The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-10-15
Outlines of Ancient IIiatory.

outlines OF Ancient BIstOry.
Tho marked improvement effected in the
scope and quality Of manuals designed for the
uso of schools Is one OF the most striking fea-
lures Of the literary activity Of our time. The
books for young students are often pre-
parod by men Of remarkable attainmonts
and un1uestioncd authority In their particular
fields Of research and the average level OF this
kind Of composition has thus been raised no
high that the jejune and defective treatises OF
twenty years ago would now be looked upon
with surprise and derision. The extent and
Importance of tho change wrought in this d.
rcction will become at once apparent, IL we
compare any historical compendium employed
by the last generation OF school teachers with
the Outlines of Ancient Historv by p. " N.
MYERS tHarpcrs). 1t is not easy to underrate
tho difficulty Of providing the young student
with succinct historical handbook which shall
overlook none Of the established results Of
modern discovery and criticism. but which at
the same time shall avoid reproducing any
OF the specious solutions OF historical prob
lens which. although recommended by great
names. must be still described as mere conjec-
lures and hypothesis 1t Is perhaps scarcely
possible TO execute such task without failing
into some errors OF detail but the success OF
Mr.. Myers must be pronounced highly credita-
BILE. and wo have no doubt that his book will be
heartily welcomed in schools and colleges
Among tho merits Of this book will be specially
remarked the space given to tho history Of
Egypt. and to that OF the old Chaldean civiliza-
ton as we'll as Of the ASS rian empire and Of the
later Babylonian monarchy. The chapters on
the early history OF Greece. and on the print
tive distribution and relation OF races and tribes
in the Italian peninsula. attest an adequate
knowledge OF the conclusions reached by mod
orr IN al and uhilOloUiSta His aeti-
mates of tho achievements and influence Of Al
exander OF Hannibal's military genius. and OF
the many-sided ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Of Caesar,
express in a concise way the prevailing views
OF scholars. and his account Of the Greek and
Roman literatures is n sufficiently faithful re-
lex OF orthodox opinion.
For the very reason however that this book
deserves to be treated seriously It may he we'll to
point out few defects which may easily be cor
rected in subsequent edition. In the first place.
it seems to us that book OF this kind should
have included some reference to the ancient
civilizations OF other countries besides those In
Immediate proximity to tho Mediterranean
BASIN When will our school books recognize
that China and India have their ancient histo-
ries. to say nothing of Japan and the Annamite
peninsula? This act of omission the author
would doubtless explain by saying that these
countries Law beyond the horizon of the world
from which our own civilization has been
derived. But even II complete isolation
would justify silence-an admission we
are by no means disposed to m Make. can can
direct relation with Mediterranean countries.
first by the commercial routes that followed the
Persian Cult and the Red Sea, and subsequent
~ by the conquests made by the Persian Kings
in the Punjab. and repeated by Alexander. In
the chapters devoted to Egypt, the high de-
gree of civilization exhibited in the works of the
teigible by placing the era of Mcnes, the legen-
Io,v founder Of theemrirc. MS late as b. C. 900
NJ, -, -, -. .hia Ia,a a. ~, 49,,
Inc author seiec'ioh oi 'his "a.e IS 'he more
A., ,'. T. a., go - ~, -
evidence Oh 'he monuments 10 M 'asor ol inc
higher figures preferred by BOckh. Cnger
,n' ~. any ON" '. Ii,a,,'n
that given by Marietta and Lcn2rmqpt, and
5000 years later than that fixed by Bockh
n@ % s a Hi lay agon
the fact that the hard work of the Common
wealth no Wa 81 dR me by s ra WG ] 1r sna
educated rs their masters; even the most sue
cnct allusion 70 the subject should not fail to
siderable number of Athenian citizens and the
yoSt slave popuation; Ihe author fails also n 10
conversion. and leads the reader 10 infer that
Christianity displaced paganism az the religion
| place Christianity on the footing Of other tolcr-
ated religions. and ii was not until a consider
! able time had elapsed that pusansm was
denied equal privileges. Mr., Myers also omits
10 notice the widely different character of the
| belonged to it in western Europe. In Greece
| and generally throughout the Greek world,
| which had been somuch widencdby Alexander
| which the Greeks of Sicily and southern Italy
| had been subjected. and which the Ibcrians
| and the Gauls subsequently experienced
| They were allowed to retain their local ins,itu-
| lions and n large measure of solf-govcrnment
| u fact which, as Finlay has said would of it.
self explain tho far more tenacious vitality OK
! hibted by the Eastern than by the Western
sc He rr rc i bo MN h sSi i" IN
this volume about the intoierabIo load of taxa