[Picture: Decorative chapter heading]
For three hundred years Rome reigned over all the countries round the
Mediterranean, with one emperor at her head, and the magistrates of his
appointment to rule in all the provinces, while garrisons were placed to
quell risings of the people, or to keep in order the wild tribes on any
dangerous border. For a long course of years Greece was quiet, and had
no need of such troops. The people of her cities were allowed to manage
their own affairs enough to satisfy them and make them contented, though
they had lost all but such freedom as they could have by being enrolled
as citizens of Rome, and they were too near the heart of the empire to be
in danger from barbarous neighbours, so that they did not often have
troops among them, except those passing through Corinth to the East.
Towards the end of these three hundred years, however, Thrace and
Thessaly began to be threatened by wild nations who came from the banks
of the Danube, and robbed the rich villages and countries to the south.
The empire was, in truth, growing weaker, and enemies began to press upon
it; and this made the emperor, Diocletian, decide that it was beyond the
power of any one man to rule and defend it all, and he therefore divided
it with his friend Maximian, whom he made Emperor of the East, while he
remained Emperor of the West. The Western empire was the Latin-speaking
half, and the Eastern the Greek-speaking half, of these lands, though
both still called themselves Roman.
[Picture: Plains of Philippi]
The two halves were joined together again, about the year 300, under
Constantine the Great, who was the first Christian emperor. He thought
he should be more in the middle of his government if he moved his capital
from Rome to the old Greek city of Byzantium, which he adorned with most
splendid buildings, and called after his own name, Constantinople; and
this became the capital of the East, as Rome was of the West. Athens
remained all this time the place of study for Christians as well as
heathens, and people still talked philosophy and studied eloquence among
the laurel and myrtle groves, and looked at the temples, which still
stood there, though hardly anyone frequented them. One emperor, Julian,
the cousin of Constantine, studied there as a youth, and became so fond
of the old philosophy and learning, and so admired the noble ways of the
times when men were seeking after truth, that he thought Greece and Rome
would be great again if they turned back to these heathen ways, not
seeing that this was going back to the dark out of which those men had
been struggling.
Julian tried to bring back heathen customs, and to have the old gods
worshipped again; but he was killed in an expedition against the
Persians, and soon after his time the old idol-worship was quite
forgotten. Every city had a Bishop and clergy, and the Bishops of each
division of the empire were under a great ruling Bishop, who was called a
Patriarch. Greece was under the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Greek
churches were made as like the pattern of the temple at Jerusalem as they
could be. The end which represented the Holy of Holies, and had the
altar in it, was veiled, and enclosed within what were called the Royal
Gates, and these were only opened at times of celebrating the Holy
Communion. This end was raised steps, and the Holy Scriptures and sermon
were spoken to the people from the front of the Royal Gates. The
pavement was of rich marble, and the ceiling, which was generally
vaulted, was inlaid with coloured stones, making pictures in what is
called Mosaic, because thus the stones were set by Moses in the High
Priest's vestment. The clergy wore robes like those of the priests, and
generally had flowing hair and beards, though in front the hair was cut
in a circlet, in memory of our Lord's crown of thorns.
Now that everyone had become Christian, and bad or worldly people were
not afraid to belong to the Church for fear of persecution, there was
often sin and evil among them. Many who grieved at this shut themselves
up from the world in the most lonely places they could find--little
islands, deep woods, mountain tops, or rocks, and the like. When they
lived alone they were called hermits, when there were many together they
were called monks, and the women who thus lived were nuns. Many such
monasteries there were in Greece, especially one upon Mount Athos--that
peninsula that Xerxes tried to cut off--and most of these have continued
even to our own time.
The emperor Theodosius, who reigned at the end of this fourth century
over both East and West, was a very good and great man, and during his
reign the Greek lands were kept from the marauders. In his time,
however, the Thessalonians brought a most dreadful punishment on
themselves. For want of public business, or any real and noble interest,
the people had come to care for nothing but games and races, and they
loved these sports with a sort of passionate fury. There was a
chariot-driver at Thessalonica who was a wicked man, but whose racing was
so much admired that when, for some crime, Botheric, the governor, put
him in prison and hindered his performance, the mob rose, when they
missed him in the amphitheatre, and threw stones at the governor and his
officers, so that several were killed, and Botheric among them. The news
was taken to the emperor, and in great wrath he ordered that the
Thessalonians should be punished. The order was given to a cruel, savage
man, who hurried off at once, lest the emperor should relent and stop
him. He invited the Thessalonians to meet him in the amphitheatre, and
when they were there, expecting to hear some message, he had all the
doors closed, and sent in his soldiers, who killed them all, innocent as
well as guilty, even strangers who had only just come to the place.
Theodosius was much shocked to find how his passionate words had been
obeyed, and the good Bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, made him wait as a
penitent, cut off from the Holy Communion, while he was thus stained with
blood, until after many months his repentance could be accepted, and he
could be forgiven.
[Picture: Obelisk of Theodosius, Constantinople] After Theodosius died,
the Western half of the empire was overrun and conquered by tribes of
German nations, but the Eastern part still remained, and emperor after
emperor reigned at Constantinople, ruling over the Greek cities as
before; but there were savage tribes of the Slavonian race who settled in
Thrace, and spread over Thessaly. They were called Bulgarians, and used
to send marauders all over the country to the south, so that they were
much dreaded by the Greeks, who had long forgotten how to fight for
themselves.
But though the Eastern and Western empires were broken apart, the Church
was one. The Greeks, indeed, found fault with the Romans for putting
three words into the Creed of Nicea which had not been decided on by the
consent of the whole Church in Council, and there was a question between
the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople as to which had the
chief rule. At last their disputes in the eleventh century caused a
schism, or ruling apart, and the Greek Church became separated from the
Roman Church.
[Picture: An Amphitheatre--see page 312]