Ancient Books

BOOK 45, BOSSEVAIN.) [B.C. 44 (a. u.710)] [-1-] This was Antony's course of procedure.—Gaius Octavius Copia,—this was the name of the son of Caesar's niece, Attia,—came from Velitrae in the Volscian country, and having been left without a protector by the death of his father Octavius he was brought up in the house of his mother and her husband, Lucius... more...

CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. Along the eastern flank of the great Mesopotamian lowland, curving round it on the north, and stretching beyond it to the south and the south-east, lies a vast elevated region, or highland, no portion of which appears to be less than 3000 feet above the sea-level. This region may be divided, broadly, into two tracts, one consisting of lofty mountainous ridges,... more...

CADMUS. B.C. 1500Different kinds of greatness.Some men are renowned in history on account of the extraordinary powers and capacities which they exhibited in the course of their career, or the intrinsic greatness of the deeds which they performed. Others, without having really achieved any thing in itself very great or wonderful, have become widely known to mankind by reason of the vast consequences... more...

(BOOK 52, BOISSEVAIN) [-1-] My record has so far stated what the Romans both did and endured for seven hundred and twenty-five years under the monarchy, as a democracy, and beneath the rule of a few. After this they reverted to nothing more nor less than a state of monarchy again, although Cæsar had a plan to lay down his arms and entrust affairs to the senate and the populace. He held a consultation... more...

CHAPTER I ASSYRIAN HISTORIANS AND THEIR HISTORIES To the serious student of Assyrian history, it is obvious that we cannot write that history until we have adequately discussed the sources. We must learn what these are, in other words, we must begin with a bibliography of the various documents. Then we must divide them into their various classes, for different classes of inscriptions are of varying... more...

INTRODUCTORY ESSAYHELLENISM AND HEBRÆISM IN EGYPT UNDER THE PTOLEMIESI.When Alexander the Great bridged the gulf dividing Occident and Orient, the Greeks had attained to a state of maturity in the development of their national art and literature. Greek culture and civilisation, passing beyond the boundaries of their national domain, crossed this bridge and spread over the Asiatic world. To perpetuate... more...

BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY. ANCIENT RELIGIONS: EGYPTIAN, ASSYRIAN, BABYLONIAN, AND PERSIAN. It is my object in this book on the old Pagan civilizations to present the salient points only, since an exhaustive work is impossible within the limits of these volumes. The practical end which I have in view is to collate a sufficient number of acknowledged facts from which to draw sound inferences in reference... more...

THE WANDERINGS ANDHOMES OF MANUSCRIPTSTheWanderings and Homes of Manuscripts is the title of this book. To have called it the survival and transmission of ancient literature would have been pretentious, but not wholly untruthful. Manuscripts, we all know, are the chief means by which the records and imaginings of twenty centuries have been preserved. It is my purpose to tell where manuscripts were... more...

BOOK 78, BOISSEVAIN.) [Sidenote: A.D. 211 (a.u. 964)] [Sidenote:—1—] After this Antoninus secured the entire power. Nominally he ruled with his brother, but in reality alone and at once. With the enemy he came to terms, withdrew from their country, and abandoned the forts. But his own people he either dismissed (as Papinianus the prefect) or else killed (as Euodus, his nurse, Castor, and his wife... more...

ONCE UPON A TIME. Once upon a time, there lived in a city of Asia Minor, not far from Mount Ida, as old Homer tells us in his grand and beautiful poem, a king who had fifty sons and many daughters. How large his family was, indeed, we cannot say, for the storytellers of the olden time were not very careful to set down the actual and exact truth, their chief object being to give the people something to... more...