250

Survey of the Ancient World

483. In-
creased pop-
ularity of
oriental gods

484. Rise of
an Hellenic-
oriental world
of the eastern
Mediter-
ranean

The great multitude of the common people had not the
education to understand philosophy, nor the means to attend
the philosophical schools. Yet gods, in some form they must
have. With the weakening of their faith in the old Greek

gods, many Greeks
adopted the gods of
the Orient, and these
gods became more
and more popular-
Oriental beliefs and
oriental symbols were
everywhere. It was
in an age like this
that Christianity, an
oriental religion, later
passed easily from
land to land (§ 706)-
As in earlier times
(§ 199), the daily life
and the civilization
of the people of the
Orient continued to
be a permanent force
exerting a steady pres-
sure upon the life of
the eastern Mediter-
ranean world, in com-
merce, in form 0
government, in cus-
toms and usages, m
art, industry, litera-
ture, and religion. Thus while Greek civilization, with its lan-
guage, its art, its literature, its theaters and gymnasiums, was
Hellenizing the Orient, the Orient in the same way was oriental-
izing the eastern Mediterranean world. In this way there was,

Fig. 97. The Town Clock, of Athens
in the Hellenistic Age

This tower, commonly called the " Tower
of the Winds," now stands among modern
houses but once looked out on the Athenian
market place. The arches at. the left support
part of an ancient channel which supplied
the water for the operation of a water clock
in the tower. Such clocks were something
like hourglasses, the flowing water filling a
given measure in a given time, like the sand
in the hourglass. This tower was built in
the last century H.a, when Athens was under
the control of Rome