$8.

95 s

EDWARD McNALL BURNS and PHILIP LEE RALPH

World Civilizations

FIFTH EDITION

Volume 1
World Civilizations

FIFTH EDITION

Volume I
 FIFTH EDITION

CIVILIZATIONS
Their History and Their Culture

Volume I

EDWARD McNALL BURNS

AND
PHILIP LEE RALPH

JEW YORK
To our Students

Copyright © 1974, 1969, 1964, 1958, 1955 by

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Including material from WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS by
Edward McNall Burns. Copyright 1973, 1968, 1963,
1958,1954, 1949, 1947, 1941

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Burns, Edward McNall, 1897-
World civilizations.
“Including material from Western civilizations, by
Edward McNall Burns.”
Includes bibliographies.
1. Civilization—Elistory. I. Ralph, Philip Lee,
1905- joint author. II. Title.
[CB59.B8 1974] 901.9 73-21556
ISBN 0-393-09266-6 (v. 1)

CARTOGRAPHY BY HAROLD K. FAYE

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

34567890
 Contents

Preface
Part One THE DAWN OF HISTORY
Chapter i The Earliest Beginnings 3
THE MEANING OF HISTORY 3
HISTORY AND PREHISTORY 5
THE CULTURE OF LOWER PALEOLITHIC MEN 6
UPPER PALEOLITHIC CULTURE 8
NEOLITHIC CULTURE 13
CULTURES AND CIVILIZATIONS 18
FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF CIVILIZATIONS 19
WHY THE EARLIEST CIVILIZATIONS BEGAN WHERE THEY DID 2 1

Chapter 2 The Civilizations of the Nile 29

POLITICAL HISTORY UNDER THE PHARAOHS 29
EGYPTIAN RELIGION 33
EGYPTIAN INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENTS 37
THE MEANING OF EGYPTIAN ART 40
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE 43
THE EGYPTIAN ACHIEVEMENT AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO US 47
KUSHITIC CIVILIZATION 48
THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOM OF ETHIOPIA 50

Chapter 3 The Mesopotamian Civilization 53

FROM THE SUMERIAN TO THE PERSIAN CONQUEST 54
SUMERIAN ORIGINS OF THE CIVILIZATION 55
OLD BABYLONIAN “CONTRIBUTIONS” 60
THE METAMORPHOSIS UNDER ASSYRIA 63
THE CHALDEAN RENASCENCE 66
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE AND ITS HISTORY 69
PERSIAN CULTURE 72
THE ZOROASTRIAN RELIGION 73
THE MYSTICAL AND OTHERWORLDLY HERITAGE FROM PERSIA 75
Chapter 4 The Hebrew Civilization 79

HEBREW ORIGINS AND RELATIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLES 79

THE RECORD OF POLITICAL HOPES AND FRUSTRATIONS 81
THE HEBREW RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION 84
HEBREW CULTURE 88
THE MAGNITUDE OF THE HEBREW INFLUENCE 92

Chapter 5 The Hittite, Minoan-Mycenaean, and

Lesser Cultures 97
THE HITTITES AND THE PHRYGIANS 98
THE MINOAN-MYCENAEN CIVILIZATION IOO
THE LYDIANS AND THE PHOENICIANS 108
LESSONS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE NEAR EASTERN STATES I IO

Chapter 6 Ancient Indian Civilization 113

THE VEDIC AGE IN INDIA I 16
THE EPIC AGE: THE EMERGENCE OF HINDUISM 124
REFORM MOVEMENTS: THE RISE OF BUDDHISM 132

Chapter 7 Ancient Chinese Civilization 143

THE FORMATIVE STAGE 144
THE CHOU DYNASTY, THE CLASSICAL AGE OF CHINA (CA. IO27-249 B.C.) 150

Part Two THE WORLD IN THE CLASSICAL ERA

Chapter 8 The-TIellenic Civilization 175
EARLY STAGES 175
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CITY-STATES I8I
THE ARMED CAMP OF SPARTA 18 3
THE ATHENIAN TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY 186
POLITICAL DEBACLE—THE LAST DAYS 190
HELLENIC THOUGHT AND CULTURE 193
THE MEANING OF GREEK ART 206
ATHENIAN LIFE IN THE GOLDEN AGE 209
THE GREEK ACHIEVEMENT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR US
213

Chapter 9 The Hellenistic Civilization 219

POLITICAL HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS 2 20
SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS 22 1
HELLENISTIC CULTURE: PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE, AND ART 225
THE FIRST GREAT AGE OF SCIENCE 230
RELIGION IN THE HELLENISTIC AGE 233
A FORETASTE OF MODERNITY? 234
Chapter io Roman Civilization 237
FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE OVERTHROW OF THE MONARCHY 238
THE EARLY REPUBLIC 241
THE FATEFUL WARS WITH CARTHAGE 244
THE REVOLUTION OF THE LATE REPUBLIC 248
ROME BECOMES SOPHISTICATED 251
THE PRINCIPATE OR EARLY EMPIRE (27 B.C.-284 A.D.) 254
CULTURE AND LIFE IN THE PERIOD OF THE PRINCIPATE 257
ROMAN LAW 267
THE LATE EMPIRE (284-476 A.D.) 269
DECAY AND DECLINE 27 I
THE ROMAN HERITAGE 273

Chapter i i The Far East and Africa in Transition

(ca. 200 B.C.-900 a.d.) 279
THE FLOWERING OF HINDU CIVILIZATION 280
THE TERRITORIAL, POLITICAL, AND CULTURAL GROWTH OF CHINA 292
EARLY CIVILIZATION IN JAPAN 306
THE FOUNDATION OF CIVILIZATIONS IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA 318 L}

Part Three THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

Chapter 12 The Civilization of the Early Middle Ages 329
THE CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION OF EARLY MEDIEVAL CULTURE 330
THE GERMANIC FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW CULTURE 339
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 342
INTELLECTUAL ATTAINMENTS OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 349

Chapter 13 The Byzantine and Saracenic Civilizations 357

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND ITS CULTURE 358
ISLAM AND THE SARACENIC CIVILIZATION 367

Part Four THE LATER MIDDLE AGES AND THE

TRANSITION TO THE MODERN WORLD

Chapter 14 The Later Middle Ages (1050-1350):

Political and Economic Institutions 389
THE ORIGINS OF THE FEUDAL REGIME 390
FEUDALISM AS A POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE 392
THE RISE OF NATIONAL MONARCHIES 401
URBAN LIFE IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 4IO

Chapter 15 The Later Middle Ages (1050-1350):

Religious and Intellectual Developments 419
THE NEW CHRISTIANITY 42O
THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL AUTHORITIES 425
 THE CRUSADES 428
THE LATE MEDIEVAL MIND 434
ART AND MUSIC IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 447

Chapter i 6 India, the Far East, and Africa in the Later

Middle Ages 45 3
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MOSLEM KINGDOMS IN INDIA
(CA. IOOO-I5O0) 454
CHINA UNDER THE SUNG, MONGOL, AND MING DYNASTIES (960-1644) 459
THE RISE OF FEUDALISM AND MILITARY DICTATORS IN JAPAN
(CA. 990-1600) 469
THE EMERGENCE OF CIVILIZATIONS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 477

Chapter 17 The Civilization of the Renaissance: In Italy 487

THE CAUSES OF THE RENAISSANCE 489
THE RENAISSANCE IN ITALY 491
THE WANING OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 512

Chapter 18 The Expansion of the Renaissance 517

THE INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY 520
RENAISSANCE CULTURE IN THE LOW COUNTRIES 523
THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE 526
THE SPANISH RENAISSANCE 529
THE RENAISSANCE IN ENGLAND 531
RENAISSANCE DEVELOPMENTS IN MUSIC 536
THE RENAISSANCE IN RELIGION 538

Chapter 19 The Age of the Reformation (1517-ca. 1600) 541

THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION 543
THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION 5 66
THE REFORMATION HERITAGE 569

Chapter 20 The Commercial Revolution and the New Society

(ca. 1300-1700) 577
THE CAUSES AND INCIDENTS OF THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION 578
MERCANTILISM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE 587
THE RESULTS OF THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION 591
REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTS IN AGRICULTURE 594
THE NEW SOCIETY 596

Rulers of Principal States <505

List of Illustrations 509
Index

VIII
 Maps

(Maps appear facing or between the pages indicated)

MAPS IN COLOR

The Cradle of Civilization: A Physical Map 32

The Earliest Empires of the Near Orient 65
Physical Map of Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa 192
Greece and Her Colonies in 550 b.c. 225
The Expansion of Rome under the Republic 256
The Roman Empire at Its Greatest Extent 256-257
The Byzantine Empire and Europe in the Time of Justinian 416
The Rise of the Medieval University 449
The Religious Situation in Europe at the Height of the
Reformation 545
Major Explorations and Discoveries 576
Europe at the End of the Thirty Years’ War 576-577

MAPS IN BLACK AND WHITE

The Fertile Crescent 23
The Persian Empire under Darius I 71
Palestine after the Death of King Solomon 84
Ancient India, ca. 500 b.c. 114
Asoka’s Empire, 250 b.c. 140
Ancient China During the Chou Dynasty 151
Greece at the End of the Age of Pericles 191
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World 222
The Empire of King Harsha 282
The T’ang Dynasty, 618-907 a.d. 300
Early Japan 3°^
The Spread of Christianity and the Barbarian Invasions 341
The Empire of Charlemagne 345
The Expansion of Islam and the Saracenic Empire 373
The Expansion of the Norsemen 391
A Typical Manor 39^
England and France ca. 1000 4°3
The Holy Roman Empire ca. 1200 4°9 IX
 MAPS Principal Trade Routes ca. 1400 416
The Major Crusades 430
Mongol and Moslem Empires, ca. 1000-1500 a.d. 454
Africa, 1000-1500 a.d. 478
The States of Italy during the Renaissance 494
Europe ca. 1550 57i
The Commercial Revolution 583

X
 Preface

The time has long since passed when modern man could think of the
world as consisting of Europe and the United States. Western cul¬
ture is, of course, primarily a product of European origins. But it
has never been that exclusively. Its original foundations were in
Southwestern Asia and North Africa. These were supplemented by
influences seeping in from India and eventually from China. From
India and the Far East the West derived its knowledge of the zero,
the compass, gunpowder, silk, cotton, and probably a large number
of religious and philosophical concepts. Especially in recent times
the East has increased in importance. The exhaustion of Europe by
two World Wars, the revolt of the colored races against Caucasian
domination, and the struggle for the world between the Communist
powers and the United States have made every part of the earth of
vital importance to every other. If peace is indivisible, so are pros¬
perity, justice, and freedom; so, in fact, is civilization itself.
The purpose of this work is to present a compact survey of man’s
struggle for civilization from early times to the present. No major
area or country of the globe has been omitted. Europe, the Common¬
wealth of Nations, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, India,
China, Japan, and North, Central, and South America have all re¬
ceived appropriate emphasis. Obviously, the history of none of them
could be covered in full detail. The authors believe, however, that a
broad view of the world as a whole is necessary to understand the
basic problems of any of its parts. This thesis acquires additional
validity as the nations increase in interdependence. Perspective in
history becomes more and more urgent as the momentous problems
of our own generation press for solution. If there is any basic philo¬
sophical interpretation underlying the narrative, it is the conviction
that most of human progress thus far has resulted from the growth
of intelligence and respect for the rights of man, and that therein lies
the chief hope for a better world in the future. XI
PREFACE As its title indicates, this work is not exclusively or even primarily
a political history. Political events are recognized as important, but
they are not the whole substance of history. In the main, the facts
of political history are subordinated to the development of institu¬
tions and ideas or are presented as the groundwork of cultural,
social, and economic movements. The authors consider the effects of
the Industrial Revolutions to be no less important than the Napo¬
leonic Wars. They believe it is of greater value to understand the
significance of Buddha, Confucius, Newton, Darwin, and Einstein
than it is to be able to name the kings of France. In accordance with
this broader conception of history, more space has been given to
the teachings of John Locke and John Stuart Mill, of Mahatma
Gandhi and Mao Tse-tung, than to the military exploits of Gustavus
Adolphus or the Duke of Wellington.
The first edition of World Civilizations was published in 1955,
the second in 1958, the third in 1964, and the fourth in 1969. A
major objective of the present edition is to take account of the
numerous discoveries and reinterpretations that have resulted from
recent historical research. Another equally important objective is to
bring into clear focus the realities of the contemporary world—the
ascendancy of rival superpowers, the struggles and aspirations of
emerging nations of the Third World, the threat to the human
environment posed by a population explosion and the depletion of
natural resources, and the promise inherent in scientific and cultural
innovation.
This edition of World Civilizations is not a mere enlargement of
the previous edition; much new material has been added but sub¬
stantial portions of the old material has been eliminated or condensed.
In this vein the two chapters of the previous edition dealing with the
Mesopotamian and Persian civilizations have been combined, as have
those on the First and Second Industrial Revolutions. The chapter on
the United States has been merged with material on the maturing of
the European democracies, and a new chapter added, tracing the
roots of the political and social revolutions of our time. Three
chapters have been expanded to reflect events and trends of the late
1960’s and early 1970’s. The most significant innovation in the pres¬
ent edition is the expanded treatment of the history of Africa,
contributed by Professor Richard W. Hull of New York Univer¬
sity. Besides revising the material on Africa in Chapter 38, Professor
Hull has added new sections at appropriate points throughout the
text, providing a compact but enlightening account of the peoples
and the major civilizations of the African continent. All of the
chapters on non-Western areas, and the accompanying reading lists,
XII have been thoroughly revised. Some portions have been condensed
to allow room for full treatment of recent and crucial developments PREFACE
in China, Japan, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. The
chapter on Latin America contains a more intensive analysis than
heretofore of the problems and prospects of that too generally
neglected area.
The fifth edition of World Civilizations has been redesigned for
easier reading and to accommodate literally hundreds of new illus¬
trations, from archives both Western and non-Western. The color
plates have been retained and improved in clarity and brightness.
The new edition is published in both a one-volume and a two-
volume format. Available for use with either is a Teacher’s Manual
and a new Study Guide, which, as its most distinctive feature, in¬
cludes numerous extracts from original sources.
In preparing this revision the authors have benefited from the
assistance and counsel of many individuals whose services no words
of appreciation can adequately measure. The list would include not
only various specialists but also teachers and students who have
used the text in their courses. The authors owe a debt of gratitude
to demanding but kindly editors who have worked with them over
the years, and, above all, are indebted to their wives, for their aid
with laborious tasks and for their patience and understanding.

Edward McNall Burns

Philip Lee Ralph

XIII
>
World Civilizations
 PART I
The Dawn of History

No one knows the place of origin of the human species. There is

evidence, however, that it may have been south central Africa or pos¬
sibly central or south central Asia. Here climatic conditions were such
as to favor the evolution of a variety of human types from primate an¬
cestors. From their place or places of origin members of the human
species wandered to southeastern and eastern Asia, northern Africa, Eu¬
rope, and eventually, to America. For hundreds of centuries they re¬
mained primitive, leading a life which was at first barely more advanced
than that of the higher animals. About 5000 b.c. a few of them, enjoying
special advantages of location and climate, developed superior cultures.
These cultures, which attained knowledge of writing and considerable
advancement in the arts and sciences and in social organization, began in
that part of the world known as the Near Orient. This region extends
from the western border of India to the Mediterranean Sea and to the
farther bank of the Nile. Here flourished, at different periods between
5000 and 300 b.c., the mighty empires of the Egyptians, the Babylonians,
the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, and the Persians, together with the smaller
states of such peoples as the Cretans, the Sumerians, the Phoenicians, and
the Hebrews. Farther east, in the Indus River valley, another high civili¬
zation appeared by 3000 b.c. In other parts of the world the beginnings
of civilization were retarded. There was nothing that could be called
civilized life in China until about 2000 b.c. And, except on the island of
Crete, there was no civilization in Europe until more than 1000 years
later. 1
 A Table of Geologic Time
CHARACTERISTIC CULTURE CHARACTERISTIC
ERA PERIOD EPOCH FORMS OF LIFE PERIODS ACHIEVEMENTS

Precambrian Early
Precambrian

One-celled organisms
Late First invertebrates:
Precambrian worms, algae

Cambrian
Mollusks, sponges
Ordovician Insects, first verte¬
brates
Silurian Corals, sharks,
Paleozoic

Devonian seaweed
Lungfishj crustaceans
Carboniferous Earliest amphibians
Mississippian Ferns
Pennsylvanian Large amphibians

Permian

Triassic Giant reptiles

Mesozoic

Diversified reptiles,
Jurassic birds
Marsupials,bony fishes
Cretaceous Trees

Tertiary Paleocene Early mammals,

first primates
Eocene Primitive apes,.
ancestors of
Oligocene
monkeys
Miocene Ancestors of great
apes
Pliocene Ancestors of man,
modern mammals
u
Early human species, Lower Spoken language, knowl¬
‘o other primates Paleolithic edge of fire, burial of
NJ
o dead, stone tools and
c
<D Quaternary weapons
U Pleistocene Present-day animals
and races of men Upper Needles, harpoons, fish¬
Recent Paleolithic hooks, dart throwers,
magic, art, social organ¬
ization, cooking of food
Neolithic Agriculture, domestica¬
tion of animals, pottery,
houses, navigation, in¬
stitutions

Civilized Bronze, iron, writing,

man technology, science, lit¬
erature, philosophy, etc.
 CHAPTER

The Earliest Beginnings

As we turn to the past itself . . . we might well begin with a

pious tribute to our nameless [preliterate] ancestors, who by in¬
conceivably arduous and ingenious effort succeeded in establishing
a human race. They made the crucial discoveries and inventions,
such as the tool, the seed, and the domesticated animal; their
development of agriculture, the “neolithic revolution” that intro¬
duced a settled economy, was perhaps the greatest stride forward
that man has ever taken. They created the marvelous instrument
of language, which enabled man to discover his humanity, and
eventually to disguise it. They laid the foundations of civilization:
its economic, political, and social life, and its artistic, ethical, and
religious traditions. Indeed, our “savage” ancestors are still very
A /MmJ
near to us, and not merely in our capacity for savagery.
^ AK&tftT Si
—Herbert J. Muller, The Uses of the Past

I. THE MEANING OF HISTORY

"km.
Broadly defined, history is a record and interpretation of man’s
achievements, hopes and frustrations, struggles and triumphs. This
conception has not always been the prevailing one. At one time his- History defined

tory was quite generally regarded as “past politics.” Its content was
restricted largely to battles and treaties, to the personalities and
policies of statesmen, and to the laws and decrees of rulers. But im¬
portant as such data are, they do not constitute the whole substance
of history. Actually, history comprises a record of all of man’s ac¬
complishments in every sphere, whether political, economic, intel¬
lectual, or social. It embraces also a chronicle of his dreams and
ideals, his hopes, triumphs, and failures. Perhaps most important of
all, it includes an inquiry into the causes of the chief political and
economic movements, a search for the forces that impelled man to¬
ward his great undertakings, and the reasons for his successes and
failures. 3
THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS Whether history is a science, and whether it can be used as an in¬
strument for predicting the future, are questions that do not yield
conclusive answers. With regard to the first, about all we can say is
History as a that both the study and the writing of history should be made as
"science" scientific as possible. This means that the scientific attitude should
be brought to bear upon the solution of all of history’s problems, be
they political, intellectual, moral, or religious. As the American
philosopher, the late John Dewey, pointed out, the scientific attitude
demands a skeptical and inquiring approach toward all issues and a
refusal to form conclusive judgments until all available evidence has
been amassed and examined. Obviously, this approach rules out such
conceptions of history as the patriotic, the racial, or the providen¬
tial. Scientific history cannot be made to serve the purposes of na¬
tional greatness, race supremacy, or the doctrine of a Chosen Peo¬
ple.
The value of history as a chart for the future has tormented the
minds of philosophical historians for scores of centuries. The father
History as a of scientific history, Thucydides, who lived in Athens in the fifth
chart for the
century b.c., asserted that events do “repeat themselves at some fu¬
future
ture time—if not exactly the same, yet very similar.” The British
essayist Thomas Carlyle and the American philosopher William
James saw in the stimulating genius of eminent individuals the moti¬
vating force of historical progress. What would have been the
future of Germany, James asked, if Bismarck had died in his cradle,
or of the British Empire if Robert Clive had shot himself, as he tried
to 'do at Madras? Great stages of civilization could be accounted for
only by an exceptional concourse of brilliant individuals within a
limited time. But James offered no theory as to the conditions likely
to produce such a concourse.
The most elaborate hypothesis in modern times concerning in¬
evitability in history was developed by Karl Marx in the nineteenth
Economic century. Marx taught that individuals are mere instruments of
determinism in
forces more powerful than they. These forces, he contended, are
history
exclusively economic and are grounded in changes in modes of pro¬
duction. Thus the change from a feudal economy to a commercial
and industrial economy brought into existence the capitalist epoch
and the rule of the bourgeois class. In time capitalism would be
superseded by socialism, and, finally, by communism. The course of
history was consequently predetermined, and future changes
would succeed one another in the same mechanical fashion as they
had in the past.
Although the theories of Marx have attracted considerable atten¬
tion, they cannot be accepted as gospel by scientific historians. The
motivation of human events is too complex to be forced into a single
pattern. It is impossible to predict the future in terms of a single
theory or thesis. No crystal ball exists which will enable anyone to
4 foretell with certainty that every revolution must be followed by
counterrevolution, that every war begets new wars, or that progress HISTORY AND PREHISTORY
is an inescapable law. Greed is undoubtedly a powerful motive for
human action, but this does not mean that economic causation must
be accepted as a universal rule. Fear is also a powerful motive, in Historical
somes cases overbalancing greed. Other psychological motives, in¬ motivation varied
and complex
cluding sex and the lust for power, likewise play a part in the deter¬
mination of human actions. In short, no one explanation will suffice,
and a vast amount of research will be necessary before there can be
any assurance that all the possible driving forces have been dis¬
covered.
One final question remains. Is history a unilinear process, an un¬
broken stream of progress toward higher and nobler achievements?
Or is it simply a process of change marked by a general trend of The concept of a

advancement but with many interruptions and setbacks? Scarcely a stream of history
versus a succession
historian would deny that some ideas and discoveries have come
of cultures
down through the centuries with no change except in the direction
of improvement. This would be true of much of the mathematics of
the ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians, and the Greeks. But other
examples illustrate the opposite. Aristarchus of Samos, in the third
century b.c., propounded a heliocentric theory. It was superseded,
largely for religious reasons, about 400 years later by the geocentric
theory. It was not reaffirmed until the time of Copernicus in the six¬
teenth century a.d. Although Hellenistic physicians came close to a
discovery of the circulation of the blood, knowledge of their
achievement lay buried for 1500 years and had to await rediscovery
in the seventeenth century by Sir William Harvey, the English
physician and anatomist. As with individual accomplishments, so
with whole cultures. The first three millennia of written history
were strewn with the wreckage of fallen empires and extinct civili¬
zations. Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, and Rome fell prey
one after the other to external conquest, internal conquest, or a
combination of both. Many elements of the old cultures survived,
but they were frequently modified or woven into quite different
patterns. As Lincoln said, we cannot escape history, and the influ¬
ence which history presses upon us is more complicated than we
usually suspect.

2. HISTORY AND PREHISTORY

It is the custom among many historians to distinguish between his¬

toric and prehistoric periods in the evolution of human society. By
the former they mean history based upon written records. By the The so-called

latter they mean the record of man’s achievements before the inven- prehistoric era

tion of writing. But this distinction is not altogether satisfactory. It

suggests that human accomplishments before they were recorded in
characters or symbols representing words or concepts were not im¬
portant. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The foundations, at 5
THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS least, of many of the great accomplishments of modern technology,
and even of social and political systems, were laid before human be¬
ings could write a word. It would seem preferable, therefore, that the
whole period of man’s life on earth should be regarded as historic,
and that the era before the invention of writing be designated by
some term such as “preliterate.” The records of preliterate societies
are, of course, not books and manuscripts, but tools, weapons, fos¬
sils, utensils, carvings, paintings, and fragments of jewelry and orna¬
mentation. These, commonly known as “artifacts,” are often just as
valuable as the written word in providing knowledge of a people’s
deeds and modes of living.
The entire span of human history can be divided roughly into
two periods, the Age of Stone and the Age of Metals. The former is
identical with the Preliterate Age, or the period before the inven¬
tion of writing. The latter coincides with the period of history
based upon written records. The Preliterate Age covered at least 95
per cent of man’s existence and did not come to an end until about
5000 b.c. The Age of Metals practically coincides with the history
of civilized nations. The Age of Stone is subdivided into the Paleo¬
lithic, or Old Stone Age, and the Neolithic, or New Stone Age.
Each takes its name from the type of stone tools and weapons char¬
acteristically manufactured during the period. Thus during the
greater part of the Paleolithic Age implements were commonly
made by chipping pieces off a large stone or flint and using the core
that remained as a hand ax or “fist hatchet.” Toward the end of the
period the chips themselves were used as knives or spearheads, and
the core thrown away. The Neolithic Age witnessed the supplant¬
ing of chipped stone tools by implements made by grinding and pol¬
ishing stone.
Fist Hatchet
3. THE CULTURE OF LOWER PALEOLITHIC MEN

The Paleolithic period can be dated from roughly 1,750,000 b.c.

to 10,000 b.c. It is commonly divided into two stages, an earlier or
The earliest Stone Lower Paleolithic and a later or Upper Paleolithic. The Lower Pale¬
Age men
olithic was much the longer of the two, covering about 75 per cent
of the entire Old Stone Age. During this time at least four species of
men inhabited the earth. The oldest was apparently a creature
whose skeletal remains were found in 1960-1964 by Louis S. B.
Leakey in what is now Tanzania, East Africa. Leakey named this
creature Homo habilis, or “man having ability.” Estimated to be at
least 1,750,000 years old, the remains included parts of the skull,
hands, legs, and feet. That Homo habilis was a true ancestral human
being is indicated by evidence that he walked erect and that he used
crude tools. It must not be supposed, of course, that these tools rep¬
resented any high degree of manufacturing skill or inventive talent.
6 Lor the most part, they consisted of objects taken from nature:
The Skull (left) of a Young Woman of the Species Homo habilis, believed
to have lived in Tanzania, East Africa, about 1,750,000 years ago. On the right
is the skull of a present-day African. Though Homo habilis was smaller than
a pygmy, the brain casing was shaped like that of modern man.

bones of large animals, limbs from trees, and chunks of stone, per¬
haps broken or crudely chipped.1
Two other early inhabitants of the Lower Paleolithic were Java
man and Peking man. Java man was long thought to be the oldest of
manlike creatures, but it is now generally agreed that the date of his
origin was about 500,000 b.c. His skeletal remains were found on the
island of Java in 1891. The remains of Peking man were found in
China, about forty miles southwest of Peking between 1926 and
1930. Since the latter date, fragments of no fewer than 32 skeletons
of the Peking type have been located, making possible a complete
reconstruction of at least the head of this ancient species. Anthro¬
pologists generally agree that Peking man and Java man are of
approximately the same antiquity, and that both probably descended
from the same ancestral type.
During the last 25,000 years of the Lower Paleolithic period a
fourth species of ancient man made his appearance. He was
Neanderthal man, famous as an early cave man. His skeletal frag¬
ments were first discovered in the valley of the Neander, near
Diisseldorf, northwestern Germany, in 1856. Since then numerous
other discoveries have been made, in some cases complete skeletons,
in such widely separated regions as Belgium, Spain, Italy, Yugo-
Peking Man
1 In 1972, near Lake Rudolf in East Africa, the remains of another manlike
species were found. They were estimated to be between 2.5 and 3 million years
old. The size of its brain cavity seemed to justify the species’ being called the
predecessor of Homo habilis. 7
THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS slavia, Russia, and Palestine. So closely did Neanderthal man resem¬
ble modern man that he is classified as a member of the same genus,
the genus Homo. The resemblance, however, was by no means per¬
fect. Neanderthal men, on the average, were only about five feet,
four inches in height. They had receding chins and heavy eyebrow
ridges. Although their foreheads sloped back and their brain cases
were low-vaulted, their average cranial capacity was slightly greater
than that of modern Caucasians. What this may have signified with
respect to their intelligence cannot be determined.
The knowledge we possess of the culture of Lower Paleolithic
men is scanty indeed. The skills they achieved and the learning they
acquired must have been pitiful in quantity even when compared
with the accomplishments of modern primitive men. Yet Neander¬
thal man and his successors were not mere apes, forgetting in a
moment the chance triumphs they had made. They undoubtedly
Neanderthal Man
had the capacity for speech, which enabled them to communicate
with their fellows and to pass on what they had learned to succeed¬
ing generations. We are justified in assuming also that they possessed
reasoning ability, however crudely it may have been developed.
Practically from the beginning, therefore, they were probably tool¬
using creatures, employing their wits to fashion implements and
weapons. Perhaps at first these would be nothing but limbs broken
from trees to be used as clubs. Eventually it was discovered that
stones could be chipped in such a way as to give them cutting edges.
Thus were developed spearheads, borers, and much superior knives
and scrapers. Indications have been found also of a degree of ad¬
vancement in nonmaterial culture. In the entrances to caves where
Neanderthal man lived, or at least took refuge, evidence has been dis¬
covered of flint-working floors and stone hearths where huge fires
appear to have been made. These would suggest the origins of co¬
operative group life and possibly the crude beginnings of social
institutions. More significance may be attached to Neanderthal man’s
practice of bestowing care upon the bodies of his dead, interring
Lower Paleolithic Carving
with them in shallow graves tools and other objects or value. Perhaps
Tool and Side Scraper
this practice indicates the development of a religious sense, or at least
a belief in some form of survival after death.

4. UPPER PALEOLITHIC CULTURE

About 30,000 b.c. the culture of the Old Stone Age passed from
the Lower Paleolithic stage to the Upper Paleolithic. The Upper
Cro-Magnon man Paleolithic period lasted for only about 200 centuries, or from
physical 30,000 to 10,000 b.c. A new and superior type of human being domi¬
characteristics
nated the earth in this time. Biologically these men were closely
related to modern man. Their foremost predecessors, Neanderthal
men, had ceased to exist as a distinct variety. What became of the
8 Neanderthalers is not known.
 The name used to designate the prevailing breed of Upper Pale¬
olithic men is Cro-Magnon, from the Cro-Magnon cave in
Dordogne, France, where some of the most typical remains were
discovered. Cro-Magnon men were tall, broad-shouldered, and
erect, the males averaging over six feet. They had high foreheads,
well-developed chins, and a cranial capacity about equal to the mod¬
ern average. The heavy eyebrow ridges so typical of earlier species
were absent. Whether Cro-Magnon men left any survivors is a de¬
batable question. They do not seem to have been exterminated but
appear to have been driven into mountainous regions and to have
been absorbed ultimately into later breeds.
Upper Paleolithic culture was markedly superior to that which
had gone before. Not only were tools and implements better made,
but they existed in greater variety. They were not fashioned merely Cro-Magnon Man
from flakes of stone and an occasional shaft of bone; other materials
were used in abundance, particularly reindeer horn and ivory. Ex¬
amples of the more complicated tools included the bone needle, the
fishhook, the harpoon, the dart thrower, and, at the very end, the Upper Paleolithic
bow and arrow. That Upper Paleolithic man wore clothing is indi¬ culture: material
cated by the fact that he made buttons and toggles of bone and horn goods

and invented the needle. He did not know how to weave cloth, but
animal skins sewn together proved a satisfactory substitute. It is cer¬
tain that he cooked his food, for enormous hearths, evidently used
for roasting flesh, have been discovered. In the vicinity of one at
Solutre, in southern France, was a mass of charred bones, estimated
to contain the remains of 100,000 large animals. Although Cro-
Magnon man built no houses, except a few simple huts in regions
where natural shelters did not abound, his life was not wholly no¬
madic. Evidences found in the caves that were his usual homes indi¬
cate that he must have used them, seasonally at least, for years at a
time.
With respect to nonmaterial elements there are also indications
that Upper Paleolithic culture represented a marked advancement.
Group life was now more regular and more highly organized than
ever before. The profusion of charred bones at Solutre and else¬
where probably indicates cooperative enterprise in the hunt and
sharing of the results in great community feasts. The amazing work¬
manship displayed in tools and weapons and highly developed
techniques in the arts could scarcely have been achieved without
some division of labor. It appears certain, therefore, that Upper
Paleolithic communities included professional artists and skilled
craftsmen. In order to acquire such talents, certain members of the
Upper Paleolithic Fish Hook
communities must have gone through long periods of training and
given all their time to the practice of their specialties.
Substantial proof exists that Cro-Magnon man had highly devel¬
oped notions of a world of unseen powers. He bestowed more care
upon the bodies of his dead than did Neanderthal man, painting the 9
 Upper Paleolithic Engraving and Sculpture. The two objects at the top and
upper right are dart throwers. At the lower left is the famous Venus of Willen-
dorf.

corpses, folding the arms over the heart, and depositing pendants,
necklaces, and richly carved weapons and tools in the graves. He
Sympathetic magic formulated an elaborate system of sympathetic magic designed to
increase his supply of food. Sympathetic magic is based upon the
principle that imitating a desired result will bring about that result.
Applying this principle, Cro-Magnon man made paintings on the
walls of his caves depicting the capture of reindeer in the hunt. At
other times he fashioned clay models of the bison or mammoth and
mutilated them with dart thrusts. The purpose of such representa¬
tions was quite evidently to facilitate the very results portrayed and
thereby to increase the hunter’s success and make easier the struggle
for existence. Possibly incantations or ceremonies accompanied the
10 making of the pictures or images, and it is likely that the work of
producing them was carried on while the actual hunt was in prog¬ UPPER PALEOLITHIC
ress. CULTURE
The supreme achievement of Cro-Magnon man was his art—an
achievement so original and resplendent that it ought to be counted
among the Seven Wonders of the World. Nothing else illustrates so
well the great gulf between his culture and that of his predecessors.
Upper Paleolithic art included nearly every branch that the material
culture of the time made possible. Sculpture, painting, carving, and
engraving were all represented. The ceramic arts and architecture
were lacking; pottery had not yet been invented; and the only build¬
ings erected were of simple design.
The art par excelle?ice of Cro-Magnon man was painting. Here
were exhibited the greatest number and variety of his talents—his
discrimination in the use of color, his meticulous attention to detail,
his capacity for the employment of scale in depicting a group, and
above all, his genius for naturalism. Especially noteworthy was the
painter’s skill in representing movement. A large proportion of
murals depict animals running, leaping, browsing, chewing the cud,
or facing the hunter at bay. Ingenious devices were often employed
to give the impression of motion. Chief among them was the draw¬
The Venus of Laussel
ing or painting of additional outlines to indicate the areas in which
the legs or the head of the animal had moved. The scheme was so
shrewdly executed that no appearance whatever of artificiality re¬
sulted.
Cave-man art throws a flood of light on many problems relating
to primitive mentality and folkways. To a certain extent it was un¬
doubtedly an expression of a true aesthetic sense. Cro-Magnon man Significance of

did obviously take some delight in a graceful line or symmetrical Upper Paleolithic
art
pattern or brilliant color. The fact that he painted and tattooed his
body and wore ornaments gives evidence of this. But his chief
works of art can scarcely have been produced for the sake of creat¬
ing beautiful objects. Such a possibility must be excluded for several
reasons. To begin with, the best of the paintings and drawings are
usually to be found on the walls and ceilings of the darkest and most
inaccessible parts of the caves. The gallery of paintings at Niaux, for
instance, is more than half a mile from the entrance of the cavern.
No one could see the artists’ creations except in the imperfect light
of torches or of primitive lamps, which must have smoked and sput¬
tered badly, for the only illuminating fluid was animal fat. Further¬
more, there is evidence that Cro-Magnon man was largely indiffer¬
ent toward his work of art after it was finished. Numerous examples
have been found of paintings or drawings superimposed upon earlier
ones of the same or of different types. Evidently the important
thing was not the finished work itself, but the act of making it.
For Paleolithic man, art was a serious business. The real purpose
of nearly all of it was apparently not to delight the senses but to 11
 Cave Drawings at Lascaux, France. On the left are characteristic examples of
the realism of Cro-Magnon man’s art. On the right, a view of the entrance to
the caves.

make easier the struggle for existence by increasing the supply of

animals useful for food. The artist himself was not an aesthete but a
Art an aid in magician, and his art was a form of magic designed to promote the
the struggle for hunter’s success. In this purpose lay its chief significance and the
existence
foundation of most of its special qualities. It suggests, for example,
the real reason why game animals were almost the exclusive subjects
of the great murals and why plant life and inanimate objects were
seldom represented. It aids us in understanding Cro-Magnon man’s
neglect of finished paintings and his predominant interest in the
process of making them.
Upper Paleolithic culture came to an untimely end about 10,000
b.c. Internal decay, exemplified by the decline of art, seems to have
The end of Upper been one of the causes. A more obvious and doubtless more effective
Paleolithic culture cause was partial destruction of the food supply. As the last great
glacier retreated farther and farther northward, the climate of
southern Europe became too warm for the reindeer, and they
gradually migrated to the shores of the Baltic. The mammoth,
whether for the same or for different reasons, became extinct. Rep¬
resentatives of the magnificent Cro-Magnon breed probably followed
the reindeer northward, but apparently they did not continue their
12 cultural achievements.
M/m - * l«p>A'Cp1 b i b ot> ~
5. NEOLITHIC CULTURE

The last stage of preliterate culture is known as the Neolithic pe¬

riod, or the New Stone Age. The name is applied because stone
weapons and tools were now generally made by grinding and polish¬ The meaning of
ing instead of by chipping or fracturing as in the preceding periods. the term Neolithic

The bearers of Neolithic culture were new varieties of modern man

who poured into Africa and southern Europe from western Asia.
Since no evidence exists of their later extermination or wholesale
migration, they must be regarded as the immediate ancestors of
most of the peoples now living in Europe.
It is impossible to fix exact dates for the Neolithic period. The
culture was not well established in Europe until about 3000 b.c.,
though it certainly originated earlier. There is evidence that it ex¬ The varying
isted in Egypt as far back as 5000 b.c., and that it probably began at dates oL
the Neolithic
an equally early date in southwestern Asia. There is also variation in
stage
the dates of its ending. It was superseded in the Nile valley by the
first literate civilization soon after the year 4000.2 Except on the is¬
land of Crete it did not come to an end anywhere in Europe before
2000, and in northern Europe much later still. In a few regions of
the world it has not terminated yet. The natives of some islands of
the Pacific, the Arctic regions of North America, and the jungles of
Brazil are still in the Neolithic culture stage except for a few cus¬
toms acquired from explorers and missionaries.
In many respects the New Stone Age was the most significant in
the history of the world thus far. The level of material progress rose
to new heights. Neolithic man had a better mastery of his environ¬ The Neolithic

ment than any of his predecessors. He was less likely to perish from revolution

a shift in climatic conditions or from the failure of some part of his

food supply. This decided advantage was the result primarily of the
development of agriculture and the domestication of animals.
Whereas all of the men who had lived heretofore were mere food-
gatherers, Neolithic man was a food-producer. Tilling the soil and
keeping flocks and herds provided him with much more dependable
food resources and at times yielded him a surplus. These circum¬
stances made possible a more rapid increase of population, promoted
a settled existence, and fostered the growth of institutions. Such
were the elements of a great social and economic revolution whose
importance it would be impossible to exaggerate.
The new culture also derives significance from the fact that it was
the first to be distributed over the entire world. Although some
earlier cultures, especially those of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon The wide diffusion

men, were widely dispersed, they were confined chiefly to the ac¬ of the Neolithic
culture
cessible mainland areas of the Old World. Neolithic man penetrated
into every habitable area of the earth’s surface—from Arctic wastes

2 All dates in Egyptian history prior to 2000 are approximations and may
represent a margin of error of several centuries. 13
THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS to the jungles of the tropics. He apparently made his way from a
number of centers of origin to every nook and cranny of both
hemispheres. He traveled incredible distances by water as well as by
land, and eventually occupied every major island of the oceans, no
matter how remote.
The historian would have difficulty in overestimating the impor¬
tance of the Neolithic migrations. The net result was that they dis¬
Importance of the tributed a similar pattern of culture over the entire world. The few
Neolithic migra¬ elements of earlier cultures which had managed to survive were al¬
tions
most completely inundated. Their disappearance means that we now
have no way of discovering more than a small part of what went on
in Paleolithic man’s mind—whether he believed that government is
an evil or that private property is sacred or that the world was cre¬
ated out of nothing. The fact that we find particular notions in the
primitive mind of today does not prove that they are inseparable
from the blood and sinew of the species, for it is necessary to re¬
member that all existing primitive races are the beneficiaries or the
victims of a common heritage.
Migration over long distances was not the only example of Neo¬
lithic man’s achievements. He developed the arts of knitting, of
New tools and spinning, and of weaving cloth. He made the first pottery and
technical skills knew how to produce fire artificially by friction. He built
houses of wood and sun-dried mud. Toward the end of the period
he discovered the possibilities of metals, and a few implements of
copper and gold were added to his stock. Since nothing was yet
known of the arts of smelting and refining, the use of metals was
limited to the more malleable ones occasionally found in the pure
state in the form of nuggets.
But the real foundation stones of the Neolithic culture were the
domestication of animals and the development of agriculture. With¬
out these it is inconceivable that the culture would have attained the
complexity it did. More than anything else they made possible a
settled mode of existence and the growth of villages and social

Neolithic Dwellings. Examples shown are restorations of Swiss lake dwellings.

They were commonly erected on poles or stilts for purposes of defense.

14
institutions. The first animal to be domesticated is generally thought NEOLITHIC CULTURE
to have been the dog, on the assumption that he would be continu¬
ally hanging around the hunter’s camp to pick up bones and scraps
of meat. Eventually it would be discovered that he could be put to
use in hunting, or possibly in guarding the camp. After achieving Importance of

success in domesticating the dog, Neolithic man would logically turn agriculture and

his attention to other animals, especially to those he used for food. the domestication

of animals
Before-the period ended, at least five species—the cow, the dog, the
goat, the sheep, and the pig—had been made to serve his needs. Not
all of them in all parts of the world, however. The Neolithic tribes
of the New World domesticated no animals at all, except the hairless
dog in some parts of Mexico, the llama and the alpaca in the Andean
highland, and the guinea pig and the turkey in a few other regions.
The exact spot where agriculture originated has never been posi¬
tively determined. All we know is that wild grasses which were
probably the ancestors of the cereal grains have been found in a
number of places. Types of wheat grow wild in Asia Minor, in the
Neolithic Flint Sickles
Caucasus, and in Mesopotamia. Wild ancestors of barley have been
reported from North Africa, from Persia, from Asia Minor, and
from Turkestan. Though it is probable that these were the first
crops of Neolithic agriculture, they were by no means the only
ones. Millet, vegetables, and numerous fruits were also grown. Flax The beginning of

was cultivated in the Old World for its textile fiber, and in some agriculture

localities the growing of the poppy for opium had already begun. In
the New World maize (Indian corn) was the only cereal crop, but
the American Indians cultivated numerous other products, including
tobacco, beans, squashes, pumpkins, and potatoes.
Historically, the most important feature of Neolithic culture was
probably the development of institutions. An institution may be de¬
fined as a combination of group beliefs and activities organized in a The nature of

relatively permanent fashion for the purpose of fulfilling some institutions

group need. It ordinarily includes a body of customs and traditions,

a code of rules and standards, and physical extensions such as build¬
ings, punitive devices, and facilities for communication and indoc¬
trination. Since man is a social being, some of these elements prob¬
ably existed from earliest times, but institutions in their fully
developed form seem to have been an achievement of the Neolithic
Age-
One of the most ancient of human institutions is the family. Soci¬
ologists do not agree upon how it should be defined. Historically,
however, the family has always meant a more or less permanent unit Definition of

composed of parents and their offspring, which serves the purposes the family

of care of the young, division of labor, acquisition and transmission

of property, and preservation and transmission of beliefs and cus¬
toms. The family is not now, and never has been, exclusively biolog¬
ical in character. Like most institutions, it has evolved through a 15
THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS long period of changing conventions which have given it a variety
of functions and forms. The family during Neolithic times appears
to have existed in both polygamous and monogamous forms.
A second institution developed in more complex form by Neo¬
lithic man was religion. On account of its infinite variations, it is
The nature of hard to define, but perhaps the following would be accepted as an
primitive religion; accurate definition of the institution in at least its basic character:
rites and cere¬
“Religion is everywhere an expression in one form or another of a
monies
sense of dependence on a power outside ourselves, a power which
we may speak of as a spiritual or moral power.” 3 Modern anthro¬
pologists emphasize the fact that early religion was not so much a
matter of belief as a matter of rites. For the most part, the rites came
first; the myths, dogmas, and theologies were later rationalizations.
Primitive man was universally dependent upon nature—on the regu¬
lar succession of the seasons, on the rain falling when it should, on
the growth of plants and the reproduction of animals. Unless he
performed sacrifices and rites these natural phenomena, according to
his notion, would not occur. For this reason he developed rain¬
making ceremonies in which water was sprinkled on ears of corn to
imitate the falling of the rain. The ceremonial dances of the Ameri¬
can Indians often had a similar import. The members of a whole vil¬
lage or even a whole tribe would attire themselves in animal skins
and mimic the habits and activities of some species they depended
upon for food. They apparently had a vague feeling that by imitat¬
ing the life pattern of the species they were helping to guarantee its
continuance.
But there was also another element conspicuously present in prim¬
itive religion. This was the element of fear. Modern primitive men,
The element of at least, live in an almost constant state of alarm and dread. As an old
fear
Eskimo medicine man said to the explorer Knud Rasmussen: “We
do not believe; we fear.” 4 Everything strange and unfamiliar is
fraught with danger. The savage fears not only sickness and death
but also hunger, drought, storms, the spirits of the dead, and the ani¬
mals he has killed.
It follows that a large part of primitive man’s religion consists of
ceremonial precautions to ward off evil. For example, no savage will
Ceremonies to risk swimming across a dangerous river without first endeavoring
ward off evil by prayers or incantations to win its favor. An Eskimo who has
killed a polar bear must present it with tools and weapons pleasing
to it; if the bear is a female, women’s knives and needle cases are
given. Bestowal of these gifts is considered necessary to appease the
wrath of the bear’s soul and keep it from wreaking damage. In West
Africa, the hunter who has killed a hippopotamus disembowels it,
strips himself naked, crawls inside the carcass, and bathes his entire

3 A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, Structure and Function in Primitive Society, p. 157.

16 4 Lucicn Levy-Bruhl, Primitives and the Supernatural, p. 22.
body with the animal’s blood. Throughout the procedure he prays NEOL1THIC CULTURE
to the spirit of the hippo that it will bear him no ill-will for having
killed it, and that it will not incite other hippopotami to attack his
canoe in revenge.5
Still another of the great institutions to be developed by Neolithic
man was the state. By way of definition, the state may be described
as an organized society occupying a definite territory and possessing The state defined

an authoritative government independent of external control. The

essence of the state is sovereignty, or the power to make and admin¬
ister laws and to preserve social order by punishing men for infrac¬
tions of those laws. A state must not be confused with a nation. The
latter is an ethnic concept, used to designate a people bound to¬
gether by ties of language, customs, or racial origin or by common
memories or a belief in a common destiny. A nation may or may not
occupy a definite territory and does not possess the element of sov¬
ereignty. It may not even have an independent government, as for
example, the Poles during the long period when they were under
Austrian, German, and Russian rule. At the present time most na¬
tions are also states, but this condition has resulted largely from the
breaking up of empires in the twentieth century.
Except in time of crisis, the state does not exist in a very large
proportion of preliterate societies—a fact which probably indicates
that its genesis was rather late in the Neolithic culture stage. Most Absence of the

primitive communities have no permanent system of courts, no po¬ state in many

primitive societies
lice agencies, and no governments with coercive power. Custom
takes the place of law, the blood-feud is the mode of administering
justice, and there is very little conception of crime against the com¬
munity. To primitive man, offenses are mostly what we call “torts,”
or private wrongs between individuals or families, in the punish¬
ment of which no public authority takes part. The acceptance of
wergeld, or blood-money, is a common practice, and even felonies
such as murder are regarded merely as offenses against the victim’s
family. Since the family of the victim has been deprived of a valu¬
able member, the proper satisfaction is a money payment. If this is
not offered, the family may retaliate in kind by killing the offender
or a member of the offender’s family.
The origin of the state was probably the consequence of a variety
of factors. We are certainly justified in assuming the development
of agriculture to have been one of the most important. In sections A variety of

like the Nile valley, where a large population lived by cultivating causes of the

origin of the state

intensively a limited area of fertile soil, a high degree of social or¬
ganization was absolutely essential. Ancient customs would not
suffice for the definition of rights and duties in such a society, with
its high standard of living, its unequal distribution of wealth, and its
wide scope for the clash of personal interests. New measures of so-

6Lucien Levy-Bruhl, How Natives Think, p. 238. 17

THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS cial control would become necessary, which could scarcely be
achieved in any other way than by setting up a government of sov¬
ereign authority and submitting to it; in other words, by establish¬
ing a state.
A number of ancient states evidently owed their origin to war ac¬
tivities. That is, they were founded for purposes of conquest, for
Origin of the defense against invasion, or to make possible the expulsion of an in¬
state in military vader from the country. The Hebrew monarchy seems to have been
causes
a product of the first of these reasons. With the war for the con¬
quest of Canaan none too successful, the Hebrew people besought
their leader Samuel to give them a king, that they might be “like all
the nations” with a powerful ruler to keep them in order and to lead
them to victory in battle. One has only to observe the effects of
modern warfare, both offensive and defensive, in enlarging the
powers of government to see how similar influences might have
operated to bring the state into existence in the first place.
Other factors undoubtedly contributed to the origin of states
in various areas. A likelihood exists that one of these was religion.
Other causes Medicine men, or shamans, frequently exercise a kind of sov¬
ereignty. Though they may command no physical force, their
power to impose religious penalties and to strike terror into the
hearts .of their followers gives them a degree of coercive authority.
In all probability some of them made themselves kings. It is con¬
ceivable that in other cases the state arose from the natural expan¬
sion of group life, with its resulting complexities and conflicts. As
the population increased in limited areas, customary law and family
administration of justice proved inadequate, and political organiza¬
tion became necessary as a substitute. In the domain of politics as in
every other sphere concerned with social origins, no one explana¬
tion can be made to accommodate all the facts.

6. CULTURES AND CIVILIZATIONS

The stages of man’s advancement described thus far have been re¬
ferred to as cultures. This word is commonly used to designate soci¬
Culture defined eties or periods which have not yet attained to a knowledge of
writing and whose general level of achievement is comparatively
primitive. But the term has other meanings. It is sometimes applied
to intellectual and artistic accomplishments, to literature, art, music,
philosophy, and science. It is employed by some historians to desig¬
nate the whole complex pattern of ideas, achievements, traditions,
and characteristics of a nation or empire at a particular time.
The term civilization also carries a variety of meanings. The
German philosopher of history Oswald Spengler referred to civili¬
zations as decadent phases of highly developed cultures. When a
great people or empire was in its prime, he characterized its social
18 and intellectual pattern as a culture. When it passed its prime and
became ossified and stagnant, he described it as a “civilization.” The ORIGIN AND GROWTH
noted British historian, Arnold J. Toynbee, also sees world history FACTORS
as a succession of cultural units. But he designates each of the pri¬
mary ones, throughout its development, as a “civilization.” He dis¬ The meaning
tinguishes between civilizations and “primitive societies” largely on of civilization

a quantitative basis. The latter are “relatively short-lived, are re¬

stricted to relatively narrow geographical areas, and embrace rela¬
tively small numbers of human beings.” 6
The term civilization has still another meaning. Since each culture
has peculiar features of its own, and since some cultures are more
highly developed than others, we can speak quite properly of a civil¬ Civilizations
ization as an advanced culture. We can say that a culture de¬ as advanced

serves to be called a civilization when it has reached a stage in cultures

which writing has come to be used to a considerable extent, some

progress has been made in the arts and sciences, and political, social
and economic institutions have developed sufficiently to conquer at
least some of the problems of order, security, and efficiency in a
complex society. This is the sense in which the term will be used
throughout the remainder of this book.

7. FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ORIGIN AND

GROWTH OF CIVILIZATIONS

What causes contribute to the rise of civilizations? What factors

account for their growth? Why do some civilizations reach much
higher levels of development than others? Inquiry into these ques¬ Origin and

tions is one of the chief pursuits of social scientists. Some decide growth of civili¬
zations variously
that factors of geography are the most important. Others stress eco¬
explained
nomic resources, food supply, contact with older civilizations, and
so on. Usually a variety of causes is acknowledged, but one is com¬
monly singled out as deserving special emphasis.
Probably the most popular of the theories accounting for the rise
of advanced cultures are those which come under the heading of
geography. Prominent among them is the hypothesis of climate. Geographic

The climatic theory, advocated in days past by such notables as Aris¬ theories: the
climatic hypothesis
totle and Montesquieu, received its most eloquent exposition in the
writings of an American geographer, Ellsworth Huntington. Hunt¬
ington acknowledged the importance of other factors, but he
insisted that no nation, ancient or modern, rose to the highest cul¬
tural status except under the influence of a climatic stimulus. He de¬
scribed the ideal climate as one in which the mean temperature sel¬
dom falls below the mental optimum of 38 degrees or rises above the
physical optimum of 64 degrees. But temperature is not alone im¬
portant. Moisture is also essential, and the humidity should average
about 75 per cent. Finally, the weather must not be uniform: cy-

D. C. Somervell (ed.), A. J. Toynbee’s A Study of History, I, 35. 19

THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS clonic storms, or ordinary storms resulting in weather changes from
day to day, must have sufficient frequency and intensity to clear the
atmosphere every once in a while and produce those sudden varia¬
tions in temperature which seem to be necessary to exhilarate and
revitalize man.7
Much can be said in favor of the climatic hypothesis. Certainly
some parts of the earth’s surface, under existing atmospheric condi¬
Evidence in favor tions, could never cradle a superior culture. They are either too hot,
of the climatic too humid, too cold, or too dry. Such is the case in regions beyond
hypothesis
the Arctic Circle, the larger desert areas, and the jungles of India,
Central America, and Brazil. Evidence is available, moreover, to
show that some of these places have not always suffered under cli¬
mate so adverse as that now prevalent. Various inhospitable sections
of Asia, Africa, and America contain unmistakable traces of more
salubrious days in the past. Here and there are the ruins of towns
and cities where now the supply of water seems totally inadequate.
Roads traverse deserts which at present are impassable. Bridges span
river beds which have had no water in them for years.
The best-known evidences of the cultural importance of climatic
change are those pertaining to the civilization of the Mayas. Mayan
The Mayan civilization flourished in Guatemala, Honduras, and on the penin¬
civilization sula of Yucatan in Mexico from about 400 to 1500 a.d. Numbered
among its achievements were the making of paper, the invention of
the zero, the perfection of a solar calendar, and the development of
a system of writing partly phonetic. Great cities were built; marked
progress was made in astronomy; and sculpture and architecture
were advanced to high levels. At present most of the civilization is
in ruins. No doubt many factors conspired to produce its untimely
end, including deadly wars between tribes, but climatic change was
also probably involved. The remains of most of the great cities are
now surrounded by jungles, where malaria is prevalent and agricul¬
ture difficult. That the Mayan civilization or any other could have
grown to maturity under conditions like these is hard to believe.
Related to the climatic hypothesis is the soil-exhaustion theory. A
group of modern conservationists has hit upon this theory as the
The soil- sole explanation of the decay and collapse of the great empires of
exhaustion theory
the past and as a universal threat to the nations of the present and
future. At best it is only a partial hypothesis, since it offers no the¬
ory of the birth or growth of civilizations. But its proponents seem
to think that almost any environment not ruined by man is capable
of nourishing a superior culture. The great deserts and barren areas
of the earth, they maintain, are not natural but artificial, created by
man through bad grazing and farming practices. Conservationists
discover innumerable evidences of waste and neglect that have

20 7 Ellsworth Huntington, Civilization and Climate, 3d ed., pp. 220-23.

wrought havoc in such areas as Mesopotamia, Palestine, Greece, ORIGIN AND GROWTH
Italy, China, and Mexico. The majestic civilizations that once flour¬ FACTORS
ished in these countries were ultimately doomed by the simple fact
that their soil would no longer provide sufficient food for the popu¬
lation. As a consequence, the more intelligent and enterprising citi¬
zens migrated elsewhere and left their inferiors to sink slowly into
stagnation and apathy. But the fate that overtook the latter was not
of their making alone. The whole nation had been guilty of plunder¬
ing the forests, mining the soil, and pasturing flocks on the land until
the grass was eaten down to the very roots. Among the tragic re¬
sults were floods alternating with droughts, since there were no
longer any forests to regulate the run-off of rain or snow. At the
same time, much of the top soil on the close-cropped or excessively
cultivated hillsides was blown away or washed into the rivers to be
carried eventually down to the sea. The damage done was irrepara¬
ble, since about 300 years are required to produce a single inch of
top soil.
The most recent hypothesis of the origin of civilizations is Toyn¬
bee’s adversity theory. According to this theory, conditions of
hardship or adversity are the real causes which have brought into The adversity

existence superior cultures. Such conditions constitute a challenge theory of Arnold

J. Toynbee
which not only stimulates men to try to overcome it but generates
additional energy for new achievements. The challenge may take
the form of a desert, a jungle area, rugged topography, or a grudg¬
ing soil. The Hebrews and Arabs were challenged by the first, the
Indians of the Andean Highland by the last. The challenge may also
take the form of defeat in war or even enslavement. Thus the
Carthaginians, as a result of defeat in the First Punic War, were
stimulated to conquer a new empire in Spain; centuries later, Orien¬
tal captives enslaved by the Romans strengthened and propagated
their religious heritage until Rome itself succumbed to it. In general
it is true that the greater the challenge, the greater the achievement;
nevertheless, there are limits. The challenge must not be too severe,
else it will deal a crushing blow to all who attempt to meet it.

8. WHY THE EARLIEST CIVILIZATIONS BEGAN

WHERE THEY DID

Which of the great civilizations of antiquity was the oldest is still

a sharply debated question. The judgment of some scholars inclines
toward the Egyptian, though a larger body of authority supports The Nile and the

the claims of the Tigris-Euphrates valley. These two areas were Tigris-Euphrates

geographically the most favored sections in the general region of the

so-called Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is that wide belt of
productive land which extends northwestward from the Persian
Gulf and then down the Mediterranean coast almost to Egypt. It 21
THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS forms a semicircle around the northern part of the Arabian desert.
Here larger numbers of artifacts of undoubted antiquity have been
found than in any other sections of the Near Orient. Furthermore,
progress in the arts and sciences had reached unparalleled heights in
both of these areas as early as 3000 b.c., when most of the rest of the
world was steeped in ignorance. If the foundations of this progress
were really laid elsewhere, it seems strange that they should have
disappeared, although of course there is no telling what the spade of
the archaeologist may uncover in the future.
Of the several causes responsible for the earliest rise of civiliza¬
tions in the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates valleys, geographic factors
A limited area of would seem to have been the most important. Both regions had the
fertile soil in the notable advantage of a limited area of exceedingly fertile soil. Al¬
Nile valley
though it extended for a distance of 750 miles, the valley of the Nile
was not more than ten miles wide in some places, and its maximum
width was thirty-one miles. The total area was less than 10,000
square miles, or roughly the equivalent of the State of Maryland.
Through countless centuries the river had carved a vast canyon or
trench, bounded on either side by cliffs ranging in height from a
few hundred to a thousand feet. The floor of the canyon was
covered with a rich alluvial deposit, which in places reached a depth
in excess of thirty feet. The soil was of such amazing productivity
that as many as three crops per year could be raised on the same
land. This broad and fertile canyon constituted the cultivable area
of ancient Egypt. Here several million people were concentrated. In
Roman times the population of the valley approximated seven mil¬
lion, and probably it was not much smaller in the days of the
Pharaohs. Beyond the cliffs there was nothing but desert—the
Libyan desert on the west and the Arabian on the east.
In the Tigris-Euphrates valley similar conditions prevailed. As in
Egypt, the rivers provided excellent facilities for inland transporta¬
A similar tion and were alive with fish and waterfowl for a plentiful supply of
condition in
protein food. The distance between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Mesopotamia
at one point was less than twenty miles, and nowhere in the lower
valley did it exceed forty-five miles. Since the surrounding country
was desert, the people were kept from scattering over too great an
expanse of territory. The result, as in Egypt, was the welding of the
inhabitants into a compact society, under conditions that facilitated
a ready interchange of ideas and discoveries. As the population in¬
creased, the need for agencies of social control became ever more
urgent. Numbered among such agencies were government, schools,
legal and moral codes, and institutions for the production and dis¬
tribution of wealth. At the same time conditions of living became
more complex and artificial and necessitated the keeping of records
of things accomplished and the perfection of new techniques.
Among the consequences were the invention of writing, the prac¬
22 tice of smelting metals, the performance of mathematical operations,
 MEDIA

r~vH5TE
C——t-, U CYPRUS,.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

PERSIA
LIBYAN Memphis

EGYPT
DESERT

Thebes

Fertile Crescent 500 miles

L 1 l

THE FERTILE CRESCENT

and the development of astronomy and the rudiments of physics.

With these achievements the first great ordeal of civilization was
passed.
Climatic influences also played their part in both regions. The at¬
mosphere of Egypt is dry and invigorating. Even the hottest days
produce none of the oppressive discomfort which is often experi- climatic advan-

enced during the summer seasons in more northern countries. The ta9es in Egypt
mean temperature in winter varies from 56 degrees in the Delta to
66 degrees in the valley above. The summer mean is 83 degrees and
an occasional maximum of 122 is reached, but the nights are always
cool and the humidity is extremely low. Except in the Delta, rainfall
occurs in negligible quantities, but the deficiency of moisture is
counteracted by the annual inundations of the Nile from July to
October. Also very significant from the historical standpoint is the
total absence of malaria in Upper Egypt, while even in the coastal
region it is practically unknown. The direction of the prevailing
winds is likewise a favorable factor of more than trivial importance.
For more than three-quarters of the year the wind comes from the
north, blowing in opposition to the force of the Nile current. The
effect of this is to simplify immensely the problem of transporta¬
tion. Upstream traffic, with the propulsion of the wind to counter¬
act the force of the river, presents no greater difficulty than down- 23
THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS stream traffic. This factor in ancient times must have been of
enormous advantage in promoting communication among a numer¬
ous people, some of whom were separated by hundreds of miles.
Climatic conditions in Mesopotamia do not seem to have been
quite so favorable as in Egypt. The summer heat is more relentless;
Climatic influences the humidity is somewhat higher; and tropical diseases take their
in Mesopotamia toll. Nevertheless, the torrid winds from the Indian Ocean, while
enervating to human beings, blow over the valley at just the right
season to bring the fruit of the date palm to a full ripeness. More
than anything else the excellent yield of dates, the dietary staple of
the Near Orient, encouraged the settlement of large numbers of
people in the valley of the two rivers. Finally, the melting of the
snows in the mountains of the north produced an annual flooding of
the Babylonian plain similar to that in Egypt. The effect was to en¬
rich the soil with moisture and to cover it over with a layer of mud
of unusual fertility. At the same time, it should be noted that water
conditions in Mesopotamia were less dependable than in Egypt.
Floods were sometimes catastrophic, a factor which left its mark on
the development of culture.
Most significant of all of the geographic influences, however, was
the fact that the scanty rainfall in both regions provided a spur to
The importance initiative and inventive skill. In spite of the yearly floods of the
of scanty rainfall rivers there was insufficient moisture left in the soil to produce
as a spur to
abundant harvests. A few weeks after the waters had receded, the
initiative
earth was baked to a stony hardness. Irrigation was accordingly
necessary if full advantage was to be taken of the richness of the
soil. As a result, in both Egypt and Mesopotamia elaborate systems
of dams and irrigation canals were constructed as long ago as five
thousand years. The mathematical skill, engineering ability, and so¬
cial cooperation necessary for the development of these projects
were available for other uses and so fostered the achievement of
civilization.
Which of the two civilizations, the Egyptian or the Mesopotamian,
was the older? Until recently most historians appeared to take it for
Uncertainty as granted that the Egyptian was the older. They based their assumption
to which civiliza¬ upon the conclusions of two of the world’s most renowned Egyp¬
tion was older
tologists, James H. Breasted and Alexandre Moret. Between the two
world wars of the twentieth century, however, facts were un¬
earthed which seemed to prove a substantial Mesopotamian influ¬
ence in the Nile valley as early as 3500 b.c. This influence was ex¬
emplified by the use of cylinder seals, methods of building construc¬
tion, art motifs, and elements of a system of writing of undoubted
Mesopotamian origin. That such achievements could have radiated
into Egypt from the Tigris-Euphrates valley at so early a date indi¬
cated beyond doubt that the Mesopotamian civilization was one of
vast antiquity. It did not necessarily prove, though, that it was older
24 than the Egyptian. For the achievements mentioned were not taken
over and copied slavishly. Instead, the Egyptians modified them READINGS
radically to suit their own culture pattern. On the basis of this evi¬
dence, it would seem that the only conclusion which can be safely
drawn is that both civilizations were very old, and that to a large
extent they developed concurrently.

SELECTED READINGS
• Items so designated arc available in paperbound editions.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORKS

• Boas, Franz, The Mind of Primitive Man, New York, 1927 (Free Press, 1965).
Breasted, James H., The Dawn of Conscience, New York, 1934. An excellent
treatise on the origin of religious and ethical concepts.
-, History of Egypt, New York, 1912 (Bantam). Still one of the best.
• Ceram, C. W., Gods, Graves and Scholars, New York, 1951. Popular but
scholarly.
• Childe, V. G., Man Makes Himself, London, 1936 (Mentor, 1952).
• -, New Light on the Most Ancient East, New York, 1934 (Evergreen).
• Dawson, Christopher, The Age of the Gods, New York, 1937.
Herskovits, M. J., Man and His Works, New York, 1948. One of the best
introductions to anthropology.
Levy-Bruhl, Lucien, How Natives Think, London, 1926.
-, Primitives and the Supernatural, New York, 1935. A superlative study
of primitive “Logic.”
• Linton, Ralph, The Tree of Culture, New York, 1955 (Vintage, abr.).
MacCurdy, G. G., Human Origins, New York, 1924, 2 vols.
Magoffin, R. V. D., and Davis, E. C., The Romance of Archaeology, New
York, 1929.
• Malinowski, Bronislaw, Crime and Custom in Savage Society, New York,
1951 (Littlefield, 1959). The most provocative and valuable study on the
subject.
Osborn, H. F., Men of the Old Stone Age, New York, 1915.
• Radcliffe-Brown, A. R., Structure and Function in Primitive Society, Glen¬
coe, Ill., 1952 (Free Press, 1952). Stimulating and informative.
• Radin, Paul, Primitive Religion, New York, 1937 (Dover, 1957).
Renard, Georges, Life and Work in Prehistoric Times, New York, 1929.

INTERPRETATIONS OF HISTORY

Butterfield, Herbert, History and Human Relations, New York, 1952.

• Clough, Shepard B., The Rise and Fall of Civilization, New York, 1951 (Co¬
lumbia University Press, 1961).
• Fox, Edward W., History in Geographic Perspective, New York, 1971 (Norton Library).
Kahler, Erich, The Meaning of History, New York, 1964.
• Muller, H.J., The Uses of the Past, New York, 1952 (Galaxy).
• Nevins, Allan, The Gateway to History, New York, 1938 (Anchor, rev.).
• Somervell, D.C., ed., A. J. Toynbee, A Study of History, New York, 1947-57.
2 vols. (Galaxy, 6 vols.). An excellent abridgement of a monumental work.
Spengler, Oswald, The Decline of the West, i-vol. ed., New York, 1934. The
gist of his philosophy is contained in the Introduction. 25
Ancient Civilizations of the East and West

POLITICAL CULTURAL

Pre-dynastic period in Egypt, ca. 4000-

3100 Solar calendar in Egypt, ca. 4000

Sumerian supremacy in Mesopotamia, ca. Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, ca. 3500

4000-2000
Development of irrigation, mathematics,
rudimentary astronomy in Egypt and
Mesopotamia, ca. 3500-2500
Old Kingdom in Egypt, ca. 3100-2200 Cuneiform writing, ca. 3200
Invention of principle of alphabet in
Minoan-Mycenaean civilization, ca. 3000- Egypt, ca. 3000
1000 Construction of great pyramids in Egypt,
ca. 2700
Philosophy in Egypt, ca. 2500
Middle Kingdom in Egypt, 2052-1786

Aryan invasions of India, 2000-1500

Hittite empire, 2000-1200
Old Babylonian kingdom, 1950-1650 Code of Hammurabi, ca. 1790
Hyksos conquer Egypt, 1786-1575
Kassites conquer Babylonians, ca. 1650 Egyptian temple architecture, 1580-1090
The Empire in Egypt, 1575-1087 Development of alphabet by Phoenicians,
Shang Dynasty in China, ca. 1523-1027 ca. 1500
Kushitic Kingdom in upper Nile, invention of decimal system and discov¬
ery of principle of zero in India, 1500-
ca. 1500
1000
Hebrew conquest of Canaan, ca. 1300-900 Realistic sculpture of Assyrians, 1300-600

Composition of the Vedas, 1200-800

Chou Dynasty in China, 1027-249

United Hebrew Monarchy, 1025-935

Secession of Ten Tribes of Israel, 935
Kingdom of Israel, 935-722
Kingdom of Judah, 935-586

Feudalism in China, 800-250 The Upanishads, 800-600

Kushitic Dynasty in Egypt,
ca. 750-670
Assyrian empire, 750-612
Assyrian conquest of Egypt, 670 Division of day into hours and minutes,
ca. 600
Chaldean empire, 612-539 Calculation of length of year, ca. 600
Babylonian captivity, 586-539 Deuteronomic Code, ca. 600
Persian empire, 559-330 Confucius, 551 P-479?
Persian conquest of Egypt, 525 Lao-tzu, ca. 550

Persian Empire under Darius, 522-486 Book of Job, ca. 500

Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, Mo Ti, 468?—382?
327-326. Mencius, 373?—288?
Reign of Emperor Asoka in India, ca. Zenith of Kushitic civilization at Merue,
273-232 250 B.C.-200 A.D.
Dates are B.C. unless given as A.D.

ECONOMIC RELIGIOUS

Creation and Flood epics in Mesopota¬

mia, ca. 4000
Development of serfdom in Mesopotamia Egyptian sun worship, ca. 3500
and in Egypt, ca. 3500

Ethical religion in Egypt, ca. 3000

Egyptian belief in personal immortality,

ca. 2500

Large-scale industry in Egypt and Crete,

ca. 2000
Demon worship and witchcraft in Baby¬
lonia, ca. 1900
Slavery in Egypt, ca. 1580
Introduction of use of iron by Hittites,
ca. 1500
Religious revolution of Ikhnaton, 1375

World trade of Phoenicians, ca. 1000-500 Hebrew worship of Yahweh, ca. 1000
Rise of caste system in India, 1000-500

Ten Commandments, ca. 700

Prophetic Revolution, 800-600
Hebrew doctrine of universal monothe¬
Slavery in Assyria, ca. 750 ism, ca. 600
Astral religion of Chaldeans, 600-500
Divination and astrology, 600-500
Invention of coinage by Lydians, ca. 600 Zoroastrianism, ca. 600-300
World trade of Chaldeans, 600-500 Founding of Jainism in India, 599-527
Babylonian Captivity of Jews, 586-539
Gautama Buddha, ca. 563-483
Mithraism, ca. 300 b.c. 275 a.d.
Royal Road of Persians, ca. 500 Gnosticism, ca. 100 b.c-100 a.d.
Use of iron in China, ca. 500 Rise of Christianity, ca. 25 a.d.
Development of coinage in China, ca. 400 King Ezana of Ethiopia converted to
Christianity, ca. 350 a.d.
 CHAPTER 2
The Civilizations of the Nile

How great is that which thou has done, O lord of gods. Thy
plans and thy counsels are those which come to pass throughout.
Thou sentest me forth in valor, thy strength was with me. No
land stood before me, at the mention of thee. I overthrew those
who invaded my boundary, prostrated in their place. ... It was
ordained because of thy victory-bringing commands, it was given
because of thy kingdom-bestowing power.

—Utterance of King Ramses III before his father, Amon-

Re, ruler of the gods, from The Great Inscription in the
Second Court relief in Medinet Habu temple

Although the Egyptian civilization was not necessarily the oldest in

the ancient world, it was certainly of great antiquity. As we have
seen, its origins went back to at least 4000 b.c. Besides, somewhat
more is known about its accomplishments than about those of most
other peoples. For these reasons the Egyptian civilization may be
considered a kind of archetype or pattern of all the civilizations of
the Near Orient.

I. POLITICAL HISTORY UNDER THE PHARAOHS

The ancient history of Egypt is commonly divided into three

periods: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the Empire.
Even before the Old Kingdom some cultural beginnings had been stages of
made. A system of laws based upon customs had been developed Egyptian history

and the initial stage of a system of writing. More important was

the invention of the first solar calendar in the history of man. This
calendar was apparently put into effect about the year 4200 b.c. It
was based upon the annual reappearance of Sirius, the “Dog Star,”
and it provided for twelve months of thirty days each, with five
feast days added at the end of the year. 29
CIVILIZATIONS OF About 3100 b.c. Egypt was combined into a single unit known
THE NILE to historians as the Old Kingdom. From 3100 b.c. to 2200 b.c. six
dynasties ruled the country. Each was headed by a “Pharaoh,”
Character of the from the Egyptian “per-o” meaning “great house” or “royal house.”
Old Kingdom Ele was considered to be the son of the great sun god and he was
forbidden to marry outside of his immediate family, lest the divine
blood be contaminated. Moreover, his authority was limited by the
ancient law. He was not above the law but subject to it. No separa¬
tion of church and state existed. The Pharaoh’s chief subordinates
were the priests, and he himself was the chief priest.
The government of the Old Kingdom was founded upon a policy
of peace and nonaggression. In this respect it was almost unique
The nonmilitaristic among ancient states. The Pharaoh had no standing army, nor was
character of the there anything that could be called a national militia. Each subdivi¬
Old Kingdom
sion had its local militia, but it was commanded by the civil officials,
and when called into active service it generally devoted its energies to
labor on the public works. In case of a threat of invasion the various
local units were assembled at the call of the Pharaoh and placed un¬
der the command of one of his civil subordinates. At no other time
did the head of the government have a military force at his disposal.
The Egyptians of the Old Kingdom were content for the most part
to work out their own destinies and to let other nations alone. The
reasons for this attitude are to be found in the protected position of
their country, in their possession of land of inexhaustible fertility,
and in the fact that their state was a product of cooperative need
instead of being grounded in exploitation.
After a solid millennium of peace and relative prosperity the Old
Kingdom came to an end about 2200 b.c. Several causes appear to
End of the have been responsible: the usurpation of power by the local rulers;
Old Kingdom the growth of individualism; and the financial burdens imposed upon
the people by Pharaohs with grandiose schemes for national devel¬
opment. The period which followed is called the Feudal Age. Save
for intervals of order and progress it was marked by anarchy,
aggrandizement of the power of the nobles, social revolution of the
masses, and invasion by desert and barbarian tribes. It did not end until
the rise of the Eleventh Dynasty about 2050 b.c.—an event which
ushered in the next great stage in Egyptian history, which is known
as the Middle Kingdom.
The government of the Middle Kingdom was notably weaker
than that of the Old Kingdom. Dynasties of Pharaohs continued a
The Middle nominal rule, but extensive authority gravitated into the hands of
Kingdom (2052-
the subordinates and nobles of lesser rank. In time they, too, were
1786 B.C.)
assailed by the masses, with the result that after 2000 B.c. the
Pharaohs of the Twelfth Dynasty were able to regain a measure
of their former power. The people themselves were rewarded by
appointments to government positions and by grants of land and
30 vested rights in particular occupations. The whole population, re-
gardless of birth or rank, appears to have been accorded priv- POLITICAL HISTORY
leges hitherto reserved for the few. For this reason the government
of the Twelfth Dynasty is sometimes referred to as the first demo¬
cratic kingdom in history. The period of its rule was a golden age of
social justice and intellectual achievement, although the forms of
theocracy still survived.
With the end of the Twelfth Dynasty, Egypt entered another era
of internal chaos and foreign invasion which lasted for more than
two centuries, or from 1786 to 1575 B-c- The contemporary records The invasion of
are scanty, but they seem to show that the internal disorder was the the Hyksos

result of a counterrevolt of the nobles. The Pharaohs were again re¬

duced to impotence, and much of the social progress of the preced¬
ing age was destroyed. About 1750 the land was invaded by the
Hyksos, or the “Shepherd Kings,” a mixed horde originating in
western Asia. Their military prowess is commonly ascribed to the
fact that they possessed horses and war chariots, but their victory
was certainly made easier by the dissension among the Egyptians
themselves. Their rule had profound effects upon Egyptian history.
Not only did they familiarize the Egyptians with new methods of
warfare; but by providing them with a common grievance in the
face of foreign tyranny they also enabled them to forget their
differences and unite in a common cause.
Near the end of the seventeenth century the rulers of Upper Expulsion of the

Egypt launched a revolt against the Hyksos, a movement which was Hyksos and
founding of the
eventually joined by most of the natives of the valley. By 1575 all of
Empire
the conquerors who had not been killed or enslaved had been driven
from the country. The hero of this victory, Ahmose I, founder of
the Eighteenth Dynasty, now made himself despot of Egypt. The
regime he established was much more highly consolidated than any
that had hitherto existed. In the great resurgence of nationalism
which had accompanied the struggle against the Hyksos, local patri¬
otism was annihilated, and with it the power of the nobles.
The period which followed the accession of Ahmose is called the
period of the Empire. It lasted from 1575 to 1087 b.c., during which
time the country was ruled by three dynasties of Pharaohs in suc¬
cession, the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth. No longer was
the prevailing state policy pacific and isolationist; a spirit of aggres¬
sive imperialism rapidly pervaded the nation. The causes of this
change are not far to seek. The military ardor generated by the suc¬
cessful war against the Hyksos whetted an appetite for further
victories. A vast military machine had been created to expel the
invader, which proved to be too valuable an adjunct to the Phar¬
aoh’s power to be discarded immediately. Ramses II (XIXth Dynasty)

The first steps in the direction of the new policy were taken by
the immediate successors of Ahmose in making extensive raids into
Palestine and claiming sovereignty over Syria. With one of the most
formidable armies of ancient times the new Pharaohs speedily annihi- 31
CIVILIZATIONS OF lated all opposition in Syria and eventually made themselves masters
THE NILE of a vast domain extending from the Euphrates to the farther
cataracts of the Nile. But they never succeeded in welding the con¬
quered peoples into loyal subjects, and weakness was the signal for
widespread revolt in Syria. Their successors suppressed the up¬
rising and managed to hold the Empire together for some time, but
ultimate disaster could not be averted. More territory had been
annexed than could be managed successfully. The influx of wealth
into Egypt weakened the national fiber by fostering corruption and
luxury, and the constant revolts of the vanquished eventually sapped
the strength of the state beyond all hope of recovery. By the
twelfth century most of the conquered provinces had been perma¬
nently lost.
The government of the Empire resembled that of the Old King¬
dom, except for the fact that it was more absolute. Military power
The government rather than national unity was now the basis of the Pharaoh’s rule. A
of the Empire professional army was always available with which to overawe his
subjects. Most of the former nobles now became courtiers or mem¬
bers of the royal bureaucracy under the complete domination of the
king. The Pharaoh was not yet a divine-right monarch, but the
actual extent of his power had begun to approach that of more mod¬
ern despots.
The last of the great Pharaohs was Ramses III, who ruled from
1182 to 1151 b.c. Ele was succeeded by a long line of nonentities
The last of the who inherited his name but not his ability. By the middle of the
Pharaohs twelfth century Egypt had fallen prey to numerous ills of barbarian
invasion and social decadence. Libyans and Nubians were swarming
over the country and gradually debasing cultural standards. About
the same time the Egyptians themselves appear to have lost their
creative talent; their intellects seem to have been led astray by the
seductions of magic and superstition. To win immortality by magic
devices was now the commanding interest of men of every class. The
process of decline was hastened also by the growing power of the
priests, who finally usurped the royal prerogatives and dictated the
Pharaoh’s decrees.
From the middle of the tenth century to nearly the end of the
eighth a dynasty of Libyan barbarians occupied the throne of the
The downfall Pharaohs. The Libyans were followed by a line of Ethiopians or
of Egypt
Nubians, who came in from the desert regions west of the Upper
Nile. In 670 Egypt was conquered by the Assyrians, who succeeded
in maintaining their supremacy for only eight years. After the col¬
lapse of Assyrian rule in 662 the Egyptians regained their independ¬
ence, and a brilliant renaissance of culture ensued. It was doomed to
an untimely end, however, for in 525 b.c. the country was con¬
quered by the Persians. The ancient civilization was never again re¬
32 vived.
 Gold and Inlay Pendant of Princess Sit Hat-Hon
Yunet. Egyptian, Twelfth Dynasty.

Egyptian Pottery Jar, ca. 3600 b.c. It was An Egyptian Official and
illed with food or water and placed in the His Son. Painted lime¬
omb to provide for the afterlife. (MMA) stone, ca. 2 coo b.c.

Farm Hand Plowing. Egyptian tomb figures^!

ca. 1900 b.c.

Jeweled Headdress of Gold, Scarab or Beetle-Shaped Charm of

Carnelian, and Glass. Egyptian, a Pharaoh, ca. 1395 b.c. The beetle
1475 B.C. was sacred in ancient Egypt.

/M
Silversmiths Working on a Stand and a Jai
Egyptian, ca. 1450 b.c.

||
mI

11
! Ill
!_-■ % * .4/1:
iiLl

A scribe writing on a papyrus roll. Painted Wood Shrine Box Wall painting of an Egyptian house, ca.
Egyptian, ca. 1415 b.c. for Shawabty Figures. Ca. 1400 b.c.
1200 B.C.
2. EGYPTIAN RELIGION

Religion played a dominant role in the life of the ancient Egyp¬

tians, leaving its impress upon almost everything. The art was an
expression of religious symbolism. The literature and philosophy The importance

were suffused with religious teachings. The government of the Old of religion in
Egypt
Kingdom was to a large extent a theocracy, and even the military
Pharaohs of the Empire professed to rule in the name of the god.
Economic energy and material resources in considerable amounts
were squandered in providing elaborate tombs and in maintaining a
costly ecclesiastical system.
The religion of the ancient Egyptians evolved through various
stages from simple polytheism to philosophic monotheism. In the
beginning each city or district appears to have had its local deities, The early religious

who were guardian gods of the locality or personifications of nature’s evolution

powers. The unification of the country under the Old Kingdom re¬
sulted not only in a consolidation of territory but in a fusion of di¬
vinities as well. All of the guardian deities were merged into the
great sun god Re or Ra. In later times, with the establishment of a
Theban dynasty in control of the government, this deity was com¬
monly called Amon or Ammon-Re from the name of the chief god See color
of Thebes. The gods who personified the vegetative powers of na¬ plates at page
ture were fused into a deity called Osiris, who was also the god of 64
the Nile. Throughout Egyptian history these two great powers who
ruled the universe, Re and Osiris, vied with each other for su¬
premacy. Other deities, as we shall see, were recognized also, but
they occupied a distinctly subordinate place.

King Mycerinus and His Queen Salet

on his Right. A sculpture of the
IVth Dynasty located at Gizeh. 33
 Funerary Papyrus. The scene shows the heart of a princess of the XXIst
Dynasty being weighed in a balance before the god Osiris. On the other side
of the balance are the symbols for life and truth.

During the period of the Old Kingdom the solar faith, embodied
in the worship of Re, was the dominant system of belief. It served as
The solar faith an official religion whose chief function was to give immortality to
the state and to the people collectively. The Pharaoh was the living
representative of this faith on earth; through his rule the rule of the
god was maintained. But Re was not only a guardian deity. He was
in addition the god of righteousness, justice, and truth and the up¬
holder of the moral order of the universe. He offered no spiritual
blessings or even material rewards to men as individuals. The solar
faith was not a religion for the masses as such, except in so far as
their welfare coincided with that of the state.
The cult of Osiris, as we have already observed, began its exist¬
ence as a nature religion. The god personified the growth of vegeta-
The Osiris cult tion and the life-giving powers of the Nile. The career of Osiris was
wrapped-about with an elaborate legend. In the remote past, accord¬
ing to belief, he had been a benevolent ruler, who taught his people
agriculture and other practical arts and gave them laws. After a time
he was treacherously slain by his wicked brother Set, and his body
cut into pieces. His wife Isis, who was also his sister, went in search
of the pieces, put them together, and miraculously restored his body
to life. The risen god regained his kingdom and continued his benefi¬
cent rule for a time, but eventually descended to the nether world
to serve as judge of the dead. Horus, his posthumous son, finally
grew to manhood and avenged his father’s death by killing Set.
Originally this legend seems to have been little more than a nature
34 myth. The death and resurrection of Osiris symbolized the recession
of the Nile in the autumn and the coming of the flood in the spring. EGYPTIAN RELIGION
But in time the Osiris legend began to take on a deeper significance.
The human qualities of the deities concerned—the paternal solici¬
tude of Osiris for his subjects, the faithful devotion of his wife and
son—appealed to the emotions of the average Egyptian, who was Significance of
now able to see his own tribulations and triumphs mirrored in the the Osiris legend

lives of the gods. More important still, the death and resurrection of
Osiris came to be regarded as conveying a promise of personal im¬
mortality for man. As the god had triumphed over death and the
grave, so might also the individual who followed him faithfully in¬
herit everlasting life. Finally, the victory of Horus over Set ap¬
peared to foreshadow the ultimate ascendancy of good over evil.
Egyptian ideas of the hereafter attained their full development in
the later history of the Middle Kingdom. For this reason elaborate
preparations had to be made to prevent the extinction of one’s Egyptian ideas of

earthly remains. Not only were bodies mummified but wealthy men the hereafter

left munificent endowments to provide their mummies with food

and other essentials. As the religion advanced toward maturity,
however, a less naive conception of the afterlife was adopted. The
dead were now believed to appear before Osiris to be judged ac¬
cording to their deeds on earth.
All of the departed who met the tests included in this system of
judgment entered a celestial realm of physical delights and simple
pleasures. Here in marshes of lilies and lotus-flowers they would Rewards and

hunt wild geese and quail with never-ending success. Or they might punishments

build houses in the midst of orchards with luscious fruits of unfail¬

ing yield. They would find lily-lakes on which to sail, pools of
sparkling water in which to bathe, and shady groves inhabited by
singing birds and every manner of gentle creature. The unfortunate
victims whose hearts revealed their vicious lives were condemned to
perpetual hunger and thirst in a place of darkness, forever cut off
from the glorious light of Re.
The Egyptian religion attained its highest perfection about the
end of the Middle Kingdom and the beginning of the Empire. By
this time the solar faith and the cult of Osiris had been merged in The perfection of

such a way as to preserve the best features of both. The province of the Egyptian
religion
Re as the god of the living, as the champion of good in this world,
was accorded almost equal importance with the functions of Osiris
as the giver of personal immortality and the judge of the dead. The
religion was now quite clearly an ethical one. Men repeatedly
avowed their desire to do justice because such conduct was pleasing
to the great sun god.
Soon after the establishment of the Empire the religion which has
just been described underwent a serious debasement. Its ethical sig¬ Priestcraft and

nificance was largely destroyed, and superstition and magic gained superstition

the ascendancy. The chief cause seems to have been that the long
and bitter war for the expulsion of the Hyksos fostered the growth
of irrational attitudes and correspondingly depreciated the intellect. 35
 CIVILIZATIONS OF The result was a marked increase in the power of the priests, who
THE NILE preyed upon the fears of the masses to promote their own ad¬
vantage. Greedy for gain, they inaugurated the practice of selling
magical charms, which were supposed to have the effect of prevent¬
ing the heart of the deceased from betraying his real character.
They also sold formulas which, inscribed on rolls of papyrus and
placed in the tomb, were alleged to be effective in facilitating the
passage of the dead to the celestial realm. The aggregate of these
formulas constituted what is referred to as the Book of the Dead.
Contrary to the general impression, it was not an Egyptian Bible,
but merely a collection of mortuary inscriptions.
This degradation of the religion at the hands of the priests into a
system of magical practices finally resulted in a great reformation or
religious revolution. The leader of this movement was the Pharaoh
Amenhotep IV, who began his reign about 1375 b.c. and died or
was murdered about fifteen years later. After some fruitless attempts
to correct the most flagrant abuses, he resolved to crush the system
entirely. He drove the priests from the temples, hacked the names of
the traditional deities from the public monuments, and commanded
his people to worship a new god whom he called “Aton,” an ancient
designation for the physical sun. He changed his own name from
Amenhotep (“Amen rests”) to Ikhnaton, which meant “Aton is
satisfied.” Ikhnaton is the name by which he is commonly known
in history.
More important than these physical changes was the new set of
Ikhnaton and His Wife Mak¬
ing Offerings to Aton. A stele doctrines enunciated by the reforming Pharaoh. According to emi¬
from the XVIIIth Dynasty. nent authorities, he taught first of all a religion of universal
monotheism; Aton, he declared, was the only god in existence, the
god not merely of Egypt but of the whole universe.1 He restored
the ethical quality of the national religion at its best by insisting that
Aton was the author of the moral order of the world and the re¬
warder of men for integrity and purity of heart. He envisaged the
new god as an eternal creator and sustainer of all that is of benefit to
man, and as a heavenly father who watches with benevolent care
over all his creatures. Conceptions like these of the unity, righteous¬
ness, and benevolence of God were not attained again until the time
of the Hebrew prophets some 600 years later.
The revolution of Ikhnaton was not an enduring success. Because
of its challenge to ancient myths and magical practices it was not
The results of popular with the masses. Moreover, the Pharaohs who followed
Ikhnaton's
Ikhnaton were not inspired by the same devoted idealism. The result
revolution
was a revival and a gradual extension of the same old superstitions
that had prevailed before Ikhnaton’s reign. For the great masses of the
nation the ethical significance of the religion was permanently lost,

1J- H. Breasted, A History of Egypt, p. 376; see also Alexandre Moret,

36 From Tribe to Empire, pp. 298-300.
 and they were thrown back once more to ignorance and priestly EGYPTIAN INTELLECTUAL
greed. Among the educated classes, however, the influence of Ikhna- ACHIEVEMENTS
ton’s teachings lingered for some time. Although the god Aton was
no longer recognized, the qualities he represented continued to be
held in high esteem. What happened was that the attributes of Aton
were now transferred by the educated minority to Ammon-Re. The
traditional solar deity was acclaimed as the only god and the em¬
bodiment of righteousness, justice, and truth. He was worshiped,
moreover, as a merciful and loving being “who heareth prayers,
who giveth the hand to the poor, who saveth the weary.” 2
Adherence by the intelligent few to these noble ideas was not
enough to save the religion from complete degeneracy and ruin.
The spread of superstition, the popularity of magic, and the paralyz- The return of
ing grip of a degenerate priesthood were far too deadly in their decay

effects to be overcome by exalted doctrines. In the end the whole

system of belief and worship was engulfed by formalism and igno¬
rance and by fetishism (worship of magical objects), animal worship,
and other magical crudities. The commercialism of the priests was
more rampant than ever, and the chief function of the organized
religion had come to be the sale of formulas and charms which
would stifle the conscience and trick the gods into granting eternal
salvation. The tragedy was compounded by the fact that as the re¬
ligion decayed it exerted a baneful effect upon the rest of the culture.
Philosophy, art, and government were so closely linked with religion
that all of them went down together.

3. EGYPTIAN INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENTS

The philosophy of ancient Egypt was chiefly ethical and political,

although traces of broader philosophic conceptions are occasionally
to be found. The idea that the universe is controlled by mind or in¬ The general
telligence, for example, is a notion that appeared from time to time character of
Egyptian
in the writings of priests and sages. Other philosophic ideas of the
philosophy
ancient Egyptians included the conception of an eternal universe, the
notion of constantly recurring cycles of events, and the doctrine of
natural cause and effect. Few, if any, of Egyptian writers could be
classified as “pure” philosophers. They were concerned primarily
with religion and with questions of individual conduct and social
justice.
The earliest examples of Egyptian ethical philosophy were maxims
of sage advice similar to those of the Book of Proverbs and the Book
of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. They went little beyond prac¬ The earliest

tical wisdom, but occasionally they enjoined tolerance, moderation, ethical

philosophy
and justice.

J. H. Breasted, The Dawn of Conscience, p. 316. 37

CIVILIZATIONS OF During the Middle Kingdom this practical philosophy was suc¬
THE NILE ceeded by a kind of epicureanism. Skepticism regarding the gods
now took the place of the lofty religious conceptions of earlier times,
and the life of self-indulgence was extolled as the best. Lip service,
The appearance however, was also paid to the pursuit of a good name by deeds of
of disillusionment charity and benevolence.
and skepticism As political philosophers the Egyptians developed a conception of
the state as a welfare institution presided over by a benevolent ruler.
The Plea of the This conception was embodied especially in the Plea of the Eloquent
Eloquent Peasant Peasant, written about 2050 b.c. It sets forth the idea of a ruler com¬
mitted to benevolence and justice for the good of his subjects. He is
urged to act as the father of the orphan, the husband of the widow,
and the brother of the forsaken. He is supposed to judge impartially
and to execute punishment upon whom it is due; and to promote
such an order of harmony and prosperity that no one may suffer
from hunger or cold or thirst.
The branches of science which first absorbed the attention of the
Egyptians were astronomy and mathematics. Both were developed
The character for practical ends—to compute the time of the Nile inundations, to
of Egyptian lay out the plans for pyramids and temples, and to solve the intricate
science; astronomy
problems of irrigation and public control of economic functions.
The Egyptians were not pure sicentists; they had little interest in the
nature of the physical universe as such—a fact which probably ac¬
counts for their failure to advance very far in the science of astron¬
omy. They perfected a solar calendar, as we have already learned,
mapped the heavens, identified the principal fixed stars, and achieved
some success in determining accurately the positions of stellar bodies.
The science of mathematics was more highly developed. The
Egyptians laid the foundations for at least two of the common
Achievements mathematical subjects—arithmetic and geometry. They devised the
in mathematics arithmetical operations of addition, subtraction, and division, al¬
though they never discovered how to multiply except through a
series of additions. They invented the decimal system, but they had
no symbol for zero. Fractions caused them some difficulty: all those
with a numerator greater than one had to be broken down into a
series, each with one as the numerator, before they could be used in
mathematical calculations. The only exception was the fraction two-
thirds, which the scribes had learned’ to use as it stood. The Egyp¬
tians also achieved a surprising degree of skill in mensuration, com¬
puting with accuracy the areas of triangles, rectangles, and hexa¬
gons. The ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter they
calculated to be 3.16. They learned how to compute the volume of
the pyramid and the cylinder, and even the volume of the hemi¬
sphere.
The third branch of science in which the Egyptians did some re¬
markable work was medicine. Early medical practice was conserva¬
38 tive and profusely corrupted by superstition, but a document dating
from about 1700 b.c. reveals a fairly adequate conception of scien¬ EGYPTIAN INTELLECTUAL
tific diagnosis and treatment. Egyptian physicians were frequently ACHIEVEMENTS
specialists: some were oculists; others were dentists, surgeons, spe¬
cialists in diseases of the stomach, and so on. In the course of their
work they made many discoveries of lasting value. They recognized Medicine

the importance of the heart and had some appreciation of the sig¬
nificance of the pulse. They acquired a degree of skill in the treat¬
ment of fractures and performed simple operations. Unlike some
peoples of later date they ascribed disease to natural causes. They
discovered the value of cathartics, noted the curative properties of
numerous drugs, and compiled the first materia medica, or catalogue
of medicines. Many of their remedies, both scientific and magical,
were carried into Europe by the Greeks and are still employed by
the peasantry of isolated regions.
In other scientific fields the Egyptians contributed little. Al¬
though they achieved feats which rival modern engineering, they
possessed but the scantiest knowledge of physics. They knew the Other scientific
principle of the inclined plane, but they were ignorant of the pulley. accomplishments

To their credit also must be assigned considerable progress in

metallurgy, the invention of the sundial, and the making of paper
and glass. With all their deficiencies as pure scientists, they equaled
or surpassed in actual accomplishment most of the other peoples of
the ancient Near Orient.
The Egyptians developed their first form of writing during the
pre-dynastic period. This system, known as the hieroglyphic, from
the Greek words meaning sacred carving, was originally composed The hieroglyphic
of pictographic signs denoting concrete objects. Gradually certain system

of these signs were conventionalized and used to represent abstract

concepts. Other characters were introduced to designate separate
syllables which could be combined to form words. Finally, twenty-
four symbols, each representing a single consonant sound of the
human voice, were added early in the Old Kingdom. Thus the
hieroglyphic system of writing had come to include at an early date
three separate types of characters, the pictographic, syllabic, and
alphabetic.
The ultimate step in this evolution of writing would have been
the complete separation of the alphabetic from the non-alphabetic
characters and the exclusive use of the former in written communi¬ The principle
of the alphabet
cation. The Egyptians were reluctant to take this step. Their tradi¬
tions of conservatism impelled them to follow old habits. Although
they made frequent use of the consonant signs, they did not com¬
monly employ them as an independent system of writing. It was left
for the Phoenicians to do this some 1500 years later. Nevertheless,
the Egyptians must be credited with the invention of the principle
of the alphabet. It was they who first perceived the value of single
symbols for the individual sounds of the human voice. The Phoeni¬
cians merely copied this principle, based their own system of writ- 39
CIVILIZATIONS OF ing upon it, and diffused the idea among neighboring nations. In the
THE NILE ultimate sense it is therefore true that the Egyptian alphabet was the
parent of every other that has ever been used in the Western world.

4. THE MEANING OF EGYPTIAN ART

No single interpretation will suffice to explain the meaning of

Egyptian art. In general, it expressed the aspirations of a collec-
The character tivized national life. It was not art for art’s sake, nor did it serve to
of Egyptian art convey the individual’s reactions to the problems of his personal
world. Yet there were times when the conventions of a communal
society were broken down, and the supremacy was accorded to a
spontaneous individual art that sensed the beauty of the flower or
caught the radiant idealism of a youthful face. Seldom was the
Egyptian genius for faithful reproduction of nature entirely sup¬
pressed. Even the rigid formalism of the official architecture was
commonly relieved by touches of naturalism—columns in imitation
of palm trunks, lotus-blossom capitals, and occasional statues of
Pharaohs that were not conventionalized types but true individual
portraits.
In most civilizations where the interests of society are exalted
above those of its members, architecture is at once the most typical
Architecture and the most highly developed of the arts. Egypt was no exception.
Whether in the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, or Empire it was
the problems of building construction that absorbed the talent of
the artist. Although painting and sculpture were by no means primi¬
tive, they nevertheless had as their primary function the embellish¬
ment of temples. Only at times did they rise to the status of
independent arts.

The Pyramids of Gizeh with the Sphinx in the Foreground. The pyramid on
the right is the Great Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops.
Detail of the Temple of Kar-
nak. Most of this building has
collapsed or been carried away,
but the huge pylons and statues
give an idea of the massiveness
of Egyptian temples.

The characteristic examples of Old Kingdom architecture were

the pyramids, the first of which were built at least as early as 2700
b.c. An amazing amount of labor and skill were expended in their The pyramids

construction. The Greek historian Herodotus estimated that 100,000

men must have been employed for twenty years to complete the
single pyramid of Khufu at Gizeh. Its total height exceeds 480 feet,
and the more than two million limestone blocks it contains are fitted
together with a precision which few modern masons could dupli¬
cate. Each of the blocks weighs about two and a half tons. They
were evidently hewn out of rock cliffs with drills and wedges and
then dragged up earthen ramps by gangs of men and pried into
place.
The significance of the pyramids is not easy to comprehend.
They may have been intended for the economic purpose of provid¬
ing employment opportunities. Such a theory would assume that the Significance of

population had increased to overcrowding, and that the resources of the pvamids
agriculture, mining, industry, and commerce were no longer ade¬
quate to provide a livelihood for all the people. This theory doubt¬
less had some validity. But for propaganda purposes it was glossed
over with a political and religious significance. The construction of
the pyramids was held to be an act of faith, the expression of an am¬
bition to endow the state with permanence and stability. As inde¬
structible tombs of the rulers they were believed to guarantee
immortality to the people, for the Pharaoh was the embodiment of
the national life. It is possible also that they were intended to serve as
symbols of sun worship. As the tallest structures in Egypt they
would catch the first light of the rising sun and reflect it to the
valley below.
During the Middle Kingdom and the Empire the temple displaced
the pyramid as the leading architectural form. The most noted 41
 The Temple at Karnak. Hypostyle columns are shown at the left. Details of
wall construction on the right.

examples were the great temples at Karnak and Luxor, built during
the period of the Empire. Many of their gigantic, richly carved
The temples columns still stand as silent witnesses of a splendid architectural talent.
Egyptian temples were characterized by massive size. The temple
at Karnak, with a length of about 1300 feet, covered the largest area
of any religious edifice ever built. Its central hall alone could contain
almost any of the Gothic cathedrals of Europe. The columns used in
the temples had stupendous proportions. The largest of them were
seventy feet high, with diameters in excess of twenty feet. It has
been estimated that the capitals which surmounted them could
furnish standing room for a hundred men.
As already mentioned, Egyptian sculpture and painting served
primarily as adjuncts to architecture. The former was heavily laden
Egyptian sculpture with conventions that restricted its style and meaning. Statues of
Pharaohs were commonly of colossal size. Those produced during
the Empire ranged in height from seventy-five to ninety feet. Some
of them were colored to resemble life, and the eyes were frequently
inlaid with rock crystal. The figures were nearly always rigid, with
See color the arms folded across the chest or fixed to the sides of the body and
plates at pages with the eyes staring straight to the front. Countenances were gen¬
33,64 erally represented as impassive, utterly devoid of emotional expres¬
sion. Anatomical distortion was frequently practiced: the natural
length of the thighs might be increased, the squareness of the shoul¬
ders accentuated, or all of the fingers of the hand made equal in
length. A familiar example of non-naturalistic sculpture was the
Sphinx. This represented the head of a Pharaoh on the body of a
lion. The purpose was probably to symbolize the notion that the
Pharaoh possessed the lion’s qualities of strength and courage. The
42 figures of sculpture in relief were even less in conformity with na-
ture. The head was presented in profile, with the eye fullface; the SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
torso was shown in the frontal position, while the legs were rend¬ LIFE
ered in profile. Such were the general tendencies, but it should be
noted that they were not universal. Occasionally the artist suc¬
ceeded in a partial defiance of conventions, as is evidenced by the
production of some highly individual likenesses of the later Phar¬
aohs.
The meaning of Egyptian sculpture is not hard to perceive. The
colossal size of the statues of Pharaohs was doubtless intended to
symbolize their power and the power of the state they represented. The meaning of

It is significant that the size of these statues increased as the empire Egyptian sculpture

expanded and the government became more absolute. The conven¬

tions of rigidity and impassiveness were meant to express the time¬
lessness and stability of the national life. Here was a nation which,
according to the ideal, was not to be torn loose from its moorings by
the uncertain mutations of fortune but was to remain fixed and imper¬
turbable. The portraits of its chief men consequently must betray
no anxiety, fear, or triumph, but an unvarying calmness throughout
the ages. In similar fashion, the anatomical distortion can probably be
interpreted as a deliberate attempt to express some national ideal.
The most eloquent device for this purpose was representation of the
body of a Pharaoh with the head of a god, but the other examples of
non-naturalistic portrayal probably had a similar object.
Egyptian painting developed late and did not have time to become
weighted down with a mass of traditions. Religion did exert its in¬
fluence, but in a positive manner. The best paintings were those cre¬
ated during the reign of Ikhnaton and immediately after. The gospel
of the reforming king, with its reverence for nature as the handi¬
work of God, fostered a revival of realism in art which was particu¬
larly evident in painting. As a result, the murals of this period ex¬
hibit a decided talent for representation of the striking phenomena
of the world of experience. They have particular merit as examples Queen Hat-shepsut. Limestone
of the portrayal of movement. They caught the instant action of the statue about 1485 b.c.

wild bull leaping in the swamp, the headlong flight of the frightened
stag, and the effortless swimming of ducks in the pond.

5. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE

During the greater part of the history of Egypt the population

was divided into five classes: the royal family; the priests; the no¬
bles; the middle class of scribes, merchants, artisans, and farmers; The principal

and the serfs. During the Empire a sixth class, the professional sol- classes

diers, was added, ranking immediately below the nobles. Thousands

of slaves were captured in this period also, and these formed for a
time a seventh class. Despised by freemen and serfs alike, they were
forced to labor in the government quarries and on the temple
estates. Gradually, however, they were enrolled in the army and 43
 Fishing and Fowling: Wall Fainting Thebes, XVIIlth Dynasty. Most of the
women appear to belong to the prosperous classes, while the simple garb and
insignificant size of the men indicates that they are probably slaves.

even in the personal service of the Pharaoh. With these develop¬

ments they ceased to constitute a separate class. The position of the
various ranks of society shifted from time to time. In the Old King¬
dom the nobles and priests among all of the Pharaoh’s subjects held
the supremacy. During the Middle Kingdom the classes of common¬
ers came into their own. Scribes, merchants, artisans, and serfs re¬
belled against the nobles and wrested concessions from the govern¬
ment. Particularly impressive is the dominant role played by the
merchants and industrialists in this period. The establishment of the
Empire, accompanied as it was by the extension of government
functions, resulted in the ascendancy of a new nobility, made up
primarily of bureaucrats. The priests also waxed in power with the
growth of magic and superstition.
The gulf that separated the standards of living of the upper and
lower classes of Egypt was perhaps even wider than it is today in
The gulf between Europe and America. The wealthy nobles lived in splendid villas
rich and poor that opened into fragrant gardens and shady groves. Their food had
all the richness and variety of sundry kinds of meat, poultry, cakes,
fruit, wine, beer, and sweets. They ate from vessels of alabaster,
gold, and silver, and adorned their persons with expensive fabrics
and costly jewels. By contrast, the life of the poor was wretched in¬
deed. The laborers in the towns inhabited congested slums com¬
posed of mud-brick hovels with roofs of thatch. Their only furnish¬
ings were stools and boxes and a few crude pottery jars. The peas¬
ants on the great estates enjoyed a less crowded but no more
abundant life.
The basic social unit among the Egyptians was the monogamous
family. No man, not even the Pharaoh, could have more than one
44 lawful wife. Concubinage, however, was a socially reputable institu-
tion. Women occupied an unusually enviable status. Wives were not SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
secluded, and there is no record of any divorce. Women could own LIFE
and inherit property and engage in business. Almost alone among
Oriental peoples the Egyptians permitted women to succeed to the
throne. Another extraordinary social practice was close inbreeding. The Egyptian

The ruler as son of the great sun god was required to marry his sis¬ family

ter or some other female of his immediate family lest the divine
blood be contaminated. There is evidence that many of his subjects
followed the identical custom. As yet, historians have been unable to
discover any positive traces of racial degeneration produced by this
practice, probably for the reason that the Egyptian stock was
genetically sound to begin with.
The Egyptian economic system rested primarily upon an agrarian
basis. Agriculture was diversified and highly developed, and the soil
yielded excellent crops of wheat, barley, millet, vegetables, fruits, Agriculture,

flax, and cotton. Theoretically the land was the property of the trade, and in¬
dustry
king, but in the earlier periods he granted most of it to his subjects,
so that in actual practice it was largely in the possession of individu¬
als. Commerce did not amount to much before 2000 b.c., but after
that date it grew rapidly to a position of first-rate importance. A
flourishing trade was carried on with the island of Crete, with
Phoenicia, Palestine, and Syria. The chief articles of export con¬
sisted of wheat, linen fabrics, and fine pottery. Imports were con¬
fined largely to gold, silver, ivory, and lumber. Of no less signifi¬
cance than commerce was manufacturing as a branch of economic
life. As early as 3000 b.c. large numbers of people were already
engaged in industrial pursuits, mostly in separate crafts. In later
times factories were established, employing twenty or more persons
under one roof, and with some degree of division of labor. The lead¬
ing industries were quarrying, shipbuilding, and the manufacture of
pottery, glass, and textiles.

Left: Making Sun-dried Bricks. Nile mud (generally mixed with chaff or
straw) is being worked with a hoe, carried away in buckets and dumped in a
pile. Lying on the ground in a row are three bricks, from the last of which
a wooden mold, used in shaping them, is being lifted. An overseer with a
stick is seated close by. The finished bricks are carried off by means of a yoke
across the shoulders. From a wall-painting at Thebes about 1500 b.c.
Right: Stonecutters Dressing Blocks. Men with mallets and chisels are dressing
down blocks to true surfaces. Below, two of them test the accuracy of the
dressed surface. After two edges of the block are determined, a cord is
stretched between two pegs to help gauge how much remains to be chiseled
 Sowing Seed and Working It into the Soil. From a bag which he wears over
his left shoulder, the sower casts seed under the feet of cattle yoked to a
plow. The plow is here used to harrow the soil. While one laborer guides
the cows with a stick, another guides the plow straight and keeps the plow¬
share in the ground by bearing down on the handles. Sheep are then
driven across the field to trample in the seed. From wall paintings at Sheikh
Said, about 2700 b.c.

From an early date the Egyptians made progress in the perfection

of instruments of business. They knew the elements of accounting
The development and bookkeeping. Their merchants issued orders and receipts for
of instruments of goods. They invented deeds for property, written contracts, and
business
wills. While they had no system of coinage, they had nevertheless
attained a money economy. Rings of copper or gold of definite
weight circulated as media of exchange. This Egyptian ring-money
is apparently the oldest currency in the history of civilizations.
Probably it was not used except for larger transactions. The simple
dealings of the peasants and poorer townsfolk doubtless continued
on a basis of barter.
The Egyptian economic system was always collectivistic. From
the very beginning the energies of the people had been drawn into
Economic col¬ socialized channels. The interests of the individual and the interests
lectivism of society were conceived as identical. The productive activities of
the entire nation revolved around the huge state enterprises, and the
government remained by far the largest employer of labor. But this
collectivism was not all-inclusive; a considerable sphere was left for
private initiative. Merchants conducted their own businesses; many
of the craftsmen had their own shops; and as time went on, larger
and larger numbers of peasants gained the status of independent
farmers. The government continued to operate the quarries and
mines, to build pyramids and temples, and to farm the royal estates.
The extreme development of state control came with the found¬
ing of the Empire. The growth of a military absolutism and the in¬
The extreme creasing frequency of wars of conquest augmented the need for
development of revenue and for unlimited production of goods. To fulfill this need
state control
the government extended its control over every department of eco¬
under the Empire
nomic life. The entire agricultural land became the property of the
Pharaoh. Although large sections of it were granted to favorites of
the king, most of it was worked by royal serfs and slaves. The free
middle class largely disappeared. The services of craftsmen were
46 conscripted for the erection of magnificent temples and for the man-
ufacture of implements of war, while foreign trade became a state SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
monopoly. As the Empire staggered toward its downfall, the govern¬ LIFE
ment absorbed more and more of the economic activities of the
people.
Except during the reign of Ikhnaton, a corrupt alliance existed be¬
tween the Pharaohs of the Empire and the priests. Greedy for
power and plunder, the members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy sup¬ Defects
ported the kings in their ambitions for despotic rule. As a reward in the economic
system
they were granted exemption from taxation and a generous share of
the national wealth. War captives were turned over to them in such
numbers that they actually held two per cent of the population of
the country as temple slaves. They employed a great host of artisans
in the manufacture of amulets and funerary equipment, which they
sold at tremendous profit to the worshipers. Without question these
priestly enterprises meant a serious drain on the national resources
and thereby contributed to economic and social decay. Too large a
proportion of the wealth of Egypt was being squandered on sterile
projects of the church and the state and on the conquest of an empire.

6. THE EGYPTIAN ACHIEVEMENT AND

ITS IMPORTANCE TO US

Few civilizations of ancient times surpassed the Egyptian in im¬

portance to the modern world. Even the influence of the Hebrews
was not much greater. From the land of the Pharaohs came the Egyptian

germ and the stimulus for numerous intellectual achievements of contributions:

(1) intellectual
later centuries. Important elements of philosophy, mathematics, sci¬
and artistic
ence, and literature had their beginnings there. The Egyptians also
developed one of the oldest systems of jurisprudence and political
theory. They perfected the achievements of irrigation, engineering,
and the making of pottery, glass, and paper. They were one of the
first peoples to have any clear conception of art for other than utili¬
tarian purposes, and they originated architectural principles that
were destined for extensive use in subsequent history.
More significant still were the Egyptian contributions in the fields
of religion and individual and social ethics. Aside from the Persians,
the dwellers on the banks of the Nile were the only people of the (2) religious and

ancient world to build a national religion around the doctrine of ethical

personal immortality. Egyptian priests and sages likewise were the

first to preach universal monotheism, the providence of God, for¬
giveness of sins, and rewards and punishments after death. Finally,
Egyptian ethical theory was the source from which various nations
derived standards of personal and social morality; for it embraced
not only the ordinary prohibitions of lying, theft, and murder, but
included also the exalted ideals of justice, benevolence, and the equal
rights of all men. 47
 Egyptian tomb art. Egypt’s Sudanic neighbors were frequently portrayed in
Egyptian art.

7. KUSHITIC CIVILIZATION

Egyptian splendor rested in large measure on vast human and

physical resources lying beyond its southern periphery. Successive
Egyptian dynasties drew heavily on the area known today as the
Sudan Republic for laborers and soldiers as well as for precious
stones and exotic woods used in the crafting of jewelry and fine
furniture. The contributions of these darker-skinned neighbors are
vividly recorded in scenes etched on objets d’art found in the tombs
of Egypt’s Pharaohs.
The origin of the Negroid southerners, long shrouded in mystery,
is beginning to come to light through recent archaeological dis¬
Foundation of coveries. We are now fairly certain that from at least 2200 B.c.
the Kingdom food-producing Neolithic groups from the ecologically-deteriora¬
of Kush
ting southern Sahara were dispersing to more fertile parts of Africa.
Some migrated to the lower Nile where they joined peoples of
Mediterranean and Asian stock in laying the foundations of the
so-called New Kingdom of Egypt. Others wandered southward to
the upper Nile in a region later known to the Egyptians as “Kush.”
By 1500 b.c. these black-complexioned Kushites, showing remarkable
cultural affinities to late predynastic Egypt, had established their
own kingdom. Indeed, this Kingdom of Kush became the first highly
advanced, essentially Negroid, civilization in Africa. Its vigorous in¬
habitants traded actively with Egypt and borrowed extensively from
their culture. Within four centuries, the capital at Napata, just south
of the Fourth Cataract, had flowered into a major religious center
for the worship of the Egyptian god Ammon-Re.
Under their king, Kashta, the Kushites began to take advantage of
Egypt’s decaying social fabric. In about 750 b.c. Kashta’s armies
Kushitic swept into the temple city of Thebes, capital of Upper Egypt.
Invasion of Kashta’s son, Piankhy, went on to capture Memphis and to extend
Egypt
Kushitic dominion over Lower Egypt as well. With the entire coun¬
try in hand, Piankhy assumed the title of Pharaoh and established
48 Egypt’s Twenty-Fifth Dynasty.
 The rule of the Kushites was short-lived. Their genius at govern¬ KUSHITIC CIVILIZATION
ance was no match for the Iron Age Assyrians who burst into Egypt
in 670 b.c. The Kushites quickly retreated to their former homelands
along the far reaches of the upper Nile. A new Kushitic power base Meroe: black
was established at Meroe, some 120 miles north of modern Khar¬ Africa's first in¬
dustrial city
toum, in the fertile pastures between the river Atbara and the Blue
Nile. They may have acquired from the Assyrians the technique of
iron-smelting, for Meroe soon became the major iron-working
center of ancient Africa and the first black industrial city south of
the Sahara.
The Kushites made an indelible imprint on numerous Mediterra¬
nean civilizations. By the fifth century b.c. their likeness appeared
on vases, wall murals, and statues from Cyprus in the eastern Medi¬ Kushitic impact on
terranean to ancient Etruria on the Italian peninsula. They were Mediterranean
civilizations
variously depicted as athletes, dancers, court attendants, and warriors.
Greek merchants, active in Egyptian markets, called the Kushites
“Ethiopians” meaning “men with burnt faces.”
In 322 b.c. Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great and
became a Greek-ruled kingdom. Thenceforth, via Hellenized Egypt,
Kushitic exposure to Mediterranean civilizations increased. A brisk The flowering of

trade with the Greeks and Hellenized Egyptians brought prosperity Kushitic civilization
250 B.C.-200 A.D.
to Kush and enabled its people to develop distinctive architectural
and artistic traditions. Unique stone pyramids cast haunting shadows
across the Nile at Meroe; and Meroitic pottery, decorated with in¬
cised geometric designs, could compare favorably to the finest
produced in the ancient world at that time. Kush reached its zenith
between 250 b.c. and 200 a.d. By that time Meroitic hieroglyphs had
even begun to replace Egyptian as the literary language.
The Kushitic window on the non-African world opened still
further between 13 a.d. and the third century, when Egypt was
under Roman rule. After that, Nile valley trade quickly declined The downfall of

and with it Kushitic civilization. For centuries, the Nile’s treacherous Kush

cataracts had shielded Kush from northern invasions and permitted its
inhabitants to adopt only those aspects of Egyptian, Greek, and
Roman culture they found desirable. But with the Nile valley connec¬
tion weakened, Kush suffered economically and fell vulnerable to
desert infiltrators from the west. This made it rather easy in the
mid-fourth century for Meroe to be overrun by the armies of neigh¬
boring Axum, a rising kingdom in the southeast.
Tantalizing legends suggest that Meroe’s royal family migrated to
West Africa where they may have contributed to the evolution of
new political and cultural institutions. West Africans were less ad¬ Ancient trans-
Saharan links
vanced politically and economically even though their trans-Saharan
links with North Africa and the Nile extend far into antiquity.
Since at least 130 b.c. West Africans supplied the north with gold,
slaves, precious stones, and wild animals for sports arenas. An ancient
chariot route extended from the Punic settlements on the North
African coast through the oases of the Fezzan to the Chad Basin. 49
 READINGS The Kushitic refugees may have followed an even more ancient
trail connecting the Nile with the Niger river by way of Fezzan.

8. THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOM OF ETHIOPIA

Unlike landlocked Kush, Axum to the southeast could profit

from a fast moving trade with Ptolemaic Egypt via the Red Sea.
Axumite Axumite seaports were busy entrepots for interior goods destined
foundations
for the Mediterranean world, the Persian Gulf, India, and beyond.
Egyptian Greek middlemen provided Axumites a window on the
eastern Mediterranean while their Arabian counterparts exposed
them to the outlets of the Orient.
The Axumites as a people were the product of peaceful mingling
of African and Semitic Arabians. The latter had been migrating in
The Axumite small bands toward the rugged Ethiopian highlands since 1000 b.c.
people
With intermarriage came cultural enrichment, so superbly reflected
in giant religious obelisks, cut with incredible precision from single
blocks of stone. Great strides were also made in agricultural pro¬
ductivity through the introduction of the plow and the art of stone
terracing and irrigation.
In the mid-fourth century King Ezana converted to Christianity
and declared it the official state religion. Christianity became an
Conversion to effective instrument for the cultural and political unification of the
Christianity and various Axumite chieftaincies into a centralized kingdom called
the rise of
Ethiopia. Monasteries took root in Ethiopia and served as vital
monasticism
centers of learning and cultural transmission. Ethiopian monks
translated the Bible into Ge’ez, the indigenous language. In time,
the monasteries became economically powerful, as successive em¬
perors endowed them with huge tracts of land. Monasticism as a
way of life spread quickly to neighboring Nubian kingdoms, before
it had appeared in Christian western Europe.
Ethiopia, centered in mountainous and almost inaccessible high¬
lands, became a natural citadel. In relative seclusion, its inhabitants
An enduring forged a powerfully stable monarchy and a distinctive Christian
kingdom
culture. Representing one of the world’s most stable and enduring
civilizations, Ethiopia continued into the twentieth century under
essentially the same time-honored institutions and the same royal
family.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Alfred, Cyril, The Egyptians, New York, 1963 (Praeger).

Breasted, James H., The Dawn of Conscience, New York,' 1934. An excellent
account of the development of religious and ethical concepts.
-, History of Egypt, New York, 1912. Still one of the best histories of
50 ancient Egypt.
 Clark, J. Desmond, The Prehistory of Africa, New York, 1970. READINGS
• Cottrell, Leonard, Life under the Pharaohs, New York, i960 (Tempo, 1964).
• Desroches-Noblecourt, Christiane, Egyptian Wall Paintings, New York, 1962
(Mentor).
• Edwards, I. E. S., The Pyramids of Egypt, Baltimore, 1962 (Penguin).
• Emery, W. B., Archaic Egypt, Baltimore, 1961 (Penguin).
• Frankfort, Henri, et al., Before Philosophy, Baltimore, 1949 (Penguin). A
splendid account of early man’s thinking.
Glanville, S. R. K., The Legacy of Ancient Egypt, Oxford, 1957.
• Kramer, S. N., Mythologies of the Ancient World, New York, 1961 (Anchor).
• Lloyd, Seton, The Art of the Ancient Near East, New York, 1962 (Praeger).
Moret, Alexandre, The Nile and Egyptian Civilization, New York, 1928. In¬
teresting in its contrast with Breasted.
• Moscati, Sabatino, The Face of the Ancient Orient, New York, 1962 (Anchor).
Shinnie, Margaret, Ancient African Kingdoms, New York, 1966.
Shinnie, P. L., Meroe: The Civilization of the Sudan, New York, 1966.
Shorter, A. W., Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt, London, 1932. One of the
few works of its kind, therefore valuable.
• Smith, W. S., Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt, Baltimore, 1958
(Penguin).
• Snowden, Frank M., Blacks in Antiquity, Cambridge, Mass., 1970 (Harvard).
• Steindorff, G., and Steele, K. C., When Egypt Ruled the East, Chicago, 1942
(Phoenix). A useful supplement to Breasted.
• Wilson, J. A., The Burden of Egypt, Chicago, 1951. An excellent interpreta¬
tion. Also available in paperback under the title, The Culture of Ancient
Egypt (Phoenix).

SOURCE MATERIALS

• Bovill, E. W., The Golden Trade of the Moors, 2nd ed., New York, 1970
(Oxford).
Breasted, J. H., Ancient Records of Egypt, Chicago, 1929, 5 vols.
• -, Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, Gloucester,
Mass., 1959 (Torchbook).
Budge, E. A.W., Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, New York, 1911, 2
vols.
• Pritchard, J. B., ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts, Princeton, 1950 (Princeton
University Press).

51
 CHAPTER 3
The Mesopotamian and
Persian Civilizations

If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers.
If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy
his eye.
If one break a man’s bone, they shall break his bone.
If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a free¬
man, he shall pay one mina of silver.
If one destroy the eye of a man’s slave or break a bone of a man’s
slave he shall pay one-half his price.
—The Code of Hammurabi, lines 195-199.

The other of the most ancient civilizations was that which began in
the Tigris-Euphrates valley at least as early as 4000 B.c. This civiliza¬
tion was formerly called the Babylonian or Babylonian-Assyrian Origin and com¬
civilization. It is now known, however, that the civilization was not parison with
Egypt
founded by either the Babylonians or the Assyrians but by an earlier
people called the Sumerians. It seems better, therefore, to use the
name Mesopotamian to cover the whole civilization, even though
Mesopotamia is sometimes applied only to the northern portion of
the land between the two rivers. The Mesopotamian civilization was
unlike the Egyptian in many respects. Its political history was
marked by sharper interruptions. Its ethnic composition was less
homogeneous, and its social and economic structure gave wider
scope to individual initiative.
The differences in ideals and in religious and social attitudes were
perhaps more fundamental. The Egyptian culture was predomi¬
nantly ethical, the Mesopotamian legalistic. The Egyptian outlook Religious and

on life, except during the Middle Kingdom, was generally one of social differences

cheerful resignation, comparatively free from the cruder supersti¬

tions. By contrast, the Mesopotamian view was gloomy, pessimistic,
and enthralled by morbid fears. Where the native of Egypt believed
in immortality and dedicated a large part of his energy to prepara¬
tion for the life to come, his Mesopotamian contemporary lived in
the present and cherished few hopes regarding his fate beyond the 53
THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND grave. Finally, the civilization of the Nile valley embodied concepts
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS of monotheism, a religion of love, and of social equalitarianism; that
of the Tigris-Euphrates was more selfish and practical. Its religion
seldom evolved beyond the stage of primitive polytheism, and its
arts bore few of the natural and personal qualities of the Egyptian.
On the other hand, there were similarities too striking to be ig¬
nored. Both civilizations made progress in ethical theory and in con-
simiiarities cepts of social justice. Both had their evils of slavery and imperial¬
ism, of oppressive kings and greedy priests. Both had common prob¬
lems of irrigation and land boundaries; and, as a result, both made
notable progress in the sciences, especially in mathematics. Finally,
rivalry among small states led eventually to consolidation and to the
growth of mighty empires, especially in the case of Mespotamia.

I. FROM THE SUMERIAN TO THE PERSIAN

CONQUEST

The pioneers in the development of the Mesopotamian civilization

were the people known as Sumerians, who settled in the lower
The Sumerians Tigris-Euphrates valley between 5000 and 4000 b.c. Their precise
origin is unknown, but they seem to have come from the plateau of
central Asia. They spoke a language unrelated to any now known,
although their culture bore a certain resemblance to the earliest
civilization of India. With little or no difficulty they subjugated the
natives already in the lower valley, a mysterious people who were
just emerging from the Neolithic stage.
The new Sumerian empire did not survive long. It was annexed
by the Elamites in the twenty-first century and about 1950 b.c. was
The rise and fall conquered by a Semitic people known as the Amorites, who had
of the Old come in from the fringes of the Arabian desert. Since they made the
Babylonians
village of Babylon the capital of their empire they are commonly
called the Babylonians, or the Old Babylonians, to distinguish them
from the Neo-Babylonians or Chaldeans who occupied the valley
much later. The rise of the Old Babylonians inaugurated the second
important stage of the Tigris-Euphrates civilization. Although most
of the Sumerian culture survived, Sumerian dominance was now at
an end. The Babylonians established an autocratic state and during
the reign of their most famous king, Hammurabi, extended their
dominion north to Assyria. But after his time their empire gradually
declined until it was finally overthrown by the Kassites about 1650
B.C.

With the downfall of Old Babylonia a period of retrogression set

The Kassites and in which lasted for 600 years. The Kassites were barbarians with no
the Assyrians
interest in the cultural achievements of their predecessors. Their
lone contribution was the introduction of the horse into the Tigris-
Euphrates valley. The old culture would have died out entirely had
54 it not been for its partial adoption by another Semitic people who,
as early as 3000 b.c., had founded a tiny kingdom on the plateau of SUMERIAN ORIGINS
Assur some 500 miles up the Tigris River. These people came to be
called the Assyrians, and their ultimate rise to power marked the be¬
ginning of the third stage in the development of the Mesopotamian
civilization. They began to expand about 1300 b.c. and soon after¬
ward made themselves masters of the whole northern valley. In the
tenth century they overturned what was left of Kassite power in
Babylonia. Their empire reached its height in the eighth and seventh
centuries under Sargon II (722-705 b.c.), Sennacherib (705-681),
and Assurbanipal (668-626). It had now come to include nearly all
of the civilized world of that time. One after another, Syria,
Phoenicia, the Kingdom of Israel, and Egypt had fallen victims to
Assyrian military prowess. Only the little Kingdom of Judah was
able to withstand the hosts of Nineveh, probably because of an out¬
break of pestilence in the ranks of Sennacherib’s army.1
Brilliant though the successes of the Assyrians were, they did not
endure. So rapidly were new territories annexed that the empire
soon reached an unmanageable size. The Assyrians’ genius for gov¬ The downfall of
ernment was far inferior to their appetite for conquest. Subjugated the Assyrians
and the rise of
nations chafed under the cruel despotism that had been forced upon
the Chaldeans
them and, as the empire gave signs of cracking from within, deter¬
mined to regain their freedom. The death blow was delivered by the
Kaldi or Chaldeans, a nation of Semites who had settled southeast of
the valley of the two rivers. Under the leadership of Nabopolassar,
who had served the Assyrian emperors in the capacity of a provin¬
cial governor, they organized a revolt and finally captured Nineveh
in 612 b.c.
In 539 b.c. the empire of the Chaldeans fell, after an existence of
less than a century. It was overthrown by Cyrus the Persian, as he
himself declared, “without a battle and without fighting.” The easy
victory appears to have been made possible by assistance from the
Jews and by a conspiracy of the priests of Babylon to deliver the
city to Cyrus as an act of vengeance against the Chaldean king,
whose policies they did not like. Members of other influential classes
appear also to have looked upon the Persians as deliverers.
Although the Persian state incorporated all of the territories that
had once been embraced by the Mesopotamian empires, it included
many other provinces besides. It was the vehicle, moreover, of a
new and different culture. The downfall of Chaldea must therefore
be taken as marking the end of Mesopotamian political history.

2. SUMERIAN ORIGINS OF THE CIVILIZATION

Assurbanipal and His Armies

More than to any other people, the Mesopotamian civilization
Storming the Elamite Capital
owed its character to the Sumerians. Much of what used to be

1 Hebrew prophets declared that an angel of the Lord visited the camp of the
Assyrians by night and slew 185,000 of them. II Kings 19:35. 55
THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND ascribed to the Babylonians and Assyrians is now known to have
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS been developed by the nation that preceded them. The system of
writing was of Sumerian origin; likewise the religion, the laws, and a
great deal of the science and commercial practice. Only in the evo¬
lution of government and military tactics and in the development of
the arts was the originating talent of the later conquerors particu¬
larly manifest.
Through the greater part of their history the Sumerians lived in a
loose confederation of city-states, united only for military purposes.
The Sumerian At the head of each was a patesi, who combined the functions of
political system chief priest, commander of the army, and superintendent of the irri¬
gation system. Occasionally one of the more ambitious of these
rulers would extend his power over a number of cities and assume
the title of king. Not until about 2000 b.c., however, were all of the
Sumerian people united under a single authority of the same nation¬
ality as themselves.
The Sumerian economic pattern was relatively simple and permit¬
ted a wider scope for individual enterprise than was generally al¬
The Sumerian lowed in Egypt. The land was never the exclusive property of the
economic pattern king either in theory or in practice. Neither was trade or industry a
monopoly of the government. The temples, however, seem to have
fulfilled many of the functions of a collectivist state. They owned a
large portion of the land and operated business enterprises. Because
the priests alone had the technical knowledge to calculate the sea¬
sons and lay out canals, they controlled the irrigation system. The
masses of the people had little they could call their own. Many of
them were serfs, but even those who were technically free were lit¬
tle better off, forced as they were to pay high rents and to labor on
public works. Slavery in the strict sense of the word was not an im¬
portant institution.
Agriculture was the chief economic pursuit of most of the citi¬
zens, and the Sumerians were excellent farmers. By virtue of their

Diorama of a Part of Ur about 2000 b.c. A modern archaeologist’s conception.

Walls are omitted to show interiors at left.
knowledge of irrigation they produced amazing crops of cereal SUMERIAN ORIGINS
grains and subtropical fruits. Since most of the land was divided into
large estates held by the rulers, the priests, and the army officers, the
average rural citizen was either a tenant farmer or a serf. Commerce
was the second most important source of the nation’s wealth. A Agriculture

flourishing trade was established with all of the surrounding coun¬

tries, revolving around the exchange of metals and timber from the
north and west for agricultural products and manufactured goods
from the lower valley. Nearly all of the familiar adjuncts of business
were highly developed; bills, receipts, notes, and letters of credit
were regularly used.
The most distinctive achievement of the Sumerians was their sys¬
tem of law. It was the product of a gradual evolution of local usage,
but it was finally incorporated into a comprehensive code after the Sumerian law

middle of the third millennium. Only a few fragments of this law

have survived in their original form, but the famous code of
Hammurabi, the Babylonian king, is now recognized to have been
little more than a revision of the code of the Sumerians. Ultimately
this code became the basis of the laws of nearly all of the Semites—
Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Hebrews.
The following may be regarded as the essential features of the Essential features

Sumerian law: of Sumerian law

(1) The lex talionis, or law of retaliation in kind—“an eye for an

eye, a tooth for a tooth, a limb for a limb,” etc.
(2) Semiprivate administration of justice. It was incumbent upon
the victim himself or his family to bring the offender to justice. The
court served principally as an umpire in the dispute between the
plaintiff and defendant, not as an agency of the state to maintain
public security, although constables attached to the court might
assist in the execution of the sentence.
(3) Inequality before the law. The code divided the population
into three classes: patricians or aristocrats; burghers or commoners;
serfs and slaves. Penalties were graded according to the rank of the
victim, but also in some cases according to the rank of the offender.
The killing or maiming of a patrician was a much more serious
offense than a similar crime committed against a burgher or a slave.
On the other hand, when a patrician was the offender he was pun¬
ished more severely than a man of inferior status would be for the
same crime. The origin of this curious rule was probably to be
found in considerations of military discipline. Since the patricians
were army officers and therefore the chief defenders of the state,
they could not be permitted to give vent to their passions or to in¬
dulge in riotous conduct.
(4) Inadequate distinction between accidental and intentional
homicide. A person responsible for killing another accidentally did
not escape penalty, as he would under modern law, but had to pay a
fine to the family of the victim, apparently on the theory that chil- 57
THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND dren were the property of their fathers and wives the property of
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS their husbands.
Quite as much as their law, the religion of the Sumerians illumi¬
nates their social attitudes and the character of their culture. They
did not succeed in developing a very exalted religion; yet it occu¬
pied an important place in their lives. To begin with, it was
polytheistic and anthropomorphic. They believed in a number of
gods and goddesses, each a distinct personality with human at¬
tributes. Shamash, the sun god; Enlil, the lord of the rain and wind;
and Ishtar, the goddess of the female principle in nature, were only
a few of them. Although the Sumerians had a special deity of the
plague in the person of the god Nergal, their religion was really
monistic in the sense that they regarded all of their deities as capable
of both good and evil.
The Sumerian religion was a religion for this world exclusively; it
offered no hope for a blissful, eternal afterlife. The afterlife was a
mere temporary existence in a dreary, shadowy place which later
came to be called Sheol. Here the ghosts of the dead lingered for a
time, perhaps a generation or so, and then disappeared. No one
could look forward to resurrection in another world and a joyous
eternal existence as a recompense for the evils of this life; the vic¬
tory of the grave was complete. In accordance with these beliefs the
Male Votive Figure, Sumer.
Sumerians bestowed only limited care upon the bodies of their
This statue of white gypsum dead. No mummification was practiced, and no elaborate tombs
colored with bitumen shows were built. Corpses were commonly interred beneath the floor of
the huge staring eyes charac¬
the house without a coffin and with comparatively few articles for
teristic of Mesopotamian art.
the use of the ghost.
Spiritual content had no place of conspicuous importance in this
religion. As we have seen, the gods were not spiritual beings but
A religion creatures cast in the human mold, with most of the weaknesses and
neither ethical passions of mortal men. Nor were the purposes of the religion any
nor spiritual
more spiritual. It provided no blessings in the form of solace, Uplift
of the soul, or oneness with God. If it benefited man at all, it did so
chiefly in the form of material gain—abundant harvests and prosper¬
ity in business. At the same time, the religion did, at least, have an
ethical content. All the major deities in the Sumerian pantheon were
extolled in hymns as lovers of truth, goodness, and justice. The god¬
dess Nanshe, for example, was said “to comfort the orphan, to make
disappear the widow, to set up a place of destruction for the
mighty.” Yet the same deities who personified these noble ideals
created such evils as falsehood and strife, and endowed every human
being with a sinful nature. “Never,” it was said, “has a sinless child
been born to its mother.” 2
A dominant idea in the Sumerian religion was the notion that man
was created in order that he might serve the gods—not merely by
worshipping them, but also by giving them food. This notion was

58 2 S. N. Kramer, History Begins at Sumer, pp. 106-107.

revealed in the famous Creation and Flood epics, which provided SUMERIAN ORIGINS
the framework for the much later Hebrew stories in the Old Testa¬
ment. The Creation epic related the magic triumph of the god
Marduk over the jealous and cowardly gods who had created him,
the formation of the world out of the body of one of his slain rivals, The Creation and

and finally, in order that the gods might be fed, the making of man Flood epics

out of clay and dragon’s blood. The whole account was crude and
revolting, with nothing in it to appeal to a spiritual or moral sense.
Almost as barbarous was the Sumerian version of the Flood. Grown
jealous of man, the gods decided to destroy the whole race of
mortals by drowning. One of their number, however, betrayed the
secret to a favorite inhabitant of the earth, instructing him to build
an ark for the salvation of himself and his kind. The flood raged for
seven days, until the whole earth was covered with water. Even the
gods “crouched like a dog on the wall.” Finally the tumult was
stilled and the waters subsided. The favored man came forth from
the ark and offered grateful sacrifice. As a reward he was given “life
like a god” and translated to “the place where the sun rises.”
In the field of intellectual endeavor the Sumerians achieved no Intellectual

small distinction. They produced a system of writing which was achievements

destined to be used for a thousand years after the downfall of their

nation. This was the celebrated cuneiform writing, consisting of
wedge-shaped characters imprinted on clay tablets with a square-
tipped reed. At first a pictographic system, it was gradually trans¬
formed into an aggregate of syllabic and phonetic signs, some 350 in
number. No alphabet was ever developed out of it. The Sumerians
wrote nothing that could be called philosophy, but they did make
some notable beginnings in science. In mathematics, for example,
they surpassed the Egyptians in every field except geometry. They
discovered the processes of multiplication and division and even the
extraction of square and cube root. Their systems of numeration
and of weights and measures were duodecimal, with the number
sixty as the most common unit. They invented the water clock and
the lunar calendar, the latter an inaccurate division of the year into
months based upon cycles of the moon. In order to bring it into
harmony with the solar year, an extra month had to be added from
time to time. Astronomy was little more than astrology, and medi¬ Gudea of Lagash. A black dio-
rite statue of the late Sumerian
cine was a curious compound of herbalism and magic. The reper¬
ruler.
tory of the physician consisted primarily of charms to exorcise the
evil spirits which were believed to be the cause of the disease.
As artists, the Sumerians excelled in metalwork, gem carving, and
sculpture. They produced some remarkable specimens of naturalis¬
tic art in their weapons, vessels, jewelry, and animal representations, Sumerian art

which revealed alike a technical skill and a gift of imagination. Evi¬

dently religious conventions had not yet imposed any paralyzing in¬
fluence, and consequently the artist was still free to follow his own
impulses. Architecture, on the other hand, was distinctly inferior,
probably because of the limitations enforced by the scarcity of 59
 Left: The Great Ziggurat, or Flat-topped Temple at Ur. Right: Fragments of
Jewelry Found at Ur in Two Graves of Ladies-in-waiting to the Queen. The
gold jewelry is the oldest in the world.

good building materials. Since there was no stone in the valley, the
architect had to depend upon sun-dried brick. The characteristic
Sumerian edifice, extensively copied by their Semitic successors,
was the ziggurat, a terraced tower set on a platform and surmounted
by a shrine. Its construction was massive, its lines were monotonous,
and little architectural ingenuity was exhibited in it. The royal
tombs and private houses showed more originality. It was in them
that the Sumerian inventions of the arch, the vault, and the dome
were regularly employed, and the column was used occasionally.

3. OLD BABYLONIAN “CONTRIBUTIONS”

Although the Old Babylonians were an alien nation, they had

lived long enough in close contact with the Sumerians to be influ¬
The shortcomings enced profoundly by them. They had no culture of their own
of the Old worthy of the name when they came into the valley, and in general
Babylonians
they simply appropriated what the Sumerians had already devel¬
oped. With s6 excellent a foundation to build upon, they should
have made remarkable progress; but such was not the case. When
they ended their history, the state of civilization in the Tigris-
Euphrates valley was little more advanced than when they began.
First among the significant changes which the Old Babylonians
made in their cultural inheritance may be mentioned the political
Changes in the and legal. As military conquerors holding in subjection numerous
system of law vanquished nations, they found it necessary to establish a consoli¬
dated state. Vestiges of the old system of local autonomy were
swept away, and the power of the king of Babylon was made su¬
preme. Kings became gods, or at least claimed divine origin. A sys¬
tem of royal taxation was adopted as well as compulsory military
service. The system of law was also changed to conform to the new
condition of centralized despotism. The list of crimes against the
60 state was enlarged, and the king’s officers assumed a more active role
in apprehending and punishing offenders, although it was still im¬ OLD BABYLONIAN
possible for any criminal to be pardoned without the consent of the "CONTRIBUTIONS"
victim or the victim’s family. The severity of penalties was de¬
cidedly increased, particularly for crimes involving any suggestion
of treason or sedition. Such apparently trivial offenses as “gadding
about” and “disorderly conduct of a tavern” were made punishable
by death, probably on the assumption that they would be likely to
foster disloyal activities. Whereas under the Sumerian' law the har¬
boring of fugitive slaves was punishable merely by a fine, the
Babylonian law made it a capital crime. According to the Sumerian
code, the slave who disputed his master’s rights over him was to be
sold; the Code of Hammurabi prescribed that he should have his ear
cut off. Adultery was also made a capital offense, whereas under the
Sumerian law it did not even necessarily result in divorce. In a few
particulars the new system of law revealed some improvement.
Wives and children sold for debt could not be held in bondage for
longer than four years, and a female slave who had borne her master
a child could not be sold at all.
The Old Babylonian laws also reflect a more extensive develop¬
ment of business than that which existed in the preceding culture.
That a large middle class traded for profit and enjoyed a privileged
position in society is evidenced by the fact that the commercial
provisions of Hammurabi’s code were based upon the principle of
“Let the buyer beware.” The Babylonian rulers did not believe in a
regime of free competition, however. Trade, banking, and industry
were subject to elaborate regulation by the state. There were laws
regarding partnership, storage, and agency; laws respecting deeds,
wills, and the taking of interest on money; and a host of others. For
a deal to be negotiated without a written contract or without wit¬
nesses was punishable by death. Agriculture, which was still the
occupation of a majority of the citizens, did not escape regulation. Gold Jewelry from Ur, ca.
3500-2800 B.C.
The code provided penalties for failure to cultivate a field and for
neglect of dikes and canals. Both government ownership and private
tenure of land were permitted; but, regardless of the status of the
owner, the tenant farmer was required to pay two-thirds of all he
produced as rent.
Religion at the hands of the Old Babylonians underwent numer¬
ous changes both superficial and profound. Deities that had been
venerated by the Sumerians were now neglected and new ones Changes in

exalted in their stead. They carried no spiritual significance, how¬ religion

ever, conveying no promise of the resurrection of man from the

dead or of personal immortality. The Old Babylonians were no more
otherworldly in their outlook than the Sumerians. The religions of
both peoples were fundamentally materialistic.
Equally noteworthy was an increase in superstition. Astrology,
divination, and other forms of magic took on added significance. A
morbid consciousness of sin gradually displaced the essentially 61
THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND amoral attitude of the Sumerians. In addition, an increased emphasis
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS was placed upon the worship of demons. Nergal, the god of the
plague, came to be envisaged as a hideous monster seeking every
chance to strike down his victims. Hordes of other demons and
malevolent spirits lurked in the darkness and rode through the air
The increase in bringing terror and destruction to all in their path. Against them
superstition there was no defense except sacrifices and magic charms. If the Old
Babylonians did not invent witchcraft, they were at least the first
“civilized” people to magnify it to serious proportions. Their laws
invoked the death penalty against it, and there is evidence that the
power df witches was widely feared. Whether the growth of
demonology and witchcraft was a result of the increasing unhealth-
fulness of the climate of the Tigris-Euphrates valley, or of the needs
of a centralized, conquering state to inspire fear in its subjects is a
question which cannot be answered; but it is probable that the latter
is the chief explanation.
There seems to be little doubt that intellectually and artistically
the Mesopotamian civilization suffered a partial decline during the
The decline period of Babylonian rule. This was not the first instance of cultural
of intellect and
retrogression in history, but it was one of the most pronounced.
the arts
Nothing of great importance was added to the scientific discoveries
of the Sumerians, except for advancement in mathematics; they dis¬
covered, for example, the solution of quadratic equations. Literature
showed some improvement over the earlier writings. A kind of
prototype of the Book of Job, the so-called Babylonian Job,
was written in this period. It relates the story of a pious sufferer
who is afflicted he knows not why, and it contains some mature re¬
flections on the helplessness of man and the impenetrable mysteries
of the universe. As an example of Oriental philosophy it is not with¬
out merit. The graphic arts, on the other hand, definitely deteri¬
orated. The Babylonians lacked the creative interest and talent to

Panel of Glazed Brick, Babylon, Sixth Century b.c. An ornamental relief on a

background of earth brown. The lion is in blue, white, and yellow glazes.
surpass the fresh and ingenious carving and engraving of the THE METAMORPHOSIS
Sumerians. Moreover, sculpture fell under the domination of reli¬ UNDER ASSYRIA
gious and political conventions, with the result that originality was
stifled.

4. THE METAMORPHOSIS UNDER ASSYRIA

Of all the peoples of the Mesopotamian area after the time of the
Sumerians, the Assyrians went through the most completely inde¬
pendent evolution. For several centuries they had lived a compara¬ The evolution of

tively isolated existence on top of their small plateau in the upper Assyrian

supremacy
valley of the Tigris. Eventually they came under the influence of
the Babylonians, but not until after the course of their own history
had been partially fixed. As a consequence, the period of Assyrian
supremacy (from about 1300 b.c. to 612 b.c.) had more nearly a pe¬
culiar character than any other era of Mesopotamian history.
The Assyrians were preeminently a nation of warriors; not be¬
cause they were racially different from any of the other Semites,
but because of the special conditions of their own environment. The A nation of

limited resources of their original home and the constant danger of warriors

attack from hostile nations around them forced the development of

warlike habits and imperial ambitions. It is therefore not strange that
their greed for territory should have known no limits. The more
they conquered, the more they felt they had to conquer, in order to
protect what they had already gained. Every success excited ambi¬
tion and riveted the chains of militarism more firmly than ever. Dis¬
aster was inevitable.
The exigencies of war determined the whole character of the
Assyrian system. The state was a great military machine. The army
commanders were at once the richest and the most powerful class in Features of the

the country. Not only did they share in the plunder of war, but Assyrian

militarism
they were frequently granted huge estates as rewards for victory.
At least one of them, Sargon II, dared to usurp the throne. The mili¬
tary establishment itself represented the last word in preparedness.
The standing army greatly exceeded in size that of any other nation
of the Near Orient. New and improved armaments and techniques
of fighting gave to the Assyrian soldiers unparalleled advantages.
Iron swords, heavy bows, long lances, battering rams, fortresses on
wheels, and metal breastplates, shields, and helmets were only a few
examples of their superior equipment.
But swords and spears and engines of war were not their only in¬
struments of combat. As much as anything else the Assyrians de¬
pended upon frightfulness as a means of overcoming their enemies. Terrorism

Upon soldiers captured in battle, and sometimes upon noncombat¬

ants as well, they inflicted unspeakable cruelties—skinning them
alive, impaling them on stakes, cutting off ears, noses, and sex
organs, and then exhibiting the mutilated victims in cages for the 63
THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND benefit of cities that had not yet surrendered. Accounts of these
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS cruelties are not taken from atrocity stories circulated by their ene¬
mies; they come from the records of the Assyrians themselves.
Their chroniclers boasted of them as evidences of valor, and the
people believed in them as guaranties of security and power. It is
clear why the Assyrians were the most hated of all the nations of
antiquity.
Seldom has the decline of an empire been so swift and so complete
as was that of Assyria. In spite of her magnificent armaments and
The tragedy of her wholesale destruction of her foes, Assyria’s period of imperial
Assyrian mili¬ splendor lasted little more than a century. Nation after nation con¬
tarism
spired against her and finally accomplished her downfall. Her ene¬
mies took frightful vengeance. The whole land was so thoroughly
sacked and the people so completely enslaved or exterminated that it
has been difficult to trace any subsequent Assyrian influence upon
history. The power and security which military strength was sup¬
posed to provide proved a mockery in the end. If Assyria had been
utterly defenseless, her fate could hardly have been worse.
With so complete an absorption in military pursuits, it was in¬
evitable that the Assyrians should have neglected in some measure
Assyrian political the arts of peace. Industry and commerce appear to have declined
and economic under the regime of the Assyrians; for such pursuits were generally
achievements
scorned as beneath the dignity of a soldierly people. The mini¬
mum of manufacturing and trade which had to be carried on
was left quite largely to the Arameans, a people closely related to
the Phoenicians and the Hebrews. The Assyrians themselves pre¬
ferred to derive their living from agriculture. The land system in¬
cluded both public and private holdings. The temples held the
largest share of the landed wealth. Although the estates of the
crown were likewise extensive, they were constantly being dimin¬
ished by grants to army officers.
Neither the economic nor the social order was sound. The fre¬
quent military campaigns depleted the energies and resources of the
Defects nation. In the course of time the army officers became a pampered
in the economic aristocracy, delegating their duties to their subordinates and devot¬
system
ing themselves to luxurious pleasures. The stabilizing influence of a
prosperous and intelligent middle class was precluded by the rule
that only foreigners and slaves could engage in commercial activi¬
ties. Yet more serious was the treatment accorded to the lower
classes, the serfs and the slaves. The former comprised the bulk of
the rural population. Some of them cultivated definite portions of
their master’s estates and retained a part of what they produced for
themselves. Others were “empty” men, without even a plot to culti¬
vate and dependent on the need for seasonal labor to provide for
their means of subsistence. All were extremely poor and were sub¬
ject to the additional hardships of labor on public works and com¬
64 pulsory military service. The slaves, who were chiefly an urban
 Head of Ramses II,
ele or Grave Marker. It shows the de-
Shawabty (“to answer”) Figures,
ased being presented to the Sun god on his ca. 1400 b.c. These were put in the
rone. She is holding her heart in her hand. tomb to do any degrading work
the rich man might be called upon
to do in the next world.

Part of the Egyptian “Book of the Dead.” Painted limestone figures, ca.
A collection of magic formulas to enable 1300 B.C.
the deceased to gain admission to the realm
of Osiris and to enjoy its eternal benefits. A hieroglyphic character for the idea
“Millions of Years,” 500-330 B.c.

Thutmose III as Amon, Bronze Bull, Symbol of Strength. Arabian,

1450 b.c. The Pharaoh wears VI cent. B.c.

1 carved sandstone capital, ca. 370 b.c., the crown and the beard of
epresenting a bundle of papyrus reeds. the god, and carries a scimi¬
tar and the symbol of “life.”
 lryns

Knossus

^ Beirui
( Sidoni
\TyreJ

THE EARLY EMPIRES

OF THE NEAR ORIENT
Minoan-Mycenaean civilizations,
about 3000 to 2000 B.C.

Old Babylonian Empire,

about 2100 B.C.

Hittite Empire,
about 2000 to 1200 B.C

Egyptian Empire,
about 1450 B.C.

Phoenician Empire,
about 900 B.C.
working class, were of two different types: the domestic slaves, who THE METAMORPHOSIS
performed household duties and sometimes engaged in business for UNDER ASSYRIA
their masters; and the war captives. The former were not numerous
and were allowed a great deal of freedom, even to the extent of
owning property. The latter suffered much greater miseries. Bound
by heavy shackles, they were compelled to labor to the point of ex¬
haustion in building roads, canals, and palaces.
Whether the Assyrians adopted the law of the Old Babylonians
has never been settled. Undoubtedly they were influenced by it, but
several of the features of Hammurabi’s code are entirely absent. Assyrian law

Notable among these are the lex talionis and the system of gradation
of penalties according to the rank of the victim and the offender.
Whereas the Babylonians prescribed the most drastic punishments
for crimes suggestive of treason or sedition, the Assyrians reserved
theirs for such offenses as abortion and unnatural vice, probably for
the military reason of preventing a decline in the birth rate. Another
contrast is the more complete subjection of Assyrian women. Wives
were treated as chattels of their husbands, the right of divorce was
placed entirely in the hands of the male, a plurality of wives was
permitted, and all married women were forbidden to appear in pub¬
lic with their faces unveiled. Here, according to Professor Olm-
stead, was the beginning of the Oriental seclusion of women.3
That a military nation like the Assyrians should not have taken
first rank in intellectual achievement is easily understandable. The
atmosphere of a military campaign is not favorable to reflection or Scientific

disinterested research. Yet the demands of successful campaigning achievements

may lead to a certain accumulation of knowledge, for practical

problems have to be solved. Under such circumstances the Assyrians
accomplished some measure of scientific progress. They appear to
have divided the circle into 360 degrees and to have estimated loca¬
tions on the surface of the earth in something resembling latitude
and longitude. They recognized and named five planets and
achieved some success in predicting eclipses. Since the health of
armies is important, medicine received considerable attention. More
than 500 drugs, both vegetable and mineral, were catalogued and
their uses indicated. Symptoms of various diseases were described
and were generally interpreted as due to natural causes, although in¬
cantations and the prescription of disgusting compounds to drive
out demons were still commonly employed as methods of treatment.
In the domain of art the Assyrians surpassed the Old Babylonians
and at least equaled the work of the Sumerians, although in different
form. Sculpture was the art most highly developed, particularly in The excellence

of Assyrian art
the low reliefs. These portrayed dramatic incidents of war and the
hunt with the utmost fidelity to nature and a vivid description of
movement. The Assyrians delighted in depicting the cool bravery of

A. T. E. Olmstead, History of Assyria, p. 553. 65

 Assyrian Relief Sculp¬
ture. This panel de¬
picts Assurbanipal
hunting lions.

the hunter in the face of terrific danger, the ferocity of lions at bay,
and the death agonies of wounded beasts. Unfortunately this art was
limited almost entirely to the two themes of war and sport. Its pur¬
pose was to glorify the exploits of the ruling class. Architecture
ranked second to sculpture from the standpoint of artistic excel¬
lence. Assyrian palaces and temples were built of stone, obtained
from the mountainous areas of the north, instead of the mud brick
of former times. Their principal features were the arch and the
dome. The column was also used but never very successfully. The
chief demerit of this architecture was its hugeness, which the
Asyrians appeared to regard as synonymous with beauty.

5. THE CHALDEAN RENASCENCE

The Mesopotamian civilization entered its final stage with the

overthrow of Assyria and the establishment of Chaldean supremacy.
The Chald ean This stage is often called the Neo-Babylonian, because Nebuchad¬
or final stage in nezzar and his followers restored the capital at Babylon and at¬
Mesopotamian
tempted to revive the culture of Hammurabi’s time. As might have
civilization
been expected, their attempt was not wholly successful. The Assyr¬
ian metamorphosis had altered that culture in various profound and
ineffaceable ways. Besides, the Chaldeans themselves had a history of
their own which they could not entirely escape. Nevertheless, they
did manage to revive certain of the old institutions and ideals. They
restored the ancient law and literature, the essentials of the Old
Babylonian form of government, and the economic system of their
supposed ancestors with its dominance of industry and trade. Far¬
ther than this they were unable to go.
It was in religion that the failure of the Chaldean renascence was
most conspicuous. Although Marduk was restored to his traditional
place at the head of the pantheon, the system of belief was little
66 more than superficially Babylonian. What the Chaldeans really did
was to develop an astral religion. The gods were divested of their THE CHALDEAN
limited human qualities and exalted into transcendent, omnipotent RENASCENCE
beings. They were actually identified with the planets themselves.
Marduk became Jupiter, Ishtar became Venus, and so on. Though
still not entirely aloof from man, they certainly lost their character The astral religion

as beings who could be cajoled and threatened and coerced by of the Chaldeans

magic. They ruled the universe almost mechanically. While their

immediate intentions were sometimes discernible, their ultimate
purposes were inscrutable.
Two significant results flowed from these amazing conceptions.
The first was an attitude of fatalism. Since the ways of the gods
were past finding out, all that man could do was to resign himself to The growth of

his fate. It behooved him therefore to submit absolutely to the gods, fatalism

to trust in them implicitly, in the vague hope that the results in the
end would be good. Thus arose for the first time in history the con¬
ception of piety as submission—a conception which was adopted in
several other religions, as we shall see in succeeding chapters. For
the Chaldeans it implied no otherwordly significance; one did not
resign himself to calamities in this life in order to be justified in the
next. The Chaldeans had no interest in a life to come. Submission
might bring certain earthly rewards, but in the main, as they con¬
ceived it, it was not a means to an end at all. It was rather the ex¬
pression of an attitude of despair, of humility in the face of mys¬
teries that could not be fathomed.
The second great result which came from the growth of an astral
religion was the development of a stronger spiritual consciousness.
This is revealed in the penitential hymns of unknown authors and in The development

the prayers which were ascribed to Nebuchadnezzar and other of a spiritual

consciousness
kings as the spokesmen for the nation. In most of them the gods are
addressed as exalted beings who are concerned with justice and
righteous conduct on the part of men, although the distinction be¬
tween ceremonial and genuine morality is not always sharply
drawn. It has been asserted by one author that these hymns could
have been used by the Hebrews with little modification except for
the substitution of the name of Yahweh for that of the Chaldean
god.4
With the gods promoted to so lofty a plane, it was perhaps in¬
evitable that man should have been abased. Creatures possessed of
mortal bodies could not be compared with the transcendent, pas¬ The abasement

sionless beings who dwelt in the stars and guided the destinies of the of man

earth. Man was a lowly creature, sunk in iniquity and vileness, and
hardly even worthy of approaching the gods. The consciousness of
sin already present in the Babylonian and Assyrian religions now
reached a stage of almost pathological intensity. In the hymns the
sons of men are compared to prisoners, bound hand and foot, lan-

4 Morris Jastrow, The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 217. 67

THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND guishing in darkness. Their transgressions are “seven times seven.”
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS Their misery is increased by the fact that their evil nature has
prompted them to sin unwittingly.5 Never before had men been re¬
garded as so hopelessly depraved, nor had religion been fraught with
so gloomy a view of life.
Curiously enough, the pessimism of the Chaldeans does not appear
to have affected their morality very much. So far as the evidence
Chaldean reveals, they indulged in no rigors of asceticism. They did not
morality mortify the flesh, nor did they even practice self-denial. Apparently
they took it for granted that man could not avoid sinning, no matter
how hard he tried. They seem to have been just as deeply engrossed
in the material interests of life and in the pursuit of the pleasures of
the senses as any of the earlier nations. Indeed, it seems that they
were even more greedy and sensual. Occasional references were
made in their prayers and hymns to reverence, kindness, and purity
of heart as virtues, and to oppression, slander, and anger as vices, but
these were intermingled with ritualistic conceptions of cleanness
and uncleanness and with expressions of desire for physical satisfac¬
tions. When the Chaldeans prayed, it was not always that their gods
would make them good, but more often that they would grant long
years, abundant offspring, and luxurious living.
Aside from religion, the Chaldean culture differed from that of
the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians chiefly in regard to scien¬
Chaldean tific achievements. Without doubt the Chaldeans were the most
achievements in capable scientists in all of Mesopotamian history, although their ac¬
astronomy
complishments were limited primarily to astronomy. They worked
out the most elaborate system for recording the passage of time that
had yet been devised, with their invention of the seven-day week
and their division of the day into twelve double-hours of 120 min¬
utes each. They kept accurate records of their observation of
eclipses and other celestial occurrences for more than 350 years—
until long after the downfall of their empire. The motivating force
behind Chaldean astronomy was religion. The chief purpose of
mapping the heavens and collecting astronomical data was to dis¬
cover the future the gods had prepared for the race of men. Since
the planets were gods themselves, that future could best be divined
in the movements of the heavenly bodies. Astronomy was therefore
primarily astrology.
Sciences other than astronomy continued in a backward state.
There is evidence that the Chaldeans knew the principle of the
Other aspects of zero and laid at least some of the foundations of algebra. Medicine
Chaldean culture
showed little advance beyond the stage it had reached under the
Assyrians. The same was true of the remaining aspects of Chaldean
culture. Art differed only in its greater magnificence. Literature,
dominated by the antiquarian spirit, revealed a monotonous lack of

68 5 Ibid.., pp. 471-74.

originality. The writings of the Old Babylonians were extensively THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
copied and reedited, but they were supplemented by little that was AND ITS HISTORY
new.

6. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE AND ITS HISTORY

Comparatively little is known of the Persians before the sixth cen¬

tury b.c. Up to that time they appear to have led an obscure and
peaceful existence on the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf. Their The Persian

homeland afforded only modest advantages. On the east it was background

hemmed in by high mountains, and its coast line was destitute of

harbors. The fertile valleys of the interior, however, were capable
of providing a generous subsistence for a limited population. Save
for the development of an elaborate religion, the people had made
little progress. They had no system of writing, but they did have a
spoken language closely related to Sanskrit and to the languages of
ancient and modern Europe. It is for this reason alone and not be¬
cause of race that they are accurately referred to as an Indo-
European people. At the dawn of their history they were not an in¬
dependent nation but were vassals of the Medes, a kindred people
who ruled over a great empire north and east of the Tigris River.
In 559 b.c. a prince by the name of Cyrus became king of a south¬
ern Persian tribe. About five years later he made himself ruler of all
the Persians and then developed an ambition for dominion over The rise of Cyrus

neighboring peoples. As Cyrus the Great he has gone down in his¬

tory as one of the most sensational conquerors of all time. Within
the short space of twenty years he founded a vast empire, larger
than any that had previously existed.
The first of the real conquests of Cyrus was the kingdom of
Lydia, which occupied the western half of Asia Minor and was sep¬
arated from the lands of the Medes only by the Halys River, in The conquests

what is now northern Turkey. Perceiving the ambitions of the Per¬ of Cyrus

sians, Croesus, the famous Lydian king, determined to wage a pre¬

ventive war to preserve his own nation from conquest. He formed
alliances with Egypt and Sparta and then consulted the Greek oracle
at Delphi as to the advisability of an immediate attack. According to
Herodotus, the oracle replied that if he would cross the Halys and
assume the offensive he would destroy a great army. He did, but
that army was his own. His forces were completely overwhelmed,
and his prosperous little kingdom was annexed as a province of the
Persian state. Seven years later, in 539 b.c., Cyrus took advantage of
discontent and conspiracies in the Chaldean empire to capture the
city of Babylon. His victory was an easy one, for he had the assist¬
ance of the Jews within the city and of the Chaldean priests, who
were dissatisfied with the policies of their king. The conquest of the
Chaldean capital made possible the rapid extension of control over 69
THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND the whole empire and thereby added the Fertile Crescent to the do¬
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS mains of Cyrus.
The great conqueror died in 529 b.c., apparently as the result of
wounds received in a war with barbarian tribes. Soon afterward a
The successors succession of troubles overtook the state he had founded. Like so
of Cyrus many other empire builders both before and since, he had devoted
too much energy to conquest and not enough to internal develop¬
ment. He was succeeded by his son Cambyses, who conquered
Egypt in 525 b.c. During the new king’s absence revolt spread
throughout his Asiatic possessions. Chaldeans, Elamites, and even the
Medes strove to regain their independence. The chief minister of
the realm, abetted by the priests, organized a movement to gain pos¬
session of the throne for a pretender who was one of their puppets.
Upon learning of conditions at home, Cambyses set out from Egypt
with his most dependable troops, but he was murdered on the way.
The most serious of the revolts was finally crushed by Darius, a
powerful noble, who killed the pretender and seized the throne for
himself.
Darius I, or the Great, as he has been called by his admirers, ruled
the empire from 522 to 486 b.c. The early years of his reign were
Darius the Great occupied in suppressing the revolts of subject peoples and in im¬
proving the administrative organization of the state. He completed
the division of the empire into satrapies, or provinces, and fixed the
annual tribute due from each province. He standardized the cur¬
rency and weights and measures. He repaired and completed a prim¬
itive canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. He followed the example
of Cyrus in tolerating and protecting the institutions of subject peo¬
ples. Not only did he restore ancient temples and foster local cults,
but he ordered his satrap of Egypt to codify the Egyptian laws in
consultation with the native priests. But in some of his military ex¬
ploits Darius overreached himself. In order to check the incursions
of the Scythians, he crossed the Hellespont, conquered a large part
of the Thracian coast, and thereby aroused the hostility of the
Athenians. In addition, he increased the oppression of the Ionian
Greeks on the shore of Asia Minor, who had fallen under Persian
domination with the conquest of Lydia. He interfered with their
trade, collected heavier tribute from them, and forced them to serve
in his armies. The immediate result was a revolt of the Ionian cities
with the assistance of Athens. And when Darius attempted to punish
the Athenians for their part in the rebellion, he found himself in¬
volved in a war with nearly all the states of Greece.
Darius the Great died while the war with the Greeks was still rag¬
ing. The struggle was prosecuted vigorously but ineffectively by his
The end of the successors, Xerxes I and Artaxerxes. By 479 b.c. the Persians had
Persian empire
been driven from all of Greece. Though they recovered temporar¬
ily possession of the Ionian islands and continued to hold sway as a
70 major power in Asia, their attempt to extend their dominion into
 THRACE

MACEDON

•Hellespont

Athens BACTRIA

\ LYDIA

^ y CILICIA

Q_. "
crete\__^7 - I SYRIA
•Ecbatana

MEDIA
CYPRUS

Babylon*

^•Jerusalem

Memphis
PERSIA \
EGYPT

ARABIA

The Empire

Royal Highway

1000 miles

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE UNDER DARIUS I • 521-486 B.C.

Europe had come to an end. The last century and a half of the em¬
pire’s existence was marked by frequent assassinations, revolts of
provincial governors, and barbarian invasions, until finally, in 330
b.c., its independence was annihilated by the armies of Alexander

the Great.
Although the Persian government had its defects, it was certainly
superior to most of the others that had existed in the Near Orient.
The Persian kings did not imitate the terrorism of the Assyrians. Significance of

They levied tribute upon conquered peoples, but they generally al¬ the Persian empire

lowed them to keep their own customs, religions, and laws. Indeed,
it may be said that the chief significance of the Persian empire lay in
the fact that it resulted in a synthesis of Near Eastern cultures, in¬
cluding those of Persia itself, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, the Syria-
Palestine coast, and Egypt.
The Persian kings built excellent roads to help hold their empire
together. Most famous was the Royal Road, some 1600 miles in
length. It extended from Susa near the Persian Gulf to Ephesus on Persian

the coast of Asia Minor. So well kept was this highway that the government

king’s messengers, traveling day and night, could cover its entire
length in less than a week. Other roads linked the various provinces
with one or another of the four Persian capitals: Susa, Persepolis,
Babylon, and Ecbatana. Although they naturally contributed to ease
of trade, the highways were all built primarily to facilitate control
over the outlying sections of the empire. 71
 J. PERSIAN CULTURE

The culture of the Persians, in the narrower sense of intellectual

and artistic achievements, was largely derived from that of previous
The eclectic civilizations. Much of it came from Mesopotamia, but a great deal of
culture of Persia
it from Egypt, and some from Lydia and northern Palestine. Their
system of writing was originally the Babylonian cuneiform, but in
time they devised an alphabet of thirty-nine letters, based upon the
alphabet of the Arameans who traded within their borders. In sci¬
ence they accomplished nothing, except to adopt with some slight
modifications the solar calendar of the Egyptians and to encourage
exploration as an aid to commerce. They deserve credit also for
diffusing a knowledge of the Lydian coinage throughout many parts
of western Asia.
It was the architecture of the Persians which gave the most posi¬
tive expression of the eclectic character of their culture. They
The eclectic copied the raised platform and the terraced building style that had
character of
been so common in Babylonia and Assyria. They imitated also the
Persian
winged bulls, the brilliantly colored glazed bricks, and other decora¬
architecture
tive motifs of Mesopotamian architecture. But at least two of the
leading features of Mesopotamian construction were not used by
the Persians at all—the arch and the vault. In place of them they
adopted the column and the colonnade from Egypt. Such matters as
interior arrangement and the use of palm and lotus designs at the
base of columns also point very distinctly toward Egyptian influ¬
ence. On the other hand, the fluting of the columns and the volutes
or scrolls beneath the capitals were not Egyptian but Greek,
adopted not from the mainland of Greece itself but from the Ionian

The Great Palace of Darius and Xerxes at Persepolis. Persian architecture made
use of fluted columns, probably copied from the Greeks, and reliefs resembling
those of the Assyrians.
Two Reliefs from the Staircase of the Great Palace at Persepolis

cities of Asia Minor. If there was anything unique about Persian

architecture, it was the fact that it was purely secular. The great
Persian structures were not temples but palaces. They served to
glorify not gods, but the “King of Kings.” The most famous were
the magnificent residences of Darius and Xerxes at Persepolis. The
latter, built in imitation of the temple at Karnak, had an enormous
central audience-hall containing a hundred columns and surrounded
by innumerable rooms which served as offices and as quarters for
the eunuchs and members of the royal harem.

8. THE ZOROASTRIAN RELIGION

By far the most enduring influence left by the ancient Persians

was that of their religion. Their system of faith was of ancient ori¬
gin. It was already highly developed when they began their con¬ The religion

quests. So strong was its appeal, and so ripe were the conditions for of the Persians

its acceptance, that it spread through most of western Asia. Its doc¬
trines turned other religions inside out, displacing beliefs which had
been held for ages.
Although the roots of this religion can be traced as far back as the
fifteenth century b.c., its real founder was Zoroaster,6 who appears
to have lived in the early sixth century b.c..From him the religion The founding of

Zoroastrianism
derives its name of Zoroastrianism. He seems to have conceived it to
be his mission to purify the traditional beliefs of his people—to
eradicate polytheism, animal sacrifice, and magic—and to establish
their worship on a more spiritual and ethical plane. In spite of his
reforming efforts many of the old superstitions survived and were
gradually fused with the new ideals.

“Zoroaster” is the corrupt Greek form of the Persian name Zarathustra. 73

THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND In many respects Zoroastrianism had a character unique among
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS the religions of the world up to that time. First of all, it was
dualistic—not monistic like the Sumerian and Babylonian religions,
in which the same gods were capable of both good and evil; nor did
Characteristics it make any pretensions to monotheism, or belief in a single divinity,
of Zoroastrianism: as did the Egyptian and Hebrew religions. Two great deities
(1) dualism
ruled over the universe: one, Ahura-Mazda,7 supremely good and
incapable of any wickedness, embodied the principles of light, truth,
and righteousness; the other, Ahriman, treacherous and malignant,
presided over the forces of darkness and evil. The two were en¬
gaged in a desperate struggle for supremacy. Although they were
about evenly matched in strength, the god of light would eventually
triumph, and the world would be saved from the powers of dark¬
ness.
Zoroastrianism included such ideas as the coming of a messiah, the
resurrection of the dead, a last judgment, and the translation of the
(2) messianism redeemed into a paradise eternal. According to the Zoroastrian belief
the world would endure for 12,000 years. At the end of 9000 years
the second coming of Zoroaster would occur as a sign and a promise
of the ultimate redemption of the good. This would be followed in
due course by the miraculous birth of a messiah, whose work would
be the perfection of the good as a preparation for the end of the
world. Finally the last great day would arrive when Ahura-Mazda
would overpower Ahriman and cast him down into the abyss. The
dead would then be raised from their graves to be judged according
to their deserts. The righteous would enter into immediate bliss,
while the wicked would be sentenced to the flames of hell. Ulti¬
mately, though, all would be saved; for the Persian hell, unlike the
Christian, did not last forever.
The Zoroastrian religion was definitely an ethical one. Although it
contained suggestions of predestination, of the election of some
(3) an ethical from all eternity to be saved, in the main it rested upon the assump¬
religion tion that men possessed free will, that they were free to sin or not to
sin, and that they would be rewarded or punished in the afterlife in
accordance with their conduct on earth. Ahura-Mazda commanded
that men should be truthful, that they should love and help one
another to the best of their power, that they should befriend the
poor and practice hospitality. The essence of these broader virtues
was perhaps expressed in another of the god’s decrees: “Whosoever
shall give meat to one of the faithful ... he shall go to Paradise.”
The forms of conduct forbidden were sufficiently numerous and
varied to cover the whole list of the Seven Cardinal Sins of medieval
Christianity and a great many more. Pride, gluttony, sloth, covetous¬
ness, wrathfulness, lust, adultery, abortion, slander, and waste were
among the more typical. The taking of interest on loans to others of
the same faith was described as the “worst of sins,” and the accumu¬
lation of riches was strongly discountenanced. The restraints which

74 7 The name was frequently abbreviated to Mazda.

men were to practice included also a kind of negative Golden Rule: THE MYSTICAL AND
That nature alone is good which shall not do unto another what¬ OTHERWORLDLY HERITAGE
ever is not good for its own self.” 8

9- THE MYSTICAL AND OTHERWORLDLY HERITAGE

FROM PERSIA

The religion of the Persians as taught by Zoroaster did not long

continue in its original state. It was corrupted, first of all, by the
persistence of primitive superstitions, of magic and priestcraft. The The fusion of

farther the religion spread, the more of these relics of barbarism Zoroastrianism

with alien
were engrafted upon it. As the years passed, additional modification
faiths
resulted from the influence of alien faiths, particularly that of the
Chaldeans. The outcome was the growth of a powerful synthesis in
which the primitive priestliness, messianism, and dualism of the Per¬
sians were combined with the pessimism and fatalism of the Neo-
Babylonians.
Out of this synthesis gradually emerged a profusion of cults, alike
in their basic dogmas but according them different emphasis. The
oldest of these cults was Mithraism, deriving its name from Mithras, Mithraism

the chief lieutenant of Mazda in the struggle against the powers of

evil. At first only a minor deity in the religion of Zoroastrianism,
Mithras finally won recognition in the hearts of many of the Per¬
sians as the god most deserving of worship. The reason for this
change was probably the emotional appeal made by the incidents of
his career. He was believed to have lived an earthly existence in¬
volving great suffering and sacrifice. He performed miracles giving
bread and wine to man and ending a drought and also a disastrous
flood. Finally, he created much of the ritual of Zoroastrianism, pro¬
claiming Sunday as the most sacred day of the week and the twenty-
fifth of December as the most sacred day of the year. Since the sun
was the giver of light and the faithful ally of Mithras, his day was
naturally the most sacred. The twenty-fifth of December also
possessed its solar significance: as the approximate date of the winter
solstice it marked the return of the sun from his long journey south
of the Equator. It was in a sense the “birthday” of the sun, since it
connoted the revival of his life-giving powers for the benefit of man.
Exactly when the worship of Mithras became a definite cult is un¬
known, but it was certainly not later than the fourth century b.c. Its
characteristics became firmly established during the period of social The spread

ferment which followed the collapse of Alexander’s empire, and its and influence of

Mithraism
spread at that time was exceedingly rapid. In the last century B.c. it
was introduced into Rome, although it was of little importance in
Italy itself until after 100 a.d. It drew its converts especially from
the lower classes, from the ranks of soldiers, foreigners, and slaves.
Ultimately it rose to the status of one of the most popular religions

8 The quotations in the last paragraph are taken from J. O. Hertzler, The
Social Thought of the Ancient Civilizations, pp. 149-158. 75
THE MESOPOTAMIAN AND of the Empire, the chief competitor of Christianity and of old Ro¬
PERSIAN CIVILIZATIONS man paganism itself. After 275, however, its strength rapidly waned.
How much influence this astonishing cult exerted is impossible to
say. Its superficial resemblance to Christianity is certainly not hard
to perceive, but this does not mean, of course, that the two were
identical, or that one was an offshoot of the other. Nevertheless, it
is probably true that Christianity as the younger of the two rivals
borrowed a good many of its externals from Mithraism, at the same
time preserving its own philosophy essentially untouched.
One of the principal successors of Mithraism in transmitting the
legacy from Persia was Manicheism, founded by Mani, a high-born
Manicheism priest of Ecbatana, about 250 a.d. Like Zoroaster he conceived it to
be his mission to reform the prevailing religion, but he received
scant sympathy in his own country and had to be content with mis¬
sionary ventures in India and western China. About 276 a.d. he was
condemned and crucified by his Persian opponents. Following his
death his teachings were carried by his disciples into practically
every country of western Asia and finally into Italy about 330 a.d.
Large numbers of western Manicheans, the great Augustine among
them, eventually became Christians.
Of all the Zoroastrian teachings, the one that made the deepest
impression upon the mind of Mani was dualism. But Mani gave to
The strict this doctrine a broader interpretation than it had ever received in the
dualism of the
earlier religion. He conceived not merely of two deities engaged in
Manicheans
a relentless struggle for supremacy, but of a whole universe divided
into two kingdoms, each the antithesis of the other. The first was the
kingdom of spirit ruled over by a God eternally good. The second
was the kingdom of matter under the dominion of Satan. Only
spiritual” substances such as fire, light, and the souls of men were
created by God. Darkness, sin, desire, and all things bodily and ma¬
terial owed their origin to Satan.
The moral implications of this rigorous dualism were readily ap¬
parent. Since everything connected with sensation or desire was the
The moral im¬ work of Satan, man should strive to free himself as completely as
plications of
possible from enslavement to his physical nature. He should refrain
dualism
from all forms of sensual enjoyment, the eating of meat, the drink¬
ing of wine, the gratification of sexual desire. Even marriage was
prohibited, for this would result in the begetting of more physical
bodies to people the kingdom of Satan. In addition, man should sub¬
due the flesh by prolonged fasting and infliction of pain. Recogniz¬
ing that this program of austerities would be too difficult for ordi¬
nary mortals, Mani divided the race of mankind into the “perfect”
and the “secular.” Only the former would be obliged to adhere to
the full program as the ideal of what all should hope to attain. To aid
the children of men in their struggle against the powers of darkness,
God had sent prophets and redeemers from time to time to comfort
76 and inspire them. Noah, Abraham, Zoroaster, Jesus, and Paul were
numbered among these divine emissaries; but the last and greatest THE MYSTICAL AND
of them was Mani. OTHERWORLDLY HERITAGE
The influence of Manicheism is very difficult to estimate, but it
was undoubtedly considerable. People of all classes in the Roman
Empire, including some members of the Christian clergy, embraced The influence

its doctrines. In its Christianized form it became one of the principal of Manicheism

sects of the early Church,9 and it exerted some influence upon the
development of the Albigensian heresy as late as the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries.
The third most important cult which developed as an element in
the Persian heritage was Gnosticism (from the Greek gnosis, mean¬
ing knowledge). The name of its founder is unknown, and likewise Gnosticism

the date of its origin, but it was certainly in existence as early as the
first century a.d. It reached the height of its popularity in the latter
half of the second century. Although it gained some followers in
Italy, its influence was confined primarily to the Near East.
The feature which most sharply distinguished this cult from the
others was mysticism. The Gnostics denied that the truths of reli¬
gion could be discovered by reason or could even be made intelligi¬ The mysticism

ble. They regarded themselves as the exclusive possessors of a secret of the Gnostics

spiritual knowledge revealed to them directly by God. This knowl¬

edge was alone important as a guide to faith and conduct.
The combined influence of these several Persian religions was
enormous. Most of them were launched at a time when political and
social conditions were particularly conducive to their spread. The The combined

breakup of Alexander’s empire about 300 b.c. inaugurated a peculiar influence of the

several off-shoots
period in the history of the ancient world. International barriers
of Zoroastrianism
were broken down; there was an extensive migration and inter¬
mingling of peoples; and the collapse of the old social order gave
rise to profound disillusionment and a vague yearning for individual
salvation. Men’s attentions were centered as never before since the
downfall of Egypt upon compensations in a life to come. Under
such circumstances religions of the kind described were bound to
flourish like the green bay tree. Otherwordly, mystical, and mes¬
sianic, they offered the very escape that men were seeking from a
world of anxiety and confusion.
Although not exclusively religious, the heritage left by the Per¬
sians contained few elements of a secular nature. Their form of gov¬
ernment was adopted by the later Roman monarchs, not in its Persian Legacy

purely political aspect, but in its character of a divine-right despot¬

ism. When such emperors as Diocletian and Constantine I invoked
divine authority as a basis for their absolutism and required their
subjects to prostrate themselves in their presence, they were really
submerging the state in the religion as the Persians had done from
the time of Darius. At the same time the Romans were impressed by

0 See pp. 334-35 77

READINGS the Persian idea of a world empire. Darius and his successors con¬
ceived of themselves as the rulers of the whole civilized world, with
a mission to reduce it to unity and, under Ahura-Mazda, to govern
it justly. For this reason they generally conducted their wars with a
minimum of savagery and treated conquered peoples humanely.
Their ideal was a kind of prototype of the Pax Romana. Traces of
Persian influence upon certain Hellenistic philosophies are also dis¬
cernible; but here again it was essentially religious, for it was con¬
fined almost entirely to the mystical theories of the Neo-Platonists
and their philosophical allies.

SELECTED READINGS
• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

Burn, A. R., Persia and the Greeks, New York, 1962.

• Chiera, Edward, They Wrote on Clay, Chicago, 1956 (Phoenix).
• Childe, V. G., What Happened in History, Baltimore, 1946 (Penguin).
• Contenau, G., Everyday Life in Babylonia and Assyria, New York, 1954
(Norton Library). Based on archaeological evidence and well illustrated.
• Cumont, Franz, The Mysteries of Mithra, Chicago, 1903 (Dover). A thorough
analysis, interestingly presented.
• Frankfort, Henri, The Birth of Civilization in the Near East, Bloomington,
Ind., 1951 (Anchor). Brief but useful.
• _, The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man, Chicago, 1946. Contains
evidence of the pessimism of the Mesopotamian peoples.
• Frye, R. N., The Heritage of Persia, New York, 1962 (Mentor).
• Ghirshman, Roman, Iran, Baltimore, 1954 (Penguin).
• Kramer, S. N., History Begins at Sumer, New York, 1959 (Anchor).
• _____, Sumerian Mythology, New York, 1961 (Torchbook).
-, The Sumerians, Their History, Culture, qnd Character, Chicago, 1963.
• Lloyd, Seton, Foundations in the Dust, Baltimore, 1955 (Penguin).
• Neugebauer, Otto, The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, New York, 1969
(Dover).
Olmstead, A. T. E., History of Assyria, New York, 1923. The standard work.
Perhaps a little too favorable.
• -, History of the Persian Empire (Achaemenid Period), Chicago, 1948
(Phoenix). Detailed and complete but somewhat uncritical.
Openheim, A. L., Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization,
Chicago, 1964.
• Woolley, C. L., The Sumerians, New York, 1928 (Norton Library). A
pioneer work, brief and interestingly written.
• -, Dr of the Chaldees, New York, 1965 (Norton Library).
Zaehner, R. C., The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism, New York, 1961.

SOURCE MATERIALS
Barton, G. A., The Royal Inscriptions of Sumer and Akkad, New Haven,
1929-
Harper, R. F., ed., The Code of Hammurabi, Chicago, 1904.
Herodotus, The Persian Wars, Baltimore, 1954 (Penguin).
Hertzler, J. O., The Social Thought of the Ancient Civilizations, New York,
1961, pp. 149-68.
Luckenbill, D. D., ed., Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, Chicago,
78 1926, 2 vols. 6
 CHAPTER

The Hebrew Civilization

I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of
Egypt from the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have none other Gods before me.
Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of
any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for
I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of
them that hate me . . .
—Deuteronomy v. 6-9

Of all the peoples of the ancient Orient, none, with the possible ex¬
ception of the Egyptians, has been of greater importance to the
modern world than the Hebrews. It was the Hebrews, of course, Importance of
who provided much of the background of the Christian religion— the Hebrew

its Commandments, its stories of the Creation and the Flood, its con- cml|Za,ion
cept of God as lawgiver and judge, and more than two-thirds of its
Bible. Hebrew conceptions of morality and political theory have
also profoundly influenced modern nations, especially those in
which the Calvinist faith has been strong. On the other hand, it is
necessary to remember that the Hebrews themselves did not de¬
velop their culture in a vacuum. No more than any other people
were they able to escape the influence of nations around them.

I. HEBREW ORIGINS AND RELATIONS WITH

OTHER PEOPLES

The origin of the Hebrew people is still a puzzling problem. Cer- Origin of the

tainly they were not a separate race, nor did they have any physical Hebrews and their

characteristics sufficient to distinguish them clearly from other na- name

tions around them.
Most scholars agree that the original home of the Hebrews was
the Arabian Desert. The first definite appearance of the founders of
the nation of Israel, however, was in northwestern Mesopotamia. 79
THE HEBREW CIVILIZATION Apparently as early as 1800 b.c. a group of Hebrews under the lead¬
ership of Abraham had settled there. Later Abraham’s grandson
Jacob led a migration westward and began the occupation of Pales¬
tine. It was from Jacob, subsequently called Israel, that the Israelites
Hebrew derived their name. Sometime after 1600 b.c. certain tribes of Is¬
migrations raelites, together with other Hebrews, went down into Egypt to
escape the consequences of famine. They appear to have settled in
the vicinity of the Delta and to have been enslaved by the Pharaoh’s
government. Around 1300-1250 b.c. their descendants found a new
leader in the indomitable Moses, who freed them from bondage, led
them to the Sinai Peninsula, and persuaded them to become wor¬
shipers of Yahweh, a god whose name is sometimes written erro¬
neously as Jehovah. Hitherto Yahweh had been the deity of Hebrew
shepherd folk in the general locality of Sinai. Making use of a
Yahwist cult as a nucleus, Moses welded the various tribes of his fol¬
lowers into a confederation, sometimes called the Yahweh Amphic-
tyony. It was this confederation which played the dominant role in
the conquest of Palestine, or the Land of Canaan.
With its scanty rainfall and rugged topography, Palestine as a
haven for the Children of Israel left much to be desired. For the
The Promised most part it was a barren and inhospitable place. But compared with
Land the arid wastes of Arabia it was a veritable paradise, and it is not sur¬
prising that the leaders should have pictured it as a “land flowing
with milk and honey.” Most of it was already occupied by the
Canaanites, another people of Semitic speech who had lived there
for centuries. Through contact with the Babylonians, Hittites, and
Egyptians they had built up a culture which was no longer primi¬
tive. They practiced agriculture and carried on trade. They knew
the use of iron and the art of writing, and they had adapted the laws
of Hammurabi’s code to the needs of their simpler existence. Their
religion, which was also derived in large part from Babylonia, was
cruel and sensual, including human sacrifice and temple prostitution.
The Hebrew conquest of the land of Canaan was a slow and diffi¬
cult process. Seldom did the tribes unite in a combined attack, and
Efforts even when they did, the enemy cities were well enough fortified to
to conquer the resist capture. After several generations of sporadic fighting the He¬
Promised Land
brews had succeeded in taking only the limestone hills and a few of
the less fertile valleys. In the intervals between wars they mingled
freely with the Canaanites and adopted no small amount of their
culture. Before they had a chance to complete the conquest, they
found themselves confronted by a new and more formidable enemy,
the Philistines, who had come into Palestine from Asia Minor and
from the islands of the Aegean Sea. Stronger than either the He¬
brews or Canaanites, the new invaders rapidly overran the country
and forced the Hebrews to surrender much of the territory they
had already gained. It is from the Philistines that Palestine derives its
80 name.
2. THE RECORD OF POLITICAL HOPES

AND FRUSTRATIONS

The crisis produced by the Philistine conquests served not to dis¬

courage the Hebrews but to unite them and to intensify their ardor
for battle. Moreover, it led directly to the founding of the Hebrew The founding of

monarchy about 1025 b.c. Up to this time the nation had been ruled the Hebrew

monarchy
by “judges,” who possessed little more than the authority of reli¬
gious leaders. But now with a greater need for organization and dis¬
cipline, the people demanded a king to rule them and to go out
before them and fight their battles. The man selected as the first in¬
cumbent of the office was Saul, “a choice young man and a goodly,”
a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
In spite of his popularity at the start, the reign of King Saul was
not a happy one, either for the nation or for the ruler himself. Only
a few suggestions of the reasons are given in the Old Testament ac¬ The reign of

count. Evidently Saul incurred the displeasure of Samuel, the last of King Saul

the great judges, who had expected to remain the power behind the
throne. Before long there appeared on the scene the ambitious
David, who, with the encouragement of Samuel, carried on skillful
maneuvers to draw popular support from the king. Waging his own
military campaigns, he achieved one bloody triumph after another.
By contrast, the armies of Saul met disastrous reverses. Finally the
king himself, being critically wounded, requested his armor-bearer
to kill him. When the latter would not, he drew his own sword, fell
upon it, and died.
David now became king and ruled for forty years. His reign was
one of the most glorious periods in Hebrew history. He smote the
Philistines hip and thigh and reduced their territory to a narrow The mighty David

strip of coast in the south. He united the Twelve Tribes into a con¬
solidated state under an absolute monarch, and he began the con¬
struction of a magnificent capital at Jerusalem. But strong govern¬
ment, military glory, and material splendor were not unmixed bless¬
ings for the people. Their inevitable accompaniments were high
taxation and conscription. As a consequence, before David died,
rumblings of discontent were plainly to be heard in certain parts of
his kingdom.
David was succeeded by his son Solomon, the last of the kings of
the united monarchy. As a result of the nationalist aspirations of
later times, Solomon has been pictured in Hebrew lore as one of the Solomon aspires

wisest, justest, and most enlightened rulers in all history. The facts to Oriehtal

magnificence
of his career furnish little support for such a belief. About all that
can be said in his favor is that he was a shrewd diplomat and an ac¬
tive patron of trade. Most of his policies were oppressive, although
of course not deliberately so. Ambitious to copy the luxury and
magnificence of other Oriental despots, he established a harem of
700 wives and 300 concubines and completed the construction of 81
 The Entrance to King
David’s T omh on
Mount Z.ion, Jerusa¬
lem

sumptuous palaces, stables for 4000 horses, and a costly temple in

Jerusalem. Since Palestine was poor in resources, most of the materi¬
als for the building projects had to be imported. Gold, silver,
bronze, and cedar were brought in in such quantities that the reven¬
ues from taxation and from the tolls levied upon trade were insuffi¬
cient to pay for them. To make up the deficit Solomon ceded
twenty towns and resorted to the corvee, or the system of con¬
scripting labor. Every three months 30,000 Hebrews were drafted
and sent into Phoenicia to work in the forests and mines of King
Hiram of Tyre, from whom the most expensive materials had been
purchased.
Solomon’s extravagance and oppression produced acute discon¬
tent among his subjects. His death in 935 b.c. was the signal for open
The secession of revolt. The ten northern tribes, refusing to submit to his son
the Ten Tribes Rehoboam, seceded and set up their own kingdom. Sectional differ¬
ences played their part also in the disruption of the nation. The
northern Hebrews were sophisticated and accustomed to urban liv¬
ing. They benefited from their location at the crossroads of Near
Eastern trade. While this factor increased their prosperity, it also
caused them to be steeped in foreign influences. By contrast, the
two southern tribes were composed very largely of pastoral and
agricultural folk, loyal to the religion of their fathers, and hating the
ways of the foreigner. Perhaps these differences alone would have
been sufficient in time to break the nation asunder.
After the secession the ten northern tribes came to be known as
the Kingdom of Israel1 while the two southern tribes were called
The fate of henceforth the Kingdom of Judah. For more than two centuries the
Israel and Judah two little states maintained their separate existences. But in 722 b.c.
the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. Its inhabit-

82 1 Or the Kingdom of Samaria, from the name of its capital city.

ants were scattered throughout the vast empire of their conquerors RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION
and were eventually absorbed bv the more numerous population
around them. They have ever since been referred to as the Lost Ten
Tribes of Israel. The Kingdom of Judah managed to survive for
more than a hundred years longer, successfully defying the Assyrian
menace. But in 586 b.c., as we have already learned, it was over¬
thrown by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem was
plundered and burned, and its leading citizens were carried off into
captivity in Babylon. When Cyrus the Persian conquered the
Chaldeans, he freed the Jews and permitted them to return to their
native land. Few were willing to go, and considerable time elapsed
before it was possible to rebuild the temple. From 539 to 332 b.c.
Palestine was a vassal state of Persia. In 332 b.c. it was conquered by
Alexander and after his death was placed under the rule of the
Ptolemies of Egypt. In 63 b.c. it became a Roman protectorate. Its po¬
litical history as a Jewish commonwealth was ended in 70 a.d. after a
desperate revolt which the Romans punished by destroying Jerusa¬
lem and annexing the country as a province. The inhabitants were
gradually diffused through other parts of the Empire.
The destruction of Jerusalem and annexation of the country by
the Romans were the principal factors in the so-called Diaspora, or
dispersion of the Jews from Palestine. Even earlier large numbers of The Diaspora

them had fled into various parts of the Greco-Roman world on ac¬
count of difficulties in their homeland. In their new environment
they rapidly succumbed to foreign influences, a fact which was of
tremendous importance in promoting a fusion of Greek and Orien¬
tal ideas. It was a Hellenized Jew, St. Paul, who was mainly respon¬
sible for remolding Christianity in accordance with Greek philo¬
sophical doctrines.

Model of King Solomon's Temple. Significant details are: A, royal gates; B,

treasury; C, royal palace; D, people’s gate; E, western (wailing) wall; F, priests’
quarters; G, courthouse; H, Solomon’s porch.
 Sidon (
50 miles

BASHAN

Nazareth

KINGDOM OF J ISRAEL

PERAEA
Bethlehem

KINGDOM

-/ Beersheba
—/ •
MOAB
/ JUDAH

PALESTINE AFTER THE DEATH OF KING SOLOMON

3. THE HEBREW RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION

Few peoples in history have gone through a religious evolution

comparable to that of the Hebrews. Its cycle of development ranged
Reasons for the all the way from the crudest superstitions to the loftiest spiritual and
varied evolution ethical conceptions. Part of the explanation is doubtless to be found
of Hebrew
in the peculiar geographic position occupied by the Hebrew people.
religion
Located as they were after their conquest of Canaan on the high¬
road between Egypt and the major civilizations of Asia, they were
bound to be affected by an extraordinary variety of influences.
At least four different stages can be distinguished in the growth of
the Hebrew religion. The first we can call the pre-Mosaic stage,
from the earliest beginnings of the people to approximately 1100
84 b.c. This stage was characterized at first by animism, the worship of
spirits that dwelt in trees, mountains, sacred wells and springs, and RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION
even in stones of peculiar shape. Diverse- forms of magic were prac¬
ticed also at this time—necromancy, imitative magic, scapegoat sac¬
rifices, and so on. Numerous relics of these early beliefs and prac¬ The pre-Mosaic

tices are preserved in the Old Testament. stage

Gradually animism gave way to anthropomorphic gods. How this

transition occurred cannot be determined. Perhaps it was related to
the fact that Hebrew society had become patriarchal, that is, the fa¬ Anthropomorphic

ther exercised absolute authority over the family and descent was gods

traced through the male line. The gods may have been thought to
occupy a similar position in the clan or tribe. Apparently few of the
new deities were as yet given names; each was usually referred to
merely by the generic name of “El,” that is, “God.” They were
guardian deities of particular places and probably of separate tribes.
No national worship of Yahweh was known at this time.
The second stage, which lasted from the twelfth century b.c. to
the ninth, is frequently designated the stage of national monolatry.
The term may be defined as the exclusive worship of one god but The stage of

national
without any denial that other gods exist. Due chiefly to the influ¬
monolatry
ence of Moses, the Hebrews gradually adopted as their national
deity during this period a god whose name appears to have been
written “Jhwh” or “Yhwh.” How it was pronounced no one knows,
but scholars generally agree that it was probably uttered as if spelled
“Yahweh.” The meaning is also a mystery. When Moses inquired of
Yahweh what he should tell the people when they demanded to
know what god had sent him, Yahweh replied: “i am that i am:
and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, i am
hath sent me unto you.” 2
During the time of Moses and for two or three centuries there¬
after Yahweh was a somewhat peculiar deity. He was conceived
almost exclusively in anthropomorphic terms. He possessed a physi¬ Characteristics

of Yahweh
cal body and the emotional qualities of men. He was capricious, on
occasions, and somewhat irascible—as capable of evil and wrathful
judgments as he was of good. His decrees were often quite arbi¬
trary, and he would punish the man who sinned unwittingly just
about as readily as him whose guilt was real.3 Omnipotence was
scarcely an attribute that Yahweh could claim, for his power was
limited to the territory occupied by the Hebrews themselves.
The religion of this stage was neither primarily ethical nor pro¬
foundly spiritual. Yahweh was revered as a supreme lawgiver and as
the stern upholder of the moral order of the universe. According to The supremacy

of law and ritual

Biblical account, he issued the Ten Commandments to Moses on top
of Mount Sinai. Old Testament scholars, however, do not generally
accept this tradition. They admit that a primitive Decalogue may

2 Exodus 3:13-14.
3 By way of illustration, he struck Uzza dead merely because that unfortunate
individual placed his hand upon the Ark of the Covenant to steady it while it
was being transported to Jerusalem. I Chronicles 13:9-10.
THE HEBREW CIVILIZATION have existed in Mosaic times, but they doubt that the Ten Com¬
mandments in the form in which they are preserved in the Book of
Exodus go back any farther than the seventh century. In any event,
it is clear that Moses’ God was interested just about as much in sac¬
rifice and in ritualistic observances as he was in good conduct or in
purity of heart. Moreover, the religion was not vitally concerned
with spiritual matters. It offered naught but material rewards in this
life and none at all in a life to come. Finally, the belief in monolatry
was corrupted by certain elements of fetishism, magic, and even
grosser superstitions that lingered from more primitive times or that
were gradually acquired from neighboring peoples. These varied all
the way from serpent worship to bloody sacrifices and licentious
fertility orgies.
The really important work of religious reform was accom¬
plished by the great prophets—Amos, Hosea, Isaiah,4 and Micah.
The stage of the And their achievements represented the third stage in the devel¬
prophetic opment of the Hebrew religion, the stage of the prophetic revo¬
revolution
lution, which occupied the eighth and seventh centuries b.c. The
great prophets were men of broader vision than any of their fore¬
runners. Their outlook was progressive; they did not demand a
return to some age of simplicity in the past but taught that the
religion should be infused with a new philosophy and a new
conception of the ends it was supposed to serve. Three basic
doctrines made up the substance of their teachings: (i) rudimen¬
tary monotheism—-Yafiweh is the Lord of the universe; He even
makes use of nations other than the Hebrews to accomplish his pur¬
poses; the gods of other peoples are false gods and should not be
worshiped for any reason; (2) Yahweh is a god of righteousness ex¬
clusively; He is not really omnipotent, but His power is limited by
justice and goodness; the evil in the world comes from man not
from God; (3) the purposes of religion are chiefly ethical; Yahweh
cares nothing for ritual and sacrifice, but that men should “seek jus¬
tice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the
widow.” Or as Micah expressed it: “What doth the Lord require of
thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with
thy God?” 5
These doctrines contained a definite repudiation of nearly every¬
thing that the older religion had stood for. Such, however, was ap¬
Contrasts with parently not the intention of the prophets. They conceived it rather
the older religion;
as their mission to restore the religion to its ancient purity. The
political and
crudities within it they regarded as foreign corruptions. But like
social aspects
many such leaders, they builded better than they knew. Their actual
accomplishments went so far beyond their original objectives that

4 Many Old Testament authorities consider the Book of Isaiah the work of
two authors. They ascribe the first part to Isaiah, and the second part, begin¬
ning with Chapter 40, to Deutero-Isaiah, or the Second Isaiah. The Second
Isaiah is more emphatic than the first in denying the existence of the gods of
other peoples. It dates from the period of the Exile.
86 0 Micah 6:8.
Remains of an Ancient Syna¬
gogue at Capernaum. Caper¬
naum was supposed to have
been the scene of many of the
miracles attributed to Jesus.
Here also he called out Peter,
Andrew, and Matthew to be
his disciples.

they amounted to a religious revolution. To a considerable extent

this revolution also had its social and political aspects. Wealth had
become concentrated in the hands of a few. Thousands of small
farmers had lost their freedom and had passed under subjection to
rich proprietors. If we can believe the testimony of Amos, bribery
was so rife in the law courts that the plaintiff in a suit for debt had
merely to give the judge a pair of shoes and the defendant would be
handed over as a slave.6 Overshadowing all was the threat of
Assyrian domination. To enable the nation to cope with that threat,
the prophets believed that social abuses should be stamped out and
the people united under a religion purged of its alien corruptions.
The results of this revolution must not be misinterpreted. It did
eradicate some of the most flagrant forms of oppression, and it
rooted out permanently most of the barbarities that had crept into The religion not

the religion from foreign sources. But the Hebrew faith did not yet yet otherworldly
or mystical
bear much resemblance to modern orthodox Judaism. It contained
little of a spiritual character and hardly a trace of the mystical. In¬
stead of being otherwordly, it was oriented toward this life. Its pur¬
poses were social and ethical—to promote a just and harmonious
society and to abate man’s inhumanity to man—not to confer
individual salvation in an afterlife. As yet there was no belief in
heaven and hell or in Satan as a powerful opponent of God. The
shades of the dead went down into Sheol to linger there for a time
in the dust and gloom and then disappear.
The final significant stage in Hebrew religious evolution was the
post-Exilic stage or the period of Persian influence. This period may
be considered to have covered the years from 539 to about 300 b.c. The post-Exilic

stage
Perhaps enough has been said already to indicate the character of
the influence from Persia. It will be recalled from the preceding

6 Amos 2:6. This, of course, was poetic propaganda and may have been
slightly exaggerated. 87
THE HEBREW CIVILIZATION chapter that Zoroastrianism was a dualistic, messianic, otherwordly,
and esoteric religion. In the period following the Exile these ideas
gained wide acceptance among the Jews. They adopted a belief in
Satan as the Great Adversary and the author of evil. They devel¬
oped an eschatology, including such notions as the coming of a spir¬
itual savior, the resurrection of the dead, and a last judgment. They
turned their attention to salvation in an afterworld as more impor¬
tant than enjoyment of this life. Lastly, they embraced the concep¬
tion of a revealed religion. The Book of Ezekiel, for example, was
asserted to have been prepared by God in heaven and given to the
man whose name it bears with instruction to “eat” it.'

4. HEBREW CULTURE

In certain respects the Hebrew genius was inferior to that of

some other great nations of antiquity. In the first place, it revealed
The limitations no talent for science. Not a single important discovery in any scien¬
of the Hebrew tific field has ever been traced to the ancient Hebrews. Nor were
genius
they particularly adept in appropriating the knowledge of others.
They could not build a bridge or a tunnel except of the crudest sort.
Whether it was from lack of interest in these things or whether it
was because of too deep an absorption in religious affairs is not
clear. In the second place, they seem to have been almost entirely
devoid of artistic skill. Their only examples of the glyptic arts were
engraved seals similar to those made by the Sumerians and Hittites
and used for the purpose of affixing signatures. They had no archi¬
tecture, sculpture, or painting worthy of mention. The famous tem¬
ple at Jerusalem was not a Hebrew building at all but a product of
Phoenician skill, for Solomon imported artisans from Tyre to finish
the more complicated tasks.
It was rather in law, literature, and philosophy that the Hebrew
genius was most perfectly expressed. Although all of these subjects
Hebrew law were closely allied with religion, they did have their secular aspects.
The finest example of Jewish law was the Deuteronomic Code,
which forms the core of the Book of Deuteronomy. Despite claims
of its great antiquity, it was probably an outgrowth of the prophetic
revolution. It was based in part upon an older Code of the Covenant,
which was derived in considerable measure from the laws of the
Canaanites and the Old Babylonians.8 In general, its provisions
were more enlightened than those of Hammurabi’s code. One of
them enjoined liberality to the poor and to the stranger. Another
commanded that the Hebrew slave who had served six years should
be freed, and insisted that he must not be sent away empty. A third
provided that judges and other officers should be chosen by the peo-

7 Ezekiel 3:1-4.
88 8 C. F. Kent, The Message of Israel's Lawgivers, p. 24.
pie and forbade them to accept gifts or to show partiality in any HEBREW CULTURE
form. A fourth condemned witchcraft, divination, and necro¬
mancy. A fifth denounced the punishment of children for the guilt
of their fathers and affirmed the principle of individual responsibil¬
ity for sin. A sixth prohibited the taking of interest on any kind of
loan made by one Jew to another. A seventh required that at the
end of every seven years there should be a “release” of debts.
“Every creditor that lendeth aught unto his neighbour shall release
it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother . . . save
when there shall be no poor among you.” 9
The literature of the Hebrews was by far the best that the ancient
Orient ever produced. Nearly all of it now extant is preserved in the
Old Testament and in the books of the so-called Apocrypha. Except Hebrew literature

for a few fragments like the Song of Deborah in Judges 5, it is not

really so ancient as is commonly supposed. Scholars now recognize
that the Old Testament was built up mainly through a series of col¬
lections and revisions (redactions) in which the old and new frag¬
ments were merged and generally assigned to an ancient author,
Moses, for example. But the oldest of these redactions was not pre¬
pared any earlier than 850 b.c. The majority of the books of the Old
Testament were of even more recent origin, with the exception, of
course, of certain of the chronicles. As one would logically expect,
the philosophical books were of late authorship. Although the bulk
of the Psalms were ascribed to King David, a good many of them
actually refer to events of the Captivity. It seems certain that the
collection as a whole was the work of several centuries. Most recent
of all were the books of Ecclesiastes, Esther, and Daniel, composed
no earlier than the third century b.c. Likewise, the Apocrypha, or
books of doubtful religious authority, did not see the light of day The Shekel of Ancient Israel.
until Hebrew civilization was almost extinct. Some, like Maccabees I Struck between 141 and 137
b.c., this silver coin is approxi¬
and II, relate events of the second century b.c. Others including the
mately half the weight of a
Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Enoch were written under the United States silver dollar.
influence of Greco-Oriental philosophy.
Not all of the writings of the Hebrews had high literary merit. A
considerable number were dull, repetitious chronicles. Nevertheless,
most of them, whether in the form of battle song, prophecy, love Amos' indictment

of social abuses
lyric, or drama, were rich in rhythm, concrete images, and emo¬
tional vigor. Few passages in any language can surpass the scornful
indictment of social abuses voiced by the prophet Amos:

Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the

poor of the land to fail,
Saying, when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell
corn?
And the sabbath that we may set forth wheat,
Making the ephah small, and the shekel great,

Deuteronomy 15:1-4. 89
THE HEBREW CIVILIZATION And falsifying the balances by deceit?
That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair
of shoes;
Yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

The most beautiful of Hebrew love lyrics was the Song of Songs,
or the Song of Solomon. Its theme was quite probably derived from
The Song of an old Canaanite hymn of spring, celebrating the passionate affec¬
Songs tion of the Shulamith or fertility goddess for her lover, but it had
long since lost its original meaning. The following verses are typical
of its sensuous beauty:

I am the rose of Sharon

and the lily of the valleys.
As the lily among thorns,
so is my love among the daughters.

My beloved is white and ruddy,

the chiefest among ten thousand.
His head is as the most fine gold;
his locks are bushy and black as a raven:
His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters,
washed with milk and fitly set.
His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers;
his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.

How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter!

The joints of thy thighs are like jewels,
the work of the hands of a cunning workman.

Few authorities would deny that the supreme achievement of the

Hebrew literary genius was the Book of Job. In form the work is a
The Book of drama of the tragic struggle between man and fate. Its central theme
Job is the problem of evil: how it can be that the righteous suffer while
the eyes of the wicked stand out with fatness. The story was an old
one, adapted very probably from the Babylonian writing of similar
content, but the Hebrews introduced into it a much deeper realiza¬
tion of philosophical possibilities. The main character, Job, a man of
unimpeachable virtue, is suddenly overtaken by a series of disasters:
he is despoiled of his property, his children are killed, and his body
is afflicted with a painful disease. His attitude at first is one of stoic
resignation; the evil must be accepted along with the good. But as
his sufferings increase he is plunged into despair. He curses the day
of his birth and delivers an apostrophe to death, where “the wicked
90 cease from troubling and the weary be at rest.”
 Then follows a lengthy debate between Job and his friends over HEBREW CULTURE
the meaning of evil. The latter take the traditional Hebraic view
that all suffering is a punishment for sin, and that those who repent
are forgiven and strengthened in character. But Job is not satisfied
with any of their arguments. Torn between hope and despair, he The problem of

strives to review the problem from every angle. He even considers evil

the possibility that death may not be the end, that there may be
some adjustment of the balance hereafter. But the mood of despair
returns, and he decides that God is an omnipotent demon, destroy¬
ing without mercy wherever His caprice or anger directs. Finally,
in his anguish he appeals to the Almighty to reveal Himself and
make known His ways to man. God answers him out of the whirl¬
wind with a magnificent exposition of the tremendous works of
nature. Convinced of his own insignificance and of the unutterable
majesty of God, Job despises himself and repents in dust and ashes.
In the end no solution is given of the problem of individual suffer¬
ing. No promise is made of recompense in a life hereafter, nor does
God make any effort to refute the hopeless pessimism of Job. Man
must take comfort in the philosophic reflection that the universe is
greater than himself, and that God in the pursuit of His sublime
purposes cannot really be limited by human standards of equity and
goodness.
As philosophers the Hebrews surpassed every other people before
the Greeks, including the Egyptians. Although they were not bril¬
liant metaphysicians and constructed no great theories of the uni¬ Hebrew

philosophy:
verse, they did concern themselves with most of the problems relat¬
early examples
ing to the life and destiny of man. Their thought was essentially
personal rather than abstract. Probably the earliest of their writings
of a distinctly philosophical character were the Book of Proverbs
and the Book of Ecclesiasticus. In their final form both were of late
composition, but much of the material they contain was doubtless
quite ancient. Not all of it was original, for a considerable portion
had been taken from Egyption sources as early as 1000 b.c. The
books have as their essential teaching: be temperate, diligent, wise,
and honest, and you will surely be rewarded with prosperity, long
life, and a good name among men. Only in such isolated passages as
the following is any recognition given to higher motives of sympathy
or respect for the rights of others: “Whoso mocketh the poor re-
proacheth his Maker; and he that is glad at calamities shall not be
unpunished.” 10
A much more profound and critical philosophy is contained in
Ecclesiastes, an Old Testament book, not to be confused with the
Ecclesiasticus mentioned above. The author of Ecclesiastes is un¬ Ecclesiastes

known. In some way it came to be attributed to Solomon, but he

certainly did not write it, for it includes doctrines and forms of

“Proverbs 17:5. 91
THE HEBREW CIVILIZATION expression unknown to the Hebrews for hundreds of years after
his death. Modern critics date it no earlier than the third century b.c.
The basic ideas of its philosophy may be summarized as follows:
(1) Mechanism. The universe is a machine that rolls on forever
without evidence of any purpose or goal. Sunrise and sunset, birth
and death are but separate phases of constantly recurring cycles.
(2) Fatalism. Man is a victim of the whims of fate. There is no
necessary relation between effort and success. “The race is not to the
swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise . . .
but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
(3) Pessimism. All is vanity and vexation of spirit. Fame, riches,
extravagant pleasure are snares and delusions in the end. Although
wisdom is better than folly, even it is not a sure key to happiness, for
an increase in knowledge brings a keener awareness of suffering.
(4) Moderation. Extremes of asceticism and extremes of indul¬
gence are both to be avoided. “Be not righteous over much ... be
not over much wicked: why shouldest thou die before thy time?” 11

5. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE HEBREW INFLUENCE

The influence of the Hebrews, like that of most other Oriental

peoples, has been chiefly religious and ethical. While it is true that
The nature the Old Testament has served as a source of inspiration for much of
of the Hebrew the literature and art of the Renaissance and early modern civiliza¬
influence
tions, this has resulted largely because the Bible was already familiar
material as a part of the religious heritage. The same explanation can
be applied to the use of the Old Testament as a source of law and
political theory by the Calvinists in the sixteenth century, and by
many other Christians both before and since.
But these facts do not mean that the Hebrew influence has been
slight. On the contrary, the histdry of nearly every Western civili¬
Hebrew zation during the past two thousand years would have been radically
foundations of different without the heritage from Israel. For it must be remem¬
Christianity:
bered that Hebrew beliefs were among the principal foundations of
the beliefs of
Christianity. The relationship between the two religions is fre¬
the Pharisees
quently misunderstood. The movement inaugurated by Jesus of
Nazareth is commonly represented as a revolt against Judaism; but
such was only partly the case. On the eve of the Christian era the
Jewish nation had come to be divided into three main sects: a major¬
ity sect of Pharisees, and two minority sects of Sadducees and
Essenes. The Pharisees represented the middle classes and some of
the better educated common folk. They believed in the resurrec¬
tion, in rewards and punishments after death, and in the coming of a
political messiah. Intensely nationalistic, they advocated participa¬
tion in government and faithful observance of the ancient ritual.

11 For a more complete analysis of the philosophy of Ecclesiastes see Morris

92 Jastrow, A Gentle Cynic.
They regarded all parts of the law as of virtually equal importance, MAGNITUDE OF THE
whether they applied to matters of ceremony or to obligations of HEBREW INFLUENCE
social ethics.
Representing altogether different strata of society, the minority
sects disagreed with the Pharisees on both religious and political
issues. The Sadducees, including the priests and the wealthier The Sadducees
classes, were most famous for their denial of the resurrection and of and the Essenes

rewards and punishments in an afterlife. Although temporarily, at

least, they favored the acceptance of Roman rule, their attitude to¬
ward the ancient law was even more inflexible than that of the
Pharisees. The sect of Essenes, the smallest of them all, was possibly
the most influential. Its members, who were drawn from the lower
classes, practiced asceticism and preached otherworldliness as means
of protest against the wealth and power of priests and rulers. They
ate and drank only enough to keep themselves alive, held all their
goods in common, and looked upon marriage as a necessary evil. Far
from being fanatical patriots, they regarded government with in¬
difference and refused to take oaths under any conditions. They
emphasized the spiritual aspects of religion rather than the cere¬
monial, and stressed particularly the immortality of the soul, the
coming of a religious messiah, and the early destruction of the
world.
Until recently scholars were dependent for their knowledge of
the Essenes almost entirely upon secondary sources. But in 1947 an
Arab shepherd unwittingly opened the way to one of the most spec¬ The Dead Sea

tacular discoveries of documentary evidence in world history. scrolls

Searching for a lost sheep on the western shore of the Dead Sea, he
threw a stone that entered a hole in the rocks and made such a pe¬
culiar noise that he ran away in fright. He returned, however, with
a friend to investigate and discovered a cave in which were stored

yr'aWl
jn*v>a stirn sm ttn> vwv vlkar**********
•jpowity*' Vx stoves vfxilmAjw wry ^ V T*
■jr jjX ffrrta Wyransm wywstfi Vw vw&wtwt W*4 rtm W' w**®
The Dead Sea Scrolls. Now yw yc wAvm yet se» r-ws •p’*"*
on display in an underground iwAwwi
vault at the Hebrew Univer¬ •KffWiWw
sity in Jerusalem. The oldest nws r# <QtrfferwMtwnowwi*M yx'W'*y'P'vS ww
extant examples of Hebrew ■ "wugMg
religious literature, they fur¬ ■m*
nish. us with evidence of the
activities of the Essenes and
WlyTWpwH’ ipby,w«wWi ysst w\«sa»T«*<
mystical and other worldly
yst xesrtk) *91^ W »«<* y*r-r« VJm rb
sects about the beginning of
Hiiyn' yv^t»>y>y»tv)e w yw ^-et Twrm'txyty ■v w y ■ W yaywjr
the Christian era.
11
mi «ii^i

ivayh Tiyvw yr wwy ‘

THE HEBREW CIVILIZATION about fifty cylindrical earthen jars stuffed with writings on leather
scrolls. Studied by scholars, the scrolls revealed the existence of a
monastic community which flourished from about 130 b.c. to 67 a.d.
Its members lived a life of humility and self-denial, holding their
goods in common, and devoting their time to prayer and sacraments
and to studying and copying Biblical texts. They looked forward
confidently to the coming of a messiah, the overthrow of evil, and
the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. That they belonged
to the same general movement that fostered the growth of the
Essenes seems almost beyond question.
All branches of Judaism except the Sadducees strongly influenced
the development of Christianity. From Jewish sources Christianity
Hebrew obtained its cosmogony, or theory of the origin of the universe; the
influence upon Ten Commandments; and a large portion of its theology. Jesus him¬
Christianity
self, although he condemned the Pharisees for their legalism and
hypocrisy, did not repudiate all of their tenets. Instead of abolishing
the ancient law, as he is popularly supposed to have done, he de¬
manded its fulfillment, insisting, however, that it should not be made
the essential part of religion. To what extent the beliefs and practices
of the Christian religion were molded by the more radical Judaism
of the Essenes and kindred sects is a question whose answer must
await further research. Nonetheless, we know that many early
Christians practiced asceticism, regarded government with indiffer¬
ence and the Roman Empire with hostility, held all their goods in
common, and believed in the imminent end of the world. These
parallels do not mean, of course, that Christianity was a mere adapta¬
tion of beliefs and practices emanating from Judaism. There was
much in it that was unique; but that is a subject which can be dis¬
cussed more conveniently in another connection.12
The ethical and political influence of the Hebrews has also been
substantial. Their moral conceptions have been a leading factor in
Ethical and po¬ the development of the negative approach toward ethics which has
litical influence prevailed for so long in Western countries. For the early Hebrews,
of the Hebrews
“righteousness” consisted primarily in the observance of taboos. Al¬
though a positive morality of charity and social justice made rapid
headway during the time of the prophets, this in turn was partly ob¬
scured by the revival of priestly influence in the period that fol¬
lowed. With respect to political influence, the record is more im¬
pressive. Hebrew ideals of limited government, the sovereignty of
law, and regard for the dignity and worth of the individual have
been among the major formative influences which have shaped the
growth of modern democracy. It is now almost universally recog¬
nized that the traditions of Judaism contributed equally with the
influence of Christianity and Stoic philosophy in fostering recogni¬
tion of the rights of man and in promoting the development of the
free society.

94 12 See chapter on The Civilization of the Early Middle Ages.

SELECTED READINGS READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Albright, W.F., The Archaeology of Palestine, Baltimore, i960 (Penguin).

Anderson, B. W., Rediscovering the Bible, New York, 1951.
Bertholet, Alfred, A History of Hebrew Civilization, London, 1926.
• Chase, Mary E., Life and Language in the Old Testament, New York, 1955
(Norton Library).
• Davies, A. P., The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls, New York, 1956 (Men¬
tor).
• De Burgh, W. G., The Legacy of the Ancient World, 3d ed., New York, i960
(Penguin). A good survey of the influence of Hebrew thought.
Finegan, Jack, Light from the Ancient Past, Princeton, 1946.
Fritsch, C. T., The Qumrdn Community, New York, 1956. Relates the impor¬
tance of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• Frye, R.N., The Heritage of Persia, Cleveland, 1963 (Mentor).
• Kenyon, K. M., Archaeology in the Holy Land, New York, i960 (Praeger).
Klausner, Joseph, The Messianic Idea in Israel, New York, 1955.
Lods, Adolphe, Israel from Its Beginnings to the Middle of the Eighth Cen¬
tury, New York, 1932. Excellent on religious, intellectual, and social history.
• Meek, T. J., Hebrew Origins, rev., New York, 1951 (Torchbook).
Oesterley, W. O. E., and Robinson, T. H., Hebrew Religion, Its Origin and
Development, New York, 1932. One of the best interpretations.
Olmstead, A. T. E., History of Palestine and Syria, New York, 1931.
• Orlinsky, H. M., Ancient Israel, Ithaca, 1956 (Cornell). Brief but good.
• Roth, Cecil, The Dead Sea Scrolls, New York, 1965 (Norton Library). Au¬
thor contends that the scrolls were not produced by the Essenes but by the
Zealots, a warlike sect deeply involved in the rebellion against Rome in
66 A.D.
Smith, J. M. P., The Moral Life of the Hebrews, Chicago, 1923.
-, The Origin and History of Hebrew Law, Chicago, 1931.
Vaux, Roland de, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions, New York, 1962.
Especially valuable for archaeological data.

SOURCE MATERIALS

The Apocrypha, Ancient Hebrew writings of doubtful authorship. Not rec¬

ognized as scriptural by Hebrew and Protestant theologians.
• Gaster, T. H., trans., The Dead Sea Scriptures in English Translation. New
York, 1964 (Anchor).
The Old Testament, especially the following books and portions of books:
Deuteronomy 5, 12-21; Ecclesiastes; Amos; I Samuel 8-31; II Samuel; I Kings
1-12; Job; Proverbs; Isaiah 1-12, 40-66; Micah; Psalms.
Pritchard, J. B., ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testa¬
ment, rev. ed., Princeton, 1955.

95
*
 CHAPTER

The Hittite, Minoan-Mycenaean,

and Lesser Cultures

But for them among these gods will be bled for annual food:
to the god Karnua one steer and one sheep;
to the goddess Kupapa one steer and one sheep;
to the divinity Sarku one sheep;
and a Kutupalis sheep to the male divinities.
—Hittite sacrifice formula, translated
from a hieroglyph by
H. T. Bossert

A few other ancient cultures of the Near Orient require more than
passing attention. Chief among them are the Hittite, Minoan-
Mycenaean, Phoenician, and Lydian cultures. The Hittites are im¬ Importance of

portant primarily as intermediaries between East and West. They these cultures

were one of the main connecting links between the civilizations of

Egypt, the Tigris-Euphrates valley, and the region of the Aegean
Sea. It appears certain also that they were the original discoverers of
iron. The Minoan-Mycenaean civilization is significant for its re¬
markable achievements in the arts and for its quality of freedom and
courage for experimentation. Though many of its achievements
perished, there is evidence that the Greeks owed to these Aegean
peoples a considerable debt. The Greek religion, for example, con¬
tained numerous Minoan-Mycenaean elements. Of the same origin
were probably the devotion of the Greeks to athletics, their system
of weights and measures, their knowledge of navigation, and per¬
haps also a great many of their artistic traditions. As for the Phoeni¬
cians, no one could overlook the importance of their distribution of
a knowledge of the alphabet and a primitive commercial law to the
surrounding civilized world. The Lydians have gone down in his¬
tory as the originators of the first system of coinage. 97
 I. THE HITTITES AND THE PHRYGIANS

Until about a century ago little was known of the Hittites except
their name. They were commonly assumed to have played no role
The discovery of any significance in the drama of history. The slighting references
of remains to them in the Bible give the impression that they were little more
of the Hittite
than a half-barbarian tribe. But in 1870 some curiously inscribed
civilization
stones were found at Hamath in Syria. This was the beginning of an
extensive inquiry which has continued with a few interruptions to
the present day. It was not long until scores of other monuments
and clay tablets were discovered over most of Asia Minor and
through the Near East as far as the Tigris-Euphrates valley. In 1907
some evidences of an ancient city were unearthed near the village of
Boghaz-Keui in the province of Anatolia. Further excavation even¬
tually revealed the ruins of a great fortified capital which was
known as Hattusas or Hittite City. Within its walls were discovered
more than 20,000 documents and fragments, most of them appar¬
ently laws and decrees.
On the basis of these finds and other evidences gradually accumu¬
lated, it was soon made clear that the Hittites were once the rulers
The Hittite empire of a mighty empire covering most of Asia Minor and extending to
the upper reaches of the Euphrates. Part of the time it included
Syria as well and even portions of Phoenicia and Palestine. The Hit¬
tites reached the zenith of their power during the years from 2000
to 1200 b.c. In the last century of this.period they waged a long and
exhausting war with Egypt, which had much to do with the down¬
fall of both empires. Neither was able to regain its strength. After
1200 b.c. Carchemish on the Euphrates River became for a time the
leading Hittite city, but as a commercial center rather than as the
capital of a great empire. The days of imperial glory were over.
Finally, after 717 b.c., all the remaining Hittite territories were con¬
quered and absorbed by the Assyrians, Lydians, and Phrygians.
Where the Hittites came from and what were their relationships
to other peoples are problems which still defy a perfect solution. As
The mystery of depicted by the Egyptians, some of them appear to have been of a
the race and Mongoloid type. All had enormous hooked noses, receding fore¬
language of the
heads, and slanting eyes. Most modern scholars trace their place of
Hittites
origin to Turkestan and consider them related to the Greeks. Their
language was Indo-European. Its secret was unlocked during World
War I by the Czech scholar Bedrich Hrozny. Since then thousands
of clay tablets making up the laws and official records of the em¬
perors have been deciphered. They reveal a civilization resembling
more closely the Old Babylonian than any other.
Hardly enough evidence has yet been collected to make possible
an accurate appraisal of Hittite civilization. Some modern historians
refer to it as if it were on a level with the Mesopotamian or even
with the Egyptian civilization. Such may have been the case from
98 the material standpoint, for the Hittites undoubtedly had an exten-
sive knowledge of agriculture and a highly developed economic life THE HITTITES AND
in general. They mined great quantities of silver, copper, and lead, THE PHRYGIANS
which they sold to surrounding nations. They discovered the min¬
ing and use of iron and made that material available for the rest of
the civilized world. Trade was also one of their principal economic The economic life
pursuits. In fact, they seem to have depended almost as much upon of the Hittites

commercial penetration as upon war for the expansion of their

empire.
The literature of the Hittites consisted chiefly of mythology, in¬
cluding adaptations of creation and flood legends from the Old
Babylonians. They had nothing that could be described as philosophy, The intellectual
nor is there any evidence of scientific originality outside of the level of Hittite
culture
metallurgical arts. They evidently possessed some talent for the
perfection of writing, for in addition to a modified cuneiform
adapted from Mesopotamia they also developed a hieroglyphic sys¬
tem which was partly phonetic in character.
One of the most significant achievements of the Hittites was their
system of law. Approximately two hundred separate paragraphs or
decrees, covering a great variety of subjects, have been translated. Hittite law

They reflect a society comparatively urbane and sophisticated but

subject to minute governmental control. The title to all land was
vested in the king or in the governments of the cities. Grants were
made to individuals only in return for military service and under
the strict requirement that the land be cultivated. Prices were fixed
in the laws themselves for an enormous number of commodities—not
only for articles of luxury and the products of industry, but even
for food and clothing. All wages and fees for services were likewise
minutely prescribed, with the pay of women fixed at less than half
the rate for men.
On the whole, the Hittite law was more humane than that of the
Old Babylonians. Death was the punishment for only eight offenses
—such as witchcraft, and theft of property from the palace. Even Humane character

premeditated murder was punishable only by a fine. Mutilation was of Hittite law

not specified as a penalty at all except for arson or theft when com¬
mitted by a slave. The contrast with the cruelties of Assyrian law
was more striking. Not a single example is to be found in the Hittite
decrees of such fiendish punishments as flaying, castration, and im¬
palement, which the rulers at Nineveh seemed to think necessary for
maintaining their authority.
The art of the Hittites was not of outstanding excellence. So far
as we know, it included only sculpture and architecture. The
former was generally crude and naive, but at the same time it re¬ The art of the

vealed a freshness and vigor all too uncommon in the work of Hittites

Oriental peoples. Most of it was in the form of reliefs depicting

scenes of war and mythology. Architecture was ponderous and
huge. Temples and palaces were squat, unadorned structures with
small, two-columned porches and great stone lions guarding the en¬
trance. 99
 Hittite Sculpture.
Perhaps the most
highly conventional¬
ized sculpture of the
ancient world is found
in Hittite reliefs.

Not a great deal is known about the Hittite religion except that it
had an elaborate mythology, innumerable deities, and forms of wor-
Hittite religion ship of Mesopotamian origin. A sun god was worshiped, along with
a host of other deities, some of whom appear to have had no particu¬
lar function at all. The Hittites seem to have welcomed into the
divine company practically all of the gods of the peoples they con¬
quered and even of the nations that bought their wares. The prac¬
tices of the religion included divination, sacrifice, purification cere¬
monies, and the offering of prayers. Nothing can be found in the
records to indicate that the religion was in any sense ethical.
The chief historical importance of the Hittites probably lies in
the role which they played as intermediaries between the Tigris-
The importance of Euphrates valley and the westernmost portions of the Near East,
the Hittites Doubtless in this way certain culture elements from Mesopotamia
were transmitted to the Canaanites and Hyksos and perhaps to the
peoples of the Aegean islands.

2. THE MINOAN-MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION

By a strange coincidence the discovery of the existence of the

Hittite and Minoan-Mycenaean civilizations was made at just about
A long-forgotten
the same time. Before 1870 scarcely anyone dreamed that great civi¬
civilization
lizations had flourished on the Aegean islands and on the shores of
Asia Minor for hundreds of years prior to the rise of the Greeks.
Students of the Iliad knew, of course, of the references to a strange
people who were supposed to have dwelt in Troy, to have kidnaped
the fair Helen, and to have been punished by the Greeks for this act
by the siege and destruction of their city; but it was commonly sup¬
posed that these accounts were mere figments of a poetical imagina¬
tion.
The first discovery of a highly developed Aegean culture center
was made not by a professional archaeologist but by a retired Ger¬
100 man businessman, Heinrich Schliemann. Fascinated from early
youth by the stories of the Homeric epics, he determined to dedi¬ THE MINOAN-MYCENAEAN
cate his life to archaeological research as soon as he had sufficient CIVILIZATION
income to enable him to do so. Luckily for him and for the world
he accumulated a fortune in Russian petroleum and then retired
from business to spend both time and money in the pursuit of his The discoveries
boyhood dreams. In 1870 he began excavating at Troy. Within a by Schliemann
and others
few years he had uncovered portions of nine different cities, each
built upon the ruins of its predecessor. The second of these cities he
identified as the Troy of the Iliad, although it has been proved since
that Troy was the seventh city. After fulfilling his first great ambi¬
tion, he started excavations on the mainland of Greece and eventu¬
ally uncovered two other Aegean cities, Mycenae and Tiryns. The
work of Schliemann was soon followed by that of other investi¬
gators, notably the Englishman Sir Arthur Evans, who discovered
Knossos, the resplendent capital of the Minoan kings of Crete. Up.
to the present time more than half of the ancient Aegean sites have
been carefully searched, and a wealth of knowledge has been ac¬
cumulated about various aspects of the culture.
The Minoan-Mycenaean civilization appears to have originated on
the island of Crete, from which it spread to the mainland of Greece
and to Asia Minor. In few other cases in history does the geographic The favorable

interpretation of culture origins fit so neatly. Crete has a benign and natural environ¬
ment of Crete
equable climate, neither so hot as to make men lazy nor so cold as to
require a life of unceasing struggle. While the soil is fertile, it is not
of unlimited area; consequently, as the population increased, men
were impelled to sharpen their wits and to contrive new means of
earning a living. Some emigrated; others took to the sea; but a larger
number remained at home and developed articles for export. The
latter included, especially, wine and olive oil, pottery, gems and
seals, knives and daggers, and objects of skilled craftsmanship. The
chief imports were foodstuffs and metals. As a result of such trade,
the country became an industrial and commercial nation with pros-

The Goddess Cybele.

A Roman statue de¬
picting the Phrygian
goddess on a proces¬
sional cart drawn by
lions.
 THE HITTITE, perous cities and extensive contacts with the surrounding civilized
MINOAN-MYCENAEAN, world. Added to these factors of a favorable environment were the
AND LESSER CULTURES beauties of nature, which abounded almost everywhere, stimulating
the development of a marvelous art.
The Minoan civilization was one of the earliest in the history of
the world. As far back as 3000 b.c. the natives of Crete had made the
The Minoan transition from the Neolithic stage to the age of metals and proba¬
civilization one bly to the age of writing. The first peak of advancement was at¬
of the oldest in
tained under the leadership of the cities of Knossos and Phaistos
the world
about 1800 b.c. Recently evidence has been found of the existence
of another great city, Kato Zakros, on the east coast of Crete. Here
was a huge palace of 250 rooms, with a swimming pool, parquet
floors, and thousands of decorated vases. About 1450 b.c. this palace
was destroyed by volcanic eruptions followed by violent earth¬
quakes. Other cities probably suffered a similar fate, although
Knossos and Phaistos were rebuilt. A new dynasty came to the
throne of Crete. A new system of writing was adopted, and a new
cycle of civilization began which carried Minoan culture to its
greatest heights.
After about fifty years of uncertainty the Minoan-Mycenaean
civilization rose to new heights of brilliance and strength. Troy and
The glory and the cities of Crete were rebuilt, and other great centers were estab¬
the downfall of lished at Mycenae and Tiryns. Soon afterward Cretan hegemony
the Minoan-
was extended over the remaining portions of the Aegean world. But
Mycenaean
civilization
the new age of power and splendor was not destined for long dura¬
tion. The island’s resources were substantially depleted, and com¬
merce with Egypt had diminished. In the sixteenth century b.c. a
group of barbarian Greeks subsequently known as Achaeans ex¬
panded from their original home in the northern Peloponnesus and
eventually conquered Mycenae. Gradually absorbing the material
culture of the vanquished, they became rich and powerful sea lords.
About 1400 B.c. they overwhelmed the city of Knossos, and soon
the whole island of Crete passed under their sway. Although they
were no longer a primitive people, they seem never to have appreci¬
ated the finer aspects of Cretan culture. As a result this period
of Mycenaean supremacy was marked by a decline in art and
probably in intellect as well. In the thirteenth century the My-
cenaeans waged their successful war with the Trojans, but less than
200 years later they themselves fell the victims of barbarian inva¬
sion. The new hordes that came in were also Greeks, but they be¬
longed to the group known as Dorians (originally from some¬
where on the Balkan peninsula). Their culture was relatively
primitive, except for the fact that they had iron weapons. For cen¬
turies they had lived on the mainland of Greece, gradually penetrat¬
ing farther southward. About 1250 B.c. they began their conquest of
the Mycenaean cities. Two hundred years later the Minoan-
102 Mycenaean civilization had passed into the limbo of history.
 The racial character of the Minoan people has been determined THE MINOAN-MYCENAEAN
with substantial accuracy. Archaeological data from Crete have CIVILIZATION
been found in sufficient profusion to leave little doubt that its an¬
cient inhabitants were a composite nation. Their ancestors appear
to have come from Syria and Anatolia and were closely related to The racial charac¬

the Hittites and to the earliest invaders of India. At the same time ter of the Minoans

there is evidence—from the fact that their artists depicted them

with long heads, short, slender bodies, and dark, wavy hair—that
they bore a relationship to the Egyptians. Although they occupied
Greek territory, they were not Greeks at all in the historic meaning
of that name. The true Greeks, as we shall presently see, were of
altogether different ethnic origin.
The Minoan civilization was probably one of the freest and most
progressive in all the Near Orient. The ruler was known by the title
of Minos, which was roughly the equivalent of Pharaoh (hence the The liberal
name Minoan). That it was a title of divinity is shown by the fact character of
Minoan
that it was occasionally used as if it referred to a god. But the Minos
government
was no bristling war lord like the Assyrian and Persian kings. He did
have a large and efficient navy, but this was for defense against
external attack and for the protection of trade, not to overawe the
citizens at home.
On the other hand, there was some regimentation of industry.
The king was the chief capitalist and entrepreneur in the country.
The factories in connection with his palace turned out great quan¬ Industry partly

tities of fine pottery, textiles, and metal goods. Although private state controlled

enterprise was not prohibited, the owners of smaller establishments

were naturally at some disadvantage in competing with the king.
Nevertheless, numerous privately owned factories did flourish, espe¬
cially in cities other than the capital, and agriculture and trade were
also in private hands. It must be understood that these establishments,
both royal and private, were factories in nearly every modern sense
of the word. While they did not use power-driven machinery, they
were engaged in large-scale production, and there was division of
labor and centralized control and supervision of workers. The hun¬
dreds of women employed in the royal textile factory worked under
the supervision of the queen.
The Aegean people of nearly all classes appear to have led happy
and fairly prosperous lives. If slavery existed at all, it certainly occu¬
pied an unimportant place. The dwellings in the poorest quarters of Evidences of
social equality
great industrial towns such as Gournia were substantially built and
commodious, often with as many as six or eight rooms, but we do
not know how many families resided in them. If we can judge from
the number of inscriptions found in the homes of the common peo¬
ple, literacy was well-nigh universal. Women enjoyed complete
equality with men. Regardless of class there was no public activity
from which they were debarred, and no occupation which they
could not enter. Crete had its female bull fighters and even female 103
 Scenes from the Bull Ring, Cretan Fainting, about 1500 b.c. Evident are the
Cretans’ devotion to sport and the skill and agility of their athletes. The body
and horns of the bull, however, are exaggerated as are the slenderness of the
athletes and their full-face eyes in profile heads.

pugilists. Ladies of the upper strata devoted much time to fashion.

Dressed in their tight-fitting bodices and bell-shaped skirts with
flounces which would not have been much out of style in
nineteenth-century Europe, they vied with each other for attention
in the theaters and at public entertainments of numerous kinds.
The natives of the Aegean area delighted in games and sports of
every description. Chess, dancing, running matches, and boxing
The love rivaled each other in their attraction for the people. The Cretans
of sports and were the first to build stone theaters where processions and music
games
entertained large audiences.
The religion of the subjects of Minos was a medley of strange
characteristics. First of all it was matriarchal. The chief deity was
The Minoan not a god but a goddess, who was the ruler of the entire universe—-
religion the sea and the sky as well as the earth. Originally no male deity ap¬
pears to have been worshiped, but later a god was associated with
the goddess as her son and lover. Although, like the divine sons in
several other religions, he apparently died and rose from the dead,
he was never regarded by the Cretans as of particular importance.
In the second place, the Minoan religion was thoroughly monistic.
The mother goddess was the source of evil as well as of good, but
The mother not in any morbid or terrifying sense. Though she brought the
goddess storm and spread destruction in her path, these served for the re¬
plenishment of nature. Death itself was interpreted as the condition
prerequisite for life. Whether the religion had any ethical purposes
is unknown.
Other rather curious features included the worship of animals
Symbols and birds (the bull, the snake, and the dove); the worship of
and sacrifices sacred trees; the veneration of sacred objects which were probably
reproductive symbols (the double-axe, the pillar, and the cross);
104 and the employment of priestesses instead of priests to administer
the rites of the cult. By far the most important act of worship THE MINOAN-MYCENAEAN
was sacrifice. At the great religious festivals hundreds of animals CIVILIZATION
and large quantities of grain and fruit were brought as grateful
offerings to the goddess and her son.
For many years after the discovery of the Minoan-Mycenaean
civilization its system of writing remained a complete enigma. At
length, however, Sir Arthur Evans succeeded in showing that these Minoan-

Aegean people produced not only one system of writing but Mycenaean writ¬
ing and scientific
three—a hieroglyphic script and two linear scripts, which were used
achievements
in successive periods. One script, used during the Mycenaean stage,
was actually a form of Greek. The other continues to belong to the
realm of mystery.1 No literary texts of the Minoan-Mycenaean civili¬
zation have yet been unearthed. It is impossible therefore to tell
whether any literature or philosophy had been written. The problem
of scientific achievements is easier to solve, since we have material
remains for our guidance. Archaeological discoveries on the island of
Crete indicate that the ancient inhabitants were gifted inventors and
engineers. They built excellent roads of concrete about eleven feet
wide. Nearly all the basic principles of modern sanitary engineering
were known to the designers of the palace of Knossos, with the result
that the royal family of Crete in the seventeenth century b.c. enjoyed
comforts and conveniences that were not available to the wealthi¬
est rulers of Western countries in the seventeenth century a.d.
If there was any one achievement of these Aegean people that ap¬
pears more than others to emphasize the vitality and freedom of
their culture, it was their art. With the exception of the Greek, no Minoan-

other art of the ancient world was quite its equal. Its distinguishing Mycenaean art

features were delicacy, spontaneity, and naturalism. It served not to

glorify the ambitions of an arrogant ruling class or to inculcate the
doctrines of a religion, but to express the delight of the ordinary
man in the world of beauty around him. As a result, it was remark¬
ably free from the retarding influence of ancient tradition. It was
unique, moreover, in the universality of its application, for it ex¬
tended not merely to paintings and statues but even to the humblest
objects of ordinary use.
Of the major arts, architecture was the least developed. The great
palaces were not remarkably beautiful buildings but rambling struc¬
tures designed primarily for capaciousness and comfort. As more Architecture

and more functions were absorbed by the state, the palaces were en¬
larged to accommodate them. New quarters were annexed to those
already built or piled on top of them without regard for order or
symmetry. The interiors, however, were decorated with beautiful
paintings and furnishings. The architecture of Crete may be said to
have resembled the modern international style in its subordination

1 Although his findings are widely disputed, one scholar, Cyrus H. Gordon,
maintains that it derives from a Semitic script. 105
 Central Staircase of the Palace of Minos.

of form to utility and in its emphasis upon a pleasing and livable in¬
terior as more important than external beauty.
Painting was the art supreme of the Aegean world. Nearly all of
it consisted of murals done in fresco, although painted reliefs were
Painting occasionally to be found. The murals in the palaces of Crete were
by all odds the best that have survived from ancient times. They re¬
vealed almost perfectly the remarkable gifts of the Minoan artist—
his instinct for the dramatic, his sense of rhythm, his feeling for
nature in her most characteristic moods.
Sculpture and the ceramic and gem-carving arts were also devel¬
oped to a high stage of perfection. The sculpture of the Cretans
Sculpture, differed from that of any other people in the ancient Near Orient. It
pottery, and never relied upon size as a device to convey the idea of power. The
engraving
Cretans produced no colossi like those of Egypt or reliefs like those
of Babylonia depicting a king of gigantic proportions smiting his
puny enemies. Instead, they preferred sculpture in miniature.
Nearly all of the statues of human beings or of deities that the
archaeologists have found are smaller than life-size.
The more The point must be emphasized that the Minoan achievements in
barbarous the arts, government, and social life were not equaled in the
character
Mycenaean stage. Compared with the Cretans, the Mycenaeans were
of Mycenaean
barbarians who failed to appreciate the subtle refinements of
culture
Minoan culture.
Much has been written about the significance of the Minoan-
Mycenaean civilization and its relation to the surrounding cultures.
By some historians it is regarded as a mere offshoot of the civiliza¬
tion of Egypt. A number of facts can be adduced to support this
view. Both civilizations were ethnically similar. Their governments
were alike in their theocratic character. Both societies contained ele¬
106 ments of matriarchy and economic collectivism. But that is about as
far as the comparison can be carried. The differences were just as THE MINOAN-MYCENAEAN
marked. The Aegean people built no great pyramids or magnificent CIVILIZATION
temples. Only in painting did their art resemble that of Egypt very
closely. The systems of writing of the two civilizations appear to
have been of entirely independent origin, as is evidenced by the fact Relation of the
that a knowledge of Egyptian helps very little in deciphering Minoan-
Mycenaean to
Cretan.- Whereas the Egyptian religion was an elaborate ethical sys¬
other civilizations
tem based upon the worship of a sun god of righteousness and jus¬
tice, the religion of the Aegean venerated a goddess of nature with
no evidence of a concept of ethical purpose. Finally, the two peo¬
ples differed in their basic philosophies of life. The Egyptians be¬
lieved in the sacrifice of personal interests to the glory and eternity
of the state and looked to rewards in an after-existence as a just
compensation for good deeds on earth. The people of the Aegean
were individualists, intent upon living their own lives of pleasurable
activity and concerned with the hereafter merely as an extension of
their pleasant and satisfying earthly careers.
The influence of the Minoan-Mycenaean civilization is not easy to
estimate. The Philistines, who came from some part of the Aegean
world, introduced certain aspects of the culture into Palestine and
Syria. There is reason to believe that various elements of Phoenician
art and the Samson legends of the Old Testament were really
acquired from the Philistines. It is probable also that the religious
and aesthetic traditions of the Cretans and perhaps something of
their spirit of freedom influenced the Greeks. But a considerable A Minoan Vase. From the
part of the Minoan-Mycenaean civilization was lost or destroyed Palace of Phaistos, Crete, it
was decorated with stalks of
following the downfall of Knossos. The conquerors were barbari¬
grass or cereal.
ans who were unable to appreciate much of the culture of the
people they conquered and consequently allowed it to perish.
Despite its limited influence the Minoan-Mycenaean civilization,
especially in its Minoan form, is not without importance for the stu¬
dent of history; for it was one of the few in ancient times which
assured to most of its citizens a reasonable share of happiness and
prosperity, free from the tyranny of a despotic state and a crafty
priesthood. The apparent absence of slavery, brutal punishments,
forced labor, and conscription, together with the substantial equal¬
ity of classes and the dignified status accorded to women, all point
to a social regime in striking contrast with those of the Asiatic
empires. If additional evidence of this contrast is needed, it can be
found in the art of the various nations. The Cretan sculptor or
painter gloried not in portraying the slaughter of armies or the sack¬
ing of cities but in picturing flowery landscapes, joyous festivals,
thrilling exhibitions of athletic prowess, and similar scenes of a free Gold Pendant from Crete,
and peaceful existence. Last of all, the Minoan-Mycenaean civiliza¬ Seventeenth Century b.c.
tion is significant for its worldly and progressive outlook. This is
exemplified in the devotion of the people to comfort and opulence,
in their love of amusement, in their individualism, zest for life, and
courage for experimentation. 107
 Throne Room in the Palace of Minos. The throne and bench are original; the
fresco has been restored in accordance with fragments found on the site which
are now in the Candia Museum on the island of Crete. A remarkable grace
characterizes the lilies and the body and head of the mythical animal.

3. THE LYDIANS AND THE PHOENICIANS

When the Hittite empire fell in the eighth century B.c., its suc¬
cessor in its main areas of power was the kingdom of Lydia. The
The kingdom Lydians established their rule in what is now the territory of the
of Lydia Turkish Republic in Anatolia. They quickly secured control of the
Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor and of the entire plateau
west of the Halys River. But their power was short-lived. In 550 b.c.
their fabulous king, Croesus, fancied he saw a good opportunity to
add to his domain the territory of the Medes east of the Halys. The
Median king had just been deposed by Cyrus the Persian. Thinking
this meant an easy triumph for his own armies, Croesus set out to
capture the territory beyond the river. After an indecisive battle
with Cyrus, he returned to his own capital (Sardis) for reinforce¬
ments. Here Cyrus caught him unprepared in a surprise attack and
captured and burned the city. The Lydians never recovered from
the blow, and soon afterward all of their territory, including the
Greek cities on the coast, passed under the dominion of Cyrus the
Great.
The Lydians were a people of Indo-European speech, who were
probably a mixture of native peoples of Asia Minor with migrant
108 stocks from eastern Europe. Benefiting from the advantages of
favorable location and abundance of resources, they enjoyed one of THE LYDIANS AND THE
the highest standards of living of ancient times. They were famous PHOENICIANS
for the splendor of their armored chariots and the quantities of gold
and articles of luxury possessed by the citizens. The wealth of their
kings was legendary, as attested by the simile “rich as Croesus.” The The Lydian

chief sources of this prosperity were gold from the streams, wool people and their
culture
from the thousands of sheep on the hills, and the profits of the ex¬
tensive commerce which passed overland from the Tigris-Euphrates
valley to the Aegean Sea. But with all their wealth and opportunities
for leisure, they succeeded in making only one original contribution
to civilization. This was the coinage of money from electrum or
“white gold,” a natural mixture of gold and silver found in the sands
of one of their rivers. Hitherto all systems of money had consisted
of weighed rings or bars of metal. The new coins, of varying sizes,
were stamped with a definite value more or less arbitrarily given by
the ruler who issued them.
In contrast with the Lydians, who gained their ascendancy as a
result of the downfall of the Hittites, were the Phoenicians, who
benefited from the break-up of Aegean supremacy. But the Phoeni¬ The Phoenician

cians were neither conquerors nor the builders of an empire. They cities and con¬
federation
exerted their influence through the arts of peace, especially through
commerce. During most of their history their political system was a
loose confederation of city-states, which frequently bought their se¬
curity by paying tribute to foreign powers. The territory they
occupied was the narrow strip between the Lebanon Mountains and
the Mediterranean Sea and the islands off the coast. With good har¬
bors and a central location, it was admirably situated for trade. The
great centers of commerce included Tyre, Sidon, and Beirut. Under
the leadership of the first, Phoenicia reached the zenith of her cul¬
tural brilliance, from the tenth to the eighth century b.c. During the
sixth century she passed under the domination of the Chaldeans and
then of the Persians. In 332 b.c. Tyre was destroyed by Alexander
the Great after a siege of seven months.
The Phoenicians were a people of Semitic language, closely re¬
lated to the Canaanites. They displayed very little creative genius,
but were remarkable adapters of the achievements of others. They Achievements

produced no original art worthy of the name, and they made but of the Phoenicians

slight contributions to literature. Their religion, like that of the

Canaanites, was characterized by human sacrifice to the god Moloch
and by licentious fertility rites. They excelled, however, in special¬
ized manufactures, in geography and navigation. They founded
colonies at Carthage and Utica in North Africa, at Palermo
on the island of Sicily, on the Balearic Islands, and at Cadiz
and Malaga in Spain. They were renowned throughout the ancient
world for their glass and metal industries and for their purple dye
obtained from a mollusk in the adjacent seas. They developed the
art of navigation to such a stage that they could sail by the stars at 109
 THE HITTITE, night. To less venturesome peoples, the North Star was known for
MINOAN-MYCENAEAN, some time as the Phoenicians’ star. A company of Phoenicians is be¬
AND LESSER CULTURES lieved to have circumnavigated Africa. Phoenician ships and sailors
were recruited by all the great powers. The most lasting achieve¬
ment of the Phoenicians, however, was the completion and diffusion
of an alphabet based upon principles discovered by the Egyptians.
The Phoenician contribution was the adoption of a system of signs
representing the sounds of the human voice, and the elimination of
all pictographic and syllabic characters. The Egyptians, as we have
seen, had accomplished the first of these steps but not the second.

4. LESSONS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE

NEAR EASTERN STATES

Like most other periods in world history, the period of the

states we have studied thus far was an era of contention and strife.
Defects of the Nearly all of the great empires, and the majority of the smaller
Near Orient states as well, devoted their energies most of the time to policies of
empires
expansion and aggression. The only notable exceptions were the
Minoan and Egyptian, but even the Egyptians, in the later period of
their history, yielded to no one in their addiction to imperialism.
The causes were largely geographic. Each nation grew accustomed
to the pursuit of its own interests in some fertile river valley or on
some easily defended plateau. Isolation bred fear of foreigners and an
incapacity to think of one’s own people as members of a common
humanity. The feelings of insecurity that resulted seemed to justify
aggressive foreign policies and the annexation of neighboring states
to serve as buffers against a hostile world.
It seems possible to trace nearly all of the woes of the Near
Eastern nations to wars of aggression and imperialist greed. Arnold J.
Results of Near Toynbee has shown this in devastating fashion in the case of the
Orient imperialism Assyrians. He contends that it was no less true of such later peoples
as the Spartans, the Carthaginians, the Macedonians, and the Otto¬
man Turks. Each made militarism and conquest its gods and
wrought such destruction upon itself that when it made its last
heroic stand against its enemies, it was a mere “corpse in armor.”
Not death by foreign conquest but national suicide was the fate
which befell it.2 The way of the warrior brought race intolerance, a
love of ease and luxury, crime and racketeering, and crushing bur¬
dens of taxation. Expansion of empire promoted a fictitious prosper-
ity, at least for the upper classes, and aroused enough envy among
poorer nations to make them willing conspirators against a rich
neighbor who could easily be portrayed as an oppressor. The use of
hungry and discontented allies against powerful rivals is not new
in history.

110 2D. C. Somervell (ed.), A. J. Toynbee’s A Study of History, I, 338-43.

SELECTED READINGS READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

’ Blegen, C. W., Troy, London and New York, 1963 (Cambridge University
Press).
Burn, A. R., Minoans, Philistines and Greeks, New York, 1930.
Ceram, C. W., The Secret of the Hittites, New York, 1956. The best of recent
works.
• Chadwick, John, The Decipherment of Linear B, New York, 1958 (Vintage).
• Gordon, Cyrus H., The Ancient Near East, New York, 1965 (Norton Li¬
brary) .
• -, The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations, New
York, 1965 (Norton Library).
• Gurney, O. R., The Hittites, Baltimore, 1962 (Penguin).
• Harden, Donald, The Phoenicians, New York, 1962 (Praeger).
• Hutchinson, R. W., Prehistoric Crete, Baltimore, 1962 (Penguin).
• Lloyd, Seton, Early Anatolia, Baltimore, 1956 (Penguin).
• MacDonald, William A., Progress into the Past: The Rediscovery of My¬
cenaean Civilization, New York, 1967.
Moscati, Sabatino, The World of the Phoenicians, New York, 1968.
• Nilsson, M.P., The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, New York, 1963
(Norton Library).
Palmer, L.R., Mycenaeans and Minoans, New York, 1962. Must be read with
care. Author is not entirely impartial.
• Pendlebury, J. D.S., The Archaeology of Crete, New York, 1963 (Norton
Library).
Wace, A. J. B., Mycenae, Princeton, 1949.
Willetts, R. F., Aristocratic Society in Ancient Crete, London, 1955.

SOURCE MATERIALS

Evans, Sir Arthur, Scripta Minoa; the Written Documents of Minoan Crete.
Hertzler, J. O., The Social Thought of the Ancient Civilizations, New York,
1961, pp. 135-44-
Ventris, M., and Chadwick, J., Documents in Mycenaean Greek, Cambridge,
1956-

111
'
 CHAPTER 6
Ancient Indian Civilization

Hinduism does not distinguish ideas of God as true and false,

adopting one particular idea as the standard for the whole hu¬
man race. It accepts the obvious fact that mankind seeks its goal
of God at various levels and in various directions, and feels sym¬
pathy with every stage of the search.
S. Radhakrishnan, The Hindu View of Life

The subcontinent of India has an area slightly more than half that of
the United States and is inhabited by almost three times as many
people. Not only is India a vast and densely populated region but in The peoples of

addition it includes many different levels of culture, different reli¬ India

gions, languages, and economic conditions, and its history is ex¬

tremely complex. Five or six separate families of languages are rep¬
resented among its people. The population contains admixtures of
all of the three great races of mankind—black, yellow, and white
—in various combinations and proportions. One of the most an¬
cient peoples, a Negrito strain related to the Pygmies of Africa, has
almost disappeared from India but is still found in the Andaman Is¬
lands to the east. In striking contrast to this type are the fair-skinned
Mediterraneans of the north and northwest, descendants of the Indo-
Aryans who invaded the country some 3500 years ago. The most
widespread group in southern India is that known as Dravidian, but
because the term is applied to all whose language belongs to the
Dravidian family it no longer denotes a single ethnic stock. Another
type, perhaps more ancient than the Dravidians, is called Australoid,
because of its relationship with primitive peoples extending over parts
of southeastern Asia and as far east as Australia. The Mongolian
element is confined chiefly to the border region of the north and
northeast. Alpine types are found along the western coast, some¬
times with a slight Nordic admixture (evidenced by gray or blue
eyes). Thus the common practice of referring to the natives of 113
 India as “colored” or “brown-skinned” is misleading. Their skins are
indeed of various shades, but since early times white stocks have
been conspicuously present, especially in northern India. Even
today some of the most typical examples of the tall variety of the
Mediterranean white race can be seen in the Punjab and the north¬
west frontier. Yet they exist in close proximity to people who reveal
Alpine, Australoid, Mongoloid, or Negrito features. Over the
course of centuries, and in spite of the inexorable segregation of the
caste system in historic times, India has been a human melting pot.
Geographically India falls into two main divisions. The southern
114 triangle or peninsular portion, known as the Deccan, lies entirely
within the tropics. The northern or continental half, also triangular ANCIENT INDIAN
in shape, is in the same latitudes as Mexico and the southern United CIVILIZATION
States and has temperatures ranging from tropical heat to the intense
cold of the northern mountain peaks. The northern Deccan is
semi-mountainous and heavily forested, and shelters some of the
primitive hill tribes whose ancestors were crowded into the wilder¬ The geography

ness by the pressure of expansion from more civilized communities. of India

The greater part of the peninsula, however, is a gently sloping

plateau, traversed by rivers, and containing rich agricultural lands.
The northern half of India, called Hindustan, is bounded on the
north by the lofty Himalayan range and is separated from the
Deccan by the low-lying Vindhya Mountains. Most of Hindustan is
a level plain comprising an area about as large as France, Germany,
and Italy combined, drained by the great river systems of the Indus
and the Ganges. The rivers of Hindustan take their rise in the Hima¬
layas or beyond and are fed by snows and glaciers. The Indus and
the Brahmaputra each originate in Tibet and flow in opposite direc¬
tions around the mountain ranges until they turn south into India,
bringing with them virgin soil from the highlands which is depos¬
ited on the plain. The gently flowing Ganges, less subject to floods
than the Indus, is the most beneficent of all. Referred to as “Mother
Ganges,” it has long been the sacred river of the Hindus. It is no
wonder that its central valley, where every inch of soil is productive
and no stone even the size of a pebble can be found, is one of the

The Srinagar Valley. Low-lying areas

are regularly inundated by the flood
waters of the Jhelum River, a tributary
of the Indus River in northwestern India.
The floodwaters leave rich soil in their
wake.
ANCIENT INDIAN most densely populated spots in the world. The mouths of the
CIVILIZATION Ganges (in Bengal) are surrounded by forbidding jungle, and a
desert separates the lower Indus valley from the Ganges and its
tributaries; but the Indo-Gangetic region as a whole is lavishly
endowed by nature. Here the most influential centers of Indian
civilization have been located.
All India enjoys the advantage of the monsoon rains, and the
greater part of the country is suitable for cultivation. Moreover,
India a there is no impenetrable barrier between Hindustan and the Deccan
geographic unit and there has always been communication between the two sections.
In spite of its size and contrasting terrain, India is a natural geo¬
graphic unit. That its peoples have been united politically only dur¬
ing relatively brief periods of their history is attributable to many
factors, including disturbances from without, but it cannot be
ascribed to geographic necessity.

I. the VEDIC AGE IN INDIA

Remains of Neolithic and of early metal-age cultures have been

discovered both in Hindustan and the Deccan. The first highly ad¬
The earliest vanced civilization began its history as early as 3000 B.c. and
civilization of
reached its peak between 2500 and 2000 b.c. It covered a large area
India
extending 1000 miles through the Indus valley and along the coast
of the Arabian Sea both to the east and west of the mouth of the
Indus. It was essentially an urban civilization, with a cosmopolitan
society and extensive trade with the outside world. Among a num¬
ber of metropolitan centers thus far uncovered, the two principal
sites are Mohenjo-Daro, about 300 miles from the seacoast, and
Harappa, about 400 miles farther up the river. Both were durably

Excavations at Harappa have pro¬

vided the means of reconstructing
the urban civilization of the Indus
Valley between 3000 b.c. and 2000
b.c. Note the extensive use of brick
in the buildings of the period.
Skeletons at Mohenjo-Daro. Al¬
though the downfall of this cul¬
ture is a mystery, barbarian
conquest was an important fac¬
tor.

constructed of brick and laid out in accordance with ambitious and

intelligent planning. Private houses were solidly built and equipped
with bathrooms which drained into sewer pipes running underneath
the principal streets and discharging into the river. Evidences of
intellectual achievement are scanty, although proofs are available
that standards of weight and measurement and a system of writing
had been developed. The writing was evidently syllabic and designed
to be read in alternate lines from right to left and left to right, but it
has not yet been deciphered. A group of Scandinavian scholars who
are studying it believe that the language of the Indus valley inscrip¬
tions can be classified as Proto-Dravidian. Several of the arts reflected
a high degree of skill, especially the fabrication of small objects for
personal adornment. Some examples of sculpture, also, indicate a
talent for grace and naturalness. The religion of this early civilization
centered upon the worship of fertility deities, notably a mother
goddess. The principal rite was animal sacrifice.
Archaeological evidence supports the conclusion that the Indus
valley civilization was one of the earliest in the world and that it was
comparable in level of achievement to those of contemporary Egypt
and Mesopotamia. Whether it was indigenous to India or was intro¬
duced by settlers from the west is still a matter of speculation. It
long maintained intercourse with other civilized regions, especially
Bull Seal. Impression of stone
Mesopotamia, where Indus-type stone seals and other objects be¬ seal from Mohenjo-Daro, 2500
longing to the period about 2350 b.c. have been discovered. For b.c., probably used as a signa¬

reasons unknown the Indus valley civilization disappeared from the ture. The animal figure (of a
Brahmani bull or zebu) is as¬
scene of history about 1500 b.c. It may have succumbed to bar¬
sumed to have had religious
barian conquest, although floods and other natural disasters probably significance.
contributed to its decline. Whatever the causes, the civilization went
down to so complete an oblivion that no one was aware of its
existence until evidences were unearthed by archaeologists about
fifty years ago. Shortly before the downfall of the Indus val¬
ley cities, India was invaded by seminomadic tribes who were
destined to be the founders of a more enduring civilization. These 117
 ANCIENT INDIAN were the so-called Aryans,1 or Indo-Aryans, who came in by way
CIVILIZATION of Afghanistan through the passes of the Hindu Kush Mountains.
For many centuries the Aryan influence was confined to northern
India, and here it developed the distinctive Hindu pattern of soci¬
ety, culture, and religion. Though the Aryan (Indo-European) lan¬
guages never became dominant in the south, they are the most
widely spoken group of languages in India today.
For some 1000 years following the Indo-Aryan invasions the po¬
litical history of India is largely unknown. There is no reason to
Scantiness of the assume a wholesale displacement of population. As the invading
early records tribes extended their sway over northern India they intermingled
with the inhabitants of the conquered regions. The process of assim¬
ilation between conquerors and conquered affected the culture of
the invaders to a degree that cannot be clearly determined but
which undoubtedly was profound, especially in the development of
religion and social structure. The absence of reliable historical
records for such a long period of time, among people who achieved
a variegated, colorful, and highly intellectual civilization, is extraor¬
dinary. The scarcity of historical information is not entirely acci¬
dental, although it is partly accounted for by the fact that the Indo-
Aryans had no system of writing until about 1000 years after their
settlement in India. A more potent cause was the character of their
civilization itself and especially of their philosophy, which stressed
the importance of timeless qualities and the relative insignificance of
temporal events and conditions. When they looked back to the past,
Dancing Girl. Bronze statuette
they were inclined to give free scope to their imagination and to
of a girl dancer, from Mohen-
jo-Daro, a striking example reckon in terms of vast eras and aeons, symmetrical but fantastic,
of the art of the ancient Indus extending to millions or even billions of years. The failure to
civilization. Bracelets and ban¬ produce factual chronicles does not mean that no changes or excit¬
gles have retained their pop¬
ing events occurred. On the contrary, the available evidence sug¬
ularity among the women of
India to the present day.
gests the normal amount of conflict, turmoil, and upheaval.
The sources of information for early Indo-Aryan civilization are
almost exclusively in literary tradition. The oldest literary monu¬
ment is the collection of religious poems and hymns called the Ve¬
das. No one knows when they were composed. The oldest portions
may have originated as early as 3000 b.c., and they were passed on
Vedas and epics
orally without any written aids whatsoever until several centuries
after the collection was complete. The Vedas reflect the culture of
the primitive Aryan communities in the upper Indus valley and the
“Middle Land” between the two rivers, or roughly the period from
2000 to 800 b.c., which is accordingly called the Vedic age. The
latter portion of the Vedas, however, shows that profound changes
had taken place during these centuries. The second major literary

1 “Aryan” was the name by which these invaders identified themselves. The
theory of a distinctive Aryan race, expounded from time to time by various
propagandists, has been exploded. In current usage the term “Aryan” is
properly applied only to a family of related languages (the Indo-European
118 group).
Dyers’ troughs or drains, uncovered at
Mohenjo-Daro.

landmark consists of two long epic poems, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. Like the Vedas, and in spite of their tremendous bulk,
the epics were preserved by memory and oral repetition for many
generations, but they reflect a different set of conditions, customs,
and beliefs from those most typical of the Vedas. The epics reveal
that by the close of the Vedic age Indo-Aryan culture had been
transformed into a complex and stratified social and religious system.
It had become Hinduism.
In the early Vedic period the Indo-Aryan tribes had a simple,
largely pastoral economy. They cultivated barley and probably
other grains, using a wooden plow drawn by bullocks. They ate the
flesh of sheep, goats, and oxen, usually at the time of sacrificing
these animals to the gods, but their favorite foods were dairy
products—milk, cream, and ghee (melted butter). Cattle were the
most prized possessions and served as a medium of exchange. Appar¬
ently they were not yet worshiped nor was their slaughter forbid¬
den. Domesticated animals also included the horse, used to pull the
war chariot and also for chariot racing. All the common handi¬
crafts, including metal work, were practiced. Music, both vocal and
instrumental—with flutes, drums, cymbals, and stringed lutes or
harps—was a popular source of entertainment, as was dancing. Unicorn Seal. The “unicorn”
(perhaps actually the profile
Gambling with dice was a national pastime and seems to have come
of an ox) is the animal most
close to being a national obsession. frequently depicted on the
In its typical features this early Indian society was vigorous and Indus civilization seals. The
uninhibited, its members delighting in song and dance, in feasting, object under the animal’s head
may represent a brazier or in¬
carousing, and feats of strength. Warfare was frequent, and many
cense holder. The inscription
stories have been preserved of the incredible powers of strong- lias not been deciphered. This
armed heroes. The social unit was the patriarchal family, which does specimen was found in the
not necessarily imply that the father exercised tyrannical power Deccan, some 600 miles from
the Indus Valley.
over his dependents. His functions were religious as well as eco¬
nomic. The wife assisted her husband in sacrifices at the domestic
hearth, and women apparently enjoyed almost equal freedom with
men. Polygamy was permissible, but such later Hindu institutions as 119
 ANCIENT INDIAN the immolation of a widow upon her husband’s funeral pyre
CIVILIZATION (suttee) and child marriage were completely unknown.
As might be expected, political and legal institutions were rudi¬
mentary among the primitive Aryans. Each tribe had its king (raja),
Political insti¬ whose chief function was to lead his warriors in battle. Associated
tutions with the king in ruling was an assembly. Its composition and duties
are not at all clear, but its existence suggests a limitation upon the
royal authority. Some of the tribes were organized as aristocratic
republics rather than hereditary monarchies, with government rest¬
ing with the heads of the clans or an elected raja. In the early days
the raja’s powers could hardly have been awe-inspiring in any case.
He had no populous cities from which to extract riches, only coun¬
try villages; and the villages managed their own internal affairs, pay¬
ing part of their produce to the raja for “protection.” The handling
of crime and punishment followed patterns similar to those of many
other primitive societies. The injured party or his family was ex¬
pected to take the initiative in prosecuting an offender. Compensa¬
tion for injuries was usually a payment in money or commodities to
the plaintiff or, in the case of murder, to the victim’s family. Theft
was the most frequent complaint, especially cattle stealing, even
though this crime was looked upon as highly reprehensible. An in¬
solvent debtor—usually one who had gambled too recklessly—might
Weights. The Indus civiliza¬ be enslaved to his creditor.
tion’s flourishing commerce The most significant achievement of the Vedic age was the com¬
required a system of weights
position of the poetry and prose which give the period its name.
and measures. These stone
blocks served as units of
Ultimately there were four Vedas, each containing a large collec¬
weight on the scales used by tion of prayers, chants, or hymns, supplemented by prose commen¬
merchants. tary. The literal meaning of Veda is “knowledge” or “wisdom,” and
the entire collection was believed to have been imparted to ancient
seers by the gods rather than invented by men. The Vedas consti¬
The Vedas as tute the canonical books of the Indo-Aryan—and of the later
literature
Hindu—religion; they were considered divinely inspired and
uniquely sacred, as were the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures by
the members of those faiths. However, because the early Aryans
were illiterate, their sacred books were said to have been “heard”
rather than “revealed.” The Vedas cover an amazing variety and
range of subjects. Some portions are litanies intended to be chanted
by priests during a sacrifice. Others are catalogues of spells and
charms, including alleged remedies for fever and snake bite, love
formulas, and recipes for exterminating one’s enemies. Still others
incorporate customs and folklore or display a profound insight into
philosophical or religious truth. Although much of the content of
the Vedas is repetitious and monotonous, in vividness and imagina¬
tion the best verses deserve to rank with the Iliad of Homer.
The religion of the early Aryans as illustrated in the Vedas was a
comprehensive polytheism, with little ethical significance. Their
120 gods—deva, or “shining ones”—were the forces of nature or person-
ifications of these forces. No images or temples were erected, and THE VEDIC AGE
worship consisted chiefly in performing sacrifices to the gods. Grain
and milk were sacrificed, animal flesh was burned upon the altars
(the worshipers themselves eating the flesh), but the choicest offer¬
ing was soma, an alcoholic beverage fermented from the juice of a
mountain plant. The gods were looked upon in much the same way Religion of the

as the Olympian deities were regarded by the Greeks. They were early Aryans

conceived as splendid and powerful creatures, with human at¬

tributes but immortal as long as they drank the soma juice, and, on
the whole, benevolent. It was assumed that they would reward men
out of gratitude for the homage and gifts presented to them. Grad¬
ually, however, the insidious notion took root that if the holy rites
were conducted with unfailing accuracy they would compel the
god to obedience, whether he was willing or not. It is easy to see
how such an interpretation would enhance the prestige and author¬
ity of the priests who controlled the wonder-working formulas.
The roster of gods was a large one and tended to increase. While
several deities can be identified with those of other Indo-European
peoples, they did not have as clear-cut personalities as the Greek or The roster of

Norse gods. The Indian mind ran toward specialization and abstrac¬ gods

tion, tending to invent a new god or a new variant of an old god for
every conceivable occasion. Dyaus, lord of the bright sky, was
equivalent to the Greek Zeus (though less important). Varuna rep¬
resented the sky or heaven in its capacity to encompass all things
and hold the universe together. He was called Asura, a term which
suggests close kinship with the supreme Persian deity, Ahura-
Mazda. At least five different divinities were identified with the sun.
One of them, Mitra, shared a common origin with the Persian
Mithras, but this deity did not assume the prominence in India that
Mithras attained in Persia and the West. Surya was the sun’s golden
disk, Pushan embodied its power to assist vegetation and animal
growth, and Vishnu personified the swift-moving orb that traverses
the sky in three strides.
The most popular deity of all in Vedic times was Indra, whose
original significance is uncertain. He was alleged to have benefited
mankind by slaying a malignant serpent, the demon of drought, thus Indra

releasing the pent-up waters to refresh the earth. Also, it was said,
he discovered the light, made a path for the sun, and created light¬
ning. He was chiefly honored as a mighty warrior and god of battle,
the slayer of demons and the “black-skinned” enemies of the
Aryans. Indra was supposed to be particularly fond of soma, which
fired his blood for combat, and he was reputed to be able to drink
three lakes of this potent fluid at one draft while devouring the flesh
of 300 buffaloes. Soma, the sacred liquor, was also deified, as was the
sacrificial fire, Agni. Agni was conceived both as a god and as the
mouth of the gods or as the servant who carried their savory food
offerings up to the heavens for them. 121
ANCIENT INDIAN Although religion in the Vedic age was hardly spiritual, it con¬
CIVILIZATION tained traces of such a quality. Some hymns to Varuna are remark¬
able for their devoutness and ethical content. Varuna is described as
the great regulator of the universe, who keeps the rivers in their
courses and the sun and planets in their proper orbits. He is also pic¬
tured as the upholder of rules and ordinances for both gods and
Spiritual and men, capable of binding sinners with fetters. To him were addressed
ethical elements prayers for forgiveness of sin. Offenses likely to incur divine wrath
included not only infractions of religious taboos but also violations
of the moral code, such as adultery, witchcraft, gambling, and
drunkenness. However, despite intimations of a belief in life after
death, by far the greater emphasis was placed upon the enjoyment
of life here and now.
Associated with each of the Vedas is a prose manual called a
Brahmana because it was for the instruction and assistance of the
The Brahmanas Brahmans (priests) who officiated at the sacrifices. While the
Vedic hymns are generally unaffected and artless, the Brahmanas
betray a shrewd calculation on the part of the custodians of the
sacred traditions and also illustrate the tendency of such traditions
to degenerate into empty mechanical formulas. A modern Indian
scholar describes the Brahmanas as “an arid desert of puerile specu¬
lations on ritual ceremonies,” and even as “filthy and repulsive,”
with a morality “no higher than that of primitive medicine-men.” 2
The greed and arrogance of the Brahmans is illustrated by such
assertions as that judgment should always be awarded to a Brahman
in every dispute with a layman and that murder is not actually
murder unless the victim is a Brahman.
In view of the decadent tendencies evident in the Brahmanas it is
all the more notable that the concluding portion of Vedic literature
The Upanishads is of an elevated philosophical character, giving proof both of intel¬
lectual maturity and of ethical and spiritual insight. Evidently, side
by side with the naive popular cults and with the mechanical rituals
of priestcraft had grown up a tradition of skepticism and bold
speculation, which attempted to delve beneath the surface of sense
experience and formulate answers to eternally recurring questions.
This concluding portion, called Vedanta (“end of the Vedas”),
comprises the famous Upanishads, of which there are some 200. The
Upanishads (the word means a “sitting down near” or session with a
teacher) are treatises or rambling discourses in prose and poetry,
dealing with the nature of being, man, and the universe. Their con¬
tent varies in subject matter and in quality of thought, ranging from
the trivial and absurd to the sublime. Scholars and philosophers from
the Occident as well as from the Orient have long been attracted by
the subtle probing, the sweeping imagination, and the idealistic con¬
cepts evident in the Upanishads, the best of which are equal to the

2B. K. Ghosh, in The History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol. II,
122 The Vedic Age, pp. 225, 418.
finest products of Greek philosophical genius. Although part of the THE VEDIC AGE
Vedas, the Upanishads largely ignore the popular mythology of the
Vedic hymns and also constitute a challenge to the presumptuous¬
ness of the Brahmans and their version of religion as consisting in
adherence to ritual and ceremony.
While the Upanishads do not fall into a single pattern of thought,
their most essential philosophical teachings are fairly consistent. The
key concepts, which may be described as idealistic, monistic, and Philosophy of

pantheistic, are: (i) the supreme reality of the World Soul or Abso- theUpanishads
lute Being; (2) the unreality of the material world; (3) transmigra¬
tion, or the rebirth of individual souls; and (4) the attainment of
serenity through escape from the cycle of recurring births by union
with Absolute Being. Evil and suffering are explained on the ground
that they are incidental to matter and material creatures. But matter
is held to be an illusion (maya)-, the only true reality is the soul or
spirit. If the soul could manage to disentangle itself from matter
(which actually is only an appearance anyway), it would be free
from discord and suffering. Not only does life in the flesh entail
sorrow and pain, but, according to this philosophy, death fails to
provide relief because the soul will be born again into another body.
In developing the theory of an endless chain of births, the philoso¬
phers of the Upanishads insisted that the process was not purely ac¬
cidental and uncontrollable. They taught that a person’s conduct in
life determined the type of body and condition which he would ex¬
perience in his next incarnation. He might go down in the scale—
even to the animal or insect level—or he might go up—to the state of
a noble, king, or saint. This is the karma doctrine, which holds that
actions, thoughts, and motives bear fruit. It resembles the Christian
teaching, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”—ex¬
cept that the retribution or reward for actions is held over to an¬
other earthly existence. However, if it is assumed that all physical
existence is unsatisfactory and illusory, obviously there is not much
to be gained from moving a few rungs up the ladder of human
wretchedness. Hence the Upanishads taught that preferable even to
the faithful performance of dharma (moral uprightness and the con¬
scientious discharge of one’s duties) was a deliberate break with the
habits and engagements which lead to the renewal of births. Separa¬
tion from the chain of births could be achieved only by following a
standard of conduct higher than that of righteousness in the ordi¬
nary sense of the term. Evil action would produce evil fruit or
karma, and righteous action would produce good karma; but still
more desirable was conduct which, being “neither black nor white,”
could lead to the extinction of karma altogether. In other words,
only when a person acts with complete disinterestedness, detaching
himself entirely from the idea of reward for his merit, do the fetters
which bind him to the world of sense begin to loosen and ultimately
dissolve. When this happens, the liberated soul attains blessedness or
nirvana, which does not mean either annihilation or entrance into a 123
ANCIENT INDIAN heaven, but a union with Brahma, the undefinable Universal Soul or
CIVILIZATION eternal Absolute Being.
The philosophy of the Upanishads is pessimistic regarding the
world and man’s present state, because it depreciates everything
Pessimism and material and holds that the natural physical life is a burden. How¬
optimism ever, it is optimistic as to ultimate ends and as to the possibility of
human emancipation. It teaches that there is in every man an inde¬
structible fragment of reality. The basic precept is that atman (the
individual soul) is actually a part of Brahma (the Universal Soul or
rational principle which pervades the universe); and that although
the soul has been separated from its source it can be reunited with
it—not through a miracle but through the individual’s own efforts.
Moreover, the state of nirvana, while a remote goal for the majority,
is declared to be attainable during the mortal existence of a suffi¬
ciently dedicated person.

2. THE EPIC AGE: THE EMERGENCE OF

HINDUISM

Long before the Vedas were completed, the two Indian epics
were in process of development. The epics were not cast into their
The Indian epics final form until sometime between 400 b.c. and 200 a.d., but they
refer to events of a much earlier date, and the Epic age overlaps
with the Vedic. The epics were composed in Sanskrit, a dialect
which is derived from but not identical with that of the Vedas, and
which came to be regarded as the “classical” form of the Indo-
Aryan speech, somewhat as Latin is regarded as classical by the Indo-
European peoples of Europe. Furthermore, in spite of the lack of
precise dividing dates, it is clear that the epics represent a later stage
of social and cultural evolution than do the Vedas.
The Indian epics are comparable to the epic poems of the ancient
Greeks in that they celebrate the deeds of legendary national heroes,
Content of the but they are much more encyclopedic and diffuse than the Homeric
epics poems. The Mahabharata, the longer of the two Indian epics, is
more than seven times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey com¬
bined. While the epics treat of bloody conflicts and amazing ex¬
ploits, they also incorporate quantities of religious lore, and through
the centuries they, rather than the Vedas, have served as a Bible for
the common people. This is partly because the Brahmans imposed
restrictions upon the study of the sacred Vedic texts, whereas any¬
one could listen to a recitation of the epics.
The Ramayana has as its central theme the story of Prince Rama,
who, with his beautiful wife Sita, was exiled through the jealous
The Ramayana intrigue of a wicked stepmother. It relates how Sita was carried off
to Ceylon by the demon king of that country and finally recovered
by Rama with the help of a monkey general. The narrative is highly
124 artificial as well as fantastic, and easily lends itself to allegorical
Ravana, Rama, and Lakshmana.
An Indian painting of the eigh¬
teenth century depicting an inci¬
dent from the Ramayana. Rama,
the epic hero, and his brother
Lakshmana are fighting against
Ravana, the demon king of
Ceylon, who carried off Rama’s
faithful wife Sita.

interpretation. The poem indicates some familiarity with both

southern India and Ceylon and provides evidence that Aryan in¬
fluence, if not extensive conquests, had penetrated into the Deccan.
The story was reworked many times in later Indian literature and
embellished with symbolism. Rama and Sita came to be idealized as
the perfect types of manly courage and feminine purity and devo¬
tion, respectively, and Rama was traditionally regarded as an in¬
carnation of the god Vishnu. It is possible that the poem may be, in
part, an allegory of the progress of agriculture, in which Rama rep¬
resents the plow and Sita the furrow. (In the epic, after returning to
her husband’s kingdom she is swallowed up by the earth.)
The Mahabharata is just as enigmatic as the Ramayana, though
livelier in its story and richer in the variety and scope of its subject
matter. “If it is not in the Mahabharata, it is not in India,” has be- The Mahabharata

come a proverb. A narrative core, which gives the poem its name, is
the account of a great battle between two related but feuding fami¬
lies, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, of Bharata descent. The “Great
Bharata War” probably commemorates a historic battle fought near
the modern city of Delhi about 1400 b.c., but the epic version is a
tissue of myth and fable. Some scholars believe that the Pandavas
(who on the whole are the heroes of the story) were not really
kinsmen of the Kauravas but a different tribe altogether, perhaps of
Mongolian race. The five Pandava brothers are described as having
one wife in common, an obvious reference to the institution of
polyandry, which was foreign to the Aryan communities but which
is still practiced by the Tibetans. As a chronicle of battle the poetic
version is gory enough but full of odd contradictions. Acts of ruth- 125
ANCIENT INDIAN lessness and chicanery are recorded along with examples of exag-
CIVILIZATION gerated chivalry and scrupulousness. The god Krishna (supposedly
one of the incarnations of Vishnu) takes part in the encounter with
rare impartiality—serving as charioteer for one of the Pandava
princes but sending his own forces to fight on the other side. The
battle is described as raging furiously for eighteen days, by which
time practically all the antagonists on both sides have been killed.
Finally the five royal Pandava brothers, victorious but the sole sur¬
vivors of their line, renounce the world and, with their wife and
dog, set off for the Himalayas in search of Paradise. Some of the
contradictions and inconsistencies in the account can be explained
by the fact that the poem was several centuries in the making. Ethi¬
cal sensibilities and the warriors’ code of conduct changed consid¬
erably during this period until rough-and-ready practices which
were once considered normal came to be looked upon with dis¬
approval.
Interpolated in the story of the great war is a philosophical dia¬
logue which contrasts startlingly with the rapid pace and bloody
The Bhagavad- tone of the main narrative. This passage, which like the rest of the
Gita Mahabharata is of unknown authorship, is called the Bhagavad-Gita
or “the Lord’s Song.” In form, it is a discourse between the warrior
Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna (who represents the god
Vishnu), precipitated by Arjuna’s reluctance to begin the slaughter
of his relatives when the lines of battle are drawn up. In substance, it
is a dramatic and colorful exposition of some of the most fertile
ideas of the Upanishads, with greater emotional impact because it
speaks not in abstractions but in terms of love for a personal god. At
the outset of the dialogue Arjuna expresses his aversion to combat,
saying flatly that he will not engage in it: “Better I deem it ... to
face them weaponless, and bare my breast to shaft and spear, than
answer blow with blow.” Krishna assures him that he must fight,
not because there is any virtue in it but because as a member of the

Cotton tapestry. Embroidered with colored

silks and silver (eighteenth century), it il¬
lustrates scenes from the Mahabharata.
warrior caste fighting is his duty (dharma). Similarly, Arjuna is re¬ THE EPIC AGE
minded that both death and birth are only incidents and that the
soul is indestructible: “Life is not slain.” Soon, however, the conver¬
sation proceeds to a penetrating discussion of the value of different
types of action, suggestive of Christian arguments over the respec¬
tive merits of “faith” and “works.” Krishna outlines four levels of
conduct or four paths to virtue. At the lowest level are good works,
prescribed by reason. Better than works of diligence is knowledge:
“The right act is less than the right-thinking mind.” Still higher is
worship or pure devotion, meditation which is above the bonds of
sense and “troubled no longer by the priestly lore.” But on the very
highest level is placed the renunciation of self. The ideal worshiper,
while not neglecting his duty, will play his part “with unyoked
soul,” “with spirit unattached.” He acts “unmoved by passion and
unbound by deeds, setting result aside”—that is, with no thought of
reward either material or spiritual. Although in the dialogue the
warrior is enjoined to fulfill his warlike function—with complete
indifference to victory or defeat—the Bhagavad-Gita verses have
been interpreted by some Hindus, including Mahatma Gandhi, as a
text for pacifism.
Aside from their narrative and philosophical interest, the epics
reveal that during the 1000 or 1500 years since the settlement of the
Indo-Aryans in India extensive changes had taken place among the Significance of

people, especially in religion and the organization of society. The the epics

carefree, boisterous optimism of the early Vedic period was giving

way to attitudes of pessimism, discouragement, and resignation; so¬
ciety, instead of being flexible and largely uninhibited, was tending
toward a rigid stratification of functions and privileges. The causes of
such marked change are not entirely clear. But whatever the rea¬
sons, before the close of the Epic age Indian society had assumed
many of the characteristics which have distinguished it down to
modern times. Together they make up the culture complex which is
Hinduism.
Popular religion had changed from a simple polytheism to an in¬
tricate network of beliefs and rituals with a tremendous hierarchy
of gods. The catalogue and ranking of deities and the forms of The growth of
Hinduism
worship varied from one locality to another and among different
strata of the population. With a few exceptions, the more prominent
of the early Aryan deities faded into the background as new gods
were added to the pantheon with the absorption of local pre-Aryan
cults. Eventually the number of divine and semidivine beings ac¬
corded recognition ran into the thousands, or possibly millions.
Thus, while philosophy was tending toward monotheism, the pop¬
ular faiths were moving in the opposite direction. Three gods, how¬
ever, came to be considered as paramount, although without agree¬
ment as to their qualities and import. Vishnu, the old solar deity,
believed to have had many incarnations, was worshiped under
several names. He was still conceived as a benevolent and cheerful 127
 ANCIENT INDIAN god, “the Preserver,” representing the creative or formative princi¬
CIVILIZATION ple in the universe. Because he was supposed to disapprove of blood¬
shed, Vishnu received no animal sacrifice but was offered garlands
of flowers. Quite different was Shiva, “the Destroyer,” (perhaps
identical with one of the Indus valley deities), who, in spite of his
frightening-aspects, has proved to be a more widely favored object
of worship than Vishnu. Typically Shiva was pictured as five-faced
and four-armed. He was regarded as beneficent in some aspects be¬
cause destructive force—symbolized by the dance of Shiva—is a
necessary agency in the evolution of the world and living forms, but
his power could be prostrating. While some devotees of Shiva were
ascetics and mystics, among other groups his worship called for
bloody sacrifice, and was also associated with a fertility cult employ¬
ing orgiastic rites. The third and least influential of the major deities
was Brahma, a personification of the Absolute Being or World
Soul of the philosophers. Representing an abstract principle, Brahma
did not seize upon the popular imagination as did Vishnu and Shiva.
He was visualized as a tiny figure who could sit on a lotus leaf. This
god, however, has stimulated mystic contemplation. The avowed
end of the famous yoga discipline is to attain a union of the soul
Shiva. The dance of Shiva with Brahma.
portrayed in this eleventh cen¬
In many respects Hinduism differs from the pattern of religion
tury bronze is symbolic of
the destructive forces in the
familiar to Western peoples. It has no creed, no set of dogmas, no
world. single congregation of the faithful, no established church. It assumes
that divine truth wears many faces and that the paths to salvation
are myriad. Hinduism is actually a social and religious complex, pre¬
senting a wide range of variations from region to region and from
one social level to another, but given coherence by the authority
accorded to the Brahmans or priests. Throughout India the
Brahmans established themselves as ministrants of the rites and re¬
cipients of reverence and material compensation. They did not en¬
force any orthodox creed or crusade against heretics, but they in¬
sisted successfully that only they could mediate between gods and
men. The chief points of emphasis in Hinduism as a social discipline
came to be: (i) respect for and support of the Brahmans; (2)
noninjury to animal life, especially cattle (although there are many
exceptions to this rule); (3) the inferior status of women; and (4)
acceptance of the regulations of caste.
The chief distinguishing characteristic of Hindu religious and
social life is the institution of caste, the most rigorous and refined
The institution of instrument of segregation ever invented. Caste is much more com¬
caste plex than the typical division of a nation into social or economic
classes, even when these classes are hereditary. Aside from heredity,
membership in a caste is not based upon any single principle nor
does it follow a logical pattern. The best definition of caste is a sim¬
ple one: “A group of families internally united by peculiar rules for
the observance of ceremonial purity, especially in the matters of
128 diet and marriage.” Typically, a person must marry within his or
her caste and should not accept food from a member of a lower THE EPIC AGE
caste. Caste is the antithesis of democracy. It is a vast hierarchy,
exalting the Brahmans at the top and degrading the “untouchables”
or outcastes at the bottom of the social pyramid.
According to orthodox Hindu tradition, caste has always existed;
it is part of the order of nature. The word used to denote it (jat)
literally means “species.” Historical evidence, however, shows that The development

caste developed gradually over a long period of time. Caste was un- the cas,e system
known to the Indo-Aryan society of the early Vedic age, but by the
time of the epics it was already regarded as an ancient institution.
Thus the system has probably been operating in India for the past
3000 years, and its origins are lost in obscurity. Its starting point,
undoubtedly, was the racial pride of the Aryan conquerors, who
were determined to prevent contamination by intermarriage with
the supposedly inferior “black-skinned” peoples whom they were
fighting and reducing to subjection. In this case the distinction was
based on color (varna); but as time went on various other criteria
entered into the drawing of caste lines, including occupations, reli¬
gious deviation, migrations from one section of India to another,
and later invasions by non-Hindu peoples who could not be expelled
but who might be prevented from destroying the Hindu system by
assigning them a place within it. While the origins of caste are ob¬
scure and its causes multiple, the development and final acceptance
of the institution was probably influenced by the exertions of the
Brahmans in their struggle for a position of dominance over all other
groups, a struggle in which they did not scruple to use religious
weapons to discomfit their competitors. The keenest rivalry was
between the Brahmans and the warrior nobles (including rajas).
The nobles had the advantage of being recognized wielders of au¬
thority backed by force; but the Brahmans had the advantage of
education, mastery of the sacred Vedas, and wonder-working
powers in the eyes of the people. Socially the Brahmans and nobles
were on a par. There are records of Brahman kings and of kings or
nobles who became skilled in the Vedas. But eventually the Brah¬
mans won recognition for their claim to the highest rank of all, and
the nobles were forced to accept classification as the second caste
(kshatriya). As the price of their pre-eminence, the Brahmans were
expected to devote themselves more unreservedly to their religious
and educational functions, adopting a modest and mildly ascetic
manner of life and leaving political dominion to the kshatriyas.
However, as tutors and advisers to kings, the Brahmans managed to
retain considerable political influence.
Once the principle of caste was accepted by the leading groups in
society, it was not difficult to impose it upon the others. Originating
in northern India, the institution was extended among the Dravid- The major castes

ians and other peoples of the Deccan as Aryan influence permeated

that region. Many occupational groups or guilds became castes, but
division does not always follow vocational lines. Brahmans may, 129
 Dravidian Temple of Nataraja at
Chidambaram. The gorgeously
sculptured spire is a gem of Dra¬
vidian art; the temple is believed to
be the oldest in South India.

without incurring disapproval, engage in a variety of occupations,

including comparatively humble ones. At the same time, members
of the higher castes avoid tasks which are considered defiling, such
as the disposal of corpses, butchering animals, or preparing hides. It
is impossible to enumerate precisely the castes of India because the
number is enormous and fluctuates from time to time. Theoreti¬
cally, there are four great castes with subdivisions; brahmans
(priests), kshatriyas (warriors), vaisyas (farmers, herdsmen, and
artisans), and sudras (laborers, servants, and slaves). Actually, ex¬
cept for the first, these categories have little significance. Probably
they once represented the general classes of Aryan society before
caste had taken hold, but they are much too broad to define caste as
it has existed in historic times. The effective divisions are more
minute. There are some 1800 subdivisions of Brahmans alone, and
the total number of castes and subcastes in India has been reckoned
at more than 3000.
Undeniably caste has had a stultifying effect upon Indian society.
Effects of the The rules of caste observance are arbitrary, tedious, and time-con-
caste system suming, especially in the everyday matters of social intercourse and
eating. The fear of pollution becomes an obsession. Not only are
there varying degrees of uncleanness in food (depending on the
ingredients and the method of cooking as well as who has prepared
it), but absolute prohibitions on certain foods restrict the diet
130 unduly, impairing the health of the population. Whether or not a
consequence of caste, the position of women in the patriarchal soci¬ THE EPIC AGE
ety of India became degraded as the caste system solidified. A man
might in some cases marry beneath his caste; for a woman to do so
was considered shameful. Caste duty for a woman lay in absolute
obedience to her father and then to her husband. The custom
of child marriage was introduced, defended with the argument
that it saved a girl from the monstrous crime of falling in love
with any other man than her future husband. Although child mar¬
riages made it inevitable that there would be a large number of
widows, a widow was shamed by the belief that some sin of hers had
caused her husband’s death. She was forbidden to remarry and could
best redeem her reputation by committing suicide in flames on her
husband’s pyre. The most inhumane feature of caste was the treat¬
ment accorded the lowest groups in the scale, especially the “Un¬
touchables,” who were considered to be outside the border of even
the lowest caste, and therefore hardly human beings at all. In south¬
ern India the greatest humiliation of the “Untouchables” took place.
Their shadow, it was thought, would pollute a well. They were re¬
quired to live in segregated quarters and to warn people of their
approach by uttering cries.
The fact that the caste system has endured in India for tens of
centuries and is still operative (though with important changes) is a
testimony to the toughness of social institutions, once they have be¬ Caste and

come established. At the same time it should be pointed out that the religion

role of caste in India was not wholly negative. On the positive side it
gave the Indian people a sense of identity when confronted with
alien cultures or conquerors. It also offered the individual a feeling
of security within his group and fostered various forms of mutual
assistance. In spite of inter-caste rivalries, the separate castes learned
to cooperate with one another, notably in the constitution and
administration of local village councils. Eventually caste came to be
looked upon as a normal and necessary arrangement, especially as it
was hedged about by religious sanctions. Particularly effectual were
the twin beliefs: karma and the transmigration or rebirth of souls.
These concepts, which were given an idealistic intepretation by the
philosophers of the Upanishads, served in the popular imagination
to explain and justify caste. If a person was born into a high caste he
was thought to be receiving his reward for meritorious behavior in a
previous existence. He had produced good karma, which carried
him upward on the ladder. Similarly, a member of the despised
castes was supposed to have incurred his lot because of misdeeds in a
previous incarnation. Unfair as the distinctions of caste seemed to
be, they were accepted as a just and precise recognition of the indi¬
vidual’s deserts. The person who suffered abuse was told to blame
only himself and to strive for perfection within the prescribed limits
of his present caste in order that his condition would be improved
the next time his soul returned to earth. Since it was possible to go 131
ANCIENT INDIAN either up or down in the succession of births, patience, diligence,
CIVILIZATION and conformity became supreme virtues. Devotion to duty and the
certainty of retribution—dharma and karma—were the cement
which held the caste structure together.

3. REFORM MOVEMENTS: THE RISE OF

BUDDHISM

In the sixth century b.c. the stratification of society and the

hardening of religious ritual provoked a simmering discontent that
The revolt against found an outlet in several protest movements, led by members of
Brahmanism the nobility. Because these protests were directed against the extrav¬
agant claims of the Brahmans, they assumed at the outset a heretical
or even antireligious form. Most of them proved to be only tempo¬
rary, but two resulted in philosophical and religious schools of en¬
during influence—Jainism and Buddhism. There were many paral¬
lels between these two movements. They originated in the same
section of India, north of the Ganges in eastern Hindustan, and the
leader of each was a member of the noble or kshatriya caste. Each
repudiated the authority of priests and Vedas, rejecting all the
paraphernalia of religion and replacing it by a system of philosophy.
At the same time each was ethical and reformist, attempting to pro¬
vide moral and personal satisfaction to its adherents. Each drew
heavily upon the background of Hindu philosophic tradition and
formulated goals which, though original in form, were not alien to
the spirit of this tradition. And, ironically, each finally turned into a
religion, Jainism taking its place within Hinduism, and Buddhism
becoming a separate faith. Although Buddhism carried within itself
many elements of Hindu thought, it ultimately obtained its widest
following in Asian lands outside India and practically disappeared in
the country of its birth. However, Buddhism flourished in India for
1000 years after the life of its founder; it helped to liberalize Hindu¬
ism and to keep it from becoming an agency of unlimited exploita¬
tion in the hands of the Brahmans. Buddhism also contributed heav¬
ily to Indian architecture and sculpture, and the Buddhist sacred
texts were the first works committed to writing in India.
Jainism is associated with a figure known as Mahavira (“Great
Hero”), who, although probably not its founder, gave it a distinc¬
Jainism tive form. Mahavira expounded a complex metaphysics which
embraced the notion that not only living creatures but almost every
object possesses a soul. Employing the familiar concepts of trans¬
migration and karma, he held that the soul when attached to matter
is in bondage and that it will never be content until freed from and
entirely independent of the physical body. The purport of his mes¬
sage was to point out the way to the soul’s liberation. Insisting that
prayers and worship were of no avail, he prescribed a course of
mental and moral discipline, the highest stage of which was with¬
132 drawal into a state of meditation with complete denial of the claims
Jain T emples on Girnar
Mountain. These exhibit the
lavish sculpture characteris¬
tic of Indian architecture.

of the flesh. The exalting of extreme asceticism remained one of the

chief characteristics of Jainism, and particular honor was reserved
for the zealot who was able to carry self-denial to the point of starv¬
ing himself to death, as a number of Jain saints are reputed to have
done. Another cardinal emphasis among the Jains (derived from
their animistic belief in a multiplicity of souls) is the doctrine of
ahimsa, or the necessity of refraining from injury to any living
creature. This doctrine has led to commendable efforts to prevent
cruelty to animals, although it has sometimes been carried to ex¬
tremes in attempting to protect even pests and vermin. Surrounded
by the atmosphere of Hinduism, the Jains relinquished their early
antireligious tenets, instituting prayers to various deities, including
the deified Mahavira. The Jain sect, which numbers slightly more
than a million members, is monastic in organization. The monks are
bound by five vows, while the laity, who are considered part of the
order although not of the same degree of holiness as the monks, may
subscribe to “small vows.” Through plying the trade of moneylend¬
ing the Jains became a wealthy order, in spite of their rigorous
asceticism.
Much more significant than Jainism was the contemporary move¬
ment destined to be known as Buddhism because its founder,
Gautama, was accorded the title of Buddha, “the Enlightened One.” Gautama: the

Gautama (ca. 563-483 b.c.) was the son of the head of a small state founder of

located on the slopes of the Himalayas in what is now Nepal. This Buddh|Sm
tribal state, like many others of that time, elected its ruler; hence
Gautama, although of noble blood, was not a hereditary prince as
later tradition claimed. Little is known about the events of his life,
but legends have supplied innumerable details, most of them miracu¬
lous. There is factual evidence to support the conclusion that he was
one of those rare personalities who deliberately relinquished a safe
and comfortable existence in order to devote himself to the quest of 133
 ANCIENT INDIAN higher values and the service of his fellow men. Tradition has it that
CIVILIZATION at the age of twenty-nine he left his sumptuous abode in the middle
of the night after a fond glance at his young wife and infant son, cut
off his hair, and sent back his jewels and fine clothes to his father.
Then came years of wandering and disappointment in which he
found no answer to the problem that vexed him—the cause and cure
of human suffering. After studying philosophy with the Brahmans
he concluded that this was a vain pursuit. Next, it is said, he spent
six years practicing an extreme asceticism, until his body had almost
wasted away. This course he also abandoned as leading only to de¬
spair. The climax of his life came when, discouraged and weary, he
sat down under a large Bo tree to meditate. Suddenly he had an
overwhelming experience, a revelation or a flash of insight in which
he seemed to penetrate the mystery of evil and suffering. Hence¬
forth he was free from doubts, but, instead of retiring to enjoy his
state of Enlightenment, he determined to teach others how they
might also secure it. For the next forty years until his death at the
age of eighty, he wandered through the Ganges valley, relying upon
charity for his livelihood and instructing the disciples who gathered
Gautama Buddha in the state about him.
of nirvana. Fragment from The substance of Gautama Buddha’s teachings has been better
Early Khmer Period. preserved than the facts of his life. Some scholars consider him the
most intellectual of all the founders of the world’s great religions.
He had no intention of establishing a religion, and his ideas, al¬
though conditioned by his Hindu religious background, were not
sectarian. His doctrines embodied a philosophy or metaphysics, a
psychology, and an ethics, of which the last is most important. The
basis of his philosophy was materialism. In direct opposition to the
absolute idealism of the Upanishads and in contrast to Mahavira’s
teaching, he held that nothing exists except matter and denied the
actuality of the soul. Because matter is in a state of flux, constantly
changing its form, he said that all things are impermanent. Hence,
there is no Absolute Being or fixed universal principle other than the
law of change—growth and decay. Buddha’s psychological princi¬
ples followed logically from his materialist metaphysics. If there is
no soul, no permanent entity, there can be no distinct individual
personality or being. Not only the soul but the self is an illusion, he
affirmed. What seems to be an individual personality is only a
bundle of attributes (such as sense experience and consciousness)
held together temporarily as the spokes of a wheel are fastened
around the hub.
Gautama’s negative and deflating intellectual doctrines were in¬
tended to be encouraging rather than discouraging, as shown in the
Gautama's doctrine development of his system of ethics. The source of human anguish
of selflessness
is, as he saw it, the individual’s attempt to attain the unattainable.
Desire or craving is the root of all evil. It can never be satisfied be¬
134 cause the desired objects and emotional states are transitory; but the
abandonment of desire can bring satisfaction and peace (the state of REFORM MOVEMENTS
nirvana). The most persistent and futile craving, underlying a mul¬
titude of vain desires, is the ego impulse—the struggle to enhance
and perpetuate the self. Since, according to Gautama, the self is only
an illusion, the egoist is doomed to chase a will-o’-the-wisp. Thus it
follows that selflessness is more realistic as well as more satisfying
than selfishness. Oddly enough, Gautama, while denying the exis¬
tence of the soul, retained the doctrine of karma, insisting that a
person’s actions would affect the condition of another person yet
unborn—just as an expiring lamp can light the flame of another
lamp. The ultimate goal which he projected was, like that of the
Vedic philosophers, the complete extinction of karma through the
cultivation of selflessness, so that the cycle of births, travail, and
tragedy would be no more.
In his ethical teachings Gautama’s emphasis was positive rather
than negative. He proclaimed the ideal of universal love, to be
exemplified by service and helpfulness. Rather than a saintly hermit, Gautama's ethical
he was apparently a gifted teacher, with a stock of homely illustra¬ teachings

tions and parables. He gave sensible advice in regard to domestic and

marital relations, occupations, business matters, and so on. As a rule
of personal conduct he advocated “the Middle Path,” by which he
meant the avoidance of extremes—renouncing both indulgence and
injurious asceticism, rejecting prayers and ritual and also the idea of
escape into a heaven of bliss. Gautama repeatedly declared that
dogmas are much less important than behavior and inner attitudes.
And he was firmly opposed to forcing ideas upon anyone, believing
that discussion and the power of example are the only valid means of
establishing truth. Although he was an ethical rather than a social
reformer and made no direct attack upon the caste system, caste dis¬
tinctions were dissolved among his own group of disciples. He
admonished his followers to develop their faculties to the full and to
exert themselves for the benefit of others. His last words are said to
have been, “Work out your emancipation with diligence.”
The Buddhist movement in Gautama’s lifetime had few of the
characteristics of a religion. In the course of a century or two, how¬
ever, it developed its own rites, mystic symbols, and other super¬ Gautama:

natural elements. The Buddhists in India gradually became an order monasticism

of monks and nuns. Candidates for admission to the order were re¬
quired to undergo a long period of training. After completing the
training, the novitiate shaved his head, put on the yellow robes, and
took the monastic vows of poverty and chastity. In contrast to
Christian monks, he did not take a vow of obedience, because
membership was considered a matter of free choice. The monks
customarily remained in a monastery during the three months of the
rainy season, which Gautama had devoted to instructing his disci¬
ples; for the rest of the year they lived as wandering mendicants,
dependent upon the alms which they received in their beggars’ 135
ANCIENT INDIAN bowls as they passed from village to village. Lay men or women who
CIVILIZATION accepted the Buddhist teachings and contributed to the support of
the monks were considered adherents of the faith and entitled to its
benefits.
Various sects of Buddhism arose as the movement spread. The
two principal schools, representing a cleavage which apparently
Buddhist sects: began soon after Gautama’s death, are the Hinayana (“Lesser
Hinayana and Vehicle”) and the Mahayana (“Great Vehicle”). The term Hina¬
Mahayana
yana was at first applied reproachfully, because the members of this
group were bent upon their own self-perfection, claiming that it
was possible for the diligent individual to attain nirvana in three life¬
times. The Mahayana school was characterized by the doctrine of
the buddha-elect—a person who had won Enlightenment but chose
deliberately to remain in the world of sorrow in order to work for
the liberation of all mankind. In spite of its noble beginning, how¬
ever, the Mahayana tradition became more corrupted than the
Hinayana as time went on. The Hinayana school of Buddhism is
represented in its purest form in Ceylon, where it was established as
early as the third century b.c., and it is also the prevailing religion of
Burma and Thailand. In these countries, Gautama is still theoreti¬
cally regarded as a man, but in actual practice he is worshiped as a
deity, and offerings of flowers or incense are made to his image. The
intellectual vigor and the moral challenge of Gautama’s teachings
have been greatly obscured, and elements of primitive religions
have retained their hold on the people. However, the Buddha’s
emphasis upon kindliness, patience, and the avoidance of injury to
living creatures is still prominent. Mahayana Buddhism was eventu¬
ally developed in many different forms in Nepal, Tibet, and eastern
Asia. It came to include the worship not only of Buddha but of his
several supposed reincarnations, and it also transformed the concept
of nirvana into a conventional paradise of bliss.
During the period so far discussed, covering more than 1000
years, the physical and external aspects of Indian civilization were
Intellectual still elementary. Writing was unknown until the eighth, or perhaps
achievements in the seventh, century b.c., and even then it was used only for busi¬
ancient India
ness purposes. The people lived in villages or small towns rather
than cities, architecture was very simple, and political units were
small. There was none of the magnificence which characterized an¬
cient Egypt, Mesopotamia, or the extinct Indus valley civilization.
To a remarkable degree the achievements of the ancient Indians
were in the fields of the imagination and intellect, expressed in song
and poetry, in the epics, and in philosophical and religious specula¬
tion. Their intellectual achievements also included considerable sci¬
entific progress. Medicine was highly developed as early as the
Vedic age. Not only were many specific remedies listed, but dissec¬
tion was practiced and delicate operations were performed. The
136 knowledge of human anatomy was extensive, and a beginning had
 Defeat of Porus by the Macedonians, 527 b.c. Im¬
pressed by Porus’s valor, Alexander the Great allowed
the defeated Indian raja to retain his kingdom and
appointed him a Macedonian satrap.

been made in the study of embryology. Medical science and the

surgeon’s vocation were held in high respect, until the caste system
introduced a fear of pollution through bodily contact with unclean
persons. Many fanciful elements, however, were intermingled with
medical lore. An appreciable knowledge of astronomy was acquired
in spite of its perversion into astrology. The suggestion that the
earth revolves on its axis and that the sun only appears to rise and set
was put forward in the Vedas, apparently without being taken very
seriously. The most brilliant scientific attainments were those in
mathematics. The ancient Indians were able to handle extremely
large numbers in their calculations and knew how to extract square
and cube roots. Besides using the decimal system they invented the
all-important principle of the zero, which was eventually adopted
by the rest of the world. In geometry their progress was not equal
to that of the Greeks, but they surpassed the Greeks in the develop¬
ment of algebra.
During the fourth and third centuries b.c., partly in response to
stimulation from without, political developments in India led tem¬
porarily in the direction of greater efficiency and unification. As a Conquest of the

result of the conquests of the Persian king, Darius I, about 500 b.c., Indus valley by
Alexander the
the Indus valley had become a province (satrapy) of the Persian
Great
empire, furnishing mercenary soldiers and an annual tribute in gold.
After Alexander the Great, the famous Macedonian conqueror,
overthrew the Persian empire, he conducted his troops eastward
through the passes of the Hindu Kush Mountains into the upper 137
ANCIENT INDIAN Indus valley (327-326 b.c.). He spent less than two years in India
CIVILIZATION but traversed most of the Punjab, fought and negotiated with local
rajas, and installed Macedonian officials in the region. Although
Alexander’s invasion provides the first verifiable date in Indian his¬
tory, it made so little impression upon the Hindus that their con¬
temporary records do not even mention his name. However, the
invasion promoted cultural exchange between the Hindus and the
Greek-speaking world, and, more immediately, it paved the way for
the erection of a powerful state in India.
In the revolts and confusion that followed the death of Alexander
in 323 b.c., an Indian adventurer named Chandragupta Maurya
The rise of the seized the opportunity to found a dynasty. Chandragupta had
Maurya Dynasty
profited from observing Greek military tactics and led in the move¬
ment to expel the Macedonian officials from India. Then he turned
his army against the Magadha kingdom, which was the strongest
state in Hindustan at this time. He defeated and killed the Magadhan
king and established himself as ruler in the capital city of Pataliputra
(now Patna) on the Ganges. When Seleucus (Alexander’s successor
in Syria and Persia) tried to recover the lost Indian territory,
Chandragupta defeated him soundly and forced him to cede Baluch¬
istan and part of Afghanistan. Chandragupta extended his power
over most of northern India and founded the first empire in Indian
history. Although his dynasty, known as the Maurya, lasted less
than a century and a half, its record is a distinguished one.
Chandragupta was a much more imposing figure than the rajas of
the Vedic age. His government was efficient but very harsh. Social
The reign of and economic activities were carefully regulated, an elaborate tax
Chandragupta
system had been devised, and the death penalty was meted out
freely, sometimes through the administering of poison. The king
kept a large standing army, with divisions of infantry, cavalry,
chariots, and elephants. In spite of his far-reaching authority, and his
maintenance of secret police or spies, he seems to have lived in dread
of assassination and took the precaution to change his sleeping
quarters every night. On the credit side was his construction and
improvement of public irrigation works and the building of roads.
The Royal Road, from the capital to the western frontier, was 1200
miles long.
The greatest member of the Maurya Dynasty, and one of the
most remarkable rulers in the annals of any civilization, was Chan-
King Asoka:
dragupta’s grandson, King Asoka, the royal patron of Buddhism,
Buddhist
whose beneficent reign lasted some forty years (ca. 273-232 b.c.).
conqueror
Merely as a conqueror Asoka could lay claim to fame, because he
held under Mauryan rule not only Hindustan and the region north¬
west of the Indus but most of the Deccan as well, thus bringing the
greater part of India into one administration. His conquests, how¬
ever, were the aspect of his reign that he considered least important.
138 In fact, he fought only one major war—by which he was enabled to
gain control of the Deccan—and he felt remorseful ever after for REFORM MOVEMENTS
the bloodshed which accompanied this campaign. Attracted to the
Buddhist teachings, he at first became a lay adherent and later took
the formal vows and joined the order but without relinquishing his
position as king. He attempted, rather, to exemplify the precepts of
Buddhism in his personal life and to apply them to the administra¬
tion of the empire. Thus, without being a theocrat or divine-right
ruler, he provides an almost unique example of the injection of reli¬
gious idealism into statecraft.
It is impossible to know how completely Asoka’s benign purposes
were carried out. He was particularly active in establishing rest
houses for travelers, in having trees planted, wells dug, and watering The benevolent

places built along the roads for the refreshment of man and beast, reign of King
Asoka
and in improving facilities for the treatment of the sick. He sent
commissioners throughout the kingdom to inquire into the needs of
the people, teach them religion, and report on their spiritual
progress. In deference to the Buddhist injunction against taking life,
Asoka gave up hunting (replacing this sport by “pious tours” or
pilgrimages) and gradually reduced the meat consumption in the
royal household until—according to his announcement—only a
vegetable diet was permitted. He reformed the harsh system of pun¬
ishments which his grandfather had used, but he did not entirely
abolish the death penalty. There is no evidence of any trend toward
democracy in Asoka’s government. He adhered to the tradition of
autocratic rule, but exercised it with conscience and benevolence.
Although he was earnest in his support of Buddhism, Asoka opposed
fanaticism. He made religious toleration a state policy and urged
that the Brahmans of all the Hindu sects be treated with respect. He
stated that he cared less about what his subjects believed than he did
about their actions and attitudes. To commemorate his authority he

Asokan Bull Capital. From Rampurva,

Bihar (northeastern India), third century
b.c. Emperor Asoka erected huge stone
pillars and utilized some already standing
as impressive memorials to his own author¬
ity and to the law of Buddha. The bell¬
shaped capital shows the influence of con¬
temporary Persian architecture.
^(AFGHANISTAN X

JCHISTANX
Pataliputra
(Patna)

(BANGLADESH)
(Bihar)

Ajanta

Eilora •

Godavari

<rtna

0
<3
Asoka’s Empire, 250 B.C.

0
Territory ceded to Chandragupta
by Seleucus, ca. 305 B.C.
500 miles

Alexander’s route, 327-326 B.C.

ASOKA’S EMPIRE *250 B.C.

had erected in various parts of his empire gigantic sandstone pillars,

each cut from a single block of stone and standing forty or fifty feet
high. The capitals of animal figures and the beautifully polished sur¬
face of these columns—some of which are still preserved—testify to
the engineering and artistic skill of the royal workmen.
Asoka’s patronage during his long reign contributed markedly to
the growth of the Buddhist religion. He sent missionaries of the
Asoka's patronage faith to Ceylon, Burma, Kashmir, Nepal, and apparently even west
of Buddhism to Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt. The king’s own son was the mis¬
sionary to Ceylon. Buddhist monks held a general council in 250 b.c.
140 at Asoka’s capital, Pataliputra, where they agreed upon the basic
Laughing Boy. Terracotta head
of a laughing boy, from Patali-
putra (Patna). An example of
the realistic sculpture of the
Maurya period.

texts that should be regarded as authentic. This “Council of Patna”

established the canonical books of Buddhism, especially for the
Hinaya.no. school. The Buddhist scriptures are the oldest written
literature of India—that is, they were the first to be committed to
writing. However, although the texts were settled upon in 250 b.c.,
they were still memorized and transmitted only by word of mouth.
Except for the excerpts in Asoka’s rock carvings, the texts were not
actually written out in full until about 80 b.c. in Ceylon.
Asoka’s extraordinary administrative system did not long survive
him. His successors seem to have been mediocrities who lacked both
his reforming zeal and his organizing ability. In 184 b.c. the last End of the Maurya
Maurya ruler was assassinated by the army commander, an ambi- Dynasty
tious Brahman who seated his own family on the throne. The
efficiency of Asoka’s government was not duplicated until about 500
years after the end of his dynasty.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Basham, A.L., The Wonder that Was India: A Survey of the Culture of the
Indian Sub-Continent Before the Coming of the Muslims, New York, 1955
(Evergreen) Illustrated.
• Brown, W. N., The United States and India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambridge,
Mass., 1972 (Harvard). An excellent general introduction.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I.
Cambridge History of India, Supplementary Volume: Wheeler, Mortimer,
The Indus Civilization, 3rd ed., 1968.
Conze, Edward, Buddhist Thought in India, London, 1962.
READINGS • Coomaraswamy, A. K., History of Indian and Indonesian Art, 1927 (Dover).
• Dasgupta, S. N., Indian Idealism, London, 1933 (Cambridge).
Eliot, Charles, Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, 3 vols., New
York, 1954. A standard work.
Fairservis, W. A., Jr., The Roots of Ancient India: The Archaeology of Early
Indian Civilization, New York, 1971. An interesting and provocative ac¬
count.
Hutton, J. S., Caste in India, 3rd ed., Oxford, 1961.
• Jacobson, N. P., Buddhism: The Religion of Analysis, Carbondale, Ill., 1970
(Southern Illinois University). A modern philosophical interpretation.
Kabir, Humayun, The Indian Heritage, New York, 1955.
Keith, Arthur, The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads,
2 vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1925.
Kosambi, D. D., Ancient India: A History of Its Culture and Civilization,
New York, 1966. Stimulating and unconventional.
Kramrisch, Stella, The Art of India: Traditions of Indian Sculpture, Painting,
and Architecture, New York, 1954. Admirable photographs, with brief
introduction.
Lee, S. E., A History of Far Eastern Art, New York, 1965.
Majumdar, R. C., ed., The History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol. I,
London, 1951; Vol. II, 2nd ed., Bombay, 1953.
Moreland, W. H., and Chatterjee, A. C., A Short History of India, 4th ed.,
London, 1957.
Naidis, Mark, India: A Short Introductory History, New York, 1966.
• Piggott, Stuart, Prehistoric India, Baltimore, 1950. (Penguin)
• Prabhavananda, Swami, and Manchester, F., The Upanishads, Breath of the
Eternal, New York, 1957 (Mentor).
• Rawlinson, H. G., India, a Short Cultural History, rev. ed., New York, 1952
(Praeger). An excellent interpretive study.
Rowland, Benjamin, The Art and Architecture of India: Buddhist, Hindu,
Jain, Baltimore, 1953. Informative and discriminating.
• Schweitzer, Albert, Indian Thought and Its Development, tr. Mrs. Charles
Russell, Boston, 1957 (Beacon). Brief but insightful.
Smith, V. A., Asoka, Oxford, 1920.
Spear, Percival, ed., The Oxford History of India, 3rd ed., New York, 1958.
A thorough revision of a standard older history.
• Wheeler, Mortimer, Civilizations of the Indus Valley and Beyond, London,
1966 (Thames and Hudson).
-, Early India and Pakistan to Ashoka, New York, 1959.

SOURCE MATERIALS

• Arnold, Edwin, tr., The Song Celestial—The Bhagavad-Gita (Theosophical

Publishing House).
• de Bary, W. T., ed., Sources of Indian Tradition, “Brahmanism”; “Jainism
and Buddhism”: “Hinduism.” (Columbia).
• Edgerton, Franklin, tr., The Bhagavad Gita, (Torchbooks). Translation and
interpretation.
Goddard, Dwight, ed., A Buddhist Bible.
• Hamilton, C. H., ed., Buddhism, a Religion of Infinite Compassion (Library
of Liberal Arts).
Lin Yutang, ed., The Wisdom of China and India, Hymns from the Rigveda,
Selections from the Upanishads.
• Mueller, Max, tr., The Upariishads, 2 vols. (Dover).
• Narayan, R. K., Gods, Demons and Others (Compass). Fine translation of
ancient Indian stories.
142 The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Everyman’s Library edition.
Sastri, S. R., tr., The Bhagavadgita. An accurate translation with explanatory
and critical comment.
 CHAPTER 7
Ancient Chinese Civilization

There have been many kings, emperors, and great men in history
who enjoyed fame and honor while they lived and came to noth¬
ing at their death, while Confucius, who was but a common
scholar clad in a plain gown, became the acknowledged Master
of scholars for over ten generations. All people in China who
discuss the six arts, from the emperors, kings, and princes down,
regard the Master as the final authority. He may be called the
Supreme Sage.
-—Historical Records of Ssu-ma Ch’ien (145-ca. 85 b.c.)

The beginning of a high civilization in China did not occur until

about a thousand years after the flowering of the Indus-valley civili¬
zation in India. However, when once established the Far Eastern Reasons for long

culture continued—not without changes and interruptions but with survival of Chinese
civilization
its essential features intact—into the twentieth century of our own
era. The civilization of China, although it took form much later
than that of Egypt, Mesopotamia, or the Indus valley, is one of the
oldest in existence. The reasons for the long survival are partly geo¬
graphic and partly historical. During most of her history China did
not have aggressive organized states on her borders. More impor¬
tant, perhaps, the pacifist influence of her great philosophers and
ethical teachers kept her imperialism within bounds. The Chinese
people considered other peoples as inferiors but still members of one
great family and seldom provoked either the enmity or the envy of
surrounding countries. They did their share of conquering, but the
lands they annexed were almost exclusively undeveloped territories.
They rarely attempted to impose their will upon conquered peoples
by force, but considered it their mission to assimilate them and
make them the beneficiaries of their superior ethical system. 143
 The loess highlands of northern China.

I. THE FORMATIVE STAGE

In our study of preliterate cultures we have learned already that

China was the home of one of the earliest human species, the so-
called Peking man. His skeletal remains were found between 1926
Peking man and 1930 in a cave about forty miles southwest of Peking (Pei¬
ping). Anthropologists estimate that his species lived at least 500,000
years ago, and that he was probably a contemporary of Java man,
one of the oldest human types. Peking man’s culture was, of course,
extremely primitive, but there is evidence that he used crude stone
tools, had a knowledge of fire, and buried his dead. Whether the
members of his species were the ancestors of the historic Chinese
people is a debated question. An eminent German anthropologist,
Franz Weidenreich, maintains th^t the descent was direct. He bases
his conclusion upon peculiarities in the skulls, jaws, and incisor teeth
of the ancient specimens which have their counterparts among
modern Mongolian peoples.
Although the discovery of Peking man proves the existence of
human beings with an Old Stone Age culture in China at least
Archaeological 500,000 years ago, there are many gaps in the record subsequent to
evidence of
that time. Evidence is still scanty for the Late or Upper Paleolithic
Neolithic culture
period (as it is reckoned in Europe), when the advance of the
Arctic ice sheet brought a bitter climate to northern China. There is
ample archaeological evidence of human habitation of northern
China during the Neolithic period, when the climate became warmer.
Remains have been found of two varieties of Neolithic culture in
this region, distinguished by their pottery—one unpainted and in¬
cluding delicate specimens with a glossy black surface, the other
144 painted and also of excellent workmanship. The painted pottery
culture, centered in the southeastern portion of the great highland THE FORMATIVE STAGE
plain that surrounds the Yellow River valley, flourished as early as
the fifth millenium b.c.
A contemporary Chinese scholar contends that this semi-arid
highland, rather than the flooded plain of the lower river valley,
was the cradle of Chinese civilization. In respect to its origins, there¬ The loess high¬

fore, the Far Eastern civilization shows a significant contrast with lands, cradle of
Chinese
those of Egypt and Mesopotamia, which arose in river deltas. Of
civilization
course agriculture was as important to the Chinese as to the inhabi¬
tants of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates valleys, but the Chinese
apparently began as dry-land farmers and may have lacked irrigation
facilities until the sixth century b.c., some 4000 years later. The
highlands bordering the middle reaches of the Yellow River are
covered with a type of soil known as loess, composed of fine
particles of loam and dust borne by northwest winds from the
central plateaus of Asia and deposited in the valley and along the
northeastern coast. This soil, which from its color has given rise to
such geographical names as Yellow River and Yellow Sea, is pliable
enough to be easily worked with primitive digging sticks, and also
has the advantage of being free from a heavy growth of forest or
grasses. In choosing farm sites close to the river or its tributaries but
on high ground, the early inhabitants avoided the danger of floods.
But they had to depend on plants capable of surviving with a mini¬
mum of rainfall. The principal crops of northern China in the
Neolithic age were several varieties of millet, hemp, and the mul¬
berry (for raising silkworms). Surprisingly, rice, too, was grown
in the marsh areas of the northern plain, probably introduced from
the Yangtze region to the south, where it was indigenous.1
By about 1500 b.c. the east central portion of the Yellow River
valley was occupied by people of Mongolian stock who had passed
beyond the Neolithic into the Bronze Age, had learned how to build The Bronze Age

fortified cities, and possessed the essential attributes of civilization, and the beginning
of the Shang
including writing. The era of this Bronze Age people corresponds to
Dynasty
the period of the Shang Dynasty in Chinese history. It was long be¬
lieved by scholars that the Shang Dynasty was almost purely legen¬
dary. Excavations of the 1930’s, however, have proved that it was
very real and have recovered many impressive examples of its work¬
manship. Dates have not yet been precisely established, but the civi¬
lization was flourishing by 1400 b.c. A study of the objects which
have been unearthed and especially the all-important deciphering of
inscriptions have made it possible to construct a fairly complete
picture of this formative period of Chinese history.
Racially the Shang people present no significant contrast to the
earlier inhabitants of the region they conquered nor to the Chinese
of later times. Their culture, too, was a continuation and improve-

1Ping-ti Ho, “The Loess and the Origin of Chinese Agriculture,” American
Historical Review, LXXV: 1 (October 1969), pp. 1-36. 145
 ANCIENT CHINESE ment of that of the Neolithic farming communities. Presumably the
CIVILIZATION Shang Dynasty was inaugurated by the conquest of a military chief¬
tain, with no extensive displacement of population. The Shang king¬
dom occupied only a small part of China. The area under effective
The Shang people control may have been no more than 40,000 square miles, or about
the size of the state of Ohio. The Shang people carried on trade with
other communities—also agricultural but more primitive than their
own—in the Yangtze valley to the south, and they had to defend
themselves against barbarian and nomadic tribes from the north and
west. The principal royal residence and seat of government was the
city which they called by the name of Shang, situated at the north¬
ern tip of Honan province, about 80 miles north of the Yellow River
(the site of modern Anyang).
Agriculture was the chief source of livelihood of the Shang peo¬
ple, although their tools for cultivating the soil were still quite
Economic and primitive. Grains were the principal crop, and now wheat and barley
social life were grown in addition to millet. Hunting and herding contributed
to the food supply. Many animals had been domesticated, including
not only the dog, pig, goat, sheep, ox, horse, and chicken, but also
the water buffalo, monkey, and probably the elephant. Dog flesh as
well as pork was a popular item of diet. But in spite of the importance
of animal husbandry, Shang society was by no means nomadic; and
if it had ever passed through such a stage the evidence has disap¬
peared, even from folk traditions and literature. Though developing
in close proximity to the wandering herdsmen of Mongolia, the
Chinese were primarily a nation of farmers.
The houses the Shang people constructed show an intelligent
adaptation to the environment. The Neolithic inhabitants of the re¬
gion commonly lived in pits hollowed out of the loess. In Shang
times rural villagers apparently also occupied pit dwellings, but the
city residents built more comfortable houses above ground. For a
foundation the firmly packed earth served admirably. Upon the rec¬
tangular foundation was erected a gabled-roof structure, with
wooden poles holding up the central ridge of the roof and shorter
posts supporting each of the two sides at the eaves. Thatching was
used for the roof and packed earth for the outside walls of the
Bronze Tripod Cup. Shang house. This type of dwelling, which by coincidence is closer in
Dynasty (1523-1027 b.c.) . Used
design to the European style of home than to the tents of Mongolia
in sacrificial ceremonies.
or the mud-brick houses of Egypt and Mesopotamia, has been
employed by the Chinese throughout their history.
The specimens of Shang craftsmanship that archaeologists have
recovered reveal a high degree of skill and versatility. In spite of
Material culture familiarity with metal, Shang artisans still made many objects of
stone—knives, axes, and even dishes—as well as of bone, shell, and
horn. Bone implements inlaid with turquoise and exquisitely carved
pieces of ivory were produced in abundance. Cowrie shells were
146 used for jewelry and probably also served as money. The bow and
arrow was the most formidable weapon for the hunt or for combat. THE FORMATIVE STAGE
Bamboo arrows were feathered and tipped with bronze or bone
points. The bow was of the composite or reflex type, formed of two
separate arcs of wood held together with horn, and said to be almost
twice as powerful as the famous English long bow. Two-horse
chariots, of elaborate workmanship and with spoked wheels, were
probably the exclusive property of the aristocracy. Armor was made
of leather, sometimes reinforced with wooden slats. Evidently the
people were fond of music. For musical instruments they employed
drums, stones emitting a bell-like tone when struck, and a small pipe
of hollow bone with five finger-holes—more like an ocarina than
a flute.
The artistry of the Shang people is illustrated most strikingly by
their sculpture and engraving. The examples of sculpture thus far
discovered are generally of small dimensions. A marble ox head, Art of the Shang

however, greater than life-size and fitted with a pin as if it had been people

fastened to a body, suggests that some large statuary was produced.

Shang metal work was truly remarkable, especially the superb
bronze castings of intricate design. Bronze articles included weapons
and chariot and harness fittings, but most impressive were the ob¬
jects intended for religious and ceremonial functions—tripods, liba¬
tion bowls, drinking cups, and grotesquely figured masks. The tech¬
nique employed in their making was superlative. A leading Ameri¬
can specialist in early Chinese culture asserts that it was more
flawless than the technique employed for bronze sculpture at the
height of the Italian Renaissance.
As has already been mentioned, this early civilization possessed a
system of writing. The writing brush and an ink made of soot had
been invented. Writing materials included silk cloth and wood, and
it is quite possible that books were compiled with pages which were
narrow strips of bamboo joined together by a thong. Fortunately, a
great many specimens of writing have been preserved inscribed on
pieces of animal bone, horn, and tortoise shells. These served in a
process of divination by the king and priests; hence they are re¬
Oracle bone, dating from 1300
ferred to as “oracle bones.” After a question had been directed to the records the appearance of
b.c.,
spirits, a flat piece of split cattle bone or a tortoise shell was heated a new star. Note the picto-
until it cracked; then the shape of the crack was studied to ascertain graphic characters.
the answer from the spirit world. The majority of the oracle bones
contain no writing; but for some unknown reason, in about io per
cent of the cases the question was engraved upon the object after the
divination rite had been performed. Although the inscriptions are
brief, a careful study of them has thrown light upon many aspects
of Shang society and activities.
The Shang writing was not primitive but in an advanced picto-
graphic stage. While the Shang symbols are the earliest examples
found in the Far East, they presuppose a long period of evolution
from more rudimentary forms. Each character represented an entire 147
 Bronze Ritual Vessel. Shang
Dynasty.

word, as it does in the classical Chinese. In some cases, only the

shape of the sign has changed. For example, the Shang character for
Evolution of sun was round—obviously a picture of the sun—while now it is
Shang writing square. Practically all the principles which the Chinese literary lan¬
guage employs in the process of character formation were already
in use. The Shang characters were not only pictographs but some¬
times ideographs, in which the meaning was conveyed by combin¬
ing different symbols or concepts (the sun and moon joined to¬
gether represent bright or brightness; the sun rising behind a tree
stands for east). The phonetic principle was also applied. A charac¬
ter having one meaning might be used to indicate a word of differ¬
ent meaning but pronounced the same way. To avoid confusion, the
phonetic symbol was combined with a conceptual symbol in the same
character. Not surprisingly, fewer characters were employed in
Shang times than later, although it is probable that the list compiled
from the oracle bones is only partial. About 2500 characters have
been distinguished in the Shang records; the written language
eventually came to include more than twenty times that number.
Little definite information is available as to the political and social
institutions of the Shang period. Governmental power was vested
Political and social hereditarily in a royal family, but on the death of the king the
institutions of the
crown passed to his younger brother in preference to the king’s
Shang period
own sons. In addition to military activities, the king probably super¬
vised public works and was important as the chief religious func¬
tionary. He was assisted by an educated class of priests, who served
148 as astrologers, performed the divination rites, and supervised the
calendar. Because the calendar was a lunar one, it frequently had to THE FORMATIVE STAGE
be adjusted to bring it into harmony with the solar year. There is
some evidence from the oracle bones that the Shang priests had
made considerable achievements in mathematics and astronomy. As
early as the fourteenth century b.c. they recorded eclipses and per¬
haps had already conceived the decimal system.
The family was the basic social institution. The king, or a great
aristocrat, might have several wives, but monogamy seems to have
been the more usual practice even in the royal family, as it almost The family

certainly was among the people generally. The position of women,

at least within the upper classes, was good. Slavery existed and there
were gradations in the ranks of society, but there is no evidence of a
feudal system during this period.
Ample testimony exists for the religious practices of the Shang
people. They worshiped many natural objects and forces—the
earth, rivers, the winds, even the directions (East, West, and South). Religion of the
To these gods they performed sacrifices, not out of doors but in Shang period

temples. Burnt offerings of animal flesh were common, and a kind of

wine or beer made from millet was also considered acceptable. Al¬
though the Shang were in some ways highly civilized, there is grue¬
some evidence that they practiced human sacrifice on a large scale.
Apparently the victims were usually captives who had been taken in
battle, and sometimes raiding expeditions were sent out for the ex¬
press purpose of securing a batch of foreign tribesmen to be offered
in sacrifice. The principal deity seems to have been a god concerned
primarily with rainfall, the crops, and war. His name, Shang Ti, has
persisted into later times. There is no evidence that Shang religion
was essentially spiritual or ethical; it was directed toward the pro¬
curing of human prosperity, as among the Sumerians and Babylo¬
nians. The king was not a divinity like the Egyptian pharaoh, but he
became an object of worship after his death, and sacrifices were per¬
formed to the departed spirits of both kings and queens. The royal
tombs were sumptuous affairs. A large pit was excavated, provided
with stairways, and a wooden tomb chamber was constructed at the
bottom. The royal corpse was surrounded with magnificent furnish¬
ings, including figured bronzes and pottery, marble statuary, and Bronze Ritual Vessel with Re-
richly adorned implements and jewels. After the funeral ceremonies movable Top. Shang Dynasty.

the entire excavation was filled with firmly tamped earth.

It is noteworthy that the typical Chinese institution of ancestor
worship was already in existence, at least in the circle of the court.
Ancestral spirits were believed to possess the power of helping or Ancestor worship

hurting their descendants, and yet they depended upon their living
representatives for nourishment in the form of food offerings. It
was also customary, even among people of humble circumstance, to
bury valuable objects with the deceased. Divination by means of the
oracle bones—the practice which bequeathed so many valuable in¬
scriptions—was a by-product of the cult of ancestor worship and
the belief in the potency of departed spirits. 149
ANCIENT CHINESE The Shang society represents the earliest genuine civilization of
CIVILIZATION Eastern Asia for which historical records are available. In addition,
it laid the foundation and provided materials for the distinctive
Chinese culture pattern, as illustrated by methods of agriculture,
handicrafts, artistic and architectural forms, emphasis upon the
Significance of the family as the basic social unit, religious concepts, and a system of
Shang period
writing. About 1027 b.c. the city of Shang was taken and the dy¬
nasty overthrown by semibarbarous invaders from the west. How¬
ever, these barbarians assimilated, continued, and finally surpassed the
culture of the Shang people whom they had conquered, and gave
their own name (Chou) to the longest dynasty of China’s history.

2. THE CHOU DYNASTY, THE CLASSICAL

AGE OF CHINA {C(t. 102 7-249 B.C.)

While the civilization of the Vedic Age in India was still in its
early stages, in the Yellow River valley of China the Shang Dynasty
Origin of the was succeeded by the Chou. However, the seizure of power by the
Chou Dynasty Chou warriors did not bring such a pronounced change in the char¬
acter of society and culture as did the Indo-Aryan invasion of India.
The Chou people, located to the west of the Shang frontier, had
had considerable contact with the Shang state previous to their con¬
quest of it. Women from the Shang royal family had been given as
wives to some of the Chou rulers—probably in the vain hope that
marriage alliances would lessen the danger of attack from that
quarter. Although the Chou people of the eleventh century b.c.
were hardly more than barbarians, they were not distinct in race
from the Shang, and their leaders had sufficient appreciation of
Shang culture to wish to continue it. Even when the capital city was
taken and the government overthrown, a Shang prince was allowed
to continue to administer lands in the center of the state, with the
“assistance” of younger sons of the Chou royal house. After this
prince became involved in an unsuccessful rebellion of the recently
conquered people, he was executed, and a large number of Shang
subjects were removed from the scene of the rebellion to a region
south of the Yellow River. But even then the Shang royal line was
not entirely extinguished—probably as much from fear of provok¬
ing the powerful Shang ancestral spirits as from a desire to placate
the conquered subjects.
The new dynasty exerted zealous efforts to convince the people
that it was a legitimate succession rather than a usurpation. Its
Efforts of the spokesmen advanced the claim that the last Shang ruler had been
Chou rulers to
incompetent and debauched, and that the divine powers had used
establish
legitimacy
the Chou as an instrument for his removal. The “Mandate of
Heaven,” they alleged, had been transferred from the Shang house
to the Chou. There is no evidence that the Shang king wa's guilty of
150 the faults ascribed to him, but the charge, even if a fabrication,
 ANCIENT CHINA DURING THE CHOU DYNASTY *1027-249 B.C.

shows the desire of the conquerors to fit their authority into ac¬
cepted conventions rather than to break with the past. And the con¬
cept of governmental power as a commission from Heaven rather
than an absolute and inalienable right—although possibly invented
by the Chou for propaganda purposes—was to become a persistent
element in Chinese political history.
The Chou form of government was a monarchy, although not
identical with that of the Shang. The throne was hereditary by
primogeniture, as in most European monarchies, whereas under the The Chou

Shang it had passed from older brother to younger brother. The government

early Chou rulers maintained their capital near modern Sian (Shensi
province) in the Wei valley, where their power had already been 151
 ANCIENT CHINESE established. In addition to the Shang territory they added other con¬
CIVILIZATION quests, especially southward in the middle Yangtze valley. The king
exercised direct rule over the region surrounding his capital but
administered the outlying areas indirectly, through appointed offi¬
cials who were given almost com plete jurisdiction within their own
districts. The Chou administrative system was roughly similar to
that which developed in Europe in the age of feudalism some 2000
years later. The district governors, originally members of the royal
family or generals of proved competence, were the king’s vassals,
but they were also great territorial lords, exercising wide military
and judicial powers, and they gradually transformed their position
from that of appointive official to hereditary ruler. Chou feudal¬
ism—like the later European variety—contained elements of danger
for the central government, although for two or three centuries the
Chou court was strong enough to remove overly ambitious officials
and keep its own authority paramount.
By the eighth century b.c. the vigor of the ruling house had de¬
clined to the point where it was no longer able to protect the west¬
ern frontier effectively against the attacks of barbarians. The for¬
tunes of the dynasty seemed to reach their lowest point in 771 B.c.,
when a worthless king almost duplicated the villainies that had been
unjustifiably attributed to the last of the Shang rulers. King Yu,
particularly through his extravagant efforts to amuse his favorite
concubine, angered the nobles beyond endurance. When he lit the
beacon fires to summon aid in the face of a combined attack by
barbarian tribes and one of the outraged nobles, his men refused to
answer the summons. King Yu was killed and his palace looted. The
dynasty might have been ended then and there, but the nobles of
Bronze Ceremonial Vessel. the realm found it expedient to install the king’s son as nominal
Chou Dynasty (1027-249 b.c.). head, keeping in their own hands the actual authority over their re¬
spective dominions. This event marks the close of the “Western
Chou” period. The royal seat of government was now moved about
100 miles farther east into safer territory (near the modern city of
Honan), and the ensuing period (jyi-ca. 250 b.c.) is known ac¬
cordingly as the “Eastern Chou.”
During the 500 years of the Eastern Chou Dynasty, China
suffered from political disunity and internal strife. The king actually
Conditions under ruled over a domain much smaller than that of some of the great
the "Eastern
hereditary princes. For the kingdom as a whole his powers, while
Chou" Dynasty
theoretically supreme (he was officially styled “Son of Heaven”),
were limited to religious and ceremonial functions and to adjudicat¬
ing disputes concerning precedence and the rights of succession in
the various states. In spite of these conditions, however, it is not
quite accurate to describe the Eastern Chou era as an age of feudal¬
ism. It is true that hereditary nobles enjoyed social prominence,
wealth, and power, and acquired different degrees of rank, roughly
152 equivalent to the European titles of duke, marquis, count, viscount,
and baron. They became lords and vassals, held fiefs for which THE CHOU DYNASTY
they owed military service, and were supported by the labor of the
peasants on their lands. These warrior aristocrats not only raised
armies and collected revenues from their dominions but also admin¬
istered justice. Custom supplied the greater part of law, but severe
penalties, including fines, mutilation, and death, were inflicted upon
offenders. Nevertheless, a number of factors prevented the complete
ascendancy of a feudal regime. In the first place, a large proportion
of the nobility failed to acquire estates of their own and remained
jealous of the great territorial lords. The lesser aristocracy, gener¬
ally well educated and frequently unemployed, constituted a sort of
middle class that could not fit comfortably into a feudalized society.
More important still, towns were growing and trade increasing
throughout the Chou period, and the merchants (including part of
the aristocracy) attained economic importance. Moreover, rulers of
the larger states successfully pushed forward a program of central¬
ization within their own dominions. They introduced regular sys¬
tems of taxation, based upon agriculture. To offset the entrenched
position of the nobles they developed their own administrative
bureaucracies and staffed them with trained officials, recruited
largely from the ranks of the lesser aristocracy. In spite of the dis¬
organized condition of China as a whole, the period provided valu¬
able experience in the art of government which could eventually be
drawn upon in the task of reuniting the country.
Although China was divided during the Eastern Chou period into
many principalities with shifting boundaries and frequent wars, a
few of the larger states held the balance of power, especially four Expansion of

which were located on the outer frontiers to the north, west, and the frontiers

south. Usually one state at a time was recognized as paramount and

its ruler, designated as “First Noble,” took the lead in organizing the
defense of the kingdom as a whole and even in collecting the reve¬
nues. The boundaries of Chinese civilization were extended by the
aggressive initiative of the rulers of the frontier states. The Shan¬
tung peninsula, the seacoast as far south as modern Shanghai and
Hangchow, and the rich Yangtze valley were all brought under Chi¬
nese jurisdiction. Thus the total area was much larger than the old
Shang kingdom and included more than half of the eighteen prov¬
inces which have constituted the state of China during the greater
portion of its history. The southern part of Manchuria was also
occupied, and walls of earth—the first stages of the famous Great
Wall of China—were constructed both south and north of the Yel¬
low River for protection against the nomads of Mongolia.
Beginning about the middle of the fifth century b.c., internal
conditions became extremely chaotic, inaugurating a bloody period
known as that of “the Warring States.” The relatively restrained
competition which the feudal principalities had carried on with one
another gave way to a struggle for supremacy in which proprieties 153
ANCIENT CHINESE and recognized codes were disregarded. The rulers of several of the
CIVILIZATION states even assumed the title of “king” (viang), previously reserved
for the prince of Chou. In the fourth and third centuries b.c. the
state of Ch’in, seated in the Wei valley on the western frontier,
gained ascendancy over the others. Not only were the Ch’in rulers
aggressive, but within their own dominions they had developed the
most effectively centralized government in China. After annexing
the fertile plain lying south of the Wei valley (in modern Szechwan
province), they constructed a splendid irrigation system which has
lasted until the present day. Probably the Ch’in people had also
mingled with and absorbed some of the barbarian tribesmen, but
they were no less Chinese in culture than their rivals. In spite of alli¬
ances formed against them by other feudal princes, the Ch’in forces,
employing ruthlessness, massacre, and treachery, annexed one region
after another. Finally, in 256 b.c., they seized the tiny remaining
portion of the royal domain and ended the Chou Dynasty. Within
thirty-five years the Ch’in prince had brought all the Chinese terri¬
tories under his control and, to indicate the extent of his triumph,
assumed the imposing title of “First Emperor” (Shih Fluang Ti).
Although the Ch’in Dynasty hardly outlasted its founder, it did
China the valuable service of abolishing the remnants of feudalism.
The highly centralized government which the Ch’in emperor estab¬
lished did not prove to be permanent, but the feudal system never
reappeared.
During the 800 or 900 years of the Chou Dynasty, in spite of in¬
ternal conflicts, cultural progress was almost continuous. The period
Cultural progress is regarded as the classical age of Chinese civilization, and its contri-
under the Chou butions were fundamental to the whole subsequent history of the
Far East. As has already been indicated, the culture of the Chou was
based upon foundations that had been laid by their predecessors.

Ceremonial Bronze Basin. Chou

Dynasty. The inscription on this
bronze piece, known as the San
P’an, records the settlement of a
territorial dispute between the
feudal states of San and Nieh in
Western Shensi Province.
Handicraft techniques improved under the Chou and the smelting THE CHOU DYNASTY
of iron was introduced, although iron did not entirely displace
bronze. While the great majority of the population lived in rural vil¬
lages, there were some large towns and the merchant class assumed
importance. Trade was by no means exclusively local. With the in¬
troduction of the donkey, and especially the camel (probably not
before the third century b.c.), it became possible to develop caravan
trade routes across Central Asia for the transportation, of grain, salt,
silk, and other commodities. Coined copper money came into use
before the close of the fifth century b.c. The manufacture of silk,
already an old industry, was increased, and the fibers of several
domestic plants were also employed in making textiles.
From time immemorial the all-important Chinese enterprise has
been farming. It was extended under the Chou by reclamation
measures—the building of irrigation canals and reservoirs and the
draining of swamps—and also by acquisition of the moist and fertile
rice-producing lands of the Yangtze valley. The soybean—valuable
not only as a food but for restoring fertility to the soil—was added
to the list of crops. The methods of cultivation developed during the
Shang and Chou periods have remained essentially unchanged ever
since.
The persistence of unvarying techniques over a long period of 3000
years is attributable not to the inability of the Chinese to progress
but to the fact that these techniques were admirably adapted to the Large Bronze Bell. This bell,
terrain and to the objectives of Chinese society. While they were with bosses or nipples, decora¬
tive panels, and inscriptions, is
primitive in some ways, they embodied a great deal of experience
typical of the Middle Chou
and foresight. China has been said to possess a “vegetable civiliza¬ style (ninth century b.c.). It
tion,” because its people, while not socially or intellectually stag¬ was hung from the ring at the
nant, adapted themselves so completely to the potentialities of their base of the shaft and was
sounded by striking with a
environment. The typical Chinese farming village—with fields of
wooden mallet. The bell has a
various sizes, often tiny but all carefully tended—appears almost as scooped mouth instead of be¬
if it were part of the natural landscape instead of being an effort on ing even at the bottom. (In
man’s part to manipulate nature for his own benefit. Although China the picture it is resting on a
cushion.)
is a large country, the relative scarcity of arable land made it diffi¬
cult for food production to keep pace with an expanding popula¬
tion. Much of the country is hilly or mountainous, and the north
and west portions are subject to drought which cannot be entirely
overcome by irrigation. Consequently, attention was lavished upon
every suitable plot that could be found. The bulk of labor was done
by hand, with simple tools but in such a way as to produce the
greatest possible yield. Wastes which had fertilizing value were col¬
lected and returned to the soil, as were ashes and even powdered
sun-dried bricks when no longer serviceable for building purposes.
Crops were rotated to avoid soil exhaustion, and hillsides were ter¬
raced to conserve moisture and prevent erosion.
Although draft animals had been known from early times and the
ox-drawn plow was introduced about the sixth century b.c., their use 155
ANCIENT CHINESE was restricted because of the cheapness and—on small plots—greater
CIVILIZATION efficiency of human labor. Besides, hayfields or grazing lands to
provide animal fodder represented a curtailment of the area devoted
to producing foodstuffs for human beings. The Chinese have sub¬
China's vegetable sisted largely on a vegetable diet, not because they had religious
civilization scruples against eating flesh as did the Hindus, but for practical rea¬
sons of economy. Instead of raising crops to feed cattle and then eat¬
ing the cattle, they preferred to consume the crops directly them¬
selves. For meats they chose animals that could be reared inexpen¬
sively—chickens, ducks, and especially pigs, which were also useful
scavengers, and fish, with which even temporary ponds could be
profitably stocked. Chinese methods of agriculture thus were inten¬
sive rather than extensive. As compared with modern Western
countries, particularly the United States and Canada, the yield was
low in proportion to the number of men employed and the hours of
labor, but high in terms of acreage. While Chinese farming de¬
manded exacting and arduous toil on the part of the cultivators, it
made possible the growth of a large population.
Society during the Chou period had a decidedly aristocratic char¬
acter. There was a tremendous gulf between the great landowners
Class divisions of and the peasants who comprised the vast majority of the people. But
an aristocratic while class lines were rigidly drawn, Chinese society was never
society
stratified by a caste system like that of India. There were only two
clearly distinguished classes, the commoners or serfs and the nobles;
and as civilization became more complex the nobility included con-

Left: Drum Stand of Lacquered Wood. Late Chou Dynasty. Right: Cerem¬
onial bronze tripod. Late Chou Dynasty, fourth century b.c. Probably
from the Li-Yu treasure.
trasting interests and conditions rather than remaining a solidly THE CHOU DYNASTY
united order. Because the numbers of the aristocracy tended to in¬
crease, many of them consequently possessed little or no landed
property. They were forced to seek administrative employment
with a powerful noble, to engage in trade, or even to undertake
menial occupations, thereby undermining the fiction of the inherent
superiority of the hereditary aristocracy. Unfortunately, very little
is known about the condition of the lower classes. Evidently before
the close of the Chou period a considerable number of peasants had
become landowners. Others, however, were actually slaves, and
most of the commoners were serfs, attached to the soil without hav¬
ing legal title to it and compelled to give the lord a large share of the
produce.
While the family is always a basic social institution, it has been so
to an almost unique degree in China. Here the family was a tightly
organized unit, bent upon preserving the welfare of its members The family as a

against any outside agency, official or unofficial, and was probably social
institution
the only safeguard of any consequence against the unlimited exploi¬
tation of the lower classes. Typically the Chinese family was large
because it embraced several generations. When a son married he
customarily brought his bride home to live under the paternal roof
or in a closely neighboring house. Theoretically the family also in¬
cluded the departed ancestral spirits, thus extending vertically into
time as well as horizontally among contemporary relatives. Author¬
ity was vested in the father (or grandfather), and the utmost
emphasis was placed upon respect for elders, so that even grown
men were bound by their parents’ wishes. Such a custom led to ex¬
treme conservatism and sometimes inflicted hardships upon youth,
but it had the advantage of developing qualities of patience, loyalty,
and consideration for the helpless aged.
Women became definitely subordinate to men in the patriarchal
family and in Chinese society at large, although their position was
not utterly intolerable. Allegedly, in early Chou times the young Subordination

men and maidens of the peasant class were allowed to choose their of women

mates freely after a Spring Festival characterized by complete li¬

cense. However that may be, among the aristocracy neither men
nor women had freedom of choice in marriage unless they defied
convention and parental authority. Marriages were arranged by the
parents of the respective parties, usually with the assistance of a
matchmaker or go-between. After the bride was brought to her
husband’s home she was considered as on probation for a three-
month period, after which if she had proved satisfactory she was
allowed to participate in the ancestral sacrifice and became an ac¬
cepted member of the family. In regard to the laxity of conduct
permitted and the right of divorce, the woman was also at a dis¬
advantage. Only the husband could have recourse to divorce, and he
could obtain it on any one of a number of grounds, including that 157
ANCIENT CHINESE his wife talked too much. Actually, however, divorces were rare,
CIVILIZATION especially among people of humble circumstance. Undoubtedly the
practices of polygamy and concubinage, permitting a man to have
more than one consort, added to the hardships and humiliation of
women. But these practices were confined to the wealthy classes and
were by no means universal among them. In spite of the inferior
position of woman in Chinese society, she had definite rights and
privileges and on the whole was much better off than in the caste-
ridden society of India. It is strange that, in a predominantly
agrarian economy such as China’s, labor in the fields was not re¬
garded as woman’s normal work, although among poor families she
often had to assist. The wife’s own family did not renounce all in¬
terest in her when she left their home for her husband’s and might
interfere in case she was abused. Children were taught to love and
venerate both parents, and as a woman grew older she shared in the
honors accorded to age. The domineering position which a grand¬
mother or mother-in-law sometimes assumed became proverbial.
The Chinese family was not only an economic and sociological
unit but a religious and political one as well. Some scholars maintain
The family as a that during the Chou period the servile peasants were not permitted
religious and
the dignity of having surnames, and that they had no share in the
political institution
cult of ancestor worship. However, that condition could not en¬
dure in view of the tremendous emphasis placed upon family rela¬
tionships among the dominant classes, in public administration, and
in the literature of the age. Throughout the greater part of Chinese
history, religion for the ordinary person consisted largely in caring
for his family graves and making prayers and offerings to the spirits
of his ancestors. As a political unit the family enforced discipline
and considered misconduct on the part of one of its members as a
collective disgrace. Very commonly the inflicting of punishment
for minor offenses was left to the head of a family rather than to a
public official. The strong solidarity and sense of collective responsi¬
bility of the family had disadvantages as well as advantages. Because
the family was answerable for the behavior of its members, one of
them might be punished for the misconduct of another if the true
offender was not apprehended by the authorities, or a whole family
might be wiped out for a crime committed by one person. On the
whole, however, the family gave the individual a greater feeling of
security and support than has been typical in most societies.
Religion was fundamentally the same as it had been in Shang
times. Many deities were worshiped, ranging from local spirits and
Religion in the nature gods with limited powers to such majestic divinities as Earth
Chou period
and Heaven. The practice of. human sacrifice gradually disappeared
and came to be strongly condemned, but animals, agricultural
produce, and liquor were offered upon the altars. Evidence of a
“chariot sacrifice” was uncovered by archaeologists north of the
158 Yellow River when they excavated a deep pit about 30 feet square.
In this instance seventy-two horses harnessed to twelve chariots, and THE CHOU DYNASTY
eight dogs with bells fastened to their necks, had apparently been
placed in the pit and buried alive. While worship did not necessarily
include prayer, prayers were sometimes written out and burned
with the sacrificial offering. A prominent deity from Chou times on
was the one called T’ien, translated as “Heaven.” Although of sepa¬
rate origin, this divinity was similar to and became practically iden¬
tical with the earlier Shang Ti. T’ien was not conceived of primarily
as a personal god but as representing the supreme spiritual powers
collectively, the universal moral law, or an underlying impersonal
cosmic force. It was by the “Mandate of Heaven” (THen-ming)
that the king was supposed to rule, and he was referred to as “Son
of Heaven,” without, however, implying that he was divine. The
worship of the earth as an agricultural deity came to be supple¬
mented by the veneration of a specific locality with which the for¬
tunes of the worshipers were associated. Every village had its sacred
mound of earth; the lord of large territories had a mound to repre¬
sent his domain; and the mound of the king was believed to have
significance for the whole land of China. The most important rituals
took place either at these mounds or in ancestral temples.
Among the Chinese at this time; as among the Hindus, there was
no clear-cut religious system, no fixed creed, and no church. In con¬
trast to Hindu society, however, the Chinese priests did not become Extraordinary

a sacrosanct class in a position to dominate other groups. The characteristics of

priests, like those of the ancient Greeks, were merely assistants in

the ritual. The indispensable religious functionaries were the heads
of families, including, of course, the king, whose ancestral spirits
were particularly formidable, and who propitiated the great deities
of the rivers, earth, and sky. For most of the people religion was
either a family affair, consisting of social functions invested with
sentiment and emphasizing filial piety, or a matter of state, main¬
tained by the proper authorities to ensure the general welfare. Sacri¬
fices to the greatest gods were ordinarily performed only by the
highest officials, to lesser deities by lower officials, and so on down
to the ordinary folk who sacrificed to their own ancestors in the
form of wooden tablets. They believed that the spirits of these an¬
cestors could bring prosperity to the family and that dire conse¬
quences would follow any neglect of the rites. Aside from tradi¬
tional ceremonies, everyday life was complicated by a medley of
folklore and superstition hardly classifiable as religion but exerting a
potent influence. This included the belief in witchcraft, in good
and evil omens, in divination and spirit messages conveyed through
mediums, and in the necessity of avoiding offense to numerous
malignant beings. “Hungry ghosts,” whose sacrifices had been ne¬
glected or cut off through the extinction of a family, were consid¬
ered especially dangerous. In spite of the strong faith that the soul
outlived the body, the notion of rewards and punishments in an 159
ANCIENT CHINESE afterlife was almost entirely lacking. The worst fate that could hap¬
CIVILIZATION pen to a disembodied spirit, it was thought, was for it to be deprived
of the nourishment supplied by sacrificial offerings.
By far the most significant contributions of the Chou period were
in the fields of literature and philosophy. The Shang system of writ¬
Written records of ing, already highly advanced, was continued with slight modifica¬
the Chou period tions. Evidently the Chinese now considered written records as in¬
dispensable to the conduct of both public and private affairs. They
sometimes recorded important transactions in lengthy inscriptions
on bronze vessels, but they more frequently wrote with the brush
upon wood or cloth of silk. Books composed of thin strips of
bamboo were produced in abundance. Although only a minority of
the population was literate, it must have been a large minority and
included the feudal nobility as well as the merchants. In contrast to
the Feudal Age of Western Europe when writing was confined
almost entirely to the clergy, the Chou aristocrats were versed in
literature and kept full records of their properties, their dependents,
and sometimes of their personal activities. Not only the king but the
head of every feudal state maintained archives to preserve the luster
of family traditions and to aid in settling disputes with rival princes.
The Chinese, even in ancient times, were at the opposite pole from
the Hindus in their attitude toward the importance of chronology
and the recording of factual events (although this does not mean
that Chinese documents were entirely accurate or free from fanciful
elements). A young nobleman or prince, in the process of his educa¬
tion, was reminded by his tutors that later generations would study
the annals of his administration and that he should, accordingly,
choose his actions with care. Princes were regularly given instruc¬
tion in history “to stimulate them to good conduct and warn them
against evil”—apparently with no better results than have attended
most modern efforts in this direction.
Of the tremendous output of Chou literature, only a few authen¬
tic portions have survived (aside from the imperishable bronze in¬
Literature of the scriptions) . Some of them, however, are from a date earlier than 600
Chou period
b.c. Probably the most ancient work is the Book of Changes. It con¬

tains a collection of hexagrams formed of straight and broken lines

arranged in different combinations, with accompanying text. The
figures, like the earlier Shang oracle bones, were used for divination.
Thus the book was originally hardly more than a sorcerer’s manual,
but it came to be venerated as a work of mystic and occult
wisdom.2 Very different is the Document Classic (less accurately
called uBook of History”), which is a collection of official docu¬
ments, proclamations, and speeches purporting to be from the early

2 For a contrary view see H. Wilhelm, Change-, Eight Lectures on the 1

Ching, trans. C. F. Baynes, New York, i960. Wilhelm interprets the classic as
160 an affirmation of man’s ability to control his own destiny.
Chou period. The Book of Etiquette, dealing with ceremonial be- THE CHOU DYNASTY
havior, formal occasions, and preparation for adult responsibilities,
was intended to assist in the education of the lesser aristocracy.
Most interesting of all is the Book of Poetry, an anthology of about
300 poems covering a wide range of subjects and moods. Some of
the poems are religious, in the nature of prayers or hymns to ac¬
company the rites of sacrifice; others celebrate the exploits of he¬
roes; still others are lyrical in quality, voicing the laments of a dis¬
charged official, a soldier’s homesickness, delight in the beauties of
nature, and the frustration or rapture of young lovers. Neither in
quantity nor in profundity do these odes approach the Vedas of
India, but they are graceful in expression and show vividly the prac¬
tical down-to-earth temperament of the Chinese and their lively in¬
terest in and optimistic attitude toward the business of living—at
least among the aristocracy. While the poems on the whole are nei¬
ther philosophical nor spiritual, a few suggest the reforming fervor
of the Hebrew prophets.
In view of the extent and the variety of writing during the Chou
period, the literary collections which have survived are rather dis¬
appointing. But this deficiency is amply compensated for by achieve¬
ments in the realm of philosophy, which reached a brilliant climax
between the sixth and third centuries b.c. For some unexplained Philosophy

reason—perhaps by mere coincidence—philosophical activity of a

high order was carried on at about the same time in three widely
separated regions of the ancient world. While the Greeks were in¬
quiring into the nature of the physical universe, and Indian thinkers
were pondering the relationship of the soul to Absolute Being, Chi¬
nese sages were attempting to discover the basis of human society
and the underlying principles of good government. The Chinese
thinkers were not much interested in either physical science or
metaphysics; the philosophy they propounded was social, political,
and ethical. Exhortatory and reformist in tone, it undoubtedly re¬
flected the influence of the recurrent strife and political disorders of
a period when feudal ideas and institutions were becoming increas¬
ingly irrelevant but had not yet been clearly repudiated. Against the
background of upheaval which marked the late Chou era, philoso¬
phers sought to formulate principles for the stabilizing of society
and the betterment of the individual. The leaders in this intellectual
activity were largely from the lesser aristocracy, men of energy and
ambition who could not find employment suitable to their talents
and who were distressed by the turbulent state of public affairs.
They were a scholarly group, fond of disputation, but also maintain¬
ing an interest in the practice of government and sometimes holding
administrative posts or coaching pupils who aspired to such posts. It
was a time of lively interchange of ideas, and a great variety of opin¬
ions was put forward. Out of this intellectual ferment and de¬
bate—one of the most productive in the annals of human thought 161
 ANCIENT CHINESE —four main philosophic schools emerged, the most important being
CIVILIZATION the Confucianist and the Taoist.
Confucius (ca. 551-479 b.c.), who has proved to be one of the
most influential men in all history, was largely a failure from the
standpoint of what he hoped to accomplish. He spent his life advo¬
Confucius cating reforms that were not adopted; yet he left an indelible stamp
upon the thought and political institutions of China and other lands
that came under Chinese influence. He was a native of the state of
Lu (in modern Shantung province) and was reputed to have been
the child of an aged father, a gentleman soldier named K’ung (Con¬
fucius is the Latinized form of the name K’ung Fu-tzu, or “Master
K’ung”). Probably his family was of the lesser aristocracy, respect¬
able but poor. In any event, he showed a sincere interest in the
common people and did not choose his disciples on the basis of birth
or rank. When he was only about twenty-one he began to teach in¬
formally a group of young friends who were attracted by his alert
mind and by his precocious knowledge of traditional forms and
usages. Although his reputation spread rapidly, little is known con¬
cerning the incidents of his career. Possibly as a mature man he held
office for a short time under the Duke of Lu. For more than ten
years, until old age overtook him, he wandered from state to state,
refusing to be employed as a time-serving flatterer but continually
hoping that some ruler would give him a chance to apply his ideals
and thus set in motion a tide of reform that might sweep the entire
country. Although revered by his small band of disciples, some of
Confucius in Royal Dress. A
whom became officeholders, Confucius received no offer of ap¬
traditional representation in
pointment that he could accept in good conscience. Finally he re¬
bronze.
turned to his native country where he died, discouraged, at the age
of seventy-two.
Frustrated as a statesman, Confucius made his real contribution
as a teacher. The memoranda of his conversations with his disciples
Confucius as a (the Analects)—which are considered on the whole authentic, even
teacher though not written down in the master’s lifetime—convey the im¬
pression of a lively and untrammeled mind which challenged those
with whom it came in contact. Like his contemporary Gautama
Buddha, and like his near-contemporary Socrates, Confucius earn¬
estly believed that knowledge was the key to happiness and success¬
ful conduct. He also believed that almost anyone was capable of
acquiring knowledge, but only through unrelenting effort. He in¬
sisted that his student-disciples should think for themselves, saying
that if he had demonstrated one corner of a subject it was up to
them to work out the other three corners, and constantly pricking
their complacency. He recognized the difficulties in the thorough
assimilation of ideas and was never satisfied with quick agreement.
While no ascetic, he frowned on indulgence and urged his associates
to strive continually for improvement. Though he had moments of
162 petulance and harshness, the nobility of his character is unmistak-
able, and he refused to let his disappointments make him cynical. THE CHOU DYNASTY
His regret, he said, was not that he was misunderstood but that he
did not understand others sufficiently.
The doctrines of Confucius centered upon the good life and the
good community. He respected religious ceremonies as part of es¬
tablished custom, but he refused to speculate on religious or super¬ The doctrines
natural questions, saying, in substance: “We do not know life; how of Confucius

can we understand death? We do not fully understand our obliga¬

tions to the living; what can we know of our obligations to the
dead?” He was optimistic regarding the material world and regard¬
ing human nature, which he thought was essentially good; but he
believed that the individual’s worth would not be realized unless he
was properly guided in the development of his faculties. For this
reason he stressed propriety and the observance of ceremonial
forms—which he thought were helpful in the acquisition of self-
discipline—although he was really more concerned with sincerity
and intelligence than with appearances. Impressed as he was by the
evils of feudal contention, Confucius advocated the restoration of
central authority in the kingdom, combined, however, with a logical
distribution of power. He visualized the ideal state as a benevolent
paternalism, with the ruler not only commanding but also setting an
example of conduct for the people to follow. He did not endorse a
totalitarian system, nor mere passivity on the part of the people. He
intended the ruler to be guided in his administration by the judg¬
ment of his officials, chosen on the basis of merit from the class of
scholars. The health of the entire state would depend upon the wel¬
fare of each village, and harmony would be achieved by the com¬
bined efforts of the common people from below and of the officials
from above.
Confucius’ teachings therefore embodied a political philosophy,
which regarded the state as a natural institution but modifiable by
man, and devoted to promoting the general well-being and the full¬ The political and

est growth of individual personalities. The state existed for man, not ethical philosophy
of Confucius
man for the state. On the ethical side he emphasized fellow feeling
or reciprocity, the cultivation of sympathy and cooperation, which
must begin in the family and then extend by degrees into the larger
areas of association. He stressed the importance of the five cardinal
human relationships which were already traditional among the Chi¬
nese: (i) ruler and subject, (2) father and son, (3) elder brother
and younger brother, (4) husband and wife, and (5) friend and
friend. These could be expanded indefinitely and were not bounded
even by Chinese lines. The logic of this train of thought was sum¬
marized in the famous saying, “All men are brothers.” But Con¬
fucius argued that a person must be a worthy member of his own
community before he could think in terms of world citizenship.
Laying no claim to originality, Confucius urged a return to an ideal
order which he attributed to the ancients but which actually had 163
ANCIENT CHINESE never existed. Unknowingly, he was supplying guiding principles
CIVILIZATION which could be utilized in the future.
Aside from its founder, the ablest exponent of the Confucianist
school was Mencius (Meng-tzu), who lived about a century later
(ca. 373-288 b.c.) Like his master, Mencius affirmed the inherent
Mencius and goodness of human nature and the necessity of exemplary leadership
Hsiin-tzu to develop it. He looked upon government primarily as a moral
enterprise, and he was more emphatic than Confucius in insisting
that the material condition of the people should -be improved. He
wanted the government to take the initiative in lessening inequali¬
ties and in raising the living standards of the common folk. Per¬
haps because political confusion had increased since Confucius’ day,
he was outspoken in criticizing contemporary rulers. He taught
that only a benevolent government, resting upon the tacit consent
of the people, can possess the “Mandate of Heaven,” and he de¬
fended the people’s right to depose a corrupt or despotic sovereign.
Hsiin-tzu (ca. 300-237 b.c.) is usually classified as a Confucianist,
although his precepts diverged radically from those of Mencius.
While both Confucius and Mencius had started with the assumption
that man has a natural propensity for good, Hsiin-tzu regarded
human nature as basically evil. However, like the earlier Confucian-
ists he believed that man can be improved by proper education and
rigorous discipline. He laid great stress upon observance of ritual,
formal training in the classics, and a strictly hierarchical ordering of
society. In spite of his gloomy view of the natural man, he was far
from a complete pessimist. He recommended vigorous action by the
state to institute reforms and, like Mencius, favored the regulation
of economic activities.
The Taoist philosophical school was in many ways the opposite
of the Confucianist. Its traditional founder was Lao-tzu (“Old
Lao-tzu and Sage”), a shadowy figure of the sixth century b.c. Little is known
Taoism
about the facts of his life, and some scholars doubt that he was an
actual historical person. According to tradition he served as an
official at the Chou capital in charge of the archives until, becoming
weary of the world, he set out for the western mountains in quest of
peace and, at the request of a guard at the mountain pass, set down
his words of wisdom in a little book before he disappeared. But the
real authorship of the Tao Teh Ching (Classic of Nature and Vir¬
tue), from which the principles of Taoism are derived, is undeter¬
mined, and it may not have been written earlier than the third cen¬
tury b.c. The book is not only brief but enigmatical, paradoxical,
and perhaps ironical. With its terse and cryptic style it seems almost
like an intentional antidote to the Confucian glorification of scholar¬
ship, exhortation, and patient explanation. On the whole the Taoist
book exalts nature (sometimes in the sense of impersonal cosmic
force, “the Boundless” or Absolute) and deprecates human efforts.
164 Its spirit is romantic, mystical, anti-intellectual. It not only lauds the
perfection of nature but idealizes the primitive, suggesting that peo¬ THE CHOU DYNASTY
ple would be better off without the arts of civilization, living in
blissful ignorance and keeping records by means of knotted cords
rather than writing. Wealth creates avarice and laws produce crimi¬
nals, it asserts. It is useless to try to improve society by preachment,
ritual, or elaborate regulations; the more virtue is talked about the
less it is practiced. “Those who teach don’t know anything; those
who know don’t teach.” A person learns more by staying home than
by traveling; the wise man sits and meditates instead of bustling
about trying to reform the world.
As a political philosophy, Taoism advocates laissez faire. Unlike
Confucius, Lao-tzu believed that governmental interference was the
source of iniquity and that, if people were left to follow their in¬ Taoist political and
tuition, they would live in harmony with nature and with one an¬ ethical philosophy

other. Nevertheless, Lao-tzu’s ideal was not pure anarchism. Like

Confucius he assumed the necessity of a wise and benevolent (al¬
though largely passive) ruler, and agreed that the only legitimate
purpose of government was to promote human happiness. Perhaps
his thought also reflects a rural protest against both the self-
important aristocracy and the artificial society of the rapidly grow¬
ing towns. In Lao-tzu’s teachings there are strains of pacifism and
the doctrine of non-retaliation for injury (“The virtuous man is for
patching up; the vicious man is for fixing guilt”); of the efficacy of
love in human relations (“Heaven arms with love those it would not
see destroyed”); and of equalitarianism (“It is the way of Heaven to
take away from those that have too much and give to those that
have not enough”). The Taoist school produced several able think¬
ers in late Chou times and played a part in the shaping of Chinese
philosophical traditions. However, in contrast to Confucianism, the
Taoist doctrines were eventually transformed into a religious sys¬
tem, with a priesthood, temples, ritual, and emotional elements. But
the Taoism which became one of the prominent religions of China
had little connection with the principles expounded in the Tao Teh
Ching.
A third school of political and ethical philosophy was associated
with Mo Ti (or Mo-tzu), whose career is placed in the middle of
the fifth century b.c. A man of decided originality, Mo Ti may have Mo Ti

been of peasant stock; his sympathies lay with the downtrodden,

and he regarded luxury and extravagance with aversion. The distin¬
guishing feature of his thought is that he combined the doctrine of
utilitarianism—insisting that everything should be judged by its
usefulness—with a sweeping idealism that drew inspiration from re¬
ligious faith. He condemned elaborate ceremonies dear to Confucian-
ists, including the traditional three-year period of mourning, on the
ground that they entailed needless expense. Sports, amusements, and
even music met his disapproval because they were unproductive, ab¬
sorbing energies which might be employed in useful labor. The 165
ANCIENT CHINESE pressing need, as he saw it, was to increase the supply of food and
CIVILIZATION basic commodities to improve the health, longevity, and numbers of
the population; and such a program called for hard work on the part
of both common people and officials. His strong denunciation of
offensive warfare was also rooted in utilitarianism.
Mo Ti’s ethics were by far the boldest of any of the Chinese
philosophers. In place of the Confucian system of an expanding
Altruism and series of loyalties beginning with the family and radiating outward,
utilitarianism he proclaimed the universal and impartial love of all mankind and
declared that there can be no satisfactory community until the dis¬
tinction between “self” and “other” is completely transcended.
Applying his utilitarian yardstick, he reasoned that, by cultivating
sympathy and mutual helpfulness with everyone, the individual was
ensuring his own welfare as well as contributing to the security of
others. But while his doctrine of universal and impartial affection
linked altruism to self-interest, it called for a rare degree of disci¬
pline and high-mindedness, and its similarity to the ethics of Chris¬
tianity has often been remarked. Mo Ti believed that the state, like
other human institutions, was created by divine ordinance and that
it was the duty of the ruler to carry out the will of Heaven, which
he interpreted to mean promoting the common welfare. Although
the Mohist school, as it is called, was prominent for a while and at¬
tracted many adherents, it practically disappeared after the downfall
of the Chou Dynasty—partly because of the enmity of the Con-
fucianists—and the teachings of the utilitarian philosopher were
almost entirely forgotten until modern times.
A fourth philosophical school, known as the “Legalist,” stood far
removed both from the bold idealism of Mo Ti and the optimistic
The Legalist school humanism of Confucius. Formulated during the hectic period which
witnessed the final collapse of the Chou Dynasty and the triumph of
the Ch’in, it reflects Hsiin-tzu’s harsh view of human nature and his
emphasis upon coercive discipline. At the same time the Legalists
were indebted to Taoism in their contempt for scholarship, the in¬
telligentsia, and conventional ethics; and in their preference for a
simple agrarian society over a mobile, sophisticated, and economi¬
cally diversified one. But, unlike the Taoists, they did not exalt
nature or any supernatural agency, and they completely rejected
laissez faire. Rather than mystics they were hardheaded realists, or
even cynics. Asserting that man is by nature hopelessly selfish and
incorrigible, they prescribed complete and unquestioning submis¬
sion to the ruler. People’s behavior, they argued, could be controlled
only by carefully defined rewards and punishments, by a code of
laws which was fundamentally punitive and which derived not from
custom or natural instinct but from the will of the sovereign. Of all
the schools of Chinese political thought, the Legalist was the most
uncompromisingly authoritarian. Although its principles were sys¬
166 tematically applied only during the short-lived Ch’in Dynasty, they
exerted a continuing influence upon later dynasties also—tempered READINGS
somewhat by the opposing Confucian tradition—and they find per¬
haps more than an echo in the present Chinese totalitarian regime.
Although the later centuries of the Chou Dynasty were marked
by strife and unrest and encumbered by the remnants of decaying
feudal institutions, the material basis for a productive society had Significance of the

been laid and intellectual progress had reached a high point. An Chou period

abundant and many-sided literature was in existence. Philosophers

had come to grips in mature fashion with fundamental problems of
individual and group behavior. Scholarship was an honorable profes¬
sion, and scholars were considered indispensable to the business of
government. There was a growing tradition—not yet very effec¬
tive—that government entailed moral responsibilities as well as privi¬
leges, that those who exercised authority did so on sufferance and
only so long as they conformed to the “Decree of Heaven.” More¬
over, the Chinese had come to think of themselves as composing a
unique society, not merely a political affiliation but the “Middle
Kingdom”—the heart of civilization as contrasted with outlying
“barbarian” areas. They had already mingled with and partially ab¬
sorbed many non-Chinese tribes, and it is significant that the distinc¬
tion between their civilization and the “barbarian” regions was not
based upon race or nationality. The attitude of superiority which
they adopted sometimes made them arrogant, but it gave them a
toughness in resisting the shock of invasion and other adversities.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

Bishop, C.W., Origin of the Far Eastern Civilizations, Washington, 1942.
Chang Kwang-chih, The Archaeology of Ancient China, New Haven, 1968.
Ch’en, K. K. S., Buddhism in China; a Historical Survey, Princeton, 1964. A
solid and lucid study.
• Creel, H. G., The Birth of China, New York, 1937 (Ungar). A fascinating
account of archaeological exploration of Shang civilization, and an excellent
introduction to the basic culture pattern of ancient China.
• -, Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-tung, Chicago, 1953
(Mentor).
• -, Confucius and the Chinese Way, New York, i960 (Torchbooks).
_, The Origins of Statecraft in China, Vol. I: The Western Chou
Empire, Chicago, 1970. A valuable contribution.
Fairbank, J. K., Reischauer, E. O., and Craig, A. M., East Asia: Tradition and
Transformation, Boston, 1973. A shortened edition of a major text.
• Fitzgerald, C. P., China, a Short Cultural History, 3rd ed., New York, 1961
(Praeger). Frequently unconventional in viewpoint.
• Fung Yu-lan, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, ed. Derk Bodde, New
York, 1948 (Macmillan).
• Goodrich, L. C., A Short History of the Chinese People, 3rd ed., New York,
1959 (Torchbooks). Brief but informative; fulfills the promise of its title. 167
READINGS Harrison. J. A., The Chinese Empire: A Short History of China from Neo¬
lithic Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century, New York, 1972. A
good synthesis.
King, F. H., Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China,
Korea and Japan, Emmaus, Penn., 1948. A classic description.
Latourette, K. S., The Chinese, Their History and Culture, 4th ed., 2 vols. in
one, New York, 1964. A solid contribution, comprehensive in scope.
Li Chi, The Beginnings of Chinese Civilization: Three Lectures Illustrated
with Finds at Anyang, Seattle, 1957.
• Li, Dun J., The Ageless Chinese, a History, 2nd ed., New York, 1971
(Scribner’s).
• Moore, C. A., ed., The Chinese Mind: Essentials of Chinese Philosophy and
Culture, Honolulu, 1967 (East-West Center).
Needham, Joseph, Science and Civilization in China, New York, 1954, Vol. I;
1956, Vol. II; 1959, Vol. Ill; 1962-1971, Vol. IV. A far-ranging and chal¬
lenging study.
Treistman, Judith, The Prehistory of China: An Archaeological Exploration,
Garden City, N. Y., 1972.
Tuan Yi-fu, China, Chicago, 1970. An excellent cultural geography.
• Watson, Burton, Early Chinese Literature, New York, 1962 (Columbia).
Wheatley, Paul, The Pivot of the Four Quarters: A Preliminary Enquiry
into the Origins of the Character of the Ancient Chinese City, Chicago,
I97I*
• Wilhelm, Hellmut, Change: Eight Lectures on the I Ching, tr. C. F. Baynes,
New York, i960 (Princeton, 1973).

SOURCE MATERIALS

• de Bary, W. T., ed., Sources of Chinese Tradition, “The Classical Period”

(Columbia).
Chai Ch’u, and Chai, Winberg, A Treasury of Chinese Literature.
Chan Wing-tsit, ed. and tr., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Traces
the history of Chinese philosophy from Confucianism to Communism.
• Giles, H. A., ed., Gems of Chinese Literature (Dover).
• Legge, James, tr., The l Ching (The Book of Changes) (Dover).
• -, The Works of Mencius (Dover).
Lin Yutang, ed., The Wisdom of China and India, “Laotse, the Book of Tao.”
Mei, Y. P., tr., The Ethical and Political Works of Motse.
Soothill, W. E., tr., The Analects of Confucius.
Waley, Arthur, ed. and tr., The Book of Songs; The Way and Its Power
(Evergreen); Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China (Anchor).
• Watson, Burton, tr., Mo Tzu: Basic Writings (Columbia).

168
 PART II
The World in the
Classical Era

After 600 b.c. the chief centers of civilization in the ancient world were
no longer confined to North Africa and Asia. By that time new cultures
were already growing to maturity in Greece and Italy. Both had started
their evolution considerably earlier, but the civilization of Greece did
not begin to ripen until about 600 b.c., while the Romans showed little
promise of original achievement before 500. About 300 b.c. Greek civ¬
ilization, properly speaking, came to an end and was superseded by a
new culture representing a fusion of elements derived from Greece and
from the Near Orient. This was the Hellenistic civilization, which lasted
until about the beginning of the Christian era and included not only the
Greek peninsula but Egypt and most of Asia west of the Indus River.
The outstanding characteristic that served to distinguish these three
civilizations from their predecessors was secularism. No longer did reli¬
gion absorb the interests of man to the extent that it did in ancient
Egypt or in the nations of Mesopotamia. The state was now above the
church, or perhaps we should say it included the church, and the author¬
ity of the priests to determine the direction of cultural evolution was
greatly reduced. Somewhat similar developments were taking place in
the Far East. In India, Hinduism and the dominance of the Brahman
caste were challenged by the ethical and non-theological system of
Guatama Buddha. Buddhism also spread to China and Japan and became
a major stimulus of cultural vitality in all three countries. 171
 A. Chronological Tabic Dates are B.C. unless given as A.D.

POLITICS ARTS AND LETTERS

Mycenaean stage, ca. 1500-1100 Vedas in India, 1200-800

Dark Ages of Greek history, 1100-800
800 Beginning of city-states in Greece, ca. 800 Iliad and Odyssey, ca. 800
B.C. Rome founded, ca. 750 Upanishads, 800-600
Feudalism in China, ca. 800-250
Age of the Tyrants in Greece, 650-500
Reforms of Solon, 594-560 Doric architecture, 650-500
Reforms of Cleisthenes, 508-502 Aeschylus, 525-456
500 Overthrow of monarchy in Rome and establish Phidias, 500?-432?
B.C. ment of republic, ca. 500 Ionic architecture, ca. 500-400
Patrician-plebeian struggle in Rome, 500-287
Greco-Persian War, 493-479 Sophocles, 496-406
Delian League, 479-404 Herodotus, 484-425
Perfection of Athenian democracy, 461-429 Euripides, 480-406
Law of the Twelve Tables (Rome), ca. 450 Thucydides, 471?-400?
Peloponnesian War, 431-404 Parthenon, ca. 460
400 Decline of democracy in Greece, 400 Aristophanes, 448?-38o?
Theban supremacy in Greece, 371-362 Corinthian architecture, ca. 400-300
Macedonian conquest of Greece, 338-337 Praxiteles, 370?^ 10?
Conquests of Alexander the Great, 336^323
Division of Alexander’s empire, 323
Classical age of Hindu culture, ca.
300-800 A.D.

Hortensian Law (Rome), 287

Punic Wars, 264-146

Reign of Emperor Asoka in India, ca. 273—

232
Ch’in Dynasty in China, 221-207
Building of Great Wall in China, ca. 220
Han Dynasty in China, 206 B.c-220 a.d.

Revolt of the Gracchi, 133-121

Beginning of Japanese state, ca. 100

Vergil, 70-19
Dictatorship of Julius Caesar, 46-44 Horace, 65-8
Principate of Augustus Caesar, 27 B.c-14 a.d.

Tacitus, 55?—117? a.d.

Colosseum, ca. 80 a.d.
Barbarian invasions of Rome, ca. 100-476 a.d.
Completion of Roman law by the great jurists,
ca. 200 A.D.

Diocletian, 284-305 a.d.

Constantine I, 306-337 a.d.
Beginning of temple architecture
in India, 400 a.d.
co osius ,379-395 a.d. Adoption of Chinese system of
Deposition of last of Roman emperors, 476 a.d. writing in japaili ca ^
AJ)>
Taika Reform Edict, creating imperial gov¬
ernment in Japan based on Chinese model,
645 A.D.
 PHILOSOPHY
AND SCIENCE ECONOMICS RELIGION
Rise of caste system in India, 1000- Development of worldly,
500 non-ethical religion of
Economic Revolution and coloniza¬ the Greeks, 1200-800
tion in Greece, 750-600
Rise of middle class in Greece, 750-
Thales of Miletus, 64o?~546 600
Pythagoras, 582?~507? Gautama Buddha, ca.
Confucius, 551 P—479? 563-483
Lao-tzu, ca. 550 Use of iron in China, ca. 500 Orphic and Eleusinian
mystery cults, 500-100

Protagoras, 4^-420?
Socrates, 469-399
Hippocrates, 460-377?
Democritus, 470?-362?
Sophists, ca. 450-400
Plato, 427-347 Development of coinage in China,
Aristotle, 384-322 ca. 400
Epicurus, 342-270
Zeno (the Stoic), 32o?-25o? Growth of advertising and insur¬
Euclid, 323?—285 ance, 300 B.C.-IOO A.D.
Aristarchus, 310-230 Hellenistic world trade, 300 b.c.-
100 A.D.
International money economy, 300
B.C.-IOO A.D.
Growth of serfdom in Hellenistic
empires, 300 b.c.-ioo a.d.
Growth of metropolitan cities, 300
Archimedes, 287?-2i2
b.c.-ioo a.d.
Eratosthenes, 276?—195?
Growth of slavery in Rome, 250- Oriental mystery cults in
100 Rome, 250-50
Rise of middle class in Rome, 250-
mo
Decline of small farmer in Rome,
Herophilus, 220?-i50?
250-100
Polybius, 205?-i 18
Depressions and unemployment in
Hellenistic world, 200 b.c.-ioo a.d
Skeptics, 200-100 Decline of slavery in Hellenistic Development of mysti¬
world 200 b.c.-ioo a.d. cism and otherworldli¬
Introduction of Stoicism Use of iron in sub-Saharan Africa, ness, 200
into Rome, ca. 140 200 B.C.
Cicero, 106-43
Lucretius, 98-55

Seneca, 34 B.C.-65 a.d. Decline of slavery in Rome, 27 b.c- Spread of Mithraism in

476 A.D. Rome, 27 B.C.-270 a.d.
First persecution of Chris¬
tians in Rome, ca. 65
Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 Manufacture of paper in China, a.d.
A.D. ca. 100 A.D. Rapid development of
Galen, 130-200? a.d. Expansion of Bantu people in Buddhism in China,
Neo-Platonism, 250-600 Africa, 200-900 a.d. 200-500 A.D.
A.D. Growth of serfdom and extralegal Beginning of toleration of
feudalism in Rome, 300-500 a.d. Christians in Rome, 311
Use of camel for transport in Afri¬ A.D.
ca, 300 A.D. Christianity made official
West African Kingdom of Ghana, religion of Roman Em¬
ca. 450 A.D. pire, 380 a.d.
Manufacture of glass and inven¬
tion of gunpowder and magnetic Spread of Buddhism to
compass in China, ca. 500 a.d. Japan, ca. 552 a.d.
*•

.
 CHAPTER 8
The Hellenic Civilization

There Lawfulness dwells and her sisters,

Safe foundation of cities,
Justice and Peace, who was bred with her,
Dispensers of wealth to men
Golden daughters of wise-counselling Right.
—-Pindar, on the city of Corinth, Olympian Ode XIII

Now, what is characteristic of any nature is that which is best

for it and gives most joy. Such to man is the life according to rea¬
son, since it is this that makes him man.
—Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

Among all the peoples of the ancient world, the one whose culture
most clearly exemplified the spirit of Western man was the Hellenic
or Greek. No other of these nations had so strong a devotion to The character

liberty, at least for itself, or so firm a belief in the nobility of of Hellenic

civilization
human achievement. The Greeks glorified man as the most impor¬
tant creature in the universe and refused to submit to the dictation
of priests or despots or even to humble themselves before their gods.
Their attitude was essentially secular and rationalistic; they exalted
the spirit of free inquiry and made knowledge supreme over faith. It
was largely for these reasons that they advanced their culture to the
highest stage which the ancient world was destined to reach. But the
Greeks did not begin without foundations. It is necessary to remem¬
ber that the groundwork for many of their achievements had al¬
ready been laid by certain of the Oriental peoples. The rudiments of
their philosophy and science had been prepared by the Egyptians.
The Greek alphabet was derived from Phoenicia. And probably to a
larger extent than we shall ever realize the Hellenic appreciation of
beauty and freedom was a product of Minoan-Mycenaean influence.

I. EARLY STAGES

The early history of Greece is divided into two basic periods, the
Mycenaean from about 1500 to 1100 b.c. and the Dark Ages from
about 1100 to 800 b.c. In the sixteenth century a Greek people 175
THE HELLENIC known subsequently as Achaeans burst the confines of their origi¬
CIVILIZATION nal home and expanded southward. In time they conquered Mycenae
and made it their principal stronghold. They were henceforth called
in Greek history Mycenaeans, although they had other important
The Mycenaean centers at Athens, Thebes, Pylos, and elsewhere. In 1400 b.c. they
period conquered Knossos. The Mycenaeans were a semibarbarous people
whose social and political systems resembled those of the Orient. The
great lords or kings who ruled in the fortified strongholds seemed
to wield a monopoly over production, trade, and artistic activity.
The chief function of their subjects was to work and strive for the
king’s enrichment. These officials resided in magnificent palaces sur¬
rounded by objects of gold, bronze, and ivory, skillfully fashioned
by talented workmen. To obtain these riches traders and colonizers
roamed the whole world of the Aegean and penetrated as far as
Italy and Central Europe.
The arts of the Mycenaeans never equaled the delicacy and grace
of the painting and sculpture of the Minoans. Much of it was copied
Mycenaean boldly from the Orient, and for the most part it remained stilted and
culture lifeless. They did, nevertheless, produce some excellent pottery and
exquisitely inlaid daggers. Their massive palaces and tombs indicate
that they understood stresses and how to counteract them. The
Mycenaeans had a system of writing, which has been definitely
established as an early form of Greek. But they seem to have used it
almost exclusively for keeping the fiscal records of their all-encom¬
passing governments. No trace of anything resembling literature,
history, or philosophy has thus far been found.
The fall of the Mycenaean civilization was a major catastrophe
for the Greek world. It ushered in a period now called by historians
The beginning the Dark Ages, which lasted from about 1100 to 800 b.c. Written
of the Dark Ages
records disappeared, except where accidentally preserved, and cul¬
ture reverted to simpler forms than had been known for centuries.
Whether the collapse came as a result of foreign invasion or of in¬
ternal revolt against oppression has not been determined. Perhaps it

Ruins of the Palace of

Nestor at Pylos. See
the opposite page for
an artist’s conception
of the original.
A Reconstruction of
the Palace of Nestor.
Shown here is the
central court and the
hearth.

was a combination of both. According to tradition, about 1200 b.c.

the cities were attacked by an invading horde of more primitive
Greeks known as Dorians. They were illiterate, and though they
possessed weapons of iron, their knowledge of the arts and crafts
was no more than rudimentary. They burned the palace at Mycenae
and sacked a number of the others. Some historians maintain that
the destruction of despotic Mycenae was a necessary prelude to the
emergence of the freer and more enlightened Hellenic outlook.
The culture of many of the Greeks had always been rudimentary.
That of the Mycenaeans rapidly deteriorated following the destruc¬
tion of Mycenae. We can therefore conclude that cultural achieve¬ The primitive

ment in most of Greece remained at a low ebb throughout the culture of the
Dark Ages
period from 1100 to 800 b.c. Toward the end some decorated pot¬
tery and skillfully designed metal objects began to appear on the is¬
lands of the Aegean Sea, but essentially the period was a long night.
Aside from the development of writing at the very end, intellectual
accomplishment was limited to folk songs, ballads, and short epics
sung and embellished by bards as they wandered from one village to
another. A large part of this material was finally woven into a great
epic cycle by one or more poets in the ninth century b.c. Though
not all the poems of this cycle have come down to us, the two most
important, the Iliad, and the Odyssey, the so-called Homeric epics,
provide us with a rich store of information about many of the cus¬
toms and institutions of the Dark Ages.
The political institutions of the Dark Ages were exceedingly
primitive. Each little community of villages was independent of ex¬ Government in
ternal control, but political authority was so tenuous that it would the Dark Ages

not be too much to say that the state scarcely existed at all. The
basileus or ruler was not much more than a tribal leader. He could
not make or enforce laws or administer justice. He received no 177
 THE HELLENIC remuneration of any kind, and had to cultivate his farm for a living
CIVILIZATION the same as any other citizen. Practically his only functions were
military and priestly. He commanded the army in time of war and
offered sacrifices to keep the gods on the good side of the commu¬
nity. Although each little community had its council of nobles and
assembly of warriors, neither of these bodies had any definite mem¬
bership or status as an organ of government. The duties of the
former were to advise and assist the ruler and prevent him from
usurping despotic powers. The functions of the latter were to ratify
declarations of war and assent to the conclusion of peace. Almost
without exception custom took the place of law, and the administra¬
tion of justice was private. Even willful murder was punishable only
by the family of the victim. While it is true that disputes were
sometimes submitted to the ruler for settlement, he acted in such
cases merely as an arbitrator, not as a judge. As a matter of fact, the
political consciousness of the Greeks of this time was so poorly de¬
veloped that they had no conception of government as an indis¬
pensable agency for the preservation of social order. When
Mycenean Stirrup Jar, Twelfth Odysseus, ruler of Ithaca, was absent for twenty years, no regent
Century b.c. was appointed in his place, and no session of the council or assembly
was held. No one seemed to think that the complete suspension of
government, even for so long a time, was a matter of critical impor¬
tance.
The pattern of social and economic life was amazingly simple.
Though the general tone of the society portrayed in the epics is
The rudimentary aristocratic, there was actually no rigid stratification of classes.
pattern of social Manual labor was not looked upon as degrading, and there were ap¬
and economic life
parently no idle rich. That there were dependent laborers of some
kind who worked on the lands of the nobles and served them as
faithful warriors seems clear from the Homeric epics, but they appear
to have been serfs rather than slaves. The slaves were chiefly
women, employed as servants, wool processors, or concubines.
Many were war captives, but they do not appear to have been badly
treated. Agriculture and herding were the basic occupations of free
men. Except for a few. skilled crafts like those of wagonmaker,
swordsmith, goldsmith, and potter, there was no specialization of
labor. For the most part every household made its own tools, wove
its own clothing, and raised its own food. So far were the Greeks of
this time from being a trading people that they had no word in their
language for “merchant,” and barter was the only method of ex¬
change that was practiced.
To the Greeks of the Dark Ages religion meant chiefly a system
for: (i) explaining the physical world in such a way as to remove
Religious con¬ its awesome mysteries and give man a feeling of intimate relation¬
ceptions in the
ship with it; (2) accounting for the tempestuous passions that seized
Dark Ages
man’s nature and made him lose that self-control which the Greeks
considered essential for success as a warrior; and (3) obtaining such
178 tangible benefits as good fortune, long life, skill in craftsmanship,
and abundant harvests. The Greeks did not expect that their religion EARLY STAGES
would save them from sin or endow them with spiritual blessings.
As they conceived it, piety was neither a matter of conduct nor of
faith. Their religion, accordingly, had no commandments, dogmas,
or sacraments. Every man was at liberty to believe what he pleased
and to conduct his own life as he chose without fear of the wrath of
the gods.
As is commonly known, the deities of the early Greek religion
were merely human beings writ large. It was really necessary that
this should be so if the Greek was to feel at home in the world over The deities of the

which they ruled. Remote, omnipotent beings like the gods of most early Greek

religion
Oriental religions would have inspired fear rather than a sense of se¬
curity. What the Greek wanted was not necessarily gods of great
power, but deities he could bargain with on equal terms. Conse¬
quently he endowed his gods with attributes similar to his own—
with human bodies and human weaknesses and wants. He imagined
the great company of divinities as frequently quarreling with one
another, needing food and sleep, mingling freely with men, and
even procreating children occasionally by mortal women. They
differed from men only in the fact that they subsisted on ambrosia
and nectar, which made them immortal. They dwelt not in the sky
or in the stars but on the summit of Mount Olympus, a peak in
northern Greece with an altitude of about 10,000 feet.
The religion was thoroughly polytheistic, and no one deity was
elevated very high above any of the others. Zeus, the sky god and
wielder of the thunderbolt, who was sometimes referred to as the
father of the gods and of men, frequently received less attention
than did Poseidon, the sea god, Aphrodite, goddess of love, or
Athena, variously considered goddess of wisdom and war and
patroness of handicrafts. Since the Greeks had no Satan, their reli¬
gion cannot be described as dualistic. Nearly all of the deities were
capable of malevolence as well as good, for they sometimes deceived
men and caused them to commit wrongs. The nearest approach to a
god of evil was Hades, who presided over the nether world. Al¬
though he is referred to in the Homeric poems as “implacable and
unyielding” and the most hateful of gods to mortals, he was never
assumed to have played an active role in affairs on earth. He was not
considered as the source of pestilence, earthquake, or famine. He
did not tempt men or work to defeat the benevolent designs of
other gods. In short, he was really not regarded as anything more
than the guardian of the realm of the dead.
The Greeks of the Dark Ages were almost completely indifferent
Poseidon
to what happened to them after death. They did assume, however,
that the shades or ghosts of men survived for a time after the death
of their bodies. All, with a few exceptions, went to the same abode
—to the murky realm of Hades situated beneath the earth. This was
neither a paradise nor a hell: no one was rewarded for his good
deeds, and no one was punished for his sins. Each of the shades ap- 179
#••1

Battle between the Gods and the Giants. This frieze dates from before 525 b.c.

and is from the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.

peared to continue the same kind of life its human embodiment had
lived on earth. The Homeric poems make casual mention of two
other realms, the Elysian Plain and the realm of Tartarus, which
seem at first glance to contradict the idea of no rewards and punish¬
ments in the hereafter. But the few individuals who enjoyed the ease
and comfort of the Elysian Plain had done nothing to deserve such
blessings; they were simply persons whom the gods had chosen to
favor. The realm of Tartarus was not really an abode of the dead
but a place of imprisonment for rebellious deities.
Worship in early Greek religion consisted primarily of sacrifice.
The offerings were made, however, not as an atonement for sin, but
The external chiefly in order to please the gods and induce them to grant favors.
and mechanical In other words, religious practice was external and mechanical and
character of
not far removed from magic. Reverence, humility, and purity of
worship
heart were not essentials in it. The worshiper had only to carry out
his part of the bargain by making the proper sacrifice, and the gods
would fulfill theirs. For a religion such as this no elaborate institu¬
tions were required. Even a professional priesthood was unneces¬
sary. Since there were no mysteries and no sacraments, one man
could perform the simple rites about as well as another. The Greek
temple was not a church or place of religious assemblage, and no
ceremonies were performed within it. Instead it was a shrine which
the god might visit occasionally and use as a temporary house.
As intimated already, the morality of the Greeks in the Dark
Ages had only the vaguest connection with their religion. While it
Conceptions of is true that the gods were generally disposed to support the right,
virtue and evil
they did not consider it their duty to combat evil and make
righteousness prevail. In meting out rewards to men, they appear to
have been influenced more by their own whims and by gratitude for
180 sacrifices offered than by any consideration for moral character.
The only crime they punished was perjury, and that none too con¬ EVOLUTION OF THE
sistently. Nearly all the virtues extolled in the epics were those CITY-STATES
which would make the individual a better soldier—bravery, self-
control, patriotism, wisdom (in the sense of cunning), love of one’s
friends, and hatred of one’s enemies. There was no conception of sin
in the Christian sense of wrongful acts to be repented of or atoned
for.
At the end of the Dark Ages the Greek was already well started
along the road of social ideals that he was destined to follow in later
centuries. He was an optimist, convinced that life was worth living The basic Greek
for its own sake, and he could see no reason for looking forward to ideals

death as a glad release. He was an egoist, striving for the fulfillment

of self. As a consequence, he rejected mortification of the flesh and
all forms of denial which would imply the frustration of life. He
could see no merit in humility or in turning the other cheek. He was
a humanist, who worshiped the finite and the natural rather than the
otherworldly or sublime. For this reason he refused to invest his
gods with awe-inspiring qualities, or to invent any conception of
man as a depraved and sinful creature. Finally, he was devoted to
liberty in an even more extreme form than most of his descendants
in the classical period were willing to accept.

2. THE EVOLUTION OF THE CITY-STATES

About 800 b.c. the village communities which had been founded
mainly upon tribal or clan organization, began to give way to larger
political units. As the need for defense increased, an acropolis or The origin and

citadel was built on a high location, and a city grew up around it as nature of the
city-states
the seat of government for a whole community. Thus emerged the
city-state, the most famous unit of political society developed by
the Greeks. Examples were to be found in almost every section of
the Hellenic world. Athens, Thebes, and Megara on the mainland;
Sparta and Corinth on the Peloponnesus; Miletus on the shore of
Asia Minor; and Mitylene and Samos on the islands of the Aegean
Sea were among the best known. They varied enormously in both
area and population. Sparta with more than 3000 square miles and
Athens with 1060 had by far the greatest extent; the others averaged
less than a hundred. At the peak of their power Athens and Sparta,
each with a population of about 400,000, had approximately three
times the numerical strength of most of their neighboring states.
More important is the fact that the Greek city-states varied
widely in cultural evolution. From 800 to 500 b.c., commonly called
the Archaic period, the Peloponnesian cities of Corinth and Argos Variations among
the city-states
were leaders in the development of literature and the arts. In the
seventh century Sparta outshone many of her rivals. Preeminent
above all were the Ionian cities on the coast of Asia Minor and the
islands of the Aegean Sea. Foremost among them was Miletus, 181
THE HELLENIC where, as we shall see, a brilliant flowering of philosophy and sci¬
CIVILIZATION ence occurred as early as the sixth century. Athens lagged behind
until at least ioo years later.
With a few exceptions the Greek city-states went through a simi¬
lar political evolution. They began their histories as monarchies.
The evolution of During the eighth century they were changed into oligarchies.
the city-states About a hundred years later, on the average, the oligarchies were
overthrown by dictators, or “tyrants,” as the Greeks called them,
meaning usurpers who ruled without legal right whether oppres¬
sively or not. Finally, in the sixth and fifth centuries, democracies
were set up, or in some cases “timocracies,” that is, governments
based upon a property qualification for the exercise of political
rights, or in which love of honor and glory was the ruling principle.
On the whole, it is not difficult to determine the causes of this po¬
litical evolution. The first change came about as a result of the con¬
The causes centration of landed wealth. As the owners of great estates waxed in
of the political economic power, they determined to wrest political authority from
cycle; the growth
the ruler, now commonly called king, and vest it in the council,
of colonization
which they generally controlled. In the end they abolished the king-
ship entirely. Then followed a period of sweeping economic
changes and political turmoil.
These developments affected not only Greece itself but many
other parts of the Mediterranean world. For they were accompanied
The results of and followed by a vast overseas expansion. The chief causes were an
Greek expansion increasing scarcity of agricultural land, internal strife, and a general
temper of restlessness and discontent. The Greeks rapidly learned of
numerous areas, thinly populated, with climate and soil similar to
those of the homelands. The parent states most active in the expan¬
sion movement were Corinth, Chalcis, and Miletus. Their citizens
founded colonies along the Aegean shores and even in Italy and
Sicily. Of the latter the best known were Tarentum and Syracuse.
They also established trading centers on the coast of Egypt and as
far east as Babylon. The results of this expansionist movement can
only be described as momentous. Commerce and industry grew to
be leading pursuits, the urban population increased, and wealth
assumed new forms. The rising middle class now joined with dispos¬
sessed farmers in an attack upon the landholding oligarchy. The
natural fruit of the bitter class conflicts that ensued was dictator¬
ship. By encouraging extravagant hopes and promising relief from
chaos, ambitious demagogues attracted enough popular support to
enable them to ride into power in defiance of constitutions and laws.
Ultimately, however, dissatisfaction with tyrannical rule and the in¬
creasing economic power and political consciousness of the common
citizens led to the establishment of democracies or liberal oli¬
garchies.
Unfortunately space does not permit an analysis of the political
182 history of each of the Greek city-states. Except in the more back-
ward sections of Thessaly and the Peloponnesus, it is safe to con- THE ARMED CAMP OF
elude that the internal development of all of them paralleled the SPARTA
account given above, although minor variations due to local condi¬
tions doubtless occurred. The two most important of the Hellenic
states, Sparta and Athens, deserve more detailed study.

3- THE ARMED CAMP OF SPARTA

The history of Sparta 1 was the great exception to the political

evolution of the city-states. Despite the fact that her citizens sprang
from the same origins as most of the other Greeks, she failed to The peculiar

make any progress in the direction of democratic rule. Instead, her development of
Sparta
government gradually degenerated into a form more closely resem¬
bling a modern elite dictatorship. Culturally, also, the nation stag¬
nated after the seventh century. The causes were due partly to
isolation. Hemmed in by mountains on the northeast and west and
lacking good harbors, the Spartan people had little opportunity to
profit from the advances made in the outside world. Besides, no
middle class arose to aid the masses in the struggle for freedom.
The major explanation is to be found, however, in militarism.
The Spartans had come into the eastern Peloponnesus as an invading
army. At first they attempted to amalgamate with the Mycenaeans The Spartan

they found there. But conflicts arose, and the Spartans resorted to desire for
conquest
conquest. Though by the end of the ninth century they had gained
dominion over all of Laconia, they were not satisfied. West of the
Taygetus Mountains lay the fertile plain of Messenia. The Spartans
determined to conquer it. The venture was successful, and the
Messenian territory was annexed to Laconia. About 640 b.c. the
Messenians enlisted the aid of Argos and launched a revolt. The war
that followed was desperately fought, Laconia itself was invaded,
and apparently it was only the death of the Argive commander and
the patriotic pleas of the fire-eating poet Tyrtaeus that saved the
day for the Spartans. This time the victors took no chances. They
confiscated the lands of the Messenians, murdered or expelled their
leaders, and forced the masses into serfdom. The Spartans’ appetite
for conquest was not unlimited, however. Following the Messenian
wars they devoted themselves to keeping what they had already
gained.
There was scarcely a feature of the life of the Spartans that was
not the result of their wars with the Messenians. In subduing and
despoiling their enemies they unwittingly enslaved themselves; for The results of

they lived through the remaining centuries of their history in Spartan milita¬
rism
deadly fear of insurrections. It was this fear which explains their

1 Sparta was the leading city of a district called Laconia or Lacedaemonia;

sometimes the state was referred to by one or the other of these names. The
people, also, were frequently called Laconians or Lacedaemonians. 183
THE HELLENIC conservatism, their stubborn resistance to change, lest any innova¬
CIVILIZATION tion result in a fatal weakening of the system. Their provincialism
can also be attributed to the same cause. Frightened by the prospect
that dangerous ideas might be brought into their country, they dis¬
couraged travel and prohibited trade with the outside world. The
necessity of maintaining the absolute supremacy of the citizen class
over an enormous population of serfs required an iron discipline and
a strict subordination of the individual; hence the Spartan collectiv¬
ism, which extended into every branch of the social and economic
life. Finally, much of the cultural backwardness of Sparta grew out
of the atmosphere of coarseness and hate which inevitably resulted
from the bitter struggle to conquer the Messenians and hold them
under stern repression.
The Spartan constitution, which tradition ascribed to an ancient
lawgiver, Lycurgus, provided for a government preserving the
The Spartan forms of the old system of the Dark Ages. Instead of one king, how¬
government ever, there were two, representing separate families of exalted rank.
The Spartan sovereigns enjoyed but few powers and those chiefly
of a military and priestly character. A second and more authorita¬
tive branch of the government was the council, composed of the
two kings and twenty-eight nobles sixty years of age and over. This
body supervised the work of administration, prepared measures for
submission to the assembly, and served as the highest court for crim¬
inal trials. The third organ of government, the assembly, approved
or rejected the proposals of the council and elected all public offi¬
cials except the kings. But the highest authority under the Spartan
constitution was vested in a board of five men known as the
ephorate. The ephors virtually were the government. They presided
over the council and the assembly, controlled the educational sys¬
tem and the distribution of property, censored the lives of the citi¬
zens, and exercised a veto power over all legislation. They had
power also to determine the fate of newborn infants, to conduct
prosecutions before the council, and even to depose the kings if the
religious omens appeared unfavorable. The Spartan government was
thus very decidedly an oligarchy. In spite of the fact that the ephors
were chosen for one-year terms by the assembly, they were indefi¬
nitely reeligible, and their authority was so vast that there was
hardly any ramification of the system they could not control. More¬
over, it should be borne in mind that the assembly itself was not a
democratic body. Not even the whole citizen class, which was a
small minority of the total population, was entitled to membership
in it, but only those males of full political status who had incomes
sufficient to qualify them for enrollment in the heavy infantry.
The population of Sparta was divided into three main classes. The
ruling element was made up of the Spartiates, or descendants of the
original conquerors. Though never exceeding one-twentieth of the
184 total population, the Spartiates alone had political privileges. Next in
order of rank were the perioeci, or “dwellers around.” The origin THE ARMED CAMP OF
of this class is uncertain, but it was probably composed of peoples SPARTA
that had at one time been allies of the Spartans or had submitted vol¬
untarily to Spartan domination. In return for service as a buffer
population between the ruling class and the serfs, the perioeci were The class system
allowed to carry on trade and to engage in manufacturing. At the in Sparta

bottom of the scale were the helots, or serfs, bound to the soil and
despised and persecuted by their masters.
Among these classes only the perioeci enjoyed any appreciable
measure of comfort and freedom. While it is true that the economic
condition of the helots cannot be described in terms of absolute Perioeci and

misery, since they were permitted to keep for themselves a good helots

share of what they produced on the estates of their masters, they

were personally subjected to such shameful treatment that they
were constantly wretched and rebellious. On occasions they were
compelled to give exhibitions of drunkenness and lascivious dances
as an example to the Spartan youth of the effects of such practices.
At the beginning of each year, if we can believe the testimony of
Aristotle, the ephors declared war upon the helots, presumably for
the purpose of giving a gloss of legality to the murder of any by the
secret police upon suspicion of disloyalty.
Those who were born into the Spartiate class were doomed to a
respectable slavery for the major part of their lives. Forced to sub¬
mit to the severest discipline and to sacrifice individual interests, Discipline for

they were little more than cogs in a vast machine. Their education the benefit of
the state
was limited almost entirely to military training, supplemented by
exposure and merciless floggings to harden them for the duties of
war. Between the ages of twenty and sixty they gave all their time
to service to the state. Although marriage was practically compul¬
sory, no family life was permitted. Husbands carried off their wives
on the wedding night by a show of force. But they did not live with
them. Instead, they were supposed to contrive means of escaping at
night to visit them secretly. According to Plutarch, it thus some¬
times happened that men “had children by their wives before ever
they saw their faces by daylight.” 2 No jealousy between marital
partners was allowed. The production of vigorous offspring was all-
important. Whether they were born within the limits of strict
monogamy was a secondary consideration. In any case, children
were the property not of their parents but of the state. It may be
doubted that the Spartiates resented these hardships and depriva¬
tions. Pride in their status as the ruling class probably compensated
in their minds for harsh discipline and denial of privileges.
The economic organization of Sparta was designed almost solely
for the ends of military efficiency and the supremacy of the citizen
class. The best land was owned by the state and was originally

2 Plutarch, “Lycurgus,” Lives of Illustrious Men, I, 81. 185

THE HELLENIC divided into equal plots which were assigned to the Spartiate class as
CIVILIZATION inalienable estates. Later these holdings as well as the inferior lands
were permitted to be sold and exchanged, with the result that some
of the citizens became richer than others. The helots, who did all
Economic the work of cultivating the soil, also belonged to the state and were
regulations assigned to their masters along with the land. Their masters were
forbidden to emancipate them or to sell them outside of the coun¬
try. The labor of the helots provided for the support of the whole
citizen class, whose members were not allowed to be associated with
any economic enterprise other than agriculture. Trade and industry
were reserved exclusively for the perioeci.
The Spartan economic system is frequently described by modern
historians as communistic. It is true that some of the means of pro¬
Description of duction (the helots and the land) were collectively owned, in the¬
the Spartan ory at least, and that the Spartiate males contributed from their
system
incomes to provide for a common mess in the clubs to which they
belonged. But with these rather doubtful exceptions the system was
as far removed from communism as it was from anarchy. Essentials
of the communist ideal include the doctrines that all the instruments
of production shall be owned by the community, that no one shall
live by exploiting the labor of others, and that all shall work for the
benefit of the community and share the wealth in proportion to
need. In Sparta commerce and industry were in private hands; the
helots were forced to contribute a portion of what they produced
to provide for the subsistence of their masters; and political privi¬
leges were restricted to an hereditary aristocracy, most of whose
members performed no socially useful labor whatever. With its
militarism, its secret police, its minority rule, and its closed econ¬
omy, the Spartan system would seem to have resembled fascism
more nearly than true communism. But even with respect to fascism
the resemblance was not complete. The Spartan system was not
revolutionary, as fascism usually is in the beginning, but was always
rather strongly conservative.

4. THE ATHENIAN TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY

Athens began her history under conditions quite different from

those which prevailed in Sparta. The district of Attica had not been
Advantages the scene of an armed invasion or of bitter conflict between oppos¬
enjoyed by ing peoples. As a result, no military caste imposed its rule upon a
the Athenians
vanquished nation. Furthermore, the wealth of Attica consisted of
mineral deposits and splendid harbors in addition to agricultural
resources. Athens, consequently, never remained a predominantly
agrarian state but rapidly developed a prosperous trade and a culture
essentially urban.
Until the middle of the eighth century b.c. Athens, like the other
186 Greek states, had a monarchical form of government. During the
century that followed, the council of nohles, or Council of the THE ATHENIAN TRIUMPH
Areopagus, as it came to be called, gradually divested the king of his AND TRAGEDY
powers. The transition to rule by the few was both the cause and the
result of an increasing concentration of wealth. The introduction of
vine and olive culture about this time led to the growth of. agricul¬ From monarchy to

ture as a great capitalistic enterprise. Since vineyards and olive oligarchy in

Athens
orchards require considerable time to become profitable, only those
farmers with abundant resources were able to survive in the busi¬
ness. Their poorer and less thrifty neighbors sank rapidly into debt,
especially since grain was now coming to be imported at ruinous
prices. The small farmer had no alternative but to mortgage his land,
and then his family and himself, in the vain hope that some day a
way of escape would be found. Ultimately many of his class became
serfs when the mortgages could not be paid.
Bitter cries of distress now arose and threats of revolution were
heard. The middle classes in the towns espoused the cause of the
peasant in demanding liberalization of the government. Finally, in Threats of

594 b.c., all parties agreed upon the appointment of Solon as a magis¬ revolution and
the reforms of
trate with absolute power to carry out reforms. The measures Solon
Solon
enacted provided for both political and economic adjustments. The
former included: (i) the establishment of a new council, the Coun¬
cil of Four Hundred, and the admission of the middle classes to
membership in it; (2) the enfranchisement of the lower classes by
making them eligible for service in the assembly; and (3) the organ¬
ization of a supreme court, open to all citizens and elected by uni¬
versal manhood suffrage, with power to hear appeals from the deci¬
sions of the magistrates. The economic reforms benefited the poor
farmers by canceling existing mortgages, prohibiting enslavement
for debt in the future, and limiting the amount of land any one
individual could own. Nor did Solon neglect the middle classes. He
introduced a new system of coinage designed to give Athens an ad¬
vantage in foreign trade, imposed heavy penalties for idleness,
ordered every man to teach his son a trade, and offered full privi¬
leges of citizenship to alien craftsmen who would become perma¬
nent residents of the country.
Significant though these reforms were, they did not allay the
discontent. The nobles were disgruntled because some of their
privileges had been taken away. The middle and lower classes were The rise of
dictatorship
dissatisfied because they were still excluded from the offices of
magistracy, and because the Council of the Areopagus was left with
its powers intact. Worse still was the fact that Solon, like many
rulers in all times, attempted to divert the people from their domes¬
tic troubles by persuading them to embark upon military adventures
abroad. An old quarrel with Megara was revived, and Athens com¬
mitted her fate to the uncertainties of war. The chaos and disillu¬
sionment that followed paved the way in 560 b.c. for the triumph of
the first of the Athenian tyrants. Although he proved to be a benevo- 187
THE HELLENIC lent despot, one of his two sons who succeeded him was a ruthless
CIVILIZATION and spiteful oppressor.
In 510 b.c. tyranny was overthrown by a group of nobles with aid
from Sparta. Factional conflict raged anew until Cleisthenes, an in¬
The reforms of telligent aristocrat, enlisted the support of the masses to eliminate
Cleisthenes his rivals from the scene. Having promised concessions to the people
as a reward for their help, he proceeded to reform the government
in so sweeping a fashion that he has since been known as the father
of Athenian democracy. He greatly enlarged the citizen population
by granting full rights to all free men who resided in the country at
that time. He established a new council and made it the chief organ
of government with power to prepare measures for submission
to the assembly and with supreme control over executive and
administrative functions. Members of this body were to be chosen
by lot. Any male citizen over thirty years of age was eligible.
Cleisthenes also expanded the authority of the assembly, giving it
power to debate and pass or reject the measures submitted by the
Council, to declare war, to appropriate money, and to audit the ac¬
counts of retiring magistrates. Lastly, Cleisthenes is believed to have
instituted the device of ostracism, whereby any citizen who might
be dangerous to the state could be sent into honorable exile for a ten-
year period. The device was quite obviously intended to eliminate
men who were suspected of cherishing dictatorial ambitions. Too
often its effect was to eliminate exceptional men and to allow
mediocrity to flourish.
The Athenian democracy attained its full perfection in the Age of
Pericles (461-429 b.c.). It was during this period that the assembly
The perfection acquired the authority to initiate legislation in addition to its power
of Athenian to ratify or reject proposals of the council. It was during this time
democracy
also that the famous Board of Ten Generals rose to a position
roughly comparable to that of the British cabinet. The Generals
were chosen by the assembly for one-year terms and were eligible
for reelection indefinitely. Pericles held the position of Chief Strate-
gus or President of the Board of Generals for more than thirty
years. The Generals were hot simply commanders of the army but
the chief legislative and executive officials in the state. Though
wielding enormous power, they could not become tyrants, for their
policies were subject to review by the assembly, and they could
easily be recalled at the end of their one-year terms or indicted for
malfeasance at any time. Finally, it was in the Age of Pericles that
the Athenian system of courts was developed to completion. No
longer was there merely a supreme court to hear appeals from the
decisions of magistrates, but an array of popular courts with au¬
thority to try all kinds of cases. At the beginning of each year a list
of 6000 citizens was chosen by lot from the various sections of the
country. From this list separate juries, varying in size from 201 to
188 1001, were made up for particular trials. Each of these juries consti-
tuted a court with power to decide by majority vote every question THE ATHENIAN TRIUMPH
involved in the case. Although one of the magistrates presided, he AND TRAGEDY
had none of the prerogatives of a judge; the jury itself was the judge,
and from its decision there was no appeal. It would be difficult to
imagine a system more thoroughly democratic.
The Athenian democracy differed from the modern form in vari¬
ous ways. First of all, it did not extend to the whole population, but
only to the citizen class. While it is true that in the time of Cleisthe- Athenian
nes (508-502 b.c.) the citizens probably included a majority of the democracy
compared with
inhabitants because of his enfranchisement of resident aliens, in the
modern democracy
Age of Pericles they were distinctly a minority. It may be well to
observe, however, that within its limits Athenian democracy was
more thoroughly applied than is the modern form. The choice by
lot of nearly all magistrates except the Ten Generals, the restriction
of all terms of public officials to one year, and the uncompromising
adherence to the principle of majority rule even in judicial trials
were examples of a serene confidence in the political capacity of the
average man which few modern nations would be willing to accept.
The democracy of Athens differed from the contemporary ideal
also in the fact that it was direct, not representative. The Athenians
were not interested in being governed by men of reputation and
ability; what vitally concerned them was the assurance to every citi¬
zen of an actual voice in the control of all public affairs. Nevertheless,
their democracy did not last much longer than a hundred years.
In the century of her greatest expansion and creativity, Athens
fought two major wars. The first, the war with Persia, was an out¬
growth of the expansion of that empire into the eastern Mediter¬ The Persian

ranean area. The Athenians resented the conquest of their Ionian War and its
results
kinsmen in Asia Minor and aided them in their struggle for freedom.
The Persians retaliated by sending a powerful army and fleet to at¬
tack the Greeks. Although all Greece was in danger of conquest,
Athens bore the chief burden of repelling the invader. The war,
which began in 493 b.c. and lasted with interludes of peace for
about fourteen years, is commonly regarded as one of the most sig¬
nificant in the history of the world. The decisive victory of the
Greeks put an end to the menace of Persian conquest and forestalled
at least for a time the submergence of Hellenic ideals of freedom in
Near Eastern despotism. The war also had the effect of strengthen¬
ing democracy in Athens and making that state the leading power in
Greece.
The other of the great struggles, the Peloponnesian War with Athenian

Sparta, had results of a quite different character. Instead of being imperialism

and the Pelo¬
another milestone in the Athenian march to power, it ended in trag¬
ponnesian War
edy. The causes of this war are of particular interest to the student
of the downfall of civilizations. First and most important was the
growth of Athenian imperialism. In the last year of the war with
Persia, Athens had joined with a number of other Greek states in 189
THE HELLENIC the formation of an offensive and defensive alliance known as the
CIVILIZATION Delian League. When peace was concluded the league was not dis¬
solved, for many of the Greeks feared that the Persians might come
back. As time went on, Athens gradually transformed the league
into a naval empire for the advancement of her own interests. She
used some of the funds in the common treasury for her own pur¬
poses. She tried to reduce all the other members to a condition of
vassalage, and when one of them rebelled, she overwhelmed it by
force, seized its navy, and imposed tribute upon it as if it were a
conquered state. Such high-handed methods aroused the suspicions
of the Spartans, who feared that an Athenian hegemony would soon
be extended over all of Greece.
A second major cause was to be found in the social and cultural
differences between Athens and Sparta. Athens was democratic,
Other causes of progressive, urban, imperialistic, and intellectually and artistically
the Pelopon¬ advanced. Sparta was aristocratic, conservative, agrarian, provincial,
nesian War
and culturally backward. Where such sharply contrasting systems
exist side by side, conflicts are almost bound to occur. The attitude
of the Athenians and Spartans had been hostile for some time. The
former looked upon the latter as uncouth barbarians. The Spartans
accused the Athenians of attempting to gain control over the north¬
ern Peloponnesian states and of encouraging the helots to rebel.
Economic factors also played a large part in bringing the conflict to
a head. Athens was ambitious to dominate the Corinthian Gulf, the
principal avenue of trade with Sicily and southern Italy. This made
her the deadly enemy of Corinth, the chief ally of Sparta.
The war, which broke out in 431 b.c. and lasted until 404, was a
record of frightful calamities for Athens. Her trade was destroyed,
The defeat of her democracy overthrown, and her population decimated by a ter¬
Athens rible pestilence. Quite as bad was the moral degradation which fol¬
lowed in the wake of the military reverses. Treason, corruption, and
brutality were among the hastening ills of the last few years of the
conflict. On one occasion the Athenians even slaughtered the whole
male population of the state of Melos, and enslaved the women and
children, for no other crime than refusing to abandon neutrality.
Ultimately, deserted by all her allies except Samos and with her
food supply cut off, Athens was left with no alternative but to sur¬
render or starve. The terms imposed upon her were drastic enough:
destruction of her fortifications, surrender of all foreign possessions
and practically her entire navy, and submission to Sparta as a subject
state. Though Athens recovered her leadership for a time in the
fourth century, her period of glory was approaching its end.

5. POLITICAL DEBACLE—THE LAST DAYS

Not only did the Peloponnesian War put an end, temporarily, to

the supremacy of Athens; it annihilated freedom throughout the
Greek world and sealed the doom of the Hellenic political genius.
1 90 Following the war Sparta asserted her power over all of Hellas. Oli-
 BLACK

SEA

Sparta and allies

Athens and allies

Neutral Greek states 100 miles

GREECE AT THE END OF THE AGE OF PERICLES Hi

garchies supported by Spartan troops replaced democracies wher¬

ever they existed. Confiscation of property and assassination were
the methods regularly employed to combat opposition. Although in Continuing

Athens the tyrants were overthrown after a time and free govern¬ conflict among
the city-states
ment restored, Sparta was able to dominate the remainder of Greece
for more than thirty years. In 371 b.c., however, Epaminondas of
Thebes defeated the Spartan army at Leuctra and thereby inau¬
gurated a period of Theban supremacy. Unfortunately Thebes
showed little more wisdom and tolerance in governing than Sparta,
and nine years later a combination was formed to free the Greek
cities from their new oppressor. Failing to break up the alliance, the
Thebans gave battle on the field of Mantinea. Both sides claimed the
victory, but Epaminondas was slain, and the power of his empire
soon afterward collapsed.
The long succession of wars had now brought the Greek states to
the point of exhaustion. Though the glory of their culture was yet
undimmed, politically they were prostrate and helpless. Their fate 191
THE HELLENIC was soon decided for them by the rise of Philip of Macedon. Except
CIVILIZATION for a thin veneer of Hellenic culture, the Macedonians were bar¬
barians; but Philip, before becoming their king, had learned how to
lead an army while a hostage at Thebes. Perceiving the weakness of
The Macedonian the states to the south, he determined to conquer them. A series of
conquest early successes led to a decisive victory in 338 b.c. and soon after¬
ward to dominion over all of Greece except Sparta. Two years later
Philip was murdered as the sequel to a family brawl.
Rule over Hellas now passed into the hands of his son Alexander,
a youth of twenty years. After putting to death all possible aspirants
Alexander the to the throne and quelling some feeble revolts of the Greeks, Alex¬
Great ander conceived the grandiose scheme of conquering Persia. One
victory followed another until in the short space of twelve years the
whole ancient Near Orient from the Indus River to the Nile had
been annexed to Greece as the personal domain of one man. Alex¬
ander did not live to enjoy it long. In 323 b.c. he fell ill of Baby¬
lonian swamp fever and died at the age of thirty-two.
It is difficult to gauge the significance of Alexander’s career. His¬
torians have differed widely in their interpretations. Some have seen
The significance him as one of the supreme galvanizing forces in history. Others
of Alexander's would limit his genius to military strategy and organization and
career
deny that he made a single major contribution of benefit to human¬
ity.3 There can be no doubt that he was a master of the art of war
(he never lost a battle), and that he was intelligent and endowed
with charm and physical courage. Unquestionably, also, he was a
man of vibrant energy and overpowering ambitions. Just what these
ambitions were is not certain. Evidence eludes us that he aspired to
conquer the world or to advance the Hellenic ideals of freedom and
justice. It seems doubtful that he had much interest in lofty ideals or
in using military force to extend them. As the British historian A. R.
Burn has said: “His abiding ideal was the glory of Alexander.” 4
Nevertheless, he did introduce Macedonian standards of admin¬
istrative efficiency into the government of the Near East. Aside
from this, the primary significance of the great conqueror seems
to lie in the fact that he carried the Hellenic drive into Asia
farther and faster than would otherwise have occurred. He un¬
doubtedly caused the Greek influence to be more widely felt. At
the same time he appears to have placed too great a strain upon
Hellenism with the result of encouraging a sweeping tide of Orien¬
tal influences into the West. Within a short period Hellenic and
Oriental cultures interpenetrated to such an extent as to produce a
new civilization. This was the Hellenistic civilization to be discussed
in the chapter that follows.

“Compare W. W. Tarn, Alexander the Great, and A. R. Burn, Alexander

the Great and the Hellenistic World.
192 4 Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World, p. 23.
1000 miles
Geometric Horse, VIII cent. b.c. Geometric Jar, VIII cent.
Greek art of this early period was b.c. Another example of the
angular, formal, and conventionalized. stylized decorative patterns
of early Greek art.

a
Sphinx, ca. 540-530 b.c.
Though doubtless of Oriental
derivation, Greek sphinxes had
a softer and more human as¬
pect than the Oriental.

Departure of a Warrior. Gravestone, ca. 530 b.c.,

a period when naturalism was the dominant
Statue of an Amazon, one of no£ of Greek
the fabled tribe of women Athena, ca. 460 b.c. The
warriors, V cent. b.c. (Ro¬ young, graceful patron-
man copy) goddess of Athens is about
to send forth an owl as a
sign of victory.

Chorus of Satyrs, ca. 420 b.c. The back¬

ground is black with the figures in red
clay. The satyrs, dressed in fleecy white,
Jar, 500-490 b.c. The figures with flowing tails, are the chorus of a
depicted in a fine black glaze play.
on the natural red clay show Toilet Box, 465-460 b.c., showing
athletes in the Panathenaic the Judgment of Paris, an early in¬
games. cident in the Trojan War.
Marble Stele with Law against
Tyranny, 338 b.c. Sculptured
relief shows a woman (De¬
mocracy) crowning an aged
man (the people of Athens).
The law provides that if any¬
one establishes a dictatorship
in Athens, a person who kills
him shall be held guiltless.

6. HELLENIC THOUGHT AND CULTURE

From what has been said in preceding chapters it should be clear

that the popular notion that all philosophy originated with the
Greeks is fallacious. Centuries earlier the Egyptians had given much The antecedents
thought to the nature of the universe and to the social and ethical of Greek
philosophy
problems of man. The achievement of the Greeks was rather the
development of philosophy in a more inclusive meaning than it had
ever possessed before. They attempted to find answers to every
conceivable question about the nature of the universe, the problem
of truth, and the meaning and purpose of life. The magnitude of
their accomplishment is attested by the fact that philosophy ever
since has been largely a debate over the validity of their several
conclusions.
Greek philosophy had its origins in the sixth century b.c. in the
work of the so-called Milesian school, whose members were natives
of the great commercial city of Miletus on the shore of Asia Minor. The philosophy

Their philosophy was fundamentally scientific and materialistic. of the Milesian

school
The problem which chiefly engaged their attention was to discover
the nature of the physical world. They believed that all things could
be reduced to some primary substance or original matter which was
the source of worlds, stars, animals, plants, and men, and to which
all would ultimately return. Thales, the founder of the school, per¬
ceiving that all things contained moisture, taught that the primary
substance is water. Anaximander insisted that it could not be any
particular thing such as water or fire but some substance “un¬
gendered and imperishable” which “contains and directs all things.” 193
THE HELLENIC He called this substance the Infinte or the Boundless. A third mem¬
CIVILIZATION ber of the school, Anaximenes, declared that the original material of
the universe is air. Air when rarefied becomes fire; when condensed
it turns successively to wind, vapor, water, earth, and stone.
Although seemingly naive in its conclusions the philosophy of the
Milesian school was of real significance. It broke through the
Significance of mythological beliefs of the Greeks about the origin of the world
the teachings and substituted a purely rational explanation. It revived and
of the Milesian
expanded the Egyptian ideas of the eternity of the universe and the
school
indestructibility of matter. It suggested very clearly, especially in
the teachings of Anaximander, the concept of evolution in the sense
of rhythmic change, of continuing creation and decay.
Before the end of the sixth century Greek philosophy developed a
metaphysical turn; it ceased to be occupied solely with problems of
The Pythagoreans the physical world and shifted its attention to abstruse questions
about the nature of being, the meaning of truth, and the position of
the divine in the scheme of things. First to exemplify the new tend¬
ency were the Pythagoreans, who interpreted philosophy largely in
terms of religion. Little is known about them except that their
leader, Pythagoras, migrated from the island of Samos to southern
Italy and founded a religious community at Croton. He and his fol¬
lowers apparently taught that the speculative life is the highest
good, but that in order to pursue it, man must purify himself from
the evil desires of the flesh. They held that the essence of things is
not a material substance but an abstract principle, number. Their
chief significance lies in the sharp distinctions they drew between
spirit and matter, harmony and discord, good and evil. Perhaps it is
accurate to regard them as the real founders of dualism in Greek
thought.
A consequence of the work of the Pythagoreans was to intensify
the debate over the nature of the universe. Some of their contempo¬
Renewal of the raries, notably Parmenides, argued that stability or permanence is
debate over the the real nature of things; change and diversity are simply illusions of
nature of the
the senses. Directly opposed to this conception was the position
universe
taken by Heracleitus, who argued that permanence is an illusion,
that change alone is real. The universe, he maintained, is in a condi¬
tion of constant flux; therefore “it is impossible to step twice into
the same stream.” Creation and destruction, life and death, are but
the obverse and reverse sides of the same picture. In affirming such
views Heracleitus was really contending that the things we see and
hear and feel are all that there is to reality. Evolution or constant
change is the law of the universe. The tree or the stone that is here
today is gone tomorrow; no underlying substance exists immutable
through all eternity.
The eventual answer to the question of the underlying character
of the universe was provided by the atomists. The philosopher
194 chiefly responsible for the development of the atomic theory was
Democritus, who lived in Abdera on the Thracian coast in the sec¬ THOUGHT AND CULTURE
ond half of the fifth century. As their name implies, the atomists
held that the ultimate constituents of the universe are atoms, infinite
in number, indestructible, and indivisible. Although these differ in
size and shape, they are exactly alike in composition. Because of the Solution of the
motion inherent in them, they are eternally uniting, separating, and problem by the

reuniting in different arrangements. Every individual object or or¬ atomists

ganism in the universe is thus the product of a fortuitous concourse

of atoms. The only difference between a man and a tree is the
difference in the number and arrangement of their atoms. Here was
a philosophy which represented the final fruition of the materialistic
tendencies of early Greek thought. Democritus denied the immor¬
tality of the soul and the existence of any spiritual world. Strange as
it may appear to some people, he was a moral idealist, affirming that
“Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire
to do wrong.” 5
About the middle of the fifth century b.c. an intellectual revolu¬
tion began in Greece. It accompanied the high point of democracy
in Athens. The rise of the common man, the growth of indi¬ The intellectual

vidualism, and the demand for the solution of practical problems revolution begun
by the Sophists
produced a reaction against the old ways of thinking. As a result
philosophers abandoned the study of the physical universe and
turned to consideration of subjects more intimately related to man
himself. The first exponents of the new intellectual trend were the
Sophists. Originally the term meant “those who are wise,” but later
it came to be used in the derogatory sense of men who employ spe¬
cious reasoning. Since most of our knowledge of the Sophists was
derived, until comparatively recently, from Plato, one of their
severest critics, they were commonly considered to have been the
enemies of all that was best in Hellenic culture. Modern research has
exposed the fallacy of so extreme a conclusion. Some members of the
group, however, did lack a sense of social responsibility and were
quite unscrupulous in “making the worse appear the better cause.”
It is said that a few of them charged the equivalent of $10,000 to
educate a single individual.
The greatest of the Sophists was undoubtedly Protagoras, a native
of Abdera who did most of his teaching in Athens. His famous dic¬
tum, “Man is the measure of all things,” comprehends the essence of The doctrines of

the Sophist philosophy. By this he meant that goodness, truth, jus¬ Protagoras

tice, and beauty are relative to the needs and interests of man him¬
self. There are no absolute truths or eternal standards of right and
justice. Since sense perception is the exclusive source of knowledge,
there can be only particular truths valid for a given time and place.
Morality likewise varies from one people to another. The Spartans
encourage adultery in certain cases on the part of wives as well as

6 Quoted by Frank Thilly, History of Philosophy, p. 40. 195

THE HELLENIC husbands; the Athenians seclude their women and refuse even to
CIVILIZATION allow them a normal social life. Which of these standards is right?
Neither is right in any absolute sense, for there are no absolute
canons of right and wrong eternally decreed in the heavens to fit all
cases; yet both are right in the relative sense that the judgment of
man alone determines what is good.
Some of the later Sophists went far beyond the teachings of their
great master. The individualism which was necessarily implicit in
The extremist the teachings of Protagoras was twisted by Thrasymachus into the
doctrines of the doctrine that all laws and customs are merely expressions of the will
later Sophists of the strongest and shrewdest for their own advantage, and that
therefore the wise man is the “perfectly unjust man” who is above
the law and concerned with the gratification of his own desires.
Yet there was much that was admirable in the teachings of all the
Sophists, even of those who were the most extreme. Without excep¬
The valuable tion they condemned slavery and the racial exclusiveness of the
contributions Greeks. They were champions of liberty, the rights of the common
of the Sophists
man, and the practical and progressive point of view. They per¬
ceived the folly of war and ridiculed the silly chauvinism of many
of the Athenians. Perhaps their most important work was the exten¬
sion of philosophy to include not only physics and metaphysics, but
ethics and politics as well. As Cicero expressed it, they “brought
philosophy down from heaven to the dwellings of men.”
It was inevitable that the relativism, skepticism, and individualism
of the Sophists should have aroused strenuous opposition. In the
The reaction judgment of the more conservative Greeks these doctrines appeared
against Sophism to lead straight to atheism and anarchy. If there is no final truth, and
if goodness and justice are merely relative to the whims of the indi¬
vidual, then neither religion, morality, the state, nor society itself
can long be maintained. The result of this conviction was the
growth of a new philosophic movement grounded upon the theory
that truth is real and that absolute standards do exist. The leaders of
this movement were perhaps the three most famous individuals in
the history of thought—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Socrates was born in Athens in 469 b.c. of humble parentage; his
father was a sculptor, his mother a midwife. How he obtained an
The career of education no one knows, but he was certainly familiar with the
Socrates teachings of earlier Greek thinkers, presumably from extensive
reading. The impression that he was a mere gabbler in the market
place is quite unfounded. He became a philosopher on his own ac¬
count chiefly to combat the doctrines of the Sophists. In 399 b.c. he
was condemned to death on a charge of “corrupting the youth and
introducing new gods.” The real reason for the unjust sentence was
the tragic outcome for Athens of the Peloponnesian War. Over¬
whelmed by resentment and despair, the people turned against Soc¬
rates because of his associations with aristocrats, including the
196 traitor Alcibiades, and because of his criticism of popular belief.
 There is evidence that he disparaged democracy and contended that THOUGHT AND CULTURE
no government was worthy of the name except intellectual aristoc¬
racy.
For the reason that Socrates wrote nothing himself, historians
have been faced with a problem in determining the scope of his
teachings. He is generally regarded as primarily a teacher of ethics The philosophy
with no interest in abstract philosophy or any desire to found a new of Socrates

school of thought. Certain admissions made by Plato, however, indi¬

cate that a large part of the famous doctrine of Ideas was really of
Socratic origin. At any rate we can be reasonably sure that Socrates
believed in a stable and universally valid knowledge, which man
could possess if he would only pursue the right method. This
method would consist in the exchange and analysis of opinions, in
the setting up and testing of provisional definitions, until finally an
essence of truth recognizable by all could be distilled from them.
Socrates argued that in similar fashion man could discover enduring
principles of right and justice independent of the selfish desires of
human beings. He believed, moreover, that the discovery of such ra¬
tional principles of conduct would prove an infallible guide to virtu¬
ous living, for he denied that anyone who truly knows the good can
ever choose the evil.
By far the most distinguished of Socrates’ pupils was Plato, who
was born in Athens in 427 b.c., the son of noble parents. His real
name was Aristocles, “Plato” being a nickname supposedly given to Plato

him by one of his teachers because of his broad frame. When he was
twenty years old he joined the Socratic circle, remaining a member
until the tragic death of his teacher. He seems to have drawn inspi¬
ration from other sources also, notably from the teachings of
Parmenides and the Pythagoreans. Unlike his great master he was a
prolific writer, though some of the works attributed to him are of
doubtful authorship. The most noted of his writings are such dia¬
logues as the Apology, the Protagoras, the Phaedrus, the Timaeus,
and the Republic. He was engaged in the completion of another
great work, the Laws, when death overtook him in his eighty-first
year.
Plato’s objectives in developing his philosophy were similar to
those of Socrates although somewhat broader: (1) to combat the
theory of reality as a disordered flux and to substitute an interpreta¬ Plato's philosophy

tion of the universe as essentially spiritual and purposeful; (2) to re¬ of Ideas

fute the Sophist doctrines of relativism and skepticism; and (3) to

provide a secure foundation for ethics. In order to realize these ob¬
jectives he developed his celebrated doctrine of Ideas. He admitted
that relativity and constant change are characteristics of the world
of physical things, of the world we perceive with our senses. But he
denied that this world is the complete universe. There is a higher,
spiritual realm composed of eternal forms or Ideas which only the
mind can conceive. These are not, however, mere abstractions in- 197
THE HELLENIC vented by the mind of man, but spiritual things. Each is the pattern
CIVILIZATION of some particular class of objects or relation between objects on
earth. Thus there are Ideas of man, tree, shape, size, color, propor¬
tion, beauty, and justice. Highest of them all is the Idea of the Good,
which is the active cause and guiding purpose of the whole universe.
The things we perceive with our senses are merely imperfect copies
of the supreme realities, Ideas.
Plato’s ethical and religious philosophy was closely related to his
doctrine of Ideas. Like Socrates he believed that true virtue has its
Plato's ethical and basis in knowledge. But the knowledge derived from the senses is
religious limited and variable; hence true virtue must consist in rational ap¬
philosophy
prehension of the eternal Ideas of goodness and justice. By relegat¬
ing the physical to an inferior place, he gave to his ethics a mildly
ascetic tinge. He regarded the body as a hindrance to the mind and
taught that only the rational part of man’s nature is noble and good.
In contrast with some of his later followers, he did not demand that
appetites and emotions should be denied altogether, but urged that
they should be strictly subordinated to the reason. Plato never made
his conception of God entirely clear. Sometimes he referred to the
Idea of the Good as if it were a divine power of subordinate rank, at
other times as if it were the supreme creator and ruler of the uni¬
verse. Probably the latter is what he really meant. At any rate it is
certain that he conceived of the universe as spiritual in nature and
governed by intelligent purpose. He rejected both materialism and
mechanism. As for the soul, he regarded it not only as immortal but
as preexisting through all eternity.
As a political philosopher Plato was motivated by the ideal of
constructing a state which would be free from turbulence and self-
Plato seeking on the part of individuals and classes. Neither democracy
as a political nor liberty but harmony and efficiency were the ends he desired to
philosopher
achieve. Accordingly, he proposed in his Republic a famous plan for
society which would have divided the population into three princi¬
pal classes corresponding to the functions of the soul. The lowest
class, representing the appetitive function, would include the farm¬
ers, artisans, and merchants. The second class, representing the spir¬
ited element or will, would consist of the soldiers. The highest class,
representing the function of reason, would be composed of the
intellectual aristocracy. Each of these classes would perform those
tasks for which it was best fitted. The function of the lowest class
would be the production and distribution of goods for the benefit of
the whole community; that of the soldiers, defense; the aristocracy,
by reason of special aptitude for philosophy, would enjoy a monop¬
oly of political power. The division of the people into these several
ranks would not be made on the basis of birth or wealth, but
through a sifting process that would take into account the ability of
each individual to profit from education. Thus the farmers, artisans,
198 and merchants would be those who had shown the least intellectual
capacity, whereas the philosopher-kings would be those who had THOUGHT AND CULTURE
shown the greatest.
The last of the great champions of the Socratic tradition was
Aristotle, a native of Stagira, born in 384 b.c. At the age of seven¬
teen he entered Plato’s Academy,6 continuing as student and teacher Aristotle

there for twenty years. In 343 he was invited by King Philip of

Macedon to serve as tutor to the young Alexander. Perhaps history
affords few more conspicuous examples of wasted talent, except for
the fact that the young prince acquired an enthusiasm for science
and for some other elements of Hellenic culture. Seven years later
Aristotle returned to Athens, where he conducted a school of his
own, known as the Lyceum, until his death in 322 b.c. Aristotle
wrote even more voluminously than Plato and on a greater variety
of subjects. His principal works include treatises on logic, meta¬
physics, rhetoric, ethics, natural sciences, and politics. A considera¬
ble number of the writings credited to him have never been found.
Though Aristotle was as much interested as Plato and Socrates in
absolute knowledge and eternal standards, his philosophy differed
from theirs in several outstanding respects. To begin with, he had a Aristotle

higher regard for the concrete and the practical. In contrast with compared with
Plato and
Plato, the aesthete, and Socrates, who declared he could learn noth¬
Socrates
ing from trees and stones, Aristotle was a scientist with a compelling
interest in biology, medicine, and astronomy. Moreover, he was less
inclined than his predecessors to a spiritual outlook. And lastly, he
did not share their strong aristocratic sympathies.
Aristotle agreed with Plato that universals, Ideas (or forms as he
called them), are real, and that knowledge derived from the senses is
limited and inaccurate. But he refused to go along with his master in Aristotle's

ascribing an. independent existence to universals and in reducing ma¬ conception

of the universe
terial things to pale reflections of their spiritual patterns. On the
contrary, he asserted that form and matter are of equal importance;
both are eternal, and neither can exist inseparable from the other. It
is the union of the two which gives to the universe its essential char¬
acter. Forms are the causes of all things; they are the purposive
forces that shape the world of matter into the infinitely varied ob¬
jects and organisms around us. All evolution, both cosmic and or¬
ganic, results from the interaction of form and matter upon each
other. Thus the presence of the form man in the human embryo
molds and directs the development of the latter until it ultimately
evolves as a human being. Aristotle’s philosophy may be regarded as
halfway between the spiritualism and transcendentalism of Plato, on
the one hand, and the mechanistic materialism of the atomists on the
other. His conception of the universe was teleological—that is, gov¬
erned by purpose; but he refused to regard the spiritual as com¬
pletely overshadowing its material embodiment.

6 So called from the grove of Academus, where Plato and his disciples met
to discuss philosophic problems.
199
THE HELLENIC That Aristotle should have conceived of God primarily as a First
CIVILIZATION Cause is no more than we should expect from the dominance of the
scientific attitude in his philosophy. Unlike Plato’s Idea of the
Good, Aristotle’s God did not fulfill an ethical purpose. His charac¬
Aristotle's re¬ ter was that of a Prime Mover, the original source of the purposive
ligious doctrines motion contained in the forms. In no sense was he a personal God,
for his nature was pure intelligence, devoid of all feelings, will, or
desire. Aristotle seems to have left no place in his religious scheme
for individual immortality: all the functions of the soul, except the
creative reason which is not individual at all, are dependent upon the
body and perish with it.
Aristotle’s ethical philosophy was less ascetic than Plato’s. He did
not regard the body as the prison of the soul, nor did he believe that
Aristotle's ethical physical appetites are necessarily evil in themselves. He taught that
philosophy of the the highest good for man consists in self-realization, that is, in the
golden mean
exercise of that part of man’s nature which most truly distinguishes
him as a human being. Self-realization would therefore be identical
with the life of reason. But the life of reason is dependent upon the
proper combination of physical and mental conditions. The body
must be kept in good health and the emotions under adequate con¬
trol. The solution is to be found in the golden mean, in preserving a
balance between excessive indulgence on the one hand and ascetic
denial on the other. This was simply a reaffirmation of the charac¬
teristic Hellenic ideal of sophrosyne, “nothing too much.”
Although Aristotle included in his Politics much descriptive and
analytical material on the structure and functions of government, he
The golden mean dealt primarily with the broader aspects of political theory. He con¬
applied to sidered the state as the supreme institution for the promotion of the
politics
good life among men, and he was therefore vitally interested in its
origin and development and in the best forms it could be made to
assume. Declaring that man is by nature a political animal, he denied
that the state is an artificial product of the ambitions of the few or of
the desires of the many. On the contrary, he asserted that it is
rooted in the instincts of man himself, and that civilized life outside
of its limits is impossible. He considered the best state to be neither
a monarchy, an aristocracy, nor a democracy, but a polity—which
he defined as a commonwealth intermediate between oligarchy and
democracy. Essentially it would be a state under the control of the
middle class, but Aristotle intended to make sure that the members
of that class would be fairly numerous, for he advocated measures
to prevent the concentration of wealth. He defended the institution
of private property, but he opposed the heaping up of riches be¬
yond what is necessary for intelligent living. He recommended that
the government should provide the poor with money to buy small
farms or to “make a beginning in trade and husbandry” and thus
promote their prosperity and self-respect.7

200 7 Politics, Maurice Francis Egan (ed.), pp. 158-59.

 Contrary to a popular belief, the period of Hellenic civilization, THOUGHT AND CULTURE
strictly speaking, was not a great age of science. The vast majority
of the scientific achievements commonly thought of as Greek were
made during the Hellenistic period, when the culture was no longer
predominantly Hellenic but a mixture of Hellenic and Oriental.8 Hellenic science

The interests of the Greeks in the Periclean age and in the century
that followed were chiefly speculative and artistic; they were not
deeply concerned with material comforts or with mastery of the
physical universe. Consequently, with the exception of some im¬
portant developments in mathematics, biology, and medicine, scien¬
tific progress was relatively slight.
The founder of Greek mathematics was apparently Thales of
Miletus, who is supposed to have originated several theorems which
were later included in the geometry of Euclid. Perhaps more signifi- Mathematics

cant was the work of the Pythagoreans, who developed an elaborate

theory of numbers, classifying them into various categories, such as
odd, even, prime, composite, perfect, and so forth. They are also
supposed to have discovered the theory of proportion and to have
proved for the first time that the sum of the three angles of any
triangle is equal to two right angles. But the most famous of their
achievements was the discovery of the theorem attributed to Pythag¬
oras himself: the square of the hypotenuse of any right-angled
triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides.
The Greek who first developed geometry as a science is now con¬
sidered to have been Hippocrates of Chios, not to be confused with
the physician, Hippocrates of Cos.9
The first of the Greeks to manifest an interest in biology was the
philosopher Anaximander, who developed a crude theory of organic
evolution based upon the principle of survival through progressive Biology

adaptations to the environment. The earliest ancestral animals, he

asserted, lived in the sea, which originally covered the whole face of
the earth. As the waters receded, some organisms were able to adjust
themselves to their new environment and became land animals. The
final product of this evolutionary process was man himself. The real
founder of the science of biology, however, was Aristotle. Devoting
many years of his life to painstaking study of the structure, habits,
and growth of animals, he revealed many facts which were not des¬
tined to be discovered anew until the seventeenth century or later.
The metamorphoses of various insects, the reproductive habits of
the eel, the embryological development of the dog-fish—these are
only samples of the amazing extent of his knowledge. Unfortunately
he committed some errors. He denied the sexuality of plants, and
although he subscribed to the general theory of evolution, he be¬
lieved in the spontaneous generation of certain species of worms and
insects.

8 See the chapter on The Hellenistic Civilization.

9 George Sarton, An Introduction to the History of Science, I, 92. 201
 Greek Surgical Instruments. A
bas-relief from the temple of
Asklepio in Athens. The open
case in the middle contains
operating knives. On the two
sides are retractors and cupping
glasses for bleeding the patient.

Greek medicine also had its origin with the philosophers. A pioneer
was Empedocles, exponent of the theory of the four elements
Medicine (earth, air, fire, and water). He discovered that blood flows to and
from the heart, and that the pores of the skin supplement the work
of the respiratory passages in breathing. More important was the
work of Hippocrates of Cos in the fifth and fourth centuries. By
general consensus he is still regarded as the father of medicine. He
dinned into the ears of his pupils the doctrine that “Every disease has
a natural cause, and without natural causes, nothing ever happens.”
In addition, by his methods of careful study and comparison of
symptoms he laid the foundations for clinical medicine. He dis¬
covered the phenomenon of crisis in disease and improved the prac¬
tice of surgery. Though he had a wide knowledge of drugs, his chief
reliances in treatment were diet and rest. The main fact to his dis¬
credit was his development of the theory of the four humors—the
notion that illness is due to excessive amounts of yellow bile, black
bile, blood, and phlegm in the system. The practice of bleeding the
patient was the regrettable outgrowth of this theory.
Generally the most common medium of literary expression in the
formative age of a people is the epic of heroic deeds. It is a form well
adapted to the pioneering days of battle and lusty adventure when
men have not yet had time to be awed by the mystery of things. The
most famous of the Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, were put
into written form at the end of the Dark Ages and commonly attrib¬
uted to Homer. The first, which deals with the Trojan War, has its
theme in the wrath of Achilles; the second describes the wanderings
and return of Odysseus. Both have supreme literary merit in their
Homer carefully woven plots, in the realism of their character portrayals,
and in their mastery of the full range of emotional intensity. They
exerted an almost incalculable influence upon later writers. Their
style and language inspired the fervid emotional poetry of the sixth
century, and they were an unfailing source of plots and themes for
the great tragedians of the Golden Age of the fifth and fourth cen¬
turies.
The three centuries which followed the Dark Ages were distin¬
guished, as we have already seen, by tremendous social changes. The
202 rural pattern of life gave way to an urban society of steadily increas-
ing complexity. The founding of colonies and the growth of com¬ THOUGHT AND CULTURE
merce provided new interests and new habits of living. Individuals
hitherto submerged rose to a consciousness of their power and im¬
portance. It was inevitable that these changes should be reflected in
new forms of literature, especially of a more personal type. The first Development
to be developed was the elegy, which was probably intended to be of the elegy

declaimed rather than sung to the accompaniment of music. Elegies

varied in theme from individual reactions toward love to the ideal¬
ism of patriots and reformers. Generally, however, they were de¬
voted to melancholy reflection on the disillusionments of life or to
bitter lament over loss of prestige. Outstanding among the authors
of elegiac verse was Solon the legislator.
In the sixth century and the early part of the fifth, the elegy was
gradually displaced by the lyric, which derives its name from the
fact that it was sung to the music of the lyre. The new type of Lyric poetry

poetry was particularly well adapted to the expression of passionate

feelings, the violent loves and hates engendered by the strife of
classes. It was employed for other purposes also. Both Alcaeus and
Sappho used it to describe the poignant beauty of love, the delicate
grace of spring, and the starlit splendor of a summer night. Mean¬
while other poets developed the choral lyric, intended to express the
feelings of the community rather than the sentiments of any one in¬
dividual. Greatest of all the writers of this group was Pindar of
Thebes, who wrote during the first half of the fifth century. The
lyrics of Pindar took the form of odes celebrating the victories of
athletes and the glories of Hellenic civilization. They are significant
also for their religious and moral conceptions. Pindar had accepted
the idea that Zeus is a god of righteousness, and that he will punish
the wicked with the “direst doom” and reward the good with a life
“that knows no tears.”
The supreme literary achievement of the Greeks was the tragic
drama. Like so many of their other great works, it had its roots in
religion. At the festivals dedicated to the worship of Dionysus, the The origins of

god of spring and of wine, a chorus of men dressed as satyrs, or goat- tragic drama

men, sang and danced around an altar, enacting the various parts of

Interior of a Greek
Cup. Depicted here
is Achilles bandaging
the wound of Patro-
kolus. Ca. 500 b.c.
203
THE HELLENIC a dithyramb or choral lyric that related the story of the god’s ca¬
CIVILIZATION reer. In time a leader came to be separated from the chorus to recite
the main parts of the story. The true drama was born about the be¬
ginning of the fifth century when Aeschylus introduced a second
“actor” and relegated the chorus to the background. The name
“tragedy,” which came to be applied to this drama, was probably
derived from the Greek word tragos meaning “goat.”
Greek tragedy stands out in marked contrast to the tragedies of
Shakespeare, Eugene O’Neill, or Arthur Miller. There was, first of
Greek tragedy all, little action presented on the stage; the main business of the
compared with actors was to recite the incidents of a plot which was already famil¬
modern tragedy
iar to the audience, for the story was drawn from popular legends.
Secondly, Greek tragedy devoted little attention to the study of
complicated individual personality. There was no unfoldment of
personal character as shaped by the vicissitudes of a long career.
Those involved in the plot were scarcely individuals at all, but
types. On the stage they wore masks to disguise any characteristics
which might serve to distinguish them too sharply from the rest of
humanity. In addition, Greek tragedies differed from the modern
variety in having as their theme the conflict between man and the
universe, not the clash of individual personalities, or the conflict of
man with himself. The tragic fate that befell the main characters in
these plays was external to man himself. It was brought on by the
fact that someone had committed a crime against society, or against
the gods, thereby offending the moral scheme of the universe.
Punishment must follow in order to balance the scale of justice.
Finally, the purpose of Greek tragedies was not merely to depict
suffering and to interpret human actions, but to purify the emotions
of the audience by representing the triumph of justice.
As already indicated, the first of the tragic dramatists was Aeschy¬
lus (525-456 b.c.). Though he is supposed to have written about
Aeschylus and eighty plays, only seven have survived in complete form, among
Sophocles them The Persians, Seven against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, and a
trilogy known as Oresteia. Guilt and punishment is the recurrent
theme of nearly all of them. The second of the dramatists, Sopho¬
cles (496-406), is often considered the greatest. His style was more
polished and his philosophy more profound than that of his prede¬
cessor. He was the author of over a hundred plays. More than any
other writer in Greek history, he personified the Hellenic ideal of
“nothing too much.” His attitude was distinguished by love of
harmony and peace, intelligent respect for democracy, and profound
sympathy for human weakness. The most famous of his plays now
extant are Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Electra.
The work of the last of the tragedians, Euripides (480-406), re¬
flects a far different spirit. He was a skeptic, an. individualist, a hu¬
manist, who took delight in ridiculing the ancient myths and the
“sacred cows” of his time. An embittered pessimist who suffered
204 from the barbs of his conservative critics, he loved to humble the
Greek Theater in Epidauros. The construction, to take advantage of the slope
of the hill, and the arrangement of the stage are of particular interest. Greek
dramas were invariably presented in the open air.

proud in his plays and to exalt the lowly. He was the first to give the
ordinary man, even the beggar and the peasant, a place in the drama.
Euripides is also noted for his sympathy for the slave, for his con¬ Euripides
demnation of war, and for his protests against the exclusion of
women from social and intellectual life. Because of his humanism,
his tendency to portray men as they actually were (or even a little
worse), and his introduction of the love motif into drama, he is of¬
ten considered a modernist. It must be remembered, however, that
in other respects his plays were perfectly consistent with the
Hellenic model. They did not exhibit the evolution of individual
character or the conflict of egos to any more notable extent than did
the works of Sophocles or Aeschylus. Nevertheless, he has been
called the most tragic of the Greek dramatists because he dealt with
Epidaros Plan
situations having analogues in real life. Among the best-known trag¬
edies of Euripides are Alcestis, Medea, and The Trojan Women.
Hellenic comedy was definitely inferior to tragedy. In common
with tragedy it appears to have grown out of the Dionysiac festi¬
vals, but it did not attain full development until late in the fifth cen¬
tury b.c. Its only outstanding representative was Aristophanes
(448?~38o?), a somewhat coarse and belligerent aristocrat who Hellenic comedy

lived in Athens. Most of his plays were written to satirize the politi¬
cal and intellectual ideals of the radical democracy of his time. In
The Knights he pilloried the incompetent and greedy politicians for
their reckless adventures in imperialism. In The Frogs he lampooned 205
 THE HELLENIC Euripides for the innovations the latter had made in the drama. The
CIVILIZATION Clouds he reserved for ridicule of the Sophists, ignorantly or mali¬
ciously classifying Socrates as one of them. While he was undoubt¬
edly a clever poet with a mastery of subtle humor and imaginative
skill, his ideas were founded largely upon prejudice. He is deserving
of much credit, however, for his sharp criticisms of the stupid poli¬
cies of the war-hawks of Athens during the struggle with Sparta.
Though written as a farce, his Lysistrata cleverly pointed a way—
however infeasible—to the termination of any war.
No account of Greek literature would be complete without some
mention of the two great historians of the Golden Age. Herodotus,
The Greek the “father of history” (484-425), was a native of Halicarnassus in
historians: Asia Minor. He traveled extensively through the Persian empire,
Herodotus
Egypt, Greece, and Italy, collecting a multitude of interesting data
about various peoples. His famous account of the great war between
the Greeks and the Persians included so much background that the
work seems almost a history of the world. He regarded that war as
an epic struggle between East and West, with Zeus giving victory to
the Greeks against a mighty host of barbarians.
If Herodotus deserves to be called the father of history, much
more does his younger contemporary, Thucydides, deserve to be
considered the founder of scientific history. Influenced by the skep¬
ticism and practicality of the Sophists, Thucydides chose to work
on the basis of carefully sifted evidence, rejecting opinion, legends,
and hearsay. The subject of his History was the war between Sparta
and Athens, which he described scientifically and dispassionately,
emphasizing the complexity of causes which led to the fateful clash.
His aim was to present an accurate record which could be studied
with profit by statesmen and generals of all time, and it must be said
that he was in full measure successful. If there were any defects in
his historical method, they consisted in overemphasizing political
factors to the neglect of the social and economic and in failing to
consider the importance of emotions in history. He also had a preju¬
dice against the democratic factions in Athens after the death of
Pericles.

7. THE MEANING OF GREEK ART

Art even more than literature probably reflected the true charac¬
Marble Statue of the Apollo ter of Hellenic civilization. The Greek was essentially a materialist
Type. Probably end of seventh
who conceived of his world in physical terms. Plato and the follow¬
century b.c. At this time
Greek sculpture was still un¬ ers of the mystic religions were, of course, exceptions, but few
der Egyptian influence. other Greeks had much interest in a universe of spiritual realities. It
would be natural therefore to find that the material emblems of
architecture and sculpture should exemplify best the ideals the
Greek held before him.
What did Greek art express? Above all, it symbolized humanism
206 —the glorification of man as the most important creature in the uni-
Young Men r laying a Ball Game. This relief, ca. 510 b.c., depicts what may
have been a forerunner of modern field hockey.

verse. Though much of the sculpture depicted gods, this did not de¬
tract in the slightest from its humanistic quality. The Greek deities
existed for the benefit of man; in glorifying them he thus glorified The ideals
himself. Both architecture and sculpture embodied the ideals of bal¬ embodied in
Greek art
ance, harmony, order, and moderation. Anarchy and excess were
abhorrent to the mind of the Greek, but so was absolute repression.
Consequently, his art exhibited qualities of simplicity and dignified
restraint—free from decorative extravagance, on the one hand, and
from restrictive conventions on the other. Moreover, Greek art was
an expression of the national life. Its purpose was not merely aes¬
thetic but political: to symbolize the pride of the people in their See color
city and to enhance their consciousness of unity. The Parthenon at plates at pages
Athens, for example, was the temple of Athena, the protecting god¬ 193, 224
dess who presided over the corporate life of the state. In providing
her with a beautiful shrine which she might frequently visit, the
Athenians were giving evidence of their love for their city and their
hope for its continuing welfare.
The art of the Hellenes differed from that of nearly every people
since their time in an interesting variety of ways. Like most of the
tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles, it was universal. It included Greek art
compared with
few portraits of personalities either in sculpture or in painting.10
that of later
The human beings depicted were generally types, not individuals.
peoples
Again, Greek art differed from that of most later peoples in its ethi¬
cal purpose. It was not art for the sake of mere decoration or for the
expression of the artist’s individual philosophy, but a medium for
the ennoblement of man. This does not mean that it was didactic in
the sense that its merit was determined by the moral lesson it taught,
but rather that it was supposed to exemplify qualities of living essen-

10 Most of the portraits in sculpture commonly considered Greek really

belong to the Hellenistic Age, although a few were produced at the end of the
fourth century b.c. 207
 THE HELLENIC tially artistic in themselves. The Athenian, at least, drew no sharp
CIVILIZATION distinction between the ethical and aesthetic spheres; the beautiful
and the good were really identical. True morality, therefore, con¬
sisted in rational living, in the avoidance of grossness, disgusting ex¬
cesses, and other forms of conduct aesthetically offensive. Finally,
Greek art may be contrasted with most later forms in the fact that
it was not “naturalistic.” Although the utmost attention was given
to the depiction of beautiful bodies, this had nothing to do with fi¬
delity to nature. The Greek was not interested in interpreting
nature for its own sake, but in expressing human ideals.
The history of Greek art divides itself naturally into three great
periods. The first, which can be called the archaic period, covered
the seventh and sixth centuries. During the greater part of this age
sculpture was dominated by Egyptian influence, as can be seen in
the frontality and rigidity of the statues, with their square shoulders
Corinthian and one foot slightly advanced. Toward the end, however, these
conventions were thrown aside. The chief architectural styles also
had their origin in this period, and several crude temples were built.
The second period, which occupied the fifth century, witnessed the
full perfection of both architecture and sculpture. The art of this
time was completely idealistic. During the fourth century, the last
period of Hellenic art, architecture lost some of its balance and sim¬
plicity and sculpture assumed new characteristics. It came to reflect
more clearly the reactions of the individual artist, to incorporate
traces of realism, and to lose some of its quality as an expression of
civic pride.
For all its artistic excellence, Greek temple architecture was one
of the simplest of structural forms. Its essential elements were really
only five in number: (i) the cella or nucleus of the building, which
was a rectangular chamber to house the statue of the god; (2) the
columns, which formed the porch and surrounded the cella; (3) the
entablature or lintel, which rested upon the columns and supported
the roof; (4) the gabled roof itself; and (5) the pediment or triangu¬
lar section under the gable of the roof. Two different architectural
styles were developed, representing modifications of certain of these
elements. The more common was the Doric, which made use of a
rather heavy, sharply fluted column surmounted by a plain capital.
The other, the Ionic, had more slender and more graceful columns
with flat flutings, a triple base, and a scroll or volute capital. The so-
called Corinthian style, which was chiefly Hellenistic, differed from
Doric the Ionic primarily in being more ornate. The three styles differed
also in their treatment of the entablature or lintel. In the Ionic style
Details of the Three Famous
Orders of Greek Architecture it was left almost plain. In the Doric and Corinthian styles it bore
sculptured reliefs. The Parthenon, the best example of Greek archi¬
tecture, was essentially a Doric building, but it reflected some of the
grace and subtlety of Ionic influence.
According to the prevailing opinion among his contemporaries,
208 Greek sculpture attained its acme of development in the work of
 The Parthenon. The largest and most famous of Athenian temples, the Parthe¬
non is considered the classic example of Doric architecture. Its columns were
made more graceful by tapering them in a slight curve toward the top. Its
friezes and pediments were decorated with lifelike sculptures of prancing horses
(see below), fighting giants, and benign and confident deities.

Phidias (5oo?~432?). His masterpieces were the statue of Athena in

the Parthenon and the statue of Zeus in the Temple of Olympian
Zeus. In addition, he designed and supervised the execution of the
Parthenon reliefs. The main qualities of his work are grandeur of
conception, patriotism, proportion, dignity, and restraint. Nearly all
of his figures are idealized representations of deities and mythologi¬
cal creatures in human form. The second most renowned fifth-
century sculptor was Myron, noted for his statue of the discus
thrower and for his glorification of other athletic types. The names
of three great sculptors in the fourth century have come down to
us. The most gifted of them was Praxiteles, renowned for his por¬
trayal of humanized deities with slender, graceful bodies and coun¬
tenances of philosophic repose. The best known of his works is the
statue of Hermes with the infant Dionysus. His older contempo¬
rary, Scopas, gained distinction as an emotional sculptor. One of his
most successful creations was the statue of a religious ecstatic, a Parthenon Frieze
worshiper of Dionysus, in a condition of mystic frenzy. At the end
of the century Lysippus introduced even stronger qualities of real¬
ism and individualism into sculpture. He was the first great master
of the realistic portrait as a study of personal character.

8. ATHENIAN LIFE IN THE GOLDEN AGE

The population of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries was

divided into three distinct groups: the citizens, the metics, and the
slaves. The citizens, who numbered at the most about 160,000, in- 209
THE HELLENIC eluded only those born of citizen parents, except for the few who
CIVILIZATION were occasionally enfranchised by special law. The metics, who
probably did not exceed a total of 100,000, were resident aliens,
chiefly non-Athenian Greeks, although some were Phoenicians and
Jews. Save for the fact that they had no political privileges and gen¬
erally were not permitted to own land, the metics had equal oppor¬
tunities with citizens. They could engage in any occupation they
desired and participate in any social or intellectual activities. Con¬
trary to a popular tradition, the slaves in Athens were never a major¬
ity of the population. Their maximum number does not seem to
have exceeded 140,000. Urban slaves, at least, were very well treated
and were sometimes rewarded for faithful service by being set free.
They could work for wages and own property, and some of them
held responsible positions as minor public officials and as managers
of banks. The treatment of slaves who worked in the mines, how¬
ever, was often cruel.
Life in Athens stands out in rather sharp contrast to that in most
other civilizations. One of its leading features was the amazing de¬
The amazing gree of social and economic equality that prevailed among all the
degree of social inhabitants. Although there were many who were poor, there were
and economic
few who were very rich. Nearly everyone, whether citizen, metic,
equality
or slave, ate the same kind of food, wore the same kind of clothing,
and participated in the same kind of amusement. This substantial
equality was enforced in part by the system of liturgies, which were
services to the state rendered by wealthy men, chiefly in the form
of contributions to support the drama, equip the navy, or provide
for the poor.
A second outstanding characteristic of Athenian life was its
poverty in comforts and luxuries. Part of this was a result of the low

Porch of the Maidens of the So-

Called Ere cloth earn, a T emple of
Athena on the Acropolis
Left: The Discobolus or Discus Thrower of Myron. The statue reflects the
glorification of the human body characteristic of Athens in the Golden Age.
Now in the Vatican Museum. Right: Hermes with the Infant Dionysus, by
Praxiteles, Fourth Century b.c. Original in the Olympia Museum, Greece.

income of the mass of the people. Teachers, sculptors, masons, car¬

penters, and common laborers all received the same standard wage
of one drachma per day. Part of it may have been a consequence The poverty of

also of the mild climate, which made possible a life of sim- Athenian life

plicity. But whatever the cause, the fact remains that, in comparison
with modern standards, the Athenians endured an exceedingly im¬
poverished existence. They knew nothing of such common com¬
modities as watches, soap, newspapers, cotton cloth, sugar, tea, or
coffee. Their beds had no springs, their houses had no drains, and
their food consisted chiefly of barley cakes, onions, and fish, washed
down with diluted wine. From the standpoint of clothing they were
no better off. A rectangular piece of cloth wrapped around the
body and fastened with pins at the shoulders and with a rope around
the waist served as the main garment. A larger piece was draped
around the body as an extra garment for outdoor wear. No one
wore either stockings or socks, and few had any footgear except
sandals.
But lack of comforts and luxuries was a matter of little conse¬
quence to the Athenian citizen. He was totally unable to regard 211
THE HELLENIC these as the most important things in life. His aim was to live as in¬
CIVILIZATION terestingly and contentedly as possible without spending all his days
in grinding toil for the sake of a little more comfort for his family.
Nor was he interested in piling up riches as a source of power or
Indifference prestige. What each citizen really wanted was a small farm or busi¬
toward material ness that would provide him with a reasonable income and at the
comforts and
same time allow him an abundance of leisure for politics, for gossip
wealth
in the market place, and for intellectual or artistic activities if he had
the talent to enjoy them.
It is frequently supposed that the Athenian was too lazy or too
snobbish to work hard for luxury and security. But this was not
Attitudes toward quite the case. True, there were some occupations in which he
work would not engage because he considered them degrading or destruc¬
tive of moral freedom. He would not break his back digging silver
or copper out of a mine; such work was fit only for slaves of the
lowest intellectual level. On the other hand, there is plenty of evi¬
dence to show that the great majority of Athenian citizens did not
look with disdain upon manual labor. Most of them worked on
their farms or in their shops as independent craftsmen. Hundreds of
others earned their living as hired laborers employed either by the
state or by their fellow Athenians. Cases are on record of citizens,
metics, and slaves working side by side, all for the same wage, in the
construction of public buildings; and in at least one instance the
foreman of a crew was a slave.11
In spite of expansion of trade and increase in population, the eco¬
nomic organization of Athenian society remained comparatively
The basic simple. Agriculture and commerce were by far the most important
economic activities enterprises. Even in Pericles’ day the majority of the citizens still
lived in the country. Industry was not highly developed. Very few
examples of large-scale production are on record, and those chiefly
in the manufacture of pottery and implements of war. The largest
establishment that ever existed was apparently a shield factory
owned by a metic and employing 120 slaves. No other was more
than half as large. The enterprises which absorbed the most labor
were the mines, but they were owned by the state and were leased
in sections to petty contractors to be worked by slaves. The bulk of
industry was carried on in small shops owned by individual crafts¬
men who produced their wares directly to the order of the con¬
sumer.
Religion underwent some notable changes in the Golden Age of
the fifth and fourth centuries. The primitive polytheism and an¬
Changes in thropomorphism of the Homeric myths were largely supplanted,
religion among intellectuals at least, by a belief in one God as the creator
and sustainer of the moral law. Such a doctrine was taught
by many of the philosophers, by the poet Pindar, and by the

212 u A. E. Zimmern, The Greek Commonwealth, p. 258.

dramatists Aeschylus and Sophocles. Other significant conse¬ ATHENIAN LIFE IN THE
quences flowed from the mystery cults. These new forms of GOLDEN AGE
religion first became popular in the sixth century because of
the craving for an emotional faith to make up for the disappoint¬
ments of life. The more important of them was the Orphic cult,
which revolved around the myth of the death and resurrection of
Dionysus. The other, the Eleusinian cult, had as its central theme
the abduction of Persephone by Hades, god of the nether world,
and her ultimate redemption by Demeter, the great Earth Adother.
Both of these cults had as their original purpose the promotion of
the lifegiving powers of nature, but in time they came to be fraught
with a much deeper significance. They expressed to their followers
the ideas of vicarious atonement, salvation in an afterlife, and
ecstatic union with the divine. Although entirely inconsistent with
the spirit of the ancient religion, they made a powerful appeal to
certain classes and were largely responsible for the spread of the be¬
lief in personal immortality. The more thoughtful Greeks, however,
seem to have persisted in their adherence to the worldly, optimistic,
and mechanical faith of their ancestors and to have shown little con¬
cern about a conviction of sin or a desire for salvation in a life to
come.
It remains to consider briefly the position of the family in Athens
in the fifth and fourth centuries. Though marriage was still an im¬
portant institution for the procreation of children who would be¬ The family in

come citizens of the state, there is reason to believe that family life Athens in the
Golden Age
had declined. Aden of the more prosperous classes, at least, now
spent the greater part of their time away from their families. Wives
were relegated to an inferior position and required to remain se¬
cluded in their homes. Their place as social and intellectual com¬
panions for their husbands was taken by alien women, the famous
hetaerae, many of whom were highly cultured natives of the Ionian
cities. Adarriage itself assumed the character of a political and eco¬
nomic arrangement devoid of romantic elements. Aden married
wives so as to ensure that at least some of their children would be
legitimate and in order to obtain property in the form of a dowry.
It was important also, of course, to have someone to care for the
household. But husbands did not consider their wives as their equals
and did not appear in public with them or encourage their participa¬
tion in any form of social or intellectual activity.

9. THE GREEK ACHIEVEMENT AND ITS

SIGNIFICANCE FOR US

No historian would deny that the achievement of the Greeks was

one of the most remarkable in the history of the world. With no
great expanse of fertile soil or abundance of mineral resources, they
succeeded in developing a higher and more varied civilization than 213
THE HELLENIC any of the most richly favored nations of Africa and Western Asia.
CIVILIZATION With only a limited cultural inheritance from the past to build upon
as a foundation, they produced intellectual and artistic achievements
which have served ever since as the chief inspiration to man in his
The magnitude of quest for wisdom and beauty. It seems reasonable to conclude also
the Greek that they achieved a more normal and more rational mode of living
achievement
than most other peoples who strutted and fretted their hour upon
this planet. The absence of violent revolution, except in the earlier
period, and during the Peloponnesian War, the infrequency of
brutal crimes, and the contentment with simple amusements and
modest wealth all point to a comparatively happy and satisfied exist¬
ence. Moreover, the sane moral attitude of the Greek helped to keep
him almost entirely free from the nervous instability and emotional
conflicts which wreak so much havoc in modern society. Suicide,
for example, was exceedingly rare in Greece.12
It is necessary to be on our guard, however, against uncritical
judgments that are sometimes expressed in reference to the achieve¬
Undesirable ment of the Greeks. We must not assume that all of the natives of
features of Hellas were as cultured, wise, and free as the citizens of Athens
Greek life
and of the Ionian states across the Aegean. The Spartans, the Ar¬
cadians, the Thessalians, and probably the majority of the Boeotians
remained untutored and benighted from the beginning to the end
of their history. Further, the Athenian civilization itself was not
without its defects. It permitted some exploitation of the weak,
especially of the ignorant slaves who toiled in the mines. It was
based upon a principle of racial exclusiveness which reckoned
every man a foreigner whose parents were not both Athenians,
and consequently denied political rights to the majority of the
inhabitants. Its statecraft was not sufficiently enlightened to avoid
the pitfalls of imperialism and even of aggressive war. Finally,
the attitude of its citizens was not always tolerant and just. Socrates
was put to death for his opinions, and two other philosophers,
Anaxagoras and Protagoras, were forced to leave the country. The
former was condemned to death by the assembly, and the books of
the latter were ordered to be burned. It must be conceded, however,
that the record of the Athenians for tolerance was better than that
of most other nations, both ancient and modern. There was prob¬
ably more freedom of expression in Athens during the war with
Sparta than there was in the United States during World War I.
Nor is it true that the Hellenic influence has really been as great
as is commonly supposed. No intelligent student could accept the
Hellenic influence sentimental verdict of Shelley: “We are all Greeks; our laws, our
sometimes literature, our religion, our arts have their roots in Greece.” Our
exaggerated
laws do not really have their roots in Greece but chiefly in Hellenis¬
tic and Roman sources. Much of our poetry is undoubtedly Greek

12 For a discussion of this point see E. A. Westermarck, The Origin and

214 Development of Moral Ideas, pp. 247 ff.
in inspiration, but such is not the case with most of our prose litera¬ SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
ture. Our religion is no more than partly Greek; except as it was GREEK ACHIEVEMENT
influenced by Plato, Aristotle, and the Romans, it reflects primarily
the spirit of Western Asia. Even our arts take their form and meaning
from Rome almost as much as from Greece. Actually, modern civi¬
lization has been the result of the convergence of several influences
coming from a variety of sources. The influence from Greece has
been partly overshadowed by heritages from Western Asia and
from the Romans and the Germans. Philosophy appears to have
been the only important segment of Greek civilization that has been
incorporated into modern culture virtually intact.
In spite of all this, the Hellenic adventure was of profound signifi¬
cance for the history of the world. For the Greeks were' the found¬
ers of nearly all those ideals we commonly think of as peculiar to The influence of

the West. The civilizations of ancient Western Asia, with the ex¬ the Greeks on the
West
ception, to a certain extent, of the Hebrew and Egyptian, were
dominated by absolutism, supernaturalism, ecclesiasticism, the denial
of both body and mind, and the subjection of the individual to the
group. Their political regime was the reign of force as expressed in
an absolute monarch supported by a powerful priesthood. Their
religion in many cases was the worship of omnipotent gods who de¬
manded that man should humble and despise himself for the purpose
of their greater glory. Culture in these mighty empires served mainly
as an instrument to magnify the power of the state and to enhance
the prestige of rulers and priests.
By contrast, the civilization of Greece, notably in its Athenian
form, was founded upon ideals of freedom, optimism, secularism,
rationalism, the glorification of both body and mind, and a high re¬ Contrast of
gard for the dignity and worth of the individual man. Insofar as the Greek and
Oriental ideals
individual was subjected at all, his subjection was to the rule of the
majority. This, of course, was not always good, especially in times

The Acropolis Today. Occupying the commanding position is the Parthenon.

To the left is the Erechtheum with its Porch of the Maidens facing the
Parthenon.
THE HELLENIC of crisis, when the majority might be swayed by prejudice. Religion
CIVILIZATION was worldly and practical, serving the interests of human beings.
Worship of the gods was a means for the ennoblement of man. As
opposed to the ecclesiasticism of the Orient, the Greeks had no or¬
ganized priesthood at all. They kept their priests in the background
and refused under any circumstances to allow them to define dogma
or to govern the realm of intellect. In addition, they excluded them
from control over the sphere of morality. The culture of the
Greeks was the first to be based upon the primacy of intellect—
upon the supremacy of the spirit of free inquiry. There was no sub¬
ject they feared to investigate, or any question they regarded as ex¬
cluded from the province of reason. To an extent never before
realized, mind was supreme over faith, logic and science over super¬
stition.13
The supreme tragedy of the Greeks was, of course, their failure
to solve the problem of political conflict. To a large degree, this
The tragedy of conflict was the product of social and cultural dissimilarities. Be¬
Hellenic history cause of different geographic and economic conditions the Greek
city-states developed at an uneven pace. Some went forward rapidly
to high levels of cultural superiority, while others lagged behind and
made little or no intellectual progress. The consequences were dis¬
cord and suspicion, which gave rise eventually to hatred and fear.
Though some of the more advanced thinkers made efforts to propa¬
gate the notion that the Hellenes were one people who should re¬
serve their contempt for non-Hellenes, or “barbarians,” the concep¬
tion never became part of a national ethos. Athenians hated Spar¬
tans, and vice versa, just as vehemently as they hated Lydians or
Persians. Not even the danger of Asian conquest was sufficient to
dispel the distrust and antagonism of Greeks for one another. The
war that finally broke out between Athenians and Spartans sealed
the doom of Hellenic civilization just as effectively as could ever
have resulted from foreign conquest. For a time it appeared as if a
new world, largely devoid of ethnic distinctions, might emerge
from the ruins of the Greek city-states as a result of the conquests
of Alexander the Great. Alexander dreamed of such a world, in
which there would be neither Athenian nor Spartan, Greek nor
Egyptian, but unfortunately neither he nor his generals knew any
means of achieving it except to impose it by force. The parallels be¬
tween the last phases of Hellenic history and the developments in
our own time are at least interesting, if not conclusive.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Agard, Walter, What Democracy Meant to the Greeks, Chapel Hill, 1942
(University of Wisconsin).

13 For further discussion of the contrast between Hellas and the Orient see
216 the admirable study by Edith Hamilton, The Greek Way.
 Andrewes, Antony, The Greeks, New York, 1967. READINGS
• Barker, Ernest, Greek Political Theory: Plato and His Predecessors, New
York, 1919, 2 vols. (Barnes & Noble). One of the best of the commentaries.
• Boardman, John, Greek Art, New York, 1964 (Praeger).
• -, The Greeks Overseas, Baltimore, 1964 (Penguin).
• Burn, A. R., Pericles and Athens, New York, 1962 (Collier).
• Clagett, Marshall, Greek Science in Antiquity, New York, 1963 (Collier).
• Dickinson, G.L., The Greek View of Life, New York, 1927 (Ann Arbor,
Collier). An excellent interpretation.
• Dodds, E. R., The Greeks and the Irrational, Berkeley, 1963 (Univ. of Cali¬
fornia) .
• Ehrenberg, Victor, The Greek State, New York, i960 (Norton Library).
• Farrington, Benjamin, Greek Science, Baltimore, 1961 (Penguin).
• Finley, M. I., The Ancient Greeks: An Introduction to Their Life and
Thought, New York, 1963 (Compass).
Forrest, W. G., A History of Sparta, <yyo-iy2 B.C., London, 1968 (Norton
Library).
• Freeman, Kathleen, The Greek City-States, New York, 1963 (Norton Li¬
brary) .
• Glotz, Gustave, Ancient Greece at Work, London, 1927 (Norton Library).
• Hamilton, Edith, The Greek Way, New York, 1930 (Norton Library).
Thoughtful and stimulating.
• Kitto, H.D.F., The Greeks, Baltimore, 1957 (Penguin). Probably the best
one-volume survey in English.
• Larsen, J. A. O., Representative Government in Greek a?id Roman History,
Berkeley, 1955 (University of California).
• MacKendrick, Paul, The Greek Stones Speak, New York, 1962 (Mentor).
• Marrou, H. I., A History of Education in Antiquity, New York, 1964 (Men¬
tor).
• Mitchell, H., Sparta, New York, 1952 (Cambridge).
• Nilsson, M. P., A History of Greek Religion, New York, 1964 (Norton Li¬
brary) . Interesting and authoritative.
Richter, G. M. A., Greek Art, New York, 1963.
Ridder, A. H. P. de, and Deonna, Waldemar, Art in Greece, New York, 1927.
An excellent one-volume account.
• Rose, H. J., A Handbook of Greek Literature, New York, i960 (Dutton).
• -, A Handbook of Greek Mythology, New York, 1959 (Dutton).
• Snell, Bruno, The Discovery of the Mind, New York, i960 (Torchbook).
Starr, C. G., The Origins of Greek Civilization, New York, 1961.
• Webster, T. B. L., From Mycenae to Ho?ner, New York, 1964 (Norton Li¬
brary).
• Zimmern, A. E., The Greek Commonwealth, New York, 1911 (Galaxy).
Good, though perhaps a bit too laudatory of the Athenians.

SOURCE MATERIALS
Most Greek authors have been translated in the appropriate volumes of the
Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press.

In addition the following may be helpful:

• Barnstone, Willis (trans.), Greek Lyric Poetry, New York, 1962 (Bantam).
• Kagan, Donald, Sources in Greek Political Thought, Glencoe, Ill., 1965 (Free
Press).
• Kirk, G.S., and Raven, J. E., The Presocratic Philosophers, Cambridge, 1957
(Cambridge University Press).
217
.
 CHAPTER 9
The Hellenistic Civilization

Beauty and virtue and the like are to be honored, if they give
pleasure, but if they do not give pleasure, we must bid them
farewell.
-Epicurus, “On the End of Life”

I agree that Alexander was carried away so far as to copy oriental

luxury. I hold that no mighty deeds, not even conquering the
whole world, is of any good unless the man has learned mastery
of himself.
—Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander

The death of Alexander the Great in 323 b.c. constituted a water¬

shed in the development of world history. Hellenic civilization as it
had existed in its prime now came to an end. Of course, the old in¬ A new stage in

stitutions and ways of life did not suddenly disappear, but Alex¬ world History

ander’s career had cut so deeply into the old order that it was incon¬
ceivable that it could be restored intact. The fusion of cultures and
intermingling of peoples resulting from Alexander’s conquests ac¬
complished the overthrow of many of the ideals of the Greeks in
their Golden Age of the fifth and fourth centuries. Gradually a new
pattern of civilization emerged, based upon a mixture of Greek and
Oriental elements. To this new civilization, which lasted until about
the beginning of the Christian era, the name Hellenistic is the one
most commonly applied.
Though the break between the Hellenic and Hellenistic eras was
as sharp as that between any two other civilizations, it would be a
mistake to deny all continuity. The language of the new cultured Comparison of

classes was predominantly Greek, and even the hordes of people the Hellenistic
Age with the
whose heritage was non-Greek considered it desirable to have some
Golden Age of
Hellenic culture. Hellenic achievements in science provided a foun¬ Greece
dation for the great scientific revolution of the Hellenistic Age.
Greek emphasis upon logic was likewise carried over into Hellenis¬
tic philosophy, though the objectives of the latter were in many
cases quite different. In the spheres of the political, social, and eco- 219
THE HELLENISTIC nomic the resemblances were few indeed. The classical ideal of
CIVILIZATION democracy was now superseded by despotism perhaps as rigorous as
any that Egypt or Persia had ever produced. The Greek city-state
survived in some parts of Greece itself, but elsewhere it was re¬
placed by the big monarchy, and in the minds of some leaders by
notions of a world state. The Hellenic devotion to simplicity and
the golden mean gave way to extravagance in the arts and to a love
of luxury and riotous excess. Golden Age intensity of living was
superseded by a craving for novelty and breadth of experience. In
the economic realm the Athenian system of small-scale production
was supplanted largely by the growth of big business and vigorous
competition for profits. In view of these changes it seems valid to
conclude that the Hellenistic Age was sufficiently distinct from the
Golden Age of Greece to justify its being considered the era of a
new civilization.

I. POLITICAL HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS

When Alexander died in 323 b.c., he left no legitimate heir to suc¬

ceed him. His nearest male relative was a feeble-minded half-
The Hellenistic brother. Tradition relates that when his friends requested him on his
sta,es deathbed to designate a successor, he replied vaguely, “To the best
man.” After his death his highest-ranking generals proceeded to di¬
vide the empire among them. Some of the younger commanders
contested this arrangement, and a series of wars followed which cul¬
minated in the decisive battle of Ipsus in 301 b.c. The result of this
battle was a new division among the victors. Seleucus took posses¬
sion of Persia, Mesopotamia, and Syria; Lysimachus assumed control
over Asia Minor and Thrace; Cassander established himself in
Madeconia; and Ptolemy added Phoenicia and Palestine to his origi¬
nal domain of Egypt. Twenty years later these four states were re¬
duced to three when Seleucus defeated and killed Lysimachus in
battle and appropriated his kingdom. In the meantime most of the
Greek states had revolted against the attempts of the Macedonian
king to extend his power over them. By banding together in defen¬
sive leagues several of them succeeded in maintaining their inde-

Scythian Pectoral Found at Ordzhonikidze in

Southern Russia. The Scythians were sup¬
posedly a warlike people living on the fringes
of Greece. However, the pectoral shows pas¬
toral activities. The heavy gold jewelry exhibits
a great skill and workmanship.
pendence for nearly a century. Finally, between 146 and 30 b.c. SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC
nearly all of the Hellenistic territory passed under Roman rule. AND SOCIAL
The dominant form of government in the Hellenistic Age was the DEVELOPMENTS
despotism of kings who represented themselves as at least semi¬
divine. Alexander himself was recognized as a son of God in Egypt
and was worshiped as a god in Greece. His most powerful suc¬
cessors, the Seleucid kings in western Asia and the Ptolemies in
Egypt, made systematic attempts to deify themselves. A Seleucid
monarch, Antiochus IV, adopted the title “Epiphanes” or “God
Manifest.” The later members of the dynasty of the Ptolemies
signed their decrees “Theos” (God) and revived the practice of sis¬
ter marriage which had been followed by the Pharaohs as a means of
preserving the divine blood of the royal family from contamination. Alexander the Great. Shown
here is a tetradrachma struck
Only in the kingdom of Macedonia was despotism tempered by a
in Thrace at the order of King
modicum of respect for the liberties of the citizens.
Lysimachus, ca. 300 b.c.
Two other political institutions developed as by-products of
Hellenistic civilization: the Achaean and Aetolian Leagues. We have
already seen that most of the Greek states rebelled against Mace¬ The Achaean and

donian rule following the division of Alexander’s empire. The better Aetolian Leagues

to preserve their independence, several of these states formed alli¬

ances among themselves, which were gradually expanded to become
confederate leagues. The organization of these leagues was essen¬
tially the same in all cases. Each had a federal council composed
of representatives of the member cities with power to enact laws on
subjects of general concern. An assembly which all of the citizens in
the federated states could attend decided questions of war and peace
and elected officials. Executive and military authority was vested in
the hands of a general, elected for one year and eligible for reelec¬
tion only in alternate years. Although these leagues are frequently
described as federal states, they were scarcely more than confed¬
eracies. The central authority, like the government of the American
States under the Articles of Confederation, was dependent upon the
local governments for contributions of revenue and troops. Further¬
more, the powers delegated to the central government were limited
primarily to matters of war and peace, coinage, and weights and
measures. The chief significance of these leagues is to be found in
the fact that they embodied the principle of representative govern¬
ment and constituted the nearest approach ever made in Greece to
voluntary national union.

2. SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC AND

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS

The history of the Hellenistic civilization was marked by eco¬

nomic developments second only in magnitude to the Commercial
and Industrial Revolutions of the modern era. Several important
causes can be distinguished: (1) the opening up of a vast area of 221
 1000 miles

HELLAS

BACTRIA

kthens

Halicarnassi

CYPRUS. SYRIA,

P Damascus
Justine
Jerusalem

Peraepolis
Ammonium •*»
(Oasis of Siwah)

Tbebes

KINGDOM OF
THE I

Alexander’s routes
AFTER ALEXANDER^S_EMPIRE.
THE SUCCESSOR STATES ca. 300 B.C.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE HELLENISTIC WORLD

trade from the Indus River to the Nile as a result of the Alexandrian
conquests; (2) the rise in prices as a consequence of the release of
The economic the enormous Persian hoard of gold and silver into the channels of
revolution and its circulation, resulting in an increase in investment and speculation;
causes
and (3) the promotion of trade and industry by governments as a
means of augmenting the revenues of the state. The net result was
the growth of a system of large-scale production, trade, and finance,
with the state as the principal capitalist and entrepreneur.
Agriculture was as profoundly affected by the new developments
as any other branch of the economic life. The most striking phe¬
The concentration nomena were the concentration of holdings of land and the degrada¬
of land ownership
tion of the agricultural population. One of the first things the suc¬
cessors of Alexander did was to confiscate the estates of the chief
landowners and add them to the royal domain. The lands thus
acquired were either granted to the favorites of the king or leased to
tenants under an arrangement calculated to ensure an abundant in¬
come for the crown. The tenants were generally forbidden to leave
the lands they cultivated until after the harvest and were not al¬
lowed to dispose of their grain until after the king had had a chance
222 to sell the share he received as rent at the highest price the market
would bring. When some of the tenants went on srike or attempted SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC
to run away, they were all bound to the soil as hereditary serfs. AND SOCIAL
Many of the small independent farmers also became serfs when they DEVELOPMENTS
got into debt as a result of inability to compete with large-scale pro¬
duction.
In an effort to make all of the resources of the state contribute to
the profit of the government, the rulers of Egypt and the Seleucid
empire promoted and regulated industry and trade. The Ptolemies State regimenta¬
established factories and shops in nearly every village and town to tion of industry
and trade
be owned and operated by the government for its own financial
benefit. In addition, they assumed control over all of the enterprises
that were privately owned, fixing the prices the owners could
charge and manipulating markets to the advantage of the crown. A
similar plan of regimentation for industry, although not on quite so
ambitious a scale, was enforced by the Seleucid rulers of western
Asia. Trade was left by both of these governments very largely in
private hands, but it was heavily taxed and regulated in such a way
as to make sure that an ample share of the profits went to the king.
Every facility was provided by the government for the encourage¬
ment of new trading ventures. Harbors were improved, warships
were sent out to police the seas, and roads and canals were built.
Moreover, the Ptolemies employed famous geographers to discover
new routes to distant lands and thereby gain access to valuable
markets. As a result of such methods Egypt developed a flourishing
commerce in the widest variety of products. Into the port of Alex¬
andria came spices from Arabia, copper from Cyprus, gold from
Abyssinia and India, tin from Britain, elephants and ivory from
Nubia, silver from the northern Aegean and Spain, fine carpets from
Asia Minor, and even silk from China. Profits for the government
and for some of the merchants were often as high as 20 or 30 per
cent.
Further evidence of the significant economic development of the
Hellenistic Age is to be found in the growth of finance. An interna¬
tional money economy, based upon gold and silver coins, now be¬ The growth of

came general throughout the Near East. Banks, usually owned by finance

the government, developed as the chief institutions of credit for

business ventures of every description. Speculation, cornering of
markets, intense competition, the growth of large business houses,
and the development of insurance and advertising were other sig¬
nificant phenomena of this remarkable age.
According to the available evidence, the Hellenistic Age, during
the first two centuries at least, was a period of prosperity. Although
serious crises frequently followed the collapse of speculative booms, The disparity
between rich and
they appear to have been of short duration. But the prosperity that
poor
existed seems to have been limited chiefly to the rulers, the upper
classes, and the merchants. It certainly did not extend to the peas¬
ants or even to the workers in the towns. The daily wages of both 223
 Hellenistic Coins. Obverse and
reverse sides of the silver
tetradrachma of Macedon, 336-
323 b.c. Objects of common
use from this period often
show as much beauty of de¬
sign as formal works of art.

skilled and unskilled workers in Athens in the third century had

dropped to less than half of what they had been in the Age of Peri¬
cles. The cost of living, on the other hand, had risen considerably.
To make matters worse, unemployment in the large cities was so
serious a problem that the government had to provide free grain for
many of the inhabitants. Slavery declined in the Hellenistic world,
partly because of the influence of the Stoic philosophy, but mainly
for the reason that wages were now so low that it was cheaper to
hire a free laborer than to purchase and maintain a slave.
An interesting result of social and economic conditions in the
Hellenistic Age was the growth of metropolitan cities. Despite the
The growth of fact that a majority of the people still lived in the country, there
metropolitan cities was an increasing tendency for men to become dissatisfied with the
dullness of rural living and to flock into the cities, where fife, if not
easier, was at least more exciting. But the chief reasons are to be
found in the expansion of industry and commerce, in the enlarge¬
ment of governmental functions, and in the desire of former inde¬
pendent farmers to escape the hardships of serfdom. Cities multi¬
plied and grew in the Hellenistic empires almost as rapidly as in
nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Antioch in Syria quad¬
rupled its population during a single century. Seleucia on the Tigris
grew from nothing to a metropolis of several hundred thousand in
less than two centuries. The largest and most famous of all the
Hellenistic cities was Alexandria in Egypt, with over 500,000 inhab¬
itants and possibly as many as 1,000,000. No other city in ancient
times, not even Rome, surpassed it in size or in magnificence. Its
streets were well paved and laid out in regular order. It had splendid
public buildings and parks, a museum, and a library of 750,000 vol¬
umes. It was the most brilliant center of Hellenistic cultural
achievement, especially in the field of scientific research. The masses
of its people, however, were a disorganized mob without any share
in the brilliant and luxurious life around them, although it was paid
224 for in part out of the fruits of their labor.
 Bronze Mirror Case, V cent. b.c. Greek Diadoumenos, after Poly-
articles of everyday use were commonly kleitos, V cent. b.c. An ideal¬
finished with the same delicacy and pre¬ ized statue of a Greek athlete
cision as major works of art. tying the “diadem,” or band
of victory, around his head.

Bracelet Pendant, IV—III Woman Arranging Her Hair,

400-300 b.c. Sculptors of an¬ Head of an Athlete, ca. 440-420 b.c.
cent. b.c. This tiny figure
tiquity took pride in these The sculptor aimed to express manly
of the god Pan is a mas¬
statuettes of ordinary people beauty in perfect harmony with
terpiece of detail and ex¬
in ordinary activities, which physical and intellectual excellence.
pression.
were usually made of terra
cotta painted soft blue, pink, Comic Actor, 200-100 b.c.
or yellow. Hellenistic realism often in¬
cluded portrayal of ugly and
even deformed individuals.

Sleeping Eros, 250-150 b.c. Along with a pen¬

chant for realism, Hellenistic sculptors were
fond of portraying serenity or repose.

Statuette of Hermarchos, III cent. b.c. An ex¬

ample of the realism of Hellenistic sculpture.
o-
3- HELLENISTIC CULTURE: PHILOSOPHY,
LITERATURE, AND ART

Hellenistic philosophy exhibited two trends that ran almost paral¬

lel throughout the civilization. The major trend, exemplified by
Stoicism and Epicureanism, showed a fundamental regard for reason Trends in
as the key to the solution of man’s problems. This trend was a mani¬ philosophy

festation of Greek influence, though philosophy and science, as

combined in Aristotle, had now come to a parting of the ways. The
minor trend, exemplified by the Skeptics, Cynics, and various Asian
cults, tended to reject reason, to deny the possibility of attain¬
ing truth, and in some cases to turn toward mysticism and a reliance
upon faith. Despite the differences in their teachings, the philoso¬
phers of the Hellenistic Age were generally agreed upon one thing:
the necessity of finding some way of salvation for man from the
hardships and evils of his existence.
The first of the Hellenistic philosophers were the Cynics, who had
their origin about 350 b.c. Their foremost leader was Diogenes, who
won fame by his perpetual quest for an “honest” man. Essentially The Cynics
this meant the adoption of the “natural” life and the repudiation of
everything conventional and artificial. The Cynics adopted as their
principal goal the cultivation of “self-sufficiency”: every man should
cultivate within himself the ability to satisfy his own needs. Ob¬
viously the Cynics bore some resemblance to other movements that
have cropped up through the ages—the hippie movement of our
own day, for example. There were notable differences, however.
The Cynics spurned music and art as manifestations of artificiality,
and they were not representative of a youth generation. But all such
movements seem to reflect a sense of frustration and hopeless con¬
flict in society.
Epicureanism and Stoicism both originated about 300 b.c. The
founders were, respectively, Epicurus (342-270) and Zeno (fl.
after 300), who were residents of Athens; the former was born Epicureanism
on the island of Samos, and the latter was a native of Cyprus, and Stoicism

probably of Phoenician descent. Epicureanism and Stoicism had

several features in common. Both were individualistic, concerned
not with the welfare of society primarily, but with the good of
the individual. Both were materialistic, denying categorically the
existence of any spiritual substances; even divine beings and the soul
were declared to be formed of matter. In Stoicism and Epicureanism
alike there were definite elements of universalism, since both im¬
plied that men are the same the world over and recognized no dis¬
tinctions between Greeks and “barbarians.”
But in many ways the two systems were quite different. Zeno and
his principal disciples taught that the cosmos is an ordered whole in
which all contradictions are resolved for ultimate good. Evil is,
therefore, relative; the particular misfortunes which befall human 225
THE HELLENISTIC beings are but necessary incidents to the final perfection of the uni¬
CIVILIZATION verse. Everything that happens is rigidly determined in accordance
with rational purpose. Man is not master of his fate; his destiny is a
link in an unbroken chain. He is free only in the sense that he can
The Stoics' pursuit accept his fate or rebel against it. But whether he accepts or rebels,
of tranquillity of he cannot overcome it. The supreme duty of man is to submit to the
mind through
order of the universe in the knowledge that that order is good; in
fatalism
other words, to resign himself as graciously as possible to his fate.
Through such an act of resignation he will attain to the highest hap¬
piness, which consists in tranquillity of mind. The individual who is
most truly happy is therefore the man who by the assertion of his
rational nature has accomplished a perfect adjustment of his life to
the cosmic purpose and has purged his soul of all bitterness and
whining protest against evil turns of fortune.
The Stoics developed an ethical and social theory that accorded
well with their general philosophy. Believing that the highest good
The ethical and consists in serenity of mind, they naturally emphasized duty and
social teachings of self-discipline as cardinal virtues. Recognizing the prevalence of
the Stoics
particular evil, they taught that men should be tolerant and forgiving
in their attitudes toward one another. Unlike the Cynics, they did not
recommend that man should withdraw from society but urged par¬
ticipation in public affairs as a duty for the citizen of rational mind.
They condemned slavery and war, but it was far from their purpose
to preach any crusade against these evils. They were disposed to
think that the results that would flow from violent measures of social
change would be worse than the diseases they were supposed to cure.
Besides, what difference did it make if the body were in bondage so
long as the mind was free? Despite its negative character, the Stoic
philosophy was the noblest product of the Hellenistic Age. Its equali-
tarianism, pacifism, and humanitarianism were important factors in
mitigating the harshness not only of that time but of later centuries
as well.
Whereas the Stoics went back to Heracleitus for much of their
conception of the universe, the Epicureans derived their meta¬
Epicurus and non- physics chiefly from Democritus. Epicurus taught that the basic
mechanistic
ingredients of all things are minute, indivisible atoms, and that
atomism
change and growth are the results of the combination and separation
of these particles. Nevertheless, while accepting the materialism of
the atomists, Epicurus rejected their absolute mechanism. He denied
that an automatic, mechanical motion of the atoms can be the cause
of all things in the universe. Though he taught that the atoms move
downward in perpendicular lines because of their weight, he insisted
upon endowing them with a spontaneous ability to swerve from the
perpendicular and thereby to combine with one another. The chief
reason for this peculiar modification of the atomic theory was to
make possible a belief in human freedom. If the atoms were capable
only of mechanical motion, then man, who is made up of atoms,
226 would be reduced to the status of an automaton, and fatalism would
be the law of the universe. In this repudiation of the mechanistic in¬ PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE,
terpretation of life, Epicurus was probably closer to the Hellenic AND ART
spirit than either Democritus or the Stoics.
The ethical philosophy of the Epicureans was based upon the
doctrine that the highest good for man is pleasure. But they did not
include all forms of indulgence in the category of genuine pleasure. The Epicurean

The so-called pleasures of the debauched man should be avoided, pursuit of tran¬
quillity of mind
since every excess of carnality must be balanced by its portion of
through overcom¬
pain. On the other hand, a moderate satisfaction of bodily appetites ing fear of the
is permissible and may be regarded as a good in itself. Better than supernatural
this is mental pleasure, sober contemplation of the reasons for the
choice of some things and the avoidance of others, and mature re¬
flection upon satisfactions previously enjoyed. The highest of all
pleasures, however, consists in serenity of soul, in the complete ab¬
sence of both mental and physical pain. This end can be best
achieved through the elimination of fear, especially fear of the
supernatural, since that is the sovereign source of mental pain. Man
must recognize from the study of philosophy that the soul is mate¬
rial and therefore cannot survive the body, that the universe oper¬
ates of itself, and that the gods do not intervene in human affairs.
The gods live remote from the world and are too intent upon their
own happiness to bother about what takes place on earth. Since they
do not reward or punish men either in this life or in a life to
come, there is no reason why they should be feared. The Epicureans
thus came by a different route to the same general conclusion as the
Stoics—the supreme good is tranquillity of mind.
The ethics of the Epicureans as well as their political theory
rested squarely upon a utilitarian basis. In contrast with the Stoics,
they did not insist upon virtue as an end in itself but taught that the The ethical and
political theories
only reason why man should be good is to increase his own happi¬
of the Epicureans
ness. In like manner, they denied that there is any such thing as
absolute justice; laws and institutions are just only in so far as they
contribute to the welfare of the individual. Certain rules have been
found necessary in every complex society for the maintenance of
security and order. Men obey these rules solely because it is to their
advantage to do so. Generally speaking, Epicurus held no high
regard for either political or social life. He considered the state
as a mere convenience and taught that the wise men should take
no active part in public life. Unlike the Cynics, he did not pro¬
pose that man should abandon civilization and return to nature; yet
his conception of the happiest life was essentially passive and defeat¬
ist. The wise man will recognize that he cannot eradicate the evils in
the world no matter how strenuous and intelligent his efforts; he
will therefore withdraw to “cultivate his garden,” study philosophy,
and enjoy the fellowship of a few congenial friends.
A more radically defeatist philosophy was that propounded by
the Skeptics. Skepticism reached the zenith of its popularity about
200 b.c. under the influence of Carneades. The chief source of its in-
227
THE HELLENISTIC spiration was the Sophist teaching that all knowledge is derived from
CIVILIZATION sense perception and therefore must be limited and relative. From
this was deduced the conclusion that we cannot prove anything.
Since the impressions of our senses deceive us, no truth can be cer¬
The defeatist tain. All we can say is that things appear to be such and such; we do
philosophy of the not know what they really are. We have no definite knowledge of
Skeptics
the supernatural, of the meaning of life, or even of right and wrong.
It follows that the sensible course to pursue is suspension of judg¬
ment; this alone can lead to happiness. If man will abandon the fruit¬
less quest for absolute truth and cease worrying about good and evil,
he will attain that equanimity of mind which is the highest satisfac¬
tion that life affords. The Skeptics were even less concerned than the
Epicureans with political and social problems. Their ideal was the
typically Hellenistic one of escape for the individual from a world
he could neither understand nor reform.
The nonrational trend in Hellenistic thought reached its farthest
extreme in the philosophies of Philo Judaeus and the Neo-Pythag-
The new religious oreans in the last century b.c. and the first century a.d. The propo¬
philosophies nents of the two systems were in general agreement as to their basic
teachings, especially in their predominantly religious viewpoint.
They believed in a transcendent God so far removed from the
world as to be utterly unknowable to mortal minds. They conceived
the universe as being sharply divided between spirit and matter.
They considered everything physical and material as evil; man’s soul
is imprisoned in his body, from which an escape can be effected
only through rigorous denial and mortification of the flesh. Their
attitude was mystical and nonintellectual: truth comes neither from
science nor from reason but from revelation. Philo maintained that
the books of the Old Testament were of absolute divine authority
and contained all truth; the ultimate aim in life is to accomplish a
mystic union with God, to lose one’s self in the divine. Both Philo
and the Neo-Pythagoreans influenced the development of Christian
theology—Philo, in particular, with his dualism of matter and spirit
and his doctrine of the Logos, or highest intermediary between God
and the universe.
Hellenistic literature is significant mainly fot the light it throws
upon the character of the civilization. Most of the writings showed
The profusion of little originality or depth of thought. But they poured forth from
ephemeral litera¬ the hands of the copyists in a profusion that is almost incredible
ture
when we consider that the art of printing by movable type was un¬
known. The names of at least uoo authors have been discovered al¬
ready, and more are being added from year to year. Much of what
they wrote was trash, comparable to some of the cheap novels of our
own day. Nevertheless, there were several works of more than
mediocre quality and a few which met the highest standards ever set
by the Greeks.
The leading types of Hellenistic poetry were the drama, the
228 pastoral, and the mime. Drama was almost exclusively comedy, rep-
resented mainly by the plays of Menander. His plays were entirely PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE,
different from the comedy of Aristophanes. They were distin¬ AND ART
guished by naturalism rather than by satire, by preoccupation with
the seamy side of life rather than with political or intellectual issues.
Their dominant theme was romantic love, with its pains and pleas¬ Hellenistic poetry
ures, its intrigues and seductions, and its culmination in happy mar¬
riage. The greatest author of pastorals and mimes was Theocritus of
Syracuse, who wrote in the first half of the third century b.c. His
pastorals, as the name implies, celebrate the charm of life in the
country and idealize the simple pleasures of rustic folk. The mimes,
on the other hand, portray in colorful dialogue the squabbles,' ambi¬
tions, and varied activities of the bourgeoisie in the great metropoli¬
tan cities.
The field of prose literature was dominated by the historians, the
biographers, and the authors of utopias. By far the ablest of the
writers of history was Polybius of Megalopolis, who lived during Historians, bi¬
the second century b.c. From the standpoint of his scientific ap¬ ographers, and
authors of utopias
proach and his zeal for truth, he probably deserves to be ranked sec¬
ond only to Thucydides among all the historians in ancient times;
but he excelled Thucydides in his grasp of the importance of social
and economic forces. Although most of the biographies were of a
light and gossipy character, their tremendous popularity bears elo¬
quent testimony to the literary tastes of the time. Even more signifi¬
cant was the popularity of the utopias, or descriptive accounts of
ideal states. Virtually all of them depicted a life of social and eco¬
nomic equality, free from greed, oppression, and strife, on an
imaginary island or in some distant, unfamiliar region. Generally in
these paradises money was considered to be unknown, trade was
prohibited, all property was held in common, and all men were re¬
quired to work with their hands in producing the necessaries of life.
We are probably justified in assuming that the profusion of this
utopian literature was a direct result of the evils and injustices of
Hellenistic society and a consciousness of the need for reform.
Hellenistic art did not preserve all of the characteristic qualities of
the art of the Greeks. In place of the humanism, balance, and re¬
straint which had distinguished the architecture and sculpture of the Hellenistic art

Golden Age, qualities of exaggerated realism, sensationalism, and

voluptuousness now became dominant. The simple and dignified
Doric and Ionic temples gave way to luxurious palaces, costly man¬
sions, and elaborate public buildings and monuments symbolical of
power and wealth. A typical example was the great lighthouse of See color
Alexandria, which rose to a height of nearly 400 feet, with three plates at page
diminishing stories and eight columns to support the light at the top. 224
Sculpture likewise exhibited tendencies in the direction of extrava¬
gance and sentimentality. Many of the statues and figures in relief
were huge and some of them almost grotesque. Violent emotional¬
ism and exaggerated realism were features common to the majority.
But by no means all of Hellenistic sculpture was over-wrought and 229
 The Dying Gaul. A good example of Hellenistic realism in sculpture, which
often reflected a preoccupation with the morbid and sensational. Every de¬
tail of the warrior’s agony is dramatically portrayed. Now in the Capitoline
Museum, Rome.

grotesque. Some of it was distinguished by a calmness and poise and

compassion for human suffering reminiscent of the best work of the
great fourth-century artists. Statutes which exemplify these superior
qualities include the Aphrodite of Melos (Venus de Milo) and the
Winged Victory of Samothrace.

4. THE FIRST GREAT AGE OF SCIENCE

The most brilliant age in the history of science prior to the seven¬
teenth century a.d. was the period of the Hellenistic civilization. In¬
Factors deed, many of the achievements of the modern age would scarcely
responsible for have been possible without the discoveries of the scientists of Alex¬
the remarkable
andria, Syracuse, Pergamum, and other great cities of the Hellenistic
progress of sci
ence
world. The reasons for the phenomenal development of science in
the centuries after the downfall of Alexander’s empire are not difficult
to discover. Alexander himself had given some financial encourage¬
ment to the progress of research. More important was the stimulus
provided for intellectual inquiry by the fusion of Chaldean and Egyp-
tion science with the learning of the Greeks. Possibly a third factor
was the new interest in luxury and comfort and the demand for
practical knowledge which would enable man to solve the problems
of a disordered and unsatisfying existence.
The most popular The sciences which received major attention in the Hellenistic
sciences Age were astronomy, mathematics, geography, medicine, and
physics. Chemistry, aside from metallurgy, was practically un¬
230 known. Except for the work of Theophrastus, who was the first to
recognize the sexuality of plants, biology was also largely neglected. THE FIRST GREAT AGE
Neither chemistry nor biology bore any definite relationship to OF SCIENCE
trade or to the forms of industry then in existence, and apparently
they were not regarded as having much practical value.
The most renowned of the earlier astronomers of this time was
Aristarchus of Samos (310-230 b.c.), who is sometimes called the
“Hellenistic Copernicus.” His chief title to fame comes from his de- Astronomy

duction that the earth and the other planets revolve around the sun.
Unfortunately this deduction was not accepted by his successors. It
conflicted with the teachings of Aristotle and with the anthropocen¬
tric ideas of the Greeks. Besides, it was not in harmony with the
beliefs of the Jews and other Orientals who made up so large a per¬
centage of the Hellenistic population. The only other astronomer of
much importance in the Hellenistic Age was Hipparchus, who did
his most valuable work in Alexandria in the latter half of the second
century b.c. His chief contributions were the invention of the astro¬
labe and the approximately correct calculation of the diameter of the
moon and its distance from the earth. His fame was eventually over¬
shadowed, however, by the reputation of Ptolemy of Alexandria, the
last of the Hellenistic astronomers. Although Ptolemy made few
original discoveries, he systematized the work of others. His principal
writing, the Almagest, based upon the geocentric theory, was
handed down to medieval Europe as the classic summary of ancient
astronomy.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

In this figure and in the Venus de
Milo, Hellenistic sculptors preserved
some of the calmness and devotion to
grace and proportion characteristic
of Hellenic art in the Golden Age.
Now in the Louvre.
231
THE HELLENISTIC Closely allied with astronomy were two other sciences, mathe¬
CIVILIZATION matics and geography. The Hellenistic mathematician of greatest
renown was, of course, Euclid (ca. 323-^. 285 b.c.), erroneously
considered the founder of geometry. Until the middle of the nine¬
Mathematics and teenth century his Elements of Geometry remained the accepted
geography basis for the study of that branch of mathematics. Much of the ma¬
terial in this work was not original but was a synthesis of the dis¬
coveries of others. The most original of the Hellenistic mathemati¬
cians was probably Hipparchus, who laid the foundations of both
plane and spherical trigonometry. Hellenistic geography owed most
of its development to Eratosthenes (ca. 27 6-ca. 195 b.c.), astrono¬
mer, poet, philologist, and librarian of Alexandria. By means of sun
dials placed some hundreds of miles apart, he calculated the circum¬
ference of the earth with an error of less than 200 miles. He pro¬
duced the most accurate map that had yet been devised, with the
surface of the earth divided into degrees of latitude and longitude.
He propounded the theory that all of the oceans are really one, and
he was the first to suggest the possibility of reaching India by sailing
west. One of his successors divided the earth into the five climatic
zones which are still recognized, and explained the ebb and flow of
the tides as due to the influence of the moon.
Perhaps none of the Hellenistic advances in science surpassed in
importance the progress in medicine. Especially significant was the
Medicine: the work of Herophilus of Chalcedon, who conducted his researches in
development of Alexandria about the beginning of the second century. Without ques¬
anatomy
tion he was the greatest anatomist of antiquity and, according to
Galen, the first to practice human dissection. Among his most im¬
portant achievements were a detailed description of the brain, with
an attempt to distinguish between the functions of its various parts;
the discovery of the significance of the pulse and its use in diagnos¬
ing illness; and the discovery that the arteries contain blood alone,
not a mixture of blood and air as Aristotle had taught, and that their
function is to carry blood from the heart to all parts of the body.
The value of this last discovery in laying the basis for a knowledge
of the circulation of the blood can hardly be overestimated.
The ablest of the colleagues of Herophilus was Erasistratus, who
flourished in Alexandria about the middle of the third century. He
Physiology is considered the founder of physiology as a separate science. Not
only did he practice dissection, but he is believed to have gained a
great deal of his knowledge of bodily functions from vivisection.
He discovered the valves of the heart, distinguished between motor
and sensory nerves, and taught that the ultimate branches of the
arteries and veins are connected. He was the first to reject abso¬
lutely the humoral theory of disease and to condemn excessive
blood-letting as a method of cure. Unfortunately this theory was
revived by Galen, the great encyclopedist of medicine who lived in
232 the Roman Empire in the second century a.d.
 Prior to the third century b.c. physics had been a branch of phi¬ RELIGION IN THE
losophy. It was made a separate experimental science by Archimedes HELLENISTIC AGE
of Syracuse (ca. 287-212 b.c.). Archimedes discovered the law of
floating bodies, or specific gravity, and formulated with scientific
exactness the principles of the lever, the pulley, and the screw. Physics

Among his memorable inventions were the compound pulley, the

tubular screw for pumping water, the screw propeller for ships, and
the burning lens. Although he has been called the “technical Yankee
of antiquity,” there is evidence that he set no high value upon his
ingenious mechanical contraptions and preferred to devote his time
to pure scientific research.
Certain other individuals in the Hellenistic Age were quite willing
to give all their attention to applied science. Preeminent among
them was Hero or Heron of Alexandria, who lived in the last cen¬ Applied science

tury b.c. The record of inventions credited to him almost passes be¬
lief. The list includes a fire engine, a siphon, a jet engine, a hydraulic
organ, a slot machine, and a catapult operated by compressed air.
How many of these inventions were really his own is impossible to
say, but there appears to be no question that such contrivances were
actually in existence in his time or soon thereafter. Nevertheless, the
total progress in applied science was comparatively slight, probably
for the reason that human labor continued to be so abundant and
cheap that it was not worthwhile to substitute the work of machines.

5. RELIGION IN THE HELLENISTIC AGE

If there was one aspect of the Hellenistic civilization which

served more than others to accent the contrast with Hellenic cul¬
ture, it was the new trend in religion. The civic religion of the The new trend in

Greeks as it was in the age of the city-states had now almost entirely religion

disappeared. For the majority of the intellectuals its place was taken
by the philosophies of Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism.
Some who were less philosophically inclined turned to the worship
of Fortune or became followers of dogmatic atheism.
Among the masses a tendency to embrace emotional religions was
even more clearly manifest. The Orphic and Eleusinian mystery
cults attracted more votaries than ever before. The worship of the The popularity of
mystic religions
Egyptian mother-goddess, Isis, threatened for a time to become
dominant throughout the Near Orient. The astral religion of the
Chaldeans likewise spread rapidly, with the result that its chief
product, astrology, was received with fanatical enthusiasm through¬
out the Hellenistic world. But the most powerful influence of all
came from the offshoots of Zoroastrianism, especially from Mith-
raism and Gnosticism. While all of the cults of Oriental origin re¬
sembled each other in their promises of salvation in a life to come,
Mithraism and Gnosticism had a more ethically significant mythol¬
ogy, a deeper contempt for this world, and a more clearly defined 233
THE HELLENISTIC doctrine of redemption through a personal savior. These were the
CIVILIZATION ideas which satisfied the emotional cravings of the common people,
convinced as they were of the worthlessness of this life and ready to
be lured by extravagant promises of better things in a world to
come. If we can judge by conditions in our own time, some of the
doctrines of these cults must have exerted their influence upon
members of the upper classes also. Even the most casual observer of
modern society knows that pessimism, mysticism, and otherworldli¬
ness are not confined to the downtrodden. In some cases the keenest
disgust with this life and the deepest mystical yearnings are to be
found among those whose pockets bulge with plenty.
A factor by no means unimportant in the religious developments
of the Hellenistic Age was the dispersion of the Jews. As a result of
The influence of Alexander’s conquest of Palestine in 332 b.c. and the Roman con¬
the Jews quest about three centuries later, thousands of Jews migrated to
various sections of the Mediterranean world. It has been estimated
that 1,000,000 of them lived in Egypt in the first century a.d. and
200,000 in Asia Minor. They mingled freely with other peoples,

adopting the Greek language and no small amount of the Hellenic

culture which still survived from earlier days. At the same time they
played a major part in the diffusion of Oriental beliefs. Their reli¬
gion had already taken on a spiritual and messianic character as a re¬
sult of Persian influence. Their leading philosopher of this time,
Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, developed a body of doctrine repre¬
senting the farthest extreme which mysticism had yet attained.
Many of the Hellenistic Jews eventually became converts to Chris¬
tianity and were largely instrumental in the spread of that religion
outside of Palestine. A notable example, of course, was Saul of
Tarsus, known in Christian history as the Apostle Paul.

6. A FORETASTE OF MODERNITY?

With the possible exception of the Roman, no great culture of

ancient times appears to suggest the spirit of the modern age quite
Hellenistic so emphatically as does the Hellenistic civilization. Here as in the
civilization com¬ world of the twentieth century were to be found a considerable
pared with that
variety of forms of government, the growth of militarism, a decline
of the modern
age
of respect for democracy, and a trend in the direction of authori¬
tarian rule. Many of the characteristic economic and social develop¬
ments of the Hellenistic Age are equally suggestive of contempo¬
rary experience: the growth of big business, the expansion of trade,
the zeal for exploration and discovery, the interest in mechanical in¬
ventions, the devotion to comfort and the craze for material pros¬
perity, the growth of metropolitan cities with congested slums, and
the widening gulf between rich and poor. In the realms of intellect
and art the Elellenistic civilization also bore a distinctly modern
234 flavor. This was exemplified by the exaggerated emphasis upon sci-
Statue of an Old Market
Woman. In the Hellenistic
Age the idealism and restraint
of Hellenic art were succeeded
by a tendency to portray the
humble aspects of life and to
express compassion for human
suffering. Original in the Met¬
ropolitan Museum of Art, New
York.

ence, the narrow specialization of learning, the penchant for realism

and naturalism, the vast production of mediocre literature, and the
popularity of mysticism side by side with extreme skepticism and
dogmatic unbelief.
Because of these resemblances there has been a tendency among
certain writers to regard our own civilization as decadent. But this is
based partly upon the false assumption that the Hellenistic culture Basic differences

was merely a degenerate phase of Greek civilization. Instead, it was a

new social and cultural organism born of a fusion of Greek and Near
Eastern elements. Moreover, the differences between the Hellenis¬
tic civilization and that of the contemporary world are perhaps just
as important as the resemblances. The Hellenistic political outlook
was essentially cosmopolitan; nothing comparable to the national
patriotism of modern times really prevailed. Despite the remarkable
expansion of trade in the Hellenistic Age, no industrial revolution
ever took place, for reasons which have already been noted. Finally,
Hellenistic science was somewhat more limited than that of the
present day. Modern pure science is to a very large extent a species
of philosophy—an adventure of the mind in the realm of the un¬
known. Notwithstanding frequent assertions to the contrary, much
of it is gloriously impractical and will probably remain so. 235
READINGS SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated arc available in paperbound editions.

Bamm, Peter, Alexander the Great: Power as Destiny, New York, 1968.
• Burn, A.R., Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World, New York,
1962 (Collier).
• Bury, J. B., and others, The Hellenistic Age, New York, 1923.
Cary, Max, The Legacy of Alexander: A History of the Greek World frenn
323 to 146 B.C., New York, 1932.
• Clagett, Marshall, Greek Science in Antiquity, New York, 1963 (Collier).
Festugiere, A. J., Epicurus and His Gods, Cambridge, Mass., 1956.
• Finley, M.I., The Ancient Greeks: An Introduction to Their Life and
Thought, New York, 1963 (Compass).
• Grant, F. C., Hellenistic Religions, New York, 1963 (Library of Liberal Arts).
• Hadas, Moses, Hellenistic Culture, New York, 1959 (Norton Library).
• Hamilton, Edith, The Echo of Greece, New York, 1964 (Norton Library).
• Larsen, J. A. O., Representative Government in Greek and Roman History,
Berkeley, 1955 (University of California).
Starr, C. G., A History of the Ancient World, New York, 1964.
• Tarn, W. W., Alexander the Great, Boston, 1956 (Beacon).
• --, Hellenistic Civilization, New York, 1952 (Meridian).
Vermeule, Emily, Greece in the Bronze Age, Chicago, 1964.
• Wilcken, Ulrich, Alexander the Great, New York, 1967 (Norton Library).

SOURCE MATERIALS

Greek source materials for the Hellenistic period are available in the appro¬
priate volumes of the Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press.

236
 CHAPTER 10
Roman Civilization

Like Hercules, citizens, they said just now

He had sought the laurel at the cost of death:
Returning from Spain, seeking his household gods,
Caesar has conquered.

After sacrifice to the just gods, let his

wife come forth, happy for her matchless husband,
And the sister of our famous leader, and,
Wearing the bands of

Suppliants, mothers of young men and maidens

Who are now safe . . .
—Horace, Odes, Ill.xiv

Long before the glory of Greece had begun to fade, another civili¬
zation, derived in large measure from that of the Greeks, had started
its growth on the banks of the Tiber in Italy. In fact, by the time The rise of Rome

the Greeks had entered their Golden Age, Rome was already a
dominant power on the Italian peninsula. For more than six cen¬
turies thereafter her might increased, and she still maintained her
supremacy over the civilized world when the glory of Greece was
no more than a memory.
But the Romans never equaled the Greeks in intellectual or artis¬
tic accomplishments. The reasons may have been partly geographic.
Except for some excellent marble and small quantities of copper, Why Roman

gold, and iron, Italy has no mineral resources. Her extensive coast civilization was
generally inferior
line is broken by only two good harbors, Tarentum and Naples. On
to that of the
the other hand, the amount of her fertile land is much larger than Greeks
that of Greece. As a consequence, the Romans were destined
to remain a predominantly agrarian people through the greater
part of their history. They never enjoyed the intellectual stimulus
which comes from extensive trading with other nations. In addition,
the topography of Italy is such that the peninsula was more easily
accessible to invasion than was Greece. The Alps opposed no effec¬
tual barrier to the influx of peoples from central Europe, and the 237
ROMAN CIVILIZATION low-lying coast in many places invited conquest by sea. As a result,
domination of the country by force was more common than peace¬
ful intermingling of immigrants with original settlers. The Romans
became absorbed in military pursuits almost from the moment of
their settlement on Italian soil, for they were forced to defend their
own conquests against other invaders.

I. FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE OVERTHROW

OF THE MONARCHY

Archaeological evidence indicates that Italy was inhabited at least

as far back as the Upper Paleolithic Age. At this time the territory
The earliest in¬ was occupied by a people closely related to the Cro-Magnon race of
habitants of Italy southern France. In the Neolithic period people of Mediterranean
stock entered the land, some coming in from northern Africa and
others from Spain and Gaul. The beginning of the Bronze Age wit¬
nessed several new incursions. From north of the Alps came the
first of the immigrants of the Indo-European language group. They
were herdsmen and farmers, who brought the horse and the wheeled
cart into Italy. Their culture was based upon the use of bronze,
although after 1000 b.c. they appear to have acquired a knowledge
of iron. These Indo-Europeans seem to have been the ancestors of
most of the so-called Italic peoples, including the Romans. Racially
they were probably related to the Hellenic invaders of Greece.
Probably during the eighth century b.c. two other nations of
immigrants occupied different portions of the Italian peninsula: the
The Etruscans Etruscans and the Greeks. Where the Etruscans came from is a
and the Greeks question which has never been satisfactorily answered. Most au¬
thorities believe that they were natives of some part of the Near
Orient, probably Asia Minor. Although their writing has never been
completely deciphered, enough materials survive to indicate the
nature of their culture. They had an alphabet based upon the Greek,
a high degree of skill in the metallurgical arts, a flourishing trade
with the East, and a religion based upon the worship of gods in hu-

An Etruscan Sarcophagus. The Etruscans often depicted social events, sports,

funeral banquets, and processions, either in painting or relief, on their tombs.
Seen here are preparations for a funeral.
 ' -f

Sarcophagus. This Etruscan

work of the fourth century
b.c., located in the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston, depicts a
husband and wife.

man form. They bequeathed to the Romans a knowledge of the

arch and the vault, the practice of divination, and the cruel
amusement of gladiatorial combats. The Etruscans established a
great empire in the sixth century that included Latium, the Po valley,
and Campania. The Greeks located mainly along the southern and
southwestern shores of Italy and on the island of Sicily. Their most
important settlements were Tarentum, Syracuse, and Naples, each
of which was an entirely independent city-state. From the Greeks
the Romans derived their alphabet, a number of their religious con¬
cepts, and much of their art and mythology.
The actual founders of Rome were Italic peoples who lived in the
district of Latium south of the Tiber River. Though the exact year
of the founding of the city is unknown, recent archaeological re¬ The founding of

search places the event quite near the traditional date of 753 b.c. Rome

Latium included a number of towns, but Rome, by reason of its stra¬

tegic location, soon came to exercise an effective suzerainty over
several of the most important of them. One conquest followed an¬
other until, by the end of the sixth century b.c., the territory domin¬
ated by the Roman state was probably coextensive with the whole
Latin plain from the slopes of the Apennines to the Mediterranean
Sea.
The political evolution of Rome in this early period resembled in
some ways the governmental development of the Greek communi¬
ties in the formative stage of their history. But it was far from being
the same. The Romans appear from the first to have had a much
stronger interest in authority and stability than in liberty or democ¬
racy. Their state was essentially an application of the idea of the
patriarchal family to the whole community, with the king exercis¬ Etruscan Bust of Jove
ing a jurisdiction over his subjects comparable to that of the head of
the family over the members of his household. But just as the au¬
thority of the father was limited by custom and by the requirement 239
ROMAN CIVILIZATION that he respect the wishes of his adult sons, the sovereignty of the
king was limited by the ancient constitution, which he was power¬
less to change without the consent of the chief men of the realm.
His prerogatives were not primarily legislative but executive and
The government judicial. He punished men for infractions of order, usually by inflic¬
of Rome under tion of the death penalty or by flogging. He judged all civil and
the monarchy;
criminal cases, but he had no authority to pardon without the con¬
the powers of the
sent of the assembly. Although his accession to office had to be
king
confirmed by the people, he could not be deposed, and there was no
one who could really challenge the exercise of his regal powers.
In addition to the kingship the Roman government of this time
included an assembly and a Senate. The former was composed of all
The Senate and the male citizens of military age. As one of the chief sources of sov¬
the assembly ereign power, according to the theory, this body had an absolute
veto on any proposal for a change in the law which the king might
make. Besides, it determined whether pardons should be granted and
whether aggressive war should be declared. But it was essentially a
ratifying body with no right to initiate legislation or recommend
changes of policy. Its members could not even speak except when
invited to do so by the king. The Senate, or council of elders, com¬
prised in its membership the heads of the various clans which
formed the community. Even more than the common citizens, the
rulers of the clans embodied the sovereign power of the state. The
king was only one of their number to whom they had delegated the
active exercise of their authority. When the royal office became
vacant, the powers of the king immediately reverted to the Senate
until the succession of a new monarch had been confirmed by the
people. In ordinary times the chief function of the Senate was to
examine proposals of the king which had been ratified by the assem¬
bly and to veto them if they violated rights established by ancient
custom. It was thus almost impossible for fundamental changes to be
made in the law even when the majority of the citizens were ready
to sanction them. This extremely conservative attitude of the ruling
classes persisted until the end of Roman history.
Toward the end of the sixth century b.c. senatorial jealousy of the
kings increased to such a point that the monarchy was overthrown
The overthrow of and an oligarchic republic set up. While the real nature of this revo¬
the monarchy lution was doubtless a movement of the aristocracy to gain supreme
power for itself, factors of nationalism may also have played some
part in it. Tradition relates that the last of the Roman kings was an
Etruscan, whose family, the Tarquins, had usurped the royal office
some years before. The Romans of later centuries described in lurid
fashion the wicked deeds of these rulers and implied that the over¬
throw of the monarchy was due primarily to a revolt against alien
oppressors. In any event the Etruscan empire was already in a state
of decay. Its collapse made easier the establishment of Roman domi¬
240 nance in Italy.
2. THE EARLY REPUBLIC

The history of the Roman Republic for more than two centuries
after its establishment was one of almost constant warfare. The
causes which led to the series of conflicts are not easy to untangle. It The origins of

is possible that the overthrow of the Tarquins resulted in acts of Roman imperi¬
alism
reprisal by their kinsmen in neighboring countries. It is conceivable
also that other nations on the borders took advantage of the confu¬
sion accompanying the revolution to slice off portions of Roman
territory. But doubtless the compelling reason was desire for more
land. The Romans were already a proud and aggressive people with
a rapidly growing population. As the number of the inhabitants in¬
creased, the need for outlets into new territory became ever more
urgent. Their final conquests included the Greek cities in the south¬
ernmost portion of Italy. Not only did these add to the Roman do¬
main, but they also brought the Romans into fruitful contact with
Greek culture. The Romans were then frequently confronted with
revolts of peoples previously conquered. The suppression of these
revolts awakened the suspicions of surrounding states and sharpened
the appetite of the victors for further triumphs. New wars followed
each other in what seemed an unending succession, until by 265 B.c.
Rome had conquered the entire Italian peninsula, with the exception
of the Po valley.
This long series of military conflicts had profound social and eco¬
nomic effects upon the subsequent history of Rome. It affected ad¬
versely the interests of the poorer citizens and furthered the con¬ Effects of the
centration of land in the possession of wealthy proprietors. Long early military
conflicts
service in the army forced the ordinary farmers to neglect the culti¬
vation of the soil, with the result that they fell into debt and
frequently lost their farms. Many took refuge in the city, until they
were settled later as tenants on great estates in the conquered terri¬
tories. The wars had the effect also of confirming the agrarian char¬
acter of the Roman nation. The repeated acquisition of new lands
made it possible to absorb the entire population into agricultural
pursuits. As a consequence there was no need for the development
of industry and commerce as means of earning a livelihood. Lastly,
as in the case of Sparta, the Roman wars of conquest enslaved the
nation to the military ideal.
During this same period of the early Republic, Rome underwent
some significant political changes. These were not products so much
of the revolution of the sixth century as of the developments of Political changes

later years. The revolution which overthrew the monarchy was following the
overthrow of the
about as conservative as it is possible for a revolution to be. Its chief
monarchy
effect was to substitute two elected consuls for the king and to exalt
the position of the Senate by vesting it with control over the public
funds and with a veto on all actions of the assembly. The consuls
themselves were usually senators and acted as the agents of their 241
ROMAN CIVILIZATION class. They did not rule jointly, but each was supposed to possess
the full executive and judicial authority which had previously been
wielded by the king. If a conflict arose between them, the Senate
might be called upon to decide; or, in time of grave emergency, a
dictator might be appointed for a term not greater than six months.
In other respects the government remained the same as in the days
of the monarchy.
Not long after the establishment of the Republic a struggle began
by the common citizens for a larger share of political power. Before
The struggle be¬ the end of the monarchy the Roman population had come to be di¬
tween patricians vided into two great classes—the patricians and the plebeians. The
and plebeians
former were the aristocracy, wealthy landowners, who were appar¬
ently the descendants of the old clan leaders. They monopolized the
seats in the Senate and the offices of magistracy. The plebeians were
the common people—small farmers, craftsmen, and tradesmen.
Many were clients or dependents of the patricians, obliged to fight
for them, to render them political support, and to cultivate their
estates in return for protection. The grievances of the plebeians
were numerous. Compelled to pay heavy taxes and forced to serve
in the army in time of war, they were nevertheless excluded from
all part in the government except membership in the assembly.
Moreover, they felt themselves the victims of discriminatory deci¬
sions in judicial trials. They did not even know what legal rights
they were supposed to enjoy, for the laws were unwritten, and no
one but the consuls had the power to interpret them. In suits for
debt the creditor was frequently allowed to sell the debtor into
slavery. It was in order to obtain a redress of these grievances that
the plebeians rebelled soon after the beginning of the fifth century
B.C.

The plebeians gained their first victory about 470 b.c., when they
forced the patricians to agree to the election of a number of
The victories of tribunes with power to protect the citizens by means of a veto over
the plebeians unlawful acts of the magistrates. This victory was followed by a
successful demand for codification of the laws about 450 b.c. The
result was the publication of the famous Law of the Twelve Tables,
so called because it was written on tablets of wood. Although the
Twelve Tables came to be revered by the Romans of later times as a
kind of charter of the people’s liberties, they were really nothing of
the sort. For the most part they merely perpetuated ancient custom
without even abolishing enslavement for debt. They did, however,
enable the people to know where they stood in relation to the law,
and they permitted an appeal to the assembly against a magistrate’s
sentence of capital punishment. About a generation later the plebei¬
ans won eligibility to positions as lesser magistrates, and about 366
b.c. the first plebeian consul was elected. Since ancient custom pro¬

vided that, upon completing their term of office, consuls should

242 automatically enter the Senate, the patrician monopoly of seats in
that body was broken. The final plebeian victory came in 287 b.c. THE EARLY REPUBLIC
with the passage of the Hortensian Law (named for the dictator
Quintus Hortensius), which provided that measures enacted by the
assembly should become binding upon the state whether the Senate
approved them or not.
The significance of these changes must not be misinterpreted.
They did not constitute a revolution to gain more liberty for the
individual but merely to curb the power of the magistrates and to Significance of
win for the common man a larger share in government. The state as the plebeian

a w hole remained as despotic as ever, for its authority over the citi¬ victories

zens was not even challenged. As Theodor Mommsen says, the Ro¬
mans from the time of the Tarquins to that of the Gracchi “never
really abandoned the principle that the people were not to govern
but to be governed.” 1 Because of this attitude the grant of full
legislative powders to the assembly seems to have meant little more
than a formality; the Senate continued to rule as before. Nor did the
admission of plebeians to membership in the Senate have any effect
in liberalizing that body. So high was its prestige and so deep was
the veneration of the Roman for authority, that the new members
were soon swallowed up in the conservatism of the old. Moreover,
the fact that the magistrates received no salaries prevented most of
the poorer citizens from seeking public office.
Intellectually and socially the Romans appear to have made but
slow advancement as yet. The times were still harsh and crude.
Though writing had been adopted as early as the sixth century, little Roman society

use was made of it except for the copying of laws, treaties, and and culture still
rather primitive
funerary inscriptions and orations. Inasmuch as education was lim¬
ited to instruction imparted by the father in manly sports, practical
arts, and soldierly virtues, probably the great majority of the people
were still illiterate. War and agriculture continued as the chief
occupations for the bulk of the citizens. A few craftsmen were to be
found in the cities, and a minor development of trade had occurred,
evidenced by the founding of a maritime colony at Ostia on the
coast in the fourth century. But the comparative insignificance of
Roman commerce at this time is pretty clearly revealed by the fact
that the country had no standard system of coinage until 269 b.c.
The period of the early Republic was the period when the Roman
religion assumed the character it was destined to retain through the
greater part of the nation’s history. In several ways this religion re¬ The religion of
sembled the religion of the Greeks, partly for the reason that the the Romans com¬
pared with that
Etruscan religion was deeply indebted to the Greek, and the Ro¬
of the Greeks
mans, in turn, were influenced by the Etruscans. Both the Greek
and Roman religions were worldly and practical with neither spir¬
itual nor ethical content. The relation of man to the gods was exter¬
nal and mechanical, partaking of the nature of a bargain or contract

1 The History of Rome, I. 313. 243

ROMAN CIVILIZATION between two parties for their mutual advantage. The deities in
both religions performed similar functions: Jupiter corresponded
roughly to Zeus as god of the sky, Minerva to Athena as goddess of
wisdom and patroness of craftsmen, Venus to Aphrodite as goddess
of love, Neptune to Poseidon as god of the sea, and so on. The
Roman religion no more than the Greek had any dogmas or sacra¬
ments or belief in rewards and punishments in an afterlife.
But there were significant differences also. The Roman religion
was distinctly more political and less humanistic in purpose. It
Contrasts with served not to glorify man or to make him feel at home in his world
Greek religion but to protect the state from its enemies and to augment its power
and prosperity. The gods were less anthropomorphic; indeed, it was
only as a result of Greek and Etruscan influences that they were
made personal deities at all, having previously been worshiped as
numina or animistic spirits. The Romans never conceived of their
deities as quarreling among themselves or mingling with human
beings after the fashion of the Homeric divinities. Finally, the
Roman religion contained a much stronger element of priestliness
than the Greek. The priests, or pontiffs as they were called, formed
an organized class, a branch of the government itself. They not only
supervised the offering of sacrifices, but they were guardians of an
elaborate body of sacred traditions and laws which they alone could
interpret. It must be understood, however, that these pontiffs were
not priests in the sense of intermediaries between the individual
Roman and his gods; they heard no confessions, forgave no sins, and
administered no sacraments.
The morality of the Romans in this as in later periods had almost
no connection with religion. The Roman did not ask his gods to
Morality in the make him good, but to bestow upon the community and upon his
early Republic family material blessings. Morality was a matter of patriotism and of
respect for authority and tradition. The chief virtues were bravery,
honor, self-discipline, reverence for the gods and for one’s ances¬
tors, and duty to country and family. Loyalty to the state took
precedence over everything else. For the good of the state the citi¬
zen must be ready to sacrifice not only his own life but, if neces¬
sary, the lives of his family and friends. The courage of certain con¬
suls who dutifully put their sons to death for breaches of military
discipline was a subject of profound admiration. Few peoples in Eu¬
ropean history with the exception of the Spartans and perhaps the
modern Germans have ever taken the problems of national interest
so seriously or subordinated the individual so completely to the
good of the state.

3. THE FATEFUL WARS WITH CARTHAGE

By 265 b.c., as we have already learned, Rome had conquered and

annexed the whole of Italy, except for the Po valley. Proud and
244 confident of her strength, she was almost certain to strike out into
new fields of empire. The prosperous island of Sicily was not yet THE FATEFUL WARS
within her grasp, nor could she regard with indifference the situa¬ WITH CARTHAGE
tion in other parts of the Mediterranean world. She was now prone
to interpret almost any change in the status quo as a threat to her The beginning of
own power and security. It was for such reasons that Rome after imperialism on a

264 b.c. became involved in a series of wars with other great nations major scale

which decidedly altered the course of her history.

The first and most important of these wars was the struggle with
Carthage, a great maritime empire that stretched along the northern
coast of Africa from Numidia to the Strait of Gibraltar. Carthage Carthage

had originally been founded about 800 b.c. as a Phoenician colony.

In the sixth century it severed its ties with the homeland and gradu¬
ally developed into a rich and powerful nation. The prosperity of its
upper classes was founded upon commerce and upon exploitation of
the silver and tin resources of Spain and Britain and the tropical
products of north central Africa. Conditions within the country
were far from ideal. The Carthaginians appear to have had no con¬
ception of free and orderly government. Bribery and oppression
were methods regularly employed by the plutocracy to maintain its
dominant position. The form of government itself can best be de¬
scribed as an oligarchy. At the head of the system were two magis¬
trates, or suffetes, who exercised powers approximating those of the
Roman consuls. The real governors, however, were thirty merchant
princes who constituted an inner council of the Senate. These men
controlled elections and dominated every other branch of the gov¬
ernment. The remaining 270 members of the Senate appear to have
been summoned to meet only on special occasions. In spite of these
political deficiencies and a gloomy and cruel religion, Carthage had
a civilization superior in luxury and scientific attainment to that of
Rome when the struggle between the two countries began.
The initial clash with Carthage began in 264 b.c.2 The primary
cause was Roman jealousy over Carthaginian expansion in Sicily.
Carthage already controlled the western portion of the island and Causes of the
was threatening the Greek cities of Syracuse and Messana on the First Punic War

eastern coast. If these cities should be captured, all chances of

Roman occupation of Sicily would be cut off. Faced with this dan¬
ger, Rome declared war upon Carthage with the hope of forcing her
back into her African domain. Twenty-three years of fighting
finally brought victory to the Roman generals. Carthage was com¬
pelled to surrender her possessions in Sicily and to pay an indemnity
of 3200 talents, or about 2 /2 million dollars at present silver prices.
But the Romans were unable to stand the strain of this triumph.
They had had to put forth such heroic efforts to win that when vic¬
tory was finally secured it made them more arrogant and greedy The Second

than ever. As a result, the struggle with Carthage was renewed on Punic War

2 The wars with Carthage are known as the Punic Wars. The Romans called
the Carthaginians Poeni, i.e., Phoenicians, whence is derived the adjective
“Punic.” 245
 A Roman Battle Sar¬
cophagus Depicts the
Horrors of War

two different occasions thereafter. In 218 b.c. the Romans inter¬

preted the Carthaginian attempt to rebuild an empire in Spain as a
threat to their interests and responded with a declaration of war.
This struggle raged through a period of sixteen years. Italy was
ravaged by the armies of Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian com¬
mander, whose tactics have been copied by military experts to the
present day. Rome escaped defeat by the narrowest of margins.
Only the durability of her system of alliances in Italy saved the day.
As long as these alliances held, Hannibal dared not besiege the city
of Rome itself for fear of being attacked from the rear. In the end
Carthage was more completely humbled than before. She was com¬
pelled to abandon all her possessions except the capital city and its
surrounding territory in Africa, and to pay an indemnity of 10,000
talents.
Roman vindictiveness and avarice reached their zenith about the
middle of the second century b.c. By this time Carthage had re¬
The Third Punic covered a modicum of her former prosperity—enough to excite the
War and the
envy and fear of her conquerors. Nothing would now satisfy the
destruction of
senatorial magnates but the complete destruction of Carthage and
Carthage
the expropriation of her land. In 149 b.c. the Senate dispatched an
ultimatum demanding that the Carthaginians abandon their city and
settle at least ten miles from the coast. Since this demand was tanta¬
mount to a death sentence for a nation dependent upon commerce,
it was refused—as the Romans probably hoped it would be. The re¬
sult was the Third Punic War, which was fought between 149 and
146 b.c. Seldom has the world witnessed a more desperate and more
barbarous struggle. The final assault upon the city was carried into
the houses of the natives themselves, and a frightful butchery took
place. When the resistance of the Carthaginians was finally broken,
the few citizens who were left to surrender were sold into slavery,
and their once magnificent city was razed to the ground. The land
was organized into a Roman province with the best areas parceled
246 out as senatorial estates.
 The wars with Carthage had momentous effects upon Rome. THE FATEFUL WARS
First, they brought her into conflict with eastern Mediterranean WITH CARTHAGE
powers and thereby paved the way for world dominion. During the
Second Punic War, Philip V of Macedon had entered into an alli¬
ance with Carthage and had plotted with the king of Syria to divide Results of the
Egypt between them. In order to punish Philip and to forestall the wars with
Carthage:
execution of his plans, Rome sent an army into the East. The result
(1) conquest of
was the conquest of Greece and Asia Minor and the establishment
the Hellenistic
of a protectorate over Egypt. Thus before the end of the second East
century b.c. virtually the entire Mediterranean area had been
brought under Roman dominion. The conquest of the Hellenistic
East led to the introduction of semi-Oriental ideas and customs into
Rome. Despite formidable resistance, these ideas and customs ex¬
erted considerable influence in changing some aspects of social and
cultural life.
By far the most important effect of the Punic Wars was a great
social and economic revolution that swept over Rome in the third
and second centuries b.c. The incidents of this revolution may be (2) a social and

enumerated as follows: (i) a marked increase in slavery due to the economic revo¬
lution
capture and sale of prisoners of war; (2) the decline of the small
farmer as a result of the establishment of the plantation system in
conquered areas and the influx of cheap grain from the provinces;
(3) the growth of a helpless city mob composed of impoverished
farmers and workers displaced by slave labor; (4) the appearance of
a middle class comprising merchants, moneylenders, and “publi¬
cans” or men who held government contracts to operate mines,
build roads, or collect taxes; and (5) an increase in luxury and vul¬
gar display, particularly among the parvenus who fattened on the
profits of war.
As a consequence of this social and economic revolution, Rome
was changed from a republic of yeoman farmers into a nation
with a complex society and new habits of luxury and indulgence. The transforma¬

Though property had never been evenly distributed, the gulf which tion of Roman
society
separated rich and poor now yawned more widely than before. The
old-fashioned ideals of discipline and devotion to the service of the
state were sadly weakened, and men began to make pleasure and
wealth their gods. A few members of the senatorial aristocracy ex¬
erted efforts to check the evil tendencies and to restore the homely
virtues of the past. The eminent leader of this movement was Cato
the Elder, who inveighed against the new rich for their soft living
and strove to set an example to his countrymen by performing hard
labor on his farm and dwelling in a house with a dirt floor and no
plaster on the walls. But his efforts had little effect, perhaps because
of his own inconsistencies. He fought everything new, the good as
well as the evil. He staunchly defended slavery and condemned the
humane philosophy of Stoicism. The rich continued to indulge their
expensive tastes and to rival each other in vulgar consumption of 247
ROMAN CIVILIZATION wealth. At the same time public morality decayed. Tax gatherers
plundered the provinces and used their illicit gains to purchase the
votes of the poor. The anarchic masses in the city came to expect
that politicians would feed them and provide for their amusement
with ever more brutal shows. The total effect was so serious that
some authorities date the beginning of Rome’s decline from this pe¬
riod.3

4. THE REVOLUTION OF THE LATE REPUBLIC

The period from the end of the Punic Wars in 146 b.c. to about
30 b.c. was one of the most turbulent in the history of Rome. It was
The new period between these years that the nation reaped the full harvest of the
of turbulence seeds of violence sown during the wars of conquest. Bitter class
conflicts, assassinations, desperate struggles between rival dictators,
wars, and insurrections were the all too common occurrences of this
time. Even the slaves contributed their part to the general disorder:
first, in 104 b.c. when they ravaged Sicily; and again in 73 b.c. when
70,000 of them under the leadership of Spartacus held the consuls at
bay for more than a year. Spartacus was finally slain in battle and
6000 of his followers were captured and crucified.
The first stage in the conflict between classes of citizens began
with the revolt of the Gracchi. The Gracchi were leaders of the
The revolt of the liberal, pro-Hellenic elements in Rome and had the support of the
Gracchi: the land middle classes and a number of influential senators as well. Though
program of
of aristocratic lineage themselves, they earnestly strove for a pro¬
Tiberius
gram of reforms to alleviate the country’s ills. They considered
these to be a result of the decline of the free peasantry, and pro¬
posed the simple remedy of dividing state lands among the landless.
The first of the brothers to take up the cause of reform was
Tiberius. Elected tribune in 133 b.c., he proposed a law that re¬
stricted the current renters or holders of state lands to a maximum
of 620 acres. The excess was to be confiscated by the government
and given to the poor in small plots. Conservative aristocrats bitterly
opposed this proposal and brought about its veto by Tiberius’ col¬
league in the tribunate, Octavius. Tiberius removed Octavius from
office, and when his own term expired, determined to stand for re-
election. Both of these moves were unconstitutional and gave the
conservative senators an excuse for violence. Armed with clubs and
legs of chairs, they went on a rampage during the elections and
murdered Tiberius and 300 of his followers.
Nine years later Gaius Gracchus, the younger brother of Tiber¬
ius, renewed the struggle for reform. Though Tiberius’ land law
had finally been enacted by the Senate, Gaius believed that the
crusade must go further. Elected tribune in 123 b.c., and reelected in

248 3 See D. C. Somervell (ed.), A. J. Toynbee’s A Study of History, I, 258.

 122, he procured the enactment of various laws for the benefit of THE REVOLUTION OF THE
the less privileged. The first provided for stabilizing the price of LATE REPUBLIC
grain in Rome. For this purpose great public granaries were built
along the Tiber River. A second law proposed to extend the fran¬
chise to Roman allies, giving them the rights of Latin citizens. Still a Gaius Gracchus
third gave the middle class the right to make up the juries that tried and the renewed
governors accused of exploiting the provinces. These and similar crusade for re¬
form
measures provoked so much anger and contention among the classes
that civil war broke out. Gaius was proclaimed an enemy of the
state, and the Senate authorized the consuls to take all necessary
steps for the defense of the Republic. In the ensuing conflict Gaius
and 3000 of his followers were killed.
The Gracchan revolt had a broad significance. It demonstrated,
first of all, that the Roman Republic had outgrown its constitution.
The assembly had gained, over the years, de facto powers almost Significance of
equal to those of the Senate. Instead of working out a peaceful the Gracchan
revolt
accommodation to these changes, both sides resorted to violence. By
so doing they set a precedent for the unbridled use of force by any
politician ambitious for supreme power and thereby paved the way
for the destruction of the Republic. The Romans had shown a re¬
markable capacity for organizing an empire and for adapting the
Greek idea of a city-state to a large territory, but the narrow con¬
servatism of their upper classes was a fatal hindrance to the health of
the state. They appeared to regard all change as evil. They failed to
understand the reasons for internal discord and seemed to think that
repression was its only remedy.
From 146 b.c. to the downfall of the Republic, Rome engaged in a
series of wars. The victorious commanders in these wars frequently
made themselves rulers of the state. The first of these conquering The rise of
heroes to make capital out of his military reputation was Marius, military dictator¬
ships: Marius
who was elevated to the consulship by the masses in 107 b.c. and
and Sulla
reelected six times thereafter. Unfortunately Marius was no states¬
man and accomplished nothing for his followers beyond demon¬
strating the ease with which a military leader with an army at his
back could override opposition. Following his death in 86 b.c. the
aristocrats took a turn at government by force. Their champion was
Sulla, another victorious commander. Appointed dictator in 82 b.c.
for an unlimited term, Sulla proceeded to exterminate his opponents
and to restore to the Senate its original powers. Even the senatorial
veto over acts of the assembly was revived, and the authority of the
tribunes was sharply curtailed. After three years of rule Sulla decided
to exchange the pomp of power for the pleasures of the senses and
retired to a life of luxury and ease on his Campanian estate.
It was not to be expected that the “reforms” of Sulla would stand
unchallenged after he had relinquished his office, for the effect of
his decrees was to give control to a bigoted and selfish aristocracy.
Several new leaders now emerged to espouse the cause of the peo¬
ple. The most famous of them were Pompey (106-48 b.c.) and 249
ROMAN CIVILIZATION Julius Caesar (100-44 b.c.). For a time they pooled their energies
and resources in a plot to gain control of the government, but later
they became rivals and sought to outdo each other in bids for popu¬
lar support. Pompey won fame as the conqueror of Syria and Pales¬
tine, while Caesar devoted his talents to a series of brilliant forays
against the Gauls, adding to the Roman state the territory of mod¬
ern Belgium and France. In 52 b.c., after a series of mob disorders in
Rome, the Senate turned to Pompey and caused his election as sole
consul. Caesar was eventually branded an enemy of the state, and
Pompey conspired with the senatorial faction to deprive him of
political power. The result was a deadly war between the two men.
In 49 b.c. Caesar began a march on Rome. Pompey fled to the East
in the hope of gathering a large enough army to regain control of
Italy. In 48 b.c. the forces of the two rivals met at Pharsalus in
Thessaly. Pompey was defeated and soon afterward was murdered
Pompey by agents of the king of Egypt.
After dallying for a season at the court of Cleopatra in Egypt,
Caesar returned to Rome. There was now no one who dared to chal¬
Caesar's lenge his power. With the aid of his veterans he cowed the Senate
triumph and
into granting his every desire. In 46 b.c. he became dictator for ten
downfall
years, and two years later for life. In addition, he assumed nearly
every other magisterial title that would augment his power. He was
consul, censor, and supreme pontiff. He obtained from the Senate
full authority to make war and peace and to control the revenues of
the state. For all practical purposes he was above the law, and the
other agents of the government were merely his servants. It seems
unquestionable that he had little respect for the constitution, and
there were rumors that he intended to make himself king. At any
rate, it was on such a charge that he was assassinated in 44 b.c. by a
group of conspirators, under the leadership of Brutus and Cassius,
representing the old aristocracy.4
Through the centuries ever since, students of history have been
blinded by hero worship in estimating Caesar’s political career. It is
undoubtedly erroneous to acclaim him as the savior of his country
or to praise him as the greatest statesman of all time. For he treated
the Republic with contempt and made the problem of governing
more difficult for those who came after him. What Rome needed at
Julius Caesar this time was not the rule of force, however efficiently it might be
exercised, but an enlightened attempt to correct the inequities of
her political and economic regime. Though it is true that Caesar
carried out numerous reforms, not all of them were really funda¬
mental. With the aid of a Greek astronomer he revised the official
calendar so as to bring it into harmony with the Egyptian solar
calendar of 365 days, with an extra day added every fourth year. He

4 During the last few months of his life Caesar became more ill-tempered
and domineering than ever. Perhaps this change was due to the fact that he
was really a sick man, his old affliction of epilepsy having returned. W. E.
250 Heitland, The Roman Republic, III, 355.
investigated extravagance in the distribution of public grain and re¬ ROME BECOMES
duced the number of recipients by more than 50 per cent. He made SOPHISTICATED
plans for codification of the law and increased the penalty for crim¬
inal offenses. By conferring citizenship upon thousands of Spaniards
and Gauls he took an important step toward eliminating the distinc¬ Caesar's

tion between Italians and provincials. He settled a great many of his achievements

veterans and a considerable proportion of the urban poor on unused

lands not only in Italy but throughout the empire, and he ordered
the proprietors of large estates to employ at least one free citizen to
every two slaves. It seems fair to say that his greatest fault lay in his
exercise of dictatorial power. By ignoring the Senate entirely he de¬
stroyed the main foundation on which the Republic rested.

5. ROME BECOMES SOPHISTICATED

During the last two centuries of republican history Rome came

under the influence of Hellenistic civilization. The result was a
modest flowering of intellectual activity and a further impetus to Rome under the

social change beyond what the Punic Wars had produced. The fact influence of
Hellenistic civili¬
must be noted, however, that several of the components of the
zation
Hellenistic pattern of culture were never adopted by the Romans at
all. The science of the Hellenistic Age, for example, was largely ig¬
nored, and the same was true of some of its art.
One of the most notable effects of Hellenistic influence was the
adoption of Epicureanism and Stoicism by numerous Romans of the
upper classes. The most renowned of the Roman exponents of the Roman

Epicurean philosophy was Lucretius (98-55 b.c.), author of a Epicureanism:

Lucretius
didactic poem entitled On the Nature of Things. In writing this
work Lucretius was moved to explain the universe in such a way as
to liberate man from all fear of the supernatural, which he regarded
as the chief obstacle to peace of soul. Worlds and all things in them,
he taught, are the results of fortuitous combinations of atoms.
Though he admitted the existence of the gods, he conceived of them
as living in eternal peace, neither creating nor governing the uni¬
verse. Everything is a product of mechanical evolution, including
man himself and his habits, institutions, and beliefs. Since mind is
indissolubly linked with matter, death means utter extinction; con¬
sequently, no part of the human personality can survive to be
rewarded or punished in an afterlife. Lucretius’ conception of the
good life was perhaps even more negative than that of Epicurus:
what man needs, he asserted, is not enjoyment but “peace and a
pure heart.”
Stoicism was introduced into Rome about 140 b.c. Although it The Stoic

soon came to include among its coverts numerous influential leaders philosophy of
Cicero
of public life, its most distinguished representative was Cicero
(106-43 b.c. ), the famous orator and statesman. Although Cicero
adopted doctrines from a number of philosophers, including both
Plato and Aristotle, the fact remains that he derived more of his 251
ROMAN CIVILIZATION ideas from the Stoics than from any other source. Certainly his
chief ethical writings reflect substantially the doctrines of Zeno
and his school. The basis of Cicero’s ethical philosophy was the
premise that virtue is sufficient for happiness, and that tranquillity
of mind is the highest good. He conceived of the ideal man as one
who has been guided by reason to an indifference toward sorrow
and pain. In political philosophy Cicero went considerably beyond
the earlier Stoics. He was one of the first to deny that the state is
superior to the individual and taught that government had its origin
in a compact among men for their mutual protection. In his Repub¬
lic he set forth the idea of a higher law of eternal justice which is
superior to the statutes and decrees of governments. This law is not
made by man but is a product of the natural order of things and is
discoverable by reason. It is the source of those rights to which all
men are entitled as human beings and which governments must not
assail. As we shall see presently, this doctrine influenced consid¬
erably the development of the Roman law by the great jurists of the
second and third centuries a.d. By reason of his contributions to po¬
litical thought, and by virtue of his urbanity and tolerance, Cicero
deserves to be ranked as one of the greatest men Rome produced.
He typified the genius of the nation at its best. It was his misfortune
that, as a defender of the old Republic, he came to be associated in
the public mind with the leaders of the aristocracy who had assas¬
sinated Julius Caesar. In 43 b.c. he was proscribed by Mark Antony,
Caesar’s friend, and hunted down and killed.
Hellenistic influence was in large measure responsible for Roman
literary progress in the last two centuries of the Republic. It now
Roman literary became the fashion among the upper classes to learn the Greek lan¬
progress
guage and to strive to reproduce in Latin some of the more popular
forms of Hellenistic literature. Noteworthy results were some excel¬
lent comedy, lyric poetry, and above all, the letters, essays, and
orations of Cicero, which are generally regarded as the finest ex¬
amples of Latin prose.
The conquest of the Hellenistic world accelerated the process of
social change which the Punic Wars had begun. The effects were
Social conditions most clearly evident in the growth of luxury, in a widened cleavage
in the late Re¬
between classes, and in a further increase in slavery. The Italian peo¬
public
ple, numbering about 2,000,000 at the end of the Republic, had
come to be divided into four main castes: the aristocracy, the eques¬
trians, the common citizens, and the slaves.5 The aristocracy in¬
cluded the senatorial class with a total membership of 300 citizens
and their families. The majority of them inherited their status, al¬
though occasionally a plebeian would gain admission to the Senate
through serving a term as consul or quaestor. Most of the aristocrats

In addition, of course, there were numerous aliens, who really did not
constitute a separate class. Many were on about the same level as the common
ZdZ citizens. Others were slaves.
 gained their living as office holders and as owners of great landed ROME BECOMES
estates. The equestrian order was made up of government con¬ SOPHISTICATED
tractors, bankers, and the wealthier merchants. Originally this class
had been composed of those citizens with incomes sufficient to en¬
able them to serve in the cavalry at their own expense, but the term
equites had now come to be applied to all outside of the senatorial
class who possessed property in substantial amount. The equestrians
were the chief offenders in the indulgence of vulgar tastes and in the
exploitation of the poor and the provincials. As bankers they regu¬
larly charged interest rates of 12 per cent and three or four times
that much when they could get it. By far the largest number of the
citizens were mere commoners or plebeians. Some of these were in¬
dependent farmers, a few were industrial workers, but the majority
were members of the city mob. When Julius Caesar became dictator,
320,000 citizens were actually being supported by the state.
The Roman slaves were scarcely considered people at all but in¬
struments of production like cattle or horses to be worked for the
profit of their masters. Notwithstanding the fact that some of them The status of the
were refined and intelligent foreigners, they had none of the privi¬ slaves

leges granted to slaves in Athens. The policy of many of their own¬

ers was to get as much work out of them as possible during the
years of their prime and then to turn them loose to be fed by the
state when they became old and useless. Of course, there were ex¬
ceptions, especially as a result of the civilizing effects of Stoicism.
Cicero, for example, reported himself very fond of his slaves. It is,
nevertheless, a sad commentary on Roman civilization that nearly all
of the productive labor in the country was done by slaves. They
produced practically all of the nation’s food supply, for the amount
contributed by the few surviving independent farmers was quite in¬
significant. At least 80 per cent of the workers employed in shops
were slaves or former slaves. But many of the members of the

Atrium of an Upper-class
House in Pompeii, seen from
the Interior. Around the atrium
or central court were grouped
suites of living rooms. The
marble columns and decorated
walls still give an idea of the
luxury and refinement enjoyed
by the privileged minority.
ROMAN CIVILIZATION servile population were engaged in nonproductive activities. A lu¬
crative form of investment for the business classes was ownership
of slaves trained as gladiators, who could be rented to the govern¬
ment or to aspiring politicians for the amusement of the people. The
growth of luxury also required the employment of thousands of
slaves in domestic service. The man of great wealth must have his
doorkeepers, his litter-bearers, his couriers (for the government of
the Republic had no postal service), his valets, and his pedagogues
or tutors for his children. In some great mansions there were special
servants with no other duties than to rub the master down after his
bath or to care for his sandals.
The religious beliefs of the Romans were altered in various ways
in the last two centuries of the Republic—again mainly because of
changes in re- the extension of Roman power over most of the Hellenistic states,
ligion There was, first of all, a tendency of the upper classes to abandon the
traditional religion for the philosophies of Stoicism and Epicurean¬
ism. But many of the common people also found worship of the an¬
cient gods no longer satisfying. It was too formal and mechanical
and demanded too much in the way of duty and self-sacrifice to
meet the needs of the masses, whose lives were now empty and
meaningless. Furthermore, Italy had attracted a stream of immi¬
grants from the East, most of whom had a religious background
totally different from that of the Romans. The result was the rapid
spread of Oriental mystery cults, which satisfied the craving for a
more emotional religion and offered the reward of a blessed immor¬
tality to the wretched and downtrodden of earth. From Egypt came
the cult of Isis and Osiris (or Sarapis, as the god was now more
commonly called), while from Phrygia was introduced the worship
of the Great Mother, with her eunuch priests and wild, symbolic
orgies. So strong was the appeal of these cults that the decrees of the
Senate against them proved almost impossible to enforce. In the last
century b.c. the Persian cult of Mithraism, which came to surpass all
the others in popularity, gained a foothold in Italy.

6. THE PRINCIPATE OR EARLY EMPIRE

(27 B.C.-284 A.D.)

Shortly before his death in 44 b.c., Julius Caesar had adopted as

his sole heir his grandnephew Octavian (63 B.c-14 a.d.), then a
The triumph of young man of eighteen quietly pursuing his studies in Illyria across
Octavian or
the Adriatic Sea. Upon learning of his uncle’s death, Octavian
Augustus Caesar
hastened to Rome to take over control of the government. He soon
found that he must share his ambition with two of Caesar’s power¬
ful friends, Mark Antony and Lepidus. The following year the
three men formed an alliance for the purpose of crushing the power
of the aristocratic clique responsible for Caesar’s murder. The meth¬
ods employed were not to the new leaders’ credit. Prominent mem¬
254 bers of the aristocracy were hunted down and slain and their
property confiscated. The most noted of the victims was Cicero, THE PRINCIPATE OR
brutally slain by Mark Antony’s soldiers though he had taken no EARLY EMPIRE
part in the conspiracy against Caesar’s life. The real murderers, Brutus
and Cassius, escaped and organized an army of 80,000 republicans,
but were finally defeated by Octavian and his colleagues in 42 b.c.
About eight years later a quarrel developed among the members of See color plates
the alliance themselves, inspired primarily by Antony’s jealousy of between pages
Octavian. The ultimate outcome in 31 b.c. was the triumphant 256 and 251
emergence of Caesar’s heir as the most powerful man in the Roman
state.
The victory of Octavian ushered in a new period in Roman his¬
tory, the most glorious and the most prosperous that the nation ex¬
perienced. Although problems of peace and order were still far The revival of

from being completely solved, the deadly civil strife was ended, and constitutional
government
the people now had their first decent opportunity to show what
their talents could achieve. Unlike his great uncle, Octavian seems
to have entertained no monarchical ambitions. He was determined,
at any rate, to preserve the forms if not the substance of constitu¬
tional government. He accepted the titles of Augustus and Impera-
tor conferred upon him bv the Senate and the army.6 He held the
authority of proconsul and tribune permanently; but he refused to
make himself dictator or even consul for life, despite the pleas of the
populace that he do so. In his view the Senate and the people were
the supreme sovereigns, as they had been under the early Republic.
The title by which he preferred to have his authority designated
was Princeps, or First Citizen of the State. For this reason the period
of his rule and that of his successors is properly called the Princi-
pate, or early Empire, to distinguish it from the period of the
Republic (sixth century b.c. to 27 b.c.) and from the period of the
late Empire (284 a.d. to 476 a.d.)
Octavian, or Augustus as he was now more commonly called,
ruled over Italy and the provinces for forty-four years (31 b.c-
14 a.d.). At the beginning of the period he governed by military The reforms of

power and by common consent, but in 27 b.c. the Senate bestowed Augustus

upon him the series of offices and titles described above. His work
as a statesman at least equaled in importance that of his more famous
predecessor. Among the reforms of Augustus were the establish¬
ment of a new coinage system, the creation of a centralized system
of courts under his own supervision, and the bestowal of a large
measure of local self-government upon cities and provinces. For the
nation as a whole he laid the foundations for an elaborate postal
service. He insisted upon experience and intelligence as qualifica¬
tions for appointment to administrative office. By virtue of his
proconsular authority he assumed direct control over the provincial
governors and punished them severely for graft and extortion. He

6 The title Augustus signified “consecrated” and implied the idea that its
bearer was specially favored by the gods. Imperator meant “victorious general.” 255
ROMAN CIVILIZATION abolished the old system of farming out the collection of taxes in the
provinces, which had led to such flagrant abuses, and appointed his
own personal representatives as collectors at regular salaries. But he
did not stop with political reforms. He procured the enactment of
laws designed to check the more glaring social and moral evils of the
time. By his own example of temperate living he sought to dis¬
courage luxurious habits and to set the precedent for a return to the
ancient virtues.
After the death of Augustus in 14 a.d. Rome had few enlightened
and capable rulers. Several of his successors were brutal tyrants who
squandered the resources of the state and kept the country in an up¬
roar by their deeds of bloody violence. As early as 68 a.d. the army
began to take a hand in the selection of the Princeps, with the result
that on several occasions thereafter the head of the government was
little more than a military dictator. Between 235 and 284 a.d. sheer
anarchy prevailed: of the twenty-six men who were elevated to
power in that time only one escaped violent death. As a matter of
Augustus
fact, in the 270 years which followed the demise of Augustus, Rome
had scarcely more than four or five rulers of whom much good
could be said. The list would include Nerva (96-98 a.d.), Trajan
(98-117), Antoninus Pius (138-161), and Marcus Aurelius (161—
180).
These rulers and their great predecessor, Augustus, succeeded in
maintaining, for about two centuries, the celebrated Pax Romana.
The Pax Romana On three occasions Augustus himself ceremonially closed the doors
of the temple of Janus to symbolize the reign of absolute peace in
the Empire. Yet the Pax Romana was primarily a peace of subjuga¬
tion. Augustus added more territory to the empire than did any
other Roman ruler. His stepsons pushed the frontiers into central and
eastern Europe, conquering the territories known today as Switzer¬
land, Austria, and Bulgaria. They attempted the subjugation of the
territory occupied by modern Germany, but met with only minimal
success. The Pax Romana rested upon an efficient navy and a vast
imperial army. Though comparatively small, the navy performed
its functions so well that the Romans maintained their control over
the Mediterranean Sea for 200 years without fighting a battle. The
army, numbering about 300,000 men, was much less successful. It
was badly defeated in Germany and eventually lost nearly all of the
territory it had conquered there. To prevent revolts, more than
twenty of its twenty-eight legions were pinned down in Spain,
Syria, and Egypt and on the Rhine and the Danube. Feeding and
supplying these hordes of armed men put a constant strain on the
resources of the state. Even a sales tax had to be adopted to supple¬
ment the usual sources of revenue.
How can this comparative failure of the political genius of the
Romans in the very best period of their history be accounted for?
The assertion is frequently made that it was due to the absence of
256 any definite rule of hereditary succession to the office of Princeps.
o Oh
as as
>>
©
Li- .g
o .-§q
<H-H
o
3
z fc PQ T3
o 35 2 ^
C
as
GO 3 ra as
§§ § ^ -fi
6 as
Q- O O M N O
X Oh H Eh
■i
LU

LU
•

o-
Unidentified Man, I cent. b.c. The
Augustus, Reigned 31 B.c-14 a.d.
Romans excelled in portraits of Constantine, Reigned
This portrait suggests the contra¬
sharp individuality. 306-337 a.d. The head is
dictory nature of the genius who
from a statue sixteen feet
gave Rome peace after years of
in height.
strife.

Mummy Portrait, II
cent. a.d. A Roman
woman buried in Egypt.

Mosaic, I cent. a.d. A floor design com¬

posed of small pieces of colored marble
fitted together to form a picture.

Wall Painting of a Satyr Mask,

I cent. b.c. The belief in satyrs,
thought to inhabit forests and
pastures, was taken over from
the Greeks.

Architectural Wall Painting from

a Pompeiian Villa, I cent, b.c.,
suggesting the Greek origin of
Roman forms of architecture.
o
 Gold Cup, Byzantine, VI-IX cent.
The figure is a personification of Con¬
stantinople, a queen or goddess hold¬
ing the scepter and orb of imperial
rule. (MMA)

Saint John Writing His Gospel. From an Anglo-Frankish

illuminated manuscript, ca. 850, produced in a Carolingian
monastery. The unknown artist knew nothing of perspec¬
tive, but excelled in coloring and conveying a sense of
vitality and energy. (Morgan Library)

Enthroned Madonna and

Child, Byzantine School,
XIII cent. The painters
of Siena followed the op¬
ulent and brilliant style of
Byzantine art. Their ma¬
donnas were not earthly
mothers, but celestial
queens reigning in digni¬
fied splendor. (National
Gallery)

Merovingian Fibula or Brooch, VII cent.

A fabulous gold-plated animal set with
garnets and colored paste reveals the lively
imagination of the early Middle Ages.
(MMA)
But this answer rests upon a misconception of the nature of the CULTURE AND LIFE IN
Roman constitution at this time. The government Augustus estab¬ THE PERIOD OF THE
lished was not intended to be a monarchy. Although the Princeps PRINCIPATE
was virtually an autocrat, the authority he possessed was supposed
to be derived exclusively from the Senate and the people of Rome; Reasons for the
he could have no inherent right to rule by virtue of royal descent. political troubles
in Rome
The explanation must therefore be sought in other factors. The
Romans were now reaping the whirlwind which had been sown in
the civil strife of the late Republic. They had grown accustomed to
violence as the way out when problems did not admit of an easy
solution. Furthermore, the long wars of conquest and the suppres¬
sion of barbarian revolts had cheapened human life in the estimation
of the people themselves and had fostered the growth of crime. As a
consequence it was practically inevitable that men of vicious charac¬
ter should push their way into the highest political office.

7. CULTURE AND LIFE IN THE PERIOD OF

THE PRINCIPATE

From the standpoint of variety of intellectual and artistic interests

the period of the Principate outshone all other ages in the history of
Rome. Most of the progress took place, however, in the years from Cultural progress

27 b.c. to 200 a.d. It was between these years that Roman philoso- “"der the

phy attained its characteristic form. This period witnessed also the Prmc|Pa,e

feeble awakening of an interest in science, the growth of a distinc¬

tive art, and the production of the best literary works. After 200
a.d. economic and political decay stifled all further cultural growth.

Trajan Addressing
His Troops. This re¬
lief on the Column of
Trajan dates to the
first century a.d.
ROMAN CIVILIZATION Stoicism was now the prevailing philosophy of the Romans. Much
of the influence of Epicureanism lingered and found occasional ex¬
pression in the writings of the poets, but as a system it had ceased to
be popular. The reasons for the triumph of Stoicism are not hard to
Roman Stoicism discover. With its emphasis upon duty, self-discipline, and subjec¬
tion to the natural order of things, it accorded well with the ancient
virtues of the Romans and with their habits of conservatism. More¬
over, its insistence upon civic obligations and its doctrine of cosmo¬
politanism appealed to the Roman political-mindedness and pride in
world empire. Epicureanism, on the other hand, was a little too
negative and individualistic to agree with the social consciousness of
Roman tradition. It seemed not only to repudiate the idea of any
purpose in the universe, but even to deny the value of human effort.
Since the Romans were men of action rather than speculative think¬
ers, the Epicurean ideal of the solitary philosopher immersed in the
problem of his own salvation could have no permanent attraction
for them. It is necessary to observe, however, that the Stoicism de¬
veloped in the days of the Principate was somewhat different from
that of Zeno and his school. The old physical theories borrowed
from Eleracleitus were now discarded, and in their place was substi¬
tuted a broader interest in politics and ethics. There was a tendency
also for Roman Stoicism to assume a more distinctly religious flavor
than that which had characterized the original philosophy.
Three eminent apostles of Stoicism lived and taught in Rome in
the two centuries that followed the rule of Augustus: Seneca (4
Seneca, Epictetus, B.c-65 a.d.), millionaire adviser for a time to Nero; Epictetus, the
and Marcus
slave (6o?-i2o a.d.); and the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180
Aurelius
a.d.). All of them agreed that inner serenity is the ultimate goal to

be sought, that true happiness can be found only in surrender to the

benevolent order of the universe. They preached the ideal of virtue
for virtue’s sake, deplored the sinfulness of man’s nature, and urged
obedience to conscience as the voice of duty. Seneca and Epictetus
adulterated their philosophy with such deep mystical yearnings as to
make it almost a religion. They worshiped the cosmos as divine,
governed by an all-powerful Providence who ordains all that happens
for ultimate good. The last of the Roman Stoics, Marcus Aurelius,
was more fatalistic and less hopeful. Although he did not reject the
conception of an ordered and rational universe, he shared neither
the faith nor the dogmatism of the earlier Stoics. He was confident
of no blessed immortality to balance the sufferings of one’s earthly
career. Living in a melancholy time, he was inclined to think of man
as a creature buffeted by evil fortune for which no distant perfec¬
tion of the whole could fully atone. He urged, nevertheless, that
men should continue to live nobly, that they should neither abandon
themselves to gross indulgence nor break down in angry protest, but
that they should derive what contentment they could from dignified
258 resignation to suffering and tranquil submission to death.
Marcus Aurelius. The mounted
figure of the great emperor-
philosopher is one of the few
equestrian statues surviving
from the ancient world. It
was originally entirely gilded.
Now on the Piazza del Cam-
pidoglio, Rome.

The literary achievements of the Romans bore a definite relation

to their philosophy. This was especially true of the works of the
most distinguished writers of the Augustan Age. Horace (65-8 b.c.), Roman literature:

for example, in his famous Odes drew copiously from the teach- Horace
ings of both Epicureans and Stoics. He confined his attention,
however, to their doctrines of a way of life, for like most of the
Romans he had little curiosity about the nature of the world. He
developed a philosophy which combined the Epicurean justification
of pleasure with the Stoic bravery in the face of trouble. While he
never reduced pleasure to the mere absence of pain, he was sophisti¬
cated enough to know that the highest enjoyment is possible only
through the exercise of rational control.
Vergil (70-19 b.c.) likewise reflects a measure of the philosophi¬
cal temper of his age. Though his Eclogues convey something of the
Epicurean ideal of quiet pleasure, Vergil was much more of a Stoic. Vergil, Ovid, and

His utopian vision of an age of peace and abundance, his brooding Livy
sense of the tragedy of human fate, and his idealization of a life in
harmony with nature indicate an intellectual heritage similar to that
of Seneca and Epictetus. Vergil’s most noted work, the Aeneid, like
several of the Odes of Horace, was a purposeful glorification of
Roman imperialism. The Aeneid in fact was an epic of empire re¬
counting the toils and triumphs of the founding of the state, its
glorious traditions, and its magnificent destiny. The only other
major writers of the Augustan Age were Ovid (43 B.c.?-i7 a.d.) and
Livy (59 B.c-17 a.d.). The former, the greatest of Roman elegiac
poets, was the chief representative of the cynical and individualist
tendencies of his day. His writings, although brilliant and witty,
often reflected the dissolute tastes of the time, and their popularity
gives evidence of the failure of the efforts of Augustus to regenerate
Roman society. The chief claim of Livy to fame rests upon his skill as
a prose stylist. As a historian he was woefully deficient. His main
work, a history of Rome, is replete with dramatic and picturesque 259
 ROMAN CIVILIZATION narrative, designed to appeal to the patriotic emotions rather than to
present the impartial truth.
The literature of the period which followed the death of Augus¬
tus also exemplified conflicting social and intellectual tendencies.
Petronius, The novels of Petronius and Apuleius and the epigrams of Martial
Apuleius, Martial, are specimens of individualist writing generally descriptive of the
Juvenal, and
meaner aspects of life. The attitude of the authors is unmoral; their
Tacitus
purpose is not to instruct or uplift but chiefly to tell an entertaining
story or turn a witty phrase. An entirely different viewpoint is
presented in the works of the other most important writers of this
age: Juvenal, the satirist (6o?-i4o a.d.), and Tacitus, the historian
(55?—117? a.d.). Juvenal wrote under the influence of the Stoics
but with little intelligence and narrow vision. Laboring under
the delusion that the troubles of the nation were due to moral
degeneracy, he lashed the vices of his countrymen with the fury of
an evangelist. A somewhat similar attitude characterized the writing
of his younger contemporary, Tacitus. The best-known of Roman
historians, Tacitus described the events of his age not entirely with a
view to scientific analysis but largely for the purpose of moral in¬
dictment. His description of the customs of the ancient Germans in
9or Plan of the Baths of
his Germania served to heighten the contrast between the manly
racalla
virtues of an unspoiled race and the effeminate vices of the decadent
Romans. Whatever his failings as a historian, he was a master of
ironic wit and brilliant aphorism. Referring to the boasted Pax
Romana, he makes a barbarian chieftain say: “They create a wilder¬
ness and call it peace.” 7
The period of the Principate was the period when Roman art first
assumed its distinctive character as an expression of the national life.
Achievements Before this time what passed for an art of Rome was really an im¬
in art portation from the Hellenistic East. Conquering armies brought
back to Italy wagonloads of statues, reliefs, and marble columns as
part of the plunder from Greece and Asia Minor. These became the

7 Tacitus, Agricola, p. 30.

The Baths of Caracalla, Rome.

The gigantic scale is typical of
late Empire buildings. Elabo¬
rate and luxurious public
baths like these were often
presented to the public by the
emperor or rich citizens. The
floor plan above indicates the
separate chambers for hot tub
baths.
property of wealthy publicans and bankers and were used to em¬ CULTURE AND LIFE IN
bellish their sumptuous mansions. As the demand increased, hun¬ THE PERIOD OF THE
dreds of copies were made, with the result that Rome came to have PRINCIPATE
by the end of the Republic a profusion of objects of art which had
no more cultural significance than the Rembrandts or Botticellis in
the home of some modern broker. The aura of national glory which
surrounded the early Principate stimulated the growth of an art
more nearly indigenous. Augustus himself boasted that he found
Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. Nevertheless,
much of the old Hellenistic influence remained until the talent of
the Romans themselves was exhausted.
The arts most truly expressive of the Roman character were
architecture and sculpture. Both were monumental, designed to
symbolize power and grandeur rather than freedom of mind or con¬ Architecture

tentment with life. Architecture contained as its leading elements and sculpture

the round arch, the vault, and the dome, although at times the
Corinthian column was employed, especially in the construction of
temples. The materials most commonly used were brick, squared
stone blocks, and concrete, the last generally concealed with a mar¬
ble facing. As a further adornment of public buildings, sculptured
entablatures and faqades, built up of tiers of colonnades or arcades,
were frequently added. Roman architecture was devoted pri¬
marily to utilitarian purposes. The foremost examples were gov¬
ernment buildings, amphitheaters, baths, race courses, and private
houses. Nearly all were of massive proportions and solid construc¬
tion. Among the largest and most noted were the Pantheon, with its
dome having a diameter of 142 feet, and the Colosseum, which
could accommodate 65,000 spectators at the gladiatorial combats.
Roman sculpture included as its main forms triumphal arches and
columns, narrative reliefs, altars, and portrait busts and statues. Its Head of a Young Man, ca. 14L
distinguishing characteristics were individuality and naturalism. A.D.

Even more than architecture it served to express the vanity and love
of power of the Roman aristocracy, although some of it was marked
by unusual qualities of harmony and grace.8
As scientists the Romans accomplished comparatively little in this
period or in any other. Scarcely an original discovery of fundamen¬
tal importance was made by a man of Latin nationality. This fact Why the Romans

seems strange when we consider that the Romans had the advantage accomplished
little as scientists
of Hellenistic science as a foundation upon which to build. But they
neglected their opportunity almost completely. Why should this
have been so? It was due, first of all, to the circumstance that the
Romans were absorbed in problems of government and military
conquest. Forced to specialize in law, politics, and military strategy,
they had very little time for investigation of nature. A reason of

8 A great many of the best examples of both architecture and sculpture were
produced not by Romans at all but by Greeks resident in Italy. 261
 The Pantheon in Rome. Built by the emperor Hadrian and dedicated to the
deities of the seven planets.

more vital importance was the fact that the Romans were too prac¬
tical-minded. They had none of that divine fire which impels man to
lose himself in the quest for unlimited knowledge. They had no
vigorous intellectual curiosity about the world in which they lived.
In short, they were not philosophers.
Mainly because of this lack of talent for pure science, the achieve¬
ments of the Romans were limited almost entirely to engineering
Lack of scientific and the organization of public services. They built marvelous roads,
originality bridges, and aqueducts. They provided the city of Rome with a
water supply of 300,000,000 gallons daily. They established the first
hospitals in the Western world and the first system of state medicine
for the benefit of the poor. But their own writers on scientific sub¬
jects were hopelessly devoid of critical intelligence. The most re¬
nowned and the most typical of them was Pliny the Elder (23-79
a.d.), who completed about 77 a.d. a voluminous encyclopedia of

“science” which he called Natural History. The subjects discussed

262 varied from cosmology to economics. Despite the wealth of material
it contains, the work is of limited value. Pliny was totally unable to CULTURE AND LIFE IN
distinguish between fact and fable. In his estimation, the weirdest tales THE PERIOD OF THE
of wonders and portents were to be accepted as of equal value with PRINCIPATE
the most solidly established facts. The other best-known author of an
encyclopedia of science was Seneca (4 b.c.?-65 a.d.), the Stoic phi¬
losopher, who took his own life at Nero’s command in 65 a.d.
Seneca was less credulous than Pliny but no more original. Besides,
he maintained that the purpose of all scientific study should be to
divulge the moral secrets of nature. If there was any Latin who
could be considered an original scientist, the title would have to be
given to Celsus, who flourished during the reign of Tiberius. Celsus
wrote a comprehensive treatise on medicine, including an excellent
manual of surgery, but there is, a strong suspicion that the entire
work was compiled, if not actually translated, from the Greek.
Among the operations he described were tonsillectomy, operations
for cataracts and goiter, and plastic surgery.
No account of the scientific aspects of Roman civilization would
be complete without some mention of the work of Hellenistic scien¬
tists who lived in Italy or in the provinces during the period of the Hellenistic sci¬

Principate. Nearly all of them were physicians. The most distin¬ entists in Italy

guished, although apparently not the most original, was Galen of

Pergamum, who was active in Rome at various times during the lat¬
ter half of the second century. While his fame rests primarily upon
his medical encyclopedia, systematizing the learning of others, he is

Roman Aqueduct at
Segovia, Spain. Aque¬
ducts conveyed water
from mountains to the
larger cities.
 The Colosseum. The Colosseum was built by the Roman emperors as a place
of entertainment and public exhibition. It was the scene of gladiatorial
combats and of the throwing of Christians to the lions.

deserving of more credit for his own experiments which brought

him close to a discovery of the circulation of the hlood. He not only
taught but proved that the arteries carry blood, and that severance
of even a small one is sufficient to drain away all of the blood of the
body in little more than half an hour. But Galen was not the only
Hellenistic physician who made important contributions in this
time. At least one other is entitled to more recognition than is
commonly given to him: Rufus of Ephesus, who wrote the first
accurate description of the liver arid of the rhythm of the pulse,
and was the first to recommend boiling of suspicious water before
drinking it.
Roman society exhibited the same general tendencies under the
Principate as in the last days of the Republic. A few significant
Social tendencies differences, however, can be noted. Owing in part to the influence
under the of the Stoic philosophy and in part to the abundance of free labor,
Principate
slavery began to decline. Despite the efforts of Augustus to limit the
manumission of slaves, the number of freedmen steadily increased.
They crowded into every field of employment, including the civil
service. Many succeeded in becoming proprietors of small shops,
264 and some even became rich. Related to these developments was the
growth of the institution of clientage. Members of the citizen class CULTURE AND LIFE IN
who had lost their property or who had been driven out of business THE PERIOD OF THE
by the competition of enterprising freedmen now frequently became PRINCIPATE
“clients” or dependents of wealthy aristocrats. In return for pittances
of food and money these “shabby genteel” served the great magnates
by applauding their speeches and fawning before them when they
appeared in public. Custom made it practically obligatory for every
man of great wealth to maintain a retinue of these miserable flatterers.
Although the evidence has frequently been exaggerated, the period
of the Principate was apparently marked by changing morals. Ac¬
cording to the records there were 32,000 prostitutes in Rome during Signs of moral
the reign of Trajan, and, if we can judge from the testimony of change

some of the most noted writers, homosexuality was exceedingly

common and even fashionable. While political corruption had been
subjected to more stringent control, crimes of violence appear to
have increased. But the most serious moral indictment which can be
brought against the age would seem to have been a further growth
of the passion for cruelty. The great games and spectacles became
bloodier and more disgusting than ever. The Romans could no
longer obtain a sufficient thrill from mere exhibitions of athletic
prowess; pugilists were now required to have their hands wrapped
with thongs of leather loaded with iron or lead. The most popular
amusement of all was watching the gladiatorial combats in the
Colosseum or in other amphitheaters capable of accommodating
thousands of spectators. Fights between gladiators were nothing
new, but they were now presented on a much more elaborate scale.
Not only the ignorant rabble attended them, but wealthy aristocrats
also, and frequently the head of the government himself. The gladi¬
ators fought to the accompaniment of savage cries and curses from
the audience. When one went down with a disabling wound, it was
the privilege of the crowd to decide whether his life should be
spared or whether the weapon of his opponent should be plunged
into his heart. One contest after another was staged in the course of
a single exhibition. Should the arena become too sodden with blood,
it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand, and the revolting
performance went on. Adost of the gladiators were condemned
criminals or slaves, but some were volunteers even from the re¬
spectable classes. The Princeps Commodus, the worthless son of
Marcus Aurelius, entered the arena several times for the sake of the
plaudits of the mob.
Notwithstanding its low moral tone, the age of the Principate was
characterized by an even deeper interest in Salvationist religions
than that which had prevailed under the Republic. Mithraism now The spread of

gained adherents by the thousands, absorbing most of the followers Mithraism and
Christianity
of the cults of the Great Mother and of Isis and Sarapis. About 40
a.d. the first Christians appeared in Rome. The new sect grew

rapidly and eventually succeeded in displacing Mithraism as the

most popular of the mystery cults. For some time the Roman gov- 265
 The Maison Carree at Ntmes, France. The most perfect example of Roman
temple extant. Reflecting possible Etruscan influence, it was built on a high
base or podium with great steps leading to the entrance. It dates from the begin¬
ning of the Christian era.

ernment was no more hostile toward Christianity than it was toward

the other mystery religions. While some members of the sect were
put to death by Nero in response to the demand for a scapegoat
for the disastrous fire of 64 a.d., there was no systematic perse¬
cution of Christians as such until the reign of Decius nearly 200
years later. Even then the persecution was inspired by political
and social considerations more than by religious motives. Because of
their otherworldliness and their refusal to take the customary oaths
in the courts or participate in the civic religion, the Christians were
regarded as disloyal citizens and dangerous characters. Moreover,
their ideals of meekness and nonresistance, their preaching against
the rich, and their practice of holding what appeared to be secret
meetings made the Romans suspect them as enemies of the estab¬
lished order. In the end, persecution defeated its own purpose. It in¬
tensified the zeal of those who survived, with the result that the new
faith spread more rapidly than ever.
The establishment of stable government by Augustus ushered in a
period of prosperity for Italy which lasted for more than two cen¬
turies. Trade was now extended to all parts of the known world,
even to Arabia, India, and China. Manufacturing reached more than
266 insignificant proportions, especially in the production of pottery,
textiles, and articles of metal and glass. As a result of the develop¬ ROMAN LAW
ment of rotation of crops and the technique of soil fertilization,
agriculture flourished as never before. In spite of all this, the eco¬
nomic order was far from healthy. The prosperity was not evenly
distributed but was confined primarily to the upper classes. Since Economic
the stigma attached to manual labor persisted as strong as ever, pro¬ prosperity during
the first two
duction was bound to decline as the supply of slaves diminished.
centuries
Perhaps worse was the fact that Italy had a decidedly unfavorable
balance of trade. The meager industrial development was by no
means sufficient to provide enough articles of export to meet the de¬
mand for luxuries imported from the provinces and from the out¬
side world. As a consequence, Italy was gradually drained of her
supply of precious metals. By the third century signs of economic
collapse were already abundant.

8. ROMAN LAW

There is general agreement that the most important legacy which

the Romans left to succeeding cultures was their system of law.
This system was the result of a gradual evolution which may be The early

considered to have begun with the publication of the Twelve Tables development of
Roman law
about 450 b.c. In the later centuries of the Republic the law of the
Twelve Tables was modified and practically superseded by the
growth of new precedents and principles. These emanated from
different sources: from changes in custom, from the teachings of
the Stoics, from the decisions of judges, but expecially from the
edicts of the praetors. The Roman praetors were magistrates who
had authority to define and interpret the law in a particular suit and
issue instructions to the jury for the decision of the case. The jury
merely decided questions of fact; all issues of law were settled by
the praetor, and generally his interpretations became precedents for

A Street in Ostia. This town

was the seaport of ancient
Rome. The round arches and
masonry columns form the
balcony of a rich man’s house. 267
ROMAN CIVILIZATION the decision of similar cases in the future. Thus a system of judicial
practice was built up in somewhat the same fashion as the English
common law.
It was under the Principate, however, that the Roman law at¬
tained its highest stage of development. This later progress was the
Roman law under result in part of the extension of the law over a wider field of juris¬
the Principate; diction, over the lives and properties of aliens in strange environ¬
the great jurists
ments as well as over the citizens of Italy. But the major reason was
the fact that Augustus and his successors gave to certain eminent
jurists the right to deliver opinions, or responsa as they were called,
on the legal issues of cases under trial in the courts. The most prom¬
inent of the men thus designated from time to time were Gaius,
Ulpian, Papinian, and Paulus. Although most of them held high
judicial office, they had gained their reputations primarily as law¬
yers and writers on legal subjects. The responses of these jurists
came to embody a science and philosophy of law and were accepted
as the basis of Roman jurisprudence. It was typical of the Roman
respect for authority that the ideas of these men should have been
adopted so readily even when they upset, as they occasionally did,
time-honored beliefs.
The Roman law as it was developed under the influence of the
jurists comprised three great branches or divisions: the jus civile,
The three the jus gentium, and the jus naturale. The jus civile, or civil law, was
divisions of essentially the law of Rome and her citizens. As such it existed in
Roman law
both written and unwritten forms. It included the statutes of the
Senate, the decrees of the Princeps, the edicts of the praetors, and
also certain ancient customs operating with the force of law. The jus
gentium, or law of peoples, was the law that was held to be common
to all men regardless of nationality. It was the law which authorized
the institutions of slavery and private ownership of property and
defined the principles of purchase and sale, partnership, and con¬
tract. It was not superior to the civil law but supplemented it as
especially applicable to the alien inhabitants of the empire.
The most interesting and in many ways the most important
branch of the Roman law was the jus naturale, or natural law. This
The jus naturale was not a product of judicial practice, but of philosophy. The Stoics
had developed the idea of a rational order of nature which is the
embodiment of justice and right. They had affirmed that all men are
by nature equal, and that they are entitled to certain basic rights
which governments have no authority to transgress. The father of
the law of nature as a legal principle, however, was not one of the
Hellenistic Stoics, but Cicero. “True law,” he declared, “is right
reason consonant with nature, diffused among all men, constant,
eternal. To make enactments infringing this law, religion forbids,
neither may it be repealed even in part, nor have we power through
Senate or people to free ourselves from it.” 9 This law is prior to

268 9 The Republic, III, 22.

the state itself, and any ruler who defies it automatically becomes a THE LATE EMPIRE
tyrant. With the exception of Gaius, who identified the jus naturale
with the jus gentium, all of the great jurists subscribed to concep¬
tions of the law of nature very similar to those of the philosophers.
Although the jurists did not regard this law as an automatic limita¬
tion upon the jus civile, they thought of it nevertheless as a great
ideal to which the statutes and decrees of men ought to conform.
This development of the concept of abstract justice as a legal princi¬
ple was one of the noblest achievements of the Roman civilization.

9. THE LATE EMPIRE (284-476 A.D.)

The last period of Roman history, from 284 to 476 a.d., is prop¬
erly called the period of the late Empire. With the accession of
Diocletian in 284, the government of Rome finally became an undis¬ The triumph of
guised autocracy. It is true, of course, that constitutional govern¬ absolute autoc¬
racy
ment had been little more than a fiction for some time, but now all
pretense of maintaining the Republic was thrown aside. Both in
theory and in practice the change was complete. No longer was the
doctrine advanced that the ruler was the mere agent of the Senate
and the people; he was now held to be absolutely sovereign on the
assumption that the people had surrendered all power to him.
Diocletian adopted the regalia and ceremony of an Oriental despot.
In place of the simple military garb of the Princeps he substituted a
purple robe of silk interwoven with gold. He required all his sub¬
jects who were admitted to an audience with him to prostrate them¬
selves before him. Needless to say, the Senate was now completely
excluded from participation in the government. It was not formally
abolished, but it was reduced to the status of a municipal council
and a social club for the plutocracy. The chief reason for these
political changes is undoubtedly to be found in the economic de¬
cline of the third century. The people had lost confidence in them¬
selves, as they frequently do under such circumstances, and were
ready to sacrifice all of their rights for the faint hope of security.
Diocletian’s successors continued his system of absolutism. The
most famous of them were Constantine I (306-337), Julian (361—
363), and Theodosius I (379-395). Constantine is best known Diocletian's

for his establishment of a new capital, called Constantinople, successors

on the site of ancient Byzantium, and for his policy of religious

toleration toward Christians. Contrary to a common belief, he did
not make Christianity the official religion of the Empire; his various
edicts issued in 313 simply gave Christianity equal status with the
pagan cults, thereby terminating the policy of persecution. Later in
his reign he bestowed upon the Christian clergy special privileges
and caused his sons to be brought up in the new faith, but he con¬
tinued to maintain the imperial cult. Although he was acclaimed by
historians of the Church as Constantine the Great, his practice of
favoring Christianity was dictated primarily by political motives. A 269
 ROMAN CIVILIZATION generation after Constantine’s death the Emperor Julian attempted to
stimulate a pagan reaction. He was a devoted admirer of Hellenic
culture and thought of Christianity as an alien and enemy religion.
His attempt to accomplish a pagan revival ended in failure, partly
because Christianity was too firmly entrenched, and partly because
his reign was too short. The last of the noted pagan emperors, he has
been branded by Christian historians as Julian the Apostate. The
other most prominent of the rulers of Rome in its dying stage was
Theodosius I, who, in spite of his butchery of thousands of innocent
citizens on imaginary charges of conspiracy, is also known as “the
Great.” The chief importance of his reign comes from his decree of
380 commanding all of his subjects to become orthodox Christians.
A few years later he classified participation in any of the pagan cults
as an act of treason.
From the standpoint of cultural achievement the period of the
Empire is of little significance. With the establishment of a despotic
state and the degradation of intellect by mystical and otherworldly
religions, creative talent was destroyed. The few literary works pro¬
duced were characterized by an overemphasis upon form and a neg¬
lect of content. A barren and artificial rhetoric took the place of the
study of the classics in the schools, and science died out completely.
Aside from the teachings of the Christian Fathers, which will be dis¬
cussed later, the prevailing philosophy of the age was Neo-
Platonism. This philosophy, purporting to be a continuation of the
system of Plato, was really an outgrowth of the doctrines of the
Neo-Pythagoreans and of Philo Judaeus.10 The first of its basic
teachings was emanationism: everything that exists proceeds from
Gold Medallion of Constan¬ God in a continuing stream of emanations. The initial stage in the
tine I process is the emanation of the world-soul. From this come the di¬
vine Ideas or spiritual patterns, and then the souls of particular
things. The final emanation is matter. But matter has no form or
quality of its own; it is simply the privation of spirit, the residue
which is left after the spiritual rays from God have burned them¬
Neo-Platonism selves out. It follows that matter is to be despised as the symbol of
evil and darkness. The second major doctrine was mysticism. The
soul of man was originally a part of God, but it has become sepa¬
rated from him through its union with matter. The highest goal of
life should be mystic reunion with the divine, which can be accom¬
plished through contemplation and through emancipation of the
soul from bondage to matter. Man should be ashamed of the fact
that he possesses a physical body and should seek to subjugate it in
every way possible. Asceticism was therefore the third main teach¬
ing of this philosophy.
The real founder of Neo-Platonism was Plotinus, who was born
in Egypt about 204 a.d. In the later years of his life he taught in
Rome and won many followers among the upper classes. His princi-

270 10 See pp. 228-29

pal successors diluted the philosophy with more and more bizarre DECAY AND DECLINE
superstitions. In spite of its anti-intellectual viewpoint and its utter
indifference to the state, Neo-Platonism became so popular in Rome
in the third and fourth centuries a.d. that it almost completely sup¬
planted Stoicism. No fact could have expressed more eloquently the Plotinus

extent of the social and intellectual decline that the Roman nation
had experienced.

10. DECAY AND DECLINE

In 476 a.d. the last of the emperors in the West, the insignificant
Romulus Augustulus, was deposed, and a barbarian chieftain
assumed the title of King of Rome. Though this event is commonly The decline and
taken to have marked the end of Roman history, it was really only fall of Rome

the final incident in a long process of disintegration. The fall of

Rome did not occur with dramatic suddenness, but extended over a
period of approximately two centuries. A large part of the civiliza¬
tion was already dead before the Empire collapsed. Indeed, for all
practical purposes the pagan culture of Rome from the middle of
the third century on could be considered as belonging to a dark age.
More has been written on the fall of Rome than on the death of
any other civilization. The theories offered to account for the trag¬
edy have been many and various. Moralist historians have found the Alleged causes of

explanation in the evidences of lechery unearthed at Pompeii or re¬ the decline

vealed in the satires of Juvenal and Martial. They overlook the fact,
however, that nearly all of this evidence comes from the early
Principate, and that in the centuries preceding the collapse of the
Empire, morality became more austere through the influence of
ascetic religions. Historians of a sociological bent have attributed
the downfall to a declining birth rate. But there is little to indicate
that Rome could have been saved by greater numbers. The Athen¬
ian civilization reached the height of its glory during the very cen¬
turies when growth of population was most strictly limited.
If there was one primary factor which operated more than others
to accomplish the downfall of Roman civilization, it was probably
imperialism. Nearly all of the troubles that beset the country were Actual causes:

traceable in some measure to the conquest of a great empire. It was (1) imperialism

this which was largely responsible for the creation of the city mob,
for the growth of slavery, for the strife between classes and the
widespread political corruption. It was also imperialism that was
partly responsible for the barbarian invasions, for the exhaustion of
the resources of the state to maintain a huge military machine, and
for the influx of alien ideas which the Romans could not readily
assimilate. The idea that Rome became a civilized nation as a result
of her conquests is undoubtedly a fallacy. Instead, her repeated vic¬
tories caused her ruling population to become greedy and domineer¬
ing. It is true that she appropriated much of the Hellenistic culture
after her conquest of the Near East; but the really valuable elements 271
 of this culture would eventually have been acquired anyway
through the normal expansion of trade, while the evil consequences
of domination of vast areas by force would have been avoided.
Another important cause, closely related to imperialism, deserves
analysis: namely, the revolution in economic and social conditions
(2) revolution that swept over Italy in the third and fourth centuries a.d. This
in economic and
revolution, which differed radically from the one that had occupied
social conditions
the third and second centuries b.c., had the following features: (i)
the disappearance of money from circulation and the return to a
natural economy; (2) the decline of industry and commerce; (3)
the growth of serfdom and the rise of an extralegal feudalism; (4)
the extension of government control over a large portion of the
economic sphere; and (5) the transition from a regime of individual
initiative to a regime of hereditary status. The primary cause of this
revolution seems to have been the unfavorable balance of trade that
Italy suffered in her commerce with the provinces. In order to
check the withdrawal of precious metals from the country, the gov¬
ernment, instead of encouraging manufactures for export, resorted
to the hazardous expedient of debasing the coinage. Nero began the
practice, and his successors continued it until the proportion of
baser metal in the Roman coins had increased to 98.5 per cent. The
inevitable result was disappearance of money from circulation.
Commerce could no longer be carried on, salaries had to be paid in
food and clothing, and taxes collected in produce. The scarcity of
money in turn led to a decline in production, until the government
intervened with a series of decrees binding peasants to the soil and
compelling every townsman to follow the occupation of his father.
272 The great landlords, now that they had control over a body of serfs,
entrenched themselves on their estates, defied the central govern¬ THE ROMAN HERITAGE
ment, and ruled as feudal magnates. So close were the peasants to
the margin of starvation that some of them sold their newborn chil¬
dren or gave them up for adoption in order to escape from the
burden of supporting them. Other causes

No one can present an exhaustive list of causes of Rome’s decline.

Among others of at least minor significance were the following: (i)
the unjust policy of taxation, which rested most heavily on the busi¬
ness and farming classes and resulted in the discouragement of pro¬
ductive enterprise; (2) the social stigma attached to work, resulting
in the deliberate choice by thousands of the debasing relationship of
clientage in preference to useful labor; (3) exhaustion of the soil,
resulting in part from unscientific farming and in part from the at¬
tempt of too many people to make a living from the land; and (4)
the disastrous plagues of Asiatic origin which broke out in 166 and
252 a.d., resulting in depopulating whole sections of Italy and
thereby opening the way for barbarian incursions. To the last of
these causes should be appended the fact that as lands along the low-
lying coast were withdrawn from cultivation because of the compe¬
tition of grain from the provinces, malaria spread. The effect of this
disease in undermining the vigor of the Italian population is impossi¬
ble to estimate, but it must have been considerable.

I I. THE ROMAN HERITAGE

It is tempting to believe that the modern world owes a vast debt

to the Romans: first of all, because Rome is nearer to us in time than
any of the other civilizations of antiquity; and secondly, because Comparison of

Rome seems to bear such a close kinship to the modern temper. The Rome with the
modern world
resemblances between Roman history and the history of Great Brit¬
ain or the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
have often been noted. The Roman economic evolution progressed
all the way from a simple agrarianism to a complex urban system
with problems of unemployment, monopoly, gross disparities of
wealth, and financial crises. The Roman Empire, in common with
the British and the American, was founded upon conquest and upon
visions of Manifest Destiny. It must not be forgotten, however, that
the heritage of Rome was an ancient heritage and that conse¬
quently, the similarities between the Roman and modern civiliza¬
tions are not so important as they seem. As we have noted already,
the Romans disdained industrial activities, and they were incredibly
naive in matters of science. Neither did they have any idea of the
modern national state; the provinces were mere appendages, not in¬
tegral parts of a body politic. It was largely for this reason that the
Romans never developed an adequate system of representative gov¬
ernment. Finally, the Roman conception of religion was vastly
different from our own. Their system of worship, like that of the
Greeks, was external and mechanical, not inward or spiritual in any 273
 The Forum, the Civic Center of Ancient Rome. In addition to public
squares, the Forum included triumphal arches, magnificent temples, and
government buildings. In the foreground is the Temple of Saturn. Behind it
is the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. The three columns at the extreme
right are what is left of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, and in the farthest
background is the arch of Titus.

sense. What Christians consider the highest ideal of piety—an emo¬

tional attitude of love for the divine—the Romans regarded as gross
superstition.
Nevertheless, the civilization of Rome was not without a definite
influence upon later cultures. The form, if not the spirit, of Roman
The influence architecture was preserved in the ecclesiastical architecture of the
of Roman civili- Middle Ages and survives to this day in the design of most of our
za,'on government buildings. The sculpture of the Augustan Age also
lives on in the equestrian statues, the memorial arches and columns,
and in the portraits in stone of statesmen and generals that adorn
our boulevards and parks. Although subjected to new interpreta¬
tions, the law of the great jurists became an important part of
the Code of Justinian and was thus handed down to the later
Middle Ages. Modern lawyers and especially American judges fre¬
quently cite maxims originally invented by Gaius or Ulpian. Fur¬
ther, the legal systems of nearly all Continental European countries
today incorporate much of the Roman law. This law was one of the
grandest of the Romans’ achievements and reflected their genius for
governing a vast and diverse empire. It should not be forgotten
either that Roman literary achievements furnished much of the in-
274 spiration for the revival of learning that spread over Europe in the
twelfth century and reached its zenith in the Renaissance. Nor THE ROMAN HERITAGE
should the debt of the Western world to Rome for the transmission
of Greek culture be overlooked. Perhaps not so well known is the
fact that the organization of the Catholic Church, to say nothing of
part of its ritual, was adapted from the structure of the Roman state
and the complex of the Roman religion. For example, the Pope still
bears the title of Supreme Pontiff {Pontifex Maximus), which was
used to designate the authority of the emperor as head of the civic
religion. But the most important element in the Roman influence has
probably been the idea of the absolute authority of the state. In the
judgment of nearly all Romans, with the exception of philosophers
such as Cicero and Seneca, the state was legally omnipotent. How¬
ever much the Roman may have detested tyranny, it was really only
personal tyranny that he feared; the despotism of the Senate as the
organ of popular sovereignty was perfectly proper. This conception
survives to our own day in the popular conviction that the state can
do no wrong, and especially in the doctrines of absolutist political
philosophers that the individual has no rights except those which the
state confers upon him.
One other political conception, emanating from the Romans, has
had lasting significance. This is the conception of a world empire
established and maintained by a single people by virtue of its martial The Roman
prowess and its superior civilization. The Romans brought to a tem¬ conception of a
world empire
porary end the regime of local independence that had prevailed dur¬
ing most of previous history except during the brief rule of the
Hellenistic empires. Under the Pax Romana none of the smaller
states was really master of its own fate. All were mere appendages
of Rome, in theory if not in actuality. They had not chosen this fate
for themselves but had been obliged to accept it because of the
overwhelming power of their mighty neighbor. As a consequence,
the Mediterranean Sea, which washed the shores of most of what
was then the civilized Western world, had become a Roman lake.
This same Pax Romana provided much of the inspiration for the Pax
Britannica of the nineteenth century. Controlling a population
amounting to one-fourth of the world’s total and maintaining a navy
equal in strength to the combined navies of any two other powers,
Great Britain molded the destinies of most of the Western world. In
this way she succeeded in preventing major wars and in acquiring
cultural and economic supremacy. At the end of the nineteenth cen¬
tury many Americans also fell under the spell of the Pax Romana.
Politicians and propagandists such as Albert J. Beveridge, William
Allen White, and Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it the mission of
the American people to become the “master organizers” of the
world, to enforce peace, and to advance the cause of human welfare.
They insisted that their country had been given a divine appoint¬
ment as “trustee of the civilization of the world.” 11
11 For an extended discussion of this subject see E. M. Burns, The American
Idea of Mission, pp. 206-10. 275
READINGS SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

POLITICAL HISTORY

• Adcock, F. E., Roman Political Ideas and Practice, Ann Arbor, 1964 (Univer¬
sity of Michigan).
Bloch, Raymond, The Origins of Rome, New York, i960.
Boak, A. E. R., A History of Rome to 565 A.D., New York, 1929. Clear and
concise.
• Cowell, F. R., Cicero and the Roman Republic, New York, 1948 (Penguin).
A good account of the fall of the Republic.
• Haywood, R. M., The Myth of Rome's Fall, New York, 1962 (Apollo).
• Katz, Solomon, The Decline of Rome, Ithaca, 1955 (Cornell).
• Mommsen, Theodor, The History of Rome, Chicago, 1957 (Meridian, Wis¬
dom Library). A reprint of a great masterpiece.
• Scullard, H.S., From the Gracchi to Nero, New York, 1959 (Barnes & Noble).
• Starr, C. G., The Emergence of Rome, Ithaca, 1953 (Cornell).
• Syme, Ronald, The Roman Revolution, New York, 1939 (Oxford, i960).
• Warmington, B. H., Carthage, Baltimore, 1965 (Penguin).

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Arnold, E. V., Roman Stoicism, New York, 1911.

Badian, Ernst, Roman Imperialism in the Late Republic, Oxford, 1967.
Bailey, Cyril, ed., The Legacy of Rome, New York, 1924.
Balston, J. P. V. D., Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome, New York, 1969.
• Carceopino, Jerome, Daily Life in Ancient Rome, New Haven, i960 (Yale
University Press).
• Clagett, Marshall, Greek Science in Antiquity, New York, 1963 (Collier).
Includes developments in late antiquity.
• Dill, Samuel, Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, New York, 1905
(Meridian). Old but still highly regarded.
• Duff, J.W., A Literary History of Rome in the Golden Age, New York,
1964 (Barnes & Noble).
• -, A Literary History of Rome in the Silver Age, New York, i960
(Barnes & Noble, 1964).
Earl, Donald, The Moral and Political Tradition of Rome, Ithaca, 1967.
• Fowler, W. W., Social Life at Rome in the Age of Cicero, New York, 1915
(St. Martin’s Library).
-, The Religious Experience of the Roman People, London, 1911.
Frank, Tenney, Economic History of Rome, Baltimore, 1927. Perhaps the best
economic history.
• Hamilton, Edith, The Roman Way, New York, 1932 (Norton Library).
• Laistner, M.L. W., The Greater Roman Historians, Berkeley, 1947 (Univer¬
sity of California, 1963).
• Lot, Ferdinand, The End of the Ancient World, New York, 1931 (Torch-
book).
• Mattingly, Harold, Christianity in the Roman Empire, New York, 1967 (Nor¬
ton Library).
• -, The Man in the Roman Street, New York, 1947 (Norton Library).
Rostovtzev, M. I., Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire, New
York, 1957, 2 v°ls- Has become almost a classic.
276 Scullard, H. H., The Etruscan Cities and Rome, Ithaca, 1967.
• Starr, C. G., Civilization and the Caesars, New York, 1954 (Norton Library). READINGS
Westermann, W. L., The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity,
Philadelphia, 1955.
• Wheeler, Mortimer, The Art of Rome, New York, 1964 (Praeger).
White, Lynn T., Jr., ed., Transformation of the Roman World, Berkeley,
1966.

SOURCE MATERIALS

Translations of Roman authors are available in the appropriate volumes of the

Loeb Classical Library.
See also:
Lewis, Naphtali, and Reinhold, M., Roman Civilization, New York, 1955,
2 vols.

277
■
 CHAPTER 11
The Far East and Africa in Transition
(ca. ZOO B.C.-poO A.D.)

If brave and ambitious men have sincere understanding and aware¬

ness; if they fear and heed the warnings of disaster and use tran¬
scendent vision and profound judgment; if they ... rid them¬
selves of the blind notion that the mandate of Heaven can be
pursued like a deer in chase and realize that the sacred vessel of
rule must be given from on high; . . . then will fortune and bless¬
ing flow to their sons and grandsons, and the rewards of Heaven
will be with them to the end of their days.
—Pan Piao, History of the Former Han Dynasty

During the period when the Greco-Roman classical civilization was

being extended throughout the Mediterranean world under the aus¬
pices of the Roman Empire, a high stage of cultural development had Contrasts of

been reached in both India and China. The disturbances that charac¬ East and West

terized the downfall of the Roman Empire in the West had their par¬
allels in Asia too. However, the invasions and political upheavals in
the Far East did not produce the same drastic changes as those in the
West. The structure of society continued without serious modifica¬
tion in India and China, and the cultures of these two countries at¬
tained a brilliant peak while Europe was experiencing its Dark Ages.
In India a combination of commerical prosperity—which encour¬
aged the growth of large cities—and the religious enthusiasm
accompanying the spread of Buddhism stimulated an outpouring of
artistic talent. During this period Indian influence extended far be¬
yond the borders of the country. Buddhism was planted in Central
Asia and from there carried to China, Korea, and Japan. Indian
colonization led to the introduction of both Buddhism and Hindu¬
ism, together with their art and literature, in Southeast Asia and the
Malay Archipelago (which is still called Indonesia). China, while
importing a major religion from India, showed much greater success 279
 THE FAR EAST AND in achieving political unification and an effective administrative sys-
AFR1CA IN TRANSITION tem. So great was the prestige of imperial China that its culture was
studied and eagerly assimilated by the Japanese in the sixth and suc¬
ceeding centuries a.d. At the same time the West received some im¬
pact from the civilizations of Asia by way of the Hellenistic and im¬
perial Roman commercial centers and, later, through the initiative of
the Arabs.

I. THE FLOWERING OF HINDU CIVILIZATION

The Maurya Dynasty, under the energetic and devout King

Asoka, had projected a common rule over the greater part of India.
Conflict in Upon the overthrow of this dynasty early in the second century
post-Maury a b.c., the empire quickly fell apart, leaving India in a condition of po¬
India litical discord. For the next several hundred years the most powerful
kingdoms were centered not in the Indo-Gangetic plain but in the
Deccan, where a succession of dynasties contended with one an¬
other, and some of them emerged as major states with extensive ter¬
ritories and resources. It is clear that by this time the arts of civiliza¬
tion were well advanced in southern India, even though the most
distinctive historic influences—Vedic literature and philosophy, the
traditional religious and social concepts of Hinduism, and the cre¬
ative force of Buddhism—had originated in the north. Moreover,
the invasions which began to trouble northern India did not pene¬
trate into the Deccan. The states of the Deccan carried on commer¬
cial intercourse with neighboring and even distant areas but were
not seriously threatened with hostile assaults from foreign powers.
On the contrary, their merchants and missionaries were ensuring the
cultural ascendancy of India over Southeast Asia.
After a period of domination by nomadic tribes from Turkestan,
the political initiative in India was recovered by a native house
The Gupta Dynasty which established a highly effective rule and was even more remark¬
able for its advancement of culture. The Gupta Dynasty, as it was
called, governed most of northern India during the fourth and fifth
centuries a.d. The dynasty’s founder, Chandragupta I, was probably
not descended from the Chandragupta who had instituted the
Maurya Dynasty after the death of Alexander the Great, but the
Guptas ruled from the same capital—Pataliputra (Patna) on the
Ganges—and also revived some of the principles of the renowned
King Asoka. The climax of the Gupta period came in the reign of
Vikramaditya (“Sun of Power”), 375-413 a.d., which inaugurated
a golden age not unworthy of comparison with Athens’ Golden Age
in the days of Pericles. Valuable information on conditions in north¬
ern India at this time has been preserved in the brief account writ¬
ten by a Chinese pilgrim, Fa Hsien, who spent six years in the realm
280 of Vikramaditya. Buddhism had already spread into China, and the
monk Fa Hsien undertook his hazardous journey to acquire sacred THE FLOWERING OF
texts and first-hand knowledge of the religion in the land of its HINDU CIVILIZATION
birth. His comments, however, were not restricted to religious mat¬
ters, and because he was an intelligent and civilized foreigner, his
observations may be taken as objective and generally reliable. The
travels of Fa Hsien in themselves represent no mean undertaking.
He made his way on foot across Sinkiang and the mountain passes,
taking six years to reach India (399-405 a.d.). Here he taught him¬
self the Sanskrit language, procured texts, drawings, and relics at the
Gupta capital, and then returned to his native land by sea, spending
two years in Ceylon en route and also visiting Java on the voyage.
Altogether, during the fifteen years of his pilgrimage he traversed a
distance of some 8000 miles.
According to Fa Hsien’s testimony, Buddhism was flourishing in
India, especially in the Gupta empire, but all the Hindu cults were
tolerated and the rivalry among the different religions was not em¬ Culture and so¬

bittered by persecution. Evidently the impact of Buddhism and the ciety under the
Guptas
traditions of Asoka had stimulated the growth of humane senti¬
ments, given practical expression in public hospitals, rest houses, and
other charitable institutions receiving state support. Fa Hsien as¬
serted that the Indians scrupulously refrained from the use of liquor
and were vegetarians to such an extent that they slaughtered no liv¬
ing creatures—undoubtedly a pious exaggeration. Apparently, also,
the caste system had not become utterly rigid, probably because
Buddhism was still vigorous and also because segregation was im¬
practicable in the cosmopolitan society of the thriving commercial
centers. Fa Hsien, who had no reason to bestow unmerited praise
(he does not even mention the name of the great king Vikrama-
ditya), described the government as just and beneficent. The roads,
he indicated, were well maintained, brigandage was rare, taxes were
relatively light, and capital punishment was unknown. He testified
to a generally high level of prosperity, social contentment, and intel¬
lectual vitality at a time when the nations of Western Europe were
sinking into a state of semibarbarism.
Another invasion of India destroyed the Gupta power and
brought a period of confusion lasting for more than a century.
Almost simultaneously with the formal demise of the Roman The overthrow of
Gupta rule by Hun
Empire in the West, a group of nomads called “White Huns”
invaders
defeated the Gupta forces and made themselves masters of north¬
ern India (480 a.d.). By the early sixth century the White Huns
had staked out an empire extending from Bengal in the east
into Afghanistan and Central Asia. However, it was much more
barbaric than its predecessors, and disrupted the splendid adminis¬
trative system of the Guptas. The Huns in India were gradually ab¬
sorbed by the native population, but on the northwestern borders a
promising artistic movement was blighted before the Hunnish
power disintegrated in accordance with the usual cycle of hastily 281
 Wei

Empire King Harsha

Sanchi Pataliputra 606 648
(Patna)
Probable route Fa Hsien
899 405
• Ajanta
Ellora
Invasions the White Hun
480

Fa Hwen».^eturn_to_China

0 500 miles
' 1 1 1_I_l

THE EMPIRE OF KING HARSHA

constructed nomadic states. After the Hunnish menace receded, an

able government was re-established by one of the most famous
rulers in Indian history, King Harsha (606-648 a.d.).
Although Harsha’s state was not literally a continuation of the
Gupta, it was so similar in important features that the term “Gupta”
The reign of is often used to designate the civilization of northern India from the
King Harsha fourth to the seventh century, a period of cultural maturity despite
(606-648 A.D.)
the devastating interlude of the Hunnish invasion. King Harsha was
a mighty conqueror who, with a huge army efficiently organized in
divisions of infantry, cavalry, and elephants, reunited most of north¬
ern India. He was also a capable administrator, an intelligent and
282 prudent statesman, and a generous patron of art, literature, and reli-
gion. His capital, Kanauj, extending four miles along the river in the THE FLOWERING OF
central Ganges valley, was a splendid city, adorned with hundreds HINDU CIVILIZATION
of temples and imposing public buildings, and enlivened with festive
pageantry. As in the reign of Vikramaditya, the account of a Chi¬
nese Buddhist pilgrim throws revealing light upon Harsha’s adminis¬
tration.
According to the narrative of this pilgrim (Hsiin-tsang or Yuan
Chwang) and other contemporary records, Harsha’s administration
was in the Gupta tradition but slightly less gentle. The state revenue Harsha's

was derived chiefly from taxes on the royal domains, which administrative
amounted to one-sixth of the produce of the villages and could policies
hardly be regarded as oppressive. Harsha allotted only one-fourth of
his income to administrative expenses, devoting the remainder to the
rewarding of public servants, to charity, and to the promotion of
education, religion, and the arts. In contrast to the mild punishments
employed by the earlier Gupta regime, King Harsha inflicted such
severe penalties as mutilation and death through starvation. Never¬
theless, crimes of violence seem to have become more numerous.
Religious toleration was still the official policy. Although Harsha is
supposed to have been converted to the Mahay ana school of Bud¬
dhism, he continued to worship the Sun and Shiva, and no attempt
was made to enforce a religious orthodoxy. Despite this policy, the
Brahmans were beginning to recover their ascendancy, and it was
only a question of time before Buddhism, with its universalist and
caste-dissolving tendencies, would be crowded out or absorbed by
the cults so deeply rooted in Indian local tradition, literature, and
social institutions. During the upheaval which followed the death of
Harsha, this trend became more pronounced.
During the first seven or eight centuries of the Christian era, in
spite of invasions and disunity, political vigor and artistic and intel¬
lectual creativity in India reached their height. This period, in The climax of
which Hindu civilization attained its full maturity, ranks as a major Hindu culture
era in the history of the world’s cultures. What the Periclean Age
and the Augustan Age were for the classical civilizations of the
West the reigns of Vikramaditya and Harsha were for India and, to
a considerable extent, for other portions of Southern Asia. Un¬
doubtedly the development of industry and commerce helps explain
the generally prosperous state of Indian society and the cultural ad¬
vances. At this time, and later also, India was the center of an inter¬
continental market, and her merchants took the initiative in naviga¬
tion on the high seas. During the first two centuries a.d. there was
extensive intercourse between India and the Near East, especially
with the city of Alexandria. Many products were also being ex¬
ported from India to the Roman West, including jewels, ivory,
tortoise shells, pepper, cinnamon and other spices, fine muslin cloth,
and silks of both Indian and Chinese manufacture. In exchange the
Indians imported linen, glass, copper, wines, and other items, but the 283
 THE FAR EAST AND trade balance was so decidedly in India’s favor that the Roman em¬
AFRICA IN TRANSITION perors became alarmed at the drainage of gold to the East and tried
to curtail the use of silk for wearing apparel. Some of this trade was
overland, but Indian merchants had from early days sailed across the
Arabian Sea and up the Red Sea to Egypt. Not until the first cen¬
tury a.d. did Western traders discover the monsoon winds which
enabled them to sail east to the Indian coast during the summer and
then return when the wind direction changed in October. Traffic
between the Near Eastern ports and southern India was probably
even greater than with northern India. Pearls and beryls from the
Deccan were especially prized, and Roman coins, testifying to a once
flourishing trade, have been discovered along both the southwestern
and southeastern coasts of the Indian peninsula. Apparently no ob¬
stacles were placed by the Indian rulers in the way of foreign inter¬
course or even against settlement by foreign traders, some of whom
took up permanent residence in India. Southern India acquired small
colonies of Romans, Jews, Nestorian Christians from Syria and
Persia (a Syriac-speaking Christian church still exists in south¬
western India), and Arabs.
Through commercial contacts India probably exerted more in¬
fluence upon the West than has been generally recognized, although
Influence upon much of it came somewhat later and with the Arabs as intermedi¬
the West aries. The Indian numerals (“Arabic”), which were not adopted by
Europeans until the late Middle Ages, were perhaps known in Alex¬
andria as early as the second century a.d. In the eighth and ninth
centuries important scientific and medical treatises were translated
from Sanskrit into Arabic. In addition, it is quite possible that famil¬
iarity with Indian philosophy and religion contributed a stimulus to
the growth of Christian monasticism. The earliest Christian hermit-
ascetics appeared in Egypt, where there was considerable knowl¬
edge of Hinduism and Buddhism, both of which religions stressed
the concepts of renunciation and mystic exaltation.
The manifold intellectual activity of this period of Indian history
reflected the interests of a cosmopolitan society, the patronage of
Buddhist wealthy rulers, and—most strongly of all—the incentives of reli¬
patronage of
gious faith. High levels of scholarship were maintained both by the
education
Brahmans and by Buddhist monks, and large libraries came into
being. Particularly noteworthy were the educational foundations,
for which the chief credit should be given to the Buddhists. The
role of the Buddhist monks in education was comparable to that of
the Christian monks of the West during the early Middle Ages, but
the scope of their studies was broader because the general level of
knowledge was far higher in India than in the West at this time.
Some Buddhist monasteries were internationally famous centers of
learning, unmatched in Europe until the rise of such universities as
Paris, Montpellier, and Oxford in the late Middle Ages. One of the
284 greatest Buddhist universities, at Nalanda in the Ganges valley (in
 wr
-a

Ruins at Nalanda. The remains of the ancient university town, eaj

Buddhist learning.

modern Bihar), was functioning as early as the fourth or fifth cen¬

tury a.d. Endowed by the Gupta rulers with a substantial income, it
maintained residence halls for students—with free tuition, board,
lodging, and medical care for poor boys who were able to pass the
entrance examinations—and had a library that occupied three build¬
ings. Pilgrims visiting the university in the seventh century reported
that 5000 students were in attendance, including some from Tibet,
China, and Korea. Although Nalanda was a Buddhist foundation and
provided instruction in eighteen different schools of Buddhism, its
faculty also offered courses in Hindu philosophy, grammar, medi¬
cine, mathematics, and in both Vedic and contemporary literature.
While the literary output was prolific and uninhibited, it betrayed
a veneration for the past in that Sanskrit—the ancient language of
the Epic Age—became the universally accepted literary vehicle, in Literature: ro¬

the Deccan as well as in Hindustan. Even the Buddhists felt con¬ mantic narratives,
fables, and drama
strained to translate their sacred texts from Pali (the dialect of
King Asoka’s day) into Sanskrit, and it was the Sanskrit versions
which were carried by missionaries into Central Asia, China, Korea,
and ultimately Japan. Literature of the Gupta Age, in both prose
and poetry, ranged from scientific treatises and biographies to tales
for popular entertainment. The latter included long romantic narra¬
tives suggestive of—and perhaps the prototype of—the Arabian
Nights; and also “Beast Fables” comparable to those attributed to
Aesop. The most impressive literary medium was the drama, which,
as in Europe somewhat later, evolved out of a popular type of reli¬
gious instruction and entertainment. The Sanskrit drama, in its per¬
fected form, combined song, dance, and gesture with narrative and
dialogue, and thus resembled the Western opera or cantata more 285
 THE FAR EAST AND than the typical stage play. The plots, often diffuse, were usually
AFRICA IN TRANSITION concerned with romantic love, drew heavily upon legendary themes
from the epics, and resorted to miracles whenever necessary to re¬
solve a difficulty in the story. Although they employed pathos, the
dramas were never tragedies, always ending happily. They also
utilized the peculiarly artificial device of having the principal char¬
acters speak in classical Sanskrit while women and lesser figures used
the less elegant dialect of ordinary conversation. Although the San¬
skrit drama never provided the suspense or realism characteristic of
the modern Western theater, it did attain undeniable beauty, both in
descriptions of nature and in lyrical passages expressing human emo¬
tions of tenderness and anguish.
The most superb expression of the Indian creative faculties during
these centuries was in art, especially architecture and sculpture, al¬
though some excellent paintings were also produced. By the Gupta
era, architecture was nearing a point of perfection, as evidenced by
imposing stone structures in all sections of India. As in so many
other fields, the Buddhists pioneered in the development of artistic
forms. The evolution of the Buddhist monasteries and temples set
the pattern for practically the whole of Hindu architecture (and
sculpture also). During the early centuries when Hinayana Bud¬
dhism was dominant, neither temples nor images of Gautama were
made. Hence the first typical Buddhist monument was the stupa, a
simple burial mound in the shape of a dome or hemisphere crowned
with an umbrella—the Indian symbol of sovereignty. Inside the
brick- or rock-faced mound was buried a sacred relic, usually some
object associated with Gautama or with a revered Buddhist saint.
The most famous stupa is the large one at Sanchi in the very center
of India, still in an excellent state of preservation, although it was
begun in Asoka’s reign and substantially completed during the first
century b.c. More impressive than the stone-faced mound (which
has a diameter at the base of 120 feet) are the four carved gateways
surrounding the stupa. These massive fences of stone are supported
by pillars 35 feet high and, in spite of their huge proportions, are
adorned with intricate carvings, both pictorial and symbolic, with a
profusion of delicately formed human and animal figures. After the
stupa, the next step in the evolution of religious architecture was the
Buddhist Missionary. Sixth- assembly hall, where monks and lay disciples gathered to honor the
:entury carving supposed to memory of Gautama, the “Master of the Law.” These halls were
•epresent the first Indian Bud-
commonly tunneled out of solid rock in a mountain or the side of a
ihist missionary to China,
cliff. Their general plan was similar to that of the Roman basilica
luddhism had probably been
ntroduced into China as early and early Christian church in that it emphasized a central passage¬
is the first century a.d. way or nave separated from aisles on either side by round columns.
Paralleling the evolution of the temple was the development of the
Buddhist monastery. Like the assembly hall or temple, the monas¬
tery was often carved out of a single mass of rock, with successive
286 stories of cells or cubicles so arranged that the structure as a whole
The Great Stupa at Sanchi. Begun by Asoka and completed under the Andhra
Dynasty (72-25 b.c.), it was originally a burial mound containing relics of the
Buddha. The fully developed stupa, designed with mathematical precision,
became an architectural symbol of the cosmos. The tiered mast on top of the
structure represents the earth’s axis penetrating the dome of heaven.

appeared to be a terraced pyramid. Devotees of the Hindu cults

soon began to construct temples in imitation of the Buddhist and
eventually even more elaborate.
Although some free-standing temples were erected as early as the
first century a.d., for several centuries the Indians seemed to prefer
the more arduous method of hewing their edifices out of the solid Rock-cut temples

rock of caves and cliffs. More than 1200 rock-cut temples and mon- and monasteries
asteries were executed in various sections of India, the larger pro¬
portion being along the western coast. The two most remarkable
groups of cliff excavations are located at Ajanta and Ellora, about 70
miles apart, in the northern part of what later became Hyderabad.
The Ajanta caves were Buddhist sanctuaries, some of them dating
from the second century b.c. and some from as late as the fifth cen¬
tury a.d. They include both assembly halls and monasteries, com¬
plete with stone beds, tables, water cisterns, and niches for oil read¬
ing lamps. The even more splendid caves at Ellora represent about
900 years of architectural and sculptural enterprise, extending from
the fourth to the thirteenth century. The Buddhists were the first to
utilize the site, but some of the caves were the work of Jains and the
largest number were constructed as Hindu temples, of tremendous
size and lavish design.
Temples composed of separate stone blocks, in contrast to the
cave type, began to be more common in Gupta times and were
typical of the most active period of Hindu temple building, between
the sixth and the thirteenth centuries. The essential architectural 287
 Entrance to the Ajanta Caves. The Gupta
period (fourth to seventh centuries a.d.)
constitutes the Golden Age of Indian art
—in sculpture, architecture, and painting
—as well as the climax of classical Sanskrit
literature.

features of these free-standing Hindu temples are (i) a base consist¬

ing of a square or rectangular chamber to house the image of the
god, and (2) a lofty tower which rises from the roof of the cham¬
ber and dominates the entire edifice. The shape of the tower distin¬
guishes the two main styles of Hindu temples. The “Dravidian”
style, found only in the tropics, is identified by a terraced steeple
divided into stories like a step pyramid and decidedly reminiscent of
the early Buddhist rock-cut monasteries. The “Indo-Aryan” style,
prevalent in northern India, has a curvilinear tower with vertical
ribs which may possibly be derived from the Buddhist stupa.
Sculpture usually develops in close conjunction with architecture,
and this was especially true in India, where so many sacred halls and
chambers were literally carved out of stone. Decorative engravings,
including figures in relief, were typically an integral part of the
building itself. Chiseled decorations were very successfully applied
to the gateways and pillars surrounding some of- the early Buddhist
stupas. The figures on the gates of the great stupa at Sanchi (first
century b.c.) are particularly fine examples. Although they were in¬
Eastern Gateway of the Great
Stupa at Sanchi. The relief tended to commemorate events of sacred tradition and embody
carvings, depicting incidents pious symbolism, they are invested with vigor, freshness, and spon¬
from the life of the Buddha, taneity, suggesting an uninhibited delight in the natural world
are remarkable for their fine rather than a brooding melancholy. Meanwhile a significant school
detail, vitality, and naturalism.
of sculpture was arising in northwestern India and beyond the
borders in Afghanistan and Bactria. The initial stimulus undoubt¬
edly was Greek or Hellenistic, but Persian and other influences
played a part, and the school developed its own original characteris¬
288 tics with Buddhist concepts predominant. It was in this region that
the figure of Gautama was delineated for the first time, and relief THE FLOWERING OF
sculptures depicted the legendary incidents of his life from infancy HINDU CIVILIZATION
to Enlightenment. The large statues of the Buddha clearly revealed
Greek influence at the beginning: the head resembled an Apollo or
Zeus and the garment was draped like a toga rather than a monk’s
robe. However, there was a gradual approach toward the conven¬
tional form—in cross-legged posture and an attitude of benign
repose—which eventually came to represent the Buddha all over the
Far East. This Greco-Buddhist school of sculpture continued to
flourish in the border regions of Central Asia, acquiring a more and
more hearty realism, until it was snuffed out by the Hun invasions
in the early sixth century.
During the Gupta Age, Indian sculpture largely emancipated it¬
self from foreign influences and assumed characteristics peculiarly
expressive of Indian ideals. The treatment of the human form was
handled with a subtle delicacy, conveying a sense both of rhythmic
movement and tranquillity. Garments on the figures were shown as
almost transparent or suggested only in faint outline so that the
effect is that of nudity, although chaste rather than voluptuous. The
harmonious proportions and graceful curves of the limbs were de¬
rived from a study of plant forms as well as from human anatomy.
Thus Gupta art, particularly as exemplified in the statues of Buddha,
was idealistic and spiritual rather than realistic.
The richest creations of the Hindu artistic genius are to be found
in the relief sculpture and fresco paintings executed in the rock-cut
temples upon which so much energy was expended during the pe¬ Yakshi or “Tree Spirit.” A fe¬
riod corresponding to the Classical and Medieval ages of the West. male figure derived from an
early fertility cult but here
The Buddhist caves at Ajanta contain the most important surviving
symbolizing the transition
collection of wall paintings. After almost 2000 years they are still from the sensuous world of
magnificent, although exposure to the air since the opening of illusion to the world of the
the caves in the early nineteenth century has darkened the colors. spirit.

Religious in inspiration, they are at the same time spontaneous

and unrestrained, skillfully combining the naturalism of the early
Buddhist stupa carvings with a poetic mysticism. The paintings
proclaim an unabashed delight in physical beauty and seem to
suggest the conviction that the physical and spiritual aspects of
experience can be brought into perfect accord, just as some of
the art of the Italian Renaissance attempted to fuse the pagan
ideal of joyous living with the Christian ideal of renunciation.
In the Hindu temples, which increased in number from the seventh
century on as Buddhism began to decline, decoration was usually in
sculpture rather than painting. The relief sculptures in the Hindu
cave-temples at Ellora have never been surpassed in India and rank
among the supreme masterpieces of the world’s art. In these carv¬
ings not only the gods but a galaxy of figures and dramatic episodes
out of India’s historic and legendary past seem to come alive. Many
scenes are boldly realistic, but the Hindu tendency toward abstrac¬
tion is also evident in the practice of depicting gods with several 289
 Relief Sculpture in the Hindu Cave Temple at
Ellora, Hyderabad (eighth century a.d.). The
central figures are the god Shiva and his consort
Parvati.

pairs of arms or several faces to signify their separate attributes. The

themes portrayed range from voluptuous ecstasy and heroic strug¬
gle to attitudes of piety and mystic contemplation.
While the Indian communities were bringing their civilization to
a point of refinement, they were also implanting it among various
The spread of other peoples of Southeast Asia. Indian navigators and merchants
Indian culture were active in the eastern waters of the Indian Ocean as well as in
the Arabian Sea to the west and apparently led the world in mari¬
time enterprise during this period. Some of the Indian states main¬
tained navies and had a Board of Shipping as a governmental depart¬
ment. They not only promoted commerce but chartered companies
of merchants, giving them trade monopolies in certain areas and
authority to establish colonies. During the early centuries a.d. Indian
colonies were planted in the Malay Peninsula, Annam (eastern Indo¬
china), Java, Sumatra, and many other islands of the Malay Archi¬
pelago. Between the fifth and tenth centuries an empire ruled by a
Buddhist dynasty and possessing formidable naval strength was
based on the island of Sumatra. It also controlled western Java, ex¬
tended into the Malay Peninsula, sent colonists to Borneo and from
thence to the Philippine Islands. It dominated the Strait of Malacca
and effectively policed the waters of this area against piracy. Al¬
though weakened by a long struggle with one of the Hindu main¬
land states, the empire (known as the Srivijaya) remained intact
until the fourteenth century. Indian influence was extensive in the
peninsula of Indochina—in the Cham state on the southeastern coast
(later absorbed into the Annamese empire), in the Cambodian king¬
doms of the lower Mekong valley, and among the Thais (Siamese)
to the northwest.
The political vicissitudes of these various Eastern states were too
complex to be enumerated here, but the entire region long remained
290 an outpost of Indian culture. Sanskrit literature was introduced,
along with Buddhism and the leading cults of Hinduism. Art and THE FLOWERING OF
architecture, originating in Indian prototypes, were assiduously cul- HINDU CIVILIZATION
tivated and attained considerable individuality. During the eighth
and ninth centuries the Sri vi jay a empire in Sumatra and Java was
perhaps the foremost center of Buddhist art. A colossal stupa in cen¬
tral Java, dating from the late eighth century, is considered by some
the greatest Buddhist monument in the world. Actually, although
crowned with a stupa, this structure is a whole mountaintop carved
into nine stone terraces, with staircases, covered gateways, balus¬
trades, and four galleries containing 1500 sculptured panels. In the
ninth century, building on an ambitious scale was in progress in the
Cambodian empire established by the Khmers, a native people who
wielded dominion over a large part of Indochina between the ninth
and the fourteenth centuries, and who responded energetically to the
stimulus of Indian cultural contacts. Their capital city, Angkor (re¬
covered from the jungle by French archaeologists in the twentieth
century), was of almost incredible magnificence in its heyday.
Among several huge temples the most imposing was that of Angkor
Wat, about a mile south of the capital, built during the twelfth cen¬
tury and said to be the largest work of its kind in the world, surpass¬
ing in mass even Luxor and Karnak of ancient Egypt. Angkor Wat
was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and was also designed as a
tomb for the emperor, who was deified after his death and identified
in some way with Vishnu. The storied carvings, however, honored
various Hindu deities, warned sinners of the numerous hells await¬
ing the wicked, celebrated the king’s earthly conquests, and de¬
picted scenes from the classic Sanskrit epics of India. While Hindu
influence was ascendant in Cambodia, Buddhism was also a potent

Ruins of Cham Civilization (South

Vietnam). The influence of Indian
architecture is readily apparent.
 Wall Carvings at Angkor
Wat. The walls of this
twelfth century monu¬
ment to the God Vishnu
are covered with has
reliefs of celestial danc¬
ers, parading kings, and
marching armies.

force there. Khmer statues of Buddha are distinguished by the

“smile of Angkor”—a countenance expressing the height of benevo¬
lence and the supreme peace associated with the attainment of an
inner state of enlightenment or nirvana.
During the Middle Ages the whole region surrounding the Bay of
Bengal, while comprising separate political units, was dominated by
Flourishing Indian culture, imparted through commerical contacts and manifest
culture of in the fields of religion, literature, and art. The creative activity in
"Greater India"
this “Greater India” was not inferior to that of the motherland. In
some ways it was even bolder, more vigorous and experimental, and
it continued to flourish after the onslaught of fanatical Moslem con¬
querors from Afghanistan had brought a decay in India. However, a
decline finally overtook the Buddhist and Hindu civilizations of
Southeast Asia as the result of exhausting struggles among the com¬
peting states, pressure from China to the north, and—more deci¬
sive—the impact of Arab and other Moslem adventurers who
traded, proselytized, and conquered successfully in this area during
the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries.

2. THE TERRITORIAL, POLITICAL, AND CULTURAL

GROWTH OF CHINA

The Ch’in Dynasty, inaugurated after the overthrow of the Chou,

lasted only fourteen years (221-207 b.c.), but it was one of the
most important in Chinese history because it carried out a drastic
reorganization of the government with permanent effects upon the
292 character of the state. The founder of the dynasty, who assumed the
title of “First Emperor” (Shih Huang Ti), was a man of iron will THE GROWTH OF CHINA
and administrative genius. He did away with the rival kingdoms,
divided the country into provinces, and instituted an elaborate bu¬
reaucracy directly responsible to himself. The centralized adminis¬
tration and effective military organization that had been carefully
cultivated in the state of Ch’in was now applied to all of China, thus The Ch'in Dynasty

effecting a momentous break with the past. The feudal institutions (221-207 B.C.)

of 500 years’ standing were almost completely extinguished and the

government was brought into direct contact with the people. Deter¬
mined to eliminate any competition for authority, the emperor’s
chief minister forbade the philosophic schools to continue their dis¬
cussions and commanded their writings to be destroyed. His order
for the burning of the books was a sweeping one, carrying the death
penalty for disobedience, although copies of the forbidden works
were locked up in the imperial library. Some Taoist writings were
exempted from the proscription because the emperor was attracted
by their reputed magic-working formulas. He was particularly
anxious to root out the Confucianist and Mohist teachings because
they emphasized moral restraints upon the ruler and his dependence
upon the advice of learned counselors.
Every aspect of Shih Huang Ti’s reign reveals tremendous force
of personality and a ruthless determination. He carried out con¬
quests in all directions. In the south he not only annexed regions but Shih Huang Ti,
"First Emperor"
built canals, one of which linked the Yangtze to the West River (of

The Great Wall of China at Nankow Pass. The Wall was erected about 221
207 b.c. for defense against Northern invaders.
 Ancient Irrigation Canal. Still in use, this
is part of one of the oldest and most elab¬
orate irrigation systems in the world.

which Canton is the principal port). While raising large armies by

conscription he disarmed the bulk of the Chinese people as a precau¬
tionary measure. With forced labor he executed an ambitious build¬
ing program that included a network of military roads radiating
from his capital. His most impressive engineering project was to
complete and join together the series of fortifications in the north,
by which he created the Great Wall of China, reaching from the
seacoast some 1400 miles inland. At his capital (near Sian, the site of
the old Western Chou capital) he had constructed a sumptuous pal¬
ace measuring 2500 by 500 feet and capable of accommodating
10,000 people. In addition to such undertakings he and his ministers
found time to standardize weights, measures, and even the axle
length of carts, and—still more important—to unify the style of
writing in China, with the result that communication among the
various sections was made easy in spite of the diversity of spoken
dialects. In his administrative policies the First Emperor probably
borrowed some features from the Persian monarchs and from the
Indian ruler Chandragupta Maurya. That he made a great impres¬
sion. not only upon the Chinese but upon foreign powers is illus¬
trated by the fact that his country came to be known in other lands
as “China”—after the name of his dynasty. This indomitable mon¬
arch’s chief weakness was his addiction to superstitious fancies. He
undertook several journeys in search of the elixir of immortality and
died on one of these expeditions. Three years later his dynasty
ended in a round of court conspiracies and assassinations, and his
great palace was burned to the ground.
The Ch’in emperor had aimed at a social as well as political recon¬
struction, and although this was a more difficult undertaking it suc¬
Social reforms ceeded in part. On the whole his policy was to encourage and
and totalitarian promote agriculture above commerce, assisting the farmers and
methods of
holding the merchant class in check. Officially he abolished serfdom,
Shih Huang Ti
decreeing that the peasants should be owners of the lands they
worked. It is doubtful, however, that their lot was actually much
better than before. Not only were there great differences between
the small and the large proprietors, but the poor peasants became
burdened with debts contracted with the merchants and moneylend¬
294 ers, the very group the government had intended to restrain. The
Ch’in ruler exacted heavy taxes of various sorts, including a poll THE GROWTH OF CHINA
tax, and conscripted men for military and labor service with a callous
disregard for human suffering. Thus, while the state was concerning
itself more directly and actively than ever before with the welfare
of the whole community, it reduced the dignity and freedom of the
individual to a minimum. Large numbers of the population were
forcibly moved from one region to another and many were made
slaves of the state. People’s actions and, as far as possible, their
thoughts also were controlled by the government. The Ch’in rule
carried into practice the Legalist doctrines of coercion, punishment,
and fear, and bore a striking resemblance to the European totalitar¬
ian regimes of the twentieth century.
The overthrow of the Ch’in Dynasty was followed soon after¬
ward by the establishment of the Han, founded by a military
adventurer who had risen from the ranks. In the course of Chinese The Han Dy-

history many dynasties came and went—some very brief and some nasty (206 BC--
with only a local jurisdiction—but most of them tended to follow a 220 A D )
similar course and met with a similar fate. From time to time a new
ruling house was inaugurated by force or usurpation, sometimes by
an alien or by a leader of lowly birth (the founder of the Han Dy¬
nasty was said to have come from a poor peasant family). If he
could vindicate his authority and maintain order, he was looked
upon as a legitimate ruler entitled to all the imperial dignities, re¬
gardless of the previous status of his family. To be accepted, how¬
ever, the dynasty had to promote general prosperity as well as
defend the country and suppress internal strife. The typical dy¬
nastic cycle of China illustrates not only the rise and fall of succes¬
sive ruling families but also the close relationship between the condi¬
tion of society and the durability of a political regime. Usually
during the early years of a dynasty vigorous and efficient rule was
accompanied by internal peace, prosperity, and an increase in popu¬
lation. When the imperial court and its officers became venal and
corrupt, neglected administrative problems, and demanded exorbi¬
tant taxes, domestic upheaval ensued, frequently joined to the threat
of attack from without. If the dynasty failed to resolve the crisis, it
went down in bloodshed, and a new firm hand seized control,
cleared away the debris, and began the process all over again under a
new dynastic name. The rise and fall of the Han Dynasty (206
B.c-220 a.d.) illustrates the general pattern which was typical of

China’s successive political episodes. At the same time the Han Dy¬
nasty marks one of the most splendid periods in Chinese history,
characterized by cultural progress and by the development of a
form of government so satisfactory that its essential features re¬
mained unchanged—except for temporary interruptions—until the
present century.
The Han government was a centralized bureaucracy but con¬
ducted with some regard for local differences and with deference to 295
 THE FAR EAST AND ancient traditions. Certain aspects of feudalism were reintroduced as
AFRICA IN TRANSITION the first Han emperor granted estates in the form of fiefs to his rela¬
tives and other prominent figures. However, the danger of feudal
principalities becoming powerful and independent, as had happened
Centralized in Chou times, was circumvented by a decree requiring the estates
government
of nobles to be divided among the heirs instead of passing intact to
the eldest son. Chinese society was still far from being equalitarian,
but its aristocratic structure had been severely jolted. The imperial
administration cut across class lines, and there was little danger that
it would ever again be constituted on feudal principles. The power
of the old Chou states was broken beyond recovery. Obviously, the
Han rulers were profiting from and continuing the work begun by
the hated house of Ch’in, although they softened the harshest fea¬
tures of the Ch’in regime. Whereas the Ch’in emperor had antago¬
nized the class of scholars, the Han ruler sought their favor and sup¬
port and instructed his officials to recommend to the public service
young men of ability irrespective of birth. The Confucianists
profited most from the government’s policy of toleration toward
the philosophical schools. Some of their books had escaped the
flames, and the scholars had long memories. Under the patronage of
the emperor, Confucianist teachings were reinterpreted, with more
emphasis upon the supremacy of the central authority than Con¬
fucius had probably intended. Thus, instead of serving as a stum¬
bling block, they assisted in the creation of an efficient imperial
government.
The Han rule, while energetic, efficient, and relatively enlight¬
ened, was sufficiently severe. As under the Ch’in, ambitious public
The severity of works of reclamation and canal- and road-building entailed enor¬
Han rule
mous labor, much of which was performed by slaves. Taxes were
high, the salt and iron industries were made state monopolies, and
the currency was debased to yield a profit to the government at the
expense of the people. At the same time, the emperor attempted to
regulate prices, not merely for the protection of the poorer con¬
sumers but to divert the middleman’s profit into the imperial
coffers. The government also participated in the rapidly expanding
foreign commerce of the empire.
As under most strong dynasties, efforts were directed to expand¬
ing the territorial frontiers. The Huns after many campaigns were
Expansion of the forced to acknowledge Han suzerainty and compelled to furnish
empire
tribute and military support. Chinese control was established over
much of Central Asia, including not only the Tarim basin of Sin-
kiang but parts of Turkestan beyond the mountains. Southern Man¬
churia and northern Korea were annexed, and Chinese settlers and
culture penetrated this area. The provinces south of the Yangtze
were secured and also northeastern Indochina (Tonkin). Both in
territorial extent and in power, China under the Han was almost
296 equal to the contemporary Roman Empire. Nor was China isolated
from other civilized areas. Her trade connections were far-reaching, THE GROWTH OF CHINA
especially by the caravan routes which traversed Sinkiang and
Turkestan. The Chinese had also begun to venture on the high seas,
although ocean traffic was conducted chiefly by Indian navigators
who sailed to the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin. Chinese
merchants exchanged products not only with India and Ceylon, but
also with Japan, Persia, Arabia, Syria, and—indirectly—with Rome.
The trade balance was generally favorable to China because of the
high price commanded by her leading export, silk, frequently paid
for in gold or precious stones.
The Han Dynasty reached its climax in the latter half of the sec¬
ond century b.c., under the able leadership of an emperor who ruled
for more than fifty years (Han Wu Ti, 140-87 b.c.). At the open- crisis and decay

ing of the first century a.d. a usurper named Wang Mang seized the of the Han

throne and attempted to carry out radical reforms. If he had sue- Dynasty
ceeded in realizing his program, the character of Chinese society
would have been revolutionized. Wang Mang decreed the national¬
ization of all land so that it could be divided into equal plots and
given to the peasant cultivators. He fixed prices and anticipated the
agricultural-assistance policies of modern Western nations by hav¬
ing the state enter directly into the commodity market, buying up
surpluses and holding them to sell during periods of scarcity. He
also arranged government loans at low rates of interest to help
struggling farmers. Even more startling was his decision to abolish
slavery, although he found it impossible to enforce this measure and
substituted in its place a special tax upon slave owners. His humani¬
tarian projects on behalf of the forgotten men of toil earned for
Wang the unrelenting antagonism of merchants and wealthy prop¬
erty owners. Revolts broke out against him; he was assassinated and
his program scrapped (23 a.d.). The Han family recovered the
throne and retained it for two more centuries—a period known as

Bronze Rain Drum. Han

Dynasty. Note the frogs
on the circumference.
 THE FAR EAST AND the Later or Eastern Han because the capital was moved eastward to
AFRICA IN TRANSITION the site of Honan. The Later Han period exhibited the typical
symptoms of decay at court and within the ruling house, although
the administrative system remained intact and China’s reputation in
foreign parts was upheld by skillful diplomacy and force of arms.
The dynasty crumbled as rebellions broke out and power passed
into the hands of warlords, one of whom deposed the Han emperor
in 220 A.D.
For almost four centuries after the collapse of the Han Dynasty,
China was in a state of turbulence and upheaval. The country
A period of was divided, warfare was frequent, and it seemed that all the gains
turbulence and
of the previous era were in jeopardy. Although the dates are not
disunity
identical, this period of political disunity in China is comparable to
the time of confusion which Europe experienced after the fall of the
Roman Empire in the West. As in Europe during the Early Middle
Ages, the central government was weak or nonexistent; barbarian in¬
vasions affected a wide area; and, just as Christianity became rooted
among the Latin and Germanic peoples of the West, a new
otherworldly religion—Buddhism—made tremendous headway in
China. Aside from these parallels, however, China’s period of dis¬
union was very different from the Early Middle Ages in Europe. In
China there was no appreciable decline in commerce or in city life,
nor was there a serious modification of culture and institutions. The
absence of a strong central authority was the only real disadvantage
from which the country suffered, and this defect could be remedied
by reviving the administrative machinery which had been temporar¬
ily disrupted. The Han state had been a practical and effective ex¬
pression of Chinese experience, utilizing existing social and eco¬
nomic institutions and emphasizing ancient traditions. Consequently,
even a long period of semi-anarchy could not destroy China’s civili¬
zation. This period, dismal as it was, gave evidence of the toughness
of Chinese society and culture, embodied in the patriarchal family,
the village organization, and the sturdy enterprise of farmers who
literally worshiped the soil on which they labored and were deter¬
mined to make it support them regardless of the political controver¬
sies that raged on all sides.
As might be expected, the nomadic peoples on China’s northern
borders took advantage of her internal weakness to overrun the
Nomadic invaders country. For about 250 years, from the fourth to the late sixth cen¬
from the north
tury a.d., practically all northern China including the Wei and Yel¬
low River valleys was ruled by nomad dynasties of Hunnish,
Turkish, and related stocks. It was not, however, successfully in¬
corporated into any of the extensive but short-lived empires which
arose in Central Asia and often impinged upon India as well as
China. The dominance of non-Chinese rulers over the Yellow River
valley—the historic center of Chinese culture—did not by any
298 means destroy this culture. On the contrary, the rulers seemed eager
to be accepted as custodians and defenders of civilization, and in the THE GROWTH OF CHINA
Far East civilization was synonymous with Chinese institutions. The
nomads who settled south of the Great Wall assimilated the speech
and customs of the older inhabitants. One of the few permanent
changes in the habits of the Chinese people that can be attributed to
their contact with the steppe nomads was in costume. During the
fourth and fifth centuries they adopted trousers and boots similar to
those worn by the northern horsemen, and this style of dress grad¬
ually supplanted the flowing tunic even in south China.
The contrast between China and Western Europe during the
medieval era is accentuated by the fact that four centuries of dis¬
unity in China were followed by another vigorous and highly suc¬ Restoration of

cessful dynasty, the T’ang (618-907), which re-established the power and uni¬
ty under the
imperial administration, again pushed back the territorial frontiers,
T'ang Dynasty
and promoted brilliant cultural achievements. Thus, at the very time
(618-907)
when feudalism was taking root in Europe and a new type of civili¬
zation was in process of formation there, China was resuming the
course that had been marked out in Han times. Although it followed
so closely upon the period of invasion and division, the T’ang Dy¬
nasty in many respects marked the culmination of China’s cultural
evolution.1
The T’ang Dynasty was at its height during the first half of the
eighth century, covered almost entirely by one distinguished reign,
when the area under Chinese control was slightly greater than the The height of
Han dominions and greater than it has ever been since under a na¬ T'ang power

tive Chinese monarch. Wars in Mongolia broke the power of the

Turks, who had been dominant there for about 150 years, and some
of them became allies of the T’ang emperor. Parts of Manchuria
were annexed, all Korea was tributary for a brief span, and control
was again asserted over northern Indochina.The most redoubtable
advances were in Central Asia. Chinese jurisdiction was recognized
as far west as the Caspian Sea and the borders of Afghanistan and
India, and some of the Indus valley princes accepted Chinese suze¬
rainty. In carrying out their military exploits the T’ang rulers relied
heavily upon the assistance of the non-Chinese peoples with whom
their subjects were by this time familiar, either as friends or as foes.
Now that the Chinese dragon was in the ascendancy, Mongols,
Turks, and Huns were glad to be accepted as allies.
Imposing as was the T’ang hegemony over Central Asia, it could
not be maintained indefinitely. When the rapid expansion of Islam
and the Saracenic empire began under Arab leadership in the Decline of the

seventh century, it seemed for a while that China, in spite of her T'ang empire

remoteness from the West, was the only power to offer effective re¬
sistance. The last Sassanid king of Persia, fleeing from the Arabs,
sought refuge at the T’ang court, and T’ang forces with the assis-
1 Actually the brief Sui Dynasty (589-618) had already reunited China and
inaugurated the new era of progress. 299
 MONGOLIA

PAMIR
MTS.

HOTUNG

HONAN

HUAINAN
&
CHIENNAN I

CHIANGNAN

Gang 51

NANCHAO
LINGNAN

Empire of the T’ang at its

greatest extent, ca. 750 A.D.

Tributary

500 miles

THE T’ANG DYNASTY • 618-907 A.D

tance of local princes checked the Moslem advance in Turkestan.

The check was only temporary, however. When the T’ang adminis¬
tration passed its zenith (about 750), the Arabs gained control of
Turkestan—bequeathing the religion of Islam as a permanent herit¬
age—and for a time their influence extended as far east as the
border of China’s Kansu province. The T’ang rulers also encoun¬
tered trouble with Tibet, which previously had remained in isola¬
tion from the turbulent politics of Central Asia. Early in the seventh
century a kingdom was founded in the highland country by a
leader who attained sufficient prestige to be given both a Chinese
and an Indian princess in marriage. The Tibetans invaded Chinese
territory several times, allied themselves alternately with the Turks
and with the Arabs, and interrupted trade between China and Persia
300 by blocking the passes through the Pamir Mountains. In 798 the
T’ang court succeeded in obtaining a treaty of alliance with the THE GROWTH OF CHINA
famous Harun-al-Raschid, caliph of Baghdad, and the Tibetan power
subsided in the ninth century. Meanwhile, a division of Turks had
reoccupied Mongolia, and in spite of a long struggle the Chinese
were unable to hold their northern and western frontiers inviolate.
By the end of the ninth century internal rebellions, together with
governmental corruption and decadence in the ruling house, had led
again to a state of general disorder.
The T’ang administrative machinery, similar to the Han, was cen¬
tralized under the emperor and staffed by a large bureaucracy.
China proper was divided into fifteen provinces, which were sub- Development of

divided into prefectures, and these again into smaller units or sub- the civil service
prefectures, and each of the units was headed by an official ap¬
pointed from the capital. The Han practice of recruiting talent for
the imperial service had now developed into a rudimentary civil-
service system in which written examinations were offered periodi¬
cally throughout the provinces, and officeholders were chosen from
among the successful candidates. Appointments were not confined
solely to those who had taken the examinations, nor were all suc¬
cessful candidates rewarded with positions; but the system did pro¬
vide opportunities for public service to young men of ability from
every class of the population, in keeping with the policy advocated
by Confucius a thousand years earlier.
Since the abolition of feudalism and the establishment of peasant
proprietorship by the Ch’in emperor, the character of Chinese soci¬
ety had not greatly changed. Many peasants were tenants rather Chinese society

than independent owners, and slavery had not entirely disappeared, under ,he T'an9

although the precentage of slaves in the population was small. In¬

equalities in wealth and distinctions of rank were conspicuous. The
T’ang emperors supported a titled nobility of several grades, but its
prestige was based upon governmental favor rather than upon the
possession of landed estates. Instead of hereditary titles carrying
administrative power as in a feudal regime, the titles were bestowed
upon eminent officials as a reward for their services. Ordinarily the
emperor did not rule as a military despot but maintained a clear
separation between the civil and military authority. It was only dur¬
ing periods of weakness and disorder that war lords usurped politi¬
cal functions. By T’ang times the Chinese had acquired a conviction
that military regimes were incompatible with a normal, civilized
state of affairs. By tradition society was believed to be properly
composed of five classes ranked in the order of their value to the
commonwealth. These were, first, scholars; second, farmers; third,
artisans; fourth, merchants; and last, soldiers, lumped together with
beggars, thieves, and bandits.2 The notable aspects of this classifica¬
tion are the high recognition granted to intellectual ability, the

2 A famous ancient Chinese proverb is: “Good iron is not used to make a
nail; a good man is not used to make a soldier.” 301
 THE FAR EAST AND deprecation of violence and of nonproductive occupations, and the
AFRICA IN TRANSITION fact that the categories are based upon individual talents and capaci¬
ties rather than upon birth. The five-class system was never fully
realized or perfectly respected, but it was an ideal which tended to
lessen the rigidity of Chinese institutions. On the more practical
side, the prominence of scholars in the administration and the sys¬
tem of competitive examinations helped to prevent the dominance
of aristocratic families. In addition, the circumstance that the im¬
perial throne did not remain in any one family for more than a few
centuries provided an object lesson not to be forgotten.
Continuing the policy of encouraging agriculture, every vigorous
dynasty gave attention to irrigation works, usually maintained pub¬
Agriculture lic granaries to provide food distribution in famine years, and some¬
times attempted to relieve the farmers from their heavy burden of
debt and taxes. Nevertheless, while China was already one of the
world’s leading agricultural countries, the poorer peasants undoubt¬
edly suffered from a miserably low standard of living as has been the
case throughout history. Furthermore, the farmer bore the chief
burden of supporting the state. Theoretically the emperor reserved
the right to redistribute holdings, but in practice he was usually
content to break the power of overly ambitious wealthy houses that
might challenge his own authority. Too often the interest of officials
in the peasants centered upon the fact that they constituted the most
lucrative and dependable source of taxation, collectible either in
produce or labor, the latter including conscription for military
service.
Curiously enough, in spite of the honored position of the farmer
and the pro-agrarian policies of the government, the merchant class
Commerce and attained a prominence far superior to that of European merchants
urban growth during this period, and the steady increase of trade induced the
growth of thriving cities. During the eighth century the T’ang capi¬
tal in the Wei valley (on the site of Sian, but known during this
period as Ch’ang-an), the eastern terminus of the trans-Asiatic
caravan routes, apparently had a population of close to 2 million,
while the population of China as a whole was between 40 and 50
million—about 7 per cent of the present number. Foreign commerce
was greater under the T’ang than ever before, and an increasing
proportion of it was oceanic, the leading ports of exchange being
Canton and other cities along the southeast coast, where merchants
of various nationalities from the Near and Middle East were to be
found. In addition to silk and spices, porcelain ware was becoming a
notable item in China’s export trade.
Significant developments in religion took place during the period
under consideration. The most important was the introduction of
Buddhism, which brought the Chinese for the first time into
contact with a complex religion with an elaborate theology, ec¬
302 clesiastical organization, and emphasis upon personal salvation. For
several centuries following the life of Gautama, the Buddhist faith THE GROWTH OF CHINA
gained such momentum in the regions surrounding India that it
was bound to reach China. It was brought in over the northern
trade routes as early as the first century a.d. and made rapid head- The introduction

way during the period of disunion that followed the collapse of the of Buddhism

Han Dynasty. Buddhism met with a mixed reception in China,

arousing both enthusiastic interest and repugnance. Mysticism, as¬
ceticism, contempt for the physical world, and the concept of trans¬
migration of souls were quite alien to Chinese tradition; and the
monastic life seemed to involve a repudiation of sacred family
loyalties. On the other hand, Buddhism offered consolations not
found in the native Chinese cults or philosophical disciplines. It was
non-aristocratic, open to all classes, and—in contrast to the Con-
fucian emphasis upon the inflexible will of Heaven—its karma doc¬
trine affirmed that anyone could improve his chances in a future
existence by diligent application. Converts were attracted by the
rich symbolism of the new religion, and the voluminous scriptures
which the Buddhist missionaries brought with them impressed the
Chinese, who venerated scholarship. Buddhism’s otherworldly ori¬
entation appealed particularly to the downtrodden and oppressed. In
spite of violent opposition from some Chinese rulers, Buddhism con¬
tinued to recruit adherents; congregations of women as well as of
men were organized; pilgrims went to India to study and returned
with copies of the Buddhist canons. By about 500 a.d. China had
practically become a Buddhist country.
It might be supposed that after the restoration of a strong mon¬
archy the interest in this imported Salvationist faith would have sub¬
sided, but such was not the case. Although a few of the T’ang em- Varieties of

perors tried to root out Buddhism (one emperor is reputed to have Chinese Buddhism

destroyed 40,000 temples), several of them encouraged it, and it was

under the T’ang Dynasty that Chinese Buddhism reached its height
as a creative influence. Many varieties of the religion had been
brought into China—chiefly of the Mahay ana school—and others
were developed on Chinese soil, appealing to different temperaments
and degrees of education. One of the most popular sects, called the
“Pure Land” or “Lotus” school, promised an easy salvation in a
Western Paradise to all who invoked the name of Amida (or
Amitabha). Amida, theoretically an incarnation of Buddha, was
actually visualized as a god, alleged to have been born of a lotus in
the heavenly Western realm of bliss. Several of the sects, however,
encouraged a zeal for scholarship and also stimulated interest in the
problems of government and society. The most vigorous philosoph¬
ical speculation under the T’ang was found in Buddhist circles. But
in spite of the great success of Buddhism its triumph was not com¬
parable to the ascendancy of Christianity in Western Europe during
this same period. The Chinese Buddhists were not united in a com¬
mon discipline, had no coercive power, and their organization did 303
 THE FAR EAST AND not replace or challenge the authority of the state as did the Chris-
AFRICA IN TRANSITION tian hierarchy in the West. And the fact that Buddhism was prac¬
ticed in almost all parts of the country did not mean that other reli¬
gions had ceased to exist. The idea of an inclusive universal church
was foreign to Chinese conceptions.
Paralleling the spread of Buddhism, Taoism, which had originated
as a philosophical school, acquired the characteristic features of an
Taoism as a re- otherworldly religion with wide popular appeal. Taoism developed
''S'0" not only a priesthood but an ecclesiastical hierarchy headed by a
“Prince Celestial Master,” who established pontifical headquarters in
south central China. This Taoist hierarchy was given official recog¬
nition in the eighth century and was not formally abolished until
1927. The religion, incorporating many primitive beliefs, expounded
the Way (Tao), which was interpreted to mean the road to individ¬
ual happiness defined usually in material terms, although it offered
elements to attract intellectuals and encouraged acts of charity.
Taoism was greatly affected by Buddhism and borrowed ideas from
the foreign faith, including the concepts of karma and transmigra¬
tion and the belief in thirty-three heavens and eighteen hells. Its
priesthood was modeled after the Buddhist pronastic order, except
that the Taoists did not practice celibacy; and the later Taoist scrip¬
tures show a strong resemblance to Buddhist texts. Inevitably ri¬
valry sprang up between the two competing religions, but neither
was able to eliminate the other and both received imperial as well as
popular support. Some Taoist apologists claimed that their master,
Lao-tzu, had actually been the Buddha or else had instructed him;
while Buddhists countered with the assertion that Lao-tzu had ren¬
dered homage to Gautama.
In spite of the popularity of Taoism and the temporary ascen¬
dancy of Buddhism, Confucianism began to be revived in the later
Confucianism as T’ang period and retained its hold upon the allegiance of the Chi-
a state cult nese. Although usually described as one of the three great religions
of China, Confucianism was not and never became a religion in the
strict sense of the term. It was a body of ethical principles, of eti¬
quette and formal ceremony, and also—as a result of the policies of
Han and T’ang emperors—a code of government, strengthened by
the practice of recruiting officials from scholars versed in the Con-
fucian classics. Veneration for the great teacher finally became part
of the state cult and was invested with formal religious observances.
The later Han emperors had prescribed sacrifices to Confucius in
every large city, and a T’ang ruler of the seventh century ordered
temples to be built in his honor in each prefecture and subprefec¬
ture. Thus the sage, together with other famous men of antiquity,
revered rulers, outstanding generals, etc., was ensured perpetual
homage and respect, but he was not worshiped as were the Buddhist
and Taoist deities. The Chinese idea of religion, it should be remem¬
304 bered, was different from that of most other peoples. The typical
Chinese would be a Confucianist as a matter of course; but he might THE GROWTH OF CHINA
also be a Taoist, a Buddhist, or a combination of both.
Many economic and cultural changes took place during the thou¬
sand years between the Ch’in Dynasty and the end of the T’ang.
Some items were borrowed from Western lands—grapes and alfalfa Economic and

among the agricultural products, astrological concepts and the seven- cultural changes

day week from the Manicheans. The Chinese began to use coal for
fuel and for smelting iron in the fourth century a.d., far in advance
of Europeans. Their astrologers had observed sunspots as early as 2 8
b.c.; a crude seismograph was constructed in 132 a.d. The magnetic

compass, apparently developed by the Taoists around 500 a.d., was

used chiefly to determine favorable locations for grave sites. The
properties of gunpowder had also been discovered. At this time,
however, gunpowder was employed not to blow people to bits but
in the manufacture of firecrackers to frighten away evil spirits. The
highly important invention of paper (made of bark, hemp, and
rags) was achieved by the beginning of the second century a.d., and
printing from blocks was introduced about 500 years later. By the
tenth century the printing of books was common not only in China
but in Korea and Japan.
A great deal of the intellectual and artistic progress of this era
must be credited to the Buddhists, whose contributions were not
confined to religion exclusively. Buddhism enriched Chinese music
by the introduction of a liturgy of vocal chants and also with sev¬
eral new musical instruments, including the psaltery, guitar or
mandolin and other stringed instruments, the reed organ, clarinet, Porcelain Ewer or Pitcher, in
the Form of a Court Lady.
and a type of flute. It was in the visual arts, however, that the im¬
petus of Buddhism was most notable. The Buddhists of northern
India, who had absorbed artistic motifs from the Greeks and Per¬
sians, spread them into Central Asia and thence into China. During

The Ancestor of all Seismographs. Invented by a Chinese mathematician and

geographer in 132 A.D. it was described in a contemporary document as an
“earthquake weathercock.” These conjectural reconstructions show the interior
of the bronze, bell-shaped instrument. (A) The pendulum carries jointed arms
radiating in eight directions, each arm ending in a crank connected with a
dragon head. (B) When an earth tremor causes the pendulum to swing, one
of the dragon heads is raised and releases a ball which drops into the mouth
of a toad below. After the swing of the pendulum, a catch mechanism im¬
mobilizes the instrument. Thus, by observing which ball has fallen, it is pos¬
sible to determine the direction of the initial shock wave.

305
 the period of disunion and the early T’ang Dynasty, Chinese sculp¬
ture reached its climax, successfully blending together Indian, Ira¬
nian, and Hellenic characteristics into a distinctive Chinese style.
Superbly beautiful examples of this sculpture have survived, the best
of which were produced in the late sixth and early seventh cen¬
turies. The most impressive works of architecture were Buddhist
temples or sacred grottoes in northwestern China, carved out of
rock caves after the Indian manner. Painting, too, reached a peak of
realism and sensitivity which has rarely been surpassed. Skill in this
medium was stimulated by the Chinese habit of writing with brush
and ink, and pictorial figures or scenes were often combined with
masterly specimens of calligraphy executed on scrolls of silk. Some
paintings in fresco have been preserved from T’ang times and, like
the sculpture, they show Buddhist influence. Outstanding among
the minor arts was the production of pottery figurines representing
human beings and animals with grace and naturalness, used chiefly as
funeral presents to the departed. The manufacture of white
porcelain—the beginning of the world-famous “china” ware—ap¬
parently began in the sixth or seventh century.
As early as Chou times, the Chinese civilization was highly liter¬
ary, and by the T’ang period China had probably the most abundant
collection of writings of any nation in the world. Philosophical ac¬
tivity did not equal the creative age of Confucius, Mo Ti, and
Mencius, but a great variety of literary forms had come into exis¬
tence, showing maturity of thought, sophistication, and aesthetic
sensitivity. Writers of the T’ang period produced histories, essays,
dictionaries, short stories and romances for popular entertainers, an
embryonic form of the drama, and—outshining all the rest—poetry.
Poetry had been developing prolifically during the centuries of dis¬
union and civil strife. The influence of Buddhism and Taoism im¬
parted emotional intensity and a quality of mysticism conducive to
lyrical richness. The final result was a flowering in the eighth and
ninth centuries which made the T’ang the supreme age of Chinese
poetry. The verse forms were usually short, with words carefully
chosen to evoke beauty of tone as well as to convey pithy thought
and vivid imagery. While sometimes expressing philosophical ideas,
they were frequently poignant in mood and romantic in theme,
treating especially of nature, love, and friendship. A few of the best
Hwo Carved Wood Bodhisatt-
examples were tinged with a deep melancholy, expressing compas¬
>as. T’ang Dynasty. The Bo-
Ihisattva, or Buddha-to-be, sion for the miserable lot of the poor, distress over abuses in govern¬
epresented a person eligible ment, revulsion against the senseless brutality of war, and bewilder¬
or enlightenment but who re¬ ment at the apparent triumph of evil over good.
named in the world to help
ithers on the upward path. In
dahayana Buddhism a num-
3. EARLY CIVILIZATION IN JAPAN
ier of Bodhisattvas came to
>e worshiped as deities.

Of the great civilizations of the Far East, Japan’s was the latest to
develop. In origin it was derived from and was largely an adaptation
of cultures from the mainland, especially from China. However, the EARLY CIVILIZATION
fact that the Japanese lagged many centuries behind China and India IN JAPAN
and made their most rapid progress under the stimulus of borrow¬
ings from China does not prove that the island dwellers were lack¬
ing in ability or originality. Not only did the Japanese display re¬
markable ingenuity in assimilating foreign elements and in modify¬ The retarded

ing them to meet their particular needs, but during some periods of development of
civilization in
history they seemed to possess more initiative than any of the other
Japan
Far Eastern nations. The backwardness of Japan in early times is ex¬
plained, at least in part, by the geographical circumstance of her
isolation from the continent of Asia. Before oceanic commerce was
well advanced, the Japanese islands could not be readily affected by
political and cultural changes taking place on the mainland. These
islands stand in the same relationship to Asia as do the British Isles to
Europe. Just as European civilization was slowly extended from the
Near Eastern centers westward to Italy and then to the northern
countries, reaching Britain last of all, so Far Eastern civilization
gradually radiated from the Yellow River valley to the south, west,
and northeast, and necessarily reached Japan belatedly. Actually
Japan is much more remote from the neighboring continent than is
Britain from Continental Europe. At the narrowest point the Strait
of Dover is only about 20 miles wide, while more than 100 miles
separate the islands of Japan from the closest point on the Korean
peninsula.
Japan’s geographic setting is in some ways very favorable. Of the
approximately 3000 islands composing the group, only about 600 are
inhabited, and the bulk of the population is concentrated on the Geographic
four principal islands. The entire archipelago lies within the temper¬ advantages and
disadvantages
ate zone, and the largest island, Honshu, holding about half of the
Japanese people, lies between almost exactly the same latitudes as the
state of California. The Black Current drifting northward from
tropical seas, moderates the severity of winter; and cyclonic storms,
while sometimes destructive, bring fluctuations in temperature that
are conducive to physical and mental vigor. Their proximity to the
ocean encouraged the Japanese to develop navigation and to be¬
come hardy fishermen. With its expanse of seacoast, mountains, vol¬
canoes and snow-capped peaks, the region is scenically one of the
most beautiful in the world, a factor which has undoubtedly con¬
tributed to the keen aesthetic sensibilities of the Japanese people. At
the same time Japan is by no means perfectly endowed by nature
and suffers from several disadvantages. Except for having fair de¬
posits of coal, the islands are poor in mineral resources. Even more
serious has been the scarcity of good agricultural land, owing to
the rocky or mountainous character of much of the country. Al¬
though throughout most of their history the Japanese have been a
nation of farmers, only about 16 per cent of their soil is cultivable.
This sufficed when the population was small and generally station¬
ary; it has posed a tremendous problem in modern times. 307
 Small as is the land area of Japan (slightly less than that of Cali¬
fornia) and in spite of its relative isolation, it was inhabited even in
Racial stocks in early times by people of various stocks as the result of successive
Japan migrations from the continent. The earliest inhabitants, so far as is
known, were a primitive people who possessed a Neolithic culture,
crude in many respects but distinguished by pottery of striking
design and skillfully fashioned weapons. They are represented today
by the Ainu, a light-colored, flat-faced, and hairy people, who have
largely disappeared except from Hokkaido and the Kurile Islands to
the north. For the most part the Japanese nation is descended from
Mongoloid invaders who crossed over to the islands at various times
308 during the Neolithic Age and even later, chiefly by way of Korea.
From the time of the Ch’in Dynasty on, the settlers in Japan pos¬ EARLY CIVILIZATION
sessed some knowledge of Chinese culture, which had already pene¬ IN JAPAN
trated into Korea. Bronze mirrors, carved jewels, and swords of
Chinese or Mongolian type appear in graves dating from the second
and first centuries b.c. By the close of the first century b.c. the
Japanese had begun to use iron as well as bronze.
Quite understandably, the leading centers of cultural evolution
were in the south and west of Japan—the areas closest to Korea,
from which the chief migrations came—and developments in this The beginnings of
region gradually spread to the north and east. The real nucleus of Japanese society

the Japanese state was the peninsula of Yamato, on the southeastern

side of the great island of Honshu, to which a group of families had
migrated from Kyushu (opposite Korea) perhaps as early as the
first century a.d. The Japanese communities at this time were very
primitive. People wore clothing made from hemp or bark, although
silk was not entirely unknown. They carried on trade by barter
only and had no system of writing. The chief unit of society was
the clan, a group of families claiming to be related by blood. Each
clan venerated some particular deity, who was supposed to be the
ancestor of the group; but the worship of human ancestors had not
yet become an institution. The headship of the clan was vested
hereditarily in a specific family, and the clan leader served both as a
warrior chieftain and as priest. In primitive Japanese society
women seem to have held a position of prominence, perhaps even of
superiority. The clan head was sometimes a woman, and evidence
points to the conclusion that originally the family was matriarchal,
with descent traced through the mother—a remarkable circum¬
stance in view of the rigid subordination of women in later times.
The transition to a patriarchal svstem, however, was effected at an
early date. According to Chinese accounts from the third century
a.d., polygamy was a common practice, especially among men of the
higher classes. Various crafts and skills were organized as occupa¬
tional groups in the form of guilds with hereditary membership.
Each guild was attached to a clan and tended to merge with it
eventually, although a few guilds whose members performed dis¬
tinctive services, such as administering religious rites, retained an
independent existence and honorable status. Members of the agricul¬
tural and artisans’ guilds, on the other hand, were practically serfs.
Society was decidedly aristocratic, rank was generally hereditary,
and slavery existed, although the number of slaves was relatively
small.
Japanese religion, while comparable to that of other primitive
peoples, was in some ways unique. It was basically animistic,
a type of unreflecting and almost universal nature worship, with The foundations

no well-defined conception of the nature of divine being. In a of Shintoism

general way it was polytheistic, except that the term probably sug¬
gests too definite a catalogue of gods or too precise a theology. The
Japanese later gave their religion the name of Shinto (“the way of 309
 THE FAR EAST AND the Gods”), simply because they needed to distinguish it from Bud¬
AFRICA IN TRANSITION dhism when this articulate and mature faith began to compete with
the native cult. Although the Japanese recognized some great
deities, associated with the sun, moon, earth, crops, and storms,
these were not endowed with distinct personalities and were not
represented by images. Objects of worship were designated as kami,
a term meaning “superior” but which was applied to almost any¬
thing having mysterious or interesting properties, ranging from
heavenly phenomena to irregularly shaped stones and such lowly
objects as sand, mud, and vermin. No sharp line was drawn between
the natural and the supernatural or between magic and worship.
The notion of life after death was extremely shadowy, and religion
was largely devoid of ethical content. It involved taboos and scrupu¬
lous concern for ceremonial cleanness, with purification rites to re¬
move contamination, but the requirements were not based on
considerations of morality or even always of health. Uncleanness,
for example, was associated with childbirth, with contact with the
dead, and with wounds whether inflicted honorably or not. To
placate the gods, respectful gestures, prayers, and sacrifices were
employed. Offerings of food and drink gradually tended to be
superseded by symbolic objects—of pottery, wood, and eventually
paper.
In spite of its diffuse and elementary character, the native Japa¬
nese religion was not lacking in attractive elements. It reflected an
Attractive ele¬ attitude of cheerfulness and a rare sympathy for and appreciation of
ments in native nature. The gods were not thought of as cruel and terrifying crea¬
Japanese religion
tures; even the god of the storm was generally conceived as benign.
On the whole, the religion of the Japanese was one “of love and
gratitude rather than of fear, and the purpose of their religious rites
was to praise and thank as much as to placate and mollify their
divinities.”3 It was enlivened also with picturesque legends and
poetic phrases that suggest a spontaneous delight in the natural
world.
The clan which was dominant on the plain of Yamato, and grad¬
ually acquired an ascendancy over adjacent regions, probably came
Founding of the from Kyushu and claimed descent from the Sun Goddess. There
Japanese state was nothing remarkable in such a claim because all important fami¬
lies traced their ancestry to gods or goddesses. However, myths as¬
sociated with the Sun Goddess assumed greater significance as the
Yamato clan extended its political pow'er and attempted to secure
fuller recognition of its paramountcy over the other clans, for which
purpose it was helpful to foster the legend that the Yamato chief
had been divinely appointed to rule over Japan (even though most
of it was still unconquered from the aborigines). According to this
legend the Sun Goddess had sent down to earth her own grandson,

310 3 G. B. Sansom, Japan, a Short Cultural History, p. 47.

Ninigino-Mikoto. Ninigi, “thrusting apart the many-piled clouds of EARLY CIVILIZATION
Heaven, clove his way with an awful way-cleaving” to land on the IN JAPAN
western island of Kyushu, carrying with him the three symbols of
Japanese royalty—a jewel, a sword, and a mirror. The grandson of
this Ninigi, it was related, advanced along the coast of the larger
island to Yamato, where he began to rule as Jimmu, the “first em¬
peror.” National tradition dates the empire from February u, 660
b.c. Actually, it was at least 600 or 700 years later that the Yamato

state was established, and then it was anything but imperial. The
saga of the Sun Goddess and her descendants did not become a dis¬
tinctive element in the national cult of Japan until the sixth century
a.d., and not until the modern era was it deliberately exploited on a

national scale for the purpose of instilling a fanatical and unquestion¬

ing patriotism among the people.
For many centuries the Japanese maintained contact with and
continued to receive cultural impetus from Korea, which means that
they were being influenced indirectly by the older and richer civili¬
zation of China of the Han and later dynasties. The Japanese even Japanese tomb culture. Clay
controlled a small section at the southern tip of Korea from about grave statues of ordinary peo¬
100 to 560 a.d. and intervened in Korean politics to maintain a bal¬ ple, such as this soldier, sur¬
round the tombs of more im¬
ance of power, siding with one and then another of the three king¬
portant men. This reflects the
doms into which Korea was divided during this time. Of fundamen¬ influence of Korean culture.
tal importance for the later history of Japan was the introduction, Such statuary began to ap¬
by way of Korea, of the Chinese system of writing (about 405 a.d.) pear in the third and fourth
centuries a.d.
and of Buddhism (about 552 a.d.).
While the technique of writing was essential to the advance of
civilization, it was unfortunate for the Japanese that they acquired it
from China. If they had been able to devise or borrow a phonetic or Japanese writing

alphabetic system, the problem of writing their language would

have been comparatively simple. The Chinese characters—funda¬
mentally pictographic or ideographic, with very little apparent rela¬
tionship to the pronunciation of the words for which they stand
—had been developed to a state of complexity and utilized in
producing masterpieces of Chinese literature; but they were ill
suited to represent Japanese. The Japanese language is phonetically
quite different from the Chinese, and the attempt to write it with
Chinese characters was a feat as difficult as it would be to try to
write English in Chinese characters. Nevertheless, the Japanese
struggled heroically with the task and eventually developed a script
of their own, or, rather, two varieties of script. Although the origi¬
nal Chinese characters were abbreviated considerably and, during
the ninth and tenth centuries, given phonetic value by identification
with individual Japanese syllables, the resulting product was still
cumbersome. Hence, the process of learning to write Japanese was,
and still is, a laborious undertaking. The fact that the system of
writing is alien to the structure, inflection, and idiosyncrasies of the
spoken language has hampered clarity of expression and partially 311
 Great Buddha, Todaiji Temple, Nara.
This statue, cast in the middle of the
eighth century a.d., is one of the two
largest bronze figures in the world.
The seated Buddha is 53 feet high.

accounts for the tendency toward ambiguity in many official Japa¬

nese documents. To compensate for these disadvantages, however,
along with the Chinese-derived script a great many Chinese words
were adopted bodily by the Japanese, enriching their language in
vocabulary and concepts. In view of the circumstances in which
writing was introduced in Japan, a person who wished to become
educated was almost bound to learn the Chinese language, especially
since it was the vehicle of all literature considered worthy of the
name. For several centuries Japanese scholars, officials, and men of
letters wrote in classical Chinese, in somewhat the same manner that
educated Europeans used Latin during the Middle Ages and later.
In the middle of the sixth century Buddhism began to obtain a
foothold in Japan. The first Buddhist missionary is said to have
The establishment come from Korea; other evangelists of the new faith arrived not
of Buddhism in only from Korea but from China and even from India. As in the
Japan case of China, the Mahay ana school of Buddhism, with its elaborate
theology and emphasis upon the soul’s redemption, was most in
evidence. And, just as had happened in China, a number of different
sects arose in Japan from time to time. The appearance of Buddhism
in Japan produced perhaps even greater agitation than had accom¬
panied its introduction into China a few centuries earlier. The Chi¬
nese were at least familiar with mystical concepts through Taoism,
but the Japanese had had no previous experience either with this
type of otherworldly religion or with any analogous philosophy.
Part of the appeal of Buddhism to the Japanese lay in its novelty.
The Buddhist scriptures raised questions that had apparently never
occurred to the Japanese before—as to the soul, the nature of the
immaterial world, rewards and punishments after death—and then
proceeded to answer them with impressive eloquence. For a while,
sharp controversy raged over the acceptability of the foreign faith
312 (the first statue of the Buddha sent from Korea was thrown into a
 canal when an epidemic of disease broke out). However, one promi¬ EARLY CIVILIZATION
nent aristocratic family in Yamato, the Soga, adopted and cham¬ IN JAPAN
pioned the cause of Buddhism and prevailed upon the imperial clan
to favor it, so that before the close of the sixth century the success
of the religion was assured. To some extent its success was at¬
tributable to political maneuvers and expediency. In patronizing the
scholarly faith the Soga family sought to enhance its own prestige
and, through the benefit of whatever supernatural power the reli¬
gion contained, to secure an advantage in the struggle against rival
families. Buddhism rapidly acquired a wide following both among
the common people and the aristocracy and became so firmly en¬
trenched that it could survive any shift in equilibrium among the
contending clans. Probably its popularity is largely explained by its
being interpreted as a miraculous protector against disasters both in
this world and the next rather than by its philosophical heritage.
Nevertheless, the increasing familiarity with Buddhist doctrines
stimulated intellectual activity and was conducive to the cultivation
of attitudes of sympathy and humaneness.
One of the most significant aspects of the spread of Buddhism in
Japan was that it proved to be a highly effective medium for dis¬
seminating Chinese culture, especially art, architecture, and litera¬ Buddhism a

ture. Temples and shrines were erected, paintings and images of the medium for
disseminating
Buddha were produced, and libraries of the sacred texts were ac¬
Chinese culture
cumulated. Converts from the aristocratic class frequently went to
China to study, returning with a broadened viewpoint and refined
tastes. The native Japanese cult, now beginning to be called Shinto,
was by no means extinguished, but it was influenced considerably
by contact with Buddhism. There was very little antagonism be¬
tween the two religions. Buddhism in Japan became tinged with na¬
tional traditions, and frequently the same shrine was regarded as
sacred to both faiths. The Japanese priests, whether Buddhist or

Horyuji Temple, Nara. The Horyuji Tem¬

ple, founded in 607 a.d. by Prince Shotoku,
Regent of the Empress-Regnant Suiko, is
a complex of about forty buildings, and in¬
cludes some of the oldest wooden struc¬
tures in the world.
 THE FAR EAST AND Shinto, did not constitute a hierarchy with coercive powers over the
AFRICA IN TRANSITION people any more than did the priests in China, although the Bud¬
dhist monasteries gained in economic importance as they were
endowed with lands.
During the most vigorous period of the T’ang Dynasty, the
impact of Chinese civilization upon Japan reached such a climax that
Other examples it marks a turning point in the evolution of Japanese institutions. It
of Chinese is not at all strange that the Japanese turned avidly to China for
influence
tutelage at this time. China under the early T’ang rulers was one of
the most highly civilized states in the world, as well as the most
powerful, and in the Far East had no close rivals for such a distinc¬
tion. Throughout the seventh and eighth centuries the government
in Yamato sent a succession of official embassies to the T’ang court,
largely for the purpose of recruiting personnel trained in the sci¬
ences, arts, and letters. The result was a wholesale copying of Chi¬
nese techniques and ideas, affecting almost every aspect of Japanese
life and society. Chinese medical practices, military tactics, and
methods of road building were introduced; also styles of architec¬
ture, of household furniture, and even of dress. A system of weights
and measures was adopted, and in the early eighth century coined
money came into use. Many works of art had previously been
imported and copied, but now Japanese painters and sculptors began
to display both technical proficiency and originality. The Chinese
classics, especially the Confucian writings, were studied intently,
since every well-bred person was expected to be familiar with them.
Along with these concrete and visible innovations came an attempt
to fit the social structure into the Chinese pattern. A new emphasis
was placed upon family solidarity and filial devotion, including the
duty of sacrificing to ancestral spirits.4 Japanese leaders and intel¬
lectuals seemed determined to remake their country in the image of
China.
The most comprehensive project involved nothing less than re¬
Japanese Religious Sculpture
constituting the government according to the T’ang model. It was
(twelfth century or earlier).
Wooden figure of Bishamon, announced by a decree known as the Taika Reform Edict, issued in
revered as one of the Four 645 a.d. by the Yamato ruler at the instigation of a clique of scholar-
Guardian Kings of the Bud¬ reformers. This declaration, rather than the mythical events of 660
dhist kingdom.
b.c., represents the founding of the Japanese imperial system. By the

Taika Edict the ruler assumed the role not of a mere clan leader but
of an emperor, with absolute power, although professedly honoring
Confucian principles. All Japan was to be divided into provinces,
prefectures, and subprefectures, which would be administered by a
centrally appointed bureaucracy recruited from the populace. Faith¬
ful to the example of China, the reformers instituted a civil service,

4 Some Japanese scholars deny that the custom of ancestor worship was an
importation; but in any case it was intensified by contacts with the Chinese.
An unfortunate consequence was the increasing subordination of women to
314 male authority in the patriarchal family and in society at large.
Benten Playing on a Biwa.
A Japanese painting on silk,
by an artist of the Heian
(Fujiwara) Period, 893-1185.

offering examinations to candidates for government posts, whose

selection would be based not on familiarity with the problems of
Japan but on proficiency in Chinese philosophy and classical litera¬
ture. To give the new administration an economic foundation and to
bring it to bear directly upon the people, the Reform Edict pro¬
claimed that all the land belonged to the emperor, and that it would
be divided equitably among the farmers and redistributed every six
years. In return, every landholder would be required to pay taxes
(in commodities, money, or labor) directly to the state.
Altogether, the reform program of the seventh century was one
of the most ambitious that any government has ever attempted. It
sought to graft upon a still fairly primitive society an administrative Consolidation

system that was the product of almost a thousand years of evolution of the Japanese
government
among a people with cultural maturity and deeply entrenched tradi¬
tions. Similarly, it involved an effort on the part of one corner of
Japan to impose its regime on the entire area, much of which had
hardly advanced beyond the Neolithic stage. In adopting the
scheme of a centralized paternalism, one aspect of the Chinese pro¬
totype was studiously avoided: namely, the concept that imperial
authority is conditional upon the promotion of public welfare and
that it may be terminated—by rebellion as a last resort—if it fails in
this objective. The Yamato group tried to attach a bureaucracy of
scholar-officials to a government that called for perpetual rule by one
family, whose head occupied a position of inviolable sanctity. To
strengthen the prestige of the emperor, greater emphasis than ever
before was placed upon his reputed descent from the Sun Goddess.
He was represented as the embodiment of a “lineal succession un- 315
 THE FAR EAST AND broken for ages eternal” and as divine in his own person—a signi¬
AFRICA IN TRANSITION ficantly different concept from that of the “Mandate of Heaven,”
the conditional and temporary divinity that hedged the Chinese
emperor. In addition to this fundamental contrast between the offi¬
cial Chinese and Japanese theories as to the ultimate basis and limits
of political authority, there was a notable divergence in practice
also. China knew many different dynasties, most of them begun
through rebellion or usurpation; but when a vigorous emperor sat
on the throne he usually ruled effectively and sometimes autocratic¬
ally, as is attested by the records of the first few rulers of every
major dynasty. In Japan, on the other hand, while the imperial
family was- never dethroned in spite of violent or revolutionary
changes within society and in foreign relations, and while the fiction
of imperial sanctity was carefully preserved, the actual power for
the most part was exercised by some other family, agency, or clique,
using the sacred imperial office as a front. Indirect government,
sometimes removed by several stages from the nominal sovereign,
has been the rule rather than the exception in Japan ever since her
attempt to incorporate the Chinese political machinery.
In view of the inherent difficulties, it is not surprising that the re¬
form program of the seventh century was not entirely successful.
Partial failure The new administrative system existed on paper but not as an oper¬
of the reform ating reality. The imperial clan, which had previously enjoyed only
program
a limited and largely ceremonial authority over the others, could not
compel absolute obedience from remote areas, and aristocratic tradi¬
tions were too strong to be broken immediately. The emperor made
it a practice to appoint clan heads as officials in their own terri¬
tories instead of replacing them by loyal servants sent out from the
capital. Thus the local magnates acquired new titles and kept much
of their former power. Examinations were provided for candidates
desiring posts in the government service, but important positions
were almost always reserved for members of the aristocracy, while
capable men of the lower class found themselves employed as under¬
lings and clerks. The announced policy of land equalization, which
was intended to serve as the basis for a uniform tax system, was the
most dismal failure of all. It had been inspired by the Chinese ideal
of community interest in the land, a sentiment which condemned
the appropriation of land for the exclusive benefit of any individual
and taught that it should be distributed equally among the culti¬
vators. This was only a theory in China, and in Japan it was
thoroughly unrealistic. Later large proprietors managed to evade
taxation and so increased the burden upon the poorer farmers that
some of them ran away from their homes in sheer desperation. In
this manner the amount of taxable land diminished, and the emper¬
ors themselves contributed to the process by giving away estates to
316 courtiers or to endow Buddhist monasteries. Furthermore, the de-
cree regarding periodic redistribution of land applied only to the EARLY CIVILIZATION
fields that had already been brought under rice cultivation, a rela¬ IN JAPAN
tively small area. As the frontier clans added to their domains either
by conquest from the aborigines or by reclaiming waste lands for
cultivation, these new territories were regarded as personal holdings
not directly subject to imperial assessment. Consequently, economic
progress lessened rather than increased the proportion of the land
under effective control by the central government. Instead of secur¬
ing large funds from taxation, the court became more and more de¬
pendent for revenue upon estates that were owned outright by the
imperial family.
Although the central government failed in its political objectives,
it succeeded in promoting cultural progress to an appreciable de¬
gree. Before the seventh century there had been no fixed Japanese Governmental
capital even in Yamato, or in fact no cities at all. Impressed with the stimulation of
culture
splendor of the T’ang capital, the great city of Ch’ang-an, the Jap¬
anese determined to build one like it to serve as the imperial head¬
quarters. Their city, begun in 710 and located near the modern
town of Nara, followed the Chinese model faithfully in its broad
streets and carefully aligned squares of equal size, although it was
unwalled and much smaller than Ch’ang-an. Even so, its plan was
too large for the population that occupied it. In 794 a more impos¬
ing capital was built at Kyoto, which has been an important city
ever since. The construction of these cities under imperial patron¬
age, with palaces, temples, and other public buildings, provided a
stimulus to all the arts. Scholarship, bent on the production of his¬
tories, treatises, and literary criticism, also flourished at the imperial
court. If the bureaucracy had little real public responsibility, its
members could find satisfaction and enhanced social prestige in
polishing their classical Chinese, translating Buddhist sutras, paint¬
ing, or composing poetry of a rather strained and artificial type.
The refinement of ceremony and etiquette also received much at¬
tention. Life in court circles tended to become effete and frivolous,
but it harbored some artistic and intellectual talent of high caliber.
Odd as it may seem, the best Japanese literature of this period was
produced by women of the nobility and of the imperial household.
Their contributions, outstanding in the tenth and eleventh centuries,
were chiefly prose, typically in the form of diaries but including
one justly famous romantic novel (Tale of Genji). In this instance it
was fortunate that women, even of the court, were not held to the
same educational standards as men. “While the men of the period
were pompously writing bad Chinese, their ladies consoled them¬
selves for their lack of education by writing good Japanese, and
created, incidentally, Japan’s first great prose literature.” 5

’ E. O. Reischauer, Japan, The Story of a Nation, pp. 34-35. 317

 4- the foundation of civilizations in

AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA

The advance of civilization in sub-Saharan Africa was relatively

slow. Africa’s lack of early development, like Japan’s, may be ex¬
The retarded plained in part by its geographical isolation. The continent possessed
development of few natural harbors, leaching of the soil’s nutrients contributed to a
civilization in
general scarcity of good agricultural land, and the vast Sahara in¬
Africa
hibited meaningful cultural and profitable commercial exchange.
Desert transportation was dangerous and unreliable with horses or
oxen.
Before 200 b.c. nearly all Africans south of the Sahara functioned
on a nomadic hunting and gathering level. Religion, deeply rooted
in superstition, remained basically animistic. Leadership was exercised
Early mechanisms by priests or family elders. Population density was exceedingly low
for social control
everywhere, obviating the need to form large, centralized governing
units. With an abundance of unoccupied land, Africans found per¬
manent settlements unnecessary, and in the absence of external
threats, there was no compulsion to organize military cadres for
defense. Government was therefore rudimentary. Many clans en¬
gaged in ancestor worship for the purpose of establishing a sense of
continuity and exerting a measure of moral control. Intermediaries
were chosen from among elders in the group to interpret the will
of the ancestors and gods and to lead rituals in their honor.
The Iron Age wrought revolutionary changes in African life¬
styles after about 200 b.c. At that time, small bands of Bantu¬
speaking Negroes living along the modern Nigerian-Cameroon
border in West Africa learned how to forge iron ore into spears and
hoes. We do not yet know whether they developed the ability to

The Iron Age in Africa. An iron smelter in Tanzania such as those that ena¬
bled the Bantu to create iron tools and weapons.
Agriculture. A Ndebele granary
in southern Rhodesia. The ability
to sustain sedentary village life
depended on the community’s
ability to stockpile foodstuffs.

smelt iron independently or whether the technique was introduced

by immigrants from North Africa or from the lands of Kush. In any
case, it endowed the Bantu with an immediate technological ad¬ Iron and the
vantage over others. With their superior iron implements they ex¬ Bantu dispersion

panded southward into the Equatorial woodlands of West Central

Africa. Then in approximately i a.d., in the watershed of the
Congo-Zambezi river systems, they encountered high-yield food
crops, including the nutritious banana, coco-yam and plantain. These
plants had probably spread up the Zambezi River valley from Mada¬
gascar island. They were brought to Madagascar by seaborne south¬
east Asian immigrants of Javanese origin. The Bantu, possessing
sturdy iron hoes, were in an excellent position to cultivate these new
food crops.
Iron metallurgy, together with superior southeast Asian crops,
greatly accelerated the transition from a food-gathering to a food-
producing economy. By 200 a.d. agricultural surpluses had triggered Southeast Asian
a population explosion among the Bantu, propelling them in easterly food crops trigger
population
and westerly directions across the breadth of Equatorial Africa from
explosions
coast to coast. Small, segmented Neolithic populations were either
absorbed or eliminated by the Bantu, who enjoyed greater social
cohesion and practiced efficient methods of farming and pastoralism.
With plentiful food and meat, they could support many wives and
large, extended families. Consequently, their numbers quickly
multiplied.
Food-producing economies led to the emergence of village life.
Trade became a necessary handmaiden to agriculture as metallurgists
bartered their finished tools for iron ore, copper, salt, and other The emergence of
essential commodities. By the close of the tenth century, most village life and
trading activity
Africans were using iron implements; and from the Cameroons to
the South African veld they spoke Bantu-related languages. Bantu
peoples had thus initiated an agricultural revolution and accelerated
the development of new mechanisms for social organization and
control in East, Central, and Southern Africa. In effect, they laid 319
 THE FAR EAST AND the necessary foundations for the civilizations which emerged in the
AFRICA IN TRANSITION millennium after 900 a.d.
Iron technology brought forth similar changes in West Africa,
even though the Bantu diaspora did not extend there. For centuries,
Nubians from the upper Nile and Saharan Berbers, bearing iron
tools and weapons, had infiltrated Negro cultures of the West
African grasslands. Marrying local women, they quickly lost their
ethnic identity. An excellent environment for fishing and cereal
cultivation in the Niger River area and Chad basin had already
stimulated a dramatic growth of the indigenous population.
Before the introduction of the camel, Carthaginians and later
Romans had conducted a miniscule Saharan trade by horse-drawn
Introduction of chariot. But few if any of them ever established direct commercial
the camel in the connections with West Africans. Their small purchases of gold,
trans-Saharan
ivory, slaves, and pepper were made through the middlemen of
trade
Garamante in the Fezzan oases of central Sahara. The clever
Garamantes received glass beads, fine cloth, and dates which they
passed on to the West African producers. By 300 a.d. camels had
come into wide use in the Sahara as transport vehicles. Camels
possessed an exceptional capacity for carrying heavy loads over long
distances and maneuvering effectively under sandy conditions. They
became, in effect, ships of the desert and greatly facilitated the
movement of peoples and goods between North and West Africa.
An ensuing revival and expansion of trans-Saharan trade led to the
eventual flowering of market centers and coherent civilizations in
the grassland expanse between southern Mauretania and Lake Chad.
Roman departure from North Africa in the fourth century a.d.
seems to have coincided with the organization by desert Berbers of
Foundation of the first West African kingdom, called Ghana, or Awkar. This
Ghana, West
Negro-Berber state, located in the southeastern corner of modern
Africa's first
kingdom
Mauretania, thrived on its middleman position between the gold
miners of the southern forests and the Berber traders of North
Africa. By the eighth century the “Ghana,” or king, of Awkar was
a Negro, and his people were known in North Africa and the
Middle East as the world’s major gold exporters.
Trans-Saharan traffic remained small and informally organized
until the mid-seventh century when Moslem Arabs overran the
The Arab invasion strategic Fezzan oases. By 740 a.d. desert Berbers had begun to
of North Africa
embrace Islam and to withdraw more deeply into the Sahara where
they set up new trade centers. At Sijilmasa they exchanged
Ghanaian gold with the Arabs for Saharan salt. The salt was resold
in the south to perspiring miners while the Arabs carried their gold
into North Africa and Europe.
The Arab presence in North Africa encouraged Berbers to probe
more deeply into West Africa in search of gold or to seek refuge
from Islamic persecution. Zaghawa Berbers established communities
of highly cultured farmers and fishermen around Lake Chad. In
320 846 a.d. they founded a ruling dynasty, based on concepts of divine
kingship. Like the Berbers in Ghana, they readily married into local READINGS
families and were ethnically absorbed within a few generations.
Small chieftaincies were gradually coalescing into larger governing
units from the upper Senegal eastward to the shores of Lake Chad.
By about 800 a.d. trade routes had reached the upper Niger River, The West African

where caravan paths from Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, and Sudan: Land of

the Blacks
Egypt converged at the emporium of Gao. West Africa’s rolling
grasslands had become famous in Arab commercial circles as the
Bilad-as-Sudan or “Land of the Blacks.”
Similar commercial and political trends were discernible along the
coast of East Africa. The rise of Persian sea power in the late
seventh century resulted in the eclipse of Ethiopian trade in the Indo-Shirazi

Red Sea and western Indian Ocean. Arabs from the Persian Shiraz penetration along

the East African

swarmed along the Banadir coast of modern Somalia, where they
coast
established permanent trading settlements. Within a few generations
they turned their sailing boats, or dhows, southward along the coast
of modern Kenya and Tanzania. There they encountered Bantu¬
speaking people who, centuries before, had reached the coast from
the Equatorial savanna. By 900 a.d. the Bantu were beginning to
marry into Arab Shirazi and Indian families, who had only recently
converted to Islam. Together they founded dynasties and organized
a formal seaborne trade propelled by monsoon winds. As of old,
turtle shells, ivory, rhinoceros horns, and small numbers of slaves
were exported to Arabian ports and northwestern India. But by The catalytic

900 a.d. increasing quantities of Central African copper had begun to effect of Indian
Ocean trade
arrive on the Mozambique coast. Growing Asian demands for copper
led to trading operations through the Zambezi valley to reach the
mines of Katanga. Indian Ocean trade, like that of the Sahara, acted
as a powerful catalyst for the centralization of authority among
groups engaged in mining and marketing activities.
Meanwhile, along the upper reaches of the Nile, a number of Chris¬
tian Nubian kingdoms appeared. The Nubians, though influenced
by Byzantine Greece, developed their own language, laid out beauti¬ The flowering

ful cities, constructed impressive brick monasteries and cathedrals, of Nubian

civilization
and adorned them with paintings. They also enjoyed a highly
sophisticated tradition of ceramic art, with pottery of outstanding
design. Their civilization reached its zenith during the ninth and
tenth centuries. Powerful Nubian armies were strong enough to
resist Moslem intrusions for nearly four centuries afterward.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Biriyon, Laurence, Painting in the Far East, 3rd ed., 1923 (Dover).
• -, The Spirit of Man in Asian Art, 1935 ed. (Dover).
• Nakamura Hajime, Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India, China, Tibet,
Japan, ed. P. P. Wiener, Honolulu, 1964 (East-West Center). 321
READINGS india—See also Readings for Chapter 6

Devahuti, D., Harsha: A Political Study, Oxford, 1970.

Panikkar, K. M., India and the Indian Ocean, New York, 1945.
Sen, Gertrude E., The Pageant of India’s History, Vol. I, New York, 1948.
van Leur, J. C., Indonesian Trade and Society, New York, 1955.

china—See also Readings for Chapter 7

Bagchi, P. C., India and China, a Thousand Years of Cultural Relations, rev.
ed., New York, 1951.
Balazs, Etienne, Chinese Civilization and Bureaucracy, New Haven, 1964. An
important interpretation of Chinese society.
Carter, T. F., and Goodrich, L. C., The Invention of Printing in China and
Its Spread Westward, 2nd ed., New York, 1955.
Eberhard, W., History of China, Berkeley, 1950 (E. W. Dickes, tr.). Particu¬
larly full on the period of disunion.
Eliot, Charles, Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, Vol. Ill, New
York, 1954. Buddhism in China.
• Lattimore, Owen, The Inner Asian Frontiers of China, 2nd ed., New York,
1951 (Beacon).
Munsterberg, Hugo, Short History of Chinese Art, New York, 1949.
Shryock, J. K., The Origin and Development of the State Cult of Confucius,
New York, 1932.
Sickman, L., and Soper, A., The Art and Architecture of China, Baltimore,
1956. Reliable; richly illustrated.
Sullivan, Michael, An Introduction to Chinese Art, Berkeley, 1961.
Sun, E. Z., and De Francis, John, Chinese Social History, Washington, 1956.
Translations of articles by modern Chinese scholars.
• Wittfogel, K. A., Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power,
New Haven, 1957 (Yale). Attempts to explain the despotic character of the
Chinese imperial government by the necessities of a “hydraulic society,” in
which flood control and efficient irrigation systems were imperative.'
Wright, Arthur F., Buddhism in Chinese History, Stanford, 1959. Brief but
good.
Zurcher, E., The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of
Buddhism in Early Medieval China, 2 vols., Leiden, 1959. An illuminating
study of the interaction between Chinese culture and Buddhism to the early
fifth century a.d.

JAPAN

Anesaki, Masaharu, Art, Life and Nature in Japan, Boston, 1933.

-, History of Japanese Religion, London, 1930.
Brower, R. H., and Miner, E., Japanese Court Poetry, Stanford, 1961. Covers
the period from the sixth to the fourteenth centuries.
Eliot, Charles, Japanese Buddhism, New York, 1959. A standard text, reprinted
from the 1935 edition.
• Fenollosa, E. F., Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art, 1927 ed., 2 vols.
(Dover).
• Hall, J. W., Japan: From Prehistory to Modern Titties, New York, 1971
(Delta).
Langer, P. F., Japan, Yesterday and Today, New York, 1966. An excellent
summary.
• Moore, C. A., ed., The Japanese Mind: Essentials of Japanese Philosophy and
Culture, Honolulu, 1967 (East-West Center). A symposium.
322 • Morris, Ivan, The World of the Shining Prince, Baltimore, 1969 (Penguin).
• Munsterberg, Hugo, The Arts of Japan: An Illustrated History, Rutland, READINGS
Vt., 1957 (Tuttle).
• Reischauer, E. O., Japan: The Story of a Nation, New York, 1970 (Knopf).
Lucid and well organized.
Sansom, George B., A History of Japan to 1334, Stanford, 1958. An outstand¬
ing work by an eminent British scholar.
-, Japan: A Short Cultural History, rev. ed., New York, 1962.
Swann, Peter C., An Introduction to the Arts of Japan, New York, 1958.
• Warner, Langdon, The Enduring Art of Japan, Cambridge, Mass., 1952
(Evergreen).
Whitney, J. H., and Beardsley, R. K., Twelve Doors to Japan, New York,
1965.

AFRICA

• Bovill, E. W., The Golden Trade of the Moors (Oxford).

• Oliver, Roland, ed., The Dawn of African History, New York, 1968.
• Posnansky, Merrick, ed., Prelude to East African History, London, 1966.

SOURCE MATERIALS

Aston, W. G., tr., Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to
A.D. 6pp, 2 Vols.

Ayscough, Florence, Tu Fu, the Autobiography of a Chinese Poet.

Beal, Samuel, tr., Buddhist Records of the Western World, 2 vols.
Bynner, Witter, and Kiang Kanghu, trs., The Jade Mountain, a Chinese An¬
thology.
• de Bary, W. T., ed., Sources of Chinese Tradition, “The Imperial Age: Ch’in
and Han”; “Neo-Taoism and Buddhism,” New York, i960 (Columbia).
• -, ed., Sources of Indian Tradition, “Hinduism,” New York, 1958
(Columbia).
• -, ed., Sources of Japanese Tradition, “Ancient Japan”; “The Heian
Period,” New York, 1964 (Columbia).
• Fage, J. D., and Oliver, R. A., eds., Papers in African Prehistory, New York,
1970 (Cambridge).
• Keene, Donald, ed., Anthology of Japanese Literature, from the earliest -era
to the mid-nineteenth century, New York, 1956 {Evergreen).
Morris, Ivan, tr., As 1 Crossed the Bridge of Dreams: Recollections of a
Woman in Eleventh-Century Japan.
Sanskrit Dramas: Sakuntala, The Little Clay Cart.
• Thompson, L., and Ferguson, J., eds., Africa in Classical Antiquity, New
York, 1969 (Africana).
Waley, Arthur, tr., Ballads and Stories from Tun-Huang, an Anthology
(T’ang era); The Tale of Genji; Translations from the Chinese, New
York, i960.
Watson, Burton, tr., Records of the Grand Historian of China, Translated
from the Shih Chi of Ssu-ma Ch’ien, 2 vols., New York, 1961.
• Whitehouse, W., and Yanagisawa, E., trs., The Tale of Lady Ochikubo
(Anchor).

323
 PART III
The Early Middle Ages

During the period from 284 to 476 a.d. Roman civilization was strongly-
influenced by a revival of Oriental ideals of despotism, otherworldliness,
pessimism, and fatalism. In the midst of economic distress and cultural
decay men lost interest in earthly achievement and began to yearn for
spiritual blessings in a life after death. This change in attitude was due
primarily to the spread of Near Eastern religions, especially Christianity.
When the Roman Empire finally collapsed, the victory of Orientalism
was almost complete. The result was the evolution of new civilizations,
compounded in part of elements taken from Greece and from Rome
but with religion as a dominant factor behind most of their achieve¬
ments. Altogether three new cultures finally emerged: the civilization
of western Europe in the early Middle Ages, the Byzantine civilization,
and the Saracenic civilization. The periods covered by the history of
all three overlapped. The civilization of western Europe in the early
Middle Ages extended from about 400 to 1000. Although Constantine
established his capital on the site of ancient Byzantium in the fourth
century a.d., Byzantine civilization did not begin its independent evolu¬
tion until after 500. It survived until the capture of Constantinople by
the Turks in 1453. The Saracenic civilization flourished from the seventh
century to the end of the thirteenth. India and China bloomed in their
fullest splendor between 600 and 900 and were by no means stagnant
during the remainder of the period. 325
A Chronological Table

WESTERN EUROPE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Germanic migrations and invasions,

ioo b.c.-6oo A.D.
Rise of the Papacy, jo-300
Growth of the colonate, ca. 200-500
Rise of monasticism, ca. 300
Council of Nicaea, 325
Constantinople established as capital, 330
Invasions of England by Angles and Sax¬
ons, 400-600
Decline of industry and commerce, 400-
800
Capture of Rome by Visigoths, 410
St. Augustine’s City of God, 413-426
Merovingian dynasty in France, 481-751 Monophvsite movement, 450-565
Ostrogothic rule in Italy, 493-552
Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, 523
Origin of Seven Liberal Arts, ca. 550
Justinian’s empire, 527-565
Revision and codification of Roman law,
527-535.
Construction of church of Santa Sophia,
532-537
Byzantine conquest of Italy, 535-552
Lombard invasion of Italy, 568

Iconoclastic movement, 725-850

Battle of Tours, 732
Carolingian dynasty, 751-887
Development of feudalism, 800-1300
Charlemagne’s empire, 800-814
Unification of England under Saxon
Kings, 802-1066
Treaty of Verdun, 843
Holy Roman Empire, 962-
Founding of national monarchy in France,
987
Separation of Eastern and Western
churches, 1054
Battle of Manzikert, 1071
The Crusades, 1096-1204

Capture of Constantinople by Crusaders

of Fourth Crusade, 1204

Capture of Constantinople by Ottoman

Turks, 1453
 THE SARACENS

Mohammed, 570?-632

The Hegira, 622

Capture of Mecca, 630
Conquest of Persia, Egypt, Palestine, Syria,
North Africa, Spain, 632-732
Division of Islam into sects—Sunnites,
Shiites, and Sufis, ca. 640

Development of steel manufacturing, tex¬

tile manufacturing, leather tooling, and
paper making, ca. 800-1400

Hindu-Arabic system of numerals, ca. 1000

Saracenic world trade, ca. 1000-1500

Cultivation of cotton, sugar, oranges, lem¬

ons, bananas, coffee, ca. 1100
Transmission of complete works of Aris¬
totle to Europe, ca. 1150

Transmission of compass and astrolabe to

Europe, ca. 1400
-
 CHAPTER

The Civilization of the

Early Middle Ages

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:

I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
—Jesus of Nazareth, The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew v.17

Although checked for the time, this pernicious susperstition

[Christianity] broke out again . . . throughout the City, in which
the atrocities and shame from all parts of the world center and
flourish. Therefore those who confessed were first seized, then on
their information a great multitude were convicted, not so much
of the crime of incendiarism, as of hatred of the human race.
—Tacitus on Nero’s persecution of Christians

Sometime during the Renaissance the practice arose of dividing the

history of the world into three great epochs: ancient, medieval, and
modern. This classification has come to be accepted with almost Misinterpreta¬

dogmatic finality. It ties in with the average man’s belief that this tion of the word

"medieval"
planet of ours has witnessed only two great periods of progress: the
time of the Greeks and the Romans and the age of modern inven¬
tion. Between these two periods were the Middle Ages, popularly
regarded as an interlude of abysmal ignorance and superstition when
man lived enveloped in a cowl, oblivious of the wonders of knowl¬
edge, and concerned only with escape from the miseries of this
world and the torments of hell. The very word “medieval” has an
odious meaning in the average mind of today. It has come to be a
synonym for reactionary or unprogressive. Thus when a modern
reformer wishes to cast reproach upon the ideas of his conservative
opponent, all he has to do is to brand them as “medieval.”
The reason for such erroneous judgments lies in the conventional
notion that the entire medieval period from the fall of Rome to the
beginning of the Renaissance was a cultural unit, that the ideals and 329
 THE CIVILIZATION OF institutions of the sixth century, for example, were the same as those
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES of the thirteenth. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The
medieval period, in western Europe, really encompassed two civili¬
zations, as different from each other as Greece from Rome or the
Only the period Renaissance from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first
from 400 to of these civilizations, beginning about 400 a.d., when the process of
1000 A.D. really
Roman decay was nearly complete, and extending until 1000, was
dark
that of the early Middle Ages. It was this period alone which was
really distinguished by most of those attributes commonly referred
to as “medieval.” The culture of the early Middle Ages undoubtedly
represented in certain respects a reversion to barbarism. Intellect did
not merely stagnate but sank to very low depths of ignorance and
credulity. Economic activity declined to primitive levels of barter
and ruralism, while morbid asceticism and contempt for this world
superseded more normal social attitudes. With the Carolingian
Renaissance of the ninth century, however, a brief intellectual re¬
vival occurred in Europe. In the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth
centuries the human spirit soared to much greater heights. The re¬
sult was another of the world’s great cultures, distinguished alike by
intellectual progress and a high degree of prosperity and freedom.
Indeed, this later medieval civilization, which endured until the end
of the thirteenth century, was more nearly similar to the modern
age than most people realize.

I. THE CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION OF EARLY

MEDIEVAL CULTURE

Three main factors combined to produce the civilization of early

medieval Europe: the Christian religion, the influence of the Ger¬
Factors influ¬ manic barbarians, and the heritage from the classical cultures. The
encing early
effect of the third was probably less than that of the others. Outside
medieval culture
the realm of philosophy the influence of the Greek and Hellenistic
civilizations was comparatively slight. While the Roman heritage
was still powerful, the men of the early Middle Ages rejected some
portions of it as inconsistent with Christianity and barbarized much
of the remainder.
The most important foundation of the new culture was the Chris-
ian religion, whose founder, Jesus of Nazareth, was born in a small
The career of town of Judea some time near the beginning of the Christian era.
Jesus of
Judea was then under Roman rule, though the Jews themselves rec¬
Nazareth
ognized only their own king, Herod I, as their rightful sovereign.
The atmosphere of the country was charged with religious emo¬
tionalism and political discontent. Some of the people, notably the
Pharisees, looked forward to the coming of a political messiah, a son
of David, who would rescue the country from foreign rule. Others,
for example, the Essenes, thought in terms of spiritual deliverance
330 through asceticism, repentance, and mystical union with God. It
was this latter sect, together with others of a similar character, THE CHRISTIAN
which prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus. When he was FOUNDATION
about twenty-eight years old, he was acclaimed by an ascetic
evangelist, John the Baptist, as one “mightier than I, whose shoes I
am not worthy to bear.” 1 Thenceforth for about three years the
career of Jesus, according to the New Testament accounts, was a
continuous course of preaching and teaching and of healing the sick,
“casting out devils,” restoring sight to the blind, and raising the
dead. He not only denounced shame, greed, and licentious living but
set the example himself by a life of humility and self-denial. Though
the conception he held of himself is somewhat obscure, he appar¬
ently believed- that he had a mission to oppose Roman rule and to
save mankind from error and sin. His preaching and other activities
eventually aroused the antagonism of some of the chief priests and
conservative rabbis. They disliked his caustic references to the
legalism of the Pharisees, his contempt for form and ceremony, and
his scorn for pomp and luxury. They feared also that his active leader¬
ship would cause trouble with the Romans. Accordingly, they
brought him into the highest court in Jerusalem, where he was
solemnly condemned for blasphemy and for setting himself up as
“King of the Jews” and turned over to Pontius Pilate, the Roman
governor, for execution of the sentence. After hours of agony he
died on the cross between two thieves on the hill of Golgotha outside
Jerusalem.
The crucifixion of Jesus marked a great climax in Christian his¬
tory. At first his death was viewed by his followers as the end of
their hopes. Their despair soon vanished, however, for rumors be¬ The crucifixion

gan to spread that the Master was alive, and that he had been seen

1 Matthew 3:11.

Nazareth. A modern view of

the small town in Judea where
Jesus spent his early life,
where he worked for a time
as a carpenter and began his
career of preaching.
 THE CIVILIZATION OF by certain of his faithful disciples. The remainder of his followers
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES were quickly convinced that he had risen from the dead, and that he
was truly a divine being. With their courage restored, they organ¬
ized their little band and began preaching and testifying in the name
of their martyred leader. Thus another of the world’s great religions
was launched on a career that would ultimately shake the founda¬
tions of no less an empire than mighty Rome.
There has never been perfect agreement among Christians as to
the precise teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The only dependable
The teachings records are the four Gospels, but the oldest of these was not written
of Jesus until at least a generation after Jesus’ death. According to the beliefs
of his orthodox followers, the founder of Christianity revealed him¬
self as the Christ, the divine Son of God, who was sent on this earth
to suffer and die for the sins of mankind. They were convinced that
after three days in the tomb, he had risen from the dead and
ascended into heaven, whence he would come again to judge the
world. The Gospels at least make it clear that he included the fol¬
lowing among his basic teachings: (i) the fatherhood of God and
the brotherhood of man; (2) the Golden Rule; (3) forgiveness and
love of one’s enemies; (4) repayment of evil with good; (5) self-
denial; (6) condemnation of hypocrisy and greed; (7) opposition to
ceremonialism as the essence of religion; (8) the imminent approach
of the end of the world; and (9) the resurrection of the dead and
the establishment of the kingdom of Heaven.
Christianity was broadened and invested with a more elaborate
theology by some of the successors of Jesus. Chief among them was
The influence the Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus. Although of
of Paul Jewish nationality, Paul was not a native of Palestine but a Jew of
the Diaspora,2 born in the city of Tarsus in southeastern Asia
Minor. Here he came into contact with the Stoic philosophy, but he
was possibly more deeply influenced by Gnosticism. Eventually
converted to Christianity, he devoted his limitless energy to propa¬
gating that faith throughout the Near East. It would be almost
impossible to overestimate the significance of his work. Denying
that Jesus was sent merely as the redeemer of the Jews, he pro¬
claimed Christianity to be a universal religion. But this was not all.
He gave major emphasis to the idea of Jesus as the Christ, as the
God-man who existed from the foundation of the world and whose
death on the cross was an atonement for the sins of mankind. Not
only did he reject the works of the Law (i.e., Jewish ritualism) as of
primary importance in religion, but he declared them to be utterly
worthless in procuring salvation. Man is a sinner by nature, and he
can therefore be saved only by faith and by the grace of God
“through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” It follows, accord¬
ing to Paul, that man’s fate in the life to come is almost entirely de-

332 2 See pp. 78-79

pendent upon the will of God; for “Hath not the potter power over THE CHRISTIAN
the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and an¬ FOUNDATION
other unto dishonour?” 3 He has mercy “on whom he will have
mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” 4
By the beginning of the Middle Ages the triumph of Christianity
over its rivals was almost complete. The Emperor Galerius’ edict
of toleration in 311 was already an admission that the religion was Reasons for the

too strong to be stamped out by persecution. By a series of decrees triumph of

Christianity
between 380 and 392 Christianity was recognized as the only lawful
faith of the Roman Empire. How is this triumph to be explained?
Perhaps as much as anything else it was a result of the composite
character of Christianity. Here was a religion which ultimately
came to embody elements from a wide variety of sources. A large
number of them were taken from Judaism: the name of the deity,
the cosmogony, the world history, the Ten Commandments, and
such doctrines as original sin and the providence of God. In addi¬
tion, several of the ethical doctrines were really of Jewish origin.
Although many of these elements were modified by Jesus and his
followers, there can be no doubt that the Hebrew contributions to
Christianity were of great importance.
But obviously Christianity derived much from other than Jewish
sources. Some idea of the debt it owed to religions of Persian
origin has been indicated in a preceding chapter.5 Zoroastrianism
had already made the ancient world familiar with such concepts
as otherworldliness and an eternal conflict between good and evil.
Suggested also was the belief in secret revelation and the notion
of a primal man or God-man becoming incarnate in human form.
A Carved Tablet, ca. 400 a.d.,
Supplementing these influences was that of the philosophy of
Depicting Christ’s Tomb and
Stoicism, which had familiarized the educated classes with Ascension into Heaven
ideals of cosmopolitanism and the brotherhood of man. In short,
mvsterv religions and Hellenistic philosophy had already brought
into existence a large deposit of doctrines and practices upon which
Christianity could draw, at the same time preserving its distinctive
character. The early Church was an organism that fed upon the
whole pagan world, selecting and incorporating a wide variety of
ideas and practices which were not inconsistent with its own nature.
The appeal of Christianity was therefore more nearly universal than
that of any other of the ancient religions.
The other main reasons for the triumph of Christianity can be
summarized briefly. It admitted women to full rights of participa¬
tion in worship, whereas Mithraism, the strongest of its early com¬ Other reasons

petitors, excluded them. It enjoyed the advantage for about fifty for the Christian

triumph
years of systematic persecution by the Roman government, a
factor which enormously strengthened the cohesiveness of the

3 Romans 9:21.
4 Romans 9:18.
6 See pp. 73 —78 333
 THE CIVILIZATION OF movement, since those who remained in the faith had to be ready to
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES die for their convictions. While most of the other religions revolved
around imaginary figures, the creatures of grotesque legends, Chris¬
tianity possessed as its founder a historic individual of clearly de¬
fined personality. Lastly, the triumph of Christianity is partly
explained by the fact that it made a stronger appeal to the poor and
oppressed than did any of the other mystery religions. Although it
included the ideal of the equality of all men in the sight of God, its
founder and some of his followers had condemned the rich and ex¬
alted the lowly. It propagated a new and exceedingly democratic
morality, with meekness, self-effacement, and love of one’s enemies
as primary virtues. Perhaps these were the qualities most likely to
find ready acceptance among the helpless masses who had long since
abandoned hope of bettering their material condition.
Hardly had Christianity emerged victorious over its rivals than
disaffection developed within its own ranks. This was due partly to
The division of the heterogeneous elements out of which the religion had been
Christians into formed, and partly also to the compromising attitudes displayed by
rival sects:
the leaders as the success of the movement increased. A more funda¬
Arians, Athana-

sians, and
mental reason seems to have been the conflict between the intellec¬
Nestorians tual and emotional tendencies within the religion. Representing the
former were the Arians and the Nestorians. Both of these sects agreed
in their refusal to accept what has since become the orthodox doctrine
of the Trinity. Under the influence of Greek philosophy they re¬
jected the idea that the Christ could be the equal of God. The Arians
maintained that the Son was created by the Father and therefore
was not co-eternal with him or formed of the same substance. Their
chief opponents were the Athanasians, who held that Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost were all absolutely equal and composed of identical
substance. The Nestorians broke away from the rest of the Church
with the contention that Mary should be called the mother of Christ
but not the mother of God, implying of course that they considered
the Christ something less than divine.
The most important of the sects that emphasized the emotional
character of Christianity were the Gnostics and the Manicheans.
Gnostics and Both were extreme ascetics and mystics. Believing that genuine reli¬
Manicheans
gious truth was a product of revelation exclusively, they were in¬
clined to be strongly suspicious of any attempt to rationalize the
Christian faith. They were opposed also to the tendency toward
worldliness which was making itself evident among many of the
clergy. The Gnostics and the Manicheans were not originally sects
of Christianity at all, but eventually many of them went over to that
faith. Those who became Christians retained their old doctrines of
exaggerated spiritualism and contempt for matter as evil. Naturally,
along with these went an abiding distrust of every variety of human
knowledge. The doctrines of all these sects, with the exception of
the Athanasian, were eventually condemned by Church councils as
334 heresies.
 Notwithstanding the condemnation of many beliefs as heresies, THE CHRISTIAN
the body of Christian doctrine was never very firmly fixed during FOUNDATION
the early Middle Ages. Of course, all Christians believed in a God
who was the creator and governor of the universe, in salvation from
sin, and in rewards and punishments after death. But as regards The persistence

many other questions of dogma there was confusion and uncer¬ of doctrinal

disputes
tainty. Even the concept of the Trinity continued to be an issue of
debate for several centuries. Many of the Eastern Christians never
accepted the extreme Athanasian view of the relation of the Father
and the Son adopted by the Council of Nicaea (325). Further,
there was no clearly formulated theory at this time of the number
and the precise nature of the sacraments, nor was the doctrine of the
powers of the priesthood definitely established. The theory of the
Mass was not formally defined until 1215. In general, there were
two main points of disagreement affecting all of these issues. Some
very devout believers clung to an ideal of Christianity similar to that
of the Apostolic age, when the Church was a community of mystics,
each of them guided by the Inner Light in matters of faith and con¬
duct. Others envisaged the Christian Church as an organized society
prescribing its own rules for the government of its members in ac¬
cordance with the practical requirements of the time.
The growth of Christian organization was one of the outstanding
developments of the whole medieval era. Even during the first few
centuries of that period the Church and its related institutions The importance

of Christian
evolved into an elaborate structure which ultimately became the
organization
principal framework of society itself. As the Roman Empire in the
West decayed, the Church took over many of its functions and
helped to preserve order amid the deepening chaos. That anything
at all was saved out of the wreckage was due in large part to the
stabilizing influence of the organized Church. It aided in civilizing
the barbarians, in promoting ideals of social justice, and in preserv¬
ing and transmitting the antique learning.
The organization of the Church was at first quite simple. The
early Christian congregations met in the homes of their members
and listened to the spiritual testimony of various of the brethren The evolution

ofChurch organi
who were believed to have been in direct communication with the
zation
Holy Ghost. No distinction between laymen and clergy was recog¬
nized. Each independent church had a number of officers, generally
known as bishops and elders, whose functions were to preside at the
services, discipline members, and dispense charity. Gradually, under
the influence of the pagan mystery religions, the ritual of Christian¬
ity increased to such a stage of complexity that a professional priest¬
hood-seemed to become necessary. The need for defense against
persecution and the desire to attain uniformity of belief also favored
the development of ecclesiastical organization. The consequence
was that about the beginning of the second century one bishop in
each important city came to be recognized as supreme over all the
clergy in that vicinity. The sphere of his jurisdiction corresponded 335
 A Fourth Century a.d. Sarcophagus Depicting Stories and Lessons from the
Bible

to the civitas, the smallest administrative unit of the Roman state. As

the number of congregations multiplied, and as the influence of the
Church increased due to the adoption of Christianity as the official
religion of Rome, distinctions of rank among the bishops themselves
began to appear. Those who had their headquarters in the larger
cities came to be called metropolitans, with authority over the
clergy of an entire province. In the fourth century the still higher
dignity of patriarch was established to designate those bishops who
ruled over the oldest and largest of Christian communities—such
cities as Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria, with their
surrounding districts. Thus the Christian clergy by 400 a.d. had
come to embrace a definite hierarchy of patriarchs, metropolitans,
bishops, and priests.
The climax of all this development was the growth of the
primacy of the bishop of Rome, or in other words the rise of the
The rise of the papacy. For several reasons the bishop of Rome enjoyed a preemi-
papacy nence over the other patriarchs of the Church. The city in which he
ruled was venerated by the faithful as a scene of the missionary
activities of the Apostles Peter and Paul. The tradition was widely
accepted that Peter had founded the bishopric of Rome, and that
therefore all of his successors were heirs of his authority and pres¬
tige. This tradition was supplemented by the theory that Peter had
been commissioned by the Christ as his vicar on earth and had been
given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven with power to punish
men for their sins and even to absolve them from guilt.6 This the¬
ory, known as the doctrine of the Petrine Succession, has been used
by Popes ever since as a basis for their claims to authority over the

336 See Matthew 16:18-19.

Church. The bishops of Rome had an advantage also in the fact that THE CHRISTIAN
after the transfer of the imperial capital to Constantinople there was FOUNDATION
seldom any emperor with effective sovereignty in the West. Finally,
in 455 the Emperor Valentinian III issued a decree commanding all
Western bishops to submit to the jurisdiction of the Pope. It must
not be supposed, however, that the Church was yet under a
monarchical form of government. The patriarchs in the East re¬
garded the extreme assertions of the papal claims as a brazen
effrontery, and even many bishops in the West continued to ignore
them for some time.
The organization of the Church was by no means confined to an
ecclesiastical hierarchy. In any study of Christian institutions a
prominent place must be given to monasticism. Since monasticism Reasons for the
was originally an outgrowth of asceticism, it becomes necessary, popularity of
asceticism
first of all, to examine the relationship between that ideal and the
Christian religion. Original Christianity was only mildly ascetic.
Neither Jesus nor his immediate followers practiced any extremes of
self-torture. To be sure, Jesus did not marry; he declared that he
had no place to lay his head; and he was supposed to have fasted for
forty days in the wilderness; but these examples could scarcely have
encouraged the pathological excesses of mortification of the flesh in¬
dulged in by the hermits of the third and fourth centuries. We must
therefore look for additional causes of the growth of this later
asceticism. Perhaps the following may be considered fundamental:
(1) The choice of morbid self-torture as a substitute for martyr¬
dom. With the abandonment of persecution by the Romans all
chances of winning a crown of glory in heaven by undergoing
death for the faith were eliminated. But the desire to give evidence
of one’s religious ardor by self-abasement and suffering was still
present and demanded an outlet.
(2) The desire of some Christians who were sincerely devoted to
the faith to set an example of exalted piety and unselfishness as an
inspiration to their weaker brethren. Even though most men should
fail to attain the ideal, the general level of morality and piety would
be raised.
(3) The influence of other Near Eastern religions, especially
Gnosticism and Manicheism, with their exaggerated spiritualism, con¬
tempt for this world, and degradation of the body.
The earliest Christian ascetics were hermits, who withdrew from
the world to live in seclusion in some wilderness or desert. This
form of asceticism seems to have originated in Egypt in the third The asceticism of

century. From there it spread into other provinces of the eastern Christian hermits

section of the Empire and continued to be popular for more than

100 years. It developed into a kind of religious mania characterized
by morbid excesses. We read of hermits or anchorites grazing in the
fields after the manner of animals, rolling naked in thorn bushes, or
living in swamps infested with snakes. The famous St. Simeon 337
 THE CIVILIZATION OF Stylites passed a whole summer “as a rooted vegetable in a garden”
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES and then began the construction of his celebrated pillar. He built it
to a height of sixty feet and spent the remaining thirty years of his
life on the top. Such absurdities as these, while certainly not typical
of the attitude of the majority of Christians at this time, were prob¬
ably the natural fruit of too strong an emphasis upon the spiritual
way of life.
In time the force of the anchorite hysteria subsided. Certain of
the more practical Christian ascetics came to the conclusion that the
The rise of solitary life of the hermit was not good for the soul, since it some¬
monasticism times drove men insane. The result of this conclusion was the origin
of monasticism. The most prominent early leader of monasticism
was St. Basil, a bishop of Cappadocia, who was the first to issue a set
of rules for the government of a monastic order. Disapproving of
extreme self-torture, St. Basil required his monks to discipline them¬
selves by useful labor. They were not to engage in prolonged fasting
or in degrading laceration of the flesh, but they were compelled to
submit to obligations of poverty and humility and to spend many
hours of the day in silent religious meditation. The Basilian type of
monasticism came to be adopted universally in the eastern areas of
Christendom. Many of its units are still to be seen perched on lofty
crags to which access can be gained only by climbing long rope lad¬
ders or being hauled up in a basket. There was no important
monasticism in the West until the sixth century, when St. Benedict
drafted his famous rule which ultimately became the guide for
nearly all the monks of Latin Christendom. The Benedictine rule
imposed obligations similar to those of the rule of St. Basil—
poverty, obedience, labor, and religious devotion. Yet there was an

A Monastery of the Basilian

Order on Mt. Athos. The
asceticism of the Basilian monks
caused them to build their mon¬
asteries in almost inaccessible
places on lofty crags or on
the steep sides of rugged
mountains.
absence of severe austerities. The monks were allowed a sufficiency THE GERMANIC
of simple food, good clothing, and enough sleep. They were per¬ FOUNDATIONS
mitted to have wine but no meat. They were allowed no recreation
and few baths, unless they were sick. They were subject to the abso¬
lute authority of the abbot, who could flog them for disobedience.
The original Benedictine monastery was established at Monte Cas-
sino, halfway between Rome and Naples. Eventually it came to
possess one of the finest libraries in medieval Europe. It was
destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II, but has since
been rebuilt.
The influence of monasticism upon the society of the early Mid¬
dle Ages would be difficult to exaggerate. The monks were gen¬
erally the best farmers in Europe; they reclaimed waste lands, The results of

drained swamps, and made numerous discoveries relating to the monasticism

improvement of the soil. They preserved some of the building skill

of the Romans and achieved noteworthy progress in many of the
industrial arts, especially in wood carving, metal-working, weaving,
glass-making, and brewing. It was monks, furthermore, who wrote
most of the books, copied the ancient manuscripts, and maintained
the majority of the schools and libraries and nearly all of the hospi¬
tals that existed during the early Middle Ages. The growth of
monasticism also profoundly affected the history of the Church. It
led to a division in the ranks of the clergy. Living according to a
definite rule or regula, the monks came to be called the regular
clergy; while the priests, bishops, and archbishops, who carried on
their activities in the midst of the affairs of the world (saeculum),
were henceforth known as the secular clergy. Between the two
groups intense rivalry developed, with the monks sometimes or¬
ganizing reform movements against the worldiness of the priests.
The Benedictine monks enjoyed the special favor of the Popes, and
it was partly on account of an alliance between the papacy and
monasticism that the former was able to extend its power over the
Church.

2. THE GERMANIC FOUNDATIONS OF THE

NEW CULTURE

The second most important of the factors which combined to

produce the civilization of early medieval Europe was the influence
of the Germanic barbarians. They were not the only northern peo¬ The ancient
Germans
ples who helped to mold the pattern of early medieval society; the
contributions of the Celts in Brittany and Ireland and of the Slavs in
central and eastern Europe were by no means insignificant. Never¬
theless, the Germanic influence appears to have been the most exten¬
sive. Where the Germans came from originally is a problem upon
which scholars disagree, but they seem to have migrated into north¬
ern Europe from western Asia. By the beginning of the Christian 339
 THE CIVILIZATION OF era they had come to be divided into several peoples: Scandinavians,
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES Vandals, Goths, Franks, Burgundians, Anglo-Saxons, Dutch, and so
on. Both in language and in physical characteristics they bore some
affinity to the Greeks and the Romans.
For centuries different nations of Germanic barbarians had been
making incursions into Roman territory. At times they came as in¬
The Germanic vading armies, but generally they filtered in slowly, bringing their
invasions of the families and belongings with them and occupying depopulated or
Roman Empire
abandoned areas. Many were brought in by Roman commanders
and rulers. Julius Caesar was impressed by their value as warriors
and enrolled thousands of them in his armies. They were to be
found in the bodyguard of nearly every Princeps and Emperor.
Finally, by the time of Constantine, they formed the bulk of the
soldiers in the entire Roman army. Many were also drawn into the
civil service and thousands were settled by the government as coloni
or serfs on the great estates. In view of these conditions it is not sur¬
prising that Rome should eventually have been taken over by the
Germans. As more and more of them gained a foothold in Italy,
others were bound to be tempted by the opportunities for plunder.
It must be emphasized that many of the supposed invasions were
mere “folk wanderings,” and not necessarily motivated by a desire
for conquest. Although armed invasions of Italy began as early as
the second century b.c., and were repeated several times thereafter,
there were no really disastrous incursions until the fourth and fifth
centuries a.d. In 378 the Visigoths, angered by the oppression of im¬
perial governors, raised the standard of revolt. They overwhelmed a
Roman army at Adrianople and then marched westward into Italy.
In 410 under Alaric they captured and plundered Rome, later mov¬
ing on into southern Gaul. In 455 Rome was sacked by the Vandals,
who had migrated from their original home between the Oder and
Vistula rivers and established a kingdom in the province of Car¬
thage. Other Germanic peoples also made their way into Italy, and
before the end of the fifth century the Roman Empire in the West
had passed completely under the domination of the barbarians.
For our knowledge of ancient Germanic society we are depend¬
ent primarily upon the Germania of Tacitus, written in 98 a.d. The
Ancient German literature and the laws of the Germans themselves also contain much
society
information, but these were not put into written form until after
Roman and Christian influences had begun to exert their effect.
When Tacitus wrote, the Germanic barbarians had attained a cul¬
tural level about equal to that of the early Greeks. They were illit¬
erate and ignorant of any knowledge of the arts. Their houses were
built of rough timber plastered over with mud. While they had
achieved some development of agriculture, they preferred the risks
of plundering expeditions to the prosaic labor of tilling the soil.
Nearly all of the work was done by the women and old men and
other dependents. When not fighting or hunting, the warriors spent
340 most of their time sleeping and carousing. Gambling and drunken-
 uu i no

BRITAIN

VANDALS

V Cologne

r><tgOGOTHS

Totilot

SPAIN

CORSICA

MACEDONIA THRACE
Constantinople
SARDINIA A :;:.V * • Philippi

BITHYNIA CAPPADOCIA

SICILY
^j^NDALS •acuse
® Antioch

500 miles
CYPRUS

jQyrene

Alexandria^
Extent of Christianity in 500 A.D.

Principal barbarian invasions Memphis*

EGYPT

CHRISTIANITY IN 500 A.D. AND THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS

ness were glaring vices, but, if we can believe the testimony of

Tacitus, sex morality was singularly pure. Monogamous marriage
prevailed, except in those cases where a chief might be permitted to
take more than one wife for political reasons. Adultery was rare and
was severely punished; divorce was almost unknown. In some tribes
even widows were forbidden to remarry.
The economic and political institutions of the Germans were such
as befitted a people who were just emerging into a settled existence.
The tiny proportion of trade carried on rested solely upon a basis of Economic and

barter, while cattle were still the main article of wealth. Whether political institu¬
tions
the agricultural land was individually or collectively owned is still a
debated question, but there seems little doubt that the forests and
pastures were held and used in common. Possibly the community
controlled the distribution of new lands as they were acquired,
allotting the arable portions as individual farms. There is evidence 341
 THE CIVILIZATION OF that a class of wealthy proprietors had grown up as an aristocracy in
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES certain of the tribes. Although Tacitus states that the Germans had
slaves, it seems probable that most of their dependents were serfs,
since they had houses of their own and paid their masters only a
portion of what they produced. Their servitude in some cases was a
result of capture in war but in others of indebtedness and especially
reckless gambling, in which men staked their own liberty when
everything else had been lost. The state scarcely existed at all. Law
was a product of custom, and the administration of justice remained
largely in private hands. While the Germans had their tribal courts,
the function of these bodies was chiefly to mediate between plaintiff
and defendant. Judicial procedure consisted mainly of oaths and
ordeals, both of which were considered as appeals to the judg¬
ment of the gods. The most important of the remaining political
institutions was the primary assembly of the warriors. But this
body had no lawmaking powers beyond those involved in the inter¬
pretation of custom. Its main function was to decide questions of
war and peace and whether the tribe should migrate to some new
locality. Originally the German tribes had no kings. They had
chiefs elected by the freemen, but these were little more than cere¬
monial officials. In time of war a military leader was elected and
endowed with considerable power, but as soon as the campaign was
over his authority lapsed. Nevertheless, as wars increased in fre¬
quency and duration, some of the military leaders actually became
kings. The formality of election, however, was generally retained.
The influence of the Germans upon the Middle Ages, while not
so important as is sometimes imagined, was extensive enough to de¬
The Germanic serve consideration. Above all, they were largely responsible for
influence
several of the elements of feudalism: (i) the conception of law as an
outgrowth of custom and not as the expression of the will of a
sovereign; (2) the idea of law as a personal possession of the individ¬
ual which he could take with him wherever he went, in contrast to
the Roman conception of law as limited to a definite territory; (3)
the notion of a contractual relationship between rulers and subjects,
involving reciprocal obligations of protection and obedience; (4)
the theory of an honorable relationship between lord and vassal,
growing out of the Germanic institution of the comitatus or mili¬
tary band, in which the warriors were bound by pledges of honor
and loyalty to fight for and serve their leader; (5) trial by ordeal as
a prevailing mode of procedure in the feudal courts; and (6) the
idea of elective kingship.

3. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN

THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

Between 500 and 700 a.d. most of western Europe languished in a

kind of backward age. The barbarian kings who usurped the author-
342 ity of the Roman Emperors proved themselves wholly incapable of
maintaining the administrative organization that passed into their POLITICAL AND
hands. They appeared to have no conception of efficient govern¬ ECONOMIC
ment for the public welfare and regarded their kingdoms as private DEVELOPMENT
estates to be exploited for their own benefit. They allowed the
Roman tax system to break down and delegated much of their polit¬ Decline in
ical authority to the nobility and the Church. Although many of the western Europe

old Roman towns survived, they declined in importance, and the

ancient urban culture largely disappeared. The characteristic institu¬
tions were now the monastery, the peasant village, and the great
villa or semifeudal estate cultivated by tenant farmers. No longer
was the economy international as it had been in the heyday of
Rome. Except for the exchange of a few luxury items, it sank
rapidly into localism or rural self-sufficiency.
The only barbarian ruler who did anything in Italy to check the
progress of deterioration was Theodoric the Ostrogoth, who con¬
quered the peninsula in 493. Until nearly the end of his reign of Theodoric in Italy

thirty-three years, he gave Italy a more enlightened rule than it had

known under many of the Caesars. He fostered agriculture and
commerce, repaired public buildings and roads, patronized learning,
and enforced religious toleration. But in his last years he became
querulous and suspicious, accusing some of his faithful subordinates
of plotting with the Roman aristocracy to overthrow him. Several
were put to death, including the philosopher Boethius. After the
death of Theodoric decay set in once more, hastened this time by
new wars of conquest. When Justinian became Emperor at Con¬
stantinople in 527 he determined to reconquer Italy and the prov¬
inces in the West. Not until 552 was the project completed. The
devastation of the long war was so great that Italy was opened for
invasion by the Lombards in 568. The Lombards succeeded in hold¬
ing most of the peninsula under the rule of semi-independent dukes
until the conquest of Charlemagne in the late eighth century.
Deterioration continued apace in Spain. The Spanish Church was
corrupt, and the barbarian (Visigothic) kings were ignorant and
predatory. By allowing their power to slip into the hands of an op¬ Spain and

pressive nobility they made their country an easy prey for Moslem France

conquest in the eighth century. Deterioration was also evident in

France. In 481 a youth by the name of Clovis became king of an
important tribe of the Salian Franks, who dwelt on the left bank of
the Rhine. The Merovingian dynasty,7 which he founded, occupied
the throne of the Frankish state until 751. Eventually, however, the
royal line began to degenerate. A series of short-lived weaklings, the
so-called do-nothing kings, inherited the crown of their lusty fore¬
bears. Absorbed in the pursuit of pleasure, these worthless youths
delegated most of their authority to their chief subordinates, the
mayors of the palace. Nothing more natural could have happened

7 So called from Merovech, the half-mythical founder of the family to which

Clovis belonged.
343
 THE CIVILIZATION OF than the eventual displacement of the Merovingian kings by these
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES very officials to whom they had entrusted their powers. The most
capable and aggressive of the mayors of the palace was Charles Martel
(“the Hammer”), who may be considered a second founder of the
Frankish state. He won fame in 733 by defeating the Moors at Poitiers,
a town a little more than 100 miles from Paris. Although his op¬
ponents were merely a marauding band, the Battle of Poitiers is
nevertheless important as the high-water mark of Moorish invasion
of France. Yet, even after his victory, Charles was content with the
substance of power and did not bother to assume the royal title. It
was left for his son, Pepin the Short, to have himself elected king of
the Franks in 751 and thereby to put an end to Merovingian rule,
the new dynasty became known as the Carolingian from the name of
its most famous member, Carolus Magnus or Charlemagne (742-814).
In the minds of most students of history Charlemagne stands out
as one of the two or three most important individuals in the whole
medieval period. By some of his contemporaries he was acclaimed as
a new Augustus who would bring peace and prosperity to western
Europe. There can be no question that he established more efficient
government, and that he did much to combat the centrifugal
tendencies which had gathered momentum during the reigns of the
later Merovingians. Not only did he abolish the office of mayor of
the palace, but he eliminated the tribal dukes and bestowed all the
powers of local government upon his own appointees, the counts.
He modified the old system of private administration of justice by
authorizing the counts to summon accused persons to court and by
vesting the magistrates with more control over judicial procedure.
He revived the Roman institution of the sworn inquest, in which a
Charlemagne, Painting by number of persons were summoned by agents of the king and bound
Diirer
by oath to tell what they knew of any crimes committed in their
locality. This institution survived the downfall of the Carolingian
state and was carried by the Normans to England, where it eventu¬
ally became an important factor in the origin of the grand-jury
system. Although much of the remainder of the political structure
Charlemagne established perished with the end of his dynasty, the
precedent that he set for strong government undoubtedly influ¬
enced many of the French kings in the later Middle Ages and the
German emperors as well. There was scarcely a people of western
Europe against whom he did not fight, except the English. Since
most of his campaigns were successful, he annexed to the Frankish
domain the greater part of central Europe and northern and central
Italy. But some of these conquests were made possible only by a
fearful sacrifice of blood and a resort to measures of the harshest
cruelty. The campaign against the Saxons met with such stubborn
opposition that Charlemagne finally ordered the beheading of 4500
of them. It is typical of the spirit of the times that all of this was
344 done under the pretext of inducing the pagans to adopt Christianity.
 V

In fact, it was Charlemagne’s constant intervention in religious

affairs which led to the climax of his whole career—his coronation
as Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III. Leo had been in trouble for Charlemagne
some time. Accused of being a tyrant and a rake, he so aroused the becomes em¬
peror
indignation of the people of Rome that in 799 they gave him a
severe beating and forced him to flee from the city. Struggling over
the mountains to Germany, he implored the aid of Charlemagne.
The great king sent him back to Italy and was instrumental in re¬
storing him to the papal throne. On Christmas Day, 800, as Charles
knelt in prayer in St. Peter’s Church, the grateful Pope placed a
crown on his head while the assembled multitude hailed him as
“Augustus, crowned of God, great and pacific Emperor of the
Romans.” The significance of this event is rather hard to appraise. It
seems doubtful that Charles was under any illusions as to the nature
of the act. For all practical purposes it was merely the recognition
of an accomplished fact. By his conquests Charles had made himself
ruler of nearly all of western and central Europe. In 794 he estab¬
lished a permanent capital at Aachen that was called “New Rome.”
He never acknowledged any sovereignty of the Pope over him. In
his view ecclesiastical affairs were as much a part of his domain as 345
 Charlemagne Weeping
for His Knights. A
panel commissioned
by Frederick Barba-
rosa for the shrine
of Charlemagne at
Aachen.

were secular matters. Though he did not attempt to prescribe

Church doctrine, he displayed an interest in maintaining uniformity
of both discipline and theology. He summoned a number of Church
synods during his reign and presided over one of them. In the eyes
of the Pope the coronation had a quite different significance. He re¬
garded all kings as his stewards exercising their authority for the
benefit of the Church. True, Charles was now an emperor, but it was
the Pope who had given him this dignity; and what the Pope could
grant he could also take away. This conflict of views foreshadowed
the great struggle of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth cen¬
turies—a struggle over who should be supreme in western Europe,
the Emperor or the Pope.
At the beginning of the early Middle Ages a large part of what is
now England was still under Roman rule. But in the fifth century
The Saxon the Romans were forced to withdraw on account of increasing
kingdoms in trouble with Germanic invasions into Italy. Soon afterward England
was overrun by hordes of Saxons, Angles, and Jutes from the Conti¬
nent. They brought with them the customs and institutions of their
homeland, which were similar to those of the other Germanic bar¬
barians. Driving the original Celtic natives into the mountains of
Wales and Cornwall, they quickly established their own kingdoms.
At one time there were seven, mutually suspicious and hostile.
In the ninth century tribes of Danes took advantage of the strife
among the Saxon kingdoms and attempted their conquest. Efforts to
defeat the new enemy brought the seven kingdoms into a strong
confederation under the leadership of Wessex and its celebrated
ruler, Alfred the Great (849-899). King Alfred reorganized the
army, infused new vigor into local government, and revised and
broadened the laws. In addition, he founded schools and fostered an
346 interest in literature and other elements of a national culture.
 King Alfred’s successors were men of weaker fiber. One of them, POLITICAL AND
Ethelred the Unready, surrendered his kingdom to the powerful ECONOMIC
Danish King Canute. For eighteen years England was ruled as part DEVELOPMENT
of a North Sea empire which also included Norway and Denmark.
But in 1035 Canute died, and the Saxon dynasty regained control of The Norman

England. It was not for long. Ethelred’s son, Edward the Confessor, conquest

was more interested in cultivating a reputation for piety than he was

in statecraft, and allowed affairs of his country to be regulated by
the Duchy of Normandy, across the Channel. Upon Edward’s death
the Duke of Normandy, subsequently known as William the Con¬
queror (1027-1087), laid claim to the crown of England. Landing
an army in Sussex in 1066, he caught the English monarch, Harold,
unprepared and defeated him in the Battle of Hastings. Harold fell
mortally wounded, and his forces disintegrated. Apparently regard¬
ing discretion as the better part of valor, the surviving magnates
offered the crown to Duke William. The Battle of Hastings is con¬
sidered a turning point in English history, for it ended the period of
Anglo-Saxon supremacy and prepared the way for the ultimate
establishment of a nation state under William the Norman’s succes¬
sors.
Most of the records of economic life in the early Middle Ages
present a mournful picture of return to primitive conditions and, in
some cases, actual misery. The decline of Italy in the second half of Economic de¬

the fifth century was especially swift. The forces that were set in cline in Italy

motion by the economic revolution of the preceding 200 years had

now attained their full momentum. Commerce and industry were
rapidly becoming extinct, lands that were formerly productive were

Duke William of Normandy Crossing the Channel to Conquer England, from

the Bayeux Tapestry. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts, in needlework on linen,
72 scenes of the Norman Conquest. It was probably completed under the
direction of Bishop Odo of Bayeux, the Conqueror’s half-brother.
 THE CIVILIZATION OF growing up in briars and brambles, and the population was declining
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES so noticeably that a law was enacted forbidding any woman under
forty years of age to enter a convent. While the proprietors of the
great landed estates extended their control over agriculture and over
many of the functions of government as well, larger and larger
numbers of the masses of the people became serfs. During the reign
of Theodoric this process of economic decline was arrested in some
measure as a result of the benefits he extended to agriculture and
commerce and his reduction of taxes. But Theodoric was unable to
eliminate serfdom or to reverse the concentration of landed wealth,
for he felt that he needed the support of the aristocracy. After his
death the forces of decay again became operative; yet had it not
been for Justinian’s war of reconquest, Italy might still have pre¬
served a degree of the prosperity she had gained under the Ostro-
gothic king. The long military conflict brought the country to the
verge of stark barbarism. Pestilence and famine completed the havoc
wrought by the contending armies. Fields were left untilled, and
most of the activities in the towns were suspended. Wolves pene¬
trated into the heart of the country and fattened on the corpses that
remained unburied. So great was the widespread hunger that canni¬
balism appeared in some areas. Only in the larger cities were the
normal functions of civilization continued to any appreciable extent.
Economic change in what is now France followed a pattern very
similar to that in Italy, but it proceeded at a slower rate. In Roman
Economic times southern Gaul had had a flourishing commerce and considera¬
conditions ble industry. By the end of the ninth century, however, stagnation
in France;
was almost complete. The streets of the city of Marseilles were
the foundations
of feudalism
grown over with grass and weeds, and the port itself was deserted
for over 200 years. In some other Mediterranean towns and in the
interior of the country, trade on a petty scale continued to be car¬
ried on, mostly by Jews and Syrians and later by Lombards; but
even the activities of these men became steadily more difficult as
brigandage increased, the roads deteriorated, and money disappeared
from general circulation. The economic history of France was also
characterized by the growth of an irregular feudalism similar to that
which had sprung up in Italy. Several of the causes were closely re¬
lated to the policies of the Merovingian and Carolingian kings.
Nearly all of these rulers compensated their officials by grants of
land. Both Pepin the Short and Charlemagne adhered to the example
of Charles Martel in expropriating lands of the Church and turning
them over to their chief followers as rewards for military services.
More serious was the practice of granting immunities, or exemptions
from the jurisdiction of the king’s agents. Their legal effect was to
make the holder subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the king; but
as the king was far away and generally preoccupied with other mat¬
ters, the nobles took advantage of the opportunity to increase their
own independence. Wars, brigandage, and oppression also contrib¬
348 uted to the growth of a largely feudal structure of society by forcing
the weaker citizens to seek the protection of their more powerful INTELLECTUAL
neighbors. The result was a tendency toward a division of the popu¬ ATTAINMENTS OF THE
lation into two distinct classes: a landed aristocracy and serfs. EARLY MIDDLE AGES

4. INTELLECTUAL ATTAINMENTS OF THE

EARLY MIDDLE AGES

Generally speaking, the intellectual culture of early medieval Eu¬

rope was not of a high order. Superstition and credulity frequently
characterized the work even of many of the outstanding writers. A The low in¬
fondness for compilation rather than for original achievement was tellectual level

also a distinguishing feature of much of the intellectual endeavor.

Few men any longer had much interest in philosophy or science, ex¬
cept insofar as these subjects could be made to serve religious pur¬
poses. Such an attitude often led to mystical interpretations of
knowledge and to the acceptance of fables as fact when they ap¬
peared to be freighted with symbolical significance for the sphere of
religion. In spite of all this, the mind of the times was not hopelessly
submerged in darkness. The light of antique learning was never en¬
tirely extinguished; even some of the most pious of Church Fathers
recognized the value of classical literature. Moreover, there were a
few men in the period who, if not creative geniuses, at least had abil¬
ities of scholarship which would not have been rated inferior in the
best days of Greece.
Nearly all of the philosophers of the early Middle Ages may be
classified as either Christians or pagans, although a few seem to have
been nominal adherents of the Church who wrote in the spirit of The authori¬

pagan thought. The Christian philosophers tended to divide into tarian Christian
philosophers:
two different schools: (1) those who emphasized the primacy of au¬
Tertullian
thority; and (2) those who believed that the doctrines of the faith
should be illumined by the light of reason and brought into har¬
mony with the finest products of pagan thinking. The authoritarian
tradition in Christian philosophy stemmed originally from Tertul-
lian, a priest of Carthage who lived about the beginning of the third
century. For him, Christianity was a system of sacred law to be
accepted entirely upon faith. The wisdom of men was mere foolish¬
ness with God, and the more a tenet of the faith contradicted reason
the greater was the merit in accepting it. Even today theologians
can be found who insist upon this absolute supremacy of authority
over intellect, of faith over the powers of reason.
While few of the Christian Fathers went as far as Tertullian in
despising intellectual effort, there were several who adhered to his
general principle that the dogmas of the faith were not to be tested Gregory the

by reason. The most influential was Pope Gregory I (540-604), Great

known in Church history as Gregory the Great. The scion of a rich

senatorial family, Gregory scorned the seductions of wealth and
power in order that he might dedicate his life to the Church. Fie
turned his father’s palace into a convent and gave all of the re- 349
 THE CIVILIZATION OF mainder of the wealth he had inherited to the poor. In his work as a
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES theologian he laid great stress upon the idea of penance as essential
to the remission of sins and strengthened the notion of purgatory as
a place where even the righteous must suffer for minor offenses in
order to be purified for admission to heaven.
The most eminent of the Christian philosophers who may be de¬
scribed as representatives of a rationalist tradition were Clement of
The rationalist Alexandria and Origen. Both lived in the third century and were
Christian phi¬ deeply influenced by Neo-Platonism and Gnosticism. Far from
losophers:
despising all human knowledge, they taught that the best of the
Clement and
Origen
Greek thinkers had really anticipated the teachings of Jesus, and
that Christianity is improved by being brought into harmony with
pagan learning. While Clement and Origen would not qualify as ra¬
tionalists in the modern sense, inasmuch as they took a great many
of their beliefs on faith, they nevertheless recognized the impor¬
tance of reason as a fundamental basis of knowledge, whether reli¬
gious or secular. They denied the omnipotence of God and taught
that God’s power is limited by His goodness and wisdom. They re¬
jected the fatalism of many of their opponents and insisted that man
by his own free will molds his course of action while on earth.
Both Clement and Origen condemned the extreme asceticism of
some of their more zealous brethren; in particular, they deplored
the tendency of such men as Tertullian to speak of marriage as sim¬
ply a legalized form of carnality. Finally, they maintained that the
purpose of all future punishment is purification and not revenge.
Consequently, punishment in hell cannot be eternal, for even the
blackest of sinners must eventually be redeemed. If it were not so,
God would not be a God of goodness and mercy.
The most erudite and perhaps the most original of all the early
Christian philosophers was St. Augustine. Insofar as it is possible to
The career of classify him at all, he occupied an intermediate position between
St. Augustine Clement and Origen, on the one hand, and Tertullian and Gregory
on the other. Though contending that truths of revelation were
above natural reason, he perceived the need for an intellectual un¬
derstanding of what he believed. Born in 354, the son of a pagan
father and a Christian mother, Augustine was torn by conflicting
impulses throughout the greater part of his life. As a young man he
was addicted to sensual pleasures, from which he tried vainly to
escape, though he admits in his Confessions that his efforts were not
wholly sincere. Even after his engagement to marry he could not
resist the temptation to take a new mistress. Meanwhile, when he
was about eighteen years old, he was attracted to philosophy by
reading Cicero’s Hortensius. He passed from one system of thought
to another, unable to find spiritual satisfaction in any. For a brief
period he considered the possibilities of Christianity, but it im¬
pressed him as too crude and superstitious. Then for nine years he
was a Manichean, but ultimately he became convinced that that
350 faith was decadent. Next he was attracted to Neo-Platonism, and
then finally returned to Christianity. Though already in his thirty- INTELLECTUAL
third year when he was baptized, Augustine advanced rapidly in ATTAINMENTS OF THE
ecclesiastical positions. In 395 he became Bishop of Hippo in north¬ EARLY MIDDLE AGES
ern Africa, an office he held until his death in 430.
Augustine believed that the supremely important knowledge is
knowledge of God and His plan of redemption for mankind. Though
most of this knowledge must be derived from the revelation contained The philosophy of

in the Scriptures, it is nevertheless the duty of man to understand as St. Augustine

much of it as possible in order to strengthen his belief. On the basis of

this conclusion St. Augustine developed his conception of human his¬
tory as the unfoldment of the will of God. Everything that has hap¬
pened or ever will happen represents but an episode in the fulfill¬
ment of the divine plan. The whole race of human beings comprises
two great divisions: those whom God has predestined to eternal
salvation constitute the City of God; all others belong to the
Earthly City. The end of the drama of history will come with the
Day of Judgment, when the blessed few who compose the City of
God will put on the garment of immortality, while the vast multi¬
tude in the earthly kingdom will be cast into the fires of hell. This,
according to St. Augustine, is the whole meaning of human exist¬
ence.
St. Augustine’s theology was an integral part of his philosophy.
Believing as he did in a deity who controls the operation of the uni¬
verse down to the smallest detail, he naturally emphasized the St. Augustine

omnipotence of God and set limits to the freedom of the will. Since theology

man is sinful by nature, the will has to struggle against an inclination

to commit evil. Although man has the power to choose between
good and bad, it is God who provides the motive or “inspiration”
for the choice. God created the world in the knowledge that some
men would respond to the divine “invitation” to lead holy lives, and
that others would resist or refuse to cooperate. In this way God
predestined a portion of the human race to be saved and left the
remainder to perish; in other words, He fixed for all time the number
of inhabitants of the heavenly city. It was not that He elected some
for salvation and denied to all others the opportunity to be saved.
Rather, He knew that some would not •wish to be saved. The influence
of St. Augustine was enormous. In spite of the fact that his teachings
were modified considerably by the theologians of the later Middle
Ages, he is revered to this day as one of the most important Fathers
of the Roman Catholic religion. Lutheran and other Protestant Re¬
formers also held him in the highest esteem, although the interpreta¬
tions they gave to his teachings frequently differed from those of
the Catholics.
Practically the only pagan school of philosophy in early medieval The Neo-

Europe was that of the Neo-Platonists, whose doctrines were dis¬ Platonists and
Boethius
cussed in a preceding chapter. There was one other individual
thinker, however, who cannot be positively classified as either a
pagan or a Christian. It is quite probable that he was a Christian, 351
 THE CIVILIZATION OF though he makes no reference to the Church or to the name of
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES Christ in his chief work. The name of this man was Boethius. Born
about 480 of aristocratic parentage, Boethius eventually became
principal adviser to Theodoric, the Ostrogothic king. Later he fell
out with that monarch, was accused of treason, and thrown into
prison. In 524 he was put to death. The chief philosophical work of
Boethius, which he wrote while languishing in prison, is entitled
The Consolation of Philosophy. Its dominant theme is the relation
of man to the universe. The author considers such problems as fate,
the divine government of the world, and individual suffering. After
carefully weighing the various conceptions of fortune, he comes to
the conclusion that true happiness is synonymous with philosophic
understanding that the universe is really good, and that evil is
only apparent. Although he seems to assume the immortality of the
soul, he refers to no definitely Christian belief as a source of conso¬
lation. His attitude is essentially that of the Stoics, colored by a
trace of Neo-Platonist mysticism. Few treatises on philosophy were
more popular in medieval Europe than Boethius’ Consolation of
Philosophy. Not only was it ultimately translated into nearly every
vernacular language, but numerous imitations of it also were written.
The history of literature in the early Middle Ages was marked,
first of all, by a decline of interest in the classical writings and later
Literature in the by the growth of a crude originality that ultimately paved the way
early Middle
for the development of new literary traditions. By the fifth century
Ages
the taste for good Latin literature had already begun to decline.
Some of the Christian Fathers who had been educated in pagan
schools were inclined to apologize for their attachment to the ancient
writings; others expressly denounced them; but the attitude that
generally prevailed was that of St. Augustine. The great bishop of
Hippo declared that men should continue to study the pagan classics,
not for their aesthetic value or their human appeal, but “with a view
to making the wit more keen and better suited to penetrate the mys¬
tery of the Divine Word.” 8 Toward the close of the period the
vernacular languages, which had been slowly evolving from a fu¬
sion of barbarian dialects, with some admixture of Latin elements,
began to be employed for crude poetic expression. The consequence
was a new and vigorous literary growth which attained its full
momentum about the thirteenth century.
The best-known example of this literature in the vernacular is the
Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. First put into written form about
Beowulf and the eighth century, this poem incorporates ancient legends of the
other examples
Germanic peoples of northwestern Europe. It is a story of fighting
of vernacular
and seafaring and of heroic adventure against deadly dragons and
literature
the forces of nature. The background of the epic is heathen, but the
author of the work introduced into it some qualities of Christian

8 Quoted by Thompson and Johnson, An Introduction to Medieval Europe,

352 p. 221.
idealism. Beowulf is important, not only as one of the earliest speci¬ INTELLECTUAL
mens of Anglo-Saxon or Old English poetry, but also for the picture ATTAINMENTS OF THE
it gives of the society of the English and their ancestors in the early EARLY MIDDLE AGES
Middle Ages. No account of the vernacular literature of this time
would be complete without some mention of the achievements of
the Irish. Ireland in the late sixth and early seventh centuries experi¬
enced a brilliant renaissance which made that country one of the
brightest spots in the early Middle Ages. Irish monks and bards
wrote stories of fantastic adventure on land and sea and hundreds of
poems of remarkable sensitivity to natural beauty. The Irish mon¬
asteries of this time were renowned centers of learning and art.
Their inmates excelled in illuminating manuscripts and in compos¬
ing both religious and secular verse. As missionaries, under the lead¬
ership of St. Columban, they conveyed their influence to Scotland
and to many parts of the Continent.
Aside from theological works, the leading productions of authors
who wrote in Latin during the early Middle Ages were the histories
of Gregory of Tours and Bede. Bishop Gregory of Tours, a The historians

near-contemporary of Clovis, wrote with a view to defense of the

faith. In his History of the Franks he condoned the murders of
Clovis on the ground that they were committed in the service of the
Church. Although his work contains interesting information about
the events of his time, he tended to give a supernatural interpreta¬
tion to every occurrence. By far the best of the historical writings
of the early medieval period was the Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History of the English Nation. Bede, an English monk, lived be¬
tween 673 and 735. Apparently more interested in scholarship than
in pious meditation, he pursued his studies so assiduously that he
gained a reputation as one of the most learned men of his time. In
collecting material for his history he devoted careful attention to
sources. He did not hesitate to reject the statements of some of the
most respectable authorities when he found them to be in error; and
when the evidence was a matter of mere oral tradition, he was hon¬
est enough to say so.
No account of intellectual attainments in the early Middle Ages
would be complete without some reference to developments in edu¬
cation. After the reign of Theodoric, the old Roman system of state Developments

schools rapidly disappeared. Throughout the remainder of western in education;

the Seven
Europe the monasteries had a practical monopoly of education. The
Liberal Arts
man who did most to establish the monasteries as institutions of
learning was Cassiodorus, formerly chief secretary to Theodoric.
Following his retirement from official service, Cassiodorus founded
a monastery on his ancestral estate in Apulia and set the monks to
work copying manuscripts. The precedent he established was grad¬
ually adopted in nearly all the Benedictine institutions. Cassiodorus
also insisted that his monks should be trained as scholars, and for this
purpose he prepared a curriculum based upon seven subjects, which 353
 READINGS came to be called the Seven Liberal Arts. These subjects were di¬
vided, apparently by Boethius, into the trivium and the quadrivium.
The former included grammar, rhetoric, and logic, which were sup¬
posed to be the keys to knowledge; the quadrivium embraced sub¬
jects of more definite content—arithmetic, geometry, astronomy,
and music.
The textbooks used in the monastic schools were for the most
part elementary. In some of the best schools, however, translations
The value of of Aristotle’s logical works were studied. But nowhere was attention
monastic educa¬ given to laboratory science, and history was largely neglected.
tion
Learning was largely memorization, with limited opportunity for
criticism or refutation. No professional training of any kind was
provided, except for careers in the Church. Learning was, of course,
a privilege for the few; the masses as a rule received no education,
save what they acquired incidentally, and even most members of the
secular aristocracy were illiterate. Yet, with all of its shortcomings,
this system of education did help to save European culture from
complete eclipse. And it is worth remembering that the best of the
monastic and cathedral schools—notably those at Yarrow and York
in England—provided the main impetus for the first of the revivals
of learning which occurred in the later Middle Ages.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Artz, F. B., The Mind of the Middle Ages, New York, 1954.
• Bark, W. C., Origins of the Medieval World, Stanford, 1958 (Doubleday).
• Bury, J. B., The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians, London, 1928 (Norton
Library).
• Chadwick, Henry, The Early Church, Baltimore, 1967 (Penguin).
• Chambers, Mortimer, The Fall of Rome: Can It Be Explained? New York,
1963 (European Problem Series, Holt, Rinehart & Winston).
Deanesley, Margaret, A History of Early Medieval Europe, New York, i960.
• Dill, Samuel, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire,
London, 1921 (Meridian). Valuable for excerpts from the writers of the
fifth century.
• -, The Wandering Saints of the Middle Ages, New York, 1959 (Norton
Library).
• Ganshof, Francois Louis, Frankish Institutions under Charlemagne, Provi¬
dence, 1968 (Norton Library).
Hearnshaw, F. J. C., The Social and Political Ideas of Some Great Medieval
Thinkers, New York, 1923.
Laistner, M.L. W., Thought and Letters in Western Europe, A.D. 500—900,
rev. ed., New York, 1957.
Latouche, Robert, The Birth of Western Economy, New York, i960.
Latourette, K. S., A History of Christianity, New York, 1953.
• Lot, Ferdinand, The End of the Ancient World and. the Beginning of the
Middle Ages, New York, 1931 (Torchbook). An excellent account of the
354 decline of Rome and the transition to the Middle Ages.
• Lyon, Bryce, The Origins of the Middle Ages, New York, 1971 (Norton). READINGS
• Moss, H. St. L. B., The Birth of the Middle Ages, 395-814, New York, 1935
(Galaxy). Clear and concise.
Patch, R. R., The Tradition of Boethius, New York, 1935.
• Rand, E.K., Founders of the Middle Ages, Cambridge, Mass., 1928 (Dover).
A very good presentation of the contributions of individuals.
• Rops, Daniel, Jesus and His Times, New York, 1954 (Doubleday).
Russell, J. B., A History of Medieval Christianity, New York, 1968.
• Taylor, H. O., The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages, New York, 1925
(Torchbook).
-, The Medieval Mind, New York, 1927, 2 vols.
• Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., The Barbarian West, New York, 1962 (Torchbook).

SOURCE MATERIALS

• Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, New York, 1962 (Library of Lib¬

eral Arts, Ungar).
• Brentano, Robert, The Early Middle Ages, 500-1000, 1964, Glencoe, Ill. (Free
Press).

COLUMBIA RECORDS OF CIVILIZATIONS

• Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, New York, 1965 (Norton).
King, J. E., ed., The Historical Works of Bede, 2 vols., Harvard.
St. Augustine, The City of God, especially Books IV, VII, X, XII, XIV, XV,
XVII.
-, Confessions.
-, Enchiridion, especially Chs. XXVI, XXVII, XXX-XXXIII, XLI, L,
LI, XCVIII, XCIX.
Shotwell, J. T., and Loomis, L. R., eds., The See of Peter, New York, 1927.

355
.
 CHAPTER 13
The Byzantine and Saracenic
Civilizations

What is there greater, what more sacred than imperial majesty?

Who so arrogant as to scorn the judgment of the Prince, when
lawgivers themselves have precisely and clearly laid down that
imperial decisions have the force of law?
—Justinian

Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are

hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves.
Allah hath promised, unto such of them as believe and do good
works, forgiveness and immense reward.
—The Koran, Surah XLVIII

The so-called medieval period of history does not concern Europe

alone. In addition to the cultures of the European Middle Ages,
medieval history includes two other civilizations, the Byzantine and The semi-Ori-
the Saracenic or Islamic. Although each occupied territory on the ental character
of the Byzan¬
European continent, the larger portions of their empires were located
tine and Sara¬
in Africa and in Asia. Of greater significance is the fact that the fea¬
cenic civilizations
tures of both civilizations were largely those of the Near East.
While the Saracens were Moslems and the Byzantine people Chris¬
tians, religion was a dominant factor in the lives of both. The two
states were so closely linked with the religious organizations that
their governments appeared more theocratic than many of those in
the West. Moreover, both civilizations were characterized by atti¬
tudes of pessimism and fatalism and by a tendency for the mystical
point of view to gain supremacy over the rational. It should be noted,
however, that the Saracens especially made distinctive contribu¬
tions to philosophy and science, while the Byzantine Empire was
exceedingly important for its art and for its work in preserving
innumerable achievements of the Greeks and Romans. 357
 I. THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND ITS CULTURE

In the fourth century the Emperor Constantine established a new

capital for the Roman Empire on the site of the old Greek colony of
The founding of Byzantium. When the western division of the Empire collapsed,
the Byzantine Byzantium (or Constantinople, as the city was now more commonly
Empire
called) survived as the capital of a powerful state which included
the Near Eastern provinces of the Caesars. Gradually this state came
to be known as the Byzantine Empire, although the existence of a
Byzantine civilization was not clearly recognized before the sixth
century. Even after that there were many who believed that Rome
had merely shifted its center of gravity to the East.
Although Byzantine history covered a period similar to that of
the Middle Ages, the cultural pattern was far different from the one
Byzantine culture which prevailed in western Europe. Byzantine civilization had a
more distinctly
more pronounced Near Eastern character. Indeed, most of the terri¬
Near Eastern
tories of the Empire actually lay outside of Europe. The most
than that of
Latin Europe important among them were Syria, Asia Minor, Palestine, and
Egypt. Furthermore, Greek and Hellenistic elements entered into
the formation of Byzantine culture to a greater extent than was ever
true in western Europe. The language of the eastern state was pre¬
dominantly Greek, while the traditions in literature, art, and science
were largely Hellenistic. Lastly, the Christianity of the Byzantine
Empire differed from that of Latin Europe in being more mystical,
abstract, and pessimistic, and more completely subject to political
control. Notwithstanding all these differences, Byzantine civilization
was distinctly superior to that of western Europe.
The population of the territories under Byzantine rule comprised
a great number of nationalities. The majority of the inhabitants
Nationalities in were Greeks and Hellenized Orientals—Syrians, Jews, Armenians,
the Byzantine
Egyptians, and Persians. In addition, the European sections df the
Empire
Empire included numerous barbarians, especially Slavs and Mongols.
There were some Germans also, but the emperors at Constantinople
were generally able to divert the German invasions to the west. The
encroachments of the Slavs and the Mongols, on the other hand,
proved to be much more difficult to deal with. The original home of
the Slavs, a round-headed people of Alpine stock, was apparently
the region northeast of the Carpathian Mountains, principally in
what is now southwestern Russia. A peaceful agricultural folk, they
seldom resorted to armed invasion but gradually expanded into
thinly settled territories whenever the opportunity arose. Not only
did they move into the vast empty spaces of central Russia, but they
occupied many of the regions vacated by the Germans and then
slowly filtered through the frontiers of the Eastern Empire. By the
seventh century they were the most numerous people in the entire
Balkan peninsula, as well as in the whole region of Europe east of
358 the Germans. The Mongolian inhabitants of the Empire came into
Europe from the steppes of what is now Asiatic Russia. They were THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
herdsmen, with the furious energy and warlike habits characteristic
of that mode of existence. After entering the valley of the Danube,
many of them forced their way into Byzantine territory. It was a
fusion of some of these Mongolian peoples with Slavs which gave
rise to such modern nations as the Bulgarians and the Serbs.
The early history of the Byzantine Empire was marked by
struggles to repel the Germanic barbarians. The confidence
inspired by the success of these struggles encouraged the Em¬ Byzantine po¬
peror Justinian to begin the reconquest of Italy and North litical history

Africa, but most of Italy was soon afterward abandoned to the

Lombards, and Norh Africa to the Moslems. In the early seventh
century Byzantium became involved in a great war with Persia,
which eventually exhausted both empires and laid their territories
open to Saracenic conquest. By 750 the Byzantine state had lost all
of its possessions outside of Europe with the exception of Asia
Minor. After the tide of Saracenic advance had spent its force,
Byzantium enjoyed a brief recovery and even regained the province
of Syria, the island of Crete, and some portions of the Italian coast,
as well as certain territories on the Balkan peninsula which had been
lost to the barbarians. In the eleventh century, however, the Empire
was attacked by the Seljuk Turks, who rapidly overran the eastern
provinces and in 1071 annihilated a Byzantine army of 100,000 men
at Manzikert. The Emperor Romanus Diogenes was taken prisoner
and held for a ransom of one million pieces of gold. Soon afterward
the government sent an appeal for aid to the West. The result was
the Crusades, launched originally against the Moslems but eventu¬
ally turned into plundering attacks upon Byzantine territory. In
1204 the Crusaders captured Constantinople and treated that city
“with more barbarity than the barbarian Alaric had treated Rome
eight hundred years before.” 1 But even these disasters did not
prove fatal. During the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centu¬
ries the Empire once again recovered some measure of its former
strength and prosperity. Its history was finally brought to an end
with the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
During this long period of approximately 1000 years the stability
of Byzantine rule was frequently menaced not only by foreign
aggression but also by palace intrigues, mutinies in the army, and Factors in the

violent struggles between political factions. How then can it be ex¬ stability of the
Byzantine Em¬
plained that the Empire survived so long, especially in view of the
pire
rapid decay of the West during the early centuries of this period?
Geographic and economic factors were probably the major causes.
The location of Constantinople made it almost impregnable. Sur¬
rounded on three sides by water and on the fourth by a thick, high
wall, the city was able to resist capture practically as long as any

XJ. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire (1931 ed.), I, 3. 359
 THE BYZANTINE AND will to defend it remained. Furthermore, the Near East suffered no
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS decay of industry and commerce like that which had occurred in
Italy during the last centuries of the empire in the West. Last of all,
the Byzantine government had a well-filled treasury which could
be drawn upon for purposes of defense. The annual revenues of the
state have been estimated as high as $167 million (1972 dollars).
The government of the Byzantine Empire was similar to that of
Rome after the time of Diocletian, except that it was even more
The government despotic and theocratic. The emperor was an absolute sovereign
of the Byzantine with unlimited power over every department of national life. His
Empire
subjects not only fell prostrate before him, but in petitioning his
grace they customarily referred to themselves as his slaves. More¬
over, the spiritual dignity of the emperor was in no sense inferior to
his temporal power. He was the vicar of God with a religious au¬
thority supposed to be equal to that of the Apostles. Although some
of the emperors were able and hard-working officials, most of the
actual functions of the government were performed by an extensive
bureaucracy, many of whose members were highly trained. A great
army of clerks, inspectors, and spies maintained the closest scrutiny
over the life and possessions of every inhabitant.
The economic system was as strictly regulated as in Hellenistic
Egypt. In fact, the Byzantine Empire has been described as a “para¬
State control of dise of monopoly, of privilege, and of paternalism.” 2 The state ex¬
the economic ercised a thorough control over virtually every activity. The wage
system
of every workman and the price of every product were fixed by
government decree. In many cases it was not even possible for the
individual to choose his own occupation, since the system of guilds
which had been established in the late Roman Empire was still main¬
tained. Each worker inherited his status as a member of one guild or
another, and the walls which surrounded these organizations were
hermetically sealed. Nor did the manufacturer enjoy much greater
freedom. He could not choose for himself what quantity or quality
of raw materials he would purchase, nor was he permitted to buy
them directly. He could not determine how much he would pro¬
duce or under what conditions he would sell his product. A number
of large industrial enterprises were owned and operated by the state.
Chief among them were the murex or purple fisheries, the mines,
the armament factories, and the establishments for the weaving of
cloth. An attempt was made at one time to extend monopolistic
control over the silk industry, but the government factories were
unable to supply the demand, and permission had to be given to
private manufacturers to resume production.
The agricultural regime developed under the late Roman Empire
was also perpetuated and extended in the Byzantine territories. Most
of the land was divided into great estates operated by feudal mag¬
nates. Except in the hilly and mountainous regions, there were

360 J. W. Thompson, Economic and Social History of the Middle Ages, p. 336.
few independent farmers left. In the richest areas the agricultural THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
population was made up almost entirely of tenant farmers and serfs.
The number of the latter was increased in the fifth century, when
the Emperor Anastasius issued a decree forbidding all peasants who
had lived on a particular farm for thirty years ever to remove there¬ The agricultural

from. The purpose of the decree was to ensure a minimum of agri¬ regime

cultural production, but its natural effect was to bind the peasants to
the soil and make them actual serfs of their landlords. Another of
the significant agricultural developments in the Byzantine Empire
was the concentration of landed wealth in the hands of the Church.
The monasteries, especially, came to be included among the richest
proprietors in the country. With the increasing difficulty of making
a living from the soil and the growing popularity of asceticism,
more and more farmers sought refuge in the cloister and made gifts
of their lands to the institutions which admitted them. The estates
acquired by the Church were cultivated, not by the monks or the
priests, but by serfs. During the seventh and eighth centuries many
of the serfs gained their freedom and became owners of the lands
they cultivated. But by the eleventh century the great estates had
reappeared, and the independent peasantry virtually ceased to exist.
No subject appears to have absorbed the interest of the Byzantine
people more completely than religion. They fought over religious
questions as vehemently as citizens of the modern world quarrel The absorbing

over issues of government control versus private ownership or interest in reli¬

gion
democracy versus totalitarianism. They took great delight in theo¬
logical subtleties which would impress most people in our time as
barren and trivial. Gregory of Nyssa, one of their own Church Fa¬
thers, thus described Constantinople in the fourth century: “Every¬
thing is full of those who are speaking of unintelligible things. I
wish to know the price of bread; one answers: ‘The Father is
greater than the Son’; I inquire whether my bath is ready; one says,
‘The Son has been made out of nothing.’ ” 3
The most crucial of the religious issues, however, were those
which grew out of the Monophysite and Iconoclastic movements,
although neither of these movements was exclusively religious in Religious con¬

character. The Monophysites derived their name from their conten¬ troversies; the
Monophysite
tion that the Christ was composed of only one nature, and that that
movement
nature was divine. This doctrine, which was probably a reflection of
the Neo-Platonist contempt for everything physical or material,
flatly contradicted the official theology of Christianity. Having be¬
gun as early as the fifth century, the Monophysite movement
reached its height during the reign of Justinian (527-565). Its
strength lay chiefly in Syria and in Egypt, where it served as an
expression of nationalist resentment against subjection to Constanti¬
nople. In dealing with the sect Justinian was caught between two
fires. Not only was he ambitious to unite his subjects in allegiance to

3 A. A. Vasiliev, History of the Byzantine Empire, I, 99!. 361

 THE BYZANTINE AND a single faith, but he was anxious to win the support of Rome. On
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS the other hand, he was reluctant to take any steps for the suppres¬
sion of the Monophysites, partly because of their strength and also
because his wife, the popular actress Theodora, was a member of
the sect. It was her will that finally prevailed. During the seventh
century the Monophysites broke away from the Eastern Church.
The sect survives to this day as an important branch of Christendom
in Egypt, Syria, and Armenia. They are now commonly called
Coptic Christians.
The Iconoclastic movement was launched about 725 by a decree
of the Emperor Leo III forbidding the use of images in the Church.
The Iconoclasts In the Eastern Church any image of God, the Christ, or a saint was
called an icon. Those who condemned the use of icons in worship
were known as Iconoclasts, or image-breakers. The Iconoclastic
movement was a product of several factors. First of all, it had a cer¬
tain affinity with the Monophysite movement in its opposition to
anything sensuous or material in religion. Secondly, it was a protest
against paganism and worldliness in the Church. But perhaps more
than anything else it represented a revolt of certain of the emperors
against the increasing power of the ecclesiastical system. The
monasteries in particular were absorbing so large a proportion of the
national wealth and enticing so many men away from service in the
army and from useful occupations that they were undermining the
economic vitality of the Empire. Since the monks derived a large
part of their income from the manufacture and sale of icons, it was
logical that the reforming emperors should center their attacks upon
the use of images in the Church. Naturally they had the support of
many of their pious subjects, who resented what they considered a
corruption of their religion by idolatrous practices.
Although the struggle against the worship of images was contin¬
ued until well into the ninth century, it really accomplished no
Significance of more than the elimination of sculptured representations; the flat or
the Iconoclastic painted icons were eventually restored. Nevertheless, the Iconoclas¬
controversy
tic controversy had more than a trivial significance. It may be said
to have represented an important stage in the irrepressible conflict
between Roman and Near Eastern traditions, which occupied so large
a place in Byzantine history. Those who upheld the use of images
generally believed in an ecclesiastical religion in which symbols and
ceremony were regarded as indispensable aids to worship. Most of
their opponents were mystics and ascetics who condemned any
form of institutionalism or veneration of material objects and advo¬
cated a return to the spiritualism of primitive Christianity. Many of
the ideals of the Iconoclasts were similar to those of the Protestant
Reformers of the sixteenth century, and the movement itself may be
said to have foreshadowed the great revolt of Luther and Calvin
against what were considered pagan elements in the Roman Catholic
religion. Finally, the Iconoclastic controversy was a potent cause of
362 the separation of the Greek and Roman branches of the Church in
1054- Even though the attack upon the use of images was not en¬ THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
tirely successful, it went far enough to arouse much antagonism
between Eastern and Western Christians. The Pope excommuni¬
cated the Iconoclasts and turned from the Byzantine emperors to
the Frankish kings for support. From this point on the East and the
West drew farther apart.
Social conditions in the Byzantine Empire presented a marked
contrast with western Europe during the early Middle Ages.
Whereas large sections of Italy and France sank to almost primitive
levels in the ninth and tenth centuries, Byzantine society continued
to maintain its essentially urban and luxurious character. Approxi¬
mately a million people lived in the city of Constantinople alone,
to say nothing of the thousands who dwelt in Nicaea, Edessa,
Thessalonica, and other great urban centers. Merchants, bankers,
and manufacturers ranked with the great landlords as members of
the aristocracy, for there was no tendency in Byzantium as there A Silver Byzantine Plate Por¬
had been in Rome to despise the man who derived his income from traying David and Goliath
industry or trade. The rich lived in elegance and ease, cultivating
the indulgence of opulent tastes as a fine art. A large part of the in¬
dustrial activity of the nation was absorbed in the production of
articles of luxury to meet the demand of the wealthier classes. Mag¬
nificent garments of wool and silk interwoven with gold and silver
thread, gorgeously colored tapestries of brocaded or damasked
stuffs, exquisite glass and porcelain ware, illuminated gospels, and
rare and costly jeweled ornaments composed only a small part of the
sumptuous output of factories and shops, both public and private.
The life of the lower classes was poor and mean by comparison.
And yet the common man in the Byzantine Empire was probably
better off than the average citizen in most other parts of the Chris¬
tian world at that time. The extensive industrial and commercial de¬
velopment and the high degree of economic stability provided op¬
portunities for employment for thousands of urban workers. Even
A Byzantine Plate of Gold and
the lot of the serf who was attached to the estate of some one of the
Enamel Portraying the Christ
great secular proprietors was probably superior to that of the peasants
in western Europe, since the landlord’s powers of exploitation were
at least regulated by law.
The tone of morality in the Empire exhibited sharp contrasts.
The Byzantine people, in spite of their Greek antecedents, appar¬
ently had no aptitude for the typical Hellenic virtues of balance and Extremes of

restraint. In place of the golden mean they seemed always to prefer asceticism and
sensual indul¬
the extremes. Consequently, the most extravagant self-indulgence
gence
was frequently to be found side by side with the humblest self-
denial or laceration of the flesh. The contradictory qualities of
sensuality and piety, charity and heartless cruelty, were commonly
evident in the same stratum of society or even in the same individu¬
als. For example, the great reform Emperor, Leo III, tried to
improve the lot of the peasants, but he also introduced mutilation as
a punishment for crime. Life at the imperial court and among some 363
 THE BYZANTINE AND members of the higher clergy appears to have been characterized by
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS indolence, luxurious vice, and intrigue. As a consequence, the very
word “Byzantine” has come to be suggestive of elegant sensuality
and refinements of cruelty.
In the intellectual realm the Byzantine people won little distinc¬
tion for originality. Comparatively few discoveries or contributions
Revision and in any of the fields of knowledge can actually be credited to them.
codification of
Probably their most noteworthy achievement was the revision and
the Roman law
codification of the ancient Roman law. After the time of the great
jurists (second and third centuries a.d.) the creative genius of the
Roman lawyers subsided, and nothing new was added to the philoso¬
phy or the science of law. The volume of statutory enactments,
however, continued to grow. By the sixth century Roman law had
come to contain numerous contradictory and obsolete provisions.
Moreover, conditions had changed so radically that many of the old
legal principles could no longer be applied, particularly on account
of the establishment of an Oriental despotism and the adoption of
Christianity as the official religion. When Justinian came to the
throne in 527, he immediately decided upon a revision and codifica¬
tion of the existing law to bring it into harmony with the new con¬
ditions and to establish it as an authoritative basis of his rule. To
carry out the actual work he appointed a commission of lawyers
under the supervision of his minister, Tribonian. Within two years
the commission published the first result of its labors. This was the
Code, a systematic revision of all of the statutory laws which had
been issued from the reign of Hadrian to the reign of Justinian. The
Code was later supplemented by the Novels, which contained the
legislation of Justinian and his immediate successors. By 532 the
commission had completed the Digest, representing a summary of
all of the writings of the great jurists. The final product of the work
of revision was the Institutes, a textbook of the legal principles
which were reflected in both the Digest and the Code. The combi¬
nation of all four of these results of the program of revision consti¬
tutes the Corpus Juris Civilis, or the body of the civil law.
From the historical standpoint the two most important sections of
the Corpus Juris were unquestionably the Institutes and the Digest.
The Institutes It was these which contained the philosophy of law and of govern¬
and the Digest ment which had come to prevail in Justinian’s time. There is a popu¬
lar but inaccurate belief that this philosophy was the same as
that of Ulpian, Papinian, and the other great jurists of 300 years
before. While it is true that most of the old theory was preserved, a
few fundamental changes were introduced. First, the jus civile was
more completely denationalized than it had ever been during Roman
times and was now made applicable to citizens of a great many
divergent nationalities. The jus naturale was now declared to be
divine and consequently superior to all of the enactments of men—a
conception which was destined to become exceedingly popular in
364 later medieval philo'sophy. There was a tendency also for Justinian’s
jurists to speak of the emperor as the sole legislator, on the assump¬ THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
tion that the people had surrendered all of their power to him. In
other words, the classical Roman law was being revised to make it
fit the needs of an Oriental monarch whose sovereignty was limited
only by the law of God.
The supreme artistic achievement of the Byzantine civilization
was its architecture. Its finest example was the Church of Santa
Sophia (Holy Wisdom), built at enormous cost by the Emperor The Church of
Justinian. Although designed by architects of Hellenic descent, it Santa Sophia

was vastly different from any Greek temple. Its purpose was
not to express man’s pride in himself or his satisfaction with
this life, but to symbolize the inward and spiritual character of
the Christian religion. It was for this reason that the architects gave
little attention to the external appearance of the building. Nothing
but plain brick covered with plaster was used for the exterior walls;
there were no marble facings, graceful columns, or sculptured en¬
tablatures. The interior, however, was decorated with richly col¬
ored mosaics, gold leaf, colored marble columns, and bits of tinted
glass set on edge to refract the rays of sunlight after the fashion of
sparkling gems. It was for this reason also that the building was con¬
structed in such a way that no light appeared to come from the out¬
side at all but to be manufactured within.
The structural design of Santa Sophia was something altogether
new in the history of architecture. Its central feature was the appli¬ Plan of Santa Sophia Dome

cation of the principle of the dome to a building of square shape.

The church was designed, first of all, in the form of a cross, and
then over the central square was to be erected a magnificent dome,
which would dominate the entire structure. The main problem was
how to fit the round circumference of the dome to the square area it

The Church of Santa Sophia in Constantinople. Built by Justinian in the sixth

century a.d., it is an outstanding example of Byzantine architectural design. As
the diagram shows, the central dome rests upon four massive arches. Its tre¬
mendous downward thrust necessitates buttressing with enormous masonry piles
and half-domes. The minarets were added later by the Moslems.
 THE BYZANTINE AND was supposed to cover. The solution consisted in having four great
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS arches spring from pillars at the four corners of the central square.
The rim of the dome was then made to rest on the keystones of the
arches, with the curved triangular spaces between the arches filled
in with masonry. The result was an architectural framework of
marvelous strength, which at the same time made possible a style of
imposing grandeur and even some delicacy of treatment. The great
dome of Santa Sophia has a diameter of 107 feet and rises to a height
of nearly 180 feet from the floor. So many windows are placed
around its rim that the dome appears to have no support at all but to
be suspended in mid-air.
The other arts of Byzantium included ivory-carving, the making
of embossed glassware and brocaded textiles, the illumination of
Other Byzantine manuscripts, the goldsmith’s and jeweler’s arts, and considerable
arts painting. The last, however, was not so highly developed as some of
the others. In place of painting, the Byzantine artist generally pre¬
ferred mosaics. These were designs produced by fitting together
See color small pieces of colored glass or stone to form a geometric pattern,
plates at page symbolical figures of plants and animals, or even an elaborate scene
251 of theological significance. Representations of saints and of the
Christ were commonly distorted to create the impression of extreme
piety.
The importance of the Byzantine civilization is usually underesti¬
mated. It was undoubtedly the most powerful factor in determining
The Byzantine the course of development of eastern Europe. To a large extent the
influence in civilization of imperial Russia was founded upon the institutions and
eastern Europe
achievements of Byzantium. The Russian Orthodox Church was an
offshoot of the so-called Greek Orthodox or Eastern church, which
broke away from Rome in 1054. The Tsar as the head of the religion
as well as the state occupied a position analogous to that of the em¬
peror at Constantinople. The architecture of the Russians, their
calendar, and a large part of their alphabet were also of Byzantine
origin. Perhaps even the despotism of the Soviet regime can be traced
in some measure to the long-standing tradition of absolute rule in
Russia, which ultimately goes back to Byzantine influence.
But the influence of the Byzantine civilization was not limited to
eastern Europe. It would be hard to overestimate the debt of the
The Byzantine West to scholars in Constantinople and the surrounding territory
influence in the who copied and preserved manuscripts, prepared anthologies of
West
Greek literature, and wrote encyclopedias embodying the learning
of the ancient world. Moreover, Byzantine scholars exerted a nota¬
ble influence upon the Italian Renaissance. The extensive trade be¬
tween Venice and Constantinople in the late Middle Ages fostered
cultural relations between East and West. Consequently, long before
the fifteenth century when eminent Greek scholars arrived in Italy,
a foundation for the revival of interest in the Greek classics had
already been laid. Likewise, Byzantine art exerted its effect upon the
366 art of western Europe. Several of the most famous churches in Italy,
A Byzantine Mosaic Depicting
Jesus Entering Jerusalem

for example St. Mark’s in Venice, were built in close imitation of the
Byzantine style. Byzantine painting also influenced the painting of
the Renaissance, especially of the Venetian school. Finally, it was the
Corpus Juris of Justinian which really made possible the transmission
of the Roman law to the late Middle Ages and to the modern world.

2. ISLAM AND THE SARACENIC CIVILIZATION

The history of the Saracenic or Arabian civilization began a little

later than the history of Byzantium and ended a short time earlier.
The dates were roughly 630 a.d. to 1300. In many ways the Sara¬ Importance of

cenic civilization was one of the most important in the Western the Saracenic
civilization
world—not only because it was the orbit of a new religion, which
has attracted converts by the hundreds of millions, but mainly be¬
cause its impact upon Christian Europe was responsible for social
and intellectual changes that can only be described as revolution¬
ary. The term “Saracen” originally meant an Arab, but later it came
to be applied to any member of the Islamic faith, regardless of his
nationality. Some of the Saracens were Jews, some were Persians,
some were Syrians. Nevertheless, the founders of the civilization
were Arabs, and it therefore becomes necessary to examine the cul¬
ture of that people on the eve of their expansion beyond the borders
of their homeland.
Toward the end of the sixth century the people of Arabia had
come to be divided into two main groups: the urban Arabs and the
Bedouins. The former, who dwelt in such cities as Mecca and Conditions in

Yathrib, were traders and petty craftsmen. Many were literate, and Arabia before
Mohammed
some were comparatively wealthy. The Bedouins were mostly
nomads, subsisting on dates and the flesh and milk of their animals.
Ignorant and superstitious, they practiced infanticide and occasional
human sacrifice. They were frequently involved in bloody warfare
over possession of wells and oases. Neither Bedouins nor urban 367
 St. Mark's Church, Venice. The most splendid example of Byzantine archi¬
tecture in Italy.

Arabs had any organized government. The clan and the tribe took
the place of the state. When a member of one clan committed a
crime against a member of another, the issue was settled by means
of the blood feud, which sometimes raged until scores had been
killed on each side. The religion was generally polytheistic, although
some of the better educated townsmen had adopted a belief in Allah
as the only God. From time immemorial Mecca had been a sacred
city. Here was the shrine known as the Kaaba, containing a sacred
black stone which was supposed to have been miraculously sent
down from heaven. The men who controlled this shrine formed the
tribe of the Kuraish, the nearest approach to an Arabian aristocracy
that ever existed before the migrations.
Whether the Saracenic civilization would ever have originated
without the development of the Islamic religion is a question almost
The Islamic re¬ impossible to answer. It is commonly assumed that a new religion
ligion as a driv¬ was necessary to unite the people and to imbue them with ardor in a
ing force in the
common cause. Yet other nations had expanded before this and had
civilization
accomplished great things without the influence of any particularly
inspiring system of belief. Nevertheless, in the case of the Arabs it
was a new religion which undoubtedly provided much of the driv¬
ing force behind the development of their civilization. The origin
368 and nature of that religion must therefore be given attention.
 The founder of the new faith was born in Mecca about the year ISLAM AND THE
570. The child of parents who belonged to one of the poorest clans SARACENIC CIVILIZATION
of the Kuraish tribe, he was given the common Arabic name of Mu¬
hammad or Mohammed. Little is known about his early life. He was
left an orphan while still very young and was reared by his grand¬ The early life of

father and his uncle. When he was about twenty-five years old, he Mohammed

entered the employment of a rich widow and accompanied her cara¬

vans, perhaps as far north as Syria. Soon afterward he became her
husband, thereby acquiring leisure and security to devote all of his
time to religious interests.
Exactly what influences led Mohammed to become the founder of
a new religion, no one knows. He was apparently of a highly emo¬
tional nature. At times he seems to have believed that he heard voices Mohammed's

from heaven. Quite early in his life he became acquainted with character and
beliefs
numerous Jews and Christians who lived in the cities of northern
Arabia, and he appears to have been deeply impressed by their re¬
ligious beliefs. In addition, he seems to have developed the idea that
social and moral conditions in his country were badly in need of re¬
form. He began to denounce the plutocrats of Mecca for their greed
and to reproach his people for their bloody feuds and their practice
of infanticide. Gradually he came to conceive of himself as the ap¬
pointed instrument of God to rescue the Arabian people from the
path of destruction.
Mohammed’s preaching was not at first particularly successful.
After almost nine years of communicating the revelations of Allah
to all who would listen, he had managed to win very few converts Founding the
new religion
outside of his immediate family. The wealthy Kuraish were natu¬
rally against him, and even the common people of Mecca were
generally indifferent. In 619 he decided to seek a more promising
field for the propagation of his teachings. He had learned that the
city of Yathrib on the caravan route to the north had been torn for
some time by factional strife, and that there might be some chance
for a neutral leader to step in and assume control. In 622, he and the

The Interior of St.

Mark’s Cathedral in
Venice
 The Kaaba. It contains the black stone
which was supposed to have been
miraculously sent down from heaven,
and rests in the courtyard of the great
mosque in Mecca..

remainder of his followers decided to abandon the sacred city of

Mecca and to risk their future in the new location. This migration
to Yathrib is known to Mohammedans as the Hegira, from the
Arabic word meaning “flight,” and is considered by them so im¬
portant that they regard it as the beginning of their era and date all
their records from it.
Mohammed changed the name of Yathrib to Medina (the “city of
the Prophet”), and quickly succeeded in establishing himself as
The conquest of ruler of the city. But to obtain means of support for his followers
Mecca was a somewhat more difficult matter. Besides, the Jews in Medina
rejected his leadership. Under these circumstances Mohammed be¬
gan to enlist the support of the Bedouins for a holy war against his
enemies. In a single year approximately 600 Jews were massacred,
and then the followers of the Prophet launched their plundering at¬
tacks upon the caravans of the merchants of Mecca. When the latter
took up arms to resist, they were badly defeated in battle. In 630
Mohammed entered Mecca in triumph. He murdered a few of his
leading opponents and smashed the idols in the temple, but the
Kaaba itself was preserved, and Mecca was established as a sacred
city of the Islamic faith. Two years later Mohammed died, but he
lived to see the religion he had founded a militant and successful en¬
terprise.
The doctrines of the Islamic religion as developed by the Prophet
are really quite simple. They revolve around a belief in one God,
The doctrines of who is called by the old Arabic name Allah, and in Mohammed as
the Islamic reli¬ His Prophet. This God desires that men shall be kind to their neigh¬
gion
bors, lenient toward debtors, honest, and forgiving; and that they
shall refrain from infanticide, eating swine’s flesh, drinking intoxi¬
cating beverages, and waging the blood feud. The religion also
370 enjoins the faithful observance of certain obligations. Chief among
these are the giving of alms to the poor, fasting during the day ISLAM AND THE
throughout the sacred month of Ramadan, praying five times a day, SARACENIC CIVILIZATION
and making a pilgrimage, if possible, at least once in a lifetime to
Mecca. Almost as much emphasis is placed upon purity of heart
and practical benevolence as in Christianity or Judaism. Several
passages in the Koran, which constitutes the Islamic Scriptures, pro¬
vide ample warrant for such a conclusion. One of them declares that
“There is no piety in turning your faces toward the east or the
west, but he is pious who believeth in God, and the last day, and the
angels, and the Scriptures, and the prophets; who for the love of
God disburseth his wealth to his kindred, and to the orphans, and
the needy, and the wayfarer and those who ask, and for ransom¬
ing.” 4 Another affirms that the highest merit is “to free the captive;
or to feed, in a day of famine, the orphan who is of kin, or the poor
man who lieth on the ground.” 5 There are no sacraments in the
system of worship taught by Mohammed, and there are no priests.
The religion itself is officially known as “Islam,” a word meaning
“to submit, or to surrender oneself absolutely to God.” The official
designation of a believer is a “Moslem,” which is the participle of
the same verb of which “Islam” is the infinitive.
The sources of the religion of Islam are somewhat in doubt.
Judaism was unquestionably one of them. Mohammed taught that
the Arabs were descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s oldest son. The probable

Moreover, a good many of the teachings of the Koran are quite simi¬ sources of Islam

lar to doctrines in the Old Testament: strict monotheism, the sanc¬

tion of polygamy, and the prohibition of usury and the eating of
pork. Christianity was also an exceedingly important source. Moham¬
med considered the New Testament as well as the Old to be a
divinely inspired book, and he regarded Jesus as one of the greatest
of a long line of prophets. Besides, the Islamic doctrines of the
resurrection of the body, the last judgment, rewards and punish¬
ments after death, and the belief in angels were more probably
derived from Christianity than from any other system of belief.
On the other hand, it is necessary to remember that the Christianity
with which Mohammed was acquainted was far from the orthodox
variety. Nearly all of the Christians who lived in Syria as well as
those in Arabia itself were Ebionites or Nestorians. It is perhaps for
this reason that Mohammed always thought of Jesus as human, the
son of Joseph and Mary, and not as a god.
It was not long after the origin of Islam that its followers split
into a number of sects not entirely dissimilar to some of the off¬
shoots of Christianity. The three most important of the Islamic sects The principal

were the Sunnites, the Shiites, and the Sufis. The first two had a po¬ Islamic sects

litical as well as a religious character. The Sunnites maintained that

the head of the Islamic state and successor to the Prophet should be
elected by representatives of the whole body of believers, in accord-

4Sura 2:v. 172.

6 Sura 90:v. 12. 371
 THE BYZANTINE AND ance with the ancient Arabian custom of election of tribal chiefs. In
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS matters of religion they contended that the sunna, or traditions
which had grown up outside of the Koran, should be accepted as a
valid source of belief. The Shiites were opposed to the elevation of
anyone to the highest political and religious office who was not re¬
lated to the Prophet himself, either by blood or by marriage. In gen¬
eral, they represented the absolutist ideal in Islam as distinct from
the democratic ideal of the Sunnites. What is more, the Shiites were
against the acceptance of anything but the Koran as a source of reli¬
gious belief. The Sufis adhered to a mystical and ascetic ideal. Deny¬
ing absolutely the validity of rational judgment, they maintained
that the only truth of any worth is that which proceeds from divine
revelation. They believed that it is possible for man to partake of
this divine revelation through torturing his body and thereby releas¬
ing the soul for a mystic union with God. Many of the fakirs and
dervishes in India, Pakistan, and Iran today are members of the Sufi
sect.
The political history of the Saracenic civilization is closely inter¬
woven with the growth of the religion. As we have already seen,
Political history Mohammed became the founder not merely of a religion but also of
of the Islamic an Arabic state with its capital at Medina. Following his death in 632
state: the caliphs
his companions chose as his successor Abu-Bekr, one of the earliest
converts to the faith and the father-in-law of Mohammed. The new
ruler was given the title of caliph, that is, successor to the Prophet.
After Abu-Bekr’s death two other caliphs were chosen in succession
from among the earlier disciples of Mohammed. In 656, however, a
long struggle began for possession of the supreme power in Islam.
First the Shiites succeeded in deposing a member of the Ommiad
family and in electing Ali, the husband of Mohammed’s daughter
Fatima, as caliph. Five years later Ali was murdered, and the
Ommiads came back into power. Soon afterward they transferred
the capital to Damascus and established their family as a reigning
dynasty with a luxurious court in imitation of the Byzantine model.
In 750 the Shiites revolted again, this time under the leadership of a
member of the Abbasid family, who was a distant relative of the
Prophet. The Abbasids seized the throne and moved the capital to
the city of Baghdad on the Tigris River, where they ruled as Orien¬
tal despots for more than three centuries. A few of them were en¬
lightened patrons of learning, especially Harun-al-Raschid (786—
809) and Al-Mamun (813-33).
In the meantime, a great wave of Saracenic expansion had swept
over Asia, Africa, and Europe. When Mohammed died in 632, the
The Saracenic authority of his little state probably did not extend over more than
conquests one-third of the Arabian peninsula. A hundred years later at least
one-third of the civilized world was under Moslem domination. The
Saracenic empire extended from the borders of India to the Strait of
372 Gibraltar and the Pyrenees Mountains. One after another, with
 THE BYZANTINE AND startling rapidity, Persia, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain had
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS been conquered. How can this prodigious expansion be explained?
Contrary to common belief, it was not the result primarily of reli¬
gious ardor. The Saracens were not engaged in a great crusade to
impose their beliefs upon the rest of the world. Naturally there
were outbreaks of fanaticism from time to time, but as a rule the
Moslems of this period did not really care very much whether the
nations they conquered accepted their religion or not. Subject peo¬
ples were usually quite leniently treated. As long as they refrained
from the possession of arms and paid the tribute levied upon them,
they were permitted to retain their own beliefs and customs. Jews
and Christians lived unmolested in the Saracenic empire for cen¬
turies, and some rose to positions of prominence in political and in¬
tellectual circles.
In truth, economic and political factors were much more impor¬
tant than religion in causing the Saracenic expansion. First of all, it
Reasons for the must be borne in mind that the majority of the Arabs were a prolific
Saracenic ex¬ race of nomads. Since the men were polygamists, the occasional
pansion
practice of infanticide was far from sufficient to prevent a rapid in¬
crease in population. Arabia, moreover, was suffering from a serious
drought, which extended over a number of years shortly after the
beginning of the seventh century. Oases that had formerly provided
good crops of dates and good pasturage for flocks and herds were
gradually being absorbed by the surrounding desert. Discontent
among the famished tribes increased to such a point that they would
probably have seized upon almost any excuse to plunder neighbor¬
ing countries. The initial attacks upon Byzantine territory appear to
have grown out of a revolt of Arab mercenaries in Syria. The lead¬
ers of the rebellion appealed to the followers of the Prophet in
Medina, who already had some reputation for military prowess as a
result of their conquest of Mecca. The outcome of this appeal was a
great wave of military invasion which soon made the Arabs masters
not merely of Syria, but also of Persia, Palestine, and Egvpt. Finally,
it should be noted that the conquests of the Moslems were facili¬
tated by the fact that the Byzantine and Persian empires had fought
each other to the point of exhaustion in the previous century, and
their governments were now attempting to replenish their treasuries
by heavier taxation. As a consequence, many of the inhabitants of
these empires were disposed to welcome the Arabs as deliverers.
The decline of the Saracenic empire was almost as swift as its rise.
The Arabs themselves lacked political experience; besides, the empire
The decline of they conquered was too vast in extent and too heterogeneous in pop¬
the Saracenic
ulation ever to be welded into a strong and cohesive political unit. But
empire
a more decisive reason for its downfall was sectarian and factional
strife. Sunnites and Shiites were never able to reconcile their differ¬
ences, and widening cleavages between the mystics and rationalists
374 also helped weaken the religion, which was the basis of the state. In
929 members of the Ommiad family succeeded in establishing an in¬ ISLAM AND THE
dependent caliphate at Cordova in Spain. Soon afterward descend¬ SARACENIC CIVILIZATION
ants of Ali and Fatima proclaimed themselves independent rulers of
Morocco and Egypt. Meanwhile, the caliphs at Baghdad were
gradually succumbing to the debilitating effects of Oriental cus¬
toms. Aping the practices of Eastern monarchs, they retired more
and more into the seclusion of the palace and soon became the pup¬
pets of their Persian viziers and later of their Turkish mercenary
troops. In 1057 they surrendered all of their temporal power to the
Sultan of the Seljuk Turks, who two years before had taken posses¬
sion of Baghdad. For all practical purposes this marked the extinction
of the Saracenic empire, although much of the territory continued
to be ruled by peoples who had adopted the Islamic faith—the
Seljuk Turks until the middle of the twelfth century and the
Ottoman Turks from the fifteenth century to 1918.
The intellectual achievements of the Saracens were far superior to
any in Christian Europe before the twelfth century. In conquering
Persia and Syria the Saracens came into possession of a brilliant intel¬ The intellectual
lectual heritage. In both of these countries traditions of Greek learn¬ achievements of
the Saracens
ing had survived. Numerous physicians of Greek nationality had been
attracted to the court of the Persian kings, while in Syria there were
excellent schools of philosophy and rhetoric and several libraries
filled with copies of writings of the Hellenic philosophers, scientists,
and poets. Of course, it would be foolish to suppose that very many
of the Arabs themselves were able to appreciate this cultural herit¬
age; their function was rather to provide the encouragement and the
facilities for others to make use of it.
Saracenic philosophy was essentially a compound of Aristotelian-
ism and Neo-Platonism. Its basic teachings may be set forth as
follows: Reason is superior to faith as a source of knowledge; the Saracenic phi¬

doctrines of religion are not to be discarded entirely, but should be losophy

interpreted by the enlightened mind in a figurative or allegorical

sense; when thus interpreted they can be made to yield a pure
philosophical knowledge which is not in conflict with reason but
supplementary to it. The universe never had a beginning in time but
is created eternally; it is a series of emanations from God. Every¬
thing that happens is predetermined by God; every event is a link in
an unbroken chain of cause and effect; both miracles and divine
providence are therefore impossible. Although God is the First
Cause of all things, He is not omnipotent; His power is limited by
justice and goodness. There is no immortality for the individual
soul, for no spiritual substance can exist apart from its material
embodiment; only the soul of the universe goes on forever, since its
primal substance is eternal.
The development of Saracenic philosophy was limited to two
brief periods of brilliance: the ninth and tenth centuries in the
Baghdad caliphate and the twelfth century in Spain. Among the phi- 375
 THE BYZANTINE AND losophers in the East three great names stand out—A1 Kindi, A1
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS Farabi, and Avicenna. The first of them died about 870, and the last
was born in 980. All seem to have been of Turkish or Persian na¬
tionality. In the eleventh century Saracenic philosophy in the East
Periods of degenerated into religious fundamentalism and mysticism. Like the
development Sufis, from whom they derived a great many of their doctrines, the
Eastern philosophers denied the competence of reason and urged a
reliance upon faith and revelation. After their time philosophy died
out in the Baghdad caliphate. The most renowned of the philoso¬
phers in the West, and probably the greatest of all the Saracenic
thinkers, was Averroes of Cordova (1126-98). His influence upon
the Christian Scholastics of the thirteenth century was especially
profound.
In no subject were the Saracens farther advanced than in science.
In fact, their achievements in this field were the best the world had
Astronomy, seen since the end of the Hellenistic civilization. The Saracens were
mathematics, brilliant astronomers, mathematicians, physicists, chemists, and
physics, and
physicians. Despite their reverence for Aristotle, they did not
chemistry
hesitate to criticize his notion of a universe of concentric spheres
with the earth at the center, and they admitted the possibility that
the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun. Their cele¬
brated poet, Omar Khayyam, developed one of the most accurate
calendars ever devised. The Saracens were also capable mathe¬
maticians and developed algebra and trigonometry considerably
beyond the stage these had reached in Hellenistic times. Although
they did not invent the celebrated “Arabic” system of nu¬
merals, they were nevertheless responsible for adapting it from
the Indian system and making it available to the West. Saracenic
physicists founded the science of optics and drew a number of sig¬
nificant conclusions regarding the theory of magnifying lenses and
the velocity, transmission, and refraction of light. As is commonly
known, the chemistry of the Moslems was an outgrowth of
alchemy, the famous pseudoscience that was based upon the princi¬
ple that all metals were the same in essence, and that baser metals
could therefore be transmuted into gold if only the right instru¬
ment, the philosopher’s stone, could be found. But the efforts of sci¬
entists in this field were by no means confined to this fruitless quest.
Some even denied the whole theory of transmutation of metals. As a
result of innumerable experiments by chemists and alchemists alike,
various new substances and compounds were discovered; among
them carbonate of soda, alum, borax, bichloride of mercury, nitrate
of silver, saltpeter, and nitric and sulphuric acids. In addition, Sara¬
cenic scientists were the first to describe the chemical processes of
distillation, filtration, and sublimation.
The accomplishments in medicine were just as remarkable. Sara¬
cenic physicians appropriated the knowledge contained in the
medical writings of the Hellenistic Age, but some of them were not
376 content with that. Avicenna (980-1037) discovered the contagious
nature of tuberculosis, described pleurisy and several varieties of ISLAM AND THE
nervous ailments, and pointed out that disease can be spread through SARACENIC CIVILIZATION
contamination of water and soil. His chief medical writing, the
Canon, was venerated in Europe as an authoritative work until late
in the seventeenth century. Avicenna’s older contemporary, Rhazes Saracenic con¬
(850-923), was the greatest clinical physician of the medieval tributions to
medicine
world. His supreme achievement was the discovery of the true
nature of smallpox. Other Saracenic physicians discovered the value
of cauterization and of styptic agents, diagnosed cancer of the stom¬
ach, prescribed antidotes for cases of poisoning, and made notable
progress in treating diseases of the eyes. In addition, they rec¬
ognized the highly infectious character of the plague, pointing out
that it could be transmitted by garments, by eating utensils and
drinking cups, as well as by personal contact. Finally, the Saracens
excelled all other medieval peoples in the organization of hospitals
and in the control of medical practice. Authentic records indicate
that there were at least thirty-four great hospitals located in the
principal cities of Persia, Syria, and Egypt. They appear to have
been organized in a strikingly modern fashion. Each had its wards
for particular cases, its dispensary, and its library. The chief physi¬
cians and surgeons lectured to the students and graduates, examined
them, and issued diplomas or licenses to practice. Even the owners
of leeches, who in most cases were also barbers, had to submit them
for inspection at regular intervals.
So far as literature was concerned, the Saracens derived their in¬
spiration almost entirely from Persia. If they knew anything about
the classic poetry of the Greeks, they evidently found it of little in¬ Saracenic liter¬

terest. As a result, their own writings are colorful, imaginative, ature

sensuous, and romantic; but with a few exceptions they make no

very strong appeal to the intellect. The best-known example of their
poetry is the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam (ca. 1048-ca. 1124). The
Rubaiyat, as it is preserved for us in the translation by Edward
Fitzgerald, appears to reflect the qualities of an effete Persian culture
much more than the ideals of the Arabs themselves. Its philosophy
of mechanism, skepticism, and hedonism is quite similar to that of
the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. The most notable
example of Saracenic literature in prose is the so-called Arabian
Nights, or Book of the 1001 Nights, written mainly during the
eighth and ninth centuries. The material of the collection includes
fables, anecdotes, household tales, and stories of erotic adventures
derived from the literatures of various nations from China to
Egypt. The chief significance of the collection of tales is to be
found in the picture they present of the sophisticated life of the
Moslems in the best days of the Baghdad caliphate.
Since the Arabs themselves had scarcely any more of an artistic
background than the Hebrews, it was necessary that the art of the
Saracenic civilization should be an eclectic product. Its primary
sources were Byzantium and Persia. From the former came many of 377
 THE BYZANTINE AND the structural features of the architecture, especially the dome, the
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS column, and the arch. Persian influence was probably responsible
for the intricate, nonnaturalistic designs which were used as decora¬
tive motifs in practically all of the arts. From both Persia and
The eclectic art Byzantium came the tendency to subordinate form to rich and sen¬
of the Saracens
suous color. Architecture is generally considered the most impor¬
tant of the Saracenic arts; the development of both painting and
sculpture was inhibited by religious prejudice against representation
of the human form. By no means all of the examples of this architec¬
ture were mosques or churches; many were palaces, schools, librar¬
ies, private mansions, and hospitals. Indeed, Saracenic architecture
had a much more decidedly secular character than any in medieval
Europe. Among its principal elements were bulbous domes,
minarets, horseshoe arches, and twisted columns, together with the
use of tracery in stone, alternating stripes of black and white,
mosaics, and Arabic script as decorative devices. As in the Byzantine
style, comparatively little attention was given to exterior ornamen-
nation. The so-called minor arts of the Saracens included the weav¬
ing of gorgeous pile carpets and rugs, magnificent leather tooling,
and the making of brocaded silks and tapestries, inlaid metal work,
enameled glassware, and painted pottery. Most of the products of
these arts were embellished with complicated patterns of interlacing
geometric designs, plants and fruits and flowers, Arabic script, and
fantastic animal figures. The richness and variety of these works of
art, produced in defiance of a religion which often displayed a puri¬
tanical trend, afford most convincing proof of the vitality of
Saracenic civilization.
The economic development of the Saracenic civilization remains
to this day one of the marvels of history. In areas which had pro¬
The economic duced practically nothing for centuries, the Saracens literally made
development of
the desert to blossom as the rose. Where only squalid villages en¬
the Saracenic
empire
cumbered the landscape, they built magnificent cities. The products
of their industries were known from China to France and from the
interior of Africa to the shores of the Baltic. As the builders of a
vast commercial empire, they excelled the Carthaginians. The rea¬
sons for this astounding economic development do not lend them¬
selves to easy explanation. Perhaps it was the result in some measure
of the long experience with trade which many of the Arabs had had
in their homeland. When a wider field opened up, they made the
most of their skill. The diffusion of the Arabic language over a vast
expanse of territory also helped to extend the avenues of trade. In
addition, the great variety of resources in the various sections of the
empire served to stimulate exchange of the products of one region
for those of another. The principal reason, however, was probably
the advantageous location of the Saracenic empire at the crossroads
of the world. It lay athwart the major trade routes between Africa,
378 Europe, India, and China.
The Court of the Lions in the
Alhambra, Granada, Spain. The
palace-fortress of the Alhambra
is one of the finest monuments
to Saracenic architectural style.
Notable are the graceful col¬
umns, the horseshoe arches,
and the delicate tracery in
stone that surmounts the arches.

Commerce and manufacturing were the main foundations of the

national wealth. Both were developed in extraordinary degree. The
Saracens made use of a great many of the instruments of commerce Commerce and

familiar to the modern world: checks, receipts, bills of lading, let- industry

ters of credit, trade associations, joint-stock companies, and various

others. Saracenic merchants penetrated into southern Russia and
even into the equatorial regions of Africa. Caravans of thousands of
camels traveled overland to the gates of India and China. Saracenic
ships furrowed new paths across the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf,
and the Caspian Sea. Except for the Aegean Sea and the route from
Venice to Constantinople, the Saracens dominated the Mediter¬
ranean almost as if it were a private lake. But so vast an expansion of
commerce would scarcely have been possible without a correspond¬
ing development of industry. It was the ability of the people of one
region to turn their natural resources into finished products for sale
to other regions which provided a basis for a large part of the trade.
Nearly every one of the great cities specialized in some particular
variety of manufactures. Mosul was a center of the manufacture of
cotton cloth; Baghdad specialized in glassware, jewelry, pottery, and
silks; Damascus was famous for its fine steel and for its “damask,” or
woven-figure silk; Morocco was noted for the manufacture of
leather; and Toledo for its excellent swords. The products of these
cities, of course, did not exhaust the list of Saracenic manufactures.
Drugs, perfumes, carpets, tapestries, brocades, woolens, satins, metal
products and a host of others were turned out by the craftsmen of
many cities. From the Chinese the Saracens learned the art of paper¬
making, and the products of that industry were in great demand, not 379
 THE BYZANTINE AND only within the empire itself but in Europe as well. The men engaged
SARACENIC CIVILIZATIONS in the various industries were organized into guilds, over which the
government exercised only a general supervision for the prevention
of fraudulent practices. For the most part, the guilds themselves
regulated the conduct of business by their own members. Control
by the state over economic affairs was much less rigid than in the
Byzantine Empire.
The Saracens developed farming to as high a level as did any
other people of the medieval world. They repaired and extended
Agriculture the irrigation systems originally built by the Egyptians, the Su¬
merians, and the Babylonians. They terraced the slopes of the
mountains in Spain in order to plant them with vineyards,
and here as elsewhere they converted many barren wastes into
highly productive lands by means of irrigation. Experts attached to
the imperial palaces and the mansions of the rich devoted much at¬
tention to ornamental gardening, to the cultivation of shrubs and
flowers of rare beauty and delightful fragrance. The variety of
products of the Saracenic farms and orchards almost passes belief.
Cotton, sugar, flax, rice, wheat, spinach, asparagus, apricots, peaches,
lemons, and olives were cultivated as standard crops almost every¬
where, while bananas, coffee, and oranges were grown in the
warmer regions. Some of the farms were great estates, worked in
part by serfs and slaves and in part by free peasants as tenants, but
the major portion of the land was divided into small holdings culti¬
vated by the owners themselves.
The influence of the Saracenic civilization upon medieval Europe
and upon the Renaissance was almost incalculable, and some of that
The intellectual influence has, of course, persisted until the present time. The phi¬
and artistic in¬
losophy of the Saracens was almost as important as Christianity in
fluence of the
providing a basis for the Scholastic thought of the thirteenth cen¬
Saracenic civiliza
tion tury; for it was the Saracens who made available to the West most
of the works of Aristotle and indicated more thoroughly than ever
before the use to which those writings could be put as a support for
religious doctrine. The scientific achievements of the Saracens fur¬
nished even more enduring contributions. Though the activity of
the Saracens in literature was not as extensive as in science, their
literary influence has been important. The songs of the troubadours
and some other examples of the love poetry of medieval France
were partly inspired by Saracenic writings. Some of the stories in
the Book of the iooi Nights found their way into Boccaccio’s
Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The art of the Sara¬
cens has likewise had an influence of deep significance. A consider¬
able number of the elements in the design of Gothic cathedrals
were apparently derived from the mosques and palaces of the Sara¬
cens. A partial list would include the cusped arches, the traceried
windows, the pointed arch, the use of script and arabesques as
380 decorative devices, and possibly ribbed vaulting. The architecture
Interior of the Great 'Mosque
at Cordoba, Spain. This splen¬
did specimen of Moorish ar¬
chitecture gives an excellent
view of the cusped arches and
alternating stripes of black
and white so commonly used
by Saracenic architects.

of late medieval castles was even more closely copied from the design
of Saracenic buildings, especially the fortresses of Syria.6
Finally, the Saracens exerted a profound influence upon the eco¬
nomic development of late medieval and early modern Europe. The
revival of trade which took place in western Europe in the eleventh, Economic con

twelfth, and thirteenth centuries would scarcely have been possible tributions

without the development of Saracenic industry and agriculture to

stimulate the demand for new products in the West. From the Sara¬
cens, western Europeans acquired a knowledge of the compass, the
astrolabe, the art of making paper, and possibly the production of
silk, although knowledge of the last may have been obtained some¬
what earlier from the Byzantine Empire. Furthermore, it seems
probable that the development by the Saracens of the joint-stock
company, checks, letters of credit, and other aids to business trans¬
actions had much to do with the beginning of the Commercial
Revolution in Europe about 1300. Perhaps the extent of Saracenic
economic influence is most clearly revealed in the enormous number
of words now in common usage which were originally of Arabic or
Persian origin. Among them are “traffic,” “tariff,” “risk,” “check,”
“magazine,” “alcohol,” “cipher,” “zero,” “algebra,” “muslin,” and
“bazaar.” 7

“For a more complete discussion of the influence of Saracenic literature and

art, see Arnold and Guillaume, (eds.), The Legacy of Islam.
7 It must not be supposed, of course, that Saracenic influence upon medieval
Europe was entirely one-sided. There was also a reverse influence of sub¬
stantial proportions. 381
READINGS The Saracenic civilization has significance also for the modern
world from the standpoint of international relations. The Saracenic
empire was itself an international state. Though loosely organized, it
united peoples as diverse as Persians, Arabs, Turks, and Berbers. Its
International binding cement was a great religion. The spread of this empire
significance of and religion constituted the first threat from the Orient that the
the Saracenic
Western world had faced since the destruction of Carthage. The
civilization
long conflict between East and West, which extended at least
from the Battle of Tours to the end of the Crusades, was com¬
monly represented as a struggle of ideals. The rise and expansion of
the Saracens anticipated in several respects the dynamism of such
twentieth-century movements as Nazism and communism. There
was one outstanding difference, however. Despite their fanaticism at
times, the Saracens devoted only part of their energies to military
objectives. They adopted the cultures of the peoples they con¬
quered, built a civilization that surpassed in magnificence any that
then existed, and left a splendid legacy of original discoveries and
achievements.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

BYZANTINE CIVILIZATION

Baynes, N. H., The Byzantine Empire, London, 1925. Compact and interest¬
ingly written.
• -, and Moss, H. St. L. B., eds., Byzantium, New York, 1948 (Oxford).
Diehl, Charles, History of the Byzantine Empire, New Brunswick, N. J., 1956.
Perhaps the definitive work.
Kaegi, Walter E., Byzantium and the Decline of Rome, Princeton, 1968.
Ostrogorsky, George, History of the Byzantine State, New Brunswick, N.J.,
I957-
• Runciman, Steven, Byzantine Civilization, New York, 1933 (Meridian). Com¬
plete and thorough; easily readable.
• Vasiliev, A. A., History of the Byzantine Empire, 324-1453, Madison, Wise.,
1928-1929, 2 vols. (University of Wisconsin).
Vryonis, Speros, Byzantium and Europe, New York, 1967.

SARACENIC CIVILIZATION

Arnold, Thomas, and Guillaume, Alfred, eds., The Legacy of Islam, New
York, 1931. Excellent as a study of Saracenic influence.
De Boer, T. J., History of Philosophy in Islam, London, 1903. The best ac¬
count; concise and clear.
• Gibb, H. A. R., Mohammedanism: An Historical Survey, New York, 1932
(Oxford).
• Hitti, P. K., The Arabs, A Short History, Princeton, 1946 (Gateway, new
ed.).
382 • Lewis, Bernard, The Arabs in History, New York, i960 (Torchbook).
 Margoliouth, D. S., Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, New York, 1927. Com¬ READINGS
plete and interesting.
• Pirenne, Henri, Mohammed and Charlemagne, New York, 1939 (Meridian).
Saunders, J. J., A History of Medieval Islam, New York, 1965.
• von Grunebaum, G.E., Medieval Islam, 2d ed., New York, 1961 (Phoenix).

SOURCE MATERIALS

Dewing, H. B., tr., Procopius: History of the Wars, Harvard, 1915. 7 vols.
Lane-Poole, Stanley, ed., Speeches and Table Talk of the Prophet Moham¬
med, London, 1882.
Sanders, T. C., tr., The Institutes of Justinian, New York, 1924.
• The Koran (Penguin).

383
 PART

The Later Middle Ages

and the Transition
to the Modern World

Soon after 1000 a.d. there began in Europe several movements of intel¬
lectual awakening which culminated finally in a brilliant flowering of
culture in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In fact, so remarkable was
the progress in western Europe from the eleventh century to the end of
the thirteenth that the achievements of that period can justifiably be called
a new civilization. While some of these achievements were discarded dur¬
ing the subsequent period of the Renaissance, quite a few were preserved
and have exerted their influence to the present day. Indeed, the civiliza¬
tion of the later Middle Ages and that of the Renaissance had more in
common than is usually suspected. Both were distinguished by human¬
ism, by a new interest in man as the most important creature in the uni¬
verse. In the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance alike there was a
tendency to glorify the life of adventure and of conquest in place of the
early Christian ideals of humility and self-effacement. It should be noted,
however, that before the end of the Renaissance a religious revolution
known as the Reformation began, which in some respects attempted to
turn the clock back to the very beginning of the Middle Ages. The great
nations of southern and eastern Asia continued their cultural evolution
along lines already established. Both India and China were invaded,
however, by Mongols from the West and North who introduced alien
elements originally derived from Moslem sources. Japan adopted political
feudalism and more and more aspects of Chinese culture. The spread of
the religion of Islam in Africa promoted political and cultural progress
in several regions of that vast continent. 385
A Chronological Table
EUROPE AS A WHOLE SOUTHERN EUROPE NORTHERN EUROPE

Cluny movement, 950-1100

Romanesque architecture,
1000-1150
Scholasticism, 1050-1300
Revival of trade with the
East, 1050-1150
Struggle between secular and
spiritual powers, 1050-1350
Separation between Eastern
and Western churches,
I054
Establishment of the College
of Cardinals, 1059
The Crusades, 1096-1204

Rise of merchant and craft Norman Conquest of Eng¬

guilds, 1100-1300 land, 1066
Growth of cities, 1100-1300 Romances of chivalry, 1100-
Development of the sacra¬ 1300
mental system of the
Church, 1100-1300
First universities, ca. 1150
Holy Roman (Hohenstau-
Gothic architecture, 1150-
fen) Empire, 1152-1254
1300

St. Francis of Assisi, 1182-

Orders of friars, 1200- 1226 Roger Bacon, I2i4?-i294

Fourth Lateran Council, 1215 Magna Charta, 1215
St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225-
Dante, 1265-1321 12 74
Origin of Parliament in Eng¬
land, 1265-1295
Feudalism declines, 1300- Hanseatic League, 1300-1500
1500
Rise of capitalism, 1300-1500
Growth of banking and de¬ Establishment of Estates-
velopment of money econ¬ General in France, 1302
omy, 1300-1600 Boccaccio, 1313-1375
Black Death, 1347-1349 Hundred Years’ War, 1337—
Savonarola, 1452-1498 ’453
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452 Christian Renaissance, 1400-
1Sl9 1500
Machiavelli, 1469-1527 War of the Roses in Eng¬
Michelangelo, 1475-1564 land, 1455-1485.
Unification of Spain, 1492
Cervantes, 1547-1616 Erasmus, 1466?—1536
Galileo, 1564-1642 Copernicus, 1473-1543
Tudor dynasty in England,
1485-1603

Montaigne, 1533-1592
Sir Francis Bacon, 1561-1626
Shakespeare, 1564-1616
Sir William Harvey, 1578—
!6S7
 AFRICA INDIA AND THE FAR EAST

Sung Dynasty in China, 960-1279

Expansion of Islam, 1000-1500

Moslem invasions of India, 1000-1500

Consolidation of states, 1000-1500

Bantu, Arab, and Indian cultures blend in

Swahili civilization along eastern coast,
ca. 1100-1500

Neo-Confucianism, 1130-1200
Highest development of landscape paint¬
ing in China, 1141-1279
Explosive powder used in weapons in
China, ca. 1150
Decline of Kingdom of Ghana, ca. 1224
Genghis Khan, u62?-i227
Establishment of Shogunate in Japan,
1192
Zen Buddhism in Japan, ca. 1200
Inoculation for smallpox in China, ca.
1200
Turkish Sultanate at Delhi, 1206-1526
Development of Chinese drama, ca. 1235
Marco Polo in China, 1275-1292
Mali empire in middle Niger region, ca. Mongol (Yiian) Dynasty in China, 1279-
1300-1500 1368
Rise of daimyo in Japan, 1300-1500

University of Timbuktu, ca. 1330

Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644

Sack of Delhi by Timur, 1398

Expansion of Songbay, ca. 1493-1582

Founding of Sikh religious sect in India,

ca. 1500
Decline of Songbay after defeat by Mo¬ Introduction of Christianity into Japan,
roccans, 1591 I549_I55I
 CHAPTER 14
The Later Middle Ages (ioyo-q^o):
Political and Economic Institutions

The count asked if he was willing to become completely his man,

and the other replied “I am willing,” and with clasped hands,
surrounded by the hands of the count, they were bound together
by a kiss. Secondly, he who had done homage gave his fealty to
the representative of the count in these words, “I promise on my
faith that I will in future be faithful to count William and will
observe my homage to him completely against all persons in good
faith and without deceit,” and thirdly, he took his oath to this
upon the relics of the saints.
—Description of Ceremony of Homage and Fealty
at court of Count of Flanders, twelfth century

Long before the famous Renaissance of the fourteenth and succeed¬

ing centuries, western Europe began slowly to emerge from the
backwardness of earlier times. The start of this gradual awaken¬ The cultural re¬

ing can be dated as far back as 1050 a.d. During the three cen¬ vival of the later
Middle Ages
turies that followed, the people of Latin Christendom cast off
at least some of their winter garments of repentance and other¬
worldliness and put on the less restrictive attire of the man who
is determined to live in this world and mold his environment to
his own advantage. The causes of this change in attitude were many
and various: among them were the influence of contact with the
Saracenic and Byzantine civilizations, the increase in economic se¬
curity, and the influence of monastic education. In addition, the re¬
vival of trade in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and the growth
of cities led to an increase in prosperity and sophistication which
greatly stimulated the progress of enlightenment. The results of
these several causes were reflected in a brilliant intellectual and artis¬
tic civilization which reached the zenith of its development in the
thirteenth century. Probably the most distinctive element in the so¬
cial and political structure of this civilization was the feudal regime. 389
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: We must not overlook the fact, however, that from the twelfth cen¬
POLITICAL AND tury on the role of the commercial and industrial classes in the cities
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS was an exceedingly important one.

I. THE ORIGINS OF THE FEUDAL REGIME

Feudalism may be defined as a structure of society in which

the powers of government are exercised by private barons over
The meaning of persons economically dependent upon them. It is a system of over¬
feudalism lordship and vassalage in which the right to govern is conceived
as a property right belonging to anyone who is the holder of a fief.
The relationship between the overlord and his vassals is a contrac¬
tual relationship involving reciprocal obligations. In return for the
protection and economic assistance they receive, the vassals are bound
to obey their lord or suzerain, to serve him faithfully, and generally
to compensate him by dues or taxes for the services he renders in their
interest. Defined in this fashion, feudalism was not limited to the later
Middle Ages. Examples of it had existed in several other periods of
world history—in many parts of the Roman Empire, for instance,
and throughout the early Middle Ages. Late medieval feudalism,
however, differed from the earlier specimens in being a legally rec¬
ognized framework of society. Men did not apologize for it as a
crude substitute for centralized government but glorified it as an
ideal system, much as we idealize democracy and the national state
at the present time.
How did late medieval feudalism originate? To some extent it was
the outgrowth of ancient Roman institutions. One of these was
Roman origins of clientage. From very early times Roman citizens who had fallen
feudalism upon evil days had sought the protection of wealthy patrons, be¬
coming their clients or personal dependents. During the confusion
that accompanied the decline of the Empire, clientage was greatly
extended. A second of these Roman institutions was the colonate. In
a desperate attempt to check the decline of agricultural production
during the economic revolution of the third and fourth centuries,
the government of the Empire bound many of the agricultural
laborers and tenants to the soil as colo?ii or serfs, and in effect placed
them under the control of the proprietors of large estates. The
colonate had much to do with the growth of an extralegal feudalism
in late Roman history, for it increased the wealth and importance of
the great landed proprietors. As time went on, the tendency of these
men was to ignore or defy the central government and to arrogate
to themselves the powers of sovereign rulers over their estates. They
levied taxes upon their dependents, made laws for the regulation of
their affairs, and administered what passed for justice.
Feudalism was also derived in part from significant economic
and political developments of the early Middle Ages. One of these
was the growth of the institution of beneficiwn. Beneficium con¬
390 sisted in the grant of a benefice, or the right to use land in return
 for rent or services. In the seventh century the Merovingian kings
adopted the practice of rewarding their counts and dukes with
benefices, thereby cementing a bond between public office and land- other origins of

holding. Not long afterward Charles Martel and the Carolingian feudalism

kings resorted to the granting of benefices to local nobles in return

for furnishing mounted troops to fight against the Moors. The result
was to increase the dependence of the central government upon the
principal landowners throughout the country. The bestowal of
immunities by the Frankish kings upon some of the holders of bene¬
fices also accelerated the growth of a feudal regime. Immunities
were exemptions of the lands of a secular or ecclesiastical noble
from the jurisdiction of the king’s agents. The natural outcome was
the exercise of public authority by the noble himself as a virtually
independent sovereign, subject only to the nominal overlordship of
the king. These developments were accentuated by the chaos that
accompanied the breakup of Charlemagne’s empire following his
death in 814. Yet another important development in the early Mid¬
dle Ages which hastened the growth of a feudal organization of
society was the invasions of the Norsemen, the Magyars, and the
Moslems. In the eighth and ninth centuries these peoples began mak- 391
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: ing swift incursions into the settled portions of western Europe,
POLITICAL AND plundering the richer areas and occasionally massacring the inhabit¬
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS ants. The attacks of the Norsemen in particular were widely feared.
As a consequence, many small farmers who had hitherto maintained
their independence now sought the protection of their more power¬
ful neighbors, who frequently had armed retainers and strongholds
in which men could take refuge.

2. FEUDALISM AS A POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE

As a system of government, feudalism embodied a number of

basic conceptions. First of all, as we have seen, it included the no¬
Feudalism as a tion that the right to govern was a privilege belonging to any man
system of govern¬ who was the holder of a fief; but it was a privilege entailing very
ment
definite obligations, the violation of which might be followed by
loss of the fief. Secondly, it included the notion that all government
rests upon contract. Rulers must agree to govern justly in accord¬
ance with the laws, both human and divine. Subjects must pledge
themselves to obey so long as their rulers govern justly. If either
party violates the contract, the other is absolved from his obligations
and has the right to take action for redress. In the third place, feudal¬
ism was based upon the ideal of limited sovereignty, upon opposi¬
tion to absolute authority no matter by whom it might be exercised.
Feudal government was supposed to be a government of laws and
not of men. No ruler, regardless of his rank, had any right to impose
his personal will upon his subjects in accordance with the dictates of
his own whims. Indeed, under feudal theory, no ruler had the right
to make law at all; law was the product of custom or of the will of
God. The authority of the king or the baron was limited to the
issuance of what might be called administrative decrees to put the
law into effect. Whether the ideals of feudalism were carried out less
successfully in practice than the ideals of political systems generally
is a very hard question to answer. Yet organized revolts against
political oppression were not of frequent occurrence in the later
Middle Ages, notwithstanding the fact that the existence of the
right to revolt against a ruler who had made himself a tyrant was
commonly taught.
Not only in theory but also in practice the feudal regime was a
system of overlordship and vassalage, based upon the granting and
Fiefs, vassals, and holding of fiefs. In the main, a fief was a benefice that had become
overlords hereditary. It was not always an area of land, however; it might be
an office or position, or the right to collect tolls at a bridge, or even
the right to coin money or to establish markets and enjoy the
profits therefrom. The man who granted the fief was a lord or
suzerain, irrespective of his rank; the man who received the fief to
hold and transmit to his descendants was a vassal, whether he was a
392 knight, count, or duke. As a rule, the king was the highest suzerain.
Immediately below him were the great nobles, who were variously FEUDALISM AS A
known as dukes, counts, earls, or margraves. These nobles in turn STRUCTURE
had acquired vassals of their own through dividing their fiefs and
granting them to lesser nobles, who were commonly called vis¬
counts or barons. At the bottom of the scale were the knights,
whose fiefs could not be divided. Thus, according to the general
pattern, every lord except the king was the vassal of some other
lord, and every vassal except the knight was a lord over other
vassals. But this apparently logical and orderly arrangement was
broken by numerous irregularities. There were vassals who held
fiefs from a number of different lords, not all of them of the same
rank. There were lords some of whose vassals held fiefs from the
same overlord as they themselves did. And in some cases there were
kings who actually held fiefs from certain of their counts or dukes
and were therefore to some extent vassals of their own vassals.
Moreover, the fact must be borne in mind that feudalism was not
the same in all countries of western Europe. Many of its features
commonly assumed to have been universal were found only in Feudalism not the
France, where the system was most fully developed, or in one or same in all coun¬
tries
two other countries at the most. For example, the rule of primogeni¬
ture, under which the fief descended intact to the oldest son, was
not in force in Germany; nor were social distinctions so sharply de¬
fined there as in France. Further, not all of the lands and not all
of the inhabitants of any European country were included under
the feudal regime. Most of the farmers in the hilly and mountainous
regions of France, Italy, and Germany did not hold their lands as
fiefs but owned them outright, as their ancestors had for centuries.
Each member of the feudal nobility was involved in an elaborate
network of rights and obligations which varied with his status as a
suzerain or a vassal. The most important rights of the suzerain were Feudal rights
the right to serve as legal guardian in case any of the fiefs he had and obligations

granted should be inherited by a minor; the right of escheat, or the

right to take back the fief of a vassal who had died without heirs;
and the right of forfeiture, or the right to confiscate a vassal’s fief
for violation of contract. The last of these rights could be exercised,
however, only after the vassal had been condemned by a court com¬
posed of his own equals. The suzerain himself merely presided
over this court. Aside from this privilege of being judged only
by his equals, the noble in his capacity as a vassal had only one
other important right. That was the right to repudiate his lord for
acts of injustice or failure to provide adequate protection. The obli¬
gations of the vassal were more numerous than his rights. He was
required to render military service for a number of days each year,
attend the lord’s court, ransom his lord if he were captured, and pay
a heavy tax if he inherited or sold a fief.
Feudal society was, of course, highly aristocratic. It was a regime
of status, not of individual initiative. In almost all cases the members 393
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: of the various ranks of the nobility owed their positions to heredity,
POLITICAL AND although occasionally noble rank would be conferred upon a com¬
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS moner for his services to the king. Seldom was it possible for a man
to win advancement under the system by his own efforts or intelli¬
A regime of gence. Nevertheless, an important exception was to be found in the
status, with a case of the ministeriales in Germany and in the Low Counties. The
few exceptions
ministeriales, as their name implies, formed a class of administrative
officials under feudal rule. They had charge of castles, toll gates,
bridges, market places, and so on. Some of the most capable rose to
be bailiffs or administrators of towns or districts, serving under a
great prince or bishop or even under the emperor himself. Their
position was of such high advantage that ultimately they invaded
the ranks of the lesser nobility and came to form a subordinate class
of knights.
The life of the feudal nobility was scarcely the idyllic existence
frequently described in romantic novels. While there was undoubt¬
The life of the edly plenty of excitement, there was also much hardship, and death
feudal nobles
took its toll at an early age. From a study of medieval skeletons a
modern scientist has estimated that the peak of the mortality rate in
feudal times came at the age of forty-two,1 whereas at the present
time it occurs at about seventy-five. Moreover, conditions of living
even for the richest nobles were comparatively poor. Until almost
the end of the eleventh century the feudal castle was nothing but a
crude blockhouse of timber. Even the great stone castles of later
date were far from being models of comfort and convenience.
Rooms were dark and damp, and the bare stone walls were cold and
See color cheerless. Until after the revival of trade with the Orient, which led
plates at page to the introduction of carpets and rugs, floors were generally cov¬
448 ered with rushes or straw, a new layer being put down from time to
time as the old became vile from the filth of hunting dogs. The food
of the noble and his family, though plentiful and substantial, was
neither particularly varied nor appetizing. Meat and fish, cheese,
cabbages, turnips, carrots, onions, beans, and peas were the staples of
their diet. The only fruits obtainable in abundance were apples and
pears. Coffee and tea were unknown, and so were spices until after
trade with the Orient had continued for some time. Sugar was even¬
tually introduced, but for a long time it remained so rare and costly
that it was often sold as a drug.
Although the nobles did not work for a living, their days were not
spent in idleness. The conventions of their society dictated an active
Feudal warfare life of war, high adventure, and sport. Not only did they wage war
on flimsy pretexts for the conquest of neighboring fiefs, but they
fought for the sheer love of fighting as an exciting adventure. So
much violence resulted that the Church intervened with the Peace
of God in the tenth century and supplemented this with the Truce

1J-W. Thompson, An Economic and Social History of the Middle Ages,

394 p. 718.
The World of Sports in the
Later Middle Ages. Among
the activities shown are fish¬
ing, bird netting, archery, and
boar sticking. From A Book
of Rural Profits by Petrus
Crescentius.

of God in the eleventh. The Peace of God pronounced the solemn

anathemas of the Church against any who did violence to places of
worship, robbed the poor, or injured members of the clergy. Later
the same protection was extended to merchants. The Truce of God
prohibited fighting entirely from “vespers on Wednesday to sunrise
on Monday” and also from Christmas to Epiphany (January 6) and
throughout the greater part of the spring, late summer, and early
fall. The purpose of the last regulation was obviously to protect the
peasants during the seasons of planting and harvesting. The penalty
against any noble who violated this truce was excommunication.
Perhaps if rules such as these could really have been maintained,
human beings would eventually have abandoned war as senseless and
unprofitable. But the Church itself, in launching the Crusades, was
largely responsible for making the rules a dead letter. The holy wars
against the infidel were fought with a great deal more barbarity than
had ever resulted from the petty squabbles among feudal nobles.
Feudalism flourished throughout the Middle Ages, but until after
1000 its customs were crude and barbaric. In the earlier period
gluttony was a common vice, and the quantities of wine and beer Early and later

consumed at a medieval castle brawl would stagger the imagination feudalism; chiv¬
alry
of a modern toper. At dinner everyone carved his meat with his
own dagger and ate it with his fingers. Bones and scraps were
thrown on the floor for the omnipresent dogs to fight over. Women
were treated with indifference and sometimes with contempt and
brutality, for this was a world dominated by men. During
the eleventh century, however, the manners of the aristocratic
classes were softened and improved considerably by the growth of
what is known as chivalry. Chivalry was the social and moral code
of feudalism, the embodiment of its highest ideals and the expression
of its virtues. The origins of this code were mainly Germanic and
Christian, but Saracenic influence also played some part in its devel¬
opment. Chivalry set forth the ideal of a knight who is not only 395
 Tournament with Lances. Engraving by Lucas Cranach. Tournaments, imitating
the conditions of medieval warfare but with blunted spears and lances, were
among the principal recreational pursuits of the feudal aristocracy.

brave and loyal but generous, truthful, reverent, kind to the poor
and defenseless, and disdainful of unfair advantage or sordid gain.
Above all, perhaps, the perfect knight must be the perfect lover.
The chivalric ideal made the lofty love of ladies a veritable cult with
an elaborate ceremonial which the hot-blooded young noble had to
be careful to follow. As a result, women in the later Middle Ages
were elevated to a much higher status than they had enjoyed in
early medieval Europe. Chivalry also imposed upon the knight the
obligation of fighting in defense of noble causes. It was especially his
duty to serve as the champion of the Church and to further its inter¬
est with sword and spear.
The basic economic unit that served as an adjunct to the feudal
regime was the manorial estate, although manorialism itself had a
The manorial es¬ political as well as an economic aspect. The manor, or manorial es¬
tate; systems of
tate, was generally the fief of an individual knight. Lords of higher
agriculture
rank held many manors, the number frequently running into the
hundreds or thousands. No one knows even the average size of these
economic units, but the smallest appear to have included at least 300
or 400 acres. Each manorial estate comprised one or more villages,
the lands cultivated by the peasants, the common forest and pasture
lands, the land belonging to the parish church, and the lord’s de¬
396 mesne, which included the best farm land on the manor. With minor
 exceptions, all of the arable land was divided into three main blocks: FEUDALISM AS A
the spring planting ground, the autumn planting ground, and the STRUCTURE
fallow. These were rotated from year to year, so that the spring
planting ground one year would become the autumn planting ground
the next, and so on. Such was the famous three-field system, which
seems to have originated in western Europe toward the end of the
eighth century. Manorial agriculture was also conducted largely un¬
der the open-field system. The holding allotted to each peasant was
not a compact area of the manor, but consisted of a number of strips
located in each of the three main blocks of arable land. These strips,
averaging about an acre in size, were generally separated only by a
narrow band of unplowed turf. The main object of the system was
apparently to give to each serf his fair share of the three different
kinds of land. In cultivating these strips the peasants worked coopera¬
tively, chiefly because their holdings were scattered, and it was
therefore logical for a number of men to combine their efforts in
farming all the strips in a particular area. Besides, no one peasant had
enough oxen to draw the crude wooden plows through the stubborn
soil.
Except for the noble and his family, the parish priest, and possibly
a few administrative officials, the entire population of the manor
consisted of persons of servile status. These might be embraced in as The servile
many as four different classes: villeins; serfs; crofters and cotters; classes; villeins
and serfs
and slaves. Though villeins and serfs eventually came to be almost
indistinguishable, there were at one time several important differ¬
ences between them. Villeins were originally small farmers who had
surrendered their lands as individuals to some powerful neighbor.
The ancestors of the serfs had frequently been subjected en masse,
whole villages of them at once. The villeins were perpetual tenants,
not bound in person to the soil, whereas the serfs were bought and
sold with the land to which they were attached. Another difference
was that the villein was liable to obligations only within the definite
terms of his customary contract, while the labor of the serf could be
exploited virtually as his owner saw fit. Finally, the villein could be
taxed only within limits fixed by custom, but the serf was taxable at
the lord’s mercy. By the thirteenth century, however, most of these
differences had disappeared. And it is a notable fact that the villeins
were not degraded to the level of serfs; instead, the serfs rose to the
level of villeins. Neither serfs nor villeins were included in the per¬
sonal relations of feudalism. They had numerous obligations of a
servile character, but they shared none of the political or social priv¬
ileges of the lords and vassals.
Although the other dependent classes on the manor were much Crofters, cotters,
less numerous than the villeins and serfs, a word or two must be said and slaves

about them. The crofters and cotters were wretchedly poor men
who had no definite status under the feudal regime at all. Unlike
even the meanest of the serfs, they had no strips of land which they
could cultivate for their living. They occupied small cottages or 397
 Diagram of a Manor

shanties and hired themselves out to the richer villeins or did odd
jobs for the lord of the manor. A few slaves continued to be held
throughout the later Middle Ages, but in steadily diminishing num¬
bers. They did not fit in well with the manorial type of economy,
for the manor was not a plantation but an aggregate of petty farms
cultivated under perpetual lease. The few slaves who were to be
found were employed mainly as household servants. After the year
1000 slavery as an institution became practically extinct in western
Europe.
Like all other members of the subject classes under feudalism, the
villeins and serfs were liable for numerous obligations. Although
these appear at first glance to have been exceedingly oppressive, it is
398 necessary to remember that they took the place of both rent and
taxes. The most important of these obligations were the following: FEUDALISM AS A
the capitatio, the cens, the taille, the banalites and the corvee. The STRUCTURE
capitatio was a head tax imposed only upon serfs. The cens was a
species of rent paid only by villeins and freemen. The taille was a
percentage of nearly everything produced on the lands of both Obligations of the
villeins and serfs. The banalites were fees paid to the lord for the villeins and serfs

use of the village mill, winepress, brewery, bake-oven, and some¬

times even for the use of the village well. The final form of
peasant obligations, the corvee consisted of forced labor which the
villeins and serfs were required to perform in cultivating the lord’s
demesne and in building and repairing roads, bridges, and dams.
Bv no stretch of the imagination could the lot of the medieval
peasant be considered an enviable one. During the planting and
harvesting seasons, at least, he toiled from sunrise to sunset, and the The lot of the

rewards of his labor were few. His home was generally a miserable medieval peasant

hovel constructed of wattle plastered over with mud. A hole in the

thatched roof served as the only outlet for smoke. The floor was the
bare earth, which was often cold and damp from the infalling rain
and snow. For a bed the peasant had a box filled with straw, and his
easy chair was a three-legged stool. His food was coarse and
monotonous—black or brown bread, a few vegetables from his gar¬
den in the summer and fall, cheese and porridge, and salt meats and
fish, which were often badly cured and half putrid. When crops
were bad, he suffered from famine, and death from starvation was
by no means unknown. He was, of course, invariably illiterate and
was commonly the victim of superstitious fears and sometimes of
the dishonesty of unscrupulous stewards. Perhaps the most lamenta¬
ble aspect of the peasant’s life was the fact that he was a despised
and degraded creature. Spokesmen for the nobles and townsmen
alike seldom referred to him except in the most scornful and odious
terms.

Scene in a Medieval Village.

Among the activities shown are
plowing, grinding grain, and
slaughtering a boar for meat.
In the lower right two friars
are dispensing bread and soup
to the poor.
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: Yet the medieval peasant enjoyed some advantages which un¬
POLITICAL AND doubtedly helped to redress the balance of his miseries. Many of the
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS fears and uncertainties that plague the lowly in modern times meant
nothing to him. He was in very little danger of loss of employment
The medieval or of insecurity in old age. It was an established principle of feudal
peasant and the law that the peasant could not be deprived of his land. If the land
modern worker
was sold, the serf went with it and retained the right to cultivate his
holdings as before. When he became too old or too feeble to work,
it was the duty of the lord to care for him through the remainder of
his days. Although he worked hard during the busiest seasons, he
had at least as many holidays as are allowed to the laborer today. In
some parts of Europe these amounted to about sixty out of the year,
not counting Sundays. Moreover, it was customary for the lord of
the manor to feast his peasants after the spring planting was com¬
pleted and after the harvest was gathered, as well as during the prin¬
cipal religious holidays. Last of all, the peasant was under no obliga¬
tion to render military service. His crops might be trampled and his
cattle driven off by the armies of warring nobles, but at least he
could not be compelled to sacrifice his life for the benefit of some
ruler with questionable motives.
No sooner had feudalism reached the height of its development
than it began to show signs of decay. The decline was already no¬
The decline of ticeable in France and Italy by the end of the twelfth century. The
feudalism: eco¬
system continued longer in Germany and England, but by 1500 it
nomic causes
was almost extinct in all countries of western Europe. Many relics
of it, of course, survived until much later—some till the middle of
the nineteenth century in central and eastern Europe. The causes of
the decline of the feudal regime are not far to seek. Many of them
were closely associated with the revolutionary economic changes of
the eleventh and succeeding centuries. The revival of trade with the
Near East and the growth of cities led to an increased demand for
products of the farms. Prices rose, and as a consequence some peas¬
ants were able to buy their freedom. Moreover, the expansion of
commerce and industry created new opportunities for employment
and tempted many serfs to flee to the towns. Once they had made
good their escape, it was almost impossible to bring them back. Still
another economic cause was the opening up of new lands to agricul¬
tural production, mainly on account of the higher prices for prod¬
ucts of the soil. In order to get peasants to clear forests and drain
swamps, it was frequently necessary to promise them their freedom.
The Black Death, which swept over Europe in the fourteenth cen¬
tury, while not exactly an economic factor, had results similar to
those of the causes already mentioned. It produced a scarcity of
labor and thereby enabled the serfs who survived to enforce their
demands for freedom. With the peasant a free man, the manorial
system was practically impossible to operate.
The political causes of the downfall of feudalism were also of
400 major significance. One was the establishment of professional armies
and the inducements offered to the peasants to become mercenary THE RISE OF NATIONAL
soldiers. Another was the adoption of new methods of warfare MONARCHIES
(especially firearms) which rendered the knights somewhat less
indispensable as a military class. A third was the condition of chaos
produced by the Hundred Years’ War and the peasant insur- Political causes
rections resulting therefrom. A fourth was the influence of the
Crusades in eliminating powerful nobles, in promoting the adoption
of direct taxation, and in compelling the sale of privileges to com¬
munities of serfs as a means of raising money to equip armies. But
probably the most important political cause was the rise of strong
national monarchies, especially in France and England. By various
means the ambitious kings of these countries in the later Middle Ages
gradually deprived the nobles of all of their political authority.

3. THE RISE OF NATIONAL MONARCHIES

Soon after the death of Charlemagne in 814 the strong govern¬

ment which he had built up in western Europe collapsed. In 843, by
the Treaty of Verdun, his grandsons agreed to divide the Caro- The division of

lingian Empire into three separate parts. The two largest portions the Carolingian
Empire
became the kingdoms of East Francia and West Francia, corre¬
sponding roughly to the modern states of Germany and France. A
wide belt of land between the two was formed into a middle king¬
dom including the territories of modern Belgium, Holland, Alsace,
and Lorraine. Such was the beginning of some of the most impor¬
tant political divisions in the map of Europe today.
Meanwhile all three of these kingdoms passed rapidly under
feudal domination. The real rulers were not the descendants of the
great Carolingian king, but a host of petty princes, counts, and The rise of a

dukes. The kings themselves sank to the level of mere feudal over- national monarchy
in France
lords, dependent upon the local nobles for their soldiers and their
revenues. While as kings their moral preponderance was still very
great, their actual authority over the people was practically non¬
existent. By the end of the tenth century, however, signs of change
in this condition began to appear in France. In 987 the last of
the weak Carolingian monarchs was displaced by the Count of Paris,
Hugh Capet. The direct descendants of this man were to occupy
the throne of France for more than 300 years. Although neither
Hugh nor any of his immediate successors exercised the degree of
sovereignty commonly associated with the royal office, several of
the later Capetians were powerful rulers. A number of factors aided
these kings in establishing their dominant position. First of all, they
were fortunate enough for hundreds of years to have sons to suc¬
ceed them, and often an only son. Consequently there were no
deadly quarrels over the right of succession, nor was there any ne¬
cessity of dividing the royal property among disgruntled relatives
who might be able to defend a claim to the throne. In the second
place, most of these kings lived to an advanced age, with the result 401
 THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: that their sons were already mature men when they came to the
POLITICAL AND throne. There were therefore no regencies to haggle the royal
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS power away during the minority of a prince. Another factor was
the growth of trade, which afforded the kings new sources of rev¬
enue and enabled them to find powerful allies among the bourgeoisie
for their struggle against the nobles. Finally, considerable credit
must be given to the shrewdness and vigor of several of the kings
themselves.
France developed into a national monarchy between the begin¬
ning of the eleventh century and the middle of the fifteenth. This
Founders of the development was enhanced by a number of outstanding royal per¬
French monarchy sonalities. Foremost among them were Philip Augustus (1180-1223),
Louis IX (1226-1270), and Philip IV (1285-1314), or Philip the
Fair. These kings instituted numerous changes that undermined
feudalism and paved the way for royal autocracy. By one device or
another they appropriated the domains of powerful nobles. They
commuted feudal dues into money payments, employed mercenary
soldiers, and sold charters to cities. They established their own
systems of coinage for the whole realm and limited the right of the
feudal courts to hear appeals in cases involving treason and breaches
of the peace. They issued ordinances and proclaimed them as law,
without the consent of their vassals. The culmination of these usurpa¬
tions of authority by the kings was the creation of the Estates
General by Philip IV in 1302. He included in it not only the clergy
and the higher nobility but also representatives of the towns. Its
main purpose was to approve new forms of taxation. Originally it
was not a legislative body but a council of advisers to the king. As
time went on, however, it came to be regarded as a true legislative
assembly, and was so regarded by the leaders of the great Revolu¬
tion of 1789 in their eagerness to find precedents for limitations upon
the power of the king. Of greater significance, undoubtedly, was its
inclusion of commoners in the government.
Monarchical power in France underwent still further consolidation
as a result of the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453). This war grew
out of a number of causes. The primary one was probably the long¬
standing conflict between the French and English kings over terri¬
tory in France. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, English
A Coin Depicting Philip Au¬
monarchs still held portions of two provinces in southwestern France
gustus as vassals of the French crown. The French monarchs resented the
presence of a foreign power on their soil. Moreover, they feared
that the English interest in the woolen trade of Flanders might lead
to an alliance with the Flemish burghers against the king of France.
The course and The Hundred Years’ War actually covered more than a century, al¬
climax of the though the fighting was by no means continuous. At first the English
conflict
armies were generally victorious. They were better organized, better
disciplined, and better equipped. Besides, England did not suffer from
the extremes of internal discord which plagued the French. By 1420
402 the Duke of Burgundy had deserted the French cause, and all of the
Mela

SPAIN
 Statue of Joan of Arc, Orleans.
A modern idealization of the
French heroine of the 15th cen¬
tury.

northern half of France had been occupied by English soldiers. Soon

afterward occurred the most dramatic incident of the war, which
Jeanne d'Arc infused new confidence into the French armies and paved the way
for their ultimate victory. A devout but simple peasant girl, Jeanne
d’Arc or Joan of Arc, came forward with the declaration that she
had been commissioned by God to “drive the English out of the
whole kingdom of France.” Though she was completely unedu¬
cated, “knowing neither A nor B,” her piety and sincerity made
such a strong impression upon the French soldiers that they firmly
believed they were being led by an angel from heaven. In a few
months she had liberated most of central France and had brought
the dauphin Charles VII to Reims, where he was crowned King of
France. But in May 1430, she was captured by the Burgundians and
turned over to the English. The latter regarded her as a witch and
set up a special court of the clergy to try her for heresy. Found
guilty, she was given over to the secular government on May 30,
1431, and burned in the public square of Rouen.
As is often true of martyrs, Jeanne d’Arc was more powerful
dead than alive. Her memory lingers in France to this day as the
Effects of the spiritual embodiment of a patriotic cause. The years that followed
Hundred Years'
her death witnessed a series of uninterrupted triumphs for the
War
French armies. In 1453 the capture of Bordeaux, the last of the Eng¬
lish strongholds, brought the war to an end. Only the port of Calais
remained of the once extensive English holdings in France. But the
404 Hundred Years’ War did more than expel the English from French
territory. It added the capstone to the consolidation of royal power THE RISE OF NATIONAL
in the kingdom of France. The attempts of both the Estates General MONARCHIES
and the great nobles to control the government had proved abortive.
In spite of the confusion and sufferings of the greater part of the
war, France had emerged with enough of a national consciousness to
enable her kings to centralize their power in accordance with a pat¬
tern of absolute monarchy. The completion of this process marked
the final transition from feudalism to something resembling a mod¬
ern state.
The development of a national monarchy in England goes back to
the reign of William the Conqueror. Elis conquest of the island in
1066 resulted in the establishment of a stronger monarchy than had Foundations of

previously existed under the Saxon rulers. The enlargement of national monarchy
in England
power thus effected was not necessarily deliberate. King William
made few sweeping changes. For the most part he preserved Anglo-
Saxon laws and institutions. He brought over certain elements of
feudalism from the Continent, but he took care to prevent too great
a degree of decentralization. By the Salisbury Oath he required his
vassals to swear allegiance to him directly instead of to their imme¬
diate overlords. He prohibited private warfare and retained the
right to coin money as a royal prerogative. When he granted lands
to his followers, he rarely gave any of them large estates composed
of compact territory. He transformed the old advisory council
of the Anglo-Saxon kings into a royal court, composed primarily
of his own retainers and administrative subordinates. By the end of
his reign the constitution of England had been markedly changed,
but the alterations had been so gradual that few were aware of
their significance.
William the Conqueror’s immediate successors continued their
father’s policies, but after the death of Henry I in 1135 a violent
quarrel broke out between rival claimants for the throne, and the The reforms of

country was plunged into anarchy. When Henry II (1133-1189) Henry II

became king in 1154, he found the treasury depleted and the

barons entrenched in power. His first objectives, therefore, were
to increase the royal revenues and to reduce the power of the
nobles. In pursuance of the former, he made a regular practice
of commuting the feudal obligation of military service to a
money payment, and levied the first English taxes on personal
property and on incomes. In his war against the nobles he demol¬
ished hundreds of castles that had been built without authorization
and curtailed the jurisdiction of the feudal courts. But he apparently
realized that the power of the barons could not be permanently re¬
stricted without thoroughgoing changes in the law and in judicial
procedure. Accordingly, he gathered around him a staff of eminent
lawyers to advise him regarding the laws that ought to be in force.
In addition, he followed a practice already established of appointing
itinerant judges to administer justice in the various parts of the
realm. These judges, traveling from one region to another, applied a 405
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: uniform law throughout the kingdom. The precedents laid down by
POLITICAL AND their decisions gradually supplanted local customs and came to be
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS recognized as the Common Law of England. Henry also issued writs
commanding the sheriffs to bring before the judges as they went
from shire to shire groups of men who were familiar with local con¬
ditions. Under oath these men were required to report every case of
murder, arson, robbery, or similar crime they knew to have oc¬
curred since the judges’ last visit. This was the origin of the grand
jury. Another of Henry’s reforms made it possible for either party
to a civil dispute to purchase a writ which would order the sheriff
to bring both plaintiff and defendant, together with twelve citizens
who knew the facts, before the judge. The twelve were then asked
under oath if the plaintiff’s statements were true, and the judge
rendered his decision in accordance with the answer. Out of this
practice grew the institution of the trial jury.
There was one branch of the administration of justice which
Henry failed to bring under royal control, though he made strenu¬
Henry's quarrel ous efforts to do so. This was the judging and punishing of members
with Thomas a of the clergy. Priests and other members of the ecclesiastical hier¬
Becket
archy were not tried in ordinary courts but in Church courts under
the rules of the canon law. Punishment was notoriously lax. A
priest, for instance, convicted of murder, was deprived of his cleri¬
cal status but was rarely given any further penalty. Not only this,
but decisions handed down in any English courts on ecclesiastical
matters could be appealed to the papal court in Rome. In an effort to
eradicate these practices Henry issued the Constitutions of Claren¬
don in 1164. The Constitutions provided that any clergyman
accused of crime must be taken into a royal court first. If the royal
court found that a crime had been committed, the defendant would
be sent to a Church court for trial. If found guilty he would be sent
back to the royal court to be sentenced. From such judgments no
appeal could be taken to Rome without the king’s consent. In at¬
tempting to enforce the constitutions, Henry ran afoul of the
Archbishop of Canterbury. The latter, Thomas a Becket, was as
devoted to the interests of the Church as Henry was to the strength¬
ening of the monarchy. The quarrel reached a tragic climax when
the Archbishop was murdered bv a band of Henry’s knights after
the king, in an outburst of anger, had rebuked his followers for
doing nothing to rid him of “a turbulent priest.” The crime so
shocked the English public that the whole program of bringing the
ecclesiastical courts under royal control was largely abandoned. The
Archbishop was revered as a martyr and eventually canonized by
the Pope.
During the reigns of Henry’s sons. Richard I and John, feudalism
enjoyed a partial recovery. For all but six months of his ten-year
reign Richard was absent from England waging the Third Crusade
406 or defending his possessions on the Continent. Moreover, the heavy
taxation which had to be imposed to defray his military expenses THE RISE OF NATIONAL
angered many of the barons. The feudal revolt reached its height MONARCHIES
during the reign of King John, who was perhaps not much worse a
tyrant than some of his predecessors. But John had the misfortune
to have two powerful enemies in King Philip Augustus of France Revolt of the
and Pope Innocent III; and when he lost most of his possessions in barons against
King John
France to Philip and suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the
Pope, it was inevitable that the barons would take advantage of the
opportunity to regain their power. In 1215 they compelled John to
sign the famous Magna Carta, a document which remains to this day
an important part of the British Constitution. The popular interpre¬
tation placed upon Magna Carta is really erroneous. It was not
intended to be a Bill of Rights or a charter of liberties for the com¬
mon man. On the contrary, it was a feudal document, a written
feudal contract in which the king as an overlord pledged himself to
respect the traditional rights of his vassals. It was chiefly important
at the time as an expression of the principle of limited government,
of the idea that the king is bound by the law.
The opposition of the barons continued during the reign of
John’s son, Henry III (1216-1272). They now drew considerable
support from the middle class and found a new leader in Simon de
Montfort. Civil war broke out, in which the king was taken
prisoner. In 1265 Simon de Montfort, wishing to secure popular
support for his plans to limit the powers of the crown, called to¬ King John. An effigy in Wor-
chester Cathedral.
gether an assembly or parliament which included not only the
higher nobles and churchmen but also two knights from each shire,
and two citizens from each of the more important towns. Thirty
years later this device of a parliament composed of members of the
three great classes became a regular agency of the government when Origin of the
Edward I (1272-1307) convoked the so-called Model Parliament in English Parlia¬

1295. Edward’s purpose in summoning this parliament was not to ment

inaugurate democratic reform but merely to broaden the political

structure and thereby make the king less dependent upon the no¬
bles. Nevertheless, a precedent was established that representatives
of the commons should always meet with the two higher classes to
advise the king. By the end of the reign of Edward III (1327-1377)
Parliament had divided for all practical purposes into two houses,
and they had increased their control over taxation and were assum¬
ing lawmaking authority. The subsequent evolution of the English
Parliament into the sovereign power in the country will be dis¬
cussed in later chapters. The last feudal levy was written in 1381.
During the fourteenth century England was profoundly affected The extinction of
feudalism in
by economic changes which had begun somewhat earlier on the
England
Continent. The development of commerce and industry, the growth
of cities, the greater use of money, the scarcity of labor—all of
these seriously weakened the manorial system and consequently un¬
dermined feudal power. In addition, the Hundred Years’ War in- 407
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: creased the military and financial powers of the kings and tended to
POLITICAL AND make them more independent of baronial support. Feudalism in
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS England was finally extinguished in a great struggle among rival fac¬
tions for control of the crown. This struggle, known as the War of
the Roses, lasted from 1455 to 1485. The death of a great many of
the nobles in this war and the disgust of the people with continual
disorder enabled the new king, Henry Tudor, or Henry VII
(1485-1509), to establish a more highly consolidated rule than the
country had known up to this time.
Although the feudal regime became extinct in Germany by the
fifteenth century and in Italy somewhat earlier, in neither of these
The failure of countries was a national monarchy set up until long after the close
Germany and of the Middle Ages. The power of the dukes in Germany and the
Italy to form
power of the Pope always proved too strong to overcome. Some of
national states
the German emperors might have succeeded in building up central¬
ized rule if they had been content to remain in their own country,
but they persisted in interfering in Italy, thereby antagonizing the
Popes and encouraging revolts at home.
When the eastern branch of the Carolingian dynasty died out in
911, the Germans returned to their ancient practice of electing a
The empire of king. The most noted of the rulers thus chosen was Otto the Great,
Otto the Great who became king in 936. From the beginning of his reign Otto ap¬
parently entertained ambitions of becoming something more than
a mere king of Germany. He had himself crowned at Aachen,
probably to convey the idea that he was the rightful successor of
Charlemagne. Soon afterward he intervened in Italian affairs and
assumed the title of King of the Lombards. From this it was only
a step to becoming involved with the papacy. In 961 Otto re¬
sponded to an appeal from Pope John XII for protection against
his enemies, and in January of the following vear he was rewarded
by being crowned Roman Emperor.
In the twelfth century the crown of Otto the Great came
into possession of the Hohenstaufen family, whose most powerful
The Holy Roman representatives were Frederick Barbarossa (1152-1190) and Fred¬
Empire of Freder¬ erick II (1220-1250). Both of these rulers were outspoken in assert¬
ick Barbarossa
ing their claims to imperial dignity. Frederick Barbarossa called the
and Frederick II
empire of Germany and Italy the Holy Roman Empire on the the¬
ory that it was a universal empire established directly by God and
coordinate in rank with the Church. Frederick II, who was king of
Sicily and southern Italy as well as Holy Roman Emperor, was
much more interested in his southern kingdom than he was in Ger¬
many. Nevertheless, he believed just as firmly as did his grandfather
Barbarossa in a universal empire as the highest secular power in
western Europe. But he considered that the only possible way to
make the claims of the Emperor a reality was to build a strong state
in Sicily and southern Italy and then extend its power northward.
408 He swept away the vestiges of feudalism almost at a single stroke.
Like William the Conqueror, he required all nobles, regardless
 ■
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE ca.!200A.D.

of rank, to swear allegiance to him directly. He established a

professional army, introduced direct taxation, and abolished trial
by ordeal and by combat. He appointed traveling judges to pro¬
mote the development of a uniform law and judicial procedure.
He decreed it to be an act of sacrilege even to discuss the
Emperor’s statutes or judgments. He set up rigid control over com¬
merce and industry and founded government monopolies of the
grain trade, the exchange of money, and the manufacture of textiles
and other commodities. He even anticipated modern dictators in a
campaign for racial purity, declaring that “When the men of Sicily
ally themselves with the daughters of foreigners, the purity of the 409
race becomes besmirched.” He seemed to forget the fact that the
 The Emperor Frederick Bar-
barossa (Frederick 1) and His
Two Sons. A miniature dating
from about 1180.

blood of most of his people was already mixed with Saracenic,

Greek, Italian, and Norman infusions, and that he himself was half
German and half Norman.
Frederick II was no more successful than any of his predecessors
in increasing the power of the Holy Roman Empire. His great mis¬
The succession of take was his failure to enlist the support of the middle class in the
the Hapsburgs to
cities, as the Capetian monarchs in France had done. Without this it
the throne
was impossibe to break through the wall of papal opposition. After
Frederick died the Popes proceeded to eliminate the remaining con¬
tenders of the Hohenstaufen line. In 1273 Rudolf of Hapsburg was
elected to the imperial throne, but the Holy Roman Empire over
which he and his descendants ruled was seldom very powerful.
When finally abolished in 1806 by Napoleon, it was little more than
a political fiction.

4. URBAN LIFE IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES

By no means all of the inhabitants of western Europe in the later

Middle Ages lived in castles, manor houses, or peasant villages.
Importance of the Thousands of others dwelt in cities and towns; and from the
cities eleventh century on, at least, the activities of the urban classes were
just as important as the fighting and love-malting of nobles or the toil¬
ing and roistering of peasants. Indeed, the cities were the real cen¬
ters of most of the intellectual and artistic progress of the later Mid¬
dle Ages.
The oldest of the medieval cities in western Europe were un¬
doubtedly those which had survived from Roman times. But outside
Origins of the of Italy these were few indeed. Others came into being through a
medieval cities
variety of causes. By far the greatest number originated as a result of
the revival of trade which began in the eleventh century. The lead¬
ers in this revival were the Italian towns of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa.
Their merchants rapidly built up a flourishing commerce with the
Byzantine Empire and with the great Saracenic cities of Baghdad,
410 Damascus, and Cairo. The products brought in by these merchants
stimulated a brisk demand not only in Italy but also in Germany, URBAN LIFE
France, and England. As a result, new markets were opened up,
and many people turned to manufacturing to imitate products im¬
ported from the Near East. Cities and towns multiplied so rapidly
that in some regions half the population had been drawn from agri¬
culture into commercial and industrial pursuits by the fourteenth
century.
As one would expect, the largest cities during the late Middle Ages
were located in southern Europe. Palermo on the island of Sicily, with
possibly 300,000 inhabitants, surpassed all the others in size and prob- The cities and

ably in magnificence also. The metropolis of northern Europe was their governments
Paris, with a population of about 240,000 in the thirteenth century.
The only other cities with a population of 100,000 or over were
Venice, Florence, and Milan. Although England doubled the num¬
ber of her inhabitants between the eleventh century and the four¬
teenth, only about 45,000 of them lived in London in the thirteenth
century. By the end of the Middle Ages nearly all of the cities of
western Europe had gained some degree of exemption from feudal
control. Their citizens had complete freedom to dispose of their
property as they saw fit, to marry whom they pleased, and to go
and come as they liked. All feudal dues were either abolished or
commuted to monetary payments; provision was made for cases in¬
volving townsmen to be tried in the municipal courts. Some of the
largest and wealthiest towns were almost entirely free, having or¬
ganized governments with elected officials to administer their affairs.
This was especially true in northern Italy, Provence, northern
France, and Germany. The great cities of Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres,
grown rich from trade and woolen manufactures, virtually domi¬
nated all of Flanders. The freedom of the medieval cities was se¬
cured in a variety of ways—frequently by purchase, occasionally by
violence, and sometimes by taking advantage of the weakness of the
nobles or their preoccupation with quarrels of their own. The gov¬
ernments of these cities were generally dominated by an oligarchy

Pont Valentre. A medieval

bridge on the Lot River (trib¬
utary of the Garonne in south¬
west France). The town in the
background is Cahors.
 A Section of the Medieval
Town of Nordlingen, Ger¬
many. The need for protec¬
tion against invaders led to
congested housing conditions
inside the walls.

of merchants, but in some cases forms of democracy prevailed.

Annual elections of magistrates were relatively common; universal
suffrage was occasionally employed; in a few towns the rich were
disfranchised entirely, and the government was controlled by the
masses.
Most of the medieval cities grew so rapidly that it would have
been almost impossible to provide optimum standards of healthful-
Sodal problems in ness and comfort for the inhabitants even if there had been sufficient
*he cities knowledge and inclination to do so. Overcrowding was so bad that
sometimes as many as sixteen people lived in three rooms. Part of
this congestion was due to the need of the cities for protection
against nobles and brigands. To fulfill this need, fortified walls had
to be built around each city with gates that could be securely barred
to shut out marauders. Naturally, it was too much trouble to tear
down these walls and build new ones with every substantial increase
in the population, although eventually this had to be done several
times in a great many of the principal towns. Land values within
these walls rose to fantastic heights and brought into existence a
wealthy rent-collecting class. Because of the high cost of land, houses
were built with upper stories that projected over the street, and
even space on the walls was utilized for cottages and gardens. Streets
were narrow and crooked and generally remained unpaved for cen¬
turies. The practice of paving began in Italy in the eleventh century
and then gradually spread northward, but no thoroughfare in Paris
had a hard surface until 1184 when Philip Augustus paved a single
roadway in front of the Louvre. With space in the cities so limited,
the streets served as the common playgrounds for boys and young
men. Many were the protests voiced by their elders and by the
412 clergy against wrestling, bowling, and pitching of quoits in the
streets. “Football was constantly denounced, with good reason, as it URBAN LIFE
was not an orderly game with a fixed number of players . . . but a
wild struggle between opposing parties to force the ball through the
streets from one end of the town to the other, frequently resulting
in broken legs.” 2
Prominent among the economic institutions in the medieval cities
were the guilds. Of the two, the merchant and the craft guilds, the
merchant organizations were the older, having developed as far back The merchant

as the eleventh century. At first these included both traders and guilds

artisans, and then as industry became more specialized, the original

guilds were split into separate organizations of craftsmen and mer¬
chants. The main functions of the merchant guild were to maintain
a monopoly of the local market for its own members and to pre¬
serve a stable, noncompetitive economic system. To accomplish
these ends the guild severely restricted trading by foreign mer¬
chants in the city, guaranteed to every member the right to
participate in every purchase of goods made by any other member,
required all of its members to charge uniform prices for the goods
they sold, drastically punished cornering of the market, and prohib¬
ited many forms of advertising. It should be borne in mind that the
merchant guilds were involved primarily in local trade. They had
little or nothing to do with international commerce. This was con¬
ducted by large commercial firms, chiefly in Italy and Flanders.
Their methods were not dissimilar to those of modern capitalism.
Vigorous competition, adjustment of prices to market conditions, A Medieval Tailor

and use of the credit facilities of banks were typical examples.

Each of the craft guilds had three different classes of members—
the master craftsmen, the journeymen, and the apprentices. Only
the first two had any voice in the management of guild affairs, and The craft guilds

toward the close of the Middle Ages even the journeymen lost most
of their privileges. The master craftsmen were always the aristocrats
of medieval industry; they owned their shops, employed other
workers, and were responsible for the training of apprentices. The

2 L. F. Salzman, English Life in the Middle Ages, pp. 82-83.

The Walls of Avila, Central

Spain. Medieval cities were
generally surrounded by forti¬
fied walls. The apse of the
cathedral built into the mas¬
sive walls is the supposed
birthplace of St. Theresa
(1515-1582).
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: whole craft guild system operated largely for their benefit. The
POLITICAL AND journeymen (from the French journee meaning “day” or “day’s
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS work”) were craftsmen who worked in the masters’ shops for
wages. In some parts of Germany it was customary for the young
journeyman to spend a year wandering about the country picking
up casual employment, the so-called Wanderjahr, before settling
down in any particular place. But in most other sections of Europe
he seems to have lived with the master’s family. The industrious and
intelligent journeyman could eventually become a master craftsman
by accumulating enough money to set up his own shop and by pass¬
ing an examination, which sometimes included the submission of a
masterpiece. As in many specialized trades today, entrance into the
medieval craft could be accomplished only through serving an ap¬
prenticeship, varying in length from two to seven years. The appren¬
tice was entirely under the control of the master craftsman, who was
commonly held responsible for the boy’s education in elementary
subjects and for the development of his character as well as for
A Medieval Baker teaching him his trade. Usually the apprentice received no compen¬
sation except his food, lodging, and clothing. When the period of
training was over, he became a journeyman. During the waning of
the Middle Ages the craft guilds grew more and more exclusive.
Terms of apprenticeship were lengthened, and it was made increas¬
ingly difficult for journeymen ever to become masters.
The functions of the craft guilds were similar to those of the re¬
lated organizations of merchants, except for the additional responsi¬
bility of maintaining standards of quality. The craftsmen were just
as ambitious as the merchants to preserve monopolies in their partic¬
ular fields and to prevent any real competition among those produc¬
ing the same article. Consequently, they required uniformity of
prices and wages, prohibited working after hours, and set up
elaborate regulations governing methods of production and the
quality of materials used. They even went to the extreme of dis¬
couraging new inventions and discoveries unless they were made
available to all and everyone adopted them. As a rule, no one was
permitted to practice his trade in a town without first becoming a
member of the guild. But in spite of all these regulations there were
A Medieval Shoemaker evidently a good many “chiselers.” We read of millers who stole
part of their customers’ grain, of upholsterers who stuffed their
mattresses with thistledown, and of metal-workers who substituted
iron for copper and covered it over with gilt.
The medieval craft guilds bore no actual relationship to the labor
unions of today, despite a superficial resemblance to those modern
unions which are organized on the basis of separate crafts, such as
the associations of carpenters, plumbers, and electricians. But the
differences are more fundamental. Unlike the modern labor union,
the craft guilds were not strictly confined to the working class;
414 the master craftsmen were capitalists, owners of the means of
production, and employers as well as workers. Furthermore, they URBAN LIFE
included not only men who worked with their hands but some who
would now be classified as professional men entirely outside the
ranks of labor. For example, there were guilds of notaries, physi¬
cians, and pharmacists. Finally, the craft guild had a much greater
breadth of purpose. It was really a miniature industrial system in it¬
self, combining the functions of the modern corporation, the trade
association, and the labor union.
Both the craft and merchant guilds performed other functions be¬
sides those directly related to production and trade. They served the
purposes of religious associations, benevolent societies, and social
clubs. Each guild had its patron saint and chapel, and its members
celebrated together the chief religious holidays and Church festivals.
With the gradual secularization of the drama, the miracle and mys-
tery plays were transferred from the church to the market place,
and the guilds assumed charge of presenting them. In addition, each
organization ministered to the needs of its members who were sick A Medieval Weaver
or in distress of any kind. Money was appropriated to provide for
the care of widows and orphans. A member who was no longer able
to work or who had been thrown into jail by his enemies could look
to his colleagues for assistance. Even an unfortunate brother’s debts
might be assumed by the guild if his financial plight was serious.
The economic theory upon which the guild system rested was
vastly different from that which prevails in capitalist society. It re¬
flected, first of all, some of the ascetic flavor of Christianity. In the The economic
eyes of the Church the vitally important aim in life should be the theory of the
guild system
salvation of one’s soul. Everything else should be kept in a subordi¬
nate place. It was not proper that men should expend their energies
in the pursuit of luxury, or even that they should strive to become
too comfortable. Moreover, the religion had been founded upon the
idea that riches are a hindrance to the welfare of the soul. St. Am¬
brose, one of the most influential of the Christian Fathers, had even
referred to private property as “a damnable usurpation.” However,
the economic theory of the later Middle Ages was influenced not
only by Christianity but by Aristotle’s doctrines of the golden mean
and the just price and by his condemnation of usury. This theory
included the following basic assumptions:
(1) The purpose of economic activity is to provide goods and
services for the community and to enable each member of society to
live in security and freedom from want. Its purpose is not to furnish Basic doctrines

opportunities for the few to get rich at the expense of the many.
(2) Every commodity has its “just price,” which is equal to its
cost of production, plus expenses and a reasonable profit. The con¬
tract price and the true economic value of the product must be
equivalent. Generally speaking, the just price was simply the price
for which goods could be sold without fraud.
(3) No man is entitled to a larger share of this world’s goods than 415
 Stockholm'
Novgorod

Moscow

>anzig

London11
r\Magdet
Warsaw
'^WCologne

Astrakhan1

hernia

Milan •

—' Genoa1
^Marseilles/^^.
Danube

'oledo

Cordo’ Valencia

Syracuse Antioch

+ Major cities in the Hanseatic League

Land routes Sea routes Tripoli

PRINCIPAL TRADE ROUTES ca. 1400 A.D.

is necessary for his reasonable needs. Any surplus that may come
into his possession is not rightfully his but belongs to society. St.
Thomas Aquinas, the greatest of all the medieval philosophers,
taught that if a rich man refuses to share his wealth with the poor, it
is entirely justifiable that his surplus should be taken from him.
(4) No man has a right to financial reward unless he engages in
socially useful labor or incurs some actual risk in an economic ven¬
ture. The taking of interest on loans where no genuine risk is in¬
volved constitutes the sin of usury.
It would be foolish, of course, to suppose that these lofty ideals
were ever carried out to perfection. As we have seen, manifestations
Exceptions to the of greed were not lacking among many members of the guilds. But
ldeal more than this, the noncapitalistic guild system did not extend into
every sphere of medieval economic activity. For example, long¬
distance trade, as we have seen, was carried on by great mercantile
establishments in Flanders and in the cities of Italy. In other cases it
was in the hands of associations of merchants. Characteristic of the
latter were the Teutonic Hanse, or associations of German mer-
416 chants engaged in exchanging the furs, fish, amber, leather, salt, and
v. so N<s;

o
•a:
IT* it
CO
ir> II
p
css
LO
•

«*
z
H-
CO
—1 n
U- ■ii
o
LU
s
1—
LU

1—
z

VANDALS
 Aquamanile, German, X11—XIII cent. Aqua-
maniles were water jugs used for hand¬
washing during church ritual, or at meal
times. (MMA)

The Young King, Louis IX, XIII cent. Though Louis

was widely revered as a saint, the artist has endowed
him with distinctively human features. (Morgan Li¬
brary )

Ivory Plaque, German, X cent. The plaqvi

shows Otto the Great presenting a churo
to Christ while St. Peter watches, a refe:;
ence to Otto’s building an empire by cc
operating with the Church. (MMA)

Kings in Battle, French, ca. 1250. A scene depicting, with

the trappings of knighthood, Joshua’s fight against the
five kings of Canaan. In the center Joshua raises his hand,
commanding the sun and moon to stand still to enable
Chalice, German, XIII cent. A beautifully
him to complete his victory. (Morgan Library)
embellished wine cup used in the sacrament
of the Eucharist. (MMA)
grain from the Baltic region for the wines, spices, textiles, fruits, and READINGS
other products of the west and the south. By the fourteenth century
these associations had developed into the powerful Hanseatic
League with a membership of about eighty towns under the leader¬
ship of Liibeck, Hamburg, and Bremen. The Hanse was essentially a
profit-making organization, and the activities of its members fore¬
shadowed the growth of a capitalist economy in northern Europe.

SELECTED READINGS

Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

Barraclough, Geoffrey, ed., Medieval Germany, New York, 1961, 2 vols.

• -, Origins of Modern Germany, New York, 1946 (Capricorn).
• Bloch, Marc, Feudal Society, Chicago, 1961 (Phoenix, 2 vols.).
• Boissonnade, Prosper, Life and Work in Medieval Europe, New York, 1927
(Torchbook). Interesting and dependable.
• Brooke, Christopher, From Alfred to Henry 111, 18-11-1272, London, 1961
(Norton Library History of England).
• Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire, New York, 1919 (Schocken).
Buchan, Alice, Joan of Arc and the Recovery of France, New York, 1948.
Clough, S. B., and Cole, C. W., Economic History of Europe, Boston, 1947.
Contains excellent chapters on medieval economy.
• Fawtier, Robert, The Capetian Kings of France, New York, i960 (St. Martin’s
Library).
• Ganshof, F.L., Feudalism, New York, 1952 (Torchbook). A high-level and
somewhat technical account. Valuable for a clear understanding of feudal
theory and institutions.
• Haskins, Charles H., The Normans in European History, Boston, 1915
(Norton Library).
• Hollister, C. W., Medieval Europe: A Short History, New York, 1964
(Wiley). Concise, authoritative, and delightfully written.
• Holmes, The Later Middle Ages, 1272-1485 (Norton Library, History of
England).
Kantorowicz, Ernst, Frederick 11, New York, 1957.
• Labarge, M.W., A Baronial Household of the Thirteenth Century, New
York, 1965 (Barnes & Noble).
Loyn, H. R., Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, New York,
1963-
Luchaire, A., Social France in the Time of Philip Augustus, New York, 1912.
• Mundy, J. H., and Riesenberg, Peter, The Medieval Town, Princeton, 1958
(Anvil). A valuable supplement to Pirenne.
• Myers, A. R., England in the Late Middle Ages, London, 1952 (Penguin).
• Painter, Sidney, The Rise of Feudal Monarchies, Ithaca, 1951 (Cornell).
• -, Medieval Society, 1951 (Cornell). A brief but scholarly survey.

• Pirenne, Henri, Economic and Social History of Medieval Europe, New

York, 1956 (Harvest). Stimulating and authoritative.
• -, Medieval Cities, Princeton, 1925 (Anchor). The most highly regarded
book on the subject.
• Power, Eileen, Medieval People, London, 1924 (Anchor).
• Runciman, Steven, A History of the Crusades, The First Crusade and the
Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, New York, 1951, Vol. 1 (Torch¬
book).
• Sayles, G.O., The Medieval Foundations of England, London, 1952 (Per-
petua). 417
READINGS • Stephenson, Carl, Medieval Feudalism, New York, 1935 (Cornell).
• Tawney, R. H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, New York, 1947 (Men¬
tor) . Interesting for the light it throws on medieval economic theory under
the influence of the Church.
Ziegler, Philip, The Black Death, New York, 1969.

SOURCE MATERIALS
Coulton, G. G., Life in the Middle Ages, New York, 1955, 4 v°ls.
• -, The Medieval Village, Manor, and Monastery, New York, i960
(Torchbook).
• Dante, De Monarchia (On World Government), 2d rev. ed., New York,
1957 (Library of Liberal Arts).
John of Salisbury, Policraticus, New York, 1909, 2 vols.
• Johnes, Thomas, Froissart's Chronicles of England, France, Spain and the
Adjoining Countries, Vol. I, 240-41; Vol. II, 94-95, New York, 1961 (Dut¬
ton).
• Lopez, Robert S., and Raymond, Irving W., Medieval Trade in the Mediter¬
ranean World, New York, 1955 (Norton).
McKechnie, W. S., Magna Carta, 2d rev. ed.. New York, 1914.
Marsiglio of Padua, Defensor Pads (Defender of the Peace), especially Book
I, Chs. IV, XII, XV.
• Otto of Freising, The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa, New York, 1953
(Norton).
• Portable Medieval Reader (Viking).

418
 CHAPTER

The Later Middle Ages (ioyo-rjyo):

Religious and Intellectual
Developments

Now in those things which we hold about God there is truth in

two ways. For certain things that are true about God wholly sur¬
pass the capability of human reason, for instance that God is three
and one; while there are certain things to which even natural re¬
ligion can attain, for instance that God is, that God is one, and
others like these, which even the philosophers proved demonstra¬
tively of God, being guided by the light of natural reason.
—St. Thomas Aquinas, Swrnna Contra Gentiles, Book I

It has already been mentioned more than once that the civilization
of western Europe between 1050 and 1350 was vastly different from
that which had existed at the beginning of the medieval period. The change in
Nowhere was the contrast more striking than in the spheres of reli¬ religious and in¬
tellectual attitudes
gion and the intellect. The religious and intellectual attitudes of the
early Middle Ages were products of a time of transition and of con¬
siderable chaos. The Roman political and social structure had disin¬
tegrated, and no new regime had yet emerged to take its place. As a
consequence, the thinking of this time was directed toward pessi¬
mism and otherworldly concerns. But after the tenth century these
attitudes gradually gave way to more optimistic sentiments and to an
increasing interest in worldly affairs. The original causes were di¬
rectly related to the progress of monastic education, to the rise of
more stable government, and to an increase in economic security.
Later such factors as the influence of the Saracenic and Byzantine
civilizations and the growth of cities brought the culture of the later
Middle Ages to a magnificent climax of intellectual achievement in
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. At the same time religion took
on a less otherworldly aspect and evolved into an institution more
deeply concerned with the affairs of this life. 419
 I. THE NEW CHRISTIANITY

During the later Middle Ages, Christianity underwent so many

significant developments from its early medieval character that it
Late medieval seemed in some respects to be almost a new religion. To be sure,
Christianity such cardinal features as faith in one God, the belief in the Trinity,
and the hope for salvation in a world to come continued to be ac¬
cepted in their original form, but other elements in the religion of
St. Augustine and Gregory the Great were modified or eliminated
and different ones substituted for them. The transformation began
about 1050 and reached its zenith in the thirteenth century under
the influence of such leaders as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis, and
Innocent III.
Perhaps the most important developments were in matters of doc¬
trine and religious attitudes. The religion of the early Middle Ages
New doctrines had been pessimistic, fatalistic, and, theoretically at least, opposed to
and new attitudes everything worldly as a compromise with the devil. Man was con¬
sidered to be inherently wicked and incapable of any good works
except as the beneficiary of God’s grace. God Himself was omni¬
potent, selecting for reasons of His own those human beings who
would enter His paradise, and leaving the rest to follow the path to
destruction. By the thirteenth century quite different religious con¬
ceptions had come to prevail. Life in this world was now held
to be exceedingly important, not only as a preparation for eternity
but for its own sake as well. No longer was human nature re¬
garded as totally evil. Man could therefore cooperate with God in
achieving the salvation of his soul. Instead of emphasizing the omni¬
potence of God, philosophers and theologians now stressed the di¬
vine justice and mercy.
The most inclusive statements of late medieval theology were
contained in the Summa theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas and in
The new theology: the pronouncements issued by Church councils, especially the Fourth
(1) the theory of Lateran Council of 1215. New elements in this theology included the
the priesthood
theory of the priesthood and the theory of the sacraments. There
had, of course, been priests and sacraments in the Church long before
the eleventh century, but neither the exact functions of the priests
nor the precise nature of the sacraments had ever been clearly
formulated. The theory now came to be held that the priest, by
virtue of his ordination by a bishop and the latter’s confirmation by
the Pope, was the inheritor of a portion of the authority conferred
by the Christ upon the Apostle Peter. In effect, this meant that the
priest had the power to cooperate with God in performing certain
miracles and in releasing sinners from the temporal consequences of
their wickedness.
By the end of the twelfth century the number of sacra¬
ments had come to be accepted as seven. The seven were and
still are: baptism; confirmation; penance; the Eucharist, or
420 Lord’s Supper; marriage; ordination; and extreme unction, or the
last rites administered to the dying. The Roman Church defines a THE NEW CHRISTIANITY
sacrament as an instrumentality whereby divine grace is communi¬
cated to men. The sacramental theory as it came to be accepted dur¬
ing the last centuries of the Middle Ages included a number of sepa¬
rate doctrines. First, there was the doctrine that the sacraments (2) the theory of
were indispensable means of procuring God’s grace, that no individ¬ the sacraments

ual could be saved without them. Second, there was the principle
that the sacraments were automatic in their effects. In other words,
it was held that the efficacy of the sacraments did not depend upon
the character of the priest who administered them. The priest might
be a very unworthy man, but the sacraments in his hands would re¬
main as unpolluted as if they were administered by a saint. Finally,
at the Fourth Lateran Council, the doctrine of transubstantiation was
made an integral part of the sacramental theory. This doctrine
means that the priest, at a given moment in the Eucharistic cere¬
mony, actually cooperates with God in the performance of a mira¬
cle whereby the bread and wine of the sacrament are changed or
transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ. The change, of
course, is considered a change in essence only; the “accidents” of
taste and appearance remain the same.
The adoption of these two fundamental theories, the theory of
the priesthood and the theory of the sacraments, had potent effects
in exalting the power of the clergy and in strengthening the formal Mechanical re¬

and mechanical elements in the Latin Church. Ffowever, medieval ligion modified by
rationalism and a
Catholicism was revitalized and made into a civilizing influence by
humanizing atti¬
two other developments that marked the later Middle Ages. One tude
was the adoption of a rationalist philosophy by the leading theologi¬
ans, and the other was the growth of a humanizing attitude. The in¬
fluence of rationalist philosophy will be discussed farther on in this
chapter. The humanizing element in religion expressed itself in a
variety of ways—in the revolt against the selfish asceticism of
monks and hermits, in the naturalism of St. Francis, and perhaps
most of all in the veneration of saints and the Virgin Mary. All
through the later medieval period, the veneration or “invocation” of
saints was a popular practice, especially among the common people.
For the average person God and Christ were remote and sublime
beings who could hardly be bothered with the petty problems of
men. But the saints were human; one could ask them for favors
which one would hesitate to request of God. For example, a woman
could implore the aid of St. Agnes in helping her find a husband.
Even more popular than the invocation of saints was reverence for
the Virgin Mary, which came to be almost a religion in itself during
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Devotion to Mary as the beau¬
tiful and compassionate Mother undoubtedly served as one of the
strongest expressions of the humanizing tendency in medieval reli¬
gion. For she was venerated not only as the ideal woman but also as
Our Lady of Sorrows. The grief that she experienced over the
tragic death of her Son was believed to endow her with a special 421
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: sympathy for the sorrows of mankind. Though revered as the
RELIGIOUS AND Queen of Heaven, she was, above all, the goddess of this life.
INTELLECTUAL Significant developments in ecclesiastical organization and the
DEVELOPMENTS adoption of new forms of religious discipline also occurred during
the later Middle Ages. In 1059 the College of Cardinals was estab¬
Changes in the lished as a papal electoral college. Originally the members of this
organization of body were the deacons, priests, and bishops of certain churches in
the Church
the city of Rome. Later high ranking clergy from nearly all coun¬
tries of the Western world were appointed to membership, although
the College included a majority of Italians until 1946. At present
there are 134 members, and a two-thirds vote is necessary to elect
the Pope, who is invariably a cardinal himself. Prior to 1059 Popes
were chosen in a variety of ways. In the early days they had
been elected by the clergy of the diocese of Rome, but later they
were often appointed by powerful nobles and frequently by the
German emperors. The vesting of the sole right of election in the
College of Cardinals was part of a great reform movement to free
the Church from political control. The other main development in
religious organization was the growth of the papal monarchy. The
first of the Popes to achieve much success in extending his suprem¬
acy over the whole ecclesiastical hierarchy was Nicholas I
(858-867). Intervening in disputes between bishops and archbish¬
ops, he forced all of them to submit to his own direct authority.
Nicholas was followed, however, by a series of weak successors, and
the papal monarchy was not revived until the reign of Gregory VII
(1073-1085). It reached the highest stage of its medieval develop¬
ments during the pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216).
During the later centuries of the Middle Ages the Church made
systematic attempts to extend its moral authority over all of its lay
New methods of members, whether of high or of low degree. The chief methods
discipline adopted were excommunication and the requirement of oral confes¬
sion. Excommunication was not used to any extent before the
eleventh century. Its effect was to expel an individual from the
Church and to deprive him of all the privileges of a Christian. His
body could not be buried in consecrated ground, and his soul was
temporarily consigned to hell. All other Christians were forbidden
to associate with him, under penalty of sharing his fate. Sometimes a
decree of excommunication against a king or a powerful noble was
fortified by placing an interdict upon the area over which he ruled.
The interdict, by withholding most of the benefits of religion from
a ruler’s subjects, was intended to kindle their resentment against
him and force him to submit to the Church. Both excommunication
and the interdict proved to be powerful weapons until about the
end of the thirteenth century; after that their effectiveness waned.
By a decree of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 the Church
adopted the requirement that every individual must make an oral
confession of his sins to a priest at least once a year, and then un¬
422 dergo the punishment imposed before becoming eligible to partake
of the Eucharist. The result of this decree was to give the priest the THE NEW CHRISTIANITY
authority of a moral guardian over every individual in his parish.
As the Church became more successful, it tended to become more
worldly. Long before the great Reformation of the sixteenth cen¬
tury, medieval Catholicism went through a series of reformations Medieval reform
calculated to restore the institutions of the Church to some earlier movements:
(1) the Cluniac re¬
state of purity or to make them more useful to society. The first of
vival
these reform movements was the Cluny movement or the Cluniac
revival, which derived its name from the French monastery of
Cluny founded in 910. The original purpose of the Cluny movement
was simply to reform monasticism. The Benedictine monasteries,
which were practically the only ones in existence by the tenth cen¬
tury in western Europe, had grown corrupt and were rapidly pass¬
ing under the control of feudal nobles. Consequently the Cluniac
leaders took as their objectives the enforcement of the rules of piety
and chastity upon the monks and the liberation of the monasteries
themselves from feudal domination. But by the eleventh century the
movement had gained a much broader significance. In fact, its pur¬
poses were now so different from the original ones that it is often
referred to as the New Cluny movement. No longer were the re¬
formers content merely to purify monasticism and free it from the
clutches of the lay feudality; their primary aims were now to elimi¬
nate corruption and worldliness from the entire Church, to abolish
feudal control over the secular clergy as well as over monks, and to
establish the absolute supremacy of the Pope in ecclesiastical mat¬
ters. They centered their attacks, first of all, upon simony, which
was interpreted to include the buying and selling of Church offices,
any form of appointment to Church offices contrary to the canon
law, and the investing of bishops and abbots with the symbols of
their spiritual power by secular authorities. In addition, the reform¬
ers demanded celibacy for all grades of the clergy. Nearly all of
these elements in their program were directed toward making the
Church entirely independent of the great nobles, especially by de¬
priving them of their power to dictate the appointment of bishops,
abbots, and priests. The movement aroused bitter opposition, for it
struck at the very basis of the feudal relationship which had been
established between secular rulers and the clergy. But most of the
program was eventually put into effect, due in large part to the
fanatical zeal of such leaders as Hildebrand, the “holy Satan” who in
1073 became Pope Gregory VII.
By the middle of the eleventh century the Cluniac monks had be¬
gun to sink into the same morass of worldiness as their older Bene¬
dictine brothers whom they had set out to reform. The result was (2) the Carthusian

the launching of new movements to set an even stronger example of and Cistercian
movements
purity and austerity for the regular clergy. In 1084 the Carthusian
order was established with a set of rules more rigorous than any
hitherto adopted in the West. The Carthusian monks were required
to live in cells, to fast three days each week on bread and water, to 423
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: wear hair shirts, and to spend all their time in prayer, meditation,
RELIGIOUS AND and manual labor. A few years later the Cistercian order was
INTELLECTUAL founded at Citeaux in Burgundy and soon proved to be one of the
DEVELOPMENTS most popular of them all. By the middle of the twelfth century
more than 300 Cistercian monasteries were receiving converts from
all over western Europe. Although not so strict in their require¬
ments of individual asceticism as the Carthusians, the founders of
the Cistercian order saw to it that the rules would be puritanical
enough to constitute an emphatic protest against the luxury and
idleness of the Cluniac monks. Only a vegetarian diet was allowed,
and manual labor was strictly enforced.
Undoubtedly the most significant reform movement of the later
Middle Ages was the rise of the friars in the thirteenth century.
(3) the rise of the Though the friars are often regarded as simply another species of
orders of friars: monks, they were really quite different. Originally they were not
the Franciscan or¬
members of the clergy at all but laymen. Instead of shutting them¬
der
selves up in monasteries, they devoted all of their time to social wel¬
fare work and to preaching and teaching. The growth of the new
orders was symptomatic of an attempt to bring religion into
harmony with the needs of a world which had completely out¬
grown the so-called Dark Ages. Men were now coming to realize
that the main business of religion was not to enable a few self-serving
monks to save their own souls at the expense of society, but to help
make this world a happier place in which to live and to rescue the
great mass of mankind from ignorance and sin.
The founder of the original order of friars was St. Francis of
Assisi (1182-1226). The son of a rich merchant, the young Francis
became dissatisfied with the values of his social class and deter¬
mined to become a servant of the poor. Giving away all of his prop¬
erty and donning the rags of a beggar, he set out on his great mission
of preaching salvation in the darkest corners of the Italian cities and
ministering to the needs of helpless outcasts. The philosophy of St.
Francis was different from that of many other Christian leaders.
The major portion of it was founded almost literally upon the gospel
of Jesus. St. Francis followed Jesus in his selflessness, in his devotion
to poverty as an ideal, in his indifference to doctrine, and in his con¬
tempt for form and ceremony. In addition he had a profound love not
merely for man but for every creature around him, and even for the
objects of inanimate nature. He found God revealed in the sun, the
St. Francis of Assisi
wind, the flowers, and everything that existed for the use or delight of
man. His disciples related how he would never put out a fire, but
“treated it reverently,” and how “he directed the brother who cut and
fetched the fire wood never to cut a whole tree, so that some part of
it might remain untouched for the love of Him who was willing to
work out our salvation upon the wood of the cross.” 1 Finally, it
should be made clear that St. Francis was not an ascetic in the

424 1 Quoted by H. O. Taylor, The Medieval Mind, I, 454-55.

Illuminated Manuscript from
Les Belles Henres de Jean, Due
de Berry, a book of hours.
Monks reading prayers at the
bier of their deceased brother,
St. Anthony. Illuminated manu¬ Tantr teams itimnmp infra Hiunncmbtlia
scripts have value not merely toitontnn mnprametiufiwITusf on mta
as works of art but for their !«UHinraTu(W'(]uftfrc>plnutdwfnfuifra
portrayals of medieval life and no uf(pdO.Ct>.j}i«mrri pwr ano DninjAl?
culture.

accurate meaning of that term. Although he denied himself com¬

forts and pleasures, he did not despise the body or practice lacera¬
tion of the flesh to achieve the salvation of his soul. His abandon¬
ment of earthly possessions was done primarily to conquer pride
and bring himself down to the level of the people whom he wished
to help.
The second of the orders of friars was the Dominican order,
founded about 1215 by St. Dominic, a Castilian noble who lived in
southern France. The Dominicans adopted as their principal task The Dominican

the combating of heresy. Believing that an effective means to this order

end was education, they prepared themselves by diligent study to
refute the arguments of pagans and skeptics. Many members of the
order gained teaching positions in the universities and contributed
much to the development of philosophy and theology. Unfortu¬
nately, they were carried away at times by a zeal for persecuting;
they were active leaders of the medieval, or Papal Inquisition. By
the fourteenth century both the Dominican and Franciscan orders
had departed widely from the teachings of their founders, but they
continued to exert a strong influence upon late medieval civilization.
The majority of the philosophers and scientists of the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries were either Dominicans or Franciscans.

2. THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE SECULAR AND

SPIRITUAL AUTHORITIES

As it happened, the growth of the Church in the later Middle

Ages was accompanied by the rise of ambitious political leaders. A 425
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: conflict between secular and spiritual authorities was practically un¬
RELIGIOUS AND avoidable, since the jurisdictions claimed by each frequently over¬
INTELLECTUAL lapped. The struggle began about 1050 and continued with varying
DEVELOPMENTS intensity until well into the fourteenth century.
The two great opponents in the early stages of the struggle were
Pope Gregory VII and the German emperor, Henry IV. The quarrel
The overlapping between these powerful rivals was related to the New Cluny
of jurisdiction movement, of which Gregory had been the leader for some time be¬
fore he became Pope. As noted previously, one of the fundamental
aims of this movement was to free the Church from secular control.
During a period of many years the practice had been established
that a bishop, abbot, or priest who held his position as a fief should
be invested with the symbols of his office by the king or noble who
granted the fief. This practice, known as lay investiture, was a thorn
in the side of such zealous reformers as Gregory; they feared that as
long as the clergy owed allegiance in any degree to secular over-
lords, papal supremacy would be impossible. But this was not the
only issue involved; there was also the question of the Pope’s right
to exercise temporal authority. Just how much temporal jurisdiction
Gregory intended to claim is not clear. Sometimes it appears from
his decrees that he regarded himself as the supreme ruler of the
world and thought of all princes and kings as his vassals. But leading
scholars of medieval political theory have denied that this was the
case. They contend that Gregory’s conception of his authority was
merely that of pastor of the Christian flock, and that he never
claimed an unlimited right to create and depose secular rulers or
annul their decrees. He would intervene only to protect the inter¬
ests of the Church and the religious rights of Christians.2 Naturally,
this was a rather extensive authority, but it would still fall short of
the right to rule as an autocrat over the whole world.
The quarrel between Henry and Gregory was one of the most
bitter in the Middle Ages. When Henry refused to obey decrees of
The struggle the Pope prohibiting lay investiture, Gregory threatened to excom¬
between Gregory municate him. The king retaliated by denouncing the Pope as a false
VII and Henry IV
monk and ordering him to descend from the throne “to be damned
throughout the ages.” Whereupon Gregory not only excommuni¬
cated Henry but declared his throne vacant and released all his sub¬
jects from allegiance to him. Faced with revolt by his vassals, Henry
had no alternative but to make peace with the Pope. He journeyed
over the Alps in the depth of winter to Canossa in northern Italy and
implored the Pope’s forgiveness. Later on, he had his revenge when
he led an army into Italy, set up an anti-pope, and compelled
Gregory to flee from Rome. The great apostle of reform died in
exile in 1085.
Before the struggle ended in the fourteenth century, nearly all of
the monarchs of western Europe had been involved. Among them
2Cf. C. H. Mcllwain, The Growth of Political Thought in the West, pp.
426 208 ff.
Shrine of the Three Kings, Co¬
logne Cathedral. Richly decor¬
ated shrines are one of the
principal forms of interior or¬
namentation in Gothic cathe¬
drals. The cathedral of Cologne
(Koln) in western Germany
contains the Shrine of the Three
Kings, or the Three Wise Men
of the East, who are supposed
to have brought gifts to the in¬
fant Jesus. According to legend,
the bones of the Three Kings
were brought from Italy in the
twelfth century by Frederick
Barbarossa and buried in Co¬
logne.

were the Holy Roman Emperors, Frederick Barbarossa and Fred¬

erick II; the French kings, Philip Augustus and Philip the Fair; and
the English king, John. The leading contenders on the papal side Issues of the
were Innocent III, Innocent IV, and Boniface VIII. The issues struggle

included the right of the Holy Roman Emperors to rule over Italy,
the freedom of Italian towns from German domination, and the right
of kings to tax the property of the Church. Furthermore, the Popes
were now extending their claims to temporal authority a degree
or two beyond what had been asserted by Gregory VII. Innocent III
declared that “it is the business of the pope to look after the interests
of the Roman empire, since the empire derives its origin, and its
final authority from the papacy.”3 Innocent IV appears to have
gone a step further and to have claimed jurisdiction over all temporal
affairs and over all human beings, whether Christians or not. Never¬
theless, it must be borne in mind that none of these Popes was really
demanding absolute power. What they were insisting upon was not
legislative but a judicial authority, an authority to judge and punish
rulers for their sins. The fundamental issue was whether rulers were
directly responsible to God for their official acts or indirectly
through the Pope.
The conflict between Popes and secular authorities had momentous
results not only for medieval Europe but for subsequent ages as well.
For a time the Popes were almost uniformly successful. With the aid Results of the
of the Fombard cities and the rebellious dukes in Germany, they conflict

checked the ambitions of the Holy Roman Emperors and finally broke
the power of the Empire entirely. By means of interdicts Innocent III
compelled Philip Augustus to take back the wife he had repudiated
and forced King John to recognize England and Ireland as fiefs of

3 O. J. Thatcher and E. H. McNeal, A Source Book for Medieval History,

p. 220.
427
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: the papacy. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, however,
RELIGIOUS AND Boniface VIII went down to humiliating defeat at the hands of King
INTELLECTUAL Philip the Fair of France. As the outcome of a quarrel over Philip’s
DEVELOPMENTS attempt to tax the property of the Church, Boniface was taken
prisoner by the king’s soldiers, and a month later he died. The
Archbishop of Bordeaux was chosen to succeed him, and the papal
capital was transferred to Avignon in France, where it remained for
seventy years. There were also other results. Many pious Christians
now came to believe that the Popes were carrying their ambitions
for political power too far and were forgetting their spiritual func¬
tions. As a consequence, the papacy lost prestige, and the way was
opened for repudiation of its leadership even in religious affairs. In
like manner, papal meddling in the internal politics of different
countries tended to strengthen the growth of national feeling, par¬
ticularly in England and France. Finally, the struggle led to a quick¬
ening of intellectual activity. As each side attempted to justify its
position, interest was awakened in ancient writings, an incentive was
provided for the study of Roman law, and many valuable contribu¬
tions were made to political theory.

3. THE CRUSADES

It is probably not inaccurate to regard the Crusades as the chief

expression of medieval expansionism. Unfortunately it appears to be
The Crusades an true that nearly every civilization sooner or later develops imperial¬
expression of me¬
ist tendencies. Certain ones, of course, have been much worse
dieval imperialism
offenders than others, but expansionism in some degree has been
characteristic of nearly all of them. It seems to be the natural fruit
of the increasing complexity of economic life and of the growth of
pride in the real or fancied superiority of a system.
Although the Crusades were by no means exclusively a religious
movement, there can be no denying the importance of the religious
Religious causes factor in producing them. The century in which they were
of the Crusades:
launched was an age when religion occupied a predominant place in
(1) mass pilgrim¬
men’s thinking. The medieval Christian had a deep conviction of sin.
ages
He feared its consequences in the form of eternal damnation and
was anxious to avert them by acts of penance. For hundreds of years
the most popular type of penance had been the making of pilgrim¬
ages to sacred places. A trip to the Holy Land, if at all possible, had
been the cherished ambition of every Christian. By the eleventh
century the religious revivalism generated by the Cluniac reform
movement, combined with the opening up of trade with the Near
East, had made pilgrimages to Palestine especially appealing. Hun¬
dreds of people now joined the roving bands that trailed across cen¬
tral and eastern Europe on their way to the Levant. In 1065 the
Bishop of Bamberg led a horde of 7000 Germans to visit the holy
places in and around Jerusalem. Of course, not everyone who
428 joined these mass migrations was inspired by religious ardor. Pil-
grimages afforded an opportunity for adventure and sometimes even THE CRUSADES
for profit. Besides, what better chance was there to escape the re¬
sponsibilities of life for a season and have a good time in the bargain?
Every pilgrim who returned brought back stories of the wonderful
sights he had seen and thereby aroused the desire of others to follow
his example. Without these mass pilgrimages, interest in conquest of
the Holy Land would probably never have developed.
Other religious causes must also be mentioned. For a time during
the late eleventh century, prospects for papal supremacy did not
look bright. Gregory VII had been driven from the throne and had (2) religious wars
died in exile. His successor was an aged friend who went to his own as means of pro¬
moting unity
grave after a year of failure. The cardinals then chose a younger and
more vigorous man, who adopted the name of Urban II. Urban had
been a French noble who had renounced the world to become a
monk at Cluny. Subsequently he became the talented assistant of
Gregory VII. Elected Pope himself in 1088, he turned his attention
to the glorious dream of uniting all classes of Christians in support
of the Church. Perhaps he might even force a reunion of the Eastern
and Western branches of Christendom. At any rate, a war against
the infidel to rescue the Holy Places from desecration would enable
Latin Christians to forget their differences and to rally behind the
Pope. The papacy had already inspired or given its blessing to wars
on behalf of religion. Predecessors of Urban II had blessed the Nor¬
man conquest of England, the campaigns of Robert Guiscard against
heretical Greeks in Italy, the wars of Teutons against Slavs on Ger¬
many’s northern and eastern borders, and the crusades of Christians
against Moors in Spain. To merge these efforts in a grand enterprise
against the whole unbelieving world must have seemed like a logical
climax to what had already occurred.
For more than a century religious leaders in Europe had been dis¬
turbed by the prevalence of fighting among the feudal nobles. De¬
spite the Peace of God and the Truce of God, the warfare of barons (3) other religious

and knights continued to be a menace to the security of the Church. causes

The rights of clergy, peasants, and other noncombatants were often

trampled upon, merchants were robbed, and religious edifices pil¬
laged and burned. Against these depredations the penalty of excom¬
munication was of little avail. Small wonder, therefore, that Popes
should have turned to the idea of protecting the Church and its
members by diverting the military ardor of the nobles into a holy
war against the heathen. Still another religious cause was surplus
idealism left over from the New Cluny movement. Movements of
this kind, which strike deeply into the emotional nature of man,
generally stir up more enthusiasm than is necessary for their imme¬
diate objectives. Some of this surplus must then find new outlets,
just as in later years the fanaticism engendered by the Crusades
themselves burst forth into persecution of the Jews.
To discover some of the most important economic causes of the
Crusades, one has only to read the speech of Pope Urban II at the 429
 POLAND

HOLY ROMAN
/ Ratisbon

& HUNGARY
CJi'mionc

ALONIA

Cordova
DOMINIONS OFi
v Yempire IE SEUUK TUi
ARMENIAN

PRINCIPi

almoravids Antioch

Population predominantly Christian

Population predominantly Moslem

Jerusalem
• i
^Bethlehem.
* First Crusade Political boundaries shown are those
+++++*► Second Crusade of the time of the First Crusade 1

--—► Third Crusade

.Fourth Crusade
500 miles

THE MAJOR CRUSADES ca. 1096 A.D.

Council of Clermont inviting the nobles of France to take up arms

for the conquest of Palestine. He urged them to let nothing detain
Economic causes them, “since this land which you inhabit, shut in on all sides bv the
sea and surrounded by mountain peaks, is too narrow for your large
population; nor does it abound in wealth; and it furnishes scarcely
enough food for its cultivators. . . . Enter upon the road to the
Holy Sepulchre; wrest that land from the wicked race and subject it
to yourselves. That land which, as the Scripture says, ‘floweth with
milk and honey,’ was given by God into the possession of the chil¬
dren of Israel. Jerusalem is the navel of the world; the land is fruit¬
ful above others, like another paradise of delights.” 4 There is evi¬
dence also that a good many nobles, because of extravagance or poor

4 O. J. Thatcher and E. H. McNeal, A Source Book for Medieval History,

430 pp. 519-20.
French Knights about to De¬
part on a Crusade. Their chief
weapons are the long bow and
the spear.

management of their estates had fallen into debt. Further, the

rule of primogeniture in France and in England created the problem
of what to do with the younger sons. New fiefs were hard to obtain,
and positions in the Church were becoming scarce. As a result, these
surplus offspring of the nobles tended to form a rebellious and dis¬
orderly class, alert for any opportunity to despoil a weak neighbor
of his property. Confronted by such problems as these, the nobles of
western Europe needed no second invitation to respond to Pope
Urban’s plea.
But the catalyst or immediate cause of the Crusades was the advance
of the Seljuk Turks in the Near East. In about 1050 these people had
come down into western Asia and had gained control over the Bagh- The immediate
dad caliphate. Soon afterward they conquered Syria, Palestine, and cause of the

Egypt. In 1071 they slaughtered a Byzantine army at Manzikert and Crusades

then swept through Asia Minor and captured Nicaea, within a few
miles of Constantinople. After the death of the great Sultan, Malik
Shah, in 1092 the Seljuk empire began to disintegrate. The time now
seemed ripe for the Byzantine Emperor, Alexius Comnenus, to at¬
tempt the reconquest of his lost possessions. Realizing the difficulty
of this task, since his own government was exhausted from previous
struggles, he sent an appeal in 1095 to the Pope, probably for aid in
recruiting mercenary soldiers. Urban II, the reigning pontiff, took
full advantage of this opportunity. He summoned a council of
French nobles and clergy at Clermont and exhorted them in a fiery
speech to make war upon the accursed race of Turks. He employed
every artful device of eloquence to arouse the fury and cupidity of
his hearers, emphasizing especially the horrible atrocities which he
declared the Turks were committing upon Christians. When he had
finished, it is reported that all who were present cried out with one
accord, “It is the will of God,” and rushed forward to take the
crusader’s oath.
The first of the organized Crusades was not actually started until
late in 1096. The majority of those who participated in it were 431
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: Frenchmen and Normans. Altogether, between 1096 and 1244,
RELIGIOUS AND three other major Crusades and a number of minor ones were
INTELLECTUAL launched. Only the first achieved much success in destroying Turk¬
DEVELOPMENTS ish control over Christian territory. By 1098 most of Syria had been
captured, and a year later Jerusalem was taken. But these gains were
The major only temporary. In 1187 Jerusalem was recaptured by the Moslems
Crusades under Saladin, Sultan of Egypt. Before the end of the thirteenth
century every one of the petty states established by the crusaders in
the Near East had been wiped out.
The ultimate failure of the Crusades resulted from several causes.
To begin with, the expeditions were frequently badly managed;
Reasons for the there was seldom any unified command, and rival leaders quarreled
failure of the among themselves. In some of the later expeditions the original pur¬
Crusades
pose of conquering the Holy Land from the Turks was lost sight of
altogether. The Fourth Crusade, for example, turned out to be a
gigantic plundering foray against Constantinople. There was also an¬
other cause which cannot be overlooked: the conflicting ambitions of
the East and the West. According to the evidence, the Byzantine Em¬
peror, Alexius Comnenus, in appealing to the Pope for aid, professed a
desire to protect the Christian churches of the Orient. But this was not
his primary objective. He had come to the conclusion that the time was
ripe for a major offensive against the Turks. He was not interested
simply or even primarily in driving them out of the Holy Land but
in reconquering all of the Asiatic provinces of his empire. By con¬
trast, Pope Urban II had the grandiose dream of a holy war of all
of Latin Christendom to expel the infidel from Palestine. His under¬
lying purpose was not to rescue the Byzantine Empire but to
strengthen Latin Christianity, to exalt the papacy, and perhaps to
restore the union of the Eastern and Western churches.
In line with a common tendency to overestimate the importance
of wars, the Crusades were at one time considered as the primary
Exaggeration of cause of nearly all of European progress in the later Middle Ages. It
the importance of was assumed that they led to the growth of cities, to the overthrow
the Crusades
of feudalism, and to the introduction of Saracenic philosophy and
science into Latin Europe. For several reasons most historians now
regard this assumption as being of limited validity. First, the prog¬
ress of civilization in the later Middle Ages was already well under
way before the Crusades began. Second, the educated classes in Eu¬
rope did not generally take part in the military expeditions; as a
result, the soldiers who actually went were totally devoid of the
intellectual background necessary for an appreciation of Saracenic
learning. Third, very few of the armies ever reached the real centers
of Saracenic civilization, which were not Jerusalem or Antioch, but
Baghdad, Damascus, Toledo, and Cordova. European intellectual
progress in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was due far more to
the revival of trade with the Near East and to the work of scholars
and translators in Spain and Sicily than to any influence of holy
432 wars against the Turks. Nor were the Crusades primarily responsi-
 p)Mk» -

Krak des Chevaliers, Northern Syria. This Castle of the Knights is considered
the most magnificent of all the Crusader fortresses and one of the best-preserved
relics of the Middle Ages.

ble for the political and economic changes at the end of the Middle
Ages. The decline of feudalism, for instance, occurred chiefly be¬
cause of the Black Death, the growth of an urban economy, and the
rise of national monarchies; and these in turn were only in minor
degree the results of the Crusades.
What effects, then, is it possible to ascribe to the great holy wars
against Islam? To some extent they hastened the emancipation of
the common people. Nobles who were hard pressed for money sold The actual results

privileges to townsmen and to communities of serfs somewhat earlier of the Crusades

than they would otherwise have done. Further, many peasants

took advantage of the absence of the nobles to break away from
bondage to the soil. Among other economic effects were an in¬
creased demand for products of the East, the growth of banking,
and the elimination of Constantinople as the middleman in the trade
between East and West. Venice, Genoa, and Pisa now gained a
virtual monopoly of commerce in the Mediterranean area. In addi¬
tion, the Crusades had some influence in strengthening the mon¬
archies of France and England by eliminating powerful nobles and
providing a pretext for direct taxation; but the political conse¬
quences were relatively slight. In the domain of religion, where we
would normally expect the most profound results, few positive
effects can be discovered. It is impossible to prove that the Popes
enjoyed any increase in power or repute as a result of having
launched the Crusades. On the contrary, as the true character of the
expeditions became more and more transparent, the papacy seems
rather to have suffered a loss of prestige. There was, however, an
increase in religious fanaticism, which expressed itself particularly in
savage persecution of the Jews. These unfortunate people suffered 433
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: nearly everywhere. They were cruelly beaten, sometimes killed in
RELIGIOUS AND mob attacks, and expelled from several countries. Naturally, the
INTELLECTUAL fury against them was partly economic in origin, since they were
DEVELOPMENTS the chief moneylenders of the time; nevertheless, it is a significant
fact that hostility to Jews had one of its chief sources in the holy
wars against Islam. Finally, it is doubtless true that the Crusades had
some effect in widening geographic knowledge and in encouraging
travel and exploration, but these developments were more the result
of the gradual expansion of trade.

4. THE LATE MEDIEVAL MIND

Intellectual progress in the later Middle Ages received its original

stimulus from the so-called Carolingian Renaissance of the ninth
The revival of century. This was a movement initiated by Charlemagne when he
learning in west¬ brought to his court at Aachen the most distinguished scholars he
ern Europe
could find. In doing this the emperor was prompted partly by his
own interest in learning but also by his desire to find uniform stand¬
ards of orthodoxy which could be imposed upon all of his subjects.
Fortunately he seems to have allowed the scholars he imported a
generous freedom to pursue their own inclinations. The result was a
brilliant though superficial revival of learning which continued for
some years after the death of its sponsor. After the Carolingian Renais¬
sance intellectual progress in western Europe was interrupted for
some time on account of the Norse and Saracenic invasions. A brief
revival in Germany in the tenth century was followed by a more
virile growth of classical studies in Italy and France after the year
1000. But the climax of intellectual achievement in the later Middle
Ages was not reached until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The outstanding intellectual achievement of the late Middle
Ages was the famous system of dialectics known as Scholas¬
Philosophy: ticism. This system is usually defined as the attempt to har¬
Scholasticism
monize reason and faith or to make philosophy serve the interest
of theology. But no such definition is sufficient to convey an ade¬
quate conception of the Scholastic mind. The great thinkers of the
Middle Ages did not limit their interests to problems of religion. On
the contrary, they were just as anxious as philosophers in any period
to answer the great questions of life, whether they pertained to
religion, politics, economics, or metaphysics. Perhaps the best way
to explain the true nature of Scholasticism is to define it in terms of
its characteristics. In the first place, it was rationalistic, not empiri¬
cal; in other words, it was based primarily upon logic rather than
upon science or experience. The Scholastic philosophers, like the
Greek thinkers of the Socratic school, did not believe that the high¬
est truth could be derived from sense perception. They admitted
that the senses could provide man with a knowledge of the appear¬
434 ances of things, but they maintained that reality or the essential
nature of the universe is discoverable mainly by reason. In the THE LATE MEDIEVAL MIND
second place, Scholastic philosophy was authoritarian. Even reason
was not considered a sufficient instrument for the discovery of all
knowledge, but the deductions of logic needed to be buttressed by
the authority of the Scriptures, of the Church Fathers, and espe¬
cially of Plato and Aristotle. Third, Scholastic philosophy had a
predominantly ethical approach. Its cardinal aim was to discover
how man could improve this life and insure salvation in the life to
come. Fourth, Scholastic thought, unlike modern philosophy, was not
mainly concerned with causes and underlying relationships. Its pur¬
pose was rather to discover the attributes of things; the universe was
assumed to be static, and therefore it was only necessary to explain
the meaning of things and what they were good for, not to account
for their origin and evolution.
The primary development of the Scholastic philosophy began
with the teachings of Peter Abelard (1079-1142), one of the most
interesting figures in the history of thought. This handsome and Peter Abelard

talented Frenchman was educated in the best schools of Paris and

gained a wide reputation for dialectical skill before he was out of his
twenties. For a number of years he taught in Paris, drawing great
crowds to his lectures on philosophy and theology. Despite the fact
that he was a monk, his habits of life were far from ascetic. He was
proud, belligerent, and egotistical—boastful of his intellectual tri¬
umphs and even of his prowess in love. He avowed that he possessed
such advantages of comeliness and youth that “he feared no repulse
from whatever woman he might deign to honor with his love.” His
tragic affair with Heloise, which he poignantly describes in his auto¬
biography, The Story of My Misfortunes, contributed to his down¬
fall. But he had already incurred the enmity of some powerful
theologians who regarded him as a heretic. As a philosopher Abelard
had accomplishments to his credit for which he had a right to be
proud. He was probably the most critical of all the medieval think¬
ers. In his most famous philosophical work, Sic et Non (Yes and
No), he exposed many of the shabby arguments based on authority
that were commonly accepted in his time. The preface to this work
contains a statement which expresses clearly his conviction about
the vital importance of critical reasoning: “For the first key to wis¬
dom is called interrogation, diligent and unceasing. ... By doubt¬
ing we are led to inquiry; and from inquiry we perceive the truth.”
The heyday of Scholasticism came in the thirteenth century, as a
result of the labors of numerous intellectuals in various fields of
learning. Two of the greatest were Albertus Magnus and his re¬ The heyday of

nowned pupil, St. Thomas Aquinas. These men had the advantage Scholasticism;
Albertus Magnus
of being able to study most of the works of Aristotle, recently
translated from copies in the possession of the Saracens. Albertus
Magnus, the only scholar ever to be honored with the title of Great,
was born in Germany in 1193. During a long and active career he 435
 THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: served as a teacher, especially at Cologne and at the University of
RELIGIOUS AND Paris. A profound admirer of Aristotle, he strove to emulate the ex¬
INTELLECTUAL ample of that ancient master by taking the whole field of knowledge
DEVELOPMENTS as his province. His writings included more than twenty volumes on
subjects ranging from botany and physiology to the soul and the
creation of the universe. He was often skeptical of ancient authori¬
ties, and he attempted to found his conclusions upon reason and
experience. In referring to hoary myths, such as the one about
ostriches eating iron, he would frequently say: “but this is not
proved by experience.” He defined natural science “as not simply
receiving what one is told, but the investigation of causes in natural
phenomena.” 5
Thomas Aquinas, the most noted of all the Scholastic philoso¬
phers, was born in southern Italy in 1225. Following the example of
the great Albert, he entered the Dominican order and devoted his
life to teaching. He was a professor at the University of Paris bv the
time he was thirty-one. His most famous work was his Summa
theologica, but he wrote on many other subjects as well, including
politics and economics. The fundamental aims of St. Thomas were,
first, to demonstrate the rationality of the universe, and second, to
establish the primacy of reason. He believed that the universe is an
ordered whole governed by intelligent purpose. All things were cre¬
ated in order to make possible the fulfillment of the great Christian
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-
plan for the promotion of justice and peace on earth and the salva¬
i274>.
tion of mankind in a world to come. The philosophy of St. Thomas
implied a serene confidence in the ability of man to know and un¬
derstand his world. He regarded the intellectual faculties of man and
also his senses as God-given. The great Summaries he wrote were
attempts to build up out of logic and the wisdom of the past com¬
prehensive systems of knowledge which would leave no mysteries
unsolved. Though he leaned heavily upon the authority of Aristotle
and the Church Fathers he regarded reason as the primary key to
truth. Even his attitude toward religion was essentially intellectual
rather than emotional; piety to him was a matter of knowledge
more than of faith. He admitted that a few doctrines of Christianity,
such as the belief in the Trinity and the creation of the world in
time, could not be proved by the intellect; but he denied that they
were contrary to reason, for God Himself is a rational being. The
influence of St. Thomas was not only of cardinal importance in his
own time, but it survives to this day. In the late nineteenth century
Pope Leo XIII exhorted the bishops of the Church “to restore the
golden wisdom of St. Thomas and to spread it far and wide for the
defense of the faith, for the good of society, and for the advantage
of all the sciences.” He recommended St. Thomas as a master and
guide for everyone interested in scholarly studies.

6 Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, II,

436 ch. 59.
 By the end of the thirteenth century Scholasticism had begun to THE LATE MEDIEVAL MIND
decline. Its decay was due partly to the teachings of the last of the
Scholastics, John Duns Scotus. A member of the Franciscan order,
Duns Scotus was inclined to emphasize the emotional and practical
side of religion in place of the intellectual. He conceived of piety as The decay of
an act of will rather than an act of intellect. Less confident of the Scholasticism

powers of reason than St. Thomas, he excluded a large number of

the doctrines of religion from the sphere of philosophy altogether.
From this it was only a step to denial that any religious beliefs were
capable of rational demonstration; all would have to be accepted on
faith or rejected entirely. When this step was finally taken by Duns
Scotus’ successors, the overthrow of Scholasticism was speedily
accomplished.
The other main reason for the decline of Scholasticism was the
growing popularity of nominalism. Although nominalism is often
considered a form of Scholasticism, actually the nominalists were The growth of

fundamentally opposed to nearly everything the Scholastics taught. nominalism

They denied that concepts or class names have any reality, insisting
that they are nothing but abstractions invented by the mind to ex¬
press the qualities common to a number of objects or organisms.
Only individual things are real. Far from accepting the Scholastic
confidence in reason, the nominalists contended that all knowledge
has its source in experience. Anything beyond the realm of concrete
experience must be taken on faith, if it is to be accepted at all; the
truths of religion cannot be demonstrated by logic. Although some
of the earlier nominalists inclined toward religious skepticism, the
majority became mystics. Nominalism flourished in the fourteenth
century and for some time was the most popular philosophy in
western Europe. Nominalism is especially important for having
laid the foundations for the scientific progress of the Renaissance
and for the mystical religious movements which helped to bring on
the Protestant Revolution.
A good many medieval philosophers devoted earnest attention to
questions of political authority; a few, in fact, were primarily con¬
cerned with such questions. The political theorists of the later Mid¬ The political
theory of the later
dle Ages were in substantial agreement on a large part of their phi¬
Middle Age
losophy. Practically all of them had abandoned the idea of the
Church Fathers that the state was established by God as a remedy
for sin, and that men must therefore render faithful obedience even
to the tyrant. It was now commonly held that the state is a product
of man’s social nature, and that when justice is the guiding principle
of the ruler, government is a positive good, not a necessary evil. In
the second place, it was generally agreed by the philosophers of the
later Middle Ages that all of western Europe should constitute a sin¬
gle commonwealth under one supreme ruler. There might be many
subordinate kings or princes in the different parts of the continent,
but one supreme overlord, either the Pope or the Holy Roman Em- 437
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: peror, should have the highest jurisdiction. The most noted of those
RELIGIOUS AND who defended the supremacy of the Emperor was Dante in his De
INTELLECTUAL Monarchia. On the papal side were the Englishman John of Salis¬
DEVELOPMENTS bury (ca. 1115-1180) and Thomas Aquinas. Virtually without ex¬
ception the political theorists of the later Middle Ages believed in
Opposition to limited government. They had no use for absolutism in any form.
absolutism John of Salisbury even went so far as to defend the right of the sub¬
jects of a tyrant to put him to death. Practically all of late medieval
theory was based upon the assumption that the authority of every
ruler, whether pope, emperor, or king, was essentially judicial in
character. His function was merely to apply the law, not to make or
alter it in accordance with his will. Indeed, the medievalists did not
conceive of law as the command of a sovereign at all, but as the
product of custom or of the divine order of nature. On the other
hand, the medieval political theorists were not democrats, for not
one of them believed in the doctrine of majority rule. The man who
came closest to an exposition of the democratic ideal was Marsiglio
of Padua in the fourteenth century. He advocated that the people
should have the right to elect the monarch and even to depose him
if necessary. He believed also in a representative body with power
to make laws. But Marsiglio was no champion of unlimited popular
sovereignty. In fact, he defined democracy as a degraded form of
government. His idea of representative government was representa¬
tion of the citizens according to quality rather than mere numbers,
and the law-making powers of his representative body would be
confined to the enactment of statutes regulating the structure of the
government.
The record of scientific achievements in the later Middle Ages
can scarcely be considered an imposing one. Yet it was probably
Progress in about all we should expect in view of the absorption of inter¬
science est in other fields. The names of only a few individual scientists
need to be mentioned. One of the most original was Adelard of
Bath, who lived in the early years of the twelfth century. Not only
did he condemn reliance upon authority, but he devoted many years
of his life to direct investigation of nature. He discovered some im¬
portant facts about the causes of earthquakes, the functions of
different parts of the brain, and the processes of breathing and
digestion. He was probably the first scientist since the Hellenistic
Age to affirm the indestructibility of matter.
The toughest-minded of all the medieval scientists was the notori¬
ous Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, whose reign occupied the
Frederick II as first part of the thirteenth century. Frederick was skeptical of al¬
a scientist
most everything. He denied the immortality of the soul, and he was
accused of having written a brochure entitled Jesus, Moses and Mo¬
hammed: The Three Great Impostors. But he was not satisfied
merely to scoff. He performed various experiments of his own to
gratify his boundless curiosity, testing the artificial incubation of
438 eggs, for example, and sealing the eyes of vultures to determine
whether they found their food by sight or by smell. His most im- THE LATE MEDIEVAL MIND
portant scientific contributions were made, however, as a patron of
learning. An ardent admirer of Saracenic culture, he brought distin¬
guished scholars to Palermo to translate the writings of the Saracens
into Latin. He subsidized leading scientists, especially Leonard of
Pisa, the most brilliant mathematician of the thirteenth century. In
addition, Frederick instituted measures for the improvement of
medical practice. He legalized the practice of dissection, established
a system of examining and licensing physicians, and founded the
University of Naples with one of the best medical schools in Eu¬
rope.
By far the best known of medieval scientists was Roger Bacon
(ca. 1214-1294), possibly because he predicted certain modern in¬
ventions such as horseless carriages and flying machines. In reality, Roger Bacon

Bacon was less critical than Frederick II; he believed that all knowl¬
edge must enhance the glory of theology, the queen of the sciences.
Moreover, Adelard of Bath preceded him by more than a century in
advocating and using the experimental method. Nevertheless, Bacon,
by virtue of his strong insistence upon accurate investigation, de¬
serves a high place among medieval scientists. He denied that either
reason or authority could furnish valid knowledge unless supported
by experimental research. Besides, he himself did some practical
work of great value. His writings on optics remained authoritative
for several centuries. He discovered much about magnifying lenses,
and it seems more than probable that he invented the simple micro¬
scope. He demonstrated that light travels faster than sound, and he
was apparently the first scientist to perceive the inaccuracy of the
Julian calendar and to advocate its revision.
Much of the advancement in philosophy and science in the
later Middle Ages would have been quite impossible without the
educational progress which marked the centuries from the ninth
to the fourteenth. The Carolingian Renaissance resulted in the
establishment of better schools and libraries in several of the

Alchemists in Their
Laboratory. Note the
great variety of in¬
struments used and
the spectacles worn by
the experimenter.
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: monasteries of western Europe. Many of these institutions, how¬
RELIGIOUS AND ever, were destroyed during the chaos of the ninth century. As a
INTELLECTUAL consequence of the religious reform movements of the eleventh cen¬
DEVELOPMENTS tury, the monasteries tended to neglect education, with the result
that the monastic schools that had survived were gradually over¬
The transfer of shadowed by the cathedral schools. Some of the latter developed
education from into what would now be considered the equivalent of colleges,
the monasteries
providing excellent instruction in the so-called liberal arts. This was
to the cathedral
notably true of the cathedral schools located at Canterbury, Char¬
schools
tres, and Paris. But by far the most important educational develop¬
ment of the Middle Ages was the rise of the universities.
The term university (from the Latin, universitas) originally
meant a corporation or guild. In fact, many of the medieval univer¬
The rise of the sities were very much like craft guilds, organized for the purpose of
universities training and licensing teachers. Gradually the word came to have
the meaning of an educational institution with a school of liberal
arts and one or more faculties in the professional subjects of law,
medicine, and theology. No one knows which of the universities
was the oldest. It may have been Salerno, which was a center of
medical study as far back as the tenth century. The universities of
See color map Bologna and Paris are also very ancient, the former having been
at page 416 established about 1150 and the latter before the end of the twelfth
century. The next oldest included such famous institutions as the
universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Montpellier, Salamanca, and
Naples. There were no universities in Germany until the fourteenth
century, when schools of this type were organized at Prague,
Vienna, Heidelberg, and Cologne. By the end of the Middle Ages
some eighty universities had been established in western Europe.
Practically every university in medieval Europe was patterned
after one or the other of two different models. Throughout Italy,
Organization Spain, and southern France the standard was generally the Univer¬
of the medieval sity of Bologna, in which the students themselves constituted the
universities
guild or corporation. They hired the teachers, paid their salaries,
and fined or discharged them for neglect of duty or inefficient in¬
struction. Nearly all of these southern institutions were secular in
character, specializing in law or medicine. The universities of north¬
ern Europe were modeled after the one at Paris, which was not a
guild of students but of teachers. It included the four faculties of
arts, theology, law, and medicine, each headed by an elected dean.
In the great majority of the northern universities arts and theology
were the leading branches of study. Before the end of the thirteenth
century separate colleges came to be established within the Univer¬
sity of Paris. The original college was nothing more than an
endowed home for poor students, but the discovery was soon made
that discipline could best be preserved by having all of the students
live in colleges. Eventually the colleges became centers of instruc¬
440 tion as well as residences. While on the Continent of Europe most
A Noted Teacher, Henricus de Alemania, Lecturing in a Medieval University.
Some interesting comparisons and contrasts may be observed between his stu¬
dents and those in a modern classroom.

of these colleges have ceased to exist, in England the universities of

Oxford and Cambridge still retain the pattern of federal organiza¬
tion copied from Paris. The colleges of which they are composed
are practically independent educational units.
Though modern universities have borrowed much of their organ¬ The course of

ization from their medieval prototypes, the course of study has been study

radically changed. No curriculum in the Middle Ages included

much history or natural science, nor any great amount of mathe¬
matics. The student in the Middle Ages was required, first of all,
to spend four or five years in studying the trivium—grammar,
rhetoric, and logic, or dialectic. If he passed his examinations he re¬
ceived the preliminary degree of bachelor of arts, which conferred
no particular distinction. To assure himself a place in professional
life he must devote some additional years to the pursuit of an ad¬
vanced degree, such as master of arts, doctor of laws, or doctor of
medicine. For the master’s degree three or four years had to be
given to study of the quadrivium—arithmetic, geometry, astron¬
omy, and music. These subjects were not quite what their names
imply now. Their content was highly philosophical; arithmetic, for
example, included primarily a study of the theory of numbers, while
music was concerned largely with the properties of sound. The re¬
quirements for the doctor’s degree were generally more severe and
included more specialized training. By the end of the Middle Ages
the course for the doctorate of theology at Paris had been extended
to fourteen years, and the degree could not be conferred unless the
candidate was at least thirty-five years of age. Both the master’s and 441
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: doctor’s degrees were teaching degrees; even the title of doctor of
RELIGIOUS AND medicine meant a teacher of medicine, not a practicing physician.
INTELLECTUAL The life of medieval students differed in many ways from that of
DEVELOPMENTS their modern descendants. The student body in any one university
was not a homogeneous group but was composed of diverse nation¬
The university alities. The young Frenchman or German who wanted to study law
students would almost certainly go to Bologna or Padua, just as the young
Italian with an interest in theology would probably enroll at Paris.
The entire university was usually an independent community, and
the students were consequently exempt from the jurisdiction of
political authorities. A relic of this ancient autonomy is to be found
in the fact that some of the German universities still have their own
jails. The learning process consisted primarily in taking down
copious notes on wax tablets from the master’s lecture and then
analyzing and discussing them afterwards. The young man’s educa¬
tion was supposed to be acquired through logic and memory rather
than from extensive reading or research. In other respects, however,
student life in the Middle Ages was not so far different from what it
is now. If the medieval student knew nothing of intercollegiate
sports, he at least had his violent fights with the hoodlums of the
town to absorb his surplus energv. In the medieval universities as in
those of today there were the sharply contrasting types of sincere,
intelligent scholars and frank and frivolous loafers. We hear much
about radicalism and activism in modern colleges, but these tend¬
encies were certainly not absent in the universities of the Mid¬
dle Ages. Many of these institutions were roundly denounced as
breeding places of heresy, paganism, and worldliness. It was said
that young men “seek theology at Paris, law at Bologna, and medi¬
cine at Montpellier, but nowhere a life that is pleasing to God.” The
students at Paris even had to be admonished to stop playing dice on
the altar of Notre Dame after one of their holiday celebrations.
No one who has more than a casual acquaintance with the
literature of the later Middle Ages could ever imagine the whole
The humanistic medieval period to have been an era of darkness and otherworld¬
quality of late liness. For much of this literature expresses a zest for living as
medieval
spontaneous, joyous, and free as any attitude revealed in the
literature
writings of the Renaissance of the fourteenth and succeeding
centuries. Indeed, the spirit of late medieval literature was even
closer to that of the modern age than most people realize. Probably
the actual amount of religious literature in the later Middle Ages did
not bear a much larger ratio to the total quantity of writings pro¬
duced than would be true at the present time.
Late medieval writings can be classified, first of all, as either Latin
or vernacular literature. The revival of classical studies in the cathe¬
dral schools and in the earliest universities led to the production of
some excellent Latin poetry. The best examples of this were the
secular lyrics, especially those written by a group of poets known as
442 the Goliards or Goliardi. The Goliards derived their name from the
fact that they commonly referred to themselves as disciples of THE LATE MEDIEVAL MIND
Golias. Who Golias was, no one knows, but one scholar thinks that
he was probably the devil.6 Such a choice of a master would un¬
doubtedly have been appropriate enough, for most of the Goliard
poets were regarded by the Church as lewd fellows of the baser sort Latin literature:

for whom nothing was too sacred to be ridiculed. They wrote the poetry of the
Goliards
parodies of the creeds, travesties of the mass, and even burlesques of
the Gospels. Their lyrics were purely pagan in spirit, celebrating
the beauties of the changing seasons, the carefree life of the open
road, the pleasures of drinking and gambling, and especially the joys
of love. The authors of these rollicking and satirical songs were
mostly wandering students, although some appear to have been men
more advanced in years. The names of nearly all of them are un¬
known. Their poetry is particularly significant as the first emphatic
protest against the ascetic ideal of Christianity. The following
stanzas taken from The Confession of Golias may be considered
typical of what they wrote:

Prelate, most discreet of priests,

Grant me absolution!
Dear’s the death whereof I die,
Sweet my dissolution;
For my heart is wounded by
Beauty’s soft suffusion;
All the girls I come not nigh
Mine are in illusion.
’Tis most arduous to make
Nature’s self-surrender;
Seeing girls, to blush and be
Purity’s defender!
We young men our longings ne’er
Shall to stem law render,
Or preserve our fancies from
Bodies smooth and tender.7

By no means all of medieval literature was written in Latin. As

the Middle Ages waned, the vernacular languages of French, Ger¬
man, Spanish, English, and Italian became increasingly popular as The growth of
vernacular
media of literary expression. Until the beginning of the twelfth
literature
century nearly all of the literature in the vernacular languages
assumed the form of the heroic epic. Among the leading examples
were the French Song of Roland, the German Song of the Nibe-
lungs, the eddas and sagas of the Norsemen, and the Spanish Poem
of My Cid. These epics picture a virile but unpolished feudal

6 C. H. Haskins, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century, p. 177.

7J. A. Symonds, Wine, Women and Song, p. 66. 443
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: society in its earlier stage of evolution, when valorous deeds in bat¬
RELIGIOUS AND tle on behalf of one’s suzerain represented the fulfillment of the
INTELLECTUAL highest knightly ideal. Heroism, honor, and loyalty were practically
DEVELOPMENTS the exclusive themes. The tone of the epics was almost entirely mas¬
culine. If women were mentioned at all, it was generally in a con¬
descending fashion. The hero must show the utmost devotion to his
superior, but it was not considered inappropriate that he should beat
his wife.
During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries feudal society in
western Europe attained the full flower of its growth. As a result of
The literature of the progress of learning and of contact with the higher civilization
chivalry: (1) the of the Saracens, the feudal aristocracy adopted new attitudes and in¬
songs of the
terests. Chivalry, with its glorification of woman and its emphasis
troubadours
upon kindness and refinement of manners, tended to displace the
older conception of a feudal ideal limited to the virtues of the
battlefield. The first literary works to reflect and in part to inspire
this change in ideals were the songs of the troubadours. The original
home of the troubadours was southern France, especially the region
known as Provence. Here was one of the most highly civilized areas
of feudal Europe. It received the full impact of Saracenic influence
from Spain, and it seems to have preserved an extensive inheritance
from ancient Rome. Whatever the reasons, there can be no doubt
that the troubadours of Provence initiated a movement of profound
importance in late medieval literature. The central theme of their
songs was romantic love. Woman was idealized now as never be¬
fore. The virtues of her who had once been condemned by monks
and Church Fathers as the very incarnation of evil were extolled to
the skies. But the love of the troubadours for the ladies of the feudal
courts was not supposed to be sensual; it was a rarefied, almost mys¬
tical emotion which could be satisfied by a smile or some trifling
memento from the haughty goddesses who were the objects of the
singers’ affection. The fact must be emphasized also that romantic
love was not the only topic in which the troubadours were inter¬
ested. Many wrote acrid satires against the rapacity and hypocrisy
of the clergy, and one even addressed a powerful “poem of blame”
to God. The literary tradition originated by the troubadours was
continued by the trouveres in northern France and by the mm-
nesingers in Germany.
The most important of all the writings which expressed the ideals
of the feudal aristocracy were the romances of the Arthurian cycle.
(2) the romances The material of these romances consisted of legends woven about
of the Arthurian
the career of a Celtic chieftain by the name of Arthur, who had
cycle
been the hero of the struggle against the Anglo-Saxon invaders of
Britain. In the twelfth century certain Norman and French writers,
especially Marie de France and Chretien de Troyes, became inter¬
ested in these legends as a background for the chivalric ideal. The
444 result was the composition of a number of romances of love and ad-
venture, famous alike for their colorful narrative and their poetic THE LATE MEDIEVAL MIND
beauty. Later the best known of these romances were adapted and
completed by German poets. Wolfram von Eschenbach developed
what is usually considered the most perfect version of the Parzival
legend, while Gottfried von Strassburg gave to the story of Tristan
and Isolde its classic medieval form. Although these romances
differed in form and in substance, they may yet be said to have had
features in common. All of them glorified adventure for its own
sake, and taught that experience of the deepest and most varied kind
is the only sure road to wisdom. All of them strove to inculcate gen¬
tleness, protection of the weak, and rescue of those in distress as
knightly obligations, in addition to honor, truthfulness, and bravery.
The redeeming power of love was another universal element, al¬
though not all of the authors agreed as to the form which this love
should assume. Some maintained that it ought to be the faithful
affection between husband and wife, but others insisted that it must
be love unsustained by wedlock. In the minds of the latter group
true love was possible only between knight and mistress, never be¬
tween husband and wife. Finally, in the best of these romances an
element of tragedy was nearly always present. Indeed, such a work
as Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan might almost be regarded as
the prototype of modern tragic literature. He was certainly one of
the first to develop the idea of individual suffering as a literary
theme and to point out the indistinct dividing line which separates
pleasure from pain. For him, to love is to yearn, and suffering and
death are integral chapters of the book of life.
By the thirteenth century the merchants and craftsmen of the
towns had risen to a position of power and influence equal if not
superior to that of the feudal nobles. We can therefore logically ex- Literature of the

pect that some literature would be written to appeal to burgher urban classes

tastes. Among the foremost examples of such writings were the

romance of Aucassin and Nicolette and the short stories in verse
known as the fabliaux. The romance of Aucassin arid Nicolette
resembles in some ways the romances of chivalry. The hero Aucas¬
sin is a young noble, and the main theme of the romance is the
imperious demands of love; but the plot is frequently turned into
channels distinctly at variance with the chivalric ideal. Aucassin has
fallen desperately in love, not with the high-born wife of some
noble, but with Nicolette, a Saracen slave girl. Warned that he will
suffer in hell if he does not give up his beloved, the hero replies that
he does not mind, for in hell he will enjoy the company of all who
have really lived. The story is also quite different from the ro¬
mances of chivalry in its occasional expression of sympathy for the
peasant. But the writings which undoubtedly made the strongest
appeal to the urban classes were the fabliaux. These were stories
written not to edify or instruct but chiefly to amuse. Often richly
spiced with indecency, they reveal a contempt for the trappings of 445
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: chivalry, with its romanticized love and idiotic pursuit of adventure.
RELIGIOUS AND Most of them are also strongly anti-clerical and indicate no high re¬
INTELLECTUAL gard for the religious spirit. Nearly always it is monks and priests
DEVELOPMENTS who are made the butts of the jokes. The fabliaux are significant as
expressions of the growing worldliness of the urban classes and as
forerunners of the robust realism which was later to appear in the
works of such writers as Chaucer and Boccaccio.
The supreme achievements of medieval literary talent were two
great masterpieces written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centu¬
The Romance of ries. The first was the Romance of the Rose of William of Lorris
the Rose and John of Meun, and the second was Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Each in its own way is a kind of summary of late medieval civiliza¬
tion. The Romance of the Rose consists of two parts: the first 4000
lines were begun by William of Lorris about 1230; the other part,
nearly three times as long, was finished by John of Meun about
1265. The two parts are entirely different, the first being an allegory
dealing with the cult of chivalric love, while the second is a eulogy
of reason. John of Meun was quite skeptical of the value of the
feudal aristocracy to medieval society; he hated superstition; and he
satirized the monastic orders, the papacy, and many other estab¬
lished institutions of his time. He embodied the mocking, realistic
attitude of the bourgeoisie, as his predecessor, William of Lorris,
symbolized the romantic, mystical spirit of chivalry. The work of
the two men taken together furnishes a kind of guidebook to the
later Middle Ages.
Without doubt the most profound of the medieval summaries was
the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). Not a great
The Divine deal is known about the life of Dante except that he was the son of a
Comedy Florentine lawyer and was active during the early part of his career
in the political affairs of his city. Despite his absorption in politics he
managed to acquire a full mastery of the philosophic and literary
knowledge of his time. In 1302 the party to which he belonged was
ousted from power in Florence, and he was compelled to live the
remainder of his years outside of his native city. Most of his writ¬
ings were apparently produced during this period of exile. Dante
called his chief work simply the Comedy, but his admirers during
the Italian Renaissance always spoke of it as the Divine Comedy, and
that is the title which has come down to us. In form the work may
be considered a drama of the struggles, temptations, and ultimate
redemption of the soul. But of course it is much more than this; for
it embraces a complete summation of medieval culture, a magnifi¬
cent synthesis of the Scholastic philosophy, the science, the religion,
and the economic and ethical ideals of the later Middle Ages. Its
dominant theme is the salvation of mankind through reason and
divine grace, but it includes many other ideas as well. The universe
is conceived as a finite world of which the earth is the center and in
446 which everything exists for the benefit of man. All natural phe-
Left: Romanesque Houses in Brussels. Right: Worms Cathedral,
Eleventh-Century Romanesque. It still stands although most of
the city was destroyed in World War II.

nomena have their meaning in relation to the divine scheme for

peace and justice on earth and salvation in the life beyond. Human
beings possess free will to choose the good and avoid the evil. The
worst of the sins which man can commit is treason or betrayal of
trust; the least serious are those which proceed from weakness of
the flesh. Dante took earnest pleasure in the classical authors, almost
worshiping Aristotle, Seneca, and Vergil. He chose Vergil rather
than some Christian theologian to personify philosophy. By reason
of his imaginative power and the warmth and vigor of his style, he
deserves to be ranked as one of the greatest poets of all time, but he
is especially important to the historian because of the well-rounded
picture he presents of the late medieval mind.

5. ART AND MUSIC IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES

The later Middle Ages produced two great styles of architecture,

the Romanesque and the Gothic. The Romanesque was mainly a
product of the monastic revival and attained its full development in Architecture:

the century and a half following the year 1000. Fundamentally it the Romanesque
style
was an ecclesiastical architecture, symbolizing the pride of the
monastic orders at the height of their power. Naturally, since the
Cluniac revival affected the entire Church, the Romanesque style
was not confined to monasteries. Nevertheless, it is significant that
some of the most impressive Romanesque buildings were houses of
the Cluniac order. The essential features of this building style were 447
 THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: the round arch, massive walls, enormous piers, small windows,
RELIGIOUS AND gloomy interiors, and the predominance of horizontal lines. The
INTELLECTUAL plainness of interiors was sometimes relieved by mosaics or by
DEVELOPMENTS frescoing in bright colors, but the style of construction was not
such as to encourage elaborate ornamentation. Moreover, the strong
religious spirit in which this architecture was conceived did not
generally foster an appeal to the senses. Some of the architects of
southern Europe, however, succeeded in breaking away from this
somber monastic tradition and often decorated their churches with
an elaborate symbolic sculpture.
In the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Romanesque archi¬
tecture was superseded in popularity by the Gothic. The increase in
wealth, the advancement of learning, the growth of secular interests,
and the pride of the cities in their newly acquired freedom and
prosperity led to a demand for a more elaborate architectural style
to express the ideals of the new age. Besides, the monastic revival
had now spent its force. Gothic architecture was almost exclusively
urban. Its monuments were not monasteries situated on lonely crags
but cathedrals, bishops’ churches, located in the largest cities and
towns. It must be understood, though, that the medieval cathedral
was not simply a church but a center of the community life. It gen¬
erally housed a school and a library and was sometimes used as a
town hall. It was often large enough to accommodate the whole
population of the town. The people of the entire community partici¬
pated in erecting it, and they rightfully regarded it as civic property.
Indeed, many of the Gothic cathedrals were the outcome of town
Quarter Barrel Vaults, Typical rivalry. For example, the people of Siena became dissatisfied with
of Romanesque Architecture.
their modest church after the cathedral at Florence was completed
St. Etienne, Nivers.
and determined to build a new one on a much more pretentious
scale. Frequently the citizens’ ambitions got far out of bounds, with
the result that many of the buildings were left unfinished. The
architects of the Cathedral of Chartres, for instance, planned for
several more lofty towers than were ever completed.
Gothic architecture was one of the most intricate of building
styles. Its basic elements were the pointed arch, groined and ribbed
vaulting, and the flying buttress. These devices made possible a
See color much lighter and loftier construction than could ever have been
plates at pages achieved with the round arch and the engaged pier of the Ro¬
411, 448
manesque. In fact, the Gothic cathedral could be described as a
skeletal framework of stone enclosed by enormous windows. Other
features included lofty spires, rose windows, delicate tracery in
stone, elaborately carved faqades, multiple columns, and the use of
gargoyles, or representations of mythical monsters, as decorative de¬
vices. Ornamentation in the best of the cathedrals was generally
concentrated on the exterior. Except for the stained glass windows
and the intricate carving on woodwork and altars, interiors were
448 kept rather simple and occasionally almost severe. But the inside of
 Above: Siege of a City. From the Universal Chronicle by
Jean de Courcy, Flemish, ca. 1470. The cannon meant the
end of feudal knights and medieval towered fortresses.
Building Operations. From a French picture Bible, ca. (Morgan Library) Below: A Scholar at Work. From the
1250. Note the treadmill, with wheel, ropes, and pulley, Flemish manuscript The Golden Legend, 1445-1460.
by means of which a basket of stones is brought to the (Morgan Library)
construction level. (Morgan Library)

Stained Glass, German, ca. 1300.

Some stained-glass windows were
purely decorative; others told a
story. (MMA)
 500 miles
NORWAY

SWEDEN

Cambridge

■ AOxford Wittenbi

/Louvain
LY ROMAN
^Viirzburg
* Heidelberg
EMPIRE
ingolsfcadt

AUSTRIA

SWITZ.
FRANCE

fbi#svrma
1 VP*™1
kvalenc^ J
j Orange / '
Montpellier. 1 Avignon
Toulouse

PAPAL
STATES
Valladolid

Salamanca ^
■ AS.

PORTUGAL
, * A>lcal
^SPAIN Toled° BALEARIC
Xtsbon
Palma' IAJORCA

f ISLANDS

THE RISE OF THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY

(Founded in the 12th century

[Founded in the 13th century

[ Founded in the 14th century Boundaries ca. 1500 A.D.

| Founded in the 15th century

Amiens Cathedral. The floor plan to the right shows features which were Amiens, Floor Plan
typical of thirteenth century Gothic—the side aisles continue around the
elongated choir and apse, forming the ambulatory, off which radiate the chapels.
The transepts are fully developed with side aisles.

the Gothic cathedral was never somber or gloomy. The stained glass
windows served not to exclude the light but to glorify it, to catch
the rays of sunlight and suffuse them with a richness and warmth of
color which nature herself could hardly duplicate even in her gayest
moods.
The significance of Gothic architecture is frequently misunder¬
stood. As a matter of fact, its very name, implying that the art was
of barbarian origin, was originally a term of reproach given to it by
the men of the Renaissance, who wanted to express their contempt
Amiens, Cross Section. Note
for everything medieval. Many people still think of the Gothic
the pointed Gothic arch which
cathedral as a product of an ascetic and otherworldly civilization. allows for a higher nave vault¬
Nothing could be more inaccurate. Insofar as Gothic architecture ing. Note also the typical fly¬
was spiritual at all, it was the symbol of a religion which had come ing buttresses which take the
thrust of the nave vaulting
to recognize the importance of this life. But as we have already seen,
clear of the main structure to
the cathedral was more than a church. It was in large part an expres¬ the great masonry buttress
sion of the new secular spirit which had grown out of the rise of piers.
cities and the progress of enlightenment. Many of the scenes
depicted on the stained glass windows—a medieval bakeshop in
operation, for instance—had no direct religious significance what¬
ever. The definite appeal to the senses revealed in the sparkling
radiance of colored glass and in the naturalistic sculpture of saints 449
 The High Chapel of La Sainte-
Chapelle, Paris. High Gothic is
here carried to its logical extreme.
Slender columns, tracery, and
stained-glass windows take the
place of walls.

and the Virgin gives positive proof that man’s interest in his human
self and in the world of natural beauty was no longer considered a
sin. Last of all, Gothic architecture was an expression of the medie¬
val intellectual genius. Each cathedral, with its detailed mass of
carvings of plant and animal life and symbolic figures, was a kind of
encyclopedia of medieval knowledge—a culture epic in stone.
Music in the later Middle Ages was the product of an evolution
extending far back into the early history of medieval Europe. The
Music in the beginning of this evolution was the development of the so-called
later Middle plain chant, a vast body of melodies that is virtually an anthology of
Ages folk, cultic, and composed music of many centuries. Its collection
and organization took a long time, though it is ascribed by tradition
to Pope Gregory the Great—hence its name: Gregorian chant. The
Gregorian chant is a single, unaccompanied line of music of great
melodic and rhythmic subtlety, much of which is lost on us, accus¬
tomed as we are to a harmonic background. By the tenth century we
encounter the first written monuments of music for more than one
line, which consisted of another line running parallel with the first
at the distance of a fourth or fifth. The next step in evolution was
the introduction of the principle of contrary motion; the second
450 part asserted its independence by not running parallel with the first
but following its own bent. It is significant, however, that the mod¬ READINGS
ern concept of harmony, that is, a vertical organization of sounds
(melody with accompaniment) was lacking. The new line of music
(called “voice” or “part”) was set against the existing one, dot
against dot, punctus contra punctum (“dot” standing for “note”)
—hence the term counterpoint. Thus the development was linear,
each melodic line was largely independent. This type of music is
called polyphonic in contrast to homophonic, the harmonically
ordered style. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries produced great
schools of musical composition that demonstrated considerable skill
in weaving together two, three, and even four independent voice-
parts. A particular manifestation of music in the later Middle Ages
was the art of the troubadours, trouveres, and minnesingers. With
them a new and altogether Western conception enters music: indi¬
vidual invention. Troubadour comes from the French verb trouver,
to find (invent); this kind of musician does not use inherited, tradi¬
tional tunes but “finds” his own. Among the kings and knights of
France of the north and of Provence, there were many fine creative
artists. The German minnesingers (from the Middle High German
word minne, “love”) patterned themselves after the composing
French aristocracy. Secular music was kept under wraps by the
Church, but it was nevertheless well developed and by 1300 we
come across reliable descriptions of its nature. Music also formed
part of the liberal arts as taught at the university, but its study was
purely mathematical and philosophical.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Adams, Henry, Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres, New York, 1913 (Mentor).

Stimulating and provocative.
Artz, F. B., The Mind of the Middle Ages, New York, 1954. Brief but schol¬
arly and interesting.
• Bainton, R. H., The Medieval Church, Princeton, 1964 (Anvil).
• Brundage, J.A., The Crusades: Motives and Achievements, New York, 1964
(Heath).
• Cheyney, E. P., The Dawn of a New Era, 1250-1453, New York, 1936
(Torchbook). Written in a clear and interesting style.
• Copleston, F. C., Medieval Philosophy, New York, 1961 (Torchbook).
Crombie, A. C., From Augustine to Galileo, Cambridge, 1961.
Crump, C. G., and Jacob, E.F., The Legacy of the Middle Ages, New York,
1926. Especially good on medieval arts and crafts.
Easton, Stewart C., Roger Bacon and His Search for a Universal Science,
New York, 1952.
Evans, Joan, Art in Medieval France, London, 1948.
Gardner, Helen, Art through the Ages, New York, 1948. Comprehensive and
valuable.
Gilson, E. H., The Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, Cambridge, Mass.,
TH¬
Dante the Philosopher, London, 1948 (Torchbook). 451
READINGS Haskins, C. H., Studies in Medieval Culture, New York, 1929.
• -, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century, Cambridge, Mass., 1928
(Meridian). Excellent.
Heamshaw, F. J. C., The Social and Political Ideas of Some Great Medieval
Thinkers, New York, 1923.
• Heer, Friedrich, The Medieval World, New York, 1964 (Mentor).
• Huizinga, J., The Waning of the Middle Ages, New York, 1954 (Anchor).
A provocative interpretation.
Jones, Charles W., ed., Medieval Literature in Translation, New York, 1950.
Lang, Paul, Music in Western Civilization, New York, 1941.
Latourette, K. S., A History of Christianity, New York, 1953.
Leff, Gordon, Heresy in the Later Middle Ages, New York, 1967, 2 vols.
• _, Medieval Thought, Baltimore, 1958 (Penguin).
Luscombe, D. E., The School of Peter Abelard, New York, 1969.
Mazzeo, J. A., The Medieval Cultural Tradition in Dante's Comedy, Ithaca,
N.Y., i960.
• McGiffert, A. C., History of Christian Thought, New York, 1932, Vol. II
(Scribner Library).
Mcllwain, C. H., The Growth of Political Thought in the West, New York,
1932. Perhaps the best interpretation.
Morey, C. R., Medieval Art, New York, 1942.
• Panofsky, Erwin, Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism, Cleveland, 1937
(Meridian).
Rashdall, Hastings, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, New
York, 1936, 2 vols. The standard work.
Reese, Gustave, Music in the Middle Ages, New York, 1940.
Setton, K. M., ed., A History of the Crusades, Philadelphia, 1955. Vol. 1.
• Southern, R. W., The Making of the Middle Ages, New Haven, 1953 (Yale
University Press).
Taylor, H. O., The Medieval Mind, New York, 1927, 2 vols. Good for in¬
terpretation.
Vossler, Karl, Medieval Culture: An Introduction to Dante and His Times,
New York, 1929, 2 vols. Profound and very valuable for the student with a
good background of medieval knowledge.
• Waddell, Helen, The Wandering Scholars, London, 1927 (Anchor). A vivid
and sympathetic account.
• -, Peter Abelard, New York, 1933 (Compass). Valuable not only as
biography but for its grasp of the spirit of medieval culture.

SOURCE MATERIALS
Abelard, Peter, The Story of My Misfortunes.
Baumer, F. L. V., Main Currents of Western Thought, New York, 1952.
Coulton, G. G., A Medieval Garner, London, 1910.
Jones, C. W., ed., Medieval Literature in Translation, New York, 1950.
Krey, A. C., The First Crusade; The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Partici¬
pants.
Marzialis, F. T., tr., Memoirs of the Crusades, for Villehardouin's Chronicle
of the Fourth Crusade and Joinville's Chronicle of the Crusade of St. Louis
(Dutton).
Pegis, A. C., ed., Basic Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, 2 vols.
Polo, Marco, Travels (Dell and others).
Poole, R. L., Illustrations of the History of Medieval Thought and Learning
(Dover).
Robinson, Paschal, tr., The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi.
Thatcher, O. J., and McNeal, E. H., A Source Book for Medieval History,
452 pp. 513-21, Speech of Urban at Council of Clermont.
 CHAPTER 16
India, the Far East, and Africa in the
Later Middle Ages

Seldom [have] two civilizations, so vast and so strongly developed,

yet so radically dissimilar as the Muhammadan and Hindu, [met
and mingled] together. The very contrasts which existed between
them, the wide divergences in their culture and their religions,
make the history of their impact peculiarly instructive and lend
an added interest to the art and above all to the architecture
which their united genius called into being.
—Sir John Marshall, in Cambridge History of India, Vol. Ill

The centuries which are known in the West as the Middle Ages did
not have quite the same importance for the civilizations of the East¬
ern lands as they did for the evolution of European civilization. The Contrasts with

cultures of India and China were already highly advanced, while the the European
Middle Ages
Western Europeans were onlv beginning to develop a stabilized so¬
ciety and to utilize their intellectual resources to a significant de¬
gree. In contrast to Western Europe, which during the late medi¬
eval centuries was relatively free from external disturbances, both
India and China experienced fresh invasions more sweeping in char¬
acter than any they had known since the beginnings of their re¬
corded history. They were able to survive the shock of these inva¬
sions with the essential features of their cultures intact, although
permanent modifications took place in Indian society. Japan was
unique among the principal Asiatic states in the fact that she was not
subjected to foreign conquest. The tensions and conflicts within her
own society, however, were tremendous, and they gradually pro¬
duced a type of social and political organization which was remark¬
ably similar to the feudal system of Western Europe.

I. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MOSLEM KINGDOMS

IN INDIA (ca. IOOO-15O0)

About the same time that the nations of Western Europe were in¬
itiating the economic and intellectual progress which distinguished 453
Venice

• Moscow

/ SYRIA f'

EGYPT

PERSIA
.^AFGHANISTAN

Kabul#

TIBET

Delhi-

.GangesSjiR.

MONGOL AND MOSLEM EMPIRES ca. 1000-1500 A.D.

MONGOL: MOSLEM:

Empire of
Ottoman Empire
Genghis Khan Vijayanagar ★

Conquests under Tributary to Mysore Madras

Genghis’s grandsons Ottoman Empire

Empire of Delhi Sultanate under

TRA\(ANCORE
Kublai Khan Khilji Dynasty

►-Route of Marco Polo CEYLON

the later Middle Ages and which made possible the brilliant culture
of the Renaissance, the peoples of India were harried by a series of
The Moslem marauding raids that devastated their society and sorely impaired
invaders of India
their creative talents. The invaders of this period were devotees of
Islam. They implanted the Moslem religion in India so firmly that it
has ever since been the faith of a substantial minority of the popula¬
tion. But while the expansion of Islam in Africa, Spain, and the
Middle East was associated with the quickening of cultural activities
and with the attainment of relatively harmonious relations between
the conquerors and their subject peoples, the Moslem conquests in
India led to wanton destruction and created a deep and abiding
cleavage between the opposing religious groups.
The first of the Moslem conquerors of India were Turks from
Afghanistan. They did not come in numberless hordes, nor were
they unresisted by native troops. The fact that they were able to
454 sweep across the country and work such havoc is a commentary on
the fateful political division of India and the lack of solidarity THE MOSLEM KINGDOMS
among her people. Ever since the decay of Harsha’s empire in the IN INDIA
seventh century, Hindustan had been disunited and subject to con¬
tention among various states. The strongest of the Hindu states
were those inhabited by a group known as Rajputs. The origin of
the Rajputs (the word means literally “sons of kings”) is not The conquests of
known. It is probable that they were not Indians to begin with the Turks and
Afghans
but the descendants of Huns and other invaders of the fifth and sixth
centuries who had become assimilated into Hindu society. Gen¬
erally they were regarded as belonging to the kshatriya (warrior)
caste, and they prided themselves on their military traditions. The
rulers and nobility of the Rajput kingdoms had developed a code of
chivalrous conduct somewhat like the cult of chivalry of the medi¬
eval European knights. They were redoubtable horsemen, proud of
their skill with the sword, and hypersensitive to insult. The Rajputs
were the fiercest and bravest fighters in India, but they were unable
to stem the Moslem advance.
Undoubtedly the helplessness of the Indian people during this
time of invasion was intensified by the caste system, which was now
exacting a heavy penalty. Each stratum of the population was Factors aiding the
hedged in by its own prescribed activities and loyalties—military conquerors

defense was considered to be the function of the kshatriyas alone.

The lower classes were impoverished and dispirited, and there was
little incentive for concerted action in the common interest. By con¬
trast, the Moslem invaders were a fresh and energetic people, ex¬
cited by the prospect of rich spoils and inspired by an activist creed
that promised certain recompense for service in a holy war against
idolators. The Hindus were not prepared to cope with such fanati¬
cal zeal as their adversaries displayed. Nevertheless, the Rajputs gave
a good account of themselves in combat; and some of them, when
they saw that opposition was useless, removed with their retainers
into the heart of the Indian desert to rebuild their shattered com¬
munities in the region which came to be called Rajputana.
After its initial impact the Moslem conquest of northern India
entered a new phase, characterized by the establishment of govern¬
mental centers and permanent residences on Indian soil. The most Extension of the

important kingdom founded by the Turks, with Delhi as its capital, Moslem conquests

gradually acquired control over all of Hindustan and even pene¬

trated into the Deccan. Between the thirteenth and the sixteenth
centuries, five successive dynasties of Turks or Afghans ruled from
Delhi. The fortunes of the kingdom and the character of the rulers
during these 300 years cannot be detailed here, but they varied
tremendously. In one instance the sultan was a woman named
Raziya, who demonstrated great energy and ability but was mur¬
dered with her husband—an Ethiopian—by jealous nobles (in
1240). Intrigues and assassinations were frequent because of the
absence of an established rule of succession to the throne. By com- 455
 Kutb Minar, near Delhi. This
magnificent “pillar of victory,”
238 feet high, was erected in
the early thirteenth century by
Kutb-ud-din, the founder of a
Moslem sultanate at Delhi.

parison with the Hindu caste-bound society, the Islamic community

was democratic, and even an upstart who seized the throne by vio¬
lence might be accepted as a legitimate sovereign if he proved capa¬
ble. It was not uncommon for a slave who had been trained for ad¬
ministrative work to be entrusted with large responsibilities both
civil and military and finally to usurp authority when a favorable
opportunity arose. In fact, one line of Delhi rulers is known as the
“Slave Kings” (1206-1290) because its founder had been a slave
and viceroy of an early sultan.
In spite of the fact that high positions were open to men of low
birth, the administration was thoroughly autocratic in operation,
Characteristics of and it derived its character from the personality, the ambitions, or
Moslem rule the whims of the ruler. Cruelty, depravity, enlightened statesman¬
ship, and humanitarian sensibilities were all exemplified in erratic
sequence. For example, the founder of the Khilji Dynasty (1290-
1318) was a benevolent and mild-tempered old gentleman who
hated to shed the blood even of criminals. The nephew who assas¬
sinated and succeeded him was a monster of treachery and cruelty,
and so extortionate that he reduced his Hindu subjects to poverty.
The next sultan, although scholarly and abstinent by habit, was in
some ways even worse than his predecessor. He compelled the en¬
tire population of Delhi to move to another site 600 miles distant,
leaving the great city desolate. He disrupted commerce by debasing
the currency, exacted such heavy taxes that whole villages were
abandoned, hunted down men like wild beasts for sport, and
dreamed of conquering Persia and China. But this dismal tyrant’s
successor (promoted to the throne by the army chiefs) during a
456 long and peaceful reign of thirty-seven years adhered to principles
of justice and benevolence considerably above the general standard THE MOSLEM KINGDOMS
of fourteenth-century states the world over. He reduced taxes, pro¬ IN INDIA
vided poor relief, granted loans to the peasants, and promoted
prosperity by reclaiming waste lands and by building extensive ir¬
rigation works.
The five-century period of the Turkish invasions and the Delhi
Sultanate witnessed many changes in India but few original or con¬
structive cultural developments. The central fact, of course, was the Contrasts

introduction of the Moslem religion and its gradual accommodation between Islam
and Hinduism
to the conditions of the country. At the outset, reconciliation be¬
tween Islam and Hinduism seemed impossible. Islam was strictly
monotheistic, possessed a clear-cut and simple but dogmatic creed,
regarded graven images as sinful, and emphasized the equality of be¬
lievers. Hinduism was polytheistic (although tending toward mono¬
theism or pantheism in its philosophy), taught that there are many
equally valid approaches to an understanding of the divine being, de¬
lighted in symbols, pictorial forms and architectural profusion, and
carried the concept of human inequality to absurd extremes. The
Hindus were noncredal and disposed to tolerance; the Moslems con¬
sidered it their sacred duty to spread the one true faith of Allah and
his Prophet. Nevertheless, the two peoples gradually drew closer to¬
gether. The Moslem sovereigns did not exterminate the Hindus
whom they had subjected. They followed the shrewder policy of
laying discriminatory assessments upon the “unbelievers”—a poll tax
and a tax on Hindu religious festivals and pilgrimages. Naturally, a
good many Hindus became converts to Islam, and those who did so
were accepted on an equal basis by the dominant Moslem faction.
Moreover, intermarriage took place between Hindus and Moslems
in spite of religious scruples on both sides. As already indicated,
some of the sultans and their officials were intelligent and progres¬
sive in outlook. The best of them tried to improve economic condi¬
tions; some were patrons of literature and the arts, encouraged
scholarship, and erected splendid monuments.
It is apparent, however, that the general effects of the Turkish
conquests were depressing. They were accompanied by orgies of
slaughter and spoliation. They threw a pall over the creative spirit General effects

of the Hindus, bringing a marked decline in a tradition of intellec¬ of the Turkish

conquests
tual and artistic enterprise that had once been vigorous, and they al¬
most completely wiped out the remnants of Buddhism. Mosques of
excellent workmanship were constructed—often from the stones of
demolished Hindu temples—and not all the existing Indian temples
were destroyed; but the building of new Hindu religious edifices
was prohibited under severe penalties. It is doubtful whether the
equalitarian aspects of the teachings of Islam produced any amelio¬
rative effects upon the Indian population. The immediate result, at
least, was to create new divisions in an already too sharply divided
society. One social effect of the Moslem impact was the subjection 457
 INDIA, THE FAR EAST, of women to a greater degree than ever before. The custom of
AND AFRICA IN THE purdah (the veiling and seclusion of women) dates from this era.
LATER MIDDLE AGES After the Turkish sultans had established themselves as sovereigns
in Hindustan, they found their position threatened not only by
potential Hindu rebellion and by intrigues among their own vice¬
roys but also by new invasions from Central Asia, that inexhaustible
Mongol invaders: reservoir of nomadic peoples. At this time the chief source of dis¬
Genghis Khan turbance was the expansion of the Mongols, whose force was felt
throughout the breadth of Asia and even in Europe. Early in the
thirteenth century the famous Mongol chieftain and empire builder
Genghis Khan made a brief foray into the Indus valley. His raid was
only an incident, but the danger of a Mongol attack upon India per¬
sisted. Gradually groups of Mongols settled in northern India and
adopted agricultural or industrial pursuits, most of them embracing
the Moslem religion. So numerous were they in Delhi in the late
thirteenth century that a section of the city was called “Mongol-
town.” Mongols were employed by the sultan as mercenary troops,
in which capacity they were sometimes victimized by his suspicion
of their loyalty, and tens of thousands of them were massacred.
Near the end of the fourteenth century northern India was visited
by the most devastating raid in all its history, led by Timur the
Lame (Tamerlane). Timur, of Turkish descent, had started his
career as the chieftain of a small tribal state in Turkestan. After mis¬
fortunes and amazing adventures he had welded together a powerful
force of cavalry and embarked on a sensational career of conquest.
Although he never assumed the title of Khan, he won recognition as
overlord from most of the Mongols who had previously followed
Genghis Khan. He overran Afghanistan, Persia, and Mesopotamia;
then he invaded India with the avowed intention of converting in¬
fidels to Islam and procuring booty. He and his troops spent less
The Great Mongol Conqueror than a year in India (1398-1399) but left a ruin behind them. The
Genghis Khan, Grandfather of city of Delhi, sacked in a three-day orgy, was turned into a ghost
the Founder of the Mongol
town, so destitute that—to quote a contemporary—“for two whole
(Yuan) Dynasty in China.
months not a bird moved a wing in the city.” Any place that offered
resistance was destroyed and its inhabitants slaughtered or enslaved.
Lord Timur carried off with him inestimable quantities of gold and
precious stuffs, slaves for all his soldiers, and thousands of skilled
craftsmen, including stonemasons to build a great mosque at his
capital city of Samarkand in Turkestan. The Delhi Sultanate never
fully recovered from the blow dealt to it and to its helpless Hindu
subjects by Timur, the “Earth Shaker.”
Throughout this period India embraced a number of states, both
Moslem and Hindu, which were not included in the Delhi Sultanate.
The Bahmani In the fourteenth century two large kingdoms came into existence
kingdom
in the Deccan. Ruled by Moslems, the Bahmani kingdom at its
height included about half the Deccan, stretching from sea to sea,
458 and was divided into four provinces. Some of the Bahmani sultans
were well educated and intelligent men, who built lavishly, en¬ CHINA UNDER THE SUNG,
couraged trade, and maintained a cosmopolitan atmosphere at their MONGOL, AND MING
court. In the late fifteenth century the administration deteriorated DYNASTIES
and the kingdom was broken up into five separate states.
Even more splendid than the Bahmani kingdom was the Hindu
empire of Vijayanagar, which at one time dominated the whole
southern end of the peninsula as far north as the Kistna River (in¬ The empire of

cluding, roughly, Madras, Travancore, and Mysore). The capital Vijayanagar

city, also named Vijayanagar (“City of Victory”), was strongly

fortified, heavily populated, and probably—on the testimony of Ital¬
ian, Portuguese, and Afghan visitors—one of the greatest cities in
the world during the fifteenth century. The commerce of the king¬
dom was eagerly sought. Several kinds of precious stones, particu¬
larly large diamonds, were prominent among its exports. The court
was sumptuous and the palaces magnificent. Architecture flourished
on a grand scale and with an imaginative boldness reminiscent of the
classical Sanskrit age. The foundations which underlay the brilliant
culture of this last great Hindu empire, however, were not sound. In
spite of an orderly government and in the midst of great wealth, the
common people suffered from extreme privation and were fleeced
by avaricious officials. Luxurious and profligate courts, the encour¬
agement of prostitution in the temples, and the compulsory burning
of widows (requiring the mass immolation of thousands of women
on the death of a king) were hardly evidences of a healthy society.
Unfortunately, a haughty and embittered rivalry between the
Hindu and the Bahmani kingdoms weakened both states. In 1565 the
almost impregnable city of Vijayanagar was taken and wantonly
destroyed by troops from a league of neighboring Moslem powers,
and the southern Hindu empire sank into a permanent decline.

2. CHINA UNDER THE SUNG, MONGOL, AND

MING DYNASTIES (960-1644)

For about fifty years following the collapse of the great T’ang
Dynasty in the early tenth century, China was a divided country
with power in the hands of military dictators. After this chaotic but Founding of the

relatively brief interregnum (known to Chinese tradition as the Sung Dynasty

“Five Dynasties”), unity and a strong central government were re¬

established by an able general who assumed the imperial title and
founded the Sung Dynasty. This dynasty, like its predecessor, the
T’ang, endured for about three centuries (960-1279). Although the
first Sung had been an army officer, he revived the ancient adminis¬
trative system and restored the power of the civilian bureaucracy.
In contrast to the T’ang, the Sung rulers did not adopt a policy of
imperialism, and even relinquished control over portions of the
empire. Territories in the north and the northwest were lost to
seminomadic peoples who, while founding independent kingdoms, 459
 INDIA, THE FAR EAST, assimilated many aspects of Chinese culture. One of these northern
AND AFRICA IN THE groups, the Khitan, established a kingdom in southern Manchuria,
LATER MIDDLE AGES annexed territory south of the Great Wall in the Peking area, and
collected tribute from the Sung emperors. Although the Khitan
were entirely separate from the Chinese in origin, a corruption of
their name—“Cathay”—came to be a Western designation for
China, a circumstance which indicates that the Khitan did not long
retain their distinctive traits after coming into close contact with
China’s mature civilization.
Early in the twelfth century the Khitan state (Liao) was over¬
thrown by a people of similar stock, the Juchen, who not only oc¬
The Southern cupied Manchuria and Mongolia but also conquered the greater part
Sung period of northern China. Thus, beginning about 1141, the Sung actually
controlled only the Yangtze valley and regions to the south. They
established their capital at Hangchow (then known as Lin-an), a
magnificent port but far distant from the traditional centers of im¬
perial administration. The later, or southern, Sung period was char¬
acterized by a less vigorous administration and by the familiar but
depressing symptoms of dynastic decay. These disadvantages, how¬
ever, were to some extent counterbalanced by the fact that southern
China felt the influence of Chinese culture more fully than it had
before. The peoples of the south and southwest not only became
more completely incorporated into Chinese society but also began
to contribute leadership to the state. The center of population was
shifting to the south, and there was evidence also that originality
and initiative were abundant in this area. During the Southern Sung
period (1141-1279) northern China continued to be ruled by the
Juchen from the old Sung capital at Kaifeng on the Yellow River.
While the loss of so much territory to alien conquerors was humili¬
ating to the Sung emperors, it produced no appreciable permanent
changes in the north. The Juchen adapted themselves to Chinese
ways as readily as had the Khitan. Both Buddhism and Confucianism
obtained a strong hold upon them, and the rulers, following the es¬
tablished convention, adopted a Chinese dynastic title (Chin or Kin,
Heavy Forcelaneous vase with meaning “Gold”).
simple design. Sung Dynasty Peace, internal stability, and prolific cultural activity were char¬
(960-1279).
acteristic of the Sung period, especially during the first century and
a half. As earlier, a flourishing commerce contributed to an increase
in wealth and promoted a knowledge of foreign lands. Overland
trade declined, partly because the caravan routes were no longer
controlled by the Chinese, but business was brisk in port cities of
the southeastern coast. Foreign merchants, among whom the Arabs
still predominated, were granted the right of residence in the trad¬
ing centers, subject to the jurisdiction of an Inspector of Foreign
Trade. At the same time the Chinese themselves were beginning to
participate more extensively in oceanic commerce. The early Sung
460 emperors undertook ambitious public works, including irrigation
projects. Apparently society as a whole attained a fair level of pros¬ CHINA UNDER THE SUNG,
perity, as evidenced by an increase in population. MONGOL, AND MING
The late eleventh century was significant for a reform movement DYNASTIES
launched by a scholar-official, Wang An-shih (1021-1086), who
held the position of chief minister for a number of years. His pro¬
posals were the subject of acrimonious controversy and never were The reforms of

carried out in entirety, but they represented a realistic attempt to Wang An-shih
(1021-1086)
improve the administration, and they focused attention upon the
plight of the common man. Wang promoted the establishment of
public schools endowed with state lands, and he advocated revision
of the civil-service examinations to encourage a knowledge of prac¬
tical problems instead of proficiency in classical literary forms. His
most determined efforts were directed toward a program of relief
for the poor farmers by direct government assistance, by revision of
the inequitable tax system and the abolition of forced labor, and by
a redistribution of land. He wanted the government to control
commerce, fix prices, buy up farm surpluses, and make loans to
farmers at a low rate of interest on the security of their growing
crops. Wang An-shih’s proposals for agrarian relief anticipated some
of the measures inaugurated by governments in recent times, and
his over-all program approximated a kind of state socialism. Al¬
though he insisted that he was merely adapting genuine Confucian
principles to the needs of the time, his opponents branded him as a
dangerous innovator. The contest between the Innovators (Wang’s
disciples) and the Conservatives continued into the next century,
with the emperors favoring sometimes one and sometimes the other
group; but the conservative faction ultimately prevailed. Wang’s
radical proposals, however, have been studied with interest by
modern reformers in China and elsewhere.
An invasion by the Mongols brought about the final collapse of
the Sung Dynasty and subjected all China, for the first time in its his¬
tory, to the rule of a foreign conqueror. The Mongol Asiatic em¬ The Mongol

pire, like so many of its predecessors, was established with almost invaders of
China: Genghis
incredible swiftness in a series of military campaigns, but it was for
Khan and Kublai
a brief period one of the largest ever known. In the early thirteenth Khan
century the great Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan overthrew the
kingdoms adjacent to China on the north and then swept westward
across all Asia. After making a brief foray into India he subdued
Persia and Mesopotamia and occupied large stretches of Russian ter¬
ritory north and west of the Caspian Sea. Although the invasion of
China was probably inevitable, the Sung emperor contributed to his
own downfall by playing a double game with the Mongols. So eager
was he to get rid of the Juchen rulers in north China that he sent
troops to help the Mongols against them; then he rashly attacked the
Mongol forces and exposed his own dominions to the fury of the
ruthless and swift-riding horsemen. The conquest of southern China
was completed, by Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, after 461
INDIA, THE FAR EAST, many years of hard fighting, during which the Mongols not only
AND AFRICA IN THE had to occupy the coastal cities but also had to accustom themselves
LATER MIDDLE AGES to naval warfare. In 1279 the last Chinese army was defeated (the
commanding general is said to have jumped into the sea with the in¬
fant Sung prince in his arms), and Kublai became the master of
China.
The huge Asiatic empire of the Mongols, which reached from the
China Sea to Eastern Europe, was too large to be administered effec¬
The dissolution of tively as a unit and did not long remain intact. Religious differences
Kublai's empire contributed to its dissolution. Before the end of the thirteenth cen¬
tury most of the western princes (khans) had become Moslems and
repudiated the authority of Kublai’s family, who favored a Tibetan
form of Buddhism. Kublai’s descendants, however, from their im¬
perial capital of Peking, governed China for the better part of a cen¬
tury (1279-1368).
The accession of the Mongol (or Yuan) Dynasty seemed to
threaten a serious interruption in the normal course of Chinese civ¬
The rule of the ilization. Fortunately the damage inflicted was only temporary, and
Mongol emperors there was actually some progress during this period of foreign
domination. The Mongols were notoriously cruel conquerors, leav¬
ing ruined cities and mutilated corpses as monuments to the folly of
those who resisted them. The bitterly contested occupation of
southern China was accompanied by a decimation of the native pop¬
ulation in some areas. Nevertheless, the Mongol rulers were wise
enough to recognize the desirability of preserving such a great state
as China and the advantage to be gained from taxing its people in¬
stead of exterminating them. The nomad warriors could not resist
the influence of Chinese culture, and the traditional Chinese adminis¬
trative system was not completely uprooted. The civil service ex¬
aminations were suspended for a time and Chinese were excluded
from most governmental posts, although the Mongol emperors em¬
ployed foreigners of various nationalities in high positions at court.
In the fourteenth century, when the dynasty showed signs of
weakening and native unrest became ominous, the emperor re¬
instituted the examination system and admitted Chinese to office,
chiefly at the lower level.
The Mongol rulers were no more intolerant in religious matters
than their predecessors. While they patronized Buddhism, they did
Religious and not seriously interfere with the other native cults and they author¬
welfare policies ized the construction of Confucian colleges and temples. They also
permitted the introduction of Western religions, although Islam was
the only one of these to retain a permanent place. Following the pre¬
cedent of earlier dynasties, the Mongol emperors endowed chari¬
table and educational institutions and maintained public granaries to
provide relief in time of famine. They also gave attention to irriga¬
462 tion projects and the improvement of communications. A notable
The Imperial Post Road. This road, through
a valley west of Chunking, is part of the
old Imperial Post Road connecting Peking
with the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

undertaking was the reconstruction of the Grand Canal linking the

capital city of Peking to the Yangtze valley by an inland waterway.
During the Mongol period China was by no means isolated from
other regions. The area under the jurisdiction of Peking was con¬
siderably larger than the empire of the Sung, and the emperors at- Extension of

tempted to increase it still further by schemes of conquest of dubi- foreign contacts

ous value. Kublai Khan made two attempts to invade Japan (in 1274
and 1281), employing both Chinese and Korean vessels, but a ty¬
phoon wrecked many of his ships and the Japanese annihilated the
landing party. Fortunately, peaceful intercourse was continued with
other nations, near and far. Overland commerce was facilitated by
imperial highways which the Mongols built deep into Central Asia
and even to Persia. That travel was comparatively safe is indicated
by the large number of foreign visitors in China during this period
and also by the fact that Chinese journeyed far from home—to Rus¬
sia, Persia, the Near East, and occasionally Europe. Russians, Arabs,
and Jews entered China for purposes of trade, as did Genoese and
Venetians. The renowned Marco Polo was only one of many Euro¬
pean visitors. He lived in China for seventeen years (1275-1292),
was received at court, and visited various parts of the country. The
glowing report with which he astonished his countrymen upon re- 463
INDIA, THE FAR EAST, turning home (he described Hangchow, the Southern Sung capital,
AND AFRICA IN THE as “the finest and noblest city in the world”) was less a tribute to
LATER MIDDLE AGES the Mongol Dynasty than to the maturity of Chinese civilization,
and was also an unintentional commentary upon the relatively prim¬
itive conditions still prevalent in Western Europe.
In the fourteenth century, Mongol power was undermined by the
decadence of the ruling house and by the growing discontent of the
Chinese people, who never forgot that they had been subjugated by
a barbarian conqueror. Rebellion was brought to a successful con¬
clusion under the leadership of a dynamic, if somewhat grotesque,
soldier of fortune, who captured Peking in 1368 and drove the last
Mongol emperor into the wastes of Mongolia. This rebel leader was
a man of low birth who had been orphaned at an early age and had
exchanged the life of a Buddhist monk for that of a bandit. Never¬
The overthrow of theless, he was accepted as having won the Mandate of Heaven and
the Mongols and became the first emperor of the Ming (“Brilliant” or “Glorious”)
establishment of
Dynasty, which lasted from 1368 to 1644. The dynasty proved to be
the Ming Dynasty
extremely successful and gave renewed proof of the potency of
Chinese institutions, although it added little that was new. The gov¬
ernment adhered to the Sung patterns, or in some ways more closely
to the T’ang, particularly in its emphasis upon the forceful expan¬
sion of territorial boundaries. Ming China was a large state, with its
authority extending into Manchuria, Mongolia, Indochina, Burma,
and the southwestern region facing Tibet. While the great Mongol
empire of the thirteenth century had fallen to pieces, it gave prom¬
ise of being resurrected by Timur (Tamerlane), the master of
Turkestan and scourge of India. Although the Ming court regarded
Timur’s emissaries as tribute bearers, the “Earth Shaker” was actu¬
ally setting forth on an expedition to conquer China when he died
prematurely in 1405. In spite of this stroke of fortune, the Ming
emperors made little effort to recover either Turkestan or Sinkiang.
A noteworthy aspect of the early Ming period was the develop¬
ment and rapid expansion of Chinese navigation. The mariner’s
Maritime compass had been in use perhaps since the eleventh century, and
achievements some large ships had been constructed; but now maritime enterprise
under the Ming
was given tremendous impetus. Chinese sailing vessels, equipped
Dynasty
with as many as four decks and comfortable living quarters, under¬
took voyages to the East Indies, the Malay Peninsula, Ceylon, India,
and Arabia, returning with merchandise, tribute, and valuable
geographical information. They may have ventured westward
around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. In its heyday the Ming
navy was more than equal to that of any contemporary European
state. Overseas expeditions were discontinued, however, about 1424.
Henceforth the government restricted Chinese shipping to coastal
waters and discouraged foreign travel on the part of its subjects.
The result was not only a loss of revenue from commerce but also
464 an unfortunate isolation of China at the very time when the Western
Fall of the Ming Dynasty. The death of
the last of the Ming emperors at the hands
of the invading Manchus when they
captured Peking in 1644.

peoples were beginning to emerge from their provincialism. Instead

of retaining the initiative on the high seas, the later Ming rulers
proved inefficient in defending their own coasts against Japanese
pirates and other marauding groups.
A decline in the vitality of the administration was apparent long
before the Ming Dynasty came to a close. Officials became lazy and
corrupt; power passed into the hands of court favorites and eu¬ Decline of the
nuchs; and exorbitant taxes oppressed the peasants to the point of Ming Dynasty

ruin. While the costs of government mounted dizzily—in 1639 mili¬

tary expenditures alone were ten times greater than the entire
revenue of the first Ming emperor—territories were being lost
through incompetence and rebellion. Although the dynasty finally
succumbed to another foreign invasion, internal dissension was the
real cause of its collapse.
In turning from the political to the cultural developments that
took place in China during the Sung, Mongol, and Ming dynasties,
we may note that a renewal of interest in philosophical speculation Cultural devel¬
occurred, reaching a climax in the latter half of the twelfth century. opments under
the Sung and
This revival represented a return to the fountainhead of Chinese
Ming: Neo-
thought—the sages of antiquity, particularly Confucius—but it in¬
Confucianism
troduced several new ideas and was not a mere repetition of ancient
formulas. The most noted Chinese thinker of this period was Chu
Hsi (1130-1200), who held a position at the Sung court and was an
opponent of the so-called Innovators (disciples of Wang An-shih).
Although Chu Hsi claimed to be interpreting Confucius’ teachings
in accordance with their original and uncorrupted meaning, he and
his associates actually founded a Neo-Confucian school, with a
metaphysics which incorporated elements of Taoism and Buddhism.
They stressed the concept of the “Supreme Ultimate” or Absolute,
a Final Cause which underlies the whole material universe and is 465
 INDIA, THE FAR EAST, antecedent to every rational or moral principle. Nevertheless, Chu
AND AFRICA IN THE Hsi, like his ancient master Confucius, was chiefly interested in
LATER MIDDLE AGES human nature and its proper development in an ethical and social
order. He reaffirmed Mencius’ faith in man’s natural capacity for
good and upheld the traditional ethical system exemplified by the
family and embodied in a paternalistic state administered by a
bureaucracy of scholar-officials. The teachings of Chu Hsi, although
stoutly contested by rival scholars in his day, eventually came to be
regarded as the definitive commentary on the doctrines of the anci¬
ent sage. Venerated as orthodoxy, they discouraged creative thought
among later scholars and administrators.
A prodigious output of literature has been characteristic of Chi¬
nese civilization during almost every period except the most ancient.
Printing was very common from Sung times on. Books were printed
from wooden blocks, from metal plates, and from movable type
made of earthenware, tin, and wood. Poetry seldom equaled the
best of the T’ang age in beauty or spontaneity, but lengthy his¬
tories, encyclopedias, dictionaries, geographies, and scientific trea¬
tises were produced. The most original literary developments were
Fantastic Ceramic Figure of a in the fields of the drama and the novel. The Chinese drama attained
Deity. Ming Dynasty. the level of a major art form during the Mongol Dynasty, partly be¬
cause the suspension of the civil-service examinations, by cutting off
opportunities for official careers, prompted men of talent to turn
their attention to a medium of popular entertainment which they
had previously considered unworthy of notice. The dramas of the
Mongol period, of which more than a hundred have survived, com¬
bined lively action with vivid portrayal of character, and they were
written in the common idiom of the people rather than in the clas¬
sical language of scholars. The Chinese theater, like the English
theater of Shakespeare’s day, was largely devoid of scenery and
properties, although the performers made use of elaborate costumes
and heavy make-up. Ordinarily all the parts were filled by male ac¬
tors. The plays were in verse, but, in contrast to the Elizabethan and
modern Western drama, the speeches were sung rather than recited
and the orchestra (placed directly on the stage) contributed an es¬
sential element to the production.
The Chinese novel, originating apparently in the tales of public
Sung printed book. A page story-tellers, developed contemporaneously with the drama but
from the Fa-yuan chu-lin matured a little later. Its growth was aided indirectly by the sterility
(“Forest of Pearls in the Gar¬ of the academic atmosphere that pervaded the court and the bureau¬
den of the Law”). The book
cracy of the Ming Dynasty. In the fifteenth century, veneration for
was compiled by the Buddhist
monk and scholar Tao-Shih in Confucian orthodoxy, especially as embodied in the teachings of
688. It was printed in 1124, Chu Hsi, had become such a fetish among the official coterie of
fully three centuries earlier scholars that one of them declared: “The truth has been made mani¬
than the Gutenberg Bible. fest. ... No more writing is needed.”1 Some men of letters
sought a creative outlet by composing narratives in the plain lan-

466 1L. C. Goodrich, A Short History of the Chinese People, p. 196.

Wooden Statue of Kuan-yin, “Goddess of
Mercy.” This popular deity, usually repre¬
sented in female form, was actually derived
from a legendary Indian bodhisattva. (In Ma-
hayana Buddhism a bodhisattva was one who
had attained enlightenment but chose to remain
in the world to help others.)

guage of the people. In their hands the novel became a highly suc¬
cessful literary medium, skillfully contrived but purveying robust
adventure, humor, warm feeling, and salty realism. Frequently his¬
torical themes were chosen for subject matter, but the tales also pro¬
vided commentary—sometimes satirical—upon contemporary soci¬
ety and government.
A large proportion of the Chinese works of art still extant was
produced during the period which is being reviewed here. Sculpture
had declined in quality since T’ang times, but painting reached its
highest peak of excellence under the Sung. The most beautiful and
typical Sung paintings are landscapes, frequently executed in only
one color but conveying the impression of an intimate understand¬
ing of nature in her various moods. Through economy of line, omis¬
sion of nonessentials, and painstaking treatment of significant detail,
the artists sought to bring to light the reality which lies hidden be¬
hind the world of appearances. Their dreamy creations were obvi¬
ously influenced by the mystical teachings of Buddhism and Tao¬
ism. Landscape painting was at its ripest during the Southern Sung
period, when the leading artists took full advantage of the natural
Porcelain Vase. Ming Dynasty.
beauty of the Hangchow region. They sometimes painted pano¬
ramic scenes on long strips of silk. These were fastened to rollers
and could be viewed leisurely by simply holding the rollers in one’s
hands and winding the painted scroll from one roller to the other.
Architecture attained particular pre-eminence under the Ming, a
dynasty which delighted in glorifying and embellishing the visible 467
 Spring Morning at the Palace of Han. Sung Dynasty. Chinese painting empha¬
sized landscapes rather than people and the representation of poetic or philo¬
sophic ideas rather than facts.

aspects of Chinese culture. Ming architecture was by no means new

in conception, but it was prolific and has left many impressive
Architecture monuments. The popularity of elaborate gardens, summer resi¬
dences, game preserves, and hunting lodges among the aristocracy
provided opportunities for the designing of graceful pavilions and
arched bridges. Fully developed by this period was the pagoda style
of temple, distinguished by curving roofs which were usually of tile
and frequently in brilliant colors.
China has only rarely been isolated from other parts of the world,
and many of her cultural changes were the result of foreign con¬
tacts. The Chinese were indebted to the Arabs for contributions in
the field of mathematics and probably also in medicine, although the
Chinese had themselves accumulated a considerable store of medical

Sage under a Pine Tree. Sung

Dynasty. The gnarled and
twisted tree exemplifies the
Chinese interest in nature in
both her pleasant and perverse
moods.
11 War Spirit.” A Ming Dy¬
nasty painting (1368-1644).

data. Inoculation against smallpox seems to have been practiced be¬

fore the end of the Sung Dynasty. Eyeglasses came into use (from
Italy) during the Ming period. New crops of Western origin began Achievements
to be cultivated in China. Sorghum, introduced in the thirteenth in agriculture
and in the
century, and maize in the sixteenth have been raised extensively in
applied sciences
northern China ever since. Cotton production, which also began in
the thirteenth century, was greatly expanded under the Ming. One
innovation which may have been of domestic rather than foreign
inspiration was in the technique of warfare. The explosive proper¬
ties of gunpowder had long been known, but not until the eleventh
century were they utilized for the manufacture of lethal weapons.
The Mongols, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, employed
bombs that perhaps were propelled by primitive cannons. Although
these early artillery pieces were crude, they foreshadowed the in¬
creasingly destructive character of modern warfare.

3. THE RISE OF FEUDALISM AND MILITARY

DICTATORS IN JAPAN (ca. 900-1600)

Even though Chinese culture had been incorporated into the

foundations of Japanese civilization and exerted a lasting influence,
social and political trends in Japan during the medieval era were Contrasts

very different from those in the great mainland state. While China between Japan
and China
was frequently harassed by nomadic invaders and was temporarily
subjugated by a foreign dynasty, her society and culture departed
little from the ancient pattern. By contrast, Japan, enjoying the
natural protection of her insular position, was not seriously affected
by disturbances from without; yet her institutions were profoundly
altered as the result of conflicts taking place within her own society.
A theoretical unity and an arbitrary and artificial scheme of gov¬
ernment had been imposed upon Japan by the reform of the mid¬
seventh century, which attempted to introduce the Chinese imperial 469
 A Feudal Stronghold. Hirosaki
Castle, in northern Japan, was
the residence of one of the
“outer daimyo” during the
Tokugawa Shogunate. The cas¬
tle grounds are now a popu¬
lar resort for cherry blossom
viewing.

system in its entirety. How completely the attempt had failed is il¬
lustrated by the events of the next thousand years. Only belatedly,
and after indecisive and exhausting strife, was the basis discovered
for a stable and unified society. And when stability was achieved, it
was through improvised institutions which were inadequate to solve
the problems certain to arise in the wake of economic and cultural
change.
The political history of Japan during this period is characterized
mainly by two factors: (i) the persistence of an indirect method of
Character of government, with the actual power shifting from one family to an-
Japanese political other but exercised in the name of an inviolate emperor, whose
hls,ory effective authority rarely extended beyond the environs of Kyoto;
(2) the feudalization of society and the growth of extralegal mili¬
tary units which imposed their will upon territories under their con¬
trol. To the end of the sixteenth century the technique of govern¬
ment was variable and uncertain, although the trend from civilian to
military authority was unmistakable. At the opening of the seven¬
teenth century a centralized administration was finally established
which ended a long period of civil wars, enforced a coherent na¬
tional policy, and endured almost unshaken until the middle of the
nineteenth century. Even when it was overthrown, the habits which
it had instilled in the Japanese people could not easily be uprooted.
In the ninth century the Fujiwara family, through intermarriage
with the imperial family and through possession of the office of re-
470 gent, had acquired a dominant position in the government, reducing
the emperor to a figurehead. The Fujiwara retained their ascen¬ FEUDALISM AND MILITARY
dancy until the twelfth century, but their rule over the outlying DICTATORS IN JAPAN
sections became more and more nominal as new lands were brought
into production by reclamation or by conquest of the aborigines,
and as aggressive landowners succeeded in withdrawing their estates
from the jurisdiction of the imperial tax collectors. The men who
possessed estates in these frontier regions were not hampered by the
elaborate rules of etiquette or by the mania for classical Chinese
studies that absorbed the energies of the courtiers at Kyoto. They
formulated their own standards of conduct, largely dictated by the
desire to preserve and extend their holdings, and quarreled with one
another over conflicting claims. Naturally, many small farmers re¬
linquished their property to powerful neighbors in return for pro¬
tection and sank to a position of serfdom. Gradually a manorial
economy came into existence, showing some points of similarity to
the manorial regime in Western Europe during the later Middle
Ages.
By a remarkable coincidence of history Japanese society took
on aspects of feudalism at the very time when feudal institutions
were evolving in Western Europe. Of course it would be a mistake
to assume that Japanese and Western feudalism were identical, but
the parallels between them are striking. In Japan and Western
Europe alike, leadership was passing to a class of mounted warriors
who owned land, dominated the peasantry, and exercised govern¬
mental power as a private right. In Japan the rising class of warrior-
landlords was derived partly from clan chieftains, partly from ad¬
venturers who had established title purely by the sword, and partly
from imperial officials who had converted an administrative office
into a family possession. The members of the landed class estab¬
lished hereditary claims to their holdings and entered into binding Swords of the Feudal Nobili¬
ty. This type of curved sword,
agreements with one another, creating a series of dependent rela¬
of fine steel, was worn sus¬
tionships equivalent to a system of lords and vassals. As in the case pended from the girdle by
of European feudalism, the system was extended partly through great daimyo or court nobles
the voluntary surrender of property by small landowners who during Japan’s early feudal
age (twelfth to fourteenth
sought a noble’s protection, and partly through the granting of
centuries). Note the jeweled
benefices or fiefs by great lords to lesser men in order to secure hilts, the ornately decorated
their services as vassals. Another parallel to the growth of European scabbards, and the loops for
feudalism is seen in the fact that property belonging to religious hanging the swords.
foundations was frequently converted into fiefs. Some Buddhist
monasteries and temples became formidable military units, but Japa¬
nese religious orders never attained an independence like that of the
higher clergy in medieval Europe. They remained generally sub¬
servient to the aristocracy.
The Japanese warriors, who corresponded in status and in profes¬
sion to the medieval knights, were known as samurai, or bushi. The
samurai developed a fraternal spirit and a code of conduct to which
they jealously clung as their special prerogative and which they
called “the way of the horse and the bow.” (The term bushido, not 471
INDIA, THE FAR EAST, used before the eighteenth century, denoted a romantic and arti¬
AND AFRICA IN THE ficial version of the old feudal code.) Like the European code of
LATER MIDDLE AGES chivalry it stressed valor, loyalty, and the necessity of preferring
death to dishonor. The samurai was bound above all else to protect,
defend, or avenge his lord, to this end sacrificing his own life and, if
The samurai and need be, the lives of his family—a remarkable ideal in view of the
their code sacredness of family ties in Japan. So sensitive was the samurai to
any taint of dishonor that he was expected to commit suicide (by a
ritual of falling on one’s sword, known as hara-kiri) if there was no
other way to wipe out the stain on his reputation.
In the twelfth century, feudal warfare culminated in a struggle
between two powerful families, the Taira and the Minamoto. With
The rise of the the victory of the Minamoto, their leader reorganized the govern¬
Shoguns ment on a basis which frankly recognized the paramount role of the
landowning warrior-nobility. To avoid appearing as a usurper, the
head of the Minamoto family assumed only a military title, becom¬
ing known as Shogun, and pretended to be acting as the agent of the
emperor. In reality, for the next six and one-half centuries (1192-
1867) Japan had a dual government: the civil authority at Kyoto
headed by the emperor and embracing various ranks of court
nobility whose functions were ornamental rather than essential, and
the Bakufu (“Tent Government”) headed by the Shogun and
commanding the services of the powerful military leaders who
owned most of the land. The creation of the Shogunate, as this
military-feudal government came to be called, indicates how
thoroughly feudalism had permeated Japanese society. The real
governors of the country now were not the imperial bureaucracy
but the vassals of the Shogun.
Although the Shogunate proved to be a durable institution, it did
not remain perpetually in the hands of any one family. On the death
The Shogunate of the first Shogun his widow’s relatives seized control, with her
under the Hojo
connivance. This extremely capable woman became known as the
family
“Nun Shogun,” because she wielded political influence even after
she had nominally retired into holy orders, and with her help the
Hojo family came into power. For more than a century the Hojo
appointed puppet Shoguns over whom they maintained a regency.
Thus, by the early thirteenth century the government of Japan was
a confusing series of subterfuges. The central authority (so far as
any existed) was exercised by a regent in the name of a puppet gen¬
eral (the Shogun) who, in turn, was theoretically an underling of an
emperor, who was himself controlled by a regent (or, in some cases,
by an elder member of the imperial family living in retirement).
Because the Hojo family had no inherent claim to superiority over
other great feudal houses, its ascendancy created jealous dissatisfac¬
tion and led inevitably to further conflict. A remarkable incident
occurred in 1333 when the Emperor Daigo II attempted to cut
472 through the sham governmental fabric and assert his right to rule as
The Golden Pavilion (Kiukakuji). Resi¬
dence built by Yoshimitsu, third Ashikaga
Shogun in 1397.

well as reign. He mustered sufficient military forces to capture and

burn the Shogun’s headquarters at Kamakura and ended the Hojo
regency. The sequel to this bold stroke, however, was simply a half-
century of civil war, with two rival emperors, each bidding for sup¬
port. The schism in the imperial household was healed and order
temporarily restored with the triumph of another great military
family, the Ashikaga, who again reduced the emperor to a position
of impotence.
The Ashikaga Shoguns (1392-1568) made the serious mistake of
taking up residence in Kyoto, where they were exposed to the soft¬
ening influence of court society and, by relaxing their vigilance, lost The period of

effective control over the turbulent lords of outlying districts.

Feudal rivalry became increasingly unrestrained until, beginning in
the late fifteenth century, Japan experienced 100 years of almost
continual warfare. Robbery and pillage were rampant; almost all
vestiges of a central government disappeared; even the private es¬
tates which the emperor had owned in various parts of the country
were absorbed into the feudal domains. The imperial family as well
as the Kyoto courtiers were subjected to humiliation by swaggering
soldiers. Reduced to poverty, one emperor eked out a living by sell¬
ing his autograph. In 1500 an imperial corpse lay unburied for six
weeks because there was no money in the treasury. The Ashikaga
Shogun was almost as impotent as the emperor and quite unable to
stop the brigandage and slaughter carried on wantonly by feudal re- 473
INDIA, THE FAR EAST, tainers and robber monks. Conditions in Japan seemed to be fast ap¬
AND AFRICA IN THE proaching anarchy when, at the close of the sixteenth century, the
LATER MIDDLE AGES Shogunate was drastically and effectively reorganized by the Toku-
gawa family.
In spite of all the confusion and turmoil, however, there were
constructive forces at work. The character of Japanese feudalism
The ascendancy was changing in a significant direction. Large territorial units were
of the great lords taking shape under fairly competent administrative systems. This
trend was the result partly of natural evolution and partly of the
policy of the Shoguns. At the outset the Shogun had attempted to
control the various fiefs by sending out officials responsible to him
and appointed from the military capital at Kamakura; but these
officials acquired hereditary status and merged into the hierarchy.
The Constable in particular—an officer who was given administra¬
tive authority over a province-—gradually became a great baron or
magnate, absorbing into his own dominion the estates within his
jurisdiction. The great lords grew in prestige and material resources
at the expense of the lesser fiefholders. During the almost constant
warfare of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, peasants were
pressed into military service, and consequently the importance of
the knights began to decline. The appearance of mass armies com¬
posed of commoners was comparable to the trend in European
countries during this same period; but, while the European armies
were recruited chiefly by the kings of national states, the Japanese
forces were under the control of feudal lords.
Leadership was passing from the knightly (samurai) class as a
whole to the great lords, who were known as daimyo (“Great
The daimyo Names”). The daimyo incorporated many small estates into their
own possessions and employed the samurai as managers and as sub¬
ordinate . military commanders. The families which attained the
status of daimyo came to be referred to as clans, but they were
actually very different from the clans of early Japanese society.
Their territories were feudal provinces, and the people under their
rule were bound by vassalage or servitude rather than by blood rela¬
tionship. The ascendancy of the daimyo, while it by no means elimi¬
nated feudal dissension, greatly reduced the number of rival units
and also ensured a considerable measure of stability within each
unit.
Economically and culturally, Japan’s feudal age was a period, not
of retrogression or stagnation, but of progress. That this was so may
Economic prog¬ seem strange in view of the roughness of the times and the instabil¬
ress during ity of political institutions, but the evidence is undeniable. The
the feudal age
Japanese maintained commerical contacts with other Far Eastern
countries and continued to receive stimulating influences from
China. Foreign trade, increasing steadily from the twelfth century,
led to the substitution of money for rice or cloth as a medium of
474 exchange and promoted diversified economic activity. By the fif-
teenth century the Japanese were exporting not only raw materials, FEUDALISM AND MILITARY
such as lumber, gold, and pearls, but also manufactured goods. Japa¬ DICTATORS IN JAPAN
nese folding fans and screens were in great demand in China, and
steel swords were exported by the thousands to a large Far Eastern
market. The curved swords forged by Japanese craftsmen in the
thirteenth century are said to have been unsurpassed even by the
famous blades of Toledo and Damascus. Society during Japan’s
feudal period was far from being purely agrarian. Commercial and
industrial centers came into being, and a few developed into popu¬
lous cities. Groups of merchants organized guilds for mutual protec¬
tion and to promote the marketing of their wares. Moreover, in
contrast to most of Western Europe, the feudal classes participated
in capitalistic enterprises. In addition to professional merchants,
monastic orders, samurai, great nobles, and occasionally even the
Shogun invested in trade.
As in earlier times, various schools of Buddhism contributed to
cultural development, largely because they continued to serve as
channels for intellectual and aesthetic currents from China. One of The samurai and

the most prominent sects, the Zen (from the Chinese Ch’an), was Zen Buddhism

introduced at the close of the twelfth century and spread rapidly

among the samurai. Zen Buddhism taught that Enlightenment would
come to the individual not through study or any intellectual process
but by a sudden flash of insight experienced when one was in tune
with nature. Because it stressed physical discipline, self-control, and
the practice of meditation in place of formal scholarship, the sect
appealed to the warrior class, who felt that Zen teachings gave
supernatural sanction to the attitudes which they had already come
to regard as essential to their station. Though its doctrines were
fundamentally anti-intellectual, its monks fostered both learning and
art and injected several refinements into Japanese upper-class soci¬
ety. Among these were an unrivaled type of landscape architecture,
the art of flower arrangement, and a delicate social ritual known as
the tea ceremony—all of which were Chinese importations but
elaborated with great sensitivity in Japan.
Religious developments in Japan during the medieval period were
in many ways distinctive. New sects sprang up and caught the
imagination of the common people. Some of them proposed the The growth of

elimination of ceremony and the abolition of distinctions between religious sects

clergy and laity. Others encouraged a fierce intolerance and a wor¬

ship of national greatness. That the Japanese lower classes were
aroused and encouraged by the new teachings is certain. During the
tumultuous fifteenth and sixteenth centuries uprisings against the
feudal nobles were instigated by religious congregations, and in a
few instances the revolts were successful. These manifestations of
popular intransigence, though, had little or no permanent effect
upon Japanese society, which remained predominantly aristocratic
in structure and tone. 475
 INDIA, THE FAR EAST, Many other cultural changes resulted from the growth of a pro¬
AND AFRICA IN THE ductive and diversified economy and from the mutual stimulation
LATER MIDDLE AGES among competing religious sects. While sacred writings were being
collected and translated in the monasteries, and while courtiers con¬
tinued to write in the polished but lifeless classical manner, litera¬
ture was enriched by the addition of tales of daring and high adven¬
ture conceived for the entertainment and edification of men of
arms. These stories of knightly prowess, composed in a flowing
poetical prose and sometimes sung to the accompaniment of a lute,
are comparable to the heroic epics of medieval European chivalry.
No counterpart of the European poems of romantic love, however,
arose in feudal Japan, where woman’s role (with a few notable ex¬
ceptions) was definitely subordinate. All the arts were influenced by
Chinese models, but the Japanese had long since demonstrated their
originality in adapting styles to their own tastes. Particularly im¬
pressive were the paintings executed by monks of the Zen sect in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These were chiefly landscapes
and similar in style to those of the Chinese artists of the Ming Dy¬
nasty, but they possessed an individuality and freshness of their
Costume for the No Dance- own.
Drama (seventeenth century).
Lavish and colorful pictorial
The exacting aesthetic standards of the aristocratic patrons of the
decoration was characteristic Zen sect are also evident in a specialized form of dramatic art, the
of the costumes worn by No No, which emerged during this period. The No “lyric-drama” or
actors. “dance-drama” was not a foreign importation but almost purely a
native product. Its origins can be traced to ancient folk dances and
also to ritualistic dances associated with both Shintoist and Buddhist
modes of worship. In its perfected form, it became a unique vehicle

The No drama is characterized by rhythmical recitation of texts, traditional

music, and symbolic movement of players.
of artistic expression and entertainment, which heightened the ap¬ CIVILIZATIONS IN
peal of rhythm and graceful postures by relating them to dramatic SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
incidents. The themes of the dance-dramas were traditional narra¬
tives, but they were presented with great restraint and by suggestive
symbolism rather than by literal re-enactment, somewhat in the The No
manner of a series of tableaus. The performers wore masks as well as drama

rich costumes and chanted their lines to the accompaniment of

drums and flutes. The No drama achieved great popularity among
the samurai class and was at its height from the fourteenth to the
sixteenth centuries. In spite of its extremely stylized character, it has
never entirely disappeared from the artistic heritage of Japan.

4. THE EMERGENCE OF CIVILIZATIONS IN

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The period 1000 to 1500 a.d. represented a time of state formation

in black Africa. Chieftaincies in many areas were consolidated under
divine kings. Numerous kingdoms evolved into expansive territorial Dramatic growth in

empires, embracing a rich diversity of cultures, languages, and re¬ the trans-Saharan
trade leads to state
ligious systems. The process of empire-building was most pro¬
formation in the
nounced in the savanna, or Sudanic zone of West Africa. West African Sudan
Trans-Saharan trade expanded at a rapid rate after the eighth
century, due in large measure to the initiative of Arabs and Berbers.
Concurrently, growing demands from European and North African Ghana's wealth
merchants for gold motivated West Africans to organize themselves based mainly on
gold exports
on a larger, more efficient scale in order to meet these demands.
Ghana’s armies, under a black Soninke dynasty, captured the pros¬
perous Berber trading center of Audoghast in the tenth century.
Successive Ghanaian monarchs grew immensely rich by tightly con¬
trolling the flow of gold across their territory. A production tax
was placed on gold exports and nuggets of a certain size were
hoarded in order to keep the mineral rare. Ghana’s hegemony ex¬
tended to the upper Niger and Senegal rivers and to the burgeoning
commercial centers of Timbuktu, Jenne, and Gao.
Ghana was not a Moslem empire, but her principal customers and
those who controlled the strategic desert oases had become Moslems
by the tenth century. Rulers in neighboring Takrur accepted Islam The Almoravids

about 1000 a.d. and thus became West Africa’s first kingdom to do overrun Ghana

so. Ghana itself had become dangerously dependent on Moslem

financial advisers and merchants. Its pagan king was eventually
forced to divide the capital city of Kumbi-Saleh into two parts,
one for Moslems, the other for pagans.
Islam, the handmaiden of West African commerce, could not be
contained. By 1054, large bands of nomadic Moslem Berbers had
declared a holy war, or jihad, and succeeded in recapturing the vital
Audoghast markets. Ghana, on the Saharan fringe, had already been
weakened by environmental deterioration brought on by over- 477
 Sijilmasa

aSONGHAY
TAKRUR
mum
Tjmbuctu HAUSA/ \/
,OAUHA~~~
vKATSWA^l

BORNU
ETHIOPIA

BUNYORO-KITARA
Mogadishu

~'~y Lake
yictoria /
BUGANDA
p MalindL/-■
Mom basa^ Ie d:

KONGO Tanganyika ZANZIBAR

Kilwa
LUBA,

MWENEMUTAPA

Great Zimbabwe tSofala

Islamic areas in Africa

Principal trade routes

500_1000 miles

AFRICA* 1000-1500 A.D.

grazing of pastures and failure to rotate crops. Its capitulation to

these puritanical Berber Moslems, called Almoravids, seemed almost
inevitable. But the Almoravids brought insecurity to Ghanaian mar¬
ket places and fear along the caravan routes. This condition upset
the delicate trade balance between the forest gold miners, the
478 Ghanaian middlemen, and the North African caravan operators.
Indeed, Ghana emerged from the Almoravid movement in such a CIVILIZATIONS IN
weakened condition that peripheral chieftaincies were able to secede. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
One of these vassal chieftaincies sacked the Ghanaian capital in 1224
and enslaved the ruling family. A decade later the victor himself
succumbed to the superior magic of a Ghanaian royal hostage,
named Sunjata.
Ghana was finished, but a new territorial empire called Mali was
forged by the magician Sunjata, who is still regarded in Western
Sudanic folk traditions as a god-hero and founding father. By gain¬ The rise of Mali
ing control of the gold-producing regions, Sunjata could attract the
caravan traffic formerly monopolized by Ghana. The oral record
also reveals that Sunjata expanded agriculture by introducing the
cultivation and weaving of cotton.
Under Mansa Musa (1312-1337) Mali’s authority reached into the
middle Niger city-states of Timbuktu, Jenne, and Gao. He put Mali
on the European world maps by performing a stunning gold-laden Mansa Musa

pilgrimmage to Mecca, Islam’s spiritual capital in the Middle East.

Upon returning, Mansa Musa fostered the growth of Islam by con¬
structing magnificent mosques in the major urban centers. With his
seemingly inexhaustible supply of gold he commissioned Spanish
and Middle Eastern scholars and architects to transform Malian
cities into great seats of Islamic learning. Leading intellectuals were
sent to Morocco and Egypt for higher studies, and at Timbuktu
foundations were laid for a university at the famed Sankore mosque.
For decades after Musa, Mali enjoyed a reputation in the Moslem
world for high standards of public morality and scholarship as well
as for law, order, and security. People and goods flowed freely,
enabling the cosmopolitan cities of Timbuktu, Jenne, and Gao to
flower into major market centers. Through the leadership of Sunjata

Mansa Musa of Mali

waiting to receive a
Moslem trader. De¬
tail of the Catalan
Atlas, a map drawn
on the island of
Majorca in 1375.
INDIA, THE FAR EAST, and Mansa Musa Islam became more deeply implanted among the
AND AFRICA IN THE elite and spread widely in the important towns.
LATER MIDDLE AGES While Mansa Musa made great advances in establishing an effi¬
cient administrative bureaucracy, he neglected to develop a formula
for succession. Court intrigue and factional disputes followed the
Sunni Ali and the death of each Mansa. Inevitably, central authority weakened. Gao
formation of seceded in 1375 an<^ under Sunni Ali (1464-1492) it blossomed into
Songhay
an expansive territorial empire called Songhay.
As in Moslem India, it was not uncommon for slaves in Africa to
assume considerable administrative and military responsibilities and
Askia Muhammad on occasion to usurp authority. This happened in Songhay in 1493
Toure and the
when a high-ranking Moslem slave, named Muhammad Toure,
growth of Islamic
staged a brilliant palace coup. Lacking traditional legitimacy rooted
institutions
in a pagan past, he promoted Islamic practices and found Islam an
invaluable instrument for political and cultural control. Using the
praise-title of “Askia,” Muhammad Toure (1493-1528) extended
Songhay’s frontiers deep into the strategic Saharan oases, across the
middle Niger to include Mali, and eastward to the emporiums of
Hausaland. He then created a labyrinthine bureaucracy with min¬
istries for the army, navy, fisheries, forests, and taxation. Songhay
itself was decentralized into provinces, each ruled by a Governor
chosen from among the Askia’s family or royal followers. Muham¬
mad Toure also established vast plantations, worked by slaves under
conditions sometimes approaching those in the southern United
States before the Civil War.
To facilitate commerce, Muhammad Toure introduced a unified
system of weights and measures and appointed market inspectors to
protect consumers. The Sankore mosque at Timbuktu was trans¬
formed into an institution comparable to the great European uni-

Gobirau Mosque, Katsina (northern Nigeria). This

mosque was built in the fifteenth century, when the
Hausa kingdoms shared strong cultural and eco¬
nomic ties with Songhay. It is constructed of mud
mixed with a vegetable matter (katse) and oxen
blood.
versities of the later Middle Ages, with schools of theology, juris¬ CIVILIZATIONS IN
prudence, mathematics, and medicine. On his pilgrimmage to Mecca SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
in 1497 he befriended world-famous Moslem scholars. A few of
them returned with him to Songhay as advisers on government and
religion. And like the earlier Mali empire, Songhay established Songhay's cultural
diplomatic relations with Morocco and Egypt, its major trading ascendancy
partners.
Islamic institutions of law, education, and taxation were deeply
rooted in the major urban areas by the close of Askia Muhammad’s
rule in 1528. However, Islam was but a thin veneer elsewhere. Fully Islam a thin veneer
95 per cent of the population, consisting of rural peasants and petty
chiefs, continued to follow traditional animistic beliefs and life styles.
Nevertheless, in spite of serious internal divisions between Islam and
the traditional ways, Songhay continued to prosper, reaching its
zenith under Askia Daud (1549-1582). Stretching from the snow¬
capped Atlas mountains of North Africa to the tropical Cameroon
forests and embracing thousands of different cultures, it was clearly
one of the world’s most expansive empires.
Songhay had overextended itself; and although its armies num¬
bered more than 35,000, it could not keep the outlying regions in
subjection. Its vital eastern markets were lost when several Hausa The Moroccan
city-states reasserted their independence. In the northwest, Morocco, invasion and
Songhay's demise
after defeating the Portuguese, sought direct control over Songhay’s
mines. Crack Songhay cavalry and archers were no match for
Moroccan cannons and imported European arquebusses. After Song-
hay’s defeat by the Moroccans in 1591, the empire—and indeed
western Sudanic civilization—rapidly distintegrated. The Moroccans
and their Portuguese mercenaries, unable to locate the gold mines
or to maintain security on the roads and in the markets, abandoned
Songhay altogether in 1612. Political anarchy filled the vacuum, the
great cities declined, and trade and Moslem scholarship drifted east¬
ward to the city-states of Hausaland in what is today northern
Nigeria and the Niger Republic.
By the twelfth century, uncoordinated self-governing villages in
Hausaland had coalesced into centralized kingdoms under semi¬
divine dynasties. These kingdoms, though politically autonomous, The emergence of
shared a common Hausa language and cultural heritage. Daura, the Hausa kingdoms

founding kingdom, exercised a vague spiritual suzerainty over the

others.
Islam had begun to penetrate Hausa aristocratic and trading circles
in the fourteenth century. After 1452, the rural areas experienced a
steady influx of red-skinned Fulani herdsmen, who for centuries had Islamic penetration

been migrating eastward from the Senegal river. The Fulani, who and commercial expansion

were fervent Moslems, brought religious books and established new

centers of Islamic learning. At this time, Hausaland was experiencing
a commercial revolution with the opening of the kola trade with
farmers of the southern forests. In Kano, Katsina, and Zaria, huge
markets emerged as traders from disintegrating Songhay shifted their
operations to the more secure walled towns of Hausaland. 481
 The Griot, Africa’s historian, Daura Emir¬
ate. The Praise Singer is the traditional
oral historian of African societies. African
history has been passed from generation to
generation by griots.

Hausaland was exceptionally secure, thanks to the military pro¬

tection offered by the, wealthy and powerful kingdom of Kanem-
Kanem-Bomu Bornu, lying eastward near Lake Chad. Kanem-Bornu’s geographical
position placed it at the gateway to the West African Sudan. Its
stable dynasty gained power in 846 a.d. and embraced Islam in 1087.
Under Mai Idris Alooma (1580-1617) Kanem-Bornu reached its
peak. Alooma established diplomatic relations with Turkey, which
had recently captured Tunis in North Africa from Spain. With
Turkish advisers, Alooma bureaucratized his government and set it
on firm Islamic foundations. A high court of law was organized and
staffed by judges who dispensed only Moslem law. The army was
equipped with Turkish muskets. The thirteenth-century hostel in
Cairo for Bornuese pilgrims and scholars was greatly expanded.
Hausaland, sandwiched between Songhay and Bornu, was commer¬
cially exploited by both neighbors, but it received considerable cul¬
tural enrichment from pilgrims passing through en route to Mecca.
After Songhay’s collapse in 1591, trade shifted not only to Hausa¬
land but also towards the southern forests. Between 1000 and 1500
The rise of forest a.d. the forest people of modern Nigeria experienced new infusions
civilizations Qf grasslanders from the Sudanic zone. Leading lineages were trans¬
formed into ruling dynasties. They in turn fused scattered villages
under priests and elders into small city-states. lie Ife exercised the
same kind of spiritual hegemony for the Yoruba settlers that Daura
held for the Hausa in the north. Yoruba warriors from lie Ife fanned
out and established subordinate dynasties at Oyo, Benin, and else¬
where. Under Eware the Great (1440-1473) Benin city expanded
into a territorial forest empire. Benin and Ife became centers of high
civilization. Their craft guilds produced naturalistic busts and
plaques cast in bronze through the lost wax process. Eware en¬
couraged ivory and wood carving and created a national orchestra.
482 All these secular innovations were aimed at glorifying the ruling
families. Art was no longer simply for life’s adornment. It now up¬ CIVILIZATIONS IN
held authority and graced the hallways of the sprawling Yoruba SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
palaces.
In the hinterlands of modern Ghana, a similar though unrelated
political process had begun not long before 1400. Mande traders
from old Mali and Songhay pushed southward in a quest for more The Akan forest
gold. Stronger demands from North Africa and Europe encouraged states

them to establish small centers of exchange at the forest’s edge.

These burgeoning communities represented a curious blend of pagan
and Islamic, of forest and Sudanic cultures. The forest people, called
the Akan, reacted to this commercial challenge by forging mini¬
kingdoms at the crossroads of trading activity. Thus, the southward
movement of trade stimulated the rise of forest-based states, which
in the sixteenth century reached their zenith as new commercial
opportunities emanated from Europeans on the coast.
In chapter eleven it was shown that after the ninth century a.d.
the East African coast from Somalia southward received new ar¬
rivals. Some were Bantu from the interior, others were Shirazi Arabs The emergence of
from the Somali coast and Persian Gulf, and a few were from Swahili civilization

northwestern India. The non-African immigrants were sea-oriented

merchants in search of African minerals, ivory, and slaves. The
Bantu, with inland connections, were in an excellent position to
supply their needs. By the twelfth century the Shirazi had founded
a series of coastal Moslem city-states, extending southward to mod¬
ern Mozambique. They married into local Bantu ruling families and
initiated Islamic dynasties. Sofala and Kilwa became leading Afro-
Asian towns and served as major outlets for gold and copper from
the Rhodesian and Katangan plateaus of the interior. Between the
twelfth and fifteenth centuries a distinctive Swahili coastal civiliza¬
tion emerged. Swahili civilization grew out of the convergence of
Bantu, Arab, and Indian cultures and languages. Swahili mosques,
though reminiscent of those gracing the southern Arabian shores,
were unique in form and construction. The Swahili language, written
in Arabic characters, was soft and melodic.

Gedi. The ruins of this Afro-

Arab town founded in the early
fourteenth century on the Kenya
coast. This was the main entrance
to the Sultan’s palace.
 Great Zimbabwe. This 34-foot-high conical
tower was probably a shrine in the heart of
the Mwenemutapa Empire (Fifteenth cen¬
tury). The tower and adjacent wall were
constructed by placing stone upon stone
without mortar.

The Swahili city-states, like their Hausa counterparts, were Mos¬

lem, cosmopolitan, culturally homogeneous, yet politically inde¬
Middleman position pendent of one another. They thrived on their middleman position
of the Swahili between producers and consumers. Although Kilwa held commercial
city-states
sway over Sofala intermittently from 1131 to 1333, it did not
exhibit any expansionist tendencies. Rather, the various towns, like
Mogadishu and Barawa (in modern Somalia), Gedi, Pate, Malindi, and
Mombasa (Kenya), Zanzibar and Kilwa (Tanzania), and Sofala
(Mozambique) engaged in vigorous competition with one another.
Some towns even minted their own coins and maintained huge
treasuries.
Indian Ocean trade, like that of the trans-Sahara, encouraged
African rulers to centralize their societies in order to better meet
The Mwenemutapa foreign demands. Indeed, coastal requests for Katangan copper and
empire and Great Rhodesian gold led to a transition in leadership from ritual-bearing
Zimbabwe
priests to secular kings commanding enormous military and eco¬
nomic power. Katanga in the thirteenth century was the first state
to consolidate. Within two hundred years Katangans had carried
their ideas of divine kingship to other societies in the Zambezi valley.
On the cool Rhodesian plateau a powerful Katangan kingdom arose,
with its ruler assuming the praise name of “Mwenemutapa.” His
capital at Great Zimbabwe was fortified with massive elliptical walls
of cut stone laid in place without mortar.
Unrelated to these developments was the migration of Nilotic
pastoralists into the fertile lands northwest of Lake Victoria in
Non-lslamic modern Uganda. Between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries
African kingdoms these immigrants, imbued with notions of divine kingship, married
Bantu cultivators and established powerful kingdoms. These highly
centralized polities, such as Bunyoro, Buganda, and Ankole, were
484 non-lslamic, purely African creations.
SELECTED READINGS READINGS
Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

india—See also Readings for Chapters 6 and 11

Cambridge History of India, Vol. III.

Ikram, Mohamad, Muslim Civilization in India, ed. A. T. Embree, New York,
1964. Scholarly and readable.
Phillips, C. H., India, London, 1949. A useful survey, although devoting little
space to the period before the coming of Europeans.
Sharma, S. R., The Crescent in India, Bombay, 1954.

china—See also Readings for Chapters 7 and 11

Bruce, J. P., Chu Hsi and His Masters, London, 1923.

• Chang, Carsun, The Development of Neo-Confucian Thought, New York,
1957 (College and University Press Services).
Eliot, Charles, Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, New York,
1954, Vol. III.
Fairbank, J. K., ed., Chinese Thought and Institutions, Chicago, 1957.
Fitzgerald, C. P., The Southern Expansion of the Chinese People, New York,
1972-
• Gernet, Jacques, Daily Life in China (On the Eve of the Mongol Invasion
1250-1276), Stanford, 1970 (Stanford).
Hucker, C. O., The Traditional Chinese State in Ming Times (1368-1644),
Tucson, 1961. Brief but informative on political structure and operation.
• Hudson, G. F., Europe and China: A Survey of Their Relations from the
Earliest Times to 1800, London, 1930 (Beacon). Interestingly presented.
Kracke, E. A., Jr., Civil Service in Early Sung China, 5)60-1067, Cambridge,
Mass., 1959. A careful study.
Lin Yutang, Imperial Peking: Seven Centuries of China, New York, 1961. A
richly illustrated popular account of the great capital under successive
dynasties.
Liu, James T.C., Reform in Sung China: Wang An-shih (1021-1086) and His
New Policies, Cambridge, Mass., 1959. A good, brief interpretive study.
Parsons, J. B., The Peasant Rebellions of the Late Ming Dynasty, Tucson,
1970.
• Prawdin, Michael, (E. and C. Paul, trs.), The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and
Legacy, London, 1940 (Free Press).
Sowerby, A. deC., Nature in Chinese Art, New York, 1940.
Waley, Arthur, An Introduction to the Study of Chinese Painting, New
York, 1958.
Williamson, H. R., Wang An Shih, a Chinese Statesman and Educationalist of
the Sung Dynasty, 2 vols., London, 1935-1937.
Wright, Arthur F., ed., Studies in Chinese Thought, Chicago, 1953.
-, ed., The Confucian Persuasion, Stanford, i960.

japan—See also Readings for Chapter 11

• Duus, Peter, Feudalism in Japan, New York, 1969 (Knopf). A concise account
of political developments from the sixth through the nineteenth century.
Sansom, George B., A History of Japan, 1334-1615, Stanford, 1961. A major
contribution.
-, The Western World and Japan, New York, 1950. 485
READINGS Suzuki, D. T., Zen and Japanese Culture, New York, 1959.
• Waley, Arthur, No Plays of Japan, New York, 1922 (Evergreen).

AFRICA

Ade Ajayi, J. F., and Espie, I., eds., A Thousand Years of West African
History, Ibadan, 1967.
Boahen, Adu, Topics in West African History, London, 1968.
Davidson, Basil, et al., The Growth of African Civilization: A History of
West Africa 1000-1800, London, 1966.
Gray, Richard, and Birmingham, David, eds., Pre-Colonial African Trade,
New York, 1970.
Hull, Richard W., Munyakare: African Civilization Before the Batuuree, New
York, 1972.
Maquet, Jacques, Civilizations of Black Africa, New York, 1972.
Ogot, B. A., and Kieran, J. A., eds., Zamani: A Survey of East African
History, Nairobi, 1968.
Oliver, Roland, ed., The Middle Age of African History, New York, 1967.
Ranger, T. O., ed., Aspects of Central African History, London, 1969.

SOURCE MATERIALS

Asakawa, Kanichi, ed., The documents of lriki, Illustrative of the Develop¬

ment of the Feudal Institutions of Japan.
Boxer, C. R., ed., South China in the Sixteenth Century (narratives of Portu¬
guese and Spanish visitors, 1550-1575).
Chinese Novels and Short Stories: Buck, Pearl, tr., All Men Are Brothers;
Howell, E. B., tr., Inconstancy of Madam Chuang and Other Stories;
Waley, Arthur, tr., The Monkey.
• de Bary, W. T., ed., Sources of Chinese Tradition, “The Confucian Revival.”
(Columbia).
• -, ed., Sources of Indian Tradition, “Islam in Medieval India.” (Colum¬
bia).
' -, ed., Sources of Japanese Tradition, “Medieval Japan.” (Columbia).
Gallagher, L. J., tr., China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matthew
Ricci. 1583-1610 (a Jesuit missionary).
Hodgkin, Thomas, ed., Nigerian Perspectives.
• Hsiung, S. I., tr., The Romance of the Western Chamber (Columbia).
• Keene, Donald, ed., Twenty Plays of the No Theatre (Columbia).
McCullough, H. C., The Taiheiki: A Chronicle of Medieval Japan.
McEwan, P. J. M., ed., Africa from Early Times to 1800.
Oliver, R., and Mathew, G., eds., History of East Africa, Vol. I.
Reischauer, E. O., and Yamagiwa, J. K., Translations from Early Japanese
Literature (eleventh to .thirteenth centuries).
Shinoda, M., The Founding of the Kamakura Shogunate 1180-1185, with
Selected Translations from the Azuma Kagami. Translation of part of the
chief source for the institution and early history of the Shogunate.
Waley, Arthur, tr., The Travels of an Alchemist, the Journeys of the Taoist
Ch'ang Ch'un.
Yule, Henry, tr., The Book of Ser Marco Polo.

486
 CHAPTER 17
The Civilization of the Renaissance:
In Italy

Wherefore it may be surely said that those who are the possessors
of such rare and numerous gifts as were seen in Raphael of Ur-
bino, are not merely men, but, if it not be a sin to say it, mortal
gods . . .
—Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Painters

Soon after 1300 the majority of the characteristic institutions and

ideals of the Middle Ages had begun to decay. Chivalry, feudalism,
the Holy Roman Empire, the universal authority of the papacy, the The transition

guild system of trade and industry were all gradually being weak¬ from the Middle
Ages to the
ened and would eventually disappear. The great age of the Gothic
Renaissance
cathedrals was practically over, the Scholastic philosophy was be¬
ginning to be ridiculed and despised, and the supremacy of the reli¬
gious and ethical interpretations of life was being slowly but effec¬
tively undermined. In place of all these there gradually emerged
new institutions and ways of thinking of sufficient importance to
stamp the centuries that followed with the character of a different
civilization. The traditional name applied to this civilization, which
extended from 1300 to approximately 1650, is the Renaissance.
The term Renaissance leaves much to be desired from the stand¬
point of historical accuracy. Literally it means rebirth, and it is
commonly taken to imply that in the fourteenth century, or Meaning of

Trecento,1 there was a sudden revival of interest in the classical the term
Renaissance
learning of Greece and Rome. But this implication is far from
strictly true. Interest in the classics was by no means rare in the

1So called from the Italian word for three hundred, trecento, used to desig¬
nate the century which followed 1300. Quattrocento, from the word four
hundred, is applied to the period of the fifteenth century and Cinquecento to
the sixteenth. 487
THE CIVILIZATION OF THE later Middle Ages. Such writers as John of Salisbury, Dante, and the
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY Goliard poets were just as enthusiastic admirers of Greek and Latin
literature as any who lived in the fourteenth century. Indeed, the so-
called Renaissance was in considerable measure simply the culmina¬
tion of a series of revivals which began as far back as the tenth cen¬
tury. All of these movements were characterized by a reverence for
the ancient authors. Even in the cathedral and monastic schools
Cicero, Vergil, Seneca, and, later on, Aristotle frequently received
as much worshipful adoration as was given to any of the saints.
The Renaissance was a great deal more than a mere revival of
pagan learning. It embraced, first of all, an impressive record of new
The Renaissance achievements in art, literature, science, philosophy, education, and
more than a religion. Although the foundation of many of these was classical,
revival of pagan
they soon expanded beyond the measure of Greek and Roman influ¬
learning
ence. Indeed, many of the achievements in painting, science, poli¬
tics, and religion bore little relation to the classical heritage. Sec¬
ondly, the Renaissance incorporated a number of dominant ideals and
attitudes that gave it the impress of a unique society. Notable among
these in general were optimism, secularism, and individualism; but
the most significant of them all was humanism. In its broadest mean¬
ing humanism may be defined as emphasis on the human values
implicit in the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. It was a
term derived from Cicero, who used it in the sense of devotion to
the liberal arts, or the subjects most compatible with the dignity of
man. The humanists rejected the Scholastic philosophy with its pre¬
occupation with theology and logic. They strove for a smooth and
elegant style that would appeal more to the aesthetic than to the ra¬
tional side of man’s nature. Though the viewpoint of many of them
was pagan, this was not always the case. A large number took Chris¬
tianity for granted, and some extolled it as the noblest of moral
philosophies.
Not only culturally but socially, economically, and politically the
Renaissance constituted a new society which differed in many ways
The Renaissance from the social pattern of the Middle Ages. To begin with, it was
a new society
nonecclesiastical. Its great accomplishments were chiefly the work
of laymen, not of monks or priests. Such arenas of achievement as
the universities, hitherto dominated by the clergy, now went into
temporary decline. Gothic and Romanesque architectures, preemi¬
nently associated with the medieval church, were superseded by a
new style based upon classical models. Latin as a medium of literary
expression survived, of course, for it was Roman in origin. But
gradually literature in the vernacular acquired a status at least equal
to that in Latin. Renaissance society took on an urban rather than a
predominantly rural character. The centers of both social and eco¬
nomic life were no longer castles of the feudal nobility or manorial
estates but rich cities such as Florence, Milan, Venice, and Rome.
488 Politically, also, the changes were momentous. The decentralized
feudal regime gave way to consolidated government in either large THE CAUSES OF THE
or small units. The rule of dukes and counts was succeeded by that RENAISSANCE
of monarchs, or in some cases by that of oligarchs whose power
sprang from their wealth as bankers or merchants. As a noted au¬
thority points out, “the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were the
age of kings.” 2

I. THE CAUSES OF THE RENAISSANCE

To determine the causes of a movement as complex as the Renais¬

sance is not an easy task. In large measure it was a result of the disin¬
tegration of a medieval society that was no longer in harmony with The main causes
changed economic and cultural conditions. The growth of com¬
merce and the rise of national monarchies made the decentralized
feudal regime obsolete. The self-sufficient manorial system decayed
with the development of trade between distant regions and the ap¬
pearance of new employment opportunities for villeins and serfs. As
cities multiplied the nobles suffered a loss of power to the emerging
middle class. Culturally, also, there was radical change. Medieval
Scholasticism failed to satisfy the growing interest in natural sci¬
ence. Gothic architecture, which had reached its zenith of harmony
and restraint in the thirteenth century, became exaggerated and
flamboyant. Asceticism as an ideal was losing its appeal as men un¬
covered a greater variety of worldly satisfactions. Nearly every¬
where, especially in southern Europe, there was a demand for a
broader expanse of knowledge, a new style of living, and a greater
recognition of the status of the individual. One factor, it may be
said, was primarily responsible for nearly all these changes. That
factor was the growth of cities, with their stimulating influence and
the tendency of their populations to be impatient with old ways of
living. But the cities themselves were chiefly the product of the
revival of commerce. As far back as the eleventh century a flourish¬
ing trade had begun with the Saracenic and Byzantine empires.
Material commodities were not the only things exchanged. There
was a prosperous commerce also in ideas, manuscripts, and. artistic
influences. By the fourteenth century the Italian cities engaged in
this trade had reached such a state of affluence that they were well
adapted to becoming the centers of a cultural revival.
Soon after the Renaissance got under way, its progress was
accelerated by the influence of secular and ecclesiastical patrons
of learning. Outstanding among the former were the Medici Influence of
family in Florence and the Sforza family in Milan. Most of these patrons of
learning
patrons were wealthy merchants who had become despots of the
city republics in which they lived. The ecclesiastical patrons in¬
cluded such Popes as Nicholas V, Pius II, Julius II, and Leo X. The

2Denys Hay, The Italian Renaissance in Its Historical Background, p. 15. 489
 THE CIVILIZATION OF THE attitude of these men was singularly at variance with what is nor¬
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY mally expected of occupants of the fisherman’s throne. They dis¬
played no interest in theology or in the conversion of the ungodly.
They kept on the payroll of the Church men who openly attacked
fundamental Christian doctrines. Nicholas V, for example, em¬
ployed as a papal secretary the celebrated Lorenzo Valla, who
exposed an important document of the Church as a forgery and
preached a philosophy of carnal pleasure. Whatever the incongruity
of their attitude, the work of these Popes was of inestimable value
to cultural progress, for they bestowed their patronage upon some
of the most brilliant artists and literary men of the Italian Renais¬
sance.
Before leaving this subject of factors responsible for the Renais¬
sance, it will be desirable to dispose of two alleged causes commonly
Alleged causes of believed to have been of decisive importance. One of these is the
the Renaissance: Crusades, and the other is the invention of printing. In a preceding
The Crusades
chapter we observed that the intellectual influence of the Crusades
was slight. The introduction of Saracenic learning into Europe came
about as a result of the work of scholars in the libraries of Toledo
and Cordova and as a consequence of the trade revival between the
Italian cities and the Near East. Only to the extent that the Crusades
weakened feudalism, diminished the prestige of the papacy, and
helped to give the Italian cities a monopoly of Mediterranean trade
may they be considered as in any wav responsible for the beginning
of Renaissance civilization. And even these results can be ascribed in
large part to other factors.
Although the invention of printing was an achievement of the ut¬
most importance, it was perhaps even less than the Crusades a direct
cause of the Renaissance. For one thing, it came too late. So far as
the evidence shows, no printing press was in operation much before
the middle of the fifteenth century. The earliest work known to
have been printed from movable type actually dates from 1454.3 By
this time the Renaissance in Italy was already well under way, hav¬
ing started about a century and a half before. Furthermore, many of
the early humanists were decidedly hostile toward the new inven¬
tion. They regarded it as a barbarous German contraption and
refused to allow their works to be printed lest they obtain too wide
Printing in the Sixteenth Cen¬ a circulation and be misunderstood by the common people. It
tury should also be noted that the earliest publishing firms were far more
interested in turning out religious books and popular stories than in
printing the writings of the new learning. The conclusion seems
amply justified that the invention of printing served chiefly to
accelerate the Renaissance in its later stages, particularly in northern

3 This was an indulgence issued from the press of Johann Gutenberg at

Mainz, who is commonly credited with the invention of printing, though it is
somewhat doubtful that he did more than perfect the technique developed by
490 others, perhaps as early as 1445.
Europe. Most of the great benefits of the invention came after the THE RENAISSANCE IN
Renaissance had ended. ITALY

2. THE RENAISSANCE IN ITALY

Reference has already been made to the fact that the Renaissance
had its beginning in Italy. Why should this have been so? For one rea¬
son, Italy had a stronger classical tradition than any other country of Why the
western Europe. All through the medieval period the Italians had Renaissance be'
gan in Italy
managed to preserve the belief that they were descendants of the
ancient Romans. They looked back upon their ancestry with pride,
ignoring of course the infiltrations of Lombard, Byzantine, Sara¬
cenic, and Norman blood that had been poured into the people from
time to time. In some of the Italian cities traces of the old Roman
system of education still survived in the municipal schools. It is like¬
wise true that Italy had a more thoroughly secular culture than most
other regions of Latin Christendom. The Italian universities were
founded primarily for the study of law or medicine rather than
theology, and, with the exception of the University of Rome, few
of them had any ecclesiastical connections whatever. In addition to
all this, Italy received the full impact of cultural influences from the
Byzantine and Saracenic civilizations. Finally, and perhaps most im¬
portant of all, the Italian cities were the main beneficiaries of the re¬
vival of trade with the East. For years the seaport towns of Venice,
Naples, Genoa, and Pisa enjoyed a virtual monopoly of the Mediter¬
ranean trade, while the merchants of Florence, Bologna, Piacenza,
and other cities of the Lombard plain served as the chief middlemen
in the commerce between northern and southern Europe. The
economic prosperity thus acquired was the principal foundation of
the intellectual and artistic progress.
i. the political background It is generally assumed that orderly
and efficient government is a necessary condition for the develop¬
ment of a superior culture; but such was not the case with the The political
civilization we are now considering. The Renaissance was born in crisis in Italy

the midst of political turmoil. Italy was not a unified state when
the Renaissance began, and throughout the period the country
remained in a turbulent condition. The reasons for this chaos were
several. The first was the failure of universal government. In com¬
mon with the rest of central Europe, Italy was supposed to be part
of the Holy Roman Empire. But after the death of Conrad IV in
1254 the imperial throne was vacant for nineteen years. When suc¬
cessors were finally chosen, they proved to be too weak to wield
any effective authority beyond their own family domains. The Pope
also lost his power as a political ruler over the Italian peninsula. As a
result of a quarrel between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV
of France the papacy was transferred to Avignon, France, where it
remained under greater or less subjection to the French king for 491
 Gattamelata. This
statue of the famous
condottiere by Dona¬
tello stands outside St.
Anthony’s basilica in
Padua.

seventy years. By the time a Pope was finally crowned again in

Rome in 1378, the political authority of the universal Church had
been eroded. The dozen or more petty states into which Italy was
divided had grown accustomed to managing their own affairs. Po¬
litically, the Pope was little more than another Italian prince with an
uncertain authority limited to a belt of land stretching across the
peninsula.
The remainder of the Italian states rapidly solidified their rule as a
means of preserving their power. But stability was not easily accom¬
plished. Interstate rivalries, internal revolts, wars of conquest, and
threats of invasion combined to continue the enveloping chaos. At
the beginning of the Renaissance most of the Italian states were
nominally republics. As conflicts increased and ambitions grew,
many of them evolved into tyrannies or oligarchies. As early as 1311
the government of Milan became a dictatorship under the head of
the Visconti family. In 1450 the Visconti were succeeded by Fran¬
cesco Sforza, notorious as a condottiere, or leader of a band of mer¬
cenary soldiers. The new despotism was no less tyrannical than the
old and was tolerated by its subjects chiefly because of its success in
maintaining order and prosperity.
Despotism in Venice differed from that in Milan in being collec¬
Francesco Sforza tive rather than individual. Although a doge was the nominal head
of the state, he was hemmed in by so many restrictions that he was
little more than a figurehead. The real power rested with the heads
of the chief business houses, who constituted a tight little oligarchy.
They wielded effective authority through the Council of Ten,
492 which took swift and merciless action against suspected enemies of
the government. Politically as well as culturally, the most progres¬ THE RENAISSANCE IN
sive of the Italian states was Florence. But even the Florentines were ITALY
by no means entirely free from oligarchic evils. Though a constitu¬
tion adopted in 1282 vested the government in an elected council
whose members served short terms, restrictions on the suffrage en¬ Venice and
sured control of this body by the dominant business interests. De¬ Florence

feat in war and failure to maintain unbroken prosperity discredited

this oligarchy, and in 1434 it was replaced by the rule of Cosimo de’
Medici. Although Cosimo held no official title, he was accepted by
the people as a virtual dictator, mainly because he ruled with an eye
to their welfare. He and his descendants, the most famous of whom
was his grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent, controlled the political
life of Florence for sixty years. To the heads of the Medici family
must be given a large measure of credit for the fact that Florence
remained for so long the most brilliant center of the Italian Renais¬
sance.
In the view of a number of historians the origins of the modern
state system can be traced to Renaissance Italy. The rulers of such
states as Milan, Florence, and Venice repudiated the conception of
the state as existing for religious purposes and gave it a secular char¬
Lorenzo de’ Medici by Ra¬
acter. They emphasized civic responsibility, loyalty, and concern phael
for the public welfare. They developed a strong notion of the end
of the state as the advancement of its own interests. They invented
procedures of diplomacy, including a system of permanent ambassa¬
dors in foreign capitals. They fostered alliances and toyed with the Possible origins
idea of a balance of power to keep the peace. The balance never of the modern
state system
really worked, however. Ambitious politicians in some of the states,
notably Milan, disturbed it by soliciting help for their schemes from
powerful nations outside the peninsula. A tragic consequence was
the invasion of Italy by the French in 1494, followed soon afterward
by a Spanish invasion from the Kingdom of Aragon. Henceforth
the peninsula was at the mercy of competing armies of major Euro¬
pean powers.
Perhaps the most “modern” of the activities of the Italian Renais¬
sance states were their ventures in “imperialism.” Before the end of
the fourteenth century Milan reached out and annexed nearly the Expansionism

whole of the Lombard plain. Needing an agricultural province as a

source of food supply and coveting control of mainland trade
routes, Venice conquered nearly all of northeastern Italy, including
the cities of Padua and Verona. Nor did the republic of Florence lag
behind in the development of expansionist ambitions. Before the end
of the fourteenth century practically all of the territory of Tuscany
had been taken, and in 1406 the great mercantile city of Pisa suc¬
cumbed to Florentine domination. The papacy also took part in the
general movement of territorial aggrandizement. Under such
worldly and aggressive Popes as Alexander VI (1492-1503) and
Julius II (1503—1513) the dominion of the Papal States was ex- 493
 HUNGARY

l \t- Milan \ Venice

DUCHY
Padua*

OTTOMAN
■> DUCHY
EMPIRE
~S OF
\SALUZZ(p .* BjdognaN FERRARA
! —■> \
SAVOY
A MARQUISATE >
OF MONTFERRAT

Sipna* N*j /-
C REPUBLIC '-i,

SIENA

CORSICA
(To Genoa)

Naples

200 miles
—I

THE STATES OF ITALY DURING THE RENAISSANCE ca. 1494

tended over most of central Italy. By the early i5oo’s nearly the
whole peninsula had been brought under the five most powerful
states: Milan, Venice, Florence, the Kingdom of Naples, and the
States of the Church.
ii. the literary and artistic No wide gulf separated
culture

Italian Renaissance literature from the literature of the later Mid¬

dle Ages. The majority of the literary achievements between 1300
and 1550 were already foreshadowed in one or another of the dif-
494 ferent trends initiated in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The
so-called father of Italian Renaissance literature, Francesco Petrarca THE RENAISSANCE IN
or Petrarch (1304-1374), was himself very close to the medieval ITALY
temper. He employed the same Tuscan dialect that Dante had
chosen as the basis of an Italian literary language. Moreover, he
believed firmly in Christianity as the way of salvation for man, Petrarch, the
and he was addicted at times to a monkish asceticism. His best- father of Italian
Renaissance
known writings, the sonnets he addressed to his beloved Laura, par¬
literature
took of the same flavor as the chivalrous love poetry of the
thirteenth-century troubadours.
The second of the great figures in the Italian literary Renaissance,
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), was scarcely more of an original
genius. Like Petrarch, Boccaccio was a Florentine, the illegitimate The more robust
son of a prosperous merchant. His father having planned for him a humanism of
Boccaccio
business career, he was sent to Naples to serve an apprenticeship in a
branch of the great Florentine banking house of the Bardi. But the
young Boccaccio soon displayed more ardor in worshiping in the
temple of the Muses than in computing the interest on loans. It was
perhaps natural that this should be so, for Naples was a center of
gracious living under languorous skies and of strong poetic tradi¬
tions emanating from the lands of the Saracens and the troubadours.
It was an environment especially fitted to stimulate the poetic fan¬
cies of youth. Boccaccio was also inspired by a passionate love for
the beautiful wife of a Neapolitan citizen. Nearly all of his earlier
works were poems and romances dealing with the triumphs and tor¬
tures of this love. Gradually his skill in the story-telling art attained
perfection, and he eventually found prose a more suitable medium
for his purposes. By far the most notable of Boccaccio’s writings
was his Decameron, which he wrote after his return to Florence The Decameron
about 1348. The Decameron consists of 100 stories which the
author puts into the mouths of seven young women and three
young men. The stories do not form a novel revolving about a
continuous theme but are united by the artificial plot of having
been told by a group of people who are concerned merely
with passing the time during their sojourn at a villa outside
of Florence to escape the ravages of the Black Death. Though
some of the tales were probably invented by Boccaccio, most
of them were drawn from the fabliaux, from the Book of the
tool Nights, and from other medieval sources. In general, they
differ from their medieval prototypes in being slightly more ribald,
egoistic, and anticlerical and more deeply concerned with a frank
justification of the carnal life. Yet the Decameron certainly does not
represent, as many people think, the first emphatic protest against
the ascetic and impersonal ideals of the early Middle Ages. Its real
significance lies in the fact that it set the pattern for Italian prose
and exerted considerable influence upon Renaissance writers in
other countries. 495
THE CIVILIZATION OF THE The death of Boccaccio in 1375 marks the end of the first period
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY of the Italian Renaissance in literature, the Trecento. The age which
followed, known as the Quattrocento, was characterized by a more
zealous devotion to the Latin language and a broader conception of
The character of humanistic studies. The Italian of Dante and Boccaccio was re¬
literature in the garded now by many writers as an inferior language unsuited to the
Quattrocento
perfection of an elegant style and the expression of noble ideas. No
longer were the humanities thought of as synonymous with rhet¬
oric, oratory, grammar, ethics, and poetry, but were held to in¬
clude history, philosophy, and religion as well. In fine, they em¬
braced every subject considered by the ancients as a proper medium
for the study of man. As a third difference, the men of the Quattro¬
cento turned away from the asceticism of Petrarch. They taught
that nature had endowed man for action, for usefulness to his family
and society, not for religious seclusion. Passion, ambition, and the
quest for glory are noble impulses and ought to be encouraged.
They refused to condemn the striving for material possessions, for
they argued that the history of man’s progress is inseparable from
his success in gaining mastery over the earth and its resources. A
few of the writers of the Quattrocento were completely pagan or
atheistic, but most of them were neither religious nor antireligious.
They took Christianity for granted and were concerned primarily
with worldly interests.
The Quattrocento was also the period when the passion for
Greek studies was at its zenith. Prior to this time the Italian human¬
The passion for ists had achieved but indifferent success in their attempts to learn
Greek studies the Greek language and to discover the treasures of Hellenic cul¬
ture. But in 1393 a famous scholar of Constantinople, Manuel
Chrysaloras, arrived in Venice on a mission from the Byzantine em¬
peror to implore the aid of the West in a war against the Turks.
Almost immediately acclaimed by the Italians as an apostle of the
glorious Hellenic past, he was eventually persuaded to accept a pro¬
fessorship of the Greek classics at the University of Florence.
About the beginning of the fifteenth century several other Byzan¬
tine scholars, notably Platonist philosophers, migrated to Italy. The
influence of these men in providing information about the achieve¬
ments of the ancient Greeks seems to have been considerable. At
any rate, it was not long until Italian scholars began to make trips to
Constantinople and other Byzantine cities in search of manuscripts.
Between 1413 and 1423 a certain Giovanni Aurispa, for example,
brought back nearly 250 manuscript books, including works of
Sophocles, Euripides, and Thucydides. It was in this way that many
of the Hellenic classics, particularly the writings of the dramatists,
historians, and earlier philosophers, were first made available to the
modern world.
The last great age in the development of Italian Renaissance
496 literature was the Cinquecento, the period from 1500 to about 1550.
 Vespers of the Holy Ghost,
with a View of Paris, Jean
Fouquet. From the Book of
Hours of Etienne Chevalier,
1461. Demons in the sky are
sent flying by the divine
light from Heaven. The ca¬
thedral is Notre Dame.
(Robert Lehman)

A Sixteenth-Century Map of the

World by Paolo dal Toscanelli,
Adviser to Columbus. The Euro¬
pean continent is in the upper left.
(Scala)
 St. Lawrence Enthroned, Fra Lippo
Lippi (1406-1469). One of the first of
the psychological painters, Fra Lippo
Lippi exhibited in this work his gift
for portraying pensive melancholy.
(MMA)

The Flight into Egypt, Giotto (1276-

1337). Giotto is regarded as the
founder of the modern tradition in
painting. A fresco in the Arena
Chapel, Padua. (MMA)

The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510). Botticelli was a mystic as

well as a lover of beauty whose works suggest a longing for the glories of the
classical world. (Scala)
 Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci (1452—1519). Unlike
most other Renaissance painters who sought to convey
an understandable message, Leonardo created ques¬
tions to which he gave no answer. Nowhere is this
more evident than in the enigmatic countenance of
Mona Lisa. (Louvre)
The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci. This
painting reveals not only Leonardo’s interest in
human character, but also his absorption in the
phenomena of nature. (Louvre)

The Last Supper, Leonardo

da Vinci. This great fresco
depicts the varying reactions
of Jesus’ disciples when He
announces that one of them
will betray Him. (Santa
Maria della Grazie, Milan)
Above: The Madonna of the Chair, Raphael (1483-1520).
Raphael’s art was distinguished by warmth and serenity, and
by an uncritical acceptance of the traditions and conventions
of his time. (Pitti Palace, Florence) Right: “Christ and Ma¬
donna.” From The Last Judgment, Michelangelo (1475-1564).
This painting above the altar in the Sistine Chapel, Rome,
shows Christ as judge condemning sinners to perdition. Even
the Madonna at His side seems to shrink from His wrath.
(Sistine Chapel)
Charles V, Titian (1488-1576). (Alte Pinako-
thek)

Pope Paul III and His Nephews, Titian (1477-1576). This

painting, with its rich harmony of color, is unusual in being
both a group portrait and a study of action. (National Museum,
Naples)
Italian was now raised to a full equality with Greek and Latin, clas¬ THE RENAISSANCE IN
sical and modern influences were more perfectly blended, and a ITALY
deeper originality of both form and content was achieved. But the
literary capital of the Renaissance was no longer Florence. In 1494
that city came under the rule of the fanatical reformer Savonarola; The Cinque¬

and, while the Medici were restored to power about eighteen years cento

later, the brilliant Tuscan metropolis soon afterward fell a victim of

factional disputes and foreign invasion. During the first half of the
sixteenth century the city of Rome gradually rose to a position of
cultural leadership, mainly because of the patronage of the Church,
especially during the reign of Pope Leo X (Giovanni de’ Medici),
the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. When he was only fourteen
years old, his father’s influence had been sufficient to procure his ap¬
pointment as a cardinal. Elevated to St. Peter’s throne in 1513, he is
reported to have said, “Let us enjoy the papacy since God has given
it to us.” There can be little doubt that he did enjoy it, for he was a
magnificent spendthrift, lavishing rewards upon artists and writers
and financing the construction of beautiful churches.
The chief forms of literature developed in the Cinquecento were
epic and pastoral poetry, drama, and history. The most eminent of
the writers of epics was Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533), author of a The epic and the

lengthy poem entitled Orlando Furioso. Although woven largely of pastoral romance

materials taken from the romances of adventure and the legends of

the Arthurian cycle, this work differed radically from any of the
medieval epics. It incorporated much that was derived from classical
sources; it lacked the impersonal quality of the medieval romances;
and it was totally devoid of idealism. Ariosto wrote to make men
laugh and to charm them with felicitous descriptions of the quiet
splendor of nature and the passionate beauty of love. His work rep¬
resents the disillusionment of the late Rennaissance, the loss of hope
and faith, and the tendency to seek consolation in the pursuit of
aesthetic pleasure. The development of pastoral poetry at this time
probably reflects a similar attitude of disenchantment and loss of
confidence. As the name implies, the pastoral romance glorifies the
simple life amid rustic surroundings and expresses the yearning for a
golden age of unspoiled pleasures and freedom from the worries and
frustrations of artificial urban society. The chief author of this type
of literature in the Italian Renaissance was Jacopo Sannazaro
(1458-1530), who gave to his main work the title of Arcadia.
In the field of the drama the Italians never achieved more than
moderate success. Their failure as writers of tragedy was particu¬
larly noticeable, despite the fact that they had considerable knowl¬ Drama

edge of classical models from which to profit. The Italian was

apparently too much of an individualist to be influenced profoundly
by the Greek conception of a tragic conflict between man and soci¬
ety and too much of an optimist to brood over personal suffering.
His mind was fixed upon the compensations of life rather than upon 497
THE CIVILIZATION OF THE its grim and terrifying aspects. His real talents lay in naturalistic de¬
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY scription, in the development of light and joyous themes, and in the
expression of personal egotism. It was natural, therefore, that the
best of his dramas should have been comedies, especially satirical
comedies, rather than tragedies. The first and the greatest of the
Italian comedians was a man who is far better known as a political
philosopher—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). The finest product
of his dramatic skill was a work entitled Mandragola, which has
been called “the ripest and most powerful play in the Italian lan¬
guage.” 4 Sparkling with salacious wit and based upon incidents
typical of life in the author’s native city of Florence, it is a lurid
satire of Renaissance society. In this as in his other writings,
Machiavelli reveals his cynical views of human nature. He appears
to believe that all human beings are knaves and fools at heart, with
their meanness and stupidity only partly concealed by a thin veneer
of refinement and learning.
The historians of the High Renaissance in Italy displayed a criti¬
cal spirit and a degree of objectivity which had not been seen since
History the end of the ancient world. First among them in order of time al¬
though not in order of greatness was Machiavelli. In his main histor¬
ical work, an account of the evolution of the Florentine republic to
the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici, he rigidly excluded all theological
interpretations and sought to discover the natural laws which
govern the life of a people. More scientific in his methods of analysis
was Machiavelli’s younger contemporary, Francesco Guicciardini
(1483-1540). Having served many years as an ambassador of
Florence and as a governor of papal territories, Guicciardini en¬
joyed a unique advantage in acquiring familiarity with the cynical
and tortuous political life of his day. His special gifts as a historian
were a capacity for minute and realistic analysis and an uncanny
ability in disclosing the springs of human action. His masterpiece
was his History of Italy, a detailed and dispassionate account of the
varying fortunes of that country from 1492 to 1534. No study of
Renaissance historians would be complete without some mention of
Lorenzo Valla (1406-1457), who may properly be regarded as the
father of historical criticism. By careful scrutiny of their literary
style he challenged the authenticity of a number of accepted docu¬
ments. He proved the famous “Donation of Constantine” to be a
forgery, thereby demolishing one of the principal bases of papal
supremacy, since this document purported to have been a grant by
the Emperor Constantine of the highest spiritual and temporal
power in the West to the Pope. In addition, Valla denied that the so-
called Apostles’ Creed had ever been written by the Apostles, and
he pointed out numerous corruptions in the Vulgate edition of the
New Testament as compared with the earlier Greek texts. His criti¬
cal methods served later on to stimulate a much broader attack by
498 4 J- A. Symonds, “Machiavelli,” Encyclopedia Britannica (14th ed.), XIV, 577.
the northern humanists upon the doctrines and practices of the THE RENAISSANCE IN
organized Church. ITALY
Despite the wealth of brilliant accomplishments in literature, the
proudest achievements of the Italian Renaissance were made in the
realm of art. Of all the arts, painting was undoubtedly supreme. The Italian painting
evolution of Italian painting followed a course of development in the Trecen¬
to: Giotto the
which roughly paralleled the history of literature. During the initial
naturalist
period of the Trecento, however, there was only one artist of dis¬
tinction worthy to be compared to Petrarch and Boccaccio in litera¬
ture. His name was Giotto (1276-1337). With him, painting defi¬ See color plates
nitely took on the status of an independent art, although his master between pages
Cimabue had already made some beginnings in this direction. Giotto 496 and 491
was preeminently a naturalist. So skillful was he in depicting the
semblance of life that, according to the story, one of his drawings of
a fly so completely deceived Cimabue that he attempted to brush
the creature away with his hand. Giotto also displayed more than
ordinary talent in the portrayal of action, especially in such frescoes
as Saint Francis Preaching to the Birds, The Massacre of the Inno¬
cents, and his scenes from the life of Christ.
It was not till the Quattrocento, however, that Italian Renaissance
painting really attained its majority. By this time the increase in
wealth and the partial triumph of the secular spirit had freed the
domain of art to a large extent from the service of religion. The
Church was no longer the only patron of artists. While subject mat¬
ter from Biblical history was still commonly employed, it was
frequently infused with nonreligious themes. The painting of por¬
traits for the purpose of revealing the hidden mysteries of the soul
now became popular. Paintings intended to appeal primarily to the
intellect were paralleled by others whose only purpose was to de¬
light the eye with gorgeous color and beauty of form. The
Quattrocento was characterized also by the introduction of painting
in oil, probably from Flanders. The use of the new technique doubt¬
less had much to do with the artistic advance of this period. Since
oil does not dry so quickly as water, the painter could now work
more leisurely, taking his time with the more difficult parts of the
picture and making corrections if necessary as he went along.
The majority of the painters of the Quattrocento were Floren¬
tines. First among them was a precocious youth known as Masaccio
(1401-1428). Although he died at the age of twenty-seven,
The Expulsion of Adam and
Masaccio inspired the work of Italian painters for a hundred years.
Eve from the Garden. Masac¬
He is commonly considered the first of the realists in Renaissance cio’s painting departed from
art. Besides, he introduced a tactile quality into his work which pro¬ the tradition of Giotto by in¬
foundly influenced many of his successors. The greatest of his paint¬ troducing emotion and psy¬
ings, The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden and The chological study.

Tribute Money, dealt not with specific themes but with the simple
emotions common to mankind in all ages. Masaccio was also the first
to achieve any notable success in imparting unity of action to 499
THE CIVILIZATION OF THE groups of figures and in giving the effect of thickness to objects by
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY the use of light and shade.
The best known of the painters who followed directly the paths
marked out by Masaccio was Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510), who
Botticelli specialized in depicting both religious and classical themes. He ex¬
celled in representing human emotions, but always with an eye for
harmony and rhythm. In spite of his sensitive feeling for nature
which led him to paint with such delicate skill the subtle loveliness
of youth, the summer sky, and the tender bloom of spring, Botticelli
was really more deeply interested in the spiritual beauty of the soul.
See color plates Like others of his time, he was strongly influenced by Neo-Platon¬
between pages ism and dreamed of the reconciliation of pagan and Christian
496 and 491 thought. As a consequence many of the countenances he painted
reveal a pensive sadness, a mystic yearning for the divine. By no
means all of his work had a religious import. His Allegory of Spring
and Birth of Venus are based entirely upon classical mythology and
suggest little more than an absorbing pleasure in the unfolding of
life and a romantic longing for the glories of ancient Greece and
Rome.
Perhaps the greatest of the Florentine painters was Leonardo da
Vinci (145 2-1519), one of the most talented and versatile geniuses
Leonardo da who ever lived. Not only was he a gifted painter but a sculptor,
Vinci
musician, and architect of outstanding ability and a brilliant engi¬
neer and philosopher. The son of an illicit union of a prominent
lawyer and a woman of humble station, he was placed by his father
at an early age under the instruction of Verrocchio, a sculptor and
painter of some renown and the most celebrated teacher of art in
Florence. By the time he was twenty-five Leonardo was already
sufficiently distinguished as a painter to win the favor of Lorenzo
the Magnificent. But after five or six years he appears to have be¬
See color plates come dissatisfied with the intellectual and artistic views of the
between pages Medici and gladly accepted an offer of regular employment at the
496 and 491 court of the Sforza in Milan. It was under the patronage of the
Sforza that he produced some of the finest achievements of his life.
His work, which embraces the late years of the fifteenth century
and the first two decades of the sixteenth, marks the beginning of
the so-called High Renaissance in Italy.
As a painter Leonardo da Vinci was impatient with the established
tradition of striving to imitate classical models. He believed that all
Leonardo's artis¬ art should have as its basis a scientific study of nature. But he had no
tic approach
intention of confining his interests to the mere surface appearances
of things. He was convinced that the secrets of nature are deeply
hidden, and that the artist must examine the structure of a plant or
probe into the emotions of a human soul as painstakingly as the
anatomist would dissect a body. He appears especially to "have been
fascinated by the grotesque and unusual in nature. Yawning fissures
500 in the earth, jagged pinnacles of rocks, rare plants and animals,
embryos, and fossils—these were the phenomena he loved to pon¬ THE RENAISSANCE IN
der, evidently in the belief that this mysterious universe yields more ITALY
of its secrets in the fantastic and unaccustomed than in the things
that are commonplace and obvious. For the same reason he devoted
much time to the study of exceptional human types, often wander¬
ing the streets for hours in quest of some face that would reveal
the beauty or terror, the sincerity or hypocrisy, of the personality
behind it. As a result of this deliberate selection of subjects, the
paintings of Leonardo have a quality of realism decidedly at vari¬
ance with the ordinary type. He did not generally portray the
aspects of nature as they appear to the casual observer but strove to
present them as symbols of his own philosophic reflections. He was
one of the most profoundly intellectual of painters.
It is generally agreed that Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpieces are
his Virgin of the Rocks, his Last Supper, and his Mona Lisa. The
first represents not only his marvelous technical skill but also his
passion for science and his belief in the universe as a well-ordered
place. The figures are arranged in geometric composition with
every rock and plant depicted in accurate detail. The Last Supper,
painted on the walls of the rectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in
Milan, is a study of psychological reactions. A serene Christ, re¬
signed to his terrible fate, has just announced to his disciples that
Bust of a Warrior by Leo¬
one of them will betray him. The purpose of the artist is to portray nardo da Vinci
the mingled emotions of surprise, horror, and guilt revealed in the
faces of the disciples as they gradually perceive the meaning of their
master’s statement. The third of Leonardo’s major triumphs, the
Mona Lisa, reflects a similar interest in the varied moods of the
human soul. Although it is true that the Mona Lisa (or Monna Lisa,
i.e., “my Lady Lisa”) is a portrait of an actual woman, the wife of
Francesco del Giocondo, a Neapolitan, it is more than a mere photo¬ See color
graphic likeness. The distinguished art critic and historian Bernard plates at page
Berenson has said of it, “Who like Leonardo has depicted . . . the 491
inexhaustible fascination of the woman in her years of mastery?
. . . Leonardo is the one artist of whom it may be said with perfect
literalness: ‘Nothing that he touched but turned into a thing of eter¬
nal beauty.’ ” 5
The late Quattrocento, or the beginning of the High Renaissance,
was marked by the rise of another celebrated school of Italian paint¬
ing, the so-called Venetian school. Its chief representatives included The Venetian
painters
Giorgione (1478-1510), Titian (ca. 1488—1576), and Tintoretto
(1518-1594). Of the three, Titian was perhaps the greatest. The
work of all these men reflected the luxurious life and the pleasure-
loving interests of the thriving commercial city of Venice. The
Venetian painters had none of the preoccupation with philosophical
and psychological themes that had characterized the Florentine

5 Italian Painters of the Renaissance, p. 107. 501

THE CIVILIZATION OF THE school. Their aim was to appeal to the senses rather than to the
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY mind. They delighted in painting idyllic landscapes and gorgeous
symphonies of color. For their subject matter they chose not merely
the opulent beauty of Venetian sunsets and the shimmering silver of
lagoons in the moonlight but also the man-made splendor of spar¬
kling jewels, richly colored satins and velvets, and gorgeous palaces.
Their portraits were invariably likenesses of the rich and the power¬
ful. In the subordination of form and meaning to color and elegance
there were mirrored not only the sumptuous tastes of a wealthy
bourgeoisie but also definite traces of Oriental influence which had
filtered through from Byzantium during the late Middle Ages.
The remaining great painters of the High Renaissance all lived
their active careers in the Cinquecento. It was in this period that the
The painters of evolution of art reached its peak, and the first signs of decay began
the late Renais¬ to appear. Rome was now almost the only artistic center of impor¬
sance: Raphael
tance on the mainland of the Italian peninsula, although the tradi¬
tions of the Florentine school still exerted a potent influence.
Among the eminent painters of this period at least two must be
given more than passing attention. One of the most noted was
Raphael (1483-1520), a native of Urbino, and perhaps the most
popular artist of the entire Renaissance. The lasting appeal of his
See color style is due primarily to his intense humanism. He developed a con¬
plates at page ception of a spiritualized and ennobled humanity. He portrayed the
491 members of the human species, not as dubious, tormented creatures,
but as temperate, wise, and dignified beings. Although he was influ¬
enced by Leonardo da Vinci and copied many features of his work,
he cultivated to a much greater extent than Leonardo a symbolical
or allegorical approach. His Disputa symbolized the dialectical rela¬
tionship between the church in heaven and the church on earth. In a
worldly setting against a brilliant sky, doctors and theologians ve-

Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam. One of a series of frescoes on the ceiling

of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Suggesting philosophical inquiries into the mean¬
ing of life and the universe, it represents Renaissance realism at its height.
hemently debate the meaning of the Eucharist, while in the clouds THE RENAISSANCE IN
above saints and the Trinity repose in the possession of a holy mys¬ ITALY
tery. The School of Athens is an allegorical representation of the
conflict between the Platonist and Aristotelian philosophies. Plato is
shown pointing upward to emphasize the spiritual basis of his world
of Ideas, while Aristotle gestures toward the earth to exemplify his
belief that concepts or ideas are inseparably linked with their mate¬
rial embodiments. Raphael is noted also for his portraits and
Adadonnas. To the latter, especially, he gave a softness and warmth
that seemed to endow them with a sweetness and piety quite
different from the enigmatic and analytical portraits of Leonardo da
Vinci.
Another towering giant of the Cinquecento in painting was
Michelangelo (1475-1564). Beset by the hardships of poverty,
harassed by grasping relatives, and torn by the emotional conflicts Michelangelo

of his own tempestuous nature, Michelangelo appears as one of the

most tragic figures in the history of art. His dark presentiments
were often reflected in his work, with the result that some of his
paintings are overwrought and almost morbidly pessimistic. Never¬
theless, the sense of tragedy he implanted in the scenes he portrayed
was not really personal but universal. After the manner of the
Greek dramatists he conceived of the tragic fate of mortals as some¬
thing external to man himself, a product of the cosmic order of
things. If there was any one theme that dominated all of his work,
it was humanism in its most intense and eloquent form. He consid¬
ered the pathos and nobility of man as the only legitimate subjects
of art. Rocks and trees and flowers meant nothing to him, not even
as background. Michelangelo’s grandest achievement as a painter See color
was the series of frescoes he produced on the ceiling of the Sistine plates at page
Chapel and on the wall above the altar. The sheer physical labor re¬ 497
quired to complete the task was prodigious. For four and a half
years he toiled on a lofty scaffold, most of the time face upward,
covering the 6000 square feet of ceiling with nearly 400 figures,
many of them as much as ten feet in stature. The series embraces a
number of scenes in the mighty epic of the human race according to
Christian legend. Among them are God Dividing the Light from the
Darkness, God Creating the Earth, The Creation of Adam, The Fall
of Man, The Deluge, and so on. The culminating scene is The Last
Judgment, which Michelangelo finished some thirty years later on
the wall back of the altar. Sometimes referred to as the most famous
painting in the world, this scene depicts a Herculean Christ damning
the great mass of mankind to perdition. Although the subject matter
is Christian, the spirit is pagan, as indicated by the naked and muscu¬
lar figures and the suggestion of a ruthless deity who punishes men
beyond their deserts. Nowhere else is Michelangelo’s conception of
universal tragedy more strongly expressed than in this work of his
lonely old age. 503
THE CIVILIZATION OF THE Medieval sculpture, as we have already seen, was not an independ¬
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY ent art but a mere adjunct of architecture. During the Italian Ren¬
aissance a gradual evolution began which ultimately had the effect
of freeing sculpture from its bondage to architecture and establish¬
Italian Renais¬ ing its status as a separate art frequently devoted to secular purposes.
sance sculpture: The first great master of Renaissance sculpture was Donatello
Donatello
(1386?—1466). He emancipated his art from Gothic mannerisms
and introduced a more vigorous note of individualism than did
any of his predecessors. His statue of David standing triumphant
over the body of the slain Goliath established a precedent of natural¬
ism and of glorification of the nude which sculptors for many years
afterward were destined to follow. Donatello also produced the first
monumental equestrian statue in bronze since the time of the Ro¬
mans, a commanding figure of the condottiere, Gattamelata.
One of the greatest sculptors of the Italian Renaissance, and prob¬
ably of all time, was Michelangelo. Sculpture, in fact, was the artis¬
tic field of Michelangelo’s personal preference. Despite his success as
a painter he considered himself unfitted for that work. Whether he
was ever particularly happy as a sculptor might be open to debate,
for he smashed some of the works upon which he had spent months
of labor and invested others with the same quality of pessimism that
characterized much of his painting. The dominant purpose which
motivated all of his sculpture was the expression of thought in stone.
His art was above mere naturalism, for he subordinated nature to
the force and sweep of his ideas. Other features of his work in¬
cluded the use of distortion for powerful effect, preoccupation with
themes of disillusionment and tragedy, and a tendency to express his
philosophical ideas in allegorical form. Most of his great master¬
pieces were done for the embellishment of tombs, a fact signifi¬
cantly in harmony with his absorbing interest in death, especially in
his later career. For the tomb of Pope Julius II, which was never
finished, he carved his famous figures of the Bound Slave and Moses.
The first, which is probably in some degree autobiographical, repre¬
David by Donatello sents tremendous power and talent restrained by the bonds of fate.
The statue of Moses is perhaps the leading example of Michelange¬
lo’s sculpture showing his use of anatomical distortion to heighten
the effect of emotional intensity. Its purpose was evidently to ex¬
press the towering rage of the prophet on account of the disloyalty
of the children of Israel to the faith of their fathers.
Some other examples of Michelangelo’s work as a plastic artist
create an even more striking impression. On the tombs of the
Michelangelo's Medici in Florence he produced a number of allegorical figures rep¬
allegorical resenting such abstractions as sorrow and despair. Two of them are
sculpture
known by the traditional titles of Davon and Sunset. The first is that
of a female figure, turning and raising her head like someone called
from a dreamless sleep to awake and suffer. Sunset is the figure of a
powerful man who appears to sink under the load of human misery
504 around him. Whether these allegorical figures were intended to
symbolize the disasters that had overtaken the republic of Flor¬ THE RENAISSANCE IN
ence or merely to express the artist’s own sense of the repletion of ITALY
disappointment and defeat in the world is unknown. As Michelan¬
gelo’s life drew toward its close, he tended to introduce into his
sculpture a more exaggerated and spectacular emotional quality.
This was especially true of the Pieta intended for his own tomb.
The Pieta, is a statue of the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of
the dead Christ. The figure standing behind the Virgin is possibly
intended to represent Michelangelo himself, contemplating the
stark tragedy which seemed to epitomize the reality of life. It is per¬
haps fitting that this profound but overwrought interpretation of
human existence should have brought the Renaissance epoch in
sculpture to a close.
To a much greater extent than either sculpture or painting,
Renaissance architecture had its roots in the past. The new building
style was eclectic, a compound of elements derived from the Middle
Ages and from pagan antiquity. It was not the Hellenic or the
Gothic, however, but the Roman and the Romanesque which pro¬
vided the inspiration for the architecture of the Italian Renaissance.
Neither the Greek nor the Gothic had ever found a congenial soil in
Italy. The Romanesque, by contrast, was able to flourish there, since
it was more in keeping with Italian traditions, while the persistence
of a strong admiration for Latin culture made possible a revival of Gattamelata by Donatello (see
the Roman style. Accordingly, the great architects of the Renais¬ also p. 348)
sance generally adopted their building plans from the Romanesque
churches and monasteries and copied their decorative devices from
the ruins of ancient Rome. The result was an architecture based
upon the cruciform floor plan of transept and nave and embodying
the decorative features of the column and arch, or the column and
lintel, the colonnade, and frequently the dome. Horizontal lines pre¬
dominated; and, though many of the buildings were churches, the

Pieta, by Michelangelo. This

portrayal of tragedy was made
by the sculptor for his own
tomb. Note the distortion for
effect exemplified by the elon¬
gated body and left arm of the
Christ. The figure in the rear is
Nicodemus, but was probably
intended to stand as a symbol
of Michelangelo himself. Origi¬
nal in the Cathedral of Florence.
 The Villa Rotunda of Palladio.
A Renaissance building near
Vicenza combining the Ro¬
man features of a square floor
plan and a central dome with
the Greek features of Ionic
columns and colonnades.

ideals they expressed were the purely secular ones of joy in this life
and pride in human achievement. Renaissance architecture empha¬
sized harmony and proportion to a much greater extent than did the
Romanesque style. Under the influence of Neo-Platonism, Italian
architects concluded that perfect proportions in man reflect the
harmony of the universe, and that, therefore, the parts of a building
should be related to each other and to the whole in the same way as
the parts of the human body. A fine example of Renaissance archi¬
tecture is St. Peter’s Church in Rome, built under the patronage of
Popes Julius II and Leo X and designed by some of the most cele¬
brated architects of the time, including Donato Bramante and Mi¬
chelangelo. Profusely decorated with costly paintings and sculpture,
it remains to this day the most magnificent church in the world,
in. philosophy and science The popular impression that the Ren¬
aissance represented in every way a marked improvement over
Italian Renais- the Middle Ages is not strictly true. It was certainly not more
sance philosophy: than half true in the realm of philosophy. The early humanists
the piatomsts scorned logic and even the rationalism of Scholastic philosophy.
Such disciplines they regarded as formal and mechanical hindrances
to a fine literary style and to the enhancement of the nobility of
man. Instead of Aristotle they chose Cicero as their idol and cen¬
tered their interest almost exclusively upon moral philosophy.
During the Quattrocento many became Platonists after the found¬
ing of the Platonic Academy by Cosimo de’ Medici in Florence.
Outstanding among the philosophers of the Academy were Marsi-
lio Ficino (1433-1499) and Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494).
Both were deeply pious and sought to reconcile Christianity with
philosophy and even to show the basic harmony of all religions and
philosophies. They rejected some of the cardinal tenets of
humanism—the indissoluble unity of mind and body and the high
valuation of material goods—and preached an asceticism that harked
back to the Middle Ages. They adulterated their Platonism with
some elements taken from Neo-Platonism and even from astrology
506 and other occult pseudosciences.
 But not all the Italian humanists were ecstatic worshipers of Plato. THE RENAISSANCE IN
In their zeal for a revival of pagan culture some sought to reawaken ITALY
an interest in Aristotle for his own sake and not as a bulwark of
Christianity. Others became Stoics, Epicureans, or Skeptics. The
most original philosophers of the Italian Renaissance were Lorenzo Lorenzo Valla

Valla, Leonardo da Vinci, and Niccolo Machiavelli. The fearless and Leonardo
da Vinci
and sensational ventures of Lorenzo Valla into the field of historical
criticism have already been noted. He was equally unconventional
as a philosopher. Defending the principles of Epicurus, he
avowed the highest good to be tranquil pleasure, condemned asceti¬
cism as utterly vain and worthless, and insisted that it is irrational to
die for one’s country. Although Leonardo da Vinci wrote nothing
that could be called a philosophical treatise, he may yet be consid¬
ered a philosopher in the broad meaning of the word. He was one of
the first to condemn unequivocally reliance upon authority as a
source of truth, and he urged the use of the inductive method. It
may be worthwhile also to take note of his strictures on war, which
he called “that most bestial madness.” He wrote that “It is an infi¬
nitely atrocious thing to take away the life of a man,” and he even
refused to divulge the secret of one of his inventions for fear it
might be used by unscrupulous rulers to increase the barbarity of
war.6
Niccolo Machiavelli is by far the most famous—and also the most
infamous—political philosopher of the Italian Renaissance. No man
did more than he to overturn the basic political conceptions of the Machiavelli's

Middle Ages, the ideas of universalism, limited government, and the political
philosophy
ethical basis of politics. He was the first to conceive of the state in
its modern form as a completely sovereign and independent unit. In

8Edward MacCurdy (ed.), The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, I, 24.

St. Peter’s, Rome. Built to a

square cross plan originally
conceived by Bramante and
revised by Michelangelo. Sub¬
stantially completed by 1603,
the church rises to a total
height of 450 feet.
 Left: The Tempietto. Designed in 1500 by Bramante, its Roman lines represent
a turning point in Italian Renaissance architecture. Right: The Strozzi Palace in
Florence. The heavy rustication of the walls with windows set into wide arches
is a typical feature of Italian Renaissance palaces.

his Discourses on Livy he praised the ancient Roman republic as a

model for all time. He lauded constitutionalism, equality, liberty in
the sense of freedom from outside interference, and subordination
of religion to the interests of the state. But Machiavelli also wrote
The Prince. More than the Discourses it reflects the unhappy condi¬
tion of Italy in his time. At the end of the fifteenth century Italy
had become the cockpit of international struggles. Both France and
Spain had invaded the peninsula and were competing with each
other for the allegiance of the Italian states. The latter, in many
cases, were torn by internal dissension which made them an easy
prey for foreign conquerors. In 1498 Machiavelli entered the serv¬
ice of the republic of Florence as Second Chancellor and Secretary.
His duties largely involved diplomatic missions to other states.
While in Rome he became fascinated with the achievements of
Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, in cementing a solidified
state out of scattered elements. He noted with approval Cesare’s
combination of ruthlessness with shrewdness and his complete
subordination of morality to political ends. In 1512 the Medici over¬
turned the government of Florence, and Machiavelli was deprived
of his position. Disappointed and embittered, he spent the remainder
508 of his life in exile, devoting his time primarily to writing. In his
books, especially in The Prince, he described the policies and prac¬ THE RENAISSANCE IN
tices of government, not in accordance with some lofty ideal, but as ITALY
they actually were. The supreme obligation of the ruler, he avowed,
was to maintain the power and safety of the country over which he
ruled. No consideration of justice or mercy or the sanctity of
treaties should be allowed to stand in his way. Cynical in his views
of human nature, Machiavelli maintained that all men are prompted
exclusively by motives of self-interest, particularly by desires for
personal power and material prosperity. The head of the state
should therefore take nothing for granted as to the loyalty or affec¬
tion of his subjects. Machiavelli was the first important realist in
political theory since the time of Polybius. The one ideal he kept
before him in his later years was the unification of Italy. But this he
believed had no chance of accomplishment except by the methods
of the hard-core realist.
Not only did the narrow attitude of the early humanists in Italy
retard the progress of philosophy; it also hindered for some time the
advancement of science. The early humanists, as we have seen, were Science in the

not critical minded. They accepted revered authorities of classical Italian Renais¬
sance
antiquity much too readily. Moreover, their interests were in art
and literature, not in science. Part of this emphasis may undoubt¬
edly be attributed to the fact that the leaders of the Renaissance for
some time had only a limited knowledge of Greek achievements.
The early pagan revival was predominantly a revival of Latin
antiquity. And it will be recalled that the contributions of the
Romans to science were few and mediocre. But in spite of the un¬
favorable influence of early humanism, Italy became by the fif¬
teenth century the most important center of scientific discovery in
Renaissance Europe. Much of the work was done, however, by non-
Italians. Men from all over the Continent came to study in Italy and
to profit from the researches of her eminent scholars. They laid the
foundations for nearly every major discovery of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. Such was notably the case in the fields of astron¬
omy, mathematics, physics, and medicine.
The achievement par excellence in astronomy was the revival and
Niccolo Machiavelli
demonstration of the heliocentric theory. Contrary to popular opin¬
ion, this was the work not of any one man but of several. It will be
remembered that the idea of the sun as the center of our universe
had originally been set forth by the Hellenistic astronomer Aris¬
tarchus in the third century b.c. But then, some 400 years later, the The revival of

theory of Aristarchus had been superseded by the geocentric expla¬ the heliocentric
theory
nation of Ptolemy. For more than twelve centuries thereafter the
Ptolemaic theory was the universally accepted conclusion as to the
nature of the physical universe. The Romans seem never to have
questioned it, and it was adopted as a cardinal dogma by the Sara¬
cenic and Scholastic philosophers. It was first openly challenged
about the middle of the fifteenth century by Nicholas of Cusa, who
argued that the earth is not the center of the universe. Soon after- 509
THE CIVILIZATION OF THE ward Leonardo da Vinci taught that the earth rotates on its axis and
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY denied that the apparent revolutions of the sun actually occur. In
1496 the now famous Pole, Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543),
came down into Italy to complete his education in civil and canon
law. For ten years he studied in the universities of Bologna, Padua,
and Ferrara, adding to his course in the law such subjects as mathe¬
matics and medicine. He also acquired an interest in astronomy and
studied and worked for some years with the leading professors of
that science. But he made no significant discoveries of his own. In
the main, he was content to rely upon the observations of others,
especially the ancients. His approach was not really scientific. It
contained elements of the mystical and such Neo-Platonic assump¬
tions as the notion that the sphere is the perfect shape and the idea
that motion is more nearly divine than rest. He accepted most of
Ptolemy’s premises but denied that they pointed to Ptolemy’s con¬
clusion of a geocentric universe. On account of timidity he refrained
from publishing his book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly
Spheres, until 1543. The proof sheets were brought to him on his
deathbed.
The most important astronomical evidence for the heliocentric
theory was furnished by the greatest of Italian scientists, Galileo
Galilei (1564-1642). With a telescope which he had perfected to a
magnifying power of thirty times, he discovered the satellites of
Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, and spots on the sun.7 He was able also
to determine that the Milky Way is a collection of celestial bodies
independent of our solar system and to form some idea of the
enormous distances of the fixed stars. Though there were many who
held out against them, these discoveries of Galileo gradually con¬
vinced the majority of scientists that the main conclusion of
“A Perfect Description of the
Copernicus was true. The final triumph of this idea is commonly
Celestial Orbes.” A diagram
by Copernicus showing the
called the Copernican Revolution. Few more significant events have
relationship of stars, the plan¬ occurred in the intellectual history of the world; for it overturned
ets, and the sun. the medieval world-view and paved the way for modern concep¬
tions of mechanism, skepticism, and the infinity of time and space.
Some thinkers believe that it contributed also to the degradation of
man, since it swept man out of his majestic position at the center of
the universe and reduced him to a mere particle of dust in an endless
cosmic machine.
In the front rank among the physicists of the Renaissance were
Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. If Leonardo da Vinci had failed
Leonardo da completely as a painter, his contributions to science would entitle
Vinci and him to considerable fame. Not the least of these were his achieve¬
Galileo as
ments in physics. Though he actually made few complete discoveries,
physicists
his conclusion that “every weight tends to fall toward the center by
7 Galileo was not the original inventor of the telescope. That honor is usually
accorded to Johannes Lippershey, an obscure optician who lived in the Low
Countries about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Galileo learned of
510 Lippershey’s invention and improved upon it in a single night.
the shortest way” contained the kernel of the law of gravitation.8 THE RENAISSANCE IN
In addition, he worked out the principles of an astonishing variety ITALY
of inventions, including a diving boat, a steam engine, an armored
fighting car, and a marble saw. Galileo is especially noted as a physi¬
cist for his law of falling bodies. Skeptical of the traditional theory
that bodies fall with a speed directly proportional to their weight,
he taught that bodies dropped from various heights would fall
at a rate of speed which increases with the square of the time
involved. Rejecting the Scholastic notions of absolute gravity and
absolute levity, he taught that these are purely relative terms, that
all bodies have weight, even those which like the air are invisible,
and that in a vacuum all objects would fall with equal velocity.
Galileo seems to have had a broader conception of a universal force
of gravitation than Leonardo da Vinci, for he perceived that the
power which holds the moon in the vicinity of the earth and causes
the satellites of Jupiter to circulate around that planet is essentially
the same as the force which enables the earth to draw bodies to its
surface. He never formulated this principle as a law, however, nor
did he realize all of its implications, as did Newton some fifty years
Galileo
later. Galileo’s reputation as a scientist is somewhat exaggerated. He
was inclined toward intellectual arrogance and not always willing to
recognize the merit in his opponents’ arguments.
The record of Italian achievements in the various sciences re¬
lated to medicine is also an impressive one. A number of Italian
physicians contributed valuable information pertaining to the cir¬ Progress in

culation of the blood. One of them described the valves of the anatomy and
medicine
heart, the pulmonary artery, and the aorta, while another lo¬
cated the valves in the veins. Equally significant was the work
of certain foreigners who lived and taught in Italy. Andreas
Vesalius (1514-1564), a native of Brussels, issued the first care¬
ful description of the human body based upon actual investiga¬
tion. As a result of his extensive dissections he was able to correct
many ancient errors. He is commonly considered the father of the
modern science of anatomy. Nevertheless, there is danger in giving
him too much credit. He was almost as conservative as Copernicus.
Whereas the Polish astronomer could not refrain from worshiping
Ptolemy, Vesalius revered Galen and deviated from him with great
reluctance. Fortunately, Galen was a better physician than Ptolemy
was an astronomer. Two other physicians of foreign nationality
who were heavily indebted to Italian progress in medicine were the
Spaniard Michael Servetus (1511-1553) and the Englishman Wil¬
liam Harvey (1578-1657). Servetus discovered the lesser or pul¬
monary circulation of the blood. In his work entitled Errors
concerning the Trinity (his major interest was theology, but he
practiced medicine for a living), he described how the blood leaves
the right chambers of the heart, is carried to the lungs to be purified,

Edward MacCurdy (ed.), The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, I, 18. 511

 Notebook Sketches by Leonardo da Vinci. Left: A cannon
foundry. Right: A mechanical mace. As the vehicle is drawn
by horses, the steel balls rotate.

then returns to the heart and is conveyed from that organ to all
parts of the body. But he had no idea of the return of the blood to
the heart through the veins. It was left for William Harvey, who
had studied under Italian physicians at Padua, to complete the dis¬
covery. This he did after his return to England about 1610. In his
Dissertation upon the Movement of the Heart he described how an
artery bound by a ligature would fill with blood in the section
nearer the heart, while the portion away from the heart would
empty, and how exactly the opposite results would occur when a
ligature was placed on a vein. By such experiments he reached the
conclusion that the blood is in constant process of circulation from
the heart to all parts of the body and back again.

3. THE WANING OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

Studies of the Shoulder by
Leonardo da Vinci About 1550 the Renaissance in Italy came to an end after two and
a half centuries of glorious history. The causes of its sudden demise
are by no means perfectly clear. Possibly at the head of the list
should be placed the French invasion of 1494 and the chaos that
Invasion and quickly ensued. The French monarch, Charles VIII, ruled over the
conquest richest and most powerful kingdom in Europe. Italy, weak and di¬
vided, seemed an easy prey for his grandiose ambitions. Accord¬
ingly, in 1494, he led an army of 30,000 well-trained troops across
the Alps. The Medici of Florence fled before him, leaving their city
to immediate capture. Halting only long enough to establish a puppet
government, the French resumed their advance and conquered
512 Naples. By so doing they aroused the suspicions of the rulers of
 The Harvesters, Peter Breughel the Elder (1520-
1569). Breughel chose to depict the life of humble
people. (MMA)

The Virgin and Chancellor Rolin, Jan van Eyck (1390- Erasmus, Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543).
1444). The early Flemish painters loved to present scenes This portrait is generally regarded as the best repre¬
of piety in the sumptuous surroundings of wealthy burgh¬ sentation of the character and personality of the
ers. (Louvre) Prince of the Humanists. (Louvre)
 St. Andrew and St. Francis, EL Greco
(1541-1614). (The Prado)

ffml $

Burial of the Count of Orgaz,, El Greco

(1541-1614). El Greco’s masterpiece im¬
mortalizes the character of the people
among whom lie dwelt. The elongated
figures, gaunt faces, and bold and dra¬
matic colors are typical of his work.
(Iglesia S. Tome, Toledo, Spain)
Spain, who feared an attack on their own possession of Sicily. An THE WANING OF THE
alliance of Spain, the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, and ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Venice finally forced Charles to abandon his project. Upon his
death in 1498 his successor, Louis XII, repeated the invasion of Italy.
Alliances and counteralliances succeeded one another in bewildering
confusion. Louis himself formed a combination with Ferdinand of
Spain, Pope Julius II, and the Holy Roman Emperor to despoil
Venice of her rich lands in the Po valley, but it foundered on the
rocks of distrust and perfidy. In 1511 the Pope, fearful of French
domination, organized a new “Holy League” with Venice and
Spain, which was joined later by Henry VIII of England and the
Emperor Maximilian. The French were defeated on two fronts and
left Italy in 1512 to the miseries of her own weakness and internal
squabbles. In 1530 the peninsula was conquered by the Emperor
Charles V after a series of struggles involving pillage and wholesale
destruction.
Charles made a practice of restoring favorite princes to the nomi¬
nal headship of Italian states in order to win their support in his un¬
ending struggle with France. They continued to preside over their
courts, to patronize the arts, and to adorn their cities with luxurious
buildings. But the great days of Italy were over. To the political dis¬
orders was added a waning of prosperity. It apparently brought no
severe hardship until after 1600, but the shift of trade routes from
the Mediterranean to the Atlantic region, following the discovery
of America, was bound ultimately to have its effect. Italian cities

The Entrance of Charles Vlll into Florence. Painting by Francesco Granacci.

THE CIVILIZATION OF THE gradually lost their supremacy as the centers of world trade. The
RENAISSANCE: IN ITALY prosperity they had enjoyed from a monopoly of trade with the
Near East had been one of the chief nourishing influences in the de¬
velopment of their brilliant culture. A source of strength and of
great expectations for the future was now being drained away. Yet
another cause of cultural decline would seem to have been the Cath¬
olic Reformation. During the first half of the sixteenth century the
Roman Church was engulfed by waves of intolerance, dogmatism,
and asceticism. The objects were partly to combat increasing
worldliness and sensuality and partly to strengthen the Church in its
campaigns against heresy. In 1542 the Inquisition was established in
Rome and soon afterward an Index of Prohibited Books was issued.
The arts were censored, publication was controlled, and heretics
were burned at the stake. Such procedures could hardly be other
than inimical to the free spirit of Renaissance culture.
A glaring symptom of the flimsy foundations of much of Renais¬
sance civilization may be found in the Savonarola affair. Underneath
The Savonarola the proud structure of Italian art and learning were smoldering
affair embers of ignorance and superstition ready to be kindled into
flame by the first bigot or fanatic who happened along. Girolamo
Savonarola was born in Ferrara in 1452, the son of a shiftless and
spendthrift father. Though he lived in a gay and worldly city, his
early education, directed by his mother and grandfather, seems to
have been chiefly religious. At the age of nineteen he fell passion¬
ately in love with the daughter of an aristocratic neighbor. The
young lady spurned him contemptuously, and soon afterward he
decided to renounce the world and fled to a Dominican monastery
in Bologna. In 1482 he was transferred to Florence, where Lorenzo
the Magnificent was then at the height of his power. The longer
Savonarola remained in Florence, the more he was dismayed by the
frivolity and paganism he saw all around him. Within two or three
years he began preaching in the cloister garden and in the churches
of the city, burning into the hearts of his hearers the terrible wrath
that would overtake them if they did not flee from their sins. His
fiery eloquence and gaunt and unearthly appearance attracted
hordes of frightened people. By 1494 his power over the mob had
reached such proportions that he became virtual dictator of Flor¬
ence. For four long years the gay Tuscan metropolis was then
subjected to a puritanical rule surpassing in austerity anything that
Italy had witnessed since the days of Gregory the Great. Half the
year was devoted to Lenten abstinence, and even marriage was dis¬
couraged. Citizens were commanded to surrender their articles of
luxury and their books and paintings alleged to be immoral; all of
these works of the devil were cast into the flames in the public
square in the celebrated “burning of the vanities.” Though he
claimed the gift of prophecy and the ability to work miracles, he
finally ran into trouble when he agreed under pressure to go
514 through an ordeal by fire to prove the truth of his doctrines. In
The Burning of Savonarola.
In this view of Florence, the
Palazzo Vecchio is in the right
center and a portion of the
cathedral is at the extreme left.

April 1498, an immense throng gathered in the Piazza della Signoria

to witness the grisly spectacle. A sudden rainstorm, however, caused
the authorities to postpone the ordeal on the ground that God had
interposed against it. Deprived of its cruel diversion, the mob turned
in rage against Savonarola and forced his arrest and imprisonment.
Pope Alexander VI, whose sins he had condemned, took advantage
of the opportunity to demand that he be destroyed as a heretic. Af¬
ter a month of excruciating tortures resulting in forced confessions,
he was sentenced to death. He was burned in front of the Medici
palace and his remains thrown into the Arno River. His career may
be regarded not only as a symptom of the weakness of Renaissance
society, but as a forerunner of the fanatical zeal of the Reformation.

SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

GENERAL
• Allen, J.W., Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century, London, 1951
(Barnes & Noble). The standard work on the subject.
’ Becker, Marvin B., Florence in Transition, Baltimore, 1967-1968, 2 vols.
• Berenson, Bernard, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance, New York, 1957
(Meridian). Accurate and interesting.
• Butterfield, Herbert, The Origins of Modern Science, New York, 1951
(Collier).
Cronin, Vincent, The Florentine Renaissance, New York, 1967.
• Ferguson, W. K., The Renaissance, New York, 1940 (Torchbook). A splen¬
did introduction.
READINGS Gilbert, Felix, Machiavelli and Guicciardini: Politics and History in Sixeenth-
century Florence, Princeton, 1965.
• Gilmore, M., The World of Humanism, New York, 1952 (Torchbook). An
excellent general account.
Gould, Cecil, An Introduction to Italian Renaissance Painting, London, 1957.
Discerning and authoritative.
• Hall, A.R., The Scientific Revolution, 1450-1650, Boston, 1956 (Beacon).
Hay, Denys, The Italian Renaissance in Its Historical Background, New
York, 1961.
• -, The Renaissance Debate, New York, 1965 (European Problem Series).
• Huizinga, J., The Waning of the Middle Ages, London, 1924 (Anchor). A
good analysis of the decline of feudalism.
• Kristeller, Paul, Renaissance Thought, New York, 1961-65, 2 vols. (Torch-
book) .
Lang, Paul, Music in Western Civilization, New York, 1941. The best survey
yet published.
Lopez, Robert S., The Three Ages of the Italian Renaissance, Charlottesville,
Va., 1970.
• Mattingly, Garrett, Renaissance Diplomacy, Baltimore, 1964 (Penguin).
Owen, John, The Skeptics of the Italian Renaissance, London, 1893.
• Pater, Walter, The Renaissance, New York (Mentor, 1959, Meridian, 1961).
Interesting interpretations.
Ridolfi, R., The Life of Girolamo Savonarola, New York, 1959.
-, The Life of Niccold Machiavelli, Chicago, 1963. Presents Adachiavelli
in a new and more favorable light.
• Roeder, R., The Man of the Renaissance, New York, 1933 (Aleridian).
Schevill, Ferdinand, The First Century of Italian Humanism, New York, 1928.
Scholarly and stimulating.
• Smith, Preserved, A History of Modern Culture, New York, 1930, Vol. I
(Collier). Thorough and scholarly.
• Taylor, H. O., Thought and Expression in the Sixteenth Century, London,
1920. Reliable and suggestive. Also available in paperback under the title,
The Humanism of Italy (Collier, 2 vols.).
Thorndike, Lynn, Science and Thought in the Fifteenth Century, New
York, 1929.
• Vallentin, Antonina, Leonardo da Vinci, New York, 1938 (Grosset and Dun¬
lap).
Wilkins, Ernest H., A History of Italian Literature, Cambridge, Mass., 1954.
One of the best accounts of Italian writing since Dante.
• Woodward, G. W. O., A Short History of Sixteenth-century England, New
York, 1963 (Mentor).

SOURCE MATERIALS

Baumer, F. L. V., Main Currents of Western Thought, New York, 1952.

Galileo Galilei, The Sidereal Messenger.
MacCurdy, Edward, ed., The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, 2 vols. New
York, 1955.
• Machiavelli, Niccolo, The Prince, especially Chs. 15-21, 26 (Modern Library
College Edition).
• -, Discourses on Livy, especially Book I, Chs. 3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 25, 32, 33,
34> 47' 53' 55> 58, 59; Book II, Chs. 2, 5, 13, 19, 22 (Modern Library College
Editions).
Robinson, J. H., and Rolfe, H. W., Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and
Man of Letters.
516 Willis, Robert, tr., The Works of William Harvey, M.D.
 CHAPTER 18
The Expansion of the Renaissance

Art and sciences are not cast in a mould, but are formed and per¬
fected by degrees, by often handling and polishing, as bears lei¬
surely lick their cubs into form.
—Michel de Montaigne, Works, II.xii

If a rock falls on your head, that is clearly painful; but shame,

disgrace, and curses hurt only so far as they are felt. What isn’t
noticed isn’t troublesome. So long as you applaud yourself what
harm are the hisses of the world? And folly is the only key to
this happiness.
—Erasmus, The Praise of Folly, II, The Powers
and Pleasures of Folly

That a movement as vigorous as the Italian Renaissance should have

spread into other countries was a result no less than inevitable. For
years there had been a continuous procession of northern European The spread of

students coming down into Italy to bask in the genial intellectual ,he Renaissanc
climate of Florence, Milan, and Rome. Moreover, the economic and
social changes in northern and western Europe had roughly paral¬
leled those of Italy for some time. Everywhere feudalism was being
supplanted by a capitalist economy, and a new individualism was
superseding the corporate structure of society sanctified by the
Church in the Middle Ages. Common economic and social interests
fostered the growth of a similar culture. But it must not be supposed
that the Renaissance in northern and western Europe was exactly
the same as that in the south. The Italian and the Teuton differed
markedly in temperament and in historical background. More
deeply affected by Saracenic and Byzantine influences, the Italian
was disposed to find in art and literature the most suitable media of
self-expression. Besides, he was the heir of classical traditions, which
also enhanced his aesthetic interests. The northern European tended
to view the problems of life from a moral or religious angle. As a
result of these differences the northern European Renaissance was 517
THE EXPANSION OF THE less distinctly an artistic movement than the Renaissance in the
RENAISSANCE south. Though painting flourished in the Low Countries, elsewhere
it had no more than a limited scope, and sculpture was largely neg¬
lected. The main efforts of the northern peoples were concentrated
in literature and philosophy, often with some religious or practical
purpose. It may be added that there was less paganism in the north¬
ern Renaissance than there was in the Renaissance in Italy. Perhaps
this condition reflected the fact that theological studies predomi¬
nated in the curricula of the northern universities as late as 1550.
The political history of the countries of northern and western Eu¬
rope during the age of the Renaissance was characterized by
The political developments somewhat similar to those which had occurred in
background of Italy. There was the same transition from a weak and decentralized
the Renaissance
feudal regime to the concentrated rule of despotic princes. There
outside of Italy;

conditions in
was also the destruction of the political power of the guilds and the
England absorption of their prerogatives of sovereignty by the state. The
chief difference was to be found in the fact that many of the states
outside of Italy were beginning to take on the character of national
units. Each of them occupied a territory of considerable size and
embraced a population knit together by bonds of language and a
vague consciousness of unity as a people. But for the most part these
great political organisms were the creations of ambitious monarchs,
who broke the power of local nobles and welded their petty princi¬
palities into huge dynastic empires. In England this process was
abetted by the so-called Wars of the Roses, a series of bloody strug¬
gles beginning about 1455 between rival factions of barons. So many
were the nobles killed in these wars and so profound was the disgust
with the long period of disorder that the Tudor dynasty, founded
by Elenry VII in 1485, was soon able to crush completely the rem-

Portrait of Henry VIII by Hans

Holbein the Younger. In the
Palazzo Corsini, Rome.
 Louis XI as Founder
of the Order of St.
Michael. A French
miniature ca. 1470.

nants of feudal power. The most noted members of this dynasty,

Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I, were the real founders of
despotic government in England—with the support of the middle
classes, who desired more protection for their commercial interests
than the feudal regime could give.
In the case of France it was also a war which led to the establish¬
ment of a consolidated state—but an international war rather than
an internal squabble. The struggle which enabled the French kings Conditions in

to stamp out feudal sovereignty was the Hundred Years’ War France, Spain,

and Germany
(1337-1453), fought primarily to expel the English from France
and to break their commercial alliance with the Flemish cities. As a
result of this conflict a national consciousness was aroused in the
French people, the nobles who had followed their own selfish ambi¬
tions were discredited, and the monarchy was extolled for having
saved the country from ruin. Within thirty years the shrewd but
unscrupulous Louis XI (1461-1483) extended the royal domain
over all of France with the exception of Flanders and Brittany. His
policies paved the way for the absolute rule of the Bourbons. Still
another important country of western Europe began its emergence
as a nation-state toward the end of the fifteenth century. This coun¬
try was Spain, united partly as a result of the marriage of Ferdinand
of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469 and partly through the
exigencies of the long war against the Moors. Under Philip II
(1556-1598) Spain rose to a place in the very front rank of Euro¬
Philip II of Spain
pean powers. Aside from Italy, the only major country of western
Europe which was not united into a consolidated state during the
age of the Renaissance was Germany. Though it is true that political
authority in some of the individual German kingdoms was solidified,
the country as a whole remained a part of the Holy Roman Empire,
now headed by the Hapsburg monarchs of Austria. The sovereignty 519
THE EXPANSION OF THE of the Holy Roman Emperors was a mere fiction, mainly because
RENAISSANCE during the Middle Ages they had wasted their energies in a vain at¬
tempt to extend their control over Italy, thereby enabling the Ger¬
man dukes to entrench themselves in power.

I. THE INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC

RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY

One of the first countries to receive the full impact of the Italian
humanist movement was Germany. This was a natural development,
The limited not only because of the proximity of the two countries, but also be¬
scope
cause of the large-scale migration of German students to the Italian
of the German
universities. But the influence of this humanism was short-lived and
Renaissance
its fruits rather scanty and mediocre. What the results might have
been if Germany had not been hurled so soon into the maelstrom of
religious contention cannot be determined. The fact remains, how¬
ever, that the Protestant Revolution stirred up passions of hate and
intolerance which could not be other than inimical to the humanist
ideal. A premium was now set upon bigotry and faith, while any¬
thing resembling the worship of man or reverence for pagan
antiquity was almost certain to be regarded as a work of the devil.
To fix a date for the beginning of the German Renaissance is
practically impossible. In such prosperous cities of the south as
German human¬ Augsburg, Nuremberg, Munich, and Vienna there was a lively
ism: the Letters of humanist movement, imported from Italy, as early as 1450. By the
Obscure Men
beginning of the sixteenth century it had taken firm root in univer¬
sity circles, particularly in the cities of Heidelberg, Erfurt, and
Cologne. Its most notable representatives were Ulrich von Hutten
(1488-1523) and Crotus Rubianus (1480-1539). Both were less
interested in the literary aspects of humanism than in its possibilities
as an expression of religious and political protest. Von Hutten, espe¬
cially, made use of his gifts as a writer to satirize the worldliness and
greed of the clergy and to indite fiery defenses of the German peo¬
ple against their enemies. He was himself an embittered rebel against
almost every institution of the established order. The chief title of
von Hutten and Rubianus to fame is their authorship of the Letters
of Obscure Men, one of the wittiest satires in the history of litera¬
ture. The circumstances under which it was written are so strik¬
ingly like those which frequently occur in the evolution of nations
that they deserve to be recounted here. A learned humanist at the
University of Heidelberg by the name of Johann Reuchlin had de¬
veloped a passionate enthusiasm for the study of Hebrew writings.
Because he criticized some of the theologians’ interpretations of the
Old Testament, he was savagely attacked by Christian fanatics and
was finally haled before the Inquisitor-General for the Catholic
520 Church in Germany. Numerous pamphlets were published on both
sides of the controversy, and the issue was soon sharply drawn be- THE RENAISSANCE IN
tween freedom and tolerance, on the one hand, and authoritarianism GERMANY
and bigotry on the other. When it became apparent that rational
argument was accomplishing nothing, the friends of Reuchlin de¬
cided to make use of ridicule. Rubianus and von Hutten published a
series of letters purporting to have been written by some of Reuch-
lin’s opponents, with such ridiculous signatures as Ziegenmelker
(Goat-milker), Honiglecker (Honey-licker), and Mistlader (Dung-
loader). Heinrich Shafmaul (Sheep’s mouth), the supposed writer
of one of the letters, professed to be worried lest he had sinned
grievously by eating an egg which contained a chick on Friday. The
author of another of the letters boasted of his brilliant “discovery”
that Julius Caesar could not have written the Commentaries on the
Gallic Wars because he was too busy with his military exploits ever
to have learned the Latin language. How much effect these letters
had in undermining the influence of the Catholic hierarchy in Ger¬
many is impossible to say, but it must have been considerable, for
they enjoyed a wide circulation.
The German Renaissance in art was limited entirely to painting
and engraving, represented chiefly by the work of Albrecht Diirer
(1471-1528) and Hans Holbein (1497-1543). Both of these artists
were profoundly influenced by Italian traditions, though much of

Melancholy. A Famous Engrav¬

ing from a Series by Albrecht
Diirer. In the National Gallery,
Washington, D.C.
THE EXPANSION OF THE the Germanic spirit of somber realism is also expressed in their
RENAISSANCE work. Durer’s best-known paintings are his Adoration of the Magi,
the Four Apostles, and The Crucified Christ. The last is a study in
tragic gloom. It shows the body of the pale Galilean stretched on
German paint¬ the cross against a bleak and sinister sky. The glimmer of light on
ing: Diirer and the horizon merely adds to the somber effect of the scene. Some of
Holbein
Durer’s best-known engravings exhibit similar qualities. His Melan¬
choly represents a female figure, with wings too small to lift her
body, meditating hopelessly on the problems of life, which appear
to defy all solution. A compass is in her hand, and various other im¬
plements upon which man has relied for the control of his environ¬
ment lie strewn about the floor. Hans Holbein the elder, the other
great artist of the German Renaissance, derives his renown pri¬
marily from his portraits and drawings. His portraits of Erasmus
and of Henry VIII are among the most famous in the world.
An impressive example of his drawings is the one known as
Christ in the Tomb. It depicts the body of the Son of God, with
staring eyes and mouth half open, as neglected in death as the corpse
of an ordinary criminal. The artist’s purpose was probably to ex¬
press the utter degradation which the Savior had suffered for the
redemption of man. In his later career Holbein also drew many reli¬
gious pictures satirizing the abuses in the Catholic Church which
were believed to be the chief justification for the Protestant Revolu¬
tion. He was one of the few prominent artists to devote his talents
to the Protestant cause.
The only German during the age of the Renaissance to make any
significant contribution to science was Johann Kepler (1571-1630).
German science: His interest aroused by the work of Copernicus, he improved the
Kepler and theory of the distinguished Pole by proving that the planets move in
Paracelsus
elliptical, rather than circular, orbits around the sun. Thus he may
be said to have destroyed the last important vestige of the Ptolemaic
astronomy, which had assumed the planets to be imbedded in per¬
fect crystalline spheres. In addition, the laws of planetary motion
which Kepler formulated were of tremendous value in suggesting to
Newton his principle of universal gravitation. There was another
scientist of German nationality whose work can be appropriately
disGussed in this connection, though he was actually born in the
vicinity of Zurich, about the end of the fifteenth century. The name
of this man was Theophrastus von Hohenheim, but he chose to call
himself Paracelsus to indicate his own belief in his superiority to
Celsus, the great Roman physician. Although Paracelsus is often
referred to as a quack and an impostor, there is really comparatively
little evidence that this was the case. He was at least sufficiently
skillful as a practitioner of healing to be appointed professor of
medicine at the University of Basel and town physician in 1527.
Moreover, it is his special merit that he went straight to the book of
522 experience for his knowledge of diseases and their cures. Instead of
following the teachings of ancient authorities, he traveled widely, THE RENAISSANCE IN THE
studying cases of illness in different environments and experiment¬ LOW COUNTRIES
ing with innumerable drugs. He denied that the quest for the philos¬
opher s stone should be the function of the chemist and insisted
upon the close interrelation of chemistry and medicine. Perhaps his
most important specific contribution was his discovery of the rela¬
tion between cretinism in children and the presence of goiter in
their parents.

2. RENAISSANCE CULTURE IN THE LOW COUNTRIES

Despite the fact that the Low Countries did not win independ¬
ence of foreign domination until the seventeenth century,1 they
were nevertheless one of the most splendid centers of Renaissance The derivation

culture on the Continent of Europe outside of Italy. The explana¬ and character

tion is to be found primarily in the wealth of the Dutch and Flemish of Renaissance

culture in the
cities and in the important trade connections with southern Europe.
Low Countries
As early as 1450 there were significant attainments in art in the Low
Countries, including the development of painting in oil. Here also
some of the first books were printed. While it is true that the
Renaissance in the Low Countries was no broader in scope than in
several other areas of northern Europe, its achievements were gen¬
erally of surpassing brilliance.
The history of Renaissance literature and philosophy in the Low
Countries begins and ends with Desiderius Erasmus, universally
acclaimed as the Prince of the Humanists. The son of a priest and a
servant girl, Erasmus was born near Rotterdam, probably in the
year 1466. For his early education he had the benefit of the excellent
training given in the school of the Brethren of the Common Life at
Erasmus. A woodcut by Hans
Deventer.2 Later, after his father and mother were both dead, his Holbein the Younger.
guardians placed him in an Augustinian monastery. Here the young
Erasmus found little religion or formal instruction of any kind but
plenty of freedom to read what he liked. He devoured all the clas¬
sics he could get his hands on and the writings of many of the
Church Fathers. When he was about thirty years of age, he obtained Erasmus, Prince

permission to leave the monastery and enroll in the University of of the Humanists

Paris, where he completed the requirements for the degree of bache¬

lor of divinity. But Erasmus never entered into the active duties of a
priest, choosing rather to make his living by teaching and writing.
By extensive reading of the classics he achieved a style of Latin ex¬
pression so remarkable for its wit and urbanity that everything he
wrote was widely read. But Erasmus’ love of the classics was not
born of pedantic interest. He admired the ancient authors because

1 They were ruled by the Duchy of Burgundy until 1506 when they were
inherited by Charles, the young king of Spain, whose grandfather had married
the sole heiress of the Burgundian duke.
2 See The Renaissance in Religion, §7 in this chapter. 523
 THE EXPANSION OF THE they gave voice to the very ideals of naturalism, tolerance, and
RENAISSANCE humanitarianism which held so exalted a place in his own mind. He
was wont to believe that such pagans as Cicero and Socrates were
far more deserving of the title of Saint than many a Christian canon¬
ized by the Pope. In 1536 Erasmus died in Basel at the end of a long
and unfaltering career in defense of scholarship, high standards of
literary taste, and the life of reason. He has rightfully been called
the most civilized man of his age.
As a philosopher of humanism Erasmus was the incarnation of the
finest ideals of the northern Renaissance. Convinced of the inherent
The liberal goodness of man, he believed that all misery and injustice would
philosophy of eventually disappear if only the pure sunlight of reason could be al¬
Erasmus
lowed to penetrate the noisome caverns of ignorance, superstition,
and hate. With nothing of the fanatic about him, he stood for
liberality of mind, for reasonableness and conciliation, rather than
for fierce intolerance of evil. He shrank from the violence and
passion of war, whether between systems, classes, or nations. Much
of his teaching and writing was dedicated to the cause of religious
reform. The ceremonial, dogmatic, and superstitious extravagances
in sixteenth-century Catholic life repelled him. But it was alien to
his temper to lead any crusade against them. He sought rather by
gentle irony, and occasionally by stinging satire, to expose irration¬
alism in all of its forms and to propagate a humanist religion of sim¬
ple piety and noble conduct based upon what he called the “philoso¬
phy of Christ.” Although his criticism of the Catholic faith had
considerable effect in hastening the Protestant Revolution, he re¬
coiled in disgust from the bigotry of the Lutherans. Neither did he
have much sympathy for the scientific revival of his time. Like most
of the humanists he believed that an emphasis upon science would
serve to promote a crude materialism and to detract men’s interests
from the ennobling influences of literature and philosophy. The
chief writings of Erasmus were his Praise of Folly, in which he
satirized pedantry, the dogmatism of theologians, and the ignorance
and credulity of the masses, and his Familiar Colloquies and The
Handbook of the Christian Knight, in which he condemned ecclesi¬
astical Christianity and argued for a return to the simple teachings
of Jesus, “who commanded us nothing save love for one another.”
In a less noted work entitled The Complaint of Peace, he expressed
A Peasant. Drawing by Peter his abhorrence of war and his contempt for despotic princes.
Breughel the Elder. The artistic Renaissance in the Low Countries was confined al¬
most entirely to painting; and in this field the outstanding achieve¬
ments were those of the Flemish school. Flemish painting derived no
small measure of its excellence from the fact that it was an in¬
digenous art. Here there were no classical influences, no ancient
statues to imitate, and no living traditions from the Byzantine or
Saracenic cultures. Until comparatively late, even the Italian influ¬
ence was of little consequence. The painting of Flanders was rather
524 the spontaneous product of a virile and prosperous urban society
The Massacre of the Innocents. This painting by Peter Breughel the Elder pic¬
tures the slaughter of women and children by Spanish soldiers. Seldom has great
art been used more effectively as a weapon of political protest.

dominated by aspiring merchants interested in art as a symbol of

luxurious tastes. The work of nearly all the leading painters—the
van Eycks, Hans Memling, and Roger van der Weyden—betrayed
this flair for depicting the solid and respectable virtues of their pa¬
trons. It was distinguished also by powerful realism, by a relentless
attention to the details of ordinary life, by brilliant coloring, and by
a deep and uncritical piety. Hubert and Jan van Eyck are noted for
their Adoration of the Lamb, an altarpiece produced for a church in
Ghent soon after the beginning of the fifteenth century. Described
by some critics as the noblest achievement of the Flemish school, it
portrays a depth of religious feeling and a background of ordinary
experience unmatched in Italian art. It was the first great work of
the Renaissance to be done by the new method of painting in oil, a
process believed to have been invented by the van Eycks. The other
two Flemish painters of the fifteenth century, Hans Memling and
Roger van der Weyden, are noted, respectively, for naturalism and
for the expression of emotional intensity. About ioo years later
came the work of Peter Breughel the elder, the most independent and 525
THE EXPANSION OF THE the most socially conscious of the northern artists. Spurning the reli-
RENAISSANCE gious and bourgeois traditions of his predecessors, Breughel chose to
depict the life of the common man. He loved to portray the boister¬
ous pleasures of peasant folk at their wedding feasts and village fairs
or to illustrate proverbs with scenes from the lives of humble people
close to the earth. While he was enough of a realist never to idealize
the characters in his paintings, his attitude toward them was defi¬
nitely sympathetic. He employed his talents for the purpose also of
condemning the tyranny of the Spanish regime in the Low Coun¬
tries.

3. THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE

Despite the strong aesthetic interests of the French people, as

evidenced by their perfection of Gothic architecture during the
French Middle Ages, the achievements of their artists in the age of the
achievements in Renaissance were of comparatively little importance. There was
art and science
some minor progress in sculpture and a modest advancement in
architecture. It was during this time that the Louvre was built, on
the site of an earlier structure bearing the same name, while numer¬
ous chateaux erected throughout the country represented a more
or less successful attempt to combine the grace and elegance of the
Italian style with the solidity of the medieval castle. Nor was science
entirely neglected, although the major accomplishments were few.
They included the contributions of Francois Viete (1540-1603) to
mathematics and of Ambroise Pare (i5i7?-i59o) to surgery. The
former invented modern algebraic symbols and elaborated the the¬
ory of equations. Pare improved upon the method of treating gun¬
shot wounds by substituting bandages and unguents for applications
of boiling oil. He was also responsible for introducing the ligature
of arteries as a means of controlling the flow of blood in major

The Chateau of Chenonceaux

in Central France as It Appears
Today. Built during the six¬
teenth century, it represents a
transitional type of architec¬
ture between Gothic and Ren¬
aissance.
amputations. He has rightfully been called the father of modern THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE
surgery.
But the outstanding achievements of the French Renaissance were
in literature and philosophy, illustrated especially by the writings
of Franqois Rabelais (i49o?-i553) and Michel de Montaigne Achievements in

(153 3—1592)- Like Erasmus, Rabelais was educated as a monk, but literature and

philosophy;
soon after taking holy orders he left the monastery to study medi¬
Rabelais
cine at the University of Montpellier. He finished the course for tne
bachelor’s degree in the short space of six weeks and obtained his
doctorate about five years later, in the meantime having served for a
period as public physician in Lyon in addition to lecturing and edit¬
ing medical writings. He seems from the start to have interspersed
his professional activities with literary endeavors of one sort or an¬
other. He wrote almanacs for the common people, satires against
quacks and astrologers, and burlesques of popular superstitions. In
1532 Rabelais published his first edition of Gargantua, which he
later revised and combined with another book bearing the title of
Pantagruel. Gargantua and Pantagruel were originally the names of
legendary medieval giants noted for their prodigious strength and
their gross appetites. Rabelais’ account of their adventures served as
a vehicle for his robust, sprawling wit and for the expression of his
philosophy of exuberant naturalism. In language far from delicate he
satirized the practices of the Church, ridiculed Scholasticism, scoffed
at superstitions, and pilloried every form of bigotry and repres¬
sion. No man of the Renaissance was a more uncompromising indi¬
vidualist or exhibited more zeal in glorifying the human and the
natural. For him every instinct of man was healthy, provided it was Rabelais

not directed toward tyranny over others. In common with Erasmus

he believed in the inherent goodness of man, but unlike the great
Prince of the Humanists he was a thoroughgoing pagan, rejecting
not only Christian dogma but Christian morality as well. Any de¬
gree of restraint, intellectual or moral, was repugnant to Rabelais.
His celebrated description of the abbey of Theleme, built by
Gargantua, was intended to show the contrast between his concep¬
tion of freedom and the Christian ascetic ideal. At Theleme there
were no clocks summoning to duties and no vows of celibacy or
perpetual membership. The inmates could leave when they liked;
but while they remained they dwelt together “according to their
own free will and pleasure. They rose out of their beds when they
thought good; they did eat, drink, labour, sleep, when they had a
mind to it, and were disposed for it. None did awake them, none did
offer to constrain them . . . for so Gargantua had established it. In
all their Rule and strictest tie of their order there was but this one
clause to be observed. Do what thou wilt.” 3
A man of far different temperament and background was Michel
de Montaigne (1533-1592). His father was a Catholic, his mother a

3 Urquhart and Motteux (trans.), Works of Rabelais, First Book, p. 165. 527
THE EXPANSION OF THE Jewess who had become a Protestant. Almost from the day of his
RENAISSANCE birth their son was subjected to an elaborate system of training.
Every morning he was awakened by soft music, and he was at¬
tended throughout the day by servants who were forbidden to
speak any language but Latin. When he was six years old he was
ready for the College of Guienne at Bordeaux and at the age of thir¬
teen began the study of law. After practicing law for a time and
serving in various public offices, he retired at thirty-seven to his
ancestral estate to devote the remainder of his life to study, contem¬
plation, and writing. Always in delicate health, he found it necessary
now more than ever to conserve his strength. Besides, he was re¬
pelled by the bitterness and strife he saw all around him and was for
that reason all the more anxious to find a refuge in a world of intel¬
lectual seclusion.
Montaigne’s ideas are contained in his famous Essays, written dur¬
ing his years of retirement. The essence of his philosophy is skepti¬
cism in regard to all dogma and final truth. He knew too much
about the diversity of beliefs among men, the welter of strange
customs revealed by geographic discoveries, and the disturbing
conclusions of the new science ever to accept the idea that any one
sect had exclusive’ possession of “the Truth delivered once for all to
the saints.” It seemed to him that religion and morality were as
much the product of custom as styles of dress or habits of eating.
He taught that God is unknowable, and that it is as foolish to “weep
Montaigne that we shall not exist a hundred years hence as it would be to weep
that we had not lived a hundred years ago.” Man should be encour¬
aged to despise death and to live nobly and delicately in this life
rather than to yearn piously for an afterlife that is doubtful at best.
Montaigne was just as skeptical in regard to assumptions of final
truth in philosophy or science. The conclusions of reason, he
taught, are sometimes fallacious, and the senses often deceive us.
The sooner men come to realize that there is no certainty anywhere
the better chance they will have to escape the tyranny which flows
from superstition and bigotry. The road to salvation lies in doubt,
not in faith.
A second element in Montaigne’s philosophy was cynicism. He
could see no real difference between the morals of Christians and
those of infidels. All sects, he pointed out, fight each other with
equal ferocity, except that “there is no hatred so absolute as that
which is Christian.” Neither could he see any value in crusades or
Montaigne's revolutions for the purpose of overthrowing one system and estab¬
cynicism lishing another. All human institutions in his judgment were about
equally futile, and he therefore considered it fatuous that man
should take them so seriously as to wade through slaughter in order
to substitute one for its opposite. No ideal, he maintained, is worth
burning your neighbor for. In his attitude toward questions of
528 ethics Montaigne was not so ribald a champion of carnality as
Rabelais, yet he had no sympathy for asceticism. He believed it THE SPANISH RENAISSANCE
ridiculous that men should attempt to deny their physical natures
and pretend that everything connected with sense is unworthy. “Sit
we upon the highest throne in the world,” he declared, “yet we do
but sit upon our own behind.” The philosophy of Montaigne, tinc¬
tured as it was with escapism and disenchantment, marked a fitting
close of the Renaissance in France. But in spite of his negative atti¬
tude he did more good in the world than most of his contemporaries
who founded new faiths or invented new excuses for absolute mon-
archs to enslave their subjects. Not only did his ridicule help to
quench the flames of the cruel hysteria against witches, but the in¬
fluence of his skeptical teachings had no small effect in combating
fanaticism generally and in paving the way for a more generous
tolerance in the future.

4. THE SPANISH RENAISSANCE

During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries Spain was at

the height of her glory. Her conquests in the Western Hemisphere
brought wealth to her nobles and merchants and gave her a proud Reasons for the

backwardness of
position in the front rank of European states. Notwithstanding these
Spain in the
facts the Spanish nation was not one of the leaders in Renaissance
Renaissance
culture. Apparently her citizens were too deeply absorbed in
plundering the conquered territories to devote much attention to in¬
tellectual or artistic pursuits. Moreover, the long war with the
Moors had engendered a spirit of bigotry, the position of the Church
was too strong, and the expulsion of the Jews at the end of the fif¬
teenth century had deprived the country of talent it could ill afford
to lose. For these reasons the Spanish Renaissance was limited to a
few achievements in painting and literature, albeit some of these
rank in brilliance with the best that other countries produced.
Spanish painting bore the deep impression of the bitter struggle
between Christian and Moor. As a result it expressed an intense pre¬
occupation with religion and with themes of anguish and tragedy. The character

of Spanish
Its background was medieval; upon it were engrafted influences
painting; El
from Flanders and from Italy. The first of the eminent Spanish
Greco
painters was Fuis de Morales (1517-1586), frequently called “The
Divine.” His Madonnas, Crucifixions, and Mater Dolorosas typified
that earnest devotion to Catholic orthodoxy regarded by many
Spaniards of this time as a duty both religious and patriotic. But the
most talented artist of the Spanish Renaissance was not a native of
Spain at all, but an immigrant from the island of Crete. His real
name was Domenico Theotocopuli, but he is commonly called El
Greco (1541 ?—1614?). After studying for some time under Titian in
Venice, El Greco settled in Toledo about 1575, to live there until
his death. A stern individualist in temperament, he seems to have 529
THE EXPANSION OF THE imbibed little of the warmth of color and serene joy in satin splen¬
RENAISSANCE dor of the Venetian school. Instead, nearly all of his art is character¬
ized by fevered emotionalism, stark tragedy, or enraptured flights
into the supernatural and mystical. His figures are often those of
gaunt, half-crazed fanatics; his colors sometimes are cold and severe.
His scenes of suffering and death seem deliberately contrived to
produce an impression of horror. Among his famous works are The
Burial of the Count of Orgaz, Pentecost, and The Apocalyptic
Vision. Better than any other artist, El Greco expresses the fiery
religious zeal of the Spanish people during the heyday of the Jesuits
and the Inquisition.
Literature in the Spanish Renaissance displayed tendencies not
dissimilar to those in painting. This was notably true of drama,
which frequently took the form of allegorical plays depicting the
mystery of transubstantiation or appealing to some passion of reli¬
gious fervor. Others of the dramatic productions dwelt upon themes
of political pride or sang the praises of the bourgeoisie and ex¬
pressed contempt for the dying world of feudalism. The colossus
among the Spanish dramatists was Lope de Vega (1562-1635), the
most prolific author of plays the literary world has seen. He is sup¬
posed to have written no fewer than 1500 comedies and more than
400 religious allegories. Of the total about 500 survive to this day.
Cervantes His secular dramas fall mainly into two classes: (1) the “cloak and
sword plays,” which depict the violent intrigues and exaggerated
ideals of honor among the upper classes; and (2) the plays of na¬
tional greatness, which celebrate the glories of Spain in her prime
and represent the king as the protector of the people against a
vicious and degenerate nobility.
Few would deny that the most gifted writer of the Spanish Re¬
naissance was Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). His great master¬
The satirical piece, Don Quixote, has even been described as “incomparably the
novel of Cer¬ best novel ever written.” Composed in the best tradition of Spanish
vantes
satirical prose, it recounts the adventures of a Spanish gentleman
(Don Quixote) who has been slightly unbalanced by constant read¬
ing of chivalric romances. His mind filled with all kinds of fantastic
adventures, he finally sets out at the age of fifty upon the slippery
road of knight-errantry. He imagines windmills to be glowering
giants and flocks of sheep to be armies of infidels, whom it is his
duty to rout with his spear. In his disordered fancy he mistakes inns
for castles and the serving-wenches within them for courtly ladies on
fire with love of him. Set off in bold contrast to the ridiculous knight-
errant is the figure of his faithful squire, Sancho Panza. The latter
represents the ideal of the practical man, with his feet on the ground
and content with the substantial pleasures of eating, drinking, and
sleeping. The book as a whole is a pungent satire on feudalism, espe¬
cially on the pretensions of the nobles as the champions of honor
and right. Its enormous popularity was convincing proof that
530 medieval civilization was approaching extinction even in Spain.
5‘ THE RENAISSANCE IN ENGLAND

In common with Spain, England also enjoyed a golden age in the

sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Though her vast colonial
empire had not yet been established, she was nevertheless reaping The economic

big profits from the production of wool and from her trade with the and political
foundations of
Continent. Her government, recently consolidated under the rule of
the Renaissance
the Tudors, was making the prosperity of the middle class the ob¬
in England
ject of its special solicitude. Through the elimination of foreign
traders, the granting of favors to English shipping, and the negotia¬
tion of reciprocal commercial treaties, the English merchant classes
were given exceptional advantages over their rivals in other coun¬
tries. The growth of a national consciousness, the awakening of
pride in the power of the state, and the spread of humanism from
Italy, France, and the Low Countries also contributed toward the
flowering of a brilliant culture in England. Nevertheless, the English
Renaissance was confined primarily to philosophy and literature.
The arts did not flourish; perhaps because of the Calvinist influence,
which began to make itself felt in Britain by the middle of the six¬
teenth century.
The earliest philosophers of the English Renaissance may best be
described simply as humanists. Although they were not unmindful
of the value of classical studies, they were interested chiefly in the
more practical aspects of humanism. Most of them desired a simpler
and more rational Christianity and looked forward to an educational
system freed from the dominance of medieval logic. Others were
concerned primarily with individual freedom and the correction of
social abuses. The greatest of these early thinkers was Sir Thomas
More (1478-1535), esteemed by contemporary humanists as “ex¬
cellent above all his nation.” Following a successful career as a law¬
yer and as Speaker of the House of Commons, More was appointed
in 1529 Lord Chancellor of England. He was not long in this posi¬
tion, however, before he incurred the enmity of his royal master,
Henry VIII. More was loyal to Catholic universalism and did not
sympathize with the king’s design to establish a national church
under subjection to the state. When, in 1534, he refused to take the Sir Thomas More. Painting by

Oath of Supremacy acknowledging the king as the head of the Holbein.

Church of England, he was thrown into the Tower. A year later he

was tried before a packed jury, convicted, and beheaded. More’s
philosophy is contained in his Utopia, which he published in 1516.
Purporting to describe an ideal society on an imaginary island, the The early Eng¬

book is really an indictment of the glaring abuses of the time—of lish humanists;
Thomas More
poverty undeserved and wealth unearned, of drastic punishments,
religious persecution, and the senseless slaughter of war. The inhab¬
itants of Utopia hold all their goods in common, work only six
hours a day so that all may have leisure for intellectual pursuits, and
practice the natural virtues of wisdom, moderation, fortitude, and
justice. Iron is the precious metal “because it is useful,” war and 531
 E VERLTLAMI0/
Summit Jriglix- %
vC-EYCELLmiJ/

The Title Page of Sir

Francis Bacon’s No¬
ir fcientiaH- vum Organum, Printed
in 1620
L on dints
lunnan -
r?:s;/rMUnttt>
-v Kt-jnt/n^..

monasticism are abolished, and tolerance is granted to all creeds that

recognize the existence of God and the immortality of the soul.
Despite criticism of the Utopia as deficient in wit and originality,
the conclusion seems justified that the author’s ideals of humanity
and tolerance were considerably in advance of those of most other
men of his time.
The thinker who has gone down in history as the greatest of all
English Renaissance philosophers is Sir Francis Bacon. Born in 1561,
Sir Francis the son of a high government official, Bacon was nurtured in the lap
Bacon of luxury until the age of seventeen when the death of his father
compelled him to work for a living. Thereafter the dominating am¬
bition of his fife was to obtain some profitable position with the
government which would enable him to pursue his intellectual in¬
terests. Probably it was this mania for security which accounts for
the shady morality of his public career. When occasion arose, he did
not shrink from concealing his true beliefs, from disloyalty to his
friends, or from sharing in graft. In 1618 he was appointed Lord
Chancellor, but after a scant three years in this office he was im¬
peached for accepting bribes. Despite his protestations that the tak¬
ing of money from litigants had never influenced his decisions, he
was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of $200,000 and to un¬
dergo imprisonment in the Tower “at the king’s pleasure.” King
James I remitted the fine and limited the term of imprisonment to
532 four days. Bacon devoted the remaining five years of his fife to writ-
ing, especially to the completion of the third and enlarged edition of THE RENAISSANCE IN
his essays. Among his most valuable works are the Novum Organum ENGLAND
and The Advancement of Learning.
Bacon’s monumental contribution to philosophy was the glorifica¬
tion of the inductive method. He was by no means the discoverer of
that method, but he trumpeted it forth as the indispensable ground Bacon's induc¬
of accurate knowledge. He believed that all seekers of truth in the tive philosophy

past had stumbled in darkness because they were slaves of precon¬

ceived ideas or prisoners in the dungeons of Scholastic logic. He
argued that in order to overcome these obstacles the philosopher
should turn to the direct observation of nature, to the accumulation
of facts about things and the discovery of the laws that govern
them. Induction alone, he believed, was the magic key that would
unlock the secrets of truth. Authority, tradition, and syllogistic
logic should be as sedulously avoided as the plague. Admirable as
these teachings are, they were honored by Bacon himself almost as
much in the breach as in the observance. He believed in astrology,
divination, and witchcraft. Moreover, the distinction he drew be¬
tween ordinary knowledge and the truths of religion was hardly in
keeping with his staunch defense of induction. “The senses,” he
wrote, “are like the sun, which displays the face of the earth, but
shuts up that of the heavens.” For our voyage to the realm of celes¬
tial truth, we must “quit the small vessel of human reason and put
ourselves on board the ship of the Church, which alone possesses the
divine needle for justly shaping the course. The stars of philosophy
will be of no further service to us. As we are obliged to obey the
divine law, though our will murmur against it, so we are obliged to
believe in the word of God, though our reason is shocked at it. The
more absurd and incredible any divine mystery is, the greater honor
we do God in believing it.” It was not such a far cry after all from
Roger Bacon in the thirteenth century to Francis Bacon in the sev¬
enteenth.
In literature, also, the English followed much more closely in the
footsteps of their medieval forerunners than did the Renaissance
writers in any other country with the exception of Italy. Indeed, it English Renais¬

is difficult to say just when the English Renaissance in literature sance literature

began. Chaucer’s great work, the Canterbury Tales, written toward

the end of the fourteenth century, is commonly considered medie¬
val; yet it breathed a spirit of earthiness and of lusty contempt for
the mystical quite as pronounced as anything to be found in the
writings of Shakespeare. If there were any essential dfferences be¬
tween the English literature of the Renaissance and that produced
during the late Middle Ages, they would consist in a bolder individ¬
ualism, a stronger sense of national pride, and a deeper interest in
themes of philosophic import. The first great poet in England after
the time of Chaucer was Edmund Spenser( 1552?—1599)- His immor¬
tal creation, The Faerie Queene, is a colorful epic of England’s 533
THE EXPANSION OF THE greatness in the days of Queen Elizabeth. Though written as a moral
RENAISSANCE allegory to express the author’s desire for a return to the virtues of
chivalry, it celebrates also the joy in conquest and much of the
gorgeous sensuousness typical of Renaissance humanism.
But the most splendid achievements of the English in the Eliza¬
bethan Age were in the realm of drama. Not since the days of the
The Elizabethan Greeks had the writing of tragedies and comedies attained such
dramatists; heights as were reached in England during the sixteenth and early
Marlowe
seventeenth centuries. Especially after 1580 a galaxy of playwrights
appeared whose work outshone that of all their predecessors in
2000 years. Included in this galaxy were such luminaries as Chris¬
topher Marlowe (1564-1593), Beaumont and Fletcher (1584-1616;
1579-1625), Ben Jonson (1573?—1637), and Shakespeare (1564-
1616), of whom the first and the last are chiefly significant
to the historian. Better than anyone else in his time, Christopher
Marlowe embodies the insatiable egoism of the Renaissance—
the everlasting craving for the fullness of life, for unlimited knowl¬
edge and experience. His brief but stormy career was a succession
of scandalous escapades and fiery revolts against the restraints
of convention until it was terminated by his death in a tavern
brawl before he was thirty years old. The best known of his
plays, entitled Doctor Faustus, is based upon the legend of Faust, in
which the hero sells his soul to the devil in return for the power to
feel every possible sensation, experience every possible triumph, and
know all the mysteries of the universe.

Mr. WILLIAM

SHAKESPEARES
COMEDIES,
HISTORIES, &
TRAGEDIES.
Publifhed according to the True Original! Copies,

William Shakespeare. Portrait

made for the First Folio edition
of his works, 1623.
 William Shakespeare, the most talented genius in the history of THE RENAISSANCE IN
drama since Euripides, was born into the family of a petty trades¬ ENGLAND
man in the provincial market town of Stratford-on-Avon. His life is
enshrouded in more mists of obscurity than the careers of most
other great men. It is known that he left his native village when he The life and
was about twenty years old, and that ultimately he drifted to Lon¬ writings of
William
don to find employment in the theater. Tradition relates that for a
Shakespeare
time he earned his living by holding the horses of the more prosper¬
ous patrons of the drama. How he eventually became an actor and
still later a writer of plays is unknown, but there is evidence that by
the time he was twenty-eight he had already acquired a reputation
as an author sufficient to excite the jealousy of his rivals. Before he
retired to his native Stratford about 1610 to spend the rest of his
days in ease, he had written or collaborated in writing nearly forty
plays, to say nothing of 150 sonnets and two narrative poems.
In paying homage to the universality of Shakespeare’s genius, we
must not lose sight of the fact that he was also a child of the Renais¬
sance. His work bore the deep impression of most of the virtues and The character

defects of Renaissance humanism. Almost as much as Boccaccio or of Shakespeare's

work
Rabelais, he personified that intense love of things human and
earthly which had characterized most of the great writers since the
close of the Middle Ages. Moreover, like the majority of the human¬
ists, he showed a limited concern with the problems of politics and
the values of science. Virtually the only political theory that inter¬
ested him greatly was whether a nation had a better chance of pros¬
pering under a good king who was weak or under a bad king who
was strong. Though his knowledge of the sciences of his time was
extensive, he regarded them as consisting primarily of alchemy,
astrology, and medicine.4 But the force and range of Shakespeare’s
intellect were far from bounded by the narrow horizons of the age
in which he lived. While few of the works of his contemporaries are
now widely read, the plays of Shakespeare still hold their rank as a
kind of secular Bible wherever the English language is spoken. The
reason lies not only in the author’s unrivaled gift of expression, but
especially in his scintillating wit and his profound analysis of human
character assailed by the storms of passion and tried by the whims
of fate.
Shakespeare’s dramas fall rather naturally into three main groups.
Those written during his earlier years conformed to the traditions
of existing plays and generally reflected his own confidence in per¬ The main groups

sonal success. They include such comedies as A Midsummer Night’s of Shakespeare's

plays
Dream and The Merchant of Venice, a number of historical plays,
and the lyrical tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. Shortly before 1600
Shakespeare seems to have experienced a change of mood. The re-

4 In psychology, however, he gives evidence of having been ahead of his

time, especially in his treatment of mental illness. Perhaps this was natural in
view of his profound interest in human emotions, in man’s conflict with himself
and with the universe of which he is a part. 535
THE EXPANSION OF THE strained optimism of his earlier plays was supplanted by some deep
RENAISSANCE disillusion which led him to distrust human nature and to indict the
whole scheme of the universe. The result was a group of dramas
characterized by bitterness, overwhelming pathos, and a troubled
searching into the mysteries of things. The series begins with the
tragedy of intellectual idealism represented by Hamlet, goes on to
the cynicism of Measure for Measure and All’s Well That Ends
Well, and culminates in the cosmic tragedies of Macbeth and King
Lear. Perhaps the famous speech of Gloucester in the last of these
plays may be taken to illustrate the depths of the author’s pessimism
at this time:

As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;

They kill us for their sport.5

The final group of dramas includes those written during the closing
years of Shakespeare’s life, probably after his retirement. Among
them are The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. All of them may be
described as idyllic romances. Trouble and grief are now assumed to
be only the shadows in a beautiful picture. Despite individual trag¬
edy, the divine plan of the universe is somehow benevolent and just.

6. RENAISSANCE DEVELOPMENTS IN MUSIC

Music in western Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

reached such a high point of development that it constitutes, to¬
The evolution of gether with painting and sculpture, one of the most brilliant aspects
music as an of Renaissance activity. While the visual arts were stimulated by the
independent art
study of ancient models, music flowed naturally from an independ¬
ent evolution which had long been in progress in medieval Christen¬
dom. As earlier, leadership was supplied by men trained in the
service of the Church, but the value of secular music was now ap¬
preciated, and its principles were combined with those of sacred
music to bring a decided gain in color and emotional appeal. The
distinction between sacred and profane became less sharp; most
composers did not restrict their activities to either field. Music was
no longer regarded merely as a diversion or an adjunct to worship but
as an independent art.
Different sections of Europe vied with one another for musical
leadership. As with the other arts, advance was related to the in¬
Leadership creasingly generous patronage made possible by the expansion of
provided by commerce, and was centered in the prosperous towns. During the
Italy and France
fourteenth century a pre- or early Renaissance musical movement
called Ars Nova (new art) flourished in Italy and France. Its out¬
standing composers were Francesco Landini (ca. 1325-1397) and
Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377). The madrigals, ballads, and

536 6 King Lear, Act IV, scene 1.

Left: Musical Instruments in the Sixteenth Century. Right: A Print Showing
Palestrina Presenting His First Printed Work to Pope Julius 111

other songs composed by the Ars Nova musicians testify to a rich

secular art, but the greatest achievement of the period was a highly
complicated vet delicate contrapuntal style adapted for motet and
chanson. With Machaut we reach the first integral polyphonic set¬
ting of the Ordinary of the Mass.
The fifteenth century was ushered in by a synthesis of English,
French, Flemish, and Italian elements that took place in the Duchy
of Burgundy. It produced a remarkable school of music inspired by Synthesis of
the cathedral of Cambrai and the ducal court at Dijon. This music national

was gentle, melodious, and euphonious, but in the second half elements

of the century it hardened a little as the northern Flemish element

gained in importance. As the sixteenth century opened we find
these Franco-Flemish composers in every important court and
cathedral choir all over Europe, gradually establishing regional-
national schools, usually in attractive combinations of Flemish
with German, Spanish, and Italian musical cultures. The various
genres thus created show a close affinity with Renaissance art
and poetry. In the second half of the sixteenth century the leaders
of the nationalized Franco-Flemish style were the Italian Palestrina
(ca. 1525-1594), who, by virtue of his position as papal composer and
his devotion to a subtle and crystal-clear vocal style, became the ven¬
erated symbol of church music; the Flemish Roland de Lassus
(1532-1594), the most versatile composer of the age; and Tomas 537
THE EXPANSION OF THE Luis de Victoria (ca. 1540-1611), the glowing mystic of Spanish
RENAISSANCE music. Music also flourished in England, for the Tudor monarchs
were not behind the Medici or the Bavarian dukes in patronizing the
arts; several of them were accomplished musicians. It was inevitable
that the reigning Franco-Flemish style should reach England, where
it was superimposed upon an ancient and rich musical culture. The
Italian madrigal, imported toward the end of the sixteenth century,
found a remarkable second flourishing in England, but songs and in¬
strumental music of an original cast anticipated future developments
on the Continent. In William Byrd (1543-1623) English music
produced a master fully the equal of the great Flemish, Roman, and
Spanish composers of the Renaissance. The general level of music
proficiency seems to have been higher in Queen Elizabeth’s day
than in ours: the singing of part-songs was a popular pastime in
homes and at informal social gatherings, and the ability to read a
part at sight was expected of well-bred persons.
In conclusion, it may be observed that while counterpoint had
matured, our modern harmonic system had been born, and thus a
The greatness of way was opened for fresh experimentation. At the same time one
the Renaissance should realize that the music of the Renaissance constitutes not
achievement
merely a stage in evolution but a magnificent achievement in itself,
with masters who rank among the great of all time. The composers
Palestrina and Lassus are as truly representative of the artistic tri¬
umph of the Renaissance as are the painters Raphael and Michelan¬
gelo. Their heritage, long neglected except at a few ecclesiastical
centers, has within recent years begun to be appreciated, and is now
gaining in popularity as interested groups of musicians devote them¬
selves to its revival.

7. THE RENAISSANCE IN RELIGION

No account of the age of the Renaissance would be complete

without some attention to the Renaissance in religion, or the Chris-
The Christian tian Renaissance as it is commonly called. This was a movement
Renaissance almost entirely independent of the Protestant Revolution, which
will be discussed in the next chapter. The leaders of the Christian
Renaissance were generally humanists, not Protestants. Few of them
ever deserted the Catholic faith; their aim was to purify that faith
from within, not to overthrow it. Most of them found the bigotry
of early Protestantism as repugnant to their religious ideals as any of
the abuses in the Catholic Church. The original impetus for the
Christian Renaissance appears to have come from the Brethren of
the Common Life, a group of pious laymen who maintained schools
in the Low Countries and in western Germany. Their aim was to
propagate a simple religion of practical piety, as free as possible
from dogmatism and ritual. The most noted of their early followers
was Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471) who wrote or edited about
538 1425 a book entitled The Imitation of Christ. Though profoundly
mystical in tone, the book nevertheless repudiated the extreme THE RENAISSANCE IN
otherworldliness of medieval mystics and urged a life of simple RELIGION
devotion to the teachings of Jesus. For over a century the Imitation
was more widely read in Europe than any other book with the ex¬
ception of the Bible.
By 1500 the Christian Renaissance had become definitely associ¬
ated with northern humanism. Writers and philosophers in every
country lent their support to the movement. Prominent among The ideals of
them were Sebastian Brant in Germany, Sir Thomas More in Eng¬ the Christian

land, Erasmus in the Low Countries, and figures of lesser renown in Renaissance

France and Spain. The religious teachings of these men were thor¬
oughly in keeping with the humanist ideal as it was understood in
northern Europe. Believing that religion should function for the
good of man and not for the benefit of an organized church or even
for the glory of an ineffable God, they interpreted Christianity pri¬
marily in ethical terms. Many of the theological and supernatural
elements in it they regarded as superfluous, if not positively harm¬
ful. They likewise had little use for ceremonies of any kind, and
they ridiculed the superstitions connected with the veneration of
relics and the sale of indulgences. While they recognized the neces¬
sity of a limited amount of ecclesiastical organization, they denied
the absolute authority of the Pope and refused to admit that priests
were really essential as intermediaries between man and God. In
fine, what most of these Christian humanists really desired was the
superiority of reason over faith, the primacy of conduct over
dogma, and the supremacy of the individual over the organized sys¬
tem. They believed that this simple and rational religion could best
be achieved, not through violent revolt against the Catholic Church,
but through the gradual conquest of ignorance and the elimination
of abuses.
The decline of Renaissance culture in the countries of northern
and western Europe came much less abruptly than in Italy. Indeed,
the change in some respects was so gradual that there was simply a The decline of

fusion of the old with the new. The achievements in science, for ex¬ the Renaissance
outside of Italy
ample, were merely extended, although with a definite shift of
emphasis as time went on from the mathematical and physical
branches to the biological. The Renaissance art of northern Europe,
moreover, gradually evolved into the baroque, which dominated the
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. On the other hand,
humanism, in its Renaissance meaning of the worship of man and
indifference to everything else, practically died out after the six¬
teenth century. In philosophy there has since been a tendency to
exalt the universe and to relegate man to a place of insignificance as
the helpless victim of an all-powerful destiny. When the end of the
northern Renaissance did finally come, it probably resulted chiefly
from the heritage of bitterness and unreason left by the Protestant
Revolution. But that is a subject which can be discussed more ap¬
propriately in the chapter that follows. 539
READINGS SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Beard, M. R., A History of the Business Man, New York, 1938 (Ann Arbor).
Interesting sketches of Renaissance capitalists.
Benesch, Otto, The Art of the Renaissance in Northern Europe, Cambridge,
Mass., 1945.
• Bush, D., The Renaissance and English Humanism, Toronto, 1939 (University
of Toronto Press). A brief but excellent introduction.
Curtis, Mark H., Oxford and Cambridge in Transition, 1558-1642, Oxford,
059-
Elton, G. R., England Under the Tudors, London, 1955.
• Gilmore, M., The World of Humanism, New York, 1952 (Torchbook). An
excellent general account.
• Hay, Denys, The Renaissance Debate, New York, 1965 (European Problem
Series).
• Huizinga, Johan, The Waning of the Middle Ages, London, 1924 (Anchor).
Hyma, Albert, The Christian Renaissance, New York, 1924. The most authori¬
tative work on this subject.
-, Erasmus and the Humanists, New York, 1930.
Lang, Paul, Music in Western Civilization, New York, 1941. The best survey
yet published.
McGinn, D. F., Shakespeare and the Drama of His Age, New Brunswick, N.J.,
i938-
Oxford History of Music, Vols. I—II.
;
Panofsky, E., Early Netherlandish Tainting Its Origins and Character, Cam¬
bridge, Mass., 1954. Valuable for an understanding of Flemish painters.
Reese, Gustave, Music in the Renaissance, rev. ed., New York, 1959.
• Smith, Preserved, A History of Modern Culture, New York, 1930, Vol. I
(Collier). Thorough and scholarly.
• -, Erasmus, A Study of His Life, Ideals and Place in History, New York,
1923 (Dover).
• Taylor, H. O., Thought and Expression in the Sixteenth Century, London,
1920. Also available in paperback under the title Humanism of Italy (Col¬
lier, 2 vols.). Reliable and suggestive.
Thorndike, Lynn, A History of Magic and Experimental Science in the Four¬
teenth and Fifteenth Centuries, New York, 1934, 2 vols. Detailed and au¬
thoritative.
-, Science and Thought in the Fifteenth Century, New York, 1929.

SOURCE MATERIALS

• Bacon, Sir Francis, The Great Instauration, Preface (Washington Square

Press and others).
Erasmus, Desiderius, The Complaint of Peace.
-, The Handbook of a Christian Knight.
' -, The Praise of Folly (Ann Arbor, Bantam).
• Montaigne, Michel de, Essays (Penguin).
• More, Sir Thomas, Utopia, especially Book II (Penguin and others).
• Rabelais, Francois, Gargantua and Pantagruel, especially Book I (Penguin).

540
 CHAPTER 19
The Age of the Reformation
(15-17 -ca.1600^

For the word of God cannot be received and honored by any

works, but by faith alone.
■—-Martin Luther, On Christian Liberty

In conformity to the clear doctrine of the Scripture, we assert

that by an eternal and immutable counsel, God has once for all
determined both whom he would admit to salvation and whom
he would condemn to destruction. ... In the elect, we consider
calling as an evidence of election, and justification as another
token of its manifestation, till they arrive in glory, which consti¬
tutes its completion.
—John Calvin, Institutes Ill.xxi

Preceding chapters have described the unfolding of a marvelous cul¬

ture which marked the transition from the Middle Ages to the mod¬
ern world. It became apparent that this culture, known as the The later
Renaissance, was almost as peculiarly an echo of the past as a herald stages of the
Renaissance
of the future. Much of its literature, art, and philosophy, and all of
accompanied by
its superstitions, had roots that were deeply buried in classical
a religious
antiquity or in the fabulous centuries of the Middle Ages. Even its revolution
humanism breathed veneration for the past. Only in science and
politics and in the vigorous assertion of the right of the individual to
pursue his own quest for freedom and dignity was there much that
was really new. But the Renaissance in its later stages was accompa¬
nied by the growth of another movement, the Reformation, which
somewhat more accurately foreshadowed the modern age. This
movement included two principal phases: the Protestant Revolu¬
tion, which broke out in 1517 and resulted in the secession of most
of northern Europe from the Roman faith; and the Catholic Refor¬
mation, which reached its height about 1560. Although the latter is
not called a revolution, it really was such in nearly every sense of 541
THE AGE OF THE the term; for it effected a profound alteration of some of the notable
REFORMATION features of late medieval Catholicism.
In a number of ways the Renaissance and the Reformation were
closely related. Both were products of that powerful current of in¬
The relation dividualism which wrought such havoc to the established order in
between the the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Each had a similar back¬
Renaissance and
ground of economic causes in the growth of capitalism and in the
the Reformation
rise of a bourgeois society. Both partook of the character of a return
to original sources: in the one case, to the literary and artistic
achievements of the Greeks and Romans; in the other, to the Scrip¬
tures and the doctrines of the Church Fathers. But in spite of these
important resemblances, it is misleading to think of the Reformation
as merely the religious aspect of the Renaissance. The guiding prin¬
ciples of the two movements had comparatively little in common.
The essence of the Renaissance was devotion to the human and the
natural, with religion relegated to a subordinate place. The spirit of
the Reformation was otherworldliness and contempt for the things
of this life as inferior to the spiritual. In the mind of the humanist,
man’s nature was generally considered good; in the view of the Re¬
former it was unspeakably corrupt and depraved. The leaders of the
Renaissance believed in urbanity and tolerance; the followers of
Luther and Calvin emphasized faith and conformity. While both the
Renaissance and the Reformation aimed at a recovery of the past,
they were reallv oriented in different directions. The past the
humanists strove to revive was Greek and Roman antiquity, though
a few were concerned with the original Gospels as sources of an un¬
spoiled religion. The Reformers, by contrast, were interested
chiefly in a return to the teachings of St. Paul and St. Augustine.
It goes without saying that the Renaissance, being an aristocratic
movement, had less influence on the common man than did the
Reformation.
For reasons such as these it seems justifiable to conclude that the
Reformation was not really a part of the Renaissance movement. In
The Reforma¬ actual fact, it represented a much sharper break with the civilization
tion not really of the later Middle Ages than ever did the movement led by the hu¬
a part of the
manists. The radical Reformers would have nothing to do with the
Renaissance
basic theories and practices of thirteenth-century Christianity.
Even the simple religion of love and selflessness for the betterment
of man, as taught by St. Francis of Assisi, appeared to repel them
almost as much as the mysteries of the sacramental theory or the
bombastic claims of Innocent III to spiritual and temporal power. In
the main, the religious results of this clash with medieval Christian¬
ity have endured to this day. Moreover, the Reformation was inti¬
mately bound up with certain political trends which have persisted
throughout the modern era. National consciousness, as we shall see,
was one of the principal causes of the Protestant Revolution. While
it is true that several of the humanists wrote under the influence of
542 national pride, perhaps the majority were swayed by altogether
different considerations. Many were scornful of politics, being inter¬ THE PROTESTANT
ested solely in man as an individual; others, the great Erasmus REVOLUTION
among them, were thoroughly international in their outlook. But
the Protestant Reformers could scarcely have gained much of a hear-
ing if they had not associated their cause with the powerful ground-
swell of national resentment in northern Europe against an eccle¬
siastical system that had come to be recognized as largely Italian
in character. For this reason as well as for the reasons mentioned
previously, it would seem not unwarranted to regard the Reforma¬
tion as a gateway to the modem world. And when we speak of the
Renaissance in religion, we should think, not of the Reformation,
but of the so-called Christian Renaissance, initiated by the Brethren
of the Common Life and carried to its highest fulfillment in the
teachings of Sir Thomas More and Erasmus. The common assump¬
tion that Luther hatched the egg which Erasmus had laid is true only
in a very limited sense. The bird which Luther hatched belonged to
a much tougher and wilder breed than any that could have descended
from the Prince of the Humanists.

I. THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION

The Protestant Revolution sprang from a multiplicity of causes,

most of them closely related to the political and economic condi¬
tions of the age. Nothing could be more inaccurate than to think of The multiplicity

the revolt against Rome as exclusively a religious movement, though of causes of

the Protestant
doubtless religious ideas occupied a large place in the mind of
Revolution
sixteenth-century man. But without the basic political changes in
northern Europe and the growth of new economic interests, Roman
Catholicism would probably have undergone no more than a gradual
evolution, perhaps in line with the teachings of the Christian Renais¬
sance. Nevertheless, since religious causes were the most obvious
ones, it will be appropriate to consider them first.
To the majority of Luther’s early followers the movement he
launched was chiefly a rebellion against abuses in the Catholic
Church. That such abuses existed no careful historian would deny, Religious

regardless of his religious affiliations. For example, numerous of the causes: abuses in

the Catholic
Roman clergy at this time were ignorant. Some, having obtained their
Church
positions through irregular means, were unable to understand
the Latin of the Mass they were required to celebrate. Further, a
considerable number of the clergy led scandalous lives. While some
of the Popes and bishops were living in princely magnificence, the
lowly priests occasionally sought to eke out the incomes from their
parishes by keeping taverns, gaming houses, or other establishments
for profit. Not only did some monks habitually ignore their vows of
chastity, but a few indifferent members of the secular clergy sur¬
mounted the hardships of the rule of celibacy by keeping mistresses.
Pope Innocent VIII, who reigned about twenty-five years before
the beginning of the Protestant Revolution, was known to have had 543
 THE AGE OF THE eight illegitimate children, several of them born before his election
REFORMATION to the papacy. There were numerous evils also in connection with
the sale of religious offices and dispensations. As in the case of most
civil positions, offices in the Church during the Renaissance period
were commonly sold to the highest bidder. It is estimated that Pope
Leo X enjoyed an income of more than a million dollars a year from
the sale of more than 2000 ecclesiastical offices. This abuse was
rendered more serious by the fact that the men who bought these
positions were under a strong temptation to make up for their in¬
vestment by levying high fees for their services. The sale of dispen¬
sations was a second malodorous form of ecclesiastical graft. A dis¬
pensation may be defined as an exemption from a law of the Church
or from some vow previously taken. On the eve of the Reformation
the dispensations most commonly sold were exemptions from fast¬
ing and from the marriage laws of the Church. By way of illustra¬
tion, first cousins would be permitted to marry for the payment of a
fee of one ducat.
But the abuses which seemed to arouse the most ardent pressure
for reform were the sale of indulgences and the superstitious ven¬
Leo X. From an Italian minia¬ eration of relics. An indulgence is a remission of all or of part of the
ture. temporal punishment due to sin—that is, of the punishment in this
life and in purgatory; it is not supposed to have anything to do with
punishment in hell. The theory upon which the indulgence rests is
The sale the famous doctrine of the Treasure of Merit developed by Scholas¬
of indulgences tic theologians in the thirteenth century. According to this doctrine,
Jesus and the saints, by reason of their “superfluous” virtues on
earth, accumulated an excess of merit in heaven. This excess consti¬
tutes a treasure of grace upon which the Pope can draw for the
benefit of ordinary mortals. Originally indulgences were not issued
for payments of money, but only for works of charity, fasting,
going on crusades, and the like. It was the Renaissance Popes, with
their insatiable greed'for revenue, who first embarked upon the sale
of indulgences as a profitable business. The methods they employed
were far from scrupulous. The traffic in “pardons” was often turned
over to bankers on a commission basis. As an example, the Fuggers
in Augsburg had charge of the sale of indulgences for Leo X, with
permission to pocket one-third of the proceeds. Naturally, but one
motive dominated the business—to raise as much money as possible.
For centuries before the Reformation the veneration of sacred
relics had been an important element in Catholic worship. It was be¬
Abuses connected lieved that objects used by the Christ, the Virgin, or the saints pos¬
with the venera¬
sessed a miraculous healing and protective virtue for anyone who
tion of sacred
touched them or came into their presence. It was inevitable that this
relics
belief should open the way for innumerable frauds. Superstitious
peasants could be easily convinced that almost any ancient splinter
of wood was a fragment of the true cross. And there was evidently
no dearth of relic-mongers quick to take advantage of such credu¬
544 lity. The results were fantastic. According to Erasmus, the churches
An Interior with a Woman Drinking,
with Two Men and a Maidservant, Pieter
de Hooch (1629-1677?). The subjects
and setting contrast strongly with those
of the Italian artists. (National Gallery,
London) Below: Crucifixion, Matthias
Griinewald (P-1528). This work is the
central panel of the Isenheim Altar-
piece, in the Unterlinden Museen, Col¬
mar. (Scala)
of Europe contained enough wood of the true cross to build a ship. THE PROTESTANT
No fewer than five shinbones of the ass on which Jesus rode to REVOLUTION
Jerusalem were on exhibition in different places, to say nothing of
twelve heads of John the Baptist. Martin Luther declared in a
pamphlet lampooning his enemy, the Archbishop of Mainz, that the
latter claimed to possess “a whole pound of the wind that blew for
Elijah in the cave on Mount Horeb and two feathers and an egg of
the Holy Ghost.” 1
Modern historians agree, however, that abuses in the Catholic
Church were not the primary religious cause of the Protestant Revo¬
lution. It was medieval Catholicism itself, not the abuses therein, to Abuses not the

which the Reformers objected. Moreover, just before the revolt primary causes of
the Protestant
broke out, conditions had begun to improve. Many pious Catholics
Revolution
themselves had started an agitation for reform, which in time would
probably have eliminated most of the glaring evils in the system. But
as so often happens in the case of revolutions, the improvement had
come too late. Other forces more irresistible in character had been
gradually gathering momentum. Conspicuous among these was the
growing reaction against late medieval theology, with its elaborate
sacramental theory, its belief in the necessitv of good works to sup¬
plement faith, and its doctrine of divine authority in the hands of
the priests.
From preceding chapters the reader will recall that two different
systems of theology had developed within the medieval Church.2
The first was formulated mainly by followers of St. Augustine in the The clash be¬

early Middle Ages, on the basis of teachings in the Pauline Epistles. tween two dif¬
ferent systems
It was predicated on the assumption of an omnipotent God, who
of theology:
sees the whole drama of the universe in the twinkling of an eye. Not the Augustinian
even a sparrow falls to the ground except in accordance with the system
divine decree. Human nature is hopelessly depraved, and it is there¬
fore as impossible for man to perform good works as for thistles to
bring forth figs. Man is absolutely dependent upon God, not only
for grace to keep him from sin but also for his fate after death. Only
those mortals can be saved whom God for reasons of His own has
predestined to inherit eternal life. Such in its barest outlines was the
system of doctrine commonly known as Augustinianism. It was a
theology well suited to the age of chaos which followed the breakup
of the classical world. Men in this time were prone to fatalism and
otherworldliness, for they seemed to be at the mercy of forces be¬
yond their control. But the system never wholly died out. It was
preserved intact for centuries in certain areas, especially in parts of
Germany, where the progress of late medieval civilization was com¬
paratively slow. To Luther and many of his followers it seemed the
most logical interpretation of Christian belief.

1 Preserved Smith, The Age of the Reformation, pp. 495-96.

2 See the chapters on The Early Middle Ages and The Later Middle Ages:
Religious and Intellectual Developments. 545
THE AGE OF THE With the growth of a more abundant life in the cities of southern
REFORMATION and western Europe, it was natural that the pessimistic philosophy
of Augustinianism should have been replaced by a system which
would restore to man some measure of pride in his own estate. The
The late medi¬ change was accelerated also by the growth of a dominant Church
eval theology of organization. The theology of Augustinianism, by placing man’s
Peter Lombard
fate entirely in the hands of God, had seemed to imply that the
and St. Thomas
functions of an organized Church were practically unnecessary.
Aquinas
Certainly no sinner could rely upon the ministrations of priests to
improve his chances of salvation, since those who were to be saved
had already been “elected” by God from all eternity. The new sys¬
tem of belief was finally crystallized in the writings of Peter Lom¬
bard and St. Thomas Aquinas in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. Its cardinal premise was the idea that man had been
endowed by God with freedom of will, with power to choose the
good and avoid the evil. However, man could not make this choice
entirely unaided, for without the support of heavenly grace he
would be likely to fall into sin. It was therefore necessary for him to
receive the sacraments, the indispensable means for communicating
the grace of God to man. Of the seven sacraments of the Church,
the three most important for the layman were baptism, penance, and
the Eucharist. The first wiped out the stain of previous sin; the sec¬
ond absolved the contrite sinner from guilt; the third was especially
significant for its effect in renewing the saving grace of Christ’s sac¬
rifice on the cross. Except in emergencies, none of the sacra¬
ments could be administered by persons outside the ranks of the
priesthood. The members of the clergy, having inherited the power
of the keys from the Apostle Peter, alone had the authority to coop¬
erate with God in forgiving sins and in performing the miracle of
the Eucharist, whereby the bread and wine were transubstantiated
into the body and blood of the Savior.
The Protestant Revolution was in large measure a rebellion
against the second of these systems of theology. Although the doc¬
The Protestant trines of Peter Lombard and St. Thomas Aquinas had virtually be¬
Revolution a re¬
come part of the theology of the Church, they had never been uni¬
bellion against
versally accepted. To Christians who had been brought up under
the late medi¬
eval system of
Augustinian influence, they seemed to detract from the sovereignty
theology of God and to contradict the plain teachings of Paul that man’s will
is in bondage and his nature unspeakably vile. Worse still, in the
opinion of these critics, was the fact that the new theology greatly
strengthened the authority of the priesthood. In sum, what the Re¬
formers wanted was a return to a more primitive Christianity than
that which had prevailed since the thirteenth century. Any doctrine
or practice not expressly sanctioned in the Scriptures, especially in
the Pauline Epistles, or not recognized by the Fathers of the Church,
they were strongly inclined to reject. It was for this reason that
546 they condemned not only the theory of the priesthood and the sac-
ramental system of the Church, but also such medieval additions to THE PROTESTANT
the faith as the worship of the Virgin, the belief in purgatory, the REVOLUTION
invocation of saints, the veneration of relics, and the rule of celibacy
for the clergy. Motives of rationalism or skepticism had compara¬
tively little to do with it. While it is true that Luther ridiculed the
worship of relics as a form of superstition, in the main the early
Protestants were even more suspicious of reason than the Catholics.
Their religious ideal rested upon the Augustinian dogmas of origi¬
nal sin, the total depravity of man, predestination, and the bondage
of the will—which were certainly more difficult to justify on a ra¬
tional basis than the liberalized teachings of St. Thomas.
A few remaining religious causes deserve at least passing mention.
One was the decline of respect for the papacy in consequence of
the so-called “Babylonian Captivity” of the papacy. The “Baby¬ Influence of
lonian Captivity” grew out of a quarrel between King Philip IV of the "Babylonian

France and Pope Boniface VIII at the beginning of the fourteenth Captivity" of the
papacy and the
century. The soldiers of the king arrested the Pope, and soon after¬
Great Schism
ward Boniface died from the effects of the humiliation. A short time
later King Philip’s own candidate was elected to St. Peter’s throne,
and the papal capital was transferred to Avignon in the Rhone val¬
ley, where it remained for nearly seventy years. Surrounded by
French influences, the Popes who reigned at Avignon were unable
to escape the charge of subservience to French interests. In the
minds of many Christians the papacy had ceased to be an interna¬
tional institution and had been degraded into the mere plaything of
a secular power. In 1378 the head of the Church suffered an even
greater loss of prestige. An effort to restore the papacy to its origi¬
nal capital led to the election of two Popes, one at Avignon and one
at Rome, each loudly proclaiming himself the rightful successor of
the Apostle Peter. The resulting division of the Church into two
factions, supporting respectively the claims of the French and Ital¬
ian Popes, is known as the Great Schism. Though finally healed by
the Council of Constance in 1417, its effect in weakening the posi¬
tion of the papacy could hardly be overestimated.
Still another factor of some importance in hastening the Protes¬
tant Revolution was the influence of the mystics and early reform¬
ers. For more than two centuries before the time of Luther, Influence of
mysticism had become one of the most popular forms of religious the mystics and
early reformers
expression in northern Europe. And it is not without significance
that the vast majority of the mystics were Germans or natives
of the Low Countries. Though none of the mystics preached
open rebellion against the Catholic system, they were vehe¬
mently opposed to the ritualistic route to salvation sponsored
by the medieval Church. Their version of religion was one in which
the individual would attain the highest heaven through extinction of
selfish desires and absolute surrender of the soul to God. No sacra¬
ments or priestly miracles would be necessary. Faith and a deep 547
 St. John Lateran, the Pope’s Cathedral in Rome. The “Mother Church” of
Catholic Christendom, it derives its name from Plautius Lateranus, a rich noble¬
man whose property in this area was confiscated by Nero.

emotional piety would accomplish more wonders in reconciling sin¬

ful man to God than all the Masses in the calendar of the Church.
Along with the mystics a number of pre-Reformation reformers ex¬
erted considerable influence in preparing the ground for the Protes¬
tant Revolt. At the end of the fourteenth century an Oxford
professor by the name of John Wyclif launched an attack upon the
Catholic system which anticipated much of the thunder of Luther
and Calvin. He denounced the immorality of the clergy, condemned
indulgences and the temporal power of the Church, recommended
marriage of the clergy, insisted upon the supreme authority of the
Scriptures as the source of belief, and denied transubstantiation.
Most of Wyclif’s teachings were ultimately carried to central
Europe by Czech students from Oxford. They were actively propa¬
gated in Bohemia by John Huss, who was burned at the stake in
1415. Luther acknowledged his deep indebtedness to the Bohemian
martyr.
As a political movement the Protestant Revolt was mainly the re¬
sult of two developments: first, the growth of a national conscious¬
The political ness in northern Europe; and second, the rise of absolute monarchs.
causes of Ever since the late Middle Ages there had been a growing spirit of
the Protestant
independence among many of the peoples outside of Italy. They
Revolution: the
growth of
had come to regard their own national life as unique and to resent
national interference from any external source. Although they were not
consciousness nationalists in the modern sense, they tended to view the Pope as a
foreigner who had no right to meddle with local affairs in England,
France, or Germany. This feeling was manifested in England as
early as the middle of the fourteenth century, when the famous
Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire were passed. The first prohib¬
548 ited appointments by the Pope to Church offices in England; the
second forbade the appeal of cases from the English courts to Rome. THE PROTESTANT
A law more extreme than either of these was issued by the king of REVOLUTION
France in 1438. The French law practically abolished all papal
authority in the country, including the appointive authority and
the right to raise revenue. To the civil magistrates was given the
power to regulate religious affairs within their own districts. In Ger¬
many, despite the fact that there was no solid political unity, na¬
tional feeling was by no means absent. It expressed itself in violent
attacks upon the clergy by the Imperial Diet and in numerous de¬
crees by the rulers of separate states prohibiting ecclesiastical ap¬
pointments and the sale of indulgences without their consent.
The growth of a national consciousness in all of these countries
went hand in hand with the rise of absolute monarchs. Indeed, it
would be difficult to say how much of the sense of nationality was The rise of
spontaneous and how much of it was stimulated by ambitious absolute
monarchs
princes intent upon increasing their power. At any rate it is certain
that the claims of rulers to absolute authority were bound to result
in defiance of Rome. No despot could be expected to tolerate long
the exclusion of religion from his sphere of control. He could not be
a despot so long as there was a double jurisdiction within his realm.
The appetite of princes for control over the Church was whetted
originally by the revival of the Roman law, with its doctrine that
the people had delegated all of their power to the secular ruler. From
this doctrine it was a comparatively easy step to the idea that all of
the Pope’s authority could be properly assumed by the head of the
state. But whatever the reasons for its growth, there can be no doubt
that the ambition of secular princes to establish churches under their
own control was a primary cause of the mounting antagonism
against Rome.
Historians disagree as to the importance of economic causation of
the Protestant Revolution. Those who conceive of the movement as
primarily a religious one think of the sixteenth century as a period Economic causes:

of profound and agonized concern over spiritual problems. Such a the desire to
confiscate the
condition may well have characterized the mass of the people. But it
wealth of the
does not alter the fact that in the sixteenth century, as in all ages, Catholic Church
there were ruling groups greedy for wealth and quite willing to use
and even to cultivate mass ideologies for their own advantage.
Prominent among the economic objectives of such groups were
acquisition of the wealth of the Church and elimination of papal
taxation. In the course of its history from the beginning of the
Middle Ages, the Church had grown into a vast economic empire. It
was by far the largest landowner in western Europe, to say nothing
of its enormous movable wealth in the form of rich furnishings,
jewels, precious metals, and the like. Some of these possessions had
been acquired by the Church through grants by kings and nobles,
but most of them came from the gifts and bequests of pious citizens.
Religious restrictions on taxation were also a galling grievance to 549
THE AGE OF THE secular rulers. Kings, panting for big armies and navies, had an
REFORMATION urgent need for more revenue. But Catholic law prohibited the tax¬
ing of Church property. The exemption of episcopal and monastic
property from taxation meant a heavier burden on the possessions of
individual owners, especially on the property of merchants and
bankers. Moreover, the lesser nobles in Germany were being threat¬
ened with extinction on account of the collapse of the manorial
economy. Many of them looked with covetous eyes upon the lands
of the Church. If only some excuse could be found for expropriating
these, their difficult situation might be relieved.
Papal taxation, by the eve of the Protestant Revolution, had
assumed a baffling variety of irritating forms. The most nearly uni¬
Resentment versal, if not the most burdensome, was the so-called Peter’s pence.,
against an annual levy on every household in Christendom.3 It must be
papal taxation
understood that this tax was in addition to the tithe, which was sup¬
posed to be one-tenth of every Christian’s income paid for the sup¬
port of the parish church. Then there were the innumerable fees
paid into the papal treasury for indulgences, dispensations, appeals
of judicial decisions, and so on. In a very real sense the moneys col¬
lected for the sale of Church offices and the annates, or commissions
levied on the first year’s income of every bishop and priest, were
also forms of papal taxation, since the officials who paid them even¬
tually reimbursed themselves through increased collections from the
people. But the main objection to these taxes was not that they
were so numerous and burdensome. The real basis of grievance
against the papal levies was their effect in draining the northern
countries of so much of their wealth for the enrichment of Italy.
Economically the situation was almost exactly the same as if the na¬
tions of northern Europe had been conquered by a foreign prince
and tribute imposed upon them. Some Germans and Englishmen
were scandalized also by the fact that most of the money collected
was not being spent for religious purposes, but was being squan¬
dered by worldly Popes to maintain luxurious courts. The reason
for the resentment, however, was probably as much financial as
moral.
A third important economic cause of the Protestant Revolution
was the conflict between the ambitions of the new middle class and
Conflicts be¬ the ascetic ideals of medieval Christianity. It was shown in a preced¬
tween middle-
ing chapter that the Catholic philosophers of the later Middle Ages
class ambitions
had developed an elaborate theory designed for the guidance of the
and the ascetic
ideals of the Christian in matters of production and trade.4 This theory was
Church founded upon the assumption that business for the sake of profit is

3 Peter’s pence derived its name from the fact that it was a tax of one
penny. But the English penny at the end of the Middle Ages was the equiv¬
alent in purchasing power of slightly more than one dollar of our monev.
H. E. Barnes, An Economic History of the Western World, p. 121.
4 See the chapter on The Later Middle Ages: Political and Economic in¬
550 stitutions.
essentially immoral. No one has a right to any more than a reason¬ THE PROTESTANT
able wage for the service he renders to society. All wealth acquired REVOLUTION
in excess of this amount should he given to the Church to be dis¬
tributed for the benefit of the needy. The merchant or craftsman
who strives to get rich at the expense of the people is really no bet¬
ter than a common thief. To gain an advantage over a rival in busi¬
ness by cornering the market or beating down wages is contrary to
all law and morality. Equally sinful is the damnable practice of
usury—the charging of interest on loans where no actual risk is in¬
volved. This is sheer robbery, for it deprives the person who uses
the money of earnings that are justly his; it is contrary to nature,
for it enables the man who lends the money to live without labor.
V hile it is far from true that these doctrines were universally
honored even by the Church itself, they nevertheless remained an in¬
tegral part of the Catholic ideal, at least to the end of the Middle Effects of the
Ages. Even to this day they have not been entirely abandoned, as rise of competi¬
tive capitalism
our study of liberal Catholicism in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries will show.5 However, the age of the Renaissance was
accompanied by the growth of an economic pattern distinctly in¬
compatible with most of these doctrines. A ruthless, dynamic capi¬
talism, based upon the principle of “dog eat dog,” was beginning to
supplant the old static economy of the medieval guilds. No lonyer
were merchants and manufacturers content with a mere “wage” for
the services they rendered to society. They demanded profits, and
they could not see that it was any business of the Church to decide
what a man’s earnings should be. Wages were fit only for hirelings,
who had neither the wit nor the industry to go after the big re¬
wards. In addition to all this, the growth of banking meant an even
more violent conflict with the ascetic ideal of the Church. As long as
the business of moneylending was in the hands of Jews and Mos¬
lems, it mattered little that usury should be branded as a sin. But
now that Christians were piling up riches by financing the exploits
of kings and merchants, the shoe was on another foot. The new
crop of bankers resented being told that their lucrative trade in cash
was contrary to the laws of God. This seemed to them an attempt
of spokesmen for an outmoded past to dictate the standards for a
new age of progress. But how was it that Italy did not break with
the Catholic Church in view of the extensive development of bank¬
ing and commerce in such cities as Florence, Genoa, Milan, and
Venice? Perhaps one explanation is to be found in the fact that such
business activities had taken earlier and deeper roots in Italy than in
most parts of Germany. They had been established for so long a
time that any possible conflict between them and religious ideals had
been largely ignored. Besides, the religion of many Italians, espe-

6 See the paragraph on Christian Socialism in the chapter on Critics and Apol¬
ogists of Industrialization. 551
 THE AGE OF THE dally during the Renaissance period, tended to approximate that of
REFORMATION the ancient Romans; it was external and mechanical rather than pro¬
foundly spiritual. To many northern Europeans, by contrast, reli¬
gion had a deeper significance. It was a system of dogmas and com¬
mandments to be observed literally under pain of the awful
judgment of a wrathful God. They were, therefore, more likely to
be disturbed by inconsistencies between worldly practices and the
doctrines of the faith.
The full story of why the Protestant Revolution began in Ger¬
many is so complex that only a few of the possible reasons can be
Why the Protes¬ suggested as topics for the student to ponder. Was Germany rela¬
tant Revolution tively more backward than most other areas of western Europe?
began in
Had the Renaissance touched her so lightly that medieval religiosity
Germany
remained quite pervasive? Or did economic factors operate more
strongly in Germany than elsewhere? The Church in Germany held
an enormous proportion of the best agricultural lands, and evidence
exists that the country was seething with discontent on account of a
too rapid transition from a feudal society to an economy of profits
and wages. It seems to be true, finally, that Germany was the victim
of Catholic abuses to a greater extent than most other countries.
How crucial was the shock resulting from these is impossible to say,
but at least they provided the immediate impetus for the outbreak of
the Lutheran revolt. Unlike England and France, Germany had no
powerful king to defend her interests against the papacy. The coun¬
try was weak and divided. At least partly for this reason, Pope Leo
X selected German territory as the most likely field for the sale of
indulgences.
1. the Lutheran revolt in Germany By the dawn of the six¬
teenth century Germany was ripe for religious revolution. All
that was necessary was to find a leader who could unite the dis¬
satisfied elements and give a suitable theological gloss to their griev¬
ances. Such a leader was not long in appearing. His name was Martin
Luther, and he was born in Thuringia in 1483. His parents were
Martin Luther by Lucas
originally peasants, but his father had left the soil soon after his mar¬
Cranach the Elder, 1520
riage to work in the mines of Mansfeld. Here he managed to be¬
come moderately prosperous and served in the village council.
Nevertheless, young Martin’s early environment was far from ideal.
He was whipped at home for trivial offenses until he bled, and his
mind was filled with hideous terrors of demons and witches. Some of
these superstitions clung to him until the end of his life. His parents
intended that he should become a lawyer, and with this end in view
they placed him at the age of eighteen in the University of Erfurt.
During his first four years at the university, Luther worked hard,
gaining more than an ordinary reputation as a scholar. But in 1505,
while returning from a visit to his home, he was overtaken by a vio¬
lent storm and felled to the ground by a bolt of lightning. In terror
552 lest an angry God strike him dead, he vowed to St. Anne to become
a monk. Soon afterward he entered the Augustinian monastery at THE PROTESTANT
Erfurt. REVOLUTION
Here he gave himself up to earnest reflection on the state of his
soul. Obsessed with the idea that his sins were innumerable, he
strove desperately to attain a goal of spiritual peace. He engaged in The doctrine of

long vigils and went for days on end without a morsel of food. But justification by
faith alone
the more he fasted and tortured himself, the more his anguish and
depression increased. Told that the way of salvation lies in love of
God, he was ready to give up in despair. How could he love a Being
who is not even just, who saves only those whom it pleases Him to
save? “Love Him?” he said to himself, “I do not love Him. I hate
Him.” But in time, as he pondered the Scriptures, especially the
story of the Crucifixion, he gained a new insight into the mysteries
of the Christian theology. He was profoundly impressed by the
humiliation of the Savior’s death on the cross. For the benefit of sin¬
ful humanity, the Christ, the God-man, had shared the fate of com¬
mon criminals. Why had He done so except out of love for His
creatures? The God of the storm whose chief attribute appeared to
be anger had revealed Himself as a Father who pities His children.
Here was a miracle which no human reason could understand. It
must be taken on faith; and bv faith alone, Luther concluded, can
man be justified in the sight of God. This doctrine of justification
by faith alone, as opposed to salvation by “good works,” quickly be¬
came the central doctrine of the Lutheran theology.
But long before Luther had completed his theological system, he
was called to lecture on Aristotle and the Bible at the University of
Wittenberg, which had recently been founded by Frederick the Luther's revolt

Wise of Saxony. While serving in this capacity, he was confronted against the sale
of indulgences
by an event which furnished the spark for the Protestant Revolu¬
tion. In 1517 an unprincipled Dominican friar by the name of Tetzel
appeared in Germany as a hawker of indulgences. Determined to
raise as much money as possible for Pope Leo X and the Archbishop

Luther Preaching. With one

hand he points to popes,
monks, and cardinals going
down hell’s mouth. Hell is a
beast with a snout, tusk, and
eye. With the other hand, Lu¬
ther points to the crucifix.
The Lord’s Supper is being
administered, both the bread
and the wine, to the laity. The
chalice on the table empha¬
sizes the evangelical practice
of giving the cup to the laity.
THE AGE OF THE of Mainz who had employed him, Tetzel deliberately represented
REFORMATION the indulgences as tickets of admission to heaven. Though forbidden
to enter Saxony, he came to the borders of that state, and many na¬
tives of Wittenberg rushed out to buy salvation at so attractive a
price. Luther was appalled by such brazen deception of ignorant
people. Accordingly, he drew up a set of ninety-five theses or state¬
ments attacking the sale of indulgences, and posted them, after the
manner of the time, on the door of the castle church on October 31,
1517. Later he had them printed and sent to his friends in a number
of cities. Soon it became evident that the Ninety-five Theses had
voiced the sentiments of a nation. All over Germany, Luther was
hailed as a leader whom God had raised to break the power of an
arrogant and hypocritical clergy. A violent reaction against the sale
of indulgences was soon in full swing. Tetzel was mobbed and
driven from the country. The revolt against Rome had begun.
With the revenue from indulgences cut off, it was inevitable that
the Pope should take action. Early in 1518 he commanded the gen¬
The condem¬ eral of the Augustinian order to make the rebellious friar recant.
nation and ex- Luther not only refused but published a sermon stating his views
communication
more strongly than ever. Forced by his critics to answer ques¬
of Luther
tions on many points other than indulgences, he gradually came
to realize that his own religion was utterly irreconcilable with
that of the Roman Church. There was no alternative except to
break with the Catholic faith entirely. In 1520 his teach¬
ings were formally condemned in a bull promulgated by Leo
X, and he was ordered to recant within sixty days or be dealt with
as a heretic. Luther replied by publicly burning the Pope’s procla¬
mation. For this he was excommunicated and ordered to be turned
over to the secular arm for punishment. Germany at this time was
still under the technical rule of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V,
who had recently been elevated to the throne of this ramshackle
state, was anxious to be rid of the insolent rebel at once, but he
dared not act without the approval of the Imperial Diet. Accord¬
ingly, in 1521, Luther was summoned to appear before a meeting of
this body at Worms. Since many of the princes and electors who
composed the Diet were themselves hostile toward the Church,
nothing in particular was done, despite Luther’s stubborn refusal to
retract any of the things he had said. Finally, after a number of the
members had gone home, the Emperor forced through an edict
branding the obstreperous friar as an outlaw. But Luther had al¬
ready been hidden away in the castle of his friend, the Elector of
Saxony. Here he remained until all danger of arrest by the Em¬
peror’s soldiers had passed. Charles soon afterward withdrew to
conduct his war with France, and the Edict of Worms was never
enforced.
Thenceforth until his death in 1546 Luther was occupied with his
554 work of building an independent German church. Despite the fun-
damental conflict between his own beliefs and Catholic theology, he THE PROTESTANT
nevertheless retained a good many of the elements of the Roman REVOLUTION
system. With the passing of the years he became more conservative
than many of his own followers and compared some of them to
Judas betraying his Master. Though he had originally denounced Founding
transubstantiation, he eventually came around to adopting a doc¬ the Lutheran
church; Lu¬
trine which bore at least a superficial resemblance to the Catholic
ther's doctrines
theory. He denied, however, that any change in the substance of
the bread and wine occurs as the result of a priestly miracle. The
function of the clergyman is simply to reveal the presence of
God in the bread and wine. Still, the changes he made were drastic
enough to preserve the revolutionary character of the new religion.
He substituted German for Latin in the services of the church. He re¬
jected the entire ecclesiastical system of Pope, archbishops, bishops,
and priests as custodians of the keys to the kingdom of heaven. By
abolishing monasticism and insisting upon the right of priests to
marry, he went far toward destroying the barrier which had sepa¬
rated clergy from laity and given the former their special status as
representatives of God on earth. He recognized only baptism and the
Eucharist as sacraments, and he denied that even these had any super¬
natural effect in bringing down grace from heaven. Since he contin¬
ued to emphasize faith rather than good works as the road to salvation,
he naturally discarded such formalized practices as fasts, pilgrimages,
the veneration of relics, and the invocation of saints. On the other
hand, the doctrines of predestination and the supreme authority of
the Scriptures were given in the new religion a higher place than
they had ever enjoyed in the old. Last of all, Luther abandoned the
Catholic idea that the Church should be supreme over the state. In¬
stead of having bishops subject to the Pope as the Vicar of Christ,
he organized his church under superintendents who were essentially
agents of the government.
Of course, Luther was not alone responsible for the success of the
Protestant Revolution. The overthrow of Catholicism in Germany was
also abetted by the outbreak of social revolt. In 1522-1523 there oc¬ The outbreak of
curred a ferocious rebellion of the knights. These petty nobles were social revolu¬
tion; the revolt
being impoverished by competition from the great estates and by the
of the knights
change to a capitalist economy. They saw as the chief cause of their
misery the concentration of landed wealth in the hands of the great
princes of the Church. Obsessed with national sentiments they
dreamed of a united Germany free from the domination of powerful
landlords and grasping priests. The leaders of the movement were
Ulrich von Hutten, who had turned from a humanist into a fierce par¬
tisan of Luther, and Franz von Sickingen, a notorious robber baron
and soldier of fortune. To these men the gospel of Luther seemed to
provide an excellent program for a war on behalf of German liberty.
Although their rebellion was speedily crushed by the armies of the
archbishops and richer nobles, it apparently had considerable effect 555
THE AGE OF THE in persuading the pillars of the old regime that too much resistance
REFORMATION to the Lutheran movement would scarcely be wise.
The revolt of the knights was followed by a much more violent
uprising of the lower classes in 1524-1525. Though most who took
The uprising part were peasants, a great many poor workmen from the cities
of the lower were attracted to the movement also. The causes of this second re¬
classes
bellion were somewhat similar to those of the first: the rising cost of
living, the concentration of holdings of land, and the religious radi¬
calism inspired by Luther’s teachings. But the peasants and urban
workers were stirred to action by many other factors as well. The
decay of the feudal regime had eliminated the paternal relationship
between noble and serf. In its place had grown up a mere cash nexus
between employer and worker. The sole obligation now of the
upper classes was to pay a wage. When sickness or unemployment
struck, the laborer had to make shift with his slender resources as
best he could. Furthermore, most of the old privileges which the
serf had enjoyed on the manorial estate, of pasturing his flocks on
the common lands and gathering wood in the forest, were being
rapidly abolished. To make matters worse, landlords were attempt¬
ing to meet advancing prices by exacting higher rents from the
peasants. Finally, the lower classes were angered by the fact that the
revival of the Roman law had the effect of bolstering property
rights and of strengthening the power of the state to protect the in¬
terests of the rich.
Many of the downtrodden folk who participated in the so-called
Peasants’ Revolt belonged to a religious sect known as the Anabap¬
The Anabaptists tists. The name means “re-baptizers,” and was derived from the fact
that the members of the sect held infant baptism to be ineffectual
and insisted that the rite should be administered only when the indi¬
vidual had reached the age of reason. But a belief in adult baptism
was not really their principal doctrine. The Anabaptists were ex¬
treme individualists in religion. Luther’s teaching that every man has
a right to follow the dictates of his own conscience they took ex¬
actly as it stood. Not only did they reject the Catholic theory of the
priesthood, but they denied the necessity of any clergy at all, main¬
taining that every individual should follow the guidance of the
“inner light.” They refused to admit that God’s revelation to man
had ceased with the writing of the last book of the New Testament,
but they insisted that Me continues to speak directly to certain of
His chosen followers. They attached much importance to literal in¬
terpretation of the Bible, even of its most occult portions. They
believed that the church should be a community of saints and re¬
quired of their followers abstention from lying, profanity, gluttony,
lewdness, and drinking intoxicating liquors. Many of the members
looked forward to the early destruction of this world and the estab¬
lishment of Christ’s kingdom of justice and peace, in which they
556 would have a prominent place. But the Anabaptists were not merely
a group of religious extremists; they represented as well the most THE PROTESTANT
radical social tendencies of their time. Though it is certainly an ex¬ REVOLUTION
aggeration to call them communists, they did denounce the accumu¬
lation of wealth and taught that it was the duty of Christians to
share their goods with one another. In addition, they declined to
recognize any distinctions of rank or class, declaring all men equal
in the sight of God. Many also abominated the taking of oaths,
condemned military service, and refused to pay taxes to govern¬
ments that engaged in war. They abstained in general from political
life and demanded the complete separation of church and state.
Their doctrines represented the extreme manifestation of the revolu¬
tionary fervor generated by the Protestant movement.
The Peasants’ Revolt of 1524-1525 began in southern Germany
and spread rapidly to the north and west until most of the country
was involved. At first it had more of the character of a strike than a The Peasants'

revolution. The rebels contented themselves with drafting petitions Revolt of

1524-1525
and attempting peaceably to persuade their masters to grant them
relief from oppression. But before many months had passed, the
movement came under the control of such fanatics as Thomas

Pages from a Bible Translated by Martin Luther, 1534. Left: The title page.
Right: An illustration showing several episodes from the story of Jonah in a
single composite picture.

9er xxxv-
'xjona.

\% gefcbacb b.10 toort t>co RAOG

I SCCVTjiOona&cm foil 2fnlitba)/vnb fpracb/lDacbe
1bicb auff/rnb gebe (nn Sic gro(jc ©tab tlfnetie/mb
I prcbigc t>rtniten/X5emi irt boaljcit itt cronff tomm fur
jmkb. ‘itbcr3oitnmncbtc fkb auff rnb floljefut&cm
12DC3t9tn/vnb t»0ftnttff8,£Deer/mb tarn binsb gen
_13apt)o/vnbbacrcfn ftbiff fanb/bae autfn mecr molt
faren/gnb erfebrgctb mb trat breln/bas cr init jnen nuff‘8 nicer fii*
re/f ur oem '0:JtSikiT

EalicsbcrOSSCSCeiuCn groflcn tvinb anfffl nicer fomcn/mb

tmbftcb cm groe mgewittcr anjf belli nicer /ban man tnei'iict/bae
fcfilf roilrbe 5ubrecbcn. X)nbbicfcbitf(eute furebten ficb/mb (ebrb
cn / cm iglicbcr 50 feincm @ott. X>nb toorffen ban gcrctc / ban im
febiff tuar/jnemcer/bascslcicbterrmlrbc. 21bcr '3<jna ruarbinnn'/
ter jnn ban fetritf ge|Kegen/tag mb febbetf. Ea trat 511 jin ber
€5cbiffberr/mb fpracb }u jm/XUas jcblcffefhiC ©tepe auff/nlffe
bcincri ©ott an/ob pillekbt ©ett an ms gcbcncCen wotte/bas anr
niebt mbiSrbcn,
JOnbeiner
 The Siege of Munster in 1534

Miinzer, who urged the use of fire and sword against the wicked
nobles and clergy. In the spring of 1525 the misguided rustics began
Suppression of plundering and burning cloisters and castles and even murdering
the Peasants' some of their more hated opponents. The nobles now turned against
Revolt
them with fiendish fury, slaughtering indiscriminately both those
who resisted and those who were helpless. Strange as it may seem,
the lords were encouraged in this savagery by several of the Re¬
formers, including the great Luther himself. In a pamphlet Against
the Thievish, Murderous Hordes of Peasants he urged everyone
who could to hunt the rebels down like mad dogs, to “strike, stran¬
gle, stab secretly or in public, and let him remember that nothing
can be more poisonous, harmful, or devilish than a man in rebel¬
lion.” 6 To Luther’s credit, it should perhaps be added that he
feared anarchy more than he did the particular doctrines of the
Anabaptists. He believed that the use of force by anyone except the
lawful authorities would result in the destruction of the social order.
But the brutal suppression of the Peasants’ Revolt did not mark
the end of revolutionary activities on the part of the submerged
The Siege of classes. In 1534 a group of Anabaptists gained control of the episco¬
Munster pal city of Munster in Westphalia. Thousands of their fellow believ¬
ers from the surrounding country came pouring in, and Munster
became a New Jerusalem where all of the accumulated vagaries of
the lunatic fringe of the movement were put into practice. The
property of unbelievers was confiscated, and polygamy was intro¬
duced. A certain John of Leyden assumed the title of king, pro¬
claiming himself the successor of David with a mission to conquer

558 Quoted by H. S. Lucas, The Renaissance and the Reformation, p. 457.

the world and destroy the heathen. But after a little more than a THE PROTESTANT
year of this, Munster was recaptured by its bishop, and the leaders REVOLUTION
of Zion were put to death by horrible tortures. This second disaster
proved to be the turning point in the revolt of the have-nots of the
sixteenth century. Convinced of the futility of violence, they now
abandoned the fanatical dogmas of their fallen leaders and returned
to the religious quietism of earlier years. Most of the radical eco¬
nomic teachings were also dropped. Some of the survivors of the
persecutions now joined the sect of Mennonites, so called from
Menno Simons (1492-1559), whose teachings were partly derived
from those of the original Anabaptists. Others fled to England to
become the spiritual ancestors of the Quakers.
II. THE ZWINGLIAN AND CALVINIST REVOLTS IN SWITZERLAND The
special form of Protestantism developed by Luther did not prove
to be particularly popular beyond its native environment. Outside Causes of
of Germany, Lutheranism became the official religion only in Den¬ the Protestant

mark, Norway, and Sweden. But the force of the Lutheran re¬ Revolution in
Switzerland
volt made itself felt in a number of other lands. Such was espe¬
cially the case in Switzerland, where national consciousness had
been gathering strength for centuries. At the close of the Middle
Ages the gallant herdsmen and peasants of the Swiss cantons had
challenged the right of the Austrians to rule over them, and finally
in 1499 had compelled the Emperor Maximilian to recognize their
independence, not only of the house of Hapsburg but of the Holy
Roman Empire as well. Having thrown off the yoke of a foreign
Emperor, the Swiss were not likely to submit indefinitely to an alien
Pope. Moreover, the cities of Zurich, Basel, Berne, and Geneva had
grown into flourishing centers of trade. Their populations were
dominated by solid burghers who were becoming increasingly con¬
temptuous of the Catholic ideal of glorified poverty. Here also
northern humanism had found welcome lodgment in cultivated
minds, with the effect of creating a healthy distrust of priestly
superstitions. Erasmus had lived for a number of years in Basel.
Lastly, Switzerland had been plucked by the indulgence peddlers to
an extent only less grievous than that in Germany, while the city of
Berne had been the scene of some particularly flagrant monkish
frauds.
The father of the Protestant Revolution in Switzerland was
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531). Only a few weeks younger than Lu¬
ther, he was the son of a well-to-do magistrate, who was able to pro¬
vide him with an excellent education. As a student he devoted nearly Ulrich Zwingli. A sixteenth-
all of his time to philosophy and literature, with no interest in re¬ century woodcut.

ligion save in the practical reforms of the Christian humanists. Al¬

though he took holy orders at the age of twenty-two, his purpose
in entering the priesthood was mainly the opportunity it would give
him to cultivate his literary tastes. Ultimately, he turned his interest
to religion and devoted his energies to reform of the Church. He ac¬
cepted nearly all of the teachings of Luther except that he regarded 559
 THE AGE OF THE the bread and wine as mere symbols of the body and blood, and he
REFORMATION reduced the sacrament of Holy Communion to a simple memorial
service. So ably did he marshal the anti-Catholic forces that by 1528
nearly all of northern Switzerland had deserted the ancient faith.
From the northern cantons the Protestant Revolution in Switzer¬
land spread to Geneva. This beautiful city, located on a lake of the
The spread of same name near the French border, had the doubtful advantage of a
the Protestant double government. The people owed allegiance to two feudal
Revolution to
suzerains, the local bishop and the Count of Savoy. When these high¬
Geneva
born chieftains conspired to make their power more absolute, the
citizens rebelled against them. The result was their expulsion from
the town about 1530 and the establishment of a free republic. But
the movement could hardly have been successful without some aid
from the northern cantons. Thus it was not long until Protestant
preachers from Zurich and Berne began arriving in Geneva.
It was soon after these events that John Calvin (1509-1564)
arrived in Geneva. Although destined to play so prominent a
role in the history of Switzerland, he was not a native of that
country but of France. He was born at Noyon in Picardy. His
mother died when he was very young, and his father, who did
not like children, turned him over to the care of an aristocratic
friend. For his higher education he was sent to the University of
Paris, where, because of his bilious disposition and fault-finding
manner, he was dubbed “the accusative case.” Later he shifted at his
John Calvin father’s wish to study of law at Orleans. Here he came under
the influence of disciples of Luther, evidently to a sufficient extent
to cause him to be suspected of heresy. Consequently, in 1534, when
the government began an attack on the wavering ones, Calvin fled to
Switzerland. He settled for a time in Basel and then moved on to
Geneva, which was still in the throes of political revolution. He be¬
gan preaching and organizing at once, and by 1541 both government
and religion had fallen completely under his sway. Until his death
from asthma and dyspepsia in 1564 he ruled the city with a rod of
iron. History contains few examples of men more dour in tempera¬
ment and more stubbornly convinced of the rightness of their own
ideas.
Under Calvin’s rule Geneva was transformed into a religious oli¬
garchy. The supreme authority was vested in the Congregation of
Calvin's rule at the Clergy, who prepared all legislation and submitted it to the Con¬
Geneva sistory to be ratified. The latter body, composed, in addition to the
clergy, of twelve elders representing the people, had as its principal
function the supervision of public and private morals. This function
was carried out, not merely by the punishment of antisocial conduct
but by a persistent snooping into the private life of every individual.
The city was divided into districts, and a committee of the Con¬
560 sistory visited each household without warning to conduct an in-
quisition into the habits of its members. Even the mildest forms of THE PROTESTANT
human folly were strictly prohibited. Dancing, card-playing, attend- REVOLUTION
ing the theater, working or playing on the Sabbath—all were out¬
lawed as works of the Devil. Innkeepers were forbidden to allow
anyone to consume food or drink without first saying grace, or to
permit any patron to sit up after nine o’clock unless he was spying on
the conduct of others. Needless to say, penalties were severe. Not
only murder and treason were classified as capital crimes, but also
adultery, witchcraft, blasphemy, and heresy; and the last of these
especially was susceptible to a broad interpretation. During the first
four years after Calvin became ruler of Geneva, there were no
fewer than fifty-eight executions out of a total population of only
i6,ooo.7 The good accomplished by all of this harshness seems to
have been small indeed. There were more cases of vice in Geneva
after the Reformation than before.8
The essentials of Calvin’s theology are contained in his Institutes
of the Christian Religion, which was published originally in 1536
and revised and enlarged several times thereafter. His ideas resemble Calvin's
those of St. Augustine more than any other theologian. He con¬ theology

ceived of the universe as utterly dependent upon the will of an Al¬

mighty God, who created all things for His greater glory. Because
of Adam’s transgression all men are sinners by nature, bound hand
and foot to an evil inheritance they cannot escape. Nevertheless,
God for reasons of His own has predestined some for eternal salva¬
tion and damned all the rest to the torments of hell. Nothing that
human beings may do can alter their fate; their souls are stamped
with God’s blessing or curse before they are born. But this did not
mean, in Calvin’s opinion, that the Christian could be indifferent to
his conduct on earth. If he were among the elect, God would have
implanted in him the desire to live right. Abstemious conduct is a
sign, though not an infallible one, that he who practices it has been
chosen to sit at the throne of glory. Public profession of faith and
participation in the sacraments are also presumptive evidences of
election to be saved. But most of all, the Calvinists required an
active life of piety and good morality as a solemn obligation resting
upon members of the Christian Commonwealth. Like the ancient
Hebrews, they conceived of themselves as chosen instruments of
God with a mission to help in the fulfillment of His purposes on
earth. Their duty was not to strive for their soul’s salvation but for
the glory of God. Thus it will be seen that the Calvinist system did
not encourage its followers to sit with folded hands serene in the
knowledge that their fate was sealed. No religion has fostered a
more abundant zeal in the conquest of nature, in missionary activity,

7 Preserved Smith, The Age of the Reformation, p. 171.

8 Ibid., p. 174.
561
THE AGE OF THE or in the struggle against political tyranny. Doubtless the reason lies
REFORMATION in the Calvinist’s belief that as the chosen instrument of God he
must play a part in the drama of the universe worthy of his exalted
status. And with the Lord on his side he was not easily frightened
by whatever lions lurked in his path.
The religion of Calvin differed from that of Luther in a number
of ways. First, it was more legalistic. Whereas the Wittenberg Re¬
The religion of former had emphasized the guidance of individual conscience, the
Calvin com¬ dictator of Geneva stressed the sovereignty of law. He thought of
pared with
God as a mighty legislator who had handed down a body of rules in
that of Luther
the Scriptures which must be followed to the letter. Secondly, the
religion of Calvin was more nearly an Old Testament faith than that
of Luther. This can be illustrated in the attitude of the two men to¬
ward Sabbath observance. Luther’s conception of Sunday was simi¬
lar to that which prevails in modern Continental Europe. He
insisted, of course, that his followers should attend church, but he
did not demand that during the remainder of the day they should
refrain from all pleasure or work. Calvin, on the other hand, revived
the old Jewish Sabbath with its strict taboos against anything faintly
resembling worldliness. In the third place, the religion of Geneva
was more closely associated with the ideals of the new capitalism.
Luther’s sympathies lay with the nobles, and on at least one occasion
he sharply censured the tycoons of finance for their greed. Calvin
sanctified the ventures of the trader and the moneylender and gave
an exalted place in his ethical system to the business virtues of thrift
and diligence. Finally, Calvinism as compared to Lutheranism repre¬
sented a more radical phase of the Protestant Revolution. As
we have seen, the Wittenberg friar retained a good many features of
Roman worship and even some Catholic dogmas. Calvin rejected
everything he could think of that smacked of “popery.” The organ¬
ization of his church was constructed in such a way as to exclude all
traces of the episcopal system. Congregations were to choose their
own elders and preachers, while an association of ministers at the

The Fury of the Reformation

Brandishing Its Three Main
Villains, Calvin, Luther, and
Beza. Contemporary antire¬
form woodcut.

Tv,As
top would govern the entire church. Ritual, instrumental music, THE PROTESTANT
stained glass windows, pictures, and images were ruthlessly elimi¬ REVOLUTION
nated, with the consequence that the religion was reduced to “four
bare walls and a sermon.” Even the observance of Christmas and
Easter was sternly prohibited.
The popularity of Calvinism was not limited to Switzerland. It
spread into most countries of western Europe where trade and
finance had become leading pursuits. The Huguenots of France, the The spread of
Puritans of England, the Presbyterians of Scotland, and the mem¬ Calvinism

bers of the Reformed church in Holland were all Calvinists. It was

preeminently the religion of the bourgeoisie; though, of course, it
drew converts from other strata as well. Its influence in molding the
ethics of modern times and in bolstering the revolutionary courage
of the middle class was enormous. Members of this faith had much
to do with the initial revolts against despotism in England and France,
to say nothing of their part in overthrowing Spanish tyranny in the
Netherlands.
HI. THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION IN ENGLANDThe Original blow
against the Roman Church in England was not struck by a reli¬
gious enthusiast like Luther or Calvin but by the head of the Underlying
government. This does not mean, however, that the English Re¬ causes of

formation was exclusively a political movement. Henry VIII could the Protestant
Revolution in
not have succeeded in establishing an independent English church
England
if such action had not had the endorsement of large numbers of
his subjects. And there were plenty of reasons why this endorse¬
ment was readily given. Though the English had freed themselves
in some measure from papal domination, national pride had reached
such a point that any degree of subordination to Rome was re¬
sented. Besides, England had been the scene for some time of
lively agitation for religious reform. The memory of Wyclif’s scath¬
ing attacks upon the avarice of the priests, the temporal power of
Popes and bishops, and the sacramental system of the Church had
lingered since the fourteenth century. The influence of the Chris¬
tian humanists, notably Sir Thomas More, in condemning the super¬
stitions in Catholic worship, had also been a factor of considerable
importance. Finally, soon after the outbreak of the Protestant Revo¬
lution in Germany, Lutheran ideas were brought into England by
wandering preachers and through the circulation of printed tracts.
As a result, the English monarch, in severing the ties with Rome,
had no lack of sympathy from some of the most influential of his
subjects.
The clash with the Pope was precipitated by Henry VIII’s
domestic difficulties. For eighteen years he had been married to
Catherine of Aragon and had only a sickly daughter to succeed him.
The death of all the sons of this marriage in infancy was a grievous
disappointment to the king, who desired a male heir to perpetuate
the Tudor dynasty. But this was not all, for Henry later became
deeply infatuated with the dark-eyed lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn, 563
THE AGE OF THE and determined to make her his queen. He therefore appealed in
REFORMATION 1527 to Pope Clement VII for an annulment of the marriage to
Catherine. The law of the Church did not sanction divorce, but it
did provide that a marriage could be annulled if proof could be
Proclamation of presented that conditions existing at the time of the marriage made
the Anglican it unlawful. Queen Catherine had previously been married to
church as an
Henry’s older brother, Arthur, who had died a few months after the
independent
ceremony was performed. Recalling this fact, Henry’s lawyers
national unit
found a passage in the Book of Leviticus which pronounced a curse
of childlessness upon the man who should marry his deceased broth¬
er’s wife. The Pope was now in a difficult position. If he rejected
the king’s appeal, England would probably be lost to the Catholic
faith, for Henry was apparently firmly convinced that the Scrip¬
tural curse had blighted his chances of perpetuating his dynasty. On
the other hand, if the Pope granted the annulment he would pro¬
voke the wrath of the Emperor Charles V, who was a nephew of
Catherine. Charles had already invaded Italy and was threatening
the Pope with a loss of his temporal power. There seemed nothing
for Clement to do but to procrastinate. At first he made a pretense
of having the question settled in England, and empowered his own
legate and Cardinal Wolsey to hold a court of inquiry to determine
whether the marriage to Catherine had been legal. After long delay
the case was suddenly transferred to Rome. Henry lost patience and
resolved to take matters into his own hands. In 1531 he convoked an
assembly of the clergy and, by threatening to punish them for vio¬
lating the Statute of Praemunire in submitting to the papal legate, he
induced them to recognize himself as the head of the English
church, “as far as the law of Christ allows.” Next he persuaded
Parliament to enact a series of laws abolishing all payments of reve¬
nue to the Pope and proclaiming the Anglican church an independ¬
ent, national unit, subject to the exclusive authority of the king. By
1534 the last of the bonds uniting the English church to Rome had
been cut.
But the enactments put through by Henry VIII did not reallv
make England a Protestant country. Though the abolition of papal
Activities of authority was followed by the gradual dissolution of the monasteries
the radical and confiscation of their wealth, the church remained Catholic in
Protestants
doctrine. The Six Articles, adopted by Parliament at the king’s
behest in 1539, left no room for doubt as to official orthodoxy.
Auricular confession, Masses for the dead, and clerical celibacy
were all confirmed; death by burning was made the penalty for
denying the Catholic dogma of the Eucharist. Yet the influence of a
minority of Protestants at this time cannot be ignored. Their num¬
bers were steadily increasing, and during the reign of Henry’s suc¬
cessor,'Edward VI (1547-1553), they actually gained the ascend¬
ancy. Since the new king was only nine years old when he inherited
the crown, it was inevitable that the policies of the government
564 should be dictated by powers behind the throne. The men most ac-
tive in this work were Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canter¬ THE PROTESTANT
bury, and the Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland, who succes¬ REVOLUTION
sively dominated the council of regency. All three of these officials
had strong Protestant leanings. As a result, the creeds and cere¬
monies of the Church of England were given some drastic revision.
Priests were permitted to marry; English was substituted for Latin
in the services; the use of images was abolished; and new articles of
belief were drawn up repudiating all sacraments except baptism and
the Lord’s Supper and affirming the Lutheran dogma of justification
by faith. When the youthful Edward died in 1553, it looked as if
England had definitely entered the Protestant camp.
Surface appearances, however, are frequently deceiving. They
were never more so than in England at the end of Edward’s reign.
The majority of the people had refused to be weaned away from The Catholic
the usages of their ancient faith, and a reaction had set in against the reaction under
Mary
high-handed methods of the radical Protestants. Moreover, the Eng¬
lish during the time of the Tudors had grown accustomed to obey¬
ing the will of their sovereign. It was an attitude fostered by
national pride and the desire for order and prosperity. The succes¬
sor of Edward VI was Mary (1553-1558), the forlorn and graceless
daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine. It was inevitable that Mary
should have been a Catholic, and that she should have abhorred the
revolt against Rome, for the origin of the movement was painfully
associated with her mother’s sufferings. Consequently, it is not
strange that upon coming to the throne she should have attempted
to turn the clock back. Not only did she restore the celebration of
the Adass and the rule of clerical celibacy, but she prevailed upon
Parliament to vote the unconditional return of England to papal
allegiance. But her policies ended in lamentable failure for several
reasons. First of all, she fell into the same error as her predecessors
in forcing through changes that were too radical for the temper of
the times. The people of England were not ready for a Lutheran or
Calvinist revolution, but neither were they in a mood to accept
immediate subjection to Rome. Probably a more serious cause of her
failure was her marriage to Philip, the ambitious heir to the Spanish
throne. Her subjects feared that this union might lead to foreign
complications, if not actual domination by Spain. When the queen
allowed herself to be drawn into a war with France, in which Eng¬
land was compelled to surrender Calais, her last foothold on the
Continent of Europe, the nation was almost ready for rebellion.
Death ended Mary’s inglorious reign in 1558.
The question whether England was to be Catholic or Protestant
was left to be settled by Mary’s successor, her half-sister Elizabeth
(1558-1603), daughter of the vivacious Anne Boleyn. Though reared The Elizabethan

as a Protestant, Elizabeth had no deep religious convictions. Her pri¬ compromise

mary interest was statecraft, and she did not intend that her kingdom
should be rent in twain by sectarian strife. Therefore she decided
upon a policy of moderation, refusing to ally herself with either the 565
THE AGE OF THE extreme Catholics or the fanatical Protestants. So carefully did she
REFORMATION hew to this line that for some years she deceived the Pope into
thinking that she might turn Catholic. Nevertheless, she was enough
of a nationalist to refuse even to consider a revival of allegiance to
Rome. One of the first things she did after becoming queen was to
order the passage of a new Act of Supremacy declaring the English
sovereign to be the “supreme governor” of the independent Angli¬
can church. The final settlement, completed about 1570, was a typi¬
cal English compromise. The church was made Protestant, but
certain articles of the creed were left vague enough so that a moder¬
ate Catholic might accept them without too great a shock to his
conscience. Moreover, the episcopal form of organization was re¬
tained and much of the Catholic ritual. Long after Elizabeth’s death
this settlement remained in effect. Indeed, most elements in it have
survived to this day. And it is a significant fact that the modern
Church of England is broad enough to include within its ranks such
diverse factions as the Anglo-Catholics, who differ from their
Roman brethren only in rejecting papal supremacy, and the “low-
church” Anglicans, who are as radical in their Protestantism as the
Lutherans.

2. THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION

As noted at the beginning of this chapter, the Protestant Revolu¬

tion was only one of the phases of the great movement known as the
The beginnings Reformation. The other was the Catholic Reformation, or the
of Catholic Counter Reformation as it used to be called, on the assumption that
reform
the primary purpose of its leaders was to cleanse the Catholic
Church in order to check the growth of Protestantism. Modern his¬
torians have shown, however, that the beginings of the movement
for Catholic reform were entirely independent of the Protestant
Revolt. In Spain, during the closing years of the fifteenth century, a
religious revival inaugurated by Cardinal Ximenes, with the ap¬
proval of the monarchy, stirred that country to the depths. Schools
were established, abuses were eliminated from the monasteries, and
priests were goaded into accepting their responsibilities as shepherds
of their flocks. Though the movement was launched primarily for
the purpose of strengthening the Church in the war against heretics
and infidels, it nevertheless had considerable effect in regenerating
the spiritual life of the nation. In Italy also, since the beginning of
the sixteenth century, a number of earnest clerics had been laboring
to make the priests of their Church more worthy of their Christian
calling. The task was a difficult one on account of the paganism of
the Renaissance and the example of profligacy set by the papal
court. In spite of these obstacles the movement did lead to the
founding of several religious orders dedicated to high ideals of piety
566 and social service.
 But the fires of Catholic reform burned rather low until after the THE CATHOLIC
Protestant Revolution began to make serious inroads upon the an¬ REFORMATION
cient faith. Not until it appeared that the whole German nation was
likely to be swept into the Lutheran orbit did any of the Popes be¬
come seriously concerned about the need for reform. The first of The climax of
the Holy Fathers to attempt a purification of the Church was Adrian the Catholic

V I of Utrecht, the only non-Italian to be elected to the papal throne Reformation; the
reform Popes
in nearly a century and a half, and the last in history. But his reign
of only twenty months was too short to enable him to accomplish
much, and in 1523 he was succeeded by a Medici (Clement VII),
who ruled for eleven years. The campaign against abuses in the
Church was not renewed until the reign of Paul III (1534-1549).
He and three of his successors, Paul IV (1555-1559), Pius V
(1566-1572), and Sixtus V (1585-1590), were the most zealous
crusaders for reform who had presided over the See of Peter since
the days of Gregory VII. They reorganized the papal finances, filled
the Church offices with priests renowned for austerity, and dealt
drastically with those clerics who persisted in idleness and vice. It
was under these Popes that the Catholic Reformation reached its
height. Unfortunately, they were also responsible for reviving the
Inquisition, which had fallen into disuse during the Italian Renais¬
sance.
These direct activities of the Popes were supplemented by the de¬
crees of a great Church council convoked in 1545 by Paul III, which
met in the city of Trent (modern Trento), at intervals between The Council of
1545 and 1563. This council was one of the most important in the Trent

history of the Church. The main purpose for which it had been
summoned was to redefine the doctrines of the Catholic faith, and
several of the steps in this direction were highly significant. With¬
out exception the dogmas challenged by the Protestant Reformers
were reaffirmed. Good works were held to be as necessary for salva¬
tion as faith. The theory of the sacraments as indispensable means of
grace was upheld. Likewise, transubstantiation, the apostolic succes¬
sion of the priesthood, the belief in purgatory, the invocation of
saints, and the rule of celibacy for the clergy were all confirmed as
essential elements in the Catholic system. On the much-debated
question as to the proper source of Christian belief, the Bible and
the traditions of apostolic teaching were held to be of equal author¬
ity. Not only was papal supremacy over every bishop and priest ex¬
pressly maintained, but there was more than a faint suggestion that
the authority of the Pope transcended that of the Church council
itself. By this admission the government of the Church was reconsti¬
tuted as monarchical in form. The great movement of the four¬
teenth and fifteenth centuries which had attempted to establish the
superior authority of the general council was ignored entirely.
The Council of Trent did not confine its attention to matters of
dogma. It passed important legislation also for the elimination of 567
 THE AGE OF THE abuses and for reinforcing the discipline of the Church over its
REFORMATION members. The sale of indulgences was flatly prohibited, and even
their issuance for considerations other than money was restricted
temporarily. Bishops and priests were forbidden to hold more than
Reforms of one benefice, so that none could grow rich from a plurality of in¬
the Council of comes. To eliminate the evil of an ignorant priesthood it was pro¬
Trent
vided that a theological seminary must be established in every
diocese. Toward the end of its deliberations the Council decided
upon a censorship of books to prevent heretical ideas from corrupt¬
ing the minds of those who still remained in the faith. A commission
was appointed to draw up an index or list of writings which ought
not to be read. The publication of this list by the Pope in 1564 re¬
sulted in the formal establishment of the Index of Prohibited Books
as a part of the machinery of the Church. Later a permanent agency
known as the Congregation of the Index was set up to revise the list
from time to time. Altogether more than forty such revisions have
been made. The majority of the books condemned have been theo¬
logical treatises, and probably the effect in retarding the progress of
learning has been slight. Nonetheless, the establishment of the Index
must be taken as a symptom of the intolerance which had come to
infect both Catholics and Protestants.
The Catholic Reformation would never have been as thorough or
as successful as it was if it had not been for the activities of the
The founding of Jesuits, or members of the Society of Jesus. They did most of the
the Society of rough political work in the Council of Trent, which enabled the
Jesus by Loyola
Popes to dominate that body in its later and more important ses¬
sions. The Jesuits also were largely responsible for winning Poland
and southern Germany back into the Catholic fold. The founder of
the Society of Jesus was Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), a Spanish
nobleman from the Basque country. His early career seems not to
have been particularly different from that of other Spaniards of his
class—a life of philandering and marauding as a soldier of the king.
But about the time the Protestant Revolution was getting well under
way in Germany, he was painfully wounded in a battle with the
French. While waiting for his injuries to heal, he read a pious biog¬
raphy of Jesus and some legends of the saints which profoundly
changed his emotional nature. Overwhelmed by a consciousness of
his wasted life, he determined to become a soldier of Christ. After a
period of morbid self-tortures, in which he saw visions of Satan,
Jesus, and the Trinity, he went to the University of Paris to learn
more about the faith he intended to serve. Here he gathered around
Ignatius Loyola. Engraving by him a small group of devoted disciples, with whose aid in 1534 he
Lucas Vorstiman, 1621. founded the Society of Jesus. The members took monastic vows and
pledged themselves to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In 1540 their
organization was approved by Pope Paul III. From then on it grew
rapidly. When Loyola died it could boast of no fewer than 1500
568 members.
 The Society of Jesus was by far the most militant of the religious THE CATHOLIC
orders fostered by the spiritual zeal of the sixteenth century. It was REFORMATION
not merely a monastic society but a company of soldiers sworn to
defend the faith. Their weapons were not to be bullets and spears
but eloquence, persuasion, instruction in the right doctrines, and if Organization of

necessary more worldly methods of exerting influence. The organi¬ the Society of
Jesus
zation was patterned after that of a military company, with a gen¬
eral as commander-in-chief and an iron discipline enforced on the
members. All individuality was suppressed, and a soldierlike obedi¬
ence to the general was exacted of the rank and file. Only the
highest of the four classes of members had any share in the govern¬
ment of the order. This little group, known as the Professed of the
Four Vows, elected the general for life and consulted with him on
important matters. They were also bound to implicit obedience.
As suggested already, the activities of the Jesuits were numerous
and varied. First and foremost, they conceived of themselves as the
defenders of true religion. For this object they obtained authority Activities of the

from the Pope to hear confessions and grant absolution. Many of Jesuits

them became priests in order to gain access to the pulpit and ex¬
pound the truth as the oracles of God. Still others served as agents
of the Inquisition in the relentless war against heresy. In all of this
work they followed the leadership of Mother Church as their in¬
fallible guide. They raised no questions and attempted to solve no
mysteries. Loyola taught that if the Church ruled that white was
black, it would be the duty of her sons to believe it. But the Jesuits
were not satisfied merely to hold the field against the attacks of
Protestants and heretics; they were anxious to propagate the faith in
the farthest corners of the earth—to make Catholics out of Bud¬
dhists, Moslems, the Parsees of India, and even the untutored savages
of the newly discovered continents. Long before the Reformation
had ended, there were Jesuit missionaries in Africa, in Japan and
China, and in North and South America. Yet another important
activity of Loyola’s soldiers of Christ was education. They founded
colleges and seminaries by the hundreds in Europe and America and
obtained positions in older institutions as well. Until the Society ran
into conflict with several monarchs and was finally suppressed by
the Pope in 1773, it had a monopoly of education in Spain and a near¬
monopoly in France. That the Catholic Church recovered so much
of its strength in spite of the Protestant secession was due in large
measure to the manifold and aggressive activities of the Jesuits.

3. THE REFORMATION HERITAGE

The most obvious result of the Reformation was the division of

western Christendom into a multitude of hostile sects. No longer was
there one fold and one shepherd for the whole of Latin and Teu¬
tonic Europe as had been true in the Middle Ages. Instead, northern 569
THE AGE OF THE Germany and the Scandinavian countries had become Lutheran;
REFORMATION England had adopted a compromise Protestantism of her own; Cal¬
vinism had triumphed in Scotland, Holland, and French Switzer¬
land. In the vast domain once owing allegiance to the Vicar of
Results of the Christ only Italy, Austria, France, Spain and Portugal, southern
Reformation: Germany, Poland, and Ireland were left; and even in several of these
the effect in
countries aggressive Protestant minorities were a thorn in the side of
promoting re¬
the Catholic majority. Strange as it may seem, this splintering of
ligious tolera¬
tion Christianity into rival factions was, indirectly at least, a source of
some good to man. It worked in the long run to curb ecclesiastical
tyranny and thereby to promote religious freedom. As the sects mul¬
tiplied in various countries, it gradually became evident that no one
of them could ever become strong enough to enforce its will upon
the rest. Mutual toleration was made necessary in order for any of
them to survive. To be sure, this was an incidental and long-delayed
result, but its importance cannot be denied.
The Reformation also gave an added momentum to individualism
and to the expansion of popular education. By asserting the right of
Effects in private judgment and by simplifying ritual and organization, the
promoting in¬ leaders of the Protestant Revolution liberated man from some of the
dividualism
constraints of medieval ecclesiasticism. It would be a mistake, how¬
and mass
education
ever, to assume that Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anglicans really
believed at this time in genuine religious freedom. They had no
interest whatever in tolerating anyone who disagreed with their
own respective orthodoxies. About all they did was to set a new and
stronger precedent for challenging the authority and beliefs of a
universal church. By so doing they promoted self-assertion in the
religious sphere in somewhat the same degree as it already existed in
the political and economic spheres. In addition, the Reformation had
some effect in promoting the education of the masses. The Renais¬
sance, with its absorbing interest in the classics, had had the unfor¬
tunate result of distorting the curricula of the schools into an
exaggerated emphasis upon Greek and Latin and of restricting edu¬
cation to the aristocracy. The Lutherans, Calvinists, and Jesuits
changed all of this. Ambitious to propagate their respective doc¬
trines, they established schools for the masses, where even the son of
the cobbler or peasant might learn to read the Bible and theological
tracts in the vernacular. Practical subjects were often introduced in
place of Greek and Latin, and it is a significant fact that some of
these schools eventually opened their doors to the new science.
A good case can be made for the theory that the Reformation
furthered democracy, in the form, at least, of limited government.
Limitation upon Every one of the sects, whether Protestant or Catholic, raised argu¬
the power of ments against the absolute state. Even the Lutherans, despite their
rulers
adoption of St. Paul’s doctrine that “the powers that be are ordained
of God,” nevertheless recognized the right of the German princes
to rebel against the Holy Roman Empire. Luther wrote that disobe¬
570 dience was a greater sin than murder, unchastity, dishonesty, or
theft; but what he meant was the disobedience of the common man.
He generally held that the authority of kings and princes was abso¬
lute and never to be questioned by their subjects. Some observers
see in Luther’s influence a powerful stimulus to the growth of
authoritarian government in Germany. A more critical attitude to¬
ward secular rulers was taken by the Calvinists. In France, England,
and the Low Countries they not only asserted the right of revolu¬
tion but actively practiced it. Jesuit philosophers taught that the
authority of the secular ruler is derived from the people, and some
even affirmed the right of the ordinary citizen to kill a tyrant.
Among the leaders of many sects, efforts were made to revive the
medieval idea of a higher law of nature, embodying principles of
right and justice, which should be recognized as an automatic limi¬
tation upon the power of rulers.
 I t
ps Emil*
-Va_

PI IP1P l§lfimsm mm

Tag Jw».
jjifi
. n**’M

The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Thousands of Huguenots were killed in

the continuing religious strife of the sixteenth century.

The Reformation resulted in a series of religious wars which kept

Europe in turmoil for two score years. The first to break out was the
Religious wars Schmalkaldic War (1546-1547), waged by Charles V in an effort
to restore the unity of the Holy Roman Empire under the Catholic
faith. In a few months he succeeded in cowing the Protestant
princes of Germany into submission, but he was unable to force
their subjects back into the Roman religion. The strife was ulti¬
mately settled by a compromise treaty, the Religious Peace of Augs¬
burg (1555), under which each German prince was to be free to
choose either Lutheranism or Catholicism as the faith of his people.
The religion of each state was thus made to depend upon the reli¬
gion of its ruler. A much more sanguinary struggle took place in
572 France between 1562 and 1593. Here the Protestants, or Huguenots
as they were called, were decidedly in the minority, but they in¬ THE REFORMATION
cluded some of the ablest and most influential members of the com¬ HERITAGE
mercial and financial classes. Besides, they composed a political
party involved in machinations against the Catholics for control of
the government. In 1562 a faction of ultra-Catholics under the lead¬
ership of the Duke of Guise forced their way into power and, by
their threats of persecution of the Huguenots, plunged the country
into civil war. The struggle culminated ten years later in the fright¬
ful massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day. The regent, Catherine de’
Medici, in a desperate effort to put an end to the strife, plotted with
the Guises to murder the Protestant chiefs. The conspiracy un¬
loosed the ugly passions of the Paris mob, with the result that in a
single night 2000 Huguenots were slain. The war dragged on until
1593 when Henry IV became a Catholic in order to please the
majority of his subjects, but the religious issue did not approach a
settlement until 1598 when Henry issued the Edict of Nantes
guaranteeing freedom of conscience to Protestants.
To a large extent the Revolt of the Netherlands was also an epi¬
sode in the religious strife stirred up by the Reformation. Long after
the Protestant Revolution began in Germany, the countries now The Revolt of the

known as Belgium and Holland were still being governed as domin¬ Netherlands

ions of the Spanish crown. Though Lutheranism and Calvinism had

gained a foothold in the cities, the Protestants of the Netherlands
were yet but a fraction of the total population. With the passage of
time, however, the numbers of Calvinists increased until they in¬
cluded a majority of the townsmen, at least, in the Dutch provinces
of the north. Interference by the Spanish government with their
freedom of religion led to a desperate revolt in 1565. Religious
causes were, of course, not the only ones. Nationalist feeling was a
leading factor also, particularly since the Spanish king, Philip II,
persisted in treating the Netherlands as mere subject provinces. In
addition, there were serious economic grievances—high taxation and
the restriction of commerce for the benefit of Spanish merchants.
On the other hand, it was religious hatred that was largely responsi¬
ble for the bitterness of the struggle. Philip II regarded all Protes¬
tants as traitors, and he was determined to root them out of every
territory over which he ruled. In 1567 he sent the bigoted Duke of
Alva with 10,000 soldiers to quell the revolt in the Netherlands. For
six years Alva terrorized the land, putting hundreds of the rebels to
death and torturing or imprisoning thousands of others. The Protes¬
tants retaliated with almost equal savagery, and the war continued
its barbarous course until 1609. It ended in victory for the Prot¬
estants, largely through the bravery and self-sacrifice of their
original leader, William the Silent. The chief result of the war was
the establishment of an independent Dutch Republic comprising the
territories now included in Holland. The southern or Belgian prov- 573
 miml

The Cities of Schmal-

kaldic League Sur¬
rendering to Charles
V. Engraving by Hi¬
eronymus Cock, 1560.

inces, where the majority of the people were Catholics, returned to

Spanish rule.
Actual warfare between nations and sects was not the only type
of barbarity which the Reformation directly encouraged. For other
Bigotry, examples we need only recall the atrocities perpetrated by the Cath¬
witchcraft, and olic Inquisition, the savage persecution of Anabaptists in Germany,
persecution
and the fierce intolerance of Calvinists against Catholics. The horri¬
ble witchcraft persecution, which will be discussed in the next
chapter, was also in some measure the product of the seeds of fanati¬
cism sown by the Reformation. On the whole, the amount of
intolerance was now much greater than at any other time in the
history of Christianity, not excepting the age of the Crusades. In
more than one instance the victims of persecution were distin¬
guished philosophers or scientists, whose talents the world of that
day could ill afford to lose. The most eminent of the martyrs to the
new learning put to death by the Catholics was Giordano Bruno.
Despite his philosophy of mystical pantheism, Bruno set forth in
startling fashion a number of the cardinal axioms of modern science.
He taught the eternity of the universe, revived the atomic theory of
matter, and denied that the heavenly bodies contain any superior
element not found in the earth. Partly for these teachings and partly
also for his pantheism and for his rejection of miracles, he was haled
before the Inquisition and burned at the stake in 1600. One of the
victims of Calvinist persecution at Geneva was Michael Servetus,
the discoverer of the lesser circulation of the blood. Servetus was
convicted of rejecting the doctrines of the Trinity and predestina¬
tion and of teaching that Palestine is a barren country in defiance of
the Old Testament description of it as a land flowing with milk and
honey. In 1553 he was condemned to be burned at the stake by slow
fire. Some admirers of Calvin have argued that the Genevan Re¬
former opposed the burning of Servetus: he wanted him beheaded!
But even the evidence for this rather doubtful display of mercy is
574 not conclusive.
SELECTED READINGS READINGS
• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Bainton, R. H., The Age of the Reformation, New York, 1956 (Anvil). The
best short treatise. Half of it consists of documents.
' -1 Here 1 Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, Nashville, 1950 (Apex).
Bax, E. B., The Feasants' IVar in Germany, New York, 1899. The best account
in English but not especially scholarly.
• Beard, C., The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century in Its Relation to Mod-
em Thought and Knowledge, New York, 1927 (Ann Arbor).
• Burns, E. M., The Counter Reformation, Princeton, 1964 (Anvil).
Bury, J.B., History of the Freedom of Thought, New York, 1913.
Cohn, Norman, The Fur suit of the Millennium, Oxford, 1970.
• Erikson, E.H., Young Man Luther, New York, 1961 (Norton Library).
• Harkness, G. E., John Calvin: the Man and His Ethics, New York, 1931
(Apex).
• Huizinga, Johan, Erasmus and the Age of Reformation, New York, 1957
(Torchbook).
Janelle, Pierre, The Catholic Reformation, Milwaukee, 1949.
Jenkins, B. A., The World’s Debt to Protestantism, Boston, 1930.
• Jones, R. M., The Spiritual Reformers of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Cen¬
turies, New York, 1914 (Beacon).
Kidd, B.J., The Counter-Reformation, 1550-1600, New York, 1933. A com¬
plete account of the Jesuits, the Inquisition, and the Council of Trent.
Latourette, K. S., A History of Christianity, New York, 1953.
Lindsay, T. M., History of the Reformation, New York, 1928, 2 vols. Com¬
plete and scholarly.
Lucas, H. S., The Renaissance and the Reformation, New York, 1934.
• McGiffert, A. C., Protestant Thought before Kant, New York, 1911 (Torch-
book).
McNeill, J. T., The History and Character of Calvinism, New York, 1954.
Marti, O.A., The Economic Causes of the Reformation in England, New
York, 1930.
Nelson, E. N., The Idea of Usury, Princeton, 1949.
Randall, J. H., Jr., The Making of the Modern Mind, New York, 1926. Ch.
VII.
Schwiebert, E. G., Luther and His Times, St. Louis, 1952.
• Smith, Preserved, The Age of the Reformation, .New York, 1920 (Collier, 2
vols.). The best general survey.
-, The Life and Letters of Martin Luther, New York, 1914.
Smithson, Robert, The Anabaptists, London, 1935.
• Tawney, R. H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, New York, 1926 (Men¬
tor). Thoughtful and provocative.
Van Dyke, P., Ignatius Loyola, The Founder of the Jesuits, New York, 1926.
• Weber, Max, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, New York,
1948 (Scribner Library). A stimulating sociological interpretation.

SOURCE MATERIALS

• Calvin, John, Institutes of the Christian Religion, especially Book II, Chs. 1-3;
Book III, Chs. 19, 21-25; Book IV, Chs. 3, 14, 17, 20 (Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 2 vols.).
Catechism of the Council of Trent.
Luther, Martin, Works (Jacobs, tr.), “On Trade and Usury,” Vol. IV.
• -, On Christian Liberty (Fortress, 1940).
-, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation. 575
'
CO

o
o ~a J3
.t0 a -£3
CO X 3 o
1
% CO M s
$
c a o t-i
O O W CO Ph S

£
CO s-H

o
I—
<C
G£ 73
JZ

O *-0
Si!uj
X =?
uj =
OS ^
O =
3

CAPE HORN
 Le Mezzetin, Antoine Watteau
(1684-1721). Mezzetin was a popu¬
lar character in Italian comedy who
was much liked in France. Watteau
enjoyed portraying the make-believe
world of the court with its festivals
and formalized elegance. (MMA)

The Blue Boy, Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788).

Though the costume suggests the romantic ideal
of Prince Charming, the face is a penetrating study
of the moodiness and uncertainty of adolescence.
(Huntington Library)

Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, Sir Joshua

Reynolds (1723-1792). Mrs. Siddons, a famous
actress of the XVIII cent., is here portrayed as
the Queen of Tragedy, in accordance with Rey¬
nolds’ habit of depicting wealthy patrons in im¬
pressive classical poses. (Huntington Library)
Above: Landscape with the
Burial of Phocion, Nicolas
Poussin (1594-1665). Many
consider his paintings of the
Roman hills to be models of
French classicism. (Louvre)
Left: The Calling of St.
Matthew, Caravaggio (1573-
1610). Painted for the altar-
piece of the Church of San
Luigi dei Francesci, Rome.
(Scala)
 CHAPTER 20
The Commercial Revolution
and the New Society (ca. 1300-1700)

Although a Kingdom may be enriched by gifts received, or by

purchases taken from some other Nations, yet these are things
uncertain and of small consideration when they happen. The ordi¬
nary means therefore to encrease our wealth and treasure is by
Forraign Trade, wherein wee must ever observe this rule: to sell
more to strangers yearly than wee consume of theirs in value.
—Thomas Mun, England's Treasure by Forraign Trade

The last three chapters described the intellectual and religious tran¬
sition from the medieval to the modern world. It was observed
that the Renaissance, despite its kinship in many ways with the The meaning of

Middle Ages, spelled the doom of Scholastic philosophy, under¬ the Commercial
Revolution
mined the supremacy of Gothic architecture, and overthrew
medieval conceptions of politics and the universe. Likewise, it
was noted that, before the Renaissance had completed its work, a
mighty torrent of religious revolution had swept Christianity from
it medieval foundations and cleared the way for spiritual and moral
attitudes in keeping with the trends of the new age. That both the
Renaissance and the Reformation should have been accompanied by
fundamental economic changes goes without saying. Indeed, the in¬
tellectual and religious upheavals would scarcely have been possible
had it not been for drastic alterations in the medieval economic
pattern. This series of changes, marking the transition from the
semistatic, localized, nonprofit economy of the late Middle Ages to
the dynamic, worldwide, capitalistic regime of the fourteenth and
succeeding centuries, is what is known as the Commercial Revolu¬
tion. 577
 I. THE CAUSES AND INCIDENTS OF THE
COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION

The causes which led to the beginning of the Commercial Revo¬

lution about 1300 are none too clear. This arises from the fact that
Causes of the initial stage of the movement was more gradual than is com¬
the Commercial monly supposed. In so far as it is possible to isolate particular causes,
Revolution the following may be said to have been basic: (1) the capture of a
monopoly of Mediterranean trade by the Italian cities; (2) the de¬
velopment of a profitable commerce between the Italian cities and
the merchants of the Hanseatic League in northern Europe; (3) the
introduction of coins of general circulation, such as the ducat of
Venice and the florin of Florence; (4) the accumulation of surplus
capital in trading, shipping, and mining ventures; (5) the demand
for war materials and the encouragement given by the new mon-
See color map archs to the development of commerce in order to create more tax¬
at page 516 able wealth; and (6) the desire for the products of the Far East
stimulated by the reports of travelers, especially the fascinating ac¬
count of the wealth of China published by Marco Polo upon his
return from a trip to that country toward the end of the thirteenth
century. This combination of factors gave to the men of the early
Renaissance new visions of riches and power and furnished them
with some of the equipment necessary for an expansion of business.
Henceforth they were bound to be dissatisfied with the restricted
ideal of the medieval guilds with its ban upon trading for unlimited
profit.
The voyages of About two centuries after it began, the Commercial Revolution
overseas discov¬ received a powerful stimulus from the voyages of overseas discov¬
ery
ery. The reasons why these voyages were undertaken are not hard
to perceive. They were due primarily to Spanish and Portuguese
ambitions for a share in the trade with the Orient. For some time
this trade had been monopolized by the Italian cities, with the con¬
sequence that the people of the Iberian peninsula were compelled to
pay high prices for the silks, perfumes, spices, and tapestries im¬
ported from the East. It was therefore quite natural that attempts
should be made by Spanish and Portuguese merchants to discover a
new route to the Orient independent of Italian control. A second
cause of the voyages of discovery was the missionary fervor of the
Spaniards. Their successful crusade against the Moors had generated
a surplus of religious zeal, which spilled over into a desire to convert
the heathen. To these causes should be added the fact that advances
A Moslem Astrolabe, Thir¬ in geographical knowledge and the introduction of the compass and
teenth Century the astrolabe 1 gave mariners more courage to venture into the open

1The astrolabe is a device for measuring the altitude or position of heavenly

bodies. It was invented by Hellenistic astronomers and perfected by the Sara¬
cens. Especially useful in determining locations at sea, it has since been re-
578 placed by the sextant.
 sea. But the effect of these things must not be exaggerated. The CAUSES AND INCIDENTS
popular idea that all Europeans before Columbus believed that the
earth was flat is simply not true. From the twelfth century on it
would be almost impossible to find an educated man who did not
accept the fact that the earth is a sphere. Furthermore, the compass
and the astrolabe were known in Europe long before any mariners
ever dreamed of sailing the Atlantic, with the exception of the
Norsemen. The compass was brought in by the Saracens in the
twelfth century, probably from China. The astrolabe was intro¬
duced even earlier.
If we except the Norsemen, who discovered America about 1000
a.d., the pioneers in oceanic navigation were the Portuguese. By the
middle of the fifteenth century they had discovered and settled the The Spaniards
islands of Madeira and the Azores and had explored the African and Portuguese

coast as far south as Guinea. In 1497 their most successful navigator,

Vasco da Gama, rounded the tip of Africa and sailed on the next
year to India. In the meantime, the Genoese mariner, Christopher
Columbus, became convinced of the feasibility of reaching India by
sailing west. Rebuffed by the Portuguese, he turned to the Spanish
sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, and enlisted their support of his
plan. The story of his epochal voyage and its result is a familiar one
and need not be recounted here. Though he died ignorant of his real
achievement, his discoveries laid the foundations for the Spanish
claim to nearly all of the New World. Other discoverers represent¬
ing the Spanish crown followed Columbus, and soon afterward the
conquerors, Cortes and Pizarro. The result was the establishment of
a vast colonial empire including what is now the southwestern por¬
tion of the United States, Florida, Mexico, and the West Indies,
Central America, and all of South America with the exception of
Brazil.
Hernando Cortes
The English and the French were not slow in following the Span¬
ish example. The voyages of John Cabot and his son Sebastian in
1497-1498 provided the basis for the English claim to North Amer¬
ica, though there was nothing that could be called a British empire
in the New World until after the settlement of Virginia in 1607.
Early in the sixteenth century the French explorer Cartier sailed up The British,
the St. Lawrence, thereby furnishing his native land with some French, and
Dutch
shadow of a title to eastern Canada. More than a hundred years later
the explorations of Joliet, La Salle, and Father Marquette gave the
French a foothold in the Mississippi valley and in the region of the
Great Lakes. Following their victory in their war for independence
the Dutch also took a hand in the struggle for colonial empire. The
voyage of Henry Hudson up the river which bears his name enabled
them to found New Netherland in 1623, which they were forced to
surrender to the English some forty years later. But the most valu¬
able possessions of the Dutch were Malacca, the Spice Islands, and
the ports of India and Africa taken from Portugal in the early sev¬
enteenth century. 579
 THE COMMERCIAL The results of these voyages of discovery and the founding of
REVOLUTION AND THE colonial empires were almost incalculable. To begin with, they ex¬
NEW SOCIETY panded commerce from its narrow limits of Mediterranean trade
into a world enterprise. For the first time in history the ships of the
The expansion great maritime powers now sailed the seven seas. The tight little
of commerce in¬ monopoly of Oriental trade maintained by the Italian cities was
to a world en¬
thoroughly punctured. Genoa, Pisa, and Venice sank henceforth
terprise
into relative obscurity, while the harbors of Lisbon, Bordeaux,
Liverpool, Bristol, and Amsterdam were crowded with vessels and
the shelves of their merchants piled high with goods. A second re¬
sult was a tremendous increase in the volume of commerce and in
the variety of articles of consumption. To the spices and textiles
from the Orient were now added potatoes, tobacco, and maize from
North America; molasses and rum from the West Indies; cocoa,
chocolate, quinine, and the cochineal dye from South America; and
ivory, slaves, and ostrich feathers from Africa. In addition to these
commodities hitherto unknown or obtainable only in limited quanti¬
ties, the supply of certain older products was greatly increased. This
was especially true of sugar, coffee, rice, and cotton, which were
brought in in such amounts from the Western Hemisphere that
they ceased to be articles of luxury.
Another significant result of the discovery and conquest of lands
overseas was an expansion of the supply of precious metals. When
The increase in Columbus discovered America, the quantities of gold and silver in
the supply of Europe were scarcely sufficient to support a dynamic economy. In¬
precious metals
deed, it was nearly fifty years before the full impact of wealth from
America made itself felt. For some time gold was the more abundant
metal and was relatively cheap in relation to silver. The white metal,
which came chiefly from the mines of Germany, was more highly
prized than gold. About 1540 this relation was reversed. Massive im-

Aden. A sixteenth-century woodcut of the seaport which was a base for mer¬
chants and travelers sailing to India.
 ports of silver from the mines of Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru pro¬ CAUSES AND INCIDENTS
duced such a depreciation in the value of silver that quantities of
gold had to hoarded for critical transactions. Henceforth, for about
eighty \ ears, the European economy ran on silver. The result was a
tremendous inflation. Prices and wages rose to fantastic heights in
what may be considered an artificial prosperity. It did not affect all
parts of Europe alike. The German mines were ruined by the flood
of silver from the Americas. As a consequence, the position of Ger¬
many declined, while England and the Netherlands rose to preemi¬
nence. For a brief period Spain shared this preeminence, but she was
ill-fitted to continue it. Her industrial development was too feeble
to supply the demand for manufactured products from the Euro¬
pean settlers in the Western Hemisphere. Accordingly, they turned
to the north of Europe for the textiles, cutlery, and similar products
they urgently needed. About 1535 Spain suffered a severe crisis
which gradually spread to other countries.
The incidents or features of the Commercial Revolution have
been partly suggested by the foregoing discussion of causes. The
outstanding one was the rise of capitalism. Reduced to its simplest Incidents of the
terms, capitalism may be defined as a system of production, distribu¬ Commercial
Revolution:
tion, and exchange in which accumulated wealth is invested by pri¬
(1) the rise of
vate owners for the sake of gain. Its essential features are private en¬
capitalism
terprise, competition for markets, and business for profit. Gener¬
ally it involves also the wage system as a method of payment of
workers; that is, a mode of payment based not upon the amount of
wealth they create, but rather upon their ability to compete with
one another for jobs. As indicated already, capitalism is the direct
antithesis of the semistatic economy of the medieval guilds, in which
production and trade were supposed to be conducted for the benefit
of society with only a reasonable charge for the service rendered,
instead of unlimited profits. Although capitalism did not come to
its full maturity until the nineteenth century, nearly all of its cardinal
features were developed during the Commercial Revolution.
A second important incident of the Commercial Revolution was
the growth of banking. Because of the strong disapproval of usury,
banking had scarcely been a respectable business during the Middle (2) the growth
Ages. For centuries the little that was carried on was virtually of banking

monopolized by Moslems and Jews. Nevertheless, exceptions did

exist. Descendants of the Lombards ignored the prohibitions of the
Church. The rise of national monarchies toward the end of the Mid¬
dle Ages led to borrowing on contract to pay for wars or for the
operations of government. Lending money for interest on such con¬
tracts was not considered sinful if the king took the guilt upon him¬
self in a special clause of the contract. By the fourteenth century
the business of lending money for profit was an established business.
The rate on loans to governments was often 15 per cent, and in times
of crisis much higher. The real founders of banking were certain of
the great commercial houses of the Italian cities. Most of them com- 581
 THE COMMERCIAL bined money lending with the management of manufacturing enter¬
REVOLUTION AND THE prises in their localities. Notable among them was the Medici firm,
NEW SOCIETY with its headquarters in Florence, but with branches throughout
Italy and as far north as Bruges. By the fifteenth century the bank¬
ing business had spread to southern Germany and France. The
leading firm in the north was that of the Fuggers of Augsburg, with
a capital of $40,000,000. The Fuggers lent money to kings and bish¬
ops, served as brokers for the Pope in the sale of indulgences, and
provided the funds that enabled Charles V to buy his election to the
throne of the Holy Roman Empire. The rise of these private finan¬
cial houses was followed by the establishment of government
banks, intended to serve the monetary needs of the national states.
The first in order of time was the Bank of Sweden (1657), but the
one which was destined for the role of greatest importance in eco¬
nomic history was the Bank of England, founded in 1694. Although
not technically under government control until 1946, it was the
bank of issue for the government and the depositary of public
funds.
Jacob Fugger The growth of banking was necessarily accompanied by the
adoption of various aids to financial transactions on a large scale.
Credit facilities were extended in such a way that a merchant in
Amsterdam could purchase goods from a merchant in Venice by
(3) the expan¬ means of a bill of exchange issued by an Amsterdam bank. The
sion of credit Venetian merchant would obtain his money by depositing the bill of
facilities
exchange in his local bank. Later the two banks would settle their
accounts by comparing balances. Among the other facilities for the
expansion of credit were the adoption of a system of payment by
check in local transactions and the issuance of bank notes as a sub¬
stitute for gold and silver. Both of these devices were introduced
by the Italians and were gradually adopted in nothern Europe. The
system of payment by check was particularly important in increas¬
ing the volume of trade, since the credit resources of the banks

The Antwerp Bourse. Built in

the sixteenth century, it was the
place of exchange for merchants
from all countries.
^ JjQ Q''din’h'.:rglf^^\

- Major trade routes -Lesser trade routes Navigable rivers

Herring fisheries Wool Linen 1^1 Silk /~\ Mining

X) Wine

THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION IN CENTRAL AND WESTERN EUROPE ca. 1500

could now be expanded far beyond the actual amounts of cash in

their vaults.
The Commercial Revolution was not confined, of course, to the (4) the decline
of the craft
growth of trade and banking. Included in it also were fundamental
guilds and the
changes in methods of production. The system of manufacture de¬
rise of new in¬
veloped by the craft guilds in the later Middle Ages was rapidly be¬ dustries
coming defunct. The guilds themselves, dominated by the master
craftsmen, had grown selfish and exclusive. Membership in them
was commonly restricted to a few privileged families. Besides, they
were so completely choked by tradition that they were unable to 583
 THE COMMERCIAL make adjustments to changing conditions. Moreover, new industries
REVOLUTION AND THE had sprung up entirely outside the guild system. Characteristic ex¬
NEW SOCIETY amples were mining and smelting and the woolen industry. The
rapid development of these enterprises was stimulated by technical
advances, such as the invention of the spinning wheel and the stock¬
ing frame and the discovery of a new method of making brass,
which saved about half of the fuel previously used. In the mining
and smelting industries a form of organization was adopted similar
to that which has prevailed ever since. The tools and plant facilities
belonged to capitalists, while the workers were mere wage laborers
subject to hazards of accident, unemployment, and occupational
disease.
But the most typical form of industrial production in the Com¬
mercial Revolution was the domestic system, developed first of all in
the woolen industry. The domestic system derives its name from the
Printing Plant in the Late fact that the work was done in the homes of individual artisans in¬
Seventeenth Century stead of in the shop of a master craftsman. Since the various jobs in
the manufacture of a product were given out on contract, the sys¬
tem is also known as the putting-out system. Notwithstanding the
petty scale of production, the organization was basically capitalistic.
(5) the domes¬ The raw material was purchased by an entrepreneur (known as a
tic, or putting-out
clothier in the woolen industry) and assigned to individual workers,
system
each of whom would complete his allotted task for a stipulated pay¬
ment. In the case of the woolen industry the yarn would be given
out first of all to the spinners, then to the weavers, fullers, and dyers
in succession. When the cloth was finally finished, it would be taken
by the clothier and sold in the open market for the highest price it
would bring. The domestic system was, of course, not restricted to
the manufacture of woolen cloth. As time went on, it was extended
into many other fields of production. It tied in well with the new
glorification of riches and with the conception of a dynamic econ¬
omy. The capitalist could now thumb his nose at the old restrictions
on profits. No association of his rivals could judge the quality of his
product or the wages he paid to his workers. Perhaps best of all he
could expand his business as he saw fit and introduce new techniques
that would reduce costs or increase the volume of production.
Undoubtedly the domestic system had advantages for the workers
themselves, especially as compared to its successor, the factory sys¬
Advantages and tem. Though wages were low, there was no regular schedule of
disadvantages hours, and it was generally possible for the laborer to supplement his
of the domestic
family income by cultivating a small plot of land and raising a few
system
vegetables, at least. Furthermore, conditions of work in the homes
were more healthful than in factories, and the artisan had his familv
to assist him with the simpler tasks. Freedom from the supervision
of a foreman and from the fear of discharge for petty reasons must
also be accounted definite advantages. On the other hand, it must
not be forgotten that the workers were too widely scattered to or¬
584 ganize effectively for common action. As a consequence they had
Merchants’ Houses in Amsterdam, rjth Century. Several of the principal streets
of Amsterdam are canals.

no means of protecting themselves from dishonest employers, who

cheated them out of part of their wages or forced them to accept
payment in goods. It is also true that toward the end of the Com¬
mercial Revolution the workers became more and more dependent
upon the capitalists, who now furnished not only the raw materials
but the tools and equipment as well. In some cases the laborers were
herded into large central shops and compelled to work under a fixed
routine. The difference between this and the high-pressure methods
of the factory system was only a matter of degree.
That the Commercial Revolution would involve extensive
changes in business organization was practically assured from the
start. The prevailing unit of production and trade in the Middle (6) changes in

Ages was the shop or store owned by an individual or a family. The business or¬
ganization; the
partnership was also quite common, in spite of its grave disad¬
growth of
vantage of unlimited liability of each of its members for the debts of regulated com¬
the entire firm. Obviously no one of these units was well adapted to panies
business involving heavy risks and a huge investment of capital. The
first result of the attempt to devise a more suitable business organi¬
zation was the formation of regulated companies. The regulated
company was an association of met chants banded together for a
common venture. The members did not pool their resources but
agreed merely to cooperate for their mutual advantage and to abide
by certain definite regulations. Usually the purpose of the combina¬
tion was to maintain a monopoly of trade in some part of the world.
Assessments were often paid by the members for the upkeep of
docks and warehouses and especially for protection against “in¬
terlopers,” as those traders were called who attempted to break into
the monopoly. A leading example of this type of organization was 585
 THE COMMERCIAL an English company known as the Merchant Adventurers, estab¬
REVOLUTION AND THE lished for the purpose of trade with the Netherlands and Germany.
NEW SOCIETY In the seventeenth century the regulated company was largely
superseded by a new type of organization at once more compact
(7) the joint- and broader in scope. This was the joint-stock company, formed
stock company through the issuance of shares of capital to a considerable number of
investors. Those who purchased the shares might or might not take
part in the work of the company, but whether they did or not they
were joint owners of the business and therefore entitled to share in
its profits in accordance with the amount they had invested. The
joint-stock company had numerous advantages over the partnership
and the regulated company. First, it was a permanent unit, not sub¬
ject to reorganization every time one of its members died or with¬
drew. And second, it made possible a much larger accumulation
of capital, through a wide distribution of shares. In short, it possessed
nearly every advantage of the modern corporation except that it
was not a person in the eyes of the law with the rights and privileges
guaranteed to individuals. While most of the early joint-stock
companies were founded for commercial ventures, some were or¬
ganized later in industry. A number of the outstanding trading
combinations were also chartered companies. This means that they
held charters from the government granting a monopoly of the
trade in a certain locality and conferring extensive authority over
the inhabitants. Through a charter of this kind the British East
India Company ruled over India as if it were a private estate until
1784, and even in a sense until 1858. Other famous chartered com¬
panies were the Dutch East India Company, the Hudson’s Bay
Company, the Plymouth Company, and the London Company.
The last of these founded the colony of Virginia and governed it
for a time as company property.
The remaining feature of the Commercial Revolution which
needs to be considered was the growth of a more efficient money
economy. Money, of course, had been in use ever since the revival
of trade in the eleventh century. Nevertheless, there were few coins
with a value that was recognized other than locally. By 1300 the
ducat of Venice and the florin of Florence, each with a value of
The Spanish Milled Dollar or
“Piece of Eight.” It was one of
about $4.00, had come to be accepted in Italy and also in the inter¬
the first coins to have its cir¬ national markets of northern Europe. But no country could be said
cumference scored or “milled.” to have had a uniform monetary system. Nearly everywhere there
It was cut into halves and was great confusion. Coins issued by kings circulated side by side
quarters to make change.
with the money of local nobles and even with Saracenic currency.
Moreover, the types of currency were modified frequently, and the
coins themselves were often debased. A common method by which
kings expanded their own personal revenues was to increase the pro¬
portion of cheaper metals in the coins they minted. But the growth
of trade and industry in the Commercial Revolution accentuated the
need for more stable and uniform monetary systems. The problem
586 was solved by the adoption of a standard system of money by every
important state to be used for all transactions within its borders. MERCANTILISM IN
Much time elapsed, however, before the reform was complete. Eng- THEORY AND PRACTICE
land began the construction of a uniform coinage during the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, but the task was not finished until late in the
seventeenth century. The French did not succeed in reducing their
money to its modern standard of simplicity and convenience until
the time of Napoleon. In spite of these long delays it appears safe to
conclude that national currencies were really an achievement of the
Commercial Revolution.

2. MERCANTILISM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

The Commercial Revolution in its later stages was accompanied

by the adoption of a new set of doctrines and practices known as
mercantilism. In its broadest meaning, mercantilism may be defined The meaning of
as a system of government intervention to promote national pros- mercantilism

perity and increase the power of the state. Though frequently con¬
sidered as a program of economic policy exclusively, its objectives
were quite largely political. The purpose of the intervention in
economic affairs was not merely to expand the volume of manufac¬
turing and trade, but also to bring more money into the treasury of
the king, which would enable him to build fleets, equip armies, and
make his government feared and respected throughout the world.
Because of this close association with the ambitions of princes to in¬
crease their own power and the power of the states over which they
ruled, mercantilism has sometimes been called statism. Certainly the
system would never have come into existence had it not been for the
growth of absolute monarchy in place of the weak, decentralized
structure of feudalism. But kings alone did not create it. Naturally

x. .. - -V -illPi o Y yf Ny .

ml ° rwf u

i <*

f **

Coining Money in the Six¬

teenth Century. These coins
were not “milled” and there¬
fore were easily “clipped,” a
process of scraping portions
of the valuable metal from the
edges of the coin.

AT <^>G>
y|-,. q1-®
'
 THE COMMERCIAL the new magnates of business lent support, since they would obvi¬
REVOLUTION AND THE ously derive great advantages from active encouragement of trade
NEW SOCIETY by the state. The heyday of mercantilism was the period between
1600 and 1700, but many of its features survived until the end of the
eighteenth century.
If there was any one principle which held the central place in
mercantilist theory, it was the doctrine of bullionism. This doctrine
Bullionism and means that the prosperity of a nation is determined by the quantity
the favorable of precious metals within its borders. The greater the amount of
balance of trade
gold and silver a country contains, the more money the govern¬
ment can collect in taxes, and the richer and more powerful the
state will become. The growth of such an idea was fostered by
knowledge of the prosperity and power of Spain, which seemed to
be the direct results of the flood of precious metals pouring in from
her American colonies. But what of those countries that owned no
bullion-producing colonies? How were they to achieve riches and
power? For these questions the mercantilists had a ready answer. A
nation without access to gold and silver directly should attempt to
increase its trade with the rest of the world. If its government took
steps to ensure that the value of exports would always exceed the
value of imports, more gold and silver would come into the country
than would have to be shipped out. This was called maintaining
a “favorable balance of trade.” To preserve this balance, three main
devices would be necessary: first, high tariffs to reduce the general
level of imports and to shut out some products entirely; second,
bounties on exports; and third, extensive encouragement of manu¬
factures in order that the nation might have as many goods to sell
abroad as possible.
The theory of mercantilism also included certain elements of eco¬
nomic nationalism, paternalism, and imperialism. By the first is
Other elements meant the ideal of a self-sufficient nation. The policy of fostering
of mercantilism:
new industries was not intended merely as a device for increasing
economic na¬
exports, but also as a means of making the nation independent of
tionalism, pa¬
ternalism, and
foreign supplies. In similar fashion, the mercantilists argued that the
imperialism government should exercise the functions of a watchful guardian
over the fives of its citizens. Generous relief should be provided
for the poor, including free medical attention if they were un¬
able to pay for it. These things were to be done, however, not
with any view to charity or justice, but mainly in order that the
state might rest upon a secure economic foundation and have the
support of a numerous and healthy citizenry in case of war. Finally,
the mercantilists advocated the acquisition of colonies. Again, the
primary purpose was not to benefit individual citizens of the mother
country, but to make the nation strong and independent. The types
of possessions most ardently desired were those that would enlarge
the nation’s hoard of bullion. If these could not be obtained, then col¬
onies providing tropical products, naval stores, or any other com¬
588 modities which the mother country could not produce would be ac-
ceptable. The theory which underlay this imperialism was the MERCANTILISM IN
notion that colonies existed for the benefit of the state that owned THEORY AND PRACTICE
them. For this reason they were not allowed to engage in manufac¬
turing or shipping. Their function was to produce raw materials and
to consume as large a proportion of manufactured products as pos¬
sible. In this way they would infuse lifeblood into the industries of
the mother country and thus give her an advantage in the struggle
for world trade.
The majority of those who wrote on mercantilist theory were not
professional economists but philosophers and men of action in the
world of business. Among the political philosophers were such advo¬ The defenders

cates of absolute monarchy as the Frenchman Jean Bodin (1530- of mercantilism

1596) and the Englishman Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), who were

naturally disposed to favor any policy that would increase the
wealth and power of the ruler. While most of the apologists for
mercantilism were interested in it mainly as a device for promoting
a favorable balance of trade, others conceived it as a species of
paternalism for increasing prosperity within the country. For exam¬
ple, the Englishman Edward Chamberlayne advocated a policy
somewhat similar to contemporary ideas of government spending.
He recommended that the state should appropriate a huge fund for
the relief of the poor and for the construction of public works as a
means of stimulating business.
Attempts to put various mercantilist doctrines into practice char¬
acterized the history of many of the nations of western Europe in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The theories, however, Mercantilism in

were not universally applied. Spain, of course, had the initial ad¬ practice: in
Spain and in
vantage by reason of the flow of bullion from her American em¬
England
pire. And while the Spaniards did not need to resort to artificial
devices in order to bring money into their country, their govern¬
ment nevertheless maintained a rigid control over commerce and in¬
dustry. The policies of other nations were designed to make up for
the lack of bullion-producing colonies by capturing a larger share of
export trade. This naturally involved a program of bounties, tariffs,
and extensive regulation of manufacturing and shipping. Mercantil¬
ist policies were largely adopted in England during the reign of
Queen Elizabeth I and were continued by the Stuart monarchs and
by Oliver Cromwell. Most of these rulers engaged in a furious
scramble for colonies, bestowed monopolistic privileges upon trad¬
ing companies, and sought in a wide variety of ways to control the
economic activities of the citizens. The most interesting examples of
mercantilist legislation in England were, first, the Elizabethan laws
designed to eliminate idleness and stimulate production and, second,
the Navigation Acts. By a series of laws enacted toward the end of
the sixteenth century, Queen Elizabeth gave to the justices of the
peace the authority to fix prices, regulate hours of labor, and com¬
pel every able-bodied citizen to work at some useful trade. The first
of the Navigation Acts was passed in 1651 under Oliver Cromwell. 589
 THE COMMERCIAL With the aim of destroying Dutch predominance in the carrying
REVOLUTION AND THE trade, it required that all colonial exports to the mother country
NEW SOCIETY should be carried in English ships. A second Navigation Act was
passed in 1660, which provided not merely that colonial exports
should be shipped in British vessels but prohibited the sending of
certain “enumerated articles,” especially tobacco and sugar, directly
to Continental European ports. They were to be sent first of all to
England, whence, after the payment of customs duties, they could
be reshipped elsewhere. Both of these laws were based upon the
principle that colonies should serve for the enrichment of the mother
country.
The Germanic states during the Commercial Revolution were
too completely occupied with internal problems to take an active
Mercantilism in part in the struggle for colonies and overseas trade. As a conse¬
Germany: the quence, German mercantilism was concerned primarily with in¬
cameralists
creasing the strength of the state from within. It partook of the dual
character of economic nationalism and a program for a planned so¬
ciety. But, of course, the planning was done chiefly for the benefit
of the government and only incidentally for that of the people as a
whole. Because of their dominant purpose of increasing the reve¬
nues of the state, the German mercantilists are known as cameralists
(from Kammer, a name given to the royal treasury). Most of them
were lawyers and professors of finance. Cameralist ideas were put
into practice by the Hohenzollern kings of Prussia, notably by
Frederick William I (1713-1740) and Frederick the Great (1740-
1786). The policies of these monarchs embraced a many-sided
scheme of intervention and control in the economic sphere for the
purpose of increasing taxable wealth and bolstering the power of the
state. Marshes were drained, canals dug, new industries established
with the aid of the government, and farmers instructed as to what
crops they should plant. In order that the nation might become self-
sufficient as soon as possible, exports of raw materials and imports of
manufactured products were prohibited. The bulk of the revenues
gained from these various policies went for military purposes. The
standing army of Prussia was increased by Frederick the Great to
160,000 men.
The most thorough, if not the most deliberate, application of
mercantilism was probably to be found in France during the reign
of Louis XIV (1643-1715). This was due partly to the fact that the
Jean Baptiste Colbert French state was the complete incarnation of absolutism and partly
to the policies of Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), chief minister
under le grand monarque from 1661 until his death. Colbert was no
theorist but a practical politician, ambitious for personal power and
intent upon magnifying the opportunities for wealth of the middle
class, to which he belonged. He accepted mercantilism, not as an
end in itself, but simply as a convenient means for increasing the
wealth and power of the state and thereby gaining the approval of
590 his sovereign. He firmly believed that France must acquire as large
an amount of the precious metals as possible. To this end he prohib- THE RESULTS OF THE
ited the export of money, levied high tariffs on foreign manufac- COMMERCIAL
tures, and gave liberal bounties to encourage French shipping. It REVOLUTION
was largely for this purpose also that he fostered imperialism,
hoping to increase the favorable balance of trade through the sale of
manufactured goods to the colonies. Accordingly, he purchased
islands in the West Indies, encouraged settlements in Canada and
Louisiana, and established trading posts in India and in Africa.
Furthermore, he was as devoted to the ideal of self-sufficiency as any
of the cameralists in Prussia. Fie gave subsidies to new enterprises,
established a number of state-owned industries, and even had the
government purchase goods which were not really needed in or¬
der to keep struggling companies on their feet. But he was de¬
termined to keep the manufacturing industry under strict control,
so as to make sure that companies would buy their raw materials
only from French or colonial sources and produce the commodi¬
ties necessary for national greatness. Consequently he clamped upon
industry an elaborate set of regulations prescribing nearly every
detail of the manufacturing process. Finally, it should be men¬
tioned that Colbert took a number of steps to augment the political
strength of the nation directly. FFe provided France with a navy
of nearly 300 ships, drafting citizens from the maritime provinces
and even criminals to man them. FFe sought to promote a rapid
growth of population by discouraging young people from becom¬
ing monks or nuns and by exempting families with ten or more
children from taxation.

3. THE RESULTS OF THE COMMERCIAL

REVOLUTION

It goes without saying that the Commercial Revolution was one

of the most significant developments in the history of the Western
world. The whole pattern of modern economic life would have The foundation
been impossible without it, for it changed the basis of commerce for modern capi¬
talism
from the local and regional plane of the Middle Ages to the world¬
wide scale it has occupied ever since. Moreover, it exalted the power
of money, inaugurated business for profit, sanctified the accumula¬
tion of wealth, and established competitive enterprise as the founda¬
tion of production and trade. In a word, the Commercial Revolution
was responsible for a large number of the elements that go to make
up the capitalist regime.
But these were not the only results. The Commercial Revolution
brought into being wide fluctuations of economic activity. What
we now call booms and recessions alternated with startling rapidity. Booms and reces¬
The inflow of precious metals, combined with a “population explo¬ sions

sion” which doubled the inhabitants of Europe between 1450 and

1650, led to rising prices and an unprecedented demand for goods.
Businessmen were tempted to expand their enterprises too rapidly; 591
 THE COMMERCIAL bankers extended credit so liberally that their principal borrowers,
REVOLUTION AND THE especially nobles, often defaulted on loans. Spain and Italy were
NEW SOCIETY among the first to suffer setbacks. In both, failure of wages to keep
pace with rising prices brought incredible hardships to the lower
classes. Impoverishment was rife in the cities, and banditry flour¬
ished in the rural areas. In Spain some ruined aristocrats were not
too proud to join the throngs of vagrants who wandered from city
to city. At the end of the fifteenth century the great Florentine
bank of the Medici, with its branches in Venice, Rome, and Naples,
closed its doors. The middle of the century that followed saw
numerous bankruptcies in Spain and the decline of the Fuggers in
Germany. Meanwhile, England, Holland, and to some extent
France, waxed prosperous. This prosperity was especially character¬
istic of the “age of silver,” which lasted from about 1540 to 1620. In
the seventeenth century decline set in once more after inflation had
spent its force, and as a consequence of religious and international
wars and civil strife.
The alternation of booms and recessions was followed by orgies
of speculation. These reached their climax early in the eighteenth
The South Sea century. The most notorious were the South Sea Bubble and the
Bubble Mississippi Bubble. The former was the result of inflation of the
stock of the South Sea Company in England. The promoters of this
company agreed to take over a large part of the national debt and in
return received from the English government an exclusive right to
trade with South America and the Pacific islands. The prospects for
profit seemed almost unlimited. The stock of the company rose
rapidly in value until it was selling for more than ten times its origi¬
nal price. The higher it rose, the more gullible the public became.
But gradually suspicion developed that the possibilities of the enter¬
prise had been overrated. Buoyant hopes gave way to fears, and in¬
vestors made frantic attempts to dispose of their shares for whatever
they would bring. A crash was the inevitable result.
During the very same years when the South Sea Bubble was being
inflated in England, the French were going through a similar wave
The Mississippi of speculative madness. In 1715 a Scotsman by the name of John
Bubble
Law, who had been compelled to flee from British soil for killing his
rival in a love intrigue, settled in Paris, after various successful gam¬
bling adventures in other cities. He persuaded the regent of France
to adopt his scheme for paying off the national debt through the
issuance of paper money and to grant him the privilege of organiz¬
ing the Mississippi Company for the colonization and exploitation of
Louisiana. As the government loans were redeemed, the persons
who received the money were encouraged to buy stock in the com¬
pany. Soon the shares began to soar, ultimately reaching a price
forty times their original value. Nearly everyone who could scrape
together a few livres of surplus cash rushed forward to participate
592 in the scramble for riches. Stories were told of butchers and tailors
who were supposed to have become millionaires by buying a few THE RESULTS OF THE
shares and holding them for a rise in price. But as the realization COMMERCIAL
grew that the company would never be able to pay more than a REVOLUTION
nominal dividend on the stock at its inflated value, the more cautious
investors began selling their holdings. The alarm spread, and soon
everyone was as anxious to sell as he had been to buy. In 1720 the
Mississippi Bubble burst in a wild panic. Thousands of people who
had sold good property to buy the shares at fantastic prices were
ruined. The collapse of the South Sea and Mississippi companies
gave a temporary chill to the public ardor for gambling. It was
not long, however, until the greed for speculative profits revived,
and the stock-jobbing orgies that followed in the wake of the Com¬
mercial Revolution were repeated many times over during the nine¬
teenth and twentieth centuries.
Among other results of the Commercial Revolution were the rise
of the bourgeoisie to economic power, the beginning of Europeani¬
zation of the world, and the revival of slavery. Each of these re¬ Europeaniza¬

quires brief comment. By the end of the seventeenth century the tion of the
world and
bourgeoisie had become an influential class in nearly every country
the revival of
of western Europe. Its ranks included the merchants, the bankers, slavery
the shipowners, the principal investors, and the industrial entrepre¬
neurs. Their rise to power was mainly the result of increasing
wealth and their tendency to ally themselves with the king against
the remnants of the feudal aristocracy. But as yet their power was
purely economic. Not until the nineteenth century did middle-class
supremacy in politics become a reality. By the Europeanization of
the world is meant the transplanting of European manners and cul¬
ture in other continents. As a result of the work of traders, mission¬
aries, and colonists, North and South America were rapidly stamped
with the character of appendages of Europe. No more than a begin¬
ning was made in the transformation of Asia, but enough was done
to foreshadow the trend of later times when even Japanese and Chi¬
nese would adopt Western locomotives and shell-rimmed spectacles.
The most regrettable result of the Commercial Revolution was the
revival of slavery. As we learned in our study of the Middle Ages,
slavery practically disappeared from European civilization about the
year 1000. But the development of mining and plantation farming in
the English, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies led to a tremendous
demand for unskilled labor. At first an attempt was made to enslave
the American Indians, but they usually proved too hard to manage.
The problem was solved in the sixteenth century by the importation
of African Negroes. For the next 200 years and more, Negro
slavery was an integral part of the European colonial system, espe¬
cially in those regions producing tropical products.
Finally, the Commercial Revolution was exceedingly important in
preparing the way for the Industrial Revolution. This was true for a
number of reasons. First, the Commercial Revolution created a class 593
 THE COMMERCIAL of capitalists who were constantly seeking new opportunities to in¬
REVOLUTION AND THE vest their surplus profits. Second, the mercantilist policy, with its
NEW SOCIETY emphasis upon protection for infant industries and production of
goods for export, gave a powerful stimulus to the growth of manu¬
Effects of the factures. Third, the founding of colonial empires flooded Europe
Commercial with new raw materials and greatly increased the supply of certain
Revolution in
products which had hitherto been luxuries. Most of these required
preparing
fabrication before they were available for consumption. As a conse¬
the way for the
Industrial quence, new industries sprang up wholly independent of any guild
Revolution regulations that still survived. The outstanding example was the
manufacture of cotton textiles, which, significantly enough, was one
of the first of the industries to become mechanized. Last of all, the
Commercial Revolution was marked by a trend toward the adoption
of factory methods in certain lines of production, together with
technological improvements, such as the invention of the spinning
wheel and the stocking frame, and the discovery of more efficient
processes of refining ores. The connection between these develop¬
ments and the mechanical progress of the Industrial Revolution is
not hard to perceive.

4. REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTS
IN AGRICULTURE

To a large extent the sweeping changes that occurred in agricul¬

ture between the fourteenth century and the eighteenth may be
The transfor¬ regarded as effects of the Commercial Revolution. For example, the
mation of ag¬ rise in prices and the increase in urban population eventually made
riculture
agriculture a profitable business and thus tended to promote its ab¬
sorption into the capitalist system. In addition, the development of
the woolen industry in England caused many landowners of that
country to substitute the pasturing of flocks for ordinary farming as
their principal source of income. But there were also other causes
not directly connected with the Commercial Revolution at all. One
was the influence of the Crusades and the Hundred Years’ War in
weakening the power of the nobles and in undermining the struc¬
ture of the old society. Another was the reduction of the supply of
agricultural labor on account of the Black Death and the influx of
peasants into the cities and towns to take advantage of the new
opportunities for a living resulting from the revival of trade with
the Near East. A third was the opening up of new farms to cultiva¬
tion under a system of free labor and individual enterprise. The
combined effect of these factors was the destruction of the manorial
system and the establishment of agriculture on something like its
modern foundations. The transformation was most complete in Eng¬
land, but there were similar developments in other countries also.
An important development of the agricultural revolution was
594 the enclosure movement, which was of notable importance in
 England. This movement had two main aspects: first, the enclosing DEVELOPMENTS IN
of the common wood and pasture lands of the manor, thereby abol¬ AGRICULTURE
ishing the communal rights which the peasants had enjoyed of
pasturing their flocks and gathering wood on the untilled portions
of the lord’s estate; and second, the eviction of large numbers of The enclosure
peasants from their leaseholds or other rights of tenantry on the movement

arable lands. Both of these forms of enclosure resulted in much

hardship for the rural population. For centuries the peasant’s rights in
the common pasture and woodlot had formed an essential element in
his scheme of subsistence, and it was difficult for him to get along
without them. But the fate of those peasants who were dispossessed
entirely of their rights of tenantry was much more serious. In most
cases they were forced to become landless wage earners or to make
their way in the world as helpless beggars. The chief reason for the
enclosures was the desire of the former feudal proprietors to con¬
vert as large an area of their estates as possible into pasturage for
sheep, on account of the high price which could now be obtained
for wool. Usually they began by fencing in the common lands as
their own property. This was frequently followed by the conver¬
sion of many of the grain fields into pastures also, resulting in the
eviction especially of those peasants whose leaseholds were none too
secure. Enclosures began in the fifteenth century and were contin¬
ued beyond the period of the Commercial Revolution. Even as late
as 1819 hundreds of acts were still being passed by the British Parlia¬
ment authorizing the eviction of tenants and the closing in of great
estates. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the process was
accelerated by the ambition of capitalists to push their way into the
aristocracy by becoming gentleman farmers. The enclosure move¬
ment completed the transformation of English agriculture into a
capitalistic enterprise.
The final stage in the agricultural upheaval which accompanied or
followed the Commercial Revolution was the introduction of new
crops and improvements in mechanical equipment. Neither of these
developments was conspicuous until the beginning of the eighteenth
century. It was about this time that Lord Townshend in England
discovered the value of raising clover as a means of preventing
exhaustion of the soil. Not only is the effect of clover in reducing
fertility much less than that of the cereal grains, but it actually helps
to improve the quality of the soil by gathering nitrogen and making A Ball and Chain Pump. Men
the ground more porous. The planting of this crop from time to walking in the treadmill to the
time made unnecessary the old system of allowing one-third of the left powered this mid-six¬
teenth-century irrigation de¬
land to lie fallow each year. Further, the clover itself provided
vice.
an excellent winter feed for animals, thereby aiding the production
of more and better livestock. Only a small number of mechanical
improvements were introduced into farming at this time, but they
were of more than trivial significance. First came the adoption of
the metal plowshare, which made possible a deeper and wider fur- 595
 THE COMMERCIAL row than could ever be accomplished with the primitive wooden
REVOLUTION AND THE plows handed down from the Middle Ages. For a time farmers were
NEW SOCIETY reluctant to use the new device in the belief that iron would poison
the soil, but this superstition was eventually abandoned. The other
most important mechanical improvement of this period was the drill
for planting grain. The adoption of this invention eliminated the old
wasteful method of sowing grain broadcast by hand, most of it re¬
maining on top of the ground to be eaten by crows. Significant as
these inventions were, however, the real mechanization of agricul¬
ture did not come until well along in the nineteenth century.

5. THE NEW SOCIETY

Profound changes in the texture of society inevitably accompany

economic or intellectual revolutions. The society which was
Significant so¬ brought into being by the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the
cial changes:
Commercial Revolution, though retaining characteristics of the
(1) a more
Middle Ages, was really quite different in its underlying features.
rapid growth
of population
For one thing, the population of Europe was now considerably
larger. The number of inhabitants of both Italy and England in¬
creased by approximately one-third during the single century
from 1500 to 1600. In the same period the estimated population
of Germany grew from 12,000,000 to 20,000,000. In 1378 London
had a population of about 46,000; by 1605 the total had grown to
about 225,000.2 The reasons for these increases are closely related
to the religious and economic developments of the time. Un-

2 J. W. Thompson, Economic and Social History of Europe in the Later

Middle Ages, p. 461; Preserved Smith, The Age of the Reformation, pp. 433-
458.

Interior of a French Peasant’s

Cottage, Seventeenth Century.
Virtually all activities cen¬
tered about the hearth, the
only source of heat for the
entire dwelling.
doubtedly in nothern countries the overthrow of clerical celibacy THE NEW SOCIETY
and the encouragement of marriage were factors partly re¬
sponsible. But far more important was the increase in means of sub¬
sistence brought about by the Commercial Revolution. Not only
were new products, such as potatoes, maize, and chocolate, added to
the food supply, but older commodities, especially sugar and rice,
were now made available to Europeans in much larger quantities. In
addition, the growth of new opportunities for making a living in in¬
dustry and commerce enabled most countries to support a larger
population than would ever have been possible under the predomi¬
nantly agrarian economy of the Middle Ages. It is significant that
the bulk of the increases occurred in the cities and towns.
A development of even greater consequence than the growth in
population was the increasing equality and fluidity of classes. The
Renaissance, the Reformation, and the accompanying Commercial (2) an increas¬
Revolution were all, in some degree, leveling movements. It is an ing equality
and fluidity of
impressive fact that the majority of the men who rose to positions
classes
of leadership in Renaissance culture were not scions of the nobility.
A few, Shakespeare among them, sprang from humble families and
at least three men were of illegitimate birth—Boccaccio, Leonardo
da Vinci, and Erasmus. The influence of the Renaissance in promot¬
ing social equality is illustrated also by the rise of the professions to
a higher dignity than they had ever enjoyed in the Middle Ages.
The artist, the writer, the lawyer, the university professor, and the
physician emerged into a position of importance roughly com¬
parable to that which they hold in modern society. This is con¬
firmed by the incomes which many are known to have received.
Michelangelo enjoyed a pension of thousands of dollars a year from
the Pope. Raphael left an estate which even by modern standards
would be considered princely.3 Erasmus was able to live in luxury
from the gifts and favors received from his patrons. Although few
historians would now subscribe to Nietzsche’s dictum that the
Reformation was simply a revolt of the ignorant masses against
their betters, the influence of that movement in weakening the old
aristocracy cannot be ignored. By sanctifying the accumulation of
wealth it did much to enthrone the middle class. As for the third of
the great leveling movements, the Commercial Revolution, we need
only recall its effects in providing the opportunities for any lucky
or ambitious burgher to pile up a fortune and thereby to climb some
of the higher rungs of the social ladder.
The condition of the lower classes did not improve at a rate com¬
mensurate with that of the bourgeoisie. Some historians deny that
there was any improvement at all, but this view is open to debate. It (3) the modest
is true that real wages remained very low: English masons and car¬ gains of the
lower classes
penters were paid the modern equivalent of not more than a dollar a
day about 1550. Attempts were even made to prohibit by law any

3 Preserved Smith, The Age of the Reformation, p. 472. 597

 The Peasants Revolt in Germany. This drawing shows the plunder of the
monastery of Weissenau in 1525.

rise in the level of wages, as in the English Statute of Laborers of

1351. It is also true that there were numerous strikes and insurrec¬
tions of the lower classes. The most serious were the Great Revolt
in England in 1381 and the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in Germany in
1524-1525. In both, large numbers of workers from the towns took
part along with the peasants. But there were also uprisings of the
urban proletariat alone. An example is furnished by the revolt of the
workers of Florence between 1379 and 1382 against the denial of
their right to form unions and to participate in the government of
the city. This revolt, like the others, was put down with merciless
severity. Desperate though these uprisings were, we cannot be sure
598 that they indicate a condition of absolute wretchedness among the
lower classes. It must be understood that in a time of transition the THE NEW SOCIETY
spirit of revolution is in the air. Indeed, the fact that revolts oc¬
curred may perhaps be taken as a sign that the lot of the workers
was not always deplorable. Men do not generally rebel unless their
economic condition has improved sufficiently to give them some
confidence of success. Finally, it is almost impossible to believe
that none of the working classes would share in the increasing
prosperity of the age. It is probably never strictly true that all of
the poor grow poorer while the rich grow richer.
Notwithstanding the cultural and economic progress of the pe¬
riod under review, social and moral conditions do not appear to
have sustained much improvement. For one thing, the new egoism Social and moral

that characterized the middle and upper classes stood as a barrier to conditions

more generous treatment of the least fortunate human beings. Hear¬

ing a disturbance outside his quarters, the Emperor Charles V, in
1552, was reported to have asked who were causing the commotion.
When told that they were poor soldiers, he said, “Let them die,”
and compared them to caterpillars, locusts, and June bugs that eat
the sprouts and other good things of the earth. As a rule, the most
pitiable fate was reserved for slaves and demented persons. For the
sake of big profits Negroes were hunted like beasts on the coast of
Africa and shipped to the American colonies. It may be of interest
to note that the Englishman who originated this body-snatching
business, Captain John Hawkins, called the ship in which he trans¬
ported the victims the Jesus. In view of the fact that insanity was
regarded as a form of demonic possession, it is not strange that the
sufferers from this disease should have been cruelly treated. They
were generally confined in filthy barracks and flogged unmercifully
to drive the demons out of their bodies. A favorite diversion of
some of our ancestors was to organize parties to visit the madhouses
and tease the insane.
The immediate effect of the Reformation in improving conditions
of morality appears to have been almost negligible. Perhaps this is
explainable in part by the return to the legalism of the Old Testa¬ The effect of

ment. But probably the chief cause was the fierce antagonism be¬ the Reforma¬
tion upon mor¬
tween sects. A condition of war is never favorable to the growth of
al standards
a high morality. Whatever the reasons, the licentiousness and brutal¬
ity continued unchecked. Even some of the clergy who were
closely identified with the work of religious reform could scarcely
be said to have been armored with the breastplate of righteousness.
An acquaintance of Luther’s seems to have experienced no difficulty
in getting a new pastorate after he had been dismissed from an ear¬
lier one on charges of seduction. Several of the Protestant Reformers
considered polygamy less sinful than divorce, on the ground that
the former was recognized in the Old Testament while the latter
was prohibited in the New. So doubtful was the quality of moral
standards among the Catholic clergy that the Reformers of that 599
 THE COMMERCIAL faith found it necessary to introduce the closed confessional box for
REVOLUTION AND THE the protection of female penitents. Formerly women as well as men
NEW SOCIETY had been required to kneel at the knees of the priest while confess¬
ing their sins. The effects of the Reformation upon the virtues of
truthfulness and tolerance were woeful indeed. Catholic and Protes¬
tant Reformers alike were so obsessed with the righteousness of
their own particular cause that they did not hesitate to make use of
almost any extreme of falsehood, slander, or repression that seemed
to guarantee victory for their side. For example, Luther expressly
justified lying in the interests of religion, and the Jesuits achieved a
reputation for tortuous reasoning and devious plotting for the ad¬
vantage of the Church. No one seemed to have the slightest doubt
that in the sphere of religion the end justified the means.
The widespread adoption of the tobacco and coffee habits in the
seventeenth century ultimately had interesting social and perhaps
Effects of the physiological effects. Although the tobacco plant was brought
coffee and into Europe by the Spaniards about fifty years after the discovery
tobacco habits of America, another half century passed before many Europeans
adopted the practice of smoking. At first the plant was be¬
lieved to possess miraculous healing powers and was referred to as
“divine tobacco” and “our holy herb nicotian.”4 The habit of
smoking was popularized by English explorers, especially by Sir
Walter Raleigh, who had learned it from the Indians of Virginia. It
spread rapidly through all classes of European society despite the
condemnation of the clergy and the “counterblaste” of King James
I against it. The enormous popularity of coffee drinking in the sev¬
enteenth century had even more important social effects. Coffee
houses or “cafes” sprang up all over Europe and rapidly evolved
into leading institutions. They provided not merely an escape for
the majority of men from a cribbed and monotonous home life, but
they took others away from the sordid excesses of the tavern and
the gambling-hell. In addition, they fostered a sharpening of wits
and promoted more polished manners, especially inasmuch as they
became favorite rendezvous for the literary lions of the time. If we
can believe the testimony of English historians, there was scarcely a
social or political enterprise which did not have its intimate connec¬
tions with the establishments where coffee was sold. Some, indeed,
were the rallying places of rival factions, which may in time have
evolved into political parties. In London, according to Macaulay,

There were coffee houses where the first medical men might
be consulted. . . . There were Puritan coffee houses where no
oath was heard and where lank-haired men discussed election
and reprobation through their noses; Jew coffee houses where
dark-eyed money-changers from Venice and Amsterdam

4 The word “nicotian” or “nicotine” is derived from Jean Nicot, the French
600 embassador to Portugal who introduced the tobacco plant into France.
 greeted each other; and Popish coffee houses where, as good THE NEW SOCIETY
Protestants believed, Jesuits planned, over their cups, another
great fire, and cast silver bullets to shoot the king.5

Despite its remarkable attainments in intellect and the arts, the

period was by no means free from superstitions. Even at the peak
of the Renaissance numerous quaint and pernicious delusions con- The persistence
tinued to be accepted as valid truths. The illiterate masses clung to of superstitions

their beliefs in goblins, satyrs, and wizards and to their fear of the
devil, whose malevolence was assumed to be the cause of diseases,
famine, storms, and insanity. But superstition was not harbored in the
minds of the ignorant alone. The famous astronomer, Johann Kep¬
ler, believed in astrology and depended upon the writing of al¬
manacs, with predictions of the future according to signs and
wonders in the heavens, as his chief source of income. Not only did
Sir Francis Bacon accept the current superstition of astrology, but
he also contributed his endorsement of the witchcraft delusion.
Eventually the enlightenment of the Renaissance might have elimi¬
nated most of the harmful superstitions if a reaction had not set in
during the Reformation. The emphasis of the Reformers upon faith,
their contempt for reason and science, and their incessant harping
on the wiles of the devil fostered an attitude of mind decidedly
favorable to prejudice and error. Besides, the furor of hate stirred
up by religious controversy made it almost impossible for the aver¬
age man to view his social and individual problems in a calm and in¬
telligent spirit.
The worst of all the superstitions that flourished in this period
was unquestionably the witchcraft delusion. Belief in witchcraft
was by no means unknown in the Middle Ages or even in the early The witch-

Renaissance, but it never reached the proportions of a dangerous craft delusion

madness until after the beginning of the Protestant Revolution. And

it is a significant fact that the persecutions attained their most
virulent form in the very countries where religious conflict raged
the fiercest, that is, in Germany and France. The witchcraft super¬
stition was a direct outgrowth of the belief in Satan which obsessed
the minds of so many of the Reformers. Luther maintained that he
often talked with the Evil One and sometimes put him to rout after
a session of argument by calling him unprintable names.6 Calvin in¬
sisted that the Pope never acted except on the advice of his patron
the devil. In general, the tendency of each camp of theologians was
to ascribe all the victories of their opponents to the uncanny powers
of the Prince of Darkness. With such superstitions prevailing among
religious leaders, it is not strange that the mass of their followers
should have harbored bizarre and hideous notions. The belief grew
that the devil was really more powerful than God, and that no man’s
life or soul was safe from destruction. It was assumed that Satan not
6Thomas Babington Macaulay, History of England, I, 335.
6Preserved Smith, The Age of the Reformation, p. 653. 601
 THE COMMERCIAL only tempted mortals to sin, but actually forced them to sin by
REVOLUTION AND THE sending his minions in human form to seduce men and women in
NEW SOCIETY their sleep. This was the height of his malevolence, for it jeop¬
ardized chances of salvation.
According to the definition of the theologians, witchcraft con¬
sisted in selling one’s soul to the devil in return for supernatural
The definition of powers. It was believed that a woman who had concluded such a
witchcraft bargain was thereby enabled to work all manner of spiteful magic
against her neighbors—to cause their cattle to sicken and die, their
crops to fail, or their children to fall into the fire. But the most valu¬
able gifts bestowed by Satan were the power to blind husbands to
their wives’ misconduct or to cause women to give birth to idiots or
deformed infants. It is commonly assumed that the so-called witches
were toothless old hags whose cranky habits and venomous tongues
had made them objects of suspicion and dread to all who knew
them. Undoubtedly a great many of the victims of the Salem trials
in Massachusetts in 1692 did belong to this class. However, the writ¬
ers on the Continent of Europe generally imagined the witch to be a
“fair and wicked young woman,” and a large percentage of those
put to death in Germany and France were adolescent girls and
matrons not yet thirty.7
The earliest persecutions for witchcraft were those resulting from
the crusades launched against heretics by the Papal Inquisition in the
thirteenth century. With the growth of intolerance of heresy it was
probably inevitable that members of sects like the Albigenses should
be accused of trafficking with the devil. But the amount of persecu¬
tion in this period was comparatively small. A second campaign
against witches was initiated by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484, who
instructed his inquisitors to use torture in procuring convictions.
But, as we have already seen, it was not until after the beginning of
the Protestant Revolution that witchcraft persecution became a mad
hysteria. Luther himself provided some of the impetus by recom¬
mending that witches should be put to death with fewer considera¬
tions of mercy than were shown to ordinary criminals. Other Re¬
formers quickly followed Luther’s example. Under Calvin’s admin¬
istration in Geneva thirty-four women were burned or quartered
for the alleged crime in 1545.8 From this time on the persecutions
Hanging Witches. A woodcut spread like a pestilence. Women, young girls, and even mere chil¬
from the late sixteenth cen¬ dren were tortured by driving needles under their nails, roasting
tury.
their feet in the fire, or crushing their legs under heavy weights
until the marrow spurted from their bones, in order to force them
to confess filthy orgies with demons. To what extent the persecu¬
tions were due to sheer sadism or to the greed of magistrates, who
were sometimes permitted to confiscate the property of those con¬
victed, is impossible to say. Certainly there were few people who
7 Preserved Smith, A History of Modern Culture, I, 436-37.
602 8 Preserved Smith, The Age of the Reformation, p. 656.
did not believe that the burning of witches was justifiable. One of THE NEW SOCIETY
the most zealous defenders of the trials was the political philosopher,
Jean Bodin. As late as the eighteenth century John Wesley declared
that to give up the belief in witchcraft was to give up the Bible.
The witchcraft persecutions reached their peak during the later
years of the sixteenth century. The number of victims will never be
known, but it was certainly not fewer than 30,000. We read of cities The peak of the

in Germany in which as many as 900 were put to death in a single witchcraft per¬
secutions
year, and of whole villages in which practically no women were left
alive.
After 1600 the mania gradually subsided on the Continent of Eu¬
rope, though it continued for some years longer in England. The
reasons for the decline are not far to seek. In some measure it was The end of the

the consequence of a recovery of sanity by the people themselves, witchcraft

persecutions
particularly as the fogs of suspicion and hate produced by religious
warfare gradually lifted. But the principal causes were the revival of
reason and the influence of scientists and skeptical philosophers. At
the very zenith of the witch-burning frenzy certain lawyers began to
have doubts as to the value of the evidence admitted at the trials. In
1584 an English jurist by the name of Reginald Scott published a
book condemning the belief in witchcraft as irrational and asserting
that most of the lurid crimes confessed by accused women were
mere figments of disordered minds. Such eminent scientists as Pierre
Gassendi (1592-1655) and William Harvey also denounced the
persecutions. But the most effective protest of all came from the pen
of Montaigne. This distinguished French skeptic directed the shafts
of his most powerful ridicule against the preposterous nonsense of
the sorcery trials and the cruelty of men like Bodin who would have
witches killed on mere suspicion.
From what has been said in preceding paragraphs the conclusion
must not be drawn that the period of the Renaissance, the Reforma¬
tion, and the Commercial Revolution was an age of universal de¬ The age not

pravity. Of course, there were numerous individuals as urbane and one of universal
depravity
tolerant as any who lived in less boisterous times. It must be remem¬
bered also that this was the age of Sir Thomas More and Erasmus,
who were at least as civilized as the majority of men historians have
chosen to honor. The enormous popularity of Castiglione’s Book of
the Courtier may likewise be taken to indicate that the period was
not hopelessly barbarous. This treatise, which ran through more
than 100 editions, set forth the ideal of a knight who was not merely
brave in battle and accomplished in the social graces, but courteous,
unaffected, and just. In spite of all this, the dolorous fact remains
that for large numbers of men ethics had lost their true meaning.
The cardinal aims were now gratification of self and victory in the
struggle to make the whole world conform to one’s own set of dog¬
mas. Perhaps these were inevitable accompaniments of the chaotic
transition from the impersonal society of the Middle Ages. 603
READINGS SELECTED READINGS

• Items so designated are available in paperbound editions.

• Burckhardt, Jacob, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, London, 1890

(Mentor, Torchbook, z vols.) No longer considered authoritative.
• de Roover, Raymond, The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, 1397-1494,
Cambridge, 1964 (Norton Library).
• Ford, Franklin, Rohe and Sword, Cambridge, 1953 (Torchbook).
• Haring, C. H., The Spanish Empire in America, New York, 1947 (Harbinger).
One of the best studies of the subject.
Heaton, Herbert, Economic History of Europe, New York, 1936.
Heckscher, E. E., Mercantilism, New York, 1935, 2 vols.
Kimble, G. H.T., Geography in the Middle Ages, London, 1938. A graphic
account of geographic notions before the time of Columbus.
Morison, S. E., Admiral of the Ocean Sea; A Life of Christopher Columbus,
Boston, 1942, 2 vols.
• Nowell, C. E., The Great Discoveries and the First Colonial Empires, Ithaca,
N.Y., 1954 (Cornell). Brief but good.
Ogg, F. A., and Sharp, W. R., Economic Development of Modern Europe,
New York, 1929.
Packard, L. B., The Commercial Revolution, New York, 1927.
Parr, C. M., So Noble a Captain: The Life and Times of Ferdinand Magellan,
New York, 1953. Scholarly.
• Penrose, Boies, Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance (1420-1620), Cam¬
bridge, Mass., 1952 (Atheneum).
Randall, J. H., Jr., The Making of the Modern Mind, New York, 1926, Chs.
VI-X.
Rees, William, Industry before the Industrial Revolution, Cardiff, 1968, 2 vols.
See, Henri, Modern Capitalism: Its Origin and Evolution, London, 1928.
• Smith, Preserved, The Age of the Reformation, New York, 1920 (Collier,
2 vols.).
• -, A History of Modern Culture, New York, 1930, Vol. I (Collier).
Sombart, Werner, The Quintessence of Capitalism, London, 1915. A sugges¬
tive interpretation.
• Sykes, P., A History of Exploration from the Earliest Times to the Present,
London, 1934 (Torchbook). Comprehensive.
• Tawney, R. H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, New York, 1926 (Mentor).
Wrong, G. M., The Rise and Fall of New France, New York, 1928, 2 vols.
A thorough account.

SOURCE MATERIALS

• More, Sir Thomas, Utopia, Part I, pp. 175-78, the Enclosure Movement (Pen¬
guin and others).
• Mun, Thomas, England's Treasure by Foreign Trade, Chs. I-IV, XX, XXI.
Richter, J. P., The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci, Vol. II, pp. 304-5,
Leonardo da Vinci on Witchcraft, New York, 1939, 2 vols.

604
Rulers of Principal States, to 1600 A.D.

-The Carolingian Dynasty

Pepin, Mayor of the Palace, 714 Louis III, King, 879-882
Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace, Carloman, King, 879-884
715-741
Pepin I, Mayor of the Palace, 741; King, Middle Kingdoms
751-768 Lothair, Emperor, 840-855
Charlemagne, King, 768-814; Emperor, Louis (Italy), Emperor, 855-875
800-814 Charles (Provence), King, 855-863
Louis the Pious, Emperor, 814-840 Lothair II (Lorraine), King, 855-869

East Francia
West Francia Ludwig, King, 840-876
Charles the Bald, King, 840-877; Em¬ Carloman, King, 876-880
peror, 875 Ludwig, King, 876-882
Louis II, King, 877-879 Charles the Fat, Emperor, 876-887

Holy Roman Emperors

Saxon Dynasty Frederick II, 1220-1250

Otto I, 962-973 Conrad IV, 1250-1254
Otto II, 973-983
Interregnum, 1254-1273
Otto III, 983-1002
Henry II, 1002-1024
Emperors from Various Dynasties
Rudolf I (Hapsburg), 1273-1291
Adolf (Nassau), 1292-1298
Franconian Dynasty Albert I (Hapsburg), 1298-1308
Henry VII (Luxemburg), 1308-1313
Conrad II, 1024-1039
Ludwig IV (Wittelsbach), 1314-1347
Henry III, 1039-1056
Charles IV (Luxemburg), 1347-1378
Henry IV, 1056-1106
Wenceslas (Luxemburg), 1378-1400
Henry V, 1106-1125
Rupert (Wittelsbach), 1400-1410
Lothair II (of Saxony), King, 1125-
Sigismund (Luxemburg), 1410-1437
1133; Emperor, 1133-1137
Hapsburg Dynasty
Albert II, 1438-1439
Hohenstaufen Dynasty Frederick III, 1440-1493
Conrad III, 1138-1152 Maximilian I, 1493-1519
Frederick I (Barbarossa), 1152-1190 Charles V, 1519-1556
Henry VI, 1190-1197 Ferdinand I, 1556-1564
Philip of Swabia, 1198-1208 , Maximilian II, 1564-1576
Otto IV (Well), . ,98-2.5 }R‘ValS Rudolf II, 1576-1612 605
 Rulers of France from Hugh Capet

Capetian Kings House of Valois

Hugh Capet, 987-996 Philip VI, 1328-1350

Robert II, 996-1031 John, 1350-1364
Henry I, 1031-1060 Charles V, 1364-1380
Philip I, 1060-1108 Charles VI, 1380-1422
Louis VI, 1108-1137 Charles VII, 1422-1461
Louis VII, 1137-1180 Louis XI, 1461-1483
Philip II (Augustus), 1180-1223 Charles VIII, 1483-1498
Louis VIII, 1223-1226 Louis XII, 1498-1515
Louis IX, 1226-1270 Francis I, 1515-1547
Philip III, 1270-1285 Henry II, 1547-1559
Philip IV, 1285-1314 Francis II, 1559-1560
Louis X, 1314-1316 Charles IX, 1560-1574
Philip V, 1316-1322 Henry III, 1574-1589
Charles IV, 1322-1328
Bourbon Dynasty

Henry IV, 1589-1610

Rulers of England

Anglo-Saxon Kings Angevin Kings

Egbert, 802-839 Henry II, 1154-1189

Ethelwulf, 839-858 Richard I, 1189-1199
Ethelbald, 858-860 John, 1199-1216
Ethelbert, 860-866 Henry III, 1216-1272
Ethelred, 866-871 Edward I, 1272-1307
Alfred the Great, 871-900 Edward II, 1307-1327
Edward the Elder, 900-924 Edward III, 1327-1377
Ethelstan, 924-940 Richard II, 1377-1399
Edmund I, 940-946
Edred, 946-955 House of Lancaster

Edwy, 955-959 Henry IV, 1399-1413

Edgar, 959-975 Henry V, 1413-1422
Edward the Martyr, 975-978 Henry VI, 1422-1461
Ethelred the Unready, 978-1016
House of York
Canute, 1016-1035 (Danish Nationality)
Harold I, 1035-1040 Edward IV, 1461-1483
Hardicanute, 1040-1042 Edward V, 1483
Edward the Confessor, 1042-1066 Richard III, 1483-1485
Harold II, 1066

Tudor Sovereigns
Anglo-Norman Kings
Henry VII, 1485-1509
William I (the Conqueror), 1066-1087 Henry VIII, 1509-1547
William II, 1087-1100 Edward VI, 1547-1553
Henry I, 1100-1135 Mary, 1553-1558
Stephen, 1135-1154 Elizabeth I, 1558-1603
 Prominent Popes

Silvester I, 314-335 Gregory IX, 1227-1241

Leo I, 440-461 Boniface VIII, 1294-1303
Gelasius I, 492-496 John XXII, 1316-1334
Gregory I, 590-604 Nicholas V, 1447-1455
Nicholas I, 858-867 Pius II, 1458-1464
Silvester II, 999-1003 Alexander VI, 1492-1503
Leo IX, 1049-1054 Julius II, 1503—1513
Nicholas II, 1058-1061 Leo X, 1513—1521
Gregory VII, 1073-1085 Adrian VI, 1522-1523
Urban II, 1088-1099 Clement VII, 1523-1534
Paschal II, 1099-1118 Paul III, 1534-1549
Alexander III, 1159-1181 Paul IV, 1555-1559
Innocent III, 1198-1216 Gregory XIII, 1572-1585

Rulers of Austria and Austria-Hungary

Maximilian I (Archduke), 1493-1519 Ferdinand I, 1556-1564

Charles I (Charles V in the Holy Maximilian II, 1564-1576
Roman Empire), 1519-1556 Rudolf II, 1576-16x2

Rulers of Russia-

Ivan III, 1462-1505 fand Isabella, 1479-1504

Basil III, 1505-1533 Ferdinand^ and Philip I, 1504-1506
Ivan IV, 1533-1584 land Charles I, 1506-1516
Theodore I, 1584-1598 Charles I (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), 1516-1556
Boris Godunov, 1598-1605 Philip II, 1556-1598
Philip III, 1598-1621

Principal Rulers of India

Chandragupta (Maurya Dynasty), Harsha (Vardhana Dynasty), 606-648

ca. 322-298 b.c. Babur (Mogul Dynasty), 1526-1530
Asoka (Maurya Dynasty), ca. 273-232 b.c. Akbar (Mogul Dynasty), 1556-1605
Vikramaditya (Gupta Dynasty),
375-413 A.D..

-Dynasties of China--

Hsia, ca. 2205-1766 b.c. (?) Chou, ca. 1027-249 b.c.

Shang (Yin), ca. 1766 (?)-io27 b.c. (or Ch’in, 221-207 b.c.
ca. 1523-1027 b.c.) Han (Former), 206 b.c.-8 a.d. 607
Interregnum (Wang Mang, usurper), 8- ern Ch’i, Northern Chou, 386-581
23A.D. Sui, 589-618
Han (Later), 25-220 T’ang, 618-907
Wei, 220-265 Five Dynasties: Later Liang, Later
Tsin (Chin), 265-420 T’ang, Later Tsin, Later Han,
Southern Dynasties: Sung (Liu Sung), Later Chou, 907-960
Ch’i, Liang, Ch’en, 420-589 Sung, 960-1279
Northern Dynasties: Northern Wei, Yuan (Mongol), 1279-1368
Western Wei, Eastern Wei, North¬ Ming, 1368-1644

Periods of Japanese Rule

Legendary Period, ca. 660 B.c-530 a.d. Namboku-cho (“Northern and South¬
Foundation Period, 530-709 a.d. ern Dynasties”) Period, 1336-1392
Taika (Great Reform) Period, 645-654 Muromachi (Ashikaga) Period, 1392-
Nara Period, 710-793 1568
Heian Period, 794-1192 Sengoku (“Country at War”) Period,
Kamakura Period, 1192-1333 ca. 1500-1600

Rulers of Principal African States

Mansa Musa, ruler of Mali empire, 1312-1337

Ewaure the Great, Oba of Benin, 1440-1473
Muhammad Runfa, King of Kano, 1463-1499
Afonso I, King of Kongo, 1506-1543
Ibrahim Maje, King of Katsina, 1549-1567
Idris Alooma, Mai of Bornu, 1569-ca. 1619
 Illustrations in Color

(page numbers refer to facing pages)

Egyptian Pottery Jar (The Metro¬ Madonna and Child (Byzantine) Gallery, London) 544
(National Gallery of Art) 257 Griinewald, Crucifixion (Scala) 544
politan Museum of Art) 33
Louis IX (Morgan Library) 417 Gainsborough, The Blue Boy
An Egyptian Official and His Son
Aquamanile (mma) 417 (Huntington Library) 576-577
(mma) 33
Ivory Plaque (mma) 417 Reynolds, Sarah Siddons as the
Gold and Inlay Pendant (mma) 33
Kings in Battle (Morgan Tragic Muse (Huntington
Jeweled Headdress (mma) 33
Library) 417 Library) 576-577
Scarab (mma) 33
Chalice (mma) 417 Watteau, Le Mezzetin
Silversmiths ( mm a ) 33
Building Operations (Morgan (mma) 576-577
A Scribe (mma) 33 Poussin, Landscape with the
Library) 448
Shrine Box (mma) 33 Burial of Phocion
Siege of a City (Morgan
An Egyptian House (mma) 33 (Giraudon) 577
Library) 448
Stele (mma) 64 Caravaggio, The Calling of St.
Stained Glass (mma) 448
Ramses II (mma) 64 Matthew (Scala) 577
Scholar at Work (Morgan
Shawabty Figures (mma) 64 Rubens, The Last Judgment
Library) 448
“Book of the Dead” (mma) 64 (Alte Pinakothek, Munich) 641
Vespers of the Holy Ghost
Limestone Figures (mma) 64 Rubens, England and Scotland
(Robert Lehman) 496
Hieroglyphic (mma) 64 Sixteenth-Century Map (Scala) 496 Crowning Charles 1 (Min¬
Sandstone Capital (mma) 64 Giotto, The Flight into Egypt neapolis Art Institute) 641
Thutmose III (mma) 64 (mma) 496-497 Van Dyck, The Marchessa
Bronze Bull (mma) 64 Fra Lippo Lippi, St. Lawrence Durazzo (mma) 641
Geometric Horse (mma) 193 Enthroned (mma) 496-497 Velasquez, Pope Innocent X
Geometric Jar (mma) 193 Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (Scala) 641
Sphinx (mma) 193 (Scala) _ 496-497 Rembrandt, The Night Watch
Amazon (mma) 193 Leonardo da»Vinci, The Virgin (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
Departure of a Warrior (mma) 193 of the Rocks (Louvre) 496-497 Rembrandt, The Anatomy Lesson 672
Athena (mma) 193 Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa (Mauritshuis, The Hague) 672
Panathenaic Athletes (mma) 193 (Louvre) 496-497 Canaletto, The Stonettiason’s Yard
Chorus of Satyrs _ (mma) 193 Leonardo da Vinci, The Last (National Gallery, London) 673
Judgment of Paris (mma) 193 Supper (Santa Maria della Boucher, Madame de Pompadour
Bronze Mirror Case (mma) 224 Grazie, Milan) 496-497 (The Wallace Collection) 673
Diadoumenos (mma) 224 Raphael, The Madonna of the David, Madame Recamier
Pan (mma) 224 Chair (Pitti Palace, Florence) 497 (Louvre) 737
Woman Arranging Her Hair Michelangelo, Christ and David, Napoleon's Coronation
(mma) 224 Madonna (Sistine Chapel) 497 (Bulloz) 737
Head of an Athlete (mma) 224 Titian, Tope Paul III and His Goya, Execution of the Rioters
Hermarchos (mma) 224 Nephews (National Museum, (Prado) 769
Sleeping Eros (mma) 224 Naples) 497 Gericault, The Raft of the
Comic Actor (mma) 224 Titian, Charles V (Alte Medusa (Bulloz) 769
Pinakothek, Munich) 497 Delacroix, The Massacre of Chios
Portrait of a Man (mma) 256-257 Breughel, The Harvesters (Bulloz) 801
Augustus (mma) 256-257 (mma) 512 Delacroix, Liberty Leading the
Constantine (mma) 256-257 Van Eyck, The Virgin and People (Louvre) 801
Wall Painting (mma) 256-257 Chancellor Rolin (Louvre) 512 Brown, The Last of England
Mosaic (mma) 256-257 Holbein, Erasmus (Louvre) 512 (City Museum and Art Gallery,
Satyr Mask (mma) 256-257 El Greco, St. Andrew and St. Birmingham, England) 832
Architectural Wall Painting Francis (Prado) 513 Turner, Valley of Aosta (Art
(mma) 256-257 El Greco, Burial of the Count of Institute of Chicago) 832
Mummy Portrait (mma) 256-257 Orgaz (Iglesia S. Tome, Corot, A Woman Reading
St. John (Morgan Library) 257 Toledo, Spain) 513 (mma) 833
Byzantine Cup (mma) 257 De Hooch, An Interior with a Ingres, Portrait of a Gentleman
Merovingian Brooch (mma) 257 Woman Drinking (National (mma) 833

609
 Van Gogh, Portrait of the Artist Braque, The Table (Modern) 1280
Corot, The Port of La Rochelle
(Giraudon) 833 (V. W. van Gogh) 1024 Dali, The Persistence of Memory
Blake, Beatrice and Dante (The Gauguin, la Orana Maria (Modern) 1280-1281
Tate Gallery) 960 (mma) 1024 Orozco, Barricade
Millet, The Gleaners Van Gogh, The Starry Night (Modern) 1280-1281
(Giraudon) 960 (Museum of Modern Art) 1024
Van Gogh, Sunflowers in a Vase Marin, Sea and Gulls
Manet, The Guitarist (mma) 961
(mma) 1280-1281
Manet, Emile Zola (Louvre) 961 (V. W. van Gogh) 1024
Courbet, Village Girls (mma) 961 Renoir, A Young Woman in the Klee, Around the Fish
Daumier, The Third-Class Sun (Bulloz) 1056 (Modern) 1280-1281
Carriage (mma) 961 Rodin, Balzac (mma) 1056 Rauschenberg, Summer Rental
Monet, Iris beside a Pond (Art Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating No. 2 (Whitney Museum
Institute of Chicago) 992 Party (Phillips Memorial of American Art) 1280-1281
Degas, Pink and Green (mma) 992 Gallery) 1056
Lichtenstein, Little Big
Cezanne, Still Life (mma) 993 Matisse, The Piano Lesson
Painting (Whitney) 1280-1281
Cezanne, Montagne Sainte- (Museum of Modern Art) 1057
Victoire with Aqueduct Picasso, Portrait of Gertrude Segal, Girl in Doorway
(mma) 993 Stein (mma) 1057 (Whitney) 1281
Cezanne, The Card Players Picasso, Three Musicians Warhol, Coca-Cola Bottles
(Stephen C. Clark) 993 (Museum of Modern Art) 1057 (Whitney) 1281
Toulouse-Lautrec, The Japanese Chagall, 1 and the Village
Divan (mma) 993 (Modern) 1280 Stella, Gran Cairo (Whitney) 1281

Illustrations in the Text

Fist Hatchet amnh (American Gudea of Lagash (The Warder Dancing Girl (isi) 118
Museum of Natural History) 6 Collection) 59 Dyers’ Trough (isi) 119
Homo habilis (National Geo¬ Great Ziggurat at Ur nypl Unicorn Seal (isi) 119
graphic Magazine) (The New York Public Weights (isi) 120
Java Man (amnh) Library) 60 Ravana, Rama, and Lakshmana
Peking Man (amnh) 7 Jewelry Found at Ur (mma) 60 (mma) _ 125
Neanderthal Man (amnh) 8 jewelry from Ur (mma) 61 Scenes from Mahabharata (Vic¬
Lower Paleolithic Carving Tool Panel of Glazed Brick (mma) 62 toria and Albert Museum) 126
and Side Scraper (amnh) 8 Assyrian Relief Sculpture (The Shiva (isi) 128
Cro-Magnon Man (amnh) 9 British Museum) 66 Dravidian Temple pibi (Press
Upper Paleolithic Fish Hook Palace of Darius and Xerxes (The Information Bureau, Govern¬
(The Warder Collection) 9 Oriental Institute) 72 ment of India) 130
Upper Paleolithic Engraving and Relief from the Palace of Darius Jain Temples (pibi) 133
Sculpture (amnh) 10 (The Oriental Institute) 73 Gautama Buddha in the state of
The Venus of Laussel (The Relief from the Palace of Darius nirvana (Liesel Funke-
Warder Collection) 11 (The Oriental Institute) 73 Bennett, N.Y.) 134
Cave Drawings at Lascaux Entrance to King David’s Tomb Defeat of Porus (nypl) 137
(French Government Tourist (The Israel Government Tour¬ Asokan Bull Capital (isi) 139
Office) 12 ist Office) 82 Laughing Boy (isi) 141
Entrance to Caves (French Model of King Solomon’s Temple Loess highlands (The Warder
Government Tourist Office) 12 (The Jewish Museum, New Collection) 144
Neolithic Dwellings (amnh) 14 York) 83 Bronze Tripod Cup, Shang
Neolithic Flint Sickles (The Ancient Synagogue at Capernaum Dynasty (cma) 146
Warder Collection) 15 (Israel Office of Information) 87 Oracle Bone (From Science and
Ramses II (The Warder Shekel of Ancient Israel (The Civilization in China, vol. Ill,
Collection) 31 Chase Manhattan Bank) 89 by Joseoh Needham, Cam¬
King Mycerinus and Queen Salet Dead Sea Scrolls (The Jewish bridge University Press) 147
(The Warder Collection) 33 Museum) 93 Bronze Ritual Vessel, Shang
Funerary Papyrus mma (Metro¬ Hittite Sculpture (mma) 100 Dynasty (cma) 148
politan Museum of Art) 34 The Goddess Cybele (mma) 100
Bronze Ritual Vessel, Shang
Ikhnaton and His Wife (Collec¬ Scenes from the Bull Ring
Dynasty (cma) 149
tion Viollet) 36 (mma) 104
Bronze Ceremonial Vessel, Chou
Pyramids of Gizeh iwa (Trans Central Staircase at the Palace of
Dynasty (cma) 152
World Airlines) 40 Minos (The Oriental
Ceremonial Bronze Basin
Detail of Karnak (twa) 41 Institute) 106
(Chinese News Service) 154
Temple at Karnak (twa) 42 A Minoan Vase (Hirmer
Bronze Bell, “Middle Chou” style
Karnak Wall Construction Fotoarchiv) 107
(Chinese News Service) 155
(twa) 42 Gold Pendant from Crete (The
Queen Hat-shepsut (mma) 43 British Museum) 107 Bronze ceremonial tripod
Fishing and Fowling (mma) 44 Throne Room in the Palace of (The Warder Collection) 156
Making Sun-dried Bricks Minos (British Information Wooden Drum Stand, late Chou
(mma) 45 Services) 108 style (cma) 156
Sowing Seeds (mma) 46 The Sprinagar Valley (The Confucius (The Warder
Egyptian Tomb Art (The Warder Collection) 115 Collection) 162
Warder Collection) 48 Excavations at Harappa isi (In¬ The Palace of Nestor (Alison
Assurbanipal and His Armies formation Service of India) 116 Frantz) 176
(The British Museum) 55 Bull seal from Mohenjo-Daro (isi) 117 Reconstruction of the Palace of
Diorama of Ur (amnh) 56 Skeletons at Mohenjo-Daro Nestor (Piet D. Jung) 177
Male Votive Figure (mma) 58 (Pakistan Consulate General) 117 Mycenean Stirrup Jar (mma) 178

610
Poseidon (The Warder The Maison Carree (Wayne Warder Collection) 365
Collection) 179 Andrews) 266 Santa Sophia, Interior (The
Battle between the Gods and the A Street in Ostia (Alinari) 267 Warder Collection) 365
Giants (Alison Frantz) 180 Medallion of Constantine I A Byzantine Mosaic (Brogi-
Marble Stele with Law against (Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Art Reference Bureau) 367
Tyranny (American School Harvard University) 270 St. Mark’s Cathedral (Alinari) 368
of Classical Studies, Athens) 193 The Arch of Titus (The St. Mark’s Interior (Anderson-
Greek Surgical Instruments Warder Collection) 272 (Art Reference Bureau) 369
(New York Academy of The Forum (twa) 274 The Kaaba (Arab Information
Music) 202 Ruins at Nalanda (isi) 285 Bureau) 370
Homer (The Boston Museum Buddhist Missionary (The The Court of the Lions (twa) 379
of Fine Arts) 202 Warder Collection) 286 The Great Mosque at Cordoba
Interior of a Greek Cup (Statts- Great Stupa at Sanchi (isi) 287 (Spanish Tourist Office) 381
bibliothek. Berlin) 203 Entrance to the Ajanta Caves Sports in the Middle Ages (The
Theater at Epidaros (George P. (isi) 288 Pierpont Morgan Library) 395
Brockway) 205 Eastern gateway of Great Stupa Tournament with Lances
Epidaros Plan (The Warder at Sanchi (isi) 288 (mma) 396
Collection) 205 Yakshi, or “tree spirit” (isi) 289 Diagram of a Manor (The
Marble Statue of the Apollo Type Cave temple at Ellora gito Warder Collection) 398
(mma) 206 (Government of India Tourist Medieval Village Scene (The
Young Men Playing a Ball Game Office) 290 Warder Collection) 399
(Alison Frantz) 207 Ruins of Cham Civilization Philip Augustus (Giraudon) 402
Orders of Greek Architecture (The Warder Collection) 291 Joan of Arc (Giraudon) 404
(University Prints) 208 Angkor Wat (Alice Mairs) 292 King John (A. F. Kersting) 407
The Parthenon (twa) 209 The Great Wall of China at Frederick Barbarosa and His Two
Parthenon Detail (Alice Mairs) 209 Nankow Pass (Philip Gen- Sons (Bettmann Archive) 410
The Erechtheum (The Warder dreau, N.Y.) 293 Pont Valentre (French Govern¬
Collection) 210 Ancient irrigation canal in China ment Tourist Office) 411
The Discobolus of Myron (United China Colleges) 294 Nordlingen (German Tourist
(Alinari) 211 Bronze rain drum (cma) 297 Information Office) 412
Hermes with the Infant Dionysus Ancient Chinese Seismograph The Walls of Avila (Spanish
(Alison Frantz) 211 (Science and Civilization in Tourist Office) 413
The Acropolis today (twa) 215 China, Vol. Ill, by Joseph A Medieval Tailor (mma) 413
Scythian Pectoral (D.P.A.- Needham, Cambridge Uni- A Medieval Baker (mma) 414
Pictorial Parade) 220 versity Press) 305 A Medieval Shoemaker (mma) 414
Alexander the Great (The Porcelain ewer (cma) 305 A Medieval Weaver (mma) 415
British Museum) 221 Bodhisattvas (mma) 306 St. Francis of Assisi (The
Hellenistic Coins (The Warder Japanese tomb culture (Alice Warder Collection) 424
Collection) 224 ' Mairs) 311 Les Belles Heures de Jean, Due de
The Dying Gaul (Alinari) 230 Great Buddha, Todaija Temple Berry (mma) 425
The Winged Victory of Samo- cgj (Consulate General of Shrine of the Three Kings
thrace (Archives Photo- Japan, N.Y.) 312 (German Tourist Information
graphiques) 231 Horyuji Temple of Japan Office) 427
Statue of an Old Market Woman (cgj) 313 French Knights about to Depart
(mma) 235 Japanese religious sculpture on a Crusade (Bettmann
Etruscan Sarcophagus, Side (mma) 314 Archive) 431
(Alinari) 238 Benten Playing on the Biwa Krak des Chevaliers (Arab
Etruscan Sarcophagus, Top (Nelson Gallery—Atkins Information Bureau) 433
(The Museum of Fine Arts, Museum, Nelson Fund, Kansas St. Thomas Aquinas (Giraudon) 436
Boston) 239 City, Mo.) 315 Alchemists in Their Laboratory
Bust of Jove (Alinari) 239 Iron Age in Africa (Richard (mma) 439
Roman Battle Sarcophagus Hull) 318 Henricus de Alemania (Bett¬
(Gabinetto Fotografico Agriculture in Africa (Richard mann Archive) 441
Nazionale, Rome) 246 Hull) 319 Romanesque Houses in Brussels
Pompey (The Copenhagen Nazareth (Israel Government (acl) 447
Museum) 250 Tourist Office) 331 Worms Cathedral (Wayne
Julius Caesar (The Warder A Carved Tablet (Bayerische Andrews) 447
Collection) 250 Nationalmuseum, Munich) 333 Quarter Barrel Vaults (Marburg
Atrium of House in Pompeii Sarcophagus (Fabrica di S. -Art Reference Bureau) 448
(Italian State Tourist Office) 253 Pietro, Rome) 336 Amiens Cathedral (French Gov¬
Augustus (The Vatican Basilian Monastery (Greek ernment Tourist Office) 449
Museum) 256 Information Office) 338 Amiens, Floor Plan (The
Trajan Addressing His Troops Diirer, Charlemagne (Collection Warder Collection) 449
(Alinari) 257 Viollet) 344 Amiens, Cross Section (The
Marcus Aurelius (mma) 259 Charlemagne Weeping for His Warder Collection) 449
Baths of Caracalla, Floor Plan Knights (Marburg-Art Refer- La Sainte-Chapelle (Giraudon) 450
(The Warder Collection) 260 ence Bureau) 346 Kutb Minor (isi) 456
The Baths of Caracalla The Bayeux Tapestry (Archives Genghis Khan (Culver Service) 458
(Alinari) 260 Photographiques) 347 Porcelaneous vase, Sung Dynasty
Head of a Young Man (Staat- Byzantine Plate, Silver (mma, (Photographie Giraudon) 460
liche Museen, Berlin) 261 Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, Imperial post road (The
The Pantheon (Anderson- 1917) 363 Warder Collection) 463
Alinari) 262 Byzantine Plate, Gold and Death of the Last Ming
Roman Aqueduct at Segovia Enamel (mma) 363 (nypl) 465
(twa) 263 Santo Sophia (mma, G. E. Ceramic figure of a deity, Ming
The Colosseum (Italian State Kidder Smith) 365 Dynasty (Photographie
Tourist Office) 264 Santo Sophia, Diagram (The Giraudon) 466

611
Sung Printed Book (From East The Burning of Savonarola A Ball and Chain Pump (The
Asia: The Great Tradition by (Alinari) 515 Warder Collection) 595
Edwin O. Reischauer and John Holbein, Henry VIII (mma) 518 Interior of a French Peasant’s
K. Fairbank, Houghton Mifflin Louis XI as Founder of the Order Cottage (nypl, Astor, Lenox,
Company) 466 of St. Michael (Bibliotheque and Tilden Foundations) 596
Wooden Statue of Kuan-yin Nationale) 519 Peasants Revolt in Germany
(mm a) ' 467 Philip II of Spain ( mma) 519 (S.D. Georg Fiirst von Wald-
Porcelain vase, Ming Dynasty Diirer,Melancholy (mma) 521 berg-Zeil) 598
(Fitzwilliam Museum, Cam¬ Holbein, Erasmus (nypl, Astor, Hanging Witches (The Warder
bridge University) 467 Lenox, and Tilden Founda¬ Collection) 602
Spring Morning at the Palace of tions) 523 Queen Elizabeth I (British
Han, Sung painting (mma) 468 Breughel, A Peasant (Staatliche Information Services) 613
Sage under a Pine Tree, Sung Museen, Berlin) 524 Oliver Cromwell (British In¬
painting (mma) 468 Breughel, The Massacre of the formation Services) 617
War Spirit, Ming painting Innocents (Kunsthistorisches The Trial of Charles I (British
(Photographic Giraudon) 469 Museum, Vienna) 525 Information Services) 618
Hirosaki Castle (Japanese The Chateau of Chenonceaux Charles II (The Art Institute of
Tourist Agency) 470 (French Government Tourist Chicago) 619
Swords of the daimyo (Museum Office) 526 The Assassination of Henry IV
of Fine Arts, Boston) 471 Rabelais (Bulloz) J28 (Bibliotheque Nationale) 623
Golden Pavillion (Alice Mairs) 473 Montaigne (Bulloz) 528 Martin, The Inauguration of the
No Drama (cgj) 476 Cervantes (Collection Viollet) 530 Invalides (Bulloz) 624
Costume for No Drama Holbein, Sir Thomas More Cardinal Richelieu (Bulloz) 624
(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) 476 (The Frick Collection) 531 Versailles (Bulloz) 626
Mansa Musa of Mali The Title Page of Sir Francis Coello, Philip II of Spain (The
(Bibliotheque Nationale) 479 Bacon’s Novum Organum Prado, Madrid) 627
Gobirau Mosque (Richard (The British Museum) 532 The Escorial (mas) 627
Hull) 480 William Shakespeare (The Frederick William I (The
A Griot (Richard Hull) 482 Warder Collection) 534 Warder Collection) 628
Ruins of Gedi (Richard Hull) 483 Musical Instruments in the Six¬ The Defeat of the Spanish
Great Zimbabwe (Richard teenth Century (The Warder Armada (Bibliotheque
Hull) _ 484 Collection) 537 Nationale) 629
Printing in the Sixteenth Century Palestrina Presenting His First Peter the Great (Society for
(Gutenberg Museum) 490 Printed Work (The Warder Cultural Relations with the
Donatello, Gattamelata (mma) 492 Collection) 537 Soviet Union) 631
Francesco Sforza (Collection Leo X (Bulloz) 544 The Winter Palace (Society for
Viollet) 492 St. John Lateran (Italian State Cultural Relations with the
Raphael, Lorenzo de’ Medici Tourist Office) 548 Soviet Union) 632
(Bulloz) 493 Cranach, Martin Luther (nypl, Catherine the Great (Bulloz) 633
Masaccio, The Expulsion of Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foun¬ Gustavus Adolphus (The
Adam and Eve (University dations) 5J2 Warder Collection) 634
Prints) 499 Luther Preaching (Bettmann The Title Page of Leviathan
Leonardo da Vinci, Bust of a Archive) 553 (The British Museum) 638
Warrior (The British Pages from Luther’s Bible An Illustration from Descartes’
Museum) 501 . (nypl) 557 De Homine (The Warder
Michelangelo, The Creation of Siege of Munster in 1534 Collection) 645
Adam (mma) J02 (Landesmuseum, Munster) 558 Sir Isaac Newton (The Warder
Donatello, David (The Warder Ulrich Zwingli (Bettmann Collection) 648
Collection) J04 Archive) 559 An Illustration from Candide
Donatello, Gattamelata (The John Calvin (nypl) 560 (Bulloz) 649
Warder Collection) 504 The Fury of the Reformation A Gathering of the Philosophes
Michelangelo, Pieta (Alinari) 505 (Bettmann Archive) 562 (nypl, Astor, Lenox, and
The Villa Rotunda of Palladio Vorstiman, Ignatius Loyola Tilden Foundations) 650
(The Warder Collection) 506 (nypl) 568 Rousseau Playing a Hurdy-Gurdy
St. Peter’s, Rome (Alinari) 507 The St. Bartholomew’s Day Mas¬ (Bulloz) 653
The Tempietto (Gabinetto sacre (Bibliotheque Nationale) 572 Manuscript of Newton’s Philoso-
Fotografico Nazionale, Rome) 508 The Cities of Schmalkaldic phia Naturalis Principia Mathe-
The Strozzi Palace (The League Surrendering (nypl) 574 matica (British Information
Warder Collection) 508 A Moslem Astrolabe (mma) 578 Services) 654
Niccolo Machiavelli (Alinari) 509 Hernando Cortes (The His¬ An Eighteenth-Century Labora¬
Copernicus’ Diagram (The panic Society of America) 579 tory (Giraudon) 655
Folger Shakespeare Library) 510 Aden (The British Museum) 580 Lavoisier’s Apparatus for the
Galileo (Alinari) 511 Jacob Fugger (The Warder Decomposition of Air (The
Dedication Page of Galileo’s Collection) 582 Warder Collection) 657
Dialogue (nypl) 511 The Antwerp Bourse (nypl, The Petit Trianon (Giraudon) 659
Leonardo da Vinci, Notebook Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foun¬ St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
Sketches (Reproduced by dations) 582 (The Warder Collection) 659
Gracious Permission of Her A Seventeenth-Century Printing St. Peter’s, Rome (The Warder
Majesty the Queen) 512 Plant (Gutenberg Museum) 584 Collection) 660
Leonardo da Vinci, Studies of the Merchants’ Houses in Amsterdam St. Nicholas’ Cathedral, Prague
Shoulder (Reproduced by (nypl) 585 (Olga Hilmarova) 661
Gracious Permission of Her A Piece of Eight” (The Chase Rubens, Venus and Adonis
Majesty the Queen) 512 Manhattan Bank) 586 (mma) 662
Granacci, The Entrance of Coining Money in the Sixteenth Rubens, Portrait of Nicolaus
Charles VIII into Florence Century (mma) 587 (Fonds Albertina) 662
(Alinari-Art Reference Jean Baptiste Colbert (The Art Rembrandt, Self-Portrait (The
Bureau) 513 Institute of Chicago) 590 Frick Collection) 663

612
Rembrandt, The Return of the The September Massacres New Lanark (The Warder
Prodigal Son (The Hermitage (Bulloz) 744 Collection) 825
Museum) 663 Thomas Paine (Bibliotheque Karl Marx (Sovfoto) 825
Goethe (The Warder Nationale) 746 Friedrich Engels (The Warder
Collection) 666 Robespierre (Bettmann Collection) 826
An Illustration from The Sor¬ Archive) 747 The Cover of The Communist
rows of Young Werther (The Jacobins (Bulloz) 748 Manifesto (The Warder
Warder Collection) 667 Meeting of a Revolutionary Collection) _ 826
Johann Sebastian Bach (William Committee (Bibliotheque Georges Sorel (Collection
H. Scheide) 668 Nationale) 749 Viollet) 831
Caricature of Handel (Steam David, The Death of Marat Henry David Thoreau (The
and Sons) 669 (acl) 750 Warder Collection) 833
Mozart and His Sister at the The Death of Robespierre Louis Philippe (Bulloz) _ 836
Piano (The Warder (Bulloz) 751 Louis Napoleon (Collection
Collection) 670 Bronchot, The Eighteenth Bru- Viollet) 837
Score for Mozart’s Quartet in maire (Bulloz) 752 An Episode in the Place du
C Major (The British An Antislavery Woodcut (The Palais-Royal (Bulloz) _ 837
Museum) 670 Warder Collection) 754 The Crimean War (Collection
Hogarth, Canvassing for Votes David, Napoleon (The Warder Viollet) 838
(The Warder Collection) 673 Collection) 759 Roger Fenton’s Van (The
Court of Babur, Indian painting The Empress Josephine (Bibli¬ Victoria and Albert Museum) 839
(The Warder Collection) 680 otheque Nationale) 760 The Execution of a Communard
Turkish Prisoners before Timur, The Battle of Trafalgar (Collec¬ by Government Troops
Indian painting (mma) 683 tion Viollet) 762-763 (Bulloz) . 841
Taj Mahal (gito) 685 Charlet, The Retreat from Russia Damage Resulting from the Paris
Shah Jahan, Mogul period (Bulloz) 765 Commune (The Warder
(gito) 686 Meissonier, The French Cam¬ Collection) 841
Mumtaz Mahal, Mogul period paign (Bulloz) 766 Alfred Dreyfus after His
(gito) 686 Gros, Louis XVIII Leaves the Court-Martial (Bibliotheque
Great Mosque at Lahore (Paki¬ Tuileries (Bulloz) 767 Nationale) 842
stan Consul General) 687 The Congress of Vienna Meeting at the End of the
Ch’ien Lung (mma) 690 (nypl) 769 Franco-Prussian War (nypl) 847
Matteo Ricci (nypl) 692 The July Revolution of 1830 Giuseppe Mazzini (Alinari) 847
Adam Schall (nypl) 692 (Bulloz) 775 Camillo di Cavour (Alinari) 848
Chinese porcelain, K’ang Hsi Daumier, Rue Transnonain Giuseppe Garibaldi (Collection
period (The Warder (The Philadelphia Museum of Viollet) 848
Collection') 695 Art) _ 777 Cartoon of Cecil Rhodes (The
Pagoda at Nikko (cgj) 697 Hegel Lecturing to His Students Warder Collection) 854
Japanese bronze (Photographie (The Mansell Collection) 779 The Transvaal Gold Fields
Giraudon) 699 John Stuart Mill (The Mansell (The Warder Collection) 858
Woman Weaving Cloth (The Collection) 781 The Interior of the House of
Warder Collection) 701 Lord Byron (The Warder Commons (British Informa¬
The Art of Tile Making, by Collection) 784 tion Services) 862
Hokusai (Photographie Rodin, Studies of Victor Hugo A Chartist Demonstration in
Giraudon) 702 (Bulloz) 785 London (The Mansell
Kabuki Actor, by Matsumoto The Score of Beethoven’s Piano Collection) 865
Koshiro (Photographie Sonata (The Warder Daumier, Drawing of a Medallion
Collection) 787 (nypl, Astor, Lenox, and
Giraudon) 703
Kabuki actor (cgj) 703 Ludwig van Beethoven (nypl) 787 Tilden Foundations) 869
Woman Playing the Flute, by The Staffordshire Collieries William I of Prussia (Staats-
Harunobu (The Warder (Bettmann Archive) 793 bibliothek, Berlin) 870
Collection) 704 The Spinning Jenny (The Stuart, Thomas Jefferson
Royal Dignitaries (Museum of Warder Collection) 796 (Bowdoin College Museum) 874
Primitive Art) 706 James Watts’ Steam Engine Theodore Roosevelt (The
Ivory Belt Mask (Museum of (The British Museum) 798 Warder Collection) 877
Primitive Art) 707 Puffing Billy (The Warder The Public Entry of Cortes
Dutch ambassadors (nypl) 708 Collection) 799 (nypl) 880
The Crimple Valley Viaduct Detail of an Aztec Pyramid pau
African craftsmen (Richard
Hull) 710 (The Science Museum, (Pan American Union) 881
Fort Jesus (Richard Hull) 711 London) 800 Machu Picchu (pau) 882
Stool with Caryatid (Museum An Early Dynamo (The Brazilian Colonial Church
of Primitive Art) 711 Warder Collection) 802 (Brazilian Government Trade
Mombasa Mosque (Richard The Bessemer Process (Wide Bureau) 884
Hull) 712 World Photos) 802
Louis XV (Bulloz) 724 An Early Assembly Line Silver Mining at Potosi (The
Louis XVI (Bulloz) 724 (Henry Ford Museum) 803 Warder Collection) 885
Le Hameau (twa) 729 The First Successful Airplane
Spanish Colonial Patio (Colom¬
Montesquieu (Bulloz) 733 Flight (The National
bia National Tourist Bureau) 886
The Opening of the Estates Gen¬ Archives) 805
The Krupp Munitionworks Portuguese Map (Miller Atlas,
eral (Bulloz) 739
(nypl) 810-811 1519) 887
David, The Tennis Court Oath
(Bibliotheque Nationale) 740 Dore, Wentworth Street (The Statue of Simon Bolivar (Culver
A Placard from the Revolution¬ Library of Congress) 813 Service) 889
ary Period (Bulloz) 741 Bismarck (The National Pedro II of Brazil (The Warder
An Assignat (Bulloz) 742 Archives) 816 Collection) 896
The Execution of Louis XVI Daumier, The Launderers Maximillian of Mexico (The
(nypl, Spenser Collection) 743 (Bulloz) 821 Warder Collection) 898

613
Porforio Diaz (The Warder Gustave Flaubert (Bulloz) 974 Mussolini and Fascists March into
Collection) 899 The Title Page of David Copper- Rome (The Warder
Pancho Villa (The Warder field (The Warder Collec¬ Collection) 1051
Collection) 902 tion) 975 Mussolini Addressing a Crowd
National University of Mexico George Bernard Shaw at His (International News Photos) 1051
(Mexican Tourist Council) 903 Typewriter (The Warder Depression in Germany (The
Getulio Vargas of Argentina Collection) 976 Warder Collection) 1052
(The Warder Collection) 904 Henrik Ibsen (The Warder Hindenburg, Hitler, Goring, and
El Teniente Copper Mine Collection) 976 Other Nazi Party Members
(Corporacion de Fomento) 906 Leo Tolstoi in His Study (The Warder Collection) 1054
A slum in Rio de Janeiro (John (Bulloz) 978 A Nazi Party Rally (The
Bryson, Saturday Evening Title. Page of Tennyson’s Trans¬ Warder Collection) 1055
Post) 907 lation of Claudian (The Tsar Nicholas II and His Family
Aerial view of Brasilia (Marcel Warder Collection) 979 (The Warder Collection) 1057
Gautherot) 907 Brown, Work (The City Art An Open-Air Market in Petro-
Salvadore Allende (Wide Gallery, Manchester) 980 grad (The Warder
World Photos) 907 Rossetti, The Annunciation Collection) 1057
Juan Peron (Wide World (The Tate Gallery) 981 Lenin Speaking to Crowds in
Photos) 909 Duchamp, Nude Descending a Moscow (The Warder
River view of Canton (The Staircase (The Philadelphia Collection) 1059
Warder Collection) 918 Museum of Art) 985 The Red Army, 1919 (The
Chinese Silk Factory (Photo¬ Rodin, The Gate of Hell (The Warder Collection) 1060
graphic Giraudon) 919 Philadelphia Museum of Art) 987 Lenin’s Casket Is Carried through
Emperor Tao Kuang reviewing 922 The Carson Pirie Scott Building the Streets of Moscow (The
his Guard, by T. Allom (The (The Warder Collection) 988 Warder Collection) 1062
Warder Collection) Taliesin (The Museum of Mod¬ Stalin in the Early 1920’s (The
Treaties of Tientsin (nypl) 923 ern Art) 989 Warder Collection) 1062
Boxer Rebellion (The Warder Richard Wagner (The Warder The General Strike of 1926
Collection) 929 Collection) 990 (The Warder Collection) 1066
Sun Yat-sen (Bettmann Tchaikovsky (The Warder The New York Stock Market
Archive) 931 Collection) 991 Crash (Culver Service) 1067
Yuan Shih-k’ai (The Warder Claude Debussv (Bulloz) 992 Leon Blum (The Warder
Collection) 932 Tenements in Glasgow (The Collection) 1068
Perry’s landing in Kurihama Mansell Collection) 996 Fathers of Confederation, by R.
(Culver Service) 934 The Haymarket Square Riots Harris (Canadian Consulate
Opening of the First Japanese (The Library of Congress) 997 General, N.Y.) 1075
Parliament (Bettmann Bloody Sunday (Collection Pierre Trudeau (Capitol Press,
Archive) 937 Viollet) 999 Ottawa) 1079
Mitsubishi Shipyards (Mitsu- _ Pope Pius IX (Collection Captain Cook landing at Botany
bishi-Nippon Heavy Industries Viollet) 1001 Bay anib (Australian News
Ltd.) 940 Pope Leo VIII (Staatsbibliothek, and Information Bureau) 1080
Japanese Buddhists repenting Berlin) 1001 Gold Field in Victoria (anib) 1081
(The Warder Collection) 942 English Schoolboys (The Opening of the Federal Parlia¬
Japanese religious festival jtio Warder Collection) 1005 ment House in Canberra
(Japanese Travel Information Maria Montessori (The (anib) 1083
Office) 944 Warder Collection) 1005 Yallou Power Station (anib) 1086
Japanese rice fields (jtio) 945 Field Marshal von Moltke Gough Whitlam (anib) 1087
Gate of the Toshogu Shrine, (Staatsbibliothek. Berlin) 1020 Sydney, Australia (anib) 1088
Nikko (jtio) 946 Archduke Francis Ferdinand Upper Takaka Valley (The
The Heian Jingu Shrine, Kyoto (upi) 1025 Warder Collection) 1092
(U.S. Army) 947 The German Declaration of War, British trading station in India
Japanese attack on Pyongyang, 1914 (Bettmann Archive) 1028 (Bettmann Archive) 1093
Korea (nypl) 948 The Trenches (The National Homage to Warren Hastings
Cartoon or 1894 Sino-Japanese Archives) 1032 (Bettmann Archive) 1094
Struggle over Korea (Bett¬ British Armored Trucks Tipu’s Tiger (Victoria and
mann Archive) 949 (Imperial War Museum) 1032 Albert Museum) 1095
Slave trader’s house, Elmina A British Tank and Field Ambu¬ Great Mutiny of 1857 (from
(Richard Hull) 951 lance (The Imperial War Campaign in India) 1096
Indian merchant’s house, Zanzibar Museum) 1032 Burmese Royal Headdress
(Richard Hull) 953 Haig, Joffre, and Lloyd George (Victoria and Albert Museum) 1101
Kabaka’s palace, Buganda (The Warder Collection) 1033 Nehru and Gandhi (Wide
(Richard Hull) 955 World Photos) 1103
Hindenburg. William II, and
Charles Darwin (The Warder Gandhi (The Warder
Ludendorff (The Imperial
Collection) 961 Collection) 1105
War Museum) 1033
Illustrations from The Descent
of Man (The Warder The Lusitania Leaving New York Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Wide
Collection) 962 Harbor (The National World Photos) 1107
Louis Pasteur at Work in His Archives) 1034 Indian munitions factory (The
Laboratory (Giraudon) 963 World War I Posters (The Warder Collection) 1108
Madame Curie (The Warder Warder Collection) 1035 Riot in Calcutta (The
Collection) 968 German Supplies Moving toward Warder Collection) 1109
Sigmund Freud (The Warder the Front (The Imperial War Republic of India declared (The
Collection) 968 Museum) 1036 Warder Collection) 1110
Friedrich Nietzsche (The The Council of Four (The Im¬ Nehru and Indira Gandhi (The
Warder Collection) 971 perial War Museum) 1038 Warder Collection) 1114
Honore de Balzac (The Warder The League of Nations Building Indian steel mill (The Warder
Collection) 974 (Swiss National Tourist Office) 1045 Collection) 1117

614
General Ayub Khan (The Red Guards (Eastfoto) 1174 Warder Collection) 1232
Warder Collection) 1119 Mao Tse-tung (Eastfoto) 1176 A Renewal of “The Troubles” in
Sheik Mujibur Rahman (Bang¬ Japanese soldiers in Manchuria Ireland, 1972 (Wide World
ladesh Mission to the U.N.) 1120 (The Warder Collection) 1184 Photos) 1233
East Bengali refugees (isi) 1121 American troops in Tokyo The Boer War (The Warder
Indira Gandhi visiting East (Wide World Photos) 1186 Collection) 1236
Bengali refugees (isi) 1121 Destruction of Japanese military Algerian War (Wide World
Mustapha Kemal Ataturk weapons (The Warder Photos) 1239
(Wide World Photos) 1127 Collection) 1187 Ho Chi Minh (The Warder
The Suez Canal (The Warder Japanese television factory Collection) 1239
Collection) 1129 (cgj) 1189 Prince Nordom Sihanouk (The
Nasser (The Warder Industrial Japan (cgj) 1190 Warder Collection) 1244
Collection) 1130 Toyota automobile assembly line Marcus Garvey (Wide World
Aswan Dam (Egyptian Press (cgj) 1193 Photos) 1246
Service) 1131 Kakuei Tanaka (cgj) 1193 Martin Luther King (The
Anwar Sadat (Egyptian Press The Krupp Shopworks in Warder Collection) 1246
Service) 1132 Germany (The Imperial War Television pickup camera, 1929
Kuwait (Kuwait Oil Company) 1133 Museum) 1199 (The Warder Collection) 1254
Immigration to Palestine (The Members of the Council of the Telstar communications satellite
Warder Collection) 1135 League of Nations (The (at&t) 1254
Crowded conditions aboard refu¬ Warder Collection) 1200 John Maynard Keynes (Wide
gee ships (The Warder The Munich Conference, 1938 World Photos) 1257
Collection) 1135 (The Imperial War Museum) 1204 Industrial pollution (Maryland
Israeli tanks in Jerusalem Chamberlain’s Return from the Port Authority) 1259
(Wide World Photos) 1136 Munich Conference (Wide An oil spill (Environmental
Mohammed Riza Pahlavi (The World Photos) 1204 Protection Agency) 1260
Warder Collection) 1138 German Troops Entering Prague Margaret Sanger (The
Paul Kruger (The Warder (The Warder Collection) 1205 Warder Collection) 1263
Collection) 1140 An Armored Division Invades A traffic jam in London (The
Cecil Rhodes (The Warder Poland (International News Warder Collection) 1264
Collection) 1141 Photos) 1206 Urban congestion (The
James Hertzog (The Warder A German V-2 Rocket (The Warder Collection) 1266
Collection) 1142 Imperial War Museum) 1207 Student uprising in Paris, 1968
Jan Smuts (The Warder French Refugees (National (Collection Viollet) 1267
Collection) 1143 Archives) 1207 Students at the Lenin State
Apartheid in South Africa London during the Blitz Library (Realites) 1270
(upi) 1144 (British Information Services) 1207 Jean-Paul Sartre (The Warder
Hendrick Verwoerd (The Pearl Harbor (U.S. Navy) 1208 Collection) 1275
Warder Collection) 1144 The Allied Invasion of France John Dewey (The Warder
Diamond mine in Southwest (Maritime Administration) 1209 Collection) 1276
Africa (South African In¬ Signing the German Surrender Bertrand Russell (The Warder
formation Service) 1145 (The Imperial War Museum) 1209 Collection) 1276
A pineapple processing plant in Hiroshima after the Atom Bomb Pope John XXIII (The Warder
Ghana (Ghana Information (Wide World Photos) 1210 Collection) 1279
Service) 1146 Roosevelt Rides Past the Russian Pope Paul VI (The Warder
Algeria, 1962 (The Warder Honor Guard (The Warder Collection) 1279
Collection) 1147 Collection) 1211 Albert Einstein (The Warder
Jomo Kenyatta (The Warder The Yalta Conference (The Collection) 1281
Collection) 1151 Warder Collection) 1211 An H-Bomb Mushrooms (Wide
Julius Nyerere (Wide World The Potsdam Conference (The World Photos) 1284
Photos) 1152 Warder Collection) 1212 The World’s First Large-Scale
Sun Yat-sen and staff (The The United Nations (The Atomic Power Station
Warder Collection) 1159 United Nations) 1213 (British Information Services) 1285
Chinese refugees in Shanghai War in Korea (U.S. Defense The Earth Seen from the Moon
(The Warder Collection) 1163 Department) 1221 (nasa) 1286
Communist Chinese artillery Fidel Castro (The Warder Dr. Jonas Salk in His Laboratory
(The Warder Collection) 1164 Collection) 1223 (The Warder Collection) 1287
Chiang Kai-shek (Wide World “Che” Guevara (The Warder William E. B. Du Bois (The
Photos) 1165 Collection) 1224 Warder Collection) 1290
Mao Tse-tung (The Warder Nikita Khrushchev Visiting East T. S. Eliot (nypl) 1291
Collection) 1166 Berlin (The Warder Noel Coward and Ernest Hem¬
Railway workers (The Warder Collection 1228 ingway in Havana (The
Collection) 1168 Revolt in Hungary (Free Warder Collection) 1292
A People’s Court (The Warder Europe Press) 1229 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Wide
Collection) 1169 A Group of Hungarian Freedom World Photos) 1293
The Cultural Revolution Fighters (The Warder James Baldwin (Wide World
(Eastfoto) 1171 Collection) 1229 Photos) 1295
Building a reservoir (Eastfoto) 1171 The Occupation of Czechoslo¬ Kline, Mahoning (The Whitney
Blast furnaces at Anshan vakia (Ulstein Bilderdienst) 1230 Museum of American Art) 1297
(Eastfoto) 1172 Strife in Ireland, 1916 (The Igor Stravinsky (Olli Steltzer) 1298

615
.
 Index

Guide to Pronunciation
The sounds represented by the diacritical marks used in this Index are illustrated by
the following common words:
ale eve Ice old use boot
at end m of us foot
fatality event obey unite
care maker form urn
arm
ask
Vowels that have no diacritical marks are to be pronounced “neutral,” for example: Aegean = eije'an,
Basel = baz'el, Basil = ba'zil, common — kSm'on, Alcaeus — al-se'us. The combinations ou and oi are
pronounced as in “out” and “oil.”

Aachen (a'ken), 345, 408, 434 volts, 1145-52; see also Negroes; Alexander I, Tsar of Russia, 764,
Abbasid dynasty, 372 Slave trade; Slavery 769ff„ 774
Abdcr^ 195 Afrikaans, 956, 1144 Alexander II, Tsar of Russia, 997f.,
Abdul Hamid II (ab'dul ha-med'), Afrikaners, 1142 1007
851 Afro-American studies, 1271 Alexander III, Tsar of Russia, 810,
Abdullah, Sheik, 1113-14 Agnes, St., 421 998
Abelard, Peter, 435 Agnosticism, 970 Alexander the Great, 49, 71, 75, 77,
Abolitionists, 875-76 Agra, 683-85, 687 83, 109, 137-38, 192, 199, 216,
Abraham, 76, 80, 371 Agricultural revolution, 594-95 219ff„ 230, 234, 280
Absolutism, Age of, 611-41, 723; in Agriculture, 17, 22, 1127; beginning Alexandria, 223f., 224, 229ff„ 283,
England, 612-211; in France, 621- of, 13ff.; Egyptian, 45f.; Africa, 50, 284
26; in Spain, 626-28; in Prussia, 319, 479; Sumerian, 56-57; Old Alexius Comnenus (a-lek'sl-us kom-
628-29; in Austria, 629-30; in Rus¬ Babylonian, 61; Assyrian, 64; ne'nus), 43If.
sia, 630-33; political theory of, Chinese, 145f„ 155-56, 1167-68; Al-Farabi (al-far-ab'e), 376
637—40; significance of, 640—41 Hellenic, 187, 212; Hellenistic, Alfred the Great, 346
Abstract expressionism, 1297 222-23; Roman, 241, 247, 267, Algebra, 68, 137, 376
Absurd, literature of the, 1294 273; early medieval, 348; Byzantine, Algeria, 321, 838-39, 1146-48, 1224,
Abu Dhabi, 1140 360-61; Saracenic, 380; late 1231; independence of, 1148,
Abu-Bekr (a-boo'bek'er), 372 medieval, 396-97, 400; during 1237-38
Abyssinia, 223; see also Ethiopia Commercial Revolution, 594-96; Ali, 372, 375
Achaean (a-ke'an) League, 221 in Japan, 699-700, 944, 1186, 1188; Alien and Sedition laws, 732
Achaeans, 102, 176 during Industrial Revolution, 801, Al-Kindi, 376
Achilles (a-kil'ez), 202 812; in Latin America, 879, 882, Allah (al'a), 368ff.
Act of Settlement, 621 912; in U.S.S.R., 1064; in Australia, Allende (a-yen'da), Salvador, 906-7,
Act of Supremacy, 566 1082, 1084; in India, 1099, 1116- 911
Adams, Brooks, 1008, 1301 17; mechanization of, 1256 Alliance for Progress, 914
Adams, Henry, 1008, 1301 Ahimsa doctrine, 133, 136, 139 Alliance Society, 931
Adams, John, 638, 853 Ahmose I, 31 Alliances, 771-73, 1022f„ 1217
Adams, Samuel, 873 Ahriman (a'ri-man), 74 Allied Council for Japan, 1184
Adelard of Bath, 4381 Ahura-Mazda (a'hoo-ra-maz'da), 74- Allies, 1035f.; see also Entente Allies
Aden, 1237 75, 78, 121 Al-Mamun, 372
Adrian VI, Pope, 567 Ainu, 308 Almoravids, 478-79
Adrianople, 340; Treaty of, 775 Ajanta caves, 287, 289 Alooma, Mai Idris, 482
Adriatic Sea, 1024 Akan people, 483, 709 Alphabet, see Writing
Adversity theory, 21 Akbar (uk'bar), the Great Mogol, Alpine peoples, in India, 113f.
Aegean Sea/area, 80, 97, lOOff., 109, 681-83, 686, 688 Alps, 237f.
1761, 1811, 223 Alabama, 1247 Alsace (alias'), 401, 624, 634f., 847,
Aeschylus (es'kT-lus), 2041, 207, 213 Alaric (al'a-rTk), 340, 359 1019, 1039f.
Aetolian (e-to'll-an) League, 221 Albania, 1025, 1222 Alsace-Lorraine, 1035
Afghan war, 1838-1839—1095 Albertus Magnus, 435-36 Altruism, 782
Afghanistan, 118, 138, 281, 288, 299, Albigenses (al'bi-jen'sez), 77, 602 Alva, Duke of, 573
455, 458, 681, 1095, 1122 Albigensians, see Albigenses Alvarez, Juan, 897-99
Afghans, 455 Alcaeus (al-se'us), 203 Alvarez, Luis Echeverria, 904
Africa, 110, 318 ff., 454, 705ff„ 1243,
Alchemy, 376, 656 Amalrik, Andrei, 1223
1262; civilizations of, 48-50, 318-
21, 477-84, 705-13; imperialism in, Alcibiades (51'sl-bl'a-dez), 196 Amazon River/rain forests, 905
854-55, 951-52; anticolonial re¬ Alexander VI, Pope, 493, 508, 515 Amenhotep IV, 36

A
 America, 623, 636f„ 647, 653, 672, 403, 416, 419f., 435, 4361L, 546, 831 108, 181, 189, 220, 223, 234, 238,
736; discovery of, 513, 579; see Arab League, 1140 247, 358f.
also United States Arab Republic of Egypt, see Egypt Asian Development Bank, 1191, 1245
American colonies, 662, 723, 794 Arab Socialist Union, Egypt, 1132 Asian peoples, in Africa, 48
American Revolution, 621, 725, 732, Arabia, 223, 266, 297, 367ff„ 372, Asiento, 636, 709, 885
737, 853, 886-87, 949 374, 711, 1126, 1132 Asoka (a-so'ka), Emperor, 138-41,
American War between the States, Arabian Desert, 22, 54, 79f. 280f., 285f„ 681
see Civil wars, in United States Arabian Nights, 285, 377; see also Asquith, H. H., 817, 1031
Amide (a'me-da) sect, 303 Book of the 1001 Nights Assam, 1110
Ammon-Re (a'men-ra), 33-34, 37, 48 Arabian Sea, 116, 284, 290 Assembly of Notables, 737
Amorites, 54 Arabian-American Oil Company Assignats (a'se'nya'), 742, 752-53
Amos, 86, 87, 89 (Aramco), 1133 Association of Southeast Asian Na¬
Ampere (anh-par'), Andre, 800 Arabic system of numerals, 284, 376, tions (ASEAN), 1245
Amritsar (um-rit'sar) massacre, 1102, 630 Assurbanipal (a-soor-ba'ne-pal), 55
1104, 1231 Arab-Israeli wars, 1131, 1135, 1136— Assyria, 54, 63f.
Amsterdam, 580 37, 1140, 1216 Assyrians, 32, 48f., 53, 55ff., 63-66,
Anabaptists, 556-57ff., 574 Arabs, 21, 50, 280, 284, 292, 299f„ 68, 71, 98f., 110; militarism, 63-64,
Anaconda Corporation, 907 320f„ 367ff„ 371, 374, 461, 463f., 110; Hebrew conquest, 82-83, 87
Analects, of Confucius, 162 468, 471, 483, 689, 692, 711-12, Astrolabe, 231, 381, 578-79
Anarchism, 829-30f„ 833, 998 953-54, 113411., 1147 Astrology, 59, 61, 68, 137, 148, 233.
Anatolia, 98, 103, 108, 1044, 1126, Aragon, Kingdom of, 493, 626 305, 601
1128 Arameans (ar'a-me'anz), 64, 72 Astronomy, 20, 23; Egyptian, 38;
Anatomy, 511 Arbenz, Jacobo, 911 Sumerian, 59; Assyrian, 65;
Anaxagoras (an'ak-sag'or-as), 214 Archangel, 630 Chaldean, 68; Indian, 137;
Anaximander (an-ak'sT-man'der), Archimedes (ar'kl-me'dez), 233 Chinese, 149; Hellenistic, 230f.;
193f., 201, 960 Architecture: Egyptian, 40-42, 72; Saracenic, 376; Renaissance,
Anaximenes (an'ak-sTm'en-ez), 194 African, 49; Sumerian, 59-60; As¬ 509-10, 522
Ancestor worship: in China, 149, 158, syrian, 66; Persian, 72-73; Greek, Asura, 121
925; in Japan, 314; in Africa, 318 72, 206-9; Hittite, 99; Minoan- Aswan High Dam, 1130fL, 1259
Ancien regime (an-syen' ra-zhem'), Mycenaean, 103, 105-6; Indian, Atacama, 896
727-28, 740f., 766, 768 132, 286-88, 684-85, 686-87; Ataturk, see Mustafa Kemal
Andaman Islands, 113 Chinese, 146, 306, 467-68; Atbara River, 49
Andean Common Market, 914 Hellenistic, 229; Roman, 261, 274; Athanasians (ath'a-na'zhans), 334f.
Angkor, (Sng'kor), 291 Byzantine, 365-66; Saracenic, 378, Atheism, 970
Angkor Wat (Sng'kor wat), 291 380—81; Romanesque, 447-48; Athena, 179, 207, 209, 244
Anglican Church, see Church of Gothic, 447, 448-50; Renaissance, Athens, 4, 70, 176, 181fL, 195fL, 199,
England 505-6, 526; classicism in, 660-62; 205, 224f.; population, 181, 209-10;
Anglicans, 618f. functional, 988-89 political history of, 186-90; socio¬
Anglo-Chinese War of 1839-1842— Areopagus (ar'e-op'a-gus), Council economic factors, 186-87, 209-13;
921-22 of, 187 democracy in, 188—89f„ 195; Per¬
Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936— Argentina, 881, 890ff„ 895f„ 907-10 sian War, 189; Peloponnesian War,
1129-30 “Argentine Revolution” of 1966—910 189-90, 196, 206; family, 213; see
Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902— Argos, 181, 183 also Hellenic civilization
948, 1029, 1178f. Arians, 334 Atlantic cable, 801
Anglo-Persian Oil Company, 1138 Ariosto, Ludovico, 497 Atlantic Charter, 1109, 1209-10, 1237
Anglo-Saxons, 340, 346f. Aristarchus (ar'Ts-tar'kus) of Samos, Atlas Mountains, 481
Angola, 710, 712; see also Ngola 5, 231, 509 Atomic theory of matter, 574, 656,
kingdom Aristocracy, 156-57, 160f., 165, 186, 966-67, 1282-83
Aniline dyes, 803, 809 242, 249, 252-53, 316, 393-94, 597, Atomic weapons, 1079, 1177, 1193f.,
Animism, 84-85, 309, 318 673; of wealth, 795, 813 1208-13, 1226, 1229, 1250, 1283-84
Ankara, 1044 Aristophanes (ar'Ts-tof'a-nez), 205-6, Atomists, philosophy of, 194—95, 226,
Annam, 290 229 251
Annates, 550 Aristotelianism, 375 Aton, 36f.
Anthropology, 967, 1269, 1289 Aristotle, 19, 175, 185, 196, 199— Atonality, 1298f.
Anthropomorphic gods, 58, 85, 179, 200f„ 215, 225, 231f„ 376, 380, Attica, 186
212, 244 435f„ 447, 448, 506f„ 1286 Attlee, Clement, 1110, 1211
Antibiotics, 1287f. Arkwright, Richard, 796f. Aucassin and Nicolette (o-ka-san',
Anticlericalism, 1001; in France, 841, Armaments, control of, 1213, 1216f. ne-ko-let'), 445
842^13, 871; in Italy, 849-50; in Armenia, 362, 1041, 1126 Audoghast, 477
Germany, 871-72; in Latin Amer¬ Armenians, 358 Augsburg (ouks'bdork), 520; Peace
ica, 895, 898 Armstrong, Neil, 1285 of, 572, 640
Antigua, 1237 Arnold, Matthew, 1009 August Days, 741
Antimaterialism, 832-33 Ars Nova, 536-37 Augustan Age, 259, 274, 995
Antioch, 224 Art, see Architecture; Painting; Augustine, St., 76, 350-54, 420, 542,
Antiochus (Sn-tl'6-kus) IV, 221 Sculpture 545-47, 561
Anti-Semitism, 841-42, 1004, 1142-43 Arthurian cycle, 444—45, 497 Augustus Caesar, 254-56fL, 264, 266,
Antitoxins, 965 Articles of Confederation, 221 268
Antoninus Pius (an'to-nl'nus pl'us), Artifacts, 6-8f., 13, 22 Aurangzeb (o'rung-zeb), 686, 688
256 Aryan/Aryans, 118, 120, 688 Aurispa (ou-res'pa), Giovanni, 496
Apartheid (u-part'hlt'), 1144 Aryanism, 1003, 1021, 1055 Ausgleich (ous'glik), 844
Apennines, 239 Asante/Asante empire, 705f., 709, Australia, 113, 1071; Commonwealth
Aphrodite (af'ro-dl'te), 179, 244 950—51 f.; Asantehene of, 706 of, 1080-88
Apocrypha (a-pok'ri-fa), 89 Asceticism, 76, 93ff„ 13311., 198. Australoid peoples, in India, 113f.
Apostles’ Creed, 498 Austria, 570, 624, 628ff., 633ff., 636f.,
270f„ 330, 334, 337f„ 350, 506f.
Appalachia, 1252 745, 752, 769ff„ 839, 843ff„ 847f.,
Appeasement, 1202, 1204-5 Ashikaga Shoguns, 473-74
850, 852, 1017, 1205, 1224f„ 1228
Apuleius (ap'u-le'yus), 260 Asia, 279f, 307, 458, 1243, 1262; im¬
Austria-Hungary, 844, 1021, 1025-26,
Aqaba (ak-a-ba'), Gulf of, 1137 perialism in, 917, 1226 1041; World War I and, 1018f.,
Aquinas (a-kwl'nas), St. Thomas, Asia Minor, 15, 69ff., 80, 98, 101, 1021f„ 1024, 1025-26L, 1036, 1041
B
Austrian Netherlands, 753, 771, 776 Batista, Fulgencio, 912f. in China, 1169,1262; in Japan,
Authoritarianism, 1051, 1055 Battle of the Nations, 765 1262
Automatic machinery, 802-3 Battle y Ordonez (bat'ya e Bismarck, Otto von, 4, 808, 816, 840,
Automation, 1255f. or-tho'nyas), Jose, 911 844-46, 855, 870, 871-72, 1018f„
Automobile, 803ff. Bavaria, 769 1022-23
Avanti, 1049 Bay of Pigs disaster, 913, 1226 Rizprtp *1 O ^ Q

Averroes (a-ver'6-ez), 376 Bayar, Celal, 1127 Black Death, 400, 433, 594, 611, 1264
Aviation, development of, 805 Beard, Charles A., 861 Black Hand, 1025
Avicenna (av'I-sen'a), 376-77 Beard, Mary, 861 Black literature, 1294-96
Avignon (a've'nyon'), 428, 491, 547 Beaumont (bo'mont), Francis, 534 Black militancy, 1245-47, 1271
Awami League, 1120 Beccaria (bek'ka-re'a), Cesare Black Muslims, 1246f.
Axum/Axumites, j[9f. Bonesana, Marchese di, 672 Black Panthers, 1224, 1247
Ayub Khan (a-e-oob' kan'), Moham¬ Becket, Thomas a, 406 Black Sea, 633, 1019
med, 1119-20 Beckett, Samuel, 1294 “Black September” corps, 1140
Azores, 579 Bede, 353 Blacks, 1289, 1290-91
Aztecs, 880 Bedouins (bed'c56-inz), 367-68, 370 Blanc (blan), Louis, 826, 837, 868
Beethoven (ba'to-ven), Ludwig van, Bleriot (bla're'o'), Louis, 805
787-88L, 992 Blitzkrieg (bllts'kreg'), 1206
Babur (ba'boor), 681 Behaviorism, 967 Bloemfontein (bldom'fon-tan'), 1141
Babylon, 54, 60, 66, 69, 71, 83, 182 Behring (ba'ring), Emil von, 965 Blood, circulation of, 5, 232, 264,
Babylonia, 55 Beirut (ba'root), 109 511-12, 658
Babylonian Job, 62, 90 Belfast, 1232f. Blood-feud, 17, 368
Babylonians, see Old Babylonians Belgian Congo, 858 Blue Nile, 49
Bach (bakh), Johann Sebastian, 668- Belgium, 250, 401, 761, 771, 776, 801, Blum (bloom), Leom 1068
69f. 809, 858, 873, 1065, 1206; World Blut und Boden (bldbt obnt bo'den),
Bacon, Sir Francis, 532-33, 601, 1006 War I and, 1028f„ 1039f.; anti¬ 1055
Bacon, Roger, 439, 805 colonial movement and, 1146, 1148 Blyden, Edward, 1146
Bacteriology, 963 Belgium Netherlands, see Boas, Franz, 1289
Bactria, 288 Netherlands Boccaccio (bok-kat'cho), Giovanni,
Baghdad/Baghdad Caliphate, 372, Bell, Alexander Graham, 806 380, 446, 495-96, 535, 597
375ff„ 379, 410, 431 Benedict, Ruth, 1289 Bodin (bo-dan'), Jean, 589, 603, 638f.
Bahmani (ba'ma-ne) kingdom, 459 Benedict, St., 338-39 Boeotians (be-6'shans), 214
Bakufu (ba-kdo'-foo), 472, 696 Benedict XV, Pope, 1034-35 Boer (bdbr) republics, 956, 1141
Bakunin (bu-kdo'nyin), Mikhail, 830 Benedictine monasteries, 339, 353, 423 Boer War, 1141-42
Balaguer (ba'la-ger'), Joaquin, 912 Beneficium (ben-e-fik'i-um), 390-91 Boers, 956-57, 1141—42
Balance of power, 493, 640f., 949, Bengal, 116, 281, 1094, 1101, 1110; Boethius (bo-e'thT-us). 343, 352, 354
1179, 1250; World War I and, 1018, Bay of, 1095 Boghaz-Keui (bo-az'ku-e), 98
1020, 1030, 1033; World War II Bengali, 1100 Bohemia, 548, 634f.
and, 1197f„ 1200 Benin city, 707 Bohr, Niels, 966
Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, 880 Benin kingdom, 482, 705f., 709, 950f.; Boleyn (bobl'in), Anne, 563-64L
Baldwin, James, 1295 Oba of, 706f. Bolingbroke, Lord, 653
Balearic (bal'e-ar'Ik) Islands, 109 Bentham, Jeremy, 780—81f. Bolivar, Simon, 889ff.
Balfour Declaration, 1134 Benton, Thomas, 1297 Bolivia, 5812 881, 914
Balkan Wars, 1024-25 Benz, Karl, 804 Bologna (bo-lon'ya), 491; University
Balkans, 358f„ 747-75, 850, 1018f„ Beowulf (ba'6-woolf), 352-53 of, 440, 510
1021 Berbers, 320, 477f„ 1147 Bolshevik revolution, 1041, 1058-60f.
Baltic Sea, 632 Berchtold (berk'tolt), Leopold von, Bolsheviks/Bolshevism, 1049, 1052,
Baltic states, 1198 1027, 1030 1058ff.
Baluchistan, 138 Berenson, Bernard, 501 Bombay, 689
Balzac (bal'zak'), Honore de, 974 Berkeley, 1267 Bonaparte, Jerome, king of
Banalites (ba-nal'I-ta'), 399, 730 Berlin, 1208; University of, 779; Westphalia, 762
Bandung Conference, 1245 Treaty of, 850, 852, 1024; see also Bonaparte, Joseph, 754, 762, 764,
Bangladesh, 1071L, 1118, 1120, 1243 West Berlin 887, 890
Bank of England, 582, 794 Berlin Wall, 1229 Bonaparte, Louis, king of Holland,
Bank of France, 760, 1068 Berlin-to-Baghdad railway, 1018f. 762, 837
Bank of New Zealand, 1090 Berne, 559f. Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, see
Bank of Sweden, 582 Bernini (bar-ne'ne), Giovanni, 660 Napoleon III
Bank of the Medici, 582, 592 Berrigan brothers, 1280 Bonaparte, Napoleon, see Napoleon I
Banking, growth of, 223, 433, 551, Bessarabia, 850 Boniface VIII, Pope, 427f., 491, 547
581-82 Bessemer, Sir Henry, 801 Bonin (bo-nen') Islands, 1192-93,
Banting, Frederick, 1288 Bethmann-Hollweg (bat'man 1211
Bantu peoples’ language, 318ff., 483f., hol'vak), Theobald von, 1027 Book of Changes, 160
956 Beveridge, Albert J., 275 Book of Etiquette, 161
Baptism, see Sacraments Bhagavad-Gita (bag'a-vad'ge'ta), 126- Book of Poetry, 161
Barawa, 483 27, 1106 Book of the Dead, 36
Barbados, 1071 Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali, 1120, 1121-22 Book of the 1001 Nights, 377, 380,
Barbizon (bar'bl-zon) school, 786, Biafra, 1150 495
981 Bible, 50, 79, 92, 98, 556, 567 Bordeaux (bor-do'), 404, 580
Baroque architecture, 660-61L, 786, Bierce, Ambrose, 1273 Borgia (bor'ja), Cesare, 508
986-988 Bill of Rights, 751; England, 621, Borneo, 290
Barth (bart), Karl, 1274f„ 1290 741; United States, 874; Japan, 937, Borodin (bu-ru-dyen'), Alexander,
Bartok, Bela, 1299 1185; U.S.S.R., 1064; India, 1112; 991-92
China, 1165 Borodin, Michael, 991, 1157f„ 1160
Basel (ba'zel), 524, 559f.; University Bosch, Juan, 912
of, 522 Biology, 201, 230-31, 657-58; from
Bosnia, 850, 852, 1021, 1024f.
Bashorun, 706f. 1830 to 1914—960-64; contempo¬ Bosnian crisis of 1908—1024
Basil (ba'zil), St., 338 rary, 1286 Bosporus (bos'po-rus), 1019
Basilian rule, 338f. Birmingham, 678, 860, 1247 Botswana, 956, 1071
Bastille (bas-te'y’), 649, 740 Birth control: in India, 1116, 1262; Botticelli (bot-te-chel'le), Sandro, 500

c
Boulton, Matthew, 797 Buffon (bu'fon'), G. L. L. de, 657- “Cape Colored,” 955
Bourbon dynasty, 622-26, 637, 724. 58, 672, 674, 960 Cape Town, 1144
754, 765, 770, 775f., 885f.; struggle Buganda, 954f. Capet (ka-pa'), Hugh, 401
with Hapsburgs, 633-37 Bulgaria, 850, 1024, 1032, 1035, 1041 Capetian kings, 401f.
Bourgeoisie, 402, 563, 597, 673, 742f„ Bulgars, 359, 1021 Capitalism, 551, 562; rise of, 578,
750, 776, 864, 868, 999, 1058; rise Bullionism, 588, 627, 883 581; modern, 591ff.; in Japan, 699,
of, 593, 726-27; in Japan, 699, Bundesrat (boon'des-rat), 871 705, 939ff.; industrial, 806; finance,
700-1, 703-4; industrial, 813-14; Bunyoro, 952 806-9, 941; decline of ideology
in China, 1177 Burgundians, 340 and, 1222; contemporary changes
Boxer uprising, 929-30 Burgundy, 537 in, 1256-57; Keynesian theory
Boyars (bo-yarz'), 630 Burial of the dead, 8, 9-10, 35, 58 and, 1257-58; see also Economic
Boyle, Robert, 656 Burke, Edmund, 723, 746, 777-78 theory
Bradley, F. H„ 972, 1273 Burma, 136, 140, 464, 690, 927, 1095, Caracas, 889
Brahma (bra'ma), 124, 128 1172 Carchemish (kar'ke-mlsh), 98
Brahmanas (bra'ma-naz), 122 Burn, A. R., quoted, 192 Cardenas (kar'tha-nas), Lazaro, 903
Brahmans, 122, 124, 128ff„ 132, 134, Burns, Robert, 666-67, 783 Carlsbad Decrees, 773
139, 283 Bushido (boo'she-do), All-12 Carlyle, Thomas, 4, 782, 832, 979-80,
Brahmaputra (bra'ma-poo'tra) River, Byrd, William, 538 1007
115 Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 773, Carnap, Rudolf, 1277
Brahms, Johannes, 990, 992 784 Carneades (kar-ne'a-dez), 227
Bramante (bra-man'ta), 506 Byzantine civilization, 357-67; re¬ Carnegie, Andrew, 1003
Brandeis, Louis D., 808-9 ligion, 358, 361-63; political his¬ Carnot (kar'no'), Sadi, President of
Brandenburg, 635f. tory, 359-60; government, 360; France, 830
Brandenburg Gate, 1208 economic life, 360-63; social life, Caroline Islands, 1178
Brant, Sebastian, 539 363—64; law, 364-65; art, 365-66; Carolingian dynasty, 344, 348, 391
Brasilia (bra-ze'lya), 905 influence of, 366-67, 389, 419, 491 Carolingian Renaissance, 330, 434,
Brazil, 13, 20, 710, 882, 896-97, 900, Byzantine Empire, 357-67, 374, 410, 439
904-6, 1262; revolution in, 891 43If., 489, 640 Carpathian mountains, 358
Breasted, J. H., 24 Byzantium, 269, 358f., 377-78, 502, Carranza, Venustiano, 900-2f.
Brecht, Bertolt, 1294 630f. Cartels, 809
Bremen, 417 Carthage, 109, 245ff., 340
Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of, 1037, 1060 Carthaginians, 21, 110, 320, 378
Brethren of the Common Life, 523, Cabinet system of government, 88If., Carthusian order, 423-24
538, 543 866-67, 870, 873, 1073, 1075f., Cartier (kar-tya'), Jacques, 579
Breughel (bro'kel), Peter, 525-26 1112 Cartwright, Edmund, 796
Brezhnev (brezh-nyof'), Leonid I., Cabot, John, 579 Caspian Sea, 299, 379, 461
1065, 1230, 1271 Cabot, Sebastian, 579 Cassander, 220
Briand-Kellogg Pact, see Paris, Cadiz, 109 Cassiodorus (kas'i-6-do'rus), 353
Pact of Caesar, Gaius Julius, 250-51ff., 340 Cassius (kash'e-us), 250, 255
Bristol, 580 Cairo (kl'ro), 410, 482 Castes, in India, 114, 128-32, 137,
Britain, Battle of, 1206-7 Cairo Declaration, 1210 156, 158, 455f„ 1104, 1112, 1116
British: in India, 680, 689, 1093-1110, Calais (kal-a'), 404, 565 Castiglione (kas'te-lyo'na), Baldas-
1231; in China, 692, 917, 921-22, Calcutta, 689, 1094, 1111, 1261 sare, 603
925-27, 933; in Japan, 697, 934- Calendar: solar, 20, 29, 38, 72, 250; Castile, 626
35; in West Africa, 708, 951-52, lunar, 59, 149, 688; Saracenic, 376; Castro, Fidel, 912-14, 1223-24, 1226
954-55; in Burma, 927; in South Julian, 439; French Revolutionary, Cathay, 460
Africa, 955-57, 1141-42 749f. Cathedral schools, see Monasteries/
British Commonwealth of Nations, California, 307, 1247, 1253 Monasticism, schools
see Commonwealth of Nations Caliph/Caliphs, 372 Catherine of Aragon, 563-64f.
British East India Company, 586, 689, Caliphate, 1104, 1126 Catherine II, Tsarina of Russia, 629,
921, 1093-96, 1099 Calles (ka'yas), Plutarco, 903 633, 769
British Empire, 1072n, 1129, 1200-1; Calvin, John, 362, 574, 601f.; theology Catholic Action Movement, in Brazil,
decline of, 1236—37 of, 541f„ 560-62 905
British Honduras, 1237 Calvinism/Calvinists, 79, 92, 531, Catholic Reformation, 514f., 541-42,
Brittany, 339 561-63, 570f., 573f„ 614, 616, 566-69, 661
Brockdorff-Rantzau (brok'dorf- 62 Iff. Catholicism, 545f., 551, 572, 640
ran'tsou), Count Ulrich von, 1039- Cambodia, 291, 1242, 1244, 1251 Catholics, 614-15, 619ff„ 622-23,
40 Cambrai, 537 831-32, 837-38f„ 841, 848, 868,
Bronze Age, 238; in China, 145-50 Cambridge University, 440f. 123 If.
Browning, Robert, 979 Cambyses (kam-bl'sez), 70 Cato Street conspiracy, 773
Bruges (broozh), 411 Camels, in trans-Saharan trade, 320 Cato the Elder, 247
Bruno, Giordano, 574 Cameralists, 590f. Cavaliers, 617
Brussels, 660 Cameroon, 319, 481 Cavendish, Henry, 656
Brutus, 250, 255 Campania, 239 Cavour (ka-voor'), Count Camillo di,
Bucharest, Treaty of, 1037-38 Campora, Dr. Hector, 910 835, 848
Buddha (bood'a), 133f., 303f., 313; Campus religions, 1280-81 Celsus, 263, 522
see also Gautama Camus, Albert, 1294 Celts, 339, 346
Buddhism, 132. 133-36, 138. 310; in Canaan, Land of, 18, 80, 84 Center party, in Germany, 872, 1051
India, 132, 133-36, 139ff„ 280f., Canaanites, 80, 88, 100, 109 CENTO, 1122
283ff., 457; philosophical concepts, Canada, 156, 579, 591, 623, 894, 905, Central Africa, 711
134—35, 303; ethics, 134f.; leading 911, 1071, 1073—80; relations with Central America, 20, 579, 774, 879,
schools, 136, 303; spread of, 140- United States, 1077, 1078-79 882f., 899, 911, 1262
41, 171, 279f., 312; scriptures, 141, Canadian Pacific Railway, 1076 Central Asia, 54, 145, 155, 279, 281,
303, 317; in China, 280, 298, 302- Canossa, 426 285, 289, 297ff., 305, 458, 463, 631
4, 460, 462, 465, 467, 694, 925; Canterbury, cathedral school of, 440 Central Intelligence Agency (U.S.),
contributions to art, 286-89, 291f., Canton, 294, 302, 692f., 919f., 923, 911, 1226, 1244
305-6; in Japan, 311, 312-14, 475, 1156ff. Central Powers, 1035, 1037f.
700, 704 Canute, King, 347 Cervantes (thSr-van'tas), Miguel de,
Buenos Aires, 883, 890, 908 Cape Colony, 955-57, 1142
D
Ceylon, 124f„ 136, 140f., 281, 297, 50, 158-59, 165, 302-5, 462-63, Cinquecento (ching'kwe-chen'tb),
464, 689, 771, 1071, 1237 925; government, 148, 150-54, 496f„ 502-3
Cezanne (sa'zan'), Paul, 983—84f , 161ff., 167, 293f., 296-97, 301, 690f., Cistercian CsTs-tQr'shan) order, 424
1296 920, 924; family, 149-50, 157-58, Cities: in China, 155, 302; growth of,
Chad Basin, 49, 320f. 163, 298, 1169; social organization, 224, 389f., 400, 489; in India, 279,
Chadwick, Sir James, 1282 149, 156-58, 163, 294-95L, 298, 283, 459, 683-84; in Japan, 317,
Chalcis (kal'sls), 182 301-2, 698; science, 149, 305, 468- 699, 700-2; medieval, 410-17; in
Chaldeans, 54f., 57, 66-69f., 75 83 69; feudalism, 152-54, 160, 166, Africa, 707; urban explosion and,
109 293, 296; commerce, 153, 155, 297, 1265-67
Chamberlain, Joseph, 835 302, 460-61, 463f„ 692-93, 918-22; City University of New York, 886,
Chamberlain, Neville, 1202, 1205f. classical age, 154; literature, 160- 1270
Chamberlayne, Edward, 589 61, 306, 466-67, 694; philosophy, City-states, 56, 109; Greek, 181-83,
Chandragupta (chun'dra-gobp'ta) I 161-67, 465-66, 694; period of 216, 220, 233, 239; in Italian
280 disunity. 298-99; civil service, 301, Renaissance, 489, 491-94, 513-14,
Chandragupta Maurya (ma-dbr'ya), 461f., 691f„ 694, 924, 929-30; 578
138, 280, 294 painting, 306, 467; decline of, 694f., Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 742
Ch’ang-an (changin'), 302, 317 918, 924—27; influence upon Eu¬ Civil wars: in England, 616-17; in
Charlemagne, 343, 344-46, 348, 391, rope, 695 United States, 748, 839, 853, 875f.;
401, 408, 434 Chinese Nationalists, 1172, 1177, in Russia, 1060-61; in Pakistan,
Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, 847, 1193f. 1120; in Nigeria, 1149-50; in Spain,
872 Ch’ing dynasty, 690, see also Manchu 1200
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, dynasty Civilizations: defined, 18-19; origins
513, 554, 564, 572, 582, 599, 626- Chivalry, 395-96, 427; literature of, and growth of, 19-21, 145; begin¬
27, 634 444-45 ning of earliest, 21-25; growth and
Charles I, king of England, 615-17 Chopin (sho-pan'), Frederic, 990 decline of, 1266
Charles II, king of England, 619f., Choshu (cho'shoo') clan, 934—35, 938, Clans: in Japan, 309, 316f., 471, 474;
634, 689 940 in Africa, 318
Charles VII, king of France, 404 Chou (jo) dynasty, 150-67, 292 Class struggle, doctrine of, 827, 1171
Charles VIII, king of France, 512— Chou En-lai (jo' en'll')_, 1176f. Classical economics, see Economic
13, 640 Chretien de Troyes (kra'tyan' de liberalism
Charles X, king of France, 773, 775- trwa'), 444 Classicism, 659-71, 783, 785-86; in
76, 836 Christian IV, king of Denmark, 634 painting, 662-63; in literature, 664-
Charles I, king of Spain, 523n, 626, Christian Democrats, Chile, 906f. 65; in music, 670-71
634« Christian Existentialism, 1275 Clean Government Party, Japan, 1188
Charles II, king of Spain, 635 Christian Fathers, 270 Cleisthenes (klts'the-nez), 188f.
Charter Act of 1834 (India), 1094-95 Christian humanists, see Humanism Clemenceau (kla'man'so'), Georges,
Charter of 1814—766, 768, 773 Christian Renaissance, 538-39, 543 1038—39f.. 1066
Chartered companies, 586 Christianity, 76, 166, 749, 784-85, Clement VII, Pope, 564, 567
Chartist movement, 864-65, 1089, 831, 894-95. 971, 1008, 1064, 1106, Clement of Alexandria, 350
1091 1246, 1274—75f.; in Africa, 50, 321, Cleopatra, 250
Chartres (shar'tr’): cathedral school, 569, 710, 712, 955; early develop¬ Clermont (klar-mon'), Council of,
440; cathedral of, 448 ment of, 76-77, 330-39; Judaism 4 3 Of.
Chase Manhattan Bank, 1256 and, 79, 83, 92-94, 234, 333; Clientage, 265, 390
Chateaubriand (sha'to'bre-an'), Roman civilization and, 265-66, Climate, influence of, 19-21, 23-24
Frangois Rene de, 784-85 269-70, 329, 333-34: early medieval Clive, Robert, 4, 1094
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 380, 446, 533 theology, 349-52, 420, 545f.; Clovis, 343, 353
Chemistry, 230f.; Saracenic, 376; In¬ Byzantine, 358; Islamic faith and, Cluny movement, 423, 428, 447
tellectual Revolution, 656—57; 371; late medieval, 420-24, 542, Code Napoleon. 761
synthetic, 803-4 550-51; in China, 569, 693, 695, Coffee, 580, 600-1, 675
Cherbury, Herbert, Lord of, 653 924f.; in Japan, 569, 697-98; see Co-hong (gong'hang') merchants,
Chiang Kai-shek (jyang' kl'shek'), also individual sects 919-20ff.
1159-61. 1163ff„ 1172, 1210 Chrysoloras (krl'sa-lor'us), Manuel, Coinage, 402; Lydian, 72, 97, 109;
Chicago, 997, 1267 496 Chinese, 155; Greek, 187; Roman,
Ch’ien Lung (che-en' ldbng'), 690, Chu Hsi (joo' she'). 465-66 243, 255, 272; Japanese, 314;
917, 920 Chungking (jdong'king'), 1164 Indian, 682
Child marriage, 120, 131, 681 Church, Byzantine, 361-63 Coke, Sir Edward, 615
Chile, 881, 890f., 906-7, 914 Church, Roman Catholic, 275, 343, Colbert (kol'bar'), Jean Baptiste,
Ch’in (chin) dynasty, 154, 166, 292- 348, 362-63, 406, 421, 629, 650, 590-91
95f„ 305. 309, 690 761, 842-43, 871-72, 1001; organi¬ Cold War, 1186, 1221, 1226, 1243,
China, 7, 21, 76, 143f., 153. 159, 162, zation of, 335-37, 339, 422, 567; 1269
223, 266, 279f., 285, 293f„ 453, 459, feudal system and, 394—95f.; medie¬ Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 667. 783
461ff„ 468, 474, 630f., 679, 689fl„ val commerce and, 415-16; late Collectivism, 830, 881-82, 1087, 1090,
696, 698, 1065, 1212, 1225; popula¬ medieval theology, 420-22, 545-47; 1167-68; in ancient Egypt, 46-47,
tion of, 155f., 302, 461, 690-91, reform movements, 423-25. 545, 106; in Mesopotamia, 56
1169; Revolution of 1911—690, 548, 566; abuses in, 543-45ff., 552, Collectivist anarchists, 830
930-32, 1156; imperialism, 693-94, 728; Reformation in, 566-69; secu¬ College of Cardinals, 422
917-33; in World War I, 1156f.; larization of, in France, 741-42; in Cologne, 520; University of, 435, 440
Nationalist regime, 1156, 1159-65; Latin America, 883, 886, 894fE., Colombia, 889, 895, 914
in World War II, 1164-65, 1208, 898, 903, 905, 909f.; contemporary Colombo Plan, 1245
1210; see also Communist China; developments in, 1278-80 Colonate, 390
People’s Republic of China Church Fathers, 349-52, 361, 435ff., Coloni, 340, 390
Chinese, 143ff., 161 523, 542 Colonialism, 580, 588-91, 627; revolts
Chinese civilization, 143, 162, 307; Church of England, 531, 564ff., 614 against, 1235-42; see also Imperial¬
neolithic foundation, 144—45f.; Churchill, Winston, 817, 1105, 1109, ism
agriculture, 145f., 155—56, 294, 302, Colonization, Greek, 182
1209ff., 1221, 1237 Colons, 1147
692; writing, 145, 147-48, 294, 306;
Cicero, 196, 251-52L, 255, 268, 275, Colosseum, 261, 264f.
architecture, 146, 306, 467-68;
sculpture, 147, 149, 306, 467; music, 350, 488, 506 Columban, St., 353
147, 305, 466; religion, 148, 149- Cimabue (che-ma-boo'a), 499 Columbia University, 1224, 1267

E
Columbus, Christopher, 579f., 880 Congo, Belgian, 1148-49 Counter Reformation, see Catholic
Comedy, 205-6, 228-29, 498, 535, 665 Congo, Republic of the, 1148 Reformation
Comitatus (kom'f-ta'tus), 342 Congo River, 319, 952 Counterpoint, 451, 5371, 1298-99
Commerce: Egyptian, 45; Mesopota¬ Congregation of the Index, 568 Country party, in Australia, 1087
mian, 57, 61, 64, 109; Phoenician, Congress of Racial Equality Courbet (koor'be'), Gustave, 982
109; Chinese, 153, 155, 297, 302, (CORE), 1246-47 Crane, Stephen, 977
460-61, 463f., 918-22; Hellenic, Congress Party, in India, 111 3ff., Cranmer, Thomas, 565
182, 212; Hellenistic, 223-24; Ro¬ 1117; see also Indian National Creation and Flood epics, 59, 79, 99
man, 243, 266-67, 272, 284, 297, Congress Creoles, 886ff„ 892ff.
320; Indian, 283-84, 290, 682, 1099; Conquistadores (kon-kes-ta-thors'), Crete, 13, 45, 101ff„ 359
African, 320-21, 477-79ff., 705, 880 Crime, 674; classification of, 1252-53
711, 950-54; early medieval, 348; Conrad IV, 491 Crimean War, 839, 848
Saracenic, 378-801; late medieval, Conservation of mass, law of, 656-57 Criminology, 672
400, 410-11, 432; Japanese, 474-75, Conservatism: intellectual, 777-80; Cripps, Sir Stafford, 1109
697ff„ 1180-81, 1191-92; revival of, Protestant, 1274f.; political, 1277- Croatia-Slavonia, 1041
4891, 594 78 Croatians, 1021, 1026
Commercial Revolution, 221, 381, Conservative Party: in Germany, 845; Croce (kro'cha), Benedetto, 972
577-603, 611, 672, 703, 727; causes in Great Britain, 864f. Croesus (kre'sus), king of Lydia, 69,
of, 578-81; incidents of, 581-87; re¬ Constance, Council of, 547 108
sults of, 591-94, 812; agriculture in, Constantine, Grand Duke, 774 Croftess, 397-98 _
594—96; Industrial Revolution and, Constantine I (the Great), 77, 269f., Cro-Magnon (kro'ma-nyon') man,
593-94, 792, 794; effects upon Far 340, 358, 498 9—12f 238
East, 679-80, 692-93; effects upon Constantinople, 269, 337, 358ff., 363, Cromwell, Oliver, 589, 617-19
Africa, 705, 707ff. 366, 431ff„ 496, 631, 850, 1019, Crusades, 359, 382, 395, 401, 428-34,
Committee of Public Safety, 746ff., 1024, 1041, 1043; see also Istanbul 406, 490, 630; causes of, 428-31;
750 Constitution: Great Britain, 407, 618, First, 431-32; failure of, 432; in¬
Commodus, Roman emperor, 265 865, 867; United States, 621, 732, fluence of, 432-34, 594
Common law of England, 268, 405-6, 734, 871, 873f„ 876, 869, 871; Third Cuba, 892, 912-14, 1226; Castro re¬
615 Republic (France), 865-70; Ger¬ gime, 911, 913-14, 1224
Commons, House of, British, 6171, man Empire, 871, 936; Italy, 872- Cubism, 985, 1296f., 1299; West
862-68, 870 73; Brazil (1891), 897; Mexico, African origins, 713
Commonwealth and protectorate, in 902-4; Argentina, 908f.; China, Cullen, Countee, 1246, 1295
England, 617ff., 665 932-33, 1165, 1172, 1177; Japan, Cunard, Samuel, 800
Commonwealth of Nations, 1065, 936-38, 1185; Weimar Republic, Cuneiform writing, 59, 72, 99
1071-93, 1110, 1112, 1118, 1122, 1051; U.S.S.R., 1063-64; Canada, Curie (ku're'), Madame, 966
1144, 1245 1075; Australia, 1083-84; New Cynicism, 528
Communes, in China, 1152, 1168 Zealand, 1089-90; India, 1112— Cynics, 235ff.
Communism, 828, 1064—65, 1138, 13; Pakistan, 1118-19, 1122; Cypress, 49, 223, 225, 1071
1277; decline of ideology and, Turkey, 1128; Egypt, 1130, 1132; Cyrus the Great, 55, 69-70, 83, 108
1221ff.; containment policy, Israel, 1136 Czechoslovakia, 1041, 1198, 1222;
1226-27; in Southeast Asia, Constitution of Clarendon, 406 World War II and, 1205; occupa¬
1239, 1244f. Constitution of 1791 (France), 742, tion of (1968), 1230, 1250-51
Communist China, 911, 1156, 1163, 744 Czechs, 1230L, 1236
1165-78, 1221-22, 1239, 1283f.: Constitution of 1793 (France), 745
government, 1165-66, 1176; eco¬ Constitution of the Year III, 750-51f.
nomic development, 1167, 1177; Constitution of the Year VIII, 759- Da Vinci, Leonardo, see Leonardo
society, 1168-70; education, 1169— 60 da Vinci
70; ideology, 1170-71, 1173; Consuls, Roman, 2411, 245, 2491 Dacca, 1120f.
foreign policy, 1171-73, 1177-78; Containment policy, 1172, 1217 Dahomey, 705, 709-10, 950-51
Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1226-27 Daigo (di'go) II, Emperor of Japan,
1173-77 Continental System, 7631, 767 472-73
Communist Party: in Germany, Cook, James, 1080, 1089 Daimler (dim'ler), Gottlieb, 804
1052f.; in U.S.S.R., 1061, 1063-64; Coolidge, Calvin, 1066 Daimyo (dl'myo), 474, 695ff., 699,
in France, 1068; in India, 1114; in Copernican Revolution, 510 701. 703f„ 934ff., 940
China, 1157, 1159-63, 1165f„ Copernicus (ko-pur'nffi-kus), Nicholas, Daladier (da'la'dya'), fidouard, 1205
1176—77; in Japan, 1188; in 5, 5101, 522, 655 Dalai Lama (da'll la'ma), 1118
Indonesia, 1244f. Copland, Aaron, 1299 D’Alembert (da'lan'bar'), Jean, 650-
Communist regime in U.S.S.R., 1056- Coptic Christians, 362 51
65, 1166-67 Coral Sea, Battle of, 1208 Dali (da'le), Salvador, 1296
Communists, 906, 912 Corday, Charlotte, 747 Dalton, John, 966
Comonfort (ko'mon-fort'), Ignacio, Cordova, 3751, 490 Damao, 689, 1113
897 Corinth, 1811, 190 Damascus, 372, 379, 410, 801
Compass, 305, 381, 464, 578-79 Corinthian architecture, 208, 261 Danes, 346
Comte (kont), Auguste, 782, 967 Corn Laws, 864 Daniel, Book of, 89
Concert of Europe, 77Iff. Corot (ko'ro'), Camille, 786 Dante Alighieri (dan'ta a-le-gha're),
Concerto (kon-cher'to), 668f. Corpus Juris Civilis (kor'pus yoo'ris 438, 446-47, 488, 495f.
Concordat (kon-kor'dat) of 1801— sT-vel'Tsl 364-65, 367 Danton (dan'ton'), Georges Jacques,
761 Corsica, 758 747, 750
Condorcet (kon'dorise'), Marquis de, Cortes, Hernando, 579, 880 Danube River/valley, 256, 359
673-74, 746-47 Corvee (kor-va'), 82, 399, 730, 741 Danzig, 1040, 1205, 1211
Condottieri (kon'dot-tya're), 492 Cossacks, 764 Dappa Pepple, 952
Confederation of the Rhine, 762 Costa e Silva (kos'ta a selva), Darby, Abraham, 793
Confession, 422 Arthur. 905 Dardanelles, 1019
Confucianism: in China, 165, 296, Cotters, 397-98 Darius (da-rl'us) I, 70, 73, 77f., 137
304, 460, 462, 691, 694; in Japan, Cotton, 580 Darwin, Charles, 960-61L, 998, 1002
314, 700, 704, 937 Cotton gin, 796, 875, 950 Daumier (do'mya'), Honore, 982
Confucianist School, 162, 164, 166, Council of Four, 1038 Daura, kingdom of, 482
293 Council of Four Hundred, 187 David, king of Hebrews, 81, 89
Confucius, 143, 162-64ff„ 296, 465f. Council of Three, 1038 David (da'ved'), Jacques Louis, 786
F
De Gaulle (dl gol'), Charles, 1147, Disraeli, Benjamin, 865 Easter Rebellion, in Ireland, 1000,
1217, 1243, 1269 Diu, 689, 1113 1231
De Kooning, Willem, 1297 Divine Comedy, 446—47 Eastern Chou period, 152-53
De Vries (de vres'), Hugo, 962 Divine right of kings, 613, 618, 621 Eastman Kodak Company, 1256
Dead Sea Scrolls, 93-94 Divine rulers in Africa, 706 Ebert (a'bert), Friedrich, 1036
Death rate, reduction of, 675 Dr. Bonham’s case, 615 Ecbatana (ek-bat'a-na), 71, 76
Debussy (de-bu'se'), Claude, 992, Document Classic, 160 Ecclesiastes (e-kle'zhf-as'tez), Book
1298 Domagk (do'mak), Gerhard, 1287 of, 37, 89, 91-92, 377
Decalogue, see Ten Commandments Domestic system, 584-85 Ecclesiasticus, Book of, 91
Deccan, 114f., 124, 129, 138f„ 280, Domestication of animals, 13ff., 146 Ecology, crisis of, 1258-61
284, 285-86, 455, 459, 681, 685f. Dominic, St., 425 Economic and Social Council, of
Decimal system, 38, 137, 149 Dominican order, 425 U.N., 1213-16
Decius, Roman emperor, 266 Dominican Republic, 911-12 Economic bourbonism, 819
Declaration of Independence, 732 Donatello, 504 Economic collectivism, 1144-45
Declaration of the Rights of Man, Donation of Constantine, 498 Economic liberalism, 737, 808, 819—
621, 741, 743 Dorians, 102, 177 23
Defoe, Daniel, 665-66, 792 Doric architecture, 208. 229 Economic nationalism, 588, 590, 909,
Dehn (dan), Adolph, 1297 Dostoievsky (dos-to-yef'ske), Feodor, 1068
Deism, 653, 695, 749 978 Economic theory: medieval, 415-17;
Dekabrist revolt, 774 Drake, Edwin L., 8C. in 19th century, 819-33; Keynesian,
Delacroix (de-Ia'krwa'). Eugene, 786 Drama: Greek, 203-6; Hellenistic, 1257-58
Delhi (de'le), 125, 455ff., 683-84, 686 228-29; Indian, 285-86; Chinese, Ecuador,^881, 890, 914
Delhi Sultanate, 457-59, 680 306, 466; Italian Renaissance, 497- Edessa (e-des'a), 363
Delian League, 190 98; Spanish Renaissance, 530; Edo, 696, 699f„ 703, 933, 935, 940;
Delphi, 69 Elizabethan, 534-36; Japanese, see also Tokyo
Demarcation, papal lines of, 882 476-77, 702; modern, 976-77, Education: early medieval develop¬
Demeter (de-me'ter), 213 1291, 1294f. ments, 353-54; in Later Middle
Democracy, 94, 139, 220, 234, 412, Drang nach Osten (drang nak ost-en), Ages, 425, 439-42; Reformation
832, 836, 977, 979f„ 1047, 1065, 630-31 and, 569f.; Napoleonic reforms,
1277; Greek, 182, 188-89, 195; Dravidians, 113, 129 761, 1004; public, 874, 1004, 1126;
Reformation and, 570f.; theory of, Dreiser, Theodore, 977, 1292, 1295 in Mexico, 903f.; in Japan, 942;
734—36, 861-62; Jacksonian, 736, Dreyfus (dra'fus), Alfred, 842 19th-century revolt in, 1004-7;
875, 877; economics, 815, 861, Dreyfus affair, 841-42L, 974, 1004 in India, 1100; in China, 1169—
1091; social, 861; political, 861— Du Bois, William E. B„ 1235, 1290 70; contemporary developments
62; evolution of, in Great Britain, Dual Monarchy, see in, 1269-71
862-68; evolution of, in France, Austria-Hungary Edward I, king of England, 407
868-70; evolution of, in Germany, Dualism: in religion, 74ff., 88, 228; Edward III, king of England, 407
870-72; evolution of, in Italy, 872; in Greek philosophy, 194; Edward VI, king of England, 564f.
evolution of, in smaller states, 873; Descartism, 645f. Edward the Confessor, 347
evolution of, in United States, Dublin, 1233 Egypt, 13, 55, 69ff„ 72, 77, 80, 84,
873-78; Jeffersonian, 873-74L, 877; Ducat, 578, 586 140, 146, 182, 206, 220, 234, 247,
direct, 873; in India, 1116; in Dueling, 675 254,284, 321, 337, 358, 360ff, 374f.,
China, 1158, 1161, 1165-66; in Duma, 999f., 1057 431, 479, 753, 1128-32L, 1136f.,
Japan, 1179f„ 1185, 1187; Dunlop, J. B., 804 1140, 1222; predynastic, 48, 98; in¬
contemporary, 1250 Duns Scotus, John, 437 dependence struggle, 1129-30,
Democritus (de-mok'ri-tus), 195, Diirer (de'rer), Albrecht, 521-22 1237; Six Day War, 1137
226f. Durham Report, 1074 Egyptian civilization, 2Iff., 30-47, 48,
Demographic revolution, 1261-62 Dutch, 340, 579; in Indonesia, 680, 97, 106-7, 110, 117, 136, 143, 145,
Demonology, 62, 65 1237; in China, 692; in Japan, 697- 175, 215; Old Kingdom, 29f„ 34,
Denmark, 347, 559, 634, 769, 771, 98, 704, 935; in Africa, 708f„ 951, 39f., 44; Middle Kingdom, 29, 30-
846, 873, 949, 1040, 1206, 1243, 955f.; anticolonial movement and, 31, 35, 38, 40f„ 44; Empire, 29,
1270, 1289 1237 31-32, 35, 40ff., 44, 46ff.; calendar,
Depression of 1929, see Great Dutch East India Company, 586, 680, 29, 38; stages of, 30-32; govern¬
Depression 955f. ment, 30-32, 37, 46-47, 149; down¬
Descamisados, 909 Dutch Reformed Church, 955 fall of, 32, 37, 47; religion, 32, 33-
Descartes (da'kart'), Rene, 644-45ff. Dutch Republic, rise of, 573 37f., 41, 43, 47, 53-54; intellectual
Despotism, 220f., 364, 366, 492-91, Duvalier (doo-va'ya), Francois, 912 achievements, 37-39, 193f.; pyra¬
518-19, 549, 883, 905 Duvalier, Jean-Claude, 912 mids, 38, 40f.; writing, 39-40, 107,
Determinism, 970, 972f„ 1292, 1295 Dvorak (dvor'zhak), Antonin, 991 110; art, 40-43, 208; social organi¬
Deuteronomic Code, 88 Dyaus (dl'ous), 121 zations, 43-47; economic system,
Deuteronomy (du'ter-on'6-me), Book Dyer, General, 1102 45-47; importance of, 47
of, 79, 88 Dynamo, invention of, 801-2 Egyptians, 80, 358
Dewey, John, 971, 1006, 1270, 1276 Ehrlich (ar'likh), Paul, 965, 1261,
Dharma (dur'ma), 123, 126, 132 1263
Dialectical materialism, 780, 827f. Early medieval civilization, 329-54, Einstein, Albert, 646, 1275, 1281-82
Diaspora (dl-as'po-ra), 83, 234, 332 424; Christian foundations, 330- Eisenhower, Dwight D., 1079, 1260-
Diaz, Porfirio, 899f. 39; Germanic foundations, 339-42; 61
Dickens, Charles, 785, 975, 982 agriculture, 339, 348; political his¬ El Greco (el gra'ko), 529-30
Diderot (de'dro'), Denis, 633, 650, tory, 342-47; economic life, 347- El Salvador, 914
653 49; intellectual attainments, 349- Elamites, 54, 70
Diefenbaker, John, 1079 54; philosophy, 349-52; literature, Elba, 765f.
Diet, Japanese, 936-37, 1185 352-53; education, 353-54; origins Electricity, discoveries concerning,
Diggers, 619 of feudalism and, 390-92 655, 801-2, 805-6, 966-67
Diocletian, 77, 269, 360 Electronics, 1253-54
East Africa, 6, 321, 952-55
Diogenes, 225, 359 Elegy, 203
East Bengal, 111 8fT. Eleusinian (el'u-sfn'i-an) cult, 213,
Dionysus (dl'6-nls'us), 203-4f., 213
East Germany, 1229 233
Diplomatic revolution of 1890-1907—
1023-24 East Indies, 464, 711, 858 Eliot, George, 785
Directory, France, 751-52L, 759 East Prussia, see Prussia Eliot, T. S„ 1291, 1293

G
Elizabeth I, queen of England, 519, Eucharist, see Sacraments Ff*7Zfin 49 ^20
538, 565-66, 587, 589, 612, 614, Euclid, 201, 232 Fichte (flkh'te), Johann Gottlieb,
628, 681 Eugenie, Empress of France, 840 780, 1021
Elizabethan Compromise, 614 Euphrates River, 32, 1128 Ficino ffe-che'no), Marsilio, 506
Ellora caves, 287, 289 Euripides (u-np'I-dez), 204—5f., 496 Fiefs, 390, 392ft, 471
Elysian (e-lizh'an) Plain, 180 European Common Market, 1092-93 Field, Cyrus, 801
Emancipation Proclamation, 950 Evans, Sir Arthur, 101, 105 Fielding, Henry, 666
Embryology, 137, 657, 962 Evolution: purposive, 1191., 969; so¬ Fiji, 1071, 1237
Emigres (a'me'gra'), 745, 750 cialist, 827-28; organic, 960; Dar¬ Finland, 771
Empedocles (em'ped'6-klez), 202 win’s theory of, 960-62, 969ff., Finns, 998
Emperor’s Charter Oath (Japan), 936 1002, 1278 First Estate, in France, 727-28
Empiricism, 648, 652, 781-82, 959 Ewara the Great, 482 First Industrial Revolution, 811, 814,
Ems, 840, 846 Excommunication, 422, 429 819, 960; causes of, 791-93; in Great
Enclosure movement, 594-95 Executive power, increase of, 1251 Britain, 793-95; mechanization of
Encyclopedists, 650 Existentialism, 1275 textile industry, 795-96; factory
Engels, Friedrich, 826 Exodus, Book of, 86 system, 796-97; steam engine, 797-
England, 400, 411, 427-28, 431, 571, Expressionism in music, 1298 98; iron industry, 798-99; transpor¬
579, 581, 587, 589-90, 592, 594- Extraterritoriality: 922, 1161; in Ja¬ tation, 799-800; communications,
95f„ 597-98, 603, 623, 640, 647, pan, 934, 939; in Korea, 946 800-1; agricultural aspects, 801,
649, 653, 658, 660, 662, 665ff„ Extreme unction, see Sacraments 812; steel production, 801; sources
669f„ 672, 674f„ 726, 780-81, 783- Eyck (Tk), Hubert van, 525 of power, 801-2
84, 81 If., 831, 894-95, 974-76, Eyck, Jan van, 525 Fischer, Fritz, 1030
1081; early medieval, 346-47; rise Ezana, King, 50 Fitch, John, 800
of national monarchy, 405-8, 418- Ezekiel, Book of, 88 Fitzgerald, Edward, 377
19; Renaissance in, 531-36; Protes¬ Five-Year Plans: U.S.S.R., 1061; In¬
tant Revolution, 563-66, 614; ab¬ dia, 1116-17; China, 1168-77
solutism in, 612—21f.; see also Fa Hsien (fa' she-en'), 280-81 Flanders, 402, 411, 499, 524
Great Britain Fabian socialists, 829, 976 Flaubert (flo'bar'), Gustave, 974
Eniwetok Atoll (en-i-we'tok a-tol'), Fabliaux (fab-le-o'), 445-46, 495 Flemish school of painting, 524-26
1283-84 Factory system, 594, 796-97, 812, Fletcher, John, 534
Enlightenment, Age of, 628, 633, 669; 814-15 Florence, 411, 488f, 493ff., 497f., 500,
philosophy of, 647-53; influence Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia, 1133 504ff., 508, 512, 514, 578, 582, 586,
of, 654, 671ff„ 731, 736f„ 777f„ Family, 15-16; in ancient Egypt, 44; 598; cathedral of, 448; University
824; Chinese influence in, 695 Indian, 119-20; Chinese, 149-50, of, 496
Enlil, 58 157-58, 163, 298; Japanese, 309, Florida, 579
Enoch, Book of, 89 314 Florin, 578, 586
Entangling alliances, system of, Famine, 699; in India, 1098 Fluoridation, 1288
1022-24 Fanon, Frantz, 1223f. Foch (fosh), Marshall, 1036
Entente Allies, 1037f., 1048, 1049f., Fante people, 952 Fontainebleau (fon'ten'blo'), Treaty
1060 Far East, 147, 154, 279, 289, 314, 578, of, 765
Entente Cordiale (an'tant' kor'dyal'), 688, 693, 917, 933, 948f., 1171, Food and Agricultural Organization
1023 1211, 1220 (FAO), 1216
Environmentalism, see Ecology, Far Eastern civilization, 143, 146, 307 Ford, Henry, 802-3f.
crisis of Faraday, Michael, 801 Formosa (Taiwan), 690, 858, 947,
Epaminondas (e-pom'I-non'das), 191 Farmer, James, 1246-47 1212
Ephesus, 71 Farouk I, king of Egypt, 1130 Fourier (foo'rya'), Charles, 825
Ephorate, 184f. Fascism, 780, 1065, 1180; in Italy, Four-Power Pacific Pact, 1179f.
Epics: Homeric, 101, 124, 177ff., 202; 985, 1048—51, 1055f.; doctrines of, Fourteen Points, Program of, 1035f.,
Indian, 119, 124-27, 136, 291, 688; 1050-51; German and Italian com¬ 1039
Latin, 259; Anglo-Saxon, 352; pared, 1055f.; significance of, 1056; Fourth Lateran Council, 420ff., 1279
medieval, 443-44, 497; Italian in Argentina, 909; see also Nazi Fourth Republic, in France, 1243
Renaissance, 497 regime France, 240, 401, 569ff., 572-73, 579,
Epictetus (ep'ik-te'tus), 258f. Fashoda incident, 1023 590-9If., 601, 634ff„ 639, 647f.,
Epicureanism (ep'i-ku-re'an-Izm), Fatah, 1140 650, 653, 660f„ 664, 666, 675, 770f,
225-27, 233, 251, 254, 258f„ 507 Fatalism, 67-68, 75, 92 780, 784-86, 792, 794f„ 809ff„ 816,
Epicurus, 219, 225fL, 507 Fatima ffa'te-ma), 372, 375 831, 885, 892, 973-74, 983, 1004,
Erasistratus (er'a-sls'tra-tus), 232 Faulkner, William, 1273, 1293 1017f., 1062, 1065f„ 1068, 1074,
Erasmus, Desiderius, 517, 523-24, Faure, Edgar, 1270 1188, 1200, 1204, 1206, 1208, 1212,
527, 539, 543, 544-45, 559, 597, February Revolution in France, 836, 1216f., 1224f„ 1228, 1244, 1267,
603 843, 864, 868-69 1269f„ 1279, 1283, 1289, 1298;
Eratosthenes (er'a-tos'the-nez), 232 Federalists, 873 medieval, 343-46, 348-49, 363, 428,
Erfurt, 520; University of, 552 Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1246 434; feudal system, 393, 431, 729-
Eschatology, 88, 332 Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, 30, 740-41, 749; rise of national
Escheat, 393 627, 634n monarchy, 401-5, 519; Renaissance
Eschenbach (esh'en-bak), Wolfram Ferdinand I, king of Two Sicilies, 772 in, 526-29; absolutism in, 621-26,
von, 445 Ferdinand of Aragon, 513, 519, 579, 724; Revolution of 1789—723-55;
Essen, 810 626 era of Napoleon, 758-68; Revolu¬
Essenes (es'senz), 92-94. 330-31 Fertile Crescent, 21-22, 70 tion of 1830-775-76, 836f.; Revo¬
Estates General, 402, 405, 724, 737- Fetishism, 37, 86 lution of 1848—836, 843, 868-69;
39 Feudalism, 272-73, 342, 348-49, 389- Second Republic, 836-38, 869; Sec¬
Esther, Book of, 89 90, 40If., 405ff., 423, 630, 754; Ro¬ ond Empire, 838-40; Third Repub¬
Estonia, 1037 man and early medieval origins, lic, 840-43, 869-70; imperialism,
Ethelred the Unready, 347 390-92; political theory, 392-94,
Ethical religion, 35-36, 47, 54, 58, 838-39, 854, 927; evolution of de¬
640; warfare under, 394-95, 429;
74-75, 86-87, 233-34 chivalry, 395-96, 444-45; manorial mocracy in, 868-70; World War I
Ethiopia, 50, 321, 855, 1045, 1199f. system, 396-400; decline of, 400-1, and, 1018, 1019f., 1022f., 1024,
Ethiopians, 49 433, 487, 488-89, 611; in France, 1026ff„ 1028fL, 1035, 1038ff.; World
Etruria, 49 729-30, 740-41; in China, 152-54, War II and, 1197, 1206, 1211; anti-
Etruscans, 238—39f., 243 160, 167; in Japan, 470, 471-74 colonial movement and, 1146-48,
H
 1236, 1237-39; Fourth Republic, Gandhi, Mohandas K., 127, 1102-3ff., Goethe (gu'te), Johann Wolfgang
1243 1108, 1111 von, 667-68
France, Anatole, 842, 974 Ganges River, 115f., 132, 134, 138, Gogh (go), Vincent van, 984, 1296
France, Marie de, 444 283f. Gold, 45f., 49, 109, 222f., 284, 320,
Franche-Comte (fransh'kon'ta'), 624, Gao, 321, 477, 479f. MIS., 483, 580-81, 709, 108If.,
634 Garamante, 320 1084-85, 1141
Francis, Joseph, 1025, 1036 Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 848 Gold Coast, 709, 952, 1146; see also
Francis II, king of Two Sicilies, 848 Garvey, Marcus, 1246 Ghana
Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, 1025- Gassendi, Pierre, 603 Gold standard, 807-8, 1258; aban¬
26 Gattamelata, 504 doned by Great Britain, 1068
Francis of Assisi, St., 420f., 424-25, Gauguin (go'gan'), Paul, 984 Golden Age of Greece, 202, 206,
542 Gaul, 238, 340 219f., 229, 237, 280, 995
Franciscan order, 424-25, 697-98 Gauls, 250f. Golden mean, 200, 204, 207, 220, 415
Franck, Cesar, 991 Gautama (gou'ta-ma), 133-36, 162, Golden rule, 75, 332
Franco, General, 1252 286-88f„ 303f. Goldsmith, Oliver, 666, 783
Franco-Prussian War, 839-40f., 846- Gaza Strip, 1137 Goliards (Goliardi), 442-43
47, 849, 869f., 939, 1220 Geisha (ga'e-sha) girl, 701 Gomez, Juan Vicente. 895
Frankfurt, Treaty of, 847 General Assembly, U.N., 1212f., 1231 Gordon, Major Charles, 926
Frankfurt Assembly, 844f. Geneva, 559, 560-61, 574, 602; Agree¬ Gospels, 332
Franklin, Benjamin, 653, 655 ment of 1954—1239; conference of Gothic architecture, 447, 448-50,
Franks, 340, 343-44 1955—1228 487ff., 505, 526, 659, 786, 988
Frederick (Calvinist Elector Palatine), Genghis Khan (jen'giz kan'), 458, Goths, 340
634 461f„ 681 Gournia, 103
Frederick I (Barbarossa), Holy Ro¬ Genoa, 410, 433, 491, 580, 624, 634 Government of India Acts, 1097,
man Emperor, 408. 427 Genro (gen'ro), 938 1102, 1106-7
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Geocentric theory, 5, 231, 509 Goya, Francisco, 664
408-10, 427, 438-39, 640 Geographic interpretation of culture Gracchi (grak'e), Revolt of, 248-49
Frederick II (the Great), king of origins, 19-21, 22-24 Gracchus, Gaius, 248f.
Prussia, 590, 628-29f., 636-37, 643, Geometry, 38, 59, 137, 232 Gracchus, Tiberius, 248
662 George I, king of England, 866 Gran Columbia, 890
Frederick the Wise, 553f. Georgian architecture, 662 Granada, 626
Frederick William, elector of Brand¬ Germ theory of disease, 964-65, 1286 Grand Canal, China, 463
enburg, 628 German Confederation, 773, 844, 845- Grand jury, 344, 406
Frederick William I, king of Prussia, 46 Grand National Assembly, Turkey,
590, 628 Germans, ancient, 215, 260, 330, 339— 1128
Free market economy, 807 42, 358f. Gravitation, law of, 654-55
Free trade, 807f., 820, 823f„ 864, 949, Germany, 256, 401, 411, 434, 440, Gray, Elisha, 806
1068 519-20, 545, 568, 570f., 580f, 586, Gray, Thomas, 666, 783
Freedom of contract, 807, 820, 1068 590, 596, 601, 603, 634f., 641, 651, Great Britain, 273, 275, 636f., 666,
Frei, Eduardo, 906 666f„ 761f„ 780, 784, 801f., 804, 752, 762-63f., 770-71, 773, 794-95,
French: in India, 591, 637, 680; in 808ff„ 812, 816, 824ff„ 976, 988, 801f„ 804, 807ff., 817-18, 822f., 839,
China, 693, 923. 925-27: in Indo¬ 1004, 1065, 1200-1, 1211, 1223ff„ 850, 885, 948ff„ 1004, 1006f, 1017,
china, 927, 1221-22, 1238-42; in 1229, 1294; feudal system, 393f., 1062, 1065f., 1068, 1073, 1088,
Japan. 935; in Africa, 950. 952, 400, 556; medieval empire, 408-10; 1092-93, 1128-31, 1133ff., 1137-38,
1237-38; in Canada, 1073-74, Renaissance in, 520-23; Industrial 1161, 1179. 1188. 1204, 1206, 1210,
1077f. Revolution in, 809-10; unification 1212, 1216f., 1224f„ 1228, 1243,
French and Indian War, 636-37, 1074 of, 884-87; imperialism, 855, 859, 1250, 1258, 1270, 1283; Industrial
French Revolution, 621, 648, 723-55, 927; Hohenzollern empire, 871-72, Revolution in, 793-95A., 801f., 807-
757f., 836, 1032, 1235; causes of, 1022, 1250; World War I and, 8f.; imperialism, 854, 859; evolution
724-37; first stage, 739-42; second 1018-19, 1021-22, 1024, 1026ff„ of democracy in, 862-68; World
stage, 742-51; third stage, 750-53; 1036, 1039f., 1051f.; Weimar Re¬ War I and, 1018, 1019-20, 1022ff.,
influence of, 753—55, 758-59, 767- public, 1051. 1053-54; Nazi re¬ 1028ff„ 1035, 1038f.; World War II
68, 886 gime in, 1051-56, 1062-63, 1198— and, 1197, 1205-6A., 1209-10ff.;
Freud (froid), Sigmund, 968, 1224 99, 1200, 1201-2; World War II Irish question, 1231-33; anticolo¬
Friars, orders of, 424-25 and, 1197f., 1205-7f., 1210f. nial movement and, 1146ff.; in¬
Frondizi, Arturo (fron-de'ze, Ghana (ga'na), 1071, 1148; kingdom crease of executive power in. 1251
ar-toor'o), 909-10 of, 320f., 477-79 Great Depression, 808, 912, 1052-53,
Frost, Robert, 1293 Ghent (gent), 411 1066-68, 1134, 118 If., 1201-2, 1246,
Fuggers (foog'ers), 544, 582, 592 Gibbon, Edward, 665, 1300 129 If., 1295
Fujiwara (foo-je-wa'ra) family, 470- Gibraltar, 372, 636, 1237 Great Lakes, 579, 623
71 Gilbert, William, 655 “Great Leap Forward,” 1167-68,
Fukien (foo-kT-en'), 947 Ginsberg, Allen, 1267 1174
Fulani peoples, 481, 707, 952 Giorgione (jor-jo'na), 501 Great Mother, cult of, 254, 265
Fulton, Robert, 800 Giotto (jot'to), 499 Great Mutiny of 1857—1096-97
Functionalism, 988-89 Girondists (jl-ron'dists), 746ff. Great Powers, 1224-25, 1249-50, 1261
Futurism, 985-86 Gizeh, 41 Great Revolt in England, 598
Gladden, Washington, 1002 Great Schism, 547
Gladiators, 239, 254, 261, 265 Great Trek, 956
Gabelle (ea-bel'), 729, 737 Gladstone, William E., 817, 865 Great Wall of China, 153, 294, 299,
Gabon, 950 Glasgow College, 736 460
Gaius (ga'yus), 268f., 274 Glenn, John H., Jr., 1285 Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Galen, 232, 263-64, 511 Glorious Revolution, 620-21, 731, Sphere, 1184
Galerius, Roman emperor, 333 794-95, 866-67 Greater Serbia movement, 1020-21
Gluck (glook), Christoph Willibald, Greco-Buddhist school, 289
Galileo Galilei (ga'le-la'o ga'le-la'e), Greco-Persian War, 189, 206
670f.
510-11, 654f. Gnosticism, 77, 233, 332, 334, 337, Greece, 850, 1024, 1044f., 1206,
Gama, Vasco da, 579, 710-11 350, 970 1216f., 1267; revolt of 1821—774—
Gambia, 1071 Goa, 689, 711, 1113 75; World War II and, 1206; mili¬
Gandhi, Indira, 1114, 1117, 1122 Godwin, William, 773, 784, 829 tary junta, 1252, 1270
Greece/Greeks, ancient, 70, 98, 100ff., Hapsburgs, 624, 626-28, 745, 771, science, 230-33, 263-64; religion,
175, 177ff„ 206, 237f., 247; see also 844, 847; struggle with Bourbons, 233-34; compared with modern
Hellenic civilization 633-37 age, 234-35; Roman conquest of,
Greek civilization, see Hellenic civili¬ Harappa (ha-rup'a), 116 247, 252, 260
zation Harding, Warren G., 1066 Hellespont, 70
Greek Orthodox church, 366 Hardy, Thomas, 975 Helmholtz, Hermann von, 966
“Green revolution,” 1116-17, 1263-64 Hargreaves, James, 795 Heloise (a'lo'ez'), 435
Greenback movement, 876-77 Harijan, 1106 Helots (hel'ots), 185f., 190
Gregorian chant, 450 Harijans, 1106, 1116 Hemingway, Ernest, 129If.
Gregory I (the Great), Pope, 349-50, Harlem Renaissance, 1246, 1294-95 Henry I, king of England, 405
420, 450 Harold, king of England, 347 Henry II, king of England, 405-6,
Gregory VII, Pope, 422f., 426f„ 429 Harris, Townsend, 933-34 640
Gregory of Nyssa, 361 Harris Treaty, 934 Henry III, king of England, 407
Gregory of Tours, 353 Harsha (hur'sha), king of India, 282- Henry VII, king of England, 408, 518,
Grey, Earl, 863 83, 455 612
Grey, Sir Edward, 1028f„ 1249 Harun-al-Raschid (ha-roon'al'ra- Henry VIII, king of England, 513,
Grieg, Edvard H., 991 shed'), 301, 372 519, 531, 563-64L, 612
Gropper, William, 1297 Harvard University, 1275, 1290 Henry IV, king of France, 573, 613,
Grotius (gro'shl-us), Hugo, 639, 672 Harvey, Sir William, 5, 51 If., 603, 622-23A.
Guadalajara (gwa'dha-la-ha'ra), 893 658 Henry IV, German emperor, 426
Guadeloupe (gwad'loop'), 637 Hastings, Battle of, 347 Henry of Navarre, see Henry IV,
Guanajuato (gwa'na-hwa'to), 893 Hattusas, 98 king of France
Guatemala, 20, 879f„ 911 Hauptmann (houpt'man), Gerhart, Heracleitus (her-a-kll'tus), 194, 226
Guerrilla warfare, 1162ff., 1221 976 Heredity, laws of, 962
Guevara, Ernesto (Che), 1223-24 Hausa peoples/language, 481, 712 Hero or Heron (he'ron), of Alexan¬
Guiana, 637, 771 Hausaland, 480-82, 709 dria, 233, 797
Guicciardini (guet'char-de'ne), Hawkins, Captain John, 599 Herod I, 330
Francesco, 498 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1008 Herodotus (he-rod'o-tus), 41, 69, 206
Guido (ge'do), Jose Maria, 910 Haydn (hl'd’n), Joseph, 670f. Herophilus (he-rof'i-lus), 232
Guilds: in Japan, 309, 475, 699; By¬ Hayek (hi'ek), Frederick A., 1277-78 Herriot (e'ryo'), Ldouard, 1066
zantine, 360; Saracenic, 380; medie¬ Haymarket Square riots (1886), 997 Hertz, Heinrich, 806
val, 413-17, 440, 581; economic Hebert (a'bar'), Jacques Rene, 750 Hertzog, General, 1142f.
theory of, 415-17; in Africa, 482, Hebrew civilization, 79-94, 215; ori¬ Herzegovina (her'tsa-go've'na), 850,
706f., 709; Commercial Revolution gins and political history, 79-83; 852, 1021, 1024
and, 583-84; in China, 919; aboli¬ religion, 80, 84—88, 92-94; Baby¬ Herzl, Theodor, 1004
tion of, in France, 741«, 754 lonian captivity, 83, 89; law, 88- Hetaerae (he-te're), 213
Guinea, 579, 1148 89, 94; literature, 89-92; philoso¬ Hidalgo, Father, 892-93
Guiscard (ges-kar'), Robert, 429 phy, 91—92; influence of, 79, 92-94 Hideyoshi (he-de-yo'she), 696
Guise (gez), Duke of, 573 Hebrews, 21, 57, 64, 67, 79-80ff„ 84; Hieroglyphic writing, 39, 49, 99, 105
Guizot (ge'zo'), premier of France, see also Jews Hildebrand, see Gregory VII, Pope
868 Hedonism (he'don-Tzm), 646 Himalayas (hl-ma'la-yas), 115, 126,
Gunpowder, 305, 469, 697, 705f. Hegel (ha'gel), Georg Wilhelm 133
Gunpowder Plot, 614—15 Friedrich, 779-80, 826, 832, 972, Hinayana (he'na-ya'na) Buddhism,
Gupta dynasty, 280—81f. 1300 136, 141, 286
Giirsel, Cental, 1128 Hegira (he-ji'ra), 370 Hindemith, Paul, 1299
Gustavus Adolphus, 624-25, 634-35 He-he people, 954 Hindi, 688, 1113
Guyana, 1071, 1237 Heidelberg, 520; University of, 440, Hindu Kush Mountains, 118, 138
520, 1275 Hinduism, 127f„ 129, 132f., 139, 156,
Heilbroner, Robert, 1263 279fL, 284, 457, 1106
Hades, realm of, 179 Heine (hT'ne), Heinrich, 784 Hindu-Moslem controversy, 1110-11
Haeckel (hek'el), Ernst, 962, 970f. Hejaz, 1132 Hindus, 115, 138, 160, 455ff„ 681f„
Hahn, Otto, 1283 Heliocentric theory, 5, 231, 509-10 686, 688, 1111
Haiphong, 1242 Hellenic civilization, 97, 171, 175— Hindustan, 115f., 132, 138, 285, 455,
Haiti, 892, 912 216, 219; Mycenaean period, 175— 458, 681
Hals, Frans, 664 76; Dark Ages, 175, 176-81, 202; Hipparchus, 23 If.
Halys (hal'Ts) River, 69, 108 writing, 176; government, 177-78; Hippies, 225, 1267
Hamburg, 417 social and economic life, 178, 182, Hippocrates of Chios (hi-pok'ra-tez,
Hamilton, Alexander, 732 184-85, 202-3; religion, 178-81, kl'os), 201
Hamath, 98 212- 13, 216, 233, 243-44; city- Hippocrates of Cos (kos), 201f.
Hammurabi, 54, 57, 66; Code of, 57, states, 181-83, 216; Sparta, 183- Hiram, king of Tyre, 82
61; 65, 80, 88 86; Athens, 186-90L, 209-13; Per¬ Hiroshima (he-rosh'ma), 1209, 1283f.
Hampden, John, 616 sian war, 189, 206; Peloponnesian Hiss, Alger, 1221
Han dynasty, 295-98, 303, 311 war, 189-90, 206, 214, 216; political History: defined, 3; theories concern¬
“Han Learning,” scholars, 694, 927 disintegration of, 190—91; Mace¬ ing, 4-5; prehistory and, 5-6; eco¬
Han Wu Ti (han' w<56' der), Chinese donian conquest, 191-92; philoso¬ nomic interpretation of, 827f.; con¬
emperor, 297 phy, 193-200, 215, 219; science, temporary attitudes toward, 1300
Handel, George Frederick, 668, 669- 199, 201-2, 219; literature, 202-6; Hitler, Adolf, 753, 1053-54, 1062,
70 architecture and sculpture, 206-9; 1204-5L, 1208
Hangchow, 153, 460, 464, 467 achievements and significance of, Hittite civilization, 97-100; empire,
Hankow (han'ko'), 931 213- 16 discovery, and history of, 98, 108
Hannibal, 246 Hellenistic Age, 207n, 251 Hittites, 80, 88, 103, 109
Hanoi, 1239 Hellenistic civilization, 171, 192, 201, Hizen (he'zen') clan, 934, 938
Hanover, House of, 62In 207«, 208, 219-235, 358; Hellenic Ho Chi Minh, 1221, 1231, 1239, 1245
civilization and, 219-20, 233; politi¬ Hobbes, Thomas, 589, 638—39, 645,
Hansberry, Lorraine, 1295-96
cal history and institutions, 220- 646ff.
Hanse, 416-17, 630 21; economic and social develop¬ Hohenstaufen dynasty, 408-10
Hanseatic League, 417, 578 ments, 221-24, 229; philosophy, Hohenzollern dynasty, 590, 628-29,
Hapsburg Empire, 1021, 1026, 1035— 225-28; literature, 228-29, 252; 839-40
36 sculpture and architecture, 229-30; Hojo family, 472-73

J
 Hokkaido (hok-kl'do), 308 Ibsen, Henrik, 976-77 Indian Ocean, 24, 290, 321, 379, 711
Holbein (hol'bln), Hans, 521, 522 Iconoclastic movement, 361, 362-63 Indians, in Africa, 953, 1150
Holding companies. 806f. Icons, 362, 630-33 Indians, American, 15f., 593, 600,
Holland, 401, 570, 573, 592, 620, 631 Ideology: decline of, 1221-23; par¬ 879; in Latin America, 21, 879,
635f„ 641, 645, 770-71, 776; see tial revival, 1223-24 892ff„ 897, 902, 908
also Low Countries; Netherlands Ieyasu (e-ye-ya'soo), 696, 700 Individualism, 195f„ 225, 259-60, 488,
Holstein (hol'shtln), 846 Ife, 482, 706-7; oni of, 706f. 517, 542, 570, 654, 781f., 833, 862,
Holy Alliance, 771 Ignatius (lg-na/shi-us) of Loyola, 969; economic, 820
Holy Land, 428fL 568f. Indo-Aryans, 113, 118, 121, 124f„
Holy Roman Empire, 408-10, 427 Ikhnaton (Tk-na'ton), 36-37, 43, 47 127, 129, 150
491, 513, 519-20, 554, 559, 572, II Popolo d'ltalia (T1 po'po-lo Indochina, 290f„ 297, 299, 464, 690,
626-27, 635, 640f„ 762 de-ta'lya), 1049 839, 927, 1171, 1207, 1238-42,
Homer, 202 1244f.
Iliad, 100f„ 124, 177, 202
Homo sapiens (ho'mo sa'pl-enz), 8 Illia, Arturo (e'ya, ar-toor'o), 910 Indochina War, 1177, 1192, 1220-21L,
Homosexuality, 265, 1253 Immortality, doctrine of, 35, 47, 53, 1227, 1231, 1252
Honan, 146, 152, 298 61, 88, 93, 213 Indo-European: languages, 69, 98,
Honduras, 20, 880 Immunities, 348, 391 108, 118, 238; peoples, 69, 121,
Hong Kong, 922, 1237 Imperial Conferences, 1072 124, 238, 340
Honshu (hon'shoo), 307, 309 Imperialism, 835, 980, 1003; in an¬ Indo-Gangetic Plain, 116, 280
Hooke, Robert, 657 cient Near East, 31-32, 54, 63-64, Indonesia, 279, 1191, 1237, 1243-44L,
Hoover, Herbert, 1066f., 1253 70, 71, 110; Athenian, 189-90, 214; 1216, 1261
Horace, 237, 259 Roman, 241, 244-47, 259, 271; Indo-Pakistan wars, 1112, 1118, 1120,
Horse, 54, 119, 238 during Italian Renaissance, 493-94; 1122, 1216
Hortensian Law, 243 during Commercial Revolution, Indra, 121
Horus, 34f. 588-91; in India, 591, 637, 680, Inductive method, 533
Hosea, 86 689, 1093-1110, 1113; in Africa, Indulgences, 544, 548, 550, 553-54,
House-canoe system, 950 854-55, 951-52, 1226; during 559, 568
Hrozny (hroz'ne), Bedrich, 98 19th century, 854-59; balance Indus River, 115f., 192, 222
Hsiin-tsang (shen'tzang'), 283 sheet of, 858-59; Japanese, 858, Indus valley, 116, 118, 137f., 458
Hstin-tzu (shen'dzfi'). 164, 166 927, 933, 945-49; in Asia, 917, Indus valley civilization, 54, 116-17,
Hudson, Henry, 579 1226; in China, 917-33, 947, 949; 128, 136, 143
Hudson’s Bay Company, 586, 1076 revolts against, 1235-42 Industrial Revolution, 221, 705, 774,
Huerta (wer'ta), Victoriano, 900-2 Impressionism, in painting, 982-83, 791, 843, 917; economic theory of,
Hughes, Langston, 1246, 1295 1296; in music, 992, 1298 819-33; see also First Industrial
Hugo, Victor, 785 Incas, 881—82 Revolution; Second Industrial
Huguenots, 563, 572-73, 621-22, 625, Independents, 617, 619 Revolution; Third Industrial
795, 895, 955 Index of Prohibited Books, 514, 568 Revolution
Human sacrifice, 80, 109, 149, 158 India, 76, 103, 113, 116, 129, 138, Ingres (an'gr’), Jean Auguste, 786
Humanism, 205, 488, 542-43, 654, 223, 266, 279ff„ 372, 453, 464, 637, Initiative and referendum, 873, 877
659-60, 1276; in Greek art, 206- 679ff„ 711, 921, 1243; peoples of, Innate ideas, doctrine of, 645f., 648
9, 229; in Italian Renaissance, 495, 113-14; languages, 113, 118, 187— Innocent III, Pope, 407, 420, 422,
496-97, 502f„ 506f., 509; in Ger¬ 88, 1113; geographic divisions, 114— 427, 542, 640
man Renaissance, 520-21, 539; in 16; nomadic invasions, 280f., 458; Innocent IV, Pope, 427
Renaissance in Low Countries, Moslem invasions, 292, 453, 454- Innocent VIII, Pope, 543-44, 602
523-24; 539; in English Renais¬ 55; Turks in, 455, 457-58; Mogul Inoculation, 469, 658-59, 675, 964
sance, 531-32, 534f., 539; Chris¬ dynasty, 680-89; Republic of, Inonu, Ismet (I-nu-nu', is-met'),
tian, 538-39, 559, 563 1071f„ 1111, 1112-18, 1120, 1122; 1127f.
Humanitarianism, 226, 654, 672-73, British rule in, 1093-1110; native Inquisition, 425, 514, 520, 530, 567,
949, 1002 states, 1097, 1107, 1111-13; civil 569, 574, 602, 627, 883, 893f.
Humbert I, king of Italy, 830 service, 1097-98, 1113; population, Institutional Revolutionary Party
Hume, David, 651-52, 781 1098, 1116, 1261; nationalism, (PRI), Mexico, 904
Hunan, 1162 1100-1, 1109-10; and World War Institutions, origin of, 8, 13, 14-18,
Hundred Days, 758 I, 1101-2; and World War II, 22
Hundred Days of Reform, China, 1108-10; independence of, 1110- Instrument of government, 618
927-28 11; economic development, 1116— Intellectual Revolution, 643-75; phi¬
Hundred Years’ War, 401, 402-5, 17 losophy of, 644—54; the Enlighten¬
407f„ 519, 594, 611, 622f„ 1220 Indian civilization: caste system, 114, ment, 647-54; science, 654-59; art,
Hung Hsiu-ch’iian (hoong' she-oo' 126, 128-32, 135, 137, 281, 686; 659-64; literature, 664-68; music,
chu-an'), 924-25 Vedic period, 118-24, 127, 129, 668-71; social history of, 671-75;
Hungarian Republic, 843 136, 138, 150; literature, 118-19L, “new,” 959-92
Hungarians, 630, 1236 122-27, 132, 136, 141, 285-86, 687- Intendents, 624
Hungary, 634, 723, 843-44, 1041, 88; philosophy, 118, 122-24, 126- Interdict, 422, 427
1065, 1224; revolt of 1956—1216, 27, 13If.; music, 119, 682-83; so¬ Internal combustion engine, 802, 804
1228-29; see also Austria-Hungary cial and political institutions, 119— International law, 639, 641
Huns: in India, 281-82, 455; rela¬ 20, 129-30L, 137-39, 141, 682; re¬ International Settlement, Shanghai,
tions with China, 297, 298f. ligion, 120-22, 127-29, 131-33, 923
Huntington, Ellsworth, 19 135-36, 139, 283, 681, 685-86; epic
Huss, John, 548 age, 124, 127, 129; architecture, International Workingmen’s Associa¬
Hutten, Ulrich von, 520-21, 555 132, 286-88, 459, 684-85, 686-87; tion, 830
Huxley, Thomas H., 969-70, 1002 sculpture, 132, 140, 288-90; scien¬ Internationalism, 1247; growth of,
Hyderabad (hi'der-a-bad'), 286^88f., tific achievements, 136-37; Gupta 1212-17
1097, 1111 age, 283-292; commerce, 283-84, Ionesco (yo-ne'skoo), Eugene, 1294
Hydrogen bomb, 1177, 1226, 1283-84 290, 459, 682; education, 284; Ionian cities, 70, 72f., 181, 213
Hyksos (hlk'sos), 31, 35, 100 drama, 285-86; painting, 286, 289,
Ionic architecture, 208, 229
687f.; in Southeast Asia, 290-92;
decline of, 688 Ipsus, Battle of, 220
Ibadan, 952 Indian deities, 120-21, 127-28 Iran (e-ran'), 372, 1122, 1138-40,
Ibanez (e-ba'nyath), Carlos, 906 Indian National Congress, 1100-1, 1216
Ibn Saud (tb'n sa-ood'), 1132-33 1104-5, 110711., 1113f , 1116 Iraq, 1140

K
Ireland, 339, 427-28, 570, 640, 723, 1243, 1267; geographic setting, 307; John of Salisbury, 438, 488
811, 1072; Easter Rebellion, 1000- population, 307, 699, 943, 1190-91, John the Baptist, 331
1; civil strife in, 1231-32, 1236 1261; racial stocks, 308; Tokugawa Johnson, Lyndon B., 912, 1227, 1239,
Irigoyen (e're-go'yan), Hipolito, 908 Shogunate, 695-705, 933—35f.; in¬ 1242, 1251, 1269
Irish Free State, 1232-33 dustrialization, 700, 810—11, 939-42, Joint-stock companies, 381, 586, 794,
Irish Renaissance, 353 1188- 91; imperialism, 858, 927, 933, 806, 809
Irish Republican Army, 1233 945-49, 1178, 1182, 1199, 1201, Joliet (zho-lya'), Louis, 579
Iron, 63, 80, 97, 99, 102, 155, 177, 1221, 1237; opening of, 933-35; Jones, James, 1293
238, 309, 798-99, 810 Meiji era, 935-49, 1178; constitu¬ Jonson, Ben, 534
Iron Age, in Africa, 48-49, 318-20 tion of 1889—936-38, 1185; politi¬ Jordan, Kingdom of, 1133, 1136L,
Iron Curtain, 1222 cal parties, 938-39, 1181-82, 1187- 1140
Irrigation, 24, 38, 47, 56f., 380, 700; 88; nationalism, 943, 944-45, 1182— Jordan River, 1134
in India, 138, 1098, 1116; in China, 83; militarism, 944-45, 1182-83, Jordan West Bank, 1137
145, 154f„ 302, 461, 463 1189- 90, 1194; foreign policy, 945- Joseph II, emperor of Austria, 629-30
Isabella, queen of Spain, 519, 579, 626 49, 1179-80, 1191-94; World War I Joyce, James, 1292
Isaiah, 86 and, 1029, 1038, 1044, 1156, 1178; Juarez (hwa'ras), Benito, 897
Ishtar, 58, 67 World War II and, 1164, 1184, Juchen (roo'chun'), 460. 462, 689
Isis (T'sis), 34f„ 233, 254, 265 1197, 1207-9L, 1211-12; democracy Judah, kingdom of, 55, 82-83
Iskra (The Spark), 1059 in, 1179f., 1185, 1187; American Judaism, 87, 94, 371, 971, 1003-4,
Islam, 299-300, 367ff., 370-72, 434, occupation, 1184-86, 1189; Consti¬ 1008; Reform, 651, 1003-4
454, 457f., 462-63, 681; in Africa, tution of 1946—1185f.; economic Judical review, U.S., 1066, 1185
320f., 477-83, 71 If.; see also Mos¬ growth, 1188-92 Julian, Roman emperor, 269f.
lems; Saracenic civilization Japanese civilization: impact of Chi¬ Julius II, Pope, 489, 493, 504, 506,
Islam, see Black Muslims nese culture on, 280, 309, 311-17, 513
Israel, kingdom of, 55, 80, 82-83 475, 700; origins of, 306-7; religion, Julius Caesar, see Caesar, Gaius Julius
Israel, Republic of, 113If., 1136-37, 309-10, 475, 697-98; social organi¬ July Revolution, 775-76, 863
1231 zation, 309, 314, 471-72, 475, 698- Jupiter, 67, 244
Istanbul, 1126 700, 702-4, 1181, 1190-91; writing, Juries: Athenian, 188-89; Roman,
Itagaki, Taisuki (e'ta-ga'ke, tl-sdo'ke), 311-12; government, 314-16, 469- 267; medieval, 405-6
938 73, 696-97L, 936-39, 1183; litera¬ Jus civile (yoos si-vel'e), 268, 364
Italia irredenta (l-ta'le-a Ir-re-den'ta), ture, 317, 476, 943; feudalism, 453, Jus gentium (yoos gen'ti-um), 268f.,
1020 470, 471-74, 695ff„ 698-99, 703, 639
Italian War of Liberation, 848 935-36, 1181; commerce, 474-75, Jus naturale (yoos nat'ur-al'e), 268f.,
Italy, 237f., 551-52, 570, 592, 596, 697ff., 1180-81, 1191-92; painting, 364
636, 640, 660, 668f., 752f., 759, 476; drama, 476-77, 702; agricul¬ Justicialist Liberation Front, Argen¬
761 f., 770f., 816, 839, 846, 852, ture, 699-700, 704-5, 943-44, 1186, tina, 910
1045, 1065, 1146, 1200-1, 1222, 1188; westernization, 704, 936f., Justification by faith, 553, 555, 565
1224f., 1267; ancient and medieval, 939, 942; education, 704, 942-43, Justinian, 343, 348, 359, 361—62; Code
76, 176, 182, 190, 206, 254, 266, 1190 of, 274, 364-65
267, 340, 343, 347-48, 359f., 363, Japanese peace treaty, 1186-87, 1211— Juvenal, 260, 271
366, 393, 400, 408, 41 If., 427, 434, 12
440; geography, 237-38; Renais¬ Japanese Security Treaty, 1187f., 1192
sance in, 489f., 491-515; Reforma¬ Jaspers (yas'pers), Karl, 1275 Kaaba (ka'baL 368ff.
tion in, 566; Industrial Revolution Jauregg, Julius Wagner von, 965 Kabuki fka'boo-ke) drama, 702
in, 810; unification of, 847-50; im¬ Java, 7, 290f. Kafka, Franz, 1294
perialism, 855, 1199; development Java man, 7, 144 Kaifeng (kl'fung'), 460
of democracy in, 872; World War I Jay, John, 732 Kamakura (ka'ma-kbo'ra), 473f.
and, 1018ff., 1029, 1032, 1036, 1038, Jeanne d’Arc (zhan' dark') (Joan of Kanauj (ka-nouj'), 283
1041, 1048f.; Fascist regime in, Arc), 404 Kanem-Bornu, kingdom of, 482
1048-51; World War II and, 1197, Jefferson, Thomas, 621, 653, 732, 873- K’ang Hsi (kang' she'),_690
1207 74 K’ang Yu-wei (kang' yoo'wa'), 927-
Ithaca, 178 Jehovah, see Yahweh 28. 931
Iturbide (e'toor-be'da), Augustin de, Jenne, 477, 479 Kant, Immanuel, 778-79, 832, 972,
893, 897 Jenner, Sir Edward, 659, 963, 1286 1275
Ivan (T-van') the Great, 631 Jerusalem, 81ff., 88, 331, 428, 432 Karma doctrine, 123. 13If., 135, 303f.
Ivory, 9, 45, 223, 320f„ 483, 580, 953- Jesuits, 530, 568-69ff., 600, 668, 872, Karnak, 41f., 73, 291
54 1074, 1275; in China, 693, 695; in Kashmir, 140, 1111-12, 1113-14,
Ivory Coast, 705 Japan, 697-98 1118, 1122
Jesus of Nazareth, 76, 92, 94, 329, Kashta, King, 48
330-32, 337, 371, 767 Kassites, 54f.
Jackson, Andrew, 736, 875 Jews: in ancient times, 55, 69, 83, 210, Katanga, 321, 483-84, 1148
Jackson State (University), 1268 231, 330f.; in India, 284; in Middle Kato Zakros, 102
Jacob, 80 Ages, 348, 358, 367, 369f., 374, 429, Keats, John, 783-84
Jacobin Club, 746n, 748 433-34, 463, 581; in modern world, Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1199
Jacobins, 746ff., 750, 776 529, 626, 629, 651, 654, 841-42, 998, Kemal Ataturk, see Mustafa Kemal
Jahangir (ja-han'ger), 689 1004, 1054f., 1134 Kemal, Ya§ar (ke-mal', ya'shar'),
Jainism (jln'Izm), 132-33, 287 Jimmu, “first emperor” (Japan), 311 1128
Jamaica, 1071 Jinnah, Mohammed Ali, 1107—8, 1110, Kempis, Thomas a, 538-39
James, William, 4, 971 1118 Kennan, George F., 1226
James I, king of England, 532, 600, Joad, C. E. M., 1274 Kennecott corporation, 907
612-15 Joan of Arc, see Jeanne d’Arc Kennedy, John F., 913f., 1219, 1226-
James II, king of England, 619f. Job, Book of, 62z 90-91 27, 1239, 1251
James VI, king of Scotland, 612 Johannesburg (yo-ha'nfis-burkh), Kent State (University), 1268
Jameson, Dr. Leander, 1141 1141 Kenya, 321, 953, 1071, 1150-51
Jan Sangh Party, 1114 John, king of England, 406f., 427, 640 Kenyatta, Jomo, 1151
Janus, temple of, 256 John, prince of Portugal, 891 Kepler, Johann, 522, 601
Japan, 279, 285, 297, 305, 30711., 453, John XXIII, Pope, 1001, 1278-79 Kerensky, Alexander, 1057f., 1060
463, 469, 679f., 695ff., 761, 918, John of Leyden, 558-59 Kerouac, Jack, 1267
930, 1065, 1088, 1178, 1200-1, 1225, John of Meun, 446 Kettering, Charles, 804
L
Keynes, John Maynard, 1249, 1257- 37, 809, 815-18, 820, 823f., 832, Letters of Obscure Men, 520-21
58 949. 1258 Lettres de cachet (let'r’ de ka'she'),
Khartoum, 49 Lake Tanganyika, 954 724
Khilji (kll'je) dynasty, 456 Lake Victoria, 954f. Leuctra (luk'tra), Battle of, 191
Khitan (je-dan' or ke'tan'), 460 Lamarck, Jean de Monet, Levassor (le-va'sor'), Emile, 804
Khmers, 291-92 Chevalier de, 960 Levellers, 618-19
Khrushchev (kroosh-chof7), Nikita S., Lamennais (la'mg'ne'), Robert de, Leviticus, Book of, 564
913, 1173, 1219, 1223, 1228f. 831 Lex talionis (leks tal'I-o'nus), 54, 65
Khufu, pyramid of, 41 Landini, Francesco, 536 Leyden jar, 655
Kierkegaard (kTr'kg-gor), Soren, Langley, Samuel P„ 805 Li Yuan-hung (le' yu-an'hoong'),
1275, 1290 Lanusse, General Alejandro, 910 93 If.
Kikuyu tribe, 1150-51 Laos (louz), 1242, 1244, 1251 Liaotung (le-ou'ddong') Peninsula,
Kilimanjaro, 952 Lao-tzu (lou'dzu'), 164-65, 304 947
Kilwa, 483 Lasers, 1255 Liberal Democratic Party, in Japan,
Kimberley, 1141 Lassus, Roland de, 537f. 1187—88
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1247, 1290- Last Judgment, 74, 88, 371 Liberal Party: in Great Britain, 817,
91 Later Middle Ages, 330, 389-451; 864f.; in Japan, 938, 1182; in
Kipling, Rudyard, 979, 980-81 agriculture, 396-97; commerce, 400, Canada, 1079; in Australia, 1087;
Kirk, Russell, 1278 410-11, 432; urban life, 410-13, in New Zealand, 1090
Kistna River, 459 448; guild system, 413-17; Chris¬ Liberalism, 823, 836, 862; political
Kline, Franz, 1297 tianity. 419-25; philosophy, 421, theory of, 731-34, 736, 743
Knossos, 101f„ 105, 107, 176 434-37; secular vs. spiritual au¬ Liberia, 950, 1145-46
Koch (kokh), Robert, 964-65, 1286 thorities, 425-28; political theory, Libreville, 950
Kongo kingdom, 705f., 709f.; Mani- 437-38, 507; science, 438-39; edu¬ Libya, 1131f., 1146
kongo of, 706f. cation, 439-42; literature, 442-47, Libyan desert, 22
Koran (kor-an'), 357, 371f., 681, 494-95; architecture, 447-50; Libyans, 32
687f. music, 441, 450-51 Liebig (le'bTk), Justus von, 801
Korea, 279, 285, 297, 299, 305, 308f„ Latin America, 879-914, 1065, 1192, Lilienthal, Otto, 805
311, 690, 858, 927, 946-48, 1210 1267, 1280; military coups, 905, Lima (le'ma), 883
Korean War, 1087, 1172, 1220, 1251 907, 909-10; foreign investments Lin Piao (lln be-a'o), 1174—76f.
Kosygin (ko-se'gTn), Aleksei N., in, 905ff., 912ff.; basic problems, Lin-an (lin-an'), 460
1065. 1230 914 Lincoln, Abraham, 5, 853
Kremlin, 631, 764 Latium, 239 Linnaeus (lT-ne'us), Carolus, 657, 960
Krishna, 126f. Latvia, 1037 Lisbon, 580, 707
Kropotkin, Peter, 830 Laud (lod), William, 616 List, Georg Friedrich, 824
Kruger, Paul, 1141, 1144 Laurier (lo'rya'), Sir Wilfrid, 1077 Lister, Joseph, 964
Krupps, 809-10 Lausanne (lo'zan'), Treaty of, 1044, Liszt (list), Franz, 990
Kshatriya (kshat'rl-ya) caste, 129f., 1126 Literacy/illiteracy, 91 Iff., 942, 1065,
132. 455 Lavoisier (la'vwa'zya'), Antoine, 656- 1116, 1121, 1125, 1132, 1170, 1243
Ku Klux Klan, 1224 57 Literature: Old Babylonian, 62; Chal¬
Kubitschek, Juscelino, 904-5 Law: primitive, 17f.; Egyptian, 47; dean, 68-69; Hebrew, 89-92; Hit¬
Kublai Khan (koo'bli_kan), 462f. Sumerian, 57-58, 61; Old Baby¬ tite, 99; Indian, 118-19L, 122-27,
Kulturkampf (ko&l-toog'kampf'), lonian, 60-61, 99; Assyrian, 65, 99; 132, 136, 141, 285-86, 687-88;
871-72. 1001 Hebrew, 88-89, 94; Hittite, 99; Chinese, 160-61, 306, 466-67, 694;
Kumasi, 707 Roman, 240, 242f„ 248-49, 251f., Greek, 202-6; Hellenistic, 228-29;
Kumbi-Saleh, All 267-69, 274, 364, 549, 556; early Roman, 251f., 259-60; Japanese,
Kuomintang (gwo'mln'dang'), 932, medieval, 342, 344; Byzantine, 364- 317, 476, 943; early medieval, 352-
1156—58ff., 1160-62f.. 1165 65; late medieval, 393, 438; com¬ 53; Saracenic, 377, 380; late medie¬
Kuraish (ku-rfsh'), 368f. mon, 405-6 val, 442-47, 494-95, 497; Italian
Kuril (koo'rll) Islands, 308, 1192, Law, John, 592 Renaissance, 494-99; Low Coun¬
1211 Law of nature, 619, 638f., 547f. tries Renaissance, 423-24; French
Kush, Kingdom of, 48ff., 319 Lay investiture, 426 Renaissance, 527-29; Spanish Ren¬
Kushites, 48-49 League of Nations, 641, 1039f., 1044- aissance, 530; English Renaissance,
Kushitic civilization, 48-49 45, 1050, 1062, 1078, 1135, 1179, 533-36; classicism in, 664-65, 973;
Kuwait, 1140 1182, 1198, 1212 romanticism in, 666-68, 783-85,
Kwangtung province, 927 League of the Three Emperors, 1022 973, 979-81; realism in, 973-79;
Kyoto, 317, 470ff., 696f„ 700, 934f„ Leakey, Louis S. B., 6 contemporary developments in,
940 Lebanon, 1140, 1216 1291—96; black writers, 1294-96
Kyushu (kyoo'shoo), 309ff. Lebanon Mountains, 109 Lithuania, 631, 1037, 1045
Leeuwenhoek (la'ven-hdok), Anton Little Entente, 1198
van, 657f. Liu Shao-ch’i (lye' shou'che'), 1174—
La Plata, 883 Legalist school, 166, 295 76
La Prensa, 909 Legitimacy, 770-71 Liverpool, 580
La Salle. Rene Robert, 579 Leipzig (llp'tslk), Battle of, 765 Livingstone, David, 952
Labor/labor unions, 414, 744, 807f., Lenin (lye'nen), Nikolai, 1058—59fT., Livy, 259-60
816, 820, 823, 909f., 997, 1000, 1063f„ 1106, 1271 Lloyd George, David, 817-18, 822,
1084, 1086f., 1160, 1185—86f., 1256 Leo III, Byzantine emperor, 362f. 867, 1037, 1038—39f.
Labour government: in Great Britain, Leo III, Pope, 345 Locarno Agreements, 1199
1047, 1066, 1110; in Australia, Leo X, Pope, 489, 497, 506, 544, Locke, John, 644, 647, 648f., 731—
1088; in New Zealand, 1090 552ff. 32ff„ 781. 874
Labour party, Great Britain, _829 Leo XIII, Pope, 436, 831, 1001, 1278 Logical positivism, 1276-77
Lacedaemonia (las'e-de-mo'nl-a), see Leon, 626 Lombard, Peter, theology of, 546
Sparta Leonard of Pisa, 439 Lombards, 343, 348, 359
Lacedaemonians, 183n Leonardo da Vinci, 500-1, 507, 510— Lombardy, 847f.
Laconia, 183 11, 597, 797, 805 Lon Nol, 1244
Lafayette, Marquis de, 728, 746« Leopold of Hohenzollern, 839f. London, 411, 596
Lagos, 952 Lepidus, 254 London Company, 586
Laibach (ll'bakh), Congress of, 772 Lesotho, 956, 1071 London Stock Exchange, 794
Laissez faire (le'sa' far'), 165f., 736- Lessing, Gotthold, 651, 1003 Londonderry, 1232

M
Lonergan, Bernard, 1275 Magic, 10, 11-12, 37, 61-62, 75, 851, Marquette, Father, 579
Long, Crawford W., 963 310 Marseilles (mar'sa'y’), 348
Long March, in China, 1162-63, 1173 Magna Carta, 407, 613, 615, 619 Marshall Islands, 1178
Lopez (lo'pas), Francisco, 896 Magyars (mod'yorz), 391-92, 844, Marshall Plan, 914
Lords, House of, 617, 818, 867-68 1041 Marsiglio (mar-se'lyo) of Padua, 438
Lorentz, Hendrik, 966 Mahabharata (ma-ha'ba'ra-ta), 119, Martel, Charles, 344, 348, 391
Lorraine, 401, 801, 810, 847, 1019, 124, 125-27 Martial, 260, 271
1039f. Mahavira (ma-ha've'ra), 13211 Marx, Karl, 4, 780, 825-29L, 998,
Los Alamos (los a'la-mos), 1283 Mahayana (ma-ha'ya'na) Buddhism, 1063
Los Angeles, 1261 136, 283, 303, 312 Marxism, 831f., 997-98, 1063, 1158,
Louis IX, king of France, 402, 622 Mailer, Norman, 1293 1166, 1170f., 1222, 1224; see also
Louis XI, king of France, 519 Maimonides (ml-mon'T-dez), Moses, Bolsheviks/ Bolshevism
Louis XII, king of France, 513 651, 1003 Mary Tudor, queen of England, 565,
Louis XIII, king of France, 623-24, Maistre (mes'tr’), Joseph de, 777, 614
635 1290 Masaccio (ma-zat'cho), 499-500
Louis XIV, king of France, 590, 625, Malacca, 579, 692 Mass, Roman Catholic, 335
628, 630, 635, 639, 661, 690, 723 Malaga (ma-la-ga'), 109 Materialism, 198f., 2253., 251, 646,
Louis XV, king of France, 625-26, Malawi, 953, 1071 970f„ 979f., 1001; in Buddhist
636, 723ff. Malay Archipelago, 279, 290 philosophy, 134; 19th-century revolt
Louis XVI, king of France, 625-26, Malay Peninsula, 290, 464, 1171, 1207 against, 832-33
664, 723f„ 738f., 743fL, 765 Malaysia, 1071, 1191, 1237, 1245, Mathematics, 5, 22, 38, 54, 59, 62, 68,
Louis XVIII, king of France, 765- 1259 881; Indian, 137; Chinese, 149;
66, 768, 770, 773, 776 Malcolm X, 1246 Hellenic, 201; Hellenistic, 230, 232;
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, see Napo¬ Malenkov (mal-yen-kof'), Georgi M., Saracenic, 376; in Renaissance, 526;
leon III 1227—28 new, 885
Louis Philippe, king of France, 776, Mali empire, 479ff., 483 Mather, Cotton, 658-59
836, 868-69 Malik Shah (ma-lik' sha'), 431 Mather, Increase, 658-59
Louisiana, 591 Malindi, 483, 711; Sultan of, 711 Matisse (ma'tes'), Henri, 984
Louisiana JPurchase, 875f. Malinowski, Bronislaw, 1289 Matriarchy, 104, 106, 309
Louvre (loo'vr’), 412 Malpighi (mal-pe'ge), Marcello. 657f. Matthias (ma-te'as), Holy Roman
Lovett, William, 864 Malraux (mal'ro'), Andre, 1292 emperor, 634
Low Countries, 394, 538, 543, 571, Malta, 1071 Mau Mau, 1150-51
723, 1029; Renaissance in, 518, Malthus, Thomas R., 820-21 Mauretania, 320
523-26, 537-38; see also Belgium; Malthusian theory, 820-21L, 961 Mauritius, 1071, 1237
Holland; Netherlands Managed currency, 1068, 1258 Maurya (ma/dor-ya) dynasty, 138—41,
Lowell, A. Lawrence, 871 Manchu dynasty, 689-95, 917fL, 280
Liibeck, 417 924ff.; end of, 930-32, 1155f. Max of Baden, Prince, 1035
Lucretius (lu-kre'shT-us), 251, 646 Manchukuo (man-choo'go), see Maximilian, Archduke, emperor of
Luther, Martin, 362, 541ff., 545, 5471, Manchuria Mexico, 839, 898
552—55ff., 558ff, 570-71, 600ff. Manchuria, 153, 297, 299, 460, 464, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor,
Lutheran church, 554-55 690, 927, 947ff., 1019, 1045, 1164f.. 513, 559
Lutheranism, 556, 559-60, 5621, 570- 1171, 11823., 1199ff. Maxwell, James Clerk, 966
71, 573 Manchus, 689-90L, 700 May Laws, 872
Lutherans, 524, 566, 570 Mandate of Heaven, 150-51, 159, 164, Mayan civilization, 20, 881
Luxembourg, 1021 316, 464 Mayas (ma'yas), 20, 880
Luxembourg palace, 660 Manet (ma'ne'), Edouard, 983 Mazarin (ma'za'ran'), Cardinal, 635
Luxor, 42, 291 Mani (ma'ne), 76-77 Mazda, see Ahura-Mazda
Lyceum, 199 Manicheans, 305, 334 Mazzini (mat-tse'ne), Giuseppe, 847
Lycurgus (11-kur'gus), 184 Manicheism (man'T-ke'Tzm), 76-77, Mecca, 3675., 374, 479, 481f, 1132
Lydia, 691, 72, 108-9 337. 350 Mechanism, 92, 198, 226-27, 644-
Lydians, 971, 108-9 Manifest destiny, 273, 854 455., 967, 970f.
Lyric, 203 Manila, 1245 Mechanization, 595-96, 792-93, 801,
Lysimachus (li-slm'a-kus), 220 Mann, Thomas, 976 1256
Lysippus, 209 Manorialism, 396-400, 471, 594-95 Medes (medz), 69f., 108
Mansa Musa, 479f. Medici, Cosimo de’, 506
Mantinea (man't’n-e'a), Battle of, Medici, Garrastazu, 905-6
Mably (ma'ble'), Gabriel de, 673-74 191 Medici, Lorenzo de’, 493, 497f., 500,
Macao (ma-ka'o), 693, 919, 927 Manzikert, Battle of, 359, 431 514
MacArthur, General Douglas, 11841 Mao Tse-tung (mou' dzu'doong'), Medici family, 489, 493, 497, 504, 508,
Macaulay, Thomas B., 1100; quoted, 1155, 1162-63, 1166f., 1170-71, 512, 538, 582
600-1 11733., 1230, 1247 Medicine, 882; Egyptian, 38-39; Su¬
Maccabees I, 89 Maoris (ma'6-rTz), 1089 merian, 59; Assyrian, 65, 68; In¬
Maccabees II, 89 Marat (ma'ra'), Jean Paul, 747, 750 dian, 136-37; Greek, 202; Helle¬
McCollum, Elmer V., 965 Maratha Confederacy, 685 nistic, 230, 232; Roman, 262, 263-
McCormick, Cyrus, 801 Marathas (ma-ra'taz). 685f., 1096 64; Saracenic, 376-77; late medie¬
Macedonia, 140, 2201, 10241 Marconi, Guglielmo, 806 val, 439; Chinese, 468-69; in
Macedonians, 110, 137-38, 192 Marcus Aurelius, 256, 258, 265 Renaissance, 511-12, 522-23, 526-
Machaut (ma-sho'), Guillaume de, Marcuse, Herbert, 1223-24 27; modern, 658-59, 675, 812, 963-
536-37 Marduk, 59, 66f. 65, 1286-89; psychosomatic, 1288
Machiavelli (ma'kya-vel'le), Niccolo, Maria Theresa, empress of Austria, Medicis (ma'de'ses'), Catherine de,
498. 507-9, 628, 1106 629, 637 573
McKinley, President William, 830 Mariana Islands, 1178 Medicis, Marie de, 624
McMahon, William, 1088 Marie Antoinette, 745 Medina (me-de'na), 370, 372, 1132
Madagascar, 319 Marie Louise, archduchess of Austria, Mediterranean peoples: in Africa, 48;
Madeira, 579 770 in India, 114f.; in Italy, 238
Madero (ma-tha'ro), Francisco, 900 Marinetti, E. F. T., 985-86 Mediterranean Sea, 109, 239, 256, 275,
Madison, James, 732, 873 Marius (mar'T-us), 249 379
Madras, 4, 459, 689 Mark Antony, 252, 254f. Megara (meg'a-ra), 181, 187
Magadha (mu'ga-da) kingdom, 138 Marlowe, Christopher, 534 Meiji (ma'je) era, 935-49
N
Meiji Restoration, 935 Millet (me'la'), Jean Francois, 981- Monotheism, 36, 47, 54, 74, 86, 127,
Mekong River valley/basin, 290, 1191 82 371
Melos (me'los), 190 Milton, John, 665, 1299 Monsoon, 116, 284
Melville, Herman, 977, 1008 Minamoto family, 472 Montagu, Lady Mary, 658
Memling, Hans, 525 Minerva, 244 Montaigne (mon'ten'y’), Michel de,
Memphis, 48 Ming dynasty, 464-65ff., 476, 689, 517, 527-29, 603. 995, 1235
Menander, 229 693f„ 700 Monte Cassino, 339
Mencius (men'shi-us), 164, 466 Ministeriales (min'Ts-ter-I-al'ez), 394 Montenegro, 1021, 1024, 1029
Mendel, Gregor, 962 Minnesingers, 444, 451 Montesorri, Maria, 1005-6
Mendelssohn (men'dels-son), Felix Minoan-Mycenaean civilization, 97, Montesquieu (mon'tes'kyu'), Baron
990 100-8, 110; discovery of, 100-1; de, 19, 728, 731f„ 733-34, 742
Mendelssohn, Moses, 651, 990, 1003 writing, 102, 105, 107; art, 102, Monteverdi, Claudio, 668
Menderes (men'de-res), Adnau. 105, 107, 176; Egyptian civilization Montfort, Simon de, 407
1127f. and, 102f., 106-7; religion, 104-5, Montpellier (mon'pe'lya'), University
Mennonites, 559 107; influence of, 107, 175 of, 440, 527
Mensheviks, 1058 Minos (ml'nos), 103 Moors, 344, 391, 519, 529, 578, 626
Mercantilism, 485-86, 587-91 594 Minseito (mln'sa-to) party, 1182, Morales (mo-ra'las), Luis de, 529
639, 754, 792, 795, 883-85f.; theory 1187 Morality: during Reformation, 599-
of, 587-89, 736-37; in England, 589- Mirabeau (me'ra'bo'), Marquis de, 600; during Age of Enlightenment,
90, 592; in Spain, 589; in Ger¬ 728, 739, 746« 674-75
many, 590; in France, 590-92, 727 Miracle plays, 415 More, Sir Thomas, 531-32, 539, 543,
Merchant adventurers, 585-86 Mirambo, 954 563, 603
Mergers, 809 Miranda, Francisco de, 889 Moret (mo'ra'), Alexandre, 24
Meroe, 49 Mississippi, 1247 Morgan, J. P., and Company, 806
Merovingian dynasty, 343-44, 348, Mississippi Bubble, 592-93 Morocco, 321, 375, 379, 479, 481,
391 Mississippi valley, 579, 623 1019, 1024, 1238
Mesopotamia, 15, 53, 79, 146, 220 Mithraism, 75-76, 233, 254, 265, 333 Morris, William, 832-33, 1007
458, 461, 1044, 1126 Mithras (mith'ras), 75, 121 Morse, Samuel F. B., 801
Mesopotamian civilization, 21ff., 53- Mitra, 121 Morton, William T. G., 963
69, 71f., 117, 136, 143, 145; com¬ Mitsubishi (me'tsdo-be'she), 940-41, Mosaics, 365f., 378, 448
pared with Egypt, 53-54; political 1182 Moscow, 632, 1157, 1207; Grand
history, 54-55; Sumerian origins, Mitsui (me'tsdo'e), 940f., 1182 Duchy of, 631
53, 55-60; Old Babylonian con¬ Mitylene (mlt'le'ne), 181 Moscow International, 1049, 1157
tributions, 60-61; Assyrian meta¬ Mo Ti (mo' de'), 165-66 Moscow-Canton Entente of 1923-
morphosis, 63—66; Chaldean ren¬ Mobutu, President, 1149 1927-1157-60
ascence, 66-69 Model Parliament, 407 Moses, 80, 85-86, 88
Messana, 245 Modena (mo'da-na), 771, 847f. Moslem League, 1101, 1104, 1107f.,
Messenia, 183 Mogadishu, 483 1110, 1118
Messiah, 74, 92ff., 330 Mogul dynasty, 680-89 Moslems, 357, 359, 370f„ 391-92, 432,
Messianism (me-sl'a-nlzm), 74f„ 234 Mogul Empire, 686, 689, 1096 477ff., 581, 1126; in India, 454-59,
Mestizos (mes-te'zos), 892f., 897 Mohammed (Muhammad), 357, 369- 682, 686ff„ 1096, llOlf., 1104,
Metals, Age of, 6, 14, 116 7 Off. 1107-8, 1111; in China, 462, 926;
Metaphysics, 968-73 Mohammed V, sultan of Turkey, 851 see also Saracens
Metayers (me'te-ya'), 675 Mohammedanism, see Islam Mossadegh (mo'sa-dek'), Moham¬
Metics (met'Tks), 209f., 212 Mohenjo-Daro (mo-hen'jo-da'ro), med, 1138
Metric system, 749 116 Mosul, 379
“Metropolitanization,” 1265 Mohist (mo'Tst) school, 166, 293 Mount Olympus, 179
Metternich (met'er-nlkh), Prince Mohl, Hugo von, 962 Mount Sinai, 85 _
Klemens von, 757, 769-70ff., 843 Moliere (mo'lyar') (Jean Baptiste Moussorgsky (moo-sorg'ski),
Mexican War of 1846-1848—853, 877 Poquelin), 664-65 Modeste, 991-92
Mexico, 15, 20f„ 579, 581, 839, 879f., Moloch (mo'lok), 109 Mozambique, 321, 483, 71 If., 953
882f., 897-99, 900-4, 1262, 1297; Moltke, Field Marshal Helmuth von, Mozart (mo'tsart), Wolfgang, 670-71
revolution in, 892 1020 Muhammad Toure (“Askia”), 480-81
Mexico City, 880, 883, 893, 898, 904 Mombasa, 483, 711 Mujibur Rahman, Sheik, 1120f.
Micah, 86 Mommsen, Theodor, quoted, 243 Mun, Thomas, 577
Michelangelo (me'kal-an'ja-lo), 503, Monarchists, in France, 840, 841-42 Munich, 520, 1053
504-5f„ 538, 597, 986 Monasteries/monasticism, 337-39, Munich Agreement, 1204-5
Microscope, 439 362, 439-40; in Ethiopia, 50; Jain, Munster (mdon'stflr), 558-59
Middle Ages, 329, 659; see also Early 133; Buddhist, 135-36, 140, 286- Miinzer, Thomas, 557-58
medieval civilization; Later Middle 87f., 304, 314, 316, 471; schools, Murray, Gilbert, 1031
Ages 339, 353-54, 419; reform move¬ Muscat, 711, 953f.
Middle class, see Bourgeoisie ments, 423-24; dissolution of, 564, Music: in India, 119, 682-83; in
Middle East, 1125-41, 1222, 1226 629; see also individual orders China, 147, 305; in Later Middle
Middle Kingdom (China), 167 Monet (mo'ne'), Claude, 983 Ages, 441, 450-51; in Africa, 482;
Midway, Battle of, 1208 Money: Egyptian, 46; Chinese, 146; in Renaissance, 536-38; in Intellec¬
Milan, 411, 488f., 492ff., 500f., 624, in Commercial Revolution, 578, tual Revolution, 668—71; classicism
634, 636, 771 586-87; see also Coinage in, 670-71, 992; romanticism in,
Milesian school of philosophy, 193— Money economy, 223, 586-87 787t89; in Age of Democracy and
94 Mongol dynasty, 462-64, 466f„ 691 Nationalism, 989-92; contempo¬
Miletus (mT-le'tus), 181f., 193 Mongolia, 146, 153, 299, 301, 460, rary, 1298-99
Militarism, 234, 723, 763, 768, 815, 464, 690 Mussolini, Benito, 753, 1049-50, 1055,
835, 1037, 1051; Assyrian, 63-64; Mongolian peoples: in India, 113f., 1205, 1207
Hellenic, 183-85; Japanese, 944-45; 125; in China, 145; in Japan, 308 Mustafa Kemal (moos-ta-fa'
Mongols, 299, 358-59, 469, 631, 681; ke-mal'), 1044, 1126-27L, 1138
World War I and, 1020
in India, 458, 631; in China, 461- Mutation hypothesis, 962
Mhl, James, 781, 820, 822 64, 631 Mutsuhito (mdo-tsoo-he'to), emperor
Mill, John Stuart, 781-82, 823-24, Monism in religion, 58, 74, 104 of Japan, 935
861 Monophysite (mo-nof'l-slt) move¬ Mwenemutapa,_484, 706, 712
Miller, Arthur, 204 ment, 361-62 Mycenae (ml-se'ne), 101f., 176f.

o
Mycenaeans, 102, 106, 176, 183 Nationalist Party, in South Africa, Niaux (ne-o'), 11
Myron, 209 1142-44 Nicaea (nl-se'a), 363, 431; council of,
Mysore, 459 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Or¬ 335
Mystery cults, 213, 233-34, 254, 265f., ganization), 1217 Nice (nes), 753
33311. Natural law, 268-69, 820, 823 Nicholas I, Pope, 422
Mystery plays, 415 Natural selection, 961, 969, 971 Nicholas V, Pope, 489f.
Mysticism, 77, 225, 233-34f„ 238, 258, Naturalism, 229; in art, 40, 59, 106, Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia, 774-75f.
270, 372, 437, 547-48 499 Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, 810,
Nauru, 1237 99811., 1027
Navigation, 109-10, 655; Indian, 290, Nicholas of Cusa, 509
Nabopolassar (nab'6-po-las'er), 55 297; Chinese, 297, 464-65 Niebuhr, Reinhold, 1274f., 1290
Nadir Shah, 686 Navigation Acts, 589-90 Nietzsche (ne'che), Friedrich, 597,
Nagasaki (na'ga-sa'ke), 698, 704, Nazi Party, 1053f. 970-71, 1008
1209, 1283f. Nazi regime, in Germany, 1051-56, Niger River/Delta, 49, 320f., 477,
Naguib (na'glb), Major-General 1062-63 480, 705, 950, 952
Mohammed, 1130 Nazis, 871, 1223, 1251, 1277 Niger Republic, 481
Nalanda (na-lan'da), University of, Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939—1204ff., Nigeria, 481f„ 706, 712, 1071, 1146,
284—85 1223 1149-50
Nanak (na'nak), 685-86 Neanderthal (ne-an'der-tal') man, 7- Nihilists (nl'hi-llsts), 997-98
Nanking, 925f., 93If., 1160; Treaty of, 8. 13 Nile River, 32, 70, 192, 222, 320f.
921-22 Near East, 77, 223, 233, 271, 332, Nile valley, 13, 17, 22-25, 48f., 145
Nanshe, 58 357f., 360, 400, 411, 428ff„ 431f., Nine-Power Treaty, 1179f.
Nantes (nant), Edict of, 573, 623, 463, 490, 514, 658, 1024 Ninety-five Theses, Luther’s, 554
625, 795 Near Orient, 22, 24, 63, 71, 97, 171, Nineveh, 55
Napata, 48 192 Ninigi (nln-e'ge), 311
Napier, Sir Charles, 1095 Nebuchadnezzar (neb'u-kad-nez'er), Nirvana, 124, 136, 292
Naples, 237, 239, 491, 495, 592, 636; 66f„ 83 Nixon, Richard M., 1079, 1087,
University of, 439f.; Kingdom of, Negrito peoples, in India, 113f. 1177f., 1193, 1221-22, 1227, 1242,
494, 512 Negroes, 48, 593, 1245ff.; ancient cul¬ 1251
Napoleon I, 410, 587, 748, 755, 770, ture of, 318ff., 1148; in Latin Amer¬ Nkrumah (en-kroo'ma). Kwame,
785-86. 837, 887, 890, 892, 995, ica, 829f.; in South Africa, 1142, 1148
1300; French Revolution and, 1144 No drama, 476-77, 702
754—55, 758f.; coup d’etat, 752, Nehru (na'roo), Jawaharlal, 1104-5, Noah, 76
757ff.; early career of, 758-59; re¬ 1113-14, 1116f., 1151 Nobles, 393fL, 401f„ 622ff„ 728ff.
gime set up by, 759-60; statecraft Nejd (nejd), 1132 Nobles of the robe, 728, 737
of, 760-61; legal reforms, 761; as Neo-Babylonians, see Chaldeans Nobles of the sword, 728, 737
military commander, 761-63, 767; Neo-Confucian school, 465f„ 694 Nomads, 367; influence in China, 153,
causes of downfall, 763-67; signifi¬ Neolithic period, 6, 13-18, 54, 102, 298-99
cance of, 767-77 238; in India, 116; in China, 144— Nominalism, 437
Napoleon III, 785, 836-40f., 846, 45f.; in Japan, 308 Nordic peoples, in India, 113
848f„ 869, 898, 982, 1018 Neo-Platonism, 78, 270-71, 350ff„ Norman conquest of England, 347,
Napoleonic Wars, 664, 995, 1017 361, 375, 500, 506, 510 429, 622
Nara, 317 Neo-Pythagoreans, 228, 270 Normandy, 347
Narodniki, 853 Nepal (ne-poP), 133, 140, 690 Normans, 344; see also Norsemen
Nasser, Gamal Abdel, 1130-3If., Neptune, 244 Norris, Frank, 977
1137, 1140 Nergal, 58, 62 Norsemen, 391-92, 434, 579, 630
Natal (na-tal'), 1142 Nero, 258, 263, 266, 272 North Africa, 15, 49, 109, 319f., 359,
National Assembly, in France, 738- Nerva, Roman emperor, 256 374, 1018, 1020, 1024, 1207
42, 749 Nestorians, 284, 334, 371 North America, 569, 579f.
National Assembly of 1910, in China, Netherlands, 563, 573, 581, 586, 624, North German Confederation, 846,
930f. 634f„ 645, 858, 1065, 1206, 1243; 870
National Convention, in France, 742- revolt of, 573, 627, 639; Belgian, North Korea, 1220, 1231
43, 745-51, 753, 754-55, 759, 761 636, 776 North Vietnam, 1177f„ 1231, 1239,
National Insurance Act, 817 Netherlands Indies, 1207, 1237; see 1242
National monarchies, 548—49; in also Indonesia Norway, 347, 559, 771, 873, 976f.
France, 401-5, 433; in England, Neuilly (nu'ye'), Treaty of, 1041 Notre Dame, Cathedral of, 760
405-8, 433; in Spain, 626-28; in Neutralism, 1117-18, 1122, 1152 Nova Scotia, 636, 1075
Prussia, 628-29; in Russia, 630-33 New Cluny movement, 423, 426, 429 Nubia, 50, 223
National Socialism, see Nazi regime New Conservatism, 1277-78 Nubians, 32, 320f.
National Socialist German Workers’ New Deal, 1068-69, 1256, 1295 “Nuclear Club,” 1230, 1249, 1283
Party, 1053; see also Nazi Party New Economic Policy, in U.S.S.R., Nuclear weapons, see Atomic weapons
Nationalism, 754-55, 768, 780, 812, 1061 Nuremberg (nur'em-bark'), 520
815, 835, 908, 1001, 1050; eco¬ New Granada, 883 Nuremberg Judgment, 1231
nomic, 588, 590, 824; evolution of, New Harmony, Indiana, 825 Nyasaland, see Malawi
835-36; in France, 836-43; in Ger¬ New Idealism, 972 Nyerere, Julius, 1151-52
many, 844, 846; in Italy, 847-50; in New math, 1269
Eastern Europe, 850-53, 998; in New Netherlands, 579
United States, 853-54; new im¬ New Realism, 972-73, 1276 Oath of the Tennis Court, 739
perialism and, 858; in Japan, 943, New Spain, 883, 891-92 Obregon (o'bra-gon'), Alvaro, 903
944—45, 1182-83, 1194; in music, New Stone Age, 6, 13-18 Occupation of Japan, 1184-86, 1189
991-92; World War I and, 1020ff., New Testament, 331, 371, 498, 1106 O’Connor, Feargus E„ 864
1025-26, 1037; in Australia, 1085; New York City, 1261 Octavian, see Augustus Caesar
in India, 1100-1, 1109-10; in New Zealand, 1089-93, 1071; com¬ October Manifesto, 999
Middle East, 1125, 1129, 1133ff., pared with Australia, 1091-92 Octobrists, 999
Newcomen, Thomas, 797 Odysseus (o-dls'e-us), king of Ithaca,
1137-38, 1245; in Africa, 1142-52, Newton, Sir Isaac, 511, 522, 643f., 178, 202
1245; in China, 1156ff., 1171; in 647, 654-55 Odyssey, 124, 177, 202
Southeast Asia, 1221, 1239ff., 1245; Ngola kingdom, 705, 708f. Ogboni Society, 706
contemporary, 1250 Nguni (Ngoni) people, 953, 956 O’Higgins, Bernardo, 890
P
Ohio valley, 636 ism, 985-86; contemporary, 1296- Peacock throne, 684, 686
Okinawa (o'ke-na'wa), 1193, 1208 97 Pearl Harbor, 1207
Okuma (o-kdo-ma), Shigenobu, 938 Pakistan, 372, 688, 1072, 1108, lllOff., Pearson, Lester B., 1079
Old-age pensions, 817, 903, 1084, 1115, 1118-20, 1121-22, 1243f. Peasants, 675, 699-700, 726, 730, 741,
1087, 1090, 1145 Pakistan People’s Party, 1120, 1122 768, 893ff., 898, 906, 911, 913, 925,
Old Babylonians, 53fL, 56f., 60-63, Paleolithic period: lower, 6-8; upper, 935, 942, 944f„ 997, 1000, 1055-56,
65f„ 68, 80, 88, 99, 149 6, 8-12, 144, 238; in China, 144 1116-17, 1127, 1130; in China’s
Old Stone Age, 6-12: in China, 144 Palermo, 109, 411, 439 Communist revolution, 1162f., 1166
Old Testament, 37, 59, 85, 89, 92, 107, Palestine, 21, 31, 45, 72. 80, 82f„ 98, Peasant’s Revolt in Germany, 556,
228, 371, 520, 599, 1003 107, 220, 234, 250, 358, 374, 428, 557-58, 598
Oligarchy, 1065; in Latin America, 431f„ 1044, 1126, 1133-35, 1216 Pedro I (pa'dro), emperor of Brazil,
879, 900, 905f„ 910f„ 914 Palestrina (pa'la-stre'na), Giovanni 891, 896
Olmstead, A. T. E., 65 Pierluigi da, 537f.. 668 Pedro II, emperor of Brazil, 896-97
Oman, 711, 953 Pamir Mountains, 301 Peiping (ba'ping7), see Peking
Omar Khyyam (o'mar kl-yam'), 376f. Pan-African unity, 1290 Peirce (purs), Charles. 971
Ommiad (um-ml'yad) dynasty, 372, Pan-German movement, 1020, 1021— Peking, 7, 144, 462ff„ 690, 919, 929f.,
375 22. 1030 932, 1160, 1165, 1177; Treaty of,
O’Neill, Eugene, 204, 1291 Pan-Slavism, 853, 1019ff. 923
Ongania (on-gan'T-a), Carlos, 910 Pantheism, 645-46 Peking man, 7, 144
Ontario, 1074f„ 1079 Pantheon, 261f. Peloponnesian War, 189-90, 206, 214,
Open Door policy, 1179-80, 1179f. Papacy, 336-37, 363, 420, 422, 548- 216
Open University, 1270 49, 640, 698, 742, 838f., 843, 848, Peloponnesus, 102, 181, 183
Opera, 668fL, 991f. 849-50, 1001; monasticism and, Pentecostal movements, 1280
Opium, 15, 921ff., 1157 339; Charlemagne and, 345-46; People’s Charter, 864-65
Opium War with China, 921-22 Holy Roman Empire and, 408, 410; People’s Democratic Dictatorship,
Optimism, 488, 1007f., 1273, 1276 Babylonian captivity of, 428, 491- 1166
Oracle bones, 147ff., 160 92, 547; struggle for supremacy, People’s Liberation Army, China,
Orange Free State, 1142 422f., 426-28L, 432; Renaissance 1174, 1177
Orange River, 956 and, 489-90, 493-94, 497 People’s Republic of China, 1087,
Oratorio, 669-70 Papal Guaranties, Law of, 850 1118, 1148, 1152, 1165, 1171, 1177,
Ordaz. Diaz, 904 Papal infallibility, dogma of, 872, 1194, 1242, 1250; see also Com¬
Orders in Council, 764 1001 munist China
Organization of American States Papal States, 493-94, 513, 768, 770, Pepin (pep'Tn) the Short, 344, 348
(OAS), 912 847ff. Pergamun, 230
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Papal supremacy, 498, 567 Pericles, 188-89, 206, 212; Age of,
Countries, 1140 Papinian, 268, 364 188f„ 201, 224
Oriental Exclusion law, 1180 Paracelsus (par'a-sel'sus), 522-23 Perioeci (Der'I-e'si), 185f.
Origen (or'I-jen), 350 Paraguay (pa'ra-gwl'), 896 Perkin, William Henry, 803, 1253
Orlando, Vittorio, 1038, 1048 Pare (pa'ra7), Ambroise, 526-27 Peron (pa-ron'), Juan D., 909f.
Ormuz, 711 Pareto (pa-ra'to), Vilfredo. 1277 Peronistas, 909f.
Orozco (o-ros'ko), Jose Clemente, Paris, 344, 411, 412f„ 435, 740, 745, Perry, Commodore Matthew, 933
1297 748, 752, 765ff., 786, 838, 846, 1208, Persepolis (per-sen'6-lTs), 71, 73
Orphic cult, 213, 233 1242; University of, 436, 440ff., Persia, 15, 192, 220, 284, 297, 359,
Osaka (o'za'ka), 700, 703, 1191 523. 560, 568, 1224, 1267; Pact of, 374f„ 458. 461, 463, 630, 1019,
Osiris (o-sl'rls), 34—35, 254 1199; Conference of 1960—1229 1023, 1137-38; ancient empire, 69-
Ostia, 243 Paris Commune, 840-41 71, 137, 206, 374; religion, 69, 73-
Ostracism, 188 Paris Peace Conference, 1038, 1078, 78, 333; war with Greece, 70, 189;
Otto, Nikolaus, 802 1129, 1156f., 1178-79, 1237, 1257 ancient civilization, 72-78; influence
Otto I (the Great), 408 Parliament: British, 407, 564fL, 612fL, of, 75-78, 87-88, 333, 686fL; He¬
Ottoman Empire, 774-75, 850-52. 620-21, 817, 862-68, 870, 1073; brew conquest, 83; see also Iran
1018, 1024-25, 1044, 1101, 1125-26 French, 870; German imperial, 870- Persian deities, 74f.
Ottoman Turks, 110, 359, 375, 627 71; Japanese, 936-37 Persian Gulf, 21, 50, 69, 71, 379, 483,
Outer Mongolia, 932 Parliament Act of 1911—867-68 711, 1019, 1140
Ovid, 259 Parma, 771, 847f. Persians, 32, 55, 69, 109, 358, 367
Owen, Robert, 825 Parmenides (par-men'I-dez), 194, 197 Peru, 581, 880f., 883, 890-91, 910-11,
Oxford Oath, 1274 Parthenon, 207ff. 914, 1231
Oxford University, 440f., 548, 784 Parzifal legend, 445 Pescadores (pes'ka-do'rez) Islands,
Oyo/Oyo empire, 482, 705, 706-7, Pasternak, Boris, 1223, 1293 947
709, 950ff.; Alafin of, 706f. Pasteur, Louis, 963, 964-65, 1286 Pessimism, 91, 92, 234, 780, 820,
Oyo Me si, 706 Pataliputra (pa'ta-ll-pob'tra), 138, 1007-9, 1274f., 1291
140, 280 Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich, 1005
Pate, 483 Peter, Apostle, 336, 420, 546
Pacifism, 127, 165, 226, 672 Paternalism, 588, 815f., 883, 1140 Peter I (the Great), Tsar of Russia,
Padua, 493; University of, 510, 512 Patna, 138; Council of, 140-41 631-33
Paine, Thomas, 621, 653, 673, 746 Patriarchs, 337 Peterhof, 660
Painting, Paleolithic, 10, 11-12; Egyp¬ Patricians, 242 Peter’s pence, 550
tian, 40, 43; Minoan-Mycenaean, Paul, St., 76, 83, 234, 332-33, 336, Petit Trianon (pe-ter tre'a'non'), 662
106; Indian, 286, 289, 687f.; Chi¬ 542, 546 Petition of Right, 615, 619, 621
nese, 306, 467; Byzantine, 366f.; Paul III, Pope, 567f. Petrarch (Petrarca), Francesco, 495f.
Japanese, 476; Italian Renaissance, Paul IV, Pope, 567 Petrine succession, doctrine of, 336
499-503; German Renaissance, Paul VI, Pope, 1279 Petrograd, 1057
521-22; Low Countries Renais¬ Paulus, 268 Petrograd Soviet, 1034, 1058
sance, 523, 524—26; Spanish Renais¬ Pavlov (pa'vlof), Ivan, 967 Petroleum, 802, 804, 1133, 1138-40
sance, 529-30; classicism in, 662- Pax Britannica, 275, 1017-18 Petronius, 260
63, 786; romanticism in, 786, 981- Pax Romana, 78, 256, 260, 275 Phaistos (fis'tos), 102
82; realism, 982; impressionism, Peace of God, 394-95, 429 Pharisees, 92-94, 330
982- 83, 1296; postimpressionism, Peace of 1919-1920—1037-45; de¬ Pharsalus (far-sa'lus), Battle of, 250
983- 85; cubism, 985, 1296; futur¬ fects of, 1198 Phidias, 209

Q
 Philip Augustus, king of France, 402, Poland, 568, 570, 629, 633, 723, 762, Printing: in Europe, 490-91, 523; in
407, 412, 427, 622, 640 770, 776, 1040f., 1045, 1065, 1198, China, 305, 466
Philip IV (Philip the Fair), king of 1211, 1222; World War II and, Progressive education movement,
France, 402, 427f„ 491, 547, 622 1205-6, 1211; revolt of 1956—1228 1006, 1270
Philip II, king of Spain, 519, 565, 573, Poles, 17, 776, 998, 1231, 1236 Progressive movement in the United
627-28, 488n Polish Corridor, 1205 States, 877-78
Philip IV, king of Spain, 663 Polity, 200 Progressive Party in Japan, 938, 1182
Philip V of Macedon, 247 Pollock, Jackson, 1297 Prokofiev, Serge, 1299
Philip of Macedon, 192, 199 Pollution, see Ecology, crisis of Proletarian Cultural Revolution, in
Philippine Islands, 290, 680, 1191, Polo, Marco, 463-64, 578 China, 1173-77, 1244
1224f. Polyandry, 125 Proletariat, 597-99, 827ff„ 868, 999;
Philistines, 80f., 107 Polybius (po-lTb'I-us), 229, 509 during French Revolution, 743-44;
Philo Judaeus (fl'lo joo-de'us), 228, Polygamy, 16, 158, 309, 371, 558, 599, rise of, 814; dictatorship of, 827,
234, 270 1126 829, 1063; internal, 1300
Philosophy: Egyptian, 37-38, 47; He¬ Polyphony, 451, 537, 668 Prophets, Hebrew, 36, 86-87, 94, 161
brew, 91-92; Indian, 122-24, 126- Polytheism, 54, 58, 73, 120, 127, 179, Proportional representation, 873, 877
27, 13If., 134-35, 161; Chinese, 212 Protagoras (pro-tag'6-ras), 195-96L,
161-67, 465-66; Greek, 161, 193- Polytonality, 1298-99 214
200; Hellenistic, 78, 225-28; Ro¬ Pompeii (pom-pa'e), 271 Protectionism, 808, 815, 824, 1085f.
man, 251-52, 257, 258-59; early Pompey (pom'pe), 249-50 Protestant Revolution, 520, 522, 524,
medieval, 349-52; Saracenic, 375— Pontifex Maximus, 275 539, 541f„ 543-66L, 601f„ 626, 827,
76, 380; in Later Middle Ages, 421, Pontius Pilate, 331 1235, 1290; causes of, 543-52, in
434-37; Italian Renaissance, 506- Poor Law of 1834, in Great Britain, Germany, 552—59; in Switzerland,
9; French Renaissance, 527-29; 864 559-63; in England, 563-66; effects
English Renaissance, 531-33; in Pope, Alexander, 653, 665 of, 570, 612, 640
Intellectual Revolution, 644-54; in Popular Front, in France, 1068 Protestantism, 566, 1290; Modernist,
Age of Romanticism, 777-83; in Population, growth of, 13, 591, 596- 1002f.; contemporary theology,
Age of Democracy and National¬ 97,757, 792, 811-12, 863, 996, 1076, 1274
ism, 968-73; evolutionary, 968- 1227, 1261-62; in India, 113, 115, Protestants, 625, 1001-2, 1232f„ 1280
73; 19th-century pessimism, 1007-9; 1098, 1116; in China, 155f„ 302, Prou’dhon (proo'don'), Pierre, 829,
contemporary, 1274-78 690-91, 1169; in Japan, 307, 699, 837
Phlogiston theory, 656 943, 1190; in Africa, 319f.; in Provence (pro-vans'), 411, 444, 451
Phnom Penh, 1242 Latin America, 895, 899-900, 1262; Proverbs, Book of, 37, 91
Phoenicia, 45, 55, 82, 98, 220 in Pakistan and Bangladesh, 1121 Prussia, 636f„ 675, 745, 762, 768ff.,
Phoenicians, 39-40, 49, 64, 97, 107, Population explosion, 1261-64 808, 839-40, 844-45L, 1004f„ 1017,
109-10, 210, 245 Porcelain, 302, 306, 695 1040, 1211; absolutism in, 628-29
Phrygia (frlj'I-a), 254 Portsmouth, Treaty of, 948 Psalms, 89
Phrygians, 98 Portugal, 570, 578f„ 645, 708, 882, Psychoanalysis, 968, 1291f., 1296,
Physics, 23; Egyptian, 39; Hellenistic, 891 1298
230, 233; Saracenic, 376; Italian Portuguese: in Africa, 481, 579, 707- Psychology, 967-68
Renaissance, 510—11; Newtonian, 8, 710-12, 1146; in Indonesia, 680; Ptolemaic theory, see Geocentric
654-55; from 1830 to 1914-966- in India, 689, 1113; in China, 692- theory
67; in 19th and 20th centuries, 93, 927; in Japan, 697 Ptolemies (tol'e-mez), 50, 83, 220f.,
1281-82 Poseidon (po-sl'don), 179, 244 223
Physiology, 232, 658 Posen, 1040 Ptolemy (tol'e-rm), Hellenistic
Piankhy, Pharaoh, 48 Positivism, philosophy of, 782-83 astronomer, 231, 509ff.
Picasso (pe-kas'so), Pablo, 985, 1296 Post-impressionism, 983-85 Puerto Rico, 892
Pico della Mirandola (me-ran'do-la), Potsdam Declaration, 1211 Punic Wars, 21, 244-47L, 251f.
Giovanni, 506 Pottery, 11, 14, 45, 49, 103, 144, 149, Punjab (pun'jab), 114, 138, 681,
Pilgrims, 614 176f., 306, 308, 321 1095, 1101, 1110
Pillnitz, Declaration of, 745 Power loom, 796 Purdah (pur'da), 458
Pindar, 175, 203, 212 Power politics, 1020, 1030, 1198, Puritan Revolution, in England, 616-
Pisa (pe'sa), 410, 433, 491, 493, 580 1202-5; impotence of, 1230-31, 19, 638, 665
Pitt, William, the Younger, 675, 1074 1244 Puritans, 563, 614ff„ 622, 665
Pius II, Pope, 489 Praetors (pre'torz), 267-68 Pushan (poo-shan'), 121
Pius V, Pope, 567 Pragmatism, 971-72, 1006, 1273, 1276 Pylos, 176
Pius VII, Pope, 760 Prague (prag), 634; University of, 440 Pyramids, 38, 40f., 49; Mayan, 881
Pius IX, Pope, 850, 1001 Praxiteles (prak-sTP’l-ez), 209 Pyrenees Mountains, 372
Pius XI, Pope, 850 Predestination, doctrine of, 351, 555, Pythagoras (pl-thag'6-ras), 194, 201
Pizarro (pe-thar'ro), Francisco, 579, 561 Pythagoreans, 194, 197, 201
880 Preliterate Age, 6-18
Plague, bubonic, see Black Death Pre-Raphaelites, 981
Plain of Jars, 1244 Presbyterians, 563, 616f. Qatar, 1140
Plastics, 1255 Presidium, U.S.S.R., 1063-64 Quadrivium, 354, 441
Plato, 195f„ 197—99f., 206, 215, 270, Priestley, Joseph, 656 Quadruple Alliance, 771
435, 1275 Priests/priesthood, 159, 335ff., 401f., Quakers, 559, 672, 949
Platonic Academy, 199, 506 420f., 422-23, 555, 567-68; in Quattrocento (kwat'tro-chen'to), 496,
Plea of the Eloquent Peasant, 38 Egyptian religion, 36-37, 44, 47; 499-502, 506
Plebeians, 242-43, 253 Sumerian, 56; Chaldean, 69; Per¬ Quebec, 1073ff„ 107611.
Pliny (plrn'e) the Elder, 262-63 sian, 75; in India, 122, 128f., 159; Quebec Act, 1074
Plotinus (plo-ti'nus), 270-71 in China, 148-49, 159, 165, 304; Quintuple Alliance, 771—73f.
Plutarch, 185 in ancient Roman religion, 244; in
Plymouth Colony, 614 Japan, 313-14
Plymouth Company, 586 Prime Minister, British, 866-67, 1073;
Po valley, 239, 241 in dominions, 1073 Rabelais (ra'bla'), Frangois, 527, 529,
Pogroms, 998 Primogeniture, 151, 393, 431, 747, 535
Poincare (pwan'ka'ra'), Raymond, 749, 754, 768, 874 Racism, 836, 853-54, 1003, 1021,
1026, 1031, 1066 Princip, 1025 1055, 1085, 1144, 1269, 1277, 1289;
Poitiers, Battle of, 344 Principate (prin'sT-pat), 254-67L in South Africa, 1142-43L
R
 Radical Socialist Party, in France, to Middle Ages. 488-89; causes of, on, 75-77; Pax Romana, 78, 256,
1066, 1068 489-91; expansion of, 517—39; mu¬ 260, 275; origins of, 237-39; Greek
Railroads, 799-800, 804, 808, 895; in sic in, 536-38, 668; religion in, civilization and, 237, 239, 241, 247,
China, 930, 1167; in Japan, 939; 538-39 251f., 260-61, 263-64; militarism,
in India, 1098 Renaissance civilization: in Italy, 289, 238, 241, 249-51, 256, 261; mon¬
Rajas/maharajas, 1113 366-67, 489f„ 491-515, 517f„ 536, archy, 239-40; law, 240, 242f„ 248-
Rajput school of_painting, 688 539, 664; political background, 49, 25 lf„ 267-69, 274; agriculture,
Rajputana (raj^poo-ta'na), 455, 688 491-94; cultural achievements, 494- 241, 247, 267, 273; early Republic,
Rajputs (raj'noots), 455, 681, 686 512; in the Low Countries, 518, 241-44, 255; Punic Wars, 244-47L;
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 600 523-26; in Germany, 520-23; in social and economic revolutions,
Ramayana (ra-ma'ya-na), 119, 124f. France, 526-29, 536; in Spain, 529- 247-49, 272-73; morality, 247-48,
688 30, 628; in England, 531-36, 538 260, 265, 271; late Republic, 248-
Ramses III, 32 Renaissance Popes, 489-90, 497, 543- 51, 252-54, 257; philosophy, 251-
Rapallo (ra-pal'lo), Treaty of, 1198 44 52, 257, 258-59, 270-71; literature,
Raphael (raf'a-el), 487, 502-3, 538, Renan (re-nan'), Joseph Ernest, 1020 25If., 259-60, 270, 274-75; society
597 Renoir (re-nwar'), Pierre Auguste, and classes, 252-54, 264-65; Prin-
Rasmussen, Knud, 16 983 cipate, 254-671; late Empire, 255,
Rasputin (rus-poo'tyin), Gregory, Reparation Commission, 1040 269-71, 360; art, 260-61; science,
1057 Republic, Roman, see Roman civili¬ 261-64; decline and fall, 271-73;
Rationalism, 349f., 959; in Intellectual zation heritage of, 273-75, 330
Revolution, 644ff., 648-50, 654 Republican People’s Party, Turkey, Roman Empire, 49, 83, 221, 249, 256,
Ravel (ra'vel'). Maurice, 1298 1128 273, 279, 281, 335, 297, 340
Rawalpindi, 1119 Rerum novarum (re'rum no-va'rum), Romance of the Rose, 446
Raziya (rS-ze'ya), 456 831 Romanesque architecture, 447-48,
Re (ra), 33-341: see also Ammon-Re Restoration, in England, 619-20 488, 505f.
Realism, 209, 229, 992; in literature, Resurrection of the dead, 35, 74, 88, Romans, 21
973-79; in painting, 43, 499, 982 92f„ 332, 371 Romantic idealism, 736, 778-80, 832
Reason, cult of, 749 Reuchlin (roik'len), Johann, 520-21 Romanticism, 653, 666-68, 734, 783—
Red Guards, China, 1174, 1177 Revealed religions, 88, 333 89; in English literature, 783-84,
Red Guards, Russia, 1058 Revisionists, 828-29 979-81; in German literature, 784;
Red Sea, 50, 70, 284, 321, 1137 Revolt in Spain, 1808—887-89 in French literature, 784-85; in
“Red Shirts,” 848 Revolt of 1798, in Ireland, 1235 painting, 786, 981-82; in music,
“Redbrick” universities. 1007 Revolt of the knights, in Germany, 787-89, 989—91f.
Reform Act of 1832—863-64 555-56 Romanus Diogenese (ro-ma'nus
Reform Act of 1867—865 Revolution of 1911, China, 930-32, dT-oj'e-nez), 359
Reform Act of 1884—865-66 1156 Rome: ancient and medieval, 75, 239,
Reform Judaism, 651, 1003-4 Revolution of 1917, Russia, 758, 1000, 246, 261f., 340; Renaissance and
Reformation, 577, 5961, 601, 634; 1050-60ff. modern, 488, 497, 502, 508, 592,
Age of, 541-74; comparison with Revolutionary movement of 1830— 707, 848-50, 1050; University of,
Renaissance, 542-43; influence of, 754, 775-76; in Belgium, 776; in 491
569-74, 599-603, 640 France, 775, 836 Rome-Berlin Axis, 1055
Reformed Church, in Holland, 563 Revolutionary movement of 1848— Romulus Augustulus, 271
Refugees: Palestinian, 1140; in South 754; in France, 836, 843, 868-89; in Rontgen (runt'gen), Wilhelm von,
Vietnam, 1244 Hungary, 843-44; in Germany, 966
Regulated companies, 585-86 844f.; in Austria, 843; in Italy, 847 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 822, 1068,
Rehoboam (re'ho-bo'am), king of Revolutionary movement of 1905, in 1209ff„ 1221, 1237, 1258
Hebrews. 82 Russia, 997-1000 Roosevelt, Theodore, 275, 877, 948,
Reichstag, 870ff., 1053f. Revolutions in Latin America, 886- 1020
Reign of Terror, 657, 743, 746ff., 755 93, 895 Rossetti (ro-set'i), Dante Gabriel, 981
Relativism, in philosophy, 195ff., 228 Rhazes (ra'zez), 377 Roundheads,_617
Relativity, 1281 Rhee, Syngman, 1220 Rousseau (roo'so'), Jean Jacques,
Relics, veneration of, 544-45, 547, 555 Rhine River, 256 651, 652-53, 659, 666, 6721, 724,
Religion, 18; Paleolithic, 8, 9-10; Rhine valley, 1040 731, 734-36, 743, 746, 748, 783,
Neolithic, 16-17; Egyptian, 32, 33- Rhineland, remilitarization of, 1199f. 820-21. 828, 861, 892, 10051
37f„ 41, 43, 47, 53-54, 74; Su¬ Rhodes, Cecil, 1141 Royal African Company, 7081
merian, 58-59, 74; Old Babylonian, Rhodesia, 956, 1072 Royal Road: in Persia, 71; in India,
61-62, 74; Chaldean, 66-68, 75, Ricardo, David, 820, 821-22, 826 138
233; Persian, 69, 73-78; Hebrew, Richard I, king of England, 406-7 Royalists, 6181, 638, 745, 750
74, 80, 84-88, 92-94; Hittite, 100; Richelieu (re'she-lyu'), Cardinal, 624- Royce, Josiah, 972
Minoan-Mycenaean, 104-5, 107; 25, 635 Rubens, Peter Paul, 662-63
Indus valley, 117, 128; Indian, 120- Rimsky-Korsakov (rl m'skT-kor'- Rubianus, Crotus, 520-21
22, 127-29, 131-33, 135-36, 685- sak-of), Nikolai, 992 Rudolf of Hapsburg, 410
86; Greek, 121, 178-81, 212-13, Rio de Janeiro, 891 Rufus of Ephesus, 264
216; Chinese, 148, 149-50, 158-59, Risorgimento (re-sor'je-men'to), 847 Rumania, 775, 850, 1032, 1041, 1198,
165, 302-5, 925; Hellenistic, 233- Rivera (re-va'ra), Diego, 1297 1206, 1231
34; Roman, 243-44, 254, 265-66; Riza Khan/Riza Pahlavi (ri-za' kan, Ruskin, John, 785, 833, 9791, 1007,
Byzantine, 249f., 361-63; Japanese, pa'la-ve), 1138 1106
309-10, 475; African, 318, 706, 709; Riza Pahlavi, Mohammed, 1138-40 Russell, Bertrand, 973, 1276
Saracenic, 367, 368-72; Renais¬ Robespierre (ro'bes'pyar'), Russell, Lord John, 8631
sance, 496, 527, 538-39; in Age of Maximilien de, 747-48f., 750 Russia, 3581, 366, 463, 637, 660, 752,
Enlightenment, 647, 649-50f., 653f.; Rockefeller, John D., 1003 763ff., 769ff., 774-75, 811, 828, 839,
Aztec, 880; Mayan, 881; 19th-cen¬ Rococo (ro-ko'ko) architecture, 661— 977-79, 991-92, 1007, 1018, 1137,
tury revolt in, 1001—4; contempo¬ 62. 785 12241, 1250; absolutism in, 630-33,
rary, 1278-81 Rodin (ro'dan'), Francois Auguste 1000; Industrial Revolution in, 810;
Rembrandt van Rijn (rem'brant van Rene, 986 imperialism of, 693, 858, 927, 932,
rln'), 663-64 Roe, Sir Thomas, 689 947-48; World War I and, 1018,
Renaissance, 92, 275, 329, 442, 541, Roman civilization, 199, 237-75; re¬ 10191, 102111, 1026H, 10371, 1041,
551, 570, 577, 596f„ 601, 643, 659, ligion, 75-77, 243-44, 254, 265-66, 1044, 10561, 1060; Revolution of
674; meaning of, 487-88; compared 269-70, 273-74L; Persian influence 1917—1000, 1056-60H; Commu-

s
 nist regime, 1056-65; civil war in, Santiago, 890 syrian, 65-66; Hittite, 99; Minoan-
1060-61; see also U.S.S.R. Sao Paulo. Brazil, 905 Mycenaean, 106; Indian, 132, 140,
Russian Orthodox Church, 366, 631ff. Sappho, 203 288-90; Chinese, 147, 149, 306;
Russification movement, 998 Saracenic civilization, 357, 367-82, Greek, 206-9; Hellenistic, 229-30;
Russo-Japanese War, 947f., 998f., 432, 439; religion, 367, 368-72; Roman, 261, 274; African, 482, 707,
1024, 1211, 1220 political history, 372—75; philoso¬ 713; Italian Renaissance, 504—5; in
Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829— phy, 375-76, 380; science, 376-77; Intellectual Revolution, 660; in Age
774-75, 850 literature, 377, 380; art, 377-78; of Democracy and Nationalism, 986
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878— commerce and industry, 378-80L, Scythians, 70
850, 1017 489; agriculture, 380; influence of, SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Or¬
Ruthenians, 1041 280-82, 389, 395, 419, 444, 491, ganization), 1122, 1244
Rutherford, Ernest, 966 495; international relations, 382 Second Coalition, 762
Ryukyu (rl-oo'ku) Islands, 927, Saracens, 299, 357, 359, 374, 434f., Second Empire in France, 838-40
1192-93, 1211 579, 658, 801 Second Estate, in France, 728
Sarajevo (sa'ra-ye-vo), 1025 Second Industrial Revolution, 791;
Sarapis (sa-rap'Ts), 254, 265 typical features of, 802-3; domina¬
Saar (zar) Basin, 1040 Sardinia, Kingdom of, 636, 839, 847f., tion of industry by science, 803-4;
Sabin, Dr. Albert B., 1287 872 transportation, 804-5; communica¬
Sacraments, 335, 371, 420-21, 423, Sargon II, 55, 63 tions, 805-6; capitalist organization,
545ff., 555, 564-65, 567; Lutheran, Sartre, Jean-Paul, 1275 806-9; in Germany, 809-10; in
555 Satan, 76, 87f„ 179, 601-2 Russia, 810; in Italy, 810; in Japan,
Sacrifice, 73, 85ff., 100, 105, 117, 121, Sato Eisaku, 1193 810-11, 941; results of, 811-18,
128, 149, 158-59, 161, 178, 180, Satsuma (sa'tsdo-ma) clan, 934-35, 858; socio-political revolts during,
244, 310; human, 80, 109, 149, 158, 938, 941 995-1009
367, 880f. Satyagraha (sut'ya-gru'ha), 1103-4, Second Republic in France, 836-38
Sadat, Anwar, 1131-32 1105-6, 1247 Secret ballot, 877, 908, 1082
Sadducees, 92-94 Saudi (sa-oo'dl) Arabia, 1132-33, Secret treaties, of World War I, 1030/r
Sahara, 48, 318, 320, 477, 480, 705 1140 Secretariat, United Nations, 1213-16
Saigon, 1239 Saul, king of Hebrews, 81 Secularism, 171, 449, 488
St. Bartholomew’s Day, 573 Saul of Tarsus, see Paul, St. Security Council of United Nations,
St. Germain (san' zher'man'), Treaty Savonarola (sa'vo-na-ro'la), 1212-13
of, 1041 Girolamo, 497, 514-15 Sedan, Battle of, 840
St. Helena, 767 Savoy, 624, 634, 636, 753; House of, Seismograph, 305
St. Lawrence River/valley, 579, 1073, 872 Seiyukai (sa'yoo-kx) party, 1182, 1187
1078 Saxon kingdoms in England, 346 Seleucia (se-lu'shl-a), 224
St. Mark’s Cathedral, 367 Saxony, 554, 635 Seleucid (se-lu'sld) empire, 221, 223
St. Paul’s Cathedral, 660 Sayyid Said, Sultan, 953-54 Seleucus (se-lu'kus), 130, 220
St. Peter’s Church, 345, 506, 660 Sazonov (sa-zo'nof), S. D., 1026fL, Self-determination, doctrine of, 1236-
St. Petersburg, 632, 1026f.; University 1030 37
of, 1059; see also Petrograd Scandinavian countries, 873, 1065 Seljuk Turks, 359, 375, 43If.
Saint-Just (san' zhust'L Antoine, 750 Scheidemann (shT'de-man), Philipp, Semites, 50, 54f., 57, 63, 80, 109
Saints, 421, 547, 555, 567 1040 Semmelweis (zem'el-vls), Ignaz
Sakhalin Island, 947, 1211 Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich Philipp, 963-64
Saladin (saPa-dTn), 432 von, 667, 783, 785 Senate: Roman, 240ff., 246, 248fL,
Salamanca, University of, 440 Schleswig (shlas'vlk), 846, 1040 254f„ 257, 268f., 275; Carthagin¬
Salem, Massachusetts, 950; witchcraft Schlieffen plan, 1029 ian, 245; French, 870; United
trials, 602 Schliemann (shle'man), Heinrich, States, 873
Salerno, University of, 440 100-1 Seneca, 258f., 263, 275, 447, 488
Salisbury Oath, 405 Schmalkaldic War, 572-73 Senegal, 952
Salk, Dr. Jonas E., 1287 Schoenberg (shun'berk), Arnold, 1298 Senegal River, 321, 477, 481, 712
Salvationist religions, 265 Scholasticism, 367, 380, 434-37, 487ff., Senior, Nassau William. 820, 822-23
Samaria, Kingdom or, 82n 506, 533, 644, 960 Sennacherib (se-nak'er-Tb), 55
Samarkand, 458 Schopenhauer (sho'pen-hou'er), Separation of church and state, 557,
Samos, 181, 190, 194, 225 Arthur, 780, 1007-8 654, 750, 754, 842-43, 1185
Samson legends, 107 Schubert, Franz, 788-89, 990 Separation of powers, 733-34, 742,
Samuel, 18, 81 Schuman, William, 1299 778, 869, 874
Samurai (sa'moo-rl), 471-72, 474f., Schumann, Robert, 990 Separatists, 614, 617
477, 698-99. 701. 703f., 935f„ 940f. Schwann (shvan), Theodor, 962 September massacres, 743
Samurai rebellion, 936 Science, 437, 959, 1268f„ 1273; Egyp¬ Serbia, 775, 850, 1024-25ff.; World
San Francisco, Treaty of, 1186-87 tian, 38-39, 230; Sumerian, 59; War I and, 1020-21L, 1025ff.
San Francisco Conference, 1212 Assyrian, 65; Chaldean, 68, 230; Serbs, 359, 1021, 1029
San Francisco State College, 1267 Minoan-Mycenaean, 105; Indian, Serfdom: in Egypt, 43f46; in Meso¬
San Martin, Jose de, 890—91_ 136-37; Greek, 137, 199, 201-2, potamia, 56f., 64; in China, 156f.,
San Min Chu 1 (san' min joo' e), 230; Chinese, 149, 305; Hellenistic, 294; in ancient Greece, 178, 184f.,
1158, 1161 230-33, 234-35; Roman, 261-64; 187; Hellenistic, 223f.; Roman,
San Stefano (san sta'fa-no), Treaty Saracenic, 376-77; late medieval, 272; in Japan, 309, 471; among
of. 850 438-39; Italian Renaissance. 509- ancient Germans, 340, 342; in early
Sanchi, 286, 288 12; German Renaissance, 522-23; Middle Ages, 348f.; in Byzantine
Sand, George, 785 French Renaissance, 526-27; in and Saracenic civilizations, 361,
Sankore mosque, 479, 480-81 Intellectual Revolution, 654-59; in 363, 380; in feudal system, 390, 397,
Sannazaro (san'na-dza'ro), Jacopo, Industrial Revolution, 803-4, 809- 398-400L, 433; in Austria, 629; in
497 10; from 1830 to 1914-960-68; Russia, 630, 632f., 675, 774, 997; in
Sans Souci (san soo'se'), 662 contemporary, 1281-91 18th century, 675, 726; in France
Sanskrit, 69, 124, 281, 285-86, 1100 Scopas (sko'oas). 209 during Revolution, 730, 741, 754; in
Sanskrit drama, 285-86 Scotland, 353, 570, 616, 825 Prussia, 768
Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de, 897 Scott, Reginald, 603 Sermon on the Mount, 830
Santa Sophia (san'ta so-fe'a), 365-66 Scriptures, 435, 542, 548, 1002 Servetus (sur-ve'tus), Michael, 511-
Santayana (san'ta-ya'na), George, Sculpture, 11, 20, 449-50; Egyptian, 12, 574
1274 40, 42-43; Sumerian, 59, 63; As¬ Sessions, Roger, 1299

T
Set, 341 Sixtus V, Pope, 567 South America, 569, 579f., 774, 879,
Seven Cardinal Sins, 74 Skepticism, 38, 122, 196f„ 225, 227- 882, 899, 1262
Seven Liberal Arts, 354 28,233, 235, 507, 528, 651, 971 South Korea, 1220
Seven Weeks’ War, 846, 898 Slave kings, 456 South Sea Bubble, 592f.
Seven Years’ War, 636-37, 725, 794 Slave trade, 49, 320f„ 483, 580, 593, South Vietnam, 1231, 1239, 1242,
Sevres (sa'vr’), Treaty of, 1041, 1044, 599, 636, 672, 885, 949-51, 953-54; 1244
1126 effects of in Africa, 705, 708—10, Southeast Asia, 279f., 1191-92, 1221,
Sforza (sfor'tsa), Francesco, 492 712, 950 1237, 1239, 1243-45
Sforza family, 489, 500 Slavery, 103, 196, 672, 761; in Egypt, Southern Rhodesia, 1072, 1237
Shaftesbury, Earl of, 653 43-44, 46f.; in Mesopotamia, 561, Southern Sung (sdong) period, 460,
Shah Jahan (sha ja-han'), 683-85, 61, 64-65; in Hebrew law, 88; in 464, 467
687 China, 149, 157, 296f„ 301; in Soviet Russia, see U.S.S.R.
Shakespeare, William, 204, 533, 534, Hellenic civilization, 178, 209f., Soviet Union, see U.S.S.R.
535-36, 597, 991 212, 214; in Hellenistic civilization, Space, exploration of, 1255
Shamash, 58 224; in Roman civilization, 242, Space-time continuum, 1282
Shang dynasty, 145-50, 155 247, 252ff„ 264-65, 267f.; in Japan, Spain, 238, 569f., 578f., 581, 588f.,
Shang Ti (shang de), 149, 159, 925 309; in Later Middle Ages, 397f.; in 592, 614, 622f., 634, 635-36L, 645,
Shanghai, 153, 923^926, 1159, 1191 Africa, 480, 706, 709, 950-51, 953; 660, 708, 770, 772-73L, 839, 882ff.,
Shantung (shan-doong)/Shantung revival of, 593; in India, 682; Amer¬ 894-95, 1065, 1252, 1267, 1280;
peninsula, 153, 162, 933, 1156, ican Civil War and, 875-76, 950; ancient, 21, 109, 223, 245, 256;
1178f., 1180, 1182 in Latin America, 891f., 9l4; abo¬ early medieval, 343, 374fl., 380,
Shaw, George Bernard, 829, 976, lition of, 654, 749, 754, 876, 897, 454; Renaissance in, 519, 529-30;
1249, 1273 956 Reformation in, 566; Revolt of
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 214, 773, 783- Slavophil movement, 853 1808—764; absolutism in, 626-28;
84 Slavs, 339, 358f., 1018f„ 1026, 1036 civil war of 1936—1939—1200
Shensi province, 151, 1162 Slovakia, 1041 Spanish Armada, 628
Sherif Husein, 1132 Slovenes, 1021, 1026 Spanish Succession, War of, 635-36
Sherwood, Robert, 1291 Smetana (sme'ta-na), Bedrich, 991 Spanish-American War, 853, 877
Shi Huang Ti (shu hwang de), “First Smith, Adam, 673, 736-37, 819-20 Sparta, 69, 181, 183-86, 188, 190ff.;
Emperor,” 154, 293-95 Smuts, Jan Christiaan, 1143 population, 181; militarism, 183-85;
Shiites (sheTts), 371f., 374 Social Contract, 638-39, 735, 778 government, 184, 186; class system,
Shimonoseki (she'mo-no-sa'ke), 935; Social Democrats: in Germany, 816, 184-85; economic system, 185-86;
Treaty of, 947 829, 872; in Russia, 997, 1058 Peloponnesian war, 189f206
Shintoism, 310, 313f., 704 Social Gospel movement, 1002-3 Spartacists, in Germany, 1052
Ship money, 616 Social reform, movements for, 816- Spartans, 110, 190, 195, 214
Shiraz/Shirazi, 321, 483 18, 828, 831-32, 903-4L, 911, 976, SDartiates (spar'shl-ats). 184ff.
Shiva (she'va), 128, 283 1000, 1002-3 Spellman, Francis Cardinal, 1280
Shogunate, 472-74; see also Toku- Social Revolutionaries, 997, 1057f. Spencer, Herbert, 959, 967, 968-69,
gawa Shogunate Social sciences, development of, 967, 971, 1300
Siam, 927; see also Thailand 1289-91 Spengler, Oswald, 18-19, 1277
Sian (she'an'). 151, 294, 302 Socialism, 782, 816, 648f., 868, 872, Spenser, Edmund, 533-34
Sibelius (sT-ba'lT-dos), Jean, 991 906-7; Utopian, 824-25; Marxian, Spheres of interest, 927, 932, 9471,
Siberia, 630, 858 822, 825-29; Christian, 831-32; 1157
Sicily, 109, 122, 190, 239, 245, 408f„ Fabian, 976; in Italy, 1049; de¬ Sphinx, 40, 42
513 cline of ideology and, 1222f.; Afri¬ Spice Islands, 579
Sickingen (zTk'Ing-en), Franz von, 555 can, 115If. Spinning, 14
Sidon, 109 Socialist Party: in United States, 829, Spinning jenny, 793, 795-96, 798
Siena, 448 1223; in Chile, 906; in Italy, 1049; Spinoza (spl-no'za), Benedict
Sierra Leone, 950, 1071 in Germany, 1051, 1053; in France, (Baruch), 645-461, 1003
Sieyes (sya'yas'), Abbe, 723, 739, 1068; in Japan, 1187-88 Spontaneous generation, 201, 963
746n, 748, 759 Socialists, 842, 912, 974, 1036, 1058, Sputniks (spdbt'mks), 1269, 1284—85
Sihanouk, Prince Norodum 1299; World War I peace proposals, Sri Lanka, see Ceylon
(sl-han'uk, no-ro-dum'), 1244 1034 Srivijaya (sre-wT-jo'ya) empire, 2901
Sijilmasa, 320 Society of Harmonious Fists, 929 Stalin (sta'lym), Joseph, 1061, 1064,
Siks (seks), 685-86, 1102 Society of Jesus, see Jesuits 12101, 1221. 1223. 12271, 1293
Silesia, 628f„ 637 Socrates. 164, 196—97ff., 206, 214 Stalingrad, Battle of, 1207
Silk, 155, 223, 283f„ 297, 302, 360, Soddy, Frederick, 966 Stamp, Sir Josiah, 814
381, 623, 700, 1181 Sofala, 483 Standard Oil Company of California,
Silver, 45, 222f„ 580-81, 876 Soga family, 313 1133
Simeon Stylites (slm'e-un stl-ll'tez), Soil-exhaustion theory, 20-21 State: defined, 17; origin of, 17-18;
St„ 337-38 Sokoto Caliphate, 952
Solis (so-les'). Juan Diaz de, 880 Plato’s concept of, 198-99; Aris¬
Simons, Menno, 559 totle’s concept of, 200; Roman con¬
Simony, 423 Solomon, 81-82, 88
Sinai Peninsula, 80, 1137 Solon, 187, 203 cept of, 239-40, 243, 275
Sind, 1095 Solutre (so-lu-tra'), 9 State of nature, 638, 731, 734-35, 778,
Singapore, 1071, 1191, 1237, 1245 Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr, 1293-94 1202
Sinkiang (shln'jyang'), 281, 297, 464, Soma, 121 State system, modern, 493, 507-9,
690, 1171, 1173 Somalia, 321, 483
640-41
Sino (sln'o)-Indian border war of Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), 90
Songhay empire, 480-81, 483 Statism, 587
1962—1113, 1118, 1244
Soong, Mei-ling, 1160 Statute of Laborers, 598
Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895—
858, 927, 947, 1220 Sophia, electress of Hanover, 621 Statute of Westminster, 1072-73
Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945— Sophists, 195-961, 206, 228, 644, 673 Steam engine, 793, 797—98ff., 802
1162, 1163-64 Sophocles, 204f., 207, 213, 496 Steam navigation, 800
Sino-Soviet rift, 1173, 1178 Sorel (so'reP), Georges, 831, 1049, Steel, 801, 809
Sistine (sTs'ten) Chapel, 503 1277 Steinbeck, John, 1292
Sitzkrieg, 1206 South Africa, 771, 953, 955-57, 1103,
1141—42; Republic of, 1071f., 1142— Stephenson, George, 799-800
Sivaji (se-va'je), 685
Six Day War, 1137 45; Union of, 1142 Stockholm Conference, 1034

u
 Stoicism/stoics, 94, 224, 225-26f., 233, 374f., 381, 43If., 1044, 1126, 1131, Third World, 1224, 1242-45, 1261,
247, 251-52S., 258ff., 264, 267-68, 1133, 1136f., 1140, 1216 1263-64, 1269, 1301
271, 332f., 352, 507 Szechwan (su'chwan'), 154 Thirty Years’ War, 624, 634-35, 639,
Stolypin (stu-ll'pyln), 1000 641
Stone Age, 6-18 Thomas, St., see Aquinas, St. Thomas
Strafford, Earl of, 616 Table Bay, 955f. Thomson, James, 1008
Strassburg, Gottfried von, 445 Tacitus, 260, 329, 340ff. Thomson, William (Lord Kelvin), 966
Strassman, Fritz, 1283 Tagore, Rabindranath (ta-gor', Thoreau, Henry David, 819, 833f.,
Strauss, Richard, 992 ra-ben'dra-nat), 1102 1007, 1267
Stravinsky, Igor, 1298-99 Taika (tl'ka) Reform, 3l4ff„ 469-70 Thrace, 220, 1126
Stresemann (shtra'ze-man), Gustav, Taille (ta'y’), 399, 728f„ 737 Thrasymachus (thra-sim'a-kus), 196
1199 Taiping (ti'plng') Rebellion, 924-26, Three Principles of Sun Yat-sen,
Strong, Josiah, 1003 1171 1158f„ 1160f.
Stuart kings of England, 589, 612ff., Taira (ta'e-ra) family, 472 Thucydides (thu-sidT-dez), 4, 206,
621, 637f. Taiwan, 1165, 1172, 1193f„ 1222 229, 496
Stupas (stoo'paz), 286, 288, 291 Taj Mahal, 684-85 Tiber River, 237, 239
Submarine warfare, 1033 Takamine (ta'ka-me'ne), 965 Tiberius, 263
Sucre, Antonio Jose de, 889 Tale of Genji (gen'je), 317 Tibet, 115, 125, 285, 300-1, 690, 932-
Sudan, 482, 712, 1023, 1129f., 1243 Talleyrand (ta-la-ran'), 769f. 33, 1118, 1171
Sudan Republic, 48 Talmud, 1003 T’ien (tl-en'), 159
Sudetenland, 1205 Tanaka Kakuei, 1193f. Tientsin (te-en'tzin'), 929; Treaty of,
Sudras (soo'draz). 130 T’ang (tang) dynasty, 299-301, 303, 923
Suez Canal, 1129fif. 305f„ 314, 459f., 464, 466f. Tigris-Euphrates valley, 21-25, 53f.,
Suffrage: manhood, 412, 760, 861-62, Tanzania, 6, 321, 953, 955f., 1071, 60, 63, 97f„ 100, 109, 145
873, 875, 903, 908, 1082, 1142; in 1151-52 Tilsit, Treaty of, 763
Great Britain, 861, 862-66; in Tao Teh Ching (dou' de' jfng'), 164 Timbuktu, 477, 479f.; University of,
France, 869f.; in German Empire, Taoism (dou'izm), 164-65L, 293, 479, 1148
870; universal, 866, 873, 1063, 1090, 304-5, 312. 465, 467. 694, 925 Timur (Tamerlane), 458, 464, 681
1112, 1136, 1165, 1185 Taoist (dou'Tst) school. 162, 164-65 Tintoretto (ten'to-ret'to), 501
Sufis (soo'fez). 371f„ 376. 712 Tarentum, 182, 237, 239 Tippu Tip, 954
Sukarno, Achmed, 1237, 1243-44 Tarsus, 332 Tiryns (ti'rlnz), 10 If.
Sulfa drugs, 1287 Tartars, 631 Tithes, 550
Sulla, 249 Tartarus, realm of. 180 Titian (tlsh'an). 501. 529
Sullivan, Louis, 988 Taxation, 401f., 405ff„ 427f., 457, Tobacco, 600, 631, 700
Sully, Maximilien de Bethune, Duke 549-50, 615, 622; manorial, 399; Tokugawa (to-koo-ga'wa) family,
of, 623 papal, 549f.; in India, 682, 686, 474, 696
Sumatra, 290f. 1098-99; in France under Old Tokugawa Shogunate, 695-705, 933ff.;
Sumerians, 53f., 55-60ff., 65, 68, 88, Regime, 725-26, 728-29, 737 significance of, 704-5; abolition of,
149 Taygetus (ta-Tj'e-tQs) Mountains, 183 934-35; Tokyo, 696, 935, 1191,
Sun Goddess cult, 310-11, 315f. Tchaikovsky (chT-kof'skl), Peter, 1261; see also Edo
Sun Yat-sen (soon' yat'sen'), 931-32, 991 f. Tokyo Bay, 933
1155, 1156-59. 1171 Telegraph, 800-1, 805f. Tokyo University, 1193
Sun Yat-sen, Madame, 1160, 1171 Telephone, 805-6 Toledo, 379, 490, 529
Sung (sd&ng) dynasty. 459-62, 467, Telescope, 510 Toleration Act, 621
469, 690f., 694 Temples: Egyptian, 36, 40, 41-42, 73; Tolstoi, Count Leo, 830, 832, 978-79,
Sunjata, 479-80 Mesopotamian, 56, 64; Greek, 1007, 1106, 1252
Sunna, 372 208f.; Indian, 286-88f„ 457-58; Tories, 773, 864, 867
Sunni Ali, 480 Chinese, 468 Tosa clan, 934, 938
Sunnites, 371-72, 374 Ten Commandments, 79, 85-86, 94, Totalitarianism, 1050, 1054, 1065,
Superstition, 601 333 1171; in ancient China, 166, 295;
Supreme Court, of United States, 615, Ten Generals, Board of, 188f. in Africa, 709
1066 Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 979, 1009 Toulon (too'lon'), 759
Supreme Soviet of U.S.S.R., 1063-64 Tertullian, 349f. Tours (toor). Battle of, 382
Surat (sdo'rat). 689 Tet Offensive, 1239, 1242 Toussaint L’Ouverture (too'san'
Surplus value, 827 Tetzel, Johann, 553-54 loo'ver'tur'), 892
Surrealism, 1296f. Teutonic Knights, 630-631 Townshend, Lord, 595
Surya (soor'ya), 121 Texaco, 1133 Toynbee, Arnold J., 19, 21, 110, 1300
Susa, 71 Thackeray, William M., 975 Trade Boards Act of 1909—817
Suttee, 120, 131, 459, 681, 1098 Thailand, 136, 1191, 1244f. Trafalgar, Battle of, 763
Suzerain, 390, 392-93 Thales (tha'lez) of Miletus. 193, 201 Tragedy: Greek, 203-5; Shakespear¬
Swadeshi (swa-da'shl). 1101 Thebes, 33, 48, 176, 181, 191f. ean, 204, 535-36
Swahili civilization, 483, 711, 953-54 Theocritus (the-ok'ri-tfis) of Syra¬ Trajan (tra'jan), 256, 265
Swammerdam, Jan, 657 cuse, 229 Transmigration of souls, 123, 13If.,
Swaraj (swa-raj'), 1101 Theodora, 362 303f.
Swaziland, 956 Theodoric (the-od'6-rlk), 343, 348, Transportation, developments in,
Sweden, 559, 625, 634f., 771, 873, 352f. 799-800, 804-5
1252, 1289 Theodosius (the-o-do'shi-fis) I, 269f. Transubstantiation, doctrine of, 421,
Swift, Jonathan, 665 Theophrastus (the'o-fras'tiis), 230—31 546, 548, 555, 567
Switzerland, 559-63, 570, 635, 641, Theotocopuli, see El Greco Transvaal (trans-val'), 1141f.
761, 770, 873, 911, 1065f„ 1289 Thermidorean Reaction, 750 Transylvania, 1041
Sydenham, Thomas, 658 Thermodynamics, first and second Travancore (trav-an-kor'), 459
Symbolism, 1298 laws of, 966, 1301 Treasure of Merit, 544
Symphony, 671, 788f. Thessalonica, 363 Treaty ports in China, 926
Syndicalism, 831, 1049, 1277 Thessaly, 183
Third Estate, in France, 727, 738-40 Trecento (tra-chen'to), 487, 496, 499
Synthetic products, 803-4, 1253-54 Treitschke (trlch'ke), Heinrich von,
Syracuse, 182, 230, 239, 245 Third Industrial Revolution, 1253-57
Third Reich, 1054 1020. 1022
Syria, 3If., 45, 55, 98, 103, 107, 140, Third Republic in France, 840-43, Trent, Council of, 567-68
220, 250, 284, 297, 358f„ 361f., 369, 869-70, 974, 1250 Trialism, 1026
V
Trianon (tre’a-non'), Palace, 662; United States, 156, 273, 801, 804, Vasari, Giorgio, 487
Treaty of, 1041 808f„ 81 If., 844, 894ff„ 898, 902, Vassals, 390, 392-93, 471
Tribalism, 1151 905, 907, 910ff„ 923, 948ff„ 977, Vatican Councils, 1001, 1278-79
Trieste, 1018, 1036, 1041 988, 1004, 1006f„ 1065ff., 1076, Vedas (va'daz), 118fL, 122, 124, 129,
Trigonometry, 232, 376 1087, 1118f., 1122, 1130-31. 1140, 132, 137, 161, 688
Trinidad and Tobago, 1071, 1237 1161, 1172, 1177f., 1179fL, 1188, Vega (va'ga), Lope de, 530
Trinity, 334f., 436, 1002 1200, 1210, 1212, 1217, 1220ff„ Velasco, General Juan, 911
Triple Alliance, 1022, 1023-24, 1029 1243ff„ 1251ff., 1256ff., 1270, 1278, Velasquez (va-las'kath), Diego, 662f.,
Triple Entente, 1023-24, 1026, 10281 1280, 1290-91, 1297, 1299; na¬ 983
Tripoli, 321, 852, 1024 tionalism in, 853-54, 1003; democ¬ Veld, South African, 319, 956
Tristan and Isolde, 445 racy in, 873-78; Civil War in, 875- Venetia, 846ff.
Trivium, 354, 441 76; in Japan, 933-34L, 1184-86, Venezuela, 895, 1262; revolution in,
Trojan War, 102 1189, 1191-93, 1225; World War I 889-90
Troppau (trop'ou), Congress of, 771- and, 1033ff., 1041, 1044, 1067; Venice, 366f., 410f., 433, 488, 491ff.,
72 World War II and, 1164, 1207—9fT.; 496, 501, 513, 578, 580, 592, 688,
Trotsky, Leon, 1059-60, 1061-62 Korean War and, 1189, 1220; mili¬ 771
Troubadours, _3 80, 444, 451, 495 tary expenditures, 1190, 1289; as Venus, 67, 244
Trouveres (troo'var'), 444, 451 world power, 1225-27, 1229, 1231; Verdi (var'de), Giuseppe, 991
Troy, lOOff. Cold War and, 1226-27; nuclear Verdun, Treaty of, 401
Truce of God, 394-95, 429 weapons, 1226f„ 1250, 1283f.; Viet¬ Vereeniging (ve-ra'm-ging), Treaty
Trudeau, Pierre, 1079 nam War and, 1239-42, 1269; black of, 1141
Trujillo (troo-he'yo), Rafael L., 911 — militancy in, 1245-47, 1271; in¬ Vergil, 259, 447, 488
12 crease of executive power in, 1251— Vernacular languages, 352f., 442, 443-
Truman, Harry S., 1209, 1211, 1217, 52; population explosion and, 47, 488, 495ff„ 1279
1220, 1221, 1226 1263f.; urban explosion and, 1265- Verona, 493; Congress of, 772
Trusts, 809, 941-42, 1257 67; youth revolt and, 1267ff.; space Verrocchio (var-rok'kyo), Andrea
Tucuman (too'koo-man'). 890 exploration, 1285; see also America del, 500
Tudeh (too'de') Party, 1138 United States Steel Corporation, 806 Versailles (ver'sa'y’), 653, 660, 728,
Tudor dynasty, 518-19, 531, 538, 563, Universities, 488, 491; rise of, 440; 740, 870; Treaty of, 1038-40, 1179,
612f. open, 1270; see also Education 1198f., 1212
Tulsi Das (tool'se das), 688 Untouchables, 129, 131, 1105f., 1112, Verwoerd (far-voort'), Hendrik. 1144
Tunisia, 1022, 1238 1116 Vesalius (ve-sa'IT-us), Andreas, 511
Turgeniev (tbor-gya'nyef), Ivan, 977- Upanishads (do-pan'T-shadz), 122- Vespucci (va-spoot'che), Amerigo,
78 24. 126. 131, 134 880
Turkestan, 15, 98, 280, 297, 300, 464, Ural Mountains, 631, 633 Victor Emmanuel II. 848
681 Urban II, Pope, 429-3If. Victor Emmanuel III, 848, 1050
Turkey, 69, 482, 658, 775, 839, 1018ff., Urbanization, 812-13, 908, 1190-91, Victoria, Tomas Luis de, 537-38
1125-29ff., 1035, 1041-44, 1065, 1265-67 Victorian Age, in England, 974-75,
1122,1133,1206, 1217; Republic of, Urdu (db'doo), 6_88, J_118 979-80
108, 1044, 1126-28; Second Repub¬ Uriburu (oo-re-boo'roo), Jose, 908 Vienna, 520, 660, 670f„ 787-88, 843;
lic, 1128 Uruguay (oo'roo-gwl'), 891, 895f., University of, 440; Congress of,
Turks, 496, 850; in China, 298; in 911 768-71
Central Asia, 299, 301; in India, U.S.S.R., 907, 913, 1118, 1121, 1132, Viennese school, 670
455, 457-58, 680f.; in Africa, 487; 1140, 1192, 1200, 1204f„ 1210ff„ Viereck, Peter, 1278
see also Ottoman Turks; Seljuk 1216f., 1220ff„ 1242, 1271; Consti¬ Viet Cong, 1239
Turks tution of 1936—1063-64; relations Viet Minh, 1221
Turner, J. M. W„ 786 with China, 1157-60, 1167, 1172- Viete (vyet), Franpois, 526
Tuscany, 493, 771, 847f. 73, 1177—78; military expenditures, Vietnam/Vietnam War, 1079, 1087f.,
Twain, Mark, 977 1190, 1289; World War II and, 1173, 1176, 1239-42, 1244, 1251,
Twelve Tables, Law of the, 242, 267 1198, 1207f., 1210ff„ 1227; as great 1280, 1291; see also Indochina War
Twenty-sixth of July Movement, 913 power, 1225, 1227-30L; Cold War Vijayanagar (vlj'a-ya-nug'er), 459
Two Sicilies, Kingdom of, 634, 770, and, 1226-27; nuclear weapons, Vikramaditya (vik'ra-ma'dit-ya),
772f„ 847f. 1226, 1250, 1283f.; space explora¬ 280f„ 283
Tyrants, 182, 186-87, 191 tion, 1269, 1284-85; contemporary Villa (ve'ya), Francisco (Pancho),
Tyre, 88, 109 literature in, 1293-94 902
T’zu Hsi (tsob' she'), 926, 928-29 Ussuri River, 927, 1173 Villeins, 39711.
Usury, 415f., 551 Vilna, 1045
Utica, 109 Vinci, Leonardo da, see Leonardo da
Uganda, 1071, 1150 Utilitarianism, 165-66, 780-82 Vinci
Ukraine, 1207 Utopian socialism, 824-25 Vindhya Mountains, 115
Ulpian, 268, 274, 364 Utopianism, in Hellenistic civilization, Virgin Mary, 421-22, 547
Ulster, 1000-1, 1232f. 229 Virginia, 579, 586
Ultra-Royalists, 773 Utrecht, Peace of, 635-36 Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions,
Unemployment, technological, 1256 U-2 flights, 1229 732
Unequal treaties, 922, 932, 939, 1161 Visconti family, 492
Unified Socialist Party, in France. 829 Vishnu, 121, 125f., 127-28, 291
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Vaccination, 658-59, 675, 963, 1286f.
Visigoths, 340
see U.S.S.R. Vaisyas (vi'syaz), 130
Valentinian III, Roman emperor, 337 Vitamins, discovery of, 965
Unitarians, 621
Valla (val'la), Lorenzo, 490, 498-99, Viviani (ve-vya'ne), Rene, 1028
United Arab Republic, 1131
507 Voegelin, Eric, 1278
United Fruit Company, 911
Van der Weyden (van der vl'den), Volga River, 633
United Kingdom, 1071f.
Rogier, 525 Volta, Alessandro, 655
United Nations, 641, 1045, 1112, 1131,
1136, 1177, 1192, 1210-11, 1220, Van Dyck (van dlk'), Anthony, 662f. Voltaire, 621, 629, 648-50L, 653, 672,
1222, 1238, 1250; organization of, Van Gogh, see Gogh, Vincent van 724, 732-33, 828, 1230
1212-16; achievements of, 1216 Vandals, 340 Von Hindenburg, Paul, 1053f.
United Nations Charter, 1212—13 Vargas, Getulio, 897, 904 Von Papen (pap'en), Franz, 1054
United Nations Declaration, 1210 Varuna (vur'oon-a), 121f. Voyages of discovery, 578-80

w
Wafd, 1129 Whitney, Eli, 796 Phoenician, 110, 175; Indus valley,
Wagner (vag'ner), Otto, 988 Wilkinson, John, 798 117; Chinese, 145, 147-48, 160, 311,
Wagner, Richard, 990-91f., 1298 William I (the Conqueror), 347, 405 1169-70; Etruscan, 238; Roman,
Wakefield, Edward Gibbon, 1089 William II, German emperor, 1018, 243; Japanese, 311-12; Arabic, 378,
Waksman (waks'man), Selman A., 1026f.. 1030, 1036 688, 1126; Aztec, 880; Mayan, 881
1287 William I, king of Prussia and Ger¬ Wundt (voont), Wilhelm, 967
Walpole, Sir Robert, 866-67 man emperor, 840, 845f., 870 Wiirttemberg (ver'tem-berk), 769
Wanderjahr (van'der-yar), 414 William and Mary, 620-21, 866 Wyclif (wik'llf), John, 548, 563
Wang An-shih (wang' an'shu'), 461, William of Lorris, 446
465 William the Silent, 573
Wang Mang (wang' mang'), 297 Williams, Roger, 873 Xerxes (zurk/sez),_70, 73
War of 1812—853, 874-75, 877 Wilson, Woodrow, 877, 902, 1031, Ximenes (he-ma'nas), Cardinal, 566
War of Liberation, 765 1033-34L, 1038-39, 1044, 1048, X-ray, 966
War of the Pacific, 896 1178, 1257
War of the Reform, Mexico, 898 Witchcraft, 62, 89, 99, 159, 574, 601-3
War of the Roses, 408, 518, 612 Witte (vlt'e, Rus. vyet'tye), Serge, 810 Yahweh (ya'we), 67, 80, 85-86
Ward, Frederick T„ 926 Wittenberg (vlt'en-berk), University Yahweh Amphictyony
Warlords, in China, 1156-57ff. of, 553 (am-fTk'tl-o-ne), 80
Warring states, period of, in China, Wittgenstein (vlt'gen-shtln), Ludwig Yahya Khan, General, 1120f.
153-54 Adolf Peter, 1276 Yalta Agreement, 1210—1 If.
Warsaw, 762, 1206 Witwatersrand (wlt-wa'terz-rant), Yamani, Sheik Ahmed, 1140-41
Washington, Booker T., 1290 1141 Yamato (ya'ma-to), 309ff., 313, 317
Washington, D.C., 1265 Wolsey, Thomas Cardinal, 564 Yangtze (yang'tse') valley, 145f„
Washington Conference of 1921— Women, status of, 1006, 1126-27; in 152f„ 155, 293, 297, 460, 463, 692,
1922—1179-80 ancient Egypt, 44-45; in Mesopota¬ 925f., 931, 1157, 1159, 1161
Wassermann (vas'er-man), August mia, 58, 61, 65; in Minoan-Myce- Yarrow, England, 354
von, 965 naean civilization, 103-4, 107; in Yathrib, 367, 369f.
Water frame, 793, 796ff. India, 119-20, 128, 131, 458, 1112; Yellow River, 146, 153, 158, 298
Watergate hearings, 1251 in China, 149, 157-58, 1169; in Yellow River valley, 145, 150, 1167f.
Waterloo, Battle of, 767 Hellenic civilization, 178, 195-96, Yellow Sea, 145
Watt, James, 797f. 205, 213; in Japan, 309, 317, 476; Yemen (yem'en), 1131, 1140
Weathermen, 1223 in medieval society, 395-96 Yenan (ye'nan'), 1162, 1164
Weaving, 14 Wood, Grant, 1297 Yoga discipline, 128
Webb, Beatrice, 829 Woodcuts, Japanese, 702 York, England, 354
Webb, Sidney, 829 Wordsworth, William, 667, 783, 785 Yoruba peoples/civilization, 482, 705-
Weber, Max, 1289-90 Workmen’s Compensation Act of 7, 952
Wei (wa) valley, 151, 154, 298 1906—817 Young Turks, 851-52
Weidenreich (vt'den-rlkh), Franz, World Health Organization (WHO), Youth movement, 1267-69
144 1216 Ypres (e'pr’), 411
Weimar (vl'mar) Republic, 1051, World War I, 214, 802, 865, 877-78, Yuan dynasty, see Mongol dynasty
1054 908, 949, 1017-45, 1077-78, 1101-2, Yuan Shih-k’ai (ye-an' shir'kl'), 931-
Weismann (vls'man), August, 962, 1223, 1245; underlying causes, 33, 1156 _
1002 1018-25; immediate cause of, 1025- Yucatan (yoo'ka-tan'). 20, 881
Welfare state, 808-9, 911, 1222, 1251- 29; war-guilt issue, 1029-30, 1040; Yugoslavia, 1041, 1198, 1211, 1222
52 unique features of, 1031-32; effects Yunnan (yun-nan'), 927
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1037, 1067, 1225, 1236-37, 1300
of, 767, 769, 863, 865 World War II, 339, 808, 909, 1078,
Wells, H. G„ 829, 976, 1031, 1273 1108-10, 1130, 1138, 1197-1217, Zaibatsu (zl-bats'oo), 1181, 1183,
Wesley, John, 603, 672 1227; compared to World War I, 1185
West Africa, 16, 49, 318, 320, 477, 1197-98; underlying causes, 1198— Zaire, 1148
708, 950 1204; economic causes, 1200-2; Zambesi River/valley, 319, 321, 956
West Berlin, 1227, 1229 immediate causes, 1204-5; turning Zambia, Republic of, 956, 1071, 1152
West Germany, 905, 1188, 1190, 1217, points in, 1207-8; peace settlement, Zanzibar, 483, 953f.
1229f„ 1243 1209-12; effects of, 1219-20, 1225, Zen Buddhism, 475f.
West Indies, 579f„ 591, 637, 911 1227, 1236f. Zeno, 225, 252
Western Chou period, 152, 294 Worms (vorms), Edict of, 554 Zero, invention of, 20, 137
Westphalia, Treaty of, 635, 640-41 Wren, Sir Christopher, 660 Zeus, 121, 179, 203, 206, 244
White, William Allen, 275 Ziggurat (zlg'db-rat), 60
White Australia policy, 1082, 1085, Wright, Frank Lloyd, 988
Zionism, 1004, 1133, 1135
1088 Wright, Richard, 1295
Zola, Smile, 842, 974, 982
White Huns, 281-82, 289 Wright brothers, 805 Zollverein (tsol'fer-Tn'), 808
White New Zealand policy, 1091 Writing, 5f., 19, 20, 22, 24; Egyptian, Zoroaster (zo'ro-as'ter), 73f., 76
White Sea, 630 39-40, 107, 110; Kushitic, 49; Zoroastrianism, 73-75, 88, 233, 333
Whitehead, Alfred North, 1275-76 Sumerian, 56, 59, 72; Persian, 72; Zulu people/empire, 956-57
Whitlam, Gough, 1088 Hittite, 99; Cretan, 102, 105; Myce¬ Zurich, 559f.
Whitman, Walt, 1267 naean (early Greek), 105, 176; Zwingli (tsvlng'le), Ulrich, 559-60

X
 WORLD CIVILIZATIONS, fifth edition

Edward McNall Burns and Philip Lee Ralph

In this thoroughly revised edition the treatment of the non-Western
world has been expanded significantly while the coverage of the
Western world has been expanded in some areas and contracted in
others in response to changing interest and emphasis in civilization
courses. The book retains the lively writing style, the clarity, the
historical balance, the blend of fact and interpretation, and the
over-all organizational qualities which have characterized previous
editions.
FEATURES OF THE FIFTH EDITION
• An extensively revised text reflecting recent scholarship.
• A greatly expanded treatment of African history.
• A thoroughly revised and updated treatment of Far Eastern, Near
Eastern, and Latin American history, with areas which are the
focus of increased attention, such as modern China, receiving
greater coverage than ever before.
• An expanded treatment of the twentieth century, with particular
attention given to the 1960's and early 1970's.
• The industrial revolutions have been treated in one chapter to
show their continuous effect, and a new chapter on the critics
and apologists of industrialization has been added.
• A new and improved format which allows for marginal illustra¬
tions but which retains the easy-to-read single-column page,
chronological tables, and side headings for reference and review.
• 65 full-color and black-and-white maps by the noted cartog¬
rapher Harold K. Faye.
• Over 760 full-color and black-and-white illustrations from
archives around the world, 80 per cent of which are new in this
edition.
World Civilizations is also available in a single-volume clothbound
edition. 1,302 text pages.
A Study Guide by Philip L. Ralph
Revised with additional source readings, questions, and problems
for review.

Norton
W • W • NORTON & COMPANY • INC 500 FIFTH AVE., N.Y. 10036

Cover Illustration. Twelfth-century Japanese Bodhisattvas (Scala)

COVER RESIGN BY EDWARD P. DIEHL