Beacon Lights of History, Volume 03: Ancient Achievements

Part 1

LORD'S LECTURES

BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME III

ANCIENT ACHIEVEMENTS.

BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.,

AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE," ETC., ETC.

CONTENTS.

GOVERNMENTS AND LAWS.

GREEK AND ROMAN JURISPRUDENCE.

Governments and laws Oriental laws Priestly jurisprudence The laws of Lycurgus The laws of Solon Cleisthenes The Ecclesia at Athens Struggle between patricians and plebeians at Rome Tribunes of the people Roman citizens The Roman senate The Roman constitution Imperial power The Twelve Tables Roman lawyers Jurisprudence under emperors Labeo Capito Gaius Paulus Ulpian Justinian Tribonian Code, Pandects, and Institutes Roman citizenship Laws pertaining to marriage Extent of paternal power Transfer of property Contracts The courts Crimes Fines Penal statutes Personal rights Slavery Security of property Authorities

THE FINE ARTS.

ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, PAINTING.

Early architecture Egyptian monuments The Temple of Karnak The pyramids Babylonian architecture Indian architecture Greek architecture The Doric order The Parthenon The Ionic order The Corinthian order Roman architecture The arch Vitruvius Greek sculpture Phidias Statue of Zeus Praxiteles Scopas Lysippus Roman sculpture Greek painters Polygnotus Apollodorus Zeuxis Parrhasius Apelles The decline of art Authorities

ANCIENT SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE.

ASTRONOMY, GEOGRAPHY, ETC.

Ancient astronomy Chaldaean astronomers Egyptian astronomy The Greek astronomers Thales Anaximenes Aristarchus Archimedes Hipparchus Ptolemy The Roman astronomers Geometry Euclid Empirical science Hippocrates Galen Physical science Geography Pliny Eratosthenes Authorities

MATERIAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS.

MECHANICAL AND USEFUL ARTS.

Mechanical arts Material life in Egypt Domestic utensils Houses and furniture Entertainments Glass manufacture Linen fabrics Paper manufacture Leather and tanners Carpenters and boat-builders Agriculture Field sports Ornaments of dress Greek arts Roman luxuries Material wonders Great cities Commerce Roman roads Ancient Rome Architectural wonders Roman monuments Roman spectacles Gladiatorial shows Roman triumphs Authorities

THE MILITARY ART.

WEAPONS, ENGINES, DISCIPLINE.

The tendency to violence and war Early wars Progress in the art of war Sesostris Egyptian armies Military weapons Chariots of war Persian armies, Cyrus Greek warfare Spartan phalanx Alexander the Great Roman armies Hardships of Roman soldiers Military discipline The Roman legion Importance of the infantry The cavalry Military engines Ancient fortifications Military officers The praetorian cohort Roman camps Consolidation of Roman power Authorities

CICERO.

ROMAN LITERATURE.

Condition of Roman society when Cicero was born His education and precocity He adopts the profession of the law His popularity as an orator Elected Quaestor; his Aedileship Prosecution of Verres His letters to Atticus; his vanity His Praetorship; declines a province His Consulship; conspiracy of Catiline Banishment of Cicero: his weakness; his recall His law practice; his eloquence His provincial government His return to Rome His fears in view of the rivalry between Caesar and Pompey Sides with Pompey Death of Tullia and divorce of Terentia Second marriage of Cicero Literary labors: his philosophical writings His detestation of Imperialism His philippics against Antony His proscription, flight, and death His great services Character of his eloquence His artistic excellence of style His learning and attainments; his character His immortal legacy Authorities

CLEOPATRA.

THE WOMAN OF PAGANISM.

Why Cleopatra represents the woman of Paganism Glory of Ancient Rome Paganism recognizes the body rather than the soul Ancestors of Cleopatra The wonders of Alexandria Cleopatra of Greek origin The mysteries of Ancient Egypt Early beauty and accomplishments of Cleopatra Her attractions to Caesar Her residence in Rome Her first acquaintance with Antony The style of her beauty Her character Character of Antony Antony and Cleopatra in Cilicia Magnificence of Cleopatra Infatuation of Antony Motives of Cleopatra Antony's gifts to Cleopatra Indignation of the Romans Antony gives up his Parthian expedition Returns to Alexandria Contest with Octavius Battle of Actium Wisdom of Octavius Death of Antony Subsequent conduct of Cleopatra Nature of her love for Antony Immense sacrifices of Antony Tragic fate of Cleopatra Frequency of suicide at Rome Immorality no bar to social position in Greece and Rome Dulness of home in Pagan antiquity Drudgeries of women Influence of women on men Paganism never recognized the equality of women with men It denied to them education Consequent degradation of women Paganism without religious consolation Did not recognize the value of the soul And thus took no cognizance of the higher aspirations of man The revenge of woman under degradation Women, under Paganism, took no interest in what elevates society Men, therefore, fled to public amusements No true society under Paganism Society only created by Christianity

PAGAN SOCIETY.

Part 2

GLORY AND SHAME.

Glories of the ancient civilization A splendid external deception Moral evils Imperial despotism Prostration of liberties Some good emperors Disproportionate fortunes Luxurious living General extravagance Pride and insolence of the aristocracy Gibbon's description of the nobles The plebeian class Hopelessness and disgrace of poverty Popular superstitions The slaves The curse of slavery Degradation of the female sex Bitter satires of Juvenal Games and festivals Gladiatorial shows General abandonment to pleasure The baths General craze for money-making Universal corruption Saint Paul's estimate of Roman vices Decline and ruin a logical necessity The Sibylline prophecy Authorities

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME III.

Cleopatra Tests the Poison which She Intends for Her Own Destruction on Her Slaves.... Frontispiece After the painting by Alexander Cabanel.

Justinian Orders the Compilation of the Pandects After the painting by Benjamin Constant.

The Temple of Karnak After a photograph.

The Laocoön After the photograph from the statue in the Vatican, Rome.

The Death of Archimedes After the painting by E. Vimont.

Race of Roman Chariots After the painting by V. Checa.

Sale of Slaves in a Roman Camp After the painting by R. Coghe.

Marcus Tullius Cicero From the bust in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Cleopatra Obtains an Interview with Caesar After the painting by J.L. Gerome.

Death of Cleopatra After the painting by John Collier.

A Roman Bacchanal After the painting by W. Kotarbinski.

GOVERNMENTS AND LAWS.

GREEK AND ROMAN JURISPRUDENCE.

624 B.C.-550 A.D.

There is not much in ancient governments and laws to interest us, except such as were in harmony with natural justice, and were designed for the welfare of all classes in the State. A jurisprudence founded on the edicts of absolute kings, or on the regulations of a priestly caste, is necessarily partial, and may be unenlightened. But those laws which are gradually enacted for the interests of the whole body of the people,--for the rich and poor, the powerful and feeble alike,--have generally been the result of great and diverse experiences, running through centuries, the work of wise men under constitutional forms of government. The jurisprudence of nations based on equity is a growth or development according to public wants and necessities, especially in countries having popular liberty and rights, as in England and the United States.

We do not find in the history of ancient nations such a jurisprudence, except in the free States of Greece and among the Romans, who had a natural genius or aptitude for government, and where the people had a powerful influence in legislation, until even the name of liberty was not invoked.

Among the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians the only laws were the edicts of kings or the regulations of priests, mostly made with a view of cementing their own power, except those that were dictated by benevolence or the pressing needs of the people, who were ground down and oppressed, and protected only as slaves were once protected in the Southern States of America. Wise and good monarchs doubtless issued decrees for the benefit of all classes, such as conscience or knowledge dictated, whenever they felt their great responsibilities, as in some of the absolute monarchies of Europe; but they never issued their decrees at the suggestions or demands of those classes for whom the laws were made. The voice of the people was ignored, except so far as it moved the pity or appealed to the hearts and consciences of their rulers; the people had, and claimed, no rights. The only men to whom rulers listened, or by whom they were controlled, were those whom they chose as counsellors and ministers, who were supposed to advise with a view to the sovereign's benefit, and that of the empire generally.

The same may be said in general of other Oriental monarchies, especially when embarked in aggressive wars, where the will of the monarch was supreme and unresisted, as in Persia. In India and China the government was not so absolute, since it was checked by feudatory princes, almost independent like the feudal barons and dukes of mediaeval Europe.

Nor was there probably among Oriental nations any elaborate codification of the decrees and laws as in Greece and Rome, except by the priests for their ritual service, like that which marked the jurisprudence of the Israelites. There were laws against murder, theft, adultery, and other offences, since society cannot exist anywhere without such laws; but there was no complicated jurisprudence produced by the friction of competing classes striving for justice and right, or even for the interests of contending parties. We do not look to Egypt or to China for wise punishment of ordinary crimes; but we do look to Greece and Rome, and to Rome especially, for a legislation which shall balance the complicated relations of society on principles of enlightened reason. Moreover, those great popular rights which we now most zealously defend have generally been extorted in the strife of classes and parties, sometimes from kings, and sometimes from princes and nobles. Where there has been no opposition to absolutism these rights have not been secured; but whenever and wherever the people have been a power they have imperiously made their wants known, and so far as they have been reasonable they have been finally secured,--perhaps after angry expostulations and, disputations.

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