Augustus Caesar's World (Foster) & The Story of the Romans (Guerber/Miller)

 The readings for this post are for my Greeks & Romans class tomorrow. I have read these chapters in previous years but, as it is a good idea to do, I read them the day before class to refresh my memory and make note of anything I want to be sure to highlight. We do reading in class, followed by narrations, and then they read the rest during the week and submit written/recorded narrations. 

In Foster's book, I am reading pages 186-194, "The Law of Moses" and "Augustus, the God." 

The Torah, or the Law of Moses, was an old book containing the first five books of the Bible. It was written even before Virgil wrote the Aeneid. It was written after the Jews were exiled to Babylon. Those who were afraid that their history would be forgotten gathered all that they could of the tales, myths, legends, stories, songs, and psalms that had been passed down, and compiled them into a Bible. It told how time and again the people who had turned from God were brought back by the prophets to worship the one true God. Their ideas of what God was like changed over time.

Before the time of Babylon, when the people thought of God as righteous and just, they thought of Him as vengeful and directing them into battle against their enemies. Before that they thought of Him as one of the many spirits of the desert. Before that they made sacrifices, even of their firstborn children and later the firstborn lambs, to whichever spirit of the desert was popular.

As time passed, these people moved from one place to the next and encountered the Phoenicians and Canannites. They worried that their spirit gods were not as powerful as the foreign gods and so began to worship and sacrifice to them instead. It was when in Egypt, still worshipping other gods, that Moses came to direct them back to the true God. 

Moses led the people out of Egypt to Mount Sinai where they encountered God, Jahveh, whose power could be seen by a pillar of smoke by day and pillar of fire by night. They were to have no idols and an ark was carried with them wherever they went for the spirit of God to be with them as they traveled. 

The next portion goes through the books of Genesis-Deuteronomy. I will say that there are some inaccuracies in her recounting of the Torah writings.  

In the beginning God created everything. On the sixth day He created man. After the Garden of Eden was ready and man placed in it, God took a rib from man and created woman. The woman was beguiled by a serpent and ate of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Foster says Tree of Life). Because of this disobedience, God exiled Adam and Eve from the garden, condemning Adam to till the ground until he returned to it.

Eve bore sons to Adam; Cain, tiller of the ground, and Abel, keeper of sheep. After a while, Cain killed Abel. Cain was then sent far away, a "vagabond on the earth forever."

There were more people born and eventually they were all evil so God decided to destroy them with a flood. He told Noah to build an ark and to take his wife, sons, and their wives into the ark, along with "every living thing went in two by two." (That's wrong also; seven each of the clean animals and two each of the unclean were taken in the ark.) After this was done the ark was sealed and the rain fell for forty days and nights. Eventually the land dried out and Noah and his family went out of the ark. The Lord said He would never again "smite the earth as I have done." Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japeth, were told to be fruitful and multiply. 

One of Shem's descendants was Abram. Abram was of Ur of the Chaldees but God told him to leave the land of his father and go where He would tell him. If he walked rightly then God would bless him with abundance and "thy seed after thee all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession." When Abram was 100 years old he had a son, Isaac.

Isaac had two sons, twins: Esau, a skillful hunter, and Jacob, man of the field. Later in his life, God told Jacob that he would no longer be called Jacob but Israel. Israel's sons were twelve but he loved Joseph most and made a coat of many colors for him. Joseph's brothers were jealous and hated him. They sold him to merchants on their way to Egypt.

In Egypt, Jospeh, though a slave, became the overseer of Potiphar's house and all that he had. Foster omits many details, but next we are told that Joseph saved up food for seven years so that when there was a famine in the land, only Egypt had stores of food, so people from all over came there to buy. Some of those people were Joseph's brothers. He knew them when he saw them, but they did not recognize him. When he told them who he was, he bade them bring Israel and all he had to Egypt. Joseph died in Egypt.

Time passed and a new pharaoh rose up in Egypt who did not know Joseph. As the Israelites were getting to be "more and mightier" than the Egyptians, he became oppressive to them. He demanded they make bricks. Also, because of their numbers, he commanded that all male Hebrew babies were to be killed. Of course there was a male born to a Hebrew of the house of Levi. His mother hid him until he got too big to hide, so she made a basket of bulrushes and set it adrift in the river. She had his sister, Miriam, watch over him. After a while, the daughter of Pharaoh came down by the water and found the baby. She named him Moses and raised him as her own. 

I am going to kind of summarize the rest of this chapter (that's not how a narration should go). Moses killed an Egyptian and then was sought by Pharaoh. Moses fled to Midian. He became a herder of flock and went to the land of Horeb, "the mountain of God." Here he saw the burning bush and was told that he would be sent to deliver the people from the Egyptians.

Skipping all of the plagues, Foster then moves to the Passover; the Israelites were to mark their doorposts with the blood of the lamb. The angel of the Lord "passed over" those houses, but smote the first born of every other house. Pharaoh let the people go, but then changed his mind. The Red Sea was divided; the Israelites walked on dry land through it; but the Egyptians were drown when they tried to follow. 

At Sinai, Moses went up the mountain where God gave him two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments: 

1. Thou Shalt have no other gods before me; 
2. No graven images;
3. Do not take the name of the Lord in vain;
4. Remember the Sabbath;
5. Honor thy father and mother;
6. Do not kill;
7. Do not commit adultery;
8. Do not steal;
9. Do not bear false witness;
10. Do not covet.

Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are more laws given to the Israelites. Moses was shown the promised land that the Israelites would go into (the land of Canaan) but he wasn't allowed to go. He died in the land of Moab. 

(Perhaps a case of "read the book" and not just about the book! So much was omitted by Foster.)

Next Chapter: "Augustus, the god"

August, 12 B.C., Augustus was made a god of the Romans. An altar was erected and it was a glorious time. But the whole year was an eventful one! Agrippa had died; Julia was once again a widow. And she had four children, with another on the way. Augustus adored all his grandchildren: Gaius and Lucius (he'd adopted and made his heirs), Julia and Agrippina. But Julia was still young and he felt she needed another husband to keep her in check look after her. 

Augustus chose Tiberius to be her next husband, which was so sad for him, as he was already married! But he divorced his wife and married Julia. For a time it was fine but he was too sober and quiet for Julia, as she was wild and craved excitement. While he was away she surrounded herself with others who would lead her to a tragic end. 

Drusus, Tiberius' younger brother, was married to Antonia, daughter of Octavia and Antony. He had gone to Germany and crossed the Rhine, realizing his boyhood dream. In Germany, he built fortifications to protect against the German tribes and dug canals to the North Sea. 

In the year 12 B.C., Drusus was made governor of Gaul so he and Antonia went to live in Lyons. This place had been a great meeting place of the Druids; they held court every spring, settling disputes among the people. But the time of the Druids had gone and Roman law was firmly in place. Instead of their ancient gods, the Gauls were given Augustus Divus (Augustus, the Emperor of Rome) for their worship. Drusus built the first altar to Augustus Divus at Lyons and on the first day of August, 12 B.C. it was unveiled for all to see. A high priest was chosen and from then on, on August 1st, pilgrims were to come to worship. There were similar altars erected elsewhere in Gaul.

Making Augustus a god did not mean that the Romans looked at him as the God of Creation, but more like a saint; kind of like a saint of the Roman Catholic Church of today. He was the patron saint of the Roman Empire. It grew out of the old religion of Rome where when the High Priest died, the office was switched to Augustus, making him Pontifex Maximus. 

He did not allow altars to be erected to him in the city of Rome but they were built all around the Empire, and people bowed down to the altars. One group of people refused to bow down to this god: the Jews. They would pray for him but not pray to him. The first of their commandments was they would have no other gods but the One True God. 

The Oracle of Delphi

[Previously, the chapters talked about the king, Tarquin, seventh king of Rome.]

Tarquin was unhappy and he'd begun to have bad dreams. At the time, people thought that their dreams meant something about what was to happen in their lives. He asked the Roman priests to tell him what they meant but they couldn't. So Tarquin decided to ask the Oracle of Delphi. 

Delphi was a temple in the mountains for the worship of Apollo the sun god. A priestess named the Pythoness lived there and would converse with the gods, then passed this along to those who came seeking answers. 

Tarquin had murdered a nephew who had a brother but Tarquin had spared the brother because everyone thought him an idiot. His name was Brutus, possibly because of his "brute-like stupidity." But Brutus was not dumb at all; he was pretending and waiting his time for revenge. 

Tarquin sent two of his own sons to the oracle and sent along Brutus as an attendant. These gave the oracle the gifts from Tarquin and then decided to ask about their own futures. 

All three had brought gifts and the two sons' were rich indeed, but Brutus' was worth much more. He had given the staff he had traveled with; it was hollow and filled with gold! The answer given to the travelers' question of who would next be king was that he would rule who first kissed his mother on returning home. The sons thought that was easy enough and planned how to get home first. 

But Brutus, since he'd given a better gift, was given a hint by the oracle on what to do next. When they all got home, Brutus knelt down on the ground and kissed the earth, thus kissing the mother of all mankind. He had obeyed the command of the Pythoness without anyone being the wiser! 

The Death of Lucretia

The Romans did not like Tarquin because he was very cruel. But no one was strong enough to do anything. They were waiting for an opportunity and a leader. During the siege of the town of Ardea a group were having a disagreement about whose wife was the best. Collantinus said his wife, Lucretia, was the best. After visiting the houses of each, all agreed that Collantinus was right!

Sextus Tarquinius heard of Lucretia, who was a great wife and housekeeper, as well as beautiful. Sextus decided he must see her and so one night he left the camp of soldiers laying siege to the town of Ardea to visit her. He was a horrible man and "insulted her grossly." 

Lucretia sent a message to her husband and her father telling them to come quickly. When they arrived, she told them about what Sextus had done. It was so horrible that she said she had no desire to live any longer. Taking a dagger she'd hidden in her robes, she stabbed herself in the heart, dying at her husband's feet. 

Though it is wrong to kill oneself, or take the life which God has given, the Romans thought her very brave in this act. Collantinus and her father were speechless but Brutus, the supposed "idiot," removed the dagger and swore to avenge her death. Collantinus and Lucretia's father agreed.

Brutus had Lucretia's body laid out so that people could see "her bleeding side" and told them it was because of Sextus. He roused up the people who pledged to help him avenge her. They voted to drive out all the Tarquin family from Rome. Not only that, but they vowed to never use the word king again. 

Tarquin Superbus ran away to Etruria but Sextus went to Gabii, whom he had betrayed. The people of Gabii rose up and put Sextus to death. This was the end of the Roman monarchy, after about 245 years. Brutus was given the title of "Deliverer of the People."

The Stern Father

Even though the Romans had decided to not have kings they would gladly have let Brutus rule them. He would not do this and instead suggested they elect consuls. Of course the people chose Brutus, and Collantinus, as the first consuls. The government was called a Republic because it was in the hands of the people. 

When Tarquin heard that the Romans were building an army to fight him, he sent messengers into the city to "claim his land;" but really it was to bribe people to join his side. There were plenty of greedy men who would rather be under a bad ruler than the honest Brutus. Two of these men were Brutus' two sons. 

When they were found out, it almost broke Brutus' heart but he decided to make an example of them. They were tried for their part in the conspiracy to get Tarquin back on the throne. Brutus let them say their piece and if they were able, to deny the charges. But they could not. So Brutus said that they would be punished as if they were foreigners. They were executed and it was witnessed by Brutus who thought it better to die than live as traitors.

The people of Rome hated the Tarquins even more now and all relations of them were exiled from the city. Collantinus, though a bitter enemy of Tarquin, was related and therefore had to leave the city. The people voted for another Roman to be consul: Valerius. 

Tarquin then convinced the people of Veii to join his fight against Rome. Tarquin's army met that of Brutus' but when one of the sons of Tarquin saw Brutus, they rushed toward each other. They fought so furiously that they both died at the same time. The battle did not end there; both sides fought fiercely and by nightfall it was a draw. 

Brutus' body was carried back to Rome and a statue erected in the Capitol. 

There are four more chapters for the week's reading but I will stop my narration here. 

The Story of the Greeks (Miller)

H. A. Guerber's The Story of the Greeks, edition by Christine Miller. The reading for the week is over pages 186-199, eight chapters, but I will not narrate the entire thing here. 

Death of Demosthenes

When Alexander (the Great) went to the East, the great orator Demosthenes (who wasn't a fan of Alex) tried to persuade the people to rise up against him and take back their freedom. But they didn't heed him. However, when they heard Alexander was dead, then they were more agreeable. There was a man named Phocion who wanted the Athenians to have patience. Phocion argued that they should at least wait until the rumor was confirmed. After all, if he was dead today, he'd still be dead tomorrow and the next day. What was the rush? 

The Athenians were not patient however and, joined by quite a few little cities (except Sparta), they marched to confront the Macedonians at Thermopylae. 

At first the Greeks were successful. They captured a fortress and besieged it. But then the Macedonians were able to defeat the Greeks at another time. That was all there was to the war really because Antipater, the Macedonian general, made peace with each of the cities separately. 

Antipater was so angry at the revolt that he swore to kill any who had had a part in stirring up the people. He learned that Demosthenes was one of them. He ordered his soldiers to take him prisoner. Demosthenes caught wind of this and was able to escape, but only to a temple of Neptune. Although usually temples were holy and weapons were not brought in, the soldiers went in anyway to get him. When Demosthenes saw that he had no choice, he asked if he might take a moment to write a litter to his friends. The soldiers saw no problem with this and watched him take up his parchment and reed. 

Demosthenes would write a bit then bite the tip of the reed, as if he was thinking. But he didn't continue to write, instead he covered his head with his hood and remained quite still. The soldiers waited a bit but then decided to check on him. He didn't answer when they called, so they pulled back the cloak and to their horror, saw that he was clearly about to die! They rushed him out of the temple because it was bad to defile the temple with death. 

Demosthenes had thought it better to kill himself than be a prisoner so he had hidden poison in the reed that he had bitten when pretending to write to his friends. 

The Greeks then thought that they should have listened to Phocion. They realized their mistake and put him at the head of their affairs. But Phocion was not very clever and much too cautious. His cautious nature eventually turned to cowardice. He feared the Macedonians so much that over time, they controlled more and more of Greece until after just a few years later, Antipater, the Macedonian governor, controlled all of it. 

The Last of the Athenians

Antipater was now in control of all of Greece but he was not a cruel ruler because he wanted to make friends so he would have help securing his portion of the realm that had been Alexander's. He soon heard that Perdiccas was on his way back from the East and had the infant king, named after his father, Alexander. Antipater knew that Perdiccas would want to make the infant king and himself regent, but Antipater wanted to be regent. 

Antipater decided to fight rather than give up easily. At this time many of Alexander's generals were also unhappy so they revolted as well. Perdiccas was surrounded by enemies but even so, he fought bravely, and even led an army against Ptolemy in Egypt. There was the Nile river to cross in order to get to Ptolemy, and in doing so many of his soldiers were eaten by crocodiles! Those who survived were so angry with Perdiccas that they fell on him and killed him. 

Around this time, Antipater also died. (So much for all that fighting!) Cassander, his son, was left to quarrel with a general, Polysperchon, over ruling Macedon. They both amassed an army to meet in battle. 

Though the Athenians tried to remain neutral, Polysperchon stormed into the city and accused Phocion and others of siding with Cassander. He condemned them to die by poison from hemlock plant. But there wasn't enough to kill them all! Phocion was forced to give money so that more could be bought. He said "It seems one cannot even die for nothing in Athens."

After Phocion died, it was said he was the last of the Athenians because he was the last notable politician; no one even tried to win back the freedom of Athens or uphold the city's power. 

Roxana and her son (Alexander) were brought to Macedon and placed under the protection of Polysperchon. When the infant Alexander's grandmother saw him, she was determined to secure the throne for him. She killed the "idiot king" Arridaeus and all his family! 

Cassander pretended to want to avenge the crime, captured and killed  Olympias, the grandmother. He also wrested power of Macedon and Greece from Polysperchon. After this, there was no one to fight for the mother and child, so he had them imprisoned, then killed them, too. Twelve years after Alexander the Great's death, all of his family was also dead. His empire fell to quarreling and split into several states.

(The other chapters for this week are titled "Ptolemy in Judea," "The Wonderful Library," "The Colossus of Rhodes," "The Battle of Ipsus," "Demetrius and the Athenians," and "The Achaean League.")