DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0017
xvi
INTRODUCTION.
buy corn of the Egyptian kings, we read not of the civili-
zation 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 perseve-
rance 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 arts
flourished under the ^Egis of Minerva, and the greatest of
her military heroes did not disdain to take lessons from phi-
losophers, 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 thou-
sand years, we may 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 Iloman 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, there was a period
when Syria also was itself 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 association which bears no parallel.
But 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
INTRODUCTION.
buy corn of the Egyptian kings, we read not of the civili-
zation 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 perseve-
rance 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 arts
flourished under the ^Egis of Minerva, and the greatest of
her military heroes did not disdain to take lessons from phi-
losophers, 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 thou-
sand years, we may 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 Iloman 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, there was a period
when Syria also was itself 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 association which bears no parallel.
But 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