Outlines of Universal History. Designed as a text-book and for private reading

Preface

. IN writing this volume I have aimed to provide a text-book suited to more advanced pupils. My idea of such a work was, that it should present the essential facts of history in due order, and in conformity to the best and latest researches ; that it should point out clearly the connection of events and of successive eras with one another; that through the interest awakened by the natural, unforced view gained of this unity of history, and by such illustrative incidents as the brevity of the narrative would allow to be wrought into it, the dryness of a mere summary should be, as far as possible, relieved ; and that, finally, being a book intended for pupils and readers of all classes, it should be free from sectarian partiality, and should limit itself to well-established judgments and conclusions on all matters subject to party contention.

Respecting one of the points just referred to, I can say that, in composing this work, I have myself been more than ever impressed with the unity of history, and affected by this great and deeply moving drama that is still advancing into a future that is hidden from view. I can not but hope that this feeling, spontaneous and vivid in my own mind, may communicate itself to the reader in his progress through these pages. The most interesting object in the study of history is, to quote Dr. Arnold's words, " that which most nearly touches the inner life of civ ilized man, namely, the vicissitudes of institutions, social, political, and religious." But, as the same scholar adds, "a knowledge of the exter nal is needed before we arrive at that which is within. We want to get a sort of frame for our picture. . . .

And thus we want to know clearly the geographical boundaries of different countries, and their external revolutions. This leads us in the first instance to geography and military history, even if our ultimate object lies beyond." Some thing more is aimed at in the present work than the construction of this "frame," without which, to be sure, a student wanders about " vaguely, like an ignorant man in an ill-arranged museum." By the use of different sorts of type, it has been practicable to introduce a y

PREFACE.

. VI considerable amount of detail without breaking the main current of the narrative, or making it too long. By means of these additional passages, and by appending lists of books at the close of the sev eral periods, the attempt has been made to aid younger students in carrying forward the study of history beyond the usual requirements of the class-room. I make no apology for the sketches presented of the history of science, literature, art, and of moral and material de cline or improvement. Professor Seeley, in his interesting book on The Expansion of England, is disposed to confine history to the civil com munity, and to the part of human well-being which depends on that. "That a man in England," he tells us, "makes a scientific discovery or paints a picture, is not in itself an event in the history of England."

But, of course, as this able writer himself remarks, "history may assume a larger or a narrower function ; " and I am persuaded that to shut up history within so narrow bounds, is not expedient in a work designed in part to stimulate readers to wide and continued studies. One who has long been engaged in historical study and teaching, if he undertakes to prepare such a work as the present, has occasion to traverse certain periods where previous investigations have made him feel more or less at home. Elsewhere at least his course must be to collate authorities, follow such as he deems best entitled to credit, and, on points of uncertainty, satisfy himself by recurrence to the original sources of evidence. Among the numerous works from which I have derived assistance, the largest debt is due, especially in the ancient and mediæval periods, to Weber's Lehrbuch der Welt geschichte, which (in its nineteenth edition, 18S3) contains 2328 large octavo pages of well-digested matter.

Duruy's Histoire du Moyen Age (eleventh edition, 1882), and also his Histoire des Temps Modernes (ninth edition), have yielded to me important aid. From the writings of Mr. E. A. Freeman I have constantly derived instruction. In particular, I have made use of his General Sketch of European His tory (which is published in this country, under the title, Outlines of History), and of his lucid, compact, and thorough History of Euro pean Geography. The other writings, however, of this able and learned historian, have been very helpful. Mr. Tillinghast's edition of Ploetz's Epitome I have found to be a highly valuable store house of historical facts, and have frequently consulted it with advantage. The superior accuracy of George's Genealogical Tables is the reason why I have freely availed myself of the aid afforded by them.

Professor (now President) C. K. Adams's excellent Manual of His torical Literature, to which reference is repeatedly made in the following pages, has been of service in preparing the lists of works to

PREFACE.

. VII be read or consulted. Those lists, it hardly need be said, aim at nothing like a complete bibliography. No doubt to each of them other valuable works might easily be added. As a rule, no men tion is made of more technical or abstruse writings, collections of documents, and so forth. The titles of but few historical novels are given. Useful as the best of these are, works of this class are often inaccurate and misleading ; so that a living master in historical authorship has said even of Walter Scott, who is so strong when he stands on Scottish soil, that in his Ivanhoe " there is a mistake in every line." With regard, however, to historical fiction, including poems, as well as novels and tales, the student will find in Mr. Justin Winsor's very learned and elaborate monograph (forming a distinct section of the catalogue of the Boston Public Library), the most full information up to the date of its publication.

Most of the historical maps, to illustrate the text of the present work, have been engraved from drawings after Spruner, Putzger, Freeman, etc. Of the ancient maps, several have been adopted (in a revised form) from a General Atlas. That the maps contain more places than are referred to in the text, is not a disadvantage. I wish to express my obligation to a number of friends who have kindly lent me aid in the revisal of particular portions of the proof sheets of this volume. My special thanks are due, on account of this service, to Professor Francis Brown of the Union Theological School; to Professors W. D. Whitney, Tracy Peck, T. D. Seymour, W. H. Brewer, and T. R. Lounsbury, of Yale College ; to Mr. A. Van Name, librarian of Yale College ; and to Mr. W.' L. Kingsley, to whose his torical knowledge and unfailing kindness I have, on previous occasions, been indebted for like assistance.

To other friends besides those just named, I am indebted for information on points made familiar to them by their special studies. G. P. F. New Haven, Sept. i, 1S85. CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction i

Chapter II

— The Successors of Alexander 116 Section II. ROMAN HISTORY. Introduction 124 Period I. ROME UNDER THE KINGS AND THE PATRICIANS (753***3°4 B.C.).

CHAPTER I.

— Rome under the Kings (753-509 B.C.) . . . .128

CHAPTER II.

— Rome under the Patricians (509-304 B.C.) . . 133 Period II. TO THE UNION OF ITALY (304-264 B.C.).

CHAPTER I.

— Conquest of the Latins and Italians (304-282 B.C.), 138

CHAPTER II.

— War with Pyrrhus and Union with Italy (282- 264 B.C.) . . 139 Period III. THE PUNIC WARS. To the Conquest of Carthage and of the Greek States (264-146 B.C.) jx,

CHAPTER I.

— The First and Second Punic Wars (264-202 B.C.) ia.

CHAPTER II.

— Conquest of Macedonia: the Third Punic War* the Destruction of Corinth (202-146 B.C.) • •.,', <j CONTENTS. XI Period IV. THE ERA OF REVOLUTION AND OF THE CIVIL WARS (146-31 B.C.). PAGB

CHAPTER 1

— The Gracchi : the First Mithridatic War: Marius and Sulla (146-7S B.C.) 153

CHAPTER II.

— Pompeius and the East: to the Death of Crassus (78-53 B.C) ,58

Chapter IV

— Rise of the Burgher Class: Society in the Era of the Crusades 301 Period IV. FROM THE END OF THE CRUSADES TO THE FALL OF CONSTAN- TINOPLE (A.D. 1270-1453) : THE DECLINE OF ECCLESIASTICAL authority : the growth of the national spirit and of monarchy. Introduction 311

Chapter II

— Invention and Discovery: the Renaissance . . CONTENTS. XIII Period II. THE ERA OF THE REFORMATION (1517-1648). PAGE Introduction 396

CHAPTER I.

— The Reformation in Germany: to the Treaty of Nuremberg (1517-1532) 397

CHAPTER II.

— The Reformation in Teutonic Countries: Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, England 403

Chapter VII

— Discovery and Invention: Science and Literature : Progress of Humane Sentiment : Progress towards the Unity of Mankind LIST OF MAPS. PAGE The World as known to the Ancients 16 Physical Features of Asia 18 Ancient Egypt 32 Ancient Palestine 56 Physical Features of Europe 72 Ancient Greece and the Ægean Islands .... 80 Greek and Phœnician Colonies 88 Empire of. Alexander the Great 112 Kingdoms of the Successors of Alexander .... 120 Ancient Italy (Northern Part). i 128 Ancient Italy (Southern Part) 144 Ancient Roman Empire 176 The New Nations after the Great Migrations (about A.D. 500) 208 Empire of the Saracens (about A.D. 750) .... 224 Empire of Charlemagne 233 Empire of Charlemagne A.D. 843 241 Empire of Charlemagne A.D. 887 241 Central Europe about A.D. 980 248 Mediterranean Lands at the Time of the Crusades . . 272 France and England A.D. 11 54-1 189 289 Central Europe A.D. 1360 329 Central Europe A.D. 1660 329 Italy about the Middle of the Sixteenth Century . . 409 Europe at the Time of Napoleon's Greatest Power (about A.D. 1810) 528 LIST OF MAPS.

XVI PAGE Central Europe in 1815 535 Europe after 1878 50*--* Austro-Hungary since 1878 576 France since 1871 584 German Empire since 1871 592 Turkish Empire, Greece, etc., since 1878 596 Territorial Growth of the United States .... 601 Asia at the Present Time

Introduction

. Definition of History. — The subject of history is man. His tory has for its object to record his doings and experiences. It may then be concisely defined as a narrative of past events in which men have been concerned. To describe the earth, the abode of man, to delineate the different kingdoms of nature, and to inquire into the origin of them, or to explain the physical or mental constitution of human beings, is no part of the office of history. All this belongs to the departments of natural and intellectual science. But history, as we now understand the term, is more than a bare record of what men have done and suffered. It aims to point out the connection of events with one another. It seeks to ex plain the causes and the consequences of things that occur. It would trace the steps that mark the progress of the race, and of the different portions of it, through extended periods.

It brings to light the thread which unites each particular stage in the career of a people, or of mankind as a whole, with what went before, and with what came after. Nations. — History has been called " the biography of a society." Biography has to do with the career of an individual. His tory is concerned with the successive actions and fortunes of a community ; in its broadest extent, with the experiences of the human family. It is only when men are connected by the social bond, and remain so united for a greater or less period, that there is room for history. It is, therefore, with nations, in their internal progress and in their mutual relations, that history especially deals. Of mere clans, or loosely organized tribes, it can have little to say. History can go no farther than to explore their genealogy, and state what were their journeyings and habits.

The nation is a form of society that rests on the same basis — a basis at once natural and part of a divine system — as the family. By a nation is meant a people dwelling in a definite territory, living under the same government, and bound together by such ties as a common language, a common religion, the same institutions and customs. The elements that enter into that national spirit which is the bond of unity, are multiple. They vary to a degree in different peoples. As individuals are not alike, and as the history of any particular community is modified and molded by these individual differences, so the course of the history of mankind is shaped by the peculiar characteristics of the various nations, and by their interaction upon one another. In like manner, groups of nations, each charac terized by distinctive traits derived from affinities of race or of religion, or from other sources, act on each other, and thus help to determine the course of the historic stream.

Scope of History. — The rise and progress of culture and civilization in their various constituents is the theme of history. It does not limit its attention to a particular fraction of a people, to the exclusion of the rest. Governments and rulers, and the public doings of states, — such as foreign wars, and the struggles of rival dynasties, — naturally form a prominent topic in historical writings. But this is only one department in the records of the past. More and more history interests itself in the character of society at large, and in the phases through which it has passed. How men lived from day to day, what their occupations were, their comforts and discomforts, their ideas, sentiments, and modes of intercourse, their state as regards art, letters, invention, religious enlightenment, — these are points on which history, as at present studied and written, undertakes to shed light.

Points of View. — An eminent German philosopher of our day, Hermann Lotze, intimates that there are five phases of human development, and hence five points of view from which the course of history is to be surveyed. These are the intellectual (embracing the progress of truth and knowledge) , the industrial, the æsthetic (including art in all its higher ramifications), the religious, and the political. An able English scholar, Goldwin Smith, resolves the elements of human progress, and thus the most general topics of history, into three, " the moral, the intellectual, and the productive ; or, virtue, knowledge, and industry." **** But these I three elements," he adds, " though distinct, are not separate, but closely connected with each other." The Philosophy of History. — That there is, in some sense, a " reign of law " in the succession of human events, is a conviction warranted by observed facts, as well as inspired by religion.

Events do not spring into being, disjoined from antecedents leading to them. Even turning-points in history, which seem, at the first glance, abrupt, are found to be dependent on previous conditions. They are perceived to be the natural issue of the times that have gone before. Preceding events have foreshadowed them. There

INTRODUCTION.

. 3 are laws of historical progress which have their root in the charac teristics of human nature. Ends are wrought out, which bear on them evident marks of design. History, as a whole, is the carrying out of a plan : through the ages one increasing purpose runs." Augitstine long ago argued, that he who has not left " even the entrails of the smallest and most insignificant animal, or the feather of a bird, or the little slower of a plant, or the leaf of a tree, without a harmony, and, as it were, a mutual peace among all its parts, — that God can never be believed to have left the kingdoms of men, their dominations and servitudes, outside of the laws of his providence." To discern the plan of history, and the causes or laws through which it is accomplished, as far as our limited capacity will allow, is the object of what is called the philosophy of history.

Freedom and Law. — It must not be forgotten, however, that man is a free agent. History, although it is not an aimless pro cess, is, nevertheless, not subject to the forces and laws which govern in the realm of matter. Physical analogies are not a literal image of what takes place in the sphere of intelligence and freedom. Moral evil, wherever it is a factor in history, has its origin in the will of man. In respect to it, the agency of God is per missive and overruling. Through his providence, order is made to emerge, a worthy goal is at last reached, despite the elements of disorder introduced by human perversity. Nor is progress continuous and unbroken. It is often, as one has said, a spiral rather than a straight line. It is not an unceas ing advance : there are backward movements, or what appear to be such.

Of particular nations it is frequently evident, that, intellectually and morally, as well as in power and thrift, they have sunk below a level once attained. Of the inscrutable blending of human freedom with a pre-ordained design, Guizot says: "Man advances in the execution of a plan which he has not conceived, and of which he is not even aware. He is the free and intelligent artificer of a work which is not his own." " Con ceive a great machine, the design of which is centered in a single mind, though its various parts are intrusted to different workmen, separated from, and strangers to, each other. No one of them understands the work as a whole, nor the general result which he concurs in producing; but every one executes with intelligence and freedom, by rational and voluntary acts, the par ticular task assigned to him."

(Lectures on the History of Civilization, Lect. xi.) Personal Power. — The progress of society has been inseparably connected with the agency of eminent persons. Signal changes, whether wholesome or mischievous, are linked to the names of individuals who have specially contributed to bring them to pass. The achievements of heroes stand out in as bold relief in authentic history as in the obscure era of myth and fable. Fruitful inventions, after the earlier steps in civilization are taken, are traceable to particular authors, exalted by their genius above the common level. So it is with the literary works which have exerted the deep est and most lasting influence. Nations have their pilots in war and in peace. Epochs in the progress of the fine arts are ushered in by individuals of surpassing mental power.

Reforms and revolutions, which alter the direction of the historic stream, emanate from individuals in whose minds they are conceived, and by whose energy they are effected. The force thus exerted by the leaders in history is not accounted for by reference to general laws. Great men are not puppets moved by the spirit of the time. To be sure, there must be a preparation for them, and a groundwork of sympathy among their contemporaries : otherwise their activity would call forth no response. Independently of the age that gives them birth, their power would lose its distinctive form and hue : they would be incapable of influence. Cromwell would not have been Cromwell had he been born in any other period of English history. Nor could he have played his part, being what he was, had not the religious and political struggles of England for generations framed a theater adapted to his talents and character.

Michael Angelo could not have arisen in a half-civilized tribe. His creative power would have found no field in a society rude, and blind to the attractions of art. Nevertheless, his power -was creative. Cromwell and Michael Angelo, and such as they, are not the passive organs, the mere outcome, of the communities in which they appear. Without the original thought and personal energy of leaders, momentous changes in the life of nations could never have taken place. A great man may be obliged to wait long for the answering sympathy which is required to give effect to his thoughts and purposes. Such a mind is said to be in advance of the age. Another generation may have to appear before the harvest springs from the seed that he has sown. Moreover, it is not true that great men, efficient leaders, come forward whenever there is an exigency calling for them, or an urgent need.

Rather is it true that terrible disasters sometimes occur, at critical points in history, just for the lack of leaders fit for the emergency. The Meaning of History.- A thoughtful student can hardly fail to propose to him self the question, What is the meaning of history ? Why is this long drama with all that is noble and joyous in it, and with its abysses of sin and misery, enacted at all'" It is onlv a partial answer that one can hope to give to this grave inquiry, for the designs of Providence can not be fully fathomed. But, among the ends in view, the moral training of mankind stands forth with a marked prominence. The deliverance of the race from moral evil and error, and the building-up of a purified society, enriched with all the good that belongs to the ideal of humanity, and exalted by fellowship with God, is not only an end worthy in itself, but it is the end towards which the onward movement of history is seen to be directed.

Hence, a central place in the course of history belongs to the life and work of Jesus Christ No more satisfactory solution of this problem of the significance of history has ever been offered than that brought forward by the Apostle Paul in Acts xvii. 27, where he says that the nations of men were assigned to their places on the earth, and their duration as well as boundary determined, that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find of m£3, S.T.th<. *Pn?1?!,s?*?hy of History. -(Professor C K. Adams's Manual ffi^W,%f A882) Vnc,e*Je "ent J-U'de " h*stori'-*** re****n?* Bri*=se' li«S of * ,i o„ -, 7, of Teaching and Studying History, edited by G. Stanley Hall ) Books on the Philosophy 0/ History 7 R. Flint, The Philosophy 0/ History, vol I - Writers on he subject in stance and Germany.

Vol. ii. will treat of England and Italy The wo?k ShMH* 7 ,re™W 0fJheJ1i"*,ratur? on the subJ<-c** Schlegel, The PhdosophyofHisTory \o™ MllZl" °" History; Bunsen'scW in HisorT(i'o\" Xo), applied to History; Froude, in Short Studies, vol. i The SciencrTS vi*. Science as above: also, Flint, and Droysen, Grundriss der Historik HeteÆ p?-.HlSi2ry: _-L?_*zc' as has profound observations, but connected with Z a priori , heor^ Philosophy 0/ History

INTRODUCTION.

. 5 Historical Writing. — The beginning of historical writing was in the form of lists of kings, or bare records of battles, or the simple registration of other occurrences of remarkable interest. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chinese, and other nations, furnish examples of this rudimental type of historical writing. More continuous annals followed ; but these are meager in contents, and make no attempt to find links of connection be tween events. The ancient Hebrew historians are on a much higher plane, and, apart from their religious value, far surpass all other Asiatic histories. It was in Greece, the fountain-head of science, that history, as an art, first appeared. Herodotus, born early in the fifth century B.C., first undertook to satisfy curiosity respecting the past by a more elaborate and entertaining narrative.

He begins his work thus : " These are the researches of Herodo tus of Halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and marvelous actions of the Greeks and the barbarians from losing their due meed of glory, and withal to put on record what were the grounds of their hostility." In Herodotus, history, owing to the inquiry made into the causes of events, begins to rise above the level of a mere chronicle, its primitive type. Thucydides, who died about 400 B.C., followed. He is far more accurate in his investigations, having a deep insight into the origin of the events which he relates, and is a model of candor. He, too, writes to minister to the inquisitive spirit of his countrymen, and of the generations that were to follow.

He began to write his history of the war between the Athenians and the Peloponnesians while it was still going on, in the belief, he says, "that it would turn out great, and worthier of being recorded than any that had preceded it." The attention of historical writers was still con fined to a particular country, or to insulated groups of events. Before there could spring up the idea of universal history, it was necessary that there should be a broader view of mankind as a whole. The ancient Stoics had a glimpse of the race as a family, and of the nations as forming one complex unity. The conquests and extended dominion of Rome first suggested the idea of universal history. Polybius, a.Greek in the second century B.C., had watched the progress of Rome, in its career of conquest, until " the affairs of Italy and Africa," as he says, " joined with those of Asia and Greece, and all moved together towards one fixed and single point."

He tells us that particular histories can not give us a knowledge of the whole, more than the survey of the divided members of a body once endowed with life and beauty can yield a just conception of all the comeliness and vigor which it has received from Nature. To Polybius belongs the distinction of being the first to undertake a universal history. Christianity, with its doctrine of the unity of mankind, and with all the moral and religious teaching characteristic of the gospel, contributed effectively to the widening of the view of the office and scope of history. It is only in quite recent times that history has directed its attention predominantly to social progress, and to its causes and conditions. History, in its etymological sense (from the Greek, ioropia) , meant the ascertaining of facts by inquiry; then, the results of this inquiry, the knowledge thus obtained.

The work of Herodotus was "history" in the strictest sense: he acquired his information by travel and personal interrogation. The German philosopher, Hegel, has divided histories into three classes: 1. Original his tories; i.e., works written by contemporaries of the events described, who share in the spirit of the times, and may have personally taken part in the transactions. Such are the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon's Anabasis, Clarendon's History of the Great Rebellion in England, Cæsar's Commentaries. 2. Reflective histories, where the author writes at a later point of time, on the basis of materials which he gathers up, but is not himself a partaker in the spirit of the age of which he treats. 3. Philosophical histories, which set forth the rational development of history in its inmost idea.

Another classification is the following: 1. Genealogies, like the records of Manetho, the Egyptian priest. 2. The chronicle, following the chronological order, and telling the story in a simple, popular way. 3. The "pragmatic " form of writing, which aims to explain by reference to the past some particular characteristic or phase of the present, and uses history to point a special moral lesson. 4. The form of history which traces the rise and progress of tendencies, or ruling forces, -such as the idea of evil equality in early Rome or in modern France, the religious ideas of Mohammedanism, the idea of representative government, the idea of German unity, etc. ..... / _.* . w A broad line of distinction has been drawn between the old or artistic type of history, and the new or sociological type which belongs to the present century.

I he ancient historians represented the former type. They prized literary form. They aimed to interweave moral and political reflections. Polybius often interrupts his narrative to introduce remarks oi this sort. But they were not, as a rule, diligent and accurate in their researches. And, above all, they had no just conception of society as a whole, and of the complex forces out of which the visi ble scene springs. The Greeks were the masters in this first or artistic form of history. The French Revolution was one stimulus to a profounder and more comprehensive method of study ing history. The methods and investigations of natural science have had a decided influence in the same direction. The Sources of History. — History must depend for credence on cred ible evidence. In order to justify belief, one must either himself have seen or heard the facts related, or have the testimony, direct or indirect, of wit nesses or of well-informed contemporaries.

The sources of historic knowledge are mainly comprised in oral tradition, or in some form of written records. Tradition is exposed to the infirmities of memory, and to the unconscious invention and distortion which grow out of imagination and feeling. Ordi narily, bare tradition, not verified by corroborative proofs, can not be trusted later than the second generation from the circumstances narrated. It ceases to be reliable when it has been transmitted through more than two hands. In the case of a great and startling event, like a destructive convulsion of nature or a protracted war, the authentic story, though unwritten, of the central facts, at least, is of much longer duration. There may be visible monuments that serve to perpetuate the recollection of the occurrences which they commemo rate.