The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1909-01-06
ROYAL STRONG ARMS
Famous Monarchs That RivaIed
the Mighty Samson.
AMAZING FEATS OF MUSCLE.
The Emperor Maximianus Could Lift
Three Men With One Hand-Augus
tus the Strong Of saxony Carried .
Horse and Its Rider on His Back

l0FGo mcH WIN oHo fiHHu-SSu8us
tus the Strong Of saxony Carried 9
Horse and Its Rider on His Back.
Curlously enough, a large percentage
Of the notably strong men Of history
have been of royal blood. One of the
earliest Of these royal athletes was
Maximianus, called "Maximianus Her
cules" because OF his great strength
He was the son of peasant and had
an enormous physique. He became Il
common soldier and was finally made
emperor by acclaim Of his fellow sol
diers during stormy period of Ro-
man history.
Mayimianus' strength WITS prodi
gious. II was said that on foot he
could run down fox, that he could
lift three men with one hand and that
by gripping the wheel OF n chariot
with one finger he could resist the pull
of three horses. Like most men OF
great physical strength, Maximianus
was heavy eater History records
that his daily allowance was forty
pounds of meat and eighteen bottles OF
wine.
Augustus the Strong of Saxony was
another of these royal Samsons He
would often seize two of his courtiers,
grasping one with his right hand and
another with bis left, holding them up
at arms length and playfully twirling
them about.
On one occasion the horse ridden by
one Of his attendants became balky
and refused to bulge. After some min.
utes Of eoaxing the king dismounted
placed his Herculean shoulder under
the horses chest, grasping 1t by the
fore legs. and calmly walked away
with both horse and rider This re-
markable performance was witnessed
by a number of courtiers and attend
ants.
King Richard of England cCoeur dc
Llon'J had tremendous strength. Dur
Ing his captivity In Germany he gave
terrible demonstration of his physical
powers. The son of one of the ward.
ems was youth locally renowned for
his muscular strength and In his as
surance invited the royal captive to an
exchange Of buffets. The young man
by cast of the dice won the right to
the first stroke and struck the king n
staggering blow on the side of the
head. 1t was then the kings turn, and
he landed blow Just behind his OPP
ponent's ear so heavy that the man
was instantly killed
This incident Is used In Sir Walter
SCOTS famous historical novel "Iyan.
hoe" where King Richard, the "Black
Knight" and the Jolly outlaw Friar
Tuck have an exchange OF Bullets,
without, however. any fatal result
Dom Pedro l.. emperor of Brazil. Is
also on the list OF royal strong men.
On the occasion of n carnival he mr.
ranged matters so that he was stand,
ing on the bow Of the royal barge be
tween two of his s,ateliest courtiers.
Suddenly in the midst of the festivities
the king reached out grasped court
Ter with each hand, and. after holding
them for few moments squlrming In
the air and begging to be released he
relaxed his grip and allowed them to
drop plump into the water, amid the
frantic applause OF the huge crowd
that had assembled to view their mon
arch. The king Joined heartily IN the
general hilarity, but what the drenched
courtiers thought about this exquisite
Joke Is not recorded
Peter the Great of Russia, like Char
lemagne. possessed great physical IA
well rs mental power His years OF
work us blacksmith and ship carpen-
ter had so developed naturally pow
erful physique that he was believed tn
he the strongest man In Russia.
The story Is told that certain
blacksmith IN n little country town had
boosted that he was the only black
smith In the world who could lit his
own anvil. The emperor, hearing of
the blacksmith's boast. disguised him
self as n workman and with single
companion set out for the blacksmith
village On learning of their errand
the blacksmith without n word laid
aside his tools and. grasping the anvil
with his brawny hands. lifted II with
great effort about Il foot from the floor.
Then Peter took hold Of the anvil,
raised 1t Il foot, two feet, three, higher
and higher. TIL no finally swung II TO
his shoulder and calmly walked away
with It.
Charlemagne was said to DO the most
powerful man physically OF his time.
One OF his favorite feats of strength
was to break the heaviest horseshoe by
RrtDDiup If With one hAnu.