Part 19

A new epoch in the history of Ilium commenced when the accumulation of débris on this hill had reached a height of 13 feet below its present surface; for the town was again destroyed, and the inhabitants killed or driven out by a wretched tribe, which certainly must likewise have belonged to the Aryan race, for upon the round terra-cottas I still very frequently find the tree of life, and the simple cross and double cross with the four nails. In these depths, however, the forms of the whorls degenerate. Of pottery, however, much less is found, and all of it is considerably less artistic than that which I have found in the preceding strata. With the people to whom these strata belonged--from 13 to 6-1/2 feet below the surface--the pre-Hellenic ages end, for henceforth we see many ruined walls of Greek buildings, of beautifully hewn stones laid together without cement, and the painted and unpainted terra-cottas leave no doubt that a Greek colony took possession of Ilium when the surface of this hill was much lower than it is now.

It is impossible to determine when this new colonisation took place, but it must have been much earlier than the visit of Xerxes reported by Herodotus, which took place 480 years before Christ. The event may have taken place 700 B.C.

III.--Homeric Legends Verified

Pergamus of Troy, August 4, 1872. On the south side of the hill where I made my great trench I discovered a great tower, 40 feet thick, which obstructs my path and appears to extend to a great length. I have uncovered it on the north and south sides along the whole breadth of my trench, and have convinced myself that it is built on the rock at a depth of 46-1/2 feet.

This tower is now only 20 feet high, but must have been much higher. For its preservation we have to thank the ruins of Troy, which entirely covered it as it now stands. Its situation would be most interesting and imposing, for its top would command not only a view of the whole plain of Troy, but of the sea, with the islands of Tenedos, Imbros, and Samothrace. There is not a more sublime situation in the whole area of the plain of Troy than this.

In the ashes of a house at the depth of 42-1/2 feet I found a tolerably well preserved skeleton of a woman. The colour of the bones shows that the lady, whose gold ornaments were near by, was overtaken by fire and burnt alive. With the exception of the skeleton of an infant found in a vase, this is the only skeleton of a human being I have ever met with in the pre-Hellenic remains on this hill. As we know from Homer, all corpses were burnt and the ashes placed in urns, of which I have found great numbers. The bones were always burnt to ashes.

Pergamus of Troy, August 14, 1872. In stopping the excavations for this year, and in looking back on the dangers to which we have been exposed between the gigantic layers of ruins, I cannot but fervently thank God for his great mercy, not only that no life has been lost, but that none of us has been seriously hurt.

As regards the result of my excavations, everyone must admit that I have solved a great historical problem, and that I have solved it by the discovery of a high civilisation and immense buildings upon the primary soil, in the depths of an ancient town, which throughout antiquity was called Ilium and declared itself to be the successor of Troy, the site of which was regarded as identical with the site of the Homeric Ilium by the whole world of that time. The situation of this town not only corresponds perfectly with all the statements of the Iliad, but also with all the traditions handed down to us by later authorities.

Pergamus of Troy, March 22, 1873. During this last week, with splendid weather, and with 150 men on the average, I have got through a good piece of work. On the north side of the excavation on the site of the Temple of Athena I have already reached a depth of 26 feet, and have laid bare the tower in several places.

The most remarkable of the objects found this week is a large knob of the purest and finest crystal, belonging to a stick, in the form of a beautifully wrought lion's head. It seems probable that in remote antiquity lions existed in this region. Homer could not so excellently have described them had he not had the opportunities of watching them.

Pergamus of Troy, May 10, 1873. Although the Pergamus, whose depths I have been ransacking, borders directly on the marshes formed by the Simois, in which there are always hundreds of storks, yet none of them ever settle down here. Though there are sometimes a dozen storks' nests on one roof in the neighbouring Turkish villages, yet no one will settle on mine, even though I have two comfortable nests made for them. It is probably too cold and stormy for the little storks on Ilios anemoessa.

My most recent excavations have far surpassed my expectations, for I have unearthed two large gates, standing 20 feet apart, in a splendid street which proceeds from the chief building in the Pergamus. I venture to assert that this great double gate must be the Homeric Scæan Gate. It is in an excellent state of preservation.

Here, therefore, by the side of the double gate, at Ilium's Great Tower, sat Priam, the seven elders of the city, and Helen. From this spot the company surveyed the whole plain, and saw at the foot of the Pergamus the Trojan and Achæan armies face to face about to settle their agreement to let the war be decided by a single combat between Paris and Menelaus.

I now positively retract my former opinion that Ilium was inhabited up to the ninth century after Christ, and I must distinctly maintain that its site has been desolate and uninhabited since the end of the fourth century. But Troy was not large. I am extremely disappointed at being obliged to give so small a plan of the city; nay, I had wished to be able to make it a thousand times larger, but I value truth above everything, and I rejoice that my three years' excavations have laid open the Homeric Troy, even though on a diminished scale, and that I have proved the Iliad based upon real facts.

Homer is an epic poet, and not an historian; so it is quite natural that he should have exaggerated everything with poetic licence. Moreover, the events he describes are so marvellous that many scholars have long doubted the very existence of Troy, and have considered the city to be a mere invention of the poet's fancy. I venture to hope that the civilised world will not only not be disappointed that the city of Priam has shown itself to be scarcely a twentieth part as large as was to be expected from the statements of the Iliad, but that, on the contrary, it will accept with delight and enthusiasm the certainty that Ilium did really exist, that a large portion of it has now been brought to light, and that Homer, even though he exaggerates, nevertheless sings of events that actually happened.

Homer can never have seen Ilium's Great Tower, the surrounding wall of Poseidon and Apollo, the Scæan Gate of the palace of King Priam, for all these monuments lay buried deep in heaps of rubbish, and he could have made no excavations to bring them to light. He knew of these monuments only from hearsay and tradition, for the tragic fate of ancient Troy was then still in fresh remembrance, and had already been for centuries in the mouth of all minstrels.

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JULIUS CÆSAR

Commentaries on the Gallic War

Caius Julius Cæsar was born on July 12, 100 B.C., of a noble Roman family. His career was decided when he threw in his lot with the democratic section against the republican oligarchy. Marrying Cornelia, daughter of Lucius Cinna, the chief opponent of the tyrant dictator Sulla, he incurred the implacable hatred of the latter, and was obliged to quit Rome. For a season he studied rhetoric at Rhodes. Settling in Rome after Sulla's death, Cæsar attached himself to the illustrious Pompey, whose policy was then democratic. In B.C. 68 he obtained a quæstorship in Spain, and on returning next year reconciled the two most powerful men in Rome, Pompey and Crassus. With them he formed what became known as the First Triumvirate. Being appointed to govern Gaul for five years, Cæsar there developed his genius for war; but his brilliant success excited the fears of the senate and the envy even of Pompey. Civil war broke out. The conflict ended in the fall of Pompey, who was defeated in the fateful battle of Pharsalia, and was afterwards murdered in Egypt. Julius Cæsar now possessed supreme power. He lavished vast sums on games and public buildings, won splendid victories in Gaul, Egypt, Pontus, and Africa, and was the idol of the common people. But the jealousy of many of the aristocrats led to the formation of a plot, and on March 15, 44 B.C., Cæsar was assassinated in the Senate House. This summary relates to the commentaries known to be by Cæsar himself, certain other books having been added by other Latin writers. It will be noticed that he writes in the third person. This epitome is prepared from the Latin text.

I.--Subduing Celtic Gaul

Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgæ inhabit; the Aquitani another; those who in their own language are called Celts, in ours Gauls, the third. All these differ from each other in language, customs, and laws. Among the Gauls the Helvetii surpass the rest in valour, as they constantly contend in battle with the Germans. When Messala and Piso were consuls, Orgetorix, the most distinguished of the Helvetii, formed a conspiracy among the nobility, persuading them that, since they excelled all in valour, it would be very easy to acquire the supremacy of the whole of Gaul. They made great preparations for the expedition, but suddenly Orgetorix died, nor was suspicion lacking that he committed suicide.

After his death, the Helvetii nevertheless attempted the exodus from their territories. When it was reported to Cæsar that they were attempting to make their route through our province, he gathered as great a force as possible, and by forced marches arrived at Geneva.

The Helvetii now sent ambassadors to Cæsar, requesting permission to pass through the province, which he refused, inasmuch as he remembered that Lucius Cassius, the consul, had been slain and his army routed, and made to pass under the yoke by the Helvetii. Disappointed in their hope, the Helvetii attempted to force a passage across the Rhone, but, being resisted by the soldier, desisted.

After the war with the Helvetii was concluded, ambassadors from almost all parts of Gaul assembled to congratulate Cæsar, and to declare that his victory had happened no less to the benefit of the land of Gaul than of the Roman people, because the Helvetii had quitted their country with the design of subduing the whole of Gaul.

When the assembly was dismissed, the chiefs' of the Ædui and of the Sequani waited upon Cæsar to complain that Ariovistus, the king of the Germans, had seized a third of their land, which was the best in Gaul, and was now ordering them to depart from another third part.

To ambassadors sent by Cæsar, demanding an appointment of some spot for a conference, Ariovistus gave an insolent reply, which was repeated on a second overture. Hearing that the king of the Germans was threatening to seize Vesontio, the capital of the Sequani, Cæsar, by a forced march, arrived there and took possession of the city. Apprised of this event, Ariovistus changed his attitude, and sent messengers intimating that he agreed to meet Cæsar, as they were now nearer to each other, and could meet without danger.

The conference took place, but it led to no successful result, for Ariovistus demanded that the Romans should withdraw from Gaul and his conduct became afterwards so hostile that it led to war. A battle took place about fifty miles from the Rhine. The Germans were routed and fled to the river, across which many escaped, the rest being slain in pursuit. Cæsar, having concluded two very important wars in one campaign, conducted his army into winter quarters.