Beacon Lights of History, Volume 03 | Page 2

took no cognizance of the higher aspirations of man The revenge of
woman under degradation Women, under Paganism, took no interest in
what elevates society Men, therefore, fled to public amusements No
true society under Paganism Society only created by Christianity
PAGAN SOCIETY.
GLORY AND SHAME.
Glories of the ancient civilization A splendid external deception Moral
evils Imperial despotism Prostration of liberties Some good emperors
Disproportionate fortunes Luxurious living General extravagance Pride
and insolence of the aristocracy Gibbon's description of the nobles The
plebeian class Hopelessness and disgrace of poverty Popular
superstitions The slaves The curse of slavery Degradation of the female
sex Bitter satires of Juvenal Games and festivals Gladiatorial shows
General abandonment to pleasure The baths General craze for
money-making Universal corruption Saint Paul's estimate of Roman
vices Decline and ruin a logical necessity The Sibylline prophecy
Authorities
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME III.
Cleopatra Tests the Poison which She Intends for Her Own Destruction
on Her Slaves.... Frontispiece After the painting by Alexander Cabanel.
Justinian Orders the Compilation of the Pandects After the painting by
Benjamin Constant.
The Temple of Karnak After a photograph.
The Laocoön _After the photograph from the statue in the Vatican,
Rome_.

The Death of Archimedes _After the painting by E. Vimont_.
Race of Roman Chariots _After the painting by V. Checa_.
Sale of Slaves in a Roman Camp _After the painting by R. Coghe_.
Marcus Tullius Cicero _From the bust in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence_.
Cleopatra Obtains an Interview with Caesar _After the painting by J.L.
Gerome_.
Death of Cleopatra After the painting by John Collier.
A Roman Bacchanal _After the painting by W. Kotarbinski_.

GOVERNMENTS AND LAWS.
GREEK AND ROMAN JURISPRUDENCE.
624 B.C.-550 A.D.
There is not much in ancient governments and laws to interest us,
except such as were in harmony with natural justice, and were designed
for the welfare of all classes in the State. A jurisprudence founded on
the edicts of absolute kings, or on the regulations of a priestly caste, is
necessarily partial, and may be unenlightened. But those laws which
are gradually enacted for the interests of the whole body of the
people,--for the rich and poor, the powerful and feeble alike,--have
generally been the result of great and diverse experiences, running
through centuries, the work of wise men under constitutional forms of
government. The jurisprudence of nations based on equity is a growth
or development according to public wants and necessities, especially in
countries having popular liberty and rights, as in England and the
United States.
We do not find in the history of ancient nations such a jurisprudence,
except in the free States of Greece and among the Romans, who had a

natural genius or aptitude for government, and where the people had a
powerful influence in legislation, until even the name of liberty was not
invoked.
Among the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians the only laws were
the edicts of kings or the regulations of priests, mostly made with a
view of cementing their own power, except those that were dictated by
benevolence or the pressing needs of the people, who were ground
down and oppressed, and protected only as slaves were once protected
in the Southern States of America. Wise and good monarchs doubtless
issued decrees for the benefit of all classes, such as conscience or
knowledge dictated, whenever they felt their great responsibilities, as in
some of the absolute monarchies of Europe; but they never issued their
decrees at the suggestions or demands of those classes for whom the
laws were made. The voice of the people was ignored, except so far as
it moved the pity or appealed to the hearts and consciences of their
rulers; the people had, and claimed, no rights. The only men to whom
rulers listened, or by whom they were controlled, were those whom
they chose as counsellors and ministers, who were supposed to advise
with a view to the sovereign's benefit, and that of the empire generally.
The same may be said in general of other Oriental monarchies,
especially when embarked in aggressive wars, where the will of the
monarch was supreme and unresisted, as in Persia. In India and China
the government was not so absolute, since it was checked by feudatory
princes, almost independent like the feudal barons and dukes of
mediaeval Europe.
Nor was there probably among Oriental nations any elaborate
codification of the decrees and laws as in Greece and Rome, except by
the priests for their ritual service, like that which marked the
jurisprudence of the Israelites. There were laws against murder, theft,
adultery, and other offences, since society cannot exist anywhere
without such laws; but there was no complicated jurisprudence
produced by the friction of competing classes striving for justice and
right, or even for the interests of contending parties. We