important city improvements. If you live in a city, you turn on a
spigot and you get plenty of pure water whenever you want it. The
people in cities at that time, however, usually had to get their water
both for drinking and for washing from wells or springs near-by. These
springs and wells often became dirty and made the people very sick.
And so every once in a while because of such dirty water there were
those terrible plagues, those terribly contagious diseases like the one
I told you about in Athens when people died faster than they could be
buried.
[Illustration: Roman Aqueduct.]
The Romans wanted pure water, and so they set to work to find lakes
from which they could get pure water. As oftentimes these lakes were
many miles away from the city, they then built big pipes to carry the
water all the way to the city. Such a pipe was not made of iron or
terra-cotta as nowadays, but of stone and concrete, and was called an
“aqueduct,” which in Latin means “water-carrier.” If this aqueduct had
to cross a river or a valley, they built a bridge to hold it up. Many
of these Roman aqueducts are still standing and in use to-day.
Now, up to this time waste water, after it had been used, and also
every other kind of dirt and refuse, was simply dumped into the street.
This naturally made the city or town filthy and unhealthy and was
another cause of plagues. But the Romans built great underground sewers
to carry off this dirt and waste water and empty it into the river or
into some other place where it would do no harm and cause no sickness.
Nowadays, every large city has aqueducts and sewers as a matter of
course, but the Romans were the first to build them on a large scale.
One of the most important things that Rome did was to make rules that
every one had to obey; laws, we call them. Many of these laws were so
fair and just that some of our own laws to-day are copied from them.
All the cities and towns of the Roman Empire had to pay money or taxes
to Rome. So Rome became the richest city in the world. Millions of this
money, which was brought to her, was spent in putting up beautiful
buildings in the city, temples to the gods, splendid palaces for the
rulers, public baths and huge open-air places called amphitheaters
where the people could be amused.
The amphitheaters were something like our football and baseball fields
or stadiums. They did not have football or baseball, however. They
had chariot-races, and deadly fights between men, or between men and
animals. Chariots were small carts with large wheels drawn by two or
by four horses and driven by a man standing up. Perhaps you have seen
chariot-races in the circus.
But the sport that the Romans enjoyed most of all was a Fight of
Gladiators. Gladiators were very strong and powerful men who had been
captured in battle by the Romans. They were made to fight with one
another or with wild animals for the amusement of the crowd. These
gladiatorial fights were very cruel, but the Romans enjoyed seeing
blood shed. They liked to see one man kill another or a wild animal. It
was so amusing. The movies would not have interested them half so much.
Usually the gladiators fought until one or the other was killed, for
the people were not, as a rule, satisfied until this was done.
Sometimes, however, if a gladiator, who had been knocked out, had shown
himself particularly brave and a good fighter or a good sport, the
people seated all around the amphitheater would turn their thumbs _up_
as a sign that his life was to be spared by the other gladiator. So the
winning gladiator, before killing his opponent whom he had down, would
wait to see what the people wished. If they turned their thumbs _down_,
it meant he was to finish the fight by killing his man.
But although Rome had become such a fine and beautiful and healthy
city in which to live, the rich people were getting most of the money
that came there from all over the empire. They were getting richer
and richer all the time, while the poor people, who got nothing, were
getting poorer and poorer all the time. The Romans brought the people
whom they conquered in battle to Rome and made them work for them
without pay. These were slaves and they did all the work. It is said
that there were more than twice as many slaves as Romans--two slaves
for every Roman citizen.
Now, Scipio, who had conquered Hannibal in the Punic War, had a
daughter named Cornelia Graccha, and she had two sons. They were very
fine boys, and Cornelia was naturally very proud of them.
One day a very rich Roman woman was visiting Cornelia and showing off
all her rings and necklaces and other ornaments, of which she had a
great many and was very proud.
When she had shown off all she had, she asked to see Cornelia’s jewels.
Cornelia called to her two boys, who were playing outside, and when
they came in to their mother she put her arms around them and said:
“_These_ are _my_ jewels.”
But boys who are jewels when they are young do not always turn out to
be jewels when they grow up. So you may wonder how Cornelia’s jewels
tinned out.
When they grew up, the Gracchi, as they were called, saw such great
extravagance among the rich and such great misery among the poor that
they wanted to do something about it. They saw that the poor had hardly
anything to eat and no place to live. This did not seem fair. So they
tried to lower the price of food, so that the poor might be able to buy
enough to eat. Then they tried to find some way to give the poor at
least a small piece of land where they might raise a few vegetables.
They were partly successful in bringing this about. But the rich people
didn’t like giving up anything to the poor, and they killed one of the
Gracchus brothers, and later they killed the other one, also. These
were Cornelia’s jewels.
33
The Noblest Roman of Them All
Here’s a puzzle for you:
A man once found a very old piece of money that had on it the date “100
B. C.”
That couldn’t be so. Why not? See if you can tell without looking at
the answer at the bottom of the page.[1]
[1] People living 100 years before Christ was born could not have known
when he was to be born and so could not put such a date on the coins
they made.
In the year 100 B. C. was born in Rome a boy who was named Julius Cæsar.
If you had asked him when he was born, he would have said in the Year
653.
Why do you suppose?
Because Roman boys counted time from the founding of Rome in 753 B. C.,
and Cæsar was born 653 years after the city was founded. That makes it
100 years before Christ, doesn’t it?
_Pirates_ seemed to be everywhere in the Mediterranean Sea at that
time--_Pirates_. Now that Rome was ruler of the world, there were many
ships carrying gold from different parts of the empire to Rome. So
the pirates sailed up and down, lying in wait to capture and rob these
ships laden with gold.
When Cæsar grew to be a young man, he was sent off to sea to fight
these pirates, and he was captured by them. The pirates kept Cæsar a
prisoner and sent to Rome saying they would not let him go unless Rome
sent them a great deal of money. Cæsar knew that he would be killed if
the money was not sent. He knew, too, that he might be killed, anyway.
But he was not only not afraid but he told the pirates that if he lived
to get back home he would return with a fleet and punish every one of
them. When at last the money came they let him go, nevertheless. They
thought Cæsar would not dare to do what he said. They thought he was
just “talking big.” At any rate, they did not believe he would be able
to catch them. Cæsar, however, kept his word, came back after them as
he said he would do, and took them prisoners. Then he had them all put
to death on the cross, which was the Roman way of punishing thieves.
The far-off places of the Roman Empire were always fighting against
Rome trying to get rid of her rule, and had to be kept in order by a
general with an army. As Cæsar had shown such bravery in fighting the
pirates he was given an army and sent to fight two of these far-off
places--Spain and a country north of Spain then known as Gaul, which
is now France.
Cæsar conquered these countries, and then he wrote a history of his
battles in Latin, which of course was his own language. Nowadays this
book, called “Cæsar’s Commentaries,” is usually the first book which
those who study Latin read.
In 55 B. C. Cæsar crossed over in ships to the island of Britain, which
is now England, conquered it, and went back again next year in 54 B. C.
Cæsar was becoming famous for the way he conquered and ruled over the
western part of the Roman Empire. Besides this, he was very popular
with his soldiers.
Now there was in Rome at this time another general named Pompey. Pompey
had been successfully fighting in the eastern part of the Roman Empire
while Cæsar had been fighting in the west. Pompey had been a great
friend of Cæsar, but when he saw how much land Cæsar had conquered and
how popular he was with his soldiers, he became very jealous of him.
Notice how many quarrels and wars are caused simply by jealousy. You
have heard of at least two already.
So while Cæsar was away with his army Pompey went to the Roman Senate
and persuaded the senators to order Cæsar to give up the command of
his army and return to Rome.
When Cæsar received the order from the Senate to give up his command
and return to Rome, he thought over the matter for some time. Then at
last he made up his mind that he would return to Rome, but he would
_not_ give up his command. Instead, he decided that he and his army
would take command of Rome itself.
Now, there was a little stream called the Rubicon which separated the
part of the country over which Cæsar was given charge from that of
Rome. The Roman law forbade any general to cross this stream with an
army ready to fight--this was the line beyond which he must not pass,
for the Romans were afraid that if a general with an army got too close
to Rome he might make himself king.
When Cæsar decided not to obey the Senate, he crossed this stream--the
Rubicon--with his army and marched on to Rome.
People now speak of any dividing line from danger as “the Rubicon”
and say that a person “crosses the Rubicon” when he takes a step from
which there is no turning back, when he starts something difficult or
dangerous which he must finish.
When Pompey heard that Cæsar was coming he took to his heels and fled
to Greece. In a few days Cæsar had made himself head not only of Rome
but of all Italy. Cæsar then went after Pompey in Greece and in a
battle with his army beat him badly.
Now that Pompey was out of the way, Cæsar was the chief ruler of the
whole of the Roman Empire.
Egypt did not yet belong to Rome. So Cæsar next went there and
conquered that country. Now, in Egypt there was ruling a beautiful
queen named Cleopatra. Cleopatra was so charming that she seemed able
to make every one fall in love with her. Cleopatra flirted with Cæsar
and so fascinated him that he almost forgot everything else except
making love to her. So although he had won Egypt he made Cleopatra
queen over that country.
Just at this time some people in the far eastern part of the empire
started a war to get rid of the rule of Rome. Cæsar left Egypt,
traveled rapidly to the place where the enemy were, made quick work
of conquering them, then sent back the news of his victory to Rome
in the most laconic (do you remember what that means?) description
ever given of a battle. There were only three words in the message.
Although the messenger could have carried three thousand as easily as
three words, Cæsar sent a message that would have been short even for a
telegram. He wrote, “Veni, vidi, vici,” which means, “I came, I saw, I
conquered.”
When Cæsar at last got back to Rome, the people wanted to make him
king, or said they did. Cæsar was already more than king, for he was
head of the whole Roman Empire. But he wasn’t called king, for there
had been no kings since 509 B. C., when Tarquin was driven out. The
Romans had been afraid of kings and hated them, or were supposed to
hate them.
A few of the people thought that Cæsar was getting too much power
and believed it would be a terrible thing to make him a king. They,
therefore, decided on a plot to prevent such a thing happening. One of
these plotters was a man named Brutus who had been Cæsar’s very best
friend.
One day when Cæsar was expected to visit the Roman Senate they lay in
wait for him until he should appear--in the same way I have seen boys
hide around the corner for some schoolmate, against whom they had a
grudge, until he should come out of school.
Cæsar came along, and just as he was about to enter the Senate the
plotters crowded around him, and one after another they stabbed him.
Cæsar, taken by surprise, tried to defend himself; but all he had
was his stylus, which was a kind of pen he used for writing, and he
could not do much with that, in spite of a famous saying, “The pen is
mightier than the sword.”
When at last Cæsar saw Brutus--his best friend--strike at him, his
heart seemed broken and he gave up. Then, exclaiming in Latin, “Et tu,
Brute!” which means, “And thou, O Brutus!” he fell down dead. This was
in 44 B.C.
Antony, one of Cæsar’s true friends, made a speech over Cæsar’s dead
body, and his words so stirred the crowd of people that gathered round
that they would have torn the murderers to pieces if they could have
caught them.
Shakspere has written a play called “Julius Cæsar,” and the month of
July is named after him.
Now whom do you suppose Antony called “The Noblest Roman of Them All”?
“Julius Cæsar”?
No, you’re wrong. Brutus, the friend who stabbed Cæsar, was called,
“The Noblest Roman of Them All.”
Why, do you suppose?
You’ll have to read Antony’s speech at the end of the play to find out.
Cæsar was pronounced in Latin “Kaiser”; and in later years the rulers
of Germany were called this, and those of another country by the
shortened form, “Czar.”
34
An Emperor Who Was Made a God
A man is famous who has a town or a street named after him.
Will you ever do anything great enough to have even an alley named
after you?
But just suppose a month, one of the twelve months of the year, was
given your name!
Millions upon millions of people would then write and speak your name
forever!
But I’m going to tell you about a man who not only had a month named
after him but who was made a god!
After Cæsar had been killed, three men ruled the Roman Empire. One of
these three men was Antony, the friend of Cæsar, who made the famous
speech over his dead body. The second was Cæsar’s adopted son, who was
named Octavius. The name of the third you don’t need to know now, for
Antony and Octavius soon got rid of him. Then no sooner had they forced
him out than each of these two began to plot to get the share of the
other.
Antony’s share, over which he ruled, was the eastern part of the
empire. The capital of this part was Alexandria in Egypt, and so
Antony went there to live.
In Egypt Antony fell in love with Cleopatra, as Cæsar before him had
done, and he finally married her.
Octavius, in the west, which was his share, then made war on Antony and
Cleopatra together, and in the end beat them both. Antony felt so bad
at being beaten by Octavius that he committed suicide.
His widow, Cleopatra, thereupon, flirted with Octavius as she had with
Julius Cæsar and Antony, hoping to make him also fall in love with her
and so win him in that way.
But it was no use. Octavius was a different kind of man from both
Julius Cæsar and Antony. He was cold-blooded and businesslike. He had
no heart for love-making. He would not let a woman charm him or turn
him aside from his plan, which was to be the greatest man in the world!
Cleopatra saw that it was no use trying her tricks on him. Then she
heard that she was going to be taken back to Rome and paraded through
the streets, as was done with any other prisoners taken in battle. She
could not stand such a shame as that, and so she made up her mind she
would not be taken back to Rome.
Now, in Egypt there is a kind of snake called an asp, which is deadly
poisonous. Taking one of these asps in her hand, she uncovered her
breast and let it bite her, and so she died.
Octavius was now ruler over all the countries that belonged to
Rome, and when he returned home to that city, the people hailed him
“Emperor.” He then gave up the name Octavius and had himself called
“Augustus Cæsar,” which is like saying, “His Majesty, Cæsar.” This was
in 27 B.C. Rome had got rid of her kings in 509. From now on she had
emperors, who were more than kings, for they ruled over many countries.
Octavius, now with his name changed to Augustus Cæsar, was only
thirty-six years old when he became sole master of the Roman world.
Rome was the great capital of this vast empire. The city of Rome had
probably as many people as New York City proper now has, and the Roman
Empire had perhaps as many people as the United States has at present.
Augustus set to work to make Rome a beautiful city. He tore down a
great many of the old buildings made of brick and put up in their place
a remarkable number of new and handsome buildings of marble. And so
Augustus always bragged that he found Rome brick and left it marble.
One of the finest buildings in Rome, the Pantheon, was built. Pantheon
means the temple of all the gods. Do not mix this with the Parthenon
in Athens, for the two buildings are quite different, and though the
names look something alike and sound something alike, they mean quite
different things; Parthenon is from the goddess Athene Parthenos;
Pantheon is from the two words “Pan theon,” which means “all gods.”
The Pantheon has a dome built of concrete. This dome is shaped like a
bowl turned upside down, and in the top of the dome is a round opening
called an eye. Though this eye is uncovered, the height is so great
above the floor that it is said that rain coming through the eye does
not wet the floor beneath but evaporates before reaching it.
So magnificent did the city become with all these wonderful buildings,
and so permanently did it seem to be built, that it was known as The
Eternal City and is still so spoken of.
There was a public square in Rome called the Forum. Here markets were
held and the people came together for all sorts of things. Around the
Forum were erected temples to the gods, court-houses, and other public
buildings. These court-houses were something like the temples that the
Greeks built, only the columns were put on the inside of the building
instead of on the outside.
[Illustration: Roman forum.]
Triumphal arches also were erected to celebrate great victories. When a
conquering hero returned from the war, he and his army passed through
this arch in a triumphal parade.
There had been in Rome a great amphitheater that is supposed to have
held more people than any structure that has ever been built--two
hundred thousand, it is said, or more than all the people who live in
some good-sized cities. This was called the Circus Maximus. It was at
last torn down to make room for other buildings.
Another amphitheater was the Colosseum, but this was not built until
some time after Augustus had died. It held about the same number as
the largest stadium in this country does to-day. Here were held those
fights between men, called gladiators, and wild animals that I have
already told you about. It is still standing, and, though it is in
ruins, you can sit in the same seats where the old Roman emperors did,
see the dens where the wild animals were kept, the doors where they
were let into the arena, and even bloody marks that are said to be the
stains made by the slain men and beasts.
So many famous writers lived at the time of Augustus that this has been
called the Augustan Age. Two of the best known Latin poets, whom every
school-boy now reads after he has finished “Cæsar’s Commentaries,”
lived at this time. These poets were Vergil and Horace. Vergil wrote
the “Æneid,” which told of the wanderings of Æneas, the Trojan, who
settled in Italy, and was the great-great-great-grandfather of Romulus
and Remus. Horace wrote many short poems called Odes. They were
love-songs of shepherds and shepherdesses and songs of the farm and
country life. People liked his songs, and many still name their sons
after him.
When Augustus Cæsar died, he was made a god, because he had done so
much for Rome; temples were built in which he was worshiped, and the
month of August was named after him.
35
“Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory”
Augustus Cæsar had been Ruler of the World.
He had found Rome brick and left it marble.
He had had a month named after him, and
He had been made a god!
Surely no one could ever be greater than he! Yet a greater than he was
living at the very same time--a greater ruler of a greater kingdom with
greater power and greater glory, although Augustus himself knew nothing
about Him and lived and died without ever having heard of Him. This
Man was born in the eastern part of Augustus’s empire in a tiny little
village called Bethlehem, and His name was Jesus Christ.
For many, many years after Christ was born no one except His family and
friends knew or cared anything about His birth or paid the slightest
attention to it.
Christ was a Jew, the son of a carpenter. As a boy and young man He
led a very simple and quiet life working in His father’s shop. He did
not begin to preach until He was more than thirty years old. Then He
went about teaching the people what we learn to-day as the Christian
religion.
He taught that there was one God over all.
He taught brotherly love, that one should love one’s neighbor as
oneself.
He taught the golden rule; that is, “do unto others as you would be
done by.”
He taught that there was a life after death for which this short life
on earth was only a preparation; that therefore you should “lay up your
treasures in heaven” by doing good works here.
The poorer Jews listened to Christ and believed what He taught them.
But they thought He was going to set them free from the rule of the
Romans, which they hated. The Jewish priests, however, were afraid of
what Christ taught. He was teaching some things that were just the
opposite of what they themselves taught. So they plotted to have Him
put to death.
Now, the Jews could not put Christ to death without the permission of
the Roman ruler of that part of the empire where Christ lived. This
ruler was named Pilate. So they went to Pilate and told him that Christ
was trying to make himself king. Christ of course meant and always said
that He was a heavenly ruler and not an earthly king. The Jews knew
that Pilate would not care at all what religion Christ taught. There
were all sorts of religions in the Roman Empire--those that believed
in mythological gods and those that believed in idols and those that
believed in the sun, moon, and so on--one more new religion made little
difference to the Romans, and Christ would not be put to death simply
for teaching another. But the Jews knew if they could make Pilate
believe that Christ was trying to make himself a king, that was a thing
He could be crucified for. Pilate did not believe much in what the
Jews said against Christ. It was a small matter to him, one way or the
other, however. But he wanted to please the Jews, so he told them to go
ahead and put Christ to death if they wanted to. So He was crucified.
Christ had chosen twelve men to teach what He told them. These twelve
men were called apostles. After Christ was crucified these apostles
went through the land teaching the people what Christ had taught them.
Those who believed in and followed His teachings were called disciples
of Christ or Christians. The apostles were teachers; the disciples were
pupils.
The Romans thought these disciples of Christ were trying to start a
new world empire, and that they were against Rome and the emperor and
should be arrested and put in prison. So the Christians usually held
their meetings in secret places, sometimes even underground, so that
they would not be found and arrested.
But after a while the leaders of the Christians became bolder. They
came out of their secret places and taught and preached openly,
although they knew they would sooner or later be thrown into prison and
perhaps killed. Indeed, so strongly did they believe in the teachings
of Christ that they seemed even glad to die for His sake, as He had
died on the cross for them.