A Manual of Ancient History Part 1

A Manual of Ancient History.

by A. H. L.(Arnold Hermann Ludwig) Heeren.

PREFACE

In adding to the number of Manuals on Ancient History already published, I feel myself bound to give an account of the plan on which the present has been executed.

It was at first designed to be used in my public lectures, and from them it has grown up to what it now is. In them I did not consider it necessary to state all we know or think we know of ancient history. Many facts highly interesting to the learned historian are not adapted for public lectures. It was therefore my great object to make choice of such incidents as ought to be known by my pupils in order to the effectual prosecution of their historical studies. Consequently I have not extended my labours so far as to give an historical account of every nation, but have limited myself to those most remarkable for their general civilization and political eminence.

The subjects to which I have particularly directed my attention are, the formation of states, the changes in their const.i.tution, the routes by which commerce was carried on, the share which the different nations respectively took in its pursuit, and, as immediately connected with that department, their extension severally by means of colonies.

The favourable reception which my larger work, executed after a different plan, has met with, would lead me to hope for a like indulgence in this new attempt, even if the spirit of the age did not so loudly call upon every historian to direct his chief attention to these subjects. And for this reason I could not rest satisfied with a mere detail of isolated facts, but have made it my study to follow the course of events, linking them into one connected chain; so as to represent them in a condensed form by continually and carefully forcing together the main circ.u.mstances which contributed to the development of the whole.

Without this, history in general would be but a lifeless study, more especially that of republics, which were so numerous in ancient times, and which, from their const.i.tution being made up of political parties, everywhere present the most difficult problems for the historian's solution. Of all the larger divisions of my work, the arrangement of the Greek history I have found most troublesome, on account of the number of little states into which it is sub-divided. Historians, indeed, lighten this labour by confining themselves merely to Athens and Sparta; but by so doing they give us a very imperfect knowledge of the subject. I have endeavoured to surmount the difficulty by throwing the account of the smaller states and their colonies into the second period; by which means I have been able in the third and most important portion, the interest of which depends entirely upon the princ.i.p.al states, to carry on my history, as a whole without interruption. But in case others, who wish to make this Manual the groundwork of their lectures, should dislike this arrangement, they may very easily attach these notices to the introductory geographical survey; a plan I very often adopt in my own lectures. Upon the arrangement of the other parts, I am not aware of the necessity of making any observations. The sources from which I have drawn my materials are specified in every section. Particular references do not come within my plan; and if I have referred several times in the first two sections to my larger work, it is only on particular points, explanations of which may be sought for in vain elsewhere.

Some knowledge of ancient geography and the use of maps[a], if it has not been previously acquired by the student, should, I am convinced, always be connected with lectures on ancient history. That this need not extend to detailed explanations of ancient geography, but that it should be restricted to what is merely useful in the study of history, I have observed in the body of my work. The geographical chapters which are interspersed having been written with this intent, will, I hope, be judged of accordingly. I have taken care to arrange them so as to include the whole of the ancient world; it depends, therefore, only upon the teacher to form a more or less extensive course upon them.

[a] I have made use of D'Anville.

With regard to chronology, I have followed throughout the same uniform plan of computing time, viz. to and from the birth of Christ. By preferring this method, so convenient and certain, to the inconvenient and uncertain one of reckoning from the year of the world, I hope I have deserved the thanks of my readers. I relinquish, on the other hand, all claim to merit on the score of having more accurately defined the chronology of events which occur before the time of Cyrus. I have, on the contrary, in this part of my labour, often stated round numbers, where, in many modern publications, precise dates may be found. Exact determinations of time are only necessary, in my opinion, where a continuous development of circ.u.mstances takes place; not where unconnected facts are recorded.

The transactions of our own times have thrown a light upon ancient history, and given it an interest which it could not formerly possess. A knowledge of history, if not the only, is at least the most certain means of obtaining a clear and unprejudiced view of the great drama now performing around us. All direct comparisons, notwithstanding the many opportunities which have tempted me, I considered as foreign to my plan; but if, notwithstanding in some chapters of my work, particularly in the history of the Roman republic, I may be thought to make a reference to the transactions of the ten years during which this work has been published, I do not consider it necessary to offer any excuse for so doing. Of what use is the study of history if it do not make us wiser and better? unless the knowledge of the past teach us to judge more correctly of the present? Should I have contributed in any measure to promote this object, and should I be so fortunate as to lead the minds of my young friends to a deeper study of a science which can only in this way reward its admirers, I shall esteem it the most delightful recompense my labour can receive.

GOETTINGEN, Sept. 23, 1799.

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND AND FOLLOWING EDITIONS.

The call for a second edition of my Manual imposes upon me an obligation to supply the deficiencies of my former work. Corrections have been carefully made, and many parts completely re-written. A select list of books which treat of the respective departments of my subject is now first added; the former edition containing only references to the sources from which my facts were derived. This, I trust, will be considered an essential service to the friends of historical science, more especially the young, for whom and not for the learned these additions have been made. Their use in this place is particularly obvious, where it is in every one's power to procure the books referred to[b]. The short criticisms subjoined, where it seemed necessary, will serve as guides for their use. In the author's department of the work but little has been changed, while its form and appearance have been improved by the use of different types, by more accurate running t.i.tles, and by ranging the dates in the margin. By the adoption of the latter method the increase in the number of pages is rendered inconsiderable, notwithstanding the numerous additions which have been made to the matter. In its arrangement, this work is the same as my Manual of the History of the European States and their Colonies. Beyond this, however, these works have no relation to each other, but have been executed upon quite different principles; the present as a history of the _separate_ states of the ancient world, and the other as a general history of modern states and their colonies, as forming altogether one political system. Each, however, forms a complete work in itself, and it is by no means my intention to fill up the gulf which time has placed between them.

[b] [The author alludes to the public library at Goettingen. TR.]

I regret that the acute researches of M. Volney[c], upon the chronology of Herodotus before the time of Cyrus, came too late into my hands to be made use of in its proper place in my second edition. In the third this has been done. I lay claim, at the same time, to the thanks of the reader for giving, in an Appendix, the results of these researches, together with references to the pa.s.sages by which they are supported; leaving out, however, all extraneous matter, and everything that cannot be proved by the positive a.s.sertions of the father of history.

[c] Chronologie d'Herodote, conforme a son Texte par C. F. Volney.

Paris, 1809, 3 vols. See the _Gott. Gel. Anz._ for 1810 and 1816.

I cannot close this preface without again recurring to the advantage of the mode now becoming more and more general, of computing time in ancient history according to the number of years before Christ. The fact of its being certain and convenient has often been remarked; but besides this it possesses the great advantage of giving us at once a clear and precise notion of the interval that separates us from the incidents recorded; which it is impossible to obtain by the use of any other era, whether the year of the world, the olympiads, or the year of Rome, etc.

And yet this peculiar advantage, so great in the eyes of the teacher, has not, to the best of my knowledge, been hitherto made the subject of remark. Even for the science of history itself, this circ.u.mstance is of greater moment than might be at first supposed. Should an enquirer arise who would closely examine all ancient history according to this era--setting out from the generally received year of the birth of Christ as from a fixed point, to which the labours of M. Volney are a good beginning--the whole science would thereby acquire a firmer consistency.

For by this method all dates would not appear equally certain and equally uncertain, as they do in the eras which are computed from the year of the world; but it would be shown what is chronologically certain, what only probable, and what completely uncertain, according as we should recede from the clearer into the more obscure regions of history. The old manner of reckoning from the year of the world, in which congruity was impossible, because there was no agreement upon the point to start from, would certainly be thrown aside; but where is the harm if something better and more certain be subst.i.tuted in its place?

In the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth editions, though the increase in the number of pages is small, yet all those additions and corrections which I deemed necessary, and which the progress of knowledge and discovery, as in the case of Egypt and other countries, enabled me to effect, have been most carefully and fully made. The importance of these will be best seen by comparison.

_Goettingen_, 1828.

INTRODUCTION.

I. The sources of ancient history may be ranged under two heads; the ancient writers, and the monuments still extant. The various writers will be mentioned in their proper places, at the different divisions of this work. A general view of the ancient monuments, so far as they are sources of history, will be found in:

OBERLIN, _Orbis antiqui monumentis suis ill.u.s.trati primae lineae_.

Argentorati, 1790. Extremely defective, as many discoveries have been made since it was published.

II. GENERAL TREATISES ON ANCIENT HISTORY.

1. _The more voluminous works_ on the subject. These may be divided in two cla.s.ses: _a._ The part appropriated to ancient history, in the general treatises on universal history; _b._ Works exclusively devoted to ancient history.

_a._ To the first cla.s.s belong:

_The Universal History, ancient and modern; with maps and additions._ Lond. 1736, 26 vols. folio. Reprinted in 8vo. in 67 vols. and again in 60 vols. with omissions and additions.

This work, compiled by a society of British scholars, has been translated into German, and ill.u.s.trated with remarks, by SIEGM.

JAC. BAUMGARTEN. Halle, 1746, 4to. The Germans frequently designate it by the name of the Halle Universal History of the World: the first eighteen vols. comprise the ancient part.

WILL. GUTHRIE, JOHN GRAY, _etc._ _General History of the World, from the creation to the present time._ London, 1764-1767, 12 vols.

8vo. This work, of no estimation in the original, is rendered valuable and useful by the labours of the German translator, C. G.

HEYNE, (_Leip._ 1766, 8vo.) who has corrected the errors, inserted the dates, and added his own observations.

_b._ To the second cla.s.s belong:

ROLLIN, _Histoire ancienne des Egyptiens, des Carthaginois, des a.s.syriens, des Medes el des Perses, des Macedoniens, des Grecs._ Paris, 1824, 12 vols. 8vo.; revue par LETRONNE: the last and best edition. This work, which greatly promoted the study of ancient history in France, still maintains its well-earned reputation. [It was translated into English, 1768: best edition, 7 vols. 8vo.: frequently reprinted.] The above is generally accompanied by the _Histoire Romaine_ of the same author. See below, book v. first period, _Sources_.

JAC. BEN. BOSSUET, _Discours sur l'Histoire Universelle_. Paris, 1680, 3 vols. Frequently reprinted, being considered by the French one of their cla.s.sics.

[English translation, by RICH. SPENCER. London, 1730, 8vo.]

MILLOT, _Elemens de l'Histoire Generale_. Paris, 1772, sq.

[Translated into English, 1778, 2 vols. 8vo.: and again, an improved edition, with additions.] Edinb. 1823, 6 vols. 8vo. The ancient history is contained in the first two volumes.

# JOH. MATTH. SCHROECKH, _General History of the World_, for the use of children. Leipzic, 1779, sq. 6 vols.

# J. G. EICHHORN, _History of the Ancient World_, 1799, third edition, 1817. (First part of the History of the World.)

# DAN. G. J. HUEBLER, _Sketch of the General History of the Nations of Antiquity, from the birth of states to the end of the Roman commonwealth_. Freyberg, 1798-1802. Five parts; and a continuation: _History of the Romans under the Emperors, and of the contemporary Nations, until the great migration_, 1803; three parts. A work rendered extremely useful, by the judicious advantage taken by the author of the labours of other writers.

# H. LUDEN, _General History of Nations_. 1814; three parts.

# L. VON DRESCH, _General Political History_. 1815; three parts. In each of the above works the first part contains the ancient history, and exhibits the more modern views of the subject.