Preface.

Preface.The Usefulness of Profane History, especially with regard to Religion.The study of profane history would little deserve to have a serious attention, and a considerable length of time bestowed upon it, if it were confined to the bare knowledge of ancient transactions, and an uninteresting inquiry into the æras when each of them happened. It little concerns us to know, that there were once such men as Alexander, Cæsar, Aristides, or Cato, and that they lived in this or that period; that the empire of the Assyrians made way for that of the Babylonians, and the latter for the empire of the Medes and Persians, who were themselves subjected by the Macedonians, as these were afterwards by the Romans.But it highly concerns us to know, by what methods those empires were founded; by what steps they rose to that exalted pitch of grandeur which we so much admire; what it was that constituted their true glory and felicity; and what were the causes of their declension and fall.It is of no less importance to study attentively the manners of different nations; their genius, laws, and customs; and especially to acquaint ourselves with the character and disposition, the talents, virtues, and even vices of those by whom they were governed; and whose good or bad qualities contributed to the grandeur or decay of the states over which they presided.Such are the great objects which ancient history presents; causing to pass, as it were, in review before us, all the kingdoms and empires of the world; and at the same time, all the great men who were any ways conspicuous; thereby instructing us, by example rather than precept, in the arts of empire and war, the principles of government, the rules of policy, the maxims of civil society, and the conduct of life that suits all ages and conditions.We acquire, at the same time, another knowledge, which cannot but excite the attention of all persons who have a taste and inclination for polite learning; I mean the manner in[pg ii]which arts and sciences were invented, cultivated, and improved. We there discover, and trace as it were with the eye, their origin and progress; and perceive, with admiration, that the nearer we approach those countries which were once inhabited by the sons of Noah, in the greater perfection we find the arts and sciences; whereas they seem to be either neglected or forgotten, in proportion to the remoteness of nations from them; so that, when men attempted to revive those arts and sciences, they were obliged to go back to the source from whence they originally flowed.I give only a transient view of these objects, though so very important, in this place, because I have already treated them at some length elsewhere.1But another object of infinitely greater importance, claims our attention. For although profane history treats only of nations who had imbibed all the absurdities of a superstitious worship; and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice, and above all, the admirable wisdom with which his providence governs the universe.If the inherent conviction of this last truth raised, according to Cicero's observation,2the Romans above all other nations; we may, in like manner, affirm, that nothing gives history a greater superiority to many other branches of literature, than to see in a manner imprinted, in almost every page of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great truth,viz.that God disposes all events as supreme Lord and Sovereign; that he alone determines the fate of kings and the duration of empires; and that he transfers the government of kingdoms from one nation to another, because of the unrighteous dealing and wickedness committed therein.3We discover this important truth in going back to the most remote antiquity, and the origin of profane history; I mean, to the dispersion of the posterity of Noah into the several countries of the earth where they settled. Liberty, chance, views of interest, a love for certain countries, and similar motives, were, in outward appearance, the only causes of the different choice which men made in these various migrations. But the[pg iii]Scriptures inform us, that amidst the trouble and confusion that followed the sudden change in the language of Noah's descendants, God presided invisibly over all their counsels and deliberations; that nothing was transacted but by the Almighty's appointment; and that he alone guided4and settled all mankind, agreeably to the dictates of his mercy and justice:“The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth.”5It is true indeed that God, even in those early ages, had a peculiar regard for that people, whom he was one day to consider as his own. He pointed out the country which he designed for them; he caused it to be possessed by another laborious nation, who applied themselves to cultivate and adorn it; and to improve the future inheritance of the Israelites. He then fixed, in that country, the like number of families, as were to be settled in it, when the sons of Israel should, at the appointed time, take possession of it; and did not suffer any of the nations, which were not subject to the curse pronounced by Noah against Canaan, to enter upon an inheritance that was to be given up entirely to the Israelites.Quando dividebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, constituit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum Israel.6But this peculiar regard of God to his future people, does not interfere with that which he had for the rest of the nations of the earth, as is evident from the many passages of Scripture, which teach us, that the entire succession of ages is present to him; that nothing is transacted in the whole universe, but by his appointment; and that he directs the several events of it from age to age.Tu es Deus conspector seculorum. A seculo usque in seculum respicis.7We must therefore consider, as an indisputable principle, and as the basis and foundation of the study of profane history, that the providence of the Almighty has, from all eternity, appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires, as well in regard to the general plan of the whole universe, known only to God, who constitutes the order and wonderful harmony of its several parts; as particularly with respect to the people of Israel, and still more with[pg iv]regard to the Messiah, and the establishment of the church, which is his great work, the end and design of all his other works, and ever present to his sight;Notum à seculo est Domino opus suum.8God has vouchsafed to discover to us, in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and the little so discovered, diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish pride, their impious and cruel ambition: they reveal the true causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the grandeur and declension of nations; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us, what indeed is the principal benefit to be derived from history, the judgment which the Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them.Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if I may be allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which afterwards was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it9; and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that God ever wrought in favour of Israel: not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a thousand proofs of the truth here advanced.Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmanezer, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in God's hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people.“He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders.”10He himself put the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. He breathed courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their armies indefatigable in labour, and invincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their steps.The rapidity of their conquests ought to have enabled them to discern the invisible hand which conducted them. But, says one of these kings11in the name of the rest,“By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I[pg v]am prudent: And I have removed the bounds of the people and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.”12But this monarch, so august and wise in his own eye, how did he appear in that of the Almighty? Only as a subaltern agent, a servant sent by his master:“The rod of his anger, and the staff in his hand.”13God's design was to chastise, not to extirpate his children. But Sennacherib“had it in his heart to destroy and cut off all nations.”14What then will be the issue of this kind of contest between the designs of God, and those of this prince?15At the time that he fancied himself already possessed of Jerusalem, the Lord, with a single blast, disperses all his proud hopes; destroys, in one night, an hundred four score and five thousand of his forces; and putting“a hook in his nose, and a bridle in his lips”,16(as though he had been a wild beast,) he leads him back to his own dominions, covered with infamy, through the midst of those nations, who, but a little before, had beheld him in all his pride and haughtiness.Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears still more visibly governed by a Providence, to which he himself is an entire stranger, but which presides over all his deliberations, and determines all his actions.Being come at the head of his army to two highways, the one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not knowing which of them it would be best for him to strike into, debates for some time with himself, and at last casts lots. God makes the lot fall on Jerusalem, to fulfil the menaces he had pronounced against that city,viz.to destroy it, to burn the temple, and lead its inhabitants into captivity.17One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been prompted to besiege Tyre, merely from a political view,viz.that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well-fortified a city; nevertheless, a superior will had decreed the siege of Tyre.18God designed, on one side, to humble the pride of Ithobal its king, who fancying himself wiser than Daniel,[pg vi]whose fame was spread over the whole East; and ascribing entirely to his rare and uncommon prudence the extent of his dominions, and the greatness of his riches, persuaded himself that he was“a god, and sat in the seat of God.”19On the other side, he also designed to chastise the luxury, the voluptuousness, and the pride of those haughty merchants, who thought themselves kings of the sea, and sovereigns over crowned heads; and especially, that inhuman joy of the Tyrians, who looked upon the fall of Jerusalem (the rival of Tyre) as their own aggrandizement. These were the motives which prompted God himself to lead Nebuchadnezzar to Tyre; and to make him execute, though unknowingly, his commands.Idcirco ecce ego adducam ad Tyrum Nabuchodonosor.To recompense this monarch, whose army the Almighty had caused“to serve a great service against Tyre”20(these are God's own words;) and to compensate the Babylonish troops, for the grievous toils they had sustained during a thirteen years' siege;“I will give,”21saith the Lord God,“the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army.”22The same Nebuchadnezzar, eager to immortalize his name by the grandeur of his exploits, was determined to heighten the glory of his conquests by his splendour and magnificence, in embellishing the capital of his empire with pompous edifices, and the most sumptuous ornaments. But whilst a set of adulating courtiers, on whom he lavished the highest honours and immense riches, make all places resound with his name, an august senate of watchful spirits is formed, who weigh, in the balance of truth, the actions of kings, and pronounce upon them a sentence from which there lies no appeal. The king of Babylon is cited before this tribunal, in which there presides the Supreme Judge, who, to a vigilance which nothing can elude, adds a holiness that will not allow of the least irregularity.Vigil et sanctus.In this tribunal all Nebuchadnezzar's actions, which were the admiration and wonder of the public, are examined with rigour; and a search is made into the inward recesses of his heart, to discover his most hidden thoughts. How will this formidable inquiry end? At the instant that Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace, and revolving, with a secret complacency, his exploits, his grandeur and magnificence, is saying to himself,“Is not this great[pg vii]Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”23in this very instant, when, by vainly flattering himself that he held his power and kingdom from himself alone, he usurped the seat of the Almighty: a voice from heaven pronounces his sentence, and declares to him, that“his kingdom was departed from him, that he should be driven from men, and his dwelling be with the beasts of the field, until he knew that the Most High ruled in the kingdoms of men, and gave them to whomsoever he would.”24This tribunal, which is for ever assembled, though invisible to mortal eyes, pronounced the like sentence on those famous conquerors, on those heroes of the pagan world, who, like Nebuchadnezzar, considered themselves as the sole authors of their exalted fortune; as independent on authority of every kind, and as not holding of a superior power.As God appointed some princes to be the instruments of his vengeance, he made others the dispensers of his goodness. He ordained Cyrus to be the deliverer of his people; and, to enable him to support with dignity so glorious a function, he endued him with all the qualities which constitute the greatest captains and princes: and caused that excellent education to be given him, which the heathens so much admired, though they neither knew the author nor true cause of it.We see in profane history the extent and swiftness of his conquests, the intrepidity of his courage, the wisdom of his views and designs; his greatness of soul, his noble generosity; his truly paternal affection for his subjects; and, on their part, the grateful returns of love and tenderness, which made them consider him rather as their protector and father, than as their lord and sovereign. We find, I say, all these particulars in profane history; but we do not perceive the secret principle of so many exalted qualities, nor the hidden spring which set them in motion.But Isaiah discloses them, and delivers himself in words suitable to the greatness and majesty of the God who inspired him, He represents this all-powerful God of armies as leading[pg viii]Cyrus by the hand, marching before him, conducting him from city to city, and from province to province;“subduing nations before him, loosening the loins of kings, breaking in pieces gates of brass, cutting in sunder the bars of iron,”throwing down the walls and bulwarks of cities, and putting him in possession“of the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret places.”25The prophet also tells us the cause and motive of all these wonderful events.26It was in order to punish Babylon, and to deliver Judah, that the Almighty conducts Cyrus, step by step, and gives success to all his enterprises.“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways.—For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect.”27But this prince is so blind and ungrateful, that he does not know his master, nor remember his benefactor.“I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.—I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.”28Men seldom form to themselves a right judgment of true glory, and the duties essential to regal power. The Scripture alone gives us a just idea of them, and this it does in a wonderful manner, under the image of a very large and strong tree, whose top reaches to heaven, and whose branches extend to the extremities of the earth.29As its foliage is very abundant, and it is bowed down with fruit, it constitutes the ornament and felicity of the plains around it. It supplies a grateful shade, and a secure retreat to beasts of every kind: animals, both wild and tame, are safely lodged beneath it, the birds of heaven dwell in its branches, and it supplies food to all living creatures.Can there be a more just or more instructive idea of the kingly office, whose true grandeur and solid glory does not consist in that splendour, pomp, and magnificence which surround it; nor in that reverence and exterior homage which are paid to it by subjects, and which are justly due to it; but in the real services and solid advantages it procures to nations, whose support, defence, security, and asylum it forms, (both from its nature and institution,) at the same time that it is the fruitful source of blessings of every kind; especially with regard to the poor and weak, who ought to find beneath the shade and protection of royalty, a sweet peace and tranquillity, not to be interrupted or disturbed; whilst the monarch himself sacrifices his ease, and experiences alone those storms and tempests from which he shelters all others?[pg ix]I think that I observe this noble image, and the execution of this great plan (religion only excepted) realized in the government of Cyrus, of which Xenophon has given us a picture, in his beautiful preface to the history of that prince. He has there specified a great number of nations, which, though separated from each other by vast tracts of country, and still more widely by the diversity of their manners, customs, and language, were however all united, by the same sentiments of esteem, reverence, and love for a prince, whose government they wished, if possible, to have continued for ever, so much happiness and tranquillity did they enjoy under it.30To this amiable and salutary government, let us oppose the idea which the sacred writings give us of those monarchs and conquerors so much boasted by antiquity, who, instead of making the happiness of mankind the sole object of their care, were prompted by no other motives than those of interest and ambition. The Holy Spirit represents them under the symbols of monsters generated from the agitation of the sea, from the tumult, confusion, and dashing of the waves one against the other; and under the image of cruel wild beasts, which spread terror and desolation universally, and are for ever gorging themselves with blood and slaughter; bears, lions, tigers, and leopards.31How strong and expressive is this colouring!Nevertheless, it is often from such destructive models, that the rules and maxims of the education generally bestowed on the children of the great are borrowed; and it is these ravagers of nations, these scourges of mankind, they propose to make them resemble. By inspiring them with the sentiments of a boundless ambition, and the love of false glory, they become (to borrow an expression from Scripture)“young lions; they learn to catch the prey, and devour men—to lay waste cities, to turn lands and their fatness into desolation by the noise of their roaring.”32And when this young lion is grown up, God tells us, that the noise of his exploits, and the renown of his victories, are nothing but a frightful roaring, which fills all places with terror and desolation.The examples I have hitherto mentioned, extracted from the history of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, prove sufficiently the supreme power exercised by God over all empires; and the relation he has thought fit to establish[pg x]between the rest of the nations of the earth and his own peculiar people. The same truth appears as conspicuously under the kings of Syria and Egypt, successors of Alexander the Great: between whose history, and that of the Jews under the Maccabees, every body knows the close connection.To these incidents I cannot forbear adding another, which though universally known, is not therefore the less remarkable; I mean the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. When he had entered that city, and viewed all the fortifications of it, this prince, though a heathen, owned the all-powerful arm of the God of Israel; and, in a rapture of admiration, cried out,“It is manifest that the Almighty has fought for us, and has driven the Jews from those towers; since neither the utmost human force, nor that of all the engines in the world, could have effected it.”33Besides the visible and sensible connection of sacred and profane history, there is another more secret and more distinct relation with respect to the Messiah, for whose coming the Almighty, whose work was ever present to his sight, prepared mankind from far, even by the state of ignorance and dissoluteness in which he suffered them to be immersed during four thousand years. It was to make mankind sensible of the necessity of our having a Mediator, that God permitted the nations to walk after their own ways; while neither the light of reason, nor the dictates of philosophy, could dispel the clouds of error, or reform their depraved inclinations.When we take a view of the grandeur of empires, the majesty of princes, the glorious actions of great men, the order of civil societies, and the harmony of the different members of which they are composed, the wisdom of legislators, and the learning of philosophers, the earth seems to exhibit nothing to the eye of man but what is great and resplendent; nevertheless, in the eye of God it was equally barren and uncultivated, as at the first instant of the creation.“The earth waswithout form and void.”34This is saying but little: it was wholly polluted and impure, (the reader will observe that I speak here of the heathens), and appeared to God only as the haunt and retreat of ungrateful and perfidious men, as it did at the time of the flood.“The earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with iniquity.”35Nevertheless the Sovereign Arbiter of the universe, who, pursuant to the dictates of his wisdom, dispenses both light and darkness, and knows how to check the impetuous torrent[pg xi]of human passions, would not permit mankind, though abandoned to the utmost corruptions, to degenerate into absolute barbarity, and brutalize themselves, in a manner, by the extinction of the first principles of the law of nature, as is seen in several savage nations. Such an obstacle would have too much retarded the rapid progress, promised by him to the first preachers of the doctrine of his Son.He darted from far, into the minds of men, the rays of several great truths, to dispose them for the reception of others more important. He prepared them for the instructions of the Gospel, by those of philosophers; and it was with this view that God permitted the heathen professors to examine, in their schools, several questions, and establish several principles, which are nearly allied to religion; and to engage the attention of mankind, by the brilliancy of their disputations. It is well known, that the philosophers inculcate, in every part of their writings, the existence of a God, the necessity of a Providence that presides over the government of the world, the immortality of the soul, the ultimate end of man, the reward of the good and punishment of the wicked, the nature of those duties which constitute the band of society, the character of the virtues that are the basis of morality, as prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and other similar truths, which, though incapable of guiding men to righteousness, were yet of use to scatter certain clouds, and to dispel certain obscurities.It is by an effect of the same providence, which prepared, from far, the ways of the gospel, that, when the Messiah revealed himself in the flesh, God had united together almost all nations, by the Greek and Latin tongues; and had subjected to one monarch, from the ocean to the Euphrates, all the people not united by language, in order to give a more free course to the preaching of the apostles. The study of profane history, when entered upon with judgment and maturity, must lead us to these reflections, and point out to us the manner in which the Almighty makes the empires of the earth subservient to the establishment of the kingdom of his Son.It ought likewise to teach us how to appreciate all that glitters most in the eye of the world, and is most capable of dazzling it. Valour, fortitude, skill in government, profound policy, merit in magistracy, capacity for the most abstruse sciences, beauty of genius, delicacy of taste, and perfection in all arts: These are the objects which profane history exhibits to us, which excite our admiration, and often our envy. But at the same time this very history ought to remind us, that the Almighty, ever since the creation, has indulged to his enemies[pg xii]all those shining qualities which the world esteems, and on which it frequently bestows the highest eulogiums; while, on the contrary, he often refuses them to his most faithful servants, whom he endues with talents of an infinitely superior nature, though men neither know their value, nor are desirous of them.“Happy is that people that is in such a case: Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”36I shall conclude this first part of my preface with a reflection which results naturally from what has been said. Since it is certain, that all these great men, who are so much boasted of in profane history, were so unhappy as not to know the true God, and to displease him; we should therefore be cautious and circumspect in the praises which we bestow upon them. St. Austin, in hisRetractions, repents his having lavished so many encomiums on Plato, and the followers of his philosophy;“because these,”says he,“were impious men, whose doctrine, in many points, was contrary to that of Jesus Christ.”37However, we are not to imagine, that St. Austin supposes it to be unlawful for us to admire and praise whatever is either beautiful in the actions, or true in the maxims, of the heathens. He only advises us to correct whatever is erroneous, and to approve whatever is conformable to rectitude and justice in them.38He applauds the Romans on many occasions, and particularly in his booksDe Civitate Dei,39which is one of the last and finest of his works. He there shows, that the Almighty raised them to be victorious over nations, and sovereigns of a great part of the earth, because of the gentleness and equity of their government (alluding to the happy ages of the Republic); thus bestowing on virtues, that were merely human, rewards of the same kind, with which that people, blind on this subject, though so enlightened on others, were so unhappy as to content themselves. St. Austin, therefore, does not condemn the encomiums which are bestowed on the heathens, but only the excess of them.Students ought to take care, and especially we, who by the duties of our profession are obliged to be perpetually conversant with heathen authors, not to enter too far into the spirit of them; not to imbibe, unperceived, their sentiments, by[pg xiii]lavishing too great applauses on their heroes; nor to give into excesses which the heathens indeed did not consider as such, because they were not acquainted with virtues of a purer kind. Some persons, whose friendship I esteem as I ought, and for whose learning and judgment I have the highest regard, have found this defect in some parts of my work, on theMethod of Teaching and Studying the Belles Lettres, &c.; and are of opinion, that I have gone too great lengths in the encomiums which I bestow on the illustrious men of paganism. I indeed own, that the expressions on those occasions are sometimes too strong and too unguarded: however, I imagined that I had supplied a proper corrective to this, by the hints which I have interspersed in those four volumes; and, therefore, that it would be only losing time to repeat them; not to mention my having laid down, in different places, the principles which the Fathers of the Church establish on this head, declaring, with St. Austin, that without true piety, that is, without a sincere worship of the true God, there can be no true virtue; and that no virtue can be such, whose object is worldly glory; a truth, says this Father, acknowledged universally by those who are inspired with real and solid piety.Illud constat inter omnes veraciter pios, neminem sine verâ pietate, id est, veri Dei vero cultu, veram posse habere virtutem; nec eam veram esse, quando gloriæ servit humanæ.40When I observed that Perseus had not resolution enough to kill himself,41I do not thereby pretend to justify the practice of the heathens, who looked upon suicide as lawful; but simply to relate an incident, and the judgment which Paulus Æmilius passed on it. Had I barely hinted a word or two against that custom, it would have obviated all mistake, and left no room for censure.The ostracism, employed in Athens against persons of the greatest merit; theft connived at, as it appears, by Lycurgus in Sparta; an equality of goods established in the same city, by the authority of the state, and things of a like nature, may admit of some difficulty. However, I shall pay a more immediate attention to these particulars,42when the course of the history brings me to them; and shall avail myself with pleasure of such lights as the learned and unprejudiced may favour me by communicating.In a work like that I now offer the public, intended more immediately for the instruction of youth, it were heartily to be[pg xiv]wished, that not one single thought or expression might occur that could contribute to inculcate false or dangerous principles. When I first set about writing the present history, I proposed this for my maxim, the importance of which I perfectly conceive, but am far from imagining that I have always observed it, though it was my intention to do so; and therefore on this, as on many other occasions, I shall stand in need of the reader's indulgence.As I write principally for young persons, and for those who do not intend to make very deep researches into ancient history, I shall not burthen this Work with a sort of erudition, that might have been naturally introduced into it, but does not suit my purpose. My design is, in giving a continued series of ancient history, to extract from the Greek and Latin authors all that I shall judge most useful and entertaining with respect to the transactions, and most instructive with regard to the reflections.I should wish to be able to avoid, at the same time, the dry sterility of epitomes, which convey no distinct idea to the mind; and the tedious accuracy of long histories, which tire the reader's patience. I am sensible that it is difficult to steer exactly between the two extremes; and although, in the two parts of history of which this first volume consists, I have retrenched a great part of what we meet with in ancient authors, they may still be thought too long: but I was afraid of spoiling the incidents, by being too studious of brevity. However, the taste of the public shall be my guide, to which I shall endeavour to conform hereafter.I was so happy as not to displease the public in my first attempt.43I wish the present Work may be equally successful, but dare not raise my hopes so high. The subjects I there treated,viz.polite literature, poetry, eloquence, and curious and detached pieces of history, gave me an opportunity of introducing into it from ancient and modern authors, whatever is most beautiful, affecting, delicate, and just, with regard both to thought and expression. The beauty and justness of the things themselves which I offered the reader, made him more indulgent to the manner in which they were presented to him; and besides, the variety of the subjects supplied the want of those graces which might have been expected from the style and composition.[pg xv]But I have not the same advantage in the present work, the choice of the subjects not being entirely at my discretion. In a connected history, an author is often obliged to relate a great many things that are not always very interesting, especially with regard to the origin and rise of empires; and these parts are generally overrun with thorns, and offer very few flowers. However, the sequel will furnish matter of a more pleasing nature, and events that engage more strongly the reader's attention; and I shall take care to make use of the valuable materials which the best authors will supply. In the mean time, I must entreat the reader to remember that in a wide-extended and beautiful region, the eye does not everywhere meet with golden harvests, smiling meads, and fruitful orchards; but sees, at different intervals, wild and less cultivated tracts of land. And, to use another comparison, furnished by Pliny,44some trees in the spring emulously shoot forth a numberless multitude of blossoms, which by this rich dress (the splendour and vivacity of whose colours charm the eye) proclaim a happy abundance in a more advanced season: while other trees,45of a less gay appearance, though they bear good fruits, have not however the fragrance and beauty of blossoms, nor seem to share in the joy of reviving nature. The reader will easily apply this image to the composition of history.To adorn and enrich my own, I will be so ingenuous as to confess, that I do not scruple, nor am ashamed, to rifle from all quarters, and that I often do not cite the authors from whom I transcribe, because of the liberty I occasionally take to make some slight alterations. I have made the best use in my power of the solid reflections that occur in the second and third parts of the bishop of Meaux's46Universal History, which is one of the most beautiful and most useful books in our language. I have also received great assistance from the learned Dean Prideaux'sConnection of the Old and New Testament, in which he has traced and cleared up, in an admirable manner, the particulars relating to ancient history. I shall take the same liberty with whatever comes in my way, that may suit my design, and contribute to the perfection of my Work.[pg xvi]I am very sensible, that it is not so much for a person's reputation, thus to make use of other men's labours, and that it is in a manner renouncing the name and quality of author. But I am not over fond of that title; and shall be extremely well pleased, and think myself very happy, if I can but deserve the name of a good compiler, and supply my readers with a tolerable history; who will not be over solicitous to inquire whether it be an original composition of my own, or not, provided they are but pleased with it.I cannot determine the exact number of volumes which this Work will make; but am persuaded there will be no less than ten or twelve.47Students, with a very moderate application, may easily go through this course of history in a year, without interrupting their other studies. According to my plan, my Work should be given to the highest form but one. Youths in this class are capable of pleasure and improvement from this history; and I would not have them enter upon that of the Romans till they study rhetoric.It would have been useful, and even necessary, to have given some idea of the ancient authors from whence I have extracted the facts which I here relate. But the course itself of the history will naturally give me an opportunity of mentioning them.In the mean time, it may not be improper to take notice of the superstitious credulity with which most of these authors are reproached, on the subject of auguries, auspices, prodigies, dreams, and oracles. And indeed, we are shocked to see writers, so judicious in all other respects, lay it down as a kind of law, to relate these particulars with a scrupulous accuracy; and to dwell gravely on a tedious detail of trifling and ridiculous ceremonies, such as the flight of birds to the right or left hand, signs discovered in the smoking entrails of beasts, the greater or less greediness of chickens in pecking corn, and a thousand similar absurdities.It must be confessed, that a sensible reader cannot, without astonishment, see persons among the ancients in the highest repute for wisdom and knowledge; generals who were the least liable to be influenced by popular opinions, and most sensible how necessary it is to take advantage of auspicious moments; the wisest councils of princes perfectly well skilled in the arts of government; the most august assemblies of grave senators; in a word, the most powerful and most learned nations in all ages; to see, I say, all these so unaccountably weak, as to[pg xvii]make to depend on these trifling practices and absurd observances, the decision of the greatest affairs, such as the declaring of war, the giving battle, or pursuing a victory, deliberations that were of the utmost importance, and on which the fate and welfare of kingdoms frequently depended.But, at the same time, we must be so just as to own, that their manners, customs, and laws, would not permit men, in these ages, to dispense with the observation of these practices: that education, hereditary tradition transmitted from immemorial time, the universal belief and consent of different nations, the precepts, and even examples of philosophers; that all these, I say, made the practices in question appear venerable in their eyes: and that these ceremonies, how absurd soever they may appear to us, and are really so in themselves, constituted part of the religion and public worship of the ancients.This religion was false, and this worship mistaken; yet the principle of it was laudable, and founded in nature; the stream was corrupted, but the fountain was pure. Man, assisted only by his own light, sees nothing beyond the present moment. Futurity is to him an abyss invisible to the most keen, the most piercing sagacity, and exhibits nothing on which he may with certainty fix his views, or form his resolutions. He is equally feeble and impotent with regard to the execution of his designs. He is sensible, that he is dependent entirely on a Supreme Power, that disposes all events with absolute authority, and which, in spite of his utmost efforts, and of the wisdom of the best concerted schemes, by raising only the smallest obstacles and slightest disappointments, renders it impossible for him to execute his measures.This obscurity and weakness oblige him to have recourse to a superior knowledge and power: he is forced, both by his immediate wants, and the strong desire he has to succeed in all his undertakings, to address that Being who he is sensible has reserved to himself alone the knowledge of futurity, and the power of disposing it as he sees fitting. He accordingly directs prayers, makes vows, and offers sacrifices, to prevail, if possible, with the Deity, to reveal himself, either in dreams, in oracles, or other signs which may manifest his will; fully convinced that nothing can happen but by the divine appointment; and that it is a man's greatest interest to know this supreme will, in order to conform his actions to it.This religious principle of dependence on, and veneration of, the Supreme Being, is natural to man: it is imprinted deep in his heart; he is reminded of it, by the inward sense of his extreme indigence, and by all the objects which surround him;[pg xviii]and it may be affirmed, that this perpetual recourse to the Deity, is one of the principal foundations of religion and the strongest band by which man is united to his Creator.Those who were so happy as to know the true God, and were chosen to be his peculiar people, never failed to address him in all their wants and doubts, in order to obtain his succour, and to know his will. He accordingly vouchsafed to reveal himself to them; to conduct them by apparitions, dreams, oracles, and prophecies; and to protect them by miracles of the most astonishing kind.But those who were so blind as to substitute falsehood in the place of truth, directed themselves, for the like aid, to fictitious and deceitful deities, who were not able to answer their expectations, nor recompense the homage that mortals paid them, any otherwise than by error and illusion, and a fraudulent imitation of the conduct of the true God.Hence arose the vain observation of dreams, which, from a superstitious credulity, they mistook for salutary warnings from Heaven; those obscure and equivocal answers of oracles, beneath whose veil the spirits of darkness concealed their ignorance; and, by a studied ambiguity, reserved to themselves an evasion or subterfuge, whatever might be the event. To this are owing the prognostics with regard to futurity, which men fancied they should find in the entrails of beasts, in the flight and singing of birds, in the aspect of the planets, in fortuitous accidents, and in the caprice of chance; those dreadful prodigies that filled a whole nation with terror, and which, it was believed, nothing could expiate but mournful ceremonies, and even sometimes the effusion of human blood: in fine, those black inventions of magic, those delusions, enchantments, sorceries, invocations of ghosts, and many other kinds of divination.All I have here related was a received usage, observed by the heathen nations in general; and this usage was founded on the principles of that religion of which I have given a short account. We have a signal proof of this in that passage of the Cyropædia,48where Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, gives that young prince such noble instructions; instructions admirably well adapted to form the great captain, and great king. He exhorts him, above all things, to pay the highest reverence to the gods; and not to undertake any enterprise, whether important or inconsiderable, without first calling upon and consulting them; he enjoins him to honour the priests and augurs, as[pg xix]being their ministers and the interpreters of their will, but yet not to trust or abandon himself so implicitly and blindly to them, as not, by his own application, to learn every thing relating to the science of divination, of auguries and auspices. The reason which he gives for the subordination and dependence in which kings ought to live with regard to the gods, and the benefit derived from consulting them in all things, is this: How clear-sighted soever mankind may be in the ordinary course of affairs, their views are always very narrow and bounded with regard to futurity; whereas the Deity, at a single glance, takes in all ages and events.“As the gods,”says Cambyses to his son,“are eternal, they know equally all things, past, present, and to come. With regard to the mortals who address them, they give salutary counsels to those whom they are pleased to favour, that they may not be ignorant of what things they ought, or ought not, to undertake. If it is observed, that the deities do not give the like counsels to all men; we are not to wonder at it, since no necessity obliges them to attend to the welfare of those persons on whom they do not vouchsafe to confer their favour.”Such was the doctrine of the most learned and most enlightened nations, with respect to the different kinds of divination; and it is no wonder that the authors who wrote the history of those nations, thought it incumbent on them to give an exact detail of such particulars as constituted part of their religion and worship, and was frequently in a manner the soul of their deliberations, and the standard of their conduct. I therefore was of opinion, for the same reason, that it would not be proper for me to omit entirely, in the ensuing history, what relates to this subject, though I have however retrenched a great part of it.Archbishop Usher is my usual guide in chronology. In the history of the Carthaginians I commonly set down four æras: The year from the creation of the world, which, for brevity's sake, I mark thus, A.M.; those of the foundation of Carthage and Rome; and lastly, the year before the birth of our Saviour, which I suppose to be the 4004th year of the world; wherein I follow Usher and others, though they suppose it to be four years earlier.We shall now proceed to give the reader the proper preliminary information concerning this Work, according to the order in which it is executed.To know in what manner the states and kingdoms were founded, that have divided the universe; the steps whereby[pg xx]they rose to that pitch of grandeur related in history; by what ties families and cities were united, in order to constitute one body or society, and to live together under the same laws and a common authority; it will be necessary to trace things back, in a manner, to the infancy of the world, and to those ages in which mankind, being dispersed into different regions, (after the confusion of tongues,) began to people the earth.In these early ages every father was the supreme head of his family; the arbiter and judge of whatever contests and divisions might arise within it; the natural legislator over his little society; the defender and protector of those, who, by their birth, education, and weakness, were under his protection and safeguard, and whose interests paternal tenderness rendered equally dear to him as his own.But although these masters enjoyed an independent authority, they made a mild and paternal use of it. So far from being jealous of their power, they neither governed with haughtiness, nor decided with tyranny. As they were obliged by necessity to associate their family in their domestic labours, they also summoned them together, and asked their opinion in matters of importance. In this manner all affairs were transacted in concert, and for the common good.The laws which paternal vigilance established in this little domestic senate, being dictated with no other view than to promote the general welfare; concerted with such children as were come to years of maturity, and accepted by the inferiors with a full and free consent; were religiously kept and preserved in families as an hereditary polity, to which they owed their peace and security.But different motives gave rise to different laws. One man, overjoyed at the birth of a first-born son, resolved to distinguish him from his future children, by bestowing on him a more considerable share of his possessions, and giving him a greater authority in his family. Another, more attentive to the interest of a beloved wife, or darling daughter whom he wanted to settle in the world, thought it incumbent on him to secure their rights and increase their advantages. The solitary and cheerless state to which a wife would be reduced in case she should become a widow, affected more intimately another man, and made him provide beforehand, for the subsistence and comfort of a woman who formed his felicity. From these different views, and others of the like nature, arose the different customs of nations, as well as their rights, which are infinitely various.In proportion as every family increased, by the birth of[pg xxi]children, and their marrying into other families, they extended their little domain, and formed, by insensible degrees, towns and cities.These societies growing, in process of time, very numerous; and the families being divided into various branches, each of which had its head, whose different interests and characters might interrupt the general tranquillity; it was necessary to intrust one person with the government of the whole, in order to unite all these chiefs or heads under a single authority, and to maintain the public peace by an uniform administration. The idea which men still retained of the paternal government, and the happy effects they had experienced from it, prompted them to choose from among their wisest and most virtuous men, him in whom they had observed the tenderest and most fatherly disposition. Neither ambition nor cabal had the least share in this choice; probity alone, and the reputation of virtue and equity, decided on these occasions, and gave the preference to the most worthy.49To heighten the lustre of their newly-acquired dignity, and enable them the better to put the laws in execution, as well as to devote themselves entirely to the public good; to defend the state against the invasions of their neighbours, and the factions of discontented citizens; the title of king was bestowed upon them, a throne was erected, and a sceptre put into their hands; homage was paid them, officers were assigned, and guards appointed for the security of their persons; tributes were granted; they were invested with full powers to administer justice, and for this purpose were armed with a sword, in order to restrain injustice, and punish crimes.At first, every city had its particular king, who being more solicitous to preserve his dominion than to enlarge it, confined his ambition within the limits of his native country.50But the almost unavoidable feuds which break out between neighbours; jealousy against a more powerful king; a turbulent and restless spirit; a martial disposition, or thirst of aggrandizement; or the display of abilities; gave rise to wars, which frequently ended in the entire subjection of the vanquished, whose cities were possessed by the victor, and increased insensibly his dominions. Thus, a first victory paving the way to a second, and[pg xxii]making a prince more powerful and enterprising, several cities and provinces were united under one monarch, and formed kingdoms of a greater or less extent, according to the degree of ardour with which the victor had pushed his conquests.51But among these princes were found some, whose ambition being too vast to confine itself within a single kingdom, broke over all bounds, and spread universally like a torrent, or the ocean; swallowed up kingdoms and nations; and fancied that glory consisted in depriving princes of their dominions, who had not done them the least injury; in carrying fire and sword into the most remote countries, and in leaving every where bloody traces of their progress! Such was the origin of those famous empires which included a great part of the world.Princes made a various use of victory, according to the diversity of their dispositions or interests. Some, considering themselves as absolute masters of the conquered, and imagining they were sufficiently indulged in sparing their lives, bereaved them, as well as their children, of their possessions, their country, and their liberty; subjected them to a most severe captivity; employed them in those arts which are necessary for the support of life, in the lowest and most servile offices of the house, in the painful toils of the field; and frequently forced them, by the most inhuman treatment, to dig in mines, and ransack the bowels of the earth, merely to satiate their avarice; and hence mankind were divided into freemen and slaves, masters and bondmen.Others introduced the custom of transporting whole nations into new countries, where they settled them, and gave them lands to cultivate.Other princes again, of more gentle dispositions, contented themselves with only obliging the vanquished nations to purchase their liberties, and the enjoyment of their laws and privileges by annual tributes laid on them for that purpose; and sometimes they would suffer kings to sit peaceably on their thrones, upon condition of their paying them some kind of homage.But such of these monarchs as were the wisest and ablest politicians, thought it glorious to establish a kind of equality betwixt the nations newly conquered and their other subjects; granting the former almost all the rights and privileges which the others enjoyed: and by this means a great number of nations, that were spread over different and far distant countries, constituted, in some measure, but one city, at least but one people.Thus I have given a general and concise idea of mankind,[pg xxiii]from the earliest monuments which history has preserved on this subject; the particulars whereof I shall endeavour to relate, in treating of each empire and nation. I shall not touch upon the history of the Jews, nor that of the Romans.The history of the Carthaginians, that of the Assyrians, and the Lydians, which occurs in the second volume, is supported by the best authorities; but it is highly necessary to review the geography, the manners, and customs of the different nations here treated of; and first with regard to the religion, manners, and institutions of the Persians and Grecians; because these show their genius and character, which we may call, in some measure, the soul of history. For to take notice only of facts and dates, and confine our curiosity and researches to them, would be imitating the imprudence of a traveller, who, in visiting many countries, should content himself with knowing their exact distance from each other, and consider only the situation of the several places, their buildings, and the dresses of the people; without giving himself the least trouble to converse with the inhabitants, in order to inform himself of their genius, manners, disposition, laws, and government. Homer, whose design was to give, in the person of Ulysses, a model of a wise and intelligent traveller, tells us, at the very opening of hisOdyssey, that his hero informed himself very exactly of the manners and customs of the several people whose cities he visited; in which he ought to be imitated by every person who applies himself to the study of history.As Asia will hereafter be the principal scene of the history we are now entering upon, it may not be improper to give the reader such a general idea of it, as may at least make him acquainted with its most considerable provinces and cities.The northern and eastern parts of Asia are less known in ancient history.To the north areAsiatic SarmatiaandAsiatic Scythia, which answer to Tartary.Sarmatia is situated between the riverTanais, which separates Europe and Asia, and the riverRha, orVolga. Scythia is divided into two parts; the one on this, the other on the other side of mountImaus. The nations of Scythia best known to us are theSacæand theMassagetæ.The most eastern parts are,Serica, Cathay;Sinarum regio, China; andIndia. This last country was better known anciently than the two former. It was divided into two parts; the one on this side theGanges, included between that river and theIndus, which now composes the dominions[pg xxiv]of the Great Mogul; the other part was that on the other side of the Ganges.The remaining part of Asia, of which much greater mention is made in history, may be divided into five or six parts, taking it from east to west.I. Upper Asia, which begins at the river Indus. The chief provinces areGedrosia, Carmania, Arachosia, Drangiana, Bactriana, the capital of which wasBactra;Sogdiana, Margiana, Hyrcania, near the Caspian sea;Parthia, Media, its chief cityEcbatana;Persia, the cities ofPersepolisandElymais;Susiana, the city ofSusa;Assyria, the city ofNineveh, situated on the riverTigris;Mesopotamia, between theEuphratesandTigris;Babylonia, the city ofBabylonon the river Euphrates.II. Asia between the Pontus Euxinus and the Caspian Sea.Therein we may distinguish four provinces. 1.Colchis, the riverPhasis, and mountCaucasus. 2.Iberia.3.Albania; which two last-mentioned provinces now form part of Georgia. 4. The greaterArmenia. This is separated from the lesser by the Euphrates; from Mesopotamia by mountTaurus; and from Assyria by mountNiphates. Its cities areArtaxataandTigranocerta, and the riverAraxesruns through it.III. Asia Minor.This may be divided into four or five parts, according to the different situation of its provinces.1.Northward, on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus;Pontus, under three different names. Its cities are,Trapezus, not far from which are the people calledChalybesorChaldæi;Themiscyra, a city on the riverThermodon, and famous for having been the abode of the Amazons.Paphlagonia, Bithynia; the cities of which are,Nicæa,Prusa,Nicomedia,Chalcedonopposite to Constantinople, andHeraclea.2.Westward, going down by the shores of the Ægean sea;Mysia, of which there are two. TheLesser, in which stoodCyzicus,Lampsacus,Parium,Abydosopposite to Sestos, from which it is separated only by the Dardanelles;Dardanum,Sigæum,Ilion, orTroy; and almost on the opposite side, the little island ofTenedos. The rivers are, theÆsepus, theGranicus, and theSimois. MountIda. This region is sometimes called Phrygia Minor, of whichTroasis part.TheGreater Mysia.Antandros,Trajanopolis,Adramyttium,[pg xxv]Pergamus. Opposite to this Mysia is the island ofLesbos; the cities of which are,Methymna, where the celebratedArionwas born; andMitylene, which has given to the whole island its modern name Metelin.Æolia.Elea,Cumæ,Phocæa.Ionia.Smyrna,Clazomenæ,Teos,Lebedus,Colophon,Ephesus,Priene,Miletus.Caria.Laodicea,Antiochia,Magnesia,Alabanda. The riverMæander.Doris.Halicarnassus,Cnidos.Opposite to these four last countries, are the islandsChios, Samos, Pathmos, Cos; and lower, towards the south,Rhodes.3.Southward, along the Mediterranean;Lycia, the cities of which are,Telmessus,Patara. The riverXanthus. Here begins mountTaurus, which runs the whole length of Asia, and assumes different names, according to the several countries through which it passes.Pamphylia.Perga,Aspendus,Sida.Cilicia.Seleucia,Corycium,Tarsus, on the riverCydnus. Opposite to Cilicia is the island ofCyprus. The cities are,Salamis,Amathus, andPaphos.4.Along the banks of the Euphrates, going up northward;TheLesser Armenia.Comana,Arabyza,Melitene,Satala. The riverMelas, which empties itself into the Euphrates.5.Inland:Cappadocia; the cities whereof are,Neocæsarea,Comana Pontica,Sebastia,Sebastopolis,Diocæsarea,Cæsarea, otherwise calledMazaca, andTyana.LycaoniaandIsauria.Iconium,Isauria.Pisidia.SeleuciaandAntiochiaofPisidia.Lydia.Its cities are,Thyatira,Sardis,Philadelphia. The rivers are,CaystrusandHermus, into which thePactolusempties itself. MountSipylusandTmolus.Phrygia Major.Synnada,Apamia.IV. Syria, now namedSuria, called under the Roman emperors theEast, the chief provinces of which are,1.Palestine, by which name is sometimes understood all Judea. Its cities are,Jerusalem,Samaria, andCæsarea Palestina. The riverJordanwaters it. The name of Palestine is also given to the land of Canaan, which extended along the Mediterranean; the chief cities of which were,Gaza,Ascalon,Azotus,Accaron, andGath.2.Phœnicia, whose cities are,Ptolemais,Tyre,Sidon, andBerytus. Its mountains,LibanusandAntilibanus.[pg xxvi]3.Syria, properly so called, orAntiochena; the cities whereof are,Antiochia,Apamia,Laodicea, andSeleucia.4.Comagena.The city ofSamosata.5.Cœlesyria.The cities are,Zeugma,Thapsacus,Palmyra, andDamascus.V. Arabia Petræa.Its cities are,Petra, andBostra. MountCasius.Deserta. Felix.

Preface.The Usefulness of Profane History, especially with regard to Religion.The study of profane history would little deserve to have a serious attention, and a considerable length of time bestowed upon it, if it were confined to the bare knowledge of ancient transactions, and an uninteresting inquiry into the æras when each of them happened. It little concerns us to know, that there were once such men as Alexander, Cæsar, Aristides, or Cato, and that they lived in this or that period; that the empire of the Assyrians made way for that of the Babylonians, and the latter for the empire of the Medes and Persians, who were themselves subjected by the Macedonians, as these were afterwards by the Romans.But it highly concerns us to know, by what methods those empires were founded; by what steps they rose to that exalted pitch of grandeur which we so much admire; what it was that constituted their true glory and felicity; and what were the causes of their declension and fall.It is of no less importance to study attentively the manners of different nations; their genius, laws, and customs; and especially to acquaint ourselves with the character and disposition, the talents, virtues, and even vices of those by whom they were governed; and whose good or bad qualities contributed to the grandeur or decay of the states over which they presided.Such are the great objects which ancient history presents; causing to pass, as it were, in review before us, all the kingdoms and empires of the world; and at the same time, all the great men who were any ways conspicuous; thereby instructing us, by example rather than precept, in the arts of empire and war, the principles of government, the rules of policy, the maxims of civil society, and the conduct of life that suits all ages and conditions.We acquire, at the same time, another knowledge, which cannot but excite the attention of all persons who have a taste and inclination for polite learning; I mean the manner in[pg ii]which arts and sciences were invented, cultivated, and improved. We there discover, and trace as it were with the eye, their origin and progress; and perceive, with admiration, that the nearer we approach those countries which were once inhabited by the sons of Noah, in the greater perfection we find the arts and sciences; whereas they seem to be either neglected or forgotten, in proportion to the remoteness of nations from them; so that, when men attempted to revive those arts and sciences, they were obliged to go back to the source from whence they originally flowed.I give only a transient view of these objects, though so very important, in this place, because I have already treated them at some length elsewhere.1But another object of infinitely greater importance, claims our attention. For although profane history treats only of nations who had imbibed all the absurdities of a superstitious worship; and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice, and above all, the admirable wisdom with which his providence governs the universe.If the inherent conviction of this last truth raised, according to Cicero's observation,2the Romans above all other nations; we may, in like manner, affirm, that nothing gives history a greater superiority to many other branches of literature, than to see in a manner imprinted, in almost every page of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great truth,viz.that God disposes all events as supreme Lord and Sovereign; that he alone determines the fate of kings and the duration of empires; and that he transfers the government of kingdoms from one nation to another, because of the unrighteous dealing and wickedness committed therein.3We discover this important truth in going back to the most remote antiquity, and the origin of profane history; I mean, to the dispersion of the posterity of Noah into the several countries of the earth where they settled. Liberty, chance, views of interest, a love for certain countries, and similar motives, were, in outward appearance, the only causes of the different choice which men made in these various migrations. But the[pg iii]Scriptures inform us, that amidst the trouble and confusion that followed the sudden change in the language of Noah's descendants, God presided invisibly over all their counsels and deliberations; that nothing was transacted but by the Almighty's appointment; and that he alone guided4and settled all mankind, agreeably to the dictates of his mercy and justice:“The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth.”5It is true indeed that God, even in those early ages, had a peculiar regard for that people, whom he was one day to consider as his own. He pointed out the country which he designed for them; he caused it to be possessed by another laborious nation, who applied themselves to cultivate and adorn it; and to improve the future inheritance of the Israelites. He then fixed, in that country, the like number of families, as were to be settled in it, when the sons of Israel should, at the appointed time, take possession of it; and did not suffer any of the nations, which were not subject to the curse pronounced by Noah against Canaan, to enter upon an inheritance that was to be given up entirely to the Israelites.Quando dividebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, constituit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum Israel.6But this peculiar regard of God to his future people, does not interfere with that which he had for the rest of the nations of the earth, as is evident from the many passages of Scripture, which teach us, that the entire succession of ages is present to him; that nothing is transacted in the whole universe, but by his appointment; and that he directs the several events of it from age to age.Tu es Deus conspector seculorum. A seculo usque in seculum respicis.7We must therefore consider, as an indisputable principle, and as the basis and foundation of the study of profane history, that the providence of the Almighty has, from all eternity, appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires, as well in regard to the general plan of the whole universe, known only to God, who constitutes the order and wonderful harmony of its several parts; as particularly with respect to the people of Israel, and still more with[pg iv]regard to the Messiah, and the establishment of the church, which is his great work, the end and design of all his other works, and ever present to his sight;Notum à seculo est Domino opus suum.8God has vouchsafed to discover to us, in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and the little so discovered, diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish pride, their impious and cruel ambition: they reveal the true causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the grandeur and declension of nations; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us, what indeed is the principal benefit to be derived from history, the judgment which the Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them.Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if I may be allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which afterwards was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it9; and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that God ever wrought in favour of Israel: not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a thousand proofs of the truth here advanced.Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmanezer, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in God's hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people.“He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders.”10He himself put the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. He breathed courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their armies indefatigable in labour, and invincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their steps.The rapidity of their conquests ought to have enabled them to discern the invisible hand which conducted them. But, says one of these kings11in the name of the rest,“By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I[pg v]am prudent: And I have removed the bounds of the people and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.”12But this monarch, so august and wise in his own eye, how did he appear in that of the Almighty? Only as a subaltern agent, a servant sent by his master:“The rod of his anger, and the staff in his hand.”13God's design was to chastise, not to extirpate his children. But Sennacherib“had it in his heart to destroy and cut off all nations.”14What then will be the issue of this kind of contest between the designs of God, and those of this prince?15At the time that he fancied himself already possessed of Jerusalem, the Lord, with a single blast, disperses all his proud hopes; destroys, in one night, an hundred four score and five thousand of his forces; and putting“a hook in his nose, and a bridle in his lips”,16(as though he had been a wild beast,) he leads him back to his own dominions, covered with infamy, through the midst of those nations, who, but a little before, had beheld him in all his pride and haughtiness.Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears still more visibly governed by a Providence, to which he himself is an entire stranger, but which presides over all his deliberations, and determines all his actions.Being come at the head of his army to two highways, the one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not knowing which of them it would be best for him to strike into, debates for some time with himself, and at last casts lots. God makes the lot fall on Jerusalem, to fulfil the menaces he had pronounced against that city,viz.to destroy it, to burn the temple, and lead its inhabitants into captivity.17One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been prompted to besiege Tyre, merely from a political view,viz.that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well-fortified a city; nevertheless, a superior will had decreed the siege of Tyre.18God designed, on one side, to humble the pride of Ithobal its king, who fancying himself wiser than Daniel,[pg vi]whose fame was spread over the whole East; and ascribing entirely to his rare and uncommon prudence the extent of his dominions, and the greatness of his riches, persuaded himself that he was“a god, and sat in the seat of God.”19On the other side, he also designed to chastise the luxury, the voluptuousness, and the pride of those haughty merchants, who thought themselves kings of the sea, and sovereigns over crowned heads; and especially, that inhuman joy of the Tyrians, who looked upon the fall of Jerusalem (the rival of Tyre) as their own aggrandizement. These were the motives which prompted God himself to lead Nebuchadnezzar to Tyre; and to make him execute, though unknowingly, his commands.Idcirco ecce ego adducam ad Tyrum Nabuchodonosor.To recompense this monarch, whose army the Almighty had caused“to serve a great service against Tyre”20(these are God's own words;) and to compensate the Babylonish troops, for the grievous toils they had sustained during a thirteen years' siege;“I will give,”21saith the Lord God,“the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army.”22The same Nebuchadnezzar, eager to immortalize his name by the grandeur of his exploits, was determined to heighten the glory of his conquests by his splendour and magnificence, in embellishing the capital of his empire with pompous edifices, and the most sumptuous ornaments. But whilst a set of adulating courtiers, on whom he lavished the highest honours and immense riches, make all places resound with his name, an august senate of watchful spirits is formed, who weigh, in the balance of truth, the actions of kings, and pronounce upon them a sentence from which there lies no appeal. The king of Babylon is cited before this tribunal, in which there presides the Supreme Judge, who, to a vigilance which nothing can elude, adds a holiness that will not allow of the least irregularity.Vigil et sanctus.In this tribunal all Nebuchadnezzar's actions, which were the admiration and wonder of the public, are examined with rigour; and a search is made into the inward recesses of his heart, to discover his most hidden thoughts. How will this formidable inquiry end? At the instant that Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace, and revolving, with a secret complacency, his exploits, his grandeur and magnificence, is saying to himself,“Is not this great[pg vii]Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”23in this very instant, when, by vainly flattering himself that he held his power and kingdom from himself alone, he usurped the seat of the Almighty: a voice from heaven pronounces his sentence, and declares to him, that“his kingdom was departed from him, that he should be driven from men, and his dwelling be with the beasts of the field, until he knew that the Most High ruled in the kingdoms of men, and gave them to whomsoever he would.”24This tribunal, which is for ever assembled, though invisible to mortal eyes, pronounced the like sentence on those famous conquerors, on those heroes of the pagan world, who, like Nebuchadnezzar, considered themselves as the sole authors of their exalted fortune; as independent on authority of every kind, and as not holding of a superior power.As God appointed some princes to be the instruments of his vengeance, he made others the dispensers of his goodness. He ordained Cyrus to be the deliverer of his people; and, to enable him to support with dignity so glorious a function, he endued him with all the qualities which constitute the greatest captains and princes: and caused that excellent education to be given him, which the heathens so much admired, though they neither knew the author nor true cause of it.We see in profane history the extent and swiftness of his conquests, the intrepidity of his courage, the wisdom of his views and designs; his greatness of soul, his noble generosity; his truly paternal affection for his subjects; and, on their part, the grateful returns of love and tenderness, which made them consider him rather as their protector and father, than as their lord and sovereign. We find, I say, all these particulars in profane history; but we do not perceive the secret principle of so many exalted qualities, nor the hidden spring which set them in motion.But Isaiah discloses them, and delivers himself in words suitable to the greatness and majesty of the God who inspired him, He represents this all-powerful God of armies as leading[pg viii]Cyrus by the hand, marching before him, conducting him from city to city, and from province to province;“subduing nations before him, loosening the loins of kings, breaking in pieces gates of brass, cutting in sunder the bars of iron,”throwing down the walls and bulwarks of cities, and putting him in possession“of the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret places.”25The prophet also tells us the cause and motive of all these wonderful events.26It was in order to punish Babylon, and to deliver Judah, that the Almighty conducts Cyrus, step by step, and gives success to all his enterprises.“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways.—For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect.”27But this prince is so blind and ungrateful, that he does not know his master, nor remember his benefactor.“I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.—I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.”28Men seldom form to themselves a right judgment of true glory, and the duties essential to regal power. The Scripture alone gives us a just idea of them, and this it does in a wonderful manner, under the image of a very large and strong tree, whose top reaches to heaven, and whose branches extend to the extremities of the earth.29As its foliage is very abundant, and it is bowed down with fruit, it constitutes the ornament and felicity of the plains around it. It supplies a grateful shade, and a secure retreat to beasts of every kind: animals, both wild and tame, are safely lodged beneath it, the birds of heaven dwell in its branches, and it supplies food to all living creatures.Can there be a more just or more instructive idea of the kingly office, whose true grandeur and solid glory does not consist in that splendour, pomp, and magnificence which surround it; nor in that reverence and exterior homage which are paid to it by subjects, and which are justly due to it; but in the real services and solid advantages it procures to nations, whose support, defence, security, and asylum it forms, (both from its nature and institution,) at the same time that it is the fruitful source of blessings of every kind; especially with regard to the poor and weak, who ought to find beneath the shade and protection of royalty, a sweet peace and tranquillity, not to be interrupted or disturbed; whilst the monarch himself sacrifices his ease, and experiences alone those storms and tempests from which he shelters all others?[pg ix]I think that I observe this noble image, and the execution of this great plan (religion only excepted) realized in the government of Cyrus, of which Xenophon has given us a picture, in his beautiful preface to the history of that prince. He has there specified a great number of nations, which, though separated from each other by vast tracts of country, and still more widely by the diversity of their manners, customs, and language, were however all united, by the same sentiments of esteem, reverence, and love for a prince, whose government they wished, if possible, to have continued for ever, so much happiness and tranquillity did they enjoy under it.30To this amiable and salutary government, let us oppose the idea which the sacred writings give us of those monarchs and conquerors so much boasted by antiquity, who, instead of making the happiness of mankind the sole object of their care, were prompted by no other motives than those of interest and ambition. The Holy Spirit represents them under the symbols of monsters generated from the agitation of the sea, from the tumult, confusion, and dashing of the waves one against the other; and under the image of cruel wild beasts, which spread terror and desolation universally, and are for ever gorging themselves with blood and slaughter; bears, lions, tigers, and leopards.31How strong and expressive is this colouring!Nevertheless, it is often from such destructive models, that the rules and maxims of the education generally bestowed on the children of the great are borrowed; and it is these ravagers of nations, these scourges of mankind, they propose to make them resemble. By inspiring them with the sentiments of a boundless ambition, and the love of false glory, they become (to borrow an expression from Scripture)“young lions; they learn to catch the prey, and devour men—to lay waste cities, to turn lands and their fatness into desolation by the noise of their roaring.”32And when this young lion is grown up, God tells us, that the noise of his exploits, and the renown of his victories, are nothing but a frightful roaring, which fills all places with terror and desolation.The examples I have hitherto mentioned, extracted from the history of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, prove sufficiently the supreme power exercised by God over all empires; and the relation he has thought fit to establish[pg x]between the rest of the nations of the earth and his own peculiar people. The same truth appears as conspicuously under the kings of Syria and Egypt, successors of Alexander the Great: between whose history, and that of the Jews under the Maccabees, every body knows the close connection.To these incidents I cannot forbear adding another, which though universally known, is not therefore the less remarkable; I mean the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. When he had entered that city, and viewed all the fortifications of it, this prince, though a heathen, owned the all-powerful arm of the God of Israel; and, in a rapture of admiration, cried out,“It is manifest that the Almighty has fought for us, and has driven the Jews from those towers; since neither the utmost human force, nor that of all the engines in the world, could have effected it.”33Besides the visible and sensible connection of sacred and profane history, there is another more secret and more distinct relation with respect to the Messiah, for whose coming the Almighty, whose work was ever present to his sight, prepared mankind from far, even by the state of ignorance and dissoluteness in which he suffered them to be immersed during four thousand years. It was to make mankind sensible of the necessity of our having a Mediator, that God permitted the nations to walk after their own ways; while neither the light of reason, nor the dictates of philosophy, could dispel the clouds of error, or reform their depraved inclinations.When we take a view of the grandeur of empires, the majesty of princes, the glorious actions of great men, the order of civil societies, and the harmony of the different members of which they are composed, the wisdom of legislators, and the learning of philosophers, the earth seems to exhibit nothing to the eye of man but what is great and resplendent; nevertheless, in the eye of God it was equally barren and uncultivated, as at the first instant of the creation.“The earth waswithout form and void.”34This is saying but little: it was wholly polluted and impure, (the reader will observe that I speak here of the heathens), and appeared to God only as the haunt and retreat of ungrateful and perfidious men, as it did at the time of the flood.“The earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with iniquity.”35Nevertheless the Sovereign Arbiter of the universe, who, pursuant to the dictates of his wisdom, dispenses both light and darkness, and knows how to check the impetuous torrent[pg xi]of human passions, would not permit mankind, though abandoned to the utmost corruptions, to degenerate into absolute barbarity, and brutalize themselves, in a manner, by the extinction of the first principles of the law of nature, as is seen in several savage nations. Such an obstacle would have too much retarded the rapid progress, promised by him to the first preachers of the doctrine of his Son.He darted from far, into the minds of men, the rays of several great truths, to dispose them for the reception of others more important. He prepared them for the instructions of the Gospel, by those of philosophers; and it was with this view that God permitted the heathen professors to examine, in their schools, several questions, and establish several principles, which are nearly allied to religion; and to engage the attention of mankind, by the brilliancy of their disputations. It is well known, that the philosophers inculcate, in every part of their writings, the existence of a God, the necessity of a Providence that presides over the government of the world, the immortality of the soul, the ultimate end of man, the reward of the good and punishment of the wicked, the nature of those duties which constitute the band of society, the character of the virtues that are the basis of morality, as prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and other similar truths, which, though incapable of guiding men to righteousness, were yet of use to scatter certain clouds, and to dispel certain obscurities.It is by an effect of the same providence, which prepared, from far, the ways of the gospel, that, when the Messiah revealed himself in the flesh, God had united together almost all nations, by the Greek and Latin tongues; and had subjected to one monarch, from the ocean to the Euphrates, all the people not united by language, in order to give a more free course to the preaching of the apostles. The study of profane history, when entered upon with judgment and maturity, must lead us to these reflections, and point out to us the manner in which the Almighty makes the empires of the earth subservient to the establishment of the kingdom of his Son.It ought likewise to teach us how to appreciate all that glitters most in the eye of the world, and is most capable of dazzling it. Valour, fortitude, skill in government, profound policy, merit in magistracy, capacity for the most abstruse sciences, beauty of genius, delicacy of taste, and perfection in all arts: These are the objects which profane history exhibits to us, which excite our admiration, and often our envy. But at the same time this very history ought to remind us, that the Almighty, ever since the creation, has indulged to his enemies[pg xii]all those shining qualities which the world esteems, and on which it frequently bestows the highest eulogiums; while, on the contrary, he often refuses them to his most faithful servants, whom he endues with talents of an infinitely superior nature, though men neither know their value, nor are desirous of them.“Happy is that people that is in such a case: Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”36I shall conclude this first part of my preface with a reflection which results naturally from what has been said. Since it is certain, that all these great men, who are so much boasted of in profane history, were so unhappy as not to know the true God, and to displease him; we should therefore be cautious and circumspect in the praises which we bestow upon them. St. Austin, in hisRetractions, repents his having lavished so many encomiums on Plato, and the followers of his philosophy;“because these,”says he,“were impious men, whose doctrine, in many points, was contrary to that of Jesus Christ.”37However, we are not to imagine, that St. Austin supposes it to be unlawful for us to admire and praise whatever is either beautiful in the actions, or true in the maxims, of the heathens. He only advises us to correct whatever is erroneous, and to approve whatever is conformable to rectitude and justice in them.38He applauds the Romans on many occasions, and particularly in his booksDe Civitate Dei,39which is one of the last and finest of his works. He there shows, that the Almighty raised them to be victorious over nations, and sovereigns of a great part of the earth, because of the gentleness and equity of their government (alluding to the happy ages of the Republic); thus bestowing on virtues, that were merely human, rewards of the same kind, with which that people, blind on this subject, though so enlightened on others, were so unhappy as to content themselves. St. Austin, therefore, does not condemn the encomiums which are bestowed on the heathens, but only the excess of them.Students ought to take care, and especially we, who by the duties of our profession are obliged to be perpetually conversant with heathen authors, not to enter too far into the spirit of them; not to imbibe, unperceived, their sentiments, by[pg xiii]lavishing too great applauses on their heroes; nor to give into excesses which the heathens indeed did not consider as such, because they were not acquainted with virtues of a purer kind. Some persons, whose friendship I esteem as I ought, and for whose learning and judgment I have the highest regard, have found this defect in some parts of my work, on theMethod of Teaching and Studying the Belles Lettres, &c.; and are of opinion, that I have gone too great lengths in the encomiums which I bestow on the illustrious men of paganism. I indeed own, that the expressions on those occasions are sometimes too strong and too unguarded: however, I imagined that I had supplied a proper corrective to this, by the hints which I have interspersed in those four volumes; and, therefore, that it would be only losing time to repeat them; not to mention my having laid down, in different places, the principles which the Fathers of the Church establish on this head, declaring, with St. Austin, that without true piety, that is, without a sincere worship of the true God, there can be no true virtue; and that no virtue can be such, whose object is worldly glory; a truth, says this Father, acknowledged universally by those who are inspired with real and solid piety.Illud constat inter omnes veraciter pios, neminem sine verâ pietate, id est, veri Dei vero cultu, veram posse habere virtutem; nec eam veram esse, quando gloriæ servit humanæ.40When I observed that Perseus had not resolution enough to kill himself,41I do not thereby pretend to justify the practice of the heathens, who looked upon suicide as lawful; but simply to relate an incident, and the judgment which Paulus Æmilius passed on it. Had I barely hinted a word or two against that custom, it would have obviated all mistake, and left no room for censure.The ostracism, employed in Athens against persons of the greatest merit; theft connived at, as it appears, by Lycurgus in Sparta; an equality of goods established in the same city, by the authority of the state, and things of a like nature, may admit of some difficulty. However, I shall pay a more immediate attention to these particulars,42when the course of the history brings me to them; and shall avail myself with pleasure of such lights as the learned and unprejudiced may favour me by communicating.In a work like that I now offer the public, intended more immediately for the instruction of youth, it were heartily to be[pg xiv]wished, that not one single thought or expression might occur that could contribute to inculcate false or dangerous principles. When I first set about writing the present history, I proposed this for my maxim, the importance of which I perfectly conceive, but am far from imagining that I have always observed it, though it was my intention to do so; and therefore on this, as on many other occasions, I shall stand in need of the reader's indulgence.As I write principally for young persons, and for those who do not intend to make very deep researches into ancient history, I shall not burthen this Work with a sort of erudition, that might have been naturally introduced into it, but does not suit my purpose. My design is, in giving a continued series of ancient history, to extract from the Greek and Latin authors all that I shall judge most useful and entertaining with respect to the transactions, and most instructive with regard to the reflections.I should wish to be able to avoid, at the same time, the dry sterility of epitomes, which convey no distinct idea to the mind; and the tedious accuracy of long histories, which tire the reader's patience. I am sensible that it is difficult to steer exactly between the two extremes; and although, in the two parts of history of which this first volume consists, I have retrenched a great part of what we meet with in ancient authors, they may still be thought too long: but I was afraid of spoiling the incidents, by being too studious of brevity. However, the taste of the public shall be my guide, to which I shall endeavour to conform hereafter.I was so happy as not to displease the public in my first attempt.43I wish the present Work may be equally successful, but dare not raise my hopes so high. The subjects I there treated,viz.polite literature, poetry, eloquence, and curious and detached pieces of history, gave me an opportunity of introducing into it from ancient and modern authors, whatever is most beautiful, affecting, delicate, and just, with regard both to thought and expression. The beauty and justness of the things themselves which I offered the reader, made him more indulgent to the manner in which they were presented to him; and besides, the variety of the subjects supplied the want of those graces which might have been expected from the style and composition.[pg xv]But I have not the same advantage in the present work, the choice of the subjects not being entirely at my discretion. In a connected history, an author is often obliged to relate a great many things that are not always very interesting, especially with regard to the origin and rise of empires; and these parts are generally overrun with thorns, and offer very few flowers. However, the sequel will furnish matter of a more pleasing nature, and events that engage more strongly the reader's attention; and I shall take care to make use of the valuable materials which the best authors will supply. In the mean time, I must entreat the reader to remember that in a wide-extended and beautiful region, the eye does not everywhere meet with golden harvests, smiling meads, and fruitful orchards; but sees, at different intervals, wild and less cultivated tracts of land. And, to use another comparison, furnished by Pliny,44some trees in the spring emulously shoot forth a numberless multitude of blossoms, which by this rich dress (the splendour and vivacity of whose colours charm the eye) proclaim a happy abundance in a more advanced season: while other trees,45of a less gay appearance, though they bear good fruits, have not however the fragrance and beauty of blossoms, nor seem to share in the joy of reviving nature. The reader will easily apply this image to the composition of history.To adorn and enrich my own, I will be so ingenuous as to confess, that I do not scruple, nor am ashamed, to rifle from all quarters, and that I often do not cite the authors from whom I transcribe, because of the liberty I occasionally take to make some slight alterations. I have made the best use in my power of the solid reflections that occur in the second and third parts of the bishop of Meaux's46Universal History, which is one of the most beautiful and most useful books in our language. I have also received great assistance from the learned Dean Prideaux'sConnection of the Old and New Testament, in which he has traced and cleared up, in an admirable manner, the particulars relating to ancient history. I shall take the same liberty with whatever comes in my way, that may suit my design, and contribute to the perfection of my Work.[pg xvi]I am very sensible, that it is not so much for a person's reputation, thus to make use of other men's labours, and that it is in a manner renouncing the name and quality of author. But I am not over fond of that title; and shall be extremely well pleased, and think myself very happy, if I can but deserve the name of a good compiler, and supply my readers with a tolerable history; who will not be over solicitous to inquire whether it be an original composition of my own, or not, provided they are but pleased with it.I cannot determine the exact number of volumes which this Work will make; but am persuaded there will be no less than ten or twelve.47Students, with a very moderate application, may easily go through this course of history in a year, without interrupting their other studies. According to my plan, my Work should be given to the highest form but one. Youths in this class are capable of pleasure and improvement from this history; and I would not have them enter upon that of the Romans till they study rhetoric.It would have been useful, and even necessary, to have given some idea of the ancient authors from whence I have extracted the facts which I here relate. But the course itself of the history will naturally give me an opportunity of mentioning them.In the mean time, it may not be improper to take notice of the superstitious credulity with which most of these authors are reproached, on the subject of auguries, auspices, prodigies, dreams, and oracles. And indeed, we are shocked to see writers, so judicious in all other respects, lay it down as a kind of law, to relate these particulars with a scrupulous accuracy; and to dwell gravely on a tedious detail of trifling and ridiculous ceremonies, such as the flight of birds to the right or left hand, signs discovered in the smoking entrails of beasts, the greater or less greediness of chickens in pecking corn, and a thousand similar absurdities.It must be confessed, that a sensible reader cannot, without astonishment, see persons among the ancients in the highest repute for wisdom and knowledge; generals who were the least liable to be influenced by popular opinions, and most sensible how necessary it is to take advantage of auspicious moments; the wisest councils of princes perfectly well skilled in the arts of government; the most august assemblies of grave senators; in a word, the most powerful and most learned nations in all ages; to see, I say, all these so unaccountably weak, as to[pg xvii]make to depend on these trifling practices and absurd observances, the decision of the greatest affairs, such as the declaring of war, the giving battle, or pursuing a victory, deliberations that were of the utmost importance, and on which the fate and welfare of kingdoms frequently depended.But, at the same time, we must be so just as to own, that their manners, customs, and laws, would not permit men, in these ages, to dispense with the observation of these practices: that education, hereditary tradition transmitted from immemorial time, the universal belief and consent of different nations, the precepts, and even examples of philosophers; that all these, I say, made the practices in question appear venerable in their eyes: and that these ceremonies, how absurd soever they may appear to us, and are really so in themselves, constituted part of the religion and public worship of the ancients.This religion was false, and this worship mistaken; yet the principle of it was laudable, and founded in nature; the stream was corrupted, but the fountain was pure. Man, assisted only by his own light, sees nothing beyond the present moment. Futurity is to him an abyss invisible to the most keen, the most piercing sagacity, and exhibits nothing on which he may with certainty fix his views, or form his resolutions. He is equally feeble and impotent with regard to the execution of his designs. He is sensible, that he is dependent entirely on a Supreme Power, that disposes all events with absolute authority, and which, in spite of his utmost efforts, and of the wisdom of the best concerted schemes, by raising only the smallest obstacles and slightest disappointments, renders it impossible for him to execute his measures.This obscurity and weakness oblige him to have recourse to a superior knowledge and power: he is forced, both by his immediate wants, and the strong desire he has to succeed in all his undertakings, to address that Being who he is sensible has reserved to himself alone the knowledge of futurity, and the power of disposing it as he sees fitting. He accordingly directs prayers, makes vows, and offers sacrifices, to prevail, if possible, with the Deity, to reveal himself, either in dreams, in oracles, or other signs which may manifest his will; fully convinced that nothing can happen but by the divine appointment; and that it is a man's greatest interest to know this supreme will, in order to conform his actions to it.This religious principle of dependence on, and veneration of, the Supreme Being, is natural to man: it is imprinted deep in his heart; he is reminded of it, by the inward sense of his extreme indigence, and by all the objects which surround him;[pg xviii]and it may be affirmed, that this perpetual recourse to the Deity, is one of the principal foundations of religion and the strongest band by which man is united to his Creator.Those who were so happy as to know the true God, and were chosen to be his peculiar people, never failed to address him in all their wants and doubts, in order to obtain his succour, and to know his will. He accordingly vouchsafed to reveal himself to them; to conduct them by apparitions, dreams, oracles, and prophecies; and to protect them by miracles of the most astonishing kind.But those who were so blind as to substitute falsehood in the place of truth, directed themselves, for the like aid, to fictitious and deceitful deities, who were not able to answer their expectations, nor recompense the homage that mortals paid them, any otherwise than by error and illusion, and a fraudulent imitation of the conduct of the true God.Hence arose the vain observation of dreams, which, from a superstitious credulity, they mistook for salutary warnings from Heaven; those obscure and equivocal answers of oracles, beneath whose veil the spirits of darkness concealed their ignorance; and, by a studied ambiguity, reserved to themselves an evasion or subterfuge, whatever might be the event. To this are owing the prognostics with regard to futurity, which men fancied they should find in the entrails of beasts, in the flight and singing of birds, in the aspect of the planets, in fortuitous accidents, and in the caprice of chance; those dreadful prodigies that filled a whole nation with terror, and which, it was believed, nothing could expiate but mournful ceremonies, and even sometimes the effusion of human blood: in fine, those black inventions of magic, those delusions, enchantments, sorceries, invocations of ghosts, and many other kinds of divination.All I have here related was a received usage, observed by the heathen nations in general; and this usage was founded on the principles of that religion of which I have given a short account. We have a signal proof of this in that passage of the Cyropædia,48where Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, gives that young prince such noble instructions; instructions admirably well adapted to form the great captain, and great king. He exhorts him, above all things, to pay the highest reverence to the gods; and not to undertake any enterprise, whether important or inconsiderable, without first calling upon and consulting them; he enjoins him to honour the priests and augurs, as[pg xix]being their ministers and the interpreters of their will, but yet not to trust or abandon himself so implicitly and blindly to them, as not, by his own application, to learn every thing relating to the science of divination, of auguries and auspices. The reason which he gives for the subordination and dependence in which kings ought to live with regard to the gods, and the benefit derived from consulting them in all things, is this: How clear-sighted soever mankind may be in the ordinary course of affairs, their views are always very narrow and bounded with regard to futurity; whereas the Deity, at a single glance, takes in all ages and events.“As the gods,”says Cambyses to his son,“are eternal, they know equally all things, past, present, and to come. With regard to the mortals who address them, they give salutary counsels to those whom they are pleased to favour, that they may not be ignorant of what things they ought, or ought not, to undertake. If it is observed, that the deities do not give the like counsels to all men; we are not to wonder at it, since no necessity obliges them to attend to the welfare of those persons on whom they do not vouchsafe to confer their favour.”Such was the doctrine of the most learned and most enlightened nations, with respect to the different kinds of divination; and it is no wonder that the authors who wrote the history of those nations, thought it incumbent on them to give an exact detail of such particulars as constituted part of their religion and worship, and was frequently in a manner the soul of their deliberations, and the standard of their conduct. I therefore was of opinion, for the same reason, that it would not be proper for me to omit entirely, in the ensuing history, what relates to this subject, though I have however retrenched a great part of it.Archbishop Usher is my usual guide in chronology. In the history of the Carthaginians I commonly set down four æras: The year from the creation of the world, which, for brevity's sake, I mark thus, A.M.; those of the foundation of Carthage and Rome; and lastly, the year before the birth of our Saviour, which I suppose to be the 4004th year of the world; wherein I follow Usher and others, though they suppose it to be four years earlier.We shall now proceed to give the reader the proper preliminary information concerning this Work, according to the order in which it is executed.To know in what manner the states and kingdoms were founded, that have divided the universe; the steps whereby[pg xx]they rose to that pitch of grandeur related in history; by what ties families and cities were united, in order to constitute one body or society, and to live together under the same laws and a common authority; it will be necessary to trace things back, in a manner, to the infancy of the world, and to those ages in which mankind, being dispersed into different regions, (after the confusion of tongues,) began to people the earth.In these early ages every father was the supreme head of his family; the arbiter and judge of whatever contests and divisions might arise within it; the natural legislator over his little society; the defender and protector of those, who, by their birth, education, and weakness, were under his protection and safeguard, and whose interests paternal tenderness rendered equally dear to him as his own.But although these masters enjoyed an independent authority, they made a mild and paternal use of it. So far from being jealous of their power, they neither governed with haughtiness, nor decided with tyranny. As they were obliged by necessity to associate their family in their domestic labours, they also summoned them together, and asked their opinion in matters of importance. In this manner all affairs were transacted in concert, and for the common good.The laws which paternal vigilance established in this little domestic senate, being dictated with no other view than to promote the general welfare; concerted with such children as were come to years of maturity, and accepted by the inferiors with a full and free consent; were religiously kept and preserved in families as an hereditary polity, to which they owed their peace and security.But different motives gave rise to different laws. One man, overjoyed at the birth of a first-born son, resolved to distinguish him from his future children, by bestowing on him a more considerable share of his possessions, and giving him a greater authority in his family. Another, more attentive to the interest of a beloved wife, or darling daughter whom he wanted to settle in the world, thought it incumbent on him to secure their rights and increase their advantages. The solitary and cheerless state to which a wife would be reduced in case she should become a widow, affected more intimately another man, and made him provide beforehand, for the subsistence and comfort of a woman who formed his felicity. From these different views, and others of the like nature, arose the different customs of nations, as well as their rights, which are infinitely various.In proportion as every family increased, by the birth of[pg xxi]children, and their marrying into other families, they extended their little domain, and formed, by insensible degrees, towns and cities.These societies growing, in process of time, very numerous; and the families being divided into various branches, each of which had its head, whose different interests and characters might interrupt the general tranquillity; it was necessary to intrust one person with the government of the whole, in order to unite all these chiefs or heads under a single authority, and to maintain the public peace by an uniform administration. The idea which men still retained of the paternal government, and the happy effects they had experienced from it, prompted them to choose from among their wisest and most virtuous men, him in whom they had observed the tenderest and most fatherly disposition. Neither ambition nor cabal had the least share in this choice; probity alone, and the reputation of virtue and equity, decided on these occasions, and gave the preference to the most worthy.49To heighten the lustre of their newly-acquired dignity, and enable them the better to put the laws in execution, as well as to devote themselves entirely to the public good; to defend the state against the invasions of their neighbours, and the factions of discontented citizens; the title of king was bestowed upon them, a throne was erected, and a sceptre put into their hands; homage was paid them, officers were assigned, and guards appointed for the security of their persons; tributes were granted; they were invested with full powers to administer justice, and for this purpose were armed with a sword, in order to restrain injustice, and punish crimes.At first, every city had its particular king, who being more solicitous to preserve his dominion than to enlarge it, confined his ambition within the limits of his native country.50But the almost unavoidable feuds which break out between neighbours; jealousy against a more powerful king; a turbulent and restless spirit; a martial disposition, or thirst of aggrandizement; or the display of abilities; gave rise to wars, which frequently ended in the entire subjection of the vanquished, whose cities were possessed by the victor, and increased insensibly his dominions. Thus, a first victory paving the way to a second, and[pg xxii]making a prince more powerful and enterprising, several cities and provinces were united under one monarch, and formed kingdoms of a greater or less extent, according to the degree of ardour with which the victor had pushed his conquests.51But among these princes were found some, whose ambition being too vast to confine itself within a single kingdom, broke over all bounds, and spread universally like a torrent, or the ocean; swallowed up kingdoms and nations; and fancied that glory consisted in depriving princes of their dominions, who had not done them the least injury; in carrying fire and sword into the most remote countries, and in leaving every where bloody traces of their progress! Such was the origin of those famous empires which included a great part of the world.Princes made a various use of victory, according to the diversity of their dispositions or interests. Some, considering themselves as absolute masters of the conquered, and imagining they were sufficiently indulged in sparing their lives, bereaved them, as well as their children, of their possessions, their country, and their liberty; subjected them to a most severe captivity; employed them in those arts which are necessary for the support of life, in the lowest and most servile offices of the house, in the painful toils of the field; and frequently forced them, by the most inhuman treatment, to dig in mines, and ransack the bowels of the earth, merely to satiate their avarice; and hence mankind were divided into freemen and slaves, masters and bondmen.Others introduced the custom of transporting whole nations into new countries, where they settled them, and gave them lands to cultivate.Other princes again, of more gentle dispositions, contented themselves with only obliging the vanquished nations to purchase their liberties, and the enjoyment of their laws and privileges by annual tributes laid on them for that purpose; and sometimes they would suffer kings to sit peaceably on their thrones, upon condition of their paying them some kind of homage.But such of these monarchs as were the wisest and ablest politicians, thought it glorious to establish a kind of equality betwixt the nations newly conquered and their other subjects; granting the former almost all the rights and privileges which the others enjoyed: and by this means a great number of nations, that were spread over different and far distant countries, constituted, in some measure, but one city, at least but one people.Thus I have given a general and concise idea of mankind,[pg xxiii]from the earliest monuments which history has preserved on this subject; the particulars whereof I shall endeavour to relate, in treating of each empire and nation. I shall not touch upon the history of the Jews, nor that of the Romans.The history of the Carthaginians, that of the Assyrians, and the Lydians, which occurs in the second volume, is supported by the best authorities; but it is highly necessary to review the geography, the manners, and customs of the different nations here treated of; and first with regard to the religion, manners, and institutions of the Persians and Grecians; because these show their genius and character, which we may call, in some measure, the soul of history. For to take notice only of facts and dates, and confine our curiosity and researches to them, would be imitating the imprudence of a traveller, who, in visiting many countries, should content himself with knowing their exact distance from each other, and consider only the situation of the several places, their buildings, and the dresses of the people; without giving himself the least trouble to converse with the inhabitants, in order to inform himself of their genius, manners, disposition, laws, and government. Homer, whose design was to give, in the person of Ulysses, a model of a wise and intelligent traveller, tells us, at the very opening of hisOdyssey, that his hero informed himself very exactly of the manners and customs of the several people whose cities he visited; in which he ought to be imitated by every person who applies himself to the study of history.As Asia will hereafter be the principal scene of the history we are now entering upon, it may not be improper to give the reader such a general idea of it, as may at least make him acquainted with its most considerable provinces and cities.The northern and eastern parts of Asia are less known in ancient history.To the north areAsiatic SarmatiaandAsiatic Scythia, which answer to Tartary.Sarmatia is situated between the riverTanais, which separates Europe and Asia, and the riverRha, orVolga. Scythia is divided into two parts; the one on this, the other on the other side of mountImaus. The nations of Scythia best known to us are theSacæand theMassagetæ.The most eastern parts are,Serica, Cathay;Sinarum regio, China; andIndia. This last country was better known anciently than the two former. It was divided into two parts; the one on this side theGanges, included between that river and theIndus, which now composes the dominions[pg xxiv]of the Great Mogul; the other part was that on the other side of the Ganges.The remaining part of Asia, of which much greater mention is made in history, may be divided into five or six parts, taking it from east to west.I. Upper Asia, which begins at the river Indus. The chief provinces areGedrosia, Carmania, Arachosia, Drangiana, Bactriana, the capital of which wasBactra;Sogdiana, Margiana, Hyrcania, near the Caspian sea;Parthia, Media, its chief cityEcbatana;Persia, the cities ofPersepolisandElymais;Susiana, the city ofSusa;Assyria, the city ofNineveh, situated on the riverTigris;Mesopotamia, between theEuphratesandTigris;Babylonia, the city ofBabylonon the river Euphrates.II. Asia between the Pontus Euxinus and the Caspian Sea.Therein we may distinguish four provinces. 1.Colchis, the riverPhasis, and mountCaucasus. 2.Iberia.3.Albania; which two last-mentioned provinces now form part of Georgia. 4. The greaterArmenia. This is separated from the lesser by the Euphrates; from Mesopotamia by mountTaurus; and from Assyria by mountNiphates. Its cities areArtaxataandTigranocerta, and the riverAraxesruns through it.III. Asia Minor.This may be divided into four or five parts, according to the different situation of its provinces.1.Northward, on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus;Pontus, under three different names. Its cities are,Trapezus, not far from which are the people calledChalybesorChaldæi;Themiscyra, a city on the riverThermodon, and famous for having been the abode of the Amazons.Paphlagonia, Bithynia; the cities of which are,Nicæa,Prusa,Nicomedia,Chalcedonopposite to Constantinople, andHeraclea.2.Westward, going down by the shores of the Ægean sea;Mysia, of which there are two. TheLesser, in which stoodCyzicus,Lampsacus,Parium,Abydosopposite to Sestos, from which it is separated only by the Dardanelles;Dardanum,Sigæum,Ilion, orTroy; and almost on the opposite side, the little island ofTenedos. The rivers are, theÆsepus, theGranicus, and theSimois. MountIda. This region is sometimes called Phrygia Minor, of whichTroasis part.TheGreater Mysia.Antandros,Trajanopolis,Adramyttium,[pg xxv]Pergamus. Opposite to this Mysia is the island ofLesbos; the cities of which are,Methymna, where the celebratedArionwas born; andMitylene, which has given to the whole island its modern name Metelin.Æolia.Elea,Cumæ,Phocæa.Ionia.Smyrna,Clazomenæ,Teos,Lebedus,Colophon,Ephesus,Priene,Miletus.Caria.Laodicea,Antiochia,Magnesia,Alabanda. The riverMæander.Doris.Halicarnassus,Cnidos.Opposite to these four last countries, are the islandsChios, Samos, Pathmos, Cos; and lower, towards the south,Rhodes.3.Southward, along the Mediterranean;Lycia, the cities of which are,Telmessus,Patara. The riverXanthus. Here begins mountTaurus, which runs the whole length of Asia, and assumes different names, according to the several countries through which it passes.Pamphylia.Perga,Aspendus,Sida.Cilicia.Seleucia,Corycium,Tarsus, on the riverCydnus. Opposite to Cilicia is the island ofCyprus. The cities are,Salamis,Amathus, andPaphos.4.Along the banks of the Euphrates, going up northward;TheLesser Armenia.Comana,Arabyza,Melitene,Satala. The riverMelas, which empties itself into the Euphrates.5.Inland:Cappadocia; the cities whereof are,Neocæsarea,Comana Pontica,Sebastia,Sebastopolis,Diocæsarea,Cæsarea, otherwise calledMazaca, andTyana.LycaoniaandIsauria.Iconium,Isauria.Pisidia.SeleuciaandAntiochiaofPisidia.Lydia.Its cities are,Thyatira,Sardis,Philadelphia. The rivers are,CaystrusandHermus, into which thePactolusempties itself. MountSipylusandTmolus.Phrygia Major.Synnada,Apamia.IV. Syria, now namedSuria, called under the Roman emperors theEast, the chief provinces of which are,1.Palestine, by which name is sometimes understood all Judea. Its cities are,Jerusalem,Samaria, andCæsarea Palestina. The riverJordanwaters it. The name of Palestine is also given to the land of Canaan, which extended along the Mediterranean; the chief cities of which were,Gaza,Ascalon,Azotus,Accaron, andGath.2.Phœnicia, whose cities are,Ptolemais,Tyre,Sidon, andBerytus. Its mountains,LibanusandAntilibanus.[pg xxvi]3.Syria, properly so called, orAntiochena; the cities whereof are,Antiochia,Apamia,Laodicea, andSeleucia.4.Comagena.The city ofSamosata.5.Cœlesyria.The cities are,Zeugma,Thapsacus,Palmyra, andDamascus.V. Arabia Petræa.Its cities are,Petra, andBostra. MountCasius.Deserta. Felix.

Preface.The Usefulness of Profane History, especially with regard to Religion.The study of profane history would little deserve to have a serious attention, and a considerable length of time bestowed upon it, if it were confined to the bare knowledge of ancient transactions, and an uninteresting inquiry into the æras when each of them happened. It little concerns us to know, that there were once such men as Alexander, Cæsar, Aristides, or Cato, and that they lived in this or that period; that the empire of the Assyrians made way for that of the Babylonians, and the latter for the empire of the Medes and Persians, who were themselves subjected by the Macedonians, as these were afterwards by the Romans.But it highly concerns us to know, by what methods those empires were founded; by what steps they rose to that exalted pitch of grandeur which we so much admire; what it was that constituted their true glory and felicity; and what were the causes of their declension and fall.It is of no less importance to study attentively the manners of different nations; their genius, laws, and customs; and especially to acquaint ourselves with the character and disposition, the talents, virtues, and even vices of those by whom they were governed; and whose good or bad qualities contributed to the grandeur or decay of the states over which they presided.Such are the great objects which ancient history presents; causing to pass, as it were, in review before us, all the kingdoms and empires of the world; and at the same time, all the great men who were any ways conspicuous; thereby instructing us, by example rather than precept, in the arts of empire and war, the principles of government, the rules of policy, the maxims of civil society, and the conduct of life that suits all ages and conditions.We acquire, at the same time, another knowledge, which cannot but excite the attention of all persons who have a taste and inclination for polite learning; I mean the manner in[pg ii]which arts and sciences were invented, cultivated, and improved. We there discover, and trace as it were with the eye, their origin and progress; and perceive, with admiration, that the nearer we approach those countries which were once inhabited by the sons of Noah, in the greater perfection we find the arts and sciences; whereas they seem to be either neglected or forgotten, in proportion to the remoteness of nations from them; so that, when men attempted to revive those arts and sciences, they were obliged to go back to the source from whence they originally flowed.I give only a transient view of these objects, though so very important, in this place, because I have already treated them at some length elsewhere.1But another object of infinitely greater importance, claims our attention. For although profane history treats only of nations who had imbibed all the absurdities of a superstitious worship; and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice, and above all, the admirable wisdom with which his providence governs the universe.If the inherent conviction of this last truth raised, according to Cicero's observation,2the Romans above all other nations; we may, in like manner, affirm, that nothing gives history a greater superiority to many other branches of literature, than to see in a manner imprinted, in almost every page of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great truth,viz.that God disposes all events as supreme Lord and Sovereign; that he alone determines the fate of kings and the duration of empires; and that he transfers the government of kingdoms from one nation to another, because of the unrighteous dealing and wickedness committed therein.3We discover this important truth in going back to the most remote antiquity, and the origin of profane history; I mean, to the dispersion of the posterity of Noah into the several countries of the earth where they settled. Liberty, chance, views of interest, a love for certain countries, and similar motives, were, in outward appearance, the only causes of the different choice which men made in these various migrations. But the[pg iii]Scriptures inform us, that amidst the trouble and confusion that followed the sudden change in the language of Noah's descendants, God presided invisibly over all their counsels and deliberations; that nothing was transacted but by the Almighty's appointment; and that he alone guided4and settled all mankind, agreeably to the dictates of his mercy and justice:“The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth.”5It is true indeed that God, even in those early ages, had a peculiar regard for that people, whom he was one day to consider as his own. He pointed out the country which he designed for them; he caused it to be possessed by another laborious nation, who applied themselves to cultivate and adorn it; and to improve the future inheritance of the Israelites. He then fixed, in that country, the like number of families, as were to be settled in it, when the sons of Israel should, at the appointed time, take possession of it; and did not suffer any of the nations, which were not subject to the curse pronounced by Noah against Canaan, to enter upon an inheritance that was to be given up entirely to the Israelites.Quando dividebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, constituit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum Israel.6But this peculiar regard of God to his future people, does not interfere with that which he had for the rest of the nations of the earth, as is evident from the many passages of Scripture, which teach us, that the entire succession of ages is present to him; that nothing is transacted in the whole universe, but by his appointment; and that he directs the several events of it from age to age.Tu es Deus conspector seculorum. A seculo usque in seculum respicis.7We must therefore consider, as an indisputable principle, and as the basis and foundation of the study of profane history, that the providence of the Almighty has, from all eternity, appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires, as well in regard to the general plan of the whole universe, known only to God, who constitutes the order and wonderful harmony of its several parts; as particularly with respect to the people of Israel, and still more with[pg iv]regard to the Messiah, and the establishment of the church, which is his great work, the end and design of all his other works, and ever present to his sight;Notum à seculo est Domino opus suum.8God has vouchsafed to discover to us, in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and the little so discovered, diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish pride, their impious and cruel ambition: they reveal the true causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the grandeur and declension of nations; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us, what indeed is the principal benefit to be derived from history, the judgment which the Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them.Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if I may be allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which afterwards was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it9; and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that God ever wrought in favour of Israel: not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a thousand proofs of the truth here advanced.Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmanezer, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in God's hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people.“He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders.”10He himself put the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. He breathed courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their armies indefatigable in labour, and invincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their steps.The rapidity of their conquests ought to have enabled them to discern the invisible hand which conducted them. But, says one of these kings11in the name of the rest,“By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I[pg v]am prudent: And I have removed the bounds of the people and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.”12But this monarch, so august and wise in his own eye, how did he appear in that of the Almighty? Only as a subaltern agent, a servant sent by his master:“The rod of his anger, and the staff in his hand.”13God's design was to chastise, not to extirpate his children. But Sennacherib“had it in his heart to destroy and cut off all nations.”14What then will be the issue of this kind of contest between the designs of God, and those of this prince?15At the time that he fancied himself already possessed of Jerusalem, the Lord, with a single blast, disperses all his proud hopes; destroys, in one night, an hundred four score and five thousand of his forces; and putting“a hook in his nose, and a bridle in his lips”,16(as though he had been a wild beast,) he leads him back to his own dominions, covered with infamy, through the midst of those nations, who, but a little before, had beheld him in all his pride and haughtiness.Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears still more visibly governed by a Providence, to which he himself is an entire stranger, but which presides over all his deliberations, and determines all his actions.Being come at the head of his army to two highways, the one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not knowing which of them it would be best for him to strike into, debates for some time with himself, and at last casts lots. God makes the lot fall on Jerusalem, to fulfil the menaces he had pronounced against that city,viz.to destroy it, to burn the temple, and lead its inhabitants into captivity.17One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been prompted to besiege Tyre, merely from a political view,viz.that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well-fortified a city; nevertheless, a superior will had decreed the siege of Tyre.18God designed, on one side, to humble the pride of Ithobal its king, who fancying himself wiser than Daniel,[pg vi]whose fame was spread over the whole East; and ascribing entirely to his rare and uncommon prudence the extent of his dominions, and the greatness of his riches, persuaded himself that he was“a god, and sat in the seat of God.”19On the other side, he also designed to chastise the luxury, the voluptuousness, and the pride of those haughty merchants, who thought themselves kings of the sea, and sovereigns over crowned heads; and especially, that inhuman joy of the Tyrians, who looked upon the fall of Jerusalem (the rival of Tyre) as their own aggrandizement. These were the motives which prompted God himself to lead Nebuchadnezzar to Tyre; and to make him execute, though unknowingly, his commands.Idcirco ecce ego adducam ad Tyrum Nabuchodonosor.To recompense this monarch, whose army the Almighty had caused“to serve a great service against Tyre”20(these are God's own words;) and to compensate the Babylonish troops, for the grievous toils they had sustained during a thirteen years' siege;“I will give,”21saith the Lord God,“the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army.”22The same Nebuchadnezzar, eager to immortalize his name by the grandeur of his exploits, was determined to heighten the glory of his conquests by his splendour and magnificence, in embellishing the capital of his empire with pompous edifices, and the most sumptuous ornaments. But whilst a set of adulating courtiers, on whom he lavished the highest honours and immense riches, make all places resound with his name, an august senate of watchful spirits is formed, who weigh, in the balance of truth, the actions of kings, and pronounce upon them a sentence from which there lies no appeal. The king of Babylon is cited before this tribunal, in which there presides the Supreme Judge, who, to a vigilance which nothing can elude, adds a holiness that will not allow of the least irregularity.Vigil et sanctus.In this tribunal all Nebuchadnezzar's actions, which were the admiration and wonder of the public, are examined with rigour; and a search is made into the inward recesses of his heart, to discover his most hidden thoughts. How will this formidable inquiry end? At the instant that Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace, and revolving, with a secret complacency, his exploits, his grandeur and magnificence, is saying to himself,“Is not this great[pg vii]Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”23in this very instant, when, by vainly flattering himself that he held his power and kingdom from himself alone, he usurped the seat of the Almighty: a voice from heaven pronounces his sentence, and declares to him, that“his kingdom was departed from him, that he should be driven from men, and his dwelling be with the beasts of the field, until he knew that the Most High ruled in the kingdoms of men, and gave them to whomsoever he would.”24This tribunal, which is for ever assembled, though invisible to mortal eyes, pronounced the like sentence on those famous conquerors, on those heroes of the pagan world, who, like Nebuchadnezzar, considered themselves as the sole authors of their exalted fortune; as independent on authority of every kind, and as not holding of a superior power.As God appointed some princes to be the instruments of his vengeance, he made others the dispensers of his goodness. He ordained Cyrus to be the deliverer of his people; and, to enable him to support with dignity so glorious a function, he endued him with all the qualities which constitute the greatest captains and princes: and caused that excellent education to be given him, which the heathens so much admired, though they neither knew the author nor true cause of it.We see in profane history the extent and swiftness of his conquests, the intrepidity of his courage, the wisdom of his views and designs; his greatness of soul, his noble generosity; his truly paternal affection for his subjects; and, on their part, the grateful returns of love and tenderness, which made them consider him rather as their protector and father, than as their lord and sovereign. We find, I say, all these particulars in profane history; but we do not perceive the secret principle of so many exalted qualities, nor the hidden spring which set them in motion.But Isaiah discloses them, and delivers himself in words suitable to the greatness and majesty of the God who inspired him, He represents this all-powerful God of armies as leading[pg viii]Cyrus by the hand, marching before him, conducting him from city to city, and from province to province;“subduing nations before him, loosening the loins of kings, breaking in pieces gates of brass, cutting in sunder the bars of iron,”throwing down the walls and bulwarks of cities, and putting him in possession“of the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret places.”25The prophet also tells us the cause and motive of all these wonderful events.26It was in order to punish Babylon, and to deliver Judah, that the Almighty conducts Cyrus, step by step, and gives success to all his enterprises.“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways.—For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect.”27But this prince is so blind and ungrateful, that he does not know his master, nor remember his benefactor.“I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.—I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.”28Men seldom form to themselves a right judgment of true glory, and the duties essential to regal power. The Scripture alone gives us a just idea of them, and this it does in a wonderful manner, under the image of a very large and strong tree, whose top reaches to heaven, and whose branches extend to the extremities of the earth.29As its foliage is very abundant, and it is bowed down with fruit, it constitutes the ornament and felicity of the plains around it. It supplies a grateful shade, and a secure retreat to beasts of every kind: animals, both wild and tame, are safely lodged beneath it, the birds of heaven dwell in its branches, and it supplies food to all living creatures.Can there be a more just or more instructive idea of the kingly office, whose true grandeur and solid glory does not consist in that splendour, pomp, and magnificence which surround it; nor in that reverence and exterior homage which are paid to it by subjects, and which are justly due to it; but in the real services and solid advantages it procures to nations, whose support, defence, security, and asylum it forms, (both from its nature and institution,) at the same time that it is the fruitful source of blessings of every kind; especially with regard to the poor and weak, who ought to find beneath the shade and protection of royalty, a sweet peace and tranquillity, not to be interrupted or disturbed; whilst the monarch himself sacrifices his ease, and experiences alone those storms and tempests from which he shelters all others?[pg ix]I think that I observe this noble image, and the execution of this great plan (religion only excepted) realized in the government of Cyrus, of which Xenophon has given us a picture, in his beautiful preface to the history of that prince. He has there specified a great number of nations, which, though separated from each other by vast tracts of country, and still more widely by the diversity of their manners, customs, and language, were however all united, by the same sentiments of esteem, reverence, and love for a prince, whose government they wished, if possible, to have continued for ever, so much happiness and tranquillity did they enjoy under it.30To this amiable and salutary government, let us oppose the idea which the sacred writings give us of those monarchs and conquerors so much boasted by antiquity, who, instead of making the happiness of mankind the sole object of their care, were prompted by no other motives than those of interest and ambition. The Holy Spirit represents them under the symbols of monsters generated from the agitation of the sea, from the tumult, confusion, and dashing of the waves one against the other; and under the image of cruel wild beasts, which spread terror and desolation universally, and are for ever gorging themselves with blood and slaughter; bears, lions, tigers, and leopards.31How strong and expressive is this colouring!Nevertheless, it is often from such destructive models, that the rules and maxims of the education generally bestowed on the children of the great are borrowed; and it is these ravagers of nations, these scourges of mankind, they propose to make them resemble. By inspiring them with the sentiments of a boundless ambition, and the love of false glory, they become (to borrow an expression from Scripture)“young lions; they learn to catch the prey, and devour men—to lay waste cities, to turn lands and their fatness into desolation by the noise of their roaring.”32And when this young lion is grown up, God tells us, that the noise of his exploits, and the renown of his victories, are nothing but a frightful roaring, which fills all places with terror and desolation.The examples I have hitherto mentioned, extracted from the history of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, prove sufficiently the supreme power exercised by God over all empires; and the relation he has thought fit to establish[pg x]between the rest of the nations of the earth and his own peculiar people. The same truth appears as conspicuously under the kings of Syria and Egypt, successors of Alexander the Great: between whose history, and that of the Jews under the Maccabees, every body knows the close connection.To these incidents I cannot forbear adding another, which though universally known, is not therefore the less remarkable; I mean the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. When he had entered that city, and viewed all the fortifications of it, this prince, though a heathen, owned the all-powerful arm of the God of Israel; and, in a rapture of admiration, cried out,“It is manifest that the Almighty has fought for us, and has driven the Jews from those towers; since neither the utmost human force, nor that of all the engines in the world, could have effected it.”33Besides the visible and sensible connection of sacred and profane history, there is another more secret and more distinct relation with respect to the Messiah, for whose coming the Almighty, whose work was ever present to his sight, prepared mankind from far, even by the state of ignorance and dissoluteness in which he suffered them to be immersed during four thousand years. It was to make mankind sensible of the necessity of our having a Mediator, that God permitted the nations to walk after their own ways; while neither the light of reason, nor the dictates of philosophy, could dispel the clouds of error, or reform their depraved inclinations.When we take a view of the grandeur of empires, the majesty of princes, the glorious actions of great men, the order of civil societies, and the harmony of the different members of which they are composed, the wisdom of legislators, and the learning of philosophers, the earth seems to exhibit nothing to the eye of man but what is great and resplendent; nevertheless, in the eye of God it was equally barren and uncultivated, as at the first instant of the creation.“The earth waswithout form and void.”34This is saying but little: it was wholly polluted and impure, (the reader will observe that I speak here of the heathens), and appeared to God only as the haunt and retreat of ungrateful and perfidious men, as it did at the time of the flood.“The earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with iniquity.”35Nevertheless the Sovereign Arbiter of the universe, who, pursuant to the dictates of his wisdom, dispenses both light and darkness, and knows how to check the impetuous torrent[pg xi]of human passions, would not permit mankind, though abandoned to the utmost corruptions, to degenerate into absolute barbarity, and brutalize themselves, in a manner, by the extinction of the first principles of the law of nature, as is seen in several savage nations. Such an obstacle would have too much retarded the rapid progress, promised by him to the first preachers of the doctrine of his Son.He darted from far, into the minds of men, the rays of several great truths, to dispose them for the reception of others more important. He prepared them for the instructions of the Gospel, by those of philosophers; and it was with this view that God permitted the heathen professors to examine, in their schools, several questions, and establish several principles, which are nearly allied to religion; and to engage the attention of mankind, by the brilliancy of their disputations. It is well known, that the philosophers inculcate, in every part of their writings, the existence of a God, the necessity of a Providence that presides over the government of the world, the immortality of the soul, the ultimate end of man, the reward of the good and punishment of the wicked, the nature of those duties which constitute the band of society, the character of the virtues that are the basis of morality, as prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and other similar truths, which, though incapable of guiding men to righteousness, were yet of use to scatter certain clouds, and to dispel certain obscurities.It is by an effect of the same providence, which prepared, from far, the ways of the gospel, that, when the Messiah revealed himself in the flesh, God had united together almost all nations, by the Greek and Latin tongues; and had subjected to one monarch, from the ocean to the Euphrates, all the people not united by language, in order to give a more free course to the preaching of the apostles. The study of profane history, when entered upon with judgment and maturity, must lead us to these reflections, and point out to us the manner in which the Almighty makes the empires of the earth subservient to the establishment of the kingdom of his Son.It ought likewise to teach us how to appreciate all that glitters most in the eye of the world, and is most capable of dazzling it. Valour, fortitude, skill in government, profound policy, merit in magistracy, capacity for the most abstruse sciences, beauty of genius, delicacy of taste, and perfection in all arts: These are the objects which profane history exhibits to us, which excite our admiration, and often our envy. But at the same time this very history ought to remind us, that the Almighty, ever since the creation, has indulged to his enemies[pg xii]all those shining qualities which the world esteems, and on which it frequently bestows the highest eulogiums; while, on the contrary, he often refuses them to his most faithful servants, whom he endues with talents of an infinitely superior nature, though men neither know their value, nor are desirous of them.“Happy is that people that is in such a case: Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”36I shall conclude this first part of my preface with a reflection which results naturally from what has been said. Since it is certain, that all these great men, who are so much boasted of in profane history, were so unhappy as not to know the true God, and to displease him; we should therefore be cautious and circumspect in the praises which we bestow upon them. St. Austin, in hisRetractions, repents his having lavished so many encomiums on Plato, and the followers of his philosophy;“because these,”says he,“were impious men, whose doctrine, in many points, was contrary to that of Jesus Christ.”37However, we are not to imagine, that St. Austin supposes it to be unlawful for us to admire and praise whatever is either beautiful in the actions, or true in the maxims, of the heathens. He only advises us to correct whatever is erroneous, and to approve whatever is conformable to rectitude and justice in them.38He applauds the Romans on many occasions, and particularly in his booksDe Civitate Dei,39which is one of the last and finest of his works. He there shows, that the Almighty raised them to be victorious over nations, and sovereigns of a great part of the earth, because of the gentleness and equity of their government (alluding to the happy ages of the Republic); thus bestowing on virtues, that were merely human, rewards of the same kind, with which that people, blind on this subject, though so enlightened on others, were so unhappy as to content themselves. St. Austin, therefore, does not condemn the encomiums which are bestowed on the heathens, but only the excess of them.Students ought to take care, and especially we, who by the duties of our profession are obliged to be perpetually conversant with heathen authors, not to enter too far into the spirit of them; not to imbibe, unperceived, their sentiments, by[pg xiii]lavishing too great applauses on their heroes; nor to give into excesses which the heathens indeed did not consider as such, because they were not acquainted with virtues of a purer kind. Some persons, whose friendship I esteem as I ought, and for whose learning and judgment I have the highest regard, have found this defect in some parts of my work, on theMethod of Teaching and Studying the Belles Lettres, &c.; and are of opinion, that I have gone too great lengths in the encomiums which I bestow on the illustrious men of paganism. I indeed own, that the expressions on those occasions are sometimes too strong and too unguarded: however, I imagined that I had supplied a proper corrective to this, by the hints which I have interspersed in those four volumes; and, therefore, that it would be only losing time to repeat them; not to mention my having laid down, in different places, the principles which the Fathers of the Church establish on this head, declaring, with St. Austin, that without true piety, that is, without a sincere worship of the true God, there can be no true virtue; and that no virtue can be such, whose object is worldly glory; a truth, says this Father, acknowledged universally by those who are inspired with real and solid piety.Illud constat inter omnes veraciter pios, neminem sine verâ pietate, id est, veri Dei vero cultu, veram posse habere virtutem; nec eam veram esse, quando gloriæ servit humanæ.40When I observed that Perseus had not resolution enough to kill himself,41I do not thereby pretend to justify the practice of the heathens, who looked upon suicide as lawful; but simply to relate an incident, and the judgment which Paulus Æmilius passed on it. Had I barely hinted a word or two against that custom, it would have obviated all mistake, and left no room for censure.The ostracism, employed in Athens against persons of the greatest merit; theft connived at, as it appears, by Lycurgus in Sparta; an equality of goods established in the same city, by the authority of the state, and things of a like nature, may admit of some difficulty. However, I shall pay a more immediate attention to these particulars,42when the course of the history brings me to them; and shall avail myself with pleasure of such lights as the learned and unprejudiced may favour me by communicating.In a work like that I now offer the public, intended more immediately for the instruction of youth, it were heartily to be[pg xiv]wished, that not one single thought or expression might occur that could contribute to inculcate false or dangerous principles. When I first set about writing the present history, I proposed this for my maxim, the importance of which I perfectly conceive, but am far from imagining that I have always observed it, though it was my intention to do so; and therefore on this, as on many other occasions, I shall stand in need of the reader's indulgence.As I write principally for young persons, and for those who do not intend to make very deep researches into ancient history, I shall not burthen this Work with a sort of erudition, that might have been naturally introduced into it, but does not suit my purpose. My design is, in giving a continued series of ancient history, to extract from the Greek and Latin authors all that I shall judge most useful and entertaining with respect to the transactions, and most instructive with regard to the reflections.I should wish to be able to avoid, at the same time, the dry sterility of epitomes, which convey no distinct idea to the mind; and the tedious accuracy of long histories, which tire the reader's patience. I am sensible that it is difficult to steer exactly between the two extremes; and although, in the two parts of history of which this first volume consists, I have retrenched a great part of what we meet with in ancient authors, they may still be thought too long: but I was afraid of spoiling the incidents, by being too studious of brevity. However, the taste of the public shall be my guide, to which I shall endeavour to conform hereafter.I was so happy as not to displease the public in my first attempt.43I wish the present Work may be equally successful, but dare not raise my hopes so high. The subjects I there treated,viz.polite literature, poetry, eloquence, and curious and detached pieces of history, gave me an opportunity of introducing into it from ancient and modern authors, whatever is most beautiful, affecting, delicate, and just, with regard both to thought and expression. The beauty and justness of the things themselves which I offered the reader, made him more indulgent to the manner in which they were presented to him; and besides, the variety of the subjects supplied the want of those graces which might have been expected from the style and composition.[pg xv]But I have not the same advantage in the present work, the choice of the subjects not being entirely at my discretion. In a connected history, an author is often obliged to relate a great many things that are not always very interesting, especially with regard to the origin and rise of empires; and these parts are generally overrun with thorns, and offer very few flowers. However, the sequel will furnish matter of a more pleasing nature, and events that engage more strongly the reader's attention; and I shall take care to make use of the valuable materials which the best authors will supply. In the mean time, I must entreat the reader to remember that in a wide-extended and beautiful region, the eye does not everywhere meet with golden harvests, smiling meads, and fruitful orchards; but sees, at different intervals, wild and less cultivated tracts of land. And, to use another comparison, furnished by Pliny,44some trees in the spring emulously shoot forth a numberless multitude of blossoms, which by this rich dress (the splendour and vivacity of whose colours charm the eye) proclaim a happy abundance in a more advanced season: while other trees,45of a less gay appearance, though they bear good fruits, have not however the fragrance and beauty of blossoms, nor seem to share in the joy of reviving nature. The reader will easily apply this image to the composition of history.To adorn and enrich my own, I will be so ingenuous as to confess, that I do not scruple, nor am ashamed, to rifle from all quarters, and that I often do not cite the authors from whom I transcribe, because of the liberty I occasionally take to make some slight alterations. I have made the best use in my power of the solid reflections that occur in the second and third parts of the bishop of Meaux's46Universal History, which is one of the most beautiful and most useful books in our language. I have also received great assistance from the learned Dean Prideaux'sConnection of the Old and New Testament, in which he has traced and cleared up, in an admirable manner, the particulars relating to ancient history. I shall take the same liberty with whatever comes in my way, that may suit my design, and contribute to the perfection of my Work.[pg xvi]I am very sensible, that it is not so much for a person's reputation, thus to make use of other men's labours, and that it is in a manner renouncing the name and quality of author. But I am not over fond of that title; and shall be extremely well pleased, and think myself very happy, if I can but deserve the name of a good compiler, and supply my readers with a tolerable history; who will not be over solicitous to inquire whether it be an original composition of my own, or not, provided they are but pleased with it.I cannot determine the exact number of volumes which this Work will make; but am persuaded there will be no less than ten or twelve.47Students, with a very moderate application, may easily go through this course of history in a year, without interrupting their other studies. According to my plan, my Work should be given to the highest form but one. Youths in this class are capable of pleasure and improvement from this history; and I would not have them enter upon that of the Romans till they study rhetoric.It would have been useful, and even necessary, to have given some idea of the ancient authors from whence I have extracted the facts which I here relate. But the course itself of the history will naturally give me an opportunity of mentioning them.In the mean time, it may not be improper to take notice of the superstitious credulity with which most of these authors are reproached, on the subject of auguries, auspices, prodigies, dreams, and oracles. And indeed, we are shocked to see writers, so judicious in all other respects, lay it down as a kind of law, to relate these particulars with a scrupulous accuracy; and to dwell gravely on a tedious detail of trifling and ridiculous ceremonies, such as the flight of birds to the right or left hand, signs discovered in the smoking entrails of beasts, the greater or less greediness of chickens in pecking corn, and a thousand similar absurdities.It must be confessed, that a sensible reader cannot, without astonishment, see persons among the ancients in the highest repute for wisdom and knowledge; generals who were the least liable to be influenced by popular opinions, and most sensible how necessary it is to take advantage of auspicious moments; the wisest councils of princes perfectly well skilled in the arts of government; the most august assemblies of grave senators; in a word, the most powerful and most learned nations in all ages; to see, I say, all these so unaccountably weak, as to[pg xvii]make to depend on these trifling practices and absurd observances, the decision of the greatest affairs, such as the declaring of war, the giving battle, or pursuing a victory, deliberations that were of the utmost importance, and on which the fate and welfare of kingdoms frequently depended.But, at the same time, we must be so just as to own, that their manners, customs, and laws, would not permit men, in these ages, to dispense with the observation of these practices: that education, hereditary tradition transmitted from immemorial time, the universal belief and consent of different nations, the precepts, and even examples of philosophers; that all these, I say, made the practices in question appear venerable in their eyes: and that these ceremonies, how absurd soever they may appear to us, and are really so in themselves, constituted part of the religion and public worship of the ancients.This religion was false, and this worship mistaken; yet the principle of it was laudable, and founded in nature; the stream was corrupted, but the fountain was pure. Man, assisted only by his own light, sees nothing beyond the present moment. Futurity is to him an abyss invisible to the most keen, the most piercing sagacity, and exhibits nothing on which he may with certainty fix his views, or form his resolutions. He is equally feeble and impotent with regard to the execution of his designs. He is sensible, that he is dependent entirely on a Supreme Power, that disposes all events with absolute authority, and which, in spite of his utmost efforts, and of the wisdom of the best concerted schemes, by raising only the smallest obstacles and slightest disappointments, renders it impossible for him to execute his measures.This obscurity and weakness oblige him to have recourse to a superior knowledge and power: he is forced, both by his immediate wants, and the strong desire he has to succeed in all his undertakings, to address that Being who he is sensible has reserved to himself alone the knowledge of futurity, and the power of disposing it as he sees fitting. He accordingly directs prayers, makes vows, and offers sacrifices, to prevail, if possible, with the Deity, to reveal himself, either in dreams, in oracles, or other signs which may manifest his will; fully convinced that nothing can happen but by the divine appointment; and that it is a man's greatest interest to know this supreme will, in order to conform his actions to it.This religious principle of dependence on, and veneration of, the Supreme Being, is natural to man: it is imprinted deep in his heart; he is reminded of it, by the inward sense of his extreme indigence, and by all the objects which surround him;[pg xviii]and it may be affirmed, that this perpetual recourse to the Deity, is one of the principal foundations of religion and the strongest band by which man is united to his Creator.Those who were so happy as to know the true God, and were chosen to be his peculiar people, never failed to address him in all their wants and doubts, in order to obtain his succour, and to know his will. He accordingly vouchsafed to reveal himself to them; to conduct them by apparitions, dreams, oracles, and prophecies; and to protect them by miracles of the most astonishing kind.But those who were so blind as to substitute falsehood in the place of truth, directed themselves, for the like aid, to fictitious and deceitful deities, who were not able to answer their expectations, nor recompense the homage that mortals paid them, any otherwise than by error and illusion, and a fraudulent imitation of the conduct of the true God.Hence arose the vain observation of dreams, which, from a superstitious credulity, they mistook for salutary warnings from Heaven; those obscure and equivocal answers of oracles, beneath whose veil the spirits of darkness concealed their ignorance; and, by a studied ambiguity, reserved to themselves an evasion or subterfuge, whatever might be the event. To this are owing the prognostics with regard to futurity, which men fancied they should find in the entrails of beasts, in the flight and singing of birds, in the aspect of the planets, in fortuitous accidents, and in the caprice of chance; those dreadful prodigies that filled a whole nation with terror, and which, it was believed, nothing could expiate but mournful ceremonies, and even sometimes the effusion of human blood: in fine, those black inventions of magic, those delusions, enchantments, sorceries, invocations of ghosts, and many other kinds of divination.All I have here related was a received usage, observed by the heathen nations in general; and this usage was founded on the principles of that religion of which I have given a short account. We have a signal proof of this in that passage of the Cyropædia,48where Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, gives that young prince such noble instructions; instructions admirably well adapted to form the great captain, and great king. He exhorts him, above all things, to pay the highest reverence to the gods; and not to undertake any enterprise, whether important or inconsiderable, without first calling upon and consulting them; he enjoins him to honour the priests and augurs, as[pg xix]being their ministers and the interpreters of their will, but yet not to trust or abandon himself so implicitly and blindly to them, as not, by his own application, to learn every thing relating to the science of divination, of auguries and auspices. The reason which he gives for the subordination and dependence in which kings ought to live with regard to the gods, and the benefit derived from consulting them in all things, is this: How clear-sighted soever mankind may be in the ordinary course of affairs, their views are always very narrow and bounded with regard to futurity; whereas the Deity, at a single glance, takes in all ages and events.“As the gods,”says Cambyses to his son,“are eternal, they know equally all things, past, present, and to come. With regard to the mortals who address them, they give salutary counsels to those whom they are pleased to favour, that they may not be ignorant of what things they ought, or ought not, to undertake. If it is observed, that the deities do not give the like counsels to all men; we are not to wonder at it, since no necessity obliges them to attend to the welfare of those persons on whom they do not vouchsafe to confer their favour.”Such was the doctrine of the most learned and most enlightened nations, with respect to the different kinds of divination; and it is no wonder that the authors who wrote the history of those nations, thought it incumbent on them to give an exact detail of such particulars as constituted part of their religion and worship, and was frequently in a manner the soul of their deliberations, and the standard of their conduct. I therefore was of opinion, for the same reason, that it would not be proper for me to omit entirely, in the ensuing history, what relates to this subject, though I have however retrenched a great part of it.Archbishop Usher is my usual guide in chronology. In the history of the Carthaginians I commonly set down four æras: The year from the creation of the world, which, for brevity's sake, I mark thus, A.M.; those of the foundation of Carthage and Rome; and lastly, the year before the birth of our Saviour, which I suppose to be the 4004th year of the world; wherein I follow Usher and others, though they suppose it to be four years earlier.We shall now proceed to give the reader the proper preliminary information concerning this Work, according to the order in which it is executed.To know in what manner the states and kingdoms were founded, that have divided the universe; the steps whereby[pg xx]they rose to that pitch of grandeur related in history; by what ties families and cities were united, in order to constitute one body or society, and to live together under the same laws and a common authority; it will be necessary to trace things back, in a manner, to the infancy of the world, and to those ages in which mankind, being dispersed into different regions, (after the confusion of tongues,) began to people the earth.In these early ages every father was the supreme head of his family; the arbiter and judge of whatever contests and divisions might arise within it; the natural legislator over his little society; the defender and protector of those, who, by their birth, education, and weakness, were under his protection and safeguard, and whose interests paternal tenderness rendered equally dear to him as his own.But although these masters enjoyed an independent authority, they made a mild and paternal use of it. So far from being jealous of their power, they neither governed with haughtiness, nor decided with tyranny. As they were obliged by necessity to associate their family in their domestic labours, they also summoned them together, and asked their opinion in matters of importance. In this manner all affairs were transacted in concert, and for the common good.The laws which paternal vigilance established in this little domestic senate, being dictated with no other view than to promote the general welfare; concerted with such children as were come to years of maturity, and accepted by the inferiors with a full and free consent; were religiously kept and preserved in families as an hereditary polity, to which they owed their peace and security.But different motives gave rise to different laws. One man, overjoyed at the birth of a first-born son, resolved to distinguish him from his future children, by bestowing on him a more considerable share of his possessions, and giving him a greater authority in his family. Another, more attentive to the interest of a beloved wife, or darling daughter whom he wanted to settle in the world, thought it incumbent on him to secure their rights and increase their advantages. The solitary and cheerless state to which a wife would be reduced in case she should become a widow, affected more intimately another man, and made him provide beforehand, for the subsistence and comfort of a woman who formed his felicity. From these different views, and others of the like nature, arose the different customs of nations, as well as their rights, which are infinitely various.In proportion as every family increased, by the birth of[pg xxi]children, and their marrying into other families, they extended their little domain, and formed, by insensible degrees, towns and cities.These societies growing, in process of time, very numerous; and the families being divided into various branches, each of which had its head, whose different interests and characters might interrupt the general tranquillity; it was necessary to intrust one person with the government of the whole, in order to unite all these chiefs or heads under a single authority, and to maintain the public peace by an uniform administration. The idea which men still retained of the paternal government, and the happy effects they had experienced from it, prompted them to choose from among their wisest and most virtuous men, him in whom they had observed the tenderest and most fatherly disposition. Neither ambition nor cabal had the least share in this choice; probity alone, and the reputation of virtue and equity, decided on these occasions, and gave the preference to the most worthy.49To heighten the lustre of their newly-acquired dignity, and enable them the better to put the laws in execution, as well as to devote themselves entirely to the public good; to defend the state against the invasions of their neighbours, and the factions of discontented citizens; the title of king was bestowed upon them, a throne was erected, and a sceptre put into their hands; homage was paid them, officers were assigned, and guards appointed for the security of their persons; tributes were granted; they were invested with full powers to administer justice, and for this purpose were armed with a sword, in order to restrain injustice, and punish crimes.At first, every city had its particular king, who being more solicitous to preserve his dominion than to enlarge it, confined his ambition within the limits of his native country.50But the almost unavoidable feuds which break out between neighbours; jealousy against a more powerful king; a turbulent and restless spirit; a martial disposition, or thirst of aggrandizement; or the display of abilities; gave rise to wars, which frequently ended in the entire subjection of the vanquished, whose cities were possessed by the victor, and increased insensibly his dominions. Thus, a first victory paving the way to a second, and[pg xxii]making a prince more powerful and enterprising, several cities and provinces were united under one monarch, and formed kingdoms of a greater or less extent, according to the degree of ardour with which the victor had pushed his conquests.51But among these princes were found some, whose ambition being too vast to confine itself within a single kingdom, broke over all bounds, and spread universally like a torrent, or the ocean; swallowed up kingdoms and nations; and fancied that glory consisted in depriving princes of their dominions, who had not done them the least injury; in carrying fire and sword into the most remote countries, and in leaving every where bloody traces of their progress! Such was the origin of those famous empires which included a great part of the world.Princes made a various use of victory, according to the diversity of their dispositions or interests. Some, considering themselves as absolute masters of the conquered, and imagining they were sufficiently indulged in sparing their lives, bereaved them, as well as their children, of their possessions, their country, and their liberty; subjected them to a most severe captivity; employed them in those arts which are necessary for the support of life, in the lowest and most servile offices of the house, in the painful toils of the field; and frequently forced them, by the most inhuman treatment, to dig in mines, and ransack the bowels of the earth, merely to satiate their avarice; and hence mankind were divided into freemen and slaves, masters and bondmen.Others introduced the custom of transporting whole nations into new countries, where they settled them, and gave them lands to cultivate.Other princes again, of more gentle dispositions, contented themselves with only obliging the vanquished nations to purchase their liberties, and the enjoyment of their laws and privileges by annual tributes laid on them for that purpose; and sometimes they would suffer kings to sit peaceably on their thrones, upon condition of their paying them some kind of homage.But such of these monarchs as were the wisest and ablest politicians, thought it glorious to establish a kind of equality betwixt the nations newly conquered and their other subjects; granting the former almost all the rights and privileges which the others enjoyed: and by this means a great number of nations, that were spread over different and far distant countries, constituted, in some measure, but one city, at least but one people.Thus I have given a general and concise idea of mankind,[pg xxiii]from the earliest monuments which history has preserved on this subject; the particulars whereof I shall endeavour to relate, in treating of each empire and nation. I shall not touch upon the history of the Jews, nor that of the Romans.The history of the Carthaginians, that of the Assyrians, and the Lydians, which occurs in the second volume, is supported by the best authorities; but it is highly necessary to review the geography, the manners, and customs of the different nations here treated of; and first with regard to the religion, manners, and institutions of the Persians and Grecians; because these show their genius and character, which we may call, in some measure, the soul of history. For to take notice only of facts and dates, and confine our curiosity and researches to them, would be imitating the imprudence of a traveller, who, in visiting many countries, should content himself with knowing their exact distance from each other, and consider only the situation of the several places, their buildings, and the dresses of the people; without giving himself the least trouble to converse with the inhabitants, in order to inform himself of their genius, manners, disposition, laws, and government. Homer, whose design was to give, in the person of Ulysses, a model of a wise and intelligent traveller, tells us, at the very opening of hisOdyssey, that his hero informed himself very exactly of the manners and customs of the several people whose cities he visited; in which he ought to be imitated by every person who applies himself to the study of history.As Asia will hereafter be the principal scene of the history we are now entering upon, it may not be improper to give the reader such a general idea of it, as may at least make him acquainted with its most considerable provinces and cities.The northern and eastern parts of Asia are less known in ancient history.To the north areAsiatic SarmatiaandAsiatic Scythia, which answer to Tartary.Sarmatia is situated between the riverTanais, which separates Europe and Asia, and the riverRha, orVolga. Scythia is divided into two parts; the one on this, the other on the other side of mountImaus. The nations of Scythia best known to us are theSacæand theMassagetæ.The most eastern parts are,Serica, Cathay;Sinarum regio, China; andIndia. This last country was better known anciently than the two former. It was divided into two parts; the one on this side theGanges, included between that river and theIndus, which now composes the dominions[pg xxiv]of the Great Mogul; the other part was that on the other side of the Ganges.The remaining part of Asia, of which much greater mention is made in history, may be divided into five or six parts, taking it from east to west.I. Upper Asia, which begins at the river Indus. The chief provinces areGedrosia, Carmania, Arachosia, Drangiana, Bactriana, the capital of which wasBactra;Sogdiana, Margiana, Hyrcania, near the Caspian sea;Parthia, Media, its chief cityEcbatana;Persia, the cities ofPersepolisandElymais;Susiana, the city ofSusa;Assyria, the city ofNineveh, situated on the riverTigris;Mesopotamia, between theEuphratesandTigris;Babylonia, the city ofBabylonon the river Euphrates.II. Asia between the Pontus Euxinus and the Caspian Sea.Therein we may distinguish four provinces. 1.Colchis, the riverPhasis, and mountCaucasus. 2.Iberia.3.Albania; which two last-mentioned provinces now form part of Georgia. 4. The greaterArmenia. This is separated from the lesser by the Euphrates; from Mesopotamia by mountTaurus; and from Assyria by mountNiphates. Its cities areArtaxataandTigranocerta, and the riverAraxesruns through it.III. Asia Minor.This may be divided into four or five parts, according to the different situation of its provinces.1.Northward, on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus;Pontus, under three different names. Its cities are,Trapezus, not far from which are the people calledChalybesorChaldæi;Themiscyra, a city on the riverThermodon, and famous for having been the abode of the Amazons.Paphlagonia, Bithynia; the cities of which are,Nicæa,Prusa,Nicomedia,Chalcedonopposite to Constantinople, andHeraclea.2.Westward, going down by the shores of the Ægean sea;Mysia, of which there are two. TheLesser, in which stoodCyzicus,Lampsacus,Parium,Abydosopposite to Sestos, from which it is separated only by the Dardanelles;Dardanum,Sigæum,Ilion, orTroy; and almost on the opposite side, the little island ofTenedos. The rivers are, theÆsepus, theGranicus, and theSimois. MountIda. This region is sometimes called Phrygia Minor, of whichTroasis part.TheGreater Mysia.Antandros,Trajanopolis,Adramyttium,[pg xxv]Pergamus. Opposite to this Mysia is the island ofLesbos; the cities of which are,Methymna, where the celebratedArionwas born; andMitylene, which has given to the whole island its modern name Metelin.Æolia.Elea,Cumæ,Phocæa.Ionia.Smyrna,Clazomenæ,Teos,Lebedus,Colophon,Ephesus,Priene,Miletus.Caria.Laodicea,Antiochia,Magnesia,Alabanda. The riverMæander.Doris.Halicarnassus,Cnidos.Opposite to these four last countries, are the islandsChios, Samos, Pathmos, Cos; and lower, towards the south,Rhodes.3.Southward, along the Mediterranean;Lycia, the cities of which are,Telmessus,Patara. The riverXanthus. Here begins mountTaurus, which runs the whole length of Asia, and assumes different names, according to the several countries through which it passes.Pamphylia.Perga,Aspendus,Sida.Cilicia.Seleucia,Corycium,Tarsus, on the riverCydnus. Opposite to Cilicia is the island ofCyprus. The cities are,Salamis,Amathus, andPaphos.4.Along the banks of the Euphrates, going up northward;TheLesser Armenia.Comana,Arabyza,Melitene,Satala. The riverMelas, which empties itself into the Euphrates.5.Inland:Cappadocia; the cities whereof are,Neocæsarea,Comana Pontica,Sebastia,Sebastopolis,Diocæsarea,Cæsarea, otherwise calledMazaca, andTyana.LycaoniaandIsauria.Iconium,Isauria.Pisidia.SeleuciaandAntiochiaofPisidia.Lydia.Its cities are,Thyatira,Sardis,Philadelphia. The rivers are,CaystrusandHermus, into which thePactolusempties itself. MountSipylusandTmolus.Phrygia Major.Synnada,Apamia.IV. Syria, now namedSuria, called under the Roman emperors theEast, the chief provinces of which are,1.Palestine, by which name is sometimes understood all Judea. Its cities are,Jerusalem,Samaria, andCæsarea Palestina. The riverJordanwaters it. The name of Palestine is also given to the land of Canaan, which extended along the Mediterranean; the chief cities of which were,Gaza,Ascalon,Azotus,Accaron, andGath.2.Phœnicia, whose cities are,Ptolemais,Tyre,Sidon, andBerytus. Its mountains,LibanusandAntilibanus.[pg xxvi]3.Syria, properly so called, orAntiochena; the cities whereof are,Antiochia,Apamia,Laodicea, andSeleucia.4.Comagena.The city ofSamosata.5.Cœlesyria.The cities are,Zeugma,Thapsacus,Palmyra, andDamascus.V. Arabia Petræa.Its cities are,Petra, andBostra. MountCasius.Deserta. Felix.

The Usefulness of Profane History, especially with regard to Religion.The study of profane history would little deserve to have a serious attention, and a considerable length of time bestowed upon it, if it were confined to the bare knowledge of ancient transactions, and an uninteresting inquiry into the æras when each of them happened. It little concerns us to know, that there were once such men as Alexander, Cæsar, Aristides, or Cato, and that they lived in this or that period; that the empire of the Assyrians made way for that of the Babylonians, and the latter for the empire of the Medes and Persians, who were themselves subjected by the Macedonians, as these were afterwards by the Romans.But it highly concerns us to know, by what methods those empires were founded; by what steps they rose to that exalted pitch of grandeur which we so much admire; what it was that constituted their true glory and felicity; and what were the causes of their declension and fall.It is of no less importance to study attentively the manners of different nations; their genius, laws, and customs; and especially to acquaint ourselves with the character and disposition, the talents, virtues, and even vices of those by whom they were governed; and whose good or bad qualities contributed to the grandeur or decay of the states over which they presided.Such are the great objects which ancient history presents; causing to pass, as it were, in review before us, all the kingdoms and empires of the world; and at the same time, all the great men who were any ways conspicuous; thereby instructing us, by example rather than precept, in the arts of empire and war, the principles of government, the rules of policy, the maxims of civil society, and the conduct of life that suits all ages and conditions.We acquire, at the same time, another knowledge, which cannot but excite the attention of all persons who have a taste and inclination for polite learning; I mean the manner in[pg ii]which arts and sciences were invented, cultivated, and improved. We there discover, and trace as it were with the eye, their origin and progress; and perceive, with admiration, that the nearer we approach those countries which were once inhabited by the sons of Noah, in the greater perfection we find the arts and sciences; whereas they seem to be either neglected or forgotten, in proportion to the remoteness of nations from them; so that, when men attempted to revive those arts and sciences, they were obliged to go back to the source from whence they originally flowed.I give only a transient view of these objects, though so very important, in this place, because I have already treated them at some length elsewhere.1But another object of infinitely greater importance, claims our attention. For although profane history treats only of nations who had imbibed all the absurdities of a superstitious worship; and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice, and above all, the admirable wisdom with which his providence governs the universe.If the inherent conviction of this last truth raised, according to Cicero's observation,2the Romans above all other nations; we may, in like manner, affirm, that nothing gives history a greater superiority to many other branches of literature, than to see in a manner imprinted, in almost every page of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great truth,viz.that God disposes all events as supreme Lord and Sovereign; that he alone determines the fate of kings and the duration of empires; and that he transfers the government of kingdoms from one nation to another, because of the unrighteous dealing and wickedness committed therein.3We discover this important truth in going back to the most remote antiquity, and the origin of profane history; I mean, to the dispersion of the posterity of Noah into the several countries of the earth where they settled. Liberty, chance, views of interest, a love for certain countries, and similar motives, were, in outward appearance, the only causes of the different choice which men made in these various migrations. But the[pg iii]Scriptures inform us, that amidst the trouble and confusion that followed the sudden change in the language of Noah's descendants, God presided invisibly over all their counsels and deliberations; that nothing was transacted but by the Almighty's appointment; and that he alone guided4and settled all mankind, agreeably to the dictates of his mercy and justice:“The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth.”5It is true indeed that God, even in those early ages, had a peculiar regard for that people, whom he was one day to consider as his own. He pointed out the country which he designed for them; he caused it to be possessed by another laborious nation, who applied themselves to cultivate and adorn it; and to improve the future inheritance of the Israelites. He then fixed, in that country, the like number of families, as were to be settled in it, when the sons of Israel should, at the appointed time, take possession of it; and did not suffer any of the nations, which were not subject to the curse pronounced by Noah against Canaan, to enter upon an inheritance that was to be given up entirely to the Israelites.Quando dividebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, constituit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum Israel.6But this peculiar regard of God to his future people, does not interfere with that which he had for the rest of the nations of the earth, as is evident from the many passages of Scripture, which teach us, that the entire succession of ages is present to him; that nothing is transacted in the whole universe, but by his appointment; and that he directs the several events of it from age to age.Tu es Deus conspector seculorum. A seculo usque in seculum respicis.7We must therefore consider, as an indisputable principle, and as the basis and foundation of the study of profane history, that the providence of the Almighty has, from all eternity, appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires, as well in regard to the general plan of the whole universe, known only to God, who constitutes the order and wonderful harmony of its several parts; as particularly with respect to the people of Israel, and still more with[pg iv]regard to the Messiah, and the establishment of the church, which is his great work, the end and design of all his other works, and ever present to his sight;Notum à seculo est Domino opus suum.8God has vouchsafed to discover to us, in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and the little so discovered, diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish pride, their impious and cruel ambition: they reveal the true causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the grandeur and declension of nations; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us, what indeed is the principal benefit to be derived from history, the judgment which the Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them.Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if I may be allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which afterwards was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it9; and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that God ever wrought in favour of Israel: not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a thousand proofs of the truth here advanced.Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmanezer, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in God's hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people.“He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders.”10He himself put the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. He breathed courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their armies indefatigable in labour, and invincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their steps.The rapidity of their conquests ought to have enabled them to discern the invisible hand which conducted them. But, says one of these kings11in the name of the rest,“By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I[pg v]am prudent: And I have removed the bounds of the people and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.”12But this monarch, so august and wise in his own eye, how did he appear in that of the Almighty? Only as a subaltern agent, a servant sent by his master:“The rod of his anger, and the staff in his hand.”13God's design was to chastise, not to extirpate his children. But Sennacherib“had it in his heart to destroy and cut off all nations.”14What then will be the issue of this kind of contest between the designs of God, and those of this prince?15At the time that he fancied himself already possessed of Jerusalem, the Lord, with a single blast, disperses all his proud hopes; destroys, in one night, an hundred four score and five thousand of his forces; and putting“a hook in his nose, and a bridle in his lips”,16(as though he had been a wild beast,) he leads him back to his own dominions, covered with infamy, through the midst of those nations, who, but a little before, had beheld him in all his pride and haughtiness.Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears still more visibly governed by a Providence, to which he himself is an entire stranger, but which presides over all his deliberations, and determines all his actions.Being come at the head of his army to two highways, the one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not knowing which of them it would be best for him to strike into, debates for some time with himself, and at last casts lots. God makes the lot fall on Jerusalem, to fulfil the menaces he had pronounced against that city,viz.to destroy it, to burn the temple, and lead its inhabitants into captivity.17One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been prompted to besiege Tyre, merely from a political view,viz.that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well-fortified a city; nevertheless, a superior will had decreed the siege of Tyre.18God designed, on one side, to humble the pride of Ithobal its king, who fancying himself wiser than Daniel,[pg vi]whose fame was spread over the whole East; and ascribing entirely to his rare and uncommon prudence the extent of his dominions, and the greatness of his riches, persuaded himself that he was“a god, and sat in the seat of God.”19On the other side, he also designed to chastise the luxury, the voluptuousness, and the pride of those haughty merchants, who thought themselves kings of the sea, and sovereigns over crowned heads; and especially, that inhuman joy of the Tyrians, who looked upon the fall of Jerusalem (the rival of Tyre) as their own aggrandizement. These were the motives which prompted God himself to lead Nebuchadnezzar to Tyre; and to make him execute, though unknowingly, his commands.Idcirco ecce ego adducam ad Tyrum Nabuchodonosor.To recompense this monarch, whose army the Almighty had caused“to serve a great service against Tyre”20(these are God's own words;) and to compensate the Babylonish troops, for the grievous toils they had sustained during a thirteen years' siege;“I will give,”21saith the Lord God,“the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army.”22The same Nebuchadnezzar, eager to immortalize his name by the grandeur of his exploits, was determined to heighten the glory of his conquests by his splendour and magnificence, in embellishing the capital of his empire with pompous edifices, and the most sumptuous ornaments. But whilst a set of adulating courtiers, on whom he lavished the highest honours and immense riches, make all places resound with his name, an august senate of watchful spirits is formed, who weigh, in the balance of truth, the actions of kings, and pronounce upon them a sentence from which there lies no appeal. The king of Babylon is cited before this tribunal, in which there presides the Supreme Judge, who, to a vigilance which nothing can elude, adds a holiness that will not allow of the least irregularity.Vigil et sanctus.In this tribunal all Nebuchadnezzar's actions, which were the admiration and wonder of the public, are examined with rigour; and a search is made into the inward recesses of his heart, to discover his most hidden thoughts. How will this formidable inquiry end? At the instant that Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace, and revolving, with a secret complacency, his exploits, his grandeur and magnificence, is saying to himself,“Is not this great[pg vii]Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”23in this very instant, when, by vainly flattering himself that he held his power and kingdom from himself alone, he usurped the seat of the Almighty: a voice from heaven pronounces his sentence, and declares to him, that“his kingdom was departed from him, that he should be driven from men, and his dwelling be with the beasts of the field, until he knew that the Most High ruled in the kingdoms of men, and gave them to whomsoever he would.”24This tribunal, which is for ever assembled, though invisible to mortal eyes, pronounced the like sentence on those famous conquerors, on those heroes of the pagan world, who, like Nebuchadnezzar, considered themselves as the sole authors of their exalted fortune; as independent on authority of every kind, and as not holding of a superior power.As God appointed some princes to be the instruments of his vengeance, he made others the dispensers of his goodness. He ordained Cyrus to be the deliverer of his people; and, to enable him to support with dignity so glorious a function, he endued him with all the qualities which constitute the greatest captains and princes: and caused that excellent education to be given him, which the heathens so much admired, though they neither knew the author nor true cause of it.We see in profane history the extent and swiftness of his conquests, the intrepidity of his courage, the wisdom of his views and designs; his greatness of soul, his noble generosity; his truly paternal affection for his subjects; and, on their part, the grateful returns of love and tenderness, which made them consider him rather as their protector and father, than as their lord and sovereign. We find, I say, all these particulars in profane history; but we do not perceive the secret principle of so many exalted qualities, nor the hidden spring which set them in motion.But Isaiah discloses them, and delivers himself in words suitable to the greatness and majesty of the God who inspired him, He represents this all-powerful God of armies as leading[pg viii]Cyrus by the hand, marching before him, conducting him from city to city, and from province to province;“subduing nations before him, loosening the loins of kings, breaking in pieces gates of brass, cutting in sunder the bars of iron,”throwing down the walls and bulwarks of cities, and putting him in possession“of the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret places.”25The prophet also tells us the cause and motive of all these wonderful events.26It was in order to punish Babylon, and to deliver Judah, that the Almighty conducts Cyrus, step by step, and gives success to all his enterprises.“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways.—For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect.”27But this prince is so blind and ungrateful, that he does not know his master, nor remember his benefactor.“I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.—I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.”28Men seldom form to themselves a right judgment of true glory, and the duties essential to regal power. The Scripture alone gives us a just idea of them, and this it does in a wonderful manner, under the image of a very large and strong tree, whose top reaches to heaven, and whose branches extend to the extremities of the earth.29As its foliage is very abundant, and it is bowed down with fruit, it constitutes the ornament and felicity of the plains around it. It supplies a grateful shade, and a secure retreat to beasts of every kind: animals, both wild and tame, are safely lodged beneath it, the birds of heaven dwell in its branches, and it supplies food to all living creatures.Can there be a more just or more instructive idea of the kingly office, whose true grandeur and solid glory does not consist in that splendour, pomp, and magnificence which surround it; nor in that reverence and exterior homage which are paid to it by subjects, and which are justly due to it; but in the real services and solid advantages it procures to nations, whose support, defence, security, and asylum it forms, (both from its nature and institution,) at the same time that it is the fruitful source of blessings of every kind; especially with regard to the poor and weak, who ought to find beneath the shade and protection of royalty, a sweet peace and tranquillity, not to be interrupted or disturbed; whilst the monarch himself sacrifices his ease, and experiences alone those storms and tempests from which he shelters all others?[pg ix]I think that I observe this noble image, and the execution of this great plan (religion only excepted) realized in the government of Cyrus, of which Xenophon has given us a picture, in his beautiful preface to the history of that prince. He has there specified a great number of nations, which, though separated from each other by vast tracts of country, and still more widely by the diversity of their manners, customs, and language, were however all united, by the same sentiments of esteem, reverence, and love for a prince, whose government they wished, if possible, to have continued for ever, so much happiness and tranquillity did they enjoy under it.30To this amiable and salutary government, let us oppose the idea which the sacred writings give us of those monarchs and conquerors so much boasted by antiquity, who, instead of making the happiness of mankind the sole object of their care, were prompted by no other motives than those of interest and ambition. The Holy Spirit represents them under the symbols of monsters generated from the agitation of the sea, from the tumult, confusion, and dashing of the waves one against the other; and under the image of cruel wild beasts, which spread terror and desolation universally, and are for ever gorging themselves with blood and slaughter; bears, lions, tigers, and leopards.31How strong and expressive is this colouring!Nevertheless, it is often from such destructive models, that the rules and maxims of the education generally bestowed on the children of the great are borrowed; and it is these ravagers of nations, these scourges of mankind, they propose to make them resemble. By inspiring them with the sentiments of a boundless ambition, and the love of false glory, they become (to borrow an expression from Scripture)“young lions; they learn to catch the prey, and devour men—to lay waste cities, to turn lands and their fatness into desolation by the noise of their roaring.”32And when this young lion is grown up, God tells us, that the noise of his exploits, and the renown of his victories, are nothing but a frightful roaring, which fills all places with terror and desolation.The examples I have hitherto mentioned, extracted from the history of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, prove sufficiently the supreme power exercised by God over all empires; and the relation he has thought fit to establish[pg x]between the rest of the nations of the earth and his own peculiar people. The same truth appears as conspicuously under the kings of Syria and Egypt, successors of Alexander the Great: between whose history, and that of the Jews under the Maccabees, every body knows the close connection.To these incidents I cannot forbear adding another, which though universally known, is not therefore the less remarkable; I mean the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. When he had entered that city, and viewed all the fortifications of it, this prince, though a heathen, owned the all-powerful arm of the God of Israel; and, in a rapture of admiration, cried out,“It is manifest that the Almighty has fought for us, and has driven the Jews from those towers; since neither the utmost human force, nor that of all the engines in the world, could have effected it.”33Besides the visible and sensible connection of sacred and profane history, there is another more secret and more distinct relation with respect to the Messiah, for whose coming the Almighty, whose work was ever present to his sight, prepared mankind from far, even by the state of ignorance and dissoluteness in which he suffered them to be immersed during four thousand years. It was to make mankind sensible of the necessity of our having a Mediator, that God permitted the nations to walk after their own ways; while neither the light of reason, nor the dictates of philosophy, could dispel the clouds of error, or reform their depraved inclinations.When we take a view of the grandeur of empires, the majesty of princes, the glorious actions of great men, the order of civil societies, and the harmony of the different members of which they are composed, the wisdom of legislators, and the learning of philosophers, the earth seems to exhibit nothing to the eye of man but what is great and resplendent; nevertheless, in the eye of God it was equally barren and uncultivated, as at the first instant of the creation.“The earth waswithout form and void.”34This is saying but little: it was wholly polluted and impure, (the reader will observe that I speak here of the heathens), and appeared to God only as the haunt and retreat of ungrateful and perfidious men, as it did at the time of the flood.“The earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with iniquity.”35Nevertheless the Sovereign Arbiter of the universe, who, pursuant to the dictates of his wisdom, dispenses both light and darkness, and knows how to check the impetuous torrent[pg xi]of human passions, would not permit mankind, though abandoned to the utmost corruptions, to degenerate into absolute barbarity, and brutalize themselves, in a manner, by the extinction of the first principles of the law of nature, as is seen in several savage nations. Such an obstacle would have too much retarded the rapid progress, promised by him to the first preachers of the doctrine of his Son.He darted from far, into the minds of men, the rays of several great truths, to dispose them for the reception of others more important. He prepared them for the instructions of the Gospel, by those of philosophers; and it was with this view that God permitted the heathen professors to examine, in their schools, several questions, and establish several principles, which are nearly allied to religion; and to engage the attention of mankind, by the brilliancy of their disputations. It is well known, that the philosophers inculcate, in every part of their writings, the existence of a God, the necessity of a Providence that presides over the government of the world, the immortality of the soul, the ultimate end of man, the reward of the good and punishment of the wicked, the nature of those duties which constitute the band of society, the character of the virtues that are the basis of morality, as prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and other similar truths, which, though incapable of guiding men to righteousness, were yet of use to scatter certain clouds, and to dispel certain obscurities.It is by an effect of the same providence, which prepared, from far, the ways of the gospel, that, when the Messiah revealed himself in the flesh, God had united together almost all nations, by the Greek and Latin tongues; and had subjected to one monarch, from the ocean to the Euphrates, all the people not united by language, in order to give a more free course to the preaching of the apostles. The study of profane history, when entered upon with judgment and maturity, must lead us to these reflections, and point out to us the manner in which the Almighty makes the empires of the earth subservient to the establishment of the kingdom of his Son.It ought likewise to teach us how to appreciate all that glitters most in the eye of the world, and is most capable of dazzling it. Valour, fortitude, skill in government, profound policy, merit in magistracy, capacity for the most abstruse sciences, beauty of genius, delicacy of taste, and perfection in all arts: These are the objects which profane history exhibits to us, which excite our admiration, and often our envy. But at the same time this very history ought to remind us, that the Almighty, ever since the creation, has indulged to his enemies[pg xii]all those shining qualities which the world esteems, and on which it frequently bestows the highest eulogiums; while, on the contrary, he often refuses them to his most faithful servants, whom he endues with talents of an infinitely superior nature, though men neither know their value, nor are desirous of them.“Happy is that people that is in such a case: Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”36I shall conclude this first part of my preface with a reflection which results naturally from what has been said. Since it is certain, that all these great men, who are so much boasted of in profane history, were so unhappy as not to know the true God, and to displease him; we should therefore be cautious and circumspect in the praises which we bestow upon them. St. Austin, in hisRetractions, repents his having lavished so many encomiums on Plato, and the followers of his philosophy;“because these,”says he,“were impious men, whose doctrine, in many points, was contrary to that of Jesus Christ.”37However, we are not to imagine, that St. Austin supposes it to be unlawful for us to admire and praise whatever is either beautiful in the actions, or true in the maxims, of the heathens. He only advises us to correct whatever is erroneous, and to approve whatever is conformable to rectitude and justice in them.38He applauds the Romans on many occasions, and particularly in his booksDe Civitate Dei,39which is one of the last and finest of his works. He there shows, that the Almighty raised them to be victorious over nations, and sovereigns of a great part of the earth, because of the gentleness and equity of their government (alluding to the happy ages of the Republic); thus bestowing on virtues, that were merely human, rewards of the same kind, with which that people, blind on this subject, though so enlightened on others, were so unhappy as to content themselves. St. Austin, therefore, does not condemn the encomiums which are bestowed on the heathens, but only the excess of them.Students ought to take care, and especially we, who by the duties of our profession are obliged to be perpetually conversant with heathen authors, not to enter too far into the spirit of them; not to imbibe, unperceived, their sentiments, by[pg xiii]lavishing too great applauses on their heroes; nor to give into excesses which the heathens indeed did not consider as such, because they were not acquainted with virtues of a purer kind. Some persons, whose friendship I esteem as I ought, and for whose learning and judgment I have the highest regard, have found this defect in some parts of my work, on theMethod of Teaching and Studying the Belles Lettres, &c.; and are of opinion, that I have gone too great lengths in the encomiums which I bestow on the illustrious men of paganism. I indeed own, that the expressions on those occasions are sometimes too strong and too unguarded: however, I imagined that I had supplied a proper corrective to this, by the hints which I have interspersed in those four volumes; and, therefore, that it would be only losing time to repeat them; not to mention my having laid down, in different places, the principles which the Fathers of the Church establish on this head, declaring, with St. Austin, that without true piety, that is, without a sincere worship of the true God, there can be no true virtue; and that no virtue can be such, whose object is worldly glory; a truth, says this Father, acknowledged universally by those who are inspired with real and solid piety.Illud constat inter omnes veraciter pios, neminem sine verâ pietate, id est, veri Dei vero cultu, veram posse habere virtutem; nec eam veram esse, quando gloriæ servit humanæ.40When I observed that Perseus had not resolution enough to kill himself,41I do not thereby pretend to justify the practice of the heathens, who looked upon suicide as lawful; but simply to relate an incident, and the judgment which Paulus Æmilius passed on it. Had I barely hinted a word or two against that custom, it would have obviated all mistake, and left no room for censure.The ostracism, employed in Athens against persons of the greatest merit; theft connived at, as it appears, by Lycurgus in Sparta; an equality of goods established in the same city, by the authority of the state, and things of a like nature, may admit of some difficulty. However, I shall pay a more immediate attention to these particulars,42when the course of the history brings me to them; and shall avail myself with pleasure of such lights as the learned and unprejudiced may favour me by communicating.In a work like that I now offer the public, intended more immediately for the instruction of youth, it were heartily to be[pg xiv]wished, that not one single thought or expression might occur that could contribute to inculcate false or dangerous principles. When I first set about writing the present history, I proposed this for my maxim, the importance of which I perfectly conceive, but am far from imagining that I have always observed it, though it was my intention to do so; and therefore on this, as on many other occasions, I shall stand in need of the reader's indulgence.As I write principally for young persons, and for those who do not intend to make very deep researches into ancient history, I shall not burthen this Work with a sort of erudition, that might have been naturally introduced into it, but does not suit my purpose. My design is, in giving a continued series of ancient history, to extract from the Greek and Latin authors all that I shall judge most useful and entertaining with respect to the transactions, and most instructive with regard to the reflections.I should wish to be able to avoid, at the same time, the dry sterility of epitomes, which convey no distinct idea to the mind; and the tedious accuracy of long histories, which tire the reader's patience. I am sensible that it is difficult to steer exactly between the two extremes; and although, in the two parts of history of which this first volume consists, I have retrenched a great part of what we meet with in ancient authors, they may still be thought too long: but I was afraid of spoiling the incidents, by being too studious of brevity. However, the taste of the public shall be my guide, to which I shall endeavour to conform hereafter.I was so happy as not to displease the public in my first attempt.43I wish the present Work may be equally successful, but dare not raise my hopes so high. The subjects I there treated,viz.polite literature, poetry, eloquence, and curious and detached pieces of history, gave me an opportunity of introducing into it from ancient and modern authors, whatever is most beautiful, affecting, delicate, and just, with regard both to thought and expression. The beauty and justness of the things themselves which I offered the reader, made him more indulgent to the manner in which they were presented to him; and besides, the variety of the subjects supplied the want of those graces which might have been expected from the style and composition.[pg xv]But I have not the same advantage in the present work, the choice of the subjects not being entirely at my discretion. In a connected history, an author is often obliged to relate a great many things that are not always very interesting, especially with regard to the origin and rise of empires; and these parts are generally overrun with thorns, and offer very few flowers. However, the sequel will furnish matter of a more pleasing nature, and events that engage more strongly the reader's attention; and I shall take care to make use of the valuable materials which the best authors will supply. In the mean time, I must entreat the reader to remember that in a wide-extended and beautiful region, the eye does not everywhere meet with golden harvests, smiling meads, and fruitful orchards; but sees, at different intervals, wild and less cultivated tracts of land. And, to use another comparison, furnished by Pliny,44some trees in the spring emulously shoot forth a numberless multitude of blossoms, which by this rich dress (the splendour and vivacity of whose colours charm the eye) proclaim a happy abundance in a more advanced season: while other trees,45of a less gay appearance, though they bear good fruits, have not however the fragrance and beauty of blossoms, nor seem to share in the joy of reviving nature. The reader will easily apply this image to the composition of history.To adorn and enrich my own, I will be so ingenuous as to confess, that I do not scruple, nor am ashamed, to rifle from all quarters, and that I often do not cite the authors from whom I transcribe, because of the liberty I occasionally take to make some slight alterations. I have made the best use in my power of the solid reflections that occur in the second and third parts of the bishop of Meaux's46Universal History, which is one of the most beautiful and most useful books in our language. I have also received great assistance from the learned Dean Prideaux'sConnection of the Old and New Testament, in which he has traced and cleared up, in an admirable manner, the particulars relating to ancient history. I shall take the same liberty with whatever comes in my way, that may suit my design, and contribute to the perfection of my Work.[pg xvi]I am very sensible, that it is not so much for a person's reputation, thus to make use of other men's labours, and that it is in a manner renouncing the name and quality of author. But I am not over fond of that title; and shall be extremely well pleased, and think myself very happy, if I can but deserve the name of a good compiler, and supply my readers with a tolerable history; who will not be over solicitous to inquire whether it be an original composition of my own, or not, provided they are but pleased with it.I cannot determine the exact number of volumes which this Work will make; but am persuaded there will be no less than ten or twelve.47Students, with a very moderate application, may easily go through this course of history in a year, without interrupting their other studies. According to my plan, my Work should be given to the highest form but one. Youths in this class are capable of pleasure and improvement from this history; and I would not have them enter upon that of the Romans till they study rhetoric.It would have been useful, and even necessary, to have given some idea of the ancient authors from whence I have extracted the facts which I here relate. But the course itself of the history will naturally give me an opportunity of mentioning them.In the mean time, it may not be improper to take notice of the superstitious credulity with which most of these authors are reproached, on the subject of auguries, auspices, prodigies, dreams, and oracles. And indeed, we are shocked to see writers, so judicious in all other respects, lay it down as a kind of law, to relate these particulars with a scrupulous accuracy; and to dwell gravely on a tedious detail of trifling and ridiculous ceremonies, such as the flight of birds to the right or left hand, signs discovered in the smoking entrails of beasts, the greater or less greediness of chickens in pecking corn, and a thousand similar absurdities.It must be confessed, that a sensible reader cannot, without astonishment, see persons among the ancients in the highest repute for wisdom and knowledge; generals who were the least liable to be influenced by popular opinions, and most sensible how necessary it is to take advantage of auspicious moments; the wisest councils of princes perfectly well skilled in the arts of government; the most august assemblies of grave senators; in a word, the most powerful and most learned nations in all ages; to see, I say, all these so unaccountably weak, as to[pg xvii]make to depend on these trifling practices and absurd observances, the decision of the greatest affairs, such as the declaring of war, the giving battle, or pursuing a victory, deliberations that were of the utmost importance, and on which the fate and welfare of kingdoms frequently depended.But, at the same time, we must be so just as to own, that their manners, customs, and laws, would not permit men, in these ages, to dispense with the observation of these practices: that education, hereditary tradition transmitted from immemorial time, the universal belief and consent of different nations, the precepts, and even examples of philosophers; that all these, I say, made the practices in question appear venerable in their eyes: and that these ceremonies, how absurd soever they may appear to us, and are really so in themselves, constituted part of the religion and public worship of the ancients.This religion was false, and this worship mistaken; yet the principle of it was laudable, and founded in nature; the stream was corrupted, but the fountain was pure. Man, assisted only by his own light, sees nothing beyond the present moment. Futurity is to him an abyss invisible to the most keen, the most piercing sagacity, and exhibits nothing on which he may with certainty fix his views, or form his resolutions. He is equally feeble and impotent with regard to the execution of his designs. He is sensible, that he is dependent entirely on a Supreme Power, that disposes all events with absolute authority, and which, in spite of his utmost efforts, and of the wisdom of the best concerted schemes, by raising only the smallest obstacles and slightest disappointments, renders it impossible for him to execute his measures.This obscurity and weakness oblige him to have recourse to a superior knowledge and power: he is forced, both by his immediate wants, and the strong desire he has to succeed in all his undertakings, to address that Being who he is sensible has reserved to himself alone the knowledge of futurity, and the power of disposing it as he sees fitting. He accordingly directs prayers, makes vows, and offers sacrifices, to prevail, if possible, with the Deity, to reveal himself, either in dreams, in oracles, or other signs which may manifest his will; fully convinced that nothing can happen but by the divine appointment; and that it is a man's greatest interest to know this supreme will, in order to conform his actions to it.This religious principle of dependence on, and veneration of, the Supreme Being, is natural to man: it is imprinted deep in his heart; he is reminded of it, by the inward sense of his extreme indigence, and by all the objects which surround him;[pg xviii]and it may be affirmed, that this perpetual recourse to the Deity, is one of the principal foundations of religion and the strongest band by which man is united to his Creator.Those who were so happy as to know the true God, and were chosen to be his peculiar people, never failed to address him in all their wants and doubts, in order to obtain his succour, and to know his will. He accordingly vouchsafed to reveal himself to them; to conduct them by apparitions, dreams, oracles, and prophecies; and to protect them by miracles of the most astonishing kind.But those who were so blind as to substitute falsehood in the place of truth, directed themselves, for the like aid, to fictitious and deceitful deities, who were not able to answer their expectations, nor recompense the homage that mortals paid them, any otherwise than by error and illusion, and a fraudulent imitation of the conduct of the true God.Hence arose the vain observation of dreams, which, from a superstitious credulity, they mistook for salutary warnings from Heaven; those obscure and equivocal answers of oracles, beneath whose veil the spirits of darkness concealed their ignorance; and, by a studied ambiguity, reserved to themselves an evasion or subterfuge, whatever might be the event. To this are owing the prognostics with regard to futurity, which men fancied they should find in the entrails of beasts, in the flight and singing of birds, in the aspect of the planets, in fortuitous accidents, and in the caprice of chance; those dreadful prodigies that filled a whole nation with terror, and which, it was believed, nothing could expiate but mournful ceremonies, and even sometimes the effusion of human blood: in fine, those black inventions of magic, those delusions, enchantments, sorceries, invocations of ghosts, and many other kinds of divination.All I have here related was a received usage, observed by the heathen nations in general; and this usage was founded on the principles of that religion of which I have given a short account. We have a signal proof of this in that passage of the Cyropædia,48where Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, gives that young prince such noble instructions; instructions admirably well adapted to form the great captain, and great king. He exhorts him, above all things, to pay the highest reverence to the gods; and not to undertake any enterprise, whether important or inconsiderable, without first calling upon and consulting them; he enjoins him to honour the priests and augurs, as[pg xix]being their ministers and the interpreters of their will, but yet not to trust or abandon himself so implicitly and blindly to them, as not, by his own application, to learn every thing relating to the science of divination, of auguries and auspices. The reason which he gives for the subordination and dependence in which kings ought to live with regard to the gods, and the benefit derived from consulting them in all things, is this: How clear-sighted soever mankind may be in the ordinary course of affairs, their views are always very narrow and bounded with regard to futurity; whereas the Deity, at a single glance, takes in all ages and events.“As the gods,”says Cambyses to his son,“are eternal, they know equally all things, past, present, and to come. With regard to the mortals who address them, they give salutary counsels to those whom they are pleased to favour, that they may not be ignorant of what things they ought, or ought not, to undertake. If it is observed, that the deities do not give the like counsels to all men; we are not to wonder at it, since no necessity obliges them to attend to the welfare of those persons on whom they do not vouchsafe to confer their favour.”Such was the doctrine of the most learned and most enlightened nations, with respect to the different kinds of divination; and it is no wonder that the authors who wrote the history of those nations, thought it incumbent on them to give an exact detail of such particulars as constituted part of their religion and worship, and was frequently in a manner the soul of their deliberations, and the standard of their conduct. I therefore was of opinion, for the same reason, that it would not be proper for me to omit entirely, in the ensuing history, what relates to this subject, though I have however retrenched a great part of it.Archbishop Usher is my usual guide in chronology. In the history of the Carthaginians I commonly set down four æras: The year from the creation of the world, which, for brevity's sake, I mark thus, A.M.; those of the foundation of Carthage and Rome; and lastly, the year before the birth of our Saviour, which I suppose to be the 4004th year of the world; wherein I follow Usher and others, though they suppose it to be four years earlier.We shall now proceed to give the reader the proper preliminary information concerning this Work, according to the order in which it is executed.To know in what manner the states and kingdoms were founded, that have divided the universe; the steps whereby[pg xx]they rose to that pitch of grandeur related in history; by what ties families and cities were united, in order to constitute one body or society, and to live together under the same laws and a common authority; it will be necessary to trace things back, in a manner, to the infancy of the world, and to those ages in which mankind, being dispersed into different regions, (after the confusion of tongues,) began to people the earth.In these early ages every father was the supreme head of his family; the arbiter and judge of whatever contests and divisions might arise within it; the natural legislator over his little society; the defender and protector of those, who, by their birth, education, and weakness, were under his protection and safeguard, and whose interests paternal tenderness rendered equally dear to him as his own.But although these masters enjoyed an independent authority, they made a mild and paternal use of it. So far from being jealous of their power, they neither governed with haughtiness, nor decided with tyranny. As they were obliged by necessity to associate their family in their domestic labours, they also summoned them together, and asked their opinion in matters of importance. In this manner all affairs were transacted in concert, and for the common good.The laws which paternal vigilance established in this little domestic senate, being dictated with no other view than to promote the general welfare; concerted with such children as were come to years of maturity, and accepted by the inferiors with a full and free consent; were religiously kept and preserved in families as an hereditary polity, to which they owed their peace and security.But different motives gave rise to different laws. One man, overjoyed at the birth of a first-born son, resolved to distinguish him from his future children, by bestowing on him a more considerable share of his possessions, and giving him a greater authority in his family. Another, more attentive to the interest of a beloved wife, or darling daughter whom he wanted to settle in the world, thought it incumbent on him to secure their rights and increase their advantages. The solitary and cheerless state to which a wife would be reduced in case she should become a widow, affected more intimately another man, and made him provide beforehand, for the subsistence and comfort of a woman who formed his felicity. From these different views, and others of the like nature, arose the different customs of nations, as well as their rights, which are infinitely various.In proportion as every family increased, by the birth of[pg xxi]children, and their marrying into other families, they extended their little domain, and formed, by insensible degrees, towns and cities.These societies growing, in process of time, very numerous; and the families being divided into various branches, each of which had its head, whose different interests and characters might interrupt the general tranquillity; it was necessary to intrust one person with the government of the whole, in order to unite all these chiefs or heads under a single authority, and to maintain the public peace by an uniform administration. The idea which men still retained of the paternal government, and the happy effects they had experienced from it, prompted them to choose from among their wisest and most virtuous men, him in whom they had observed the tenderest and most fatherly disposition. Neither ambition nor cabal had the least share in this choice; probity alone, and the reputation of virtue and equity, decided on these occasions, and gave the preference to the most worthy.49To heighten the lustre of their newly-acquired dignity, and enable them the better to put the laws in execution, as well as to devote themselves entirely to the public good; to defend the state against the invasions of their neighbours, and the factions of discontented citizens; the title of king was bestowed upon them, a throne was erected, and a sceptre put into their hands; homage was paid them, officers were assigned, and guards appointed for the security of their persons; tributes were granted; they were invested with full powers to administer justice, and for this purpose were armed with a sword, in order to restrain injustice, and punish crimes.At first, every city had its particular king, who being more solicitous to preserve his dominion than to enlarge it, confined his ambition within the limits of his native country.50But the almost unavoidable feuds which break out between neighbours; jealousy against a more powerful king; a turbulent and restless spirit; a martial disposition, or thirst of aggrandizement; or the display of abilities; gave rise to wars, which frequently ended in the entire subjection of the vanquished, whose cities were possessed by the victor, and increased insensibly his dominions. Thus, a first victory paving the way to a second, and[pg xxii]making a prince more powerful and enterprising, several cities and provinces were united under one monarch, and formed kingdoms of a greater or less extent, according to the degree of ardour with which the victor had pushed his conquests.51But among these princes were found some, whose ambition being too vast to confine itself within a single kingdom, broke over all bounds, and spread universally like a torrent, or the ocean; swallowed up kingdoms and nations; and fancied that glory consisted in depriving princes of their dominions, who had not done them the least injury; in carrying fire and sword into the most remote countries, and in leaving every where bloody traces of their progress! Such was the origin of those famous empires which included a great part of the world.Princes made a various use of victory, according to the diversity of their dispositions or interests. Some, considering themselves as absolute masters of the conquered, and imagining they were sufficiently indulged in sparing their lives, bereaved them, as well as their children, of their possessions, their country, and their liberty; subjected them to a most severe captivity; employed them in those arts which are necessary for the support of life, in the lowest and most servile offices of the house, in the painful toils of the field; and frequently forced them, by the most inhuman treatment, to dig in mines, and ransack the bowels of the earth, merely to satiate their avarice; and hence mankind were divided into freemen and slaves, masters and bondmen.Others introduced the custom of transporting whole nations into new countries, where they settled them, and gave them lands to cultivate.Other princes again, of more gentle dispositions, contented themselves with only obliging the vanquished nations to purchase their liberties, and the enjoyment of their laws and privileges by annual tributes laid on them for that purpose; and sometimes they would suffer kings to sit peaceably on their thrones, upon condition of their paying them some kind of homage.But such of these monarchs as were the wisest and ablest politicians, thought it glorious to establish a kind of equality betwixt the nations newly conquered and their other subjects; granting the former almost all the rights and privileges which the others enjoyed: and by this means a great number of nations, that were spread over different and far distant countries, constituted, in some measure, but one city, at least but one people.Thus I have given a general and concise idea of mankind,[pg xxiii]from the earliest monuments which history has preserved on this subject; the particulars whereof I shall endeavour to relate, in treating of each empire and nation. I shall not touch upon the history of the Jews, nor that of the Romans.The history of the Carthaginians, that of the Assyrians, and the Lydians, which occurs in the second volume, is supported by the best authorities; but it is highly necessary to review the geography, the manners, and customs of the different nations here treated of; and first with regard to the religion, manners, and institutions of the Persians and Grecians; because these show their genius and character, which we may call, in some measure, the soul of history. For to take notice only of facts and dates, and confine our curiosity and researches to them, would be imitating the imprudence of a traveller, who, in visiting many countries, should content himself with knowing their exact distance from each other, and consider only the situation of the several places, their buildings, and the dresses of the people; without giving himself the least trouble to converse with the inhabitants, in order to inform himself of their genius, manners, disposition, laws, and government. Homer, whose design was to give, in the person of Ulysses, a model of a wise and intelligent traveller, tells us, at the very opening of hisOdyssey, that his hero informed himself very exactly of the manners and customs of the several people whose cities he visited; in which he ought to be imitated by every person who applies himself to the study of history.As Asia will hereafter be the principal scene of the history we are now entering upon, it may not be improper to give the reader such a general idea of it, as may at least make him acquainted with its most considerable provinces and cities.The northern and eastern parts of Asia are less known in ancient history.To the north areAsiatic SarmatiaandAsiatic Scythia, which answer to Tartary.Sarmatia is situated between the riverTanais, which separates Europe and Asia, and the riverRha, orVolga. Scythia is divided into two parts; the one on this, the other on the other side of mountImaus. The nations of Scythia best known to us are theSacæand theMassagetæ.The most eastern parts are,Serica, Cathay;Sinarum regio, China; andIndia. This last country was better known anciently than the two former. It was divided into two parts; the one on this side theGanges, included between that river and theIndus, which now composes the dominions[pg xxiv]of the Great Mogul; the other part was that on the other side of the Ganges.The remaining part of Asia, of which much greater mention is made in history, may be divided into five or six parts, taking it from east to west.I. Upper Asia, which begins at the river Indus. The chief provinces areGedrosia, Carmania, Arachosia, Drangiana, Bactriana, the capital of which wasBactra;Sogdiana, Margiana, Hyrcania, near the Caspian sea;Parthia, Media, its chief cityEcbatana;Persia, the cities ofPersepolisandElymais;Susiana, the city ofSusa;Assyria, the city ofNineveh, situated on the riverTigris;Mesopotamia, between theEuphratesandTigris;Babylonia, the city ofBabylonon the river Euphrates.II. Asia between the Pontus Euxinus and the Caspian Sea.Therein we may distinguish four provinces. 1.Colchis, the riverPhasis, and mountCaucasus. 2.Iberia.3.Albania; which two last-mentioned provinces now form part of Georgia. 4. The greaterArmenia. This is separated from the lesser by the Euphrates; from Mesopotamia by mountTaurus; and from Assyria by mountNiphates. Its cities areArtaxataandTigranocerta, and the riverAraxesruns through it.III. Asia Minor.This may be divided into four or five parts, according to the different situation of its provinces.1.Northward, on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus;Pontus, under three different names. Its cities are,Trapezus, not far from which are the people calledChalybesorChaldæi;Themiscyra, a city on the riverThermodon, and famous for having been the abode of the Amazons.Paphlagonia, Bithynia; the cities of which are,Nicæa,Prusa,Nicomedia,Chalcedonopposite to Constantinople, andHeraclea.2.Westward, going down by the shores of the Ægean sea;Mysia, of which there are two. TheLesser, in which stoodCyzicus,Lampsacus,Parium,Abydosopposite to Sestos, from which it is separated only by the Dardanelles;Dardanum,Sigæum,Ilion, orTroy; and almost on the opposite side, the little island ofTenedos. The rivers are, theÆsepus, theGranicus, and theSimois. MountIda. This region is sometimes called Phrygia Minor, of whichTroasis part.TheGreater Mysia.Antandros,Trajanopolis,Adramyttium,[pg xxv]Pergamus. Opposite to this Mysia is the island ofLesbos; the cities of which are,Methymna, where the celebratedArionwas born; andMitylene, which has given to the whole island its modern name Metelin.Æolia.Elea,Cumæ,Phocæa.Ionia.Smyrna,Clazomenæ,Teos,Lebedus,Colophon,Ephesus,Priene,Miletus.Caria.Laodicea,Antiochia,Magnesia,Alabanda. The riverMæander.Doris.Halicarnassus,Cnidos.Opposite to these four last countries, are the islandsChios, Samos, Pathmos, Cos; and lower, towards the south,Rhodes.3.Southward, along the Mediterranean;Lycia, the cities of which are,Telmessus,Patara. The riverXanthus. Here begins mountTaurus, which runs the whole length of Asia, and assumes different names, according to the several countries through which it passes.Pamphylia.Perga,Aspendus,Sida.Cilicia.Seleucia,Corycium,Tarsus, on the riverCydnus. Opposite to Cilicia is the island ofCyprus. The cities are,Salamis,Amathus, andPaphos.4.Along the banks of the Euphrates, going up northward;TheLesser Armenia.Comana,Arabyza,Melitene,Satala. The riverMelas, which empties itself into the Euphrates.5.Inland:Cappadocia; the cities whereof are,Neocæsarea,Comana Pontica,Sebastia,Sebastopolis,Diocæsarea,Cæsarea, otherwise calledMazaca, andTyana.LycaoniaandIsauria.Iconium,Isauria.Pisidia.SeleuciaandAntiochiaofPisidia.Lydia.Its cities are,Thyatira,Sardis,Philadelphia. The rivers are,CaystrusandHermus, into which thePactolusempties itself. MountSipylusandTmolus.Phrygia Major.Synnada,Apamia.IV. Syria, now namedSuria, called under the Roman emperors theEast, the chief provinces of which are,1.Palestine, by which name is sometimes understood all Judea. Its cities are,Jerusalem,Samaria, andCæsarea Palestina. The riverJordanwaters it. The name of Palestine is also given to the land of Canaan, which extended along the Mediterranean; the chief cities of which were,Gaza,Ascalon,Azotus,Accaron, andGath.2.Phœnicia, whose cities are,Ptolemais,Tyre,Sidon, andBerytus. Its mountains,LibanusandAntilibanus.[pg xxvi]3.Syria, properly so called, orAntiochena; the cities whereof are,Antiochia,Apamia,Laodicea, andSeleucia.4.Comagena.The city ofSamosata.5.Cœlesyria.The cities are,Zeugma,Thapsacus,Palmyra, andDamascus.V. Arabia Petræa.Its cities are,Petra, andBostra. MountCasius.Deserta. Felix.

The study of profane history would little deserve to have a serious attention, and a considerable length of time bestowed upon it, if it were confined to the bare knowledge of ancient transactions, and an uninteresting inquiry into the æras when each of them happened. It little concerns us to know, that there were once such men as Alexander, Cæsar, Aristides, or Cato, and that they lived in this or that period; that the empire of the Assyrians made way for that of the Babylonians, and the latter for the empire of the Medes and Persians, who were themselves subjected by the Macedonians, as these were afterwards by the Romans.

But it highly concerns us to know, by what methods those empires were founded; by what steps they rose to that exalted pitch of grandeur which we so much admire; what it was that constituted their true glory and felicity; and what were the causes of their declension and fall.

It is of no less importance to study attentively the manners of different nations; their genius, laws, and customs; and especially to acquaint ourselves with the character and disposition, the talents, virtues, and even vices of those by whom they were governed; and whose good or bad qualities contributed to the grandeur or decay of the states over which they presided.

Such are the great objects which ancient history presents; causing to pass, as it were, in review before us, all the kingdoms and empires of the world; and at the same time, all the great men who were any ways conspicuous; thereby instructing us, by example rather than precept, in the arts of empire and war, the principles of government, the rules of policy, the maxims of civil society, and the conduct of life that suits all ages and conditions.

We acquire, at the same time, another knowledge, which cannot but excite the attention of all persons who have a taste and inclination for polite learning; I mean the manner in[pg ii]which arts and sciences were invented, cultivated, and improved. We there discover, and trace as it were with the eye, their origin and progress; and perceive, with admiration, that the nearer we approach those countries which were once inhabited by the sons of Noah, in the greater perfection we find the arts and sciences; whereas they seem to be either neglected or forgotten, in proportion to the remoteness of nations from them; so that, when men attempted to revive those arts and sciences, they were obliged to go back to the source from whence they originally flowed.

I give only a transient view of these objects, though so very important, in this place, because I have already treated them at some length elsewhere.1

But another object of infinitely greater importance, claims our attention. For although profane history treats only of nations who had imbibed all the absurdities of a superstitious worship; and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice, and above all, the admirable wisdom with which his providence governs the universe.

If the inherent conviction of this last truth raised, according to Cicero's observation,2the Romans above all other nations; we may, in like manner, affirm, that nothing gives history a greater superiority to many other branches of literature, than to see in a manner imprinted, in almost every page of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great truth,viz.that God disposes all events as supreme Lord and Sovereign; that he alone determines the fate of kings and the duration of empires; and that he transfers the government of kingdoms from one nation to another, because of the unrighteous dealing and wickedness committed therein.3

We discover this important truth in going back to the most remote antiquity, and the origin of profane history; I mean, to the dispersion of the posterity of Noah into the several countries of the earth where they settled. Liberty, chance, views of interest, a love for certain countries, and similar motives, were, in outward appearance, the only causes of the different choice which men made in these various migrations. But the[pg iii]Scriptures inform us, that amidst the trouble and confusion that followed the sudden change in the language of Noah's descendants, God presided invisibly over all their counsels and deliberations; that nothing was transacted but by the Almighty's appointment; and that he alone guided4and settled all mankind, agreeably to the dictates of his mercy and justice:“The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth.”5

It is true indeed that God, even in those early ages, had a peculiar regard for that people, whom he was one day to consider as his own. He pointed out the country which he designed for them; he caused it to be possessed by another laborious nation, who applied themselves to cultivate and adorn it; and to improve the future inheritance of the Israelites. He then fixed, in that country, the like number of families, as were to be settled in it, when the sons of Israel should, at the appointed time, take possession of it; and did not suffer any of the nations, which were not subject to the curse pronounced by Noah against Canaan, to enter upon an inheritance that was to be given up entirely to the Israelites.Quando dividebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, constituit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum Israel.6But this peculiar regard of God to his future people, does not interfere with that which he had for the rest of the nations of the earth, as is evident from the many passages of Scripture, which teach us, that the entire succession of ages is present to him; that nothing is transacted in the whole universe, but by his appointment; and that he directs the several events of it from age to age.Tu es Deus conspector seculorum. A seculo usque in seculum respicis.7

We must therefore consider, as an indisputable principle, and as the basis and foundation of the study of profane history, that the providence of the Almighty has, from all eternity, appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires, as well in regard to the general plan of the whole universe, known only to God, who constitutes the order and wonderful harmony of its several parts; as particularly with respect to the people of Israel, and still more with[pg iv]regard to the Messiah, and the establishment of the church, which is his great work, the end and design of all his other works, and ever present to his sight;Notum à seculo est Domino opus suum.8

God has vouchsafed to discover to us, in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and the little so discovered, diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish pride, their impious and cruel ambition: they reveal the true causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the grandeur and declension of nations; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us, what indeed is the principal benefit to be derived from history, the judgment which the Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them.

Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if I may be allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which afterwards was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it9; and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that God ever wrought in favour of Israel: not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a thousand proofs of the truth here advanced.

Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmanezer, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in God's hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people.“He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders.”10He himself put the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. He breathed courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their armies indefatigable in labour, and invincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their steps.

The rapidity of their conquests ought to have enabled them to discern the invisible hand which conducted them. But, says one of these kings11in the name of the rest,“By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I[pg v]am prudent: And I have removed the bounds of the people and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.”12

But this monarch, so august and wise in his own eye, how did he appear in that of the Almighty? Only as a subaltern agent, a servant sent by his master:“The rod of his anger, and the staff in his hand.”13God's design was to chastise, not to extirpate his children. But Sennacherib“had it in his heart to destroy and cut off all nations.”14What then will be the issue of this kind of contest between the designs of God, and those of this prince?15At the time that he fancied himself already possessed of Jerusalem, the Lord, with a single blast, disperses all his proud hopes; destroys, in one night, an hundred four score and five thousand of his forces; and putting“a hook in his nose, and a bridle in his lips”,16(as though he had been a wild beast,) he leads him back to his own dominions, covered with infamy, through the midst of those nations, who, but a little before, had beheld him in all his pride and haughtiness.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears still more visibly governed by a Providence, to which he himself is an entire stranger, but which presides over all his deliberations, and determines all his actions.

Being come at the head of his army to two highways, the one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not knowing which of them it would be best for him to strike into, debates for some time with himself, and at last casts lots. God makes the lot fall on Jerusalem, to fulfil the menaces he had pronounced against that city,viz.to destroy it, to burn the temple, and lead its inhabitants into captivity.17

One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been prompted to besiege Tyre, merely from a political view,viz.that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well-fortified a city; nevertheless, a superior will had decreed the siege of Tyre.18God designed, on one side, to humble the pride of Ithobal its king, who fancying himself wiser than Daniel,[pg vi]whose fame was spread over the whole East; and ascribing entirely to his rare and uncommon prudence the extent of his dominions, and the greatness of his riches, persuaded himself that he was“a god, and sat in the seat of God.”19On the other side, he also designed to chastise the luxury, the voluptuousness, and the pride of those haughty merchants, who thought themselves kings of the sea, and sovereigns over crowned heads; and especially, that inhuman joy of the Tyrians, who looked upon the fall of Jerusalem (the rival of Tyre) as their own aggrandizement. These were the motives which prompted God himself to lead Nebuchadnezzar to Tyre; and to make him execute, though unknowingly, his commands.Idcirco ecce ego adducam ad Tyrum Nabuchodonosor.

To recompense this monarch, whose army the Almighty had caused“to serve a great service against Tyre”20(these are God's own words;) and to compensate the Babylonish troops, for the grievous toils they had sustained during a thirteen years' siege;“I will give,”21saith the Lord God,“the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army.”22

The same Nebuchadnezzar, eager to immortalize his name by the grandeur of his exploits, was determined to heighten the glory of his conquests by his splendour and magnificence, in embellishing the capital of his empire with pompous edifices, and the most sumptuous ornaments. But whilst a set of adulating courtiers, on whom he lavished the highest honours and immense riches, make all places resound with his name, an august senate of watchful spirits is formed, who weigh, in the balance of truth, the actions of kings, and pronounce upon them a sentence from which there lies no appeal. The king of Babylon is cited before this tribunal, in which there presides the Supreme Judge, who, to a vigilance which nothing can elude, adds a holiness that will not allow of the least irregularity.Vigil et sanctus.In this tribunal all Nebuchadnezzar's actions, which were the admiration and wonder of the public, are examined with rigour; and a search is made into the inward recesses of his heart, to discover his most hidden thoughts. How will this formidable inquiry end? At the instant that Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace, and revolving, with a secret complacency, his exploits, his grandeur and magnificence, is saying to himself,“Is not this great[pg vii]Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”23in this very instant, when, by vainly flattering himself that he held his power and kingdom from himself alone, he usurped the seat of the Almighty: a voice from heaven pronounces his sentence, and declares to him, that“his kingdom was departed from him, that he should be driven from men, and his dwelling be with the beasts of the field, until he knew that the Most High ruled in the kingdoms of men, and gave them to whomsoever he would.”24

This tribunal, which is for ever assembled, though invisible to mortal eyes, pronounced the like sentence on those famous conquerors, on those heroes of the pagan world, who, like Nebuchadnezzar, considered themselves as the sole authors of their exalted fortune; as independent on authority of every kind, and as not holding of a superior power.

As God appointed some princes to be the instruments of his vengeance, he made others the dispensers of his goodness. He ordained Cyrus to be the deliverer of his people; and, to enable him to support with dignity so glorious a function, he endued him with all the qualities which constitute the greatest captains and princes: and caused that excellent education to be given him, which the heathens so much admired, though they neither knew the author nor true cause of it.

We see in profane history the extent and swiftness of his conquests, the intrepidity of his courage, the wisdom of his views and designs; his greatness of soul, his noble generosity; his truly paternal affection for his subjects; and, on their part, the grateful returns of love and tenderness, which made them consider him rather as their protector and father, than as their lord and sovereign. We find, I say, all these particulars in profane history; but we do not perceive the secret principle of so many exalted qualities, nor the hidden spring which set them in motion.

But Isaiah discloses them, and delivers himself in words suitable to the greatness and majesty of the God who inspired him, He represents this all-powerful God of armies as leading[pg viii]Cyrus by the hand, marching before him, conducting him from city to city, and from province to province;“subduing nations before him, loosening the loins of kings, breaking in pieces gates of brass, cutting in sunder the bars of iron,”throwing down the walls and bulwarks of cities, and putting him in possession“of the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret places.”25

The prophet also tells us the cause and motive of all these wonderful events.26It was in order to punish Babylon, and to deliver Judah, that the Almighty conducts Cyrus, step by step, and gives success to all his enterprises.“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways.—For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect.”27But this prince is so blind and ungrateful, that he does not know his master, nor remember his benefactor.“I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.—I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.”28

Men seldom form to themselves a right judgment of true glory, and the duties essential to regal power. The Scripture alone gives us a just idea of them, and this it does in a wonderful manner, under the image of a very large and strong tree, whose top reaches to heaven, and whose branches extend to the extremities of the earth.29As its foliage is very abundant, and it is bowed down with fruit, it constitutes the ornament and felicity of the plains around it. It supplies a grateful shade, and a secure retreat to beasts of every kind: animals, both wild and tame, are safely lodged beneath it, the birds of heaven dwell in its branches, and it supplies food to all living creatures.

Can there be a more just or more instructive idea of the kingly office, whose true grandeur and solid glory does not consist in that splendour, pomp, and magnificence which surround it; nor in that reverence and exterior homage which are paid to it by subjects, and which are justly due to it; but in the real services and solid advantages it procures to nations, whose support, defence, security, and asylum it forms, (both from its nature and institution,) at the same time that it is the fruitful source of blessings of every kind; especially with regard to the poor and weak, who ought to find beneath the shade and protection of royalty, a sweet peace and tranquillity, not to be interrupted or disturbed; whilst the monarch himself sacrifices his ease, and experiences alone those storms and tempests from which he shelters all others?

I think that I observe this noble image, and the execution of this great plan (religion only excepted) realized in the government of Cyrus, of which Xenophon has given us a picture, in his beautiful preface to the history of that prince. He has there specified a great number of nations, which, though separated from each other by vast tracts of country, and still more widely by the diversity of their manners, customs, and language, were however all united, by the same sentiments of esteem, reverence, and love for a prince, whose government they wished, if possible, to have continued for ever, so much happiness and tranquillity did they enjoy under it.30

To this amiable and salutary government, let us oppose the idea which the sacred writings give us of those monarchs and conquerors so much boasted by antiquity, who, instead of making the happiness of mankind the sole object of their care, were prompted by no other motives than those of interest and ambition. The Holy Spirit represents them under the symbols of monsters generated from the agitation of the sea, from the tumult, confusion, and dashing of the waves one against the other; and under the image of cruel wild beasts, which spread terror and desolation universally, and are for ever gorging themselves with blood and slaughter; bears, lions, tigers, and leopards.31How strong and expressive is this colouring!

Nevertheless, it is often from such destructive models, that the rules and maxims of the education generally bestowed on the children of the great are borrowed; and it is these ravagers of nations, these scourges of mankind, they propose to make them resemble. By inspiring them with the sentiments of a boundless ambition, and the love of false glory, they become (to borrow an expression from Scripture)“young lions; they learn to catch the prey, and devour men—to lay waste cities, to turn lands and their fatness into desolation by the noise of their roaring.”32And when this young lion is grown up, God tells us, that the noise of his exploits, and the renown of his victories, are nothing but a frightful roaring, which fills all places with terror and desolation.

The examples I have hitherto mentioned, extracted from the history of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, prove sufficiently the supreme power exercised by God over all empires; and the relation he has thought fit to establish[pg x]between the rest of the nations of the earth and his own peculiar people. The same truth appears as conspicuously under the kings of Syria and Egypt, successors of Alexander the Great: between whose history, and that of the Jews under the Maccabees, every body knows the close connection.

To these incidents I cannot forbear adding another, which though universally known, is not therefore the less remarkable; I mean the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. When he had entered that city, and viewed all the fortifications of it, this prince, though a heathen, owned the all-powerful arm of the God of Israel; and, in a rapture of admiration, cried out,“It is manifest that the Almighty has fought for us, and has driven the Jews from those towers; since neither the utmost human force, nor that of all the engines in the world, could have effected it.”33

Besides the visible and sensible connection of sacred and profane history, there is another more secret and more distinct relation with respect to the Messiah, for whose coming the Almighty, whose work was ever present to his sight, prepared mankind from far, even by the state of ignorance and dissoluteness in which he suffered them to be immersed during four thousand years. It was to make mankind sensible of the necessity of our having a Mediator, that God permitted the nations to walk after their own ways; while neither the light of reason, nor the dictates of philosophy, could dispel the clouds of error, or reform their depraved inclinations.

When we take a view of the grandeur of empires, the majesty of princes, the glorious actions of great men, the order of civil societies, and the harmony of the different members of which they are composed, the wisdom of legislators, and the learning of philosophers, the earth seems to exhibit nothing to the eye of man but what is great and resplendent; nevertheless, in the eye of God it was equally barren and uncultivated, as at the first instant of the creation.“The earth waswithout form and void.”34This is saying but little: it was wholly polluted and impure, (the reader will observe that I speak here of the heathens), and appeared to God only as the haunt and retreat of ungrateful and perfidious men, as it did at the time of the flood.“The earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with iniquity.”35

Nevertheless the Sovereign Arbiter of the universe, who, pursuant to the dictates of his wisdom, dispenses both light and darkness, and knows how to check the impetuous torrent[pg xi]of human passions, would not permit mankind, though abandoned to the utmost corruptions, to degenerate into absolute barbarity, and brutalize themselves, in a manner, by the extinction of the first principles of the law of nature, as is seen in several savage nations. Such an obstacle would have too much retarded the rapid progress, promised by him to the first preachers of the doctrine of his Son.

He darted from far, into the minds of men, the rays of several great truths, to dispose them for the reception of others more important. He prepared them for the instructions of the Gospel, by those of philosophers; and it was with this view that God permitted the heathen professors to examine, in their schools, several questions, and establish several principles, which are nearly allied to religion; and to engage the attention of mankind, by the brilliancy of their disputations. It is well known, that the philosophers inculcate, in every part of their writings, the existence of a God, the necessity of a Providence that presides over the government of the world, the immortality of the soul, the ultimate end of man, the reward of the good and punishment of the wicked, the nature of those duties which constitute the band of society, the character of the virtues that are the basis of morality, as prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and other similar truths, which, though incapable of guiding men to righteousness, were yet of use to scatter certain clouds, and to dispel certain obscurities.

It is by an effect of the same providence, which prepared, from far, the ways of the gospel, that, when the Messiah revealed himself in the flesh, God had united together almost all nations, by the Greek and Latin tongues; and had subjected to one monarch, from the ocean to the Euphrates, all the people not united by language, in order to give a more free course to the preaching of the apostles. The study of profane history, when entered upon with judgment and maturity, must lead us to these reflections, and point out to us the manner in which the Almighty makes the empires of the earth subservient to the establishment of the kingdom of his Son.

It ought likewise to teach us how to appreciate all that glitters most in the eye of the world, and is most capable of dazzling it. Valour, fortitude, skill in government, profound policy, merit in magistracy, capacity for the most abstruse sciences, beauty of genius, delicacy of taste, and perfection in all arts: These are the objects which profane history exhibits to us, which excite our admiration, and often our envy. But at the same time this very history ought to remind us, that the Almighty, ever since the creation, has indulged to his enemies[pg xii]all those shining qualities which the world esteems, and on which it frequently bestows the highest eulogiums; while, on the contrary, he often refuses them to his most faithful servants, whom he endues with talents of an infinitely superior nature, though men neither know their value, nor are desirous of them.“Happy is that people that is in such a case: Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”36

I shall conclude this first part of my preface with a reflection which results naturally from what has been said. Since it is certain, that all these great men, who are so much boasted of in profane history, were so unhappy as not to know the true God, and to displease him; we should therefore be cautious and circumspect in the praises which we bestow upon them. St. Austin, in hisRetractions, repents his having lavished so many encomiums on Plato, and the followers of his philosophy;“because these,”says he,“were impious men, whose doctrine, in many points, was contrary to that of Jesus Christ.”37

However, we are not to imagine, that St. Austin supposes it to be unlawful for us to admire and praise whatever is either beautiful in the actions, or true in the maxims, of the heathens. He only advises us to correct whatever is erroneous, and to approve whatever is conformable to rectitude and justice in them.38He applauds the Romans on many occasions, and particularly in his booksDe Civitate Dei,39which is one of the last and finest of his works. He there shows, that the Almighty raised them to be victorious over nations, and sovereigns of a great part of the earth, because of the gentleness and equity of their government (alluding to the happy ages of the Republic); thus bestowing on virtues, that were merely human, rewards of the same kind, with which that people, blind on this subject, though so enlightened on others, were so unhappy as to content themselves. St. Austin, therefore, does not condemn the encomiums which are bestowed on the heathens, but only the excess of them.

Students ought to take care, and especially we, who by the duties of our profession are obliged to be perpetually conversant with heathen authors, not to enter too far into the spirit of them; not to imbibe, unperceived, their sentiments, by[pg xiii]lavishing too great applauses on their heroes; nor to give into excesses which the heathens indeed did not consider as such, because they were not acquainted with virtues of a purer kind. Some persons, whose friendship I esteem as I ought, and for whose learning and judgment I have the highest regard, have found this defect in some parts of my work, on theMethod of Teaching and Studying the Belles Lettres, &c.; and are of opinion, that I have gone too great lengths in the encomiums which I bestow on the illustrious men of paganism. I indeed own, that the expressions on those occasions are sometimes too strong and too unguarded: however, I imagined that I had supplied a proper corrective to this, by the hints which I have interspersed in those four volumes; and, therefore, that it would be only losing time to repeat them; not to mention my having laid down, in different places, the principles which the Fathers of the Church establish on this head, declaring, with St. Austin, that without true piety, that is, without a sincere worship of the true God, there can be no true virtue; and that no virtue can be such, whose object is worldly glory; a truth, says this Father, acknowledged universally by those who are inspired with real and solid piety.Illud constat inter omnes veraciter pios, neminem sine verâ pietate, id est, veri Dei vero cultu, veram posse habere virtutem; nec eam veram esse, quando gloriæ servit humanæ.40

When I observed that Perseus had not resolution enough to kill himself,41I do not thereby pretend to justify the practice of the heathens, who looked upon suicide as lawful; but simply to relate an incident, and the judgment which Paulus Æmilius passed on it. Had I barely hinted a word or two against that custom, it would have obviated all mistake, and left no room for censure.

The ostracism, employed in Athens against persons of the greatest merit; theft connived at, as it appears, by Lycurgus in Sparta; an equality of goods established in the same city, by the authority of the state, and things of a like nature, may admit of some difficulty. However, I shall pay a more immediate attention to these particulars,42when the course of the history brings me to them; and shall avail myself with pleasure of such lights as the learned and unprejudiced may favour me by communicating.

In a work like that I now offer the public, intended more immediately for the instruction of youth, it were heartily to be[pg xiv]wished, that not one single thought or expression might occur that could contribute to inculcate false or dangerous principles. When I first set about writing the present history, I proposed this for my maxim, the importance of which I perfectly conceive, but am far from imagining that I have always observed it, though it was my intention to do so; and therefore on this, as on many other occasions, I shall stand in need of the reader's indulgence.

As I write principally for young persons, and for those who do not intend to make very deep researches into ancient history, I shall not burthen this Work with a sort of erudition, that might have been naturally introduced into it, but does not suit my purpose. My design is, in giving a continued series of ancient history, to extract from the Greek and Latin authors all that I shall judge most useful and entertaining with respect to the transactions, and most instructive with regard to the reflections.

I should wish to be able to avoid, at the same time, the dry sterility of epitomes, which convey no distinct idea to the mind; and the tedious accuracy of long histories, which tire the reader's patience. I am sensible that it is difficult to steer exactly between the two extremes; and although, in the two parts of history of which this first volume consists, I have retrenched a great part of what we meet with in ancient authors, they may still be thought too long: but I was afraid of spoiling the incidents, by being too studious of brevity. However, the taste of the public shall be my guide, to which I shall endeavour to conform hereafter.

I was so happy as not to displease the public in my first attempt.43I wish the present Work may be equally successful, but dare not raise my hopes so high. The subjects I there treated,viz.polite literature, poetry, eloquence, and curious and detached pieces of history, gave me an opportunity of introducing into it from ancient and modern authors, whatever is most beautiful, affecting, delicate, and just, with regard both to thought and expression. The beauty and justness of the things themselves which I offered the reader, made him more indulgent to the manner in which they were presented to him; and besides, the variety of the subjects supplied the want of those graces which might have been expected from the style and composition.

But I have not the same advantage in the present work, the choice of the subjects not being entirely at my discretion. In a connected history, an author is often obliged to relate a great many things that are not always very interesting, especially with regard to the origin and rise of empires; and these parts are generally overrun with thorns, and offer very few flowers. However, the sequel will furnish matter of a more pleasing nature, and events that engage more strongly the reader's attention; and I shall take care to make use of the valuable materials which the best authors will supply. In the mean time, I must entreat the reader to remember that in a wide-extended and beautiful region, the eye does not everywhere meet with golden harvests, smiling meads, and fruitful orchards; but sees, at different intervals, wild and less cultivated tracts of land. And, to use another comparison, furnished by Pliny,44some trees in the spring emulously shoot forth a numberless multitude of blossoms, which by this rich dress (the splendour and vivacity of whose colours charm the eye) proclaim a happy abundance in a more advanced season: while other trees,45of a less gay appearance, though they bear good fruits, have not however the fragrance and beauty of blossoms, nor seem to share in the joy of reviving nature. The reader will easily apply this image to the composition of history.

To adorn and enrich my own, I will be so ingenuous as to confess, that I do not scruple, nor am ashamed, to rifle from all quarters, and that I often do not cite the authors from whom I transcribe, because of the liberty I occasionally take to make some slight alterations. I have made the best use in my power of the solid reflections that occur in the second and third parts of the bishop of Meaux's46Universal History, which is one of the most beautiful and most useful books in our language. I have also received great assistance from the learned Dean Prideaux'sConnection of the Old and New Testament, in which he has traced and cleared up, in an admirable manner, the particulars relating to ancient history. I shall take the same liberty with whatever comes in my way, that may suit my design, and contribute to the perfection of my Work.

I am very sensible, that it is not so much for a person's reputation, thus to make use of other men's labours, and that it is in a manner renouncing the name and quality of author. But I am not over fond of that title; and shall be extremely well pleased, and think myself very happy, if I can but deserve the name of a good compiler, and supply my readers with a tolerable history; who will not be over solicitous to inquire whether it be an original composition of my own, or not, provided they are but pleased with it.

I cannot determine the exact number of volumes which this Work will make; but am persuaded there will be no less than ten or twelve.47Students, with a very moderate application, may easily go through this course of history in a year, without interrupting their other studies. According to my plan, my Work should be given to the highest form but one. Youths in this class are capable of pleasure and improvement from this history; and I would not have them enter upon that of the Romans till they study rhetoric.

It would have been useful, and even necessary, to have given some idea of the ancient authors from whence I have extracted the facts which I here relate. But the course itself of the history will naturally give me an opportunity of mentioning them.

In the mean time, it may not be improper to take notice of the superstitious credulity with which most of these authors are reproached, on the subject of auguries, auspices, prodigies, dreams, and oracles. And indeed, we are shocked to see writers, so judicious in all other respects, lay it down as a kind of law, to relate these particulars with a scrupulous accuracy; and to dwell gravely on a tedious detail of trifling and ridiculous ceremonies, such as the flight of birds to the right or left hand, signs discovered in the smoking entrails of beasts, the greater or less greediness of chickens in pecking corn, and a thousand similar absurdities.

It must be confessed, that a sensible reader cannot, without astonishment, see persons among the ancients in the highest repute for wisdom and knowledge; generals who were the least liable to be influenced by popular opinions, and most sensible how necessary it is to take advantage of auspicious moments; the wisest councils of princes perfectly well skilled in the arts of government; the most august assemblies of grave senators; in a word, the most powerful and most learned nations in all ages; to see, I say, all these so unaccountably weak, as to[pg xvii]make to depend on these trifling practices and absurd observances, the decision of the greatest affairs, such as the declaring of war, the giving battle, or pursuing a victory, deliberations that were of the utmost importance, and on which the fate and welfare of kingdoms frequently depended.

But, at the same time, we must be so just as to own, that their manners, customs, and laws, would not permit men, in these ages, to dispense with the observation of these practices: that education, hereditary tradition transmitted from immemorial time, the universal belief and consent of different nations, the precepts, and even examples of philosophers; that all these, I say, made the practices in question appear venerable in their eyes: and that these ceremonies, how absurd soever they may appear to us, and are really so in themselves, constituted part of the religion and public worship of the ancients.

This religion was false, and this worship mistaken; yet the principle of it was laudable, and founded in nature; the stream was corrupted, but the fountain was pure. Man, assisted only by his own light, sees nothing beyond the present moment. Futurity is to him an abyss invisible to the most keen, the most piercing sagacity, and exhibits nothing on which he may with certainty fix his views, or form his resolutions. He is equally feeble and impotent with regard to the execution of his designs. He is sensible, that he is dependent entirely on a Supreme Power, that disposes all events with absolute authority, and which, in spite of his utmost efforts, and of the wisdom of the best concerted schemes, by raising only the smallest obstacles and slightest disappointments, renders it impossible for him to execute his measures.

This obscurity and weakness oblige him to have recourse to a superior knowledge and power: he is forced, both by his immediate wants, and the strong desire he has to succeed in all his undertakings, to address that Being who he is sensible has reserved to himself alone the knowledge of futurity, and the power of disposing it as he sees fitting. He accordingly directs prayers, makes vows, and offers sacrifices, to prevail, if possible, with the Deity, to reveal himself, either in dreams, in oracles, or other signs which may manifest his will; fully convinced that nothing can happen but by the divine appointment; and that it is a man's greatest interest to know this supreme will, in order to conform his actions to it.

This religious principle of dependence on, and veneration of, the Supreme Being, is natural to man: it is imprinted deep in his heart; he is reminded of it, by the inward sense of his extreme indigence, and by all the objects which surround him;[pg xviii]and it may be affirmed, that this perpetual recourse to the Deity, is one of the principal foundations of religion and the strongest band by which man is united to his Creator.

Those who were so happy as to know the true God, and were chosen to be his peculiar people, never failed to address him in all their wants and doubts, in order to obtain his succour, and to know his will. He accordingly vouchsafed to reveal himself to them; to conduct them by apparitions, dreams, oracles, and prophecies; and to protect them by miracles of the most astonishing kind.

But those who were so blind as to substitute falsehood in the place of truth, directed themselves, for the like aid, to fictitious and deceitful deities, who were not able to answer their expectations, nor recompense the homage that mortals paid them, any otherwise than by error and illusion, and a fraudulent imitation of the conduct of the true God.

Hence arose the vain observation of dreams, which, from a superstitious credulity, they mistook for salutary warnings from Heaven; those obscure and equivocal answers of oracles, beneath whose veil the spirits of darkness concealed their ignorance; and, by a studied ambiguity, reserved to themselves an evasion or subterfuge, whatever might be the event. To this are owing the prognostics with regard to futurity, which men fancied they should find in the entrails of beasts, in the flight and singing of birds, in the aspect of the planets, in fortuitous accidents, and in the caprice of chance; those dreadful prodigies that filled a whole nation with terror, and which, it was believed, nothing could expiate but mournful ceremonies, and even sometimes the effusion of human blood: in fine, those black inventions of magic, those delusions, enchantments, sorceries, invocations of ghosts, and many other kinds of divination.

All I have here related was a received usage, observed by the heathen nations in general; and this usage was founded on the principles of that religion of which I have given a short account. We have a signal proof of this in that passage of the Cyropædia,48where Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, gives that young prince such noble instructions; instructions admirably well adapted to form the great captain, and great king. He exhorts him, above all things, to pay the highest reverence to the gods; and not to undertake any enterprise, whether important or inconsiderable, without first calling upon and consulting them; he enjoins him to honour the priests and augurs, as[pg xix]being their ministers and the interpreters of their will, but yet not to trust or abandon himself so implicitly and blindly to them, as not, by his own application, to learn every thing relating to the science of divination, of auguries and auspices. The reason which he gives for the subordination and dependence in which kings ought to live with regard to the gods, and the benefit derived from consulting them in all things, is this: How clear-sighted soever mankind may be in the ordinary course of affairs, their views are always very narrow and bounded with regard to futurity; whereas the Deity, at a single glance, takes in all ages and events.“As the gods,”says Cambyses to his son,“are eternal, they know equally all things, past, present, and to come. With regard to the mortals who address them, they give salutary counsels to those whom they are pleased to favour, that they may not be ignorant of what things they ought, or ought not, to undertake. If it is observed, that the deities do not give the like counsels to all men; we are not to wonder at it, since no necessity obliges them to attend to the welfare of those persons on whom they do not vouchsafe to confer their favour.”

Such was the doctrine of the most learned and most enlightened nations, with respect to the different kinds of divination; and it is no wonder that the authors who wrote the history of those nations, thought it incumbent on them to give an exact detail of such particulars as constituted part of their religion and worship, and was frequently in a manner the soul of their deliberations, and the standard of their conduct. I therefore was of opinion, for the same reason, that it would not be proper for me to omit entirely, in the ensuing history, what relates to this subject, though I have however retrenched a great part of it.

Archbishop Usher is my usual guide in chronology. In the history of the Carthaginians I commonly set down four æras: The year from the creation of the world, which, for brevity's sake, I mark thus, A.M.; those of the foundation of Carthage and Rome; and lastly, the year before the birth of our Saviour, which I suppose to be the 4004th year of the world; wherein I follow Usher and others, though they suppose it to be four years earlier.

We shall now proceed to give the reader the proper preliminary information concerning this Work, according to the order in which it is executed.

To know in what manner the states and kingdoms were founded, that have divided the universe; the steps whereby[pg xx]they rose to that pitch of grandeur related in history; by what ties families and cities were united, in order to constitute one body or society, and to live together under the same laws and a common authority; it will be necessary to trace things back, in a manner, to the infancy of the world, and to those ages in which mankind, being dispersed into different regions, (after the confusion of tongues,) began to people the earth.

In these early ages every father was the supreme head of his family; the arbiter and judge of whatever contests and divisions might arise within it; the natural legislator over his little society; the defender and protector of those, who, by their birth, education, and weakness, were under his protection and safeguard, and whose interests paternal tenderness rendered equally dear to him as his own.

But although these masters enjoyed an independent authority, they made a mild and paternal use of it. So far from being jealous of their power, they neither governed with haughtiness, nor decided with tyranny. As they were obliged by necessity to associate their family in their domestic labours, they also summoned them together, and asked their opinion in matters of importance. In this manner all affairs were transacted in concert, and for the common good.

The laws which paternal vigilance established in this little domestic senate, being dictated with no other view than to promote the general welfare; concerted with such children as were come to years of maturity, and accepted by the inferiors with a full and free consent; were religiously kept and preserved in families as an hereditary polity, to which they owed their peace and security.

But different motives gave rise to different laws. One man, overjoyed at the birth of a first-born son, resolved to distinguish him from his future children, by bestowing on him a more considerable share of his possessions, and giving him a greater authority in his family. Another, more attentive to the interest of a beloved wife, or darling daughter whom he wanted to settle in the world, thought it incumbent on him to secure their rights and increase their advantages. The solitary and cheerless state to which a wife would be reduced in case she should become a widow, affected more intimately another man, and made him provide beforehand, for the subsistence and comfort of a woman who formed his felicity. From these different views, and others of the like nature, arose the different customs of nations, as well as their rights, which are infinitely various.

In proportion as every family increased, by the birth of[pg xxi]children, and their marrying into other families, they extended their little domain, and formed, by insensible degrees, towns and cities.

These societies growing, in process of time, very numerous; and the families being divided into various branches, each of which had its head, whose different interests and characters might interrupt the general tranquillity; it was necessary to intrust one person with the government of the whole, in order to unite all these chiefs or heads under a single authority, and to maintain the public peace by an uniform administration. The idea which men still retained of the paternal government, and the happy effects they had experienced from it, prompted them to choose from among their wisest and most virtuous men, him in whom they had observed the tenderest and most fatherly disposition. Neither ambition nor cabal had the least share in this choice; probity alone, and the reputation of virtue and equity, decided on these occasions, and gave the preference to the most worthy.49

To heighten the lustre of their newly-acquired dignity, and enable them the better to put the laws in execution, as well as to devote themselves entirely to the public good; to defend the state against the invasions of their neighbours, and the factions of discontented citizens; the title of king was bestowed upon them, a throne was erected, and a sceptre put into their hands; homage was paid them, officers were assigned, and guards appointed for the security of their persons; tributes were granted; they were invested with full powers to administer justice, and for this purpose were armed with a sword, in order to restrain injustice, and punish crimes.

At first, every city had its particular king, who being more solicitous to preserve his dominion than to enlarge it, confined his ambition within the limits of his native country.50But the almost unavoidable feuds which break out between neighbours; jealousy against a more powerful king; a turbulent and restless spirit; a martial disposition, or thirst of aggrandizement; or the display of abilities; gave rise to wars, which frequently ended in the entire subjection of the vanquished, whose cities were possessed by the victor, and increased insensibly his dominions. Thus, a first victory paving the way to a second, and[pg xxii]making a prince more powerful and enterprising, several cities and provinces were united under one monarch, and formed kingdoms of a greater or less extent, according to the degree of ardour with which the victor had pushed his conquests.51

But among these princes were found some, whose ambition being too vast to confine itself within a single kingdom, broke over all bounds, and spread universally like a torrent, or the ocean; swallowed up kingdoms and nations; and fancied that glory consisted in depriving princes of their dominions, who had not done them the least injury; in carrying fire and sword into the most remote countries, and in leaving every where bloody traces of their progress! Such was the origin of those famous empires which included a great part of the world.

Princes made a various use of victory, according to the diversity of their dispositions or interests. Some, considering themselves as absolute masters of the conquered, and imagining they were sufficiently indulged in sparing their lives, bereaved them, as well as their children, of their possessions, their country, and their liberty; subjected them to a most severe captivity; employed them in those arts which are necessary for the support of life, in the lowest and most servile offices of the house, in the painful toils of the field; and frequently forced them, by the most inhuman treatment, to dig in mines, and ransack the bowels of the earth, merely to satiate their avarice; and hence mankind were divided into freemen and slaves, masters and bondmen.

Others introduced the custom of transporting whole nations into new countries, where they settled them, and gave them lands to cultivate.

Other princes again, of more gentle dispositions, contented themselves with only obliging the vanquished nations to purchase their liberties, and the enjoyment of their laws and privileges by annual tributes laid on them for that purpose; and sometimes they would suffer kings to sit peaceably on their thrones, upon condition of their paying them some kind of homage.

But such of these monarchs as were the wisest and ablest politicians, thought it glorious to establish a kind of equality betwixt the nations newly conquered and their other subjects; granting the former almost all the rights and privileges which the others enjoyed: and by this means a great number of nations, that were spread over different and far distant countries, constituted, in some measure, but one city, at least but one people.

Thus I have given a general and concise idea of mankind,[pg xxiii]from the earliest monuments which history has preserved on this subject; the particulars whereof I shall endeavour to relate, in treating of each empire and nation. I shall not touch upon the history of the Jews, nor that of the Romans.

The history of the Carthaginians, that of the Assyrians, and the Lydians, which occurs in the second volume, is supported by the best authorities; but it is highly necessary to review the geography, the manners, and customs of the different nations here treated of; and first with regard to the religion, manners, and institutions of the Persians and Grecians; because these show their genius and character, which we may call, in some measure, the soul of history. For to take notice only of facts and dates, and confine our curiosity and researches to them, would be imitating the imprudence of a traveller, who, in visiting many countries, should content himself with knowing their exact distance from each other, and consider only the situation of the several places, their buildings, and the dresses of the people; without giving himself the least trouble to converse with the inhabitants, in order to inform himself of their genius, manners, disposition, laws, and government. Homer, whose design was to give, in the person of Ulysses, a model of a wise and intelligent traveller, tells us, at the very opening of hisOdyssey, that his hero informed himself very exactly of the manners and customs of the several people whose cities he visited; in which he ought to be imitated by every person who applies himself to the study of history.

As Asia will hereafter be the principal scene of the history we are now entering upon, it may not be improper to give the reader such a general idea of it, as may at least make him acquainted with its most considerable provinces and cities.

The northern and eastern parts of Asia are less known in ancient history.

To the north areAsiatic SarmatiaandAsiatic Scythia, which answer to Tartary.

Sarmatia is situated between the riverTanais, which separates Europe and Asia, and the riverRha, orVolga. Scythia is divided into two parts; the one on this, the other on the other side of mountImaus. The nations of Scythia best known to us are theSacæand theMassagetæ.

The most eastern parts are,Serica, Cathay;Sinarum regio, China; andIndia. This last country was better known anciently than the two former. It was divided into two parts; the one on this side theGanges, included between that river and theIndus, which now composes the dominions[pg xxiv]of the Great Mogul; the other part was that on the other side of the Ganges.

The remaining part of Asia, of which much greater mention is made in history, may be divided into five or six parts, taking it from east to west.

I. Upper Asia, which begins at the river Indus. The chief provinces areGedrosia, Carmania, Arachosia, Drangiana, Bactriana, the capital of which wasBactra;Sogdiana, Margiana, Hyrcania, near the Caspian sea;Parthia, Media, its chief cityEcbatana;Persia, the cities ofPersepolisandElymais;Susiana, the city ofSusa;Assyria, the city ofNineveh, situated on the riverTigris;Mesopotamia, between theEuphratesandTigris;Babylonia, the city ofBabylonon the river Euphrates.

II. Asia between the Pontus Euxinus and the Caspian Sea.Therein we may distinguish four provinces. 1.Colchis, the riverPhasis, and mountCaucasus. 2.Iberia.3.Albania; which two last-mentioned provinces now form part of Georgia. 4. The greaterArmenia. This is separated from the lesser by the Euphrates; from Mesopotamia by mountTaurus; and from Assyria by mountNiphates. Its cities areArtaxataandTigranocerta, and the riverAraxesruns through it.

III. Asia Minor.This may be divided into four or five parts, according to the different situation of its provinces.

1.Northward, on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus;Pontus, under three different names. Its cities are,Trapezus, not far from which are the people calledChalybesorChaldæi;Themiscyra, a city on the riverThermodon, and famous for having been the abode of the Amazons.Paphlagonia, Bithynia; the cities of which are,Nicæa,Prusa,Nicomedia,Chalcedonopposite to Constantinople, andHeraclea.

2.Westward, going down by the shores of the Ægean sea;Mysia, of which there are two. TheLesser, in which stoodCyzicus,Lampsacus,Parium,Abydosopposite to Sestos, from which it is separated only by the Dardanelles;Dardanum,Sigæum,Ilion, orTroy; and almost on the opposite side, the little island ofTenedos. The rivers are, theÆsepus, theGranicus, and theSimois. MountIda. This region is sometimes called Phrygia Minor, of whichTroasis part.

TheGreater Mysia.Antandros,Trajanopolis,Adramyttium,[pg xxv]Pergamus. Opposite to this Mysia is the island ofLesbos; the cities of which are,Methymna, where the celebratedArionwas born; andMitylene, which has given to the whole island its modern name Metelin.

Æolia.Elea,Cumæ,Phocæa.

Ionia.Smyrna,Clazomenæ,Teos,Lebedus,Colophon,Ephesus,Priene,Miletus.

Caria.Laodicea,Antiochia,Magnesia,Alabanda. The riverMæander.

Doris.Halicarnassus,Cnidos.

Opposite to these four last countries, are the islandsChios, Samos, Pathmos, Cos; and lower, towards the south,Rhodes.

3.Southward, along the Mediterranean;

Lycia, the cities of which are,Telmessus,Patara. The riverXanthus. Here begins mountTaurus, which runs the whole length of Asia, and assumes different names, according to the several countries through which it passes.

Pamphylia.Perga,Aspendus,Sida.

Cilicia.Seleucia,Corycium,Tarsus, on the riverCydnus. Opposite to Cilicia is the island ofCyprus. The cities are,Salamis,Amathus, andPaphos.

4.Along the banks of the Euphrates, going up northward;

TheLesser Armenia.Comana,Arabyza,Melitene,Satala. The riverMelas, which empties itself into the Euphrates.

5.Inland:

Cappadocia; the cities whereof are,Neocæsarea,Comana Pontica,Sebastia,Sebastopolis,Diocæsarea,Cæsarea, otherwise calledMazaca, andTyana.

LycaoniaandIsauria.Iconium,Isauria.

Pisidia.SeleuciaandAntiochiaofPisidia.

Lydia.Its cities are,Thyatira,Sardis,Philadelphia. The rivers are,CaystrusandHermus, into which thePactolusempties itself. MountSipylusandTmolus.

Phrygia Major.Synnada,Apamia.

IV. Syria, now namedSuria, called under the Roman emperors theEast, the chief provinces of which are,

1.Palestine, by which name is sometimes understood all Judea. Its cities are,Jerusalem,Samaria, andCæsarea Palestina. The riverJordanwaters it. The name of Palestine is also given to the land of Canaan, which extended along the Mediterranean; the chief cities of which were,Gaza,Ascalon,Azotus,Accaron, andGath.

2.Phœnicia, whose cities are,Ptolemais,Tyre,Sidon, andBerytus. Its mountains,LibanusandAntilibanus.

3.Syria, properly so called, orAntiochena; the cities whereof are,Antiochia,Apamia,Laodicea, andSeleucia.

4.Comagena.The city ofSamosata.

5.CÅ“lesyria.The cities are,Zeugma,Thapsacus,Palmyra, andDamascus.

V. Arabia Petræa.Its cities are,Petra, andBostra. MountCasius.Deserta. Felix.

Back to IndexNext