From all this it is plain that the account given here deals especially with the real “classic” period of Greek antiquity from about the sixth to the third century B.C. It is impossible to give a connected history of the development of Greek civilisation from the beginning, if only on account of the nature of our authorities and the incompleteness of tradition. Between Homeric culture and that which we meet with afterwards in the poets and prose writers of the best time, lies a period of several centuries, about which we know very little, and that little chiefly in a legendary form. We can only determine in a few cases how the conditions of the sixth and fifth centuries gradually developed, for instance in the rise of the constitution, while it is impossible for us to trace the genesis of manners and civilisation. We shall, therefore, not attempt to give a separate account of Homeric civilisation, but content ourselves with introducing a few of its details in appropriate places; nor shall we go beyond the period of Hellenism, since even here foreign, and especially Oriental, influence produced many alterations, while Roman influence afterwards made many essential changes. The artistic authorities are also chosen in accordance with this scheme. The vase paintings, of which so many have been preserved to us, supply a great quantity and variety of pictures of Greek life, and we have drawn largely on this valuable source of information, which supplies most of the pictures chosen as illustrations. Compared with this there is little else of importance. The statues to which we have access are chiefly figures of gods and heroes, or portraits. These we can only use to illustrate Greek costume. But a few _genre_ pictures are preserved to us in the artistic productions of the best Greek period, and some of these we shall have occasion to discuss. For this purpose the small terra-cotta figures are more useful, which often represent with vigorous truth subjects from real life. Here, too, as in the case of the statues, we must always remember the difference between Hellenic and Roman work, and it is just this consideration which greatly limits our choice of sculptures; for the great majority of those which would be suitable for our purpose date from the Roman period, and usually represent Roman life. For this reason mosaics and frescoes can scarcely be regarded, since none have come down to us from the Greek period. Undoubtedly many of them imitate Greek models, or, at any rate, those of the Alexandrine epoch, but it is not always easy to decide in particular cases; and, moreover, the greater part are mythological pictures. It is obvious that works of Etruscan art, such as sarcophagi, pictures on mirrors, and the like, cannot be regarded. Thus the works of art suitable for supplementing our literary sources are limited in number. Of these the vase paintings constitute the great majority, and this is entirely in