EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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[Illustration: PLAN OF THE PARTHENON
The larger room (cella) measured exactly one hundred feet in length.]

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

The Parthenon was also remarkable for its sculptures [51] executed under
the superintendence of Phidias. The subjects of the pediment sculptures
are taken from the mythic history of Athena. The frieze of the Parthenon
consists of a series of sculptured slabs, over five hundred feet in
length. The subject was the procession of the Great Panathenaea, [52] the
principal festival in honor of Athena. At this time the sacred robe of the
goddess, woven anew for each occasion, was brought to adorn her statue.
The procession is thought of as starting from the western front, where
Athenian youths dash forward on their spirited steeds. Then comes a
brilliant array of maidens, matrons, soldiers, and luteplayers. Near the
center of the eastern front they meet a group of divinities, who are
represented as spectators of the imposing scene. This part of the frieze
is still in excellent condition.

THE GLORY OF ATHENS

It was, indeed, a splendid group of buildings that rose on the Acropolis
height. If to-day they have lost much of their glory, we can still
understand how they were the precious possession of the Athenians and the
wonder of all the ancient world. "O shining, violet-crowned city of song,
great Athens, bulwark of Hellas, walls divine!" The words are those of an
old Greek poet, [53] but they are reechoed by all who have come under the
magic spell of the literature and art of the Athenian city.

101. ARTISTIC ROME

DESTRUCTION OF ANCIENT ROME

The monuments of Rome, unlike those of Athens, cannot lay claim to great
antiquity. The destruction wrought by the Gauls in 390 B.C. and the great
fire under Nero in 64 A.D. removed nearly all traces of the regal and
republican city. Many buildings erected in the imperial age have also
disappeared, because in medieval and modern times the inhabitants of Rome
used the ancient edifices as quarries. The existing monuments give only a
faint idea of the former magnificence of the capital city.

HILLS OF ROME

The city of Rome lies on the Tiber. Where the river approaches Rome it
makes two sharp turns, first to the west and then to the east. On the
western, or Etruscan, bank stood the two hills called Vatican and
Janiculum. They were higher than the famous seven which rose on the
eastern side, where the ancient city was built. Two of these seven hills
possess particular interest. The earliest settlement, as we have seen,
[54] probably occupied the Palatine. It became in later days the favorite
site for the town houses of Roman nobles. In the imperial age the splendid
palaces of the Caesars were located here. The Capitoline, steepest of the
seven hills, was divided into two peaks. On one of these rose the most
famous of all Roman temples, dedicated to Jupiter and his companion
deities, Juno and Minerva. The other peak was occupied by a large temple
of Juno Moneta ("the Adviser"), which served as the mint. The altars,
shrines, and statues which once covered this height were so numerous that
the Capitoline, like the Athenian Acropolis, became a museum of art.

[Illustration: Map, ROME]

WALLS AND OPEN SPACES

Rome in early times was surrounded by a wall which bore the name of its
legendary builder, Servius Tullius. The present fortifications were not
constructed until the reign of the emperor Aurelian. [55] The ancient city
was closely built up, with only two great open spaces, in addition to the
Forum. These were the Circus Maximus, in the hollow between the Palatine
Mount and the Aventine, and the Campus Martius, stretching along the Tiber
to the northwest of the Capitoline Hill.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

Following the map of ancient Rome under the empire we may note the more
important monuments which still exist in something like their original
condition. Across the Tiber and beyond the Campus Martius stands the
mausoleum of Hadrian. [56] The most notable structure in the Campus
Martius is the Pantheon. [57] It is the one ancient building in the entire
Roman world which still survives, inside and out, in a fair state of
preservation. The depression between the Caelian and Esquiline hills
contains the Flavian Amphitheater, better known as the Colosseum. [58] It
was begun by Vespasian and probably completed by Titus. No less than
eighty entrances admitted the forty-five thousand spectators who could be
accommodated in this huge structure. Despite the enormous mass of the
present ruins probably two-thirds of the original materials have been
carried away to be used in other buildings. Close to the Colosseum stands
the arch [59] erected by the Senate in honor of the victory of Constantine
over his rival Maxentius. From this event is dated the triumph of
Christianity in the Roman state. The ruins of the huge baths of Caracalla
lie about half a mile from the Colosseum. Near the center of the city are
the remains of the Forum added by Trajan to the accommodations of the
original Forum. It contains the column of Trajan [60] under which that
emperor was buried.

THE FORUM

The Forum lies in the valley north of the Palatine Hill. It was the
business and social center of the Roman city. During the Middle Ages the
site was buried in ruins and rubbish, in some places to a depth of forty
feet or more. Recent excavations have restored the ancient level and
uncovered the remains of the ancient structures.

[Illustration: THE ROMAN FORUM AND THE SURROUNDING BUILDINGS (RESTORED)]

[Illustration: THE ROMAN FORUM AT THE PRESENT TIME]

APPROACH TO THE FORUM

The Forum could be approached from the east by one of the most famous
streets in the world, the Roman Sacred Way. The illustration of the Forum
at the present time gives a view, looking eastward from the Capitoline
Mount, and shows several of the buildings on or near the Sacred Way. At
the left are seen the ruins of the basilica of Constantine. Farther in the
distance the Colosseum looms up. Directly ahead is the arch of Titus,
which commemorates the capture of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. [61] The ruins of
the palaces of the Caesars occupy the slopes of the Palatine.

THE FORUM TO-DAY

The only well-preserved monument in the Forum is the beautiful arch
erected by the emperor Septimius Severus. Beyond it are three columns
which once formed part of the temple of Castor. They date from the time of
Tiberius. In front are the foundations of the Basilica Julia, built by
Augustus. Next come eight Ionic columns, all that remain of the temple of
Saturn. Near it and in the foreground are several columns in the
Corinthian style, belonging to a temple built by Vespasian.

THE FORUM IN ANTIQUITY

These ruined monuments, these empty foundations and lonely pillars, afford
little idea of all the wealth of architecture that once adorned this spot.
Here stood the circular shrine of Vesta, [62] guarding the altar and its
ever-blazing fire. Here was the temple of Concord, famous in Roman
history. [63] The Senate-house was here, and just before it, the Rostra, a
platform adorned with the beaks (_rostra_) of captured ships. From this
place Roman orators addressed their assembled fellow-citizens.

THE GRANDEUR OF ROME

How splendid a scene must have greeted an observer in ancient times who,
from the height of the Capitol, gazed at the city before him. The Forum
was then one radiant avenue of temples, triumphal arches, columns, and
shrines. And beyond the Forum stretched a magnificent array of theaters
and amphitheaters, enormous baths, colossal sepulchers, and statues in
stone and bronze. So prodigious an accumulation of objects beautiful,
costly, and rare has never before or since been found on earth.

STUDIES

1. What is the origin of our words _pedagogue_, _symposium_, _circus_, and
_academy_?

2. Make a list of such Roman names as you have met in your reading.

3. Write a letter describing an imaginary visit to the theater of Dionysus
during the performance of a tragedy.

4. What did civic patriotism mean to the Greek and to the Roman?

5. Have we anything to learn from the Greeks about the importance of
training in music?

6. What were the schoolbooks of Greek boys?

7. What features of Athenian education are noted in the illustration, page
254?

8. How did the position of women at Athens differ from their position in
Homeric Greece?

9. Why does classical literature contain almost no "love stories," or
novels?

10. What contrasts exist between the ancient and the modern house?

11. Describe a Roman litter (illustration, page 263).

12. What differences exist between an ancient and a modern theatre?

13. What features of our "circus" recall the proceedings at the Roman
games?

14. How many holidays (including Sundays) are there in your state? How do
they compare in number with those at Rome in the reign of Marcus Aurelius?

15. Describe the theater of Dionysus (illustration, page 264).

16. What is the "Socratic method" of teaching?

17. How did the Greeks manage to build solidly without the use of mortar?

18. Discuss the appropriateness of the terms: _severe_ Doric; _graceful_
Ionic; _ornate_ Corinthian.

19. Can you find examples of any of the Greek orders in public buildings
familiar to you?

20. How do you explain the almost total loss of original Greek sculptures?

21. By reference to the illustrations, page 279, explain the following
terms: _shaft_; _capital_; _architrave_; _frieze;_ and _cornice._

22. Explain the "Greek profile" seen in the Aphrodite of Cnidus and the
Apollo of the Belvedere (plate facing page 76).

23. Name five famous works of Greek sculpture which exist to-day only in
Roman copies.

24. What is your favorite Greek statue? Why do you like it?

25. "The dome, with the round arch out of which it sprang, is the most
fertile conception in the whole history of building." Justify this
statement.

26. What famous examples of domed churches and public buildings are
familiar to you?

27. What artistic objections to the use of "engaged columns" can you
mention?

28. Discuss the revival of cement construction in modern times. What are
its special advantages?

29. What examples of triumphal arches in the United States and France are
known to you?

30. Do you know of any modern columns of victory?

31. Why is it likely that the bust of Nerva (illustration, page 200) is a
more faithful likeness than that of Pericles (illustration, page 103)?

32. Write a brief essay describing an imaginary walk on the Athenian
Acropolis in the Age of Pericles.

33. Enumerate the most important contributions to civilization made in
classical antiquity.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, _Readings in Ancient History_, chapter xxi, "Roman Life as
Seen in Pliny's Letters"; chapter xxii, "A Satirist of Roman Society."

[2] Euripides, _Iphigenia in Tauris_, 57.

[3] See page 237.

[4] In "Marcus Tullius Cicero," "Marcus," the _praenomen_, corresponds to
our "given" name; "Tullius," the _nomen_, marks the clan, or _gens;_
"Cicero," the _cognomen_, indicates the family.

[5] See pages 151, 206.

[6] See page 218.

[7] See page 148.

[8] See page 144.

[9] See the illustrations, pages 117, 271.

[10] The corresponding names of women's garments were _stola_ and
_pallet_.

[11] See page 199.

[12] See the illustration, page 145.

[13] See page 288.

[14] See page 285.

[15] Panathenaic means 'belonging to all the Athenians.' See page 292.

[16] See page 234.

[17] See page 200.

[18] _Panem et circenses_ (Juvenal x, 80-81).

[19] See page 215.

[20] See pages 436, 463.

[21] See page 73.

[22] See page 80.

[23] See page 120.

[24] See page 265.

[25] See page 121.

[26] See page 117.

[27] See page 261.

[28] See page 226.

[29] See page 142.

[30] The so-called Corinthian order differs from the Ionic only in its
capital.

[31] For illustrations of Greek temples, see pages 89, 101.

[32] For illustrations of Greek statues see pages 80, 81, 103, 117, 119,
129, 271 and the plates facing pages 76, 77, 80, 130, 131.

[33] See pages 61, 138.

[34] See the illustration, page 215.

[35] See the illustration, page 202.

[36] See the illustrations, pages 157, 285.

[37] See page 263.

[38] See the illustration, page 236.

[39] See the illustrations, pages 163, 201.

[40] See the illustration, page 266.

[41] See the illustration, page 339.

[42] See the map, page 107.

[43] See page 108.

[44] See page 227.

[45] See page 100.

[46] See the illustration, page 101.

[47] See the illustration, page 264.

[48] See page 108.

[49] See the plate facing page 281.

[50] See the plate facing page 280.

[51] See the plate facing page 281.

[52] See page 264.

[53] Pindar, _Fragments_, 76.

[54] See page 140.

[55] See the illustration, page 220.

[56] See the illustration, page 203.

[57] See the illustration, page 202.

[58] See the illustration, page 286.

[59] See the illustration, page 236.

[60] See the illustration, page 201.

[61] See the plate facing page 198.

[62] See page 146.

[63] See page 177.

CHAPTER XIII

WESTERN EUROPE DURING THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES, 476-962 A.D. [1]

102. THE OSTROGOTHS IN ITALY, 488-553 A.D.

TRANSITION TO THE MIDDLE AGES

We are not to suppose that the settlement of Germans within the Roman
Empire ended with the deposition of Romulus Augustulus, near the close of
the fifth century. The following centuries witnessed fresh invasions and
the establishment of new Germanic states. The study of these troubled
times leads us from the classical world to the world of medieval Europe,
from the history of antiquity to the history of the Middle Ages.

THE OSTROGOTHS UNDER THEODORIC

The kingdom which Odoacer established on Italian soil did not long endure.
It was soon overthrown by the Ostrogoths. At the time of the "fall" of
Rome in 476 A.D. they occupied a district south of the middle Danube,
which the government at Constantinople had hired them to defend. The
Ostrogoths proved to be expensive and dangerous allies. When, therefore,
their chieftain, Theodoric, offered to lead his people into Italy and
against Odoacer, the Roman emperor gladly sanctioned the undertaking.

OSTROGOTHIC INVASION OF ITALY, 488-493 A.D.

Theodoric led the Ostrogoths--women and children as well as warriors--
across the Alps and came down to meet Odoacer and his soldiers in battle.
After suffering several defeats, Odoacer shut himself up in the strong
fortress of Ravenna. Theodoric could not capture the place and at last
agreed to share with Odoacer the government of Italy, if the latter would
surrender. The agreement was never carried into effect. When Theodoric
entered Ravenna, he invited Odoacer to a great feast and at its conclusion
slew him in cold blood. Theodoric had now no rival in Italy.

THEODORIC KING OF ITALY, 493-526 A.D.

Though Theodoric gained the throne by violence and treachery, he soon
showed himself to be, as a ruler, wise, broad-minded, and humane. He had
lived as a youth in the imperial court at Constantinople and there had
become well acquainted with Roman ideas of law and order. Roman
civilization impressed him; and he wished not to destroy but to preserve
it. Theodoric reigned in Italy for thirty-three years, and during this
time the country enjoyed unbroken peace and prosperity.

[Illustration: TOMB OF THEODORIC AT RAVENNA
A two storied marble building erected by Theodoric in imitation of a Roman
tomb. The roof is a single block of marble 33 feet in diameter and
weighing more than 300 tons. Theodoric's body was subsequently removed
from its resting place, and the mausoleum was converted into a church.]

THEODORIC'S RULE IN ITALY.

The enlightened policy of Theodoric was exhibited in many ways. He
governed Ostrogoths and Romans with equal consideration. He kept all the
old offices, such as the senatorship and the consulate, and by preference
filled them with men of Roman birth. His chief counselors were Romans. A
legal code, which he drew up for the use of Ostrogoths and Romans alike,
contained only selections from Roman law. He was remarkably tolerant and,
in spite of the fact that the Ostrogoths were Arians, [2] was always ready
to extend protection to Catholic Christians. Theodoric patronized
literature and gave high positions to Roman writers. He restored the
cities of Italy, had the roads and aqueducts repaired, and so improved the
condition of agriculture that Italy, from a wheat-importing, became a
wheat-exporting, country. At Ravenna, the Ostrogothic capital, Theodoric
erected many notable buildings, including a palace, a mausoleum, and
several churches. The remains of these structures are still to be seen.

THEODORIC'S FOREIGN POLICY

The influence of Theodoric reached far beyond Italy. He allied himself by
marriage with most of the Germanic rulers of the West. His second wife was
a Frankish foreign princess, his sister was the wife of a Vandal
chieftain, one of his daughters married a king of the Visigoths, and
another daughter wedded a Burgundian king. Theodoric by these alliances
brought about friendly relations between the various barbarian peoples. It
seemed, in fact, as if the Roman dominions in the West might again be
united under a single ruler; as if the Ostrogoths might be the Germanic
people to carry on the civilizing work of Rome. But no such good fortune
was in store for Europe.

END OF THE OSTROGOTHIC KINGDOM, 553 A.D.

Theodoric died in 526 A.D. The year after his death, a great emperor,
Justinian, came to the throne at Constantinople. Justinian had no
intention of abandoning to the Ostrogothic Germans the rich provinces of
Sicily and Italy. Although the Ostrogoths made a stubborn resistance to
his armies, in the end they were so completely overcome that they agreed
to withdraw from the Italian peninsula. The feeble remnant of their nation
filed sadly through the passes of the Alps and, mingling with other
barbarian tribes, disappeared from history.

103. THE LOMBARDS IN ITALY, 568-774 A.D.

INVASION OF ITALY BY THE LOMBARDS

The destruction of the Ostrogothic kingdom did not free Italy of the
Germans. Soon after Justinian's death the country was again overrun, this
time by the Lombards. The name of these invaders (in Latin, _Langobardi_)
may have been derived from the long beards that gave them such a ferocious
aspect. The Lombards were the last of the Germanic peoples to quit their
northern wilderness and seek new homes in sunny Italy. They seized the
territory north of the river Po--a region ever since known as Lombardy--
and established their capital at Pavia. The Lombards afterwards made many
settlements in central and southern Italy, but never succeeded in subduing
the entire peninsula.

[Illustration: Map, EUROPE IN THE SIXTH CENTURY]

LOMBARD RULE IN ITALY

The rule of the Lombards at first bore hardly on Italy, which they treated
as a conquered land. In character they seem to been far less attractive
than their predecessors the Visigoths and Ostrogoths. Many of them were
still heathen when they entered Italy and others were converts to the
Arian [3] form of Christianity. In course of time, however, the Lombards
accepted Roman Catholicism and adopted the customs of their subjects. They
even forgot their Germanic language and learned to speak Latin. The
Lombard kingdom lasted over two centuries, until it was overthrown by the
Franks. [4]

RESULTS OF THE LOMBARD INVASION

The failure of the Lombards to conquer all Italy had important results in
later history. Sicily and the extreme southern part of the Italian
peninsula, besides large districts containing the cities of Naples, Rome,
Genoa, Venice, and Ravenna, continued to belong to the Roman Empire in the
East. The rulers at Constantinople could not exercise effective control
over their Italian possessions, now that these were separated from one
another by the Lombard territories. The consequence was that Italy broke
up into a number of small and practically independent states, which never
combined into one kingdom until our own time. The ideal of a united Italy
waited thirteen hundred years for its realization. [5]

104. THE FRANKS UNDER CLOVIS AND HIS SUCCESSORS

CLOVIS, KING OF THE FRANKS, 481-511 A.D.

We have already met the Franks in their home on the lower Rhine, from
which they pushed gradually into Roman territory. [6] In 486 A.D., just
ten years after the deposition of Romulus Augustulus, the Franks went
forth to conquer under Clovis, [7] one of their chieftains. By overcoming
the governor of Roman Gaul, in a battle near Soissons, Clovis destroyed
the last vestige of imperial rule in the West and extended the Frankish
dominions to the river Loire. Clovis then turned against his German
neighbors. East of the Franks, in the region now known as Alsace, lived
the Alamanni, a people whose name still survives in the French name of
Germany. [8] The Alamanni were defeated in a great battle near Strassburg
(496 A.D.), and much of their territory was added to that of the Franks.
Clovis subsequently conquered the Visigothic possessions between the Loire
and the Pyrenees, and compelled the Burgundians to pay tribute. Thus
Clovis made himself supreme over nearly the whole of Gaul and even
extended his authority to the other side of the Rhine. This great work
entitles him to be called the founder of the French nation.

THE FRANKS AND THE GALLO-ROMANS

Clovis reigned in western Europe as an independent king, but he
acknowledged a sort of allegiance to the Roman emperor by accepting the
title of honorary consul. Henceforth to the Gallo-Romans he represented
the distant ruler at Constantinople. The Roman inhabitants of Gaul were
not oppressed; their cities were preserved; and their language and laws
were undisturbed. Clovis, as a statesman, may be compared with his eminent
contemporary, Theodoric the Ostrogoth.

CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE FRANKS, 496 A.D.

The Franks were still a heathen people, when they began their career of
conquest. Clovis, however, had married a Burgundian princess, Clotilda,
who was a devout Catholic and an ardent advocate of Christianity. The
story is told how, when Clovis was hard-pressed by the Alamanni at the
battle of Strassburg, he vowed that if Clotilda's God gave him victory he
would become a Christian. The Franks won, and Clovis, faithful to his vow,
had himself baptized by St. Remi, bishop of Reims. "Bow down thy head,"
spoke the bishop, as the Frankish king approached the font, "adore what
thou hast burned, burn what thou has adored." [9] With Clovis were
baptized on that same day three thousand of his warriors.

[Illustration: Map, GROWTH OF THE FRANKISH DOMINIONS, 481-768 A.D.]

SIGNIFICANCE OF CLOVIS'S CONVERSION

The conversion of Clovis was an event of the first importance. He and his
Franks naturally embraced the orthodox Catholic faith, which was that of
his wife, instead of the Arian form of Christianity, which had been
accepted by almost all the other Germanic invaders. Thus, by what seems
the merest accident, Catholicism, instead of Arianism, became the religion
of a large part of western Europe. More than this, the conversion of
Clovis gained for the Frankish king and his successors the support of
conversion the Roman Church. The friendship between the popes and the
Franks afterwards ripened into a close alliance which greatly influenced
European history.

THE EARLIER MEROVINGIAN KINGS

The descendants of Clovis are called Merovingians. [10] They occupied the
throne of the Franks for nearly two hundred and fifty years. The annals of
their reigns form an unpleasant catalogue of bloody wars, horrible
murders, and deeds of treachery without number. Nevertheless, the earlier
Merovingians were strong men, under whose direction the Frankish territory
continued to expand, until it included nearly all of what is now France,
Belgium, and Holland, besides a considerable part of Germany.

CHARACTER OF THE FRANKISH CONQUESTS

The Frankish conquests differed in two important respects from those of
the other Germanic peoples. In the first place, the Franks did not cut
themselves off completely from their original homes. They kept permanently
their territory in Germany, drawing from it continual reinforcements of
fresh German blood. In the second place, the Franks steadily added new
German lands to their possessions. They built up in this way what was the
largest and the most permanent of all the barbarian states founded on the
ruins of the Roman Empire.

105. THE FRANKS UNDER CHARLES MARTEL AND PEPIN THE SHORT

THE LATER MEROVINGIAN KINGS

After the middle of the seventh century the Frankish rulers, worn out by
violence and excesses, degenerated into weaklings, who reigned but did not
rule. The actual management of the state passed into the hands of
officers, called "mayors of the palace." They left to the kings little
more than their title, their long hair,--the badge of royalty among the
Franks,--and a scanty allowance for their support. The later Merovingians,
accordingly, are often known as the "do-nothing kings."

CHARLES MARTEL

The most illustrious of these mayors was Charles, surnamed Martel, "the
Hammer," from the terrible defeat which he administered to the Mohammedans
near Tours, in central France. [11] Charles Martel was virtually a king,
but he never ventured to set aside the Merovingian ruler and himself
ascend the throne. This step was taken, however, by Charles's son, Pepin
the Short.