than four centuries elapsed without any suit among them for divorce, or complaint of adultery. Afterwards divorces became very frequent, and for the most frivolous causes. Fathers at Rome were generally invested with the power of life and death over their children. Exposure of infants was at first somewhat frequent, but at length nearly ceased. The adoption of children by married persons who were childless was very common, on account of the privileges connected with having children, whether by issue or adoption. The funeral rites of the Romans were solemn and impressive. During the greater part of the commonwealth, the dead body was buried. Towards the close, the practice of burning the dead was generally introduced, till it became universal. After the introduction of Christianity into the empire, it fell into disuse. § It was a received opinion among the ancients, that the manes of the deceased were propitiated by blood. It was on this account their custom to slaughter, on the tomb of the deceased, those animals to which, while he was living, he was most attached; and in the more barbarous ages, men were the victims of this horrid superstition. "Arms, trappings, horses, by the hearse were led To sprinkle with their blood, the funeral flame." Dryden's Virgil. Many of the Roman sepulchres still exist in the gardens of their villas or by the public roads, (for inhumation was not allowed within the walls,) with their various monumental inscriptions. 72 Foreign Commerce. The foreign commerce of the Romans appears very unimportant, compared with the extensive mercantile transactions of our own times. Their trade, if we except the corn received on account of government from Sicily and the Levant, consisted of little else, than articles of mere luxury. Their purchases were made in bullion, as they had no exportable manufactures of their own. This circumstance necessarily restricted their commercial dealings. They traded, it is true, not only to the ports of the Mediterranean, but to the East Indies, and occasionally even to England; but the interests of commerce were little understood, and less appreciated. Traffic was dishonourable, and they who engaged in it were held in contempt. The consequence was, that it was relinquished to slaves and freemen, who seldom possessed the means to conduct it on an extensive scale. Their merchant ships were large, if they reached the burthen of fifty tons. Syria. 73. Situation and Cities. Syria lay on the east coast of the Mediterranean below Cilicia. The coast was called Phoenicia, and below it was Palestine. On the south it had Arabia and the Euphrates. Its towns and noticeable places were Antioch, Daphne, Seleucia, Damascus, Heliopolis, and Palmyra, or Tadmor. Antioch at one time, was inferior only to Rome and Alexandria in greatness and population. It is now almost depopulated, though its strong walls on both sides of the Orontes, remain. Daphne was a place consecrated to luxury, and enchanting from its cool fountains and shady groves of laurel, cypress, &c. Milton compares the garden of Eden to it- Seleucia was on the sea near the mouth of the Orontes.---The bard again speaks of "The royal towers Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings." Damascus was the capital of the Phoenicia of Libanus. Its fertile and irriguous valley has ever been famous among the orientals. Heliopolis, under the name of Baalbeck, has the remains of a magnificent temple dedicated to the sun. The whole edifice, and parti cularly the roof, glittered with gold. Palmyra gave the name of Palmyrene to a vast plain, which was united to the desert of Arabia. The bible and Josephus inform us it was founded by Solomon. It maintained a great commerce between two divisions of the ancient hemisphere. The remains of lofty edifices manifest its former magnificence, and attract the curious and astonished traveller. 74. Character of the ancient Syrians. The ancient Syrians were miserable idolaters. An instance of their worship is thus described by the poet before named. "Tammuz came next behind, Whose annual wound in Lebanon allur'd Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood Of Tammuz yearly wounded." They were also somewhat of an effeminate race, and re markable for hiding themselves from the sun, in caves, on the decease of their relatives. 75. Language. The Syrian language became a distinct tongue, so carly as the time of Jacob. It was spoken not only in Syria, but also in Mesopotamia, Chaldæa, and Assy ria. After the Babylonish captivity, it was introduced into Palestine. The Syriac is an easy and elegant, though not a very copious tongue. It abounds in many Greek words. Carthage. 76. Extent. Carthage has been briefly described in the body of this work. It may only be stated here that with its ports, it comprehended an enclosure of 23 miles. It had a cita del named Byrsa, on an eminence. § Its military prowess was at its height, under Hamilcar and Hannibal. The city was destroyed by the second Scipio, B. C. 147. It then burned incessantly during 17 days. It was rebuilt by Roman colonies. Its decay may be traced from the seventh century, when it fell into the hands of the Saracens. 77. Government and Character of the People. The Carthaginians were governed as a republic, and had two persons yearly chosen among them with regal authority. They were very superstitious as a people, and generally offered human victims to their gods. They also bore the character of being faithless and treacherous, and the proverb, Punic faith, is well known. Parthia. 78. Situation, &c. Parthia had Hyrcania on the north; Aria on the east; Carmania on the south; and Media on the west. It was a healthy country, but sterile. The people were governed by an absolute monarch. § The ancient Parthians were originally a tribe of Scythians, who being expelled from their native land, took up their abode in this part of Asia. They were a strong and warlike people, and accustomed from their infancy to the exercises of horsemanship and archery. The peculiar custom of discharging their arrows while they were retiring full speed, has been greatly celebrated by the ancients. Their flight was more formidable than their attack They totally neglected agriculture, trade and navigation, and their morals were dreadfully depraved. Their religious principles were much the same as those of the Persians. Their sovereigns affected to be gods. Persia. 79. Extent and Situation. Ancient Persia extended about 2800 miles in length from the Hellespont to the mouth of the river Indus; and about 2000 miles in breadth, from Pontus to the mouth of the Arabian gulf. 80. Government. The government of Persia was an ab T solute monarchy. The crown was hereditary, and generally bestowed on the eldest of the deceased king's legitimate children. § The kings of Persia received almost divine honours from their subjects. No one could approach the seat of majesty without prostrating himself, or remain in the presence, without holding his hands within his sleeves. Death was the consequence of violating this ceremony. Herodotus mentions that Xerxes being once in great danger by sea, many of his attendants strove who should first leap overboard to lighten the vessel, and sacrifice themselves for the preservation of their prince. The royal palace at Persepolis was extremely magnificent. The roofs and sides of the apartments were entirely covered with ivory, silver, gold, or amber. The throne was of fine gold and adorned with precious stones. The royal bed was also of gold, and two coffers were placed by it, both containing 8,000 talents. The Persian monarchs, for the most part, lived only to gratify their sensual appetites. All the delicacies and rarities of the world were sought for their table. Cicero informs us, that the revenues of whole provinces were lavished on the attire of their favorite concubines, one city being compelled to supply them with ornaments for their hair, another for their necks, &c. 81. Education. The Persians are said to have paid more particular regard to the education of their children, than any other nation. A son was never admitted into the presence of his father, till he had arrived at the age of five years, lest, if he should die before that period, his parents might be too heavily afflicted by his loss. At the age of five, learned masters taught the children of the better families, in learning and moral virtues, taking with them the utmost pains, and bestowing upon them the greatest care. 82. Punishments. The punishments in general were severe, as cutting off the right hand, decapitation, pressing to death between two large stones, &c. § The most severe punishment known in Persia, was the inhuman one of fastening the culprit between two boats, in such a manner that he was unable to move, though his head, hands and feet were left uncovered. His face, exposed to the rays of the sun, was smeared with honey, which invited innumerable swarms of flies and wasps to torment him, while the worms that bred in his excrements devoured his bowels; and the executioners compelled him, by thrusting sharp iron instrument into his eyes, to receive nourishment for the express purpose of prolonging his excruciating agonies. One victim is recorded to have lived 17 days under this complication of torments. 83. Military Art. The Persians were all trained to military exercise, but more particularly to the use of the bow. They never fought in the night, nor used any stratagem independent of their own valour. When they designed to make war upon any nation, they had the singular custom of sending heralds to demand of them earth and water, thereby commanding them to acknowledge the king of Persia, as sovereign lord of their country. 84. Religion. Their religion was in a degree idolatrous, though less so than that of the nations around them. They professed to worship the one all-wise and omnipotent God though they held fire to be holy, and the purest symbol of the divine nature. In connexion with this, they had a superstitious regard of the sun. They honoured also other elements, as the earth, the air, and water. §The Persians are supposed to have been originally instructed in the worship of the true God by their progenitor Elam, but soon to have fallen into the heresy of Zabiism. From this they are thought to have been recovered, and to have afterwards engaged in superstitious acts of reverence to the celestial bodies. In ancient times, they were destitute of temples, but erected altars for the preservation of their sacred fires, on the tops of mountains. At length Zoroaster persuaded them, for the sake of convenience, to build over each, a pyreum or fire-temple. This Zoroaster is supposed by some to have been a native of Persia, and a restorer of the religion of the Magi. MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT NATIONS. 1. All the nations of antiquity, except the Jews, were heathens and idolaters. Their system of religion was called Polytheism, as acknowledging a plurality of gods. They worshipped divinities by various representations, called idols. Forsaking the service of the only living and true God, as made known at first by traditionary, and afterwards by written revelation, they paid that homage which is due to him, to those that are by nature no God. 2. Besides angels, as presiding over particular kingdoms,— the heavenly bodies, men, beasts, birds, fishes, virtues, vices, diseases, and evil demons, were esteemed deities, and had temples built for their worship. Among the Egyptians, the principal deities were Osiris and Isis, supposed to be the sun and moon. The people however bestowed divine honours on animals, birds, insects, and even vegetables, as leeks, and onions. The poet Juvenal intimates that their religious exercises were not greatly esteemed by the Romans. In fact, they exceeded all the other ancients in these absurdities, and were extremely debased by their vile superstitions. |