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 14. Subdivisions of the Historic Age.—We begin now our study of the historic age,—a record of about seven thousand years. The story of these millenniums is usually divided into three parts,—Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern History. Ancient History begins, as already indicated, with the earliest nations of which we can gain any certain knowledge through written records, and extends to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, 476. Mediæval History embraces the period, about one thousand years in length, lying between the fall of Rome and the discovery of the New World by Columbus, 1492. Modern History commences with the close of the mediæval period and extends to the present time.

It is Ancient History alone with which we shall be concerned in the present volume.

15. The Races of Mankind in the Historic Period.— Distinctions in bodily characteristics, such as form, color, and features, divide the human species into three chief types or races, known as the Black or Ethiopian Race, the Yellow or Mongolian Race, and the White or Caucasian Race. But we must not suppose each of these three types to be sharply marked off from the others; they shade into one another by insensible gradations.