The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 02

by Unknown

It may indeed be true, when we turn over the first pages of the annals of the world, that Asia Minor was only of secondary importance when the dynasties of Pharaoh ruled in Egypt. When the sons of Israel went down to buy corn of the Egyptian kings, we read not of the civilisation of Asia Minor, nor did she produce at any period such structures as the pyramids, or the temples of the Nile, to record the talents of her architects or the perseverance of her people; it may be that the student of history will hardly find, during the most flourishing periods of the Ionian commonwealth, a galaxy of talent, patriotism, and courage equal to that which spreads its brightness over the palmy days of Athens, when science, literature, and art flourished under the ægis of Minerva, and the greatest of her military heroes did not disdain to take lessons from philosophers, or to superintend the labours of the sculptor, the painter, and the architect.

Again, if we look to the history of ancient Rome, and consider the events which occurred there during a thousand years, we might possibly find more to admire and to attract our attention than anything which the history of Asia Minor can afford. The systematic legislation and constitution of the Roman republic, the unrestrained power of the emperors, the schemes of conquest carried on under both forms of government, and the boundless wealth amassed in the first years of the empire, are some of its characteristic features which have never been repeated elsewhere.

And to mention but one instance more, even Syria itself was also an object of greater interest than any other district in the universe ever was, either before or since. The birth of our Saviour, and the events which took place at Jerusalem during His abode on earth, have stamped upon that part of Syria a degree of interest and lofty associations which bears no parallel.

The interest of Asia Minor attaches, in a greater or less degree, to all ages, from the first dawn of history, through the classic periods of the Greek republics, and the darker ages of Byzantine misrule, down to the very times in which we live. Without pretending to give even a faint sketch of its history, I shall here refer to a few of the most interesting points by which this part of the world has been distinguished.

Here was the scene of those remarkable events which the learning or imagination of the early poets have attributed to the Heroic age. The Argonautic expedition, starting from the coast of Thessaly, proceeded through the Propontis and the Euxine, and along the shores of Bithynia, Paphlagonia, and Pontus, visiting various nations, the descriptions of which have been handed down to us with an accuracy worthy of admiration. But a still more interesting locality is presented to us on the shores of Asia Minor. Between the Simœis and Scamander, and on the plains of Troy, we may visit the spot where, in the imaginations of the poet, the gods of antiquity descended from the Olympus and joined in the sport and contests of mankind. As we approach the period of classic history, the importance of the country increases. The town of Sardis was built near the confluence of the gold-bearing Pactolus and the Hermus; and we are dazzled by the accounts of the wealth of Crœsus, which attracted the arms and fell under the bravery of the Persians, who, having crossed the Halys, established their seat of government in Sardis, in the year 548 B.C. Here they reigned for upwards of two hundred years, during which period Sardis was sacked by the troops of Athens; and the myriads of Darius and Xerxes in vain attempted to revenge the insult of putting chains on a band of freemen.

After this came the expeditions of the younger Cyrus, and the retreat of the Ten Thousand; and numerous Greek cities, chiefly on the coast of Ionia, Æolis, and Caria, founded by emigrants and exiles from the parent state of Greece, had in the meantime sprung up, flourished, and increased,—at one period independent, at another subject to Persian rule, but ever sending forth a supply of learned men, who, in the pursuits of philosophy, music, history, sculpture, painting, and architecture, were no mean rivals of their European instructors.

But Asia Minor became again the scene of war and conquest. The battle of the Granicus was an auspicious commencement of the career of Alexander, and his conquest of the peninsula was secured by the battle of Issus. But the empire which he founded, fell to pieces when the hand which had formed it no longer governed. His conquests fell into the hands of rival generals, and the plains of Asia Minor were amongst the prizes for which they fought. Antigonus Eumenes and Lysimachus established themselves in various parts with various success, but a line of kings reigned at Pergamus in uninterrupted succession until Attalus Philopator, in 133 B.C., bequeathed his kingdom to the Roman people.

Another element of discord was thus introduced into this country. Many years intervened before Rome could be said to have obtained quiet possession of the bequest. Since the death of Alexander a rival power to that of the kings of Pergamus had been silently growing up in the distant province of Pontus, the last king of which, Mithridates Eupator, exerted all his extraordinary energies, and the resources of his people, in opposing, for a long time with success, the advance of the Roman arms. In Cappadocia and in Pontus, in Isauria and in the mountainous districts of Cilicia, the rocky and almost impenetrable nature of the country enabled the native tribes long to resist the invader; and it was not until the time of Julius Cæsar and his successor, that the whole peninsula became an integral portion of the territories of the Mistress of the World. The accounts of these long-contested engagements form some of the most interesting pages in the works of the writers of the Augustan age.

Another and a brighter epoch was now to dawn upon this portion of the world; every province and every district felt the high civilisation and luxurious habits of Rome during the first years of the imperial government. New towns owed the splendour and magnificence of their public buildings to the protection of the emperors, while those which had suffered during the wars were rebuilt and enriched by the same liberal hands. New honours and privileges were granted to them, and the products of a favoured clime received fresh encouragement from universal peace. Even those convulsive throes of nature which, during this period, destroyed many of her cities and temples, were but incentives to renewed acts of liberality, as is attested by the coins and the inscriptions, which the traveller meets with in almost every part of this peninsula.