Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-25
CURIOUSLY enough, a
. large percentage OF
[ he nnta bly, strong men of

history have been of royal
blood One of the earliest of these royal
athletes was Maximianus. called "Maximanus
Hercules" because of his great strength. He
was the son of peasant, and had an enormous
physique. He became common soldier. and
was finally made Emperor by acclaim of his
fellow soldiers during stormy period OF Roman
history.
Maximianus' strength was prodigious. 1t
was said that on foot he could ran down a fox,
that he could lift three men with one hand, and
that by gripping the wheel of a chariot with
one finger he could resist the pull of three
horses Like most men OF great physical
strength, Maximianus was heavy eater. His
tory records that his daily allowance was forty
pounds of meat and eighteen bottles of wine.
Carried Horse and Rider
A UGUSTUS THE STRONG of Saxony was
n another of these royal Samsons He
would often seize two of his courtiers, grasping
me with his right hand and another with his
eft, holding them up at arms length and play
ully twirling them about.
On one occasion the horse ridden by one of
MS attendants became balky and refused to
bulge After some minutes of coaxing, the
King dismounted placed his Herculean Shout
ders under the horses chest, grasping it by the
fore legs, and calmly walked away with both
horse and rider This remarkable performance
was witnessed by number of courtiers and
attendants.
Gave the Upstart Lesson
KING RICHARD of England Occur de
~ Lion had tremendous strength. During
his captivity in Germany he gave a terrible
demonstration of his physical powers. The
son Of one of the wardens was youth locally
renowned for his muscular strength; and in
his assurance invited the royal captive to
exchange of Bullets. The young man by
east of the dice won the right to the first stroke
and struck the King staggering blow the
ide of the head 1t was then the Kings turn;
md he landed blow just behind his oppo-
1ent's ear so heavy that the man was instantly
lllled.
This incident is used in Sir Walter SCOTS
amous historical novel, "Ivanhoe," where
King Richard, the BLACK Knight" and the
oily outlaw Friar Tuck have an exchange of
Dom Pedro's Little Joke
|nOM PEDRO l.. Emperor of Brazil. is also
on the list of royal strong men. On the
ccasion OF a carnival he arranged matters SO
hat he was standing on the bow OF the royal
,arge between two of his stateliest courtiers.
! Suddenly, in the midst of the festivities the
KING reached out, grasped a courtier with each
hand and, after holding them for few
nents squirnng in the air and begging to be
released, he relaxed his grip and allowed them
drop plump into the water, amid the frantic
pplause of the huge crowd that had assem-
led to view their monarch The King joined
earthly in the general hilarity; but what the
.renched courtlers thought about this ex-
Ilisite joke is not recorded.
A Discounted Blacksmith
DETER THE GREAT of Russia, like Charlie
nagne, possessed great physical as we'll as
lcntal power. His years Of work as black
.Eaith and ship carpenter had SO developed a
aturally powerful physique that he was be-
eyed to be the strongest man in Russia
The story is told that certain blacksmith
little country town had boasted that he