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CYRUS THE GREAT.

ASIATIC SUPREMACY.

The Persian Empire Persia Proper Origin of the Persians The Religion of the Iranians Persian Civilization Persian rulers Youth and education of Cyrus Political Union of Persia and Media The Median Empire Early Conquests of Cyrus The Lydian Empire Croesus, King of Lydia War between Croesus and Cyrus Fate of Croesus Conquest of the Ionian Cities Conquest of Babylon Assyria and Babylonia Subsequent conquests of Cyrus His kindness to the Jews Character of Cyrus Cambyses; Darius Hystaspes Xerxes Fall of the Persian Empire Authorities

JULIUS CAESAR.

IMPERIALISM.

Caesar an instrument of Providence His family and person Early manhood; marriage; profession; ambition Curule magistrates; the Roman Senate Only rich men who control elections ordinarily elected Venality of the people Caesar borrows money to bribe the people Elected Quaestor Gains a seat in the Senate Second marriage, with a cousin of Pompey Caesar made Pontifex Maximus; elected Praetor Sent to Spain; military services in Spain Elected Consul; his reforms; Leges Juliae Opposition of the Aristocracy Assigned to the province of Gaul His victories over the Gauls and Germans Character of the races he subdued Amazing difficulties of his campaigns Reluctance of the Senate to give him the customary honor Jealousy of the nobles; hostility between them and Caesar The Aristocracy unfit to govern; their habits and manners They call Pompey to their aid Neither Pompey nor Caesar will disband his forces; Caesar recalled Caesar marches on Home; crosses the Rubicon Ultimate ends of Caesar; the civil war Pompey's incapacity and indecision; flies to Brundusi Caesar defeats Pompey's generals in Spain Dictatorship of Caesar Battle of Pharsalia Death of Pompey in Egypt Battles of Thapsus and of Munda They result in Caesar's supremacy His services as Emperor His habits and character His assassination,--its consequences Causes of Imperialism,--its supposed necessity when Caesar arose; public rebuke of Caesar by Cicero An historical puzzle Authorities

MARCUS AURELIUS.

THE GLORY OF ROME.

Remarkable character of Marcus Aurelius His parentage and education Adopted by Antoninus Pius Subdues the barbarians of Germany Consequences of the German Wars Mistakes of Marcus Aurelius; Commodus Persecutions of the Christians The "Meditations,"--their sublime Stoicism Epictetus,--the influence of his writings Style and value of the "Meditations" Necessities of the Empire Its prosperity under the Antonines; external glories Its internal weakness; seeds of ruin Gibbon controverted by Marcus Aurelius Authorities

CONSTANTINE THE GREAT.

CHRISTIANITY ENTHRONED.

Constantine and Diocletian Influence of martyrdoms Influence of Asceticism,--its fierce protest Rise of Constantine His civil wars for the supremacy of the Roman world The rival Emperors and their fate: Maximinian, Galerius, Maxentius, Maximin, Licinius Constantine sole Emperor over the West and East Foundation of Constantinople,--its great advantage The pomp and ceremony of the imperial Court Crimes of Constantine; his virtues Conversion of Constantine His Christian legislation; edict of Toleration Patronage of the Clergy; union of Church and State Council of Nice Theological discussion Doctrine of the Trinity Athanasius and Arius The Nicene Creed Effect of philosophical discussions on theological truths Constantine's work; the uniting of Church with State Death of Constantine His character and services Authorities

PAULA.

WOMAN AS FRIEND.

Female friendship Paganism unfavorable to friendship Character of Jewish women Great Pagan women Paula, her early life Her conversion to Christianity Her asceticism Asceticism the result of circumstances Virtues of Paula Her illustrious friends Saint Jerome and his great attainments His friendship with Paula His social influence at Rome His treatment of women Vanity of mere worldly friendship ^Esthetic mission of woman Elements of permanent friendship Necessity of social equality Illustrious friendships Congenial tastes in friendship Necessity of Christian graces Sympathy as radiating from the Cross Necessity of some common end in friendship The extension of monastic life Virtues of early monastic life Paula and Jerome seek its retreats Their residence in Palestine Their travels in the East Their illustrious visitors Peculiarities of their friendship Death of Paula Her character and fame Elevation of woman by friendship

CHRYSOSTOM.

SACRED ELOQUENCE.

The power of the Pulpit Eloquence always a power The superiority of the Christian themes to those of Pagan antiquity Sadness of the great Pagan orators Cheerfulness of the Christian preachers Chrysostom Education Society of the times Chrysostom's conversion, and life in retirement Life at Antioch Characteristics of his eloquence; his popularity as orator His influence Shelters Antioch from the wrath of Theodosius Power and responsibility of the clergy Transferred to Constantinople, as Patriarch of the East His sermons, and their effect at Court Quarrel with Eutropius Envy of Theophilus of Alexandria Council of the Oaks; condemnation to exile Sustained by the people; recalled Wrath of the Empress Exile of Chrysostom His literary labors in exile His more remote exile, and death His fame and influence Authorities

SAINT AMBROSE.

Dignity of the Episcopal office in the early Church Growth of Episcopal authority,--its causes The See of Milan; election of Ambrose as Archbishop His early life and character; his great ability Change in his life after consecration His conservation of the Faith Persecution of the Manicheans Opposition to the Arians His enemies; Faustina Quarrel with the Empress Establishment of Spiritual Authority Opposition to Temporal Power Ambrose retires to his cathedral; Ambrosian chant Rebellion of Soldiers; triumph of Ambrose Sent as Ambassador to Maximus; his intrepidity His rebuke of Theodosius; penance of the Emperor Fidelity and ability of Ambrose as Bishop His private virtues His influence on succeeding ages Authorities

SAINT AUGUSTINE.

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY.

Lofty position of Augustine in the Church Parentage and birth Education and youthful follies Influence of the Manicheans on him Teacher of rhetoric Visits Rome Teaches rhetoric at Milan Influence of Ambrose on him Conversion; Christian experience Retreat to Lake Como Death of Monica his mother Return to Africa Made Bishop of Hippo; his influence as Bishop His greatness as a theologian; his vast studies Contest with Manicheans,--their character and teachings Controversy with the Donatists,--their peculiarities Tracts: Unity of the Church and Religious Toleration Contest with the Pelagians: Pelagius and Celestius Principles of Pelagianism Doctrines of Augustine: Grace; Predestination; Sovereignty of God; Servitude of the Will Results of the Pelagian controversy Other writings of Augustine: "The City of God;" Soliloquies; Sermons Death and character Eulogists of Augustine His posthumous influence Authorities

THEODOSIUS THE GREAT.

LATTER DAYS OF ROME.

The mission of Theodosius General sense of security in the Roman world The Romans awake from their delusion Incursions of the Goths Battle of Adrianople; death of Valens Necessity for a great deliverer to arise; Theodosius The Goths,--their characteristics and history Elevation of Theodosius as Associate Emperor He conciliates the Goths, and permits them to settle in the Empire Revolt of Maximus against Gratian; death of Gratian Theodosius marches against Maximus and subdues him Revolt of Arbogastes,--his usurpation Victories of Theodosius over all his rivals; the Empire once more united under a single man Reforms of Theodosius; his jurisprudence Patronage of the clergy and dignity of great ecclesiastics Theodosius persecutes the Arians Extinguishes Paganism and closes the temples Cements the union of Church with State Faults and errors of Theodosius; massacre of Thessalonica Death of Theodosius Division of the Empire between his two sons Renewed incursions of the Goths,--Alaric; Stilicho Fall of Rome; Genseric and the Vandals Second sack of Rome Reflections on the Fall of the Western Empire Authorities

LEO THE GREAT.

FOUNDATION OF THE PAPACY.

BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY

CYRUS THE GREAT.

ASIATIC SUPREMACY.

One of the most prominent and romantic characters in the history of the Oriental world, before its conquest by Alexander of Macedon, is Cyrus the Great; not as a sage or prophet, not as the founder of new religious systems, not even as a law-giver, but as the founder and organizer of the greatest empire the world has seen, next to that of the Romans. The territory over which Cyrus bore rule extended nearly three thousand miles from east to west, and fifteen hundred miles from north to south, embracing the principal nations known to antiquity, so that he was really a king of kings. He was practically the last of the great Asiatic emperors, absorbing in his dominions those acquired by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Lydians. He was also the first who brought Asia into intimate contact with Europe and its influences, and thus may be regarded as the link between the old Oriental world and the Greek civilization.

It is to be regretted that so little is really known of the Persian hero, both in the matter of events and also of exact dates, since chronologists differ, and can only approximate to the truth in their calculations. In this lecture, which is in some respects an introduction to those that will follow on the heroes and sages of Greek, Roman, and Christian antiquity, it is of more importance to present Oriental countries and institutions than any particular character, interesting as he may be,--especially since as to biography one is obliged to sift historical facts from a great mass of fables and speculations.

Neither Herodotus, Xenophon, nor Ctesias satisfy us as to the real life and character of Cyrus. This renowned name represents, however, the Persian power, the last of the great monarchies that ruled the Oriental world until its conquest by the Greeks. Persia came suddenly into prominence in the middle of the seventh century before Christ. Prior to this time it was comparatively unknown and unimportant, and was one of the dependent provinces of Media, whose religion, language, and customs were not very dissimilar to its own.

Persia was a small, rocky, hilly, arid country about three hundred miles long by two hundred and fifty wide, situated south of Media, having the Persian Gulf as its southern boundary, the Zagros Mountains on the west separating it from Babylonia, and a great and almost impassable desert on the east, so that it was easily defended. Its population was composed of hardy, warlike, and religious people, condemned to poverty and incessant toil by the difficulty of getting a living on sterile and unproductive hills, except in a few favored localities. The climate was warm in summer and cold in winter, but on the whole more temperate than might be supposed from a region situated so near the tropics,--between the twenty-fifth and thirtieth degrees of latitude. It was an elevated country, more than three thousand feet above the sea, and was favorable to the cultivation of the fruits and flowers that have ever been most prized, those cereals which constitute the ordinary food of man growing in abundance if sufficient labor were spent on their cultivation, reminding us of Switzerland and New England. But vigilance and incessant toil were necessary, such as are only found among a hardy and courageous peasantry, turning easily from agricultural labors to the fatigues and dangers of war. The real wealth of the country was in the flocks and herds that browsed in the valleys and plains. Game of all kinds was abundant, so that the people were unusually fond of the pleasures of the chase; and as they were temperate, inured to exposure, frugal, and adventurous, they made excellent soldiers. Nor did they ever as a nation lose their warlike qualities,--it being only the rich and powerful among them who learned the vices of the nations they subdued, and became addicted to luxury, indolence, and self-indulgence. Before the conquest of Media the whole nation was distinguished for temperance, frugality, and bravery. According to Herodotus, the Persians were especially instructed in three things,--"to ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth." Their moral virtues were as conspicuous as their warlike qualities. They were so poor that their ordinary dress was of leather. They could boast of no large city, like the Median Ecbatana, or like Babylon,--Pasargadae, their ancient capital, being comparatively small and deficient in architectural monuments. The people lived chiefly in villages and hamlets, and were governed, like the Israelites under the Judges, by independent chieftains, none of whom attained the rank and power of kings until about one hundred years before the birth of Cyrus. These pastoral and hunting people, frugal from necessity, brave from exposure, industrious from the difficulty of subsisting in a dry and barren country, for the most sort were just such a race as furnished a noble material for the foundation of a great empire.

Whence came this honest, truthful, thrifty race? It is generally admitted that it was a branch of the great Aryan family, whose original settlements are supposed to have been on the high table-lands of Central Asia east of the Caspian Sea, probably in Bactria. They emigrated from that dreary and inhospitable country after Zoroaster had proclaimed his doctrines, after the sacred hymns called the Gathas were sung, perhaps even after the Zend-Avesta or sacred writings of the Zoroastrian priests had been begun,--conquering or driving away Turanian tribes, and migrating to the southwest in search of more fruitful fields and fertile valleys, they found a region which has ever since borne a name--Iran--that evidently commemorated the proud title of the Aryan race. And this great movement took place about the time that another branch of their race also migrated southeastwardly to the valleys of the Indus. The Persians and the Hindus therefore had common ancestors,--the same indeed, as those of the Greeks, Romans, Sclavonians, Celts, and Teutons, who migrated to the northwest and settled in Europe. The Aryans in all their branches were the noblest of the primitive races, and have in their later developments produced the highest civilization ever attained. They all had similar elements of character, especially love of personal independence, respect for woman, and a religious tendency of mind. We see a considerable similarity of habits and customs between the Teutonic races of Germany and Scandinavia and the early inhabitants of Persia, as well as great affinity in language. All branches of the Aryan family have been warlike and adventurous, if we may except the Hindus, who were subjected to different influences,--especially of climate, which enervated their bodies if it did not weaken their minds.

When the migration of the Iranians took place it is difficult to determine, but probably between fifteen hundred and two thousand years before our era, although it may have been even five hundred years earlier than that. All theories as to their movements before their authentic history begins are based on conjecture and speculation, which it is not profitable to pursue, since we can settle nothing in the present state of our knowledge.

It is very singular that the Iranians should have had, after their migrations and settlements, religious ideas and systems so different from those of the Hindus, considering that they had common ancestors. The Iranians, including the Medes as well as Persians, accepted Zoroaster as their prophet and teacher, and the Zend-Avesta as their sacred books, and worshipped one Supreme Deity, whom they called Ahura-Mazda ,--the Lord Omniscient,--and thus were monotheists; while the Hindus were practically poly-theists, governed by a sacerdotal caste, who imposed gloomy austerities and sacrifices, although it would seem that the older Vedistic hymns of the Hindus were theistic in spirit. The Magi--the priests of the Iranians--differed widely in their religious views from the Brahmans, inculcating a higher morality and a loftier theological creed, worshipping the Supreme Being without temples or shrines or images, although their religion ultimately degenerated into a worship of the powers of Nature, as the recognition of Mithra the sun-god and the mysterious fire-altars would seem to indicate. But even in spite of the corruptions introduced by the Magi when they became a powerful sacerdotal body, their doctrine remained purer and more elevated than the religions of the surrounding nations.

While the Iranians worshipped a supreme deity of goodness, they also recognized a supreme deity of evil, both ruling the world--in perpetual conflict--by unnumbered angels, good and evil; but the final triumph of the good was a conspicuous article of their faith. In close logical connection with this recognition of a supreme power in the universe was the belief of a future state and of future rewards and punishments, without which belief there can be, in my opinion, no high morality, as men are constituted.

In process of time the priests of the Zoroastrian faith became unduly powerful, and enslaved the people by many superstitions, such as the multiplication of rites and ceremonies and the interpretation of dreams and omens. They united spiritual with temporal authority, as a powerful priesthood is apt to do,--a fact which the Christian priesthood of the Middle Ages made evident in the Occidental world.

In the time of Cyrus the Magi had become a sort of sacerdotal caste. They were the trusted ministers of kings, and exercised a controlling influence over the people. They assumed a stately air, wore white and flowing robes, and were adept in the arts of sorcery and magic. They were even consulted by kings and chieftains, as if they possessed prophetic power. They were a picturesque body of men, with their mystic wands, their impressive robes, their tall caps, appealing by their long incantations and frequent ceremonies and prayers to the eye and to the ear. "Pure Zoroastrianism was too spiritual to coalesce readily with Oriental luxury and magnificence when the Persians were rulers of a vast empire, but Magism furnished a hierarchy to support the throne and add splendor and dignity to the court, while it blended easily with previous creeds."

In material civilization the Medes and Persians were inferior to the Babylonians and Egyptians, and immeasurably behind the Greeks and Romans. Their architecture was not so imposing as that of the Egyptians and Babylonians; it had no striking originality, and it was only in the palaces of great monarchs that anything approached magnificence. Still, there were famous palaces at Ecbatana, Susa, and Persepolis, raised on lofty platforms, reached by grand staircases, and ornamented with elaborate pillars. The most splendid of these were erected after the time of Cyrus, by Darius and Xerxes, decorated with carpets, hangings, and golden ornaments. The halls of their palaces were of great size and imposing effect. Next to palaces, the most remarkable buildings were the tombs of kings; but we have no remains of marble statues or metal castings or ivory carvings, not even of potteries, which at that time in other countries were common and beautiful. The gems and signet rings which the Persians engraved possessed much merit, and on them were wrought with great skill the figures of men and animals; but the nearest approach to sculpture were the figures of colossal bulls set to guard the portals of palaces, and these were probably borrowed from the Assyrians.

Nor were the Persians celebrated for their textile fabrics and dyes. "So long as the carpets of Babylon, the shawls of India, the fine linen of Egypt, and the coverlets of Damascus poured continually into Persia in the way of tribute and gifts, there was no stimulus to manufacture." The same may be said of the ornamental metal-work of the Greeks, and the glass manufacture of the Phoenicians. The Persians were soldiers, and gloried in being so, to the disdain of much that civilization has ever valued.

It may as well be here said that the Iranians, both Medes and Persians, were acquainted with the art of writing. Harpagus sent a letter to Cyrus concealed in the belly of a hare, and Darius signed a decree which his nobles presented to him in writing. In common with the Babylonians they used the same alphabetic system, though their languages were unlike,--namely, the cuneiform or arrow-head or wedge-shaped characters, as seen in the celebrated inscriptions of Darius on the side of a high rock thirty feet from the ground. We cannot determine whether the Medes and Persians brought their alphabet from their original settlements in Central Asia, or derived it from the Turanian and Semitic nations with which they came in contact. In spite of their knowledge of writing, however, they produced no literature of any account, and of science they were completely ignorant. They made few improvements even in military weapons, the chief of which, as among all the nations of antiquity, were the bow, the spear, and the sword. They were skilful horsemen, and made use of chariots of war. Their great occupation, aside from agriculture, was hunting, in which they were trained by exposure for war. They were born to conquer and rule, like the Romans, and cared for little except the warlike virtues.

Such were the Persians and the rugged country in which they lived, with their courage and fortitude, their love of freedom, their patriotism, their abhorrence of lies, their self-respect allied with pride, their temperance and frugality, forming a noble material for empire and dominion when the time came for the old monarchies to fall into their hands,--the last and greatest of all the races that had ruled the Oriental world, and kindred in their remote ancestry with those European conquerors who laid the foundation of modern civilization.

Of these Persians Cyrus was the type-man, combining in himself all that was admirable in his countrymen, and making so strong an impression on the Greeks that he is presented by their historians as an ideal prince, invested with all those virtues which the mediaeval romance-writers have ascribed to the knights of chivalry.

The Persians were ruled by independent chieftains, or petty kings, who acknowledged fealty to Media; so that Persia was really a province of Media, as Burgundy was of France in the Middle Ages, and as Babylonia at one period was of Assyria. The most prominent of these chieftains or princes was Achaemenes, who is regarded as the founder of the Persian monarchy. To this royal family of the Achaemenidae Cyrus belonged. His father Cambyses, called by some a satrap and by others a king, married, according to Herodotus, a daughter of Astyages, the last of the Median monarchs.

The youth and education of Cyrus are invested with poetic interest by both Herodotus and Xenophon, but their narratives have no historical authority in the eyes of critics, any more than Livy's painting of Romulus and Remus: they belong to the realm of romance rather than authentic history. Nevertheless the legend of Cyrus is beautiful, and has been repeated by all succeeding historians.

According to this legend, Astyages--a luxurious and superstitious monarch, without the warlike virtues of his father, who had really built up the Median empire--had a dream that troubled him, which being interpreted by the Magi, priests of the national religion, was to the effect that his daughter Mandan? would be married to a prince whose heir should seize the supreme power of Media. To prevent this, he married her to a prince beneath her rank, for whom he felt no fear,--Cambyses, the chief governor or king of Persia, who ruled a territory to the South, about one fifth the size of Media, and which practically was a dependent province. Another dream which alarmed Astyages still further, in spite of his precaution, induced him to send for his daughter, so that having her in his power he might easily destroy her offspring. As soon as Cyrus was born therefore in the royal palace at Ecbatana, the king intrusted the infant prince to one of the principal officers of his court, named Harpagus, with peremptory orders to destroy him. Harpagus, although he professed unconditional obedience to his monarch, had scruples about taking the life of one so near the throne, the grandson of the king and presumptive heir of the monarchy. So he, in turn, intrusted the royal infant to the care of a herdsman, in whom he had implicit confidence, with orders to kill him. The herdsman had a tender-hearted and conscientious wife who had just given birth to a dead child, and she persuaded her husband--for even in Media women virtually ruled, as they do everywhere, if they have tact--to substitute the dead child for the living one, deck it out in the royal costume, and expose it to wild beasts. This was done, and Cyrus remained the supposed child of the shepherd. The secret was well kept for ten years, and both Astyages and Harpagus supposed that Cyrus was slain.

Cyrus meanwhile grew up among the mountains, a hardy and beautiful boy, exposed to heat and cold, hunger and fatigue, and thus was early inured to danger and hardship. Added to personal beauty was remarkable courage, frankness, and brightness, so that he took the lead of other boys in their amusements. One day they played king, and Cyrus was chosen to represent royalty, which he acted so literally as to beat the son of a Median nobleman for disobedience. The indignant and angry father complained at once to the king, and Astyages sent for the herdsman and his supposed son to attend him in his palace. When the two mountaineers were ushered into the royal presence, Astyages was so struck with the beauty, wit, and boldness of the boy that he made earnest inquiries of the herdsman, who was forced to tell the truth, and confessed that the youth was not his son, but had been put into his hands by Harpagus with orders to destroy him. The royal origin of Cyrus was now apparent, and the king sent for Harpagus, who corroborated the statement of the herdsman. Astyages dissembled his wrath, as Oriental monarchs can, who are trained to dissimulation, and the only punishment he inflicted on Harpagus was to set before him at a banquet a dish made of the arms and legs of a dead infant. This the courtier in turn professed to relish, but henceforth became the secret and implacable enemy of the king.

Herodotus tells us that Astyages took the boy, unmistakably his grandson and heir, to his palace to be educated according to his rank. Cyrus was now brought up with every honor and the greatest care, taught to hunt and ride and shoot with the bow like the highest nobles. He soon distinguished himself for his feats in horsemanship and skill in hunting wild animals, winning universal admiration, and disarming envy by his tact, amiability, and generosity, which were as marked as his intellectual brilliancy,--being altogether a model of reproachless chivalry.

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