The Empire Of The Medes And Persians
The third of the great Oriental monarchies brought in contact with
the Jews was that of the Medes and Persians, which arose on the
dissolution of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. The nations we have
hitherto alluded to were either Hamite or Shemite. But our attention is
now directed to a different race, the descendants of Japhet. Madai, the
third son of Japhet, was the progenitor of the Medes, whose territory
exten
the south, and from the highlands of Armenia and the chain of Tagros on
the west, to the great desert of Iran on the east. It comprised a great
variety of climate, and was intersected by mountains whose valleys were
fruitful in corn and fruits. "The finest part of the country is an
elevated region inclosed by the offshoots of the Armenian mountains, and
surrounding the basin of the great lake Urumizu, four thousand two hundred
feet above the sea, and the valleys of the ancient Mardus and the Araxes,
the northern boundary of the land. In this mountain region stands Tabris,
the delightful summer seat of the modern Persian shahs. The slopes of the
Tagros furnish excellent pasture; and here were reared the famous horses
which the ancients called Nisaean. The eastern districts are flat and
pestilential, where they sink down to the shores of the Caspian Sea;
rugged and sterile where they adjoin the desert of Iran." The people who
inhabited this country were hardy and bold, and were remarkable for their
horsemanship. They were the greatest warriors of the ancient world, until
the time of the Greeks. They were called Aryans by Herodotus. They had
spread over the highlands of Western Asia in the primeval ages, and formed
various tribes. The first notice of this Aryan (or Arian) race, appears in
the inscriptions on the black obelisk of Nimrod, B.C. 880, from which it
would appear that this was about the period of the immigration into Media,
and they were then exposed to the aggressions of the Assyrians. "The first
king who menaced their independence was the monarch whose victories are
recorded on the black obelisk in the British Museum." He made a raid into,
rather than a conquest of, the Median country. Sargon, the third monarch
of the Lower Empire, effected something like a conquest, and peopled the
cities which he founded with Jewish captives from Samaria, B.C. 710. Media
thus became the most eastern province of his empire, but the conquest of
it was doubtless incomplete. The Median princes paid tribute to the kings
of Nineveh, or withheld it, according to their circumstances.
According to Ctesias, the Median monarchy commenced B.C. 875; but
Herodotus, with greater probable accuracy, places the beginning of it B.C.
708. The revolt of Media from Assyria was followed by the election of
Deioces, who reigned fifty-three years. The history of this king is drawn
through Grecian sources, and can not much be depended upon. According to
the legends, the seven tribes of the Medes, scattered over separate
villages, suffered all the evils of anarchy, till the reputation of
Deioces made him the arbiter of their disputes. He then retired into
private life; anarchy returned, a king was called for, and Deioces was
elected. He organized a despotic power, which had its central seat in
Ecbatana, which he made his capital, built upon a hill, on the summit of
which was the royal palace, where the king reigned in seclusion,
transacting all business through spies, informers, petitions, and decrees.
Such is the account which Rawlinson gives, and which Smith follows.
The great Median kingdom really began with Cyaxares, about the year
B.C. 633, when the Assyrian empire was waning. He emerges from the
obscurity like Attila and Gengis Khan, and other eastern conquerors, at
the head of irresistible hordes, sweeps all away before him, and builds up
an enormous power. This period was distinguished by a great movement among
the Turanian races (Cimmerians), living north of the Danube, which,
according to Herodotus, made a great irruption into Asia Minor, where some
of the tribes effected a permanent settlement; while the Scythians, from
Central Asia, overran Media, crossed the Zagros mountains, entered
Mesopotamia, passed through Syria to Egypt, and held the dominion of
Western Asia, till expelled by Cyaxares. He only established his new
kingdom after a severe conflict between the Scythian and Aryan races,
which had hitherto shared the possession of the tablelands of Media.
From age to age the Turanian races have pressed forward to occupy
the South, and it was one of these great movements which Cyaxares opposed,
and opposed successfully--the first recorded in history. These nomads of
Tartary, or Scythian tribes, which overran Western Asia in the seventh
century before Christ, under the new names of Huns, Avari, Bulgarians,
Magyars, Turks, Mongols, devastated Europe and Asia for fifteen successive
centuries. They have been the scourge of the race, and they commenced
their incursions before Grecian history begins.
Learning from these Scythian invaders many arts, not before
practiced in war, such as archery and cavalry movements, Cyaxares was
prepared to extend his empire to the west over Armenia and Asia Minor, as
far as the river Halys. He made war in Lydia with the father of Croesus.
But before these conquests were made, he probably captured Nineveh and
destroyed it, B.C. 625. He was here assisted by the whole force of the
Babylonians, under Nabopolassar, an old general of the Assyrians, but who
had rebelled. In reward he obtained for his son, Nebuchadnezzar, the hand
of the daughter of Cyaxares. The last of the Assyrian monarchs, whom the
Greeks have called Sardanapalus, burned himself in his palace rather than
fall into the hands of the Median conqueror.
The fall of Nineveh led to the independence of Babylon, and its
wonderful growth, and also to the conquests of the Medes as far as Lydia
to the west. The war with Lydia lasted six years, and was carried on with
various success, until peace was restored by the mediation of a Babylonian
prince. The reason that peace was made was an eclipse of the sun, which
happened in the midst of a great battle, which struck both armies with
superstitious fears. On the conclusion of peace, the son of the Median
king, Astyages, married the daughter of the Lydian monarch, Alyattes, and
an alliance was formed between Media and Lydia.
At this time Lydia comprised nearly all of Asia Minor, west of the
Halys. The early history of this country is involved in obscurity. The
dynasty on the throne, when invaded by the Medes, was founded by Gyges,
B.C. 724, who began those aggressions on the Grecian colonies which were
consummated by Croesus. Under the reign of Ardys, his successor, Asia Minor
was devastated by the Cimmerians, a people who came from the regions north
of the Black Sea, between the Danube and the Sea of Azov, being driven
away by an inundation of Scythians, like that which afterward desolated
Media. These Cimmerians, having burned the great temple of Diana, at
Ephesus, and destroyed the capital city of Sardis, were expelled from
Lydia by Alyattes, the monarch against whom Cyaxares had made war.
Cyaxares reigned forty years, and was succeeded by Astyages, B.C.
593, whose history is a total blank, till near the close of his long reign
of thirty-five years, when the Persians under Cyrus arose to power. He
seems to have resigned himself to the ordinary condition of Oriental
kings--to effeminacy and luxury--brought about by the prosperity which he
inherited. He was contemporary with Croesus, the famous king of Lydia,
whose life has been invested with so much romantic interest by
Herodotus--the first of the Asiatic kings who commenced hostile aggression
on the Greeks. After making himself master of all the Greek States of Asia
Minor, he combated a power which was destined to overturn the older
monarchies of the East--that of the Persians--a race closely connected with
the Medes in race, language, and religion.
The Persians first appear in history as a hardy, warlike people,
simple in manners and scornful of luxury. They were uncultivated in art
and science, but possessed great wit, and a poetical imagination. They
lived in the mountainous region on the southwest of Iran, where the great
plain descends to the Persian Gulf. The sea-coast is hot and arid, as well
as the eastern region where the mountains pass into the table-land of
Iran. Between these tracts, resembling the Arabian desert, lie the high
lands at the extremity of the Zagros chain. These rugged regions, rich in
fruitful valleys, are favorable to the cultivation of corn, of the grape,
and fruits, and afford excellent pasturage for flocks. In the northern
part is the beautiful plain of Shiraz, which forms the favorite residence
of the modern shahs. In the valley of Bend-amir was the old capital of
Persepolis, whose ruins attest the magnificent palaces of Darius and
Xerxes. Persia proper was a small country, three hundred miles from north
to south, and two hundred and eighty from east to west, inhabited by an
Aryan race, who brought with them, from the country beyond the Indus, a
distinctive religion, language, and political institutions. Their language
was closely connected with the Aryan dialects of India, and the tongues of
modern Europe. Hence the Persians were noble types of the great
Indo-European family, whose civilization has spread throughout the world.
Their religion was the least corrupted of the ancient races, and was
marked by a keen desire to arrive at truth, and entered, in the time of
the Gnostics, into the speculations of the Christian fathers, of whom
Origen was the type. Their teachers were the Magi, a wise and learned
caste, some of whom came to Jerusalem in the time of Herod, guided by the
star in the East, to institute inquiries as to the birth of Christ. They
attempted to solve the mysteries of creation, but their elemental
principle of religion was worship of all the elements, especially of fire.
But the Persians also believed in the two principles of good and evil,
which were called the principle of dualism, and which they brought from
India. It is thought by Rawlinson that the Persians differed in their
religion from the primeval people of India, whose Vedas, or sacred books,
were based on monotheism, in its spiritual and personal form, and that,
for the heresy of "dualism," they were compelled to migrate to the West.
The Medes, with whom they subsequently became associated, were inclined to
the old elemental worship of nature, which they learned from the Turanian
or Scythic population.
The great man among the Persians was Zoroaster--or Zerdusht, born,
probably, B.C. 589. He is immortal, not from his personal history, the
details of which we are ignorant, but from his ideas, which became the
basis of the faith of the Persians. He stamped his mind on the nation, as
Mohammed subsequently did upon Arabia. His central principle was
"dualism"--the two powers of good and evil--the former of which was destined
ultimately to conquer. But with this dualistic creed of the old Persian,
he also blended a reformed Magian worship of the elements, which had
gained a footing among the Chaldean priests, and which originally came
from the Scythic invaders. Magism could not have come from the Semitic
races, whose original religion was theism, like that of Melchisedek and
Abraham; nor from the Japhetic races, or Indo-European, whose worship was
polytheism--that of personal gods under distinct names, like Jupiter, Juno,
and Minerva. The first to yield to this Magism were the Medes, who adopted
the religion of older settlers,--the Scythic tribes, their subjects,--and
which faith superseded the old Aryan religion.
The Persians, the flower of the Aryan races, were peculiarly
military in all their habits and aspirations. Their nobles, mounted on a
famous breed of horses, composed the finest cavalry in the world. Nor was
their infantry inferior, armed with lances, shields, and bows. Their
military spirit was kept alive by their mountain life and simple habits
and strict discipline.
Astyages, we have seen, was the last of the Median kings. He
married his daughter, according to Herodotus, to Cambyses, a Persian
noble, preferring him to a higher alliance among the Median princes, in
order that a dream might not be fulfilled that her offspring should
conquer Asia. On the return of the dream he sought to destroy the child
she was about to bear, but it was preserved by a herdsman; and when the
child was ten years of age he was chosen by his playfellows on the
mountains to be their king. As such he caused the son of a noble Median to
be scourged for disobedience, who carried his complaint to Astyages. The
Median monarch finds out his pedigree from the herdsman, and his officer,
Harpagns, to whom he had intrusted the commission for his destruction. He
invites, in suppressed anger, this noble to a feast, at which he serves up
the flesh of his own son. Harpagus, in revenge, conspires with some
discontented nobles, and invites Cyrus, this boy-king, now the bravest of
the youths of his age and country, to a revolt. Cyrus leads his troops
against Astyages, and gains a victory, and also the person of the
sovereign, and his great reign began, B.C. 558.
The dethronement of Astyages caused a war between Lydia and Persia.
Croesus hastens to attack the usurper and defend his father-in-law. He
forms a league with Babylonia and Egypt. Thus the three most powerful
monarchs of the world are arrayed against Cyrus, who is prepared to meet
the confederation. Croesus is defeated, and retreats to his capital,
Sardis; and the next spring, while summoning his allies, is attacked
unexpectedly by Cyrus, and is again defeated. He now retires to Sardia,
which is strongly fortified, and the city is besieged, by the Persians,
and falls after a brief siege. Croesus himself is spared, and in his
adversity gives wise counsel to his conqueror.
Cyrus leaves a Lydian in command of the captured city, and departs
for home. A revolt ensues, which leads to a collision between Persia and
the Greek colonies, and the subjection of the Grecian cities by Harpagus,
the general of Cyrus. Then followed the conquest of Asia Minor, which
required several years, and was conducted by the generals of Cyrus. He was
required in Media, to consolidate his power. He then extended his
conquests to the East, and subdued the whole plateau of Iran, to the
mountains which divided it from the Indus. Thus fifteen years of splendid
military successes passed before he laid siege to Babylon, B.C. 538.
On the fall of that great city Cyrus took up his residence in it,
as the imperial capital of his vast dominion. Here he issued his decree
for the return of the Jews to their ancient territory, and for the
rebuilding of their temple, after seventy years' captivity. This decree
was dictated by the sound military policy of maintaining the frontier
territory of Palestine against his enemies in Asia Minor, which he knew
the Jews would do their best to preserve, and this policy he carried out
with noble generosity, and returned to the Jews the captured vessels of
silver and gold which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away; and for more than
two centuries Persia had no warmer friends and allies than the obedient
and loyal subjects of Judea.
Cyrus fell in battle while fighting a tribe of Scythians at the
east of the Caspian Sea, B.C. 529, He was the greatest general that the
Oriental world ever produced, and well may rank with Alexander himself.
His reign of twenty-nine years was one constant succession of wars, in
which he was uniformly successful, and in which success was only equaled
by his magnanimity. His empire extended from the Indus to the Hellespont
and the Syrian coast, far greater than that of either Assyria or
Babylonia.
The result of the Persian conquest on the conquerors themselves was
to produce habits of excessive luxury, a wide and vast departure from
their original mode of life, which enfeebled the empire, and prepared the
way for a rapid decline.
Cambyses, however, the son and successor of Cyrus, carried out his
policy and conquests. He was, unlike his father, a tyrant and a
sensualist, but possessed considerable military genius. He conquered
Phoenicia, and thus became master of the sea as well as of the land. He
then quarreled with Amasis, the king of Egypt, and subdued his kingdom.
Like an eastern despot, he had, while in Egypt, in an hour of
madness and caprice, killed his brother, Smerdis. It happened there was a
Magian who bore a striking resemblance to the murdered prince. With the
help of his brother, whom the king had left governor of his household,
this Magian usurped the throne of Persia, while Cambyses was absent, the
death of the true Smerdis having been carefully concealed.
The news of the usurpation reached Cambyses while returning from an
expedition to Syria. An accidental wound from the point of his sword
proved mortal, B.C. 522. But Cambyses, about to die, called his nobles
around him, and revealed the murder of his brother, and exhorted them to
prevent the kingdom falling into the hands of the Medes. He left no
children.
The usurper proved a tyrant. A conspiracy of Persians followed,
headed by the descendants of Cyrus; and Darius, the chief of these--the son
of Hystaspes, became king of Persia, after Smerdis had reigned seven
months. But this reign, brief as it was, had restored the old Magian
priests to power, who had, by their magical arts, great popularity with
the people, not only Medes, but Persians.
Darius restored the temples and the worship which the Magian
priests had overthrown, and established the religion of Zoroaster. The
early years of his reign were disturbed by rebellions in Babylonia and
Media, but these were suppressed, and Darius prosecuted the conquests
which Cyrus had begun. He invaded both India and Scythia, while his
general, Megabazus, subdued Thrace and the Greek cities of the Hellespont.
The king of Macedonia acknowledged the supremacy of the great
monarch of Asia, and gave the customary present of earth and water. Darius
returned at length to Susa to enjoy the fruit of his victories, and the
pleasures which his great empire afforded. For twenty years his glories
were unparalleled in the East, and his life was tranquil.
But in the year B.C. 500, a great revolt of the Ionian cities took
place. It was suppressed, at first, but the Atticans, at Marathon,
defeated the Persian warriors, B.C. 490, and the great victory changed the
whole course of Asiatic conquest. Darius made vast preparations for a new
invasion of Greece, but died before they were completed, after a reign of
thirty-six years, B.C. 485, leaving a name greater than that of any
Oriental sovereign, except Cyrus.
Unfortunately for him and his dynasty, he challenged the spirit of
western liberty, then at its height among the cities of Greece. His
successor, Xerxes, inherited his power, but not his genius, and rashly
provoked Europe by new invasions, while he lived ingloriously in his
seraglio. He was murdered in his palace, the fate of the great tyrants of
eastern monarchies, for in no other way than by the assassin's dagger
could a change of administration take place--a poor remedy, perhaps, but
not worse than the disease itself. This tyrant was the Ahasuerus of the
Scriptures.
We need not follow the fortunes of the imbecile princes who
succeeded Xerxes, for the Persian monarchy was now degenerate and
weakened, and easily fell under the dominion of Alexander, who finally
overthrew the power of Persia, B.C. 330.
And this was well. The Persian monarchy was an absolute despotism,
like that of Turkey, and the monarch not only controlled the actions of
his subjects, but was the owner even of their soil. He delegated his power
to satraps, who ruled during his pleasure, but whose rule was disgraced by
every form of extortion--sometimes punished, however, when it became
outrageous and notorious. The satraps, like pashas, were virtually
independent princes, and exercised all the rights of sovereigns so long as
they secured the confidence of the supreme monarch, and regularly remitted
to him the tribute which was imposed. The satrapies were generally given
to members of the royal family, or to great nobles connected with it by
marriage. The monarch governed by no council, and the laws centered in the
principle that the will of the king was supreme. The only check which he
feared was assassination, and he generally spent his life in the
retirement of his seraglio, at Susa, Babylon, or Ecbatana.
The Persian empire was the last of the great monarchies of the Oriental
world, and these flourished for a period of two thousand years. When
nations became wicked or extended over a large territory, the patriarchal
rule of the primitive ages no longer proved an efficient government. Men
must be ruled, however, in some way, and the irresponsible despotism of
the East, over all the different races, Semitic, Hamite, and Japhetic, was
the government which Providence provided, in a state of general rudeness,
or pastoral simplicity, or oligarchal usurpations. The last great monarchy
was the best; it was that which was exercised by the descendants of
Japhet, according to the prediction that he should dwell in the tents of
Shem, and Canaan should be his servant.
Before we follow the progress of the descendants of Japhet in Greece,
among whom a new civilization arose, designed to improve the condition of
society by the free agency displayed in art, science, literature, and
government--the rise, in short, of free institutions--we will glance at the
nations in Asia Minor which were brought in contact with the powers we
have so briefly considered.
More
-
March Of Cyrus And Retreat Of The Ten Thousand Greeks
The Peloponnesian war being closed, a large body of Grecian soldiers were disbanded, but rendered venal and restless by the excitements and changes of the past thirty years, and ready to embark in any warlike enterprise that promised money and spo... The Fall Of The Empire
After the death of Constantine, the decline was rapid, and new dangers multiplied. Warlike emperors had staved off the barbarians, and done all that man could do to avert ruin. But the seeds of ruin were planted, and must bear their wretched fruit... Roman Conquests From The Fall Of Carthage To The Times Of The Gracchi
Although the Roman domination now extended in some form or other over most of the countries around the Mediterranean, still several States remained to be subdued, in the East and in the West. The subjugation of Spain first deserves attention, co... The Civil Wars Between Caesar And Pompey
The condition of Rome when Caesar returned, crowned with glory, from his Gallic campaign, in which he had displayed the most consummate ability, was miserable enough. The constitution had been assailed by all the leading chieftains, and even Cicer... The Conquest Of Italy
Hitherto, the Romans, after the expulsion of the kings, were involved in wars with their immediate neighbors, and exposed to great calamities. All they could do for one hundred and fifty years was to recover the possessions they had lost. During t... The Decline Of The Empire
Able or virtuous princes had now ruled the Roman world, with a few exceptions, from Julius Caesar to Commodus, a period of more than two hundred years. Among these were some odious tyrants, or madmen, who were removed by assassination. But some of... The Macedonian And Asiatic Wars
Scarcely was Rome left to recover from the exhaustion of the long and desperate war with Hannibal, before she was involved in a new war with Macedonia, which led to very important consequences. The Greeks had retained the sovereignty which Alexa... The Wars With Jugurtha And The Cimbri
The fall of the Gracchi restored Rome to the rule of the oligarchy. The government of the Senate was resumed, and a war of prosecution was carried on against the followers of Gracchus. His measures were allowed to drop. The claims of the Italian a... Alexander The Great
We come now to consider briefly the career of Alexander, the son of Philip--the most successful, fortunate, and brilliant hero of antiquity. I do not admire either his character or his work. He does not compare the with Caesar or Napoleon in compr... Asia Minor And Phoenicia
Concerning the original inhabitants of Asia Minor our information is very scanty. The works of Strabo shed an indefinite light, and the author of the Iliad seems to have been but imperfectly acquainted with either the geography or the people of th... Dionysius And Sicily
We have already seen how the Athenian fleet was destroyed at the siege of Syracuse, where Nicias and Demosthenes were so lamentably defeated, which defeat resulted in the humiliation of Athens and the loss of her power as the leading State of Gree... Egypt And The Pharaohs
The first country to which Moses refers, in connection with the Hebrew history, is Egypt. This favored land was the seat of one of the oldest monarchies of the world. Although it would seem that Assyria was first peopled, historians claim for Egyp... Grecian Civilization Before The Persian Wars
Early civilization. We understand by civilization the progress which nations have made in art, literature, material strength, social culture, and political institutions, by which habits are softened, the mind enlarged, the soul elevated, and a wis... Jewish History From The Babylonian Captivity To The Birth Of Christ
We have seen how the ten tribes were carried captive to Assyria, on the fall of Samaria, by Shalmanezer, B.C., 721. From that time history loses sight of the ten tribes, as a distinct people. They were probably absorbed with the nations among whom... Philip Of Macedon
No one would have supposed, B.C. 400, that the destruction of Grecian liberties would come from Macedonia--a semi-barbarous kingdom which, during the ascendency of Sparta, had so little political importance. And if any new power threatened to rise... Postdiluvian History To The Call Of Abraham And The Patriarchal Constitution And The Division Of Nations
When Noah and his family issued from the ark, they were blessed by God. They were promised a vast posterity, dominion over nature, and all animals for food, as well as the fruits of the earth. But new laws were imposed, against murder, and against... Roman Civilization At The Close Of The Third Punic War And The Fall Of Greece
Rome was now the unrivaled mistress of the world. She had conquered all the civilized States around the Mediterranean, or had established a protectorate over them. She had no fears of foreign enemies. Her empire was established. Before we proce... Rome From The Death Of Sulla To The Great Civil Wars Of Caesar And Pompey
On the death of Sulla, the Roman government was once more in the hands of the aristocracy, and for several years the consuls were elected from the great ruling families. But, in spite of all the conquests of Sulla and all his laws, the State was t... Rome In Its Infancy Under Kings
In presenting the growth of that great power which gradually absorbed all other States and monarchies so as to form the largest empire ever known on earth, I shall omit a notice of all other States, in Italy and Europe, until they were brought int... The Age Of Pericles
With the defeat of the Persian armies, Athens and Sparta became, respectively, the leaders of two great parties in Greece. Athens advocated maritime interests and democratic institutions; Sparta, was the champion of the continental and oligarchal ... The Antediluvian World
The history of this world begins, according to the chronology of Archbishop Ussher, which is generally received as convenient rather than probable, in the year 4004 before Christ. In six days God created light and darkness, day and night, the firm... The Civil Wars Following The Death Of Caesar
The assassination of Caesar was not immediately followed with the convulsions which we should naturally expect. The people were weary of war, and sighed for repose, and, moreover, were comparatively indifferent on whom the government fell, since the... The Climax Of The Roman Empire
On the extinction of the Julian line, a new class of emperors succeeded, by whom the prosperity of the empire was greatly advanced. We have now to fall back on Niebuhr, Gibbon, and the Roman historians, and also make more use of Smith's digest of ... The Conquest Of Canaan To The Establishment Of The Kingdom Of David
The only survivors of the generation that had escaped from Egypt were Caleb and Joshua. All the rest had offended God by murmurings, rebellion, idolatries, and sundry offenses, by which they were not deemed worthy to enter the promised land. Even ... The Empire Of The Medes And Persians
The third of the great Oriental monarchies brought in contact with the Jews was that of the Medes and Persians, which arose on the dissolution of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. The nations we have hitherto alluded to were either Hamite or Sh... The First Punic War
A contest greater than with Pyrrhus and the Greek cities, more memorable in its incidents, and more important in its consequences, now awaited the Romans. This was with Carthage, the greatest power, next to Rome, in the world at that time--a comme... The Geography Of Ancient Greece And Its Early Inhabitants
We have seen that the Oriental-world, so favored by nature, so rich in fields, in flocks, and fruits, failed to realize the higher destiny of man. In spite of all the advantages of nature, he was degraded by debasing superstitions, and by the dege... The Grecian States And Colonies To The Persian Wars
We come now to consider those States which grew into importance about the middle of the eighth century before Christ, at the close of the legendary period. The most important of these was Sparta, which was the leading State. We have seen how it... The Hebrew Race From Abraham To The Sale Of Joseph
We postpone the narrative of the settlements and empires which grew up on the banks of the Euphrates and the Nile, the oldest monarchies, until we have contemplated the early history of the Jews--descended from one of the children of Shem. This is... The Jewish Monarchy
We can not enter upon a detail of the conquests of David, the greatest warrior that his nation has produced. In successive campaigns, extending over thirty years, he reduced the various Canaanite nations that remained unconquered--the Amalekites, ... The Jews Until The Conquest Of Canaan
When Joseph was sold by the Midianites to Potiphar, Egypt was probably ruled by the Shepherd kings, who were called Pharaoh, like all the other kings, by the Jewish writers. Pitiphar (Pet-Pha, dedicated to the sun) was probably the second person i... The Lacedaemonian Empire
I have already shown that Sparta, after a battle with the Argives, B.C. 547, obtained the ascendency in the southern part of the Peloponnesus, and became the leading military State of Greece. This prestige and power were not lost. The severe simpl... The Legends Of Ancient Greece
The Greeks possessed no authentic written history of that period which included the first appearance of the Hellenes in Thessaly to the first Olympiad, B.C. 776. This is called the heroic age, and is known to us only by legends and traditions, cal... The Mithridatic And Civil Wars
There reigned at this time in Pontus, the northeastern State of Asia Minor, bordered on the south by Cappadocia, on the east by Armenia, and the north by the Euxine, a powerful prince, Mithridates VI., surnamed Eupator, who traced an unbroken line... The Old Chaldean And Assyrian Monarchies
On a great plain, four hundred miles in length and one hundred miles in width, forming the valley of the Euphrates, bounded on the north by Mesopotamia, on the east by the Tigris, on the south by the Persian Gulf, and on the west by the Syrian Des... The Peloponnesian War
The great and disastrous war between the two leading States of Greece broke out about two years and a half before the death of Pericles, but the causes of the war can be traced to a period shortly after the Persians were driven out of the Ionian c... The Persian War
We come now to the most important and interesting of Grecian history--the great contest with Persia--the age of heroes and of battle-fields, when military glory was the master passion of a noble race. What inspiration have all ages gained from tha... The Reform Movement Of The Gracchi
A new era in the history of Rome now commences, a period of glory and shame, when a great change took place in the internal structure of the State, now corrupted by the introduction of Greek and Asiatic refinements, and the vast wealth which rolle... The Republic Of Thebes
After Sparta and Athens, no State of Greece arrived at pre-eminence, until the Macedonian empire arose, except Thebes, the capital of Boeotia; and the empire of this city was short, though memorable, from the extraordinary military genius of Epami... The Revolt Of Italy And The Social War
Great discontent had long existed among the Italian subjects of Rome. They were not only oppressed, but they enjoyed no political privileges. They did not belong to the class of burgesses. With the view of extending the Roman franchise, a moveme... The Roman Empire On The Accession Of Augustus
Octavius, now master of the world, is generally called Augustus Caesar--the name he assumed. He was the first of that great line of potentates whom we call emperors. Let us, before tracing the history of the empire, take a brief survey of its exte... The Roman Governors
The history of the Jews after the death of Herod is marked by the greatest event in human annals. In four years after he expired in agonies of pain and remorse, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, whose teachings have changed the whole condition o... The Roman Republic Till The Invasion Of The Gauls
The Tarquins being expelled, political power fell into the hands of the patricians, under whose government the city slowly increased in wealth and population, but it was the heroic period of Roman history, and the legends of patriotic bravery are ... The Second Punic Or Hannibalic War
The peace between the Carthaginians and Romans was a mere truce. Though it lasted twenty-one years, new sources of quarrel were accumulating, and forces were being prepared for a more decisive encounter. Before we trace the progress of this stil... The Six Caesars Of The Julian Line
We have alluded to the centralization of political power in the person of Octavius. He simply retained all the great offices of State, and ruled, not so much by a new title, as he did as consul, tribune, censor, pontifex maximus, and chief of the ... The Third Punic War
The peace between Carthage and Rome, after the second Punic war, lasted fifty years, during which the Carthaginians gave the Romans no cause of complaint. Carthage, in the enjoyment of peace, devoted itself to commerce and industrial arts, and gre...