The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1909-05-08
ROYAL STRONG ARMS
Famous MonarChS That RiVaIed
the Mighty Samson.
AMAZING FEATS OF MUSCLE.
The Emperor Maximianus Gould Lift
Three Men With One Hand-Augus-
tus the Strong of saNony Carried a
Horse and Its Rider on His Back.

Curiously enough, large percentage
of the notably strong men of history
have been of royal blood. One of the
earliest of these royal athletes was
IMaximianus, called "Maximianus Her
,cules" 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 SOL
diers during a stormy period of Ro-
man history.
Maximianus' strength was prodi-
gious. 1t was said that on foot he
could run down a fox, that he could
lift three men with one hand and that
by gripping the wheel of chariot
with one finger he could resist the pull
Of three horses. Like most men of
great physical strength, Maxin1anus
was a 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 his 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 coaxing the king dismounted,
placed his Herculean shoulder under
the horses chest, grasping it 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 C'Coeur de
Lion') had tremendous strength. Dur
ing his captivity in Germany he gave
a terrible demonstration of his physical
powers. The son of one of the ward
ems was a 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 a cast of the dice won the right to
the first stroke and struck the king a
staggering blow on the side of the
head. 1t was then the kings turn, and
he landed a blow just behind his op
ponent's ear so heavy that the mar
was instantly killed.
This incident Is used in Sir Walter
Ecott's famous historical novel "Ivan
hoe," where King Richard, the "Blacl
Knight" and the jolly outlaw Fria
Tuck have an exchange Of buffets
without, however, any fatal result.
Dom Pedro l., emperor Of Brazil, Il
also on the list of royal strong men
On the occasion Of a carnival he ar
ranged matters so that he was stand
ing on the bow Of the royal barge be
tween two of his stateliest courtiers
Suddenly in the midst of the festivitie
the king reached out grasped court
Ter with each hand, and, after holdin
them for a few moments squirming 4
the air and begging to be released h
relaxed his grip and allowed them t
drop plump into the water, amid tn
frantic applause of the huge crow
that had assembled to view their NOR
arch. The king joined heartily in tn
general hilarity, but what the drenche
n courtiers thought about this exquisit
I joke il not recorded.
Peter the Great of Russia, like Cha
D lemagne, possessed great physical a
5 well as mental power. His years G
work as blacksmith and ship carper
, ter had so developed a naturally pow
erful physique that he was believed
a be the strongest man in Russia.
Z The story is told that a certai
blacksmith in little country town ha
n boosted that he was the only blacl
5 smith in the world who could lift b
own anvil. The emperor, hearing {
0 the blacksmiths boast, disguised hin
2 self as a workman and with a sing
companion set out for the blacksmith
y village On learning of their erran
0 the blacksmith without word lai
n aside his tools and. grasping the anv
q with his brawny hands, lifted it wit
great effort about foot from the foo
0 Then Peter took hold Of the any!
0 raised It foot. two feet, three, high
and higher, till he finally swung 1t
0 his shoulder and calmly walked aws
with II.
= Charlemagne was said to be the mo
A | ROWCAAOA man phS SAS0AAy Va AAAS $500
One of his favorite feats of strengt
% was to break the heaviest horseshoe
g gripping 1t with one hand.
A worthy successor Of Peter Il
4 Great was the late Car Alexander IL
g who was one OF the strongest men
y the world. He was often called "tl
" Russian Samson" The cars regul
~ visiting card was a Russian coin som
a what larger than our silver quartz
q which he would bend almost doub
3 with his powerful fingers.
- Alexander was also fond of breakil
10 horseshoes, and 1t is said he new
IS found one he could not break In tw
= He could take two fresh packs of car
~ and by gripping the ends with /
hands tear them straight down throul
the middle.
It is said that on one occasion a v
Is man companion expressed a wish for
haI1aH In uhfcb m pIan0