The sun., 1905-08-06

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| Arst uhAptee that, nxna4ly which endDd h.C
sis, ths sists pesviousN rnsntlcnsd. I'M
chapters, thsrsSors. Qf his book which sesn
to call for partioulSr attentlon are thoe(
which deal with the beginnings OF Hellsnis
civilization, upon which the eycavatons 81
Troy, Tiryns and MycenH. In Crete and else
whore have of late thrown % much light
This topic 10 treated with desirab'e minute
meas and with obvious recognition OF the
most recent discoveries In the first eighty
pages Of the text, and there Is an appendix
Of some ten pages on the outcome OF the ex.
oavations made In Crete on the sites oil
CnosJus and Phaestus. II Is these Sec
tons of the work 10 which those already
oonversant with tho record Of Greece In the
historical period are naturally attracted.
In tho second chapter DR.. Hertzberg
expresses the opinion that the actual conpi-
ton Of Greece down to the beginning OF
the Olympiads may lbe sketched In q few
sentences. II is undisputed that the Greek
people belonged to the great Indo-Ger-
manic or Aryan family, and stand closest
ethnographically to the Old Italio branch
whose acquaintance Is made later by stu
dents on the peninsula Of the Apennines.
Dr. Hertzberg is one Of those who hold that
the earliest home Of the original Greeks
must be sought In the interior OF Asia.
Whether the Indo- -Germanio tribes at the
time Of their mig ration into Greece found
already there an older population, which
they expelled, destroyed or subjugated.
has not been determined with any degree
Of certainty. The route also by which
the original Greeks came from Asia-if they
came thenoe-into Hellas Is sill a subject
Of dispute. DR.. Hertzberg deems it most
probable that there was a series OF different
migrations from the north. Whether.
however, the whole mass Of the people
afterward known as Greeks made their
way around the Black Sea to the Danube
and entered the Hellenic peninsula from
that direction. or whether at least part
OF the Greek tribes and Of the peoples near
eat akin to them wandered through Asia
Minor. and. leaving behind a part OF their
kinfolk on the western border OF Anatolia.
crossed the straits on both sides OF the
Propontis-these are acknowledged TO be
questions as yet undetermined.
SO much is fixed, however, that In the
earliest period Of Greek history we find
established in the territory between eastern
Macedonia and TB larum, as we'll as In
Eubea and the 40 called Ionian Islands.
a large group Of peoples. substantially
alike. and subdivided into numerous larger
and smaller tribes. These DR.. Hertz5erg
calls tho original Greeks. OF course, he
does not fail to point out that In the his
torio period the ancient population was
by the Greeks known as the Pelasgians.
but he considers It In the highest degree
doubtful whether the ancient Greeks called
themselves 30. He Is inclined to accept
the view which makes -Pelasgians' signify
merely the anctents." ;" the bestowal of this
term on the earliest Greeks not originating
until the dominant civilized tribes had
formed closer. union under the name Of
Hellenes. It is, in short, pronounced
most probable that the terms Pelasgisns,
Achelns and Hellenes apply. not to dis
tinct nationalities, but merely to different
stages in the national development OF the
Greek people themselves. In accordance
with this theory, DIR. Hertzberg under
takes to describe the process of growth
from the conditions of the Pelasgic age,
first to those Of the Achean civilization
and then to the development Of the noblest
tribes into the ripe culture OF the classical
Hellenic age.
Promising that Dr. Hertzberg, when
the first chapter OF this volume,
was apparently unacquaintsd with the
discoveries made In Crete, for an account
OF which In an appendix and for allusions
inserted In the text We arc probably in
debtsd to Prof w. N. Bates, We purpose to
outline In q few sentences the German
summary Of the main features Of
tho history OF tho Greeks In It's earliest
stage as that was revealed to him mainly
by the excavations made in Troy, Tiryns
and Mycens. In the Pelasgic period We
find the ancient Greeks In conditions that
are, it is true. still primitive and rude. but
still, In spite Of many savage traits, no
longer really barbarous. At the earliest
period Of which Dr. Hertxberg had any
light he could distinguish IN the mass Of
the ancient Greeks in the valley Of the
Axius and the high mountains Of Laconla,
already we'll differentiated the tribes, on the
one hand. that had made the transition from
a hunters and shepherds life to agri-
culture and fxed habitations, and those,
on the other, that for the most part still
held to a pastoral life and dwelt principally
In the higher mountains. The latter repre-
sented for long time half nomadic, rest
less element among the Greeks. They
were always ready. as the Dorians were to
be, under the pressure Of circumstances,
10 leave their homes. to conquer new ones
and to bring dlsqu;et and insecurity into
regions already civilized. Such pressure
came especially from the barbarian tribes
Of the north, which during the dark ages
Of the Greek prehistoric period were
encroaching on the area over
which the Pelasgio tribes, relatively ad-
yanced III culture, had spread themselves,
Even during the later periods their preda-
tory inoursions into Greek territory often
In the islands Of the Egean
Sea another, possibly Csrian, population
close up to the outskirts Of the old
Greek tribes.
Dr. Hertzberg does not attempt to COM
pute how long the Greeks continued in the
quiet Pelasgian condition He believes,
however, that the causes can be discsrned
which In hundred different localities in
1reece led to internal confusion and DOW
erful fermentation, out Of which In time
wore evolved the 1lmightly' Acheans.