The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-05-22

BIZ the intellect. but Il 10 vivifsd hy the imagi-
nation. II the account OF battle DO read on
the battlefield itself the Imagination will DO
greatly stimulated. The historical reality OF
tho victory at PatnA impresses itself more
fully on our mind Is We read on the bronze
serpent to be seen at Constantinople tho names
| OF tho Greek States which had part In It, In
the Same way Hiero OF Syracuse becomes for
more real person to us as We look at tho he'll
met which he dedicated at olympia after his
| victory over the Etruscans at Cum9 when
| the eye can see and tho hand touch the deeds
OF the ancients. We believe In them as wo should
mover do from merely reading Herodotus and
| Thucydidea Now. leaving to scholars and
| specialists the verincation OF history. Mr..
| Gardner has undertaken In the book be-
fore us tho vivincation Of ancient history.
a task which may fairly be REGARDED as be-
longing to the ordinary student. Not that the
task is a light one. A history which shall illu-
inmate the intellect and furnish wings to the
Imagination is not to be lightly entered upon
Long and laborious Is the historical training
OF the imagination To read the pages OF MS
tory. to remem Der the sequence OF events and
their dates. this 10 something. but 1t Is onlythe
first step in the study Of history The second
step is to 60 back to original documents: to
road the statements OF writer's who were con-
temporary with the events they record: to pore
over inscriptions. treaties. letters charters: to
place side by side the statements OF authori-
ties who have accepted divergent stories as to
certain occurrences, and from the comparison
Of them to elicit truth. Tho third step Is to
fuse the collected material in the fire OF imag-
nation and to remould It into new whole.
1t is Mr.. GARDENERS opinion that tho ocular
inspection Of the localities in which tho events
to be described took place 10 indispensable to
tho vivifcation Of history. The imagination
q ~ ookr 80
and interested by their prose narratives. but
It can mover be actually seized and hold
captive amid the scenes OF ancient life unless
It DO also approached through the senses
Not only must we sympathizo with the emo
lions OF tho Greeks and Romans and
share their aspirations. but We must
also see with their eyes and feel with their
hands. stand whore they stood and sail where
they sailed. To our authors mind 1t would be
satisfactory II every student OF classical
literature could climb the Acrocorinthus
and look across tho narrow sea at the
cleaning temples OF Athens: or could gaze
from the Aoropolis Of Athens to where
the highway OF the Esean is blocked BY
Egina the eyesore Of the Pirnus: or could
traverse the Grecian archipelago amid tho
clustering islands which seem to draw on the |
mariner from one to another until he reaches
new lands and fresh elm ate: or could wan
der on the Palatine and trace the walls OF early |
Rome and observe the sites Of the first temples
Of the republic. and look away thence to the
hills where stood in early times the little cit
adels which sheltered tho enemies Of tho baby-
hood Of Rome. Not only is all this pronounced
desirable. but Mr.. Gardner inclines to think
that no one who has not stood In PompeiI can
imagine the vast gulf which separates
ancient from modern manners. or understand
how far less complex was that civilization
than ours. But Of course. tho great majority
Of students cannot travel in lands OF classical
antiquity. To them substitute is offered in
the study Of archaeology. which no less than
travel acts directly on sense and imagination.
and gives to our conceptions Of ancient history
and manners vivid reality which they would
otherwise never attain.
We shall recur to this remarkable book. for
We desire to point out how much excavations
have enabled Mr. Gardner to tell us about
Naucratis and the Greeks In Egypt. about
Epldaurus and ancient medicine. and about
The successors OF Alexander and the survival
Of Greek civilization In the far East
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