The world: historical and actual . ate impera-tively called for his servi-ces. All classes had un-bounded confidence inhim. A patrician of thebluest blood, he was noless a man of the came the nearestto realizing that loftyideal citizen when it pro-duced a Washington. Without being a reform-er, he was in the grandest sense of the term, aconservative. He flourished about three hundredyears after Romulus, and four hundred and fiftybefore Christ. Among the tribunes, the most illustrious nameis that of Dentatus. He was the soldier par ex-cellence of legendary Rome. As brave as Achille
The world: historical and actual . ate impera-tively called for his servi-ces. All classes had un-bounded confidence inhim. A patrician of thebluest blood, he was noless a man of the came the nearestto realizing that loftyideal citizen when it pro-duced a Washington. Without being a reform-er, he was in the grandest sense of the term, aconservative. He flourished about three hundredyears after Romulus, and four hundred and fiftybefore Christ. Among the tribunes, the most illustrious nameis that of Dentatus. He was the soldier par ex-cellence of legendary Rome. As brave as Achilles,he never sulked in his tent, nor was he in-vulnerable except in his heel. Had he been, hecould never have been wounded, for he never re-treated. He boldly met every danger. His searswere numerous, and all in the front. He seemed tobear a charmed life, but fell at last on the field ofbattle, not however, a victim of the foe, his death-wound being the result of treachery. The Consul,Appius Claudius, a name already odious, but ren-. dered doubly so by this later bearer of it, deter-mined to get rid of the dauntless champion of popu-lar rights. He gave secret orders that Dentatusshould not be allowed to come out of the battlealive. The fact that the chief hero of the Romans,a people that fairly worshiped personal bravery, wasbelieved to have sprung from the plebeian ranks,and had been assassinated by the orders of a haughtypatrician while fighting the common enemy, showsthe strength of the class prejudice. Another noted plebeian of that period was Virgini-us, the father of Virginia whose story, like that ofLucretia, has ever served as a monument to female virtue. Vinjinius wasalso a Tribune. Whilehe was upon the tentedfield, Appius, who wasas lustful as he was proud,saw the daughter, whowas just then ripeninginto womanhood, on herway to school attended byher nurse. He conceivedan unhallowed passion forher, and set about grati-fying it. A supple toolpretended that Virginiawas his
Size: 1692px × 1477px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectworldhistory, bookyea
