The Old Roman World : the Grandeur and Failure of Its Civilization.Lord, John
History
The Old Roman World : the Grandeur and Failure of Its Civilization.
Lord, John
Rome -- Civilization
amusement of the amphitheatre. Then were displayed the arms and ensigns
of conquered nations, the plate and wardrobe of the Syrian queen. Then
ambassadors from all parts of the earth--all remarkable in their rich
dresses, with their crowns and offerings. Then the captives taken in the
various wars, Goths, Vandals, Samaritans, Alemanni, Franks, Gauls,
Syrians, and Egyptians, each marked by their national costume. Then the
Queen of the East, the beautiful Zenobia, confined by fetters of gold,
and fainting under the weight of jewels, preceding the beautiful chariot
in which she had hoped to enter the gates of Rome. Then the chariot of
the Persian king. Then the triumphal car of Aurelian himself, drawn by
elephants. Finally the most illustrious of the Senate, the people, and
the army closed the solemn procession, amid the acclamations of the
people, and the sound of musical instruments. It took from dawn of day
until the ninth hour for the procession to pass to the capital, and the
festival was protracted by theatrical representations, the games of the
circus, the hunting of wild beasts, combats of gladiators, and naval
engagements. Liberal donations were presented to the army, and a portion
of the spoils dedicated to the gods. All the temples glittered with the
offerings of ostentatious piety, and the Temple of the Sun received
fifteen thousand pounds of gold. The soldiers and the citizens were then
surfeited with meat and wine. The disbanded soldiery thronged the
amphitheatre, and yelled their fiendish applause at the infernal games,--
the gorged robbers of the world, drunk in a festival of hell,"
[Footnote: Henry Giles.]--a representation of war as terrible as war
itself, compensating to the Roman people the massacres which they could
not see.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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