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A HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD 




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A H I STORY 



OF THE 



ANCIENT WORLD 



BY 

GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD, PH.D. 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY; AUTHOR OF 

"THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATHENIAN CONSTITUTION," "THE 

ROMAN ASSEMBLIES," " A HISTORY OF GREECE," " A HISTORY 

OF THE ORIENT AND GREECE," "A HISTORY OF ROME," 

"AN ANCIENT HISTORY," AND (WITH L. S. 

BOTSFORD) " THE STORY OF ROME " 



WITH MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1911 

All rights reserved 




307*4 

COPYRIGHT, 1911, 



BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published July, 1911. Reprinted 
September, 1911. 



Nortoooto $ress 

J. 8. Gushing Co. Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



PREFACE 

THE preparation of this volume began as a revision of my An- 
cient History, but the expansion and alterations have been so exten- 
sive as to produce a substantially new book. It is to serve mainly 
as a practical text-book for meeting new demands in the study of 
ancient history in secondary schools. In its preparation the advice 
of educators throughout the country has been obtained ; the reports 
of the Committee of Seven and Committee of Five have been kept 
in mind ; and account has been taken of requirements for admis- 
sion to college and for state examinations. In brief, every effort 
has been made to bring the work up to present educational stand- 
ards. In the labor of preparation I have enjoyed the cooperation 
of Miss Antoinette Holbrook, Head of the History Department, 
Chelsea High School, Chelsea, Massachusetts, who has contributed 
to all parts of the book her experience as a teacher. The proofs 
have been read, and corrections made, by Professor Eugene Fair, 
department of Ancient History, State Normal School, Kirksville, 
Missouri. It gives me pleasure to express my high appreciation of 
such aid. For the choice and arrangement of topics I am espe- 
cially indebted to "A History Syllabus for Secondary Schools," 
prepared under the auspices of the History Teachers' Association 
of New England. This outline is the one used in the Syllabus of 
the New York State Education Department. 

The newer educational movement rightly lays stress on the causal 
relations and the significance of events and on culture and social 
life. My "History of Greece" (1899) did pioneer work in this 
field; and I now cherish the hope that educators will soon see 
their way clear to the elimination of many minor persons and 
events from the study of ancient history to make room for a larger 
treatment of social and cultural activities. 

I have aimed also to bring the book up to date from the point of 
view of scholarship. In the chapters on the Orient, for instance, 

v 



vi Preface 

advantage has been taken of such recent and authoritative publi- 
cations as the new edition of Breasted's "History of Ancient 
Egypt" and of Meyer's "Geschichte des Altertums," Vol. I. 
Other examples of improvement in this direction may be found in 
the treatment of the early Greek and Italic civilizations, in the 
growth and decline of the Roman Empire, and in the period of 
transition to the Middle Ages. 

Great pains have been taken to furnish the volume with an 
abundance of useful maps and illustrations. All the maps have 
been drawn especially for this book or have been transferred, with 
improvements, from my earlier works. The pictures in each chap- 
ter are of objects or persons contemporary with the period treated, 
and have for that reason a great value as a means of instruction. 
For the use of some of this material my thanks are due to the 
authorities of the British Museum, to the Ministry of Public 
Instruction of Italy, and to my colleague, Professor George N. 
Olcott. 

It seems to me to be due to myself now to say that no one of my 
text-books has been a compilation of modern writings. The present 
volume, for example, is a product of more than a quarter century 
of a life earnestly devoted to the study and interpretation of Greek 
and Roman historical sources. On most of the topics presented 
within this field I have examined the sources with sufficient care 
to enable me to express an opinion of my own. But only in a few 
instances, as on the composition of the Roman assemblies or on 
the value of Alexander's conquests, do I depart materially from the 
current view. I understand, however, the difficulty of compress- 
ing all ancient history within so few pages. The greater the con- 
densation, the more liable becomes the work to incomplete 
statements and to errors arising from inattention to details. I 
shall be grateful to the Reader who will inform me of such defects 
or offer suggestions for the improvement of the book. 

GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD. 
MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, 
June i, 1911. 



SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 

CHAPTERS VI and XXVIII owe their existence in their present 
form to the requests of teachers. Many, however, will find it 
preferable, with classes beginning the subject, to omit all of chapter 
VI excepting 70, the second half of 79, and 80, and in 
chapter XXVIII to omit 354; to teach the geography in con- 
nection with the events; to have the location of every place care- 
fully described from the maps on its first occurrence in the 
narrative; and to use these two chapters in a review of the 
geography. One or two myths may be selected for recitation and 
the rest left to the pupils merely to read. Similarly in the first 
progress of the class through the book the teacher may find it 
advisable to touch but lightly on government, and then by way of 
review to take up as separate topics the constitutional history of 
Sparta, Athens, and Rome respectively, that the pupils may learn 
to appreciate the evolution of the government as a whole and of its 
individual institutions. The teacher will save time and energy by 
looking carefully over every lesson with the class at the moment 
the assignment is made, in order to explain difficulties and to indi- 
cate what may be omitted or what topics may profitably be 
expanded by collateral reading. Many proper names and minor 
events, for example, could be omitted without injury to the pupils' 
intelligence. In fact the process of elimination has a high edu- 
cational value. The readings are given merely as illustrations. 
Generally the teacher will prefer to make his own selections from 
books accessible to the class. The questions, too, are intended as 
examples. Many more questions may profitably be asked, not only 
on the text, but also on the maps and illustrations. Abstracts or 
topical outlines of periods are strongly recommended. Fortunately 
no all-sufficing text-book in history has ever been written, or can 
be written. From the very nature of historical study any effort to 
avoid the routine work of learning everything in given order in the 
book and nothing more to study the subject in hand rather than 
the book itself will be amply rewarded by the results. 

vii 



PAGE 



CONTENTS 

PART I 
THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 

CHAPTER 

I. Introduction : The Scope and Course of Ancient History . i 

II. Egypt 6 

III. The Tigris Euphrates Valley 21 

IV. Syria: The Phoenicians and the Hebrews . 37 
V. The Median and Persian Empires ..... 48 

PART II 
HELLAS 

VI. The Country and the People 59 

VII. The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations .... 68 
VIII. The First Period of Colonization; The Epic or Homeric 

Age 81 

IX. Religion and Myth . . ...... 86 

X. The City-State and its Development 98 

XI. Second Period of Colonial Expansion .... 105 

XII. The Rise of Sparta and the Peloponnesian League . . 112 

XIII. Athens: From Monarchy to Democracy . . . .123 

XIV. Intellectual Awakening .144 

XV. Conquest of Asiatic Greece by the Lydians and the Persians 157 

XVI. War with Persia and Carthage 166 

XVII. The Delian Confederacy and the Athenian Empire .' .182 

XVIII. The Age' of Pericles '9 1 

XIX. The Peloponnesian War to the Sicilian Expedition . . 219 

XX, From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War . . 226 

ix 



Contents 



XXI. 


Sicily : The Tyrant and the Liberator .... 


246 


XXII. 


The Supremacy of Sparta 


252 


XXIII. 


Thebes attempts to gain the Supremacy 


263 


XXIV. 


The Rise of Macedon ....... 


268 


XXV. 


The Founding of Alexander's Empire .... 


279 


XXVI. 


The Maturity of the Greek Mind : From Poetry to Prose 


286 


XXVII. 


The Hellenistic Age ' . 


296 




PART III 




XXVIII. 


ROME 

The Country and the People 


31 I 


XXIX. 


Rome under the Kings ....... 


3* * 

324 


XXX. 


The Early Republic : (I) The Plebeians win their Rights 


339 


XXXI. 


The Early Republic : (II) Rome becomes Supreme in 
Italy . . ; 


352 


XXXII. 


The Organization of Roman Rule in Italy ; Progress in 
Civilization 


361 


XXXIII. 


The Expansion of the Roman Power to the End of the 
Second Punic War 


370 


XXXIV. 


The Expansion of the Roman Power from Mount Taurus 
to the Atlantic ........ 


389 


XXXV. 


The Growth of Plutocracy 


399 


XXXVI. 


The Revolution: (I) From Plutocracy to Military Rule 


409 


XXXVII. 


The Revolution : (II) The Military Power in Conflict 
with the Republic 


428 


XXXVIII. 


The Founding of the Principate ; the Julian Princes 


45i 


XXXIX. 


From Principate to Monarchy; the Claudian and the 
Flavian Princes 


465 


XL. 


The Five Good Emperors 


484 


XLI. 


A Century of Revolution 


500 


XLII. 


The Absolute Monarchy ...... 


507 


XLIII. 


Causes of the Decline of the Empire .... 


517 



Contents xi 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XLIV. The Germanic Invasions 524 

XLV. The New German States 539 

XLVI. The Growth of the Papal Power and of the Frankish Power 547 

CHIEF EVENTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY 561 

USEFUL BOOKS 566 

INDEX 569 



MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 

FULL-PAGE AND DOUBLE-PAGE MAPS 



PACK 



Earliest Civilizations, for Reference before i 

Early Babylonian and Assyrian Empires .... "25 

Median, New Babylonian, and Lydian Empires . "49 

Greece, for Reference ....... " eg 

Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations .... "69 

The Hellenic World "105 

Greece at the Time of the War with Persia ... " 161 

Athenian Empire at its Height "193 

The Acropolis of Athens " 207 

Athens on 208 

Greece in the Peloponnesian War / before 221 

Empire of Alexander the Great " 281 

Kingdoms formed from Alexander's Empire ... " 297 

Italy before the Punic Wars . . . . . . " 313 

The Vicinity of Rome "353 

The Expansion of the Roman Power to the Time of the Gracchi " 371 

The Expansion of the Roman Power from the Gracchi to the Death 

of Augustus before 411 

The Roman Empire from Augustus to Diocletian . . " 453 

The Roman Empire under Diocletian and Constantine . " 509 

Charlemagne's Empire "555 

MAPS AND PLANS IN THE TEXT 

The Egyptian Empire . . . . . .10 

Palestine and Phoenicia . 38 

The Peloponnesian League . . . . .121 

Salamis i?7 

Athens and Peiraeus, showing Long Walls . . . *93 
BayofPylos 222 



xiv Maps and Illustrations 



Syracuse . . . 230 

The Hellespont . . 236 

Kingdom of Dionysius . . . . . . . . 248 

The Theban Tactics at the Battle of Leuctra 261 

Tyre 281 

The Tribes of Italy and Sicily 316 

Early Rome 335 

Colonies and Military Roads of Italy 362 

Imperial Rome 457 

The Sacred Way 457 

Europe about 525 A.D 541 

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Acropolis of Athens Frontispiece 

Egyptian Market Scenes facing 14 

Halls in Columns in the Temple of Ammon, Thebes . " 16 

The Vale of Tempe " 61 

A Mycenaean Palace ....... " 74 

Mycenaean Objects ........ " 78 

Gold Cups from Vaphio, Laconia . . . . . on 79 

Delphi facing 88 

Acragas " 107 

The Parthenon "211 

The Propylaea and the Nike Temple . . . " 213 

Porch of the Maidens ........ on 240 

The Fall of the Anio facing 317 

Mount Ercte "375 

Interior of the Basilica Julia " 449 

Capitoline Temple of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva . . " 459 

A Part of the Roman Forum ...... " 461 

Summit of the Sacred Way ...... " 476 

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 

Second and Third Pyramids of Gizeh 6 

An Obelisk 7 

Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing 8 



Maps and Illustrations xv 



PAGE 



The Sphinx of Gizeh . 

Mummy of Rameses II . . . . . . . .12 

A Temple at Thebes I7 

The Euphrates River 21 

Inscription of Hammurabi 22 

Assyrians in Battle .......... 26 

Cylinder Seal of an Early King ....... 30 

Clay Model of a Liver . . . . . . . . 31 

Babylonian Temple at Nippur ........ 32 

A Babylonian King ........... 33 

Colossal Bull with Wings and Human Head ..... 34 

A Phoenician 40 

The Ancestors of Some of the Letters of our Alphabet . . .41 

Tomb of Cyrus 52 

Palace of Darius at Persepolis 53 

A Persian King killing a Monster 54 

Darius receiving Conquered Enemies 55 

Valley of the Styx in Arcadia 63 

A Corridor in the Palace at Cnossus ...... 7 

The Throne Room in Palace at Cnossus 71 

A Cretan Vase . . . ........ 7 1 

Cretan Linear Writing on Clay Tablet ...... 7 2 

Royal Cemetery of Mycenae 75 

Entrance to the Tomb of Atreus ?6 

Gravestone found at Mycenae 77 

The Wrestlers 8 9 

Perseus cutting off Medusa's Head 9 1 

"Theseus" 94 

A Spartan Tombstone . . J ! 5 

A Warrior in Helmet, Coat of Mail, and Greaves . . . .116 

Areopagus I2 4 

Gathering Olives ! 33 

An Athenian Lady ! 35 

Gravestone of Aristion .... 

An Ostrakon I41 

Corner of Temple of Poseidon, Poseidonia 

An Ionic Column . . . 

Corinthian Capital ...*" 

Plan of Temple at Priene I4 



xvi Maps and Illustrations 

PAGE 

Plan of Small Temple . .148 

Temple of Poseidon, Poseidonia .... 149 

Statue of a Woman ...150 

A Greek Vase 152 

A Harbor of Peiraeus 163 

A Persian Archer . 169 

A Trireme . . . 171 

BayofSalamis . . 175 

A Remnant of the Walls of Athens 183 

Pericles .... . . .191 

Athenian Knights 199 

Women playing Knucklebones .201 

A School . . 202 

Ivory Stylus . . . . . . . . . . . 202 

Discobolus > . . . . . . .".-. . . 203 

A Marriage Procession . . . . . . . . . 205 

Lapith and Centaur . . . . . . . . . 210 

West Pediment of Parthenon . . . . . . . .210 

Group of Maidens 211 

Copy of Athena Parthenos . . 212 

"Theseum" 213 

Victory adjusting her Sandal 214 

A "Hermes" 228 

Stone Quarries at Syracuse 231 

Alcibiades? * 235 

The Erechtheum 238 

Victory ............ 242 

Socrates 243 

Fort Euryelus ........... 247 

Mount Ithone and City Wall of Messene 264 

Demosthenes 271 

Battlefield of Chaeronea 274 

Alexander 279 

Theatre at Epidaurus 290 

The New Stadium at Athens 291 

The Hermes of Praxiteles 292 

Satyr of Praxiteles 293 

Doriphorus of Polycleitus ' . 293 

Apoxyomenos of Lysippus 294 



Maps and Illustrations xvii 

PAGE 

The Dying Gaul . 305 

A Gaul and his Wife . 306 

Apollo Belvedere 307 

A Shore of the Alban Lake . . . . 4 , . .318 

An Etruscan Arch . .319 

An Etruscan Tomb .......... 720 

An Etruscan Banquet . . . . . . . . . 320 

An Etruscan Temple . . . . . . . . .321 

A Vestal Virgin .......... 325 

The Forum Inscription . . . . . . . . . 327 

An Urn in the Form of a Hut 328 

An Etruscan Curule Chair 330 

Lictors with Axes 331 

Minerva 333 

An Etruscan Augur ... t . ...... 334 

Remnant of the So-called Servian Wall ...... 354 

Italian Soldier ........... 365 

An As 366 

A Denarius . 367 

Aesculapius 368 

Sacred Chickens in a Portable Coop 374 

Detail of a Bronze Statue 393 

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus ....... 44 

"Pompey the Great" 428 

Combats of Gladiators ......... 4 2 9 

Cicero 43 2 

Roman Soldiers Marching 435 

Julius Caesar 44 

Octavianus 44 2 

A School. . 447 

Cloaca Maxima 44^ 

Tomb of Caecilia Metella -449 

The Temple of Mars the Avenger 45 8 

Flamines ...... 459 

Garland of Fruit and Flowers , . 460 

Remnant of the Claudian Aqueduct 466 

Nero 467 

Storming a City ....' 4"9 

The Sacred Way 47 



xviii Maps and Illustrations 

PAGE 

Roman Soldiers in Triumphal Procession 470 

The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheatre 471 

Interior of the Colosseum 472 

A Street in Pompeii 477 

Cave Canem . . . . . . ... . . . 478 

A Dining Room .......... 479 

Peristyle of a House in Pompeii ....... 479 

House Furniture .......... 480 

The Column of Trajan ......... 485 

Plotina, Wife of Trajan 486 

Hadrian 487 

Hadrian's Wall 488 

Pantheon, Exterior 489 

Pantheon, Interior . . 490 

The Tomb of Hadrian . . . , . . . . . 491 

Cinerary Urn ........... 492 

Burning a Dacian Town ......... 495 

Bridge at Alcantara, Spain 496 

Odeum of Herodes Atticus 497 

Process of Building 498 

Roman Legionary .......... 500 

Septimius Severus . . . . . . . . . .501 

Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus ...... 502 

The W T all of Aurelian . 505 

Constantine . . . . . . . . . , .510 

Mary and the Infant Jesus 512 

A German Village . . . 524 

German Soldier 535 

Church of Sanf Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna . . . . . 540 

St. Sophia, Constantinople . . . . . . . . 544 

St. Peter 548 

Charlemagne as a Hero . . . . . . . . -555 

Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle 557 



A HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD 



EARLIEST CIVILIZATION! 

FOR REFERENCE 



^J Persian Empire at its greatest extent 




Longitude 




60 C from Greenwich 55 C 



A HISTORY OF THE 
ANCIENT WORLD 

PART I 

THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION : THE SCOPE AND COURSE OF ANCIENT HISTORY 

1. Condition of the World To-day. As we look over the world 
to-day we find that the nations and peoples differ widely from one 
another in character and habits. Some have refined homes, a good 
government, a moral religion, schools, libraries, steam power, the 
telegraph, the telephone, and hundreds of other comforts and con- 
veniences. Such people are civilized. We think of the United 
States, Great Britain, France, and the other countries of Europe 
and America as the most highly civilized of the world. Others, as 
those of central Africa, are savage. Between the two extremes we 
can find every grade of civilization. The reason is that for ages 
some peoples have remained almost stationary, whereas others have 
made progress. 

2. Savagery, Barbarism, and Civilization Distinguished. In 
the history of the world much use is made of the terms savagery, bar- 
barism, and civilization. Savagery is the rudest and lowest condi- 
tion of life, when men live by hunting and fishing and have either 
no settled homes or those only of the crudest kind. Barbarism is 
the intermediate stage between savagery and civilization. Some 
have found it convenient to define barbarism as beginning with 
the invention of pottery and ending with the invention of the al- 



2 Introduction : The Scope and Course of Ancient History 

phabet. In a general sense civilization refers to any degree of 
improvement, however low or high, in a narrower sense to the con- 
dition of life above barbarism. We associate with the word civili- 
zation especially the idea of a government strong enough to protect 
the lives and property of the citizens, a well-ordered society, and 
some advancement in the arts and sciences. Culture is but another 
word for civilization. 

3. History. History is chiefly concerned with progress. It has 
to do, therefore, with those nations only which have improved their 
condition. Based on written records, it could not begin till writing 
was invented and applied to the preservation of facts. So far as 
our knowledge goes, the Egyptians were the first civilized people. 
They invented a system of writing as early as the fifth millennium 
(5000-4000) B.C. 1 We may say, then, that the history of the world 
begins at this time. We do not know when men first appeared on 
the earth, but we may feel certain that thousands of years were 
required to bring them up to the condition in which we find the 
Egyptians at the dawn of history. In brief, the historical age, 
extending through the past seven thousand years, is but an insig- 
nificant fraction of the entire life of mankind. 

4. The Prehistoric Age. The period before the dawn of history 
is called prehistoric. Our knowledge of it is not derived from writ- 
ten records, but from entirely different sources. The chief materials 
to be studied for that age are the works of men's hands, such as 
tools, weapons, personal ornaments, ruins of walls, dwellings, tombs, 
and temples. The science which has to do with such objects is 
archaeology. Many implements, ornaments, and other works of 
primitive men have been found in caves which once served as 
their dwellings, in their tombs, beneath the surface of fields they 
have tilled, in the gravel beds along the banks of streams where 
they have hunted and fished, or in the buried sites of their villages.- 
From such material it is possible to trace the progress of the 
human race through the prehistoric period. 

5. Great Periods of the Historical Age. History is continuous 
like the flow of a river. It moves now slowly, now rapidly ; it often 
changes direction, but it never comes to a standstill. A period of 

l X2f. 



The Meaning of History ? 

history is a time during which mankind, or some part of it, is de- 
veloping or declining in a particular direction. One period glides 
so gradually into another that the' line of separation between them 
can never be definitely fixed. It is customary to divide the seven 
thousand years of the historical age into three great periods, 
Ancient, Mediaeval, and Modern. The past five centuries, or 
thereabout, are usually assigned to modern times. As regards the 
division between ancient and mediaeval history there is far less 
agreement. Some make the beginning of the Middle Ages coincide 
with the barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire in the fourth 
and fifth centuries, A.D., others with the death of Charlemagne 
early in the ninth century. This very difference of opinion shows 
the artificial character of such divisions. 

6. Ancient History Explained. An explanation of the term 
Ancient History will help us decide when this period closed. It has 
to do with the countries in or near the Mediterranean Sea. Here 
were the only civilized peoples of the time who have contributed 
anything to our own life. 1 All parts of this region were closely 
connected with each other. The chief means of communication 
was the sea itself, which served as a highway for colonization, trade, 
and conquest. In a word, it was the Mediterranean which gave 
unity to the region and to the history of its civilization. 

Ancient history consists of two great parts, Oriental and Greco- 
Roman or Classical. The Orient was made up of Egypt and 
Southwestern Asia. Here civilization was born. From this begin- 
ning the classical world afterward developed. The latter included 
the whole Mediterranean basin and some adjacent territory on the 
East and North. Thus a considerable part of the Orient came 
within the region here described. The whole classical area came 
to be united in the Roman empire under one government. When 
the centre of interest shifts from this area to the countries north 
and northwest, ancient history closes and mediaeval history begins. 

7. The Western Progress of Civilization. When we take up 
these subjects in greater detail, we shall find the general progress of 

1 India, China, and Japan were also civilized in ancient times ; but in our brief study 
we do not need to consider them, as they have stood quite apart frorr the progress of the 
world to which we belong. 



4 Introduction: The Scope and Course of Ancient History 

the world during ancient history to have been from east to west. 
First Egypt, Babylonia, and the neighboring Asiatic countries 
became civilized, then Greece, then Italy and Carthage, then Spain, 
southern Gaul, and the opposite coast of north Africa. Northern 
Gaul and Britain, remote from the Mediterranean coasts, were less 
affected by ancient civilization. 

8. The Great Divisions, or Races, of Mankind. In the 
study of history it is convenient to divide mankind into groups 
according to their physical qualities, ^,s color, hair, skull, or the 
like, and to call these grand divisions races. From the point of 
view of color three groups may be distinguished. The first is the 
Black or Negro race of central and southern Africa. They are the 
lowest in intelligence, and have contributed practically nothing to 
the progress of the world. The second is the Yellow or Mongolian 
race of Asia. They include the Chinese and Japanese, who have 
long been civilized, and the nomads, or wandering people, of central 
Asia. Some of the Europeans, as the Turks, Hungarians, and Finns, 
belong to the same race. The American Indians are grouped with 
them by some scholars ; by others they are regarded as a distinct 
race. The third and historically most important group is the 
White, or Caucasian race. To the White race are due practically 
all the improvements of the past seven thousand years. 

9. Subdivisions of the White or Caucasian Race. The White 
race is termed Caucasian because scholars once believed that its 
highest physical perfection could be found among the mountaineers 
of Caucasus. It included three main branches, which we also 
usually call races, Hamites, Semites, and Indo-Europeans (or 
Aryans). 1 The Hamites, named after Ham, a son of Noah, in- 
habited northern Africa. They comprised the ancient Egyptians 
and the Libyans. They were the creators of the first civilization. 
The Semites, so named after Shem, another son of Noah, comprised 
the Babylonians, Assyrians, Hebrews, Phoenicians, and other 
peoples of southwestern Asia. Their greatest contribution to the 
world's progress was commerce, a phonetic alphabet, and religion. 
The Indo-Europeans had two branches, Asiatic and European. To 

1 It is only in a loose, popular sense that Aryan is equivalent to* Indo-European. 
Strictly, the word applies only to the Hindoos and the Iranians. 



Races 5 

the Asiatic division belong the Persians and Hindoos ; to the Euro- 
pean the Greeks, Italians (including the Romans), Teutons, Slavs, 
and Celts. The European members of this great family have been, 
and still are, the most progressive people known to history. They 
and their colonies control the greater part of the world. 

10. All Race Groupings are Arbitrary. Any classification of 
races is at best superficial and unsatisfactory. The chief fault is 
that two men may be alike in the characteristics which form the 
basis of the grouping, but very unlike in other respects. Again, 
there has been so much intermingling of peoples that no pure stock 
or race now exists, nor are we sure that any such has existed within 
the historical age. In geography and history, however, it is neces- 
sary to speak of men in groups, and those named above are found 
convenient for the purpose. Within the White race the ground of 
our classification is not a physical quality, but speech. The Indo- 
European peoples, for instance, have always spoken languages 
closely related to one another, 1 but quite distinct from any Semitic 
or Hamitic language. No one supposes all the Indo-Europeans to 
resemble one another in complexion or stature or in the shape of the 
skull 2 or to be of one blood or stock. In fact, they have sprung 
from the blending of many peoples. What they have in common, 
however, stored up in their language, is a treasure of knowledge and 
ideas of far greater value than blood. Another common feature is 
the mental superiority they have thus far shown over all other 
people. Kindred speech proves relationship, not in blood, but in 
history. Language is therefore a useful basis for the classification 
of mankind. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Which is the more useful, a narrative of wars or of the progress of 
mankind ? 2. Why have not all peoples progressed equally and in the same 
direction? 3. What are some points of difference between the savage and 
the barbarian? 4. How is our knowledge of ancient life constantly in- 
creasing ? 5. In the classification of mankind, where do the French belong ? 
the Spanish ? the Arabs ? the people of the United States ? 

1 6i. 

2 History has derived practically no benefit from the attempt to classify mankind 
according to skull measurements. The failure of the attempt is due chiefly to the fa 
that within two or three generations the shape of the skull may be completely changed 
by a change of surroundings. 




SECOND AND THIRD PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH 
(View from the east. From a photograph) 

CHAPTER II 

EGYPT 

About 5000-525 B.C. 

I. LAND AND PEOPLE ; POLITICAL HISTORY 

ii. Physical Features and their Influence. The progress of 
mankind depends largely on country and surroundings. And of all 
the region round the Mediterranean none is so favored by nature as 
the valley of the Nile River in northeastern Africa. Egypt, the 
lower part of this valley, extends from the First Cataract to the 
sea. It is seven hundred miles long, and averages through most of 
its course less than ten miles in width. It is therefore one of the 
smallest countries in the world. Its area is about that of the state 
of Maryland. A hundred miles before the river reaches the sea, it 
divides into several channels, and the valley broadens into the 
Delta. Every summer, swollen by the rains and melting snows of 
the country in which it rises, the Nile overflows the valley; and 
when in early December the water returns to the channel, it leaves 
the land fertilized with a rich coat of earth. In fact, the entire soil 
is composed of mud deposited in this manner. The land therefore 

6 



Geography and Archaeology 



is wonderfully fertile. With little labor a man can raise each year 
three crops of grain, grasses, flax, and vegetables. Wheat yields a 
hundred fold. The mountains produce an abundance of building 
stones and various kinds of metal. Commerce, too, is easy. The 
Nile forms a natural waterway for domestic trade. For foreign 
commerce it is a great advantage that the country lies at the meet- 
ing of three continents and borders on two navigable seas. The 
warm climate makes little clothing necessary ; the 
rainless sky preserves the works of men from 
decay; and the mountain chains and deserts on 
both sides protect the people from invading armies. 
With her natural resources and her situation, it 
is no wonder that Egypt became the birthplace 
of civilization. 

12. Remains of Ancient Civilization ; Writing. 
The traveller in Egypt is astonished at the great 
number and size of the ancient monuments. In 
various parts of the valley he finds obelisks, colossal 
statues, the ruins of vast temples, and, grandest 
of all, the pyramids. These and other monuments 
will be described in this chapter. Nowhere else 
have the ancients built so magnificently, and 
nowhere have their works been so well preserved. 
The good condition of the monuments is due not 
only to their substantial character, but to the dry- 
ness of the atmosphere. 

On many of these monuments are inscribed lines 
of strange characters. Till about a hundred years 
ago, no one could make them out, and the history 
and life of the country remained, therefore, largely a mystery. 
The key was discovered by means of an inscription on what is 
known as the Rosetta stone. In Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, 
1798, while some of his men were digging to lay the foundation 
of a fort, they came upon this stone. It is of black basalt and is 
covered with an inscription. It was named after the place where 
the soldiers found it on the Rosetta branch of the Nile in the 
Delta. The credit for deciphering it is due chiefly to Cham- 



AN OBELISK 
(From a photograph) 



8 



Egypt 



9 D 



pol'li-on, a French scholar. It was found to contain a public docu- 
ment in Egyptian, with a Greek translation added. By means of 
the translation Champollion and other scholars were enabled with 
great difficulty to decipher the Egyptian. Most of the inscrip- 
tions can now be read, and through them the details of Egyptian 
life and history may be studied. 

In their earliest writing objects were represented by pictures. A 
disk O stood for the sun, and a crescent for the moon. From 
pictures they passed to symbols ; the disk of the sun suggested day, 
and an axe 7 god. In course of time they invented letters jepresent- 
ing each a single sound. From them they might easily have made 
a phonetic alphabet like ours ; but they were too conservative for 
so great an improvement. They continued, therefore, to use their 
pictures and symbols, mingling them with the new phonetic letters. 

As the priests always used these early, 
difficult characters for religious pur- 
poses, they are called hieroglyphs 
sacred inscriptions. A running style, 
however, came into use in literature 
and business. On the Rosetta stone, 
mentioned above, the inscription in the 
Egyptian language is written first in 
hieroglyphs and below in the common 
running style. 

13. The People : Origin and Earliest 
States (to about 3400 B.C.). The 
EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING ancient Egyptians, in common with the 

other inhabitants of northern Africa, 

were Hamites. 1 Their language is related to the Semitic. Evi- 
dently in prehistoric times Semites invaded the Nile valley and 
mingled with the natives. The civilization was not imported, 
however, but grew up in the country. Through archaeology 2 we 
may trace its progress from the early stone age that is, from the 
time men began to make implements of stone. Nothing strikes 
us as remarkable in this development till we come to the begin- 
nings of agriculture and the founding of states. Men could fish on 

1 9. 2 4 . 






r? 






Origin of the State 



the Nile and hunt among the marshes of its valley, independently 
of one another. The nature of the country, .however, compelled 
them, if they were to live there in considerable numbers, to 
resort to farming. This step could not be taken without drain- 
ing the marshes and irrigating the fields. For so great an 
enterprise cooperation was necessary. This need brought the 
state into being. The whole course of the Nile through Egypt 
came to be held by small states, each occupying the entire 
width of the valley 
and a few miles of 
its length. Each 
was ruled by a king, 
whose first duty was 
to control the waters 
by canals and dikes, 
so as to make life 
possible. The need 
of enforcing strict 
cooperation among 
the people in these 
labors rendered him 
absolute and re- 
duced his subjects to 
a condition but little 
better than slavery. 
Gradually war and 
conquest united the 
petty kingdoms, 
until there came to 
be but one. 

These political events were accompanied by a great development 
of culture. We may safely say that about 5000 B.C. the Egyptians 
had emerged from barbarism. Before the close of the period (3400) 
their civilization had taken on the character which it maintained 
thereafter with little change. 

14. The Old Kingdom; the Pharaohs of Memphis (3460-2100 
B.C.). Among the many titles of the Egyptian king, the one by 




THE SPHINX OF GIZEH 
( From a photograph ) 



IO 



Egypt 



which he is still commonly known is Pharaoh. The term signifies 
" Great House," applied to him as a compliment by his subjects. 
From earliest known times he was looked upon as a god. The 
Pharaoh who completed the unification of the country was 
Me'nes (3400 B.C.). He and his successors were great rulers, 
who gave their country prosperity. 

Memphis is said to have been founded by Menes. It became 
the capital of the kingdom about 3000 B.C. Among the Pha- 




EGYPTIAN 
EMPIRE 

CIRCA 1000-1275 

The Empire at its height 

Partially dependent states 
are underlined 



Williams Engraving Co.. N.Y. 



raohs who resided here were the builders of the three pyramids 
at Gizeh (Gee' zeh), in the cemetery of their capital. They will be 
described below. 1 Near this group is the famous sphinx, a gigan- 
tic, human-headed lion, carved from a hard, fine rock. 

'27. 



Political History 



ii 



For six centuries the Pharaohs of Memphis ruled Egypt with 
great success. Through internal improvements and foreign com- 
merce they increased the wealth of the country. Afterward the 
kings grew too feeble to hold the provinces of the state together, and 
a long period of confusion and strife resulted. Memphis declined 
and ceased to be the capital. 

15. The Middle Kingdom (2160-1788 B.C.). Then a new line 
of kings restored order, and made Thebes the capital. They began 
the period of the Middle Kingdom. The Pharaohs of this age con- 
quered Nubia, south of Egypt, and worked the gold mines of that 
country. They carried on an extensive trade with Syria, 1 and with 
the Aegean region. 2 They beautified their cities with temples. The 
art and literature of this age were therefore looked upon as classic 

as offering perfect models for all who worked in these fields. 

16. Internal Dissolution ; the Hyksos (1788-1580 B.C.). Again 
the kings became feeble and the country fell into anarchy. Agricul- 
ture and the industries were nearly ruined through the neglect of the 
government. In this time of dissolution and weakness a horde 
of strangers, known as Hyksos, invaded and conquered Egypt. 
They plundered the country, burned cities, and slew the inhabitants 
without mercy. Most probably chey were Semites, who had con- 
quered Syria before passing on to Egypt. From what quarter 
they invaded Syria we do not know. 3 After about a century of 
rule their power had so declined that they were defeated and driven 
out by a noble of Thebes at the head of an army. 

17. The New Kingdom: the Empire (1580-945 B.C.). The 
deliverer of his country became king, the founder of a line of able 
rulers. With him began the period described as the New King- 
dom. The invasion of strangers had she ken Egypt out of the ruts 
in which she had long been moving. Not content with self -protec- 
tion, she now became ambitious for foreign conquests. The early 
kings of the period reorganized the army and made it far more ef- 
fective. The Hyksos had introduced horses t into the country, and 
the kings were therefore in a position to add war chariots to their 
army. They conquered Syria and the upper Nile valley far to 

i 47 . 2 83. 

3 The idea that Hyksos means "shepherd kings" has been abandoned by scholars. 



12 



Egypt 




the south of Egypt. The greatest of these warrior kings was 
Thothmes III. His realm extended from the Euphrates River to 
the Fourth Cataract on the Nile. Down to this time Egypt had 
been merely a kingdom a single country 
ruled by a monarch. Through the acquisition 
of foreign territory it became an empire. 

Meanwhile the merchants were trading with 
all the known world and importing the prod- 
ucts of distant regions. 1 Industry thrived. 
The Pharaohs attended carefully to internal 
improvements. They made Thebes a mag- 
nificent city, adorned with obelisks, colossal 
statues, and temples. No other city of the 
time could compare with it in splendor. 

In spite of all this magnificence, the mind of 
the Egyptians had long ceased to invent. 
From about 1400 B.C. the civnizatior^japidly 
declined. There were to be brief periods" of 
recovery;' but the vitality of (the race was ex- 
hausted and its greatness lived only in history. 
The country found a powerful enemy in the 
Hittites, a warlike people of \\sia Minor. 
They wrested from Egypt all northern Syria. 
Ra-me'ses II in sixteen years of tard fighting 
stayed their conquest. He ther/divided Syria 
with them by treaty. The document has been 
preserved, and is the oldesc existing treaty 
between two nations (i2y/ B.C.). 




MUMMY OF RAMESES II 
(From a photograph ) 

Rameses was a great Jt^uilder. Throughout Egypt he repaired 
old temples and erected new ones. The proud monarch had his 
sculptors make many enormous statues of himself that all might 
duly appreciate his great majesty. Following the custom of cover- 
ing walls and columns with pictures and writing, he took especial 
pleasure in representing his personal combats with the Hittites. 
Some believe that he was the Pharaoh who oppressed the He- 
brews 2 then in Egypt. 



21. 



52- 



Political Decline 13 

18. Foreign Invasions and Conquests (945-525 B.C.). During 
their wars the Pharaohs had depended more and more on mer- 
cenary troops, recruited from foreign nations. As the government 
again became weak, a leader of some Libyan mercenaries usurped 
the throne (945 B.C.). Under the line of foreign rulers thus estab- 
lished the people were greatly oppressed, and the condition of the 
country was extremely wretched. Meantime Nubia revolted, and 
her kings got control of a large part of Egypt. Weakened by 
misrule and strife, the country nearly as far as Thebes fell under 
the power of Assyria. 1 

Egypt remained a part of the Assyrian empire but a few years 
(670-663 B.C.). Psam-met'i-chus, assuming the crown, freed 
his country from the foreign yoke, and gave it peace under his 
strong rule. His capital was Sa'is in the western part of the Delta. 
It became a splendid city, whereas Thebes sank to decay. As the 
new Pharaoh and his successors depended greatly on Greek mer- 
cenaries, they treated the Greeks liberally. Many came to trade in 
the country, and they were allowed to found a colony at one of the 
mouths of the Nile. 2 Other Greeks came to see the wonders of the 
country and to take home some of its wisdom. During the long 
rule of the Pharaohs of Sais, Egypt was prosperous at home and re- 
spected among foreign nations. Finally it was conquered by Cam- 
by'ses, king of Persia, and annexed to his empire (525 B.C. ; 64). 

19. Summary of Political History. (i) In the fifth millennium 
(5000-4000) B.C. the Egyptians had already emerged from barbar- 
ism, and were founding small states and tilling the soil. (2) Before 
the end of the fourth millennium (3400) the whole country was 
united under one strong government. (3) The Pharaohs of Mem- 
phis were the most powerful of the Old Kingdom (3400-2160). 
They were the builders of the great pyramids. The era closed in weak- 
ness and decay. Memphis declined. (4) Then came the period 
of the Middle Kingdom (2160-1788), with Thebes for the capital. 
The age is noted for conquest, commerce, internal improvements, 
and the establishment of a great system of irrigation. It was the 
classic period of Egyptian history. (5) Again followed a time c 
decline (1788-1580), in which the Hyksos conquered the country. 



14 Egypt 

During their century of rule the Egyptians came into close contact 
with Asia, introduced the horse, and developed a military spirit. 
(6) In the period of the New Kingdom which followed (1580-945), 
the Pharaohs conquered Nubia to the Fourth Cataract and all 
Syria, thus creating an empire. This age, too, is famous for com- 
merce and public works. (7) Then followed a time of decay and 
of foreign invasion and conquest (945-525), interrupted by a cen- 
tury and a half of freedom and prosperity under the Pharaohs of 
Sais. (8) For a long time after the Persian conquest (525) the 
history of Egypt merges in that of other countries. 

20. The Dynasties. Man'e-tho, an Egyptian priest who lived in the 
third century B.C., wrote a history of his country in the Greek language. 
Though the book disappeared, abstracts were made of it, and some quota- 
tions taken, by later writers. The dates thus handed down are helpful, 
though often proved inaccurate by better sources. Manetho divided the 
history of the Pharaohs into royal lines or dynasties. From Menes to the 
Persian conquest are twenty-six. A list of the principal dynasties for refer- 
ence is given below, as they are used for dating in all works on Egypt. 

I. Old Kingdom, 3400-2160, dynasties I-X. 
Pyramid builders, 2900-2750, dynasty IV. 
II. Middle Kingdom, 2160-1788, dynasties XI, XII. 

Most famous rulers of the period, 2000-1788, dynasty XII. 

III. Dissolution; the Hyksos, 1788-1580, dynasties XIII-X VII. 

IV. New Kingdom, 1580-945, dynasties, XVIII-XXL 

The great conquerors and rulers, 1580-1350, dynasty XVIII. 
V. Foreign Invasions and Conquests, 945-525, dynasties XXII-XXVI. 
Restoration under the Pharaohs of Sais, 663-525, dynasty XXVI. 

II. CIVILIZATION 

21. Classes and Occupations: the Poor and Middle Classes. - 

Throughout their history most of the people were poor. They 
lived in mud huts and dressed in a single cotton garment. While 
the mother carried water, ground meal between two stones, baked 
bread in the ashes, sewed, spun, and wove, the father worked all 
day in the field or at his trade. He toiled under a master who 
beat him for the slightest mistake or inattention to duty. 

The miserable huts of the poor were crowded closely together 
along the narrow, crooked lanes. The houses of the tradesmen 
were in another quarter. They were larger, and were made of 



Social Classes 15 

brick and better furnished. There were as many trades as among 
us. Each manufacturer had slaves working under him, and he 
generally retailed his own produce. In the market-place provisions 
were kept for sale in large baskets resting on the ground, and 
people brought various articles, usually of their own make, to barter 
for grain, vegetables, fish, and meat. Near the provision market 
was the bazaar, in which were displayed for sale all kinds of manu- 
factured wares, both native and imported from Nubia, Arabia, 
Babylon, Syria, and the islands of the Aegean Sea. There were 
embroideries, fine linens, jewelry, scented woods and gums, coral 
and amber, glassware, and beautiful pottery. 

The poor as well as the rich had a lively imagination, a ready 
wit, and strong social qualities. Often the workmen squandered 
their month's wages in a fortnight, and were driven by starva- 
tion to strike. But a fresh supply of provisions quieted them 
and sent them back to their work. They were a patient people 
and obedient to their superiors. They had boundless reverence for 
the god Pharaoh. 1 Under these circumstances no other govern- 
ment than absolute monarchy was ever dreamed of. 

22. The Soldiers. When left to themselves, the people were 
happy. But when Pharaoh chose the strongest and best men to 
toil for him in building a pyramid or a temple, they felt it a grievous 
affliction. Still harder was the enlistment of soldiers for an invasion 
of Nubia or Syria ; for the people loved peace, and they knew well 
that few of those who went forth to war ever returned. The 
peasants had to enlist when called, and there came to be in addition 
a class of men who made a living as soldiers. Pharaoh, who owned 
all the land, granted each soldier about eight acres on which to 
live free from rent. The holders of these lots paid for the use of 
them by service in the army when needed. The king hired many 
soldiers, too, from Libya, Greece, and other foreign lands. 

23. Education ; Scribes and Officials. Children usually re- 
mained in the class of their parents. But it was possible through 
education to rise in the world. If a boy showed remarkable talent 
and ambition, his parents, however poor, might be sufficiently 
self-sacrificing to send him to school and pay his tuition. From 

l 14- 



1 6 Egypt 

six or eight to twelve years of age he studied elementary reading, 
writing, and arithmetic. Then he was placed as an apprentice in the 
office of a scribe. On the completion of this training he was sure of 
employment as a scribe by some private person or official, and with 
genius and industry he could rise to a place next to Pharaoh. 

The officials formed a hereditary nobility, recruited to some 
extent from the lower classes, as described above. All necessarily 
had some education. Pharaoh surrounded himself with a host of 
officials, some to administer justice, others to supervise the erection 
and care of the public works, or to make the biennial census and 
assessment of property throughout the kingdom, or to collect and 
manage the revenue. Each district, or province, of the kingdom 
had its local government and officials subject to Pharaoh. Gener- 
ally the officials were at the same time priests. They could be 
found not only at the king's court and in the capitals of the 
provinces, but in every nook and corner of the realm. When not 
. controlled by a strong king, they were often corrupt and oppressive, 
and their misrule hastened the downfall of their country. 

24. Religion. We cannot understand the Egyptian without 
making ourselves acquainted with his religion, which controlled 
his thoughts and actions. He believed in a countless number of 
good and evil spirits, each one of which lived in a mountain or rock, 
a tree or river, a star, the moon, the sun, or some other object. 
Only the greater and more powerful of these spirits he looked upon 
as gods. His deities had the forms not only of men and women, 
but also of birds, fishes, crocodiles, cats, dogs, and cattle. 

25. The Temple. Expense and care were necessary to secure 
the favor of the gods. Each deity required a temple as a dwelling. 
Patterned after the house of the chief or king, it was originally a 
single room containing the image of the deity and simply furnished. 
But gradually, as the wealth and power of the priests grew, the 
temple was enlarged. Rooms for the storage of the furniture, treas- 
ures, and sacred tools and vessels were added to the original chapel. 
Outside were open court-yards and corridors of gigantic columns 
leading to vast gateways. The temple of Am'mon at Thebes 
was the work of a succession of kings. When finished it was the 
most stupendous temple the world has known. Travellers still 




HALL or COLUMNS IN THE TEMPLE OF AMMON, THEBES 
(From a photograph) 



Religion I y 

wonder at the grand ruins. The architects who planned such work 
were masters of their art. They used columns and piers for sup- 
port, and straight beams for the roof. Through these means they 
were able to combine strength with simplicity, to which they added 
considerable beauty and finish. They were in fact the best architects 
in the world till they were surpassed by the Greeks. The sculptors 




A TEMPLE AT THEBES 
(Restored) 

had to decorate the walls and columns with inscriptions, and to 
chisel images of the god. The god demanded not only a goodly 
dwelling, but also food, fine clothing, ornaments of gold and silver, 
jewels, furniture, vessels, and tools for his worship. The manufac- 
ture of these things required a large number of industries and a great 
variety of skill. The desire to give the gods the best that human 
knowledge and training could produce was throughout ancient his- 
tory the strongest force at work for the advancement of civilization. 
To each great god was assigned a large tract of land and other 
wealth, including a host of slaves who tilled his fields and tended 
his cattle. The estate was managed by the god's chief priest, who 
had under him as assistants a large number of officials of various 
grades. The priests were themselves of many ranks, the highest 
being Pharaoh. They dressed in fine linen, bathed twice each 
day, and twice in the night, and shaved their heads, faces, and 
entire bodies, to keep themselves as clean as possible. They lived 
in the sacred buildings, drew their support from the temple revenues, 
and were free from taxes and military service. There is no wonder, 
then, that .every one longed to be a priesL 



i8 Egypt 

26. Belief in the Future Life and its Effects. Belief in a future 
life formed a prominent part of the religion of the Egyptians. In 
their great care to preserve the dead body, they embalmed it that it 
might never decay ; for if that happened, their spirit at the same 
time suffered an agonizing death. The embalmed body is called a 
mummy. Each man built as strong and great a tomb as he could 
afford, and set aside a considerable part of his wealth to maintain the 
worship of his soul. Private citizens, nobles, and even Pharaoh were 
content to live in comparatively modest dwellings, in order that not 
only the immortal gods, but also their own everlasting mummies, 
each with its spirit, might dwell in grand, indestructible homes. 
Tombs and temples, therefore, were their only great buildings. 

27. The Pyramids. Of the many kinds of tombs the largest 
and most enduring are the pyramids, erected by certain early 
kings to receive their own bodies. The greatest covers thirteen 
acres, and was originally about four hundred and eighty feet high. 
Hidden far within and difficult of access is the chamber in which 
was placed the mummy of the builder. We are astonished not only 
at the immensity of the work as a whole, and at the size and weight 
of the limestone blocks which compose it, but also at the delicate 
accuracy of its construction. Religion was the motive which led 
to the work. Religion encouraged, too, the growth of the astro- 
nomical and mathematical knowledge needed for planning it. Re- 
ligion created the skill in organizing labor, in cutting, polishing, 
and laying the stones, and all the practical engineering used in the 
building. It is doubtful whether with our modern science we should 
be able, if we wished, to equal the work. 

28. Moral Features of their Religion. Though their worship 
of animals seems to us repulsive and degrading, their religion en- 
couraged justice, honesty, purity, and other virtues. At the judg- 
ment seat of the god in the spirit world, each soul before admission 
to eternal happiness was required to declare that he had not mur- 
dered, stolen, coveted the property of others, blasphemed the gods, 
given false testimony, or ill-treated his parents. Here are six 
of our Ten Commandments. 

29. Science and Literature. Their sciences were all practical. 
Before 4000 B.C. their knowledge of astronomy enabled them to 



Science and Literature 19 

devise a calendar of 365 days to the year, divided into twelve 
months. The necessity of measuring the lands and drawing bound- 
ary lines between estates taught them arithmetic, geometry, and 
surveying. The control of the waters required hydraulics. Vari- 
ous other applied sciences, such as architecture and navigation, 
have incidentally been mentioned above. They had, too, some 
knowledge of medicine and surgery. Their paper they made of 
pa-py'rus, a reed which grew abundantly along the Nile. Though 
we use a different material, we have kept the name papyrus, merely 
giving it an English form, our word paper. 

The Egyptians inscribed on monuments and wrote on papyrus 
the chief events of each year, works on medicine, religious texts, 
and moral proverbs and precepts. Kings, nobles, and wealthy 
commoners, according to their means, took pleasure in having their 
achievements and virtues recorded on temple columns, obelisks, 
or the walls of tombs. There were also simple songs of the shep- 
herds, the threshers, and other classes of laborers, and religious 
poems and hymns. In time they began to write stories for teach- 
ing some useful or moral lesson, tales of adventure for entertain- 
ment, and songs and stories of love. There were great numbers 
of business letters and documents. Most of this written material 
has perished ; much remains to be discovered ; but enough has 
been found to give us a clear knowledge of the life and achievements 
of these people through a period of more than four thousand years. 

30. Contributions to Civilization. The Egyptians were a 
secluded, home-keeping people. Cut off by deserts and seas from 
other nations, they worked out their destiny almost unaided by 
foreigners. For the same reason they influenced few other peoples. 
The Syrians imitated some of their industries and adopted some 
of their ideas, but got far more from the Babylonians. 1 Only in 
one direction did the stream of Egyptian influence flow with a 
strong current. This was toward Crete and the Aegean islands. 2 
From the fourth millennium on, ships plied almost continually to 
and fro, exchanging the products of these regions. The Aegean 
folk profited greatly through intercourse with the older country. 
They received from it and handed down in improved patterns 
i 4 8. 83. 



20 Egypt 

to the Greeks who came later " the forms of household furniture, 
of columns, statues, weapons, seals, and many other things which 
still play their part in our daily life, though we are all unconscious 
of their Egyptian origin." 1 In the seventh century B.C., when 
some of the Greeks began to visit the Orient in search of knowledge, 
they learned the elements of science in Egypt as well as in Baby- 
lonia. 2 All these things, so essential to the comfort, the happiness, 
and the mental advancement of the human race, borrowed and 
vastly improved by the Greeks, became the heritage of future 
ages. Briefly, the place of the Egyptians in history is that they 
were the creators of the earliest civilization and that they passed on 
their improvements to the people who were the most competent 
to continue the good work. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. From what point of view could the Egyptians be called the most im- 
portant people of ancient history? 2. How are the pyramids proof of a 
high civilization ? 3. How was trade carried on before the invention of coin- 
age, for instance in the markets of Egypt? 4. Describe the dress of the 
men and the women respectively in the market scenes facing p. 14. De- 
scribe the eye and the shape of the head. 5. Describe from the maps the 
location of Egypt, Memphis, Gizeh, Thebes, and Sais. 

Note-book Topics 

I. Life in Thebes. Maspero, Life in Ancient Egypt and Assyria, ch. i. 

II. Useful Arts. Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, chs. xviii, xix; Mas- 
pero, Egyptian Archaeology, ch. v; Breasted, History of the Ancient Egyp- 
tians, 88-102. 

III. The Pyramids. Breasted, ch. vi; Maspero, Egyptian Archaeology, 
iii, 2. 

1 Quoted from Dr. Adolf Erman, a noted Egyptologist. 2 183. 




THE EUPHRATES RIVER 



CHAPTER III 
THE TIGRIS-EUPHRATES VALLEY 

x\bout 3500-538 B.C. 

31. The Country of the Semites; the two Rivers and their In- 
fluence. Across the Arabian Gulf from Egypt is the sandy desert 
of Arabia. It is bounded on the northwest by Syria, a land of hills 
and mountains. Along the northeastern border extend the Persian 
Gulf and the valley of the Tigris and Eu-phra'tes rivers. In the 
south this valley is separated from Syria by the desert. Toward 
the north the two regions approach each other. The great Arabian 
desert and the hill and valley regions bordering it together formed 
the country of the Semites. As their history begins in the valley, 
we must study this region first. 

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers rise in the mountains north of 
the Semite country. They flow in a southeasterly direction, and 
join together before emptying into the Persian Gulf. Along the 
middle course of the Tigris, chiefly on the east side, was As-syr'i-a, an 
undulating plain. Farther down on both sides of the Euphrates 
the valley is uniformly flat. This region was Bab-y-lo'ni-a. Here 
the valley was like that of the Nile. In its natural state it was 



22 



The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 




INSCRIPTION OF HAMMURABI 
Recording the building of a 

temple. 
(Limestone tablet ; British Museum) 



inundated by the rivers in the spring 
and early summer. Hence a strong 
government was necessary for the build- 
ing and repair of dikes and canals. The 
entire overflow was drawn off in these 
canals and used economically for irriga- 
tion. In this respect the system differed 
from the Egyptian. When the waters 
were properly regulated, the soil was as 
productive as that of the Nile valley. 
In some respects the country was less 
favored than Egypt. As it had no stone 
or suitable timber, the people were com- 
pelled to use brick almost exclusively for 
building. Then, too, there were no natu- 
ral defences along the borders. It was 
therefore exposed to invasion on all sides, 
especially from the Arabian desert. The 
very fact, however, that the country 
was so accessible tended to bring the 
inhabitants more readily into relations 
with surrounding peoples. Because of 
such similarities and differences, we shall 
find the broad outline of Babylonian 
history and character like the Egyptian, 
though unlike it in detail. Particularly 
the influence of Babylonia on other coun- 
tries was more widely extended. 

32. Remains of the Civilization; Writ- 
ing. As the country has had little 
care for hundreds of years, much of it 
is now desolate. We find it seamed with 
the ruins of ancient canals and dotted 
over with mounds. In 1842 archaeolo- 
gists began to excavate these heaps, and 
found them to be the ruins of ancient 
cities. The work still continues, and 



The People 23 

every year new discoveries are made. Since 1893 the important 
city of Nip'pur has been excavated by Professor Hilprecht under 
the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania. Walls, palaces, 
and temples were alike built of sun-dried brick, which soon 
crumbled. This accounts for their present condition. Libraries, 
too, have been found. The pages of a Babylonian book were 
thin clay tablets. Many documents were on cylinders of the 
same material. As the characters were engraved with a triangu- 
lar instrument, they were wedge-shaped. This style of writing 
is known as cu'nei-form from Latin cu'ne-us, a wedge. Before 
the middle of the past century scholars had succeeded in decipher- 
ing the script. The means employed were similar to those used 
in the case of the Rosetta stone. 1 The written material, described 
more fully below, is the chief source of our information for the his- 
tory and life of the Babylonians and Assyrians. 

33. The People : Origin and Antiquity. The original home 
of the Semites was Arabia. There they were nomads, wandering 
about with their flocks from one oasis to another in search of pas- 
ture. When the population became so great that the barren 
country could no longer support it, swarms of these fierce barbarians 
poured out into the more habitable countries, northwest and north- 
east. Swampy Babylonia could not support many people, however, 
and the nomads seem to have been incapable of making the neces- 
sary improvements. 

The work was successfully undertaken by another people, the 
Su-me'ri-ans. We do not know who they were, but scholars are 
inclined to believe that they came from the northeast. Possibly 
their earlier home was the country beyond the Caspian Sea, where 
the remains of a very ancient civilization have recently been un- 
earthed. 2 However that may be, they were the first to build dikes 
and dig canals, to make the country fit for agriculture. They 
invented cuneiform writing, and in brief created the earliest civiliza- 
tion of Babylonia. Most of the cities they founded were in the 
south of the country. Although we do not know when they in- 

1 I2. 

2 The exploration was conducted by Mr. Raphael Pumpelly, who has published the 
results in Explorations in Turkestan, Expedition of 1904, 2 vols., igo8. 



24 The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 

vaded the valley , we are certain that in the fourth millennium (4000- 
3000) B.C. they were living there in cities. At that time they were 
about as far advanced in civilization as the Egyptians had been a 
thousand years earlier. 1 When a new overflow of Semites from 
Arabia poured into the valley, these late-comers found much of 
the country under cultivation. The two races began a long struggle 
for the mastery. Meanwhile the Semites adopted the culture of the 
more advanced Sumerians and founded cities of their own gener- 
ally in the north of Babylonia. 

34. Period of the City-Kingdoms (about 3500-1917 B.C.). For 
a long time the country, like Egypt, was divided into a number of 
states, each centring in a single city. Among the important cities 
were Sumerian Ur and Semitic Ac'cad and Babylon. There were 
from the beginning endless wars among the states. The more 
powerful subdued the weaker, and built up greater kingdoms. The 
names and deeds of many of these early rulers are known to us 
through the records they have left. But the first whose name need 
here be mentioned was Sar'gon, king of Accad about 2500 B.C. 2 
First he united all Babylonia under his crown. Then, continuing 
his conquests, he extended his realm eastward far into Elam, north- 
ward to the upper waters of the Tigris, and westward over northern 
Syria to the Mediterranean. Probably he crossed to Cyprus. 
From his time we find the influence of Babylon there. His con- 
quests brought Syria and Babylonia into close relations. Each got 
the products and ideas of the other. The greater share of benefit 
came to Syria, however, which was behind Babylonia in civilization. 
At home the conqueror built temples to the gods and a great palace 
for himself. In appreciation of his own power as ruler of nearly all 
the known world, he began to call himself a god. The empire 
he created was the first known to history, far earlier than the Egyp- 
tian. 3 Having no organization, however, it soon fell to pieces. 

The place of Accad was taken in part by Ur. The empire built 
up by its kings was smaller, and lasted but little more than a century. 

1 The fact that the Egyptian civilization began about a thousand years earlier than 
the Sumerian is proved beyond a doubt by the monuments. 

2 The city is now usually called Agade, and the country in which it was situated 
Accad. The date formerly given, 3800 B.C., is now found to be incorrect. 2500 is only 
approximate; he might have lived a century or two earlier. 3 17. 



Political History 25 

The period, though short, was one of unusual progress in the arts. 
After its downfall other cities contended for the supremacy, with 
more or less success. Meanwhile Babylon was coming to the front. 
Ham-mu-ra'bi, king of this city (1958-1916 B.C.), brought all 
Babylonia under his sway. 

It is worthy of notice that the period just reviewed, though 
one of continual strife within and of invasions from without, brought 
Babylonian civilization to its highest point. Thereafter was some 
political advance, but cultural stagnation and decline. 

35. The First Supremacy of Babylon (1917 to about 1250 B.C.). 
-We may date the beginning of the Old Babylonian empire 1 from 

the year in which Hammurabi completed the unification of Baby- 
lonia (1917). His realm included also western Elam, Assyria, 
and Syria. Hammurabi is especially famous for his code (written 
collection) of laws. There were written laws before him, and one 
or more collections, but his is the earliest that has survived. A 
stone on which it was copied was found by explorers in 1901-1902. 
For hundreds of years it continued in force in the country of the 
two rivers. After about three centuries Babylonia declined and lost 
her foreign possessions. Assyria became first an independent 
state and then a rival. About 1250 B.C. an Assyrian king conquered 
Babylon. Though the latter city recovered freedom for a time, 
she remained during the next six centuries overshadowed by the 
superior power on her northern border. 

36. The Assyrian Supremacy (about 1250-606 B.C.). The 
Assyrians were Semites. At this time they were behind the Baby- 
lonians in civilization, but were adopting their habits of life, their 
inventions, and their religious beliefs. Composed largely of free 
peasants, the nation was strong in war, as such nations always 
are. As a rival of Babylon, Assyria had already created and 
lost an empire. After 1250 B.C. she continued her struggle for 
power with varying fortune. Her greatest successes were achieved 
in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. At that time her empire 
became the greatest the world had known. It reached from the 

''Till recently, historians have been accustomed to call the old empire "Chaldean"; 
but it is now well known that the Chaldeans, a fresher Semitic tribe, did not invade 
Babylonia till about 1000 B.C. 



26 The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 

Persian Gulf to the Black Sea, and from above Memphis on the 
Nile nearly to the Caspian Sea. 

All the empires thus far formed were made up of tributary states 
under native kings. These rulers were ready to revolt at every 
opportunity. So loose a system gave no promise of lasting long. 
The first state to make a business of war, conquest, and govern- 




ASSYRIANS IN BATTLE 
(From Hommel, Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens) 

ment on a large scale was Assyria. Her great improvement was the 
division of the subject country into provinces (sa'tra-pies), each 
ruled by a governor appointed by the Assyrian king. The gov- 
ernor's duty was to command the army of his district, administer 
justice, and oversee the collection of the annual tribute. Under 
him were the native kings, who enjoyed far less power and independ- 
ence than had those |rf earlier empires. Another policy of the 
government was to transplant great numbers of the subjects from 
one part of the empire to another. By this means it aimed to 
uproot local patriotism and to make the people more dependent. 
As the peasant class died out, the king composed his army of mer- 
cenaries, who could be supported only by plunder and excessive 
taxation. His rule was utterly selfish and oppressive, and he failed 
to protect his subjects from foreign invasion. 

The empire came to a sudden end. The Babylonians revolted, 
and with the Medes, a powerful people east of Assyria, they laid 



Assyria; Babylon 27 

siege to Nin'e-veh, the populous and wealthy capital of the empire. 
After two years they captured and sacked it.- When they had fin- 
ished their work, its splendid temples and palaces were ruins. At 
the same time the empire fell (606 B.C.). 



Persons and Events in Assyrian History for Reference 

1125. Tig'lath-Pi-le'ser I, first notable Assyrian conqueror. 
860-783. First great age of Assyria. 

745-727. Tiglath-Pileser II, a great organizer as well as conqueror. 
722-705. Sar'gon, a great organizer and statesman; Assyria at the height 

of her glory. 
705-680. Sen-nach'e-rib wages war with Egypt and Israel, and destroys 

Babylon. 

680-668. E'sar-had'don rebuilds Babylon and conquers Egypt. 
668-626. As'shur-ban'i-pal, the last magnificent king. 

Egypt and Media become independent. 

The Scyth'i-ans invade the empire. 
606. The destruction of Nineveh. 

37. The Second Supremacy of Babylon (606-538 B.C.). About 
1000 B.C. a fresh horde of Semites the Chaldeans had poured 
from Arabia into southern Babylonia. While conquering the 
country, they had struggled to shake off from it the Assyrian yoke. 
The fall of Nineveh and the second supremacy of Babylon were due 
chiefly to these people, who now held full possession of the country. 
From them it got the name Chal-de'a. Their kings sat upon the 
throne. The most brilliant was Neb-u-chad-nez'zar. In an able 
reign of forty-four years he enlarged his dominion westward to the 
Mediterranean. The greater part of his energy he devoted to the 
improvement of his country and to its defence against the Median 
empire, which extended along his northern border. He fortified 
this frontier with a brick wall a hundred feet high, and surrounded 
his city with massive defences. Babylon was now a square about 
forty miles in circuit. Within the vast walls the space was divided 
by streets, as in the most improved modern cities, into rectangular 
blocks occupied by houses three or four stories high. Here and 
there rose gigantic palaces and temples. One of the greatest build- 
ings of this king was the " hanging garden." It towered to a great 



28 The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 

height in terraces, and was supplied by engines with water from the 
river. This artificial mountain was built to please his Median 
queen, who had grown up in a hill country. Under him and for a 
long time afterward Babylon was the greatest, richest, and most 
attractive city in the world. His successors, however, were weak, 
and some years after his death the city fell into the hands of the 
Persians. 1 

38. Summary of Political History. (i) In the earliest known 
times there were many small city-kingdoms endlessly at war with 
one another (3500-1917 B.C.). (2) One of them, Accad, under 
Sargon created a short-lived empire (2500). (3) Finally Hammu- 
rabi (1917) united them all under Babylon. He is noted, too, for his 
law code. The empire he established comprised western Elam, 
Assyria, and Syria. (4) In time Babylon lost these foreign pos- 
sessions, but did not wholly yield its supremacy till it was conquered 
by Assyria (1250). The empire of the latter reached its height in 
the eighth and seventh centuries. It was greater in extent and far 
better organized than any before it. (5) In 606 its capital, Nine- 
veh, was destroyed, and the empire was divided between the vic- 
torious Medes and Babylonians. The new Babylonian empire, 
though short-lived, was brilliant, especially under the rule of 
Nebuchadnezzar. (6) Soon after his death it was conquered by 
the Persians (538). 

39. Civilization : Social Classes. The law recognized three 
great classes: the rich, the poor (free laborers), and the slaves. 
The rich comprised the few landed proprietors, the king's officials, 
the merchants and bankers, and the priests. Most merchants and 
bankers, however, were included in the priestly class. Some of the 
free laborers were artisans in the cities, but the great mass were 
tenants on the land. They paid a share of the produce to the 
owner. Though legally free, they enjoyed, in fact, but little liberty. 
The slaves formed a large class, employed mostly in the industries. 
There were two chief proprietors of the soil, " the palace " (king) 
and " the god." The palace revenues went to the support of the 
king and his officials and army, those of the god, to the priests as 
in Egypt. 

'63. 



Civilization 29 

40. Industry and Commerce. The principal livelihood was 
agriculture. The chief products of the farm were meat and wool, 
grain, dates, and palm oil. Some parts of the country yielded pe- 
troleum for lighting, naphtha, and salt ; and in the Persian Gulf were 
pearl fisheries. Among the skilled industries brick-making took 
the leading place. The people were celebrated for their skilfully 
embroidered tapestries and carpets for the adornments of walls, 
sofas, beds, and floors. We hear, too, of their gold, silver, glass, and 
bronze wares, their excellent house furniture, finely woven and 
brilliantly colored linens, muslins, and woollens, their canes deli- 
cately chased with figures of fruit or animals, perfumed oils, and 
many other articles of use and luxury. Their wood and ivory carv- 
ings were highly prized by foreigners. Not the least valuable 
products were the engraved precious stones used especially for 
seals. Cities such as Babylon and Nineveh were the seats of luxury 
to which a great variety of industries contributed. 

These works imply an extensive commerce. They imported 
incense, spices, and gums from Arabia ; precious stones, red dyes, 
and hunting dogs from India and its neighborhood; the metals 
chiefly from the interior of Asia ; silk from the remote East ; purple 
dyes and cedar from western Syria. Ivory, ostrich feathers, and 
panther skins came from Africa. Trade routes radiated from 
Babylon in every direction by water and land to distant countries. 
Along these lines ships and caravans travelled back and forth, ex- 
changing the goods of the world. For centuries Babylon was its 
commercial centre. 

41. The Reign of Law. The laws of Hammurabi regulated 
buying, selling, and contracts, recompenses for damage to property, 
punishments for wrong-doing, the rights of women and children, the 
treatment of slaves, inheritance, and adoption, in brief, every- 
thing in life. They even fixed the price of labor of men and ani- 
mals. To be valid, an agreement had to be made in writing before 
witnesses and carefully sealed. The code shows a high sense of 
justice, though many punishments were severe. In injuries to the 
body the law of retaliation prevailed " an eye for an eye and a 
tooth for a tooth." From this code, as well as from other sources, 
we can study the condition of women. Polygamy was permitted 



30 The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 

as among other Oriental peoples, but in practice was limited to the 
rich. In a family of several wives one was chief and the others 
subordinate. Women could transact business and inherit and be- 
queath property. In fact, their condition seems to have been as 
favorable as in Egypt. The civilization pictured by these laws was 
highly developed. It was very old far older than ours. It had 
passed its prime and was declining. 

42. Religion and Literature. The Babylonian religion had the 
same origin as the Egyptian. 1 In fact, all pagan religions began with 
the worship of objects of nature. But the people of the Tigris- 



CYLINDER-SEAL or AN EARLY KING 

The king is led by a priest into the presence of the Moon-God. St-W 
(British Museum) 

Euphrates valley were more inclined than the Egyptians to revere 
as gods the sun, moon, and stars. Heaven, Earth, and Sea were 
likewise great deities. As the people grew in knowledge, they were 
more inclined to regard as deities the spirits of those objects rather 
than the things themselves. Every locality and every association 
of men had its gods. More important was the chief deity of the 
city-kingdom, and greatest of all was the god of an imperial capi- 
tal, as Nineveh or Babylon. Religion had to do mainly with life on 
earth. To the future world the Babylonians paid little heed, and 

'24. 



Religion 31 

their view of death was gloomy. Some features of their religion 
were moral, others the opposite. The literature, written by the 
priests and stored in libraries, was mostly religious. It prescribed 
in great detail the ceremonies of worship, the forms of magic for 
repelling evil spirits, the prayers for soothing the anger of the gods 
and for winning their favor. The priests invented many ways of 
divination of discovering the will of the gods. The best means 
they could find was the examination of the liver of an animal offered 




CLAY MODEL OF A LIVER 

Inscribed with magical formulae ; used in divination. 
(British Museum) 

in sacrifice. This kind of divination they made into a complicated 
system. Another means of foretelling the future was the study of 
the heavenly bodies, especially of the sun, moon, and five known 
planets. In this way they created astrology. All this priestly 
lore was reduced to writing. 

Many of the religious texts were composed in both Semitic and 
Sumerian. Grammars and dictionaries were necessary in the study 



The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 



of the " dead language." Their scientific works included mathe- 
matics, astronomy, and geography, zoology, botany, and mineral- 
ogy: Their history was a record of each king's achievements, 
written by his scribe with extravagant flattery. More attractive are 
the hymns and religious myths. They created the epic a poem 
of considerable length which celebrates in narrative form the deeds 





,;:< 




BABYLONIAN TEMPLE AT NIPPUR 

(From Hilprecht, Explorations in Bible Lands. With the permission of the publishers, A. J. 
Holman and Co.) 

of real or mythical heroes. One of these poems includes an 
account of the great flood and the building of the ship in 
which one human family alone was saved. Another religious epic 
gives an account of the creation of the world by one of their 
gods. These tales are somewhat like the Biblical stories of the 
same events. 



Science and Art 



33 



43. Astronomy and the Calendar. Most of the sciences have 
been mentioned in connection with industries and literature. Their 
greatest advance was in astronomy. From immemorial time the 
priests in their lofty temples watched the sky and recorded daily 
the movements of the stars. They soon learned to foretell eclipses, 
and determined almost precisely the length of the solar year. 
They divided it into twelve months of thirty days each. As this 
reckoning left the year short by about five days, they made the 
correction by inserting an additional month whenever necessary. 
The month they divided approximately into four weeks of seven 
days each. The days of the week bore the names of the sun, 
moon, and five known planets. The day contained twelve hours, 
which were double the length of our own. The hours they meas- 
ured by the water-clock and the sun-dial. 

which they had invented. 

Though the decimal system was known, 
the notation chiefly used was based on 
iox6ori2X5 = 6o (hence called sexages- 
imal). The standard weight was the 
talent, divided into sixty minas. The 
mina, weighing nearly i^ pounds, contained 
sixty shek'els. Their measures of length 
were based originally on the finger, hand, 
foot, and arm. 

44. Architecture and Sculpture. Most 
of the arts have been considered above in 
connection with the industries. It remains 
to speak of architecture and sculpture. As 
above stated, all their great works tem- 
ples, palaces, and walls of defence were 
necessarily of brick. As a foundation for 

a temple or palace the king erected a huge rectangular terrace, 
forty or more feet high. The object seems to have been to raise 
the building above the dampness of the earth, and to make it 
more imposing. On this foundation, often covering several acres, 
the king built his oblong palace or temple. The flat roof rested 
on cedar beams. High above all the rest of the building rose a 




A BABYLONIAN KING 



34 



The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 



pyramidal tower. It was solid, and was terraced all the way up 
the sides, as shown in the illustration. The summit was the home 
of the god. The palaces of the Assyrian kings were vast. A cer- 
tain one in Nineveh covered twenty-five acres, and contained 
about two hundred rooms. 1 These great works were constructed 

on principles now 
lost to the world. 
In some of the 
earliest the round 
arch was used, 
long before it was 
known to other 
nations. 

The interior 
walls of Babylo- 
nian buildings were 
covered with glazed 
tiles. Those of the 
Assyrian palace 
were decorated 
with reliefs en- 
graved on stone. 
The doorways were 
guarded by colossal 
human-headed 
beasts of the same 
material. In gen- 
eral the sculpture 
of the period of 
city-kingdoms was truer to nature ; in later time it grew stiff and 
conventional. The artist did not study carefully the human form, 
for he looked upon the body as base. He preferred to represent 
men arrayed in gorgeous clothing, armies, and scenes of battle. 
Having plenty of stone in their country, the Assyrians were more 
accustomed than the Babylonians to use it for decoration. Lack- 

1 That of King Sargon (722-705). This ruler should be distinguished from the 
earlier Sargon of Accad. 




COLOSSAL BULL WITH WINGS AND HUMAN HEAD 

Held by a mythical person. From a doorway of the 

palace of Sargon, 722-705 B.C. 

(British Museum) 



The World's Debt to Babylon 3 - 

ing originality, however, they made their buildings almost wholly 
of brick, in imitation of the Babylonian, and preferred artificial 
mounds to hills as sites for temples and palaces. 

45. Contributions to European Culture. Through their com- 
merce the Babylonians, unlike the Egyptians, spread their science, 
art, and beliefs over a great part of the ancient world. As early 
as the third millennium (3000-2000) B.C., Syria came under their 
influence. The inhabitants adopted nearly all their ideas and arts, 
including the cuneiform script. Babylonian became the language 
of diplomacy, not only over all Syria, but even of the Egyptian court. 1 
From Syria the culture of the Babylonians was carried to Asia 
Minor and to Europe. The Etruscans 2 learned from them the use 
of the arch, and of divination through the liver, and passed this 
knowledge on to the Romans. The Greeks borrowed their system 
of weights, their calendar, and some of their astronomy. Not 
merely the grouping of the days in weeks, but many elements of 
religion, the Hebrews received from the Babylonians, and passed 
on to us. The division of the circle into 360 degrees and the twelve 
signs of the zodiac are theirs. Whenever we look at our watch we 
have another reminder of the Babylonians, for the division of the 
face into twelve hours is their contrivance. All the essential ele- 
ments of civilization the Europeans derived from the Orient, and 
the greater number came from .Babylon. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. In what respects did the Babylonians and the Assyrians advance 
Beyond the Egyptians, and in what respects did they remain inferior? 

2. Why are the discoveries and inventions of the Egyptians and the Baby- 
lonians more important than those made during the past hundred years? 

3. What motives to progress had the Babylonians and the Egyptians? 
Are they the same as ours? 4. From the picture of the Euphrates, p. 21, 
what do you infer as to the character of the country through which it flows? 

5. From the illustration on p. 26, what can we learn of Assyrian warfare? 

6. From the map, opp. p. i, describe the location of Babylonia, Babylon, 
Ur, Accad, and /Nineveh. 

1 This is true of the fourteenth century B.C., as proved by a great quantity of diplo- 
matic correspondence of that time recently discovered at Tell el Amarna, Sgypt. 

2 358. 



36 The Tigris- Euphrates Valley 



Note-book Topics 

I. Social and Private Life in Assyria. Maspero, Life in Ancient Egypt 
and Assyria, ch. xii; Sayce, Social Life among the Assyrians and Baby- 
lonians, chs. i-iv. 

II. A Library. Maspero, ch. xvi ; Goodspeed, History of the Babylonians 
and Assyrians, 315 f. 

III. Commerce, Science, and Architecture of the Babylonians. 
Winckler, History of Babylonia and Assyria, 131-164; Sayce, chs. v-vii; 
Ancient Empires of the East, 157-178; Goodspeed, 92-99. 



CHAPTER IV 

SYRIA: THE PHOENICIANS AND THE HEBREWS 
I. THE PHOENICIANS 

46. The Country. Syria has already been mentioned as a land 
of hills and mountains, lying northwest of the Arabian desert. 1 
It stretched along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean for a 
distance of four hundred miles with an average breadth of less than 
a hundred miles. The area of the whole region was therefore about 
that of Kentucky. In the north the Leb'an-on mountain range 
extends through about half the length of Syria from one to five miles 
from the coast. The western slope of the range was Phoe-ni'ci-a, 
a district about the size of one of our counties. Farther south the 
mountain range, which here has no common name, diverges more 
widely from the coast and extends almost directly south to the 
desert. Along the eastern base of the range flows southward the 
Jordan River. In its lower course it descends below the level of 
the Mediterranean, and empties into the Dead Sea. The latter 
has no outlet. East of the Jordan is a plateau stretching away to 
the desert. The country here described, consisting of the coast 
region, the mountains, the Jordan valley, and the plateau, was 
Ca'naan or Pal'es-tine. 

47. Influence of the Country upon the People. In studying 
the history of Syria, as of other countries, it is necessary to keep in 
mind the influence of the land and its surroundings on the character 
of the people. Life was more difficult in the hills and mountains 
than in the great river plains ; the people, therefore, in the begin- 
ning made slower progress in useful knowledge and in the arts. 
To secure the best livelihood from their country, cooperation on a 
large scale, such as prevailed on the Nile and lower Euphrates, was 
altogether useless. Men could obtain the best results by working 
individually as members of small communities. Hence Syria was a 



37 



Syria 




PHOENICIA 

AND 

PALESTINE 

IN THE TIME OF 

Red BfoSTuiAN David and Solomon 

ving/Jo-./N.Y. Longitude East from 30 Greenwich 



country of little states. 
One other great fact must 
be noticed. The people of 
Syria, bounded on two sides 
by powerful kingdoms, had 
to be ever alert to save as 
much as possible of their in- 
dependence. Though they 
often bowed the neck to a 
master, their spirit remained 
free. The peculiarity of 
their situation may help 
explain their native shrewd- 
ness. Furthermore, as car- 
riers' between the two coun- 
tries some of them early 
engaged in commerce. 
Then, too, their cramped 
position drove the coast 
people to a seafaring life. 

I. THE PHOENICIANS 

48. The Cities and their 
Industries. The earliest 
known inhabitants were 
Semites from Arabia. 
Those who lived on the 
coast west of the Lebanon 
range called themselves Si- 
do'ni-ans and their oldest 
city Sidon. The Greeks 
named them Phoenicians, 
" the purple folk," because 
of the purple dye which 
they extracted from a va- 
riety of shell-fish caught in 



Phoenicians 39 

the Mediterranean. Among the cities afterward founded, the most 
celebrated was Tyre. Both were placed on barren rocky islands 
near the coast. 

All the Phoenician cities, however small, were sovereign states. 
In defence of their country they often acted together. Otherwise 
each pursued independently its own aims. The Phoenicians had 
the advantage of few natural resources. On the mountains they 
cut cedars for their own houses and ships, and for exportation to 
Egypt and Babylon. The slopes and patches of coast plain yielded 
little pasturage and still less grain. Hence they were forced to the 
sea for support. The dyes obtained from their purple fisheries 
were eagerly bought by kings and nobles throughout the civilized 
world. As early as the third millennium (3000-2000) B.C., the Phoe- 
nicians, even more than the other Syrians, were importing and learn- 
ing to imitate the products of Babylonian skill. Their culture 
became thoroughly Babylonian, slightly influenced by Egypt. 
Their writing was for a long time cuneiform. Among the early 
products of Phoenician industry were bronze armor and weapons, 
war chariots, vessels of silver and gold, tables and chairs inlaid with 
ivory and ebony, or with gold and silver, precious stones, statues 
of the gods ornamented with gems and with silver and gold, glass- 
ware, and brilliantly colored pottery. 

49. Commerce and Colonies. Cyprus attracted the Phoenicians 
by its rich mines of copper. They planted many settlements in 
the island. Thence they continued westward. About 1500 B.C. 
they reached Crete. 1 In the Aegean Sea they colonized Rhodes, 
worked the mines in various places, and traded with the natives. 
This was before the beginning of Greek colonization. 

As the Greeks extended their settlements over the islands and 
coasts of the Aegean, 2 they expelled the Phoenicians entirely from 
that region. Thereupon the latter continued their voyages west- 
ward, planting colonies on the African coast, in Sicily and Sardinia, 
and in Spain. They were drawn to Spain by its wealth of metals, 

1 From about this time Asiatic influence can be found in the civilization of Crete. 
Commerce between this island and Egypt had been carried on continuously for more 
than two thousand years from early in the fourth millennium. 

2 92 ff., 98. 



Syria 



not only copper and tin, but silver and gold. Their colonies were 
planted merely as trading-stations; but where circumstances fa- 
vored, they grew into cities. Of all their settlements in the Medi- 
terranean none was so favored by nature as Carthage. This colony 

was founded about 800 B.C. on the 
northern coast of Africa opposite Sicily. 
It had a large harbor, and the neigh- 
boring country was remarkably fertile. 
Besides these advantages, it w r as situ- 
ated midway between Spain and Phoe- 
nicia and could easily reach Sicily and 
Italy by ship. These favorable condi- 
tions made it in time the greatest com- 
mercial city of the Mediterranean basin. 
50. Trade Routes. In the Orient 
the lines of traffic followed by the 
Phoenicians connected 'with those of 
Babylon. Their sea routes covered 
the Mediterranean and stretched along 
the neighboring coasts of the Atlantic. 
Nowhere do they seem to have pushed 
far into the interior. Amber from the 
Baltic coasts and tin from Britain were 
brought them by traders along two 
overland routes. One passed from 

northern Germany southward over the Alps to the head of the 
Adriatic Sea; the other, crossing Gaul, reached the sea at the 
mouth of the Rhone. How early these routes came into use no 
one can say. 

51. Carriers of the Arts and of the Alphabet. Wherever they 
went they carried the products of Eastern industry. The nations 
gladly bought these wares, and soon began in imitation to attempt 
similar work of their own. In the same way the Babylonian nota- 
tion, the system of weights and measures, and useful knowledge 
of many other things were brought to the western peoples. In 
brief, the Phoenicians were the missionaries of civilization. 
Their most valuable gift to Europe was the phonetic alphabet. 




A PHOENICIAN 



The Alphabet 



PHOENICIAN 



/I. 



1 

Z 



ARCHAIC GREEK 



s z _zr 



LATER GREEK 



A A 
B 

r 
E e 



THE ANCESTORS OF SOME OF THE LETTERS OF OUR 
ALPHABET 



We find them in possession of it as early as 900 B.C. Evidently it 
was produced by simplifying some earlier system, or systems, of 
writing ; but we do 
not know how much 
is due to their own 
invention or from 
what sources they 
derived its ele- 
ments. 1 It consisted 
of twenty-two let- 
ters, each represent- 
ing a consonant. As 
the Phoenicians pro- 
nounced their vowels 
but lightly, they felt 
no need of indicat- 
ing them by letters. 
Having learned or invented this alphabet, they discarded the 
cuneiform system. From the Phoenicians the Greeks adopted the 
new alphabet, changing it somewhat to suit their own language. 
The Romans learned it from the Greeks and introduced other 
changes. In the Roman form it has come down to us. Its sim- 
plicity has made education far easier than it was on the banks of 
the Nile and Euphrates. It has therefore been an enormous help 
in increasing the intelligence, especially of the middle and poorer 
classes of all countries, and in elevating them in the scale of 
civilization. 

II. THE HEBREWS 

52. Early Wanderings. Palestine, the country of the Hebrews, 
has been described above. Like the Phoenicians, they were Semites. 
Their own writers tell us that Abraham, their remote ancestor, left 
his home in Ur 2 to wander in Canaan, a land Jenovah had promised 
him and his descendants. During the remainder of his life he 
moved about in this country with his family, his many slaves, and 

1 It has recently been suggested that they got some of these elements Trom the Cretan 
script, cf. 85. 2 34 



42 Syria 

his flocks. The people with him formed, so to speak, a little state, 
of which Abraham was chief. A simple government of this kind, 
exercised over children and servants, is called patriarchal, signify- 
ing " rule of the father." Wandering peoples are generally gov- 
erned in this way. The wealth and authority of Abraham passed 
to his son Isaac, and then to his grandson Jacob, or Is'ra-el. These 
men, too, were patriarchs. When oppressed by famine, Israel took 
refuge in Egypt. This was probably during the Hyksos invasion. 
There his people were held in slavery four hundred years. Finally 
Moses, a hero favored by Jehovah, freed his people, and led them 
into the desert of Mount Si'nai. On the top of this mountain Moses 
received a body of laws for his people from Jehovah. Among them 
were the Ten Commandments. Moses was one of the greatest 
moral and religious teachers in history. After dwelling some time 
in the neighborhood of Mount Sinai, his people, the Israelites or 
Hebrews, invaded Canaan, seized the land, and killed or enslaved 
the inhabitants. The conquest began early in the fourteenth 
century B.C. 1 

53. The Judges (about 1400-1000 B.C.). Fresh hordes fol- 
lowed the earlier invaders ; and the conquest of the country went 
on for centuries. The twelve tribes, who claimed descent from the 
twelve sons of Israel, occupied each a distinct territory. There 
was little political connection between the tribes, and anarchy 
usually prevailed. The only government the country had was 
in the hands of leaders, the " judges," who generally ruled each a 
part of the nation. Under these circumstances the Hebrews fell 
beneath the yoke of the Phi-lis'tines, who lived in the coast region. 
From them the country got the name Palestine. 

54. The Founding of the Kingship : Saul (about 1000-985 B.C.). 
- The Hebrews were restive under the yoke. Samuel, the prophet, 

urged them to rebel ; and when they demanded a military chief, 
he chose as their first king, Saul, a strong impetuous leader of armies. 
Saul displayed great energy in uniting the Hebrews under his rule 
and in freeing them from their oppressors. But in the end these 

1 An Egyptian inscription recently discovered proves that there were tribes of Israel 
in Palestine at the time it was written, 1 273 B.C. The beginnings of their invasion should 
be dated at about a century earlier. 



History of Palestine 43 

terrible enemies overthrew his army, severely wounded him, and 
killed his three sons. In despair the warrior king fell on his sword 
and perished. Wildly the people lamented the fallen hero: "Ye 
daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and 
with other delights, who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel. 
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle ! " 

55. David (about 985-955 B.C.). 1 His successor was David of 
the tribe of Judah. Beginning life as a shepherd lad and poet, he 
had come to the front through personal bravery and ability to 
command. In time he made Israel a single state, wholly indepen- 
dent of the Philistines. By conquering various small tribes of 
Syria he extended his kingdom northward to the Euphrates and 
southward nearly to Egypt. Jerusalem, which to his time had 
remained in the hands of the Canaanites, he made the capital and 
religious centre of his realm. Here he established the Ark the 
portable shrine of Jehovah which the Hebrews had carried with 
them in their nomadic life. The masses of Israel were worshippers 
of many gods. But the followers of Jehovah, though few, were 
exceedingly zealous and aggressive. It was largely through the 
help of his priests that David came to power. Jerusalem became a 
holy city, Israel was temporarily won for Jehovah, and a halo of 
religion consecrated David and his descendants to the kingship for 
all time. With the help of workmen lent him by the friendly king 
of Tyre, with the cedars of Lebanon and the Phoenician arts, 
David built and adorned his city. He was now an Oriental king, 
with his hand in the politics of the world, living magnificently in a 
palace filled with wives and slaves. His extensive wars and heavy 
taxes oppressed the people, who followed his favorite son Ab'sa-lom 
in a revolt against the king. But the son fell, and the father con- 
tinued to rule. After his death his oppression, caprices, and vio- 
lence were soon forgotten. Remembering only his service to Israel 
and Jehovah, his people to this day have ever looked back to him as 
their ideal king and their national hero. 

56. Solomon (about 955-925 B.C.); the Decline. After his 
death, Solomon, another son, succeeded to the throne. Devoting 

1 The dates of the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon are only approximately known. 
Some put them 25-40 years earlier. 



44 Syria 

himself to peace, he built in Jerusalem a magnificent temple to 
Jehovah. He fortified the city with stronger walls, and made for 
himself splendid palaces. He surrounded himself with all the luxury 
and brilliancy of an Oriental despot. His ships in the Mediter- 
ranean and Red seas brought him the products of distant lands. 
Among his allies were numbered the kings of Tyre and Egypt. 
In administration and diplomacy, as well as in the practical affairs 
of life, he displayed great shrewdness. Even to-day he is popularly, 
though with little reason, considered the wisest man in history. 

All this glory was a burden to the people. He taxed them heavily, 
and compelled them to labor unrewarded on his great buildings. 
Thirty thousand men were kept busy cutting stone and hewing 
wood. Naturally the people chafed under the yoke. When, 
therefore, his son and heir attempted to continue his policy, Judah, 
with a part of the tribe of Benjamin, alone remained faithful. 
The other tribes revolted. Henceforth we have to do with two small 
weak states, Ju-de'a (Judah) and Israel, afflicted with internal 
strife and nearly always at war with one another. 

57. The Captivity and the Restoration (722-536 B.C.). In the 
eighth century B.C., while the Assyrian king was pushing his frontier 
westward, he made both states tributary. Israel revolted, where- 
upon he destroyed its capital, Sa-ma'ri-a, and transplanted the 
population to the country beyond the Euphrates (722 B.C.). They 
were soon lost among the natives of that region. The lands of the 
rebels were assigned to colonists from the banks of the Tigris and 
Euphrates, and were incorporated in a province of the empire. 1 
The fall of Assyria and the rise of Babylon meant for Judea merely 
a change of masters. To punish it for rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar 2 
besieged and captured Jerusalem. He had already deported many 
of the inhabitants on a former occasion of disobedience. Now he 
destroyed the holy city and carried into captivity the rest of the 
people, excepting the very poorest. 

Fifty years (586-536 B.C.) the Hebrews remained in captivity, 
settled in various parts of the Babylonian empire. When Cyrus, 3 
king of Persia, conquered Babylon, probably with their help, he 
restored them to their native land and permitted them to rebuild 

1 Cf. 36. * 37- 3 63. 



Civilization 45 

their temple. 1 The city rose from its ruins ; but Judea remained a 
province of the Persian empire. 

58. Religion and Literature. Before the period of exile most of 
the Hebrews were worshippers of the various Semitic gods. Some 
of their religious customs and ideas they had brought with them 
from the desert ; many others they adopted from the Canaanites 
and the Babylonians. From very early time, however, there were 
among them leaders and prophets who worshipped none but 
Jehovah, and who strove to uproot paganism wholly from the na- 
tion. The establishment of Jehovah's shrine with a priesthood at 
Jerusalem the wprk of David was an important step in this 
direction. Under Solomon the masses were still idolatrous; and 
the crafty king patronized the gods in order to secure the good will 
of his Canaanitish subjects. The priests and prophets of Jehovah, 
however, continued to insist on the commandment, " Thou shalt 
worship no other god : for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a 
jealous God." To keep his worship pure they emphasized another 
commandment, " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, 
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in 
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth ; thou shalt 
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." Gradually the 
people learned that Jehovah was Lord of the whole world, and that 
the so-called gods were unreal. They were helped to this belief 
by their long political bondage to Assyria, and especially by their 
captivity in Chaldea. Restored Jerusalem knew no god but Je- 
hovah, who demanded of his worshippers moral as well as ceremo- 
nial holiness. About nineteen hundred years ago Christianity, a 
new form of the same faith, grew out of the old. Judaism insists 
on strict obedience to the religious law ; Christianity lays greater 
emphasis on forgiveness and love. 

The Hebrews produced no science. Their religion discouraged 
art, but fostered literature. Prominent among their writings are 
the books of the Old Testament, a national library of tradition, his- 
tory, proverbs, songs, and prophecy, written to glorify Jehovah 
and to show the plan of his dealings with men. The New Testa- 
ment, composed in Greek by Hebrew writers, tells the story of 

1 It was built under Darius, who gave the money for the purpose. 



46 Syria. 

Christ and his early followers, and explains his teachings. The Old 
and New Testaments make up the Bible. It has been read by more 
persons than any other book. Jo-se'phus, born 37 A.D., wrote 
Jewish Antiquities, a history of his people from the creation of the 
world, and The Jewish War, including a detailed account of the 
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Lastly, Jewish rabbis 
composed the Tal'mud, a collection of Hebrew laws and traditions 
with comments and explanations. 

59. Life, Character, and World Influence. Before the captivity 
the Hebrews lived chiefly by tilling the soil ; but their long stay in 
Babylon, the centre of Oriental trade, made of, them a commercial 
people. From that time many of them travelled over the world 
and settled in foreign lands in order to carry on business. Wherever 
they went they built synagogues ; and it was in these houses of 
worship that Christianity was first proclaimed. 

Among them the tie of blood has always been as strong as that of 
religion. Still closer was the family bond. " Honor thy father 
and thy mother," was one of their commandments. Though 
polygamy was permissible, it had no footing with the masses. 
Women were highly respected, and went about freely in public. 
Morals were excellent, family life was pure, and the nation seems 
to have been full of happy homes. It would be hard to overesti- 
mate the influence of this little nation on the history of the world. 
Christianity, the offspring of Judaism, has become the religion of 
the Europeans and of their colonies throughout the world; and 
missionaries are carrying it to all other peoples. The wisest men 
of the present day can find no better moral code than the Ten 
Commandments. In brief, religion and moral law, the most im- 
portant elements of our civilization, were contributed chiefly by 
the Hebrews. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Why were the states of Syria smaller than the others we have been 
studying? 2. What effect had the Syrian hills on the character of the 
people ? Would such a country produce a higher type of character than one 
like Egypt? 3. What was a result of the situation of Phoenicia between a 
high mountain range and the sea? 4. Describe the physical peculiarities 
and the dress of the Phoenicians (p. 40). 5. What was the great contribution 



World Influence 47 

of the Hebrews to civilization? 6. Describe the location of Lebanon Moun- 
tains, Phoenicia, Palestine, Tyre, Sidon, Jerusalem, and Carthage. 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Reign of Saul. /. Samuel, chs. viii-xxxi; II. Samuel, ch. i; 
/. Chronicles, ch. x. 

II. The Babylonian Captivity. Kent, History of the Jewish People, 

34-44- 

III. The Glory and the Fall of Tyre. Ezekiel, chs. xxxvi, xxxvii. 

IV. Phoenician Science and Trade. Sayce, Ancient Empires of the East, 
203-209. 



CHAPTER V 

THE MEDIAN AND PERSIAN EMPIRES 
I. THE INDO-EUROPEANS : THE IRANIANS; THE MEDIAN EMPIRE 

60. The Country. As we descend through the centuries, we 
find new peoples constantly becoming civilized and the area of 
history ever widening. In the fifth millennium B.C. history is con- 
cerned with the Nile valley only. In the fourth the country of the 
Semites is added to the area, and at the same time Crete and the 
Aegean region. Henceforth Europe as well as the Orient has a 
history. It is well to keep this fact in mind while we continue our 
study of the Oriental empires. 

The next Asiatic country to come within the historical field is 
the plateau of I-ran'. It lies east of the Tigris-Euphrates valley, 
between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The central part 
is a great salt steppe resembling the Great Basin of North America. 
Through lack of water the larger part of the country is barren. 
In the northwest was Media. In the south, bordering the Persian 
Gulf, was Persia. An ancient writer, who was well acquainted 
with Persia, describes it as follows : " Here a mild climate prevails ; 
the land is rich in herbs and well- watered pastures ; it produces 
abundance of wine and of all fruits except the olive. Therein are 
luxuriant parks. Rivers of clear water and lakes well-stocked with 
water-fowl irrigate the country. The breeding of horses and beasts 
of burden prospers ; forests full of wild animals are plentiful." 

61. The Indo-Europeans. The Iranians inhabitants of Iran 
were Indo-Europeans, the third great branch of the White race. 
In the word Indo-European the part " Indo " has reference to 
India, and the name was contrived to denote the most westerly 
people (Europeans) and the most easterly known people (Hindoos) 
of the group. Indo-Europeans are those of the White race, what- 

48 



Origin of the Race 49 

ever their descent, who speak an Indo-European tongue. All 
languages of the group have descended from a common parent 
speech. 1 This parent speech must have belonged to a people who 
once lived together as a group of closely connected tribes in a 
definite region. Scholars disagree as to whether this early home 
of the language and people was in Europe or in Asia or partly in 
both. It is quite clear, however, that as early as 3000 B.C., the 
tribes were moving apart and the dialect of each was growing into 
a separate language. Even in their old home they were probably 
not all of one blood, but were composed of divers stocks inter- 
mingled. And while each tribe was migrating it was continually 
taking up into itself all manner of people whom it met with on the 
way. On reaching the home where we find it at the dawn of its 
history, the tribe generally absorbed the natives of the place, and 
continued long after to welcome strangers, whatever their origin. 
In these ways the Indo-European peoples, as we know them in 
history, were as thoroughly mixed as we can possibly imagine them. 
Meantime the language of a given people was altered somewhat by 
these foreign elements, and more by natural growth along with the 
progress of culture. But in spite of all changes it retained its essen- 
tial Indo-European character. 

62. The Iranians ; the Median Empire (606-550 B.C.). About 
2000 B.C. some of the Indo-European tribes began to invade India 
and eastern Iran, and to take possession of these countries. Slowly 
the Iranians, as we may call the invaders of Iran, worked their way 
westward in the face of the Elamites and other earlier inhabitants. 
Some Iranian tribes, the Scythians, overran and desolated the 
Assyrian empire ; others settled down quietly and paid tribute to 
the king at Nineveh. When the Babylonians revolted and made 
war on Nineveh, 2 they called upon a powerful Iranian king to help 
them. His people were Medes. In the division of the fallen Assyr- 
ian empire they received the northern part, leaving the southern 

J Our word "father," for instance, is in Sanskrit (the classical language of -India) 
pitdr, in ancient Persian pitor, in Greek T*IP (pater), in Latin pater, in German vater, 
and similarly through the other kindred tongues. These words for father have descended 
from a single word in the parent speech. All these nations whose languages are so nearly 
connected we call Aryan or Indo-European. 

'36. 



50 The Median and Persian Empires 

part to Babylon. Not content with their share, the restless Medes 
overran all Asia Minor as far west as the Halys River. This stream 
formed the eastern boundary of the Lydian empire, 1 which checked 
their progress in that direction. Meanwhile they were subduing 
their nearer neighbors, including Persia on the south. But their 
empire came to an end in 550 B.C., only a little more than half a 
century after its founding. 

II. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE 

63. Cyrus the Great (550-529 B.C.). Cyrus, king of Persia, 
was a vassal of the Median king. But in 550 B.C. he led a suc- 
cessful revolt against his master. Thereupon the Median empire 
became Persian. Able and ambitious, Cyrus pushed his conquests 
in.every direction. One of his most important acquisitions was the 
Lydian empire, which included all western Asia Minor. The kings 
of Lydia had created this realm by conquering their neighbors, 
including the Greek colonies in Asia Minor. In the time of Cyrus 
Croe'sus was king. The heir of enormous wealth amassed by his 
predecessors, Croesus lived in luxury, and lavished money on favor- 
ites and on friendly states. Against the rising power of Persia he 
formed a grand alliance, which included the kings of Egypt and 
Babylon. But the blow fell sooner than he had calculated. Cyrus 
marched rapidly against him, defeated his army, and took Sar'dis, 
his capital. Croesus was made prisoner. As Babylon had joined 
Lydia in the war, Cyrus besieged the city and took it by surprise, 
while the great lords were feasting in the palace. 

64. Cambyses (529-522 B.C.). Cam-by'ses, son and successor 
of Cyrus, conquered Egypt. There taking the place of Pharaoh, 
he worshipped the gods of the country. It is said, however, that 
in intoxication or violent anger he killed the steer-god Apis. Puffed 
up with pride, he thought he could conquer the world ; but he met 
with enormous losses in a vain attempt to subdue Libya. News 
of an insurrection at home recalled him. Before setting out for 
Egypt he had secretly killed his younger brother Smer'dis. During 
his absence a certain priest who resembled the dead brother per- 

'63. 



Political History 5I 

sonated him and mounted the throne. Most of the empire accepted 
the usurper. Cambyses turned homeward, but died on the way 
from a self-inflicted wound. 

65. Darius I (521-485 B.C.). Da-ri'us, a distant kinsman of 
Cyrus, ascended the throne and killed the false Smerdis. After 
restoring order he gave the empire a thorough organization. Con- 
tinuing a policy begun by Cyrus, he divided the whole area, with 
the exception of Persia, into twenty provinces, or sa'tra-pies, over 
which he appointed governors, termed satraps. Under them were 
native rulers of cities or tribes. The satraps were commanders of 
troops, chief judges, executives, and tax collectors. In addition to 
fixed gifts of produce for the support of the royal court and of the 
army, each satrapy paid a definite annual tribute of silver or gold, 
to which were added large indirect taxes and revenues from public 
property. It was necessary also for the subjects to support their 
native rulers as well as the satraps, and in time of war to perform 
military service. Darius built excellent roads from his capital, 
Susa, to the remotest satrapies, and introduced a postal system for 
carrying official letters. The system of provinces was carried out 
more thoroughly than had been the case under Assyria, and the 
governors were held more strictly under control ; in these respects 
the Persian government was an improvement on that of Assyria. 

Darius was not only an organizer, but an able military leader. 
On the east the boundary was advanced to the Indus River. It was 
a difficult task to protect the northern frontier from barbarian in- 
cursions. Especially on the northwest, he was annoyed by the 
Scythians, 1 who had migrated from Iran to the country beyond the 
Caspian and Black seas. After vainly trying all other means of 
stopping their inroads, he resolved to cross into Europe and attack 
them in the rear. The invasion of Europe led indirectly to a 
conflict with the Greeks. Beginning with this struggle, the remain- 
ing history of ancient Persia will be told in connection with that of 
Greece and Rome. 2 

66. Civilization : the Arts. The Indo-Europeans of Iran were 
still shepherds and peasants when they conquered the Assyrian 
and Babylonian empires. We could not expect them thereafter 

1 62. 2 185 ff., 533. 



52 The Median and Persian Empires 

to develop the useful and fine arts along original lines. The king 
and nobles felt that they must have at once all the good things 
enjoyed by their subjects. All their higher culture was therefore 
borrowed. Most of it came from Babylonia, though some elements 
were Egyptian and even Greek. Naturally they imported every 
kind of movable finery ; and they engaged Babylonian artisans and 
architects to work for them. 

The chief feature of their architecture, like that of the Baby- 
lonian, was the terrace. With an abundance of fine limestone in 




TOMB OF CYRUS 

their country, however, they were original enough to use it to a 
great extent in their buildings. They showed their independence 
of the Babylonians, too, in employing the column as a second great 
feature of their architecture. In contrast with the Egyptian, 1 
their columns were tall and graceful, doubtless owing to Greek 
influence. They were placed farther apart than in Egyptian tem- 
ples, thus giving the Persian building a lighter and more airy effect. 
An early example of their architecture is the tomb of the great 
Cyrus. The building is at Pa-sar'ga-dae, the seat of his tribe. 
It is a simple chamber, " well preserved, but open and empty, on its 



Architecture 



53 



base of seven retreat- 
ing stages, all of solid 
blocks of white mar- 
ble, surrounded by 
fragments of what 
was evidently a colon- 
nade." 1 Here, the 
Persians laid the body 
of their king, covered 
with wax, for they 
thought it a sin to 
defile the holy air or 
earth by cremating or 
by burying the dead. 
For the foundation 
of his palace at 
Per-sep'o-lis 2 Darius 
erected a terrace of 
stone, mounted by 
beautifully sculptured 
stairways. On one 
part of the terrace 
stood his dwelling, a 
large hall with a 
porch in front and 
rooms on the rear and 
sides. Near by is the 
Hall of the Hundred 
Columns, for state 
and festive occasions. 
On the same platform 
other buildings of 

1 Ragozin, Story of Media, 
p. 300 f. 

2 The Persian king had 
several capitals, including 
Susa, above mentioned, and 
Persepolis. 




54 



The Median and Persian Empires 



later kings repeat the plans of the two just mentioned. The walls 
of the palaces have disappeared. Among the reliefs are lions, bulls, 
and monsters like those of Assyria, 1 though better proportioned and 
more natural. Certainly Greek artists must have had a hand in 
the work. Whereas earlier Persian art shows the king fighting 

with lions, later reliefs rep- 
resent courtly pleasures 
and religious formalities. 
Through these changes we 
may trace the decay of 
Persia under the corrupting 
influence of Oriental power. 
In science and in all the 
arts, with the exception of 
architecture and sculpture, 
the Persians accomplished 
nothing worthy of mention. 
They were not workers, but 
warriors and rulers. 

67. Religion and Litera- 
ture. In the earliest times 
the Persians worshipped a 
few powers of nature. 2 The 
priests, ma'gi, attended to 
the offerings and ceremo- 
nies. Our word magic, de- 
rived from the name of this 
class, testifies to one of 
their functions that of winning the gods and expelling evil spirits 
by charms. Before the religion had come to include many gods, it 
was reformed and purified by Zor-o-as'ter, a prophet who lived in 
the latter half of the seventh century B.C. 3 He taught the existence 
of one supreme God, creator of heaven and earth and man, and all 
pleasant things for man. He was wise and holy ; he alone had maj- 

1 44- > 2 Cf. 42. 

3 This is the view of Professor A. V. W. Jackson, the greatest living authority on the 
subject ; see his Zoroaster, 141 ff . 




A PERSIAN KING KILLING A MONSTER 
(A relief in Persepolis) 



Religion and Literature 



55 



esty and power. He had an eternal enemy, the evil and impure 
spirit of darkness, the leader of a host of demons. Though the evil 
one dared contend against God, he had neither wisdom nor strength, 
and he was always worsted. Those who, in opposition to the prince 
of demons, worshipped and obeyed the good God, gained immor- 
tality and the reward their character deserved, whereas the wicked 
fell into the pit of the demons. The true followers of the great 




. DARIUS RECEIVING CONQUERED ENEMIES 
In the sky is the only God, by whose grace he conquers. 
(Scene from the Behistan Rock) 

prophet had neither images nor temples, but worshipped God on the 
hilltops with fire, prayers, and drink-offerings. But some .used 
symbols representing God, and even images ; and the masses failed 
to content themselves with one deity. 

Their holy book A-ves'ta, revealed by God to Zoroaster, contains 
religious laws, rituals, prayers, and hymns. A considerable frag- 
ment of the work is still extant. In addition to religious literature 
they had some historical writing, including a " book of chronicles 
of the kings of Media and Persia." * This work has been lost, but 

1 Esther, x. 2. 



56 The Median and Persian Empires 

we still have numerous inscriptions, carved by the kings, which give 
us valuable information. The most important by far is that of 
Darius engraved on the smoothed face of a lofty rock 1 near the 
western border of his country. In it the king recorded the deeds 
he had done by the grace of God. 

68. Morals. The moral nature as well as the religion of the 
race was admirable. Especially among Oriental nations, the en- 
joyment of power and wealth in easy, luxurious living weakens 
both body and mind, and corrupts the character. At first brave 
and hardy, a conquering race soon degenerates and falls a prey to 
warlike neighbors. This principle goes far toward explaining the 
rise and fall of Asiatic empires. The Persians, for instance, 
strong, brave mountaineers, with simple habits and sound character, 
easily overcame the decayed Babylonians and Assyrians. For 
a long time the conquerors retained their early virtues. They con- 
tinued to educate their children " in three things only, in riding, 
in shooting, and in speaking the truth." 2 Finally, however, they so 
declined that they were in turn subdued by a small army of in- 
vaders from Europe (333-330 B.C.). 3 

69. Contributions to Civilization. Their greatest achievement 
was to improve upon the government of Assyria. In all earlier 
empires the conquering nation was everything, the subjects counted 
merely as a source of income. In Cyrus and Darius this national 
idea gave way to the imperial. In other words, they were the first 
to treat their whole empire with consideration and kindness, to 
look upon it as an organic unit, and to exert themselves for its 
defence and improvement. In the vast extent of their realm, as 
compared with those of earlier times, lay another advance ; for 
the idea of universal brotherhood could not arise in a world of 
petty warring states. A broad political basis had to be laid on 
which it could be built up. The Persian empire went far toward 
serving this purpose. Lastly, by bringing Asia and Europe into 
closer touch, it aided the interchange of ideas and inventions, con- 
tributing thus to the progress of the world. 

1 The name of the cliff, hence also of the inscription, is Behistan. This is the spelling 
of the word adopted by Professor Jackson. 

2 Herodotus, i. 136. 316 ff. 



Oriental Civilization 57 

III. Summary of Oriental Civilization 

1. General Features. The civilization of the Orient contrasted strik- 
ingly with that of Europe. The Easterner had a vivid imagination, but 
his reasoning power was never so strong or so well-trained as that of a Euro- 
pean. He did not think consistently or follow his reason, but was natu- 
rally obedient, ready to yield to authority. As a result of this character 
religion exercised great influence over all his actions; and he held the 
priests in especial reverence. In every population were sharp economic 
contrasts. The masses toiled to produce the good things of life, while the 
rulers and priests enjoyed the fruits of this drudgery. In political matters 
the Easterner had no thought of independence, but obeyed the king as a 
child obeys his parent. Government in the Orient, therefore, was always 
monarchical; the kings were absolute masters of their subjects. This 
power enabled them to build on a large scale. Hence we find throughout 
the Orient vast ruins of palaces, temples, statues, and other works. The 
lesser arts and sciences all grew up as the creatures of religion. They 
developed rapidly, but were so shackled by religious rules that they re- 
mained dwarfed and immature. Though in the main all Eastern nations 
were alike, they showed some minor differences and contrasts of character 
and customs. 

2. Contrasts between the Nile and Euphrates Cultures. Similarities 
between these cultures are included in the paragraph above. The following 
contrasts may be noticed. Through the greater part of her history Egypt 
rarely suffered invasion, the opposite being true of Babylonia. Egypt in- 
fluenced few other peoples, Babylonia many. The Egyptians built in 
stone, the Babylonians in brick. The former made extensive use of the 
column, the latter practically none. In religion the Egyptians took much 
thought of the next world, the Babylonians were chiefly absorbed in this. 
The one nation was addicted to animal worship, the gods of the other were 
nearly all celestial. Morally the Egyptians were perhaps the more devel- 
oped people, whereas the Babylonians took the lead in commerce and science. 

3. Mingling of the Cultures. The two cultures mingled little till late 
in history. From the time of the Old Kingdom there was some commerce 
between the two regions. The Hyksos in their invasion of Egypt introduced 
customs and ideas of their own, but nothing from Babylonia. To some 
extent the Syrians, Hebrews, and Phoenicians represented a blend of the 
two cultures ; they derived some elements of their civilization from Egypt, 
but far more from Babylonia. It was rather in their capacity as merchants 
that the Phoenicians helped make each better acquainted with the products 
of the other. Assyria brought the two regions together by conquest, but in 
a purely mechanical way. 

4. Transmission of the Culture to the West. Egypt gave her products 
and her arts to Crete and the Aegean region, and Phoenicia scattered the 
seeds of Oriental civilization over the islands and coasts of the Mediterra- 



58 The Median and Persian Empires 

nean. Another intermediary was Asia Minor, especially Lydia. Oriental 
arts, customs, and ideas passed through this country to the Greek colonists 
on the western coast of Asia Minor, and thence to Europe. We can also 
discover a reaction of Europe on Asia. Notably the Egyptians imported 
delicately painted pottery from Crete; and Lydia took perhaps as much 
from the Greeks as she gave them. 

5. Consolidation ; the Blending of the Cultures. Persia not only 
brought the civilized nations of Asia together in one empire, but made of 
them an organic unit. Her kings chose the best arts and industries in the 
empire, to be blended harmoniously for the decoration of their capitals. 
In this way the Persian empire brought to completion a long period of polit- 
ical and cultural history. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. What distinguishes the Indo-Europeans from other peoples of history 
(cf. ch. i)? 2. Compare the columns of the temple at Thebes with those 
in front of the palace of Darius (pp. 17, 53). Which seem the more grace- 
ful? 3. Does the capital 1 consisting of a pair of animals seem to be espe- 
cially appropriate? 4. Compare the Persian character with the Egyptian. 
Which seems to be the more developed? 5. Compare the religion of the 
Persians with that of the Hebrews. 6. Name the Oriental empires in 
chronological order down to the Persian. What advances, if any, were 
made by each in organization and government? 7. From the maps of 
these empires calculate their relative size. 



Note-book Topics 

I. Organization of the Persian Empire. Herodotus, iii, 89-117. 

II. The Scythian Expedition of Darius. Herodotus, iv, 1-144. 

III. Zoroaster. Jackson, Zoroaster, especially ch. xxi. 

1 For the meaning of the word capital, see 173. 



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GREECE 

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SCALE OF MILES 



1Q 20 40 60 



PART II 

HELLAS 

CHAPTER VI 

THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE 

70. Hellas and the Hellenes. In our study of the Orientals 
it has been necessary to make frequent reference to their relations 
with the Greeks. This is the name by which the Romans knew 
these people, and it is the one we commonly use. They, however, 
called themselves Hel-le'nes. We do not know what the word 
means, but they tried to explain it by inventing the myth of their 
descent from Hel'len as a common ancestor. To them Hel'las was 
the country possessed by themselves wherever it might be in- 
cluding not only the old homeland, but also the numerous colonies. 
There is no difficulty about using " Hellenes " and " Greeks," 
" Hellenic " and " Greek " as equivalent terms. " Greece," on 
the other hand, now generally refers to the peninsula occupied 
by the modern state of Greece. To avoid confusion it will re- 
tain this meaning in the present volume, and will thus be distin- 
guished from the broader term " x Hellas." l 

71. Mountains. Greece, the oldest home of the Hellenes, is 
the small peninsula which extends from southeastern Europe into 
the Mediterranean sea. In travelling through Greece or in look- 
ing at a map of it, we notice that the country is mountainous. The 
Cam-bu'ni-an chain stretches along the northern border. Its 
highest point is Mount O-lym'pus, near the sea, the loftiest peak 
on the peninsula. The Greeks imagined it the abode of Zeus and 
of the other great gods. Near Olympus, in the range which extends 

1 Should we use "Greece" synonymously with "Hellas," as is often done by^histo- 
rians, it would be necessary constantly to distinguish between "Greece proper" and 
' Greece in the larger sense." 

59 



60 Hellas 

along the east coast of Thessaly, is Mount Os'sa. Far to the west 
of this coast chain is the range of Mount Pin'dus. It extends 
south from the Cambunian mountains, and divides the northern 
part of Greece into two nearly equal districts. As we proceed south- 
ward the country grows more rugged. The central section is a 
mass of mountain ranges separated by narrow valleys and little 
plains. The loftiest peak of this region is Mount Par-nas'sus, near 
the centre of the peninsula. 

Pel-o-pon-nese' (or Pel-o-pon-ne'sus), the most southerly section 
of Greece, is only a little less rugged. In the northern central part 
is the highland of Arcadia. From this highland mountain chains 
radiate in all directions. To the south runs the Ta-yg'e-tus range, 
dividing southern Peloponnese into two districts. This range is 
celebrated for its iron mines. 

72. Rivers and Lakes. In so small a country as Greece the 
streams are necessarily small and short. The volume of water is 
still further diminished by the dryness of the climate. The so- 
called rivers of Greece are therefore little more than brooks. Some 
are torrents in the rainy season of winter, but entirely dry in sum- 
mer. All the streams carry down a great quantity of soil, which 
they deposit in their lower course. The little plains at their mouths 
are alluvial composed of soil thus deposited. In this respect 
they resemble the valleys of the Nile and Euphrates. The greatest 
plain of the kind is in Thessaly, northern Greece. The river 
which has formed it is the Pe-ne'us, the largest stream in Greece. 
Sometimes the brooks of a region, instead of uniting in a river, 
flow into a land-locked basin. In this way a lake is formed, gener- 
ally with an underground outlet. 

Another feature of Greece is the great number of gulfs and bays 
which indent the coasts. No other country has so great a coast-line 
in proportion to its area. 

73. Climate and Products. ' The greatest length of the Greek 
peninsula is about two hundred and fifty miles, and its greatest 
breadth is a hundred and eighty ; it is about the size of the state 
of Maine. And yet within these narrow limits the climate, ranging 
from temperate to semi-tropical, fosters a great variety of prod- 
ucts. The whole country was once well-wooded, though most of 



Physical Features 61 

it now is nearly treeless. Hence in ancient times the soil was 
moister and more productive. In the forests of the north are 
nearly all kinds of European trees, including the beech, oak, plane, 
and chestnut. Southern Thessaly produces rice and cotton ; olives 
and figs flourish in Attica; and in Peloponnese lemons, oranges, 
and date-palms thrive. Grape-vines grow everywhere. Though 
wheat can be grown in the few fertile lowlands, most of the ground 
is too stony and sterile for anything but pasturage, or at best for 
barley. Among the domestic animals were hogs, sheep, and goats. 
Oxen and donkeys were the work animals. Horses were used by 
the cavalry, and in peace were the luxury of the rich. 

The most common metal products were iron, silver, and copper. 
The best iron mines were in the Taygetus Mountains. Silver was 
mined in Attica and copper in the neighboring island of Euboea. 
There were gold mines in Thrace near the Greek border, and in 
the adjacent island of Tha'sos. Though the supply of metals was 
small, the Hellenes had exhaustless quarries of limestone and marble. 
The best white marble came from Mount Pen-tel'i-cus in Attica, 
and from the island of Pa'ros in the Aegean Sea. There were also 
blue, black, and red marbles. In brief, no country in the world 
was, or is now, so abundantly supplied with building stone as 
Greece. 

74. Northern Greece. Looking more carefully at the map, we 
find the peninsula divided by arms of the sea into three regions, 
northern Greece, central Greece, and Peloponnese. Northern 
Greece comprises two countries E-pei'rus and Thes'sa-ly - 
separated by the high Pindus range. Epeirus is largely a highland 
crossed from north to south by mountain chains. 

Unlike Epeirus, Thessaly is a plain, the largest in Greece. It is 
surrounded by mountains. On the north the Cambunian range 
rises like a huge wall to defend Greece against the attack of foreign- 
ers. Between Olympus and Ossa is the beautiful Vale of Tem'pe, 
rich in foliage, the main pass into Greece from the country on the 
north. 

In ancient times Thessaly furnished excellent pasturage. The 
great lords of the country accordingly reared herds of horses, that 
they might be able in war to lead hundreds of mounted servants 



62 Hellas 

to battle. In time cities grew up in the plain ; but both E-pei'rots 
and Thessalians preferred country life; they had little trade or 
skilled industry ; in education and in the refinements of life they 
lagged behind the commercial states of Greece. 

75. Central Greece : (i) the Less Civilized Countries. South 
of Thessaly and Epeirus is central Greece, a long, narrow region 
extending east and west. It is more mountainous than northern 
Greece, and is well supplied with harbors along the immense stretch 
of coast. Ae-to'li-a and Lo'cris are especially rugged lands, whose 
inhabitants long remained barbarous. After the commercial cities 
of eastern and southern Greece had reached the height of their 
civilization, the Aetolians and Locrians still carried weapons in 
their daily life; they robbed or murdered all whom they found 
weak or defenceless. Some of them spoke a language strange to 
the other Greeks, and ate raw meat. West of Aetolia is A-car-na'- 
ni-a, a land of lakes and harbors, but with high, steep shores. The 
colonists who came hither in early time from the eastern coast 
taught the natives useful arts. Hence this country made greater 
progress in civilization than did Aetolia or Locris. Pho'cis, which 
divides Locris into two sections, lies partly in the rugged district 
about Mount Parnassus. Below the mountain on the south, in 
the city of Del'phi, was the celebrated oracle of Apollo. 

The Phocians, too, were more civilized than the Aetolians or 
the Locrians. In the valleys and plains were thrifty lords and busy 
peasants ; on the mountain sides the shepherd pastured his flocks. 

76. Central Greece : (2) the More Civilized Countries. East 
of Phocis is Boe-o'ti-a. A great part of this country is a basin, 
whose waters collect into Lake Co-pals. The land about the lake 
is flat and very productive ; its moisture fills the air with fog. 
Some witty neighbors of the Boeotians remarked that the dull sky 
and excessive beef-eating made these people stupid; but in fact 
they were second in intelligence and in enterprise among the states 
of central Greece. 

Mount Ci-thae'ron separates Boeotia from At'ti-ca, a peninsula 
which forms the eastern end of central Greece. In the northeast 
of Attica, overlooking the plain of Ma'ra-thon, is Mount Pentelicus, 
full of brilliant white marble ; and south of Pentelicus is the range 



Political Divisions 63 

of Hy-met'tus, still renowned for its honey-bees. The central 
region is a plain about two small streams the Cephissus and the 
Ilissus, which unite before reaching the 1 sea. A third plain lies 
round the city of E-leu'sis on the northwest coast. Attica is for 
the most part a rugged country with a thin, stony soil. It is 
favored, however, with a long coast-line, which invites to commerce. 
In intelligence and in artistic taste the inhabitants excelled all other 




VALLEY OF THE STYX IN ARCADIA 
(From a photograph) 

Greeks. Athens, the capital, became in time the foremost city of 
the world in civilization. 

The traveller who journeys by land from Athens to Peloponnese 
passes through Meg'a-ris, a little country which lies in the broader 
part of the Isthmus of Corinth. As the soil is even more barren than 
that of Attica, the people supported themselves by rearing sheep 
and by making coarse woollens and heavy pottery for exportation. 
With a harbor on each side of the Isthmus they were well equipped 
for commerce ; and their leading city, Megara, became for a time 
a great centre of trade. 



64 Hellas 

77. Peloponnese : (i) the Less Civilized Countries. Pelopon- 
nese " Isle of Pe'lops," a mythical hero is a massive peninsula 
with a great gulf on the east coast and two on the south. The 
central region is Ar-ca'di-a, " the Switzerland of Greece," a plateau 
above which tower lofty mountain ranges. Among the mountains 
are fruitful plains and valleys, each of which was the domain of a 
tribe or a city. The Arcadians lived in the simple, homely style of 
mountaineers. Master and slaves ate their pork and barley cake 
together, and mixed their wine in a common bowl. Hardy and war- 
like, the Arcadian freemen were equally ready to fight for their homes 
and to serve foreign states for pay. 

The northern slope of the plateau, with a narrow border of coast 
plain, is A-chae'a. Divided among twelve independent cities, 
this country remained unimportant till late in history. E'lis 
comprised the western slope and the broad rich plain along the coast. 
Its most notable city was O-lym'pi-a, where the Greeks celebrated 
the greatest of their national festivals, and athletes from all Hellas 
contended in the games. The site is now strewn with the ruins of 
temples. 

78. Peloponnese : (2) the More Civilized Countries. Corinth, 
near the Isthmus, was one of the greatest commercial cities of 
Hellas. Her lofty citadel commanded the Isthmus, and by means 
of her three harbors, two on the Sa-ron'ic Gulf and one on the Corin- 
thian, she could trade equally well with the East and with the West. 
Though she had a large navy, her narrow territory prevented her 
from becoming a great power. Ar'go-lis was chiefly the mountain- 
ous peninsula on the east of Peloponnese. The principal cities were 
along the valley which reaches northward from the head of the Ar- 
gol'ic Gulf. One was My-ce'nae, in early time the seat of a powerful 
kingdom. It declined, however, and Argos took its place as the 
head of Argolis. For ages it has been in ruins. 

The great rival of Argos was Sparta, chief city of La-co'ni-a. 
In the beginning this country occupied the fertile basin of the 
Eu-ro'tas River. The people of the country had for centuries 
the best-equipped and best-disciplined army in the world. In 
time of danger, therefore, all the Hellenes looked to them for pro- 
tection. Sparta, " low-lying among the caverned hills," was but a 



The Islands 65 

group of villages. Unlike most Greek cities, it was wholly without 
fortifications ; the ranks of brave warriors were its walls. 

West of Laconia is 'the hilly but fruitful country of Mes-se'ni-a. 
Near its centre is Mount I-tho'me, whose summit furnished an 
excellent site for a fortress. 

79. The Islands ; the Aegean Region. East of the peninsula 
is the Ae-ge'an Sea. It lies between Greece and Asia Minor, and 
is dotted over with islands, standing singly or in groups. Thasos 
has been mentioned for its gold and Euboea for its copper. The 
latter is a long island nearly parallel to the coast of central Greece. 
The group of the Cyc'la-des is but a continuation of Euboea and 
Attica. The most celebrated among them are De'los, the mythi- 
cal birthplace of Apollo, and Pa'ros, already mentioned for its 
beautiful marbles. Near the coast of Asia Minor are Les'bos, 
famed for lyric poetry, Chi'os and Sa'mos, seats of early industry, 
and Rhodes, which the Phoenicians had colonized. 1 Greatest 
and most important of all the islands is Crete, south of the Cyclades 
and on the sea route between Greece and Egypt. Other islands 
will be mentioned in our further study of Greek history. It is 
important for our purpose to glance at the coast of Asia Minor 
which borders the Aegean. It abounds in small but fertile plains, 
and is as well supplied with harbors as the opposite shore of 
Greece. 

The Aegean Sea does not separate, it unites the two coasts; 
and the islands are stepping-stones, so to speak, from one to the 
other. Mariners in -the smallest barks could pass without danger, 
without losing sight of land, across the entire breadth of the sea. 
Indeed, from the mountains of southern Euboea the Greeks could 
look quite across to the hills of Chios. With the gentle winds 
that blew steadily in the summer season, it was easier to travel by 
sea than by land. Naturally, then, the people of the Aegean region 
- the islands and the two coasts interchanged products and 
ideas, and thus advanced equally in culture. The great fact jn our 
study of this region is that it was the earliest home of European 
civilization, and that it, rather than the peninsula, was the very 
heart of Hellas. 



66 Hellas 

80. The Effect of the Country upon the People. In its moun- 
tainous character Greece contrasts with the valleys of the Nile 
and the Euphrates. It is somewhat like Syria, but more split up 
by ranges. A majority of the Greeks were mountaineers. In the 
mountains a man can make a living for himself and his family by 
hunting, keeping stock, and tilling a small patch of soil, without the 
aid or cooperation of neighbors or with little need of government. 
He is therefore free ; and the kind of life he lives makes him strong 
and brave. Such men, when fighting for their freedom, are almost 
unconquerable. This was the character which the Greeks devel- 
oped in their mountains. 

The nature of the country, too, had a political effect. The 
people of each valley or narrow plain, surrounded by high ranges 
and seeing little of their neighbors, were content to live alone in 
the enjoyment of complete independence. In other words, the 
mountains prevented the growth of large states. 

Another controlling feature of the country was its openness to 
the sea through the excellent gulfs and harbors. From almost any 
point in the peninsula, the Greek, even with his slow way of travel- 
ling, could reach an arm of the sea in a single day. This circum- 
stance naturally attracted him to a seafaring life. The stony 
soil could not support a dense population ; and the vast mountains 
on the north kept the Greeks from pushing out into central Europe. 
All these features of their situation combined to make them a 
commercial and colonizing folk. We have seen how easy was navi- 
gation in the Aegean, and how a chain of islands reached far out 
in the direction of Africa and Egypt. In brief, the nearness of the 
Aegean area to the Orient and its openness in that direction made it 
the first region of the West to be visited by Eastern ships hence 
the birthplace of European civilization. 

Most important of all was the effect of these physical surround- 
ings on the mind. The poor soil compelled the Greeks to form 
economical habits of life, so that moderation controlled their 
thought as well as their action. They became the best-balanced 
people the world has known. The mild climate and gentle changes 
of season rendered them happy. The bracing air stimulated clear 
thinking. The bare, sharply pointed mountains awakened in the 



A Superior Race 67 

soul that love of intellectual beauty which lifts the Greeks above 
all other peoples. Finally the diversity of climate, soil, and products 
combined with other favoring influences to create a nation famous 
for its men of genius in literature, science, art, and statesmanship. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. What effect had the mountains of Greece on her history? 2. Which 
coast of Greece is most abundantly supplied with harbors? What was the 
effect of this condition? 3. How was Greece influenced by her nearness to 
the Orient? Why was the nearness of one country to another more im- 
portant in ancient times than it is now? 4. Mention all the reasons why 
Greece was the first country of Europe to become civilized. 5. Compare 
and contrast the physical features of Greece with those of Egypt, Baby- 
lonia, and Syria. Which of these countries seems best adapted to produc- 
ing a high type of character? 6. From the account given in this chapter, 
what parts of Greece seem most attractive? What parts were most favor- 
able to progress? 7. Compare and contrast Greece in climate, soil, and 
products with the state in which you live. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Excursions in Attica. Mahaffy, Rambles and Studies in Greece, 
chs. vi, vii ; Richardson, Vacation Days in Greece, m-ii8. 

II. Thermopylae. Richardson, 79-89. 

III. Thessaly. Richardson, 90-103. 

IV. The Coasts. Mahaffy, ch. i. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE CRETAN AND MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATIONS 

About 3500-1000 B.C. 
I. THE REMAINS; THE POPULATION 

81. Recent Discoveries. Till recently historians have begun 
their account of Greek affairs with the eighth century B.C., some 
of them precisely with the year 776 ; l and for the first century and 
a half they have given hardly more than a few bare dates. But 
all this has been changed by explorations in the Aegean area. The 
pioneer in the work was Heinrich Schliemann (Shlee'mahn). In 
his boyhood he learned the stories told by the Hellenic poet Homer 
of the deeds of mighty heroes during the Trojan war ; 2 and thinking 
them real history, he believed the ancient city of Troy might be 
found buried beneath the earth. To achieve this task became the 
inspiration of his life. After amassing a fortune in business, in 
1870 he began digging on the hilltop where, from Homer's descrip- 
tion, he concluded Troy must have stood. This hill is in north- 
western Asia Minor, not far from the sea. The result more than 
justified his hopes. On this spot he and his successor in the work 
unearthed the ruins of nine settlements, built above one another 
and belonging to different ages. It is calculated that the lowest 
settlement, a rude village, was inhabited about 3500 B.C., and that 
the sixth, which shows a highly developed civilization, flourished 
1500-1000. Afterward Schliemann excavated Tiryns and Mycenae 
in Argolis, Greece. They were contemporary with the sixth city 
at Troy. Mycenae showed such signs of wealth and culture that 
he believed it to have been the centre of the civilization which 
flourished at that time on the shores of Greece and in Troy. Hence 
he called the civilization Mycenaean. 

1 105, n. i. 2 113. 

68 



Beginnings of Civilization 69 

After these discoveries it was necessary to begin the history of 
Greece as early as 1500 B.C. But even this date has more recently 
been found altogether too late. Since 1899 Arthur Evans, an 
English archaeologist, has unearthed a great palace at Cnossus, 
Crete, and other scholars have made similar though smaller dis- 
coveries in other parts of the island. These explorations prove 
the Cretan civilization to have begun far earlier than the Myce- 
naean; to be, in fact, as old as that of Babylonia. In brief, they 
make it necessary for us to begin our study of European civilization 
at about 3500 B.C. 

These dates we do not get from the records of the Cretans, for 
their writing has not yet been deciphered. They are based on Egyp- 
tian chronology, which is fairly certain back to 3500. There was 
an interchange of wares between Egypt and the Aegean area ; and 
by a comparative study of these objects we can reconstruct the dates 
of Aegean culture. 1 

82. Earliest Inhabitants. Greek myths preserved the names 
of some pre-Hellenic tribes long after they had become extinct. 
As an example we may name the Pelasgians, who were merely one of 
the many primitive tribes. The pre-Hellenic inhabitants had no 
common name, and we do not know to what race or races they 
belonged. We can only trace the progress of their civilization 
by means of their works which still survive. 

II. THE CRETAN CIVILIZATION 

83. Beginnings. As early as 3500 B.C. there were village 
settlements over the entire Aegean region. The inhabitants lived 
in round huts, made tools and arms of stone, and formed and 
decorated rude pottery by the hand without the help of a wheel. 
Even at this early time, there was commerce with Egypt. Among 
the villages of the period were the oldest settlements at Troy and 
at Cnossus, Crete. This was the Stone Age. 

It would be possible to trace the civilization of the region from 

'It should be borne in mind, however, that all the dates in Greek history before 
about 700 B.C. are merely approximate. Some of those given may be even two c 
centuries too early or too late. 



70 The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 

this point through successive stages of progress and decline. We 
could see the gradual improvement of pottery, the introduction 
of copper and then of bronze wares, of gold and silver, of the art of 
writing, the growth of architecture, and of many other embellish- 
ments of life. Crete, in close commerce with Egypt, led this 
movement. Without following it in detail, we shall take a brief 




A CORRIDOR IN THE PALACE AT CNOSSUS 

The large jars were evidently for the storage of provisions. 

(From a photograph) 

view of Cretan life at the height of its development -about 2200- 
1500 B.C. 

84. The Palace and the Court People. The king of Cnossus 
lived with his courtiers in a palace which for vastness would compare 
with the great works of Egypt. It comprised large rectangular 
courts, long corridors, and a multitude of chambers and store-rooms. 
In one of the rooms was found the throne on which the king once sat, 
with benches against the walls for his noble councillors. Another 



Cretan Civilization 




THE THRONE ROOM IN PALACE AT CNOSSUS 

A stone chair for the king ; on both sides stone benches for the guests. 
(From a photograph) 

room, fitted up with benches, seems to have been used as a school. 

The frescos on the walls picture the brilliant court life of the period. 

" Sometimes the dependents of the 
prince march into the palace in stately 
procession, bringing their gifts; some- 
times the court is filled with gayly- 
adorned dames and curled gentlemen, 
standing, sitting, gesticulating vigor- 
ously, and flirting. We see the ladies, 
like Oriental women, trying to preserve 
the fresh whiteness of their complexion. 
Again the people of the court are 
watching a troop of bull trainers," ] 
composed of youths and maidens. The 
nobles pictured in these scenes were 
accustomed to fine clothing, jewellery, 
and furniture. They had vases of 
beautiful form aiid finish, delicately cut 




A CRETAN VASE 
Decorated with lilies. 
(From Annual of the British School 
at Athens, x. p. 7.) 



i From a report by Dr. Arthur Evans. 



The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 



and engraved gems as seals, and dagger blades inlaid with the 
precious metals. In artistic taste and skill they far surpassed the 
Orientals. The forms of men and animals in their art are especially 
graceful and true to nature. 

85. Writing. They had two systems of writing, the earlier 
hieroglyphic ; the later a simple linear script. Thousands of little 
clay tablets have been found in one of the rooms of the palace, 
covered with this writing. Doubtless they are accounts of receipts 






CRETAN LINEAR WRITING ON CLAY TABLETS 
(From Annual of the British School at Athens, ix. p. 52.) 

and dues; some of them may be a record of events. A larger 
tablet, found elsewhere, seems to be a list of offerings to a deity. 
In a word, their script was used for religious, business, and possibly 
historical purposes. When scholars succeed in deciphering this 
writing, we shall know the language of the Cretans, and shall 
better understand their civilization. 

86. Society and Government. It is clear that society was 
divided into the many toilers and the few nobles, and that the king 
was absolute master. There is strong evidence of peace throughout 
the island, of the union of all under one chief king. He built no 
walls of defence, for he placed his confidence in the navy. Egypt 
could not send over sea an army strong enough to conquer him. 



Origin of the Hellenes 73 

Rather he preferred to buy the favor of Pharaoh with rich gifts 
while he himself extended his sway over many Aegean islands. 

III. THE MIGRATIONS OF THE HELLENES 

87. Beginnings (about 2500 B.C.) ; Formation of the Race. In 
our study of the Aegean region we have had to do thus far with 
people who were not Greeks or even Indo-Europeans. We noticed 
above 1 that about 3000 B.C. the Indo-European tribes, in the 
homeland of the race, began to move apart and to develop into 
separate peoples. Some in their wandering halted long in the 
valley of the Danube, where archaeologists have discovered remains 
of their civilization. From there, about 2500, various tribes 
began to move southward into Greece. There had been trade 
between the valley of the Danube and the Aegean area; hence 
the new-comers found a mode of life^not much different from their 
own. As elsewhere, the immigrants of European speech mingled 
with the natives, and the language of the invaders prevailed, though 
modified somewhat by the intrusion of many aliens. The blending 
of the two peoples produced the Hellenic race. 

88. The Turmoil and Strife of Settlement. It would be useless 
to attempt a detailed account of the migration, as the Greeks them- 
selves had no record of it, and could not remember that their an- 
cestors had ever come from a foreign land. Doubtless they entered 
gradually by tribes, perhaps in " waves," pushed on from behind 
by Il-lyr'i-ans and Thracians, who also were Indo-European. 
There must have been continual fighting between the invaders and 
the natives, and among the immigrant tribes as well, for the posses- 
sion of the best lands. For centuries, therefore, Greece was full 
of uproar and violence. The confusion reached its height in the 
thirteenth and twelfth centuries, when Greece and the Aegean 
region were all astir. " The islands were restless," declares the 
Egyptian record of the time. The cause must have been the south- 
ward pressure of the Illyrian and other peoples. 

A part of this movement was the shifting of masses of Greeks 
from the northwest of the peninsula from Epeirus, Aetolia, 

i 61. 



74 The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 

and vicinity 1 into east and south Peloponnese. These people 
came afterward to be known as the Dorians, and their movement 
into Peloponnese is termed the Dorian migration. It was the last 
great migration within the peninsula, and the only one remembered 
by the Greeks of later time. It seems to have taken place in the 
thirteenth and twelfth centuries B.C. 

IV. THE MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION 
About 1500-1000 B.C. 

89. Beginnings ; Tiryns. While the Greeks were taking pos- 
session of their historical home, the Cretans were making great 
progress in the art of living. Through commerce their products, 
with some knowledge of their industries, were coming to all parts 
of the Aegean area and to countries far beyond. But for a long time 
the Greeks, distracted by the turmoil of migration and conquest, 
took little interest in these improvements. Toward the middle 
of the second millennium (2000-1000) B.C., however, as life became 
for a season more secure, those of the east and south coasts of the 
peninsula fell rapidly under Cretan influence. This was at a time 
when the Cretans had lost their inventive power, and their civiliza- 
tion had become stagnant, just as did the Egyptian in the same 
period. 2 

Under this foreign influence the Greek chieftains along the east 
coast founded little kingdoms, generally in the alluvial plains at 
the mouths of rivers. Each kingdom centred in a strongly fortified 
city. One of these settlements was Tiryns, on a low flat hill a little 
more than a mile from the Argolic Gulf, the oldest city, so far as 
we know, on the continent of Europe. Its walls were of huge, 
rudely dressed stones, built, the myths would make us believe, 
by a race of giants called Cy-clo'pes. For this reason stone work 
of this rough kind is described as Cy-clo-pe'an. The highest part 
of the citadel, enclosed by these defences, was occupied by a great 
palace. Like that at Cnossus, it contained a multitude of apart- 

1 The fact that the dialect of the Dorians is nearly the same as that spoken in north- 
western Greece proves them to have come from that quarter. 

2 17. 



Mycenaean Civilization 



75 



ments, including separate courts and halls for men and women ; 
a bath-room with conduit and drains ; sleeping-rooms, corridors,' 
and porticoes. The palace was smaller and simpler than that of 
Cnossus, but very great for a king who ruled over only a few square 
miles of territory. The walls and palace tell a vivid tale of the 
wealth and luxury of the king, and of his unlimited authority over 
the lives and labor of his subjects. 




ROYAL CEMETERY or MYCENAE 

On the citadel 
(From a photograph) 

90. Mycenae. Mycenae was built on a steep hill at the extreme 
north of the plain of Argolis. Around it ran a wall of much finer 
workmanship than that of Tiryns. When the city outgrew this 
space, it extended over a low adjoining ridge. The older and better- 
fortified part is distinguished as the citadel; the later addition 
is termed the lower city. Mycenae was younger than Tiryns, 
but because of the favorable situation its king in time became 
ruler of all Argolis. Here Schliemann unearthed not only a palace, 
but private houses, the homes of lords and servants. More re- 
markable were the royal tombs grouped in and about a circular 
enclosure on the hill. Here were buried the earlier kings with their 



76 The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 

families. The later rulers made for themselves in the lower city 
immense dome-shaped tombs. One of them, the so-called Tomb 
of A'treus, is about fifty feet in height and the same in diameter. 
A tomb of the kind was built underground in the hillside, and was 
approached by a long, horizontal passage. All those at Mycenae 
were found empty; doubtless they had been pillaged. From 
these remains, especially from the contents of the tombs in the 




ENTRANCE TO THE TOMB OF ATREUS 

Lower city, Mycenae 

(From a photograph) 

citadel, we can make out how the people of Mycenae lived, and even 
what they wore and ate. 

The court lady dressed in a bodice and full flounced skirt. 
The cloth was fine linen or soft wool of sea-purple stain. " The 
diadem of gold was on her brow, golden fillets and pins of exquisite 
technique shining out of her dark hair; golden bands about her 
throat and golden necklaces falling upon her bosom ; golden brace- 
lets upon her arms, gold rings chased with inimitable art upon her 



Mycenaean Life 



77 



fingers, and finally her very robes agleam with gold." l The men 
wore a simple cloth around the waist, either hanging loose or drawn 
together in such a way as to form short trousers. On the shoulders 




GRAVESTONE FOUND AT MYCENAE 

Warrior in chariot ; his squire walking ahead. 

(From Schuchhardt, Schliemann's Excavations) 

they pinned a mantle. Like the women, they loaded them'selyes 
with jewellery. They enjoyed perfumes, and took delight in gazing 
admiringly at themselves in their bronze mirrors. 

1 Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, 180 f. 



78 The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 

In war the king or noble equipped himself with a helmet, with a 
huge shield which reached from neck to ankles, and with woollen 
or leathern greaves. His weapons of defence were sword and 
spear. Unable to carry his heavy equipment far, he rode to battle 
in a chariot drawn by a team of horses, but dismounted for combat. 
The common men dressed lightly, wore no defensive armor, and 
fought chiefly with the bow and sling. They counted for little in 
war and politics. 

The Mycenaeans believed in a future life. They must have 
imagined that the soul, living in the tomb, used and enjoyed all the 
wealth of utensils and ornaments buried with the body. 1 They wor- 
shipped not only the dead, but other gods represented by little idols. 

91. Relations with Crete; the Decline. Mycenae was the 
richest and most brilliant and powerful of the cities in Greece 
during this period. Hence the civilization of the age is called 
Mycenaean. But there were many other seats of the same culture 
in Greece, as in Laconia near Sparta, and at Athens. Across the 
Aegean Sea, the " sixth city " at Troy was contemporary, and life 
there was similar. In brief, the same culture now prevailed over the 
Aegean area. Everywhere is seen the influence of Crete. The 
engraved gems, the fine gold work, the inlaid daggers, and much of 
the other movable goods found at Mycenae, were undoubtedly 
imported from the island. Cretan architects built the palaces, and 
Cretan artists frescoed the interior walls with scenes like those they 
had painted in their own country. Many immigrants must have 
come from Crete to seek their fortunes among these new and enter- 
prising people. The difference between the two cultures was not 
striking. It was chiefly one of periods. The earlier civilization 
was inventive and aggressive ; the later was for a time stationary, 
then decadent. In Crete the temperament was more artistic ; 
in Tiryns and Mycenae more political. The cities of Greece were 
walled, but not those of Crete. The palace at Tiryns or Mycenae 
was simpler and more regular in form than that of Cnossus, and 
included features afterward inherited by the Greek temple. Life 
must have been strenuous in Greece. There were wars for suprem- 
acy among the kings, and doubtless fiercer struggles to maintain 

1 100. 



The Vaphio Cups 



79 




.' 



aj 



u -3 



8o The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 

their freedom against the barbarian tribes who roamed through 
the interior of the peninsula, pressing down from the north. Hence 
arose the mighty walls which surrounded Mycenae and other cities, 
and which still excite the wonder of travellers. As Crete declined, 
some of the Greek kings crossed over to the island and made con- 
quests there. 

Life in the Aegean cities, though of a higher type than that of the 
Orient, was in spirit and in broad features the same. Fortunately 
this condition did not last forever. The few who enjoyed wealth 
and luxury became fewer. They so deteriorated in body and mind 
that they could no longer protect their cities from the less civilized 
people who surrounded them. 1 This was about the time when 
Egypt came under foreign rule and when the wild Chaldeans swept 
over Babylonia. Through internal decay the ancient world was 
sinking far down toward barbarism. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. In what way and to what extent has our knowledge of early Greek 
history increased since 1870? 2. Why did Crete become civilized before 
Greece? 3. With what Oriental country was Crete most closely connected? 
4. Compare the government of Cnossus or of Mycenae with that of Egypt 
or Babylon. 5. Which had the better situation, Tiryns or Mycenae? 
Which became the greater city ? 6. From the illustration opp. p. 78 describe 
the shield of a Mycenaean warrior. 7. Compare in detail the columns of 
the Mycenaean palace with those of an Egyptian temple (pp. 16, 74). 
8. Describe from the map the area of the Mycenaean civilization. 

Note-book Topics 

I. Heinrich Schliemann. Schuchhardt, Schliemann's Excavations, ch. i ; 
Hawes, Crete, the Forerunner of Greece, 1-8. 

II. Cretan Art, Letters, and Religion. Hawes, 110-150. 

III. Private Houses and Domestic Life. Tsountas and Manatt, 
The Mycenaean Age, ch. iv. 

IV. Dress and Personal Adornment. Tsountas and Manatt, ch. vii. 

1 Great stress must not be placed on the Dorian migration as the cause of the decline. 
The same civilization declined equally in Attica, which the Dorians did not touch. As 
a rule, conquerors destroy less than jealous neighbors. The burning of Mycenaean 
palaces may be due to wars with neighboring cities, to internal revolutions, some- 
times even to accident. The great cause was the internal decay, which was affecting 
the civilization of the whole world. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE FIRST PERIOD OF COLONIZATION; THE EPIC OR 
HOMERIC AGE 

I. THE FIRST PERIOD OF COLONIZATION (ABOUT 1500-1000 B.C.); 
THE HELLENIC RACES 

92. The Aeolians. As soon as the Hellenes in their migrations 
reached the sea, they began to cross to the neighboring islands. 
This early period of colonization within the Aegean began and ended 
approximately with the opening and close of the Mycenaean age. 
We shall review their principal settlements in geographical order 
from north to south. 

From Thessaly colonists crossed the wide expanse of the sea to the 
island of Lesbos. There they founded Myt-i-le'ne and other cities. 
Thence passing over to the mainland of Asia Minor, they occupied 
a narrow strip of coast extending some distance to the south of 
Lesbos. Their territory on the mainland was Ae'o-lis, and the 
inhabitants were Ae-o'li-ans. The same dialect of the Greek lan- 
guage, with slight variations, was spoken in Aeolis, in Lesbos, in most 
of Thessaly, and in Boeotia. Hence we group the inhabitants of all 
these countries together under the name Aeolians. In speaking of 
the Aeolians as. a race, however, we must bear in mind that along 
with the colonists from Thessaly went people from other parts of 
Greece, and that the emigrants, on reaching their new home, 
mingled with the natives. Blood was mixed in the colonies to a 
greater extent than in the homeland, and the same thing is true 
of the other Greek races which colonized the Aegean area. 

93. The lonians. Meanwhile emigrants from Attica were tak- 
ing possession of the Cyclades. Two of those islands, Delos and 
Paros, have been mentioned. Near Paros is Nax'os, which in time 

G 8l 



82 The First Period of Colonization 

became politically important. Beyond the Cyclades, near the 
Asiatic coast, they occupied Samos and Chios, and lastly the adja- 
cent strip of coast known as Ionia. " Of all men whom we know," 
says an ancient Greek historian, 1 " the lonians had the good fortune 
to build their cities in the most favorable position for climate and 
seasons." The soil, too, is remarkably productive. The greatest 
of their cities was Mi-le'tus, a centre ( of industry, commerce, and 
intellectual life. In fact, for centuries after its founding Miletus 
took the lead in Hellenic civilization. In its widest and most 
popular sense the word Ionian applies not only to the people of 
Ionia, but to their kinsmen on the islands and in Attica. The 
Ionic race accordingly occupied the central section of Aegean islands 
and coasts south of the Aeolians. 

94. The Dorians. While the Aeolians and the lonians were thus 
expanding across the Aegean Sea, Dorians from Peloponnese 
settled Me'los and The'ra in the southern Cyclades, and conquered 
a part of Crete. The population of this island was now a medley of 
races and tongues, as the poet Homer 2 describes it : " There is a 
land called Crete in the midst of the wine-dark sea, a fair land and 
rich, begirt with water, and therein are men innumerable and 
ninety cities. And all have not the same speech, but there is a 
confusion of tongues ; there dwell Achaeans, and there, too, native 
Cretans high of heart, and Cy-do'ni-ans there and Dorians .of 
waving plumes, and goodly Pelasgians." Farther on, the Dorians 
settled Rhodes and the adjacent coast of Asia Minor. In this 
way the Dorian race came to occupy the southernmost section 
of Aegean coasts and islands. The Aeolians, the lonians, and 
the Dorians were the three races most prominent in earlier Greek 
history. 

The period closed with the colonization of Cyprus by Arcadians 
(about 1000 B.C.). 3 

1 Herodotus, i. 142. 

2 Odyssey, xix. 170 ff. 

3 The Arcadians and their colonists together formed a fourth race the Arcadian- 
Cyprian. For the sake of completeness a fifth and sixth race may be mentioned here: 
(5) the so-called northwest Greeks, occupying Epeirus, Aetolia, and the other countries 
of that region, with Achaea in northern Peloponnese, (6) the Eleians in northwestern 
Peloponnese. This classification is based on the dialects. 



Homer g^ 

II. THE EPIC OR HOMERIC AGE 

About 1000-700 B.C. 

95. The Source: Homer. An epic is a long narrative poem 
which celebrates the deeds of real or mythical heroes. 1 We still 
read with pleasure the two great Hellenic epics, the Il'i-ad and the 
Od'ys-sey. They are simple, graceful, and interesting; in that 
department of poetry they are unrivalled. Tradition declares the 
author to have been Homer, a blind old poet, who wandered about 
from city to city chanting his beautiful verses to eager listeners. 
So great was his reputation that seven cities boasted of being his 
birthplace. The Iliad tells a story connected with the Greek war 
against Troy. The Odyssey narrates the wanderings of the hero 
O-dys'seus on his return from the Trojan war. These stories will 
be found among the myths in the following chapter. 

96. Historical Value of Homer's Poems. The descriptions of 
palaces, of their furniture and decorations, and of the fine gold 
work, given in these poems, so accord with the actual remains of 
the Mycenaean age that we must believe that Homer was a guest 
in some of the palaces while they were still occupied and in all their 
glory. Then, too, many Mycenaean objects of art must have 
survived as heirlooms in great families long after the age had 
passed away. But other features of Homeric life prove it to have 
been in advance of the Mycenaean. For instance, Homer is well 
acquainted with the use of iron, whereas the Mycenaean period 
lay in the Bronze Age, which preceded that of iron. The country, 
too, is different. Homer lived in Ionia and composed in an old 
Ionic dialect. His period, therefore, followed the Ionic coloniza- 
tion. Although his stories are myths, probably containing a few 
real traditions of great achievements of the past, the manners and 
customs he describes are those of his own time and country. Ionic 
life in this period was a growth from the Mycenaean, freshened by 
new blood and by the stimulus of new surroundings. 

97. Social Life of the lonians (1000-700 B.C.). -- Among the 
lonians of Homer's time, family and kin were sacred, and under the 

1 The Babylonians had preceded the Greeks in composing epics (42). 



84 The Epic Age 

care of " household " Zeus, whose altar was the hearth. Parent 
and child, brothers and cousins, united by the twofold bond of 
blood and religion, stood by one another in danger, for the state 
had not yet begun to protect the lives of the citizens. Zeus com- 
manded men to be kind to wayfarers. A common form of welcome 
was: " Hail, stranger, with us thou shalt be kindly entertained, and 
thereafter, when thou hast tasted meat, thou shalt tell us that 
whereof thou hast need." 1 Hospitality, love of kindred, freedom 
of women, and the gentle manners of home and of social life were 
the most admirable features of an age whose darker side appears in 
time of war. For then men sacked and burned cities, killed the 
warriors whom they captured, and enslaved the women and children. 
Piracy was respectable ; the weak and homeless had no protection. 

98. Property and Labor. In time of peace the lords of the land 
kept their servants busy in the country planting orchards and vine- 
yards, raising barley, or tending the herds, from which they drew 
most of their living. As there were few skilled workmen, they had 
to make at home nearly everything they needed in their daily life. 
Kings and queens worked along with their slaves. Having as yet 
no money, they bartered their produce, and reckoned values in 
cattle or in pounds of bronze, iron, or other metal. Although 
Phoenician traders supplied the rich with costly wares from the 
East, the lonians were themselves building ships and beginning a 
trade which was soon to drive the vessels of Phoenicia from Greek 
waters. 

99. Government. While the common people were working in 
the fields or were building walls, houses, and ships, the nobles lived 
in the city in the enjoyment of wealth and authority. The greater 
lords met in a council to advise and assist the king in all public 
business, and to provide for the interests of their class. The king, 
who was merely the first among the nobles, was general, priest, and 
judge. He led the army, prayed to the gods for the city's safety, 
and settled cases of private law. He did not try, however, to keep 
the peace or prevent murder, but allowed the families of his state 
to fight one another as much as they pleased. His power was by 
no means absolute, for not only did he respect the wishes of the 

1 Odyssey, i. 123 f. 



Society and Government 85 

council, but he brought all his important plans before the gathering 
of freemen. This assembly did not vote ; the people merely shouted 
assent or showed disapproval by silence. They exercised far less 
influence on the king than did his noble advisers. 1 



Suggestive Questions 

i. Why did the earliest Greek colonists go east rather than west? 
2. Draw from memory a map of the Aegean coasts and islands, and place on 
it the Aeolians, the lonians, and the Dorians. 3. How was the Ionian civili- 
zation related to the Mycenaean ? In what respects was the newer civiliza- 
tion an improvement on the older? 4. If the government under which we 
live should cease to protect our lives, who would undertake the duty? 
Why did not the Greek government of the Epic Age protect the lives of the 
citizens? 5. Describe the dress and equipments of the men in the " warrior 
vase " (p. 78). What changes had taken place in these matters during the 
decline of the Mycenaean Age ? 



Note-book Topics 

I. Family Life. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 1-13 (extracts 
from Homer). 

II. Government. Fling, 13-16. 

III. Games. Iliad, xxii. 257-897. 

1 Religion, including that of the Homeric age, will be considered in the following 
chapter. 



CHAPTER IX 
RELIGION AND MYTH 

100. Future Life. When in the earliest times the Greeks began 
to think about themselves, they tried to explain sleep and death. 
While a man was resting in slumber they supposed his second self, a 
shadowy form of the body, was attending to its routine duties or 
perhaps experiencing strange adventures in dream life. To them 
death was an eternal sleep. The body decayed ; but the second 
self, or soul, abiding in the grave, ate, drank, and used the tools or 
enjoyed the luxuries which had been his in life. As he expected his 
living kinsmen to supply him with food and drink, he severely 
punished those who neglected this duty, but protected and blessed 
all his relatives who at proper times and with fitting ceremonies 
brought him the customary offerings. For these reasons the 
Greeks continued to sacrifice to the dead even until the introduction 
of Christianity. 1 

In course of time the Greeks began to imagine a place the 
realm of the god Ha'des beneath the earth, whither all souls 
went after leaving the body, there to pass a joyless, dreamlike 
eternity. Cha'ron, the divine boatman, ferried the souls across the 
Styx River to the home of the dead, where Cer'be-rus, a three- 
headed dog, keeping watch at the gate, allowed all to enter but none 
to depart. Still later the idea of a judgment arose ; three judges 
of the souls below distributed rewards and punishments according 
to the deeds done in the body. 

101. The Gods. In the childhood of their race the Greeks were 
thinking not only about themselves, but about the world in which 
they lived. They worshipped the powers of nature. Gradually 
they came to believe that all these deities were like men, that they 

1 Fundamentally their view was like that of the Egyptians ( 24), but it had a 
different development. 

86 



The Gods 87 

differed from human beings simply in their greater stature and 
strength and in their immortality. Homer sometimes represents a 
god as wounded by a man in battle. " Yea, and the gods in the 
likeness of strangers from far countries put on all manner of shapes, 
and wander through the cities, beholding the violence and the right- 
eousness of men." l As the gods were only magnified men, they 
had both good and evil qualities ; and the influences of religion were 
both moral and immoral. 

102. The Twelve Gods of Olympus. The greatest deity was 
Zeus, " father of gods and men." After dethroning his father 
Cron'os and putting down all opposition, he reigned supreme over 
the whole world. Bestowing the ocean as a kingdom upon his 
brother Po-sei'don, and the region beneath the earth upon Hades, 
another brother, he retained the sky and earth for his own dominion. 
On the top of snow-capped Olympus 2 he dwelt with his brothers, 
sisters, and children. Twelve with himself made up the great 
Olympic council. It included: 

Zeus, father of gods and men. He'ra, wife of Zeus, guardian of 

Poseidon, god of the sea. women and of marriage. 

A'res, god of war. Pal'las A-the'na, who sprang full 

A-pol'lo, the ideal of manly beauty, grown and clad in armor from 
god of light, of the bow and ar- the head of Zeus, patron of war 
rows, of music and medicine. and wisdom, especially of skilled 

Her'mes, messenger of the gods and labor. 

patron of commerce. Aph-ro-di'te, goddess of love and 

He-phaes'tus, god of fire and of the beauty. 

forge. Ar'te-mis, goddess of the chase, a 

modest maiden, who protected 
girls. 
Hes'ti-a, goddess of the family hearth 

and dwelling. 

De-me'ter, patroness of agriculture 
and of civilization. 

Many lesser gods attended upon these great divinities ; many, too, 
inhabited the earth, sea, and air, and had no access to Olympus. 

103. The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. The Greeks believed that 
certain of the gods revealed their will and foretold the future to 

1 Odyssey, xvii. 485 ff. 2 7 1 - 



88 Religion and Myth 

men. The means by which the revelation was made was called an 
oracle. The same word denoted the utterance of the god. The 
most celebrated oracle in Hellas was that of Apollo at Delphi. 
High up in a ravine at the southern base of Mount Parnassus, in 
the midst of magnificent scenery, stood his temple. 1 Within was a 
fissure in the earth through which volcanic vapor issued, inspiring 
the Pyth'i-a, or prophetess of Apollo, who sat over it on a tripod. 
In ecstasy from the vapor, she muttered something in reply to 
questions ; a priest standing near wrote out her utterance, and gave 
it to the questioner as the word of Zeus delivered to man through his 
son Apollo. The oracle extended its influence beyond the neigh- 
borhood, and became national. Apollo then came to be recognized 
as the expounder of religious and moral law for all Hellas ; he often 
gave his sanction to political measures ; he watched over the calen- 
dar, and was the guide and patron of colonists. His advice was 
sought by individuals and by states on both private and public 
matters. Those who sought his favor sent him presents till his 
treasuries were full of wealth. The Delphic priests, who were the 
real authors of the oracles, kept themselves acquainted with cur- 
rent events that they might give intelligent advice; but when 
necessary to preserve the credit of Apollo, they offered double- 
meaning prophecies so as to be right in any event. 2 In moral 
questions their influence was usually wholesome, as they preferred 
to advise just and moderate conduct. But sometimes the oracle 
was bribed, sometimes it lent its aid to the schemes of politicians, 
and in the war of independence which the Greeks fought against 
Persia it lost favor by being unpatriotic. 

104. The Delphic Amphictyony. The shrine and property of 
Apollo were in the keeping of a league of twelve tribes. Originally 
the members were all in the neighborhood of Delphi, in Thessaly 
and central Greece, but in time some of the tribes were so en- 
larged as to admit cities farther away. A religious league of the 
kind was called an am-phic'ty-on-y "union of neighbors." 
At fixed times the members gathered at the shrine of the god to 
celebrate a festival in his honor. Deputies from the tribes met 
together to deliberate on the interests of the god and his worship. 

1 75- 2 For an example of the ambiguous response, see 143. 




P -2 



National Games 



This body of representatives was an amphictyonic council. Though 
the members of the league continued to fight among themselves, 
and would not help one another when attacked by foreigners, they 
recognized certain laws of war ; for instance, they were not to de- 
stroy any allied city or cut it off from running water in a siege, and 
any one who wronged the god or injured his property they were to 
punish with foot and 
hand and voice, and 
with every means in 
their power. This they 
did by declaring a 
" sacred war " against 
the offending state. 

Other, less cele- 
brated, amphictyonies 
need not be mentioned 
here. 

105. The Great Na- 
tional Games. Other 
religious institutions 
were the great national 
games. There were 
four of them, held at 
Olympia, Ne'me-a, on 
the Isthmus of Corinth, 
and at Delphi, each in 

honor of the chief god of the place. 1 The Olympian games were 
the most splendid. Once in four years a vast number of Greeks 
from all the shores of the Mediterranean gathered on the banks of 
the Alpheus in Elis to see the competitions. The month in which 
the games were held was proclaimed a holy season, during which all 
Hellas ought to be at peace with itself. The multitude encamped 
about the sacred enclosure of Zeus, the great god of Olympia. 
" Merchants set up their booths, and money-changers their tables, 
all classes of artists tried to collect audiences and admirers, crowds 
attended the exercises of the athletes who were in training, or 

1 Apollo at Delphi, Poseidon on the Isthmus, and Zeus at Nemea and at Olympia. 




THE WRESTLERS 
(Uffizi, Florence. From a photograph) 



90 Religion and Myth 

admired the practice of the horses and chariots which were entered 
for the races. Heralds recited treaties, military or commercial, 
recently formed between Greek cities, in order that they might be 
more widely known." 1 

The competitors in the games had to be Greeks of good character 
and religious standing and of sufficient athletic training. The judges 
of the games examined the qualifications of candidates, and at the 
end bestowed the wreath of victory. There were contests in run- 
ning, leaping, discus-throwing, spear-hurling, wrestling, boxing, and 
racing of horses and chariots. Such contests promoted art; the 
Greek sculptor found his best models among the athletes. These 
great national games also fostered commerce, peace, and unity. 2 

1 06. Historical Myths: How the Greeks reconstructed their 
Early History. The Greeks invented myths to explain not only 
nature, but also the origin and early history of their race. Some 
of these stories doubtless contain a kernel of historical truth handed 
down by tradition. But their chief value is to show how the Greeks 
attempted to reconstruct history. The Cretan script had fallen 
into disuse. Most probably the Greeks themselves never learned 
it ; and they did not adopt the Phoenician alphabet till some time 
after 900 B.C. Having no written records, therefore, they used 
freely their brilliant imaginations in changing and amplifying their 
imperfect traditions of the distant past. The stories they thus 
invented are worth knowing, not only as an expression of the Greek 
mind, but also because they fill a large place in literature and are 
often represented in art. 

Many of the earlier myths are found in the The-og'o-ny of Hes'i-od, 
a poet who lived about 700 B.C. The word Theogony means 
genealogy of the gods. In this work he attempted to give a sys- 
tematic account of the birth of the gods and of their early relations 
with one another. It included the origin of man and of the Hel- 

1 P. Gardner, New Chapters in Greek History, 275 f. 

2 In time there grew up a system of chronology based on these festivals. It took as a 
starting point the year 776 B.C. of our reckoning. The four years intervening between 
two festivals was termed an Olympiad, and the Olympiads were numbered in their order 
from 776 down. The initial date is purely arbitrary, and an acquaintance with the 
system is necessary for those only who read the later Greek historians and the more 
erudite modern works on ancient Greece. 



Mythical Heroes 



lenic race and its subdivisions. The principal historical myths, 
from Homer, Hesiod, and other sources, are given below. 1 

107. Hellen and his Sons. The common ancestor of the Hel- 
lenes was Hellen. He had three sons, Ae'o-lus, Do'rus, and Xu'thus. 
To the last-named were born A-chae'us and Ton. Aeolus, Dorus, 
Achaeus, and Ion became kings doubtless in the earliest form of 
the myth fathers of four Hellenic races : Ae-o'li-ans, Dorians, 
Achaeans, and lonians. The 

Achaeans here mentioned were 
the inhabitants of Peloponnese 
before the Dorian migration. 
The Greeks believed that the 
Dorian invaders crowded them 
into northern Peloponnese, 
where in historical times we 
find the country Achaea. The 
location of the other races has 
been explained above. 2 

1 08. The Heroes of Argolis. 
-The Greeks as easily in- 
vented myths to explain the 
origin and early growth of their 
cities. They imagined that, 
in time long past, heroes, the 
sons or near descendants of 

the gods, lived on earth. Taller, stronger, and braver than men, 
the heroes protected their communities from savage beasts and rob- 
bers, and performed great deeds in war. Some of them founded 
cities, or became the ancestors of tribes or nations. Though 
all the races, tribes, cities, and villages had their heroes, we shall 
notice a few only of those that became of national importance. 

Per'seus of Argolis was a strong, brave hero. In his day lived 
the Gor'gons, monstrous women whose heads were covered with 

1 The myths related here are for reading, not for minute study. It is important, 
however, to know the value of the myths and to make a thorough study of religion. 

2 The classification in the myth is imperfect, as it does not include all the Hellenes ; 
see 94, n. 3. 




PERSEUS CUTTING OFF MEDUSA'S HEAD 

(A Metope from Selinus, about 600 B.C. ; from a 
photograph) 



92 Religion and Myth 

writhing snakes instead of hair. Any one who dared look a Gorgon 
in the face was instantly changed to stone. Commanded to kill 
Me-du'sa, the most frightful of these monsters, Perseus found her 
after great toil and careful searching, and cut off her head. Though 
he met with many other dangers, his strength and courage over- 
came them all. 

Alc-me'ne, a granddaughter of Perseus, while she was in exile at 
Thebes bore to Zeus a son named Her'a-cles, who became the 
greatest of heroes. Though Zeus had planned that this beloved 
son should rule over all his neighbors, jealous Hera l compelled 
him to pass a toilsome life in fighting monsters at the bidding of 
his cowardly cousin who ruled Mycenae. Twelve great labors this 
weak master commanded him to perform, all of them full of danger 
and calling for the strength of a giant. In his search for the mon- 
sters to be slain he had to wander over nearly the whole world of 
the ancients ; he even descended to the home of the dead to bring 
forth the watch-dog Cerberus. But when he had ended his career 
of glorious toil, Zeus called him up to Olympus to dwell forever 
in joy among the deathless gods. In this way virtue received its 
reward. 

109. The Return of the Heracleidae. For three generations 
the Her-a-clei'dae descendants of Heracles remained in exile, 
deprived of their inherited right to the throne of Argos. Then 
it came about that the Dorians, who at that time dwelt in Doris, a 
mountainous little country in central Greece, chose the hero's 
great-grandsons, Tem'e-nus, Cres-phon'tes, and Ar-is-to-de'mus, to 
lead them in an -invasion of Peloponnese. In a single battle they 
conquered the whole peninsula. Elis they gave to their Aetolian 
guide ; Temenus received Argos as his kingdom ; Cresphontes was 
given fertile Messenia ; and as Aristodemus had died on the way, his 
twin sons, Eu-rys'the-nes and Pro'cles, became the first kings of 
Laconia. For this reason Laconia always had two kings, one from 
the family of Eurysthenes, the other from that of Procles. 2 Thus 
were founded in Peloponnese three great Dorian states, each ruled 
by Heracleid kings. 

1 For Zeus and Hera, see 102. 

2 139- 



Theban and Athenian Heroes 03 

no. The Heroes of Thebes. Among the mythical heroes of 
Thebes, another great city of Greece was Cad'mus, by birth a 
Phoenician, who wandered westward in search of his sister Eu-ro'pa, 
whom Zeus had stolen away. At the command of Apollo he gave 
up the search, and founded the city of Thebes in Boeotia. Some 
generations later a curse of the gods drove the descendants of 
Cadmus to commit a fearful sin which well-nigh ruined the family. 
Oed'i-pus unwittingly married his mother, queen Jo-cas'ta. When 
she discovered who her husband was, the miserable queen hanged 
herself; and king Oedipus, after tearing out both his eyes, was 
forced into exile by his unfeeling subjects. In working out further 
the purpose of the wrathful gods, his sons E-te'o-cles and Pol-y-nei'- 
ces, remaining in the city, quarrelled violently. Polyneices, driven 
into exile, took refuge with A-dras'tus, king of Argos, who called the 
mightiest heroes of his country to aid in restoring the fugitive. 
Seven chiefs with their followers appeared before Thebes, " seven 
leaders against seven gates arrayed, equal against equal foes." l 
From the citadel the inhabitants saw about the walls nothing but 
gleaming shields and spears, nothing they heard but the shouts of 
foes and the clanging of arms. Already the foremost assailant 
stood on the walls ready to shout victory, when Zeus with a thunder- 
bolt dashed him down. The two brothers killed each other in single 
combat. The wave of war rolled back, and Thebes was free to cele- 
brate her deliverance in dances and in thank-offerings to the gods. 

in. The Heroes of Athens. Athens, too, had her heroes. 
Ce'crops, half man, half serpent, was the founder and first king of 
the city on the A-crop'o-lis. This was a high, steep hill about four 
miles from the coast. 2 He named the settlement Cecropia, after 
himself. In his reign Athena and Poseidon strove for the posses- 
sion of Cecropia ; and as the goddess won the contest, she called 
the city Athens and the people Athenians, after her own name. 
Abiding henceforth on the Acropolis, she remained the chief deity 
and guardian of the state. 

Many years afterward lived The'seus, the best-known Athenian 

1 Sophocles, Antigone. 

2 An acropolis is a fortified hilltop. The most famous acropolis in Greece is that at 
Athens. 



94 



Religion and Myth 



hero. He was an athlete second only to Heracles in strength and 
valor. In his youth he won fame by killing robbers and monsters. 
Up to his time the Athenians had been paying a tribute of human 
beings to King Mi'nos of Crete, who wielded a great naval power. 
Every nine years they sent him seven youths and seven maidens 
as a sacrifice to Minotaur, a monstrous bull kept in the Lab'y-rinth. 

Theseus, however, accompa- 
nied one of these gloomy em- 
bassies to Cnossus ; and after 
killing the monster, escaped 
from the intricate windings of 
the Labyrinth by following a 
thread given him by A-ri- 
ad'ne, daughter of Minos. 
When, after his return to 
Athens, he became king of 
the city, he united all the 
towns of Attica in one great 
state. 

112. The Voyage of the Ar- 




"THESEUS" 
(East pediment of the Parthenon; British Museum) gOnautS. Sometimes herOCS 

from several cities joined in 

national undertakings. Such an expedition was the voyage of the 
Ar'go-nauts in search of the golden fleece. Ja'son, heir to the 
throne of I-ol'cos in Thessaly, grew up in exile in a cave on 
Mount Pelion. But at the age of twenty he returned to lolcos to 
demand his rights of the reigning king, Pe'li-as, his father's step- 
brother. The deceitful ruler promised everything, if Jason would 
but bring from Col'chis the golden fleece of a ram which years 
before had carried off two children of the royal household; for 
with the return of the fleece the gods, he thought, would allay a 
pestilence then raging among the people. In answer to Jason's 
call heroes from all Greece gathered to man the Argo for a voy- 
age to Colchis. Fifty Argonauts sailors of the Argo struck 
the water with their oars, " and in their rapid hands the rowing 
sped untiringly." * Many troubles they had with the natives of the 
coasts along which they steered their way. 

1 Pindar, Pythian Ode, iv. 



The Trojan War 95 

When the heroes reached Colchis, the king of the country prom- 
ised them the golden fleece if Jason should plough a piece of land 
with fire-breathing bulls and sow it with dragons' teeth. The 
king's daughter Me-de'a, a sorceress, showed the hero how to do 
these deeds without harm to himself ; and, as the king failed to keep 
his word, she helped the stranger steal the fleece from the cave 
where it hung, and followed him aboard the ship to become his wife. 
On their way home the Argonauts wandered far and wide over the 
waters of the earth. This mythical voyage furnished the Greeks 
with subjects for songs and dramas. 1 

113. The Trojan War. The most famous of heroic undertak- 
ings was the Trojan War. Helen, the wife of Men-e-la'us, king of 
Lacedaemon, was the fairest and most accomplished woman in 
Hellas. Most of the Grecian kings had sued for her hand; but 
when Menelaus won the prize, they bound themselves to uphold 
his right to her. Now it chanced that Paris, son of Priam, king 
of Troy, paid a visit to Menelaus; and taking advantage of his 
host's confidence, he persuaded Helen to desert her husband and go 
with him to Troy. As Priam refused to give her up, the kings of 
Hellas, true to their oaths, joined Menelaus in an attempt to recover 
her by force. In the harbor of Au'lis, on the Boeotian coast, 
gathered their ships nearly twelve hundred in number. Ag-a- 
mem'non, king of Argos or Mycenae and brother of Menelaus, was 
leader. 

They landed near Troy, and nine years they besieged the city and 
harried the country and villages. Then A-chil'les, the most valiant 
hero in the army, and most dreaded by the enemy, quarrelled with 
Agamemnon over a captive maiden. The Greeks had assigned her 
to Achilles in his share of the spoil from a captured town, but 
Agamemnon had unjustly taken her from him. Withdrawing in 
anger to his tent, the impetuous youth refused to engage further in 
the war. Thereupon Zeus, as a favor to the mother of Achilles, 
gave victory to the besieged and sent countless woes upon the 
Greeks till Agamemnon was ready to acknowledge the wrong he had 
done and make ample amends for it. It was no gift, however, 
which induced Achilles to resume his part in the war, but the death 

1 For instance, Pindar's Fourth Pythian Ode and Euripides' Medea. 



g6 Religion and Myth 

of his dear companion Pa'tro-clus at the hands of Hector, the great- 
est of Trojan heroes. Eagerly Achilles put on the armor forged 
for him by Hephaestus, 1 and mounted his chariot drawn by fierce 
steeds. His teeth gnashed in rage at the Trojans, his eyes blazed 
like fire, and the gleam of his shield reached the sky. He drove the 
host of Troy before him like sheep, and many a renowned hero he 
slew with his own hand. At last he killed the hero of Troy without 
mercy; the Greeks mutilated the body, and pitiless Achilles 
dragged it at his chariot wheels. 

Some time afterward Achilles was himself slain ; but crafty 
O-dys'seus, king of Ith/a-ca, contrived a plan of taking Troy by 
stratagem. He had the Greeks build a large wooden horse, in 
which they concealed a hundred brave heroes. Then Sinon, 
deserting to the Trojans, persuaded them to bring the horse into 
the city, pretending that, if offered to Athena, it would give them 
dominion over the Greeks. In the night, after the horse had been 
dragged within the walls, the heroes left their hiding and opened 
the city gates to their friends outside. The Greeks then burned 
and sacked the city ; they killed the men arid took captive the 
women and children. 

114. The Return from Troy. The destruction of Troy did not 
end the woes of the Greeks. On their homeward way they met with 
many hardships, some even with death. Odysseus wandered far and 
wide. Driven hither and thither over the sea by angry Poseidon, 
he saw many interesting countries and peoples, he underwent 
severe toils, and met with strange adventures. Reaching home at 
last, he slew the company of nobles, who, while suing for the hand 
of his faithful wife Pe-nel'o-pe, had long been living at his house 
and wasting his property. 

115. Character and Influence of Myth and Religion. Greek 
myth and religion in their earliest form had to do with many hor- 
rible monsters and gods of terror, such as we find among the Orien- 
tals. But in time the ideas of the Greeks on these subjects were 
refined and purified. The monsters were all slain or thrust into 
the background of the imagination, and the gods were gradually 
shorn of their terrors. The supernatural beings became as a rule 



Purification of the Myths 97 

beautiful in form and endowed with a kindly spirit fit subjects 
for worship and an inspiration to art. Sacrifice was regarded, not 
as a gift to appease the anger of the gods, but as a meal in which the 
deity took part with his worshippers. The basis of the relationship 
between gods and men was no longer fear, but fellowship. This 
fact goes far toward accounting for the fearlessness of the Greeks 
in working out the problems of society, government, art, and 
science. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. In what respects was the religion of the Greeks more beautiful than 
that of Egypt or Babylonia? 2. What benefits did the Greeks derive from 
their religion? 3. In what ways were the Greeks influenced by the Oracle 
at Delphi? 4. In what respect were the games beneficial to the Greeks? 
5. In Greek mythology we find the heroes engaged in killing monsters and 
evil-doers in general. What was the effect of this process on myth and 
religion? 

Note -book Topics 

I. Apollo and Artemis. Fairbanks, Mythology of Greece and Rome, 
ch. iv. 

II. Demeter, Persephone, and Dionysus. Fairbanks, ch. vi. 

III. Games and Festivals. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 47- 
53 ; Holm, History of Greece, i. ch. xix; Bury, History of Greece, ch. Hi. 5, 
9 ; Mahaffy, Rambles and Studies in Greece, xi. 



CHAPTER X 
THE CITY-STATE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT 

1 1 6. The Family and the Gens. The Greek family, unlike the 
Oriental, was monogamic. The complete household consisted of 
father, mother, children, and slaves. The family was not only a 
social but also a religious institution. In Attica, it was under the 
care of Zeus and Apollo. In this connection Apollo is spoken of as 
" ancestral," in the belief that he was the common ancestor of all 
the Athenians. 

Family life will be described in another chapter ; l for the present 
we need to notice only its general character and its relation to the 
state. When the sons grew up, they married and founded new 
families, as among us ; and as in the modern world, the families 
which had sprung from a common ancestor often lost all connection 
with one another. Sometimes, however, they kept up relations. 
In that case the descendants of a common ancestor organized 
themselves into an association called a gens, 2 with officers, common 
property, and treasury. Each gens had also one or more gods to 
whom offerings were made on fixed festival days. At such a time 
the members held a religious and social reunion. The nobles laid 
greatest stress on descent, and were in a better position to keep up 
relationships. Hence the gentes were mostly limited to them. 

117. The Phratry and the Tribe. Several families (not gentes) 
united to form a phratry "brotherhood." As the word itself 
indicates, the members considered themselves related in blood. 
Many were in fact kinsmen, though some strangers were admitted 
to the association. Like the gens, therefore, the phratry resembled 
a large family. It had officers, common property, and periodical 
reunions of the members for social intercourse and for the worship 
of Zeus and Athena, the phratric deities. Unlike the gens, however, 

1 Ch. XVIII. iii. 2 Greek form gen'os, plural gen'e. 

98 



Phratry and Tribe 99 

the phratry was political as well as social and religious. All citi- 
zens, both men and women, had to belong to these societies. When 
the state admitted new citizens, it assigned them to various phra- 
tries, which thereupon accepted them by an act somewhat like that 
of adoption. The chief political duty of the phratry was to watch 
over the citizenship, to keep it untainted by alien blood and re- 
ligious impurity. It admitted children, both girls and boys, after 
a strict inquiry as to the legality of their birth ; for any irregularity, 
especially in the marriage of the parents, corrupted the citizen 
blood. On membership in the phratry depended all the civil and 
political rights of the citizens. In the study of this exclusive 
association we begin to appreciate the vast difference between the 
Greek and the modern state. 

The tribe was a group of phratries. Doubtless in the far-off 
beginnings of the race many tribes were formed naturally by the 
union of kindred phratries, but in the historical age they were 
created by the state. The government usually divided the country 
into districts called tribes, and assigned to each the phratries of 
the district. However artificial it might be, the members, accus- 
tomed to no other bond but that of blood and religion, came 
soon to regard one another as kinsmen, and the tribe as an enlarged 
family. The lonians and Dorians differed in their systems of 
tribal organization. The early Ionic states usually had four tribes, 
and the early Doric three. 1 

The tribe was organized like the phratry, though on a larger 
scale. It was social and religious, too, but in the main political. 
Each tribe furnished a regiment for the army, and each bore its 
proportional share of the taxes and other public burdens. 

1 1 8. The City-State. From what has thus far been said, it is 
evident that the state comprised several tribes, which were sub- 
divided into phratries and families. The ties which bound the 
members of the several groups together were not, as with us, ter- 
ritory and neighborhood, except in the slightest degree, but religion 
and blood. The same is true of the state. We cannot understand 
the Greeks without a clear conception of the difference between 
their state and ours. A modern state is a country whose inhabitants, 

1 No tribes have thus far been found in the Aeolian states. 



ioo The City -State and its Development 

excepting a few transients, are fellow-citizens under one govern- 
ment. The Greek state, on the other hand, was an exclusive re- 
ligious society of kinsmen who possessed a definite territory. We 
should rather compare it in one respect to a family, in another to a 
church. By residence through any number of centuries an alien 
family could not acquire a right to the citizenship. 

The state was not only a large family and religious society; 
it was also essentially a city. To the eye it seemed (i) a group 
of dwellings, shops, and offices, like a modern city, though usu- 
ally protected by a wall, and (2) a little surrounding country dotted 
over with farm buildings and villages. But the essential fact in 
the case is that there was not, as with us, a government for the 
country and another for the city ; rather, there was merely a city 
government, which extended as well over the whole area of the 
state. For this reason we call the Greek state a city-state to 
distinguish it from the country states of modern times. As an illus- 
tration we may take Attica and Athens. Geographically Attica 
was a country in which the city of Athens was situated. Politi- 
cally Athens was a state which included all Attica. All the in- 
habitants of Attica who enjoyed political rights in the country 
were Athenians. 

119. Influence of the City-State on History. All the citizens 
were thought to be kinsmen, the descendants of some god. For 
example, the Athenians were all children of Apollo. The people 
of each city considered it impious to admit strangers to their 
brotherhoods, their religious festivals, and their state, as the god 
loved only his citizens and looked upon all others as intruders. Be- 
sides lesser deities and the divine ancestor, each state had some 
great patron god, who too disliked strangers. Largely because of 
these religious ideas, the city-states were extremely illiberal in be- 
stowing the citizenship, and were unwilling to combine in greater 
political units. Hence Greek history has to do, not with empires 
like the Oriental, but with a multitude of little city-states. Some 
covered but a few square miles ; Athens, one of the largest, no more 
than a thousand. This very smallness, however, combined with 
the motives of blood and religion to produce a devotion to country 
and an energy of thought and action which we find nowhere else in 



Political Evolution 101 

history. In brief, the city-states, in keenest rivalry with one an- 
other and favorably influenced by physical surroundings, created 
the Greek civilization the most brilliant in the world's history. 
The decline of the city-states brought with it a decline in the 
civilization. 

120. Important City-States about 700 B.C. At the close of the 
epic age and the beginning of a new era, about 700 B.C., there were 
already hundreds of city-states in Hellas. A few of the more thriv- 
ing, incidentally mentioned in the preceding pages, are grouped 
together here by way of summary. The earlier centres of culture, 
Cnossus, Tiryns, and Mycenae, had declined. Miletus now took 
the lead in civilization, but had little political importance. Corinth 
was a great commercial and industrial centre, and was soon to gain 
political power under a line of able rulers. 1 Thebes was the head of 
the Boeotian League, and as such was important. Argos was at- 
tempting to subdue the other cities of Argolis, so as to convert that 
country into one great state. In the course of two centuries she 
succeeded in this undertaking. Athens included all Attica, and 
Sparta ruled supreme over Laconia. The last two were the greatest 
states in Hellas. From our point of view, however, they were very 
small, about equal in area to our counties. 

121. Political Evolution of the City-State. The earliest form 
of government of the city-state was monarchy, such as existed in 
the Homeric age. The powers of government were in the hands 
of the king, the council of nobles, and the assembly of freemen. 2 
In some of the Greek states the council, growing strong, made itself 
supreme in place of the king. It did not abolish the office, but 
degraded it to a mere priesthood. The rule of a council of nobles 
is called an aristocracy a " government of the best." 3 New offices 
were created to attend to new duties of government as they arose, 
and sometimes the freemen continued to meet in assembly ; but 
all were subordinate to the council. 

Generally the aristocracies became oppressive ; the masses, there- 
fore, began to show great discontent. To strengthen themselves 

1 144. 2 "' , 

3 A good example of an aristocracy is Athens immediately after the overthrow of 
kingship; 149. 



IO2 The City-State and its Development 

against the commons, the aristocrats sometimes admitted cer- 
tain wealthy families to a share in the privileges. When wealth 
was substituted for birth as the qualification for political rights, 
the government became an oligarchy " rule of the few," of 
any number less than the whole citizen bodyJ Sometimes it 
was agreed that political rights should be graded according 
to amount of property determined by a census. In that case 
the government was called a ti-moc'ra-cy. 2 Either a timocracy 
or some simpler form of oligarchy might develop from an 
aristocracy. 

These changes did little to improve the condition of the masses 
or to quiet their discontent, which in fact grew continually more 
bitter. Under these circumstances it often happened that a noble, 
beaten in some political conflict with his fellows, appealed to the 
commons, promising economic or political improvements in ex- 
change for their support. With their help he would then usurp 
the government and rule by force. An unconstitutional rule of 
the kind was called by the Greeks a tyranny. The word did not 
originally signify a harsh or oppressive rule, in fact, many were the 
very opposite ; but it came to have that meaning as the character 
of the tyrants deteriorated. Usurpations were common under all 
the forms of government which followed the kingship. 3 

Generally the tyrant improved the condition of the commons 
and lessened the power of the nobles ; he reduced the people more 
nearly to an equality. As a rule the usurper was himself a wise and 
able statesman. His son, and still more his grandson, who in- 
herited the power, in nearly every case became a tyrant in the 
modern sense. When this condition came about, the people put 

1 So far as the meaning of the word oligarchy is concerned, it might include the aris- 
tocracy ; but the Greeks drew the distinction mentioned above, and it is a convenient 
one to use. Necessarily it included the timocracy. 

2 About 650 B.C. the aristocracy at Athens was changed to a timocracy; 150. 

3 Some writers on Greek history speak of an "Age of Tyrants." It is true that in the 
seventh and sixth centuries B.C. there were many, and that in the fifth century, when 
Sparta and Athens controlled a great part of Hellas, they were fewer. But from the 
fourth century to the end of Greek independence they flourished in all parts of Hellas 
in greater numbers than ever before. The expression Age of Tyrants is, therefore, mis- 
leading. Tyrannies worthy of study were those at Corinth ( 144), Athens ( 161- 
163), and Syracuse ( 207, 276-279). 



From Kingship to Democracy 103 

down the tyrant and established either a democracy or a liberal 
oligarchy. 1 

These are general lines along which the city-states developed. 
Some went through the entire cycle from kingship to democracy ; 
others advanced part way ; still others remained monarchical to 
the end. The diversity of government among the Greeks is won- 
derful ; they were as inventive in this field as in science and art. 



Diagram of the Political Cycle 

(At Sparta) liberal aristocracy. 

(At Corinth) j ^g r t Q^ racv -^tyranny->liberal oligarchy. 



Kingship-> 



aristocracy 
(At Athens) j aristocracy ->timocracy-^tyranny->democracy. 



122. Combinations of City-States. Neighboring communities, 
city-states as well as tribes, sometimes united in religious leagues, 
the amphictyonies described above. 2 Some of these unions re- 
mained religious, others tended to become political as well. Boe- 
otia is an instance of this political development. In time arose 
leagues which were purely political, like that headed by Sparta 
in Peloponnese. 3 Toward the end of Greek history the federal 
unions a form of the political league came into great promi- 
nence. 4 

Suggestive Questions 

i. What are some of the differences between the Greek city-state and the 
modern city? between the city-state and the modern state? 2. How 
did their love of the city-state prevent the Greeks from creating a national 
state? 3. What advantages did the Greeks derive from the city-state? 

4. Would the civilization of the Greeks have reached as high a point, if 
they had all been united in one state? Give reasons for your opinion. 

5. What brought about the change from aristocracy to tyranny? 6. How 
did the tyrants in many cases prepare the way for democracy ? 

1 Athens offers a good example of the change from tyranny to democracy ( 164 ff.) ; 
Corinth, of the change to a liberal oligarchy ( 144). It should not be thought that 
every tyranny affected the government in these ways. The text merely states the rule, 
to which there were exceptions. 

2 104. 3 I4S . < 338-342. 



104 The City -State and its Development 



Note-book Topics 

I. The Change from Kingship to Republic. Aristotle, Constitution of 
Athens , ch. iii; Bury, History of Greece, ch. i. 9. 

II. Cleisthenes, Tyrant of Sicyon. Herodotus, v. 67-69 ; vi. 128-131. 

III. The General Subject of the Chapter. Fowler, City-State of the 
Greeks and Romans, chs. i-iii 




THE 

HELLENIC WORLD 

I The Hellenic World 



Willmm, Engrav.ng 



15 3 Longitude East 



CHAPTER XI 

THE SECOND PERIOD OF COLONIAL EXPANSION 
About 750-550 B.C. 

123. Motives to Colonization. In an earlier chapter 1 we studied 
the expansion of the Greeks over the islands and the east coast of 
the Aegean Sea. This movement, described as the first period of 
colonization, was somewhat like a migration. It followed no defi- 
nite plan ; and the motives, so far as we can discover them, were 
the pressure of new invaders in Greece, and land-hunger. The 
period coincided with the Mycenaean age. 

Afterward expansion came nearly to a standstill, to recommence 
about the middle of the eighth century B.C. From that point it 
continued for about two hundred years. 

In the second period of expansion the first motive to be con- 
sidered was over-population. This cause was especially active 
in Achaea and Locris.- Here people depended wholly on agricul- 
ture and grazing. As the poor soil could not support many in 
these occupations, and as the population was growing dense, the 
surplus flowed off in colonies. The same motive was present in 
the industrial centres; and a new one was added the desire to 
found stations for trade in foreign countries. This cause was active 
in Chalcis, Corinth, Megara, and Miletus all centres of trade and 
manufacturing. 

A third motive was political unrest. In the more progressive 
parts of Greece the monarchies had given way to aristocracies and 
oligarchies ( 121). The states were often afflicted by intejnal 
strife, and the governments were usually harsh and burdensome. 
Many who felt oppressed and many who were expelled by hostile 
factions sought new homes in distant lands. Not the least power- 

1 Ch. viii, 92-94. 



io6 The Second Period of Colonial Expansion 

ful motive was the love of adventure and the longing to see the 
world, often combined with the fortune-hunting spirit. 

124. Organization of a Colony. When a city planned to send 
out a colony, it was customary first to ask the advice and consent 
of Apollo at Delphi. Having obtained his approval, it appointed some 
noble as " founder," who was to lead the enterprise, to distribute 
the lands among the settlers, and to arrange the government. Gen- 
erally the mother city permitted any who wished from neighboring 
communities to join the expedition. The founder assigned each 
man his place in the new state, and established a government and 
religion like those of the mother city. In this connection it is well 
to notice that every Greek city had in its town hall a sacred hearth 
on which it always kept fire burning. This hearth was the religious 
centre of the community, an altar on which the divine founder 
and ancestor received his sacrifices. It was customary for colo- 
nists to carry with them sacred fire from the hearth of the 
mother city with which to kindle the public hearth of the new 
settlement, that the religious life of the old community might 
continue uninterrupted in the new, and that those who went forth 
to found homes in a strange country might not for a moment be 
deprived of divine protection. 

125. Relation of a Colony to the Mother City. A mother city 
preferred, when possible, to keep political control of her colonies. 
But conditions generally prevented. Colonists, like other Greeks, 
loved complete independence for their cities, and would not rest 
satisfied with any other condition. Usually, too, the colonies were 
distant, communication with the mother city was slow, and all 
these circumstances combined to render control impossible. Hence 
as a rule the colony was politically independent. But it remained 
in close religious and social union with the mother-land. The two 
states usually traded with each other. They often joined in plant- 
ing other colonies, and in time of danger they gave mutual assist- 
ance. This moral bond was rarely broken. 

126. Colonies in Italy and Sicily. Italy is farther than Asia 
Minor from the Greek peninsula, and the Ionian Sea is not, like the 
Aegean, filled with islands ; yet the Greeks from the Epeirot coast 
could look in clear weather across the narrowest part of the sea to the 



Italy and Sicily 107 

shore of Italy. There they found a far more fertile soil than they 
had known in their own homes.. Our review of the settlements 
here will be geographical rather than chronological. 

Lower Italy may be compared in form to a boot. In the heel 
next to the instep is an excellent harbor, on which grew up the great 
city of Ta-ren'tum. Because of the favorable situation it became 
renowned for commerce, wealth, and refinement. It was especially 
influential, too, in giving Greek civilization to the natives of the 
peninsula. Following the coast-line round the instep, we come 
to Syb'a-ris, noted for her wealth and luxury. The word Sybarite 
is still used to designate an excessively luxurious person. Farther 
south was Cro'ton, the home of famous athletes and physicians. 
Both cities were Achaean. After they had shown the utmost good 
feeling toward one another for many years, they engaged in deadly 
strife in which Sybaris was blotted out of existence (510 B.C.). 
Locri, farther to the southwest, received its name from Locris, the 
mother country. This city was renowned for her excellent govern- 
ment. She was the first of all Indo-Europeans to have a written collec- 
tion of laws. 1 Passing round the toe of the peninsula, we come to 
Rhe'gi-um, then far north, to Cu'mae near the Bay of Naples. 
The importance of Cumae lies in this fact, that from her the Romans 
derived the alphabet and other rudiments of culture. Afterward 
Naples grew up on the bay of the same name. Cumae, Naples, 
Rhegium, and some other colonies on the west coast were Chalcidic 
founded by Chalcis, Euboea. 

In Sicily the same city founded Mes-se'ne 2 on the strait op- 
posite Rhegium, and several other settlements on the east and north 
coasts. The most important city in Sicily was Syracuse on the 
eastern coast. In time it became the largest city in Greece. Its 
" Great Harbor " could shelter the navies of the world. Next in 
population and wealth was Ac'ra-gas (Latin Ag-ri-gen'tum). The 
founders built their city on a hill two miles from the sea, and 
adorned it with temples, colonnades, and beautiful dwellings, while 

1 The Babylonians had a code more than twelve centuries earlier ( 35)- The Romans 
did not have one till about two centuries later ( 386). 

2 Originally called Zan'cle, it was renamed Messene after being reenforced, many years 
later, by a colony from Messenia ( 142). 



io8 The Second Period of Colonial Expansion 

all about it they planted vineyards and olive orchards. On 
account of its brilliancy and beauty, Pindar, the poet, calls it 
" the eye of Sicily." Tarentum, Syracuse, and Acragas were 
Dorian colonies. 

127. Results of Colonization in the West. Because of its 
wonderful fertility, Sicily soon excelled the mother country in 
wealth. Its cities were mostly on the coast, and for this reason 
Pindar calls them " a gorgeous crown of citadels," which nearly 
surrounded the island. The Greeks were prevented from complet- 
ing the circuit of colonies by Phoenicians, 1 who occupied the west 
end of Sicily. 

The colonization of the West began as early as 750 B.C., and con- 
tinued about two hundred years. The territory occupied by the 
Greeks in Italy is called by the Latin name Mag'na Grae'ci-a 
(" Great Hellas ") ; while the term " Western Hellas " includes 
their settlements in both Italy and Sicily. Western Hellas was 
related to the mother country somewhat as America is now to 
Europe. It remained politically distinct, but always kept in the 
closest commercial and intellectual contact. In two respects the 
western Greeks are important in the history of civilization: (i) 
they made great contributions to science and the arts, (2) they were 
the source from which the natives of the West, including the Romans, 
drew the larger part of their culture. 

128. Colonies in Chalcidice. While the Greeks were planting 
colonies in Italy and Sicily, they were busy extending their settle- 
ments within the Aegean area. On the northwest coast of the 
Aegean, they found a broad peninsula with three arms reaching far 
into the sea. It is so rugged and has so long a coast-line that the 
Greeks who went there to live found it very homelike. Men 
swarmed to that region to work the copper, silver, and gold mines, 
and to cut timber for shipbuilding ; and as most of them came from 
Chalcis, they named their new home Chal-cid' i-ce. Pot-i-dae'a, a 
Corinthian colony, however, became the chief commercial city of 
the region. In the interior near Chalcidice lived the Macedonians, 
who spoke a Greek dialect, and were in fact Greeks. But on 
account of their situation they had made little progress in civil- 

'49- 



The Hellespont and the Black Sea 109 

ization. It was chiefly from the colonies near them that they 
slowly 1 adopted the improvements in life and the advanced ideas 
of the more cultured Hellenes. The colonists in this region, 
accordingly, did for them what the Greeks in the West did for 
the Romans. 

129. Colonies on the Hellespont, the Propontis, and the Black 
Sea. While some of the Greeks were working the mines of Chal- 
cidice, others were sailing into the Hel'les-pont to fish and to found 
settlements along its shores. Others, passing through the Helles- 
pont, explored the coasts of the Pro-pon'tis. Propontis is the water 
" in front of " the Pontus, that is, of the Black Sea. Of all the 
settlements in this region the most important was By-zan'ti-um, 
founded by the little city of Megara. This colony was on the Pro- 
pontis, at the entrance to the strait of Bos'po-rus. Situated on a 
magnificent harbor, it engaged extensively in trade. Nearly a 
thousand years after its founding, it became, under the name of 
Constantinople, the capital of the Roman empire. 

The Greeks pushed on through the Bosporus to explore and 
settle the coasts of the Black Sea. This water they called sim- 
ply Pontus " the Sea " or more commonly Euxine "'the 
Hospitable." In time a chain of colonies stretched almost 
continuously around the sea. Miletus alone is said to have 
founded more than eighty in this region. The great attraction 
lay in the rich natural resources. Colchis yielded gold ; the southern 
coast, silver, copper, iron, and timber ; the northern coast, cattle, 
hides, and grain; the sea itself, fish. From the natives slaves 
were obtained by purchase and kidnapping. The country about 
this sea accordingly supplied the populous districts of Greece with 
laborers, food, the precious metals, and raw materials for manu- 
facturing. It had little part in the intellectual life of Hellas, and 
its civilizing influence did not reach far from the shores. 

130. The More Distant Colonies. The colonies thus far men- 
tioned extended from Greece in different directions almost as con- 
tinuously as the intervening waters would allow. Other settle- 
ments were made on the remotest shores of the Mediterranean. 

: Till the fourth century B.C. their condition remained like that of the "Homeric" 
Greeks ( 96-99). 



no The Second Period of Colonial Expansion 

In our study of Egyptian history l we saw how the later Pharaohs 
permitted the Greeks to settle at one of the mouths of the Nile. 
This colony was Nau'cra-tis. In it all the great commercial cities 
of Greece had their warehouses, chartered by the Egyptian govern- 
ment. The kings of the land sent youths to Naucratis to learn the 
Hellenic tongue, and began to form alliances with the Greek states. 
Many Greeks who were eager for knowledge, and had the leisure 
and the means of travelling, visited Egypt as well as Babylonia 
to see the strange old country and learn wisdom from its priests. 
They brought home a few valuable facts about surveying, the 
movements of the stars, and the recording of events, and with 
the help of this little treasure of truths their own inventive minds 
worked out the first real science. 

In the opposite direction, the Phocaeans of Ionia rowed their 
fifty-oared galleys to the southern coast of Gaul, where they 
founded Mas-sa'li-a 2 on an excellent harbor. From this colony 
as a centre they established trading stations in the interior as well 
as along the coast ; by means of these settlements they extended 
their traffic over the whole of Gaul and as far as Britain and the 
Baltic Sea. In Spain the Greeks founded fewer settlements, 
owing to its distance as well as to the opposition of the Phoenicians, 
who were already taking possession of this peninsula. 3 

131. The Extent of Hellas. During this period of colonization 
the Greeks spread their settlements over a large part of the known 
ancient world, as the western Europeans have made their home in 
every part of the modern world. The Greeks were then all that 
western Europeans now are, representatives and teachers of the 
highest existing civilization, carrying their culture everywhere, and 
everywhere gaining the advantage over others by means of their 
own superior vitality and intelligence. Hellas included all their 
settlements on the shores of the Mediterranean and its tributaries, 
from Egypt to the " Pillars of Heracles," Strait of Gi-bral'tar, - 
and from south Russia to the African desert. They were not 
united under a single government, but were one in blood, one in 
speech and manners, one in religion. 

1 1 8. 2 xhe present Marseilles. 

3 49- 



Extent of Hellas 



Suggestive Questions 

i. Why did the colonists of this period go west rather than east? 
2. What were the chief attractions of Italy and Sicily to colonists ? 3. What 
were the principal motives to colonization ? 4. From the picture opp. p. 107 
what may we infer as to the situation of Acragas? Why did the Greeks 
prefer hilltops as sites for cities? 5. What is the modern name of Rhe- 
gium, and what is its present condition? 6. Enumerate (a) the chief 
Ionian, (b) the chief Dorian colonies. 7. Which colonies were the more 
enterprising and progressive, the Dorian or the Ionian? 8. Compare 
Sparta with Locri ; with Tarentum. 



Note-book Topics 

I. Colonization in General. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 
29-40 ; Holm, History of Greece, i. ch. xxi. 

II. Causes and Effects of Colonization. Bury, History of Greece, ch. ii. 
i ; Greenidge, Handbook of Greek Constitutional History, ch. iii. 

III. The Part taken by the Oracle in the Colonization of Cyrene. 
Herodotus, iv. 150-164. 

IV. A Tour in Sicily. Richardson, Vacation Days in Greece, 173-207. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE RISE OF SPARTA AND THE PELOPONNESIAN LEAGUE 

About 750-500 B.C. 

132. Sparta and Laconia. Laconia, a country in Peloponnese, 
has already been briefly described. 1 It is bounded on the north by 
the Arcadian highland, and on the east and west by lofty parallel 
ranges. The whole country is the basin of the Eurotas River. 
It was one of the most fertile parts of Greece, and in the mountain 
range 2 on the west were rich iron mines. Naturally the principal 
occupations were farming and the manufacture of iron wares. 

Sparta, the city of Laconia, was situated on the right bank of the 
Eurotas. In contrast with the usual Greek city, placed on a hill- 
top and strongly fortified, it was a mere group of villages without 
walls and on only a slight elevation. The reason for this peculiarity 
will be made clear below. 3 

Originally there had been several city-states in Laconia; but 
Sparta by conquest had reduced the others to submission and had 
become the sole independent city. In the case of Sparta alone, it 
is necessary to distinguish between the city and the state. Sparta 
was simply the city, whereas the name of the state was Lac-e-dae'- 
mon. The members of the state Lacedaemonians comprised 
both the Spartans and the dependent population. 

133. The Social Classes : the Helots. There were but few 
slaves in Laconia. Most of the laborers were helots, or state serfs. 
Some were reduced to this condition by the Spartan conquest ; others 
doubtless were once free peasants, whom oppression forced into 
serfdom. The helots tilled the fields of the Spartans, paying them 
fixed amounts of grain, wine, oil, and fruit. They served in war 
as light-armed troops, and some were given their freedom for 

1 78. 2 The Taygetus range; 71. 3 138. 

112 



Social Classes 113 

bravery and faithfulness. They lived with their families on the 
farms they worked, or grouped together in villages. Their lords 
had no right to free them or to sell them beyond the borders of the 
country; and under favorable conditions they could even acquire 
property of their own. Still their condition was hard, for the more 
intelligent they were, the more the Spartans dreaded and oppressed 
them. The rulers organized a secret police force of youths, which 
was to watch over the helots, and put out of the way any one 
who might be regarded as dangerous to the community. 

134. The Perioeci. The per-i-oe'ci were between the helots 
and Spartans in rank. They inhabited the towns of Laconia and 
Messenia, and at first enjoyed independence in all local matters; 
but as time went on Sparta encroached on their liberties by send- 
ing out officers to rule over them. They paid war taxes and 
served as heavy-armed troops in the Lacedaemonian army. 
As the land left them by the conquerors was the poorest in the 
country, many of them made their living by skilled industry and 
trade. While the Spartans themselves could use only iron money, 
the perioeci were not thus hampered in their business. On the 
whole, they could not have been badly treated, for they remained 
loyal to Sparta for centuries. Spartans, perioeci, and helots were 
alike Dorians, so far as we know; no difference of race has been 
discovered, and we are not certain why the Spartans treated some of 
the conquered as serfs and left others free ; but perhaps the perioeci 
were the inhabitants of communities which were strong enough to 
make good terms with their conquerors. 

135. The Spartans ; the Training of their Boys. The Spartans 
were the inhabitants of the city of Sparta. They were too proud 
and too exclusive to share their citizenship with the conquered 
in Laconia and Messenia ; and as they were themselves never more 
than eight or nine thousand of military age, while their subjects 
were many times as numerous, they could maintain their rule only 
by making of themselves a standing army and by keeping up a con- 
stant military training. Every Spartan must have a sound body 
to begin with. The father brought his boy soon after birth to the 
elders of his tribe ; and if they found him puny and ill-shaped, they 
ordered him to be exposed to death in a chasm of the mountains near 



ii4 The Rise of Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

by ; but if they judged the boy strong and healthy, they allowed 
him to live. To his seventh year the Spartan boy was in the care 
of his mother; then the state took charge of his education, and 
placed him in a company of lads under a trainer. From the age of 
twelve he had to gather reeds for his own bed from the banks of the 
Eurotas, and must learn to live without underclothing and to go 
barefoot winter and summer. Every year the boys had to give a 
test of their endurance by submitting to a whipping before the 
altar of the goddess Artemis, and he was the hero who could endure 
the flogging longest. Boys, youths, and young men were organized 
in troops and companies, and exercised in marching, sham-fighting, 
and gymnastics. They were taught to hunt and to be nimble and 
cunning, but their only mental culture was in music and poetry. 
The whole object of their education was to make brave, strong, 
and well-disciplined soldiers. The girls passed through a training 
like that of the youths, though less severe. They, too, practised 
running, leaping, and throwing the spear and discus. The state 
encouraged them to such exercise, as it considered the gymnastic 
education of women necessary to the physical perfection of the race. 
136. Young Men. At the age of twenty the Spartan youth 
became a young man, and as he was now liable to military service 
in the field, he joined a " mess," or brotherhood of about fifteen 
comrades each, who ate together in war and in peace. The mem- 
bers of the mess to which he applied voted on his admission with 
bread crumbs, " throwing them into a basin carried by the waiter 
around the table ; those who liked the young man dropped their 
ball into the basin without changing its figure, and if any one dis- 
liked him, he pressed the crumb flat between his fingers and thus 
gave his negative vote. And if there was but one of these flattened 
pieces in the basin, the candidate was rejected, so desirous were 
they that all the members of the company should be agreeable to 
each other." 1 Each member had to furnish his monthly share of 
barley meal, wine, cheese, figs, and money for meat and dainties ; 
also a part of whatever game he got by hunting. The " black 
broth " was the national Spartan dish, relished by the elderly men, 
though the young men preferred meat. Thus their fare was simple 

1 Plutarch, Lycurgus. 



The Spartans 



but efficient ; and no one could say that they were spoiled for war 
by being overfed. Membership of these associations continued 
through life. 

137. Mature Men and Women. At thirty the Spartan became 
a mature man, and could now attend the assembly, but he did not 
cease from military service and 
training till his sixtieth year. 
Though compelled by law to 
marry, he could have no home, 
and could not even claim his 
family as his own. All the 
older Spartans regarded the 
younger as their children, and 
the young were taught to obey 
and respect any of the citizens 
as much as their own fathers. 
But while the Spartan ate in 
the barracks with his fellow- 
soldiers and passed his time 
in military exercises, his wife 
lived in comfort and luxury. 
Aristotle l says that Lycurgus, 
after subjecting the men to 
discipline, tried to make the 
women orderly, but failed, and 
permitted them therefore to 
live as they pleased. As they 
could inherit and acquire prop- 
erty in Laconia, and as men were not permitted to engage in busi- 
ness, it resulted in time that two-fifths of the land in the state came 
into the hands of the women. 

138. The Army. In the Mycenaean and Homeric ages the 
nobles alone could afford heavy armor and good weapons. The 
masses, grouped in tribes and phratries, were miserably equipped 
and altogether without training. On the battlefield one noble was 
worth a hundred commoners. This is the chief reason why the 

1 A Greek philosopher who wrote much on the government of Greek cities; 328. 




A SPARTAN TOMBSTONE 
(From a photograph) 



n6 The Rise of Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 



nobles despised the common men and gave them few political 
rights. 

Even in the Homeric age, however, we find some attempt to keep 
the masses of fighters in an even line. But the great innovators 
in this direction were the Spartans. Two causes of the improve- 
ment here mentioned may be traced to the 
country itself : (i) in the broad fertile plain 
were more land-owners than elsewhere who 
were wealthy enough to equip themselves 
with the full armor; (2) the mines of Laco- 
nia furnished abundant iron for swords and 
spear points, the defensive armor being 
mostly bronze. We must not lose sight of 
the fact, however, that the principal cause 
was the intelligence which made use of these 
resources. The army organized on this new 
plan was a pha'lanx a line of warriors 
equipped with strong defensive armor and 
long spears, 1 which moved as a unit to the 
sound of music. The line was several ranks 
deep. This system made Lacedaemon the 
strongest military power in the world. It 
rendered the fortification of Sparta unneces- 
sary, and had besides an important effect on 
the form of government. 

139. The Government. It has already 
been stated that the towns of the perioeci 
managed their local affairs with more or less 
interference from Sparta. In this respect 
they were like our municipalities, though less independent. The 
government of the city of Sparta, on the other hand, conducted 
by the Spartans exclusively, supervised these town governments 
and attended to all the affairs of the state as a whole. Originally 

1 The armor consisted of a large shield, somewhat like the Mycenaean, which covered 
the entire body, a helmet, and greaves. In time they substituted a smaller round 
buckler and a coat of mail in place of the heavy man-covering shield. Besides the spear 
they carried a sword. 




A WARRIOR IN HELMET, 
COAT OF MAIL, AND 
GREAVES 

(Bronze statuette, sixth cen- 
tury B.C. ; British Museum) 



Army and Government 117 

the government was like that described by Homer, excepting that 
there were two kings 1 in place of one. 

Continual quarrelling between the two kings weakened the office. 
Thereupon the government fell into the hands, not of the council, 
as in most Greek states, but of the assembly of freemen. The 
reason is to be found in the adoption of the phalanx. Everywhere 
in Hellas the men who made up the effective military force 
were the controlling political power. The government of Lace- 
daemon became accordingly a military aristocracy, as the Spartan 
freemen were all nobles, ruling over a subject population. The 
assembly did not exercise the powers of government directly, how- 
ever, but intrusted them to a board of five ephors, or overseers, 
elected annually. In time the ephors placed themselves at the 
head of the state, whereas the kings came to be hardly more than 
priests and generals. Among the Spartans were some especially 
noble families, who were represented in the council by twenty-eight 
elders and the two kings. The council lost influence along with 
the kings. 

Outline of the Aristocratic Constitution 

I. Magistrates 

1. Five ephors, elected annually, the chief executives. 

2. Two kings, hereditary and life-long, from the two royal families; 

priests and generals ; judges in a few minor cases. 
II. Council 

1. Composed of twenty-eight elders sixty years of age or above, and 

the two kings, representing the noble families. 

f a. Deliberation on measures to be presented to the 

2. Functions j assembly. 

I b. Trial of criminal cases. 
III. Assembly 

i. Composed of Spartans in good standing. 

j a. Election of magistrates and councillors. 

[b. Voting on measures presented by the council.. 

140. The Myth of Lycurgus. The Spartans of later time tried 

in the usual Greek way 2 to account for the origin of their institutions 

by ascribing them all to one man, Lycurgus. In their belief he was 

regent in place of a young king, his nephew. Finding the state 

i 109. 2 * 8 - 



n8 The Rise of Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

full of violence,' he went to Crete, and brought home from there a 
whole body of customs and laws for his country. By compelling 
the citizens to obey the new laws, he made them the most orderly 
people in the world. This story was current at Sparta. Other 
Greeks, wishing to give Apollo the credit, used to say that Lycurgus 
went to Delphi and got his laws through the oracle. After his 
death, continues the story, the Lacedaemonians built him a temple, 
where they worshipped him with the utmost reverence. 

It is true that the Spartans had a god named Lycurgus; but, 
as the early Greeks did not deify their great men, this god could not 
have been once a human legislator. The similarity between the 
Spartan and Cretan laws points to a borrowing in one direction or 
the other. But the great objection to the story is that earlier 
writers who touch on Lacedaemonian affairs utterly ignore Lycurgus 
and ascribe the constitution to this or that other person. In fact, 
the system of the Spartans was due largely to their surroundings, as 
has been pointed out. There may indeed have lived a man of the 
same name as the god Lycurgus, and he may have perfected and 
enforced the system ; but of his achievements or even of his exist- 
ence we have no positive knowledge. 

141. The First Messenian War (about 725 B.C.). After the 
Spartans had subdued all Laconia, a desire " to plough and plant 
fertile Messenia " led them to the conquest of that country. In fact 
they needed more land and helots to support the increasing number 
of their warrior citizens. After twenty years of hard righting, they 
drove the Messenians from the stronghold of Mount Ithome, and 
annexed the eastern part of the country. Many Messenians fled 
across the borders. Those who remained became helots, and had 
to till for the Spartans the fields which had once been their own. 
"Like asses worn with heavy burdens they brought to their lords, 
under hard necessity, the half of all the earth produced." l 

142. The Second Messenian War (about 650 B.C.). Two or 
three generations later the Messenians rose in rebellion. With the 
help of allies from Argos, Arcadia, and elsewhere, they utterly 
routed the Lacedaemonian army. In despair the Spartans talked 

1 From Tyrtaeus ; see next paragraph. There is much legend regarding the war ; 
but the facts given above are about all we know. 



Beginning of the League 119 

of giving up the struggle, but were inspired to a new effort by Tyr- 
tae'us. He was a martial poet, a general, and a statesman. We 
have a quotation from one of his " charging songs," which the 
warriors sang as they went to battle : 

" To the front, O sons of Sparta, 
Rich in men, of freeborn fathers ; 
With your left hand press your shield forth, 
Hurl your lance with daring spirit, 
Sparing not your life in battle, 
For 'tis not the rule at Sparta." 1 

Receiving the command, he won a decisive victory. The survivors 
fled to the Arcadian mountains, whence for many years they raided 
the farms of Laconia. The Spartans who suffered loss clamored for 
a redistribution of property ; but Tyrtaeus in a poem entitled " Good 
Order" quieted the discontent. The war ended in the complete 
subjugation of Messenia. Again many escaped into foreign lands. 
Some found new homes in Sicily at Messene, a Chalcidic colony. 
From the new-comers the city and neighboring strait derived their 
name. The masses of the conquered became helots. For about 
three centuries Messenia remained a part of Lacedaemon. 

143. League with the Arcadians. Next the Lacedaemonian 
rulers asked of Apollo at Delphi permission to conquer all Arcadia ; 
but the prophetess answered: 

" The land of Arcadia thou askest : thou askest too much ; I refuse it : 
Many there are in Arcadian land, stout men eating acorns ; 
They will prevent thee from this : but I am not grudging toward thee ; 
Te'ge-a beaten with sounding feet I will give thee to dance in, 
And a fair plain will I give thee to measure with line and divide it." 

Tegea, however, made the oracle true by defeating the Lacedae- 
monians and compelling the prisoners to divide her plain among 
themselves with a measuring line, and till it in fetters. 2 But some- 
what later the Tegeans entered into a league with Sparta, and 
agreed to follow her lead in war. Their example was imitated by 
the other Arcadians, who proved a source of great military strength 

1 Fowler, Greek Literature, 66. 

2 This is an example of a double-meaning prophecy ( 103). 



i2o The Rise of Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

to Sparta, for they were strong, brave men, as mountaineers usually 
are, and made excellent warriors, second only to the Spartans 
themselves. 

144. Tyranny at Corinth (655-582 B.C.). Corinth was the 
most important state of Peloponnese which entered into permanent 
alliance with Lacedaemon, and for that reason its previous history 
is given here. The king had been succeeded by a small body of 
aristocrats, who in time grew illiberal and insolent. Thereupon 
Cyp'se-lus, a man of the common people, put them down and made 
himself tyrant. Though usurpers generally found it necessary 
to surround themselves with a band of soldiers enlisted from other 
states, Cypselus was so beloved by a majority of his subjects that 
he ruled for thirty years without a guard. His son Per-i-an'der, 
who succeeded him, was compelled to use harsh measures against 
the nobles who opposed him, and laid heavy taxes on the wealthy. 
But he used the revenues in beautifying his city and in increasing 
its power and influence throughout Greece. These tyrants founded 
many colonies. Cor-cy'ra, an island off the west coast of Greece, 
had been settled from Corinth long before, but had gained its inde- 
pendence. The tyrants reduced the island temporarily to obedi- 
ence, and planted in the neighborhood a group of colonies, which 
remained faithful to the mother city. The same rulers were liberal 
patrons of religion, especially the religion of the peasants ; and their 
gifts to the gods at Olympia 1 were reckoned among the wonders of 
the world. On the downfall of the family, Corinth became a well- 
regulated oligarchy. 2 

145. The Peloponnesian League. It was under this form of 
government that Corinth became an ally of Lacedaemon (about 580 
B.C.). Elishad already joined the alliance, and Sicyon (Sish'i-on) 
followed some years later. All these states were brought into the 
league by their wealthy men on the assurance that they should have 
control of their several governments. And in general Sparta 
desired that her allies should be governed by oligarchies ; 3 because 
she knew that oligarchs would be more loyal to her than either tyrants 
or democrats. 

The Peloponnesian League, which Sparta was thus forming, had 

1 IOS. 2 121. 3 121. 



Constitution of the League 



121 



no common federal constitution, such as that of the United States, 
but each community had its own treaty with Lacedaemon. Depu- 
ties from the allied states met in congress at Sparta or Corinth to 
settle questions of war and peace ; and the states furnished troops 
to serve in war under the Lacedaemonian kings. They did not 
pay tribute to Sparta, but divided among themselves the expenses 
of the league, which were always light. Thus the states en- 




THE 

PELOPONNESMK 

LEAGUE \$||ps 

CH3 States dependent upon Sparta 
in alliance wit, 



joyed independence, and at the same time the advantages of 



union. 



146. Sparta and Argos. By the middle of the sixth century 
B.C. the league under the leadership of Sparta had come to include 
all Peloponnese excepting Achaea and Argolis. About 550 B.C. the 
crisis came in a struggle between Sparta and Argos for the posses- 
sion of Cy-nu'ri-a, a strip of land held by the latter state along the 
coast east of Mount Parnon. Three hundred champions for each 
state were to decide the contest ; but after a day's fighting, only 
two Argives and one Spartan remained alive. Then a dispute as 
to which side had won the victory ended in a bloody battle, in which 
the Lacedaemonians were masters. This success gave them Cy- 
nuria and the island of Cy-the'ra, and made them the foremos 
power among the states of Greece. 



122 The Rise of Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a brief summary of this chapter, like that on p. 28. 2. De- 
scribe the armor used in the sixth century B.C. (illustration, p. 116). 
3. From the illustration, p. 115, what do you infer as to the character of 
early Laconianart? 4. What contributions, if any, did Sparta make to 
civilization? 5. Was the life of a Spartan preferable to that of a perioecus? 
6. Would it be right to say " Spartan helots " ? 7. Distinguish the three 
words, Spartan, Lacedaemonian, and Laconian. 8. What advantages or 
disadvantages do you see in the Spartan method of training boys? 
9. Describe the location of Eurotas River, Laconia, Sparta, Messenia, 
Mount Ithome, Arcadia, Sicyon, and Corinth. 



Note-book Topic 

Lacedaemonian Society. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 58-77; 
Bury, History of Greece, ch. iii. 3 ; Holm, History of Greece, i. ch. xv. 



CHAPTER XIII 

ATHENS: FROM MONARCHY TO DEMOCRACY 

From the Mycenaean Age to about 50x3 B.C 

I. THE KINGSHIP 

147. Attica and Athens. In our study of the geography of 
Greece we noticed that Attica was a peninsula with an unusually 
long coast-line, that the country was made up of mountains and 
little plains, and that the soil was stony and unproductive. 1 All 
these features had a bearing on the history of the country. In the 
midst of the largest plain, about four miles from the coast, rises a 
group of hills. On and about the central height, known as the 
Acropolis 2 (" citadel "), stood the city of Athens. 

In the Mycenaean and epic ages about 1500-700 B.C. 
Athens was but one of several independent cities iij Attica ; but 
before the opening of the seventh century the whole country had 
been brought within the limits of the city-state of Athens. 

We are better acquainted with the early history of Athens than 
of any other Greek state, and can therefore trace its progress with 
greater certainty. This is one reason why we study the early 
period. We are led to this subject, too, by the fame which the state 
afterward won. During the period covered by this chapter Athens 
lagged behind Miletus 3 and some other Greek cities in civilization. 
Soon afterward she outstripped all the rest, and became the fore- 
most city of the world in intelligence, in literature, and in art. 
Hellenic history centres, therefore, in Athens. 

148. The Kingship (to about 750 B.C.). The chapter on the 
myths gave an account of Theseus and other legendary kings. 4 It 
remains to speak of the closing years of the regal period. The last 
royal family, the Me-don'ti-dae, claimed descent from King Co'drus 

1 76. 2 in, n. 2. 3 93, 120 4 m. 

123 



124 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

("The Glorious "). There is a myth that in his reign the Dorians 
invaded Attica. Word came to him from Apollo at Delphi that 
the army whose leader should be killed by the enemy would be 
victorious in the war. Thereupon he dressed himself like a peasant, 
and going into the Dorian camp, intentionally provoked a quarrel 
and was slain without being known, thus bringing eternal glory 
to himself and victory to his country. The Athenians, from grati- 
tude for his heroic self-sacrifice, decreed that his son Me'don should 
reign in his stead ; and after Medon, his descendants, the Medon- 




AREOPAGUS 

South side near east end 
(From a photograph) 

tidae, were kings of Athens for many generations. Although Codrus 
is mythical, no one doubts the existence of the family. 

In this period the government was carried on by the king, assisted 
and limited by a council of nobles and by an assembly of freemen. 

In later history the council, in the exercise of some of its duties, 1 
sat on the A-re-op'a-gus, a hill just west of the Acropolis. From 
the place of meeting it came to be named the Council of the Areopa- 
gus. This council, like those of other Hellenic states, desired to 
increase its own power at the expense of the king. About 750 B.C. 

1 154- 



From Monarchy to Aristocracy 125 

accordingly, it cut down his office to a period of ten years, whereas 
his rule had been lifelong. While the government remained for a 
time a kingship in name, this change made it in fact an aristocracy. 1 

II. THE ARISTOCRACY AND THE TIMOCRACY 
About 750-594 B.C. 

149. The Aristocracy (about 750-650 B.C.). One power after 
another was taken from the king and bestowed upon new officers 
until (about 650 B.C.) there were nine principal magistrates called 
archons. They were (i) the Archon, who was the chief executive 
magistrate, 2 (2) the pol'em-arch, who commanded the army, 
(3) the king, now a mere priest and judge, and (4) the six thes- 
moth'e-tae (" legislators ") who recorded the laws, had charge of 
public documents, and acted as judges in certain civil cases. For a 
time these officers were selected from the nobles by the Council of 
the Areopagus. 

The Council of the Areopagus, like the council in other cities, 3 
was originally made up of great nobles. The members held their 
places for life. All the nobles called themselves Eu'pa-trids (Greek 
Eu-pat'ri-dae, " sons of noble fathers "). They alone had the 
means of equipping themselves with heavy armor. They no longer 
used chariots, 4 but rode to war on horseback. Looking down with 
contempt on the ill-armed commoners, these lordly knights allowed 
them no share in the government. The assembly of freemen fell 
into disuse. The nobles in council cared only for the interests of the 
richer class, supervised the magistrates, and punished immoral as 
well as lawless citizens. During this period they were the supreme 
power in the state. 

150. The Timocracy (about 650-594 B.C.) : the Phalanx. - 
Naturally the common people chafed under this oppressive rule, 
and strove for a share in the government. They were especially 
favored by the circumstance that Athens was continually at. war 
with her neighbors. To save their country from conquest the 

1 For an explanation of aristocracy see 103, 126. 

2 In this book, when the word archon applies to the head of the board of "nine ar- 
chons," it will be capitalized. s 121. 4 90. 



126 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

nobles were forced to adopt the phalanx, which the other Hellenic 
states were borrowing from Sparta. 1 As the nobles were few, it was 
necessary to enlist in the phalanx all the commoners who could 
afford a complete equipment. 2 It chanced that the industries were 
cheapening armor, and that many common families were now well- 
to-do. A census was taken to determine who were wealthy enough 
to provide equipments. But no sooner had the wealthier com- 
moners been admitted to the phalanx than they began to meet in 
assembly and to take part in the government. As political privi- 
leges had come to be based on the possession of property, the gov- 
ernment was now a timocracy. This change took place about 
650 B.C. 

151. Constitution of the Timocracy. Like other Ionic states, 
Attica was divided into four tribes. 3 Each of these districts was 
now subdivided into twelve townships, 4 making forty-eight in all. 
The object was to secure better government for all parts of the 
country and to make every man bear his share of the public burdens. 

A Council of Four Hundred and One, newly formed, was filled 
by lot in such a way as to represent the four tribes and forty-eight 
townships. It prepared decrees for presentation to the assembly, 
and assisted the magistrates in their duties. Henceforth the Coun- 
cil of the Areopagus was made up of retired archons. Though 
limited by the other council and by the assembly, it was still the 
head of the state. 

The assembly, now consisting of all who could equip themselves 
with full armor, began to meet regularly. It elected magistrates, 
and accepted or rejected decrees prepared for it by the Council of 
Four Hundred and One. At the same time, the wealthy, even 
though they might not be noble, became eligible to the offices. 

With a view to taxation and military service, the citizens were 
divided into four classes according to the amount of produce 
which each citizen derived from his land. These census classes, 
however, did not become important till the following period. 

1 Compare the effect of the phalanx on the Lacedaemonian government ; 138 f . 

2 The equipment was about the same as the Spartan ; 138 and n. i. 

3 The Geleontes, Aegicoreis, Argadeis, and Hopletes. They are called the Ionic 
tribes, as they are found in many Ionic states: cf. 117. 

4 Called naucraries. 



Constitution of the Timocracy I2 j 

152. Outline of the Constitution 1 
I. Territorial Divisions of Attica 

The four tribes and forty-eight townships (nau'cra-ries), for the 

local administration. 
II. The Four Census Classes 

For determining the public burdens and privileges of the citizens; 

not known in detail for this period; cf. 158, II. 
III. The Principal Magistrates 

a. Chief executive. 



i. The Archon 



2. The King 1*' A P riest ' 



b. Judge in cases affecting family rights. 



c. Head of the board of " nine archons.' 

a. A priest. 

b. Judge in murder cases. 



3. The Polemarch {?' Commander of the army. 

1 b. Judge in cases affecting alien residents 1 . 



4. The six Thesmoth- 
etea, " legisla- 
tors " 



a. Keepers of the laws and public docu- 



ments. 



b. Judges in certain civil cases. 



These nine magistrates sometimes acted as a board under the presidency 
of the Archon. 
IV. The Councils 

1. The Council (Bou-le) of the Areopagus 

a. Composed of retired archons ; membership lifelong. 

b. As highest authority in the state it supervised the magis- 
trates and the conduct of the citizens. 

c. As a court it tried wilful murder. 

2. The Council (BoulB) of Four Hundred and One, 

Representing the tribes and townships, 

a. Assisted the magistrates in the government. 

b. Prepared decrees for presentation to the assembly. 
V. The Assembly Ec-cle'si-a 

1 . Composed of all those who could furnish a complete military equip- 

ment. 

2. It elected magistrates and voted on questions brought before it by 

the Four Hundred and One. 
VI. Form of Government 

As political rights were graded according to property assessments, the 
government was a timocracy. 

This is an outline of the Athenian constitution. Occasionally parts of it 
were changed and new features added, but it was never displaced by a new 
constitution. 2 In brief, Athens had but one constitution. 

1 The constitutional matter in fine print may be deferred for review, or omitted 
altogether at the discretion of the teacher. 

2 Two oligarchic usurpations, 411 and 404-403 B.C., need not be taken into account here. 



128 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

153. The Conspiracy of Cylon (628 B.C.). While these changes 
were taking place, the country was full of confusion and strife. 
The poor, who were for the most part in slavery to the rich, threat- 
ened to rebel against their lords ; the shepherds and peasants of the 
Hills in north Attica hated the wealthier men of the Plain about 
Athens, just as the highland and lowland Scots used to hate each 
other ; both Plain and Hills were hostile to the traders and fisher- 
men of the Shore ; and the contention between these local factions 
was continually breaking out into civil war. In addition to these 
troubles, the great families were actually fighting with each other 
for the possession of the offices, and as the son inherited the feuds 
of his father, no one could hope for an end of the turmoil. The state 
was in fact drifting into anarchy. 

There was at this time in Attica an ambitious young man named 
Cylon, who belonged to one of the noblest and most powerful families 
of the state, and who had greatly distinguished himself by winning 
a victory in the Olympic games. Taking advantage of the weak- 
ness of his country, he planned to usurp the government. With the 
help of some mercenaries and of a band of friends from the nobility, 
he seized the Acropolis. But the country people in great numbers 
put on their armor and besieged him in the citadel. When their 
provisions were exhausted, Cylon and his brother stole through 
the besieging lines; their starving followers, forced to surrender, 
flocked for protection about Athena's altar on the Acropolis. Here- 
upon the chiefs of the townships l promised these suppliants their 
lives if they would submit to trial.. They agreed ; yet, not having 
full confidence in the promise, they tied a thread to Athena's image, 
and, holding one end of it, went down to the tribunal. But when 
they came near the shrine of the Furies, 2 the thread by which the god- 
dess gave them her protection broke ; and then the Archon Meg'a- 
cles and his followers stoned and butchered them, permitting only 
a few to escape. Probably a feud between the family of Cylon and 
that of Megacles led to this impious massacre. The Alc-me-on'i- 

'151. 

2 The work of the Furies, or angry goddesses, was to punish perjury, murder, mistreat- 
ment of parents and suppliants, and other such offences. At that time their shrine was 
a cave on the south side of the Areopagus. 



Draco 129 

dae, to whom Megacles belonged, were the mightiest family in 
Attica. The state appears to have been powerless to bring them 
to trial either for murder or for the mistreatment of suppliants, 
but the curse of impiety rested upon the whole family for two 
centuries or more. 1 There was need of laws and courts for the 
suppression of such feuds. 

154. Draco, the "Lawgiver (461 B.C.). By keeping the laws 
secret the nobles had ruled thus far in their own interest ; the magis- 
trates decided cases in favor of those of their own rank or of those 
who could pay the highest fee. Men were growing rich through 
injustice ; and though the great lords were often at strife with one 
another, they agreed in insulting and oppressing the lower class. 
Naturally the commons resisted this oppression and demanded to 
know the laws by which they were judged. The nobles yielded, 
and in 621 B.C. the citizens elected Draco " legislator " 2 with full 
power to write out a code for the state. 

His laws of homicide are of chief interest because the Athenians re- 
tained them unchanged for many centuries. Before Draco's time a 
man who killed another in self-defence, or for any other good reason, 
was compelled, like the wilful murderer, to flee from the country or 
satisfy the kinsmen of the slain by paying them a sum of money ; 
otherwise they would kill him in revenge. According to Draco's 
code wilful murder was to be tried by the council of nobles sitting 
on the Areopagus, 3 a hill sacred to the Furies, and the penalty in case 
of conviction was death, with the confiscation of the murderer's 
property. Other cases of homicide were tried in lesser courts, and 
were not so severely punished. One who accidentally killed another 
was sent temporarily into exile, whereas killing in self-defence 
went unpunished. 

Theft of vegetables was punishable with death ; and this fact has 
given Draco a reputation for cruelty. But though the penalty for 
stealing was too severe, the laws of homicide were a great improve- 

1 A suppliant was one who took refuge at an altar or in a temple of some god. Any 
one who mistreated a suppliant brought upon himself and his family the curse of impiety. 

2 He was one of the six thesmothetae ; 149. 

3 From this place of meeting the council of nobles received its name, Council of the 
Areopagus. 

K 



130 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

ment. " Whoever made them originally, whether heroes or gods, 
did not oppress the unfortunate, but alleviated humanely their 
miseries so far as they could with right." l It is even probable that 
apart from his laws of homicide he made little change in existing 
customs, so that he cannot be held wholly responsible for the harsh 
features of his code. 

155. Lords and Tenants. His laws did nothing, however, to 
help the wretched poor. The cause of their misery requires ex- 
planation. The nobles were not content with the enjoyment of 
all the political power, but aimed also to acquire all the wealth in 
the state and to gain an absolute mastery over the citizens. They 
forced the free peasants into dependence on themselves; when a 
lord laid claim to a field, whether justly or unjustly, he placed on it 
a "boundary" stone, as a sign that the land and the persons on 
it were his. It was not long before these stones stood on nearly all 
the farms in Attica, holding " Black Earth enslaved," in the words 
of Solon, a great statesman of the time. If any one failed to pay 
his rent, or otherwise fell into debt to his lord, he and his children 
could be sold into slavery. With nothing but sharpened sticks 
for digging the stony soil, the poor tenants found it so difficult to 
make a living and pay their dues, that many were actually sold into 
slavery to foreign masters. There was no legal way of obtaining 
satisfaction, for their lords were the judges in the courts. Ac- 
cordingly they agreed among themselves to rebel. 

III. SOLON'S REFORMS 

156. His Archonship (594 B.C.). Solon was not only a member 
of one of the noblest families in Attica, but also a merchant of wide 
experience, and a friend of the poor. As all classes, therefore, had 
confidence in him, they elected him Archon and lawgiver for the 
year 594 B.C., that he might restore harmony among the citizens 
and give them a better govenment. 

On the day he entered office he ordered the removal of all the 
boundary stones, so as to release the tenants from the payment of 
dues to their lords. To secure the freedom of citizens for the present 

1 Demosthenes, xxiii. 70. 



Social and Constitutional Reforms 131 

and future, Solon reenforced his order by the following personal 
liberty laws : 

(1) All who are in slavery for debt shall be free. 

(2) No one shall sell his children and kinswomen into slavery. 

(3) No one shall lend money on the security of the person. 

(4) No one shall own more than a certain amount of land fixed 
by law. 

157. His Improvements in the Constitution. In order that 
the people might henceforth protect their freedom and their prop- 
erty, he admitted the poorest class (the the'tes) 1 as well as the 
others to a popular supreme court which he established, and to the 
assembly. The court was composed of all citizens thirty years 
old and above who offered to serve as jurors ; all who were eighteen 
and above might take part in the assembly. Yet as these duties 
long remained unpaid, none but the well-to-do could find leisure 
regularly to attend to them. In the assembly the people elected 
their magistrates and voted on important public questions brought 
before them by the Council of Four Hundred formerly Four 
Hundred and One. 2 The popular court, on the other hand, received 
appeals from the judgments of the archons, and tried the magistrates 
at the expiration of their terms, if any one accused them of having 
abused their authority. These were by far his most important 
measures. He did not rest, however, till he had improved the 
entire government. 

158. Outline of the Reformed Constitution 

I. The Territorial Divisions of Attica 

The four tribes and forty-eight nau'cra-ries, or townships, remained 
as before ( 152, I). 
II. The Four Census Classes 

i. The pen-ta-co-si-o-me-dim'ni " five-hundred-bushel men" 
whose estates yielded 500 or more measures of grain, oil, and 
wine. They were eligible to cavalry service, to the highest mili- 
tary offices, 'to treasuryships, and archonships. 

1 As explained above ( 150, 152, V), the assembly under the pre-Solonian govern- 
ment admitted those only who could afford to equip themselves with heavy armor. 
They made up the three higher, or wealthier, census classes ( 152, II). Members of 
the lowest class the thetes were excluded under the pre-Solonian timocracy, but 
admitted by Solon; cf. 158, II. 4. 2 IS*. I 52, IV. 



132 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

2. The hip'peis knights whose estates yielded from 300 to 500 

measures wet and dry. They were eligible to cavalry service, 
probably to the archonships, and to various offices of moderate 
importance. 

3. The zeu-gi'tae " yoked-men," that is, heavy-armed men in 

battle array whose estates yielded from 200 to 300 measures 
wet and dry. They served in the heavy infantry, and were eli- 
gible to inferior offices. 

4. The thetes the laborers, the poor whose estates were inferior 

to those of the zeugitae, or who were entirely without land. 

They served as light-armed troops, and though eligible to no 

offices, they could attend the assembly and the popular court. 
The first three classes paid war taxes, which were rarely levied ; 

but the thetes were exempt. The classes existed before ( 152, 

II), but Solon gave them this definite form. 
III. The Magistrates 

They had the same duties as in the preceding period ( 152, III) ; 
for their qualifications, see II. At the close of their terms of office 
they were now responsible to the popular court. 



IV. The Councils 

1. The Council (Bonle) of the Areopa- 

gus 

2. The Council (Boule) of the Four 

Hundred 



Qualifications and method of 
appointment of the coun- 
cillors and powers of the 
councils were substan- 
tially as before ( 1 5 2, IV). 



V. The Assembly Ec-cle'si-a 

1. Composed of all the citizens who had the leisure and the desire to 

attend. 

2. It elected magistrates and voted on questions brought before it by 

the Council of Four Hundred. 
VI. The Popular Supreme Court Hel-i-ae'a 

1. Composed of all citizens above thirty years of age who had the lei- 

sure and the desire to attend. 

2. It received appeals from the judgments of archons, and tried the 

magistrates at the end of their terms. 
VII. Form of Government 

A comparison with the outline given in 152 proves that, though Solon 
introduced important changes, the greater part of the earlier constitution 
continued in force. The government was still a timocracy, as political 
privileges were graded on the basis of wealth. But in Solon's arrangements 
the popular court and the attendance of the thetes at the assembly were 
democratic. These popular elements of the constitution gradually grew so 
strong that in time they made the whole government democratic. 1 

1 The constitution of a period should be studied only in comparison with the one 
which preceded. The changes should be noted, and the reasons for the changes sought. 
Studied in this way, the history of government becomes profitable and even interesting. 



Special Laws 



159. Special Laws of Solon. The improvement of the constitu- 
tion was but a part of Solon's work. He made laws on various 
subjects. The most important are given below : 

(i) Draco's laws of homicide he accepted without change, for 
he believed them to be just ; but in the case of other offences he 




GATHERING OLIVES 
(Attic vase painting, sixth century B.C. ; British Museum) 

lightened such penalties as he found too severe. Henceforth the 
theft of a cabbage or an apple was not punishable with death. 

(2) He forbade the exportation of all products of the soil except 
olive oil. His object was to prevent famine by keeping at home 
the food produced in the country. 

(3) He compelled every man to teach his son a trade, and passed 
other laws to encourage skilled industry. For he saw that the soil 
was unfit for agriculture, and believed the only hope of prosperity 
for the country to be in manufacturing and commerce. Thereafter 
Athens developed along these lines. 

(4) Before his time Athens had no currency of her own, but i 
the coins of Aegina. This island-state was now a rival of Athens. 



134 . At/tens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

Her more friendly neighbor, Chalcis, however, had issued a lighter 
silver coin, which Solon adopted as a standard for his city. 1 This 
measure helped trade with Euboea, with the Chalcidic colonies, 
and with all other countries which used the same standard. Thus 
Solon introduced Athens to a commercial world which she had 
scarcely known before. 

(5) He limited, too, the freedom of women, not permitting them 
to go out at night except in a carriage with a torch-bearer ahead. 
The women in Homer's time enjoyed as much freedom as the men ; 
those of Sparta had more, 2 but Athenian women from Solon's time 
came to be confined more and more to the house, and their social 
influence waned through the years that followed. 

(6) Lastly may be mentioned his sedition law. Knowing that 
there would still be civil strife in Attica, he ordered the people 
in case of violent party conflict to join whichever side they deemed 
most just. Any one who held aloof from the contention should 
be dishonored and deprived of the citizenship. His object was to 
compel the commons to take an active part in public life ; and he 
believed that they could by united effort bring any sedition quickly 
to a close, as they had done in the case of Cylon's conspiracy. 

160. Drifting into Anarchy (594-560 B.C.). Solon made his 
laws binding for a hundred years, and required all the citizens to 
swear to obey them. When he had completed his work, " he found 
himself beset by people coming to him and harassing him concern- 
ing his laws, criticising here and questioning there, till as he wished 
neither to alter w r hat he had decided on nor yet to be an object of 
ill-will to every one by remaining in Athens, he set off on a journey 
to Egypt . . . for ten years with the combined objects of trade 
and travel." 3 

After visiting many foreign lands, he returned home to find his 
country in great confusion. No one was satisfied with his reforms ; 
the nobles had hoped he would restore to them all their old power, 
and the poor had expected a complete redistribution of property. 

1 His silver drachma was nearly equal in weight to twenty cents (ten-pence) of our 
money, but the purchasing power was much greater. In Solon's time one drachma 
would buy a medimnus (i% bu.) of wheat, and five drachmas an ox. 

2 97, 137- 

3 Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, n. 



Pisistratus 135 

In fact, though Solon had provided his country with excellent laws, 
there was no one with the will and the power to enforce them. The 
state accordingly was falling into anarchy ; the men of the Hills, 
Plain, and Shore l were fighting one another so that in some years 
no Archon could be elected. 



IV. THE TYRANNY 2 

560-510 B.C. 

161. Pisistratus becomes Tyrant (560 B.C.). The leader of the 
Hill men was Pi-sis'tra-tus, " crafty and pleasant of speech, a pro- 
tector of the poor, and a man of moderation even in his quarrels." 3 
These popular qualities attracted many followers. But the men 
of the Plain and of the Shore 4 
were his bitter foes, who 
would not hesitate to kill him 
if an opportunity afforded. 
One day he drove into the 
market-place at Athens, and 
showed the people wounds 
which he said his enemies had 
inflicted on himself and his 
mules. The people in the as- 
sembly voted their favorite a 
guard of fifty men ' who were 
to arm themselves with clubs. 
Pisistratus quietly increased 
the number, and after sub- 
stituting spears for clubs, 
he seized the citadel and 
made himself tyrant illegal 
ruler 5 of Athens. 

Though the government of 
Pisistratus was moderate, he had not ruled long when the leader 
of the Shore, combining with the chief of the Plain, drove him into 

1 153. 2 AS an introduction to the tyranny at Athens, 121 should be reviewed. 
3 Plutarch, Solon, 29. 4 iS3- 5 I2I< 




AN ATHENIAN LADY 

In time of Pisistratus. 

(Acropolis Museum, Athens) 



136 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

exile. The two allies soon quarrelled ; then the leader of the Shore 
" opened negotiations with Pisistratus, proposing that the latter 
should marry his daughter ; and on these terms he brought him 
back to Athens by a very primitive and simple-minded device. 
He first spread abroad a rumor that Athena was bringing back 
Pisistratus, and then having found a woman of great stature and 
beauty, ... he dressed her in a garb resembling that of the 
goddess and brought her into the city with Pisistratus. The 
latter drove in on a chariot with the woman beside him, and 
the inhabitants of the city, struck with awe, received him with 
adoration." l A disagreement with his father-in-law forced the 
tyrant a second time into exile. After devoting ten years to gather- 
ing resources, he again returned. The commons welcomed him, 
but many nobles in terror fled from the country. Regaining his 
authority in this way, Pisistratus established himself firmly by 
means of troops hired from other states. 

162. His Government. " His administration was temperate, as 
has been said before, and more like constitutional government than 
tyranny. Not only was he in every respect humane and mild and 
ready to forgive those who offended, but in addition he advanced 
money to the poorer people to help them in their labors, so that they 
might make their living by agriculture. In this he had two objects : 
first that they might not spend their time in the city, but might be 
scattered over all the face of the country ; and secondly that, being 
moderately well off and occupied with their own business, they might 
have neither the wish nor the leisure to attend to public affairs. 
At the same time his revenues were increased by the thorough 
cultivation of the country, since he imposed a tax of one-tenth on 
all the produce." 2 

He built an aqueduct to supply Athens with fresh water; he 
erected temples, founded religious festivals, and encouraged litera- 
ture and art. His reign marks a great advance, not only in educa- 
tion, but in agriculture, in the industries, in wealth, and in 
quiet, orderly government. 

163. Hippias and Hipparchus. When he died in old age 
(527 B.C.)T, his sons Hip'pi-as and Hip-par'chus succeeded him. 

1 Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 14. 2 Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 16. 



Hippias and Hipparchus 



137 



For a time they imitated the wise government of their father. But 
unfortunately Hipparchus, the younger, in an affair of love, insulted 
Har-mo'di-us and Ar-is-to-gei'ton, two noble youths, who in return 
plotted the overthrow of the tyrants. Taking advantage of a festival 
in honor of Athena, they concealed their 
swords in myrtle wreaths, and killed Hippar- 
chus while he was arranging the procession. 
Hippias, who as the elder was the head of 
the government, they could not surprise. 
Failing therefore to overthrow the tyranny, 
they were themselves taken and put to 
death. But after the Athenians regained 
their freedom, they celebrated Harmodius and 
Aristogeiton in song as tyrant-slayers, and 
decreed public honors to be enjoyed forever 
by the descendants of the two heroes. 

In consequence of the murder Hippias 
treated the nobles with great harshness, so 
that he became very unpopular. 

Meanwhile the exiled nobles were trying 
to bring about their return. Cleis'the-nes, 
leader of the exiles, won the favor of the 
Delphic oracle by building for Apollo a 
splendid temple with a marble front; on this 
work he spent far more money than the con- 
tract demanded. In gratitude for the gener- 
ous deed, the prophetess was ready to aid in 
restoring the exiles to their homes. Accord- 
ingly whenever the Lacedaemonians, now the 
leading people of Peloponnese, sent to consult 
the oracle on any subject whatever, the 
answer was always, "Athens must be set free ." 

In obedience to the oracle Cle-om'e-nes, 
king of Sparta, led an army into Attica and 
besieged Hippias in the Acropolis. The 
tyrant and his friends attempted to send their children secretly 
through the besieging lines to a place of safety, but they fell into 




GRAVESTONE OF ARISTION 
An Athenian warrior in 
the time of the tyranny 

(National Museum, Athens) 



138 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

the hands of the enemy. To recover them, Hippias with his 
associates agreed to leave the country within five days. In this 
way the tyranny came to an end, 510 B.C. 



V. THE DEMOCRACY 

Beginning 508 B.C. 

164. Isagoras and Cleisthenes (510-508 B.C.). After the over- 
throw of the tyranny the nobles, instead of devoting themselves 
to the good of the country, began a struggle for power, as had been 
the custom before and after Solon's time. 1 The chief rivals were 
I-sag'o-ras, a friend of the tyrants, and Cleisthenes ; and the prize 
they contended for was the archonship. With the help of political 
clubs, rather than by popular votes, Isagoras gained the office. 
In his disappointment Cleisthenes then appealed to the people to 
help him oust Isagoras from the office, promising to give them in 
return the right to vote, of which they had been unconstitutionally 
deprived. Thereupon Isagoras called on his friend Cleomenes of 
Sparta for help, and the latter came with a small army. Cleisthenes 
and his friends fled into exile. It seems clear that Isagoras was now 
trying to make himself tyrant. The people, however, rose up in 
their might, and besieged him and his friends in the Acropolis. On 
the third day they allowed the Lacedaemonians to depart, and re- 
called Cleisthenes with his partisans from exile. After gaining the 
upper hand, the people gave their champion complete power over 
the government in order that he might fulfil his promise. He was 
probably appointed " legislator " with absolute power. 

165. The Reforms of Cleisthenes (508 B.C.). True to his 
promise, Cleisthenes thoroughly reformed the government, with the 
object (i) of mingling all classes of people on the public registers 
of citizens that the humble and high-born might enjoy an equal 
right to vote, and (2) of putting an end to the feuds among the 
Plain, Shore, and Hill. To accomplish these ends he first divided 
Attica into more than a hundred demes, or townships. 2 These 

1 153, 160. 

2 The demes, created by Cleisthenes, took the place of the forty-eight townships 
(naucraries) which had come into existence before the time of Solon ( 152, I). 



Constitutional Reforms 139 

small localities he grouped in ten new tribes in such a way that the 
.townships of a tribe were not all together, but some of them were 
in the Hills, others in the Plain, and still others in the Shore. In 
other words, the tribe was not one continuous district, but was 
made up of parts which were widely separated from one another. 
In this way the Plain, Shore, and Hills were distributed in small 
parcels among the ten tribes. Losing their unity, they ceased to 
give trouble. The object in creating new tribes, in place of the 
four old ones, was to do away with distinctions of rank; for the 
nobles had controlled the old tribes, but the commons were on a 
political level with them in the new. Cleisthenes was successful in 
his plans ; the people were thereafter more nearly equal than they 
had been before, and sectional warfare entirely ceased. 

He substituted a Council of Five Hundred fifty from each 
tribe in place of the Four Hundred ; and he provided that there 
should be ten generals, one for each tribe. 



1 66. Outline of the Constitution as reformed by Cleisthenes 

After he had made these changes, and some others of less importance, the 
constitution of Athens had the following form : 
I. Territorial Divisions 

Ten tribes divided into more than one hundred demes; the demes 

were nearly the same as are the townships of a modern state. 
II. The Four Census Classes as before ( 152, II) 

III. The Magistrates 

1. The nine archons as before ( 152, III); they gradually declined 

in importance as the more popular offices developed. 

2. The ten generals, one from each tribe. They led the ten tribal 

regiments, and formed a council of war under the polemarch. 
The generals gradually grew in authority at the expense of the 
archons, till they became the chief magistrates. 

IV. The Councils 

i. Of the Areopagus 

Composition and duties as before ( 152, IV) ; but the popular 
measures of Cleisthenes drove it into the background. It 
came again to the front in the war with Persia, and there- 
after (480-462 B.C.) gradually declined as the democratic 
institutions (the assembly, popular courts, and the Council of 
Five Hundred) grew. 



140 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

2. Of the Five Hundred (in place of the Four Hundred; 152, IV), 
fifty drawn by lot from the candidates presented by each tribe. 

(a) Organization. These ten groups of councillors took turns in 
managing the business of the council, each for a prytany, 
or tenth of a year. The fifty men on duty for a given time 
were called pryt'a-nes (" foremen "). Their chairman was 
changed daily. He presided also over the entire council for 
the short time it met each day, and over the assembly. 

(6) Functions. It prepared decrees for presentation to the as- 
sembly, and gradually took the place of the Council of the 
Areopagus as the chief supervisory and administrative 
power in the state. 



V. The Assembly (regularly meeting once in 

a prytany) 

VI. The Popular Supreme Court (meeting but 
a few times each year) 



Composition and func- 
tions as before ( 152, 
V, VI) ; they began to 
take a far more active 



part in the government. 
VII. Form of Government 

1. Aristocratic elements 

(a) Council of the Areopagus (because it was filled by wealthy 

men who held their places for life). 
(b} High property qualifications of the archons. 

(c) Filling the archonships by election (rather than by lot). 

(d) Absence of pay for most public duties. 

2. Democratic elements 

(a) Assembly and popular court (because they were composed of 

all the citizens). 

(b) Council of Five Hundred (as it was filled by lot, the poor had 

an equal chance of appointment with the rich). 

3. Summary. A comparison of this outline with those of the gov- 

ernment (i) before Solon and (2) after Solon's reforms proves 
that Solon and Cleisthenes did not make new constitutions, but 
modified existing forms of government in a democratic direction. 

167. Ostracism. Cleisthenes introduced a peculiar institution 
termed " ostracism." The word is derived from os'tra-kon, piece 
of pottery, which was the form of ballot used in the process. Once 
a year, if the assembly saw fit, the citizens met and voted against 
any of their number whom they deemed dangerous to the state. 
If the archons found, on counting the votes, that there were fewer 
than six thousand in all, the vote had no effect. If, however, they 
found that at least six thousand persons had voted, they sent the 
man who had received the greatest number into exile for ten years. 




Athens and Sparta 14! 

It did not require six thousand votes cast against a person, but only 
a plurality of that number, to expel him. As the Athenian noble 
lacked respect for the government, he would not, when defeated 
in his candidacy for office, 
submit to the will of the ma- 
jority, but preferred rather in 
defiance of law to destroy his 
more fortunate rival. 1 Ostra- 
cism removed the dangerous 
man from the community, and ^ OSTRAKQN 

left at the head Of the State Cast against Themistocles 

the one whom the people be- (British Museum) 

lieved to be the best and ablest. 

168. Sparta tries to overthrow the Democracy. After the 
Spartans had formed the Peloponnesian League, 2 they advanced 
steadily in strength. Toward the end of the sixth century Megara 
joined their alliance. They aimed to extend their influence, es- 
pecially by helping the nobles of various Greek states against the 
tyrants. Accordingly Cleomenes, their king, had willingly under- 
taken the work of expelling Hippias, 3 doubtless in the hope that 
the Lacedaemonians would be able to control Athens after she had 
been liberated. 

When, however, he saw the democracy established, he gathered 
the forces of Peloponnese, and without stating his object, led them 
into Attica, while the Thebans and Chalcidians invaded the country 
in concert with him. Though inferior in number, the Athenians 
marched bravely forth to meet the Peloponnesians at Eleusis. 
Fortunately for Athens, the Corinthians, on learning the purpose of 
the expedition, refused to take part in it on the ground that it was 
unjust, and the other allies followed their example. As Cleomenes 
could then do nothing but retreat homeward, the Athenians turned 
about and defeated the Thebans and the Chalcidians separately on 
the same day. They punished Chalcis for the invasion by taking 
from her a large tract of land, on which they settled four thousand 
colonists. An Athenian colony was but an addition to Attica ; and 

1 Cf . the conduct of Cleisthenes ; 164. 
2 145. 3 l6 3- 



142 Athens : From Monarchy to Democracy 

though it had a local government, its members remained citizens 
of Athens. 

Some time afterward the Lacedaemonians invited Hippias to 
their city, called a congress of allies, and proposed to restore him. 
But the deputy from Corinth interposed in favor of Athens, and 
as the other allies agreed with him, Hippias went off disappointed 
to Asia Minor, where he plotted with the Persians against his native 
land. 1 Soon afterward the Athenians secured their peace with 
Sparta by entering the Peloponnesian League. Their place in it 
was exceptionally favorable, as it allowed them complete indepen- 
dence. 

169. Summary of Athenian History (753-508 B.C.). We have 
now followed the history of Athens through a period of two hundred 
and fifty years, (i) The kingship gave way to an aristocracy 
(753 B.C.), in which the nobles greatly oppressed the lower class. 
(2) Some time before Solon men of wealth gained equal political 
privileges with those of noble birth. (3) Draco (621 B.C.) gave the 
citizens the advantage of written laws. (4) Solon (594 B.C.) freed 
the masses from serfdom, and provided them with the means of 
protecting themselves. (5) Pisistratus and his sons (560-510 B.C.) 
crushed the nobles and introduced an orderly government. (6) 
The great reforms of Cleisthenes in favor of liberty and equality 
filled the citizens with patriotism, and encouraged them to defend 
their country and freedom, not only against unfriendly neighbors, 
but also against the enormous armies of Persia which were soon to 
invade Greece. 

170. The Political Condition of Greece (about 500 B.C.). At 
the close of the period which we have now reviewed (about 750-500 
B.C.), most of the Greek peninsula west and north of Boeotia was 
still occupied by barbarous or half-civilized tribes ; as yet Thebes 
had accomplished nothing remarkable, and Argos had declined. 
The Greek cities of Italy and Sicily, mostly under tyrants, were 
disunited and weak ; those of Asia Minor, as a later chapter (XV) 
will tell, acknowledged the Persian king as their master. Athens 
and Sparta had achieved more for the political development of 
Greece than any other cities. Attica was firmly .united under a 

1 197- 



Condition of Greece 143 

moderate democracy. At last the citizens were at peace with one 
another. They formed an effective militia, though as yet they had 
no fleet. They were intelligent, vigorous, and enthusiastic, ready 
for a life-and-death struggle if need be, in defence of Hellenic free- 
dom. Though less active and less intelligent, the Spartans were 
the best trained and the steadiest soldiers in the world, and were 
prepared by lifelong discipline for facing death at the command 
of their country; they and their allies formed the great military 
power of Hellas. It was well that Athens and the Peloponnesian 
League had made so much progress in government and in military 
affairs, for they were soon to be called on to match themselves, 
almost unaided, with the vast strength of the Persian empire. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Compare the Spartans and the Athenians of the seventh century B.C. 
in military power. 2. Compare the Laconian helots with the poor people of 
Attica before Solon. Which condition was preferable, and why? 3. At 
what time did the governments of Athens and of Lacedaemon most nearly 
resemble each other? Compare them at that time. 4. Give clear defini- 
tions of the following terms : aristocracy, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, 
timocracy, and tyranny (see ch. x and the dictionaries). 5. Trace through 
the constitutional periods covered by this chapter the history of the follow- 
ing institutions: archons, assembly, and Council of the Areopagus. Ex- 
plain the changes made in the character and functions of each during the 
transition from one period to another. 6. What are the advantages and 
disadvantages of appointment by lot? 7. Under the conditions prevalent 
at Athens in the time of Cleisthenes, was ostracism wise or just? 8. Would 
it be right to speak of a constitution of Solon or of Cleisthenes? 9. De- 
scribe the Areopagus (p. 124). Where was it situated (map, p. 208)? 
10. How were olives gathered in Solon's time (p. 133) ? Describe the dress 
of the laborers, n. Describe the location of Attica, Euboea, Megara, and 
Salamis. 

* Note-book Topics 

I. Solon's Reforms. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 81-86 ; 
Botsford, Development of the Athenian Constitution, ch. ix; Bury, History of 
Greece, iv, 4. 

II. The Tyranny. Fling, 86-94; Botsford, ch. x; Curti'us, History of 

Greece, i. 368-400. 



CHAPTER XIV 

INTELLECTUAL AWAKENING 

About 750-500 B.C. 

171. General Character of the Period. During this period the 
Greeks were extending their settlements to the remotest parts of 
the Mediterranean and of the smaller seas which branch out 
from it. They covered those waters with a network of trade 
routes. At the same time they were improving their military 
organizations and were making enormous strides in the art of 
government. Progress along these lines was accompanied by a 
great intellectual awakening. In the beginning of the period the 
art of the Greeks was crude ; they had less useful knowledge of 
life than the Egyptians and the Babylonians, little skilled industry, 
and no science whatever. At the end they were in art, in industrial 
activity, in science, and in mental power the foremost nation in 
the world. In the present chapter we shall rapidly trace the main 
lines of this remarkable development. 

172. Architecture. Various branches of art, such as the making 
and decoration of vases, painting, and fine work in the metals, 
were cultivated during the period. But we shall limit our study to 
architecture, the noblest form of art, and to sculpture, the branch 
most closely related to it. 

Among the Greeks of this age, and in fact of all ages, architecture 
found its highest expression in the temple. At first the Greeks did 
not imagine that their gods needed dwelling-houses, but as early as 
the seventh century B.C., they were building temples in all their 
cities. Gradually these buildings were made more and more sym- 
metrical and graceful till they became models of beauty. To under- 
stand the structure of the temple, it is necessary first to notice three 
orders of architecture, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. They are 
distinguished by the column the chief feature of the Greek 

144 



Orders of Architecture 



temple. Originally 
but a tree trunk, the 
column came in time 
to be made of stone. 

173. The Doric Or- 
der. The Doric col- 
umn rests directly on 
the temple founda- 
tion. 1 Usually it is 
not a single stone, but 
is made of " drums." 
The diameter at the 
top is less than at the 
bottom. The taper- 
ing, however, is not 
in a straight line, but 
in a gentle outward 
curve, or swelling. It 
is an interesting fact 
that the swelling is 
much greater in the 
earlier than in the 
later temples ; it was 
found that by dimin- 
ishing the curve a 
greater degree of grace- 
fulness could be at- 
tained. After the 
column had been set 
in its place, it was 
carefully channelled, 
or fluted, from top to 
bottom. The Doric 

1 The part of the founda- 
tion on which the colonnade 
row of columns rests is 
called the sty'lo-bate. 
L 




CORNER OF TEMPLE OF POSEIDON, POSEIDONIA 



146 



Intellectual Awakening 



AN IONIC COLUMN 



order has usually twenty flutings. The 
swelling and channelling combine to give 
the pillar grace and an appearance of 
elasticity. The head of the column is 
the capital. Though of one piece, it is 
made up of two elements : (i) the ab'a- 
cus, a square block, resting on (2) the 
e-chi'nus, " cushion," a round piece con- 
siderably greater in diameter than the 
column itself. In the earlier temples the 
echinus was " bowl-shaped," but in time 
the outward curve diminished, till in the 
best period 1 it became very slight. This 
change, too, meant increasing grace. The 
Doric column developed from the Myce- 
naean. The earliest examples of the 
order show Egyptian influence. Its home 
was the Greek peninsula. 

174. The Ionic and Corinthian Orders. 
- The Ionic column originated in Asia 
Minor. It differs from the Doric in 
having a base. This part is round and 
is ornamented in various ways. The 
shaft bulges less, and is more slender 
and graceful. By the word shaft is 
meant the entire column apart from the 
base and capital. The number of flut- 
ings is greater in the best period usu- 
ally twenty-four. The capital has the 
form of a spiral roll. Whereas the Doric 
capital is very simple, the Ionic is always 
more or less ornamented. In general, 
the beauty of the Doric style is severe 
and chaste ; the Ionic is more beautiful 
and graceful. The Corinthian is but a 
growth from the Ionic. It is distinguished 

1 The "best period" is the Age of Pericles; 236 ff. 



Elements of the Temple I47 

by its capital of acanthus leaves, and by its greater elegance. It 
was invented in the fifth century, but did not come into extensive 
use till the Greek genius began to decline. 

175- Architrave, Triglyphs, Metopes, Cornice, Frieze, and Pedi- 
ments. Above the columns is the arch'i-trave. It consists of 
long rectangular blocks, 
which reach from one col- 
umn to another and sup- 
port the upper part of the 
building. It is always 
left plain. Resting on 
the architrave, and so 
extending entirely around 
the temple, is a succession 
of triglyphs and met'o- 
pes, alternating with one 
another. Triglyphs are 
tablets crossed by three 
deep vertical channels, 
hence the name "three- 
grooved." Those on the 
two sides cover the ends 
of the beams which 
stretch across the build- 
ing for the support of the ceiling and the roof. The metope 
" face between " is so named because it is placed between two 
triglyphs. It is likewise a stone tablet, left entirely plain, or simply 
painted, or more commonly ornamented with reliefs. A relief is a fig- 
ure sculptured in such a way as to stand out from the general surface 
of the stone as a background. Low relief stands out but slightly, 
high relief much more. The triglyphs and metopes together make 
up the Doric frieze. Above this frieze runs the cornice. 1 The 
Ionic frieze is a continuous band of reliefs extending around the 
building. In Ionic temples it takes the place of the triglyphs and 

1 The Doric frieze, the cornice, and the architrave constitute the en-tab'la-ture. When 
the word frieze is used without a descriptive adjective, it applies rather to the Ionic 
frieze explained in the text below. 




CORINTHIAN CAPITAL 
(From Epidaurus) 



148 



Intellectual Awakening 



metopes. When the building is entirely surrounded by a colonnade, 
however, the Ionic frieze is placed on the temple walls behind the col- 
umns. The pediment is the gable. It is usually ornamented either 
with high reliefs or with figures entirely detached from the surface. 




PLAN OF TEMPLE AT PRIENE 

Double Temple in antis surrounded 

by Peristyle 

(From Rayet and Thomas, Milet et le 
Golfe Latinique, PI. IX) 



PLAN OF SMALL TEMPLE 
Rhamnus. A, cetta; B, vestibule 



(From Unedited Antiquities of 
Attica, Chap. VII, PI. I) 



176. The Plan. The earliest and simplest plan is a rectangular 
room the cella with a single door. The side walls project so 
as to form a vestibule in front of the door. 1 Between their ends 
stand two or more columns, as shown in the illustration. The 
cella contained the image of the deity. The temple was not 

1 The square column which ends a projecting wall of the kind is called by the Latin 
name on/a. Such a temple is described therefore as a temple in antis. If the vestibule 
is repeated in the rear, the building becomes a double temple in antis.- 



The Temple as a Whole 



149 



primarily a place of worship, but the dwelling of the god. For 
the utensils used in the sacrifices and for the safe-keeping of the 
many gifts he received, it often happened that one or more store- 
rooms had to be added to the rear. In the latter part of the 
period which we are now studying, a temple was sometimes beau- 




TEMPLE OF POSEIDON, POSEIDONIA 
(From a photograph) 

tified by a row of columns extending entirely around it. Such a 
colonnade is called a perl-style. 

The earliest temples were wood. Afterward limestone was used. 
In this case the stone was covered with white stucco, which was 
then painted. In the latter part of the sixth century B.C. the 
Greeks began to use marble. The best preserved temple of this 
period is that of Poseidon, in Po-si-do'ni-a, a Greek colony in south- 
ern Italy. It is an impressive building, with simple but massive 
Doric columns. 

177. Sculpture. There are two principal kinds of sculpture, 
reliefs, explained above, and statues. As an example of an early 



Intellectual Awakening 



relief we may take a metope from a temple built in Selinus, Sicily, 
about 600 B.C. One of these metopes represents Perseus cutting 
off Medusa's head. 1 Behind him stands his protecting goddess 
Athena. The work is very crude. The heads, 
arms, and legs are much too large ; the bodies 
are distorted ; the eyes stare ; the faces lack 
expression. Another example is the grave- 
relief of a Spartan and his wife, shown in the 
chapter on Sparta. 2 These works, though 
creditable for the period, fall far short of the 
perfection afterward attained. Equally rude 
are the statues carved at the time. An ex- 
ample is the figure of a woman found at Delos. 
It is " a long, flat block of marble," with the 
edges slightly rounded, the arms attached to 
the sides, and the head and hair but roughly 
worked out. During the period, however, 
considerable progress was made. As evidence 
of improvement we may compare with these 
early figures the grave-relief of the warrior 
Aristion and one of the maiden statues found 
on the Acropolis. 3 Both were chiselled at 
Athens under the tyranny. The latter es- 
pecially shows a far better knowledge of the 
human form, and greater skill in working out 
both the body and the drapery. These two 
pieces distinctly reveal the Greek genius. 

178. Deepening Religion ; Oracles and Divi- 
nation. The one great motive which led the 
Greeks to make all these improvements in art 
was religion. The belief that the gods were 
magnified men and women of perfect physical form, the bene- 
factors of all who properly worshipped them, inspired both archi- 
tect and sculptor. The age which saw these early improvements 
was one of religious progress. The Greek mind was reaching out 
into the unknown, trying to discover the nature of God and of his 

!P. QI. 2 P. 115- 3 PP- I3S, 137- 




STATUE OF A WOMAN 

(Found at Delos ; seventh 
century B.C. ; National 
Museum, Athens) 



Religion I5I 

relations with man, and striving at the same time to come into 
closer touch with the deity. 

In this age, accordingly, oracles .were first established in many 
parts of Hellas. That of Apollo at Delphi was described in an 
earlier chapter. 1 But the Greeks felt the need of consulting a deity 
without .the delay of a journey to an oracle. Sometimes the flight 
of birds gave them the omen they desired. The kind of divination, 
however, which they found most convenient was the Babylonian 
the examination of the inner parts of an animal offered in sacri- 
fice. 2 In the period we are now considering, this custom came to 
them from Babylonia, in what way we do not know. Thereafter 
the Greeks resorted to it before every battle 'or other important 
undertaking. 

179. Orphic and Eleusinian Mysteries. Though the Greeks 
learned how to discover the will of the gods, they still cherished two 
stronger desires : (i) they wanted the joy of personal relations with 
the deity : (2) they longed for happiness in the future life. Both 
desires were gratified by a foreign religion the Orphic mysteries. 
They came from the Thracian Or'pheus, a mythical prophet and 
musician, and centred in the worship of Di-o-ny'sus, the god of 
life in nature, symbolized by the grape and wine. The priests of 
Orpheus travelled throughout Hellas, making converts and initiat- 
ing them into the mysteries. The chief feature of the initiation 
was a revel by night over some mountain top. The novices, wav- 
ing torches, danced wildly to the sound of pipes and cymbals. In 
the frenzy thus excited they imagined that they were themselves 
the deity, and had a foretaste of their future life of bliss. After 
initiation they had to live temperately, to abstain from animal 
food, and to keep themselves religiously pure. In this way, they 
prepared for endless happiness beyond the grave. 

Other mysteries, partly of foreign origin, grew up in E-leu'sis, 
Attica. They were connected with the worship of Demeter, the 
earth-mother. She had a daughter Per-seph'o-ne, whom Hades 
forcibly carried off to his dark home beneath the earth. The mother 

1 103. 

2 42. Still earlier the Etruscans had adopted the same system, but developed it 
in a different way ; 358. 



Intellectual Awakening 



was sad, and therefore the whole earth became cold and barren. 
She wandered about in search of her daughter, till she came to 
Eleusis, where she was received into the family of the king. There 
her daughter was restored, but with the understanding that she 
was to live with Hades as his wife and queen during four months 

of the year the win- 
ter months. It was 
originally a nature 
myth, to explain the 
alternation of summer 
and winter; but in this 
period the story was so 
interpreted as to signify 
death and the resurrec- 
tion. Dionysus, with 
some features of the 
Orphic mysteries, was 
introduced into this 
worship. A great 
Eleusinian festival was 
held in September of 
each year. All the 
Athenians, the magis- 
trates and priests in 
their official robes, the citizens in their holiday attire, took part 
in a grand procession along the Sacred Way from Athens to 
Eleusis. There with public ceremonies they worshipped Deme- 
ter, goddess of agriculture and author of their civilization; and 
the initiated attended in secret to the mystic rites of her service. 
Among the mysteries was a passion play which exhibited the 
grief of Demeter when her daughter was taken from her by Hades, 
and the joy of receiving her back. Such, her worshippers thought, 
were the sorrows of death and the joys of reunion in the world 
beyond the grave. All Greeks, men and women, slaves and free- 
men, had equal rights to initiation. 

1 80. Increasing Knowledge ; the Use of Writing. The priests 
of Orpheus spread their faith with such zeal that in the sixth cen- 




A GREEK VASE 
(Demeter, Persephone, and a king of Eleusis) 



Literature 1 53 

tury B.C. it came near gaining a complete mastery over the minds of 
the Greeks. Such an event would have rendered them unfit to 
work out clearly the problems of government, society, art, and 
science, which they were already attempting to solve. Fortunately 
their growing love for a religion of mystery was offset by increas- 
ing knowledge. The storing up of facts was made possible by 
writing. 

Early in the Epic Age the Greeks had adopted the Phoenician 
alphabet, making at the same time some improvements in it, as 
explained above. 1 About 700 B.C. they began to use it for record- 
ing lists of annual magistrates, and soon afterward for writing laws 
and other documents. Hence we say that the historical age of 
Greece begins at this time. There was written poetry, too, in the 
seventh century, and still more in the sixth. Apart from documents 
no prose worth mentioning existed in this period. 

181. Hesiod; the Beginnings of Personal Poetry. The ear- 
liest writer of the age was Hesiod, an epic poet of Boeotia 
(about 700 B.C.). He composed the Theogony, which tells in homely 
style of the genealogies of the gods and the creation of the world. 2 
His Works and Days, another epic, gives the peasant useful infor- 
mation about agriculture. It encourages thrift, and abounds in 
moral maxims. Whereas Homer idealizes everything of which he 
sings, the aim of Hesiod is to tell the simple truth. Homer cele- 
brates heroes of the remote past ; Hesiod has to do with men in 
everyday life. 

The early epics have little to tell of their authors ; but in time it 
came about that poets expressed freely their own thoughts and feel- 
ings. Thus personal poetry arose. The age in which it flourished 
extends from the time of Hesiod to the end of the great war with 
Persia (700-479 B.C.). 

The elegy is the earliest form of personal poetry. It arose in 
Ionia, and was originally martial. One of the best known martial 
poets was Tyrtaeus of Sparta, mentioned in connection with the 
second Messenian War. 3 Solon used the elegy as a means of 
bringing his political views before the public. Besides the elegy, 
Tyrtaeus and Solon composed various kinds of verse. 

MSI- 2 106. 3 i42- 



154 Intellectual Awakening 

182. Lyric Poetry. The highest form of personal poetry is the 
lyric, the song accompanied by the lyre. The lyric poet com- 
posed the music as well as the words of his songs. There were two 
chief forms of this poetry : the ballad and the choral ode. The 
home of the ballad was Lesbos, 1 and its great representatives were 
the Lesbic poets, Al-cae'us and Sappho, who belonged to the early 
part of the sixth century B.C. Alcaeus was " a fiery Aeolian noble," 
who composed songs of war, adventure, and party strife, love-songs, 
drinking-songs, and hymns. He was a versatile, brilliant poet. 
" Violet-crowned, pure, softly smiling Sappho," as her friend 
Alcaeus calls her, was his peer in genius. To the ancients she was 
" the poetess," as Homer was " the poet " ; and sometimes they 
styled her the " tenth muse." 

Ballads were simple songs sung by individuals ; but the choral 
ode was public and was sung by a trained chorus, who accompanied 
the music with dancing. The most eminent choral poet perhaps 
the greatest purely lyric poet of the world was Pindar of Boeotia 
(522-448 B.C.). As he belonged to a priestly family, he began even 
in childhood to fill his mind with myths and religious lore. His 
poems are made up of this material. Those which have been pre- 
served are in honor of the victors in the great national games. 
The ode usually narrates some myth connected with the history of 
the victor's family or city ; it glorifies noble birth, well-used wealth, 
justice, and all manner of virtue. Though difficult to read even in 
translations, these poems will repay the most careful study. The 
style is bold, rapid, and vital ; his words glitter like jewels ; he is 
always sublime. 

Besides the poets mentioned, there were many others who flour- 
ished in all parts of Greece. The works of some have utterly 
perished ; of others we have mere shreds. There remain but frag- 
ments of Alcaeus. We have two poems of Sappho, in addition to 
fragments. Pindar has had the best fortune of all the poets of 
this age, for his best work has come down to us. 

183. The Beginnings of Science ; Philosophy. The poets 
were thinkers, who tried each in his own way to solve the problems 
of life, which were becoming every day more complex as civilization 



Science 155 

advanced. In seeking the causes of things, however, they always 
went back to the supernatural. For instance, they explained the 
rotation of the seasons by the story of Demeter and Persephone. 1 
But about the time of Solon a few of the more intelligent Greeks 
began to seek for natural causes as an explanation of things. Such 
persons were scientists. 

The founder of Greek science was Tha'les. Naturally he was a 
citizen of Miletus, in this period the centre of Hellenic industry, com- 
merce, and intellectual life. It is said that he visited Egypt and 
brought back from there some scientific knowledge. He was a 
mathematician, and knew enough astronomy to foretell an eclipse of 
the sun. The story that while star-gazing he fell into a well is told 
to prove how unpractical a philosopher is. When referring to the 
Greeks, we use the word philosophy to include their sciences as well as 
their more abstract thinking on such great subjects as the nature and 
original cause of the universe. Thales had a theory that water was 
the original substance, out of which everything had been made. 
This was, to be sure, a mistake. But the very fact that he was the 
first to seek a natural rather than a supernatural cause of things 
makes him the founder of Greek philosophy. 

After him came many other philosophers. One especially worthy 
of mention was Py-thag'o-ras, who laid great stress on mathe- 
matics. He had many followers, the Py-thag-o-re'ans. They 
organized themselves in secret fraternities, and adopted the ascetic 
life and some of the beliefs of the Orphists. The idea of Pythagoras 
seems to have been to allow his sect the happiness of the mysteries 
provided they were kept under proper control. In general, the 
scientific awakening of Hellas checked the growth of mysticism, 
and prepared the way for clear thinking on all subjects of interest 
to mankind. 

184. The Unity of Hellas. In this period, the Greeks first 
became conscious of their unity as a people. The fact was brought 
home to them through commerce and travel, through the posses- 
sion of one language and religion, and of the national oracle at 
Delphi, through participation in the great national games, and 
through the growth of a national literature. The feeling of unity 

1 179- 



156 Intellectual Awakening 



was intensified by their conflicts with foreigners, whom they called 
" barbarians." This word originally signified a people whose 
language was unintelligible ; but as the Greeks discovered their 
own superiority to others, they began to attach to the word the 
meaning which it now has in our own language. In this age, 
accordingly, the Greeks were becoming one in spirit and in sym- 
pathy, and were beginning to call themselves by one common name 
- that of Hellenes. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. What was the chief motive of the Greeks to architecture? Com- 
pare them in this respect with the Egyptians. 2. Describe in detail the 
parts of the temple illustrated on p. 145. Make a drawing of it from mem- 
ory. 3. Compare the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian capitals illustrated on 
pp. 145-147. 4. Mention examples of the three orders of architecture in 
your own locality. Which seems to you the most beautiful, and why? 
5. Describe the metope pictured on p. 91. What do you think of the 
sculpture of that time? 6. Compare the seventh-century statue of a 
woman (p. 150) with one of the later sixth century (p. 135). What progress 
does the latter show? 7. What is your impression of the temple of Posei- 
don (p. 149) ? 8. Do the Orphic mysteries and the Eleusinian mysteries 
indicate an advance in religion? Did they benefit the Greeks, and if so in 
what way? 9. Give examples of epic, elegiac, and lyric poetry in modern 
literature. 10. How does personal poetry differ from epic poetry? u. What 
were the early Greek philosophers aiming to discover? 



Note-book Topics 

I. Building Materials and Methods. Fowler and Wheeler, Greek 
Archaeology, 96-108. 

II. Sappho. Murray, Ancient Greek Literature, 92-94; Fowler, Ancient 
Greek Literature, 96-100. 

III. Pindar. Jebb, Greek Literature (Primer), 64-69; Murray, 109- 
116 ; Fowler, ch. xi. 

IV. Myths of Death and the Future World. Fairbanks, Mythology of 
Greece and Rome, ch. viii . 



CHAPTER XV 

CONQUEST OF ASIATIC GREECE BY THE LYDIANS AND THE 

PERSIANS 

560-493 B.C. 

185. Character of the lonians. Although successful in devel- 
oping government and the art of war, the Athenians as well as the 
Lacedaemonians were thus far inferior to the Greeks of Asia Minor 
in the finer elements of civilization. Aeolis and Ionia were the homes 
of the first great poets of Greece. The earliest geographers, his- 
torians, and philosophers were lonians. The same people took 
the lead in useful inventions : the lonians were the first of the 
Greeks to coin money; their ships plied the Mediterranean Sea 
from Egypt to Massalia. For five hundred years (about 1000- 
494 B.C.) they were the standard-bearers of Hellenic civilization. 

But though admirable for their many excellent qualities, the 
lonians were lacking in political ability. The communities rarely 
acted together, and could not think of joining in one strong state. 
They loved complete independence for their towns, and enjoyed 
the privilege of making war on their neighbors as the diversion of 
a summer ; yet they were a commercial people, not fond of long- 
continued military service. Their character was their political 
ruin. It is no wonder that they proved inferior to the empires of 
Asia, based as these were on unthinking submission to one all- 
controlling will. 

186. Croesus, King of Lydia (560-546 B.C.). As long as there 
was no great foreign power in their neighborhood, these Asiatic 
Greeks remained free. But gradually Lydia, in the interior, be- 
came a strong state. Croesus, who ascended the throne of this 
country in 560 B.C., 1 admired the Greeks and wished to have them 
as willing subjects; but when they resisted, he waged war upon 

1 6 3 . 



1 58 Conqwst by the Lydians and the Persians 

them and conquered them with no great difficulty. He ruled 
them well, however, as he sought to gain their favor and support 
against the rising power of Persia. He stole his way into their 
affections by making costly presents to their gods, especially to 
Apollo at Delphi. 1 Under him, Lydia reached its height in wealth 
and power. His treasury was full of gold dust from the sands of 
the Lydian rivers and of tributes from the cities he had conquered ; 
and as he was the wealthiest he supposed himself to be the happiest 
man on earth. His empire had come to include all Asia Minor 
west of the Halys River ; but it was destined soon to become a 
part of the far vaster Persian empire, and the happy monarch was 
doomed to end his life in captivity. 

187. The Relations between Cyrus, King of Persia, and the 
Greeks (546-529 B.C.). In an earlier chapter we have seen how 
Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered the Median empire and then 
defeated Croesus and took him captive. 2 The lonians, who were 
favored subjects of Croesus and had supported him in the war, 
now begged Cyrus to grant them the same terms of submission 
which Croesus had given ; but Cyrus angrily refused, telling the 
messengers who came to him from them the fable of the piper and 
the fishes. " There was a certain piper," he said, " who was 
walking one day by the seaside, when he espied some fish ; so he 
began to pipe to them, imagining that they would come out to 
him upon the land. But as he found at last that his hope was 
vain, he took a net, and enclosing a. great draught of fishes, drew 
them ashore. The fish then began to leap and dance; but the 
piper said, ' Cease your dancing now, as you did not choose to 
come and dance when I piped to you.' ' As the lonians saw that 
Cyrus would not give them good terms, they began to wall their 
towns, and met in council to concert measures of defence. They 
first asked help of Lacedaemon. When their deputies reached 
Sparta, the one who was to speak dressed himself in a purple robe 
so as to attract as large an audience as possible; and, in a long 
speech, he besought the Lacedaemonians to come to the aid of his 
countrymen. But it was all in vain ; for the Spartans liked neither 
long speeches nor purple robes, and they were just then at war 

1 103. 2 Ch. v. The history of Persia, 63-69, should now be reviewed. 



Persian Conquest 159 

with Argos for the possession of Cynuria. 1 But they showed their 
good will toward their Asiatic kinsmen by warning Cyrus on his 
peril not to harm the Hellenic cities. " But when he received this 
warning from the herald, he asked some Greeks who were stand- 
ing by, who these Lacedaemonians were, and what was their 
number, that they dared send him such a notice. When he had 
received their reply, he turned to the Spartan herald and said, 
' I have never yet been afraid of any men who have a set place in 
the middle of their city, where they come together to cheat each 
other and perjure themselves. If I live, the Spartans shall have 
trouble enough of their own to talk of, without concerning them- 
selves about the lonians.' Cyrus intended these words as a re- 
proach against all the Greeks, because of their having market- 
places where they buy and sell, which is a custom unknown to the 
Persians, who never make purchases in open marts, and, indeed, 
have not in their whole country a single market-place." 2 

Cyrus then returned to the East, leaving an army to conquer 
the Greeks of Asia Minor. As the cities could not unite in defence 
of freedom, they fell one by one into his hands. 

1 88. Cambyses and Darius, Kings of Persia (529-522, 521- 
485 B.C.). The Persian yoke was far more oppressive than the 
Lydian had been. For the king of Persia insisted that the Greek 
cities should be ruled by tyrants, through whom he expected to keep 
his new r subjects obedient ; and in addition to the payment of 
tribute, they now had to serve in the Persian armies. Cambyses, 
son and successor of Cyrus, required them accordingly to help him 
conquer Egypt. 3 And when Darius, the following king, was pre- 
paring to invade Europe at the head of a great army, 4 to conquer 
the Scythians, he ordered the tyrants of the Greek cities to furnish 
six hundred ships and their crews for his use. He crossed the 
Bosporus on a bridge of boats arranged for him by a Greek engi- 
neer. Meanwhile the tyrants with their fleet sailed up the Danube 
and bridged the river with their boats that Darius might be- able 
to cross ; for the Scythians, a people without settled homes, roamed 

1 146. 2 Herodotus, i. 153. 3 64. 

4 The estimate of Herodotus, iv. 87, is seven hundred thousand men doubtless a 
great exaggeration. On the reason for the expedition, see 65. 



160 Conquest by the Lydians and the Persians 

about in the country north of the Danube and the Black Sea. It 
was galling to the Greeks to perform such compulsory service, as 
they felt it a shame to be slaves of the Persians while their kinsmen 
in Europe were free. Even some of the tyrants, voicing the spirit of 
their subjects, proposed to cut off the return of Darius by breaking 
up the bridge he had left in their keeping. Mil-ti'a-des, an Athe- 
nian, who was then tyrant of Cher-so-nese', a colony of Athens, 
favored the plan; but His-ti-ae'us, despot of Miletus, persuaded 
the tyrants that the people would depose them if they should lose 
the support of the Persian king, and in this manner he led them to 
vote against the proposal. An important result of the expedition 
of Darius was the annexation of Thrace and Macedon to the Per- 
sian empire, which now extended therefore to the border of Thessaly. 

189. The Ionic Revolt (499-494 B.C.) : the Beginning. The 
king rewarded Histiaeus for his loyalty by inviting him to Susa, 1 
to pass the remainder of his life as a courtier in the palace. To the 
ambitious Greek the life at court was no better than exile. De- 
siring therefore to return to his native land, he sent a secret message 
to his son-in-law, Ar-is-tag'o-ras, then tyrant of Miletus, urging 
him to revolt. The latter needed little pressure from his father- 
in-law, for he was already thinking of taking this step. He had 
promised the Persians to conquer Naxos, and had received help 
from them on this assurance ; but failing in his attempt, he now 
felt that he should be punished for not keeping his word. He 
decided accordingly to take the lead in a revolt which he knew 
was threatening. His first step was to resign his tyranny and give 
Miletus a democratic government. He then helped depose the 
tyrants of the neighboring cities; and in a few weeks all Ionia fol- 
lowed him in a rebellion against Darius. 

190. Aristagoras at Sparta and at Athens (winter of 499- 
498 B.C.). Aristagoras spent the next winter in looking about for 
allies. First he went to Sparta, and addressed King Cleomenes as 
follows : " That the sons of the lonians should be slaves instead of 
free is a reproach and grief most of all indeed for ourselves, but of 
all others most to you, inasmuch as ye are the leaders of Hellas. 
Now, therefore, I entreat you by the gods of Hellas to rescue from 

1 66, n. 2. 



Ionic Revolt 161 

slavery the lonians, who are your own kinsmen: and ye may 
easily achieve this, for the foreigners are not valiant in fight, 
whereas ye have attained to the highest point of valor in war: 
and their fighting is of this fashion, namely, with bows and arrows 
and a short spear, and they go into battle wearing trousers and with 
caps on their heads. Thus they may easily be conquered. Then 
again, they who occupy that continent have good things in such 
quantities as not all the other nations in the world possess; first 
gold, then silver and bronze and embroidered garments and beasts 
of burden and slaves ; all which ye might have for yourselves if 
ye so desired." 1 

Aris*tagoras then proceeded to indicate the location of the various 
Asiatic nations on a map traced on a plate of bronze, the first the 
Spartans had ever seen. He tried to show how easily the Lacedae- 
monians could conquer the whole Persian empire. " How long a 
journey is it from the Ionian coast to the Persian capital? " Cleom- 
enes asked. " A three-months' journey," Aristagoras answered 
incautiously. " Guest-Friend from Miletus," the Spartan king 
interrupted, " get thee away from Sparta before the sun has set; 
for thou speakest a word which sounds not well in the ears of the 
Lacedaemonians, desiring to take them on a journey of three months 
from the sea." The smooth Ionian then tried to win him with a 
bribe, but was frustrated by the king's daughter, Gorgo, a child 
of eight or nine years of age, who exclaimed, " Father, the stranger 
will harm thee, if thou do not leave him and go ! " 

Aristagoras then went to Athens, where he found his task easier. 
The Athenians were near kinsmen of the lonians and in close com- 
mercial relations with them. And recently the governor of Sardis 
had ordered the Athenians to take back Hippias as their tyrant, if 
they wished to escape destruction. They had refused, and felt in 
consequence that a state of war now existed between them and 
Persia. They therefore sent twenty ships to help the lonians, and 
their neighbor, Eretria, sent five. 

191. The Suppression of the Revolt (498-494 B.C.). The allies 
captured and burned Sardis, the most important city under Persian 

1 Herodotus, v. 49. This speech gives a truthful summary of the facts, except in one 
particular, the Persians were not cowardly ; 68. 



1 6 2 Conquest by the Lydians and tJie Persians 

control in Asia Minor. Then, as they were on their way back to 
Ionia, the Persians attacked and defeated them near Ephesus. 
This repulse so thoroughly discouraged the Athenians that they 
returned home and would give no more help. 

The burning of Sardis encouraged the rest of the Asiatic Greeks 
to join in the revolt, but at the same time stirred Darius to greater 
exertions for putting it down, and angered him especially against 
Athens and Eretria. The decisive battle of the war was fought at 
La'de, off Miletus (497 B.C.). The Greeks had three hundred and 
fifty-three ships ; the Phoenicians in the service of Persia had six 
hundred. Yet the Greeks would certainly have won the day, if 
they had shown the right spirit ; but they were disunited, and 
allowed themselves to be influenced by secret agents from the 
enemy. At the very opening of the battle, many ships treacher- 
ously sailed away, and though a few remained and fought bravely, 
the battle was lost. United resistance was now at an end, and the 
separate states were subdued one by one or surrendered to avoid 
attack. The Persians brought the war to a close by the capture of 
Miletus (494 B.C.), after a siege of four years. They plundered and 
burned the city, together with its temples, and carried the people 
into captivity. Thus they blotted out of existence the fairest city 
of Hellas, the city which up to this time had done most in building 
up European civilization. Though it was again inhabited by 
Greeks, it never regained its former splendor. 

The expedition of Darius into Europe x had resulted in the con- 
quest of Thrace, which however rebelled in imitation of the lonians. 
After suppressing the Ionic revolt, the Persians immediately pro- 
ceeded against Thrace. As the Phoenician fleet approached Cher- 
sonese, Miltiades, the ruler, fled in his triremes 2 loaded with wealth. 
Though the Phoenicians hotly pursued him, he came safe to 
Athens. 

192. Effect of the War on Athens. Miltiades found his native 
city greatly disturbed by the recent events in Ionia. A strong party 
led by Hipparchus, a near kinsman of Hippias, wished to secure 
peace with Darius by recalling the exiled tyrant, and if need be, 
by sending the king " earth and water," the tokens of submission. 

1 1 88. 2 For a description of the trireme see 200, n. i. 



Themistodes 163 

Opposed to the tyrant's party were the republicans, who upheld 
the form of government established by Cleisthenes, and were 
ready to fight for their country against Persia. As Archon for 
493 B.C. they elected Them-is'to-cles, their leader, a man of won- 
derful energy and intelligence. Heretofore the Athenians had 
moored their ships in the open bay of Phal-e'rum, but Themistocles 
occupied his term of office in making the triple harbor of Pei-rae'us 




A HARBOR OF PEIRAEUS 
(From a photograph taken by Dr. A. S. Cooley) 

ready for a navy. He believed that war with Persia could not be 
avoided, and intended that Athens should have a navy-yard and 
a powerful fleet; for it would be necessary to meet not only the 
Persian army on land, but also the combined fleets of the Phoeni- 
cians and the Asiatic Greeks on the sea. 

193. Was Hellas ready for War with Persia? (about 493 B.C.). - 
Hellas was to be at a great disadvantage in the coming war with 
Persia, because her states could not bring themselves to act to- 
gether. In most of them were strong factions which favored the 
Persians. Many of them immediately yielded through fear. 
Commercial jealousy of Athens prompted Aegina to send earth and 
water to the king ; through dislike of Sparta, Argos favored the 



164 Cdnquest by the Lydians and the Persians 

Persian cause. Within the Peloponnesian League alone was 
unity. In addition to most of the Peloponnesian states, this 
league now included Athens, and within the next few years it was 
to be joined by several minor states in central Greece and the neigh- 
boring islands. 1 And yet in territory, in number of fighting men, 
and in wealth, the league, even when most widely extended, was 
insignificant in comparison with the Persian empire. Darius sup- 
posed that he had only to send a great army into Greece to crush all 
resistance in a single campaign ; and so it seemed to many Greeks. 
But the contest did not prove so unequal as many imagined. The 
Persians were at a disadvantage in fighting far from their base of 
supplies; and the Hellenic arms and military organization were 
vastly superior to the Persian. It is a fact, too, that the system of 
city-states, when at its best, is the strongest possible for resistance. 
An empire may be overthrown in a single battle ; but a union of 
little city-states, when fighting for independence in a country like 
Greece, is well-nigh unconquerable. 

Summary 

(i) The lonians of Asia Minor created the most brilliant civilization 
which the world had yet seen. (2) But lacking political unity, they fell 
under the rule of Croesus, king of Lydia, who treated them well. (3) Soon 
afterward Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Croesus and annexed Lydia to 
his empire. (4) As the lonians refused to submit, the Persians conquered 
them. (5) The kings of Persia favored tyrannies in the Ionic cities, and im- 
posed military service and regular taxes on them. (6) The invasion of 
Europe by Darius added Thrace and Macedon to his empire, but increased 
the discontent already seething in Ionia. (7) The Asiatic Greeks revolted 
against him, and were aided by the Athenians and Eretrians. (8) The burn- 
ing of Sardis by the Greeks brought home to Darius the necessity of punish- 
ing those European Greeks who were encouraging rebellion in his empire. 
(9) The insurgent Greeks were overthrown in the naval battle off Lade. (10) 
Miletus was taken by siege and destroyed, and (n) Athens began prepara- 
tions for meeting the inevitable Persian invasion. (12) As yet, however, 
the European Greeks had thought of no general plan of defence. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Why were the lonians of Asia Minor the most advanced of all the 
Hellenes in civilization ? 2. Compare the lonians with the Spartans ; with 

1 202. 



City- State versus Empire 165 

the Athenians. 3. What did Cyrus mean by the fable of the piper and 
the fishes? 4. How can we account for the difference in the attitude of 
Croesus and Cyrus toward the Asiatic Greeks? 5. Why were the lonians 
unwilling to unite in one state? 6. What objections had the Spartans to 
purple robes ? How did they dress ? 7. To what degree were the Lacedae- 
monians kinsmen of the lonians? Were they as near as the Athenians in 
kinship? 8. Why should we consider the Scythian expedition of Darius 
an indirect cause of the Greco-Persian war? 9. Describe the location of 
Ionia, Miletus, Lade, Ephesus, Chersonese, Bosporus, Danube River, 
Thrace and Macedon. 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Story of Croesus and Solon. Herodotus, i. 20-33 ; Plutarch, 
Solon, 27 f. 

II. The Battle of Lade. Herodotus, vi. 6-18. 

III. The Ionic Revolt. Holm, History of Greece, ii. ch. i; Bury, History 
of Greece, ch. vi. 6 ; Grundy, Great Persian War, ch. iii. 



CHAPTER XVI 
WAR WITH PERSIA AND CARTHAGE 

492-479 B.C. 

I. FIRST AND SECOND EXPEDITIONS 

194. Causes of the War. The causes of the war may be briefly 
summarized, (i) The Persian kings, like the earlier Assyrian, 1 
found conquest profitable not only from the plunder of captured 
cities, but more from the annual tribute imposed on the subjects. 

(2) It was perfectly natural, then, that after the subjugation of 
Ionia, the Persians should begin to think of conquering the rest of 
the Hellenes on the neighboring islands and on the Greek peninsula. 

(3) But when Ionia revolted and received aid from Athens and Ere- 
tria, Darius saw that he could not secure the lasting submission of 
his Asiatic subjects without conquering their meddlesome kinsmen 
beyond the Aegean. (4) Highly incensed at the burning of Sardis, 
he strove to wreak vengeance on Athens and Eretria, as he con- 
sidered these two cities chiefly responsible for that act. (5) To all 
these motives must be added his keen appreciation of the value of 
Greeks as subjects. He would expect them to build and man 
fleets for him, just as the lonians had been doing, and he could draw 
from their country architects, painters, and sculptors for the adorn- 
ment of his capital cities. 2 

195. The First Expedition (492 B.C.). The first expedition was 
led by Mar-do'ni-Us, son-in-law of Darius. At the head of a great 
army he marched through Thrace. For provisions he depended 
chiefly upon a fleet which accompanied him along the shore. In 
rounding Mount Athos the ships were wrecked, and at the same time 
his troops were slaughtered by the natives. Mardonius expected 
to conquer the whole Greek peninsula, but only retook Thrace and 

1 36. 2 188 ; cf. 66. 

166 



Beginning of the War 167 

received the submission of Macedon. The failure of his enterprise 
brought him into disgrace at the Persian court. 

Darius now made ready another expedition, meanwhile sending 
heralds among those Greek communities which were still free, to 
demand " earth and water." There was no need, Darius thought, 
of attacking those who would willingly submit. The Athenians, 
however, threw the king's herald into a pit, and the Spartans 
dropped the one who came to them into a well, bidding them take 
earth and water thence to their lord. These acts violated the inter- 
national law which made the persons of heralds sacred. Those 
Athenians and Spartans who advised this course of conduct must 
have felt that the Persian king would never forgive such an outrage, 
and that its perpetration would commit their own states to a life- 
and-death struggle. 

196. Beginning of the Second Expedition (490 B.C.). After 
the failure of Mardonius, the conquest of Greece became with Da- 
rius a question of honor. But his unfortunate experience taught 
him that the land route was too long and difficult. It required 
months to make this journey, whereas a fleet could sail directly 
across the Aegean in a few days. This was the route which he 
chose accordingly for the second expedition. In the summer of 
490 B.C. the fleet of six hundred ships, which had long been prepar- 
ing, moved westward across the sea, receiving the submission of the 
islanders on the way. Da'tis, a Mede, and Ar-ta-pher'nes, a 
kinsman of Darius, were in command. Their object was to punish 
Athens and Eretria for helping the Ionian revolt, and to conquer 
whatever territory they could for their lord. 

First the Persians besieged Eretria. After a brave defence of 
six days, it was betrayed by two citizens. Eretrian fugitives who 
brought the sad news to Athens found the city full of the spirit of 
resistance. Her heavy infantry was well trained in the use of 
arms. 1 It was a happy omen, too, for Athens that among her 
generals for the year was Miltiades, who had proved his ability as 
ruler of Chersonese, and was well acquainted with Persian warfare. 
As soon as he and the other generals heard that the enemy were 
moving against Attica, they gathered their entire force, and de- 



1 68 War with Persia and Carthage 

spatched Phi-dip'pi-des, a swift, long-distance runner, to Sparta to 
ask help. He reached Sparta, a hundred and fifty miles distant, 
the day after starting. " Men of Lacedaemon," he said to the 
authorities, " the Athenians beseech you to hasten to their aid, 
and not allow that state which is the most ancient in all Greece 
to be enslaved by the barbarians. Eretria, look you, is already 
carried away captive, and Greece weakened by the loss of no mean 
city." l The Lacedaemonians, though they wished to help the 
Athenians, had to wait several days before setting out, as a law 
forbade them to go to war in any month before the full moon. 

197. The Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). After sacking Eretria, 
the Persians, under the guidance of the aged Hippias, 2 landed at 
Marathon. The Athenian army, led by the polemarch and the 
ten generals, went to meet them. It encamped above the plain, on 
a height which covered the principal road to Athens. The Athe- 
nian phalanx now consisted of ten thousand men, and was reenforced 
by a few soldiers from Plataea, a friendly city of Boeotia. The 
Persians were superior in number, but we do not know how many 
they were. 3 Their great advantage, however, was that even in 
their contests with the Greeks they had never lost a battle. When 
the Athenians saw themselves outnumbered, and failed to receive 
the expected help from Sparta, they thought of returning home 
without a contest, to make a defence behind the walls of the city. 
In the council of war five generals voted for retreat and five for 
battle. It remained for the polemarch to cast the deciding vote. 
Thereupon Miltiades urged him to decide for battle, explaining the 
advantages of an immediate contest and the hopelessness of a long 
resistance within the city. The polemarch was convinced. It was 
agreed that Miltiades, the most experienced general, should have 
the command. 

He waited till the Persians began their advance with a view to 
forcing their way to Athens. He knew well that their strength 

1 Herodotus, vi. 106. 2 163, 168. 

3 Certain writers who lived centuries after the event give various estimates, from 
200,000 to 600,000. None of these figures are trustworthy. The only basis even for 
a rough calculation is the number of ships in the fleet, and we have no certain 
knowledge of their capacity. Estimates of modern writers run from 60,000 down 
to about 15,000. 



Battle of Marathon 



169 



lay in long-distance fighting with the bow, whereas that of the 
phalanx was in a hand-to-hand struggle. When, accordingly, the 
opposing armies got within bow-shot of each other, Miltiades or- 
dered the Athenians to charge at 
a double-quick march, so as to 
avoid the shower of arrows and 
bring their own strength to bear 
as speedily as possible upon the 
enemy. The Persians, who had 
no defence against the spear-thrust, 
fled to their ships, and the victory 
was won. The great tactic prin- 
ciple employed was the discovery 
of Miltiades. The Greeks never 
forgot it. 

This was perhaps the most im- 
portant battle yet fought in the 
history of the world. In the wars 
among the great powers of the 
Orient, it made little difference to 
the world which gained the victory, 
they were so nearly alike in char- 
acter and civilization. The same 
may be said of the petty strife al- 
ways going on among the Greek 
states. But at Marathon, Europe 
and Asia, represented by Greece 
and Persia respectively, came into 
conflict ; and the question at issue 
was whether Europe should be 
brought under the control of Asiatic 
government and Asiatic ideas. 1 In other words, the question was 
whether Europe was to have Greek freedom or Asiatic despotism. 
It was well for the future of the world, therefore, that the Greeks, 
triumphed at Marathon. They were no braver than the Persians ; 
but their freedom gave them spirit, and their intelligence provided 

*P. 57, in. i. 




A PERSIAN ARCHER 



170 War with Persia and Carthage 

them with superior arms, organization, and training. The victory 
encouraged Greece to hope for success in the greater conflict with 
Persia, which was soon to come, and inspired the Athenians ever 
afterward to brave danger in the forefront of Hellas. 

II. AN INTERVAL OF PREPARATION 

198. The Disgrace of Miltiades. Miltiades now stood at the 
summit of fame. He thought the present moment favorable for 
building up the Athenian power and wealth at the expense of the 
islanders who had sided with the king. So he planned an expedi- 
tion against Paros, and asked the Athenians for ships and men, 
promising to make them rich, but not telling them just what he 
intended to do. He sailed with his fleet to Paros, and demanded a 
contribution of a hundred talents. As the Parians refused to pay 
anything, he besieged them without effect for nearly a month, and 
then returned wounded to Athens, to disappoint the hopes of all. 
His enemies found in his failure an opportunity to assail him. 
Xan-thip'pus, leader of the republican party, 1 prosecuted him for 
having deceived the people. The penalty would have been death : 
but because of Miltiades' great services to the state, it was light- 
ened to a fine of fifty talents. He died of his wound, and the fine 
was paid by his son Cimon. 

199. The Government becomes more Democratic. The repub- 
licans gathered strength from the victory at Marathon and even 
from the overthrow of Miltiades. By ostracizing successively the 
most prominent friends of Hippias, 2 they utterly disorganized the 
tyrant's faction. Meanwhile they dealt the nobles a heavy blow 
by changing the mode of appointment to the nine archonships. 
Before 487 B.C. the archons had been elected ; henceforth they were 
to be appointed by lot. The change degraded these old aristo- 
cratic offices by opening them to men of inferior ability. From 
this time the polemarch ceased to have even nominal command of 
the army, and the ten generals took the place of the nine archons 
as the chief magistrates. On this issue the citizens were divided 
into conservatives, who were opposed to changing the government, 

1 192. 2 163, 168, 197. 



The Building of a Navy 



171 



These 



and the democrats, who wished to make it more liberal, 
were to be the Athenian political parties of the future. 

200. Aristeides and Themistocles ; the Building of a Navy. 

Meanwhile the state had been deriving considerable income from 
the silver mines which it owned at Lau'ri-um in southeastern 
Attica. A dispute as to the best way of using this revenue arose 
between Ar-is-tei'des and Themistocles, the two leaders of the 
democratic party. Aristeides, satisfied with the army which had 
won the battle of Mara- 
thon, was evidently 
willing that the old 
custom of dividing the 
revenues among the 
citizens should con- 
tinue. Themistocles, 
on the other hand, was 
determined that Athens 
should have a navy to 
protect her from the 
Persian attacks by sea. 
It had long been in his 
mind that Persia could 
not provision a force 
large enough to con- 
quer Greece unless she held command of the sea. Thence he 
reasoned that Athens, by using her silver for building a powerful 
navy, could outmatch the fleets in the Persian service, and in this 
way save Greece. Aristeides was ostracized. 

The friends of Aristeides called him " the Just," and tried to fasten 
on Themistocles the opposite character, while the friends of Themis- 
tocles retorted in kind. We often meet with the same hero-worship 
and the same vilification in modern politics. A careful study of 
the facts seems to prove that these two men were much alike in 
moral character. In genius Themistocles was vastly superior. 
After putting down the opposition, he carried his plan through the 
assembly. The state built two hundred triremes, 1 which proved 

1 Vessels with three banks of oars. See the ancient illustration. The benches 
of the oarsmen were arranged in three tiers, one above the other. Each tier re- 




A TRIREME 



172 War with Persia and Carthage 

to be the chief means of winning a great naval victory over the 
Persians and of making Athens the head of a maritime empire. 
Measured by its far-reaching effects upon Greece and the world, 
the creation of an Athenian navy by Themistocles was one of the 
grandest achievements of statesmanship known to ancient history. 

III. THE THIRD EXPEDITION 

201. Preparations for the Invasion. Darius was more troubled 
by the failure at Marathon than he had been by the destruction of 
Sardis, and was now more than ever bent on the conquest of 
Greece. Accordingly he began preparations on a grander scale 
than ever. When he died (485 B.C.), his son and successor Xerxes, 
after a little hesitation, threw his whole soul into the work. The 
land route, undertaken by Mardonius, was to be followed, but the 
army and fleet were to be so gigantic as to crush every opposition 
by mere weight. Provisions were stored at convenient points along 
the route, and the engineers of the king were busily engaged in con- 
structing a bridge of boats across the Hellespont. Rarely in his- 
tory has a campaign been so carefully prepared. In the spring of 
481 B.C. the nations of his empire were pouring their armed forces 
into Asia Minor, and the autumn of the year found Xerxes with his 
host encamped for the winter at Sardis. We do not know how large 
his army was, but it certainly did not exceed three hundred thou- 
sand troops. 1 On the sea was a great fleet manned by Greeks, 
Phoenicians, and Egyptians. The invasion was to bring Greece 
into great peril ; for Xerxes hoped to win by sheer force of numbers. 

202.. Union of the Loyal Greeks. While Xerxes was in camp at 
Sardis, his messengers came to the Greek states demanding earth 

quired an oar about a yard longer than the one below it. On the trireme were about 
200 rowers. Few states at this time had triremes, but they soon became the normal 
"battleship." In later time, vessels with five and six banks of oars became common, 
and we hear of some with fifteen and sixteen banks. The latter must have been diffi- 
cult to manage. 

1 According to Herodotus, it contained 1,700,000 infantry, besides cavalry, reenforce- 
ments added along the march, and camp-followers more numerous than fighters, making 
a total of more than 5,000,000. Modern estimates range from 300,000 down to 50,000. 
The number of ships given by Herodotus, 1207, is also believed by modern scholars to 
be an exaggeration. There is no doubt, however, of its superiority to that of the Greeks. 



Xerxes invades Greece 173 

and water, and received these tokens of submission from many of 
them. But none came to Athens and Sparta, as they were to be 
punished for their treatment of the heralds sent by Darius. A 
council of the loyal states met on the Isthmus to plan for the defence 
of Greece. This union was practically an enlargement of the 
Peloponnesian League, under the leadership of Sparta. The states 
represented in the council agreed under oath to wage war in com- 
mon for the protection of their liberties. They also reconciled their 
enmities with one another, and sent envoys to the other Greek 
states to invite them to join the League. Most of the states 
found various excuses for refusing the invitation. 

The plan of the allies was to build a wall across the Isthmus of 
Corinth and to make their main defence there. It was a narrow 
policy, directed by the Lacedaemonian ephors. As Xerxes ap- 
proached the Hellespont in the spring of 480 B.C., the allies made a 
feeble attempt to defend Thessaly against him by posting an army 
in the Vale of Tempe. On the withdrawal of this army, the Thes- 
salians went over to the enemy. 

203. The Battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium (480 B.C.). 
To prevent central Greece from following the example of the Thessa- 
lians, the ephors sent King Le-on'i-das with three hundred heavy- 
armed Spartans and a few thousand allies to hold the pass of 
Ther-mop'y-lae, and thus shut Xerxes out from central Greece. 
They professed to believe that he could hold the pass till the Olym- 
pic games were over. Then, they said, they would take the field in 
full force. The fleet, comprising the squadrons of the various cities 
of the League, sailed to Ar-te-mis'i-um to cooperate with the army 
at Thermopylae. Each squadron was under its own admiral, and 
the whole fleet was commanded by the Spartan Eu-ry-bi'a-des. 

The Persians failed to carry Leonidas' position by assault, for 
their numbers did not count in the narrow pass. The discipline of 
the Greeks, their strong defensive armor, and their long spears 
might have held the hordes of Xerxes in check for an indefinite 
time, had not the Persians gained the rear of the pass through the 
treachery of a Greek. Most of the allies then withdrew; but 
Leonidas, with his three hundred Spartans and a few allies, remained 
and prepared for a death struggle. The contrast between the 



174 War with Persia and Carthage 

Greeks and the Orientals was at its height at Thermopylae : on 
one side, the Persian officers scourged their men to battle ; on the 
other, the Spaitans voluntarily met their death in obedience to 
law. " The Lacedaemonians are the best of all men when fighting 
in a body; for though free, yet they are not free in all things, 
since over them is set law as a master. They certainly do whatever 
that master commands ; and he always bids them not flee in battle 
from any multitude of men, but stay at their post, and win the 
victory or lose their lives." 1 The dead were buried where they fell, 
and above the three hundred was placed this epitaph: " Stranger, 
tell the Lacedaemonians that we lie here in obedience to their 
laws." 

Meanwhile a storm off the Magnesian coast had destroyed a 
third of the Persian navy. This enormous loss to the enemy en- 
couraged the wavering admirals of Greece to maintain their station 
at Artemisium ; and though they learned that the Persians had 
sent two hundred ships round Euboea to cut off their retreat, they 
were now ready for battle. After the Greeks had destroyed or 
captured several Persian vessels, night closed the engagement. 
Fortunately for the Greeks, another storm wrecked the hostile 
squadron in their rear, and thus enabled them to concentrate their 
whole fleet of over three hundred ships against the enemy. On the 
following day, accordingly, the two navies in full force put to sea 
against each other. The battle was indecisive ; but the Greeks 
lost so heavily that their admirals had already resolved to retreat 
when a messenger came with news of the defeat at Thermopylae. 
It was now clear that the fleet could no longer maintain its position. 

204. The March of Xerxes to Athens. Xerxes was now moving 
through central Greece toward Athens. Nearly all the states west 
of Attica submitted and sent their troops to reenforce his army. 
The men of Delphi, according to their own account, hid the treas- 
ures of Apollo in a cave and prepared to resist the Persian corps 
which had come to pillage their temple ; then some god aided them 
by bringing a thunderstorm and hurling great crags down -Mount 
Parnassus upon the advancing enemy. In this way, they said, 
Apollo defended his holy shrine. 

1 Herodotus, vii. 104. 



Battle of Salamis 175 

The Greek fleet paused at Sal'a-mis to help the Athenians remove 
their families and property to places of safety. This was their last 
resource, as the Peloponnesians were bent on defending only Pelo- 
ponnese. Indeed, the other admirals wished to hurry on to the 
Isthmus; but Themistocles would not go with his fleet, and the 
others felt they could not afford to lose it. On entering his city 
Themistocles found it in despair. Some time before this the 
Athenians had sent to consult the Delphic oracle with respect to 
the approaching war, and a dreadful answer had come foretelling 




BAY OF SALAMIS 
(From a photograph) 

utter ruin. The Athenian messengers besought a more favorable 
reply, saying they would remain in the shrine till their death if it 
were not granted. Then the god grew merciful, and promised that 
the " wooden wall " would save them. 

205. The Battle of Salamis (480 B.C.). Some thought that the 
" wooden wall " was the fence about the Acropolis ; but Themis- 
tocles said no, it meant the ships, and thus he induced the Athe- 
nians to quit their homes and place all their hopes in the fleet. 
Themistocles was the soul of resistance to Persia. His resourceful 
mind supplied courage, unity, and religious faith. He was now 
determined that the battle between Asia and Europe should be 
fought in the bay of Salamis. First, he exhausted the resources of 
eloquence and argument to persuade the admirals that here was the 



176 War with Persia and Carthage 

most favorable place for the fight ; but when arguments and even 
threats failed, he secretly advised the enemy to block the Greeks 
up in the bay. This message he conveyed to Xerxes by a trusty 
slave, who was instructed to say that the Greeks were disunited and 
ready to flee, and that Themistocles, wishing well to the king, ad- 
vised him to cut off their retreat. By following his advice Xerxes 
compelled the Greeks to fight. The three hundred and -seventy- 
eight Greek triremes, nearly half of which were manned by Athe- 
nians, had to face a much greater fleet. But in the narrow strait 
superiority in number was a disadvantage, closely crowded 
together, the enemy's ships were unable to manoeuvre, and even 
wrecked one another by collision. Among the Athenian warriors 
was the poet Aes'chy-lus l who gives a vivid and accurate account of 
the struggle. In this poem he represents the speaker as a Persian : 

First their [the Greek] right wing moved in order meet; 

Next the whole line its forward course began, 

And all at once we heard a mighty shout, 

" O sons of Hellenes, forward, free your country ; 

Free too your wives, your children, and the shrines 

Built to your fathers' Gods, and holy tombs 

Your ancestors now rest in. Now the fight 

Is for our all ! " And on our side indeed 

Arose in answer din of Persian speech, 

And time to wait was over : ship on ship 

Dashed its bronze-pointed beak ; and first a barque 

Of Hellas did the encounter fierce begin, 

And from Phoenician vessel crashes off 

Her carved prow. And each against his neighbor 

Steers his own ship : and first the mighty flood 

Of Persian host held out. But when the ships 

Were crowded in the straits, nor could they give 

Help to each other, they with their mutual shocks, 

With beaks of bronze went crushing each the other, 

Shivering their rowers' benches. And the ships 

Of Hellas, with manoeuvering not unskilful, 

Charged circling round them. And the hulls of ships 

Floated capsized, nor could the sea be seen, 

Filled, as it was, with wrecks and carcasses ; 

And all the shores and rocks were full of corpses, 

And every ship was wildly rowed in fight, 

All that composed the Persian armament. 

1 See 240. 



Plataea and Mvcale 



177 



Xerxes, who viewed the battle from the brow of a hill near the 
shore, was disheartened by the overthrow of his fleet. He returned 
to Asia, leaving the greater part of his force with Mardonius. 
Although the fleet dared no longer face the Greeks, it still kept 
communications open between Asia Minor and the army. 1 Mar- 
donius was therefore able during the following winter to maintain 
himself in Greece. The real crisis was yet to come. 

206. The Battles of Plataea and Mycale (479 B.C.). The in- 
vaders had destroyed Athens ; so that when the Athenians returned 




MAP OF 

SAL AMIS 



Williams Eng. Co., N. V. 



to their city they found it in ruins. Though they might during 
the winter have made good terms with the enemy, they remained 
loyal to Hellas, only urging that the Peloponnesian army should 
be displayed as soon as possible in Boeotia. In the spring of 479 B.C. 
Mardonius moved from his winter quarters in Thessaly into central 
Greece, and the Athenians again abandoned their city. Some of 
the Peloponnesians were at home ; others were busy working on the 
Isthmian wall, behind which they still planned to make thejr de- 
fence. With urging and threats the Athenians finally induced the. 

1 After the battle Themistocles advised the Greeks to sail instantly to the Hellespont, 
destroy the bridge, and thus cut the communication of Xerxes with his base of supplies. 
The move would have ended the war, but the other admirals considered it too bold. 

N 



178 War with Persia and Carthage 

ephors of Sparta to put forth their whole military strength in de- 
fence of central Greece. Pau-sa'ni-as, regent for the young son of 
Leonidas, brought to the Isthmus five thousand heavy-armed 
Spartans, as many heavy-armed perioeci, and forty thousand 
light-armed helots. There the allied troops from Peloponnese 
joined him, and at Eleusis he was further reenforced by eight 
thousand Athenians under Aristeides. Herodotus estimates the 
Persian army at three hundred thousand, the Greek at a little 
more than one hundred thousand. 1 Mardonius retired to Boeotia, 
and Pausanias followed him. The Persians encamped northeast of 
Pla-tae'a on a level spot which would give room for the movements 
of their cavalry. The Greek commander took a position on a height 
above them; but, encouraged by a successful skirmish with the 
Persian horsemen, he came down to the plain and placed himself 
between the enemy and Plataea. There the armies faced each 
other twelve days, neither daring to open battle. But after the 
Persian cavalry had damaged a spring on which the Greeks de- 
pended for water, Pausanias decided to retire in the night to a more 
favorable position near Plataea. Mardonius, who thought this 
movement a retreat, made haste to attack. When the Persians 
overtook the Greeks and saw them face about, they made a barri- 
cade of their long shields by fastening the lower ends in the ground, 
and from behind this defence they poured their destructive arrows 
upon the Greeks. The critical moment had come ; Pausanias 
gave the word, and his men rushed at full speed upon the foe. In 
the hand-to-hand fight here, as at Marathon, the athletic soldiers 
of Greece easily overcame the ill-armed, unskilful men of Asia. 

In the summer of the same year, the Greek fleet was tempted 
across the Aegean by the Samians, who wished to revolt against 
Persia. About the time of the battle at Plataea, Herodotus 
says on the same day, - the crews of the Greek vessels landed at 
Myc'a-le, and gained a victory over a greatly superior force of the 
Persians. The battle of Plataea freed continental Greece from 
fear of Persian conquest ; that at Mycale pointed unmistakably to 
the liberation from Persian influence of the whole Aegean region 
east and north. 

1 Probably the forces were considerably smaller than he states. 



Greco-Carthaginian War 179 

IV. THE WAR WITH CARTHAGE 

207. The Condition of Sicily. We shall now turn our attention 
to the war which the western Greeks were meanwhile waging with 
Carthage. First, however, it is necessary to glance at the condition 
of Sicily at the opening of the war. The colonies established there l 
had attained great wealth and prosperity. All had once been 
aristocratic in government, but had more recently fallen under the 
rule of tyrants. The ablest among them was Gelon, ruler of Syra- 
cuse, who made his city the largest and strongest in the island. 
All southeastern Sicily came under his authority. He increased 
his power still further by marrying the daughter of Theron, tyrant 
of Acragas. While the great cities of southern Sicily were thus 
uniting under the rule of a single family, a similar combination 
was taking place among the states of the north. Rhegium, Mes- 
sene, and Himera were united by the intermarriage of their ruling 
families. Then came a conflict between the North and South. 
The tyrant of Himera 2 was driven from his city. Escaping to the 
Carthaginians, he begged them to restore him to his throne. In 
this way he played the part of a Htppias. 

208. The Battle of Himera (480 B.C.). The Phoenicians, who 
had founded Carthage, were originally an industrial and trading 
people, with little taste for war. 3 But to defend their commercial 
position in the western Mediterranean they had recently begun on a 
large scale to hire troops from foreign countries. With her great 
army of mercenaries Carthage now aimed to win back the lands she 
had been compelled to yield to the Greeks. About the time that 
Xerxes was crossing the Hellespont, and probably in agreement 
with him, Ham-il'car, king of Carthage, landing with his army in 
Sicily, advanced toward Him'e-ra. He was met and defeated near 
Himera by Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse, with the help of allies from 
southern Sicily. The story is told that all day long, as the battle 
raged, the prophet-king of Carthage 'stood apart from his host, 
offering victims to the gods, and that at last, to appease the angry 

1 126. 

2 This was Terillus, father-in-law of Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium and Messene. 

3 49- 



180 War with Persia and Carthage 

powers who seemed to be siding with the foe, he threw himself a 
living sacrifice into the flame. 

209. Summary of the War. (i) After the conquest of Ionia, the 
Persians attempted to subdue Greece. (2) The first expedition was led by 
Mardonius through Thrace into Macedon. Its failure was owing to^the 
wreck of the fleet and attacks upon his army by the natives. (3) The 
second expedition crossed the Aegean Sea, captured Eretria, and landed at 
Marathon. There the Persian army met defeat at the hands of the Athe- 
nians (490). The event encouraged the Greeks to hope for success in the 
war. While the Persians were preparing for another invasion, (4) the Athe- 
nians built a navy and (5) the Peloponnesian League was expanded into a 
union of all the loyal Greek states. (6) Xerxes in person led his great army 
in the third expedition. (7) It annihilated a Spartan force at Thermopylae 
(480), and destroyed Athens. (8) But the Persian fleet suffered an over- 
whelming defeat at Salamis ; and in the following year (9) the Greeks de- 
feated the Persians decisively at Plataea and at Mycale. (10) Meanwhile 
a Carthaginian army which invaded Sicily was overthrown at Himera (480). 

210. The Immediate Results and the Larger Significance of the Victory. 
(i) The victory at Himera led to a treaty between the western Greeks 
and Carthage, according to which both parties were to retain their former 
possessions. (2) Greece continued the war with Persia for some years, for 
the purpose of liberating those Hellenes who had been subject to Persia. 
(3) The victory, gained by individual effort and intelligence, created a 
stronger democratic spirit, which in the following years we find active in 
both East and West. (4) The war did much to unite the states of Hellas : 
Sparta remained for a time the political centre of the East l and Syracuse 
of the West. (5) Finally, the victorious Greeks, filled with energy and con- 
fidence by their unexpected success, now entered upon their great age in 
literature, art, and politics. 

Persian domination, had it been possible, would certainly have checked 
the growth of Greek civilization in Europe, just as it did in Asia Minor. 
Europe might have become for centuries a part of Asia. It would be idle to 
speculate at length on what might have been; but certainly the victory 
saved Europe from even the possibility of such a misfortune. It left the 
continent free to advance along the lines marked out for it by Greek genius. 
From these considerations it is clear that the Greco-Persian war was one of 
the most important events in the world's history. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Beginning far back in the Persian career of conquest, trace the events 
which led to the conflict with Greece. 2. With what object was Hippias 
guiding the Persians in their invasion of Attica? Find the answer in the 

1 Till 461 B.C., when the leadership came to be divided between Athens and Sparta. 



Results 181 

previous history of Hippias. 3. Compare the Persians with the Greeks in 
military equipments and in mode of fighting. 4. How could a heavy-armed 
warrior (p. 137) get the better of an archer (p. 169)? 5. Give 1 a history 
of the archons and of the Council of the Areopagus from the earliest times to 
the year 487 B.C. Why did no eminent man ever hold the archonship after 
that date? 6. What state deserved most credit for the victory of Salamis? 
for that of Plataea? 7. From Aeschylus' account of the battle of Salamis, 
describe the manoeuvres of the ships on each side. 8. What were the 
causes of the Greco-Carthaginian War? 9. Compare the Carthaginian in- 
vasion with that of the Persians. 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Battle of Marathon. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 99- 
105 ; Bury, History of Greece, ch. vi. 7 ; Holm, History of Greece, ii. ch. ii ; 
Grundy, Great Persian War, ch. iv. 

II. Party Struggles in Athens and the Constitutional Reform of 487 B.C. 
Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, ch. xxii ; Bury, History of Greece, ch. vi. 
9; Botsford, Development of the Athenian Constitution, 208-211. 

III. The Battle of Salamis. Fling, Source Book, 118-127; Bury, ch. 
vi. 4 ; Holm, ii. ch. iv ; Grundy, ch. ix. 



CHAPTER XVII 
THE DELIAN CONFEDERACY AND THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE 

479-461 B.C. 

211. Fortification of Athens and of Peiraeus (479, 476 B.C.). - 
As soon as all danger from the Persians was over, the Athenians 
returned home and began to rebuild their city and its walls. They 
had sacrificed more than all the other Greeks together in the cause 
of Hellenic freedom. But instead of sympathizing with them in 
their misfortune, some of the Greek states, doubtless through 
jealousy, complained of Athens to Sparta, and asked that the build- 
ing of the defences be stopped. It was urged that the Athenian 
walls would be merely a protection to the Persians on another inva- 
sion, and that Peloponnese would afford a sufficient refuge for all. 
The Spartan ephors acted readily on the suggestion. They sent 
envoys who advised the Athenians to stop fortifying their city and 
to join the Lacedaemonians rather in tearing down the walls of all 
the communities north of the Isthmus of Corinth. The policy of 
Lacedaemon was evidently to rule Greece if convenient, and to 
protect only Peloponnese ; but the Athenians would not submit 
to an arrangement so unjust. As they were in no condition to face 
a Peloponnesian army, the resourceful Themistocles provided a 
way out of the difficulty. 

Following his advice, the Athenians appointed him and two 
others ambassadors to Sparta to discuss the question at issue. 
Before setting out, he directed the Athenians to build the wall with 
the utmost speed. Following his advice, the whole population 
worked restlessly on the building of the walls, using whatever 
material they could most easily find. Some remnants of the forti- 
fication, still extant, contain gravestones and fragments of earlier 
buildings. It embraced a wider area than had formerly been en- 

182 



Themistocles 



'83 



closed, the object being to give the city room for expansion. Though 
hastily constructed, the wall proved strong enough for every 
emergency. 

Meanwhile Themistocles had a work to do at Sparta. Day after 
day he invented excuses for delaying the business on hand. When 
a report came that the Athenians were at work on the fortifications, 
he stoutly denied it, and urged the ephors to send envoys to Athens 




A REMNANT OF THE WALL OF ATHENS 
(From a photograph) 

to find out the truth for themselves. They did as he suggested; 
but the Athenians, secretly advised by Themistocles, detained the 
envoys. When at last he heard that the work was finished, he 
informed the ephors that Athens was now fortified and that Sparta 
must treat her as an equal. It was a bold game well played. The 
ephors replied that their proposal to Athens had been intended 
merely as friendly advice. The outcome of the matter was that, 
although the Spartans were thoroughly indignant with Themis- 
tocles, the alliance between the two states remained intact. 1 
As soon as the Athenians had finished rebuilding their city, 

1 216 f. 



184 The Delian Confederacy and the Athenian Empire 

Themistocles began to fortify Peiraeus. He surrounded it with a 
massive wall seven miles in circuit. On the side toward the sea it 
followed the windings of the shore. There were three natural 
harbors, which Themistocles in his archonship many years earlier 
had brought into use. 1 He was in fact the founder of Peiraeus. It 
soon became famous for industry and trade. In its markets all 
the known products of the world were bought and sold. For ages 
it remained one of the most flourishing commercial cities of the 
Mediterranean. 

212. The Naval Leadership passes from Sparta to Athens. - 
While the Athenians were rebuilding and fortifying their city and 
port, interesting events were happening elsewhere. The year after 
the battles of Plataea and Mycale the Lacedaemonians sent out 
Pausanias to command the fleet of the allies in their war for the 
liberation of the colonies. He laid siege to Byzantium, which was 
still occupied by the enemy (478 B.C.) ; but while engaged in this 
work he offered to betray Greece into Persian hands on condition 
that he might become tyrant of his country and son-in-law of the 
king. Meantime he was cruel and arrogant to those under his 
authority. The Asiatic Greeks who had joined the expedition, 
resenting such treatment, begged the Athenian generals, Aristeides 
and Cimon, 2 to take charge of the fleet. The gentleness and courtesy 
of the commanders from Athens contrasted strikingly with the 
brutality of Pausanias. They accepted the invitation. The 
Lacedaemonians recalled Pausanias to answer the charges against 
him, and soon afterward yielded the leadership at sea to Athens. 
They saw no advantage to themselves in continuing the war with 
Persia, and believed that they would lose none of their prestige by 
this arrangement, for Athens was still their ally. The Athenians, 
on the other hand, gladly accepted the burden of the war with 
Persia, for they hoped by means of their great navy to gain both 
wealth and political power. 

213- Organization of the Delian Confederacy (477 B.C.). The 
allies whom Athens thus acquired included from the first nearly 
all the Ionian and Aeolian colonies of the Aegean islands and eastern 
coast, 8 many Greek cities on the Hellespont, those of Chalcidice, 

1 IQ2. 2 IQS. 3 92 f. 



Confederacy of Delos 185 

and a few in Thrace. Some of them, as Naxos, Thasos, Samos, and 
Chios, were from the Greek point of view important states, able to 
equip and man about thirty triremes each, whereas the great 
majority were too small to equip individually a single trireme, or at 
best but one or two. These wide differences in their financial and 
military capacities, added to the love of the towns for complete 
independence, made it exceedingly difficult for them to form a self- 
governing union on the basis of perfect equality. Such a union, 
however, Athens now attempted to organize. Each state had an 
equal voice. The council deliberated on all matters of common 
interest, whether of peace or of war. 

The object of the confederacy was chiefly the protection of the 
allies from Persia. It centred at the shrine of Apollo on the island 
of De'los, and was named therefore the Delian Confederacy. Its 
organization was patterned after that of the Peloponnesian League. 1 
The allies were to furnish ships and crews led by Athenian generals, 
and a congress of deputies from all the allied states was to meet at 
Delos under the presidency of representatives from Athens. In 
important respects the Confederacy of Delos differed from the 
Peloponnesian League. It was necessary to maintain a large fleet 
in the Aegean Sea as a defence against the Persians, whereas no 
standing force was needed for the protection of Peloponnese. 
Money is absolutely necessary for the support of a fleet ; hence 
the Delian Confederacy, unlike the Peloponnesian League, levied 
annual taxes. Aristeides, who was commissioned to make the 
first assessment, decided which states should furnish ships with their 
crews, and which should contribute money. The larger communi- 
ties generally provided naval forces, while the smaller paid taxes. 
The total annual cost of maintaining the Confederacy amounted, by 
the assessment of Aristeides, to four hundred and sixty talents. 2 
The treasury, in the temple of the Delian Apollo, was managed by 
treasurers who were exclusively Athenians. 

The union was to be perpetual. Aristeides and the representa- 
tives of the league exchanged oaths to abide by the original terms 
and never to secede. As a part of the oath-taking ceremony they 
let hot pieces of iron sink into the sea, with the idea that the agree- 

* 145. 2 The value of the talent was a little less thau $1200. 



1 86 The Delian Confederacy and the Athenian Empire 

ment should be binding till the metal rose of its own accord to the 
surface. 

214. The Growth of the Confederacy. With Cimon as leader 
the Delian Confederacy rapidly expanded. He annexed the re- 
maining islands in the north Aegean, and dislodged the Persians 
from the Thracian coast and from the whole country about the 
Hellespont and Propontis, including Byzantium. Then he turned 
his attention to the southeastern Aegean. In 468 B.C., at the mouth 
of the Eu-rym'e-don on the coast of Asia Minor, Cimon gained a 
double victory over a Phoenician fleet and a land force of Persians. 
It was the most brilliant success of his life. The booty was enor- 
mous, and the glory of Athens was greatly heightened. As a 
result of this battle, the Carian and Lycian coasts came into the 
confederacy of Delos, bringing the number of cities up to about 
two hundred. The Persians were dislodged from the whole Aegean 
region, and there was little apparent danger from them for the 
present. 

215. The Revolts of Allies and the Beginning of the Athenian 
Empire. But this very feeling of security proved to be extremely 
mischievous. Many of the allies, finding military service irksome, 
offered to pay taxes instead. Cimon advised the Athenians to 
accept these payments, as they could build and equip triremes at 
less expense than the separate allied towns, and hence could fulfil 
their agreement to protect the Aegean Sea, give work to the labor- 
ing class among themselves, and have money left for their own public 
use. But some grew tired even of paying the tribute. Indeed, 
they could no longer see the need of a confederacy since the Per- 
sians had ceased to trouble them. 

Even before the battle of Eurymedon, Nax'os took the lead in 
revolting. It had a strong navy and expected aid from Persia; 
but Cimon besieged the island and reduced it before help could 
arrive. The Naxians were compelled to tear down their walls, 
surrender their fleet, and pay henceforth an annual tribute. Thus 
Naxos lost its freedom and became dependent on Athens (469 B.C.). 

A dependent state within the Confederacy was one (i) which 
could not enter into relations of any kind with other states except 
by permission of Athens, and (2) which had to accept a constitu- 



From Confederacy to Empire 187 

tion dictated by Athens. The form of government thus imposed 
was always more or less democratic. 

Next came the revolt of Tha'sos, the cause of which was a quarrel 
between the Athenians and the Thasians over certain gold mines of 
Thrace, in which both had an interest. Thasos was one of the 
strongest of the allies ; it had a fleet of thirty-three ships and valuable 
possessions in Thrace. After a siege of two years, Cimon reduced 
the island, and punished it just as he had Naxos (463 B.C.). 

It is necessary now to consider in what way these transactions 
violated the original treaty of alliance. The change from naval 
service to money payments, brought about by mutual agreement, 
was perfectly legal. And it was the duty of Athens to compel re- 
luctant states to bear their share of the burden. The first violation 
of the treaty was committed by the states which revolted. Here, 
too, Athens acted legally in compelling the seceding states to return 
to their allegiance. She exceeded her right, however, in depriv- 
ing them of their autonomy. Although still allies in law, the de- 
pendent states formed in fact an Athenian empire. As conditions 
then were, only two lines of policy were open to Athens : she could 
either allow the Confederacy to dissolve or she would be compelled 
to convert it into an empire. The latter policy was in every way 
to her interest, and she readily adopted it. Gradually the states 
were subjected, till, in the Age of Pericles, the entire confederacy 
became an empire. 1 The great majority of citizens in all the allied 
cities were pleased with the change, as it gave them control of their 
local governments. But the coercion of a free state offended the 
sentiment of the Greeks in general, who therefore began to look 
upon Athens as a tyrant city. 

216. Political Parties at Athens and their Relations with Sparta. 
- The Spartans were accustomed to control the affairs of their 
allies by interfering in their politics. They always took sides with 
the conservative party. 2 In the case of Athens they had been dis- 
pleased with Themistocles ever since he had outwitted them in re- 
gard to the building of the walls. 3 In opposition to him they there- 
fore urged Cimon forward as leader of the conservatives. Several 
prominent men joined Cimon against Themistocles. Representing 

!Cf. 222. 2 Cf. 145. 3 2II. 



1 88 The Delian Confederacy and the Athenian Empire 

their great opponent as dangerous to the state, they had him 
ostracized (about 472 B.C.), and he finally died an exile in Asia 
Minor. 

For a few years after the banishment of Themistocles the Lace- 
daemonians remained friendly to Athens. But when the battle of 
Eurymedon had been won, and they saw the victorious city con- 
tinually adding to her possessions and power, fear and jealousy 
turned them against her. By promising to invade Attica they 
secretly encouraged the Thasians to hold out against Athens. 
This agreement, however, they were prevented from fulfilling by 
a terrible earthquake, which nearly destroyed Sparta. Only a few 
houses were left standing, and thousands of lives were lost. To add 
to the misfortune, the helots revolted, and in the general confusion 
caused by earthquake and superstition they nearly captured Sparta 
by surprise. But most of the perioeci remained loyal, and the 
shattered city was saved by the promptness of King Ar-chi-da'mus. 
The insurgents, who were mostly Messenians, seized and fortified, 
in their own country, Mount Ithome, 1 one of the strongest military 
positions in Peloponnese. As the Lacedaemonians could accom- 
lish nothing against them single-handed, they asked help of their 
allies, including the Athenians. When the envoys reached Athens, 
a hot debate ensued as to whether aid should be sent. After the 
banishment of Themistocles, the democratic party, believing that 
Sparta was a dead weight attached to Athens, continued to uphold 
his policy of cutting loose from Peloponnese. Its leader was now 
Themistocles' friend, Eph-i-al'tes, a good citizen and an upright 
statesman. He vehemently opposed the resolution to send assist- 
ance to the Lacedaemonians, and advised that " the pride and 
arrogance of Sparta be trodden under." Cimon, who was present, 
was of the opposite opinion. In the debate with Ephialtes, he 
urged the Athenians. " not to suffer Greece to be lamed or Athens to 
be deprived of her yoke-mate," meaning that the alliance between 
these two states should be preserved at every cost. It was his con- 
viction that the strength of Hellas should be united in continual 
war against Persia. The assembly adopted his proposal, and sent 
him with an army against Ithome. 

1 78, 141. 



Greek Unity Broken !8 9 

217. Rupture between Athens and Sparta (462 B.C.); Ostracism 
of Cimon (461 B.C.). --During the absence of Cimon the popular 
party, led by Ephialtes, held complete control of the government, 
and proceeded to make it more democratic than it had ever beeri 
before. 1 Meanwhile the Athenian troops at Ithome were unsuc- 
cessful; and the Lacedaemonian authorities, suspecting them of 
treachery, insolently dismissed them. Cimon returned to Athens 
an unpopular man. In trying to check the rising tide of democ- 
racy, he was met with taunts of over-fondness for Sparta. Athens 
abandoned his policy, broke loose from Sparta, and began to form 
an alliance of her own, wholly independent of the Peloponnesian 
League. Cimon 's resistance to these new movements caused his 
ostracism in 461 B.C. 

For fifteen years (476-461 B.C.) he had been leading the Athenian 
fleets to victory or upholding the principles of old Athens against 
what he believed to be the dangerous tendencies of demagogues, such 
as Themistocles and Ephialtes; during this time his influence main- 
tained friendship between his city and Sparta and harmony among 
the states of Greece. Under his patronage Athens advanced be- 
yond all other Hellenic cities in civilization. But with his ostracism 
the political leadership of his state passed into other hands. 

Summary 

(i) After the war the Athenians rebuilt the defences of their city against 
the will of the Lacedaemonians. (2) Themistocles then fortified Peiraeus, 
and laid the foundation of its commercial greatness. (3) The naval leader- 
ship passed from Sparta to. Athens. (4) Thereupon the latter organized the 
Confederacy of Delos. (5) This league expanded rapidly under the leader- 
ship of Cimon. (6) Discontented with the union, some of the allies revolted, 
whereupon Athens reduced the offending states to subjection. Gradually 
the confederacy was converted into an empire. (7) Meantime the demo- 
cratic party at Athens, making great gains, strove to cut loose from Sparta, 
whereas the conservatives clung to the Lacedaemonian alliance. (8) Finally 
the insolence of the Spartan authorities toward the Athenian contingent of 
their army caused a rupture between the two states. 

1 Down to this time, the Council of the Areopagus, a conservative body, had exercised 
a supervision over the magistrates and over the morals of the citizens ( 149). Ephialtes, 
supported by Pericles (see next chapter), deprived it of this power. 



i go The Delian Confederacy and the Athenian Empire 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Had Athens remained unfortified, what would probably have been 
her relations with Sparta? 2. Did Sparta really wish to yield to Athens the 
naval leadership? If so, why? 3. What is a confederacy? 4. Compare 
in detail the Delian Confederacy with the Peloponnesian League. 5. What 
would have happened to the allied states, had the Confederacy been dis- 
solved? 6. Was Athens justified in holding the Confederacy together by 
force? in subjecting the rebellious states? 7. Trace the events which led 
to the rupture between Athens and Sparta. 8. What part had Aristeides in 
the organization of the Confederacy? 9. Describe the location of Peiraeus, 
Delos, Naxos, Samos, Chios, Byzantium, and Eurymedon River. 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Founding of the Delian Confederacy. Fling, Source Book of 
Greek History, 148-151 (Thucydides) ; Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 
ch. xxiii; Bury, History of Greece, ch. viii. i, 2; Holm, History of Greece, 
ii. ch. vii. 

II. Aristeides. Aristotle, chs. xxiii, xxiv; Plutarch, Aristeides. 



CHAPTER XVIII 



THE AGE OF PERICLES 461-431 B.C. 
I. THE IMPERIALISM OF PERICLES 

218. Wars with the Peloponnesians and the Boeotians (461-456 
B.C.). After the ostracism of Cimon, Pericles became the leading 
statesman of his city. He was the son of Xanthippus, 1 a political 
leader and general of the Persian war, and through his mother he 
was related to Cleisthenes the lawgiver, and 
to the powerful gens of the Alcmeonidae. 
All the statesmen of Athens down to this 
time had been Eupatrids, 2 and the family of 
Pericles was as noble as any in the state. 
Through his public activities we shall be 
able to study his character. 

Under his guidance Athens deserted the 
Peloponnesian League, and allied herself 
with Argos and Thessaly, and soon after- 
ward with Megara. The policy of breaking 
loose from Sparta, which had been advo- 
cated by Themistocles and Ephialtes, was 
now carried out. Hellenic unity, so far as 
it had been attained, was broken; and 
Athens openly became the rival of Sparta 

for political supremacy. It was commercial rivalry, however, 
which first disturbed the peace. Aegina and Corinth felt cramped 
in their trade by the rise of Peiraeus. Supported by some of their 
neighbors, these two states declared war. But the Athenians were 
victorious over their enemies by land and sea. They then invaded 
Aegina and laid siege to the city. After a long resistance Aegina 

1 198. 2 149- 

191 




PERICLES 

(Copied after Cresilas, a 
Cretan artist of the fifth cen- 
tury, B.C. ; British Museum) 



1 92 The Age of Pericles 

surrendered, dismantled her walls, and entered the confederacy as 
a subject state. 

In this struggle Sparta gave her allies no direct help. She pre- 
ferred to create a strong rival of Athens in Boeotia. Disgraced 
by submission to Xerxes, Thebes had lost control of Boeotia, and 
the league of cities under her leadership 1 had dissolved. Sparta 
now sent a strong Peloponnesian army into Boeotia to restore the 
league, with Thebes at its head, as a counterpoise to Athens. 
Thereupon the Athenians marched forth, and engaged the Pelopon- 
nesians at Tan'a-gra (457 B.C.). In a bloody struggle the Athe- 
nians were worsted. So far as we know, this was the first battle 
fought between Athens and Sparta. 

The Peloponnesians now returned home, leaving the Boeotians 
in the lurch. Two months later the Athenians took the field and 
defeated the Boeotians at Oe-noph'y-ta (4566.0.). 

219. The Continental Federation (456-447 B.C.) ; Egypt and 
Cyprus. Through this victory Athens brought into her alliance all 
the towns of Boeotia except Thebes ; also Phocis, already friendly, 
and Locris. The Athenians expelled the oligarchs from the Boeo- 
tian towns, and set up democratic governments favorable to them- 
selves. About the same time Achaea made an alliance with Athens. 
The Athenians were now at the height of their power. Their 
Continental Federation 2 extended from the Isthmus to Ther- 
mopylae, and furthermore included not only Argos and Achaea 
in Peloponnese, but also Nau-pac'tus, an important station con- 
trolling the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf. From these events 
it is clear that Pericles intended to unite as many Hellenic states 
as possible under the military leadership of Athens. 

But the federation which he established on the peninsula came 
to a sudden end (447 B.C.). The oligarchs whom Athens had 
driven from the towns of Boeotia returned in force, defeated the 
Athenians, and compelled them to leave the country. About the 
same time Athens lost control of Locris, Phocis, and Megara, and 
came near losing Euboea. Only the military energy and the diplo- 
macy of Pericles saved the empire at this crisis. 

1 120. 

2 This league is sometimes described less accurately as a "Land Empire." 



Athenian Reverses 193 

The failure was in fact due to the imperialistic ambition of Peri- 
cles, which overtaxed the strength of his country. Egypt had 
revolted against Persia, and Pericles considered the moment op- 
portune for striking a blow at the national enemy and for gaining 
a political influence over the rich valley of the Nile. Two hun- 
dred and fifty triremes were sent to the help of the Egyptians ; but 
all were destroyed, and few of the crews ever returned to Athens. 
Even this terrible misfortune did not deter him from further attacks 
on Persia. Cyprus revolted against the king; and in 449 B.C. 
Cimon, recalled some time before from exile, sailed with two hun- 
dred triremes to aid in the liberation of that island. But he died 
on the expedition ; and though his fleet destroyed a strong Phoe- 




nician armament, the project came to naught. The disaster in 
Egypt, followed by this unsuccessful enterprise, so exhausted the 
strength of Athens that she had to adopt a more friendly policy 
toward her neighbors. She abandoned her federation on the con- 
tinent without a struggle, and she opened negotiations for peace 
with Sparta. 

220. The Long Walls. During these wars with near neighbors 
Athens was exposed to attacks from her many enemies. While 
'most of her forces were absent on service, it would not have been 



194 The Age of Pericles 

difficult for a hostile army to invade Attica and in a few days' 
siege to starve the city into surrender. Pericles guarded against 
this possibility by building two long walls from Athens to Peiraeus, 
so as to have a fortified way from the city to the port about four 
and a half miles distant. They ran parallel to each other, and 
far enough apart to enclose between them a broad road. In time 
of danger these " Long Walls " could easily be defended by a few 
guards, and thus could be maintained a safe passage for the con- 
veyance of supplies and for the march of troops from the port to 
the city. Henceforth so long as her navy commanded the sea, 
Athens was secure from siege. 1 

221. The Thirty Years' Truce (445 B.C.); Peace with Persia. 
In 445 B.C. a Truce for Thirty Years was made between the two 
hostile powers. Each party was to have the right to trade freely 
in the ports and markets of the other the " open door " clause. 
Athens gave up all her continental allies except Plataea and Nau- 
pactus. Neither party was to interfere with the allies of the other, 
but alliances with strangers could be made at pleasure. Athens 
suffered most by the treaty, as she was not only excluded from 
Peloponnese, but also lost control of the Corinthian Gulf and the 
Isthmus. She gained, on the other hand, an acknowledgment of 
her maritime supremacy. 

About the same time friendly relations were established between 
Athens and Persia, and thereafter they remained at peace with 
each other for many years. 

222. The Change from Confederacy to Empire Completed (454 
B.C.). In the preceding chapter we have seen how the allies of 
Athens were gradually reduced to the condition of subjects. 2 The 
change from confederacy to empire was completed by the transfer 
of the treasury from Delos to Athens, probably in 454 B.C. Only 
the Lesbians, Chians, and Samians, as free and equal allies, retained 
whatever forms of government they desired. Some time afterward 
Samos revolted and was reduced to subjection. The dependent 
states were required to make new treaties with Athens by which they 
agreed to adopt democratic constitutions, and to send their im- 

1 The earlier view that there was a third wall extending from Athens to Phalerum has 
recently been abandoned by scholars. 2 215. 



Imperialism and Democracy 195 

portant law cases to the imperial city for trial. The tribute from 
the empire enabled Athens to beautify herself with public works, 
to encourage literature and art, to provide the citizens with mag- 
nificent festivals, to give paid employment to most of her people, 
and to build and maintain powerful fleets and strong defences. 
Among the allied states Pericles established many colonies, which, 
besides serving as garrisons for the protection of the empire, fur- 
nished the poorer Athenians with lands. Thus both city and 
citizens were benefited by the empire. 

The allies, too, enjoyed the advantages of peace. Never before 
or afterward did they have equal opportunity for commerce or for 
quiet country life. The annual tribute was more than balanced 
by an increase in wealth and prosperity. The commons, every- 
where protected by Athens from the insolence of their own oligarchs, 
remained faithful. Only the families which had once ruled their 
communities, and the market-place politicians, were actively engaged 
in fomenting opposition to the Athenians. Though by no means 
perfect, the empire was the highest political development which 
the Greeks had yet reached. 

II. THE PERICLEAN DEMOCRACY 

223. The Law Courts. While Pericles was thus engaged in 
attaching to Athens the common people of the empire by giving 
them the control of their states, and by suppressing the oligarchs, 
he was no less busy with establishing equal rights for his fellow- 
citizens. In earlier times the Council of the Areopagus had ex- 
ercised a parental watch over the government, but it had recently 
lost this power. 1 Pericles believed the Athenians were no longer 
children in politics, and could now govern themselves. He intended 
that the people themselves should protect their constitution by 
means of the supreme court which Solon had established. 2 It was 
to contain six thousand jurors, who were divided normally into 

1 On the early parental government of this council, see 149- The democratic reform 
of 462 B.C. consisted chiefly in depriving the council of this and all other political powers 
( 217, n. i). It was now merely a court for the trial of wilful murder. 

2 158, VI. 



196 The Age of Pericles 

panels, or smaller courts, 1 of five hundred and one each. As cases 
were decided by a majority vote, the odd number was to prevent 
a tie. Originally the archons were judges and the courts simply 
received appeals from their decisions; but in the time of Pericles 
the archons had come to be mere clerks, who prepared cases for 
presentation to the courts and presided over them through the 
trial, with no power to influence the decision. In other words, 
the court was a large jury without a judge. As the archons de- 
clined, the jurors gained in importance. Their large number made 
bribery and intimidation difficult. Every person involved in a 
trial as plaintiff or defendant had to plead his own case. There 
came to be professional writers of speeches for such occasions, but 
no real lawyers. 2 The Athenians considered these popular cou^te 
a necessary protection of the liberty of the common citizens from 
the oppression of the nobles and the wealthy. They served this 
purpose well. 

The legislative power resided chiefly in these courts. Once a 
year, a special body of sworn jurors met and received from the 
assembly proposals for new laws, and after hearing them discussed, 
decided upon them by a majority vote. These legislative jurors 
were called " law-makers " (No-mo th'e-tae). Laws thus made 
were distinguished from the decrees passed by the Council of Five 
Hundred and the assembly in their management of the current 
business of government. 3 

The introduction of a fee enabled the poorest citizen to attend 
to jury service. The pay was that of an unskilled day laborer. If 
frugally managed, it would buy food for a small family. The 
jurors had been oarsmen or soldiers in their younger days, and 
now, for the most part too old to work, they were drawing their 
juror's fee as a kind of pension, for which, however, they were re- 
quired to sit on the benches judging from early morning till late at 
night. Payment for public duties alone made equality possible; 



1 Di-cas-te'ri-a, plural of dicasterium. Some panels were larger, others smaller, but 
the number was always odd. 

2 326. 

3 The laws were nom'oi, plural of nomos ; decrees were pse-phis'ma-ta, plural of 
psephisma. 



Government I9 y 

it permitted the poor, equally with the rich, to share in the duties 
and the benefits of government. 

224. The Assembly. The assembly was composed of all citizens 
above eighteen years of age who had the leisure and inclination to 
attend. There were four regular meetings in every prytany, or 
tenth of a year, with as many extraordinary sessions as were thought 
necessary. One meeting of each prytany was occupied with ex- 
amining the conduct of magistrates ; and any one of them who was 
thought guilty of mismanagement could be deposed and brought 
to trial before a popular court. All measures brought be- 
fore the assembly had to be previously considered by the Council 
of Five Hundred, but the citizens could offer amendments at 
pleasure. They had no master ; they acknowledged no authority 
but the laws which they and their fathers had made. There was no 
higher or more dignified ofHce than that of the citizen who attended 
the assembly and law courts ; he was at once a legislator, a judge, 
and an executive officer. This position of honor and trust made 
him public-spirited. The Athenian citizen was called upon, as 
was no other in the ancient world, to find his larger interests in those 
of the state. In the assembly and in the courts he received an ed- 
ucation in law and in statesmanship such as has been granted to 
but a select few in other states, whether ancient or modern. 

225. The Magistrates. There were fourteen hundred offices, 
all of annual duration. A few of the more important magistrates 
were elected by the people in their assembly, the rest were appointed 
by lot. The people could reelect a man as often as they pleased, 
but the places filled by lot could not be repeated. 1 

By far the most important magistrates in this century were the 
generals. They commanded the army, and were ministers of war, 
of the navy, of finance, and of foreign affairs. They had to be in 
constant communication with the assembly. For this purpose the 
gift of speaking was necessary, and that general who was at the same 
time an orator was naturally leader of the board. Through this 
office Pericles ruled Athens and her empire with an authority which 
surpassed that of kings and tyrants. His power was founded on 

1 An exception was made in favor of the Council of Five Hundred, the members of 
which could serve twice, though not in consecutive years. 



The Age of Pericles 

ability and integrity. " He was able to control the multitude in a 
free spirit ; he led them rather than was led by them ; for, not seek- 
ing power by dishonest arts, he had no need to say pleasant things, 
but on the strength of his own high character could venture to oppose 
and even to anger them. When he saw them unseasonably elated 
and arrogant, his words humbled and awed them ; and when they 
were depressed by groundless fears, he sought to reanimate their 
confidence. Thus Athens, though still in name a democracy, 
was in fact ruled by her greatest citizen." l 

III. SOCIETY AND EDUCATION 

226. The Population : Slaves. In the Age of Pericles the popu- 
lation of Attica was about 350,000. About 150,000 were slaves 
and 40,000 were resident aliens, leaving about 160,000 citizens, 
including women and children. These facts show at once that 
however far advanced Athens was beyond Egypt, her people had 
not yet adopted the idea of equality for all mankind. The slaves 
differed from the freemen, not in color, but simply in nationality. 
Some were bora in the country, but most of them were imported 
from the parts of Europe northeast of Greece, from Asia Minor, 
Syria, and more distant lands. As a rule captives in war were re- 
duced to slavery, and when traders could find none of this class to 
buy up, they often resorted to kidnapping. Every well-to-do Athe- 
nian had one or more slaves, and we hear of a certain wealthy man 
who owned a thousand, whom he let out to work for hire in the 
silver mines of the country. Slaves did all kinds of work in the 
house and field, in the mines and workshops. On ships they served 
as oarsmen. Some were overseers in charge of other slaves ; a few 
were well enough educated to manage their master's business. 

The few wealthy persons who owned slaves, and were supported 
by their labor, had the means and leisure to devote themselves to 
the cultivation of the mind and the taste, and to devising ways of 
making life more comfortable, refined, and beautiful. It is true, too, 
that the slaves at Athens were treated well better perhaps than 
anywhere else in the history of the world. Yet, after all has been 

1 Thucydides, ii. 65 



Society 



199 



said in favor of slavery, it must be admitted that the institution 
is cruel and inhuman. Appreciating this fact, some of the more 
enlightened Greeks demanded, but in vain, its abolition. 

227. Resident Foreigners. Above the slaves in rank were the 
resident aliens. Some were from Asia Minor and the Orient, but 
most of the class were from other Greek states. They came to en- 
rich themselves by manufacture and trade. A law of Solon (594 
B.C.) required the state to admit all such persons to the citizenship ; 
but as the Athenians grew more exclusive, they accepted none but 
those who had done some great service in behalf of the state, and 
then only by special vote of the assembly. Thereafter an alien 
family might reside many generations in Attica without acquiring 
a right to the citizenship. In this respect Athens was far different 
from a modern state. The- aliens paid a tax for the privilege of 
residing in the country, and a heavier war tax than that imposed 
upon the citizens. They were required to serve in the army when 
the state was in danger of invasion. All, however, were on a 
social level with the Athenians according to their personal fitness. 
They shared in the religious festivals, and their boys enjoyed the 
same education. Some lived 

in Athens, but most of them 
in Peiraeus. The commercial 
greatness of this city was due 
largely to the labor and the 
wealth of these resident aliens. 

228. Citizens; their Exclu- 
siveness. Some of the citizens 
were laborers for hire; others 
had little farms, which they 
cultivated alone or with the aid 
of a slave or two ; still others 
were shopkeepers or artisans. 

Many were wealthy enough to live without work, to serve in 
the cavalry their only standing army or to fill the * offices 
of the state. There were no paupers, with the exception of a few 
disabled persons, and they were pensioned by the government. 
Less than half the population were citizens members of the 




ATHENIAN KNIGHTS 
(Parthenon frieze ; British Museum) 



200 The Age of Pericles 

state. They considered one another as kinsmen all descend- 
ants of the same "ancestral Apollo." 1 Each family in its own 
house worshipped Apollo. As the state was one great family, with 
many sons and daughters, it felt disinclined to admit aliens that 
is, to adopt other sons and daughters. As there was the keenest 
rivalry with other states, often breaking out into war, Athens felt 
that her citizens must be loyal, and that aliens, who had little 
interest in the welfare of the country, must remain aliens. This 
exclusiveness of the Athenians affected their treatment, not only 
of resident foreigners, but also of allies, who were now in reality 
subjects. However loyal an allied state might be, its citizens were 
given no hope of ever securing the Athenian franchise. Thus the 
whole body of Athenian citizens had become aristocratic, were now 
living in part at the expense of the many over whom they ruled, 
and were taking pride in their exclusive privileges of birth. In 
earlier time Athenians were allowed to marry women from other 
states, and the children of such marriages enjoyed full citizenship. 
When, however, Athens had become an imperial city, and the 
privileges of citizenship had grown to be correspondingly valuable, 
the Athenians would no longer tolerate the old custom. Pericles 
put an end to it by a law, 451 B.C., which restricted the citizen- 
ship to those whose parents were both Athenians. By this measure 
the Athenians made of themselves a closed caste, practically refus- 
ing to intermarry with other Greeks. The great advantage to the 
progress of the world which we find in the character of the Greek 
state lies in the fact that it is possible by careful training, generation 
after generation, to make of such a society a superior race of beings, 
as far above the common level of humanity as that level is above 
the savage. Unfortunately, on the other hand, a narrow, caste 
society, like that of the Athenians, with no fresh blood to revitalize 
it, is doomed sooner or later to physical decay. This narrowness, 
therefore, though a cause of the greatness of Athens, was to prove 
more pernicious than all the calamities of war that ever befell her. 
229. The Children. In nearly all ancient states the father 
had the right to kill his children at their birth, if he did not wish to 
bring them up. The custom began in barbarous times, and was 

1 n6. 



Children 



201 



not abolished by so highly civilized a state as Athens. But the 
Athenian father rarely made use of his right ; for he needed children 
to continue his family and its worship after him. His own happi- 
ness in the next world was secure, only if he had children to bury him 
and to sacrifice at his tomb according to the hereditary family 
rites. 1 In this way ancestor worship made parents more humane 
in their treatment of children, and bound the members of the 
family together in the closest ties of affection and of mutual help- 
fulness. Soon after the birth of a child, usually the tenth day fol- 
lowing, the parents gave a festival to their friends and kinsmen. 
On this occasion the child received its name, the eldest son gen- 







WOMEN PLAYING KNUCKLEBONES 
(From a painting on marble, Herculaneum) 

erally being called after the paternal grandfather. For the first 
six years boys and girls alike grew up under the care of the mother 
and nurses. With their many toys and games they certainly enjoyed 
life as much as children now do. In order that a person might be 
known as a citizen, it was necessary that he should be publicly rec- 
ognized while still an infant. This duty was attended to by the 
phratry, as explained in an earlier chapter. 2 



100. 



115- 



2O2 



The Age of Pericles 



230. The School. At the age of seven the boy was sent to 
school, kept by a master who received pay from the parents of the 
children whom he instructed. All boys, however poor, learned to 
read and write. Great care was taken in school and at home to 




A SCHOOL 
(From a vase-painting) 

teach the boy good morals and manners. He was not to see or 
hear anything vulgar or debasing, and he was kept entirely away 
from bad company. He learned modesty, respect for his parents 
and elders, love for his country, and other virtues. Most of all he 
was taught self-restraint and moderation. Pleasures were good, but 
nothing should be done to excess. He had to learn the proper way 
to sit, walk, dress, and eat. If the father could afford it, he placed 
over the boy as governor pae-da' go-gos , " boy leader " a slave, 



IVORY STYLUS 
(Fifth century B.C. ; found in Euboea ; British Museum) 

generally an old man who accompanied the boy wherever he went and 
saw that the rules of training were strictly obeyed. At school the 
boy learned reading, writing, arithmetic, and a little geometry and 
astronomy. With a sharp iron instrument sty'lus he prac- 
tised writing on a tablet covered with wax. His books were rolls 



Education 



203 



of Egyptian papyrus. 1 The literature he studied was poetry. 
His chief books were the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer. 2 These 
poems picture every phase of life ; they encourage in the reader 
bravery, patriotism, truth, and other virtues with which Homer 
endows his heroes. They inspire, too, a love of beauty ; for they 
are among the most beautiful 
poems ever created. The 
Athenian boys committed 
them to memory. 

231. Music; Athletics. - 
Lessons at school were but 
a small part of education. 
Every boy who was to have 
a place in respectable society 
had to learn to sing and 
play on the lyre. This in- 
struction was given by a 
special master. We are far 
less sensitive than were the 
Greeks to the influence of 
music, and for that reason 
we cannot understand how 
powerful a force it was with 
them for moulding character. 
Care was taken that the 
youth should hear and prac- 
tise those melodies only which 
cultivate the nobler feelings. 

Meantime the boy or youth regularly attended the wrestling 
ground pal-aes'tra for the practice of gymnastics under a pro- 
fessional teacher. There he was trained in running, wrestling, 
jumping, boxing, and throwing the discus and spear. The object 
was not the development of professional athletes who could enter- 
tain the public with exhibitions of wonderful strength and' skill. 
All boys took equal part in the exercises for the purpose of making 
their bodies strong and supple, that as citizens they might serve the 
1 29. 2 95 ff- 




DISCOBOLUS (DISCUS-THROWER) 

(After Myron, an older contemporary of Phidias ; 

Vatican Museum, Rome) 



2O4 The Age of Pericles 

state most ably in peace and war. They held frequent competitions 
in the palaestra and in the religious festivals, and the most promis- 
ing winners were sent to represent their state at the great national 
games. The prize was a simple wreath of parsley, laurel, or olive ; 
for the Greeks set honor above money. No greater glory could 
come to a state than such a victory by one of her citizens. 

232. A Well-Rounded Education. From what has been said 
above it is clear that the education of the youth was physical, in- 
tellectual, artistic, and moral. The aim was not to prepare him 
for business or a profession, but to make of him the best possible 
man and citizen. Meantime all his surroundings helped in this 
direction. Men and boys merely ate and slept at home, and 
passed nearly all the day in the open air. Living close to nature, 
the youth came to understand it far better than we do, and 
learned to live in harmony with it. In that brilliantly clear 
atmosphere he could see objects near or far just as they were, not 
blurred by mist as they are in a great part of our country. He kept 
his own mind as clear, so that he could describe objects and actions 
just as they were, with perfect naturalness and truth. His sur- 
roundings encouraged the growth of his imagination. He saw 
about him an endless variety of islands, seas, plains, slopes, and 
hills. From the Acropolis of Athens he looked across the plain to 
its border of mountains and to other heights still farther and farther 
away. His imagination led him to these distant places ; it tempted 
his mind to pass from the known to the unknown on mental voy- 
ages of exploration. The mind was so well-trained that he could 
safely follow it. Thus he became a discoverer of new truth, an 
inventor in science and art. Though he might never have handled 
the chisel or the brush, he was by nature an artist, whose taste 
was satisfied with nothing short of perfection in sculpture, archi- 
tecture, and literature. 

233. Military Training. At the age of eighteen the youth 
became a man. His name was then enrolled in the register of his 
father's township (deme). 1 From eighteen to twenty he was re- 
quired to take military training along with his fellows of the same 
age. At the end of the first year these young soldiers had to give 

1 165. 



Women and Marriage 



205 



a public exhibition of their mili- 
tary skill ; and the authorities of 
the state, if satisfied, presented 
each one with a spear and a 
shield. After his two years of 
drill and garrison duty, he re- 
mained a citizen soldier liable to 
be called on for military service 
till he reached the age of sixty. 

234. Women and Marriage. - 
Athenian girls were kept closely 
at home, and received instruc- 
tion from their mothers and 
nurses. Although proficient in 
domestic affairs, they had little 
musical and intellectual educa- 
tion. Foreign women in Athens 
were far freer ; many were men- 
tally and socially accomplished, 
and hence were more attractive 
than the daughters of the citizens. 

Between twenty and thirty a 
man usually married. There was 
no opportunity for courtship ; in 
fact, the young people rarely 
knew each other before the wed- 
ding; but the youth's father 
chose the bride, and with her 
father or guardian settled the 
contract. Marriage was largely 
a business affair: every father 
gave his daughter a dowry pro- 
portioned to his wealth ; and as 
parents were anxious to keep the 
hereditary property within the 
family, they preferred to marry 
their children to near relatives. 




206 The Age of Pericles 

This intermarriage of near kinsfolk was perhaps the chief cause of 
the physical decline of the Athenians. 

Before the wedding both bride and groom bathed in water 
brought from the Sacred Spring. In the morning a sacrifice 
was offered to the marriage gods, and later in the day the rela- 
tives, men and women, feasted at the house of the bride's father. 
In the evening a procession escorted her to her new home. She 
rode in a carriage by her husband's side, while the rest accom- 
panied on foot, some playing the harp and pipe, others singing 
the bridal song. Various ceremonies attended her entrance into 
the house. 

The wife was not often seen in public. She was present at the 
funerals of her kin, and took part in religious festivals. Accom- 
panied by a slave, she walked or rode along the streets to the houses 
of her friends. But in her own home the wife was mistress, and 
she who had the necessary mental gifts controlled the opinions and 
even the politics of her husband. Restrictions upon her freedom 
applied to the wealthy only, and especially to the city people. 
Among the poor, and in the country, women enjoyed a large degree 
of liberty. 

235. The Banquet. After marriage, as before, men spent 
most of their time away from home, in the gymnasia and the 
schools of philosophy, in the courts or magistracies, in business 
and society. Often for the celebration of a happy event a man 
invited his male friends to an evening dinner, ending in a 
symposium, or drinking-bout. On such an occasion the host 
entertained his guests with many dainty dishes ; but the Athenians 
were naturally frugal, and their feasts were far less expensive than 
those of the Romans. 

The guests reclined in pairs on couches. After they had washed 
their hands in bowls passed round for the purpose, slaves set before 
them low, three-legged tables, on which they then placed the food. 
The guests used spoons, but no fork, and rarely a knife. As they 
therefore soiled their hands, it was necessary to wash again after eat- 
ing. For the symposium they wreathed their heads in garlands, and 
chose a ruler who decided how much wine should be drunk and 
what the subjects of conversation should be. They weakened their 



The Acropolis 207 

wine with water, so that intoxication was rare. While they were 
drinking, jugglers, dancers, and musicians of both sexes entertained 
them. The guests themselves sang or told riddles or conversed, as 
the ruler directed. 

IV. INTELLECTUAL LIFE; THE ATHENIAN GENIUS 

236. The Acropolis before Pericles. The private dwellings of 
the Athenians and even their state offices were small a ad inexpensive. 
Religion alone inspired them to build beautifully and grandly. 
When the Persians entered Athens, they burned the temples and 
other buildings, leaving the Acropolis strewn with heaps of ruins. 
For a time after their return the citizens had neither the leisure nor 
the means of restoring these shrines. Cimon, however, completing 
a work begun by Themistocles, levelled the surface of the Acropolis 
to fit it better for buildings. 1 This end was accomplished by erect- 
ing a high wall along the southern edge, a lower one along the north- 
ern, and filling up the space thus made with earth and rubbish. 
The present steep appearance of the hill is due chiefly to this work. 
But it was left to Pericles to build the temples on the ground thus 
prepared. 

237. The Parthenon. For this purpose Pericles used some of 
the funds from the imperial treasury. When the empire was es- 
tablished, Athena became its protecting deity. A splendid house 
for her would be a glory to the subject states as well as to Athens. 
Revenues from other sources were likewise used; and as the state 
owned the marble quarries on Mount Pentelicus, the chief cost was 
for the labor. 

In 447 B.C. the assembly appointed a commission, of which Peri- 
cles was a member, to supervise the erection of a new temple to 
Athena on the Acropolis. In ten years it was sufficiently completed 
to receive the statue of the goddess. It extends nearly parallel 
with the southern rim of the hill, and is about seventy-five yards 
long and about thirty-three yards wide. It contains two rooms. 
The larger one is the cella, in which stood the statue, and the smaller 

1 He used for this purpose the money derived from the sale of booty taken at Eurym- 
edon; 214. 




208 






Parthenon 209 

the parthenon, used as a storeroom and treasury of the goddess. 
The word parthenon means maiden's chamber. After a time, how- 
ever, it came to apply to the whole building, and then it signified the 
" house of the maiden Athena." In front is a row of six columns, 
with the same number in the rear. 1 It is surrounded further by a 
row of columns, eight on each end and seventeen to the side, count- 
ing the corner pillars twice. They rest on a foundation of three steps. 
Within the cella is another colonnade which probably supported a 
gallery. The columns grow smaller from the bottom upward, and 
this tapering is modified by a slight outward curve. They are not 
vertical, but incline slightly toward the temple walls. The columns 
are a perfect combination of strength and beauty. The foundation, 
too, on which the colonnade rests, is slightly higher near the centre 
than at the corners. In fact, there is not in the entire temple a 
straight line of any considerable length. By such means the archi- 
tects avoided the appearance of mechanical stiffness, and rendered 
the building natural and pleasing to the eye. It was made of Pen- 
telic marble. When taken from the quarry, this stone is a glitter- 
ing white, but changes under exposure to creamy yellow and gold. 
Some parts were painted, others were left natural. The building 
is of the Doric order, softened by Ionic influence. 2 

238. The Sculptures of the Parthenon. The sculptures of the 
temple all illustrate the relations of Athena with the city of Athens. 
They are, so to speak, chapters in the history of these relations. 
Some of the metopes 3 represent fights between the Lapiths, a Thes- 
salian tribe, and centaurs between men and monsters. These 
scenes are from an age which lies back of Athena's present orderly 
rule. The all-important chapter is the birth of the goddess. It is 
represented, therefore, in the most conspicuous place on the east 
pediment above the door and facing the rising sun. Here in the 
midst of gods and heroes Athena springs full-grown and armed 
from the head of her father Zeus. The next chapter is the contest 
between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of the city. 4 By 

1 A temple with a colonnade in front is called pro'style, and when the row is repeated 
in the rear, am'phi-pro-stvle. The Parthenon is therefore amphiprostyle. 

2 For the meaning of "Doric order" and "Ionic order," see 172-174. 

3 For the meaning of metope, triglyph, pediment, etc., see 175. 4 m. 

P 



2IO 



The Age of Pericles 



winning the victory she becomes the guardian of Athens and the 
first of its citizens. This scene is on the west pediment. The final 
chapter is the frieze. 1 It is a band of low reliefs extending around 

the temple wall within the 
colonnade. It represents 
various group of citizens 
- -.-?iTw ^Ky preparing for the proces- 

4^ ^ 4? sion of the Great Pan " 
* T* ath-e-na'ic 2 festival in her 

honor, held every fourth 
year in the month of July. 
The idea is that of plenty 
and happiness under her 
peaceful rule. 

In beauty these sculp- 
tures are fit adornments 
of the Parthenon. By 
comparing one of its met- 
opes with that from Seli- 
nus described above, 3 we 
may see how wonderful an advance the Greeks had made in 
this branch of art within the short period of a hundred and 
fifty years. The figures of the Parthenon metope are lifelike, 




LAPITH AND CENTAUR 
(Parthenon metope ; British Museum) 



WEST PEDIMENT OF PARTHENON 
(Sketched by Carey before the removal of the sculptures to the British Museum) 

and are wrought with great skill. The earlier sculpture shows a 
mechanical succession of figures, little related to one another, 

1 Strictly this is the Ionic frieze, as distinguished from the Doric. The latter is made 
up of the triglyphs and metopes; 175. 

2 This adjective signifies "belonging to all the Athenians." Besides the Greater 
Panathenaea, there was a Lesser Panathenaea held annually. It was a harvest festival. 

3 177. 



Sculptures of the Parthenon 



211 



whereas those of the later piece form a natural group which fills 
the slab with a variety of graceful lines. The frieze shows still 
greater genius in design and skill in execution. The colossal statue 





GROUP OF MAIDENS 
(Parthenon frieze ; British Museum) 

Iof Athena in this temple was made on a wooden frame ; the gar- 
ments were of gold and the bare parts of ivory. We know that 
this statue was the work of Phid'i-as, the greatest sculptor of all 
time. 1 He had the supervision, too, of the other sculptures of the 
temple. 

The nobility of design, the severe beauty, and the finish of these 
sculptures have never been rivalled. Most of those which still 
exist were brought to England by Lord Elgin early in the nineteenth 

1 Polycleitus of Argos was a contemporary of Phidias, and nearly, if not quite, equal 
to him in genius. It was Polycleitus who set the style for sculptors of statues till Ly- 
sippus introduced a new principle. For the characteristics of Polycleitus, see 330. 



212 



The Age of Pericles 



century, and are now in the British Museum. The Parthenon can- 
not compare in size with the temples of Egypt or with the Chris- 
tian cathedrals of mediaeval time ; but in the harmony of all its 
parts, in the beauty of the whole, in the absolute balance of dignity 

and grace, it is the most nearly 
perfect piece of architecture ever 
created by human hands. 

239. Other Buildings. The 
other buildings of Pericles, though 
of great artistic value, can be 
mentioned but briefly here. At 
the entrance to the Acropolis on 
the west was erected a magnifi- 
cent portal called the Pro-py- 
lae'a " front gateway." Nearly 
touching it on the south is the 
temple of Wingless Victory 
Ni'ke Ap'te-ros. It is a neat 
little temple of Pentelic marble. 
One of the best-preserved reliefs 
connected with it represents a 
Victory adjusting her sandal. 
Comparing it with the maidens of 
the Parthenon frieze, we discover 
at once that its beauty is less 
severe and restrained. If the 
Phidian art is the highest attained 
by mankind, this Victory repre- 
sents the first downward step. 1 

Northwest of the Acropolis, on 
a slight elevation, stands the so- 
called The-se'um. Scholars now 
believe that it is really not a shrine 
to the hero Theseus, but a temple of one of the greater gods. Of all 
Hellenic temples it is the best preserved. At the base of the Acro- 

1 It seems probable that this piece of sculpture was made, not in the age of Pericles, 
but later in the same century. 




COPY OF ATHENA PARTHENOS 
(Statuette; National Museum, Athens) 




W S 



3 a 

H O 

il 

2 1 

it 



Theseum and Odeum 



213 



polls in the opposite direction was the O-de'um, which has entirely 
disappeared. It was semicircular in form, with a pointed, tentlike 
roof, whose rafters were masts of Persian vessels taken at Salamis. 







THESEUM i, 

(From a photograph) 

In it were held the musical contests of the Great Pan-ath-e-nae'a. 
A comic poet of the time, calling Pericles Zeus, as the Athenians 
often did, and comparing the Odeum to a cap, wrote : 

" Our Zeus with lofty skull appears ; 
The Odeum on his head he wears, 
Because he fears the ostrakon no more." 

To the right of the Odeum, as we look down from the Acropolis, 
was the theatre dedicated to Dionysus. In it the audience sat on 
rough wooden seats, arranged in rows on the slope of the hill. 
Little else is known of it for this period. The great stone theatres 
of Greece belong to a later age, and will be described therefore in 
another chapter. 1 

240. The Drama. The rudeness of the theatre was more than 
made good by the genius of the playwrights. Aeschylus (525-456 
B.C.), the first great composer of dramas, saw the beginning of the 

1 Ch. xxvi, 329. The Erechtheum, also later than the Age of Pericles, is described 
in 271. 



214 



The Age of Pericles 



age of Pericles. He had lived through the war with Persia, and 
had fought in the battles of Marathon and Salamis. From this con- 
flict he drew his inspiration. Of his ninety tragedies we have only 
seven, but all of them masterpieces of literature. To the student of 

r ^ ' history the Persians is the 

most valuable. In represent- 
ing the invasion of Xerxes, it 
gives a glorious description of 
the battle of Salamis. 1 The 
moral aim of the play is to 
show how Zeus punished 
Xerxes for his insolence. In 
fact, overweening pride and 
its fatal effects are the theme 
of all his writings. 

Soph'o-cles was the great 
dramatic writer of the age of 
Pericles. Though not so 
strong or so original as Aeschy- 
lus, he was a more careful 
artist. His plot is more intri- 
cate and his language more 
finished. We have but seven 
of his hundred plays. Though 
the Oed'i-pus Tyr-an'nus won 
but a second prize, modern 
scholars usually consider it 
his best. It tells how Oedi- 
pus, king of Thebes, a just 
and pious man, brought utter ruin upon himself and his household 
by unintentional sin. 2 In the An-tig'o-ne the heroine faces a con- 
flict between divine and human law. She chooses to obey the com- 
mand of God in preference to that of the king ; and she dies a mar- 
tyr to the nobler cause. It has always been popular, from its first 
exhibition to the present day. 

1 See the quotation from it in 205. 

2 iiS. 




VICTORY ADJUSTING HER SANDAL 

(From balustrade of Nike temple; Acropolis 
Museum, Athens) 



History and Philosophy 215 

241. History. In the age of Pericles He-rocTo-tus was at 
work on his History, the first masterpiece of Greek prose. An exile 
from his native city of Hal-i-car-nas'sus in Asia Minor, the " father 
of history " spent much of his life in travel. He visited nearly all 
of the known world, and everywhere collected from the natives in- 
teresting stories of persons and events. These he wove into a his- 
tory of the war between Greece and Persia. In tracing the causes 
of the conflict by way of introduction, he gives the history of the 
world from mythical times down to the war itself. He wrote his 
work to be read aloud, as the poems of Homer had been, at public 
gatherings. This helps us to understand why his style is so simple 
and so interesting. Many of his tales are myths or fictitious anec- 
dotes ; but they are all valuable, as they illustrate the character of 
nations and of individuals. Herodotus was one of the fairest and 
most large-minded of historians. Though uncritical, though he 
takes little interest in politics, or in the deeper causes of events, yet 
his picture of the world of his time and of mankind in the many 
countries which he visited makes his work perhaps the truest, as it 
certainly is the most interesting, of all histories. 

242. Philosophy of the Sophists. Pericles was a patron of litera- 
ture and art, and friend of philosophers. Among his teachers was 
An-ax-ag'o-ras, the first philosopher who taught that Mind rules the 
universe. The class of philosophers called sophists 1 was now be- 
coming numerous. They travelled through Greece teaching prac- 
tical knowledge of every kind for pay. Especially they aimed to 
prepare young men for statesmanship by training them in mere 
cleverness of thought. As a rule they were sceptical ; with their 
false logic they tried to undermine belief in everything. They 
destroyed respect for religion by pointing out its inconsistencies 
and the immoralities of the gods. Their influence, however, af- 
fected but a few men of wealth and leisure. In general, life was 
wholesome and the people were moral. 

243. Character of Pericles. The noble birth and connections 
of Pericles were mentioned above. 2 His education in literature, 
music, and philosophy was the best his city could afford. In 
oratory he had no special training, for in his younger days rhetoric 

1 From o-o06s, wise. 2 5 218 



216 The Age of Pericles 

had not yet come into existence. 1 Though he attended carefully to 
the wording of his speeches, he had no technical rules of composition 
to follow. His delivery was not dramatic, but statuesque. He stood 
quietly, with scarcely a gesture or movement to ruffle the folds of his 
mantle. The audience was moved by the weight of his words, the 
majesty of his person, his deep earnestness, and the confidence which 
his pure and noble character inspired. Other speakers of the time 
were thought of merely as human; he was Olympian, 2 the Zeus of 
Athens. A comic poet of the time speaks of him as " rolling fateful 
thunders from his tongue." Like every true orator, Pericles felt 
deeply the emotions which he knew how to stir in others ; but he 
kept his feelings strictly under the control of his intelligence, so as 
to look at everything clearly and calmly. His character had the 
completeness and the poise which we admire in a Greek statue, and 
which we describe as classic. 

Though no military genius, Pericles was an able commander. 
He was a master of diplomacy and a great statesman. Themis- 
tocles, a man of far higher genius, had boldly followed his intuitions ; 
Pericles was cold and calculating, he would make his entire policy 
right by most careful attention to all the details. In the enthusiasm 
of his earlier career he had hoped by a few bold strokes to make his 
city the head of all Hellas and the dominant power in the Mediter- 
ranean world. But he had failed ; and through the following years 
of peace he toiled with patience and energy in preparation for a new 
and more successful trial of strength with Lacedaemon. While 
engaged in beautifying his city, he paid even more attention to the 
building of triremes and arsenals and to the manufacture of arms. 
Proof of this activity is the splendid military condition in which 
Athens found herself at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. 3 

244. Pericles on the Athenian Character. The Athenians 
were not only more intensely religious than the other Greeks, but 
they devoted themselves with greater earnestness and force to po- 
litical, artistic, and intellectual life. The best interpreter of their 
public character is Pericles himself. In one of his orations 4 he de- 

1 Cf. 274. ' 102. 8 247. 

4 His Funeral Oration, in Thu-cyd'i-des, ii. 35-46. The language is largely that of 
the historian. The ideas are those of Pericles. 



Pericles 217 

fines their democracy as " equality before the laws and offices for 
the qualified," after which he calls attention to their social liberality 
and kindness. " There is no exclusiveness in our private inter- 
course. We are not suspicious of one another, nor angry with our 
neighbor if he does what he likes ; we do not put on sour looks at 
him, which though harmless are unpleasant. We have not forgot- 
ten to provide our weary spirits with many relaxations from toil ; 
we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year; at home 
the style of our life is refined; and the delight which we daily feel 
in all these things helps banish sadness." The mentality and the 
physical energy of the Athenians were in his time intense. " We 
have the peculiar power of thinking before we act," he asserts, 
" and of acting, too, whereas other men are courageous from igno- 
rance, but hesitate on reflection." A great foreign policy, such as he 
was pursuing, had to be based not on ignorant selfishness, but on 
kindness and generosity. " We alone do good to our neighbors not 
upon a calculation of interest, but in a frank and fearless spirit." 

His object in building the Parthenon and other temples, in en- 
couraging artists to produce the best possible painting and sculp- 
ture, in fostering literature and a many-sided education, was to 
make of the Athenians a people superior in mind and heart to the 
rest of the Greeks a people whom none would be ashamed to ac- 
knowledge as teachers or rulers. " To sum up, I say that Athens is 
the school of Hellas, and that the individual Athenian in his own 
person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most 

varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace In 

the hour of trial Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior 
to the report of her. No enemy who comes against her is indignant 
at the reverses which he sustains at the hands of such a city; no 
subject complains that his masters are unworthy of him." The 
ideal, though high, was nearly reached in fact. 

245. The Troubles of Pericles. But the era of peace was rap- 
idly drawing to an end. The moderate policy of Pericles pleased 
neither the oligarchs nor the extreme democrats. His enemies, not 
daring to attack him directly, assailed his friends one after another. 
First they prosecuted Phidias, the sculptor, on the charge of embez- 
zling some of the gold entrusted to him to be used in gilding the 



218 The Age of Pericles 

statue of Athena for the Parthenon. Although he was ready to 
prove his innocence by having the metal taken off and weighed, 
they threw him into prison, where he died of sickness. About the 
same time As-pa'si-a was indicted for impiety and immorality. She 
was a Milesian by birth, a woman of remarkable intelligence. Peri- 
cles had divorced his wife, the mother of his two sons, and had taken 
Aspasia to his house, though his own law of 451 B.C. forbade him to 
marry an alien. She became the teacher of artists, philosophers, 
and orators, the inspiring genius of the Periclean social circle. 
But the Athenians, who in this age had come to believe that a 
woman must be restricted to the house and must talk with no one 
outside of her own family, regarded Aspasia's conduct as immoral. 
Happily Pericles by personal entreaty induced the judges to acquit 
her. While he was thus beset by private difficulties, war with Pelo- 
ponnese began to threaten. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of this chapter like that on p. 189. 2. Compare 
Athens and Sparta, 456 B.C., in military power and in extent of territory 
controlled. 3. Compare the Athenian jury system with that of our own 
country. What are the relative merits of the two systems? 4. Compare 
the training of boys at Athens and Sparta. 5. What are the seated youths 
doing in the picture on p. 202? Describe the writing material.. Describe 
the two musical instruments seen in the picture. 6. Compare the appear- 
ance of the Parthenon as a whole with the temple of Poseidon, and explain 
the superiority of the one over the other. 

Note-book Topics 

I. Government of Athens under Pericles. Aristotle, Constitution of 
Athens, chs. xxiv, xxvi, xxvii ; Botsford, Development of the Athenian Con- 
stitution, 221-233; Greenidge, Handbook of Greek Constitutional History, 
166-189; Holm, History of Greece, ii. ch. xvi. 

II. Pericles the Man. Thucydides, ii. 65, also his Funeral Oration, 
ii. 35-46; Plutarch, Pericles; Abbott, Pericles, 357-367. 

III. Herodotus. Jebb, Greek Literature, 103-106; Murray, Ancient 
Greek Literature, ch. vi ; Fowler, Ancient Greek Literature, ch. xv ; Holm, ii. 
ch. xx ; Grundy, Great Persian War, xiv. 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR TO THE SICILIAN EXPEDITION 

431-415 B.C. 

246. Causes of the War. Before the year 431 B.C. a great 
majority of the states of Greece had been brought under the leader- 
ship of Athens or of Sparta. The peace of 445 B.C. was to last thirty 
years ; but scarcely half that period had elapsed when war broke 
out between the two powers. They were rivals for the leadership 
of Greece; and the growing power of Athens filled Sparta with 
. jealousy and fear. 

The Athenians had trouble also with particular states of the 
League. The usual relations between Athens and Corinth had 
been extremely friendly ; but since the war with Persia, Peiraeus 
was monopolizing the commerce of the seas, and Corinth found her- 
self painfully cramped in her trade. Furthermore, Athens was in- 
terfering between her and her colony, Corcyra. Corinth and Cor- 
cyra had fought for the possession of Ep-i-dam'nus, a joint colony 
on the mainland. After suffering a severe defeat in battle, Corinth 
persuaded several of her neighbors to aid in preparing a great arm- 
ament with which to overwhelm Corcyra. Thereupon the latter 
sent envoys to Athens to ask an alliance. Corinthian ambassadors 
also came, and the two parties pleaded their causes before the 
Athenian assembly. Believing war with Lacedaemon inevitable, 
Pericles felt that the navy of the Corcyraeans should by all means 
be secured for Athens. Upon his advice, therefore, it was resolved 
to make a defensive alliance with them; and a small Athenian 
fleet was sent to aid them in defending their island against the 
great Corinthian armament. 1 The Corinthians were justly angry 
with this interference between themselves and their colonies, es- 

1 In the battle off Syb'o-ta, 432 B.C. 
219 



22O Peloponnesian War to the Sicilian Expedition 

pecially as they had several times prevented Lacedaemon from 
interfering in Athenian affairs. They asserted that Athens broke 
the treaty, and now exerted all their energy to stir up Peloponnese 
against the offender. 

At the same time they were urging Potidaea 1 to revolt. This 
Corinthian settlement in Chalcidice had grown into a prosperous 
city, now tributary to Athens. Garrisoned by a force from the 
mother state, it revolted, whereupon the Athenians laid siege to the 
place. 

The Corinthians alleged that this was another violation of the 
treaty of 445 B.C. They persuaded the Lacedaemonians to call a 
congress of the League to consider the various grievances against 
Athens (432 B.C.). When the deputies gathered, the Lacedaemo- 
nians invited them to bring their complaints before the Spartan 
assembly. Among those who had grievances were the Mega- 
rians. Athens had recently passed an act which excluded them 
from the ports and markets of Attica and of the empire. This, 
also, the Megarians averred, was a violation of the treaty. Per- 
suaded by these arguments, the Spartan assembly voted that the 
Athenians had broken the treaty. The Peloponnesian congress 
ratified the decision, and declared war against Athens. 

247. The Resources of Athens and Sparta. The empire of 
Athens, composed of subjects states, was stronger than it had ever 
been before. Among her independent allies were Chios, Lesbos, 
Thessaly, and Plataea, besides a few cities in Italy and Sicily. She 
had thirteen thousand heavy-armed troops, and a larger force for 
garrison service. There were three hundred triremes of her own, 
besides those of the allies, and her sailors were the best in the world. 
She commanded the sea and its resources. The tributes from her 
subject cities, together with other revenues, amounting in all to 
about a thousand talents a year, would be nearly enough, in case 
of siege, to support the whole Attic population on imported food. 

All the Peloponnesian states, except Argos and a part of Achaea, 
were in alliance with Lacedaemon ; and outside of Peloponnese, the 
Megarians, Boeotians, Locrians, and some others ; in Sicily and in 
Italy most of the Dorian cities sympathized with Sparta. The few 

1 128. 



First Three Years 221 

commercial states of the League provided ships ; the others, land 
forces only. The League could muster an army of twenty-five thou- 
sand heavy-armed men. Though by no means a numerous force, 
it was the strongest in the world at that time. 

248. The First Three Years of the War (431-429 B.C.). In 
the summer of the first year a Peloponnesian army invaded Attica. 
The plan of Pericles was to venture no battle on land, but to bring 
the entire population into the city or behind the Long Walls, and to 
damage Peloponnese as much. as he could with his fleet. While 
the invaders were devastating Attica, the Athenians were sailing 
round Peloponnese and ravaging the coasts. These operations were 
repeated nearly every year through the early part of the war. The 
removal of the country people to Athens was very painful. They 
were distressed at exchanging the homes and shrines which they 
loved for the crowded city, where most of them could find no com- 
fortable shelter. And when they saw their houses and orchards 
ruined by the enemy, they could not help being angry with Pericles. 
Nevertheless his policy was on the whole successful. 

Next year Athens and Peiraeus were visited by a plague, which 
inflicted more terrible damage than the severest defeat in battle 
would have done. The people suffered because they were crowded 
together and lacked the comforts of life. Although many nobly 
risked their lives to attend their friends, the total effect was demoral- 
izing. The Athenians blamed Pericles for both war and plague, 
and gave vent to their grief and anger by fining him heavily. 
But soon they repented, and again elected him general with abso- 
lute power. 

249. The Death of Pericles ; Cleon as Leader (429 B.C.). - 
Pericles died of the plague, and the leadership of the state passed 
into the hands of Cle'on, a tanner (429 B.C.). Though no general, 
he had a remarkable talent for finance, and was an orator of great 
force. In the main he followed the policy of Pericles. As the 
surplus in the treasury was 'soon exhausted by the war, the state 
levied a direct tax, and Cleon made himself very unpopular with 
the wealthy by his ruthlessness in collecting it. The more ener- 
getic he was in providing ways and means, the more the nobles 
hated him. They could not endure to see this upstart from the 



222 Peloponnesian War to the Sicilian Expedition 



industrial class at the head of the government, compelling them to 
pay in taxes the expenses of a war they did not favor. 

250. The Revolt of Lesbos (428-427 B.C.). In the year after 
Cleon had come to the front, the oligarchs of Lesbos induced Myt- 
i-le'ne and nearly all the other cities of the island to revolt. There 
was danger that all the maritime cities would follow this example. 
But the Peloponnesians were too slow in sending the promised aid, 
and the Athenians made desperate efforts to conquer the island. 
As a last resort (427 B.C.) the oligarchs of Mytilene armed the com- 
mons ; but the latter promptly surrendered the city to the Athenian 

commander. Thereupon he sent the oli- 
garchs, who alone were guilty of revolt, 
to Athens for trial. The Athenians 
were angry because the Lesbians had 
revolted without cause; they feared, 
too, for the safety of their empire, and 
indeed for their own lives. With no 
great difficulty, therefore, Cleon per- 
suaded them to condemn and put to 
death all the captive oligarchs. Cleon's 
idea was to make an example of them 
that other communities might fear to 
revolt. The punishment, decreed under 
excitement, was too severe, and out of 

keeping with the humane character of the Athenians. In putting 
down this revolt, they passed the dangerous crisis, and were again 
undisputed masters of the Aegean Sea. 

251. The Capture of Pylos (425 B.C.). The war now began to 
turn decidedly in favor of Athens. This change was chiefly due 
to De-mos'the-nes, the ablest commander since the days of The- 
mistocles and Cimon. In 425 B.C., he seized Pylos, on the west 
coast of Peloponnese, and fortified it. This became a thorn in the 
side of Sparta, a refuge for helots and a good basis for ravaging 
Laconia. It was a promontory with an excellent harbor protected 
by the island of Sphac-te'ri-a. Demosthenes held the place against 
repeated attacks of the Peloponnesians. A select corps of the 
enemy landed on Sphacteria, and tried to carry his position by 




A. A 

B. Point of" 

S. Land since formed 



Cleon and Brasidas 223 

storm. The attempt failed ; the besiegers found themselves block- 
aded by an Athenian fleet ; and then, to save the troops on the 
island, they made a truce with Demosthenes with a view to nego- 
tiating for peace. Spartan envoys came to Athens to discuss the 
terms ; but as the demands of Cleon were too great for them to 
accept, the war continued. Cleon brought reinforcements to 
Pylos, and wisely placed himself under the command of Demos- 
thenes. The latter captured the troops of Sphacteria and brought 
them home, two hundred and ninety- two in number (425 B.C.). 
The victory strengthened the hold of Athens on the empire, and 
enabled her to raise the tribute to a thousand talents. This 
measure increased the Athenian resources for war. 

252. Brasidas; Athenian Losses (424-422 B.C.). Soon the tide 
began to turn against Athens. A certain Spartan officer named 
Bras'i-das discovered the one exposed point of the Athenian em- 
pire, Chalcidice. It was the only part of the empire outside of 
Attica which the Peloponnesians could reach by land. Brasidas 
invaded this country with a small force of allies and emancipated 
helots. An exceptionally able commander and diplomatist, he in- 
duced several states of the empire to revolt, among them Am-phip'- 
o-lis, the most important city in that region. The states which 
revolted became members of the Peloponnesian League. Cleon, 
who had been elected general, tried to regain Amphipolis, but was 
defeated and slain. Brasidas was killed in the same battle. The 
death of these two men removed the chief obstacles in the way of 
peace. 

253. The Peace of Nicias (421 B.C.). Both Athens and Sparta 
desired peace. The Athenians were discouraged by Cleon's recent 
failure. The Lacedaemonians, for their part, were bitterly dis- 
appointed in the results of the war. They had hoped to crush the 
power of Athens in a few years at the most, but had suffered at 
Pylos the greatest reverse in their history. They were anxious 
also to recover the prisoners taken at Sphacteria, for many of them 
were no ordinary troops, but pure Spartans. Nicias, a general of 
the Athenians, carried on the negotiations as representative of his 
city, and the treaty accordingly bears his name. It was concluded 
in 421 B.C. The treaty provided for a return to the relations which 



224 Peloponnesian War to the Sicilian Expedition 

had existed before the war. As the opposing powers seemed evenly 
balanced, the arrangement was accepted as just. Later events, 
however, proved that Athens lost greatly by the treaty. 

Peace was to last fifty years and was to extend to the allies on 
both sides. Though the treaty was imperfectly carried out, the 
two cities did not directly attack each other for seven years, and 
the Athenians enjoyed the peace while it lasted. They returned 
to the country, and began again the cultivation of their little farms, 
pleased to be free from their long confinement behind the walls. 

254. Alcibiades; the Battle of Mantinea (418 B.C.). When it 
became known in Athens that peace with Sparta could not be main- 
tained, the war party again came into power. The principal leader 
of this party was Al-ci-bi'a-des. He belonged to one of the noblest 
families of Athens, and was a near kinsman of Pericles. Though 
still young, he was influential because of his high birth and his 
fascinating personality. His talents were brilliant in all directions ; 
but he was lawless and violent, and followed no motive but self- 
interest and self-indulgence. Through his influence Athens allied 
herself with Argos, Elis, and Man-ti-ne'a against the Lacedaemo- 
nians and their allies. The armies of these two unions met in battle 
at Mantinea in 418 B.C. The Lacedaemonians, who still had the 
best organization and discipline in Greece, were victorious. This 
success wiped out the disgrace which had lately come upon them, 
and enabled them to regain much of their former influence in 
Peloponnese. Argos and Mantinea now made peace with Lace- 
daemon apart from Athens. 

255. Slaughter of the Melians (416 B.C.). In 416 B.C. Alcibiades 
persuaded Athens to send a fleet against Me'los, now the only 
Aegean island outside her empire. It was a colony of Lacedaemon 
but remained neutral till the Athenians began to attack it. They 
were acting on the principle that the Aegean Sea was theirs, and all 
the islands in it. Insisting that the strongest had a right to rule, 
they tried to justify their own conquests by their mild treatment 
of subjects. Thus if the Melians should surrender, they would be 
required merely to pay an annual tribute. But as Melos resisted, 
the Athenians blockaded the island and starved the inhabitants 
into surrender. They then killed all the men of military age and 



An Inhuman Act 



22$ 



enslaved the women and children. Greek usage made it just for 
them to annex the island, but the slaughter of the conquered, 
though common in that age, has proved an indelible stain on the 
good name of Athens. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Which was the stronger in 431 B.C., Athens or Lacedaemon? Give 
reasons for your opinion. 2. Which state was chiefly responsible for the 
war? 3. Was the war unavoidable? 4. Was Pericles' plan of conducting 
the war justified by the general course of the conflict after his death? 
5. Had the Athenians a right to seize Melos? 6. What high ideal did the 
Spartans abandon at Sphacteria? 7. Describe the location of Mytilene, 
Sphacteria, Pylos, Cythera, Amphipolis, Mantinea, Elis, and Melos. 

Note-book Topics 

I. Cleon's Policy in Relation to the Allies. Thucydides, iii. 36-40 
(speech of Cleon). 

II. Alcibiades. Thucydides (see Index) ; Plutarch, Alcibiades. 

III. Terms of the Peace of Nicias. Thucydides, v. 17-19 (also in 
Fling, Source Book, 207-211). 



CHAPTER XX 
FROM THE SICILIAN EXPEDITION TO THE END OF THE WAR 

415-404 B.C. 

I. THE SICILIAN EXPEDITION 

256. Athens and the Western Greek (479-416 B.C.). To under- 
stand how Sicily now came to be involved in the war, it is necessary 
to run rapidly over the history of the western Greeks from the 
time of their victory over Carthage. 

After the battle of Himera (480 B.C.), 1 the Greeks of Sicily and 
Italy entered upon an era of great prosperity. The tyrants beau- 
tified their cities with temples and statues. Literature flourished, 
wealth abounded, and life was easy. Then tyranny was abolished, 
and before the middle of the century most of the cities of western 
Greece had introduced democratic governments. Syracuse, the 
greatest power in Sicily, led the Hellenic cities of the island in time 
of war, in some such way as Sparta had led the eastern Greeks dur- 
ing the Persian invasions. In this position Syracuse followed two 
nearly related lines of policy : (i) she maintained close friendship 
with Sparta and with her mother city, Corinth ; and (2) she aimed 
to bring all the Sicilian cities as thoroughly under her control as 
those of Peloponnese were under Sparta. In consequence of this 
policy, (i) Syracuse was hostile to Athens, the enemy of Corinth and 
Sparta, and (2) the Sicilian cities which disliked the rule of Syracuse 
looked to Athens for protection. 

From the time of Themistocles the Athenians took a more and 
more lively commercial interest in the West. They exported vases 
and other manufactured articles to Italy, Sicily, and Carthage. 
Commerce gradually led to political influence ; Se-ges'ta, a foreign 
city, and the Ionian Rhegium and Le-on-ti'ni became their allies. 
When the Peloponnesian War began, the Dorians of the West gave 

1 208. 
226 



Causes of the Expedition 227 

their sympathy to Sparta, and at the same time Syracuse found in 
the war an opportunity to encroach upon the Ionian cities, especially 
upon Leontini. Athens sent little aid, and Leontini was destroyed. 
257. Preparations for an Expedition to Sicily (415 B.C.). Natu- 
rally the Athenians looked upon this event as a great misfortune to 
themselves ; they feared lest the Dorians, if they should gain con- 
trol of Sicily, might furnish Sparta with troops and supplies in her 
war with Athens. Many Athenians even dreamed of adding Sicily 
to their empire. While they were in this mood, envoys came from 
Segesta, a city of Sicily, begging Athens for protection from Se-li'nus, 
a stronger state near by. All were therefore deeply interested in 
the request of the Segestaeans for aid. The latter promised to pay 
the expenses of an expedition, and grossly exaggerated the wealth 
of their city. Alcibiades urged the Athenians to conquer Sicily. 
His motive was doubtless selfish to open a field in which he might 
display his talents and win fame. The project was unwise, for the 
Athenians could do little more than hold their empire together and 
defend it against the Peloponnesians. Nicias advised the citizens 
in their assembly to drop all thought of the scheme, but his warnings 
were unheeded. The Athenians made ready in the spring of 41 5 B.C. 
to send a magnificent land and naval armament to Sicily. Ar-is- 
toph'a-nes, the comic poet, 1 tells us how in Peiraeus the prepara- 
tions for such an expedition 

" Filled the city with a noise of troops : 
And crews of ships, crowding and clamoring 
About the muster-masters and paymasters ; 
With measuring corn out at the magazine, 
And all the porch choked with the multitude ; 
With figures of Athena newly furbished, 
Painted and gilt, parading in the streets ; 
And wineskins, kegs, and firkins, leeks, and onions; 
With garlic crammed in pouches, nets, and pokes ; 
With garlands, singing girls, and bloody noses. 
Our arsenal would have sounded and resounded, 
With bangs and thwacks of driving bolts and nails, 
With shaping oars, and holes to put the oars in ; 
With hacking, hammering, clattering, and boring, 
Words of command, whistles, and pipes, and fifes." 



228 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 

Alcibiades, Nicias, and Lam'a-chus an able officer of the 
school of Pericles were to conduct the expedition. To say noth- 
ing of the evils of a divided command, Nicias and Alcibiades were 
so opposed to each other as to give no prospect of harmony in the 
councils of war. 

258. The Mutilation of the Hermae. It was customary for the 
Athenians to place on the street before the door of a private house 
or a temple, a square stone pillar, ending at the top in the head of 
Hermes or some other god. Whatever deity might be represented, 

the figures were called Hermae (plural of Hermes). 
One morning when the armament was nearly ready 
to sail, the Athenians were horrified to find that 
these Hermae, which they held in great reverence 
as the guardians of peace and public order, had been 
nearly all mutilated in the night. The citizens were 
overwhelmed with terror. They feared that a band 
of conspirators had attempted to deprive Athens of 
divine protection and would next try to overthrow 
the government. Some, without good cause, sus- 
pected Alcibiades. A court of inquiry was ap- 
A "HERMES" pomte( } to investigate the matter. It failed to 
discover the perpetrators of this sacrilege, but learned that cer- 
tain men, among them Alcibiades, had been profaning the 
Eleusinian mysteries x by imitating them for amusement in private 
houses. 

Believing that the welfare of the state depended upon keeping 
them secret, the citizens were greatly alarmed at hearing that they 
had been profaned and divulged. Alcibiades in vain demanded 
a trial. His enemies feared that he would be acquitted through the 
support of the soldiers, with whom he was very popular. It would 
be safer, his opponents thought, to wait till the armament had de- 
parted and then recall him for trial. 

259. The Voyage; the Plans of the Admirals (415 B.C.). The 
armament was to gather at Corcyra. The whole Athenian popula- 
tion thronged the wharves of Peiraeus to watch the departure of the 
imperial city's galleys. The moment was full of tears and prayers, 

1 179- 




Plans of the Admirals 229 

of anxiety and hope. The flower of Athenian strength was going 
forth to war, and some surmised that it would return no more. 

One hundred and thirty-four triremes and a great number of 
transports and merchant ships assembled at Corcyra with five 
thousand heavy-armed men on board, besides light auxiliaries 
and the crews. Hellas had seen larger fleets than this, but none so 
splendid or so formidable. About the middle of the summer it 
began its voyage across the Ionian Sea toward Italy. 

But the western Greeks now gave Athens a cold reception. Even 
Rhegium, which had always been friendly, would not admit the 
Athenians within its walls. The great armament seemed a menace 
to the liberties of all alike. It soon appeared, too, that Segesta 
could furnish little support. Disappointed by such news, the ad- 
mirals were in doubt as to what they should do. Lamachus wished 
to attack Syracuse immediately; Nicias preferred to display the 
fleet along the Sicilian coasts and then return home. Either plan 
would have been good; but Alcibiades proposed instead to win 
over as many Sicilian cities as possible by negotiation. With all his 
genius for diplomacy, in this instance he miscalculated ; the Greeks 
of the West could not be won over by mere discussion. His unwise 
plan, however, was adopted. Yet before it had been followed far, 
Alcibiades was recalled to Athens for trial. But on the way home 
he made his escape to Peloponnese, whereupon the Athenians sen- 
tenced him to death. The trick of his opponents had succeeded 
probably to their satisfaction ; but it made of Alcibiades as 
dangerous an enemy as Athens ever had. 

260. The Siege of Syracuse (414-413 B.C.). Nicias, who now 
held the superior command, trifled away the autumn in half-hearted 
undertakings, and then wasted the winter at Cat'a-na. Meantime 
the Syracusans were enclosing their city with strong walls. In the 
spring of 414 B.C. the Athenians entered the Great Harbor and laid 
siege to Syracuse ; they began to build a wall which, if completed, 
would cut the city off from communication by land with the rest 
of the island. They were successful in several minor engagements ; 
but Lamachus was killed, and with his death the command lost 
all energy. The Syracusans built and maintained against the 
besiegers a cross- wall extending from their outer line of defence on 

* 



230 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 



the north to the height in the rear of the Athenian position. This 
prevented the besiegers from finishing the northern part of their 
wall, and secured a free communication with the country. At the 
same time the Syracusans were acquiring a navy sufficiently strong 
to venture battle with the Athenian fleet. There was no longer any 
reasonable hope of taking Syracuse ; and Nicias would gladly have 
raised the siege, but dared not face the Athenian assembly after so 
great a failure. In the winter he wrote a letter to Athens, giving a 




a. Athenian naval camp. 

b. Athenian fort. 

c. Height in rear of Athenian 
wall. 

d. d. Athenian wall. 

k, I. Unfinished part of Athe- 
nian wall. 

n, n. Old city wall. 

m, m. New city wall (415 
B.C.). 

h, h. Syracusan cross-wall. 



detailed account of the situation, and asking that either the arma- 
ment be withdrawn or strong reinforcements sent. The Athenians 
would take no thought of abandoning the enterprise, and prepared 
to send nearly as large a land and naval force as the original one, 
and this notwithstanding the fact that the war with Lacedaemon 
was now openly resumed. 

261. Agis in Attica ; Ruin of the Athenian Armament (413 B.C.). 
- In the spring of 413 B.C. A'gis, king of the Lacedaemonians, 
ravaged Attica, which for twelve years had seen no enemy! At the 
suggestion of Alcibiades, he seized and fortified Dec-e-le'a, a strong 
position in the north of Attica. The Lacedaemonians continued 
to hold it winter and summer to the end of the war. The Athe- 
nians could now do no farming except under their very walls. They 
were obliged to keep perpetual watch about the city to prevent 



Ruin of the Armament 



231 



surprise, and their slaves deserted to the enemy in great numbers. 
But though they were themselves thus practically besieged by 
land, they sent to Syracuse a new fleet of seventy-three triremes and 
five thousand hoplites, commanded by Demosthenes, their ablest 
general. On his arrival at Syracuse he found the army in a sorry 
plight and the fleet already defeated in the Great Harbor by the 
Syracusans. He saw that the Athenians must either resume active 




STONE QUARRIES AT SYRACUSE 
(Interior view ; the stakes and lines are modern rope-makers' works. From a photograph.) 

operations at once or abandon the siege. In the following night, 
accordingly, he attempted to take the Syracusan cross-wall by 
surprise, but was repulsed with great loss. In spite of his advice 
to put the army on board the fleet and sail away, his slow colleague, 
Nicias, delayed for some days. When finally Nicias consented, and 
everything was ready for embarking, there was an eclipse of the 
moon, which filled him as well as the soldiers with superstitious 
fears. He would remain twenty-seven days longer, to avoid the 
effect of the evil omen. Before that time had elapsed, the Athe- 
nians lost another naval battle, and the disheartened crews would 



232 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 

fight no more. The Athenians then burned their ships and began 
to retreat by land, Nicias in advance and Demosthenes bringing up 
the rear. The two divisions were separated on the march, and both 
were compelled to surrender after severe losses. Probably forty 
thousand men had taken part in the Sicilian expedition, and 
twenty-five thousand were left to begin the retreat. Demosthenes 
and Nicias were both put to death. Many of the captives were sold 
into slavery; many were thrown into the stone quarries near 
Syracuse, where most of them perished of exposure and starvation. 
The failure of the expedition was due chiefly to the stupidity and 
the superstition of Nicias. It compelled the Athenians at once to 
abandon all hope of conquering other peoples, and to consider 
instead how they could save themselves and their empire from ruin. 

II. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE WAR 

413-404 B.C. 

262. Effects of the Sicilian Disaster (413 B.C.). At first the 
Athenians could not believe the news of the disaster in Sicily, even 
when they heard it from the survivors themselves. As they came 
to realize the truth, they vented their rage upon the orators and the 
soothsayers who had persuaded them to engage in the enterprise. 
For a time they seemed overwhelmed with despair : while mourning 
their losses they feared that they.should now have to contend against 
the whole Greek world and they had no ships, no men, no money. 
But the spirit of Athens was elastic ; her hopes revived, and her 
citizens determined in some way to build a new fleet. At the same 
time they resolved to cut down expenses and to hold fast to their 
empire. Fortunately they had the winter for preparation before 
the enemy could attack. 

The Lacedaemonians and their allies, elated by the news, began 
to hope once more for success. They despatched aid to the Chians 
and other allies of Athens, who were revolting. Alcibiades himself 
went thither from Sparta to encourage rebellion against his native 
city. The Lacedaemonians then concluded an offensive and de- 
fensive alliance with Persia; they surrendered to that power the 



Alcibiades 233 

cities of Asia Minor which Athens had protected from every 
enemy for nearly seventy years. 

263. Rebellion checked; Alcibiades (412 B.C.). The Atheni- 
ans put forth every energy to prevent the revolt from spreading. 
To Samos, their most faithful ally, they granted independence, and 
made this island the base of their naval operations. The contend- 
ing parties remained nearly balanced in strength, even after the 
arrival of a Syracusan fleet to help the Lacedaemonians ; but the 
resources of Athens were gradually exhausted, while those of the 
enemy seemed limitless. Such was the state of affairs when an 
unexpected event turned the war for a time in favor of Athens. 
Alcibiades, hated by King Agis and fearing for his life, forsook 
Sparta, went over to the satrap of Sardis, and persuaded him to keep 
back the Phoenician fleet, which was daily expected in the Aegean 
Sea. He convinced the satrap that it would be well to let Lacedae- 
mon and Athens wear each other out in war. Alcibiades sincerely 
desired to return to Athens ; and in order to bring about his recall 
he aimed to win the gratitude of his countrymen by making them 
think he could gain for them the friendship of Persia. He wished, 
too, to recover on his return the leadership of the democratic party. 
But a serious obstacle was in the way, An'dro-cles, the present 
head of the party, was the very man who had sent him into exile. 
To accomplish his object, Alcibiades felt that he must first persuade 
others to oyerthrow the popular government along with the chief, 
and then himself step in to restore it. In the light of a saviour of 
democracy he believed that he could return all-powerful to his 
native city. 

264. The Conspiracy of the Oligarchs (412-411 B.C.). The 
time was ripe for a change of government at Athens, as the Sicilian 
disaster seemed to prove the failure of democracy. Some of the 
officers of the Athenian army at Samos, who were themselves of the 
wealthier class, favored the establishment of oligarchy, in which 
they thought they should have more of the privileges naturally 
belonging to men of their standing. Accordingly, when Alcibiades 
sent them word that he would return and make the satrap an 
ally of Athens if they should set up an oligarchy, they readily con- 
sented. But when their spokesman came to Athens, the citizens 



234 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 

met his proposals with a storm of indignation. They objected 
equally to changing the government and to recalling the impious 
traitor Alcibiades. But the oligarch addressed the objectors one 
by one, and asked them what else could be done. " How are we 
to raise money to support the war against both Persia and our many 
Greek enemies? " he asked. Unable to meet this pointed argu- 
ment, the people gave way, in the hope that they might renew the 
democracy at the close of the war. It soon appeared, however, that 
Alcibiades had grossly deceived the Athenians in making them 
believe he could win the help of Persia. 

The oligarchs proceeded, nevertheless, to carry out their designs. 
As a part of the program, their clubs at Athens assassinated An- 
drocles and other prominent democrats, and in this way terrorized 
the whole state. Overestimating the extent of the conspiracy, 
the people feared to talk on the subject with one another, lest in so 
doing they might betray themselves to an enemy. This mutual 
distrust among the citizens made the conspirators safe. They 
managed to place the state under the control of a Council of Four 
Hundred, which included the principal oligarchs. This body was 
to rule with absolute power. 

265. The Rule of the Four Hundred (411 B.C.). When organ- 
ized, the Four Hundred assumed the reins of government. They 
ruled by force, assassinating, banishing, and imprisoning their 
opponents on mere suspicion. They showed their lack of patriot- 
ism by their willingness to make peace with Lacedaemon at any 
price, and their weakness by yielding Euboea to the enemy. 

News of the violence and cruelty of the Four Hundred came to 
the Athenian army at Samos. The soldiers assembled, declared 
that Athens had revolted, and that they themselves constituted 
the true government of the empire. They deposed their oligarchic 
officers, and filled the vacant places with popular men ; they pre- 
pared to carry on the war with vigor, and hoped through Alcibiades 
to win Persia to their side. Thras-y-bu'lus, one of the new com- 
manders, brought the famous exile to their camp. A democrat 
once more, Alcibiades was immediately elected general and placed 
in chief command of the army. Now he was ready to use all the 
resources of his mind to save Athens from the ruin he had brought 



Victory of Cyzicus 



upon her. To the envoys from the Four Hundred, he replied that 
this new council must abdicate immediately in favor of the old Coun- 
cil of Five Hundred. At the same time he prudently restrained 
the troops from going to Athens to punish the usurpers. 

The Four Hundred began to feel insecure. Lacking a definite 
policy, they split into two factions : the extreme oligarchs and the 
moderates. With the help of the moderates the citizens overthrew 
the Four Hundred, after a 
three months' rule, and re- 
stored the democracy. 

266. Alcibiades General of 
the Athenians (411-407 B.C.). 

-The Four Hundred had 
brought only misfortune to 
Athens. Under their slack 
rule the war extended to the 
Hellespont, and most of the 
cities in that region revolted. 
Soon, however, the Athenians 
were cheered by news of vic- 
tories, especially of that at 
Cyz'i-cus, gained by Alcibi- 
ades in 410 B.C. " Ships gone, 
our admiral dead, the men 
starving, at our wits' end what 
to do," was the laconic message which reached Sparta from Cyzicus. 
Lacedaemon then proposed a treaty of peace which should leave 
Athens the few possessions she still held ; but the Athenians rejected 
the terms. It appeared doubtful whether a lasting peace could be 
secured without the complete triumph of one of the contending 
parties. The Athenians feared, too, that peace with Sparta would 
bring them another tyrannical oligarchy in place of their free con- 
stitution ; and with Alcibiades as general they still hoped for success 
in the war. 

267. The Battle of Notium (407 B.C.) ; the Fall of Alcibiades. - 
In 408 B.C., however, Darius, king of Persia, despatched Cyrus, the 
younger of his two sons, to take the satrapy of Sardis with large 




ALCIBIADES (?) 

(Formerly supposed to be Themistocles. 
Museum, Rome) 



Vatican 



236 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 



powers and to give all possible aid to the enemies of Athens. About 
the same time Ly-san'der, a born leader of men, a general and 
diplomatist of surpassing ability, came from Sparta to the seat 
of war. He visited Cyrus, and easily won his way to the heart of 
the ambitious young prince. Next year he defeated a large Athe- 
nian fleet off No'ti-um, near Ephesus, capturing fifteen triremes. 
In the absence of Alcibiades, their admiral, the Athenians had risked 
a battle; and as a result they suffered their first reverse since the 




THE HELLESPONT 

AND SURROUNDING TERRITORY 

Williams Engraiing Co., N.Y. 



time of the Four Hundred. As they held Alcibiades responsible for 
the misfortune, they failed to reelect him general for the following 
year. Fearing to return home, he retired to a castle on the Helles- 
pont which he had prepared for such an occasion. Thus the 
Athenians cast away a man who might have saved them. Though 
working to the end for his own glory, he was wiser now than in his 
youth, and would have served his country well ; but the confidence 
of his fellow-citizens in one who had been so impious and so traitor- 
ous could not but be shaken by the slightest appearance of inatten- 
tion to duty. 1 

268. The Battle of Arginusae (406 B.C.). The contending 
powers now put forth enormous efforts. In 406 B.C. the Athenians, 

1 Afterward, while residing in Phrygia, he was assassinated by order of the Spartan 
authorities. 



Arginusae and Aegospotami 237 

with a hundred and fifty triremes, met a Peloponnesian fleet of a 
hundred and twenty triremes near the islands of Ar-gi-nu'sae, and 
gained a complete victory. Athens lost twenty-five ships; the 
enemy seventy, with their commander and crews, amounting to 
about fourteen thousand men. This was the severest battle of the 
war. After hearing of their disaster, the Lacedaemonians were 
willing for the sake of peace to leave Athens what she still possessed ; 
but the Athenians again rejected the conditions. 

The Athenians disgraced themselves for all time by 'putting to 
death six of the generals who had won the victory at Arginusae, on 
the ground that they had neglected to rescue the crews of the tri- 
remes wrecked in the battle. The commanders had ordered two 
ship-captains to attend to the work, but a sudden storm had pre- 
vented the rescue of the unfortunate sailors. The Athenians 
violated the constitution in condemning the generals collectively 
and in refusing them a sufficient opportunity for defence. Soon 
repenting of their conduct, they prosecuted those who had persuaded 
them to commit the murder. 

269. The Battle of Aegospotami (405 B.C.). Athens and Sparta 
made one more desperate effort to gain the mastery of the Aegean 
Sea. The opposing fleets met in the Hellespont, a hundred and 
eighty Athenian warships against two hundred from Peloponnese. 
The Athenians were on the European side at the mouth of the 
Ae-gos-pot'a-mi, the Peloponnesians on the opposite shore of 
the strait. Lysander, who was in command, surprised the Athe- 
nian fleet while the sailors were seeking provisions on shore. 
There was no resistance. It seems probable that the Athenians 
were betrayed to Lysander by one or more of their generals. Co'non. 
alone of the commanders escaped with a few ships ; and sending the 
official galley Par'a-lus to Athens with the news, he, though inno- 
cent, fled for his life with the rest of his ships to Cyprus. 

270. Effects of the Battle ; the Terms of Peace (404 B.C.). - 
was night when the Paralus reached Athens with her evil tidings, on 
receipt of which a bitter wail of woe broke forth. From Peiraeus, 
following the line of the Long Walls up to the heart of the city, it 
swept and swelled, as each man passed the news to his neighbor. 
That night no man slept. There was mourning and sorrow for 



238 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 

those who were lost, but the lamentation for the dead was merged 
in even deeper sorrow for themselves, as they pictured the evils 
they were about to suffer, the like of which they had inflicted upon 
the men of Melos," 1 and upon many others. Ships and men were 
lost, and they were soon besieged by land and sea. Finally, when 




THE ERECHTHEUM 

(Restoration. View from the west ; two columns in north porch cut away to show interior ; on 
right a corner of the Parthenon is seen) 

on the point of starvation, they sent envoys to Sparta with full 
powers to treat for peace. Thereupon a Peloponnesian congress 
was held in Sparta, in which the Corinthians, the Thebans, and some 
others proposed to destroy Athens utterly, and to enslave the 
Athenians. But the Spartan ephors objected ; they were unwill- 
ing, they said, that a city which had done such noble service for 
Greece in the perilous times of the Persian invasion should be 
enslaved. They would be content with milder conditions : that 
Athens should demolish the fortifications of Peiraeus and the Long 

1 Xenophon, Hellenica, ii. 2. 



Peace 



239 



Walls, give up all her warships but twelve, follow Sparta in peace 
and in war, and permit the return of the exiled oligarchs. With these 
concessions, Athens might remain free and " under the constitution 
of the fathers." As the Athenian envoys entered their city, a great 
crowd gathered about them, trembling lest their mission should have 
proved fruitless ; for many were dying of starvation. The major- 
ity ratified the treaty. Lysander entered Peiraeus with his fleet, 
the exiles were already coming home, and the Peloponnesians began 
the destruction of the walls to the music of pipes, with the idea that 
they were celebrating the return of liberty to Hellas. 

III. THE PROGRESS or CULTURE ; THE NEW LEARNING 

431-404 B.C. 

271. Architecture and Sculpture. In spite of the heavy expenses 
of the war, the Athenians built a new temple on the Acropolis 
the E-rech-the'um doubtless fulfilling a wish of Pericles. It 
stands north of the Parthenon. For two reasons it is irregular in 
plan, (i) the ground on which it was built is uneven, (2) it was 
intended for two divinities, Athena and Erechtheus. The Athena 
worshipped here was the guardian of the state, as distinguished 
from the imperial goddess of the Parthenon. She was represented 
by a log rudely carved in human form. 1 This archaic image the 
Athenians venerated more highly than all the artistic statues of 
more recent times. To her belonged the eastern portion of the 
temple. In the western part lived Erechtheus, the hero, who, as the 
Athenians supposed, had once been king of Athens. This temple is 
the most beautiful example of the Ionic order known to us. 2 The 
rich carvings which adorn it have been the admiration of all artists, 
but no one has been able to equal them. The Porch of the Maidens 
is especially attractive. Though bearing heavy weights on their 
heads, the maidens stand at perfect ease. In dignified grace of 
posture and drapery they are little inferior to the sculptures of the 
Parthenon. 3 

Through want of money the Athenians of this period accom- 

* Cf. 177- 2 J 74- 

3 A figure thus used as a support is sometimes termed a caryatid. 



240 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 




PORCH OF THE MAIDENS 
(Present condition ; from a photograph) 



Literature 241 

plished little else in art. Good work was done in other parts of 
Greece. The most notable statue of the period is that of a Winged 
Victory by Pae-o'ni-us at Olympia. The Messenians dedicated it 
there as a memorial of the capture of the Spartans at Sphacteria. 1 
The goddess is represented, not as standing on the lofty base, but 
floating above it with wings outstretched and garments streaming 
in the wind. It was a bold artistic experiment successfully achieved. 

272. Literature : the Drama. Though the war discouraged 
art, it stimulated literature. Eu-rip'i-des (480-406 B.C.), a writer 
of dramas, belongs to this period. His education was broad; he 
had been an athlete, a painter, and a student of all the philosophy 
of the time. No ancient writer seems so modern as he ; none knew 
human nature so well or sympathized so deeply with it, especially 
with women and slaves, with the unfortunate and the lowly. His 
plays represent a decline in art, but a great advance in kindly feeling. 
The most popular is the Al-ces'tis, in which the heroine dies to save 
her selfish husband's life. Among the strongest is the Medea, 
whose plot is drawn from the voyage of the Argonauts. 2 There 
remain in all nineteen plays of the ninety- two attributed to him 
by the ancients. 

The most famous comic dramatist of Greece was Aristophanes 
(about 450-385 B.C.). His wit never failed ; his fancy was as lively 
and as creative as Shakspere's ; the choruses of his plays are beauti- 
ful lyrics, fragrant of the country and woodland, free from the polish 
and from the restraints of life within the city. He has much, also, 
to tell of the times in which he lived. No one has given so true a 
picture of Athens and her people, and at the same time such carica- 
tures of her individual public men. We might compare his charac- 
ter sketches with the cartoons of the modern newspaper. The 
Clouds is an attack on the sophists. In his Birds he pictures an 
ideal state in Cloudland, whose citizens were the fowls of the air. 
The Knights holds Cleon up to ridicule ; the Wasps presents the 
Athenian jury-system in a comical light. He is said to have written 
fifty-four comedies, of which we have but eleven. 

273. History : Thucydides. Thucydides wrote a history of the 
Peloponnesian War, including the events which led up to it. He 

1 25L 2 II2. 



242 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 



gathered the facts for it with extreme care by travel and personal 
observation and by questioning eye-witnesses of events. His work 
is therefore remarkable for accuracy. It contains no anecdotes or 
myths, which make the history of Herodotus attractive. 1 In con- 
trast with Herodotus, he is not only critical and correct, but ex- 
ceedingly complex in style and thought. He goes deeply into the 

character and motives of political 
parties and into the causes and con- 
nection of events. It is the first 
scientific history ever written. He 
admits that his strictly truthful narra- 
tive may disappoint the ear, but be- 
lieves that it will prove useful to any 
one who desires a true picture of the 
past and of what is likely to happen in 
the future in the ordinary course of 
human events. As his work was to be 
of service especially to generals, he 
narrates campaigns with all the de- 
tails, but pays little attention to in- 
ternal improvements and civilization. 
274. The Sophists. Since the age 
of Pericles the sophists 2 professors 
of useful knowledge were increasing 
in number and in influence. As they 
aimed chiefly to prepare their pupils 
for statesmanship, they laid great stress on rhetoric. This new 
branch of learning was a system of rules for the composition and de- 
livery of speeches. Through such study, the sophists asserted, any 
man could fit himself in a short time for public speaking and for 
statesmanship. It is true that the teachings of certain eminent men 
of this class contained much that was wholesome. They began the 
study of grammar and philology, and the criticism of literature. 
They were founders of the science of ethics, a principle of which was 
that all men were by nature brothers, and that slavery was there- 
fore wrong. But many were mere jugglers in words; and the 
1 241. 2 242. 




VICTORY 

(By Paeonius. Restoration ; original 
in Museum, Olympia) 



The Sophists and Socrates 



243 



spirit of the class was sceptical toward all existing beliefs and 
customs. They called into question the laws on which state and 
society rested. Their thinking on political subjects undermined 
the democracy, and led to the establishment of the oligarchy in 
411 B.C. ; it weakened Athens in the later years of the war. The 
sophistic spirit is strong in Euripides, and can be discovered even 
in Thucydides ; in fact, it 
influenced all the think- 
ing of the time. Nearly 
all the educated accepted 
the view that the present 
age was one of enlighten- 
ment in contrast with the 
ignorance and supersti- 
tion of the past. The 
science, philosophy, and 
literature controlled by 
this sophistic view may 
be aptly termed the 
"New Learning." 

275. Socrates (469- 
399 B.C.). The worth- 
lessness of the great body 
of sophistic teaching was pointed out by Socrates, a man whose 
thoughts and character have left a deep impression on the 
world for all time. In personal appearance he was " the ugliest 
of the sons of men." With his enormously large bald head, pro- 
truding eyes, flat nose, and thick lips, he resembled the satyr masks 
in the shop windows at Athens. Big-bodied and bandy-legged, 
he stalked like a pelican through the streets. But beneath the 
satyr mask was a mind of extraordinary power. In his youth he 
was but a sculptor a tradesman from the Greek point of view ; 
and he did not succeed in his work, as he had the habit of standing 
for hours, or even for a day and night together, wholly lost in 
thought. Then, too, he believed himself inspired, a spirit 
accompanied him through life warning him against doing evil. 
Forsaking an occupation in which, under the circumstances, he 




SOCRATES 
(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 



244 From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the War 

could make but a poor living, he devoted himself to searching for 
truth. The sophists had said, " We are ignorant." Socrates, 
admitting this, heralded a new era in thought when he said, " I 
will seek knowledge," thus asserting, contrary to the sophists, the 
possibility of learning the truth. Though people called him 
sophist, he gave no course of study and charged no fee, but simply 
questioned any one whom he met till he had convinced his oppo- 
nent in the argument that the latter knew nothing of the subject 
of conversation. In all this he thought he was fulfilling a heaven- 
appointed mission, the quest of truth with the help of his fellow- 
men. Taking no thought of natural or of physical science, he 
busied himself with moral duties, inquiring,' for instance, what was 
just and what unjust ; what was bravery and what cowardice ; 
what a state was and what the character of a statesman. True 
knowledge, he asserted, was the only guide to virtuous conduct. 
Thus Socrates laid for ethical science a solid foundation, on which 
men could build far better than on the sands of sophistry. 

In religion his teaching tended to strengthen the traditional 
faith. He often spoke of the gods in the plural, and he performed 
conscientiously all the religious duties of the citizen in the custom- 
ary way. But he sometimes spoke, too, of one God, the creator of 
the universe. His idea seems to have been that the other gods 
were subordinate to the one supreme being. Moral conduct he 
based on religion as well as on the reason. We should be virtuous, 
he taught, not only because virtue is useful to us, but also because 
it is pleasing to God. God is good because he likes that very con- 
duct which is most to our own advantage. In this way, Socrates 
reconciled knowledge with faith. 

About the close of the Peloponnesian War, thinking people grew 
weary of the uncertainty of the new learning, and went back to the 
old faith. Socrates helped this movement, but was himself de- 
stroyed by it. In 399 B.C. he was brought to trial on the ground 
that he had corrupted the youth and had acted impiously toward 
the gods. The accuser was conscientious but ignorant, and mis- 
took him for a sophist. In fact, Socrates had done exactly the 
contrary. But the jury condemned him to death. Though he 
might have escaped from the country, he considered it the duty of 



Socrates 



245 



a good citizen to obey the laws even when unjustly administered. 
Cheerfully he drank the cup of hemlock a poison which caused 
a painless death. It was the Athenian method of execution. In 
this way he crowned a useful life by the death of a saint and martyr. 
Inspired by the great ideal, his disciples scattered throughout 
Hellas, founding schools of philosophy based on his principles. 
Through them Socrates influenced the thought of all later time. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Why did the Athenians invade Sicily? Would Pericles have advised 
it? 2. Compare the Athenian disaster in Egypt, 454 B.C., with that in 
Sicily, 413 B.C. Which was the greater loss ? Which had the greater effect ? 
3. Compare the government of the Four Hundred with the pre-Solonian 
government. 4. Why were the Peloponnesians victorious in the war? 
5. In describing the operations of this war, why is it wrong to speak of a 
" Spartan army "? 6. Describe the location of Cyzicus, Notium, Arginu- 
sae, and Aegospotami. 7. Compare the " Maidens " of the porch in the 
Erechtheum (p. 240) with the " Maidens " in the Parthenon frieze (p. 211). 
Which was the more difficult task for the sculptor? 8. In what respects 
had sculpture and architecture changed since the Age of Pericles ? 9. Why 
was Socrates mistaken for a sophist ? 10. In what respects did he differ 
from them? n. Write a summary of the entire Peloponnesian War, in- 
cluding causes and effects. 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Sicilian Expedition. Thucydides, vi, vii (bk. vii is a master- 
piece of dramatic historical writing). 

II. Socrates. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 240-249 ; Plato, 
Apology; Murray, Ancient Greek Literature, 170-177; Holm, History of 
Greece, ii. 452-456; Gildersleeve, Essays and Studies, "Xanthippe and Soc- 
rates." 



CHAPTER XXI 
SICILY: THE TYRANT AND THE LIBERATOR 

413-337 B.C. 

276. The Carthaginians invade Sicily (409-404 B.C.). The 
fall of Athens was a great misfortune to the Greeks of the West as 
well as to those of the East. For nearly seventy years the terror 
of her name had kept both the Carthaginians and the Persians at 
bay ; but on the overthrow of her naval supremacy these two great 
foreign powers again hoped to conquer parts of Hellas. On the 
invitation of Segesta, which was still threatened by Selinus, 1 
Carthage sent over to Sicily a vast fleet conveying an army of a 
hundred thousand men under King Han'ni-bal, grandson of that 
Hamilcar who had met his death at Himera. This great armament 
laid siege to Selinus; on the ninth day it stormed the city and 
butchered the inhabitants (409 B.C.). Thence Hannibal marched 
to Himera, where the siege and the massacre were repeated. Three 
thousand captives were led to the spot where Hamilcar had sacri- 
ficed himself, 2 and there were killed with horrid torture. In this 
way, Hannibal sought to appease the hungry appetite of his grand- 
father's ghost. 

A fresh army of mercenaries next invested Acragas, then the 
wealthiest and most luxurious city in the Greek world. Though 
reenforced by their neighbors, the inhabitants finally abandoned 
their city and settled in Leontini. Himilcon took up his winter 
quarters in deserted Acragas, and sent much of its wealth, including 
many works of art, to Carthage (405 B.C.). 

Soon afterwards a young officer of Syracuse, named Di-o-nys r i-us, 
made himself tyrant of his city. He compelled the people of Ge'la 
and of Cam-a-ri'na to abandon their cities to the invader and to re- 
tire to Syracuse. Great was the indignation of all classes against 
1 257. 2 208. 

246 



Dionysius 



247 



the usurper ; but through his mercenaries he maintained himself 
against every attempt to assassinate or to depose him. In 404 B.C. 
he concluded a treaty with the Carthaginians, by which he yielded 
to them the whole island except the Sicels a native nation in 
the interior and the Greeks of the eastern coast. The Cartha- 







FORT EURYELUS 
(A corner in the Wall of Dionysius at Syracuse, interior view ; from a photograph) 

ginians, for their part, acknowledged him as the absolute ruler of 
Syracuse. 

277. War with Carthage (397-392 B.C.). But Dionysius did 
not intend to yield Sicily forever to the enemy. Seven years he 
busied himself with increasing his power and with preparing for 
war on a grand scale. He built an immense wall about Syracuse ; 
he organized an army of eighty thousand infantry ; his engineers 
invented a new instrument, afterward known as the ballista, for 
throwing large stones against the enemy's walls. In his new fleet 
were more than three hundred vessels, some of them quinqueremes, 
- huge galleys with five banks of oars, invented by his shipwrights. 
Though utterly unscrupulous, though he ground do\vn the rich 



248 



Sicily: The Tyrant and the Liberator 



with taxes and violated nearly every sentiment dear to the Greek 
heart, yet he gained a certain degree of popularity by the military 
preparations which made him appear as a strong champion of 
Hellas against the barbarian. 

He began war upon Carthage in 397 B.C., and with his vast 
armament nearly swept the Phoenicians from the island; but in 

the following year 
Himilcon, landing 
in Sicily, .regained 
everything which 
Carthage had lost, 
and Messene in 
addition. Most of 
the Messenians es- 
caped, but Himil- 
con compelled his 
men to burn the 
woodwork and to 
grind the stones to 
powder. The in- 
vaders then de- 
feated the fleet of 
Dionysius and be- 
sieged the tyrant 
in Syracuse by land 

and sea. The newly built ramparts saved the city. The siege 
was raised and the enemy pushed back till he held but the 
extreme western end of the island. All the rest Dionysius secured 
by the treaty of 392 B.C. 

278. Conquests of Dionysius in Italy (to 287 B.C.) ; Other Wars. 
Meantime Dionysius was conquering the Greeks of southern 
Italy. In the year 387 B.C. we find his kingdom extending as far 
as Croton. Some of the conquered people he removed to Syracuse, 
others he sold into slavery. Everywhere he showed the utmost 
disregard for sacred places and institutions, but the Greeks were 
powerless to resist. 

In two more wars which he carried on with Carthage, he failed to 




KINGDOM OF 

DIONYSIUS 






Dionysius in Peace 249 

dislodge the foreigners from Sicily, but still held the larger part of 
the island, as well as his Italian possessions. He aided the Lacedae- 
monians in maintaining their supremacy over eastern Greece, 1 and 
his power was recognized as the greatest in the Hellenic world. 

279. Dionysius in Peace ; his Character. Though engaged in 
wars to the end, in his later years a desire for peace grew upon him. 
He was a poet as well as a general. A story is told that Phi-lox'e- 
nus, a poet at his court, was imprisoned in a stone quarry as a 
punishment for criticising the tyrant's verse. When liberated soon 
afterward and invited to hear another recital, he endured the read- 
ing for a few moments, and then cried out, " Take me back to the 
stone quarry ! " A splendid display of horses and chariots, of 
athletes and actors, which Dionysius made at the Olympic games, 
in like manner won no applause. The orator Lys'i-as, from Athens, 
tried to incite the Greeks there assembled to begin war upon the 
tyrant by plundering his rich tents. The holiness of the festival 
prevented this outrage, but the reciters of his poems were hissed, 
and his chariots were overturned in the race. Far from winning 
the favor and admiration of the Greeks by his exhibit, the tyrant 
discovered that he was universally hated. 

In 367 B.C. Dionysius died, after reigning thirty-eight years. No 
tyrant could have ruled so long without the possession of strong 
qualities. The private character of Dionysius was without re- 
proach. On the other hand, he never hesitated at bloodshed, 
confiscation, of property, or anything else which would make him 
safe. Many spies in his pay watched the movements of those 
whom he suspected at home and abroad. With all his failings, he 
performed a service for Greece and for Europe by protecting 
Hellenic civilization in Italy and Sicily. 

280. Civil Strife (367-345); Timoleon the Liberator (345- 
337 B.C.). A period of civil strife following the death of Dio- 
nysius was at length ended by Ti-mo'le-on, a general sent out by 
Corinth. Timoleon was a man of remarkable ability and strength 
of character. Gradually he overthrew the tyrants who since the 
death of Dionysius had usurped the power in many Sicilian cities. 
He then gave the cities good laws and settled governments. On the 

1 291. 



250 Sicily: The Tyrant and the Liberator 

Cri-mi'sus River he met the vast mercenary force of Carthage 
which had come to Sicily for the purpose of overwhelming him. 
As his small army marched up the hill from the top of which the 
soldiers expected to get their first view of the enemy, their religious 
fears were aroused at sight of a train of mules laden with parsley, 
a plant used for decorating tombs. But with the exclamation 
that the parsley chaplet was the reward of victory in the Isthmian 
games, Timoleon seized some of the plant and made a wreath for 
his head ; the officers, then the soldiers, followed his example ; and 
the army swept over the hill like a host of victorious athletes. 
Throwing his enthusiastic troops upon the Carthaginian centre, 
which had just crossed the Crimisus, he crushed it with one mighty 
blow. A sudden storm beat full in the faces of the enemy ; thou- 
sands were drowned in attempting to recross the swollen stream, 
and thousands were killed or made captive. The victory was 
complete (340 B.C.). 

When he had liberated all Greek Sicily from Carthage and from 
tyranny, he joined the cities in a federation, w r ith Syracuse as leader 
in war. All members of the union were guaranteed their freedom. 
He next turned his attention to the improvement of the country. 
As the long anarchy had left large tracts of land uncultivated and 
without owners, he invited Greeks from other countries to come 
and settle on the vacant farms. Thousands answered the call ; a 
few peaceful years brought prosperity to fruitful Sicily, and Timo- 
leon lived to see the desolate island bloom again like a garden. 

After ruling eight years, he resigned his dictatorship, and passed 
the remainder of his days a private citizen of Syracuse, honored by 
all as their liberator. When he died his fellow-citizens established 
an annual festival in memory of the man " who had suppressed the 
tyrants, had overthrown the foreigner, had replenished the desolate 
cities, and had restored to the Sicilians the privilege of living under 
their own laws." 

281. Summary of Sicilian History (413-337 B.C.). (i) After the ruin 
of the Athenian armament in Sicily, the Carthaginians invaded the island 
and destroyed Selinus, Himera, and Acragas. (2) With great difficulty 
Dionysius, the able tyrant of Syracuse, saved his own city from conquest at 
their hands, and eventually won back from them the greater part of the 



Timoleon 251 

island. (3) Meanwhile he had built a powerful navy and had made Syra- 
cuse the most strongly fortified city in Europe. (4) Afterward he extended 
his kingdom in Italy as far as Croton. (5) His great achievement was the 
protection of Europe from Carthaginian conquest. (6) After his death 
came a period of civil strife, in which some cities fell under tyrants, others 
under the dominion of Carthage. (7) From this condition they were lib- 
erated by Timoleon, who combined great ability with patriotism. (8) 
Thereupon a period of extraordinary prosperity set in. 



Suggestive Questions 

i. Compare Dionysius I with Pisistratus. 2. Why was Dionysius 
needed in Sicily? 3. Describe the methods employed by him in obtaining 
and in keeping the supreme power. 4. What is your estimate of his mili- 
tary ability? 5. From the picture of the ruins of Fort Euryelus (p. 247), 
what may we infer as to the magnitude of his defences? 6. How did his 
realm compare in extent and in strength with the Athenian Empire of the 
fifth century or the Lacedaemonian of the fourth? 7. What do we find to 
admire in Timoleon? 

Note-book Topics 

I. Dionysius. Bury, History of Greece, 639-666; Holm, History of 
Greece, ii. 521-525, iii. 130-141. 

II. Timoleon. Plutarch, Timoleon; Holm, iii. 401-404; Bury, 673- 
679 ; Grote, History of Greece, xi. 135-197. 



CHAPTER XXII 
THE SUPREMACY OF SPARTA 

404-371 B.C. 

282. The Decarchies. The overthrow of Athens, at the end of 
the Peloponnesian War, 1 left Sparta supreme in the east as Syracuse 
was in the west. At the summit of power stood Lysander, who had 
done more than any other man to bring eastern Greece under 
Spartan leadership. He now had an excellent opportunity to 
improve upon the rule of Athens ; but, though a man of rare talents, 
he lacked the genius for such a task. He could think of nothing 
beyond the long-established Spartan and Athenian methods of 
dealing with allies and subjects. 

In each newly allied state, accordingly, he set up a decarchy, or 
board of ten oligarchs, with full control of the government. To sup- 
port the decarchies, he stationed Lacedaemonian garrisons in most 
of the cities. The commander, termed " harmost," was usually a 
man of low birth, servile to Lysander and brutal toward the de- 
fenceless people over whom he kept watch. Relying on his sup- 
port, the oligarchs killed or expelled their political enemies, con- 
fiscated property through sheer greed, and mistreated the women 
and children. While Athens ruled, a man could feel that life, 
property, and family were safe ; but under Sparta the Greeks found 
themselves degraded to the condition of perioeci. 

283. The Thirty at Athens (404-403 B.C.). At Athens Lysander 
caused a board of thirty to be established with absolute authority 
over the state. The guiding spirit of the board was Crit'i-as, a 
noble of the highest rank. He was cold and calculating, ambitious 
and unscrupulous ; within his short career he developed a strange 
appetite for blood and plunder. 



1 270. 
252 



Democracy Restored 253 

Soon after taking possession of the government, the Thirty began 
to kill their political opponents. For their own safety, they called 
in a Lacedaemonian force of seven hundred men, and lodged it in 
the Acropolis at the expense of the state. Supported by these 
troops, the Thirty proceeded with their bloody work. As they 
often murdered men for their property, they preferred wealthy 
victims. Hundreds fled into exile; but the Spartan ephors, to 
uphold the Thirty, warned the fugitives away from all parts of 
Greece. Some of the states sheltered them in defiance of the 
ephors. Thebes, long the enemy of Athens, became their rallying- 
place. Their number daily increased, because of the cruelty of the 
government at home. 

284. Democracy restored (403 B.C.). The crowd of exiles 
swelled into an army. At the head of seventy patriots, Thrasy- 
bulus crossed the border from Thebes, seized Phy'le, a strong fort 
high up on Mount Par'nes, and held it against an attack of the 
enemy. With his army increased to a thousand, he soon after- . 
ward seized Peiraeus. When the Thirty with their Lacedaemonian 
garrison and citizen supporters marched down to attack him, the 
patriots defeated them and killed Critias. 

The patriots returned to Athens. They pardoned all for wrong- 
doing except the Thirty and a few other guilty officials. The 
Athenians now had enough of oligarchy. Their two recent experi- 
ments in that form of constitution the rule of the Four Hun- 
dred and of the Thirty proved that the government of the so- 
called " better class " was a delusion and a lie, and that the men 
who claimed superior privileges on the ground of virtue were in 
reality cutthroats and robbers. The great mass of people, who had 
little wealth or education, were far more obedient to law and exer- 
cised greater self-control in public life. Henceforth Athens was 
content with democracy. 

285. The Expedition of Cyrus (401 B.C.). Although the Thirty 
fell, the Lacedaemonians upheld the decarchies in the other cities 
of their empire. It was a part of their policy as well to keep on 
good terms with Cyrus, who had done so much to give them the 
victory over Athens. On the death of Darius, the late king of 
Persia, Ar-tax-erx'es, his elder son, succeeded to the throne, while 



254 The Supremacy of Sparta 

Cyrus, the younger, still held at Sardis the command of the most 
desirable part of Asia Minor. 1 Wishing to be king in place of his 
brother, Cyrus prepared a great force of Asiatic troops and thirteen 
thousand Greeks. The Lacedaemonians not only favored his en- 
listment of these mercenaries from Greece, but even sent him seven 
hundred heavy-armed troops from their own state. With this 
army the prince marched into the very heart of the Persian empire, 
and met his brother in battle at Cu-nax'a, near Babylon. Cyrus 
was killed and his Asiatics retired from the field; but the little 
Hellenic force was victorious over the immense army of the king. 2 

286. The Return of the " Ten Thousand." Then the Greeks 
under a truce began their retreat in a northerly direction. Their 
generals were entrapped and slain by the Persian commander 
Tis-sa-pher'nes, a rival of Cyrus. Thus they were left leaderless 
in the midst of the enemy's country, surrounded by hostile nations, 
with impassable rivers and snow-covered mountains between them 
and home, with no guide even to tell them which way to go. While 
they were in despair, encouragement and good advice came from 
a young Athenian who had accompanied the expedition. This 
was Xen'o-phon, a pupil of Socrates the philosopher. Taking 
courage from his words, they chose new generals, among them 
Xenophon. Then they set out on their northward march, harassed 
at every step by the enemy. From Media they entered the Car-du'- 
chi-an mountains, which were covered with snow and inhabited by 
fierce barbarians. In passing through this rough country the 
Greeks suffered every kind of hardship, and were constantly as- 
sailed by the natives, who rolled stones down upon them from 
the heights, or harassed them in the rear, or blocked their ad- 
vance. Their losses were heavy, and the wonder is that any 
escaped alive. 

Thence they entered Armenia. Their way was now easier; 
but it was winter, and they still suffered from the cold. The satrap 
of the country promised them a free passage, but proved treacherous, 
and the fighting continued. After a long, weary march, full of 

1 191. 

2 The lowest estimate of ancient writers is 400,000. Some modern historians con- 
sider this number a great exaggeration. 



A New War with Persia 255 

adventures and of narrow escapes, they neared the Black Sea. As 
the footsore van reached a certain height overlooking the water, 
it raised a joyful shout, " The Sea ! The Sea ! " The rest of the 
soldiers ran quickly up to enjoy the good sight and to share in the 
cheering. The men embraced one another and their officers with 
tearful eyes. It seemed like home. They had lost about a third 
of their number in a journey of perhaps a thousand miles. The 
thrilling story of the expedition of Cyrus and of the retreat of the 
" Ten Thousand " is told in the An-ab'a-sis of Xenophon. The 
courage, harmony, and discipline of these mercenaries in the midst 
of such hardships and dangers prove the high political and moral 
character of the Greeks. To the world of that time, however, the 
expedition was chiefly significant as evidence of Persian weakness. 
The discovery that so small a force could penetrate to the very 
heart of the empire and return almost unscathed was the first step 
toward its conquest. 

287. War between Lacedaemon and Persia (beginning 400 B.C.). 
-The expedition of Cyrus had two important effects: (i) it 

brought the Persian power into contempt among the Greeks ; and 
(2) it immediately caused war between Persia and Lacedaemon. 
For this state, by supporting Cyrus, had incurred the anger of the 
Persian king. A strong force of Peloponnesians crossed to Asia 
Minor, and, joining the remnant of the Ten Thousand, began war 
upon the Persians. In 396 B.C. A-ges-i-la'us, who had recently 
succeeded to one of the thrones at Sparta, came with a few thousand 
additional troops and took command in person. The little lame 
king was gentle and courteous. Faithful in friendship, simple in 
life, and incorruptible, he was an ideal Spartan. Though forty 
years of age at his accession, he was wholly without experience in 
command ; but he proved himself an able king and general. With 
his small army he freed the Greeks of Asia Minor from the Persian 
yoke. 

288. The Corinthian War (395-387 B.C.). The plan of Agesi- 
laus for further conquest was rudely disturbed by trouble at home. 
Sparta was selfish and tyrannical; the greater allied states, as 
Thebes and Corinth, wished a share in her supremacy ; the lesser 
communities desired at least their independence. As they were all 



256 The Supremacy of Sparta 

disappointed in their hopes, they began to show discontent. In 
395 B.C. they provoked Lacedaemon to a war which lasted eight 
years. This is called the Corinthian War, because the struggle 
centred chiefly about Corinth and the Isthmus. Athens, Corinth, 
and several other states took the side of Thebes, while Persia sup- 
plied the funds. 

In the second year of the war, a combined Greek and Phoenician 
fleet under Conon, 1 the Athenian admiral, destroyed the fleet of 
Lacedaemon off Cni'dus. Thus the Spartan naval supremacy fell 
at a single blow. Conon sailed from island to island, expelling the 
harmosts and freeing all from Lacedaemonian rule. The next year 
he anchored his fleet in the harbors of Peiraeus, and with the help 
of Persia and of the neighbors of Athens he began to rebuild the 
Long Walls. 

Nearer home the Lacedaemonians were scarcely more fortunate. 
Ly sander was killed; it became necessary to recall Agesilaus. But 
the victories he gained on his return helped Sparta little. One of 
the most important facts in the history of this war is that the well- 
trained light troops of Athens were now proving superior to the 
heavy infantry of Lacedaemon. Near Corinth they attacked a 
battalion of the Spartan phalanx, 2 six hundred strong, and cut it to 
pieces. The Lacedaemonians never fully recovered from the 
blow ; the military organization which had always been the foun- 
dation of their supremacy in Greece proved defective. 

289. The Treaty of Antalcidas (387 B.C.). They acknowledged 
their failure in the war by coming to terms with Persia. The king 
was ready to use his money and influence for the preservation of a 
peace which should assure him the possession of Asia Minor ; and 
Lacedaemon could do nothing but accept his terms. Accordingly 
her ambassador, An-tal'ci-das, and the king's legate invited all 
the Greek states to send deputies to Sardis for the purpose of 
concluding peace. When they arrived, the Persian legate showed 
them the king's seal on a document which he held in his hand, and 
read from it the following terms imposed by Persia upon the Greeks : 
" King Artaxerxes deems it just that the cities in Asia, with the 
islands of Cla-zom'e-nae and Cyprus, should belong to himself; 
1 269. 2 138. 



Spartan Tyranny 257 

the rest of the Hellenic cities, both small and great, he will leave 
independent, with the exception of Lem'nos, Im'bros, and Scy'ros, 
which three are to belong to Athens as of yore. Should any of the 
parties concerned not accept this peace, I, Artaxerxes, together 
with those who share my views, will war against the offenders by 
land and sea, with ships and money." l As the Greeks believed it 
impossible to wage war successfully with both Lacedaemon and 
Persia they accepted the terms. It was well understood that 
Lacedaemon was to enforce the treaty for the king; and this 
position made her again the undisputed head of eastern Greece. 

290. The Violence of Sparta. The Lacedaemonians still ruled 
according to the policy of Lysander, a combination of brute 
force and cunning. It was their aim to weaken the states from 
which they might expect resistance. In northern Greece they 
assailed the Chalcidic League, which, though newly formed, had 
already grown powerful. While at war with this league, they 
seized the Cadmea the citadel of Thebes and occupied it 
with a garrison in open violation of law (383 B.C.). Even the 
citizens of Sparta, not to speak of the Greeks in general, were 
indignant with the officer who had done the violent deed ; but 
Agesilaus excused him on the ground that the act was advantageous 
to Sparta, thus setting forth the principle that Greece was to be ruled 
for the benefit merely of the governing city. Though the Lacedae- 
monians punished the officer, they approved the deed by leaving 
the garrison in the Cadmea. 

291. Tyranny arouses Resistance. The Lacedaemonians were 
now at the height of their power. Their city was the acknowledged 
leader of all eastern Greece, supported by Persia in the east and by 
Dionysius in the west. 2 But their policy was soon to awaken 
forces which were to overthrow their supremacy forever. Resist- 
ance was first aroused in Thebes, where the oppressor's hand was 
heaviest. In that city was an oligarchy somewhat like the Thirty 
at Athens. Supported by the Lacedaemonian garrison, these 
oligarchs ruled by terrorism, imprisoning some opponents and 
banishing others. The exiles took refuge in Athens, and there 
found sympathy. Among the refugees was Pe-lop'i-das, a wealthy 

1 Xenophon, Hettenica, v. i. 2 2 79- 



258 The Supremacy of Sparta 

Theban, full of patriotism and brave to recklessness, the very 
man his city needed to save her. Pelopidas had left behind him 
in Thebes an intimate friend, Ep-am-in-on'das, an orator of remark- 
able keenness and force, and a philosopher. 

The oligarchs thought Epaminondas a harmless dreamer; but 
while they allowed him to remain unmolested at home, he was 
attracting into his school the most capable youths of Thebes, and 
was arousing in them the moral power which was to set his country 
free. The young Thebans, who delighted in physical training, 
learned from the philosopher that mere size of muscle was of no 
advantage, that they should aim rather at agility and endurance. 
He encouraged them to wrestle with the Lacedaemonian soldiers 
in the Cadmea, that when the crisis should come, they might meet 
them without fear. 

292. The Liberation of Thebes (379 B.C.). Meantime Pelopi- 
das at Athens was planning to return with the exiles to over- 
throw the oligarchy. Four years passed in this manner, and it 
was now the winter of 379 B.. The Chalcidic League had fallen, 
resistance to Sparta was becoming every day more hopeless; there 
was need of haste. 

Selecting twelve of the younger men, he set out on the dangerous 
mission of striking a secret blow for their country. They dressed 
themselves like huntsmen, and, accompanied by dogs, crossed Mount 
Parnes toward Thebes in groups of two and three. A snow-storm 
had just set in when at dark these men, their faces muffled in their 
cloaks, entered the city by various gates and met another band of 
conspirators in the house of their leader. On the following night 
an official who was also in the plot held a banquet, to which he 
invited all the magistrates except one, who was the head of the 
oligarchic party. 

While these magistrates were carousing, some of the conspirators 
entered, disguised as women, and killed them. At the same time 
Pelopidas with two companions went to the house of the remaining 
magistrate, and after a hard struggle made away with him. The 
next morning Epaminondas introduced the leaders of the con- 
spiracy to the assembled citizens, who elected them Boeotarchs, 
or chief magistrates of Boeotia. A democracy was now established, 



A New Athenian Confederacy 259 

and the garrison in the Cadmea surrendered with the privilege of 
departing unharmed. Thebes was again free. 

293. The Athenian Maritime Confederacy (377 B.C.). The 
Athenians, though in sympathy with their neighbor, would gladly 
have remained neutral, had not Lacedaemon driven them to war 
by a treacherous attempt to seize Peiraeus. They renewed their 
alliance with the maritime cities, which had deserted them for 
Sparta, but were now seeking their protection. The new league 
was to be a union of the Greeks for the defence of their liberties 
against Sparta. Each allied state sent a deputy to a congress at 
Athens. It was agreed that the leading city alone should have no 
representative in this body in order that the deputies might not 
be influenced by the presidency, or even by the presence of an 
Athenian. To be binding, a measure had to receive the approval 
of both Athens and congress. This arrangement made the leading 
city equal to all the others combined, but prevented her from ac- 
quiring absolute power such as she had exercised over the members 
of the earlier confederacy. There were still to be contributions of 
ships and money, but as Athens was no longer in a position to 
compel the allies to perform their duties, the league remained far 
weaker than it had been in the preceding century. 

294. The Peace Convention (371 B.C.). As the new alliance 
included Thebes and about seventy other cities, it was more than a 
match for Peloponnese ; but the Thebans finally withdrew from the 
war, and busied themselves with subduing the Boeotian towns. 
Left to carry on the struggle alone and displeased with the policy 
of Thebes, Athens opened negotiations with Lacedaemon. There- 
upon a convention of all the Greek states met in Sparta to establish 
a Hellenic peace. Though the treaty of Antalcidas was renewed, 
the Persian king could no longer arbitrate among the Greeks they 
now felt able to manage their own affairs. It is interesting to see 
them acting together to establish peace, and endeavoring to 
form one Hellenic state on the basis of local independence and 
equal rights. The convention resolved to accept peace on the 
understanding that every Greek state should be independent and 
that all fleets and armies should be disbanded. 

Though all were ready to make peace on these terms, trouble 



260 The Supremacy of Sparta 

arose in regard to ratifying the treaty. Sparta insisted on signing 
it in behalf of her allies, but would not grant the same privilege to 
Thebes. When, accordingly, Agesilaus demanded that the Boeo- 
tian towns should be permitted to sign for themselves, Epaminon- 
das, the Theban deputy, declared that his city had as good a right 
to represent all Boeotia as Sparta to represent all Laconia. His 
boldness startled the convention. For ages the Greeks had stood 
in awe of Sparta, and no one had dared question her authority 
within the borders of Lacedaemon. But the deputy from Thebes 
was winning his point with the members, when Agesilaus in great 
rage sprang to his feet and bade him say once for all whether Boeotia 
should be independent. " Yes, if you will give the same freedom 
to Laconia," Epaminondas replied. The Spartan king then 
struck the name of Thebes from the list of states represented in the 
convention, excluding her thus from the peace. 

295. The Battle of Leuctra (371 B.C.). The treaty was signed, 
the convention dissolved, the deputies returned home. All eyes 
turned toward the impending conflict ; every one expected to see 
the city of Epaminondas punished, perhaps destroyed, for the bold- 
ness of her leader. 

Leuctra was a small town in Boeotia southwest of Thebes. The 
battle fought there in 371 B.C. was in its political effects the most 
important in which Greeks only were engaged; to the student of 
military affairs it is one of the most interesting in history. 

As a result of studies in military science, Epaminondas introduced 
a sweeping revolution in warfare. The Boeotians had always made 
excellent soldiers, and in the Peloponnesian War they had success- 
fully tried the experiment of massing their men in a heavy phalanx. 
This solid body of infantry was to be the chief element in the new 
military system ; Epaminondas was to convert the experiences of 
his countrymen into the most important principle of military 
science the principle of concentrating the attack upon a single 
point of the enemy's line. Opposite to the Peloponnesian right, 
made up of Lacedaemonians under one of their kings, he massed 
his left in a column fifty deep and led it to the attack. The enemy, 
drawn up uniformly twelve deep in the old-fashioned way, could 
not withstand the terrific shock. The Boeotian centre purposely 



Battle of Leuctra 



261 



THE THEBAN TACTICS 

IN THE 

BATTLE OF LEUCTJRA 



-I I II 



d > J" 1 
frqqq \ \\ 

f^jU! j 



inu, 



advanced more slowly than the column, and the right still more 
slowly, so that these divisions of the line took only the slightest 
part in the battle. But the Boeotian horsemen, who were well 
trained and high-spirited, easily put to rout the inefficient cavalry 
of the enemy; and the Sacred Band, Epaminondas' school of 
Theban youths, followed the impetuous Pelopidas in an irresistible 
charge on the extreme Spartan 
right. The king was killed, his 
army thoroughly beaten by a 
much smaller force, and the su- 
premacy of Sparta was at an end. 

296. Estimate of the Spartan 
Policy and Power. At the close 
of the Peloponnesian War, the 
Athenian Empire had passed un- 
der the control of Sparta, which 
continued to treat it as subject. 
But the Spartans were less capa- 
ble of governing an empire than 
the Athenians had been; they 
were less intelligent, less just and 
mild. They had no experience in 
governing an empire, no knowl- 
edge of finance, and no system of 
administering justice, as had the 
Athenians. They could only think 
of controlling their subjects as 
they did their perioeci, or in the most favored cases, their Pelo- 
ponnesian allies. Naturally they were guilty of many harsh and 
tyrannous acts. 

Notwithstanding all these facts, we must admit that after Athens 
had proved her inability to unite Hellas, it was well for Sparta to 
make the attempt. A great number of liberty-loving states could 
not possibly be welded into a nation without the use of force and 
the infliction of some temporary injustice. But the Greeks were 
learning to cooperate in safeguarding their rights against Sparta, 
while adapting themselves to her supremacy. In time the system 



in 



I in 



ODDDTHEBAN CAVALRr 
I a a, BOEOTIANS 
I, THEBAN COLUMN 

", SACRED BAND 
[, I, THEBANS AND ALLIES BEFORE ADVANCE 

I, II, THEBAN-. ADVANCE IN ECHELON FORMATION 

II, III, SPARTANS, ^^^ PELOPONNESIANS 

SHOWING THEBAN COLUMN AND SACRED BAND 
CUTTING THE SPARTAN LINE 



. C... 



262 The Supremacy of Sparta 

might have proved as easy and acceptable to the Greeks as it was 
efficient for protection. 

But the number of Spartans had dwindled to a few hundreds, 
and in military skill they were now surpassed by both Athenians 
and Thebans. Unable to rule by intelligence and justice, they 
lacked the strength, too, for keeping the city-states in obedience. 
The result was the end of their supremacy. 

From this point of view, the battle of Leuctra, a triumph of 
local patriotism, was a great misfortune to Hellas. Had Sparta 
retained the leadership, she might have preserved the independence 
of the nation. After her fall no city was strong enough for the 
task. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of this chapter like that on p. 250. 2. Compare the 
rule of Sparta in the fourth century B.C. with that of Athens in the fifth. 
3. Compare the condition of Lacedaemon in the fourth century with her 
condition in the seventh. In this interval what changes had taken place 
in her constitution and society ? 4. Did any good come to Greece from the 
treaty of Antalcidas ? 5. Was the peace convention of 371 B.C. in any respect 
an improvement on that of 387 ? 6. Why should Epaminondas and Agesilaus 
disagree over the method of ratifying the treaty ? 7. What were the various 
effects of the battle of Leuctra? 



Note-book Topics 

I. The Return of the Ten Thousand. Xenophon, Anabasis, ii-vi. 

II. The Battle of Leuctra. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 269- 

275- 

III. The Internal Condition of Lacedaemon. Xenophon, Hellenica, 
iii. 3 (conspiracy of Cinadon) ; Lacedaemonian Constitution; Agesilaus ; 
Plutarch, Lysander; Agesilaus. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
THEBES ATTEMPTS TO GAIN THE SUPREMACY 

371-362 B.C. 

297. The Unfailing Courage of Sparta. When news of the mis- 
fortune reached Sparta, the ephors delivered " the names of the 
slain to their friends and families, with a word of warning to the 
women not to make any loud lamentation, but to bear their sorrow 
in silence ; and the next day it was a striking spectacle to see those 
who had relations among the slain moving to and fro in public 
with bright and radiant looks, whilst of those whose friends were 
reported to be living, barely a man was to be seen, and these flitted 
by with lowered heads and scowling brows, as if in humiliation." 1 

Spartan laws degraded runaways, and deprived them of citizen- 
ship and of all other honors ; they had to go unwashed and meanly 
clad, with beards half shaven. Any one who met them in the street 
was at liberty to beat them, and they dared not resist. On the 
present occasion Sparta had sent out seven hundred citizens, of 
whom three hundred had disgraced themselves by surviving defeat. 
What should be done with them ? 

As Sparta had only about fifteen hundred citizens remaining, 
to disfranchise three hundred would be ruinous. Agesilaus, who 
was requested by the government to settle this serious question, 
decided to let the law sleep in the present case, to be revived, how- 
ever, for the future. In this way he piloted his country safely 
through the crisis. 

298. Effects of the Battle on Peloponnese. In Peloponnese 
the wildest confusion and anarchy arose. To the friends of Sparta 
it seemed that the world was falling into chaos, now that she had 
lost control, while her enemies rejoiced in the freedom assured them 
by her downfall. The first to profit by the revolution were the 

1 Xenophon, Hettenica, vi. 4. 
263 



264 



Thebes Attempts to Gain the Supremacy 



Arcadians, most of whom were still shepherds and peasants, living 
in villages, and following the Lacedaemonians in war. They now 
resolved to unite in a permanent league for the defence of their liber- 
ties. They then founded a new city, Meg-a-lop'o-lis, to be the seat 
of government, and a stronghold against Sparta. When the Arca- 
dians were attacked by the Lacedaemonians, Epaminondas came 




MOUNT ITHOME AND CITY WALL OF MESSENE 
(From a photograph) 

to their help at the head of an army of Thebans and their allies in 
all, seventy thousand men. With this great host he invaded La- 
conia, and ravaged it from end to end ; for the first time in history, 
Spartan women saw the smoke from the camp-fires of an enemy. 
Unable to capture Sparta, Epaminondas went to Messenia to 
aid the revolt of that country. With his help the Messenians built 
and fortified a new city, Messene, near the citadel of Mount Ithome, 
on a spot made sacred by many a heroic struggle for liberty. Mes- 
senia became an independent state. The result was that Lacedae- 
mon, deprived of a third of her territory, sank to the condition of a 



The Difficulties of Thebes 265 

second-rate power. Thereafter she would consent to no compact 
with other Greek states which did not include the recovery of her 
lost territory. As the Greeks would not grant this condition, they 
were deprived of Sparta's invaluable aid in future wars for the pres- 
ervation of their liberty. 

299. Theban Relations with Northern Greece, with Persia, 
and with Athens. Within the next few years the Thebans ex- 
tended their influence over Thessaly and Macedon. This was the 
work of Pelopidas. As the majority of the continental states 
were allies of the Thebans, they were now the leading power through 
the entire length of the peninsula. 

This interference everywhere disturbed existing arrangements 
but failed to bring peace; their military strength fell short of 
their ambition. When it became apparent to the Thebans them- 
selves that they were too weak to maintain order in Hellas, they 
sent Pelopidas as ambassador to Susa to bring the influence and 
money of the king to bear once more in favor of peace. Artaxerxes 
was ready to dictate another treaty ; but the Greeks had learned to 
'despise him, and would no longer endure his interference. As this 
disgraceful business failed, Epaminondas turned resolutely to the 
almost hopeless task of reducing Greece to order by force of iron. 
The chief resistance to his plan came now from Athens. The mari- 
time city he had to meet on her own element, as she refused to 
dismantle her fleet at the command of Persia. Though as well sup- 
plied as Attica with coasts, Boeotia had little commerce and no 
fleet worthy of mention before the time of Epaminondas. But 
suddenly his state became a naval power, the great tactician stepped 
into the place of admiral, and an armament went forth to sweep 
Athens from the sea. 

300. The Battle of Mantinea (362 B.C.). But Epaminondas 
had no time to complete this task. He had already made three 
invasions of Peloponnese, and again he found it necessary to march 
across the Isthmus to restore order. Many allies joined him; 
Athens and Sparta were his chief enemies. The Theban com-' 
mander attempted by forced marches to capture Sparta, then 
Mantinea, in the hope that he might thus establish peace without 
a battle ; but in both attempts he failed. 



266 Thebes Attempts to Gain the Supremacy 

Then came the conflict at Mantinea. Notwithstanding their 
tedious journeys, the condition of his troops was excellent; they 
were full of enthusiasm and had absolute confidence in their com- 
mander. " There was no labor which they would shrink from, 
either by night or by day ; there was no danger they would flinch 
from ; and with the scantiest provisions, their discipline never failed 
them. And so, when he gave them his last orders to prepare for 
impending battle, they obeyed with alacrity. He spoke the word ; 
the cavalry fell to whitening their helmets, the heavy infantry of 
the Arcadians began inscribing the club (of Heracles) as a crest on 
their shields, in imitation of the Thebans, and all were engaged in 
sharpening their lances and swords and in polishing their heavy 
shields." l 

Taking the enemy by surprise, Epaminondas repeated the tactics 
of Leuctra with perfect success. His charging column, now in 
the form of a wedge, cut through the opposing ranks and shattered 
the enemy's host. 

The great commander fell mortally wounded with a javelin. 
Carried to the rear, he heard the victorious shouts of the Thebans, 
but when told that his fellow-generals were both dead, he advised 
his countrymen to make peace. The surgeon then drew out the 
javelin point, and Epaminondas died. Pelopidas had recently been 
slain in battle in Thessaly. The heroes were buried where they 
fell ; and their gravestones in northern and southern Greece stood 
as monuments of Theban leadership, which ended with their lives. 

Pelopidas was bold and chivalrous, a zealous patriot and an able 
commander. Epaminondas was a great military genius. Person- 
ally he was without ambition, content to live as a private citizen, or 
to serve his state in the lowest offices. Absolutely pure in character, 
he aimed only to promote the welfare of his city and of Hellas. 
Though in statesmanship he was as able as any of his time, though 
his ideals were high and his methods honorable, he failed to discover 
the evils of the Hellenic state system, much more to remedy them. 
Fortune was kind to him and to his worthy helper in cutting them 
off at the height of their renown, before they could see the failure 
of their policy and be made responsible for it. 

1 Xenophon, Hellenica, vii. 5. 



Summary 267 

301. Summary of the Attempted Supremacy of Thebes; Estimate of 
her Policy. (i) The battle of Leuctra destroyed the Spartan supremacy 
and made Thebes the foremost military power in Greece. (2) With Theban 
help Arcadia and Messenia revolted against Sparta, and became independ- 
ent states. (3) Thebes extended her influence not only over Peloponnese 
and central Greece, but also over Thessaly and Macedon. (4) Though at- 
tempting to take the place of Sparta as the head of Greece, she merely dis- 
turbed existing arrangements, and failed altogether to establish peace. 
(5) Thereupon she called upon the Persian king for aid, but the Greeks now 
despised his power. (6) In making a new effort to win control of Pelopon- 
nese, Thebes fought the battle of Mantinea. (7) The death of Epaminon- 
das in this battle destroyed her last chance of supremacy. 

Had Epaminondas lived and succeeded in his plans, there is no reason for 
believing that he could have benefited Hellas. The Thebans were no better 
qualified for ruling than the Spartans had been. Their chief fault was their 
narrowness. Instead of making all the Boeotians Thebans, with full privi- 
leges in the leading city, they attempted to subject them to the condition 
of perioeci; and some towns they even destroyed. Their more remote 
allies they had no thought of binding to themselves by institutions such 
as hold the states of our nation together. Peloponnese, united under 
Lacedaemon, had been the citadel of Hellas, the centre of resistance to 
foreign aggression ; and though Sparta was despotic, the Greek states had 
been learning of late to guard their liberties against her, while they still 
looked to her for protection and guidance in time of danger. All this was 
now changed. When Sparta had fallen, Thebes, taking her place, broke up 
Peloponnese into warring camps, weakened the only power which was 
capable of defending Hellas, and spread confusion everywhere. As a result, 
Greece was in chaos at the time she most needed unity and leadership in 
order to defend herself against the rising power of Macedon. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Were the Athenians wise in joining Lacedaemon against Thebes? 
Give an account of the previous relations between Athens and Lacedaemon. 
2. Why was the foundation of Theban supremacy weak? 3. Compare the 
policy of Thebes with that of Sparta. Did Thebes introduce any improve- 
ment? 4. What was the effect of the Theban policy on Hellas ? 5. Could 
we say that any Greek state was blameworthy for refusing to submit to 
another? for attempting to gain the supremacy over others? 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Battle of Mantinea. Fling, Source Book of Greek ' History, 
278-285 (Xenophon, Hellenica). 

II. Epaminondas. Plutarch, Pelopidas; Sankey, Spartan and Theban 
Supremacies, chs. xi, xii; Bury, History of Greece, 566, 592-626; Holm, 
History of Greece, in. chs. viii-x; Curtius, History of Greece, bk. vi.- 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE RISE OF MACEDON 

To 338 B.C. 

302. Country and People. Macedon is the basin of a single 
river-system. Its waters in their upper course run through plains 
separated by high mountains, and then flow together in three par- 
allel streams to the sea. It is somewhat like a hand with radiating 
fingers reaching from the coast into the continent. The country 
is made up accordingly of two distinct regions : the Highland, 
including the mountains and plains of the interior ; and the Low- 
land, nearer the sea. 

Dense forests nearly covered the Highland, even as late as the 
fourth century B.C. The sparse population lived in hovels, dressed 
in skins, and fed their few sheep on the mountain sides. Their 
habits were warlike : the youth could not sit at table with the men 
till he had killed a wild boar, and he who had slain no foe had to 
wear a rope about his body as a sign that he was not yet free. 
They ate from wooden dishes; they fought with the rudest 
weapons ; poverty and exposure were toughening them into ex- 
cellent material for soldiers. 

In each separate valley dwelt a tribe under the rule of a king and 
nobles, as it had been in the Greece of Homer's day. The Macedo- 
nians were indeed Greeks who had not yet emerged from barbarism. 
The Lowlanders, however, were rapidly learning the ideas and the 
useful arts of the Hellenic colonies alon^ their coasts. By hard 
fighting, the king of the Lowlands finally united all the tribes of 
Macedon under his sway. 

303. Philip : Accession and Early Conquests. In the time of 
Epaminondas the Thebans interfered in the affairs of Macedon, as 
explained above, 1 and carried away as hostage a young prince named 
Philip. 

1 299. 
268 



Philip 269 

Thebes was then at the height of her glory : her generals and her 
army were the best in the world ; her schools, streets, market-place, 
and assembly thronged with busy life ; her arsenals sounded con- 
tinually with preparations for war. The royal youth came a half- 
barbarian, with a voracious appetite for learning everything which 
would be useful to his country ; he returned a civilized Greek, with 
an ambition to be the maker of a nation. 

Soon afterward the king, an elder brother, fell while fighting 
against the rebellious Highlanders ; and Philip mounted the throne, 
beset on all sides with difficulties and dangers (359 B.C.). 

Within the next two years he had proved his right to rule by over- 
coming his domestic foes, defeating his hostile neighbors, and seating 
himself firmly in power. It became evident at once that he in- 
tended to enlarge his kingdom by subduing the surrounding states. 
First he wished to annex the coast cities, that he might have free 
access to the sea. Some of these cities were allies of Athens, and 
others belonged to the Chalcidic Federation, restored after its over- 
throw by Lacedaemon. 1 Grossly deceiving both Athenians and 
Chalcidians as to his purpose, he robbed Athens of her allies on the 
coast and seized Amphipolis, the greatest commercial city in the 
neighborhood. It must be said in his favor that he treated his 
new subjects with the utmost fairness, granting their cities more 
rights than the native Macedonians enjoyed. 

304. War between Philip and Athens (3 5 7-346 B.C.). In anger 
Athens broke the peace with him, but could do nothing more because 
she was engaged at the same time in a social war, that is, a war 
with some of her allies who had revolted. She showed great weak- 
ness through this period in all her dealings with other states, as 
many of her citizens were opposed to an active foreign policy. She 
failed in the social war, and ended it by granting independence to 
the seceding states, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium. Other 
allies deserted, till only Euboea and a few small islands were left, 
whose war contributions amounted to no more than forty-five 
talents a year. Philip, on the other hand, acquired enormous 
revenues by seizing Mount Pangaeus and working its gold mines. 
This source yielded him a thousand talents a year. With the money 

1 290. 



270 The Rise of Macedon 

he was enabled to keep up a standing army, build a fleet from the 
timber of the forests about Pangaeus, and bribe supporters in nearly 
every city of Greece. His immediate aim, however, was to make 
himself master of Thessaly; and the opportunity soon offered 
itself. 

305. The Sacred War (356-346 B.C.). About the time when 
Athens broke peace with him, trouble arose between Phocis and 
Thebes. The Phocians, like the Macedonians, were a fresh, vigorous 
race, whose martial strength and ardor had not yet been softened by 
commerce and city life. As they refused to submit to Thebes, this 
city persuaded the Amphictyonic Council to declare a sacred war 1 
upon them on a false charge of having wronged Apollo. To pay the 
expenses of the war, the Phocian commanders borrowed large sums 
of money from the Delphic treasury, a perfectly honorable 
transaction, as Delphi was a Phocian city and the war was in self- 
defence ; yet the enemies of the little state cried out hypocritically 
against this still more impious crime against the god. By means of 
this money, the Phocian general brought together a great army of 
mercenaries, with which he overran Locris, Doris, and Boeotia, 
seized the pass of Thermopylae, defeated Philip twice in Thessaly, 
and drove him back to Macedon. This conflict between Phocis 
and Macedon was for the control of Thessaly. The unfortunate 
campaign of Philip merely spurred him to greater exertions. In 
the following year he reappeared with an army in Thessaly, defeated 
the Phocians, and drove them behind Thermopylae. Only the 
timely arrival of an Athenian force prevented the victorious king 
from passing through Thermopylae into central Greece. However, 
all Thessaly was now his, and immediately afterward he con- 
quered Thrace nearly to the Hellespont. 

306. Philip threatens Olynthus (352-349). Up to this time 
the Chalcidians had been in alliance with Philip, whom they looked 
upon as a petty tribal chief. But alarmed at the wonderful growth 
of his power, they made peace with Athens in violation of their 
agreement with him. The crafty king let three years slip quietly 
by, during which he won over to himself by threats and bribes a 
considerable party in every Chalcidic town; then, when fully pre- 

1 104. 



Demosthenes 



271 



pared for war, he ordered O-lyn'thus l to give up his step-brother, 
who had taken refuge from him in that city. As Greeks considered 
it a religious duty to harbor exiles, Olynthus refused, and sent at 
the same time an appeal to Athens for 
help. 

307. Demosthenes. Among the 
speakers in the Athenian assembly, 
when the request from Olynthus came 
up for consideration, was the man who 
was to be known through future ages 
as the antagonist of Philip, Demos- 
thenes, the most eminent orator the 
world has known. 

Demosthenes was only seven years 
old when his father, a wealthy manu- 
facturer, died, whereupon the guar- 
dians took most of the estate for 
themselves. He was a slender, sallow 
boy, who, instead of joining with com- 
rades in the sports of the gymnasium, 
stayed at home with his mother, nurs- 
ing his wrath against the unfaithful 
guardians till it became the ruling 
passion of his youth. To prepare 
himself for prosecuting them he studied 
legal oratory under an experienced 
master. It is said, too, that even in 
youth he resolved to become a states- 
man ; but his voice was defective, his 
body weak and awkward, his habits 
unsocial, his whole nature unfitted 

for such a calling. Strength of soul, however, made up for personal 
disadvantages. He trained his voice and delivery under a success- 
ful actor; he studied the great masterpieces of Attic prose; he 
steeled his will and so exercised his mental muscles that they became 
capable of the highest and most prolonged tension. Severe toil, 
1 The chief city of Chalcidice. 




(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



272 The Rise of Macedon 

continued through many years, gave him his genius. Success in 
prosecuting the guardians led to speech- writing as a profession, 
from which he gradually made his way into public life. 

He was the first to foresee the danger to Hellenic freedom from 
Philip, and lost no time or zeal in warning Athens to meet it while 
it was yet far off. In 352 B.C. he began his opposition to the king 
of Macedon in an oration called his First Philippic; and when 
envoys from Olynthus begged Athens for an alliance, he urged his 
countrymen to accept the opportunity. " Give prompt and vigor- 
ous assistance, use your surplus revenues for war rather than for 
festivals; be not content with sending mercenaries, but take the 
field yourselves against Philip, and you will certainly defeat him, for 
his strength is derived from your weak policy, his power is based 
on injustice, and all his subjects will revolt, if only you give them a 
little encouragement and support." Such were the sentiments of 
his Olynthiac Orations. He tried to inspire his countrymen with 
the vigor and ambition of their fathers, who had beaten down 
Persia and had founded an empire ; yet his words had little effect, 
as he was still a young man and almost unknown. 

The Athenians made the alliance, but sent insufficient help ; so 
that before the end of another year Philip had taken Olynthus and 
the thirty other cities of the League. He destroyed them all, and 
enslaved the entire population. 

308. Character of Philip ; his Army and State. Hellas was 
punished for the disunion of her states, but this does not justify 
Philip. The cruelty and violence of all the Greek tyrants combined 
scarcely equalled this one deed of the Macedonian king. 

There could now be no doubt that he was dangerous. He ruled 
Macedon, Thessaly, Chalcidice, and the greater part of Thrace; 
he had his hirelings among the leading men of the Hellenic cities. 
He was a self-made man, an incessant toiler, who spared not his own 
person, but " in his struggle for power and empire had an eye cut 
out, his collar-bone fractured, a hand and a leg mutilated, and was 
willing to sacrifice any part of his body which fortune might 
choose to take, provided he could live with the remainder in honor 
and glory." l The body served a masterful intellect ; few men 

1 Demosthenes, De Corona, 67. 



Army and State 273 

have equalled him in quickness of thought and in soundness of 
judgment. 

The greatest of his achievements was the creation of the Mace- 
donian army. The rough Highland huntsmen and the peasants of 
the Plain, organized in local regiments, composed his phalanx. 
Learning a lesson from Athens, 1 he lightened their defensive armor 
and increased the length of their spears. Thus they could move 
more rapidly than the old-fashioned phalanx, and in conflict with 
any enemy their lances were first to draw blood. The nobles served 
in the cavalry as " companions " of the king ; the light troops 
composed his guard ; the sons of nobles were royal pages, associat- 
ing with the king and protecting his person. Gradually military 
pride, the glory of success, and most of all the magnetism of a great 
commander, welded this mass of men into an organic whole. The 
military organization not only civilized the Macedonians by sub- 
jecting them to discipline, but it also destroyed their clannishness, 
and made of them one nation with common interests, sentiments, 
and hopes. And Philip's country was not so exclusive as the Hel- 
lenic cities had always been ; it readily admitted strangers to citizen- 
ship, and in this way showed capacity for indefinite growth in popu- 
lation and in area. Macedon was already far larger than any 
other Greek state ; its army was better organized ; its troops were 
superior ; and its king possessed a genius for war and for diplomacy. 

309. Peace with Athens and the Overthrow of Phocis (346 B.C.). 
- Three years after the fall of Chalcidice Athens made peace with 
Philip. The treaty included the allies of both parties, with the 
exception of the Phocians, whom Philip reserved for destruction. 
His excuse was that they had seized the treasures of Apollo at 
Delphi ; he really wished to gain a foothold in central Greece and 
at the same time to pose as a champion of the prophet god. 

A few days after signing the treaty he passed through Thermopy- 
lae, and as agent of the Amphictyonic Council he destroyed the 
twenty-two cities of Phocis and scattered the inhabitants in villages. 
The council decreed that the Phocians should repay by annual 
instalments the ten thousand talents they had taken from Apollo's 
treasury. Their seat in the council was given to Philip. This posi- 

i 288. 



274 



The Rise of Macedon 



tion, together with the presidency of the Pythian games, assured 
him great honor and influence throughout Hellas. He was now not 
only a Greek, but the greatest of the Hellenic nation. 

310. The Battle of Chaeronea (338 B.C.). In the years of peace 
which followed, Philip was busily winning friends among the 
Greeks ; it was his aim to bring Hellas under his will by creating 




BATTLEFIELD OF CHAERONEA 
(From a photograph) 

in each city a party devoted to himself. In all his movements, 
however, he was met by the eloquence and the diplomacy of Demos- 
thenes. Gradually the orator brought together a Hellenic League 
to drive Philip out of Greece. Several states in Peloponnese and 
in central Greece joined it. 

As the time seemed ripe for a final attack upon Greek liberties, 
Philip caused his agents to kindle another sacred war in central 
Greece. He then marched again through Thermopylae, and occu- 
pied El-a-te'a, near the Boeotian frontier. As this movement threat- 
ened Boeotia, Thebes was induced to enter the Hellenic League. 
The allied forces met him at Chae-ro-ne'a in Boeotia. On each 



Philip Lord of Greece 275 

side were about thirty thousand men. Philip's generalship won 
the day. 

In this battle a monarch, commanding all the resources of his 
state, proved superior to a loose alliance of republics. The out- 
come impressed upon men the idea that monarchy was the strongest 
and best form of government. Hence it helped to determine that 
to the present day the civilized world should be ruled chiefly by 
kings and emperors. 

311. The Congress at Corinth. The Hellenic states hastened to 
submit to the victor, Sparta alone maintaining her independence. 
Philip drew up a plan for their organization under his leader- 
ship. The states were to be free and to govern themselves under 
their own constitutions. But no more civil strife was to be per- 
mitted within the states, or wars between one state and another. 
All were to send deputies to a congress at Corinth. The body was 
to meet whenever called by Philip to deliberate under his presi- 
dency on war, peace, and all -matters of national interest. The 
first session was held shortly after the battle of Chaeronea. In the 
second session, 337 B.C., the Greeks elected Philip captain-general, 
and agreed to furnish land and naval forces in proportion to their 
several means. The object of these preparations was the conquest 
of Persia. 

Let us for a moment compare Philip's congress with the one which 
met in the same place in 480 B.C. 1 The aim of the earlier session 
was the protection of Hellenic liberty from Persian aggression ; that 
of Philip's congress was the conquest of the aggressor. Doubtless 
there was a certain historical justice in the latter object in the 
attempt to balance the right and wrong of the world ; and it afforded 
the Greeks an outlook into a new and great future. But on the 
former occasion the deputies acted voluntarily, on the latter under 
fear of a master, whose garrisons held their strongholds. Philip 
wished merely to be the war-captain of a free and united Hellas ; 
his leadership was to be in kind the same as that of Sparta or of 
Thebes. But the majority of the Greeks could only look upon him 
as a foreign master, whom they for the present were constrained 
through fear to obey. For all these reasons we must regard the 

1 202. 



276 The Rise of Macedon 

later congress as distinctly inferior to the earlier in nobility of 
motive and character. 

312. Significance of the Macedonian Supremacy. At last 
Hellas was united. The end long dreamed of and struggled for 
by many patriotic Greeks was reached. The Hellenes were soon 
to become the leading people in a great empire, and were to offer it 
the benefit of their superior civilization. In so far as the world 
accepted the offer, it profited by Philip's achievement. 

Now that the Hellenes were at peace among themselves and still 
living under free governments, we should expect them to progress 
more rapidly than before and to bring their civilization to a still 
greater height of excellence. But if we take this view of the case, we 
shall be disappointed. Progress was thereafter made along certain 
narrow lines, which will be considered in a later chapter. 1 In reality 
the conditions which favored the growth of civilization had passed 
away from Greece forever. One condition was the fearlessness 
of absolute freedom, which could not exist under a master, however 
benevolent he might be. Another was the stimulus of party 
strife and of interstate warfare, which Philip for a time suppressed. 
It is true that various other causes were cooperating with these two 
in bringing about a decline of Greek genius ; but the fact here to 
be emphasized is that the classic age of Greek literature and art 
came to an end with the lives of the men who saw the battle of 
Chaeronea. 

313. Growth of the Idea of conquering Persia ; Philip's Prepa- 
rations. Before the battle of Plataea (479 B.C.), the Hellenes 
could think of nothing further than self-protection from Persia. 
Soon afterward, however, those who organized the Delian Con- 
federacy conceived the idea of a perpetual war of aggression 
upon the great empire. They had advanced so far in confidence 
and strength as to believe that such a war would be successful, 
and even profitable. The most famous exponent of this policy 
was Cimon. For a time Pericles held to it. He believed that he 
could greatly disable Persia and win an empire for Athens by aiding 
in the liberation of Egypt and Cyprus. But when these attempts 
failed, the idea was for a time dropped. Early in the fourth cen- 

1 Ch. xxvii, 345 ff. 



The Idea of Conquering Persia 277 

tury it was revived by the successful march of the " Ten Thousand," 
which proved the weakness of the empire when matched against 
the Greeks. Resuming the policy of Cimon, Agesilaus hoped at 
least to conquer Asia Minor for the Greeks, and would doubtless 
have succeeded, had he not been recalled by war nearer home. 
Writers and orators then took up the idea, and made the public 
acquainted with it. When, accordingly, Philip came to the leader- 
ship, he found the Hellenic mind prepared for his proposition to 
conquer the Persian empire. 

Preparation for this enterprise went on actively till, in 336 B.C., 
the army was ready to move into Asia. But Philip was delayed 
by troubles in his own house. His wife O-lym'pi-as, the mother 
of his son Alexander, was an Epeirot princess, a wild, fierce woman. 
Sent home to her kinsmen and supplanted by a younger wife, she 
began in jealous rage to plot against her lord. Between Philip and 
Alexander an angry brawl arose ; then came a reconciliation cele- 
brated with splendid feasts and games. In the midst of the rejoic- 
ing Philip was assassinated. 

314. Summary of the Rise of Macedon. (i) Gradually the tribes of 
Macedon adopted the civilization of the other Greeks. (2) In the first 
half of the fourth century B.C., they united in one state under a king. (3) 
Philip, ascending the throne, 359 B.C., began to extend his kingdom by 
annexing Greek colonies on the neighboring coasts. (4) For eleven years 
(357-346) he waged a successful war with Athens. (5) Meanwhile he con- 
quered Thessaly, most of Thrace, and Chalcidice. (6) During this time 
he was creating the best-organized and best-disciplined army in the world. 

(7) Invited by the Amphictyonic Council to punish the Phocians for 
alleged impiety to Apollo, he destroyed all their cities and transferred their 
votes in the council to himself. He was now the greatest of the Hellenes. 

(8) When Athens, Thebes, and a few minor states united to resist his aggres- 
sions, he defeated their army at Chaeronea. (9) He then organized a Hel- 
lenic federation, represented in a congress meeting at Corinth under his 
presidency. In this way he unified a great part of Hellas. (10) But while 
preparing to lead the Greeks against Persia, he was assassinated. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Why did not Macedon develop as rapidly in civilization as Attica? 
2. Compare the Macedonians with the Homeric Greeks. 3. Compare the 
Athenians in the age of Philip with their ancestors in the age of Pericles. 



278 The Rise of Macedon 

In what respects had they declined or improved? 4. Was Demosthenes 
wise in constantly opposing Philip? Debate this question. 5. Compare 
the Macedonian army under Philip with that of Lacedaemon ; with that of 
Thebes under Epaminondas. 6. Was the career of Philip advantageous to 
Greece? If so, in what way? 7. In the career of Philip, what evidences 
do you find of his genius? What is your estimate of his general character? 



Note-book Topics 

I. Philip. Bury, History of Greece, 683-7 37 ; Holm, History of Greece, 
iii. chs. xv-xix ; Curteis, Macedonian Empire, 23-85 ; Hogarth, Philip 
and Alexander. 

II. Demosthenes. Plutarch, Demosthenes; Butcher, Demosthenes; 
see Indices in the various histories of Greece. Extracts from his Orations, 
Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 286-295-. 

III. The Athens of Demosthenes. Curtius, History of Greece, v. 123- 
133; Holm, History of Greece, iii. chs. xiii, xv. 



CHAPTER XXV 



THE FOUNDING OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE 336-3238.0. 

315. Alexander's Early Character and Policy. At the time of 
his accession (336 B.C.) Alexander was a ruddy-cheeked youth of 
twenty years with eyes and face full of animation and with the form 
of an Olympic runner. There was in him the same eagerness for 
knowledge as for exercise ; and among his tutors was Aristotle, 
the most learned of all the Greeks. Alexander was passionately 
fond of the Iliad, as he found in the 

hero Achilles his own ideal and image. 
The young king was an impetuous yet 
manly spirit, sincere in an age of de- 
ceit, incessantly active 'in the midst 
of a generation of drones. 

When he came to his inheritance, 
he found the great work of his father 
rapidly crumbling, the Macedo- 
nians disaffected, barbarous tribes 
threatening invasion, and Greece re- 
bellious. The wise men of Macedon 
urged him to proceed cautiously in 
meeting the difficulties which beset 
him ; but Alexander with a few mas- 
terful strokes reduced his subjects and 
his troublesome enemies to order. 

316. The Invasion of Asia; Battle 
on the Granicus (334 B.C.). In the 
spring of 334 B.C. Alexander crossed 

the Hellespont with forty thousand troops, and began his invasion 
of the Persian empire. He aspired to draw the hearts of his people 
to himself as the hero who would punish the Persians for desolating 

279 




ALEXANDER 
(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 



280 The Founding of Alexander's Empire 

his country and burning its temples. The enemy first offered re- 
sistance on the Gra-ni'cus River near Troy ; without hesitation 
Alexander crossed the stream under a storm of darts, and carried 
the enemy's position by a bold dash. Half of the force which 
opposed him there consisted of Greeks who were serving the Asi- 
atic king for pay. Soon afterward he learned, too, that the war- 
ships of Hellas would cooperate with the enemy. This fact 
determined him to follow the coast from Ephesus to the mouths 
of the Nile and to seize all the harbors on the way, that hostile 
fleets might find no landing-place in his rear. On the march he 
had to storm fortresses, garrison towns, and keep open his com- 
munications with Macedon. As the Greek cities of Asia Minor 
fell one by one into his power, he gave them democratic govern- 
ments, but denied them the privilege of banishing oligarchs. 
Hellas had never before seen a policy at once so vigorous and so 
humane. 

317. The Battle of Issus (333 B.C.); Alexander and the Greeks. 
At Is'sus in Cilicia he met Darius in command of a vast host, 

yet posted in a narrow valley where 'numbers did not count. By 
a skilful attack he routed the unwieldy mass, and sent the royal 
coward into headlong flight. Alexander always exposed himself 
recklessly in battle, and on this occasion was wounded by a sword- 
thrust in the thigh. A great quantity of booty, and even the mother, 
wife, and children of the king, fell into his hands. These persons 
he treated kindly, but refused to negotiate with Darius for peace. 

Soon after this battle he took captive some ambassadors who had 
come up from Greece to form with Darius a common plan of resist- 
ance to the Macedonians. Instead of punishing the envoys for 
what he might have regarded as treason, he found excuses for them 
and let them go. For a time Alexander tried to win the Greeks by 
similar acts of kindness; afterward he alienated them by his own 
unreasonableness. 

318. The Siege of Tyre (332 B.C.) ; Founding of Alexandria. - 
From Issus Alexander proceeded to* Tyre. The capture of this 
city by siege and storm was the most brilliant of all his military ex- 
ploits. Tyre stood on an island ; and as he had no fleet, he could 
only reach the city by building a mole to connect it with the main- 



Tyre and Egypt 



281 



land. His plan was to lead his army along the mole to an attack 
on the city. Though harassed by the enemy's fireships and by sor- 
ties from the harbors, he at last succeeded in finishing the work. 
Meanwhile he had collected a fleet of Greek and Phoenician vessels, 
so that he was able to make the attack by sea as well as by land. 
Many thousand Tyrians were slain in the storming of their city, 
and thousands of captives were sold into slavery. The great em- 
porium of the East was left a heap 
of ruins. 

Darius could no longer look for 
help from the Phoenician navy, or 
from the Greeks. He now offered 
still more favorable terms of peace, 
Alexander should have all the 
country west of the Euphrates, and 
should become the son-in-law and 
ally of the king. Alexander replied 
that he would not content himself 
with the half, since the whole was 
already his, and that if he chose to 
marry his adversary's daughter, he 
would do so without asking the 
father's consent. Darius then began fresh preparations for war, and 
Alexander marched on to Egypt, which yielded without resistance. 
Near one of the mouths of the Nile he founded Alexandria to take 
the place of Tyre, and with its trade-routes to bind fast his new 
dominions to the throne of his fathers. It grew to be the greatest 
commercial city of the eastern Mediterranean. 

Before departing from Egypt Alexander paid a visit to the oracle 
of the god Ammon in an oasis of the Libyan desert, and received 
assurance from the deity who sat in this vast solitude that he; the 
conqueror of nations, was in reality a son of Zeus. 

319. The Battle of Arbela (331 B.C.). From the Nile country 
Alexander led his army into the heart of the Persian empire. Some 
sixty miles from Ar-be'la, north of Babylon, he again met the enemy. 
On this occasion Darius had chosen a favorable position, a broad 
plain in which his enormous force found ample room for movement. 




TYRE 

Scale, 1 : 50,000 



Williams Bug. 0., N. V. 



282 The Founding of Alexander's Empire 

The two armies halted in view of each other. While Alexander's 
troops slept the night through, Darius, keeping his men under arms, 
reviewed them by torchlight. The Macedonian general Parmenion, 
beholding all the plain aglow with the lights and fires of the Asiatics, 
and hearing the uncertain and confused sound of voices from their 
camp like the distant roar of the vast ocean, was amazed at the 
multitude of the foe, and hastening to the tent of Alexander, be- 
sought him to make a night attack that darkness might hide them 
from the enemy. " I will not steal a victory ! " the young king 
replied. He knew Darius would lose all hope of resistance only 
when conquered by force of arms in a straightforward battle. It 
was a fierce struggle which took place on the following day ; but the 
steady advance of the phalanx and the furious charge of the Mace- 
donian cavalry under the lead of their king won the day over the 
unorganized, spiritless mass of Orientals. The long struggle be- 
tween two continents, which began with the earliest Persian attacks 
on Greece, was decided in favor of Europe by the intelligent and 
robust manliness of the Westerners. 

320. Other Conquests (331-323 B.C.). Darius fled northward, 
and was murdered by an attendant on the way. Alexander as his 
successor was master of the empire. Babylon surrendered without 
resistance. This city he wished to make the capital of his world 
empire. From Babylon he pushed on to Susa, the summer resi- 
dence of the Persian kings. Here an immense treasure of silver 
and gold estimated at fifty thousand talents fell into his 
hands. Thence he fought his difficult way, against mountaineers 
and imperial troops, to Persepolis, the capital of Persia proper. In 
this city he found a much greater treasure of the precious metals 
- a hundred and twenty thousand talents. For ages the Persian 
kings had been hoarding this wealth, which the conqueror was now 
to put into circulation. One night, while he and his friends were 
carousing there, the idea occurred to them to burn the beautiful 
palace of the kings in revenge for the destruction of the Athenian 
temples by Xerxes. The deed was hardly done before Alexander 
repented his folly. 

A few campaigns were still needed to pacify the great country. 
The victorious marches which he next made into the remote north- 



Organization 283 

erly provinces of Bac'tri-a and Sog-di-a'na and to distant India are 
interesting both as brilliant military achievements and as explora- 
tions of regions hitherto unknown to the Greeks. His return from 
India through the Ge-dro'si-an desert was a marvellous feat of en- 
durance. Three-fourths of the army perished on the way; but 
Alexander was now lord of Asia, and to such a despot human life 
is cheap. His admiral Ne-ar'chus, who at the same time was voy- 
aging from the mouth of the Indus to the Persian Gulf, opened 
to the Greeks the water-route to India. It required five months 
for him to make the voyage. Though under favorable conditions 
it could be accomplished in less time, the distance and the hardships 
of the route were a hindrance to its extensive use throughout 
ancient times. 

321. Organization of the Empire. Immediately after his 
return to Babylon, Alexander began to settle the affairs of his 
empire, which reached from the western limit of Greece to the 
Hyph'a-sis River in India, and from the Jax-ar'tes River to Nubia 
the greatest extent of country yet united under one government. 
He left the taxes and the satrapies nearly as they were, but brought 
the officials under better control. The satrap had been a despot 
after the pattern of the king whom he served, uniting in himself all 
military, financial, and judicial authority; but Alexander in or- 
ganizing a province assigned each of these functions to a distinct 
officer, so that the work of government could be done better than 
before, and there was less opportunity for the abuse of power. 
He appointed to the offices Persians as well as Macedonians and 
Greeks. An important element of his organization was the colo- 
nies which he planted in all parts of the empire. The nucleus of the 
colony was Greek and Macedonian usually his worn-out veter- 
ans. With them were associated many natives. They were organ- 
ized in the Greek form, and were self-governing and free from trib- 
ute. Their object was (i) to secure the empire by means of garri- 
sons, (2) to promote trade and industry, (3) to fuse Hellenic with 
Asiatic civilization. The opportunity for colonization was one 
which the Greeks had long been wanting, and in which, therefore, 
they took an eager part. 

While engaged in this work, Alexander busied himself with recruit- 



284 The Founding of Alexander's Empire 

ing and improving his army and with building a great fleet ; for he 
was planning the conquest of Arabia, Africa, and Western Europe. 

322. His Death (323 B.C.) ; his Place in History. When 
ready to set out on his expedition to the West, he suddenly fell sick 
of a fever, caused probably by excessive drinking. As he grew 
rapidly worse, the soldiers forced their way in to see their beloved 
commander once more, and the whole army passed in single file by 
his bed. He was no longer able to speak, but his eyes and up- 
lifted hand expressed his silent farewell. 

His character appears clearly even in the brief narrative given 
above. His genius and energy in war, in organization, and in plant- 
ing colonies were marvellous. His mind expanded rapidly with the 
progress of his conquests. First king of Macedon, next captain- 
general of Hellas, then emperor of Persia, he aspired finally to be 
lord of the whole earth. His object was not to Hellenize the world, 
but to blend the continents in one nation and one civilization. But 
the dizzy height of power to which he had climbed disturbed his 
mental poise ; in an outburst of passion he murdered his dearest 
friend ; his lust for worship grew upon him till he bade the manly 
Macedonians grovel before him like servile Asiatics, and sent an 
order to the Greeks to recognize him as a god. Year by year he 
grew more egotistical and more despotic and violent. 

It would be idle to speculate on what he might have accom- 
plished had he lived to old age. We must judge him by his 
actual achievements. His conquests stimulated exploration and 
discovery, introducing a great age of scientific invention. They 
tended to break down the barrier between Greek and barbarian, 
and they gave Hellenic civilization to the world. People of 
widely separated countries became better acquainted with one 
another, and thus acquired a more liberal spirit and a broader 
view of mankind. The building up of an empire far greater 
than the Persian was itself a stage in the growth of the idea 
that all men are brothers. It is a fact, too, that Alexander's con- 
quests made easier the growth of the Roman empire. On the other 
hand, the conquest conferred no lasting benefit on the masses of the 
conquered. The Macedonian successors of Alexander were more 
oppressive plunderers than the native rulers had been; and the 



Alexander's Place in History 285 

civilization of the Greek cities did not extend far beyond their walls. 
Within a few centuries the more remote cities lost their distinctive 
Hellenic character. Apart, then, from the country lying imme- 
diately round the east Mediterranean, which kept in close touch 
with Europe, the career of Alexander and the rule of his successors 
formed but an episode in the history of the Orient. 

323. Summary of Alexander's Career. (i) On his accession Alexander 
crushed all opposition to himself in Macedon and Greece. (2) He 
then invaded the Persian empire and won the battles of Granicus and 
Issus. (3) Next he captured Tyre and founded Alexandria. (4) In the 
critical battle of Arbela he overthrew the vast army of Darius. (5) After- 
ward he took possession of Babylon and the Persian capitals Susa and 
Persepolis. (6) In his last campaigns he subdued the northeastern prov- 
inces of the empire and conquered a great part of India. (7) Meanwhile 
he was reorganizing the empire and planting many colonies. (8) Prepara- 
tions for further conquests were cut short by death. 



Suggestive Questions 

i . Can we say that under Philip and Alexander Greece was still free ? Give 
reasons for your opinion. 2. How much was the success of Alexander due 
to his father and his generals, and how much to himself? 3. What weak- 
nesses on the Persian side contributed largely to Alexander's success? 
4. Are there reasons for believing that without Philip and Alexander the 
Greeks would ever have conquered Persia ? 5. Explain this statement from 
Wheeler's Alexander the Great: " The seed-ground of European civilization 
is neither Greece nor the Orient, but a world joined of the two." 6. In 
your further study of ancient history, try to find what benefits, if any, civili- 
zation derived from Alexander's conquests. 



Note-book Topic 

Alexander. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 300-329 (Arrian, 
Anabasis of Alexander} ; Plutarch, Alexander; Wheeler, Alexander the 
Great; Hogarth, Philip and Alexander. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE MATURITY OF THE GREEK MIND: FROM POETRY TO 

PROSE 

404-322 B.C. 

324. Growth of the Greek Mind. It is occasionally helpful to 
compare the life of a nation with that of a man. The age considered 
in the present chapter was like that of an individual at maturity ; 
the imagination had declined somewhat, and the reason was su- 
preme. In this period men thought more keenly and deeply than 
at any other time in ancient history. As we pass from the fifth to 
the fourth century, accordingly, we find the form of literature chang- 
ing from poetry to prose. The former is the language of the imagi- 
nation ; the latter of the reason. All the best poetry of the Greeks 
was produced before the beginning of the fourth century; and, 
with the exception of history, all their best prose after that date. 1 
There are three great departments of Greek prose: history, oratory, 
and philosophy. 

325. History : Xenophon. The principal historian of this age 
whose works have survived to our time is Xenophon. He was an 
Athenian who got his education in the school of Socrates, and 
then went with Cyrus on his Asiatic expedition. 2 In style he is less 
charming than Herodotus and in thought less deep than Thucydi- 
des. His Anabasis, already mentioned, not only narrates a great 
event in an interesting way, but also tells us much of the character 
of the Greeks and of their military organization and tactics. His 
Memoirs of Socrates gives us the character and teachings of that 
philosopher from the standpoint of a plain, practical man. The 
Hel-len'i-ca, a continuation of the history of Thucydides, covers 

1 This is only an approximate date. The productivity of Aristophanes continued 
somewhat longer ; and on the other hand Antiphon, an eminent Attic orator, lived some- 
what earlier. z 285. 

286 



History and Oratory 287 

the period from 411 B.C. to the battle of Mantinea. Although ex- 
cessively favorable to Sparta, it is our only continuous story of the 
period treated, and hence is very valuable. He wrote on a variety 
of other subjects, as hunting, housekeeping, the Athenian revenues, 
and the Lacedaemonian constitution. His works are a storehouse of 
knowledge of the times in which he lived. A soldier of fortune and 
a practical man of the world, Xenophon shared in the humanity and 
in the breadth of sympathy of his age. 

326. Oratory : Lysias, Isocrates, and Demosthenes. The 
other great departments of prose oratory and philosophy 
reached the height of their development. Oratory flourished in all 
democratic states, which required the citizens to express their opin- 
ions on public affairs. There was at Athens no real lawyer class, be- 
cause the laws were so simple that everyone could understand them ; 
but the oration which the private citizen committed to memory and 
delivered in the law court was usually composed for him by a profes- 
sional speech writer. The most eminent of this class in the early 
part of the fourth century B.C. was Lysias, an alien. Robbed of his 
fortune by the Thirty, he turned to speech writing as a profession. 
Many of his orations have come- down to us ; they serve at once as 
models of the purest and simplest prose, and as a direct source of 
information on the public and private life of the author's time. 

Isocrates, " the old man eloquent, "was one of the best educated 
and most liberal-minded men of his age. For many years he con- 
ducted a school in Athens in which young men could gain a well- 
rounded education and at the same time prepare themselves for life, 
especially for statesmanship. 

While teaching, Isocrates wrote orations, which, as they were 
to be read rather than delivered, should properly be termed essays. 
His literary style lacked freshness and vigor, but was the perfection 
of grace. His language was melodious, his words were chosen with 
the finest sense of the appropriate and arranged with the most 
delicate taste. He brought to perfection the period the com- 
pletely rounded thought expressed in a symmetrical sentence. 
Nearly all the later prose of Greece, and afterward of Rome, shows 
his influence. 

Of Demosthenes, the world's most eminent orator, some account 



288 The Maturity of the Greek Mind 

has already been given. 1 With the possible exception of Plato, he 
was the greatest master of Greek prose. His orations are " mar- 
vellous works of art," inspired by an intense love for Athens. The 
question as to the greatness of his statesmanship must be decided 
according to the point of view taken. He stood for local freedom ; 
Philip and Alexander embodied the imperial idea. Sooner or later 
the empire, as constituted in ancient times, was sure to hamper 
the freedom of the cities and grind to dust the civilization of the 
world. This was the final effect of the Roman empire. In resist- 
ing the first encroachments of imperialism on local freedom, Demos- 
thenes showed himself, therefore, a far-sighted statesman. But 
the whole tendency of our own time is toward the building up of im- 
mense states and empires. We are satisfied with these conditions 
because they bring us certain great advantages, and because under 
the present system we enjoy all the liberty we seem to need. We 
can easily understand, therefore, that many writers of the present 
day accuse Demosthenes of an utter lack of statesmanship, saying 
that he was all wrong and that Philip and Alexander were absolutely 
right in the conflict of principles. But should the governments of 
our modern empires so change as to repress our local and personal 
freedom as did the ancient, thinking men would again go back to 
Demosthenes for inspiration and guidance in a new fight for inde- 
pendence. 

327. Philosophy : Plato. The greatest philosopher of the age 
and one of the most eminent of the world was Plato. After the 
death of his master, Socrates, he travelled to various parts of Greece, 
and even to Egypt. On his return to Athens he began teaching in 
the Academy, 2 which gave its name to his school. Plato is chiefly 
noted for his theory of ideas. According to his view, ideas are the 
sole realities ; they are eternal and unchangeable, and exist only in 
heaven ; the things which we see in this world are mere shadows 
of those heavenly forms. 

While engaged in teaching Plato composed his Dialogues, which 

1 307. 

2 The Academy, a public garden in the neighborhood of Athens, was founded by 
Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus, and afterward adorned by Cimon. It was a pleasant 
place for recreation. 



Plato and Aristotle 289 

explain his views. The greatest Dialogue is the Republic, a discus- 
sion of the ideal state. Plato thought there should be three classes 
in the state : the philosophers, who should rule ; the warriors, who 
should guard the state, as the Spartans in Lacedaemon ; and the 
common people, who by their labor should support the higher classes. 
He believed, too, that there should be no family or private property, 
because these institutions fostered selfishness. Though his ideal 
state was neither practicable nor on the whole good, one can hardly 
read the Republic without being lifted by it to a higher moral plane. 
The author insisted that justice should rule. The Hellenes, he 
taught, should live together as members of one family ; they should 
not injure one another by devastating fields, burning houses, and 
enslaving captives. All his teachings were pure and ennobling: 
" My counsel is that we hold fast ever to the heavenly way and fol- 
low justice and virtue always, considering that the soul is immortal 
and able to endure every sort of good and every sort of evil. Thus 
we shall live dear to one another and to the gods, both while remain- 
ing here, and when, like conquerors in the games who go round to 
gather gifts, we receive our reward. And it shall be well with us 
both in this life and in the pilgrimage of a thousand years which we 
have been describing." 

328. Aristotle. Aristotle, the last great philosopher of the 
classic age of Hellas, studied twenty years under Plato, who used 
to call him " the intellect of the school." Afterward he became the 
teacher of Alexander ; but when the king set out for Asia, the phi- 
losopher returned to Athens to found a school of his own. 1 Al- 
though nearly every page of his writing shows the influence of his 
master, the two men were wholly unlike. Plato was a highly im- 
aginative poet ; Aristotle was the embodiment of pure, keen, sober 
reason. His 'style is dry and clear. With a wonderful genius for sys- 
tem, it was his achievement to sum up and to transmit to future 
ages all the science and philosophy of Hellas. His works cover ac- 
cordingly the natural sciences, physics, metaphysics, logic, ethics, 
politics, and the constitutional history of many states. They did 

1 His school was called peripatetic, from a Greek word which signifies "to walk," 
either because of the covered walks in the Lyceum, where he taught, or from his habit of 
walking while he discussed philosophic subjects. 
U 



2 go The Maturity of the Greek Mind 

not become generally known till early in the first century B.C., but 
from that time for more than a thousand years their author ruled, 
like an absolute monarch, over the thought of the civilized world. 
Christian theology owes its form to him. The subtle though nar- 
row thinkers of the Middle Ages worked strictly along the lines he 
had drawn ; and even to-day the soundness and thoroughness of his 




THEATRE AT EPIDAURUS 
(From a photograph) 

Logic, Ethics, and Politics cannot be surpassed. The present sys- 
tematic grouping of our knowledge in the various sciences we owe 
chiefly to him. 

329. Architecture : the Theatre and the Stadium. The Greek 
play was performed in the open air. Originally the people sat on 
the hillside so that all could see. At the foot of the hill was the 
orchestra " dancing place " - for the chorus and the actors. 
In the centre of the orchestra was placed an altar to Dionysus, the 
patron god of the drama. On the opposite side of the orchestra 
from the audience stood the booth (Greek skene, " scene ") in which 



Architecture 



291 



the chorus and actors changed dress. From these elements the 
theatre gradually developed. At Athens in the age of Pericles rows 
of wooden seats stood on the hillside for the accommodation of the 
spectators. About a hundred years later marble seats were sub- 
stituted. Meanwhile the actors' booth developed into a " scene " 




m 



THE NEW STADIUM AT ATHENS 

(The building in the interior was erected as a " scene " (palace front) for the presenta- 
tion of the Antigone of Sophocles. From a photograph by Dr. A. S. Cooley) 

in the modern sense. Generally it represented the front of a palace. 
All the stone theatres of Greece belong to the fourth century B.C., or 
to still later time. That at Epidaurus, in Argolis, is the best pre- 
served, and for that reason an illustration of it is given here. 

The stadium was for athletic contests, especially for races. The 
most famous was at Olympia, where the great national games were 
held. That of Athens was built about the same time as the stone 
theatre. It was in a valley just outside of the city. About three 
centuries later, marble seats were put in ; and recently it has been 



2Q2 



The Maturity of the Greek Mind 



rebuilt of the same material. The present seating capacity is fifty 
thousand. 

330. Sculpture : Praxiteles and Lysippus. The sculpture of 
the fourth century lost much of the severe dignity and self-restraint 




THE HERMES OF PRAXITELES 
(Museum, Olympia) 



it had possessed in the Periclean age ; but it gained individuality, 
gracefulness, and feeling. Greater pains were taken in working 
out the minute details. These artistic changes are but an expres- 
sion of the general change that had come over the whole life and 



Sculpture 



293 



genius of Hellas. Next to Phidias, Praxiteles, who lived in the 
fourth century, B.C., was the most famous sculptor of Greece. In 
the Capitoline Museum at Rome is a copy of his satyr, which 
Hawthorne has described in his Mar ble Faun: "The whole statue, 
unlike anything else that ever was 
wrought in that severe material of 





SATYR or PRAXITELES 
(Copy; Capitoline Museum, Rome) 



DORIPHOROS (SPEAR-BEARER) OF 

POLYCLEITUS 
(Copy ; Vatican Museum, Rome) 



marble, conveys the idea of an amiable and sensual creature 
easy, mirthful, apt for jollity, yet not incapable of being touched 
with pathos." We admire especially in it the graceful curves of the 
body which Praxiteles was the first to produce successfully. We 
find them in all his statues. Then, too, he was the first to make the 
tree trunk or other support of the statue an addition to its beauty. 
The surface of the body he worked out with greater delicacy and 



294 



The Maturity of the Greek Mind 



naturalness than any other artist has ever been able to attain. This 
quality can be seen only in a genuine work of his the Hermes, 
discovered some years ago at Olympia. The remarkable finish 
of the skin is shown by the illustration. The statue combines power 
with delicacy of modelling. The face is intellectual. But this 

Hermes does not seem like a 
god; he is rather the ideal 
Greek of the age. 

Lysippus was a contempo- 
rary of Alexander and is said 
to have been the only sculp- 
tor privileged to make por- 
traits of the great conqueror. 
This fact marks him as a mas- 
ter of portrait sculpture. A 
prodigious worker, he made in 
his lifetime fifteen hundred 
statues, all in bronze. They 
have disappeared ; but of one 
of them we have a marble 
copy, the Ap-ox-y-om'e-nos 
an athlete working on his 
right arm with a flesh-scraper. 
Down to this time Polycleitus 
of Argos had set the style for 
the making of statues. 1 His 
figures were somewhat flat or 
square, still slightly influenced 

by the archaic block forms. Their whole appearance was heavy. 
Breaking loose from the old rule, Lysippus made the head smaller 
and the body slimmer. Thus his figures appear lighter and more 
lifelike. Whereas the statues of Polycleitus were to be seen mainly 
from the front, those of Lysippus were perfectly round, equally 
symmetrical from every point of view. His controlling motive 
was to represent the body, not as it actually was, but as it ap- 
peared to the eye. In some ways therefore his work seems a great 

1 238. 




APOXYOMENOS OF LYSIPPUS 
(Copy; Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Lysippus 295 

advance beyond that of earlier artists. He was the last great 
sculptor of the classical age of Hellas. 



Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of tfris chapter like that on p. 285. 2. In what 
respects is a nation like an individual? In what respects is it different? 

3. Why was nearly all the best Greek poetry composed before 400 B.C.? 

4. Compare Xenophon with Herodotus and Thucydides. 5. Who was the 
most distinguished Attic orator before Demosthenes? What were his 
characteristics? 6. From the illustration on p. 290 describe the Greek 
theatre. What were the seats made of ? Point out the orchestra ; what 
is its form? Where should the "scene" be? 7. Describe the stadium 
(p. 291). 8. Why should modern Greece rebuild the stadium? 9. Com- 
pare the Apoxyomenos of Lysippus with the Doriphoros of Polycleitus. 
Which is the more graceful? Do you find anything admirable in the earlier 
work which is lacking in the latter? 



Note-book Topics 

I. Xenophon. Murray, Ancient Greek Literature, ch. xv; Fowler, An- 
cient Greek Literature, ch. xxv; Mahaffy, Progress of Hellenism in Alexan- 
der's Empire, ch. i. 

II. Fourth-Century Sculpture. Tarbell, History of Greek Art, ch. ix; 
Gardner, Handbook of Greek Sculpture, ch. iv ; Fowler and Wheeler, Greek 
Archaeology (see Lysippus, Praxiteles, and Scopas in Index). 



CHAPTER XXVII 
THE HELLENISTIC AGE 

331. Character of the Period. With Alexander's conquest of 
the Persian empire the history of Greece merges in that of the world. 
The interest no longer centres in the creation of the Hellenic civil- 
ization through the rivalry of political parties and of little city- 
states. For about two centuries after the conquest, history is con- 
cerned with the spread of Hellenic culture over a great part of the 
ancient world. Naturally while non-Greeks were taking upon them- 
selves some of this culture, they modified it more or less. At the 
same time there were internal changes independent of foreign in- 
fluence. The civilization resulting from these two causes is termed 
Hellenistic, as distinguished from the better Hellenic culture of 
earlier time. 

I. POLITICAL EVENTS 

322-146 B.C. 

332. The Succession; the Battle of Ipsus (301 B.C.). When 
Alexander died, the authority passed to his generals, all trained in 
war, yet none qualified to fill the place of the master. As his son 
was but an infant, and as the generals began to fight among them- 
selves for the first place, the empire naturally 'fell to pieces. The 
decisive battle among these generals was fought at Ip'sus in Phrygia 
(301 B.C.). This was one of the most important battles of ancient 
times, as it determined the history of the empire till it fell under the 
power of Rome. 

The victors divided the empire into kingdoms for themselves : 
Se-leu'cus received Asia from Phrygia to India ; western Asia Minor 
and Thrace fell to Ly-sim'a-chus ; Ptolemy became king of Egypt ; 
and Cassander, already governor of Macedon, was now recognized 

296 



Great Powers 297 

as sovereign. In this way four kingdoms arose from the empire. 
Somewhat later Lysimachus was killed and his realm divided. While 
most of his Asiatic possessions were annexed to the kingdom of 
Seleucus, barbarous tribes, including many Gauls, seized the in- 
terior of Thrace and threatened the Greek cities along the coast. 

333. The Great Powers. Through most of the Hellenistic age, 
therefore, to the Roman conquest (146 B.C.) we have to do with 
three great eastern powers, the Seleucid empire, Egypt, and Mace- 
don. To complete the political map of the world in this age we 
should include the Carthaginian empire, often mentioned above, 
and Rome, now supreme in Italy. These western powers were equal 
in strength to those of the East. Never before had the world pos- 
sessed so thorough a political organization. Finance, armies, na- 
vies, and internal improvements assumed grander proportions than 
had hitherto been possible outside the Persian empire. Industry 
and commerce flourished, and the wealth of the world increased. 

The eastern rulers were absolute monarchs. They were all Mace- 
donians, and they based their power on armies made up largely of 
Macedonians and Greeks. Like Alexander, they professed to be 
gods. Surrounding themselves with the pomp and ceremony of an 
Oriental court, they compelled the subjects to prostrate themselves 
in the royal presence. To the end they remained conquerors in a 
foreign land. Alexander's attempt to employ Orientals in high 
office had failed ; for they were morally inferior to Europeans, and 
could not be trusted. Profiting by this experience, his successors 
admitted them to the lowest offices only, and in limited numbers 
to the army. All the court society, and in general the refined and 
educated society, with the rare exception of individuals, was Hel- 
lenic, whereas there was much mixing of races in the working popula- 
tion. The advantage of Greek civilization to the natives, therefore, 
was exceedingly slight. It was more than counterbalanced by the 
curse of foreign domination. The Persian empire had meant peace 
for the Orient, defence against foreign enemies, protection of life 
and property, and tolerable burdens of taxation and military serv- 
ice. The new monarchies substituted devastating wars, the in- 
creased expenses of great standing armies, of an official class of 
rapacious foreigners, utterly devoid of sympathy with their subjects. 



298 The Hellenistic Age 

However desirous of justice the kings may have been, most of them 
lacked the strength necessary for controlling their officials. 

334. The Empire of the Seleucidae. Among the successors of 
Alexander, the ablest administrator was Seleucus. Following the 
policy of his master, he planted as many as seventy-five colonies 
in his realm. Among them was Se-leu'ci-a on the Tigris, said to 
have contained six hundred thousand inhabitants and to have 
rivalled Babylon in splendor. As a capital for his kingdom he 
founded Antioch in Syria, not far from the sea. The nucleus of 
these colonies, as of Alexander's, was a company of veterans retired 
from active service. They received houses and lands from the 
king on condition of performing garrison duty for him. Around 
this nucleus were grouped natives and colonists from Greece. 
Most of the commerce and industry of the empire, hence also the 
greater part of its wealth, fell into Greek hands. The new towns 
were Hellenic in language, in civilization, and in free local institu- 
tions. Most of them were in Syria, which Seleucus and his de- 
scendants, the Se-leu'ci-dae, tried to convert into a new Macedon. 
To a great extent they succeeded in this effort. But they lacked 
the means of planting colonies in the country farther east in suffi- 
cient numbers to Hellenize it or to hold it long in subjection. The 
eastern provinces rapidly fell away from their dominion. On their 
western border the Seleucid kings held some parts of Asia Minor 
a little longer. In 189 B.C., however, Antiochus III was defeated 
by the Romans at Magnesia, and compelled to withdraw perma- 
nently from Asia Minor. The empire soon shrank to the petty 
kingdom of Syria. 

335- Egypt : the Ptolemies. On the division of Alexander's 
empire, Ptolemy, one of his generals, received Egypt, with parts 
of Syria and a few other widely scattered possessions. His de- 
scendants, the Ptolemies, con'inued to rule Egypt till its incorpora- 
tion in the Roman empire in 30 B.C. 1 The earlier rulers of this line 
were able, intelligent men. Aiming to hold merely their own, they 
generally sought to preserve peace. Because of the situation of 
their country, the task of defence was relatively easy. They made 
no attempt, however, to Hellenize the natives, but regarded Egypt 

1 497- 



Alexander's Successors 299 

as their private estate, to be worked prudently for the owner's 
profit. They refrained from oppressing the natives in order to 
keep them in good spirits and in good working condition. 

The only Greek colony worthy of mention was Alexandria. It 
was now the centre of a commercial world which extended from 
India to Britain. In wealth, in the refinements of life, and in 
educational facilities it outshone all other cities of the time. The 
population was exceedingly mixed. It consisted of native Egyp- 
tians, mercenaries of various nationalities, pure Greeks and Mace- 
donians, other foreign residents, like the Jews, who came for trade, 
and lastly a mongrel class formed by the intermarriage of Greeks 
with all sorts of people. 

336. Macedon and Greece (323-322 B.C.). When the Greeks 
heard that Alexander was dead, they revolted, and defended Ther- 
mopylae against An-tip'a-ter, then governor of Macedon. They 
besieged La'mi-a, whence this struggle is known as the Lamian 
War. Many states, chiefly the Aetolians, supported the Hellenic 
cause. For a time all were hopeful ; but an attack on Lamia failed, 
and thereafter everything went wrong. Finally the states fell 
apart, and Antipater made separate treaties with them. Athens 
was compelled to receive a Macedonian garrison in Peiraeus, to 
exclude her poorer citizens from the franchise, and to deliver up 
the orators who had opposed Macedon. Among these offenders 
was Demosthenes. He fled at once from Athens, and soon after- 
ward took poison, that he might not fall alive into the hands of 
his pursuers. Thus his mighty spirit ceased to contend against 
despotism. On the base of his statue his countrymen placed this 
epitaph : " Had your strength equalled your will, Demosthenes, 
the Macedonian War- God would never have conquered Greece." 

337. The Gallic Invasion (beginning 279 B.C.). The inroads of 
the Gauls into Thrace have already been mentioned. 1 A horde 
of these barbarians poured into Macedon, defeated a Hellenic army 
there, and devastated the country. Thence they crossed into 
Thessaly to continue their widespread ravages. A Greek army 
tried in vain to block their march at Thermopylae. They entered 
central Greece, and robbed Delphi of its rich treasures. On the 

1 332. 



300 The Hellenistic Age 

approach of winter, however, they retired northward, suffering 
great losses from hunger and cold as well as from the attacks of the 
Greeks. 

Soon afterward a swarm of ten thousand Gallic warriors with their 
families crossed into Asia Minor. After plundering the country 
far and wide, they settled permanently in the district hence- 
forth named after them Galatia. 1 For more than thirty years the 
states of Asia Minor paid them tribute as the price of security from 
their plundering. Finally Attalus, king of Pergamum, a little 
state in western Asia Minor, defeated them in two great battles 
and put an end to their domination (about 230 B.C.). The artistic 
memorials of these victories will be mentioned in another place. 2 

338. The Aetolian League. The Greeks began to feel that in 
order to preserve their liberties they must unite more closely. 
The first to put this idea into practice were the Aetolians, the least 
civilized of the Greeks, yet among the foremost in political capacity. 
Their league, which had existed from early times, enjoyed in the 
present period a remarkably good form of government. Many 
communities outside Aetolia willingly joined it. Though others 
were forced to become members, yet all had equal rights, and 
enjoyed fair representation in the government. 

339. The Achaean League : Aratus. Some Achaean cities, too, 
renewed an ancient league in imitation of Aetolia. From this 
small beginning a great federal union was afterward built up, 
chiefly by A-ra'tus, a noble of Sicyon. The father of Aratus had 
been killed by the tyrant of his city, and the lad who was one day to 
be the maker of a great state grew up an exile in Argos. While 
still a young man he expelled the tyrant from his native city and 
brought it into the Achaean League. " He was a true statesman, 
high-minded, and more intent upon the public than his private 
concerns ; a bitter hater of tyrants, making the common good the 
rule and law of his friendships and enmities." He advanced so 
rapidly in the esteem of the Achaeans that they elected him general 
when he was but twenty-seven years of age. Their confidence was 
by no means misplaced. Under his lifelong guidance the league 
extended itself till it came to include all Peloponnese with the 

1 See map between pp. 370 and 371. 2 345. 



The Federal Unions 301 

exception of Lacedaemon. Nothing was so dear to him as the 
union he was fostering, " for he believed that the cities, weak indi- 
vidually, could be preserved by nothing else but a mutual assist- 
ance under the closest bond of the common interest." 1 

340. Constitution of the Achaean League : the States and the 
Federal Power. The object of the union was the maintenance 
of peace within its borders and protection from foreign enemies. 
The federal power was limited strictly to this object. It alone 
made war, peace, and alliances, and managed all diplomatic matters. 
The army and navy, though furnished by the states according to 
their means, were solely at the command of the federal power. It 
coined all money, excepting small change, and enforced a uniform 
system of weights and measures. Aside from these necessary 
restrictions, the states were sovereign and self-governing. The 
only requirement was that they should be republics and should 
remain permanently in the union. They enjoyed full rights of 
trade and intermarriage with one another ; and any state was free 
to admit to its citizenship the inhabitants of any other. All stood 
on an absolute political equality. To prevent any one of them from 
gaining the leadership, it was decided that the cities should serve 
in turns as the place for holding the federal assembly. 

341. The Federal Government. The highest federal authority 
was the assembly of all the citizens of the league. It elected magis- 
trates and voted on all important matters concerning the union as 
a whole. The votes were not counted by heads, but by states. 
Each state was allowed a number of votes proportioned to its popu- 
lation. 

The council was composed of deputies from the cities, each send- 
ing a number proportioned to its population. The total number 
we do not know. This council deliberated on matters to be pre- 
sented to the assembly, and settled less important affairs on its own 
responsibility. It met more frequently than the assembly. 

The highest magistracy was the generalship. At first there were 
two generals with equal power, in later time but one. He not only 
commanded the army, but acted as the chief executive. A board 
of ten advisers aided him and limited his authority. The same 

1 Plutarch, Aratus, 24. 



302 The Hellenistic Age 

man might hold the office any number of times, though not in 
successive years. This restriction was to prevent him from gain- 
ing an excess of power. Among the other high officials were the 
admiral, the commander of cavalry, and the secretary. No 
treasurer was needed, as the states managed all financial 
matters. 

342. Significance of the Federal Unions. The Achaean con- 
stitution, described above, applies in broad outline to the Aetolian 
league as well. The Achaeans were more progressive in civiliza- 
tion, however, and more inclined to peace. The federal union, in 
the form used by these two peoples, was the most nearly perfect 
political institution created by the ancients. While providing 
for the security of all, it gave complete freedom to each state to 
develop its own genius in its individual way. In this respect it was 
a great advance beyond the league under a city-state leadership, 
which was always felt to be more or less oppressive. It was a still 
greater advance beyond monarchy, a form of government altogether 
foreign to Greek sentiment and character. A striking merit of the 
federal union is that its increase in area, while affording greater 
security, in no way hampered the individuality of the states. The 
citizens of the league were satisfied with their condition, and it 
rarely happened that any state wished to revolt. 

There were, however, certain defects in the institution. It was 
unfortunate that the highest magistracy had to be filled by a man 
who was both statesman and general. For military science had 
grown so complex as to demand the whole attention of the general 
throughout his entire life ; in this respect it was in the condition 
which exists to-day. Usually, therefore, the magistrate was little 
qualified for one or another part of his duties. A still greater de- 
fect, from a military point of view, was the weakness of the federal 
government in relation to the states. It possessed no funds of 
its own or army of its own, but had to depend wholly upon the 
states for these resources. In time of war, accordingly, it rarely 
succeeded in persuading the states to do their best, and it had no 
efficient means of forcing them. In a word, it was very similar to 
the union of the American states before the adoption of the present 
federal constitution. On account of these defects, the federal 






Political Decline 303 

unions failed to defend the freedom of the Greeks against the 
strongly centralized powers of Macedon and Rome. 

343. Cleomenes and Aratus (235-220 B.C.). The further 
growth of the league was hindered on one side by Lacedaemon, now 
under an able king, Cleomenes. Wishing to restore decayed Sparta 
to her ancient condition, Cleomenes abolished the ephorate, can- 
celled debts, and redistributed property, with a view to increasing 
the number of citizens and soldiers. Sincere in his desire to benefit 
his city, he was perhaps the ablest statesman of Greece after Alex- 
ander. Cleomenes applied for permission to bring his state into 
the league, and asked to be appointed general. But Aratus refused. 
One of his motives was political principle. He was a thorough con- 
servative, who believed that the wealthy should have the greater 
share of political power, and that the rights of property should be 
inviolable. Cleomenes, on the other hand, was a pronounced 
democrat and socialist. Another motive was personal. To admit 
the brilliant Spartan king into the league meant for Aratus total 
self-effacement. Such heroic self-sacrifice could hardly be expected 
of human nature ; and Aratus, though he lived for the glory of the 
union, was selfish. 

Cleomenes, who had already opened war upon the league, now 
assailed it so vigorously that Aratus was induced to call upon Mace- 
don for help. A Macedonian army entered Peloponnese, and thor- 
oughly defeated Cleomenes. When the Spartan king saw all his 
hopes shattered, he bade farewell to his ruined country and sailed 
away to Egypt, where he met a violent death. Greece was now in a 
wretched plight : Sparta had lost her independence, and the Achaean 
League had for the time being enslaved itself to Mecedon. Aratus, 
the mainstay of the union, was poisoned at the instigation of Philip 
V, 1 who had become king of Macedon in 220 B.C. 

344. The Roman Conquest of Greece (completed 146 B.C.). 
But Macedon could not long maintain her supremacy in Greece; 
for a still greater power in the West was now interesting itself in 
Hellenic affairs. This was Rome. Originally a little city-state like 
Athens or Sparta, Rome gradually won the supremacy in Italy. 
In the third century B.C. she entered upon her career of conquest 

1 430, 433 ff- 



304 The Hellenistic Age 

outside Italy, and early in the second she began to interfere in the 
affairs of the Greek peninsula. Acting as the protector of Greek 
liberty, she defeated the Macedonians in three separate wars, put 
an end to their kingdom, and divided their country into four repub- 
lics (168 B.C.). Before completing this work she had defeated the 
army of the Seleucid king and had forced him to evacute Asia Minor 
(190 B.C.). 1 Meanwhile changing her attitude toward the Greek 
states, she became tyrannical. Opinions in Greece differed as to the 
wisdom of yielding or resisting. Thus every Hellenic city divided 
into a Romanizing and an anti-Romanizing party. The quarrels 
between these factions and between one state and another led to 
further interference from Rome. Besides the Aetolian and Achaean 
leagues, there continued to be many isolated states. Thus the Hel- 
lenes were still disunited. They were also more peacefully inclined 
than they had been in the time of their great war with Persia. 
Rome, on the other hand, now had more good soldiers than any 
other state in the world, and they were at the command of one 
central authority. These facts sufficiently explain the Roman 
conquest of Hellas. 

To suppress an outbreak in Macedon and Greece, the Romans 
sent another army to the peninsula. No force great enough to with- 
stand it could be brought together. The Romans made of Macedon 
a province a dependent district ruled by a magistrate sent out by 
the imperial government. They destroyed Corinth as a punish- 
ment for her rebellion. All the states which had revolted, includ- 
ing the entire Achaean League, were deprived of their independence 
and placed under the governor of the new province of Macedonia. 
They may be considered therefore a part of that province (146 B.C.). 
The rest of the states, including Thessaly, Aetolia, Athens, and 
Sparta, remained free allies of Rome. Finally, about 27 B.C., all the 
peninsula south of Macedonia became a separate province under 
the name of Achaia. 2 Though the Greeks thus lost their independ- 
ence, they remained the artistic and intellectual masters of the 
world. 

1 334- 

2 The story of the conquest will be given in somewhat greater detail in connection with 
the history of Rome; 433-438. 



Growth of Realism 



305 



II. HELLENISTIC CULTURE 

345. Literature and Art. In this age, the Greek genius had 
declined. In literature and art, the two fields which display the 
noblest activity of the mind, it had ceased to be inventive. Losing 
sight of nature, both artists and writers were content to imitate ex- 
isting models. At the same time they lost the classic balance and 




THE DYING GAUL 
(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 

self-restraint, and pursued emotional or realistic effects. The most 
eminent poet of the age was The-oc'ri-tus, a composer of pastoral 
idyls. His delightful pictures of country life pleased the prosaic 
scholars of the time, and have charmed the world to the present 
day. The scientific writings of the period will be mentioned in 
another place. 

Classic art had represented persons as types of character stripped 
of their minor individual traits. It was ideal. The realism of the 
new age aimed to express peculiarities, and even to exaggerate 
them. In classic art human beings are portrayed as calm and free 
from disturbing emotions. In the fourth century, however, the 



The Hellenistic Age 



sculptor began to express feeling, and in the period we are now 
reviewing, he put into his statues a great amount of emotion. 

One of the best portrait statues of the time is that of Demos- 
thenes, which combines realism and emotion with classic dignity. 




A GAUL AND HIS WIFE 
(Museum of the Terme, Rome) 

He is represented as the " mourning patriot," grieving for his 
country's misfortunes. 1 The struggle of Pergamum with the Gauls 
of Asia Minor brought forth some of the most vigorous work of the 
age. Among the memorials of the victory won by Attalus, king of 
that city, 2 are the " Dying Gaul" and the " Gaul and his Wife." 
In the latter the defeated Gaul, after killing his wife, is thrusting 



. 271. 



337- 



A Great Age of Science 



3<>7 



the sword into his own breast. They represent the Gauls accu- 
rately, and are full of life and feeling, but lack the classic poise. The 
Apollo Belvedere of the same period, though admired for its refined 
beauty, is weak in comparison with the Hermes of Praxiteles. 1 

346. Alexandria : Science. In every important Greek city 
of this period, whether in old Hellas or in the Orient, lived poets, 
artists, scholars, scien- 
tists, and philosophers. 
Under the patronage of 
the Ptolemies, Alexan- 
dria became the chief of 
these many centres of 
intellectual life. In the 
so-called Alexandrian 
Age (323-146 B.C.), an- 
cient science and schol- 
arship reached their 
highest point of develop- 
ment. The campaigns 
of Alexander had greatly 
enlarged the bounds of 
geographical knowledge, 
and had stimulated men 
to explore other regions 
then unknown. The 
new information they 
gathered was published 
in geographies. Greek 
scientists had long be- 
lieved the earth to be round ; and now one of the famous 
geographers computed its circumference at about 28,000 English 
miles, which is remarkably near the truth. He believed, too, that 
the opposite side of the world was inhabited, and that India could 
be reached by sailing west across the Atlantic, were it possible to 
make so long a voyage. Similar advances were made in astronomy. 
It was found that the sun is many times as large as the earth, and 

1 330. 




APOLLO BELVEDERE 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



308 The Hellenistic Age 

that the earth revolves on its axis and around the sun. This truth 
was rejected, however, by most scientists of the day in favor of the 
view afterward known as the Ptol-e-ma'ic system, which represents 
the earth as the centre of the universe. A certain physiologist 
found that the brain is the seat of the mind, and that the nerves are 
of two kinds, for conveying the feeling and the will respectively. 
He discovered, too, the circulation of the blood. 1 Many of these 
truths were rejected at the time, or soon forgotten, to be rediscovered 
in recent years. In the same age the practice of medicine became 
scientific, and surgeons acquired great skill. 

347. The Zoological Park and the Museum. One of the kings 
of Egypt founded a zoological park, in which he and his successors 
gathered many varieties of animals from all the known parts of the 
earth. It served not only as an attraction to visitors, but as an in- 
'centive to the study of nature. Scholars began to write works on 
zoology and botany. A far greater institution was the Museum, 
which contained the largest collection of books in the ancient world. 
We are informed that in the time of Caesar the number of volumes, 
including duplicates, amounted to seven hundred thousand. A 
volume (roll) was not an entire work, but a large division (book) 
of a work. The history written by Herodotus, who lived in the 
time of Pericles, contains nine such books, and the poems of Homer 
contain forty-eight. Besides the library, the Museum included a 
din-ing-hall, buildings for the residence of poets and scholars, and 
porticoes for walking, conversation, and lectures. The entire finan- 
cial support came from the treasury of the kings. 

348. Scholarship, Hellenic and Jewish. In the Museum sci- 
entists devoted themselves to the discovery of new truth; and 
scholars were equally busy with systematizing existing knowledge. 
They compared and criticised the manuscripts of earlier authors, 
with a view to preparing correct texts. They wrote commentaries 
on the language and style of these works, and composed histories 
of the various departments of literature. Others produced biog- 
raphies, political histories, and works on philosophy. Naturally 
the work in Hellenic literature and history was all done by Greeks. 

1 The geographer referred to was Er-a-tosth'e-nes ; the astronomer was Ar-is-tarch'us ; 
whereas Hi-er-oph'i-lus was the great discoverer in physiology. 



Our Debt to Hellas 309 

The Jews, who had their quarter in Alexandria, enjoyed equal op- 
portunities with the Greeks for trade and for culture. Under the 
patronage of the Ptolemies, learned Jews translated their Bible 
the Old Testament into Greek. This version is called the Sep'tu- 
a-gint, because, it is said, there were seventy men engaged in the 
work. The fact that such a translation was necessary proves that 
even the Jews, with all their love for the institutions of their fathers, 
had exchanged their own language for that of Hellas. 

349. Contributions of Hellas to Civilization. Most of the good 
and beautiful things of the life we now enjoy were created by the 
Greeks. The fundamental thing is freedom freedom from the 
despotism of kings and priests. Perfect freedom gives courage. 
The Greeks had no fear of men ; they loved their gods and looked 
upon them as friends. It is only the brave, free mind that dares 
think original thoughts, that dares invent. Their greatest contri- 
bution to civilization, accordingly, was political, religious, and in- 
tellectual freedom. Liberty is worth little, however, unless it is 
self-controlled. The Greeks have given us the ideal human charac- 
ter a strong, perfectly developed body, and an equally strong 
intellect and feeling, absolutely free and fearless, but held in control 
by the reason. Their language, their literature, their science, and 
their art are simply expressions of the classic spirit of symmetry 
and beauty which we find in their noblest personal characters and 
in their best-regulated states. The greater part of Hellenic civiliza- 
tion, however, died out during the later Roman empire and the 
Middle Ages. As the modern nations in the period of their origin 
were ignorant of the ancient Greeks, they had to create anew and 
independently many of the elements of our modern civilization which 
had once existed in Hellas; much, too, they learned by the study 
of the literature and the art which survived. Thus it happens that 
I much of the attractiveness and beauty of modern life is Hellenic. 

Suggestive Questions 

I. Write a summary of this chapter like that on p. 285. 2. Why did the 
empire of Alexander fall? 3. Compare the Aetolian and Achaean federa- 
tions with the Peloponnesian and Delian leagues. In what details of organ- 
ization were the later leagues an improvement on the earlier? 4. Ex- 



3io The Hellenistic Age 

plain the difference between the ideal and the real in art. 5. Compare the 
Apollo Belvedere (p. 307) with a statue by Lysippus (p. 294) ; with a statue 
by Polycleitus. In what respects can you see an improvement or a decline ? 
6. In which pieces of art mentioned in this chapter do you discover evidences 
of emotion? In which pieces, individual peculiarities? 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Achaean League. Fling, Source Book of Greek History, 330-338 
(Polybius) ; Greenidge, Handbook of Greek Constitutional History, ch. vii ; 
Mahaffy, Greek Life and Thought, chs. xv, xvi; Alexander's Empire, chs. 
xvi, xviii. 

II. Hellenistic Sculpture. Tarbell, History of Greek Art, ch. x; Gard- 
ner, Handbook of Greek Sculpture, ch. v. 

III. Alexandrian Civilization. Mahaffy, Greek Life and Thought, chs. 
ix-xii; Alexander's Empire, ch. xiv. 



PART III 

ROME 
CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE 

350. The Place of Rome in History. We have seen that the 
Greeks were the first Europeans to become civilized. This fact, is 
partly due to their nearness to the Orient. But they so improved 
upon everything borrowed from the East as to develop a civiliza- 
tion in many respects the most brilliant in the history of the world. 
Italy is more distant from the Orient, and for that reason was slower 
in emerging from barbarism. The Italians, or, as we generally say, 
the Romans, who came to be the rulers of the peninsula, received 
most of their improvements from the Greeks, as the Greeks had 
taken theirs from the Orient. Whatever the Romans borrowed 
from Greece they modified to suit their own conditions, thus creat- 
ing a Roman civilization. 

No other state fills so large a place in the history of the world as 
Rome. It was the achievement of this city to unite all the Medi- 
terranean basin in a great empire under a single government and to 
make the nations of this region one in science, industry, and art, one 
in customs, thought, and sympathy, one in the Christian religion. 
This task was accomplished by able diplomacy, generalship, organ- 
ization, and government. Roman genius is best shown, however, in 
the creation of a body of law, which for its completeness and excel- 
lence must be considered the greatest legislative work of the human 
race. It is true that after many centuries of development, the 
empire declined and finally fell into pieces; but from the frag- 
ments great modern states, as England, France, and Italy, have 
grown ; and its civilization in a modified form has passed into mod- 

3" 



312 The Country and the People 

ern life. In brief, history may be compared with a tree, whose 
roots are the Mediterranean countries of pre-Roman time, whose 
trunk is the Roman empire, and whose branches are the modern 
nations. It is clear, then, that a knowledge of Roman history i? 
necessary to an understanding of all later time. 

351. Physical Features of Italy. Italy is mainly a peninsula, 
the central one of the three great peninsulas which branch off from 
the southern coast of Europe. It is long and narrow, and extends 
in a southeasterly direction. The northern border is formed by the 
lofty Alps, eternally covered with snow. On the east is the Ad-ri- 
at'ic Sea ; on the west the Tuscan or Tyr-rhe'ni-an Sea. Instead 
of clusters of islands, which we find in the neighborhood of Greece, 
there are near Italy three single islands, Sicily near the toe of the 
peninsula, often mentioned above as a part of Hellas, and Sardinia 
and Corsica, which lie close together to the west of central Italy. 
All these islands are connected with the history of Rome. 

Examining Italy more closely, we find it composed of two prin- 
cipal parts, the mainland and the peninsula, (i) The mainland 
is in the north, and consists chiefly of the basin of the Po River, 
which lies between the Alps on the north and the Ap'en-nines on 
the south. This is by far the largest river of Italy. It flows in an 
easterly direction through a great alluvial plain, forming a remark- 
ably fertile district. The mainland is usually called northern Italy. 
For convenience (2) the peninsula is often divided into central 
Italy, extending from the Apennines on the north to the neighbor- 
hood of Naples, and southern Italy, including the rest of the penin- 
sula. There is no natural boundary, however, between the two 
sections last named. 

We have spoken of the Apennines as forming the boundary be- 
tween northern and central Italy. This is best seen on the map, p. 3 16. 
First they extend eastward along the coast of the mainland, then 
they verge to the southeast till they pass the centre of the peninsula. 
After that they continue throughout its length nearly parallel with 
the coasts. Though not so lofty as the Alps, the Apennines are 
very high, and the whole interior is rugged. 

It is a noteworthy fact that this mountain range lies nearer to the 
eastern than to the western coast. This circumstance makes the 






Effect of Geography on History 313 

eastern slope shorter, the rivers smaller and less navigable, and the 
coast steeper and more devoid of harbors. The longer slopes on 
the west terminate in fertile coast plains. The rivers, too, are 
longer and larger, and a few of them are navigable. The principal 
river of the peninsula is the Tiber. It rises in the Apennines of 
central Italy, and its general course is southwest. There are several 
harbors, too, on the west coast. The principal one is the Bay of 
Naples. The Tiber River itself served as a harbor for small ships. 
In the south and southeast of the peninsula harbors are more fre- 
quent. Next to that of Naples, the most excellent is the bay on 
which the Greek colony of Tarentum. stood. 1 

352. Effects of Geographical Conditions on the History of Italy. 
- It is necessary to examine the historical bearing of a few great 
facts regarding the situation and physical features of Italy ; for the 
greatness of Rome did not depend" on the city alone, but upon the 
whole Italian population. We notice that the Alps are passable 
only at certain points, and even there with difficulty ; they cut Italy 
off from relations with the interior of the continent, and com- 
pelled her to associate with the other countries of the Mediterra- 
nean. This is one of the great facts in the history of the peninsula. 
Another is its accessibility. Noteworthy in this connection are its 
length and narrowness and its nearness to the Illyrian shore beyond 
the Adriatic. On the southwest it connects closely with Africa. 
Its nearness to other countries has always exposed it to invasion 
from across the Adriatic, from Sicily and Africa, or by way of the 
Ionian Sea, from Greece. Even the Alps, though a hindrance to 
commerce, have often proved a weak barrier against enemies. 
From early times, accordingly, many came to Italy from various 
directions, either individually or in mass, as traders, immigrants, 
or conquerors. These strangers of diverse nationalities, mingling 
in friendship and war, stimulated one another to great activity. 
In fact, for centuries Italy formed the western frontier of civiliza- 
tion, drawing to itself the boldest and most enterprising people 
of the older world, and developing intensely the frontier qualities 
of courage, patience, hardihood, and practical intelligence. There 
were differences in language and customs between one part of the 

i 126. 



314 The Country and the People 

country and another ; and there grew up a multitude of small in- 
dependent states, continually warring among themselves. In time, 
however, as life became more settled and refined, and a desire for 
peace developed, the people found the exposed position of their 
country a positive disadvantage. This circumstance led them to 
accept the supremacy of Rome, the strongest state in the peninsula 
and ablest to give protection. Thus the accessibility of the coun- 
try helps explain its political unification the first great work ac- 
complished by Rome in the building up of her empire. The same 
geographical conditions explain another fact ; even when united, 
the country was unsafe while neighboring nations remained free to 
assail it ; and thus it was that motives of self-preservation led Rome, 
as the head of the peninsula, into her career of foreign conquest. 
The political unification of the Mediterranean world was the sec- 
ond great stage of empire-building accomplished by Rome. 

The third and most important task achieved by Rome was in 
civilizing the empire, especially the western half ; and in this work, 
too, she was favored by the form and situation of Italy. The west- 
ern coast, as we have noticed, is better supplied than the eastern 
with harbors. It was partly for this reason that the Romans came 
into closer touch and sympathy with Spain, Gaul, and northwestern 
Africa than with Greece and the Orient. In some degree they 
impressed their character on the whole empire ; but the fresh, vital 
peoples of the West were far more ready than the decaying East 
to adopt their customs, institutions, and ideas. 

353. Climate, Soil, and Products, and their Effects. A more 
intimate acquaintance with the physical geography of the country 
will yield other facts which bear on its history. Its extension 
through many degrees of latitude gives a great diversity of climate, 
increased further by the Apennines. In the south is a sub- tropical 
climate and vegetation, nearly like those of Africa ; in the north, 
especially high up on the slopes of the mountains, we find the air and 
the products of central Europe. Everywhere the extremes of sum- 
mer and winter are tempered by the neighboring sea. The sunny 
sky, the luxuriant vegetation, the great variety and abundance of 
useful products, stone, copper, timber, fruit, and grains, have 
supported a dense population, promoted its many-sided develop- 



Countries and Peoples 315 

ment, and added to its comfort and happiness. Not simply the 
situation and form, but the climate, soil, and products as well, have 
influenced the history of the country. 

354. The Countries of Italy. We have seen that Italy 
is conveniently divided into northern, central, and southern. 
Northern Italy, the basin of the Po, contained three countries: 
Li-gu'ri-a on the west, Ve-ne'ti-a on the east, and Gallia between 
these two. When the Romans wished to distinguish this Gallia from 
the country of the same name beyond the Alps, they applied to it 
the adjective Cis-al-pi'na, meaning " this side the Alps." Central 
Italy comprised E-tru'ri-a, La'ti-um, and Cam-pa'ni-a on the 
Tyrrhenian coast; Um'bri-a, Pi-ce'num, and the Fren-ta'ni (a 
tribal name) on the Adriatic ; and Sa-bi'na, the Marsian country, 
and Sam'ni-um in the mountainous interior. In southern Italy 
were A-pu'li-a, Ca-la'bri-a, and Brut'ti-um. Magna Graecia, 
explained above, 1 comprised the Greek colonies in the south of the 
peninsula. The countries of Italy here named were not states. 
Each was the abode of a people, who in most cases comprised several 
little states. One people was distinguished from another in a 
greater or less degree by race, dialect, and customs. 

355. The Italians. Naturally we think of all the inhabitants 
of Italy as Italians. Though this came to be true in the course of 
centuries, it was not so at the beginning. For a long time the pen- 
insula as a whole had no name. For that early age the term Ital- 
ians is restricted to the group of peoples who in the end were to gain 
control of the peninsula. The Italians, in this earlier and narrower 
sense of the word, spoke an Indo-European language, related to the 
Greek, Celtic, English, and other languages of the same group. 2 
They came over the Alps or across the upper Adriatic into Italy as 
early at least as 2000 B.C. Then, moving gradually through the 
peninsula, the swarms of warriors, with their women and children 
and herds, drove before them or subdued the earlier inhabitants, and 
fought among themselves for the best lands. In this way they came 
to occupy most of central Italy. One horde, passing through the 
Sabine country, came down upon the coast plain on the left bank of 
the Tiber. The people formed by the mingling of these invaders 

1 127. 2 9. 



316 



The Country and the People 



with the natives are known to history as the Latins, and their coun- 
try is Latium. Their language contains many words adopted from 
the earlier inhabitants. Another branch of the same stock settled 



HE TRIBES 

oz- 

ITALY and SICILY 




in the country north of the Tiber, the Etruria of historical time. 
They did not limit themselves to Etruria, however, but occupied the 
breadth of the peninsula. They, too, mingled with the natives, and 
the race which sprang from this blending is called the Umbrians. 
Closely related to them in a loose sense their colonists were the 




THE FALL or THE ANIO 
(Tibur. From a photograph) 



Mountaineers and Plain Men 317 

Sa-bel'li-ans or Oscans. Starting from the Sabine country and its 
neighborhood, they extended their settlements over the mountains 
and the eastern slopes of central Italy. The most important 
Sabellian country was Samnium. 

356. The Mountaineers : Umbrians and Sabellians. After a 
time the country north and west of the Tiber was overrun by the 
Etruscans. 1 Thereafter the only Umbrians with whom we have to 
do were those of the interior. We must therefore regard both the 
Umbrians and the Sabellians as essentially mountaineers. These 
two branches of the Italic race differed little in language and 
customs. Both subsisted by hunting, herding cattle, and farm- 
ing small patches of soil. They lived in villages and had no 
states like those of modern times, but each mountain valley was 
the abode of a tribe with its own independent government. 
The tribes were constantly at war with one another. Whereas 
the Umbrians lived a more settled and peaceful life, the Sabel- 
lians were restless and aggressive, and for that reason were for 
centuries a constant menace to the more civilized plain men along 
their western border. 

357. The Latins. The country most exposed to these attacks 
was Latium. It extended from the Tiber to the southeast, between 
the mountains and the sea, as far as Tar-ra-ci'na. On account of 
their fertile fields near the coast, the people of this country grew 
more wealthy and refined than their kinsmen in the interior. 
They soon outgrew the old tribal life and founded city-states, like 
those of Greece. Most of them were built on the spurs of the 
ranges which reach out from the interior into the plain. Prominent 
among them was Alba Longa, 2 high up on the Alban Mount, be- 
side a lake which fills the crater of an extinct volcano. It was head 
of the Latin League. Here the cities of the union held an annual 
festival, in which they sacrificed an ox to Jupiter, their chief deity. 
A short distance northeast of Alba was Prae-nes'te, one of the best 
fortified and most powerful cities of early Latium. From Praeneste 
we may follow the mountain range northwestward to Tibur, an- 
other well-fortified city in a remarkably beautiful situation. Espe- 
cially attractive is the fall of the Anio from a great height into a deep 

1 358. 2 For the places in Latium, see map opp. p. 353. 



318 



The Country and the People 



wooded ravine. There were many other city-states of Latium, 
but the most important was Rome, on the left bank of the Tiber 
about fourteen miles from its mouth. The city was on a group of 
hills, whose situation may be studied on the map (p. 335). The 
central hill was the Pal'a-tine. This height was easily defended, as 
its slopes were very steep. The same is true of the Cap'i-to-line 




A SHORE OF THE ALBAN LAKE 
(From a photograph) 

Mount, nearly west of the -Palatine, separated from it by a deep 
valley. As we pass from the Capitoline around the Palatine, keep- 
ing the latter to our right, we come successively to the QmVi-nal 
Hill, the Vim'i-nal Hill, the Es'qui-line Mount, the Cae'li-an Mount, 
and the Av'en-tine Mount. It is worth noticing that the Pala- 
tine, Capitoline, Caelian, and Aventine are isolated heights, whereas 
the other three are tongues projecting from a broad tableland, 
which lies on the border of the city. The seven heights named 
above are spoken of as the " Seven Hills " of Rome. 

The Romans of the historical age believed that their earliest 
settlement was on the Palatine, and that the other hills were 
gradually incorporated in the city. 1 

1 375. 



Etruscans 



358. The Etruscans. Scholars who have recently devoted 
much time to the study of the Etruscans are becoming convinced 
that their ancestors once inhabited the northern islands of the 
Aegean Sea and the neighboring coast of Asia Minor. If this view 
is correct, it must have been 
partly the pressure of early 
Greek colonization 1 which 
forced many of them to seek 
new homes in Italy. They 
came by sea, a few at a time, 
beginning before 800 B.C. In 
their new home they mingled 
with the natives. The lan- 
guage and the superior civili- 
zation of the new-comers 
prevailed, but the Etruscan 
race of historical time was 
formed by the blending of 
these immigrants with the 
earlier Umbrian inhabitants 
of Etruria. Their country 
was rich in natural resources, 
copper, marble, timber for 
building, and a fertile soil. 
The neighboring island of 
Elba supplied iron. In addi- 
tion to this country, they 
acquired by conquest and 

colonization the greater part of the Po valley and of Campania. 
With their warships they controlled the sea which washes the 
west coast of Italy, named after them, Tyrrhenian. 2 For a 
time they were the most powerful and the most ambitious race 
in the peninsula. Though they have left abundant inscriptions, 
no one as yet has been able to read their language. Scholars are 

1 92-94. 

2 Tyrrhenian and Etruscan are equivalent in meaning ; the former is from the Greek, 
the latter from the Latin. 




AN ETRUSCAN ARCH 
(Volaterrae, Etruria. From a photograph) 



3 20 



The Country and the People 



inclined to believe that they were not Indo-Europeans. Part of 
their civilization they brought with them into Italy. Afterward 
they adopted from the Greek colonists the phalanx, the alphabet, 




AN ETRUSCAN TOMB 
(Interior, showing wall-paintings ; Tarquinii, Etruria) 

various religious beliefs, and advanced ideas of architecture, sculp- 
ture, and painting. They made vases and sculptures of their own. 
They paved roads, dug canals for drainage and irrigation, and on 




AN ETRUSCAN BANQUET 
(Wall-painting in a tomb, Tarquinii, Etruria) 



Etruscan Civilization 



321 



lofty hills they built massive walls, strong towers, and arched gate- 
ways. The principle of the round arch they got from the Orient. 
Their religion centred about the system of divination which they 
had learned of the Babylonians. 1 By means of this religion the 
nobles upheld their own power in the government, and kept the 
working class obedient. Another prominent feature of their reli- 
gion was belief in a future ___ 

life, which led them to 
spend much wealth and 
skill in the building and 
decoration of tombs. In 
this respect they were 
like the Egyptians or 
like the Greeks of the 
Mycenaean age. 2 The 
tomb of an Etruscan 
noble was patterned after 
his dwelling; it often 
contained several rooms, 
and the walls were richly 
sculptured and painted 
with scenes from life. 
Much of the noble's 
wealth was buried with 
him for use and enjoy- 
ment by his soul. 

Many Etruscan immi- 
grants came to Rome and the other cities of Latium. Wherever 
they went, their superior wealth, intelligence, and skill gave them 
the leadership in public affairs. 3 The Latins maintained their own 
language and their own national character against the influence 
of these clever immigrants, but received from them, or directly from 
Etruria through commercial intercourse, a great part of the Etrus- 
can civilization. It is especially noteworthy that the Etruscans 

1 45- The Greeks, too, adopted the same system, but developed it in a different 
way; 178. 




AN ETRUSCAN TEMPLE 

(Model, on the original scale, reconstructed from ruins at 
Falerii ; Villa di Papa Giulio, Rome. From a photograph) 



26 f., 90, 100. 
Y 



3 Cf. the story of Tarquin the Elder : 364 



322 The Country and the People 

taught the Romans to interpret omens, to organize and equip their 
army, and to build sewers, walls, dwellings, temples, and cities. 

359. The Greeks. It was destined, however, that as teachers 
of the Italians the Etruscans should in the end be outrivalled by 
the more virile Greeks, who about the middle of the eighth century 
B.C. began to settle the shores of southern Italy and Sicily. Soon 
their thriving settlements nearly surrounded Sicily, and lined the 
Italian coast from Tarentum to Cumae. As these cities have been 
described in the chapter on Greek colonization, 1 it is unnecessary to 
mention them individually here. We should notice, however, that 
the Greeks of the West performed a most useful service in impart- 
ing a large share of their culture to Rome. Particularly the Romans 
received from them their alphabet, their military organization and 
equipment, higher and better religious ideas, the elements of all 
the fine and useful arts, and later the sciences and philosophy. 
Some of these gifts came directly, others through the Etruscans. 

360. Other Peoples of Italy. The other peoples of Italy were 
of minor importance. Among them were the Li-gu'ri-ans in the 
extreme northwest of the country. In remote prehistoric time 
they had inhabited a much wider area, but had been crowded back 
into the mountains by Etruscan and Gallic invaders. Opinion 
differs as to whether they were Indo-Europeans or the original 
inhabitants of Italy. They were a hardy race, who long main- 
tained their freedom. In the northeast of Italy, about the head 
of the Adriatic Sea, lived the Ve-ne'ti-ans, who were an invading 
race from Illyria. The modern city of Venice retains their name. 
Closely related in origin and language were the I-a-pyg'i-ans or 
Mes-sa'pi-ans in and about the heel of the peninsula. Neither the 
Venetians nor the lapygians have any special prominence in Roman 
history.- More important were the Gauls who about the middle 
of the fifth century began to cross the Alps and to overrun the Po 
valley. 2 They were at the time tall, blond barbarians, brave in battle 
and greedy for plunder. Early in the following century a horde 
of these fierce warriors ravaged central Italy and sacked Rome. 3 

1 Ch. xi. 126. 

2 Formerly it was held that the invasion began in the sixth century, but this date is 
now found to be too early. 3 398. 



Minor Peoples 323 



Suggestive Questions 

i. Compare the physical features of Italy with those of Greece (see 
maps). 2. How far do the situation and physical features of these two 
countries explain their different histories? 3. Had the harbors and the 
best lands of Italy been on the east coast, what difference would this condi- 
tion have made in the history of the peninsula? 4. From the illustrations 
of the " Fall of the Anio " and the " Shore of the Alban Lake " what infer- 
ences do you draw as to the appearance of the country? 5. Describe from 
the maps the location of the Pb River, the Apennine mountains, Rome, the 
Tiber River, Praeneste, Tibur, Latium, Etruria, Campania, and the Tuscan 
(or Tyrrhenian) Sea. 6. Describe the dress of the women and men in the 
Etruscan banquet scene (p. 320). 7. What do you think of the ability 
of the Etruscan artist to represent the forms of human beings and of plant 
and animal life? 8. Describe the Etruscan temple (p. 321). Does it have 
a peristyle? With what form of Greek temple should we compare it? 

Note-book Topics 

I. Italy and her People. Botsford, Story of Rome, 14-28 ; Duruy, 
History of Rome, i. 17-43. 

II. The Greeks in Italy. Holm, History of Greece, i. 282-291 ; Bury, 
History of Greece, ch. ii. 3. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

ROME UNDER THE KINGS 

I. THE MYTHS 1 

361. The Myth of Aeneas and of Romulus and Remus. When 
the Greeks had taken Troy by means of the wooden horse 2 and were 
slaying the inhabitants, Ae-ne'as escaped by sea together with 
many followers. And though angry Juno 3 threatened him with 
storms and beset his path with trials and dangers, his goddess 
mother, Venus, guided him safely through every peril, and brought 
him after many wanderings to a haven on the west coast of Italy. 
There he landed and began to build a city. 

Trojans and natives lived together in peace, all taking the name 
of Latins. A son of Aeneas founded Alba Longa. Many genera- 
tions afterward A-mu'li-us wickedly expelled his brother Nu'mi-tor 
from the kingship of Alba, and himself usurped the throne. He had 
Numitor's son assassinated, and compelled Rhe'a, the daughter, 
to become a Vestal Virgin 4 that she might not marry and bring 
forth an avenger of the family's wrongs. However, she bore to 
Mars, god of war, twin sons of more than human size and beauty. 
She named them Rom'u-lus and Re'mus. Set adrift on the Tiber 
by order of the king, they were cast ashore near Mount Palatine, 
and would have perished had not a she-wolf nursed them till they 
were taken up and cared for by a shepherd of that region. When 
they had grown to manhood, they killed Amulius, and restored 
Numitor, their grandfather, to the throne. 

362. Myth of the Founding of Rome (753 B.C.?). With the 
king's consent, the twin brothers led a colony to the place where 

1 The Myths are merely for reading, not for study and recitation. On their his- 
torical value, see 365. 

2 113. 3 373- 4 374- 

324 



The Seven Kings 



325 



they had passed their youth. There Romulus founded a city on 
Mount Palatine. 1 Remus, however, in derision, leaped the half- 
finished wall, exclaiming, " Methinks any of your enemies might 
leap this as easily as I do." Then Romulus, or one of his men, 
replying, " But any of us might easily 
chastise that enemy," struck and killed 
him with a pickaxe. The new city was 
named Rome after the founder. Becom- 
ing its first king, Romulus gave his people 
laws and a constitution. 

363. Myth of Numa, of Tullus Hostil- 
ius, and of Ancus Martius. After Rom- 
ulus had ended his reign, and had ascended 
alive to heaven, Nu'ma became king. 
Whereas Romulus had been warlike, 
Numa was a man of peace, learned in 
human and divine law, who made it the 
aim of his rule to soften the iron tempers 
of the Romans. Refraining from war 
throughout his reign, he occupied his time 
in giving religious laws and institutions to 
his people. 

At his 'death peace came to an end. 
Tul'lus Hos-til'i-us, the third king, con- 
quered and destroyed Alba Longa, 2 an- 
nexed her territory, and removed the 
people to Rome, where he settled them 
on the Caelian Hill. An'cus Mar'ti-us, the fourth king, still further 
enlarged the Roman domain, founded Os'ti-a, at the mouth of the 
Tiber, to be a seaport to his city, and fortified Mount Ja-nic'u-lum, 
across the Tiber, as an outpost against the Etruscans. 

364. Myth of the Tarquins and of Servius Tullius. While 
Ancus Martius was king, a certain resident of Tar-quin'i-i, in Etru- 
ria, journeyed to Rome. There taking the name of 'Lu'ci-us 
Tar-quin'i-us Pris'cus (" the Elder "), he won, by his courteous 
manners, the favor of all. The people, therefore, elected him king 

'357. 




A VESTAL VIRGIN 
(Museum of the Terme, Rome) 



326 Rome under the Kings 

after Ancus. He gained famous victories over the Sabines and the 
Latins, and made a beginning of the great public works which his 
successors carried to completion. At length he was assassinated, and 
Servius Tullius, the son of a slave mother, succeeded to the throne. 

Servius built a great wall around Rome, reorganized the army, 
and made his city leader of Latium. Such were his magnificent 
deeds. But the plots of his wicked daughter, Tullia, embittered 
his old age ; and at last he was openly murdered by her husband, 
Tarquin the Elder's son, who, succeeding to the throne, gained the 
hateful title of " the Proud." The younger Tarquin completed 
the public works his father had begun. On these buildings he 
compelled the citizens to labor unrewarded till they cursed the 
tyrant. One day a prophetess of Apollo, the " Sib'yl," came to 
him from Cumae l with nine books of prophecies concerning the 
future of Rome. She wished him to buy them, but he objected to 
the price. After she had burned six of them, however, curiosity 
and religious fear led him to pay the original price for the remaining 
three. He placed them in charge of a college of two men of rank, 
who kept them in a vault beneath the temple of Jupiter on the Capi- 
toline Mount, and consulted them whenever the state was in espe- 
cial danger or distress. 

But the end of kingly rule was drawing near. The last Tarquin 
broke the laws of the forefathers, slew senators, and so oppressed the 
people by hard labor that they were ready for rebellion. Col-la- ti'nus 
Tarquinius and Lu'ci-us Ju'ni-us Bru'tus, both kinsmen of the king, 
led a revolt of nobles and commons against the tyrant. He was 
banished, and Brutus persuaded the people to swear that they would 
nevermore suffer a king to rule at Rome. 

365. Historical Value of the Myths. The account given above 
is but a brief outline of the story of the seven kings as told by the 
writers of later time. They could have had no real knowledge of the 
founding and of the earliest history of the city, for no written ma- 
terial came down to them from that far-off time. The traditional 
date of founding 753 B.C. is a fiction. Doubtless the begin- 
nings of the city were far earlier. About 700 the Romans adopted 
the alphabet from the Greeks, but for two centuries they made little 

1 126. 



Historical Sources 



327 



use of it. In the later years of the regal period they began to put 
into writing their treaties and perhaps also some of their religious 
laws, 1 which could afterward be used by historians. 

Evidently Romulus, whom the Romans worshipped, was not a 
man, but a deity. 2 The real names of all the earlier kings have in 
fact been forgotten, and those 
only were remembered who 
ruled toward the close of the 
period. To this time belong 
the other six. They, or the 
most of them, seem to have 
been real persons. The ac- 
count of their lives, however, 
is interwoven with myths ; 
and no two scholars will agree 
as to what elements of the 
story are true and what are 
fictitious. 

366. Other Historical 
Sources. In the accounts 
given by ancient writers are 
descriptions of many customs, 
institutions, and buildings as 
they existed in historical time. The writers refer them un- 
critically to the regal period. By careful examination we can 
often distinguish between those things which existed so early and 
those which came later into being. Thus we can reconstruct in 
broad outline the public and private life of Rome under the kings. 

In this task of reconstruction we derive great assistance from 
archaeology. A cemetery has recently been discovered in Rome 
which was used in the earlier regal period. A study of the graves 
and of their contents throws light on the life of the common people. 
Such public works, however, as the Clo-a'ca Max'i-ma, the so-called 
Wall of Romulus and Wall of Servius, belong to a far later time. 3 

1 One of these religious laws, engraved on stone, has recently been discovered in the 
Forum. It belongs probably to about 450 B.C. 

2 Compare Lycurgus; 140. 3 375. 




THE " FORUM INSCRIPTION" 

(In archaic characters ; an early religious law. 

From a photograph) 



328 Rome under the Kings 

II. THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE 

367. Occupations and Character of the Romans. As Rome 
was on a navigable river, and well situated for small trade with the 
Etruscans and other neighbors, some of the citizens' engaged in 
making wares and in buying and selling. Most of the Romans, 
however, were peasants. The farmer, clad simply in his tunic, 
a loose woollen garment which reached the knee, followed his bronze- 
shod plough. drawn by a yoke of cattle. His narrow mind held only 
sober, practical ideas ; for he saw nothing of the world beyond the 

mountains bordering the plain 
of the Tiber, mountains 
which inspired him with no 
love of the beautiful and the 
grand, but rather with a feel- 
ing of hatred for the enemies 
who were wont to sweep down 

side Front from them upon his little field. 

AN URN IN THE FORM or A HUT' His laborious life, his warfare 

(Found at Boisena, Tuscany ; oicott Collection, against famine, pestilence, and 

Columbia University. From a photograph, neighbors who Were always 
with Professor Olcott's permission) . i i j 

harassing, made mm stern and 

harsh, and, even in his dealing with the gods, calculating and 
illiberal. Though love, pity, and benevolence found little place 
in his heart, he was strong in the more heroic virtues, he was 
dignified, brave, and energetic ; he revered the gods and the fore- 
fathers, and obeyed the laws ; above all, he was a man of his word. 
368. The Family and the Gens. We find the same simplicity and 
severity in the family. Marriage was a religious act which made 
the home sacred. Originally the dwelling was a hut with a single 
room like that shown in the illustration. In time it came to have 
several rooms. The dwelling was a holy place. Within lived the 
Pe-na'tes, guardian deities of the family store, and the Lar, who 
protected the house from every harm. Every person had a guard- 

1 In early Latium and Etruria it was customary to burn the dead and to deposit the 
ashes in urns, often shaped like the dwellings of the living. The urn here illustrated is 
of this character. 




Family, Curia, Tribe 329 

ian spirit, the man a Genius, the woman a Juno. The Genius of the 
father was the chief household god. The father was priest of these 
gods, owner of the estate, and master of his wife and children through 
life. He could load his son with chains, sell him into slavery, or 
put him to death. Even if the son were a senator or magistrate, the 
father could drag him home and punish him for misconduct. Woman 
was always under guardianship, the maiden of her father, the ma- 
tron of her husband. Nevertheless she was respected. The mother 
aided in the worship of the home gods, and shared equally with the 
sons and daughters in the inheritance. In this strict, moral school, 
young men were disciplined for public life. 

As the family grew larger in the course of several generations, it 
often happened that the members, even if widely separated, kept up 
their social and religious relations with one another. Such an as- 
sociation of kinsmen, larger than the family, was a gens. In origin 
and general character it was like the Greek gens. 1 

Whereas in Athens a man had but a single name, the one given 
him by his parents, a Roman usually had three. In the case of 
Publius Cornelius Scipio, for instance, Publius is the personal name 
given by his parents ; Cornelius is the name of his gens ; and Scipio 
the name of his family, a branch of the Cornelian gens. This is 
the order in which the names occur. Sometimes a fourth name is 
added to define the individual more precisely, or merely as an honor, 
and occasionally we find even a fifth. 2 

369. The Curia and the Tribe. Several families united in a 
cu'ri-a, or brotherhood. On certain festal days the men of a brother- 
hood ate together in a common dining-hall containing a sacred 
hearth, on which they kept fire burning perpetually in honor of 
Juno. When war broke out, the members of a curia followed their 
leaders to the front, and stood side by side on the field of battle. 
Kinship and religion inspired them to deeds of daring ; " the soldier 
felt ashamed to forsake the comrades with whom he had lived in 
communion of libations, sacrifices, and holy rites." Ten curiae 

M 116. 

2 The first name is the praenomen, the name of the gens is the nomen (simply " name")> 
the third or family name is the cognomen. A fourth or fifth name is likewise termed 
cognomen. 

4 



Rome under the Kings 



united in a tribe, and three tribes composed the state. The curia 
was the same institution as the Greek phratry (brotherhood), and 
the Roman tribe was practically the same as the Greek. 1 In early 

Rome the commons of each tribe 
formed a regiment of foot and the 
nobles a troop of horse. 

370. The Social Classes. - 
The commons were called ple-be'- 
ians (the "multitude") 2 and the 
nobles pa-tri'ci-ans. In general 
character the patricians were like 
the Eupatrids at Athens, 3 or like 
the nobles of most other states. 
They alone were qualified to be 
senators, magistrates, and priests. 
The king could ennoble any ple- 
beian whom he considered suffi- 
ciently marked by wealth or 
personal merit. 

In general the plebeians were 
like the commons of Athens and 
of most other states of ancient or 
modern times. 4 Under the kings and for a long time afterward 
their rights were limited. They could own property and could en- 
gage in business. Personally they were free, and had a right to 
protection of life and property. They could vote in the popular 
assembly, but were not permitted to sit in the senate or to 
hold any office or priesthood. As the patricians alone were 
acquainted with the laws, which were unwritten, the plebeian, 

'117. 

2 The word plebeians refers to them as individuals, whereas "plebs," a collective 
noun, denotes the entire body or class. 

3 149- 

4 The theory that originally the patricians were the only citizens and that the plebs 
were composed of various classes of aliens originated about 1800 A.D., when modern 
historical science was still in its crude beginnings, and before sociology had come into 
existence. There is no evidence whatever for the theory, and progressive scholars are 
discarding it. For a detailed examination of the subject teachers are referred to 
Botsford, Roman Assemblies, ch. ii (Macmillan, 1909). 




AN ETRUSCAN CURULE CHAIR 
(Corsini Gallery, Rome) 



Society and Government 



33* 



to secure protection for himself and his family before the courts of 
law, chose a noble as his patron, whom he bound himself to serve as a 
client. Thus many of the plebeians became clients of the patricians. 
The duty of the patron was to 
give his clients legal advice in 
their business, to sue for them 
when injured, and to defend 
them when sued. The clients, 
on the other hand, followed 
their patron to war and sup- 
ported him in public life, 
labored in his fields or made 
him presents, that he might 
fill his offices with becoming 
dignity. Though the original 
object of clientage was doubt- 
less good, we shall see how, 
after the overthrow of the 
kingship, it became intoler- 
ably oppressive. 1 

371. The Government : the 
King. The only magistrate 
at this time was the king. 
He was elected for life by the 
people in the way described in 
the following paragraph. His 
authority im-pe'ri-um 
conferred upon him by the 
people, made him absolute commander in war and supreme 
judge with power of life and death over his subjects. In ad- 
dition to these duties, he was head of the state religion. All 
officials, civil, military, and religious, were appointed by him, 
and were merely his helpers. Although originally but a citizen, 
his office gave him great dignity. Accordingly he dressed in 
an embroidered purple robe and high red shoes, and with an 
eagle-headed sceptre in his hand sat on an ivory throne, the cu- 

'381. 




LICTORS WITH AXES 



332 Rome under the Kings 

rule chair. In his walks he was accompanied by ^twdye^attendants, 
called lictors, each bearing an axe bound in a bundle of rods. The 
axes signified his absolute power, extending to life and death. The 
curule chair and the lictors armed with axes were first used by 
the Etruscan kings, and borrowed from them by the rulers of 
Rome. 

372. The Assembly and the Senate. When the king wished to 
consult his people on questions of public interest, his criers went 
about the city with ox-horns, calling them to the co-mi' ti-um, or 
place of assembly. Here the curiae met, each in a group by itself, 
and listened to the proposition of the king, with the reasons he might 
urge in its favor. Then each curia voted whether it would sustain 
or oppose the king's wish ; and a majority of the curiae decided the 
matter. This assembly was called the co-mi' ti-a cu-ri-a'ta. The 
king consulted it when he wished to begin a war, to change an exist- 
ing custom, or to undertake any other important business. 

To be binding, such a decision of the assembly had to receive 
the sanction of the senate, the pa'trum auc-tor'i-tas. As all, 
without distinction of rank, had a voice in the comitia, a great 
majority of that body were necessarily plebeians. It was chiefly 
through the senate, therefore, that the nobles exercised their politi- 
cal influence. The king was accustomed to ask the advice of the 
senate on all important matters; and though he was not legally 
bound by this advice, he generally followed it through respect for the 
nobles and through desire for their support and cooperation. 

On the death of a king the senate took entire charge of the 
government ; the senators ruled by turns, each for a period of five 
days, in the order determined by lot. The ruler for the time being 
was termed in'ter-rex, and the period between the death of a king 
and the election of his successor was an in-ter-reg'num. The interrex 
nominated a king, the assembly elected him, and the senate gave 
its sanction. The imperium was conferred through the election 
itself. 

373. Religion. The original religion of the Romans, like that of 
the Egyptians, Babylonians, and earliest Greeks, was a worship of 
the objects and powers of nature. 1 It came first under Etruscan and 

1 24, 42, 101. 



Religion 



333 



then under Greek influence. It was mainly the latter which intro- 
duced the belief that the gods had human form. 1 In their earliest 
religion the chief deity was Janus, the double-faced god who blessed 
the beginnings and ends of actions. The gates of his temple were 
open in war and closed in peace. Dur- 
ing the reign of Numa they were shut, 
but rarely thereafter in the long history 
of Rome. From the Etruscans Rome 
introduced the great trinity, Jupiter, 
Juno, and Minerva. Supplanting 
Janus, Jupiter came to be the supreme 
guardian of the state ; Juno, his wife, 
was the patron spirit of women ; Min- 
erva became the goddess of war, skill, 
and wisdom. Mars, a native Roman 
deity, was likewise a god of war. Vul- 
can was the god of fire and of the forge. 
Vesta was goddess of the hearth. Of 
the countless deities a few only are 
mentioned here. When the Romans 
became acquainted with Greece, they 
began to identify the gods of that 
country with their own. Jupiter was 
identified with Zeus, Juno with Hera, 
Minerva with Athena, and Mars with 
Ares. 2 Venus, a garden deity, they 
identified with Aphrodite, goddess of 
love. The attributes of the Greek deity they transferred to the 
corresponding native god. Several Greek deities they adopted out- 
right. One of the first thus introduced was Apollo. This ex- 
pansion of the native religion under foreign influence continued 
not only during the kingship but throughout Roman history. 

374. Religious Officials. Services of the chief deities were 
held by priests fla'mi-nes, plural of fiamen whose lives were 
made uncomfortable by strict rules governing every detail of their 
conduct. 3 Among the regulations regarding the flamen of Jupiter 

1 101. 2 102. 3 For a group of flamines, see illustration, p. 459. 




MINERVA 

(Etruscan; Archaeological Museum, 
Florence) 



334 



Rome under the Kings 



are the following : It is a crime for him to ride horseback ; he is 
not permitted to take an oath ; he is to have no knot about him, on 
his cap, girdle, or any other clothing ; none but a freeman may cut 
his hair ; the feet of the bed he sleeps in must be plastered with 
mud. No one knows the reason for such rules of conduct; but 
they afford us an idea of the strictness of the religion in the details 

of life, and of its cramping 
effect upon the mind. Cer- 
tain 'religious duties were the 
care of groups, or colleges, of 
sacred persons. Such were 
the six Vestal Virgins, who 
attended to the worship of 
Vesta, and kept the sacred 
fire of the state in her temple. 
The college of augurs had 
the duty of interpreting for 
the king the omens sent by 
Jupiter through which he re- 
vealed his will regarding the 
state. These omens aus- 
pices were manifested in 
the flight of birds and in the 
thunder and lightning. The 
elements of the auspices, bor- 
rowed from Etruria, were 
developed in Rome to a complex system. As the Romans were 
intensely religious, they gave strict obedience to what they believed 
to be the divine will. It was mainly through the auspices, there- 
fore, that the magistrate controlled the people. 

The college of pontiffs had charge of all religious knowledge, 
including the calendar, which had to do primarily with fixing the 
sacred days. When any difficult religious question arose, the pon- 
tiffs were called upon to decide it. This general supervision in all 
religious matters made the chief of the college pon'ti-fex max'i- 
mus one of the most important persons in the state. 

So influential were these priests that the government might have 




AN ETRUSCAN AUGUR 
(Wall-painting from a tomb ; tfTarquinii, Etruria) 



Topography 



335 



fallen into their hands, as often happened in the Orient, had it not 
been for the fact that all the important religious offices were held by 
the magistrates. Thus the king must generally have been pontifex 
maximus, and probably at the same time the chief augur. The 
same principle holds for all Roman history : the magistrates were not 
slaves to religion, but used religion rather as an aid to government. 
375. The Growth of Rome. The earliest settlement at Rome, 
as we have noticed, was on the Palatine. 1 Gradually the popu- 

E-A.RL.Y ROM E3 




lation outgrew this narrow space, and built their dwellings on 
the neighboring hills. Then one of the kings took possession of 
the Capitoline Mount, and established his citadel there. At first 

1 357. 



336 Rome under the Kings 

the people could not live in the valleys which separated the hills, 
because they were marshy and often overflowed. The Tarquins 
drained these low grounds by means of sewers. The most famous 
of these works was the Clo-a'ca Max'i-ma (" the greatest 
sewer"), which drained the Forum 1 , or market-place, and made 
the ground about it habitable. But the great stone arch which now 
covers it was built hundreds of years after the downfall of the 
kingship. The public life of the community henceforth centred 
in this valley. The smiths and the shopkeepers set up their stalls 
round the Forum. About it the king built temples ; and adjoin- 
ing it on the northwest they made an assembly-place the comi- 
tium in which they built a senate-house. Above the Forum, 
on the Capitoline, they erected a temple to Jupiter, Juno, and Min- 
erva, usually known as the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter. 
Though in the Etruscan style, it was for centuries the most mag- 
nificent building in Rome. 

Under the Tarquins Rome was a group of straggling villages situ- 
ated on neighboring hills and separated by wide tracts of vacant 
land. The traditional account of the period asserts that Servius 
surrounded the whole with a great stone wall. 2 This account may 
be true ; but it is now well known that the so-called Servian Wall, 
remnants of which are still standing, was built in the fourth century 
B.C., more than a hundred years after the kingly period. Equally 
late is the so-called Wall of Romulus on the Palatine. 

376. The Servian Reforms : the Tribes and the Army. The 
same traditional story represents Servius as the creator of new 
tribes and the reorganizer of the army. His object was to introduce 
the Greek military system already adopted by Etruria. As each 
soldier had to arm and equip himself at his own expense, Servius 
found it necessary to take a census of the citizens in order to know 
who should buy heavier and who lighter armor. For this purpose 
a new local division of the country was necessary, for the three old 
tribes had been outgrown by the increase in population and territory. 

First, then, he divided the city into four districts, called tribes, 
and the country into sixteen tribes. Taking the census tribe by 

1 Find the Forum and the Capitoline Mount on the map of Rome, p. 335. 

2 364. 



The Servian Army 337 

tribe, Servius divided the citizens into five classes, according to the 
size of their freeholds. He required the members of the first or 
wealthiest class to equip themselves with the heaviest and most effi- 
cient arms, those of the second class to buy somewhat less complete 
equipments, and so on to the lowest. The three wealthier classes 
were heavy-armed, and stood in ranks, one behind another, while 
the fourth and fifth classes, as light troops, served wherever occa- 
sion demanded. The first class formed four ranks with ten cen- 
turies in each; the second and third classes formed each one rank. 
Of the light troops there were ten centuries in the fourth class, 
and fourteen in the fifth. When necessary, two more ranks could 
be formed of the light troops, making eight ranks in all. Thus 
the army contained eighty-four hundred footmen. From early 
times it appears to have been composed of two divisions, termed 
legions, of forty-two hundred foot-soldiers each. This organization 
included mainly plebeians ; the patricians continued to serve in the 
cavalry; of which there were six centuries, three to each legion. 
The army, thus organized for the field, contained the men of mili- 
tary age from seventeen to forty-six years. The older men re- 
mained in the city for the defence of the walls. 

377. Causes of the Greatness of Rome. At the time of this 
new arrangement the territory of Rome had increased four or five 
fold, chiefly at the expense of the Etruscans, the Sabines, and the 
Latins. When Rome subdued a neighboring city, she razed the 
walls and everything they enclosed, excepting the temples, and 
seized a third or perhaps a half of the conquered land. She com- 
pelled many of the dispossessed people to settle on her own hills, 
and, admitting all to the citizenship, bestowed the patriciate upon 
the nobles. With the growth of her territory, therefore, came a cor- 
responding increase in her population and her military strength. 
After the reform of Servius, Rome could put into the field the largest, 
best organized, and best disciplined army in Latium. 

In the character and surroundings of. the Romans we discover 
several other causes of their future greatness. By persistent labor 
on their little farms the peasants acquired the patience and the 
strength of will which were to make them the best soldiers in the 
world. The unhealthfulness of the neighboring plain, by forcing 
z 



338 Rome under the Kings 

men to build their homes on the Hills, encouraged city life and in- 
telligent enterprise. Then, too, the advantage of the situation for 
small trade and manufacturing made the City of the Seven Hills 
the chief market of the Latins. Commercial intercourse with the 
Etruscans and Greeks led Servius to adopt their superior military 
system, which in turn made Rome the political head of Latium. 
This event was the beginning of a great career. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of this chapter similar to that on p. 285. 2. Why 
do we need to know something of the myths of early Rome, in view of the 
fact that they contain little historical truth? 3. In what respect does 
Romulus resemble Lycurgus? 4. Compare the social classes in Rome with 
those of early Athens. 5. What class of people were most likely to be dis- 
pleased with the rule of the kings ? If a revolution should take place, what 
class would profit most by it? 6. Compare in detail the Servian reforms 
with those attending the adoption of the phalanx in early Athens. 7. De- 
scribe the early Roman dwelling (p. 328). Has it any windows? What 
are the projections at the top? 8. Describe the curule chair (p. 330). 
Why did the Roman curule chair resemble the Etruscan? 

Note-book Topics 

I. Roman Religion. Botsford, Story of Rome, 33, 40-44; Munro, 
Source Book of Roman History, 6-16; Carter, Religion of Numa, 1-61. 

II. Government in the Time of the Kings. Pelham, Outlines of Ro- 
man History, 22-29; Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, ch. ii. The 
theory that in early Rome the curiae were made up exclusively of patricians 
has no foundation. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE EARLY REPUBLIC: (I) THE PLEBEIANS WIN THEIR 

RIGHTS 

509-287 B.C. 

378. The Magistrates. In 509 B.C. the monarchy gave way to 
the republic. 1 In place of a lifelong king, two consuls (colleagues) 
with equal power were elected annually by the assembly. As each 
consul had a right to veto any public act of the other, the two rulers by 
checking each other hindered their office from growing too powerful 
for the good of the state. They enjoyed most of the authority of 
the king, together with his trappings and his attendants, as the cu- 
rule chair 2 and the lictors. But in capital cases the consuls were 
compelled as judges to grant an appeal to the assembly ; over the 
soldiers in the field, however, they exercised the same power as the 
king had possessed. 3 The command of the army usually alternated 
daily. Often in dangerous wars or seditions this double rule was a 
disadvantage to the state. In such a case, at the request of the 
senate, one of the consuls nominated a dictator, who, placing the 
state under martial law, ruled with absolute power. He appointed 
a master of horse to command the cavalry. His term was limited to 
six months ; and it was an honor to him to bring the government 
safely through the crisis and resign his command within the fewest 
possible days. 

Two quaes'tors, appointed annually by the consuls, kept the 
treasury in the temple of Saturn on the Forum. 

1 The dates for the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., based on the ancient authors, are 
only approximate. Also some of the events assigned to the fifth century are less certain 
than those of later time. 

2 Cf. 371. The curule magistrates were those who sat in curule chairs. In the 
republican period the chief officers of this class were the consuls, the dictator, the cen- 
sors, the praetors, and the curule aediles. If a man elected to one of these offices was 
not already a noble, the position ennobled him and all his descendants; 392. 

3 371- 

339 



340 The Early Republic 

The supervision of the state religion passed from the king to the 
chief pontiff. He appointed the Vestals and the priests, including 
the " sacrificial king " (rex sa-cro'rum). This priest-king now per- 
formed that part of the public worship which the king had attended 
to in person. In title the first man in the state, he was the weakest 
in real power, as he could hold no political office. 

379. The Senate. All important places of honor and trust 
military, political, and religious were filled by patricians, es- 
pecially by senators. Now consisting of three hundred members, 
the senate continued to exercise all the powers it had held under the 
king. It even gained by the downfall of the king ; for the consuls 
felt themselves under greater obligations to consult it and to abide 
by its decisions. It was composed of life members, who were taken 
from the leading families and were men of experience and ability. 
For this reason it was more influential than the consuls, who at the 
close of their year of office could be called to account for their ad- 
ministration. As the senate controlled both the magistrates and the 
assemblies, it was the chief power in the republic. 

380. The Comitia Centuriata. For some time the army had 
been organized in the way devised by Servius. 1 The principle of the 
military system was the division of the people into classes accord- 
ing to property, each class to furnish a fixed number of companies 
(centuries) of a hundred men each. In the early republic it occurred 
to the Romans to use this plan of organization also for their voting 
assembly in place of the curiae. 2 Their motive seems to have 
been to make every citizen's voting power correspond to the com- 
pleteness of his armor that is, to his worth as a soldier. In other 
words, the more property a man possessed, the greater was to be 
his political influence. 

In the new comitia, accordingly, the citizens were grouped into 
centuries, each century with a single vote. There were in all a 
hundred and ninety-three centuries. As in the army, they were di- 
vided into knights and infantry ; and the infantry were subdivided 
into five classes, according to the amount of their property. The 
centuries of which this assembly was composed did not necessarily 
contain a hundred men each, but varied in size. A century of 
1 376. 2 372. 



The Assemblies 341 

juniors was larger than one composed of seniors, while that of the 
landless was by far the largest of all. Meeting in the Cam'pus 
Mar'ti-us outside the city, the assembly of centuries elected the 
magistrates, heard appeals in capital cases, and voted on proposals 
for laws and for wars. To be valid, an act of this assembly had 
to receive the sanction of the Senate. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE COMITIA CENTURIATA 

JUNIORS SENIORS 

(17-46 years) (above 46 years) 

I. Class 40 centuries 40 centuries 

II. Class 10 10 

III. Class 10 10 

IV. Class 10 10 

V. Class 14 " 14 

84 centuries 84 centuries 

1 68 centuries 

Cavalry 18 

Substitutes for the killed and wounded . 2 " 

Musicians and workmen .... 4 " 

Landless i " 

Total . ..... I93 centuries 

The knights (cavalry) voted first, then the first or wealthiest 
class, then the other classes in their order till a majority was reached. 
The knights and the first class formed a majority. If they agreed 
they decided the question, so that the voting proceeded no farther. 
It rarely happened that all the centuries were called upon to give 
their votes. These considerations make it clear that in the comitia 
centuriata the more property a man had, the more effective became 
his right to vote. 

The comitia curiata continued to meet to sanction the imperium 
of magistrates after their election, 1 and to attend to other such 
formalities. It had no longer a real authority. Whatever its or- 
ganization, a Roman assembly had little power as compared with 
the magistrates or with the senate. 

1 37i f- When the election of the chief magistrate passed from the curiate to the 
centuriate assembly, the former retained the privilege merely of sanctioning the election. 



342 The Early Republic 

381. The First Secession of the Plebs (494-493 B.C.). In 
most respects the common people lost by the overthrow of monarchy. 
The later kings had shielded them from the oppression of the nobles. 
But now that the poor no longer had a champion, the patricians be- 
gan to reduce their clients to the condition of slaves. They exacted 
illegal rents. And if the tenant failed to pay his rent at the time 
agreed upon, the amount due was looked upon as a debt bearing 
heavy interest. The creditor had a right to seize the delinquent 
deb tor, to hold him as a slave till he had worked off the debt, or to sell 
him into actual servitude to foreigners. A harsh creditor sometimes 
threw his debtors into his private prison and scourged them in the 
hope of influencing their kinsmen to redeem them. The people 
revolted against such injustice; the whole army, deserting the 
commanders, marched off in good order to a hill afterward known as 
the Sacred Mount, and threatened to found a new city there, which 
should be free from patrician control. The senate, helpless without 
the support of the plebeian army, sent them an ambassador. 

382. Institution of the Plebeian Tribunes and Aediles (493 B.C.). 
By an agreement drawn up on the Sacred Mount (493 B.C.), 
the plebeians were to have two annual officers of their own, called 
trib'unes, whose persons were to be sacred, and who were to protect 
all citizens who felt themselves mistreated or oppressed. Any per- 
son, even a consul, who injured a tribune or hindered him in the 
exercise of his duties, might be slain by any one as a man accursed. 
The law forbade the tribune to be absent from the city over night, 
and compelled him to leave his door open always, that the injured 
and oppressed might find refuge with him at any hour. 

The plebeians had two other officers, named ae'diles, who assisted 
the tribunes. Meeting by curiae under the presidency of the trib- 
unes, they elected their officers and passed resolutions which were 
binding only on themselves. Thus organized, they maintained the 
liberties they had, and gradually gained more rights. 

383. Spurius Cassius. The plebeians soon found an earnest 
helper in one of the patricians, Spurius Cassius, 1 the most eminent 
statesman of his time. While he was consul, in 486 B.C., he pro- 
posed an agrarian law, the contents of which we do not know. 

1 395. 



Plebeian Progress 343 

He may have wished to take some of the public land from the rich, 
who were holding it, and to distribute it among the poor. The 
nobles would not permit his measure to become a law. They 
asserted that he had offered it merely to win popularity, that 
his real object was to make himself king. When, therefore, his term 
of office expired, the quaestors prosecuted him for treason, and he 
was condemned to death. 

The fate of Cassius shows how helpless the plebeians still were, 
and how strong were their oppressors. 

384. Establishment of the Comitia Tributa (471 B.C.). Though 
the nobles could not control the plebeian assembly through the aus- 
pices, they with their clients attended the meetings to impede the 
business. Among these dependents were many who owned no land. 
To destroy the influence of the latter class, Pub-hTi-us Vo'le-ro, a 
tribune in 471 B.C., induced the senate and the assembly of centuries 
to pass a law which provided that the plebeian comitia should vote 
by tribes, each of the twenty-one tribes to cast a single vote. As 
only landowners were enrolled in the tribes, the landless were ex- 
cluded from the assembly. The newly organized gathering, called 
the comitia tri-bu'ta, had as yet no authority over the state, but 
met simply for the transaction of plebeian business. In the same 
year the number of tribunes was doubled, and somewhat later was 
increased to ten. 

385. The Struggle for Written Laws (462-452 B.C.). Up to 
this time the laws were unwritten. The patricians, who were alone 
acquainted with them, handed them down orally from father to 
son. This exclusive knowledge they used for the oppression of the 
commons ; the patrician judge decided cases in favor of men of his 
own rank, and no plebeian could quote the law as proof of the in- 
justice. The tribunes began therefore to urge the codification of 
the laws in the interest of the common people. Their aims were 
heartily favored by one of the patricians, Appius Claudius, a man of 
rare intelligence and ability. Under the influence of Appius and 
the tribunes, the senate yielded, and sent a committee to some of 
the Greek states of Italy to examine their codes of law. On their 
return the centuries elected ten men (de-cem'm-ri) , with the power 
of consuls, for the purpose of writing the laws. During their term 



344 The Early Republic 

of one year they were to have absolute control of the government ; 
all other offices, including the tribunate of the plebs, were to be 
suspended. 

386. The Decemvirs; the Twelve Tables (451-449 B.C.). - 
Though plebeians were eligible to the new board of ten, the assembly 
filled it with patricians. Before the year ended they had engraved 
ten tables of the law, which, after ratification by the senate and 
people, they set up in the Forum, where all could read them. 

As they had not finished writing the laws, and as their government 
gave satisfaction to all alike, it was decided to elect decemvirs for 
the following year. On the new board were Claudius and three 
possibly five plebeians. Their liberal policy, and especially their 
efforts to promote manufacturing and commerce, angered the peas- 
ants and most of the patricians. As the senate and assembly re- 
fused, accordingly, to consider the two tables engraved in the second 
year, Claudius, with his colleagues, determined to remain in office 
till they secured the ratification ; for the constitution compelled 
no magistrate to retire against his will. Hereupon their enemies 
accused them of acting like tyrants and of attempting to maintain 
themselves in power for life. The plebeians seceded again to the 
Sacred Mount, and thus compelled the senate to depose the decem- 
virs contrary to law. Claudius and one of his colleagues were 
thrown into prison, where they were probably murdered; the 
other members of the board fled into exile. Then Va-le'ri-us and 
Ho-ra'-ti-us, consuls in 449 B.C., secured the ratification of the two 
tables. 

387. Contents of the Twelve Tables. Intermarriage between 
patricians and plebeians was prohibited by one of these laws, as 
it had already been by custom. With this exception the Twelve 
Tables equalized the private rights of all, and continued to be the 
fountain of justice for centuries. As a part of their education there- 
after Roman boys had to commit them to memory, a text-book 
more useful than entertaining. The following are a few of the more 
interesting laws : 

Let none make use of gold in funerals. But if the teeth of the 
deceased are fastened with gold, let none be prosecuted for burying 
or burning the deceased with that gold. 






The Valerian-Horatian Laws 345 

Let not women scratch their faces or tear their cheeks or raise 
lamentations on account of a funeral. 

Let the father have power over the life and death of his son. 

Let no man take more interest for money than one per cent a 
month. If he shall do otherwise, let him be fined four times that 
sum. 

If any one breaks the limb of another and makes no reparation, 
let retaliation take place. 

If any one shall publish slander or write verses to the defamation 
of another, let the offence be capital. If any shall assemble in the 
city privately at night, let the offence be capital. 

388. The Laws of Valerius and Horatius (449 B.C.). Before 
this time the resolutions of the comitia tributa, the assembly of 
tribes, were binding on the plebs only. 1 But Valerius and Horatius, 
who were friendly to the lower class, had a law passed which gave 
their assembly legislative power. With the previous consent of the 
senate, the resolutions of the comitia tributa were henceforth to 
have the force of law for the whole people. 

It was a great gain for the tribunes, who alone had presided over 
this assembly. Soon, however, state officers began to call it for the 
election of such minor officials as the quaestors, 2 and occasionally for 
other business. 

Some time afterward it was agreed that the tribunes should place 
their bench at the door of the senate-house, through which they 
could listen to the proceedings within. If, then, the senate passed 
an act to which they had no objection, they signed it, thus abandon- 
ing their right to oppose the enforcement of the act. But if the 
measure under consideration displeased them, their " Veto," 
shouted through the door, ordinarily caused the proposal to be 
dropped. If the senate or magistrate ignored the prohibition, the 
tribunes resorted to obstructing the administration of the govern- 
ment in every possible way even by sedition and secession. After 
more than a century and a half of this kind of warfare (449-287 
B.C.), the tribunes succeeded in establishing for themselves an un- 

1 384. 

2 The quaestors were at first appointed by the consuls (378), but soon after the 
decemvirate they came to be elected by the tribes. 



346 The Early Republic 

restricted right to veto all acts of the magistrates, the senate, and 
the assemblies. 

389. The Canuleian Law (445 B.C.) ; the Consular Tribunes 
(444-367 B.C.). A few years after the consulship of Valerius and 
Horatius, a law of the tribune Can-u-lei'us permitted marriage be- 

.tween the two social classes. Those wealthy and influential ple- 
beians who alone were in a position to profit by this reform looked 
upon intermarriage with the patricians as a stepping-stone to office. 
They reasoned rightly; for immediately after the passage of the 
Canuleian law, the patricians formed a plan of admitting them to 
office, though not to the consulship. It was agreed that whenever 
the senate so determined, military tribunes l with consular power 
or, more briefly, consular tribunes should be elected for the 
year in place of consuls, and that both classes should be alike eligible 
to the office. The plebeian candidates, however, were so often 
defeated that at length the leading men of the party came to re- 
gard the consular tribunate as a disadvantage to their cause. 

390. Institution of the Censors (443 B.C.) and of the Military 
Quaestors (421 B.C.). All the powers of the consuls did not pass 
to their substitutes, the consular tribunes ; for in 443 B.C. the Romans 
created two new patrician magistrates, the censors, whose chief 
duty was to make a register of the citizens and their property and 
to assign each man to his tribe and class, a work hitherto per- 
formed by the consuls. They also let out the privilege of collect- 
ing the taxes to the highest bidders, and attended to the erection of 
public buildings. They were elected at intervals, usually of five 
years, and were required to complete the census within eighteen 
months after their entrance into office. 

For a long time the censors remained strictly patrician magis- 
trates. In another direction, however, the plebeian leaders began 
to meet with greater success in their struggle for office. In 421 
B.C. two military quaestors were instituted to attend to the financial 
business of the army. At the same time it was agreed that plebeians 

1 Before this time they were purely military officers appointed by the consuls. Six 
military tribunes commanded each legion. The change mentioned in the text consisted 
in the occasional election of from three to six additional "military tribunes with consular 
power" to take the place of the consuls for the year. 



The Licinian Law -347 

also should be eligible to the office of quaestor, whether civil or 
military. 

391. The Licinian Law (367 B.C.). But the leaders of the 
commons desired especially to have the office of consul thrown 
open to them. Many plebeians, too, felt oppressed by debts, and 
were discontented with the way in which the authorities disposed 
of the public land. 

When they acquired land in war, they either (i) granted a part 
forthwith to settlers, or (2) leased, or (3) sold it. To these ways of 
disposing of the land the poor did not object ; but (4) the larger 
part was left unsurveyed, and the authorities proclaimed that all 
who wished might " occupy " it on condition of handing over to 
the government a tenth of the grain and a fifth of the fruit pro- 
duced each year. From those who kept flocks on these lands, a 
share of the animals, both oxen and sheep, was required. In spite 
of the liberal form of the proclamation, however, it is clear that 
the patricians and wealthy plebeians alone exercised the privilege 
of " occupying " or " possessing " portions of the unsurveyed 
land. They bought, sold, and bequeathed it, till in time they 
came to look upon it as their own. Not satisfied with this ad- 
vantage, a rich proprietor often ejected his poor neighbors from 
their small farms, which he then annexed to his estate. There is 
no wonder that the poor were dissatisfied with the unjust working 
of this system. The tribune Li-cin'i-us with his colleagues accord- 
ingly proposed a reform bill, which he urged all discontented plebe- 
ians to support. After a long struggle the bill became a law in 
367 B.C. Its provisions were as follows : 

(1) There shall be no more consular tribunes, and one of the 
two consuls shall henceforth be a plebeian. 

(2) Interest already paid on debts shall be deducted from the 
principal, and the balance of the debt shall be paid in three equal 
annual instalments. 

(3) No one shall occupy more than five hundred acres (ju'ge-ra) l of 
the public land. Probably provision was made for distributing 
the surplus among the poor in seven-acre lots. 

(4) No one shall pasture more than a hundred cattle or five hun- 
dred sheep on the public land. 

1 The Roman acre (jugerum) was about two-thirds the size of ours. 



348 The Early Republic 

392. The Effects of the Licinian Law. The second clause of 
the law was but a superficial remedy for the distress of the poor ; 
it did nothing to remove the cause of poverty. 

The patricians were still eager to retain in their own hands as 
much authority as possible. The senate accordingly would not 
permit the first clause to go into effect till the people had consented 
to the institution of three new patrician magistrates : the prae'tor, 
who was judge in civil cases, and two curule aediles, who were to 
supervise the streets and public buildings, the markets, and the 
public games. After gaining admission to the consulship, the 
leaders of the plebs had less difficulty in winning their way to other 
places of honor and power in the state. At the end of the century 
we find them eligible to all offices and to the college of pontiffs and 
of augurs. The opening of the consulship to plebeians gradually 
enlarged the nobility. Hen'ceforth it consisted not only of pa- 
tricians but also of all plebeians who were admitted to a curule 
office, 1 themselves called " new men," together with their 
descendants. In other words, the patricians and the plebeians 
ceased to be the political parties; thereafter the parties were (i) 
the nobles, who were office-holders and their descendants, and (2) 
the commons, who were the other citizens. 

Understanding that the fewer they were the more honor would 
be theirs to enjoy, the nobles strenuously opposed the admission of 
new members. They preferred to have one of their number hold 
the consulship four or five times, and other high offices in addition, 
rather than to receive new men into their privileged society. But 
when a law 2 was passed that no one should hold the same office with- 
in a period of ten years, or more than one office at a time, a greater 
number of new men was necessarily elected, and, in consequence, 
the nobility became more representative of the people as a whole. 

393. Liberation of the Assemblies. While the leaders of the 
plebs were winning political rights, the people in their assemblies 
were striving for legal freedom from the control of the senate. 
It has been stated above 3 that no act either of the centuriate or of 
the tribal assembly was valid unless authorized by the senate. 

1 378, n. 2. 

2 The Genucian Law, 342 B.C. 3 380, 388. 



Summary of Development 349 

In the latter half of the fourth century B.C., however, the centuriate 
assembly succeeded in shaking off this control. From that time 
it was constitutionally free to pass whatever laws it saw fit. Even 
more important was the emancipation of the tribal assembly. In 
287 B.C., a law of the dictator Hor-ten'si-us declared that without 
the consent of the senate a resolution of the plebs in their tribal 
assembly should have the force of law. 

Constitutionally the assemblies were now free from the senate 
and were the sovereign power in the state. In form the government 
was therefore a democracy ; but in fact it remained aristocratic, 
for the senate exercised more actual power than ever. As it was 
composed of the ablest and most experienced men in the state, its 
moral influence was irresistible. Through the college of augurs it 
controlled the auspices, which both magistrates and people reli- 
giously obeyed. 1 

394. SUMMARY OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (509-287 B.C.) 

1. Magistrates. During this period the duties of government were be- 
coming more numerous and difficult, and for that reason the number of 
offices gradually increased. At first (i) there were (a) two consuls, who 
were chief executives, judges, and commanders in war; (b) two quaestors, 
whose chief duty was the care of the treasury, and who were appointed by 
the consuls ; and lastly (c) an occasional dictator, who took entire charge of 
the government and ruled with absolute power. Next (2) were instituted 
tribunes of the plebs for the protection of the citizens from oppression. At 
first two, the number gradually increased to ten. (3) The two plebeian 
aediles were their assistants. (4) The decemvirs for compiling the laws, 
and (5) the consular tribunes, to act in certain years as substitutes for the 
consuls, were temporary expedients. (6) The two censors, elected at inter- 
vals of about five years, made a census and assessment of the inhabitants. 
In time they acquired a supervision over the morals of the citizens. (7) 
Two military quaestors were appointed to accompany the army and to 
have charge of the military chest and the supplies. (8) The praetor was a 
judge in civil cases. (9) The two curule aediles had supervision of the 
streets, markets, and public games. Soon the plebeian aediles were as- 
sociated with them in this work. The number of quaestors and of prae- 
tors gradually increased. 

2. The Assemblies, (i) Under the kings there was but one assembly 
the comitia curiata. (2) About the beginning of the republic a new 

assembly the comitia centuriata was instituted. In the former there 

1 374- 



350 The Early Republic 

was equality among the members, in the latter the citizens voted in the order 
of their wealth the more property a man had, the more his vote counted 
in the decision of the question before the people. The comitia centuriata 
took the place of the curiate assembly, leaving the latter hardly more than a 
mere form. (3) Early in the republic a third kind of assembly the comi- 
tia tributa was introduced. At first it attended solely to plebeian busi- 
ness, but the Valerian-Horatian laws gave it the right, with the consent of 
the senate, to legislate for the state. In this assembly all had an equal 
vote, as in the comitia curiata ; but the great advantage which came to the 
plebeians from the tribal organization lay in the fact that it was presided 
over by the tribunes, who were naturally more inclined than patricians to 
introduce laws favorable to the commons. Soon patrician magistrates be- 
gan likewise to call the people together in this form of assembly for making 
laws and for electing inferior magistrates. The distinction between the 
three forms of assembly is mainly one of organization; for all practical 
purposes we may consider them identical in composition. 

After the institution of the centuriate and tribal assemblies, the next step 
was their liberation from the control which the senate exercised over them by 
constitutional right. This emancipation was completed by the Hortensian 
law of 287 B.C. 

3. The Senate. In the way described above the senate lost its consti- 
tutional right to control the assemblies. Meanwhile, however, (i) through 
its great ability, recognized alike by magistrates and people, (2) through 
its management of the auspices, it gained more real power than it had ever 
held before. At the close of our period it was actually, though not legally, 
supreme. 

4. The Rights of the Plebs. At the beginning of the republic the ple- 
beians (i) lacked the protection due them as citizens, and (2) were debarred 
from all political and religious offices. They gained the necessary protec- 
tion (a) through the institution of the tribunes, (6) through the publication 
of the Twelve Tables. Thereafter the chief aim of the leading plebeians 
was to win admission to the offices. They became eligible (i) to the decem- 
virate for compiling the laws, (2) to the consular tribunate, and (3) to the 
quaestorship. (4) The Licinian law then declared that one consul had al- 
ways to be a plebeian. This was by far the most important gain. After- 
ward (5) all other offices and influential priesthoods were rapidly thrown 
open to them. In the early part of this struggle the right of intermarriage 
between the two social classes was established by the Canuleian law (445 
B.C.). The alliances which the leading plebeians were able to form by inter- 
marriage with patrician families were a great help in the struggle for politi- 
cal rights. Beyond the security of person and property, the masses gained 
little in these conflicts. The main tendency was always toward aristocracy 
rather than toward democracy. The leading men in the state formed a new, 
office-holding nobility, and the old distinction between patricians and ple- 
beians disappeared. 



Government and People 351 

Suggestive Questions 

i. How did the change from monarchy to republic affect (i) the magis- 
trates, (2) the senate, (3) the people? 2. Why did the Romans prefer the 
two consuls to a single king? 3. Make a table of the magistrates, showing 
the date of institution and the functions of each. 4. Make a table of the 
assemblies, showing the composition, organization, and functions of each. 

5. Which assembly was the most representative of the people, and why? 

6. From the laws of the Twelve Tables quoted in 387, what may we infer 
as to the customs and character of the people of that time? 7. Make a 
list of all the laws on constitutional subjects mentioned in the chapter, 
with a brief statement of the contents of each. 



Note-book Topics 

I. The Government of the Early Republic. Abbott, Roman Political 
Institutions, 24-29 ; Ihne, Early Rome, chs. x-xiii. 

II. The Decemvirs. Botsford, Story of Rome, 90-92 ; History of 
Rome, 76-79; Ihne, Early Rome, ch. xviii; Duruy, History of Rome, i. 327 
340. 



CHAPTER XXXI 
THE EARLY REPUBLIC : (II) ROME BECOMES SUPREME IN ITALY 

509-264 B.C. 

I. SOUTH ETRURIA AND LATIUM BECOME ROMAN 

395. Weakness of Rome ; Alliance with the Latins. While the 
Romans were improving the government and the condition of 
the plebeians in the way described above, they were gradually 
extending their power over Italy. In tracing this territorial ex- 
pansion we must begin with the founding of the republic and con- 
tinue through the period covered by the preceding chapter. 

The downfall of monarchy weakened Rome; for the state no 
longer had a single strong ruler to lead in war and to put down civil 
strife. The dissensions between the patricians and the plebeians 1 
exposed the country to attacks from all its neighbors. The greatest 
danger came from the Latins, whose cities had long been united 
in a league. 2 Under the later kings they had acknowledged the 
headship of Rome, but now they revolted. After a brief war Spurius 
Cassius, 3 the leading Roman statesman of the time, negotiated 
with the Latin League a perpetual peace (493 B.C.). 4 

396. Wars with the Aequians and the Volscians (486-405 B.C.). 
-It was well that the Romans and the Latins renewed their 

alliance; for they had soon to begin a long, hard struggle in 
defence of their property and their lives against the hungry tribes 
of the hills. Year after year the Sabines, descending from their 
mountain homes, pillaged the Roman territory. Often, too, the 
Aequians burned farmhouses and drove off the peasants' cattle. 
The story is told that once they entrapped a consul and his army 

1 See especially 381 for the secession of the plebs. 

2 357. 3 383. 

4 This is the year in which Rome for the first time had tribunes of the plebs; 382. 

352 



,' 05 
OD / * 

D 


\ J.-j A ?1 




Aequians and Volscians 353 

in a valley. Thereupon the other consul, at the request of the 
senate, nominated Cin-cin-na'tus dictator. 1 Messengers then bore 
the commission across the Tiber to his four-acre farm. Finding 
him in his tunic, engaged in some rural work, they greeted him as 
he leaned on his spade. Then, wiping the sweat and dust from his 
brow, he listened to the message. He took command. Without 
delay he relieved the besieged army, humbled the enemy, and re- 
turned to Rome, his troops laden with booty. So brilliant was 
the victory that the senate granted him a triumph. A grand pro- 
cession, accordingly, moved along the Sacred Way 2 through the 
Forum, then up the Capitoline to the temple of Jupiter. In front 
were the captive leaders of the Aequians ; men followed with the 
standards of the enemy; then came the triumphal car in which 
sat the general clad in splendid robes. Behind the car the soldiers 
marched carrying the booty, singing the hymn of triumph, while 
the citizens spread tables before their houses for the entertainment 
of the army. The procession halted before the temple, that the 
general might bring the chief of the gods an offering of gratitude 
for the victory. Then, resigning his command the sixteenth day 
after taking it, he returned to his farm. Though not genuine 
history, the story of Cincinnatus gives a true picture of the simple 
life of those early times and of the triumph of a victorious general. 
After Cincinnatus, the Romans had still many years of unsuccess- 
ful war with the Aequians. 

Meantime the Volscians, who lived in the mountains southeast 
of the Hernicans, descending into Latium, overran the country to 
within a few miles of Rome. At one time the mountaineers help! 
nearly all Latium. But after a long struggle for existence, Rome 
and her allies began to make headway against their enemies. 
Before the end of the century they had recovered Latium (405 B.C.). 
Though the Aequians and the Volscians still gave trouble, they 
ceased to be dangerous. 

397. The Siege of Veil (405-396 B.C.). Toward the end of 
the century the Romans began war upon Vei'i, an Etruscan city as 
large as their own, situated twelve miles distant on a steep and 
strongly fortified height. After a long siege the dictator Ca-nuTlus 

1 378. 2 A street in the city, indicated on the map, p. 457. 

2 A 



354 



Rome Becomes Supreme in Italy 



took it. This conquest doubled the Roman territory, which soon 
afterward extended on the north to the Ci-min'i-an Hill. 

398. The Sack of Rome by the Gauls (390 B.C.). In Etruria 
Rome first came into collision with the Gauls tall warriors with 
fair hair and flashing eyes. Wherever they marched, " their harsh 
music and discordant clamors filled all places with a horrible din." 




REMNANT OF THE SO-CALLED SERVIAN WALL 
(From a photograph) 

Shortly before this time they had begun to cross the Alps and to 
drive the Etruscans from the Po Valley. 1 Now they were invading 
Etruria. About eleven miles from Rome, on the Al'li-a, a tribu- 
tary of the Tiber, they met the entire force of the Romans. The 
barbarians fought in dense masses; their enormous swords cut 
through the helmets and gashed the heads of the Romans. The 
men, who had often faced the hill tribes in battle, fled in terror from 
these gigantic northerners. Some took refuge in deserted Veii; 
others bore news of the disaster to Rome. The city was in a 
panic ; no one thought of defending the walls. The soldiers and 

1 360. 



First Samnite War 355 

the younger senators hurried to the citadel to strengthen its de- 
fences. The rest of the city was sacked and burned. 

At length, weary with continual watching and threatened with 
famine, the Romans on the Capitoline offered the Gauls a thousand 
pounds of gold if they would withdraw. It is said that the barba- 
rian chief threw his sword into the scale, exclaiming, " Woe to the 
vanquished !" and that while the parties were disputing over this 
increased demand, Camillus, again dictator, appeared with an 
army on the scene, and drove the Gauls away without their gold. 

The people returned to the city and proceeded to clear away the 
rubbish. Each man built his hut wherever he found a convenient 
place. Within a year Rome, with her narrow, crooked streets, arose 
from the ashes. To guard against future attacks, they surrounded 
the city with a great stone wall, remnants of which are still standing. 1 

399. The First Samnite War (343-341 B.C.). The half-century 
following the rebuilding of the city was a time of great military 
success for Rome. On every side she was victorious over her 
enemies, and either won new territory or secured more thorough 
control of the lands she had already acquired. In this period she 
came into contact with Samnium, the most powerful nation in the 
interior of the peninsula. For a time the two states were allies, 
but afterward quarrelled over the possession of Cap'u-a, a wealthy 
city of Campania. As the Samnites threatened to conquer Capua, 
this city gave itself up to Rome in return for protection. By ac- 
cepting these terms the Romans brought upon themselves their 
first war with Samnium. 

The two nations, however evenly matched, differed in character. 
The Samnites were mountaineers, who had no cities, no wealth, no 
king or aristocracy. Poor but brave and free, they looked greedily 
down upon the well-cultivated plains on their western border. With 
their skilful swords they hoped to win a title to these rich lands. 

The Romans and Latins were far superior in military organ- 
ization and equipments. Their army was a peasant militia, obe- 
dient to command, brave, patient, hardy, ready for long marches 

1 Writers who lived long after these events assigned this wall to Servius Tullius ; 
364, 375^ Scholars now agree, however, that the work is no earlier than the fourth 
century B.C. 



356 Rome Becomes Supreme in Italy 

and severe toils, rarely over-elated by success or cast down by 
misfortune. They were inspired, too, with the idea that the 
struggle was one for home and country, in defence of the wealth 
and civilization of the plain against encroaching barbarism. They 
fought, therefore, with great spirit and success. As a result of the 
war, the Romans not only retained Capua, but gained control of 
nearly all Campania. 

400. The Great Latin War (340-338 B.C.). In 341 B.C. Rome 
and Samnium suddenly made peace and alliance; but the Latins 
and other allies of Rome continued the war. Finally the Latins, 
thinking that they were as strong as the metropolis, demanded 
that they be made citizens of Rome and that one consul and half 
the senators should be chosen from their number. The demand 
was rejected with scorn ; " a foreign consul and foreign senators 
sitting in the temple of Jupiter would be an insult to the supreme 
god of the state, as though he were taken captive by the enemy ! " 1 
War followed. The Romans and the Latins had the same arms, 
the same military organization and discipline. Rome, however, 
enjoyed the advantage that comes to a single city in opposing a 
loose confederacy. She brought the war to a successful close in 
one or two fierce battles and a series of sieges. She then dissolved 
the Latin League. 2 

401. Admission of South Etruria, Latium, and Campania into 
the Roman State. The territory now under the control of Rome 
extended from the Ciminian Hill in Etruria to Mount Vesuvius in 
Campania. It remains to consider how she organized the territory 
recently acquired in war, and how she treated its inhabitants. 

Rome enslaved the people of Veii. 3 The territory belonging to 
that city she assigned to her own citizens, and made of it four 
tribes, 4 in some such way as new states are formed from territory 
acquired by the American government. There was no reason, 
however, for treating the Latins harshly; for in blood and 
language they were one with the Romans, and as soldiers 
they would be of great value to Rome in her future wars. The 
senate determined therefore to admit most of them to full citizen- 
ship, and to organize them and their territory in new tribes. A 

1 Livy, viii. 4 f . 2 3S7> 39S> 3 3Q7 . 4 376 . 



Second Samnite War 357 

few Latin towns, however, remained inferior to the rest. They 
were admitted to the Roman citizenship, but were not given the 
right to vote or to hold office at Rome. Thus their citizenship 
was limited. The Etruscan city of Caere had already been ad- 
mitted to the Roman state and placed in this position. Such 
people were described as citizens without suffrage cives sine 
suffragio. Like the other citizens, they were required to perform 
military service. A large part of Campania had fallen under the 
Roman power ; 1 and the inhabitants were likewise placed in the 
same class of inferior citizens. Whatever the grade of their citizen- 
ship, the people admitted to the Roman state retained their towns 
with self-government in local matters. 2 

All the Latins, however, were not taken into the Roman state. 
Tibur, Praeneste, and one or two other old Latin cities 3 remained 
independent, and separate treaties of alliance were made between 
them and Rome. Several colonies, founded in Etruria and Latium, 
were, like Tibur and Praeneste, given the position of allies. Such 
were called Latin colonies. 4 



II. THE CONQUEST OF ITALY 

338-264 B.C. 

402. The Second Samnite War (326-304). For fifteen years 
there was peace between Rome and Samnium. During this time 
the Romans continually gained strength. This ambitious policy 
made the Samnites fear for their own safety. Accordingly, when 
Rome laid siege to Naples, a free Greek city of Campania, the Sam- 
nites reenforced the place. This unfriendly act led to the Second 
Samnite War. 

The fortunes of war varied. At first Rome was successful; then 
the tide turned in favor of Samnium. In 321 B.C. Pon'ti-us, the 
Samnite leader, enticed the consuls with forty thousand men into 
an ambush at the Cau'dine Pass, in a valley of the Apennines, and 
compelled them to surrender. The consuls, in the name of the 

1 39Q. 2 As explained in 405. * 357- 

4 Among them were Sutrium and Nepete in Etruria and Norba, Satricum, and Setia in 
Latium. 



358 Rome Becomes Supreme in Italy 

state, swore to the enemy's terms of peace. Then a yoke was 
formed of three spears two fixed upright in the earth and the 
third placed across the top. Deprived of their arms by the enemy, 
the Roman troops passed humbly under this yoke in token of their 
complete submission. It was the worst disgrace a soldier could 
undergo at the hands of an enemy. All were allowed to return 
home, excepting six hundred knights, who were detained as hos- 
tages. To the people at home the surrender was a greater humil- 
iation than would have been the entire destruction of the army. 
Accordingly they soon found a pretext for breaking the treaty. 

After the disaster at the Caudine Pass, the war dragged on from 
year to year. It was the policy of Rome to settle and organize 
every foot of conquered ground, and to hem in her enemy by estab- 
lishing fortress colonies on the border. Although the Samnites 
were reenforced by the Etruscans and the Umbrians, Rome now 
met with success in all her battles. The consuls ravaged Etruria, 
and captured the strongholds of Samnium. The war ended in 304 
B.C. ; though the Samnites had suffered great losses, they remained 
free, and renewed the former treaty. 

403. The Third Samnite War (298-290 B.C.). In the Third 
Samnite War all the Italic peoples, the Etruscans, and a horde 
of Celtic invaders took part against Rome. The decisive battle 
was fought at Sen-ti'num in Umbria (295 B.C.). Here by a hard- 
won victory Rome broke the league of her enemies. Deserted by 
their allies, the Samnites held out resolutely for five more years. 
At last Man'i-us Cu'ri-us Den-ta'tus, a peasant who by personal 
merit had raised himself to the consulship, compelled them to sue 
for peace. They were now dependent allies of Rome. 

The strife between the plain and the mountains began in the 
wars with the Aequians and the Volscians as early at least as the 
beginning of the republic. 1 In time it culminated in a fierce struggle 
between Rome and Samnium, which, with brief interruptions, 
raged for more than half a century. The long conflict was now 
ended. It had desolated Italy from Etruria to Lucania. Cities 
and villages were in ruins; pastures and cornfields had become a 
lonely waste; thousands of warriors had fallen in battle and thou- 

1 356 f., 396. 



War with Tarentum 359 

sands of men, women, and children once free were now slaves of 
the Romans. Civilization had triumphed, yet at a great cost; the 
war whetted the Roman appetite for plunder, and fostered slavery, 
the curse of ancient society. 

404. The War with Tarentum or War with Pyrrhus (281-272 
B.C.). After winning the supremacy over Samnium, the Romans 
naturally thought it expedient to round out their league, by gain- 
ing control of all southern Italy. The principal states in that 
region were Greek. But many Greek cities had been conquered by 
the natives. Naples and a few others had become allies of Rome. 
The only important state remaining wholly independent was Ta- 
rentum. 1 It had long been a great centre of commerce and indus- 
try. The chief activity was the manufacture and dyeing of woollen 
goods. As most of the wool for this purpose came from Samnium, 
the Tarentines felt that their trade was menaced by the extension 
of the Roman supremacy over that country. They had made a 
treaty with the Romans according to which the ships of the latter 
should not sail past the La-cin'i-an promontory in the direction 
of Tarentum. With their city strongly fortified, they felt secure 
so long as their fleet held command of the sea, and it hardly oc- 
curred to them that Rome could build a fleet strong enough to 
dispute their naval supremacy. When they saw a small Roman 
squadron, in open violation of the treaty, sail beyond the for- 
bidden point, they put to sea in great indignation, sunk several 
of the Roman ships, and massacred the crews of the others. The 
Romans sent an embassy to demand reparation for this and other 
alleged wrongs. The insolent treatment of these ambassadors 
led to war. Thereupon the Tarentines called on Pyrrhus, king 
of Epeirus, for help. This king, a brilliant military genius, came 
with a small but strong body of troops who were skilled in the arms 
and tactics of the Macedonian phalanx. 2 He first met the enemy 
at Her-a-cle'a (280 B.C.). Seven times the light battalions of 
Rome threw themselves against his " hedge of spears," only to be 
repulsed each time with heavy loss. Then his trained elephants, 
charging the weakened enemy, breached their lines like a volley of 
artillery. The Romans were shrinking before the " gray oxen," 

1 126. 2 308. 



360 Rome Becomes Supreme in Italy 

as they called these enormous beasts, when a sudden dash of the 
Thessalian horse completed their ruin. Allies now began to join 
the victorious general, who pushed on till he came within forty 
miles of Rome. So great had been his own losses in the recent 
battle, however, that he was anxious to make peace with the enemy, 
whose bravery and discipline he admired. Cin'e-as, his ambassa- 
dor, spoke eloquently in the senate; but Appius Claudius Caecus, 
a statesman old and blind, was carried on a litter into the senate- 
house to raise his voice against these shameful proceedings : " Let 
Pyrrhus return home, and then we may make peace with him." 
In these words he set forth the principle that thereafter Rome 
would take care of the interests of Italy. Failing to win his cause 
by eloquence or bribery, Cineas returned to his master with the 
report that the Roman senate was an assembly of kings. Pyrrhus 
won another battle at As'cu-lum (279 B.C.), so dearly that he re- 
marked to his friends, " Another such victory will ruin us." Then 
he crossed over to Sicily to aid his countrymen against the Car- 
thaginians ; but even with his brilliant successes there, he failed to 
dislodge the enemy from the island. Returning with a few vet- 
erans to Italy, he was defeated at Ben-e-ven'tum (275 B.C.) by 
Dentatus, and thereupon withdrew to his home. After his de- 
parture Tarentum surrendered, and soon Rome became mistress 
of all Italy south of the Rubicon. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of this chapter like that on p. 285. 2. Describe 
the triumph of a victorious general. 3. From the map facing p. 353 show 
the increase of Rome's territory to the conquest of Veil. Describe the 
location of all the peoples mentioned on the map. 4. Describe the location 
of the Allia River, Rubicon River, Ciminian Hill, Caere, Naples, Asculum, 
Heraclea, Beneventum, Sentinum, Lacinian Promontory, and Tarentum. 
5. Describe the structure of the Roman wall illustrated on p. 354. What is 
the shape of the stones, and how are they arranged? 6. Which wars of 
this period formed part of the long conflict between the plain and the 
mountains? 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Second Samnite War. Botsford, Story of Rome, 72-77 ; Munro, 
Source Book, 74-77; Duruy, History of Rome, i. 425-445. 

II. Pyrrhus. Botsford, 77-83; Plutarch, Pyrrhus. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

THE ORGANIZATION OF ROMAN RULE IN ITALY; PROGRESS 
IN CIVILIZATION 

I. ORGANIZATION 

405. The Roman Citizens. Within the territory united under 
Rome were communities of every grade of privilege, ranging from 
full Roman citizenship to subjection. First let us notice the Roman 
citizens. Many of them lived in Rome, or so near that they could 
use the markets of that city for buying and selling and could have 
their disputes settled before its courts. Others lived too far away 
to enjoy these advantages. Such persons had towns of their own 
called mu-ni-cip'i-a. A municipium of the best standing was 
practically the same as our municipality. It had a government 
of its own, consisting of magistrates, council, and an assembly of 
all the citizens. The assembly was like a " town-meeting," but it 
met oftener and had more to do with the government, as it elected 
magistrates and voted on laws. In origin and general character it 
was the same as the popular assembly at Rome or at Athens. The 
inhabitants of such a municipium usually had their law cases 
settled in the courts of their own town, and followed their several 
vocations there. As they were Roman citizens, they had a right 
to go to Rome and vote in the assemblies or present themselves 
as candidates for office. An example of such a municipium was 
Tusculum. 

Other municipia, however, were of inferior grade. They had 
their own local self-government, no less than those of highest 
standing. Their inhabitants were also citizens of Rome ; they had 
a right to trade with the other citizens and to intermarry with them, 
but not to vote or to hold office at the capital. Caere has been 
mentioned as an example of this class. 1 The inhabitants were 
termed " citizens without suffrage." 

1 401. 
361 



362 The Organization of Roman Rule in Italy 

Rarely to punish a town for rebellion, Rome deprived it of self- 
government and sent out a prefect to rule it with absolute power. 
Such communities were called pre'fect-ures. They were the lowest 



Colony. Latin Colony. 
* Other Citiet = => Military Road. 
The numbers are the dates 




grade of municipia. The inhabitants were in name citizens with- 
out suffrage, but in reality they were subjects. We hear of no more 
than two cities 1 which were treated in this way, and their degra- 
dation was only temporary. 

1 They were Anagnia, which rebelled in 306 B.C., and Capua, which in the Second 
Punic War deserted to Hannibal. 



Allies 363 

There was one more kind of Roman community the Roman 
colony. It was always a garrison, usually of three hundred citizens 
with their families, placed in some newly conquered town. It was 
generally on the coast, and the garrison was for the protection of 
the seaboard. A third of the land, taken from the natives, was 
transferred to the new settlers, and they were given full control of 
the government. They stood therefore toward the natives as 
nobles toward commons. The natives were given citizenship with- 
out the right to vote ; and gradually they acquired the full citizen- 
ship. The distinction between them and the colonists then dis- 
appeared. 

406. The Allies : Latins and Italians. Thus far we have had to 
do with Roman citizens only. We are now to take under consid- 
eration the allies. Those nearest to the Romans in blood, language, 
customs, and sympathy were the Latins. They consisted (i) of 
the few old Latin towns, like Tibur, 1 which had not yet accepted 
the Roman citizenship, (2) of many Latin colonies founded in all 
parts of Italy. Romans as well as Latins took part in these settle- 
ments ; but they were called Latin colonies because they had Latin 
rights that is, they were in the same condition as an old Latin 
town. All Latin towns, whatever their origin, were self-governing, 
almost sovereign states. Each was bound to Rome by an individual 
treaty, which regulated the relations between the two states. The 
Latins who came to Rome had an unrestricted right to trade, to 
buy property there, and to intermarry with the Romans, and could 
easily obtain the citizenship if they wished. The colonies of this 
class served as garrisons for holding the neighboring country loyal 
to Rome, and as a means of extending the Latin language and 
civilization to the natives. 

Inferior to the Latins were the allies called simply the Italians, 
for instance the Samnites. As in the case of the Latins, each com- 
munity had its separate treaty with Rome. There was among 
them every gradation of privilege; some were little inferior 
in rights to Rome, whereas the independence of others was more 
restricted. Neither Latins nor Italians paid taxes or tribute to 
Rome, but all their communities furnished the number of troops 

1 4i. 



364 The Organization of Roman Rule in Italy 

fixed by treaty to serve in whatever wars Rome might wage. 
Those on the coast, especially the Greek cities, furnished ships 
with their crews. All the allies had to equip, provision, and pay 
their own troops. They had no voice, however, in the declaration 
of wars or the conclusion of treaties. 

The political organization of Italy here described had the form 
of a league of small states under the leadership of Rome. It was 
like the Peloponnesian League or the Delian Confederacy, but far 
more strongly centralized than either. It included the whole 
peninsula south of the Rubicon, excepting the Umbrian coast 
which was occupied by Gauls. They had been conquered by 
Rome, and were now tributary subjects. Indeed, it was chiefly 
in opposition to the Gauls that the Italians, led by Rome, had come 
to look upon themselves as one people, the nation of the gown 
against the nation wearing trousers. This federal system, based 
upon Italian nationality and directed by Rome, assured to the 
peninsula domestic peace, and to the leading city a place among 
the great states of the world. The foremost powers of the East * at 
this time were Egypt, with which Rome allied herself in 273 
B.C., Macedon, and the Seleucid Empire ; of the West, Car- 
thage and Rome. 

407. Members of the Roman-Italian League 
I. Roman Citizens 

1. Those living in or near Rome, using its markets and courts. 

2. Citizens of municipia of the first class with local self-government 

and the right to vote and hold office at Rome. 

3. Citizens of municipia of the second class with local self-gov- 

ernment, but without the right to vote and to hold office at 
Rome. 

4. Citizens of municipia of the third class, or prefectures with 

neither self-government nor the right to vote and hold office at 
Rome. 

5. Citizens of Roman colonies in privileges like inhabitants of 

municipia of the first class. 
II. Allies, bound by treaty to follow the leadership of Rome in war, not 

tributary. 

i. Latins, especially favored, had easy access to the Roman citizen- 
ship. 

1 333- 



Military Reform 



365 



a. A few old Latin towns. 

b. Latin colonies. 

2. Italians, less favored, differed greatly from one another in privileges. 
III. Subjects. The Gauls of Umbria, tributary. 

408. Military Reform : Change from the Phalanx to the Legion. 

During the first century of the republic the phalanx, as organized 
by Servius, 1 was used. 
The soldiers served 
without pay, and 
equipped themselves 
according to their 
means. In the war 
with Veii, however, the 
senate began to pay 
them for service, thus 
making possible a thor- 
ough change in the 
military system ; for 
henceforth the citizens, 
who had been accus- 
tomed to short sum- 
mer campaigns, could 
serve the entire year, 
when necessary, and 
the poor man as well 
as the rich could buy 
a complete equipment. 

Hence the distinction of classes in the armor and in the arrange- 
ment of the troops gave way to a ranking according to experi- 
ence. The recruit entered the light division; after a time he 
passed to the front line of the heavy infantry, thence to the second 
line, and when he became a veteran, to the third. The soldiers of 
the first two lines, besides defensive armor, carried each two pi' la, 
or javelins for hurling, and a sword. The veterans were armed 
in the same way, except that instead of javelins each carried a 
lance. 

1 376. 




ITALIAN SOLDIER 
(From a vase-painting, about 300 B.C. ; British Museum) 



366 The Organization of Roman Rule in Italy 

In place of the solid phalanx, the lines of heavy-armed men were 
now divided each into ten companies, called maniples, stationed 
at intervals in such a way that the vacant spaces in a line were 
covered by the companies of the following line. Each line was 
several ranks deep. Ordinarily a legion consisted of three thou- 
sand heavy-armed troops and twelve hundred light-armed. The 
number of legions varied according to the requirements of war. 




AN As 

(A bronze coin of the fourth century B.C., weighing io oz. Front, head of Janus ; back, prow of 

a galley) 

There were regularly three hundred cavalry attached to each 
legion. 

The beginning of this military reform is ascribed to Camillus, 1 
the famous dictator who captured Veii; it was nearly completed 
at the end of the war with Pyrrhus. 

II. CIVILIZATION AND CHARACTER 

409. Public Works. While the Romans were becoming masters 
of Italy and improving their laws and their constitution, they were 
also growing richer. In the fourth century B.C. they began to coin 
bronze, and early in the third, silver. The nobles reaped the profits 
of large tracts of conquered land and bought a great number of 

1 44- 




Roads and Aqueducts 367 

slaves. The state, too, acquired considerable property through 
conquest. Some of this wealth could be used for public works. 
Appius Claudius Caecus, during his long censorship, 312-307 B.C., 1 
built an aqueduct, named after him the Appian Aqueduct, which 
brought the city plenty of fresh water from the hills about ten 
miles distant. Through a great part of its course it ran under- 
ground. This was the first work of the kind at Rome. After his 
time, as the city continued for centuries to grow in population, 
larger and longer aqueducts had to be built. In some of them the 
water flowed high above ground in 
a channel supported by a series of 
stone arches. 

Another great work of the same 
censor was a military road the 
Appian Way extending from Rome 
to Capua. This, too, was the first A DENARIUS 

of the kind. It was built as straight ( A silver coin struck soon after 286 B - c - 

., , Front, head of Roma ; back, Castor 

and as level as possible. Steep hills and p iiux on horseback) 
were tunnelled, and marshes and 

deep valleys were spanned by gigantic causeways of stone. In the 
more even places the road-bed was made of tightly-pressed earth, 
and the surface was everywhere paved with large, flat, durable 
stones. 2 Along the side milestones were set up, and at less inter- 
vals other stones as steps for mounting on horseback. The example 
of Claudius was followed by other statesmen, till in the course of cen- 
turies a network of these roads covered the whole domain ruled by 
Rome. The primary object was the rapid movement of armies and 
of military supplies and official letters. They were free also to the 
public for travel, commerce, and all other purposes. It was largely 
by means of such roads that Rome was able to protect the great 
empire she was building up, to govern it efficiently, and to bind 
all parts of it together by the ties of commerce and a common 
civilization. These, however, were but the far-off results of the 
example set by Claudius. 

1 He held the censorship during this long term for the purpose of building the public 
works described in this paragraph. 

* For an example of such a pavement, see illustration, p. 470. 



368 The Organization of Roman Rule in Italy 



410. Education and Intelligence. Business and diplomacy 
forced the more ambitious Romans even in this early time to learn 
the Greek language. There were probably as yet no schools, so 
that children had to get at home, from their parents or from 

Greek slaves, their whole education. 
Apart from the Twelve Tables and a 
few poems, proverbs, and orations 
composed by Appius Claudius, the 
Romans had no books whatever, and 
Greek literature was not yet studied, 
excepting by a few individuals. The 
Romans continued, however, to adopt 
Greek gods. One of their latest ac- 
quisitions in this period was Aes-cu- 
la'pi-us, god of healing, for whom 
they built a shrine on an island in 
the Tiber adjacent to the city. It 
was customary for sick persons to 
pass the night in this temple, in the 
belief that the god would heal them 
while they were asleep. Many stories 
of divine healing were in circulation. 
411. Personal and Public Char- 
acter. The early Romans were dis- 
tinguished for their patience and 
energy. Their virtue, the fruit of a 
simple life, increased in strength and 

(Excellent ancient copy of a fifth century in Severity throughout the period. 
(B.C.) original. Probably stood in the This growth WaS Owing to the Care 
shrine at Rome. National Museum. .,, , . , ,, , ,. 

Naples) with which the republican govern- 

ment supervised the citizens. The 

magistrates had power to punish, not only for crimes, but for every 
offence against order, however slight, and even for immorality, 
including lazy or luxurious habits. While all officers enjoyed this 
authority, it became the especial duty of the censors to see that 
every citizen subjected himself to the severe discipline prescribed 
by the state. 




AESCULAPIUS 



Character 369 

The aim of education in the family and in public life was to re- 
press the freedom of the individual in the interest of the state, to 
make a nation of brave warriors and dutiful citizens. The highest 
results of this stern training were reached in the Samnite Wars, a 
period known thereafter as the golden age of virtue and of heroism. 
A citizen of this time was, in the highest degree, obedient to au- 
thority, pious, frugal, and generally honest. But though he was 
willing to sacrifice his life for the good of the state, he was equally 
ready to enrich himself at the expense of his neighbors ; the wealthy 
did not hesitate to sell the poor into slavery for debt, till they were 
forbidden to do so by law. Their hard, stern souls knew neither 
generosity nor mercy. Severe toward the members of their family, 
cruel in the treatment of slaves, and in their business transactions 
shrewd and grasping, the Romans of the time, however admirable 
for their heroic virtues, were narrow, harsh, and unlovable. 

As long as they remained poor and under strict discipline, they 
were moral. In the following period they were to gain greater free- 
dom from the control of their magistrates, and, at the same time, 
power and wealth. These new conditions were to put their virtue 
and even their government to the severest test. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Compare the Roman and Greek colonies. 2. Some of the allies in 
Italy refused the Roman citizenship when offered. Explain why. Did 
an allied city have any advantage over a municipium? 3. Compare the 
Roman-Italian League with the Confederacy of Delos ; with the Pelopon- 
nesian League. 4. Trace the development of the Roman military organiza- 
tion from the earliest times to the end of the Pyrrhic War. 5. From the il- 
lustration on p. 365, describe the equipment of a warrior of about 300 B.C. 
How does the text agree with the illustration ? Would you conclude there- 
fore that this warrior might be a Roman? 6. Why did the Romans 
stamp the prow of a galley on their earliest coins (p. 366) ? 7. Why did the 
Romans introduce Greek gods into their state? 8. Compare the Roman 
discipline with the Spartan. 

Note-book Topics 

I. Organization of the Roman-Italian League. Pelham, Outlines of 
Roman History, 96-107; Greenidge, Roman Public Life, 295-310. 

II. Internal Condition of Rome during the Samnite Wars. Duruy, 
History of Rome, i. 500-524. 

2B 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE EXPANSION OF THE ROMAN POWER TO THE END OF 
THE SECOND PUNIC WAR 

264-201 B.C. 

I. THE FIRST PUNIC WAR: A STRUGGLE FOR THE POSSESSION 

OF SICILY 

264-241 B.C. 

412. Carthage and her Empire. On the northern coast of 
Africa, opposite Rome, was the Punic city of Carthage. 1 Not only 
did the country about it produce abundant harvests, but it was well 
situated for trade with the East and the West, and with Sicily and 
Italy. These advantages made the city wealthy and prosperous. 
In time it became, too, a political power. 2 On the coasts and 
islands of the western Mediterranean Carthage built up a great 
empire. It included the larger part of the north coast of Africa, a 
strip of the western coast beyond the Pillars of Hercules, part of 
southern Spain, and of Corsica, all Sardinia, and nearly all Sicily, 
besides many small islands. Carthage was about to wrest the 
remainder of Sicily from the Greeks when Pyrrhus came as their 
champion. 3 He tried in vain to drive her from the island. As 
he departed, he is said to have exclaimed regretfully, " What a fair 
battlefield we are leaving to the Romans and the Carthaginians ! " 
These two nations were then allied against him, but he knew well 
that they would soon dispute the possession of Sicily. Quickly 
the Carthaginians regained the whole island with the exception 
of the territory belonging to Mes-sa'na and Syracuse. If they 
could conquer these two cities, they would naturally invade Italy. 
Rome, the protector of the Italians, was anxiously watching her 
rivals' movements. 

The ambition of the Carthaginians was even more for commercial 

1 49. "Punic" (Punicus) is Latin for Phoenician. 2 208. 3 404. 

370 



Longitude 20 



V 




Roman Power in 264. B.C. 

ROMAN POWER | 1 Acquired 241-218 B.C. 

Acquired 201-1 33 B.C. 
Allies of Rome in 133 B.C. 



To the time of the Gracchi. 

SCALE OF MILES 
100 50 100 200 300 400 



Carthaginian Posessions 264 B.C. 



Carthage and Rome 371 

than for political empire. At the time Rome became a republic 
they were willing to grant her people a right under certain restric- 
tions to trade with their cities ; a century and a half later they 
closed their ports to the Romans, excepting those of Carthage itself. 
As time went on, they determined more resolutely to monopolize 
the commerce of the western Mediterranean. When, therefore, in 
their voyages they fell in with a vessel bound for any of their western 
ports, they used to confiscate it and throw the crew into the sea. 
" The Romans cannot wash their hands in the sea without our con- 
sent," exclaimed one of their admirals. It is easy to understand 
how so aggressive a spirit was sure to involve Carthage in war as 
soon as she came into contact with a power capable of defending 
itself. 

An Asiatic race, the Carthaginians were inferior to the Romans in 
character and civilization. In times of excitement the government 
was controlled by the mob of citizens; under normal conditions, 
by the power of wealth. Their public men were corrupt; they 
oppressed their subjects with heavy taxes, and gave them no hope 
of ever having equal rights with themselves. Their religion, too, 
was inhuman and immoral. Such being the case, it would have 
been unfortunate for any large part of Europe to fall permanently 
under their rule. It was the task of Rome to protect the higher 
and better civilization of Europe from this danger. 

413. Causes of the War. The underlying cause of the war was 
simply the conflict of interests between Carthage and Rome. Car- 
thage felt it to her advantage to gain possession of all Sicily, and 
afterward of Italy if possible. Thus far her power had expanded 
unchecked, and she could not see how the Romans, who had no 
navy, could stand in her way. Rome, on the other hand, as the 
head of Italy, was under obligations to defend the peninsula. The 
chief motive of the Romans, therefore, was the protection of them- 
selves and of their allies. There were among them, however, a few 
influential nobles who were not satisfied with what Rome had 
already acquired, but wished to annex a part of Sicily. 'Some, 
indeed, were willing to embark the state in wars merely to win glory 
and profit for themselves. Hence we may say that a secondary 
motive on the part of Rome was the glory and profit cf conquest. 



372 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

The immediate cause of war was as follows. Some Campanian 
mercenaries, released from the service of Syracuse, seized Messana. 
They killed the men, and divided the women, children, and property 
among themselves. For a time the Mam'er- tines (" sons of Mars "), 
as these robbers called themselves, enjoyed their ill-got homes, 
and levied tribute on many towns of Sicily ; but, threatened by both 
Greeks and Carthaginians, they appealed to Rome for aid on the 
ground of kindred blood. Although the senate felt it would be 
unjust to aid the Mamertines, it feared that if the Carthaginians 
should conquer them and gain control of all Sicily, they would not 
hesitate to lay hands on Italy. For this reason the assembly was 
persuaded to vote for a defensive alliance with Messana. This 
act was equivalent to a declaration of war with Carthage. 

414. The Resources of Rome and Carthage. The resources 
of the two nations were quite different. With her magnificent navy 
Carthage controlled the sea. Her wealth enabled her to enlist 
great armies of mercenaries, who however often proved treacherous 
to the city they served. Her citizens were mostly merchants and 
artisans, wholly unfit for military duty. Few served in the war 
except as officers. This condition of the army was a great source 
of weakness to Carthage. Italy, on the other hand, was an agricul- 
tural country with a dense population; it had more men fit for 
military service than any other state of the world at that time. 
Accustomed to severe, patient labor on their farms, they were the 
hardiest, best- disciplined fighters in the world. Equally important 
is the fact that they were devoted to their country and to Rome. 
Their states formed a strong league of kinsmen; each managed 
its own local affairs, but all acknowledged Rome absolute mistress 
of their military resources. Their only weakness was their lack 
of ships and of naval experience. Of the two great powers now 
coming into conflict, each was strong where the other was weak. 
The struggle was to be long and severe ; no one knew which would 
conquer. 

415. Opening Events; the Battle of Mylae (260 B.C.). After 
the government had resolved to help the Mamertines, the consul in 
command borrowed a few ships from the naval allies, and skilfully 
brought his army into Messana, though the Carthaginians and 



Roman Victories 373 

Syracusans were besieging the city by land and sea. Driving 
the besiegers away, the Romans made an alliance with Hi'e-ron, 
king of Syracuse. The cities of the interior readily yielded, as they 
found greater security under Rome than either Syracuse or Carthage 
had given them. To drive the Carthaginians from the coast towns 
it was necessary to build a fleet. For though the Greek allies of 
Rome could furnish a few triremes, no state in Italy possessed quin'- 
que-remes, vessels with five banks of oars, such as made up 
the strength of the enemy's navy. But using a stranded Carthagin- 
ian quinquereme as a model, the Romans, with their usual courage 
and energy, began to build a fleet. While some were busy with this 
work, others trained the crews by having them sit on benches along 
the shore and practise rowing in the sand. 1 When they had com- 
pleted their fleet, they put to sea and engaged the enemy off My'lae 
(260 B.C.). Their ships were clumsy and their sailors awkward, 
but they boarded the enemy's vessels by means of drawbridges 
which they had recently invented, and thus gained the victory. 
This success increased their fervor for war. 

416. The Invasion of Libya and the Captivity of Regulus (256- 
250 B.C.). The Romans then built a fleet of three hundred and 
thirty vessels, and placing on board nearly a hundred and forty 
thousand men, they set sail for Libya. Off Ec'no-mus on the Sicil- 
ian coast they met and defeated a still larger fleet of the enemy, 
after which they continued on their way to Africa. There, under 
the consul Reg'u-lus, they gained victories and captured towns, 
till Xan-thip'pus, a Lacedaemonian, taught the Carthaginians to 
offer battle in the plain, where they could use their elephants and 
their great force of cavalry to advantage. The result was the de- 
struction of the Roman army and the capture of Regulus. 

Other misfortunes followed ; but in 250 B.C. a great victory at 
Pa-nor'mus gave the Romans nearly all Sicily. Under these 
circumstances the government of Carthage sent Regulus, who was 
still a captive, to Rome, to arrange for an exchange of prisoners, 
promising him liberty if he should succeed. In the story told by 
Roman poets who lived long after the event, he refused to enter 

1 This account is given by Polybius, an eminently trustworthy historian, and there 
is no reason for doubting it. 



374 



The Expansion of the Roman Power 



Rome as a senator or even as a citizen, saying he had forfeited all 
his rights by allowing himself to be taken captive. When finally 
he was persuaded to address the senate, he advised that body 
not to make peace or to ransom the captives, but to let them die in 
the land where they had disgraced themselves by surrender. Thus 
they would serve as an example to others ; he would himself return 
and share their fate. In vain the senators remonstrated against 
his decision. While departing from Rome he kept his eyes fixed 
on the ground that he might not see his wife or his children. Then, 
returning to Carthage in accordance with his oath, he is said to have 
suffered death by torture. Notwithstanding some poetic touches, 
the story seems in the main to be true. It is a picture of a man who 

was absolutely faithful to 
his plighted word, of a 
stern patriot ready to 
sacrifice himself and his 
fellow-captives for what 
he believed to be his coun- 
try's good, of a strong- 
willed man who knew his 




fate and walked reso- 
lutely to meet it. These 
were traits of the ideal 
Roman. 

417. The Defeat at 
Drepana (249 B.C.). 
At this time the Romans 
were besieging Lil-y- 
bae'um on the west coast 
of Sicily. Farther to the 
north was Drep'a-na, where Ad-her'bal, a Punic admiral, was 
stationed with his fleet. In 249 B.C. the consul Publius Claudius 
sailed from Lilybaeum to Drepana to surprise Adherbal. But 
the admiral, far from being caught napping, met the enemy and 
inflicted upon him an overwhelming defeat. The Romans tried 
to account for this disaster by a story that when Claudius was 
planning the attack, he received word that the sacred chickens 



SACRED CHICKENS IN A PORTABLE COOP 
(From Schreiber, Atlas of Classical Antiquities) 



Hamilcar 375 

would not eat, 1 an omen which signified that the gods forbade 
the enterprise. Haughtily exclaiming that if the fowls would 
not eat, at least they would have to drink, he threw them into 
the sea. His impiety, together with his lack of skill, is given as 
the cause of this great misfortune. 

418. Hamilcar Barca (247-241 B.C.). While the Romans were 
besieging Lilybaeum, Carthage sent out a general who was to prove, 
in himself and in his sons, the most dangerous enemy Rome ever 
met. This was Ha-mil'car, surnamed Bar'ca (the " Lightning "), 
a man of extraordinary genius for war. He occupied Mount Erc'te, 
above Panormus,- which was then held by a Roman army. On the 
top of the mountain he fed cattle and raised corn to support the 
handful of troops who performed wonders under the spell of his 
genius. From the little harbor beneath him his light ships harassed 
the Italian coasts, while from the eagle's perch above he used to 
swoop down, rapid as the lightning, upon the Romans in the neigh- 
borhood, and as easily retire to the nest which no enemy dared 
explore. 

After maintaining himself for three years in this position, he 
suddenly abandoned it for a post on the side of Mount E'ryx, where 
he could cooperate with his friends at Drepana. But with his 
small force he could accomplish little. Neither nation in fact had 
any longer the means of supporting a fleet or a strong army in service. 
Without a navy Rome could not hope to gain complete possession 
of Sicily. Under these circumstances the wealthier citizens offered 
their private means for the building of new warships. With two 
hundred vessels thus provided for, the consul Cat'u-lus, at the Ae- 
ga'ti-an islands, met a new Carthaginian fleet bringing supplies to 
Sicily, and totally defeated it (241 B.C.). 

As the Carthaginians could carry on the war no longer, they 
gave Hamilcar full power to make peace. In the treaty as finally 
adopted, the Carthaginians agreed to give up Sicily, pay the 
Romans within ten years an amount equivalent to three and a 

1 Whereas a magistrate in Rome took auspices by watching the sky ( 374), the com- 
mander of an army carried with him on his campaigns a flock of saered chickens, whose 
manner of eating furnished him with auspices. The more greedily they ate, the more 
favorable were the omens. 



376 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

half millions of dollars, and release all prisoners without ransom. 
After continuing twenty-three years, the First Punic War came 
to an end in 241 B.C. 

II. "BREATHING-TIME" BETWEEN Two GREAT WARS 

24I-2I8 B.C. 

419. Sicily the First Roman Province (227 B.C.). When the 
Romans began to win victories in Sicily, their first thought was to 
regard the island merely as an extension of Italy. In this frame of 
mind they made treaties of alliance with Messana, Syracuse, and 
a few other towns which had specially favored them. These states 
were left precisely in the same condition as Italian allies. Another 
class of Sicilian states, slightly more numerous, were declared 
" exempt from tribute and free " not by treaty, but by an act of 
the Roman government. They had substantially the same rights 
as the allied states, but no guaranty for the continuance of these 
rights, as Rome could alter their condition at her pleasure. This 
was, a departure from the Italian federal system. A far greater 
departure was taken when an act of the government placed the 
remainder of the states 1 in a condition of perpetual subjection. 
The group of dependent states constituted the province of Sicily. 
It included the greater part of the island. The organization of the 
province was completed in 227 B.C., when Rome began to send out 
every year a praetor 2 to govern it. His duties were mainly military 
and judicial. He commanded the army in the province, and settled 
disputes at law between Romans. Each state had its own courts for 
the trial of its citizens. It retained its own laws and customs, its 
magistrates, council, and popular assembly, and was usually free 
from interference on the part of the governor. In fact, the Roman 
government did not have a sufficient number of officials for manag- 
ing the affairs of the states, even if it had wished, and the idea of 
taking charge of such local matters did not occur to Rome till long 

1 All the states here referred to in fact, nearly all the states of the Roman empire 
were little city-states ; 1 18. Every province was a group of such states. 

2 The praetorship was instituted at Rome in 367 B.C. ( 392). In 227 B.C. there were 
four praetors. Two attended to judicial business at Rome, and two were sent out to 
govern the new* provinces organized in that year. 






The First Two Provinces 377 

after the republic had passed away. The subject states were free 
from military duty, but paid instead an annual tribute. In the 
case of Sicily it was a tenth of all the produce of the fields. Two 
quaestors were annually sent to Sicily to manage these finances. 
At an auction they sold to the highest bidder the privilege of collect- 
ing the taxes, making a separate sale in the case of each state. 
Usually a state sent its own agent to bid for the collection, in order 
that it might be free from the exactions of foreign tax-collectors. 
This was the organization of the first Roman province, and those 
afterward established differed but slightly. 1 As the number of 
provinces increased, they came to be governed, not by magis- 
trates, but by promagistrates -men who held magisterial rank 
and power, without office, outside of Rome. Such governors 
were either propraetors or proconsuls. On the whole the plan of 
administration was fair ; and if justly adhered to, it would not 
have been oppressive. The abuses of the system will be con- 
sidered in another place. 2 

420. The Mercenary War and the Seizure of Sardinia and 
Corsica (241-237 B.C.). As Carthage could not pay her mercena- 
ries for their service in the war, they mutinied, and were joined by 
the Libyans, who revolted against their harsh taskmasters. While 
the whole strength of Carthage was engaged in this war (241-237 
B.C.), the Romans treacherously seized Sardinia and Corsica; 
and when she remonstrated, they imposed upon her a heavy fine. 
Utterly exhausted by the mercenary war, then drawing to a close, 
Carthage yielded. It would be impossible on moral grounds to 
justify the conduct of the Romans in these dealings with their 
defeated enemy. Their motive, however, was not mere greed 
for territory. They had fought twenty-three years for the posses- 
sion of Sicily, mainly for the protection of their own peninsula from 
Carthaginian attack. After expending so much treasure and blood 
for the accomplishment of this end, they would remain almost as 
much exposed to attack as ever, so long as Carthage held Sardinia 
and Corsica. Self-preservation was accordingly their chief motive 
for the treacherous seizure of these islands. Sardinia and Corsica 
together became the second Roman province in the same year as 

1 For instance, every other province had but one quaestor. 2 444. 



378 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

Sicily (227 B.C.). Its government was about the same, though 
somewhat less favorable to the inhabitants. 

421. Gaius Flaminius; the Gallic War (225-222 B.C.). The 
majority of Roman citizens were not satisfied with the new pro- 
vincial system. They were disappointed to receive no assignments 
of land in Sicily, whereas the nobles seemed to them to be bent upon 
enriching themselves by trade and speculation in the new provinces. 
It was a further cause of dissatisfaction that large tracts of land re- 
cently acquired by the state in Picenum and along the Umbrian 
coast were reserved by the nobles, to be " occupied " 1 by themselves 
instead of being distributed among the citizens. This selfish policy 
was upheld by the senate. Against its wishes Gaius Fla-min'i-us, 
tribune of the plebs in 232 B.C., carried through the assembly a law 
for distributing these public lands among the citizens. In the new 
settlements immediately established there under this law the Gauls 
of the Po valley 2 saw a menace to their own possessions. They 
began war upon Rome, therefore, in 225 B.C. Two years later 
Flaminius as consul conducted the decisive campaign. The battle 
fought with them in their own territory was planned and waged 
with extraordinary daring and skill, resulting in a complete victory. 
In the following year, 222 B.C., the authority of Rome was extended 
to the foot of the Alps. Gallia Cis-al-pi'na, as the Po basin was 
now called, eventually became a province. 3 

422. The Flaminian Way and the Flaminian Circus. In this 
new country the Romans began immediately to plant colonies on 
the banks of the Po. Elected censor for 220 B.C., Flaminius con- 
nected it with Rome by a great road from the city to Ar-im'i-num, 
named after him the Flaminian Way. 4 It was of priceless value for 
the protection and development of the new territory, and for supply- 
ing the armies, and in time of scarcity the inhabitants of Rome, 
with provisions from the marvellously fertile valley of the Po. 5 

1 In theory the rents of this land went to the support of the government, but in point 
of fact, the occupiers generally failed to pay anything for its use. 

2 360, 398. 

3 When it was thus organized is disputed by modern authorities. The expression 
sometimes used to designate this Gallic war "the extension of Italy to its natural 
boundaries" that is, to the Alps is incorrect ; it was not till 42 B.C. that Cisalpine 
Gaul came to be included in Italy. 4 Cf. 409. 5 351. 



Illyrian War 379 

At the same time it opened up to the Romans a great outlook 
for northward expansion, of which they had not hitherto even 
dreamed. 

The road here mentioned started from the gate at the foot of the 
Capitoline hill and crossed the Campus Martius. 1 Below the gate, 
in the direction of the Tiber, were the Flaminian meadows, which 
from earliest time had belonged to the censor's family. Either he 
or an ancestor had presented this estate to the government. There 
the censor built the Flaminian Circus for horse and chariot races 
and for other popular exhibitions. In its arcades citizens walked, 
children played, and tradesmen held their fairs. The building 
was for the use of the masses of citizens. 

From beginning to end Flaminius worked chiefly for the in- 
terests of the peasant proprietors, the foundation of Rome's great- 
ness. With the acquisition of territory outside Italy a class of 
capitalists was already growing up in Rome, and Flaminius felt 
that capitalism would ruin the peasantry. In this respect he proved 
himself a far-sighted statesman. 

423. War with the Illyrians (229-228 B.C.). For some time 
Italian merchants, trading with Greece, had been plundered by 
Illyrian pirates. Some had been murdered, and others taken cap- 
tive and held for ransom. After many complaints of these outrages 
had come before the Roman government, the senate sent a commis- 
sion to Il-lyr'i-a, to investigate. The members were mistreated, 
and one was killed. Thereupon the Romans made war against 
the offending country. In a brief naval campaign they chastised 
the piratical inhabitants, and made them promise to pay tribute. 
Corcyra and one or two other Greek states became allies of Rome to 
secure protection from the Illyrians for the future. Roman envoys 
then went to the Achaean and Aetolian leagues 2 to justify the con- 
duct of their city in the war. The federal authorities expressed 
their gratitude to the friendly state which had chastised the pirates. 
These were Rome's first diplomatic relations with Greece. 3 

1 380. 2 338 f. 

3 Ten years afterward there was a second Illyrian war (219 B.C.), in which the Ro- 
mans were likewise successful. Illyria then became dependent on Rome, but was not 
organized as a province under the name Illyricum till some unknown time after 167 B.C. 



380 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

424. Hamilcar in Spain (237-229 B.C.). While Rome was 
gaining these successes in the north of Italy and in Illyria, a power 
was arising in Spain which was soon to threaten her existence. 
Hamilcar, who had looked upon the peace between Rome and Car- 
thage as a temporary makeshift, grew indignant over the treachery 
of the Romans in relation to Sardinia and Corsica. His soul burned 
with hatred of the city, which by force and fraud had robbed his 
fatherland of its naval supremacy and its fairest possessions. He 
began to think how he might lead an army into Italy and attack 
Rome. But as he could not depend upon mercenaries, he planned 
to create in Spain a province which should supply both troops and 
provisions for another war. When he was about to set out for 
Spain, he is said to have led his son Han'ni-bal, then a boy of nine 
years, to the altar and made him swear undying enmity to Rome. 
Hannibal went with his father, and was true to his oath. 

In Spain Hamilcar occupied nine years in forming a Carthaginian 
province more by diplomacy than by war; he taught the native 
tribes to live together in peace under his rule and to develop the 
resources of their country. " Then he died in a manner worthy of 
his great achievements ; for he lost his life in a battle in which he 
showed a conspicuous and even reckless bravery. As his successor, 
the Carthaginians appointed his son-in-law Has'dru-bal." 1 

425. Hannibal. Hasdrubal continued the wise policy of his 
predecessor with wonderful skill in gaining over the tribes and 
in adding them to his empire. When after eight years of such 
service he was murdered by a Celt, the soldiers with loud 'enthusiasm 
carried Hannibal to the general's tent and proclaimed him com- 
mander (221 B.C.). As they looked upon this young man, " the 
veterans imagined that Hamilcar in his youth was restored to them ; 
they noticed the same vigor in his frame, the same animation in his 
eyes, the same features and expression of the face. . . . His cour- 
age in meeting dangers and his prudence in the midst of them were 
extreme. Toil could neither exhaust his body nor subdue his 
mind, and he could endure hunger and cold alike. He ate and drank 
no more than nature demanded. Working day and night, he 
thought of sleep only when there was nothing else to do ; then, wrap- 

1 Polybius, ii. i. 



War with Hannibal 381 

ping himself in his military cloak, he would lie on the ground among 
the watchers and the outposts of the army. Though he dressed 
as a plain officer, his arms and his horses were splendid." l 



III. THE SECOND PUNIC WAR 

2I8-2OI B.C. 

426. Invasion of Italy (218 B.C.). When Hannibal felt himself 
prepared, he attacked Sa-gun'tum, a city of Spain in alliance with 
Rome, and took it after a siege of eight months. This act gave the 
Romans a pretext for war. But while they were preparing to invade 
both Spain and Libya, Hannibal, with a well-trained army of fifty 
thousand infantry, nine thousand cavalry, and a number of 
elephants, crossed the Pyrenees and marched rapidly through Gaul. 
Recently the Romans had conquered the Celts of northern Italy. 2 
As this whole nation was indignant with Rome on account of injuries 
received, they eagerly supported Hannibal in his march through 
their country. It was not till the crossing of the Rhone that he 
met with opposition from the natives. When, however, he be- 
gan the ascent of the Alps the real difficulties of his journey ap- 
peared ; for the way was narrow and rough, and the mountaineers 
attacked him. . From the higher ground, which secured their own 
safety, they rolled stones and hurled missiles upon the troops and 
upon the long train of pack animals. Many soldiers fell, and many 
beasts of burden were either disabled or lost, so that the army suf- 
fered for want of provisions. At length with great toil and peril 
Hannibal reached the summit, where he rested his men and cheered 
them with some such words as these : " Here on the summit of the 
Alps, we hold the citadel of Italy ; below us on the south are our 
friends, the Gauls, who will supply us with provisions from their 
bountiful lands and will help us against their foes ; and yonder in 
the distance lies Rome ! " 

But when he reached the plain below, he had less than half the 
army with which he had set out from Spain. And those who sur- 
vived were worn out with fatigue, hunger, and exposure to the cold. 

1 Livy, xxi. 4. 2 421. 



382 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

Their horses were lame, their clothes in tatters ; they seemed more 
like savages than well-disciplined troops. With such forces he 
had come to attack a nation which numbered seven hundred thou- 
sand men of military age. And yet it was to be no one-sided con- 
test. An army of trained soldiers, full of the spirit of their great 
commander, opposed a raw militia. A born genius for war, Hanni- 
bal had served an apprenticeship under his illustrious father; as 
general he had subdued fierce tribes of Spaniards and Gauls and had 
overcome the Alps themselves. Compared with him, though he 
was still young, the ablest Roman generals were tyros. 

427. The Battle of the Ticinus and of the Trebia (218 B.C.). - 
The Romans, who had been dreaming of conquests, were astonished 
to hear that Hannibal was in the valley of the Po. He soon made 
them feel that the struggle was to be for their homes and their 
country. In a light cavalry battle on the Ti-ci'nus, a tributary 
of the Po, he easily routed the consul Scip'i-o. Discovering that 
the Punic horsemen were far superior to his own, Scipio withdrew 
to the south bank of the Po, and sought the protection of the hills 
near the Treb'i-a River. Here his colleague, Sem-pro'ni-us, with 
another army, joined him and took chief command; for Scipio 
had been wounded in the battle. 

One stormy morning in December, Hannibal, after giving his 
men a good breakfast and plenty of oil for their bodies, sent out a 
band of cavalry to tempt the enemy across the river. Sempronius, 
who was eager for battle, that he might win for himself the glory of 
victory, readily led his army out before breakfast through the 
swollen Trebia. Hungry and numbed with cold, the Romans were 
doomed to defeat. The Carthaginian horse routed their wings, 
while Hannibal's brother Mago, an impetuous fighter, assailed 
them from an ambush in the rear. The struggle, though long, 
ended in the complete overthrow of the Romans. Ten thousand of 
their best infantry fought their way through the enemy and escaped. 
Nearly all the rest were killed or captured, and Hannibal held their 
camp. This great success led the Gauls, who had hitherto wavered, 
to cast their lot with the victor. 

News of the misfortune depressed Rome. Throughout the winter 
the citizens could talk of nothing but evil omens. Meanwhile 



Trasimene 383 

the government was preparing to resist the invader. One of the 
consuls, Gaius Flaminius, a great favorite of the people and an 
enemy of the senate, 1 posted himself with an army at Ar-re'ti-um 
in Etruria. Ser-viri-us, the patrician consul, took command of 
another army at Ariminum. Thus the consuls lay, each with 
his army, guarding the two principal roads which connected the 
Po valley with central Italy. 

428. The Battle of Lake Trasimene; Hannibal and Fabius (217 
B.C.). But Hannibal surprised them by taking an unusual route 
over the Apennines far to the west. In crossing the marshes north 
of the Ar'nus River, his troops suffered terrible hardships. For four 
days and three nights they waded continually through mud and 
water. When at length Hannibal reached dry ground in Etruria 
and found Flaminius still guarding Arretium, he passed the enemy 
without noticing him, and took the highway for Rome, plundering 
as he went. Flaminius could but follow ; for he felt he must gain a 
victory to bring success to his political party in its conflict with the 
senate. Unwarily he fell into a trap at Lake Tras'i-mene, where he 
was killed and his army annihilated. When news of this calamity 
reached Rome, and the praetor announced to the people, " We have 
been beaten in a great battle," the Romans, long unused to misfor- 
tune, gave way to unmanly grief and alarm. With the advice of the 
senate, however, they elected Quintus Fabius Maximus dictator; 
for the surviving consul was too far away to make the appointment, 
according to custom. 

Instead of attacking Rome, Hannibal crossed the peninsula to the 
Adriatic coast and moved gradually southward, gathering vast 
booty from the country through which he passed. Fabius would 
not risk a battle, but dogged the footsteps of the invader, cut off 
foraging parties, and trained his own men to face the enemy in 
light engagements. Because of this method of campaigning Fabius 
came to be named the Cunc-ta'tor (" Delayer "). As his policy 
did not prevent the Carthaginians from marching and plundering 
wherever they pleased, it proved extremely unpopular and brought 
the severest criticism upon the dictator. Yet his persistence in 
avoiding battle saved Rome for the year from another defeat. 

1 421 f. 



384 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

429. The Battle of Cannae (216 B.C.). Unusual efforts were 
made to levy and train troops for the following summer. The new 
consuls, Ae-nuTi-us and Var'ro, led a force of more than eighty 
thousand men, including allies, against Hannibal. This was the 
largest single army Rome had ever put into the field, while the 
force of the enemy numbered about fifty thousand. The two armies 
met at Can'nae on the Au'fi-dus River in Apulia. Varro, who held 
chief command on the day of battle, massed his maniples l in a heavy 
line, in the hope of overcoming by sheer weight. While the superior 
cavalry of the enemy routed his wings, his centre, a solid phalanx, 
drove in the opposing Iberians and Celts, but then found itself 
assailed on all sides, Gauls and Iberians in front, with a violent 
wind driving clouds of dust in the face, veteran Libyans on both 
flanks, and in the rear a tempest of cavalry. Too crowded to keep 
rank or even to use their weapons, the Romans fell like sheep under 
the knives of butchers. Seven-eighths of their army, including 
Aemilius, eighty senators, and many other eminent men, perished. 
Varro, who survived, collected the remnants of the army, amounting 
to scarcely ten thousand men. 

News of this defeat brought intense agony to Rome. Every 
household mourned its dead, while all feared for the city and for 
their own lives. But the senate met the crisis in a manly spirit. 
It encouraged the people, posted guards about the city, and did 
everything possible to save the state. 

On the evening after the battle Ma-har'bal, leader of the Punic 
horsemen, said to his commander, " Send me in advance with the 
cavalry, follow with the army, and five days hence we shall dine in 
Rome ! " Hannibal knew, however, that with his present force he 
could take Rome neither by storm nor by siege ; but through the 
revolt of the allies he hoped to cause the ruin of the capital. 

430. Changed Character of the War. With the battle of Can- 
nae the character of the war changed. Nearly all the allies of Rome 
in southern Italy, including the great cities of Capua and Tarentum, 
revolted. On the death of Hieron, 2 king of Syracuse, Sicily also 
forsook Rome. Philip V, 3 king of Macedon, who watched jealously 
the interference of the senate in the Greek peninsula, allied himself 

1 408. 2 4I5 . 3^ 433 f. 



Carthage loses Ground 385 

with the victorious Carthaginian. Though none of these allies gave 
material help, Hannibal felt himself bound to protect his Italian 
friends. The policy of defence to which he was thus forced gradu- 
ally wasted his army, robbed him of the prestige of success, and in 
the end caused his failure. The greatest of all obstacles in his way 
were the fortified Latin colonies distributed over Italy, which con- 
tinued faithful to Rome. These strongholds he was unable to take. 
The Romans, on the other side, following the policy of Fabius, 
ventured no more pitched battles with Hannibal in Italy. 

But they made great efforts to regain Sicily. After a long siege 
Marcellus took Syracuse. His soldiers plundered it and killed 
many of the people, including Ar-chi-me'des, a famous mathemati- 
cian whose engines had been used in the defence of the city. Next 
the Romans surrounded Capua with three armies. In the hope of 
diverting a part of this force, so as to relieve the besieged allies, 
Hannibal suddenly marched upon Rome and pitched his camp 
three miles from the city. The inhabitants imagined that their 
terrible enemy had destroyed the armies at Capua and would soon 
hold the citadel of Rome. Fortunately new recruits poured in 
from the country to man the walls. As Rome defended herself 
without relaxing the siege of Capua, Hannibal gave up hope of sav- 
ing this city. When it fell, the Romans scourged and beheaded 
the senators, and dispersed the people among the Latin colonies or 
sold then; into slavery, a warning to all who meditated revolt. 
Tarentum was afterward taken and suffered a similar punishment. 
431. The Scipios in Spain ; the Battle of the Metaurus (207 B.C.). 
Meantime important events were happening in Spain. For 
years Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, who had been left in 
command of that country, proved inferior to the Romans under the 
brothers Publius and Gnae'us Scipio. At length, however, with 
reinforcements from Carthage, he overwhelmed and destroyed 
the separate armies of these two generals, who died bravely with 
their men. The victor was in a fair way to win all Spain back to 
Carthage when the Romans sent thither as proconsul 1 Publius 
Scipio, son of the deceased general of the same name. The new 

1 An officer who held the rank and power of a consul outside of Rome ( 419). 
The first proconsul was appointed in 326 B.C. 
2C 



386 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

commander, though still in his twenties, showed real genius for war. 
Soon after his arrival he surprised and captured New Carthage, 
the chief city and arsenal of the enemy in Spain. Hasdrubal, 
however, skilfully eluded him, and with a large army and abundant 
treasures set out by land for Italy to reenforce his brother. 

The crisis of the war came in 207 B.C., when Hasdrubal, descend- 
ing from the Alps and drawing in his train a host of Gauls and Ligu- 
rians, marched southward to meet Hannibal. If the two great 
enemies of Rome should unite, she could have little hope for vic- 
tory ; for her country was desolate from end to end ; her faithful 
colonies, exhausted by war, were beginning to refuse aid ; her last 
armies were in the field. Fortunately for her, the messengers who 
bore to Hannibal the news of his brother's coming were taken by the 
consul Gaius Claudius Nero, commander of the army in southern 
Italy, opposed to Hannibal. Stealthily hurrying to the north, Clau- 
dius united his army with that of his colleague, Marcus Liv'i-us 
Sa-li-na'tor ; and the two consuls surprised and destroyed Hasdru- 
bal with his army on the Me-tau'rus River. As Claudius returned 
southward he carried with him the head of the defeated Carthagin- 
ian, which he directed to be thrown into the camp of Hannibal, 
to inform him of his misfortune. In the ghastly features of his 
brother, Hannibal read his own fate and the doom of his city. 

After this battle, while Hannibal still maintained himself in 
southern Italy, Publius Scipio reconquered Spain. The story of 
this campaign abounds in the romantic adventures and the chival- 
rous acts of the commander the first Roman whom we may ad- 
mire both for the kindness and generosity of his character and for 
the brilliancy of his mind. 

432. The Battle of Zama (202 B.C.) ; the End of the War (201 
B.C.). Master of Spain, Scipio returned to Rome, whence as con- 
sul he invaded Africa and threatened Carthage. Hannibal quitted 
Italy in obedience to his country's call ; and adding raw recruits to 
his small veteran force, he met Scipio at some distance from Za'ma, 
a town nearly south of Carthage. Here was fought the last battle 
of the long war. By a happy inspiration, Scipio placed the maniples 
of the second and third divisions behind those of the first, thus form- 
ing columns with open lanes between, through which the enemy's 



Philip V 387 

elephants could make their way without disturbing the ranks. 1 For 
the first time Hannibal suffered defeat in a pitched battle a de- 
feat which made further resistance hopeless. 

By the terms of the treaty which followed, Carthage agreed to sur- 
render Spain, and to pay Rome two hundred talents 2 of silver a year 
for fifty years ; to give up all her elephants and all her warships 
except ten triremes ; to wage no war outside of Libya, and in Libya 
none without the consent of Rome. With sorrow the Queen of the 
Waters saw her great fleet sink in flames. Even more galling was 
the clause of the treaty which forbade her waging war in Libya ; 
for it left her helpless against Rome's ally, Mas-i-nis'sa, king of 
Numidia, who plundered Carthaginian territory to the extent of 
his pleasure. Such was Rome's policy toward a fallen enemy. 

433. The First Macedonian War (215-205 B.C.). Before the 
opening of the conflict with Hannibal, the Romans had taken a few 
Greek cities into their alliance. 3 At this time the great power in 
Greece was Philip V of Macedon. Some of the Greek states he 
actually conquered ; others submitted to his alliance through fear, 
or with difficulty maintained their independence. Philip resented 
Roman meddling within his own sphere of influence. When, there- 
fore, news came of Hannibal's great success, he made an alliance 
with the victor, and prepared a fleet for the purpose of landing an 
army in Italy. Foiled in some minor operations near home, he 
had to give up his ambitious plan and to use all his resources in de- 
fending himself against the Greeks, who were aided by a few thou- 
sand men from Rome. After ten years of defensive campaigning, 
known as the First Macedonian War, Philip sought and obtained 
peace (205 B.C.) Rome then entered into alliance with Aetolia, 
Athens, and other important states of Greece. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of this chapter like that on p. 285. 2. Compare 
Rome's position as defender of Italy, 264 B.C., with that of the United States 
as defender of America after 1823. Explain the latter date. 3. Had Rome 
and Carthage sufficient reason for making war upon each other? 4. Does 

1 404. On the usual arrangement of the maniples, see 408. 

2 213, n. 2. 3 423. 



388 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

the illustration of the sacred chickens, p. 374, represent the omens as favor- 
able or as unfavorable? 5. From the illustration facing p. 375, what may 
we infer as to the strength of Hamilcar's position on Mount Ercte ? 6. Why 
is the battle of the Metaurus often counted among the great decisive battles 
of history? 7. Why did Hannibal fail? 8. Debate the question as to 
whether the welfare of Europe was at stake in this war. 9. Describe the 
location of Carthage, Libya, Corsica, Sardinia, Messana, Syracuse, Mylae, 
Ecnomus, Mount Ercte, Mount Eryx, Aegatian islands, Picenum, and Um- 
bria. 10. Sketch the outlines of the western Mediterranean countries, and 
draw the route of Hannibal from Spain to Cannae. 

Note-book Topics 

I. Carthage. Duruy, History of Rome, i. ch. xix; Smith, Rome and 
Carthage, ch. i. 

II. Hamilcar. Botsford, Story of Rome, 110-113; Smith, 84-108; 
Morris, Hannibal, 69-98. 

III. Hannibal's March from Spain to Italy. Botsford, 114-1 19 ; Smith, 
114-126; Morris, 99-116. 

IV. Treaties between Rome and Carthage. Munro, Source Book of 
Roman History, 89-91. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

THE EXPANSION OF THE ROMAN POWER FROM MOUNT 
TAURUS TO THE ATLANTIC 

201-133 B.C. 

434. The Second Macedonian War (200-196 B.C.). The 
humiliation of Carthage left Rome free to devote all her energy to 
the overthrow of the remaining Mediterranean states in rapid suc- 
cession. At the beginning she had not this end in view, but merely 
found in each conquest an occasion for further war. Her first 
conflict came with Macedon. Philip 1 used his peace with Rome 
mainly for recovering what he had lost in Greece. In these at- 
tempts he assailed some of Rome's allies, who thereupon de- 
spatched envoys to the senate with urgent appeals for help. The 
senators had long been indignant that Philip had taken the part of 
Hannibal, and were glad of an opportunity to chastise him. They 
felt, too, that if this ambitious king should succeed in putting Greece 
beneath his feet he would not hesitate to attack Italy. Though the 
Romans in general were now anxious for peace, the senate forced 
through the centuriate 2 assembly a declaration of war against Philip 
in behalf of the Greek allies. 

Flam-i-ni'nus, the Roman commander, led against him a strong 
army of twenty-five thousand men. Though Philip had about the 
same number, most of his troops were boys. The whole civilized 
world was interested in the conflict between the legion and the 
phalanx. On level ground the phalanx, a massive body, was un- 
conquerable, but among the hills it could be easily broken. The 
legion, on the contrary, was light and flexible, developed especially 
with a view to fighting the mountaineers of central Italy. At Cyn- 
os-ceph'a-lae (" Dogs' Heads "), a low range of hills in Thessaly, the 

1 343, 431. 2 380. 

389 



390 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

armies met, and after a sharp struggle the legion was victorious (197 
B.C.). The success of Rome was due to her military organization, 
to the poor quality of the opposing troops, and above all, to the 
superior Aetolian cavalry in her service. 

The king was compelled to cede his various Greek possessions to 
the victor. But as the Roman commons disliked to extend their 
empire to the East, the senate decided to be generous. Accord- 
ingly, at the Isthmian festival of the following spring, by the direc- 
tion of Flamininus and his colleagues, who were peace commission- 
ers, a herald proclaimed to the assembly the freedom of all the 
Greeks who had been ruled by Philip. " After the games were over, 
in the extravagance of their joy, they nearly killed Flamininus by 
the exhibition of their gratitude. Some wanted to look him in the 
face and call him their preserver ; others were eager to touch his 
hand. Most threw garlands and fillets upon him ; and among them 
they nearly crushed him to death." 1 Though Flamininus wished 
well for the Greeks, his gift of freedom was a fair delusion. They 
could not keep peace among themselves the only guaranty of 
their freedom. As their protector and peacemaker, Rome was con- 
stantly invited to settle their disputes ; and this interference was 
destined soon to destroy their liberty. 

435. The Asiatic War (192-189 B.C.). Rome was soon to have 
trouble with the Seleucid Empire. 2 This state had once included 
nearly all of Alexander's dominion in Asia, but had greatly declined. 
Its satrapies east of Persia proper now belonged to the Parthian 
empire; and few possessions were left it in Asia Minor. Antio- 
chus III, an aggressive Seleucid, took advantage of the Second 
Macedonian War to overrun all Asia Minor and to invade Thrace. 
After the Romans had declared the Greeks free from Philip, Antio- 
chus with a small army entered Greece, and in his turn played the 
game of freeing that country from Rome. Driven from Europe, 
the king suffered an overwhelming defeat at Mag-ne'sia, in Asia 
Minor, at the hands of Lucius Scipio, brother of Africanus (190 B.C.). 
As a result of this unsuccessful war, he gave up all his possessions 
west of Mount Taurus. Rome left the states of Asia Minor inde- 
pendent under her protectorate. Antiochus was stoned to death 

1 Polybius, xviii. 46. 2 334. 



Third Macedonian War 391 

by his own people ; and his great empire rapidly dwindled to the 
petty kingdom of Syria. 1 

436. The Condition of Greece ; the Third Macedonian War (171- 
167 B.C.). Meantime the states of Greece constantly accused one 
another before the Roman senate, and constantly invited that body 
to settle their quarrels. Accordingly we find one committee of the 
senate after another coming to Greece to arbitrate disputes and to 
look after the interests of the republic. Even had the Greeks been 
able to unite their strength with the Macedonians under one gov- 
ernment, they could not have hoped long to resist the vastly su- 
perior power of Rome. But their love of personal freedom and of 
complete independence for their cities was as strong as ever. It not 
only prevented them from uniting in defence of their common in- 
terests, but frequently stirred up jealousy and strife among the 
states. Though their genius was not nearly so brilliant as in the 
age of Pericles, they were by no means degenerate either morally or 
mentally. In fact, they continued to furnish the brain and skill for 
all the higher activities of life throughout the civilized world. The 
spirit of independence, which had always been their noblest trait, 
was largely responsible for their political ruin. The Romans, at 
first their protectors, began after the second war with Philip to pose 
as their masters. Their respect for Greek culture did not prevent 
them from fostering disunion from encouraging in all the states 
the growth of political factions subservient to Rome. To rid 
themselves of a troublesome Hellenic patriot, these " lovers of 
Greece " sometimes resorted even to assassination. 

Such was the state of affairs when Philip died and was succeeded 
by his son Per'seus, who cherished the noble ambition of champion- 
ing Hellas against barbarian Rome. His clever diplomacy and the 
desire of the Greeks for independence were rapidly bringing them 
into touch with Macedon, when Rome, to prevent this dreaded 
union, declared war against Perseus (171 B.C.). 

The principal commander on the Roman side was Lucius Aemilius 

Pau'lus, 2 a man of rare honesty and ability. He met and conquered 

Perseus at Pyd'na, a city of Macedon (168 B.C.). " Aemilius had 

never seen a phalanx till he saw it in the army of Perseus on this 

1 476. 2 Son of Aemilius, who died at Cannae ( 429). 



3Q2 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

occasion ; and he often admitted to his friends at Rome afterward 
that he had never beheld anything more alarming and terrible ; and 
yet he, as often as any man, had been not only a spectator, but an 
actor in many battles. ' ' 1 The king escaped, but was taken later, and 
after following, with his young children, in the triumphal proces- 
sion of the conqueror, he died in prison, either by his own hand or 
by the cruelty of the jailer. Macedon the Romans divided into 
four republics, which they prohibited from all intercourse with one 
another. Thus a great state perished. The cities yielded to the 
victor shiploads of furniture, precious metals, and works of art. 

437. Macedon becomes a Province (146 B.C.). For Greece 
there was to be no more freedom. Those who sympathized with 
Perseus in the war were sent to Rome for trial. Among them were a 
thousand men from the Achaean League alone, including Po-lyb'i-us, 
the statesman and historian. Far from being given a trial, how- 
ever, they were detained sixteen years among the towns of Etruria. 
The influence of Polybius procured the release of the three hundred 
who then remained. 

When these exiles returned home, they excited their whole nation 
against the city which had treated them so unjustly. About the 
same time Sparta, a member of the Achaean League, seceded, and 
the Achaeans attempted to force it back into the union. Rome not 
only took the side of Sparta, but also decreed the separation of cer- 
tain other states from the union. Thereupon the Achaeans prepared 
for war with Rome. Meanwhile Macedon revolted against Rome. 
An army under Me-tel'lus easily suppressed the revolt. Metellus 
then united the four republics in the province of Mac-e-do'ni-a. 
This was the end of a kingdom which had once been the strongest 
in the world. 

438. The End of Greek Freedom (146 B.C.). While Metel- 
lus was in Macedon, the Achaean war broke out in Corinth. The 
Spartans who chanced to be present were murdered, and some en- 
voys from Rome narrowly escaped with their lives. In two battles 
the Achaeans were irretrievably beaten. The consul Mum'mi-us, 
who had succeeded to the command, then entered Corinth, killed 
most of the men he found, and enslaved the remainder of the popu- 

1 Polybius, xxix. 17. 



End of Greek Freedom 



393 



lation. After plundering the city, he burned it to the ground. 
Shiploads of movable goods, including furniture, statues, and paint- 
ings by the great masters, were transported to Rome. The de- 
struction of Corinth was nominally to punish the inhabitants for 
their violent outbreak against Rome. A stronger motive seems to 
have been to be rid of a commercial rival; for Rome was now ruled 




DETAIL OF A BRONZE STATUE 

(Found in sea, off Cythera, Greece. Probably lost during shipment to Rome. Age, about 
350 B.C. ; original or excellent copy ; National Museum, Athens.) 

by capitalists, who, like those of Carthage, 1 sought by destroying 
competitors to establish for themselves a monopoly of commerce 
and speculation. 

As was explained in an earlier chapter, 2 the Greeks who had proved 
loyal to Rome during the last war for example, the Spartans, 
Athenians, and Aetolians continued independent. All leagues 
among them, however, were abolished, and the right to take part in 
the local government was everywhere restricted to the well-to-do. 3 
Those who had taken part in the war were compelled likewise to 

!4i2. 2 Ch. xxvii. 344. 

3 Such a government was a timocracy ; 121. Throughout her empire Rome fol- 
lowed the same policy in relation to her weaker allies and her subjects. 



394 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

give up their leagues and their democracies. They were deprived, 
too, of their independence, and placed under the governor of Mace- 
donia. 1 

439. The Kingdom of Pergamum and the Province of Asia (189- 
129 B.C.). The protectorate which Rome had acquired over Asia 
Minor by treaty with Antiochus (189 B.C.), 2 continued through 
the period of the Macedonian and Achaean wars. The country 
contained a number of native kingdoms and Greek city-states. 
The most important kingdom was that of Pergamum, which 
centred in a city of the same name not far from the Aegean 
coast. It had adopted the Hellenic civilization, and was only less 
famous than Alexandria as a seat of art and of culture in general. 3 
The kings were steadfast friends of Rome. The ruling family had 
greatly degenerated ; and the last king, Attalus III, was a weakling. 
At his death (133 B.C.) he bequeathed his kingdom and treasure to 
Rome. When the Romans attempted to take possession of their 
inheritance, their claim was resisted by a pretender to the throne. 
In 129 B.C. he was put down, whereupon the kingdom, with some 
neighboring territory, became the Roman province of Asia. 

440. The Third Punic War (149-146 B.C.). In the year 146 B.C. 
the Romans destroyed Carthage. For the beginning of the trouble 
which led to this event we must go back to the close of the Second 
Punic War. The treaty with Hannibal had forbidden Carthage, 
without the consent of Rome, to defend herself against, attack. 
Taking advantage of this condition, Masinissa, 4 king of Numidia, 
an ally of Rome, continually plundered the territory of Carthage 
and seized some of her best lands. In answer to her complaints 
Rome sent out various commissioners, who in every case were in- 
structed to give secret encouragement to the plunderer. As a 
member of such a commission, Cato, a narrow-minded statesman, of 
whom we shall hear more, brought home a startling report of the 
wealth and prosperity of Carthage. In his opinion the city of Han- 
nibal still menaced Rome. Indeed, he is said to have ended every 
speech in the senate, whatever the subject, with the words, " Car- 

1 It was not till about 27 B.C. that all Greece south of Macedonia became a province 
under the name Achaia. 

2 435- 2 346 432 



Destruction of Carthage 395 

thage must be destroyed ! " He easily convinced the capitalists, who 
wished for a monopoly of the world's commerce, and who formed 
a majority of the senate. Accordingly the consuls sailed for U'ti-ca 
with an immense army. To avoid war the Carthaginians were 
ready for every concession. First they handed over three hundred 
children as hostages. The mothers, who gave them up, " clung to 
the little ones with frantic cries and seized hold of the ships and of 
the officers who were taking them away." 1 "If you sincerely de- 
sire peace," said the consuls on their arrival at Utica, " why do you 
need arms? Surrender them!" After vain protests, the people 
gave up their armor. " We congratulate you on your promptness," 
the consuls continued ; "now yield Carthage to us, and settle wher- 
ever you like within your own land, ten miles from the sea ; for we 
are resolved to destroy your city." 

At first the people were overcome with grief; but finally they 
resolved to defend their city to the last drop of blood. As they had 
to make new weapons, they converted even the temples into work- 
shops, and the women gave their hair for bowstrings. They gal- 
lantly repulsed the attacks of the consuls, and for three years 
defended themselves like heroes. At last Scipio Ae-mil-i-a'nus 2 
forced a passage through the walls. His soldiers massacred 
the inhabitants, then plundered and burned the city. After 
they had destroyed this innocent people, the authorities of 
Rome cursed the ground on which the city stood, that it might 
never be rebuilt. The territory it ruled they made into the 
province of Africa. 

441. Ligurian and Gallic Wars. The story of the conquest of 
Greece and Carthage, just told, illustrates the character of Roman 
warfare during the half-century which followed the peace with Han- 
nibal. Through a great part of this time war was raging in northern 
Italy. Incited to rebellion by Hannibal, the Gauls continued to fight 
long after he had fallen and all hope of success had faded away. They 
were desperately brave, preferring death to slavery. In alliance 
with them were the hardy Ligurians, who peopled the mountains 

1 Appian, Foreign Wars, viii. 77. 

2 Son of Aemilius Paulus ( 436), but adopted into the family of Scipio, the conqueror 
of Hannibal. The name Aemilianus indicates his birth in the Aemilian gens. 



396 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

on their western border. Year after year consuls were baffled and 
soldiers slaughtered in conflicts with these tribes. Before the mid- 
dle of the century, the task was completed. The spirit of these 
brave people was crushed. Thousands of Ligurians were trans- 
ported to Samnium. To hold the rest in check, the Aurelian Way, 
a military road, was built from Rome along the west coast of Etru- 
ria to the Apennines. 

442. The Spanish Wars (197-133 B.C.). In the war with 
Hannibal Rome had wrested from Carthage her entire Spanish 
dominion. In 197 B.C. two provinces Hither and Farther Spain 
were made of this territory, and two praetors were sent out to 
govern them. But the natives resisted. The bloodiest and most 
desperate war Rome ever waged now began. The mountaineers 
were almost unconquerable. It was no uncommon thing for them 
to slaughter a Roman army ; and when the Romans succeeded in 
taking a stronghold, nothing was gained but barren rocks. Women 
fought along with the men ; to prevent capture they were as ready 
as the men to kill their children and then themselves. Most of 
them carried poison, to take in case they fell into the enemy's hands. 
In 178 B.C. peace, favorable to the natives, was made. Fifteen 
years later a fresh revolt broke out, and the work of conquest began 
anew. Failing in arms, the Romans resorted to treachery. They 
violated treaties, and massacred troops who had surrendered under 
agreement. The resistance centred in the little town of Nu-man'- 
ti-a. Through many years a few heroic Spaniards held out against 
the power of Rome. The camp of the besiegers thronged with 
fortune-tellers, quacks, and all manner of disreputable persons, who 
led the common soldiers into the vilest life. The generals were 
base, treacherous, and incapable ; and the senate, which directed 
the operations, showed an utter lack of principle in dealing with 
these brave enemies. After many an army had been beaten, and 
many a Roman general had disgraced himself in the siege, Scipio 
Aemilianus took command. He banished all vile persons from the 
camp, and reduced the soldiers to strict discipline. When at last he 
gained possession of the town, he found but fifty survivors, to follow 
his triumphal car. All Spain was now conquered excepting a small 
mountainous district in the northwest. 



Summary of Acquisitions 397 

Few colonies were planted in Spain by Rome, but during these 
wars thousands of soldiers from Italy, discharged at the end of 
campaigns or deserting the army, settled in the country, marrying 
Spanish wives and mingling with the natives. To these settlers is 
chiefly due the rapid extension of the Latin language and civilization 
over Spain. Less than two centuries after the fall of Numantia, we 
find the peninsula thoroughly Romanized. 

443. Summary of Acquisitions : the Provinces and the Dependent 
Allies (241 to about 133 B.C.). At the close of the period we have 
been reviewing the Romans ruled most of the territory from Mount 
Taurus to the Atlantic. They had seven, possibly nine, provinces 
under governors sent out from the capital. These provinces, in the 
order of their acquisition, were (i) Sicily, acquired in 241 ; (2) Sar- 
dinia and Corsica, seized soon afterward and organized in the same 
year as Sicily, 227 ; (3, 4) Hither and Farther Spain, acquired in 
the Second Punic War and organized in 197 ; (5) Cisalpine Gaul, 
reconquered early in the second century and organized at some un- 
known time afterward ; 1 (6) Illyricum, acquired in the third Mace- 
donian war (167), the date of organization being unknown; (7) 
Macedonia, organized in 146 ; (8) Africa, acquired and organized in 
the same year; (9) Asia, acquired in 133 and organized four years 
later. 

Among the dependent allies, often called client states, 2 were all 
those of Asia Minor outside the province of Asia. In Africa, 
Numidia and Egypt, with Libya, were in this condition. In Asia the 
kingdom of Syria possessed more freedom, but was already sinking 
into clientship. 

It was less than a century and a half since Rome embarked on her 
policy of expansion beyond the borders of Italy. Within another 
period of equal length she was to round out her empire so as to 
include all the countries which surround the Mediterranean. But 
these two cycles of conquest were to bring with them momentous 
changes in the character of her government and in the condition of 
her citizens. 

1 Not later than 81 B.C. 

2 So-called because a state of the kind stood toward Rome in some such relation as a 
client toward his patron ; 370. 



398 The Expansion of the Roman Power 



Suggestive Questions 

i. Why at the beginning of this period were the Roman citizens anxious 
for peace? 2. Give an account of the origin and early history of the Seleu- 
cid Empire (ch. xxvii). 3. Why did the senate establish a protectorate over 
Greece and Asia Minor instead of applying the provincial system to these 
acquisitions? Were subject allies or provinces more serviceable to Rome? 
4. Enumerate the causes of the political decline and fall of Greece. 5. Enu- 
merate the causes which contributed to the Roman conquest of the Mediter- 
ranean. 6. Describe the location of all the provinces acquired in the period 
241-133 B.C. 7. How did the Romans show their appreciation of Greek 
art? 8. Compare the statue found in the sea (p. 393) with those of Poly- 
cleitus and Lysippus (pp. 293, 294). Which does it more nearly resemble? 

Note-book Topic 

The Organization of a Province. Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, 
88-91 ; Greenidge, Roman Public Life, ch. viii ; Arnold, Roman Provincial 
Administration, chs. i, ii. 



CHAPTER XXXV 

THE GROWTH OF PLUTOCRACY 1 

241-133 B.C. 

I. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 

444. Character of Roman Rule. As long as a city-state, like 
Rome, remained so small that all the citizens could attend the 
assembly and take part in public affairs, the government worked 
well. But when the state outgrew these limits, the citizens who 
were near at hand managed the government in their own interest to 
the injury of those who were farther away. For this reason the 
more territory Rome acquired, the more unjust and oppressive 
became her government. 

Her early supremacy in Italy was on the whole fair. 2 Some ad- 
vantages came likewise to the provinces from Roman rule. 3 
Usually they enjoyed peace. The cities of a province retained 
their own laws and self-government in local affairs. The less 
civilized subjects, too, profited greatly by adopting the customs 
and ideas of their masters. 

In spite of these advantages, their condition was anything but 
happy. In regulating trade Rome favoreU her own citizens at the 
expense of the subjects. In place of native merchants accordingly 
a horde of greedy money-lenders, speculators, and traders poured 
from the capital over all the provinces ; and while their citizenship 4 
at Rome protected them, they unjustly acquired most of the prop- 
erty in the subject countries, and reduced the people to debt and 
misery. Driving the peasants from their farms, these speculators 

1 Government by the wealthy and for the wealthy ; 446. 

2 406 f. These two sections should now be carefully reviewed. 

3 Review carefully 419. 

4 Roman citizens in the provinces enjoyed many privileges and right? not possessed 
by the provincials, and it was generally impossible to punish them for wrong-doing. 

399 



400 The Growth of Plutocracy 

built up vast estates worked by slaves. The system, too, which 
Rome followed of letting out the collection of taxes to contractors l 
was full of evil. The knights, 2 whose wealth enabled them to take 
these contracts, compelled the provincials to pay many times their 
due. Occasionally we find a governor, like Cato, who was perfectly 
upright and just and who attempted to check these wrongs. 3 But 
generally the governor was himself cruel and oppressive. Not 
content with the wealth of his subjects, a greedy ruler seized their 
works of art, including the statues of the gods they worshipped, and 
even sold many freemen into slavery. The rapid change of officers 
increased the evil. In his short term the governor expected to make 
three fortunes : the first to pay the debts he had contracted in brib- 
ing his way to power ; a second to satisfy his judges in case of prose- 
cution on his return to Rome ; and a third to enable him to live 
in luxury for the remainder of his days. Though a special court 4 was 
established for the trial of extortion committed in the provinces, it 
accomplished no good ; for the judges were of like mind with the 
culprits. Thieves and plunderers sat in judgment on thieves and 
plunderers ; a year or two would reverse the role of the two parties. 
Thus the provincials found no protection from injustice. To them 
the " peace of Rome " meant slavery, decay, and death. 

445. The Decline of Italy : Commercial and Agrarian Conditions. 
Italy was to experience a similar decline. As long as Rome 
treated the Italians justly, they were satisfied with her rule. At 
first they sided with her against Hannibal, but after the battle of 
Cannae many in the south of the peninsula deserted to him. 5 
When Rome reconquered them, she treated them not as erring kins- 
men, but as subjects and slaves. She seized large tracts of their 
.land ; she degraded many of them from the condition of allies to 
that of state serfs. 

By monopolizing the trade of Italy Roman capitalists destroyed 
the prosperity of the towns. The great commercial cities of Capua 
and Tarentum disappeared ; in the streets of the once prosperous 
Greek towns which still remained merchants gave place to beggars. 

The farming class suffered equally with the traders ; for as Rome 

1 419. 2 380, 44 6. 3 449. 

4 459. 6 43. 



Commercial and Agrarian Conditions 401 

now drew her food supply from the provinces, cheap produce of 
slave labor, the Italian peasants could find no market for their 
grain. Those who lost their little farms through poverty or by any 
other means usually flocked to Rome, to swell the numbers of a 
worthless, dangerous mob. The system of great estates worked by 
slaves spread itself over Italy. The large proprietors forcibly 
seized the farms of their poor neighbors. Although the peasants 
who did their own work failed, slave labor was as profitable in Italy 
as in the provinces. " Thus the nobles became enormously rich, 
and while the race of slaves multiplied throughout the country, the 
Italians dwindled in numbers and in strength, oppressed by penury, 
taxes, and military service. ' ' \ Such was the condition of Italy at the 
close of the great period of foreign conquest (264-133 B.C.), treated 
in the preceding chapter. 

Had the Italians been able to secure representation in the Roman 
senate, they might by this means have protected their property 
and their freedom. Such a measure was suggested, but the senate 
was too selfish and short-sighted to consider it. In fact, the Romans 
were reversing their former policy of liberality toward strangers. 
So highly did they esteem the privileges and honors they enjoyed 
as an imperial people, that henceforth they refused to bestow the 
citizenship upon others, except in the rarest cases. Exalted by 
conquest to the position of aristocrats, even the common people 
looked down upon the Italians as inferiors. 

446. Roman Citizens : the Populates, Optimates, and Equites. 
The competition of slave labor ruined the Roman peasants as well 
as the Italian. In the capital, too, skilled industry and business 
were in the hands of wealthy persons or of corporations of knights, 
who relied mainly on the labor of slaves and the business cleverness 
of freedmen. 2 The many peasants and tradesmen who lost their 
honest livelihood turned to begging and robbery or became clients 
of the great nobles. It is now easy to understand how it was that 
while in theory conquest was making the Roman citizens lords of 
the earth, it was really bringing most of them to misery and render- 
ing them unfit even to govern themselves. In politics the masses 
of common citizens and their leaders were called po-pu-la'res. 

1 Appian, Civil Wars, i. 7. 2 519. 

2D 



402 The Growth of Plutocracy 

From the end of the Second Punic War, we see the nobles, 
op-ti-ma'tes, rapidly declining in character and in ability. They 
became a hereditary caste, consisting of a few great houses, and 
rarely admitted new men to their privileged circle. They kept all 
the higher offices for themselves, and passed them in rotation 
among the members of their families. 

A young noble, after service as an officer in the army, and perhaps 
after enriching himself as a provincial quaestor, secured election 
to a curule aedileship. 1 In this position it was his duty to entertain 
the people with costly religious festivals and shows, chiefly 
at his own expense ; in this way he gained their favor and their votes 
for the higher offices. With this legal and pious system of corrup- 
tion, he had little need of resorting to open bribery. Thence he 
advanced to the praetorship and to the consulship. As praetor, 
propraetor, or proconsul, 2 he governed a province, where he glutted 
himself with spoil, and where irresponsible power made him haughty 
and brutal. If he won distinction in this career of honors, the people 
showed their appreciation by electing him to the censorship the 
crown of glory of the nobility. To complete our understanding of 
the nobles of this period, it is necessary to bear in mind that they 
were capitalists, who sought office not merely for honor, but also 
as a means of absorbing the riches of the world. The nobility of 
merit became a narrow, self-seeking plutocracy. In other words, 
the empire now had a government by the wealthy and for the 
wealthy. 

The nobles and other wealthy men filled the eighteen centuries of 
knights, eq'ui-tes, in the comitia centuriata. Still other men of means 
who might be required to furnish their own horses for service in the 
cavalry were also called knights. The class so named, originally 
including the senators, were the capitalists, who took government 
contracts for collecting taxes and for building public works, and 
who had in hand most of the commerce and industry of the Roman 
world. 

447. The Government : the Senate, Magistrates, and Assemblies. 
-The government still consisted, as in earlier time, of senate, 
magistrates, and assemblies. The senate, however, had gained 
1 392. 2 419. 



Constitution 403 

power at the expense of both magistrates and assemblies. It was 
composed chiefly of men who had filled offices at home, had com- 
manded armies, and had served on embassies to foreign states. 
The leading members were, therefore, trained executives, generals, 
and diplomatists ; and having once been enrolled on the senate list 
by the censors, they usually held their positions for life. It is 
natural that in a period of conquest the senate, composed of such 
men, should become supreme. The magistrates, who were already 
senators or were looking forward to enrolment in that body, were 
with rare exceptions obedient to its commands. The higher mag- 
istrates have been named in the paragraph above in the order of 
their rank. 

Constitutionally all citizens with full rights were permitted to 
attend the assemblies. In fact, these bodies were composed of 
those who lived in and near the city, as distance prevented most of 
the citizens from attending. Hence the city population, which 
was fast becoming a rabble, alone exercised the right to vote. 
Again, a member of an assembly could not propose a law or a candi- 
date for office, or speak on any subject ; he could merely vote for 
or against the candidates and the measures offered by the presiding 
officer, who rarely failed to enforce his will upon the comitia. In 
other words, the magistrates controlled the assemblies. 

In this period, as earlier, there were two principal assemblies, 
the tribal and the centuriate. The tribal assembly elected the 
quaestors, aediles, and tribunes ; it ratified treaties of peace ; it 
received appeals from the judicial decisions of magistrates in cases 
involving fines ; and it was the chief legislative power. The cen- 
turiate assembly elected the higher magistrates ; it ratified declara- 
tions of war ; it acted as the highest court of appeal in capital cases ; 
and occasionally it passed a law. The two assemblies differed 
merely in organization. 

II. PROMINENT ROMANS; CIVILIZATION 

448. Scipio Africanus. We are helped to an appreciation of 
Roman character by a study of prominent men. Especially 
worthy of attention is Scipio Africanus. The conquest of Spain 



404 



The Growth of Plutocracy 



and the victory at Zama made him the greatest man in Rome. For 
fifteen years he was foreman of the senate; he was consul twice, 
and censor. It was his firm conviction that Rome should not organ- 
ize the conquered countries into provinces, but should hold them 
as dependent allies; for he saw that the need of garrisoning the 

provinces would soon exhaust the 
strength of Italy. In keeping with 
this principle, he planted in Italy 
several colonies whose military 
strength was to be reserved for the 
defence of the peninsula. Thus 
the chief of the nobles carried on 
the colonial policy of Flaminius. 1 
But he had many enemies. Ac- 
customed to absolute command in 
the field, at Rome he acted the 
king. He used his immense in- 
fluence for the political advance- 
ment of his family, and trampled 
upon the law to protect a brother 
from trial for embezzlement. 
Finally the tribunes of the plebs 
prosecuted him on the ground that 
he had received bribes, and that 
he had been extravagant and ty- 
rannical. Without replying to the 
charges, he is said to have spoken 
as follows : " Tribunes of the 
people, and you, Romans, on the 
anniversary of this day, with good fortune and success, I fought 
a pitched battle in Africa, with Hannibal and the Carthaginians. 
As, therefore, it is but decent that a stop be put for this day to 
wrangling and litigation, I will immediately go to the Capitol, there 
to return my acknowledgments to Jupiter, supremely good and 
great, to Juno, Minerva, and other deities presiding over the Capitol 
and Citadel ; and will give them thanks for having, on this day and 

'421. 




PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO AFRICANUS 

(Made third century A.D., doubtless from 
an early original ; National Museum, Naples) 



Cato 405 

at many other times, endowed me both with the will and with the 
ability to perform extraordinary services to the state. Such of you 
also, Romans, as it suits, come with me and beseech the gods that 
you may have commanders like myself. ' ; l The whole assembly 
followed him with enthusiasm. But though he was a man of cul- 
ture, fond of literature and of luxury, his talents were chiefly mili- 
tary. Unable to cope with his political enemies, he retired into the 
country to private life. 

449. Marcus Porcius Cato. Marcus Porcius Cato, his chief 
antagonist, was narrow, unsympathetic, and close-fisted, but strictly 
moral a model of the older Roman virtue. He was a peasant 
by birth, and drew the inspiration of his life from the memories of 
Manius Curius Dentatus, 2 the great peasant-statesman of the good 
old time, whose modest cottage stood near his father's farm. Ac- 
cordingly " he worked with his slaves, in winter wearing a coarse 
coat without sleeves, in summer nothing but his tunic ; and he used 
to sit at meals with them, eating the same loaf and drinking the 
same wine." 3 

By the patronage of a rich neighbor, but more by ability and hon- 
esty, this thrifty peasant rose to the highest offices of the state. 

" When he was governor of Sardinia, where former rulers had 
been in the habit of charging their tents, bedding, and wearing 
apparel to the province, and likewise making it pay large sums for 
their entertainment and that of their friends, he introduced an 
unheard-of system of economy. He charged nothing to the prov- 
ince, and visited the various cities without a carriage, on foot and 
alone, attended by one public servant, who carried his robe of state 
and the vessel for making libations at a sacrifice. With all this, he 
showed himself so affable and simple to those under his rule, so 
severe and inexorable in the administration of justice, and so 
vigilant and careful in seeing that his orders were executed, that 
the government of Rome was never more feared or more loved 
in Sardinia than when he ruled that island." 4 

In his home policy he assailed with untiring energy the luxury, 
the refinement, and the culture represented by the Scipios ; it was 

1 Livy, xxxviii. 51. 2 403. 

3 Plutarch, M. Cato, 3. 4 Plutarch, M. Cato, 6. 



406 _ The Growth of Plutocracy 

chiefly his influence which overthrew this powerful family. The 
nobles feared and hated the red-haired, gray-eyed, savage-tusked 
" new man," who rebuked their follies and their sins. Chosen 
censor in spite of their opposition, he expelled from the senate 
a number of disreputable members, taxed luxuries unmercifully, 
administered the public works and let out the public contracts 
without favoritism. 

450. Civilization : Literature, Religion, and Morals. In this 
period education became more general. As in the preceding age, 
the children of the wealthy studied under the instruction of educated 
Greek slaves owned by the family. For the poorer classes, however, 
private schools were established in which small fees were charged 
for instruction. Both Greek and Latin were taught. A Latin lit- 
erature was now coming into existence. The Romans began to com- 
pose poetry, history, and oratory. The first history of Rome in 
Latin was written by Cato. This work no longer exists. We have 
remaining a few comedies of Plau'tus and Ter'ence, who lived 
in this period, and mere fragments of the remaining Roman 
literature. 1 

The Romans were attracted to the useful more than to the beau- 
tiful. Their public works, as sewers, bridges, roads, and aqueducts, 
were the best in the world. They produced little sculpture and 
painting, but preferred to import shiploads of art as plunder from 
the cities of Sicily and Greece. With little appreciation of real 
beauty, the nobles took pleasure in adorning their houses and villas 
with stolen statues. 

Along with foreign art came the ideas, the religion, and the 
morals of strangers. They began to worship the Greek Di-o-ny'sus, 
or Bac'chus, god of the vine and of life, including future life, and the 
Phrygian Cyb'e-le, Mother of the Gods, whom noisy processions 
honored in the streets with drums, trumpets, and cymbals. As 
the native worship was cold and formal, the Romans found satis- 
faction in the excitement of these Eastern religions. 

1 The most famous poets were Nae'vi-us and En'ni-us. The earliest Roman historian 
was Fabius Pictor, a member of the senate during the war with Hannibal. His Annals 
of Rome was written in Greek. Polybius, a Greek statesman of the age, wrote an able 
history on the expansion of the Roman power. Considerable parts of his work have 
come down to us, and are very valuable. 



Civilization 407 

Morals, already declining, were corrupted by Eastern influence. 
The unimaginative Roman saw little beauty in Greek mythology 
and art, but welcomed the baser pleasures of an advanced civili- 
zation. At the same time Greek scepticism x unsettled his religious 
faith, the foundation of his moral conduct. It is not to be assumed 
that all the Romans were now vicious. The peasant who escaped 
economic ruin was still sound at heart ; and even the circle of aristo- 
crats produced the pure-minded Scipio Aemilianus and the noble, 
self-sacrificing spirit of the two Grac'chi, who were to be the leaders 
of the coming age of revolution. But in the city corruption was 
almost universal. Crowds of beggar clients attended the noble, 
and voted for him in return for the loaves he doled out to them, or 
for the shows of buffoons, beasts, and gladiators 2 with which he 
amused them from time to time. The rending of flesh and the flow 
of blood gave this rabble its keenest delight. As to the higher ranks, 
the greed of the capitalist and the insolence of the noble, already 
described, were surpassed only by the impurity of their lives, while 
among all classes in the state and empire mutual fear and hatred 
lurked. This condition of affairs called loudly for reform. 

451. Summary of the Growth of Plutocracy. (i) The political 
organization of Italy under Roman rule was on the whole fair and 
just, as it assured to the allied states protection and local self- 
government. (2) The provincials, on the other hand, were subjects. 
They were generally protected from foreign enemies, and the more 
barbarous peoples among them were benefited by contact with 
Roman civilization. But they were oppressed by restrictions on 
their commerce, by Roman traders and speculators, by the tax- 
collectors, and by rapacious governors. (3) Because of the pro- 
vincial system Italy, too, declined. Rome began to oppress the 
allies. They could not compete in trade with the Roman capital- 
ists, or in agriculture with the slave-worked estates in the provinces. 
(4) The common citizens of Rome suffered in the same way as the 
Italians, but to a greater extent. (5) The only persons benefited 
by the empire were a few great capitalists, who monopolized its 
business or held its lucrative offices. (6) These new conditions 
changed the old aristocratic republic into a plutocracy. (7) Mean- 
1 Cf. 274. 2 473. 



408 The Growth of Plutocracy 

while Hellenic culture, coming into Rome, was aiding the develop- 
ment of great and noble characters like those of the Gracchi and 
Scipio Aemilianus, and on the other side was fostering scepticism 
and vice. (8) In all its parts the empire was beginning to show 
symptoms of decay. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Why did not the Romans extend their federal policy to all territory 
acquired outside of Italy? 2. What were the defects of the provincial sys- 
tem? 3. Compare the expansion of the Roman power with that of England 
or of the United States. 4. To what extent was the deterioration of Roman 
morals due to conquest? 5. Define " populares," " optimates," and 
" equites." 6. What privileges and what degree of political influence did 
each of the following classes enjoy toward the end of this period : nobles, 
knights, city plebs, country plebs, Latins, and Italians ? In what way were 
the nobles and the city poor attached to each other ? 

Note-book Topics 

I. Scipio Aemilianus. Botsford, Story of Rome, 144-150; see also in- 
dices of the various histories. 

II. Government of Rome during the Punic Wars. Botsford, 127-136 ; 
Munro, Source Book of Roman History, 47-52; Abbott, Roman Political 
Institutions, 63-80; Greenidge, Roman Public Life, chs. iii-vi. 

III. Manners, Morals, and Religion. Botsford, 136-140; Munro, 
93-100; Carter, Religion of Numa, 104-145; Duruy, History of Rome, i. 
ch. xx ; ii. ch. xxxv. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 
THE REVOLUTION : (I) FROM PLUTOCRACY TO MILITARY RULE 

133-79 B.C. 

I. THE REFORMS OF THE GRACCHI 

I33-I2I B.C. 

452. The Gracchi. A reform of the evils described in the pre- 
ceding chapter was attempted by the brothers Tiberius and Gaius 
Gracchus. Though plebeian, they belonged to the highest nobility. 1 
Their father had filled all the great offices ; Cornelia, the mother, 
was daughter of the Scipio who conquered Hannibal. Their edu- 
cation, as well as their birth and connections, fitted them for a 
Splendid career. The gifted mother taught them eloquence ; Greek 
tutors instructed them in the philosophy and the political ideas of 
Hellas. Both married into noble families. When as young men 
they served in military and provincial offices, the allies, the depend- 
ents, and even the enemies of Rome respected and loved them for 
the kindness of their forefathers and for their own high character ; 
for they had inherited a generous sympathy with the peasants, the 
provincials, and even the slaves. 

453. The Condition of the Lower Classes. Tiberius, who was 
nine years older than his brother, saw how miserable was the con- 
dition of the lower classes. As explained in the preceding chapter, 
a few families enjoyed nearly all the wealth of the world, including 
the use of the state lands, 2 whereas the masses were homeless. We 
have a quotation from a speech of Tiberius which describes their 
condition : " The wild beasts of Italy have their dens and holes and 
hiding-places, while the men who fight and die in defence of Italy 
enjoy indeed the air and light, but nothing more. Houseless and 
without a spot of ground to rest upon, they wander about with their 



392. 



2 Cf. 391,421. 



409 



410 The Revolution 

wives and children, while their commanders with a lie in their mouths 
exhort the soldiers in battle to defend their tombs and temples 
against the enemy ; for out of so many Romans no one has a family 
altar or an ancestral tomb, but they fight to maintain the wealth 
and luxury of others, and they die with the title of lords of the 
earth without possessing a single clod to call their own." Strictly 
men without property were forbidden military service; but we 
learn from this speech that in fact armies had recently come to 
be largely composed of the poor and homeless. 1 

454. The Agrarian Law of Tiberius Gracchus (133 B.C.). Re- 
solving to do all he could for the improvement of the poor, Tiberius 
became a tribune of the plebs for the year 133 B.C. With the ap- 
proval of the consul Mu'ci-us Scaev'o-la, the most eminent jurist 
of the age, he proposed to reenact the Agrarian Law of Licinius 2 as 
follows : 

(1) No one shall have the use of more than five hundred acres 
of the public land. 

(2) No one shall pasture more than a hundred cattle or five hun- 
dred sheep on the public land. 

He added as a third clause a law passed after the time of Li- 
cinius : 

(3) Of the laborers on any farm, a certain proportion shall be 
freemen. 

To these clauses he joined the following : 

(4) The sons not exceeding two of present occupiers may 
each hold two hundred and fifty acres of public land. 

(5) A committee of three, elected by the tribal assembly, shall 
divide the surplus among the needy in lots of thirty acres each. 

His plan was to rescue as many families as possible from idleness 
and poverty, and to fill the country with thrifty peasants in place of 
slaves. By giving the poor an opportunity to earn a living, he 
hoped to make them honest, useful citizens. An equally important 
aim was to strengthen the army by increasing the number of citi- 
zens legally qualified to serve. But the rich, who for generations 
had bought, sold, and bequeathed the public land, like private prop- 

1 Before the time of Marius armies thus composed were exceptional; 462. 

2 391. 



Longitude 10" 



Longitude 



THE EXPANSION 

CXFXHE 

ROMAN POWER 

FROM 



THE GRACCHI to the Death of AUGUSTUS 
133 B. C. to 14 A. D. 



Roman Power m 133 B. C. 



Acquired 133 B. C.- 14 A. D. 



100 50 100 200 



Allies of Rome, 14 A. D. 




40 Greenwich 



50 




0. W. Botifari, Del. 40 



Tiberius Gracchus 411 

erty, declared his bill a scheme of robbery. When accordingly he 
brought it before the assembly, they induced Octavius, a tribune, 
to veto it, and thus they prevented it from passing. 

With the advice of Tiberius, the assembly deposed the obstinate 
tribune. The agrarian measure then passed without opposition. 
It was so well carried out that after four years the census roll 
showed an increase of nearly eighty thousand citizens fit for 
military service. To stop the decline of the population and 
to add so many useful citizens was the work of a great patriot 
and statesman. 

455. The Legality of the Acts of Tiberius. The deposition of 
Octavius requires further examination. As no magistrate had 
ever been deposed before, this act involved a sweeping departure 
from long-established custom. Nearly all the powers acquired 
by the assemblies during the republic, however, had been won in 
a similar way. In other words, an assembly gained a new function, 
not through a law, but merely by assuming that function and con- 
tinuing to exercise it. Constitutionally the government was a 
democracy and the assembly was supreme. If it wished to intro- 
duce the custom of deposing magistrates, it had the right. But 
since the tribunate of Flaminius, 232 B.C., 1 it had allowed the senate 
to take the lead in everything. When, therefore, under Tiberius 
Gracchus it attempted to resume its supremacy, the senators natu- 
rally declared its conduct unconstitutional. They were unwilling 
to admit in practice what they had long accepted in theory. Not 
many years afterward, however, we find the senate accepting the 
new principle that a magistrate could be put out of office. 2 Soon 
after the enactment of the agrarian law Tiberius offered himself 
for reelection to the tribunate another departure from custom. 
The same considerations as to legality apply to this act. His con- 
tinuance in office seemed to himself and his friends to be necessary 
for the enforcement of the agrarian law and for the institution of 
other reforms. 

'421. 

2 468. For a further consideration of this question, the advanced pupil and the 
instructor may consult Greenidge, History of Rome, i. 125-127; Botsford, Roman 
Assemblies, ^ 



412 The Revolution 

456. The Death of Tiberius Gracchus (133 B.C.). On election 
day his peasant supporters were busy with their harvests; and when 
the voting began, a crowd of senators and other opponents of the 
reformer dispersed the assembly. Two of the tribunes, turning 
traitor, killed Tiberius with clubs. Three hundred of his followers 
were murdered along with him, and their bodies were thrown into 
the Tiber. Many times during the previous history of the republic 
the assembly had committed acts of which the senate had heartily 
disapproved. Its policy had been to resist by all constitutional 
means the adoption of such a measure, to yield when legal means of 
opposition failed, and then when the excitement of the moment had 
passed away, to annul the measure quietly. In the present case this 
course was advised by Scaevola, who as a jurist was most competent 
to point out the constitutional procedure. But his moderation did 
not satisfy the senators. The men who had voted the destruction of 
Corinth and Carthage, and had followed a policy of treachery and 
cruelty in the treatment of foreign enemies, naturally resorted to 
mob violence for putting down a political foe. This was the first 
time blood was shed in a political struggle at Rome, and the leaders 
of the mob were senators. Added to all the other causes of popu- 
lar discontent, it provoked a revolution, which was to last a hun- 
dred years. The aim of the revolutionary party, opposed to the 
nobles, was to substitute the assembly for the senate, democracy 
for oligarchy, in fact as well as in theory. Contrary to expecta- 
tions, the revolution was to end in the overthrow of the republic. 

457. The Democratic Outlook. Some time after the murder of 
Tiberius, Scipio Aemilianus, the destroyer of Carthage, put a stop 
to the distributions of land, and brought reform to a standstill. 

Though depressed for a time, the democratic leaders soon re- 
gained courage. One of them proposed to give the Italians l the 
citizenship in order to have them as supporters of the land law. 
This offer the Italians would gladly have accepted, had not the 
senate put a stop to the measure. Another leader passed a law 
permitting the people to reelect a tribune in case of a lack of candi- 
dates. More important still, Gaius Gracchus was coming to the 

1 These were the allies whose political relation to Rome is described in 406, and who 
suffered greatly through the growth of the empire; 445. 



Gains Gracchus 413 

front. When the people heard him defending a friend in the law 
court, they were wild with delight; for they saw that other orators 
were mere children compared with him, and they felt that his mag- 
nificent talents were to be used in their behalf. For a time he 
avoided politics, but his fate called him to finish a brother's work ; 
he dreamed that Tiberius appeared to him one night and said, " Why 
hesitate, Gaius ? It is your destiny, as mine, to live and die for the 
people." 

458. Gaius Gracchus Tribune (123, 122 B.C.). He was candi- 
date for the tribuneship for the year 123 B.C. Though the nobles 
opposed him, all Italy gathered to his support; on election day the. 
people overflowed the Campus Martius 1 and shouted their wishes 
from the housetops. When his year of office had expired, they 
elected him to a second term. 

As his brother had failed through reliance on the peasants, who 
could rarely leave their work for politics, one of his first objects was 
to secure a faithful body of supporters such as might always be on 
hand. For this purpose he passed a law providing for the monthly 
distribution of public grain among the citizens at half the market 
price. As the political centre of the world, Rome had become 
populous. Furthermore, the ruin of agriculture throughout Italy 
had driven thousands of poor people into the city, where they could 
find little work; for Rome had few industries, but depended on 
imports from the provinces. The problem of living was difficult 
for the masses, even in times of prosperity ; and recently various 
misfortunes had so diminished the grain supply that relief from 
the government seemed the only resource against impending famine. 
In his corn (frumentarian) law Gaius introduced no new principle ; 
for the senate had often supplied the populace with cheap or free 
grain, and each noble supported a throng of clients. He merely 
detached the people from their several patrons and enlisted them 
in the support of his reforms. Thus he organized the army of the 
revolution, which even the strongest emperors could not disband. 
His system wrought mischief in draining the treasury and in encour- 
aging idleness; the completion of his great reforms, however, would 
probably have corrected the evil. 

1 See map, p. 457. 



414 The Revolution 

459. Other Reforms of Gaius. Gaius then applied himself to 
the economic improvement of the empire. Renewing his brother's 
agrarian law, he planned to distribute the remaining public lands 
among the poor. He adopted, too, the policy of establishing com- 
mercial and manufacturing colonies at Tarentum, Capua, and other 
places along the Italian coasts, to restore to Italy the prosperity 
which Roman capitalism had destroyed. Passing beyond Italy, 
he attempted to plant a colony near the site of Carthage. The 
idea of colonizing the provinces with Roman citizens was altogether 
new. Every colony of the kind became a centre from which the 
.Latin language and civilization extended to the natives. In the 
course of centuries this process led to the grant of Roman citizenship 
to the provincials. For the immediate future the whole colonial 
policy of Gaius, so far as carried out, meant the restoration of com- 
mercial and industrial prosperity to Italy and the empire, and the 
dispersion of the Roman poor among the rural districts and the 
small towns, where they could find an opportunity to earn a living. 

Shortly before the tribunate of Gaius, courts began to be estab- 
lished for the trial of special classes of crimes. 1 One was for 
the trial of cases of extortion committed by officials in Italy and 
the provinces ; another was for the trial of murder. These courts 
consisted of a praetor as judge and a large jury of senators. In 
cases of extortion the accused officials were senators, and were 
therefore generally acquitted, whether guilty or not, by the jury. 
To put an end to this abuse Gaius had a law passed which required 
that the jurors should be knights. 2 Through these courts the 
knights exercised authority over the senate itself. In a few years 
they, too, began to abuse their power, and became perhaps even 
more corrupt than the senate had been. This measure of Gaius, 
therefore, did not prove as beneficial as he had hoped. 

Gaius built roads 3 in Italy, and erected granaries, in which was 
to be stored the public grain for sale to the people at a reduced rate. 
He attended personally to all these undertakings. His house be- 

1 444- 

2 446. Those only were eligible who had public horses and voted in the eighteen 
equestrian centuries of the comitia centuriata. 

'* Their location is unknown. 



Aims of the Gracchi 415 

came the bureau of administration for the empire. " The people 
looked with amazement at the man himself, seeing him attended by 
crowds of building-contractors, artisans, ambassadors, magistrates, 
soldiers, and learned men, to all of whom he was easy of access. 
While he maintained his dignity, he was affable to all, and adapted 
his behavior to every individual." 1 Thus he showed himself an 
efficient administrator as well as a great orator and reformer. 

Lastly Gaius proposed to give the full Roman citizenship to the 
Latins, and the Latin rights to the Italians. The inhabitants of 
Rome, who wanted all the privileges of citizenship for their exclu- 
sive enjoyment, would have nothing to do with this measure. 
Angered by the proposal, they turned against him and defeated 
him in his candidacy for a third time as tribune. When the senate 
tried to prevent him from planting a colony at Carthage, both 
parties resorted to violence. The consul O-pim'i-us, armed by the 
senate with absolute power, 2 overthrew the popular party, and 
killed Gracchus with three thousand of his supporters. Some of 
these men, with Gaius, perished by mob violence; others were 
condemned and put to death by Opimius without trial. 

460. Estimate of the Gracchi. Tiberius Gracchus proposed 
and carried one great measure of reform. The aim of Gaius was 
the regeneration of society. He wished to equalize the Italians as 
nearly as possible with the Romans, and to found agricultural 
colonies in Italy and the provinces in order to provide all the needy 
with homes and with the means of earning an honest living. In his 
commercial colonies he wished to reestablish the sources of economic 
life which Rome had destroyed. All his other measures were means 
to these ends. His reforms, if completed, would have drawn the 
poor away from Rome, made the corn laws unnecessary, limited 
slavery, and rendered Italy prosperous. 

To bring about these reforms he wished to make of the tribunate 

1 Plutarch, Gaius Gracchus, 6. 

2 In the Second Punic War the dictatorship had fallen into disuse, to be revived some 
time after the Gracchi by Sulla. Meanwhile the senate found a new way of proclaim- 
ing martial law; by passing the resolution, "Let the consuls (and other magistrates) 
see that the state suffer no harm," it conferred upon the magistrates a power equal to 
that of dictator. Opimius was the first to receive this absolute authority from the sen- 
ate ; Cicero also held it in the conspiracy of Catiline ; 477. 



4i 6 The Revolution 

a ministry, like the office of general at Athens in the time of Per- 
icles. 1 The ministers should name the candidates for the higher 
offices, and, with the advice of the senate, should supervise per- 
sonally the whole administration of the empire. In brief, the 
tribunes were to become the head of the government. They were 
to have vast power, which was to continue from year to year so 
long as the people in their tribal assembly willed. The failure 
of the Gracchi is due to the fact that the citizens on whom they 
relied for support were too ignorant and selfish to uphold a broad, 
statesmanlike policy. They were ready to vote cheap grain and 
other advantages to themselves, but turned against Gaius when 
they found him attempting also to benefit others. 

Unappreciated and betrayed, the two brothers became in death 
the saints and martyrs of the popular party. " The people, though 
humbled and depressed for a time, soon showed how deeply they felt 
the loss of the Gracchi. For they had statues of the two brothers 
made and set up in public places, and the spots on which they fell 
were declared sacred ground, to which the people brought all the 
first fruits of the seasons, and offered sacrifices there and worshipped 
just as at the temples of the gods." 2 They were right in enshrining 
the sons of Cornelia as the noblest characters the history of their 
country had brought to light. 

II. THE RESTORED SUPREMACY OF THE SENATE 

121-87 B.C. 

461. Gaius Marius; the Jugurthine War (111-105 B.C.). The 
death of Gaius Gracchus restored the misrule of the senate. For 
the safety and happiness of the empire it was necessary that this 
corrupt nobility be permanently overthrown and a juster, abler 
government set up in its place. Although Gaius saw clearly what 
should be done, no political party would support his reforms. The 
work of establishing in the army a solid foundation for the new 
government remained to his successor, Gaius Ma'ri-us. 

This man was born among the hills of Latium in a family of 
moderate circumstances. As a boy he learned not only to work 

1 225. 2 plutarch, Gaius Gracchus, 18. 



War with Jugurtha 417 

hard, but to be sober and obedient. At an early age he entered 
the army. As a military officer, tribune of the plebs, and after- 
ward propraetor of Farther Spain, he showed himself honest and 
able. On his return from Spain he married Julia, of the patrician 
family of the Caesars. Soon afterward he found employment for 
his military genius in Numidia. 

Ju-gur'tha, grandson of Masinissa, 1 after killing the rightful 
heirs, had himself usurped the throne of Numidia. Though the 
senate intervened, he bought off its embassies one after another. 
When Rome made war upon him, he bribed the first commander 
to withdraw from Africa ; and by corrupting the officers of the sec- 
ond, he compelled the surrender of the army and sent it under the 
yoke. Meanwhile he had visited Rome to justify his conduct be- 
fore the senate. While he was there he brought about the murder 
of a man who might have contested his right to the Numidian throne. 
After the murder he could no longer remain in Rome. While de- 
parting he is said to have exclaimed, " A city for sale and doomed 
to speedy ruin, if only a purchaser appears !" Such was the state 
of affairs when Metellus, a man of energy, took command (109 B.C.). 
With him went Marius as lieutenant. With the help of Marius, 
he reduced the dissolute soldiers to order. Then he occupied a 
whole year in a vain attempt to conquer Jugurtha by force or to 
take him captive by stratagem (108 B.C.). The next year Metel- 
lus defeated him; but he soon gathered new forces, and seemed 
stronger than ever. Then Marius, elected consul, superseded Metellus 
in the command. He rapidly besieged and captured one strong- 
hold of the enemy after another, and defeated Jugurtha twice in 
battle. Finally Lucius Cor-ne'li-us Sulla, a young aristocrat who 
was quaestor under him, captured Jugurtha by treachery. After 
gracing the triumph of Marius, the African king died in prison. 
With diminished territory, Numidia remained a dependent kingdom. 
The war, with the events which preceded it, showed clearly the 
incompetence and the moral degradation of the senate. 

462. The War with the Cimbri and the Teutones (ii3-ioi'B.c.). 

- The Romans had acquired a strip of territory along the southern 

coast of Gaul, and had made a province of it under the nameNar-bo- 

1 432. 



4 i 8 The Revolution 

nen'sis (about 121 B.C.). North of this province lived the Celts, 
a warlike people who were divided into many independent tribes. 
At that time the Celts inhabited not only Gaul, but also a narrow 
territory north of the Alps from Gaul across southern Germany to 
the valley of the Danube. 

About the time the Jugurthine War began, the Cimbri, a German 
tribe, invaded the Celtic territory north of the Alps. When the 
consul Carbo with an army hastened to defend some Celtic allies of 
Rome in that region, he was defeated by the invaders, and barely 
escaped with his army (113 B.C.). Two years later the Cimbri 
crossed the Rhine, made war upon the native tribes of Gaul, and 
threatened Narbonensis. With them were now associated the Teu- 
tones. According to some authorities, the latter were Germans; 
according to others they were Celts. When the Romans came to 
the rescue, these barbarians overthrew four more consular armies in 
succession. They threatened to invade Italy, but a delay of three 
years gave the Romans time to prepare. Reflected consul year 
after year, Marius busied himself with reorganizing and training the 
army. When at length the Teutones were ready to cross the Alps 
into Italy, he met them at Aq'uae Sex'ti-ae in southern Gaul, and 
annihilated their great host (102 B.C.). In like manner he and his 
colleague Catulus in the following year slaughtered the Cimbri at 
Ver-cel'lae, in northern Italy, after they had succeeded in crossing 
the Alps. 

The army which gained these great victories had a new character. 
Before the time of Marius it was a militia; the men who waged 
Rome's wars had lands and families at home, and thought of them- 
selves as citizens. But this middle class of citizens had died out in 
the economic decline of Italy, and the attempt of the Gracchi to 
restore it had been undone by the nobles. To save the state 
from invasion Marius found it necessary, therefore, to make 
up his army chiefly of men who owned no property. What 
had been illegal and exceptional he thus converted into a custom. 
By keeping his men long in the service and under careful training, 
he made them professional soldiers. Such persons placed all their 
hopes in their commander, and were ready to follow him in every 
undertaking, even against the government. Although Marius was 



Rule of the Nobility 419 

himself loyal, later generals used the army to overthrow the republic. 
These considerations make it clear that the policy of the Gracchi 
had in reality been conservative ; by restoring the middle class they 
would have saved the republic. But the undoing of their reforms 
made necessary the creation of a soldier class which lacked the 
loyalty of the citizens and which willingly aided the establishment of 
a military government in place of the republic. 

463. The Rule of the Nobility. The nobles, who sat in the 
senate and held all the higher offices, had resorted to violence and 
bloodshed for stopping the reform movement of the Gracchi. After 
the murder of Gaius, they proceeded to undo the good work he had 
accomplished through the founding of colonies and the distribution 
of lands. They repealed his law for the colonization of Carthage, 
and then the agrarian law; and they made it possible for the 
wealthy, by purchase or by force, to gather up into their hands the 
small farms held by the peasants under the agrarian law. The dis- 
tribution of cheap grain, however, which Gaius had introduced as a 
temporary expedient, they continued, and they used it as a means of 
maintaining themselves in power. The respect in which the senate 
had once been held was now nearly gone ; it could keep its position 
as head of the state in no other way than by catering to the mob. 
In the Jugurthine war the nobles had shown themselves worthless 
and corrupt ; afterward the rise of a man from the common people 
had alone saved the country from barbarian invasion. While out- 
wardly the supremacy of the nobles seemed to be fully restored, a 
revolutionary undercurrent, in Rome and among the Latins and 
Italians, was rapidly gaining volume ; in time it was to overwhelm 
the senate and the republic itself. 

464. Marius, Saturninus, and Glaucia (100 B.C.). In his 
sixth consulship (100 B.C.) Marius allied himself with Sat-ur-ni'nus, 
a tribune, and Glau'ci-a, a praetor, to pass a law for planting colonies 
of his veterans in the provinces. These two men, though violent in 
their methods, were aiming to carry out the reforms of the Gracchi ; 
they represented the peasants in opposition to the city rabble, which 
now supported the senate. With their armed followers Saturninus 
and Glaucia forced the measure through the assembly of tribes. 
Soon afterward another riot broke out between the rabble and the 



420 The Revolution 

peasants. Then the senators and the knights called upon Marius as 
chief magistrate to put down the sedition. Reluctantly he armed 
some of his forces to defend the constitution against Saturninus and 
Glaucia, his former associates. After some time they surrendered ; 
and though their enemies demanded their death, " he placed them 
in the senate-house with the intention of treating them in a more 
legal manner. The mob considered this a mere pretext. It tore 
the tiles off the roof and stoned them to death, including a quaestor, 
a tribune, and a praetor, who were still wearing their insignia of 
office." x 

In casting his lot with the nobles, who were his enemies, rather 
than with his friends, the reformers, Marius made a grave mistake. 
Far better would it have been for the Roman world had he seized 
the opportunity to make himself master of the state and to use his 
military power, if necessary, in carrying out the most needful re- 
forms. But lacking political wisdom, he failed to grasp the situa- 
tion. In fact, too great success was undermining his hardy peasant 
character. He missed his destiny ; and the fate of Rome passed 
into other hands. 

465. Drusus (91 B.C.). The senate now found itself surrounded 
by enemies ; the knights, the mob, and the peasants were all openly 
or secretly hostile. At the same time the oppressed Italians were 
on the point of rebellion. These conditions led some of the more 
liberal aristocrats to think of winning the support of the Italians 
by granting them the citizenship. The leader of this movement, 
Marcus Livius Dru'sus, a young man of great wealth and illustrious 
family, became a 'tribune of the plebs in 91 B.C. His proposal for the 
enfranchisement of the Italians passed the assembly, but was an- 
nulled by the senate ; and soon afterward Drusus was murdered. A 
law was then passed which threatened with prosecution any one 
who dared aid the Italians in acquiring the citizenship. 

466. The Social War (90-88 B.C.). The death of Drusus and 
the passing of this act deprived the Italians of their last hope of 
obtaining their rights by peaceable means. It was not that they 
wished to vote at Rome ; for most of them lived too far away for 
the exercise of that function. But they needed the protection 

1 Appian, Civil Wars, i. 32. 



The Social War 421 

which citizenship gave; their soldiers desired humane treatment 
at the hands of the commanders ; in the affairs of peace they asked 
for the same rights of property and of trade which the Romans had 
always enjoyed ; but most of all, they desired Roman officials and 
private citizens to cease insulting, scourging, and killing them for 
amusement or spite. So much citizenship would have meant to 
them. 

Accordingly, in 90 B.C., the allies, chiefly those of Sabellian race, 
revolted, and founded a new state. As their capital they selected 
Cor-fin'i-um. In the main they patterned their government after 
that of Rome ; they gave the citizenship to all who took part with 
them in the war for freedom ; and they aimed to annex the whole of 
Italy. The struggle which now began between Rome and her allies 
(so'ci-i) l is called the Social War. As the opposing forces were 
divided into several small armies, the military operations were intri- 
cate. Though fighting against great odds, the Italians were so suc- 
cessful the first year that, near its close, Rome felt compelled to 
make sure of those who were still faithful by giving them the citizen- 
ship. Soon afterward the same reward was extended to those who 
would return to their allegiance. These concessions not only pre- 
vented the revolt from extending, but so weakened it that, in an- 
other year, the Romans broke the strength of the allies. 

In addition to local self-government in their own towns (muni- 
cipia) 2 the Italians now possessed the Roman citizenship. At last 
the whole Italian nation south of the Rubicon River was organized 
in one great state. But the new citizens were degraded by being en- 
rolled in eight new tribes, which voted after the old thirty-five. Dis- 
satisfied with their condition, the Italians still looked upon the 
senate and the city rabble as their oppressors, and they were ready 
therefore to welcome the strong man who as absolute master should 
make these enemies his footstool. Hence the idea of monarchy 
grew apace. 

467. Marius and Sulla. Accordingly politics took a new turn ; 

the questions of the future were, who was to be the man of power, 

and how much authority was he to snatch from the senate. The 

first conflict came between the veteran Marius, and Sulla, his quaes- 

1 406. 2 405. 



422 The Revolution 

tor of the Jugurthine war. The latter, patrician though poor, was 
endowed with a remarkable talent for war, diplomacy, and politics. 
" His eyes were an uncommonly pure and piercing blue, which the 
color of his face rendered still more terrible, as it was spotted with 
rough, red blotches interspersed with white, ... a mulberry 
besprinkled with meal." l Success as a general in the Social War 
brought him the consulship in 88 B.C. 

In this year it was necessary for Rome to send an army against 
Mith-ri-da'tes, 2 the powerful king of Pontus, who was threatening 
Rome's possessions in the East. Ordinarily so important a com- 
mand was given by the senate to a consul, who, after the expiration 
of the year, continued in duty under the title of proconsul. In this 
case the conduct of the war was intrusted to Sulla as consul. A vote 
of the assembly, however, gave the command to Marius. In a con- 
flict of this kind the assembly, embodying the sovereignty of the 
people, had the superior constitutional right. But Sulla led his 
army to Rome, and settled the question with the sword. Marius 
escaped to Africa. This was the first time the army appeared in 
politics a critical moment in the history, of the republic. We are 
to bear in mind that the revolution begun by the Gracchi still went 
on ; its leaders, however, were no longer tribunes, but generals. 
After restoring the authority of the senate and giving it complete 
power over the tribunes, Sulla proceeded with his army to the war 
against Mithridates. 

III. THE OVERTHROW AND RESTORATION OF SENATORIAL RULE 

87-79 B.C. 

468. The Revolution of Marius (87 B.C.) ; the Rule of Cinna (87-84 
B.C.). No sooner had Sulla left Italy than an armed conflict broke 
out between the consuls, Octavius and Cinna, over the enrolment of 
the Italians in the old tribes. In this struggle ten thousand men 
lost their lives. Octavius, leader of the aristocracy, drove Cinna, 
champion of the Italians, from the city. The senate deposed the 
popular leader from the consulship. But Cinna quickly gathered 
an army of Italians, recalled Marius from banishment, and following 

1 Plutarch, Sulla, 2. s 469. 



Democratic Rule 423 

the example of Sulla, marched against Rome. Marius returned 
from an exile which had been to him a series of adventures and of 
hairbreadth escapes. 1 In his old age, the greatness of his character 
had changed to rabid fury against the aristocrats. " Filthy and 
long-haired, he marched through the towns, presenting a pitiable 
appearance, descanting on his battles, on his victories over the Cim- 
bri, and his six consulships," 2 and with grim determination promised 
the Italians their rights. The two revolutionary leaders entered the 
city with their bands of Italians, foreigners, and runaway slaves. 
They killed Octavius and all the eminent aristocrats ; for five days 
they hunted down their opponents, massacred them, and plundered 
their property. They gave the Italians their rights. Marius re- 
ceived his seventh consulship, but died soon afterward. 

While condemning the bloody policy of Marius, we should not for- 
get that the nobles, by murdering the followers of the Gracchi, by 
opposing every peaceful attempt at reform, and by their greed and 
tyranny, brought this terrible punishment upon themselves. 

The revolution, here described, again overthrew the senate, and 
placed the democratic party at the head of the government. Its 
leader, Cinna, reflected to the consulship year after year, continued 
in power till 84 B.C. In all this time he attempted no reform, but 
showed himself as incompetent as the nobles had been. Finally, 
while preparing to oppose the return of Sulla from Asia, he was killed 
by some of his soldiers in a mutiny. 

469. The First Mithridatic War (88-84 B.C.). At the close of 
the Asiatic War in 189 B.C., as has been explained above, 3 Rome es- 
tablished a protectorate over Asia Minor. Among the small king- 
doms coming thus into dependent alliance with Rome was Pontus, a 
country on the south shore of the Black Sea. About the time 
when the senate began to have trouble with Jugurtha, the throne of 
Pontus came to be filled by a young man who was to prove a dan- 
gerous enemy to Rome. This was Mithridates VI, often styled the 
Great. He was a man of gigantic strength, attractive personality, 
and brilliant genius. A genuine Oriental polished by Greek educa- 
tion, he remained, in spite of many heroic traits, cunning, unscrupu- 

1 Some of his adventures are related in Botsford, Story of Rome, p. 177 f. 

2 Appian, Civil Wars, i. 67. * 435. 



424 The Revolution 

lous, and brutal. Taking advantage of Rome's troubles with Ju- 
gurtha, and afterward with her allies, Mithridates rapidly extended 
his power through conquests and alliances. First he brought under 
his control nearly all the north coast of the Black Sea. When, 
however, he began to annex the other kingdoms of Asia Minor, 
Rome, their protector, intervened, and war began (88 B.C.). 
Mithridates soon made himself master of Asia Minor, including 
the Roman province of Asia. In this province, by an order of the 
king, all the Italian residents, men, women, and children, to the 
number of perhaps a hundred thousand, were massacred on an 
appointed day. Afterward he crossed with an army to Greece, 
whose inhabitants welcomed him as a deliverer from Roman op- 
pression. At this time Rome was threatened with the loss of all 
her possessions east of the Adriatic. But the massacre of Italians 
in Asia roused the whole body of her citizens to the necessity of im- 
mediate action. 

On taking command, Sulla hastened to Greece with five legions. 
The capture of Athens by siege, and two victories over the enemy 
in battle, drove the king's forces from Europe. Meanwhile Asia 
Minor was disaffected by the king's cruelties. He was forced to 
make peace and to give up all the conquests he had made at the 
expense of Rome and her allies, including the kingdoms of Bithynia 
and Cap-pa-do'ci-a. But no one could doubt that he would break 
the treaty as soon as an opportunity offered itself. 

470. The First Civil War (84-82 B.C.). After patching up this 
hasty treaty, Sulla returned to Italy with a victorious army devoted 
to him. The democrats, now in power, resisted his return, and a 
civil war broke out between them and Sulla. Their principal 
leaders were Carbo and Marius. The latter was a son of the famous 
Marius. These men were supported chiefly by the Samnites and the 
Lucanians, who had taken part in the Social War and had not yet 
submitted. The details of the war need not be described here. 
The decisive battle was fought outside the Col'line Gate at Rome. 
In a fierce struggle Sulla crushed his enemies. Thousands of pris- 
oners taken in this battle were massacred in cold blood. Carbo 
had already fled to Africa. Marius had long been besieged at Prae- 
neste. When his men were forced to yield, Marius died by his own 



Sulla's Legislation 425 

hand, and the surviving garrison was massacred. Soon all Italy 
lay prostrate at the feet of the conqueror. The brave Samnites 
were nearly exterminated. By the wholesale destruction of prop- 
erty and life, the Social and Civil wars nearly completed the ruin of 
Italy, which had long been declining in wealth and population. 

471. Sulla in Power (82-79 B.C.); his Constitution. When 
Sulla had made himself master of the government, he proceeded with 
reckless butchery to destroy the opponents of his party. Day by 
day he posted a list of his victims (" the proscribed "), whom any 
one might slay and receive therefor a reward. The goods of the pro- 
scribed were confiscated, and their children disfranchised. The 
number of persons thus murdered at Rome amounted to nearly five 
thousand, including senators and knights. Many were the victims 
of private hatred, and many more were killed for the sake of their 
wealth. At the same time, murder and confiscation were carried on 
over all Italy. No one dared shelter a victim, not even children 
their parents. This Satanic law, while branding kindness and affec- 
tion as criminal, placed a premium upon malice, greed, and murder. 

After a time Sulla assumed the dictatorship, an office long disused, 
and put his hand to the work of restoring the aristocratic constitution, 
(i) As many senators had perished through war and proscription, he 
permitted the tribes to elect new members from his partisans. The 
whole number of senators was to be six hundred. This remained the 
normal number till it was further increased by Caesar. (2) An- 
other law ordered that no measure should be brought before any 
assembly without the consent of the senate. This statute, a repeal 
of the Hortensian law of 287 B.C., 1 gave the senate the complete con- 
trol of legislation which it had enjoyed during the early republic. 

(3) Next he enacted that no one who had held the plebeian tribu- 
nate should be eligible to a higher office. By these measures, and 
others of a similar character, Sulla attempted to set the government 
of Rome back to the condition -it was in more than two hundred 
years earlier. These arrangements, however, lasted only ten years. 
His other changes were more useful, and hence more lasting. 

(4) He increased the number of quaestors to twenty, and made this 
office a regular stepping-stone to the senate. Eight were to be em- 

1 393- 



426 The Revolution 

ployed in Rome and twelve in the financial administration of the 
provinces. (5) Instead of six praetors, there were now to be eight. 
The object of this increase was to provide judges for the criminal 
courts. 1 (6) There were to be seven of these courts, each charged 
with jurisdiction over a particular class of crimes. Each court 
continued to be made up of a praetor as judge and a large body of 
jurors. Gaius Gracchus had enacted that knights only could be 
jurors 2 ; but Sulla repealed his law and composed the juries of sena- 
tors only, just as they had been before Gaius. After ten years this 
measure was amended. (7) A man had to be a quaestor before he 
could be praetor, and praetor before consul, and he was not per- 
mitted to accept the same office within ten years. (8) The prae- 
tors and the consuls could hold military commands only in excep- 
tional cases ; their authority, wholly civil, was limited to Italy south 
of the Rubicon. (9) But on the expiration of their office, they be- 
came promagistrates with military authority for an additional year 
in the provinces. These laws, with the exceptions mentioned, 
remained a permanent part of the constitution. 

When he had completed these arrangements, he retired into pri- 
vate life. Soon afterward he died, and was buried with pomp and 
splendor such as nations rarely display even in honor of their kings. 
He was not yet in his grave when his government began to totter. 3 

Suggestive Questions 

i. What prevented the Gracchi from adopting the methods of reform 
which Licinius and other tribunes of earlier time had used ? Did circum- 
stances justify the methods of the Gracchi? 2. Did Tiberius or the senate 
begin trie revolution? 3. In what respect was the agrarian policy of the 
Gracchi conservative? 4. Throughout the period covered by chs. xxxvi, 
xxxvn, the government tended to become monarchical. What did the 
Gracchi contribute to. this end ? What did Marius contribute? 5. What 
causes of discontent had been growing among the Italians from the time 
they came under Roman leadership to their revolt ? Are there any reasons 
for believing that they would have founded a better state than Rome? 
6. Why did Rome grow more and more illiberal in bestowing the citizenship 
on aliens? 7. What is your estimate of the character and policy of Sulla? 
What did he contribute to the growth of monarchy (cf . 4) ? 

1 444, 459. 2 4S9> 

3 For a summary of this period with that of the following, see 492. 



Constitutional Changes 427 



Note-book Topics 

I. The Public Lands of the Romans and the Law of Tiberius Gracchus. 

The first part of this topic is to be studied in the various histories of Rome 
by means of the Indices (see Agrarian, Land, etc.), and the second part will be 
found in the chapters on Tiberius Gracchus. 

II. Gaius Gracchus. Botsford, Story of Rome, 159 f., 167-171; Plu- 
tarch, Gains Gracchus; Oman, Seven Roman Statesmen, ch. iii ; Greenidge, 
History of Rome, i. ch. iv. Compare the view of Greenidge with that of 
Heitland, History of Rome, ii. ch. xxxviii. 

III. Marius. Plutarch, Marius; Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. vii; 
Beesly, Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla, chs. iv-x. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 



THE REVOLUTION: (II) THE MILITARY POWER IN CONFLICT 
WITH THE REPUBLIC 

79-31 B.C. 

I. POMPEY, CICERO, AND CAESAR 

79-44 B.C. 

472. Pompey (to 70 B.C.). Sulla was the first to enforce his 
will upon the state by means of the army. After his time the po- 
litical power fell more and more into 
the hands of the generals. 

Among the rising officers of the army 
Gnaeus Pom'pey was most fitted to be 
the heir of Sulla's policy. While still 
a young man he had joined in the civil 
war upon the democrats, and had 
shown himself so able an officer that 
Sulla hailed him as " the Great." 
After the death of his patron, Pompey 
proved himself still further a champion 
of the nobility by helping put down a 
democratic rebellion against the gov- 
ernment. A good general was now 
needed in Spain, and the senate, ac- 
cording to Sulla's arrangements, should 
have sent thither as proconsul a man 
who had already been consul. But as 
it could find no able person with this 
qualification, it gave the proconsulship 
to Pompey, who had not filled even the 
office of quaestor. 
428 




" POMPEY THE GREAT " 
(National Museum, Naples) 



Spartacus 



429 



Ser-to'ri-us, a democratic leader, had 
gone as governor to Spain in the time of 
the civil war. Regarding Sulla as a 
usurper, he claimed to represent the true 
government of Rome. He was perhaps 
the first Roman to sympathize 
thoroughly with the governed, to make 
their interests his chief care, to give them 
the genuine benefits of Latin civilization. 
With the small forces at his command he 
routed the Roman armies sent against 
him, including that of Pompey. Not till 
Sertorius was murdered by one of his own 
generals did Pompey succeed in putting 
an end to the war (76 B.C.). 

473. The War with Spartacus (73-71 
B.C.). Not long after the close of the 
war in Spain Rome had a great danger 
to meet at home. The new enemy was 
Spar'ta-cus, a gladiator. Gladiators 
were persons who fought with swords or 
other weapons for the amusement of the 
people. Exhibitions of the kind originated 
in Etruria in connection with funeral 
festivals, and Rome had introduced them 
from that country. At first they were 
given rarely and by private persons only ; 
but before the time of Pompey it had be- 
come customary for the magistrates to 
entertain the voters with this brutal and 
debasing sport. At Capua was a school 
in which slaves were trained as gladia- 
tors. A Thracian by birth and a brave, 
intelligent soldier, Spartacus had been 
taken prisoner, sold as a slave, and sent 
to the training school. With a few of his 
comrades he struck down the guards and 





43 



The Revolution 



made his escape to Mount Vesuvius. Slaves, criminals, and 
discontented persons of every class flocked to his side till he 
had under command an army of more than a hundred thousand 
men. For two years he defeated Roman armies led by praetors and 
consuls. Then the praetor Marcus Licinius Cras'sus, with eight 
legions, defeated and killed him and dispersed his army. At the 
last moment Crassus was slightly aided by Pompey, who had just 
returned from Spain. 

474. Pompey as Consul (70 B.C.) ; as Commander against the 
Pirates (67 B.C.). These two generals were eager for the consul- 
ship ; and as the senate hesitated on the ground that Pompey had 
not yet been' quaestor or praetor, they turned for support to the 
people, promising them the repeal of Sulla's laws. Elected consuls 
in 70 B.C., they restored the power of the tribunes and took from the 
senate the authority Sulla had given it. Thus the aristocratic 
government, after standing but ten years, was overthrown by the 
man its founder had styled " the Great." This was a victory, 
not so much of the democracy as of the army ; for the tribunes when 
restored began to attach themselves to the service of the great mili- 
tary leaders. 

For some years pirates had been swarming over the whole Medi- 
terranean Sea. They seized cities, captured Roman nobles, whom 
they held for ransom, and by cutting off the grain supply they threat- 
ened Rome with famine. As the senate seemed powerless to 
check the evil, Ga-bin'i-us, a tribune, proposed to give Pompey for 
three years absolute command of the Mediterranean, together with 
a strip of its coast, fifty miles wide, as far as the Roman empire 
extended. He was to have a vast number of ships and men and a 
large -sum of money. Though the senate opposed the law because 
it gave so much power to one man, the people carried it with enthusi- 
asm. Within forty days after his armament was ready, Pompey 
cleared the sea of pirates. He destroyed their hive in Cilicia and 
made of that country a Roman province. 

475. The Second and Third Wars with Mithridates (83-82, 74- 
63 B.C.). After Sulla had made peace with Mithridates, 1 84 B.C., 
his successor to the command in the East provoked the king of 

1 469. 



Mithridates 431 

Pontus to a second war. Peace was soon restored by order of 
Sulla. 

While Rome was fighting Sertorius in Spain, Mithridates made 
ready for a new war. He allied himself with the powerful king of 
Armenia, and won to his support the barbarian tribes along the 
northern coast of the Black Sea. In 74 B.C., the king of Bithynia 
died, leaving his realm as a legacy to Rome. It was at once made a 
province. This event provoked the king of Pontus to war, as he 
himself coveted that territory. Mithridates commanded a powerful 
fleet and army, but opposed to him was the consul Lucius Lu- 
cul'lus, a remarkably skilful general, at the head of five legions. 
Lucullus first expelled the enemy's forces from the provinces of 
Asia and Bithynia, and then invaded Pontus. With little fighting 
he drove Mithridates from his kingdom. The fugitive took refuge 
with his son-in-law Ti-gra'nes, king of Armenia. 

With a few troops Lucullus marched boldly into Armenia and 
defeated a greatly superior force of Tigranes. He might have con- 
quered the kingdom; but his troops mutinied and compelled him 
to retreat. Mithridates returned to Pontus, and Lucullus lost 
nearly all the territory he had gained (66 B.C.). 

476. Pompey in the East (66-62 B.C.) ; End of the Third War with 
Mithridates. Had the Romans supported Lvcullus, he would 
doubtless soon have overthrown Mithridates. But many thought 
Pompey the only man able to conquer this great enemy. The 
tribune Manilius, accordingly, carried a law which gave the com- 
mand in the East to Pompey in addition to the power he already 
had. He easily drove the king from Pontus, the most of which 
he joined to the new province of Bithynia. Mithridates was after- 
ward killed, at his own request, by a Gallic mercenary. 

Pompey then invaded Armenia and received the submission of 
Tigranes. The latter had conquered Syria and other neighboring 
countries, but was now obliged to give up everything outside his 
native kingdom. In 64 B.C. Pompey entered Syria and jnade a 
province of it. This was the end of the Seleucid Empire. As the 
Jews were unwilling to submit, he besieged Jerusalem, and after 
three months took it while the inhabitants were keeping the Sab- 
bath. In the temple he intruded within the "Holy of Holies," a 



432 The Revolution 

shrine which none but the high priest could enter. But he left 
the temple unpillaged, and in other ways he respected the native 
religion. Jerusalem retained its self-government under a high 
priest who was friendly to Rome. 

Pompey attended conscientiously to the organization of the East. 
The new provinces thus far mentioned were Cilicia, Bithynia, and 
Syria. Crete, too, became a province. A few small kingdoms 
remained in and about Asia Minor; their rulers, though allies 

in name, were really vassals of Rome. 
With the great Parthian empire beyond 
the % Euphrates he made a treaty of 
friendship. These arrangements were 
all admirable. With her dependent 
allies and her provinces, Rome now 
occupied the entire circuit of the 
Mediterranean. 

477. The Conspiracy of Catiline (63 
B.C.). In the absence of Pompey im- 
portant events were taking place at 
Rome. Cic'e-ro became consul in 6^ 

(Vatican Museum, Rome) ? 

B.C. Though he was from a muni- 

cipium * and a man of moderate means, his brilliant oratory and ad- 
ministrative ability won for him the highest offices at Rome. In his 
consulship a conspiracy, which for some time had been forming on a 
vast scale, threatened to destroy the government. The leader, 
Lucius Cat'i-line, was a man of high birth and of splendid talents, but 
vicious and depraved. He drew to himself the most desperate 
men in Italy, including all who wished a renewal of civil war and 
massacres, as well as debtors, gamblers, and assassins. While the 
head of the conspiracy was at Rome, its members extended through- 
out the peninsula. When these anarchists had their plans well 
laid for killing the magistrates and the nobles and for seizing the 
government, the vigilant consul discovered their plot and denounced 
Catiline before the senate. The arch-conspirator fled to the army 
he had been preparing in Etruria, where he was soon afterward 

1 405. Though the members of municipia were Roman citizens, the inhabitants 
of the capital usually looked upon them as inferior. 




The First Triumvirate 433 

defeated and killed. Cicero arrested a few of Catiline's chief asso- 
ciates who remained in the city. They were condemned by the 
senate, and the consul put them to death. 1 

His success in saving the state made Cicero for a time the most 
eminent man in Rome. The people saluted him Father of his 
Country ; and though he was a " new man," 2 the senators recognized 
him as their leader. He was strongly attached to the republican 
form of government. But the forces opposed to him were over- 
whelming. Such in fact had become the condition of public affairs 
that the statesman, however grand, appears strangely dwarfed and 
out of place ; for the age of generals had come; they were the only 
strong men and managed the politicians as their puppets. It was- in 
vain, therefore, that Cicero hoped to make Pompey a defender of 
the republican constitution. 

478. The First Triumvirate Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus 
(60 B.C.). All were anxiously awaiting the return of Pompey from 
the East. While both nobles and democrats claimed him, some 
feared he might overthrow the government and make himself dic- 
tator by means of his army, as Sulla had done. But his belief that 
his influence alone would bring him all the honor and power he 
needed led him to disband his army and come to Rome as a private 
citizen. He was bitterly disappointed. The senate, which had 
always distrusted him, hesitated to sanction his arrangements in 
the East. The great general found himself as helpless in politics 
as Marius had been. 

It happened, however, that two eminent politicians needed his 
aid. One was Crassus, whose great wealth gave him influence. 
The other was Gaius Ju'li-us Cae'sar. This young man, though a 
patrician, was leader of the democratic party. He, as well as 
Crassus, desired a military command like that which Pompey had 
held. Seeing Pompey cast off by the senate, they came to him with 
a proposal that they three should act together for their common 
interests. This union of the three men, though unofficial, is called 

1 Cicero had received from the senate absolute power to deal with the conspirators 
(459, n. 2), but preferred to make the senate responsible for their punishment. The 
popular party, however, denied the right of the senate to act as a court in such a case, 
and asserted accordingly that Cicero had put these men to death without a trial. 

2 392. 

2F 



434 



The Revolution 



the First Tri-um'vi-rate. Pompey contributed to it his military 
fame, Crassus the influence of his wealth, and Caesar his popularity 
and his commanding intelligence. According to agreement, Caesar 
received the consulship in 59 B.C., and in return secured from the 
people the ratification of Pompey's Eastern arrangements. As the 
tool of the triumvirs, or at least under their protection, the tribune 
Clo'di-us carried a decree for the banishment of Cicero on the ground 
that in his consulship he had put citizens to death without a trial. 1 
The people soon recalled him, however, and restored him to honor. 

479. Caesar Proconsul of Gaul (58-50 B.C.). At the close of 
his term Caesar as proconsul received for five years the government 
of Cisalpine Gaul, Narbonensis, and Illyricum. He now held the 
kind of position for which he had long been striving ; it would give 
him an army through which he might make himself the greatest 
power in the state. Before the end of his period of government the 
triumvirs renewed their alliance.. Caesar was to have five more 
years of command in Gaul ; Pompey and Crassus were to be consuls 
in 55 B.C. and afterward to take charge of some of the best provinces 
in the empire. In this way these men divided among them the 
Roman world. 

480. The Condition of Gaul. Mention has been made of the 
Roman province of Narbonensis on the southern coast of Gaul and 
of the free Gauls north of the province. 2 Gaul was a great fertile 
country, which supported a dense population. Most of their civ- 
ilization they got from the Greek city of Massilia 3 on the coast. 
Though inferior to the Romans in culture, they made their living 
chiefly by farming, and they had many strongly fortified towns. 
The principal divisions were the Aq-ui-ta'ni-ans in the south, an 
Iberian 4 people with a slight mixture of Celts, the purer Celts in 
the centre, and in the north the Belgians, who were Celts mixed 
with Germans.. The Aquitanians were the most civilized, the 
Bel'gi-ans the most barbarous and warlike. Each of these three 
groups comprised several independent tribes. 

1 477, n. i. 

2 462. 

3 130. The Greek form of the name is Massalia, the Latin form Massilia, and the 
modern form Marseilles. 

4 Of the same race as the natives of Spain (ancient name, Iberia). 



Gaul 



435 



East of the Rhine were the barbarous, half-nomadic Germans. 
A crisis in Rome's relation with these Northern peoples was now 
at hand, like that with which Marius had successfully grappled. 
A powerful German tribe under the chieftain A-ri-o-vis'tus had 
crossed the Rhine and had seized some lands of the Gauls. This 
movement was but the beginning of a German migration, which 
if unchecked would have thrown Gaul into commotion, and might 




ROMAN SOLDIERS MARCHING 
(From Schreiber, Atlas of Classical Antiquities) 

have brought both German and Celtic hordes into Narbonensis, and 
even into Italy. A more direct menace to Rome came from the 
Hel-ve'ti-ans, a great Celtic tribe of the Alps, who were abandoning 
their home in the mountains for the broader and more fertile lands 
of southern Gaul. 

481. The Conquest of Gaul (58-50 B.C.). Caesar, who at this 
time had had little experience in command, thus found himself 
confronted by enormous difficulties and dangers. But the ease 
with which he overcame everything in his way marked him at once 
as a great master of the art of war. With wonderful rapidity he 



436 The Revolution 

gathered his widely scattered forces, enrolled new legions, and 
inspired his raw recruits with the courage and devotion of veterans. 
He immediately defeated the Helvetians with great slaughter, 
and drove the remnant of their host back to their former home. 
In the same summer he won a great victory over the Germans, and 
compelled them to recross the Rhine. In the following year, as 
the Belgians threatened to give him trouble, he resolved to subdue 
them. In the invasion of their country he met little opposition 
till he came to the Ner'vi-i, the most warlike and the most power- 
ful of the Belgic tribes. These people would have nothing of Roman 
traders in wine and other luxuries, for they wished to keep their 
strength intact and their martial fire alive. While Caesar was ap- 
proaching they fell upon him so fiercely that he could neither form 
his line nor give orders. Each soldier was left to his own judgment. 
But the cool courage of the legionaries and the heroism of the com- 
mander won the desperate fight. Few Nervii survived. As a 
result of the campaign all northern Gaul submitted. Next year 
he attacked the Ven'e-ti, who occupied a strip of the western coast. 
A maritime people, they built their towns on headlands protected on 
all sides by tide-waters too shallow for Roman ships. They them- 
selves put to sea in clumsy flat-bottomed boats with leathern sails. 
Caesar made little progress against them till his small, light fleet 
met their bulky navy in the open sea. A happy thought occurred 
to the Romans. With scythes fastened to long poles they cut the 
enemy's tackle so as to disable his ships. Victory was then easy ; 
the Veneti with their allies submitted. 

In the remaining years of his command Caesar drove back another 
horde of Germans ; to check their inroads he twice invaded their 
country. As the Britons, who were largely Celtic, came to the 
aid of their kinsmen in Gaul, Caesar found it necessary to attack 
them in their own home in order to make them stop sending aid 
to his enemies. Crossing the Channel in 55 B.C., he landed in 
Britain. He found no difficulty in defeating an army of natives ; 
but with his small force he could accomplish nothing more. Next 
year he landed with a larger army, marched into the interior, and 
received the submission of several tribes. But the country was 
poor and the booty scant. The Britons gave hostages and promised 



Importance of the Conquest 437 

tribute. With these results Caesar quit the island. His two in- 
vasions did nothing more than prepare the way for the future con- 
quest of Britain. 

Several more years were needed for completing the conquest 
of Gaul. It was necessary, too, to crush fierce rebellions among the 
new subjects; not till 50 B.C. was the work of pacification com- 
pleted. 

482. Organization and Romanization of Gaul. Although 
Caesar's conquest spread desolation and death over the entire 
country, in the end his just and humane settlement of affairs at- 
tached the subjects loyally to him. All Gaul, at first under one 
governor, was divided by Augustus into four provinces. The 
three new provinces were Aquitania in the south, Lug-du-nen'sis 
(Lyons) in the centre, and Bel'gi-ca in the north. The Gauls 
retained a large degree of self-government and many of their na- 
tional institutions. The more warlike spirits enlisted in the Roman 
armies, the rest of the population devoted itself to cattle-breeding 
and agriculture. Gold and silver mines were opened. Few Roman 
colonies were planted in the new provinces ; but swarms of Italians 
went there for trade. The natives opened schools, in which the 
Latin language and literature were studied with great zeal and 
success. In course of time better Latin came to.be spoken in Gaul 
than in Rome. The process of Romanization was aided by the 
chain of military settlements established along the Rhine for the 
defence of the frontier against the Germans. Naturally civiliza- 
tion took its deepest hold along this line and in the south of the 
country. 

Gaul was a great source of strength to Rome in soldiers, in food 
supplies, and in taxes. It helped protect the Rhine frontier from 
the barbarous Germans. The conquest began a new policy the 
opening up of northwestern and central Europe to Roman civiliza- 
tion. 

483. The End of Crassus (53 B.C.) ; Pompey and Caesar clash. - 
Meanwhile Crassus took command in Syria, his province. He was 
defeated and killed by the Parthians, whom he had needlessly pro- 
voked to war. Pompey, instead of going to his provinces in Spain 
and Africa as the law directed, remained near Rome to help the 



438 The Revolution 

senate preserve order. The nobles now looked to him for protection 
from the mighty governor of Gaul, who represented the people. 

These two leaders ceased to be friends. Then, in 49 B.C., the 
senate ordered Caesar to lay down his command on pain of being 
declared a public enemy. When the tribunes, Mark Antony and 
Quintus Cassius, vetoed this decree, they were harshly treated, and 
fled thereupon to Caesar's camp. The mistreatment of the tribunes 
gave him a pretext for bringing his army to Rome to protect the 
sacred office. 1 

484. Second Civil War (49-45 B.C.). The story is told that 
at the Rubicon, which separated his province from Italy, Caesar 
hesitated while he discussed with his friends the consequences of 
crossing, like an invader, into Italy and of thus making himself an 
enemy to his country; then exclaiming, "The die is cast!" he 
hurried over the river, and with a trumpet summoned his troops 
to follow. Although the anecdote may not be true, the crossing 
of the Rubicon was a crisis in the life of Caesar and in the history 
of his country ; for by bringing his army into Italy in violation of 
the law, he began a war upon the republic. 

Pompey, with the consuls and many senators, retired to the East, 
where he expected his great influence to bring him abundance of 
supporters and of resources for war. Caesar immediately secured 
control of Italy and Spain. His gentleness to opponents and his 
moderation in relieving distressed debtors and in protecting prop- 
erty won the hearts of all quiet citizens, and made even many 
followers of Pompey suspect that they had taken the wrong side. 
After setting up a government at Rome, Caesar crossed to Greece 
and met his rival at Phar-sa'lus, in Thessaly. Although in appear- 
ance Pompey championed the senate, the real question at issue was 
which of the two commanders should rule the Roman world. Pom- 
pey's army outnumbered the enemy ; but the mental resources of 
Caesar, together with the superior manliness of the troops from 
western Europe, won the day. Pompey fled to Egypt ; and when 
Caesar reached Alexandria in pursuit, a would-be friend brought 
him the head of his murdered rival. It was no welcome gift to 
the noble victor. 

1 382. 



The Roman World 439 

In Egypt King Ptolemy had deposed his sister Cle-o-pa'tra. But 
Caesar, siding with the charming queen, established her as sole 
monarch. Then while passing through Syria and Asia Minor he 
settled the affairs of the provinces, and in one battle crushed Phar'- 
na-ces, son and successor of Mithridates, thus putting an end to a 
dangerous enemy. After the victory he sent to Rome this brief 
despatch, " Veni, vidi, mci " (I came, I saw, I conquered). Another 
year he defeated the senatorial army at Thap'sus in Africa. One 
of the aristocratic commanders in that region was Cato, Tionest, 
loyal, and stubborn, yet narrow-minded as had been his great-grand- 
father, the famous censor. 1 In despair of the republic he killed 
himself. Soon afterward the victory at Mun'da in Spain destroyed 
the last opposition to Caesar (45 B.C.). 

485. The Condition of the Roman World. In the time of Caesar 
the Roman empire extended from the Euphrates River to the Atlan- 
tic, and included all the countries which bordered on the Mediter- 
ranean. It consisted of a multitude of states, whose condition 
ranged from complete subjection upward through every grade of 
dependent alliance. Within this territory were many nationalities 
and languages, and many varieties and degrees of civilization. 
It was but a loose group of states, held together in peace by no 
common interests or sympathies, but only by the superior power 
of Rome. We speak of it as an empire, but it had no thorough 
organization like the empires of the present day. The governing 
state was a republic. Because of its position as the head of an 
empire, we call it an imperial republic. In fact, though not 
in theory, the chief element of the republican government 
was the senate. It had created the empire, and was now 
attempting to protect and rule it. The history of the century 
preceding Caesar's victory over Pompey, however, proves that 
the senate had failed to protect the empire from foreign ene- 
mies and to suppress rebellions, still more to satisfy the needs of 
the subjects. In fact, notwithstanding many good intentions of 
the senate as a whole and of individual members, its government was 
essentially an organized system of robbery and oppression. As a re- 
sult the empire already showed symptoms of decay. The problem 

1 449- 



440 



The Revolution 



of the reformer should have been to give the Roman world a better 
organization, to protect it better from foreign and domestic enemies, 
to redress wrongs, and finally to create institutions through which 
all the inhabitants could take part in the central government as 
well as in that of their own communities. It is necessary now to 
inquire what Caesar accomplished in these 
>^J^H directions. 

486. Caesar's Government and Reforms 
(49-44 B.C.). He held at one and the same 
time the offices of consul and dictator, 
granted him for long periods and finally for 
life. As pontifex maximus he was head of 
the state religion. These offices made him 
king in all but name. He received, too, for 
life the title Im-pe-ra'tor (" general "), from 
which the word emperor is derived. Evi- 
dently Caesar wished to make his power 
hereditary ; and as he had no nearer heirs, 
he adopted as a son his grandnephew Oc- 
tavius, a youth of remarkable talent. 

Caesar allowed the assemblies little 
power, and made the senate a mere advisory 
council. Sulla had doubled the number of 
senators ; Caesar increased it to nine hun- 
dred by admitting not only knights, but also many inferior citizens, 
and even some half-barbarous Gauls. Probably he wished in time 
to make it represent the whole empire. 

In the provinces the evils of aristocratic rule, described in an 
earlier chapter, 1 were now at their height. By abolishing the system 
of leasing the direct taxes, Caesar prevented the capitalists from 
plundering the subject countries. He appointed able, honest 
governors, and held them strictly to account. The officers whom he 
appointed to command the legions, under the governor, and the 
revenue officials, who were his own servants and freedmen, 2 saw 
that his will should everywhere be enforced. The " estates of the 
Roman people," as the provinces had been called, were to be culti- 

J Ch. xxxv. 444. 2 519. 




JULIUS CAESAR 

(Now believed to be a modern 
study, though a very success- 
ful one ; British Museum) 



Caesar's Achievements 441 

vated and improved, no longer pillaged. He gave citizenship to 
the Gauls, and it was his wish that as rapidly as possible all the 
provincials should become Romans. At the same time he greatly 
improved the condition of Rome and Italy. 

487. Caesar's Death (44 B.C.). The nobles were envious of 
Caesar, and longed to regain the privilege of misruling the world. 
While they forced upon him honors such as belonged only to the 
gods, they began to plot his murder. Chief among the conspirators 
were the " lean and hungry" Cassius, and Marcus Brutus, a 
scholar and strong republican, but unpractical. All together there 
were about sixty in the plot. Pretending to urge a petition of one 
of their number, they gathered about him in the senate and assailed 
him with daggers. He fell, stabbed with twenty- three wounds. 
The senate dispersed. Mark An'to-ny, Caesar's colleague in the 
consulship, delivered the funeral oration and read the will, which, 
by its generosity to the citizens, stirred them against the murderers. 

488. Estimate of Caesar. With the possible exception of 
Hannibal, Caesar was the most brilliant military genius the world 
had thus far produced. He was, too, a master of simple prose, an 
orator of great clearness and force, and an incessant builder of 
useful public works. His character was many-sided, his capacity 
boundless. He was mild to the conquered; and when political ene- 
mies had laid down their arms, they found him a friend and bene- 
factor. In the brief intervals of peace between his campaigns he 
displayed a statesmanship equal to his ability in the field. The 
most grievous wrongs he righted ; and by taking measures to secure 
the responsibility of the provincial governors, he doubtless believed 
that he had provided for the future welfare of his subjects. The 
inhabitants of the empire were thus made happier by his rule. The 
continuance of his policy, however, required a strong executive 
perpetually in office. Had his plan of establishing an absolute 
monarchy succeeded, it would have been but a partial solution of 
the problem of reform. For the evils of absolute rule we have only 
to look to the Oriental nations, and to the Roman empire itself, 
when three centuries after Caesar the government came to have that 
character. Neither Caesar nor any other Roman statesman seems 
to have entertained the idea of creating institutions by means of 



442 



The Revolution 



which the inhabitants of the empire, dispensing with paternal 
despotism, could safeguard their own interests. The grant of 
citizenship to the provincials and the admission of representatives 
of the provinces to the senate would have been a great benefit ; yet 
even a measure of this kind might not have prevented the ultimate 
decline of the empire. 

What Caesar would have accomplished, had he lived, cannot be 
known. His murder was a great political mistake, as it plunged 
the world again into desolating war. In this struggle the question 
at issue was not as to the form of government to be adopted ; it 
was what general should succeed to the power of Caesar. 1 



II. THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SUCCESSION 
44-31 B.C. 

489. Beginning of the Third Civil War (44 B.C.) ; Caesar's Heir. 

- Fearing the enraged populace, the chief conspirators, or " liber- 
ators," as they called themselves, fled from 
Rome. Cicero, who approved the murder, 
though he had no hand in it, sailed for 
Greece, but was driven back by a storm. 
Thereupon he returned to Rome to take 
the lead of the senate against the consul 
Mark Antony, who was acting the tyrant. 
In the next few months Cicero delivered 
against him a series of powerful speeches, 
known as the Philippics from their re- 
semblance to the orations of Demosthenes 
against Philip of Macedon. 2 But eloquence 
had ceased to be a force in the world. 
Henceforth issues were to be decided by 
armies. 

Octavius was pursuing his studies in 
Vatican Illyricum when news came of his great- 
uncle's death. He sailed at once for Italy, 




OCTAVIANUS 

(At about 1 6 years of age 
The bust is modern. 
Museum, Rome) 



1 On the character of Caesar, see Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. viii. 
* 307- 



Octavianus 443 

and taking the name Gaius Julius Caesar Oc-ta-vi-a'nus, he came 
almost alone to Rome, into the midst of enemies. But he soon 
gained friends. By promising the people all their late ruler had 
bequeathed them, he readily won their hearts ; and for a time he 
sided with the senate against Antony. Deceived by his show of 
frank simplicity, Cicero declared that the young Octavianus was 
all for the republic. In fact this youth of nineteen years had no 
enthusiasm for any cause ; in cool cunning he outmatched even the 
political veterans of the capital. 

490. The Second Triumvirate (43) ; Overthrow of the Liberators 
at Philippi (42 B.C.). With an army he had raised, Octavianus 
helped win a victory over Antony. The senate, now feeling secure, 
cast off the boy. Immediately he came to an understanding with 
Antony, his rival, and with Lep'i-dus, Caesar's master of horse, who 
still held an important command. These three men made of them- 
selves " Triumvirs for Reestablishing the State," an office they 
were to hold five years, with power to dispose of all magistracies 
at will and to issue decrees which should have the force of law. 
They filled Rome with their troops, and renewed the hideous pro- 
scriptions of Sulla. 1 Each sacrificed friends and even kinsmen to 
the hatred of the others. Among the victims of Antony was Cicero, 
the last great orator of the ancient world. 

Antony and Octavianus led their armies to Macedonia to meet the 
republican forces which Cassius and Brutus had collected there. 
Two battles were fought near Phi-lip'pi. After the first, which was 
indecisive, Cassius killed himself in despair. Brutus, beaten in the 
second engagement, followed the example of his mate ; the republi- 
can scholar could not live under the rule of iron. 

491. War between Antony and Octavianus (31 B.C.); End of the 
Republic. The triumvirs renewed their authority for another five 
years ; and when the incompetent Lepidus dropped from the board, 
the two remaining members divided the empire between them. 
Antony ruled the East, and Octavianus the West. To cement the 
alliance, the heir of Caesar gave his sister Octavia in marriage to 
his colleague. But trouble soon arose. Though a clever orator, a 
diplomatist, and no mean general, Antony was fond of luxury and 

1 471. Cf. Shakspere, Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene i. 



444 The Revolution 

of vice. Neglecting his wife and the interests of the state, he spent 
his time with Cleopatra in frivolous dissipation. The Italians 
supposed he intended to make her his queen and himself despot of 
an Oriental empire with Alexandria for his capital. They willingly 
followed Octavianus, therefore, in a war against this national enemy. 
The fleets of the rivals met off Ac'ti-um on the west coast of Greece 
(31 B.C.). A-grip'pa, an able general, commanded the ships of 
Octavianus against the combined squadrons of Antony and Cleo- 
patra. In the early part of the fight this infatuated pair sailed 
away, leaving their fleet to take care of itself. It was defeated 
and taken by Agrippa. After the battle, Antony's land force sur- 
rendered. At last, when he and Cleopatra committed suicide in 
Alexandria, Octavianus was master of the empire. 

The battle of Actium was one of the most important in ancient his- 
tory ; it saved European civilization from undue Oriental influence ; 
it ended the long anarchy which followed the murder of Caesar ; and 
it placed the destiny of the empire in the hands of an able statesman. 

492. Summary of the Change from Republic to Empire. (i) 
Conquest brought excessive power and wealth to a few of the 
Romans, while it reduced the bulk of the citizens to poverty and 
wretchedness. (2) The senate, representing these men of wealth, 
became corrupt, oppressive, and weak ; it could neither maintain 
order in Rome nor protect the provinces. (3) Tiberius Gracchus 
began a reform, which the senate stopped by violence. Gaius 
Gracchus organized the city mob, a revolutionary force, through 
which he set aside the authority of the senate. (4) But in the army, 
as reformed soon afterward by Marius, an ambitious man could find 
a far more reliable and effective weapon for overthrowing the senate 
and for making himself master of the government. (5) Sulla first 
used this military instrument for political purposes. (6) It was 
the work of Pompey in his war with the pirates and with Mithridates 
to show how beneficial to the Roman world the rule of one man 
might be. (7) The government of Caesar was a real monarchy, 
though it had too powerful enemies to be lasting. (8) After his 
death the senate failed to recover its authority, and the civil wars 
following decided that Octavianus, his heir, should be master of the 
empire. 



Literature 445 

III. CULTURE 

493. The Great Age of Republican Literature (82-31 B.C.). One 
of the most eminent writers of this age was Caesar. His Commen- 
taries on the Gallic War and on the Civil War tell the story of his 
campaigns. The work is a model historical narrative, plain, 
direct, and elegant, with no pretension to ornament of any kind. 
It is true that the story represents the author in a favorable light, 
and that Caesar undoubtedly intended it to justify his conduct of 
the Gallic war ; but these circumstances do not prove the story un- 
trustworthy. Especially the modesty with which he speaks of 
his own achievements, and his generosity in excusing the mistakes 
or in praising the merits of others, commend the work as a truthful 
narrative. Toward the end of the period Sallust wrote a short 
treatise On the Conspiracy of Catiline, and another On the Jugurthine 
War. Along with his narrative of events, he tried to analyze im- 
partially the character of society and the motives of conduct. His 
works are valuable sources of information for the subjects treated. 
These were the chief historians of the age. Cornelius Ne'pos wrote 
a work On Eminent Men, in which he treated famous Romans and 
foreigners. Most of the lives which we still possess are of Greek 
generals ; they prove him to have been an inferior and untrust- 
worthy author. 

The foremost orator of the period one of the most famous 
of all time was Cicero. His birthplace was that of Marius 
Arpinum, a municipality among the hills of Latium. But he had 
hardly a taste of the severe country discipline which Marius ex- 
perienced ; for while he was still young, his parents changed their 
residence to Rome, to give their children the best possible education. 
Cicero received his early instruction at home and in private schools. 
In youth he studied law, listened eagerly to the eminent orators 
of the time, took lessons in Greek and Latin rhetoric, and finally 
went to Athens and Rhodes to complete his preparation as an orator 
under the greatest instructors of the age. Returning to Rome, he 
gradually entered public life, and by ability he forced his way up 
through the career of offices. 1 The narrow circle of nobles, as 

1 446. 



446 The Revolution 

exclusive as ever, had to admit him to an equality with themselves. 
Through his writings we know his character more intimately than 
that of any other Roman. His own words tell us that he was vain, 
and in politics often wavering; but in these respects he was prob- 
ably no worse than any of his contemporaries. His tastes were 
literary and intellectual ; and in spite of small weaknesses he could 
always be found, in great issues, on the side he believed to be right. 

His Orations, like those of any political speaker, must be critically 
sifted in order to determine what statements in them may be used 
for historical purposes. Far more trustworthy are his Letters to 
friends, in which he speaks candidly of passing events. In fact, 
this correspondence gives us a remarkably full and accurate knowl- 
edge of the social, moral, and political conditions of the time. 
His many philosophic works are a presentation of Greek ideas in 
the Latin language. The soundness of his character and his desire 
to raise the moral standard of the reading public are evinced by 
his constant choice of the nobler ideals of philosophy in preference 
to the merely useful and material. In his Republic he suggested the 
idea that a state, when distracted by internal strife, like the Roman 
empire of his time, needed the paternal care of its leading citizen 
prin'ceps. The task of the princeps would be to hold the various 
offices and powers of the state in harmony with one another and 
to require all to perform effectively their several duties. It is 
a remarkable fact that the government of Augustus, which we 
shall soon examine, 1 embodied Cicero's idea. But the greatness of 
Cicero lies chiefly in the fact that he was a literary artist of surpass- 
ing genius. "He created a language which remained for sixteen 
centuries that of the civilized world, and used that language to form 
a style which nineteen centuries have not replaced. . . . Before 
his time Latin prose was, from a wide point of view, but one among 
many local ancient dialects. As it left his hands, it had become a 
universal language, one which had definitely superseded all others, 
Greek included, as the type of civilized expression." 

Lu-cre'ti-us, a poet of the age, composed in verse a work On the 
Nature of the World, in which he tried by means of science to dispel 
from the mind all fear of death and of the gods, to free men from 

1 496. 2 Mackail, Latin Literature, 62. 



Education 



447 



superstition. It is a work of remarkable genius. Ca-tul'lus, who 
lived at the same time, wrote beautiful lyrics and elegies on subjects 
of love and life, and some bitter lampoons. On the whole, the 
poetry of this period is less celebrated than that of the following. 
494. Education. A boy first attended an elementary school, 
in which he learned the rudiments of reading, writing, and arith- 
metic. After com- 
pleting this course, he 
entered a higher 
school, kept by a gram- 
mat'i-cus, who taught 
him Greek and Latin 
literature. Among 
the Latin books read 
were the poems of 
Naevius and Ennius, 
the comedies of 
Plautus, 1 and a Latin 
translation of Homer. 
History, oratory, and 
the Laws of the 
Twelve Tables 2 were 
also studied. There 
were schools, too, for 
girls, though less is 
known of them. Often 
the wealthy educated 
their children at 
home, as in the preceding period, with the help of Greek slaves or 
hired tutors. After the course in literature the youth who wished to 
enter public life studied the theory and practice of oratory under a 
rhetorician. In this course some work was done in philosophy, 
which included ethics and science. Already we find a beginning 
of the tendency to neglect the study of cause and effect and the 
deeper truths of science and history for a mere skimming of the 
surface of knowledge. In the pursuit of the useful the higher facul- 

1 450 and n. i. 2 387. 




A SCHOOL 
(Mosaic, Museum at Capua) 



448 



The Revolution 



ties of the mind were left to decay. The children of the rich were 
neglected by their parents and pampered by their slave teachers. 
Doubtless many a father wished to see his son develop a strong 
moral character ; but the surroundings of the youth were no longer 




CLOACA MAXIMA 
(Later republic, but showing Etruscan influence. From a photograph) 

favorable to the growth of the heroic virtues which had made 
Rome great. 

495. Public Works Art (to 31 B.C.). Though the chief influ- 
ence in the art, as in the literature of the Romans, was Hellenic, 
they did not copy merely, but whatever they learned of others 
they adapted in their own way to their own needs. Next to useful- 
ness the works of their hands are most famous for grandeur and 
durability. These, too, were qualities of their character ; but they 
were able to achieve their ideals partly because of the excellent 
building material in and about Rome, and partly through the use of 
the round arch. This form of architecture they employed in sewers, 
in bridges, and, with necessary modifications, in the domes of some 
of their temples. The arched covering of the Cloaca Maxima, 1 

1 366. 



Public Works 



449 



which still exists, belongs to the later part of the republic. A com- 
paratively new form of building at Rome was the ba-sil'i-ca. It 
was a large, oblong structure, consisting of a central hall surrounded 
by galleries. The latter rested on columns or on square pillars. 
The plan was adopted from Greece, and has continued down into 




TOMB OF CAECILIA ME TELL A 
(Appian Way. From a photograph) 

modern times in one form of the Christian church. The first 
basilica at Rome was built by Cato the Elder. On the south side 
of the Forum Caesar erected a large building of the kind, named 
after him the Basilica Julia. Its foundations still exist. The 
Roman basilicas were used for mercantile and banking business, 
and for the session of courts. 

The families which had acquired great wealth began to esteem 
their individual members more highly even than the state. The 
increasing importance of the great family and of its members found 
expression in the building of magnificent tombs. For miles be- 

2G 



45 



The Revolution 



yond the city gate the ruins of these great tombs line both sides of 
the Appian Way. That of Cae-ciri-a Me-tel'la, built in the age 
of Caesar, is the most impressive. 

While we appreciate the progress of literature and of intelligence, 
we must not lose sight of the fact that in nearly every other respect 
Rome was rapidly decaying. Her once sound morals had given way 
to vice; republican freedom had long been a mere shadow; the 
empire was threatened within by anarchy, without by barbarians. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. In what respect may we regard Pompey as the successor of Sulla? 
2. Had Caesar resigned his command at the order of the senate, what would 
have happened to him ? 3. Was he justified from any point of view in 
crossing the Rubicon and making war upon the senate? 4. Why was the 
rule of one man, like Julius Caesar, less oppressive to the Roman world than 
the aristocracy had been? 5. How far is Shakspere's Julius Caesar his- 
torically true? Does it show a partisan bias? 6. What provinces did 
Rome acquire in the period of the revolution, 133-31 B.C., and in what 
order (map. p. 410) ? 7. Describe the structure of the Basilica Julia (opp. 
p. 449). 8. Describe the appearance of the school children pictured on 
p. 447. What is a mosaic? 9. What light does the tomb of Caecilia 
Metella throw on the character of her family? 10. What are the various 
pairs of gladiators represented as doing in the picture, p. 429 ? 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Conspiracy of Catiline. Botsford, Story of Rome, 194-198 ; Sal- 
lust, Conspiracy of Catiline; How and Leigh, History of Rome, ch. xlvii ; 
Sihler, Caesar, ch. v; Strachan-Davidson, Cicero, ch. v; Heitland, History 
of Rome, iii. ch. li. 

II. Cicero in Politics. Plutarch, Cicero; Strachan-Davidson, Cicero, 
especially chs. iv-viii ; Sihler, Caesar, see Index under Cicero ; Boissier, 
Cicero and his Friends, 22-78. 

III. Cicero as an Orator. Mackail, Latin Literature, 62-68 : Cruttwell, 
Roman Literature, 159-174; Duff, Literary History of Rome, 349-397. 

IV. Caesar's Government. Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, 
133-138; Sihler, Caesar, chs. xvii-xxii; Strachan-Davidson, CYcero, ch. xii; 
Fowler, Caesar, ch. xviii; Pelham, Outlines of Roman History, 333-356. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 
THE FOUNDING OF THE PRINCIPATE ; THE JULIAN PRINCES 

31 B.C.-4I A.D. 

496. The Augustan Government. The battle of Actium made 
Octavianus master of the Roman world. 1 As Lepidus had been 
dropped from the triumvirate, and Antony had committed suicide, 
Octavianus was sole triumvir. He had, too, the consulship. For 
a time it seemed doubtful whether, in imitation of his adoptive 
father, he would retain all the power in his own hands, or resign it 
after the example of Sulla ; but finally a middle course was taken. 
Early in 27 B.C. he laid down the office of triumvir, with all his 
extraordinary power, and restored the government to the senate 
and people. This was a formal return to the republic. Appreciat- 
ing his service in the reestablishment of peace, the senate voted 
him the title Augustus. Heretofore this epithet had been reserved 
for the gods and their shrines. In conferring it on Octavianus the 
senate granted no power, but wished to mark him as the one whom 
all should revere. Although we shall henceforth speak of him as 
Augustus, we are to bear in mind that all his successors held this 
title as their chief distinction. It is nearly equivalent to His Sacred 
Highness, yet without denoting any official position, whether re- 
ligious or political. 

The senate, however, did not allow him to retire into private life. 
It assigned to him certain provinces. For their government it 
gave him proconsular power. Soon afterward it voted that this 
power should include a supervision over all the provincial governors. 
As these officers commanded the armies of their provinces, the 
superior position of Augustus made him general-in-chief of all the 
military forces. After holding the consulship many years by annual 
election, he gave up that magistracy. The assembly conferred 

1 491. 
451 



452 The Founding of the Principate; the Julian Princes 

on him instead the tribunician power, without the office of tribune. 
This authority made his person sacred, 1 and marked him as a cham- 
pion of the people. Through it also he had a share in the govern- 
ment of Rome and Italy. Sometimes, with a colleague, he under- 
took the duties of the censor; and when Lepidus, the pontifex 
maximus, died, Augustus accepted for life an appointment to the 
latter office. It made him head of the state religion. Augustus 
was also imperator. In his time the title still meant " General " ; 
not till more than a century after his death did it come to signify 
" Emperor." In estimating the position finally held by Augustus 
let us notice that his military authority was the same as that 
of the President of the United States; his civil authority was far 
less. All the old republican magistrates still existed, and continued 
to exercise the same functions as before. Constitutionally Au- 
gustus was on a level with the consuls. In honor and in personal 
influence, however, he overshadowed all the other officials. He 
was always consulted on the suitability of candidates for the various 
offices and on every other matter; and his policy was usually 
carried out. It is clear that most of his power was exercised, not as 
a magistrate, but as a political " boss." The Romans dignified his 
position with the title princeps, " leading citizen." The idea came 
in part from Cicero's Republic. 2 We may translate this title by 
its derivative, " prince," with the understanding that in Roman 
history it means simply the most influential citizen, whose actual 
power as a " boss " far exceeded his constitutional authority. In 
this sense a principate was a republic controlled by such a prince. 
The Roman principate was in fact a transitional stage between the 
republic and the monarchy. 3 

497. The Provinces. The border provinces, and all others 
which danger threatened, were under the direct care of the prince. 
His lieutenants had charge of their judicial and military affairs ; his 
agents attended to finance. Egypt was not called a province, but 
a prefecture, governed by a prefect appointed by Augustus. The 
Egyptians looked upon the prince as a king, and the prefect as his 
viceroy. The older and more" peaceful provinces still belonged to 
the senate, which appointed annual governors. This division of 
'382. 2 493. 5I2 . 



Longitude \Q 




THE ROHAN EMPIRE 

.FROM: 
AUGUSTUS to DIOCLETIAN 

t SCALE OF MILES ^ 

100 50 100 200 300 400 500 



^^^^^ Boundary at Death of Augustus; 

Beyond this the later additions. 

.Italics,- Barbarian races which, after Marcus 

Aurelius. appear in the places indicated.. 



Provinces 453 

power was carried through the whole government. Each of the 
two powers exercised a certain control over the other. The prince's 
supervision over the senate's provinces made the governors juster 
and more efficient. On the other hand, the senate checked the au- 
thority of the prince in two ways : (i) all the governors, excepting 
that of Egypt, and all the higher officers of the army, had to be 
senators; (2) the prince, like any other magistrate, gave to the 
senate periodically an account of his administration, and was 
therefore responsible to that body for all his acts. 

Augustus followed the example of Julius Caesar in insisting on a 
just and vigorous government ; although he withheld the Roman 
citizenship, the provincials still enjoyed a large degree of local 
freedom. He encouraged trade and knit the empire together by 
building well-paved roads to the remotest parts of the Roman world. 
Thus the imperial government brought the provinces protection and 
happiness. 

498. The Eastern Frontier. A study of the frontier must take 
account of the provinces and dependent states on and near the 
border, as the management of such countries was closely connected 
with the question of frontier defence. In the time of Augustus the 
part of the empire east of the Adriatic was densely populated and 
rich, whereas Italy and the West had a relatively sparse population 
and little wealth. In settling the affairs of the East, therefore, 
Augustus had to proceed cautiously in order not to stir up opposi- 
tion. In general he confirmed Pompey's arrangements. 1 The small 
kingdoms of Asia Minor, as Cappadocia and Ga-la'ti-a, 2 were left 
undisturbed. Judea, too, had become a kingdom, and was now ruled 
by Herod. This man, the builder of a great temple to Jehovah in 
Jerusalem, was king at the time Jesus was born. But some years 
after Herod died, the kingship was abolished, and Judea was placed 
under the rule of an agent proc-u-ra'tor of Augustus. In gen- 
eral the tendency was gradually to convert the dependent king- 
doms into provinces. The great frontier province of the East was 
Syria. Three legions were quartered in it for the defence of the 
Euphrates border. As the governor of Syria was commander of 
this force, he had to be a man of military experience and ability. 
1 476. 2 Galatia, however, was converted into a province in 25 B.C. 



454 The Founding of the Principate; the Julian Princes 

Beyond the Euphrates lay Armenia and Parthia. The latter was the 
only great, well-organized state outside the Roman empire. The 
question as to whether Rome or Parthia should control Armenia 
was the source of endless trouble between the two great powers. 

499. The Southern Frontier. Egypt supplied Rome with grain 
during a third of the year. It abounded in wealth of every kind. 
Alexandria was still a great centre of commerce, industry, and 
intellectual life. 1 The person who commanded the resources of 
this country held the key to the mastery of the empire. Hence 
Augustus cleverly retained the direct management of it, always 
appointed to its government some personal friend among the 
knights, and permitted no senator even to visit the Nile valley 
without his special consent. One legion was enough to guard its 
southern border against the Nubians. 

West of Egypt still fewer troops were needed to protect the fron- 
tier from the sparse tribes of the desert. Cy-re-na'i-ca, the district 
west of Egypt, had been annexed to the province of Crete. Farther 
west was Africa, which since the time of Julius Caesar included 
the former kingdom of Numidia. West of Africa was Mauretania, 
which was still a dependent kingdom. In Africa the Phoenician 
language still prevailed in everyday life, yet Rome would have 
nothing b.ut Latin for official use. Carthage had been restored by 
Julius Caesar, and was already a flourishing city. From the prov- 
ince of Africa, Rome drew a great part of her supply of grain and 
fruit. 

500. The Northern Frontier : (i) the Danube and the Alps. 
The protection of the northern frontier presented the most diffi- 
cult problem with which the prince had to deal, for the country 
beyond still swarmed with fierce, aggressive barbarians. Under 
the principate of Augustus the governor of Macedonia extended 
the empire northward to the lower Danube. The new conquest 
was organized as' the province of Moe'si-a. Augustus himself 
began the conquest of the country west of Moesia and north of 
Illyricum. The inhabitants of this district, however, were liberty- 
loving and warlike. They frequently rebelled; and it was only 
after hard struggles that Tiberius, stepson of Augustus, finally 

1 346. 



The Northern Frontier 455 

subdued them. 1 Thereupon their country became the province of 
Pan-no'ni-a. 

Meanwhile the tribes of the Alps and their neighborhood were 
disturbing northern Italy. The hard task of subduing these moun- 
taineers was achieved by Tiberius and his brother Drusus. 2 Two 
provinces were made of the conquered district - Nor'i-cum, the 
mountainous country west of Pannonia, and Rae'ti-a, on the head- 
waters of the Danube and Rhine. The work of organizing these 
four Danubian provinces and of protecting them with a chain of 
forts fell chiefly to Tiberius, the ablest and most conscientious 
general and administrator of the age. 

501. The Northern Frontier: (2) the Rhine. It was stated 
above that Augustus divided Gaul into four provinces. 3 After- 
ward he found it necessary for the defence of the German border 
to organize also two frontier provinces covering the left bank of 
the Rhine. They were called Upper Germany and Lower Germany. 

The governors of these new provinces had to be military men, 
commanding strong armies and ever watchful against the attacks 
of the restless Germans. It occurred to Augustus that in the end 
much blood and money might be saved in the protection of the 
empire by conquering Germany, at least as far as the Elbe River. 
Drusus undertook this task. But after three years of successful 
warfare he fatally injured himself by a fall from his horse. It was 
a great loss to the imperial family, for Drusus was an able man and 
popular with the army. 

After Tiberius had completed the conquest, Augustus made 
Va'rus, a distant kinsman, governor of the new province. This 
man considered his subjects mere slaves, whom he tried to govern 
by the principles he had learned in the Orient. They resisted ; and 
under the lead of Ar-min'i-us, a chieftain's son who had received 
his education at Rome, they plotted against their tyrannic governor. 
As he was leading his three legions through the Teu'to-berg Forest on 
his way to winter quarters, they surrounded him and cut his army 

1 Livia, wife of Augustus, had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus, by a former marriage. 
As the adopted son of Augustus, Tiberius entered the Julian family and became the 
second prince; 505. 

2 Their brilliant success was celebrated by the poet Horace, Odes, iv. 14, quoted by 
Botsford, Story of Rome, p. 233. 3 482. 



456 The Founding of the Principate; the Julian Princes 

to pieces. Varus killed himself; the barbarians hung their prisoners 
to trees and tortured them to death (9 A.D.). Though Augustus 
appeared to bear the news with a brave heart, his spirit was broken 
by the misfortune he could not repair. From time to time he 
would say, " Varus, Varus, give me back my legions." Convinced 
that the strength of the empire should not be further wasted upon 
such projects, he established the Rhine as the boundary, and de- 
cided resolutely on a policy of peace. 

502. The Army. The chief reason for this policy of peace 
was the extreme difficulty of obtaining soldiers. The legionaries 
had to be Roman citizens. When occasionally provincials were 
enlisted in this class of troops, they had to be given the citizenship. 
But Augustus opposed the bestowal of citizenship on provincials; for 
he believed that the unity and the protection of the empire could 
be maintained most effectively by keeping up the military spirit of 
the Romans and their pride in the superiority of their race. Since 
the time of Marius the legion contained from five thousand to six 
thousand regular troops. Augustus attached to each legion some 
auxiliaries from the provincials, making the total number of soldiers 
in each legion about ten thousand. At the close of his administra- 
tion there were in all twenty-five legions. He had, too, a con- 
siderable navy on the Mediterranean and its tributary seas and on 
the frontier rivers. For the protection of his own person he kept 
in and about Rome a body of soldiers called the pretorian guard. 1 
The fire department and the police of the capital were likewise 
organized in military form. All these forces within and near 
Rome amounted to about twenty thousand men. Police duty in 
the provinces was performed by native militia. 

A standing army for the empire was altogether new. But as 
organized by Augustus it was remarkably small. Excluding the 
provincial police, it could hardly have exceeded three hundred 
thousand. Besides the difficulty of enlisting troops, Augustus had 
to reckon with expense. As the wealth of the empire had been 
wasted in the long civil wars, he felt that the taxes could not justly 
be increased. In order to spare the provincials, he devoted a great 

1 From prae-to'ri-um, the general's tent, the pretorian guard was an outgrowth 
from the guard which protected the general's headquarters. 



Public Works 



457 



Arch of Titus. 
Temple of the Capitoline 
Trajau' 8 Column. 
For details ofthu Forum 
and Vicinity, see plan of 
the Sacred Wav. 




MAP OF IMPERIAL ROME 

part of his own immense fortune to the current administration and 
to public improvements. 

503. Public Improvements ; Architecture. Augustus planted 
many colonies both in Italy and in the provinces. His aim was 




THE SACRED WAY 



458 The Founding of the Principate; the Julian Princes 

not only to furnish his retired veterans with farms, but also to re- 
settle vacant districts, so as to increase the prosperity of the country. 

With him begins the great age of Roman architecture. He him- 
self tells us of his public works : 

" The Capitol 1 and the Pompeian theatre I have repaired at 
enormous expense. ... Aqueducts which, by reason of age, 




THE TEMPLE OF MARS THE AVENGER 
(In the Augustan Forum. The high wall borders this forum on the nortii. From a photograph) 

were crumbling in many places, I have restored . . . and have 
finished the Julian Forum and the basilica which was between the 
temple of Castor and the temple of Saturn, works begun and almost 
completed by my father 2 ; and when that same basilica was con- 
sumed by fire, I began its reconstruction on an enlarged scale, in- 
scribing it with the names of my sons. If I do not live to complete 
it, I have given orders that it be finished by my heirs. In accord- 
ance with a decree of the senate, while consul for the sixth time, 

1 The Capitoline temple of Jupiter. 

2 I.e. Julius Caesar, the adoptive father of Augustus. On the Basilica Julia, see 495. 




C O 



Temples 



459 



I restored eighty- two temples of* the gods, passing over none which 
was at that time in need of repair. In my seventh consulship I [re] 
built the Flaminian Way to Ariminum, and all the bridges except 
the Mulvian and the Minucian. 

" Upon private ground I have built with the spoils of war the 
temple of Mars the Avenger and the Augustan Forum." 1 The 
Mars of this temple was not to be the god of conquest; his function 
rather was to punish 
foreign powers which dis- 
turbed the peace of the 
empire. The Pantheon, 
which means the " all- 
divine," was the work 
of Agrippa, the prince's 
ablest minister. In it 
men worshipped Mars 
and Venus, the chief gods 
of the Julian family. It 
was afterward rebuilt by 
Hadrian. The activity 
of Augustus wrought a 
complete change in the 
appearance of Rome. At 
the close of his princi- 
pate he could boast that 
he had found the city 
of brick, but left it of 
marble. 

One of the most re- 
markable works of the 
age was a great Altar 
of Peace erected by the senate to commemorate the suppression of 
disturbances in Spain and Gaul, and more generally to express the 
spirit of peace for which the empire now stood. It was richly 

1 Augustus, Deeds, xx, xxi. This document is an account of the achievements of 
Augustus, composed by himself. It is preserved in an inscription known to scholars 
as the Monumentum An-cy-ra'num, from Ancyra, the place where it was found. 




FLAMINES 

(From the Altar of the Augustan Peace ; Museum of the 
Terme, Rome) 



460 The Founding of the Principate; the Julian Princes 

adorned with reliefs representing not only the imperial family, 
senators, magistrates, and priests, but also plants and garlands. 
The reliefs of persons are doubtless real portraits, influenced, like 




GARLAND OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS 
(From the Altar of the Augustan Peace ; Museum of the Terme, Rome) 

the busts and statues of the time, by Greek idealism. 1 The fruit 
and flowers are chiselled with wonderful accuracy and taste the 
most beautiful art of the imperial age. 

504. Literature and Religion. The principate of Augustus is 
known as the Golden Age of Roman literature. He encouraged 
and aided literary men. Through their works he aimed to purify 

1 345. 



Literature 461 

and ennoble the present by bringing it the life of the good and great 
past. Livy, the most eminent author of prose in this age, wrote a 
history of Rome in a hundred and forty-two books. In preparing 
this work he took little pains to discover the truth, but relied chiefly 
on earlier writers of annals. 1 He was lacking, too, in depth and 
in that knowledge of military affairs and of law which was essential 
to the historian of Rome. But he loved what he believed to be 
true and right. The story of Rome, as he tells it, is always lively, 
vivid, and interesting. 

In several ways Ver'gil, the poet, resembled Livy. Both com- 
posed in a lofty style with high moral aims. Inspired by the 
greatness of Rome, both were intensely patriotic, and expressed 
more perfectly than any other writers the ideals of their nation. 
The poet's narrative is as lively and as dramatic as the historian's. 
Vergil is graceful, tender, and childlike. His principal work is an 
epic poem called the Ae-ne'ld. In this story of the wanderings 
of Aeneas, he glorifies the beginnings of Rome, and, at the same 
time, the imperial family, which claimed descent from the hero 
of his poem. 

Horace, author of Odes and Satires and of Epistles in verse, was 
the poet of contentment and common sense, who bade his friends 

" Snatch gayly the joys which the moment shall bring, 
And away every care and perplexity fling." 2 

Leave the future to the gods, he taught. A comfortable villa, 
some shady nook in summer, and in winter a roaring fireplace, good 
wine, pleasant friends, and a mind free from care make an ideal 
life. After the stormy end of the republic, the world needed such 
a lesson. 

In the later republic, Roman society forgot the gods and lost its 
morals. Augustus restored the ancient ceremonies of worship, 
which had fallen into disuse, and attempted to lead the people back 
to the old religion and to the pure, simple life of the ancestors who 
had made the city great. Julius had been deified after his death, 
and this example was followed in the case of many other princes. 

1 450, n. i. 2 Qdes, iii. 8. 



462 The Founding of the Principate; the Julian Princes 

The provincials built temples in which they sacrificed to Augustus 
as to a god. In Italy and the western provinces the freedmen 
formed associations for his worship. Quite different was the wor- 
ship of his Genius or guardian spirit. From the beginning the 
Romans used to set up, at the crossing of country roads and 
of streets in the city, images of La'res, protecting deities of 
the adjoining lands. 1 They now adopted the custom of placing 
an image of the Genius of Augustus among these Lares. The 
idea was to make his Genius the centre of public worship, just 
as the Genius of the father was the centre of the family religion. 2 
Hence willingness to sacrifice to the guardian spirit of the prince 
came to be the test of loyalty to the government. In fact, 
the worship of the prince and his Genius became the most vital 
force in the religion of the Roman world till the adoption' of 
Christianity. 

505. The Principate of Tiberius (14-37 A - D 0- Augustus died 
in 14 A.D., after forty-five years of rule. His wife Livia, who had 
been his strong support during life, secured to her son Tiberius the 
peaceful succession. 3 

Immediately after his accession the armies on the Danube and 
the Rhine mutinied, in the hope of gaining some reward for a prom- 
ise of devotion to the new prince. Fortunately the generals proved 
loyal, and with difficulty suppressed the outbreak. The prince's 
nephew Ger-man'i-cus, who commanded on the Rhine, then led 
his army across the river, and avenged the defeat of Varus. But 
as Augustus in his will had advised his successors not to extend 
the boundaries of the empire, Tiberius recalled his nephew from 
Germany. 

No important war disturbed the remainder of his rule ; he de- 
voted himself, therefore, to administrative work, in which he showed 
marked ability. " He was careful not to distress the provinces 
by new burdens, and to see that in bearing the old they were safe 
from the rapacity of their governors." 4 By rebuilding twelve 
cities of Asia Minor which had been destroyed by earthquakes, he 
taught the Romans that they had duties as well as privileges in 

1 The protecting deity of the house was also a Lar ; 368. 

2 368. a soo> n> Iw 4 Tacitus, Annals, iv. 6. 



Tiberius 463 

their relations with the provinces. There is no wonder, then, that 
the subject nations respected him. 

But the populace disliked him because he fed them poorly and 
provided no shows of gladiators. The nobles hated him still more. 
Conspiracies became so common that he began rigorously to en- 
force the law of treason and to encourage de-la' tors (informers] to 
bring accusations. Not only the suspicious temper of the prince, 
but also the moral degradation of society, made the delations terrible. 
.Greed, hatred, enjoyment of bloodshed, in brief, all vicious and 
criminal passions, were at their height under the principate. 
No one felt safe ; for each rightly judged his neighbor by himself ; 
and the prince could hardly restrain the senate from condemning 
men for the most trivial offences. 

506. Capri; the Character and Death of Tiberius (37 A.D.). 
The first half of his administration he passed in Rome, the remainder 
in Cap'ri, a lovely island off the Bay of Naples. From this retreat 
he still watched over the government, while he left the direct man- 
agement toJSe-ja'nus, prefect of the pretorian guard. This man, 
too, conspired against the prince, and suffered death for his treason. 

Tiberius grew more and more hateful to the nobility and to the 
Roman mob. Not that he was especially cruel or vicious ; he seems 
rather to have been a stern, unsympathetic man, whose motives 
the nobles did not wish to understand. He was unsocial, tactless, 
and economical, qualities which would have made any prince 
unpopular. Notwithstanding his. faults, he was an able, conscien- 
tious ruler. 

Qaligula, son of Germanicus and successor to Tiberius, seems 
to have been insane. His principate (37-41 A.D.) is unimportant. 

Octavius, afterward Augustus, had been adopted by JuUus 
Caesar into the Julian gens. Augustus had adopted Tiberius, 
who adopted Caligula. The first three princes were therefore by 
adoption Julian. Having also been adopted into the family of 
Caesar, they were all called Caesar. After Caligula the principate 
passed to another gens and family, 1 but the name Caesar was 
retained as a title. 

1 In the name Julius Caesar, Julius designates the gens and Caesar the family ( 368), 
The Julian gens was followed by the Claudian. 



464 The Founding of the Principate; the Julian Princes 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of this chapter like that on p. 444. 2. Give in your 
own words a brief, clear definition of " principate." 3. In what respects 
was the principate an improvement on the republic ? What class, or classes, 
lost by the fall of the republic ? What classes gained ? 4. Can the concen- 
tration of political power in the hands of an individual be an unmixed or 
lasting good? 5. Why did not the senate try to check the growth of the 
prince's power? 6. Compare the government of Augustus with that of 
Caesar. 7. What republican institutions survived under Augustus? 
8. Enumerate the reasons why the literature and art of the Augustan age 
is called golden. 9. What is the order of architecture of the Capitoline 
temple of Jupiter ? of the temple to the Guardian Jupiter on the left of the 
picture? 10. Compare the former with the Parthenon in proportion. 

Note-book Topics 

I. Augustus. Augustus, Deeds (his own account of his achievements ; 
translation in Shuckburgh, appendix) ; Botsford, Story of Rome, 233-241 ; 
Munro, Source Book of Roman History, 143-148 ; Jones, Roman Empire, ch. 
i; Firth, Augustus; Shuckburgh, Augustus, especially chs. ix-xii. 

II. The Principate. Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, 266-288; 
Greenidge, Roman Public Life, ch. x; Pelham, Outlines of Roman History, 
398-469. 

III. Vergil. Mackail, Latin Literature, 91105; Duff, Literary His- 
tory of Rome, 432-495 ; Tyrrell, Latin Poetry, ch. v. 

IV. Livy. Mackail, pp. 145-155; Duff, 625-663; Simcox, Latin Liter- 
ature, i. 384-415. 

V. Tiberius. Botsford, 241-253 ; Jones, 42-52 ; Allcroft and Haydon, 
Early Principate, chs. viii-x; Duruy, History of Rome, iv. 401-494; Tarver, 
Tiberius the Tyrant. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 

FROM PRINCIPATE TO MONARCHY : THE CLAUDIAN AND THE 
FLAVIAN PRINCES 

41-96 A.D. 

507. The Principate of Claudius (41-54 A.D.). The senate 
would have had the principate end with the Julian line ; but while 
it was discussing the situation the pretorians made a new prince. 
Their nominee was Claudius, 1 uncle of Caligula. From early 
youth he had applied himself with great zeal to the study of history 
and science, and had published a number of works in these fields. 
Grotesque in manners and lacking in mental balance, he was gen- 
erally considered .a learned fool. We are surprised, therefore, to 
find him making his principate the beginning of a new era. 

Breaking with the policy of Augustus, he bestowed the Roman 
citizenship. -freely upon provincials. Thus he b^gan the process 
of making the provinces equal with Italy and Rome. And, in 
appointing governors of provinces, he used to say, " Do not 
thank me, for I do you no favor, but call you to share with me the 
burdens of government; and I shall thank you if you fulfil your 
duty well." Mingled with this generosity and wisdom, was firm- 
ness in punishing offenders and in protecting the frontiers. One 
of his generals conquered southern Britain and made of it a Roman 
province. For nearly four hundred years Britain remained a part 
of the empire. 

His kindly temper shows itself in a law for the protection of sick 
and aged slaves from cruel treatment, and in his efforts to pre- 
vent famine in Rome. To supply the city with pure water, he built 

1 Thus began the rule of the Claudian princes. There were but two, Claudius and a 
stepson adopted into the Claudian gens. The father, as well as the son, was a Claudius 
Nero, Nero being the name of the family. For convenience we call the father Claudius 
and the adopted son Nero. 

2H 465 



466 From Principate to Monarchy 

two magnificent aqueducts, one of which was the famous Claudia. 
Later princes continued to build aqueducts, till all of them together 
poured into Rome more fresh water each day than the Tiber now 
empties into the sea. 

Notwithstanding many plots against his life, he would have no 
informers or law of treason, but preferred to surround himself with 




REMNANT OF THE CLAUDIAN AQUEDUCT 
(From a photograph) 

soldiers, who even waited on his table, and accompanied him into 
the senate-house. Distrusting the nobles and the knights, he 
employed his own freedmen l as helpers. His principal secretaries, 
taken from this class, became the chief ministers of the empire. In 
this way and in others he attempted to make himself independent 
of the senate. Thus the balance of power between the senate and 
the prince was turning decidedly in favor of the latter. In other 
words, the principate was developing into a monarchy. 

508. The Principate of Nero (54-68 A.D.). His successor was 
Nero, the son of his wife A-grip-pi'na by a former marriage. As 
the new prince was only seventeen years of age, and showed more 
taste for dancing and music than for official work, the government 
for the first ten years of his administration was in the hands of 
Sen'e-ca, his tutor, and Bur'rus, pretorian prefect. Both were 
able men. 

1 519. 



Nero 



467 




A Spaniard by birth, Seneca was a philosopher of the Stoic school, 
which taught that virtue alone is sufficient for happiness, and 
that a man should rise above all passions and follow his reason. 
Man, it asserted, is lord of his own life, and may end it when he 
thinks fit. This severe, practical philosophy suited well the char- 
acter of the Romans. From the later republic to the adoption 
of Christianity, many found in it a guide to 
self-discipline. Although Seneca lacked 
moral firmness, his intentions were good. 
Under him and Burrus the provinces were 
well governed; and a law of theirs per- 
mitted JU-treated slaves throughout the 
empire to bring their complaints before 
the magistrates. This provision marks a 
great advance in the improvement of man- 
kind. 

Burrus died in 62 A. D., and as Nero began 
to take the government into his own hands, 
Seneca retired to private life. Accused of NERO 

sharing in a conspiracy, he killed himself (The most authentic portrait ; 
by order of the prince. The men of this Museum of the Terme ' R< 
age did not hesitate to die, but they knew not how to live and 
fight for freedom and principle. By recommending suicide, Stoi- 
cism aided tyranny. 

The personal rule of Nero was a capricious despotism. But 
though he was vain and extravagant, his acts of cruelty were few. 
When a great fire destroyed the larger part of Rome, he sheltered 
and fed the sufferers, and helped rebuild their houses. The worst 
blot on his principate was the persecution of the Christians on the 
groundless suspicion that they had caused the mischief. Many 
were condemned. "Mockery of every sort was added to their 
deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs 
and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to flames 
and burned to serve as a nightly illumination" 1 of the prince's 
gardens. The Romans, who as yet knew little of the Christians, 

1 Tacitus, Annals, xv. 44. Nero was himself suspected of having set fire to the city 
but with little reason. 



468 



From Principate to Monarchy 



considered them a sect of Jews, and despised them because they 
then belonged to the lowest class of society. Nero's persecution, 
however, was only a sudden outburst of ferocity which did not 
extend beyond the city. 

But at last his tyranny stirred up revolt. Gal'ba, a governor of 
Hither Spain, was proclaimed imperator. Nero fled from the city, 
and took refuge in a dingy cell provided by a freedman. A few 
attendants stood about him. " Some one .show me how to die," 
he begged, but no one obeyed. The end was drawing near. The 
senate had declared him a public enemy, and he heard the tramp 
of approaching horses. " Pity that such an artist should die ! " 
he said, as he stabbed himself. 

509. The Principate of Vespasian (69-79 A - D 0- Galba was 
followed by O'tho, and Otho by Vi-terii-us. These three princes 
together ruled about a year. All perished 
by violence in a civil war concerning the 
succession. Then Ves-pa'si-an became 
prince. He and his sons are called, after 
their gens, Flavian princes. Though a 
plebeian by birth, he was broad-minded, 
able, and experienced in public affairs. 
Among the many difficulties he had to 
meet on his accession, the most serious 
was a revolt of the Jews. His son Titus 
besieged Jerusalem, their strongly fortified 
capital. As they refused to accept any 
terms offered them, no quarter was there- 
after given. It was a war to death. The 
Jews believed that God would protect His 
holy temple, and that at the critical 
moment the Mes-si'ah would come to 
save His people from the oppressor and to make them rulers 
of the world. They fought therefore with fanatic zeal, and as 
famine threatened they even ate human flesh. When after a 
five months' siege, the Romans stormed the city and the temple, the 
Jews killed their wives, their children, and then one another, as the 
lot determined, so that the victors found nothing but flames and 




VESPASIAN 

(An excellent example of Roman 
realism ; Museum of the 
Terme, Rome) 



Vespasian 



469 



death. More than a million Jews were destroyed during the siege ; 
not a hundred thousand were taken captive (70 A.D.). The trium- 
phal arch of Titus, finished by Domitian, still stands as a monu- 
ment of this victory. 

As the nobles and knights were dying out, Vespasian recruited 
their ranks with new families from Italy and the provinces, the 




STORMING A CITY 
(From Schreiber, Atlas of Classical Antiquities) 

best and the most loyal he could find. Looking upon the prince 
as their patron, these provincials generally supported him. Hence 
the principate became more solidly established, and fewer conspira- 
cies threatened it. During the late republic and early principate 
the society of Rome had been vicious and depraved ; but the new 
families brought to the capital wholesome ideas and better morals. 
To repair the fortifications and other public works, which had 
long been neglected, Vespasian found it necessary to increa'se the 
taxes. But with careful management he had money left for edu- 
cation, for the help of unfortunate cities in the provinces, and for 
new buildings. The most famous of his works is an immense 



47 



From Principate to Monarchy 




THE SACRED WAY 

(Ascending the Velia east of the Forum. Notice the ancient pavement. At the highest point of 
the road, to the right, is the Arch of Titus. To the right of the arch rises the Palatine Hill.) 




ROMAN SOLDIERS IN TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION 
(Carrying the " Seven Golden Candlesticks " and other spoils from Jerusalem ; Arch of Titus) 



Titus 



amphitheatre, usually known as the Col-os-se'um. It could seat 
about forty-five thousand spectators. 1 Its oval form and enor- 
mous size may be seen in the illustration. Though in ruins, it re- 
mains to-day one of the most impressive buildings in the world. In 
it the Romans gathered to see the combats of gladiators and of men 




THE COLOSSEUM OR FLAVIAN AMPHITHEATRE 
(Present appearance ; from a photograph) 

and savage beasts. As Vespasian died before completing the work, 
it was finished by Titus. 

510. The Principate of Titus (79-81 A.D.). Titus succeeded 
his father. His kindness toward citizens and subjects alike made 
him the most popular of the emperors, " the delight and the darling 
of mankind." Once at supper, remembering that he had favored 
no one during the day, he exclaimed, " My friends, I have lost a 
day !" As chief pontiff he thought it his duty to keep his hands 
pure ; and accordingly after accepting that office he would condemn 
no man to death, however great might be the offence. In fact he 
was too indulgent to be just ; this easy temper made his successor's 
task more difficult. 

The chief event in his administration was an eruption .of Ve- 
suVi-us. For ages this volcano had been inactive, so that the Cam- 

1 The statement of the ancients that it could seat eighty-seven thousand people is 
found on careful measurement to be a great exaggeration. 



472 



From Principate to Monarchy 



panians had fearlessly covered its sides with vineyards. But in 
79 A.D. a fearful eruption buried Pom-pe'ii, a city of twenty thou- 
sand inhabitants, Her-cu-la'ne-um, and some smaller places. After 
eighteen centuries Pompeii has been unearthed. Its temples, 
shops, and dwellings, with their statues, wall paintings, furni- 




INTERIOR OF THE COLOSSEUM 
(Showing combats with wild beasts ; restoration by C. Nispi-Landi) 

ture, and tools, make real to us the life and civilization of the 
ancients. 

511. Principate of Domitian (81-96 A.D.). After ruling but 
two years, Titus died, and was succeeded by Do-mi'ti-an, his 
younger brother. Though the empire was rarely at peace, the 
principate of Domitian is especially noted for wars along the north- 
ern frontier. A-gric'o-la, an able general, extended the boundary 
of the province of Britain to Cal-e-do'ni-a, the modern Scot- 
land. The prince himself took the field against the Germans. 
Still later the Da'ci-ans, who lived north of the Danube and who 
were fast adopting Roman civilization, invaded the empire. In his 
war with them Domitian met with so little success that he granted 



Domitian 



473 



them favorable terms of peace, and gave their chief valuable pres- 
ents, which the enemies of the prince maliciously termed tribute. 

Domitian was a firm ruler. Able men commanded on the 
frontier, and the provinces were probably never better ruled than 
under him. An autocrat by nature, he tried to gain entire control 
of the government and to put the senate beneath him. The dis- 
covery of a conspiracy, in which many senators shared, inflamed 
him against them. From that time to his death he was a terror 
to the nobility. But at last a plot developed in his own household. 
His wife Domitia, fearing for her own safety, induced some serv- 
ants and pretorians to murder him. 

" Like their god Janus, the Roman emperors have a double 
face." In estimating their character we must bear in mind that 
the one most hateful to the nobility was often the most just and 
merciful protector of the provinces. So it was with Domitian. 
The aristocratic historian l has branded him a tyrant ; if the sub- 
ject nations could speak, they would bless his memory. 

512. The Growth of Monarchy from Augustus to Domitian. 
The Augustan government was a republic under the patronage of 
a man of overwhelming personal and family influence. This man, 
the prince, held a combination of military, civil, and religious 
powers. The government was still spoken of as a republic ; the 
senate had still an important part in the administration, and far 
more independence than it wished to maintain. Although it was 
in a position to check the prince and to reduce his influence, the 
members strove among themselves for precedence in flattering him 
and in voting him more authority. Under these circumstances 
the prince gradually gained power at the expense of the senate till, 
in the second century A.D., he came to be a real monarch, still some- 
what limited by the senate. The word imperator, originally mean- 
ing commander in war, then came to be used in the sense of emperor. 
The growth of his power was aided by religion. The worship of the 
prince exalted him above the senate and the ordinary magistrates. 

Another reason for the increase of the prince's authority was the 
disposition of the people to call upon him to right all their wrongs 
and to make every needed improvement, in some such way as the 

1 On Tacitus, the historian here referred to, see 528. 



474 From Principate to Monarchy 

people of the United States are more and more inclined to depend 
upon the President. Readily accepting such invitations, either 
through interest in the public welfare or from love of popularity, 
the prince generally accomplished the desired improvement to 
the satisfaction of all. In this way he continually acquired new 
duties and new power. 

No magistrate, however able, can rule as a monarch without a 
large number of trained, loyal helpers. Augustus found no one 
acquainted with the duties of administration outside the senate. The 
knights collected the tribute throughout the empire, and sat in the 
juries at Rome, but had no other part in the administration. All 
the higher civil and military offices in Italy and the provinces for 
a long time had to be filled as before by senators, who remained on 
the whole loyal to the republic. Some less important duties con- 
nected with the prince's share in the government Augustus intrusted 
to his more intelligent slaves, his freedmen, and his personal friends 
among the knights. In the course of a few generations there grew 
up a class of knights well trained in administration and devoted to 
the prince, as they depended on him alone for political advance- 
ment. Meantime beginning under Claudius, the various public 
duties above mentioned were developing into offices, and new duties 
were constantly undertaken. The growth of this system of offi- 
cials helped change the government from principate to monarchy. 

513. The Frontier and the Provinces. From Augustus to 
Domitian the frontier policy had been one of peace. Generally 
wars were waged merely for defence. Judea and Mauretania be- 
came provinces, but no important change of boundary took place 
either on the east or on the south. Along the Danube the Romans 
with difficulty held their own. On the upper Rhine they drove the 
Germans back from the right bank and began to settle the district 
thus made vacant. It was not organized as a province, but became 
tributary under the name " Tithe Lands. " Along its eastern border 
the princes began to build a line of strong fortifications, which 
when finished extended from the Rhine to the Danube. The con- 
quest of Britain has been mentioned. In the south of that province 
Roman civilization began to take root, but it never became so 
thoroughly Romanized as Spain or southern Gaul. 



Condition of the Empire 475 

During this period life and property in the provinces were more 
secure than ever before. The result was general happiness, pros- 
perity, and doubtless an increase in wealth. But the growing 
expenses of the government and the increasing taxation were a 
beginning of the oppression which in time was to become un- 
endurable. 

514. Commerce and Travel. Domestic security promoted 
commerce. A great network of roads, centring in Rome, extended 
over the entire empire. Along all these ways, as well as over the 
seas and on the rivers, merchandise of all kinds circulated. No 
heavy duties restricted trade. Commerce was not confined within 
the empire, but reached out to India, central Asia, and northern 
Europe. Thousands of Italian traders swarmed over the provinces 
and the border countries. Tribute from the provinces flowed in 
to Rome, then back to the provinces in exchange for the necessities 
and the luxuries of life. Much gold and silver went thus to India 
and never returned. At the end of the period the precious metals 
were becoming insufficient for the needs of business and government. 

The most important result of this great commercial activity 
was the blending of all the peoples of the empire in one race and one 
culture. The same Greco-Roman religion, the same education and 
culture, based on the Latin and Greek authors, the same social and 
political system, prevailed over the empire. Latin was the language 
of the West, and Greek of the East. 

Good roads and security promoted travelling. " It was a time 
when all the world was in motion, the trader hastening to his 
market, the centurion to his cohort, the administrator to his duties, 
the invalid to the healing waters and the altars of the helpful divin- 
ities, the superstitious to the renowned shrines and famous oracles, 
the idler to festivities and solemnities, and the man of taste to places 
consecrated to history and art, to the architectural splendors of 
Rome, Greece, and Egypt." l Students travelled to their schools; 
professors often went on distant journeys in quest of pupils; 
rhetoricians and sophists visited city after city, to display- their 
eloquence or wisdom before crowds of generous listeners. 

515. Cities and Towns. In the countries which Rome found 

1 Duruy, History of Rome, vi. 177 f. 



476 Prom Principate to Monarchy 

already highly civilized were many large cities. In other parts, as 
in western Europe and along the Danube, people usually lived in 
the country. In all these places Rome encouraged the growth 
of cities. As a result of this policy most of the states of the empire 
in the West came to be city-states, just as they already were in the 
East. These city-states were like those of Greece, or like Rome 
before she began to extend her power. 

The population of a city consisted of slaves and freemen. The 
latter were either citizens or non-citizens. Citizenship could not be 
acquired by residence , but was occasionally bestowed as a gift . All the 
citizens had the right to attend the assembly and vote in the election 
of magistrates and in the making of laws. Those only who possessed 
a certain amount of property fixed by law, and who had an honor- 
able character and occupation, were eligible to offices. The chief 
magistrates were the du-o'm-ri (" board of two "), patterned after 
the Roman consuls. At the expiration of their year of office all 
the important magistrates, including the duoviri, became life 
members of the cu'ri-a city council if they did not already be- 
long to it. Every fifth year the duoviri took a census and made 
an assessment of their community. As there were not enough re- 
tired magistrates to fill the curia to its normal number, usually a 
hundred, the duoviri supplied the deficiency by enrolling among the 
members cu-ri-a'les the more wealthy and distinguished pri- 
vate citizens of the community, and sometimes even rich or cele- 
brated strangers. In the period we are now studying there was 
spirited rivalry for office. On the walls of Pompeii may be found 
written in large letters l such expressions as, " The barbers wish to 
have Tre'bi-us as aedile " ; and " The fruit-sellers unanimously 
support Hol-co'ni-us Pris'cus for duovir." To ridicule a candidate 
some one wrote, " All the sleepy men nominate Vatia as aedile." 

516. Public Spirit in the Cities. The magistrate received no 
salary ; in fact on entering office or on becoming a curialis he had 
to pay a fee fixed by law. Public life gave him little opportunity for 
illegal gains. On the contrary, the people expected him, in addition 
to the required payment, to expend his own money in entertaining 
them with feasts and shows and in building or repairing public 

1 These writings are called by the Italian term Graffiti. 



Public Life in the Cities 



477 



works. It was partly by gifts from wealthy citizens that most 
cities acquired enough property to pay from the revenue all their 
necessary expenses, without resort to taxation. Many a city 
received from the same source an endowment for producing the 
annual tribute due to Rome. Such communities levied no taxes 
whatever. In general the ancient state possessed a large capital 
either in money or in rentable property, the income from which 




A STREET IN POMPEII 
(From a photograph) 

went far toward defraying expenses, whereas a modern state or 
municipality as a rule has no productive wealth, but is burdened with 
heavy debts, the interest on which, in addition to other enormous 
expenses, must be paid by taxes on the citizens. Only by taking 
account of this great contrast can we appreciate the prosperity 
of the cities of the empire and the generous patriotism of the wealthy 
people. The motive was often unselfish ; but sometimes it Was the 
mere desire of popularity. In any case the city received the benefit ; 
and the result was a prosperity throughout the empire such as the 
world had not seen before. We read of it in the books written at 



From Principate to Monarchy 



the time, and we discover proof of it in the extant ruins of excellent 
roads, bridges, aqueducts, theatres, temples, fortifications, and other 
public works in every part of the Mediterranean country then in- 
cluded in the empire. 

517. Private Life in Rome and the Towns : the Dwelling. In 
appearance the towns were much alike, though they varied greatly 

in size. The streets were far 
narrower than are those of 
modern times, and were paved 
with stones like country 
roads. 

Private life was more se- 
cluded from public view than 
ours is. The traveller who 
walks the streets of Pompeii 
sees on both sides plain walls 
with no windows on the first 
floor. Two thousand years 
ago a visitor at one of these 
houses came first to the vesti- 
bule, a narrow entrance court 
from which a hall led to the 
heavy oaken door. As the 
visitor approached, the porter, 
roused from a nap in his 
little lodge, opened the door. The dog growled, or in place of 
the living animal, the guest perhaps saw the creature represented 
in mosaic on the pavement, with the words, Cave canem " beware 
of the dog!'' 

The guest entered the a'tri-um (court), where he found the lord 
of the house ready to welcome him. This room was roofed over, 
with the exception of an opening in the centre, which admitted 
the light and through which the rain poured into a square basin in 
the floor. Often this basin was adorned with a beautiful marble 
fountain ; and the entire atrium was richly decorated with costly 
pillars, statues, paintings, and purple hangings. On the floor were 
fine mosaics. 




CAVE CANEM 

(Mosaic from a house in Pompeii ; National 
Museum, Naples ; from a photograph) 



The Dwelling 



479 




A DINING ROOM 
(Restoration from a wall-painting at Pompeii) 




PERISTYLE OF A HOUSE IN POMPEII 
(House of the Vetti ; from a photograph) 



480 



From Principate to Monarchy 



Adjoining the atrium and in various quarters of the house were 
dining rooms termed tri-clin'i-a, each containing at least one table. 
Three sides of the table were occupied by couches on which the 
luxurious Romans reclined while eating their sumptuous repasts. 
A board on the fourth side held the costly vases and curiosities of 




HOUSE FURNITURE 
(From Pompeii ; National Museum, Naples ; from a photograph) 

the proprietor; and the whole room was lavishly adorned with 
works of art. 

The per'i-style was an inner court planted with trees and flowers, 
and surrounded by a colonnade. Round this court were the sleeping 
rooms and other private apartments of the women, whereas those of 
the men were grouped about the atrium. There were also a kitchen, 
bathrooms, and sometimes a library. This description applies to 
the first floor. The upper rooms are not so well known, and they 
were certainly less attractive. 

518. The Family and Morals. We have already studied the early 
Roman family, 1 and, for the time of Cicero, the education of children 

1 368. 



The Family 481 

and youths. 1 The absolute power of the father over his children 
long continued. Though early usage placed the wife in the power 
of her husband, she went freely into society, attended the theatres 
and public games, taught her children, and sometimes aided her 
husband in his political career. Her position as mistress of the 
household commanded respect from the government as well as from 
society. 

Gradually the father came to have less power over the members of 
his family ; children were treated more kindly at home and in 
school ; but the strict morality of old Rome had disappeared. 
Roman society became thoroughly corrupt : men and women sought 
pleasure not only in extravagant luxuries, but even in monstrous 
vices and crimes. Morals were probably at their worst in the early 
principate. Under Vespasian society was already growing better. 2 

519. The Slaves. The care of a lordly residence required the 
service of a multitude of slaves. Many were needed to admit the 
guests, many to care for the baths, bedrooms, kitchen, and dining 
rooms, as well as for the personal service of the various members 
of the family. On going out the master or mistress was accompa- 
nied by a throng of servants, whose number and splendid livery 
advertised the rank and wealth of their owner. Other companies of 
slaves spun wool, made clothes, kept the house in repair, and cared 
for the sick. . There were some whose task was to enforce order and 
quiet among the rest. 

As a rule the master treated his slaves with great cruelty. For 
the slightest offences he whipped, tortured, or crucified them. In 
the country they often worked in gangs chained together, and slept 
in crowded, filthy dungeons. Under the principate, however, men 
and women gradually learned to treat their slaves with greater 
kindness. Claudius and other princes after him made laws to 
protect them, till at last they came to be regarded as human beings. 

It often happened that a slave won his freedom by faithful service 
or purchased it with his savings. He then became a client of his 
former master, whose business he usually helped manage. The 
freedmen formed a large, intelligent class, socially inferior to 
freemen, but very enterprising and influential. 

1 494- 2 5^9- 

21 



482 From Principate to Monarchy 

520. Social Life and Amusements. The prince's household, 
like that of any noble, depended on the labor of slaves and freed- 
men. In the morning the prince received the magistrates, senators, 
courtiers, and friends. In the same manner the nobles received 
their clients, who if poor were given their daily allowance of twenty- 
five as'ses, the equivalent of a dinner. Candidates for office came 
likewise to ask for the favor of the rich man's influence. Every 
morning, accordingly, the streets were thronged with these crowds 
of early callers. In the afternoon the master of a house entertained 
his friends at dinner, or perhaps accepted an invitation to dine out. 
The banquet of the Romans resembled that of the Greeks, but was 
far more magnificent and expensive. Though the wealthy Romans 
occasionally attended the theatres, they preferred to spend their 
time in the public baths, or at the races in the Circus Maximus, or 
at the gladiatorial fights in the Colosseum. In the hot season all 
who could afford it forsook the city, some for their villas, others for 
the seaside resorts, the most famous of which was Bai'ae. Life 
in the cities was like that of the capital, though on a smaller 
scale. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of this chapter like that on p. 444. 2. In what re- 
spects did the principate of Claudius make an epoch in the history of the em- 
pire? 3. Can you give any reasons why the Romans were growing more 
humane in this period? Enumerate all the evidence you can find of such 
growth. What evidences of brutality do you find? 4. Was Nero's treat- 
ment of the Christians a persecution of their religion or a punishment for a 
supposed crime? 5. What improvements in law and administration were 
adopted during Nero's principate ? Would you say that it was on the whole 
a period of progress or the opposite? Give reasons for your view. 
6. What improvements came to the provinces under the Julian, Claudian, 
and Flavian princes successively? Why did the nobles generally dislike 
a prince who protected the provinces? 7. How did the social and private 
life of this age differ from that of the early republic? 8. Compare the 
Roman means of travel, commerce, and correspondence with our own. 
9. In the illustration of the Sacred Way, facing p. 476, describe the vari- 
ous buildings. Point out the various classes of persons represented, and 
tell how they are dressed and what they are doing. 10. In the illustration, 
p. 470, describe the pavement. How do our best country roads compare 
with the " Sacred Way " ? 



Social Life 483 



Note-book Topics 

I. The Burning of Rome and the Christians. Botsford, Story of 
Rome, 267-270; Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, ch. xi; Duruy, 
v, 1-16. 

II. Eruption of Vesuvius. Botsford, 275-278 (Pliny, Letters), 

III. The Jewish War and the Destruction of Jerusalem. Botsford, 
273 f.; Jones, Roman Empire, 106-111; Capes, 152-156; Duruy, v. 108- 

133- 

IV. The House. Preston and 'Dodge, Private Life of the Romans, ch. 
ii ; Becker, Callus, Scene ii ; Guhl and Koner, Life of the Greeks and Romans, 
75 f. ; Mau, Pompeii, its Life and Art, Pt. ii (Pompeian Houses). 

V. Schools and Books. Preston and Dodge, pp. 58-66 ; Fowler, 
Social Life at Rome, ch. vi; Inge, pp. 172-178; Thomas, Roman Life under 
the Caesars, ch. ix; Church, Roman Life in the Days of Cicero, chs. i, ii; 
Becker, Callus, Scene iii, and Excursus, i-iii. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS 

THE LIMITED MONARCHY 

96-180 A.D. 

521. Nerva Emperor (96-98 A.D.). As soon as the senate 
heard of the death of Domitian, it appointed as prince one of its 
members named Ner'va, who was about sixty-five years old, and 
whose life had been blameless. He was the first of a succession 
of rulers known as the Good Emperors. Domitian had made him- 
self a monarch. Had his successors resembled him, we should now 
have had to speak of an absolute monarchy. But his example was 
not followed. The Good Emperors guaranteed the senate freedom 
and a share in the government, which therefore became a limited 
monarchy. The title prince was still used; but as the word im- 
perator now began to signify " emperor " as well as " general," 1 
we may henceforth speak of the princes as emperors. The senate 
became reconciled to the new form of government. This concord 
resulted in an era of good feeling which lasted through five successive 
reigns. Nerva put an end to the law of treason, which Domitian 
had revived. He then advised his subjects to forget past wrongs in 
the happy present. But, like Titus, he was too amiable to be a just 
and vigorous ruler. When he found himself unable to control the 
pretorians, he adopted as his son and successor the able general 
Tra'jan, then commander in Upper Germany. 2 

522. Trajan Emperor (98-117 A.D.) ; his Wars. Nerva was 
followed by Trajan. He was born in Spain, and was therefore the 
first provincial emperor. In contrast, too, with the earlier princes, 
who were uniformly peaceful, Trajan was ambitious for conquest. 
In two wars he subdued Dacia, a great country north of the Danube, 

1 4 86, 49 6. 2 SQI . 

484 



Trajan 



485 



and converted it into a Roman province a thousand miles in circuit. 
The work of settlement followed rapidly upon the conquest. While 
the emperor found land here for his veterans, other colonists poured 
into the province from various parts of the empire. Engineers, 




THE COLUMN OF TRAJAN 
(From a photograph) 

architects, and workmen built roads and fortresses. Miners found 
iron and gold in the mountains. The province soon became thor- 
oughly Roman in character. Trajan's column still stands in Rome 
as a memorial of this conquest. 



4 86 



The Five Good Emperors 



A few years afterward the emperor attempted the conquest of the 
East. One of his generals had already made a province of north- 
western Arabia. Trajan himself took the field against the Par- 
thians. He drove them from Armenia, where they were trying to 
set up a vassal king. After converting the country into a Roman 
province, he marched through the Parthian empire as far as the 
Tigris River. Then he followed the river to the Persian Gulf. 
Meantime the provinces he had hastily established about the 
Tigris and Euphrates fell to pieces, and their population rose 

against him. His return 
march, in which he pre- 
tended to suppress the re- 
volt, was in fact a disastrous 
retreat. He died in Cilicia 
on his way to Rome. 

523. His Administra- 
tion. We shall now turn 
to his administration. Fol- 
lowing Nerva's policy, he 
treated the senators as his 
equals. But though they 
talked much, the emperor 
granted them less actual 
power than they had en- 
joyed under Augustus. The 
consuls, too, hatllost much 
of their importance, as their 
term had been gradually 
reduced to two months. 
The monarchy was still 
growing at the expense of 
the republican institutions. 

This increasing power of the emperor appeared in Italy and in the 
provinces, as well as in Rome. When the finances of a town fell into 
disorder, Trajan sent it an agent to control its accounts. Such an 
imperial officer gradually usurped authority, until, after a century 
or two, he deprived the town of self-government. In Trajan's 




PLOTINA, WIFE OF TRAJAN 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Hadrian 



487 



time, however, the institution was only helpful. To recruit the 
wasting population of Italy, Trajan lent the towns considerable 
money, which they were to invest on the security of land, that they 
might have the interest to use for the support and education of 
poor children. Though the avowed object was to rear soldiers for 
the armies, the institution was humane ; we see in it a sign of the 
moral improvement of mankind. 

His administration was energetic and just. He had the strength 
to punish evil-doers ; he repealed oppressive taxes ; and, costly as 
were his wars and his public buildings, he laid no new burdens 
on his people. His wife Plo-ti'na was as 
frugal and as thrifty as he. Like Livia, 
she was the emperor's able helper, and 
when he died, her tact brought to the 
throne the man who had stood highest 
in her husband's favor. 

524. Hadrian Emperor (117-138 A.D.). 
- The heir was Ha'dri-an, a general and 
provincial governor of great ability, and a 
scholar. Two-thirds of his reign he spent 
in travelling through the provinces. His 
first object was to cultivate friendship with 
the border nations. To maintain peace 
without increasing the army, he found it 
necessary to, abandon all his predecessor's 
conquests, excepting Dacia and Arabia. 

Another object was to improve the armies and the frontier 
defences. He banished harmful pleasures from the camps ; he dis- 
missed boy officers, who had received appointments through favorit- 
ism ; and, in his own words, he restored " the discipline of Augus- 
tus." Under him the armies were so well exercised and trained 
that they could perform wonderful labors in marching and in 
building. Among his frontier defences the best known is the so- 
called Wall of Hadrian, which extends across northern Britain from 
near the mouth of the Tyne to Solway Firth. In the following 
century it was rebuilt on a grander scale. After this enlargement 
the line of defence consisted of two parallel moats and walls, strength- 




HADRIAN 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



488 The Five Good Emperors 

ened by a series of turrets, castles, and camps. Ruins of these 
works still exist. Equally important was his completion of the 
defences between the Rhine and the Danube. By such fortinca- 




HADRIAN'S WALL 
(From a photograph) 

tions, as well as by his military reforms, he gave the empire new 
strength for resisting the assaults of the barbarians. 

Throughout the empire he built temples, theatres, and aqueducts. 
Finally, by devoting so much of his time to the provinces, he showed 
clearly that he considered them more important even than Rome 
and Italy. 

525. Hadrian's Buildings at Rome ; the Civil Service. Among 
his buildings at Rome was the Pantheon, originally the work of 
Agrippa, 1 but reconstructed by Hadrian. It is circular, a hundred 
and forty-two feet in diameter and the same in height, and is covered 
by a magnificent dome. In front is a great portico. The building 
is still well preserved, and is used as a Christian church. The 
visitor who stands within this rotunda cannot fail to see in it an 
emblem of the vast and durable power of Rome. The tomb Ha- 

1 503- 



Civil Service 



4 8 9 



drian built for himself, across the Tiber from the city, was on as mag- 
nificent a scale, but far inferior to the Pantheon in artistic merit. 1 
The amount of public business in the hands of the prince had 
greatly increased since the time of Augustus. Claudius had under- 




PANTHEON 
(Exterior, present appearance ; from a photograph) 

taken to create a civil service for doing this work, and had assigned 
his own freedmen to the most important parts in it. 2 Men of this 
class, however, were distasteful to the nobles, and on the other hand 
many knights were now acquainted with administrative duties. 
Hadrian accordingly reformed the civil service, and employed none 
but knights in all the higher offices. The official system was made 
more extensive and more efficient than it had been. 

526. Antoninus Pius Emperor (138-161 A.D.). An-to-ni'nus, 
surnamed Pius, the heir of Hadrian, was a man of estimable charac- 

1 During the Middle Ages it was converted into a fortress the Castle of Sant' 
Angelo and is now a military museum. 2 507. 



49 



The Five Good Emperors 



ter, who loved justice and peace. His reign is noted for humane 
legislation. Especially he limited the right of the master to torture 




PANTHEON 
(Interior, present appearance ; from a photograph) 

his slaves for the purpose of extorting evidence ; and he originated 
the legal principle on which all trials are now conducted throughout 
the civilized world, that an accused person should be considered 
innocent till proved guilty. Enlarging on the charitable policy of 
Trajan, he set aside an endowment for orphan girls, whom he called 
Faus-tin-i-a'nae, after his wife Faus-ti'na. His long reign, un- 
marked by events, was prosperous and happy. 

527. Marcus Aurelius Emperor (161-180 A.D.). When he died 
the imperial powers passed to Marcus Au-re'li-us, his adopted 
son. This emperor associated with himself as colleague Lucius 
Ve'rus, his brother by adoption ; so that Rome was ruled for a time 
by two Augusti. Verus sought only pleasure ; Aurelius was a Stoic 
philosopher, whose chief aim was to do his duty toward his fellow- 
men. But he had little time to give to books and meditation; 
for the easy disposition of his predecessor had left him a great legacy 



Marcus Aurelius 



491 



of troubles. On his accession, he found war brewing along the 
northern and eastern frontiers. The troops of Syria had grown too 
effeminate to resist the invading Parthians ; but fortunately there 




THE TOMB OF HADRIAN 
(The Tiber in the foreground. Present appearance ; from a photograph) 

were good generals in the East, the ablest of whom was A-vid'i-us 
Cassius. A Syrian by birth, but of the old Roman type of severity, 
he put the licentious troops on coarse rations, burned the dis- 
obedient, and restored discipline. He defeated the Parthians, over- 
ran their country, and compelled them to sue for peace. Rome 
retained a part of Mes-o-po-ta'mi-a. 

Meantime a fearful pestilence was raging in the East; and as 
the troops returned from the war, they spread the disease over the 
eastern half of the empire and over Italy itself. It weakened the 
army; in some places, as in Italy, it carried off perhaps half the 
population ; and the efforts to relieve it so drained the treasury 
that the prince lacked funds for the defence of the empire. 
The enemies of Rome were growing formidable. All Europe be- 



492 



The Five Good Emperors 



yond the frontier was full of restless tribes, which threatened 
the civilized countries of the Mediterranean. The Parthian war 
was scarcely over when they broke into the empire in a con- 
tinuous line from northern Italy 
to the farthest limits of Dacia. 
The leaders were the Mar-co- 
man'ni, a powerful German 
nation, who lived in southern 
Germany, and who gave their 
name to the war. 

Both emperors took the field, 
and when Verus died in the 
following year, Aurelius con- 
tinued the war alone. After 
seven years of hard fighting, he 
won an honorable peace, which, 
however, was broken while he 
was engaged in putting down 
a revolt of Avidius Cassius in 
the East. As soon as he had 
finished this war, he returned to 
the Danube, and reconquered 
the Marcomanni. He was about 
to make their country into a 
province when death cut short 
his work. 

' 528. The Silver Age of Literature. As the Augustan period 
of literature has been called " golden," the age which followed is 
commonly described as " silver." After the principate of Augustus 
a decline set in. Most writers, considering a simple style insipid, 
sought to attract attention by rhetorical bombast, far-fetched 
metaphors, and other unnatural devices. 

Seneca, the philosopher, shared with his age the striving after 
brilliancy in language. Nevertheless he gives evidence of the 
broader, deeper thought which the provinces were bringing Rome. 
A great improvement in this direction came with the Flavian 
princes, who patronized literature and introduced fresh life from 




CINERARY URN 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Literature 493 

the provinces. In this age Plin'y the Elder wrote a Natural History 
in thirty-seven books. In addition to the natural sciences, it in- 
cludes geography, medicine, and art. What Pliny did for science 
Quin-til'i-an, a native of Spain, achieved for rhetoric. His Training 
of the Orator, in twelve books, gives a complete course in rhetoric, 
beginning with the boy and ending with the well-equipped public 
speaker. The work is valuable, not only for the famous author's 
principles of rhetoric, but also for his opinions of the leading Greek 
and Latin writers. 

The age of the good emperors produced the last great writers of 
classic Latin, Tac'i-tus and Ju've-nal. The Annals and the His- 
tories 1 of Tacitus covered the period from the death of Augustus to 
the death of Domitian. Besides these larger works, he wrote a 
brief treatise on the Life and Character of Agricola, the conqueror 
of Britain, and another, the Ger-ma'ni-a, on the character and 
institutions of the Germans of his time. His experience as an 
army officer and a statesman gave him a clear understanding of 
military and political events. He was conscientious, too, and we 
may trust his statement of all facts which were known to the 
public at the time of their happening. His style is exceedingly 
rapid, vivid, and energetic. His excellences as a historian, how- 
ever, are balanced by serious defects. He belonged to the 
strictest circle of aristocrats, who looked upon all the princes 
from Tiberius to Domitian as usurpers and tyrants. Hence he 
was unfair in judging the motives of these rulers. Like the his- 
torian, Juvenal, author of Satires, was powerful and dramatic. In 
the spirit of Tacitus he looked back to the society of Rome under 
Nero and Domitian, to discover in it nothing but hideous vice. 
But if we allow for his gross exaggeration, we shall find his writings 
a storehouse of information about the manners, customs, and morals 
of the age. 

The Letters of Pliny the Younger, a nephew of the elder Pliny, 
are valuable for the study of the times, but show a decline in style. 
The Lives of the Caesars from Julius to Domitian, by Sue-.to'ni-us, 

1 Of the Annals we have Bks. i-iv, parts of v and vi, and xi-xvi, with gaps at the 
beginning and end of this last group of books ; of the Histories there remain Bks. i-iv 
and the first half of v. 



494 The Five Good Emperors 

Hadrian's secretary, is a chaotic mixture of useful facts and foolish 
gossip. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is one of the best and 
noblest of books. It contains the ripest fruit of Greco-Roman 
philosophy. 

A revival of Hellenic literature in this age produced some authors 
of unusual merit. Ap'pi-an of Alexandria wrote a narrative History 
of Rome, which we find very useful. In this age, too, Pausanias 
compiled his Tour of Greece, which describes the classic monuments 
of that country. " Above all Plutarch wrote his immortal Lives, 
perhaps the most widely and permanently attractive book by one 
author known to the world." 1 While the Greeks were producing 
literature, they did not neglect science. Galen, a physician of 
Marcus Aurelius, wrote many works on anatomy and medicine. 
Ptol'e-my published a system of astronomy, in which he represented 
the earth as the centre of the universe. His views were accepted 
for more than a thousand years, till they were superseded by those 
of Co-per'ni-cus (1473-1543 A.D.). 

529. Art. From the time of Augustus Rome was the artistic 
centre of the world. The greatest architects, sculptors, and painters 
of Greece gathered there, to find employment in the service of 
the prince or of wealthy citizens. With the increase in wealth and 
power of the princes it was natural that their palaces, temples, 
aqueducts, baths, and other public works should be planned on 
a grander scale. Examples are the Claudian aqueduct and the 
Pantheon, already mentioned. 2 . Such works required a thorough 
acquaintance with practical science for their planning, and great 
care and skill in their execution. From the time of Hadrian the 
artistic value of buildings rapidly declined. 

In the column of Trajan we find a new idea in sculpture. Around 
it from base to summit winds a spiral band of reliefs, 3 represent- 
ing the successive events in his Dacian campaigns his marches, 
battles, sieges, the building of camps, the burning of towns, and 
the care of the wounded. Though Trajan's own account of these 
wars has been lost, this " chiselled picture-book " gives us valuable 
knowledge, not only of the campaigns, but of the military habits of 

1 Murray, Ancient Greek Literature, 395 f. 2 5O7> 535. 

3 On the meaning of the word see 175. 



Sculpture 



495 



the Romans and of their northern neighbors. The figures in these 
reliefs are cut with remarkable accuracy and taste. The column 
of Marcus Aurelius, in commemoration of his German campaigns, 
is similar to that of Trajan, though inferior in artistic merit. 




BURNING A DACIAN TOWN 
(Relief on Trajan's Column ; from Schreiber, Atlas of Classical Antiquities) 

The sculptors of the period were active, too, in making statues. 
The forms of deities and other ideal persons were copies of .the great 
Greek masters. Nearly all ideal statues still in existence are such 
" Roman copies." The period showed originality, however, in 
its portrait busts and statues of the princes and their kinsfolk 



The Five Good Emperors 



and of private persons. This form of sculpture reached the height 
of its perfection in the Flavian age ; for the marble portraits of that 
time are most natural and living. That of Vespasian 1 is a good 
example. In the time of Hadrian Greek idealism gained momen- 
tarily the upper hand, as is seen in his portrait. 2 Thereafter we 
discover a marked decline in this form of art as well as in all others. 
530. Condition of the Empire in the Second Century, A.D. In 
this period the empire reached its greatest extent. East of the 
Euphrates the Romans continued for a time to hold Mesopotamia, 
and north of the Danube they retained Dacia. The profound 




BRIDGE AT ALCANTARA, SPAIN 
(Built by Trajan ; from Duruy, History of Rome) 

peace was scarcely disturbed by wars on the distant frontiers or 
by occasional tumults in the capital. The emperor, looking upon 
himself as the father of the provincials, made their welfare his 
chief object. As many had received the Latin rights 3 or the full 
Roman citizenship, the political distinction between Italy and the 
provinces nearly disappeared. 

1P '468. p.48 7 . 34o6 . 



Building Activity 



497 



Throughout this age we find an intense activity in building. 
Considerable money for the purpose came from the emperors, but 
much more from the liberality of wealthy private persons. Pliny 
the Younger gave his town modern Como in northern Italy 
a library, an endowment for a school, another endowment for poor 
children, and a temple to Ceres. Provided with spacious colon- 
nades, this temple 
was especially for 
the use of traders 
while attending the 
great fair held in his 
town. The most 
magnificent giver of 
the age was He- 
ro'des At'ti-cus, a 
Greek. He built 
public works in many 
towns in Italy, and 
in most of those of 
Greece. In Athens, 
his birthplace, he 
revelled in entertain- 
ing the citizens and in building. There are still standing the ruins 
of his Odeum, a music hall which seated six thousand persons. 
These men are cited merely as examples of liberality. Every city 
and town had its generous patrons, who spent their fortunes on 
their communities. In giving and in building the age is unparal- 
leled in history. 

But these wonderful activities are not a sign of unusual wealth 
or prosperity. It was simply that the spirit of giving and build- 
ing had seized the civilized world, just as, for instance, at a certain 
epoch of the Middle Ages the crusading spirit seized all western 
Europe. The empire under Hadrian and the Antonines was pros- 
perous in appearance only. Inwardly the whole civilized world 
was falling to decay. The mind had nearly lost its power of 
invention; the body fell an easy prey to pestilence. The number 
of inhabitants was rapidly decreasing. The military spirit had 

2K 




ODEUM OF HERODES ATTICUS 
(Athens ; from a photograph) 



498 



The Five Good Emperors 



so declined that Marcus Aurelius had been compelled to enlist 
slaves and gladiators for the defence of the frontier. He intro- 
duced, too, the policy of employing Germans on a large scale in 




PROCESS OF BUILDING 
(Relief from the Tomb of the Haterii ; Lateran Museum, Rome) 

military service. 1 As the precious metals were disappearing, he 
had to debase the silver coinage with thirty per cent of copper. 
But these symptoms of decay passed unnoticed at the time. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write a summary of this chapter like that on p. 444. 2. Make a list 
of all the important acquisitions of Rome between 241 B.C. and 117 A.D., 
giving date and location of each (cf. the maps). 3. What countries were 

1 556. 



Decline 499 

civilized before they came under Roman rule? What countries were bar- 
barous? What kind of civilization did Rome give the conquered barbari- 
ans? 4. What were the causes of the good feeling of this period (96-180) ? 
5. Why did Hadrian take more interest in the provinces than in Rome 
and Italy? 6. What evidences of decline were appearing in this age? 
7. What new form of art was introduced in this period? Compare Hadri- 
an's portrait with that of Vespasian with reference to the degree of real- 
ism in these two types. 

Note-book Topics 

I. The Provinces under the Antonines. Munro, Source Book of Roman 
History, 217-237 ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, i. ch. ii; 
Duruy, History of Rome, vi. ch. Ixxiv. A careful examination of conditions 
shows the existence of less prosperity than either Gibbon or Duruy supposed. 

II. Hadrian's Travels. Botsford, Story of Rome, 295-299 ; Jones, 
Roman Empire, 179-185; Capes, Age of the Antonines, 55-62; Duruy, v. 
344-390. 

III. Roman Architecture. Hamlin, History of Architecture, chs. viii, 
ix ; Anderson and Spiers, Architecture of Greece and Rome, especially chs. 
ix-xiii ; Sturgis, History of Architecture, i. bk. v. chs. iii-v. 

IV. Roman Sculpture. Marquand and Frothingham, History of Sculp- 
ture, ch. xiii ; Gardner, Handbook of Greek Sculpture, ch. vi ; Strong, Roman 
Sculpture from Augustus to Constantine. 

Topics III, IV are not restricted to a special period. 



CHAPTER XLI 



A CENTURY OF REVOLUTION 
THE SOLDIER EMPERORS 

180-284 A.D. 

531. Commodus; the Rule of the Pretorian Guard (180-193 
A.D.). Com'mo-dus, the son and successor of Aurelius, was a 

weak-minded young man, easily mis- 
led by vile companions. While he 
pursued base pleasures and fought 
wild beasts in the amphitheatre, the 
empire visibly declined. The soldiers 
lost discipline along with their respect 
for their ruler. The provinces were 
misgoverned, and the capital was at 
the mercy of the pretorians, who were 
no longer under control. After twelve 
years of such government, at once 
weak and savage, Commodus was 
murdered. The pretorian guard, es- 
tablished for the security of the 
prince, 1 had now grown into a large 
standing army. Gradually discover- 
ing their own importance, these troops 
lost discipline, and became haughty 
and violent. They overawed the sen- 
ate; they terrorized Rome; and the 
emperor was at their mercy. Pam- 
pered especially by Commodus, they 
murdered his successor, and then sold 
the vacant office to the highest bidder. 

1 502. 
500 




ROMAN LEGIONARY 
(Relief on Trajan's Column; from 
Schreiber, Atlas of Classical Antiqui- 
ties) 



Septimius Severus 



When news of this disgraceful event reached the soldiers on the 

frontier, it made them indignant, for the emperor was their general, 

and they were the primary source of his power. Accordingly the 

armies in Syria, on the Danube, and in Britain nominated their 

own commanders to the 

office of emperor, and each 

prepared to enforce its will 

by arms. Sep-tim'i-us 

Seve'rus, commander on the 

Danube and nearest to 

Rome, won the prize. 

532. Septimius Severus 
(193-211); Caracalla (211- 
217 A.D.). Severus was a, 
firm, clear-headed man who 
knew well the needs of the 
empire. He restored order 
in Rome, conquered and 
killed his rivals for the 
throne, and humbled foreign 
enemies. As his authority 
rested upon the armies, he 
did not hesitate to slight the 
senate. Under him, there- 
fore, this body lost much of 
the influence it had enjoyed 
in the preceding period; in fact, his reign marks an_iniportant 
step in the direction of absolute monarchy. His policy was 
supported by the lawyers who formed his council. Pa-pin'i-an, 
the ablest of Roman jurists, lived at this time, and held the office of 
pretorian prefect. Ul'pi-an was scarcely less eminent. Through 
them and their associates Roman law reached the height of de- 
velopment. 

The legislation of these great jurists benefited the whole empire ; 
for even before the death of Severus most of the provincials were 
Roman citizens under the protection of Roman law. This emperor 
aimed to place the provinces on a level with Italy. Julius Caesar 




SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS 
(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 



5 02 



A Century of Revolution 



had begun the policy of granting the citizenship freely to the pro- 
vincials; and though Augustus preferred to keep the provinces 
inferior to Italy, Claudius zealously followed in the footsteps of 




TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS 
(From a photograph) 

Julius. The rulers after Claudius continued his liberal policy till, 
at the death of Severus, few non-citizens remained. Car-a-cal'la, 
son and successor of Severus, completed the work of centuries by 
making all the freemen of good standing in the empire Romans 1 
(212 A.D.). Under Severus, however, military service and special 
taxes on citizens had grown oppressive ; and the men whom Cara- 

1 Those excluded from the benefit were the inferior class termed dediticii (the "sur- 
rendered"), who consisted (i) of barbarians who having surrendered had been settled 
in the empire, (2) of freedmen who had committed crime. 



Alexander Severus 503 

calla made Romans had to take upon themselves the burdens of 
citizenship in addition to those they had borne as subjects. Thus 
the benefit was offset by disadvantages. In fact, the author of the 
reform cared only for his soldiers ; toward all others he was reck- 
lessly brutal. He, too, was murdered. 

533. Alexander Severus (222-235 A.D.) 5 the New Persian Empire. 
Passing by two emperors L of little importance, we come to Alex- 
ander Severus, an amiable youth and of excellent character. Not 
only in his respect for the senate, but also in his patronage of edu- 
cation, in his attention to the needs of the poor, and in his mildness 
and justice, Alexander was a faint imitation of the good emperors. 
He was too weak, however, to maintain discipline among the sol- 
diers or to defend the empire. 

In his reign a new danger to the Roman world arose in the East. 
From the time of Trajan the Parthian empire had declined. The 
Persians, still a vigorous race, asserted their independence, and in 
227 A.D. Ar-tax-erx'es, their king, overthrew the Parthian monarch 
and made the empire Persian. He was eager for conquests, and 
his talent for organization gave him a military power which the 
East had not possessed for many generations. Ordered to give up 
his Asiatic provinces to this haughty king, Alexander Severus went 
to war, but was disgracefully beaten. Henceforth the Persian em- 
pire threatened Rome; it compelled her to weaken the northern 
defences in order to mass troops on the Euphrates, at a time when 
the German races were threatening invasion. 

After his conflict with Persia, Alexander took the field against the 
Germans on the Rhine. There he was murdered by his soldiers. 
The pretorian guard had already killed Ulpian, their prefect, and 
were terrorizing the government as well as the residents of Rome. 
Thus a reign, in some respects happy, ended in failure, a pleasant 
twilight before a period of gloom. 

534. Drifting into Anarchy (235-284 A.D.). During the half- 
century which followed the death of Alexander, the government 
suffered continual violence, as emperors rapidly rose an<d fell. 
Sometimes two colleagues shared in harmony the imperial office ; 
more frequently, rivals for the throne involved the empire in civil 

1 Ma-cri'nus (217-218) and El-a-gab'a-lus (218-222 B.C.\ 



504 A Century of Revolution 

war ; rarely did a wearer of the purple die a natural death. About 
the middle of this .period of confusion the empire seemed to be fall- 
ing to fragments; each army nominated its commander to the 
highest office, and these rival pretenders, wrongly numbered and 
misnamed the " Thirty Tyrants," brought the Roman world to 
anarchy. 

While civil war wasted the empire and drew the armies from the 
frontier, the enemies of Rome met with their first real success in 
assailing her. On the north the Goths, a German race, after plun- 
dering Moe'si-a and Macedonia, defeated and killed the emperor 
Decius (268 A.D.). At nearly the same time their western kinsmen, 
the Franks on the lower Rhine, pushed across the boundary and 
desolated Gaul and Spain. Soon afterward, King Sa'por, the ener- 
getic son of Artaxerxes, took the emperor Va-le'ri-an captive. The 
civilized world seemed defenceless. The Al-e-man'ni, of Germanic 
race, flung themselves upon northern Italy, and in combination with 
them a vast horde of Goths, including women and children, crossed 
the Danube to seek homes within the provinces. Fortunately at 
this crisis Rome found an able ruler in Marcus Aurelius Claudius 
(268-270 A.D.), who drove back the Alemanni and destroyed the 
invading host of Goths. 

535. Aurelian Emperor (270-275 A.D.). His successor, Au-re'- 
li-an, withdrew the last garrisons from Dacia, which he gave over 
to the Vis'i-goths 1 and brought the boundary once more to the 
Danube. This was the first territory lost to the empire. As the 
barbarians began to threaten the capital itself, he surrounded it 
with a wall, which is still standing, a magnificent work, yet a 
monument of the weakness and decay of Rome. Two great frag- 
ments had recently broken from the empire : in the East, Queen 
Ze-no'bi-a, from her splendid court in Pal-my'ra, ruled Syria, 
Egypt, and a large part of Asia Minor. In the West, the senator 
Tet'ri-cus was emperor of Gaul, Britain, and northern Spain. Au- 
relian conquered and destroyed Palmyra, and took Zenobia captive. 
Afterward he received the surrender of Tetricus. Thus he restored 
the unity of the empire ; and by wars with the Germans he rees- 
tablished the Rhine and the Danube as the northern boundary, 

1 556. 



Aurelian 505 

Probably no other Roman general ever accomplished so much in 
so short a time. He is the best example of the soldier emperors of 
the half-century which followed the death of Alexander Severus. 
Most of them were natives of Illyricum and its neighborhood, and 
hence are called Illyrian emperors. As the people of that region 
were now largely German, they showed a more intense military 




THE WALL OF AURELIAN 
(From a photograph) 

spirit than could be found anywhere else in the empire. Growing 
up in this environment, the Illyrian emperors were men of military 
spirit and ability, who passed their time in camp, on the march, 
and on the field of battle. Their reigns were short ; most of them 
were killed either by the enemy or by their own troops. 

Aurelian showed great energy, not only in war, but in government. 
Simple and frugal in his personal habits, in public he appeared like 
an Oriental despot, surrounded with grand ceremony and requir- 
ing his subjects to worship him as a " Lord and God," who brooked 
no interference from his senate. But before he could reform the 
government according to these new ideas, his life was cut short by 



506 A Century of Revolution 

an assassin. The army and people honored him after his death as 
one who had been a worthy ruler. His death was followed by 
several short reigns, which require no special notice here. 

Summary 

(i) The hidden weakness of the empire under Marcus Aurelius came to 
light during the reign of his son. (2) Septimius Severus attempted to re- 
store order chiefly by strengthening the army ; (3) but the weakness of the 
imperial office, together with the enlistment of barbarians in the army, 
brought the empire into anarchy. (4) The confusion was increased by 
German invasions. (5) Aurelian reestablished the unity of the empire, 
and pointed the way to reform. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. What new causes of decline were added in the period covered by this 
chapter? 2. Write a brief history of the extension of Roman citizenship 
from the earliest times to the edict of Caracalla. 3. What was the r^al 
power at Rome in the period of the Good Emperors? What came to be in 
this period? 4. Compare the century of revolution treated of in this chap- 
ter with the century of revolution from republic to principate, explaining the 
tendencies, methods, and results of each. 5. Give an account of the rela- 
tions between the prince, or emperor, and the senate from Augustus to Au- 
relian. 6. Compare the portrait of Septimius Severus with that of Hadrian. 

7. Describe the equipment of the Roman legionary of this period (p. 500). 

8. Compare the Wall of Aurelian (p. 505) with the so-called Servian Wall 
(P- 354). 

Note-book Topics 

I. Septimius Severus. Jones, Roman Empire, 236-254; Gibbon, 
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, i. ch. v ; Duruy, History of Rome, vi. 
476-S77J see Indices of other histories. 

II. Zenobia. See Indices of the larger histories of Rome. 



CHAPTER XLII 
THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY 

284-375 A.D. 

I. POLITICAL HISTORY 

536. Diocletian (284-305 A.D.) ; August!, Caesars, and Pretorian 
Prefects. Di-o-cle'ti-an was a native of Dalmatia, a province 
full of martial spirit. The son of a freedman, he entered the army 
as a common soldier, and made his way to the imperial office by 
genius and force of will. As a statesman his great achievement was 
to embody in a new organization of the empire the spirit of the past 
century of revolution. 

He first chose as colleague Max-im'i-an, a rough but able soldier. 
For purposes of administration and military defence they divided 
the Roman world between them, Diocletian taking the East and 
his colleague the West. We are not to suppose that this act meant 
the creation of two separate empires. There was but one empire, 
as before ; and though each colleague bore the title Augustus, as had 
been the case under Marcus Aurelius, 1 Diocletian remained the real 
head of the government. Later two Caesars, Ga-le'ri-us and Con- 
stan'ti-us Chlo'rus, were appointed as aids and heirs of the Augusti. 
The Caesars had to be experienced generals, as they were assigned 
the most exposed and most difficult posts on the frontier. Each of 
these four great magistrates had a pretorian prefect as lieutenant. 
The object of the whole arrangement is clear. In the first place, 
the frontier was far too extended for one commander to defend; 
and any^general intrusted with a great army at a distance from the 
emperor was sure to become a rival and enemy of the latter, unless 
he was already a colleague or an heir. Furthermore, the death of 
an emperor by natural causes or violence had frequently plunged 

1 527- 
507 



508 The Absolute Monarchy 

the Roman world into civil war among rivals for the throne. 
Under the new arrangement the empire could never be left head- 
less or without legal heirs to the throne. Thus the temptation to 
kill an emperor was greatly diminished. 

537. The Provinces, Dioceses, and Prefectures. Augustus had 
begun the policy of dividing the greater provinces into two or 
more smaller ones. The object was in part to cut down the power 
of the great governors. Diocletian, and after him Constantine, 
continued the process till the empire consisted of more than a hun- 
dred small provinces, whose governors were correspondingly unim- 
portant. These little districts were grouped in thirteen large 
territories termed dioceses. They were to be rulei by the four 
pretorian prefects. As a prefect could govern directly but one dio- 
cese, the remaining nine were assigned to vi-ca'ri-i, who ruled in the 
place of the prefects. 1 The few provincial governors who had the 
title proconsul, and were superior to the rest in importance, were 
directly under the emperor ; every other governor obeyed the head 
of his diocese, whether a vicarius or a prefect. Though the vicarius 
was inferior in dignity to the prefect, he was subordinate only to 
the Augustus. These intricate relations among the high officials 
served as a check on their power. 

538. The Bureaucratic System. The civil service, brought to a 
high degree of perfection by Hadrian, 2 continued to expand. Dio- 
cletian and Constantine multiplied the number of offices. Every 
magistrate, from the lowest provincial governor to the emperor, had 
his body of officials, who differed from one another in dignity and 
rank. The court of an Augustus comprised a great host of such 
officers. He needed, too, an army of imperial agents to keep the 
central power in touch with all the local authorities. An intricate 
system, consisting of many classes and ranks of officers, one sub- 
ordinate to another, is called a bureaucracy. This official ma- 
chinery worked so well that the government generally went on 
smoothly, even under weak or vicious emperors. Through it the 
emperor made himself absolute independent of all other powers 

1 Some time after the death of Constantine the dioceses were definitely grouped in 
four prefectures, each governed by a prefect. 

2 507, 525. 



THE ROMAN EMPIRE 




DIOCLETIAN and CONSTANTINE 



SCALE OF MILES 



The Bureaucracy 509 

in the state. At the same time, it enabled him to undertake in 
detail the government of the provinces, and even of the towns. In 
other words, through the creation of a bureaucracy the emperor 
had transformed the aggregate of communities which originally 
made up the empire l into a strongly centralized state, such as is 
France to-day, and such as the United States is becoming. 

Corresponding with the civil magistrates we find in the army 
masters of troops, dukes, and lesser officers. The title " count " 
applied to the holder of any great office in war or peace. The 
higher civil and military places gave their holders the only nobility 
existing. The three chief grades of nobility from lower to 
_e the Worshipful, the Honorable, and the Right Honor- 
able. 2 i;-. army, long composed largely of Germans, 3 had at- 
tempted to degrade the emperor to the condition of a temporary 
war chief ; for these barbarians were acquainted with no other kind 
of leadership. 4 To counteract their influence, Aurelian had adopted 
the Oriental idea of monarchy. This example was followed by 
Diocletian and his successors. In the new system the emperor 
was proprietor of the state ; his citizens were slaves. He wore a 
crown and a silken robe which sparkled with jewels and gold. He 
claimed to be a god, and compelled his subjects to prostrate them- 
selves before him. By these means the imperial office was saved 
from destruction at the hands of the German barbarians. 

539. Failure of Diocletian's Plans ; Constantine Emperor (306- 
337 A.D.). The empire was enjoying peace and good order in 305 
A.D., when Diocletian resigned his authority and compelled Max- 
imian, his colleague, to do the same. Immediately the new system 
proved defective in the provision for the succession. It became 
clear, too, that the senior Augustus lacked the means of holding 
his colleague and the heirs to their respective duties. On the re- 
tirement of Diocletian and Maximian, the two Caesars, Constantius 
and Galerius, became Augusti, and new Caesars, relatively ob- 
scure persons, were appointed. But after the death of Constan- 
tius in Britain, 306, his soldiers raised his son Constantine to the 
rank of Augustus, ignoring the legal heir. At Rome Maxentius, 

1 485. 2 Clarissimi, Spectabiles, and Illustres. 

3 53. 556- 4 For an explanation of these matters, see the next chapter. 



5 10 



The Absolute Monarchy 



son of the retired emperor Maximian, was created Augustus by the 
guards in the city. Two or three other Augusti arose, and alto- 
gether the government fell into dire confusion. In 312 Constantine 
marched against Maxentius, and overthrew his army at the Milvian 

Bridge outside Rome. In the battle 
Maxentius was drowned in the Tiber, 
leaving Constantine master of the 
West. Galerius had died, and in 3 13 a 
certain Licinius became sole Augustus 
in the East. A few years afterward 
Constantine went to war against his 
colleague, defeated him (323), put him 
to death, and thus became sole em- 
peror. His reign was marked by two 
important events the public recogni- 
tion of Christianity, and the selection 
of Byzantium as the capital of the 
empire. The growth of Christianity 
from its origin to the death of Con- 
stantine will be reviewed in the second 
section of this chapter. 

During the frontier wars of the third 
century, Rome had practically ceased 
to be the capital, as the emperors had 
to live in camp on the frontier. Con- 
stantine chose Byzantium as his abode, and named it Constanti- 
nople after himself. It was admirably situated for commerce, and 
was much nearer than Rome to the frontiers of the Danube and the 
Euphrates, which especially needed defence. The Latin West and 
the Hellenic East were drifting apart. The eastern half of the 
empire was still richer and more densely peopled than the other. 
The change of capital looked to the preservation of the East at the 
expense of the West. 

540. From the Death of Constantine to the Death of Valentinian 
(337-375 A -D.). ~ Constantine was followed by his three sons, who, 
though Christian in name, were treacherous and savage. They 
massacred nearly all their kinsmen to rid themselves of possible 




CONSTANTINE 
(Lateran Museum, Rome) 



Successors of Constantine 511 

rivals, and then turned against one another. One was killed by a 
brother's hand ; another by a usurper ; and while the third devoted 
himself to theology, the Persians, the Franks, and the Alemanhi 
invaded the empire. His cousin Ju'li-an, leaving his philosophic 
studies at Athens, took command injGaul, and routed the Alemanni 
in a great battle at Strass'burg. He drove the barbarians from the 
province, and strengthened the frontier defences. The philosopher, 
who thus proved his ability to rule, became sole emperor on the 
death of his cousin. Disgusted with the character of his Christian 
kinsmen, he became a pagan, and strove to suppress Christianity. 
For this reason he is called an apostate. He refrained from per- 
secution, however, and his mild efforts to restore the gods of the 
old world failed. He was still a young man when, after a brilliant 
campaign against the Persians, he was killed by an arrow of the 
enemy. In him the empire lost an able ruler and defender. 

In the year after Julian's death, the army made Val-en-tin'i-an 
emperor. Ferocious in temper, yet strong and just, he was well 
adapted to command the imperial troops, most of whom were now 
barbarians. Through the eleven years of his reign he maintained 
the hard-pressed frontiers of Britain and Gaul, and even crossed 
the Rhine to chastise the Alemanni in their own country. He 
spent most of his time in the West, whereas the East was ruled by 
his brother Va'lens, a man of little worth. As long, however, as 
Valentinian lived, the empire remained intact. After his death its 
history is chiefly concerned with the invasions and settlements of 
barbarians. Before coming to this subject, however, it is neces- 
sary to consider (i) the early history of Christianity, (2) the general 
causes of the decline of the empire. 



II. HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY TO THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE 

541. Origin and Character of Christianity. The early history 
of Christianity is to be learned from the books of the New Testa- 
ment. 1 The Gospels narrate the life and teachings of Christ. The 
book entitled Acts of the Apostles gives an account of the lives and 

X s8. 



512 



The Absolute Monarchy 



teachings of those whom he appointed to continue his work after 
him, and of the origin of the earliest churches. The Epistles are 
letters written by St. Paul and others to the various churches to 

explain Christianity and to 
encourage men to accept it 
and live up to the faith. 
Everywhere the lower 
classes welcomed a religion 
which esteemed the soul of 
the slave equal to that of 
the emperor. It taught fur- 
ther that in Christ man was 
so united with God as to 
receive from him wisdom and 
strength for meeting every 
emergency of life. The be- 
liever felt that his sins were 
forgiven and that he had 
become an heir to eternal 
happiness. In giving this 
positive assurance of pardon 
and immortality, Christi- 




MARY AND THE INFANT JESUS 
(About 200 A.D. earliest known Madonna and 
Child. Isaiah pointing to the new star. Catacombs 
of St. Priscilla; pen drawing by Miss Katherine 
Fuertes) 



anity satisfied a spiritual 
craving which had come 
upon the world. 

542. Relation of Christianity to the Empire ; Persecutions. - 
During the first century of our era the followers of Christ attracted 
little attention. The government, which protected the public wor- 
ship of all peoples within the empire and adopted many of their 
gods as its own, included the Christians with the Jews. For that 
reason it tolerated them. In the second century, as the sect grew 
more numerous and powerful, it was felt to be a disturbance to the 
peace and happiness of society. Unlike the Romans, the Chris- 
tians were intolerant of all other forms of religion, and exceedingly 
aggressive in making converts; for they were under a command 
to bring the whole world into their faith. As all social festivities 
were religious, they could not associate with others in such pleas- 



Causes of Persecution 513 

ures, for they had to keep themselves free from idolatry. Hence 
they came to be thought of as " haters of mankind." In like man- 
ner their refusal to worship the Genius 1 of the emperor was naturally 
construed as impiety and treason. The government, always sus- 
picious of secret meetings, could see nothing but danger to the 
public peace in those of the Christians, whose Church was in fact 
becoming a great secret society, with branches in every city and 
town. Their pagan neighbors insisted, on mere rumor, that they 
were guilty of gross immorality and feasted on children! This 
superstitious hatred excited the belief that famine, pestilence, and 
other calamities were sent by the gods in their indignation at the 
Christians. They were assailed by mobs and falsely accused before 
the officials. Some of the princes, looking upon them as vile, law- 
less wretches, ordered the officials to punish with imprisonment, 
torture, and death those who refused to give up their faith. In 
Church history the execution of these commands is termed perse- 
cution. The most conscientious emperors, for example, Marcus 
Aurelius, were often the most active persecutors. There were 
periods of persecution broken by intervals of comparative quiet. 
They were most severe toward the end of the third and in the 
beginning of the fourth century. Through all these tribulations 
the Church grew rapidly in numbers and strength. The world had 
long been without ideals a want of which the founder of the new 
religion supplied. It was the spiritual and moral force of his per- 
sonality which gave energy to the Church and a new vitality to 
the world. 

543. Organization of the Church. The Church was strong not 
only in spirit, but also in organization ; in this feature it imitated 
the state. In the beginning each society of worshippers was in- 
dependent. It had its officers : deacons, who cared for the poor ; 
elders or presbyters, who instructed the congregation in religion, 
and who in council looked after its interests ; and an overseer or 
bishop who was chief of the presbyters. In time, as the Church of 
a city sent out branches to neighboring towns and rural districts, 
the bishop of the parent community came to have authority over 
a group of congregations. In various other ways a large church 

1 504- 

2L 



5 14 The Absolute Monarchy 

gained control of many small ones. Again, among the bishops of 
the age of Constantine some differences of rank and of influence 
began to appear. The bishops of the provincial capitals acquired 
authority over those of the less important cities, while those of 
Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and one or two other great cities 
were held in still higher honor. Those in authority over provinces 
were archbishops or metropolitans, whereas the still higher officials 
were generally called patriarchs. For the one at Rome the term 
pope * came to be preferred. The government of the Church in 
the time of Constantine was democratic in that freemen and even 
slaves might rise to the highest offices. It was already tending to 
unity under one head; and though never losing the democratic 
quality here mentioned, it became in time a strongly centralized 
monarchy. 

544. Official Recognition of Christianity. After a severe per- 
secution extending through several years the emperor Galerius 
issued an edict of complete toleration for the Christians, contain- 
ing a request for their prayers in his behalf (311). In some parts 
of the empire, however, persecutions continued. Constantius 
Chlorus, though a pagan, had treated the Christians under his rule 
with great mildness, and his son Constantine was equally favorable 
to them. In fact, Christian ideas were creeping into Constantine's 
religion and mingling with his paganism. 

Faith in the supernatural had greatly increased since the time of 
Augustus. In the fourth century all people, whether pagan or 
Christian, believed in the direct interference of supernatural powers 
in human affairs. Constantine noticed that the Christians had 
prospered through all their tribulations, and that their persecutors 
had suffered in various ways. Thus he concluded that Christ was 
a mightier power to aid than any combination of pagan gods. 
This consideration induced him, before the battle at the Milvian 
Bridge, 2 to put the monogram of Christ >g on the shields of his 
soldiers. It was a piece of magic to secure the help of the mighty 

The word pope (Latin papa, father) was for a time applied to other bishops as well, 
and to common priests. It was not till the eleventh century that the title came to be 
restricted to the bishop of Rome. 
2 539- 



The Council of Nicaea 515 

God of the Christians. The result of the experiment surpassed all 
hope. To assure himself of the same aid for the future, the victor 
became a Christian. One of his first acts after the battle was to 
free the Christian churches from taxation and to grant them sup- 
port from the imperial treasury. In this way he placed Christian- 
ity on a level with the other forms of worship recognized by the 
state. To bring about the practical toleration of the Christians it 
was only necessary to enforce the edict of Galerius. 1 While Con- 
stantine accepted Christianity and favored it more than paganism, 
he still believed in the existence of the old gods, and continued to 
consult them through divination. 

545. The Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.). Meantime a Christian 
theology was growing up. The teachings of Christ are simple, as 
every one will find who reads the Gospels. They contain no creed. 
For a time after his death his followers thought and spoke mainly 
of the personal tie which bound them to their Saviour. Not 
satisfied merely with believing, some of them attempted to explain- 
the nature of their belief and the relation of one part of it to an- 
other. This is especially true of the Greek philosophers who had 
accepted the faith. In their effort to explain and systematize 
Christianity they brought their philosophy into it. Many ideas, 
too, were introduced from Roman law. They gradually built upon 
the original simple faith an intricate theology, full of fine distinc- 
tions which none but themselves could understand. Differing from 
one another, they created opposing doctrines. Each believed his 
own view to be the only truth, the only way of salvation, whereas 
those who differed were heretics and under the wrath of God. In 
the time of Constantine there were already elaborate theologies 
and wide differences between one sect and another. The chief 
controversy was that between two church officials of Egypt - 
Ath-an-a'si-us and A-ri'us concerning the nature of Christ. 
Although both admitted that he was the Son of God, Arius main- 
tained that the Son was by nature inferior to the Father. Athana- 

1 Scholars now believe the story of Constantine's dream before the battle to have been 
invented at a later time. This, however, is a mere trifle ; there can be no doubt as to 
his experiment with Christianity. Scholars are strongly of the opinion, further, that 
there was no "Edict of Milan" granting toleration to the Christians; in fact, no new 
edict was necessary. 



5i 6 The Absolute Monarchy 

sius, on the other hand, asserted absolute equality between the 
Son and Father. In order to strengthen the Church by securing 
uniformity of belief on this as well as on other points, Constantine 
called a council of bishops from all parts of the world to meet at 
Ni-cae'a, a city in northwestern Asia Minor, to settle the disputes 
and to decide upon a creed which all should accept. By adopting 
the view of Athanasius, the council made it orthodox, whereas 
that of his opponent became a heresy. The West readily accepted 
the Nicene Creed, as this decision is called; and in this manner 
it has come down to the Roman Catholic Church and to most of 
the Protestant denominations of to-day; but Arianism continued 
widespread in the East and among the Germans. The council of 
Nicaea was the first gathering which professed to represent the 
entire Christian world. The institution of such a general council, 
to meet as occasion demanded, added greatly to the power of the 
Church in its conflict with paganism. 

Suggestive Questions 

i. Write summaries of the two parts of this chapter like that on p. 444. 
2. Give four or five reasons why the government of the empire, as Diocletian 
found it, was too simple to meet the needs of the time. 3. What can be said 
in justification of Diocletian's despotism? 4. What are the advantages and 
the disadvantages of a bureaucracy? 5. Under the new system, was the 
emperor the real ruler, or was he at the mercy of his officials? 6. What 
other religions, besides Christianity, arose among the Semites? Who were 
St. Peter and St. Paul? Who were the Apostles? 7. What conditions in 
the Roman Empire favored the extension and acceptance of Christianity? 
8. Why had the Christians less religious tolerance than the Romans? 
Were the Christians blameworthy in this respect, or the contrary? 9. In 
what respects did the Christians violate long-established custom? 

Note-book Topics 

I. Christianity and the Empire. Botsford, Story of Rome, 294 f . ; Munro, 
Source-Book of Roman History, 163-178; Robinson, Readings, i. 21-27; 
Allen, Christian Institutions, ch. ii (Apostles, Prophets, Teachers) ; Sohm, 
Outlines of Church History, ch. i (Persecutions) ; Davis, Roman Empire, ch. 
iv; Duruy, History of Rome, v. ch. Ixxxvii. 6 ; vi. ch. xc ; vii. 472-520. 

II. Constantine. Gwatkin, Selections from the Early Christian Writers, 
171-177; Jones, Roman Empire, 362-396; Duruy, vii. chs. ci, cii; Firth, 
Constantine. 



CHAPTER XLIII* 
CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE 

546. The Decline in Mental Energy. Even in the great age of 
prosperity described in the chapter on the Good Emperors, the 
life of the Mediterranean people showed signs of weakening. There 
had already set in a decay which was to bring the world back to 
semi-barbarism. The decline was primarily in mental strength. 
This loss of mentality was due in great part to the decline of the 
Greek city-states and the building up of an empire. If the city- 
states, acting upon one another, and influenced by the surround- 
ing world, produced the strong, brilliant minds of the Greeks, the 
decay of this political and social system must have had the opposite 
effect. Imperial government repressed freedom and discouraged 
thought. The Roman empire completed the ruin which the empire 
of Alexander had begun. The long, profound peace secured by 
Rome for the Mediterranean world promoted the soft, gentle vir- 
tues of mercy and love ' but it repressed the heroic virtues, such as 
bravery, will power, physical and mental strength, and ambition. 
The inhabitants of the empire felt that there was but one state on 
earth; they called it "the world." There was no international 
competition in war or diplomacy or in trade nothing from the 
outside to stimulate. The result was sluggishness. During the 
imperial period little progress was made in literature, art, or science. 
The knowledge which the world possessed stored up in books was 
gradually lost, and mankind lapsed therefore into ignorance and 
semi-barbarism. 

547. Depopulation ; Slavery. Another cause of decline was 
depopulation. The reason why the people continually became 
fewer is to be found chiefly in the growth of city life already men- 
tioned. It is well known that city people as a rule have less vitality 



518 Causes of the Decline of the Empire 

than those of the country, that the population of a city tends to 
die out unless it is constantly recruited from the country. 1 Gen- 
erally city people, too, insist on more comforts and luxuries that 
is, they have a higher standard of living than those of the coun- 
try. Again in the country it costs little to rear children, and at 
an early age they are put to work, so that they actually become 
profitable ; whereas in the city the cost of bringing them up is far 
greater, and there is little opportunity for them to work. For 
these reasons city people are less inclined to marry and to bring up 
large families than those of the country. To the inhabitants of 
the Roman empire this cause proved more destructive even than 
pestilence. 

The depopulation was hastened by slavery. During the great 
conquests captives were sold as slaves, so that they came to be 
very cheap. Senators and knights bought up vast tracts of land 
(Latin lat-i-fund'i-a, "broad estates "), which they worked by slave 
labor. The peasant proprietors, unable to compete, sold their 
small farms or were forcibly ejected by wealthy neighbors. Com- 
ing into the cities, these country people could find little work, for 
the skilled industries, too, were carried on mostly by slaves. The 
mercantile and other business was largely in the hands of knights 
and freedmen. Being, therefore, without a livelihood, the poor 
could not support families to supply the state with soldiers and 
citizens. In the later empire, as we shall soon learn in more detail, 
oppressive taxation reduced the masses to misery and despair. 
There is evidence that in the first two centuries of our era the 
population of the city of Rome fell off more than one half. Doubt- 
less for the empire as a whole the decrease was considerably greater. 

548. The Collapse of the Money System. Under the principate 
there was little mining of precious metals, so that the amount of 
gold and silver in the empire was not materially increased. On 
the other hand the precious metals were constantly being used in 
the arts, stored up as offerings in temples, and hoarded by private 
persons. A greater drain on the currency was caused by the con- 
stant exportation of vast sums to Arabia, India, and China in ex- 

^ Through recent sanitary improvements, however, cities are now generally free from 
this law of decay. 



Economic Causes 519 

change for silks, spices, perfumes, and other luxuries. Little of the 
gold and silver sent to the Far East ever returned. As a result 
the amount of money in circulation became smaller every year. The 
princes could think of no other remedy than that of making the 
coins lighter, and of debasing the silver pieces by mixing copper 
with that metal. The amount of alloy was increased so rapidly 
that in the middle of the third century A.D. the pieces which had 
once been silver, and were still so in name, had come to be nearly 
all copper. A piece which in the time of Augustus was worth forty 
cents came to be worth about one cent. It is a well-known fact 
that a baser metal, when coined in unlimited quantities, and at a 
lower value than that of the market, drives all other metals from 
circulation ; for a man will not pay a debt in good gold when the 
law allows the use of cheap copper for the purpose. The result 
was that the issue of pale-copper coins stopped the circulation of 
all gold and silver money. But coins of the value of one cent will 
not alone suffice for the business of an empire. 

549. Taxation under Diocletian and Constantine. The effect 
of this want of money on the government, and through it on society, 
is still more remarkable. We must notice first that the cost of 
maintaining the government had become many times as great 
under Diocletian as it had been under Augustus: (i) because of an 
increase in the number of soldiers and in their pay; and more 
especially (2) because of the enormous increase in the number of 
magistrates; and (3) because of the increased splendor and extrava- 
gance of the emperors and their higher officials. But as the coin- 
age depreciated, the taxes in money came to be almost worthless. 
The government had to resort therefore to taxes in kind grain, 
meat, cloth, leather, iron, and other products. The heavy poll 
tax, thereafter imposed on laborers, both men and women, dis- 
couraged the poor from rearing children. The unjust land tax 
forced many peasant proprietors to give up their good fields and 
settle on sterile mountain land in order to lighten their burden. 
Hence the soil of the empire constantly became less productive; 
and this decline further hastened the depopulation. 

The great lord still derived profit from his land, (i) because his 
tax was proportionately lighter; (2) because he was powerful enough 



520 Causes of the Decline of the Empire 

to shirk the payment of taxes. But the field of the peasant became 
worse than worthless to the owner. 

550. Hereditary Social Classes. We are now in a position to 
understand how it was that in the late empire society came to be 
organized in a system of hereditary classes, which enslaved the 
minds and bodies of the multitude and thus completed the wreck 
of ancient civilization. One of the chief tasks of the government 
had long been to supply Rome, afterward Constantinople as well, 
with food. The people who attended to this work were chiefly the 
grain-merchants, bakers, cattle-dealers, and swine-dealers. They 
were organized in guilds, which were given privileges to attract as 
many as possible. There were plenty of merchants till Diocletian 
ordered them to take upon themselves without pay the transporta- 
tion of all government property, including the taxes in kind. As 
this new burden seemed too great to bear, many tried to forsake 
their occupation, whereupon he ordered them to continue in it, 
and their sons after them. For similar reasons all the guilds be- 
came hereditary that their members might be compelled to do their 
duty to the state. Nothing could be more destructive to liberty 
than such an arrangement. The jealous eyes of the association 
were always upon each member to see that he bore without shirk- 
ing his part of the common burden. The tyranny of guild rule was 
more galling than that of the most despotic king. 

551. The Curiales; Military and Civil Service. How the sys- 
tem of taxation made membership of the curia hereditary must 
next be explained. The curiales, as stated above, 1 were wealthy 
men. To insure the collection of taxes the emperor made them 
responsible for the amount due from their city. In case they 
failed to collect any part of the tax imposed, they had to make good 
the deficiency from their own estates. But their burden in provid- 
ing for the needs of their own community was heavy enough. 
When, therefore, this additional load was placed on their shoulders, 
many wished to retire into private life. The emperor then made 
the position hereditary, and required all who owned above twenty- 
five acres to accept and retain the place for life. If a man went 
to another city, he was liable to curial service in both. The office 

I. sis- 



Social Classes 521 

lost all honor, for no inquiry was now made as to the character or 
occupation of proposed members; and when once a man had 
entered, nothing short of bankruptcy could relieve his family of 
the oppressive load. The condition of the curiales was even more 
unenviable than that of the tradesmen. 

Naturally those engaged in the military or civil service of the 
emperor were free from liability to enrollment among the curiales. 
Their sons were liable, however, till Constantine declared that 
sons had a right to the offices of their fathers. This edict made 
the civil and military posts hereditary, for no one was so self- 
sacrificing as to exchange an easy, honorable place under the em- 
peror for a life of drudgery as a curialis. The same consideration 
induced the sons of soldiers to follow the vocations of their fathers. 

552. Freeholders, Tenants, and Slaves become Serfs. Lastly 
let us consider how the condition of tenants and of peasant pro- 
prietors was made hereditary by law, and how these two classes, 
together with the rural slaves, were merged in one great class of 
serfs. The more the population dwindled, the more important it 
became that every one, slave or free, should do his part in sup- 
porting the government. Hence it was that the government 
watched more and more carefully over each individual. It had 
often happened that slaves escaped taxation by being sold from 
one estate to another. That the government might keep a stricter 
account of rural slaves, Constantine ordered that they should not 
be sold off the estate on which they were born or given their liberty. 
By this act they ceased to be slaves and became serfs, so attached 
to the soil as to be bought and sold along with it. The tenants 
co-lo'ni were onc