Attila's course was arrested through the bravery of the Bishop of Orleans, ^tius the patrician, to whom Valentinian III. had entrusted the defence of the empire, persuaded the Visigoths, the Bituriges, and the Franks to join the Imperial army, and all these troops united overtook Attila's horde near Chalons-sur-Marne (451); the vanquished Huns fled Gaul was saved, but the scourge fell upon Italy. Attila razed Aquila, and devastated the whole northern portion of the Peninsula. The Venetians fled to the lagunes of the Adriatic, where they founded Venice. Attila led his victorious battalions towards Rome, but on approaching the city he rencountered the Pope Saint Leo, whose noble prayer disarmed him. He quitted Italy, and died in the following year (453). The power of the Huns could not survive him ; the great Barbaric empire was torn in pieces by the chil- dren of its founder, but Attila's task was completed by his competitor Genseric. The widow of Valenti- nian III. sent for the Vandal to punish Petronus Maxi- mus, the assassin and usurper (455). Rome was a second time taken and sacked by Barbarians ; and 1 A shepherdess of Nanterre ; she was named the patron saint of Paris. Died 3rd January 512, and was interred in the church built by Clovis (the edifice now named the Pantheon). 412 ANCIENT HISTORY a great part of the population led captive to Car- thage. 219. FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. While the Barbaric chieftains were ruling their newly-acquired provinces in Gaul and Italy, their brethren outside were gathering together their devas- tating hordes with which to assail the frontiers. Keduced to the last extremity, the Eomans debated a quarter of a century how to deal with their allies within and their foes without. After the death of Maximus, Amtus is killed by Ricimer the Suabian, who straightway arrogates to himself the right of electing emperors. He invests Marjorian with the purple, and the newly-created monarch essays to make a just use of his authority, to raise the honour of the Roman name, and cause it to be dreaded by external foes. But Ricimer tries to subvert all these generous projects, and apprehending the loss of his own influence, he puts Marjorian to death ; at his voice three obscure emperors successively rise and fall. At last Orestes the patrician invests with the purple his own son, Romulus Augustulus, thus closing the list of emperors with a name which recalls the founder of Rome and the founder of the empire. Orestes imprudently dis- pleases the empire's barbarous allies, who, headed by Odoacer the Herule, arise in open revolt ; Orestes is slain and his son banished. Thenceforth Rome had no emperors. The fall of the Western Empire, which had been so long impending, was made without uproar, without shock. Italy had a king in place of an emperor. The Barbarians now held the insignia of power, which they had for long practically possessed. INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS 413 Odoacer the First reigned in Italy, and the Emperor of the East accorded him the title of patrician (476). 220. RESULTS OF THE GENERAL INVASION. A depopulation of the countries obstructing the passage of those ferocious conquerors, who left behind them so many towns in ashes, so many devastated provinces, and as a necessary consequence of the de- population in the rural districts, a complete cessation of tillage an entire wreckage of lights the destruc- tion of a crowd of the precious monuments of antiquity, only a few of which were collected by Christians to be ultimately placed in monasteries, to be preserved to the modern world such were the immediate results of the invasion ; but much graver, much more durable results are attached to that great universal agitation : the in- vasion had thrown into the Roman world, and pre- eminently into the Western Empire, an entirely new society. In place of those degraded and effeminate populations, who abandoned themselves to all fluctua- tions, and were prepared to submit unresistingly to the first aspirant to power, were seen peoples of savage and violent manners, of independent and warlike customs, whose irresistible might was strong to found, as it had been strong to destroy : men of grim and boorish minds, but new yet : uncultivated earth, but fertile, in which the seeds of truth had speedily to germi- nate. They already possessed rude virtues which could, at least, give to the heart some elevation, some nobleness, until they purified their souls by the influence of Christianity, which was about to soften the ferocity of their character without derogating from their energy. Simultaneously, all national forms 414 ANCIENT HISTORY underwent a change ; new idioms united their vocabu- laries to the Roman language, and formed the elements of modern tongues. To the Roman administration, the Barbarians substituted or joined their customs, and remotely prepared those great institutions of the Middle Ages, feudality and chivalry. It is this work of fusion between the ancient and the modern world, this renovation in moral society as in civil and political society, which had to continue laboriously for centuries, and be prolonged until modern times. INDEX INDEX AARON, 25 ; rod of, 31 ; fate of sons of, 31 ; death of, 32 Abdias, the prophet, 63 Abel, sacrifice and murder of, 7 Abiam, conquers Jeroboam, 55 Abiathar, revolt against David, 50 Abimelech, his tyranny and fate, 38 Abisai, David's general, his con- quests, 49 Abner, opposition to David and submission, 47 Abram, migration, 12 ; journeyings, 13 ; promise to, 13, 14 ; his offer- ing of Isaac, 15, 16 Absalom, rebellion, 50 ; death, 50 Achab, wicked reign of, 58, 59 Achaean League, the, 221, 222, 225 Achseus, 149, 164 Achaz, unhappy reign of, 63 Achilles, the great Greek hero, 168 Acre, fortress of, built, 81 Acropolis of Athens, 191, note 3 Adad rouses Egypt against Solo- mon, 54 Adam, in innocence, 5 ; temptation and fall, 6 ; his children, 7, 8 Admah, destruction of, 14 Adonias, revolt, 50; death, 51 Adrianople, the battle of, 340 ^Edileship, the Curule, 254 ^Ediles, office of, 243 ^Eetes, King of Colchis, 166 s, 162 417 ^Egisthus, 1 68 JEU& Capitolina, 92 ^Emilius Paullus, 218; fate of, at Cannae, 265 ; defeats Perseus, 275 ^Eneas and Evander, 230 ^Eolus, 164 .iEschylus, the tragic poet, 198 .iEtius, 407, 410, 411 jSDtolians, the, 150, 224 Agag taken and spared by Saul, 45 Agamemnon, 168 Agar, Sarai's maid, 13, 14 Agathocles attacks Carthage, 119 Agenor, founder of Tyre, 142 Agesilaus,i95; victory of, atCoronea, 195 ; prowess of, 196 Aggeus, the prophet, 75 Agis III., Spartan reformer, 220 Agrarian Law, the, 245 ; reform of, 282 Agricola, in Britain, 346 ; his fort- resses, 346 Agrippa II., 90 Agrippina, mother of Nero, 331 Ahasuerus and the Jews, 75, 76 Ahriman, the Persian, 141 Ajax, the two, 168 Akaba, gulf of, 26, note I. Alaric, of the Visigoths, 404, 405, 408 Alba Longa, 235 Alcibiades, incites Sparta against Athens, 192 ; expelled from Sparta, returns to the country, 2 D INDEX 193 ; conquers the Lacedemo- nians and goes into exile, 193 ; assassinated, 193 Alesia, the siege, 302 Alexander the Great, at Jerusalem, 78 ; chastises Samaria, 78 ; formed for war, 207 ; Greece under, 207 ; razes Thebes, 207 ; respect for Pindar, 208 ; his army, 208 ; victory at the Granicus, 208 ; cuts the Gordian knot, 208 ; defeats Darius at Issus, 209 ; demolishes Tyre, 209 ; and Jaddua, 209 ; founds Alexandria, 210 ; defeats Darius at Arbela, 210 ; weeps over the fallen Darius, 210 ; advances into India, 211 ; and Porus, 211 ; retires on Baby- lon, 211 ; death of, 212 Alexander Bales and Jonathan, 85 Alexander Janneus, reign of, 87 Alexandra, reign of, 87 Alexandria, centre of eastern civili- sation, 106 ; founded by Alex- ander, 210 Aman, hatred of the Jews, 75 ; fate of, 76 Amasia, reign of, 59 Amasias, reign of, 61, 62 Amasis, the usurper, 104 Ambrose, St., 379 Amenophis, expels the Hyksos from the Delta, 101 Ammonites, the, 14 ; defeated by David, 49 Amon assassinated, 67 Amos, the prophet, 63 Amphictyon, 164 ; council of, 165 Amphictyones, the, 170 Amri, reign of, 56 Amun-Ra, chief god of Egypt, 1 1 1 Anacreon, the poet, 198 Anaxagoras, 200 Ancus Martius, reign of, 236 Andriscus vanquished by Metellus, 275 Antalcidas, ignominious treaty of, 195 Antigonus, overruns Asia, 214; as- sumes title of King, 214 ; death, 215 Antigonus Doson, 217 Antigonus Gonatus, 216 Antiochus, treaty of, with Rome, 271 ; defeated at Actium, 316 Antiochus the Great, defeat of, 79 ; critical position of, 149 ; earns the title of Great, 150 ; defeated at Magnesia, 150; massacred at Susiana, 151 Antiochus Asiaticus, 153 Antiochus Epiphanes, 80 ; perse- cutes and insults the Jews, 80, 81, 152; builds the fortress of Acre, 8 1 ; resisted by the Mach- abees, 152; miserable death of, 83, 152 Antiochus Eupator, 84 Antiochus Gryphus, 153 Antiochus Soter vanquished by the Gauls, 149 ; 153 Antiochus Theos, reign of, 149 Antonia, capture of tower of, 91 Antoninus, peaceful reign of, 333 ; and the Christians, 359 Antony, and Cleopatra, no; loses the battle of Actium, no ; reads Caesar's will, 309 ; ambitious to succeed Ctesar, 310; flees from Rome and is vanquished, 310 ; in the second triumvirate, 311 ; conduct at Philippi, 312 ; over the eastern provinces, 312; cap- tivated by Cleopatra, 313, 315 ; decline of, 314; superseded by Octavius, 315 Apelles, the painter, 2OI Apis, god of Egypt, 1 1 1 INDEX 419 Apollo, temple of, at Delphi, 203 Apollonius of Tyana, 361 Appius Claudius, 246 ; tyranny, 249 Aram, 1 1 Ararat, Mount, 9, note Aratus, 221, 222 Arbaces founds Media, 131 Arbogastus, chief of Franks, 379 Arcadius, empire of, 403, 405 Archelaus, 89 Archimedes defends Syracuse, 266 Architecture, Grecian style of, 201 Archons, the, of Athens, 178, 179 Areopagus, the, of Athens, 180 Argonauts, enterprise of, 166 Argos, ancient, 162 Argus, gives name to Argos, 163 Arianism, as a heresy, 382 ; varied fortunes of, 382-388; anathema- tised, 388 Ariathes III. of Cappadocia, 155 Ariathes VIII. of Cappadocia, 155 Aridseus, a phantom king, 212 Aristides, banishment of , 185; joins Themistocles at Salamis, 187 ; death in poverty, 189 Aristobulus, reign of, 87 Aristobulus II., war of, 87 Aristodemus, the Messenian, his fate, 176 Aristomenes, victories, reverses, and fate of, 177 Aristonicus, sad fate of, 155 Aristophanes, the comic dramatist, 198, 200 Aristotle, the philosopher, 200 Arius, his heresy, 382 ; varied for- tunes of, 383, 384 Ark of Noe, 9 Ark, the, of God, 31 ; taken from the Philistines, 41 ; restored, 42 ; transported to Jerusalem by David, 48 Arminius, defies the Romans, 324 ; assassinated, 344 Arphaxad, II Arsaces invades Syria, 149 ; 158 Art, Greek, Roman disregard of, 276 Artaxerxes, 350 Artaxerxes Longimanus of Persia, 76, 190 Artaxerxes Mnemon, rivalship with Cyrus, 194 Artaxerxes Ochus, 77 Artemisia at Salamis, 188 Asa, reign of, 56 Asarhaddon, extinguishes the rem- nant of Israel, 64 ; invades Juda, 66 Ascanius founds Alba Longa, 230 Ashtarthe, 54 Asphaltites, Lake, 14, note Assur, and the Assyrians, 1 1 ; founder of Nineve, 125 Assyria, the country, 126, note 2; early people of, 126 ; the king of, 127; decadence of empire of, 128; second empire of, 129 Assyrians, extermination of, 66 Astarte, the deity, 123, 144 Astyages, King of the Medes, 132 Athalia, Queen of Israel, 58, 60 ; establishes Baal worship in Jeru- salem, 6 1 ; death of, 6 1 Athanasius, at the council of Nice, 383 ; sent into exile, 383 ; re- called, 384 ; in exile again, 384 ; restored, 387 ; persecuted, 389 Athaulphus, prowess of, 408, 409 Athens, described, 163, note 3 ; rise of, 172 ; population, 178 ; change of government in, 178; demand in, for uniform legislation, 179 ; four classes in, 180 ; ascendency of, 183 ; treatment of her great men, 186, 193 ; victory of, at 420 INDEX Salamis, 188 ; pretensions of, 1 88; supremacy of, 190; under Pericles, 190 ; plague in, and truce with Sparta, 192 ; treat- ment of its generals, 193 ; yoke imposed by Sparta, 193 ; thirty tyrants of, deposed, 194; sub- jected to Macedonia, 220 Attalus I., reign and policy of, 154 Attains III., his legacy to Rome, 155 Attalus, the prefect, 407 Attila, the scourge of God, 407, 410 Augustine, St., Bishop of Hippo, 391 Augustus (Caesar), offices assumed by, 320, 321 ; father of his country, 320 ; authority not ab- solute, 320 ; governed, but did not reign, 321 ; provinces and troops under, 321, 322 ; char- acter of his government, 322 ; what he did for Rome, 323 ; patronage of literature, 323 ; his griefs, 323 ; foreign military policy, 324 ; grief at the loss of his legions and death, 325 ; as triumvir and as king, 325 ; post- humous honours, 326 ; the great world-event of his reign, 326 ; character and government of his successor, 327, 329 ; an en- courager of learning, 395. (See Octavius) Auletus, King of Egypt by dint of gold, 108 ; appoints Rome the guardian of his children, 109 Aurelian, triumphs of, 350 ; perse- cution of, 363 Autochthon, the, of Greece, 161 BAALATH, 52 Baasa, reign of, 56 ; race of, 56 Babel, tower of, 1 1 Babylon, founding of, 125; Arabs in, 126 ; early population of, 126 ; as extended and adorned by Semi - ramis, 128 ; sacerdotal dynasty in, 129; fall of, 131, 135 Babylonia described, 126 Bacchides defeated by Jonathan, 85 Bactria, situation of, 160 Balearic Islands, 119 Baltassar, and the handwriting on the wall, 72 ; his character and fate, 72, 131 Barac and Debbora, 37 Barbarians, inroads of, on Rome, 343. 402 Barchochebas, revolt of, 92 Bartholomew, St., mission of, 366 Basil, St., 387, 389, 390 Battalion, the sacred, 196 Bedriac elected emperor, 332 Benadad, at Samaria, 59 ; flight of, 60 Benadad II. vanquished by Jehoash, 62 Bel, as King of Assyria, 127 Benjamites' crime and its punish- ment, 41 Bessus, execution of, 210 Bethsabee, seduction of, 50 Bethulia, in Syria, 67, note Betis, fate of, 209 Blandinus, the martyr, 359 Boadicea, the revolt of, 345 Boeotians, the, 171 Boniface, 410 Booz, the rich Bethlehemite, 39 Bossuet, on Roman liberty, 253 ; on Cicero, 298 ; on the political situ- ation at the birth of Christ, 317, 3i8 Brennus, the Gaul, in Rome, 252 Britain, uncertain conquest of, 345 ; subdued by Agricola, 346 INDEX 421 Brutus, Junius, insurrection of, 238 ; a first consul, 240 Byzantium, the seat of empire, 340 C^EPIO, treachery of, 274 Caesar, in the first triumvirate, 299 ; in Gaul, 300 ; vanquishes the tribes of Gaul and Germany, 300, 301 ; invades Britain, 301 ; sub- dues a revolt in Gaul, 303 ; con- ciliates Gaul, 303 ; crosses the Rubicon, 305 ; subdues Spain and returns to Rome, 306 ; and Cleopatra, 109 ; and Pompey, 109 ; defeats Pompey and the senate at Pharsalia, 307 ; van- quishes Pharnaces, 307 ; victory at Thapsus, 307 ; defeats the Pompeians at Munda, 308 ; dic- tator for life, 308 ; distrust of, 308 ; conspiracy against, 309 ; assassinated, 309 ; indignation against the murderers of, 309 ; Commentaries of, 397 Caesars, the two, 337, 338 Cadmus, founder of Thebes, 143, 163 Caiaphas, Christ before, 90 Cain, his descendants, 8 Caleb, exception on behalf of, 32 Calf, the golden, 31 Caligula, the emperor, 90, 331 Cambyses, conquers Egypt, 104 ; conquers Psammenitus, 136 ; dis- astrous expedition into Ethiopia, 137 ; kills his brother Smerdis and his sister Meroe, 137 ; death of, 137 Camillus, triumph and banishment of, 251; dictator, 253; van- quishes the Gauls, 254 Campus Martius, the, 234 Canon, the, insertions in, 79 Capitol, of Rome, founded, 238 ; in danger from the Gauls, 253 Cappadocia, the Kings of, 155 Captivity, Babylonian, 68 ; the Jews under, 70 Caracalla, the emperor, 335 ; and the barbarians, 348 Caranus, founder of Macedonia, 205 Carchemish, site of, 68, note. Carthage, a commercial city, 116; constitution of, 116 ; magistrates and government of, 117; com- merce and opulence of, 117, 118 ; armies of, 118; conquests of, 119; rupture with Rome, 119; struggle with Rome, 120; to pay tribute to Rome, 120 ; in peril by mutiny, 120, 121 ; last blow to, 121; concludes atreaty with Rome, 121 ; religion and deities of, 123 ; treatment of her generals, 124 ; a Roman province, 125 ; a maritime power, 261 ; after the first Punic war, 263 ; fall of, 269, 277 Carus, the emperor, and his sons 337 Cassander, 213 Cassiterides, the, 118 Cassius, conspires against Caesar, 309 ; vanquished at Philippi, and suicide, 312 Catiline, conspiracy, 298, 299 ; death, 299 Cato, the -elder, and his D&enda Carthago, 122 ; drives Antiochus out of Italy, 271 ; victory at Emporise, 273 ; urges the destruc- tion of Carthage, 273 ; defeat of Antiochus, at Magnesia, 271 ; as censor, 280 ; animus against Greek philosophy, 393 Cato, the younger, banished from Rome, 300 ; suicide of, 307 Catullus, 396 422 INDEX Caudine Forks, affair of the, 256 Cecrops founds Athens, 163 Censors, the, office of, 249 Ceres, the fetes of, 203 Chalcedon, the battle of, 340 Chaldees, star-worshippers, 141 Cham, descendants of, 10, n Chamosh, 54 Champollion referred to, 115 Chanaan, land of, 1 1, 12 ; conquered and divided by the Israelites, 34 Childeric, 407 Children, the three, in the fiery furnace, 70 Chodorlahamor, defeat of, 13 Christ, world at advent of, 352 ; and His apostles, 354 Christian Society, the first, 355 Christianity, effects of, on Heathen- dom, 369 Christians, the early, persecutions of, 356-35 8 . 360-364; animosity of the Jews and the philosophers against, 358, 359 Chrysostom, St. John, 391 Church, progress of, under persecu- tion, 365 ; its functionaries, 370 ; the heresies in, 381 ; integrity of, notwithstanding, 382 Chushan - rasathaim, oppression of Israelites, 37 Cicero, saves Rome from Catiline conspiracy, 299 ; banishment, 300 ; recall, 304 ; opposes An- tony and favours Octavius, 310; killed, 311; his oratory, 394, 395 Cimon, in command in Asiatic war, 189; expedition of, 190; victories, 190 ; establishes supremacy of Athens, 190 ; makes Persia ac- knowledge independence of Greeks in Asia Minor and dies, 190 Cimbri, the, their devastations, 286 Cincinnatus, made Dictator, 246 Cinna, assassination of, 294 Circles, the, of Carthage, 117 Circumcision instituted, 14 Cison, the torrent of, 37 Civilis, the Batavian, 345 Claudius, the emperor, 90, 331 ; speech of, 258 Claudius II., the emperor, 336 Clement, fate of, 357 Clement, St., 366 Cleomenes, reforms of, in Sparta, 220 ; attempts defeated, 222 Cleopatra, widow of Physcon, 108 Cleopatra, captivates Caesar, 109 ; fascinates Antony, no; hopes to allure Octavian, no; suicide of, 1 10 Cleopatra the Syrian, 152, 153 Clodion, the long-haired, 406 Clodius, and Cicero, 300 ; death of, 35 Clovis, 407 Clytemnestra, 168 Code of the Twelve Tables, 399 Codrus, death of, 170, 178 Coliseum, the, 401 Colonies, Roman, 259, 260 Columna Rostrata, the, 262 Columns of Trajan and Antoninus, 401 Commodus, miserable reign of, 333 ; and the barbarians, 348 Constans, 372, 373 Constantine, 339 ; triumphs over his rivals, 339 ; his vision of the cross, 339 ; embraces Christianity, 340 ; sole master of the empire, 340 ; transports seat of empire to By- zantium, 340 ; his aristocracy, 341 ; administration, 341 ; errors of, 342 ; death, 342 ; and the Franks, 348 ; his Christianity, 368 ; his successors, 372 ; and Arianism, 382, 383 INDEX 423 Constantine II. , King of the West, fate of, 372 Constantinople, Council of, 388 Constantius II., 384, 385 Constantius Chlorus, 338, 339 ; and the Franks, 348 ; esteem for Christianity, 368 Constantius, King of the East, 372 ; sole master of the empire, 373 ; the barbarians too much for, 373 ; death of, 375 Consulate, establishment at Rome, 239 Corbulo, 349 Corey ra, quarrel with Corinth, 191 Core, Dathon, and Abiron, 32 Corinth, quarrel with Corey ra, 191 ; sack and ruin of, 275 Coriolanus, exile and revenge, 244 Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, 281 Crassus, the eagles of, with the ParthLans, 159; subdues Spar- tacus, 297 ; influence of, 297 ; combining with Pompey and Caesar, 299 ; against the Par- thians, 304 ; assassinated, 305 Croesus, of Lydia, 133 ; unites Asia Minor under one sceptre, 134; attacked and vanquished by Cy- rus, 135 ; in exile and death, 135 Cross, the triumph of, 354 Cumae founded, 171 Cyclades, the, 143, note I Cynocephalse, 270 Cynoegirus, bravery of, 185 Cyprian, St., martyr, 362 Cyaxeres at Babylon, 72, 132 Cyrus, lays siege to and takes Babylon, 72, 131 ; edict of, in favour of the Jews, 73, 74 ; fables about, 133 ; early renown, 133 ; early victories, 133 ; conquers but spares Croesus, 135 ; conquers Syria and Babylon, 1 35 ; friendli- ness to the Jews, 136 DACII, the, subdued by Trajan, 347 Dalila, traitress of Samson, 40 Dan, the situation of, 53 Daniel, in Babylon, 70 ; piety and wisdom, 70, 71 ; interprets the King's dream, 71 ; loaded with honours, 71 ; in the lion's den, 72 ; interpretations of prophecy, 72 ; and Cyrus, 72, 73 Darius, son of Hystaspes, 138, 139: ravages the coasts of Asia Minor, 1 88 ; invades Greece, 184 ; is defeated at Marathon, 185 ; pre- pares to renew war but dies, 185 Darius Codomanus, defeats of, by Alexander, 208, 210 ; offers half his kingdom to Alexander, 210 ; assassinated, 210 Datis and Artaphernes disembark near Athens, 184 David, 45 ; slays Goliath, 45 ; lament of, over Saul and Jona- than, 47 ; consecrated king and recognised, 47 ; in Jerusalem, 48; forbidden to build a temple, 48 ; conquests of, 48, 49 ; double crime of, and punishment, 50 ; troubles in family of, 50 ; over the death of Absalom, 50 ; death of, 51 ; his psalms, 51 Debbora, the prophetess, 37 ; her s n g. 37 Decalogue, the, 29, 30 Decius, the persecution of, 362 Deioces, reign of, 131 ; founds Ecbatana, 132 Delphi, the oracle at, 203 Delta, the, in Egypt, 99, note Demetrius Nicator, 153 Demetrius Nicator and Simon, 86 Demetrius Phalereus, 220 424 INDEX Demetrius Poliorcetes, expeditions of, 215 Demetrius Soter and Jonathan, 84 Demosthenes, and his Philippics, 199, 206; flight of, before Philip, 207 ; return of, 207 ; suicide of, 219 Denis, St., martyr, 362 Deucalion, of the Deluge, 164 Diana, temple of, at Ephesus, 201 Dictator, office of, 242 Didius Julianus, 334 Dido, foundress of Carthage, 116 Diocletian, in the East, 336 ; reign and court of, 337 ; his adminis- tration, 337, 338 ; death of, 338 ; persecution of, 363 Divination in Greece, 203 Domitian, the emperor, 332 Dorian colonies and cities, 172 Dorus, 164 Draco, first lawgiver of Athens, 179 ; laws of, abolished by Solon, 181 Drusus, the Tribune, 292 Duillius, naval victory of, 262 Duumvirs, the, 260 ECBATANA, founded by Deioces, 131 Egeria, the nymph, 234 Eglon, oppression of, 37 Egypt, land, n ; corn in, 21 ; the cradle of nations, 97 ; soil, 98 ; peoples, 99 ; early history, 99 ; divisions of, 99 ; one nation, 101 ; subdued by Nebuchodonosor and Cambyses, 104; under the Ptolemies, 105-110; declared a Roman province, no, 316; priests, 111-113; government, 112; power of kings, 112; warriors, 113; laws and tribu- nals, 113; arts and monuments, 1 14 ; pyramids and obelisks, 1 14 Egyptians, the, religion and wor- ship, 111,112; arts, 114; sciences, "5 Ela, son of Baasa, 56 Elam, and the Elamites, 1 1 ; King f, 13 Eleazar, the elder, self-sacrifice of, 8 1 Eleazar, Aaron's son and suc- cessor, 33 Eleazar, the heroic Jew at Beth- sura, 84 Eleusis, site, 163 ; city, 203 Elephantini, in Egypt, 99 Elias, prediction of, 58 ; flights of, 58 ; the ravens and the widow of Sarephta, 59 ; and the priests of Baal, 59 ; denunciation of Achab and Jezabel, 59 ; and Jehu, 60 Eliezer, mission into Mesopo- tamia, 15 Empires, the four great, 71 Endor, Witch of, 46 ; site of, 46 Ennius, his work as a poet, 392 Epaminondas, the Theban, struggle against Sparta, 196 ; fall and last words of, 197 ; instructor of Philip II., 205 Ephesus founded, 171 Ephori, the Spartan, 175 Ephraim, portion of tribe of, 35 Ephraim, Mount, 37 Epigoni, the, 167 Epimenides, and anarchy in Athens, 179 Erectheus founds Eleusis, 163 Esar-haddon conquers Babylon, 130 Esau, birth of, 16 ; supplanted by Jacob, 17 ; meeting with Jacob in Edom, 18 Esculapius, father of medicine, 201 Esdras, zeal for Judaism, 77 Esther intercedes for Mardochai, 76 INDEX 425 Eteocles and Polynices, 167 Etruria before founding of Rome, 230 Etruscans, early civilisation, 229 ; rise of, against Rome, 240 ; com- pel Rome to accept an ignominious treaty, 241 Euclid, father of geometry, 201 Eugenius, the phantom emperor, 379 Eumenes, and Perdiccas, 213 ; death of, 214 Eumenes II., conquests of, 154 Eunus, leader of the slaves, 288 Eupatoria, the, of Athens, 178 Euphrates, the, 125, note 2 Euripides, the tragic poet, 198 Eurybiades, in command against Xerxes, 187 Eusebius and Arianism, 382, 383 Eve. See Adam Evil-Merodach, 71 Ezechias, wise reign of, 65, 66 Ezechiel, referred to, 145 FABIANUS, death of, 362 Fabii, the, patriotism and fate of, 245 Fabius Maximus, 256 ; Cunctator, 264 ; superseded, 265 Felicitas, the martyr, 360 Fetiales, the, of Rome, 235 Flamens, the, of Rome, 234 Flaminius, the consul, fights with the Greeks against Philip, 217, 270 ; at the Isthmic games, 223 ; misleading announcement of, 270 Florus, 397 Fortunate Islands, 143 Franks, the, 348 ; and Germans, 402 ; the Ripuarian, 406 ; the Salian, 406 GABAONITES, the, 34 Gainas, the Goth, 404 Galba, the butchery of, 273 ; elected emperor, and assassinated, 332 Galenus, the physician, 398 Galerius, 338 ; persecution of, 363 Galgacus defeated by Agricola, 346 Gallia, Cisalpine and Transalpine, 229, note 2 Gallian, 248 Gallienus, the emperor, 336 Gallus, the emperor, 336 Games, the, in Greece, 170; the Olympic, 171, 204 Gaul, subjugation of, by Caesar, 303 ; disaffection towards the empire, 344 Gauls, the, in Italy, 229, 252 ; de- feat the Romans at Allia, 252 ; enter Rome, 252 ; attack the Capitol, 253 ; retire from Rome, 253 ; second invasion of, 254 ; vanquished by Camillus, 254 ; Cisalpine, reduced by Rome, 274 ; the conversion of, 366 Gaza, Samson in, 40 ; site of, 40, note Gazer, 52 Gedeon, the judge, 38 Gelboe, site of, 47, note Genevieve, St., 411 Genseric, the Vandal, 410 Gentiles, the isles of, 1 1 Gerizin, erection of temple at, 77 Germanicus, conquests in Germany, 344 Germany, tribes of, 402 Gerontius, 408 Gerusia, the, of Carthage, 117 Gessen, land of, 100 Gessius Florus, tyranny, 90 Giants, the primeval, 8 Glabrion, fate of, 357 God, sons of, 8 ; unity of, 29 Goliath slain by David, 45 426 INDEX Gomates, the impostor, fate of, 137 Gomorrha, destruction of, 14 Goths, the, appearance of, 348 Gracchi, the, domination, 281-284 Gracchus, Tiberius, 281 ; assassi- nated, 283 Gracchus, Caius, 283, 284 Gratianus, incidents on his acces- sion, 377 ; associated with Theo- dosius, 378 ; death, 378 Great Plains, the, battle of, 268 Greece, fabulous, heroic and histori- cal times, 161 ; early inhabitants, 161 ; heroes, 165 ; republican- ism in, 169, 170; unity of, and its causes, 170; colonies of, 171, 172; seven sages of, 180 ; proud epoch in history of, 183 ; panic in, at Persian invasion, 184, 186; glory of, 197; literature of, 197-199 ; eloquence in, 199 ; philosophy of, 199, 200 ; fine arts in, 200, 201 ; science in, 201 ; reli- gions of, and deities, 203, 204 Gregory, St., of Nazianzus, 389, 390 HADRIAN, raises a temple to Jupiter in Jerusalem, 92 ; colonises the city, 92 ; the emperor, 333 ; the rampart of, in Britain, 346 ; im- policy of, in dealing with the Bar- barians, 347 ; restricts the empire to its old limits, 349 Hamilcar, saves Carthage, 120 ; in Spain, 121 ; makes his son swear eternal hatred to Rome, 121 Hamilcar Barca, 263, 264 Hannibal, sworn foe to Rome, at- tacks Saguntum, 121 ; at the head of the Carthaginian armies, 264 ; crosses the Alps, 264 ; con- quers Scipio, Sempronius, and Flam'mius, the consuls, 264 ; sees his army dwindling away, 265 ; victory at Cannae, 265 ; faction opposed to, 266 ; deserted, 266 ; retires into Bruttium, 268 ; his last campaigns, 269 ; recalled, 268; beaten at Zama, 121, 268; appeal to Antiochus, 271 ; about to be given up to the Romans, poisons himself, 122, 272 Haran, site of, 17 Harmodius rids Athens of a tyrant, 182 Harnac in Egypt, 100 Hasdrubal, aids Hamilcar in Spain, 121 ; prepares to pass into Italy, 267 ; defeated on the Metaurus, 267 ; his head thrown into Han- nibal's camp, 267 Hazael, 60 Heber, n Hebrews, the, in Egypt, delivered by Moses, ibi Hector of Troy, 168 Helen carried off by Paris, 167 Helena, mother of Constantino, 369 Heli, the high priest, and his sons, 41 Heliodorus, in the temple, 80; judg- ment on, 151 Heliogabalus, the emperor, 335 Hellen and his descendants, 164 Hellespont, the, 186, note Helotes, the, of Sparta, 173, 175 Henoch, his translation, 8 Heptanomide, the, in Egypt, 99 Heraclidae, the conquests and vic- tories, 169, 171 Hercules, the pillars of, 104; labours, referred to, 165 ; after exploits, 1 66; worship, 203 Herdonius, 246 Herod Antipas, 89 ; Christ before, 90 Herod Agrippa, King of Judaea, 90 Herod of Ascaelon, 88, 89 INDEX 427 Herodian, 397 Herodotus, in Egypt, 91 ; the father of history, 199 Heser, 52 Hesiodus and his poetry, 198 Hiddekel of Edin, 125 Hiero, revolt against, 261 Hieroglyphics, the, of Egypt, 115 Hipparchus, reign of, 182 Hippias, rule and deposition of, 182 Hippocrates, 202 Hiram, of Tyre, and King David, 48 ; and Solomon, 53 Holofernes slain by Judith, 67, 130 Homer and his immortal poem, 198 Honorius, empire of, 404, 406-409 Horace, and Augustus, 323 ; the poems of, 396 Horatii and Curiatii, combat be- tween, 235 Horatius Codes, feat of, 241 Hosea, the prophet, 63, 64 Huns, the, 377 Huns and Alani, movements of, 402, 410 Hyksos, the, in Egypt, 23, 100 Hyrcanus II., 87, 88 IAPTGIANS in Italy, 229 Iberians in Italy, 229 Idolatry, hatred of, among the Jews, 28, 29 Idumaea separated from Juda, 58 Idumaeans defeated by David, 49 Illyrii in Italy, 229 Ignatius, fate of, 357 Immortals, the Persian, 139 Inachus, the Pelasgian chief, 162 Ion, 164 Ionia, troubles in and revolt of, 183 lonians, the, and their cities, 171 Ipsus, bloody battle of, 215 Irenseus, St., martyr, 360 ; mission of, 366 Isaac, 14 ; offered in sacrifice, 15 ; blesses Jacob, 17 ; death of, 19 Isai, the father of David, 39 Isaias, the prophet, 63, 66 Isboseth proclaimed king, 47 Isis, god of Egypt, in Ismael, 13; driven forth, his de- scendants, 14 Ismaelites, the, (4 Israel, heads of twelve tribes of, 18 ; the name, 18 ; kingdom of, founded, 55 ; annihilation of, 64 Israelites, disliked and persecuted by the Egyptians, 23 ; departure of, from Egypt, 25 ; by the Red Sea shore, 26 ; in the desert, 26 ; religion of, 28-30 ; idolatry and unfaithfulness among, 31 ; masters of Chanaan, 34 ; after Josue's death, 35 Italy, early inhabitants of, 229 ; rise in, against Rome, 242 ; southern, conquest of, 257 ; civil war in, 292 JABES-GALAAD, site of, 44 Jabin, oppression of, 37 Jacob, 1 6 ; supplants Esau, 17 ; at Bethel, 17, 18 ; sons of, 18 ; and Esau reconciled, 18 ; named Israel, 18 ; partiality for Joseph, 19 ; goes down to Egypt, 21 ; blesses his children and dies, 22 Jaddua, the high priest, and Alex- ander, 209 Jahel kills Sasara, 37 Janus, the ancient Italian deity, 318 Japheth, descendants of, 10, n Jason and the golden fleece, 1 66 Jehoash, glorious reign of, 62 Jehoiachim, reign of, and fall, 68 Jehu, actions of, 60 Jephte, the judge, and his rash vow, 39 Jeremias, lamentations of, 68, 70 ; 428 INDEX prediction of, 69 ; remains in the land, 69 Jericho taken by Josue, 34 Jeroboam, threatens to divide the kingdom, 54 ; King of Israel, 55 ; his royal city, 55 ; idolatry of, at Bethel and Dan, 56 Jeroboam II., reign of, 62, 63 Jerome, St., his character and work, 390 Jerusalem, a royal residence, 48 ; situation of, 48 ; reduced to ashes, 69 ; last siege of, 91 ; change of name, 92 Jesac conquers Jerusalem and Palestine, 103 Jesus Christ, birth of, 89 ; his life, 89 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, 24 Jews, return of, to Judaea, 74 ; in Persia, 75, 76 ; separated from the Samaritans, 77 ; revolt under Gessius Floras, 90 ; their defence of Jerusalem, 91 ; revolt under Hadrian, 92 ; ruin of nation of, 93 Jezabel, wife of Achab, 58 ; fate of, 60 Joab, David's general, his conquests, 49 ; kills Absalom, 50 ; put to death by Solomon, 51 Joachaz, reign of, 60 ; led captive, 68 Joas, reign of, 6 1 ; cruelty and death of, 61 Jocasta and (Edipus, 166 John, St., 355, 357 John, the high priest, crime of, 77 John Hyrcanus, reign of, 86 Joiada, the high priest, and Joas, 6 1 Jonas, the prophet, 63 Jonathan, favour with the people, 44 ; affection for David, 46 ; death of, 47 Jonathan, brother of Judas Macha- beus, 85 Joram, unhappy reign and death of, 58-60 Josaba, sister of Ochozias, 61 Josaphat, reign of, 57 Joseph, his dreams and his brothers, 19 ; sold to Potiphar in Egypt, 19 ; in prison, 20 ; and Pharao's dreams, 20 ; over Egypt, 20 ; during the famine, 21 ; brings his father and family to Egypt, 21 ; death of, 22 Josephus, and the war of the Jews, 90 ; in the ranks of the enemy, 91 ; on Alexander, 209 Joshua, the high priest, 80 Josias, reforming reign of, 67 Josue, in command under Moses, 27 ; exception in favour of, 32 ; Moses' successor, 33 ; crosses the Jor- dan, 33 ; takes Jericho, 34 ; makes the sun stand still, 34 ; administration, death, and last words of, 35 Josue, the high priest, at the resto- ration, 74 Jotham, pious reign of, 63 Jovinus, general and emperor, 377 Juda, kingdom of, founded, 55 ; fall, 69 Judaea, subject now to Egypt, now to Syria, 79 ; under the Seleu- cidae, 79 Judas Machabeus, zeal and suc- cesses of, 82, 83 ; purifies the temple and celebrates a new dedi- cation, 83 ; besieges Jerusalem, 84 ; at Bethsura, 84 ; recognised chieftain of the Jews, 84 ; aban- donment and death of, 85 ; la- ment over his death, 85 Judges, rise of the, 35 ; power of, 36 INDEX 429 Judith, heroic deed of, 67 Jugurtha, ambition and usurpation of, 285 ; slays Hiempsal and Adherbal, 285 ; fate of, 286 Julia, the death of, 304 Julian, the apostate, 372 ; victory near Strasburg, 374 ; embellishes Lutece, 375 ; his measures of re- form and fame, 375 ; accepts the crown, 375 ; declares his apostacy and becomes sole ruler, 375 ; regal power, 376 ; death, 377 ; hatred of Christianity, 385 ; his tactics, 386 ; re - establishes paganism, 386 ; pillages the Church, 386 ; encourages heretics, 387 ; death of, 387 Jupiter, worship of, 203 Justin, St., 366 Juvenal, 398 LABAN, Rebecca's brother, 15 Labarum, the, of Constantino, 339 Labyrinth, the, construction of, 103 Lactantius, the Cicero of Chris- tianity, 389 Lamiac War, 219 Land, the Promised, 13 Laomedon, 166 Lathyrus and Alexander I., disputes of, 1 08 Latins, defeated by Rome, 256 Latinus, union with ^Eneas, 230 Law, the Jewish, characteristics of, 28 Leo, St., 41 1 Leonidas at Thermopylae, 187 Lepidus, 296 ; seconds Antony, 310 ; in the second triumvirate, 311 Leuctres, battle of, 196 Levites, the, 30, 34 Lia, wife of Jacob, her sons, 18 Liberius, the Pope, and Arianism, 385 Livius, consul, defeats Hasdru- bal, 267 Livius, Titus, the historian, 396 Lot, 12; in Sodom, 13; leaves Sodom, 14 Lucanus, 397 Lucius Scipio Asiaticus defeats Antiochus at Magnesia, 271 ; dies in exile, 272 Lucretius, his poem, 393 Lucullus massacres a garrison, 273 Lud and his descendants, 1 1 Luxor, in Egypt, 100 ; obelisk, 114 Lycurgus, lawgiver of Sparta, 173 ; legislation, 174, 175; binds the Spartans to his laws, 175 Lydia, origin and power of, 134 Lysander, the Spartan, subdues Athens, 193 Lysias, defeated by Judas Macha- beus, 83 Lysimachus, varied fortunes of, 215, 216 Lysippus, the sculptor, 20 1 MACEDONIA, the kingdom, founded, 205 ; a Roman province, 2 1 7 Macomani, the, 347 Maecenas, art-patron of Rome, 323 Magi, their teachings, 141 ; at the birth of Christ, 353 Mageddo, 52 Magiddo, 68 Mago, defeat of, 268 Magophonia, festival of, 138 Malachias, his prophecies, 77 Mamertini, appeal to Rome, 120; victory of,, over Syracuse and Carthage, 261 Manahem, reign of, 63 Manasses, portion of tribe of, 35 Manasses, wicked reign of, 66, 130 Mandane, Astyages' daughter, 132 430 INDEX Manetho, referred to, 99 Manilian law, the, 289 Manlius, his repulse of the Gauls, 253 ; precipitated from the Capi- tol, 253 Manlius Torquatus, 254 Manna, the, 27, 31 Mantinea, battle of, 197 Marathon, field of, 184 ; victory of, 184 Marcellus, defeats Hannibal, 266 ; takes Syracuse, 266 ; grief at death of, 323 Marcus Aurelius, reign of, 333 ; and the Christians, 359 ; policy of, and troubles with the Bar- barians, 347 Mardochai, persecuted by Aman, 75 Mardonius, failure of his expedi- tion, 184; death of, 188 Marius, Caius, appears to avenge the Gracchi, 285 ; reduces Numidia, 286 ; popularity, 286 ; elected consul, 287 ; victories over the Teutones and the Cimbri, 287 ; rivalry with Sulla, 291, 293 ; ambition of, 291 ; temporary re- tirement of, 292 ; flight of, 293 ; to the slave, 293 ; on the ruins of Carthage, 293 ; recalled to Rome, 294 ; domination in Rome, 294 ; death, 294 Marjorian invested with the purple, 412 Martyrdom, the era of, 363, 364 Mars, god of Sparta, 203 Massilia (Marseilles), 172 Masinissa attacks Carthage, 276 Mathathias, revolt of, against Syria, 81, 82 Mathusala, age of, 8 Mausolius, tomb of, 188 Maximus taken and put to death, 379 Maximinus, persecution of, 364 Maximianus Herculius, 337-339 Maxentius, 339 ; proscriptions of, 364 Media, the kingdom of, 131 Melchisedech and Abram, 13 Melkarth, the Phoenician Hercules, 144 Memnon, the statue of, 1 14 ; the Rhodian, 208 Memphis, 99 ; capital city of Hyksos, 100 Men, the sons of, 8 Menander, 199 Menelaus, 167, 168 Menenius Agrippa and his apo- logue, 243 Menenius, the tribune, 245 Menes, first king of Thebes, 99 Meroe, murdered by Cambyses, 137 Merovseus, 407 Mesopotamia, 125 Messalina, the empress, 331 Messana, capture of, 261 Messenian Wars, the, 176, 177 Metellus, reduces Macedonia into a province, 218 ; defeats Andris- cus, 275 ; at Numidia, 286 Micheas, the prophet, 63 Micipsa and Jugurtha, 285 Miletus founded, 171 Milo and Clodius, 305 Miltiades, at Marathon, 184; cruel fate of, 185 Minerva, goddess of Athens, 203 Minucius, 246 Miphiboseth, David's kindness to, 47 Misraim, 1 1 Mithridates the Great, his wars with the Romans, 158 ; butchery of, 288 ; vanquished by Sulla, 288 ; arrest of, by Lucullus, 289 ; INDEX 431 pursued by Pompey and death, 158, 289 Mithridates I. of Parthia, 159 Mithridates VI. of Pontus, 157 Mitylene founded, 171 Moabites, 14 ; defeated by David, 49 Mceris, Lake, 101 ; described, 115 Molech, 54, 124, 144 Montmartre, 362 Moses, birth of, 24 ; flight to Madian, and marriage, 24 ; at the burning bush, 24 ; return of, to Egypt with Aaron, 25 ; crosses the Red Sea, 26 ; song of, 26 ; legislation of, 27, 30 ; on Mount Sinai, 27, 31 ; law of, 28 ; on Mount Nebo, death of, 33 Mucius Scsevola, 241 Mummies of Egypt, 112, note Mummius takes and destroys Corinth, 225 Mycale, disaster at, 188 NAAS, defeated by Saul, 44 Naboth, cruel fate of, 59 Nabonassar, era of, 129 Nabopolasser besieges and takes Nineve, 130 Nabuchodonosor I., 66 ; conquers Nechao and takes Jerusalem, 68 ; treatment of Jewish captives, 70 ; his statue to Baal and his decree, 70 ; fate of, 71 Nabuchodonosor II., his violence and fate, 130 Nachor, Abram's brother, 15 Nadab, reign of, 56 Nathan, the prophet, and David, 50 Nechao, King of Egypt, 68 Neco, commercial zeal and enter- prises of, 103 Nehemias, zeal of, in rebuilding Jerusalem, 76, 77 Nemrod, founder of Babel, 125 ; successors, 126 Nero, emperor, 331 Nerva, the emperor, 333 Nicaea, council of, 383 ; creed of, 383 Nicanor, defeated by Judas Macha- beus, 83 ; death of, 84 Nicias, in command against Syra- cuse, 192 ; fate, 192 Nicomedes, his legacy to Rome, 1 56 Nile, importance of, to Egypt, 98 ; course of, 98 ; arms of, 99 Nineve, repentance of, 63 ; rise of, 125 ; as extended by Ninus, 127 ; site of, 127 ; fall of, 130 Ninus, reign of, 127; assassinated, 127 Ninyas and his successors in Baby- lon, 128 Noe, sons of, 9-12 ; and the deluge, 9. I0 Noemi, Ruth's mother-in-law, 39 Noph, in Egypt, 99 Numantia, fall of, 274, 278 Numitor, dethronement, 230; re- stored, 231 OBED, the father of Isai, 39 Ochozias, reign and death of, 58 Octavian annexes Egypt to Rome, no Octavius, the tribune, 282 Octavius, Caesar's heir,3io ; favoured by senate and people, 310; de- feats Antony, 310; unites with Antony and Lepidus, 311 ; con- duct at Philippi, 312; over western provinces, 312 ; van- quishes Antony at Actium, 316 ; master of the world, 317; con- stant policy as a ruler, 317, 319 ; assumes the name of Augustus, 317. (See Augustus) 432 INDEX Odenatus, the emperor, 336 ; alli- ance with Severus, 349 Odoacer, the Herule, 412 QEdipus, story of, 1 66 Olympiads, the, 171 Olympias, ambition and death, 213 Olympus, the heaven of the Greeks, 202 Ophni, conduct and fate of, 41 Opimius, consul, and his massacre of Caius Gracchus and his par- tisans, 284 Orestes, the patrician, 412 Origen at Alexandria, 361 ; 366 Ormazd, the Persian, 141 Otho elected emperor, 332 Othoniel, and Israel under him, 37 Ovid, his Metamorphoses, 396 PALMYRA, in the Arabian desert, 52, note Panteuus, 366 Papirius Cursor, 256 Papyrus, the, of Egypt, 115 Paradise, the terrestrial, 5 Paralipomenon, the, 77 Paran, Wilderness of, 14, 26 Paris, the rape of, 167 Parrhasius, the painter, 2OI Parthian retreat, a, 159 Parthians, in Armenia, 349 ; de- feat, 350 Paschal Lamb, the, 25 Passover, the, and occasion of it, 25 Patmos, the isle, 357 Patres, the, of Rome, 233 Patriarchs, authority and habits of, 1 6 Patricians, the, of Rome, 239 Patroclus, 1 68 Patron and client in Rome, 239 Paul, the apostle, 355, 356 Paul, St., the hermit, 362 Pausanias, at Plataea, 188 ; in com- mand in Asiatic war, 189 ; ambi- tion and fate of, 189 Pelasgi, the, 162 Pelopidas, conspiracy of, 195 ; vic- tories of, against Sparta, 196 Peloponnesus, the, 164 Pelops, advent of, in Greece, 164 Pelusium, anciently Sin, site of, IO2 Perdiccas, proclaims himself regent after Alexander, 212 ; marries Alexander's sister, 213 ; death of, 213 Pericles, character and ambition of, 190; policy of, and Peloponnesian war, 191 ; death of, 192 ; age of, 190, 197 Perpetua, the martyr, 360 Perpetual Edict, the, 400 Perseus, defeat of, by ^Emilius Paul- lus, 218, 274 ; led in triumph to Rome, 275 Persian Empire, aggrandisement of power of, 139 ; government, manners and customs in, 139, 140 Persians, the, religion of, 141 ; astronomy and astrology among, 141 Persius, 398 Pertinax, the mad emperor, 334 Peter, St., 354, 355, 356 Petronus, Maximus, 411 Phaccia, short reign, 63 Phacee, the regicide, 63 Phaedrus, his fables, 396 Phalanx, Macedonian, 205 Pharamond, 406 Pharisees, the, 86 Pharao, and Joseph, 20; treatment of Israelites, 25 ; pursues Israel- ites, 26 ; drowned in Red Sea, 26 Pharaohs, the, in Egypt, 100, 103 Pharos, the, of Alexandria, 109 Pharsalia, defeat at, 307 ; of Lucan, 398 INDEX 433 Phidias, the sculptor, 191, 201 Philip, the doctor of Alexander, 208 Philip of Macedonia, 205 ; naval power of, founded, 206 ; avenger of temple of Delphi, 206 ; power overThessaly, 206 ; defeats Greeks at Chaeronea, 207 ; death of, 207 ; beaten at Epirus, 266 ; beaten at Cynocephalae, 270 Philip V. of Macedon falls before power of Rome, 217 Philippi, the battle of, 312 Philistines, subdued by Samson, 39, 40 ; victory of, 41 ; subdued, 42 ; attacked by Jonathan, 44 ; flight of, 46 Philopcemen, chief of Achaean League, 223, 224 Phinees, conduct and fate of, 41 Phocsea founded, 171 Phocion, advice and policy, 219; death, 220 Phoenicia, 142 ; capital and colonies of, 142 ; source of glory of, 143 ; invaded by Syrian and Babylonian armies, 143, 144 ; commerce of, 145 Phoenicians, the, religion of, 144 Phoroneus in Argolis, 162 Phraortes, 132 Phrygians, the, 134 Phul, King of Assyria, 63 Physcon, character and fortunes of, 107, 108 Pindar, the lyric poet, 198 Pisistratus, usurpation of power in Athens, 181 ; his government of Athens, 182 ; his successors, 182 Placidia, 408, 409 Plato, the philosopher, 200 Plautus as a poet, 393 Plebeians, the, discontent of, 242 ; retirement of, to the Sacred Mount, 243 ; the emancipation of, 254 ; dictator from, 254 Pliny, the younger, letter of, 365 Plotinus, 398 Plutarch, 397 Polybius, the historian, 396 Polycarp, St., 359, 360 Polynices and Eteocles, 167 Polysperchon, 213, 214 Pompey, arbiter in Jewish affairs, 88 ; overthrows Mithridates, 289 ; triumphs in Asia, 290 ; replaces Hyrcanus II. on throne of Judaea, 290 ; surnamed the Great, 295, 296 ; rival of Crassus, 297 ; clears the sea of pirates, 298 ; makes common cause with Crassus and Caesar, 299 ; remains in Rome, 300 ; becomes Caesar's enemy, 304 ; aims at supremacy, 305 ; orders Caesar to retire, 305 ; flight into Greece, 306 ; defeated at Pharsalia, 307 ; assassinated, 37 Pontifical Annals, 397 Pontius Telesinus, defeat of, 294 Pontius, the Samnite general, feat of, 256 Pontius Pilate, Christ before, 90 Porphyrion, 398 Porsena menaces Rome, 241 Porus and Alexander, 211 Praxiteles, the sculptor, 2OI Priam, King of Troy, 167 Priesthood, the, among the Jews, 30 Probus, the emperor, 336 ; and the Franks, 348 Propertius, 396 Provence, occupied by Rome, 300 Prusias II. of Bithynia, 156 Prusias and Hannibal, 272 Psammetichus, subdues all Egypt, I- 3 ; vanquished by Cambyses, 104 2 E 434 INDEX Ptolemaeus, 400 Ptolemy Alexander II. bequeaths his states to Rome, 108 Ptolemy Dionysius, marries his sister Cleopatra, 109; assassinates Pompey, 109 ; fate of, 109 Ptolemy Epiphanes, reign of and death, 107 Pto'emy Evergetes as conqueror and politician, 106, 107 Ptolemy Evergetes II., Egypt under, 109 Ptolemy Lagus, 216 Ptolemy Lathyrus, 87 Ptolemy Philadelphia, and the Septuagint, 79 ; founds Alex- andrian library, 106 ; devotion to learning, 106 ; enterprises and alliances, 106; builds the Pharos, 109 Ptolemy Philometor, 107 Ptolemy Philopator, profanity of, avenged, and counter revenge upon the Jews, 79 ; cruelties of, 107 Ptolemy Soter and Judaea, 79 Ptolemy, son of Lagus, wars of, 105 ; declared King of Egypt, 105 ; his reign, 106 Publius Scipio Africanus at Car- thage, 268 Pulcheria, 409 Punica fides, 1 21 Punic Wars, the, 119, 120 Putiphar, Joseph under, 19 ; his wife, 19 Pygmalion, 143 Pyramids of Egypt, 114 Pyrrhus of Epirus, gains and loses the Macedonian crown, 216 ; as- sists Tarentum, 258 ; negotiates for peace, 258 ; exclamation after a victory, 258 ; on leaving Italy, 258 ; death of, 259 Pythagoras, philosopher, and his school, 200, 201 Pythoness, the, 203 QUADI, the, 347 Quinquevirs, the, 260 Quirites, the, of Rome, 233 RACHEL, Jacob's wife, 17 ; her sons, 1 8 Ramoth-galaad, siege of, 58, 60 Razon, King of Syria, 54 Rebecca, wife of Isaac, 15. 16 Red Sea, the, 26 Regillus, Lake, victory of, 242 Regulus, a prisoner in Carthage, 262 ; ambassador to Rome, 262 ; fate, 263 Republicanism, gradual decay of, in Rome, 319 Rhadagaisus, 405, 406 Rhapsodists, the, 198 Rhea Silvia and her offspring, 230 Ricimer, the Suabian, 412 Roboam, as king, 54 ; only Juda and Benjamin faithful to, 55 > first King of Juda, 55 ; idolatry of, 55 ; death of, 55 Roman 'Empire, decease of, 381 Romans, as regards literary genius, 392 Rome, founding of, 232 ; destroyed and rebuilt, 253 ; after the battle of Cannae, 265 ; decadence of manners in, 278 ; decrease of im- perial power in, 328 ; military despotism in, 334 ; sacked, 411 Romulus, and Remus, birth of, 230 ; latter slain by the former, 232 ; first King of Rome, 232 ; his asylum for refugees, 232 ; ap- points a senate, 233 ; divides the plebeians into tribes, 233 ; rape of women, 233 ; early victories 435 of, 233 ; accepts Tatius as his colleague, 233 ; reigns alone, 233 ; mysterious disappearance of, 234 ; worshipped at Quirinus, 234 Romulus Augustulus, 412 Rosetta, 99 Roxana, Alexander's wife, 212 Royalty, abolition of, in Greece, 170 Rubicon, crossing the, 305 Rufin, the Gaul, 404 Ruth, the Moabitess, 39 SABA, queen of, visit to Solomon, 53 Sabaco, the Ethiopian, 64 Sabeism, character of, 141 Sabines, reconciled to Romulus, 233 ; incorporated among the Romans, 233 Sabinus, ambition and fate, 345 Sacred Mount, the, secession to, 243, 244 Sadducees, the, 86 Saguntum, siege of, 121 ; site of, 121 ; a Hellenic colony, 172 Salamis, position of, 187 ; battle of, 1 88 Salii, the, of Rome, 235 Sallust, 397 Salmanasar annihilates the king- dom of Israel, 64 Salt, Valley of, 61, note Samaria, capital of kingdom of Israel, 56 ; siege of, 60 ; punished by Alexander the Great, 78 Samaritans, interrupt the rebuild- ing of the temple, 75 ; the, seces- sion of, 77 Samnites, war with, 255-257 Samos founded, 171 Samson, displays of strength, 39 ; enemy of Philistines, 40 ; be- trayal and death, 40 Samuel, priesthood of, 41 ; ap- pointed judge, 41 ; conquers the Philistines, 42 ; intercedes with the Lord for a king, 42 ; sent to Saul and anoints him, 43 ; rejects Saul and anoints David, 45 Sanhedrim, the council of the Jews, massacred by Herod, 88 Saosduchin, King of Assyria, 66 Sapor, victories of, 350 Sapor II., victories over the Ro- mans, 373 ; his demands, 374 ; concludes a peace, 377 Sappho, the poetess, 198 Sarai, Abram's wife, 13 Sardanaplus, fortunes and fate, 129 Sardica, council of, confirms the Nicene Creed, 384 Sardis, site of, 135, note Sarephta, the widow of, 59 Satraps, the, of Assyria, 128 Saturn, reign and dethronement, 162 Saturninus, the Tribune, 292 Saul, anointed king, 43 ; hailed second time king after defeat of the Ammonites, 44 ; his offence and its punishment, 44 ; conquers the Amalecites, and takes Agag prisoner, 45 ; offends Samuel, 45 ; rejected as king, 45 ; soothed by David's harp playing, 45 ; gives Michol in marriage to David, 46 ; jealousy of David, and persecu- tion of him, 46 ; consults the Witch of Endor, 46 ; death of, 47 Saxons, movements of, 402 Scipio^milianusAfricanus,besieges Carthage and brings about its ruin, 277 ; takes Numantia, 278 ; found dead, 283 Scythia, situation of, 138, note 43 6 INDEX Scyths, the region of, 136, note Sedecias, reign and fate of, 69 Sejanus, minister of Tiberius, his fate, 330 Seleucus, establishes himself in Syria, 148; extent of his dominion, 148; assassinated, 148; general- issimo of cavalry, 148, 212 ; becomes master of Babylon, 213; varied fortunes of, 215, 216 Seleucus Callinicus, 149 Seleucus Ceraunus, 149 Seleucus Nicanor and the Jews, 79 Seleucus Philopator sends to pillage the Temple, 80; 151 Seleucidae, the, discords, 149, 151 ', divine judgments on, 152, 1535 dissolution of the empire of, 1 54 Sellum, 63 Sem, descendants of, 10, 1 1 Semei, insults David, 50; put to death, 51 Semiramis, 127 ; her victories and exploits, 127, 128 ; builds walls of and adorns Babylon, 128 Sempronius Gracchus, 273 Seneca, 394, 397 Sennacherib, his siege of Jerusalem, 66 ; and Juda, 130 Sentinum, defeat of, 257 Septuagint, the, Version of, 79, 106 Serpent, the, in Eden, 6; the brazen, 32 Sertorius, his struggles and fate, 297 Servius Tullius, reign of, 236, 237 Sesac, sack of Jerusalem by, 55 Sesostris, expeditions and conquests of, 102 ; services to Egypt, IO2 Seth, birth and descendants of, 8 Sethos, priest of Vulcan, 103 Severus, Alexander, emperor, 335 ; successors, 336 ; favourable to Christianity, 361 Severus, Septimus, emperor, 334 ; his maxim and policy, 335 ; the wall of, in Britain, 346 ; perse- cuted the Christians, 360 Sextus Pompeius, and his fleet, 312 ; defeated at Naulochus, 314 Shalmanasar at Tyre, 143 Shalmanesir and Israel, 129 Shinar, the plain of, 125, note I Shur, desert of, 26, note 2 Sichemites and the sons of Jacob, 18 Sicily, a war arena, 119; Roman province, 266 Sidon, first capital of Phoenicia, 142 Silius Italicus, 398 Simon, treason of, 79 ; sent into exile, 80 Simon the Machabean, reign of, 86 Simon the Magician, the first heretic, 382 Simon, St., fate of, 357 Sin, the desert of, 26, note 2 Sinai, region of, 26 ; Mount, 27 Sion, Mount, the city of David, 48 Sisara, fate of, 37 Slaves, revolt of, 288 Smerdis, slain by Cambyses, 137 ; personated by Gomates, 137 Smyrna founded, 171 Socrates, the death of, 194 ; his disciples, 200 Sodom, destruction of, 14 Soldiers of Rome, 250 Solon, one of the seven sages of Greece, Archon in Athens, 180 ; his reforms, 180; legislation of, 180, 181 Solomon, birth of, 50 ; ascends the throne, 5 1 ; prays for and obtains wisdom, 51 ; admired for his wisdom, 51 ; builds the Temple, 52 ; other public works of, 52 ; extends his kingdom, 52 ; peace under his reign, 53 ; riches of, INDEX 437 53 ; army of, 53 ; homage to, 53 ; luxuriousness and idolatry of, S3) 54 j writings of, 54 ; punish- ment for his unfaithfulness, and death, 54 Sophocles, the tragic poet, 198 Spain, insurrection in, 272 ; paci- fied, 273 ; the tomb of the legions of Rome, 273 Sparta, founded by Sparto, 163 ; rise of, 172 ; first kings of, 173 ; political changes in, 173; edu- cation in, 174 ; constitution of, 175; a powerful republic, 176; in the Peloponnesian war, 191, 192 ; fall of, 195 ; vanquishes the Achaean League, 221 ; supports the Achaean League, 222 Spartacus, the gladiator, 297 Sphinxes of Egypt, 114 Spies, the, report of, 32 Sporades, 143, note 2 Spurius Cassius and his agrarian law, 244, 245 Statius, 398 Stephen, St., 355 Stilicho, the Vandal, 404, 407 Strabo, 400 Suetonius Paulinus, 346 Suez, gulf of, 26, note I Suez, 100, note I Suffetes, the, of Carthage, 117 Sulla, takes Jugurtha prisoner, 286 ; vanquishes Mithridates, 288 ; re- called to Italy, 289 ; rivalry with Marius, 291, 293 ; terminates the civil war, 293 ; successes of 294 ; butcheries and proscriptions of, 295 ; his aim, 295 ; jealousy of Caesar, 295 ; perpetual dictator, 295 ; administration of, 295 ; re- tirement of and death, 296 ; funeral and epitaph, 296 Susanna, the chaste, 71 Synagogues, institution of, 77 Synedrin, the, of Carthage, 117 Syracuse, and Carthage, 119; a Corinthian colony, 1 72 ; fall, 266 Syria, realms of, 147 ; successive fortunes of, 147 ; decadence of, 151 ; a Roman province, 153 Syrians, defeat by kings of Israel, 62 TABERNACLE, the, 31 Tacitus, the emperor, 336 Tacitus, the greatest portrayer of antiquity, 397 Tadmor, the great city of, 52 Tarentum, war of, with Rome, 2S7- 2 59 Tanis in Egypt, 99, note 4 Tarquin, reign of, 236 Tarquin Collatinus, 238 ; a first consul, 240 ; banished, 240 Tarquinius Superbus, reign of, 237, 238 ; insurrection against and rejection of, 238 ; attempts to restore, 240, 241 Tatius, assassination of, 233 Temple, the, of Solomon, 52 ; the final destruction of, 91 ; sack of, 92 Ten Thousand, the, retreat of, 194 Terence as a poet, 393 Terentilius Arsa, proposition of, 246 ; his law in force, 248 Tertullian, his defence of Chris- tianity, 361 Thales, the philosopher, his school, 200, 20 I Thasybulus restores the republic of Athens, 194 Thebaid in Egypt, 99, 100 Theba'id legion, massacre of, 363 Thebes, first to abolish kings, 169 ; in Egypt, 99, 100 ; ascendency of, 196; relapse of, 197 438 INDEX Theglathphalasar, King of Assyria, 63, 64 Themistocles, prepares his country- men against the Persians, 186 ; in command of the fleet, 187 ; at Salamis, 187, 188; ruse of, against Sparta, 189 ; exile of and death, 189 Theodosius, sent to fight the Goths, 378 ; emperor, 378 ; death and character, 379 Theodosius II., 409, 411 Thare, Abram's father, 12 Thermopylae, 187 Thermutis, and the child Moses, 24 Theseus, exploits of, 166 Thespis, the actor, 198 Thessalonians, massacre of, 379 Thodotes, 1 60 Thomas, St. , mission of, 366 Thotness III. expels the Hyksos, 100 Thucydides, the historian, 199 Thunderer, the, 359 Tiberius, adopted by Augustus, 323 ; as an administrator and as a man, 330 ; at Caprea, 330 ; death and last words, 330 Ticinus, the victory at, 264 Tiglath-Pileser and Juda, 129 Tigranes, 153 ; surrenders to Pom- pey, 290 Tigranes II., "King of Kings," 157 Titus, captures the tower of Antonio, 91 ; emperor, 332 Titus Quinctius Capitolinus, 246 Tibullus, 396 Toby and his son, 65 Tomyris, Queen of the Scythe, 136 Trajan, the emperor, 333 ; exploits and conquests of, in the East, 349 Tranches, battle of, 177 Trasimemis Lake, victory at, 264 Trebia, the, victory at, 264 Tree, the, of knowledge, 5> 6 Tribunate, the Military, 249 Tribunes, the, office of, 243 ; claim of, for distribution of the land, 253 Trophimes, St.-, in Gaul, 566 Troy, rise and ruin of, 134 ; war of, 167, 168 Tullus Hostilius, reign of, 235 Tyre, founding of, 142 ; prolonged resistance of, 144 ; purple of, 145 ; demolished by Alexander, 209 Tyrteus, and his lyre, 177 ; and his martial hymns, 198 ULYSSES at Troy and after, 168 Ur, site and modern name of, 12 Urias, murder of, 50 Uzziah, reign of, 62 VALENS, emperor in the East, 377 ; killed at Adrianople, 378 Valentinian, emperor in the West, 377 Valentinian II., 379 Valentinian III., 409, 411 Valerian, humiliation of, 350 Valerius Publicola, 240, 241 Valerius Corvus, 256 Vandals, the, 347 Varro, at Cannaa, flight of, 265 Varus, defeat of, by Arminius, 325 Vasthi, the proud, 76 Veii, attacked, 250; taken, 251 Venus, goddess of Corinth, 203 Vercelloe, victory of Marcus at, 287 Vercingetorix, confederation under, 302 ; surrender of, to Caesar, 303 Vespasian, devastations of, 90 ; lays INDEX 439 siege to Jerusalem, 91 ; emperor, 332 Victor, the martyr, 360 Virgil and Augustus, 323 ; poems of, 396 Virginia, 249 Viriathus, victories of, 273 ; assassi- nated, 274 Vitellius, the emperor, 332 WALLIA, services and reward, 409 Wars, civil and sacred, in Greece, 206 XANTHIPPUS, the Spartan, 262 Xenophon, the historian, 194 ; sol- dier, historian, and philosopher, 199 Xurxes, to avenge defeat at Mara- thon, 185 ; and his army of inva- sion, 1 86 ; crosses the Hellespont and pierces Mount Athos, 186 ; ravages Greece, 187 ; defeated at Salamis and flight, 188 ; as- sassinated, 1 88 YAM SUPH, the Weedy Sea, 26 THE END Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co. 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