An ancient history for beginners

Front matter

Class sJi^a

Book^PiT2>

CoipghtN".

Preface

The Committee of Seven, in their Report to the American Historical Association on the study of history in the schools (1899), recommended that a year be given to "Ancient History, with special reference to Greek and Roman history, but including also a short introductory study of the more ancient nations. This period should also embrace the early Middle Ages, and should close with the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire (800)," or some neighboring event.

Following the recommendation of the Committee, this book aims to present Ancient History as a unit, comprising three closely related parts, — the Orient, Greece, and Rome. It is adapted to beginning classes in the high school, and furnishes material for a year's work. This volume is not to take the place of the "Orient and Greece" and "Rome"; it is for those who need a briefer and more elementary treatment of ancient times.

As it is intended for pupils who have never studied history before, the story is told simply, all unfamiliar terms are explained, and proper names are syllabified and accented on their first occurrence. The larger topics are printed in bold type and their subdivisions are in italics.

Myth, the foundation of ancient thought and an important element of modern literature, receives due attention. Although especial prominence is given to the narrative, the effects of geographical conditions and the causal relation of events are explained in an elementary way.

vi Preface

Tlic manuscript has had the advantage of revision by Miss Lula Bartlit Southmayd of the Detroit High School, who used it as a text in her first-year class. The book has been greatly benefited by her ability and her practical experience with young pupils. Mr. Charles Lane Hanson of the Mechanic Arts High School, Boston, has carefully revised the manuscript and the proofs. Other improvements are due to Dr. Arthur Lyon Cross of the University of Michigan and to Mr. P. O. Robinson of the Commercial High School of New York City, — formerly of the St. Louis High School, — both of whom have read the proofs. Mr. W. J. S. liryan, principal of the St. Louis High School, has also taken a helpful interest in the work of revision. Miss Emily F. Paine of Miss Spence's School, New York City, has aided me in obtaining several new illustrations, and has prepared the topics for reading in Roman art. My wife has made the new reference map of Greece. While I am sincerely grateful to all these helpers, I feel that it would be unjust to hold any of them responsible for faults which may still remain in the book. Lastly, I wish to thank the many teachers who have used my histories of Greece and Rome, and who have given me the benefit of their suggestions as well as their kind appreciation.

GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD.

Nf.w York City, September i, 1902.

Part II Greece Chapter I

The Country and the People ........ 41

CHAPTER H Tiie Prehistoric Age — Religion and Myth . . . . .49

CHAPTER HI Two Periods of Colonial Expansion . ...... 65

CHAPTER IV National Institutions ......... 73

CHAPTICR V

The Development of Athens from Kingship to Democracy . . 79

vii viii Contents

CHAPTER VI

PAGE

Sparta and the Peloponnesian League ...... 97

CHAPTER VII Conquest of Asiatic Greece by the Lydians and the Persians . .112

CHAPTER VIII War with Persia and Carthage . . . . . . . .120

CHAPTER IX The Age of Ci men .......... 135

CHAPTER X The Age of Pericles ......... 145

CHAPTER XI The Peloponnesian War to the End of the Sicilian Expedition . 161

CHAPTER XII The Closing Years of the War 179

CHAPTER XIII The End of Freedom in Sicily and in Italy ..... 191

CHAPTER XIV The Supremacy of Sparta . . . . . . . -199

CHAPTER XV Thebes attempts to gain the Supremacy 212

CHAPTER XVI The Rise of Macedon 219

Contents ix

CHAPTER XVII

PAGE

Alexander's Empire and the Kingdoms formed from it • . . 233

CHAPTER XVIII Private and Social Life ......... 248

CHAPTER XVI Private and Social Life ......... 463 Chief Events in Ancient History 470

Index 476

(^ Sit / a> s

H

MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

FULL-PAGE AND DOUBLE-PAGE MAPS

PAGE

The Orient before 3

Greece for Reference '■'■ 41

Physical Greece ........ " 47

Southern Italy and Sicily " 66

The Greek World ........ " 72

Greece at the Dawn of History . ■ . . . . " 76

The Persian Empire and Greece . . . . . " 116

Greece at the Time of the War with Persia ... "125

The Athenian Empire at its Height ..... "147

Greece at the Beginning of the Peloponnesian War . . " 163

Greece after the Battle of Mantineia .... " 217

The Empire of Alexander the Great .... " 237

Italy before the Punic Wars ...... " 255

The Vicinity of Rome " 283

The Expansion of the Roman Power to the Time of the Gracchi " 315 The Expansion of the Roman Power from the Gracchi to the Death

of Augustus ........ before 349

The Roman Empire from Augustus to Diocletian . . " 393

The Roman Empire under Diocletian and Constantine . " 421

Charlemagne's Empire (From Adams, European History^ " 459

MAPS IN THE TEXT

The Peloponnesian League ........ 103

Athens and Peiraeus . . = 145

BayofPylos 166 xi xu

Maps ajid Illustrations

The Hellespont

Kingdom of Dionysius ....

The Theban Tactics in the Battle of Leuctra

The Tribes of Italy and Sicily .

Early Rome ......

Colonies and Military Roads of Italy The Sacred Way .....

Imperial Rome .....

Europe about 525 a.d. (From Adams, European History)

PAGE

184 194

257 278 295 386 388 446

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

A Part of the Roman Forum (restored) . . . Frontispiece

Vale of Tempe ........ facing 43

Gate of the Lions ........ " 63

Olympia " 78

The Olympieium ........ " 91

Aegina " 119

The Acropolis of Athens ....... " 135

The Temple of Victory and the Propylaea . . . " 151

The Parthenon ........ " '55

The Modern Town of Sparta ...... '' 205

The Battle of Issus (?) "235

The Fall of the Anio ....... " 259

A Roman Fleet in Harbor (From Rheinhard, Album) . " 375

The Hall of the Emperors ...... "411

Church of San Apollinare Nuovo ..... " 447

A Scene near Baiae ........ " 468

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

Second and Third Pyramids of Gizeh . . . . ,

Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing (From Erman, Ancient Egypt) The Sphinx of Gizeh ........

Hall of Columns in the Temple of Ammon . . . .

Coffin and Mummy of a King of the Eighteenth Dynasty ,

I

II Maps mid Illustrations xiii

PAGE

A Cuneiform Inscription (From Sweet, //w/w/ ^Zrt:«^«(2jf^) . . 18

A Chaldean Temple (restored ; Chipiez, after Strabo) ... 20

Sargon's Palace (restored ; from Perrot and Chipiez) ... 22

A Winged Bull (From Perrot and Chipiez) ..... 23

Tomb of Cyrus (Pasargadae ; from Fergusson) .... 33

Valley of the Stys in Arcadia ........ 41

Gallery in the Wall of Tiryns 46

So-called Treasury of Atreus ........ 48

Royal Tombs at Mycenae ........ 49

Perseus cutting off Medusa's Head 53

A Warrior of Mycenae . . . . . . . . -54

Ideal Statue of Homer 60

Vessels and Idols from Mycenae ....... 64

Temple of Poseidon in Posidonia, Italy . . . . . -65

Fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse ....... 68

Delphi with Modern Village ........ 75

" Solon " 86

Athenian Lady at Time of Pisistratus ...... 90

A Spartan Tombstone ......... 97

A Winner in the Girls' Foot Races in Elis ..... 100

An Ionic Column (From a restoration of the Erechtheium) '. . 108 Corinthian Capital . . . . . . . . . .110

" Themistocles " ' . . . . 118

"The Warrior of Marathon " (a half-century earlier than the battle) 121

Bay of Sal amis 128

A Persian Archer .......... 132

A Greek Athlete 134

A Remnant of the Wall of Athens 136

Athenian Knights .......... 146

Pericles 148

Athena Parthenos . .154 xiv Maps and Illnstmtions

PAGE

Lapith and Centaur . . . . , . . . . .156

Cecrops and Daughter . . . . . . . . .160

Temple of Concordia at Acragas . . . . . . . 1 70

Stone Quarries at Syracuse . . . . . . . .176

Poseidon, Dionysus (?), and Demeter (?) 178

A Sepulcliral Ornament of Marble . . . . . . .185

Temple Ruins at Selinus . . . . . . . . .192

Spartan Vase 199

Citadel of Corinth .......... 203

Spartan Mosaic . . . . . . . . . .211

Mount Ithome and City Wall of Messene . ..... 213

The Plain of Mantineia ......... 216

Battle between the Greeks and the Amazons . . . . .218

A Scene in Macedonia . . . . . . . . .219

Battle-field of Chaeroneia ......... 226

Theatre at Epidaurus ......... 229

The Hermes of Praxiteles . . . . . . . -231

Alexander in Battle .......... 237

Apollo Belvedere .......... 246

A School 248

A Marriage Procession ......... 250

An Athenian Gravestone ......... 252

Temple of Vesta and of the Sibyl . . . . . . . 254

An Etruscan War God ......... 259

An Etruscan Tomb .......... 260

A Vestal Virgin 266

Grotto of the Sibyl 269

Cinerary Urns representing Primitive Roman Huts .... 270

Maps and Illustrations xv

PAGE

Minerva 274

Cloaca Maxima 275

The Wall of Servius 279

Lucius Junius Brutus . . . . . . . • .281

An Etruscan Vase . . • . . . . • . • 283

Roman Soldiers marching 291

Curule Chair and Fasces ......... 297

An As 303

Household Gods 305

An Old Shepherdess 308

A Denarius 3^2

"Hannibal" 321

"Marcellus" 326

Storming a City 333

A Street in Pompeii 33^

A Proconsul 337

Ceres 339

Aedile 342

" Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus " 344

Sacrificing a Pig 346

A Bacchante 347

Italian Oxen 349

Youth reading at a Bookcase ........ 350

An Old Fisherman 352

Pompey the Great 363

Cicero 366

Gaius Julius Caesar .......... iTi-

Cleopatra 375

Apollo with a Lyre 377

Tomb of Cecilia Metella 379

Julia, Daughter of Augustus, and her Sons Gaius and Lucius . . 380

Augustus 382

The Temple of Mars the Avenger 384

Vergil 387

Venus 391

Claudius 392 xvi Maps and Illustrations

PAGE

Agrippina 394

The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheatre ...... 396

A Body found in Pompeii ........ 397

Nerva in his Consular Robe ........ 400

The Column of Trajan ......... 401

Plotina, Wife of Trajan ......... 402

The Tomb of Hadrian ......... 404

Marcus Aurelius in his Triumphal Car ...... 406

A Roman Bridge 41 1

The Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus 413

Septimius Severus . . . . . . . . . .415

Sarcophagus of Alexander Severus ....... 416

The Wall of Aurelian 418

A Capital from One of the Temples in Palmyra .... 419

The Triumphal Arch of Constantine ...... 421

The Basilica of Constantine ........ 426

The Roman Forum .......... 428

A German Village .......... 432

The Baptism of Christ ......... 433

The Tomb of Galla Placidia, Ravenna ...... 439

The Good Shepherd ......... 442

Cathedral of St. Sophia, Constantinople 450

The Iron Crown of Lombardy ........ 459

Persian Warriors .......... 461

Peristyle of a House in Pompeii ....... 463

A Roman Meal (From Rheinhard, Albiofi) ..... 465

House Furniture (From Rheinhard, Albn/ji) ..... 466

A Well-curb 469

AN ANCIENT HISTORY

FOR BEGINNERS

Skcono and TiiiRU Pyramids of Gizeh (View from the East)

ANCIENT HISTORY

Chapter I •

1. The Three Ages. — In the far distant past men lived in caves or in rude huts, dressed in skins, and used tools of bone, horn, and stone. This iirst stage of human progress is called the Stone Age, Some have continued in this barbarous condition to the present day; others in course of time advanced beyond it, and learned the use of bronze — a metal composed of copper and tin. With bronze tools men cut large trees and hewed stones for building ; with weapons

6 I

2 TJie Begiiming of Civilization — Egypt

of the same metal they conquered and held in subjection their less intelligent neighbors. In the Bronze Age, therefore, men built substantial houses and cities, and founded kingdoms, — in other words, they began to be civilized. While some nations remained contented with this stage of progress, others learned the use of iron. With this hard but pliable metal men could do work of many more kinds and of a much better quality than had hitherto been possible. Hence the Iron Age marks a great advance beyond that of bronze.

Through these ages the world has been progressing in civilization. Those nations are most civilized which have the best homes, society, laws, and government, the most advanced science and art, the purest religion, the soundest morals, and the brightest minds. As some have advanced more rapidly than others, while many have remained in the lowest stage of savagery, we find among men of the present as well as of tlie past every variety and degree of civilization.

2. Races of Men. — Those grand divisions, or races, of mankind which from the beginning have made httle or no improvement in their mode of life are the red race of the Americas, the black race of Africa and Australia, and the brown race of the Pacific islands. The Tu-ra'ni-au or Mon-go'U-an or yellow race of Asia, to which belong the Chinese, in ancient times advanced to a remarkable degree of civilization, and then came to a standstill. The Caucas'i-an or white race, whose early home was the region about the Mediterranean Sea, has made most progress in the past, and at present some branches of it are still more rapidly advancing.^

^ Principal divisions of the white race : —

I. Hamites { E-gyp'ti-ans t- Lib'y-ans

' Ar'abs Chal-de'ans (largely mixed with foreigners) II. Semites < As-syr'i-ans

(Ar-a-mae'ans Phoe-ni'ci-ans Hebrews

The Nile River 3

There are three divisions of the white race : (i) the Ham'ites of northern Africa; (2) the Sem'ites of southwestern Asia; (3) the Ar'y-ans or Indo-Europeans, whose original home was probably the country north of the Black and Caspian seas in Europe and Asia. But in tracing the history of the nations we are to bear in mind that none of them remained pure in race ; for migrations, conquests, and commercial or social intercourse have mingled their blood as well as their manners, customs, and ideas. This blending of races has been in fact a great cause of progress.^

3. Egypt. — Much improvement in mankind, however, is due to country and surroundings. And of all the region round the Mediterranean none is so favored by nature as the valley of the Nile River in northeastern Africa. Egypt, the lower part of this valley, extends from the First Cataract to the sea. It is seven hundred miles long, and varies in width from one or two to twelve miles. A hundred miles before the river reaches the sea, it divides into several channels, and the valley broadens into the Delta. Every summer, swollen by the rains and melting snows of the country in which it rises, the Nile overflows the valley ; and when in December the water returns to the channel, it leaves the land fertihzed with a rich coat of earth.

c -, , ■ f Medes r Asiatic branch ^ „. , , I Persians

l Hin'doos

III. Aryans J ( Greeks

Italians I ^ European branch <^ Celts

Teu'tons (or Germans) ^ Slavs

This grouping of races, though convenient for the study of political geography and history, is not strictly scientific.

1 With the help of San'skrit, the classic language of India, scholars have discovered that the Hindoos, the Persians, and the various nations of Europe speak closely related languages, doubtless derived from a common parent tongue. Our word " father," for instance, is in Sanskrit pitdr, in ancient Persian pilar, in Greek irar-qp (pater), in Latin pater, in German vater, and similarly through the other kindred tongues. These words for father have descended from a

In fact the entire soil is composed of mud deposited in this manner. The land therefore is wonderfully fertile. With little labor a man can raise each year three crops of grain, grasses, flax, and vegetables. Grape-vines flourish on the hillsides, and wheat yields a hundred fold. The mountains produce an abundance of building stones and various kinds of metals. Commerce, too, is easy. Not only does the Nile form a natural waterway for domestic trade, but the country lies at the meeting of three continents and borders on two navigable seas. The warm chmate makes little clothing necessary ; the rainless sky preserves the works of men from decay ; and the mountain chains and deserts on both sides protect the people from invading armies. With her natural resources and her situation, it is no wonder that Egypt became the birthplace of civilization.

4. Early Civilization; Sources. — The people who lived in this country were Hamites. We may suppose that they had once been barbarians, but as early as 4000 B.C. they were already acquainted with many of the arts.

They had invented, too, a kind of writing in which objects were represented by pictures. A disk O stood for the sun, and a crescent ]) for the moon. From pictures they passed to symbols ; the disk of the sun O suggested day, and an axe 7 god. In course of time there grew up a phonetic alphabet,^ which they mingled

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t--pj f^

/wv\ jj

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Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing single word in the parent speech. All these nations whose languages are so nearly connected we call Aryan or Indo-European. Kindred speech, however, does not prove kinship in blood; for often men adopt a foreign tongue and hand it down to their children. But as language is a great treasury of ideas, we inherit perhaps as much from our parent speech as from our blood. From this point of view those who speak a common language may conveniently be regarded as belonging to the same race.

1 That is, an alphabet in which each letter represents a single sound.

The Old Empire 5

with their pictures and symbols. As the priests always used these early, difficult characters for religious purposes, they are called hieroglyphs— sacred inscriptions. A running style, however, known in its later form as common or de-mot'ic, came into use in literature and business.

The Pha'raohs, or kings, of the country took great pains to have their deeds recorded. They reckoned time by the years of their reigns and by ruling families, or dynasties. Man'e-tho, an Egyptian priest who lived in the third century B.C., wrote a history of his country. Though the book disappeared, long extracts from it made by later writers are still our chief source of information for dates. Some tiniC after Manetho all knowledge of the Egyptian alphabets was lost to the world till in 1822 Cham-pol'li-on (pron. Sham-), a French scholar, deciphered them. In Napoleon's invasion of Egypt there had come to light a stone containing the inscription of a decree in hieroglyphic and demotic characters with a Greek translation. From the place where it was found the slab is called the Rosetta Stone. By comparing the corresponding letters of the proper names in this inscription, Champollion learned a sufficient number of letters to serve as a key for determining the whole alphabet.

5. The Old Empire (about 4800-3000 B.C.). — At first the Egyptians lived in small states, each under a petty king. In course of time, however, the kings of Memphis became so strong that they acquired the rule over all Egypt. As their country was made up of many states, it may be called an empire. Through the period of the Old Empire Memphis remained the capital.

The first Pharaoh was Me'nes, whom the Egyptians regarded as the founder of Memphis. The next famous dynasty after that of Menes was the fourth in the list. The Pharaohs of this family built the three pyramids at Gizeh (pron. Gee'zeh), in the cemetery of ancient Memphis. Khu'fu, the most illustrious of his dynasty, made the largest pyramid. For thirty years his subjects labored on it a hundred thousand at a time, relieving one another every three

TJie Beginning of Civi/ication — Egypt months. The buildmg covers thirteen acres, and originally stood about four hundred and eighty feet high. We cannot understand by what means the workmen could lift and place the stones, — some of

which weigh fifty tons or more, — or by what mechanical skill the architects could prevent the great mass from falling in upon the chambers and corridors. Khufu intended it for his tomb.

Evidently he thought that if his body could rest quietly in a sepulchre made for eternity, it would be well with his soul. The second pyramid is not so large as the first, and the third is far smaller but costlier, as it was cased in brilliant red granite. Near this group is the famous sphinx, a gigantic, human-headed lion, carved from a hard, fine rock.

6. The Middle Empire (3000-2000 B.C.). — The fourth dynasty was followed by a long period of confusion and strife throughout Egypt. The trouble was owing chiefly to the character of the kings, who were too weak to hold the states or provinces of the empire together. Meanwhile Memphis declined in importance, and finally Thebes became the capital. The Pharaohs of the eleventh dynasty were Theban. They began the period of the Middle Empire, which lasted from 3000 to 2000 B.C.

The Pharaohs of the ta'clfth dynasty conquered Ethiopia, carried

The Sphinx of Gizeh

TJie Nczv Empire j

on an extensive trade with Syria, and built splendid temples in the cities of their realm. Among the distinguished kings of the family was A-men'em-hat' III, noted chiefly for his improvement of Fay-um', an oasis in the desert near the lower Nile. By digging a canal from the Nile to Fayura he made it possible to flood this low region so as greatly to increase its productivity. A lake in the oasis served as a reservoir from which he could irrigate not only the district itself, but the entire western half of the valley from Fayum to the sea.

7. The Hyksos (about 2000-1500 B.C.). ^ In the decline which followed this great dynasty a horde of barbarians known as the Hyk'- sos — " shepherd kings " — came in from Asia. They plundered the country as far as Fayum, burned cities, and slew the inhabitants without mercy. They brought Egypt again to a low condition of civilization. During the five hundred years of their rule, however, they gradually adopted the customs and ideas of their subjects. Finally A-ma'sis, prince of Thebes, defeated them and drove out their king and army.

8. The New Empire (about 1500-332 B.C. ). The eighteenth dynasty was the first of the New Empire, which extended from the expulsion of the Hyksos to the conquest of the country by the Greeks.^ The kings of this dynasty first attended to the restoration of their country. They rebuilt ruined shrines, enlarged the temple of Ammon at Thebes, — founded long before, — put down all political opposition in their own land, and reconquered Ethiopia. Meantime they began the conquest of Syria — a work completed by Thoth'mes III. His empire reached from the southern border of Ethiopia to the Euphrates River.

But his country found a powerful enemy in the Hit'tites, a warlike people who lived on both sides of Mount Tau'rus. With their allies from Asia Minor they soon wrested from Egypt all northern Syria. SetH I, an able Pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty, warred against them in vain ; his son Ra-me'ses II in sixteen years of hard fighting stayed their conquest. He then divided Syria with them by treaty.

^ § 194-

Father and son were among Egypt's most famous builders. The grandest of Seti's works was the pillared hall which formed the main entrance to the great temple of Amnion at Thebes. Modern travellers have wondered at the long rows of gigantic columns which once supported the lofty roof.

Undoubtedly this hall is "the most splendid single chamber that has ever been built by any architect, and even in its ruins one of the grandest sights that the world contains.'"

Recently the columns have suffered great injury from digging beneath them. As a builder Rameses II is even more famous than his father. Throughout Egypt he repaired old temples and erected new ones. The proud monarch had his sculptors make many enormous statues of himself that all might duly appreciate his great majesty. Following the Egyptian custom

^ Rawlinson, Story of Egypt, p. 245.

Hall of Columns in the Temple of Ammon (Thebes, now Karnak)

Oriental Civilization 9

of covering walls and columns with pictures and writing, he took especial pleasure in representing his personal combats with the Hittites. As he employed many foreigners on his works, some beUeve that he was the Pharaoh who oppressed the Hebrews then in Egypt, and that his weak son Me-neph'tha was the one in whose reign they set out for the promised land.

Soon after Rameses the country divided into small states, which in time fell under the rule of Assyria. Then with the help of Greek mercenaries Psam-mefi-chus, governor of one of these states, reunited Egypt and freed it from Assyria. As he treated the Greeks liberally, many settled in the Delta, and many came to see the wonders of the country and to learn its wisdom. After his dynasty had ruled nearly a hundred and fifty years, however, Egypt became a part of the Persian empire (525 B.c.).^

9. Oriental Civilization. — The civilization of the Orient — comprising Egypt and Asia — contrasts strikingly with that of Europe. The Easterner has a vivid imagination, but his reasoning power has never been so strong or so well trained as that of the European. He does not think consistently or follow his reason, but is naturally obedient, ready to yield to authority. As a result of this character religion exercises great influence over all his actions; and he holds the priests in especial reverence. In poUtical matters he has no thought of independence, but obeys the king as a child obeys his parent. Government in the Orient, therefore, is always monarchical; the kings are absolute masters of their subjects. This power enables them to build on a grand scale. Hence we find throughout the Orient vast ruins of palaces, temples, statues, and other works. Though in the main all Eastern nations are alike, they show some minor differences of character and customs. We shall now notice the civilization of Egypt.

10. Classes of People. — Throughout their history most of the people were poor. They lived in mud huts ; they dressed in a single

10 The Beginning of Civilizatioii — Egypt

cotton garment ; their children went unclad to the age of twelve or fourteen. While the mother carried water, ground meal between two stones, baked bread in the ashes, sewed, spun, and wove, the father worked from morning till night in the field or at his trade. Whether as peasant, swineherd, cowherd, boatman, shopkeeper, or artisan — in any case he toiled under a master who beat him for the slightest mistake or inattention to duty. Nevertheless he was happy ; he laughed heartily at everything, and on pay-day indulged too freely in beer.

Though children of every class usually followed the occupation of the parents, some of the ambitious poor sent their boys to school, where they learned to read and write. With this opportunity an intelligent youth might become a scribe. With industry, skill, and intelhgence he might rise through the various grades of this profession to a high office or a priesthood. He could then have a fine brick mansion, a beautiful garden, land, and slaves.

"WxQ priests were a numerous and wealthy class, for the gods owned a third of the land of Egypt, and each required the service of many priests or priestesses. At the head of this class stood Pharaoh, himself a god with supreme control of the state religion. Reserving for his kinsmen the chief priesthoods of the great national divinities, he permitted the governors of provinces to hold the highest offices in their several districts. Thus it often happened that a man was at once priest and magistrate.

The priests dressed in linen, bathed twice each day and twice in the night, and shaved their heads, faces, and entire bodies, to keep themselves as clean as possible. " They enjoy good things not a few, for they do not consume or spend any of their own substance, but have sacred bread baked for them, and they have each a great quantity of beef and geese coming in to them every day, and also wine of grapes is given them." ' They lived in the sacred buildings, drew salaries from the temple revenues, and with the sacred scribes, ^ Herodotus ii. 37.

The Military Class

II attendants, and artisans, they were free from taxes and military service. There is no wonder then that every one longed to be a priest.

Far less favored was the military class. Those who belonged to it received from the king seven-acre lots free from taxes. This class, accordingly, occupied another third of the land. The army was made up of spearmen, archers, and men in chariots. As the miUtary class did not suffice, each province sent a company of common men, and many foreigners served the king for pay. The Egyptian disliked