A BRIEF HISTORY OF

ANCIENT PEOPLES
INTRODUCTION

History is a record of what man has done. It treats of the rise and growth of the different nations which have existed, of the deeds of their great men, the manners and customs of their peoples, and the part each nation has taken in the

progress of the world.

Dates are reckoned

from the birth of Christ,

the central point in history. Time before that event is

denoted as B. C.; time after, A. D. (Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord).1

Three Divisions.-History is distinguished as Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern. Ancient history extends from the earliest time to the fall of the Roman Empire (476 a. D.); Mediæval, or the history of the Middle ages, covers about a thousand years, or to the close of the 15th century; and Modern history continues to the present time.

The only Historic Race is the Caucasian, the others having done little worth recording. It is usually divided into three great branches: the Ar'yan, the Semitic, and the Hamit'ic. The first of these, which includes the Persians, the Hindoos, and nearly all the European nations, is the one to which we belong. It has always been noted for its intellectual vigor. The second embraces the Assyrians, the Hebrews, the Phoenicians, and the Arabs. It has been marked by religious fervor, and has given to the world the three faiths-Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan-which teach the worship of one God. The third branch 2 includes the Chaldeans and the Egyptians. It has been remarkable for its massive architecture.

Ancient Aryan Nation.-Asia was probably the birthplace of mankind. In a time far back of all history there lived in Bactria (map, p. 11) a nation that had made considerable progress in civilization. The people called them

1 This method of reckoning was introduced by Exiguus, a Roman abbot, near the middle of the 6th century. It is now thought that the birth of Christ occurred about four years earlier than the time fixed in our chronology. The Jews still date from the Creation, and the Mohammedans usually from the Hegira (p. 326), 622 A. D.

2 The Chaldeans were a mixed people, and are variously classed as Semitic, Hamitic, or Turanian. Those nations of Europe and Asia that are not Aryan or Semitic are frequently termed Turanian. This branch would then include the Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, Turks, Tartars, Lapps, Finns, Magyars, etc. Iran (e'-rahn), or Aria, the old name of Persia (the "land of light"), is opposed to Turan, the barbarous region around (the "land of darkness"). The Aryan (Indo-European) and Semitic languages have certain resemblances, but the so-called Turanian dialects bear little resemblance to one another.

selves Aryas or Aryans,-those who go straight or upward. They dwelt in houses, plowed the soil, ground their grain in mills, rode in vehicles, worked certain metals, calculated up to 100, and had family ties, a government, and a religion.1

Aryan Dispersion.-How long our Aryan forefathers lived united in their early home, we have no means of knowing. As they increased in numbers, they would naturally begin to separate. When they moved into distant regions, the bond of union would become weaker, their language would begin to vary, and so the seeds of new tongues and new nations would be sown. To the south-east these Aryan emigrants pushed into Persia and northern India; to the west they gradually passed into Europe, whence, in a later age, they settled Australia and America. In general, they drove before them the previous occupants of the land. The peninsulas of Greece and Italy were probably earliest occupied. Three successive waves of emigration seem to have afterward swept over central Europe. First came the Celts (Kelts), then the Teutons (Germans), and finally the Slaves.2 Each of these appears to have crowded the preceding one farther west, as we now find the Celts in Ireland and Wales, and the Slaves in Russia and Poland.

1 These views are based on similarities of language. About 600,000,000 people-half the population of the globe-speak Aryan languages. These contain many words which have a family likeness. Thus, night, in Latin, is noct; in German, nacht; and in Greek, nykt. Three, in Latin, is tres; in Greek, treis; and in Sanscrit (the ancient language of the Hindoos), tri. All such words are supposed to have belonged to one original speech, and to suggest the life of that parent race. Thus we infer that the Aryans had a regular government, since words meaning king or ruler are the same in Sanscrit, Latin, and English; and that they had a family life, since the words meaning father, mother, brother, sister, etc., are the same in these kindred tongues. Some recent theories discredit successive western migrations, place the primitive Aryan home in Europe, and argue that the Indo-Iranians emigrated from Europe to Asia.

2 This word originally meant "glorious," but came to have its present signification because at one time there were in Europe so many bondsmen of Slavonic birth.

The following table shows the principal peoples which have descended from the ancient races:

Commencement of Civil History.-History begins on the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.1 There the rich alluvial soil, the genial climate, and the abundant natural products of the earth, offered every inducement

1" The Nile valley and the Tigris-Euphrates basin were two great oases in the vast desert which extended from west to east very nearly across the eastern hemisphere. These favored spots were not only the two centers of early civilization, but they were rivals of each other. They were connected by roads fit for the passage of vast armies. Whenever there was an energetic ruler along the Nile or the Tigris. Euphrates, he at once, as if by an inevitable law, attempted the conquest of his com. petitor for the control of western Asia. In fact, the history of ancient as well as modern Asia is little more than one continuous record of political struggles between Egypt and Mesopotamia, ending only when Europe entered the lists, as in the time of Alexander the Great and the Crusaders."