The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-02-15
ANCIENT Wealth..
Inc Enormous Sums Accumulated aud
Spent by Early Potentates.


iseum, for intancc, thinks of tho
cost, and wonders where the money
came from. But when, by chance, Il
learned person suggests tho inquiry,
only an idiot, says tho London Stand,
ard, fails to be struck for moment.
1T is 50 curious that whilo modern
States, with all tho accumulated
wealth of tho antique world ut their
back, and the treasures of Mexico,
California, Australia, the Transvaal
in addition, have to consider ways
and means with anxious caro- before
building Government oflico, tho
carly monarchs raised palaces and
temples by tho hundred at will. The
thoughtless have ready cxplana-
tion--slavc labor did it all. But in
tho first place, the slaves had to be
procured somehow-by war or pur-
chase-and either means was cxprn-
sive. There is reply to that oh.
lection equally facilo- tho war paid
its own cost in loot. But this only
leads us q stop backward. Tho loot
must have been enormous and where
did it como from? In tho second
place, those slaves had to be fcd, and
howovcr cheap their rations the sum
total must havo bcon immense when
such vast numbers were employed.
But captlves Of war could only do
rough work. They might build tho
Coliseum or tho Pyramids, directed
by an army Of skilled craftsmcn
But tho culture Of Assyrain pal
aces, tho painting Of Egyptian
temples and tombs, must havo been
effected by artists, probably froc, or,
if slavos, trained at great expense.
When wo read that tho city of Dur.
''"i s "i'" "aS CleaIcu On tn ompIy
plain, by order Of tho King, in eight
years, stunding on mound of brick
seven hundred acres in area, its
walls sixty feet high, broad enough
for seven chariots to run abreast,
and faced with stone, all the owl,
donce is needed to make us credit
tho story; but the marvel becomes far
greater when we observe the miles
of sculpturcd stone that decorated
Sargon's palace with colossal bulls
on each side of every doorway. No
unpracticed hand carved those re.
liefs. They arc tho work Of artists,
not mado for sale when wanted, but
to order, zach slab telling its frug,
ment of the royal annals. We're all
the sculptors of the Empire sum.
moned to this task, to be finished in
eight years? But tho tombs of pri
vato individuals in Egypt must have
beer painted at tho cost of tho fam.
lily by masters Of tho craft; animals
and birds show skill not to bo sur.
passed. We may bc quito sure that
work like this was highly pnid,-by
comparison, that is, with slave labor
So tho question recurs, how much
gold and silver did these ancicnts
possess? In tho Roman timo mon
appear to havo been struck with the
evidence Of vast wealth displayed by
their predecessors, such as the
Cmsars could not equal. But they
escaped the difficulty with ease by
granting them riches literally beyond
the dreams OF nvarico. DR.. Arbuth.
not, for example, has patiently reck,
oncd up the amount ot treasure
hcapcd upon tho pilo Of Sardanpulus
by Athenaous, and he finds that it
cnmo to GlG,053, l2O,O 900 in om
money at the loast; for if compu.
tation which Athcnneus himself sug
gests be admitted tho total would be
about twice as large. After this the
statement Of Diodorus--that the
Pharaohs counted upon n revenue OF
tl33,OOO,OOO annually from gold
mines III the Bishari Desert, and
drew al equal snm by tuxntion---is
very moderate. But when no same
most valuable writer-- who talked non
sense only when he repeated the
words OF other men----comes to dcu
with Babylon, be lets himself 20
There was Il gold statue Of Zeno~-
tho Greek assigned his own gods tc
Babylon rs uauak-forty fcot high; o
Rhcn equally tall, with q lion O.
gold at each knee, and silver serpent.
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