EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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[Illustration: PERISTYLE OF A POMPEIAN HOUSE
House of the Vettii Pompeii. The peristyle, excavated in 1894-1895 A.D.
has been carefully restored. The garden, fountains, tables, and marble
colonnades are all modern]

OCCUPATIONS IN THE AFTERNOON

The public resorts were deserted at noon, when the Athenian returned home
to enjoy a light meal and a rest during the heat. As the day grew cooler,
men again went out and visited a gymnasium, such as the Lyceum or the
Academy, in the city suburbs. [13] Here were grounds for running,
wrestling, discus-throwing, and other sports, as well as rooms for bathing
and anointing. While the younger men busied themselves in such active
exercises, those of maturer years might be content with less vigorous
games or with conversation on political or philosophical themes.

THE EVENING MEAL

The principal meal of the day came about sunset. The master of the house,
if he had no guests, shared the repast with his wife and children. For a
man of moderate means the ordinary fare was very much what it is now in
Greece--bread, olives, figs, cheese, and a little meat as an occasional
luxury. At the end of the meal the diners refreshed themselves with wine
mixed with water. The Greeks appear to have been usually as temperate in
their drink as they were frugal in their food. The remainder of the
evening would be devoted to conversation and music and possibly a little
reading. As a rule the Athenian went early to bed.

[Illustration: A GREEK BANQUET
From a vase painting by Duns.]

MORNING ROUND OF A ROMAN NOBLE

A Roman of the higher class, who lived in late republican or early
imperial times, passed through much the same daily routine as an Athenian
citizen in the days of Pericles. He rose at an early hour and after a
light breakfast dispatched his private business with the help of his
steward and manager. He then took his place in the _atrium_ to meet the
crowd of poor dependents who came to pay their respects to their patron
and to receive their usual morning alms--either food or sufficient money
to buy a modest dinner. Having greeted his visitors and perhaps helped
them in legal or business matters, the noble entered his litter and was
carried down to the Forum. Here he might attend the law courts to plead a
case for himself or for his clients. If he were a member of the Senate, he
would take part in the deliberations of that body. At eleven o'clock, when
the ordinary duties of the morning were over, he would return home to eat
his luncheon and enjoy the midday rest, or siesta. The practice of having
a nap in the heat of the day became so general that at noon the streets of
a Roman city had the same deserted appearance as at midnight.

[Illustration: A ROMAN LITTER
The litter consists of an ordinary couch with four posts and a pair of
poles. Curtains fastened to the rod above the canopy shielded the occupant
from observation.]

THE AFTERNOON EXERCISE AND BATH

After an hour of refreshing sleep it was time for the regular exercise out
of doors in the Campus Martius or indoors at one of the large city baths.
Then came one of the chief pleasures of a Roman's existence--the daily
bath. It was taken ordinarily in one of the public bathing establishments,
or _thermae_, to be found in every Roman town. [14] A Roman bath was a
luxurious affair. After undressing, the bathers entered a warm anteroom
and sat for a time on benches, in order to perspire freely. This was a
precaution against the danger of passing too suddenly into the hot bath,
which was taken in a large tank of water sunk in the middle of the floor.
Then came an exhilarating cold plunge and anointing with perfumed oil.
Afterwards the bathers rested on the couches with which the resort was
supplied and passed the time in reading or conversation until the hour for
dinner.

THE LATE DINNER

The late dinner, with the Romans as with the Greeks, formed the principal
meal of the day. It was usually a social function. The host and his guests
reclined on couches arranged about a table. The Romans borrowed from the
Greeks the custom of ending a banquet with a symposium, or drinking-bout.
The tables were cleared of dishes, and the guests were anointed with
perfumes and crowned with garlands. During the banquet and the symposium
it was customary for professional performers to entertain the guests with
music, dancing, pantomimes, and feats of jugglery.

92. AMUSEMENTS

ATHENIAN RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS

The Athenians celebrated many religious festivals. One of the most
important was the Great Panathenaea, [15] held every fourth year in the
month of July. Athletic contests and poetical recitations, sacrifices,
feasts, and processions honored the goddess Athena, who presided over the
Athenian city. Even more interesting, perhaps, were the dramatic
performances held in midwinter and in spring, at the festivals of
Dionysus. The tragedies and comedies composed for these entertainments
took their place among the masterpieces of Greek literature.

[Illustration: THEATER OF DIONYSUS, ATHENS
The theater of Dionysus where dramatic exhibitions were held lay close to
the south eastern angle of the Acropolis. The audience at first sat upon
wooden benches rising tier after tier on the adjacent hillside. About the
middle of the fourth century B.C. these were replaced by the stone seats
which are still to be seen. Sixteen thousand people could be accommodated
in this open air theater.]

FEATURES OF A GREEK PLAY

There is very little likeness between the ancient and the modern drama.
Greek plays were performed out of doors in the bright sunlight. Until late
Roman times it is unlikely that a raised stage existed. The three actors
and the members of the chorus appeared together in the dancing ring, or
orchestra. The performers were all men. Each actor might play several
parts. There was no elaborate scenery; the spectator had to rely chiefly
on his own imagination for the setting of the piece. The actors indulged
in few lively movements or gestures. They must have looked from a distance
like a group of majestic statues. All wore elaborate costumes, and tragic
actors, in addition, were made to appear larger than human with masks,
padding, and thick-soled boots, or buskins. The performances occupied the
three days of the Dionysiac festivals, beginning early in the morning and
lasting till night. All this time was necessary because they formed
contests for a prize which the people awarded to the poet and chorus whose
presentation was judged of highest excellence.

[Illustration: A DANCING GIRL
A Greek bronze statuette found in a sunken galley off the coast of Tunis.
The galley had been wrecked while on its way to Rome carrying a load of
art objects to decorate the villas of wealthy nobles. This statuette was
doubtless a life-like copy of some well-known entertainer. The dancer's
pose suggests the American "cakewalk" and her costume, the modern "hobble
skirt."]

PANTOMIME AND VAUDEVILLE AT ROME

Pantomimes formed the staple amusement of the Roman theater. In these
performances a single dancer, by movements and gestures, represented
mythological scenes and love stories. The actor took several characters in
succession and a chorus accompanied him with songs. There were also
"vaudeville" entertainments, with all manner of jugglers, ropedancers,
acrobats, and clowns, to amuse a people who found no pleasure in the
refined productions of the Greek stage.

CHARIOT RACES

Far more popular than even pantomime and vaudeville were the "games of the
circus." At Rome these were held chiefly in the Circus Maximus. Chariot
races formed the principal attraction of the circus. There were usually
four horses to a chariot, though sometimes the drivers showed their skill
by handling as many as six or seven horses. The contestants whirled seven
times around the low wall, or _spina_, which divided the race course. The
shortness of the stretches and the sharp turns about the _spina_ must have
prevented the attainment of great speed. A race, nevertheless, was a most
exciting sport. What we should call "fouling" was permitted and even
encouraged. The driver might turn his team against another or might
endeavor to upset a rival's car. It was a very tame contest that did not
have its accompaniment of broken chariots, fallen horses, and killed or
injured drivers.

[Illustration: THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS (RESTORATION)]

ANIMAL BAITINGS

The Circus Maximus was often used for a variety of animal shows. Fierce
wild beasts, brought from every quarter of the empire, were turned loose
to slaughter one another, or to tear to pieces condemned criminals. [16]
More popular still were the contests between savage animals and men. Such
amusements did something to satisfy the lust for blood in the Roman
populace--a lust which was more completely satisfied by the gladiatorial
combats.

[Illustration: GLADIATORS
From a stucco relief on the tomb of Scaurus, Pompeii. Beginning at the
left are two fully armed horsemen fighting with lances. Behind them are
two gladiators, one of whom is appealing to the people. Then follows a
combat in which the defeated party raises his hand in supplication for
mercy. The lower part of the relief represents fights with various wild
beasts.]

GLADIATORIAL SHOWS

Exhibitions of gladiators were known in Italy long before they became
popular at Rome. The combats probably started from the savage practice of
sacrificing prisoners or slaves at the funeral of their master. Then the
custom arose of allowing the victims a chance for their lives by having
them fight one another, the conquerors being spared for future battles.
From this it was but a step to keeping trained slaves as gladiators.
During the imperial epoch the number of such exhibitions increased
greatly. The emperor Trajan, for example, to celebrate his victories over
the Dacians, [17] exhibited no less than ten thousand men within the space
of four months. The gladiators belonged to various classes, according to
the defensive armor they wore and the style of fighting they employed.
When a man was wounded and unable to continue the struggle, he might
appeal to the spectators. He lifted his finger to plead for release; if he
had fought well, the people indicated their willingness to spare him by
waving their handkerchiefs. If the spectators were in a cruel mood, they
turned down their thumbs as the signal for his deathblow. These hideous
exhibitions continued in different parts of the Roman Empire until the
fifth century of our era.

"BREAD AND THE GAMES OF THE CIRCUS."

Gladiatorial combats, chariot races, and dramatic shows were free
performances. For the lower classes in the Roman city they became the
chief pleasure of life. The days of their celebration were public
holidays, which in the fourth century numbered no less than one hundred
and seventy-five. The once-sovereign people of Rome became a lazy,
worthless rabble, fed by the state and amused with the games. It was well
said by an ancient satirist that the Romans wanted only two things to make
them happy--"bread and the games of the circus." [18]

93. SLAVERY

PLACE OF SLAVERY IN CLASSICAL LIFE

The private life of the Greeks and Romans, as described in the preceding
pages, would have been impossible without the existence of a large servile
class. Slaves did much of the heavy and disagreeable work in the ancient
world, thus allowing the free citizen to engage in more honorable
employment or to pass his days in dignified leisure.

SOURCES OF SLAVES

The Greeks seem sometimes to have thought that only barbarians should be
degraded to the condition of servitude. Most Greek slaves, as a matter of
fact, were purchased from foreign countries. But after the Romans had
subdued the Mediterranean world, their captives included not only members
of inferior races, but also the cultivated inhabitants of Greece, Egypt,
and Asia Minor. We hear of slaves at Rome who served as clerks,
secretaries, librarians, actors, and musicians. Their education was often
superior to that of the coarse and brutal masters who owned them.

NUMBER AND CHEAPNESS OF SLAVES

The number of slaves, though great enough in Athens and other Greek
cities, reached almost incredible figures during the later period of Roman
history. Every victorious battle swelled the troops of captives sent to
the slave markets at Rome. Ordinary slaves became as cheap as beasts of
burden are now. The Roman poet Horace tells us that at least ten slaves
were necessary for a gentleman in even moderate circumstances. Wealthy
individuals, given to excessive luxury, might number their city slaves by
the hundreds, besides many more on their country estates.

SLAVES' TASKS

Slaves engaged in a great variety of occupations. They were domestic
servants, farm laborers, miners, artisans, factory hands, and even
shopkeepers. Household slaves at Rome were employed in every conceivable
way. Each part of a rich man's residence had its special staff of
servants. The possession of a fine troop of slaves, dressed in handsome
liveries, was a favorite method of showing one's wealth and luxury.

TREATMENT OF SLAVES

It is difficult for us to realize the attitude of ancient peoples toward
their slaves. They were regarded as part of the chattels of the house--as
on a level with domestic animals rather than human beings. Though Athenian
law forbade owners to kill their slaves or to treat them cruelly, it
permitted the corporal punishment of slaves for slight offenses. At Rome,
until the imperial epoch, [19] no restraints whatever existed upon the
master's power. A slave was part of his property with which he could do
exactly as he pleased. The terrible punishments, the beating with scourges
which followed the slightest misconduct or neglect of duty, the branding
with a hot iron which a runaway slave received, the fearful penalty of
crucifixion which followed an attempt upon the owner's life--all these
tortures show how hard was the lot of the bondman in pagan Rome.

POSSIBILITIES OF FREEDOM

A slave, under some circumstances, could gain his freedom. In Greece,
where many little states constantly at war bordered one another, a slave
could often run away to liberty. In a great empire like Rome, where no
boundary lines existed, this was usually impossible. Freedom, however, was
sometimes voluntarily granted. A master in his will might liberate his
favorite slave, as a reward for the faithful service of a lifetime. A more
common practice permitted the slave to keep a part of his earnings until
he had saved enough to purchase his freedom.

[Illustration: A SLAVE'S COLLAR
A runaway slave, if recaptured, was sometimes compelled to wear a metal
collar riveted about his neck. One of these collars, still preserved at
Rome, bears the inscription: _Servus sum dom(i)ni mei Scholastici v(iri)
sp(ectabueis). Tene me ne fugiam de domo._--"I am the slave of my master
Scholasticus, a gentleman of importance. Hold me, lest I flee from home."]

PERMANENCE OF SLAVERY

Slavery in Greece and Italy had existed from the earliest times. It never
was more flourishing than in the great age of classical history. Nor did
it pass away when the Roman world became Christian. The spread of
Christianity certainly helped to improve the lot of the slave and to
encourage his liberation. The Church, nevertheless, recognized slavery
from the beginning. Not until long after ancient civilization had perished
did the curse of slavery finally disappear from European lands. [20]

94. GREEK LITERATURE

EPIC POETRY

The literature of Greece begins with epic poetry. An epic may be defined
as a long narrative in verse, dealing with some large and noble theme. The
earliest epic poetry of the Greeks was inseparable from music. Wandering
minstrels sang at feasts in the palaces of kings and accompanied their
lays with the music of the clear-toned lyre. In time, as his verse reached
a more artistic character, the singer was able to give up the lyre and to
depend for effect solely on the poetic power of his narrative. Finally,
the scattered lays were combined into long poems. The most famous are the
_Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_, works which the Greeks attributed to Homer.
[21]

LYRIC POETRY

Several centuries after Homer the Greeks began to create a new form of
poetic expression--lyric poetry. In short poems, accompanied by the flute
or the lyre, they found a medium for the expression of personal feelings
which was not furnished by the long and cumbrous epic. The greatest lyric
poet was Pindar. We still possess forty-four of his odes, which were
written in honor of victorious athletes at the Olympian and other national
games. [22] Pindar's verses were so popular that he became, as it were,
the "poet laureate" of Greece. When Alexander the Great destroyed Thebes,
[23] the native town of Pindar, he spared that poet's birthplace from the
general ruin.

[Illustration: SOPHOCLES (Lateran Museum, Rome)
This marble statue is possibly a copy of the bronze original which the
Athenians set up in the theater of Dionysus. The feet and the box of
manuscript rolls are modern restorations.]

ATHENIAN TRAGEDY

The three great masters of the tragic drama [24] lived and wrote in Athens
during the splendid half century between the Persian and the Peloponnesian
wars. Such was the fertility of their genius that they are said to have
written altogether nearly three hundred plays. Only thirty-two have come
down to us. Aeschylus, the first of the tragic poets, had fought at
Marathon and Salamis. One of his works, the _Persians_, is a magnificent
song of triumph for the victory of Hellas. Sophocles, while yet a young
man, gained the prize in a dramatic contest with Aeschylus. His plays mark
the perfection of Greek tragedy. After the death of Sophocles the
Athenians revered him as a hero and honored his memory with yearly
sacrifices. Euripides was the third of the Athenian dramatists and the
most generally popular. His fame reached far beyond his native city. We
are told that the Sicilians were so fond of his verses that they granted
freedom to every one of the Athenian prisoners captured at Syracuse who
could recite the poet's lines.

ATHENIAN COMEDY

Athenian comedy during the fifth century B.C. is represented by the plays
of Aristophanes. He was both a great poet and a great satirist. In one
comedy Aristophanes attacks the demagogue Cleon, who was prominent in
Athenian politics after the death of Pericles. In other comedies he
ridicules the philosophers, makes fun of the ordinary citizen's delight in
sitting on jury courts and trying cases, and criticizes those responsible
for the unfortunate expedition to Sicily. The plays of Aristophanes were
performed before admiring audiences of thousands of citizens and hence
must have had much influence on public opinion.

HISTORY

The "father of history," Herodotus, flourished about the middle of the
fifth century B.C. Though a native of Asia Minor, Herodotus spent some of
the best years of his life at Athens, mingling in its brilliant society
and coming under the influences, literary and artistic, of that city. He
traveled widely in the Greek world and in the East, as a preparation for
his great task of writing an account of the rise of the Oriental nations
and the struggle between Greece and Persia. Herodotus was not a critical
historian, diligently sifting truth from fable. Where he can he gives us
facts. Where facts are lacking, he tells interesting stories in a most
winning style. A much more scientific writer was Thucydides, an Athenian
who lived during the epoch of the Peloponnesian War and became the
historian of that contest. An Athenian contemporary of Thucydides,
Xenophon, is best known from his _Anabasis_, which describes the famous
expedition of the "Ten Thousand" Greeks against Persia. [25]

BIOGRAPHY

Of the later prose writers of Greece it is sufficient to name only one--
the immortal Plutarch. He was a native of Chaeronea in Boeotia and lived
during the first century of our era. Greece at that time was only a
province of the Roman Empire; the days of her greatness had long since
passed away. Plutarch thus had rather a melancholy task in writing his
_Parallel Lives_. In this work he relates, first the life of an eminent
Greek, then of a famous Roman who in some way resembled him; and ends the
account with a short comparison of the two men. Plutarch had a wonderful
gift of sympathy for his heroes and a keen eye for what was dramatic in
their careers. It is not surprising, therefore, that Plutarch has always
been a favorite author. No other ancient writer gives us so vivid and
intimate a picture of the classical world.

ORIGINALITY OF GREEK LITERATURE

From the foregoing survey it is clear that the Greeks were pioneers in
many forms of literature. They first composed artistic epic poems. They
invented lyric and dramatic poetry. They were the first to write histories
and biographies. In oratory, as has been seen, they also rose to eminence.
[26] We shall now find that the Greek intellect was no less fertile and
original in the study of philosophy.

95. GREEK PHILOSOPHY

THE SOPHISTS

The Greek philosophy took its rise in the seventh century B.C., when a few
bold students began to search out the mysteries of the universe. Their
theories were so many and so contradictory, however, that after a time
philosophers gave up the study of nature and proposed in turn to study man
himself. These later thinkers were called sophists. They traveled
throughout Greece, gathering the young men about them and lecturing for
pay on subjects of practical interest. Among other things they taught the
rhetoric and oratory which were needed for success in a public career.

SOCRATES

One of the founders of Greek philosophy and the greatest teacher of his
age was Socrates the Athenian. He lived and taught during the period of
the Peloponnesian War. Socrates resembled the sophists in his possession
of an inquiring, skeptical mind which questioned every common belief and
superstition. But he went beyond the sophists in his emphasis on problems
of every-day morality.

Though Socrates wrote nothing, his teaching and personality made a deep
impression on his contemporaries. The Delphic oracle declared that no one
in the world was wiser than Socrates. Yet he lived through a long life at
Athens, a poor man who would neither work at his trade of sculptor, nor
(as did the sophists) accept money for his instruction. He walked the
streets, barefoot and half-clad, and engaged in animated conversation with
anyone who was willing to discuss intellectual subjects with him. Socrates
must have been a familiar figure to the Athenians. His short body, large,
bald head, and homely features hardly presented the ideal of a
philosopher. Even Aristophanes in a comedy laughs at him.

[Illustration: SOCRATES (Vatican Gallery, Rome)]

CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF SOCRATES

Late in life Socrates was accused of impiety and of corrupting the youth
of Athens with his doctrines. As a matter of fact he was a deeply
religious man. If he objected to the crude mythology of Homer, he often
spoke of one God, who ruled the world, and of a divine spirit or
conscience within his own breast. A jury court found him guilty, however,
and condemned him to death. He refused to escape from prison when
opportunity offered and passed his last days in eager conversation on the
immortality of the soul. When the hour of departure arrived, he bade his
disciples farewell and calmly drained the cup of hemlock, a poison that
caused a painless death. Although Socrates gave his life for his
philosophy, this did not perish with him.

PLATO

One of the members of the Socratic circle was Plato, a wealthy noble who
abandoned a public career for the attractions of philosophy. After the
death of Socrates, Plato traveled widely in the Greek world and even
visited Egypt, where he interviewed the learned priests. On his return to
Athens Plato began teaching in the garden and gymnasium called the
Academy. [27] His writings, known as _Dialogues_, are cast in the form of
question and answer that Socrates had used. In most of them Plato makes
Socrates the chief speaker. Plato's works are both profound in thought and
admirable in style. The Athenians used to say that if Zeus had spoken
Greek he would have spoken it as did Plato.

ARISTOTLE

As great a philosopher as Plato, but a far less attractive writer, was
Aristotle. He was not an Athenian by birth, but he passed many years in
Athens, first as a pupil of Plato, who called him the "mind" of the
school, and then as a teacher in the Athenian city. Aristotle seems to
have taken all knowledge for his province. He investigated the ideas
underlying the arts of rhetoric and poetry; he gathered the constitutions
of many Greek states and drew from them some general principles of
politics; he studied collections of strange plants and animals to learn
their structure and habits; he examined the acts and beliefs of men in
order to write books on ethics. In all this investigation Aristotle was
not content to accept what previous men had written or to spin a pleasing
theory out of his own brain. Everywhere he sought for facts; everything he
tried to bring to the test of personal observation. Aristotle, then, was
as much a scientist as a philosopher. His books were reverently studied
for centuries after his death and are still used in our universities.