Old world background to American history; an elementary history for the grades or junior high school. Rev. ed. of "The story of Europe,"

Front matter

Class JH/O^ Book * h/S.(pC

CQE£RIGHT DEPOSrC

The Lake History Stories

Preface

With or without a League of Nations, the Great War has forced us all to think more internationally. It has been a world war in the number and distribution of its participants, and it has left us an inescapable legacy of world problems.

To the schools comes the task of preparing the rising generation to play its part worthily in the new conditions. Without lessening the emphasis on our national ideals and duties, and the instruction which makes for sturdy Americanism, the boys and girls who will be the citizens of the future must be led to see the Old World background against which our New World problems are projected. To accomplish this there is no means so good as a brief but comprehensive survey of European history, from the earliest dawn of civilization to the present time.

The present book is a version and adaptation of an earlier one, first published in 1912, under the title The Story of Europe, and planned along the lines recommended by the Committee of Eight for the Sixth Grade. The new book differs from the old in part by the addition, at the beginning, of a chapter dealing with man's earliest history, and of three chapters at the end surveying the course of the last three centuries, culminating in the Great W^ar. It is hoped that in the new form and under the new needs the book may prove as successful as formerly in meeting the old needs.

For the convenience of schools which may wish to deal with the stories of Greece and Rome in an earlier grade, the separation of parts is clearly marked in the table of contents. S. B. H.

vii

Contents

PAGE

Preface vii

To THE Teacher xv

Part One— Ancient History

I. The Dawn of History 1

THE GREEKS AND WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THEM

II. Ancient Greece 13

III. Achilles and the War Against Troy 21

IV. Sparta and Athens 25

V. The War of the Greeks and the Persians 29

VI. The Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis 33

VII. Athens Under Pericles 39

VIII. Socrates the Philosopher 44

IX. Alexander the Great 47

X. The Spread of Greek Culture 53

THE ROMANS — WHAT THEY LEARNED FROM THE GREEKS AND WHAT THEY HAVE TAUGHT US

XI. Early Days of Rome 57

XII. The Story of Cincinnatus 63

XIII. Rome's Wars with Carthage 67

XIV. Rome and the Mediterranean World 75

XV. The Romans in the West 81

XVI. Rome the Capital of an Empire 91

XVII. Rome and Christianity 104

ix

CONTENTS PART TWO— THE MIDDLE AGES

THE TEUTONS THE HEIRS OF THE ROMANS — LIFE OF THE MIDDLE AGES

PAGE

XVIII. The Ancient Teutons 112

XIX. The Teutons Invade the Empire 120

XX. Charlemagne 131

XXI. The Founding of England 142

XXII. King Alfred and the Northmen 151

XXIII. The Normans Conquer England 160

XXIV. King John and the Great Charter 168

XXV. The Rise of Parliament 174

XXVI. Life in the Castles 180

XXVII. Life in the Villages 193

XXVIII. Life in the Medieval Towns 202

XXIX. The Church in the Middle Ages 213

PILGRIMAGES, CRUSADES, AND COMMERCE

XXX. Pilgrimages of the Middle Ages 225

XXXI. The First Crusade 231

XXXII. The Crusade of Richard the Lion-Hearted 240

XXXIII. Results of THE Crusades 249

Part Three— Modern History The Discovery Of The Western World

XXXIV. The Beginnings of Discovery 257

XXXV. The Voyages of Columbus 265

XXXVI. The Successors to Columbus 276

XXXVII. Spanish Conquests in America 283

CONTENTS xi

EUROPEAN RIVALRIES WHICH INFLUENCED AMERICAN CONQUEST AND COLONIZATION

PAGB

XXXVIII. England in the Days of Elizabeth 294

XXXIX. France in the New World 307

XL. The Dutch Revolt Against Spain 314

XLI. England Defeats the Spanish Armada 321

XLII. English Colonization Begun 330

THE GROWTH OF FREEDOM

XLIII. The Rise op Constitutional Govermnent 339

XLIV. The French Revolution and the Rise of Democracy. . 345

XLV. World Progress and the Great War 352

Index (with Pronunciation of Proper Names) . 371

LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

MAPS

PAGE

Egyptian Empire, facing 7

Assyrian Empire, facing 7

Greece 12

Alexander's Empire 50

Italy 58

Roman Empire 92

Charlemagne's Empire 136

PA6K

Old English Kingdoms 144

The Crusades 235

Commerce of- the Middle Ages,

facing 255

Voyages and Discoveries 272

The Spa,ni8h Armada 324

The Countries at War 358

ILLUSTRATIONS

A Vassal Doing Homage to

His Lord Frontispiece

Hand-Ax and Spear Head of

Flint 3

Ax Fastened in Handle 3

Name Cleopatra in Egyptian

Writing 4

Egyptian Sphinx and Great

Pyramid 5

Interior of Egyptian Temple . . 6

Examples of Cuneiform Writing 7 Stone Slab Showing Assyrian

Lion Hunt 8

Portrait of Girl 10

Bust of Zeus (Jupiter) 15

Statue of Apollo 16

Bust of Aphrodite (Venus) ... 18 A Greek W^arship of the 5th

Century B.c 20

Athens As It Is Now 27

Return of the Victors from

Salamis 36

The Acropolis of Athens 40

Stj^tue of Athena 42

Statue of Alexander the Great 48

Alexander Defeatingthe Persians 51 A Temple on tlie Acropolis

(The Erechtheum) 54

Attendants upon a King or

Consul 60

Roman Plow 64

A Roman Soldier 65

Roman Standard Bearer 66

Hannibal Crossing the Rhone

River 69

The Roman Forum (Restoration) 76

Ruins of a Roman Aqueduct.. 77

A Roman Road Across a Marsh 78

View of the Capitol 79

Roman Chariot Race 82

Bust of Julius Caesar 83

Gladiators Fighting 84

Part of the Roman Wall in

Britain 89

Interior of a House at Pompeii 97

Lamp and Stand 98

Spoon and Drinking Bowl from

Pompeii 99

Drawing on the Outer Wall of

a House in Pompeii 99

Roman Books and Writing Materials 101

Toga (Front) 102

Toga (Back) 102

Persecution of the Christians. 106 xu

LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTKATIONS xm

PAGE

A Bishop on His Throne 109

A Monk 110

An Old Teutonic Village 113

Woden 118

Thor 119

A Hun Warrior 122

Goths on the March 124

Franks Crossing the Rhine... 126

Arms of Franks 127

A Frankish Chief 128

Baptism of Clovis 129

Statue of Charlemagne 132

Royal Palace of Charlemagne's

Time 140

An Early English Church 148

Remains of a Viking Ship

Found in Sweden 152

An English King 155

Woman's Costume 155

Gold Jewel of Alfred 156

Old English Horn Lantern... 157

House of an English Noble... 158 William of Normandy Landing

in England 161

William the Conqueror 162

Death of Harold 163

A Norman Castle in England. . 165

John Granting the Charter. . . . 170

Portion of the Great Charter.. 172

Seal of Edward 1 177

A Castle of the Eleventh Century 182

The "Saucy Castle" of Richard

the Lion- Hearted 185

Falconry 188

Arming the Knight 190

A Great Feast in the 12th Century 191

Plan of Village 194

Peasants Plowing 196

Peasants Breaking Clods with

Mallets 196

Harrowing 197

Men and Women Reaping 197

Threshing 198

A Medieval Town 203

PAGE

Attack upon a City in the

Later Middle Ages 206

A Medieval Shop 208

Canterbury Cathedral 210

A Fair in the 13th Century... 211

Cologne Cathedral 214

Head of a Bishop's Staff 215

A Medieval Monastery 217

A French Cloister 218

Monk in Scriptorium 220

Illuminated Initial 222

A Pilgrim 226

Canterbury Pilgrims 227

A Crusader 232

Crusaders on the March 234

A Machine for Hurling Stones 238

Knight Templar 241

Shield of Richard 244

Movable Tower 245

Armor of the Time of King

Richard 246

Venetian Merchant Ship 251

The Grand Canal of Venice... 253

Plaza of St. Mark, Venice.... 254

Kublai Khan 258

Early Printers 261

Toscanelli's Map 266

Departure of Columbus 269

The Cross-Staff 270

The Ships of Columbus 271

Balboa Taking Possession of

the Pacific 279

Ferdinand Magellan 281

Aztec Calendar Stone 283

Fair God of the Mexicans.... 284

Indian Pueblo 289

Spanish Mission of Santa Barbara 292-

Queen Elizabeth 297

London Bridge in the Days of

Elizabeth 298

Gold Coin of Elizabeth 301

Drake's Ship 303

Traveling in State in Elizabeth's Time 305

Bayard 308

XIV

LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

French Battle in Italy 309

Scene in Holland 315

William the Silent 317

Battle Between the English

Fleet and the Armada 326

An Indian Warrior 331

Indian Village 332

Charles I 341

Oliver Cromwell 342

The Parliament Building Today 343

PAGE

The Bastille 346

The Eerign of Terror 348

Guillotine 349

Napoleon at Waterloo 350

Hand Spinning Wheel 353

A Spinning Factory 354

The First Locomotive........ 355

Interior View of the House of

Commons 356

The Price of War 360

TO THE TEACHER i

The year's work presented in this book is designed to give to the child in tangible, concrete form the Old World background of American history; to give some definite impressions of the civilizations of ancient and modern Europe, and of the events leading to the transplanting of those civilizations to America. The introductory lessons should so utilize the child's previous experience and knowledge as to make vivid the realization that the beginnings of the world he sees about him are to be sought far in the past and in distant lands. The method of procedure outlined below can be modified indefinitely to meet the special views of the teacher or the requirements and ability of the class.

It is suggested that the first chapter be not assigned for study and recitation, but be read in class and made the basis for discussion. It is well to develop first the thought suggested in the opening paragraph. Ask whether any of the class were born elsewhere than in this country ; whether any have parents, grandparents, relatives, or friends, who came to America from other lands. Make a list of the lands from which they came, and locate them on a map. With most classes these questions will bring out the fact that America has been settled for the most part by people who came from Europe.

To show how these people have come, ask the children to find out and tell to the class the experiences of emigrants whom they know personally, in coming to America. Show a picture of an ocean steamship (easily obtainable from transportation companies) and describe its arrangements. Tell how emigrants are now admitted, for example, at Ellis Island in New York harbor ; and how they reach their final

XV

XVI c

Greek wu with Peniau.

Atheiu uoder Pericles.

— Socrates put to death.

— Rome burned by the Gauls.

— Death of Aleiahder.

Roman wars with Carthage.

— Greece and Macedonia coni^ under Roman rule.

- Julius Caesar conquers Gaul.

. Augnstus, Emperor

- Persecution of Cbristiwi* tut Nero.

Constantine the Great make* the Empire Christian.

- Goths sack Borne.

' Angles and Saxons conquer Britain. . End of Western Emp|fe.

Clovia king of the Franks.

Mohammed founds new religion

TIME CHART

To be drawn on blackboard

or made by pupils.

destinations, using, if possible, illustrations of local interest. Contrast the experiences of an emigrant today with those of the Pilgrims in the Mayflower.

Next try to give the pupils some idea of the extent of time which separates us from the beginnings of history. Work back from the present by generations, then by centuries. Three generations (grandfather, father, and son) cover approximately a century.

But the beginning of our story goes back more than forty centuries. To illustrate this, put upon the blackboard a vertical mark to represent the time of Christ's birth. Draw to the left of this a line divided into at least twenty units, to represent time B.C.; and to the right twenty units to represent time A.D. Each unit represents a century, and they may be numbered underneath. Make a cross in the nineteenth century for the American Civil War, another in the eighteenth century for the American Revolution, and another in the fifteenth century for the discovery of America by Columbus.

Then put a mark in the twelfth century B.C. for the Greek war with Troy, and another at 2100

TO THE TEACHEE xvii

B.C. for the reign of Hammurabi. See that the pupils understand that even this is not the beginning of history.

Use a map to show that most of the peoples known in the days of ancient Greece and Rome lived about the Mediterranean Sea. Emphasize the fact that the American continents were unknown. Make clear some of the ancient notions about the shape of the earth as expressed in the terms "Ultima Thule" and the "Antipodes," and bring out the idea that knowledge of the earth was so limited because ancient peoples lacked the means of communication we now have.

Next the teacher should, by questioning, make out a list of the most important modern inventions which have increased our facilities for communication, such as the steamship, the locomotive, the telegraph, and the telephone. Attention should then be called to some inventions made before Columbus discovered America, especially the compass and printing with movable metal types. Show the effect of the compass on maritime enterprise, and the importance of the printing-press in the spread of knowledge and culture.

This will lead the class back to still older inventions, like that of the alphabet. Explain simply that history began when men first made written records of their deeds. This was in Egypt probably seven thousand years ago, and the first writing was merely crude pictures of material objects, carved upon the stone walls of temples and monuments. (Show pictures of Egyptian hieroglyphics.) A great advance in simplicity and expressiveness was made when the later Egyptians and Babylonians made signs or symbols to represent syllables instead of objects. But it was the Phoenicians, the neighbors and kinsmen of the Hebrews in Palestine, who completed the work of the Babylonians and Egyptians by adapting a true phonetic alphabet comxviii OLD WORLD BACKGEOUND

posed of simple symbols or letters to represent the elementary sounds of the human voice. The Phoenicians were a commercial and maritime people, and through their trade came in contact with the Greeks, who borrowed their alphabet. The English alphabet is based upon the Roman, which was developed from the Greek. A comparison of a few English, Latin, and Greek capital letters will be interesting, and will show the changes wrought by centuries of usage.

Four or five days given to introductory work of this sort should be sufficient to prepare the class to take up the study of the text with interest and with some sense of historical perspective. The teacher should guard against the temptation to spend an undue proportion of time on Part One, since the purpose of the section on ancient history is merely to give a correct setting for the presentation of the development of modern civilization. In those schools in which the stories of Greece and Rome are read in an earlier grade, Part One may be made the basis for a rapid review.

The analyses given at the beginning of each chapter in the text have been prepared with a view to assisting the pupils to get at the points of real importance. The topics indicated at the close of each chapter are designed to suggest new angles from which material given in the chapter may be viewed, and to encourage further reading. A stimulus to the interest, which may lead to reading and inquiry, should always be one of the aims of history teaching, even the most elementary.

It is urged that teachers make sure that pupils form correct concepts of unfamiliar words as they occur in the text, and of such abstractions as "civilization," "government," etc. Unless care is taken, children are likely to form curious misconceptions even of terms which offer no difficulties to the adult mind. By attention to this matter the teacher

TO THE TEACHEK xix

can develop in the children under her charge an enlarged and accurate vocabulary. And what is still more important, she can help to establish in them the habit of precise interpretation of the printed page. This habit is an antidote to loose thinking and one of the necessary bases of sound education.

Pupils should be required to study the pictures as well as the text. Much additional information may thus be obtained, while at the same time the child's powers of observation are sharpened. Special attention should be given to the correct pronunciation of proper names. In the index to the book will be found all the proper names used, with the correct diacritical marks. It is urged also that constant use be made both of wall maps and of maps in the text, in order that the pupils' sense of place may be developed. It may be further suggested that the working out by the children themselves of such a time chart as is indicated above will be found eminently worth while. This may most easily be made on strips of paper six or eight inches broad and as long as necessary. Wrapping paper may be obtained from a storekeeper's roll and cut to the proper width; or sheets of letter paper may be pasted together, end to end. Four inches may be allotted to a century; and by writing on both sides of the central lines, space may be found for putting in most of the important events mentioned in this text. The cut on page xii indicates roughly the sort of chart contemplated. The sheet may be made manageable by rolling it, or better perhaps by folding it (alternately over and back, after the fashion of a set of panoramic views) on the lines separating the century divisions.

The last three chapters are designed to give in barest outline a survey of the great movements of European history since the beginning of the English colonization of America.

XX OLD WOELD BACKGEOUND

It is suggested that these chapters be dealt with in the same way as the opening chapter, and merely be read in class and made the basis of discussion with the books open on the desk.

If these various suggestions are followed, it is believed that neither pupils nor teacher will experience too serious difl&culty with European history even in the sixth grade. And by such a study the pupils' minds will be enriched, and be better prepared to grapple understanding^ with the American history and its world relations as it is presented in the last two years of the common-school course.

CHAPTER I THE DAWN OF HISTORY Why Americans should study the history of Europe

Man's long development before becoming civilized ; use of fire, stone

knives and axes, bows and arrows, pottery making, agriculture,

domestic animals, spinning and weaving, metal working. The

invention of writing ends the Pi-ehistoric Age. The most ancient civilized peoples inhabited the "fertile crescent"

which included the valley of the Nile, a belt north of the Arabian

desert, and the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Egyptians were a civilized people 3000 years before the birth of

Christ. Character of their civilization. Beginnings of Babylonian and Assyrian civilization at about the same

date; characteristics. The Persians succeed the Assyrians and

Chaldeans.

The Hebrews and what they contributed. The Phoenicians. The

Aegean civilization, the earliest in Europe and the forerunner of

that of the Greeks.

1. Our Relation to Europe. If you had gone to the harbor of New York a few years ago and watched one of the great ocean steamships unload its passengers, among them you would probably have seen some hundreds of men, women, and little children who had come across the Atlantic Ocean to find new homes in the United States. Where did these people come from? You would probably have found that most of them were from some part of the continent or islands of Europe ; and from their language, their dress, and their manners you would at once have guessed that their countries must be different in many ways from America. There are several millions of people in our country today who were born in Europe and came to the United States in this way. Indeed, almost every one of us would find, if we should inquire, that either our parents or grandparents, or at least their parents or grandparents, were emigrants from the Old World to the New. If you inquired still further, you would find that most of the things which make us a civilized people — such as our religion, the subjects which we study in schools, our ways of living, and the great inventions of gunpowder, the compass, and printing — all these were brought to our country by emigrants from Europe. So, if we wish to understand the history and institutions of our own country, we must first learn something of the history and institutions of the lands from which our forefathers came. And to complete the story we need to- carry it even farther back, to the valley of the Nile in Africa, and to the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates in Western Asia, where the earliest recorded civilizations arose.

2. Beginnings of Civilization. Perhaps you may ask, "What does civilization mean?" It means not merely improvements in food, clothing, housing, and the like. It means also the growth of better governments, and more reasonable law, so that men may live and work in peace and safety. Even more, it means the cultivation and ennobling of men's minds and spirits, through science, art, literature, and religion. Civilization is opposed to savagery and barbarism, and the step which separates the highest stage of barbarism from the lowest stage of civilization is the invention of writing.

If we go back to a time ten thousand years ago, we find the most advanced tribes of men living in settled villages, scattered here and there in favorable localities over Western Asia, Northern Africa, and Southern Europe. In some places their homes were wooden huts, set on piles driven into lake bottoms and connected with the shore by wooden bridges. Elsewhere they dwelt in houses of interwoven branches smeared with clay. In still other localities they

THE DAWN OF HISTORY lived in groups of natural caves, which afforded them shelter from the elements and protection from wild animals.

Already these early men had come a long, long way on the road to civilization. During thousands and thousands of years their forerunners had slowly advanced from complete savagery to the barbarian stage. Fire was the first

_ great invention, making it pos-

^'^''spE'iR''SEAD'''''' sible to use for food many substances which without cooking are unwholesome. Then came knives and axes oj roughly chipped stone, which formed man's first weapons and first tools; and slowly these came to be made more smooth and serviceable. The bow and arrow was an improvement on the stone or horn-tipped spear; and the art of making pottery, out of clay baked in the fire, supplied vessels in which food could be boiled or baked, and liquids and grains stored for future use.

Gradually, as the centuries passed, man took further steps which raised him still higher in the scale. The seeds of wild grasses and grains, which were collected for food, were sown and cultivated, and so agriculture began. The taming of the dog, sheep, ox, camel, and other domestic animals gave him a more certain food supply as well as furnished him with powerful aids in his wars and his work. The inventions of spinning ' and weaving enabled him to supplement his rude skin garments with better ones made from cloth of various kinds. Then came the great discovery of metal working— ^rst copper, then bronze, and then iron— giving him tools and weapons of ever increasing excellence.

AX FASTENED IN HANDLE

Finally man invented writing — first mere picture records; then signs which stood for words and syllables; and then at last, after several centuries, alphabetic writing. In this, signs are used to represent individual sounds, so that a

NAME CLEOPATRA IN EGYPTIAN WRITING

small number of characters can be made to represent almost any word or idea which man has to express. With the invention of writing it became possible to carry on great enterprises, to rule vast empires, and to hand down to distant ages the knowledge of a people's exploits. So after some fifty thousand years of slow advance in what we call the prehistoric ages, man came out of the darkness into the full light of history.

3. The Ancient Egyptians. The warm and fertile valley of the river Nile in Egypt, and that of the Tigris and Euphrates in Western Asia, were especially favorable for man's early development. Accordingly a high degree of civilization arose, and great empires flourished there, while elsewhere men still remained savage or barbarian. Connecting these river valleys, moreover, was a belt of fertile land which stretched, in the shape of a crescent, north of the Arabian desert and along the Mediterranean Sea. This region, too, was favorable for early man, and here arose the civilizations of the ancient Hebrews and Phoenicians.

Nearly 3000 years before Christ was born, the Egyptians had already become a civilized- people. Even that early they practiced agriculture with the aid of irrigation in the dry season, knew the use of metals and of writing, had orderly governments and an elaborate religion, and built vast monuments such as the pyramids, sphinxes, and temples, the ruins of which still draw travelers to Egypt. They

THE DAWN OF HISTORY

EGYPTIAN SPHINX AND GREAT PYRAMID built ships and carried their beautiful vases, cloths, and metal wares to the neighboring lands of the Mediterranean.

They had also begun to write books, on paper made from the split reeds of the papyrus plant, and they had lofty ideas — not always followed in practice — of right and justice.

One of the old Egyptian nobles caused this inscription to be placed in his tomb, where it can be read to this day:

"There was no widow whom I oppressed ; there was no peasant whom I evicted; there was

INTERIOR OF EGYPTIAN TEMPLE nO shcphcrd whom I

expelled. There was none wretched in my community, there was none hungry in my time. When years of famine came, I plowed all the fields of the estate, preserving its people alive and furnishing them food so that there was none hungry therein."

For about four hundred years (1580 to 1150 b.c.) the rulers of ancient Egypt were able to extend their rule over the neighboring lands of Palestine, Phoenicia, and Syria. Then came a decline, due to the rise to power of new peoples abroad and the growth of weakness at home. But Egypt continued to be a powerful country down to the days of ancient Greece and Rome, and greatly influenced those countries as well as the people of later times.

From Breasted s Ancient History Charts, permission of Uenoyer-Geppert Co.

THE DAWN OF HISTOEY

MEANING

Outline Character 4500 B.C

Cuneiform

25ooac

Assyrian 700RC.

Babylonian

The Sun

CV iX

God, heaven

•*

HP

Mountain i< y i<

Man

/vmN m

4^

Ox

=o fC> i3i

Fish w iK

4. Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. At the other end of the fertile crescent, in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, civilization arose almost as early and shone as splendidly as it did in ancient Egypt. In Babylonia, the southern part of the valley, cities of mud-brick huts arose as early as 3000 years B.C., and extensive systems

of irrigation canals were constructed to aid in cultivating the fields of barley and wheat.

There also a system of writing arose, in queer wedgeshaped characters on clay tablets, which we call "cuneiform" writing. It looked very different from the "hieroglyphics" of the Egyptians, but like the latter it grew out of picture writing.

About the year 2100 B.C., a great Babylonian king named Hammurabi prepared a code of laws, which he caused to be engraved on a stone pillar which has come down to us across the ages. It is the oldest code of laws which still survives from any people. It shows a well ordered land, in which agriculture, manufactures, and trade were practiced, and which was ruled over by a strong but despotic government.

The Assyrians dwelt in the northern part of the valley and at first were a ruder and more backward people. But they were also more warlike, and after many centuries of struggle they conquered the Babylonians and established their rule over the whole valley. They extended their empire to the Mediterranean, and for a time (about the year 700 B.C.) they even ruled Egypt. There were several reasons why the Assyrians were able

EXAMPLES OP CUNEIFORM WRITING to make such wide conquests. They were the first people to have large armies equipped with weapons of iron. These new arms were as much superior to the old weapons of bronze as the bronze weapons were to the stone weapons of the still earlier days. In addition the Assjrians organized their state for war as a regular business, and so had an unfair advantage over the more peace-loving peoples.

The Assyrians adorned their capital, Nineveh, with magnificent temples and palaces, built with the labor of countless slaves taken in their wars. Assyrian art thus became

STONE SLAB SHOWING ASSYRIAN LION HUNT

the first great art of Asia which was worthy of being compared with that of Egypt. But the Assyrians were a hard, cruel race, and wherever they went they left a trail of blood and ruin. When at last their capital was destroyed and the power passed to a new people, the Chaldeans, the Hebrew prophet Nahum exulted in these words:

"Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery ; and the prey departeth not. All they that look upon them shall flee from them and say, 'Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?' "

We need not say more of the Assyrians or the Chaldeans, for both alike were soon swallowed up in the empire of the Persians. This was founded by Cyrus the Great, between

THE DAWN OF HISTORY 9

the years 549 and 529 B.C. The Persian Empire was the third of the great empires of these ancient days. It was also the greatest in extent, for it included Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria, and stretched from the borders of India to the shores of Greece. We shall meet with the Persians again when we come to the history of Greece. Now we need only to note that their energies, like those of the Assyrians, were devoted mainly to conquests, and that further progress of civilization was not possible along those lines.