2. Athens, which most perfectly13 represented the Grecian mind, esteemed14 a fine poet, an able writer, a skillful painter or sculptor15, as much as an enthusiastic scholar of our day can do. They had a passion for beauty, and their love of liberty was in great part produced by their ardent16 longing17 for mental freedom and the gratification of their mental tastes. The worship of their gods was chiefly their admiration18 for superhuman majesty19, sublimity20, and beauty, as they conceived them, and their theology was compounded of their thirst for knowledge and their love of the mysterious, the grand, the terrible, and the beautiful. Life was of no value to them, if they could not gratify these instincts, and their tenacity21 in maintaining their liberties found its inspiration in them. They were a nation of mental enthusiasts22. They had no love of conquest for the sake of power. They were invaded by the Persians, and a handful of Greeks conquered its immense hosts with ease, by their intelligence and ardor23. It was only when they saw the splendor24 and wealth of the East, and felt that they could repeat the glorious deeds of their mythic heroes, that they became enthusiastic over the romantic idea of conquering a magnificent empire. It was the mental charm of the undertaking25 that gave to Alexander his miraculous26 success.
But the Greeks were not practical. They wanted worldly wisdom. The Lacedemonians of Sparta had no adequate[80] object when they sacrificed almost all that common humanity holds dear, to rear up model soldiers. Their ambition was confined mainly to preserving the headship of their state among the petty republics of Greece; and the resources of all the states were wasted in the effort to preserve a balance of power among the various members of the nation; or in struggles of the more powerful to obtain a leading influence. They had little political wisdom, when the independence of their territories was secured and the governments that restrained them too much from their favorite enthusiasms were abolished. Athens and all Greece admired immensely the wise measures of Solon, when he reformed the government and gave it excellent laws. But they had not the prudence27 to maintain them. In ten years all was again confusion. Most of their great men who possessed28 a special genius for government, were abandoned when they showed the most ability for benefitting their country by their wise statesmanship. Pericles alone, who was the most perfect embodiment of Grecian character, preserved his influence to the last; but it was by falling in perfectly with the tone of Grecian feeling, and he laid the foundation of innovations that corrupted29 and finally overthrew30 their liberty. He was as little practical and prudent31 as his countrymen. Beautiful in person, cultivated in mind, possessed of exquisite32 taste in literature and art, to which he devoted himself with boundless33 enthusiasm, Greece could always appreciate him. His age was the glory and joy of Greece; but when more homely34 political virtues35 were required to preserve his creations and protect this literary and artistic36 state, the people could not follow them. Their best statesmen were ostracised, banished37, or slain38, when their practical genius was most needed.
3. Rome was the opposite of this. She had a genius for producing and preserving a constitution, adding to it by slow degrees, maintaining checks and balances that preserved the machinery39 in working order, and rendered it capable of producing the most valuable results that were possible in those[81] times. To rule was her passion. She was not wanting in intelligence, but it was the homely prudence of common life, the skill to adapt means to ends. Of all the nations, she was the first to carry organization into every part of her government, and conduct everything by inexorable system and order. If Rome was resolved to rule others, she was no less resolved to rule herself. The mission of Greece was in the domain40 of thought, to develop the intellectual capabilities41 of mankind. That of Rome also required intelligence, but of a lower and more material kind. She was to teach mankind to follow an orderly development, to introduce system, to prevent ruinous clashing of interests, to teach respect for law. Greece taught the world to think to purpose; Rome to govern with effect. Each served an important purpose. Without either the world was not prepared for Christianity, which added moral order, nor for true science, which was the mature fruit of these three, and prepared the perfect civilization which was to be developed to its conclusion in a New World.
4. Rome commenced, not with the king, but with the Senate—a body of experienced men, who made the laws and appointed a king to administer them. The king, except in time of war, was only the executive, the chief magistrate42. The later kings were restive43 under this restraint and sought to place themselves above law, and the Romans at once dismissed them, appointing various officers to fill their place. The fundamental principles of government were not changed at all, or very little, except by the subsequent course of development. The Romans knew how to adapt their invincible spirit of order to all changing circumstances, and when external changes arose corresponding changes were developed, in a regular manner, within.
Thus the Roman spirit was constant under the regal government, throughout the republic, and to the close of the empire, and had then become so thoroughly established in laws and institutions as to govern the development of the new[82] states that rose out of its ruins and produced modern civilization.
At first the Roman government consisted only of the Senate and the king. The Senate was chosen from the body of citizens, and represented them. In the course of time the descendants of the first people became the aristocracy, called patricians44, who enjoyed great privileges. A class was gradually formed called the plebs, or common people, who, for some time, had no share in the government. The patricians alone could hold office, and marriage between them and plebians was illegal. But, says an able writer, “the Roman commons were the greatest commons the world ever saw, except the commons of England and America.” In the course of time, by wise and prudent management, and taking advantage of favoring circumstances, resulting from the fact that they supplied the body of soldiers to the state, without revolution, breaking the laws, or violating the ancient constitution, they obtained changes or additions to it, one after another, until they had acquired a due influence in the conduct of affairs and became fully45 a match for the patricians. It was a new lesson to mankind, and one that has had great influence on the good order of society in all later times.
5. The religious system of that great people was conducted with as much worldly prudence as all their other affairs. Their religious ceremonies were, in great part, derived46 from the Etruscans. They were conducted with much pomp by state officers, appointed for the purpose, embodying47 all the superstitions48 of the time, and embracing comparatively little of the lofty sentiment that was so prominent in Greece. Their religion was an affair of state, and intimately connected with the political working of the government. The gravest public business was made to depend on the flight of birds, on omens49 and accidents, and on the appearance of the entrails of the animals offered in the sacrifices. An artful use of these circumstances enabled the officers in power to compass many political ends. Their original gods were those of Greece,[83] adapted to their purposes and national character; but they readily adopted the divinities of all the nations they conquered. Their religion was in a high degree cool and calculating.
The preceding observations apply especially to the periods of Greece and Rome when their peculiarities50 were most fully developed in the days of their greatest glory. Though always more or less characteristic, in later times they melted more or less into one another, or were toned down and transformed by decay and a rising spirit of innovation. Especially were they displaced by Christianity.
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1
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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sculptor
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| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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sublimity
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| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
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tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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overthrew
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| overthrow的过去式 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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patricians
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| n.（古罗马的）统治阶层成员( patrician的名词复数 )；贵族，显贵 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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47
embodying
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| v.表现( embody的现在分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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49
omens
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| n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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50
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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